OF

THE UNITED STATES,

BY SEA AND LAND:

EMBRACING THOSE OF THE

REVOLUTIONARY AND INDIAN WARS, THE WAR OF 1812, AND THE MEXICAN WAR;

Illustrated with numerous highly-finished Steel Engravings,

INCLUDING BATTLE SCENES AND FULL-LENGTH PORTRAITS,-—FROM ORIGINAL PAINTINGS BY ALONZO CHAPPEL.

ENTERED according to Act of Congress, in the year 1858, by

JOHNSON, FRY & COMPANY,

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York.

PREFACE.

Or the various subjects which form portions of the history of a nation, none has been so generally acceptable to the people as the record of its WARS. The young have read with no greater degree of delight, than the aged have experienced in listening to the story of their country's conflicts; and many a fireside has been the scene of oft-told tales of daring, by the patriarch of the family, as he has corrected or amplified on the narrative in the school-history of his grandchild.

The general histories of the country, and even the general histories of the respective wars, embracing, as they do, so much that is general or political in its character, must, necessarily, be brief in their descriptions of the various movements of the armies, and the various conflicts in which they have been engaged; and the student and the general reader, alike, are left to gather from other sources-sometimes from those which are found only with great difficulty-the information they desire on this important branch of the history of their country.

To supply the demand which is thus created, this work has been prepared a description of the battles of the republic, in detail, with such original documents relating thereto as will enable all who may refer to its pages to gain full and authentic information on the subject on which it treats. Not only have the wants of the great mass of readers been considered, but the peculiar requirements of the student

have been consulted in the careful examination of the details of the several engagements, and in the extent and character of the authorities to which reference has been made.

Seconded in my efforts by the liberality of the publishers, and the professional abilities of the artists who have illustrated the work, no labor has been spared in the preparation of these volumes. In the exercise of a strict impartiality, the exact truth has been sought; and, relying upon the ample supply of material which my own library and those of my friends have furnished; upon the care with which these materials have been used; and upon the enlightened judgment of an intelligent people, I submit the work to the reading public, feeling confident that as much pleasure will be derived from a perusal of its pages as has been enjoyed by me in the labor attending its preparation.

HENRY B. DAWSON.