Thomas, the "Rock of Chickamauga," was a Virginian who chose the northern side in the Civil War. While Thomas was considered a traitor by his family, his military superiors regarded him with a certain mistrust because of his southern background. Nonetheless, Thomas was prominent in the battles of Mill Springs, Shiloh, Corinth, Perryville, and Nashville, and was immortalized at Chickamauga, where he tenaciously held the field until ordered to withdraw.

    He didn't get the job, but he met Jim. That chance encounter with a young black boy led David into strange and thrilling adventures that took him far from home, involved him in the mysteries of the Underground Railroad, and ended with his meeting President-elect Abraham Lincoln, whom David had long wanted to meet for a particular reason.How David rescued Jim, who had been kidnapped and taken to Missouri, and how the two boys escaped to the free state of Illinois with the help of courageous "conductors" on the Underground, makes a fascinating yarn which holds the interest of young readers to the last line. But By Secret Railway is more than an absorbing adventure story. It is the account of a loyal friendship between two boys in a situation with important implications for young Americans of today. It is also a vivid picture of uneasy times during which ideals of individual freedom were on trial in America, as they are now throughout the world.

    Originally published in 1948, this text tells the story of the three fateful days of Gettysburg in the words of the men and women who lived it.