making the whole a fascinating drama. I have endeavored, in the following pages, to unfold that story in language so plain and in form so simple, that not only students of the national annals but whole households may be interested and instructed by the reading of it. Greater prominence than usual has been given to what may be called the romance of our history; and the pencil of the artist has been summoned to aid the pen of the author, in presenting those picturesque scenes. So may be diffused, it is hoped (especially among the young, who, as readers only, prefer such literature in this more attractive shape rather than in the stately figures which engage the student), a knowledge of the principal characters and notable events in our history, such as shall impress them with a warm love for our free institutions.

The History of the United States may properly be arranged in six distinct periods, under the respective heads of (1) DISCOVERIES; (2) SETTLEMENTS; (3) COLONIES; (4) THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE, OR THE POLITICAL REVOLUTION; (5) THE NATION; (6) THE CIVIL WAR, OR THE SOCIAL REVOLUTION. This work is, accordingly, divided into successive historical chapters, each containing a record of events that occurred in corresponding periods of the several divisions. After this plan are presented, in proper order, striking epochs that indicate the growth of the nation in its successive stages, and the unity of achievements by which the grand results that Americans now enjoy were reached.

In the First Section will be found a sketch of the several discoveries, actual and apocryphal, in America, which bear direct relations to the history of the Republic, from the advent of the navigators of the North in the tenth and eleventh centuries, until Hudson and Champlain won their well-deserved honors. It also contains a history of the Indians found here.

In the Second Section is told the story of the several unsuccessful and successful efforts to plant settlements along the Atlantic coasts from Florida to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and upon the banks of the great "River of Canada."

In the Third Section are narratives showing how the several settlements crystallized into organized communities and became permanent colonies-the originals of great States. The events which mark the foundation of these colonies, and of their growth to flourishing and powerful commonwealths when the French and Indian war, at the middle of the eighteenth century, compelled them to form a union for mutual protection, are carefully delineated in their most picturesque features. So the colonial history of each of the old thirteen States is given separately, to the period when this colonial union, and the political league of 1776, were formed.

In the Fourth Section will be found an account of the chief and most stirring events of the great struggle which resulted in the political independence of the United States, and the establishment of a national government in 1789, by the union of the several States under one supreme central power.

In the Fifth Section will be found an account of the progress of the new nation during a period of more than seventy years, until the beginning of the Civil War in 1861. In this section the events of the Indian wars, the war of 1812-'15, and the war with Mexico from 1846 to 1848, are delineated.

In the Sixth Section will be found the exciting and deeply impressive story of the Civil War, which resulted in a great social revolution by the abolition of slave labor throughout the Republic. In it will also be found a general review of the progress of our country, from the inception of its nationality down to the present time.

In the preparation of the work I have availed myself of all new revelations concerning the history of our country made by recent investigations, which have fallen under my observation; and I have endeavored to make it a faithful picture of the Republic in all its phases, without any exaggeration in outline or in coloring. In this labor I have been nobly seconded by Mr. DARLEY, the eminent American artist, who has, in every drawing illustrative of the text, consulted the best authorities for portraiture and costume, and has followed their teachings. His spirited sketches of a vast number of events

in our history, are, therefore, stamped with the insignia of truth, and are educationally useful, not only as artistic embellishments, but as safe instructors. The spirit of these drawings has been admirably preserved by eminent engravTo these gentlemen, and to the generous liberality of the Publishers in bringing out the work in a style of great elegance and costliness, the reader is largely indebted for the pleasure and instruction which these volumes may afford.

ers.

With these remarks, I submit the work to the households of Our Country.
BENSON J. LOSSING.

A

SUPPLEMENTARY PREFACE.

CCORDING to the general verdict, as well as the almost universal decision of those best qualified to judge, Benson J. Lossing, LL.D., was the most authoritative writer of American history who has so far appeared in the literature of our country. He was exceedingly painstaking in everything that he did, and at the same time he possessed a style of such simple beauty as to be almost matchless. In his expression and his manner of depicting incidents, he approached nearer to the great model fixed for all time by Herodotus than any of our other historians. Although a prolific writer, yet he was so careful as almost to eliminate the possibility of error, and the flow of his sentences is so rhythmical and his use of language so choice as to create a perpetual sense of delight in the mind of the reader.

His first great work was "The Field-Book of the Revolution." This brought him immediate and enduring fame. It was followed by the famous 'History of the Hudson River," and "Cyclopedia of United States History," both of which are classics and will live forever. But his greatest work, his masterpiece, the one on which his fame must abide for all time, is "Our Country." It was the accepted standard up to the date of his death, and since then his work has been carried forward to the present era, by other able and loving hands, who have faithfully endeavored to maintain his accuracy of statement and beauty of diction.

In conformity with the exceeding care which he devoted to all his work, Lossing, before undertaking the actual composition of "Our Country," visited every battle-field of any consequence of the Revolution, of the war of 1812, of the war with Mexico, and of the great civil war, in order that he might possess and feel the inspiration of sight and presence before putting pen to paper. To this cause must be attributed his brilliant and graphic descriptions of battles and battle scenery, embellished with a wealth of incident and adventure unknown to any of our other historical writers. Indeed his style of writing history was such as to give it the same intense and continuous interest that

attaches to a well-written story, and thus create in the mind a series of pictures that never can fade.

Besides the battle-fields, as he himself informs us, he visited many other places of historic interest, such as Mount Vernon, where he describes the room in which Washington died, and produces a drawing of its appearance at that time-for he was famous both as artist and author. He tells us also of his interview with President Lincoln, a few hours after receipt of the news of the capture of Mason and Slidell, and of Mr. Lincoln's conversation with him on that absorbing subject, incidentally reproducing the manner and personal characteristics of the great civil war President.

The book abounds with entertaining and instructive anecdotes, impressions and conclusions that were peculiar to Dr. Lossing; which not only add vastly to the charm of the story, but leave an impression that is permanent.

The great majority of illustrations in this work are by the famous artist, Felix O. C. Darley, who had no rival in the world as a delineator of historical subjects. Indeed, in the history of modern bookmaking throughout the world, there are but four names that stand out as pre-eminently great, and of these Darley was admittedly the greatest. The other three members of this brilliant quartette were George Cruikshank, an Englishman; Gustave Doré, a Frenchman, and Thomas Nast, a German-American.

Besides the illustrations by Darley, the work contains numerous original drawings by Thomas Nast, Chappell, Trumbull, Lester, Matthews, Ogden, Rowall, and others whose names are recognized everywhere as masters of the illustrative art.

Special attention is directed to the splendid array of civil-war pictures, whose value, now inestimable, will increase with each succeeding year as time recedes from the period to which they refer. They were selected, by special permission from the United States Government, from the celebrated Brady collection of photographs now stored in the archives at Washington. The original negatives were loaned by the Secretary of War to the publishers of this work, with a view to having them reproduced for the first time in a history of the United States; and no other history was deemed so worthy of this distinction as Lossing's. These original photographs, so faithfully reproducing the great actors of the civil war on both sides, showing them as they were