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A Lieutenant at Eighteen
Paperback
Publisher: Bibliotech Press
Published: Sep 18 2025
Pages: 160
Weight: 0.44
Height: 0.40 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
Set during the American Civil War, A Lieutenant at Eighteen follows Deck Lyon, a brave and intelligent young man who rises to the rank of First Lieutenant in the Union army-despite being only eighteen. He serves in the Riverlawn Cavalry, a unit led by his father, Colonel Lyon, operating primarily in Kentucky, a critical border state.
Deck proves himself in both leadership and combat, facing not only Confederate forces but also local guerrillas and saboteurs. Alongside his brother Artie and other young comrades, Deck undertakes dangerous missions to protect supply lines, scout enemy positions, and fight in key battles like the Battle of Mill Springs.
Throughout the story, Deck matures rapidly, learning the complexities of war, honor, and responsibility. The novel highlights the burden of command on a young man and the patriotic fervor that drove many boys to become soldiers before their time.
About the Author
William Taylor Adams (July 30, 1822 - March 27, 1897), pseudonym Oliver Optic, was an academic, author, and a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
Adams first began to write at the age of 28, and his first book, Hatchie, the Guardian Slave (1853), was published under the pseudonym of Warren T. Ashton. It was only a modest success, but Adams was undaunted. In 1854 Adams produced his first real hit, the initial volume in the Boat Club series. Adams continued to write until he died in Dorchester, March 27, 1897. Among his best-known works were the two Blue & Gray series, which were set during the Civil War.
Adams wrote well over 100 books in total, most of them for a boy audience, and the majority of these in series of four to six volumes published under a pseudonym. Two novels published in his own name, The Way of the World and Living Too Fast, were aimed at adult readers but fell flat. Though Oliver Optic was the pseudonym he used most, his work also appeared under the bylines Irving Brown, Clingham Hunter, M.D., and Old Stager. Like many children's authors of his day, he was additionally an editor, and many of his works first appeared in Oliver Optic's Magazine.
Adams' writing was criticized by Louisa May Alcott, among others. Alcott used her story Eight Cousins to deplore Adams' use of slang, his cast of bootblacks and newsboys, and his stories of police courts and saloons. Adams responded in kind, pointing out Alcott's own use of slang and improbable plot twists. (wikipedia.org)
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