; I* >ffi> 4.2*> REESE LIBRARY UIB UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. r %r%r* - ~ /^7^ n^u / /I A ^ & & 1 ~>f^ <3 f LIB, IVERSI BARNES CENTENARY HISTORY. ONE HUNDRED TEARS OP BY THE AUTHOR OF BARNES BRIEF HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES FOR SCHOOLS, (UNIVERSITY . 8. BARNES & COMPAISf NEW YORK, CHICAGO, AND NEW ORLEANS. 1876. COPYKIGHT, 1875, A. S. BARNES & CO. UNIVERSITY PREFACE. OUR centuries ago, it was not known that the earth is round, much less that so vast an ocean awaited a Columbus and a new con tinent a Cabot. North America was then a wilderness, and its inhabitants were savages. The story of its marvelous development is now to open before us. It will be ours to tell it, not in a dull, dry-as-dust style, but with somewhat of the earnestness of the men who cut down the primeval forest ; and the fire of the soldiers who first subdued the heathen possessor and at last drove out the British invader. We shall find every hard fact to be brightened with the romance of real life, than which nothing is more stirring, and every era of our history to be full of patriotic devotion and heroic endeavor. Looking back from our standpoint of the years, we shall see plain men of many nationalities working on, all unconsciously laying the foundation of a new empire ; yet, under the guidance of a Hand reached down from above, building wiser than they knew, and establishing a home for liberty civil and religious its first in the wide world. America was discovered just at the close of the fifteenth century. The sixteenth was spent in numerous explorations and attempts by the Spanish, the English, and the French to settle and get possession of this splendid prize of a continent. The seventeenth century was one of colonization. It wit nessed the establishment of all the thirteen colonies except Georgia. Re ligious and political refugees flocked to this fair land of promise. The advance guard of civilization planted its standard from the " River of May " on the south to the " Great River of Canada " on the north. The Cavalier found a home pn the Potomac, the Puritan on Cape Cod, the Huguenot on the Cooper, and the Quaker on the Delaware. With a strange misappre hension of the extent of the territory bestowed, and a curious jealousy of rival nations, all the English grants extended westward from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the French southward from the St. Lawrence to the Gulf, and the Spanish northward from the Gulf to the Arctic Ocean. Nearly three-quarters of the eighteenth century was occupied in crystallizing the scattered settle ments into colonies regularly organized and governed, and in the struggles of the English to get control of the continent. PREFACE. This preparatory work was the ante-natal growth of the republic which was born July 4, 1776. It is therefore treated in the Introduction as a neces sary prelude to the HUNDRED YEARS OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE. This relation of great colonial contests is followed by a chapter on the manners and customs of " y e olden tyme." Here are portrayed the curious laws, the quaint habits, and the strange attire, which have now all passed away. Part II., embracing the Revolutionary War, begins the book proper. Here will be found a narrative of those years of waiting and sacrifice during which the nation achieved its independence. The battles are described with unusual fulness, as becomes these centennial times and the interest every locality will naturally possess in the events of its own neighborhood. Anecdotes and inci dents illustrative of the feelings of the day are freely interspersed. Accurate maps and diagrams enable the reader to trace easily every campaign, while a calendar indicates the important events of every day throughout the eventful struggle. . Part III. covers the Constitutional History of the country, embracing the formation of the Constitution and the gradual development of the nation down to 1860. This is detailed in four chapters of two decades each, indi cating as many different stages of growth and characteristic ideas. It has two great episodes : the war of 1812-14, which secured for the young Repub lic the respect of foreign nations ; and the war with Mexico, which gave to it New Mexico and California, and let the tides of emigration pour into the El Dorado of the West. Part IV. treats of the Civil War, which resulted in the abolition of slavery and the centralization of the governing power. Part V. narrates the import ant events which have occurred within the last decade. In preparing this story of our past, no pains have been spared to gather the best material from every source. The most reliable authorities have been consulted, recent investigations have been examined, and the ripest fruits of historical research have been carefully gathered. It has seemed that a narrative so full of picturesque incident and roman tic adventure, should sweep the reader along as by a charm and a fascination ; that a history so pregnant with pure thought and high endeavor, should awaken the sympathy and arouse the ambition of the most sluggish ; and that a freedom which has cost so much sweat of brain and blood, so much treasure of money and life, should grow inexpressibly precious. Thus may the outcome of this fresh attempt to tell the story of our Independence be a truer reverence for the past, a purer patriotism for the present, and a more hopeful outlook for the future. TABLE OF CONTENTS. PART L-IHTRODUCTIOH. CHAPTER I. EARLY HISTORY OF AMERICA. Prehistoric Peoples The Mound Builders The North American Indians In- PAGE dian Dialects Indian Picture-Writing Manners and Customs of the Indians Discovery of America The Northmen The Problem of the Age Geo graphical Knowledge in the Fifteenth Century Christopher Columbus His Expedition The Voyage The New World Discovered The Return to Spain Subsequent Voyages of Columbus Death of Columbus The Ca- bots Vasco de Gama Amerigo Vespucci The New World Named 9-26 CHAPTER II. EXPLORATIONS AND SETTLEMENTS. Ponce de Leon Balboa Discovers the Pacific Ocean Discovery of the Mis sissippi French Explorations Verazzani Cartier Discovers the St. Law rence Coligny Plans a Colony Ribaut Lands at Port Royal Failure of the Colony and its Fate Laudonniere Ascends the St. John s River Founding of St. Augustine Cruelty of Melendez English Explorations and Settlements Frobisher Drake in the Pacific Sir Humphrey Gilbert Sir Walter Raleigh Secures the Patent of Virginia The Colony of Roanoke Settlement of Virginia Captain John Smith Virginia in the Sev enteenth Century Settlement of Maryland Settlement of Plymouth Colony The Pilgrims Settlement of Massachusetts Bay Religious Disturbances Roger Williams Banished Union of the Colonies Difficulties with the Indians Salem Witchcraft Settlement of Connecticut Settlement of New York New Netherland The Redemptioners Minuits Purchases Man hattan Island Administration of Governor Stuyvesant New York Sur rendered to the English Death of Leisler Berkeley and Carteret Found New Jersey Settlement of Pennsylvania William Penn Settlement of the Carolinas Charleston Founded The Huguenots Settlement of Georgia Savannah Founded Contests with the Spaniards 27-66 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER III. COLONIAL WARS. New France: The Jesuit Missionaries and their Labors Champlain Mar- PAGE quette La Salle French Settlements in the Seventeenth Century King William s War Atrocities of the Indians The Attack on Schenectady Descents on Haverhill and Deerfield French Policy in the West Wash ington s Journey to Fort le Bceuf His Return and its Perils Capitula tion of Fort Necessity The Proposed Confederation Defeat of Braddock Conquest of Acadia Crown Point Reduction of Fort William Henry Fort du Quesne Captured by the English Louisburg Retaken Wolfe Lays Siege to Quebec Capture of Quebec Death of Wolfe and Mont- calm Conspiracy of Pontiac The Long Struggle Cements the Colonies. 67-83 CHAPTER IV. COLONIAL LIFE. The Colonies Their Extent and Population Agriculture Manufactures Commerce Scarcity of Money The First Mint The Pine-Tree Money Introduction of the Printing-Press Mode of Travel The Postal System Progress of Education Founding of Yale College Free Schools Estab lished Education in New York Education in the South. Colleges at the Opening of the Revolution New England in the Seventeenth Century Manners and Customs Modes of Punishment Early Meeting-Houses A Puritan Sabbath Fast and Thanksgiving Days A Thanksgiving in Connecticut The Houses of Early Times Family Life Social Distinc tions Training-Day Dress and Jewelry Sumptuary Laws Wages Manners and Customs of the Dutch Colonial Life in the South 84-130 PART II THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION CHAPTER I. ALIENATION OF THE COLONIES. Injustice of England toward the Colonies Arbitrary Restrictions Imposed on Commerce and Manufactures Taxation of the Colonies Proposed Writs of Assistance The Stamp Act Speech of Patrick Henry The Mutiny Act Opposition and Excitement of the People Resistance in North Carolina Franklin before the House of Commons General Gage arrives in Boston The Boston Massacre The Regulators Defeated at Alamance Creek Tea Destroyed at Boston Retaliatory Measures Adopted Com mittees of Correspondence Appointed Meeting of the First Continental Congress State of the Country 131-145 TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER II. OPENING OF THE WAR. Movements in Boston Lexington and Concord Gathering of the Militia The PAGE British Flight to Charlestown Assembling of Troops at Cambridge Ethan Allen Captures Ticonderoga Meeting of the Second Continental Congress Reinforcement of the British at Boston Martial Law Declared Bunker Hill Occupied The Preparations for Defence Battle of Bun ker Hill Results of the Battle Effect of the Battle on the Patriots- Washington Assumes Command of the Army Number and Condition of the Troops at Cambridge Boston Besieged Events Elsewhere Affairs in New York and the Carolinas Foreign Mercenaries Sought by England Arnold s Expedition against Quebec Siege of Quebec Death of Mont gomery Canada Abandoned 146-165 CHAPTER III. INDEPENDENCE YEAR 1776. Condition of the Army The British Evacuate Boston Movements in North Carolina The Attack on Fort Moultrie Thomas Paine Espouses the Cause Declaration of Independence Popular Rejoicing in Philadelphia Appearance of the British before New York Battle of Long Island The Retreat from Long Island Execution of Nathan Hale Occupation of Harlem Heights Operations in the Highlands Fort Washington Taken by the British The Retreat through New Jersey Capture of General Lee Barbarities of the Hessians The Campaign in Pennsylvania Battle of Trenton State of the Finances Robert Morris 166-195 CHAPTER IV. THIRD YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION 1777. The Campaign in New Jersey Battle of Princeton Renewed Hopes of the Patriots Franklin as Commissioner to France and his Success Lafayette espouses the American Cause England secures Hessian Auxiliaries British Plan of Campaign for 1777 Evacuation of Fort Ticonderoga Battle of Oriskany Origin of American Flag Relief of Fort Schuyler Battle of Bennington Death of Jane McCrea First Battle of Saratoga Second Battle of Saratoga Death of General Fraser Surrender of Bur- goyne Narrative of Madame Riedesel The Campaign in Pennsylvania Battle of Brandywine Massacre at Paoli Battle of Germantown Events about New York Depredations of the British in Connecticut Capture of General Prescott Burning of Kingston, N. Y. Capture of Fort Mercer Washington encamps at Valley Forge 196-246 9 TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. FOURTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION 1778. Camp at Valley Forge Battle of the Kegs Light-Horse Harry Demoraliza- PAGE tion of the People Demoralization of the Army Intrigues against Wash ington The Comvay Cabal Arrival of Baron Steuben Alliance with France Efforts at Conciliation Battle of Monmouth Heroism of Mary Pitcher Attempt to Recover Rhode Island Massacre at Wyoming Operations in the West Indian Atrocities in New York The Johnsons and the Six Nations Operations in the South Capture of Savannah by the British Exploits of Sergeant Jasper 247-269 CHAPTER VI. FIFTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION 1779. Campaign in Georgia and South Carolina British Depredations in South Carolina Operations in New York and Connecticut General Putnam at Horse Neck Capture of Stony Point Capture of Paulus Hook Expe dition against Fort Castine Battle of Chemung Subjugation of the Six Nations Attack upon Savannah Exploit of Colonel White Operations of the American Navy Paul Jones Capture of the Serapis 270-282 CHAPTER VII. SIXTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION 1780. Depression of the Country Siege and Surrender of Charleston Subjugation of South Carolina Partisan Warfare in the Carolinas Exploits of Marion and his Men Operations of Tarleton Patriotism of Nancy Hart Sum- ter s Attack at Hanging^ Rock General Gates assumes Command in the South His Defeat at Camden Death of DeKalb Battle of King s Mountain Activity of Marion and Sumter Operations around New York Knyphausen in the Jerseys Treason of Benedict Arnold Trial and Execution of Major Andre Adventure of John Champe Arrival of Reinforcements from France 283-305 CHAPTER VIII. THE LAST YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION 1781. Disaffection of the Continental Troops Robert Morris appointed Financial Agent General Greene assumes Command in the South Battle of Cow- pens Patriotism of Elizabeth Steele Battle of Guilford Court-House Emily Geiger Execution of Colonel Hayne Arnold Invades Virginia British Detestation of Arnold Cornwallis in Virginia Events Elsewhere Siege of Yorktown Surrender of Cornwallis End of the War With drawal of the British Army Washington s Farewell to the Army 306-324 10 TABLE OF CONTENTS. PART IIL THE COH3TITUTIOHAL PERIOD. CHAPTER IX. THE DEVELOPMENT OT THE REPUBLIC. Condition of the Country at the Close of the War Conflict of Interests between PAGE the States Meeting of the Constitutional Convention The New Constitu tion Formed and Adopted George Washington elected President The Inauguration The First Congress The First Cabinet Political Parties Hamilton s Financial Policy Troubles with the Indians in the North west The Second Congress Washington Re-elected American Sympa thy with the French Revolution The Jay Treaty Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee admitted to the Union Declination of a Third Term by Washington Success of his Administrations Social Observances Elec tion of John Adams Threatened Difficulty with France The Alien and Sedition Laws Death of Washington Washington City in 1800 Churches Founded in the Eighteenth Century The First Cotton Mill in the United States Eli Whitney Invents the Cotton-Gin Manners and Customs at the Close of the Eighteenth Century 325-353 CHAPTER X. AMERICAN NATIONALITY ASSURED 1800-1820. Election of Thomas Jefferson as President His Cabinet His Policy Repeal of the Sedition Act Ohio admitted to the Union Acquisition of Lou isiana Extent of Louisiana Expedition against Tripoli Death of Alex ander Hamilton Re-election of Jefferson John Randolph Trial of Aaron Burr Fulton and the First Steamboat The Embargo Act James Madison elected President His Cabinet Rupture with England Louis iana admitted to the Union Madison Re-elected War declared with England Attempted Invasions of Canada Successes of the American Navy Military Movements at the North and West Naval Battle on Lake Erie War with the Southern Indians English Devastation of the South ern Coast Opposition to the War by Massachusetts Oswego Chippewa Lundy s Lane Plattsburg Washington occupied by the British Battle of New Orleans The Dartmoor Massacre Indiana admitted to the Union James Monroe elected President His Cabinet State of the Country Colleges Founded Foreign Missionary Society American Bible Society Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, and Maine admitted to the Union Re-election of James Monroe The Missouri Compromise 354-407 CHAPTER XI. INTERNAL DISSENSIONS 1820-1840. Financial Prostration of the Country The Monroe Doctrine John Quincy Adams elected President Lafayette s Visit to the United States Mis souri admitted to the Union Internal Improvements Proposed The ii TABLE OF CONTENTS. Erie Canal Completion of the Capitol Death of Adams and Jefferson PAGE The First Railroad in the United States Andrew Jackson elected President Character of Jackson His Cabinet Wholesale Removals from Office The Foot Resolutions The Debate between Webster and Hayne Death of James Monroe The United States Bank The Tariff Compromise Re-election of Andrew Jackson Formation of the Whig Party The Press in 1835 Indian Troubles Arkansas and Michigan admitted to the Union Martin Van Buren elected President Financial Crisis of 1837 The Movement for Canadian Independence General Harrison elected President 408-435 CHAPTER XII. CULMINATION OF DOMESTIC DIFFICULTIES. 1840-1860. Popularity of Harrison His Death John Tyler becomes President Dorr s Rebellion Anti-Rent Difficulty in New York The Mormons Morse and the Magnetic Telegraph Florida admitted to the Union Annex ation of Texas James K. Polk elected President The Oregon Boun dary W^ar with Mexico Battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma Battle of Monterey Battle of Buena Vista Cerro Gordo Cap ture of Mexico Peace Declared Fruits of the War General Taylor elected President Iowa and Wisconsin admitted to the Union President Taylor s Cabinet Congress of 1850 Millard Fillmore, President Dis covery of Gold in California " Manifest Destiny " Opening of the Erie Railroad Franklin Pierce elected President Bleeding Kansas The Know-Nothing Party James Buchanan elected President His Cabinet The Dred Scott Decision Minnesota and Oregon admitted to the Union The Donation Law John Brown Abraham Lincoln elected President Secession of the Southern States PART IY.-THE CIVIL WAR. CHAPTER XIII. FIRST YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. 1861. The Inauguration of Lincoln His Cabinet Events at the South Attack on Fort Sumter Effect at the North Surrender of Fort Sumter The De fence of Washington Death of Ellsworth War in West Virginia and Missouri Battle of Bull Run War on the Sea and along the Coast- Letters of Marque issued by the Confederate Government Southern Ports Blockaded Foreign Relations The Trent Affair 481-494 TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIV. SECOND YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR 1862. Operations in the West Capture of Fort Donelson Battle of Pittsburg Land- PA GB ing Military and Naval Operations along the Mississippi Battle of Cor inth Battle of Murfreesborough Capture of New Orleans The Contest in Missouri Movements in North Carolina The Monitor and Merrimac The Peninsular Campaign Battle of Williamsburg The Capitol Threatened Battle of Fair Oaks The Seven-Days Battles Lee invades Maryland Battle of Antietam Battle of Fredericksburg Indian Trou bles in the West Effects of the Blockade at the South 495-53O CHAPTER XV. THIRD YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR 1863. The Emancipation Proclamation Negro Soldiers Grant s Movement against Vicksburg Battles of Port Gibson, Jackson, Champion Hills, and Big Black River Surrender of Vicksburg Capitulation of Port Hudson Battle of Chickamauga Battles of Lookout Mountain and Chattanooga Scenes after the Battle Anecdote of the Third Ohio and the Fifty-fourth Virginia Regiments Operations before Knoxville Battle of Chancellors- ville Stonewall Jackson Lee s Invasion of Maryland Battle of Gettys burg Fall Campaign in Virginia Capture of Fort Wagner Conscription Laws Riot in New York Dedication of Gettysburg Battle-Field Cavalry Raids 53!~559 CHAPTER XVI. FOURTH YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR 1864. Grant appointed Commander-in-Chief Sherman s March to Atlanta Battles of Dallas, Resaca, New Hope Church, Allatoona Pass, and Kenesaw Mountain Johnston Superseded Hood s Three Attacks on Sherman Capture of Atlanta The March to the Sea Capture of Fort McAllister Battles of Franklin and Nashville The Overland Campaign Battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court-House, Cold Harbor, and before Pe tersburg Early s Raid upon Washington The Mine Disaster Gloomy Feeling at the North Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley The Meridian Campaign The Red River Campaign 560-583 CHAPTER XVII. LAST YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR 1865. Plan of the Campaign Cavalry Movements Sherman s March through the Carolinas Fall of Charleston Battles of Bentonville and Averysboro Desperate Condition of Lee Attack on Fort Steadman Battle of Five 13 TABLE OF CONTENTS. Forks Evacuation of Richmond Lee s Retreat The Surrender at Appo- PAGE mattox Court-House Downfall of the Confederacy Capture of Jefferson D av i s Assassination of Lincoln Cost of the War Financial Policy of the Government Sanitary and Christian Commissions The Southern Women.. 584-600 PART Y. THH HEW ERA* CHAPTER XVIII. THE DECADE OF RECONSTRUCTION. The Inauguration of Johnson Disbanding of the National Army Johnson s Plan of Reconstruction Adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment Con gressional Policy Fourteenth Amendment The Southern States Re stored to the Union Impeachment of the President Universal Amnesty Maximilian in Mexico The Atlantic Telegraph The Fenians Grant s Administration Cabinet The Pacific Railroad Black Friday Reunion of the Presbyterian Church Fifteenth Amendment The Ninth Census Annexation of Santo Domingo The New York Ring The Alabama Claims Fire in Chicago Fire in Boston The " Back Pay " Grant s Second Administration Cabinet Death of Horace Greeley Indian Wars The Credit Mobilier Panic of 1873 Patrons of Industry Admission of Colorado Death of Distinguished Men 603-620 APPENDIX. I. The Centennial Exhibition 623 II. The Southern Women 628 III. Early American School-Books 629 IV. Resignation of General Lee 630 V. Chronological Table of the War of the Revolution 632-655 VI. Index 656 1 FRONTISPIECE. , PA GE 2 COLUMBUS IN HIS STUDY, &c., &c. Initial 9 3 THE SERPENT MOUND ip 4 THE MOUNDS NEAR LITTLE ROCK, ARK. . n 5 INDIAN SYMBOLS 13 6 SPECIMEN OF INDIAN PICTURE-WRITING 15 7 INDIAN LIFE 17 8 AN INDIAN FAMILY MOVING 18 g NORMAN SHIP (from the Bayeux Tapestry) 20 10 THE ANCIENT TOWER AT NEWPORT, R. I . -. 20 11 PORTRAIT, COLUMBUS 21 12 BEHAIM S GLOBE (1492) EASTERN HEMISPHERE 22 13 " " (1492) WESTERN HEMISPHERE 23 14 COLUMBUS DISCOVERING LAND 24 15 A SPANISH CARAVEL 24 16 COLUMBUS TAKING POSSESSION 25 17 TOMB OF COLUMBUS AT HAVANA 26 18 BALBOA Initial 27 19 DE SOTO S MARCH 28 20 PORTRAIT, JACQUES CARTIER 28 21 MAP OF EARLY AMERICAN DISCOVERIES 29 22 PORTRAIT, ADMIRAL COLIGNY 29 23 OLD GATEWAY AT ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA 30 24 RALEIGH INTRODUCES TOBACCO INTO ENGLAND 32 25 THE DESERTED COLONY OF ROANOKE 33 26 THE RUINS AT JAMESTOWN 34 127 SMITH EXPLAINING HIS COMPASS TO THE INDIANS 35 28 POCAHONTAS 36 29 SELLING WIVES TO THE PLANTERS 38 30 DRUMMOND BROUGHT BEFORE BERKELEY 40 31 PORTRAIT, LORD BALTIMORE 42 32 SIGNING THE COMPACT IN THE CABIN OF THE MAYFLOWER 43 33 PLYMOUTH ROCK 44 34 WELCOME, ENGLISHMEN. PLYMOUTH, 1621 45 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE 35 FAC-SIMILE OF FIRST MAP ENGRAVED IN NEW ENGLAND 47 36 ROGER WILLIAMS RECEIVED BY CANONICUS 48 37 PORTRAIT, KING PHILIP 49 38 GOFFE AT H ADLEY 5 39 THE OLD WITCH HOUSE, SALEM 52 40 THE CHARTER OAK 54 41 THE HALF-MOON IN THE HUDSON 55 42 PORTRAIT, GOVERNOR STUYVESANT 57 43 THE ENGLISH LANDING AT NEW YORK, 1664 58 44 THE TOMB OF PETER STUYVESANT 59 45 SEALS OF NEW AMSTERDAM AND NEW YORK 60 46 STATUE OF PENN IN PHILADELPHIA 61 47 HUGUENOTS GOING TO CHURCH 64 48 PORTRAIT, GENERAL OGLETHORPE, AGED 102 65 49 PENN S TREATY TREE 66 50 THE DEATH WHOOP Initial 67 51 PORTRAIT, SAMUEL CHAMPLAIN , 68 52 MARQUETTE DESCENDING THE MISSISSIPPI 69 53 A FORTIFIED HOUSE 70 54 THE INDIAN ATTACK ON SCHENECTADY 71 55 MRS. DUSTIN DISPOSING OF HER CAPTORS 72 56 MAP OF THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS (1689 to 1763) 73 57 AN INCIDENT OF WASHINGTON S RETURN 75 58 PORTRAIT, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN . . 76 59 WASHINGTON AT BRADDOCK S DEFEAT 77 60 PORTRAIT, GENERAL WOLFE. . . 80 61 QUEBEC IN EARLY TIMES 81 62 THE GRAVE OF BRADDOCK 83 63 CLEARING A HOME IN THE BACKWOODS Initial 84 64 PINE-TREE SHILLING 85 65 THE OLD STAGE-COACH 86 66 EARLY PRINTING-PRESS 89 67 A SCOLD GAGGED 90 68 THE STOCKS go 69 THE FIRST CHURCH ERECTED IN CONNECTICUT (1638) 91 70 WHITEFIELD S HOUSE, GUILFORD, CONNECTICUT 95 71 TRAINING-DAY IN THE OLDEN TIME 97 72 A WEDDING JOURNEY 98 73 DUTCH MANSION AND COTTAGE IN NEW AMSTERDAM 102 74 DUTCH COURTSHIP 106 75 YE DUTCH SCHOOLMASTER 106 76 EARLY AMERICAN PLOW , 114 77 THE PILLORY 115 78 THE OLD-TIME FIRESIDE 119 79 ANCIENT CHAIR (brought over in the Mayflower) 125 80 THE WOOLEN SPINNING-WHEEL 126 81 FIELD SPORTS OF THE SOUTH 130 82 THE BOSTON TEA-PARTY Initial 133 83 PORTRAIT, WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM 135 84 PATRICK HENRY ADDRESSING THE VIRGINIA ASSEMBLY 136 85 MAP OF THE COLONIES 138 1 6 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE 86 FANEUIL HALL , 140 87 THE REGULATORS THREATENING GOVERNOR TRYON 142 88 CARPENTER S HALL 144 89 ENGLAND FORCING TEA DOWN THE THROAT OF AMERICA 145 90 THE LIGHT IN THE STEEPLE Initial 146 91 PAUL REVERE SPREADING THE ALARM 147 92 MAP, VICINITY OF BOSTON AND CONCORD 148 93 PUTNAM STARTING FOR CAMBRIDGE 149 94 ETHAN ALLEN AT TICONDEROGA 150 95 THE PRAYER BEFORE THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL 152 96 MAP OF THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL 153 97 THE BAYONET CHARGE AT BUNKER HILL 154 98 THE OLD MAGAZINE AT WILLIAMSBURG, VA 158 99 SPECIMEN OF CONTINENTAL MONEY 161 100 THE PRESCOTT GATE, QUEBEC 163 101 A STREET IN QUEBEC SCENE OF ARNOLD S ATTACK 165 102 EVACUATION OF BOSTON Initial 166 103 BOSTON ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO 169 104 THE ATTACK ON FORT MOULTRIE 171 105 LIBERTY BELL 173 106 MAP OF BATTLE OF LONG ISLAND 178 107 PRISON-SHIP AT WALLABOUT 179 108 THE RETREAT FROM LONG ISLAND 180 109 MAP OF THE LOWER HUDSON 185 1 10 A HESSIAN GRENADIER 188 in WASHINGTON CROSSING THE DELAWARE 191 112 WASHINGTON S VISIT TO GENERAL RALL 194 113 PORTRAIT, ROBERT MORRIS 195 114 FRANKLIN AT THE FRENCH COURT Initial 196 115 DEATH OF GENERAL MERCER AND MERCER MONUMENT 198 116 PORTRAITS, PULASKI, KOSCIUSKO AND BARON DEKALB 202 117 RUINS OF FORT TICONDEROGA 205 118 THE ALARM AT FORT SCHUYLER 209 119 MRS. SCHUYLER SETTING THE GRAIN-FIELDS ON FIRE 212 120 GENERAL FRASER COVERED BY SHARP-SHOOTERS 217 121 MAP OF THE UPPER HUDSON 219 122 PORTRAIT, GENERAL BURGOYNE . ... 224 123 " GENERAL GATES 225 124 MAP OF OPERATIONS IN NEW JERSEY AND PENNSYLVANIA 230 125 THE PAOLI MONUMENT 232 126 BATTLE OF GERMANTOWN ATTACK ON CHEW S HOUSE , 234 127 CAPTURE OF GENERAL PRESCOTT 237 128 EXECUTION OF A SPY AT KINGSTON, N. Y 240 129 WASHINGTON S HEADQUARTERS AT VALLEY FORGE 246 130 WASHINGTON AT PRAYER Initial 247 131 IN CAMP AT VALLEY FORGE 251 132 PORTRAIT, MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE 255 133 Louis XVI., MARIE ANTOINETTE AND THE DAUPHIN 259 134 MEDAL COMMEMORATING THE ALLIANCE BETWEEN FRANCE AND THE UNITED STATES 259 135 MOLLY PITCHER AT THE BATTLE OF MONMOUTH 261 17 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE 136 PORTRAIT, JOSEPH BRANDT (after Catlin) 269 137 " RED JACKET (after Weir) 270 138 MAP OF OPERATIONS IN VIRGINIA AND THE CAROLINAS 272 139 GIVING THE COUNTERSIGN AT STONY POINT 275 140 CAPTURE OF THE SERAPIS BY THE BON HOMME RICHARD 281 141 THE DECATUR MONUMENT 282 142 PATRIOTS MAKING ARMS AND AMMUNITION Initial 283 143 A RENDEZVOUS OF MARION AND HIS MEN 288 144 NANCY HART AND THE BRITISH SOLDIERS 292 145 THE OLD SUGAR HOUSE, LIBERTY STREET, NEW YORK 298 146 CAPTURE OF MAJOR ANDRE 32 147 THE MONUMENT AT TARRYTOWN ... 305 148 GENERAL WAYNE CONFRONTING THE RIOTERS Initial 306 149 MRS. STEELE AND GENERAL GREENE 310 150 THE PARTISAN LEADERS OF THE SOUTH 314 151 MAP OF THE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN 320 152 SURRENDER OF CORNWALLIS AT YORKTOWN 321 153 PORTRAIT, GEORGE THE THIRD 324 154 WASHINGTON S INAUGURATION AT FEDERAL HALL Initial 327 155 WASHINGTON S HEADQUARTERS AT NEWBURG 330 156 MAP, TERRITORIAL GROWTH OF THE UNITED STATES 332 157 WASHINGTON AND HIS CABINET 335 158 DANIEL BOONE S EXPLORING EXPEDITION 340- 159 MOUNT VERNON 343 160 PORTRAIT, NAPOLEON BUONAPARTE 345 161 MEDAL, WASHINGTON AND LAFAYETTE 353 162 PORTRAIT, THOMAS JEFFERSON Initial 354 163 JEFFERSON GOING TO HIS INAUGURATION 356 164 CHIEF-JUSTICE MARSHALL IN THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 359 165 DUEL BETWEEN HAMILTON AND BURR 363 166 THE CLERMONT, FULTON S STEAMBOAT 366 167 PORTRAIT, ELSKWATAWA, THE PROPHET 370 168 BURNING OF THE RICHMOND (VA.) THEATRE 371 169 MAP OF THE WAR OF 1812-14 (NORTHERN REGION) 374 170 GENERAL SCOTT AND THE TWO INDIANS 376 171 " OLD IRONSIDES " 378 172 CAPTURE OF THE FROLIC 379 173 SACKETT S HARBOR IN 1814 380 174 PORTRAIT, CAPTAIN JAMES LAWRENCE , 382: 175 PERRY S HEADQUARTERS 384 176 PERRY LEAVING THE LAWRENCE 385 177 A CARICATURE OF THE TIME (QUEEN CHARLOTTE AND JOHNNY BULL GOT THEIR DOSE OF PERRY) 386 178 PORTRAIT, OLIVER HAZARD PERRY 387 179 MAP, SOUTHERN REGION OF THE WAR OF 1812-14 388 180 WEATHERFORD IN JACKSON S TENT 389 181 THE ATTACK ON OSWEGO 390 182 COLONEL MILLER AT LUNDY S LANE 392 183 THE RUINS OF FORT ERIE BUFFALO IN THE DISTANCE 393 184 BRITISH SOLDIERS BURNING BOOKS IN THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 394 185 THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS 3 97 - 18 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE 186 PORTRAIT, EMMA WILLARD 402 187 CHICAGO IN 1820 405 188 THE OLD BLOCK-HOUSE, CHICAGO 407 189 PORTRAIT, JOHN QUINCY ADAMS Initial 408 190 LAFAYETTE AT THE TOMB OF WASHINGTON 4U igi MONTICELLO, THE HOME OF JEFFERSON 415 192 THE FIRST RAILROAD TRAIN IN THE UNITED STATES 416 193 PORTRAIT, ANDREW JACKSON .- 419 194 PORTRAITS, H AYNE AND WEBSTER 422 195 HENRY CLAY ADDRESSING THE SENATE 425 196 THE UNITED STATES BANK 426 197 THE DADE MONUMENT AT WEST POINT, N. Y 430 198 PORTRAIT, WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON 434 199 BIRTHPLACE OF MARTIN VAN BUREN 435 200 PORTRAIT, JOHN TYLER 436 201 THE TOMB OF HARRISON 438. 202 VIEW OF N AUVOO CITY 441 203 HOUSE IN WHICH THE FlRST CONGRESS OF TEXAS MET 444 204 SANTA ANNA REBUKED BY HOUSTON 446 205 CAPTURE OF THE MEXICAN BATTERY BY CAPTAIN MAY 450 206 A SCENE AT MONTEREY 452 207 MAP ILLUSTRATING THE MEXICAN WAR 454 208 ON THE SUMMIT OF THE CORDILLERAS 458. 209 SECRETARY PRESTON AND THE BOATSWAIN 462 210 PORTRAIT, GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR 463 211 BIRD S-EYE VIEW OF SAN FRANCISCO 466 212 ASHLAND, THE HOME OF HENRY CLAY 470 213 SCENES IN KANSAS 473 214 PORTRAIT, JAMES BUCHANAN 475 215 " ABRAHAM LINCOLN 479 216 FORT SUMTER 480 217 MASS MEETING IN UNION SQUARE, NEW YORK Initial 483 218 LINCOLN S EARLY HOME IN ILLINOIS 485 219 ATTACK ON FORT SUMTER FROM MORRIS ISLAND 487 220 " STONEWALL" JACKSON AT THE HEAD OF HIS BRIGADE 491 221 INTERCEPTING THE TRENT 494 222 GROUP OF UNION VOLUNTEERS Initial. 495 223 SURRENDER OF FORT DONELSON. . . ... 498 224 THE MIDNIGHT COUNCIL OF WAR 499 225 DONALDSON S POINT AND ISLAND No. 10 503 226 MAP OF OPERATIONS IN THE EAST 505 227 HEROISM OF COLONEL ROGERS 507 228 BIRD S-EYE VIEW OF NEW ORLEANS 510- 229 NAVAL DUEL BETWEEN THE MONITOR AND THE MERRIMAC 514 230 MAP OF THE PENINSULA 516 231 BUILDING A CORDUROY ROAD THROUGH A SWAMP 517 232 PORTRAIT, GENERAL GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN 520 233 " GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE 522 234 DEATH OF GENERAL KEARNEY 525 235 STORMING THE BRIDGE AT ANTIETAM 527 236 THE MONITOR AT SEA 530 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE 237 READING THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION Initial 531 238 RUNNING THE BATTERIES AT VICKSBURG 532 239 MAP OF VICKSBURG AND VICINITY 534 240 MAP OF CHATTANOOGA AND VICINITY 536 241 A CHARGE AT MISSIONARY RIDGE 538 242 LEE AND JACKSON PLANNING THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE 542 243 STONEWALL JACKSON IN HIS TENT 545 244 PORTRAIT, MAJOR-GENERAL GEORGE G. MEADE 548 245 MAP OF GETTYSBURG AND VICINITY 549 246 REPULSING A CHARGE AT GETTYSBURG 551 247 DRAFTING 556 248 THE NATIONAL MONUMENT AT GETTYSBURG 559 249 AN IMPROMPTU FORTIFICATION Initial 560 250 MAP OF OPERATIONS IN THE WEST 563 251 THE MARCH TO THE SEA 565 252 CROSSING THE RAPIDAN GRANT S TELEGRAM 568 253 MAP OF GRANT S CAMPAIGN AROUND RICHMOND 569. 254 PORTRAIT, GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT 573 255 SHERIDAN S ARRIVAL AT CEDAR CREEK 576 256 NAVAL BATTLE IN MOBILE BAY 579 257 THE ALABAMA 582 258 PORTRAITS, SHERMAN AND SHERIDAN 583, 259 REFUGEES FOLLOWING THE ARMY Initial 584. 260 SHERMAN AT THE HEAD OF HIS TROOPS 586 261 PORTRAIT, GENERAL JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON 587 262 CITY OF RICHMOND 589, 263 CAVALRY CHARGE ON THE CONFEDERATE WAGON-TRAIN 591 264 SIGNING THE TERMS OF SURRENDER 593 265 PORTRAIT, JEFFERSON DAVIS 594 266 ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN 596 267 A SCENE AT THE SURRENDER OF LEE 6co- 268 RECONCILIATION Initial 603 269 THE GRAND REVIEW MARCHING DOWN PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE 605 270 PORTRAIT, ANDREW JOHNSON 607 271 THE GREAT EASTERN IN MID-OCEAN LAYING THE CABLE 610 272 GENERAL GRANT S RESIDENCE AT GALENA, ILL., IN 1860 612 273 DRIVING THE LAST SPIKE 613 274 PORTRAIT, HORACE GREELEY 617 275 CENTENNIAL MEDAL REVERSE 620 276 MAIN EXHIBITION BUILDING INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION 624 277 ART GALLERY INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION ... 625 278 HORTICULTURAL HALL INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION 626 279 CENTENNIAL MEDAL REVERSE 627 20 PART I. " Lift we the twilight curtains of the Past, And, turning from familiar sight and sound, Sadly and full of reverence let us cast A glance upon Tradition s shadowy ground, Led by the few pale lights which, glimmering round That dim, strange land of Eld, seem dying fast" CHAPTER I. EJifcLY HISTORY OF AMERICA. PREHISTORIC PEOPJLEJ3. HE authentic history of North America is comprised within four centuries. All back of that rests upon ruins and traditions, and is largely mythical. The Indians were not the most ancient inhabitants of North America. Through the whole length of the Mississippi Valley are found the remains of a numerous and civilized people which once occupied this coun try. This race is known as the Mound Builders, from the large number of mounds which they erected, seemingly as monu ments to distinguished dead, or 10 EARLY HISTORY OF AMERICA. as grand altars for religious purposes. Sixteen miles east of Little Rock, Arkansas, are two of these elevations, the larger of which is over two hundred and fifty feet in height. Its summit is crowned with a magnificent elm which has stood four hun dred years. Near by is a sheet of water known as Mound Lake, three and a half miles long and a quarter of a mile broad, the result evidently of excavation for the mound material. The two mounds are encircled by a ditch which encloses an area of over ninety acres. Elsewhere are seen extensive earthworks constructed with considerable skill. They crown a steep bluff,, or are carried across the neck of a peninsula formed by the bend of a river. If there is no access to springs or streams, they contain artificial reservoirs for holding water. Fort Hill, on the Little Miami River, Ohio, consists of an embankment nearly four miles in extent, and from ten to twenty feet high, varying according to the natural advantages of the ground. In Adams county, Ohio, is a curious earthwork, representing an immense serpent, one thousand feet long, holding in its mouth an egg- shaped mound one hundred and sixty feet in length, and having its tail twined into a triple coil. These mounds rarely contain more than one skeleton. Many tools and ornaments of copper, brass, silver, and precious stones, such as knives, axes, chisels, bracelets, and beads have been found ; as also cloth and thread and vases of pottery. Near Nashville, in Tennessee, an idol made of clay and gypsum was ex humed. Roman and Persian coins have been discovered ; and in Western New York a silver piece, with the date A.D. 600, found far below the surface, furnishes a theme for many a speculation. The Mound Builders worked the copper mines about Lake Superior, and their old pits are now familiarly known in that region as the " ancient diggings." In one of these mines near Eagle Harbor, a mass of copper was found which weighed forty- six tons. The block had been separated from the original vein and the surface pounded smooth. About it lay stone hammers, copper chisels and wedges in abundance, as if the workmen had but just departed. Upon these mounds and mines the largest THE SERPENT MOUND. PREHISTORIC PEOPLES. II forest trees are now growing. On one mound near Marietta, Ohio, there are trees which must have seen at least eight cen turies. The age of the mounds themselves is a matter of conjec ture alone. " A race that long has passed away Built them ; a disciplined and populous race Heaped with long toil the earth, while yet the Greek Was hewing the Pentelicus to forms Of symmetry, and rearing on its rock The glittering Parthenon." Bryant. When the Jesuit missionaries first came to America, they found the Indians not only entirely ignorant of this people, but possessed of no tradition concerning them. Whence these un known races came to our shores we know not. It is natural THE MOUNDS NEAR LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS. to suppose, however, that their home was Asia the birthplace of man. Within the past century fifteen Japanese vessels have, it is said, been driven by storms across the Pacific Ocean, and wrecked on the American coast. Such events may have hap pened anciently, and the shipwrecked crews may have settled the new country. Formerly, too, as geologists tell us, before Behring Strait was cut through, the two continents were con nected. Parties of adventurers may then have crossed, and finding a pleasant land on this side, may have decided to make it their home. All is conjecture, however, and we know not when nor whence the Mound Builders came, nor when nor whither they went. 12 EARLY HISTORY OF AMERICA. Most curious of all the remains found on this continent are those of Arizona. Here are not only Spanish cathedrals dating back of the Revolutionary struggle, and ruins of Spanish towns indicating an early and extensive colonization, now disappeared, which must have been in its glory when as yet only a few woe begone English settlers half starved in their rude cabins along the Potomac River and Plymouth Bay ; but recent explorations have revealed other and prehistoric remains, belonging to a race which has left behind no tradition even of its name or origin. The Gila Valley alone, it is estimated, must once have been occu pied by one hundred thousand inhabitants. In the great Tonto Basin, bounded by the rivers Gila, Verde and Black Mesa, and the White Mountains, nearly every hill within a range of ten thousand square miles is covered with broken pottery, so perfectly glazed that its bright coloring is still preserved. Here are ruins of pueblos four stories high, and with walls two feet thick ; aqueducts, reservoirs, irrigating canals, and regular fortifications. Along the cliffs in many places are multitudes of caves dug into the solid rock, where the inhabitants seem to have taken refuge and made a last stand against an invading foe. These caves are often twenty feet deep, and closed by mason work of stone and cement still well preserved. These retreats are only accessible by means of ladders, or by narrow paths along the edge of projecting crags, where a single false step would plunge one to inevitable destruc tion. In the larger caves, the front wall is bastioned and loop- holed ; while in the ceiling of the principal room is a man-hole enabling one to enter a series of chambers with which the whole mountain is honeycombed. In the thick deposit of bat-lime which now covers the floor, are broken pieces of pottery like those found so abundantly in the ruined villages along the river valleys. The timbers used in the various rooms were evidently cut with stone hatchets. The chambers are dark and the walls are yet black with the smoke from the fires of the ancient cave- dwellers. One can but speculate on the fearful struggle which appar ently forced this people to leave their fortified villages and cultivated fields, and to hew for themselves asylums in the rock ; the long months and years during which they continued the con test in their mountain fortresses ; the details of this final death- struggle ; and when and how the last of this host yielded, and the nation was blotted out of existence. ((UNIVERSITY^ INDIAN DIALECt*$\^ 13 THE JNOFfTH AMERICAN JJMDIyVNg. The first inhabitants of whom we have any definite knowledge are the Indians so named because the earliest European explorers of this country supposed they had reached the eastern coast of India. The total number of these aborigines, at that time within the present limits of the United States, was probably four hundred thousand, of whom about one-half lived east of the Mississippi. They all had much the same look, and doubtless a common origin. They were, however, divided into numerous tribes and spoke different languages. Diligent study of these tongues has classed them all into, perhaps, seven great families the Algonquin, the Iroquois, the Mobilian, the Dakotah or Sioux, the Cherokee, the Catawba, and the Shoshonee. These are the names by which they are commonly known to us, but not, in general, those used among the natives. The terms Huron, Iroquois, etc., are only nick-names given by the whites ; Sioux is an Algonquin appella tion. The various tribes were divided into clans, each with its own symbol, as a tortoise, deer, snipe, or hawk, often tattooed on the warrior s breast. Over the clan was a chief or sachem, who represented it at the grand councils and governed it according to custom and tradition. INDIAN SYMBOLS. The Algonquins dwelt along the Atlantic coast from Cape Fear northward, and were those with whom the Jamestown and Plymouth colonists alike came in contact. The Narragansetts, Pequods, Massachusetts, Mohegans, Manhattans, Delawares, Powhatans, Shawnees, Miamis, Illinois, Sacs, and Foxes, were tribes of this wide-spread family. Their memory is perpetuated by the histories of Pocahontas, Powhatan, Massasoit, King Philip, Black Hawk, Tecumseh, and Pontiac. The Iroquois occupied a territory in the heart of the Algon quin region a tract south of Lake Ontario, covering the head waters of the Susquehanna, Delaware, and Ohio, which General 14 EARLY HISTORY OF AMERICA. Scott well termed the " strategic centre " of the United States. Here was the home of the Five Nations, so famous in all the colonial wars. Here Red Jacket and Joseph Brandt figured as characters more like ancient Romans than wild forest Indians. In the time of their greatest prosperity this confederacy did not number over fifteen thousand, and it could not send out much over two thou sand warriors. But they were fierce, bloodthirsty, and restless for conquest. Pushing along the valleys from their headquarters on the great watershed of Central New York, they carried their triumphant arms to the soil of Kentucky and Virginia. Their power was felt to the Kennebec on the east and the Illinois on the west. The Delaware tribe was triumphantly and ignominiously styled their " woman." Of the five nations, the Mohawk was the most dreaded. When, among the peaceful Indians along the Connecticut, a messenger stalked into their council-room exclaim ing, " The Mohawks are come to suck your blood," there was no thought of safety except in flight or submission. The Mobilians stretched along the Gulf from the Atlantic to the Rio Grande. They comprised within their limits the com paratively insignificant tribes of the Uchee and the Natchez. The Creeks, Seminoles, Choctavvs, and the Chickasaws are interwoven with the later history of the country at the south, as the Sioux, Miamis, Illinois, Sacs, etc., are on the north. The separate languages were completely organized, though no savage had ever attempted their analysis, or knew anything about sounds, letters, or syllables. The study of their speech by Europeans has shown many peculiarities. Thus the Algon- quins had no f ; the Choctaws no d; the Iroquois, except the Oneidas, whose tongue was soft and liquid, no /. The Algonquins loved consonants, while every word in the Cherokee ended in a vowel. They all lacked abstract or general terms. The Algon quins, for example, had no word for oak, but a name for each kind of oak. There was no word for fishing, but a specific name for fire-fishing, net-fishing, etc. They always compounded words so as to express new ideas. Thus, as the Indian never kneels, when Eliot, the famous New England missionary, wished to translate that thought, he was forced to use a definition merely, and the compound word is eleven syllables long wutappessittukqus- sonnoowehtunkquot. The Indians never said " father " alone, but always included with it a possessive pronoun. Consequently the Doxology used by Christian Indians reads, " Our Father, his Son, THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. 15 and their Holy Ghost." Their tongues were thus peculiarly syn thetic, and often subject, predicate, and object were conjugated as one word. The Cherokee language had but eighty-five sylla bles, which were analyzed by an educated Indian known as George Guess, who assigned a character to each. Thus one may learn to read and write this tongue in a very short time. The Indians had no written language, though they used on occasions a species of hieroglyphics or picture-writing. A series of rude symbols scratched on a tree or rock gave any information desired. Schoolcraft gives the following, used by his Indian guides to inform their comrades that a company of fourteen whites and two Indians had spent the night at that point. Nos. 9, 10 indi cate the white soldiers and their arms ; No. i is the captain, with a sword ; No. 2 the secretary, with the book ; No. 3 the geolo gist, with a hammer ; Nos. 7, 8 are the guides, without hats ; Nos. 11, 12 show what they ate in camp ; Nos. 13, 14, 15 indicate how many fires they made : SPECIMEN OF INDIAN PICTURE-WRITING. The Indian was a barbarian. His condition was that known In geology as the Stone Age of man, since his implements and tools were made of that material. His stone hatchet was so rude that to cut down a large forest tree would have required a month s time. He had no horse, cow, or other domestic animal of burden. He had no knowledge of any metals except gold, silver, and copper, and these to a very limited extent. Labor he considered as degrading, and fit only for women. His squaw, therefore, built his wigwam, cut his wood, and carried his burdens when he l6 EARLY HISTORY OF AMERICA. journeyed. While he hunted or fished, she cleared the land for his corn by burning down the trees, scratched the ground with a crooked stick or hoed it with a clam-shell, and dressed skins for his clothing. She cooked his food by dropping hot stones into a tight willow basket containing materials for soup. The leavings of her lord s feast sufficed for her, and the coldest place in the wigwam was her seat. He rarely spoke to his wife or children. He would sit on the ground for days, leaning his elbows on his knees in stupid silence. He was crafty and cruel. His word was no protection. False and cunning, he never hesitated to violate a treaty when his passions prompted him to hatred. He was hos pitable, and the door of his wigwam was always open to any comer, who had but to enter, sit down at the fire, and to be served without a word. He would give up his own mat or skin that his guest or a passing traveler might rest thereon. He remembered a benefit and often saved his benefactor at the peril of his life. He loved to gain his end by stratagem and rarely met an enemy in fair fight. No victory was prized when the conquest cost the life of a warrior. He could endure great fatigue, and in his expeditions often lay without shelter in severest weather. It was his glory to bear the most horrible tortures without sign of pain. An Indian wigwam at the best was only a temporary shelter. It was built of bark resting on poles, and had an opening at the top to let out the smoke and let in the light. The fire was built on the ground at the centre. The lodge was moved from place to place whenever fancy suggested. The most frequent reason was the scarcity of game or fuel. Indeed, it is said that when the whites first came to this country the Indians supposed it to be because they had consumed all the wood in their own land, and that they were in quest of fuel. The Iroquois built larger and more permanent dwellings. These were often thirty or forty and sometimes over two hundred feet in length, each inhabited by several families. Many of these were irregularly gathered in a town, on the bank of some river or lake, where they were fortified, perhaps, by a palisade and deep ditch. " A person entering one of these wigwams on a winter s evening might have beheld," says Parkman, " a strange spectacle ; the vista of fires lighting the smoky concave ; the bronzed groups encircling each cooking, eating, gambling, or amusing themselves with idle badinage ; wrinkled squaws, hideous with three-score years of hardship ; grizzly old THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS. I/ warriors, scarred with war-club and tomahawk ; young aspirants, whose honors were yet to be won ; damsels, gay with ochre and wampum ; and restless children, pell-mell with restless dogs. Now a tongue of resinous flame painted each wild feature in vivid light ; now the fitful gleam expired, and the group vanished from sight as the nation has from history." INDIAN LIFE. The Indians married young, the girls at thirteen or fourteen^ and the boys by eighteen. Meanwhile the latter were required to show their manhood by long endurance of famine and by bringing in plenty of game. A marriageable girl wore an adver tisement of the fact upon her head. The marriage ceremony often consisted of nothing more than the bride s bringing to the bridegroom a dish of cooked corn and an armful of fuel. War and the chase were the natural state of the Indian. The battle-field and the hunting-ground contained everything of special honor or value. The bow was placed in the boy s hands as soon as he could grasp it. His training henceforth was to shoot the arrow, to glide upon the snow-shoe, to hurl the toma hawk, and to cast the spear. To dance the war-dance, to sing the war-song, to go forth on the war-path, to lie in wait for his enemy, and to bring back the scalp of one whom he had slain, were 18 EARLY HISTORY OF AMERICA. his highest delight. Two or three warriors roaming through the forest, with only a bag of pounded corn hanging at the side for food, would watch a hostile village or party for weeks, hiding in rocks or thickets, awaiting a chance for a surprise, to assassi nate a defenceless man, woman, or child ; then hastily cutting off the scalp, as proof of their prowess, would hurry home again in triumph. The war party marched in single file, the chief in advance, while the last one erased the tracks they had made. A captive was often brutally mangled before reaching the village of AN INDIAN FAMILY MOVING. his captors. Here he was obliged to run the gauntlet between a double row of its entire population, who turned out to receive him, each inflicting a blow as he passed. The council decided his fate. He might be adopted into some family, to supply the place of a lost member, or be sentenced to the torture. This was too horrible for description. The body was gashed with knives, the hair and beard were torn out, the fingers and toes were wrenched off, the flesh was seared with red-hot stones and punc tured with sharpened sticks; and finally the bleeding, mangled body was tied to a stake and burned to ashes. While life lasted the victim of their cruelty uttered no groan, but sang the war- song of his clan, boasted of his exploits, told the names of those whom he had slain, and taunted them with their unskilfulness in devising tortures in comparison with those whicfti he had himself inflicted on their kinsmen. 1492.] DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 19 The religion of the Indian varied greatly in different tribes. Those of New England had no word for God, and there is no evidence of a religious ceremony among them. The Iroquois had faith in a Great Spirit, and in happy hunting-grounds where the departed warrior might hope to hunt and feast and be as lazy as he pleased. The Natchez had temples for the worship of the sun, and sacred fires which were never allowed to expire. The Indians believed in protecting spirits, who cared not alone for human beings but even for animals. They were cautious about giving them any offence, frequently offering them gifts to pro pitiate their favor. They handled carefully the bones of beaver, buffalo, deer, and other game, lest the spirjts of the dead might inform those of the living, and teach them to escape the hunter s toils. They would often talk to animals as if they were human beings, and beg their pardon for having wounded them, explain ing the necessity which compelled the attack, and exhorting the sufferer to endure the pain so as not to bring disgrace on his family. The Indian invoked the aid of these various powers, whose presence he acknowledged in nature, and implicitly relied on their protection. He was anxious to have such a guardian for himself. The young Chippewa, for example, retired to a solitary lodge in the forest, blackened his face, and fasted for days, that he might become pure and exalted enough to behold in a vision his protecting deity. Everywhere there was an idea of sin which was to be atoned for, of the duty of self-denial and sacrifice, and of rewards and punishments for good and evil. So prevalent was this sentiment that Le Clercq thought one of the apostles must have reached America and taught the Indians the sublime truths of Revelation. DIgCOVEFJY OF AJVIERICA. As early as the tenth century, the Northmen settled Green land, whence, according to the Icelandic Sagas, their venture some sailors pushed westward, discovering Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and Vinland or Vineland, which is generally supposed to be the coast of New England. After that, other adventurers repeatedly visited the New World, explored the country, and bartered with the natives. A rich Icelander, named Thorfinn 20 THE EARLY HISTORY OF AMERICA. [1492. NORMAN SHIP (FROM THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY). Karlsefni, spent three winters on the coast of Massachusetts, where his wife bore him a son named Snorre, said to be the first child born of Euro pean parents in this coun try. The Northmen, how ever, finally forgot the way across the ocean, and almost the existence of the Vinland their an cestors had discovered. They left behind them,, so far as we know, not a trace of their occupation, and were it not for their legends, we should not have dreamed that they ever visited our shores. The old stone tower at Newport, Rhode Island, long thought to have been erected by the Norsemen, is very like some which are still standing in the part of England from which Governor Arnold came ; while the singular inscription on the rock at Dighton was quite probably made by the Indians. Centuries passed in which no vessel essayed the forgotten passage across the far-stretching Atlantic. The shadows of the Middle Ages were dispersed, and Europe was kindling with newly awakened life. The Crusades had developed the mari time importance of such Italian cities as Genoa, Pisa, and Venice. A taste for luxury had grown and strengthened. The art of printing by movable types had just been invented, and books of travel were eagerly read. Marco Polo and other eastern travelers had told the most marvelous stories of Asiatic coun tries, of " Cathay" (China) and the good liest island of " Cipango " (Japan), where the soil sparkled with rubies and diamonds, and pearls were as plentiful as pebbles. An extensive trade had been opened up with the East. The shawls, spices, precious stones, and silks of India THE ANCIENT TOWER AT NEWPORT. 1492.] DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. 21 and Persia were brought to Europe, and sold in the Western marts. But the route was tedious. The goods were borne by caravans to the Red Sea, carried by camels to the Nile, and thence shipped across the Mediterranean to Italy. The problem of the age was how to reach the East by sea, and thus transport these rich pro ducts in ships directly to Europe. The earth was generally be lieved to be a great flat plain, washed on every side by one vast ocean. A few wise geographers had already conceived the novel idea of its rotundity. But, in their calculations the globe was very much smaller than we now know it to be, and Asia extended much further to the east ; so, by sailing westward from Europe they expected, perhaps by a short voyage, to reach the eastern shore of their own continent, which was to them the only one in the world. " It is singular," says Washington Irving, " how much the success of this great undertaking depended upon two happy errors, the imaginary extent of Asia to the East, and the supposed smallness of the earth ; both, errors of the most learned and profound philosophers, but without which Columbus would hardly have ventured upon his en terprise." Christopher Columbus, a learned navigator of Genoa, enthusi astically adopted these views. Many events conspired to confirm his belief. A globe, published by Martin Behaim, one of Columbus s friends, in 1492 the very year Columbus made his west ward voyage shows very clearly the current idea at that time. It is curious to notice how in this map the dry details of geography are enlivened by mermaids with golden tresses and azure eyes, sea-serpents, and various monsters supposed to inhabit these un known, regions. A westerly gale washed on the coast of Portugal a piece of curiously carved wood. At the Madeiras, canes of a tropical growth were picked up on the beach, and once the bodies of two men of an unknown race were cast upon the shore. At last, Columbus determined to test the new theory by actually under taking the perilous voyage. Eighteen years of weary waiting followed. He sought aid in Genoa, Venice, and Portugal ; but in vain. Finally, after innumerable repulses, he obtained an audience COLUMBUS. 22 EARLY HISTORY OF AMERICA. [1492. %a,*^l * ff R r ^tfiire >Inc]icurrP (Indian A?*, 1 r \X ^ U^;:.J^ ^ &&&tt$r*m *^^A % ^ j EqumoctiunT ^Orient <^ THE EASTERN HEMISPHERE. From Behaim s Glebe, 1492. with Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. His demands seeming extravagant, he was refused. He left the court, and was already two leagues away, when Isabella, convinced of the grandeur of his scheme, called him back and pledged her own jewels to raise the necessary funds. This sacrifice, however, was not needed, as the court treasurer advanced money for the outfit. Three ships were equipped the Santa Maria, the Pinta, and the Nina. The first only was decked, the other two being merely open boats, or caravels. The sailors were many of them impressed, the bravest seamen shrinking from this hazardous undertaking. Columbus sailed from Palos, August 3, 1492. Touching only at the Cana ries, he struck out boldly to the west. Forty days had come and gone. Fresh terrors were born in the hearts of his fearful crew. All the laws of nature seemed 1492.] DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. J8 n PCirculus Kquiiioccialls (Equator) f.v , f i ~-~, Minupia M^<% Q THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE. Behaiin s Globe, 1492. changing-. The needle no longer pointed to the star in the north, and they were alone, without a guide, in the vast, trackless ocean. The trade-winds blew them steadily westward, and there was no hope of returning against it. They came into the Sargasso Sea, and now they should certainly perish in the stagnant waters. At times, signs of land appeared, and their hearts revived as they saw in the distant horizon the semblance of a shore. But it was only the clouds which mocked their hopes, and which faded away, leaving them still on a boundless sea. Still the days came and went, and still their prows, westward bent, pointed only to " Long ridgy waves their white manes rearing, And in the broad gleam disappearing; The broadened, blazing sun declining, And western waves, like fire-floods, shining." 2 4 EARLY HISTORY OF AMERICA. [1492, COLUMBUS DISCOVERING LAND. At last they became turbu lent and clamorous. They exclaimed against Colum bus as a wild fanatic. They thought of their far-away homes, and demanded a return from this hopeless voyage. They even resolved to throw the admiral overboard if he persisted in a refusal. But his iron will beat down their feebler purposes, and he sternly reminded them that the expedition had been sent out to seek the Indies, and added that, happen what might, by God s blessing, he should persevere until he accomplished the enterprise. The very next day brought new hope. Fresh -water weeds floated past their ships ; a branch of thorn with berries on it ; and, above all, a carved staff, which they eagerly ex amined. Not only land, but inhab ited land was before them. In the evening, Columbus, standing on the prow of his vessel, saw a light faintly glimmering in the horizon. At two in the morning, a Shot from the (From a drawing attributed to Columbus.) 1492.] DISCOVERY OF AMERICA. Pinta announced the joyful intelligence that land was in sight. The dream of Columbus was realized at last. On that mem orable Friday morning, October 12, 1492, a shore, green with tropical verdure, lay smiling before him. The perfume of flowers filled the air, and beautiful birds hovered round singing, as it were, " the songs of the angels." Clad in scarlet, and bearing in his hand the royal banner of Spain, he stepped upon the land, kissing it in an overflow of joy and gratitude. Thanking God for His goodness, and planting the sacred cross, he took formal posses sion of the country in the name of Ferdinand and Isabella. He called the island San Salvador. Believing that he had reached COLUMBUS TAKING POSSESSION. the islands lying off the eastern coast of India, he named them the West Indies, and the simple natives who flocked down to the shore to witness his arrival he called Indians. Afterward Columbus visited Cuba and Hayti. He actually sent an envoy to a chief in the interior of Cuba, supposing him to be the king of Tartary. Hayti he thought to be the Ophir of Solomon. On his return to Spain, Columbus was received with the great est enthusiasm. He was accorded the rare honor of telling his story seated in the presence of the king and queen. When he dilated upon the plants, birds, gold, and, above all, the natives who might yet be converted to the true faith, the two sovereigns fell upon their knees, while the choir sang a hymn of thanksgiving. 26 EARLY HISTORY OF AMERICA. [1498. TOMB OF COLUMBUS AT HAVANA. Columbus afterward made three other voyages of discovery. In 1498 he reached the mouth of the Orinoco, which he con sidered the great river Gihon, having its source in the Garden of Eden. His good fortune, however, had long since deserted him. Malice and envy did their worst. He was sent home from Hispaniola in chains, and died at last a worn-out, disgraced old man, igno rant of the fact that he had discovered a New World. Meanwhile, to other European eyes than those of Columbus had been grant ed the first sight of the mainland. John Cabot, a Venetian, sailing under a com mission from Henry VII. of England, discovered Cape Breton, probably in 1494. He, however, like Columbus, was seeking the route to the Indies, and supposed this to be the territory of the "Great Cham," king of Tartary. Sebastian Cabot continued his father s explorations, and sailed along the coast as far south as Maryland. He became convinced that it was not the eastern coast of Asia, but a new continent, that had been discov ered. As Vasco de Gama, a Portuguese, about this time (1498) rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and found the long-sought way to the East, little attention was paid to the discoveries of Cabot. " He gave a continent to England," says Biddle, " yet no man can point to the few feet of earth she has allowed him in return." The New World was not destined to receive its name from either Cabot or Columbus. Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian navigator, and a friend of Columbus, accompanied an expedition which reached the continent, and on his return wrote some letters de scribing his discoveries. These were published by a German geographer, who proposed that the new country should be called America, in honor of his hero. People liked the name, and it soon came into general use. CHAPTER II. AN SETTLEMENTS. DVENTURERS, thirsting for gold and glory, now flocked to America the land of wonder and mystery. Spanish, French, and English were eager to explore this new and richer _ Cathay. Ponce de Leon, an aged cava lier, sailed in search of a miraculous foun tain said to exist somewhere in the regions discovered by Columbus, whose magical waters, flowing over beds of gold and gems, would ensure to the old a second He did not find the fountain, but he came It was Easter Sun youth and vigor. in sight of a land blooming with flowers. day (1512), a day which the Spaniards call Pascua Florida, or Flowery Easter. So he gave the name Florida to this beautiful region. The following year Balboa crossed the Isthmus of Darien, and from the top of the Andes first caught sight of the wide expanse of the Pacific Ocean glittering in the morning sun. Reverently kneeling, he thanked God for the wonderful vision. Descending to the shore, he waded into the water, bearing his drawn sword in one hand and the banner of Castile in the other, taking pos session of the ocean, and all the coasts washed by its waters, for the crown of Spain. Cortez, with a handful of followers, took possession of Mexico and all the fabulous wealth of the Montezumas. Pizarro con quered Peru, and revelled in the riches of the Incas. De Soto, with a chosen band, explored the fastnesses of Florida, hoping to find " a second Mexico with its royal palace and sacred pyramids, or another Cuzco with its Temple of the Sun enriched with a frieze of gold." Gay cavaliers with helmet 28 EARLY HISTORY OF AMERICA. [1541. and lance, priests with holy vestments and vessels, marched through the wilderness for years. With the fluttering of ban ners and the clangor of trumpets, they followed the ignis fatuus \\ DE SOTO S MARCH. of gold and treasure they hoped to find. Thus they traversed Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi. In 1541 they discovered the Mississippi River. Beneath its muddy waters De Soto himself found a grave. It was all the New World had to give its most knightly adventurer. The French eagerly followed in the footsteps of the Spaniards. Verazzani, a Florentine in the ser vice of Francis I., coasted along the shores of Carolina and New Jersey, and entered the present harbors of Newport and New York. He named the country New France, and claimed it all for his king. The report published on his re turn was the earliest account given of the eastern coast of the United States. He thought the savages were "like the people JACQUES CARTIER. 1534.1 FRENCH EXPLORATIONS. 2 9 EAJILY DISCOVERERS ENGLISH in Capital letters. French, in Soman " Spanish in Italic " Corte. in the uttermost parts of China," and that the country was "not void of drugs and spices and other riches of gold, seeing that the color of the land doth so much argue it." In 1534, Carrier, a mariner of St. Malo, discovered a magnificent river, which he named, in honor of the day, the St. Lawrence. He ascended it, hoping it would furnish a north west and shorter passage to the Indies ; but he only reached the present site of Montreal. Coligny, the famous French admiral, formed a plan of found ing an empire in the New World which should offer an asylum to the distressed Huguenots. It was to be a colony based on religious ideas. This was half a century before the Pilgrims ADMIRAL COLIGNY. EXPLORATIONS AND SETTLEMENTS. [1562. landed at Plymouth. The attempt seemed full of promise, " but no Mayflower ever sailed from a French port." Jean Ribaut commanded the first expedition (1562). He landed at Port Royal. The company were delighted with the novelty of the wild forest scenes. The new land seemed to them " the finest, fruitfulest, and pleasantest of all the world." A fort was erected, and named Carolina, after Charles IX. of France. Thirty men were selected to remain, while Ribaut returned to France. This little party was now alone with the savage and the wilderness. They found no gold. Hunger came, and home-sickness. The green woods became a dismal prison, and the solitude a terror. They resolved to escape at every peril. Building a frail bark, they turned the prow toward France. A storm shattered their ship. At last, to avoid starvation, they killed and ate one of their own number, whom the lot decided should die for the rest. This horrible food only prolonged their lives for a new misfortune. After perils and sufferings untold, they had just come in sight of their own cherished coast when they were taken prisoners and carried to England. Two years afterward a second attempt was made by Laudon- niere, and a fort built on St. John s River, or the River of May, as they styled it. Here his company of adventurers, greedy of gain and of gold, quar reled among them selves, fought with the Indians, and, too lazy to till the land, starved as easily and slowly as they could. But the Spanish were by no means willing to relin quish their claim to Florida as all North America OLD GATEWAY AT ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA. W3S at that tlHlC called by them. Melendez, a brutal soldier, was sent by Philip II. to occupy Florida and drive out the French. They sighted land on St. Augustine s day (August 28, 1565). The foundations of a town, now the oldest 1565.] ENGLISH EXPLORATIONS. 31 in the United States, were soon laid and named in honor of that saint. Burning with zeal, Melendez, with five hundred soldiers, then hurried northward through the wilderness, and in the midst of a terrible tempest attacked the French fort and massacred nearly all the colonists. Charles IX. did nothing to avenge the deed. A bold Gascon, Dominique de Gourges, however, equipped a fleet at his own expense, sailed across the ocean, stormed the Spanish forts on the River of May, and put the garrison to the sword, under the very trees where they had slaughtered the captured Huguenots. Thus ended, for a time, the French attempts in the New World. During the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the English made repeated efforts to explore and colonize this country. Frobisher, seeking in vain to find the northwest passage to India, entered Baffin s Bay, and claimed the whole country for the crown of England. Drake, following in the footsteps of Magellan, rounded Cape Horn, ascended the western shore of America as far as the present boundary of Oregon, and, returning, refitted his ship in the harbor of San Francisco (15/9). Sir Humphrey Gilbert sought to establish a colony in Newfoundland. Returning home in the Squirrel, a little bark of ten tons, it was overtaken by a fearful storm. Sitting aft, with a book in his hand, Gilbert was heard to cry out to his companions in the other ship, "We are as near Heaven by sea as by land." That night the lights of the Squirrel suddenly disappeared, and neither ship nor sailors were ever seen again. Gilbert s half-brother, the famous Sir Walter Raleigh, having secured a patent for a vast extent of territory which he called Virginia, in honor of the "Virgin Queen" of England, made several unsuccessful attempts to establish settle ments therein. The first colony was planted on Roanoke Island (1585). Instead of tilling the ground, the settlers hunted for gold. Finding none, they were only too glad to return home with Drake, who happened to stop there on one of his buccaneering expeditions. They brought back with them the weed which the lethargic Indians used for smoking, and the custom of " drinking tobacco," as it was called, soon became exceedingly popular, in spite of the anathemas of the physicians, the Puritans, and even of King James himself, who wrote a tract against its use. It is said that one day, when Raleigh was sitting in his study privately practicing this new accomplishment, his servant entered with a tankard of ale. Seeing his master with a cloud of smoke issuing EXPLORATIONS AND SETTLEMENTS. [1587. from his mouth, the terrified domestic dashed the ale in his face as a partial extinguisher, and rushed down the stairs screaming for instant help, for Sir Walter would soon be burnt to ashes. Another colony *?<s**L ~ was now sent to Virginia. It hap pily consisted of families. The pre sence of woman brought cheerful ness and beauty, and in the pros pect of home cir cles and influence it bade fair to be permanent. The " City of Raleigh " was founded on the site of the former settlement. A faithful Indian chief was here bap tized and received the rank of a feudal baron Lord of Roanoke. Here, also, was born the first child of English parents on the soil of the United States Virginia Dare, grand-daughter of Governor White. The threatened invasion of the Armada occu pying the attention of England, it was three years before supplies were sent out to the infant colony. When at last the long-delayed ship sailed into the harbor she found it silent as the grave. The homes were all deserted, and not a living thing remained to tell the fate of their once hopeful occupants. On the trunk of a tree was found carved the name of a distant island, Croatan. The lateness of the season forbade any attempt to seek the island, and, appalled by the desolation and ruin which they beheld, the fleet returned without leaving a settler behind. To this day the " Lost Colony of Roanoke " remains a mystery. A century had now passed since the discovery of America, but as yet neither English nor French had planted a permanent colony, save in the graves of their heroic adventurers. The Spaniards had, north of the Gulf of Mexico, only a feeble settlement at KALEIGH INTRODUCES TOBACCO INTO ENGLAND 1600.] SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 33 St. Augustine and another at Santa Fe. The difficulties which attended the passage of the Atlantic, the perils of the wilderness, the treachery of the Indians, all conspired to prevent the rapid colonization of the New World. The experience of every attempt could be summed up in the quaint language of the English company under Captain Popham, " We found only extreme extremities." Early in the seventeenth century, several successful trading voyages called the attention of English merchants and noblemen to the question of American colonization. King James I. accord ingly divided the vast territory called Virginia, extending from Cape Fear to Passamaquoddy Bay, between two rival companies, the London and the Plymouth. The former was to have the southern, and the latter the northern portion; and, to prevent disputes, their settlements were to be at least one hundred miles apart. All the region south of this grant was known as Florida, and all north, as New France. A book of the time defines Vir ginia as " that country of the earth which the ancients called Mormosa, between Florida and New France." 3 34 EXPLORATIONS AND SETTLEMENTS. [1607. SETTLEMENT OF VIFJQIJN1A. On April 26, 1607, a fleet of three vessels sent out by the London Company entered Chesapeake Bay. Captain John Smith, afterward called " The Father of Virginia," was on board, but in chains, a victim to the jealousy of meaner men. As they rode into that magnificent harbor, they passed two headlands, which they called Charles and Henry, after their young princes at home. The good anchorage inside suggested the name Old Point Comfort, and the noble stream they now ascended was styled James River, after the king. Their first settlement was also loyally christened James town. The crumbling, ivy- clad church tower still stand ing on the banks of the James, about fifty miles from its mouth, marks the site of the oldest Eng lish settlement in the United States. The colonists were poorly qualified for the work they had undertaken. There were no families, yet they were to establish homes in the wil derness. There were houses to build, yet they numbered only four carpenters to forty- eight labor -despising gentle men. They were to lay the foundations of a colony, yet they had but twelve laborers. The first year, the gentlemen spent their time in searching for gold, when they should have been planting corn. Food soon became scarce. Before autumn, sickness swept away half their number. Wingfield, the president of the council appointed by the king for their government, was unfaithful and avaricious, and even tried to escape to the Indies with the best of their scanty stores. Smith, by the power of his genius, now rose to command. " He proved more wakeful to gather provisions than the covet ous were to find gold ; and strove to keep the country more than the faint-hearted to abandon it." He declared that " He who will not work may not eat." He was the first to clearly compre- TriE RUINS AT JAMESTOWN. 1607.] SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 35 hend that nothing was to be gained by the colony except through labor. He taught the gentlemen to swing the axe until they became accomplished wood-cutters. Enforcing morality as well as industry, he kept an account of all profanity, and at night poured a cup of cold water down the sleeves of the offenders. Yet the colonists, we are told, " built a church that cost fifty pounds and a tavern that cost five hundred." Smith wrote home: " I entreat you rather send but thirty carpenters, husbandmen, gardeners, fishermen, blacksmiths, masons, and diggers -up of trees roots than a thousand such as we have." SMITH SHOWING HIS COMPASS TO THE INDIANS. Meanwhile, Smith made many expeditions, cultivating the friendship of the Indians, exploring the country, and bringing back supplies of food for the colony. He went northward as far as Maine, and on one of his maps the names " Plymouth " and " Cape Ann " first appear. In an expedition up the Chesapeake, he was taken prisoner by the Indians. With great coolness he amused his captors by an astronomical lecture, exhibiting his compass, and showing them how " the sun did chase the night round about the world continually." They allowed him to send letters to Jamestown, and, having no idea of a written language themselves, were astonished at his making the paper talk to his friends of his condition. With commendable forethought, the gun powder taken from him was carefully laid aside for planting the EXPLORATIONS AND SETTLEMENTS. [1608. next year. The illustrious captive was carried from place to place over the same peninsula since rendered famous by McClellan s campaign. On being brought to the great chief Powhatan, his good fortune seemed to fail him, and he was condemned to die. According to Smith s account, his head was laid on a stone, and the Indian s war-club was raised to strike the final blow, when Pocahontas, the young daughter of the chief, whose love the cap tive had won, rushed forward, threw her arms about his neck and arrested the descending blow. Powhatan, touched by this act of devotion, released the prisoner. The little Indian maiden often thereafter aided the colonists, bringing them food and warning them of danger. She grew up to be a beauti ful woman and was converted to the Christian religion. In the little church at Jamestown she was baptized from the pine trough which was used as a font, and in her broken English plighted her faith to a young planter named John Rolfe. In 1616 he took his dusky wife to England. Lady Rebecca, as she was called, "the first Christian ever of her nation," by her naive simplicity and goodness, won universal admiration. It is said, however, that King James was jealous of Rolfe, fearing that, " hav ing married an Indian princess, he might lay claim to the crown of Virginia." So high did the tide of royalty run in those days that Rolfe came near being called to account for having pre sumed, a private person, to marry into the royal family of even a petty Indian tribe. Owing to this same jealousy, Smith dared not allow Rebecca to call him father, as she had been accustomed to do. Just as she was preparing to return to her wilderness home, Lady Rebecca died, leaving, however, a son, from whom some of the most distinguished families of Virginia have been proud to boast their descent. Meanwhile, Smith was wounded and forced to return to I OCAHONTAS. 1609.] SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 37 England. He never received for all his services a foot of ground, not even the house he had built, nor the land he had cultivated. Deprived of his care, everything went to ruin. A winter of hor rible famine long remembered in their annals as the " Starving Time" ensued. Thirty of their number seized a ship and turned pirates. In six months the colony was reduced from five hundred to sixty. These fled in despair from the terrible place some even bent upon burning the town where they had suffered so fearfully. As, dropping down the river, they neared the open sea, they met their new governor, Lord Delaware, coming with supplies. A sudden revulsion of feeling followed. Overawed at the change in their condition, they returned to their deserted homes with a chastened joy. " It is the Lord of Hosts ! " said they ; " God will raise our state and build his church in this excellent clime." Now came better times. A new charter was obtained from the king. The council in London, which had heretofore stupidly tried to govern the colony, was abolished. The settlers obtained "a hande in governing of themselves." June 28, 1619, the first legislative body was assembled in America. It consisted of the governor, council, and the house of burgesses, or deputies from the different boroughs or plantations. Every freeman had the right to vote. A written constitution was granted, and the foundations of civil liberty were laid in Virginia. A hardier and better class of men began to flock to the New World. New settlements were established and plantations lined both banks of the James River as far as the present site of Richmond. Tobacco had proved a valuable article of export. It was cultivated so eagerly that at one time the gardens and even the public squares and streets of Jamestown were planted with it. The production of this staple greatly increased the demand for labor. At first "apprenticed servants" were sent over from England and bound out to the planters for a term of years ; being often men who had committed some crime or had rebelled against the government. In 1619, twenty negroes were brought by a Dutch ship and were quickly purchased by the planters. From this small beginning sprang the institution of slavery, which afterward became so important an element in the history of the United States. As yet, few of the feebler sex had dared to cross the At lantic, but about this time the proprietors sent out a load of EXPLORATIONS AND SETTLEMENTS. [1619. industrious, virtuous young women, who were sold as wives to the planters for one hundred pounds of tobacco per head. So great was the demand that, as the records quaintly tell us, " one widow " who was sent over in a subsequent lot went readily with the rest, and the price of the " faire maidens" ran up to a hundred and fifty pounds of the market weed. Domestic ties were now formed, homes established, and the perma nence of the col ony was insured. During the life of P o w h a t a n, there was peace with the Indians, but after his death they resolved to exter minate the colony (1622). Distributing themselves in small parties, they entered the houses and even sat down at the tables of those whose death they were planning. At a given signal they fell upon the whites in all the outlying plantations. Jamestown fortunately escaped, through the faithfulness of a converted Indian. A merciless war ensued. After a second massacre, some years later, the Indians were ex pelled from the region, and their rich lands along the York and the James occupied by the planters. According to the idea of King James, the London Company was too willing to grant rights to the colonists. He therefore took away its charter and made Virginia a royal province (1624). Thereafter the king appointed the governor and the council, though the colony retained its assembly. The royal governors were oftentimes unprincipled men, who ruled for their own good and not that of the settlers, showing no sympathy for the province and no care for the people. The Navigation Acts passed by the parliament in 1660, which were intended to give THE PLANTERS. 1660.] SETTLEMENT OF VIRGINIA. 39 England the control of the trade of the colonies, pressed heavily on Virginia. They required that the commerce of the colony should be carried on in English vessels, all their tobacco shipped to England, and all their goods purchased in that country. The colony contained few towns or centres of influence. The cultivation of tobacco, as the great staple, and the introduction of slaves, naturally led to the establishment of large estates. These often descended to the eldest son and were perpetuated in the family. The great proprietors were generally men of intelligence, accustomed to control. They became the magistrates and mem bers of the council and assembly. A powerful landed aris tocracy was thus growing up and obtaining rule in the prov ince. Virginia was also intensely royal. During the civil war in England it sided with the king. After the execution of Charles I. many loyalists took refuge on the shores of the Chesapeake. There they found " every house a hostelry and every planter a friend." At one time there was even a possibility of the young prince coming to the New World. Cromwell, however, sent over a ship of war to Virginia, and the colonists quickly submitted. Under the Commonwealth, the People of Virginia were allowed to elect their own officers and to enjoy all the privileges of an equal franchise. A change, however, was at hand. The news of the Restoration of Charles II. aroused transports of joy, but it was the knell to the political privileges of the common people. The next assembly (1661) consisted almost entirely of cavaliers and great landholders. The Church of England was made that of the colony. All had to contribute to its support. In each parish a board of vestrymen was appointed, with power to assess taxes and fill any vacancy in its body. Dissenters were heavily punished. A fine of twenty pounds was imposed on absentees from church. Baptists were declared to be " filled with new-fangled conceits of their own heretical invention." A member who was thought to be kindly disposed toward the Quakers was expelled from the Board of Burgesses. The right of suffrage was confined to freeholders and housekeepers. The vestrymen became a close corporation and imposed taxes at pleasure. The assemblymen remained in office after their term had expired, and voted themselves a daily pay of two hundred and fifty pounds of tobacco (about nine dollars in value) an enormous salary for those days of poverty. The common people, feeling themselves deprived of the EXPLORATIONS AND SETTLEMENTS. [16T6. political rights they had so long enjoyed, were ready for an uprising. Little knots of men gathered in the gloom of the woods to talk over their wrongs. A young planter named Nathaniel Bacon, known in history as the " Virginia Rebel," sympathizing with the democracy, became its leader, July, 1676. Governor Berkeley not proving able to protect the frontier from the Indians, Bacon rallied the frightened yeomanry, put the In dians to rout, and then, returning, forced Berkeley to dissolve the old assembly and issue writs for a new election. The governor, however, failed to keep faith, and civil war broke out. James town was burnt, patriots firing their | own houses, lest they might protect the enemies to their liberty. Bacon died in the midst of success. Dis pirited by his loss, the people scat tered their forces. The principal men were hunted down with ferocious zeal. Hansford, a gallant native Virginian, per ished on the scaf fold, the first mar tyr to the cause of American lib erty. His last words were, " I die a loyal subject and a lover of my country." As William Drummond was brought in, the vindictive Berkeley, bowing low, remarked with cruel mockery, " I am more glad to see you than any man in Virginia. You shall be hanged in half an hour." The patriot was condemned at one o clock and hanged at four the same day. The gallows received twenty-two victims, and yet Berkeley s revenge was not satisfied. Charles II., when he heard the tidings, impatiently exclaimed, " The old fool has taken more lives in that naked country than I did for the mur der of my father." DRUMMOND BROUGHT BEFORE BERKELEY. 1676.] SETTLEMENT OF MARYLAND. 41 Berkeley was recalled. But the rebellion had been a century too early. The governor who succeeded ruled more arbitrarily than ever. The king appointed all officers of the colony. Even the members of the assembly were hereafter elected only by free holders. Yet as the spirit of liberty spread, the people found means to thwart their oppressors, and in spite of adverse circum stances, the colony grew rapidly in wealth and population. " There was no need of a scramble ; abundance gushed from the earth for all. The morasses were alive with water-fowl ; the creeks abounded with oysters, heaped together in inexhaustible beds ; the rivers were alive with fish ; the forests were nimble with game ; the woods rustled with coveys of quails and wild turkeys, while they rung with the merry notes of singing birds ; and hogs, swarming like vermin, ran at large in troops. It was the best poor man s country in the world." In 1688 it had a population of fifty thousand, and exported twenty-five thousand hogsheads of tobacco, on which England levied a tax -of one hundred and thirty-five thousand pounds. SETTLEMENT oy JVIAFJYLAJND. Lord Baltimore (George Calvert) came to Virginia (1629), seeking a refuge for his Catholic brethren, who were then perse cuted in England; but finding that persons of his faith were harshly treated, he secured from the king a grant of land north of the Potomac, on the annual payment of two Indian arrows and one-fifth of the gold and silver which might be found. This ter ritory received the name Maryland, in honor of the queen, Henri etta Maria. Its charter, unlike that granted to Virginia, gave to all freemen the right of making the laws. All sects were to be tolerated, and there was to be no interference from the king, nor any English taxation. The first colony was founded at an Indian town near the mouth of the Potomac. Religious liberty obtained a home, its first in the wide world, at the humble village of St. Mary s. The infant colony flourished wonderfully. The land had already been tilled by the Indians and was ready for planting. Food was plenty and contentment reigned. Tobacco became the staple ; slaves EXPLORATIONS AND SETTLEMENTS. [1634. were introduced ; and much the same manners and customs ob tained as in Virginia. There was, for a time, serious difficulty with a colony of refugees from Virginia under Clayborne, who refused to submit to the new gov ernment. The Puritans, coming^ in large numbers, obtained the majority over the Catholics. Two governors were elected; one Catholic and the other Protestant. Confusion ensued,, and then civil war. Finally the Catholics found themselves disenfranchised in the very col ony they had planted. In 1715, the fourth Lord Baltimore re covered the government, and religious toleration was again granted. Maryland remained under this administration until LORD BALTIMORE. the Revolution. Of PLYMOUTH COLOJNY. One stormy day in the fall of 1620, the Mayflower dropped anchor in the harbor of Cape Cod. It bore a little band of one hundred and two Pilgrims. They had neither charter from the king nor the patronage of any company. They were exiles flee ing from persecution at home and seeking religious freedom in the New World. They had expected to settle the milder coun try near the Hudson, but instead were borne to the tempestuous coast of Massachusetts. Before any one landed, they assembled in the cabin and signed a compact agreeing to submit to such " just and equal laws " as should be enacted for the " general good." John Carver was chosen governor. They sailed about for a month seek ing a good location for their intended settlement. Meanwhile, Cap tain Miles Standish and his soldiers, each armed with coat of mail, sword, and match-lock musket, explored the country by land. 1620.] SETTLEMENT OF PLYMOUTH COLONY 43 SIGNING THE COMPACT. The old chronicles narrate various inci dents of their differ ent excursions. One day they found " five or six people with a dogge, who were savages," and who " all ran away and whistled the dogge after them." Then Bradford (the future governor) was caught in an Indian deer-trap, to the great amusement of the party ; and after ward they stumbled upon some heaps of earth, in one of which were baskets of Indian corn. This they carried back to the ship in a great kettle left among the ruins of an Indian hut. It fur nished them seed for their first crop, and the owners, being after ward found, were carefully paid. At another time having con cluded their morning-prayers, they were preparing to breakfast, when a strange yell was heard and a shower of arrows fell in the midst of their little camp on the beach. They returned the salute with powder and ball, and their savage assailants fled. The little shallop which was used for coasting along the shore encountered a furious gale, and lost sail, mast, and rudder. With great difficulty they brought it to land. Darkness was already upon them, and the rain froze on their garments as they stood. They kindled a fire out of the wet wood on the shore, and passed the night as best they could. The next day was spent in cleaning rusty weapons, drying drenched " stuff," and reconnoitering the place. Every hour was precious. The winter was rapidly clos ing in. The party in the Mayflower was anxiously awaiting their return, yet, being " y e last day of y e weeke, they prepared ther to keepe y e Sabbath." PLYMOUTH ROCK. 44 EXPLORATIONS AND SETTLEMENTS. [1620. On Monday, December 21, the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth. A grateful posterity has kept the day in honored remembrance, and " Forefathers Rock," on which they first set foot, is still preserved as an object of veneration. It was probably the only stone large enough for the purpose of landing in all that bleak, sandy coast. The cutting blasts of winter fell upon them. Half of the men were sick from exposure. Yet they resolutely set at work build ing rude log-cabins. At .>*, one time there were only seven well persons in the colony. They " carried out the dead through the snow and the cold, and returned to take care of the sick." When spring came, the graves they had dug far outnumbered the houses they had built. But the hearts of the survivors never misgave them. When the Mayflower returned to England she carried back not a single home-sick pilgrim. The summer found them with flourishing fields of barley, peas, and Indian corn ; fish, wild fowls, berries, and native fruits in abundance ; nineteen log-cabins, each with a little enclosure for a private garden ; a rude store-house, twenty feet square, for the protection of their common property ; and a platform on the hill crowned with five guns as a means of defence. A little brook ran by the humble town, and springs of clear, fresh water were near. That " the birds sang in the woods most pleasantly," and the wild wood-flowers were " very sweet," is their own record, and testifies to their cheerful content. The feeble colony met with no opposition from the Indians. A pestilence had nearly annihilated several tribes inhabiting that portion of the coast, and thus, providentially, as the Pilgrims devoutly believed, left a clear place for them to occupy. One pleasant morning they were startled by the coming of an Indian, who, in broken English, bade them " Welcome." He proved to be Samoset, a petty chief who had picked up a little of the language from the crews of fishing -vessels. He afterward brought Massasoit, the head chief of the Wampanoags. A treaty was made with him and faithfully observed for over half a cen- 1622.] SETTLEMENT OF PLYMOUTH COLONY. ^^^te^^J^j^i^j^k^lli 45 WELCOME, ENGLISHMEN. PLYMOUTH, 1621. tury. In 1622, Canonicus, sachem of the Narragansett tribe, sent to Plymouth, as a token of defiance, a bundle of arrows tied with a rattlesnake s skin. The governor sent back the same skin stuffed with powder and ball. The superstitious savages, think ing it some fatal charm, passed it in terror from hand to hand till it came back again to Plymouth. The first crop proved inadequate for the winter. A new body of emigrants arrived, but they were unprovided with food, and so only increased the privations and difficulties of the colony. Even at the end of three years we are told that " at night they knew not where to have a bit in the morning." At one time there was only a pint of corn in the settlement, which allowed five kernels to each person. Yet such was their pious content that at a social dinner, consisting only of clams, eaten off the lid of the same chest on which the compact was signed in the cabin of the May flower, good Elder Brewster returned thanks to God for having " given them to suck the abundance of the seas and of the treas ures hid in the sand." The plan first adopted of working their lands in common failed, as at Jamestown, and a portion was assigned each settler. Thrifty, God-fearing, and industrious, the Pilgrims steadily gained in abundance and comfort. Car goes of sassafras, then much esteemed in pharmacy, furs and .him- 46 EXPLORATIONS AND SETTLEMENTS. [1628. her were sent to England. After a time they raised enough corn to sell to fishing-vessels and to barter with the Indians. For over eighteen years the government in church and state was a strict democracy all the male inhabitants forming the legislature. The increase of population afterward caused it to be made representative, and each town sent a committee to the gen eral court. The Plymouth colony remained independent till 1692, when it was united to that of Massachusetts Bay. gETTLEJVlEJNT OF MyVS^yVCHUgETTg The success of the Pilgrims greatly encouraged the establish- ment of other settlements. Large numbers of the best Puritan families in England were induced to emigrate. In 1628, five ship loads landed at a place which they named Salem, from the Hebrew word meaning peace. Their circumstances were far different from those of the Pilgrims. It was June when they approached the coast. " What with pine woods and green trees by land," writes the old chronicler, " and yellow flames painting the sea, we were all desirous to see our new Paradise." They had a grant from the Council of New England, which had taken the place of the old Plymouth Company. They had a charter from the king, authorizing them to govern themselves. Moreover, their connec tions in England were powerful. They brought tools, cattle, and horses. They were not, however, exempted from the hardships incident to a settler s life. The Avinter was very severe and they were forced to subsist on ground-nuts, shell-fish, and acorns, so difficult to obtain at that season of the year. One of them wrote : " Bread was so very scarce that sometimes I thought the very crumbs of my father s table would be sweet unto me. And, when I could have meal and water and salt boiled together, it was so good, who could wish better?" Other settlements were rapidly formed Charlestown, Dor chester, Watertown, Lynn, and Cambridge. One thousand emi grants under the highly-esteemed Governor Winthrop estab lished themselves at Boston from its three hills first called Tri-Mountain which became the capital of the colony. The government was vested in a governor chosen by the 1630.] SETTLEMENT OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY. 47 FAC-SIMILE OF FIRST MAP ENGRAVED IN NEW ENGLAND. people, and a legislature elected in the same manner. None but freemen, however, could vote, and none but church members were eligible to citizen ship. " Each settlement," says Hildreth, " at once assumed that township authority which has ever formed so marked a fea ture in the political or ganization of New Eng land. The people assem bled in town -meeting, voted taxes for local pur poses, and chose three, five, or seven of the prin cipal inhabitants, at first under other names, but early known as ( select men/ who had the expen diture of this money and the executive management of town affairs. A treasurer and a town clerk were also chosen, and a constable was soon added for the service of civil and criminal processes." Each town constituted, in fact, a small state almost complete in itself. It is a noticeable fact that what we now call Massachusetts grew up around two centres, separated not only by forty miles of wilderness, but by a great diversity of thought. Plymouth and the Bay were two little republics, that for sixty years maintained their independence. In England, the Pilgrims who settled the former were Separatists ; that is to say, they had left the Church of England and set up churches for themselves. The Puritans, who came to the Bay, were Non-conformists ; L e., they simply re fused to conform to certain rules and usages of the Church of Eng land, but remained, as it were, members under protest. Plymouth was weak in men and money ; the Bay was strong from the first. The former was settled by plain, practical people, having only one university man Elder Brewster ; the latter had a superabun dance of highly educated persons. In 1640, the Bay numbered seventy-seven clergymen ; they dominated in all political action and engrafted on the Puritan colony the best learning of the Old World. At Plymouth all voted who were elected to the right of 4 8 EXPLORATIONS AND SETTLEMENTS. [1636.. citizenship ; at the Bay, church membership was a sine qua non r so that not a quarter of the adults were eligible to that trust. At Plymouth were found quiet, peace, and contentment ; at the Bay, the rush of business and the strife of parties, impelling the tides of life which set off to establish new centres in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and other colonies. Religious toleration was rarely seen in those days. Indeed, those who were themselves cruelly persecuted were often the most intolerant in their treatment of any who differed with them. The Puritans had crossed the sea to establish a Puritan colony, and they required everybody to attend their worship. A strict uniformity of belief was enforced. Religious distur bances soon arose. Roger Williams, an eloquent young minister, had adopted the idea of " soul -liberty," as he expressed it, i. e., the responsibility of every man to his own conscience alone. It ROGER WILLIAMS RECEIVED BY CANONICUS. was a novel sentiment in those days, and was especially unsuited to the Puritan method of government. Williams was accordingly expelled from the colony. Exiled by Christians, he found a home with Pagans. Canonicus, a Narragansett chief, gave him land for a settlement, which he gratefully called Providence (1636). Mrs. Hutchinson, who rebelled at the restraints placed upon women, and claimed to have special revelations of God s will, was also banished, and joined the new colony. The Quakers had come to Boston overflowing with zeal, and even courting persecution.. 1656.] KING PHILIP S WAR. 49 They received it in abundance. Several were hanged. Num bers were flogged and expelled. These, too, found a hearty welcome at the Providence plantation, the exiled Williams freely sharing his lands with religious refugees of every class. Thus were laid the foundations of the State of Rhode Island. Its fundamental principle was its founder s favorite one of entire liberty of conscience. A union of the colonies of Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, New Haven, and Connecticut, was formed in 1643, under the title of THE UNITED COLONIES OF NEW ENGLAND. This was a famous league in colonial times, and was the germ of the Federal Union of later days. The object was a common protection against the Indians and the encroachments of the Dutch and French settlers. Massasoit, like Powhatan, was the friend of the whites. After Massasoit s death, his son, King Philip, as he was called, brooding over the constant encroachments of the settlers, the loss of game, and the usurpation of his favorite hunting-grounds, at last organ ized a confederation of various tribes to drive out the intruders. The struggle began ere his plans were completed. Some Indians being tried and hanged for mur der, Philip, in revenge, fell upon Swanzy, a little settlement near his home at Mount Hope (1675). Troops came, and he fled, mark ing his flight by burning build ings and by poles hung with the heads, hands, and scalps of the hapless whites whom he met on the way. All the horrors of Indian warfare now burst upon the doomed colonists of New England. The settlements were widely scattered. The Indians lurked in every forest and brake. They watched for the lonely settler as he opened his door in the morning, as he was busy with his work in the field, or walked along the forest path to church. The fearful war-whoop, the deadly tomahawk, the treacherous ambuscade, filled the col- 4 KING PHILIP. (From an Old Print.) EXPLORATIONS AND SETTLEMENTS. [1675. ony with constant terror. In August, a company of eighty young men, 4 < the very flower of the county of Es sex," were returning from Deerfield with a train of wagons loaded with wheat, which they had harvested. At a little stream, ever since that day called Bloody Run, they stopped to pick the grapes which hung in profusion from the trees along the road. Suddenly amid their glee, the Indians leaped upon them, like tigers, from the thicket. Only seven or eight of the entire party escaped. While the sav ages were plundering the dead, troops came to the rescue, and, in turn, cut down nearly one hundred of their number ere they could escape. At Hadley, the Indians surprised the people on Fast day, June 12, 1676. Seizing their muskets at the sound of the savage war-whoop, the men rushed out of the meeting-house to fall into line. But the foe was on every side. Confused and bewildered, the settlers seemed about to give way, when suddenly a strange old man with long white beard and ancient garb appeared among them. Ringing out a quick, sharp word of command, he recalled 1676.] SALEM WITCHCRAFT. 51 them to their senses. Following their mysterious leader, they drove the enemy headlong before them. The danger passed, they looked around for their deliverer ; but he had disappeared as mysteriously as he had come. The good people believed that God had sent an angel to their rescue. History reveals the secret. It was the regicide Colonel Goffe. Fleeing from the vengeance of Charles II., with a price set upon his head, he had for years wandered about, living in mills, clefts of rocks, and forest caves. At last he had found an asylum with the Hadley minister. From his window he had seen the stealthy Indians coming down the hill. Fired with desire to do one more good deed for God s people, he rushed from his hiding-place, led them on to victory, and then returned to his retreat, never more to reappear. All the long summer the cruel strife went on. But when winter came, and the forest was more open and the low ground frozen over, a large body of the colonists attacked the Indians in their stronghold, in an almost inaccessible swamp in South King ston. After a desperate struggle the fort was carried, and the wigwams filled with stores were burned to ashes. A thousand warriors were killed. The next year Philip was left almost alone. Hunted from place to place, he was tracked to the centre of a morass, where he was shot by one of his own people. It was a sad fate for a brave man, who, under other circumstances, would have been styled a hero and a patriot. The war had cost the colony six hundred men and one million dollars. Every eleventh house had been burned and every eleventh soldier killed. No help had been asked or received from England. The year 1692 is memorable as that of the Salem Witchcraft. This was a delusion which seems preposterous now, but which was then in accordance with the current belief of the times. It broke out in the family of Mr. Parish, a minister of Salem, where a company of girls had been in the habit of meeting with two West Indian slaves, to study the " black art." Suddenly they began to be mysteriously contorted, to bark like dogs, purr like cats, and scream at some unseen thing which was sticking pins in their bodies. They accused an old Indian servant of bewitching them. On being scourged, she acknowledged the crime. A fast-day was proclaimed. Cotton Mather, a distinguished minister of Boston, and a firm believer in the delusion, came to investigate the case. The excitement spread. Impeachments multiplied. A special court was formed to try the accused. The jails rapidly filled. EXPLORATIONS AND SETTLEMENTS. [1692. Magistrates were busy. On the most foolish charges as being seen flying through the air on a broom respectable people were condemned to death. It was dangerous to express doubt of a prisoner s guilt. Fifty-five persons suffered torture and twenty were executed. All these might have escaped if they had con fessed themselves guilty, but, with noble heroism, they chose death rather than a falsehood. When the people awoke to their THE OLD WITCH HOUSE SCENE OF EXAMINATIONS AT SALEM. folly the reaction was wonderful. Judge Sewall was so deeply penitent that he observed a day of fasting in each year, and on the day of general fast rose in his place in the Old South Church at Boston, and in the presence of the congregation handed to the pulpit a written confession acknowledging his error, and praying " That the sin of his ignorance sorely rued, Might be washed away in the mingled flood Of his human sorrow and Christ s dear blood." The history of Maine and New Hampshire is almost identical with that of Massachusetts. The early settlements grew up out of various fishing stations along the coast. A story is told of an itinerant preacher, who, in his exhortations to the people of Ports mouth, reminded them that as they had come thither for the pur pose of free worship, they ought to be very religious. " Sir, you are quite mistaken," was the reply. " You think you are speak ing to the people of Massachusetts Bay. Our main end is to catch fish." Maine was not one of the original thirteen colonies, and did not separate from Massachusetts till 1820. New Hampshire was three times given to Massachusetts, either from its own wish or by royal authority. In 1741 it became a royal province, and had its governor, who was appointed by the king. 1635.] THE PEQUOD WAR. 53 ETTLE]VIEJNT OF CONNECTICUT. The valley of the Connecticut a name derived from the Indian word for long river was settled from Massachusetts. Rumors of its rich bottom lands early attracted the attention of the pioneers struggling for an existence upon the barren sea-coast around Plym outh and the Bay. In 1633 a company of traders from Plymouth sailed up the river and built a fort at Windsor. In the autumn of 1635 John Steele, one of the proprietors of Cambridge, led a pioneer company " out west," as it was then considered, and laid the foundations of Hartford. They passed the winter in miser able cabins, half-buried in the snow, living precariously on corn purchased of the Indians. The next year the main band, with their pastor, Thomas Hooker, a most eloquent and estimable man, "the light of the western churches/ came, driving their flocks before them, through the wilderness. For two weeks they traveled on foot, traversing mountains, swamps, and rivers, with only the compass for a guide, and little beside the milk from their own cows for their subsistence. Mrs. Hooker being ill, was borne on a litter. They established Hartford, Wethersfield and Windsor, known as the Connecticut colony, giving the franchise to all freemen. New Haven was settled by a company of Puri tans direct from England. Like the colony around Massachusetts Bay, they allowed only church members to vote. The settlers had not been a year in their new home when a war broke out with the Pequod Indians. Roger Williams, hear ing that this tribe was likely to obtain the aid of the Narragan- setts, forgot all the wrongs he had received from the Massachu setts people, and, at the risk of his life, went to the Indian council, confronted the Pequod deputies, and, after a three-days struggle, prevailed upon the Narragansetts to take part with the whites. A body of ninety Connecticut colonists was now raised to attack the Pequod stronghold on the Mystic River. After spending nearly all night in prayer, at the request of the sol diers, they set out on their perilous expedition. On the way they were joined by several hundred friendly Indians. The party approached the fort at daybreak (June 4, 1637). The barking of a dog aroused the sleepy sentinel, and he shouted, " Owanux ! Owanux !" (the Englishmen !) but it was too late. The troops were already within the palisades. The Indians collected them- 54 EXPLORATIONS AND SETTLEMENTS. [1637. selves and made a fierce resistance ; but Captain Mason, seizing a firebrand, hurled it among the wigwams. The flames quickly swept through the encampment. The English themselves barely escaped. A few Indians fled to the swamp, but were hunted down. The tribe perished in a day. This fearful blow struck terror to the savages, and gave New England peace for forty years, until King Philip s war, of which we have spoken. " The infant was safe in its cradle, the laborer in the fields, the solitary traveler during the night-watches in the forest ; the houses needed no bolts, the settlements no palisades." The younger Winthrop, son of Governor Winthrop of Massa chusetts and one of the most accomplished men of his time, went to England, and by his personal influence and popularity obtained from Charles I. the most liberal charter as yet given to the colonies. It was a precious boon to liberty. Twenty-four years afterward, Governor Andros, pompously marching from Boston over the route where the pious Hooker had led his little flock fifty years before, came " glittering with scarlet and lace " into the assembly at Hartford, and demanded the charter. A protracted debate ensued. The people crowded around to take a last look at this guarantee of their liberties, when suddenly the lights were ex tinguished. On being relighted, the charter was gone. William Wadsworth had seized It, escaped through the crowd, and hidden it in the hollow of a tree, famous ever after as the Charter Oak. However, Andros pronounced the charter government at an end. " Finis " was written at the close of the minutes of their last meeting. The freedom of the press was now denied. Persons about to marry had to give heavy bonds with sureties. The right to join in wedlock was taken from the clergy and given to the magis trates. Payment of money to non-conformist ministers was for bidden. Farmers were required to take out new titles to their land, at great expense. The rule of the governor became at last unendurable. When he was finally deposed, the people brought out the faded but now doubly-precious charter from its hiding- place, the general court reassembled, and the " finis" disappeared. THE CHARTER OAK. 1609.] DISCOVERY OF THE HUDSON RIVER. 55 gETTLEJVlEJNT OF NEW YORK. This was the only colony planted by the Dutch. In 1609, Henry Hudson, an English navigator in the service of the Dutch, while seeking a northwest passage to the Indies entered the harbor of New York. His vessel, the Half-Moon, was the first European ^hip to sail up that noble river which now bears his name. Strange was the sight which greeted his wondering eyes. " Sombre forests/ says Bancroft, " shed a melancholy grandeur over the useless magnificence of nature, and hid in their deep THE HALF-MOON IN THE HUDSON. shades the rich soil which the sun had never warmed. No axe had leveled the giant progeny of the crowded groves, in which the fantastic forms of withered limbs that had been blasted and riven by lightning contrasted strangely with the verdant fresh ness of a younger growth of branches. The wanton grape-vine, seeming by its own power to have sprung from the earth and to have fastened its leafy coils on the top of the tallest forest tree, 56 EXPLORATIONS AND SETTLEMENTS. [1609. swung in the air with every breeze like the loosened shrouds of a ship. Reptiles sported in stagnant pools, or crawled unharmed over piles of mouldering trees." Red men, too, were there : sometimes conciliatory, as when they flocked about in their canoes to barter grapes, pumpkins, and furs for beads and knives ; sometimes vindictive, as when they beset the little exploring boat and sent Hudson s long-time comrade to a grave on the beach. About the time that John Smith went back to England, Hud son turned his prow toward Holland. His voyage had rendered his name immortal. Legends of the daring sailor still live among the old Dutch families, and when the black thunder-clouds send their crackling peals along the Palisades, they say, " Hendrick Hudson and his crew are playing nine-pins now." It was the golden age of Dutch commerce. Holland imme diately laid claim to the country and named it " NEW NETHER- LAND." In 1613 some huts were erected on the present site of New York. The year after the landing of the Pilgrims, the Dutch West India Company obtained a patent for the territory between the Delaware and the Connecticut Rivers. To every one who should plant a colony of fifty persons they offered a tract of land sixteen miles in length, which they and their heirs should hold forever. These proprietors were called patroons, or lords of the manor. The famous anti-rent difficulties of after times grew out of these grants. To supply the requisite number of emigrants, ship-captains brought over many poor Germans, whose passage-money was paid by the patroons, whom they were in turn bound to serve for a given term of years. It was a profitable arrangement for all concerned. During the period of service the Redemptioners, as they were called, gained a knowledge of the language and ways of the country, and were fitted to take care of themselves when they became independent. .In that charming little volume, " New York Society in the Olden Time," a story is told of one of these settlers who, having completed his bondage of several years, quietly produced a bag of gold which he had brought over with him, and which was sufficient to purchase a farm. But, said his late master in surprise, " why, with all this money, did you not pay your passage, instead of serving as a redemptioner so long?" " Oh," said the cautious emigrant from the Rhine, " I did not know English, and I should have been cheated. Now I know all about the country, and I can set up for myself." Which was true phil- 1629.] SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK. 57 osophy. These industrious settlers became respected citizens, and their descendants are to-day among the wealthy farmers along the Hudson. Peter Minuits came over as first governor in 1626. He bought the Island of Manhattan of the Indians for twenty-four dollars. Here was founded the city of New Amsterdam. Trade was opened with the Indians, and canoes pushed up every neigh boring inlet to barter for otter and beaver skins. Meanwhile there was trouble with the Swedes on the Delaware, and the English on the Connecticut, both of whom had settled on lands claimed by the Dutch. Then, too, there was a fearful massacre of Indians, perpetrated by Governor Kieft, and in revenge the war- whoop echoed through every forest glen, and not a farm or " bowerie " was safe. The colonists, indignant at his cruel folly, sent the governor home, but he was wrecked on the coast of Wales and miserably perished. Under Governor Stuyvesant came better times. He arranged the Con necticut boundary line ; conquered New Sweden, as the colony on the Delaware was called ; made peace with the Indians, and built a palisade across the island where now is Wall street. Dutch industry and thrift meant prosperity here as well as in Holland. From the first, New York was a cosmopolitan city. Even at that early day eighteen languages were said to be spoken. The French Huguenots, the Italian Waldenses, the Swiss Calvinists, the world-hated Jew, all found a home and a refuge in this growing colony. The island was mostly divided into farms. The Park was crowned with forest trees and used for a common pasture, where tanners obtained bark and boys gathered chestnuts for half a century later. With all Governor Stuyvesant s honesty and ability, " Head strong Peter," as they called him, was inclined to be obstinate. He especially hated democratic institutions. The English in the GOVERNOR STUYVESAXT. EXPLORATIONS AND SETTLEMENTS. [1664. colony looked with longing eyes on the rights enjoyed by their Connecticut brethren, so that when, in 1664, an English fleet came to anchor in the harbor and demanded a surrender in the name of m THE ENGLISH LANDING AT NEW YORK, 1664. the Duke of York, there was secret joy in the town. The stout hearted governor had been a brave soldier in his time, and he stumped about on his wooden leg at a terrible rate, angrily tore up the letter of his council making terms, and swore he would hold the place at every cost. But the burgomasters made him put the pieces together and sign the surrender. The English flag soon floated over the island, and the name of the colony was changed to New York in honor of the new proprietor. England was now master of the coast from Canada to Florida. The English governors disappointed the people by not granting their coveted rights. A remonstrance against being taxed with out representation was burned by the hangman. So that when, after nine years of English authority, a Dutch fleet appeared in the harbor, the people went back quietly under their old rulers. But the next year, peace being restored between England and Holland, New Amsterdam became New York again. Thus ended the Dutch rule in the colonies. Andros, who twelve years after played the tyrant in New England, was the next governor. He managed so arbitrarily that he was called home. Under his successor, Dongan, there was a gleam of civil freedom. By per- 1689.] SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK. 59 THE TOMB OF PETER STUYVESANT. (From St. Mark s Church, New York.) mission of the Duke of York, he called an assembly of the repre sentatives of the people. This was but transient, for two years, after, when the Duke of York became James II., king of England, he forgot all his promises, for bade legislative assemblies, pro hibited print- 1 n | " L r n pl PH *P5F^> PETRUS STUYVESANT and annexed v^Ske CaptainGenera$CovernormChiefof Amstercfam j the colony to InNewNefherlandruw called. New.-"Vorkr New England. ^ * Anithe^^^^TMcfialsIands-Die^ABl^- When, how ever, Andros was driven from Boston, Nichol son, his lieuten ant and apt tool of tyranny in New York, fled at once. Captain Leisler, supported by the democracy, but bit terly opposed by the aristocracy, thereupon administered affairs very prudently until the arrival of Governor Slaughter, who ar rested him on the absurd charge of treason. Slaughter was unwil ling to execute him, but Leisler s enemies, at a dinner party, made the governor drunk, obtained his signature, and before he became sober enough to repent, Leisler was no more. The people were greatly excited over his death, and cherished pieces of his clothing as precious relics. For long after, party strife ran high and bitter over his martyrdom. In the latter part of the seventeenth century, Captain Kidd was noted as a bold and skillful shipmaster. He distinguished himself as a privateersman against the French in the West Indies, and received one hundred and fifty pounds for protecting New York city from pirates, who at that time infested the ocean highways. Being sent out against these sea-robbers, he finally became a pirate himself. Returning from his guilty cruise, he boldly appeared in the streets of Boston, where he was captured in the midst of a prom enade. He was carried to England, tried, and hung. His name and deeds have been woven into popular romance, and the song " My name is Captain Kidd, as I sailed, as I sailed," is well known. 60 EXPLORATIONS AND SETTLEMENTS. [1664. He is believed to have buried his ill-gotten riches on the coast of Long Island or the banks of the Hudson, and these localities have suffered many a search from credulous persons seeking for Kidd s treasure. When New Netherland passed into the hands of the Duke of York, he sold the portion between the Hudson and the Delaware to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. This tract took the name of Jersey in honor of Carteret, who had been governor of the island of Jersey in the British Channel. The first settlement, which was a cluster of only four houses, was called Elizabethtown, after his wife. His portion was called East, and Lord Berkeley s West New Jersey. The colonists were led by a brother of the proprietor, who came with a hoe on his shoulder to remind the people of the way to fortune and _ , . prosperity. The Quakers, Scotch Presbyterians, and others persecuted for conscience sake, grad ually occupied the country. Constant trouble prevailed among the settlers regarding the land titles, and in 1702 the proprietors gave up their rights, and " the Jerseys," as the colony was long known, became a royal province. SEALS OF NEW AMSTERDAM AND NEW YORK. SETTLEMENT op PENNSYLVANIA- William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, was a celebrated English Quaker. Wishing to establish a home for the oppressed Friends in England, he secured from Charles II. the grant of a large tract west of the Delaware, in lieu of sixteen thousand pounds due his father by the crown, on condition of paying annually two beaver skins. This territory Penn Avished to have called Sylvania (sylva, forest), as it was covered with woods ; but the king ordered it to be styled Pennsylvania, and although Penn offered the secretary twenty guineas to erase the prefix, his request was denied. Penn immediately sent a body of emigrants to begin the " holy experi ment," and came himself the next year in the ship " Welcome." Right royally was he welcomed by the settlers already within the 1682.] SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA. 6l boundaries of his land, for his first proclamation had preceded him with the spirit of a benediction. " I hope you will not be troubled at your chainge and the king s choice," he wrote, " for you are now fixt, at the mercy of no governour that comes to make his fortune great. You shall be governed by laws of your own makeing, and live a free, and if you will, a sober and industrious people. God has furnisht me with a better resolution, and has given me His grace to keep it." On the beautiful banks of the Delaware, in 1683, he laid the foundations of Philadelphia, the "City of Brotherly Love," which he intended should be a " faire and greene country toune," with gar dens around every house. It was in the midst of the forest, and the startled deer bounded past the set tler who came to survey his new home. Yet within a year it had one hundred houses ; in two years numbered over two thousand in habitants ; and in three years had gained more than New York in half a century. The government was most happily inaugurated, while the Philadelphia mansions were as yet mainly hollow trees. A legisla ture appointed by the people was to make all the laws. Every sect was to be tolerated. Any freeman could vote and hold office who believed in God and kept the Lord s day. No tax could be levied but by law. Every child was to be taught a useful trade. It seemed to be Penn s only desire to make the little colony as happy and free as could be. Under a large spreading elm at Shackamaxon, Penn attended a council of the Indian chiefs. " We meet," said he, " on the broad pathway of good faith and good will ; no advantage shall be taken on either side, but all shall be openness and love. The friendship between you and me I will not compare to a chain ; for that the rains might rust, and the falling tree might break. We are the same as if one man s body were to be divided into two parts ; we are all one flesh and blood." The savages were touched by his gentle STATUE OF PENN IN PHILADELPHIA. 62 EXPLORATIONS AND SETTLEMENTS. [1683. words and kindly bearing. " We will live in love with William Penn and his children," said they, " as long as the sun and moon shall shine." They kept the history of the treaty by means of strings of wampum, and would often count over the shells on a clean piece of bark and rehearse its provisions. " It was the only treaty never sworn to, and the only one never broken." On every hand the Indians waged relentless war with the colonies, but they never shed a drop of Quaker blood. Penn often visited their wigwams, shared in their sports, and talked to them of God and Heaven. He found even in the breast of the red man of the forest a response to his faithful teachings and pure example. They gave him the name Onas, and the highest compliment they could confer on any person was to say he was like Onas. Penn soon returned to England. Fifteen years afterward he came back with his family, intending to make the New World his home. But he could not shut out disturbance and conflict. The boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania was uncer tain. It was not settled until 1767, when two surveyors, Mason and Dixon, ran the line since famous as Mason and Dixon s line. The " Three Counties on the Delaware " became discontented. Penn gave them a deputy-governor and an assembly of their own. Delaware and Pennsylvania, however, remained under one gov ernment till the Revolution. The colonists of Pennsylvania were unwilling to pay the rents by which Penn sought to reimburse himself for his heavy outlay, and, not content with the privileges already secured, constantly sought to weaken the authority of their benefactor. Penn sorrowfully returned to his native land, and finally died in want and obscurity. gETTI.EMEJNT Of THE Carolina, as we have seen, was first named in honor of a French monarch ; but it remained for the English to settle the country. A company of religious refugees from Virginia had already pushed through the wilderness and " squatted " near the mouth of Chowan River. Here they established the Albe- marle colony. In 1663, Charles II., who in his lavish igno rance had given away half the continent, granted the vast 1663.] SETTLEMENT OF THE CAROLINAS. 63 territory south of Virginia to eight proprietors, chiefly his cour tiers and ministers. The plan the " grand model," as it was called of the colony which they proposed to establish was drawn up by Lord Shaftesbury and the famous philosopher, John Locke. It was the wonder of the day. All the vast territory embracing the present States of North and South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, and a large part of Texas and Mexico was to be divided into counties, each containing four hundred and eighty thousand acres. Over each county were to be a landgrave and two caciques or barons. They were to hold one-fifth of the land, and the proprietors one-fifth, leaving the balance to the people. No one owning less than fifty acres could vote ; while tenants were to be merely serfs, and slaves were to be at the absolute will of their masters. The emigrants sent out by the English proprietors first sailed into the well-known waters where Ribaut had anchored over a century before, but afterward removed to the ancient groves cov ered with yellow jasmine, which marked the site of the present city of Charleston, then only Oyster Point. The growth of the- new colony was rapid. Thither came ship-loads of Dutch from New York, dissatisfied with the English rule and attracted by the genial climate. The French Huguenots, after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, flocked to the land where religious perse cution was to be forever unknown. Their church was in Charles ton ; and " thither on every Lord s day, gathering from their plantations on the banks of the Cooper, they might be seen, the parents with their children, making their way in light skiffs, through scenes so tranquil that silence was broken only by the rippling of oars and the hum of the flourishing village at the confluence of the rivers." The Huguenot settlers were a valua ble acquisition to Charleston. At one time they numbered sixteen thousand, and added whole streets to the city. Many of them were from families of marked refinement in France, and their elegant manners, no less than their industry, charity, and morality, made an impress on the growing town. They brought the mulberry and olive from their own sunny land, and established magnificent plantations on the banks of the Cooper River. They also intro duced many choice varieties of pears, which still bear illustrious Huguenot names. Their eminently honorable descendants have borne a proud part in the establishment of the American Repub- 6 4 EXPLORATIONS AND SETTLEMENTS. [1665. lie. Of seven presidents who were at the head of the Philadel phia Congress during the Revolution, three were of Huguenot parentage. HUGUENOTS GOING TO CHUKCH. A body of planters from the Barbadoes had, ere this, brought African slaves with them. Their labor proving very profitable, in a few years they were introduced to such an extent that they nearly doubled the whites in number. A little incident which happened in 1694 had much to do with the early prosperity of the colony. The captain of a ship from Madagascar gave to Governor Smith a bag of seed rice, saying that it was much esteemed for food in Eastern countries. The governor shared it with his friends, and they all planted it in different soils to test its fitness for the American climate. It lived and thrived ; and thus was introduced what shortly became an important staple. The Great Model was an aristocratic scheme. The democrats of the New World, fleeing persecution and tyranny at home, living in log-cabins, and dressing in homespun and deer-skins, would none of it, and it was soon abandoned. The colonists were therefore allowed to have an assembly chosen by themselves, the governor only being appointed by the proprietors the northern. 1729.] SETTLEMENT OF GEORGIA. and southern colonies, on account of their remoteness from each other, having each its own. There were still great difficulties with the proprietors about rents, taxes, and rights, untill in 1729, the Carolinas became a royal province. JSETT;LEJVIEJNT OF QEORQIA. Georgia was the last to be planted of the famous thirteen colonies. America, which was now a home for the oppressed of all religious faiths Huguenots, Puritans, Presbyterians, Quakers, and Catholics was also to become an asylum for afflicted debt ors. James Oglethorpe obtained from George II. a tract of land which was named Georgia in honor of the king. Oglethorpe himself accompanied the first body of emigrants to their new home. His kindly mien, like that of another Penn, won the love of the Indians. One of the chiefs gave him a buffalo s skin with the head and feathers of an eagle painted on the inside of it. " The eagle," said the warrior, " signifies swift ness ; and the buffalo, strength. The English are swift as a bird to fly over the vast seas, and as strong as a beast before their enemies. The eagle s feathers are soft and signify love ; the buffalo s skin is warm and means protection ; therefore love and pro tect our families." Another chief addressed him thus : " We are come twenty-five days journey to see you. When I heard you were come, and that you are good men, I came down that I might hear good things." In 1733 Oglethorpe laid out the city of Savannah in broad avenues and open squares, and here he lived for a year, in a tent pitched beneath four beautiful forest pines. Soon after, a com pany of German Lutherans set out on foot from their homes in Salzburg, and walked to Frankfort, chanting hymns of deliver- 5 GENERAL OGLETHORPE. AGED IO2. (From an Old Print.) 66 EXPLORATIONS AND SETTLEMENTS. [1734. ance as they went. Taking ship, in due time they also reached the land of the refugee. Sturdy Scotch Highlanders settled at Darien. Hither, also, came John and Charles Wesley, full of zeal for the conversion of the Indians and the religious good of the young colony. A little later, George Whitefield stirred the people by his wonderful eloquence. At one time, sixty thousand were gathered to hear him, and his open-air meetings were often attended by from twenty thousand to forty thousand people. Georgia, as well as Carolina, bordered on Florida, and there were several contests between the young colonies and their Spanish neighbors. The South Carolinians and the Georgians each fruitlessly invested St. Augustine (1702 and 1740), and the Spaniards, in turn, attacked Charleston and Savannah (1706 and 1742). Little, however, resulted from these spurts of national hatred, except to make more apparent the necessity of bringing Florida under the English crown. The laws of the Georgian colony were very irksome. The trustees limited the size of a man s farm, allowed no woman to inherit land, and forbade the importation of slaves or of rum. The last law cut off a large source of profit, as a valuable trade of lumber for rum had sprung up with the West Indies. Wearied by complaints, the trustees surrendered the colony to the crown, and Georgia became a royal province, like the other colonies. PENN S TREATY TREE. CHAPTER III COLONIAL HILE the English had thus estab lished themselves on the Atlan tic coast, the settlement of New France *had gone on apace. The same year that Henry Hudson sailed north up the river which now bears his name, Champlain, a French explorer who had already founded Quebec, penetrating the wilds of New York southward, discovered the beautiful lake which was henceforth to be called in his honor. While most of the English colonists steadily pushed back the Indians from their advancing settlements, making but slight efforts for their conversion or civilization, the French intermarried with them, mingled in their sports, shared their scanty fare, and, in their government of them, always joined kindness to firmness. They sought, not to drive away the natives, but to make the most of them. Their scheme of colonization, in fact, seemed to embrace but two objects the mission work and the fur trade. Jesuit missionaries, burning with zeal and ardor, flocked to the banks of the St. Lawrence, and pushed their way into the virgin forest, dismayed by no storm, or hostility, or pestilence. Under the dripping trees, through the sodden snow, amid cruel and treacherous tribes, they moved with unflagging courage, asking only to baptize the poor red man, and ensure to his soul the joys of the upper paradise. Many of these indefatigable pioneers were murdered by the savages ; some were scalped, some burned in rosin-fire, some scalded with hot water; yet, ever, as one fell out of the ranks, 68 COLONIAL WARS. [1668. another sprang forward, cross in hand, to fill his place. They crept along the northern lakes, and, in 1668, founded the mission of San Ste. Marie, the oldest European settlement in Michigan. Father Marquette floated in a birch-bark canoe down the Wisconsin to the Mississippi River. Going ashore one day at his hour of devotion, he did not return. His followers sought him, and found that he had died while at prayer, with his eyes fixed on the cross he had carried so long and so faithfully. La Salle, a famous French ad- SAMUEL CHAMPLAIN. , 1 1 ,1 r~* venturer, descended the Great River to the Gulf, naming the country on its banks Louisiana, in honor of Louis XIV. of France. Before the close of the seven teenth century, the French had explored the Great Lakes, the Fox, Maumee, Wabash, Wisconsin, and Illinois Rivers, and the Mississippi from the Falls of St. Anthony to the Gulf. They had traversed a region including what is now known as Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, the Canadas, and Nova Scotia. In 1688, New France had a population of eleven thousand. The opening of the eighteenth century found them still at their labor of colonization. In 1700, De Tonty built Fort Rosalie near the present site of Natchez. Fort Detroit was erected in 1701. Mobile was settled in 1702 and became the capital of all Louisiana. New Orleans was founded in 1718, and Vincennes in 1735. The French names still lingering throughout the Mississippi valley preserve the memories of its early settlers. Frequent contests broke out in Europe between England and France. The colonists naturally took part with their parent countries, and thus the flames of war were kindled in the New World. From 1689 to 1763 three-fourths of a century the struggle went on. The series of quarrels are known with us as " KING WILLIAM S WAR" (1689-1697), " QUEEN ANNE S WAR" (1702-1713), " KING GEORGE S WAR" (1744-1748), and the " OLD FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR" (1754-1763). There were frequent 1689.] KING WILLIAM S WAR is MARQUETTE DESCENDING THE MISSISSIPPI. pauses in the strife, but it was really and always a continuation of the same struggle ; and the issue was to decide whether the French or the English were to rule the continent. The Indians generally sided with the French. They were armed with guns and often led by French officers. The horrors of King Philip s and the Pequod wars were now renewed with tenfold intensity. The border settlers were in constant fear of the tomahawk. " Children, as they gambolled on the beach ; reapers, as they gathered the harvest; mowers, as they rested from using the scythe ; mothers, as they busied themselves about the household, were victims to an enemy who disappeared the moment a blow was struck, and who was ever present when a garrison or a family ceased its vigilance." Every village had its block or gar rison house, solidly constructed, and surrounded with a palisade of logs ; the upper story sometimes projected beyond the lower, and in it were cut loop-holes for firing upon the invader. Thither the inhabitants fled for shelter at any alarm. One June evening in 1689, ten squaws applied for lodging two at each of the five garrisoned houses in Dover, N. H. So secure were the inhabitants in the good faith of the Indians, that every family but one not only granted the request, but also showed them how to unfasten the bolts and bars of the doors and gates, in case they should desire to go out during the night. COLONIAL WARS. [1690. Mesandowit, one of the chiefs, was entertained at Major Wal- dron s garrison, as he had often been before, where they chatted pleasantly together, and the family retired to rest in unsuspecting confidence. When all was quiet, the squaws opened the gates and gave a concerted signal to the concealed Indians without. Major Waldron, an old man of eighty years, awakened by the noise, jumped from his bed and fought valiantly with his sword, but was stunned by a blow from a tomahawk, and forced into an arm-chair, which was mounted on the long table where he had supped with his betrayer. " Who shall judge Indians now? " the savages derisively asked, as they danced about their veteran cap tive. Having forced the inmates of the house to prepare food for them, they regaled themselves, and then, wiping their knives, each " crossed out his account," as they mockingly said, upon the Major s body. Horribly mutilated and faint with the loss of blood, he was falling from the table, when one of them held his own sword under him and thus put an end to his misery. The family were all killed or taken prisoners, and the house was fired. The same fate befell the next dwelling and its inmates. The third house was saved by the barking of a dog, which aroused the dwellers in time to protect themselves. At Mr. Coffin s, the savages found a bag of money, and amused them selves by making the master of the house throw it on the floor in handfuls, while they scrambled after it. They then took him to the house of his son, who had refused to admit the squaws the night before, and, summoning the younger Coffin to surrender, threatened to kill his father be fore his eyes if he refused. Both of these families were confined in a deserted house for safe keep ing until the savages were ready to take them on their march, but, while their captors were busy in plundering, they happily man aged to escape. A war -party of French and Indians coming down from Can ada on their snow-shoes in the depth of winter (1690), attacked Schenectady. They stealthily dispersed through the town, and the inhabitants were only aroused from sleep as the brutal foe burst into their houses. Men, women, and children were A FORTIFIED HOUSE. 1697.] KING WILLIAM S WAR. 71 dragged from their beds and massacred. The few who escaped fled half-naked through the blinding snow to Albany. THE INDIAN ATTACK ON SCHENECTADY. In March, 1697, the Indians made a descent upon Haverhill, Massachusetts, where they murdered and captured about forty persons, and burned several houses. One Mr. Dustin was work ing in his field. He hastened to his home, and bidding his seven children run with all speed to a neighboring garrison, seized his gun, mounted his horse, and set out after them. He had intended to take one before him on his horse, and protect the rest as best he might ; but when he overtook them, each one seemed so precious he could make no choice, and he determined that they should live or die together. Happily, he succeeded in keeping the Indians at bay until a place of safety was reached. He had left his wife ill in bed with an infant child, knowing that any effort to save her would only ensure death to them all. She, with the nurse and child, were dragged away in the train of captives. The babe of a week was soon disposed of in Indian fashion, and, as the strength of other prisoners failed, they were scalped and left by the road side. Mrs. Dustin and nurse kept on the march for a hundred and fifty miles, when, learning that the captives were to be tor tured to death after their destination was reached, she resolved COLONIAL WARS. [1704. upon a desperate effort to escape. In the dead of night she arose with her nurse and an English boy who, having long been a prisoner, had learned how to produce death with one blow of the tomahawk. Taking a weapon, she killed ten of the sleep ing Indians, only one wounded squaw escaping. Bringing away the scalps on her arm to prove her wonderful story, she hastened with her companions to the river bank, unloosed a canoe, and was ere long restored to her astonished family. On the last night of February, 1704, while the snow was four feet deep, a party of about three hundred and fifty French and Indians reached a pine forest near Deerfield, Massachusetts. Skulking about till the unfaithful sentinels deserted the morning watch, they rushed upon the defenceless slumberers, who awoke from their dreams to death or captivity. Leaving behind the blazing village with forty-seven dead bodies to be consumed amid MRS. DUSTIN DISPOSING OF HER CAPTORS. the wreck, they started back with their train of one hundred and twelve captives. The horrors of that winter march through the wilderness can never be told. The groan of helpless exhaustion, or the wail of suffering childhood, was instantly stilled by the piti less tomahawk. Mrs. Williams, the feeble wife of the minister, had remembered her Bible in the midst of surprise, and comforted herself with its promises, till, her strength failing, she commended her five captive children to God and bent to the savage blow of the war-axe. One of her daughters grew up in captivity, em- OLD FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 73 74 COLONIAL WARS. [1750. braced the Catholic faith, and became the wife of a chief. Years after, dressed in Indian costume and accompanied by her warrior husband, she visited her friends in Deerfield. The whole village joined in a fast for her deliverance, and every persuasion was used to induce her to abandon her forest life ; but her heart clung fondly to her dusky friends and her own Indian children, and she went back to the fires of her wigwam, and died a faithful Mo hawk. Such scenes of horror inspired the colonists with intense hatred toward the Indians and their French allies. A bounty as high as fifty pounds was offered for every Indian scalp, and expedi tions were sent against the French strongholds. Two disastrous attempts were made to invade Canada ; Port Royal was captured and became a British station under the name of Annapolis ; and, finally, Louisburg was taken. This had been called the " Gib raltar of America," and its fortifications cost five million dollars. It quickly fell, however, before the rude attacks of General Pep- perell s army of four thousand undisciplined farmers and fishermen. The last words of Whitefield, then in Boston, to the little army as it set sail, had been, " Nothing is to be despaired of when Christ is the leader." When the army came inside the city and beheld the almost impregnable fortifications captured so easily, they were dismayed at the very magnitude of their triumph. It seemed to those sturdy Puritans as if God indeed were on their side, and by Him alone had they won the day. By the middle of the eighteenth century the French had sixty fortified posts guarding the line of their possessions from Quebec to New Orleans. They were determined to hold all west of the Alleghanies, and to make of New France a mighty empire watered by the St. Lawrence, the Great Lakes, and the Mississippi. Every fountain which bubbled on the west side of the Alle ghanies was claimed as being within the French Empire. But "while De Bienville was burying plates of lead engraved with the arms of France, the ploughs and axes of Virginia woodsmen were enforcing a surer title." The final conflict was at hand. The English settlers, pushing westward from the Atlantic, and the French fur-traders and soldiers coming down from the north, began to meet along the Ohio river. The French would admit no intruders. Surveyors were driven back. A post on the Monongahela was destroyed. As there was just now a lull in na tional hostilities on account of the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748), 1753.] OLD FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. George Washington, a promising young man of twenty-one, was sent by Dinwiddie, Lieutenant-Governor of Virginia, to demand an explanation from the French. Washington set out on his peril- AN INCIDENT OF WASHINGTON S RETURN. ous journey the same day on which he received his credentials. He found St. Pierre, the French commandant at Fort le Bceuf very polite but very firm. It was clear that France was deter mined to hold the territory explored by the heroic La Salle and Marquette. The shore in front of the fort was even then lined with canoes ready for an intended expedition down the river. Washington s return through the wilderness, a distance of four hundred miles, was full of peril. The streams were swollen. The snow was falling, and freezing as it fell. The horses gave out, and he was forced to proceed on foot. With only one companion he quitted the usual path, and, with the compass as his guide, struck boldly out through the forest. An Indian, lying in wait, fired at him only a few paces off, but missing, was captured. Attempting to cross the Alleghany on a rude raft, they were caught in the trembling ice. Washington thrust out his pole to check the speed, but was jerked into the foaming water. Swimming to an island, he barely saved his life. Fortunately, in the morning the river was frozen over, and he escaped on the ice. He at last reached home unharmed, and reported St. Pierre s avowed de- 7 6 COLONIAL WARS. [1754. termination to abide by the orders under which he declared him self. The next spring, a regiment of Virginia troops under Colonel Frye, Washington being second in command, was sent to occupy the fork of the Alleghany and Monongahela Rivers. Learning that the French had anticipated them and already erected a fort called Du Quesne at that point, Washington hastened forward to reconnoitre. Jumonville, who was hiding among the rocks with a company of French troops waiting an opportunity to attack him, was himself surprised and defeated. Colonel Frye dying soon after, Washington assumed command. Collecting his forces at the Great Meadows, he erected a stockade, which he aptly named Fort Necessity. Here he was attacked by a large body of French and Indians, and after a severe conflict was com pelled to capitulate. The contest for the possession of the continent was now evidently at hand. The crisis was imminent. A convention of commissioners from all the colonies north of the Potomac was in session at Albany to concert measures of defence. A union of the colonies seemed absolutely necessary. Benjamin Franklin now came to the front. He was well known as the author of " Poor Richard s Almanac," which he had published for upwards of twenty years, and which had attained great popularity in Europe as well as America. Risen from a poor boy, his industry and native talent had already procured for him consider able fortune, and he had just begun those experiments in electricity which were afterwards to render his name immortal. To this philosopher and statesman the convention at Albany deputed the task of drawing up a plan for the proposed confederation. There was to be a governor-general appointed by the king, and a grand council elected by the colonial assemblies. After much discus sion the scheme was adopted, but, curiously enough, was rejected by the king because it gave too much power to the people ; and by the people, as giving too much power to the crown. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 1755.] OLD FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 77 The following" year, an expedition of English and colonial troops set out under General Braddock, Washington acting as aide-de-camp, against Fort Du Quesne. As the army toiled through the wilderness, one hundred axemen laboriously hewed a path before it, while the gloom of the forest hemmed it in on every side. The general was a regular British officer, proud and conceited. " The Indians," said he, " may frighten continental troops, but they can make no impression on the king s regulars ! " Washington warned him of the dangers of savage warfare, but his sugges tions were received with contempt. The column came within ten miles of the fort, marching along the Monongahela in reg ular array, drums beating and colors flying. Suddenly, in as cending a little slope, with a deep ravine and thick underbrush on either hand, they encountered the Indians lying in ambush. The terrible war-whoop resounded on every side. The British regulars huddled together, and, frightened, fired by platoons, at WASHINGTON AT BKADDOCK S DEFEAT. 78 COLONIAL WARS. [1T55. random, against rocks and trees. The Virginia troops alone sprang into the forest and fought the savages in Indian style. Washington seemed everywhere present. An Indian chief with his braves especially singled him out. Four balls passed through his clothes, and two horses were shot under him. Braddock was mortally wounded and borne from the field. At last, when the continental troops were nearly all killed, the regulars turned and fled disgracefully, abandoning everything to the foe. Washington covered their flight and saved the wreck of the army from pursuit. While this disgrace befell the English arms on the west, far in the north they were being tarnished by an act of heartless cruelty. A body of troops sent out against Acadia (Nova Scotia) easily captured the petty forts on the Bay of Fundy. The Acadians, a rural, simple-minded people, wished to be left to till their farms in peace. They gladly gave up their arms and promised to remain neutral. Refusing, however, to take the oath of allegiance to King George II., their houses were fired and they driven on board ship at the point of the bayonet. In the confusion of a forced embarkation, wives were separated from husbands and children from parents, never again in this world to be reunited. Seven thousand of these helpless people were dis tributed through the colonies from Maine to Georgia. " Scattered were they, like flakes of snow, when the wind from the North-east Strikes aslant through the fogs that darken the Banks of Newfoundland. Friendless, homeless, hopeless, they wandered from city to city, From the cold lakes of the North to sultry Southern Savannas, From the bleak shores of the sea to the lands where the Father of Waters Seizes the hills in his hands and drags them down to the ocean, Deep in their sands to bury the scattered bones of the mammoth. Friends they sought and homes ; and many, despairing, heart-broken, Asked of the earth but a grave, and no longer a friend nor a fireside." For years the colonial newspapers contained advertisements of these scattered exiles, seeking reunion with their lost ones. That they might not wander back to their old home, it was utterly desolated. The humble household relics, dear to their simple hearts, perished in the flames. Cattle, sheep, and horses were seized as spoils by their cruel conquerors. " There was none left round the ashes of the cottages of the Acadians but the faithful watch-dog, vainly seeking the hands that fed him. Thickets of forest trees choked their orchards; the ocean broke over their neglected dikes and desolated their meadows." Such was the 1756.] OLD FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 79 fate of the simple Acadian peasants, about which Longfellow has woven his sweet and imperishable story of Evangeline. About the same time as Braddock s defeat, a force under William Johnson was sent against the fort at Crown Point. He met the French under General Dieskau near the head of Lake George. After a hot engagement, the French regulars were defeated by the backwoods riflemen and their gallant com mander severely wounded. In the pursuit, Dieskau was found by a soldier leaning against a stump. As he was fumbling for his watch with which to propitiate his captor, the soldier, think ing him to be searching for his pistol, shot him. The refugees from the battle fell into an ambuscade of some New York and New Hampshire rangers and were utterly routed. This memorable conflict, says Parkman, has cast its dark associations over one of the most beautiful spots in America. Near the scene of the evening fight, a pool, half overgrown by weeds and water-lilies, and darkened by the surrounding forest, is pointed out to the tourist, and he is told that beneath its stagnant waters lie the bones of three hundred Frenchmen, deep buried in mud and slime. Johnson, however, gained nothing by his victory, but loitered away the summer in building Fort William Henry. Two years of disaster followed. In 1756, the French, under Montcalm, captured Fort Oswego with its valuable stores. The missionaries planted a cross on the spot, labeled, " This is the banner of victory ;" and by its side was placed a pillar bearing the arms of France and the inscription, " Bring lilies with full hands." The following year Fort William Henry was forced to capit ulate. The English were guaranteed a safe escort to Fort Ed ward. They had scarcely left the fort, however, when the Indians fell upon them to plunder and slaughter. In vain did the French officers peril their lives to save their captives from the lawless tomahawk. " Kill me," cried Montcalm, in desperation, " but spare the English, who are under my protection." But the In dian fury was implacable, and the march of the prisoners to Fort Edward became a flight for life. With 1758 dawned a brighter day. William Pitt, the warm friend of the colonies, was now Prime Minister of England. An army of fifty thousand men was raised, twenty-two thousand British regulars and twenty-eight thousand colonial troops. This was equal to half the entire population of New France. Fort Du 8o COLONIAL WARS. [1758. Quesne was captured, and as the English flag floated in triumph over the ramparts, this gateway to the West received the name of Pittsburg. The success was mainly due to the exertions of Washington. On his return he was elected to the House of Burgesses. As he took his seat, the Speaker, in the name of Vir ginia, publicly returned thanks to him for his services to his country. Washington, taken by surprise, rose to reply. Blush ing and trembling, he found himself unable to utter a word. " Sit down, Mr. Washington," interposed the Speaker, with a smile of regard ; " your modesty equals your valor, and that sur passes the power of any language I possess." Louisburg, which had been given up to the French by treaty, was retaken during this campaign. General Abercrombie, how ever, though he had the largest army yet raised in the provinces fifteen thousand men was dis astrously driven back from before Fort Ticonderoga. The wanderer in Westminster Abbey to-day finds the memory of Lord Howe, who fell in this repulse, perpetuated by a tablet erected in his honor by the Assembly of Massachusetts. The next campaign (1759) was destined to be decisive. Montcalm had received no reinforcements from home ; Canada was impover ished and food was scarce, so that even the garrison in Quebec had daily rations of but half a pound of bread, and the inhabitants were forced to be content with two ounces. Forts Niagara, Crown Point, and Ticonderoga, feebly defended by the French, were soon taken. Meanwhile General Wolfe, sailing up the St. Law rence, struck a more vital blow. With a formidable fleet and eight thousand men, he laid siege to Quebec. The citadel, however, far above the reach of their cannon, and the craggy bluff, bristling with guns, for a time repulsed every effort. At length he discovered a narrow path leading up the steep preci pice. Here he determined to land his troops, ascend to the 1759.] OLD FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 8 1 plain above, and compel Montcalm to come out of his intrench- ments and give battle. Sailing several miles up the river, he dis embarked his men. That clear, starry night, as they dropped down with the tide in their boats, Wolfe, who was just recover ing from a severe illness, softly repeated the stanzas of a new poem which he had lately received from England. Like a mourn ful prophecy, above the gentle rippling of the waters, floated the strangely significant words from the lips of the doomed hero : " The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, And all that beauty, all that wealth e er gave, Await alike the inevitable hour : The paths of glory lead but to the grave." Gray s Elegy. " Gentlemen," said he, as he closed the recital, " I would rather be the author of that poem than to have the glory of beating the French to-morrow." Having reached the landing-place, his men, clambering up the steep cliff, quickly dispersed the guard, and at day-break he stood with his entire army drawn up in order of battle on the Plains of Abraham. Montcalm, astonished at the audacity of the attempt, could scarcely believe it possible. When convinced of its truth he at once made an impetuous attack. Wolfe s veterans held their fire until the French were close at hand, then poured upon 6 82 COLONIAL WARS. [1759. them rapid, steady volleys. The enemy wavered. Wolfe, placing himself at the head, now ordered a bayonet charge. Already twice wounded, he still pushed forward. A third ball struck him. He was carried to the rear. " They run ! They run !" exclaimed the officer on whom he leaned. " Who run?" he faintly gasped. " The French," was the reply. " Now God be praised, I die happy," murmured the expiring hero. Montcalm, too, was fatally wounded as he was vainly trying to rally the fugitives. On being told by the surgeon that he could not live more than twelve hours, he answered, " So much the better. I shall not see the surrender of Quebec." One knows not which of these two heroes to admire the more. Posterity has honored both alike. A monument inscribed WOLFE AND MONTCALM stands to their memory in the Governor s Garden at Quebec. The surrender of the city quickly followed the defeat of its army. The next year the fleur-de-lis was lowered on the flagstaff of Montreal, and the cross of St. George took its place. Peace was made at Paris, 1763. France gave up all the country west of the Mississippi to Spain, who, in turn, ceded Florida to England. The British flag now waved over the continent from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf, and from the Atlantic on the east to the " Great River" on the west. The French had lost their foot hold in the New World forever. The English, however, were not left in quiet possession of their vast inheritance. The Indian tribes of the West soon became restive under their new and harsher masters. Pontiac, head of the Ottawas, an able, cunning, and ambitious chieftain, organized a wide-spread conspiracy for the simultaneous destruc tion of the British garrisons. All the Indian shrewdness was ex ercised in accomplishing this design. At Maumee, a squaw lured forth the commander by imploring aid for an Indian woman dying outside the fort. Once without, he was at the mercy of the am- bushed savages. At Mackinaw, hundreds of Indians had gathered. Commencing a game of ball, one party drove the other, as if by accident, toward the fort. The soldiers were attracted to watch the game. At length the ball was thrown over the pickets, and the Indians jumping after it, began the terrible butchery. The commander, Major Henry, writing in his room, heard the war- cry and the shrieks of the victims, and rushing to his window beheld the savage work of the tomahawk and the scalping-knife. Amid untold perils he himself escaped. At Detroit, the plot was 17r>0-3.] OLD FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 83 betrayed, it is said, by a squaw who was friendly to Major Glad- win, the English commander, and when the chiefs were admitted to their proposed council for " brightening the chain of friend ship," they found themselves surrounded by an armed garrison. Pontiac was allowed to escape. Two days after, he commenced a siege which lasted several months. Eight forts were thus cap tured. Thousands of settlers along the borders fled to escape the scalping-knife. Finally, the Indian confederacy was broken up, and Pontiac, fleeing westward, was assassinated while endeavor ing to unite his dusky allies in another attempt to recover their ancient hunting-grounds. The contest which had given America to England really con ferred it upon the colonists. From the issue of the old French and Indian war, date the thought of independence and the ability to achieve it. A struggle against a common foe had knit the scat tered colonists together. Sectional jealousies had been measur ably allayed. The colonies had come to know their own strength. The emergency had forced them to think and act independently of the mother country, to raise men and money, and to use them as they pleased. Minds work fast in hours of peril, and demo cratic ideas had taken deep root in these troublesome times. Colonial and regular officers had belonged to the same army ; and although, while on parade, the British affected to ridicule the awkward provincial, he often owed all his laurels, and sometimes even his safety, on the field of battle, to the prudence and valor of his despised companion. Washington, Gates, Montgomery, Stark, Arnold, Rogers, Morgan, Putnam, and a score of others, had been in training during these years, and had learned how to meet even British regulars when the time came. 1 CHAPTER IV. COLONIAL LIFE. (HE thirteen colonies now (1774) numbered about two million white inhabitants and five hundred thousand negroes mostly slaves. They were mainly scattered along the sea-coast and the great riv ers, with occasional groups of settlements pushed into the backwoods beyond. Massa chusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut had charter gov ernments. Maryland and Pennsylvania (with Delaware) were proprietary that is, their proprietors governed them. Georgia, Virginia, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, and the Carolinas were directly subject to the crown. Boston and Philadelphia were the principal cities, each having not far from twenty thousand inhabitants. New York contained a population of about twelve thousand, the houses not yet being numbered. Charleston had about eighteen thousand. Baltimore and Lan caster (Pennsylvania) had each about six thousand. Agricul ture was the main employment of the people. Manufactures, however, even at this early period, received much attention at the North. Hats, paper, shoes, household furniture, farming utensils, and the coarser kinds of cutlery were made to some extent. In an advertisement of 1769, we read: " The Bell Cart will go through Boston before the end of next month to collect rags for the Paper Mill at Milton, when all people that will encourage the Paper Manufactory may dispose of them." Cloth - weaving had been introduced, although most thrifty people wove their own, and every frugal housewife expected COMMERCE AND COINAGE. 85 to dress her family in homespun. In 1753, the Society for Promoting Industry among the Poor, at its anniversary, ex hibited, on Boston Common, three hundred young spinsters, each with her wheel ; and a weaver, working at his loom, was carried through the streets on men s shoulders. Commerce had steadily increased principally, however, as coast trade, in consequence of the oppressive laws of Great Britain. The daring fishermen of New England already pushed their whaling crafts far into the icy regions of the north. At the time of the Revolu tion the exports of the colonies were about four million pounds sterling, and the imports three and a half millions ; the exports, per capita, being in 1769 nearly equal to those of 1869, and the imports over one-half as great. Money was scarce. Trade was by barter a coat for a cow, or a barrel of sugar for a pile of boards. In 1635, bullets were given instead of farthings the law not allowing over twelve in one payment. Massachusetts was the only colony to coin money. A mint was set up in 1652. For thirty years all the coins bore the same date. They are known as the pine-tree shillings, sixpences, etc. The following curious anecdote is told concerning this coinage : " Sir Thomas Temple, brother of Sir William Temple, resided several years in New England during the commonwealth. After the Restoration, when he returned to England, the king sent for him, and discoursed with him on the state of affairs in Massachusetts, and discovered great warmth against that colony. Among other things, he said they had in vaded his prerogative by coining money. Sir Thomas, who was a real friend to the colony, told his Majesty that the colonists had but little acquaintance with law, and that they thought it no crime to make money for their own use. In the course of the conversation, Sir Thomas took some of the money out of his pocket, and presented it to the king. On one side of the coin was a pine-tree, of that kind which is thick and bushy at the top. Charles asked what tree that was. Sir Thomas informed him it was the royal oak which preserved his Majesty s life. This ac count of the matter brought the king into good humor, and dis posed him to hear what Sir Thomas had to say in their favor, calling them a parcel of honest dogs. " PINE-TREE SHILLING. 86 COLONIAL LIFE. The first printing-press was set up at Cambridge in 1639. The first book printed was the " Freeman s Oath," the second, an almanac, and the third a psalm-book. Most of the books of this day were collections of sermons. The first permanent newspaper, The Boston News Letter, was published in 1704. In 1750 there were only seven newspapers. The Federal Orrery, the first daily paper, was not issued till 1792. The first circulating library in America was established under Franklin s auspices at Philadel phia in 1732. There was a public library in New York, from which books were loaned at four and a half pence per week. In 1754, the Society Library was founded. Eleven years later there was a circulating library in Boston of twelve hundred volumes. As yet very few books had been printed here. Scarcely any American work was read in Europe. There was, however, a growing taste for literature and art. Jonathan Edwards s meta physical writings and Franklin s philosophical treatises had excited much attention even in the Old World. West and Copley had already achieved a reputation as artists of ability and skill. The usual mode of travel was on foot or horseback, the roads being poor, and as yet few bridges across the rivers. Chaises and gigs, however, were in use, with their high wheels, and bodies hung low on wooden springs. People along the coast journeyed largely by means of sloops navigated by a man and a boy. The trip from New York to Philadelphia occupied three days if the wind was fair. There was a wagon running bi-weekly from New York across New Jersey. Conveyan ces were put on in 1766, which made the unprecedented time of two days from New York to Philadelphia. They THE OLD STAGE COACH. L J were, therefore, termed " flying machines." The first stage route was between Providence and Boston, taking two days for the trip. A post-office system had been effected by the combination of the colonies, which united the whole country. The rate of postage was fourpence for each letter if carried less than sixty miles, sixpence between sixty and a hundred and sixty miles, EDUCATION IN THE COLONIES. 87 and twopence for every hundred miles thereafter. A mail was started in 1672, between New York and Boston, by way of Hart ford. By contract the round trip was to be made monthly. Benjamin Franklin was one of the early postmasters - general. He made a grand tour of the country in his chaise, perfecting and maturing the plan. His daughter Sally accompanied him, riding sometimes by his side in the chaise, and sometimes on the extra horse which he had with him. It took five months to make the rounds which could now be performed in as many days. Education early made great progress. Under the eaves of the church the Puritans always built a school-house. The records of Boston contain the following: "The i3th of ye 2nd month, 1635. It was then generally agreed upon yt our brother Philemon Pur- mount shall be intreated to become schoolmaster for ye teaching and nourturing of all children with us." When the city was but six years old, four hundred pounds were appropriated to the semi nary at Cambridge, now known as Harvard University. Some years after, each family gave a peck of corn or a shilling in cash for its support. In 1700, ten ministers, having previously so agreed, brought together a number of books, each saying as he laid down his gift, " I give these books for founding a college in Connecticut." This was the beginning of Yale College. It was first established at Say brook, but in 1716 was removed to New Haven. It was named from Governor Yale, who befriended it most generously. Earlier than this, common schools had been provided, not, how ever, free, but supported by voluntary offerings. In 1647, Massa chusetts made the support of schools compulsory and education universal and free. We read that, in 1665, every town had a free school, and, if it contained over one hundred families, a gram mar school. In Connecticut every town that did not keep a school for three months in the year was liable to a fine. The Middle Colonies had already their colleges and many humbler schools scattered through the towns. In the Dutch o period it was usual for the schoolmaster, in order to increase his emoluments, to act as town-clerk, sexton, and chorister ; to ring the bell, dig graves, etc. ; somewhat after the custom still preserved in the country schools of Germany. Licenses were granted to schoolmasters for exclusive privileges. The following, given by an English governor, Lovelace, for Al bany, then a mere rude hamlet, in 1670, is still preserved : Where- 88 COLONIAL LIFE. as, Jan Jeurians Beecker had a Graunt to keep y e Dutch school at Albany for y e teaching of youth to read & to wryte y e which was allowed of and confirmed to him by my predecessor Coll. Richard Nicolls Notwithstanding which severall others not so capable do undertake y e like some perticular tymes & seasons of y e yeare when they have no other Imployment, where by y e schol- lars removing from one Schoole to another do not onely give a great discouragement to y e maister who makes it his businesse all y e yeare but also are hindred & become y e more backwards in there learning ffor y e reasons aforesaid I have thought fitt that y e said Jan Jeurians Beecker who is esteemed very capable that way shall be y e allowed schoolmaster for y e instructing of y e youth at Albany & partes adjacent he following y e said Imployment Con stantly & diligently & that no other be admitted to interrupt him It being to be presumed that y e said Beecker for y e youth & Jacob Joosten who is allowed of for y e teaching of y e younger children are sufficient for that place. Given under my hand at ffort James in New-Yorke this i6th day of May 1670. In the English period some of the New York schools were kept by Dutch masters, who taught English as an accomplish ment. In 1702, an act was passed for the " Encouragement of a Grammar Free School in the City of New York." Kings (now Columbia) College, was chartered in 1754. It is a noticeable fact that the astronomical instrument known as the Orrery, invented by Dr. Rittenhouse in 1768, is still preserved in Princeton College. No European institution had its equal. At Lewiston, Delaware, is said to have been established the first girls school in the col onies. The first school in Pennsylvania was started about 1683, where " reading, writing, and casting accounts " were taught, for eight English shillings per annum. The Southern Colonies met with great difficulties in their efforts to establish schools. Though Virginia boasts of the second oldest college in the Union, yet her English governors bitterly opposed the progress of education. Governor Berkeley, of whose haughty spirit we have already heard, said, " I thank God there are no free schools nor printing-presses here, and I hope we shall not have them these hundred years." The restrictions upon the press were so great that no newspaper was published in Virginia until 1736, and that was controlled by the government. Free schools were NEW ENGLAND IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 8 9 established in Maryland in 1696, and a free school in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1712. Private schools were early established by the colonists in every neighborhood. The rich er planters commonly sent their sons to England to be educated. At the opening of the Revolution there were nine colleges in the colonies : Harvard, founded 1636; William and Mary, 1693 ; Yale, 1 700 ; Princeton, 1746; University of Penn sylvania, 1749; Columbia, 1754; Brown University, 1764; Dartmouth, 1769; Rutgers, 1770. There was no law or theological school, although a medical school had been founded in Philadel phia 1762, and one in New York 1769. EARLY PRINTING-PRESS. NEW EJNQLAND IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTUFJY. The New England character was marked by severe integrity. Conduct was shaped by a literal interpretation of the Scriptures. Private morals were carefully watched by the authorities in church and state. In the earliest times the ministers had almost entire control, and a church reproof was considered the heaviest disgrace. But something further was soon found necessary for less tender consciences and more flagrant offenders. A man was whipped for shooting fowl on Sunday. The swearer was made to meditate over his sin, standing in a public place with his tongue in a cleft stick ; sometimes he was fined twelve pence, or set in the stocks, or imprisoned, " according to the nature and quality of the person." In exaggerated offences, the unruly member was bored through with a hot iron. Minor transgres sions of the tongue were not winked at, and the unhappy house- COLONIAL LIFE. A SCOLD GAGGED. wife, whose temper got the better of her wisdom, had sorry leisure for repentance. " Scolds," says Josselyn, writing of the old " Body of Laws of 1646," " they gag and set them at their doors for certain hours, for all comers and goers by to gaze at." " Ducking in running water" is also men tioned as a punishment for this class of offenders. Philip Ratcliffe, of the colony, was sentenced to " be whipped, have his ears cut off, fined forty shillings, and banished out of the limits of the juris diction, for uttering mali cious and scandalous speeches against the government and the church of Salem." As to the " prophanely behaved " person, who lingered " without dores att the meeting-house on the Lord s daies," to indulge in social chat or even to steal a quiet nap, he was " admonished " by the constables ; on a second offence " sett in the stockes," and if his moral sense was still perverted, he was cited before the court. If any man should dare to interrupt the preach ing or falsely charge the minister with error, " in the open face of the church," or otherwise make " God s wayes con temptible and ridiculous, every such person or persons (whatsoever censure the church may passe) shall for the first scandall bee convented and reproved openly by the magistrates at some Lecture, and bound to their good behaviour. And if the second time they breake forth into the like contemptuous carriages, they shall either pay five pounds to the publique Treasure or stand two houres openly upon a block or stoole four foott high uppon a Lecture day, with a paper fixed on his Breast, written with capitalle letters, An open and obstinate contemner of God s holy ordinances " THE STOCKS. NEW ENGLAND IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY, 9 1 The first " meeting-houses " consisted of a single room, per haps twenty by thirty-six feet in size and twelve feet high " in the stud." The roof was either shingled or thatched with long grass. It was a great advance when the}^ were able to have it " lathed on the inside, and so daubed and whitened over, work manlike." They were afterwards built with a pyramidal roof, crowned with a belfry. The bell-rope hung from the centre, and the sexton performed his office half Avay between the pulpit and the large entrance door. Such a meeting-house, built in 1681, still stands in Hingham, Massachusetts. In the early Plymouth days every house opened on Sunday morning at the tap of the drum. The men in " sad colored man tles," and armed to the teeth, the women in sober gowns, kerchiefs and hoods, all assembled in front of the captain s house. Three abreast, they marched up the hill to the meeting-house, where every man set down his musket within easy reach. The elders and deacons took their seat in a " long pue " in front of the preacher s desk, facing the congre gation. The old men, the young men, and the young women each had their separate place. The boys were gravely perched on the pulpit-stairs or in the galleries, and had a constable or tithing-man to keep them in order. The light came straggling through the little diamond -shaped window-panes, weirdly gilding the wolf-heads which hung upon the walls tro phies of the year s conquests. As glass was scarce, oiled paper was sometimes used in its stead. The service began with the long prayer, and was followed by reading and expounding of the Scriptures, a psalm lined by one of the ruling elders from Ainsworth s Version, which the colonists brought over with them, and the sermon. Instrumental music was absolutely proscribed, as condemned by the text (Amos v. 23), " I will not hear the melody of thy viols" ; and one tune for each metre was all those good old fathers needed. Those now known as York, Hackney, Windsor, St. Marys, and Martyrs were the standard stock, and they were intoned with a devout zeal almost THE FIRST CHURCH ERECTED IN CONNECTICUT. HARTFORD, 1638. 92 COLONIAL LIFE. forgotten in these modern times of organs and trained choirs. The approved length of the sermon was an hour, and the sexton turned the hour-glass which stood upon the desk before the min ister. But woe to the unlucky youngster whose eyelids drooped in slumber ! The ever-vigilant constables, with their wands tipped on one extremity with the foot and on the other with the tail of a hare, brought the heavier end down sharply on the little nodding, flaxen head. The careworn matron who was betrayed into a like offence was gently reminded of her duty by a touch on the forehead with the softer end of the same stick. After the sermon came the weekly contribution. The congregation, sternly solemn, marched to the front, the chief men or magis trates first, and deposited their offerings in the money-box held by one of the elders or deacons. The occupants of the galleries also came down, and marching two abreast, up one aisle and down another, paid respect to the church treasury in money, paper promises, or articles of value, according to their ability. Among other provisions made or recommended for the support of the pastor, we find the following: " 1662. The court proposeth it as a thing they judge would be very commendable & bene- ficiall to the townes where God s providence shall cast any whales, if they should agree to sett apart some p te of every such fish or oyle for the incouragement of an able and godly minister amongst them." A search among the old colonial records is rewarded by curious glimpses of Puritan character. Old bachelors seem to have been held by the fathers in small respect, and on account of the " great inconvenience " arising from their anomalous condition, it was ordered that " henceforth noe single p sons be suffered to live of himself or in any family, but as the celect men of the towne shall approve of." No youth under twenty-one should " take any tobacko untill hee had brought a certificate under the hands of some who are approved for knowledge and skill in phisick, that it is useful for him, and also that he hath received a lycense from the courte for the same." We read of fines for the juryman who should indulge in tobacco the same day of rendering verdict ; also for all persons except soldiers on training days who used it " in very uncivil manner publickly " in the streets ; or " within ten miles of any house, and then not more than once a day " ; penalties for the " bringing in to the colony of any Quaker, Rantor, or other notorious heritiques," and, strangest of all to NEW ENGLAND IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 93 the eyes of the active, wire-pulling politician of to-day, a law that any who " were elected to the office of Governor, and would not stand to the election, nor hold and execute the office for his year," should " be amerced in Twenty pounds sterling fine," as the price of his modesty or contumacy ! O for the refreshing shadow of our great-grandfathers to overhang the nineteenth century caucus ! Fast and thanksgiving were the great public days. A fast-day was regularly kept at the season of annual planting ; but days of fasting and prayer were often appointed on account of some special or threatened calamity. In 1644, one day in every month was or dered to be thus observed. Excellent care, however, was always taken to avoid a fast on Good Friday, as well as to keep clear of a feast on Christmas. Our Puritan forefathers were rigidly jeal ous of the slightest concession to " Popish " customs. We cannot suppress a smile when we read that, not content with denying the title of " Saint " to the apostles and ancient Christian fathers, they even refused to speak it when applied to places. " The Island of St. Christophers was always wrote Christophers, and by the same rule all other places to which Saint had been prefixed. If any exception was made, an answer was ready : Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had as good right to this appellation as Peter, James, and John." " Because," says Lechford, " they would avoid all memory of heathenish and idols names," they designated the days of the week and the months of the year by numbers. March was the first month, and Sunday or Sabbath, as they styled it, the first day. Morton, who complained before the Lords Commissioners of the Plantations in England of some of the Puritan ways, especially marriages by magistrates, says, " The people of New England hold the use of a ring in marriage to be a relique of popery, a diabolical circle for the Devell to daunce in." Whatever cheer was lost, from conscientious scruples, at Christmas-tide, was made up on Thanksgiving day, especially in Connecticut. From its first celebration, eighteen years after the Mayflower landing, it was the great social event of the whole twelve months. The growing family was gathered, from far and near, and clustering round the paternal hearthstone, forgot every trial in the joys of kinship. For days before it came, the plump est fowls, the yellowest pumpkins, and the finest of vegetables were marked and put aside. The stalled ox and the fatted calf 94 COLONIAL LIFE. were killed. When the glad morning arrived a happy flutter pervaded every home. Children s feet pattered over the old farm house from cellar to garret and made the rafters echo with their noisy glee. " Sometimes there were so many that the house would scarcely hold them ; but the dear old grandmother, whose memory could hardly keep the constantly lengthening record of their births, and whose eye, dim with tears and age, could never see which child to love the best, welcomed each with a trembling hand and overflowing heart." (Hollisters Hist, of Conn.) After the public service, came the generous dinner ; and then all gath ered around the blazing hickory fire to listen to the joys and perils of the year. As the little eyes grew sleepy and fair heads began to nod with very weariness of enjoyment, the old family Bible was brought out, and the day was closed with a fervent thanksgiving for mercies past and supplications for the future. Huskings, apple-parings, and quiltings were also favorite occa sions for social gathering. Governor Winthrop prohibited cards and gaming-tables. Dancing, however, was not entirely for bidden in New England circles, for we read that it was long the custom in Connecticut for the young people of a parish to cele brate the settlement of the new minister by an ordination ball. But these gradually fell into disrepute, and were at last sup pressed by public sentiment. The houses of most of the first settlers were, of necessity, primitive a log cabin, often of a single room, with an immense chimney built externally at its side. The chinks between the logs were " daubed," as the term was, with a mortar of clay and straw. Tall grass, gathered along the beaches, was largely used for the thatching of roofs. There were not wanting, however, some " fair and stately houses," for which the New Haven people were reproved as having " laid out too much of their stocks and estates" in them. One Isaac Allerton, especially, is mentioned as having " built a grand house on the creek, with four porches." Governor Coddington built a brick house in Boston before he went thence to found his colony. Rev. Mr. Whitefield s stone house in Guilford, Conn., has endured two hun dred and thirty-seven years, and is the oldest house, standing as originally built, in the United States, north of Florida. After thirty years, a better class of dwellings began to be more com mon. They were usually made of heavy oak frames, put together in the most solid manner, and made secure at night by massive NEW ENGLAND IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 95 WHITEFIELD S HOUSE, GUILFORD, CONNECTICUT. wooden bars. After the Indians and wild beasts had been driven back by increased settlement, bolts and bars fell into disuse. The foundations of the huge old stone chimneys were about twelve feet square. Forest logs four feet in length were piled upon the ponderous andirons, and on occasions a big "back -log" was drawn into the house by a horse, and then rolled into the fireplace with hand-spikes. " Blazing hearthstones" had then a meaning at which, in our days of fur naces and steam -pipes, we can only guess. No need for artificial venti lators when, through the crevices of the building, swept such keen, brisk currents of air In the morning the farmer and his family sat down to their break fast of " bean porridge," or boiled cornmeal and milk, with a healthy appetite. Beer, cider, or cold water furnished their usual beverage ; for tea and coffee were unknown in New England homes in the seventeenth century. " Rye and Indian " was the staff of life on which they leaned the most. We can fancy a New England table of those early days, with its pewter dishes, bright ened to their utmost polish, and, in the wealthier households, here and there a silver beaker or tankard, the heirloom of the family. The dinner, which is at noon, opens with a large Indian pudding ground corn sweetened with molasses accompanied by an appropriate sauce ; next come boiled beef and pork ; then wild game with potatoes, followed by turnips and samp or succo tash. Pumpkins were served in various ways. Supper was also a substantial meal, though generally eaten cold. Baked beans, baked Indian pudding, and newly-baked rye and Indian bread were standard dishes for Wednesday, " after the washing and ironing agonies of Monday and Tuesday " ; salt fish on Saturday, but never on Friday, the " Popish " fast-day ; and boiled Indian pudding, with roast beef for those who could get it, on Sunday. 96 COLONIAL LIFE. Although, from the scarcity of laborers, the proprietors toiled often in the same fields with the servants they had brought over from Old England, it must not be supposed that there were no grades or degrees in society. Titles, however, were used spar ingly. Even that of Reverend does not seem to have been in use for at least a half century after the Mayflower touched port the minister being addressed and recorded as Mr., Pastor, Teacher, or Elder. The first prefix, in fact, indicated much more in old colonial times than at present. Clergymen, the more distin guished members of the General Court, highly-born and Univer sity-bred men alone, were honored with it. Young men, of what ever rank, were seldom granted it. To be called Mr., or to have one s name recorded by the secretary with that prefix, two hun dred years ago, was a pretty certain index of the person s rank as respects birth, education, and moral character. As for the com mon people above the grade of servants, the yeomen, tenants, owners of small estates, and even many deputies to the General Court, they were content with the appellation of Goodman, their wives receiving the corresponding one of Goodwife. The title of Sir was often given to undergraduates at a university or college who belonged to distinguished families. " Hence a son of Gov ernor Winthrop, Mr. Sherman, or Governor Treat, returning home from Yale or Cambridge to spend a vacation, would be greeted by his old companions as Sir Winthrop, Sir Sherman, or Sir Treat." The Esquire or Squire was added or prefixed to de scendants of the English nobility, sons of baronets, knights, etc. Such titles as " the Honored," " the Worshipful," " the Worshipful and much Honored," sometimes occur prefixed to such names as John Winthrop, or Captain John Allyn. Military titles were especially reverenced, for a long time " Captain " being the highest given. Training-day was a great event. All the men from sixteen to sixty years of age were required to participate in the general drill. There does not appear to have been any uniform dress, and no music but that of the drum to inspirit the military movements ; but as every member of the militia practised for the defence of his own household, we can well imagine that there was lacking neither zest nor zeal. At Plymouth, by law, trainings were " always begun and ended with prayer." The pikemen the tall est and strongest in the colony shouldered their pikes ten feet in length, besides the spear at the end with religious resolution ; NEW ENGLAND IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 97 the musketeers firmly grasped their clumsy old matchlocks ; and the young Puritan boys looked on and sighed with envy, longing for the time when they, too, might wear helmet and breastplate, or a cotton-stuffed coat to turn the Indian arrows. To be even a corporal in the militia was an honor which required an extra TRAINING-DAY IN THE OLDEN TIME. amount of humility to bear without danger to the soul. John Hull, a prosperous Boston merchant, chosen to that office in 1648, praises God for giving him "acceptance and favor in the eyes of His people, and, as a fruit thereof, advancement above his deserts." How would those ante-revolutionary fathers have stared at our swift express trains, our lines of telegraphic wires, and our pleasure-trips from Atlantic to Pacific shore ! Even a stage-coach was to them a luxury yet unknown. The fair bride accompanied her husband, gentleman or yeoman, on the wedding trip, from her father s house to his own home, wherever it might be, seated on a pillion behind him on his horse. She expected to prove a " help meet for him," as the minister s wedding counsels emphatically enjoined ; and in her traveling costume of possibly a plain blue and white gown, the product of her own industry, she was as lovely in her sturdy husband s eye as the daintiest of modern brides can ever hope to be. Indeed, her fresh, glowing cheeks, and plump, elastic form might well strike envy to the heart of many a modern 7 COLONIAL LIFE. A WEDDING JOURNEY. belle. Notwithstanding the general simplicity of dress, however, in the early colonial times, great public days called out many an elegant costume. The rich articles of apparel brought over by the higher class of emigrants were carefully preserved, and lace ruffles, elab orate embroid ery, silk and vel vet caps, and gold and silver shoe and knee buckles, made a gathering of wealthy colonists a much gayer affair than a black-coat ed party of to-day. Tightly-fitting small-clothes and high hose, a coat extending to the knees and fastened in front with buttons, clasps, or hooks and eyes, its full skirts stiffened with buckram and the habit itself profusely decorated with gold lace, a plaited stock of fine linen cambric with a large silver buckle at the back of the neck, a broad-brimmed, high-crowned, sugar-loaf hat, beneath which fell the long, luxuriant curls of the bleached or powdered wig, and a fashionable red cloak, gave to the dignified New England father an air of unquestionable gentility. The skins of animals were much used for garments. In the inventory of a wealthy Connecticut settler, who died in 1649, are enumerated " two raccoon coats, one wolf-skin coat, four bear-skins, three moose." Sheep and deer skins did like service. The small-clothes usually fitted quite closely to the person, and " those men were thought very fortu nate whose forms were such that they could wear small-clothes above the hips without appurtenances, and stockings above the calf of the leg without garters." The well-to-do matrons carried their long-trailed gowns, " liberally set off with flounces and fur belows," gracefully over one arm, or had them "trolloped" in loops at the side, or let them sweep their full course " from half a yard to a yard and a half" along the floor. If in this they transgressed the statute which forbade any excess " beyond the necessary end of apparell for covering," some of them evidently NEW ENGLAND IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 99 fulfilled its requirements in the upper cut of their robes, for before the end of the seventeenth century we hear Boston denounced as a " lost town," because of its " strange and fantastick fashions and attire, naked backs and bare breasts." Not to be behind the sugar-loaf appendages which brought their husbands up in the world, the ladies appeared in towering head-dresses of crape, muslin, or lace. The distinctions in dress between the higher and lower ranks of society which marked the old country were jealously guarded here. But American air from the first seems to have been charged with independence, so that all who touched our shores felt more or less the influence of the electric current. The spirit of equal rights, born in the untamed forest and undis turbed for centuries, refused to be banished its native haunts. It was, perhaps, as much an innocent ambition to rise in society as a mere love of finery which tempted the common people to ape the dress and condition of their betters in station. Before a score of years had passed, this tendency had become a source of anxiety to the careful colonial legislators. In 1640, it was ordered that as " divers Persons of severall Ranks are obsearved still to exceede " in their apparel, " the Constables of every towne within there Libertyes shall observe and take notice of any particular Person or Persons within thier several Lymits, and all such as they judge to exceede thier condition and Rank therein, they shall present and warn to appear at the particular Court." Among the pro scribed articles appear "embroidered and needle -work caps," "gold and silver girdles," "immoderate great sleeves," and " slashed apparel." Rev. Nathaniel Ward, author of the " Body of Liberties," which was adopted (1641) as the code of laws for Massachusetts, and substantially for Connecticut, was sorely tried by the "female foppery" of the time. In a book entitled "The Simple Cobler of Agawam, in America, Willing to help Mend his Native Country, lamentably tattered, both in the Upper- leather and the Sole," etc., illustrative of colonial life and man ners, he thus breaks forth : " I honour the woman that can honour herselfe with her attire ; a good text alwayes deserves a fair mar- gent ; I am not much offended if I see a trimme, far trimmer than she that wears it ; in a word, whatever Christianity or Civility will allow, I can afford with London measure ; but when I heare a nugiperous gentle dame inquire what dresse the Queen is in this week ; what the nudiustertian fashion of the Court ; I meane the very newest ; with egge to be in it in all haste, whatever it be ; I 100 COLONIAL LIFE. look at her as the very gizzard of a trifle, the product of a quarter of a cipher, the epitome of nothing, fitter to be kickt, if she were of a kickable substance, than either honour d or humour d. To speak moderately, I truly confesse, it is beyond the ken of my understanding to conceive how those women should have any true grace, or valuable vertue, that have so little wit as to dis figure themselves with such exotick garbes, as not only dismantles their native lovely lustre, but transclouts them into gant bargeese ill-shapen shotten shell-fish, Egyptian Hyeroglyphicks, or at the best into French flurts of the pastery, which a proper English woman should scorne with her heels ; it is no marvell they weare drailes on the hinder part of their heads, having nothing as it seems in the fore part, but a few squirrils brains to help them frisk from one ill-favored fashion to another." The evil seems not to have been remedied in 1676, for we find that still the " rising Generation " was " in danger to be corrupted " by an ex cess in apparel, which is " testifyed against in God s holy Word," and it was therefore ordered that " what person soever shall wear Gold or Silver Lace, or Gold or Silver Buttons, Silk Ribbons, or other costly superfluous trimmings, or any bone Lace above three shillings per yard, or Silk Scarfes," should pay equal taxes with those whose rank or fortune allowed such privileges. The families of public and military officers, and "such whose quality and estate have been above the ordinary degree, though now decayed," were excepted from this decree. These good old fathers even went further in their restrictions : " It is further ordered that all such persons as shall for the future make, or weave, or buy any apparell exceeding the quality and condition of their persons and Estates, or that is apparently beyond the necessary end of apparell for cover ing or comeliness, either of these to be Judged by the Grand Jury and County Court where such presentments are made, shall for feit for every such offence ten shillings." These sumptuary laws were not a dead letter, for we hear that Alice Flynt s " silk hood " was cited before the court, and she re quired to prove that she was entitled to wear it by her property of two hundred pounds; and of the "great boots" of Jonas Fair banks, out of the shadow of whose guilt he managed to escape. The price of wages was also regulated by law, and it was settled (1641) that " carpenters, plowrights, wheelrights, masons, joyners, smithes, and coopers shall not take above twenty pence for a day s work from the loth of March to the loth of October, and not THE DUTCH IN NEW YORK. IOI above eighteen pence a day for the other part of the yere, and to work ten hours in the day in the summer tyme, besides that which is spent in eating or sleeping, and six hours in the winter." The court, however, soon " found by experience that it would not avail by any law to redress the excessive rates of laborers and work men s wages, etc. ; for, being restrained, they would either remove to other places where they might have more, or else, being able to live by planting and other employments of their own, they would not be hired at all." (Winthrop.) THE DUTCH IN J^EW YORK. The followers of Hendrick Hudson were quite a different people. To the bustling energy and severe religious laws of New England they opposed an easy good nature and impertur bable content. Only in the painfulness of extreme neatness did they resemble and even surpass their northern and eastern neighbors. Let us recall a comfortable Dutch mansion of the seventeenth century. Its gable-end of small black and yellow Dutch bricks, receding in regular steps from the base of the roof to the summit, and there crowned with a " fierce little weather cock," stood squarely to the street. Not ashamed to let its age be known, it was proclaimed in straggling iron figures upon the front. The inevitable porch, elevated by a few steps, was covered by a wooden awning, or perhaps a lattice-work, over which luxuriantly drooped and wandered a wild grape-vine. Multi tudes of wrens flitted in and out this sylvan nook, and, says a Scotch lady, reporting Albany life at this period, " while break fasting or drinking tea in the airy portico, birds were constantly gliding over the table with a butterfly, grasshopper, or cicada in their bills to feed their young, who were chirping above." These porches were the universal rendezvous in the after-part of the day. The old people clustered together in one, the younger in another, and the children sat placidly on the steps and ate their bread and milk before retiring ; while the beaux sauntered along and cast shy glances toward their favorite maidens, or accepted an invitation to join the little group. The gutters on the roofs often stretched almost to the middle of the street, to the great IO2 COLONIAL LIFE. annoyance of passers-by. The front door, opened only on rare occasions, was ornamented with a gorgeous brass knocker, wrought in a curious animal device. This was the pride of the housewife, and was burnished daily with intense solicitude. A wide passage extended through the house, with doors at either end ; this, furnished with chairs and having always a scrupulously DUTCH MANSION AND COTTAGE IN NEW AMSTERDAM. white sanded floor, served for a summer parlor. Aside from this reception-hall, there were but two large rooms on the first floor, with light, ample closets adjoining. On account of the difficulty of warming these, and to save the best furniture from the dust and smoke of huge wood fires, the family usually retired in the winter to a small addition in the rear, consisting of one or two rooms above and below. This was built of wood, as indeed was ordinarily the whole house, except the pretentious gable front. While the Connecticut mistress spun, wove, and stored her household linens in crowded chests, the Dutch matron scrubbed and scoured her polished floor and woodwork. Dirt in no form could be endured bv her ; and dear as water was in the city, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE DUTCH. 103 where it was generally sold at a penny a gallon, it was used unsparingly. Fine furniture was the good housewife s weakness. Ponderous tables, drawers resplendent with brass ornaments, quaint corner cupboards, beds and bedsteads, and even the frying-pan and immense Dutch oven had her most loving regards. " The mirrors, the paintings, the china, but, above all, the state bed," records the author above mentioned, " were considered as the family seraphim, secretly worshipped and only exhibited on very rare occasions." " The grand parlor," says Washington Irving, " was the sanctum sanctorum where the passion for cleaning was indulged without control. In this sacred apartment no one was permitted to enter excepting the mistress and her confidential maid, who visited it once a week for the purpose of giving it a thorough cleaning and putting things to rights always taking the precaution of leaving their shoes at the door and entering devoutly on their stocking feet. After scrubbing the floor, sprinkling it with fine white sand, which was curiously stroked into angles, and curves, and rhomboids with a broom after washing the windows, rubbing and polishing the furniture, and putting a new bunch of evergreens in the fireplace, the win dow-shutters were again closed to keep out the flies, and the room carefully locked up until the revolution of time brought round the weekly cleaning day." In the early spring the good vrow donned her green calash, took her rake over her shoulder, and with her little painted basket of seeds went out to make the family garden. Myn heer was much too clumsy to be trusted in the delicate care of salads and sweet herbs, celery or asparagus ; cabbages and potatoes and such like he cultivated in the field between the rows of Indian corn, but into the little spot sacred to the tenderer plants, no foot of man intruded, after it was dug in spring. The stakes to the simple deal fence, which enclosed the garden and the orchard, were oddly ornamented with skeleton heads of cattle and of horses ; the jaws being fixed on the pole, with the skull uppermost. Samson s riddle here received a daily exempli fication, for the birds built their nests therein and sent forth broods of young ones from the ghastly orifice. In clearing the way for the first establishment, a tree was always left in the mid dle of the back yard for the sole benefit of these little songsters ; this tree being pollarded at midsummer when full of sap, every excised branch left a little hollow, and every hollow was the home 104 COLONIAL LIFE. of a bird. It was also a custom to leave an ancient tree, or to plant one of some kind directly in front of the doorway, which the household regarded with great veneration. Every family had a cow, fed through the day in a common pasture at the end of the town. They came at night and went in the morning of their own accord, like proper adjuncts to sedate and systematic households, and their tinkling bells never failed to warn of their approach along the grassy streets when the proper hour for milking arrived. Being allowed, however, to roam the town from evening to morning milking, they, by no means, improved the neatness of the highways, which presented a strange contrast in that respect to the immaculate interiors of the houses. On dark nights housekeepers were required to keep lights tallow candles in their front windows, and "every seventh householder " was obliged to " hang out a lanthorn and candle on a pole." The happy burghers breakfasted at dawn, dined at eleven, and retired at sunset. No change was ever made in the arrangements for the family dinner in favor of a guest, and the unexpected visitor was received at that meal with unmistakable signs of coldness and disfavor. A company tea, however, was a " perfect regale," and cakes, sweetmeats, cold pastry, and fruit in abundance garnished a table which also often tempted by a fine array of roasted game or poultry, or, in its season, shell-fish. Clams called clippers was a favorite food. The tea was served from a large porcelain tea-pot, " ornamented with paintings of fat little shepherds and shepherdesses tending pigs, with boats sailing in the air and houses built in the clouds " a cherished souvenir of Delft in the dear mother-country. The decoction was taken without milk, but a lump of sugar was placed beside each cup, the company alternately nibbling and sipping according to indi vidual relish. Another custom was to suspend an immense lump of sugar by a string from the ceiling directly overhead, so that it could be swung from mouth to mouth and prevent unnecessary waste. Irving has so inimitably portrayed a " fashionable tea- party " of those days that it were a pity not to recall it here. " These fashionable parties were generally confined to the higher classes, that is to say, those who kept their own cows and drove their own wagons. The company commonly assembled at three o clock, and went away about six, unless it was winter time, when the fashionable hours were a little earlier, that the ladies might MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE DUTCH. 105 get home before dark. The tea-table was crowned with a huge earthen dish, well stored with slices of fat pork, fried brown, cut up into morsels, and swimming in gravy. Sometimes the table was graced with immense apple pies, or saucers full of preserved peaches and pears ; but it was always sure to boast an enormous dish of doughnuts or olykoeks. At these decorous gatherings the young ladies seated themselves demurely in their rush-bottomed chairs, and knit their own woolen stockings ; nor ever opened their lips except to say, Yah Mynheer, or, Yah ya Vrouw, to any question that was asked them. As to the gentlemen, each of them tranquilly smoked his pipe, and seemed lost in contempla tion of the blue and white tiles with which the fireplaces were decorated ; wherein sundry passages of Scripture were piously portrayed. Tobit and his dog figured to great advantage ; Haman swung conspicuously on his gibbet, and Jonah appeared most manfully bouncing out of the whale." A silent grace before meat was the usual habit with the Hollanders. Mush or bread with buttermilk, " and if to that they added sugar, it was thought delicious," constituted the standard family supper. On occasion of Dutch dances, a pot of chocolate and some bread were deemed sufficient refreshment. New Year s Day was the one of all the year for gayety and festivity. Our delightful fashion of New Year s calls is an inheritance from the Hollanders, who were also accustomed to exchange presents and other complimentary tokens on that day. General Washington, speaking of this usage, once remarked : " New York will in process of years gradually change its ancient customs and manners ; but whatever changes take place, never forget the cordial observance of New Year s Day." To the Dutch also we owe our Christmas visit of Santa Claus, colored eggs at Easter, doughnuts, crullers, and New Year s cookies. A Dutch belle of the seventeenth century wore her hair smoothly plastered back with suet tallow, under a quilted cap. Her gayly-striped linsey-woolsey petticoat or rather petticoats, for her fortune was estimated by the number of garments she wore came a little below the knee, affording an admirable view of her blue worsted stockings, adorned with bright red clocks, and her high-heeled, silver-buckled leather shoes. From her girdle depended her huge patch-work pocket, her scissors and her pincushion, potent charms, or possibly coquetries of the times, which did not fail to touch the tender part of Mynheer s io6 COLONIAL LIFE. nature when, between his puffs, he settled the question of a com petent vrow. The work-basket always accompanied her on picnic excursions, and while " the boys " fished or hunted to procure game for the coming supper, the girls con soled themselves for their absence in knit ting or sewing. The walls of the " spare room " in a Dutch home were not in frequently covered with extra homespun garments, a rather unique decoration, but an honest certifi cate of the industry, and considered as a sign of the wealth, of the household. As to Mynheer him self, the number of his breeches or galli gaskins rivalled those of his fair one s petti coats, and unneces sarily heightened the proportions of his rotund figure. His linsey-woolsey coat doubly precious when spun and woven by the fair maid of his choice, as often it was, for love-gifts were substantial then was profusely adorned with large brass buttons ; enormous copper buckles set off his unquestionably broad understanding ; a low-crowned, wide- brimmed hat shadowed his phlegmatic countenance, and his hair dangled down his back in a prodigious queue of eelskin. His pipe was an indispensable adjunct to his mouth. The young Albanian had a custom of proving his worth to his lady-love by pushing, with a cargo of blankets, guns, beads, and various articles packed in a light canoe, into the deep forest, attended only by a faithful slave, and establishing trade with the Indians. If he succeeded well, he enlarged his business and followed it through life, or disposing of his schooner which it DUTCH COURTSHIP. MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE DUTCH. IO/ was his pride to own before he settled down embraced less exciting mercantile or agricultural pursuits. The usual dower of a daughter was a well-brought-up female slave and the furniture of the best bed-chamber. There were two standard amusements among young people sliding down hill in winter, and pillaging pigs and turkeys from a neighbor s garden. This was con sidered frolic, not theft, though the owner if he failed to over take and chastise the robbers, which was his token of gallantry never saw his property again. The married man shut himself out from these sports, as unbefitting his dignity, but the bride groom was sure to receive such a visit from some of his old com panions. A story is told of two parties out one night on the same business. Both attacked the same place. The chief of the second party, finding the game gone, suspected the other, and followed it to an inn, where he found the coveted pig roasting before the fire. Sending the maid out on a trivial excuse, he cut the string by which the pig was suspended, and laying it in the dripping-pan, carried it swiftly through the dark and quiet streets to another inn, where his companions were awaiting him. The first party, not to be outdone, and rightly guessing the offenders, sent a messenger to the other inn, where supper and " the pig" had just been served. Throwing a huge parcel of shavings before the door, he touched a match to them, and crying " frre " with all his might, soon drew every occupant to the front. Steal ing in the back way, he secured the traveled treasure, and rushing back to his friends, they feasted on the spoils. Strawberries abounded in June, when " the country people, perceiving that the fields and woods were dyed red, would go forth with wine, cream, and sugar ; and instead of a coat of mail, every one takes up a female behind him on horseback, and starting for the fields, set to picking the fruit and regaling themselves as long as they list." Our Dutch friends seem to have regarded offences of the tongue with as little favor as the Puritans, though their punish ments were milder. In 1638, one Hendrick Jansen is made to stand at the fort door at the ringing of the bell, and ask the gov ernor s pardon for having " scandalized " him. This same Hen drick Jansen, evidently an over-officious reformer, preferred a charge against the minister s wife for having " drawn up her petti coat a little way in the street." A woman who had the temerity to slander the minister was obliged also to appear at the fort door, io8 COLONIAL LIFE. and publicly confess that " she knew he was honest and pious, and that she lied falsely." The " wooden horse " was a peculiar pun ishment. It had a very sharp back, upon which the offender was tightly strapped, or had weights tied to his feet, the horse being first put into the cart body. A woman was the first who received this penalty, and the instrument was named after her, " the horse of Mary Price." Culprits were sometimes led about the town fastened to the back of the cart, being whipped as they went. These customs continued as late as the middle of the eighteenth century, as witness an advertisement from the New York Gazette of March, 1750: " The Public Whipper being lately dead, twenty pounds a year is offered to a successor at the mayor s office." This, with other short items, is printed on the margin of the sheet, in a transverse direction to the column matter, another instance of the economy of the early New Yorkers. The Dutch dominies were paid sometimes in beaver-skins the dominie of Albany at one time received one hundred and fifty and sometimes in wampum or seawant, a kind of Indian money consisting of strings of clam shells. Its current value was six beads of the white or three of the black for an English penny. In 1641, the New York City Council complains that " a great deal of bad seawant, nasty, rough things, imported from other places," was in circula tion, while " the good, splendid Manhattan seawant was out of sight or exported, which must cause the ruin of the country." The city schoolmasters of those days acted also as clerks, chor isters, and visitors of the sick. The names of those old Dutch dignitaries sound strangely enough to modern ears. There were the hoofd-schout (high sheriff), the wees-meester (guardian of orphans), the roy-meester (regulator of fences), the eyck-meester (weigh-master), the geheim- schryver (recorder of secrets), and the groot burgerrecht, or great YE DUTCH SCHOOLMASTER. MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE DUTCH. 1 09 citizen, in opposition to the klein burgerrecht, or small citizen. Only the " great citizens," of whom there were not more than a score, could hold offices, and in 1668, the number being so small, and many inconveniences arising in consequence, the distinction was abolished. We have not particularized the family life of that exceptional class, the " patroons," who occupied a position not unlike that of an English baron with feudal retainers. Their social customs were simply those of the best European society of the day. They, themselves, were regarded by their numerous tenants with a certain respect and reverence which has had no counterpart since the Revolution. Holmes characterizes this feeling and the former accepted distinction of ranks, in his poem of " Agnes," where a gentlemen of the olden time went out to drive, " And all the midland counties through, The ploughman stopped to gaze, /^\^ fy Where er his chariot swept in view [{ Behind the shining bays, With mute obeisance, grave and slow, V^ - Repaid by bow polite OTll^ For such the way with high and low^ Till after Concord s fight" These lords of the manor lived in a princely way on their large estates, which passed from father to son for more than a century. When the Revolution broke out, many of them declared for the king, and thus their lands became confiscated and their names ceased to exist in the ruling offices of the country. Few, indeed, in our democratic day, even know of the existence in those times of estates whose tenants were numbered by thousands, the gather ing together of which was like that of the Scottish clans. When death entered the family of the proprietor, they all came to do honor at the funeral, " and many were the hogsheads of good ale which were broached for them." When Philip Livingston, of Livingston Manor, died, at both town and country house " a pipe of wine was spiced for the occasion, and to each of the eight bearers a pair of gloves, mourning ring, scarf, handkerchief, and silver monkey spoon were given." The latter was so named from its handle, whose extremity was in the form of an ape. Every tenant also received a pair of black gloves and a handkerchief. The whole expense amounted to five hundred pounds. In later times (1753) Governor William Livingston wrote against extrava- I 10 COLONIAL LIFE. gance in funerals ; and his wife, it is said, was the first one who ventured, as an example of economy, to substitute linen scarfs for the former silk ones. In August, 1673, a Dutch fleet recaptured New York from the British, and held it one year, calling it meantime New Orange, after the Prince of Orange. During this time strict military dis cipline prevailed. " The Dutch mayor, at the head of the city militia, held his daily parade before the City Hall (Stadt Huys), then at Coenties Slip ; and every evening at sunset he received from the principal guard of the fort, called hoofd-wagt, the keys of the city, and thereupon proceeded with a guard of six to lock the city gates ; then to place a burger-wagt (citizen guard) as a night- watch at various places. The same mayors went the rounds at sunrise to open the gates and to restore the keys to the officer of the fort." The comfort-loving burgher who accepted the posi tion of mayor in those days paid dearly for the honor in the loss of his leisurely fireside smoke before breakfast in the morning. Mrs. Sigourney has written some lines upon this period, which, as a picture of the times, we copy from Watson s " Annals of New York," to which book, and those equally rich and spicy volumes entitled " Annals of Philadelphia," by the same author, we are in debted for many of the curious facts related in this chapter. The lines run thus: Lo, with the sun, came forth a goodly train, The portly mayor with his full guard of state. Hath aught of evil vexed their fair domain, That thus its limits they perambulate, With heavy, measured steps, and brows of care, Counting its scattered roofs with fixed, portentous stare? Behold the keys with solemn pomp restored To one in warlike costume stoutly braced, He, of yon fort, the undisputed lord. Deep lines of thought are on his forehead traced, As though of Babylon the proud command, Or hundred-gated Thebes were yielded to his hand. See, here and there, the buildings cluster round, All, to the street, their cumbrous gables stretching, With square-dipt trees and snug enclosures bound (A most uncouth material for sketching) Each with its stoop, from whose sequestered shade The Dutchman s evening pipe in cloudy volumes played. MANNERS AND CUSTOMS IN THE SOUTH. Ill Oh, had those ancient dames of high renown The Knickerbockers and the Rapaeljes, With high-heeled shoes and ample ten-fold gown, Green worsted hose, with clocks of crimson rays Had they, thro time s dim vista, stretched their gaze, Spying their daughters fair in these degenerate days, With muslin robe and satin slipper white, Thronging to routs, with Fahrenheit at zero, Their sylphlike form, for household toils too slight, But yet to winter s piercing blast a hero, Here had they marvelled at such wondrous lot, And scrubbing brush and broom for one short space forgot. Yet deem them not for ridicule a theme, Those worthy burghers with their spouses kind, Scorning of heartless pomp, the gilded dream, To deeds of peaceful industry inclined, In hospitality sincere and grave, Inflexible in truth, in simple virtue brave. Hail, mighty city ! high must be his fame Who round thy bounds, at sunrise, now should walk ; Still wert thou lovely, whatsoe er thy name, New Amsterdam, New Orange, or New York, Whether in cradle sleep on sea-weed laid, Or on thine island throne, in queenly power arrayed. EAF(LY COLONIAL UfE JN THE gOUTH. The manners of the Southerners on their plantations were quite distinct from those of either Puritan or Dutch. The first few years in all new colonies have necessarily a certain degree of sameness. An enforced rude state of living engenders rude and peculiar laws. Thus we find decrees in Virginia which strongly smack of New England quaintness. The Established Church of England was guarded with as jealous strictness in the South as were Puritan principles in the North ; the first laws of both colonies pertaining to religious observances. In Virginia, accord ing to the regulations of 1632, a room or house in every planta tion was to be set apart for, and consecrated to, worship. Ab sence from service " without allowable excuse " was punished with a fine of a pound of tobacco, and if the absence continued a month, with fifty pounds. There are rumors of other penalties in earlier 112 COLONIAL LIFE. times, such as being tied neck and heels for a night, and serving as a slave to the colony a week for the first offence, a month for the second, and a year and a day for the third. Certain culprits also are mentioned as being made to stand in church, wrapped in a snowy sheet and holding a white wand, like guilty ghosts or transfixed lepers ; or as having the initial letter of their crime fastened in a great, bold capital upon their back or breast, as in New England. Ministers were restrained from a neglect of their duties by a fine of half their salary if they absented themselves for two months ; losing the entire salary and the cure itself for an absence of double that length of time. The salary aforesaid consisted of ten pounds of tobacco and a bushel of corn " the first-gathered and best" from every male over sixteen, with marriage, christening and burial fees. In the earliest days, every twentieth calf, pig, and kid in the parish were also his due. The clerical liberty was fur ther hedged in by an injunction not to give themselves " to excess in drinking or riot, spending their time idly by day or night, playing at cards, dice, or other unlawful games ; but to read or hear the Holy Scriptures, or to employ themselves in other honorable studies or exercise, bearing in mind that they ought to be examples to the people to live well and Christianly. ^ On the other hand, " he who disparaged a minister without proof, was to be fined five hundred pounds of tobacco, and to beg the minister s pardon publicly before the congregation." Drunken ness was fined five shillings, and every oath cost one shilling. Virginians in 1674 are thus described by Bancroft : " The genera tion now in existence were chiefly the fruit of the soil ; they were children of the woods, nurtured in the freedom of the wilderness, and dwelling in lonely cottages scattered along the streams. No newspapers entered their houses ; no printing-press furnished them a book. They had no recreations but such as nature provides in her wilds ; no education but such as parents in the desert could give their offspring. The paths were bridleways rather than roads ; and the highway surveyors aimed at nothing more than to keep them clear of logs and fallen trees. Visits were made in boats or on horseback through the forests; and the Virginian,, traveling with his pouch of tobacco for currency, swam the rivers,, where there was neither ferry nor ford. The houses, for the most part of one story, and made of wood, often of logs, the windows closed by convenient shutters for want of glass, were MANNERS AND CUSTOMS IN THE SOUTH. 1 1 3. sprinkled at great distances on both sides of the Chesapeake, from the Potomac to the line of Carolina. The parish was of such extent, spreading over a tract which a day s journey could not cross, that the people met together but once on the Lord s day, and sometimes not at all ; the church, rudely built in some central solitude, was seldom visited by the more remote families, and was liable to become inaccessible by the broken limbs from forest trees, or the wanton growth of underwood and thickets." The genial atmosphere of the " sunny South," so unlike the bleak New England climate, and the entirely different products of the two soils, each requiring its own peculiar mode of culture, served constantly to increase the dissimilarity in character and manners which primarily existed between the northern and the southern settlers. The large plantations of the latter necessi tated a numerous train of servants. These, supplied at first by the apprentices brought over from England, were, in time, super seded by negro slaves. There being but few books and little education in those early times only a few families being able to send their sons and daugh ters to England to be instructed excitement was often sought in bull-baiting, horse-racing, fox-hunting, and cock-fighting. These amusements, looked upon with horror by the Puritans, were not considered at all derogatory to the southern gentleman, who- copied his sports from those of the English nobility of that day. The finest of horses were imported from the mother country, at great care and expense, and the Virginian planter was pardonably proud of his well-stocked stables. The mode of originating a settlement, or, as Dr. Ramsay quaintly styles it, " breaking ground on bare creation," is thus described in that author s History of South Carolina. The par ties migrate from the earlier settlements usually in March, or about the breaking up of the winter. They " go with family and plantation utensils, a few bushels of corn, and some domestic animals. After fixing on a site, they build in two or three days a cabin with logs, cut down and piled one upon another in the form of a square or a parallelogram. The floor is of earth ; the roof is sometimes of bark, but oftener of split logs. The light is received through the door, and in some instances through a window of greased paper, or the bottom of a broken glass bottle. Shelter being prepared, their next care is to provide food. The large trees are girdled and the underbrush destroyed. The ground, 8 EARLY AMERICAN PLOW. 114 COLONIAL LIFE. thus exposed to the action of the sun, is roughly ploughed or hoed, and so favors the growth of the seed corn that in ninety or a hundred days the ears are large enough to roast, and in six weeks more the grain is ripe. Meantime the settler lives on the corn he brought with him, and on game and fish. His axe and gun furnish him with the means of defence against In dians, wild beasts, and robbers. Light wood or the heart of dry pine logs affords a cheap substitute for candles. The surplus of his crop may be bartered for homespun garments, or, if he is married, he may convert the wool of his sheep or the flax or cotton of his field into coarse clothing for domestic use. In a few years a frame house is built, floored, and shingled. Other grains besides corn are cultivated. Fruits and vegetables supply his table. He purchases one or two slaves. He builds a barn and other out houses. His children are put to school. He becomes a member of a church. Tea, coffee, and sugar are found on his table. His house is glazed and decently furnished. His stock is enlarged and made to further serve the interests of his family. The woods are ransacked for dye-stuffs, in which Carolina abounds, and the homespun adds brilliancy to durability. In short, he has be come an independent man and respected citizen. Emigrants from Maine and Vermont often struck into the then far west, along the banks of the Monongahela or even of the Ohio. We now speak of a time as late as just before the Revolu tion. Having established the " tomahawk right " by hacking the trees around the circuit four hundred acres to which settlement gave them free possession, they commenced pioneer life. Wild turkeys, venison, and bears meat gave them strength while they waited the growth of pumpkins, squashes, and potatoes. A hom iny block was hollowed out by fire, and the corn was pounded by a pestle ; sometimes, to lessen the toil, by a sweep sixteen feet long. Nail-holes in a piece of tin formed a grater for the same purpose ; two stones were also used, made to play upon each other in the manner in vogue in Palestine since before the days when our Saviour spoke of "two women grinding at the mill." A piece of deerskin stretched over a hoop and pierced with hot wire made a LATER COLONIAL TIMES. 115 good sifter or bolting cloth. A large trough sunk in the ground furnished a tan-vat for each family. Ashes were used instead of lime to unhair the skin ; bears grease or hogs lard served for fish-oil, and soot mixed with grease was an efficient blacking. The bark was shaved and pounded. Every family did its own shoe-making. " Shoe packs " made like moccasins of single pieces of leather often answered every purpose. The women spun and wove the linsey-woolsey for the family clothing and fashioned every garment. In the course of their first century, the rigor of Puritan laws was somewhat softened. After the witchcraft terror had spent its fury, that crime, as well as heresy and blasphemy, disappeared from the statutes as capital offences. Here and there, by the side of lonely cross-roads, the wanderer still stumbled over heaps of stones, " the brand of infamy " under which the bones of the unhappy suicide were made to rest ; and the pillory, the stocks, and the whipping-post had by no means become obso lete as efficient instruments in pointing morals. But branded cheeks and foreheads and decapi tated ears were rapidly vanishing from sight as a means of stimulating sluggard religious consciences, and a man might venture now on a piece of mince-pie at Christmas without fear of fine or punishment. Crimes committed by slaves, who continued to be held in New England until the Revolution, were severely punished, and as late as the middle of the eighteenth century negroes were burned at the stake for such crimes as murder and arson. Recreations and amusements, which in the first stages of pioneer life are necessarily few, now received more indulgence. "Popular assemblies" were introduced into Boston about 1740, and although at first severely frowned upon by " all ladies of pro priety," so maintained and strengthened their hold that in a few years a handsome hall was built and supported by the lovers of THE PILLORY. Il6 COLONIAL LIFE. "musick, dancing, and other polite entertainments." In Litch- field, Conn., in 1748, when a violin was used for the first time as an accompaniment to the " light fantastic toe," we learn that the pastime was enjoyed by "most of.the young people," and, further, that " the whole expense did not exceed one dollar, out of which the fiddler was paid ! " Yet we are told that fathers and mothers were wont, then as now, to shake their heads gravely, and sorrow fully bemoan the extravagance of youth ! Verily, in those times money was money. Minuets and sometimes country dances belonged to polite circles ; " among the lower orders hipsesaw was everything," says Watson in his Annals of Philadelphia. About the same time of the assemblies appeared the first theatri cal performance in Boston, played at a coffee-house itself a new institution. The idea was so repugnant to New England notions that a law was immediately passed which banished the drama from Massachusetts for a quarter of a century thereafter. In the middle and southern colonies, out of the Puritan ele ment, life was much gayer. To the frequent balls in the southern cities, the young ladies from the country, where the roads were rough, used to ride in on ponies, attended by a black servant, " with their hoops and full dress arranged over the saddle fore and aft like lateen-sails ; and after dancing all night, would ride home again in the morning." When there was snow, sleighing, with a dance to follow, was a popular pastime with the young people, but early hours were always kept. The rough, unpainted sleigh, capable of carrying thirty persons, was expected to be at the door about one o clock in the afternoon. The gentlemen were clothed in cocked-hats, tied under the chin with a blue cotton handkerchief, leaving the queue to its own sweet will, a large camlet cloak, and oversocks which covered the shoes and reached to the small clothes at the knee. Yarn mittens protected the hands and a woolen tippet the throat. The ladies were wrapped in linsey-woolsey cardinals, with hoods which " were of such am ple dimensions that their heads looked like so many beer-casks." The jingle of one or two cow-bells accompanied them. Arrived at the place of entertainment, the colored driver timed his three-stringed fiddle, the gentlemen appeared in their square-toed pumps, and the ladies shook off their pattens, displaying little peak-toed, high-heeled slippers. They danced till eight o clock, then hurried back to their homes, " for," says the relator of this entertainment, " to be abroad after nine o clock on common occa- LATER COLONIAL TIMES. 1 1/ sions was a sure sign of moral depravity." The same old gentle man, describing in 1828 to a young lady the courtship and wed ding of her grandfather in New York, sixty years before, gives us the following picture : " The lover, after having received per mission of her parents, pays his first visit to his beloved. In snuff- colored coat and small-clothes, cornelian brooch, paste buckles, lace frill-worked cravat, and heavily pomatumed and powdered hair, he is ushered into the family presence. On one side of the fireplace sit a bevy of maiden aunts, knitting. On the other side is the father, " stretched at his ease in an arm-chair, in a black cap instead of his wig, wrapped in a blue gown, with his breeches unbuttoned at his knees, quietly smoking his pipe. Mrs. B. in a chintz dress and mob-cap was at his side, engaged in making patch-work ; whilst the lovely Prudence sat quite erect by her mamma, with her pincushion and housewife dangling from her waist, her eyes cast down, and her fingers diligently pricking themselves instead of her sampler." The young man shows his affection by keeping at a respectful distance from his sweetheart ; talks politics with the father, assists the mother in arranging her party-colored squares, picks up straying balls of yarn for the spin sters, and when the bell rings nine gives one shy glance at his beloved and takes his leave. At the wedding which follows a succession of visits like the above, the guests mostly come on foot, for there are no hackney-coaches, and private carriages are not plentiful. The father of the bride is dressed in full-bottomed wig, velvet coat and breeches, gold buckles, and waistcoat reach ing to the knees ; the mother in plain brocade and snowy cap ; the parson in " gown, cassock and bands, with a wig that seemed to consist of a whole unsheared sheepskin for in 1768 it would have been rank heresy for a parson to appear at a wedding in simple black coat and pantaloons." The bride had her hair dressed over a high cushion and liberally pomatumed and powdered. The height of this tower was over a foot, and on its summit lay a single white rose. Her tight-sleeved, low-bodiced white satin dress was distended at the ankles by an ample hoop, beneath which crept her high-heeled, peaked and spangled white kid shoes. A lace hand kerchief crossed over her bosom was fastened by a large brooch containing the miniature of her destined husband. The groom had his hair sleeked back and highly pomatumed, with the queue so stiff that, having had it dressed the afternoon before, he slept all night in an arm-chair, that it might not be disturbed. " His Il8 COLONIAL LIFE. coat was of a sky-blue silk lined with yellow ; his long- vest of white satin, embroidered with gold lace ; his breeches of the same material and tied at the knee with pink ribbon." White silk stockings and pumps, lace wrist-ruffles and frill, the latter pinned with the miniature of his bride, completed his costume. After the ceremony every one saluted the bride with a hearty kiss. From this marriage in comparatively high life, let us invite ourselves to one in the wilds of Pennsylvania. The parties were hardy pioneers. A wedding was to them a frolic, which shared with reaping, log-rolling, and house-building for occasion of social gathering. The party started early in the morning from the house of the groom, proceeding in double file on horses decked in old saddles, old bridles or halters, and pack-saddles, with a bag or blankets thrown over them ; a rope or string served for a girth. The jovial company were above all reproach of fashionable extravagance, for not a store, tailor, or mantua-maker existed within a hundred miles. Every article of dress was home-made and forced to do the longest service possible. The gents appeared in shoe-packs, moccasins, leather breeches, leggins, and linsey hunt ing-shirts ; the ladies in linsey petticoats and linsey or linen bed gowns, coarse shoes, stockings, handkerchiefs, and, if any, buck skin gloves. Fallen trees, interlocked grape-vines and saplings the work of mischief-lovers, friends or foes often delayed their progress. Sometimes a party in ambush fired a feu de joie, when the ladies shrieked, screamed, and implored help in finest femi nine style, while their partners bustled around and offered pro tection as valiantly as if they were veritable knights in full steel armor and bound to do battle to the death for their true lady loves. As the party neared the house of the bride, two of the most chivalrous young men, with an Indian yell, set out full tilt for the bottle of whiskey which was hung out for the first arrival. Over logs, brush, and muddy hollows, in a flush of pride and dar ing, they galloped on their large-boned, clumsy-footed steeds to the end of the goal. The prize won, they returned to the party, giving the first drink to the groom, who passed the bottle around ; every one, ladies included, joining in the dram. The ceremony over, dinner was in order. The table, made of a large slab of timber hewn out with a broad-axe and set on four sticks, was spread with beef, pork, fowls, and sometimes deer and bear meat. Wooden bowls and trenchers, a few pewter dishes and plates, some horn and some pewter spoons, served the company as well as LATER COLONIAL TIMES. 119 could china or silver. If knives were scarce, they carried always a substitute in the belts of their hunting-shirts. " After dinner dancing commenced, and usually lasted till the next morning. The figures were reels, or square sets and jigs. The commence ment was always a square four, which was followed by what was called jigging it off; none were allowed to steal away to get a sleep, and if girls got tired, they were expected, for want of chairs, to sit upon the knees of the gentlemen. At nine or ten o clock at night some of the young ladies would steal off with the bride. That was sometimes to a loft above the dancers, going there by a ladder ; and such a bride s chamber was floored with THE OLD-TIME FIRESIDE. clapboards, lying loose and without nails. Some young men, in the meantime, stole off the groom to his bride. At a later period, they sent them up refreshments, of which black Betty, so called, was an essential part, as she stood in their parlance for a bottle of whiskey." These entertainments sometimes lasted several days, or until every one was " fagged out." Happy for the weary set if, when they were ready for their homeward ride, they found their property uninjured, for slighted neighbors were sometimes wont to show their stealthy presence, by cutting off the manes, foretops or tails of the horses belonging to invited guests. The prejudices of rank and social precedence brought over 120 COLONIAL LIFE. from England did not easily die out, even in New England. The official dignities there were all monopolized by a few leading fami lies, descending often from father to son. And as office now shared with wealth and high English connections " which were to be proud of" in giving admission to the charmed circle of the gentry, we may conclude that the public treasury no longer fat tened on fines wrung from contumacious candidates. Until within three years of the time when "all men" were declared to be " created free and equal" the catalogue of Harvard College Yale had just abolished the system was arranged according to the social rank of the students. The list, made out each year and posted in the buttery, bore perpetual testimony to the rule of caste. In those days a young man s title to a superior room, or speedy attention at table, depended on the date of his father s commission as justice of the peace or some kindred petty sign of social degree. We can afford to laugh at it now as an excellent burlesque on the English custom of ranking by pedigree, but it was a sore reality then, as many an unlucky fellow proved. Fashion seems also to have invaded that scholastic sanctum, and to have divided popular attention with the sublimities of Horace and Homer. In 1754, the "overseers" of the college recommended the corporation to prohibit the wearing of " gold and silver lace or brocade " by students. Indeed, it is very apparent that the day of the plainest, ugliest cuts for all male apparel had nowhere yet dawned. The early part of the eighteenth century was particularly characterized by high colors in dress. In 1724, a runaway barber is advertised. " He wore a light wig, a gray kersey jacket lined with blue, a light pair of drugget breeches, black roll-up stock ings, square-toed shoes, a red leathern apron, and white vest with yellow buttons and red linings !" About the same time a lady, afflicted with the tender passion, thus bursts out in verse describ ing the costume of her beloved : "Mine, a tall youth shall at a ball be seen, Whose legs are like the spring, all clothed in green ; A yellow riband ties his long cravat, And a large knot of yellow cocks his hat !" The colonial gentry, in their morning negligee, were wont to appear in elegant silk and velvet caps and dressing gowns, exchanging them when they went out for hats and cloaks which LATER COLONIAL TIMES. 121 glittered with broad gold lace. The evening drawing-room was enlivened by embroidered garments of flowered silk and velvet in blue, green, scarlet, or purple hues, adorned with gold lace, silver knee-buckles, and silver coat, vest, and breeches buttons. These buttons bore sometimes the initial of the wearer, but were often made of real quarter-dollars and eleven-penny bits, the former being used for the coats and the latter for vests and breeches. The other gentlemanly ornaments consisted of gold or silver sleeve-buttons, silver stock-buckle, and, perhaps, a shagreen- cased watch of tortoise-shell or pinchbeck, with a silver or steel chain and seal. The best gentlemen of the country were content with silver watches, although gold ones were occasionally used. Gold chains would have been a wonder. It was so rare to find watches in common use that it was quite an annoyance at the watchmaker s to be so repeatedly called on by street-passengers for the hour of the day. Wide laced ruffles, falling over the hand, a gold or silver snuff-box, and a gold-headed cane were con sidered indispensable to gentility. A well-bred gentleman of 1776, arrayed in his stately suit of ceremony, moved with a court liness and certain gravity of manner upon which we have hardly improved in our day of cultivated French nonchalance. It is not to be supposed, however, that any but an exceedingly small minority dressed in silks and velvets. Broadcloth in winter and silk camlet in summer were popular in wealthy circles coat and breeches of the same material. In 1738, Benjamin Franklin advertises for clothes stolen from his wardrobe, among which we find : " Broadcloth breeches lined with leather, sagathee coat lined with silk, and fine homespun linen shirts." Vests were made with great depending pocket-flaps, and breeches were short above the stride, suspenders being yet an unknown luxury. Working-men wore their breeches very full and free in girth, so that, when they became prematurely thin in the seat, they could be changed from front to rear. Worsted everlasting and buckskin were in great demand, espe cially for breeches, and common people were content with leather, homespun, and various heavy wools for winter. Bear skin coats and little woolen muffs of various colors, called muftees, were worn by men in severe weather. Homespun linens and other light stuffs, coarse and fine, served for summer. Boots had not yet come in use, but every thrifty householder kept on hand whole calf-skins and sides of stout sole-leather to be 122 COLONIAL LIFE. made into shoes as required. " Before the Revolution no hired men or women wore any shoes so fine as calf-skin ; that kind was the exclusive property of the gentry ; the servants wore coarse neat s leather." Mechanics, workingmen, and "country people attending markets " were universally clothed in red or green baize vests, striped ticking or leather breeches, and a leathern apron. On Sundays or holidays, a white shirt was substituted for the checked or speckled one, the deerskin breeches greasy and stubbornly stiff with long wear, and only rendered supple by the warmth of the owner s limbs were blacked or buft up, the coarse blue yarn stockings and well-greased shoes set off by a pair of large brass buckles, and the apprentice was at his best. Hired women wore short gowns of green baize and petticoats of linsey-woolsey, and were happy with wages of fifty cents a week. Until after the Revolution the dress of working-people and domestics was dis tinct from that of the higher classes. Wigs went out of style about twenty years before the Revolu tion, following the lead of George II. and the British officers in this country. Previous to that, their use was universal, and as human hair could not be obtained in sufficient quantity, horse and goat hair "in choice parcels " were freely advertised for this purpose. Gray wigs were powdered, the barber performing that office on his block-head. After wigs, queues and frizzled side- locks had their day. Sometimes the hair was confined in a black silk sack or bag, adorned with a large black rose. The three- cornered or cocked hat of pre-Revolutionary times is familiar to every one. Umbrellas were not known before the middle ot the century. The first used were made of piled linen, very coarse and clumsy, with rattan sticks. Previous to that the gentlemen wore " rain coats" and "roquelaus" a large oiled linen cape; ladies wore " camblets," and sometimes carried " quintasols " a small article something like a parasol, imported from India. They were of oiled muslin in various colors. When umbrellas were first used as a protection from the sun, great ridicule was made of the idea. Ladies, as a preservative of their complexion, sometimes wore black velvet masks in winter and green ones in the summer, keep ing them on by means of a silver mouthpiece. Veils were un known, except in crape as a badge of mourning. Woman s extravagance was then, as it is now, a juicy topic for grumblers, and an English traveler relates how the Boston ladies LATER COLONIAL TIMES. 123 " indulge every little piece of gentility to the height of the mode, and neglect the affairs of their families with as good grace as the finest ladies in London." The practical satirists of the day had their own little jokes, and drove out some of the most offensive fashions by novel expedients. The loose dress called a trollopee being distasteful to them, they dressed the wife of the public hang man of Philadelphia in one, and she paraded the streets in full cos tume, mincing and strutting to the sound of burlesque music. Trollopees straightway became obsolete. The long red cloaks were quickly stripped from the shoulders of the ladies of the same city after a depraved female criminal had been hung, clothed in a scarlet mantle of the most approved style. The " tower" head dress, which had been petted to a ridiculous extreme, was effec tually caricatured by a tall man, dressed in the latest feminine mode, and wearing a " tower" of colossal proportions, \vho made the tour of the city streets, preceded by a drum. No one but the dear creatures themselves guessed how much torture our great- grandmothers endured in the building up of a proper coiffure. In towns where there were a limited number of hair-dressers, and a grand party was in contemplation, it was no uncommon occur rence for ladies to have their hair frizzed and curled an opera tion which required three or four hours in the hands of a skillful barber the day before, and then to sit up all night to prevent its derangement ! It was a great relief when cushions and arti ficial curled work came in, which could be sent out to the barber s- block and save the agony of personal attendance. The fashion able caps a hundred years ago were the " Queen s Nightcap," the style always worn by Mrs. Washington, and the " cushion head dress," made of gauze stiffened out in cylindrical form with white spiral wire, and having a border called the "balcony." A cap was indispensable in those days. Bare heads were quite out of character. Even the boys wore wigs like their fathers, and little girls caps like their mothers. The " musk-melon bonnet " had the crown shirred with whalebone stiffeners, and was in vogue just before the Revolution. It was followed by the " whalebone, bon net," which was shirred only in front. Bonnets were bonnets in those days, veritable sun umbrellas, tied down at the chin. The " calash " was always made of green silk, so arranged that, when the wearer desired, it could be made to fall back on the neck and shoulders in folds like the cover of a buggy. To keep it up over the head, it was drawn by a cord held in the hand of the wearer. 124 COLONIAL LIFE. A modification of this fashion has been revived once or twice during the last half century. Satin, a favorite material for even ing robes, was admirably suited to the stately manners of the gen tlewomen of the day. Brocades and mantuas also shared the public favor. At one time gowns were worn without fronts, dis playing a finely-quilted Marseilles, silk or satin petticoat, and a worked stomacher on the waist. Chintz for summer, and some sort of worsted for winter, were worn at home, and " thought dress enough for common days" in the best society. Kerchiefs and aprons were as necessary as caps, and ranged in material from the finest of linen cambric, gauze, and taffeta, monopolized by the rich gentry, to the coarsest of checks, homespun, and tow, worn by the mass of the people. Before the invention of the spin ning-jenny in 1767, pure cotton home fabrics were unknown, the homespun threads being too irregular to be of use except as a woof, and the supply being also very limited. The first cotton exported from the United States to England was sent in 1785, the ship taking but one bag. Hose were made of thread or silk in summer, and fine or coarse worsted in winter. Short gowns and long gowns are familiar names in our grandmothers wardrobes, from the common linsey-woolseys to the stiff large-flowered bro cades and satins, which we still love to produce as relics from old-fashioned chests which smell of camphor and cedar. The names of those old stuffs, of calamanco and durant and groset, of russet and wilton and tabby, of tandem and gulix and huckaback, sound strangely now to the young American girl, who would be astonished to find that some of them were at least first cousins to fabrics which, somewhat refined, shine in the present market under high-sounding French titles. Somewhat less intelligible still is the following list of articles, dress materials, etc., taken from a Philadelphia advertisement of 1745 : "Quilted humhums, turket- tees, grassetts, single allopeens, allibanies, florettas, dickmansoy, cushloes, chuckloes, cuttanees, crimson dannador, chained soo- soos, lemonees, barragons, byrampauts, naffermamy, and saxling- ham " ! Although the majority of houses were still humbly and spar ingly furnished, yet comforts had greatly increased during the growing prosperity of the colonies, and a few really elegant homes were found in every city of importance, belonging mostly to the traveled gentry, whose property had come by descent. About the close of colonial times we hear of one house in Boston which LATER COLONIAL TIMES. 125 ANCIENT CHAIR. (Brought over in the Mayflower.) had cost three thousand pounds, and of another whose furni ture was worth one thousand pounds. Large mirrors, marble tables, and Turkey carpets figured in fine stone mansions. Elaborate carv ings were seen on massive balustrades in spacious halls, and the parlor walls were sometimes adorned with painted leather hangings. Deep paneled wain scots and carved cornices and mantles added to the solid elegance of these handsome dwellings. Crimson leather furnished a dignified upholstery to the straight high-backed mahogany chairs and sofas, while heavy damask curtains steadied the glitter from ponderous brass andirons and brass clock. There were a few private libraries of consid erable size, but books were not plenti ful, though well-selected and read with care. People bought an outfit of books as of furniture, expect ing it to last a lifetime. Fielding, the father of English novelists, supplied the little that was desired of racy fiction. Smollett had just translated Gil Bias, and that, with the ever-delight ful Don Quixote, kept up their sense of humor. The Vicar of Wakefield, newly out, was read till young and old had it almost by heart. Addison s Spectator and Johnson s Rambler were models for correct style. Shakespeare and Milton and Young were studied until their expressions were as familiar as thought ; while a careful perusal of Blackstone s Commentaries and Mon tesquieu s Spirit of Laws was necessary to every gentleman who sought to be well-read. Everything, both in books and in furni ture, was solid. Shams had not yet made their advent, and there were no veneered woods, no silver-plated wares. What would those straightforward, substantial New Englanders have thought of our day of dime novels and of shoddy ? But it was in the country towns, where the prim Puritan ele ment had not been softened by recent English innovations, that one saw real New England life. White sanded floors, with unpainted pine settles, scoured to the last degree of whiteness ; maple, rush-bottomed chairs set squarely back against the white washed walls ; lofty clock-cases reaching to the ceiling ; glass- 126 COLONIAL LIFE. doored corner closets wherein the china and silver family treas ures were arranged at pure right angles ; high chests of drawers filled with stores of household linen, packed squarely in ; every where an immutable regularity, angularity, and precision. Upon the walls, the little looking-glasses in two plates were framed with scalloped wood, and black mouldings set off the quaint, stiff bunches of flowers painted on glass or worked on satin testimo nies to fashionable accomplishment. Shining brass and copper candlesticks, ready to receive the tallow candies which had been snugly packed from the last dipping, were turned up on their large round base upon the wooden shelf. Fixed rules governed the arrangement of each article of furniture, and were as consci entiously observed as were those which decided the proprieties of manner. Everything was stiff, uncompromising, and sedate everything, except the dancing flames in the open fireplaces which laughed at their own incongruous, frolicking reflections the one freedom amid perpetual restraint. In the chambers, high, four-posted bedsteads kept guard over the same immaculate order. Their hangings and valances in the handsomest houses were sometimes of silk in summer and heavy damask in winter. More commonly, however, they were of snowy dimity, or of blue and white stuff like the coverlets. Sheets of home spun, blankets of home made flannel, quilts of various hues marvels of industry, and narrow, downy pillows above the soft bolster, completed the equipments. The thrift of the New England house wife reveled in crowded drawers of bed and table linen, which she worked early and late to produce. " She layeth her hands to the spindle and her hands hold the distaff" was an emphatic record of her daily life. The two wheels, one small and worked by the foot for spinning linen thread, and the other large and turned by the hand for woolen yarn, were honored articles THE WOOLEN Sl IXMNG-WHEEL. LATER COLONIAL TIMES. I2/ in every household. No less were her kitchen and larder a pride. The shining lines of pewter along the ample dresser, the painfully scoured floor and white pine furniture, the rows of jams and mar malades, the strings of dried pumpkin and apples, the casks and bottles of cider, metheglin, and anise-seed cordial, all attested her careful forethought. In many houses a china or silver bowl of rum punch stood in the hall, a hospitable invitation to every guest, who all drank from the same dish. Flip and toddy were com mon drinks, and a moderate use of the flowing bowl seems to have been almost universal. But woe to the man who overstepped the subtle line which divides the drinker from the drunkard. His name, posted in every alehouse the keepers of which them selves were required to be of " good character " and " property- holders " shut him out forever from further lawful tippling. Just before the Revolution, a unique punishment was in vogue in New York for drunkards. It consisted of " three quarts of warm water and salt enough to operate as an emetic, with a por tion of lamp oil to act as a purge." In 1772, a negro, found drunk and sent to Bridewell, died after enduring his sentence. If one were to tell all the curious local customs which pre vailed here and there over the colonies, it would read spicily enough. Here is a choice dish : " The height of the fashion was to put into the kettle of ,chocolate several links of sausages, and, after boiling all together, to serve the guests with a bowl of chocolate and sausage. The latter was cut up, and the mess eaten with a spoon." When tea first came in use, it was boiled in an iron kettle and strained ; the leaves were well buttered, and the clear liquid was drunk " to wash down the greens." A dish called whistle-belly-vengeance was made by simmering the sour household brewed beer in a brass kettle, with crumbled crusts of brown bread, adding a little molasses. It was served hot. Yet, without carpets, gas, or other " modern improvements," taking their long journeys over rough roads in lumbering coaches or on horse, cooking by open fireplaces, and spinning and weaving all needful articles for use or wear by slow hand labor, our pre- Revolutionary fathers and mothers extracted, doubtless, quite as much comfort from life as their more luxurious descendants. The old-time physician did not neglect his patients though he always made his calls on foot, and never ventured to charge more than two shillings for each visit ; while fair ladies bustled through the muddy streets in pattens and galoshes, and deemed it no 128 COLONIAL LIFE. great hardship to sit out a round hour sermon with only the little tin or wooden foot-stove under their feet to temper the winter chill of the meeting-house which had never known a fire. When the frosts lay heavy on lake and river, came the festivities of skating, and the great ox was roasted on the thick-ribbed ice. With spring came May-day, still kept up in many parts with true Old England merriment. For ball and party invitations, since blank cards were yet unknown, the back of a common playing- card served as well as anything else ; why not ? No opportunity for promiscuous flirting or coquetry then, when a partner was engaged for the whole evening, each couple being expected to drink tea together on the following afternoon. We turn again to the sunny South, seeking repose in a Vir ginia planter s luxurious home. We have seen how these spacious mansions were situated, dotting at long intervals the bank of some lovely river. Free, generous, a prince in hospitality, the southern gentleman kept open-house to all respectable strangers who might seek food or lodging. " The doors of citizens," says a southern writer, " are opened to all decent travelers and shut against none. Innkeepers complain that this is carried to such an extent that their business is scarcely worth following. The abundance of provisions on plantations renders the exercise of this virtue not inconvenient, and the avidity of country people for hearing news makes them rather seek than shun the calls of strangers. The State may be traveled over with very little expense by persons furnished with letters of introduction, or even without them by calling at the plantations of private gentlemen on or near the roads." It was a delightful termination to a day of weary journeying when the bridle was loosed before one of these inviting country homes and the gentlemanly host uttered his courteous welcome. Over the low verandas and balconies climbed, in wanton luxuriance, the yellow jasmine, sweet honeysuckle, or the trumpet flower; the soft air was fragrant with the breath of scented shrubs which sprang from warm, moist earth ; everywhere was an atmosphere of delicious languor. Within the dwelling was the same air of repose. The music of the harpsichord was oftener heard than the hum of the spinning- wheel, though the southern matron had, too, her own peculiar round of duties. Black slaves performed all the domestic labors, it is true ; but the heart of the kind mistress was mindful of the wants of her large and, in many respects, dependent household, LATER COLONIAL TIMES. I2Q in which she found sufficient employ. Her articles of luxury and many of her comforts were brought direct from England. Ships from Liverpool sailed up the river and delivered at the private wharf of the wealthy planter the goods of fashionable attire or household elegance which he had ordered from England, receiv ing in return the tobacco sowed, gathered, and packed by the negroes on the plantation. Along the Potomac many of the plant ers had beautiful barges imported from England, which were rowed by negroes in uniform. When they traveled on horseback, they were attended by their black servants in livery. The ladies often took their airing in a chariot and four, with liveried black postil lions. A short distance from the family residence stood the kit chen, which, like the laundry, was always separate from the mansion. From its large, open fireplace, presided over by some ancient Dinah or Chloe in gorgeous red or yellow turban, came savory dishes of sweet bacon, wild-fowl, or game. Hot biscuit were served at every meal, and no breakfast was complete with out a plate of delicious " hoe-cakes " cakes made of Indian meal and baked before the fire, which are as naturally associated with the southern table as pumpkin-pies with the New England board or doughnuts with the Dutch. Conveniently retired, might be found the negro quarters ; a cluster of wooden cabins each with its own little garden and poultry yard, and with swarms of black babies, pickaninnies, gambolling in the sunshine. The south ern planter, like the roving Merovingian kings of France, had artificers of all kinds in his retinue of servants: tailors, shoe makers, carpenters, smiths, and so on through all the needful trades of ordinary life. There were ample stables for the blooded horses, and kennels for the hounds, for the chase was a favorite diversion. Washington was passionately fond of it, and the names of his fox -hounds Vulcan, Singer, Sweetlips, Music, Truelove, etc. were carefully registered in his household books, the character of some of them giving us a faint hint of an under current of sentiment, which in his grave dignity he seldom revealed. On his beautiful Mount Vernon estate, that wonderful man, as careful a proprietor as he was brave general and accom plished gentleman, so watched over his exports that they became noted as always reliable, and it was said that any barrel of flour bearing his brand passed into West India ports without inspec tion. Washington s early friend and patron, Lord Thomas Fairfax, 9 130 COLONIAL LIFE. possessed one of the largest estates in America. His mansion house, called Greenway Court, in the Shenandoah Valley, was the scene of many brilliant festivities. He was an ardent loyalist, and when he heard of the surrender of Cornwallis, it is related that he said to his servant, " Come, Joe, carry me to bed, for it is higJi time for me to die" Nor did he long survive that event. His immense lands, valued at ninety-eight thousand pounds, were confiscated to the Union. They embraced five million two hundred and eighty- two thousand acres, including everything between the Potomac and the Rappahannock. When we read of one person enjoying the title-claim to an extent of territory covering all the present counties of Lancaster, Northumberland, Richmond, Westmore land, Stafford, King George, Prince William, Fairfax, Loudon, Fauquier, Culpepper, Clarke, Madison, Page, Shenandoah, Hardy, Hampshire, Morgan, Berkeley, Jefferson, and Frederick twenty- one in all we do not wonder that in those times common people made bitter complaint that all Virginia was in the hands of a few owners. F1ELU-SPOKTS OF THE SOUTH FOX-HUNTING. PART II ar 4 % " Over the hill-sides the wila knell is tolling, From their far hamlets the yeomanry come ; As through the storm-clouds the thunder-burst rolling, Circles the beat of the mustering drum. Fast on the soldier s path Darken the waves of wrath, Long have they gathered, and loud shall they fall ; Red glares the muskets flash, Sharp rings the rifle s crash, Blazing and clanging from thicket and wall." HOLMES. CHAPTER I. ALIENATION OF THE COLONIES. HE scattered settlements along the Atlantic grew into a nation as naturally as infancy matures into manhood. The whole his tory of the colonies pointed an index hand to Lexington and Bunker Hill. The Declaration of Independence was but the normal outgrowth of the contract signed by the Pilgrims in Cape Cod Harbor a little over a century and a half before. The so- called " Causes of the Revolution " only served to develop that which had its root in the very nature of things. This country was settled by men who fled from persecution at home, and America to them meant liberty above all things else. Free dom was their birthright, and they had studied its principles thoroughly. To provoke such men by injustice, was to shake rudely every tie which bound them to the mother country. Just this England did, wantonly and continually. 134 ALIENATION OF THE COLONIES. [1750. The royal governors often carried matters with a high hand. There were attempts made to take away the charters of Massa chusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. There were sugges tions of creating a provincial peerage and of giving the Estab lished Church the precedence in all the colonies. In the army, a " regular" captain outranked a " provincial" colonel. Every effort was made to keep the colonies dependent, and to favor the British manufacturer and merchant. Even Pitt, the friend of America, asserted that the colonists had " no right to manufac ture a nail for a horse-shoe." Commerce and manufactures were bound hand and foot. In 1750, the Americans were forbidden to send pig-iron to England and to make steel or bar iron for home use. Iron-works were declared " common nuisances." The expor tation of hats from one colony to another was prohibited, and no hatter was allowed to have more than two apprentices at one time, as the colonists, if let alone, " would supply all the world with hats." The importation of sugar, rum and molasses was bur dened with exorbitant duties ; and the Carolinians were forbidden to cut down the pine-trees of their vast forests, in order to con vert the wood into staves, or the juice into turpentine and tar, for commercial purposes. England, says Sabine, forbade the use of waterfalls, the erection of machinery, looms and spindles, and the working of wood and iron ; set the king s broad arrow upon trees in the forest ; shut out markets for boards and fish ; seized sugar and molasses, and the vessels in which they were carried ; required an American vessel wrecked on the Irish coast to first send its goods destined for an Irish^ market to England, and then have them brought back to Ireland in an English vessel ; and at tempted to define the limitless ocean to be but a narrow pathway to such lands as bore the British flag. Such odious laws drove men to their violation. It was the only hope of trade. Smug gling became so common that it is said of the one and a half million dollars worth of tea used annually in the colonies, scarcely any had paid duty. Not one chest out of five hundred landed in Boston was regularly entered. A considerable part of Hancock s fortune inherited from his uncle was made by smug gling tea in molasses hogsheads ; and at the breaking out of the Revolution, the crown had sued Hancock himself to recover penalties for violations of revenue laws to the amount of half a million dollars. The home government had incurred heavy expenses during 1761.] WRITS OF ASSISTANCE. 135 the old French and Indian war. George III. was now king. Pitt, who was almost idolized in America, was dismissed, and the monarch, following incompetent ministers like Bute, Grenville, and Townshend, stupidly and wantonly drove on the colonists to revolt. It was determined to make the rich and thriving young colo nies contribute to the payment of the debt. The colonists were not represented in parliament, and they declared the principle that " TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESEN TATION IS TYRANNY." Step by step the struggle now went on. In 1761, strict orders were received by the revenue officers to en force the obnox ious laws against trade. Warrants, or writs of assist ance, as they were called, were issued, authoriz ing these per sons to search for smuggled goods. With such a pretext, any petty custom-house official could ransack a man s house or store at his pleasure. The colonists held the Englishman s maxim, that " every roan s house is his castle." The royal collectors were accordingly resisted from one end of the country to the other. At the General Court in Boston, James Otis, without fear or fee, eloquently withstood the issuing of such warrants. " To my dying day," said he, " I will oppose, with all the powers and faculties God has given me, all such instruments of slavery on the one hand and villainy on the other." " Then and there," wrote John Adams, "the trumpet of the Revolution was sounded." From that time, in his indignation, Adams could " never read the acts of trade without a curse." In 1764, parliament distinctly declared its " right to tax America." Colony after colony entered its solemn protest; but in vain. In 1765, the Stamp Act was WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM. 136 ALIENATION OF THE COLONIES. [1765. passed. This ordered that no legal document was valid unless it bore a British stamp costing from three pence to six pounds ; that every newspaper and pamphlet should bear a stamp worth from a halfpenny to four pence ; and that each advertisement should pay a duty of two shillings. The ministers were authorized to send troops to America, and, by a clause in the Mutiny Act, it was ordered that the colonists should provide the soldiers with quarters and necessary supplies. America was not only to be taxed but to be made to house and feed its oppressors. The assembly of Virginia was in session when these obnoxious laws were an nounced. Patrick Henry, a young lawyer, the youngest member of the house, quickly drew upon the blank leaf of an old law-book a series of resolutions denying the right of parlia ment to tax America. He supported these in a strain of burning patriotism, declaring, " Cassar had his Brutus, Charles I. his Crom- PATRICK HENRY ADDRESSING THE VIRGINIA ASSEMBLY. 1765.] THE MUTINY ACT. 137 well, and George III." here pausing till the cry of "Treason! Treason !" from several parts of the house had subsided, he delib erately added " may profit by their examples. If this be trea son, make the most of it." " The sun of liberty is set," wrote Franklin ; " the Americans must light the lamps of industry and economy." " Be assured," was the reply of Colonel Thomson, " we shall light lamps of a very different character." The tide of opposition everywhere ran high, and even some times overflowed the barriers of law and order. The houses of British officials were mobbed. The opponents of the tax met on Boston Common under a large elm, famous as the "liberty tree." Associations were formed which took the name of " Sons of Liberty," a phrase used by Colonel Barre in a powerful speech, now familiar to every school-boy, delivered in parliament in defence of the colonies. At Portsmouth, N. H., a coffin inscribed " Liberty, aged CXLV years," was borne to an open grave. With muffled drums and solemn tread, the procession moved from the State House. Minute-guns were fired till the grave was reached, when a funeral oration was pronounced and the coffin lowered. Suddenly it was proclaimed that there were signs of life. The coffin was raised. A new inscription, " Liberty Revived," was appended. Bells rung, trumpets sounded, men shouted, and a jubilee ensued. Stamps were everywhere seized, and the agents were forced to resign. The people agreed not to use any article of British manufacture. Trade with England almost ceased. The women entered heartily into the struggle, and the newspapers of the day are full of their patriotic doings. They formed associations called " Daughters of Liberty," and spun and wove with renewed vigor, determined to prove them selves independent of the mother-country. " Within eighteen months," wrote a gentleman at Newport, Rhode Island, " four hundred and eighty-seven yards of cloth and thirty-six pairs of stockings have been spun and knit in the family of James Nixon of this town." In Newport and Boston the women, at their tea- drinkings, used, instead of imported tea, the dried leaves of the raspberry, which they called Hyperion. The feeling spread to every condition of life. The very children in the streets caught, up the cry, " Liberty and property forever ! No stamps." In North Carolina John Ashe, speaker of the Assembly, declared to Governor Tryon, " This law will be resisted to blood and to death." When the sloop-of-war Diligence anchored in Cape 138 ALIENATION OF THE COLONIES. [1765. Fear harbor with a supply of stamped paper for the use of the colony, the crowd, headed by Colonels Ashe and Waddell, prohibited the terri fied captain from land ing his cargo. Thence they marched to the governor s palace at Wilmington and threatened to burn it over his head unless he gave up the stamp- master, whom they forced to swear not to discharge the duties of his office. Massachusetts sug gested a convention to be held at New York in October. The call was en- IE COLONIES. dorsed by South Car olina, and delegates met from nine colonies. They proposed a declaration of rights, and me morials to the king and parlia ment. The first of November, the time appointed for the law to go into effect, was ob served as a day of mourning. Bells were tolled, flags were raised at half- mast, and business was suspended. Samuel and John Adams, Patrick 1766.] REPEAL OF THE STAMP ACT. 139 Henry, and James Otis aroused the people over the whole land by their stirring and patriotic speeches. In February, 1766, Benjamin Franklin, then in England as agent for Pennsylvania, was called before the bar of the House of Commons and questioned concerning the condition of the colonies. His firm and decisive answers greatly impressed the officers of the crown. The English government, finding that the Stamp Act could not be executed, except by force of arms, at last repealed it. The news was received in America with transports of joy. Addresses of thanks were voted to the king and distin guished statesmen, such as Camden, Pitt, and Barre. At Boston, Faneuil Hall was adorned with full-length pictures of the latter two friends of America. The debtors were released from jail, and what with fireworks, public entertainments, music, and parades, the day was one of the happiest ever seen. The " home feeling " toward England was restored and trade resumed. But the cloud soon settled again. The government still declared its right to inflict taxation on the colonies. Duties were imposed on tea, glass, paper, etc., and a Board of Trade was established at Boston, to act independently of the colonial assem blies. The press and the pulpit at once sounded the alarm. The non-importation agreement was revived with greater stringency. The New York assembly, refusing to quarter English troops at the colonial expense, was suspended from all legislative acts. The Massachusetts assembly having sent a circular to the other colonies urging a union for redress of grievances, parliament, in the name of the king, ordered it to rescind its action. It almost unanimously refused. In the meantime the assemblies of nearly all the colonies had declared that parliament had no right to tax them without their consent. Hereupon they were warned not to imitate the disobedient conduct of Massachusetts. New events constantly occurred to keep up the excitement. The commissioners of customs seized a sloop laden with wine, because the owner, John Hancock, refused to pay duty upon it ; but the mob falling upon them, they were glad to take refuge in Castle William. Boston being considered the hotbed of the rebellion, General Gage was sent thither with two regiments of troops. They entered on a quiet Sunday morning, and marched as through a conquered city, with drums beating and flags flying. All the prejudices of a peaceful, Sabbath-loving, liberty-sworn people were thus aroused. Quarters being refused, the soldiers 140 ALIENATION OF THE COLONIES. [1T70. took possession of the State House. The Common was soon covered with tents. Cannon were planted, sentries posted, and citizens challenged ; while the harbor was occupied by a fleet of vessels. An obsolete law of the time of Henry VIII. was revived, and the governor of Massachusetts ordered to send the persons con cerned in the late disturbance to England for trial. This high handed measure was bitterly opposed by a minority in the House of Commons, Burke exclaiming, " Can you not trust the juries of that country ? If you have not a party among two millions of people, you must either change your plans of government or renounce the colonies forever." The presence of the soldiers in Boston was a constant aggra vation, and the people did their utmost to render their stay uncomfortable. The city committee persuaded the farmers to sell them nothing but the provisions necessary for their existence ; straw, timber, boards, and other articles were purposely withheld from their market. Articles purchased by the agents of govern ment encountered mysterious accidents ; straw took fire and burned ; vessels with bricks sunk ; wood-carts overturned, and, in short, the vexations of life were multiplied upon them. Frequent quarrels took place between the people and the " red-coats." One day (March 5, 1770) a crowd of men and boys, maddened by their presence, insulted the city guard. A fight ensued. Several citizens were wounded and three killed. The bells were rung. The country people rushed in to the help of the city. Quiet was with difficulty restored. But the snow in King Street was purple, and " that stain, though it melted away in the next day s sun, was never forgot ten nor forgiven." In the morning Faneuil Hall was filled with an indig nant crowd. The immediate removal of the troops was demanded. The government was forced to yield, and to order the soldiers out of the city to Castle William. The citizens slain in the brawl were buried with solemn pageantry, and apotheosized as the first martyrs to liberty. The story of the " Boston Mas sacre," as it was called, became a tale of horror. The fact that FANEUIL HALL. 1771.] THE BOSTON MASSACRE. 141 the soldiers fired in self-defence against an excited mob was ignored, and the hate of foreign domination was intensified by details of what was spread as an unprovoked assault upon quiet and defenceless citizens. The guard which had fired on the mob were tried for murder. The result was a beautiful triumph of law and order over popular prejudice. The defence was conducted by John Adams and James Otis. In spite of the universal agitation, all were acquitted except two, who were convicted of manslaughter only. These were branded in the hand in open court and discharged. This fair and honorable trial exhibited the temper of the people and the uselessness of reviving an ancient statute in order to secure justice. In North Carolina the insolence shown in the notorious embezzlements of the royal officers aroused open rebellion. The governor, who was himself squandering the funds in building a palace, stated in an official paper that the " sheriffs had purloined more than half the public moneys." In this province the revenue was raised by a poll-tax, so that the richest merchant paid no more than the poorest laborer. The officers often levied four times the lawful tax. The courts refused the distressed people their rights. Money was scarce ; wheat brought only one shilling per bushel, and that after being hauled fifty or a hundred miles to market. Under such circumstances the taxes became simply unendurable. At last, as the only means of obtaining justice, an association of regulators was formed for the avowed purpose of redressing the grievances of the country. Governor Tryon, however, marched against them, defeated them at Alamance Creek (May 16, 1771), and left three hundred of their number dead on the field. Six were afterward hanged. The governor and his satellites took possession of such of their estates as they desired. Not a few of the hardy backwoodsmen fled to the wilderness and obtained lands of the Cherokees, where they laid the foundation of the State of Tennessee. The regulators were subdued, though a bitter hatred of British rule was engendered. In 1772, the Gaspee, a British revenue schooner, while chasing a vessel, ran aground. The opportunity was too good to be lost. That night a party from Providence boarded and set her on fire. The English government was greatly alarmed by the steady determination evinced by the colonies. The merchants, whose goods lay unsold in their warehouses, offered to pay the govern- 142 ALIENATION OF THE COLONIES. [1773. THE REGULATORS THREATENING GOVERNOR TRYON. ment the entire amount expected to be realized from the duties. Finally, all were rescinded except that on tea, which was left merely to maintain the right of taxation. With a curious mis apprehension of the American spirit, an arrangement was made with the India Company whereby this could be furnished at a cheaper rate in America than in England. The subterfuge only exasperated the patriots. They were fighting for a great princi ple, not against a paltry tax. At Charleston the tea was stored in damp cellars, where it soon spoiled. The tea-ships at New York and Philadelphia were sent home. The British authorities at Boston refused to let the vessels loaded with tea return. Upon this, an immense public meeting was held at Faneuil Hall. Speeches were made by Quincy, Adams and others. It was resolved that the tea should never be landed. That evening (December 16, 1773), memorable in American history, a party of men disguised as Indians boarded the vessels and emptied three hundred and forty-two chests of tea into the water. The dock was crowded with people who looked on with joy. When the work was done they quietly dispersed. As the party passed by a house where Admiral Montague was visiting, he raised a window and called out, " Well, boys, you ve had a fine night for your Indian caper. But, remember, you ve got to pay the fiddler yet." " Oh, never mind," replied one of the leaders, " never mind, squire ! Just come out here, if you please, and we ll settle the bill in two minutes." But the Admiral declined to come out ; and to " settle the bill " took seven years of bloody war, thousands of lives, and millions of money. 1774.] MEETING OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. 143 The issue was now fairly made. " The king, his ministers, parliament, and all Great Britain set themselves to subdue this one stubborn little town on the sterile coast of Massachusetts Bay." The odds were terrible. But in resolute little Boston there were a town hall, free schools, free presses, and free pulpits. There was a government of the people, for the people, and by the people ; there were heroes who knew the right and dared main tain it ; there were praying men, zealous ministers, and conscien tious statesmen. God smiled on his own, and that town was safe. The English government at once adopted retaliatory measures. General Gage was appointed governor of Massachusetts, with orders to enforce new and more coercive decrees, virtually abrogating the charter. The port of Boston was closed by act of parliament. Great distress was thus produced in the city, but from every side came expressions of sympathy and substantial aid. The cause of Boston was made the common cause of the country. The merchants of Marblehead and Salem, refusing to profit by the ruin of their rivals, offered the use of their wharves to the Boston merchants. Wyndham, Conn., donated a flock of two hundred and fifty sheep. Schoharie, New York, forwarded five hundred and fifty bushels of wheat. The people of Georgia sent their sympathies from the far south, accompanied by sixty- three barrels of rice and seven hundred and twenty dollars in specie. The burgesses of Virginia, then in session at the old capitol in Williamsburg, learning the news of the Boston Port Bill, ap pointed a fast day on June ist, when it was to go into effect. The governor immediately dismissed the refractory assembly, as a schoolmaster would a class of unruly boys, yet it contained such men as Henry, Jefferson, Lee, Pendleton, and Nicholas. Washington notes in his diary that he observed that day as a rigid fast, and attended services at church. George Mason charged his children to go thither clad in mourning. The bur gesses, after their dissolution, immediately repaired en masse to the famous " Apollo Room" of the Old Raleigh Tavern Vir ginia s Faneuil Hall less than one hundred paces from the capitol. Here they declared unanimously that the attack on Massachusetts was one upon all the colonies, and must be re sisted by their united wisdom. Committees of correspondence were now appointed by the various colonies. This idea, acted upon first by the Sons of Lib- 144 ALIENATION OF THE COLONIES. [1774. CARPENTER S HALL. erty in New York city, became a powerful political engine in combining the colonies against England. A curious device, rep resenting the colonies as parts of a snake, with the significant motto, "Join or die," was extensively adopted. At the suggestion of influential men and meetings in all parts of the country, delegates were chosen to a general congress. The first Continental Congress assembled at Carpenter s Hall, Philadelphia, September 5, 1774. Every colony but Georgia was represented. The venerable Pey ton Randolph was chosen presi dent. Fifty-three delegates were present among them such men as Samuel and John Adams of Mas sachusetts ; Hopkins of Rhode Island ; Sherman and Deane of Connecticut; Livingston and Jay of New York; Lee, Henry, Randolph, and Washington of Virginia ; Rutledge and Gadsden of South Carolina. The first meeting, we are told, was fearfully solemn. All felt the momentous responsibility of the occasion. At last the silence was broken by the magic eloquence of Patrick Henry. He was followed by Richard Henry Lee. It was resolved that each session should open with prayer Samuel Adams, though a Congregationalist, moving that Rev. J. Duch, rector of Christ Church, Philadelphia, should be invited to officiate. Morning came. News had arrived of a bloody attack on Boston by the British troops. The regular psalm for that day (seventh) seemed providentially ordered. The chaplain read : " Plead thou my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me, and fight thou against them that fight against me. Lay hand upon the shield and buckler, and stand up to help me. Bring forth the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me." " Lord, how long wilt thou look upon this? O deliver my soul from the calamities which they bring on me." " Awake and stand up to judge my quarrel. Avenge thou my cause, my God and my Lord. Judge me, O Lord, my God, according to thy righteousness ; and let them not triumph over me." After this, 1774.] EXCITEMENT OF THE PEOPLE. 145 the chaplain unexpectedly broke out into an extempore prayer so full of zeal and fervor, for Congress, the country, and especially for Boston, that the hearts of all were thrilled and comforted. As yet few members had any idea of independence. Congress, however, voted, that obedience was not due to any of the recent acts of parliament, and sustained Massachusetts in her resistance. It issued a protest against standing armies being kept in the colonies without consent of the people, and agreed to hold no intercourse with Great Britain, though expressing at the same time the most devoted loyalty to the king. It also agreed not to import or purchase slaves after the first of December ensuing. The country heaved like an ocean in a storm. Party lines were now sharply drawn. Those opposed to the action of the British government were termed Whigs, and those supporting it Tories. Everywhere were repeated the thrilling words of Patrick Henry in the Virginia House of Burgesses, " I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death." Companies of soldiers, termed " minute-men," were formed. To be a private in one of these was an honor. Balls were cast, cartridges made, and military evolutions learned. Nothing was heard, says Botta, but the din of arms and the sound of fife and drums. Gage, being alarmed, fortified Boston Neck, and seized the powder in the magazine at Charlestown. A rumor having been circulated that the British ships were firing on Boston, in two days thirty thousand minute-men were on their way to the city. A spark only was needed to kindle the slumbering hatred into the flames of war. ENGLAND FORCING TEA DOWN THE THROAT OF AMERICA. (From a caricature of the time.) CHAPTER II. OF THE WA<&. ENERAL GAGE, learning that the patriots were collecting- stores and ammunition at Con cord, resolved to seize them. On April i8th, about eleven o clock in the evening, a body of eight hundred regulars, under the command of Lieutenant- Colonel Smith and Major Pit- cairn, secretly left Boston, and near midnight took the road for Concord. The moon shone brightly from the clear sky, and they moved on rapidly. The Boston leaders, however, were on the alert. From the tower of the old North Church streamed a beacon light ; while Paul Revere and William Dawes, escaping the guard, were already far ahead announcing their coming. There was " A hurry of hoofs in a village street, A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark, And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet." Soon the distant ringing of bells and firing of guns told the troops that the alarm was spreading. When they reached Lex ington at dawn, they found a small company of minute-men gathering on the village green. Riding up, Pitcairn shouted, " Disperse, you rebels ! Lay down your arms ! " " Too few to resist, too brave to fly," they hesitated. Discharging his pistol, he cried aloud to his troops, " Fire ! " It was a murder, not a battle. Only a few random shots were returned by the patriots to the volley which followed. Jonas Parker had sworn never to run A J775 19 ] LEXINGTON AND CONCORD. 147 from the red-coats. Already wounded, he was reloading his gun on his knees, when a bayonet thrust pierced his heart. Harring ton was hit while standing in front of his house. His wife saw him from the window, and rushed down only to catch him as, tottering forward, he expired in her arms. With three huzzas \UL REVERE SPREADING THE ALARM. over their valiant slaughter of a handful of villagers, the troops marched on, leaving behind them seven Americans lying on the bloody grass the first dead of the Revolution. Lonely did they look in the still air and the solemn- hush that fell on the town after the sharp crack of the rifle had died away ; but they were heroes all, and, a century later, we gaze back upon Lexington as upon an altar of sacrifice. " Of man for man the sacrifice, Unstained by blood, save theirs, they gave. The flowers that blossomed from their grave Have sown themselves beneath all skies. " No seers were they, but simple men ; Its vast results the future hid ; The meaning of the work they did Was strange and dark and doubtful then." Elated by their success, the English now pushed forward to Concord and destroyed what stores they could find at that place. Major Pitcairn, who was given to bluster as well as profanity, entered the village tavern and poured out a glass of brandy, which he sweetened to his taste, but not finding a spoon to stir 148 OPENING OF THE WAR. [ApriM9, 1775. it, mixed it with his fingers ; at the same time saying in bluff soldier fashion that "just so he would stir up the blood of the Yankees before the day was over." Meantime the militia were gathering fast on the neighboring hills, and even ventured to sharply return a volley from the British pickets at the Concord Bridge, where " The embattled farmers stood And fired the shot heard round the world." The grenadiers ran in confusion. The example was contagious, and Smith decided to return. It was high time. The whole region was in arms. Every boy old enough to grasp a musket and a powder- horn hurried to avenge his fellows. The gray- haired men hobbled on as best they could to get a shot at the ene mies of their country. An old hoary-headed man of Woburn figures in the stories of the time, who rode a fine IlingWx white horse after the flying troops, and, dismounting within gunshot, would send his sure bullet to the mark. When he fired some one fell. They came to cry, at sight of him, " Look out, there is the man on the white horse." Every bush, tree, stone wall, and building con cealed a patriot, who blazed away at the red-coats as they passed, firing, loading quickly, and then running ahead across the fields to catch another shot ; fresh allies on either flank streamed in by every cross-road ; and between them all the British, no longer in ranks, were flying like sheep along the same road by which they had come, afraid of the storm they had aroused. The whole body would have been captured had they not met Lord Percy with reinforcements near Lexington. He formed a hollow square to receive the breathless fugitives, who rushed forward with " tongues hanging out of their mouths, like those of dogs after a chase." Even now there was danger. The woods were swarm ing with " rebels." The cannon Percy had brought with him April 19,1 1775. . LEXINGTON AND CONCORD. 149 scarcely kept the Americans at bay. It was with the greatest difficulty that he at last escaped under the guns of the fleet off Charlestown. During that eventful day the English had lost about two hundred and eighty, and the Continentals one-third that num ber. Percy s men, enraged at their losses, plundered houses, destroyed furniture, and fired buildings on their route, driving the sick from their beds and killing the infirm. In one place, a boy had taken refuge under his mother s bed ; a soldier, seeing the little fellow s foot projecting, barbarously pinned it to the floor with his bayonet. The young hero never groaned. The effect of this day s work was electrical. The news that American blood had been spilled flew like wildfire. Patriots came pouring in from all sides. General Putnam, " Old Put," as he was familiarly called, already famous for his exploit in the PUTNAM STARTING FOR CAMBRIDGE. wolf s den and other equally daring deeds, left his cattle yoked in the field, and without changing the checked shirt he had on, mounted his fastest horse, and the next morning was at Cam bridge, having ridden one hundred miles in eighteen hours. Soon twenty thousand men were at work throwing up entrench ments to fasten the British in the city. Congresses were formed OPENING OF THE WAR. [May 10, L 1775. in all the colonies, and committees of safety were appointed to call out the troops, and to provide for any emergency. Meanwhile Connecticut resolved to strike a blow for the good cause. An expedition was accordingly fitted out under Ethan Allen, a noted leader of the " Green Mountain Boys," and Bene dict Arnold, to seize the forts of Ticonderoga and Crown Point. Troops were hastily gathered, and the march began. Late on the night of May gth they reached the shore of the lake. Only a few boats could be secured, and at daybreak only eighty-three men had crossed. No time was to be lost if a surprise was to be effected. With this little band, Allen marched directly upon a fortress that mounted one hundred guns himself leading the at- ETHAN ALLAN AT TICONDEROGA. tack, with Arnold emulously at his side. As Allen rushed into the sally-port, a sentinel snapped his gun at him and fled. The Green Mountain Boys quickly formed upon the parade-ground in hollow square, facing each way toward the barracks, and raised the Indian whoop. " It was a cry," says Bancroft, " that had not been heard there since the time of Montcalm." Rapidly making his way to the commander s quarters, Allen, in a voice of thunder, ordered him to surrender. " By whose authority ?" exclaimed the frightened officer. " In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress ! " shouted Allen. No resistance was at- 9f 5 l6> ] CAPTURE OF TICONDEROGA. tempted. Large stores of cannon and ammunition, just then so much needed by the troops at Boston, fell into the hands of the Americans without the loss of a single man. A detachment was sent off under Colonel Seth Warner to take Crown Point, and that fort surrendered at the first summons. A few hours after the capture of Ticonderoga, the second Con tinental Congress met at Philadelphia. It voted to raise twenty thousand men, and to issue three million dollars in paper money. John Adams, after a powerful speech setting forth the qualities requisite for the commander-in-chief of the army, suddenly nomi nated George Washington, then present as delegate from Virginia, for that high office. All were surprised, as he had informed no one of his intention, but the members unanimously approved the choice. Artemas Ward, Charles Lee, Philip Schuyler, and Israel Putnam were appointed major-generals ; Seth Pomeroy, Richard Montgomery, David Wooster, William Heath, Joseph Spencer, John Thomas, John Sullivan, and Nathaniel Greene, brigadiers ; Horatio Gates was made adjutant-general, with the rank of briga dier. Strange to say, there were still hopes of a reconciliation, and committees were appointed to petition the king and to ad dress the people of England. Gage had now received heavy reinforcements under experi enced generals, Clinton, Burgoyne, and Howe. Thus encour aged, he declared martial law, but offered pardon to all rebels who should lay down their arms, excluding, however, Samuel Adams and Hancock, whose crimes were so great that they were to be taken to England and reserved for more condign punish ment. The English were now determined, as Burgoyne expressed it, to get " elbow room," and they had already resolved to fortify Dorchester Heights and Bunker Hill, which overlooked the city, on the 1 8th of June. This becoming known in the patriot camp, it was decided to anticipate them ; and General Ward, who was then at the head of the besieging forces, ordered Colonel Prescott, with one thousand men, to occupy Bunker Hill. On the night of June 1 6th the troops assembled at Cambridge, whence, after prayer by President Langdon of Harvard College, they noise lessly marched to Breed s Hill, which they had decided to be a more commanding position. It was bright moonlight, and they were so near the enemy that they could distinctly hear the "All s well" of the sentinels at the foot of Copp s Hill ; yet so quietly did they work that there was no alarm. Before morning they had 152 OPENING OF THE WAR. TJune 17, L 1775. thrown up a redoubt eight rods square and six feet high. At dawn, a watchman on one of the ships discovered the earthwork. Fire was at once opened, in which soon after all the shipping and a battery on Copp s Hill joined. Under the raining bombs and balls the Americans toiled on, strengthening the work already THE PRAYER BEFORE THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. thrown up, and also running a breastwork north about twenty rods down the hill. A soldier who had ventured outside being killed by a cannon-ball, some panic-stricken ones fled. Colonel Prescott, although his tall, commanding form rendered him a con spicuous mark, sought to reassure his men by leisurely making a tour upon the parapet. General Gage, in Boston, was standing near Counsellor Willard, Prescott s brother-in-law, inspecting the works through a glass. " Who is that ?" he demanded. " That is Colonel Prescott," was the reply. " Will he fight?" was the next question. " Yes, sir," said Willard ; " he will fight as long as a drop of blood remains in his veins." " The works must be carried immediately," was the quick response, and the British general turned to give the orders. The English commander might have occupied the neck of the peninsula and cut off the entire American forces. Instead, he June 17,-] 1775. J BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 153 E A landed at Morton s Point with about two thousand men, intending to march along the Mystic river and thus outflank the American line. Prescott sent a Connecticut regiment to check this move ment. They took post behind a low stone wall and rail fence, in front of which they placed a second fence, filling the space between with new-mown hay. The artillery was stationed in the gap between the rail fence and breastwork. Ward, fearing an attack at Cambridge, refused to send reinforcements, but patriots singly and in squads dared the passage of the Charlestown peninsula, now raked by the enemy s fire, and came to the aid of their countrymen. Pomeroy, an old man of seventy, leaving his horse, which was a borrowed one, lest it might be killed on the way, shouldered a musket, and came on foot into the lines. Dr. Warren, who had just received his commission as major-general, reached the redoubt and served as a volunteer. Stark and his New Hampshire men took post with the Connecticut regiment, rapidly extending their line down to the river. Prescott sent back the entrenching tools to General Putnam, who was planning to fortify Bunker Hill, but the tired men who carried them took advantage of the opportunity and ran to the rear. Howe, seeing the strength of the American position, prudent ly waited for rein forcements. On their arrival, he formed his men. It was a moment of terrible sus pense. The neighboring hills, the streets and roofs of Boston were crowded with anxious spectators. On the one side were fifteen hundred undisciplined yeomen, weary with their night s labor, hungry and thirsty, under a leader of no acknowledged reputation ; on the other, three thousand picked troops, richly uniformed and equipped ; officers and men who had won victories on many of the famous battlefields of Europe. The British slowly ascended the BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL 154 OPENING OF THE WAR. fJune 17,. L 1775. hill, breaking their ranks only to throw down the fences and to pass the obstructions which lay in their way. As they drew near they opened a heavy fire, while all the time ships and floating bat teries never ceased raining shot and shell upon the patriot lines. Prescott had instructed his men to wait until they could " see the whites of their enemies eyes " before firing, and then " aim at their waistbands." The patriot ranks lay quietly behind their earthworks until the British were within ten rods, every piece sighted and pointed at its victim. Suddenly Pres cott, waving his sword, shout ed, " Fire ! " A blaze of light shot from the whole line ; soon another; and then another. Entire platoons went down before the terrible storm. The survivors, unwilling to fly, stood among the dead, bewil dered, paralyzed, by the shock. At last, the bugles sounded the recall and they fell back to the shore. After a brief delay, Howe rallied his men and advanced a second time under cover of the smoke of Charlestown, which had been fired by his orders. Again they met that deadly discharge and again recoiled in dismay. THE BAYONET CHARGE AT BUNKER HILL. Ju , n 7 e 75 7 ] BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 155 Clinton came with reinforcements from Boston, and a third attempt was now made. The British soldiers threw off their knapsacks and moved at the quickstep, with orders to use the bayonet only. The artillery was brought to bear on the fatal gap between the breastwork and the rail fence. The defenders of the former were quickly driven into the redoubt. This was attacked on three sides at once. The ammunition was scarce in the American ranks. Only one volley smote the British ; the head of their column was torn in pieces, but the main body poured over the ramparts, driving all before it. Even yet the patriots sturdily resisted ; most, having no bayonets, clubbed their mus kets and disputed every inch. As a sample of the spirit of the day, one Salmon Steele is quoted, who, as he was leaving the redoubt, stumbled over a dead British soldier. On opening his enemy s cartridge-box and finding only one round was used, he strapped the box to his side, and fired the remaining ammunition with deadly aim before he left the field. Saddest of all that day s losses, Warren was shot by a British officer who knew him, as he was trying to rally his men. Stark, at the rail fence, when he saw the redoubt taken, sullenly retired. The British regi ments, wounded and shattered, were unable to continue the pursuit. Putnam, collecting the fugitives, held Prospect Hill, scarce a mile in the rear of the battle-field. The English had lost over a thousand men, the Americans but four hundred and fifty. Sorrowful was the sight the sun beheld as it sank to rest. Where but the day before the mower had quietly swung the scythe, the dead now lay " thick as sheep in the fold." The effect of this battle upon the patriot cause was that of a victory. It had been proven that American farmers could stand firmly before the muskets of British regulars. The struggle for liberty might be a severe one, but there was a chance for suc cess. " Americans will fight," Franklin wrote ; " England has lost her colonies forever." " Did the militia stand fire ? " inquired Washington. When he learned that they not only did that, but withheld their own until the British were within ten rods, he exclaimed, " The liberties of the country are safe." From ridi cule of American pretension, the British were suddenly startled into respect for American valor. The troops who expected to crush the " impudent rebels " in one easy charge, now boasted of their courage in advancing against so murderous a foe, and took credit for a bravery to which, it was averred, " no history could 156 OPENING OF THE WAR. [ J 1775 3 produce a parallel." The colonists had at least compelled an acknowledgment of their claim to a decent regard. News of the fight at Bunker Hill reached Philadelphia on the 22d. The next day Washington set out for Cambridge to take command of the army. On Monday, July 3, beneath the spread ing elm since so famous in song and story, he formally assumed the command. Washington is described at this time as a tall, finely- proportioned, dignified man, with , a strikingly noble and com manding air. Mrs. Adams, who was present, wrote thus to her husband : " Those lines of Dry den instantly recurred to me : 1 Mark his majestic fabric ! His a temple Sacred by birth, and built by hands divine ; His soul s the Deity that lodges there: Nor is the pile unworthy of the God. " According to the fashion of his time, he was dressed in a blue broadcloth coat faced with buff, buff small-clothes, silk stockings, shoulder epaulettes, and a cocked hat. As he wheeled his horse and drew his sword, a shout of enthusiasm went up from the assembled multitude. He found the army numbering about fourteen thousand. It was an army, however, only in name. In fact, it was merely an immense " gathering of neighbors, schoolmates, and friends," each with his own musket, powder-horn, and bag of bullets, and only such provisions as he had brought with him or as were sent into camp by his friends and others. Some of these had left home on the impulse of excitement, and already wearied of the monotony and peril of war. There were bitter jealousies growing out of the appointment of the higher officers by Con gress. Many of the inferior officers were grossly inefficient, insubordinate, and over-confident. Few of the companies were disciplined or uniformed. Powder was so scarce that there was only enough to furnish nine cartridges to each man. " Our situa tion in the article of powder is much more alarming than I had the faintest idea of," wrote Washington to Congress. Reed, Washington s secretary, reported that " almost the whole powder of the army was in the cartridge-boxes." " The bay is open : everything thaws here, except Old Put," facetiously wrote another ; " he is still as hard as ever, crying out for Powder, powder ! Ye gods, give us powder ! Washington immedi ately set about organizing the troops and reforming abuses, SIEGE OF BOSTON. 157 meanwhile strengthening their position against any attempt of Gage to break out of Boston. Fortunately, such was the dis couragement of the British leader that he never ventured even to make a sally. The provincial lines were nearly nine miles in length. Washington himself took command of the centre, Gen eral Ward of the right wing, and General Charles Lee, a former British officer who had espoused the patriot cause, of the left. The first troops raised under the order of Congress were the Virginia riflemen. In less than sixty days, says Bancroft, twelve companies were in Washington s camp, having come on foot from four to eight hundred miles. The men, painted in the guise of savages, were strong and of great endurance ; many of them more than six feet high ; they wore leggins and moccasins, and an ash-colored hunting-shirt with a double cape ; each one carried a rifle, a hatchet, a small axe, and a hunter s knife. They could subsist on a little parched corn and game killed as they went along ; at night, wrapped in their blankets, they willingly made a tree their canopy, the earth their bed. The rifle in their hands sent its ball with unerring precision a distance of two or three hundred yards. Their motto was, " LIBERTY OR DEATH." Newspapers of the day relate how they offered to shoot apples off" one another s heads in true William Tell style ; how one man at sixty paces put eight balls through a paper the size of a dollar ; and another stuck his knife into a tree, and firing, halved his bullet upon the edge. During the summer and fall there was constant skirmishing around Boston. Transports bearing stores to the beleaguered troops were seized. Parties gathering hay and other supplies on the islands in the bay were attacked in the boldest manner. The English ships along the coast began a predatory warfare which did little harm, but bitterly exasperated the people. On Octo ber 1 6, Captain Mo watt burned the town of Falmouth, now Portland, declaring that he had orders to destroy every seaport between Boston and Halifax. While all these stirring events were transpiring around Bos ton, the cause of liberty was kindling into life in the other colonies. In April, Dunmore, the detested governor of Virginia, imitating the action of Gage of Massachusetts, seized the powder in the magazine at Williamsburg. This overt act aroused general indignation. Patrick Henry headed the people in a call upon the governor, and they did not come away until he had 158 OPENING OF THE WAR. promised to pay for the powder. The amount given, fifteen hundred dollars, was afterward found to be too large, and the balance was returned to Dunmore. The governor, alarmed by the situation of affairs, fortified his residence and issued a procla mation against Henry and his compatriots. Some letters of the governor s, grossly mis representing the colo nists, were afterward intercepted, and these adding fuel to the flame, he was forced to take refuge on board a royal vessel. From this asy lum he valiantly de clared martial law, and called upon the slaves to leave their masters and help him in his emergency. He thus gathered at Norfolk a small force of blacks and royalists. November 28, the Vir ginia militia came over to Great Bridge, where they threw up a fortification opposite the British fort built to defend the approach to Norfolk. A few days after, Dunmore, with the seamen from the ships and a mixed crowd of royalists and negroes, came out to drive them from their position. The negroes and loyalists stood at a safe distance, while the regulars bravely charged down the narrow causeway, one hundred and sixty yards long, at the end of which was the entrenchment. The fire of the sharpshooters was terrific. The British leader, Fordyce, fell, struck by fourteen balls. The rest fled, leaving half their number behind. The Virginians lost not a man, and only one received a slight wound. After the firing ceased, they hastened to bring in their wounded foes who might need the surgeon s aid. So little did the British understand their generous sympathy, that the sufferers shrank from their approach, expect ing the tomahawk or the scalping-knife. " For God s sake," cried one, " don t murder us." " Put your arm about my neck," was the quiet reply, and the sturdy Virginian, who had just laid THE OLD MAGAZINE AT WILLIAMSBURG. D ,f c 7 5 9 ] EVENTS IN THE SOUTH. 159 down his rifle, tenderly supported his wounded enemy to the breastworks. Captain Leslie, who commanded the negroes and tories, was so touched by the gentle act, that he stepped upon the platform of the fort and bowed his respectful thanks to the " shirtmen," whose hearts were as kind as their souls were brave. The next night the British abandoned the fort and fled to the protection of their ships. On New Year s day, 1776, Dunmore landed troops which set fire to Norfolk, the richest town in Virginia. Finally, abandoning the Old Dominion, he sailed with his followers for the West Indies. Though largely monarchical in feeling and Episcopal in worship, Virginia had already given a leader to the Democratic and Presbyterian army that beleaguered Boston. By this last act her alienation from the crown was made complete. In New England the feeling against the British aggressions, as we have seen, was strong from the very first. This was natural, since the rigor of the English laws pressed most heavily upon that part of the country. " Here," says Sabine, " were the Roundheads, who met England in the workshops and on the ocean." Adams, in sight of the ashes of Charlestown and the trenches of Bunker Hill, wrote that Congress should at once adopt a constitution and provide for defence. His letters were published by the royalists in the expectation that they would destroy his reputation and influence among the people. In the Middle and Southern States the feeling was far from unanimous. Tories were thick in Maryland, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Georgia. New York was a stronghold of the royalists, and it was long doubtful which way the assembly would eventually go. In Queens county the inhabitants, by a vote of more than three to one, refused to send delegates to the Provin cial Congress. The Delanceys and Phillipses in Westchester, staunch friends of the king and vast land-holders, so influenced their numerous tenantry, that all the patriotism of Van Court- landt and of Morris of Morrisania could only hold a nearly equal balance. While Washington was en route for the camp at Boston, a complication arose at New York which curiously illustrates the condition of affairs and the indecision of many of the people. " At the same time with his arrival," says Sparks, " news had come that Governor Tryon was in the harbor, just arrived from Eng land, and would land that day. The Provincial Congress were l6o OPENING OF THE WAR. [ M |?75 : a good deal embarrassed to determine how to act on this occa sion ; for though they had thrown off all allegiance to the authority of their governor, they yet professed to maintain loyalty to his person. They finally ordered a colonel to so dis pose of his militia as to be ready to receive eitJier the General or Governor Tryon, whichever sJwuld first arrive, and wait on both as well as circumstances would allow As New York city was exposed to a bombardment from the English vessels, the merchants were often exceeding timid, even when their sympathies were with the patriots. Governor Tryon had announced that Lord Dartmoor, in command of the fleet, had orders to consider and treat any city taking a decisive part, as in open rebellion. The utmost zeal of the whigs for a long time made little head against the fears of some and the opposition of others. A committee of public safety, however, had been ap pointed. The tories did all they could to embarrass any action, and to furnish the British ships in the bay with information and provisions. At last, Congress having recommended the arrest of any person whose going at large was likely to endanger the safety of the colonies, Governor Tryon took alarm and went on board a vessel. Here he was in constant intercourse with the tories, and encouraged every movement of hostility to the patriot cause. The course of Pennsylvania was undecided, since, besides its royalist population, it was a Quaker colony, and the religious principles of the people forbade any forcible resistance to the tyranny of their rulers. While the precipitate action of Gage and Dunmore hurried the colonies under their immediate authority into rebellion, the governors of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland were prudent and wisely watched the progress of affairs. Hence in these colonies there was little disturbance, and the people quietly waited the action of the British government. North Carolina was largely whig from the start. The regu lators of that State were the first to take up arms to secure their rights. As early as May, 1775, the patriots of Mecklenburg county met at Charlotte and declared their allegiance to king and parliament forever ended. The Mecklenburg Declaration was issued fourteen months before the Colonial Congress met in Phil adelphia and the old State-house bell rang out liberty to all the land. In South Carolina, on the other hand, the royalists were numerous, active, and probably in the majority. The income of July4,-| 1775. J THE FEELING TOWARD ENGLAND. 161 the planters and the commerce of Charleston itself rested upon raw products raised and shipped to England. The ties of interest, business, and friendly relationship all bound the princi pal men to the mother country. War would sunder these at once. Yet the patriots of this colony, which had so much at stake, perilled all, drove off the royal governor, fortified Charles ton, and took their government in their own hands. Georgia was also friendly to parliament, and, indeed, was not represented in the Continental Congress until the second session, delegates being elected July 4, 1775. In looking back upon it now, the action of Congress seems to us to have been timid and uncertain. It had forwarded a second petition to the British government, and the majority still fondly dreamed of reconciliation with England. At the most, said they, a single campaign will show the king the folly of coercion. The truth is, the colonists yet clung to their English traditions with wonderful tenacity. They earnestly desired a settlement of their diffi culties, and a restoration to their old situation. They hoped only for a redress of certain grievances, and then all would be well. Jefferson afterward wrote that the " possibil ity of a separation from England was contemplated with affliction by all." Washington said, " When I first took command of the army, I abhorred the idea of independence ;" and John Adams even, the very palladium of American independence, declared that " there was not a moment during the Revolution when I would not have given everything I possessed for a restoration to the state of things before the contest began, provided we could have a sufficient guaranty for its continuance." Dickinson, from the beginning the patriot leader of Pennsylvania, opposed the Declaration of Independence in 1776 to the very last. Under these circum stances, Congress was timorous. Franklin s plan of a confedera tion, considered twenty-one years before, in Albany, was brought out again, but laid aside. Troops were enlisted only until an answer could be expected from the petition. A third million dollars in paper was ordered to be printed ; but Congress had no power to lay taxes of any kind ; while commerce was dead, and ii CONTINENTAL MONEY. 1 62 OPENING OF THE WAR. [1775. there were no imports. Promises of thirteen colonies, distracted by war and internal dissension, to pay at some indefinite time, were sure to depreciate from the beginning. It seemed the best, however, that could be done. Meanwhile the British government was straining every nerve to recruit its armies in America. British emissaries were busy among the Five Nations of central New York and the savage Indians of Canada, urging them to take up arms against the colo nists. The " Olive Branch," as the petition to the king was styled, was rejected. Trade with the colonies was forbidden. American vessels, and all others found trading in American ports, with their cargoes, were liable to seizure, and the crews to be treated as slaves. Treaties were made with certain German princes, who promised to furnish seventeen thousand men for the Amer ican war at thirty-six dollars per head. The Landgrave of Hesse- Cassel sent the largest number, hence these mercenaries were called Hessians. The obstinacy of the king, the refusal even to hear the re spectful petition read in parliament, the passage of these violent measures, and especially the hirirtg of foreign mercenaries, filled the cup of England s wrongs to her colonies. Separation and war were inevitable. Congress invited the other British colonies in America to unite with them in asserting their rights. As Canada refused to take part in the movement, and British forces ascending the St. Lawrence could thence attack the colonies in the rear, it was de cided, if possible, to wrest that country from the crown. Early in the summer and fall of 1775, General Montgomery, commanding an expedition, captured St. John s, at the foot of Lake Champlain, within the Canadian border. Thence pushing on to Montreal, he took that city, and advanced through the ice and snow of Decem ber upon Quebec. Meanwhile a force under General Arnold, detached from the beleaguering army at Boston, had ascended the Kennebec River, and made its way northward through the pathless wilderness. With this indefatigable leader were Morgan, Greene, Meigs, and Aaron Burr then a young man of twenty, afterward Vice-Presi- dent of the United States. No pen can describe the horrors of their march. Making their way with infinite toil ; carrying their boats, baggage, and ammunition past the rapids and marshy swamps ; exposed to rain and storm ; crossing swollen streams ; Nov. 10,1 1775. J SIEGE OF QUEBEC. barefooted and with clothes torn almost to nakedness ; cold, wet, weary, and sick ; with the last ox killed ; the last dog eaten ; then roots and moose-skin moccasins devoured in the extremity of hunger ; finally, after two days of starvation, the famished troops emerged among the Canadian settlements. On the loth of No vember they appeared like spectres upon the banks of the St. Lawrence, opposite Quebec. Morgan s riflemen wore linen hunt ing-shirts. By some mistake, in the news of their coming, the word toile became changed to tole, and the simple peasants heard to their amazement that the advancing army were clad in sheet- iron. Securing boats with the greatest difficulty, Arnold crossed the river, landed in the same cove where Wolfe made his daring attempt, and climbed to the Plains of Abraham. He here sum moned the city to surrender; but in vain. Soon after, he was joined by Montgomery, who took the command. Their com bined forces did not number one thousand men and a few small cannon, yet they proposed to be siege the greatest fortified city in America, mount ing two hundred guns and defend ed by an army twice as large as their own. But Montgomery had been a companion of Wolfe, and he emulated his glo rious example. For a time he en deavored to pro voke the garrison to come out and fight in the open field ; but Carleton, the governor, was present when Montcalm ventured to leave the protection of the walls, and he did not propose to repeat the rash experiment. Montgomery was forced to begin a regular siege. The ground was frozen too hard to trench for planting the battery, so he filled the gabions and fascines with snow, over which he poured water. This made a solid rampart of ice to protect the men as they worked the guns. Three THE PRESCOTT GATE, QUEBEC. 164 OPENING OF THE WAR. U^m*!* weeks of useless labor followed. Perils thickened. The artillery was too light to breach the walls ; small-pox and other diseases broke out among the troops ; the enlistment of the men had nearly expired, and soon the army would break up. Montgom ery decided to venture all upon an assault. The preparations were carefully made. There were to be two feigned movements upon the upper town to distract the attention of the besieged, while the real attacks were made by Montgomery and Arnold on the lower town. The former general was to advance along the St. Lawrence, and the latter, the St. Charles River, and both were to unite in storming the Prescott Gate. It was the last morning of the year 1775. The men were ready at two o clock. To recognize one another in the dark, they placed in the front of their hats bits of white paper, on which some of them wrote Patrick Henry s words, " Liberty or Death." It was storming bitterly as they sallied out from their rude huts, and stumbled through and against the cutting hail and deep-driving snow. They tried to protect their guns as best they could, but they soon became useless. Montgomery, advancing along the river at the foot of Cape Diamond Cliff, helped with his own hands to push aside the huge blocks of ice, and, struggling through the drifts, cheered on his panting men. As they rushed forward, a rude block-house appeared through the blinding storm. " Men of New York," he shouted, " you will not fear to follow where your general leads." Charging upon it, he fell at the first fire. His followers, disheartened, fled. Arnold, in the meantime, ap proached the opposite side of the city. While bravely fighting he was severely wounded and borne to the rear. Morgan, his successor, pressed on the attack with his riflemen ; but at last, unable to retreat or advance against the tremendous odds, now that Montgomery s assault had failed, he took refuge in the neigh boring houses, where he was finally forced to surrender. The remainder of the army, crouching behind mounds of snow and ice, maintained a blockade of the city until spring. Congress, blindly bent on keeping up the useless struggle, ordered Washing ton to send his best men and officers, and to divide his scanty supply of powder, for the siege of Quebec. It was in vain. The garrison laughed outright as they saw General Wooster, the new commander, in his big wig, spying out their weak points. They knew they were invincible. May ist, General Thomas assumed control of the blockading July, "I 1776 J ABANDONMENT OF CANADA. army. He decided to retreat. It was already too late. Rein forcements from England were fast arriving in Quebec. Before he could remove his sick the garrison sallied out from the gates and drove his men in confusion. Many of the sick, amid the hurry, crept off among the Canadian peasants, who nursed them kindly, while Carleton gave them the privilege of entering the hospital, with leave to return home when they were fully recov ered. Thomas dying of the small-pox, Sullivan took command. He attempted the offensive, but was soon forced to resume the retreat. It was not until July that the fragments of the army of Canada, then under Gates, safely reached Crown Point. Terrible was their condition. " There was not a hut," says Trumbull, " which did not contain a dead or dying man ;" while a physician, witness ing the arrival of the sick, declared that he " wept at their suffer ings until he could weep no more." A STREET IN QUEBEC SCENE OF ARNOLD S ATTACK. CHAPTER III. URING the winter of 1775-6, Con gress and the country were impa tient at Washington s inactivity. He dared not make known his real weakness. He could not publish the facts : that for six months he never had powder enough for a battle; that the military chest was empty, the men appointed to sign the paper- promises being too lazy to do the work ; that he lacked bayonets ; that two thousand of his men had no muskets ; that, by the expiration of enlistments, he had to dis band one army and recruit another ; and all this in the presence of the enemy. Toward the close of December, the Connecticut troops, having served their time of enlistment, determined to leave in a body. Washington was greatly hurt by this lack of patriotism. He tried to stimulate their zeal by frequent appeals, and made the camp to resound with popular songs of heroism and liberty. But it was all in vain. " The desire of retiring into a chimney-corner seizes the troops as soon as their terms expire," he wrote reproachfully. So little sympathy did these recreant troops find on their way homeward that they could hardly get enough to eat, and when they reached their own firesides they found the honest indignation of their patriot wives and mothers a so much harder thing to face than the mouth of the enemy s cannon, that many were glad soon to return to camp. Washington, in spite of all these discouragements, resolutely laid his plans, and made ready for a grand stroke which he hoped M f776. 4f ] EVACUATION OF BOSTON. 1 67 would be decisive. On the 4th of March, just after the candles were lighted in the houses of Boston, he suddenly opened a tre mendous fire on the city from all his batteries. The enemy replied. Soon the air was heavy with the roar of the guns, and the streets were full of citizens and soldiers watching the flight of the shells and dreading their fall and explosion. Under cover of the noise and confusion, Dorchester Heights were occupied, entrenchments thrown up with bales of pressed hay, an abattis made of the trees in the neighboring orchards, and even barrels of stone provided to roll down on an advancing enemy. In the morning the Eng lish were astonished to see on a height commanding the city a formidable-looking fortress looming indistinctly through the ris ing fog/ " The rebels," exclaimed Howe, "have done more work in one night than my whole army would have done in a month." " We must drive them from that post," said Colonel Monckton, "or desert the place." A storm prevented an immediate attack, a delay which was well improved by the provincials. General Howe, who was then in command, remembering the lesson of Bunker Hill, decided to leave. Indeed, there was no alternative. The British troops had no stomach for another fight. The Amer ican cannon completely commanded the harbor, and the admiral refused to remain. Gage accordingly set sail for Halifax on the 1 7th with his entire army and about eleven hundred loyalists. Washington s end was accomplished, and not twenty men had been lost since he took command. It was a bitter pill for the English. The generals who had come expecting to run over the colonies at their pleasure, and had even brought with them fishing-rods, as if on a holiday ex cursion, had, instead, been cooped up close to their landing-place for months, and were now forced to ignominiously leave their winter-quarters, and to lower their flag without the satisfaction of firing a parting shot. But how sad was it for the loyalists who had clung to the king, and now, startled by finding the army unable to protect them, were suddenly forced to leave native land, home, and property, and henceforth to drag out a useless life on a dreary shore, pensioners on the bounty which the gov ernment pityingly doled out to them in their distress ! For eleven months the inhabitants had endured the horrors of a siege and the insolence of the soldiery. Houses and shade- trees had been burned for fuel. The Old North Meeting-House had thus passed into ashes, the Old South being reserved for a 1 68 INDEPENDENCE YEAR. [ Fe i776. 7 riding-school. An elegantly carved pew with silk hangings, belonging to the latter, was taken by one of the officers for a pig sty. . Faneuil Hall was converted into a theatre. One evening, before a house packed with troops and tories, a play was in pro gression called " The Blockade of Boston," being a broad bur lesque on the patriot army. Washington herein appeared as " an awkAvard lout, equipped with a huge wig and a long rusty sword, attended by a country booby as orderly sergeant, in rustic garb, with an old firelock seven or eight feet long." It was very funny, and when a British sergeant suddenly came to the front, exclaim ing in excited tones, " The Yankees are attacking Bunker s Hill ! " it was loudly applauded as a piece of magnificent acting. But, directly, the clear, commanding voice of General Howe rang out, " Officers, to your alarm-posts." The scene was quickly changed. Women shrieked and fainted ; men jumped to their feet ; everybody scrambled over everybody else to reach the open door. The ridiculous general and his frowsy sergeant were left upon the stage to tumble out of their clownish masquerades as best they might, while the soldier audience hastened with quite different expectations to meet, perhaps, the real Washing ton. But it proved to be General Putnam, who, swooping down upon Charlestown, fired the guard-house, took a handful of pris oners, and escaped, without loss, back to the American quarters. All this was now passed. Those who had been so long exiled from their homes returned to the city. Ancient customs were renewed. We read how on Thursday evening following, Wash ington attended the regular week-day lecture, and the congrega tion together thanked God for the restoration of their beloved Zion, its " stakes unmoved " and its " cords unbroken." " It seemed," says Bancroft, " as if the old century was reaching out its hands to the new, and the Puritan ancestry of Massachusetts were returning to bless the deliverer of their children." Governor Martin of North Carolina, following in the footsteps of Dunmore, sought to combine the friends of the king, and thus check the rising tide of liberty in his State. He accordingly authorized Donald McDonald, a noted Highlander at Cross Creek, now Fayetteville, to raise the loyalists of that region. Soon fifteen hundred had gathered about the standard of this faithful Scotchman. The patriots, however, were awake. Colonel Moore, with a large body of regulars and militia, approached his headquarters and cut off all his communications with Governor Feb. 27,1 1776. J AFFAIRS IN NORTH CAROLINA. 169 Martin. McDonald, finding he could not intimidate the " rebels," thereupon rapidly retreated toward Wilmington, where he hoped to join the governor and also await General Clinton, who was expected to arrive from the North with reinforcements. At Moore s Creek, however, he found his retreat cut off by Colonels Caswell and Lillington with one thousand minute-men. The BOSTON ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO. brave Highlander resolved to cut his way through the gathering foes. Early in the morning of February 27, to the sound of bag pipes and bugle, the royalists advanced to the charge. When within twenty paces, the whigs rose from their ambush, while another party under Lieutenant Slocum, by a circuit came upon the enemy s rear. In a few minutes the tory army was utterly routed, with a loss of seventy killed and wounded, while the patriots had only two of their number injured. This battle de cided the fate of the royal cause in North Carolina ; and soon after the governor took refuge on a British vessel. An anecdote is told of the wife of Lieutenant Slocum, who was as heroic as himself. After her husband departed, she saw him in a dream lying dead on the ground. Awaking in great distress, she arose, saddled a horse, and rode at full gallop through the swamp in the direction taken by the troops. At nine in the morning she neared the battle-field. One of the first objects she saw was the lieutenant s cloak wrapped around a body stretched upon the ground. With sinking heart, she dis- 1 70 INDEPENDENCE YEAR. [ J T 77 6. 8f mounted, to find, not her husband, but one of his wounded men. She washed his face, bound up his wounds, and was performing the like office to a second sufferer when her astonished husband came up. She remained all day, caring for the wounded loyalists with true Samaritan kindness. At midnight she started for her home, where a mother s duties were required. In less than forty hours this wonderful woman rode one hundred and twenty-five miles, spending the time when out of her saddle, not in taking rest, but in dressing the wounds of her enemies. Though the British had abandoned Boston, they had not given up the war. The next movement was destined for the South. Early in June, Admiral Parker appeared off the harbor of Charleston with a strong fleet, having on board General Clinton with about twenty-five hundred land troops. The South Caro linians had received news of their probable coming, and were hard at work getting ready to give their unwelcome visitors a hot reception. Fort Sullivan, a fort on an island of the same name, commanded the entrance to the harbor. It was built of two rows of palmetto logs, sixteen feet apart, the space between being filled with sand. Major-General Charles Lee, who had been sent by Washington to watch the seaboard, had no confidence in this rude fortress, and was anxious to have it abandoned. He declared that it was but a " slaughter pen," provided only twenty-eight rounds of ammunition for twenty-six of its guns, and repeatedly urged the necessity of securing the retreat of the garrison. But the brave Carolinians proposed to hold the place. " What do you think of it now ? " said an officer to Colonel Moultrie, as they were surveying the British line of ships, all of which were already over the bar. " We shall beat them," was the determined reply. " The men-of-war will knock your fort down in half an hour," returned the other. " Then," said Moultrie, nothing daunted, " we will lie behind the ruins and prevent their men from landing." On the morning of the 28th the British fleet took position and opened a terrific fire. The balls sank into the porous, spongy palmetto logs without breaking or splintering them. Moultrie slowly replied, but each shot told, and the ships in a few hours were completely riddled. At one time, every man except Admiral Parker was swept from the deck of his vessel. In the early part of the action the staff was struck by a ball, and the flag, the first Republican banner hoisted at the South, fell out- June 28, T 1776. J ATTACK ON FORT MOULTRIE. 171 THE ATTACK ON FORT MOULTRIE. side the fort. Sergeant Jas per leaped over the breastwork, about which the balls were thickly flying, caught up the flag, and springing back, tied it to a sponge staff and hoisted it again to its place. Gen eral Clinton, who commanded the British land troops, tried to attack the fort in the rear, but Thom son s riflemen, posted behind myrtle bushes and sand hills, made it too hot for him. The fleet was at last so badly shattered that it withdrew and sailed for New York. This victory gave the colonists great delight, as it was their first encounter with the boasted " mistress of the seas." The fort so gallantly defended was christened Moultrie. It had saved not only a city, but a province. The next day Governor Rutledge offered the brave Jasper a sword and a lieutenant s commission. He modestly refused the latter, saying, " I am not fit for the company of officers ; I am content to be a sergeant." Gradually, but surely, the colonists were being weaned from the mother country. Day by day for nearly a year the sword had been busy, cutting the ties which had so long bound them to 1/2 INDEPENDENCE YEAR. [ J |77 6 2 Great Britain. Since the king had pronounced them " rebels," the feeling had been gaining ground that independence was the only hope. No one did better work toward accomplishing this result than Thomas Paine, who, coming from England the year before, had been induced by Franklin and others to use his pen in behalf of the colonists. His first essay, entitled Common Sense, in plain, simple language urged the necessity of at once separat ing entirely from England. Every line glowed with the spirit of liberty, and men s hearts were thrilled as they read. The pam phlet reached Congress, then in session at Philadelphia, January 8, the day after the news had arrived of the burning of Norfolk by Dunmore. It produced a powerful impression. Washington, writing to Secretary Reed, says : " A few more such flaming arguments as were exhibited at Falmouth and Norfolk, added to the sound doctrine and unanswerable reasoning contained in Common Sense, will not leave numbers at a loss to decide." In April, at the opening of the courts in South Carolina, the chief justice charged the jury that they " owed no obedience to George III." The British flag kept its place on the State-house of Virginia until May of this year, when the assembly directed the Virginia delegate in Congress to propose a dissolution of their allegiance to Great Britain. Washington wrote that "nothing but independence could save the nation." Accordingly on the /th of June, Richard Henry Lee offered a resolution declaring that " THESE UNITED COLONIES ARE, AND OF RIGHT OUGHT TO BE, FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES." It was SCC- onded by John Adams. After a little discussion from the dele gates of several colonies, who were pledged to vote against independence, a committee was appointed, consisting of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston, to propose a suitable Declaration ; Jefferson representing Virginia, from which the proposition emanated, and, being elected by the largest number of votes, was selected to draft it. Meanwhile, the delegates from the different colonies received instructions from their constituents how to vote upon the measure. July 2d, Lee s resolution was formally passed by twelve of the colonies ; New York alone abstaining from the vote. Two days after, the Declaration having been closely debated by Congress, was adopted with but few amendments. While the protracted and oftentimes severe discussions over the Declaration were in progress, Jefferson remained silent ; John J |776 4 ] DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 1/3 Adams being its stout defender. " During- the debate," the former wrote in his journal, " I was sitting by Dr. Franklin, who observed that I was writhing a little under the acrimonious criti cism of some of its parts ; and it was on that occasion that, by way of comfort, he told me the story of John Thompson, the hatter, and his new sign." All readers of Franklin s autobiography will remember the story : how the prospective shopkeeper, with much pride, laid out his plan for a sign, " John Thompson, hatter, makes and sells hats for ready money," accompanied by a picture of the article ; and how his critical friends picked first at this word and then at that as superfluous, till the dismayed shopman had nothing left but his name and the painted hat. The point was too obvious not to be enjoyed, especially when told in Franklin s happy style. During the day of the 4th the streets of Philadelphia were crowded with people anxious to learn the decision. In the steeple of the old State-house was a bell which, by a strange coincidence, was inscribed, " Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." In the morn ing, when Congress assembled, the bell-ringer went to his post, placing his boy below to announce when the Declaration was adopted, that his bell might be the first to peal forth the glad tidings. Long he waited as the day wore on and the tedious de liberations held the result in sus pension. Impatiently the old man shook his head and repeated, " They will never do it ! They will never do it ! " Suddenly he heard his boy clapping his hands and shouting, " Ring! Ring! " Grasping the iron tongue, he swung it vigorously to and fro. The crowded streets caught up the sound. Every steeple re-echoed it. All that night, by shouts, and illuminations, and booming of cannon, the people declared their zeal and joy. " There was tumult in the city, In the quaint old Quakers town, And the streets were rife with people, Pacing restless up and down ; LIBERTY BELL. 1/4 INDEPENDENCE YEAR. [ J |776* People gathering at corners, Where they whispered each to each, And the sweat stood on their temples, With the earnestness of speech. " As the bleak Atlantic currents Lash the wild Newfoundland shore, So they beat against the State-house, So they surged against the door; And the mingling of their voices Made a harmony profound, Till the quiet street of Chestnut Was all turbulent with sound. " Will they do it ? Dare they do it ? Who is speaking ? What s the news ? What of Adams ? What of Sherman ? Oh, God grant they won t refuse ! Make some way there ! Let me nearer ! I am stifling ! Stifle, then ! When a nation s life s at hazard, We ve no time to think of men ! " So they beat against the portal, Man and woman, maid and child ; And the July sun in heaven On the scene look d down and smiled ; The same sun that saw the Spartan Shield his patriot blood in vain, Now beheld the soul of freedom All unconquer d rise again. " See ! See ! The dense crowd quivers Through all its lengthy line, As the boy beside the portal Looks forth to give the sign ! With his small hands upward lifted, Breezes dallying with his hair, Hark ! with deep, clear intonation, Breaks his young voice on the air. " Hush d the people s swelling murmur, List the boy s strong, joyous cry ! Ring ! he shouts, RING ! Grandpa, RING ! OH, RING FOR LIBERTY ! And straightway, at the signal, The old bellman lifts his hand, And sends the good news, making Iron music through the land. \ U /76? DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. " How they shouted ! What rejoicing ! How the old bell shook the air, Till the clang of freedom ruffled The calm, gliding Delaware ! How the bonfires and the torches Illumed the night s repose, And from the flames, like Phoenix, Fair Liberty arose ! " That old bell now is silent, And hush d its iron tongue, But the spirit it awakened Still lives, forever young. And while we greet the sunlight, On the fourth of each July, We ll ne er forget the bellman, Who, twixt the earth and sky, Rung out OUR INDEPENDENCE : Which, please God, shall never die /" The Declaration had been duly authenticated by the president before being published. It was ordered to be engrossed on parchment, and on the 2d of August the fifty-four delegates present affixed their signatures. John Hancock s name, as presi dent, led the rest. After he had written his name in a bold, clear hand, he rose from his seat and said, " There ! John Bull can read that without his spectacles, and may now double his reward of five hundred pounds for my head. That is my defiance." Turning to the rest, he added, " Gentlemen, we must be unani mous ; we must all hang together." " Yes," replied Franklin, " or we shall all hang separately." The Declaration of Independence was read by Washington s orders at the head of the army then in New York. It created the greatest enthusiasm. That night the statue of George III. was torn from its pedestal. It was of lead, gilded, and being melted, made forty-two thousand bullets for the use of the troops. The Declaration of Independence completed the breach be tween England and America. It clearly set before the colonists the object for which they were struggling, and combined England for the overthrow of the new Republic. Henceforth, the issue was Liberty or Slavery. There was no other choice. The whig and tory parties were now more distinctly defined, and the most bitter hatred arose between them. Persons known as favoring the king were tarred and feathered by their patriotic neighbors, 1/6 INDEPENDENCE YEAR. and exhibited in this state to the derision of the crowd. Con gress appointed committees to restrain these over-zealous mani festations, but they were often powerless in the face of public sen timent. During this year and the next all the States either adopted a new constitution or remodeled their charters to adapt them to the necessities of free and independent States; Rhode Island and Con necticut only having to change the word "king" to "people" to effect this result. It is a noticeable fact that the founders of our government, when they threw off the bondage of Great Britain, had no direct intention of founding a republic. That idea came only as mature fruit from the blossom of free thought, borne by the tree of liberty, planted so long before on American soil. They revolted from George III., not because he was a king, but because he was a des pot. They threw off the rule of Great Britain, not because it was a monarchy, but because it was tyrannical. They became a re public, as that seemed the only thing to do. No one thought of a monarch. The people had learned how to govern themselves, and their rulers needed none of the false dignity that " doth hedge about a king." The colonies, for nearly a century and a half, all unconsciously, had wrought out the idea of a republic. It now came as naturally as the rain and the dew from heaven. After the evacuation of Boston, Washington thought that probably the British would next try to seize New York, both on account of its commercial importance and the strong tory element in that vicinity. He therefore, soon after, came to that city. The most vigorous preparations were made to complete the fortifica tions, already begun by General Charles Lee. Troops were en listed for three years, and a bounty of ten dollars offered to encourage recruiting. About twenty-seven thousand men were finally collected. Little over half of these were fit for duty. One regiment, we read, had only ninety-seven firelocks and seven bay onets. The officers, many of whom were grossly incompetent, wrangled about precedence. The soldiers mistook insubordina tion for independence. Sectional jealousies prevailed to such a degree, that a letter of the times reports that the Pennsylvania and New England troops were quite as ready to fight each other as the enemy. The first of July, General Howe arrived at Staten Island from Halifax. Soon after, he was joined by his brother, Admiral Howe, At jfj 6 ] BATTLE OF LONG ISLAND. 177 from England, and Clinton, from the defeat of Fort Moultrie. They had thirty thousand men admirably disciplined and equip ped ; among them about eight thousand of the dreaded Hessians. The fleet, consisting of ten ships-of-the-line, twenty frigates, and four hundred ships and transports, was moored in the bay ready to co-operate. Parliament had authorized the Howes to treat with the insurgents. By proclamation they accordingly offered pardon to all who would return to their allegiance. This docu ment was published by direction of Congress, that the people might see what England demanded. An officer was then sent to the American camp with a letter addressed to " George Washing ton, Esq." Washington refused to receive it. The address was afterward changed to " George Washington, &c., &c." The mes senger endeavored to show that this bore any meaning which might be desired. But Washington utterly refused any communi cation which did not distinctly recognize his position as com- mander-in-chief of the American army. Lord Howe was evi dently desirous of a restoration of peace. He solicited an inter view with Franklin, an old-time friend ; but events had gone too far. England would not grant independence, and the colonies would accept nothing less. War must settle the question. It was not till the last of August that Clinton crossed over the Narrows to Long Island. Brooklyn was fortified by a series of entrenchments and forts extending from Gowanus Bay to Wall- about. Here were stationed about nine thousand men under Generals Sullivan and Stirling. About two and a half miles south was a range of wooded heights traversed by three roads along which the British could advance ; one leading up directly from the Narrows and Gravesend to Gowanus Bay, a second from Flat- bush, and a third, the Jamaica road, cutting through the hills by the Bedford and the Jamaica passes. General Greene, who was intimately acquainted with the ground, being unfortunately sick, General Putnam was hastily sent over to take charge of the de fence. General Stirling and General Sullivan occupied the heights, but, by a fatal oversight, the Jamaica road was unguarded. The English were not slow to take advantage of the opportunity. On the eve of the 26th, General Clinton, with Percy and Corn- wallis, crossed the narrow causeway called Shoemaker s Bridge, over a marsh near New Lots where, it is said, a single regiment could have barred the way and, before daylight, had seized the Bedford and the Jamaica passes, while the Americans were yet 12 INDEPENDENCE YEAR. [-Aug. 27, L 1776. unconscious of his having left Flatlands. Meanwhile General Grant moved forward along the coast, on the direct road, from the Narrows up to the hills at present embraced in Greenwood Cemetery. Here there was considerable skirmishing, but Stir ling held him in check. Clinton, pushing down from the hills, now fell upon the American left, at Bedford. The sound of cannon in their rear filled the Americans with dismay. At that moment De Heister, with the Hessians, who had already begun to skirmish on the Flat- bush road, stormed Sul livan s position. Re treat was the patriots only hope. It was, however, too late. Caught between the Hessians and the Brit ish, they were driven to and fro, cut down by the dragoons, or bayo neted without mercy by the Hessians and the Highlanders, who listened to no plea for quarter. Some took to the rocks and trees, and sold their lives as dearly as they could ; some broke through and escaped, pursued by the grenadiers to the American lines at Fort Putnam ; the rest were captured. Cornwallis hurried on with his corps to close in upon General Stirling, who was yet unaware of the disaster upon his left, at the same time firing two guns as a signal for Grant to attack the front. Stirling, with a part of Smallwood s regiment, composed of the sons of the best families in Maryland, turned upon this unexpected foe in his rear, determined by a heroic sacrifice to give the rest a chance for escape. He accomplished his design ; all his companions crossed Gowanus Creek in safety ; but he, himself, was captured, and two hundred and fifty-nine of the Xower Say OF G- ISLAND OCCUPATION OP MANHATTAN ISLAND. Ttoute. of American -Army. II Ttoute. ofXriti*T> Army. 00 / August,-] 1776. J BATTLE OF LONG ISLAND. 179 PRISON SHIP AT \VALLABOUT. Marylanders lay dead on the field. Washington beheld the fight from a neighboring hill, and, wringing his hands in agony, ex claimed, " What brave fellows I must lose this day ! " It was a sad augury for the Republic which had just issued its Declaration of Independence. The British loss was but four hundred and the American nearly two thousand. Of the latter, one thousand, who were with Generals Sullivan and Stirling, were prisoners. The higher officers were soon exchanged, but the hard lot of the privates and lower officers made the fate of those who per ished in battle to be envied. Num bers were con fined in the sugar- house and the old hulks at Wall- about, where aft erward so many other American prisoners suffered untold agonies. Here, fester ing with disease, perishing with famine, and loathsome with filth, deprived of fresh air, water, and every necessary of life, eleven thousand Americans, it is said, found an untimely grave ere the war was over. Had Howe attacked the works at Brooklyn immediately, the Americans would probably have been utterly destroyed. Fortu nately, he delayed for the fleet to co-operate ; but an adverse wind prevented. For two days the patriots lay helpless, awaiting the assault. On the second night after the battle there was a dense fog on the Brooklyn side, while in New York the weather was clear. A little before midnight, the Americans moved silently down to the shore and commenced to cross the river, near what is now the Fulton Ferry. Everything was planned with Washing ton s peculiar precision. The guards, sentinels, and outer lines were ordered to remain quietly at their posts till the v.ery last, that the enemy might suspect no movement. The stifled murmur of the camp, as each man took his place in silence for the march to the river-side, gradually died away in the distance. Suddenly the roar of a cannon burst upon the night-air. " The effect," says an i8o INDEPENDENCE YEAR. TAug. 30, L 177 76. American who was present, " was at once alarming and sublime. If the explosion was within our own lines, the gun was probably discharged in the act of spiking it, and could have been no less a matter of speculation to the enemy than to ourselves." The mystery of that midnight gun remains still unexplained. Fortu nately, it failed to rouse the British camp. Startled by this unexpected centre -temps, the men reached the shore. Washington, feeling the ur gent necessity for despatch, sent one of his aides-de-camp to hurry up the troops in march. By mistake he gave the order to all who had been left; behind. In the midst of embar rassment and confusion at the ferry, caused by the change of tide and of wind, which beat back the sail -boats, the whole rear guard arrived. " Good God ! General Mifflin ! " cried Washington, " I fear you have ruined us by so unseasonably withdrawing the troops from the advance lines." Mifflin somewhat warmly explained that he had only fol lowed orders. " It is a dreadful mistake," exclaimed Washington; THE RETREAT FROM LONG ISLAND. Al j^30,j RETREAT FROM LONG ISLAND. l8l " and unless you can regain the picket lines before your absence is discovered, the most disastrous consequences may follow." Mifflin hastened back, but again the dense fog and Providence had favored them, so that though nearly an hour had intervened, the desertion of their posts had not been noticed by the enemy. At length their own time came, and the last boat pulled from the shore. The strain of the night was over and the army was saved. " What with the greatness of the stake, the darkness of the night, the uncertainty of the design, and the extreme hazard of the issue," says one, " it would be difficult to conceive a more deeply solemn scene than had transpired." This timely deliverance moved every pious American heart to profoundest gratitude, for if once the English fleet had moved up the East River and cut off communication between New York and Brooklyn, nothing could have saved the army from capture. Howe, not supposing an escape possible, had taken no precautions against such an event. It is said that a tory Avoman sent her negro servant to inform the British of the movements of the patriot army ; but he fell into the hands of the Hessians, who, not understanding a word of English, kept him until morning. After daybreak, and the fog had lifted, a British captain, with a handful of men, stealthily crept down through the fallen trees, and, crawl ing over the entrenchments, found them deserted. A troop of horse hurried to the river and captured the last boat, manned by three vagabonds who had staid behind for plunder. Washington, conscious that, with the weakened and now dispir ited army under his command, it was impossible to hold New York, wished to evacuate the city, but Congress would not con sent. While awaiting the movements of Howe, Captain Nathan Hale of Connecticut consented to visit the English camp, and, if possible, find out their plans. He passed the lines safely and gained much valuable information, but on his return journey was recognized by a tory relative, who arrested him. He was taken to Howe s headquarters, and the next morning executed as a spy. No clergyman was allowed to visit him, nor was he permitted even a Bible in his last hours. His farewell letters to his mother and sister were destroyed. The brutality of his enemies did not, however, crush his noble spirit, for his last words were, " I only regret that I have but one life to give to my country." Having occupied Buchanan s and Montressor s islands, now Ward s and Randall s, Clinton, with a heavy body of troops, 1 82 INDEPENDENCE YEAR. L I / /o. crossed the East River under the fire of the fleet early Sunday morning, September 15, and landed at Kip s Bay, at the foot of the present Thirty-fourth street. The American troops at this point fled from the entrenchments. It was all-important that the position should be held, as Putnam was in the city below with four thousand men, and time must be gained for them to escape. Washington came galloping among the fugitives and rallied them. But when two or three score red-coats came in sight, they broke again without firing a shot and scattered in the wildest terror. Losing all self-command at the sight of such cowardice, Wash ington dashed forward toward the enemy, exclaiming, " Are these the men with whom I am to defend America ? " General Greene writes of this scene, that the poltroons " left His Excellency on the ground, within eighty yards of the enemy, so vexed at the infa mous conduct of his troops that he sought death rather than life." He might indeed have fallen into the hands of the British, so overcome was he by the dastardly conduct of his soldiers, had not an aide-de-camp seized his horse by the bridle and hurried him away. Rallying his self-possession, Washington hastened to look after the safety of the rest of the army. It was a moment of extreme peril. Fortunately, on landing, Howe, Clinton, and some others called at the house of Robert Murray for refresh ments. The owner, who was a Quaker, was absent, but his wife, a staunch whig, regaled them with such an abundance of cake and wine, and listened with such admirable attention to their humorous descriptions of her countrymen s panic, that their appe tite and vanity got the better of their judgment, and kept them long at her delightful entertainment. Meanwhile, Putnam was hurrying his men along the Bloomingdale road, not a mile distant, under a burning sun, through clouds of dust, and liable at any moment to be raked by the fire of the English ships anchored in the Hudson. Thanks to the wit of the good Mrs. Murray, the British troops came up only in time to send a few parting shots at their rear-guard. Washington collected his army on Harlem Heights. That night the wearied troops lay on the open ground, in the midst of a cold, driving rain, without tent or shelter. Anxious to encourage his disheartened men, Washington, the same evening, ordered Silas Talbot, in charge of a fire-ship in the Hudson, to make a descent upon the British fleet. Accordingly, this brave captain, dropping down with the tide, steered his vessel alongside s< fPt- 6 6.] OCCUPATION OF HARLEM HEIGHTS. 183 the Renomme. Stopping to grapple his antagonist surely, and to make certain of firing the trains of powder, he was himself fearfully burned before he could drop into the water. It was an awful scene. The British ships poured their broadsides upon his little boat as he was rapidly rowed away, while huge billows of flame bursting out from the fire-ship lighted up the fleet and the harbor with terrible distinctness. From every side boats put off to the rescue of the endangered vessel, which was finally brought safely away. But the entire British fleet slipped their moorings and quitted the stream. Early the next morning, the advance guard of the British de scended into Harlem Plains, drove in the American pickets, and sounded their bugles as if in defiance. Washington rode to the outpost, near where is now the Convent of the Sacred Heart, and made his preparations to teach them a lesson. Engaging their attention by a skirmish in front, he sent Colonel Knowlton and Major Leitch to march around through the woods and cut off their retreat. A spirited contest ensued. The enemy were driven back upon the main body with great loss, while the Continentals suffered little. The success, however, was saddened by the death of both the commanding officers, killed in the moment of triumph antly leading to victory the troops who the day before had fled so ignominiously. The British, on their entry into New York, were received by the tories with the greatest enthusiasm. Scarcely had they settled down in what they hoped would be snug winter-quar ters, when a fire broke out, which destroyed about five hundred houses. The whigs were accused of the incendiarism, and the enraged soldiers, with their bayonets, actually tossed several per sons into the flames. They also hanged up one man by his heels until he died, discovering afterwards, however, that he was a staunch loyalist. Washington immediately took great pains to fortify his posi tion on Harlem Heights, throwing up a series of entrenchments reaching from Harlem River to the Hudson, and protecting the right wing by Fort Washington. The army, however, was in a desperate condition. The term of service being nearly expired, it seemed on the eve of dissolution. The disheartened troops aban doned their colors by hundreds ; whole regiments even returning to their homes. The Connecticut militia was reduced from six thousand to two thousand. " Among many of the subordinate 1 84 INDEPENDENCE YEAR. [ Ct i776 28> officers," says Lossing, "greed usurped the place of patriotism. Officers were elected on condition that they should throw their pay and rations into a joint-stock for the benefit of a company ; surgeons sold recommendations for furloughs for able-bodied men at sixpence each, and a captain was cashiered for stealing blankets from his soldiers. Men went out in squads to plunder from friend or foe, and immorality prevailed throughout the American army." The soldiers, too, had lost confidence in their principal officers, Washington alone commanding their fullest respect and unwaver ing devotion. The men were true to him, and he was true to duty. He was already fast becoming the hope of the country. General Howe, unwilling to attack the American army in its strong position on Harlem Heights, determined to get in its rear. Leaving his own lines in front of New York well defended, he ac cordingly moved up the Sound, and disembarked his troops at Throg s Point, Westchester county, while his fleet passed up the Hudson to cut off all communication with the western bank of the river. Washington was prepared for this movement, which he had already foreseen, and immediately ordered troops to occupy the causeways leading out from the little peninsula on which the British were encamped. The bridge being removed, and his ad vance thus cut off, Howe crossed in his boats to Pell s Point (Pel- ham), and landing again, moved toward New Rochelle, where he was joined by the Hessians under Knyphausen. He now decided to occupy White Plains. Meanwhile, Washington had evacuated Manhattan Island, and, crossing to Fordham Heights, marched northward to head off the British. " The modern Fabius " kept his army on the high hills along the western bank of the Bronx, occupying in succession a series of entrenched camps reaching to White Plains, a distance of thirteen miles. The two armies marched parallel to each other, and there were frequent skir mishes between the outposts, in which Washington took care that the Americans, who were now in fine spirits, should have the ad vantage. Moving on the shorter line, Washington was the first to reach White Plains, where he threw up breastworks, meanwhile preparing an entrenched camp in his rear on the heights of North Castle. Howe, coming up, threw a part of his troops across the Bronx, and carried Chatterton s Hill. The patriot militia under McDougal held their rude breastworks over an hour, and then retreated in good order to the main line. The apparent strength of Washington s entrenchments, which consisted, it is said, in part, Oct. 31, 1 1776. J OPERATIONS IN THE HIGHLANDS. I8 5 HUDSON RIVER Southern Part. of heaps of cornstalks covered with dirt and sod, caused Howe to await his reinforcements under Lord Percy. On the night of the 3ist, amid a tempest of wind and rain, Washington quietly fell back upon the Heights of North Castle. On this formidable position, Howe dared not risk an assault, but withdrew to Fordham Heights. Washington, ap prehending that the British would next carry the war into the Jerseys, and per haps move on Philadelphia, crossed the Hudson and fixed his head-quarters in the Highlands, leaving General Lee at North Castle with about seven thou sand men, until Howe s movements were more fully developed. During the encampment at White Plains an incident occurred which curi ously illustrates the character of General Lee, then the most admired officer in the army, and whose coming had been looked for as that of " a flaming angel from heaven." The story is thus told by Sears : General Lee lodged in a small house, near which General Washington occasionally passed when observing the dispositions of the enemy. One day, accompanied by some of his officers, he called on General Lee and dined with him ; but no sooner was he gone than Lee, addressing his aide-de-camp, said : " You must look me out another place, for I shall have Washington and all his puppies continually calling upon me, and they will eat me up." Next day, seeing the commander-in-chief and his suite coming that way, and suspecting another visit, he ordered his servant to Route of American Army. III. Route of British Army. ODD. write on the door with chalk, " No victuals dressed here to-day." Perceiving this inscription, General Washington and his officers rode off, not a little amused at the incident and the oddities of Lee s character. 1 86 INDEPENDENCE YEAR. [ N | 7 V 76 6 The scene now shifts to Fort Washington on the banks of the Hudson. A little force of three thousand men was here environed by the enemy in overwhelming numbers. Washington had been opposed to holding this post after the retreat of the Continental army, but Congress urged that it must be maintained, and General Greene, who was in command at Fort Lee, fully acquiesced in this view. Washington most reluctantly yielded his own opinion. On the eve before the final attack by the British, he was crossing the river to personally inspect the forti fications, when he met Generals Greene and Putnam. They assured him that " the men were in high spirits and all would be well." It was already too late to evacuate the fort. Howe s plans were complete. The advanced line of entrenchments before the fort was about seven miles long and weakly defended. Early on the morning of November i6th, this was attacked at four different points. The Americans, though outnumbered five to one, made a gallant defence, but Cornwallis carried Laurel Hill ; Percy and Stirling on the south swept all before them ; while on the north, Knyphau- sen and Rail with the Hessians, clambering up the heights, catch ing hold of branches and bushes, pushing through the under brush, and tearing away the fallen trees, under a murderous fire, pressed to within one hundred paces of the fort and demanded its surrender. Washington, who was watching the fight from Fort Lee, "wept with the tenderness of a child" as he saw his men, while begging for quarter, bayoneted by the brutal Hessians. He sent over word, promising to bring off the garrison in the night if they could only hold out till then ; but there was no hope. Magaw, the commander, could get but half an hour s delay. The troops crowded into the fort were disheartened, and would no longer man the ramparts. The American flag was hauled down. Though the garrison had lost but one hundred and fifty men and the British five hundred, yet twenty-six hundred prisoners were given up, with artillery and stores which were invaluable to the patriot cause. Washington now turned all his thought to the probable cam paign in New Jersey. He gave orders to immediately evacuate Fort Lee, as the plan of preventing the English fleet from ascend ing the Hudson was now defeated by the capture of the more im portant fort. Greene, however, was too slow. November 2oth, Cornwallis crossed the Hudson, with a strong detachment, five NOV 2 76. DeCl 8 ] RETREAT THROUGH NEW JERSEY. l8/ miles above Fort Lee, his marines dragging his cannon up the steep ascent to the top of the Palisades. A countryman brought the news to Greene, who sprang from his bed and took to flight with his men, leaving behind them tents standing, blankets un rolled, and camp kettles over the fire. Washington, hearing of the danger, seized the bridge across the Hackensack, and covered the retreat so that all the fugitives, except a few stragglers, escaped. For eighteen long, weary days, Washington and his shattered army continued to fall back before the conquering forces of Corn- wallis. Many of the patriots had no shoes, and their footsteps on the frozen ground were traced in blood. There were but three thousand men in all, on a level country, with no entrenchments, and not a tool for throwing up defences. Newark, New Bruns wick, Princeton, and Trenton, marked the successive stages in this bitter flight. The advance of Cornwallis entered Newark as Washington s rear-guard was leaving. At Brunswick, the term of service of the Jersey and Maryland brigades expired, and they refused to stay longer under the flag. At daybreak, December ist, the disbanded soldiers scattered over the fields seeking the shelter of the woods, and the little remnant of the patriot army broke down the bridge over the Raritan, as Cornwallis s cavalry dashed into their late camp through the still smoking embers of their fires. At Princeton, Cornwallis was joined by Howe with fresh troops. The British unaccountably delayed here for seventeen hours. When they at last reached Trenton, December 8th, it was only to see across the deep, angry Delaware, the Continental rear watch ing their approach. To cross was impossible, for, under Wash ington s orders, every boat for seventy miles along the stream had been taken to the southern shore and placed under guard. During this march, messenger after messenger, order after order, had been sent to General Lee, to hasten from North Castle to the help of his commander-in-chief. Ambitious, flattered with the idea of a separate command, and with the praises of those who were continually contrasting his audacity with the caution of Washington, Lee lingered behind, hopeful of accomplishing some brilliant feat. It was not till December 4th that he crossed the Hudson. He then moved along by the British flank about twenty miles away, watching for a chance to " reconquer the Jerseys." But his presumption was soon to be bitterly punished. On the night of the I2th he stopped at Baskingridge with only a small guard. He did not breakfast till ten o clock, and then tarried to 1 88 INDEPENDENCE YEAR. ["Nov. to Dec., L 1776. write to Gates a letter full of complaint and treason. It was not yet sealed when a cry of " The British ! " was raised. Instead of making an effort to escape, the coward came out, bareheaded, in slippers and blanket-coat, and begged for his life. The dragoons carried him off in this unsoldierly plight, without change, to their camp. Sullivan, who had now been exchanged, brought the army safely to the American quarters. Lee s reputation at this time was high, and when Congress learned that he was to be tried as a deserter, it set apart six British officers, then prisoners, to await his fate. This decided measure caused Lee to be released on parole. (December, 1777.) Time has revealed the fact, however, that while in custody he offered to betray his adopted country. A carefully-prepared project for the con quest of America, in Lee s handwriting, and endorsed by the secretary of the Howes, as " Mr. Lee s Plan," has lately been discovered in England, which con clusively proves his treason. The condition of the country was now fearful in the extreme. New Jersey was overrun by the British army. The whigs were forced to hide where they could, and leave their families to the insults of a brutal soldiery. Houses, barns, and fences were burned, orchards cut down, crops and cattle carried off; women were sub jected to every species of insult ; house holds were plundered even of the cradles in which infants were rocked to sleep ; and " children, old men, and women were left in their shirts, without a blanket to cover them, under the inclemency of win ter." Many of these families had printed protections, signed by order of the British commander ; but they availed nothing. The Hessians could not, and the British would not, understand them. The former were utterly lawless. Without ceremony they entered dwellings, ordered the family out of their chairs at the breakfast, dinner, or supper table, and, seating themselves in their places, demanded the best the house could afford. Their appetite satis fied, they roamed through the various apartments, confiscating every article which caught their greed or fancy, with a simple HESSIAN GRENADIER. Nov. 3O, 1776 .] CAMPAIGN IN PENNSYLVANIA. 189 " Dis is goot for Hesse-man," and happy for the trembling in mates if the visit was not concluded with personal indignities. De Heister was the " Arch-plunderer," and set the example to all his followers. He had even the meanness to advertise the house in which he lived in New York for public sale, although it had been voluntarily given him for his use by its owner, a true loyalist. Worse than all, the American soldiers, infected by the general demoralization, took upon themselves to sack the houses of tories and loyalists, so that, between both armies, no property was secure. Washington was finally compelled to issue orders imposing the severest penalties upon " any officer found plundering the inhabi tants, under the pretence of their being tories." In November, Howe had issued a proclamation offering full pardon to every one who should within sixty days submit to the royal authority. It was well timed. For ten days after the issuing of this proclamation two or three hundred persons daily flocked to the royal camp to take the oath of allegiance to the king. Among them were distinguished persons ; as, for example, Samuel Tucker, who had been president of the Provincial Con gress and a most trusted patriot. Even John Dickinson refused to accept from Delaware a seat in the Continental Congress. To deepen the gloom still more, Clinton, with four brigades and a fleet under Parker, sailed for Rhode Island and landed at New port the day that Washington crossed the Delaware. That State was now entirely under their control. Troops that were destined for Washington were detained in New England, and several American armed vessels were kept blockaded in Providence River. Along the Delaware the British army, twenty-seven thousand strong, admirably equipped, was now reaching its advance posts opposite Philadelphia, and it was expected that the English fleet would soon ascend the river. Congress, alarmed, fled from Philadelphia amidst the jeers of tories and the maledic tions of patriots. Howe had already written home, " Peace must be the consequence of our successes." No wonder that the hearts of men misgave them in this hour of trial. Yet there were still patriots whose hopes were bright and whose courage stood high. John Adams wrote, " I do not doubt of ultimate success." Washington remained calm and unmoved, and his serene patience touched the hearts of all. Misfortune only mellowed and ripened his magnificent faith, and in all that he said or did there seemed an inspiration. INDEPENDENCE YEAR. [^776? It was in the midst of winter ; the English had gone into can tonments reaching from Brunswick to below Burlington. Howe was in New York, where all was now as merry as a marriage- bell. British and Royalist vied in making the city gay with festival and flag, in honor of the approaching decoration of Lord Howe as Knight of the Bath, conferred upon him in return for his distin guished services. The officers in their comfortable quarters were arranging to pass away the idle hours in theatrical performances for the benefit of the widows and orphans of the war. Cornwallis, thinking the war over, had sent his baggage on board a vessel to return home. Throughout the British army there was the pro- foundest contempt for the Americans. Grant, who was left in command of Cornwallis s division, declared that with a corporal s guard he could march anywhere in the Jerseys. " Washington s men," he wrote, " have neither shoes, nor stockings, nor blankets ; they are almost naked, and are dying of cold and want of food." So he argued they were not to be feared. How little he realized the stuff of which patriots are made ! Rail, who was stationed at Trenton with about fifteen hundred men, principally Hessians, made light of a rumor that he was likely to be attacked. One of his officers having suggested that it would be well to throw up some works to provide against a possibility of assault, he laughed the idea to scorn. " An assault by the rebels ! Works ! pooh ! Let them come. We ll at them with the bayonet." " Herr Colonel," urged the more prudent major, " it will cost almost nothing, and if it does no good, it can do no harm." Rail only laughed the more heartily at such a ridiculous project, and, turning on his heel, sauntered off to hear the musicians, whom he kept almost constantly at their instru ments for his own entertainment. " Whether his men were well or ill-clad, whether they kept their muskets clean or their ammu nition in good order, was of little moment to him ; he never inquired about it ; but the music ! that was the thing ! the haut boys he never could have enough of them." Washington was resolved, as he said, " to clip the wings " of the Hessians, who, by their brutality and cupidity, had excited such universal detestation. The approaching Christmas, a time of general festivity among the Germans, offered a favorable op portunity. The plans were carefully laid. Washington was to cross the Delaware about nine miles above Trenton, and, march ing down the river, fall upon the troops at that place. Ewing, Dec. 25-26, -| 1776. J WASHINGTON CROSSES THE DELAWARE. with the Pennsylvania militia, was to cross a mile below the town, and, securing the bridge over the Assanpink, a creek flowing along the south, cut off the retreat of the enemy. General Gates was to take command of troops under General Putnam, Cadwal- lader, and Colonel Reed, and, crossing at Bristol, to fall upon Count Donop at Bordentown. The night was dark and stormy, with sleet and snow ; the river angry and threatening, with cakes WASHINGTON CROSSING THE DELAWARE. of grinding ice; so bitter was the cold that two of the men were frozen stiff in death. Putnam was detained at Philadelphia by rumors of insurrection. Cadwallader, honest and zealous, came down to the river, but found the floating ice so thick that he sent back word he could not cross. Ewing did not even make an attempt. Reed, discouraged, went into the enemy s lines at Bur lington, and, it is said, obtained a protection from Donop. Gates, impatient of control, disobeyed orders, and set out for Baltimore to intrigue with Congress. There was different stuff in Washing ton and his officers. Here were Stark, Greene, Stirling, Sullivan, Knox, Monroe, Hamilton heroes all. Just as they reached the river, a courier came announcing the failure of Gates. He had easily traced the track of the army by the blood on the snow from those whose shoes were broken. All 192 INDEPENDENCE YEAR. [ D f776 6 the burden was on Washington, but there was no thought of turn ing back. Anxious and troubled, he stood on the shore watching the boats as they were ferried across by Marblehead boatmen, the same who had brought the army over from Brooklyn on the eventful morning of August 30. It was gray twilight before the men and the guns were in line on the opposite bank. Then came nine miles march through the howling storm. Sullivan led his men by the river ; Washington conducted another column along the upper Pennington road. The former, finding that the arms of his men were wet, sent a messenger to Washington to report the fact. The orderly re turned, dismayed by the sudden reply he had received, to "go back and tell his general to use the bayonet." They were near the town. It was broad daylight. But the storm had driven even the sentries inside. As Washington approached the village, he hailed a wood-chopper by the roadside, and asked, " Which way is the Hessian picket ?" " I don t know," was the surly reply. An officer interposed, " You may tell ; this is General Washington." Dropping his axe, and raising his eyes to heaven, the patriot laborer exclaimed, " God bless and prosper you ! The picket is in that house, and yonder stands the sentry." The advance rushed forward. There was a shout, " Der feind ! der feind ! Heraus ! heraus !" (The enemy ! Turn out !) The tardy sentries sought to make a stand, but the rush swept them alon^. Just then there came the sharp rattle of Sullivan s guns from the lower town. The drums beat the alarm. The town was in an uproar. The Hessians, aroused, flew to arms, some firing from the windows, and some hastily forming their ranks. The British light horse and about five hundred Hessians and Chasseurs fled by the bridge across the Assanpink. Rail had received word the day before that he would be at tacked that night, and about dusk a party had come swiftly out of the woods, and, firing upon one of his pickets, departed. He had ordered his men into their ranks, strengthened the outposts, and himself scoured the woods. Finding nothing, and thinking this all that there was to be, he had gone to a Christmas supper and spent the night in card-playing, drinking, and revelry. At early dawn a messenger came from a tory with a note bearing news of the crossing of the river by the American forces. The negro ser vant, obeying his master s orders, refused him admittance. Know ing the importance of the message, he prevailed on the servant to D f 7 c j 6 26 ] BATTLE OF TRENTON. 193, carry the note to the officer. Rail, on receiving- it, excited by wine and the play, thrust it unopened into his pocket. But now came a different warning. The rattle of the guns was not to be mistaken. Only half sobered by the sudden surprise and the bitter cold, he attempted to rally his men. Captain Washington and Lieutenant Monroe rushed forward with a party and cap tured the guns in front of his quarters, as the gunners stood with lighted matches in their hands ready to fire. Washington and Sullivan had now joined forces, and Forest s battery of six guns was opened upon the dismayed Hessians at only three hundred paces. Washington, himself, was in front directing every move ment. Rail, however, extricated his men and drew them up in an orchard east of the village. By a quick movement, Hand s regi ment of riflemen was thrown on his rear. Even now, with a des perate resolve, he might have cut his way out ; but he could not think of fleeing from his despised foes, and the Hessians were loath to give up the booty they had collected in their quarters. The word was given to charge. In the midst Rail was struck by a ball and fell from his horse. His troops, quickly hemmed in by the ex ulting Americans, surrendered. It was an hour of triumph. " The Lord of hosts," wrote the praeses of the Pennsylvania German Lutherans, " heard the cries of the distressed, and sent an angel for their deliverance." Washington, overwhelmed by supreme joy, clasped his hands and raised his eyes gleaming with thankful ness to heaven. Nearly one thousand prisoners, twelve hundred small arms, six guns, and all the standards of the brigade, were the trophies of this victory. Had the other detachments carried out the part assigned to them, there would have been a complete capture at Trenton, while the various posts along the Delaware would have shared the same fate. Washington dared not stay in the quarters so hardly won, as the enemy, alarmed by the fugitives from the battle, would soon gather. Before leaving Trenton, however, accompanied by Greene, he visited Rail. Here the soldier was lost in the Christian, and the dying hours of the Hessian officer were soothed by the sympathy of his generous foe. " The remem brance of the deed," says Lossing, " seems to play, like an electric spark, around the pen of the historian while recording it." Back through the same storm amid which it had come the little army now toiled, conveying its prisoners and spoils. Another night of peril and hardships in recrossing the river brought them again to 13 194 INDEPENDENCE YEAR. TDec., Ll 776. their old camp, after an absence of forty hours. Stirling and half the men were disabled by the exposure. This daring stroke gave a new impulse to the cause of liberty. The prestige of invincibility which had hitherto preceded the WASHINGTON S VISIT TO GENERAL RALL. Hessians was broken. Those who had grown lukewarm now became ardent again. Tories were depressed. The general whom all thought so slow was found to be bold and dashing when the proper opportunity arrived. Howe, alarmed, sent Cornwallis with reinforcements back into Jersey for a winter campaign. " All our hopes," said Lord George Germain, " were blasted by the unhappy affair at Trenton." News of the victory having reached Congress, the president attempted to announce the fact, but broke down, and could only call upon the secretary to read Washington s modest despatch. Meanwhile, Washington s hands had been strengthened by Congress. He was made virtually a dictator for six months, being authorized to remove any officer under brigadier-general, to fill any vacancy, to seize supplies for the use of the army, to Dec.,! 1776. J STATE OF THE FINANCES. 195 arrest the disaffected, and to raise troops at his discretion. The regiments whose time expired the first of January were induced to remain by a bounty of ten dollars to each man. The military chest was empty, but Washington applied to Robert Morris, the rich patriot merchant of Philadelphia, who had just sent up to the commander-in-chief a small sum of " hard money," namely, four hundred and ten Spanish dollars, two crowns ten shillings and sixpence in English coin, and a French half-crown. The exi gencies now required a large amount, and Morris was at a loss how to meet the sudden demand. The records of the time tell how, on New-Year s morning, he went from house to house, rousing the inmates from their beds, to borrow money. He had no success ; but at last, while walking home from his office, anxiously considering the case, he met a wealthy Quaker, to whom he imparted the state of affairs. " Robert, what security canst thou give?" asked the Quaker. " My note and my honor," said Morris. " Robert, thou shalt have it," was the reply ; and the next morning the sum of fifty thousand dollars was on its way to Washington. ROBERT MORRIS. OF THE UNIVERSITY CHAPTER IV. THM OF THE (REVOLUTION 1777. IHE year dawned brightly for the new Republic. The term, " Great news from the Jerseys," now grew into a popular saying. Wide spread was the panic among the British troops. December 25th, General Griffin, with some Penn sylvania militia, finding he was too weak to join in the proposed attack, and wishing to do some thing in the good cause, managed to decoy Donop and the Hessians off on a fruitless chase as far as Mount Holly. There he left them to find their way back as best they could. On the 2/th, Cadwallader crossed the Delaware. He was accompanied by Colonel Reed, who had become a warm patriot again, and was ever after the friend and confidant of Washington. They found Burlington, Bordentown, and other posts deserted, the British having fled precipitately. All along the road the inhabitants were busy tearing down the red rags tory signals from their doors. Washington having given his men a brief rest, recrossed the Delaware and took post at Trenton. Here he managed to collect five thousand men, three-fifths of whom were merchants, mechan ics, and farmers, who knew nothing of war, but, inspired with love of country, had left their warm firesides in the midst of winter to lie upon the ground without tent or shelter ; to march through snow and storm ; to encounter privation and danger, if only they could drive back the foe. Cornwallis was now pressing forward from Princeton with the J , a 7 n 7 7 3 ] BATTLE OF PRINCETON. 197 flower of the British army. His advance, annoyed by troops hidden in the woods who stubbornly disputed every inch of ground, was slow. At Trenton he found Washington s army drawn up behind the Assanpink, with the bridge, across which the cavalry escaped on the famous morning of December 26th, and all the neighboring houses and barns, strongly held. It was late. Sir William Erskine urged to storm the position that night, but Cornwallis replied that his troops were weary and he would "catch the fox in the morning." Washington s situation was perilous in the extreme. Before him was a powerful army, behind, an impassable river. To retreat was to give up Jersey to the enemy. If he stayed he could hardly hope for victory. He determined to sweep around the British left, by a circuitous route known as the Quaker road, to Princeton, where he presumed there were few troops remaining, and thence, perhaps, gain the English magazines at Brunswick. The army began to move at midnight. The roads, however, were muddy and the cannon could not be moved. Suddenly the wind veered, and within a few hours the ground everywhere became as hard as a pavement. To conceal the movement, men were set at throwing up earthworks near the bridge. The sentinels kept their posts until daybreak, heaping fuel on the blazing fires. About sunrise, having arrived near Princeton, Washington, with the main body, turned off by a nearer and side road to the college, while General Mercer, with his brigade, kept on along the Quaker road to the turnpike, where he was to break down the bridge over Stony Brook, and thus intercept any fugitives from Princeton and any reinforcements from Cornwallis at Trenton. Just then the British seventeenth regiment and the fifty-fifth regiment, Colonel Mawhood, had crossed the bridge en route for Trenton. Catching sight of the patriot guns gleaming in the sunrise, Mawhood hurried back with his regiment. Both par ties rushed to secure an advantageous post on the high ground at the right, toward Princeton. The Americans, reaching it first, took position behind a fence, whence they opened fire upon the British. It was sharply returned. Mercer s horse fell under him. In the confusion Mawhood charged. The Americans, having no bayonets, broke. Mercer, while trying to rally them, was knocked down with the butt end of a musket, and, refusing to ask for quarter, but defending himself to the last, was repeatedly stabbed and left for dead. Just then Washington, hearing the 198 THIRD YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [Jan._3, 1777. guns, came to the rescue with the Pennsylvania militia, and, ral lying the fugitives, led them to the charge. The raw troops wavered. Washington, dashing to the front within thirty paces of the enemy, reined in his horse just as both lines fired a volley. Fitzgerald, his devoted aide-de-camp, drew his cap over his eyes that he might not see the death of his beloved general. The smoke cleared away, and there still stood the commanding form of Washington, calm and imperturbable, as if on parade. " Thank God ! " exclaimed Fitz gerald, " your excellency is saved ! " " Away, and bring up the troops! The day is our own ! " cried the heroic commander, his eye ablaze with inspiration and resolve. Troops now coming up on every side, the British fell back, and it was only by their desperate valor and perfect discipline that they escaped over the fields and fences to the Trenton road and across the brook. Washington, in the midst of the conflict, marked their superior control and exclaimed to his officers, " See how those noble fellows fight. Ah, gentlemen ! when shall we be able to keep an army long enough together to display a discipline equal to our enemies ? " Meanwhile, the rest of the Americans had engaged the fifty- fifth and fortieth regiments, which had come up too late for the fight. Again, after a sharp contest, the British were defeated. A part fled to the Brunswick road, and the rest took refuge in J ,^7? ] BATTLE OF PRINCETON. 199 the college. The artillery opened upon them. The first ball, it is said, passed through the portrait of George II., hanging in the room used for a chapel, neatly taking off the monarch s head. Captain Moore and his brave companions soon broke open the door, and the occupants were glad to surrender. The American loss had been trifling, except in officers, while that of the British was two hundred killed and wounded and two hundred and thirty prisoners. Washington, with his wearied men, did not dare to continue on to Brunswick, but turned toward Morris- town, where, among the rugged highlands, he would be safe from pursuit. That morning s light had revealed to Cornwallis the smoulder ing watch-fires and the deserted camp of the Americans. No one could tell him whither his enemy had gone. Even the tories, usually so watchful, were at fault. He heard the guns at Prince ton through the keen, frosty air, but mistook it for thunder. Erskine, however, was not deceived. He exclaimed, " To arms, General! Washington has outgeneraled us. Let us fly to the rescue at Princeton." Chagrined at his blunder, and alarmed for the safety of his magazines at Brunswick, Cornwallis roused his men and hastened back toward Princeton. As his advance-guard came in sight of Stony Brook, they saw a party which Washing ton had sent back under Major Kelly to tear down the bridge. Opening fire, they drove off the men; but the major kept on chopping desperately at the log which held up the timbers, till at last it suddenly gave Avay, and he fell into the stream. Hastily scrambling out, he started to run, but his wet clothes impeded his progress, and he was afterward captured. Cormvallis could not stop to repair the bridge, and so, ordering his men into the water, they forded the swollen brook, and in their " mail of frozen clothes " hastened on to Princeton. Suddenly they were brought to a stand by a shot fired from a heavy thirty-two pounder in an entrenchment at the entrance of the village. Supposing the patriots to be there in force, he sent out horsemen to reconnoitre, and prepared to storm the battery. The cavalry found the gun deserted. It had been fired by a straggler from Washington s rear-guard. The delay at the brook and the breastwork had given time for the patriots to escape. Cornwallis, dejected and disheartened, went on to Brunswick. A bolder general might have pursued the Americans, but the British, just then, were in no mood for any 200 THIRD YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [, J 7 a 7 n 7 -; rash enterprise against a general whose strategy had proved so superior to all their discipline and numbers. Meanwhile the patriot army was toiling forward, the men so weary from lack of food and sleep that they often dropped down on the frozen ground, and, sinking into a lethargic slumber, were aroused only by the blows and shouts of their companions. That night, chilled and half-clothed, with no tents or blankets, they lay in the \voods at Somerset Court-House, an easy prey, had the enemy been at hand. These exploits won for Washington universal applause. He was declared to be the saver of his country. Europe rang with praises of the New World s general. Frederick the Great of Prus sia declared that his achievements were the most brilliant of any recorded on the pages of history. Before the sixty days mentioned in Howe s proclamation had expired, Washington issued a counter one, commanding that all who had signed the British pardon should, within thirty days, either withdraw to the English lines or take the oath of allegiance to the United States, on pain of being held as common enemies. The excesses of the British army had aroused the bitterest hatred. The day of deliverance seemed now to have come, and all classes were animated with the hope of " expelling these infamous robbers." Armed men sprang up as if from the ground. Foraging parties were everywhere cut off, and soon the British dared not venture outside their lines. The day Washington reached Morristown, one Oliver Spencer, with some New Jersey militia, routed an equal body of Hessians, taking thirty-nine prisoners. The same afternoon, Governor Clinton, coming down with a small force from Peekskill, captured Hack- ensack, the garrison making a speedy flight. General Maxwell took Elizabethtown and one hundred prisoners. General Dickin son, with four hundred raw volunteers, forded the river near Som erset Court-House, and attacked a foraging party, taking several prisoners, forty wagons, and one hundred English draught horses. Before the close of January the British held only Brunswick, Am- boy, and Paulus Hook. From the beginning of the war there had been hopes of obtain ing aid from Europe. The French were especially well disposed to the Americans, partly because of hatred to England, and partly of a love for liberty which was gaining ground among the people of that country. In 1776, Silas Deane, of Connecticut, had been sent as commissioner to France. He accomplished little, however. #77 1 FRANKLIN AT THE FRENCH COURT. 2OI 1777.J He sent back only about fifteen thousand old muskets, and was strongly suspected of misappropriating the public funds. He was afterward followed by Benjamin Franklin and Arthur Lee. The former, already noted as a philosopher, in his quaint Quaker garb, calf-skin shoes tied with leather strings, and his plain, repub lican manners, was a novelty in high French circles. His wit, his sturdy common sense, and his fascinating conversation, attracted universal admiration, and he instantly became the lion of the day. The fashionable world went crazy over the strange American, who was formally presented to the king in a plain Manchester velvet coat the same which he had worn in England when he appeared before the Privy Council as agent for Massachusetts white stock ings, with spectacles on his nose, a white hat under his arm, and his thin gray hair quite innocent of powder. When he visited the theatre or opera, the brilliant audiences rose to receive and greet him with wild applause. Elegant fetes were given in his honor, and of three hundred lovely women, the most beautiful was chosen to crown his gray hairs with a wreath of laurel and salute his cheeks with a kiss. Franklin modestly accepted all these ex travagant attentions as offered only through him to his beloved country. He soon secured a promise of secret assistance. Fifty-six thousand hogsheads of tobacco were to be furnished the agents of the French government, upon which an advance of a million francs was obtained. More than twenty thousand stands of arms and one thousand barrels of powder reached America during the ensuing campaign. Quite as valuable were the gallant volun teers who espoused our cause and came across the ocean to help fight the battles of freedom. Marquis de Lafayette, at a banquet given in honor of the brother of the English king, first heard the Declaration of Inde pendence. The effect upon him was quite contrary to that intended. Won by its arguments, he from that time joined his hopes and sympathies to the American side. Yet, how was he to aid it ? The French nobility, though heartily disliking England, did not endorse the action of her colonies. He was not yet twenty years of age ; he had just married a woman whom he tenderly loved ; his prospects at home for honor and happiness were bright. To join the patriot army would take him from his native land, his wife, and all his coveted ambitions, and would lead him into a struggle that seemed as hopeless as its cause was just. But 202 THIRD YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. TApril 2 L 1777. 25, his zeal for America overcame all this. Other difficulties now arose. His family objected ; the British minister protested ; the French king withheld his permission. Still undaunted, he pur chased a vessel, fitted it out at his own expense, and, escaping the officers sent to detain him, crossed the ocean. Arriving at Charles ton, he hastened to Philadelphia, and, offering himself to Congress, asked permission to serve as a volunteer without pay. A few days after, his acquaintance with Washington began, which soon ripened into a tender and intimate friendship. Baron de Kalb accompanied Lafayette. He was a French officer of skill and experience, and received the appointment of major-general in the Continental army. He proved a valuable officer, and met a glorious death amid the rout at Camden. BARON DE KALB. Kosciusko, a Pole of noble birth, was commended to Washing ton by Franklin, and offered himself " to fight as a volunteer for American independence." " What can you do ?" asked the com mander. " Try me," was Kosciusko s laconic reply. Washington was greatly pleased with him, and made him his aid. He became a colonel in the engineer corps, and superintended the construc tion of the works at West Point. Count Pulaski, a Polish officer who had performed many daring exploits during the struggles of his native country for liberty, entered the service of the United States this year. " Pulaski s American Legion " afterward won great renown and did excellent service. The English government was now making every exertion to fill up the army for the ensuing campaign. The most reliance Ma i y 777. ne> ] ENGLISH PREPARATIONS FOR THE CAMPAIGN. 203 was placed upon the Hessians ; but the German princes met with great difficulty in supplying recruits. The cause was unpopular among the people, and desertions were numerous. Officers picked up men anywhere they could find them. Foreigners, vag abonds, and loose fellows even unprotected travelers were forced into the ranks. Troops had to be driven on shipboard at the point of the bayonet. The regiments of Anspach, for example, could not be trusted with arms or ammunition. When it came to embarking, the guard was unable to get them aboard, and the landgrave himself was sent for in all haste. He personally took the place of driver, and, by the power of his traditional authority, at last succeeded in forcing the reluctant and rebellious soldiers into the boats. Frederick of Prussia, we are told, was disgusted with this whole mercenary scheme. Metternich, as the repre sentative of the Austrian court, reclaimed the subjects of that country. Thus the English army secured only about enough Hessians to make up the loss at Trenton. The most flattering proposals were made to induce the cap tured American sailors to enlist in the British navy. The reply of one of them, Nathan Coffin, is worthy of immortality, " Hang me to the yard-arm of your ship if you will, but do not ask me to become a traitor to my country." Enlistments among the tories were encouraged. Tryon, who was a fitting tool, was put in charge of this detestable work. Commissions were issued freely. De Lancey of New York and Skinner of New Jersey were made brigadiers. It was a common boast of the loyalists that as many of the inhabitants of the States were taken into the pay of the crown as into that of Congress. This was doubtless an exaggeration, yet Sabine, in his " Loyalists of the American Revolution," estimates twenty-five thousand as a low figure for the total number who thus not only proved recreant to the cause of liberty, but took up arms against it in the service of the tyrant. The tomahawk and scalping-knife were also called in to aid the king in this emergency. The entire frontier, it was hoped, would resound with the war-whoop, as in the terrible days of Philip and Pontiac. The merciful provisions of Sir Guy Carle- ton, in command in Canada, for the employment of the Indians, were revoked. " The Ottawas, the Chippewas, the Wyandottes, the Shawnees, the Senecas, the Delawares, and the Pottawato- mies," wrote the secretary, Lord Germain, " are no longer to be 204 THIRD YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [ J ,^ 7 ; restrained." The employment of such allies was severely de nounced by the opposition in the British parliament. " If I were an American, as I am an Englishman," exclaimed Pitt in an eloquent speech on the subject, " while a foreign troop was landed in my country, I never would lay down my arms never, never, NEVER ! " This year witnessed the first celebration of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The Pennsylvania Journal of that date gives a glowing description of the festivities in Philadelphia. The firing of salutes, music from the Hessian band taken at Tren ton, feux de joie from a corps of British deserters, a congressional dinner with toasts for the living and the dead, and a military re view, filled up the day. In the evening there were the ringing of bells and an exhibition of fireworks the latter beginning and ending with the flight of thirteen rockets. " Thus," says the writer, "may the Fourth of July, that glorious and ever-memo rable day, be celebrated through America by the sons of freedom from age to age, till time shall be no more. Amen and Amen ! " George III., we are told, was interested in the minutest detail of the American war. The plan for the campaign of 1777, which was adopted in his closet, was for General Howe to take care of Washington and his army and seize Philadelphia ; General Bur- goyne was to move from Canada by the old French and Indian war route up Lake Champlain, while Clinton was to ascend the Hudson from New York ; thus all intercourse between New Eng land and the other States would be cut off, and the navigation of the Hudson secured. Burgoyne left Canada with a force of, per haps, ten thousand British and Indians. Near Crown Point he gave a grand feast to the chiefs of the Six Nations, after which four hundred of their warriors took the war-path with the British general. Here a grandiloquent proclamation was issued, declar ing how difficult it would be to restrain his savage allies in case any resistance should be offered to the progress of the royal forces under his command. At evening on the ist of July, he appeared before Fort Ticon- deroga. St. Clair, who was in command at that point, had written not long before : " Should the enemy attack us they will go back faster than they came." On the 5th, the British dragged a battery of heavy guns up Mount Defiance, on the opposite side of the outlet, which commanded both Ticonderoga and Fort Inde pendence, but was supposed to be inaccessible to artillery. St. Ju uly 6,1 17*7. J RECAPTURE OF TICONDEROGA. 205 Clair had no chance of defence. That night, with his garrison of three thousand men, he escaped in the darkness by land and water, taking only such stores as his boats could carry. The burning of his residence at Fort Independence by General De Fermoy, in vio lation of express orders, revealed to the enemy what was trans piring. General Fraser pushed on eagerly in pur suit. Burgoyne, at day break, took possession of the forts. It was the third time Fort Ticonderoga had been captured with out bloodshed. At sunrise on the 7th, Fraser overtook the rear guard of the Americans at Hubbardton while they were at breakfast. Fraser had only about eight hundred men ; while there were three regi ments of the Americans under Seth Warner, Fran cis, and Hale. The last, with his men, disgracefully fled toward Castleton, and en route meeting a body of the British, surren dered without resistance. Warner and Francis gallantly rallied the remainder, about seven hundred in number, and turning upon the British, seemed on the point of winning the day ; but Riede- sel, hearing the firing, came up with a body of Hessians, his music playing and his men singing a battle-hymn. The Ameri cans were forced to give way. Francis, after having charged three times, was killed. Over one hundred fell and two hundred were taken prisoners. Those who escaped scattered through the woods. It was two days before Warner, with ninety men, reached St. Clair. Meanwhile, Burgoyne sent a fleet up the lake. It overtook the American flotilla bearing the stores from Ticonderoga, just as, unsuspicious of danger, it moored in the harbor at Whitehall. The Americans blew up some of the galleys, abandoned the others with the bateaux, set fire to the buildings, and fled back to join General Schuyler at Fort Edward. A British regiment RUINS OF FORT TICONDEROGA. 206 THIRD YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [, J 7 U 7 pursued them as far as Fort Ann. The garrison of that post, under Colonel Long, consisted of about five hundred convales cents and invalids. He gallantly came out to meet the enemy, and took post in a ravine about a mile in front of his works. The British recoiled from his sharp fire and retreated to a neighboring hill. Following them up, he would have utterly defeated them if his ammunition had held out. As it was, he inflicted a loss of fifty men. When the English came back with reinforcements, it was only to find the fort burned to the ground and the garrison escaped. The fall of Ticonderoga and the defeat of the army, with the loss of two hundred pieces of artillery, fell upon the country like a thunderbolt from the clear sky. " We shall never be able to defend a fort," wrote John Adams, " till we shoot a general." A ridiculous story obtained credence that Burgoyne had paid Schuyler and St. Clair for their treachery, in silver bullets fired into the American camp. Possibilities of Schuyler s treachery and reports of his cowardice and incapacity were freely circu lated. The entire country between Whitehall and Fort Edward was a wilderness, traversed by a single military road leading through extensive woods and morasses and crossing many creeks. Bur goyne, on his advance, found his path obstructed by fallen trees, broken-down bridges, and ruined causeways. Beyond this, Schuyler did nothing to prevent the British progress, and on the 2Qth the cross of St. George was planted on the banks of the Hudson. During the march, the English army had built with infinite toil more than forty bridges and a log causeway over two miles long. This labor, under the hot sun of July, by men bur dened with their equipments and annoyed by swarms of insects, had thoroughly exhausted their strength. There was no enemy, however, to dispute their way. Fort Edward could not be held, and the Americans retired, first to Saratoga, then to Stillwater, and finally to the islands in the Hudson at the mouth of the Mohawk. In spite of this timidity and lack of skill, Burgoyne s disastrous fate was fast unfolding itself. Before leaving Canada, he had sent Colonel St. Leger to ravage the Mohawk Valley, thus creating a diversion in his favor, and then to meet him at Albany. St. Leger had induced one thousand Indians to join his ranks as he marched southward from Oswego. With Brandt and his Mohawk Indians, Johnson and his A , u / 7 - 7 f-] BATTLE OF ORISKANY. 2O/ tories, and Butler and his rangers, he laid siege to Fort Schuyler, late Fort Stanwix, now Rome. This was at that time the extreme western settlement of the State. It was a log fortification, built on rising ground, and held by two New York regiments under Gansevoort and Willett. General Herkimer, knowing that the fort was not provisioned or equipped for a siege, raised a body of militia from Tryon county, and set out for its relief. At Oriskany they fell into an ambuscade. While carelessly marching through the woods, " Johnson s Greens " attacked them in front and Brandt s Indians on both flanks. It was a true battle of the wilderness. The militia, royalists, and savages were soon so intermingled that there was no room to use fire-arms. The white man and Indian, wrestling in mortal conflict, striking with bayonet, hatchet, and hunting-knife, often fell in the shade of the forest, " their left hands clenched in each other s hair, their right grasping, in a grip of death, the knife plunged in each other s bosom." Herkimer was mortally wounded, but remained till the end giving orders and encouraging his companions. About four hundred of the Ameri cans finally retreated to a knoll near by, where, from behind trees and logs, they held their ground until the Indians, suddenly shouting " Oonah ! Oonah ! " hastened back to save their camp. While this struggle was going on, Lieutenant-Colonel Willett, with a part of the garrison, had made a daring sally toward the scene of conflict. They drove all before them rangers, tories, savages, and squaws. Hearing, however, of Herkimer s mis fortune, they went back to the fort without losing a man, carry ing with them kettles, furs, five flags, and a few prisoners. When the enemy first appeared, the garrison was without a flag, but with true American ingenuity, one had been straightway improvised. Shirts were cut up to form the white stripes, bits of scarlet cloth were sewed together to supply the red, and a blue cloth cloak served as a ground for the stars. Beneath this patch work streamer they now proudly placed the colors they had won. " It was the first time," says Bancroft, " that a captured banner floated under the stars and stripes." It is interesting, in this connection, to notice the origin of our flag. In early times the English colonies naturally displayed the flag of the mother-country. We read that in 1636, however, Endicott, the governor of Massachusetts, cut out the cross of St. George as a " Romish symbol," and the king s arms were after- 208 THIRD YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [ Jun i?~77" g< " ward substituted for this emblem, so obnoxious to the Puritans. In 1651, with the commonwealth came a revival of the old standard of St. George. At the opening of the Revolution the colonies used a great variety of flags. At Bunker Hill it is probable there was no American banner flying. Considering themselves still a part of the British empire, the patriots frequently fought under the " Union Jack." While Washington was in command at Cambridge he raised a flag, called the " Great Union," which consisted of thirteen red and white stripes, having at the corner the cross of the English flag. The Americans carried this banner when they entered Boston after its evacuation by General Howe ; when they fled through New Jersey before the conquering enemy ; and when they crossed the Delaware mid snow and ice, and charged at Trenton in the early dawn. The vessels of the infant navy bore a white flag with a green pine-tree in the corner. The United States were free a long time before they assumed a. distinctive flag. June i/th of this year Congress voted that "the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white, and the union be thirteen white stars in the blue field." The latter were arranged in a circle. Paul Jones, who afterward became famous, was the first to hoist the new flag over an American ship-of-war, he having previously displayed it to a crowd assembled on the banks of the Schuylkill, while he sailed up and down in a small boat, with the patriotic banner proudly unfurled. Finding that Fort Schuyler could not hold out much longer, Colonel Willett and a friend, Lieutenant Stockwell, determined to inform Schuyler of the situation. One dark, stormy night they crept from the entrenchments, passed through the camp, escaped sentinels and Indians, crossed the Mohawk on a log, and reached the American army in safety. Arnold, always ready for a desperate service, volunteered, with eight hundred men, to go to the relief. He accomplished his mission by a stratagem. A half-witted boy, who had been taken prisoner, was promised his freedom if he would spread the report among St. Leger s troops that a large body of Americans was close at hand. Having cut holes in his clothes, he accord ingly ran breathless into the camp of the besiegers, showing the bullet holes and describing his narrow escape from the enemy. When asked their number, he mysteriously pointed upward to the leaves on the trees. The Indians and British were so fright- Aug. 13, -I 1777. J RELIEF OF FORT SCHUYLER. 209 ened that, though Arnold was yet forty miles away, they fled in a panic, leaving their tents and artillery behind them. Such was the difficulty of getting supplies through the wilder ness from Lake George, that after two weeks hard labor Burgoyne had only secured four days provisions. Learning that the THE ALARM AT FORT SCHUYLEK. icans had collected a quantity of stores at Bennington, he sent Colonel Baum with about eight hundred Hessians, Canadians, and Indians to seize them, collect horses, recruit royalists, and thence rejoin the army at Albany. Fortunately, on the very day, August 1 3th, that Baum set out, General Stark, who was in command of a brigade of New Hampshire militia, arrived at Bennington. He had just refused to join General Schuyler, on the ground that his troops were raised for the defence of the State, and he had been promised a separate command. This act of insubordination, which might have been fatal, now proved the salvation of the country. On receiving news of the approach of the British, Stark immedi ately forwarded word to Colonel Warner to come to his aid with the Green Mountain Boys. Nearing Bennington, Baum discov ered a reconnoitering party of Americans, and entrenching him self on high ground in a bend of the Walloomscoick River, sent back to Burgoyne for reinforcements. The next day was so rainy, that all movements were prevented. 2IO THIRD YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [ A |77 7 I6> During the night of the I5th a body of Berkshire militia ar rived. Rev. Mr. Allen, of Pittsfield, and a large number of his church members were among them. This gentleman was burn ing to display his patriotic zeal, and before daybreak, while the clouds were still pouring, he impatiently sought Stark. " Now, general," he said, " the Berkshire people have been called out several times before, without having a chance to fight, and if you do not give it to them this time, they will never turn out again." " Well," answered the general, with a secret satisfaction at the pluck of his troops, " do you wish to march now, while it is dark and raining ?" " No, not just this moment," was the reply. " Then just wait till the Lord gives us sunshine," returned Stark, " and if I do not give you fighting enough, I ll never ask you to come out again." The morning dawned clear, and both sides prepared for action. About noon, Stark developed his plan. Detachments were sent right and left to the rear of the enemy s main post on the heights. Baum, seeing men in their shirt-sleeves and with simple fowling-pieces collecting behind his camp, mistook them for country people, and thought nothing of it. Another detachment was then sent to Baum s right, while his attention was attracted by a feigned attack upon a tory entrenchment at the ford in front. At three o clock the troops in the rear dashed up the hill. At the first volley Stark ordered a charge. As they reached the top they caught sight of the British lines forming for battle. " There are the red-coats," he shouted ; " we beat them to-day, or Molly Stark is a widow." On his men dashed, sweeping the tories before them. There was no flinching. With perfect confidence in their leader, though destitute of can non, bayonets, and discipline, they closed in upon the Hessians on all sides. The sharp-shooters crept up within eight paces to pick off the cannoneers. The Germans fought with desperate valor, but their ammunition giving out, the militia scaled the works. Baum ordered his men to break out with bayonet and sword, but he was soon mortally wounded, and his men surrendered. The Indians had fled with horrible yells early in the day. Just as the battle was won, however, it seemed to be lost. The militia had dispersed to plunder the camp when Breyman came up with the reinforcements from Burgoyne. An hour earlier and they might have claimed the day. They now rallied the fugitives and pushed for Baum s entrenchments. At this moment Warner arrived with his regiment. Stark collected the militia, and again ^fyy 1 . 6 ] BATTLE OF BENNINGTON. 211 the battle raged fiercely as ever. At sunset the Hessians ordered a retreat, leaving cannon and wounded. The exulting Americans followed them till night-fall. Darkness alone saved them from annihilation. The patriots lost only seventy all told, while the British loss was twice as great, besides about seven hundred prisoners. An incident illustrates the spirit of the men that day. One old man had five sons in the patriot army. A neighbor, just from the field, told him that one had been unfortunate. " Has he proved a coward or a traitor ?" asked the father. "O no; he fought bravely," was the answer; " but he has fallen." "Ah," said the father, " then I am satisfied." The flight of St. Leger and the defeat at Bennington aroused the people from their depression, and inspired them Avith hope of success. The atrocities committed by the Indians also did much to inflame them with hatred of a government which let loose upon them such savage foes. None of their bloody acts caused more general execration than the murder of Jane McCrea. This young lady was the betrothed of a Captain Jones of the British army. She lived near Fort Edward in the family of her brother, who, being a whig, started for Albany on Burgoyne s. approach. But she, hoping to meet her lover, lingered at the house of Mrs. McNeil, a staunch royalist, and a cousin of the British General Fraser. Early one morning the house was surprised by Indians, who dragged forth the inmates and hurried them away toward Burgoyne s camp. Mrs. McNeil arrived there in safety. A short time after, another party came in with fresh scalps, among which she recognized the long, glossy hair of her friend. The savages, on being charged with her murder, declared that she had been killed by a chance shot from a pursuing party, whereupon they had scalped her to secure the bounty. The precise truth has never been known. This massacre was probably no more hor rible than many others. But it was susceptible of embellishment, and everywhere produced a deep impression. Many patriots were led to join the army, and many royalists to desert a cause which permitted such atrocities. The New England troops were unwilling to serve under Schuyler, who seemed to have little confidence in them, and the militia consequently came in but slowly. Gates, who was am bitious of a separate command, and who had been superseded by Schuyler in the charge of this department, was constantly 212 THIRD YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. intriguing to oust his rival. Congress lacked faith in Schuyler s abilities, and, after the fall of Ticonderoga, even proposed to change all the higher officers of the northern army. Washington was desired to nominate a successor to Schuyler, but declined. With noble self-sacrifice, though he was himself confronted by a far larger army than was Schuyler, he sent him two brigades of his best troops, and ordered thither Morgan with his incompara ble riflemen ; Lincoln, who was popular with the eastern militia ; and Arnold, famous for his desperate daring. He also wrote personally to the governors of the New England States, urging them to rally in this emergency. Soon the yeomanry began to pour into camp, all eager, even anxious, for a battle. Such was the dissatisfaction with Schuyler, that Gates was now appointed to take his place. However much the former may have lacked the abilities of a great gen eral, he proved MRS. SCHUYLER SETTING THE GRAIN-FIELDS ON FIRE. a true patriot. No spirit of jealousy at the success of his rival actuated him. He magnanimously threw all his influence in favor of Gates, made known to him his plans and efficiently aided in their execution. His great heart had no more room for envy than for selfishness. During the retreat he had given orders to Mrs. Schuyler to set fire to his fields of grain at Saratoga, to prevent the possibility of their falling into the enemy s hands. Burgoyne s position was every day becoming more embarrass ing. The Canadians and tories were discouraged. The Indians. S< J?77. 9 ] FIRST BATTLE OF SARATOGA. 213 indignant at the humane efforts Burgoyne had made to restrain their ferocity, were rapidly deserting. His misfortunes weighed like an incubus on the morale of the whole army. His instruc tions, however, were positive. He expected Clinton had already ascended the Hudson to co-operate with him, and so, against the judgment of his best officers, determined to proceed. Provisions for about thirty days had been painfully gathered, and with his army of six thousand men, all veterans, splendidly equipped, and with a fine artillery, he promised yet to " eat his Christmas dinner in Albany." Meanwhile, the American army, at least ten thousand strong, well armed, burning with patriotism and eager for the fray, had advanced to Bemis s Heights, near Stillwater. Gates was unskil ful, and perhaps cowardly, while Schuyler s friends were indig nant at his displacement ; but Arnold, Morgan, Poor, Learned, Fellows, Dearborn, Cilley, Cook, Scammel, Glover, and others were there, and no one in the patriot ranks had a doubt. Bur goyne crossed the Hudson on the I3th and I4th, and encamped at Saratoga; but, delayed by bad roads and broken bridges, in four days he did not progress as many miles. It was not until the 1 8th that he reached Wilbur s Basin, two miles from Bemis s Heights, and proposed to attack the Americans. Their position was a very strong one, and, under Kosciusko s direction, had been carefully fortified. The line of entrenchments was circular in form, with the right resting on the river and the left on a ridge of hills. About ten o clock the next forenoon the British army advanced in three columns. The left wing, with the artillery under Phillips and Riedesel, was to move along the flat by the river ; Burgoyne himself commanded the centre ; and Fraser led the right by a circuit upon the ridge to attack the American left wing. Upon the front and flanks of the columns hung tories, Canadians, and Indians. Gates desired to await an attack. At the urgent solicitation of Arnold, however, he finally sent out Morgan with his riflemen and Major Dearborn with the infantry. The former passed unobserved through the wood, but driving back a party of Canadians and Indians too vigorously, he unex pectedly came upon the main body of the English. His men were scattered, and for a moment he was left almost alone. A shrill whistle soon brought his sharp-shooters around him. Cilley and Scammel coming to his aid with the New Hampshire regi ments, a sharp contest ensued. The battle now lulled, Phillips 214 THIRD YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [ S !?77, 9 " bringing up artillery on one side and Cook the Connecticut militia on the other. At three o clock the struggle began again, not far from the same point. Gates had no plan ; there was consequently no manoeuvring. Both sides were on gentle eminences, partly shel tered by wood, and out of gun-shot of each other ; between them was an open field. The British advanced to clear the wood of the Americans; they sallied forth and drove the English from their guns, who, in turn, rallied. Thus the tide of battle ebbed to and fro. The cannon were taken and retaken several times. Too late to accomplish anything, Learned with a brigade went around to attack the British in the rear; but Riedesel with some Hessians climbed the hill and fell upon the American flank. Darkness now coming on, the patriots quietly drew back to their entrenchments. Twice during the evening, however, there were sharp skirmishes, and the last American did not leave the field until eleven o clock. The English lay on their arms near by, and technically claimed the victory, though they had not gained their end, which was to dislodge the Americans from their position ; while the latter had gained theirs by preventing the British from advancing. Each side, however, took to itself the honor, and supposed that with a part of its forces it had beaten the whole of the hostile band. In fact, only about three thousand of either army were engaged. The American loss was not far from four hundred, and the English five hundred. The fire of the American riflemen was excessively annoying. They climbed the trees and picked off the English officers. A bullet designed for Burgoyne struck the arm of an aid who was just handing him a letter. In one battery three- fourths of the artillerymen were killed or wounded, and every officer save one was struck. The next morning Arnold urged that the work should be followed up, and Burgoyne s shattered forces be attacked at once before they had time to prepare entrenchments or to recover from their exhaustion. Gates resented the interference. A quarrel ensued, and Arnold demanded a pass to go to General Washington, which was granted. Seeing how discreditable it would be to leave just before a battle, Arnold finally remained in his tent, but without any troops, as the command of the right wing was given to Lincoln. For over two weeks both armies lay in their camps, which were only a cannon-shot apart, carefully fortifying themselves and o^ y 7 ] SECOND BATTLE OF SARATOGA. 21 5 watching an opportunity to catch each other at a disadvantage. Burgoyne s position was now perilous in the extreme. He had six or eight hundred sick and wounded in hospital ; his horses were weakened by work and want ; and he was forced to cut off one-third of the daily rations of his men. Patriot bands swarmed everywhere, breaking down bridges and harassing the pickets and foraging parties. Neither officer nor soldier dared to remove his clothes at any time, and the camp was in almost constant alarm. One night twenty young farmers, residing near by, resolved to capture the enemy s advance picket-guard. Armed with fowling-pieces, they marched silently through the woods until they were within a few yards of the station. They then rushed out from the bushes, the captain blowing an old horse- trumpet and the men yelling. There was no time for the senti nel s hail. " Ground your arms, or you are all dead men ! " cried the patriot captain. Thinking that a large force had fallen upon them, the picket obeyed. The young farmers, with all the parade of regulars, led back to the American camp over thirty British soldiers. Burgoyne was in constant hope of being relieved by the promised expedition of Clinton up the Hudson River, as in that event Gates would necessarily send a part of his army to the defence of Albany. On the 2ist Burgoyne received a letter in cipher from Clinton, stating that he was about to start. Greatly encouraged thereby, he replied that he could hold on till Novem ber 1 2th. Every day, however, the net of his difficulties was drawn about him more and more tightly. The time came when he must either fight or fly. On the ;th of October he attempted a recon- noissance in force, in order to cover a large foraging party, and also, if opportunity offered, to turn the left of the American line. For this service fifteen hundred picked men were selected. Bur goyne led them in person, and under him were Fraser, Riedesel, and Phillips. Marching out of camp, they formed in double ranks on a low ridge, less than a mile northwest of the American camp, and awaited events. Meanwhile the foragers were busy getting supplies, and the officers were scanning the patriot lines. Morgan with his riflemen, Poor s New Hampshire brigade, and Dearborn s light infantry were thereupon ordered to attack simultaneously the enemy s right and left flanks. Steadily the New Hampshire men mounted up the slope, received one volley, and then with a shout dashed forward to the very mouth of the 2l6 THIRD YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [^y 7 . 1 cannon. So fierce was the contest that one piece was taken and retaken several times. Colonel Cilley leaped upon it, waved his sword, " dedicating the gun to the American cause," and then, with their own ammunition, opened it upon the enemy. It was the very inspiration of courage. Major Ackland was severely wounded. The British lines broke. Meanwhile, Morgan had driven back Fraser, who was covering the English right, and fallen on that flank so impetuously that it was already in retreat. Arnold, who was chafing in camp and anxious " to right himself," as he said, " with the sword," sprang to his saddle and rushed into the fray. " He will do some rash thing," shouted Gates, and ordered his aid, Major Armstrong, to call him back ; but Arnold, suspecting the message, put spurs to his beautiful brown horse, named Warren after the hero of Bunker Hill, and was soon out of reach. He had no right to fight, much less to lead, but his rank and valor gave him authority at once. Dashing to the head of a part of Learned s brigade, where he was received with cheers by his old command, he ordered a charge on the centre of the British line. Leading the onset, delivering his orders in person where the bullets flew thickest, he galloped to and fro over the field as if possessed by the very demon of battle. In his rage he struck an American officer on the head with his sword without being conscious of the fact, as he afterward declared. His headlong valor inspired the troops with desperate courage. At the second charge the English gave way. Fraser was busy forming another line in the rear. Brave to a fault and chivalric in his sense of duty, this gallant officer was the mind and soul of the British army. Morgan saw that he alone stood between the Americans and victory. Calling to him some of his best men, he said, " That gallant officer is General Fraser. I admire and honor him ; but he must die. Stand among those bushes and do your duty." Mounted on an iron-gray charger and dressed in full uniform, Fraser was a conspicuous mark. A bullet cut the crupper of his horse and another his mane. " You are singled out, general," said his aide-de-camp ; " had you not better shift your ground?" " My duty forbids me to fly from danger," was the reply. A moment after he fell mortally wounded. Just then the New York men under Ten Broeck, coming on the field, swept all before them. Burgoyne sought to stay the tide; a bullet went through his hat and another tore his vest. Oct. 7,1 1777. J SECOND BATTLE OF SARATOGA. The Americans urged the pursuit up to the very entrenchments. Arnold, maddened by the fight, stormed the camp of the light infantry under Earl Balcarras, the strongest part of the English line. For an hour the useless struggle continued. Repulsed, he rode to the American left, all the way exposed to the cross-fire of both armies, and ordered a general assault on the British right. GENERAL ERASER COVERED BY SHARP-SHOOTERS. A stockade was carried, and Breyman with his Germans was cut off from the main body of the British army. As Arnold dashed into a sally-port, the Hessians fired a parting volley, wounding him in the same leg as at Quebec. At that moment Armstrong came up with Gates s order. He was borne from the field, but he had already gained a victory while his commander stayed in his tent. Breyman being mortally wounded, his men lost heart and over two hundred surrendered. This position was the key to the British line. Burgoyne tried to rally his men to retake it ; but darkness closed the hard-fought contest. The Americans lay on their arms ready to renew the struggle in the morning. During the night, Burgoyne evacuated a part of his entrench ments, and gathered his army upon the heights around the hos pital, with the river in the rear and a deep ravine in front. His new position was so strong that Gates did not deem it best to hazard an attack. Eraser, in his dying moments, requested that he might be buried at six in the evening on the top of a little knoll in 2l8 THIRD YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [| C 777 the great redoubt. Just at sunset his body was borne thither ac companied by Burgoyne, Phillips, and Riedesel. The American cannoneers were attracted by the presence of the officers, and, ignorant of the sad ceremony which was being enacted, their balls fell thick about the chaplain as he read the solemn burial service. So Fraser was entombed, as he had died, amid the roar of artillery. Burgoyne now renewed the retreat. The rain fell in torrents,, and the roads were so badly cut up that he did not reach Sara toga, a distance of six miles, until the next night. The men, too much exhausted to procure wood or build fires, lay down on the ground and slept in the fast-falling rain. On the loth they crossed the Fishkill and made their last encampment. The fine house and mills of General Schuyler at the ford were burned by order of General Burgoyne. The British were now hemmed in on all sides. The end was near. Just at this time occurred a circumstance which illustrates the small events on which depend the fortunes of war. Gates received word that Burgoyne had sent on the bulk of his army toward the north. He determined at once to cut off the rear-guard still left in camp. The British general in some manner became advised of the plan, and put his best troops in ambush, where he could fire upon the Americans at the very moment of victory. All appar ently went well. A patriot brigade had crossed the creek and another was just entering, a dense fog concealing the movement. Just then a British deserter came in and revealed the plot. Mes sengers were hurried out and the troops ordered back, but not without some loss. A few minutes more, and the success of the whole campaign would have been imperiled. A reconnoitering party sent on to Fort Edward reported that the crossing was held by General Stark. The opposite bank of the Hudson was lined with the Americans. Bateaux containing part of their scanty stock of provisions had been seized, the rest being saved only by bringing them up the steep bank under a heavy cannonade. No word was received from General Clinton. Every part of the camp was searched out by the American fire. Water was scarce, and no one dared to get it, until a woman volunteered, when the sharpshooters, respecting her sex, let her pass unharmed. While a council of war held in Burgoyne s tent was considering the necessity of a surrender, several grape-shot struck near, and an eighteen-pound cannon-ball passed over the table around which the officers sat. Under these circumstances Oct. 17,-] 1777. J SURRENDER OF BURGOYNE. 2I 9 MAPOFTHECOUNT BETWEEN MONTREAL AND rt* 1 nCliambly a decision was quickly made. They resolved to treat for capitu lation. At first Gates demanded an unconditional surrender ; but knowing that Clinton had captured the forts in the Highlands commanding the passage of the Hudson, he consented that the British should be taken to Boston and be allowed to return to England, on condi tion of not serving in the war again until exchanged. When Burgoyne heard from a deserter of Clinton s progress, he hesi tated to sign the conditions; but Gates drew up his army and threatened to open fire. Whereupon Burgoyne yielded. A detachment of Americans marched into the British camp to the lively air of Yankee Doodle, while the English army gravely filed out and laid down their arms. With a delicate consideration, the Continental forces were withdrawn from sight, and the only American officer pres ent was Major Wilkinson, who had charge of the arrangements. The total number surrendered was five thousand seven hun dred and ninety-one, besides one thousand eight hundred and fifty -six prisoners of war, including sick and wounded. Forty- two brass cannon and forty -six hundred muskets, with abundant munitions of war, were among the trophies. After this cere mony was over, Generals Burgoyne and Gates advanced to meet each other at the head of their staffs. The former was dressed in a magnificent uniform of scarlet and gold, and the latter in a plain blue frock-coat. It was a marked contrast be tween vanquished and victor. When they had approached nearly within a sword s length, they halted, and Burgoyne, with a graceful obeisance, said, " The fortune of war, General Gates, has made me your prisoner." General Gates, returning the salute, replied, " I shall always be ready to testify that it has not been through any fault of your excellency." sborough> ;g CBOWM-POII 220 THIRD YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [^; As they met after these formalities, Gates used the common ex pression, " / am very -happy to see you" " I believe you are," replied Burgoyne. Gates, pretending not to hear the retort, invited him to his marquee, where they partook of a sumptuous dinner. In the afternoon, the English troops were marched between the double lines of the Americans, and, in presence of both armies, Burgoyne handed his sword to Gates, who promptly returned it. The tragedy was finished. The northern invasion had proved an in glorious failure. The prisoners were forwarded to Boston, but the British government failing to ratify the agreement, and fears arising that the men, if given up, would be at once turned into the British army, Congress ordered them to be sent into the interior of Virginia. The action caused much excitement and was fruitful of mutual recriminations between the two countries. Late in the fall, the " convention troops," as they were called, were marched seven hundred miles across the country to Char lottes ville, Virginia. Here comfortable barracks were built the next summer ; an extensive territory was cleared, and gardens were laid out and beautifully cultivated by them. At the close of the war many of the prisoners remained among their fellow- Germans and became useful citizens. The picture of this celebrated invasion would be incomplete without referring to the pathetic account left by Madame Riede- sel, who followed her husband throughout the disastrous cam paign. This lady had a large calash made for her use, capable of holding herself, three children, and two female servants, in which they accompanied the army on their march. After they encamped, a small square building, with a capacious chimney, was erected for her comfort. She goes on to relate : " On the ;th of October our misfortunes began. I was at breakfast with my husband, and heard that something was intended. On the same day I expected Generals Burgoyne, Phillips, and Fraser to dine with us. I saw a great movement among the troops ; my husband told me it was merely a reconnoissance, which gave me no concern, as it often happened. I walked out of the house, and met several Indians in their war-dresses, with guns in their hands. When I asked them where they were going, they cried out, War ! war / mean ing that they were going to battle. This filled me with appre hension, and I had scarcely got home before I heard reports of cannon and musketry, which grew louder by degrees, till at last the noise became excessive. P 7 C 7 V.] MADAME RIEDESEL S NARRATIVE. 221 "About four o clock in the afternoon, instead of the guests whom I expected, General Fraser was brought on a litter, mor tally wounded. The table, which was already set, was instantly removed, and a bed placed in its stead for the wounded general. I sat trembling in a corner ; the noise grew louder, and the alarm increased ; the thought that my husband might perhaps be brought in, wounded in the same manner, Avas terrible to me, and dis tressed me exceedingly. General Fraser said to the surgeon, Tell me if my wound is mortal ; do not flatter me. The ball had passed through his body, and, unhappily for the general, he had eaten a very hearty breakfast, by which the stomach was dis tended, and the ball, as the surgeon said, had passed through it. I heard him often exclaim with a sigh, * Oh ! fatal ambition ! Poor General Burgoyne ! Oh ! my poor wife ! He was asked if he had any request to make, to which he replied that, If General Burgoyne would permit it, he should like to be buried at six o clock in the evening, on the top of a mountain, in a redoubt which had been built there. " I did not know which way to turn ; all the other rooms were full of sick. Toward evening I saw my husband coming ; then I forgot all my sorrows, and thanked God that he was spared to me. He ate in great haste, with me and his aide-de-camp, behind the house. We had been told that we had the advantage over the enemy, but the sorrowful faces I beheld told a different tale ; and before my husband went away he took me aside, and said every thing was going very badly, and that I must keep myself in readiness to leave the place, but not to mention it to any one. I made the pretence that I would move the next morning into my new house, and had everything packed up ready. * * " I could not go to sleep, as I had General Fraser and all the other wounded gentlemen in my room, and I was sadly afraid my children would wake, and by their crying disturb the dying man in his last moments, who often addressed me and apologized for the trouble he gave me. About three o clock in the morning I was told that he could not hold out much longer ; I had desired to be informed of the near approach of this sad crisis, and I then wrapped up my children in their clothes, and went with them into the room below. About eight o clock in the morning he died. " After he was laid out, and his corpse wrapped up in a sheet, we came again into the room, and had this sorrowful sight before 222 THIRD YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [ Oct., 1777 us the whole day ; and, to add to the melancholy scene, almost every moment some officer of my acquaintance was brought in wounded. The cannonade commenced again ; a retreat was spoken of, but not the smallest motion was made toward it. About four o clock in the afternoon I saw the house which had just been built for me in flames, and the enemy was now not far off. We knew that General Burgoyne would not refuse the last request of General Fraser, though, by his acceding to it, an unnecessary delay was occasioned, by which the inconvenience of the army was increased." As soon as the funeral service was finished and the grave of General Fraser closed, an order was issued that the army should fall back. " The retreat was ordered to be conducted with the greatest silence ; many fires were lighted, and several tents left standing ; we traveled continually during the night. At six o clock in the morning we halted, which excited the surprise of all ; General Burgoyne had the cannon ranged and counted ; this delay seemed to displease everybody, for if we could only have made another good march, we should have been in safety. My husband, quite exhausted with fatigue, came into my calash, and slept for three hours. During that time Captain Wiloe brought me a bag full of bank-notes and Captain Grismar his elegant watch, a ring, and a purse full of money, which they requested me to take care of, and which I promised to do to the utmost of my power. We again marched, but had scarcely proceeded an hour before we halted, as the enemy was in sight ; it proved to be only a reconnoitering party of two hundred men, who might easily have been made prisoners if General Burgoyne had given proper orders on the occasion. " About evening we arrived at Saratoga ; my dress was wet through and through with rain, and in this state I had to remain the whole night, having no place to change it ; I, however, got close to a large fire, and at last lay down on some straw. At this moment General Phillips came up to me, and I asked him why he had not continued our retreat, as my husband had promised to cover it and bring the army through. Poor, dear woman/ said he, I wonder how, drenched as you are, you have the courage still to persevere and venture further in this kind of weather ; I wish, continued he, * you were our commanding general ; Gene ral Burgoyne is tired, and means to halt here to-night and give us our supper. J5?y;] MADAME RIEDESEL S NARRATIVE. 223 " On the morning of the loth, at ten o clock, General Burgoyne ordered the retreat to be continued. The greatest misery at this time prevailed in the army, and more than thirty officers came to me, for whom tea and coffee were prepared, and with whom I shared all my provisions, with which my calash was in general well supplied ; for I had a cook who was an excellent caterer, and who often in the night crossed small rivers and foraged on the inhabi tants, bringing in with him sheep, small pigs, and poultry, for which he very often forgot to pay.. " About two o clock in the afternoon we again heard a firing of cannon and small arms ; instantly all was alarm, and everything in motion. My husband told me to go to a house not far off. I immediately seated myself in my calash with my children and drove off; but scarcely had I reached it before I discovered five or six armed men on the other side of the Hudson. Instinctively I threw my children down in the calash, and then concealed my self with them. At this moment the fellows fired, and wounded an already wounded English soldier who was behind me. Poor fellow ! I pitied him exceedingly, but at this moment had no means or power to relieve him. " A terrible cannonade was commenced by the enemy against the house in which I sought to obtain shelter for myself and children, under the mistaken idea that all the generals were in it. Alas ! it contained none but wounded and women. We were at last obliged to resort to the cellar for refuge, and in one corner of this I remained the whole day, my children sleeping on the earth with their heads in my lap ; and in the same situation I passed a sleepless night. Eleven cannon-balls passed through the house, and we could distinctly hear them roll away. One poor soldier, who was lying on a table for the purpose of having his leg ampu tated, was struck by a shot, which carried away his other ; his comrades had left him, and when we went to his assistance, we found him in the corner of a room, into which he had crept, more dead than alive, scarcely breathing. My reflections on the dan ger to which my husband was exposed now agonized me exceed ingly, and the thoughts of my children and the necessity of struggling for their preservation alone sustained me. " I now occupied myself through the day in attending the wounded ; I made them tea and coffee, and often shared my din ner with them, for which they offered me a thousand expressions of gratitude. One day a Canadian officer came to our cellar, who 224 THIRD YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. Oct., 1777. had scarcely the power of holding himself upright, and we con cluded he was dying for want of nourishment ; I was happy in offering him my dinner, which strengthened him and procured me his friendship. I now undertook the care of Major Bloom- field, another aide-de-camp of General Phillips ; he had received a musket-ball through both cheeks, which in its course had knocked out several of his teeth and cut his tongue ; he could hold nothing in his mouth, the matter which ran from his wound almost choked him, and he was not able to take any nourishment ex cept a little soup, or something liquid. We had some Rhenish wine, and in the hope that the acidity of it would cleanse his wound, I gave him a bottle of it. He took a little now and then, and with such effect that his cure soon fol lowed ; thus I added another to my stock of friends, and derived a satisfaction which, in the midst of sufferings, served to tranquillize me and diminish their acuteness. " One day General Phillips accompanied my husband, at the risk of their lives, on a visit to us. The general, after having witnessed our situation, said to him, I would not for ten thousand guineas come again to this place; my heart is almost broken. " In this horrid situation we remained six days ; a cessation of hostilities was now spoken of, and eventually took place. On the i6th, however, my husband had to repair to his post and I to my cellar. This day fresh beef was served out to the officers, who till now had only had salt provisions, which was very bad for their wounds. GENERAL BURGOYNE. Oct. 17, 1 1777. J MADAME RIEDESEL S NARRATIVE. 225, " On the 1 7th of October the convention was completed. General Burgoyne and the other generals waited on the American General Gates ; the troops laid down their arms, and gave them selves up prisoners of war ! " My husband sent a message to me to come over to him with my children. I seated myself once more in my dear calash, and then rode through the American camp. As I passed on, I ob servedand this was a great consolation to me that no one eyed me with looks of re sentment, but that they all greeted us, and even showed compassion in their countenances at the sight of a woman with small children. I was, I confess, afraid to go over to the enemy, as it was quite a new situation to me. When I drew near the tents, a handsome man ap proached and met me, took my children from the calash, and hugged and kissed them, which affected me almost to tears. 4 You tremble/ said he, addressing himself to me ; be not afraid. * No/ I an swered, you seem so kind and tender to my children, it inspires me with courage. He now led me to the tent of General Gates, where I found Generals Burgoyne and Phillips, who were on a friendly footing with the former. Bur goyne said to me, Never mind ; your sorrows have now an end/ 1 answered him, * that I should be reprehensible to have any cares, as he had none ; and I was pleased to see him on such friendly footing with General Gates. All the generals remained to dine with General Gates. " The same gentleman who received me so kindly now came 15 GENERAL GATES. 226 THIRD YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [ M |7^7. 8> and said to me, You will be very much embarrassed to eat with all these gentlemen ; come with your children to my tent, where I will prepare for you a frugal dinner, and give it with a free will. I said, You are certainly a husband and a father, you have shown me so much kindness. I now found that he was General Schuyler. He treated me with excellent smoked tongue, beefsteaks, potatoes, and good bread and butter ! Never could I have wished to eat a better dinner ; I was content ; I saw all around me were so likewise ; and, what was better than all, my husband was out of danger. "After dinner General Schuyler begged me to pay him a visit at his house in Albany, where he expected also to receive General Burgoyne. Having sent to my husband for advice, he counselled me to accept the invitation." She was delighted with her reception at General Schuyler s hospitable mansion, and records that Mrs. Schuyler and her daughters " loaded us with kindness, and behaved in the same manner toward General Burgoyne, though he had wantonly caused their splendid country establishment to be burned." General Schuyler s gentlemanly courtesy was characteristically shown in his first meeting with Burgoyne after the surrender. The latter, remembering his unnecessary destruction of the former s property, attempted an excuse. " That was the fate of war," replied General Schuyler ; " I beg you, say no more about it." Burgoyne, in a speech before the House of Commons, adds: 41 He did more : he sent an aide-de-camp to conduct me to Albany, in order, as he expressed it, to procure better quarters than a stranger might be able to find. That gentleman conducted me to a very elegant house, and, to my great surprise, presented me to Mrs. Schuyler and family. In that house I remained dur ing my whole stay in Albany, with a table of more than twenty covers for me and my friends, and every other demonstration of hospitality." We turn now from the brilliant exploits at Saratoga to a sad and sober record, relieved only by episodes of heroism, sacrifice, and devotion. Washington, at the opening of the campaign, had not over seven or eight thousand men, while General Howe moved out of New York with more than double that number, all veterans and eager for battle. The last of May, Washington removed from his winter quarters at Morristown to a strong posi tion behind the Raritan at Middlebrook, in order to more care- July23t 7 7 Aug.25,j TRE CAMPAIGN IN PENNSYLVANIA. 227 fully watch General Howe, then at New Brunswick. It was yet uncertain where he would strike, though he evidently aimed at Philadelphia. In June he tried to cut off Sullivan at Princeton, but failing in that, manoeuvred to force Washington to a general engagement. The American Fabius was too wary, and so Howe turned back to Staten Island. The 5th of July he began to embark the army on his brother s fleet. Slow and pleasure-lov ing as ever, he kept the troops on shipboard in the sultry sun till the 23d, when he put out to sea. There was great doubt where the bolt would fall. Now there were rumors that he would enter the Delaware ; now that he had returned and ascended the Hud son ; and then that he had sailed for Charleston. Meantime, the army was moved to Germantown to await events. At last the news that the British were actually in the Chesapeake dispelled all doubt. The army was immediately set in motion. In order to over awe the disaffected, the troops were marched through Philadel phia, down Front and up Chestnut streets. The soldiers looked their best and the fifes and drums played merrily, but they could not hide their indifferent equipments and the fact that the finest uniform was a brown linen hunting-shirt. To make the army appear somewhat alike, each soldier wore in his hat a sprig of green. Washington took post at Wilmington, while troops of light horse and infantry were sent on to annoy the advance of the enemy, who were already landing at the head of the Elk River. The patriot cause looked almost hopeless. With the greatest efforts, Washington had collected only about eleven thousand five hundred men, while the English numbered, accord ing to returns in the British Department of State, nineteen thousand five hundred, besides officers. The contrast in the dis cipline and equipments of the two armies was yet more marked. Howe was within fifty-four miles of Philadelphia, with a level country before him, no strong positions for defence, and a popula tion largely royalist or indifferent. Yet Washington determined to hazard a battle before yielding the national capital. Considerable skirmishing now took place, during which occurred one of those wonderful instances of preservation so characteristic of Washington s career. " We had not lain long," says Major Ferguson, of the rifle corps, " when a rebel officer, remarkable by a huzzar dress, pressed toward our army, within a hundred yards of my right flank, not perceiving us. He was 228 THIRD YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [?7?7. followed by another, dressed in a dark green and blue, mounted on a bay horse, with a remarkable high cocked-hat. I ordered three good shots to steal near and fire at them ; but the idea dis gusting me, I recalled the order. The huzzar, in returning, made a circuit, but the other passed within a hundred yards of us, upon which I advanced from the wood toward him. Upon my calling he stopped, but after looking at me he proceeded. I again drew his attention and made signs to him to stop, leveling my piece at him ; but he slowly cantered away. As I was within that dis tance at which, in the quickest firing, I could have lodged half a dozen balls in or about him before he was out of my reach, I had only to determine ; but it was not pleasant to fire at the back of an unoffending individual who was acquitting himself very coolly of his duty ; so I let him alone. The day after, I had been telling this story to some wounded officers who lay in the same room with me, when one of the surgeons, who had been dressing the wounded rebel officers, came in and told us that they had in formed him that General Washington was all the morning with the light troops, and only attended by a French officer in a huzzar dress, he himself dressed and mounted in every point as above described. I am not sorry that I did not know at the time who it was." Washington finally took position back of the Brandywine to defend the principal route to Philadelphia, which crosses at Chad s Ford ; while General Sullivan was stationed above to watch the fords and protect the right flank. Howe immediately made his arrangements to repeat the tactics of Long Island. Knyphausen and the Hessians were to make a feint of forcing a passage at Chad s Ford, while Cornwallis led the bulk of the army higher up the river. Washington, advised of the movement, de cided to cross the river himself and cut off Knyphausen s detach ment before Howe, who had gone on with Cornwallis, could return to his aid. Word was at once dispatched to Sullivan to move over the fords and keep Cornwallis busy. Unfortunately Sullivan was not informed of the progress of the enemy, and, relying upon insufficient information, disobeyed his orders and halted. Precious time was lost. The plan was abandoned, and before Sullivan could believe that Cornwallis had left Rennet Square, in front of Chad s Ford, he was actually, with thirteen thousand men, fairly across and on the heights near Birmingham Meeting-House, within two miles of his own right flank. Sulli- s< jpt- 7 M,] BATTLE OF BRANDYWINE. 22Q van now did what he could to remedy the terrible mistake ; but before he could get his men into position, the British were upon him with the bayonet. The raw militia hurled back charge after charge, but at length gave way and streamed across the fields toward the main body. Lafayette, struggling sword in hand to rally the fugitives, was shot through the leg by a musket ball, and was helped off by his aide-de-camp. Meantime, Washington had been waiting in anxious expecta tion. Suddenly a whig farmer, named Thomas Cheney, dashed into camp, his horse covered with foam, and informed him that while out reconnoitering up the river, he had suddenly come upon the enemy ; that they fired upon him, and he had only escaped by the swiftness of his horse. Washington, misled so often, doubted the intelligence, but the man exclaimed, " My life for it, you are mistaken. Put me under guard till you find my story true ! " Just then came word from Sullivan, and soon the booming of guns told that the news was only too correct. Putting himself at the head of a division of Pennsylvanians and Virginians, Washing ton hastened to the relief of the imperiled right. Greene, with one brigade, marched four miles in forty-two minutes. Opening his ranks to let the flying militia pass through, he closed them again to check the pursuers. At a narrow defile about a mile from Dilworth, which Washington had already selected, he took a stand. The British came in hot haste, expecting no opposition. But Greene held his ground obstinately. When night came on, he drew off his men at leisure. Wayne defended Chad s Ford against Knyphausen until the heavy cannonading, and finally the appearance of the British on his flank, warned him of his danger, when he retreated in good order. Lafayette gives a graphic picture of the scene along the road to Chester during the flight of the militia. Terror and confusion were everywhere ; fugitives, cannon, and wagons recklessly crowded along pell-mell, while, above all, in the rear sounded volleys of musketry and the roar of the guns. Amid the disorder and darkness, it was impossible to check the torrent. At the bridge in Chester, Lafayette placed a guard. Washington and the troops of Generals Greene, Wayne, Armstrong, and others here came up, and the wearied army found repose. The English had marched far, and the check by Greene was too decided to admit of any further pursuit. September i ith had been a sad day for the patriot cause. The 230 THIRD YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [Sept., L 17*77. American loss was about one thousand, the British half as great. The streets of Philadelphia were full of citizens anxiously listen ing to the sound of the cannonade. When news came of the American defeat, the whigs were in consternation. Many de serted their homes and fled, leaving all behind them. Congress that evening voted to adjourn to Lancaster, whence it afterward removed to York with all the archives of the government. In this time of general fear, one loves to linger on single instances of heroism. Among the names to be remembered is that of Hannah Irwin Israel, whose husband was a prisoner on board a British frigate in full sight of his own house. He had been heard to say that he would sooner drive his cat tle as a present to General MAP OF OPERATIONS IN NEW JERSEY AND PENNSYLVANIA American Routes. II ^ British Routes. 00... v P^N^I>ott 3J rrm-e _ Q*X Washington, than to receive for them thousands of dollars in British gold. As a retort, a detachment of soldiers was sent to his meadow to slaugh ter his cattle before his eyes. His spirited young wife, who was not yet out of her teens, saw the move ment, and with quick wit divined its cause. Taking with her a young boy, only eight years of age, she ran to the field, threw down the bars, and commenced to drive out the cattle. " Stop, or we shall shoot you ! " shouted the soldiers. " Fire away ! " was the only answer of the intrepid woman, intent on her determination. The balls fell thick and fast about her, but she carried her point, saved her property, and saw the foiled enemy go empty-handed back to their ship. Her husband was tried, and Sep i77 2 " 20 ] TIIE MASSACRE AT PAOLI. 231 only saved his life by giving the Masonic sign to the presiding officer, who, he had discovered, was a member of the order. At this magical signal everything was changed. The patriot, who had been served with the meanest of food and whose bed was a coil of ropes on the open deck, was now sent to his home, in a splendid barge, loaded with presents for his heroic wife, while the tory witnesses who had caused his arrest, received a reprimand for wishing harm to an honorable man. Washington was in nowise discouraged by the defeat of Brandywine. The next day he moved to Germantown, where he gave his men only a day s rest, and then recrossed the Schuyl- kill, and taking the Lancaster road, went out to meet Howe again, if need be, on the same field. The two armies came in sight near the Warren tavern, twenty miles from Philadelphia. The ad vanced posts had begun to skirmish, and a battle seemed immi nent, when a deluging rain, which lasted for twenty-four hours, checked all movements. The Americans had no tents or blankets^ their guns became wet, and finally it was discovered that the cartridge-boxes were so poorly made that they admitted the water, and the ammunition was spoiled. There were few bayonets* and retreat was the only resource. All day and part of the next night, the army, a thousand of the men barefoot, marched, under a pelting rain, over muddy roads, to Warwick furnace, where sup plies were secured. Moving thence to defend the passage of the Schuylkill, Wayne was left to hang on the enemy s rear and cut off the baggage. He concealed his command deep in the wood, and supposed no one knew of his whereabouts, while his spies watched the British camp. Unfortunately, he was surrounded by tories, who kept Howe perfectly informed of all his movements. Grey, known as the " no-flint " general, because he usually ordered his men to re move the flints from their muskets when about to make an attack^ prepared with a strong detachment to surprise him. On the night of September 2oth, Wayne, expecting reinforcements, had ordered his troops to lie on their arms. But, in the dark and rain, Grey stealthily approached the camp, cutting down the pickets on the way. The alarm was given and Wayne drew up his men, unfor tunately, in front of their fires. By the light, the enemy saw dis tinctly where to strike. Suddenly the British dashed out of the shade of the forest, and the bayonet made short work. Three hundred of the patriots were killed, w r ounded, or captured, many 232 THIRD YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [ Sep i77 2 7?" 6i being mercilessly butchered after they had surrendered. The British lost only seven men. Wayne, by his presence of mind, saved the rest of his detachment and rejoined Washington. The Paoli massacre, as it was called, left open the way to Philadelphia. By a feigned movement toward Reading, as if to seize the stores at that point, Howe decoyed Washington to defend the upper fords of the Schuylkill, while he turned in the night, and, crossing below, struck boldly between Philadelphia and the American army. Howe en tered the city on the 26th. The army was put into winter-quar- PAOLI MONUMENT. ters there and Sit Gcrmantown. As the British general, with his brilliant staff and escort, marched into Philadelphia, followed by a long train of the choicest troops in the army grenadiers, light- dragoons, and artillerymen with shining brass pieces, all in holiday array they presented an imposing spectacle. Conquerors they proclaimed themselves in every motion; stepping proudly to the swelling music of GOD SAVE THE KING, and " presenting," says Irving, " with their scarlet uniforms, their glittering arms and flaunting feathers, a striking contrast to the poor patriot troops, who had recently passed through the same streets, weary and wayworn, and happy if they could cover their raggedness with a brown linen hunting-frock, and decorate their caps with a sprig of evergreen." Washington s campaign seemed a failure. Really, however, it was a success. By delaying Howe a month in marching little over fifty miles, he had rendered Saratoga possible. Howe was to have taken the city and then sent reinforcements to the north. By the time he had accomplished his task, the fate of Burgoyne was virtually decided. Moreover, the capture of the national capital proved not as great a piece of good fortune as was antici pated. The dissipation of the winter sadly demoralized the army, so that Franklin wittily said, " Howe had not taken Philadelphia so much as Philadelphia had taken Howe." Washington would not let the enemies of his country rest in peace. A few weeks after they had nestled down in their snug quarters, he made arrangements for a surprise upon their encamp- $77 4 ] BATTLE OF GERMANTOWN. 233 ment at Germantown. Howe, having sent off a detachment against the forts along the Delaware, and another to convey some provisions, gave Washington just the opportunity he wanted. In the evening of October 3d, the American army set out from its encampment at Skippack Creek upon this hazardous expedition. The troops moved in four columns by as many roads. Two of these were to attack the enemy in front and one on each flank. They were to time their march of fourteen miles so as to reach the neighborhood early enough to give the men a short rest, and then at daybreak to fall simultaneously upon the British camp. The column, consisting of Sullivan s and Wayne s divisions, and Conway s brigade, which was to enter Germantown by the Chestnut Hill road and thence through the principal street of the village, found the alarm had been given by the patrols, and the picket on Mount Airy was under arms. It was, however, soon driven back upon a battalion of light infantry and the fortieth regiment, under the veteran Colonel Musgrave. A sharp skir mish followed. Wayne s men were not to be stopped. They re membered the terrible night of September 2Oth, and their hearts were steeled and their arms nerved. It was now their turn to use the bayonet, and the officers could not hold them back, even when the time for mercy came. They raised the terrible cry of "Revenge! Revenge! Have at the blood - hounds !" Howe, springing from his bed, and rushing in among the fugitives, shouted, " For shame ! I never saw you retreat before ! It is only a scouting party ! " But the rattling grape-shot told a more serious story, and he rushed off to prepare for a battle. In Phila delphia, Cornwallis heard the roar of the guns and hastened re inforcements to the rescue. Musgrave would not flee, but threw himself with six companies into the large stone mansion of Justice Chew, barricaded the doors and windows, and opened fire upon the pursuing troops. Up to this point all went well for the patriot cause. Now came a turn in the tide. Instead of watching this little fortress with a detachment, the troops stopped to capture it, General Knox declaring that it was against every rule of war to leave a fort in the rear. So much for red tape. Smith, a gallant Virginian, advanced, bearing a flag with a summons to surrender. He was fired upon and mortally wounded. Cannon were brought to bear, but proved too light. Attempts were made to set fire to the house, but in vain. After a precious half-hour was wasted, 234 THIRD YEAR -OF THE REVOLUTION. roct. 4, L 1777. the column moved on, leaving a regiment to guard the place. During the attack, the troops had become separated. A dense fog made it impossible to recognize one another, and parties fre quently exchanged shots before they found out their mistake. The two columns of militia which were to attack the flanks never fired a shot. Greene, who had nearly two-thirds of the army, was to strike the English right wing near the market-place, but being three-quarters of an hour late, the British were ready to BATTLE OF GERMANTOWN ATTACK ON CHEW S HOUSE. receive him, and his attack proved a failure. Williams s regi ment of Virginians pushed gallantly forward, and took prisoners a large party of the British, but raising a shout brought a larger force upon them through the fog, and they were compelled to surrender. Woodford s brigade opened a cannonade on Chew s house. Wayne s men had now pushed down the street; but, alarmed by this firing and supposing the British had gained their rear and cut them off from camp, they became panic-stricken. In their retreat they came upon Stephen s brigade, where, being mistaken for the enemy, they caused a fresh flurry among these troops. Sullivan s men had exhausted their ammunition, when they were startled by the cry of a light-horseman that they were surrounded. Washington, who was in the very front of the battle and under the hottest fire, now gave the order to retreat. It was sent to every detachment, and the men crept off in the fog as Jan.-^prii.j EVENTS ABOUT NEW YORK. 235 silently as they came. Pulaski with his cavalry gallantly covered the movement. Not a cannon was left behind. The British lost about six hundred and the patriots one thousand, including General Nash and other valuable officers. The battle was counted as an American defeat ; yet it greatly encouraged the patriots. They afterward learned that they had come off in the very moment of victory ; that Howe was on the point of retreating, and that Chester had been already named as the place of rendezvous. The British officers could but respect a general who displayed so much daring, and whose plans would have certainly ended in the utter route of their army, had it not been for events over which he could have no control. This battle also had an excellent effect in Europe. Count Vergennes said to the American commissioners in Paris that " Nothing struck him so much as General Washington s advancing and giving battle to General Howe. To bring an army raised within a year to this, promises everything." While New Jersey had been the centre of interest, some events had occurred at the northward worth recording. When Wash ington was hurrying his weary men from Princeton, he sent a note to General Heath, then in command of the American troops collected in the Highlands, to make a demonstration upon New York, hoping thereby to induce the enemy to withdraw troops from Jersey for the defence of that city. Heath accordingly ad vanced to King s Bridge, and sent a bombastic summons to Fort Independence, threatening to put everybody to the sword who did not surrender within twenty minutes. After a few days skirmishing, learning of troops up the Sound which might get in his rear, he withdrew, the laughing-stock of both armies. In March, General Howe, with a fleet of ten sail, ascended the Hudson to Peekskill, and, landing, set fire to a large quantity of army stores collected at that place. General McDougal, hav ing only two hundred and fifty men, could muster little defence against the overwhelming force of the enemy. Late in April, Governor Tryon, with about two thousand men, left New York to destroy the military supplies at Danbury, Con necticut. He landed at the foot of Compo Hill, near the mouth of the Saugatuck River. The expedition was a surprise and met with no resistance. At Bethel, on the way, an amusing incident occurred. One Luther Holcomb, in order to lengthen the time as much as possible for the benefit of the people of Danbury, rode 236 THIRD YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. to the top of a hill, over which the British were about to make their way, and, waving his hat, turned to an imaginary host in his rear, shouting, " Halt the whole universe ! break off into king doms ! " Tryon immediately checked his army, arranged his cannon so as to sweep the advancing enemy, and sent out recon- noitering parties. Holcomb, content with having stopped the whole army by a bit of rodomontade, put spurs to his horse and retreated to Danbury, leaving the duped general to digest the joke as amiably as possible. Guided by two tories of Danbury, Tryon reached that place and destroyed the stores. The night was passed in drinking and carousing. At dawn, the torch was set to all the houses except those of the tories, and, amid the flames of the burning town, the troops started on their return. Then ensued a scene like that of Lexington and Concord two years before. The militia were fast gathering from the neighbor ing villages. Tryon took a new route, hoping to dodge his foes, but they were not to be thrown off. General Wooster, then a veteran of near seventy, with a little force of two hundred, hung on the rear. While encouraging his men he was mortally wounded. Generals Arnold and Silliman hurried to Ridgefield, and, throwing up a barricade across the road, with five hundred men awaited the advance of two thousand. They held their post for a quarter of an hour, when it was outflanked. A whole platoon fired upon Arnold at a distance of thirty yards. His horse fell, and a tory rushed up, calling upon him to surrender. " Not yet/* exclaimed Arnold, as he sprang to his feet, drew a pistol, and shot the man dead. Then, springing toward a swamp, under a shower of bullets, he escaped unharmed, and was soon off mustering the militia on the road in advance of the British. Tryon remained here all night, and the next day renewed his perilous journey. The patriots, from behind stone walls and buildings, continually annoyed the march. Lamb, with artillery and volunteers from New Haven, was at the Saugatuck bridge. Tryon avoided them by fording the river a mile above, and then, putting his men at full speed, ran for the hill of Compo. Some of the Continentals pushed across the bridge and struck them in flank; some kept along the west side and galled them with shot and ball, and some forded the stream and fired on the rear-guard. Arnold led on the attack until his horse was dis abled, and seamen from the fleet, coming to the rescue, checked the Americans in their eager pursuit. Tryon s wearied party July IO,-] 1777. J CAPTURE OF GENERAL PRESCOTT. 237 now embarked, harassed to the very last by Lamb s artillery. In this useless exploit the British lost two hundred men, and, by their savage ferocity, kindled everywhere a hatred that burned long after peace had come. Congress voted Arnold a capari soned horse, as a token of approbation for his gallant conduct. The next month Colonel Meigs avenged the loss at Danbury. Embarking in whale-boats at Guilford about two hundred militia men, he crossed the Sound on the night of May 23d, and reaching Sag Harbor at day break, burned there a British vessel of half a do^en guns and several loaded transports, destroyed the stores, and cap tured ninety prisoners, escap ing without the loss of a man. For this brilliant feat Congress presented him a sword. In July, Lieutenant-Colonel Barton laid a plan to capture General Prescott, in command of the British forces in Rhode CAPTURE OF GENERAL PRESCOTT. 238 THIRD YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [rrf: Island, who was quartered at a lonely farm-house near Newport. Taking about forty militia in boats, Barton rowed across Narra- ganset Bay, through the English fleet, dexterously avoiding their vessels, and landed in a cove close by the general s quarters. Seizing the astonished sentinel who guarded his door, they entered the house, captured, and hurried off the half -dressed general. A soldier, escaping from the house, gave the alarm, but the laughing guard assured him he had seen a ghost. They soon, however, found it to be no jesting matter, and vainly pur sued the exultant Barton ; for, while they were searching the sand on the shore for the foot-prints of his party, he passed under the stern of the English guard-ship and escaped to Providence. " You have made a bold push to-night," said Prescott as they landed. " We have done as well as we could," replied Barton. He received a sword from Congress and was also promoted to a colonelcy. Unfortunately, Lee was the only officer in Howe s possession with the same rank as Prescott, and they were exchanged. It proved no gain to the patriot cause, although at that time every body rejoiced that by this daring feat they had again secured the " palladium of their liberties." While Burgoyne was making his desperate adventure at the north, Clinton attempted a diversion from the south, as was ex pected at the beginning of the campaign. Putnam, commanding on the Hudson, in his easy good-nature had allowed his troops to become scattered, so that he had only two thousand men for the defence of the Highlands. Clinton made a feint on Fishkill, which led Putnam off on a wild-goose chase. George Clinton, governor of New York, however, saw the real point of danger, and hastened, with his brother and all the troops he could gather, to Forts Clinton and Montgomery. October 6th, the British landed and carried both forts by storm. The garrison made a desperate resistance, but, being overpowered by superior num bers, fled, and, favored by the gathering darkness, mostly escaped over the hills. The heavy iron chain and boom which had been put across the river to prevent the ascent of the British fleet was now useless. Two American frigates, sent down for the defence of the obstructions, were becalmed, and were fired to prevent their falling into the hands of the enemy. Fort Constitution being abandoned, the Hudson was opened to Albany. Clinton, however, took no advantage of the opportunity, but returned to }j}? ~\ BURNING OF KINGSTON, NEW YORK. 239 New York, leaving Burgoyne to his fate. Vaughan remained behind and led a marauding party as far up as Kingston (October 1 5th), burning and plundering that town and the houses of patriots along the river. If Clinton had gone on to Albany, Gates, then on the eve of success, would have been forced to retreat into New England, and Burgoyne s way would have been clear. As it was, this wanton, useless expedition only excited wide-spread indignation. A very amusing incident is told which occurred during this sally. Some Dutchmen were at work near a swampy flat, when suddenly the red-coats came in view. It was low water, and they fled across the flats toward Ponkhocken, as fast as their legs could carry them, not daring to look behind, lest, like Lot s wife, they might be detained. The summer haymakers had left a rake on the marsh meadow, and upon this one of the fugitives trod, the handle striking him in the back. Not doubting that a " Britisher " was close upon his heels, he stopped short, and, throwing up his hands imploringly, exclaimed, " O, mein Cot ! mein Cot ! I kivs up. Hoorah for King Shorge ! " Meantime, Governor Clinton had been trying to raise a force for the defence of Kingston. While he was encamped near New Windsor, collecting the scattered troops, one day about noon a horseman galloped in hot haste up to the sentinel on guard, and, in answer to his challenge, said, " I am a friend and wish to see General Clinton." He was admitted to the general s presence, but on entering betrayed an involuntary surprise, and muttering, " I am lost ! " was seen to hastily put something into his mouth and swallow it. Suspicion being thus excited, he was arrested and given a heavy dose of tartar emetic. This brought to light a silver bullet, which, however, the prisoner succeeded in again swallowing. He refused to repeat the dose, but was assured that resistance was useless, as, in case he persisted, he would be immediately hanged and a post-mortem examination effected. Having yielded, the bullet was at length secured. It was found to be hollow, and secreted within it was the following note, written two days before : "FORT MONTGOMERY, Oct. 8, 1777. " Nous y void, and nothing now between us and Gates. I sincerely hope this little success of ours may facilitate your operations. In answer to your letter of the 28th of September 240 THIRD YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. 1777. by C. C., I shall only say, I cannot presume to order or even advise, for reasons obvious. I heartily wish you success. " Faithfully yours, "H. CLINTON. " General Burgoyne" This established the guilt of the prisoner. The secret senger of Sir Henry Clinton had supposed the Americans utterly routed in the Highlands ; and the persistent contempt of the British, who never granted the honor of a military title to any American officer addressing the commander -in -chief himself only as Mr. Washington so mis led him that when he heard of his proximity to General Clinton, he supposed himself of course among his own friends. He was tried, condemned, and hanged as a spy while the flames of burning Eso- pus, fired by Vaughan s maraud- mes- to be ^8B~=38t EXECUTION OF A SPY AT KINGSTON, NEW YORK. ing party, streamed up the distant sky, in full sight of the apple-tree on which he ignominiously swung. In order to prevent the English fleet from ascending the Delaware, that river had been carefully forti fied. A few miles below Philadelphia, a strong redoubt, called Fort Mifflin, had been erected, and on the New Jersey shore, at Red Bank, another, named Fort Mercer. The principal channel, lying between these fortifications, had been obstructed by strong chevaux 0( J777, 2 ] ATTACK ON FORT MERCER. 241 de frise, or frames made of heavy timbers, armed with spikes and filled with stone, so as to keep them in their place. Under the protection of the guns were moored floating batteries, galleys, and fire-ships. Further down the river, at Billingsport, was another fort with similar obstructions ; these, however, were captured by an English detachment soon after the battle of Brandywine, and, by the middle of October, several vessels broke a passage through the obstacles in the channel. The upper forts remained, and it was determined to defend them to the last. Colonel Greene was in command at Fort Mercer, with four hundred Rhode Island Continentals, having Captain Mauduit Duplessis, a brave French engineer officer, to direct the artillery. Fort Mifflin was garrisoned by Lieutenant-Colonel Smith, and about the same number of Maryland troops of the line. The fleet was under Commodore Hazlewood. Howe saw that he must open up communications with his ships, or his position in Philadelphia would become untenable from the difficulty of secur ing supplies. On the morning of the 226. of October, the little garrison at Fort Mercer was startled by the appearance on the edge of the woods, within cannon-shot, of a body of Hessians, twelve hun dred strong, under Count Donop. Soon an officer with a flag and a drummer approached and pompously demanded a surrender " The king of England orders his rebellious subjects to lay down their arms, and they are warned that if they stand the battle no quarter will be given." Greene at once replied, " We ask no quar ter, nor will we give any." Hurried preparations were made for defence. About five o clock the enemy advanced to the assault in columns, headed by a captain, with the carpenters and their axes, and a hundred men carrying fascines for filling the ditches. The outworks were unfinished, and the garrison made little attempt to defend them. The Hessians, elated by the easy victory, entered at two points, and rushed forward with the drum " beating a lively march." Not a man was to be seen, and on the north side some even reached the earthworks, when a terrible musketry fire burst forth. At the same time their flanks were raked with grape-shot from a battery in the angle of the embankment, and chain-shot from a couple of galleys concealed behind the bushes on the bank. The Hessians, however, pressed ahead. Under Donop at the south side they broke through the abattis, filled the ditch, and began to ascend the rampart. But those who reached 16 242 THIRD YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. Im7 2 the top were struck down by spear and bayonet. Donop fell mortally wounded. The rest were forced to fall back to the pro tection of the forest. In this brief hour of slaughter, the British lost four hundred men and the Americans only thirty-eight. While Mauduit was inspecting the works after the assault was repulsed, he heard some one calling out, " Whoever you are, draw me hence." It proved to be Count Donop, who, mortally wounded, was wedged in among the bodies of the slain. He lived three days afterward, receiving every possible comfort from Mau duit, who personally attended him until his death. " It is finish ing a noble career early," he said to his kind companion. " I die the victim of my ambition and of the avarice of my king ; but, dying in the arms of honor, I have no regrets." Thus perished this brave man, at the age of thirty-seven. He was buried near the fort he vainly sought to capture. A rough boulder marks the spot. His bones have been carried off by relic-hunters, and his skull is said to be in the hands of a New Jersey physician. The British fleet ascended the river to take part in the contest. The next day they opened a heavy cannonade on Fort Mifflin. The reply from fort and fleet was too severe, and they were forced to drop down the stream. Two frigates, the Augusta and the Merlin, grounded. The former was blown up by red-hot shot from the American guns, several of her officers and crew perishing in the explosion ; the latter was set on fire and aban doned by her crew. During the attack, one old lady remained in her house on the bank of the river, answering urgent entreaties to flee with " God s arm is strong, and will protect me ; I may do good by staying." She was left to her fate, and while the balls whizzed and rattled, battering against the brick walls of her dwelling, like hailstones in a tempest, the steady hum of her spinning-wheel was undisturbed and unbroken. At length a twelve-pounder came booming through the side of the house, sundering partitions with a terrific crash, and landing in a wall near the plucky spinner. Taking her wheel, she now retreated to the cellar, where she con tinued her industry till the battle was over. She then put her spinning aside, and devoted herself to the suffering wounded who were brought into her house. She cared for all alike, but admin istered a stirring rebuke to the mercenary Hessians, while, at the same time, she tenderly dressed their wounds. The name of this brave woman was Anna Whitall, a Quakeress. NOV |777, 20> ] CAPTURE OF MERCER AND RED BANK. 243 The British now adopted surer measures for the reduction of the forts. Heavy works were erected on the Pennsylvania shore and on Province Island at a distance of five hundred yards. In all, fourteen redoubts manned with heavy artillery, a floating bat tery of twenty-two guns at forty yards, and a fleet carrying three hundred and thirty -six guns, were brought to bear upon this devoted garrison. From the loth to the i5th, they kept up an unbroken rain of bomb and shot. Smith was wounded and left the fort ; the next in rank being also disabled, Major Thayer of Rhode Island volunteered for the command. On the last day, other vessels worked up into the narrow channel next the shore, where they could throw in hand-grenades. About ten o clock, a bugle-note gave the signal, and the fire was renewed with redoubled energy. The only two serviceable guns were dis mounted. The yard-arms of the ships overlooked the earth works, so that sharp-shooters perched in the tops picked off every man who showed himself upon the platforms. In the night, the remainder of the garrison, nearly two hundred and fifty having been killed or wounded, passed over to Red Bank. When the British entered the deserted works the next morning, they found nearly every cannon stained with the blood of its gallant de fenders. Howe, having been heavily reinforced from New York, sent Cornwallis with a superior body of troops along the left shore of the Delaware. Red Bank was evacuated, part of the American vessels escaping during a dark night up to Burlington, and the rest being destroyed. The British leveled the fortifications, removed a part of the obstructions, and soon had complete con trol of the river. Philadelphia was fortified, and Howe s position .became secure. Winter had come, but Washington was unwilling to send his men to York, Lancaster, or Carlisle, the nearest towns where they could be comfortably housed, as that would leave a large and fertile country open to the incursions of the enemy. So he still kept his famishing and suffering army in the field. On the night of December 4th, Howe quietly left Philadelphia with four teen thousand men, hoping to surprise Washington and " drive the Federal army over the Blue Mountains." To his astonish ment, he found Washington occupying a strong position in wooded heights at Whitemarsh, all ready to receive him. For several days he skirmished about, trying to draw Washington 244 THIRD YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [^i? ??] 8 out of his camp, but finding this impossible, and not daring to attack him in his chosen position, during the night of the 8th he decamped and hastened back to Philadelphia, making such good time that the next day none but the American light-horse could overtake his rear-guard. The secret of his failure may be easily told. The British adjutant-general had fixed upon a back-chamber in the house of William and Lydia Darrah, as a convenient place for private con ference ; and here he often met one or more officers in close consultation. One day he requested Lydia to prepare the room with fire and candles, as he should need it that evening, adding in an impressive voice, " Be sure that your family are all in bed at an early hour." His manner excited her curiosity, and after they had entered and locked themselves in their room, she quietly arose, and in her stocking-feet stole to the door. Putting her ear to the keyhole, she distinctly heard an order read for an attack on Washington s troops the next night. Lydia was a true patriot, and this order banished sleep from her eyes. In the early dawn she aAvoke her husband and informed him that she was obliged to go to Frankford that morning for flour. As the Philadelphians were chiefly dependent on the Frankford mills, this was a frequent occurrence, and a passport was readily furnished by General Howe, at whose headquarters she stopped on her way out of the city. She walked the five miles over the frozen snow that cold December morning at her utmost speed, and, halting at the mill only long enough to leave her bag, pressed rapidly on toward the American lines. Meeting Lieutenant-Colonel Craig, whom Washington had sent out as a scout, she relieved her mind of its. burden. Hastening back to the mill, she shouldered her bag of flour and returned home without exciting suspicion. On the return of the discomfited troops, the adjutant-general called her to his room and proceeded to question her. " Lydia, were any of your family up on the night I received company here ? " " No," she promptly replied, " they all retired at eight o clock," which was true. " It is very strange," he pursued ; " you, I know, were asleep, for I knocked at your door three times before you heard me when we left the house." This also was true, in so far as his knocking was concerned ; for the subtle Lydia had too much at stake to appear awake at that moment, and had feigned the heaviest of slumber. " It is certain we were betrayed, yet how I cannot imagine," he concluded, " unless the walls of the De ?777 211 ] THE CAMP AT VALLEY FORGE. 245 house tell tales." His meek listener left him to his own conjec tures, and respectfully retired. Such was the condition of the soldiers and the severity of the season, that it became absolutely necessary to provide them with some shelter. Washington, after careful deliberation, selected Valley Forge, a secluded spot about twenty miles from Phila delphia. Here he would be able to keep watch of the enemy and protect the people from incursions. December nth, the army set out on its painful march of eight days. Reaching their destination, the men had yet to build their own houses. The i8th was ob served as a " day of thanksgiving and praise," says the record. It must have been truly a patient heart that, in that extremity, could have felt any response to such a recommendation of Congress. The next day, the troops began to cut down trees and erect log-houses over the sloping hill-sides. The huts were each four teen feet by sixteen ; the interstices were filled with clay ; the fire places were plastered with the same material ; and the roofs were covered with split planks, or thatched with boughs. These rude dwellings were arranged in regular streets, and within the Christ mas holidays the Valley took on quite the look of a military en campment. While this work was going briskly forward, Washington re ceived news that the enemy was making a sortie toward Chester. On orders being issued for the troops to be ready to march, the generals replied, " Fighting is preferable to starving." The men, already without bread for three and meat for two days, had muti nied. In this emergency, with his shivering, famishing men around him, Washington learned that the Legislature of Pennsylvania had remonstrated against his going into winter-quarters, instead of keeping the field. It manifested a cruel indifference, and he in dignantly wrote to the president of Congress : " Gentlemen repro bate the going into winter-quarters as much as if they thought the soldiers were made of stocks or stones, and equally insensible of cold and hunger. * * * I can assure these gentlemen, that it is a much easier, less distressing thing, to draw remonstrances in a comfortable room, by a good fireside, than to occupy a bleak hill, and sleep under frost and snow, without clothes or blankets. However, although they seem to have little feeling for the naked and distressed soldiers, I feel abundantly for them, and from my soul I pity their distresses, which it is neither in my power to relieve nor prevent." 246 THIRD YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. TDec., L.I777. This spirited rebuke did not still the clamor, and Washing ton was even advised to risk all and dash his little army to pieces by hurling it against the strong entrenchments of the English at Philadelphia, rather than endure longer the reproach of inactivity. WASHINGTON S HEADQUARTERS AT VALLEY FORGE. UNIVERSITY 7 CHAPTER V. FOURTH YEA& OF THE DEVOLUTION -1778. HE winter at Valley Forge was, in deed, the darkest period of all that " time which tried men s souls." The Continental paper- money was so depreciated in value that an officer s pay would not keep him in clothes. Many, having spent their entire for tunes in the war, were now com pelled to resign, in order to get a living. The men were encamped in cold, comfortless huts, with little food or clothing. Fre quently there was only one suit of clothes for two soldiers, which they would take turns in wearing. Barefooted, they left on the frozen ground their tracks in blood. Few had blankets. Num bers were compelled to sit by their fires all night. Their fuel they were compelled to carry on their backs from the woods where they cut it. Straw could not be obtained. Soldiers who were enfeebled by hunger and benumbed by cold, slept on the bare earth, and sickness followed such exposure. Within three weeks, two thousand men were rendered unfit for duty. With no change of clothing, no suitable food, and no medicines, death was the only relief. A distinguished foreign officer has related that at this time he was " walking one day with General Washington among the huts, when he heard many voices echoing through the open crevices between the logs, l No pay, no clothes, no provisions, no rum ! And when a miserable wretch was seen flitting from one hut to another, his nakedness was only covered by a dirty blanket." 248 FOURTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [ Jan., 1778. Amid this terrible suffering, the fires of patriotism burned brightly. Every effort was made to induce the suffering soldiers to desert and join the British army ; but few, however, proved false, and these were mainly foreigners. Washington felt that his cause was just, and inspired all around him with his sublime faith. One day during the winter, while Isaac Potts, at whose house Washington was quartered, was on his way up the creek, he heard a voice of prayer in the thicket near by. Softly follow ing its direction, he soon discovered the general upon his knees, his cheek wet with tears. Narrating this incident to his wife, he added with deep emotion, " If there is any one to whom the Lord will listen, it is George Washington, and under such a com mander our independence is certain/ In January, a raft made of kegs full of powder, and fitted with machinery to explode them upon striking any object, was floated down the river. One of the kegs burst opposite Philadelphia. The fleet which had been lying in the stream happened to have been drawn into the harbor that night, and so escaped injury. Great alarm was caused in the city by this singular device of the Yankees. The cannon were trained upon every strange object floating on the water, and for twenty-four hours thereafter no innocent chip even could get by without a shot. Judge Hopkin- son wrote the following comic ballad upon the circumstance. It was set to the tune of Yankee Doodle : THE BATTLE OF THE KEGS. " Gallants attend, and hear a friend Trill forth harmonious ditty ; Strange things I ll tell, which late befell In Philadelphia city. " Twas early day, as poets say, Just when the sun was rising, A soldier stood on log of wood, And saw a thing surprising. " As in amaze he stood to gaze, (The truth can t be denied, sir), He spied a score of kegs, or more, Come floating down the tide, sir. " A sailor, too, in jerkin blue, The strange appearance viewing, First wiped his eyes, in great surprise, Then said, Some mischiefs brewing. Jan., 1778 .] " BATTLE OF THE KEGS." " These kegs, I m told, the rebels hold, Packed up like pickled herring ; And they ve come down t attack the town In this new way of ferry ng. " The soldier flew, the sailor too, And, scared almost to death, sir, Wore out their shoes to spread the news, And ran till out of breath, sir. " Now up and down, throughout the town, Most frantic scenes were acted, And some ran here, and others there, Like men almost distracted. " Now, in a fright, Howe starts upright, Awaked by such a clatter ; He rubs both eyes, and boldly cries, * For God s sake, what s the matter? "At his bedside, he then espied Sir Erskine, at command, sir ; Upon one foot he had one boot, And t other in his hand, sir. " Arise ! arise ! Sir Erskine cries ; The rebels more s the pity Without a boat, are all afloat, And ranged before the city. " The motley crew, in vessels new, With Satan for their guide, sir, Pack d up in bags, or wooden kegs, Came driving down the tide, sir. " Therefore prepare for bloody war ; These kegs must all be routed ; Or surely we despised shall be, And British courage doubted. " The royal band now ready stand, All ranged in dread array, sir, With stomach stout to see it out, And make a bloody day, sir. " The cannons roar from shore to shore, The small-arms loud did rattle ; Since war began, I m sure no man E er saw so strange a battle. 249 25O FOURTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [^778. " The kegs, tis said, though strongly made Of rebel staves and hoops, sir, Could not oppose their powerful foes, The conq ring British troops, sir. " From morn to night these men of might Display d amazing courage, And when the sun was fairly down, Retired to sup their porridge. " A hundred men, with each a pen, Or more, upon my word, sir, It is most true, would be too few, Their valor to record, sir. " Such feats did they perform that day Against those wicked kegs, sir, That, years to come, if they get home, They ll make their boasts and brags, sir." Captain Henry Lee, afterward famous as " Light-horse Harry," first came into notice for his daring exploits during the advance of the British toward Philadelphia. He was the son of the " Low land beauty " who, in her early days, touched Washington s heart, though she gave her own to another. The commander-in-chief had a peculiar liking for this dashing young officer, and in the fall of 1779 ordered all Lee s letters to be marked "private," that they might come directly into his hands. On the night of January 2oth, an attempt was made to surprise the captain in his quar ters about six miles from Valley Forge. At daylight, he was awakened to find his house surrounded by two hundred British cavalry. Securing the doors, and placing his companions, seven in all, each at a window, he maintained such a steady fire that, after a contest of half an hour, the enemy withdrew. They then tried to capture his horses from the barn adjoining. Lee there upon dashed out with his men, exclaiming, " Fire away, here comes our infantry ; we shall have them all ! " The British, sup posing help was at hand, fled precipitately. Lee s men, quickly mounting their horses, pursued their late besiegers for a long distance. On the recommendation of Washington, the gallant captain received the rank of major, and was authorized to raise an independent partisan corps, afterward known through the war as " Lee s Legion." The story of the Revolution is incomplete unless a peep be taken behind the scenes, and some of the secret but unparal- Jan.,"! I778.J DEMORALIZATION OF THE PEOPLE. 251 leled difficulties experienced by the true heroes of the day be thoroughly understood. Valley Forge was only a part of the dark back-ground of the long struggle for Independence. It is a common idea that ours is a degenerate age ; that 1776 was a time of honor and honesty, of sincerity and devotion. To think this, is to undervalue the achievements of our Revolutionary sires, as well as to erect a false standard with which to compare the present. Whoever supposes that IN CAMl AT VALLEY FORGE. the spirit of union and of sacrifice was unanimous among even the great actors in the drama of Independence, utterly fails to comprehend the greatest obstacles to the successful prosecution of the war, and the ultimate Union of the States. The war, as it progressed, seemed to demoralize all classes in society. The pulpit, the press, and good men, sought in vain to stem the tide of evil. While the army was suffering so much in the cause of liberty, contractors became rich, and monopolists hoarded the very necessaries of life. Trade with the royal troops was opened on every side. Though the magazines at Valley Forge 252 FOURTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [1778. were empty, and meat was often not seen for a week at a time, the markets in Philadelphia were abundantly supplied. Washing ton, having received authority from Congress to seize provisions for the troops and issue scrip therefor, ordered the farmers within a radius of seventy miles to thresh out one-half of their grain by February ist, and the rest by March ist, under penalty of having it all seized as straw. The inhabitants refused, and, guns in hand, stood guard over their stacks and cattle, even burning what they could not sell, to prevent its falling into the hands of the famish ing patriot army. Men abandoned useful occupations to plunge into stock -jobbing, gambling, and other disreputable pursuits; counterfeited the public securities ; forged official signatures ; re fused to pay their honest debts, except in depreciated paper- money ; and fattened upon the common necessities. Love of country was declared to be an illusion. There were times when private or public faith appeared to be the exception. Washing ton, alarmed at this enemy in the rear this new peril which threatened the country wrote that " idleness, dissipation and extravagance seem to have laid fast hold of most ; speculation, peculation, and an insatiate thirst for riches have got the better of every other consideration and almost every order of men." At first the masses were enthusiastic ; but as the contest wore on, the slow friction of the struggle became irksome, and, in many quarters, apathy was almost universal. During the flight across New Jersey, not one hundred volunteers from that State rallied under the flag of their only defender. The Maryland militia, sent to Washington s aid just before the battle of Germantown, lost half its number by desertion. When Pennsylvania was overrun by the British, and the Federal capital in the hands of the enemy, there were only twelve hundred Pennsylvania militia in the army. Recruiting was slow ; very few enlistments were secured for three years, or during the war. Sabine says " that the price paid for a single recruit was sometimes as high as one thousand dollars, besides the bounty offered by Congress ; and that one hun dred and fifty dollars in specie was given for only five months service." The soldier might be pardoned for deserting the cause of a country that would neither pay him nor feed him ; but what should be thought of a people that, before the war, could import one and a half million dollars worth of tea annually, besides other luxuries, and yet allow the men who were fighting for its liberties to starve and freeze in this hour of peril ? 1778.] DEMORALIZATION IN THE ARMY. 253 Even in the army which was engaged in protecting the dearest rights of man, all were not patriots nor honest men. Whigs were plundered under the pretence of being tories. Parties of a dozen or twenty men at a time returned home, or took refuge in the newer settlements of the country. In 1781, one thousand men perjured themselves to escape from the service, taking advantage of an error in the date of their enlistment. Some joined the royalist regiments, and became spies, guides, and informers. Bounty-jumpers infested the ranks. Drunkenness and theft were by no means uncommon. A foreigner of rank dying at Washing ton s quarters, and being buried with his jewels and costly cloth ing, a guard was placed over his grave to prevent the soldiers from digging up his body for plunder. Nor were the officers always better than their men. There were those who used for their own gratification, money designed to pay the troops under their command : who violated their furloughs, and grossly neg lected their duty. Courts-martial were frequent, and long lists of the cashiered were from time to time forwarded to Congress. Washington declared that the officers sent him from one State were "not fit to be shoe-blacks/ and wrote to a certain governor that the officers from his State were " generally from the lowest class, and led their men into every kind of mischief." Many of the surgeons, too, he complained, were rascals, receiving bribes to grant discharges, and applying to their private use the luxuries designed for the sick. There were constant feuds among the officers for rank and position. " I am wearied to death," wrote John Adams in 1777, " by the wrangles between military officers, high and low. They quarrel like cats and dogs." Members of Congress lost heart. Many of the strong men stayed at home and weaklings took their place. For some time only twenty-one members were present. A bitter opposition to Washington was developed, and while the demands upon him as commander-in-chief were as exacting as ever, his recommenda tions and well-known opinions were openly thwarted or quietly ignored. Arnold was the oldest brigadier-general, and, in the opinion of Washington, there was " no more active, spirited, or sensible officer"; yet he was passed over in promotion. Stark, than whom none was braver, was also slighted, and he retired to his plow, and remained at home, until he came to Bennington to show how a victory could be won with raw militia. Gates was appointed adjutant-general without consulting Washington as to 254 FOURTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [1778. whom he desired for chief of his staff. The commissary depart ment was reorganized against Washington s expressed wishes. Colonel Trumbull, an efficient commissary-general, at once re signed. Henceforth the bad working of that department caused continual delays and disasters. Mifflin, the quartermaster- general, was disgracefully unmindful of his duties. Washington never could get a stock of provisions on hand for any movement that he contemplated. Indeed, it is said that during the dreary march to Valley Forge, when the shivering troops left lines of red behind them from their bruised and bleeding feet, that " hogsheads of shoes, stockings, and clothing were lying at dif ferent places on the roads and in the woods, perishing for want of teams, or of money to pay the teamsters." Officers who were jealous of Washington found men in the national council to listen to and even sympathize with them in their complaints. At first, General Charles Lee was considered a rival of Washington, and the victory which others achieved for him at Charleston, was contrasted with the disastrous defeat on Long Island. Then Gates was brought to the front, and Saratoga was put by the side of Brandywine to Washington s disadvan tage. Indeed, Gates, after the surrender of Burgoyne, did not report to the head of the army, as courtesy and military usage demanded, but direct to Congress, Washington only receiving tidings of the event through hearsay and unofficial letters. Had Gates dispatched his army at once to Pennsylvania after the sur render, as Washington desired and earnestly entreated, Howe might have been driven from Philadelphia, and the same fall, perhaps, his whole force captured, and Saratoga re-enacted at the Quaker city. Yet Congress, influenced, doubtless, by the advice of jealous officials, forbade Washington to detach any troops from the northern army without consulting General Gates and the governor of New York. It was only with the greatest difficulty and by finally sending his favorite aid, Alexander Hamilton, with peremptory orders from the commander-in-chief, that he secured reinforcements either from Gates or from Putnam. At last a cabal was organized to displace Washington from his post and elevate Gates in his stead. Chief in this movement was General Conway, a wily, unprincipled intriguer. Pennsylvania sent a remonstrance to Congress against the measures of Wash ington. Members from Massachusetts re-echoed their disappro bation. While the patriot army was marking out the path of 1778.] INTRIGUES AGAINST WASHINGTON. 255 liberty with blood-stained feet, John Adams could write : " I wish the Continental army would prove that anything can be done. I am weary with so much insipidity." Samuel Adams, who was still more impatient, declared : " I have always been so very wrong-headed as not to be over-well pleased with what is called the Fabian war in America." Benjamin Rush, in a similar strain, affirmed that " a Gates, a Lee, and a Conway in a few weeks could render the army an irresistible body of men." In October, 1777, a board of war was created to have the general direction of military affairs. Gates became its president. He was urged to hasten on and save the country. Conway was made inspector-general, and his office declared independent of the commander -in -chief. By the advice of the board, an ex pedition to Canada was planned, and, in order to detach Lafayette from Washington, to whom he clung with a chivalrous devo tion, he was appointed to the command. With the quick ap prehension of a loving heart, he detected the animus of the cabal. By the advice of Washington, however, he accepted the post. Proceeding to Yorktown, he found Gates at table, and was at once invited to join the repast. Toasts were given, and drunk in full glasses, according to the custom of the day. The marquis noticed a significant omission, and so offered as a sentiment, " Our commander-in-chief." It was drunk in silence. Washing ton did all he could to fit out the expedition, but no one else aided, and Lafayette, indignant and disgusted at the failure of those who had promised him so much, returned to his friend and adviser. Washington was aware of these intrigues to remove him, but in perfect equipoise of mind and temper, with a patriotism that no disappointment or treachery could chill, and a noble superiority to all which affected only his personal reputation, he MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 256 FOURTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [, F 7 e 7 b wrote to Patrick Henry these magnificent words : " IF THE CAUSE IS ADVANCED, INDIFFERENT IS IT TO ME WHERE OR IN WHAT QUARTER IT HAPPENS." Such generosity and devotion could but triumph at last. The army and most of the best men of the country implicitly trusted Washington. Their indignation toward his enemies was unbounded. The whole movement finally recoiled on the heads of its instigators. Congress began to perceive its error. The cabal lost its power. Neither Con- way nor Samuel Adams dared to show himself among the sol diers. The office of inspector was taken from the former, and given to Baron Steuben. At the last, however, Conway was the only one of the in triguers magnanimous enough to confess his fault. General Cadwallader, who was Washington s devoted friend, was so in censed at his attempt to injure the commander-in-chief that he challenged him to personal combat. Conway, being wounded, mortally, as he believed, wrote the following letter to General Washington : " Sir : I find myself just able to hold my pen during a few minutes, and take this opportunity of expressing my sincere grief for having done, written, or said anything disagree able to your excellency. My career will soon be over ; therefore, justice and truth prompt me to declare my last sentiments. You are, in my eyes, the great and good man. May you long enjoy the love, esteem, and veneration of these States, whose liberties you have asserted by your virtues." Washington, too great to harbor resentment, said, as he closed the epistle, " Poor Conway ! He never could have intended much wrong ; there is nothing to forgive." The particulars of this duel, as related in Garden s Anecdotes of the Revolution, so well illustrate the manner of conducting those affairs that they appear worthy of record. They show, says the narrator, that " though imperious circumstances may compel men of nice feeling to meet, the dictates of honor may be satisfied without the smallest deviation from the most rigid rules of polite ness. When arrived at the appointed rendezvous, General Cad wallader accompanied by General Dickinson of Pennsylvania, and General Conway by Colonel Morgan of Princeton, it was agreed by the seconds that on the word being given, the principals might fire in their own time, and at discretion, either by an off hand shot, or by taking a deliberate aim. The parties having de clared themselves ready, the word was given to proceed. Gen- F ,778 5 ] ARRIVAL OF BARON STEUBEN. 257 eral Conway immediately raised his pistol and fired with great composure, but without effect. General Cadwallader was about to do so, when a sudden gust of wind occurring, he kept his pistol down and remained tranquil. Why do you not fire, General Cadwallader? exclaimed Conway. Because/ replied General Cadwallader, we came not here to trifle. Let the gale pass and I shall act my part. You shall have a fair chance of performing it well, rejoined Conway, and immediately presented a full front. General Cadwallader fired, and his ball entering the mouth of his antagonist, he fell directly forward on his face. Colonel Morgan, running to his assistance, found the blood spouting from behind his neck, and lifting up the club of his hair, saw the ball drop from it. It had passed through his head, greatly to the derangement of his tongue and teeth, but did not inflict a mortal wound. As soon as the blood was sufficiently washed away to allow him to speak, General Conway, turning to his opponent, said, good- humoredly, * You fire, general, with much deliberation, and cer tainly with a great deal of effect. The parties then retired free from all resentment." Early in February, there arrived in camp at Valley Forge, Baron Steuben, a veteran of the Seven Years War under Fred erick the Great. His advent was hailed with enthusiasm. The raw militia troops presented a sorry appearance to this able dis ciplinarian, accustomed to the exact order of the Prussian army ; but he had sense to see what was needed, and to adapt his methods to the peculiar condition of the country. Soon the whole army was under drill, Steuben personally supervising every detail, even to the examination of each soldier s musket and accoutrements. His ignorance of the language was a sore worry and embarrass ment to him, especially when he sought to explain any difficult manoeuvre to his raw learners. " The men blundered in their exercise ; the baron blundered in his English ; his French and German were of no avail ; he lost his temper, which was rather warm ; swore in all three languages at once, which made the matter worse," and was in an agony of despair until a New York officer, who spoke French, stepped forward and offered his ser vices as interpreter. " Had I seen an angel from heaven," records the relieved Prussian, " I could not have been more rejoiced." Under his skillful discipline, the army, officers as well as men, soon showed marked signs of improvement. Baron Steuben had brought over with him a superior French 258 FOURTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. l^lij s. cook to serve in the camp. This personage was horrified to find no utensils or conveniences for preparing the choice dishes on which he longed to show his skill. He applied to one of the men for information. " We cook our meat," was the reply, " by hang ing it up by a string, and turning it before a good fire till suffi ciently roasted." The poor cook, appalled at such a state of affairs, received the daily rations of beef and bread with the hope less air of a martyr. He loved his master, and, with many shrugs and sighs and some oaths, tried to accommodate himself to the trying situation ; but at last his patience was exhausted, and he sought the baron s presence. " Under happier circumstances, mon General" he said, "it would be my ambition to serve you; but here I have no chance to show my talents, and my honor obliges me to spare you my expense, since your wagoner is just as able to turn the string as I am" Baron Steuben afterward told this story with great effect to a company which expressed some surprise at the resignation of Robert Morris as government finan cier. " Believe me, gentlemen," said the baron, " the treasury of America is just as empty as was my kitchen at Valley Forge ; and Mr. Morris wisely retires, thinking it of very little consequence who turns the string" On March 2d, General Greene was appointed Quartermaster- General. He accepted the position for a year without compensa tion. His efficient measures soon changed the condition of affairs. Provisions began to appear in camp. Even " Grim-visaged War," when well fed, wore a smile. Ladies, too, lent their charming presence. The little parlor of Mrs. Greene, who spoke French, quickly became a favorite resort for foreign officers, where her wit and graceful tact made her a reigning queen. Mrs. Washing ton also came to spend the winter, and brighten the anxious life of her husband. At the little soirees "there was tea or coffee, and pleasant conversation always, and music often; no -one who had a good voice being allowed to refuse a song." The courtly Morris and the brilliant Reed were there ; and Charles Carroll, who was to outlive them nearly all; and Knox, whom Greene loved as a brother ; the loved and trusted Lafayette ; the gener ous Steuben; and the stately De Kalb, who, as the soldier of Louis XV., had served against Steuben and his royal master Frederick, in the Seven Years War ; the dignified Sullivan and the gallant "Mad Anthony" Wayne; and a host of others who forgot for a while the horrors and hardships of a soldier s life in May 2-2O.-1 1778. J ALLIANCE WITH FRANCE. 259 LOUIS XVI., MARIE ANTOINETTE, AND THE DAUPHIN. the delightful intercourse of friendship. Gates was transferred to the northern department again, and made subject to Washing ton s orders. The capture of Burgoyne giving confidence to France, and the queen, Marie Antoinette, being our hearty ally, Louis XVI. was finally persuaded to acknowledge the independence of the United States and to make common cause with the Americans. May 2d, a messenger ar rived in this country with the glad news. Four days after, there was a fete at Valley Forge, and a salute was fired in honor of Louis XVI. The disaster to Burgoyne, and the French Alliance, produced a great effect in England. There was a loud cry to put an end to the useless contest. The minority in parliament, op posed to the government, again raised its warning 1 voice. Fox wished to have the colonies declared free at once. Lord North s " Conciliatory Bills," as they were termed, were readily passed. These authorized the appoint ment of commissioners to treat for peace with the government of the United Colonies. They could not grant independence, however, and that alone would satisfy the MEDAL COMMEMORATING THE ALLIANCE BETWEEN FRANCE AND THE UNITED STATES. " rebels ; and so nothing came of the attempt at a reconciliation. General Howe s military career in the United States had not proved a success. He now resigned. The close of his inglorious residence in Philadelphia was celebrated by a famous pageant or mischianza, a sort of medley of tournament and regatta. Its splendor and mock heroics were the theme of merriment and wonder in the staid Quaker city for many a day. Just after this festival, Howe received news that Lafayette, with a large force, had taken post at Barren Hills, twelve miles nearer Philadelphia than Valley Forge, to watch the British army more closely. To cut off this detachment would shed a parting gleam of glory over his American career. He sent out General 260 FOURTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [ Ju i778 8 Grant by night with a picked body of men, while he followed with the main force. Lafayette was nearly taken ; but, by a skill ful manoeuvre, he seized the only ford not guarded by the enemy, made a feint of attacking Grant, and while that general was get ting ready for battle, the brave young Frenchman was on his way to Washington. Howe came back weary and disappointed from his bootless expedition. Clinton, who succeeded Howe, received orders to evacuate Philadelphia and to concentrate his forces at New York. As the commissioners, who had been sent over, as we have seen, to restore the old condition of affairs, landed in Philadelphia, they found the flight already begun. Sad was the fate of the aban doned tories. " The winter s revelry was over ; honors and offices turned suddenly to bitterness and ashes, and papers of protection were only a peril." Three thousand houseless fugi tives, carrying all they could save from the wreck, followed the army. Washington rapidly pursued the British across New Jersey. General Charles Lee held the advance. He had orders to attack the enemy ; instead, he grossly neglected his duty, even if he did not treacherously lead his troops into peril. It was a hot, sultry Sunday morning, June 28th. Washington, sitting on his horse near the Freehold meeting-house, west of Monmouth, was planning for the battle now just beginning, as he thought from the few dropping shots in the distance. Sud denly he was startled by the news that the Americans were falling back. Spurring forward, he found the advance-guard in full flight before an overwhelming force. Riding up to Lee, he demanded, " Whence arises this disorder and confusion ? " Lee could only stammer " Sir sir." Not a minute could be lost. The genius of Washington never shone out more fully than now. Rallying the fugitives and judiciously posting a battery, he checked the pursuit upon a narrow causeway traversing a deep morass. A new line of battle was formed back of the swamp, General Stirling commanding the left, Greene the right, and Washington the centre. Wayne was posted in advance, under the protection of an orchard and a battery on Comb s Hill. The British attacking the left and right were several times repulsed. Finally Monckton advanced upon Wayne at the head of the English grenadiers. So perfect was their discipline and so accu rately did they march, that it is said that a single ball striking in line with a platoon disarmed every man. As they came close to June 28,"] 1778. J BATTLE OF MONMOUTH. 26l the American position, their leader waved his sword for the charge. Wayne at the same moment gave the order to fire. Every British officer fell. The men fought desperately over Monckton s body ; but the whole line finally gave Avay, and the patriots took possession of the hotly-contested field. Washington was prepar ing in turn to attack the enemy, when night closed the struggle. Under cover of the darkness, Clinton withdrew his men. The American loss was about two hundred and thirty ; the English MOLLY PITCHER AT THE BATTLE OF MONMOUTH. lost over four hundred, and eight hundred more deserted their colors before they reached New York. Many of the troops on both sides, it is said, fell from the intense heat (ninety-six degrees in the shade) without a wound. During the day an artillery man was shot at his post. His wife, Mary Pitcher a " red-haired, freckled-faced young Irish woman," who was already distinguished for having fired the last gun at Fort Clinton while bringing water to her husband from a spring, saw him fall and heard the commander order the piece to be removed from the field. Instantly dropping the pail, she hastened to the cannon, seized the rammer, and with great skill and courage performed her husband s duty. The soldiers gave her the nickname of Captain Molly. On the day after the battle, she was presented to Washington, and received a sergeant s com- 262 FOURTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [ J |778 8 mission with half-pay through life. Her bravery made her a great favorite among the French officers, and she would some times pass along the lines holding out her cocked-hat, which they would nearly fill with crown pieces. Lee, after Washington s rebuke, did nothing except to sit idly in the rear and declaim upon the madness of the attempt to fight the enemy. The next day he wrote to the general demanding an apology. Washington having replied in a dignified manner, Lee returned a most insulting letter, in which he grandiloquently expressed a hope that " temporary power of office and the tinsel dignity attending it would not be able, by the mists they could raise, to obfuscate the bright rays of truth." He was court-mar- tialled and suspended for a year. Later, for obtaining money from British officers, and for an insulting letter to Congress, he was dismissed from the service. Washington moved his army to the North River. In August, he thus wrote from White Plains : " After two years manoeuvring and the strangest vicissitudes, both armies are brought back to the very point they set out from, and the offending party at the beginning is now reduced to the use of the spade and pickaxe for defence. The hand of Providence has been so conspicuous in all this, that he must be worse than an infidel that lacks faith, and more than wicked that has not gratitude enough to acknowledge his obligations." Congress now returned to Philadelphia. On the I5th of November, 1777, it had agreed upon articles of confederation for the closer union of the several States and the more perfect har mony of their action. These had been accepted by eight of the States. The others were now called upon to " conclude the glorious compact." All agreed except Maryland, which refused on the plea that the public lands northwest of the Ohio should be the common property of the States. So the subject was post poned, and the general government dragged along its feeble exist ence, having, indeed, the right to advise and appoint, but being destitute of any power to demand or enforce. It was the era of State rights. The French fleet under Count d Estaing having arrived off the coast, a combined land and naval expedition was planned to recover Rhode Island. Sullivan was placed in charge of the troops. Washington spared two brigades from his weakened ranks. New England in twenty days increased his forces to ten J^e 1 ;] MASSACRE AT WYOMING. 263 thousand men. On the 29th of July, the French entered Narra- gansett Bay. Some days after, Howe arrived off the harbor with the English fleet. D Estaing went out to meet him. A terrible storm came on, which so shattered both fleets that they were compelled to put back for repairs the English to New York and the French to Boston. General Sullivan, though deserted, was loath to leave. Just as he began his retreat, the English at tempted to cut off his right wing. Greene, by a brilliant attack, drove back the enemy, and secured the escape of the army just in time to avoid Clinton, who came up from New York with rein forcements for the British. The French gave no further aid dur ing the year. The beautiful Valley of Wyoming, famed in history and song, was settled mainly from Connecticut. The charter of that colony was older than that of Pennsylvania, and gave it a strip of land extending from sea to sea. Differences naturally arose with the Pennsylvania government. These were finally settled by an appeal to the king, who decided in favor of Connecticut. The colony was therefore created as the town of Westmoreland, and attached to Litchfield county. These local disputes faded out only in the more absorbing topics of the Revolution. This valley, smiling in peace and plenty, now lay open to attack from the Six Nations, who bitterly remembered the slaughter of their braves at Oriskany and panted for revenge. The able-bodied men were in the Continental regiments, and though they urged the defenceless condition of their wives and children, Congress took little or no action in their behalf. The women and the old men plowed, sowed, reaped, and made gunpowder for the little garrison in their forts, obtaining the nitre by leaching the soil under the floors of their houses. Early in the summer a force of five or six hundred men, consisting of Butler s Rangers, Johnson s Royal Greens, and a body of Indians, principally Senecas, under a celebrated chief named Giengwatah, or The-one-who-goes-in-the-smoke, dropped down the Chemung and Susquehanna Rivers in canoes, and on July ist appeared in the Wyoming Valley. All was dismay. Those who could, fled to their forts. Two of their strongholds were quickly captured. Colonel Zebulon Butler of the Continental army, who happened to be at home, took command of the forlorn hope of three hundred soldiers old men and boys all that could be mustered for the defence of their homes. With these he marched 264 FOURTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. L\^8. out to meet the enemy. He found them near Wintermoot s Fort, near the site of the present village of Troy, ready to meet him. Outnumbered from the first, the Americans could have little hope. They held their ground bravely, however, for half an hour, when, their left being outflanked by an Indian ambush, Colonel Denison, in command at that point, gave the order to fall back. He was misunderstood, and the fatal word " retreat " was passed down the lines. The Indians sprang from their coverts, and a terrible massacre ensued. Few of the patriots escaped. Some were slain on the banks of the river; some were toma hawked among the bushes ; some fled to an island and were hunted to death. The Senecas took two hundred and twenty-five scalps. No mercy was shown. One tory brutally murdered his own brother while crying for quarter. Lieutenant Shoemaker, " whom to know was to love," was treacherously tomahawked by Win- decker, a man who had often received his generous bounty. That night, tories and Indians held High carnival. Captain Bidlack was thrown on the burning embers of the fort and held down with pitchforks till he expired. Sixteen prisoners were arranged around a large stone, still known as Queen Esther s rock. The savages held them while a Seneca half- breed by that name walked slowly round the circle, singing a death-song and striking them one by one, alternately with her hatchet and mallet. Two of the captives, breaking away, escaped to the bushes under a shower of balls. The next day, the forts surrendered. Though lives were spared thereafter, robbery and arson ran riot. Butler could not restrain his savage allies. The inhabitants fled from the scene of terror. The swamp through which they made their way is remembered to this day as the Shades of Death. Children were born and buried in this terrible flight. Many were lost in the wilderness and perished miserably. The fainting survivors straggled into the settlements on the other side of the mountains, famine-stricken and desolate. Meantime the savages pillaged and burned their deserted houses. Decked in their booty, they at last withdrew. " The appearance of the retiring enemy," says Lossing, " was extremely ludicrous, aside from the melancholy savagism that was presented. Many squaws accompanied the invaders, and these brought up the rear. Some had belts around their waists, made of scalps stretched on small hoops ; some had on from four to six dresses of chintz or silk, one over the other ; and others, mounted on stolen horses, Se | P 778-9. n "] OPERATIONS IN THE WEST. 265 and seated not sidewise, but otherwise/ had on their heads four or five bonnets, one within another." Clinton, after his bootless expedition to Newport, returned to New York, detaching, however, Grey, of Paoli massacre mem ory, to ravage the New England coast. New Bedford, Fair Haven, and Martha s Vineyard were laid waste. In September, Cormvallis led a foray into New Jersey, during which " No-flint Grey " surprised Baylor s light-horse while they were quietly resting in some barns in Old Tappan. Cries for mercy fell on deaf ears. Eleven of the dragoons were butchered, and twenty- five desperately mangled by bayonet thrusts, some receiving as many as sixteen wounds. At the same time, Captain Ferguson emulated his rival in the bayonet exercise by destroying the ship ping in Little Egg Harbor, and thence scouring the adjacent country, burning the houses of those who were pointed out as patriots by the tories who accompanied the expedition. Count Pulaski had been sent out with his legion to check these preda tory incursions. Ferguson, going up the river in boats during the night of the i5th of October, noiselessly surrounded the house in which Pulaski s infantry was quartered. " It being a night attack," wrote the captain afterward in his report, " little quarter could be given, so there were only five prisoners." The western part of Virginia and Kentucky would have suf fered equally Avith Wyoming Valley had it not been for the energy and vigilance of Colonel Clark. Hamilton, the British general at Detroit, was busy in organizing parties of savages for forays upon the defenceless frontier settlement. He offered rewards for scalps, not for prisoners, and was known as the " hair-buying general." Clark, by a bold dash, seized Kaskaskia, and the county of Illinois became a part of Virginia. Hamilton, thereupon invading the country, summoned the post of Vincennes to surrender. Captain Helm had but one man as garrison, but maintained a bold front, and standing with lighted match over a cannon, he deceived the enemy and secured the honors of war. Hamilton was now more active than ever in preparing for bloody work. The ensuing win ter, Clark, whose situation looked desperate, finding that Hamil ton had sent off most of his men on predatory excursions, sud denly set out in January with one hundred and thirty bold men to recapture Vincennes. The river was high, and in crossing the "drowned lands" of the Wabash they had to wade for miles with the icy water breast high. But he resolutely kept on, and laid 266 FOURTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [ Nov. IO, 1778. siege to the fort, which, with its garrison and governor, fell into his hands. The loth of November saw the terrible scenes of Wyoming repeated in Cherry Valley, New York. A body of tories, regulars and Indians, under Walter Butler, son of John Butler, and Brandt, the Mohawk chief, crept into this settlement under cover of the early morning mist. The fort, garrisoned by Continental troops, was too strong to be carried, but over thirty of the inhabitants men, women and children were murdered, and all the houses fired. Brandt showed mercy at times, but the tories, " more savage than the savages," knew no pity. Mr. Wells was cut down while at prayer. A mother and her innocent babe were slain in bed together. After the marauders had gone away with their booty, the survivors timidly stole back to find the mangled bodies of fathers, mothers, wives, husbands and children amid the burning timbers of their homes. Brandt afterward pushed his incursions into Orange county. Here, we are told, one day the savages came to a school-house which was filled .with young children. They took the school master into the woods and killed him. They then clove the skulls of several of the boys with their tomahawks ; but the little girls, who stood looking on horror-struck, and waiting for instant death, were spared. A tall savage it was Brandt dashed a mark of black paint upon their aprons, and when the other sav ages saw it they left them unharmed. Swift as an inspiration, the little girls resolved to save their brothers. They flung over them their aprons, and when the next Indians passed by, they were spared for the mark they bore. The Six Nations had not taken the field until 1777 at the battle of Oriskany. Their determination to bear arms against the colonists, with whom they had fought so bravely during the French and Indian war, was due to the influence of the Johnsons. Sir William had been knighted for the victory of Lake George. After the war, he received a tract of one hundred thousand acres north of the Mohawk, long known as " Kingsland." In 1764, he built Johnson Hall, near Johnstown, about twenty-five miles west of Schenectady. Here he lived with the splendor of an old feudal baron, and dispensed a lavish hospitality. His influence over the Indians was almost unbounded. Many anecdotes are told of his shrewd ness in dealing with them. Allen relates that on his receiving 1775-1778.] THE JOHNSONS AND THE SIX NATIONS. 267 from England some fine laced clothes, the Mohawk chief, drick, desiring to equal the baronet in the splendor of his apparel, with a demure face pretended to have dreamed that Sir William had presented him with a suit of the decorated garments. As the solemn hint could not be mistaken or avoided, the Indian mon arch was gratified, and went away highly pleased with the success of his device. But, alas for Hendrick s short-sighted sagacity, in a few days, Sir William, in turn, had a dream, to the effect that the chief had given him several thousand acres of land. " The land is yours," said Hendrick ; "but now, Sir William, I never dream with you again ; you dream too hard for me." When the difficulties arose with England, the contest in Sir William s mind between his love of liberty and his loyalty to the king brought on a fit of apoplexy, of which he died. His son and heir, Sir John Johnson, and his sons-in-law, Colonel Guy Johnson and Colonel Claus, felt no reluctance in supporting the royal cause. They at first fortified their stone mansions in the Mohawk Valley, armed their Scotch tenants, and, with their adherents, the Butlers of Tryon county, and Brandt, the great Mohawk sachem, prepared for defence. Finally they all fled to Canada. The Six Nations declared for the crown. Sir John raised a body of tories, known as the Royal Greens. Their names were henceforth asso ciated with deeds of crime and bloodshed, in which the tories far surpassed their Indian allies. Wyoming and Cherry Valleys were only illustrations on a large scale of minor massacres which kept in continued dread the entire frontier to the very suburbs of Albany. The peace commissioners returning to England after their unsuccessful mission to the United States, were fierce in their denunciations. " No quarter," exclaimed one of their number, " ought to be shown to their Congress. If the infernals could be let loose on them, I should approve the measure." The govern ment did not have it all its own way, however. The Bishop of Peterborough called attention to the significant fact that in the army-appropriation was an item for " scalping-knives " ; and many followed him denouncing the use of such instruments of war. The English, discouraged by their repeated failures in the Eastern and Middle States, now decided to transfer their forces to the South. Henceforth, the Revolutionary struggle was mainly confined to that field. In combination with various minor move ments, three thousand men, under Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell, 268 FOURTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [ D ?778. 9> were sent from New York, and on December 23d appeared off Tybee Island. Soon after, the fleet passed the bar and the troops landed near Five-fathom Hole. General Howe, with his little army of militia, not a third as large as that of the enemy, resolved to fight for the defence of Savannah. He accordingly took a strong position at the head of a causeway, with a swamp on one side and rice-fields on the other. The British, having driven his advance from Brewton s Hill, manoeuvred as if to assault in front. Meanwhile, guided by a negro named Quamino Dolly, Sir James Baird and a party passed through a by-path in the swamp and turned the American position. The patriots, attacked at once in front and rear, soon gave way in despair. Some were drowned in the swamp, and many were captured. The pursuers, chasing the refugees through the town, bayoneted several unarmed citi zens whom they found on the streets. So the English captured Savannah, the capital of Georgia, including all its extensive stores, with a total loss of only twenty-four killed and wounded. The captives, refusing to enlist in the British army, were hurried into the prison-ships to speedily die of disease. Protection was offered to those of the inhabitants who would return to their allegiance. Numbers flocked to the British standard, while many patriots fled to the uplands and to Carolina. After his gallant exploit at Charleston, Sergeant Jasper re ceived from Colonel Moultrie a roving commission entitling him to form a scouting command. His spies often proved of great service to the American army. At one time, he remained in Savannah, after its capture by the British, several days, collect ing valuable information concerning the English forces and their position. Some of his adventures were full of romance. One, especially, has become historical. Near Ebenezer, he met a Mrs. Jones, whose story awakened his sympathies. Her husband had taken the oath of allegiance to the British government, but afterward joined the American army. Having been captured, be was now, with several compan ions, en route to Savannah, to be tried and probably hanged. Ser geant Jasper and his friend Newton determined to rescue the prisoners. Thinking that the party would stop to drink at a pleasant spring about two miles out of Savannah, the two patriots went ahead, and, hiding themselves in the bushes near by, awaited the turn of affairs. Upon reaching the point, the guard stacked arms, leaving two of their number in charge of the prisoners. 1778.] EXPLOIT OF SERGEANT JASPER. 269 Taking advantage of a moment when the sentinels backs were turned, Jasper and Newton sprang from their covert, seized the guns, shot the two armed soldiers, and called upon the rest to surrender. They had no resource but to yield. The irons were knocked off the prisoners and placed on the late guard. The whole party then, redeemed friends and captive soldiers, marched into the American camp at Purysburg. The next year, when Jasper lay dying before the fortifications of Savannah, his last words were, " Tell Jones, his wife and son, that the remembrance of the battle I fought for them brought a secret joy to my heart when it was about to stop its motion for ever." The spring, named after Jasper, is now neatly walled in ? and is the resort of hundreds of visitors. JOSEPH BRANDT. (From a Paint i tig by Catlin.) CHAPTER VI. FIFTH YEJfc OF THE DEVOLUTION ITH the opening of the year the English vigorously pushed their success at the South. General Prevost, commanding the royal forces in Florida, marched across the wilderness, captured Sun- bury, the only fort in Georgia occupied by the Americans, reached Savannah, and assumed command. Campbell was sent to take possession of Augusta. The whole State lay at his mercy. Sir James Wright was reinstated governor, and all things were restored as in the good old times before the war. England could once more boast of a royal pro vince among her former colonies. The conquest of South Caro lina now seemed imminent. Meanwhile, Major-General Lincoln had arrived to take command of the patriot troops in the southern department. His little force of eleven hundred men was en camped on the Savannah, near Purysburg. Port Royal being taken by a British detachment which landed from their ships, Moultrie was sent to drive them out. Rallying some militia to his standard, he accomplished the task in gallant style. A large body of North Carolina royalists having started to join Prevost at Augusta, Colonel Pickens, with a party of citizens from Ninety-Six, fell upon them at Kettle Creek as they were plundering about the country, and put them to rout. Seventy of the prisoners were tried by jury and convicted of treason. Five of the most influential were executed. This mode of treating pris oners of war was a dangerous precedent, and served as an excuse to the British for similar usage on a more extended scale. Ma !779? ay ] CAMPAIGN IN GEORGIA AND SOUTH CAROLINA. 2/1 Lincoln, being reinforced, had hopes of recovering Northern Georgia. He accordingly detached General Ashe with fifteen hundred men to take post opposite Augusta. At his coming, the British evacuated the town. Ashe thereupon crossed the river, and followed on nearly to Brier Creek, half way to Savannah. He had apparently " never heard of military discipline and vigi lance." On the 3d of March, Prevost surprised his position. The militia threw away their guns and fled at the first fire. The Con tinentals, sixty strong, fought bravely, but uselessly. Of the whole detachment, only four hundred and fifty, by wading the swamp and swimming the river, rejoined Lincoln in camp. Leaving Moultrie with one thousand militia to guard the pas sage of the Savannah, Lincoln now crossed the river and marched up toward Augusta, hoping to protect the legislature of Geor gia, then about to convene. Prevost also immediately crossed, and, driving Moultrie before him, moved towards Charleston. He was accompanied by Indians, and still more relentless tory allies. It was a grand marauding time. Every house belonging to a whig was robbed of money, jewelry, and even furniture. Windows, mirrors, and crockery were wantonly broken. Ani mals which could not be driven off, were shot. Tombs were desecrated. Gardens were trampled underfoot. The appear ance of this banditti before Charleston, May nth, aroused the deepest anxiety. Had Prevost arrived two days earlier he might have taken the city at once. Fortifications had been hastily thrown up ; troops had arrived, and there was now a chance of defence. The council, however, parleyed with the enemy, sure at least of gaining time. At this juncture South Carolina felt itself alone. Washington had been able to send South but few men. Congress had done nothing except to commend the arm ing of the slaves a proposition indignantly rejected by the Caro linians. Rutledge, against the bitter opposition of such men as Laurens, Gadsden, Ferguson, and Edwards, proposed that South Carolina should remain neutral during the rest of the war. Pre vost declined the offer. " Then we will fight it out," exclaimed Moultrie, and forthwith waved the flag from the city gate as a signal that debate was over. But Prevost had learned that Lin coln was coming by forced marches, and so, after gathering what plunder he could in the neighborhood, he retired to St. John s Island. Lincoln, on his arrival, prepared an attack on the re- 2/2 FIFTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [May, U779. doubts which protected the ferry across the Stono River to the island. He was repulsed. Soon after, Prevost, unperceived, escaped by interior navigation to Georgia, leaving Lieutenant- Colonel Maitland with a garrison at Beaufort. Summer heats, like winter colds at the North, now prevented further operations. The outrages committed by Prevost s men were long re membered. A large body took possession of \ ^ ~$ \ ^x "~"~ 7\ the house and J -i.1 *\*s. m J L:_Tnnc"Vwvrn ^ t ." ) plantation of Mr. Robert Gibbes on the Stono River. This gentle man had an aged and in firm brother, Mr. John Gib bes, who was then on a visit to him from his beautiful home near Charleston, where his grounds were laid out with exquisite taste and at a great expense. A Major Sheri dan, arriving at Mr. Robert Gibbes s from the army on the Neck, was asked by an officer in the presence of the brothers, " What news? Shall we take the city?" "I fear not," replied Sheridan, " but we have made glorious havoc of the property round about. I witnessed yesterday the destruction of an elegant establish- r -M ULTRlE MAP OF c OPERATIONS "IN VIRGINIA, NORTH CAROLINA, S. CAROLINA, AND GEORGIA. M |779 26 ] DEPREDATIONS IN SOUTH CAROLINA. 273 ment belonging to an arch-rebel, who, luckily for himself, was absent. You would have been delighted to see how quickly the pine-apples were shared among our men, and how rapidly his trees and ornamental shrubs were leveled with the dust." Mr. John Gibbes, who recognized his own place in this de scription, could not restrain his indignation, and, fearless of consequences, exclaimed, " I hope that the Almighty will cause the arm of the scoundrel who struck the first blow to wither to the shoulder." Sheridan uttered a threatening retort, but his commanding officer, who divined the truth, advised him for his own credit to be silent. Mr. Gibbes so seriously felt the outrage and the loss that he retired to his bed and never rose again. Not long afterward the whole family was ordered to leave, fire having been opened upon the house and neighboring encampment from some Charleston galleys, which had quietly ascended the river. It was midnight, dark and rainy. Mr. Gibbes, who was ill, started out with his large household for an adjoining plantation. When out of reach of the pelting shot, they halted for a moment to see if all were present. To their dismay, they found that one little boy a distant relative had been left behind. The servants were entreated to return for him, but utterly refused. Miss Mary Anna Gibbes, a young girl of thirteen, resolutely under took the mission, ran the long mile through the rain and darkness, obtained, by many tears and pleadings, an admission to the house, secured the babe, and carried him in her arms through a storm of grape and round shot, which frequently covered her person with dirt as they struck the ground at her side, safe to the retreat of her family. The boy thus saved became the gallant Lieuten ant-Colonel Fenwick, distinguished in the war of 1812. Washington s army passed the winter in a line of positions extending from the Highlands to the Delaware. Clinton s in structions permitted only a series of predatory excursions, and little was attempted on either side. Signals were devised to give warning when the British parties left New York. On Battle Hill, sentinels were placed, with orders by day to fire a big gun familiarly called the " Old Sow," and at night to kindle a beacon. These signals, repeated from hill to hill, quickly spread the alarm through the country. One day in March, General Putnam, while shaving at his headquarters at Horse Neck, saw in his mirror the reflection of a body of British coming up the road. Changing his razor for a 18 2/4 FIFTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [ sword, he darted out, mounted his horse, and gathered his men upon a hill near by to resist their advance. The overwhelming forces of the enemy at length compelled him to flee. Ordering his troops to scatter into a neighboring swamp, he spurred his own horse over a precipice and descended a zigzag path, where the British dragoons did not dare to follow. Tryon, who was in command of the English, plundered the neighboring people, destroyed the salt works, and then retreated to King s Bridge. But the irrepressible Putnam was after him, and on the way recovered most of the booty. During Prevost s plundering raid in South Carolina, General Matthews was sent from New York to Virginia on a similar expe dition. He cast anchor in Hampton Roads May Qth. Predatory parties ascended the James and the Elizabeth Rivers. Ports mouth and Norfolk the latter just recovering from its destruc tion by Dunmore were seized, and the inhabitants brutally maltreated. One hundred and thirty vessels were captured. Plantations were pillaged and the buildings fired. Every house save one in Suffolk county was burned. Matthews returned to New York with a rich booty, consisting in part of three thousand hogsheads of tobacco. He had inflicted a damage of two million dollars, without advancing the royal cause in any sense. On the return of this expedition, Clinton ascended the Hud son and captured the works at Stony Point and Verplanck s Point, which guarded King s Ferry. The American army had now no means of communication between New England and the Middle States below the Highlands. Connecticut was next to feel the heavy hand of the invader. On the evening of the 4th of July, the inhabitants of New Haven were startled by the appearance of a fleet in the bay. Early the next morning, troops were rapidly landed. Tryon was again out with his royalists and Hessians on their favorite work. They were soon busy at plunder. The militia, however, rallied and drove off the marauding bands both here and at East Haven. Dr. Daggett, subsequently of Yale College, was barbarously mal treated while resisting the advance of the enemy. When threat eningly asked if he " would take up arms again," he bravely answered, " I rather think I shall if I get an opportunity." Fair- field, Norwalk, and Greenwich were next visited, pillaged, and burned. Tryon boasted of his clemency in sparing a single house. Unarmed men were brutally murdered. Females were July 16, -i 1779. J CAPTURE OF STONY POINT. 275 insulted. For days afterward, women, half frantic with grief and fear, were found wandering through the neighboring woods. The expedition was preparing to make a descent on New London when it was recalled by General Wayne s famous exploit at Stony Point. Washington looked with an envious eye on the British pos session of Stony Point, and had resolved upon its recapture. Upon making known his wishes to Wayne, that general re plied, " I will storm h 1 if you will only lay the plan." The fort was on an eminence, washed on three sides by the river, the fourth being protected by a marsh that was overflowed at flood- tide. The only hope lay in a surprise. Twelve hundred men were selected, and marched through swamps until within a mile and a half of the enemy, where they were concealed. The coun tersign, which, curiously enough, was " The fort is ours," was obtained of a negro who was in the habit of selling strawberries at the fort. He guided the troops in the darkness to the causeway leading over the flooded marsh around the foot of the hill. The unsuspicious sentinel, having received the countersign, was chatting with the negro, when he was suddenly seized and gagged by two soldiers dressed as farmers. Wayne s men 2/6 FIFTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. passed over the causeway and reached the base of the hill undis covered, where they seized the second sentinel in the same man ner. Forming in two columns, with unloaded muskets and fixed bayonets, just after midnight they commenced the ascent of the steep and rugged slope. A forlorn hope of twenty men pre ceded each to remove the abattis. They had nearly reached the picket before they were discovered. Fire was at once opened upon them. Wayne was wounded, but commanded his aids to carry him that he might die at the head of his column. The rush of his men was irresistible. An instant more, and a deafening shout told that the fort was won. Both columns reached the centre of the works at nearly the same time. The British lost in killed and prisoners six hundred and six men, and the Ameri cans but ninety-eight. Even English authorities agree that the Americans did not take the life of a man except in fair fight. On account of the vicinity of the main army under Clinton, Washing ton ordered the fort to be evacuated. The stores were all re moved and the works razed to the ground. August iQth, Major Henry Lee rivaled this brilliant exploit of Wayne s by the capture of Paulus Hook, now Jersey City, in sight of New York, and almost in range of its guns. Reaching the neighborhood of the fort before daylight, his detachment was mistaken by the sentinel for a foraging party and allowed to pass. The Americans were inside the works before the garrison was fairly awake. Major Sutherland, the commander of the post, threw himself with sixty Hessians into a block-house and opened fire ; but Lee had no time for an assault, as alarm-guns began already to be heard. Collecting one hundred and fifty-nine pris oners, he retired as rapidly as he had come. Lee received a gold medal from Congress for this feat. While everything under Washington s immediate eye was thus favorable, an expedition sent out by Massachusetts against the British at Fort Castine, on the Penobscot, proved a total and disgraceful failure. It consisted of nineteen vessels, carrying over three hundred guns, and twenty-four transports, bearing one thousand men. It reached its destination July 25th. Delays followed. Finally a British fleet dispersed the naval forces, when the land troops were glad to make their way home through the wilderness as best they could. The continued Indian and tory atrocities in the Wyoming and Mohawk valleys threatened to depopulate these fertile regions. A ^29,] THE BATTLE OF CHEMUNG. 277 It was now felt that such a punishment must be inflicted upon the Six Nations as would deter them from further incursions. General Sullivan accordingly organized for this purpose a force of about three thousand men. Late in August he moved north ward from Wyoming, the artillery and stores being drawn up the Susquehanna in one hundred and fifty boats. At Tioga he was joined by General Clinton with one thousand New York troops. The latter had marched from Albany, up the Mohawk to Canajo- harie, and thence ascending Canajoharie Creek, had reached Ot- sego Lake. Finding the water of the outlet too low to float his bateaux, he built a dam across the stream, by which the lake was raised several feet. When the dam was cut, the boats glided easily down to Tioga upon the rushing water. The Indians fled in dismay at the sight of a flood in the midst of the summer drought, believing it a signal proof of the displeasure of the Great Spirit. On the 26th, the combined forces ascended the Chemung, an Indian word for Big Horn. Sullivan carefully provided against the danger of a surprise. Large flanking parties were thrown on each side of the line of march, and strong guards were in front and rear. Reaching a place called Hog s Back, they found the Indians under Brandt, Corn-Planter, and Red Jacket, and the tories under Sir John Johnson and the Butlers, awaiting their ap proach. They were about eight hundred in all, and occupied a strong position. Their left rested on the hill and their right on a ridge running parallel with the river. They had regular entrench ments thrown up nearly half a mile in length, and were also protected by the pines and shrub-oaks covering the ground. The works were artfully concealed by green boughs planted in front. Sullivan at once ordered General Hand and the rifle corps to attack in front, while Generals Poor and Clinton, with their brigades, cleared the hill on the Indian left. This was done in fine style. The savages, leaping from tree to tree and rock to rock, though greatly alarmed by the fire of the artillery, dis puted every inch ; while Brandt, animating his followers, ranged the field like a very demon. Night was coming on, and the assaulting columns seemed to falter for a moment. Then, as the legend says, there hovered above them, amid the smoke of the battle, the vision of a mother clasping her babe in her bosom and shielding it from an uplifted tomahawk. The troops instantly, as if by an inspiration, dashed forward. Poor and Clinton swept 2/8 FIFTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [f\779. the hill at the point of the bayonet. Brandt, despairing, raised the shrill cry, " Oonah ! Oonah ! " and the whole body fled in con fusion. The Americans, in spite of the desperation of the Iro- quois, lost only five or six men and fifty wounded. The Indians, satisfied that they could not resist this powerful force, gave up in despair. Sullivan, marching up the river about seven miles, came to an Indian village called Conewawah an Iroquois term meaning a-head-on-a-pole afterward the site of a settlement known as Newtown, and now Elmira. This he de stroyed, and thence proceeded to Queen Catharine s Town, now Havana, near the head of Seneca Lake. The Senecas and the Cayugas had regularly-laid-out villages, and lived in framed houses, many of them painted and hav ing chimneys. Their fields were large and fruitful, especially in the Genesee Valley, and were covered with orchards of apple, pear and peach trees. " At Wyoming, no mercy was shown but the hatchet; here, none but the firebrand." The army marched resistlessly to and fro through the whole country from the Che- mung to the Genesee, destroying their waving fields of maize, ruining their orchards and burning their villages. The Christian emulated the savage in the barbarity of war. Kanadaseagea, now Geneva, the capital of the Senecas ; Schoyere, near Cayuga Lake ; Kanandaigua, a town at the head of the beautiful lake by the same name ; and Honeoye, were all destroyed without resistance. When the army entered the Valley of the Genesee, the In dians, having hidden their women and children in the forest, were lying in wait on the flats toward the head of Connissius Lake ; but the vanguard of the invading force put them to flight. Approach ing Little Beard s town, Lieutenant Boyd was sent forward with a party to reconnoitre. While on his return he fell into an am bush prepared by Brandt and his warriors. Nearly all Boyd s men were killed ; he was taken and put to death with cruel tor tures. Thence Sullivan spread his troops wide over the smiling valley, laying waste magnificent fields of grain, destroying forty towns among them Genesee, the capital of the Six Nations and leaving only a blackened waste of all that beautiful region. It was expected that he would push westward and destroy the English fort at Niagara, which was the very focus of Indian and British intrigue ; but he had moved so slowly that he was compelled to return without accomplishing this greatly desired result. Just before reaching the Chemung again, forage gave out, and Sulli- f 7 - 9 9 ] ATTACK UPON SAVANNAH. 279 van ordered several hundred horses to be killed. This equine Golgotha has since retained the name of Horse-Heads. The Six Nations were subdued for the moment ; but their bitter hatred was aroused, and they swore vengeance against Washington, whom they styled the Town-destroyer. Yet, singu larly, their veneration for him was never lessened. According to their belief, no white man except Washington ever reached heaven. Their legends represent him as occupying a fort-like mansion at the gate of the happy hunting-grounds. He walks in full uniform to and fro, in " meditation, fancy free," and the faithful Indians see him, but always pass in respectful silence. On the first of September, the French fleet of twenty ships- of-the-line, under d Estaing, appeared off the coast of Georgia. A combined attack upon Savannah was now arranged with Lin coln. The militia of South Carolina turned out with alacrity, and Washington despatched several North Carolina regiments for this service. The combined forces, however, were not able to commence operations till the 23d, although the French had already landed and summoned Prevost to surrender. The British had thoroughly improved the delay, called in their forces, thrown up entrenchments, and were well prepared for defence. Two weeks of bombardment from the trenches and the shipping followed, without any marked result. D Estaing became impatient. The autumnal gales were approaching ; his fleet lay off the open coast, and delays were full of peril. On October 8th it was de cided that the next day should witness an assault. It was gal lantly executed, but was a failure almost from the start. A col umn under Count Dillon was to have fallen on the English rear ; but, becoming entangled in the swamp, it was beaten back by the enemy s guns without attempting an attack. The French and American columns reached the works in front under a heavy fire, the former planting a banner on the parapet. Lieutenants Bush and Hume, of the second South Carolina regiment, leaped to the top with the colors given to them at Fort Moultrie. Both officers were killed. Sergeant Jasper, springing to their help, fell mor tally wounded. In his dying moments, he managed to creep away with the banner he had sworn to protect. Laurens him self, struggling in the thickest of the fight, in despair at the retreat of his men, threw away his sword, and, stretching out his hands, it is said, " prayed for death." Pulaski, carrying a banner placed in his hands by the Moravian nuns, was struck down by a 28O FIFTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [779 cannon-ball, at the head of his legion. D Estaing was twice wounded. A dashing charge of grenadiers and marines from the city now drove the assailants back to their lines. The Americans had lost in this fruitless enterprise over four hundred, and the French about six hundred men, while the British had suffered but slightly. D Estaing immediately sailed away. Lincoln retired to Charleston with what he could save of his army, and the militia scattered to their homes or took to the swamps. While the French-American army was thus unsuccessfully engaged in the siege of Savannah, Colonel White of Georgia achieved a feat which borders on the marvelous. Learning that Captain French and a party of British regulars, with five vessels, four of which were armed, one carrying fourteen guns, were on the Ogeechee, about twenty-five miles below the city, he determined to attempt their capture. He had only a captain and three soldiers. He lighted many fires in the woods, so as to give the appearance of a camp. To complete the strata gem, he then, accompanied by his four companions, rode hither and thither, after the manner of a general and his staff, inspecting his lines and giving his orders. The English officer was next summoned to capitulate. Thinking himself about to be attacked by a great body of the enemy, French surrendered his detach ment, ships, and crews (October ist). White now pretended that he must keep his men in the camp, in order to restrain their fury, and prevent an indiscriminate slaughter of the prisoners. He therefore delivered French and his party into the hands of three guides, who would conduct them to a place of safety. They had orders to move off as rapidly as possible. Meanwhile, White, who had stayed behind to " bring up the main body," hastened into the country with his remaining soldier, quickly collected a force of militia, and finally overtook his captives, who were proceeding along comfortably under the care of his guides, and were full of thankfulness for his merciful consideration. No American successes caused more annoyance to the British than those of the navy. In 1775, Washington sent out several vessels to cruise along the New England coast as privateers. In the same year Congress established a naval department. Thir teen ships were ordered to be fitted out and two battalions of seamen enlisted. So anxious was the American government, that Washington was forced to divide his scanty store of supplies with the newly-fledged fleet. Swift-sailing vessels, manned by bold Sept. 23,-] 1779. J CAPTURE OF THE SERAPIS. 28l seamen, soon infested every avenue of commerce. Within three years they captured five hundred ships. They even cruised among the British Isles, and, entering the harbors, seized and burned ships lying at English wharves. Paul Jones was among the most famous of these naval heroes. In six weeks he is said to have taken sixteen prizes. While cruising off England, Septem ber, 1779, in the forty -gun ship Bon Homme Richard, named in honor of the Poor Richard of Franklin s Almanac, he came across the Serapis, carrying forty- four guns. Jones at once laid his vessel alongside. Twice the ships fell afoul each other. The CAPTURE OF THE SERAI IS BY THE BON HO.M.ME KICHAKD. first time, the Serapis hailed the Richard, asking if she had " struck her colors." " I have not yet begun to fight," was Jones s reply. The second time, with his own hands he aided in lashing the vessels together. For two hours longer the crews fought hand to hand, with musket, pike, and cutlass. The muzzles of the 282 FIFTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [-Sept. 23. L 1779. guns touched, and the gunners, in working their pieces, often thrust their ramrods into the port-holes of the other ship. The Bon Homme was old and rotten, and soon became almost un manageable. Water poured into the hold. Only three of the guns could be worked. The ship was really beaten, and only the stout heart of Jones held out. Three times both vessels were on fire. At last, sailors on the yards of the Bon Homme dropped hand-grenades down the hatchway of the Serapis. An explo sion ensued ; twenty men were blown to pieces, and forty were disabled. The Serapis thereupon struck her colors. The Bon Homme was already sinking, and Jones transferred his men to the captured frigate. At this time, Jones was in command of five vessels the Bon Homme Richard, Pallas, Cerf, Vengeance, and Alliance. All ex cept the last were French ships. The Serapis, with her consort, the Countess of Scarborough, was convoying a fleet of merchant men. During this desperate duel, the Pallas had fought the Scar borough, taking her just after the Serapis surrendered. But the other vessels offered no help. So far from that, the Alliance, Cap tain Landis, repeatedly fired into the Richard, with the hope of compelling Jones to capitulate, that Landis might have the credit of retaking the Richard and capturing the Serapis. THE DECATUR .MONUMENT. CHAPTER VII. SIXTH YEAfc OF THE DEVOLUTION 1780. nardshi P s of the cam P at le y For g e are Proverbial; but the winter of 1779-80, in the huts at Morristown, witnessed, if pos sible, greater misery. The cold set in early this year, and the winter was the severest of the eighteenth century. The want of bread and meat and the lack of clothing form the burden of the same old, sad story of priva tion and suffering. Continental money had been issued by Con gress to the amount of two hundred million dollars. It was now so much depreciated that forty dollars in bills were worth only one dollar in specie. A pair of boots cost six hundred dollars in these paper promises. A soldier s pay for a month would hardly buy him a dinner. To make the matter worse, the British had flooded the country with counterfeits, which could not be told from the genuine. Many persons entirely refused to take Con tinental money. The sufferings of the soldiers, and the difficulty of procuring supplies, may be readily imagined. Washington, though with great reluctance, was forced to make requisitions upon the surrounding country. To the honor of the loyal people of Jersey be it remembered that, in this hour of gloom, they bore these exactions with patriotic submission. More than that, many of the farmers voluntarily sent in provi sions, shoes, coats, and blankets ; while the women met together to knit stockings and to sew for the needy troops. One Anna Kitchel, wife of a Whippany farmer, was foremost in good deeds. 284 SIXTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [March 3j-Apni 14. " Her potato bin, meal bag, and granary had always some comfort for the patriot soldiers. When unable to billet them in her house, a huge kettle, filled with meat and vegetables, constantly hung over the fire, that no one might go away hungry." Such patriotism, however, was not general throughout the country. Discouraged by the length of the war, the apathy of which we have already spoken became even deeper than before. In this extremity, Washington declared that he had " almost ceased to hope," and that friends and foes seemed to be combin ing to pull down the fabric raised at so much expense of time, blood, and treasure. The best men no longer went to Congress, and in that body only fifteen or twenty persons transacted the most important business. Its councils were consequently scarcely heeded, and its authority was openly disregarded. The national power, divided among thirteen States, was fast sinking to its lowest ebb this, too, at a time when the final conquest of the United States by Great Britain was scarcely expected, even by the most sanguine friends of the crown. On the day after Christmas, Clinton set sail from New York for an attack upon Charleston. After a tempestuous voyage, he reached North Edisto Sound, February loth. Governor Rut- ledge and General Lincoln were indefatigable in their efforts to fortify the city. Clinton advanced with great caution, and it was not till the 3ist of March that he sat down, with ten thousand men, before the American works on Charleston Neck. The loth of April, he completed his first parallel, and summoned the city to surrender. Meanwhile, the English fleet had safely crossed the bar, passed Fort Moultrie, and was anchored in the harbor. Lincoln, however, influenced by the entreaties of the inhabitants, decided to remain with his army, although the capture of the city was a foregone conclusion. He therefore replied to Clinton that both duty and inclination moved him to defend his post to the last extremity. It was a useless attempt. Fort Moultrie surren dered without a shot. The English pushed their works vigor ously. As yet, Lincoln had kept up his communication with the coun try across the Cooper River. But on the night of April I4th, Tarleton fell upon General Huger, who was encamped, with fif teen hundred cavalry, at Monk s Corner, and put him to flight. The patriots, after this discomfiture, retired north of the Santee. Lieutenant-Colonel White, who took command, afterward re- ^o 2 ] SURRENDER OF CHARLESTON. 285 crossed that river, in order to attack a British foraging party. Ere he could get back, Tarleton was upon him with his terrible dragoons, and, at the ford of the Santee, repeated the catastrophe of Monk s Corner. Charleston was now entirely surrounded. All hope of aid or retreat was cut off, and, May I2th, the city, with its garrison, was surrendered. By counting soldiers, citizens, old and infirm, tories and whigs alike, Clinton made out five thousand paroled prisoners. A carnival of plunder ensued. Slaves were seized ; even those who came voluntarily into the English lines being sent to the West Indies. A major-general s share of the booty, we are told, was five thousand guineas. Expeditions were rapidly sent out to overrun the entire coun try ; one up the Savannah to Augusta, another up the Santee toward Ninety-Six, and a third toward Camden. The advance of the last under Tarleton, May 29th, at Waxhaw Creek, over took a regiment of Virginians under Colonel Buford, who was retreating into North Carolina, after the fall of Charleston. The Americans offered to surrender ; but Tarleton rejected the terms, and, while the patriots were still hesitating, fell upon them with the sword. No quarter was given. One hundred and thirteen were killed, and one hundred and fifty so brutally maimed that they could not be moved. " This bloody day only wanted," says Lee, in his Memoirs, " the war-dance and the roasting-fire, to have placed it first in the records of torture and death." Henceforth " Tarleton s quarter " was proverbial. The inhabitants now flocked in from all parts to meet the royal army and resume their ancient allegiance. On every side were heard cries of submission and loyalty. Clinton wrote home that " South Carolina was English again." Thinking that he could deal with the State as a royal province, by his famous proclamation of June 3d, he ordered that all, even the paroled prisoners, should be henceforth considered as liege subjects of Great Britain. The entire male population was to be enrolled in the militia ; the men over forty being liable to be called upon only in case of invasion, while those under that age were to serve six months each year. A Carolinian taken in arms against the king, was in this way made liable to be tried as a deserter and executed. Relying upon the promises of the British commander, many had fondly hoped to be allowed to remain at home in peace during the remainder 286 SIXTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [1780. of the war. They were now told that they must fight, and the only question was whether it should be for, or against, their native country. By this ill-timed rigor the Southern States, which appeared reunited to the crown, were henceforth convulsed with civil war. Brutal tories, having received commissions to raise troops, roamed the country, insulting, plundering, and even mur dering those who refused to join their ranks. Patriots were out lawed, and their property was confiscated. Delicate women, who had been accustomed to every comfort, were despoiled of raiment and home, and were glad to find refuge in some hovel too me an to excite the attention of the enemy. No one could be neutral. He who was not in arms for the king, was liable to be assassinated in his own home, even in the presence of his wife and little chil dren. A merchant could not collect a debt, except on taking an oath of loyalty. One of Tarleton s quartermasters cut to pieces Samuel Wyly, in his own house near Camden, merely because he had been a volunteer at the siege of Charleston. One hundred and sixty of the inhabitants of Camden were sent to prison, and twenty were loaded with chains, on their refusal to take up arms against their countrymen. The Continentals captured at Charles ton were sent to prison-ships, where, in thirteen months, one-third of them died of disease. Several hundred young men were taken to Jamaica, and forced to serve in a British regiment. Gadsden, Rutledge, and other devoted patriots were sent to St. Augustine. Reports of these and multitudes of similar outrages, happening month after month for over two long years of British occupation, stirred the most sluggish hearts. Patriots, exiled from home, took up arms, blacksmiths forging their rude weapons, and women, who gloried in the title of " rebels," casting bullets for them out of the pewter utensils they sacrificed from their pantry- shelves. The war at the South henceforth assumed a character unlike that which it possessed in the North at any point ; except, perhaps, in the sections exposed to Indian forays, or the so-called neutral ground along the Hudson, between the English and American lines. The Carolinas, wild and extensive, cut up by streams, full of swamps and tangled woods, and having a mountainous border on the west, were exactly fitted for a bush-warfare, and became the scene of the most romantic adventures and hair-breadth escapes. The inhabitants were nearly equally divided in sentiment, and tories and whigs were bent on each other s destruction. Both 17SO.] PARTISAN WARFARE IN THE CAROLINAS. 287 sides organized partisan corps, which rendezvoused in swamps, and sallied out, as occasion offered, to strike a sudden blow, and then escaped with their plunder through by-paths known only to themselves. The country was harried by the continual passage of these predatory bands. The rancor of the royalists provoked retaliation ; rude justice was dealt on occasions, and the bitterest hatred was engendered. Daring leaders arose whose names carried terror to their foes and gave strength to the cause they upheld. On the British side were Tarleton with his merciless dragoons, and Ferguson with his riflemen ; on the American, were Sumter, the " Carolina Game-cock," whom Lord Cornwallis characterized as his " greatest plague"; Marion, the " Bayard of the South"; and the ever-vigilant Pickens. Dark and bloody deeds, lit up here and there with a gleam of kindness and faith, characterize this page of our history. Though generally lightly touched upon, they greatly influenced the issue of the contest. Every heart has been aroused in reading Bryant s Song of Marion s Men," those patriots " few, but true and tried," under a " leader frank and bold." The very breath of the forest is caught in the stirring lines : "Woe to the English soldiery that little dread us near ! On them shall light at midnight a strange and sudden fear ; When, waking to their tents on fire, they grasp their arms in vain, And they who stand to face us are beat to earth again ; And they who fly in terror deem a mighty host behind, And hear the tramp of thousands upon the hollow wind. " Well knows the fair and friendly moon the band that Marion leads The glitter of their rifles, the scampering of their steeds. Tis life to guide the fiery barb across the moonlit plain ; Tis life to feel the night-wind that lifts his tossing mane. A moment in the British camp a moment, and away Back to the pathless forest before the peep of day." But there is another virtue beside courage that of endurance. Concerning Marion, it has been said that " his simplicity of con duct, preserved under all circumstances, was above praise ; the cheerfulness with which he endured privations, surpassed en comium." At one time, a British officer was sent to negotiate some business with him. When it was concluded, Marion po litely invited him to remain to dinner an invitation which the 288 SIXTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [1780. officer, already charmed with Marion s dignified simplicity, gladly accepted. The repast consisted entirely of roasted potatoes, served upon pieces of bark, and was offered without apology, but with the simple mention of the old adage that " Hunger is the best sauce." The British officer was amazed at such a meagre diet. "Surely, general," he said, " this cannot be your ordinary fare." " It is indeed," was the quiet A RENDEZVOUS OF MARION AND HIS MEN. reply ; " but on this occasion, having the honor of your company, we are happy to have more than our usual allowance." The officer was so affected by this unselfish patriotism, especially as he afterward learned that Marion served without pay, that, imme diately upon his return, he resigned his commission, declaring that it was folly to fight against men who showed such devotion to their cause. Colonel Horry of Carolina, who belonged to Marion s brigade, was another dauntless patriot. He had an impediment in his speech, which greatly embarrassed him. A ludicrous story is 1780.] PARTISAN WARFARE IN THE CAROLINAS. 289 told of him when, after having waited some time in ambuscade to attack a certain British detachment, he had them at length in his power. The critical moment had come, and he jumped to his feet to give the order to fire. " Fi-fi-fi-fi-fi " his tongue would go no further. Irritated almost to madness, he shouted, " Shoot, d n you shoot ! shoot ! You know very well what I would say shoot and be d d to you ! " His own courage reacted upon and inspired all who came in contact with him. At Quimby, Colonel Baxter, himself a brave soldier, called out, " Colonel, I am wounded ! " " Never mind, Baxter, stand to your post ! " was the reply. " But I can t stand, colonel ; I am wounded a second time!" "Then lie down, Baxter, but don t quit your post." " Colonel," cried the same voice, " they have shot me again, and if I stay here any longer, they will shoot me to pieces." " Be it so, Baxter, but stir not! " was the calm response. Baxter obeyed the order, and was actually wounded a fourth time before the engagement was over. One beautiful spring morning, a splendidly-dressed officer, accompanied by two aids and followed by a score of troopers as a body-guard, dashed up the avenue to a fine old mansion, on the piazza of which sat two ladies and a little child. Politely bowing, the officer said, " Have I the pleasure of speaking to the mistress of this house ? " Being answered in the affirmative, and learning that her husband was absent, Tarleton, for it was he, next in quired, " Is he a rebel ? " " No, sir," was the quick reply ; " he is in the army of his country, and fighting against our invaders ; therefore, not a rebel." " I fear, madame, that we differ," Tarle ton rejoined ; " a friend to his country will be a friend to the king, our master." " Slaves only acknowledge a master in this coun try," retorted the lady, with spirit. An order was at once given to quarter the troops on the plantation, and then, again bowing, Tarleton said, " Madame, the service of his majesty requires the temporary occupation of your property, and, if it will not be too great an inconvenience, I shall take up my quarters in your house." His tone was decisive. The lady simply responded, " My family consists of only myself, my sister, my child, and a few negroes. We are your prisoners." A thousand soldiers the choicest of English cavalry were soon encamped upon the grounds. Lieutenant Slocumb, the owner of the plantation, was at that moment, with twelve or fifteen recruits, reconnoitering Cornwallis s encampment, little dreaming that his own beautiful 19 2QO SIXTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [1780. home was invaded. Mrs. Slocumb prepared an ample dinner for her uninvited guests. They especially enjoyed her excellent peach-brandy. Learning that it was the product of the plantation orchard, an Irish captain said, " Colonel, when we conquer this country, is it not to be divided amongst us ? " " Undoubtedly the officers will receive large possessions of the subjugated prov inces/ was the reply. " Allow me to observe," interposed Mrs. Slocumb, " that the only land any British officer will ever hold in this country will measure but six feet by two." " Excuse me, madame," replied Tarleton ; " for your sake I regret to say it, but this beautiful plantation will probably be a ducal seat for some of us." The lady s eyes flashed. " Do not trouble yourself about me," she retorted ; " my husband is able to make this anything but a quiet seat for a duke or even a king." At this moment, a rapid volley of firearms resounded from the wood near at hand. Mrs. Slocumb, who had been in an agony of anxiety lest the lieutenant should return, and, unawares, fall into the enemy s hands, had, immediately on their arrival, despatched an old negro with a bag of corn to a mill on the road her husband must travel, charging him to tell his master of the danger. But " Big George," with the indolence and curiosity incident to his race, had not yet left the hedge-row, behind which he was admiring the British red-coats, shining helmets, and dashing plumes. By adroit remarks, Mrs. Slocumb had also contrived to impress Tarleton with the idea that there was a large number of Amer ican troops in the vicinity. " You would not, of course, be sur prised at a call from Lee," she observed, " or from your old friend Colonel Washington, who shook your hand rather rudely, it is said, when you last met," pointing, as she spoke, to a scar left by Washington s sabre. At the sound of the firing, all rushed to the door, and Tarleton, mounting his horse, put himself at the head of his regiment. Just then the cause of the disturbance was made clear. Lieutenant Slocumb, coming upon the scouts Tarleton had sent out, had set upon them with his little band, and was chasing them up the avenue to his own house, so intent on his purpose that he saw nothing else. At this moment, Big George came to his senses, and, rushing before his master, shouted, " Hold on, massa ! de debbil here ! Look you." Slocumb was already surrounded, but with wonderful coolness dashed through the thinnest quarter, scaled the fences, and, leaping a canal amid a shower of balls, 1780.] HEROISM OF NANCY HART. 2QI reached in safety the shelter of the wood he had just left. The men started to pursue, but Tarleton, believing a large force to be hidden there, sounded the trumpet for recall, and returned with his officers to the peach-brandy and the coffee. Slocumb lived to do good service thereafter. Nancy Hart of Georgia was one of the most remarkable char acters of these stirring times. An Amazon in stature, her courage, patriotism, wit and temper were in proportion to her altitude. One evening she was at home in her log-house, with her children sitting around the fire, over which a large pot of soap was boiling. As Nancy vigorously stirred the soap, she dispensed to her family the latest news of the war, seasoned with her own spirited sen timents. Suddenly one of the children espied a face between the crevices of the huge log chimney, and silently conveyed the intimation to his mother. As her violent whiggism was known and hated, she readily divined that a tory spy was at hand. Rat tling away with renewed zeal, giving sarcastic pictures of the dis comfiture of the tories, as she professed to have just received special intelligence, and meantime stirring her soap with increas ing fury, she waited till the proper moment arrived, when, quick as lightning, she dashed a ladleful of the boiling liquid plump through the crevice, into the very face of the eavesdropper. Blinded by pain and sudden surprise, he screamed and roared vociferously, while the indomitable Nancy amused herself at his expense, and, with jibes and taunts, bound him fast as her prisoner. When the partisan warfare had become so hot, and the tories so strong, that whigs were forced to hide or swing, and Nancy s husband had taken to the canebrake with the rest, she still stood at her post, her spirits rising with the tempest. The tories at length gave her a call, and, in true soldier manner, ordered a repast. " Nancy soon had the necessary materials for a good feast spread before them. The smoking venison, the hasty hoe-cake, and the fresh honeycomb were sufficient to have provoked the appetite of a gorged epicure. They simultaneously stacked their arms and seated themselves, when, with a cat-like spring, the dauntless Nancy seized one of the guns, cocked it, and, with a blazing oath, declared she would blow out the brains of the first mortal that offered to rise, or take a mouthful. They all knew her character too well to imagine that she would say one thing and do another. Go/ said she to her son, and tell the whigs that I have taken six base tories. They sat still, each expecting 292 SIXTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [1780. to be offered up, with doggedly mean countenance, bearing the marks of disappointed revenge, shame, and unappeased hunger. Whether the incongruity between Nancy s eyes when in rage they had a slight obliquity caused each to imagine himself her immediate object, or whether her commanding attitude and her stern and ferocious fixture of countenance overawed them, or the powerful idea of their non-soldierlike conduct or the certainty of death unnerved them, it is not easy to determine. They were soon NANCY HART AND THE BRITISH SOLDIERS. relieved from her glare, but only to be dealt with according to the rules of the times." Another account of this transaction states that Nancy shot two of the tories, and then saying " shooting was too good for them," ordered the others to be taken to a tree near by and hanged. Nancy Hart rendered several signal services to the patriots. When Augusta was in the hands of the British, and great anxiety was felt concerning their intentions, she assumed male attire, and, feigning insanity, went boldly into the British camp, where she obtained much valuable information to bring back to the American commander at Wilkes. At another time, on a similar mission, she walked to the Savannah River ; made a A ,78 o 6 ] ATTACK OF HANGING ROCK. 293 raft of logs tied together with grape vines, crossed, accomplished her end, and returned with important intelligence. On several occasions she made single prisoners. Once, having met a tory, she engaged him in conversation, and, when off his guard, seized his gun, and compelled him to march before her into the Amer ican camp. A county in Georgia now bears her family name, and thus perpetuates her memory. After the fall of Charleston there was no regular patriot army in the field, but the partisan bands kept up the contest. July I2th, while one Captain Huck, who was in command of a British patrol at Cross Roads, was surrounded by women who were vainly begging the ruffian to spare their homes, Sumter s troop dashed suddenly into the street from both ends, slew the captain and killed or captured the entire party. His numbers increasing, July 30th, this bold leader ventured to attack the British sta tion at Rocky Mount ; but having no artillery to batter down the log block-house, was compelled to give up the attempt. Seven days after, he assaulted the post at Hanging Rock. His soldiers had, at the beginning, only two rounds of ammunition, and they would not have had even this but for the heroism of two women. It had been stored in a house where a Mrs. Thomas resided with her daughter and son-in-law. The enemy having attacked the dwelling, the three barricaded the doors, and, the women loading the guns, the man discharged them so rapidly, and with such effect, that the British, supposing a force to be posted there, withdrew. At Hanging Rock, as in many other engagements, the patriots soon supplied themselves from the tories whom they put to flight. At first Sumter carried all before him, but his men be coming disorganized by the liquor they found in camp, he drew off with his prisoners and booty when victory seemed just within his grasp. A young boy not yet fourteen years of age took part in this conflict. His name was Andrew Jackson, the same who afterward became the hero of many battles, and the seventh President of the United States. In the spring, Washington sent from his little army a de tachment which he could ill spare for the help of the South. The gallant De Kalb was ordered thither with two thousand Maryland and Delaware Continentals. Washington desired that Greene should be appointed to the Southern army, in place of Lincoln ; but Congress unanimously designated Gates for this ser- 294 SIXTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [July 2 ( 5-Aug. 16, vice, making him, moreover, as once before, independent of the commander-in-chief, and responsible only to that body. As Gates was on the way to his new field, he met General Charles Lee, who cautioned him lest his " Northern laurels should turn to Southern willows." But, full of elation, he hastened south ward, vaporing much of " Burgoyning Cornwallis," and expecting to end the war with another Saratoga. July 25th, he joined the army at Deep River. De Kalb had intended to march through Salisbury and Charlotte, a fertile region abounding in supplies. Instead, Gates took the direct route for Camden, through a wilder ness of sand-hills and pine barrens. His men, eating green corn and unripe fruit, became the prey of disease. Emerging from this inhospitable country, he arrived at Clermont, August I3th. He had only about three thousand men, who had never been paraded together, and many of whom were raw militia. Full of conceit, however, and supposing that the enemy would, of course, flee before his terrible name, he advanced to meet Lord Cornwallis, who was then in command of the British, Clinton having returned to New York. Singularly, both generals had appointed the same time to make a night attack. While marching for this purpose, about half-past one on the morning of the i6th, the advance-guards of the two armies unexpectedly encountered each other in the woods near Camden. After some sharp skirmishing, the main bodies waited for day. At dawn, Cornwallis ordered a charge. The Virginia militia under Stevens, not knowing how to use their bayonets, which they had received only the day before, fled at the first fire. Two-thirds of the army disappeared without returning a shot. Amid the general rout, a regiment of North Carolinians under Dixon refused to flee, and stood firm with the Maryland and Delaware men under De Kalb. At last, that Polish veteran fell, pierced with eleven wounds. His brave comrades for a time fought desperately over his body, but were overwhelmed by numbers. Gates, with no thought of those who were still bravely contending on the field against such terrible odds, fled with the militia, or, as he said, " retired." Late that night, with a solitary companion, General Caswell of North Carolina, he reached Char lotte. The next morning, he kept on to Hillsborough, making, says Bancroft, two hundred miles in three days and a half. The " grand army," as it had been pompously styled, was irrecover ably scattered. Aug 1780?* 7< ] BATTLE OF KING S MOUNTAIN. 295 Previous to the battle, Sumter, having again emerged from his retreat in the swamp, had gone below Camden with a strong detachment from Gates s army to capture a convoy of stores designed for the British. In the midst of his success, learning of the disaster at Camden, and seeing his own perilous position in the presence of a victorious enemy, he retreated up the river. But while he was taking a noon-day halt at Fishing Creek, his men bathing and cooking, and he lying asleep in the shade of a wagon, Tarleton burst into the camp, recovered the plunder and prisoners, and scattered or captured his entire force. Two days after, Sumter rode into Charlotte without hat or saddle. But other partisans were more successful. On the very day of Sumter s defeat at Fishing Creek, Colonel Williams, with the patriots of Ninety-Six, stormed the British post at Musgrove s Mill, garrisoned by five hundred troops ; and the day Sumter rode into Charlotte, Marion, near Nelson s Ferry on the Santee, sprang out of his covert upon a convoy of prisoners from Camden fight, captured a part of the guard, and rescued one hundred and fifty Continental soldiers from a fate worse than death. Early in September, Cornwallis marched into North Carolina via Charlotte and Salisbury, while Ferguson was ordered to move along the base of the mountains, on his way recruiting the loyal ists from the uplands of South Carolina. Presently the attention of the latter was drawn toward Augusta. Clark, with one hun dred riflemen, had there captured the rich presents designed to rouse the Cherokees to take part in this struggle. Reinforce ments from Ninety-Six, however, reaching the British, Clark beat a hasty retreat, some of his men being overtaken. By the orders of Brown, the commander at Augusta, thirteen of these were hung, and as many given up to the Indians to be toma hawked or tortured. Ferguson, hoping to cut off Clark s party, now pressed closer to the mountains, where he met with an unexpected obstacle. The patriots, fleeing before his ruthless advance, had roused the free backwoodsmen over the mountains with the story of their wrongs. These had gathered, each man with his trusty rifle, a bag of bullets, and a store of provisions and powder the latter made from nitre found in the caves, and charcoal burned by their wives on their own fireplaces. Under Colonels Shelby and Sevier afterward first governors, respectively, of Kentucky and Tennessee Williams, Cleaveland, McDowell, and Campbell, they 296 SIXTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [78O 7 . suddenly emerged from the wilderness, bent on Ferguson s de struction. He took the alarm, and hurried eastward toward Cornwallis. The trooper-chiefs, selecting nine hundred men with the best horses and rifles, pushed ahead, dismounting only once in thirty-six hours. On the afternoon of October 7th, the enemy was brought at bay on King s Mountain. There were over eleven hundred, but the backwoodsmen did not wait to count the odds. Forming into four columns, they clambered up the steep, craggy cliffs from all sides at once. Driven back here and there by the bayonets of the regulars, they returned directly, and all the while poured in a murderous fire. The contest lasted an hour, when Ferguson fell, and his men, despairing, surrendered. Four hundred and fifty -six of the British were either killed or severely wounded, and six hundred and forty-eight were taken prisoners. The American loss was only eighty-eight in all. Ten of the tories, notorious assassins and house-burners, were hung by 4 the enraged moun taineers. There were eleven selected, but one of them broke loose as they were being led to execution, and, " though he had to make his way through a thousand of the best marksmen and horsemen in the world, such was the unusual admiration or feel ing on the occasion, not one would lift a hand to stop him." Campbell, on learning of this summary vengeance, immediately put a stop to further executions. The hardy sons of the forest, having accomplished their pur pose, quietly returned to their log-cabins and their uneventful lives. King s Mountain proved another Lexington or Bunker Hill. Tarleton, who was coming to Ferguson s aid, heard of the disaster and hastened back to Cornwallis. That general, with no longer any thought of conquering North Carolina, but only of getting back in safety, immediately set out on his return. Militia on every hand beset his rear and flank. Frequently single rifle men would ride up within shot of the British column, take careful aim with their unerring pieces, fire, and then, wheeling, disappear in the woods. Troops were cut off, and food became scarce. For days before the army reached Winnsborough, in South Carolina, two and a half ears of corn for each soldier was the only ration. Marion now came out of his hiding-places along the Pedee and the Black Rivers, and, defeating a party of tories who were in pursuit of him, threatened the communications with Charleston. C | t 780? V "] ACTIVITY OF MARION AND SUMTER. 297 Cornwallis at once sent Tarleton after him. Delighting in this commission, he set off. His line could everywhere be traced by the ruin he left behind him. Groups of houseless women and children, whose homes some of them spacious and elegant had been burned by his ruthless orders, clustered about fires in the open air, and in the chill November rain. One lady, the widow of a brave general officer, who was believed to have knowledge of Marion s whereabouts, was actually beaten for not revealing it, and left without a change of raiment by the ashes of her dwelling. At the approach of the enemy, Marion took to his covert in the swamp. Just then, Tarleton was recalled. Sumter had appeared in the Northwest, stopping supplies and defeating a detachment under Major Wemyss, who had ventured to attack his camp at Fishdam, and now menaced Ninety-Six. Tarleton quickly turned to meet the " Game-cock." Sumter, being apprised of this, chose a strong post at Blackstock Hill, where he repulsed the British attack with heavy loss. The patriot chief was, however, severely wounded, and his men retired, carrying their commander with them. Marion proved a source of constant terror to the British army at the South. It is said, indeed, that Cornwallis himself had an especial dread of Marion, and, when outside of Charleston, never sat down in a strange house, but always remained on the piazza or under a tree, that he might constantly watch for this always-to-be-expected foe. No military movements of great importance took place at the North during this year. A few marauding excursions only are worthy of mention. In the winter, New York Bay and the adja cent rivers were frozen over, so that the city was open to land attack, artillery being able to move anywhere upon the ice. It was expected that Washington would take advantage of this op portunity, but the condition of his army forbade. On the night of January I4th, General Stirling attempted to surprise a British post on Staten Island, but failed, and came back with many of his men severely frost-bitten. Eleven days after, Knyphausen, in command at New York during the absence of Clinton in South Carolina, retorted by two expeditions ; one, which crossed over to Newark, captured a company of soldiers stationed there, and burned the Academy ; and another, which surprised the picket at Elizabethtown, plundered the inhabitants, and set fire to the church and town-hall. The pastor of the church which was destroyed was Rev. James 298 SIXTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. TFeb, 2, L I78O. Caldwell, known among the whigs as a " rousing gospel preacher," and among the tories as a " rebel firebrand." Laying his pistols on the desk beside the Bible, he was wont at times to strangely mingle patriotism with piety. He was a great favorite in the Jerseys. His bell rang the alarm when the enemy approached, and under his roof the militia gathered and the wounded were nursed. February 2d, a detachment set out by night from New York in sleighs, to surprise Young s house, near White Plains. This was a stone building gar risoned by the patriots, and commanded a road by which provisions would naturally pass along the valley of the Neperan to New York. The snow was two feet deep, and the British were finally compelled to leave their sleighs and trudge along on foot. The alarm was given, and the Westchester farmers quickly gathered ; but after a sharp skirmish, the post was stormed and the house fired. The expedition got back to King s Bridge after an absence of only twenty-four hours. The prisoners were hurried into the jail and the sugar-house, to en dure the horrors of British captivity. Few ever returned home. These expeditions illustrate the way in which the neighborhood of New York, especially the Neutral Ground, was constantly har ried through the war. In the summer the American army was threatened with star vation. Finally, two Connecticut regiments declared their deter mination to either go home or get food at the point of the bayonet. It was with the greatest difficulty that Washington could induce them to return to duty. In this emergency, Robert Morris sent to camp three million rations. Soldiers relief associations were also organized by the women of Philadelphia. Those who had THE OLD SUGAR-HOUSE, LIBERTY STREET. J T7 e 80. 8 ] KNYPHAUSEN IN THE JERSEYS. 299 money gave it; the poor contributed their work. Twenty-two hundred shirts, we are told, were thus manufactured, on each of which was inscribed the name of the fair maker. Knyphausen, learning of the disaffection of the army, with about five thousand men, made a bold push into the Jerseys. The advance landed at Elizabethtown before daylight, June 6th. As the troops came to a fork in the road, a solitary sentinel fired into the dimly-discerned mass. That chance-shot mortally wounded a British general. Soon the booming of heavy guns and the flashing of signal-fires spread the alarm over the coun try. The yeomanry, hastily forming, fired upon the enemy from behind fences and trees. The British, reaching Connecticut Farms, sacked and burned the town. The wife of Reverend James Caldwell, the " rebel fire-brand," was deliberately shot through the window of the parsonage, while, it is said, kneeling by her bedside, holding the hand of her little child and engaged in prayer. After the army had passed, the neighbors with diffi culty rescued the body from the ruins of the burning building. The tragical fate of this estimable woman raised a desire for ven geance similar to that produced by the death of Miss McCrea, three years before. Washington had now arrived and taken position across the Rahway, and the troops, which the British expected to find thoroughly demoralized, were standing in line, ready to resist the passage of the river. Knyphausen recoiled from their firm aspect. Several days of uncertainty ensued. Clinton having returned from the South, and threatening a movement up the Hudson River, Washington retired to Rockaway Bridge. It was, however, only a feint on the part of the British, and Kny phausen at once advanced upon Springfield. Greene, who was in command, gallantly defended the bridges across the Rahway. On that day, says Irving, " no one showed more ardor in the fight than Caldwell, the chaplain. The image of his murdered wife was before his eyes. Finding the men in want of wadding, he galloped to the Presbyterian church, and brought thence a quan tity of Watts s psalm and hymn books, which he distributed for the purpose among the soldiers. Now, boys, cried he, put Watts into them ! " The advance of the enemy was finally checked. Knyphausen, not daring to hazard the difficult passes beyond, again aban doned his attempt. Ere his troops left Springfield, they burned 300 SIXTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [1780. nearly the entire village. During the retreat, they were inces santly harassed by the militia, while Light-Horse Harry hung on their rear. It was the last time the British set foot in New Jersey. We now turn to a dark page in the history of the War for Independence. Benedict Arnold, whose bravery at Quebec, Ridgefield, and Saratoga had excited such universal admiration, was stationed at Philadelphia while his wound received at the last-named battle was healing. Though considered at heart a true friend of the country, he was known to have been greatly dissatisfied because, in the early part of the war, his name was omitted from the list of the first five major-generals appointed by Congress. After his gallant action at Ridgefield, he was commis sioned major-general, but was placed below the previous five. Saratoga, however, brought him the rank he had claimed, and he was supposed to be content. Having married a Miss Shippen, a tory lady of great beauty and accomplishments, he launched into a style of living far beyond his income. This he endeavored to support by engaging in various commercial schemes, by pri vateering speculations, and even by sharing in the dishonest gains of sutlers. Haughty and overbearing in his manner and sordid in his disposition, he rendered himself exceedingly unpopular, and on one occasion he was mobbed in the streets of Philadelphia. The council of Philadelphia finally preferred charges of mis conduct against him which were fully substantiated, and in January, 1780, he was sentenced to be reprimanded by the com- mander-in-chief. Washington performed the disagreeable duty with exceeding leniency, but Arnold made this instance of what he called his country s ingratitude a pretext for treason. It is now known that for nearly a year previously he had been in com munication with the enemy. The way to this is supposed to have been paved by the fact that Miss Shippen, at her father s house, had become well acquainted with Major Andre, General Clin ton s aide-de-camp, both having been prominent characters in the famous mischianza pageant at Philadelphia. In the corres pondence, Arnold used the pseudonym of " Gustavus," and Major Andr6 that of " John Anderson." Bent upon gratifying at once his revenge and his love of money, Arnold determined to betray into the hands of the enemy the fortress of West Point, then the most important position in the country, and the main depot of supplies. He accordingly ~\ THE TREASON OF BENEDICT ARNOLD. 301 secured from Washington the command of this post, on the plea that his wound would not permit his undertaking active service. The plot being ripe, Arnold requested an interview with a " person fully authorized " to arrange the details. Major Andre accord ingly ascended the Hudson, and went on board the British sloop- of-war Vulture, then lying at anchor in the river. Just before dawn on the morning of September 22d, he landed at the foot of Clove Mountain, where Arnold was waiting in the bushes to receive him. The two repaired to the house of one Smith, within the American lines, where they remained until late in the day. The plan agreed upon was for Clinton to send a strong force to attack the works at West Point, while Arnold was to scatter the garrison, so that no effective defence would be possible. While their conference progressed, fire had been opened on the Vulture from a small battery on Teller s Point, and she had dropped down the river. Andre was therefore compelled to return to New York by land. Furnished with a pass from Arnold and a citizen s dress, he accordingly set out under the guidance of Smith. Everything passed off well. A little distance north of Pine s Bridge, over the Croton, Smith returned, assuring Andre that he would now meet only parties of British marauders, " Cow Boys," as they were called. Andre, pressing forward, full of satisfaction over the result of his hazardous undertaking, had nearly reached Tarrytown, when he was suddenly stopped by a small scouting party of three men, named Paulding, Van Wart, and Williams. Paulding demanded which way he was going. Expecting to meet only British so near the lines, Andr< incautiously replied, " I hope, gentlemen, you belong to our party." "Which party?" was asked. "The lower party," answered Andr. Paulding giving an affirmative response, Andre then said, " I am a British officer out on particu lar business. I hope you will not detain me a moment." The secret was now out, and he was at once ordered to dismount. In dismay, he showed Arnold s pass. At first this would have satis fied his captors ; now it was too late. Upon searching him, they found in his stockings, among other papers in Arnold s handwrit ing, a plan of the fortifications at West Point. " This is a spy," exclaimed Paulding. Andr now offered any sum they might de mand to secure his release. The incorruptible patriots refused the bribe, and, taking him to North Castle, left him in the hands of 3 02 SIXTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. rSept. 25, L I78O. Lieutenant-Colonel Jameson. Having done their duty, they departed, without asking any reward, or even leaving their names. With inconceivable stupidity, Jameson wrote to Arnold, informing him of the arrest. Arnold was at breakfast when he received the note. Calling aside his wife, he told her of his peril. Terrified by his words, V CAPTURE OF MAJOR ANDRE. she fainted. Kissing his boy, who lay asleep in the cradle, he darted out of the house, mounted a horse, by an unfrequented path reached the river, jumped into his boat, and was rowed to the Vulture. Here he basely delivered up his oarsmen as prison ers of war. Clinton, on hearing of the fact, at once ordered them to be released. Washington arrived a few hours after Arnold s escape. " Whom can we trust now ? " was his exclamation when he received the startling news. Andre was tried by court-martial, and convicted as a spy. His sad fate awakened universal inter est, and every effort was made to secure his release. But the inexorable laws of war admitted no pardon. As a last favor, Andr6 besought that he might die as a soldier rather than as a criminal. This, too, the custom of both sides forbade. His letter ?780. ] EXECUTION OF MAJOR ANDREA 303 to Washington, in which he touchingly preferred this request, has been thus beautifully paraphrased by Willis : " It is not the fear of death That damps my brow ; It is not for another breath I ask thee now ; I can die with a lip unstirred, And a quiet heart Let but this prayer be heard Ere I depart. " I can give up my mother s look My sister s kiss ; I can think of love yet brook A death like this ! I can give up the young fame I burned to win ; All but the spotless name I glory in. " Thine is the power to give, Thine to deny, Joy for the hour I live, Calmness to die. By all the brave should cherish, By my dying breath, I ask that I may perish By a soldier s death." The sentence was executed at Tappan October 2d. Major Tall- madge, who accompanied him, says, " When he came in sight of the gibbet, he appeared to be startled, and enquired with some emotion whether he was not to be shot. Being informed that the mode first appointed for his death could not consistently be altered, he exclaimed, * How hard is my fate ! but immediately added, it will soon be over/ I then shook hands with him under the gallows and retired." Having been given an opportunity to speak, he simply said, " I pray you to bear witness that I meet my fate like a brave man." Much sympathy was felt for this unfortunate young officer, who was so vastly superior to the traitor who was the cause of his ignoble death. Andr was brilliant and accomplished, an artist and a scholar. He had written some spicy satirical poems on military events. The closing verse of one, entitled " The Cow Chase," wherein Lee and Wayne are the ludicrous heroes, runs thus : 304 SIXTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [{78oP f " And now I ve closed my epic strain, I tremble as I show it, Lest this same warrio-drover Wayne Should ever catch the poet." It is a singular coincidence that the last canto of this poem was published the very day of Andre s arrest, and that General Wayne commanded the division of the army at Tappan, when the ill-starred satirist proved his mock fears to be sad prophecies. Arnold received, as the reward of his treachery, six thousand three hundred and fifteen pounds and a major-general s commis sion in the British army. The fame of his gallant deeds was forever hidden by the memory of his base deceit, and he was henceforth despised alike by Americans and British. A curious attempt was made by Washington to get possession of Arnold. The agent employed was John Champe, sergeant- major in Lee s cavalry. His first step was a pretended deser tion. Lee withheld pursuit as long as possible without exciting suspicion, but the vigilant officer of the day discovered Champe s absence almost immediately. Obliged to simulate an ardent desire to overtake the culprit, Lee, though taxing his wits for causes of delay, could not give Champe more than an hour s start. The chase was hot, and twice the fleeing deserter was nearly in the clutches of his pursuers ; but at last he succeeded in reaching the river, and, swimming for his life, was taken on board a British galley. He was referred to General Arnold, who was forming an American Legion, mostly composed of renegades. Arnold made him recruiting-sergeant, which ensured him frequent access to his house. A plan was laid with two disguised patriots like himself, to whom he had brought letters of introduction, to seize and gag Arnold in his garden, where he walked every night about twelve o clock. They were then to convey him to the river, as a drunken companion, and row him over to the Jersey shore. All was in readiness. The night arrived, and Lee, who had been kept informed of affairs, waited with three dragoons, in the wood near Hoboken, to convey the traitor to camp. Hour after hour passed, and no boat approached. Day broke, and the disappointed party went back alone. A few days afterward, a letter from one of Champe s associates explained the failure of the plot. Only the day before the night fixed for its execution, Arnold removed his quarters, and Champe, instead of crossing the Hudson with his prize, as he had fondly hoped, was on board Oct., 1 I780.J CHAMPE S ADVENTURE. 305 one of the British transports, from whence he never departed till Arnold landed his troops in Virginia. When, at last, he effected his escape and rejoined his old regiment, his comrades were not a little surprised at the joyous reception given him by Lee. The truth soon became known, and the long-reprobated deserter assumed his true place in the hearts of his fellow-soldiers as a hero and a patriot. Lest, in the vicissitudes of war, he might fall into the enemy s hands and die on a gibbet, Washing ton, with distinguished marks of esteem, gave him a discharge from the service. At the close of the campaign of 1778, Lafayette, having been granted leave of absence, at the request of Washington returned to France. He was there received with every mark of respect and consideration. He was almost immediately called to the palace, the queen being anxious to hear about her " Dear Ameri cans." "It is fortunate," said Maurepas, the minister, "that Lafayette did not wish to strip Versailles of its furniture to send to America." Having gained a promise of assistance for the United States, he rejoined Washington, May 11, 1780. He brought the commander-in-chief a commission as lieutenant-general of the army of France and vice-admiral of its navy. July loth, a French fleet, carrying Rochambeau and six thousand soldiers, arrived at Newport. We shall hear of them the next year at Yorktown. MONUMENT AT TARRYTOVVN. 20 CHAPTER VIII. THE LAST OF THE (REVOLUTION 1781. HE value of the Continental cur rency had now sunk so low that it was said that a " wagon-load of the scrip would hardly purchase a wagon-load of provisions, while one going to trade was forced to carry his money in a market- basket." Destitute of food and clothing, and without pay for a year, thirteen hundred of the Pennsylvania troops, consisting principally of Irish immigrants, encamped at Morristown, broke into open revolt on the night of the New-Year, and left camp with the avowed purpose of compelling Congress to redress their wrongs. General Wayne confronted them with his loaded pistols, but, with their bayonets at his breast, they declared, " We love and respect you, but if you fire you are a dead man. We are not going to the enemy, as you would soon see if they should appear, for we should fight under you as bravely as ever." Clinton sent his agents among them offering heavy bounties for desertion. The mutineers indignantly replied, " We are not Arnolds ! " and turned them over to Wayne, who, being a great favorite, was allowed to follow the march. On being tendered a reward for delivering up these spies, they replied, " We ask no pay for placing our country above its enemies ; we only demand justice in view of our past service and our necessities." Reed, then president of Pennsylvania, finally settled the diffi culty by discharging those who professed to have served their time, the State making arrangements to pay and clothe the re- Jfg;;] REVOLT OF THE CONTINENTAL TROOPS. 307 mainder. It was afterward found that the men had sworn falsely as to their terms of enlistment in order to secure their discharge. The New Jersey troops, encouraged by the success of the Pennsylvania line, followed the example. Washington imme diately marched some New England regiments from West Point, which, being composed of " native Americans and freeholders, or sons of freeholders," remained true. The revolt was quickly subdued, and two of the mutineers were shot, their own com panions being forced to act as executioners. In this emergency, an agent was sent to France in order to secure a loan. Yet, as Bancroft well remarks, that country was poorer in proportion to its population than the United States. All that was lacking here was a powerful government to organize the strength of the country. In February, Robert Morris was appointed financial agent, and by freely using his private credit he succeeded in restoring confidence in the promises of Congress to pay its honest debts. At his suggestion, the Bank of North America was established, and by careful management he was able to redeem its bills with gold whenever presented. March ist of this year was a notable day. Maryland, the last of the thirteen States, then ratified the articles of confederation, thus consummating the Federal Union. The defeat of Gates at Camden was fatal to his ambition. Soon alter, General Greene was appointed his successor, but subject to the orders of the commander-in-chief. Thus, for the first time, was the true position of Washington recognized. Light-Horse Harry with his legion, three hundred and fifty in number, was ordered to the Carolinas. Even this reinforcement could ill be spared. Greene, on his arrival, reorganized the army and established his camp at Cheraw, on the Pedee. Morgan, of whom we have not heard much since the brilliant day at Saratoga, was stationed with a thousand men near Broad River. An exploit of Lieutenant-Colonel Washington s now greatly encouraged the men. Scouring the country with a troop of light- horse, he came across a body of loyalists under the tory Colonel Rudgley. They were strongly posted in a large log barn, fortified by entrenchments and an abattis. Knowing the weak character of his opponent, Washington fixed a pine log shaped and painted to look like a field-piece on the front wheels of a wagon, dis mounted part of his troops to appear like infantry, displayed his cavalry, leveled the deadly pine-cannon on the log castle, and 308 THE LAST YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [ J f78| 7 then sent in a flag demanding instant surrender. The affrighted colonel begged for quarter, and surrendered his garrison of one hundred and twelve men at discretion. Cormvallis, mentioning the event in a letter to Tarleton, dryly added, " Rudgley will not be made a brigadier." In order to cut off Morgan, whose activity threatened his flank, Cornwallis ordered Tarleton to attack him in front, while he marched northward between the Broad and the Catawba Rivers, and severed his communications with Greene. Morgan awaited Tarleton s coming at the Cowpens, so called because of an enclo sure at that place used by the neighboring farmers for herding their cattle, which in that mild climate roamed wild through the fields during the entire year. Before daylight on the morning of January I7th, being informed by his spies that Tarleton was near, he awakened his men, breakfasted, and then put them quietly in post. The British coming on impetuously, the militia who were in Morgan s front line yielded after a sharp resistance. The Continentals, however, stood firm. Being at length outflanked by the superior numbers of the enemy, they fell back to take a new position. The English, thinking the day their own, rushed forward, when, suddenly, the Americans faced about, poured in a terrible volley at only thirty yards distance, and then charged with the bayonet. The British were driven pell-mell. Lieuten ant-Colonel Washington, with his cavalry, kept up the pursuit for twenty miles. In the eagerness of the chase, he got far in advance of his regiment, when three officers wheeled upon him. Wash ington owed his life to a sergeant who wounded one, and a little waiter-boy who shot a second. Tarleton, the third, is said to have been wounded by Washington himself. This defeat was a source of great mortification to Tarleton. He was occasionally reminded of it in a very disagreeable manner. At one time, after having indulged in much braggart talk about his own gallantry, he remarked to a whig lady : " I should like to see your far-famed hero, Colonel Washington." "Your wish, Colonel, might have been fairly gratified," was the prompt reply, " had you ventured to look behind you after the battle at Cow- pens." A still more pointed retort was given him by a Mrs. Jones, to whom he observed, " I have been told that Colonel Washington is so ignorant a fellow that he can hardly write his own name." "Ah, Colonel," she replied, " but no one knows better than your self that he can make his mark." J f 7 n 8, 17 ] BATTLE OF COWPENS. 309 The American loss at Cowpens was only seventy-two, while that of the English exceeded eight hundred, besides material of war. Cornwallis, hearing of the disaster, put his troops in light marching order, burned the baggage, himself setting the example, and started in hot haste to punish the victors and recapture the prisoners. Morgan, anticipating this, had destroyed what booty he could not carry off, and was already in full march for the Catawba. So keen, however, was Cornwallis s pursuit that the Americans had but just crossed the river when the British van ap peared on the opposite bank. That night it rained heavily, and the water rose so high that the impatient Cornwallis was kept waiting till the third day. Meanwhile Greene joined his faithful lieutenant, and took com mand. The main body of his army was ordered to meet him at Guilford Court-House, to which point he now hurried Morgan s men. At the Yadkin, just at eve, February 3d, the British advance was again on his heels ; but during the night the rain made the river unfordable. Heaven smiled on the patriots and they took heart. Cornwallis lost two days in going up the river to find a crossing. He was soon, however, again in full pursuit. Now began a race on parallel roads for the fords of the Dan seventy miles away. Colonel Williams, with the flower of the light troops, covered the march. Greene reached the river first, and on the 1 5th of February Cornwallis arrived only to find that the Amer ican rear-guard had crossed in the darkness of the night before. Every face in the patriot army was lighted with joy when their escape was certain. Halting only for one meal per day, sleeping but six hours in forty-eight, with only a blanket for four men, shoeless and ragged, they had fairly beaten the enemy by out running him. Greene himself, in his all-comprehensive care of the army, had hardly slept four hours in as many days. One night during this famous retreat, Greene alighted at the Salisbury inn, after a hard day s ride through mud and rain. The army physician, who had charge of the sick and wounded prisoners, met him at the door, and inquired after his well-being. " Fatigued, hungry, cold, and penniless," was the heavy-hearted reply. The patriotic landlady, Mrs. Elizabeth Steele, overheard the words. Lighting a cheerful fire, she spread a warm supper before him, and then, quietly producing two bags of specie, her hoarded treasure, " Take these," she said ; " you will want them, and I can do without them." It is hard to decide which was 3 io THE LAST YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. TFcb. 17-25, I 1781. the happier, the noble-hearted giver or the relieved receiver. Cheered and comforted, Greene renewed his journey with a lightened heart. The troops lay panting on the opposite sides of the river for a day. Cornwallis then fell back to Hillsborough. The waving of MRS. STEELE AND GENERAL GREENE. a handkerchief by a patriot woman, under the cover of the oppo site bank, was the signal which announced his retreat. The tables were then quickly turned. Light troops at once recrossed the Dan, and Greene himself soon took the field. The British general wished to force him to battle, but for seven days Greene eluded him, each night changing his camp, though at no time over ten miles distant. Lee and Pickens constantly scoured the country, covering Greene s movements, obtaining accurate intel ligence, and repressing the royalists. While hunting Tarleton through the woods beyond the Haw River, they fell in with a body of three hundred tories, who mistook them for the British. Lee rode down their line, congratulated them on their appear ance, grasped their colonel by the hand, and was about to explain M |78| 15 ] BATTLE OF GUILFORD COURT-HOUSE. 311 the true state of the case, and demand that they should go to their homes or join the patriots, when firing suddenly broke out. Lee was forced to charge, and ninety of the royalists were cut down, some of them while crying, " We are your friends. God save the king." March i5th, Greene, being reinforced, determined to give Cornwallis battle near Guilford Court-House. He had about three thousand six hundred men, nearly twice as many as his antagonist, but a large part were raw militia. The Americans were drawn up in three lines, several hundred yards apart ; the first being composed of North Carolina volunteers, the second of Virginia riflemen, and the third of Continentals. The British at once advanced to the charge. Half of the militia broke without firing a shot. Lee and Washington only, on the flanks, stood their ground long after the centre of their line was occupied by the enemy. The second line, riflemen used to backwoods fight ing, held their position bravely till driven from it by the bayo net. The Continentals fought stubbornly. At last the right seemed weakened, and Greene, not wishing to hazard anything, brought up his reserve to cover the retreat. The English were too exhausted to pursue. The American loss was four hundred and nineteen, and the British five hundred and seventy men. That night, with true generosity, the English cared for the wounded, friend and foe alike. But they were scattered through the woods, and the rain fell in torrents. Fifty sufferers died before morning. Now was exhibited a strange spectacle. The conqueror fled from his own victory. Cornwallis had lost over one-quarter of his men, and was forced to retreat with his weakened army. He accordingly retired toward Wilmington, whence, unwilling to fall back into the Carolinas, he concluded to march into Virginia and join the British troops already in that State. Greene decided not to follow him, but, leaving Virginia to its fate, to reconquer South Carolina. Lord Rawdon, in command of the British in that State, was at Camden, and thither Greene turned his course. Having en camped on Hobkirk s Hill, only a mile from the enemy, he was attacked before he was fairly in position. He quickly made his arrangements, but a regiment in the centre giving way unac countably, he was driven from his ground before Colonel Wash ington, who with the cavalry was to fall on the enemy s rear, 312 THE LAST YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [^"ns? could reach the spot. Greene retired as usual, but not before inflicting a greater loss than he received. Meanwhile, the partisan leaders were busy. Marion and Lee laid siege to the fort on Wright s Bluff. Having no cannon, in one night they built a tower of logs, from the top of which the riflemen picked off the garrison, and so forced a surrender, April 26th. This capture cut the communications of Camden with Charleston, and the former post was thereupon evacuated. They then attacked Fort Motte, on the Congaree. The British had here fortified and garrisoned the house of Mrs. Motte, an estima ble whig woman. In order to dislodge the enemy, she brought to Lee a bow and a quiver of Indian arrows, with which he threw fire upon the shingled roof. The occupants could not fight the flames under the guns of the sharp-shooters, and were soon roasted into a capitulation. A little story is attached to the quiver of arrows which did such effective service. Mrs. Brew- ton, who was a guest of Mrs. Motte s, had caught it up in the moment of their forced departure, knowing it to be a valued keepsake in the family. As she was passing through the gate, Major McPherson, drawing out a shaft, applied it to his finger, saying, " What have you here, Mrs. Brewton?" "For God s sake, major, be careful," she replied ; " those arrows are poi soned." It so chanced that, when applied to the purpose after ward decided upon, the first one missed its aim and fell at the feet of the major. He took it up, angrily exclaiming, " I thank you, Mrs. Brewton." After the surrender, he immediately sought her out, and said, " To you, madame, I owe this disgrace ; it would have been more charitable to allow me to perish by poison, than to thus compel me to surrender my post to the enemy." Forts Orangeburg and Granby now yielded. Augusta was taken by Lee and Pickens the 5th of June. Greene, in person, endeavored to carry Ninety-Six by assault, but was repulsed, and Rawdon, receiving reinforcements, came to its rescue. Events then took the turn so common in Greene s experience. He retired as far as the Ennoree, when, the British giving over the pursuit, he followed them back, with Lee s Legion close on their heels, captured forty-eight dragoons within a mile of their camp, and, June i8th, offered Rawdon battle, which he declined. Greene then fell back to the " benign hills of Santee," as Lee lovingly calls them, to recruit his army. Greene, after leaving Ninety-Six, wished to communicate A !%iM EXECUTION OF COLONEL HAYNE. 313 with Sumter, but the intervening country was full of tories, and no one was willing to undertake the perilous mission. At this moment a young German girl, Emily Geiger by name, volun teered for the service. Greene entrusted her with a letter, at the same time informing her of its contents. Mounted on a swift horse, she had made one day s journey and was near the close of the next, when she was hailed by two tories, who arrested her on suspicion. While confined in a room, awaiting the woman who was sent to search her person, she tore up the letter and swal lowed it piece by piece. Nothing being discovered by the ma tron s careful investigation, she received many apologies for her detention, and was allowed to proceed. Thanks to Greene s cau tion in acquainting her with the import of the written message, she was able to give Sumter the desired information, and Rawdon was soon flying before the Americans toward Orangeburg. Disgusted with the ill-success of his plans, that officer, on the pretence of poor health, soon returned to England. His last act in Charleston did much to embitter the feelings of the inhabitants of that city. At the time of its capture by the British, Colonel Isaac Hayne was paroled. He was afterward ordered into the British ranks, at a time when his wife and several of his children lay at the point of death with small-pox. The choice was given him to become a loyal subject or to be placed in close confine ment. Agonized by thoughts of his dying family, he signed a pledge of allegiance to England, with the assurance that he should never be required to fight against his countrymen. Being again summoned by Lord Rawdon to join the British army, he con sidered the pledge annulled, and raised a partisan band. He was captured, and, without being allowed a trial, was condemned to die. The citizens of Charleston vainly implored pardon for him. He was allowed forty-eight hours in which to take leave of his children, at the end of which time he was hanged. This bar barous act left a stain on Rawdon s memory which time has only deepened. Retaliation was urgently demanded ; but the other British officers did not countenance his inhumanity, and milder measures prevailed. Colonel Stewart, left in command of the British, took post at Eutaw Springs, where Greene attacked him September 8th. Marion, Pickens, Sumter, Lee, Williams, Campbell, and Washing ton won new honors on this desperately-fought field. The British were finally fairly beaten. In the moment of victory, Campbell THE LAST YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [Sept, I- 1781. fell. Informed of the patriots success, he exclaimed, like Wolfe at Quebec, " I die contented." On their retreat, however, one party of the enemy took refuge in a brick house, and another in a wood of barren oaks. Cannon were brought against the former, but the gunners were quickly picked .off by riflemen ; Colonel Washington, rashly charging the latter without waiting for the infantry, was wounded and captured, and half his men fell in the useless struggle. Stewart during the delay rallied his fugitives, and Greene reluc- Washington. Morgun. THE PARTISAN LEADERS OF THE SOUTH. tantly drew off his men. One-quarter of the American army and one-fifth .of the British were killed or wounded. Both sides claimed the victory. That night, however, the English retired to Charleston. During the retreat, Manning, a noted soldier of Lee s legion, was in hot pursuit of the flying British, when he suddenly found himself surrounded by the enemy and not an American within forty rods. He did not hesitate, but, seizing an officer by the collar, and wresting his sword from him by main force, kept his body as a shield while, under a heavy fire, he rapidly backed off from the perilous neighborhood. The frightened British officer, iiySf:] ARNOLD S INVASION OF VIRGINIA. 315 when thus summarily captured, began immediately to enumerate his titles: " I am Sir Henry Barry, deputy adjutant-general, cap tain in Fifty-second regiment," etc., etc. " Enough," interrupted his captor, " you are just the man I was looking for." While Colonel Washington was lying helpless under his fallen horse, a soldier was about to bayonet him, when Major Majora- banks rushed forward and saved his life. The gallant officer was himself afterward wounded, and died en route to Charleston. A marble monument, erected as a tribute to a generous enemy by the Ravenels, on whose plantation he was buried, now marks the spot. The flag borne by Washington s troop at this battle is still preserved, and was carried by the Washington Light Infantry of Charleston at the Bunker Hill Centennial celebration, June 17, 1875. Greene had now been in command only nine months, but he had recovered all the South except Savannah, Charleston, and Wilmington. He had not gained a decided victory ; yet his defeats had all the effect of successes, and his very retreats strengthened the confidence of his men and weakened that of the enemy. In his own words, he was always able " to fight, get beaten, and fight again." Anxious to distinguish himself and burning with hatred, the traitor Arnold early led an expedition into Virginia. January 2d, he appeared in Chesapeake Bay. The State had no troops to im pede his advance, with generous self-forgetfulness having sent her best soldiers to the help of her Southern sisters. At Guilford Court-House, nearly twenty-five hundred of her men had helped to stay the tide of British aggression. Arnold having burned Richmond without opposition, Lafayette was sent with twelve hundred men to check his progress. General Phillips, arriving from New York with a heavy reinforcement, took Arnold s place, and the work of devastation went on more vigorously than ever. Lafayette, with his small force, could do little. His men being fearful of the climate, he offered any who wished, a permit to go home ; but not one would leave him. A soldier, unable to keep up with the march, hired a cart lest he might seem to have de serted. At Baltimore, Lafayette borrowed money to supply his men with shoes and hats, and to purchase linen, which the loyal women of that city made up into summer garments for them. Phillips died, and Cornwallis arriving from the Carolinas, Arnold was sent back to New York. 3l6 THE LAST YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. In September, Arnold was detached against Connecticut, his native State. New London was pillaged and burned, the traitor himself, it is said, watching the fire from a church steeple. Fort Griswold was carried by assault. Colonel Ledyard, the com mander, after a brave resistance, ordered his men to lay down their arms ; but still the slaughter did not cease. " Who com mands here ? " called out Major Bromfield, a New Jersey tory, as he entered the works. " I did," said Ledyard, handing him his sword, " but you do now." With fiendish malignity, he seized the weapon and plunged it into the bosom of the heroic colonel. Seventy of the garrison were slain and thirty-five wounded. The yeomanry of the country were fast rising, and Arnold retreated to his boats to escape their vengeance. With this barbarous scene ended his career in this country. Execrated by his former friends and loathed by his new com panions, even children learned to lisp his name with a shudder. It is said that while on his predatory excursions in Virginia, there being at one time a chance of his capture, he asked an officer, " How will the rebels treat me, do you think, should I fall into their hands?" " Pardon my frankness," was the reply, " but they will probably cut off the leg that was wounded in storming our lines at Saratoga, and bury it with the honors of war ; having no respect for the rest of your body, they will undoubtedly gibbet it." He carried to England a letter of introduction from Sir Henry Clinton to Lord Germain, but, although he was patronized by George III., he received abundant proofs of contempt from high-spirited noblemen. At one time, Lord Surrey rose to speak in parliament when, his eye resting on Arnold, he drew himself proudly up, and, pointing to the traitor, exclaimed, " I will not speak while that man is in the house ! " It is also related that, on being introduced to Earl Balcarras, the proud old Briton refused his hand, saying, as he haughtily turned away, " I know General Arnold, and I abominate traitors ! " Many other stories, true or false, are current, but all agree in showing how the blighting curse of his treason followed him to his death. " He saw," says Lester, " the infant republic he had betrayed, emerge from the gloom of her long struggle into wealth, power, and splendor ; and left it advancing on to empire as he went darkling down to a traitor s grave. He died in 1801, somewhere in the wilderness of London. Where he was buried, nobody has told." Cornwallis reached Petersburg May 2Oth. Never at rest, Ma i y 78i" y ] CORNWALLIS IN VIRGINIA. 317 though his army had marched at least fifteen hundred miles from their starting-point in South Carolina, within four days after his arrival he took the field against Lafayette. Despising the youth and inexperience of his adversary, he wrote to England, " The boy cannot escape me." The marquis, however, retreated from Richmond across the Rapidan, where he was reinforced by Wayne with the Pennsylvania troops. Cornwallis gave up the chase at Hanover Court-House, and contented himself with send ing out a couple of detachments. Tarleton, with his cavalry, attempted the capture of the Vir ginia Legislature at Charlottesville ; but the members received news of his coming, and all except seven escaped. Governor Jefferson had not been absent from his mansion at Monticello ten minutes when the dragoons dismounted at the door. Simcoe, who was only second to Tarleton as a dashing partisan leader, was directed to seize the stores collected at the Point of Fork. By judiciously spreading his men over the neighboring hills, he deceived Baron Steuben, who was stationed there with about six hundred new levies, into the belief that the whole British army was at hand. The baron accordingly decamped hastily, and the English, crossing the river, destroyed the stores. Cornwallis now placed himself between Lafayette and the magazines at Albemarle Old Court-House. But the Marquis, during the night, opened what was known as the " Rogues Road " a wilderness path, by which absconding debtors had been wont to escape to the South and, before morning, had taken a strong position, where he could defend the place. Cornwallis then turned toward Williamsburg. Here he received orders from Clinton to send three thousand men to New York, as there were great fears that Washington, by the aid of the French fleet and troops at Newport, would attack that city. Setting out July 4th, for Portsmouth, the royal army reached the Jamestown ford. Ordering only the advance to cross, Cornwallis hid his main camp back of the woods and morasses, and, by means of deserters, gave the impression that merely the rear-guard remained on the left bank. Wayne fell into the snare, traversed a narrow log cause way, and attacked the enemy. The whole British army sprang up before him, and he was at once outflanked. " Mad Anthony," seeing his peril, sounded the charge, and dashed forward with headlong courage. Lafayette came to his rescue. The enemy, overawed by the apparent confidence of the Americans, feared a 3l8 THE LAST YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [^fj; stratagem, and dared not pursue. The Americans fell back to Green Springs, and Cornwallis continued on to Portsmouth un molested. Clinton, having received reinforcements from England, coun termanded the order for troops from Virginia, and directed Corn wallis to establish an entrenched camp at some central point which would form a nucleus for future operations. The army was ac cordingly transferred to Yorktown and Gloucester, where fortifi cations were rapidly thrown up. During this midsummer campaign, Cornwallis had traversed the rich fields of Virginia, plundering houses, burning farms and fences, devastating crops, seizing horses and slaves, and inflicting a total loss of fifteen million dollars. The French-American army under Washington and Count de Rochambeau was now encamped at Dobb s Ferry. Every effort was put forth to prepare for a combined attack upon New York. While he had maintained a bold front before Clinton, Washington had really, however, been baffled on every hand. At one time there were only two thousand men in camp, a number less than that of the tories then in the British service. There was danger of even this small force being disbanded for lack of provisions. All the American fleet had been destroyed except two frigates. " Hancock," says Bancroft, " was vain and neglectful of business, while the president of Pennsylvania was more ready to recount what the State had done than what it meant to do." Morris now once more came to the rescue. By giving his own notes for one million four hundred thousand dollars, he obtained funds for the outfit of the troops for the summer campaign. The news of the departure from San Domingo for the Chesa peake of Count de Grasse, with a fleet of twenty-five ships-of- the-line and several thousand troops, put a new phase on affairs. The very day Cornwallis arrived at Yorktown, Washington re solved to transfer the allied army to Virginia. To the last the fiction was kept up of a movement upon New York. Recon- noissances were made, boats prepared, and ovens set up on the New Jersey shore. On the iQth of August the troops were paraded with their faces toward King s Bridge, when they were wheeled to the right-about, and began their march southward. Soon all the roads leading to King s Ferry were alive with the gleam of arms, the tramping of men, and the heavy rumbling of wheels. Clinton had captured a letter from Washington inform- Aug ?78i? Ct 5 1 INVESTMENT OF YORKTOWN. 319 ing Congress of his plans for taking New York, and so much was it relied upon that the British general thought these movements a ruse to throw him off his guard. At Philadelphia, Morris could strain his credit no more, and actually borrowed of Rochambeau twenty thousand dollars in hard money to put the American troops in good humor for their long march. While en route, Washing ton rode forward with Rochambeau and Chastellux at the rate of sixty miles per day, and so secured time to stop at Mount Vernon three days. It was his first visit home in over six years. The net was fast weaving about the unsuspecting Cornwallis. August 3Oth, Count de Grasse cast anchor within the capes of the Chesapeake. September 5th, the English fleet appearing off the coast, the French immediately offered battle, and inflicted such a loss that the enemy sailed back to New York. De Barras took advantage of this opportunity to slip in with the French transports from Newport containing the artillery for the siege. On the 28th, the besieging army, twelve thousand strong, drove in the outposts and sat down before the entrenchments of Yorktown. That night Washington lay in the open air under a mulberry tree, its root serving for a pillow. October 5th, trenches were opened within six hundred yards of the enemy s line the French on the left and the Americans on the right. In the allied camp there were the utmost harmony and good will. The French were universal favorites, and everything was cheerfully sacrificed for them the guests of the nation while their officers, by the wise provision of Louis XVI., were all made to act under the orders of Washington. The town was bombarded night and day. Governor Nelson commanded the battery that opened first upon the British. Corn wallis and his staff were at that time occupying the governor s fine stone mansion. The patriot pointed one of his heaviest guns directly toward the house, and ordered the gunners to play upon it with spirit. The vessels in the harbor were fired with red-hot shot. For a time the English replied with great vigor. One shell fell near Baron Steuben, who, leaping into a trench to avoid its effects, was closely followed by Wayne. The latter stumbling as he jumped, fell squarely upon his superior officer. Steuben, whose ready wit never deserted him, gave Wayne not a moment for apology, but remarked, " My dear sir, I always knew you were a brave officer, but I see you are perfect in every point of duty ; you cover your general s retreat in the best manner possible." 32O THE LAST YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. On the 1 4th, two advanced redoubts were taken by assault one by the Americans and the other by the French, in generous rivalry. The former were led by Lieutenant-Colonel Hamilton, who volun teered for the honor, and was the first to mount the rampart. The men did not wait to remove the abattis, but scrambled through as best they could, and, without firing a gun, swept all before them. Lieutenant-Colonel Laurens turned the entrenchment, and with his own hand captured the commandant. Every man who asked it obtained quarter, although the news of the massacre at Fort Griswold had just been received. The battalion of Gatinois was at the head of the French column. It had been formed from a regiment which had won the name of D Auvcrgne sans tache Auvergne without a stain and when Rochambeau, who had been their old leader, assigned them their post, they said they would die to a man if their former title might be restored to them. The French stopped under fire to have the sappers remove the obstruc tions. Then they leaped forward, and to the cry of " Vive le Roi ! " swept the redoubt. Within six minutes the SIEGE OF YORKTOWN French Artillery"*, J^T. _ --p. WasTiington s r f America* Head Quarters - task was done. " On that night," says Holmes, " victory twined double garlands around the banners of France and America." Washington, standing in the grand battery with Generals Knox and Lincoln, was an intensely excited spectator of these assaults. One of his aides-de-camp, uneasy lest harm might come to him, ventured to observe that the situation was very much ex posed. " If you think so," replied he, gravely, "you are at liberty to step back." Shortly afterward, says Irving, a musket-ball struck the cannon in the embrasure, rolled along it, and fell at his feet. General Knox grasped his arm. " My dear general," exclaimed he, " we can t spare you yet." " It is a spent ball," replied Washington, quietly ; " no harm is done." When all was over, and the redoubts were taken, he drew a long breath, and, turning to Knox, observed, " The work is done, and well done." Then he called to his servant, " William, bring me my horse." The same night both redoubts were included within the second parallel. Two days after, the English made a sally, but were driven back pell-mell. As a last resort, Cornwallis attempted to ferry his men across by night to Gloucester, hoping to break Oct. 19, 1 1781. J SURRENDER OF CORNWALLIS. 321 through the lines there, and escape over the country to New York. A part of his army had crossed, when a storm scattered his boats and put an end to this daring scheme. One hundred heavy can non were now playing upon every part of the works, which were already so damaged that hardly a gun could be used in reply. An assault was imminent. Nothing was heard from Clinton, who had promised aid by the 5th. There was no other resource, and on the 1 9th Cornwallis capitulated. The scene of the surrender was imposing. It was arranged that General Lincoln should accept the submission of the captive general exactly as his own had been received at Charleston SURRENDER OF CORNWALLIS AT YORKTOWN. eighteen months before. The allied forces were drawn up on op posite sides of the road for over a mile, the French on the left and the Americans on the right. Washington and Rochambeau, each with his staff, stood at the head of his army. The English, about seven thousand in number, marched between the lines, with slow step, shouldered arms, and cased colors. With deep chagrin and sullen look, the officers gave the order to " ground arms"; the men throwing down their guns as if to break them, until General Lincoln checked the irregularity. Every eye was turned to catch a sight of Cornwallis, but, vexed and annoyed, he feigned sickness, and sent his sword by the hand of General O Hara. 21 322 THE LAST YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION. [p " From Yorktown s ruins, ranked and still, Two lines stretch far o er vale and hill : Who curbs his steed at head of one ? Hark ! the low murmur : Washington ! Who bends his keen, approving glance Where down the gorgeous line of France Shine knightly star and plume of snow? Thou too art victor, Rochambeau ! " The earth which bears this calm array Shook with the war-charge yesterday ; Ploughed deep with hurrying hoof and wheeL Shot down and bladed thick with steel ; October s clear and noonday sun Paled in the breath-smoke of the gun ; And down night s double blackness fell, Like a dropped star, the blazing shell. " Now all is hushed : the gleaming lines Stand moveless as the neighboring pines ; While through them, sullen, grim, and slow, The conquered hosts of England go : O Hara s brow belies his dress, Gay Tarleton s troop ride bannerless : Shout, from thy fired and wasted homes, Thy scourge, Virginia, captive comes ! " Whittier. The very day the capitulation was signed, Clinton sailed from New York with the promised reinforcement. He reached the capes of Virginia on the 24th, when, learning of the disaster, he returned crestfallen. Tidings of the surrender reached Philadelphia at two o clock in the morning. The people were awakened by the watchman s cry, " Past two o clock, and Cornwallis is taken ! " Lights flashed through the houses, and soon the streets were thronged with crowds eager to learn the glad news. Some were speechless with delight ; many wept ; and the old door-keeper of Congress died of joy. Congress met at an early hour, and that afternoon marched in solemn procession to the Lutheran church to return thanks to Almighty God. The day after, Washington ordered Divine service to be held at the head of the regiments on account of the " particular interposition of Providence on their behalf." Notwithstanding the great provocations which had been given by Cornwallis and his officers, they received only consideration and respect at the hands of their conquerors. But nothing could atone to the fallen British general for the mortification of his de- 1781-1783.] END OF THE WAR. 323 feat. One day, when he was standing- with his hat off in presence of Washington, the latter kindly observed : " My lord, you had better be covered from the cold." " It matters not what becomes of this head now," was the bitter reply. Lord North received the news as he would " a cannon-ball in his breast." He paced the room, tossing his arms, and crying, " O God ! it is all over ! " The hope of subduing America was now abandoned by the people of England, and they loudly de manded the removal of the ministers who still counseled war. The House of Commons voted that whoever advised the king to continue hostilities should be considered a public enemy. Early in May, 1782, Sir Guy Carleton arrived in New York with prop ositions for a reconciliation between the two countries. The struggle which commenced in Massachusetts had now closed in Virginia. With the surrender at Yorktown, the war was virtually at an end. The American armies still, however, kept the field, and various minor skirmishes occurred. Greene s men, without regular food, clothing or pay, held the British closely confined in Charleston ; while Wayne watched the garri son in Augusta with watchful vigilance. In August, 1782, Lieu tenant-Colonel Laurens was killed at Combahee Ferry while resisting the advance of a foraging detachment from Charleston. The last blood shed in the Revolution is said to have been that of Captain Wilmot, in September, during a skirmish at Stono Ferry. Preliminary articles of peace were signed at Versailles, No vember 30, 1782. In order to give England time to adjust her difficulties with France, the final treaty was not executed until September 3d of the following year. Meanwhile, on April iQth, the eighth anniversary of the battle of Lexington, which began the war, Washington, at the headquarters of the army, officially proclaimed its close. Charleston had been evacuated by the British, December 14, 1782, and Savannah, July 11, 1783. The English troops were then collected at New York from all points. On November 25th a cold, frosty day the British army and the refugees embarked in boats for Staten and Long Islands, prepara tory to taking ship. The same morning, General Knox, who had come down from West Point with some American troops, entered the city from the Bowery. At three o clock in the afternoon, they took possession of Fort George, upon the Battery, amid the shouts of the crowd and the roar of the guns. Soon after, Washington and his staff and Governor Clinton 324 END OF THE WAR. [1781-1783. and suite made a formal entry ; the commander-in-chief taking up his headquarters at Fraunces s Tavern a house still standing on the corner of Pearl and Broad streets. Here, December 4th, Washington bade farewell to his principal officers. It was a tender, touching scene. Passing thence, he set out to offer his commission to Congress. When he entered the barge, and, bid ding adieu to the assembled multitude, disappeared from sight, the War of the Revolution ceased and a new epoch dawned. GEORGE III. PART III. " Sail on, Skip of State / Sail on, O Union, strong and great / Humanity, with all its fears, With all its hopes of future years, Is hanging breathless on thy fate ! We know what Master laid thy keel, What workmen wrought thy ribs of steel, Who made each mast, and sail, and rope, What anvils rang, what hammers beat, In what a forge, and what a heat, Were shaped the anchors of thy hope. " Fear not each sudden sound and shock y Tis of the wave, and not the rock ; Tis but the flapping of the sail, And not a rent made by the gale. In spite of rock and tempest roar, In spite of false lights on the shore, Sail on, nor fear to breast the sea ; Our hearts, our hopes, ate all with thee, Our hearts, our hopes, our prayers, our tears, Our faith triumphant o er our fears, Are all with thee are all with thee" LONGFELLOW O CHAPTER IX. THE (DEVELOPMENT OF THE (REPUBLIC. FEDERAL HALL. HE first twenty years of the ex^ istence of the United States as a nation, or rather the period from the time of the treaty of peace with Great Bri tain until the end of the eighteenth century, was the most important of any the country has yet seen. The close of the Revolutionary War left the States like a citadel overthrown its proportions destroyed, its material scattered, without cohe sion, almost, if not quite, a complete ruin. It was to be shown whether or not the eminent men who had been so successful in 328 THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE REPUBLIC. [1783. overturning, would be equally so in building up ; it being a question for some time, not whether a structure was to arise stronger, fairer, and better than the older one, but whether there was to be any rebuilding at all. The situation was peculiar, unlike any other that the history of the world had shown. Most, if not all, the nations of the earth had grown up by degrees from small beginnings. Here was one that was to spring into existence, a first-class power almost from its birth. The material was ready at hand and far removed from the influence or control of the older nations. The event showed that, as God had prepared the work, so had He laborers compe tent to perform it. They builded, and builded even stronger than they knew. On the 23d of December, less than a month after the evacua tion of New York, Washington resigned his commission as com- mander-in-chief of the army and returned to his home at Mount Vernon. He had given many proofs of his patriotism, but one of the greatest was his refusal to receive any compensation for his eight years of service at the head of the army. It detracts nothing from the quality of the sentiment involved that, being rich through his marriage with Mrs. Custis, he could afford this gift to his country. He simply asked the reimbursement of his expenses, an exact account of which he had kept, drawn up by his own hand, and now presented to the government. The situation of affairs, although peace had now come, was by no means flattering to the future of the States. The Articles of Confederation, under which they had been acting during the war, were mere shadows unless sustained by a common danger or the entire willingness of all concerned. In case of any conflict of interest, they were ineffective for adjustment or control. They gave Congress authority to declare everything, but to do noth ing. They did not act at all upon the people of the country, except through the several States, and it depended entirely upon the Legislatures whether the measures adopted by Congress should be carried out. Many of them were silently disregarded ; many were slowly and reluctantly obeyed ; and some were openly and boldly defied. In all matters of commerce, either domestic or foreign, Con gress was powerless. Each State made its own regulations, and consequently the most opposite rules existed at points within a few miles of each other. Local prejudices were aroused and 1783.] WASHINGTON S ADMINISTRATION. 329 intensified, and resentments continually excited. Indeed, feeling in many instances ran so high that civil war seemed imminent. Foreign nations, although acknowledging the independence of the States, were not backward in taking advantage of their weak ness and the distracted condition of their legislation, imposing upon the trade and navigation of the country such restrictions as best suited their own interests. But this apathy and opposition were especially felt when money was to be raised for general purposes. Congress could not itself collect the taxes. It could only ascertain the sum needed, and apportion it to the several States for them to levy. During the war, there was great delay in responding to these requisitions; but after peace was declared, there was an utter indifference on the subject. Notwithstanding the most urgent appeals from the best men of the country, it seemed impossible to procure even enough money to pay the interest on the national debt, and the public faith was consequently prostrate. In fact, the poverty of the public treasury, together with the feebleness and apathy of Congress, threatened the very existence of the government even before the army was disbanded. The troops were not paid, and the condition of those patriotic men who had won the freedom of the country was most lamentable. While Washington was yet at his headquarters at Newburg (March 10, 1783), an anonymous address was distributed among his soldiers. It was plainly but skillfully put, urging them not to disband, but to overthrow the civil authorities and seize upon their rights. Washington was even asked to assume the title of king and grasp the reins of government himself. The calmness and honesty of the Father of his Country were never more grandly shown than at this moment of peril in thwarting the plans of these earnest, but misguided men. A touching incident took place just before he commenced the reading of his memorable address upon this occasion. He removed his spectacles to wipe them, and, turning to those around him, said, " My eyes have grown dim in the service of my country, but I have never yet learned to doubt her justice." Washington finally secured a grant of five years full pay to the officers, instead of half pay for life, and the whole matter was happily adjusted. Lossing relates an incident of Steuben which illustrates both the extreme poverty of the army at this period, and the gener osity of " Marshal Forritz," as his men loved to call him, from 330 DEVELOPMENT OF THE REPUBLIC. [1783. \ WASHINGTON S HEADQUARTERS AT NEWBURG. his foreign pronunciation of the command " Forward ! " " Colonel Cochrane was standing in the street, penniless, when Steuben tried to comfort him by saying that better times would come. 1 For myself/ said the brave officer, * I can stand it ; but my wife and daughters are in the garret of that wretched tavern, and I have nowhere to carry them, nor even money to remove them/ The baron s generous heart was touched, and, though poor him self, he hastened to the family of Cochrane, poured the whole contents of his purse upon the table, and left as suddenly as he had entered. As he was walking toward the wharf, a wounded negro soldier came up to him, bitterly lamenting that he had no means with which to get to New York. The baron borrowed a dollar, and, handing it to him, hailed a sloop and put him on board. God Almighty bless you, baron ! said the negro, as his benefactor walked away." In the apportionment among the States of the taxes to meet the interest or a portion of the principal of the debt now about forty-four million dollars it was discovered that the basis of their quotas had not been justly laid. The standard had been the value of the real estate, instead of the relative population of the several States. To correct this error, Congress suggested that there should be an amendment to the Articles of Confederation. During the discussion, there arose a question as to the relative efficiency of white and colored men in the production of wealth. 1785-7.]. WASHINGTON S ADMINISTRATION. 331 By what reasoning the decision was at length reached, at this point of time it is difficult to determine: but in April, 1783, the States were asked to so amend the Articles of Confederation, that, in enumerating their population for purposes of taxation, three white men should equal five negroes. This was subsequently incorporated in the second section of the new Constitution, deli cately alluding to the slaves as " three-fifths of all other persons." For two years after the peace, the States dragged along, grow ing poorer and poorer every day ; getting further and further from one another in sentiment, feeling, and interest ; clinging to their State pride and jealousy with a tenacity that showed that the Confederation must soon expire of pure inanity. In 1785, the States of Maryland and Virginia appointed com missioners to make some regulations relative to the navigation of the Chesapeake Bay and the Potomac and Roanoke Rivers. Finding its powers inadequate, the committee recommended more extended proceedings. The resolution embodying their sugges tions was drawn up and presented by James Madison of Virginia, whence he has been styled the " Father of the Constitution." This recommendation resulted in an invitation by the Legisla ture of Virginia to all the States to appoint commissioners for the purpose of establishing a uniform system of commercial relations. Delegates from five States accordingly met at Annapolis, Sep tember, 1786, and framed a report advising Congress to call a general convention for a more effectual revision of the Articles of Confederation. The body thus appointed assembled at Philadel phia, May, 1787, all the States except Rhode Island being repre sented. George Washington was chosen president and William Jackson secretary. The territory of the United States at this time comprised that vast region between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mississippi River on the east and the west, and between the chain of lakes and the St. Lawrence River and the thirty-first parallel of north latitude on the north and the south. Northwest of the Ohio River was a large territory to which several of the States had a claim, as it lay within their original charter limits, which extended from ocean to ocean. They had, however, ceded their rights to the United States for the common benefit. During the year 1787, Congress passed an ordinance which has become famous. It provided for the government of the Northwestern Territory, as it was called, until certain designated parts should possess sixty thousand inhab- 332 DEVELOPMENT OF THE REPUBLIC. [1787. itants, when they were to be admitted as States. It also ordered that " slavery or involuntary servitude, except for crime," was to be forever prohibited therein. The " Constitutional Convention " contained many remarkable men. Among them, were Samuel Johnson, Roger Sherman, and Oliver Ellsworth, of Connecticut ; Gunning Bedford and George Read, of Delaware; William Few and Abraham Baldwin, of Georgia ; Daniel Carroll, James McHenry, and Luther Martin, of TEHmiUKLSL of the UNITED STATES Maryland ; Caleb Strong, Elbridge Gerry, and Rufus King, of Massachusetts; John Langdon and Nicholas Gilman, of New Hampshire ; Jonathan Dayton, William Livingston, and William Patterson, of New Jersey ; John Lansing, Robert Yates, and Alex ander Hamilton, of New York ; Robert Morris, Gouverneur Mor ris, and Benjamin Franklin, of Pennsylvania ; John Rutledge, Pierce Butler, Charles Pinckney, and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, of South Carolina ; Edmund Randolph, George Mason, James Madi-. son, and George Washington, of Virginia. Oliver Ellsworth, while in the senate, was called the " firmest pillar of Washington s administration," and was subsequently ap pointed Chief-Justice of the United States. From Elbridge Gerry came the term " gerry-mandering," or the so arranging of districts that one or the other political party should gain the majority. 1787-90.] WASHINGTON S ADMINISTRATION. 333 Rufus King was three times a candidate for the Vice-Presidency. Robert Morris was the patriot financier who rendered such valuable service during the Revolution. But though " heaven- directed " in public matters, he was most unfortunate in his pri vate concerns. As an instance : he commenced, in Philadelphia, the erection of a magnificent marble mansion, the grounds of which were to occupy an entire square. The cellar was three stories in depth, and the arches and vaults were so labyrinthine that visitors were often lost among them. Before the building had reached the second story, funds failed, and the project was abandoned. Much of the material was taken to erect a row of houses on Sansom Street, some of which are still standing. It was soon evident that a mere revision of the Articles of Con federation would not satisfy many of the delegates. They there upon set themselves to the task of originating an entirely new form of government. At first, the notion of a Union, National instead of Federative, was uppermost a natural swinging of the pendulum to the opposite extreme ; but a happy medium was finally struck, in which the advantages of a consolidated nation were secured, and the benefits of State rights retained. The New Constitution was signed September 17, 1787. It was to go into effect March 4, 1789, between any nine of the States which should then have adopted it. Delaware, Penn sylvania, and New Jersey ratified it the same year. It was ac cepted the next year by the other States, except North Carolina and Rhode Island, which followed in 1789 and 1790 respectively. The adoption of the Constitution was not secured without great opposition. It was powerfully sustained by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay, in a series of papers called the " Federalist," which take rank as a literary performance with the celebrated letters of " Junius." Patrick Henry was bitterly hostile to the new form of government. Even Jefferson himself is reported to have said, somewhat in derision, that the executive it established " was the chief of an elective monarchy, a bad edition of a Polish king." James Monroe, George Mason, and William Grayson, though strong in opposing, became prominent under it when it went into operation. Presidential elections were held in every State ratifying the Constitution, except in New York, where the legislature, owing to a disagreement between its two branches, omitted to pass a law dictating the mode of choosing electors. The ten States voting 334 DEVELOPMENT OF THE REPUBLIC. [1789. gave sixty-nine electoral votes, all for George Washington ; John Adams received thirty-four, and was declared Vice-President. At that time the electors voted for two persons ; the one receiv ing the highest number being chosen President, and the next highest, Vice-President. A majority of the whole number was required for the former, but not for the latter. Adams, although receiving the greatest number of votes, next to Washington, was elected Vice-President by a minority. April 1 6th, Washington left Mount Vernon for New York, the seat of government. He desired to journey quietly and unosten tatiously, but the public feeling was too strong to be suppressed. The entire route was one spontaneous ovation. Crowds flocked around him wherever he stopped ; and corps of militia, with com panies of the most eminent citizens, escorted him through their respective States. At Trenton, he was received by a vast throng and a magnificent demonstration, in which figured garlands of flowers and triumphal arches, and young girls chanting with their silvery voices praises to the chief of the Republic. A print of this reception truthful in design if not artistic in execution for more than seventy-five years was one of the most popular engrav ings issued. The Hudson River was crossed in an elegant thirteen- oared barge, manned by as many pilots, symbolical of the thirteen States. The ceremonies of the inauguration took place on the 3Oth in Federal Hall, a building standing where the Sub-Treasury is now located. Robert Livingston, Chancellor of the State of New York, administered the oath in the presence of a large concourse of people, who shouted at its conclusion, " Long live Washington, President of the United States." The inaugural address was then delivered, and replied to on behalf of the Senate by John Adams, and on the part of the House by Frederick A. Muhlen- berg, the first Speaker. Notwithstanding the magnificence of the inaugural display, the simplicity of the President s private life is well attested. A letter, written by Judge Wingate and still preserved, gives an account of Washington s first public dinner. " The guests con sisted of the Vice-President, the foreign ministers, the heads of departments, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the senators from New Hampshire and Georgia, the then two most northern and southern States. It was the least showy meal that I ever saw at the President s table. Washington made 1789.] WASHINGTON S ADMINISTRATION. 335 his whole meal on a boiled leg of mutton, it being his custom to eat of but one dish. As there was no chaplain present, the Presi dent himself, as he was sitting down, said a very short grace. After the dessert, a glass of wine was passed, and no toast. The President then arose and all the company, and retired to the drawing-room, from which the guests departed as every one chose, without ceremony." The first session of the First Constitutional Congress was largely occupied in getting the machinery of the government into working order. The subjects of commerce and finance, and the Knox Randolph. Hamilton. WASHINGTON AND HIS CABINET. Washington organization of subordinate departments and the judiciary, also demanded attention. There were nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate : Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of For eign Affairs (afterward known as Secretary of State) ; Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury ; Henry Knox, Secretary of War, and Edmund Randolph, Attorney-General. These officers formed what is called the " President s Cabinet " a body unknown to the Constitution. John Jay was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, with John Rutledge of South Carolina, James Wilson of Pennsylvania, Robert H. Harrison of Maryland, and John Blair of Virginia, associates. The appointing power of the 336 DEVELOPMENT OF THE REPUBLIC. [1789. President now came under earnest and excited consideration, and it was determined that, while it was constitutionally subject to the assent of the Senate, the power of removal rested with him alone. Sixteen articles of amendment to the Constitution were ap proved by Congress and sent to the States, only ten of which, however, were ratified. The most important were those which related to religious toleration, the right to bear arms, unrea sonable searches of property or homes, a speedy trial by jury, and to the declaration that the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively or to the people. The last article was drawn to quiet the apprehensions of the " strict constructionists," as they were called, who feared lest the power of the government should be unduly centralized. Even in the Constitutional Convention political parties had arisen. Well- defined lines were not drawn, however, until the meeting of Con gress. One party desired to hold the government to the exact letter of the Constitution. These were called " Republicans," and sometimes " Democrats." The other, or " Federalist," wished to enlarge the powers of the government by inference and implication. The first exercise of the veto power by the Presi dent, which occurred during this session, brought out the dis tinction clearly. It was on a bill fixing the ratio of representation by counting all the people of the States as one mass, instead of the population of each State severally. The veto was sustained by Congress, a subsequent bill on the latter-named principle being passed, which is yet in operation. Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury, be came the most prominent man of the Cabinet. He was born in the Isle of St. Croix, West Indies. When only twelve years old, he was entrusted with the entire responsibility of a large shipping- house. At fourteen, he came to the United States and entered King s College. Early in the Revolution, he raised a company of artillery, but was soon made an aide-de-camp, and won the honor of being called " the right arm of the commander-in-chief." At the conclusion of the war, he commenced the practice of law in New York City, where he at once rose to distinction. The chief features of Hamilton s financial policy were the assumption by the general government of the war debt of the several States, and the payment of the indebtedness of the country 1790-4.] WASHINGTON S ADMINISTRATION. 337 dollar for dollar, although a large proportion of the claims was in the hands of speculators. These measures met with bitter op position, but their adoption was secured by certain compromises, one of which tended to allay the jealousy of the Southern people toward New England. This was the transfer of the seat of gov ernment to Philadelphia until 1800, when it was to be permanently located upon the eastern bank of the Potomac. The third session of the First Congress was accordingly held at Philadelphia on the first Monday of December, 1790. At this time the United States Bank was established, and also a national mint. Both were schemes of General Hamilton, and tended greatly to advance the prosperity of the country. During the year 1790, the Indians, both at the South and in the Northwestern Territory, gave the government much trouble. Some of the Southern chiefs were induced to visit New York, where a treaty was signed, by which a considerable portion of the territory of Georgia was relinquished to them, much to the dis content of that State. General Harmar, a veteran of the Revolu tion, being sent to repel the hostile savages at the Northwest, was twice defeated October I7th and 226. near Chillicothe. General St. Clair was appointed to succeed him. Leaving Fort Washing ton with about two thousand men (September, 1791), he entered the wilderness, where, notwithstanding the repeated cautions of the President to " beware of a surprise," he was caught off his guard, and his army routed with great slaughter. In the fall of 1793, " Mad Anthony " Wayne took the field with nearly three thousand men. He built Fort Recovery, near the scene of St. Clair s disaster, where he spent the winter. In the summer, moving down the Maumee, on the 2oth of August he de feated the Indians in a severely-fought battle. Laying waste their country, he compelled them to sue for peace. By the treaty sub sequently made, the Indian title to large tracts west of the Ohio was extinguished. The Second Congress, which held its first session October, 1791, passed laws providing for a uniform militia system ; a bounty to vessels employed in the fisheries ; an apportionment of repre sentation in Congress, the ratio being fixed at thirty-three thou sand for each representative ; and an excise law, imposing a duty on domestic distilled spirits. The last occasioned no little alarm, especially in the valley of the Monongahela, where whiskey was the principal article of commerce. The disaffection there assumed 22 338 DEVELOPMENT OF THE REPUBLIC. [1793-6. such proportions that it received the name of the " Whiskey Re bellion." The President was compelled to call out the militia, fifteen thousand strong, which speedily quelled the uprising. Although Washington desired to decline a renomination, he finally yielded to the earnest wish of his friends. Party spirit ran very high during the second Presidential campaign, the lines be tween the friends of Hamilton and Jefferson, the two great lead ers of the Federalists and the Republicans, being sharply drawn. Washington, however, received the unanimous vote of the elec toral college, one hundred and thirty-two. Adams, having seventy- seven votes, was elected Vice-President. The French Revolution was now at its height, and its influ ence was strongly felt in the United States. The representative of France in this country was Edmund Charles Genet, better known as " Citizen Genet," a brother of the famous Madame Campan. He landed at Charleston, South Carolina, in April, 1793, but before presenting his credentials to the government, he fitted out privateers and enlisted troops for the French service. He was everywhere enthusiastically received by the people, who demanded that their old ally should be assisted and war forthwith declared against Great Britain. This feeling was intensified from the fact that England still held possession of the forts on the frontier, which, by the treaty of 1783, were to have been given up ; while American vessels were seized in French ports, and American seamen impressed into English vessels. It required all the popularity of Washington to stem the tide and hold the gov ernment to the neutrality which he had proclaimed. A satisfactory treaty was finally arranged with Great Britain by a special envoy, John Jay. It was not considered favorable to the United States, as one of its provisions secured to British citizens the payment of debts due them before the war. Party animosity was inflamed. The Federalists were claimed to have been bought by British gold. Washington was accused of being an enemy of his country and reproached in language such, as he said, could scarcely be " applied to Nero, a notorious defaulter, or even a common pickpocket." Fisher Ames of Massachusetts made a memorable speech in Congress in behalf of the treaty. Vice-President Adams thus described it in a letter to his wife: " Judge Iredell and I happened to sit together. Our feelings beat in unison. My God ! how great he is, says Iredell. Noble ! said I. Bless my stars ! continued he, I never heard anything 1791-6.] WASHINGTON S ADMINISTRATION. 339 so great since I was born. Divine ! said I ; and then we went on with our interjections, not to say tears, to the end not a dry eye in the House." The treaty was ratified, in spite of all oppo sition, April 30, 1796. Genet, being superseded by his government, remained, how ever, in this country, and married a daughter of George Clinton. He introduced into the United States the idea of democratic societies, similar to the Jacobin clubs of Paris. One of these was the " Columbian Order," or, as it was afterward styled, the "Tammany Society," organized by an Irishman named William Mooney. Two important treaties were concluded in 1795. One, with Spain, settled definitely the boundaries between the United States, Louisiana and Florida, and gave the right to navigate the Missis sippi, and to use New Orleans as a place of deposit for ten years. The other, with Algiers, was not quite so advantageous or agreeable to contemplate. The Dey of Algiers had heard of the new nation which had a commerce, but no navy to protect it. He, therefore, with his corsairs, unhesitatingly pounced upon our merchantmen. Within eight years they had captured fifteen American vessels and made one hundred and eighty officers and seamen slaves. A commissioner, sent to confer with the Dey, received the naive reply : " If I were to make peace with every body, what should I do with my corsairs? My soldiers would take off my head for want of other prizes." Colonel David Hum phreys of Connecticut, who had the matter in charge, wrote to the government, saying, " If we mean to have a commerce, we must have a navy to defend it." Congress thereupon, in 1794, authorized the purchase or construction of six frigates. Mean while, a most humiliating treaty was made with the Dey. The United States actually agreed to give eight hundred thousand dollars for the captives then alive, to make him a present of a frigate worth one hundred thousand dollars, and to pay an annual tribute of twenty-three thousand dollars. Three new States were received into the Union during Wash ington s term of office. Vermont, the fourteenth State, was admit ted to the Union on the 4th of March, 1791. The first settlement within its border was in the vicinity of Brattleborough, in 1724. The territory was claimed by both New York and New Hamp shire, and a bitter conflict arose in consequence. The jurisdiction was decided by the crown to belong to the former State ; but the 340 DEVELOPMENT OF THE REPUBLIC. [1792. inhabitants, dissatisfied with this decision, for many years carried on an armed strife with the New York authorities. One of the most prominent leaders in the contest was Colonel Ethan Allen, a man of marked characteristics, who wielded a powerful influence over his fellow-citizens. The bill admitting Kentucky, the fifteenth State, was passed February 4th, 1792. Its early history is inti mately connected with the career of Daniel Boone, one of the most famous of hunters and frontiersmen. He was born in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, in 1735, but spent his youth and early manhood in North Carolina. In 1769, with five compan ions, he penetrated the wilderness to the west of Virginia, where the perils he underwent among the Indians form a most exciting personal history. In 1775, he founded Boonesborough. This village and Harrodsburgh, also settled about the same time, were the DANIEL BOONE S EXPLORING EXPEDITION. two oldest towns in the West, with the exception of a few French places on the Mississippi. Ken tucky was then made a county of Virginia. In 1790, it was formed into a separate Territory. On its becoming a State, Boone, on account of a defective title, was unable to hold his land, and removed to Mis souri, where he died in 1821. " Kentucky afterward reclaimed his bones, and those of his wife," says Bancroft, " and now they lie buried on the hill above the cliffs of the Kentucky River, over looking the lovely valley of the capital of that commonwealth. Around them are emblems of wilderness life ; the turf of the blue grass lies lightly above them ; and they are laid with their faces turned upward and westward, and their feet toward the setting sun." 1796.] WASHINGTON S ADMINISTRATION. 341 Tennessee, the sixteenth State, was admitted to the Union June i, 1796. The first settlement was made near Knoxville in 1756, and Nashville was founded in 1783. It was, originally, a portion of North Carolina, but was ceded to the general government in 1784. The inhabitants claimed that the cession was an act of usurpation done by their brethren to accomplish a " good rid dance," as it were, of poor relations. They declared themselves independent, and set up a government of their own, calling their country the " State of Franklin." North Carolina thereupon re pealed the Cession Act, but the people of the new State, intent upon realizing their dreams of future greatness, adopted a consti tution and elected members to the legislative bodies. General John Sevier, or Xavier, for he was of French descent, was chosen governor. Early in life, he had settled on the East Tennessee, where he had so many conflicts with the Indians, followed by so many compacts, that he acquired the name of the treaty-maker. The manner in which he gained a wife has hardly a parallel in the romance of matrimony. While in command of a small stockade fort on the Watauga River, and in hourly expectation of an attack from the Cherokee Indians under " Old Abraham," a noted chief, he heard the crack of a rifle, and, looking up, saw a tall, slender girl running toward the fort, closely pursued by the savages. They cut off her approach to the gate, but she leaped the pali sades, and, exhausted, fell into the arms of Captain Sevier. Her name was Catherine Sherrill, the acknowledged belle and beauty of that region. She became the loving and loved wife of the cap tain, and the mother of ten children. The financial affairs of the "State of Franklin" were on too unsound a basis to promise long life. Its money was made up of certain domestic manufactures and the skins of wild animals. The salaries of the officials were measured in a manner that had the merit, at least, of novelty. Those of the governor, officers of state, and judges were rated at so many fox-skins ; and those of the sheriffs, constables, and other inferior officers at so many mink-skins. This was all well enough until some skillful counter feiter sewed the tails of valuable animals upon the skins of worth less ones, and brought discredit upon the whole currency. The disagreement between North Carolina and the would-be State threatened war, when, opportunely, there appeared a mes senger of peace and good-will, the venerable Bishop Asbury, of the Methodist Church, who had come to attend the first confer- 342 DEVELOPMENT OF THE REPUBLIC. [1796-7. ence ever held west of the Mountains. The precepts he taught converted many bitter partisans into brethren and friends. In 1790, a territorial government being organized, Sevier was elected to Congress, the first representative of the vast region west of the great mountains. In September, 1796, Washington, definitely declining to serve a third term, presented to his fellow-citizens his " Farewell Ad dress." It crowned, in a fitting manner, an illustrious life, and its sentiments of patriotism and its sagacious political maxims will remain as a legacy to his countrymen through future generations. The candidates of the Federal party at the succeeding election were Adams for President and Thomas Pinckney for Vice-Presi- dent. The Republican, or Democratic, nominee for President was Thomas Jefferson; for Vice-President, the most prominent was Colonel Aaron Burr. While the election was pending, the new minister from France, M. Adet, addressed to the Secretary of State, and at the same time published in the newspapers, a letter, which once more compli cated our relations with his country. He reproached the United States for violation of treaty obligations, and with ingratitude toward France and partiality toward England. He also an nounced that he had been directed to suspend his ministerial functions with the United States. Of the one hundred and thirty-eight electoral votes cast, John Adams received seventy-one, and Thomas Jefferson sixty-eight. They were therefore declared elected President and Vice-Presi dent respectively. Washington was present at their inauguration on the 4th of March, 1797, and then withdrew to Mount Vernon, to spend the remainder of his days in retirement. His administration had been attended with a success hardly dreamed of at the beginning. Public and private credit had been restored, and ample provision made for the security and ultimate payment of the public debt ; commerce had wonderfully increased ; American tonnage had nearly doubled ; the products of agriculture found a ready mar ket ; exports had risen from nineteen million dollars to fifty-six million dollars, and the imports had increased in about the same proportion. Some of the social observances originating in the time of Pres ident Washington have been adhered to during successive ad ministrations. They were marked for their simplicity and dignity, 1789-97.] ^WASHINGTON S ADMINISTRATION. 343 although coming under the ban of those who objected even to the minutiae of the conduct of the Republic. Every Tuesday after noon, Washington gave formal levees, where considerable cere mony was required. One who was present on several of these occasions has left an account of them. They were held in the dining-room of the modest house occupied by the President, from which all seats had been removed for the time, and commenced at three o clock. On entering, the visitor saw the tall, manly figure of Washington, clad in black silk velvet, his hair powdered and gathered behind in a large silk bag ; yellow gloves on his hands, and hold ing a cocked -hat with a black cock- MOUNT VERNON. ade, and the edges adorned with a black feather about an inch deep. He wore knee and shoe buckles, and a long sword. He stood always in front of the fireplace, with his face toward the door of entrance. The visitor was conducted to him, and his name distinctly announced. Washington received him with a dignified bow, avoiding to shake hands, even with his best friends. As visitors came, they formed a circle round the room. At a quarter past three the door closed, when the President began on the right, and spoke to each person, calling him by name, and exchanging a few words. Having finished the circuit, he resumed his first position, and the visitors approaching him in succession, bowed and retired. Within an hour the ceremony was over. Washington s deportment was uniformly grave ; it being sobriety, 344 DEVELOPMENT OF THE REPUBLIC. [1797. stopping just short of sadness. His presence inspired a venera tion and a feeling of awe, rarely experienced in the company of any man. Mrs. Washington s levees, at which there were less form and ceremony, were held every Friday evening, the General being always present. Patrick Henry was one of those who objected to any display by the President. He was offered several positions under the government, but declined, saying that his habits of life unfitted him to mingle with those who were now aping the manners of a monarchy. John Adams, the second President of the United States, was born in Quincy, Massachusetts, October 19, 1735. He was a grad uate of Harvard College, and a lawyer by profession. He was an indefatigable worker, and during the three years and three months he served in the Continental Congress he was a member of ninety and chairman of twenty-five committees. He was of middle stature, full person, and was bald on the top of his head. His countenance beamed with intelligence, and with moral as well as physical courage. His walk was firm and dignified, and his manner slow and deliberate. He was a man of the purest morals, and a firm believer in Christianity not from habit, but from a diligent investigation of its proofs. Adams retained the cabinet left by Washington, viz. : Timothy Pickering, Secretary of State ; Oliver Wolcott, Secretary of the Treasury ; James McHenry, Secretary of War ; and Charles Lee, Attorney-General. There were but few marked features in the remaining years of the eighteenth century. The most impor tant events were connected with the threatened difficulty with France. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, the American minister, had been dismissed by that government, and orders had been issued for the French marine to prey upon American com merce. An extra session of Congress was thereupon called, and Elbridge Gerry, John Marshall, and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney were appointed envoys to France to make a new at tempt at conciliation. They were met by insulting proposals, being required to bribe the members of the Directory at the rate of two hundred and forty thousand dollars each. This proposition was indignantly rejected. Marshall and Pinckney were soon dismissed, and Gerry was afterward recalled by our government. Great excitement was aroused in the United States, 1797-9.] ADAMS S ADMINISTRATION. 345 and the motto, " Millions for defence, not a cent for tribute," was repeated with universal enthusiasm. Congress remained in ses sion from November I3th to July i6th over eight months. Com mercial intercourse with France was suspended ; a regular army was ordered to be raised, and a navy department organized ; Benjamin Stoddart, of Maryland, was appointed first secretary ; and General Washington was placed at the head of the army, Alexander Hamilton being selected by him as the active com mander. Fortunately, there was no need for their services ; the only warlike demonstrations on the part of the United States being the capture, by the frigate Constella tion, Commodore Truxton, of the French war-vessels L Insurgent and La Vengeance. In 1799, Napoleon Buonaparte became First Consul of France, and with him, his broth er, Joseph Buonaparte, acting as one of the commissioners, the United States made an amicable settlement (1800). In the summer of 1798, owing to the violent denunciations of the government by the friends of France, Congress passed the "Alien and Sedition Laws." The former act gave the President authority to order any foreigner, whom he might believe dangerous to the peace, to depart out of the country, under a very heavy penalty for disobedience. It also extended the period required for naturalization to fourteen years. The Sedition law made it a crime for any one to " write, print, utter, or publish any false, scandalous or malicious" statement against either Congress or the President, A number of promi nent men were tried under these acts. The harshness with which they were treated inflamed the public mind to a high pitch against the Federals, and served to render the administration of Adams exceedingly unpopular. The legislatures of Kentucky and Vir ginia passed denunciatory resolutions, which became the corner- stones of the growing Democratic party. On the 1 4th of December, 1799, occurred the death of General Washington at Mount Vernon. The news plunged the country NAPOLEON BUONAPARTE. 346 DEVELOPMENT OF THE REPUBLIC. [1800. into the deepest grief, and throughout its borders, in city and ham let, there were manifestations of the public sorrow by solemn ser vices, by the adjournment of all public bodies, and by glowing eulogies on the character and services of the deceased. His remains were deposited in a family vault on the banks of the Potomac, where they still lie entombed. In the summer of 1800, the seat of the government was re moved to the District of Columbia, and here, on the 22d of November, Congress assembled and was addressed by Adams for the last time, as President. The capital was then a strange conglomeration of splendid buildings, half finished, and wretched huts. Mrs. Adams writes as follows : " I arrived in Washington on Sunday last, without meeting any accident worth noticing, except losing ourselves when we left Baltimore and going eight or nine miles on the Fredericksburgh road, by which mistake we were obliged to go the other eight miles through the woods, where we wandered two hours without finding a guide or path. But woods are all you see from Baltimore until you reach this city, which is only so in name." Only one wing of the Capitol had been erected ; the " White House " was a mere barrack. Near by was a structure built for the Treasury Department, but it was so small that it did not afford comfortable room for the clerical force, then fifty in number. The records were deposited in a building known as Sear s Store, which soon after burned, and the documents, many of them of great value, were destroyed. A single packet-sloop brought all the office furniture of the several departments from Philadelphia, besides the " seven large boxes and four or five smaller ones," which contained the archives of the government. A quaint traveler of the period, speaking of the society of the capital, thus writes : " I obtained accommodations at the Wash ington Tavern, which stands opposite the Treasury. At this tavern I took my meals, where there were to be found, every day, a number of clerks employed in the different offices of the govern ment, together with about half a dozen Virginians and a few New England men. There was a perpetual conflict between these southern and northern men, and one night I was present at a vehement discussion that ended in a bet." In the fall of 1800, occurred the third presidential election. The candidates of the Federal party were John Adams for Presi dent and Charles C. Pinckney for Vice-President. The candi- 1800.] ADAMS S ADMINISTRATION. 347 dates of the Republicans were Thomas Jefferson and Colonel Aaron Burr. It was a very heated political contest, and resulted in seventy-three votes for Jefferson ; seventy-three for Burr ; sixty-five for Adams, and sixty-four for Pinckney. There being a tie, the election was to be decided by the House of Representa tives, as provided by the Constitution. The eighteenth century closed with a population in the United States of five million three hundred and five thousand nine hun dred and twenty-five. There was every prospect of continued prosperity and peace. The masses, contented arid happy, pur sued their avocations with a certainty of protection and safety under the laws. The administration of Adams, now just ending, had secured the respect of nations abroad, if it had not gained the popularity of the people at home. Among the many interests which had an independent origin during the first twenty years of the republic, were notably several of the churches. The Methodists had an existence, though not an organization, in the country as early as 1776, there being at that time a number of ministers of this denomination in the colo nies. The members of this church suffered considerably during the Revolution from what was thought to be an undue partiality to England, owing to their connection with the Wesleyan Church in that country. In 1784, Dr. Coke was sent over from England as superintendent by Wesley, and a formal organization soon followed. In that year, this body numbered forty-three preachers and thirteen thousand seven hundred and forty members. The Presbyterian Church, having been seriously interrupted by the Revolutionary War, was reorganized in 1788. It had then one hundred and eighty-four ministers and four hundred and thirty-five churches. The following year, the first general assem bly was held in Philadelphia. In September, 1785, the Episcopal Church was organized in the United States, its first Bishop being Rev. Samuel Seabury, D.D., who was consecrated in Scotland in 1784 as Bishop of Connecticut. In 1786, the Roman Catholic Church may be said to have been founded in the United States, as, in that year, Rev. John Carroll was appointed Vicar-General by the Pope, and took up his official residence at Baltimore. In 1789, he was consecrated as the first Roman Catholic Bishop of the country. The Unitarians, as a sect, appeared first in 1787, a number 348 DEVELOPMENT OF THE REPUBLIC. [1768-92. during that year seceding from the Episcopal Church in New England. In 1794, Dr. Joseph Priestley came to America, from which date may be reckoned the growth of this denomination. Though the commerce of the country was well established, only a mere glimpse of its rich mineral resources and its agricul tural capabilities had yet been obtained. The immense coal fields of Pennsylvania had been discovered, and small quantities of coal had been sent to market at Philadelphia, but its use was not understood, and it was finally broken up and used to mend the roads. Cotton-seed was brought to Georgia from the Bahamas in 1786, and its cultivation commenced immediately. The cotton- gin of Eli Whitney, patented in 1794, increased its production many fold, while the Arkwright machine for the manufacture of cotton, a model of which was brought to this country by one of his apprentices named Slater, still further tended to its exten sive cultivation. The first cotton-mill in the United States was erected at Beverly, Massachusetts, in 1787. Mackenzie gives an interesting account of the origin of the cotton-gin : " In 1768, Richard Arkwright invented a machine for spinning cotton, vastly superior to anything hitherto in use. Next year, a greater than he, James Watt, announced a grander inven tion, his steam-engine. England was now ready to begin her great work of weaving cotton for the world ; but where was the cotton to be found ? Three or four years before Watt patented his engine and Arkwright his spinning-frame, there was born in a New England farm-house a boy whose work was needed to com plete theirs. Eli Whitney was a born mechanic. It was a neces sity of his nature to invent and construct. As a mere child he made nails, pins, and walking-canes by novel processes, and thus earned money to support himself at college. In 1792, he went to Georgia to visit Mrs. Greene, the widow of General Greene of Revolutionary memory. In that primitive society, where few of the comforts of civilized life were yet enjoyed, no visits were so like those of the angels as the visits of a skillful mechanic. Eli constructed marvelous amusements for Mrs. Greene s children. He overcame all household difficulties by some ingenious con trivance. Mrs. Greene learned to wonder at him, and to believe nothing was impossible for him. One day she entertained a party of her neighbors. The conversation turned upon the sorrows of the planter, and that unhappy tenacity with which the seeds of the cotton adhered to the fibre was elaborately bemoaned. With 1800.] LIFE AT THE CLOSE OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 349 an urgent demand from England for cotton, with boundless lands which grew nothing so well as cotton, it was hard to be so utterly baffled. Mrs. Greene had unlimited faith in her friend Eli. She begged him to invent a machine which should separate the seeds of cotton from the fibre. " Eli had never even seen cotton in seed. He, however, walked to Savannah, and there obtained a quantity of uncleaned cotton. Returning, he shut himself in his room, and brooded over the difficulty which he had undertaken to conquer. All that winter he labored, devising, hammering, building up, rejecting, beginning afresh. He had no help. He could not even buy tools, but had to make them with his own hands. At length his machine was completed, rude, but effective. Mrs. Greene invited the leading men of the State to her house, and conducted them in triumph to the building in which it stood. The owners of un profitable cotton-lands looked on, with a wild flash of hope light ing up their desponding hearts. Possibilities of untold wealth to each of them lay in that clumsy structure. The machine was put in motion. It was evident to all that it could perform the work of hundreds of men. Eli had gained a great victory for man kind. In that rude log-hut of Georgia, Cotton was crowned King, and a new era was opened for America and the world." During the Revolutionary struggle, as we have seen, the true patriots suffered every inconvenience and privation in order to assist the grand result. Sage and raspberry leaves substituted a beverage in place of imported tea. Coffee and chocolate, sugar and all kinds of spices disappeared from country towns. Salt was scarce, and salt-pans were settled along the sea-coast, where it was made at expensive rates. Women sometimes hid small quantities in their pockets, and thus smuggled it into the country. The mills being dismantled by both parties, people in Virginia and elsewhere were forced to live on pounded corn. Yet, amidst the almost universal distress, there were exceptions of comfort and even luxury. There were degrees of patriotism, and love of self sometimes dominated over love of country. It is related that certain women, not having the self-denial to do without their favorite beverage, had tea surreptitiously served to them in the hot-water jug, the empty coffee-pot standing by its side, to be sent out, in case of unexpected guests, for a supply of hastily- steeped sage or raspberry leaves. During Washington s administration, soon after the advent of 350 DEVELOPMENT OF THE REPUBLIC. [1783-1800. Citizen Genet, numbers of French people, especially those living in the West Indies, flocked to America. Although they mingled but little socially with Americans, their manners were servilely copied by a certain set, much to the disgust of the staid and sober worthies of the time. The term " French airs," as a sobriquet of contempt, had its origin among the respectable conservatives, who felt outraged by the new dispensation of fashion. Now came in garments of a loose flowing exterior, which, as a quaint writer has observed, " left it impossible to make any mis take as to the real symmetry of the figures of our belles." The stiff, hooped petticoats, high, towering head-dresses, and com pressed waists, gave place quickly to scant skirts, hair arranged after the manner of the Goddess of Liberty, and a style of gar ment known as that of the " First Empire," very short as to the waist, with low corsage, and a skirt reaching scarcely to the ankle. At this time first appeared what are called pantaloons, in distinction to breeches and stockings. They were garments with feet on them, fitted close to the leg and let into the shoes. But the American gentlemen, less subject to change than their fair sisters, in their cocked-hats, silver-set buckles, broad-skirted coats, black velvet small-clothes, and silk stockings, regarded the new apparel with seeming contempt, and it was more than twenty years before they could be brought to adopt a style that finally led to the wearing of the present bifurcated garments. To the French, at this time, are we indebted for confectioneries and bonbons, jewelry and trinkets, and an entire change in our notions of dancing and music. They introduced the use of the piano, and created a love for other musical instruments, the violin and the clarionet, while they taught us the beauties of orchestral and concerted singing. The staid, measured English dances, stately, dignified, and monotonous, gave way to the lively quad rille or cotillion, with its frequent and rapid changes. Gold watches and gilded frames for pictures and mirrors came in with them. They established public baths and transferred the liking for cleanliness from the house and its surroundings to the person. They taught us, in our table diet, to use soups, salads, sweet oil, tomatoes, and ragouts, and brought with them our first notions of mattresses and high bedsteads. If they did not succeed in mak ing the United States their allies in the Avar then waging, they did more they conquered the people in their homes, and their dominion in the world of fashion continues to this day. 1800.] LIFE AT THE CLOSE OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 351 Gold-headed canes and gold snuff-boxes were still particularly delighted in by old gentlemen. It was fashionable to proffer a stranger or an acquaintance a friendly pinch of snuff, and if the box was of peculiar elegance in design or material, so much oftener was it brought out. It is said of Silas Deane, that he had one glittering with diamonds, a present from royalty, which he was exceedingly fond of displaying. His friends often bantered him on the subject, and Charles Thomson, who knew him well, once broke out into a full laugh at the persistency with which the old gentleman urged it upon his notice. Wigs for men and caps for women disappeared near the close of the century. The wearing of boots was first commenced about this time, two prominent styles being called after the famous generals, Suwarrow and Wellington. " I remember," says a writer, " my first pair of Suwarrows. They made a part of the great equipment with which I came from college into the world. Four skeins of silk did I purchase of a mercer, and equal expense did I incur with the sweeper for aid in twisting them into tassels. I would incur double the expense now to have the same feeling of dignity that I enjoyed then when walking in those boots. I stepped long and slowly, and the iron heels, which it pleased me to set firmly on the pavement, made a greater clatter than a troop of horse, " shod with felt." But if I wore them with pride, it was not without suffering, nor did I get myself into them without labor. Before I attempted to draw them on, I rubbed the inside with soap and powdered my instep and heel with flour. I next drew the handles of two forks through the straps, lest they should cut my fingers, and then commenced the tug of war. I con tracted myself into the form of a chicken trussed for the spit, and whatever patience and perseverance Providence had given me I tested to the utmost. I cursed Suwarrow for a Scythian, and wished his boots hung in their own straps. I danced around the room upon one foot many times, and, after several intervals for respiration and pious ejaculation, I succeeded in getting my toes into trouble, or, I may say, purgatory. Corns I had, as many as the most fanatic pilgrim would desire for peas in his shoes, yet I walked through the crowd (who were probably admiring their own boots too much to bestow a thought upon mine) as if I were a carpet-knight, capering upon rose-leaves. I was in torment, yet there was not a cloud upon my brow. I could not have suffered for principle as I suffered for those mem- 352 DEVELOPMENT OF THE REPUBLIC. [1783-1800. orable boots. The coat I wore was such as fashion enjoined ; the skirts were long and narrow, like a swallow s tail, two-thirds at least of the whole length. The portion above the waist composed the other third. The waist was directly beneath the shoulders ; the collar was a huge roll reaching above the ears, and there were two lines of brilliant buttons in front. There were nineteen but tons in a row. The pantaloons (over which I wore the boots) were of non-elastic corduroy. It would be unjust to the tailor ta say that they were fitted like my skin ; they sat a great deal closer. When I took them off, my legs were like fluted pillars,, grooved with the cords of the pantaloons." Gentlemen at this time wore no beard, whiskers, or mustaches,, but invariably appeared with faces as clean-shaven and smooth as that of a girl, a full beard being held as an abomination, and fitted only for the Hessians, heathen or Turks. In 1793, the first cigars were smoked in this country, being used in that year in Philadelphia as a preventive of the yellow fever, which raged with considerable violence. Independence in political feeling was a leaven which soon communicated itself to social relations. The distinction in man ner and in dress between different classes, heretofore so marked as to be instantly recognized, now speedily disappeared. Ser vants became domestics or " helps," and the titles master and mistress, which had been formerly always observed, grew to be confined only to the holders of negro slaves. Equality in legal rights seemed to be understood as applying to all other concerns in life. The maid-servant discarded her short-gown and petti coats, and copied the dress of her mistress both in style and material, as far as her purse would allow. The apprentice began to blush at his leather apron and breeches and his baize vest, and supplied himself, at second-hand or otherwise, with the fac-simile of his master s visiting suit. The title of Mr., from being a distin guished honor, grew to be the essential accompaniment of every name, until it has finally been given indiscriminately to every male in the land, and to omit it, when speaking of a great man, is a sign of distinction. So rapidly did the new ideas spread, and so marked was their effect, that Lafayette, on his second visit to this country, asked with astonishment, " But where are the people? " He saw only crowds of well-dressed citizens, and sought in vain for the distinc tions which were in force during his previous sojourn here. 1800.] LIFE AT THE CLOSE OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 353 About this time carpets began to supersede the curved and figured white sand. They were used, however, to cover only a portion of the floor, in the centre of the apartment. The unaccus tomed visitor sometimes showed signs of genuine distress at being obliged to walk on them, and sought, by stealing closely along the wall, to avoid soiling the beautiful thing upon the floor. Large, deep fireplaces were still the rule. Facing their well- controlled and unvarying heat, the housewives would bake such pastry, bread, and biscuits in their open tin ovens as can now hardly be matched ; while before them were turned to a crisp brown the Johnny or "Journey " cakes that had been thrown in lumps from some distance upon a broad board, and by their own cohesion stuck fast until done. Dr. Franklin had invented a stove which, as fuel grew scarce, had gradually been coming into use although a wise and thoughtful physician had named it " Frank lin s little demon." The walls of the houses and the ceilings were whitewashed, and only among the most wealthy could be seen the paper hangings just introduced. The lighting of the houses, but a dim illumination at the best, was accomplished by means of candles. Among the very wealthy > wax ones were occasionally seen, but the most common in use were of tallow dipped or run in moulds, and were set in brass or copper candlesticks. An Argand lamp, in which was burned whale-oil, was a rare luxury. Thomas Jefferson brought the first one from abroad near the close of the century, and presented it to his friend, Charles Thomson. WASHINGTON AND LAFAYETTE. CHAPTER X. AMERICAN NATIONALITY ASSUME 1800-1820. S HE people having failed to elect a President, the House of Repre sentatives, on the nth of Febru ary, 1801, began to ballot therefor. The first count showed eight States for Jefferson, six for Burr, and two divided. By the popu lar vote, there had been a decided majority in favor of Jefferson, but the " Federalist" party had the greater number of States in the House, and seemed to be deter mined to defeat the people s will. Nineteen ballots gave the same result, the House remaining in session all night. On the next day, there were nine ballots and no choice. On the I3th, one ballot was had; on the I4th, four; on the i6th, one all with the same result. On the i/th, two ballots were cast, and on the latter one the thirty-sixth in all Jefferson was elected President, and Burr, Vice-President. March 4, 1801, the third President took the oath of office, which was administered to him by the eminent statesman, John Marshall of Virginia, Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Jefferson was born in Albemarle county, Virginia, on the 2d of April, 1743. He graduated at William and Mary College, and fitted for the bar, where his fees during the first year of his practice amounted to over three thousand dollars. In 1774, he published a powerful pamphlet, entitled "A Summary View of the Rights of British America." This was republished in Great Britain under the auspices of Burke. Jefferson was the author 1801.] JEFFERSON S ADMINISTRATION. 355 of the Declaration of Independence. The room which he occu pied, the desk at which he sat, and the house that sheltered him while employed in its composition, are still pointed out in Phila delphia. To Jefferson we are also indebted for the system of coinage now in use, with the dollar as a unit and the other denom inations on a decimal basis, he giving them their several names. In 1784, he wrote a little work, which was greatly admired, called " Notes on Virginia," in reply to certain questions put by a French gentleman, embracing a general view of his State, its geography, government, etc. While Vice-President under Washington, he prepared, at his favorite retreat, Monticello, a manual for the Senate, which became the standard for Congress, as well as for other deliberative bodies. In person, Jefferson was six feet two inches in height, thin, but well formed, erect in his carriage, and imposing in his appearance. His complexion was fair: his hair, originally red, became in old age white and silvery ; his eyes were light-blue, sparkling with in telligence and beaming with philanthropy ; his nose was large, his forehead broad, and his whole countenance indicative of great sensi bility and profound thought. Though of aristocratic birth, he was intensely democratic. He eschewed breeches and wore panta loons ; fastened his shoes with leather strings instead of buckles ; abolished the Presidential levees ; concealed his birthday to prevent its being celebrated, as the President s had been hitherto ; and even disliked the term, Mister. Washington went to the Capitol in a magnificently -decorated carriage drawn by four cream-colored horses, and with servants in livery. Jefferson rode thither alone, on horseback, hitched his horse to a post, and, going in, delivered a fifteen-minutes address. After that he merely sent his " message " by a secretary, as has been the custom ever since. John Jay, in lamenting this tendency to republican simplicity, says that " with small clothes and breeches, the high tone of society departed." The new cabinet was composed of James Madison, Secretary of State ; Henry Dearborn of Massachusetts, Secretary of War ; and Levi Lincoln of Massachusetts, Attorney-General. Robert Smith of Maryland soon after succeeded Benjamin Stoddart as Secretary of the Navy, and Albert Gallatin of Pennsylvania fol- loAved Samuel Dexter as Secretary of the Treasury the latter two officers having been retained for a short time from Adams s cabinet. 356 AMERICAN NATIONALITY ASSURED, [1801. JEFFERSON GOING TO HIS INAUGURATION. Albert Gallatin is often connected, in the financial history of our country, with Robert Morris and Alexan der Hamilton. These three were the founders of the monetary policy of the Repub lic. When Gallatin came into the cabinet, he was directed by the President to scrutinize with great care the accounts of the government, in order to discover the blunders and alleged frauds of Hamilton, and to ascertain what charges could be made against him. The direction was obeyed very thoroughly, as the new Secretary, having no great regard for the leading Federalist, came to his task with a good appetite. Struck by the almost absolute perfection of the system of the first head of his depart ment, as revealed by the examination, Gallatin reported to the President that any change would injure it, and that Hamilton had made no blunders and committed no frauds. Such a report was worthy to come from one who, having ren dered some service to Mr. Baring in the negotiation of a loan to France, and being offered some shares which, without advancing 1801.] JEFFERSON S ADMINISTRATION. 357 a penny, would have realized him a fortune, made this memorable reply : " I thank you, but I will not accept your obliging offer, because a man who has had the direction of the finances of his country as long as I have, should not die rich." In this connec tion it is worth remembering that Hamilton, while Secretary of the Treasury, once sent a note to a friend, in which he begged the loan of twenty dollars for his personal use. Jefferson s accession to office was a complete revolution in the politics of the country, peacefully, but none the less thoroughly effected. The party he represented had been organized under his auspices during the administration of Washington. It claimed the name of Republican, while its opponents called it Democratic, a word recently introduced from France. That term involving the looseness, almost licentiousness of character which had marked the Jacobins of Paris, it was seldom used or countenanced by Jeffer son. But, as often happens, this appellation given in derision be came a talisman and a watchword. Various other nicknames have been applied to the party at different times. Thus, in Jefferson s day, its members were oc casionally styled Jacobins. During Madison s administration the Republicans were called " Bucktails," from a conspicuous feature in the uniform of a Tammany Indian, that society being even then a power in the politics of the country. Later, as in Jackson s time, they became " Loco Focos," because, at a meeting in Tammany Hall, the lights, having been extinguished, were relit with loco-foco matches, then just coming into use, which several of the members, expecting such an event, had carried in their pockets. Still later they were termed " Hunkers " and " Barn burners," " Hard Shells" and "Soft Shells." The central idea around which the party revolved was the diffusion of power among the people. To this touchstone was brought every principle that agitated the politics of the country, whether it related to a national bank, a tariff, taxes, or slavery. It held that in the States themselves resided the original and inherent sovereignty. For certain and .only specified purposes, some of this had been delegated in two directions to the general government, as a bond of union between all of the States, and to the counties, towns, cities, villages, and corporations within their borders, for particular objects. The local authorities were to take care of all home legislation, while the central government was to be made manifest only by acts of a general character. 358 AMERICAN NATIONALITY ASSURED. [1801-2. Jefferson s policy was fully set forth in his first inaugural- Equal and exact justice to all men ; peace, commerce, and friendly relations with foreign nations, entangling alliances with none ; the support of the State governments in their rights ; the preser vation of the general government in its constitutional vigor ; a jealous care of the rights of election ; a well-disciplined militia ; honest payment of the debt ; economy in the public expenditures ; encouragement of agriculture and commerce ; freedom of the press ; freedom of the person, and trial by jurors impartially selected. In June, Jefferson removed Elizur Goodrich, a Federalist, from the office of Collector of the port of New Haven, appointing in his place Samuel Bishop, a Democrat. This was the first dis placement for political causes, and, as it happened, was a case of peculiar hardship, as Mr. Goodrich was nearly eighty years of age and quite infirm. In Jefferson s letter defending his action is found the doctrine which Governor William L. Marcy afterward curtly expressed in the apothegm, " To the victors belong the spoils." It also contains a sentence that has become almost a proverb " If a due participation of office is a matter of right, how are vacancies to be obtained ? Those by death are few, by resignation none." The Sedition Act was now almost immediately repealed, and those persons suffering its penalties in the different jails through out the country were released. The alien law was also modified by reducing the time of naturalization to five years. Among other congressional measures were the establishment of a military academy at West Point, which had been recom mended by Washington ; the discontinuance of the internal tax on distilled spirits and a variety of other manufactures ; the appropriation of seven million and three hundred thousand dol lars annually to the sinking fund ; the prohibition of the importa tion of slaves into any of those States which had themselves forbidden their admission ; and the founding of a public library. The last-named bill was approved by the President on the 26th of January, 1802, and John Beckley of Virginia, the clerk of the House of Representatives, was appointed librarian. In April of that year, the catalogue of the library embraced two hundred and twelve folios, one hundred and sixty-four quartos, five hun dred and eighty-one octavos, seven duodecimos, and nine maps. The nucleus of the library was ordered from London by Samuel 1802.] JEFFERSON S ADMINISTRATION. 359 A. Otis, who was for twenty-five years the honored Secretary of the Senate. The books reached this country packed in trunks, and were forwarded to the new metropolis, where they were assigned a room in the " Palace in the Wilderness," as the unfin ished Capitol was then derisively called by those who preferred New York or Philadelphia as the seat of government. The loca tion of the library was changed several times, once because the books were damaged by a leaky roof. In the ab sence of other suitable places in the primitive city, it became a great resort for students, poli ticians, and even fashion able people. It is related of Chief- Justice Marshall, that once, in taking a book from an upper shelf in one of the alcoves, he pulled down a number of ponderous tomes, which threw him to the floor. Recovering his footing, the old gentle man dryly remarked, " I ve laid down the law out of the books many a time in my long life, but this is the first time they have laid me down ! " In one of the many alcoves, where the belles of those days came to receive the homage of their admirers, a wealthy member of Congress, who was preparing himself for a speech, heard near by the voice of his daughter, whom some penniless adventurer was persuading to elope with him. The irate father hastened to put a stop to the proceeding, and adjourned the action sine die. Ohio, the seventeenth State of the Union, was received No vember 29, 1802. The name was derived from that of its principal stream, meaning " River of blood." It was the first State carved out of the Northwestern Territory. This region was explored in 1680 by the French voyageur La Salle. A company of emi- CHIEF-JUSTICE MARSHALL IN THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 360 AMERICAN NATIONALITY ASSURED. [1802. grants from New England went through the wilderness to Pitts- burg in 1787. Here they built a boat, the Mayflower, in which, the next spring, they floated down the Ohio. Landing opposite Fort Harmar, they made the first permanent settlement, which they named Marietta, after Marie Antoinette, the queen of France. The next year, Cincinnati, then called Losanteville, was founded. At the time of the cession of this territory to the United States, Virginia reserved three million seven hundred and nine thousand eight hundred and forty-eight acres near the rapids of the Ohio, for her State troops, and Connecticut three million six hundred and sixty-six thousand nine hundred and twenty-one acres near Lake Erie, thus laying the foundation of her large school fund. In 1800, the jurisdiction over these two tracts was relinquished to the general government, the States selling the soil to settlers. Cleveland was settled in 1796, on a portion of the Connecticut Reserve sold to a company from that State, and surveyed by Moses Cleveland. In 1802, Jefferson received information that Spain, by a secret treaty, had ceded to France the tract called Louisiana, reaching from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. Soon after, it was announced that the treaty-right to the use of New Orleans as a place of deposit for the United States had ceased. A war with Spain seemed imminent. Jefferson, bent on a pacific policy, sent James Monroe as minister plenipotentiary to act with Mr. Liv ingston at Paris, for the purchase of New Orleans and the Flor- idas. Buonaparte, being then on the verge of a war with England, in which he would be likely to lose his continental possessions, and also being in want of money, instructed his ministers to sell not only New Orleans, but the whole of Louisiana, for fifty millions of francs. Instead of the cession of a town and its incon siderable territory, Monroe now found a vast portion of the conti nent at his disposal. He had asked for the mere privilege of navigating the Mississippi, and its entire sovereignty was within his grasp. The sum fixed by Buonaparte being considered too low by M. de Marbois, he stated the price at eighty millions, twenty of which were to be used in paying debts due by France to the citizens of the United States, arising from seizures of ships made in time of peace. The First Consul was so much pleased with the bargain that he made his minister a present of one hundred and ninety-two thousand francs. Of this acquisition, Livingston said to Monroe, " We have lived 1803-4.] JEFFERSON S ADMINISTRATION. 361 long, but this is the noblest work of our whole lives ; " while Napoleon exclaimed, " This accession of territory strengthens forever the power of the United States ; and I have just given to England a maritime rival that will, sooner or later, humble her pride." Much difference of opinion existed in the United States as to the constitutionality of the purchase, and Jefferson himself believed that an amendment to the Constitution was necessary ; but the action of his ministers was so generally approved that none was ever presented. The treaty was ratified by the Senate on the 2oth of October, 1803, by a vote of twenty -four to seven, and the reso lutions in the House providing for the payment of the money and the government of the new territory, passed by a vote of ninety to twenty-five. Louisiana then comprised one million one hundred and seventy- one thousand nine hundred and thirty-one square miles, with a mixed population of eighty or ninety thousand French, Spaniards, Creoles, Americans, English, Germans, and slaves, besides an un counted horde of savages. Out of this magnificent domain we have since cut five States, five Territories, and parts of four States and of one Territory. On Jefferson s recommendation, an expedition, under the command of Captains Lewis and Clarke, was sent to explore the new territory. It occupied about two years and three months, and the history of their adventures forms one of the most romantic and thrilling episodes in the annals of the western country. They were eminently successful in geo graphical discoveries, and brought back the first accurate in formation respecting this previously unknown half of the con tinent. In 1804, the twelfth amendment to the Constitution was sub mitted to the people, and ratified by thirteen of the States. It ordained that thereafter the electors were to designate which per sons were voted for as President and as Vice-President. The idea originated with the Republicans, in order to provide against the chance of another disappointment such as had threatened them in 1801 ; and it was, of course, opposed by the Federalists. The Barbary States, notwithstanding the treaty with Algiers, were still committing depredations on the commerce of the United States. Their insolence and audacity were fast becoming unbear able. When Captain Bainbridge, in 1800, paid the annual tribute, the Dey demanded the use of his vessel to convey an ambassador 362 AMERICAN NATIONALITY ASSURED. [1804. to the Sultan at Constantinople. Bainbridge remonstrated, but the Dey haughtily said, " You pay me tribute, by which you be come my slaves, and, therefore, I have a right to order you as I think proper." His vessel being under the guns of the pirate s castle, Bainbridge was forced to comply. The mission, after all, had something of a recompense, for the captain was the first to display the flag of the Republic on the waters of the Golden Horn and before the minarets of Istamboul ; and the Sultan re garded it as a favorable omen of future friendship between the two nations, that his flag bore the device of the crescent moon, and the American that of a group of stars. The Bey of Tripoli and the Bashaw of Tunis both now demanded tribute of the United States. In 1804, Commodore Preble was sent with a squadron to bring them to terms. He succeeded completely in humbling their pretensions, and peace was declared, although sixty thousand dollars was paid as a ran som for our captive sailors. Lieutenant Decatur performed a brilliant exploit during this brief conflict. The Philadelphia, a United States frigate, had struck on a rock in the Tripolitan har bor, and before she could be extricated was captured, her officers and crew being made prisoners of war. Decatur, with seventy- six comrades, sailed into the harbor on the i6th of February, 1804, right under the guns of the castle, boarded the ship, killed or drove into the sea her turbaned defenders, set her on fire, and escaped without the loss of a man. Aaron Burr, the Vice-President, was a small, fair-complex- ioned, brilliant-eyed, fascinating man, eight and forty years of age ; a wit, a beau, a good scholar, a polished gentleman, a liber tine, and an unscrupulous politician. He was now a candidate for the office of Governor of the State of New York. During the bitter and heated contest, Alexander Hamilton uttered some words in regard to Burr that he considered derogatory ; where upon, maddened by defeat, he challenged Hamilton to a duel. July 11, 1804, the two met at Weehawken, New Jersey, on the same spot where, only a short time before, Hamilton s son had been killed in a so-called affair of honor. Only one shot was exchanged, and Hamilton, who had fired in the air, was mortally wounded. Burr, being indicted both in New York and in New Jersey, fled to Philadelphia. The heartless character of the man may be seen in the fact that, having renewed proposals of marriage to a young 1804-5.] JEFFERSON S ADMINISTRATION. 363 lady of that city, he wrote to his daughter, " If any male friend of yours should be dying of ennui, recommend him to engage in a duel and a courtship at the same time." Public sentiment with regard to the duel was divided. By some, it was said of Hamilton, that " he had lived like a man and died like a fool." In the South, where the bloody code of the duello was recognized, Burr was greeted as a hero ; and in strong Republican localities as " the slayer of the arch-enemy of Re publicanism." At the national capital, the "best society" treated him with respect, and even in the lower House of Congress, a leading partisan said, " The first duel I ever heard of was that of David killing Goliath. Our little David of the Republicans has killed the Goliath of the Federalists, and for this I am willing to reward him." But the virtuous and moral were filled with disgust, if not with horror, and echoed the sentiments of a senator ivho exclaimed, " God grant it may be the last time, as it is the first, that ever a man indicted for murder presides in the Amer ican Senate." Burr s political career, however, was ended, and at the close of the session, he stepped down from the second office in the gift of the people, a ruined man. In the fifth presidential campaign, Jefferson was renominated on the Republican ticket, with George Clinton, of New York, for 364 AMERICAN NATIONALITY ASSURED. [1805-6. Vice-President. The Federalists offered Pinckney of South Caro lina and Rufus King of New York. Such was Jefferson s popu larity, that the Federal candidates carried but two States, and the Republicans fifteen. The second session of the Eighth Congress is memorable for two things. First ; the attempt to introduce gunboats for coast defence. This was one of Jefferson s favorite projects. No general confidence, however, was felt in the plan, and when a number of the boats were driven on shore and wrecked, their loss was not regarded as a misfortune ; while the officers of the navy openly expressed their satisfaction. Second ; at this time was seen for the first the caucus system a word said to have had its origin in the term " calk-house " a building in Boston where the ante-Revolutionary patriots held their meetings. There was now far less independent discussion, the action of the friends of the administration being determined beforehand in a private meeting. The defection of John Randolph of Roanoke from the Repub lican ranks, about 1806, created considerable excitement. He had been a staunch friend of Jefferson s, but the President having re fused to appoint him minister to England, Randolph took um brage, and henceforth assailed the administration at every point. He was a genius of the first order, and famous for his wit and satire. " For over thirty years," says Benton, " he was the polit ical meteor of Congress, blazing with undiminished splendor ; a planetary plague, shedding not only war and pestilence on nations, but agony and fear on members." " All parties feared him : each in turn Beheld its schemes disjointed, As right or left his fatal glance And spectral finger pointed. Sworn foe of Cant, he smote it down With trenchant wit surpassing ; And, mocking, rent with ruthless hand The robe Pretence was wearing." Randolph originated many queer and quaint phrases that have passed into the political vocabulary, and are still current. In the fierce debates on the Missouri Compromise measures, he gave to the Northern men who sustained the South, the name of" dough faces " an appellation that clung to them for years. He enun ciated the doctrine of State rights in the single sentence : " When 1807.] JEFFERSON S ADMINISTRATION. 365 I speak of my country, I mean the commonwealth of Virginia." While in Russia, on being presented to the Emperor, he said, in his thin, piping voice, " How are you, Emperor? How s madam ? " " I am pleased," said a gentleman to him, when meeting him for the first time, "to make the acquaintance of so distinguished a public servant. I am from the city of Baltimore. My name, sir, is Blunt." " Blunt oh ! " replied Randolph ; " I should think so, sir," and deigned him no further notice. " I have had the plea sure, Mr. Randolph," remarked another to him, " of passing your house recently." " I am glad of it," was the curt reply; " I hope you will always do it, sir." Aaron Burr, after his duel with Hamilton, wrote to his son-in- law, Governor Alston of South Carolina : " In New York, I am to be disfranchised, and in New Jersey hanged. Having substantial objections to both, I shall not, for the present, hazard either, but shall seek another country. Where?" This question he never answered, but his restless spirit drove him West, and in that vast region he conceived, as is claimed, the design of forming a new empire. The two persons most conspicuous in his scheme were General James Wilkinson and Harman Blennerhassett ; the former betrayed him, and the latter he ruined. The career of Blennerhassett was as romantic as its end was sorrowful. With a wife of exquisite beauty, and an ample fortune, he left his home in Ireland and came to this country. Attracted by a lovely island in the Ohio River, he beautified and adorned it, and was living there in what is described as " a second para dise." Fascinated by Burr, he was led into the wild venture in which he saw his fortune melt away and his home pass into the hands of others ; for the whole gorgeous vision that Burr had con jured up vanished as suddenly as frostwork in the sunbeam. Political animosity sent the first whispers of suspicion over the mountains. Burr was accused of a conspiracy to detach the Western States and form another republic, of which he was to be president. With Blennerhassett and a number of others, he was arrested and brought to Richmond, Virginia. His trial, on a charge of high-treason, began in March, 1807, an d continued all summer. No overt act, however, could be proved, and he was acquitted. The other prisoners were thereupon released. This year is memorable for the success that crowned the efforts of Robert Fulton at steam navigation. Though others had con ceived, he was the first to realize the idea. Fitch, seventeen years 366 AMERICAN NATIONALITY ASSURED. [1807. before, had placed upon the Delaware a steamboat which made several trips, but the attempt had been abandoned as impractica ble. In 1807, however, Fulton s boat, the Clermont, was launched upon the Hudson and made regular passages between New York and Albany at the rate of five miles an hour. " The vessel," says a writer, " presented the most terrific appearance. The dry pine- wood fuel sent up many feet above the flue a column of ig nited vapor, and, when the fire was stirred, tremendous show ers of sparks. The wind and tide were adverse to them, but the crowds saw with astonish ment the vessel rapidly ap- PULTON S STEAMBOAT. preaching them ; and when it came so near that the noise of the machinery and paddles was heard, the crews of other vessels, in some instances, shrunk beneath their decks from the terrific sight ; while others prostrated themselves, and besought Provi dence to protect them from the approach of the horrible monster which was marching on the tide, and lighting its path by the fire that it vomited." It is related of a gentleman, well known in the business circles of New York, that one day, being in haste to reach Albany, and seeing the Clermont ready to start, he went aboard. Entering the cabin, he saw a gentleman who, on inquiry, he learned was Fulton. Being told that the fare was six dollars, he counted that sum into his hands. Fulton held the money for some time, look ing at it quietly, and then remarked, " This is the first penny I have received in my long effort to bring this discovery to a suc cess. I am too poor, else would we have a bottle of wine together to mark the event." Ten years later, the same gentleman, going up the Hudson in one of the numerous boats that then plied upon the river, again saw Fulton, who, accosting him, proposed that, as times had changed, they should now take that bottle of wine ; which they did, recalling with great pleasure the memory of their first trip together. In 1812, Fulton built at Pittsburg the first steamer to ply upon the Mississippi. Leaving its dockyard in October, it reached New Orleans, after which it was named, in December. The year 1807 was also marked by the publication by Wash- 1807.] JEFFERSON S ADMINISTRATION. 367 ington Irving, the first and best of American humorists, of his earliest work, " Salmagundi, or the Whim-Whams and Opinions of Launcelot Langstaff, Esq., and Others." It was followed in 1809 by his " Knickerbocker s History of New York," which placed him at once among the foremost authors of the age. France and England were now engaged in a desperate war ; and the strife affected the whole civilized world. By its " Orders in Council," England had declared all vessels engaged in con veying West India produce from the United States to Europe legal prizes, and several ports under the control of the French in a state of blockade. Napoleon thereupon issued the " Berlin Decree," which forbade the introduction of English goods into any port of Europe, even by the vessels of neutral powers. Other " Orders in Council " declared the whole coast of Europe in a state of blockade ; which Napoleon followed with his " Milan Decree," confiscating all vessels and cargoes violating the " Berlin Decree," and all vessels that should submit to be searched by the English. The United States was the chief sufferer by these vindictive measures, and expostulated, but in vain. " Join me in bringing England to reason," said Napoleon. " Join us in putting down the disturber of the world," replied England. The feeling in the United States was intensified by an insult offered to the country on the 22d of June, 1807, when the British ship Leopard fired into the American vessel Chesapeake off the coast of Virginia. The American frigate, being wholly unpre pared for battle, soon struck her colors. Four of the crew, three being Americans by birth, were taken, on the pretence that they were deserters. This act was promptly disavowed by the English government, but no reparation was made. On the 22d of Decem ber following, Congress passed the celebrated " Embargo Act," by which all American vessels were prohibited from sailing for foreign ports ; all foreign vessels from taking out cargoes ; and all coasting-vessels were required to give bonds to land their cargoes in the United States. This bill was violently opposed by the Federal party, and was extremely unpopular in the States engaged in commerce. The opponents, spelling the name backward, nicknamed it the O grab me Act. De Witt Clinton, a nephew of the Vice-President, was chairman of an indignation meeting in New York city, and with drew his support from the administration. John Quincy Adams, who had favored the act, finding his course was not approved by 368 AMERICAN NATIONALITY ASSURED. [1809. the Legislature of his State, resigned his seat in the Senate, and informed the President that New England, if the measure were persisted in, would separate from the Union, at least until the obstacles to commerce were removed ; that the plan had already been adjusted, and it would be supported by the people. Although Jefferson had received addresses from several Legis latures asking him to serve a third term, he declined, preferring to follow the precedent established by Washington. James Mad ison, Secretary of State, was thereupon nominated for President by the Legislature of Virginia, and he was soon after accepted by the Republican members of Congress. The election resulted in one hundred and twenty-two votes for Madison, and one hundred and thirteen for Clinton as Vice-President. The Federal candi dates, who were the same as at the preceding election, received only forty-seven votes. Before the conclusion of his term of office, Jefferson recom mended that Congress should repeal the Embargo Act. This was adopted so far as related to all nations except France and Great Britain. March, 4, 1809, James Madison was inaugurated fourth President of the United States. He was born in King George county, Vir ginia, March 16, 1751. Having graduated at Princeton College, he prepared for the bar, but the stirring scenes of the Revolution left him little time for the quiet pursuits of life. In 1780, he took his seat in the Continental Congress. Such became his popu larity in his native State, that the law rendering any one ineligible after three-years service was repealed solely that he might be re turned a fourth time. Mild and amiable in disposition, he earnestly sought to harmonize the party antagonisms and rivalries of Wash ington s administration. Many of his public writings, notably the "Resolutions of 1798," passed by the Assembly of Virginia, in opposition to the " Alien and Sedition Laws," and the Report in their defence, rank among the greatest State papers of the country. Madison was small in stature, and calm and grave in speech. His eyes were blue, clear, and penetrating. He was bald on the top of his head, and he wore his hair powdered. His manner was modest and retiring, and his diffidence for a time materially inter fered with his success as an orator. He bore the look of a quiet, unassuming student. His mind was, perhaps, not of the highest order, but it was symmetrical and vigorous. He possessed the 1809-11.] MADISON S ADMINISTRATION. 369 genius of hard work. His memory was wonderful, and his stores of knowledge were perfectly at his command. His character was spotless, and no calumny ever attempted to sully it. In conversa tion he was pleasing and instructive. Being fond of company, he revived the levees inaugurated by Washington. The graces and beauty of Mrs. Madison attracted the best of the country to her presence, and are still perpetuated in delightful legends of early society at the capital. Madison formed his cabinet as follows : Secretary of State, Robert Smith of Maryland; Secretary of War, William Eustis of Massachusetts ; and Secretary of the Navy, Paul Hamilton of South Carolina. Albert Gallatin was retained as Secretary of the Treasury, and Cassar A. Rodney as Attorney-General. The difficulties with England continued. The United States government held that a foreigner could be naturalized, and thus become an American citizen, enj^jing all the privileges of citizen ship. The British doctrine, on the other hand, was " Once an Englishman, always an Englishman." The English naval officers, therefore, claimed the right of stopping American vessels on the high seas, searching for seamen of English birth, and pressing them into the navy. British ships were stationed before our har bors, and every vessel coming or going was searched. Within eight years, nine hundred American vessels were captured for alleged violations of the English commercial regulations. At one time there were more than six thousand names registered on the books of the State Department of seamen who had been forced into the British navy. Through the indifference of the officers many native Americans were in this way compelled to serve against their country. Madison tried every means to adjust the differences. His pacific policy seemed, in fact, so spiritless, that a Federalist in Congress, losing all patience, declared that " the President could not be kicked into a fight." The English govern ment, it is true, revoked the obnoxious " Orders in Council," but positively refused to yield the rights of search and impressment. Smarting under these insults, our seamen flung out the motto, "Free trade and sailors rights" and for it they were ready to fight. One day in May, 1811, the frigate President having hailed the British sloop-of-war Little Belt, off the coast of Virginia, instead of a polite salutation received a cannon-shot in reply. The fire was returned, and the sloop was soon disabled. A civil answer was then given. 24 370 AMERICAN NATIONALITY ASSURED. [1809-11. The feeling against England was greatly aggravated by the current impression that British emissaries were busy in arousing the Indians along the northwestern border. In the Shawnee tribe, at this time, were two brothers, who, considering their race and surroundings, deserve to be reckoned with the heroes of his tory. These were Tecumseh, sometimes called Tecumtha " the wild-cat springing on its prey " and Elskwatawa " the loud voice." They were born of a Creek woman on the banks of the Mad River, near Spring field, Ohio. The former was a chief and a warrior with the genius of a statesman. The lat ter is better known as the " pro phet." He was famous as an orator, and made the supersti tions of his people the fulcrum of his power, pretending that he could even ward off the bullets of their enemies in battle. They sought to combine all the Western Indians in a defensive alliance against the whites. In 1809, General Harrison, governor of the Territory of Indiana, purchased a large tract on the Wabash. This gave Indian outrages became frequent, of the settlers, General Harrison to Tippecanoe, the prophet s town, with a small body of troops. When within a few miles he was met by ambassadors asking for a conference on the following day. Fearing surprise, he ordered his men to lie upon their arms. During the night, the treacherous savages crept through the tall grass, and, surrounding the camp on all sides, suddenly sprang upon the troops like wolves. A desperate battle ensued, but the Indians were beaten with great slaughter, and the town was de stroyed. All the tribes in that region forthwith sued for peace. In December, 1811, occurred the burning of a theatre in the city of Richmond, where was collected an unusually large and brilliant audience. The governor of the State and several of ELSKWATAWA, THE PROPHET. great offence to Tecumseh. At the earnest solicitation marched, in November, 1811 1812.] MADISON S ADMINISTRATION. 371 the most prominent citizens, with their families, perished in the flames. It created the most profound sensation, both Houses of Congress wearing mourning for a month. Louisiana was admitted to the Union April 8, 1812. It was then the extreme southwestern State. Its early history is closely con nected with that of France, the name Louisiana having been given in honor of Louis XIV. The first permanent settlement within its present boundaries was at New Orleans in 1718. About that time the colony was granted to the great Mississippi Company, BURNING OF THE RICHMOND THEATRE. ( Fac-simile of an old Print.) organized by John Law, at Paris, for the purpose of settling and deriving profit from the French possessions in North America. This gigantic bubble soon burst, but it resulted in a rapid emigra tion to the banks of the Mississippi. December 20, 1803, after the purchase of Louisiana from the French, the American flag was first unfurled at New Orleans. This vast territory was then divided into two territories Orleans, including the present State of Louisiana, and the district of Louisiana, which comprised the remainder. On the admission of the former as a State, the name of the latter was changed to Missouri. Early in 1812, an Englishman named Henry made an exposure 3/2 AMERICAN NATIONALITY ASSURED. [1812. to the President of an attempt in which he had been engaged at the instigation of the Governor-General of Canada, to excite hos tility to the administration in the Eastern States, and perhaps pro duce a rupture of the Union. He was unsuccessful, and finding his scheme repudiated by the English government, he came on to Washington, where he sold out his story and letters for the com fortable sum of fifty thousand dollars, and then made off as quickly as possible. The President sent a message to Congress on the subject, and the so-called " Henry affair" did much to exasperate the authorities against England. The Vice-President, the venerable George Clinton, died April 20, 1812. His place was filled by William H. Crawford of Georgia, the presiding officer of the Senate pro tern. The Democratic party being largely in favor of a war with England, Madison was assured that unless his opposition ceased he must not expect its support in the ensuing presidential cam paign. He accordingly waived his objections, and was renomi- nated by a caucus of eighty-two Republican members of Con gress ; Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts being placed on the ticket for Vice-President. The Federalists held a convention in New York, the first of the kind in the Republic. Eleven States were represented. It resolved to support De Witt Clinton and Jared Ingersoll of Pennsylvania, as President and Vice-President respectively. At the election, though the Federalist candidates were sustained by many anti-war Democrats, Madison and Gerry were chosen by a strong majority. Meanwhile war had been declared against England, June iQth. The act met with violent opposition from the few Federalists in Congress and the disaffected Democrats. Henry Clay, Speaker of the House, and John C. Calhoun were at the head of the " War Party." The Federalists and those opposing hostilities, were led by the venerable Josiah Quincy of Massachusetts, called by his opponents in derision, " Josiah the First, King of New England, Nova Scotia, and Passamaquoddy " ; Emott of New York, and others. They were styled the " Peace Party." The war measure was adopted in the House by a vote of seventy-nine to forty-nine, and in the Senate, nineteen to thirteen. The first hostile shot was thrown only four days later by the ship-of-war President, in command of Commodore Rogers, who fired a chase-gun after the British ship Belvidera. A running en gagement ensued, but the President finally gave up the pursuit. 1812.] MADISON S ADMINISTRATION. 373 Never was a country more poorly prepared for war than the United States at this period. The President and his cabinet, by habit and inclination, were unfitted for a time of commotion and of great emergency. The dominant party had long been strenuously opposed to a standing army and navy, and both these branches were, therefore, weak and inefficient. Our army numbered but five thousand men, and our navy comprised only eight frigates and twelve sloops, while England had one thousand and sixty sail. The Revolutionary officers were either dead or had become so old and feeble as to be often an injury to the service which they loved so well. The West was all aflame for the war ; but at the East a powerful party bitterly opposed it as impolitic and unnecessary. Boston denounced the struggle, and the flags of her shipping were hoisted at half-mast when the news came of the declaration. All New England resounded with outcries against the war-policy and the war-party. The feuds of Democrats and Federalists, the lack of harmony in plans, the want of experience in military affairs, and the weakness of the executive all conspired to render the result of the contest exceedingly doubtful. Nothing finally saved the country, under the blessing of Providence, but the courage of its soldiery and the valor of its little navy. The war opened on land with an invasion of Canada at three points Detroit, Niagara, and on the St. Lawrence River. General Henry Dearborn of Massachusetts was appointed commander-in- chief, his position being at the eastern end of the line. The troops at the west were under General William Hull, and those in the centre under General Stephen Van Rensselaer. All the forces were to co-operate with a view to Montreal as their objective point. General William Hull, the Governor of Michigan Territory, promptly crossed from Detroit to Sandwich with a few hundred regulars and three regiments of volunteers. Instead of pushing forward to attack Maiden or seize Canada, Hull dawdled about, week after week, until the British rallying, captured Mackinaw, when, alarmed by the intelligence, he tamely retreated to Detroit. On the 1 6th of August, a beautiful Sabbath day, Brock, gov ernor of Upper Canada, at the head of the British forces, landed and advanced to assault that post. The garrison was in line, and the gunners stood with lighted matches awaiting the order to fire. Suddenly, General Hull, apparently unnerved, directed the white flag a table-cloth to be displayed. The officers were 374 AMERICAN NATIONALITY ASSURED. [1812. thunderstruck, and even the women expressed their indignation. Hull was, however, averse to shedding blood, and so, without even stipulating for the honors of war, he surrendered not only Detroit, with its garrisons and stores, but the whole of Michigan. Among the arms was a brass cannon, on which was the inscrip tion, " Taken at Saratoga, on the i;th of October, 1777." Some NORTHERN REGION OF THE WARS of the British officers greeted this released captive with kisses. It was, however, retaken on the banks of the Thames the follow ing year. In 1814, General Hull, having been exchanged, was tried by court-martial, and being convicted of cowardice and neglect of duty, was sentenced to be shot. He was, however, reprieved by the President in consequence of his Revolutionary services, his name being stricken from the army-roll. The attentive reader of the full history of this disgraceful affair knows not which to blame most, the irresolution of General Hull, the inefficiency of the War Department, or the incapacity of the officers of the eastern forces, who utterly failed to co-operate in 1812.] MADISON S ADMINISTRATION. 375 this invasion, and left the English free to concentrate all their troops upon the western army. Bands of savages now roamed over all the northwest territory. The day before the surrender of Hull, Fort Dearborn, on the present site of Chicago, was surrendered, and part of the garri son massacred. The whole country was alarmed. Ten thousand volunteers were readily obtained and placed under the command of General Harrison, the hero of Tippecanoe. Late in the summer, General Van Rensselaer, with the " army of the Centre," as it was called, made an attempt to invade Canada. October I3th, he crossed the Niagara at Lewiston to attack the enemy on Queenstown Heights. The landing was desperately resisted. Colonel Scott and Captain Wool led the Americans in charge after charge, driving the British before them. Three times they won the victory. Van Rensselaer then returned to the American shore to bring over the rest of his troops. But the militia, frightened by the bloody tokens of the battle, refused to be taken out of the State, and fifteen hundred able-bodied men stood cowardly by their constitutional rights, while their com rades vainly struggled against the odds of their swarming foes. Scott, finding himself deserted, mounted a log in front of his men and harangued them. " Hull s surrender," he exclaimed, " must be redeemed. Our condition is desperate. Let us die, arms in hand. Our country demands the sacrifice. The example will not be lost. The blood of the slain will make heroes of the living. Those who follow will avenge our fall, and our country s wrongs. Who dares to stand ? " A loud " ALL ! " rang along the line. The troops followed him with desperate courage, and of one thousand men who had crossed the river that morning, nearly all were killed or captured. The next day General Brock, who was killed in the action, was buried. At the request of Scott, then a prisoner, minute- guns were fired at Fort Niagara. "Cannon that but the day before had exploded in angry strife on one another, now joined their peaceful echoes over his grave." " While a captive in an inn at Niagara," says Headley, " Scott was told that some one wished to see the * tall American. He immediately passed through into the entry, when, to his astonish ment, he saw standing before him two savage Indian chiefs, who wished to look on the man at whom they had so often fired with a deliberate aim. In broken English, and by gestures, they in- 3/6 AMERICAN NATIONALITY ASSURED. [1812. quired where he was hit, for they believed it impossible that out of fifteen or twenty shots not one had taken effect. The elder chief, named Jacobs, a tall, powerful savage, became furious at Scott s asserting that not a ball had touched him, and, seizing his shoulders rudely, turned him round to examine his back. The young and fiery colonel did not like to have such freedom taken with his person by a savage, and, hurling him fiercely aside, exclaimed, * Off, villain ! you fired like a squaw. We kill you now, was the quick and ^jlgS^^ "XJ< H i i Wiiif- startling reply, as knives and tomahawks gleamed in their hands. Scott was not a man to beg or run, though either would have been prefer able to taking his chances against these armed sav ages. Luckily for him, the swords of the Amer ican officers who had been taken prisoners were stacked under the staircase, beside which he was standing. Quick as thought, he snatched up the largest, a long sabre, and the next mo ment it glittered un sheathed above his head. One leap backward, to get scope for play, and he stood towering even above the gigantic chieftain, who glared in savage hate upon him. The Indians were in the wider part of the hall, between the foot of the stairs and the door, while Scott stood farther in, where it was narrower. The former, therefore, could not get in the rear, and were compelled to face their enemy. They manoeuvred to close, but at every turn that sabre flashed in their eyes. The moment they should come to blows, one, they knew, was sure to die; and although it was equally certain that Scott would fall under the knife of the survivor before he could regain his position, yet neither Indian seemed anxious to be the sacrifice. While they thus stood watching each other, a British officer chanced to SCOTT AND THE TWO INDIANS. 1812.] MADISON S ADMINISTRATION. 377 enter, and, on beholding the terrific tableau, cried out, * The guard ! and at the same instant seized the tallest chieftain by the arm, and presented a cocked pistol to his head. The next moment the blade of Scott quivered over the head of the other savage, to protect his deliverer. In a few seconds the guard entered with leveled bayonets, and the two chieftains were secured. One of them was the son of Brandt, of Revolutionary notoriety." General Van Rensselaer now resigning, General Smyth was placed in charge. He issued some grandiloquent proclamations, made several fruitless attempts to get into Canada, was mobbed by the militia, and posted as a coward ; he fought a duel with one of his generals, and finally resigned. General Dearborn determined to redeem the reputation of the army, and, November 2oth, made a foray into Canada which turned out the most disgraceful of all. The troops fired into each other, and ran away leaving their dead on the field ; the generals never appeared when wanted ; then, after these exhausting labors, the army of the North went into winter quarters. The gloomy look of affairs was, however, brightened by the successes of our gallant little navy. On the I3th of August, the Essex, a thirty-two gun ship, commanded by Captain David Porter, met the British sloop-of-war Alert. After a brief engage ment of eight minutes, the latter struck her colors. Three days after the surrender of Detroit, the Constitution, a forty-four gun ship, in command of Captain Isaac Hull, a nephew of General Hull, engaged the Guerriere, a thirty-eight gun ship, under Captain Dacres. The English vessel finally surrendered, but was so badly injured that she was set on fire and abandoned. The charm of British invincibility on the sea was now broken. The dismay in England was only paralleled by the joy in Amer ica. It had been currently predicted in Great Britain that before the war had lasted six months, British sloops would lie along American frigates with impunity. That idea was no longer broached. The Constitution, or " Old Ironsides," as she was affectionately called by the seamen, was in active service during the entire war. Cooper says that in two years and nine months she was in three actions, was twice critically chased, and that she captured five vessels-of-war, two of which were frigates, and a third was frigate- built. In all her service, as well before Tripoli as in this war, her good fortune was remarkable. She was never dismasted, never 378 AMERICAN NATIONALITY ASSURED. [1812. OLD IRONSIDES. got ashore, and scarcely ever suffered any of the usual accidents of the sea. Though so often in battle, no very serious slaughter took place on board her. One of her commanders was wounded, and four of her lieutenants were killed, two on her own decks, and two on the ene my s ; but, on the whole, her entire career, was that of what is called in the navy a " lucky ship." Her good fortune may perhaps be explained by the simple fact that she was always well commanded ; more over, in her last two cruises, she probably possessed as fine a crew as ever manned a frigate. They were principally New England men, and it was said of them, that they were almost qualified to fight the ship without her officers. October I3th, Captain Jacob Jones, commanding the Amer ican schooner Wasp, fell in with the Frolic, convoying a squadron of British merchantmen. A severe engagement ensued. When the Americans boarded the enemy, they found the decks covered with the dead and wounded, while every man who was able had gone below, except an old seaman at the wheel. Not twenty per sons remained unhurt. Lieutenant Biddle of the Wasp hauled down the Frolic s colors. A few hours after, however, the Poic- tiers, a British seventy-four gun ship, appeared and seized both the Wasp and her prize. Twelve days later, Captain Decatur, in the frigate United States, of forty-four guns, added to his laurels the capture of the Macedonian, carrying forty-nine guns. Another exploit of " Old Ironsides " closed the year. There being more officers than vessels, Captain Hull, in order to afford others an opportunity to share in the glory, magnanimously gave up the command of the Constitution to Commodore Bainbridge. Toward the close of December, off the coast of Brazil, he fell in with the British frigate Java, of thirty-eight guns. During the action of three hours, the superior gunnery of the Americans told fearfully. The Java, one of the best vessels in the British service, 1813.] MADISON S ADMINISTRATION. 379 was reduced to a complete wreck ; not a spar was left standing ; one hundred and twenty -four of her crew were killed or wounded, among them her commander. When surrendered, the vessel was too shattered to be taken to port. The Constitution was slightly injured, and only thirty -four of her crew were killed or wounded. Besides these exploits of war vessels, privateersmen, fitted out under letters of marque, had done great damage to British com merce, having captured, during the first seven months of the war, three hundred merchantmen and three thousand prisoners. CAPTURE OF THE FROLIC. Military operations on land during 1813 were scarcely less disastrous than they were the preceding year. Three armies were raised as before : that of the Centre, under General Dear born, on the Niagara River ; that of the North, under General Hampton, along Lake Champlain ; and that of the West, under General Harrison. All three were ultimately to invade Canada. Proctor was the British general, and Tecumseh had command of the Indian allies. On the 25th of April, an expedition against York (now To ronto) sailed from Sackett s Harbor. A landing was effected after a brisk skirmish, and the town gallantly assaulted. General 380 AMERICAN NATIONALITY ASSURED. [1813. Dearborn, being ill, had given the command to General Zebulon M. Pike, a brave and spirited young officer. After the cannon ading of the enemy had been silenced, he was sitting upon a stump, expecting every moment to see a white flag displayed, when there was a sudden tremor of the ground, followed by a tremendous explosion. The enemy had blown up their powder magazine and fled. Forty of the English and one hundred Amer icans were killed. General Pike was mortally wounded, but lived long enough to hear the victorious shouts of his men and to have the flag of the enemy placed under his dying head. Sackett s Harbor having been left in a defenceless situation, Sir George Prevost, Governor of Canada, led an expedition against it May 28th. General Jacob Brown, in command at the SACKETT S HARBOR IN 1814. Harbor, although he had but a day s notice, collected the militia, and was ready to give the assailants a warm reception. His artillery comprised only a thirty-two-pounder, called the " Old Sow." His troops were raw, and at first retreated, but he rallied them in person, and finally drove the English back to their boats. General Dearborn having resigned during the summer, General James Wilkinson succeeded to the command of the army of the Centre. It was planned that the army of the North, under Hamp ton, should advance from Plattsburg and join him in making an attack on Montreal. Wilkinson with his men descended the St. Lawrence in a flotilla, and repulsed the enemy at Chrysler s Field, November nth; but Hampton would not move his forces, and so the badly-managed expedition failed. Fort George, which was taken by Dearborn soon after the capture of York, was now evacu- 1813.] MADISON S ADMINISTRATION. 381 ated, but not until Newark was laid in ashes. The British after ward retaliated by burning Buffalo, Black Rock, and Lewiston. General Harrison, with the army of the West, was encamped at Franklinton, Ohio, a detachment under General Winchester being stationed at Fort Defiance, on the Maumee. Early in January, the latter went to the defence of the people of Frenchtown, on the river Raisin. He defeated the enemy, but was soon attacked by a body of fifteen hundred British and Indians under Proctor. During the battle, the Indians, in order to get the reward offered by the British commander, scalped the wounded and the dead alike. Winchester, being captured, agreed to the surrender of his men under the solemn promise that their lives and property should be safe. Proctor, however, immediately returned to Maiden with the British, leaving no guard over the American wounded. Thereupon the Indians, maddened by liquor and the desire of revenge, with faces painted black in token of their fiend ish purposes, rushed into the village, mercilessly tomahawked many, set fire to the houses where others lay, and carried the sur vivors to Detroit, where they were dragged through the streets and offered for sale at the doors of the inhabitants. Many of the women of that place gave for their ransom every article of value which they possessed. Among the prisoners was Captain Hart, a brother of Mrs. Henry Clay, who offered a friendly chief a hun dred dollars if he would conduct him in safety to Maiden. He was accordingly placed on a horse, but had just started when a Wyandot claimed him as his prisoner. A quarrel ensued, which was settled by killing the captain and dividing his money and clothes between them ! Many of the troops were Kentuckians, and the massacre aroused the feelings of their comrades and friends almost to frenzy. Their rallying cry henceforth, " Remember the River Raisin!" incited them to deeds of valor, and carried fear into the hearts and ranks of the enemy. General Harrison now erected Fort Meigs at the Maumee Rapids for the better protection of the northwest. Here he was besieged (May 1-5) by Proctor with a large force of regulars, and Indians under Tecumseh. Fortunately, General Clay, with twelve hundred Kentuckians, came to his rescue, and, after a severe con test, raised the siege. The Indians treated their prisoners with their usual brutality. One day while two of the savages were in the act of murdering a helpless captive, Tecumseh darted into the midst, dashed the Indians to the ground, and rescued the unfor- 382 AMERICAN NATIONALITY ASSURED. [1813. tunate man. He even dared to rebuke Proctor for his inhumanity, who replied that he could not restrain the Indians. " Go put on petticoats," answered the chief. " You are not fit to command men." Proctor, having returned to Maiden, made great preparations for a new invasion of Michigan. Harrison, apprised of his design, strengthened Fort Stephenson, at Lower Sandusky, for an attack. It was, however, only a stockade mounting a single six-pounder, with a small garrison under Major Croghan, a young man of but twenty-one. August ist, he was attacked by Proctor s troops, sustained by gunboats in the rear. The British commander de manded instant surrender at the peril of a massacre. Croghan replied that when the fort was taken a massacre would do no harm, as there would be no one to kill. Re pulsed in a desperate assault, Proc tor was forced to give up the siege. The exploits of our infant navy during this year added fresh lustre to that branch of the public service. On the 24th of February, Captain Lawrence, in command of the Hor net, fell in with the British brig Peacock, near the mouth of the Demerara River. Within fifteen minutes, the Peacock struck her colors. She was already sinking, and, ere her crew could be rescued, the sea yawned and she sank out of sight, carrying with her three American and nine British sailors, victors and vanquished, to a common grave. Cap tain Lawrence next took command of the Chesapeake, which on the ist of June was lying in the harbor of Boston. Cap tain Broke, of the flag-ship Shannon, challenged him to come out and fight. Lawrence chivalrously accepted, although his ship had just returned from an unsuccessful cruise, and was looked upon as an " unlucky " vessel ; while part of his crew was discharged, and the rest, being unpaid, was half mutinous. Lawrence was mortally wounded early in the conflict. When carried below, he uttered those memorable words that will never be heard without stirring the pulse, " Don t give up the ship." But it was ordered otherwise. The English were already leaping on CAPTAIN LAWRENCE. 1813.] MADISON S ADMINISTRATION. 383 the deck, and soon the cross of St. George was flying over the shattered prize. The Chesapeake was taken to Halifax. Law rence died en route, and was there buried by his generous foe with the honors of war. His remains were subsequently brought to New York and interred in Trinity church-yard, where a monu ment now stands to his memory. The schooner Adeline, commanded by Lieutenant Arthur Sinclair, off Lynn Haven Bay, sunk the British vessel Lottery early in the spring. In June, the United States brig Argus, under Captain Allen, having taken Mr. Crawford, our minister, to France, sailed on a cruise in British waters. She had captured twenty merchantmen when, on the I3th of August, she was over taken by the English brig Pelican, and in less than half an hour, her captain being mortally wounded and her first lieutenant dis abled, she was compelled to strike her colors. The next month, the British brig Boxer, off Portland, Maine, was captured by the American vessel Enterprise. Both captains being slain, they were taken ashore and buried with equal military honors. The cruise of Captain David Porter, in command of the Essex, was full of interest. He sailed from the Delaware on the 28th of October, 1812, and, having rounded Cape Horn, captured twelve ships and several hundred sailors, many of whom enlisted in his service. Several of the vessels he armed as tenders, forming a little fleet with which he protected our whaling interests in the Pacific. The Essex was finally attacked, however, on the 28th of March, 1814, against all the laws of nations, in the neutral har bor of Valparaiso, by a British frigate, the Phoebe, and the sloop- of-war Cherub. Being captured after one of the most desper ately-fought battles of the war, Porter wrote back to the Depart ment, " We are unfortunate, but not disgraced." In this cruise David Glascoe Farragut, though only twelve years of age, sailed as a midshipman. Captain Porter, in his re port of the first engagement, commended the " lad Farragut," and regretted that he was too young for promotion. The British were at this time masters of Lake Erie. To Oliver H. Perry, a young man of twenty-eight, was assigned the com mand of the American fleet on the lake. His ships were many of them yet to be built from trees still standing in the forest. By indomitable exertions, he got nine vessels carrying fifty-four guns ready for action. He had to wait some time even then for sailors enough to man his little fleet. In August, he was reinforced by AMERICAN NATIONALITY ASSURED. [1813. a company of marines from the Atlantic seaboard, many of them being sent to him overland in four-horse stage-coaches, via Albany and Buffalo. Perry now cruised about hoping to fall in with the British squadron under Barclay. On the loth of September, the English fleet, consisting of six vessels bearing sixty-three guns, hove in sight. Perry ran to the masthead of his vessel, itself named the Lawrence, a banner on which were inscribed the words of that lamented hero, "Dont give up the ship." Soon a bugle-note sounded from the Detroit, the British flag-ship, and the first gun was fired. The vessels ap proached closer to each other, and the action soon became general. The Lawrence seemed to be singled out to bear the brunt of the English guns, and it was not long before she was terribly shattered, and her men nearly all killed or wounded. Perry with his flag then sprang into a small boat, and standing erect, the target for a score of guns, was rowed to the Niagara. This gallant feat history, art, and song will never weary of celebrating. Taking command of that vessel, he dashed upon the British line, and broke it, pouring such a storm of shot right and left, that within eight minutes the Detroit struck her colors, followed by all her consorts but two, which were taken soon after. With a touch of pardonable pride Perry went back to the Lawrence, and on her battle-stained deck received the sur render. Here he wrote on the back of an old letter, resting it upon his navy cap, that memorable despatch to General Harrison: " We have met the enemy, and they are ours ; two ships, two brigs, one schooner, and one sloop. " Yours with great respect and esteem, "O. H. PERRY." The victory filled the Americans with joy, and the British with mortification. On both sides of the ocean it was made the subject of caricature at the expense of the British. It was the first time PERRY S HEADQUARTERS. 1813.] MADISON S ADMINISTRATION. 385 in the naval history of Great Britain that an entire squadron had surrendered. The memory of the event was kept fresh in the hearts of our countrymen for many years after by annual celebra tions. Even to this day, a song, rude in versification but stirring in verse, commencing, " The tenth of September Let us all remember, As long as the world on its axis goes round, Our tars and marines On Lake Erie were seen, To make the proud flag of Great Britain come down," if sung or repeated in the pres ence of any one living at that time, will revive the enthusiasm PERRY LEAVING THE LAWRENCE. that can never be forgotten. On Barclay s ship were found three Indians skulking below. It seems these sharpshooters had been placed in the round-tops to pick off the American officers. Be fore they had a chance to display their skill, however, cannon-balls came whistling through the rigging, and the would-be heroes of the rifles descended to the deck. As the vessels neared, this post 25 3 86 AMERICAN NATIONALITY ASSURED. [1813. also became too warm ; and leaving the American officers to take care of themselves, they went down into the hold and remained there until brought out by their captors. " A pet bear, more courageous than the savages, was found enjoying itself on deck, lapping up the blood of the fallen." -One c//saslerafter another J/iave - $hai/e n of half recovered oftheBlocdu-nose J get at > r&x the BoxinglTlatch! 3ueen Charlotte and Johnny ftullgot their dose of fferru, A CARICATURE OF THE TIME. After the battle, the Lawrence was towed over to Misery Bay, her birth-place, remaining there, a monument of the celebrated victory, until 1815, when she sunk at her anchors. After she had lain for about fifty years, an attempt was made to raise her, which failed; but in 1875, a company of gentlemen purchased the vessel, and, on the I4th of September of that year, succeeded in bringing the old ship to the surface, amidst the plaudits of the crowd who had repaired to the spot to greet the heroic craft which had once so nobly carried our flag. She was transported to Philadelphia, where she will be exhibited at the Exposition. This victory virtually put an end to the war. It led to the speedy destruction of the Indian Confederacy ; relieved the whole region of the most gloomy forebodings of evil ; enabled Harrison to repossess the lost territory ; wiped out the disgrace of Hull s misfortune, and led the way to the invasion of Canada. Washington Irving, in a sketch of Perry written soon after, said : " The last roar of cannon that died along the shores of Erie was the expiring note of British domination. Those vast internal 1813.] MADISON S ADMINISTRATION. 387 OLIVER HAZARD PERRY. seas will, perhaps, never again be the separating space between contending nations ; and this victory, which decided their fate, will stand unrivaled and alone, deriving lustre and perpetuity from its singleness. In fut ure times, when the shores of Erie shall hum with a busy population ; when towns and cities shall brighten where now extend the dark and tangled forests ; when ports shall spread their arms, and lofty barks shall ride where now the canoe is fastened to the stake ; when the present age shall have grown into venerable antiquity, and the mists of fable begin to gather round its history, then will the inhabitants look back to this battle we record, as one of the romantic achievements of the days of yore. It will stand first on the page of their local legends, and in the marvelous tales of the border." General Harrison did not long wait to gather up the fruits of the victory. Early in October, he started, with a large force of Kentuckians under Governor Shelby, in pursuit of Proctor, who was rapidly fleeing along Lake St. Clair, with the hope of joining the British on Burlington Heights, at the head of Lake Ontario. Tecumseh denounced the British commander as a " squaw " for thus running away, and threatened to desert him. Proctor at last took a stand in a strong position on the River Thames. Harrison, perceiving that he had weakened his line by extending it too far, ordered Colonel Johnson to break it by a charge of his cavalry. The Kentucky horsemen dashed forward, and in less than five minutes after the first shot was fired had routed the enemy. Proctor escaped in his carriage, and within twenty-four hours was sixty miles away. The Indians, hidden in a swamp, continued the struggle. Tecumseh long animated his warriors with his own desperate valor. At last, struck by a ball, he calmly stepped forward, and, sinking at the foot of an oak, died. His followers, appalled at their loss, fled in dismay. 388 AMERICAN NATIONALITY ASSURED. [1813-14. FT. STROTHER ^ _J S vr Molrile *X*-fi"2^ *\ t If we can believe a vulgar couplet, which is now and then at this date heard on the street or in the school-yard, running, " Rumpsey, Dumpsey, hickory Crumpsey, Colonel Johnson killed Tecumseh," the honor of his death belongs to that brave Kentuckian. During the summer of 1813, the Indians of Georgia and Ala bama, incited by the British and Spanish authorities, and also by Tecumseh s project of a great Indian Con federacy, took up arms. Troops under the command of Andrew Jackson were sent against them. On the 3Oth of August, the savages had surprised Fort Mimms, forty miles north of Mobile, and massacred nearly three hundred persons. Volunteers now flocked in from all the adjoining States to avenge this horrid deed. General Floyd, with the Georgia militia, defeated the Indians at Callabee and Autossee, the Creek metrop olis, where the very ground was sacred. General Coffee routed them at Tallushatchee, and Jack son, a few days after, at Talladega. Claiborne, with the Missis sippi troops, captured Eccanachaca, " Holy Ground," which they considered an impregnable stronghold. The next spring the Creeks made their last rally at " Tohopeka," or the " Horseshoe Bend," on the Tallapoosa River. Six hundred of the Indians were killed, and the remainder were glad to sue for peace. The speech of their chief prophet and warrior, Weatherford, on his surrender, deserves to be perpetuated with the utterances of other distinguished men of this unfortunate people. " I am," said he, " in your power. Do with me as you please. I am a soldier. I have done the white people all the harm I could. I have fought them, and fought them bravely. If I had an army, I would yet fight and contend to the last. But I have none. My people are all gone. I can now do no more than weep over the misfortunes of my nation. Once I could animate my warriors to, battle ; but I cannot animate the dead. My warriors can no longer hear my voice. Their bones are at Talladega, Tallus hatchee, and Tohopeka. I have not surrendered myself thought- SOUTHERN REGION OF THE WAR 1812-1814 1813J MADISON S ADMINISTRATION. 389 lessly. Whilst there were chances for success, I never left my post, nor supplicated peace. But my people are gone ; and 1 now ask it for my nation and for myself." Several incidents of this brief campaign strikingly illustrate Jackson s character. On the field at Talladega, he was touched by the cry of an Indian babe, whose mother had died in the battle. He tried to induce some mother among the prisoners to take care of it. " Its mother is dead," was the cold answer ; " let the child die too." The general, himself a childless man, then turned nurse. Some brown sugar formed a part of his private stores, and with this he caused the child to be fed. The in fant throve on this simple fare, and he finally took it home with him, and reared it up in his own family. During the win ter the troops un der his command suffered much from hunger. One day a starving sol dier asked the general for some thing to eat. " I will divide with you," was the reply, as he drew out of his pocket a handful of acorns. At last the soldiers could endure their privations no longer, and they mutinied. Jackson rode down the ranks. His left arm, shattered by a ball, was disabled, but in his right he held a musket. Sternly ordering the men back to their place, he declared he would shoot the first who advanced. No one stirred, and at last all returned to duty. Early in the spring, the British commenced devastating the southern coast. Admiral Cockburn, especially, disgraced the British navy by conduct worse than that of Cornwallis in the Revolution. Along the shores of Virginia and Carolina, he burned bridges, farm-houses, and villages ; robbed the inhabitants of their crops, stock, and slaves; plundered churches of their communion services, and murdered the sick in their beds. WEATHERFORD IN JACKSON S TENT. 390 AMERICAN NATIONALITY ASSURED. [1813. Neither age nor sex was spared by these pirates in British uni form. Frenchtown, Georgetown, Havre de Grace, and Freder- ickstown were wantonly destroyed. The New England coast, though closely blockaded, was spared any attack, from a general belief that it would yet return to its allegiance to Great Britain. The bitter opposition there felt to the war was signally exhibited, when the Hornet beat the Pea cock, in the following resolution, which was adopted by the Senate of Massachusetts, on the motion of Mr. Quincy, June 15, 1813 : "Resolved, as the sense of the Senate of Massachusetts, that, in a war like the present, waged without a justifiable cause, and THF, ATTACK ON osvvEGO. From an aid Print. prosecuted in a manner that indicates that conquest and ambition are its real motives, it is not becoming a moral and religious people to express any approbation of military or naval exploits which are not immediately connected with the defence of our sea- coast and soil." Another curious incident occurred in this con nection. Decatur lay, with three vessels, in the harbor of New London, anxious to escape through the blockading squadron. Whenever he made an attempt, however, no matter with how great secrecy, just at that time blue lights were sure to be seen burning on the bank of the River Thames. Decatur believed them to be warning signals to the enemy, and dared not put out to sea. The Federal party had to bear the odium of this traitor- 1814.] MADISON S ADMINISTRATION. 391 ous act, and for a quarter of a century afterward its members were stigmatized with the epithet of " Blue-Light Federalists." During the year 1814, the war was prosecuted with renewed vigor on both sides. The peace of Paris had released the British fleets and armies so long employed against Napoleon, and left the English at liberty to direct their entire strength against the United States. Fourteen thousand veterans who had fought under Wel lington were sent to Canada. The summer campaign opened with the capture by the British of the fort at Oswego, although it was stubbornly and bravely de fended by its commander, Colonel Mitchell. May 5th, the town was bombarded, and a fruitless attempt made to land. The next day the effort was renewed successfully. Mitchell thereupon abandoned the fort, which mounted only five guns, and after an noying the English as much as he could, he retreated to Oswego Falls. Having dismantled the works and burned the barracks, the enemy retired. July 3d, our army, under Generals Brown, Ripley, and Scott, crossed Niagara River, and captured Fort Erie, opposite Buffalo. Two days after, they defeated the British under General Riall at Chippewa, the English loss being nearly double the American. Just before the final charge, General Scott addressed his men as follows : " The enemy say that the Americans are good at a long shot, but can not stand the cold iron. I call upon you instantly to give the lie to the slander. Charge ! " On the 25th, another engagement took place near Lundy s Lane, a highway running from the Niagara River to the head of Lake Ontario, and opposite Niagara Falls. Our force was less than three thousand, while the British numbered nearly five thou sand. General Scott, being in the advance, began the attack about four o clock in the afternoon, and stubbornly held his ground till reinforcements arrived. Major Jessup turned the enemy s flank, and amid the gathering darkness picked up so many prisoners, among them General Riall, as to impede his progress. Brown, seeing that a battery stationed on the hill near by was the key to the British position, turned to Colonel James Miller and said, " Sir, can you take that battery ? " "I will try" he replied. " Close up, steady, men," was his only command to the gallant twenty-first, as it moved forward up the hill, and captured the guns, amid cheers that were heard above the roar of the mighty cataract. Night had already come, yet the British made three desperate 392 AMERICAN NATIONALITY ASSURED. [1814. assaults to recover the position. The men whom Wellington had so often led to victory were fairly driven back each time, and at last could not be rallied for another struggle. The Americans, however, gained no substantial benefits from this success. Scott and Brown being wounded, General Ripley retreated to Fort Erie. General Gaines now took command. He was assaulted by the British August i5th, Colonel Drummond leading the at- COLONEL MILLEK AT LUNDY S LANE. tacking corps with the cry " Give the Yankees no quarter ! " The colonel was shot, and his men fled. A fierce sortie by the garrison, September i/th, finally broke up the siege, and the British retired behind their entrenchments at Chippewa. The American army, having destroyed Fort Erie, went into winter-quarters at Buffalo, thus closing this brilliant campaign. We turn now to the army of the East. The British had here attempted to revive the plan of Burgoyne s famous cam paign. The army of invasion consisted of fourteen thousand men under Sir George Prevost and a fleet of four armed vessels and thirteen gunboats under Commodore Downie. General Macomb and Commodore McDonough were in command of our land and naval forces at Plattsburg. The Americans retired across the Saranac on the approach of the enemy. On Sunday morning, September nth, they were attacked by land and water. 1814.] MADISON S ADMINISTRATION. 393 -! r-L i " In the solemn hush before the battle, McDonough piped hands on deck and read to them the Episcopal service. The im- pressiveness of the occasion added a strength and beauty to the noble liturgy. A man who dared, in the navy of that day, to perform such an act, was surely worthy to lead. The struggle raged for two hours, when McDonough adopted the difficult expedient of wearing his vessel around, so as to present a fresh broadside to the enemy. The English tried the same manoeuvre, but failed. The battle was then soon decided. The British com modore was killed, his guns were silenced, and his larger vessels cap tured. Scarce a spar was standing in either fleet, and the ships were ready to sink. Meanwhile the English land forces had suffered defeat, and about dark they re treated. Thus ended the invasion, not less successfully for us, but less disastrously for the English than did its Revolutionary compeer. The operations of Admiral Cockburn, with his worthy asso ciate, General Ross, were con tinued this year along the coast. In August, General Ross ascended the Potomac to Washington. An attempt was made to stop him at Bladensburg, but our troops, under General Winder, fled disgracefully. The day was hot, and the British were in no condition to pursue. The Americans lost during the re treat only one man an officer who, it is said, ran till he died. all 394 AMERICAN NATIONALITY ASSURED. [1814, The " Bladensburg Races " as the battle was satirically styled, left the way open to the capital. The President was on the field, and sent his servant to warn Mrs. Madison of her danger. She resolved to save the full-length portrait of Washington which now adorns the blue-room of the White House. It was cut out of its frame and borne away by the gentlemen. So precipitate was her flight, that a dinner-table was left spread for forty guests. Unexpected ones occupied it. They were hungry Britons. The principal British officers entered the House of Repre sentatives, and Cockburn took the chair. " Gentlemen," he cried, BRITISH SOLDIERS BURNING BOOKS IN THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. " the question is, Shall this harbor of Yankee democracy be burned? All in favor of burning it will say, Aye!" The re sponse was in the affirmative, and there was no negative. " Light up," said he, and the work of destruction was commenced. In the course of a few hours, nothing remained of the splendid Cap itol and the presidential mansion but their smoke-blackened walls. Two million dollars worth of property is said to have been de stroyed during this incursion, disgraceful alike to America and England. The British now sailed around by sea to attack Baltimore. The fleet bombarded Fort McHenry, while the land forces were to move upon the city. In both of these attempts the enemy was unsuccessful. During the bombardment, Francis S. Key, who 1814.] MADISON S ADMINISTRATION. 395 had gone to the British fleet with a flag of truce to procure the release of a friend, and who was not permitted to return lest he might carry back valuable information, watched the flag of his country waving above Fort McHenry. The British commander had boasted to Key that the place could hold out only a few hours, and then Baltimore must inevitably fall into his hands. The next morning the flag was still waving defiantly and triumphantly in the face of the foe. The incident inspired Key to write the words of a song which will be sung as long as the flag is known : " Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn s early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight s last gleaming, Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight, O er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket s red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there ; Oh, say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave O er the land of the free and the home of the brave?" The harbor of Stonington, Conn., was in like manner bom barded by the enemy, but, the militia assembling, no landing was effected by the British troops. During nearly the whole of the year, also, that part of Maine which lies east of the Penobscot River was occupied by the English. The United States frigate Adams, and many merchant vessels lying in the Penobscot were destroyed or fell into their hands. A convention held at Hartford, December i5th, excited great attention. It was composed of delegates from the New England States. Its deliberations were secret, and were supposed to be disloyal, so that nearly every member was henceforth excluded from all political position in the nation. Indeed, it became one of the chief causes of the ruin of the Federal party. A report was current at the time that there would be an attempt to take New England out of the Union and establish a kingdom. It is now known, however, that the convention only considered cer tain alleged usurpations by the general government, several amendments to the Constitution, and the defence of the eastern coast against the attacks of the British navy, then becoming so threatening. The convention adjourned, having recommended the call of a second the ensuing year. What would have been the result of these deliberations cannot be known, as peace put a practical stop to all anti-war measures and removed their worst grievances. 396 AMERICAN NATIONALITY ASSURED. [1814. November I3th, Elbridge Gerry, the Vice-President, expired suddenly in his carriage while proceeding to the Capitol. He died honorably poor and was universally mourned. John Gail- lard of South Carolina was appointed President of the Senate. The treaty of peace was signed by the commissioners at Ghent on the 24th of December, 1814. It did not settle the great ques tion of the war, viz., the impressing of seamen, but there was a tacit understanding, and it was never revived. The news did not reach this country until the following February. Meanwhile had occurred one of the most brilliant victories ever achieved by the American arms. During the year 1814, General Andrew Jackson, after subdu ing the Creek Indians, was engaged in Florida settling affairs with the Spanish authorities, who had been suspected of co operating with the British in urging the Indians to war and furnishing them with arms and ammunition. He captured Pensa- cola and drove from its harbor a British fleet. Learning that the English would next attack New Orleans, he proceeded to that city and made the most vigorous preparations for its defence. December I4th, the expected British fleet entered Lake Borgne and captured the American gun-boats stationed at that point. Thence, passing through an unfrequented bayou nearly to the Mississippi, the advance reached the river only nine miles from the city. That night Jackson bravely attacked the enemy in their camp, but was repulsed. The next day he fell back behind his entrenchments, which extended from the river to an impassable swamp. An assault on the 28th having failed, the British brought up cannon and planted several batteries. Their fire, however, produced little effect. In throwing up their works, the British had used hogsheads of sugar instead of sand-bags, but the American balls quickly broke them in pieces. On the other hand, Jackson at first made his entrenchments partly of cotton bales, but a red-hot cannon-ball having fired the cotton and scat tered the burning fragments among the barrels of gunpowder, it was found necessary to remove the cotton entirely. The only defence of the Americans in the ensuing battle was a bank of earth five feet high, and a ditch filled with water. January 8th, General Pakenham, the commander-in-chief of the British, advanced with his whole force, twelve thousand strong. Behind their breastworks, three thousand Tennessee and Ken tucky riflemen, the finest marksmen in the world, were awaiting 1815.] MADISON S ADMINISTRATION. 397 his coming. When within range, a vivid stream of fire flashed from the whole American line. Every shot told. The enemy was thrown into confusion, and the plain was strewn with the dead and dying. In the vain attempt to rally his troops, General Pakenham was killed, General Gibbs, the second in command, was mortally and General Keene severely wounded. General Lambert, on whom the command devolved, being unable to check the flight of his troops, retired to his encampment, and ten days THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS. afterward the whole army hastily withdrew to their ships. The British had lost over two thousand men, and the Americans but thirteen. During the attack on Jackson s lines, the British had carried an American battery on the right bank of the river, which com manded the American position and gave them virtual control of New Orleans ; but the defeat of the main body had been so signal that they made no effort to pursue their success. A cable despatch would have saved this fearful bloodshed. " O tardy science ! " exclaims Parton, in his Life of Jackson ; " O Morse, O Cyrus Field, why were you not ready with your oceanic telegraph then, to tell those men of both armies that they 398 AMERICAN NATIONALITY ASSURED. [1815, were not enemies, but friends and brothers, and send them joyful into each other s arms, not in madness against each other s arms ? The ship that bore this blessed news was still in mid-ocean, con tending with its wintry winds and waves. How much would have gone differently in our history if those tidings had arrived a few weeks sooner ! " An incident showing the stern justice and the rugged charac ter of General Jackson occurred soon after. A member of the legislature, on the loth of February, caused it to be stated in the Louisiana Gazette that peace had been declared. Jackson arrested him, charging that this statement excited mutiny among the sol diers. A writ of habeas corpus having been granted the prisoner by Judge Hall, Jackson, instead of obeying the writ, arrested the judge and sent him out of the city. On being restored to his office, the judge ordered Jackson to appear and show cause why he should not be committed for contempt in disregarding the writ. General Jackson came in citizen s garb before the court, and being fined one thousand dollars, paid it. It was, however, subsequently refunded to him by the government, with interest. The last two naval actions of the war were in our favor. These were the capture in February, 1815, by the frigate Consti tution, of two British sloops-of-war, the Cyane and Levant, off the island of Madeira, and in March, by the Hornet, of the brig Penguin off the coast of Brazil. " Thus terminated at sea," says Alison, the British historian, " this memorable contest, in which the English, for the first time for a century and a half, met with equal antagonists on their own element ; and in recounting which the British historian, at a loss whether to admire most the devoted heroism of his own countrymen or the gallant bearing of their antagonists, feels almost equally warmed in narrating either side of the strife." The Americans who were captured during the war, and impressed seamen who refused to serve in the British navy, had been kept at Dartmoor, a prison situated on a lonesome moor not far from Portsmouth, England. They were treated with great rigor. Their sufferings, especially during the severe winter of 1813-14, were bitter. Headley says that the stream running through the prison-yard and the buckets of water in the rooms, were frozen solid. Most of the prisoners, being protected only by rags and destitute of shoes, could not go out into the yard at all, as it was covered with snow several feet deep, but lay 1815-16.] MADISON S ADMINISTRATION. 399 crouched in their hammocks day and night. The strong were bowed in gloom and despair, and the weak perished in protracted agonies. To fill the measure of their sufferings, the commanding officer issued an order compelling them to turn out at nine o clock in the morning and remain in the open air till the guard counted them. This took nearly an hour, during which time the poor fellows stood barefoot in the snow, benumbed by the cold, and pierced by the bleak wind. Unable to bear this dreadful exposure, the prisoners cut up their bedding, to make garments and socks for themselves, and slept on the cold floor. Morning after morning, hardy men, benumbed by the cold, fell lifeless in the presence of their keepers. Peace came, but these suffering men were not released. Restless and uneasy, collisions began to occur with their brutal keepers. April 4, 1815, they received no bread. The next day they broke into the depot of supplies. On the 6th, the guard fired upon them repeated volleys, killing seven and wounding sixty of these unarmed men. This " Dartmoor mas sacre " for a time threatened to renew hostilities between the two countries, but the matter was finally amicably settled. The Barbary States had taken advantage of the war to renew their piratical depredations. Decatur, being sent thither with a squadron, captured the largest vessel in the Algerine navy, vis ited Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli in succession, and compelled the release of our prisoners ; exacted payment for the losses we had already sustained, and the relinquishment of all demands for trib ute in future. Since then we have had no trouble with the Bar bary pirates. Peace found the country in a deplorable condition trade ruined, commerce gone, no specie, banks without credit, and a general depression. Yet, such were the resources of the country, that it almost immediately entered on a career of unexampled prosperity. Cotton rose from ten to over twenty cents per pound. Soon the ocean was whitened with the sails of our ships. Land rapidly increased in value. Explorations, especially con nected with the fur trade, were pushed at the northwest. Emi gration multiplied. In 1816, the United States Bank was rechartered to continue for twenty years, and an act was passed providing for paying the national debt, over one hundred and twenty million dollars, by annual instalments of ten million dollars. The Federal party was now almost entirely broken up by its 4OO AMERICAN NATIONALITY ASSURED. [1816-17. opposition to the war. Rufus King, its candidate for the Presi dency, received only thirty-four votes. The Republicans nomi nated James Monroe, with Daniel D. Tompkins as Vice-President. They were elected by one hundred and eighty-three votes. December n, 1816, Indiana was admitted to the Union, form ing the nineteenth State. It well merits the name given it, as within its borders were fought many of the most desperate and decisive Indian battles. As early as 1702, some French Cana dians descended the Wabash River, establishing several posts, Vincennes being among them. Little is known, however, of the. early history of the country until 1763, when it was ceded to the English. It formed a part of the great Northwest Territory. When Ohio was set off in 1800, the remainder was called Indiana. In 1805, Michigan was carved from it ; and in 1809, Illinois. President Monroe was inaugurated March 4, 1817. He was born in Westmoreland county, Va., April 28, 1758. From early manhood he had mingled in the public affairs of the country, his life being a portion of its history from the commencement of the War of the Revolution. He had been the friend and adviser of Jefferson and Madison, and possessed the entire confi dence of the people. He was tall and well-formed, with light complexion and blue eyes. He was laborious and industrious in his habits, though by no means brilliant. In the selection of his Cabinet, Monroe showed excellent judgment, taking for his advisers men of commanding ability and the widest influence. They aided largely in giving to his admin istration a character which rendered it " the golden age " of our political history. The Secretary of State was John Quincy Adams, a master of diplomacy, who had grown up in this field,, having been representative at the Hague when so young that he was called " General Washington s Boy Minister." The Secre tary of the Treasury was William H. Crawford of Georgia, a man of commanding appearance, brilliant talents, and sterling patriot ism. The Secretary of War was John C. Calhoun, one of Amer ica s greatest statesmen. The Secretary of the Navy was Ben jamin W. Crowinshield of Massachusetts who was succeeded by Samuel L. Southard of New Jersey, the youngest man ever ap pointed to a place in the Cabinet, being only twenty-nine years of age, but full of promise, thoroughly accomplished, and the pride of his native State. For his legal adviser, the President had the distinguished Wil- 1817-20.] MONROE S ADMINISTRATION. 4<DI liam Wirt, who was as clear-minded and sound-hearted in council as he was brilliant in the forum. Outside the cabinet, the admin istration possessed such supporters as Daniel D. Tompkins, Vice- President ; John Marshall, Chief-Justice ; and Henry Clay, Speaker of the House. Soon after his inauguration, Monroe, imitating the example of Washington, made his memorable journey through the Northern States to examine the military posts, and acquire a thorough ac quaintance with the capabilities of the country in case of future hostilities. He wore the uniform of a colonel of the Revolution ary army three-cornered hat, scarlet-bordered blue coat, and buff breeches. He was everywhere received with consideration and cordiality, and in many places with enthusiasm and great civic and military displays. His simple dignity of manner, and his evident sincerity of purpose, rendered him popular with all. " Embittered and hot-tempered leaders of parties, who for the last seven years had hardly deigned to speak to each other, or even to walk on the same side of the street, met now with smiling faces, vying in extravagance of republican loyalty. The era of good feeling having thus begun, the way was rapidly paved for that complete amalgamation of parties which took place a few years after." During the first twenty years of the present century, there was hardly a branch of industry or a valuable interest that did not receive an impulse. The war had led to the establishment of extensive manufactories to supply the place of the English goods cut off by the blockade. These continued to thrive after peace was declared, though trade was for a time depressed by the quan tity of foreign goods thrown on the market. The feeling of the people was well expressed by Henry Clay on the Senate floor, in his memorable speech, April 6, 1810, where he first took ground in favor of protecting the interests of American manufactures : " There is a pleasure, a pride," said he, " (if I may be allowed the expression, and I pity those who cannot feel the sentiment), in being clad in the productions of our own family. Others may prefer the cloths of Leeds or London, but give me those of Hum- phreysville." While speaking, he was clothed in the product of an American loom. Almost every. State saw the institution of colleges and univer sities. Among these were the University of Georgia, established in 1801 ; Washington College, Pennsylvania, 1802 ; Ohio Univer- 26 4O2 AMERICAN NATIONALITY ASSURED. [1800-1820. sity, 1804; University of South Carolina, 1806; Hamilton College, New York, 1812; University of Virginia, of which Jefferson was proud to be called the father, 1819; and Madison University, New York, and Colby University, Maine, 1820. In 1821, a school for the education of women was established in Troy, N.Y.,byMrs.EmmaWil- lard. It was a pioneer institution, and its re markable success placed its founder foremost among the teachers of the country and the benefac tors of her sex. In the year 1806, five students at Williams Col lege (Samuel J. Mills, Jas. Richards, Francis L. Robbins, Harvey Loomis, and Bryan Greene), being in a grove, where they had met for meditation and prayer, were driven by a sudden storm to the friendly shelter of a hay stack. Here, in their con versation, came up the subject of the moral condition of Asia, in which country they were interested from being engaged in the study of its geography. Mills suggested the idea of carrying the Gospel to the people of that vast region. His companions favoring the notion, they joined in prayer and sung a hymn. Soon after, they formed in the col lege the first Foreign Missionary Society ever organized in America. Delegates were sent to other colleges to kindle the same spirit, and in four years after that " Haystack prayer-meet ing," the American Board of Foreign Missions was established. The American Bible Society had its origin in 1816. On the Sih of May, sixty gentlemen met in the Consistory Room of the Reformed Dutch Church in Garden Street, New York, and re solved that "it is expedient, Avithout delay, to establish a general Bible Institution for the circulation of the Holy Scriptures with- 1800-1820.] MONROE S ADMINISTRATION. 403 out note or comment." Many of the most distinguished clergy men of the day were present at the birth of the society, and lived to see it fulfil its important work. Benjamin Lundy, in 1815, founded an anti-slavery association, called the " Union Humane Society," and afterward started a newspaper, " The Genius of Universal Emancipation." He was the originator of anti-slavery periodicals and lectures. The first savings bank was established in Philadelphia, No vember 1816. Others were soon put in operation in every city of the Union. Besides the accumulation of savings, they taught the people thrift and economy, and so have been of great service. In 1819, the Savannah, a steamer of three hundred and fifty tons burden, crossed the Atlantic, making the passage in thirty-one days. She was heavily sparred, and depended largely upon her sails, yet the voyage marked the commencement of a new era in navigation. In 1795, after the admission of Vermont and Kentucky, the number of stripes in the American flag had been increased to fifteen. This was the form used during the War of 1812-14. April 4, 1818, a bill was approved reducing the stripes to thirteen, and making the number of stars equal to that of the States, a new one to be added for every new State, on the 4th of July succeed ing its admission. On the I3th of April the new flag was first hoisted over the Hall of Representatives in Washington. The Seminole Indians having committed many depredations, General Jackson was sent against them with a force of two thou sand five hundred men. He burned their villages, marched into Florida, then held by Spain, and took possession of Pensacola. Two traders, Arbuthnot, a Scotchman, and Ambrister, a British lieutenant of marines, were arrested for inciting the savages to hostility. They were tried by court-martial, and, being found guilty, the former was hanged and the latter was shot. Jackson also hanged two prominent Indian chiefs. The Spanish authori ties complained of his conduct, and it was made the subject of congressional inquiry, but his course was approved by large majorities in both Houses. The execution of these two British subjects produced intense excitement in England. There was great apprehension of a third war with the United States. Stocks fell. The Federal govern ment was bitterly denounced. Jackson was declared to be a " tyrant, ruffian, and murderer," and was thus placarded through 404 AMERICAN NATIONALITY ASSURED. [1817-19. the streets of London. The journals, without distinction of party, swelled the general chorus. But in the midst of this din of pas sion, the ministry, perceiving the justice of Jackson s course, stood firm. "At a later day of my mission/ remarked Rush, then our representative at the English court, " Lord Castlereagh said to me that a war might have been produced on this occasion, if the ministry had but held up a finger. On so slender a thread do public affairs sometimes hang ! " In February, 1819, a treaty was concluded with Spain, by which she ceded Florida to the United States on the payment of five million dollars. Four new States were received into the Union during Monroe s first term. Mississippi was admitted December 10, 1817. It is named from the Mississippi River, the " Great Father of Waters." The State was first settled by the French in 1716, but in 1763 was ceded to Great Britain, and became a part of Georgia. It was organized as a Territory in 1798. Illinois, the twenty-first State, was admitted December 3, 1818. Its name is derived from its principal river, signifying " River of men." After Ohio and Indiana and the Territory of Michigan had been taken from the Northwest Territory, the remainder was styled the Illinois Territory, and comprised the present States of Illinois, Wisconsin, and a part of Minnesota. Its first permanent settlement was made by the French at Kaskaskia in 1682. It came to the English from the French in 1763, and to the United States in 1787, with the rest of the Northwestern Territory. Previous to this there had been a fort on the present site of Chicago, as ap pears from a map published in Quebec, 1683. The fort was styled Checagou, an Indian name derived from Cheecaqua strong the title of a line of chiefs, and also of an onion which grows on the river banks. Fort Dearborn was built by the United States in 1804. Here occurred, during the war of 1812-14, the Indian mas sacre already mentioned. The fort was then burned, but was re built in 1816, and was garrisoned until the red men moved beyond the Mississippi. For years after the admission of the State, this great metropolis was only a trading-station surrounded by the wigwams of the savages. Alabama, the twenty-second State, was received December 14, 1819. Its name signifies " Here we rest." The early history of this region is interwoven with that of French discovery. The first settlement was made in 1702, when a party of Frenchmen, 1820.] MONROE S ADMINISTRATION. 405 under Bienville, built a fort on Mobile Bay. The pres ent site of Mobile was oc cupied in 1711, the place having been an Indian vil lage called Mavilla, and the scene of De Soto s most dis astrous defeat. Having been ceded to the United States, Alabama was first incorpo rated with Georgia, and afterward with the Missis sippi Territory. Maine was admitted March 15, 1820. The Eng lish under Cabot, in 1498, the French under Verrazani, in 1524, and the Spaniards under Gomez, in 1525, are known to have made cur sory visits to this region. In 1623, a permanent set tlement was made at the mouth of the Piscataqua by a colony under Sir Ferdi nand Gorges and Captain John Mason, which was fol lowed by others at Saco, Biddeford, Scarborough, Cape Elizabeth, and Port land. Massachusetts claimed this territory, and in 1677, to secure it, bought out the rights of the heirs of Gorges for six thousand two hun dred and fifty dollars. Nova Scotia formed a portion of the purchase, but this was relinquished, the remainder being held until separated in 1820. 406 AMERICAN NATIONALITY ASSURED. [1818-20. Party strife having lulled, the " era of good feeling " was sig nalized by the re-election of Monroe by the vote of every State in the Union. Daniel D. Tompkins was also again chosen Vice- President. With all this satisfactory condition of the present and brilliant promise for the future, that same year an apple of discord was cast into the politics of the country, the effect of which was felt for more than half a century. In March, 1818, a petition was presented to Congress from the Territory of Mis souri, asking authority to form a constitution for a State. It was not acted upon at that session, but in February, 1819, Mr. Tall- madge, a Republican of New York, moved an amendment prohib iting the further introduction of slavery into the new State. A fierce debate of three days followed. The spirit exhibited is well illustrated by the remarks of two members. Mr. Cobb of Georgia said : " A fire has been kindled which all the waters of the ocean cannot put out, and which only seas of blood can extinguish. " To which Mr. Tallmadge replied : " If civil war, which gentlemen so much threaten, must come, I can only say let it come ! . . . If blood is necessary to extinguish any fire which I have assisted to kindle, while I regret the necessity, I shall not hesitate to con tribute my own." The Senate struck out the amendment, and the measure was lost. The next year, a bill having been introduced for the admission of Maine, a clause was adroitly attached authorizing Missouri to form a constitution without restrictions. They were separated, and on the 3d of March following both passed. To the Missouri bill, however, had been attached a section prohibiting slavery in all territories of the United States north of latitude 36 30 . This clause, known in our history as the Missouri Compromise, was warmly advocated by Henry Clay. Often did he rise during those days of strife as a mediator between contending factions, " imploring, entreating, beseeching " for peace and brotherhood. At one time, it is said, he spoke four hours and a half, pouring forth a continued stream of impassioned eloquence. The situation of the country at the end of the first twenty years of the century was very flattering. Its population in round numbers was nine million six hundred thousand. Previous to the war, its submission to the wrongs and insults of France and Great Britain had excited throughout Europe a contempt for the Amer ican character. The general opinion was that the spirit of liberty and independence shown in the Revolution had been extinguished 1820.] MONROES ADMINISTRATION. 407 by a love of gain and commercial enterprise, and that there were not enough courage and resolution left to sustain the national rights and the national honor. But the war with England dissi pated this impression, and inspired profound respect for a nation that gave so many proofs of its ability to cope with the mistress of the seas on her favorite element. The unanimity of parties, the high character of our statesmen, and the rapid growth of the country all conspired to give the people confidence at home and to win deference abroad. The position of the United States among the peoples of the earth was now assured. THE OLD BLOCKHOUSE, CHICAGO. CHAPTER XI. (DISSENSIONS. 1820-40. HILE the fire of party feeling had apparently died out, through the removal of old sources of dis agreement, new issues were fast rising to kindle the embers to a more intense heat than ever. Slavery, State rights, and the tariff were already looming up along the political horizon with dire distinctness. Added to this, in spite of the rapid development of the country, its financial con dition was alarming. Benton s statement of the " gloom and agony " of these years gives a vivid picture of the situation. " No money, either gold or silver, no measure or standard of value left remaining. The local banks (all but those of New England), after a brief resumption of specie pay ments, again sunk into a state of suspension. The Bank of the United States, created as a remedy for all those evils, now at the head of the evil, prostrate and helpless, with no power left but that of suing its debtors, and selling their property, and purchasing for itself at its own nominal price. No price for property or pro duce. No sales but those of the sheriff and the marshal. No purchasers at execution sales but the creditor or some hoarder of money. No employment for industry. No demand for labor. No sale for the product of the farmer. No sound of the hammer but that of the auctioneer knocking down property. Stop laws, property laws, replevin laws, stay laws, loan-office laws, the inter vention of the legislator between the creditor and the debtor ; this was the business of legislation in three-fourths of the States of the 1823.] MONROE S ADMINISTRATION. 409 Union of all south and west of New England. No medium of exchange but depreciated paper; no change even but little bits of foul paper, marked so many cents, and signed by some trades man, barber, or innkeeper ; exchanges deranged to the extent of fifty or one hundred per cent. DISTRESS, the universal cry of the people ; RELIEF, the universal demand thundered at the doors of all legislatures, State and federal." On the occasion of the recognition of the independence of Mexico and five provinces in South America, which had thrown off the yoke of Spain, the President enunciated a principle since famous as the MONROE DOCTRINE. In a message to Congress in 1823 upon this subject, he says: " The American continents, by the free and independent position which they have assumed and maintained, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European power." Agitation had already commenced as to Monroe s successor in the presidential chair. There were no less than five prominent candidates, all from the ranks of the old Republican party John Quincy Adams, William H. Crawford, John C. Calhoun, Henry Clay, and Andrew Jackson. Adams had the support of New England ; Crawford and Calhoun divided that of the South, and Clay and Jackson that of the West. The nomination of Jackson by the legislature of Tennessee was at first a matter of jest and sport. It was soon found, how ever, that the hero of New Orleans was exceedingly popular with the masses. An incident which occurred at Washington was thought to have contributed to set the ball in motion. " A gen tleman," says Spencer, " who was connected with the family of General Washington, having purchased, at the sale of his furni ture, a pair of pistols which had been presented to the General by Lafayette, was disposed to give them to General Jackson, whose character he greatly admired ; but, unused to public speaking, he requested Colonel C. Fenton Mercer to act as his representative. This was accordingly done by a short speech in the presence of a number of persons, to which the general made a most grateful and felicitous reply ; all of which being published in a Washing ton paper, was soon diffused by the press to every corner of the Union, and it was afterward the boast of the actors in this little drama that they had mainly contributed to make Andrew Jack son President of the United States." Political circles were now convulsed by manceuvres and in- 410 INTERNAL DISSENSIONS. trig-ues. A nomination by congressional caucus being considered injurious to the prospects of certain aspirants, the system was, denounced. Crawford was the only one of the candidates thus endorsed, and this was considered by many as the cause of his defeat. The election resulted in ninety-nine votes for Jackson, eighty-four for Adams, forty-one for Crawford, and thirty-seven for Clay, thus referring the decision to the House of Representa tives. John C. Calhoun, receiving one hundred and eighty-two votes, was declared Vice-President. Though Jackson had a popu lar majority, yet when the choice came to be made in the House of Representatives, Adams was selected. It was charged that Clay threw his influence against Jackson, partly on account of a personal animosity, but largely because he had been promised by Adams, in the event of his election, the position of Secretary of State. This was, of course, denied by Clay and his friends ; but partisan speakers and papers rang the changes upon it for years. Pending the election, Lafayette, the " hero of two worlds," visited this country. He found the people for whom he had fought in his youth approaching the fiftieth year of their national life. From the moment of his arrival at New York, August, 1824, until September, 1825, when about to depart in the frigate Brandy- wine, named in his honor, his journey was one continued march of triumph and joy. The people feted and caressed him, while Congress voted him two hundred thousand dollars in money and a township of land. He visited the tomb of Washington ; and, on the fiftieth anniversary of the battle, laid the corner-stone of the Bunker Hill monument. Missouri, the twenty-fourth State, was admitted August 10, 1821. Its name is derived from that of its principal river, and means "muddy water." In 1755, St. Genevieve was founded by the French. Pierre Ligueste Laclede, having obtained from the governor of Louisiana the right to trade with the Indians on the Missouri, in 1764 established a post which he styled St. Louis, in honor of Louis XV. of France. On Laclede s death, Auguste Chou- teau became his successor. In 1780, St. Louis was a depot of a profitable fur trade, having a population of about eight hundred persons. French manners and customs prevailed. The houses, were generally built of logs, roughly hewn and set on end. In 1804, the stars and stripes were raised over the embryo city. It was not incorporated as a town until 1809. The first brick house was erected in 1813. 1825.] MONROE S ADMINISTRATION. 411 With the conclusion of Monroe s administration, the Repub lic, as if to mark the completion of half a century of its existence, passed from under the control of men who had been distinctly associated with the Revolution, into the hands of a new generation. There are some curious circumstances connected with the first five Presidents of the Republic. In the ages of John Adams, Jef- ^v-\_ "^ y^ ^5 LAFAYETTE AT THE TOMB OF WASHINGTON. ferson, Madison, and Monroe, there was a regular sequence, each being eight years older than his successor. Like Washington and John Quincy Adams, they were all inaugurated in their fifty- eighth year, and, with the exception of the latter named, closed their terms of office in their sixty-sixth year. Had John Quincy Adams been re-elected, his second term would also have expired at that age. One to whom we are indebted for this investigation, makes here the shrewd inquiry, " Did he mark the turning-point in our national career?" Of the first five Presidents, the only one who had a son, lived to see him elected to the same high office, an event which has not occurred since, and does not seem 412 INTERNAL DISSENSIONS. [1825. likely ever again to happen. Virginia, the " Mother of Presidents," furnished four of the first five, and, singularly enough, all Wash ington, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe were born within a few miles of one another. John Quincy Adams was inaugurated sixth President of the United States, March 4, 1825. He was dressed, it was noted, in a plain black suit of American cloth. Adams was born at Braintree, Massachusetts, July 11, 1767. He gives the following account of the origin of his name : " My great-grandfather, John Quincy, was dying when I was baptized, and his daughter, my grandmother, requested I might receive his name. This fact has connected with my name a charm of mingled sensibility and devotion. It was filial tenderness that gave the name. It was that of one passing from earth to immortality. These have been through life perpetual admonitions to do nothing unworthy of it." He had a splendid education, not only such as is drawn from books and schools, but from the companionship of wise and distinguished men. He early entered upon a political career, and held in succession nearly every prominent office in the gift of his fellow-citizens. In personal appearance, he was of mid dle stature and full form ; his eyes were dark and piercing ; his countenance was pleasing and beamed with intelligence. The new cabinet consisted of Henry Clay, Secretary of State ; Richard Rush of Pennsylvania, Secretary of the Treasury ; James Barbour of Virginia, Secretary of War; William Wirt, Attorney- General ; and Samuel L. Southard of New Jersey, Secretary of the Navy. From first to last, the administration of Adams met with de termined and bitter opposition. Scarcely a suggestion made by the President was adopted. The friends of General Jackson were largely in the majority in both Houses, and believing that Adams had succeeded by means of a bargain, and being also determined to prevent his re-election and secure the triumph of Jackson, they threw discredit upon all his measures. During this year, troubles sprang up in Georgia among the Creek Indians, with whom a treaty had been made, extinguishing their title to lands in that State, and giving them large tracts west of the Mississippi. It was claimed that the chiefs who signed the agreement were not properly authorized. An appeal was made to Washington, and the President sent General Gaines to prevent an outbreak. Meanwhile the governor of Georgia, having begun a 1825.] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS S ADMINISTRATION. 413 survey of the land, used high language toward the administration. The matter was finally allowed to rest till the meeting of Con gress, when a new treaty was negotiated. The United States having been invited to send commissioners to a congress, at Panama, of the South American provinces which had thrown off the Spanish yoke, the President accepted. During the debate upon the question in Congress, the administration was bitterly denounced. John Randolph declared, " I am defeated, horse, foot, and dragoons cut up and clean broke down, by the coalition of Blifil and Black George by the combination, unheard of till now, of the Puritan and the black-leg." This bit ter diatribe led to a duel between Randolph and Clay, in which neither was injured, but in which their " honor was satisfied." The question of internal improvements was vigorously agi tated at this time. Large appropriations were made for a canal route across Florida ; for sundry post-roads ; for repairing the national road between Cumberland, Maryland, and Ohio; for improving the navigation of the Ohio River ; and to the asylum for the deaf and dumb in Kentucky. The government took one hundred and fifty thousand dollars of stock in the Dismal Swamp Company ; surveyed harbors on the seacoast, and deepened channels ; reserved lands for seminaries of learning in Louisiana, in Florida, and in Arkansas; and granted tracts in Illinois and Indiana to aid in building canals. The constitutionality of such appropriations, then as now, was earnestly discussed, and the opposition was vigilant and belliger ent. A funny story is told in this connection. There was a bill before the Pennsylvania Legislature in regard to some public improvements, which was strenuously opposed by the member from Berks county, and with so much zeal that its passage was endangered. Nicholas Biddle, afterward President of the United States Bank, moved an amendment, appropriating ten thousand dollars for the improvement of the Alimentary Canal. The mem ber from Berks rose instantly, and, notwithstanding the titters that grew audible over the House, declared his purpose to oppose any appropriation for the Alimentary Canal or any other canal, as it was unjust, oppressive, and unconstitutional. The amendment was immediately withdrawn and the bill passed. The most magnificent enterprise that marked this period was the Erie Canal, to complete which took eight years of time and ten million dollars of money. An Irishman named Christopher 4H INTERNAL DISSENSIONS. [1825. Colles is entitled to the credit of having made the first suggestion of this great undertaking. He came to New York before the Revolution, and in 1785 issued a pamphlet called Proposals for the Speedy Settlement of the Western Frontier of New York." It contained a plan for the canal, but it was considered utterly impracticable. In 1810, De Witt Clinton advocated the measure in the senate of New York, and it afterward found strong sup porters in General Schuyler, Gouverneur Morris, Martin Van Buren, and others. It still met, however, with opposition and ridicule. An epigram of the period, alluding to Clinton, shows something of the spirit existing : " Oh, a ditch lie would dig, from the lakes to the sea, The eighth of the world s matchless wonders to be. Good land ! how absurd ! But why should you grin ? It will do to bury its mad author in." Work was not commenced upon it until the 4th of July, 1817, when Governor Clinton, in the presence of many thousands of citizens and amid great demonstrations of joy, threw the first spadeful of earth. Even then the people were incredulous. It was a common remark, " If I can live until Clinton s ditch is done, I shall be content." The first portion navigated by boats was the line of one hundred and seventy-four miles between Rochester- ville now Rochester, then a hamlet of less than three thousand inhabitants and Little Falls ; the first boat passing east on the 29th of October, 1822. On the 26th of October, 1825, the whole canal was formally opened by a magnificent celebration. The governor, State officers, and invited guests took passage from Buffalo for New York in a gorgeously-decorated boat, accompanied by a numerous fleet. As they started, the news was telegraphed in advance, by means of about fifty cannon placed ten or a dozen miles apart. An hour and thirty minutes from the firing of the first gun, the report reached New York. Along the entire route, day and night, the people were assembled to greet the excursionists. They arrived at Albany on the 2d of November, and thence all the steamboats on the Hudson River escorted them to the metropolis. One of the ceremonies near Sandy Hook was the emptying of a keg of Lake Erie water into the Atlantic, thus typi fying the union of the waters of the lake with those of the ocean. In the year 1825, the Capitol at Washington was completed. 1825-6.] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS S ADMINISTRATION. 415 The outer walls had been uninjured by the fire of 1814, and an architect named Latrobe was appointed by Congress to superin tend its reconstruction. He remained in charge until 1817, when he was succeeded by Charles Bullfinch. The foundation of the central building was laid March 24, 1818, the entire edifice being finally finished according to the original plan. Congress in the meantime held its sessions, first in the building used by the Post- office Department ; afterward in a building on the east side of Capitol Park. The latter situation was thus occupied for fifteen years, and became known as the " Old Capitol." It acquired a not very pleasant reputation during the civil war as a govern ment prison. MONTICELLO, THE HOME OF JEFFERSON. In 1826, the Republic reached its semi-centennial, and the anniversary of its birthday was generally celebrated. But the occasion had other observances than the ringing of bells, the firing of cannon, or the shouts of a joyous people. On that day died the two patriots, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. A short time before, a gentleman called upon Adams and requested a toast for a banquet on the coming celebration. " I will give you, Independence forever," said the old man. " Will you not add something to it ? " asked the visitor. " Not a word," was the reply. The toast was presented at the dinner, and received with deafening cheers. Almost at the same moment, the soul of the statesman passed away. His last words were, " Thomas Jefferson still survives." 416 INTERNAL DISSENSIONS. [1827. It was not so ; from his beautiful home at Monticello, he had gone an hour or two before. As midnight of the 3d ap proached, his friends had stood, watch in hand, hoping for yet a few moments of life, so that his death might be hallowed by taking place on the 4th. Their pious wish was granted. He still lived as the slow hours wore on ; and it was not till past noon that he peacefully breathed his last. The year 1827 witnessed the building of the first railroad in the United States at Quincy, Massachusetts. It was operated by horse-power, and was three miles in length, from the granite quarries to the Neponset River. In the same year, another road, nine miles long, was laid out from the coal mines at Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, to the Lehigh River. The next year, the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company constructed a road from their coal mines to Honesdale, a locomotive being imported from England. It was the first steam-engine used in the United States. THE FIRST RAILROAD TRAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. It is still in good preservation, and will be exhibited at the Cen tennial Exposition. Other railroad enterprises rapidly followed ; notably those of the Baltimore and Ohio road, begun in 1828, and of the Albany and Schenectady, in 1830. The South Carolina road, from Charleston to Hamburg, a distance of one hundred and thirty-five miles, opened in 1833, was then the longest line in the world. The administration was in favor of what is known as the " American System," i. e., the protection of home manufactures by means of duties laid upon foreign goods. This was naturally acceptable to the East, largely devoted to manufacture; and ob noxious to the South, equally devoted to agricultural pursuits. During the year a tariff bill was passed which was so onerous that it was called in many quarters the " Bill of Abominations." We shall hear of it again in connection with the nullification acts of 1832. The political campaign of 1828 was animated and bitter in the extreme. Although the friends of Adams put forth every effort for his re-election, he refused, with commendable delicacy, to use 1828-9.] JOHN QUINCY ADAMS S ADMINISTRATION. 417 the patronage or influence of the Executive to further their ends or to ensure his own continuance in the presidential chair. Many of the office-holders under him were openly at work for Jack son, and appointments were made by the President of men who were avowed friends of his opponent. The term Federal now disappeared, the supporters of Jackson adopting the name of Democrat, and their opponents that of " National Republicans." The election resulted in the choice of Jackson for President and Calhoun for Vice-President, the for mer receiving one hundred and seventy-eight, and the latter one hundred and seventy-one, out of two hundred and sixty -one votes. It is a noticeable fact that in the last three administrations, the President had been the Secretary of State for the preceding one. Clay, at this time filling the office, was said to be in " the succes sion." The order was now broken. The administration of Adams had been a peaceful, and, in spite of the financial embarrassments of the country, a prosperous one. The public debt had been diminished over thirty million dollars, while there was a surplus of five million one hundred and twenty- five thousand six hundred and thirty-eight dollars in the treasury. Andrew Jackson, the seventh President of the Republic, took the oath of office March 4, 1829 ; for the first time in the history of this country, the out-going President absenting himself during the inauguration of his successor. Jackson was born of Scotch- Irish parents at Waxhaw Settlement, S. C., March 15, 1767. In his youth, he experienced the bitterness of poverty and the absence of parental care. Removing to Tennessee in 1788, he speedily acquired the respect of the hardy settlers of that region, and occupied several prominent offices. He gained his wide popu larity, however, as a soldier. It was on the field that he won the sobriquet by which he is best known, that of u Old Hickory." When the people thus bestow upon a citizen a homely title, by which he is almost as well known as by his own name, it is exceedingly significant both of his character and their confidence. There are many illustrations of this in our history, such as " Tip- pecanoe and Tyler too," in 1840; " Old Rough and Ready," in 1848 ; " Buck and Breck," in 1856 ; and " Uncle Abe," in 1860. The familiarity is not of that kind which breeds contempt, but is mag netic and excites enthusiasm. The popular voice seems thus to cry out, " He is one of us. We will support him." 27 418 INTERNAL DISSENSIONS. [1829. Jackson was rough, uneducated, and irascible. During the trial of Burr in Richmond, while he was haranguing a crowd, Winfield Scott, having inquired the name of the speaker, re ceived for a reply, " A great blackguard from Tennessee, one Andrew Jackson." He was impatient of restraint, incapable of fear, and a principal in a number of duels. Yet he was affable, humane, considerate, and, at the bottom, a Christian if not until the later years of his life a professing one, at least always having great respect for those who were religious. While he was yet connected with the army, an officer com plained to him that some soldiers were making a great noise in a tent. " What are they doing ? " asked the general. " They are praying now, but have been singing," was the reply. " And is that a crime?" asked Jackson, with emphasis. " The Articles of War," said the officer, " order punishment for any unusual noise." " God forbid," replied the general, with much feeling, " that praying and singing should be an unusual noise in my camp ; I advise you to go and join them." " I arrived at his house," says Colonel Benton, " one wet, chilly evening in February, 1814, and came upon him in the twilight, sitting alone before the fire, a lamb and a child between his knees. He started a little, called a servant to remove the two innocents to another room, and explained to me how it was. The child had cried because the lamb was out in the cold, and begged him to bring it in, which he had done, to please the child, his adopted son, then not two years old." A son of the famous Daniel Boone was once detained in Nash ville for some weeks, and had taken lodgings at a small tavern. Jackson heard of it, went to Nashville, and, carrying him to his home as a guest as long as his business should keep him in that section, said, " Your father s dog should not stay in a tavern, where I have a house." In person, Jackson was as angular as he was in character. He was tall, straight, and spare. His dark blue eyes, with brows arched and slightly projecting, possessed a marked expression, and when he was excited, they sparkled with peculiar lustre and penetration. Jackson s election was shorn of half its brightness for him by the loss of her who would have helped him to bear the trust with fidelity and honor. His wife was one of the purest and noblest of women, and yet, in the heat of the political contest just ended, 1829.] JACKSON S ADMINISTRATION. 419 slander had dared to sully her name. She had been the wife of a dissolute man, from whom she had obtained a divorce, immediately after which Jackson married her. A number of years later, he learned that what he had understood to be a divorce was only the granting of a petition to sue for one. He immediately procured a license, and had the marriage cere mony performed the second time. The influence she had exerted over him while she lived, seemed to strengthen and deepen when she was no longer with him, and his rough nature was chastened and softened thereby. He clung to her memory, cherishing with fondness everything that had possessed her affection, and wearing her minia ture next to his heart until the day of his death. In no one way was the change in him more marked than in his language. He never again used that expletive that has become histor ical, " By the Eternal/ nor any other that could be considered profane. Jackson s cabinet was composed of entirely new men : Martin Van Buren of New York, Secretary of State ; Samuel D. Ingham of Pennsylvania, Secretary of the Treasury; John H. Eaton of Tennessee, Secretary of War; John Branch of North Carolina, Secretary of the Navy ; John M. Ber- rien of Georgia, Attorney-General ; and it having been deter mined to make the Postmaster-General a member of the cabinet, William T. Barry of Kentucky was appointed to that position. The change in the cabinet was no more complete than that which followed in the public offices of the government. Formerly displacements had been confined to the most prominent posi tions, but now they reached the lowest. Under Washington s ad ministration, there had been nine officers removed, of whom one was a defaulter ; under John Adams s, ten, one being a defaulter ; under Jefferson s, thirty-nine ; under Madison s, five, three being defaulters ; under Monroe s, nine, six for cause ; and under John Quincy Adams s, two, both for cause; the whole number of re movals by the six Presidents being seventy-four. During the ANDREW JACKSON. 420 INTERNAL DISSENSIONS. [1829. recess, before the meeting of the Twenty-first Congress, Jackson removed one hundred and sixty-seven political opponents from office, appointing his friends to the positions. Within less than a year, four hundred and ninety-one postmasters alone were dis placed. Some politicians in whom the general had confidence, wishing him to remove the collector of the port of Salem, Massachusetts, the name of his successor was accordingly sent to the Senate. " Do you know," asked Colonel Benton of the President, " who it is whom you are about to remove ? " " No," replied he, " I can t think of his name ; but I know he is an incompetent man, and a New England, Hartford Convention Federalist ! " " Sir," said Benton, " the incumbent is General Miller, who was a brave soldier on the Niagara frontier." Jackson excitedly exclaimed, " Not the brave Miller who said, I ll try, when asked if he could take the British battery ? " " The same man, sir," responded Benton. " Old Hickory " pulled a bell violently, and when the servant appeared, he said, " Tell Colonel Donelson I want him quick." " Donel- son," said the President, as soon as he entered, " I want the name of that fellow nominated for collector at Salem withdrawn in stantly. These politicians are the most remorseless scoundrels alive. Write a letter to General Miller, and tell him he shall hold the office as long as Andrew Jackson lives. Stay I ll write it myself; the assurance will be more gratifying from a brother- soldier." That promise was faithfully kept. In September, 1829, the owner of the schooner Michigan, the largest and rottenest craft on Lake Erie, hit upon a plan to get it off his hands, and at the same time turn an honest penny. He induced the proprietors of hotels on both sides of Niagara Falls to buy the schooner and send it over the falls. For several days previous to the novel event, the stages and canal-boats, and wagons from the country, were crowded. Farmers left their fields, and business men their counters. On the appointed day, half a dozen excursion steamers were called into service. Each had its throng of expectant people and a band of music. The task of towing the Michigan to the rapids was entrusted to one Cap tain Rough and five oarsmen. They put up some effigies, and then let loose on board a buffalo from the Rocky Mountains, three bears from Green Bay and Grand River, two foxes, a raccoon, a dog, a cat, and four geese. When they cut the tow- line, this extraordinary crew did what many other crews have 1829-30.] JACKSON S ADMINISTRATION. 421 done ran from one end of the deck to the other in despair. The ship started off majestically, amid the huzzas of the eager specta tors who crowded the high shores on either side. She darted through the first rapids as true as any pilot could have guided her. Two of the bears then plunged into the rapids, swam to land, and were caught. The remaining one attempted to climb the rigging. As the vessel descended the second rapids, her mast went by the board. She then swung partly around and presented her broadside to the foaming waters. Here she remained station ary for a few moments, poised on the waves. Then she shot to the third rapids, where she bilged, but carried her hull, appar ently whole, between Grass Island and the British shore to the Horseshoe, over which she plunged, stern foremost. The ship was dashed into a thousand pieces. The cat, the dog, and the foxes were never heard of more ; but the geese were found below on the bank quietly oiling their feathers. The effigy of Andrew Jackson was also uninjured like the geese, as some papers dryly remarked and was greeted with shouts as it threw its arms about and knocked its knees together in the eddies. December 29, 1829, Mr. Foot of Connecticut introduced into the Senate a series of resolutions in relation to the public lands. The discussion which followed lasted several weeks and took a wide range, including almost every issue that party feeling or po litical ambition could raise. Robert Y. Hayne of South Carolina, a brilliant and engaging orator, in the course of a speech, January 1 9th, attacked the policy of the government toward the Western States, favored the idea of giving the public lands to the settlers, and objected to a tariff in preference to direct taxation. Daniel Webster of Massachusetts replied, deprecating the light value which seemed to be placed upon the Union, and defending the tariff and the action of the East with regard to it, as well as to the public lands and all Western interests. Two days after, Hayne rejoined, declaring that Webster had once opposed the tariff which he then advocated ; supporting the institution of slavery ; deprecating the consolidation of the Union ; asserting the right of a State to resist the execution of a law she deems unconstitu tional ; and taunting the East with the Hartford Convention and its opposition to the war of 1812-14. January 26th, Webster delivered his second great speech, and the one which gave him the proud title of the " Defender of the Constitution." After jus tifying his own course and the history of Massachusetts, he closed 422 INTERNAL DISSENSIONS. [1829-30.. with the memorable words, " Liberty and union, now and forever, one and inseparable ! " The feelings entertained by the mass of the people during this lengthy debate are well evidenced by an incident related of a farmer-friend of Webster, who regarded him with something akin to worship. He had watched the proceedings in Congress with anxious solicitude. Day followed day, and made themselves into weeks, and yet his hero had not spoken. He felt that the coun try s safety depended upon Webster, and his silence indicated HAYNE AND WEBSTER. that nothing could be said on the side of the Constitution, and portended disaster to the Republic. At length came the speech of Hayne denouncing the Union. He took to his bed, convinced that Webster was crushed. In a few days, Webster s reply was- brought to him. For some time he refused to read it; but finally, glancing at a portion, he suddenly seized the paper and perused the first few calm and dignified sentences : " When the mariner has been tossed for many days in thick weather and on an un known sea, he naturally avails himself of the first pause in the storm, the earliest glance of the sun, to take his latitude and ascer tain how far the elements have driven him from his true course. Let us imitate his prudence, and, before we float further on the waves of this debate, refer to the point from which we departed, that we may at least be able to conjecture where we now are. I ask for the reading of the resolution." It was enough. In the 1829-31.] JACKSON S ADMINISTRATION. 423 joy of the moment, he threw the paper high in air, and cried out to his son, " Boy, bring me my boots. Webster has spoken ! " From that instant he was a well man. During the first session of the Twenty-first Congress, Jackson used the veto-power four times, while Washington had employed it only twice during his entire presidency, and the Adamses and Jefferson not at all. The President became personally alienated from Calhoun on learning that he had been opposed to him during the Seminole campaign ; and politically, on account of his support of the doc trine of nullification. Calhoun being a candidate for the next presidency, with a strong following, a rupture arose in the cab inet, which led to the resignation of all its members. Scandal, ever busy with Jackson s private as well as public life, attributed the disagreement to the influence of Mrs. Eaton, wife of the Secretary of War, with whom many ladies, especially the wives of the Calhoun leaders, refused to associate. Jackson attempted to control these matters of social etiquette, but only aggravated the feeling. The new cabinet consisted of Edward Livingston of Louisiana, Secretary of State ; Lewis Cass of Michigan, Secretary of War ; Louis McLane of Delaware, Secretary of the Treasury ; Levi Woodbury of New Hampshire, Secretary of the Navy ; and Roger B. Taney of Maryland, Attorney-General. James Monroe died in New York July 4, 1831. This sad event, occurring on the fifty-fifth anniversary of the nation s birth, five years after that of Adams and Jefferson, afforded occasion for grave reflection, and seemed pregnant with some mysterious moral lesson. In this year, John Quincy Adams took his seat in the House as representative from Massachusetts. It was the only instance that had happened of one who had been the Chief Executive after ward taking part in the deliberations of the legislative branch of the government. He was returned by his constituents eight times. The influence and fame of the " Old Man Eloquent " grew contin ually, in spite of his " stormy petrel " character. At his death in 1848, he had served his country in high public trusts for fifty- three years a longer period than any other statesman in our history. Perhaps the most important event of the year, judged by its influence in forming the germ of those dissensions that culminated 424 INTERNAL DISSENSIONS. [1832. thirty years afterward, was the establishment in Boston by Wil liam Lloyd Garrison of " The Liberator," a weekly journal devoted to the advocacy of the most decided and uncompro mising anti-slavery views. Its motto was, " My country is the world, my countrymen are all mankind." Though finding some sympathizers, it was condemned nearly everywhere at the North, and in the South excited the most intense exasperation. Garrison was threatened with assassination, and was in peril of his life even in Boston. The United States Bank, the creation of Hamilton, was the custodian of the public funds and the centre of a constantly expanding paper currency. Jackson always regarded this insti tution as an unsound stimulus to trade, a promoter of unhealthy speculation and extravagant habits, and a huge moneyed mo nopoly, possessing a tremendous latent power of corruption, and capable of becoming the " scourge of the people." As its second charter would expire in 1836, a new one was granted in 1832. The bill, however, was vetoed by the President, and Congress sustained his action. When the first charter expired in 1811, the amount of its un redeemed bills was two hundred and five thousand dollars. In 1823, twelve years having elapsed, the court decided that the stockholders should no longer be liable. A fund of five thousand dollars was, however, reserved for any instances of peculiar hard ship which might arise. The whole amount presented was eleven hundred dollars, of which the greater portion was in the hands of an invalid Revolutionary soldier, and not paid until 1825. Curi ously enough, a note of ten dollars was redeemed only about twelve years since. Many ol the agricultural States had protested against the tariff of 1828. In June, 1832, Congress passed a new protec tive bill. South Carolina instantly took the lead in opposition. Her legislature nullified the act of Congress, and prepared to resist the collection of the revenue at Charleston. Jackson at once issued a proclamation calling upon the people of South Carolina to return to their loyalty, and ordering the naval and military forces of the Republic to Charleston to enforce the laws. This prompt action put an end to the threatened secession. As a pacifying measure, Clay came forward in Congress with his cele brated " Tariff Compromise," which provided for a gradual reduction of all duties above the revenue standard. Clay, being 1832.] JACKSON S ADMINISTRATION. 425 told that his action would injure his prospects for the presidency, nobly replied, " I would rather be right than be President." June 21, 1832, occurred in New York the first case in this country of that scourge of mankind, the Asiatic cholera. As it swept over the land, it appalled the stoutest-hearted, and for a HENRY CLAY ADDRESSING THE SENATE. time carried dismay into the ranks of the medical profession. In New Orleans alone, there were sixteen hundred and sixty-eight deaths in thirteen days. A treaty had been made with the Sacs and the Foxes, by which they agreed to cede their lands to the government and to remove beyond the Mississippi. As they were reluctant to leave, the governor of Illinois called out the militia to enforce its pro visions. The Indians were exasperated, and in March, 1832, the Sacs, Foxes, and Winnebagoes recrossed the Mississippi under their chief, Black Hawk, and committed many depredations. The United States troops defeated the Indians in several skirmishes, followed them into their lurking-place, and captured Black Hawk and other chiefs. The captives were taken to the principal cities of the East, that they might see the power of the govern ment against which they were contending. They returned home, advising their people to bury the hatchet, and the warriors accordingly retired to Iowa. 426 INTERNAL DISSENSIONS. [1832-33. The friends of the administration were agreed that Jackson should be nominated for another term ; but to decide who should have the second place, a Democratic convention, the first in this country, was held at Baltimore, May, 1832. Martin Van Buren of New York was chosen. The " National Republicans," com posed of the enemies of Jackson and the friends of Calhoun, met at Baltimore December 5, 1831, and put in nomination Henry Clay for President, and John Sergeant of Pennsylvania for Vice- President. There was still another ticket in the field, that of the Anti- Masonic party, which arose in this wise: In 1826, William Mor gan of Batavia, N. Y., was taken from his home at night and never heard of afterward. The Masonic fraternity was charged with having murdered him for violating his oath and publishing the secrets of the order. Much mystery surrounds the case even to this day. At the time it caused an intense excitement. The issue between the Masons and their enemies became a political one. A party was organized, which eventually brought into prom inence such men as Thurlow Weed and William H. Seward. A national convention was called at Philadelphia, which named for the presidency William Wirt of Maryland, and for the vice-presi dency Amos Ellmaker of Pennsylvania. The election gave General Jackson two hundred and nineteen votes ; Henry Clay, forty-nine ; John Floyd, eleven ; and William Wirt, seven ; for Vice-President, Van Buren, one hundred and eighty - nine ; John Sergeant, forty-nine ; William Wilkins, ^ thirty ; Henry Lee, eleven ; Amos Ellmaker, seven. The vote of South Carolina was given to Floyd and Lee. Jackson, feeling that his administration had received the unmistakable approval of STATES BANK. the Cation, struck another blow at the United States Bank. Being informed that it was using large sums for poli tical purposes, he conceived that the public money was unsafe in its keeping. In opposition to Congress and the advice of his cabinet, he accordingly, in 1833, removed the deposits from its vaults. A panic ensued ; distress prevailed through the coun- 1833.] JACKSON S ADMINISTRATION. 427 try ; countless petitions poured in against the measure ; Congress protested ; yet through it all the old hero struggled, confident that he was right. During the depression, two attempts were made upon his life one by a crazy house-painter, who had been told that Jackson was the cause of his being out of employment ; the other by a naval lieutenant named Randolph. In the Senate, the President was supported by the sturdy Thomas H. Benton of Missouri and the accomplished John Forsyth of Georgia. But against these was that trio of statesmen Clay, Calhoun, and Webster, who made memorable the age in which they lived. Jackson s opponents now organized themselves as Whigs. The name had belonged to the patriots of the Revolution, which was not so long passed that its memories had lost their fragrance. The derivation of the term is forgotten. Among the probable ones are : a bibulous origin, from a Scotch drink of that name ; a religious one, from the initial letters of the motto of the Cove nanters, " We hope in God " ; and a political one, from the Covenanters themselves, who were called Whiggamors or Whigs, and who, in 1648, marched upon Edinburgh, whence all who op posed the English court came to be called Whigs. The cardinal principles of the new party were a high protective tariff, a national bank, and a generous policy of public improvements. The opposition procured the passage in the Senate of a reso lution declaring that the President, in removing the public de posits, had assumed authority not conferred by the Constitution and laws, but in derogation of both. Three years after, a motion of Benton s was adopted expunging it from the records, and it now stands with a square of broad black lines about it, and over its face, written in bold characters, the order of the Senate directing its cancellation. On the night of November 13, 1833, occurred the grandest display of shooting meteors on record. The falling stars filled the heavens thick as snow-flakes. Fire-balls darted through the air, one in North Carolina being as large as the moon, while at Niagara Falls another hung over the cataract, darting streams of fire into the falling waters. A Southern planter thus narrates the effect of the phenomenon on the minds of his slaves : " I was sud denly awakened by the most distressing cries that ever fell on -my ears. Shrieks of horror and calls for mercy I could hear from most of the negroes of the three plantations, amounting in all to about six or eight hundred. While earnestly listening for the 428 INTERNAL DISSENSIONS. [1833-5. cause, I heard a faint voice near the door calling my name. I arose, and, taking my sword, stood at the door. At this moment, I heard the same voice, still beseeching me to rise, and saying, " O my God, the world is on fire ! " I then opened the door, and it is difficult to say which excited me the most the awfulness of the scene or the distressed cries of the negroes. Upward of one hundred lay prostrate on the ground, some speechless, and some with the bitterest cries, but with their hands raised, imploring God to save the world and them. The scene was truly awful ; for never did rain fall much thicker than the meteors fell toward the earth." The winter of 1834-5 was remarkable for its severity. The 7th of February was long quoted as the " cold Saturday." At several places in New York, mercury congealed in the thermome ters. The Chesapeake Bay was frozen over. The Savannah River at Augusta, Georgia, was coated with ice. Orange trees as far south as St. Augustine, and fig trees one hundred years old in Georgia, were killed. The snow in many of the Southern States was a foot deep. The venerable John Marshall, for nearly thirty-five years Chief- Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, died July 6, 1835. The President appointed as his successor Roger Brooke Taney of Maryland, who held the position until 1864; the chief judicial office of the Republic being thus in the hands of only two men for over sixty years. This decade witnessed a complete revolution in the manage ment of the daily press. Previous to 1833, the newspaper of the day was but a journal of opinion and fancy, rather than one of incident and fact. It was devoted to political essays ; personal abuse of opponents ; panegyrics on the partisan leaders with whom it happened to agree or to whom it was indebted for money or influence, and whose speeches and orations it pub lished in full ; letters from abroad and frequent fiction, with the smallest possible space devoted to actual occurrences. It was high in price, large in size, and exceedingly dull in matter. The purely literary periodical press possessed many of the same characteristics. On the 3d of September, 1833, the first number of the New York Sun was issued, at a cent per copy, by Benja min H. Day, who, from this circumstance, is entitled to be called the father of the penny press and cheap literature in the United States. It was a small sheet, but was filled with news. Its sale 1835.] JACKSON S ADMINISTRATION. 429 gave employment to the first news-boys whose voices were ever heard in our streets. On the 6th of May, 1835, the Sun was followed by the Herald, at the same price, published by James Gordon Bennett, who originated many of the departments now so common, such as the city news and the reports of the money market. He was the first to collect intelligence from all parts of the country. In April, 1841, the New York Tribune was founded by Horace Greeley. These three journals were the exponents of the new order of things in the periodical press, and speedily had followers in Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston, and other prominent cities. Their cheapness and ability created that taste for reading which has grown into a passion and become a marked characteristic of our countrymen. Wednesday night, December 16, 1835, a fire broke out in Corn- stock & Andrew s store, on Merchant street, New York. For fourteen hours it raged unchecked, destroying property to the extent of seventeen million dollars, and leaving forty-five acres of land covered with ashes. But one building remained standing in the burnt district, looking in its loneliness like an oasis in a desert. It was Benson s fire-proof, copper store, at No. 83 Water Street. Trouble had now again arisen with France. Five million dol lars were due the United States for injuries done to our commerce during Napoleon s war. Payment being neglected, Jackson inter fered with his sharp, stern will, ordered our minister to leave the French court, and recommended Congress to authorize reprisals. France resented this spirited action, but paid the money. Den mark, Naples, Spain, and Portugal, also, in good time, settled their bills of a similar nature. During this year, the Seminoles in Florida, under the lead of Osceola, a half-breed of great bravery and talents, broke into open hostility. They were discontented with a proposed removal be yond the Mississippi, but the immediate cause was the seizure of Osceola s wife as a slave, while on a visit to Fort King. The chief was so defiant, that General Thompson, the government agent, put him in irons. Dissembling his wrath, Osceola consented to the treaty ; but no sooner was he released than, burning with in dignation, he plotted a general massacre of the whites. General Thompson was shot and scalped while sitting at dinner, under the very guns of Fort King. The same day, Major Dade, marching to the relief of the fort with over one hundred men, was waylaid near the Wahoo Swamp. In the midst of the fight, the Indians 430 INTERNAL DISSENSIONS. [1835-7. fell back for a consultation. The troops immediately began to build a breastwork of logs, but before it was knee-high the sav ages returned yelling and firing, and soon carried the little en trenchment. A young officer, it is said the only one of the party not dead or mortally wounded, tendered them his sword, but was immediately shot. In the following February, General Gaines visited the scene of the massacre. He found the little breastwork, mute witness of the desperate energy of the hour, its logs pierced THE DADE MONUMENT AT WEST POINT, NEW YORK. with bullets, and behind it the men, kneeling or lying as they were when they received the fatal shot. The dry air of the Florida winter had preserved their bodies unchanged. He buried them all in a common grave, and placed their solitary cannon upright at the head of the mound. A beautiful monument was afterward erected at the Military Academy of West Point, to the memory of Major Bade and his heroic men. Beaten in several engagements, the Indians fled to the Ever glades. Expeditions that failed to find the enemy, and murders and surprises by an invisible foe, disheartened the army and dis couraged the country. Osceola was the soul of the resistance. To every appeal for peace, he replied, " Here I hunted when a boy ; here my father lies buried ; here I wish to die." In October, 1837, while holding a conference with General Jessup, under a flag of truce, he was seized and taken to Fort Moultrie, where he died the next year. Colonel Zachary Taylor defeated the Indians 1835-7.] JACKSON S ADMINISTRATION. 431 in a sanguinary battle, at Okechobee, on Christmas day, 1837. Treaty after treaty was made and broken; bloodhounds were imported from Cuba, to the disgust of all Christian hearts ; and a fitful war was waged till 1842. Meanwhile the most of this once powerful tribe had been transported beyond the Mississippi. The year 1835 deserves to be commemorated as the time when the Republic was out of debt. The next year, the surplus in the Treasury, about thirty -seven million dollars, was distributed among the States, on their pledge to return the amount when wanted. This influx of capital stimulated business to a hot-house growth. Seven hundred banks flooded the country with paper -money. Speculation ran riot, especially in western lands. The sales of government land increased from one or two million dollars per year to twenty millions. New cities were laid out in the wilder ness, and fabulous prices were charged for building lots, which existed only on paper. Everybody could get credit, and every body had a project for making a fortune. Arkansas, the twenty-fifth State of the Union, was admitted June 15, 1836. It takes its name from a tribe of Indians once liv ing within its borders. It was settled by the French, under the Chevalier de Tonti, as early as 1685, and in the transfers and ces sions of territory, followed the fate of the other portions of Louis iana. In 1836, Congress accepted the trust of James Smithson, an Englishman, conferring upon our government a legacy of five hundred and fifteen thousand one hundred and sixty-nine dollars, for the " general diffusion of knowledge among men." The Insti tution at Washington which bears his name was founded with the proceeds of this magnificent bequest. At the Presidential election, Jackson s policy was once more endorsed by the people ; Martin Van Buren being chosen his suc cessor by one hundred and seventy votes out of two hundred and ninety-four. The Whigs, unable to combine, had three candidates in the field, viz., William Henry Harrison, John McLean, and Daniel Webster. There being no majority for Vice-President, the elec tion was finally thrown into the Senate, when Richard M. Johnson of Kentucky, the Democratic candidate, was chosen. Michigan, the twenty-sixth State of the Union, was admitted January 26, 1837. The name is derived from an Indian term sig nifying " Great Lake." The first white men within its borders were French missionaries, fur-traders, and Canadian voyageurs. 432 INTERNAL DISSENSIONS. [1837. The oldest settlement is Sault Ste. Marie, founded by Father Mar- quette in 1668. Michigan formed a part of the Northwest Terri tory, and then of the Territory of Indiana ; but in 1805 was set off by itself. Its early history is intimately connected with that of General Lewis Cass, who came to Detroit in 1815, and invested his whole fortune (twelve thousand dollars) in lands lying near the village, as it was then. Before he died, the tract was worth two million dollars. He was governor of the Territory for sixteen years, during which he was a sort of frontier king. He made and administered law ; ruled over white and red men ; and negoti ated nineteen treaties with the Indians, buying from them great parts of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Indiana. Clad in his hunting shirt, he traversed the woods and prairies of the northwest, some times in a birch-bark canoe, but oftener on foot ; on one occasion traveling four thousand miles in two months. March 4, 1837, Martin Van Buren was inaugurated the eighth President of the United States. The outgoing and incoming Pres idents rode together to the Capitol in a beautiful phaeton made from the wood of the frigate Constitution. In his address, Van Buren noticed the fact that he was the first Chief Magistrate born since the Revolution, and declared his intention to follow in the " footsteps of his illustrious predecessor." During the ceremony, Jackson, sitting uncovered in the genial March sun, was the prin cipal object of regard. For once, the rising was eclipsed by the setting sun, and when, two days after, the venerable man left the Federal city, the great throng who had gathered to see him depart, were too full of regrets to speak, and gazed on him in silence as he lifted his hat from his white locks, and with his hand waved them an adieu. Something of the same feeling, amounting almost to reverence, fills the hearts of American citizens even now, at the mention of the name of Andrew Jackson. Van Buren was of Dutch descent, and was born at Kinder- hook, N. Y., December 5, 1782. He early fitted for the bar, but the natural bent of his mind was toward politics, in which he soon rose to an admitted leadership. In his own State, he reduced the management of his party to a science, systematizing it as thor oughly as an army, and making the most perfect organization ever known in this country. If Clay, Calhoun, and Webster rank among the first statesmen of the time, Martin Van Buren is entitled to a place among its most expert and successful poli ticians. 1837.] VAN BUREN S ADMINISTRATION. 433 Financial ruin was the legacy left by the preceding administra tion. Speculation had begotten extravagance. Foreign goods had been imported heavily. These had to be paid for in gold and silver, which were sent abroad in large quantities. Just before the close of his term, Jackson issued the famous " specie circular," requiring payments for the public lands to be made in hard money. This swept the gold and silver into the Treasury. Then came the inevitable crash and the panic of 1837, with the financial ruin of hundreds and thousands of business men. During the first three weeks in April, two hundred and fifty houses in New York stopped payment. In two days, the failures in New Orleans reached twenty-seven million dollars. Property of all kinds declined in value. Eight of the States in part or wholly failed. Even the United States government could not pay its debts. Consternation seized upon all classes. Confidence was destroyed, and trade stood still. After the dissolution of the United States Bank, the State banks were used as places of deposit for the public funds. Van Buren s favorite plan was the establishment of the sub-treasury system now in use. The measure was not passed until near the close of his term, and was one of the chief causes of his failure to be re-elected, as the moneyed interests of the country unitedly opposed the scheme. A movement was now in progress in Canada looking to a separation of that colony from the mother country, and many of our people were disposed to assist their neighbors over the line. The President, as the rights of neutrality demanded, issued a proclamation forbidding any of the citizens of the United States from taking part in the conflict, and warning them that if they did, they should be left to the mercy of the government whose dominions they were invading. A body of American sympa thizers having taken possession of Navy Island in Niagara River, hired a steamer called the Caroline to convey their provisions and war materials. On the night of December 29, 1837, a party of British troops attempted to seize this vessel at her moorings at Schlosser. A desperate fight ensued ; but she was at last set on fire and left to drift over the falls. A cannonading was carried on for some time between the adventurers on Navy Island and the British troops on the Canadian shore. A sufficient force to dis lodge the so-called patriots having collected, they forthwith decamped. Other conflicts took place at various points along the 28 434 INTERNAL DISSENSIONS. [1839-40. line. At first, doubtless, many joined the cause from a love of liberty, but soon the enterprise degenerated into a scheme of bold outlaws longing for plunder and violence. The year 1839 saw a g rea t advance in ocean navigation. Dur ing the summer, the steamer Great Western, built in England; the first vessel designed expressly for ocean traffic, and the first one on which the sails were regarded merely as auxiliary, arrived in the harbor of New York. The Democrats renominated Van Buren for the Presidency, but chose no Vice-President. The Whigs held at Harrisburg, December 2, 1839, one of the most memorable political con ventions of our history. Success at various State elections augured vic tory in the next presidential campaign. A nomination, therefore, seemed al most equivalent to a final decision. The prominent candidates were Henry Clay, William Henry Harrison, and Winfield Scott. At first, Clay re ceived a plurality of votes ; but after three days balloting, Harrison was nominated ; John Tyler of Virginia was placed second on the ticket. Clay s friends insisted that he was beaten by trickery. The truth, how ever, was that while his popularity was unquestioned, his action upon the tariff of 1833 was thought to threaten his success at the polls. " Give Harrison a log-cabin and a barrel of hard cider," said some of his Democratic opponents, " and he will never leave Ohio to be President of the United States." His supporters caught up this expression, and log-cabins and hard cider straightway became Whig watchwords. The name of the prophet s town (see page 370) was applied to the victor himself, and the jubilant refrain, " Tippecanoe, and Tyler too, And with them we ll beat little Van," was shouted in song all over the land. The party headquarters in WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 1840.] VAN BUREN S ADMINISTRATION. 435 every town were located in a log-cabin, the "latch-string" was out, and the cider-barrel on tap for all. A miniature log-cabin became a favorite badge, and was worn as an ornament by Whig ladies, who boasted that their candidate did not occupy a palace and use gold spoons and forks, but was content to live in a cabin and drink hard cider. Mass meetings and political processions then first became general, and aroused the greatest enthusiasm. This canvass, therefore, marks an era in the method of conducting elections in this country. Though Van Buren came into office with a heavy majority, the people denied him a re-election by almost as strong an expres sion of their new preference. He received only sixty votes, while Harrison and Tyler obtained each two hundred and thirty-four. Such a signal revulsion has rarely occurred in the political his tory of the country. After controlling the government for a con tinuous period of twelve years, the Democratic party found itself driven from power, and its old opponent installed in its place. THE BIRTH-PLACE OF MARTIN VAN BUREN. CHAPTER XII. CULMINATION OF (DOMESTIC (DIFFICULTIES. 1840-60. ILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, the ninth President of the United States, was inaugurated March 4, 1841. His popularity was mani fested in other ways than by the large vote he received at the polls. It has been the custom to name children after those per sons who were especially promi nent at the time of their birth or christening. In any community, one can thus shrewdly conjec ture the ages of a large propor tion of the people on learning their Christian names. The gener ations of Washingtons, John Adamses, and Jeffersons have nearly run out, but the Andrew Jacksons and William Henrys or William Henry Harrisons still flourish among the middle-aged. That the latter has been used as a Christian name more extensively than any other, is an indisputable evidence of the personal popularity of " Old Tippecanoe." Never had the national capital beheld such a crowd as thronged to witness his inauguration. An im mense procession of civic and military societies and citizens escorted him from his hotel to the Capitol. Harrison himself was mounted on a white charger, and was surrounded by officers and soldiers who had served under him in the war of 1812-14. There was something about the new President that attracted every one who came into his presence, inspiring at once confi dence, respect, and affection. He was tall, slender, and pecu- 1841.] HARRISON S ADMINISTRATION. 437 liarly graceful in his movements. He had a fine dark eye, remarkable for its keenness, fire, and intelligence ; while his countenance was strongly expressive of the vivacity of his mind and the benevolence of his character. General Harrison was born February 9, 1773, at Berkeley, Va. Early losing his father, he was left to the guardianship of Robert Morris. He had begun to prepare for the practice of medicine, when the Indian barbarities along the frontier aroused his mili tary spirit, and he applied for a commission to Washington, who had intimately known his father and family. In 1795, he was made captain, and was placed in charge of Fort Washington, on the site of the present city of Cincinnati. Here he wooed and won the " sweet Anne Symmes," daughter of the proprietor of the " Great Miami Purchase," then living in a spacious log-house at the North Bend of the Ohio. The father objected to the match ; but returning home one day after a brief absence, he learned that Harrison had meanwhile wedded his daughter. " Well, sir," he said, somewhat sternly, " I understand you have married Anne." " Yes, sir," responded Harrison. " How do you expect to support her?" the father inquired. "By my sword and my own right arm," quickly responded the young officer. Harrison was not a politician, and, in making his appoint ments, he complained bitterly of party tyranny. He especially disliked Henry Clay, who, when Secretary of State, had repulsed his application for an appointment to a diplomatic mission. It is said that Clay told him that he was the " most importunate office -beggar that the head of a department was ever tor mented by." The governorship of Iowa had been pledged by Harrison to John Chambers, the suitor for the hand of his son s widow. Daniel Webster, then Secretary of State, had also promised it to General Wilson of New Hampshire. At a cabinet meeting, the President was informed that the members had agreed to support their colleague. " Ah ! that is the decision then ? " asked Harri son. Receiving an affirmative reply, he wrote a few words on a slip of paper and handed it to Webster to read aloud. That gentleman glanced it over and seemed a little embarrassed, but commenced, " William Henry Harrison, President of the United States " The general, rising to his feet, interrupted him with, " And William Henry Harrison, President of the United CULMINATION OF DOMESTIC DIFFICULTIES. [1841. States, tells you, gentlemen, that John Chambers shall be gov ernor of Iowa." And he was. Harrison was not destined to enjoy long the position which his fellow-citizens had so almost unanimously conferred upon him. After a brief illness, he died on Sunday morning, April 4th, just one month after his inauguration. His last words, spoken as if to his successor, were, " Sir, I wish you to understand the principles of the government. 1 wish them carried out. I ask no more." It was the first time in our history that a President had died in office ; and the news was received with every demonstration of regard and mourning. THE TOMB OF HARRISON. Among the causes popularly assigned for the death of Har rison, were the importunities of office-seekers and the persistent hand-shaking, so characteristic of our country. The truth is, he was a feeble old man at the time of his election. He reached the capital in the midst of a driving snow-storm, and walked from the depot to his hotel with head uncovered. So broken-down was he by excitement, fatigue, and exposure, that during the inauguration ceremonies it became necessary to remove him to a side- room, and bathe his temples with brandy preparatory to his taking the oath. John Tyler succeeded to the presidential chair, being sworn into office the second day after Harrison s death. He had shed tears at the Harrisburg Convention on the failure of that body to nominate Henry Clay. Among the Whigs, there was much sur prise shown at his selection ; and it had been a matter of wonder to the thoughtful that a convention so prudent and conservative should have chosen such an obstinate obstructionist. " Why," 1841-2.] TYLER S ADMINISTRATION. 439 said Adams, " this man stood up alone in the Senate, and opposed Jackson s force proclamation, resisting the united body at mid night, prompted by some whim that nobody could fathom." Tyler was the sixth President of the United States born in Virginia. He was graduated at William and Mary College, and prepared himself for the bar. He served his State as a member of legislature, as Governor, and United States Senator. When the British were in the Chesapeake Bay, during the War of 1812, he raised a company of soldiers to protect his neighborhood. The troops were never brought into action, and his military career was a short and bloodless one. From this circumstance, he ob tained the title of " Captain Tyler," often applied to him in ridi cule. Tyler was rather tall and thin, with light complexion, blue eyes, and prominent features. His manners were plain and affable, and in private life he was amiable, hospitable, and courteous. His administration seriously disappointed the expectations of the party which had elevated him to power. Upon the question of a re-charter of the United States Bank, he was speedily in an tagonism with Congress. A bill reviving that institution being vetoed, Congress passed another based entirely on the President s suggestions, and complying with all his requirements. His veto of this caused the resignation of every member of the cabinet ex cept Webster, then Secretary of State. He remained in order to complete the delicate and important negotiations then pending with England concerning the northeast boundary between Maine and New Brunswick. The Ashburton Treaty, concluded in 1842, settled this question, and redounded greatly to the credit of Web ster. He then, also, retired from the cabinet. The whole country was thrown into a white heat of excitement over this conflict be tween the executive and the legislative branch of the government. While Tyler thus lost the confidence of the party by which he was elected, he failed to gain that of his political opponents. He assumed a style too aristocratic to please the taste of the times. He permitted himself to be called in conversation " Your Excellency," as a matter of right. His coach was drawn by four horses, while two, and sometimes one, had sufficed for his pre decessors. This was said, however, to have been prompted less by personal vanity than a desire to gratify his young wife. For, although of mature age, he was married during his term of office, the only event of the kind that has yet occurred in- our histery. 440 CULMINATION OF DOMESTIC DIFFICULTIES. [1842-6. In 1842, there was a strange outbreak in the State of Rhode Island, known as " Dorr s Rebellion." The government of that State was based on the charter granted by Charles II., the elec tive franchise being limited to those holding a certain amount of real estate. Thomas Wilson Dorr, favoring a more liberal suf frage, called a convention which framed a new constitution. It was ratified by fourteen thousand votes ; a new assembly was elected, and Dorr was chosen Governor. He attempted to take possession of the capital by force, but was resisted by the charter party, led by Governor Samuel W. King. Dorr drew up his little army on a hill. Pointing to the State troops, who were ad vancing, he urged his men to fight until the last extremity, and, if compelled to retreat, to retire in good order, and with their faces to the foe ; adding in a low voice, " As I am a little lame, I guess I will go now." The civil war inaugurated in this spirited manner proved a bloodless one. In three days the matter ended. Dorr fled to Connecticut. The authorities of Rhode Island offer ing a reward of four thousand dollars for his apprehension, he was arrested, tried for treason, and sentenced to imprisonment for life. He was pardoned, however, in 1847, an d afterward restored to citizenship. He died in 1854, but he had lived to see his State under a liberal constitution, and his party in legal possession of the government. The Anti-Rent difficulty in New York, at this time, attracted much attention. Lands belonging to the great patroon estates (page 56) were held on a kind of feudal privilege, the rent being merely nominal, as a handful of wheat or a fat chicken per acre. Persons had occupied these farms for a series of years, had im proved them with buildings and fences, and in many instances no rent had been demanded. When the owners, their agents, or those to whom they had disposed of their interest, at length as serted their claims, there arose a great outcry. Associations were formed, and, in some cases, armed resistance was offered by bands of persons disguised as Indians. The difficulty was carried into politics, and then into the courts. The State Constitution of 1846 abolished all feudal tenures, and forbade the leasing of agricultural lands for a period exceeding twelve years. The Mormons also came into prominence about this time. Their founder was Joseph Smith of Palmyra, New York. He claimed to have had, on the night of September 21, 1823, a super natural revelation, by which he was directed to a spot where he 1846-8.] TYLERS ADMINISTRATION. 441 VIEW OF NAUVOO CITY. found buried a series of golden plates covered with inscriptions, which he translated by means of two transparent stones (Urim and Thummim) discovered with them. The result was the Book of Mormon, said to be the history of the Jews who settled this continent anterior to the Indians. Going west in 1831, with a few converts, he settled at Kirtland, Ohio, which was to be the seat of the New Jerusalem. Difficulties having arisen, the whole body of believers finally fled to Missouri. Bitter conflicts ensued with the State authorities ; the militia was called out, and the Mormons were forced to leave. They were kindly received in Illinois, where they built the city of Nauvoo, and laid the founda tion of a temple. Incurring again the enmity of their neighbors, and coming into conflict with the laws, fresh difficulties arose. Smith surrendered himself to the authorities, but was murdered by a mob. Brigham Young was then chosen president of the body. In 1846, the city was bombarded for three days. The Mormons, driven out at the point of the bayonet, went first to Council Bluffs, Iowa. Thence, in 1847-8, they crossed the plains to Salt Lake Valley, where they established a flourishing colony. The Mormons accept the Holy Bible as received by all Chris tian people, but believe the Book of Mormon to be an addi tional revelation, and also that their chief or prophet receives direct inspiration from God. They practice polygamy, claiming 442 CULMINATION OF DOMESTIC DIFFICULTIES. [1844. that the Scriptures justify, while one of their revelations directly commands it. A melancholy catastrophe occurred February 28, 1844. The President and his cabinet, with a number of senators and representatives and distinguished officers, had gone on board the steamship Princeton, lying in the Potomac, to witness the experimental firing of a large gun, called the " Peacemaker." Unfortunately, it exploded, killing Abel P. Upshur, Secretary of State, and Thos. W. Gilmer, Secretary of the Navy. The former had been in office less than a year, and the latter only thirteen days. The shattered remains of the gun were deposited in the Brooklyn Navy- Yard, and remained there for many years. To one asking of the soldier on duty, what they were, he always re plied that it was the old Peacemaker, called so because it made pieces of everything it was aimed at, and finally made pieces of itself. In 1844, Caleb Gushing, our commissioner to China, negotiated a valuable treaty with that country. The United States was the first Christian government permitted by the " Celestials " to estab lish itself within their borders. While crossing the ocean in the autumn of 1832, there came to the mind of Samuel F. B. Morse the conception of the magnetic telegraph. Scientific men had gathered all the material for this invention. It was his to make it practical, and thus reap the har vest of their sowing. The story of his long struggle to bring his discovery to public notice, and finally the appropriation of thirty thousand dollars by the Congress of 1842-3, near midnight of its closing session, form a thrilling episode not only in the history of our country but of the whole world. In 1844, an experimental line was completed between Washington and Baltimore. On the 2/th of May the first message ever forwarded by a recording telegraph was sent in the sublime words, " WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT?" It was dictated by Miss Ellsworth, who had brought to Professor Morse, in his discouragement, the news of the ap propriation by Congress. In May of this year, the Democratic Convention met at Balti more, and nominated for President, James K. Polk of Tennessee, and for Vice-President, George M. Dallas of Pennsylvania. The first public messages ever sent by telegraph were forwarded during this convention. They were a notice to Silas Wright, in Washington, of his nomination for the office of Vice-President of 1844-5.] TYLER S ADMINISTRATION. 443 the United States, and his response declining it. Hon. Hendrick B. Wright, in a letter to Benson J. Lossing, says : " As the pre siding officer of the body, I read the despatch ; but so incredulous were the members as to the authority of the evidence before them, that the Convention adjourned over to the following day to await the report of a committee sent to Washington to get reliable infor mation upon the subject." The Whig candidates were, for President, Henry Clay, and for Vice-President, Theodore Frelinghuysen of New Jersey. The friends of Tyler, principally office-holders, placed him in nomina tion, but he was forced to decline, appealing, as he said, " from the vituperations of the present day to the pen of impartial history." The Anti-Slavery party put in the field for the presidency James G. Birney of Michigan. The question of the campaign was the annexation of Texas, which had applied for admission to the Union. The result was the triumph of the Democrats, who had unhesitatingly accepted this issue. There were enough votes in New York State given for the Anti-Slavery candidate to turn its electoral votes for Polk and Dallas ; making their vote one hundred and seventy. Florida, the twenty-seventh State of the Union, was admitted March 3, 1845. Its name is derived from the Spanish word mean ing blooming. The country was settled by the Spaniards, and remained in their possession, except between 1763 and 1783, when it was held by Great Britain, until 1819, when it was ceded to the United States. Among the last acts of Tyler s administration was the approval of the joint resolution of the two Houses of Congress providing for the annexation of Texas, though the formal admis sion of the Lone Star State dates December 24, 1845. Texas was settled by the Spaniards in 1715 and called the New Philippines. Several missions were established, but the Comanche and Apache Indians were the terror of the border, and hindered the progress of the country. Many instances are given of the desperate courage of these tribes. After a battle in which the Comanches were severely beaten, one of the chiefs shut himself with his squaw in an old Spanish house, and refused to surrender. Efforts were made to spare him, and the prophet of his tribe was sent to assure him that every avenue of escape was cut off. His reply was an arrow shot among the troops, killing one of their number. Composition 444 CULMINATION OF DOMESTIC DIFFICULTIES. [1803-20. balls were thrown into the house through the roof, setting fire to the building. Suddenly he appeared at the open door, and with desperate energy rushing forth, nearly succeeded in making his escape. He dealt death-blows to the last, slaying three men before he was shot. His squaw having been killed, he had buried her, placing his warrior s saddle at her head. When Louisiana was ceded to the United States in 1803, Texas became a disputed territory, as the dividing line between HOUSE IN WHICH THE FIRST CONGRESS OF TEXAS MET. the Spanish and French possessions had never been definitely determined. For years the country was without any settled government. Almost the sole judiciary was " Judge Lynch," and the only protection for well-disposed settlers was extempo rized " vigilance committees." Its people were like those who gathered about David in the wilderness " every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented." Whenever a man in the States, unfortunate through imprudence or design, or sought after for crime, suddenly disap peared, there were usually left behind him the cabalistic letters G. T. T., which, translated, meant, Gone To Texas. In 1820, Moses Austin of Durham, Conn., obtained a grant of land from the government of Spain for the purpose of making a settlement. He did not live to complete his design, but his son, 1835-6.] TYLER S ADMINISTRATION. 445 with a party of immigrants, founded the city which bears his name. In 1830, there were twenty thousand Americans in the State. Meanwhile, Mexico had thrown off the Spanish yoke. The authorities, jealous of the growing prosperity of the Texans, forbade further immigration. Various oppressive acts followed, until the settlers were driven to declare their independence. Santa Anna, having set up a republic in Mexico, tried to subdue Texas, but his army was defeated at Gonzales October 2, 1835, and a few days after at Goliad. November 22, 1835, a convention at San Felipe organized a regular government. In this body Sam Houston made his ap pearance. He was a Virginian by birth, but removed to Ten nessee with his widowed mother, and for a long time lived among the Indians as an adopted warrior. When leaving to seek his fortune in Texas, he said to a friend, " Elias, remember my words. I will bring that nation to the United States, and if they don t watch closely, I will be the President of the White House yet." When Austin resigned his position as commander of the Texan forces, Houston was placed at their head. He soon took the citadel of Bexar the Alamo and dispersed the entire Mexican army. Santa Anna now invaded the country with nearly eight thousand men and laid siege to the Alamo, then held by only one hundred and forty Texans under Colonel Travis. The place was taken by storm, the Mexicans losing sixteen hundred soldiers. All the garrison fell fighting at their posts except seven who were put to the sword after having surrendered. Among them was David Crockett, the famous backwoodsman and hunter. Santa Anna then attacked Colonel Fanning, who was stationed at Goliad with five hundred men. Overwhelmed by superior forces, the soldiers surrendered on condition that they should give up their arms and return to the United States. In spite of this agree ment, they were all massacred in cold blood. General Houston, with the main army of the Texans, was brought to bay at San Jacinto April 21, 1836. He had only seven hundred and eighty-three men all told, few of whom had ever seen a battle. Charging with the cries " Remember the Alamo ! Remember Goliad!" he drove the Mexicans to flight, killing six hundred and thirty and capturing nearly all the rest. The next day Santa Anna was taken while endeavoring to escape. 446 CULMINATION OF DOMESTIC DIFFICULTIES. [1836-45. Houston rebuked him for his perfidious massacres, but pro tected him from the revenge of the army. A treaty made with the captive general secured the independ ence of Texas. It was afterward repudiated by the Mexican government, which still claimed the country. Houston was elected President of the new Republic, being inaugurated October SANTA ANNA REBUKED BY HOUSTON. 22, 1836. The next year, a proposition was made for admittance into the United States; but it was declined by President Van Buren. A similar overture in 1844 received a more favorable reply, and on the 4th of July, 1845, a new constitution was framed preparatory to the admission of the State as the twenty- eighth of the Federal Union. March 4, 1845, James Knox Polk was inaugurated the eleventh President of the United States. He was born in Mecklenburg county, N. C., November 2, 1795. His family name was origi nally Pollock. He early removed to Tennessee, which State he represented in the House for fourteen years, being speaker twice. Having declined a re-election, he was chosen governor. His nomination for the presidency was accidental, the conven tion on the first ballot not giving him a single vote. He seemed to consider his selection, however, a personal triumph over Van Buren, who was strongly urged for the nomination, and his 1845.] FOLK S ADMINISTRATION. 447 appointments were apparently based on this view. He also man ifested a desire to show that he was not under the influence of General Jackson, although, as that hero and patriot had been called " Old Hickory," so was Polk termed " Young Hickory." He gave to James Buchanan the place of Secretary of State, notwithstanding Jackson had said to him during a visit at the Hermitage, " Don t trust Jeems Buchanan ; I caught him in a falsehood once myself." He also appointed as Secretary of War Governor William L. Marcy of New York, because of his enmity to Van Buren. Folk s manner of living was simple in the extreme. A foreign gentleman of culture, who visited at the White House during his administration, has left the following description : " The saloon might be taken for that of a retired wood-merchant. An old piano, which has seen several generations of presidents and lady- presidents, a few straw chairs, six mahogany arm-chairs, two sofas, a lamp, curtains of white muslin, a crystal lustre, the por trait obligato of Washington this is all. Mrs. Polk does the honors of this sumptuous saloon with a kindness Avhich merits better furniture. She rises, converses, shakes hands, is very amiable, and, above all, she endeavors to be so. As to the Presi dent s equipages, they are far from requiring a numerous crowd of coachmen, valets, and grooms. If he orders the horses to be harnessed, his orders run no hazard of being misinterpreted ; he owns nothing but a carriage open to the wind, which is defended from the rain, the sun, the cold, only by flying curtains of leather. Two peaceable horses draw his vehicle." Speaking of an interview with the President, he says, " As soon as the office-seeker had retired, the President rang the bell for his negro. Receiving no answer, Mr. Polk, suspecting the difficulty, came himself to meet the visitor, and this without the slightest display of anger or ill-humor. Mr. Polk is not tall ; his gray eyes are quick and animated ; his manners are those of a gentleman ; his smile is intelligent and arch. He gave the visitor his hand, and made him sit beside him at a table, entering into conversation at once, for one can converse with the President of the United States. In Europe it is different ; on similar occasions one replies, but does not converse. From time to time he inter rupted himself, and turned aside his head to obey a necessity as inexorable for a President who chews as for the humblest citizen." June 8, 1845, Andrew Jackson died in his seventy-ninth year. 448 CULMINATION OF DOMESTIC DIFFICULTIES. [1845-6. His last hours among the living were calm and peaceful as was the holy day on which he passed away, and he left a memory that is as precious as his life was noble and honorable. The naval school at Annapolis was formally opened during this year. Thus was laid the foundation of an institution for the instruction of officers for the navy, of w r hich the country has often since had reason to be proud. Two troublesome affairs had been left on Folk s hands by the preceding administration. One of these was the boundary line between Oregon and the British possessions. During the last presidential campaign, " Fifty-four forty, or fight ! " had been a popular alliterative cry ; our government claiming northward to that parallel of latitude. The Democratic party was pledged to demand "the whole or none" of that vast region. Fortunately, wiser counsels prevailed, and a compromise was effected, the boundary line being fixed at the forty-ninth degree. The difficulty with Mexico growing out of the annexation of Texas was not so easily arranged. In anticipation of trouble, Brevet-General Zachary Taylor, then stationed at Fort Jessup, Louisiana, had received orders to form an " army of occupation." In August, 1845, he advanced with about four thousand men to Corpus Christi, at the mouth of the River Nueces, Avhich was claimed by Mexico to be the western boundary of Texas. This precautionary measure was not intended by our government as a hostile demonstration, strict orders having been given to General Taylor not to commit any overt act. Meanwhile the Mexican minister had demanded his passports. In January, 1846, General Taylor was directed to move his forces to the Rio Grande, the boundary claimed by Texas and our government. Greeley asserts in his "American Conflict," that the President and his cabinet shrank from the responsi bility of this step, but hoped Taylor would take one of the numer ous hints which they gave him to that effect. He, however, dis regarded them, and only acted on positive orders. March 28th, he arrived at the east bank of the river, where he built a fort (afterward called Fort Brown), directly opposite and within can non-shot of Matamoras. Thereupon General Ampudia, in com mand of the Mexican forces, ordered him to retire to the River Nueces within twenty-four hours, " else arms and men alone must decide the question." Taylor received the message with the grim satisfaction that every warrior feels who scents the battle from 1846.] FOLK S ADMINISTRATION. 449 afar. A few days afterward, General Arista, who succeeded Ampudia, notified General Taylor that " he considered hostilities commenced, and should prosecute them." The Mexican cavalry were scouring the country in all directions. Falling in with Colonel Cross, who was out riding beyond our lines, they strip ped him of his accoutrements and brutally murdered him, pound ing out his brains with the butt-end of a pistol. Captain Thornton, being sent with a small body of dragoons to search for him, was attacked, and the whole party were killed or captured. This was the first blood shed in the war. Taylor s depot of supplies was at Point Isabel, about twenty miles east of his camp. Fearful lest this might be captured, he hastened thither with the bulk of his army, leaving at the fort only three hundred troops under Major Brown. Having secured his supplies, he set out on his return the same evening with about two thousand men and ten cannon. Reaching Palo Alto about noon the next day, he came upon the Mexicans, six thousand strong, drawn up in admirable order to oppose his progress. The conflict lasted all the afternoon, but the American artillery, at the risk of having their caissons blown up, dashed off into the burning prairie,, and under cover of the smoke, which the wind blew into the faces of the enemy, took a position where they could enfilade the Mex ican ranks, and thus force them to a hasty retreat. Our loss was forty-seven wounded and nine killed, including Major Samuel Ringgold, who was universally beloved. " Leave me alone," said he to his brother-officers who gathered around him when he was wounded ; " you are wanted forward." About four o clock the next afternoon, May Qth, Taylor came again upon the enemy at Resaca de la Palma. They were rein forced and in great ardor, strongly posted in a ravine, about sixty yards wide, flanked by dense chaparral matted shrubs of prickly cactus. Taylor was anxious to reach the fort that evening, as he distinctly heard its guns only three miles away. After a few moments to rest his troops, he opened the battle, outnumbered though he was quite three to one. The Mexican guns were splen didly served, and our forces were severely cut up. The fate of the day depended upon their capture. Taylor accordingly rode for ward to his dragoons and shouted to their leader, " Captain May, you must take that battery ! " " I will do it, sir," was the gallant reply. Placing himself at the head of his command, May dashed forward through a fire that cost him half his men, leaped over the cannon, 29 450 CULMINATION OF DOMESTIC DIFFICULTIES. [1846. sabred the gunners, and captured their commander, General La Vega, as he was in the act of firing a gun. Th infantry followed up the attack. The Mexicans fled pell-mell, and many were lost in crossing the river. On reaching the fort, everything was found safe, though the garrison had sustained a heavy bombardment, and its heroic com- CAPTURE OF THE MEXICAN BATTERY BY CAPTAIN MAY. mander had fallen. In his honor, it was called Fort Brown. In a few days the Americans crossed the river, and occupied Mata- moras. With the first shot of the war had commenced those horrible atrocities on the part of the enemy which have made the name of Mexican almost synonymous with cruelty and barbarity. The bodies of the dead on the battle-field were stripped and mutilated in a dreadful manner. General Taylor called the attention of the Mexican commander to the matter, and received for reply that " the rancheros and the women who followed the army did it; and he could not control them." General Taylor replied, " I am coming over, and will control them for you." President Polk, early in May, announced to Congress that Mexico had " invaded our territory, and shed the blood of our fellow-citizens on our own soil." He was at once authorized to accept fifty thousand volunteers. Ten millions of dollars were 1846.] FOLK S ADMINISTRATION. 451 placed at his disposal. An outburst of patriotic fervor swept over the country. Three hundred thousand men offered their services. The plan adopted by the military authorities was to attack Mexico on three different lines. One column, under Taylor, was to advance from Matamoras ; another, under General Kearney, was to march through New Mexico to California ; and a third, under General Wool, was to conquer the northern provinces of Mexico. In September, Taylor advanced from Matamoras with six thousand troops. On reaching Monterey, he found this city strongly fortified and garrisoned by ten thousand men, eager to avenge the disgrace of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. Tay lor quickly laid his plans. General Worth was sent to carry the Saltillo road in the rear of Monterey. Opening a new path over the mountains, he captured the fortified heights guarding that route, the Bishop s Palace a stone building obstinately defended and in two days had reached the walls of the city and cut off its supplies. The grand assault was made on the 23d. Breaking down the doors, the troops entered the houses, dug their way with crowbars from building to building, and ascending to the flat roofs fought hand-to-hand with the terrified enemy. In the face of a tremendous fire from the barricades and artillery, which swept every street, the army at last made its way to the Plaza, and unfurled the stars and stripes. Ampudia, the Mexican com mander, thereupon surrendered the city, and his men were allowed to march out with the honors of war. General Taylor being as sured that Mexico would soon make proposals of peace, granted an armistice for eight weeks. A correspondent of the Louisville Courier wrote a touching incident of this battle. He says : " In the midst of the conflict, a Mexican woman was busily engaged in carrying bread and water to the wounded men of both armies. I saw the ministering angel raise the head of a wounded man, give him water and food, and then bind up the ghastly wound with a handkerchief she took from her own head. After having exhausted her supplies, she went back to her house, to get more bread and water for others. As she was returning on her mission of mercy, to comfort other wounded persons, I heard the report of a gun, and the poor inno cent creature fell dead. I think it was an accidental shot that struck her. I would not be willing to believe otherwise. It made me sick at heart ; and, turning from the scene, I involun- 452 CULMINATION OF DOMESTIC DIFFICULTIES. [1846. tarily raised my eyes toward heaven, and thought, Great God ! is this war ? Passing the spot the next day, I saw her body still lying there, with the bread by her side, and the broken gourd, with a few drops of water in it em blems of her errand. We buried her; and while we were digging her grave, cannon-balls flew around us like hail." The military operations at the west had been no less bril liant and successful. Gen- ,-^ eral Kearney started from A SCENE AT MONTEREY. Fort Leavenworth with one thousand men, and after a long and weary march of nine hundred miles, reached Santa Fe. New Mexico submitted without a blow. After organizing a system of government, Kearney then set out with his command for Cali fornia. He had proceeded three hundred miles, when he met Kit Carson, who informed him that Colonel Fremont and Com modore Stockton had already conquered that province. Sending back the most of his men, he kept on toward the Pacific with one hundred dragoons. Colonel Doniphan with the main body of Kearney s command marched directly across the country from Santa Fe, and finally joined General Wool at Saltillo. En route he fought two battles against a force quadruple his own, and conquered Chihuahua, a city of forty thousand inhabitants. When his soldiers term of service 1846.] FOLK S ADMINISTRATION. 453 expired, he led them back to New Orleans and discharged them. They had been enlisted, marched three thousand miles, and dis banded, all within a year. It was one of the most eventful cam paigns on record. General Wool, the inspector-general of the army, had the care of all the volunteers. After collecting recruits and forwarding reinforcements to Taylor, he set out from San Antonio, Septem ber 2oth, with about three thousand raw troops. These he disci plined and trained as he marched over desert regions and through mountain gorges. The last day of October he emerged at Mon- clova, seventy miles from Monterey, with a " model army." The first year of the war had thus proved most successful for the arms of the United States. Meanwhile, however, the opposi tion to the annexation of Texas, growing out of the fact that its accession had increased the slave-holding area, had not ceased. August 8, 1846, the President addressed Congress for an appropri ation of three million dollars, to enable him to negotiate a treaty with Mexico. To the bill granting this request a proviso, drawn by Judge Brinckerhoff of Ohio, was attached as an amendment. It was to the effect that " There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in any territory which shall hereafter be acquired or be annexed to the United States, otherwise than in the punishment of crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." Also, " That any person escaping into the same, from whom labor or service is lawfully claimed in any one of the United States, such fugitive may be lawfully reclaimed and con veyed out of said territory to the person claiming his or her labor or service." It was known that the introduction of this amendment would be repugnant to the feelings of the Speaker of the House, and it was apprehended that he might not recognize Brinckerhoff, who was one of the most pronounced anti-slavery men in Congress. Copies of the proviso were, therefore, distributed among members favorable to its passage, David Wilmot of Pennsylvania being among the number. He happened to catch the Speaker s eye, and this famous proposition received his name. It passed the House, but failed in the Senate. The Mexicans had no desire for peace. They occupied the breathing-spell granted by Taylor in making preparations for a more vigorous war. Santa Anna, who had been in exile at Havana, was recalled. The armistice having expired, Taylor 454 CULMINATION OF DOMESTIC DIFFICULTIES. [1846. advanced as far as Victoria. Here he learned that Santa Anna was coming with a force of twenty thousand men, admirably equipped. In the midst of this emergency orders arrived to forward the flower of his army to General Scott, who had super- seded him in the chief command. Sadly the general complied MAP TO ILLUSTRATE THE MEXICAN WAR. Scalp , , 100 "Miles. with this requisition, which seemed so fatal to his own glory, if not safety. Meanwhile, he sent a courier to Wool, asking him to hasten to his aid. In two hours that general was on the road. Now was manifested the gratitude of the people for the protection Wool had afforded them during his stay. Fourteen of his soldiers being unable to travel, the finest mansions opened their doors to receive them, and the best women of Parras offered to nurse them. During his march, Wool noticed a strong position in the mountain-gorge of Angostura, near the hacienda of Buena Vista. Here Taylor drew up his little army of five thousand men on the 1847.] FOLK S ADMINISTRATION. 45 5. morning of the 22d of February. The battle cry was, " The memory of Washington." The Mexicans began the engagement, and there was desultory fighting through the day. At two o clock the next morning, Santa Anna attempted to turn Tay lor s right flank ; then he launched a column on the centre ; next he dealt a heavy blow on the left flank ; finally he led his entire reserve in a terrific charge upon the centre, hoping to carry the gorge, the key to Taylor s position. The Americans were almost overwhelmed by their assailants ; but the artillery held its ground, and the Mexican lancers, torn to pieces by repeated dis charges of grape-shot fired at point-blank range, broke and fled. Night came, and the American army lay on its arms. Morning revealed the enemy in full flight. While the Mexicans were, in general, cruel and treacherous in their treatment of our soldiers, living and dead, it is pleasant to note, for the sake of our humanity, some of the exceptions which occurred. One has already been mentioned. Whittier, in his "Angels of Buena Vista," commemorates another. While the conflict was raging, some Mexican women were hovering near, waiting for an opportunity to minister to the wounded. After the firing ceased, they ventured on the field, "And their holy task pursued, Through that long, dark night of sorrow, worn, and faint, and lacking food ; Over weak and suffering brothers with a tender care they hung, And the dying foeman blessed them in a strange and Northern tongue. " Not wholly lost, O Father, is this evil world of ours ; Upward through its blood and ashes spring afresh the Eden flowers ; From its smoking hell of battle, Love and Pity send their prayer, And still thy white-winged angels hover dimly in the air ! " Many anecdotes are told concerning General Taylor s exploits in this battle, which were used with great effect in the next presi dential campaign. On the first day, a Mexican officer, coming with a message from Santa Anna, found Taylor sitting on his white horse, with one leg over the pommel of his saddle. The officer asked him, " What are you waiting for? " He answered, " For Santa Anna to surrender." After the officer s return, a battery opened on Taylor s position, but he remained coolly sur veying the enemy with his spy-glass. Some one suggesting that " Whitey " was too conspicuous a horse for the battle, he replied that " the old fellow had missed the fun at Monterey, and he 456 CULMINATION OF DOMESTIC DIFFICULTIES. [1847. should have his share this time." Mr. Crittenden, having gone to Santa Anna s headquarters, was told if General Taylor would surrender, he should be protected. Mr. Crittenden replied, " General Taylor never surrenders." In the crisis of the fight, the enemy made a desperate attack on a battery commanded by Braxton Bragg. General Taylor is said to have ridden up to him and cried out, " A little more grape, Captain Bragg." This polite and epigrammatic expression, the like of which seldom fell from " Old Rough and Ready s " lips, has become historical. What he did say, as repeated to the writer by one who heard it, was much more emphatic and a great deal more profane. The account of the battle given some years afterward by General Taylor himself, is of interest, not so much, perhaps, as showing the movement of the forces in detail, as giving a general idea of the matter. It was told to Judge Butler, who had lost a brother, the colonel of the celebrated Palmetto Regiment, in one of the most gallant charges of the battle. The judge was natur ally anxious to know the particulars of the engagement, and Gen eral Taylor had promised to gratify him on a day fixed, when he should dine with him. As soon as they were alone, he opened the subject : " Yes, yes, judge," said the general, " your brother was a brave man, and behaved like a true soldier. But about the battle you want to know how it was fought? " " Yes, general, if you will be so kind. I wish to learn how your troops were disposed on the field, and how you posted them to resist a force so overwhelming. Santa Anna must have out numbered you four or five to one." " The difference was greater than that, I think, but we didn t stop to count the Mexicans. I knew there was a heavy force, and longed for a couple of regiments more of regulars." " Undoubtedly ; but what was your order of battle ? " " Why, why, you see, judge, we went to fighting early in the morning the first day, and we fit all day long, losing a good many men, and at night it looked pretty bad." "Well, what next?" " When it got dark, I rode over to Saltillo to look after our stores and to provide against a surprise." " Why did you go yourself? Why not send one of your aids? " " You see, judge, everything depended on not having our supplies cut off, and I wanted to see after things myself." 1847.] FOLK S ADMINISTRATION. 457 " How was it the next morning when you came on the field ? " " Not much change since the night before." " Who was the first man you met ? " " General Wool." " And what did he say ? " " * All is lost/ " " What was your reply ? " u May be so, general we ll see. And upon that we went to fighting again, and fit all that day, and toward night it looked better." The judge, looking rather blank, asked, " What next? " " Well, the next morning it was reported to me that Santa Anna and all his men had disappeared in the night, and I was devilish glad to be rid of them so." Two weeks after the battle of Buena Vista, General Winfield Scott landed an army of twelve thousand men near Vera Cruz. With the exception of Quebec, this is the most strongly fortified city in America. The Mexicans had such faith in its strength that they left a garrison of only five thousand troops, bidding them remember that the city was named Vera Cruz, the Invinci ble. The American guns opened fire on the 22d of March. In four days a breach was made. Preparations for an assault had already commenced, when a white flag was displayed on the walls, and negotiations were begun which resulted in a capitula tion on the 2Qth. April 8th, our forces advanced toward the city of Mexico. No resistance was met until the army reached the village of Plan del Rio, near the mountain-pass of Cerro Gordo. Here Santa Anna was entrenched with a large army. His position seemed impregnable ; but by the skill of our engineers, Lee and Beaure- gard, a path was cut through the forest around the base of the mountain, and cannon were drawn up the precipice by ropes to a height overlooking the enemy s lines. Thence a plunging fire was opened upon them, simultaneously with an assault in front. The Mexicans abandoned their works, their general fleeing on mule-back so hastily as to leave behind him his private papers and his wooden leg. The next day the army entered Jalapa. Thence advancing, it captured the castle of Perote, on a peak of the Cordilleras, and, May 1 5th , took possession of Puebla. The inhabitants, flocking to see the troops, were grievously disap pointed by the plain blue which contrasted so greatly with the 458 CULMINATION OF DOMESTIC DIFFICULTIES. ON THE SUMMIT OF THE CORDILLERAS. gaudy Mex ican uniform. They could account for the defeat of their armies only by say ing, " The American lead ers are gray-headed men." The time of enlistment of many of his regiments expiring, Scott was now compelled to check his victorious career. It was not until the beginning of August that he resumed the march with ten thousand men. The route was a toilsome one over steep ascent:, to the crest of the Cordilleras, where the beautiful valley of Mexico burst upon their view. Rapidly de scending, the army soon reached Ayotla, only fifteen miles from the capital. Thenceforward the route bristled with fortifications. To avoid them, a new road was cut to the south. Rounding Lakes Chalco and Xochimilco, Scott reached San Augustin, only ten miles from the city. Then began the siege. From the 2Oth of August to the I3th of September, history records a series of brilliant assaults. The entrenched camp of Contreras, the tete du pont of Churubusco, the foundry of Molino del Rey, the fortress of Casa Mata, and the frowning citadel of Chapultepec, mark the successive stages in the triumphant progress of the American arms. On that last 1847-8.] FOLK S ADMINISTRATION. 459 day, the troops swept all before them, chasing the defeated Mex icans through the gates into the very suburbs. Night alone saved the city. Concealed by the darkness, Santa Anna fled. At sunrise in the morning, the army entered the city, and soon the flag of the Union was waving over the Halls of the Monte- zumas. Foremost among the defenders of Chapultepec, were the stu dents of the military school. Amid the storm of the assault, these gallant lads were seen fighting heroically to drive back the in vader from the scene of their study and their sports. " Pretty little fellows ! " wrote an officer, " I am sad when I think of their faces dabbled with blood or convulsed with the agony of a gun shot wound, or when I remember the mothers whose sons, hardly more than babies, were in that cruel fight." Within six months, Scott had stormed the strongest places in the country, won battles against armies double, treble, and even quadruple his own, and marched without a single reverse from Vera Cruz to Mexico. He had lost fewer men, made fewer mistakes, and caused less devastation in proportion to his victo ries, than any invading general of former times. The capture of Mexico finished the war. The treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was concluded February 2, 1848. New Mexico and Upper California were ceded to the United States, and the western boundary of Texas was fixed at the Rio Grande. In return, our government agreed to pay fifteen millions of dollars, and to assume debts due American citizens by the Mex ican government to the amount of three million five hundred thousand dollars. The war had cost us about twenty-five thou sand men and one hundred and sixty million dollars. The pen with which President Polk signed the treaty was pre sented by his widow to the Tennessee Historical Society. During this war several young officers distinguished them selves who, fifteen years later, on a broader field, attracted the attention of the world. Among them were Grant, McClellan, Lee, Beauregard, Hill, Jackson, Hooker, Longstreet, Buell, John ston, Lyon, Anderson, Kearney, Reynolds, French, Sherman, Thomas, Ewell, Sumner, and Davis. Of those officers especially mentioned by Scott in his despatches, fourteen became generals in the Confederate service and sixteen in that of the Federals. John Quincy Adams died February 23d. Though eighty years of age, he was still at work, and his final illness seized him 460 CULMINATION OF DOMESTIC DIFFICULTIES. [1848. at his desk in the House of Representatives. His dying words were, " This is the last of earth ! I am content ! " The Democratic nominee for President was Lewis Cass of Michigan, and for Vice-President, William O. Butler of Ken tucky. The Whigs, despairing of electing a statesman, like Web ster, Calhoun, or Clay, determined upon one whose military reputation would carry weight with the masses, as it did in the case of Harrison eight years before. General Taylor was there fore selected as their candidate for President, Millard Fillmore of New York being placed on the ticket for Vice-President. The Anti-Slavery, or " Free Soil " party, so called because its motto was " Free soil to a free people," met at Buffalo and nomi nated Martin Van Buren for President, and Charles Francis Adams, son of John Quincy Adams, for Vice-President. It polled only three hundred thousand votes, but is of interest as the germ of what became subsequently the Republican party. The election resulted in favor of the Whig ticket, the Free Soilers casting enough votes in the State of New York to give its thirty-six electoral votes to Taylor and Fillmore, accomplishing an opposite result from that of four years before. Iowa, the twenty-ninth State, was admitted to the Union December 28, 1846. It was named from a tribe of Indians, meaning "The Drowsy Ones." In 1788, a French Canadian named Julian Dubuque acquired here a large tract of land, and engaged in fur- trading and lead-mining. The region was not thrown open to settlers until after the Black Hawk War. The first permanent settlement was made at Burlington, 1833, by emigrants from Illinois. Dubuque was also founded during the same year. Iowa was successively a part of Missouri, Michigan, and Wisconsin Territories, and when organized as a Territory itself, included all of Minnesota west of the Mississippi River. When admitted as a State, it was reduced to its present limits. Wisconsin, the thirtieth State, was admitted to the Union, May 29, 1848. It takes its name from its principal river, signifying " The gathering of the waters." In 1639, the French mission aries, trappers, and traders explored and occupied the country west of Lake Michigan. The first settlement was at Prairie du Chien the dog-prairie. The region was held under French dominion until ceded in 1763 to England. Canadian laws gov erned the territory, and the English kept possession with a military force at Green Bay until 1796, when it reverted to the 1849.] TAYLOR S ADMINISTRATION. 461 United States under the treaty. From 1809 to 1818, it was a portion of the Territory of Illinois ; it then became attached to Michigan, and in 1836 received a separate organization. Zachary Taylor was inaugurated Monday, March 5, 1849. He was the seventh President of the United States born in Virginia. After the Revolution, his father, a colonel in that struggle, removed to Kentucky. On the " dark and bloody ground " young Taylor imbibed those instincts which made him afterward such a successful leader against the Seminoles in Florida. During the war of 1812, with only twenty men, he so gallantly defended Fort Harrison, on the Wabash, against a large body of Miami Indians, that Madison made him major by brevet the first honor of the kind ever conferred in the American army. In 1840, he became a planter at Baton Rouge. He was a Jeffer- sonian in principle, but was not a partisan. Indeed, it was said during the presidential campaign, that he had not voted for forty years, and that a nomination by the Democrats would have been equally acceptable to him. When interrogated as to his political principles, he replied in substance, " I am General Taylor, the conqueror of Buena Vista." His inaugural was a plain document, as became one more used to the sword than the pen. A single sentence has been often quoted : " We are at peace with all the world and the rest of mankind." Yet its strong sense and fervent patriotism made it highly acceptable to the people. The new cabinet was composed of able men John M. Clay ton of Delaware, Secretary of State ; William M. Meredith of Pennsylvania, Secretary of the Treasury ; George W. Crawford of Georgia, Secretary of War ; William B. Preston of Virginia, Secretary of the Navy ; Thomas Ewing of Ohio, Secretary of the Interior (the first appointment to this office) ; Jacob Collamer of Vermont, Postmaster-General ; and Reverdy Johnson of Mary land, Attorney-General. The Secretary of the Navy proved an apt scholar, and admin istered the affairs of his department successfully, but at the time of his appointment he was singularly ignorant of its details. On one occasion he was paying his first official visit to the Gosport Navy Yard at Norfolk. Commodore Skinner, in command, was a " sea-dog " who to a rather insignificant person added a con tempt for forms and dress. He received the Secretary on the Pennsylvania, the finest ship in the service. The boatswain was a large, handsome man, attired in the uniform of his grade, and 462 CULMINATION OF DOMESTIC DIFFICULTIES. [1849-50. was conspicuous among the crowd of officers. Mr. Preston took him to be the commander, rushed up, and, seizing his hand, shook it with great warmth. This blunder produced much merriment, and when, a few moments later, the Secretary, looking down the main hatchway and r \ If^L/// /// / / discovering the pe- culiarity of the ship s construction, ex claimed, " My ! SECRETARY PRESTON AN D THE BOATSWAIN. she s hollow ! " it was too much, even for the stern discipline of a man-of-war, and an explosion of laughter followed that reached from the forecastle to the quarter-deck. About this time, an invention was brought prominent ly before the people which has revolu tionized the domestic affairs of the world and released woman from much of the tyranny of the needle. In 1845, Elias Howe, one of the benefactors of his race, made a sewing-machine essentially like the one now in use. Meeting with little success in its sale, he went to Europe, where he lived for some years in great destitution. On his return in 1849, he found that he had a competitor in I. M. Singer, who had made some improvements in the machine and was rapidly introducing it to the notice of the public. Howe claimed his own, and after much litigation it was allowed. Both of these inventors began poor, and gained fortunes Howe, two million dollars, and Singer, nineteen million. The first session of Congress under the new administration, known as the " Congress of 1850," was a memorable one. Some of the most brilliant statesmen in our history Clay, Calhoun, Webster, Benton, Dickinson, and Seward were prominent in its deliberations. Slavery was then, as it continued to be during the decade, the all-absorbing topic of discussion. Its shadow haunted every question of the day ; it was a " Banquo " that would never 1850.] TAYLOR S ADMINISTRATION. 463 " down " at any bidding. The present issue was upon the admission of California as a free State. Debate waxed hot. A dissolution of the Union seemed at times inevitable. " Five bleeding wounds," as Clay termed them, were opened to the gaze of the world. The famous " Omnibus Bill," brought forward by the " Great Pacificator," as Clay was henceforth called, was in tended to be a healing-plaster for them all. He proposed the admission of California as a free State ; the formation of terri torial governments for Utah and New Mexico, without any provision concerning slavery ; the payment of ten million dol lars to Texas to give up its claim to the Territory of New Mexico ; the prohibition of the slave-trade in the District of Columbia ; and a fugitive slave law, enacting that slaves escap ing to a free State should be returned to their owners. This plan of compromise was sustained by the match less eloquence of Clay and the unanswerable arguments of Webster. During the de bate, William H. Seward of New York attacked the meas ure in his famous " Higher Law " speech, which was con densed by an opponent in a single sentence : " A senator rises in his place, and proclaims that he holds his credentials from Almighty God, authorizing him to reject all human enactments." The effect of the bill, which finally passed, was to repeal the Mis souri Compromise of 1820, leaving the inhabitants of the incoming State to regulate the question of slavery. In the midst of this exciting debate, the country was startled and saddened by the death of General Taylor. He was the sec ond President who had died in office. His administration was too brief to determine fully its character or influence. He possessed an old-fashioned patriotism that breathed the very spirit of Washington, and he favored every measure that tended to perpet- GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR. 464 CULMINATION OF DOMESTIC DIFFICULTIES. [1850. uate the Union. His last public appearance was at the celebra tion of the birthday of our national liberties, only five days before his death ; and his last official act was to sign the Clayton-Bulwer treaty between this country and Great Britain, which settled their respective rights and privileges relating to canal communication across Central America. Confronting death with the declaration, " I am prepared ; I have endeavored to do my duty," the war worn hero, beloved by many and the enemy of none, passed away. It was his first and last surrender. The Vice-President, Millard Fillmore, took the oath of office the next day, and at once filled the vacancy. He was born in Cayuga county, New York, January 7, 1800. He learned the fuller s trade, taught school for several years, and was finally ad mitted to the bar. He afterward practised law at Buffalo with marked success. His public life had consisted of one term as State comptroller and four as congressman. His nomination to the vice-presidency, as well as his action in office, tended to in crease the feeling between the two factions of the Whig party in New York, and make it of national significance. The " rock of offence " was slavery. Those who believed with Fillmore in the Compromise measures of Clay were called "Silver-Grays" or " Snuff-takers " ; while those who followed the lead of Seward were denominated " Seward-Whigs " or " Woolly-heads." The new President selected as his cabinet Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, Secretary of State ; Thomas Corwin of Ohio, Secretary of the Treasury; C. M. Conrad of Louisiana, Secretary of War ; W. A. Graham of North Carolina, Secretary of the Navy ; Alexander H. H. Stuart of Virginia, Secretary of the Interior; N. K. Hall of New York, Postmaster-General; and J. J. Critten- den of Kentucky, Attorney-General. California was admitted to the Union as a free State, Septem ber 9, 1850. A Spaniard named Cabrillo visited the country as early as 1542. Later, Sir Francis Drake sailed along the coast on one of his buccaneering expeditions, and spent a part of the sum mer of 1579 m the harbor of San Francisco. He called the region New Albion, but the English took no advantage of his discoveries. The name California first occurs in the writings of Diaz, an officer who served under Cortes in the conquest of Mexico. Some have thought it to be derived from the Latin words Calida Fornax, or the Spanish Caliente fornalla, both meaning " hot furnace." The Span iards made the first permanent settlements about 1768 ; a number 1848-50.] FILLMORE S ADMINISTRATION. 465 of Franciscan friars founding religious establishments, or presi dios, for the conversion of the natives. They taught the Indians to cultivate the vine, the fig, and the olive, and to build houses of sun-dried bricks called adobe. In 1822, the Mexicans overthrew the Spanish power in California, and the fathers were stripped of all their influence and property. The entire population in 1831 was about twenty-three thousand, of whom eighteen thousand were Indian converts. Many emigrants from the United States now began to settle in its fertile valleys. It was, however, an isolated land, visited only by an occasional ship to buy hides and tallow. In 1846, Colonel Fremont, then on an exploring tour through Oregon and California, received orders to watch over the interests of the United States in that region, as there was reason to suppose that the country might be transferred to Great Britain. He had only sixty-two men in his party, but the fron tier-men raised the " bear flag " and flocked to his aid. In con junction with Commodore Stockton and General Kearney, he took possession of California, and held it until it was ceded to the United States at the close of the Mexican War. On the 2d of February, 1848, a man by the name of James Mar shall, superintendent of a new saw-mill belonging to Captain John A. Sutter, came riding wildly into Sacramento. He trembled as he showed to his employer a thimbleful of shining particles of gold which he had just picked up in the mill-race, where he had been at work. They tried to keep the matter a secret, but it was soon out. All ordinary employments were laid aside. Ships were deserted by their crews, who ran to the mines, sometimes, it is said, headed by their officers. The news spread over the world. Thousands rushed to this real El Dorado, over the deso late plains, across the sickly isthmus, and around the stormy cape. In a little over a year, California had a population entitling it to admission as a State. The bay of San Francisco was soon sur rounded by an extemporized town of shanties and booths. The city flourished " like the magic seed of the Indian juggler, w r hich grew, blossomed, and bore fruit before the eyes of the spectator." Most of the immigrants were energetic, daring, reckless men, and its early history is filled with violence, wrong, and bloodshed. A " vigilance committee " was finally organized, which took the man agement of affairs into its own hands, arresting, trying, and pun ishing offenders without fear or favor. For five years justice was administered in this unauthorized but effectual manner. In 1856, 30 466 CULMINATION OF DOMESTIC DIFFICULTIES. [1.850. the last vigilance committee surrendered its power to the regular officers of the law. San Francisco has been six times nearly destroyed by fire, the total loss being estimated at twenty million dollars. Sacramento and other large towns have suffered in like manner. Yet such have been the thrift and energy of the people, that hardly a month Pacific Ocean. BIRD S-EYE VIEW OF SAN FRANCISCO. The Golden Gate. would elapse before almost every trace of the disaster had disap peared. The whole history of the State seems to belong rather to the realms of fancy than to the sober fields of reality. Although the Compromise measures of Clay produced a tem porary lull in the slavery agitation in Congress, they convulsed the country at large. " The complex, cumbersome, expensive, annoying, and ineffective Fugitive Slave Law," as Benton termed it, satisfied neither party. At the North, generally, it was silently disregarded. In many places, however, it was bitterly opposed, and the legislatures of some of the States afterward passed " Per sonal Liberty Bills," by which it was practically nullified. On the other hand, the slave-holding States were exasperated by the tone of the abolitionists, and the difficulties which they met when ever they attempted to recover their fugitive slaves. Riots oc curred at Boston, Buffalo, Syracuse, and other points, and the whole country was stirred by the tides of passion. 1850.] FILLMORE S ADMINISTRATION. 467 The power of fiction was never more strikingly illustrated than in the influence exerted by a novel which first appeared in the summer of 1850 in the National Era, a weekly newspaper pub lished in Washington. The opening chapters of " Uncle Tom s Cabin" attracted immediate attention, and the story, which its author, Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe, had intended to be brief, at the wish of the publisher and the urgent demand of the public, expanded into two volumes. It touched the popular pulse at a sensitive moment, and wherever it was read it intensified the feel ing on the engrossing question of the day. The sale of the work was unparalleled. Half a million copies are said to have been sold in this country, and as many more in Europe. It has been trans lated into all the principal languages of the world, there being thirteen or fourteen different editions in Germany alone. During this decade, a bright galaxy of literary stars came to the meridian. For years William Cullen Bryant had shone serenely as the one truly American poet ; while Washington Irving and J. Fenimore Cooper, the first American novelist, were the national prose-writers, and divided with each other the honors of a European recognition. Longfellow, our poet-laureate, now began to be heard in those strains that are destined to " echo down the corridors of time"; Whittier, the Quaker poet of New England, with his verses full of love for humanity, had sung his way to the hearts of the people ; Edgar Allan Poe, the unfortu nate, had written " The Raven " and " The Bells " hints of what he might have done had he overcome his besetting sin and had closed his unfortunate career, all untimely ; Nathaniel Hawthorne, attracting attention in 1846 through his "Mosses from an Old Manse," by the " Scarlet Letter " and " Marble Faun " had won a place at the head of novelists ; Prescott s " Ferdinand and Isabella," " Conquest of Mexico," and " Philip II.," had proved him a master of historical composition ; and Bancroft had begun our one great National History. In other, also, than purely lit erary fields was this period especially active. Albert Barnes in Biblical research and commentary ; Agassiz in natural history ; Henry in electricity ; Silliman in chemistry ; Hall and Dana in geology ; and many other authors and scientific men, contributed to human knowledge with a prodigality that seemed to leave small gleanings for those who were to follow. What is known as the " Manifest Destiny " of our country, i. e., the possession and control of the whole American continent, be- 468 CULMINATION OF DOMESTIC DIFFICULTIES. [1850-1. came a favorite theme with the rising generation of politicians. Cuba especially, said they, should belong to the United States. They imagined that the people of the " ever faithful isle " were anxious for annexation, and that only a demonstration was neces sary to induce the Cubans to rise tumultuously and throw off the Spanish yoke. As the natural outcropping of this mistaken idea, a filibustering expedition was formed at New Orleans. About six hundred adventurers sailed under the command of General Lopez, disguised, however, as emigrants bound for Chagres. They landed at Cardenas on the iQth of May, 1850, defeated the Spanish troops, and captured the governor and his palace. But Lopez, disap pointed in not receiving any accessions to his numbers, and un able to hold that which he had won, was glad to escape with some of his followers, leaving the rest to the tender mercies of the Spanish authorities. The United States promptly disavowed the attempt. The next year, Lopez, with four hundred and eighty men, landed on the northern shore of Cuba. His little army was soon scattered. He was hunted down by blood-hounds, cap tured, and garroted. In 1850, the world-famous Swedish singer, Jenny Lind, ar rived in America on the Atlantic, one of the Collins steamers, an American line that had just been established. On the I2th of September, she gave her opening concert at Castle Garden, New York, the receipts being about thirty thousand dollars. The fact is significant, since she was the first of that constantly-increasing number of foreign vocalists who so largely promote a taste for musical culture among our people. Charles Sumner of Massachusetts first took his seat in the Senate of the United States in 1851. Already widely known as a scholar and philanthropist, he at once took a foremost rank in the councils of the nation. In April of this year the Erie Railway was opened. At the commencement of the enterprise, the State of New York loaned the company bonds to the amount of three million dollars. A sub sequent act relieved the road from their payment on condition that a single track should be completed and engines passed over it from the Hudson River to Lake Erie before the middle of May, 1851. A train having on board the directors went from New York to Dunkirk, four hundred and seventy miles, April 28th and 29th, thus releasing the road from its obligation, and virtually making its earnings three million dollars for two days. 1851-5.] FILLMORE S ADMINISTRATION. 469 On the 4th of July, the corner-stone of the extension of the Capitol at Washington was laid by President Fillmore, with ap propriate and imposing ceremonies, Daniel Webster delivering the oration. The cost of the building when completed was over twelve million dollars. The return of the Advance and Rescue in the fall excited a world-wide interest. These vessels had been sent out by Mr. Henry Grinnell of New York, a year and a half before, to search for Sir John Franklin. The party had undergone great hardship and peril, but had not lost a life. To the regret of all, the quest had been unsuccessful. This expedition made known to the pub lic the name of Dr. E. K. Kane, who had acted as its surgeon, a young man whose patient investigations, intelligence, and high culture received the praise of all who read the delightful Narra tive which he published. Principally through his enthusiasm, an expedition was fitted out for him by Mr. Grinnell, which sailed from New York May 30, 1853, and did not return until October n, 1855. He failed in the main object of his search, but discov ered what was supposed to be an Open Polar Sea. Near the close of the year 1851, there arrived upon our shores the distinguished Hungarian exile, Louis Kossuth. He was received at New York with honors such as had been paid to no foreigner since the time of Lafayette. The people everywhere welcomed him as the exponent of European democracy, and thronged to hear his impassioned appeals in behalf of his native land. He secured about one hundred thousand dollars, with which he returned. Events not favoring a political revolution, he made himself comfortable, it is said, with our patriotic contri butions. As to the United States China opened first her closed ports and doors, so was it with her neighbor, Japan. The detention in captivity of our sailors shipwrecked on its inhospitable shores demanded relief. A fleet was accordingly sent to Japan, under the command of Commodore Perry, a brother of the hero of Lake Erie. In the summer of 1853, his vessels entered the port of Yeddo, the first steamers that had ever floated on Japanese waters. After great embarrassments, he negotiated a treaty which secured for American merchants two ports of entry. The last year of Fillmore s administration was marked by the death of two of our most illustrious citizens. Henry Clay died June 29, 1852, aged seventy-five. To the very last, his efforts 4/0 CULMINATION OF DOMESTIC DIFFICULTIES. [1852. ASHLAND, THE HOME OF HENRY CLAY. were directed to the preservation of the Union and to offices of peace and good-will. His cordial manner, his splendid personal presence, the magnetism of his oratory, and the fascination of his conversation had made him more beloved than any public man our country has ever seen. His death was taken home to the hearts of the people as if he were a member of each household. Calhoun had died two years before, and Daniel Webster, the last of the great trio, followed Clay in less than four months. The feeling of the nation at the loss of Webster, the grandest orator and the greatest statesman of his age, is well expressed in the beautiful words of Everett : "It is all over! The last struggle is past ; the strug gle, the strife, the anxiety, the pain, the turmoil of life is over ; the tale is told, and finished and ended. It is told and done ; and the seal of death is set upon it. Henceforth, that great life, marked at every step; chronicled in journals ; waited on by crowds ; told to the whole country by telegraphic tongues of flame that great life shall be but a history, a biography, a tale told in an evening tent. In the tents of life, it shall long be recited ; but no word shall reach the ear of that dead sleeper by the ocean shore. Fitly will he rest there. Like the granite rock, like the heaving ocean, was his mind! Let the rock guard his rest; let the ocean sound his dirge ! " The Democratic party met in convention at Baltimore June ist, and nominated for President, General Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire, and for Vice-President, William R. King of Alabama. It passed the celebrated rule which occasioned so much disturb ance at subsequent conventions, that two-thirds of all the dele gates present were necessary to a nomination. The contest for the selection of candidates lasted four days, and the forty-ninth ballot was taken before a result was reached. The Whig convention, also held at Baltimore in June, was the last one of that party. It nominated for President, General Win- field Scott, and for Vice-President, William A. Graham of North Carolina. The other candidates were Daniel Webster and Millard 1853.] PIERCE S ADMINISTRATION. 471 Fillmore. Webster, when the result was announced to him, replied, " Feathers and tar," the former alluding to the love of display and decoration which was popularly supposed to be one of the characteristics of General Scott, and the latter to the chief product of the State from which the candidate for Vice-President came. Both parties pledged themselves distinctly to the compro mise measures of 1850. The " Free Soilers " held a convention at Pittsburg, and put in nomination for the presidency, John P. Hale of New Hampshire, and for the vice-presidency, George W. Julian of Indiana. The Democratic ticket was successful, Pierce receiving two hundred and fifty-four out of two hundred and ninety-six votes. Franklin Pierce was inaugurated fourteenth President of the United States, March 4, 1853. He was in the fiftieth year of his age, being the youngest person yet chosen to that office. He had occupied no very prominent place in American politics, and a significant query of the time was, "Who is Franklin Pierce?" He was born at Hillsborough, N. H., November 23, 1804. He was a graduate of Bowdoin College and a lawyer by profession. He had served his State for four years in her legislature, two terms in the House of Representatives, and one term in the Senate. During the Mexican war, he fought with credit under Scott, being wounded at Churubusco. March 7th, the Senate, in special session, confirmed the cabinet appointments. William L. Marcy of New York became Secre tary of State ; James Guthrie of Kentucky, Secretary of the Treasury ; Robert McClelland of Michigan, Secretary of the Interior; Jefferson Davis of Mississippi, Secretary of War; James C. Dobbin of North Carolina, Secretary of the Navy; James Campbell of Pennsylvania, Postmaster-General ; and Caleb Gushing of Massachusetts, Attorney-General. Shortly after his inauguration, the President attended, July i4th, the opening exercises of the World s Fair at the Crystal Palace in New York. It was the first exhibition of the kind ever held in this country. The display of articles was creditable and the attendance was large, but the expenses were so great as to swallow up the entire investment of the stockholders. The end was most disastrous. In October, 1858, the building was burned, destroying much property, especially many valuable works of art, among which were the colossal group by Thorwaldsen of 472 CULMINATION OF DOMESTIC DIFFICULTIES. [1853-6. " Christ and his Apostles," and the statue by Kiss of the "Amazon and the Tiger." A difficulty arose with Austria during this year concerning Martin Koszta, a Hungarian who had fled to this country and declared his intention to become an American citizen. Returning to Smyrna on business, he was arrested and carried on board an Austrian vessel. Captain Ingraham, of the American sloop-of- war St. Louis, happened to arrive in port and learning the facts, demanded his instant surrender. Koszta was given up, but a lengthy diplomatic correspondence ensued with the Austrian government. The result was to evince the determination of the United States to defend its citizens from insult in every part of the world. The map used in making the treaty with Mexico proved to be imperfect, and a misunderstanding arose concerning the Mesilla valley, which was claimed by both governments. A new treaty was thereupon negotiated with Mexico by James Gadsden of South Carolina, by which the United States secured the coveted territory on the payment of ten million dollars. The great event of this administration was the passage, in May, 1854, of a bill presented by Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois, to organize the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska. It involved a principle which he termed " Popular or Squatter Sovereignty," by which a new State should decide for itself whether or not slavery should exist within its borders. The sectional excitement, which had lulled for a time, flamed out anew. During subsequent discussions in the Senate, Sumner made some reflections upon Senator Butler of South Carolina, and after adjournment on the 22d of May, 1856, Preston S. Brooks, a member of the House and a nephew of Butler s, assaulted Sumner in his seat, inflicting severe injuries. The North declared the bill a repudiation of the Missouri Compro mise. The South, with the Douglas men, averred that the Compromise of 1850 had superseded the older act. Both sides poured parties of armed emigrants into Kansas. A society incor porated by the legislature of Massachusetts sent thither, during 1855, one thousand three hundred persons. Soon white-topped wagons, carrying the families of emigrants, with all their posses sions, went streaming in long trains over the prairie. The Territory was thus rapidly settled. One who visited Leavenworth in 1854, described the scene as follows: " There 1854.] PIERCE S ADMINISTRATION. 473 was one steam-engine, naked as when it was born, but at work, sawing out its clothes. There were four tents, all on one street, a barrel of whiskey under a tree, and a pot on a pole over the fire. Under another tree, a type-setter had his case before him, and was at work on the first number of the new paper ; and within a i> \ J&3 i/n SCENES IN KANSAS. frame, without a board on side or roof, was the editor s desk and sanctum. When we re turned, we saw a notice, stat ing that the editor had removed his office from under the elm tree to the corner of Broad way and the Levee. This Broadway was, at that time, much broader than the streets of old Babylon ; for, with the exception of the fort, there was probably not a house on either side for thirty miles." Lawrence was a city of tents. Two Massachusetts women had opened a boarding- house upon the hill. " In the open air, on some logs of wood, two rough boards were laid across for a table, and on wash-tubs, and kegs, and blocks, they and their boarders were seated at their meal." Meanwhile disturbances had occurred at the elections. Mis souri, which lay neighbor to the scene, had sent over men who 474 CULMINATION OF DOMESTIC DIFFICULTIES. [1855-9. simply voted and then returned across the river. As the result, a pro-slavery government was organized at Lecompton. The free- State inhabitants refusing to take part in this, established an anti- slavery one at Topeka. Soon there were two sets of authorities. Civil war ensued. " Jay-hawkers " harried the country. Murders were frequent. No one dared to travel a public highway without an escort. The exploits of the famous partisan leaders, John Brown, Montgomery, Hamilton, Law, and others, make a page of our history which one would gladly pass over in silence. The deeds of horror recorded therein give a fearful import to the phrase of the times " Bleeding Kansas." Thus, May 19, 1858, Hamilton, with a small party, entered the little town of Trading Post and carried off nine persons. Taking these into a ravine called Marais des Cygnes, he ranged them in a line and gave the word for his men to fire. Five of the prisoners were killed in stantly. The others feigned death, and so escaped. Within five years, six governors Reeder, Shannon, Geary, Walker, Denver, and Medary attempted the difficult task of restoring order in this Territory. Finally, at Wyandotte, July 29, 1859, Kansas adopted a free constitution, and during the admin istration of Buchanan was admitted into the Union. In 1855, William Walker conducted a party of fillibusters from San Francisco to Nicaragua, where a rebellion was in progress. There he artfully secured his election as president. Deceived by his success, hundreds joined his standard. But his party was eventually overpowered, many of his men died of dis ease, and, in 1857, tne miserable remnant was brought back by English and American vessels. There had arisen a violent prejudice against foreign-born citi zens, and especially Catholics. Numerous collisions took place in consequence. In New York, a ruffian named Baker killed another called Poole. The murdered man being an American, and his assailant a foreigner, the event was lifted into national import ance. The feeling drifted into politics, and the " Know-Noth ing " organization a secret society was formed. Its party cries, " Put none but Americans on guard ! " " Let Americans rule America ! " caught the popular ear. It carried the elections in nearly all the Northern States, and in the spring of 1855 it was the only opposition to Henry A. Wise, the Democratic candidate for governor in Virginia. In the Old Dominion, however, it was so thoroughly defeated, that its prestige began at once to wane. 1856-7.] BUCHANAN S ADMINISTRATION. 475 The contest for Speaker of the House of Representatives hav ing lasted for two months, with one hundred and thirty-three indecisive ballots, a plurality rule was agreed upon, February 2, 1856, under which Nathaniel P. Banks of Massachusetts was elected. He had been a Democrat, but was then an Anti-Slavery American or " Know-Nothing. " The Democrats in convention at Cincinnati nominated for President, James Buchanan of Pennsylvania, and for Vice-Presi dent, John C. Breckenridge of Kentucky. The Americans or Know-Nothings put in the field for President, Millard Fillmore, and for Vice-President, Andrew J. Donelson of Tennessee. Both of these parties, in their plat forms, pledged themselves to sus tain the Compromise measures of 1850 and the subsequent legisla tion of 1854. All the opponents of slavery united under the name of Repub licans. They held a convention at Philadelphia, June i/th, and selected as their candidate for President, John C. Fremont of California, and for Vice-President, William L. Dayton of New Jersey. The election resulted in favor of Buchanan and Breckenridge. On the popular vote, they had a minority of nearly four hundred thousand, but in the electoral college, a clear majority of sixty votes. The Republican ticket received a popular vote of one million three hundred thousand. James Buchanan was inaugurated the fifteenth President of the United States, March 4, 1857. He was born at Stony Batter, Pennsylvania, April 22, 1791 ; was graduated at Dickinson Col lege, and soon after prepared for the bar. From earliest man hood he had been in public life, serving as member of Congress, Senator, minister to Russia and to England, and as Secretary of State. He belonged to the old school of men and politicians ; and his age, his varied experience, and acknowledged abilities led the people to entertain high hopes of the incoming administration. JAMES BUCHANAN. 4/6 CULMINATION OF DOMESTIC DIFFICULTIES. [1857-8. The cabinet was composed as follows : Lewis Cass of Michi gan, Secretary of State ; Howell Cobb of Georgia, Secretary of the Treasury; John B. Floyd of Virginia, Secretary of War; Isaac Toucey of Connecticut, Secretary of the Navy ; Jacob Thompson of Mississippi, Secretary of the Interior ; Jeremiah S. Black of Pennsylvania, Attorney-General ; and Aaron V. Brown of Tennessee, Postmaster-General. A difficulty having arisen in Utah, owing to the unwillingness of the Mormons to submit to the decisions of the Federal judge, in 1857, Colonel Albert Sydney Johnston, with a sufficient force, was sent thither to maintain the laws of the United States. Be fore the arrival of the troops the matter was satisfactorily ad justed, the governor appointed by the President being accepted. The army was not withdrawn, however, for two years there after. The famous Dred Scott decision at this time added fresh fuel to the anti-slavery agitation. Dred Scott was a slave belonging to a surgeon in the army, who had taken him and his family to reside at Fort Snelling and afterward returned into Missouri. Suit was brought for his freedom on the ground of his having gone into territory where slavery was prohibited. Judge Taney affirmed that negroes were not citizens, and that Congress had no power under the Constitution to forbid slavery in the Territories. His decision contained the expression that " negroes have no rights which the white man is bound to respect," on which the changes were rung during the ensuing campaign with great effect. Minnesota, the thirty - second State, was admitted into the Union May n, 1858. It was so called from its principal river, which bears the Indian name for cloud-colored, or sky-tinted water. In 1680, Louis Hennepin, a Franciscan priest, with some fur- traders, floated down the Illinois river in a bark canoe, and then ascended the Upper Mississippi as far as the Great Falls, to which he reverently gave the name of St. Anthony. The region was not thoroughly explored until 1766, when Captain Jonathan Carver of Connecticut passed a winter among the Indians at the mouth of the Minnesota, near what is now New Ulm. This Territory belonged to the Louisiana purchase, and followed its fortunes. Fort Snelling was built in the summer of 1819. In 1837, lumber ing was commenced on the St. Croix. The first building on the site of St. Paul was erected in 1838. The Territory was organ ized in 1849. After the cession, in 1851, of the lands held by the 1859.] BUCHANAN S ADMINISTRATION. 477 Sioux Indians, there came a large influx of emigrants, and the country was rapidly settled and developed. Oregon, the thirty-third State of the Union, was admitted February 14, 1859. The name is supposed to have originated from the term orcgano, wild marjoram, which grows profusely on the coast. It was originally applied to all the territory on the Pacific between 42 and 54 40 north latitude. By the treaty with England in 1846, the northern boundary was cut down to the 49th degree. The Territories of Washington and Idaho were afterward carved out of its extensive bounds. In 1792, Cap tain Robert Gray sailed up the beautiful river which still bears the name of one of his vessels, the Columbia. The famous expe dition of Lewis and Clark in 1804 brought back the first intelli gent account of the wonders of the Pacific coast. In 1811, the American Fur Company, of which John Jacob Astor was presi dent, founded Astoria, the first settlement in the State. Emi gration set but slowly into the Territory until, in 1839, a band of Methodist missionaries settled in the Willamette Valley. In 1850, Congress passed the Donation Law, which gave three hundred and twenty acres of land to every bona fide settler, and the same to his wife, on condition of occupying the land before December ist, and remaining upon it four years. An additional act gave one hundred and sixty acres to one settling before December i, 1853. Eight thousand claims were registered under these laws. Marriageable daughters were probably never in such demand as in Oregon during those three years. Girls even of fourteen were eagerly sought out, and for some time thereafter the Territory had a large proportion of very young wives and mothers. In the year 1859, an event occurred which, according to the stand-point one occupies, appears a deed of philanthropy or the act of a lunatic. John Brown had been prominent in the guerilla warfare of Kansas, acquiring the title of " Ossawattomie," from a desperate defence which he made at that place against a party ten times stronger than his own. He had long held the idea that he was the destined liberator of the Southern slaves. Renting a house about six miles from Harper s Ferry, he col lected guns and pikes, and prepared for his fool-hardy adventure. In the night of October i6th, with twenty-one men, he seized the arsenal at the Ferry, and arrested the chief inhabitants of the town as hostages for the safety of his command. His plan was to arm 4/8 CULMINATION OF DOMESTIC DIFFICULTIES. [1860. the slaves who should rally to his aid, and, taking refuge in the mountains, to maintain a partisan warfare. But, like Lopez in his descent upon Cuba, he found those whom he had come to aid loath to rise at a mere demonstration of force. Not a negro joined him. The militia rapidly assembled. Two days after, a body of United States marines attacked the arsenal. Brown defended himself to the last. " With one son dead by his side, and another shot through, he felt the pulse of his dying son with one hand and held his rifle with the other." Ten of his party were killed and he received six wounds. He finally surrendered, was tried for trea son, condemned, and executed. On the way to the gallows, he stopped to kiss a little slave-child. It shows the feverish state of the public mind, and the positive feeling of enmity which existed between the two sections, that in the North a certain glamour was thrown about the character of Brown and his violation of law and destruction of life ; while at the South it was commonly believed that this was only the first outcropping of a general plot to incite insurrection among the slaves. It was all, however, but an indication of a coming tempest, and the John Brown raid assumes some character as having been an omen such as trouble and conflict, since the world began, have always sent out in advance of their definite appearance. The Republican party, at its convention at Chicago, May i6th, nominated for the presidency, Abraham Lincoln of Illinois, and for the vice-presidency, Hannibal Hamlin of Maine. It held that Congress should prohibit slavery in the Territories. The "Amer icans," who still sustained an organization, under the name of the "Constitutional Union" party, met at Baltimore May loth, and put in nomination for the presidency, John Bell of Tennessee, and for the vice-presidency, Edward Everett of Massachusetts. Its platform was, " The Constitution of the country, the Union of the States, and the enforcement of the laws." The Democratic delegates assembled at Charleston April 23d. The session was continued until May ist, when there had been fifty-seven ballots cast and no choice made. A portion of the convention, dissatis fied with one of the resolutions of the platform approving " squatter sovereignty," seceded, and organizing anew, adjourned to meet at Richmond, Va., on the nth of June, where it chose for the presidency, John C. Breckenridge of Kentucky, and for the vice-presidency, Joseph Lane of Oregon. Those who remained 1860-1.] LINCOLN S ADMINISTRATION. 479 adjourned to Baltimore, where, on the i8th of June, they nomi nated for president, Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois, and for vice- president, Herschel V. Johnson of Georgia. The former wing of the party believed that Congress should protect the rights of slaveholders in the Territories, and the latter that slavery or no slavery was a matter which concerned the inhabitants of the Territory only. The election resulted in favor of the Republican ticket. The successful candidates received, however, a minority both of the electoral and popular votes, the popular vote for Lincoln and Hamlin being one million eight hundred and fifty-seven thousand six hundred and ten, and for the other three tickets, two million eight hundred and four thousand five hundred and sixty. The selection of a " sectional President," as Lincoln was called, was the signal for immediate action. The leaders at the South had always held to the doctrine of State rights, maintaining that the Union was only an association which could be dissolved at pleasure. A convention was at once called in South Carolina, which passed an ordinance of secession December 24, 1860. The other cotton States rapidly followed. Mississippi enact ed a similar ordinance on the gih of January, 1861 ; Florida and Ala bama on the nth; Georgia, the 1 9th ; Louisiana, the 26th ; and Texas on the ist of February. A Peace Congress, consisting of delegates from twenty-one States, assembled at Washington Feb ruary 4th, ex-President Tyler being chosen chairman. The use- lessness of all efforts at reconciliation was shown by the fact that on that very day a convention was held at Montgomery, com prising delegates from the seven seceded States. There they entered into a new compact, which they called " The Confederate States of America," and established a provisional government, choosing Jefferson Davis of Mississippi for president, and Alex ander H. Stephens of Georgia for vice-president. The Federal property in the several seceded States was seized, and every ar rangement perfected for carrying on a separate government. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 480 CULMINATION OF DOMESTIC DIFFICULTIES. [1861. Ex-President Pierce had assured Davis that if a disruption of the Union should come, the fighting would not be along Mason and Dixon s line merely, but in the streets of northern cities, between the friends and the enemies of the South. It was a preva lent opinion, as expressed by President Buchanan, that, while a State had no right to go out of the Union, the government could not use coercive measures to keep it in, if, in its sovereign capacity, it should decide to go. Fort Pickens, at Pensacola, and Fort Sumter, in Charleston harbor, were still held by the United States. The former was saved to the North by the promptness of Lieutenant Slemmer, and the latter, by Major Anderson. Both of these officers, at the first approach of danger, had abandoned their weaker fortifica tions, and thrown themselves with all their forces into strong positions, where there was a chance for defence. An attempt was made to send supplies to Fort Sumter, but the steamer " Star of the West," which was conveying them, was fired upon by the Confederates and driven back. The whole future of the country depended upon the policy and acts of the incoming administration, and its first step was awaited with almost breathless interest. FORT SUMTER. PART IV. " We prayed and hoped; but still, with awe, The coming of the sword we saw ; We heard the nearing steps of doom. We saw the shade of things to come. In grief, which they alone can feel Who from a mother s wrong appeal, With blended lines of fear and hope We cast our country s horoscope. For still within her house of life, We marked the lurid sign of strife. And, poisoning and embittering all, We saw the star of Wormwood fall" WHITTIER. FMST CHAPTER XIII. OF THE CIVIL INCOLN left his home in Springfield, Illinois, for Washington, February 11, 1861. His parting words to the people among whom he had lived so long and who knew him best, were full of solemnity : " My friends, I cannot sufficiently express to you the sadness I feel at this moment. To you I owe all that I am. Here I have lived more than a quarter of a century ; here my children were born ; here one of them lies buried. I know not how soon I shall see you again. A duty devolves upon me perhaps greater than that which has devolved upon any man since the days of Wash ington. He never could have succeeded except for the aid of 484 FIRST YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. [""me?. 2 Divine Providence, upon which he at all times relied. I hope that you, my friends, will pray that I may receive that Divine assistance, without which I cannot succeed, but with which suc cess is certain." On the anniversary of Washington s birthday he stopped at Philadelphia to raise a flag over Independence Hall. It was an nounced that he would proceed on the morrow, but the excited condition of the populace in Baltimore led many to fear an at tempt at assassination. He, therefore, secretly took the night train the same eve, and reached the capital early the next morn ing. The inauguration ceremonies on the 4th of March passed off quietly under the protection of troops commanded by Lieutenant- General Scott. The President, in his address, asserted that the United States is not a League, but a Union ; denied the right of secession ; and declared his determination to occupy all the places belonging to the government, and to collect the duties and the imposts. The closing words, read in the light of history, seem almost prophetic : " We are not enemies, but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affec tion. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle field and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature." Abraham Lincoln was born in Larue county, Kentucky, Feb ruary 12, 1809. In 1816, his parents removed to Indiana, settling in the forest near the present village of Gentry ville. As Abraham grew up, he aided his father in clearing their new farm. His schooling was comprised within a single year. He, however, diligently read the few books he could secure Robinson Crusoe, Pilgrim s Progress, ^Esop s Fables, the History of the United States, the Life of Washington, and the Statutes of Indiana. At sixteen, he was managing a ferry across the Ohio for six dollars per month. Six feet four inches in height, a famous wrestler, a good story-teller and stump-speaker, he was already a marked character. In 1830, the family emigrated to Illinois, and erected a log-house at the north fork of the Sangamon. Here they cleared fifteen acres of land, young Lincoln splitting the rails for the fences. The next year, with some relatives, he built a flat-boat, and car ried a load of goods to New Orleans. During the Black Hawk War, he served as captain of a company ; at its close, having been March,-] 1861. J ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 485 LINCOLN S EARLY HOME IN ILLINOIS. discharged in Wisconsin, he made his way home partly on foot and partly on a raft down the Illinois river. A few years of adventure and incident brought him to the age of twenty-five, when he was elected to the legislature. In tl body he remained four terms, twice being the Whig candi date for speaker. He studied law at night, borrowing books of his friends after office-hours. Admitted to the bar, he at once became prominent. He was sent to Congress in 1846, where he opposed the annexation of Texas and the war with Mexico. His famous " spot resolutions " called upon the President to inform the nation of the place where the Mexicans had " shed the blood of our fellow-citizens on our own soil." In 1858, he was the acknowledged leader of the Republican party in the State, being nominated for United States Senator in place of Stephen A. Douglas. They canvassed the State together, and such was the ability manifested in their discussion of the ques tions at issue, that the debate became of national interest. From that time Lincoln s life is interwoven with the history of the country. Lincoln was a representative of the masses. For the first time the people had elected to the presidential chair one of their own number. He was the product of American institutions. Coming up out of the rude life of the frontier, dragged back by poverty and social surroundings, he lifted himself by the force of an hon est heart and inflexible will to a place among the few who have moulded the national destiny. Genial, sincere, free from vices, with a fund of sense, quick to read character,, fertile in resources, patient of repulse and injury, and steadfast in duty, he took the helm amid a tornado that would have swept by the board a magistrate guided only by expedients. " Four years of battle- days " proved him to be what the nation was slow to perceive, the man of his time. His first cabinet was composed of William H. Seward of New York, Secretary of State ; Salmon P. Chase of Ohio, Secretary of 486 FIRST YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. [ Mar i86| April> the Treasury ; Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania, Secretary of War ; Gideon Wells of Connecticut, Secretary of the Navy ; Caleb B. Smith of Indiana, Secretary of the Interior ; Montgomery Blair of Maryland, Postmaster-General ; Edward Bates of Missouri, Attorney-General. In 1862, Edwin M. Stanton succeeded Mr. Cameron; and John P. Usher of Indiana, Mr. Smith. In 1864, William Pitt Fessenden of Maine succeeded Mr. Chase. Events were now rapidly hurrying on to the one certain issue, war. Officers of the army and navy were daily resigning their positions, and accepting commissions from the secession authori ties. March 12, Forsyth of Alabama and Crawford of Georgia came to Washington as representatives of the Confederate gov ernment, authorized to settle amicably the disputed questions. The Federal authorities refused to recognize them officially ; but Seward was in frequent communication with them. At Washington all was doubt and uncertainty. There was no declaration of policy. The authorities feared to act lest they should precipitate the strife. As yet only the seven cotton States had seceded, but the eight remaining slave States threatened to go out if coercion were employed. So the tide was left to drift on as it would. There were no preparations for war, and few seemed to think an armed conflict possible. In striking contrast to this indecision, the Confederate government was taking the most vig orous action, gathering troops and collecting supplies. It had a plan, and pursued it steadily. All the utterances of its chief men indicated a determination that nothing could shake. What they called the "League of the States" was broken, and they neither wanted nor would accept any mending of the severed links. General Pierre G. T. Beauregard, in command at Charles ton, was throwing up batteries before Sumter, and even practic ing his gunners in getting the range, the shells bursting over and around its walls. The Washington authorities, after a month s hesitation, finally directed a fleet to carry provisions to that beleagured fortress. This being announced to the Confederate government at Mont gomery, orders were at once sent to General Beauregard to de mand of Major Anderson a surrender. Upon his refusal, fire was opened from all the forts and batteries. The first gun of the war was discharged at half-past four o clock Friday morning, April 1 2th, the match being held by Edmund Ruffin of Virginia, a white- haired old man who had been a personal friend of Calhoun. At April 12, 13,1 1861. ATTACK ON SUMTER. 487 seven o clock, Captain Abner Doubleday fired the first shot in defence of the Union. The bombardment lasted thirty-four hours. The walls of the fort were seriously injured, and the main gates destroyed ; the barracks having caught fire, the magazine was so surrounded by the flames that Anderson ordered the powder to be thrown into the sea. The garrison, only sixty-four in all, worn ATTACK ON FORT SUMTER FROM MORRIS ISLAND. (From a Sketch taken by an Eye-witness.) out by labor, choked and blinded by smoke, having well-nigh exhausted their ammunition, and with no food except salt pork, were forced to surrender. They were permitted to march out after firing a salute of fifty guns to the flag before hauling it down. Strange to say, though forty-seven heavy guns and mortars had played incessantly upon the works, throwing two thousand three hundred and sixty shot, and nine hundred and eighty shells, not a man had been injured. The news of the first shot fired upon Sumter stirred the nation like an electric shock. All hesitation vanished, and people at once took sides for or against the Union. The peace-makers 488 FIRST YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. [ Apr i86L ay were put down, and the voice of reflection was silenced. At the South, the Union men were overwhelmed by the war party, and the violent secessionists took control. At the North, Republi cans and Democrats combined for the support of the government. Lincoln issued a call for seventy-five thousand troops ; it was answered by three hundred thousand volunteers eager to enlist. Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee now linked their fate with the Confederacy. It soon became evident that Virginia would be the battle-field of the war. The Confederate capital was removed to Richmond. Virginian troops seized the United States armory at Harper s Ferry, and the Navy -Yard at Norfolk. Lieutenant - Colonel Robert E. Lee, General Scott s favorite aid, and son of " Light- horse Harry," threw in his fortunes with his native State, and was at once put in charge of her military forces. Regiments were pushed forward from the South, and in the early summer there were in the Old Dominion nearly fifty thousand men under arms. Meanwhile, Northern soldiers were hurrying to the defence of the national capital. On the igth of April, a Massachusetts regiment was mobbed while passing through Baltimore, and several men were killed. Thus the first blood of the civil war was shed on the anniversary of Lexington and Concord. For a time Washington was isolated from the nation. The famous Seventh regiment of New York, and General Butler with the Eighth Massachusetts, landed at Annapolis, seized and repaired the railroad, and moved on toward the Potomac. Finding a wrecked locomotive, Butler asked if any one could put it right. " I can," said one, " because I made it." In fact, these men represented every trade and art, and could do any work required. Other regiments followed. May loth, Baltimore was occupied by the Federal troops, and regular communication with Wash ington was re-established. The secession fever in Maryland rapidly diminished. Kentucky refused to go out of the Union, but proclaimed a strict neutrality. Both sides soon invaded the State, and it was torn with civil strife. *To ensure the safety of Washington, Arlington Heights were seized, and Colonel Ellsworth with his Zouaves took possession of Alexandria. Seeing the Confederate flag flying from the roof of a hotel in that place, he went up stairs and tore it down. While descending, he was shot by the landlord, who in turn fell by the hand of a private soldier. Fortress Monroe was strongly gar- 1861.] WAR IN WEST VIRGINIA AND MISSOURI. 489 risoned, thus securing- this depot and the entrance to the Chesa peake. The Confederate troops under Magruder were driven from Hampton, and some negroes being captured they were declared by General Butler " contraband of war," whence arose the popular appellation, " contrabands." Soon after, a Federal detachment sent against Big Bethel was repulsed, with the loss of the gallant Major Winthrop, a promising young author, who was shot by a North Carolina drummer boy. The part of Virginia lying west of the Alleghanies was strongly Union. When the secession ordinance was passed, a convention was held at Wheeling, which decided that West Virginia should secede from the commonwealth and establish a new State. Con federate and Union troops poured in, and soon the novel par adox was presented of a seceded State resisting secession, and a nation then at war to prevent secession itself fighting to up hold it. The battles of Philippi, Rich Mountain, Carrick s Ford, Carnifex Ferry, and Cheat Mountain, gave the Federalists con trol of the State. West Virginia was ultimately admitted into the Union, June 20, 1863. Governor Jackson made vigorous efforts to carry Missouri into the ranks of the disunionists. Captain, afterward General, Lyon, in command of the regular troops, foiled his design, broke up a secessionist camp near St. Louis, saved the United States arsenal in that city, and afterward defeated Colonel Marmaduke at Boone- ville. Missouri soon became the battle-ground of the contending parties at the West. " No less than sixty battles and skirmishes were fought on its soil during the year." Troops being pushed up from Texas and Arkansas under McCulloch and Price, the Feder alists were defeated at Carthage and Wilson s Creek, and Colonel Mulligan was forced to surrender the national garrison at Lexing ton. Lyon was killed in the second-named encounter while gal lantly heading a charge. General Fremont, who was then appointed to the command of the western department, was a popular officer, but he was not in harmony with the government, and he had confiscated the prop erty and the slaves of those in arms against the United States. Just as he was on the eve of a battle at Springfield, he was re placed by General Hunter, who, in turn, was quickly superseded by General Halleck. The skill of the latter officer, with the aid of such men as Sigel, Blair, and others, in a measure restored the Union supremacy. 4QO FIRST YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. [1861. In December, Brigadier-General Grant first came into notice. He led an expedition down the river from Cairo to break up, at Belmont, a Confederate encampment of troops who had crossed over from Kentucky under General, formerly Bishop, Polk. At the moment of success, reinforcements being received by the enemy, Grant was forced to retreat. By midsummer, Scott had collected and organized at Washing ton a considerable army. The North grew impatient of delay,, and the cry of " On to Richmond ! " was echoed on every side. Many of the troops were enlisted for only three months, and it. seemed desirable to make some use of their services before they returned home. Accordingly, about the middle of July, the Grand Army of the Potomac, under General Irvin McDowell, was sent out to attack the main Confederate force commanded by General Beauregard at Bull Run near Manassas Junction. The two armies were about the same strength, thirty thousand men. McDowell s plan was for Heintzelman s and Hunter s divisions to cross at Sud ley s Spring Ford and turn the Confederate left ; while Tyler s division was to make a feint at the stone bridge in front, and at the proper moment to cross over and finish the vic tory. The troops started at half-past two o clock, Sunday morn ing, the 2 1 st. But they had to force their way along foot-paths and unused roads, and the attack did not begin until after tea o clock, when they were already weary with the march of many miles and oppressed by the heat of a sultry day. Notwithstand ing, they went into this, their first battle, gallantly. The Con federates were steadily driven back, the bridge was cleared, and Tyler s men crossed. The enemy s left wing was routed, and the first stage of the battle was over. Then came the second. The Confederates rallied on a plateau a mile and a half in rear of their first line. Here they were reinforced by General T. J. Jackson s brigade. General Bee, rushing up to Jackson, said, " They are beating us back." "Well, sir, we will give them the bayonet," was the calm reply. Turning to his men, Bee shouted, " There s Jackson standing like a stone wall ! " " From that time," says Draper, " the name he had received in a baptism of fire displaced that he had received in a baptism of water, and he was known ever after as Stonewall Jackson/ " Generals Johnston and Beau- regard now galloped on the field. The former seized the colors of the Fourth Alabama and offered to head a charge ; the latter July 21,1 1861. - BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 491 leaped from his horse and, turning to his men, exclaimed, " I am come to die with you!" Around the plateau the battle surged with varying success. The Confederates had brought every man and gun into the contest. The Union troops had gained the plateau, been swept away, but had regained a footing on the crest. The supreme moment had come. GENERAL " STONEWALL " JACKSON AT THE HEAD OF HIS BRIGADE. The battle had reached the third stage. It was, however, already decided, and that away in the Shenandoah Valley. Gen eral Patterson had been sent there with twenty thousand men to watch General Joseph E. Johnston s command at Winchester. His antagonist, proving too wary for him, escaped with a large part of his force, and reached Beauregard in time to take part in this struggle. On this eventful afternoon, Kirby Smith, with the residue of Johnston s army, was approaching Manassas by rail. Hearing the sound of a heavy battle, he stopped his engine, and hurried thither across the fields. And now, at the crisis of the contest, he suddenly fell upon the Union flank. "Here s Johnston from the Valley ! " was the cry that ran down the ranks. The battle that seemed so nearly won, was lost in a moment. The ranks broke, and soon the field was blue with fugitives. As the crowd converged upon the bridge over Cub Run in the rear, a shell burst among the wagons and overturned a caisson. The road was blocked and the panic-stricken soldiers became wild 49 2 FIRST YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. with terror. All organization was lost ; traces were cut ; cannon abandoned ; ambulances emptied of their wounded ; and guns and equipments thrown away. Horse, foot, artillery, and wagons be- became inextricably entangled. Mounted men put spurs to their steeds and plunged through the struggling mass. Congressmen and ladies who had come out to see the fight, and officers and privates who had run from it, streamed over the country breath less with haste and speechless with fright. Many never stopped till they were safe over the Long Bridge. Intense was the chagrin of the fugitives when they found that there had been no active pursuit by the Confederates. The Union rear-guard, an entire division which had taken no part in the bat tle, covered the retreat and fell back in good order. The Con federate leaders were much blamed at the South for not making an immediate advance upon Washington. The reasons afterward given by General Johnston in vindication of their policy show that it would have been a most hazardous undertaking, and one ardently to be desired by the Union army. The Federal loss was about three thousand, and the Confederate, two thousand men. The effects of this battle were singular. The vanquished reaped all the real advantage. " The victory," said Johnston, "cost us more than the defeat did our antagonists." " It was the greatest misfortune," declares Pollard, " that ever befel the South ern Confederacy." The phrase, " One Southerner is equal to five Yankees " became current. The war seemed ended, and crowds left the army for home. The new government was considered to be established, and a strife began over the location of the capital, Nashville offering as a bait a costly presidential mansion. At first, the North was chagrined and disappointed, but it soon ral lied with a more earnest determination. The march to Rich mond was seen to be something more than a mere holiday pro cession of the military. While the streets of the capital were crowded with stragglers, the House of Representatives unani mously passed the following : "Resolved, That the maintenance of the Constitution, the preservation of the Union, and the enforce ment of the laws, are sacred trusts which must be executed ; and no disaster shall discourage us from the most ample performance of this high duty." Five hundred thousand men and five hundred million dollars were voted to carry on the war. The successes of General McClellan in West Virginia having won him the confi dence of the people, " The Young Napoleon," as he was popu- 1861.] WAR ON THE SEA AND COAST. 493 larly called, was placed in command of the Army of the Potomac. Soon after, General Scott, on account of increasing infirmities, re signed, and McClellan took his place at the head of the forces of the United States. No military action of importance occurred in Virginia during the rest of the year. October 2ist, a Federal reconnoitering de tachment was overwhelmed at Ball s Bluff and forced down the slippery banks, where, the old scows used for crossing the river being sunk, half the troops were cut off. Among the killed was Colonel Baker, United States Senator from Oregon. Late in December, General E. O. C. Ord, in command of a foraging party, was successful in a severe skirmish at Dranesville. The war was vigorously waged by sea and along the coast, from the beginning. Soon after the breaking out of hostilities, President Lincoln declared the Southern ports blockaded. The American navy was small, and at this time the Brooklyn was the only efficient vessel at hand for use. Ships were rapidly fitted out, and soon armed squadrons were watching along the entire Southern coast. They were not able, however, to hermetically seal a shore whose length exceeded three thousand miles, with many inlets and intricate approaches, and vessels continually ran the blockade. The Confederate government had issued letters of marque, authorizing ships upon the high seas to prey on Northern com merce. In June, the privateer Savannah escaped from Charleston, but took only one prize before she was captured by the United States brig Perry. The next month the Petrel, a former revenue cutter, also from Charleston, got to sea, and soon bore down upon a ship which she took to be a lumbering old merchant man. In truth, it was the frigate St. Lawrence, with port-holes closed and men concealed below. The Petrel eagerly pressed on in pursuit, and finally, opened fire upon the innocent-looking craft. Suddenly the St. Lawrence revealed her true character, and poured a broadside into the saucy privateer which sunk her ere all her crew could be rescued. The most successful of the privateers was the Sumter, Captain Semmes, which got safely put of New Orleans, July ist. Semmes made several captures, was entertained by Confederate sympathizers at Nassau, and finally reached the Bay of Gibraltar. Here he was blockaded by the United States steamer Tuscarora until he sold his vessel in despair. A combined naval and land expedition under Commodore 494 FIRST YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. [ Aug< flei^ 8> Stringham and General Butler, August 29th, seized the forts at the entrance of Hatteras Inlet, North Carolina. Later, a second and larger expedition commanded by Commodore Dupont and General T. W. Sherman, after a severe bombardment, captured the earthworks at Port Royal entrance and Tybee Island, South Carolina. During this engagement the ships described a circle between Forts Beauregard and Walker, each vessel delivering its fire as it slowly sailed by, then passing on, while another took its place. The line of this circle was constantly changed to prevent the Confederate cannoneers from getting the range of the vessels. The troops, dismayed by the terrible fire, escaped to the woods, and thence to Charleston. The neighboring planters followed, and when Sherman took possession of Beaufort soon after, he found " only one white person there, and he was drunk." The foreign relations caused both governments great anxiety. England and France quickly issued a proclamation of neutrality, but acknowledged the Confederates as belligerents, while the United States insisted that they should be considered as insur gents. After the battle of Bull Run, the recognition of the Con federacy by the European powers was considered at the South almost certain, especially as England suffered so greatly from the stoppage of the cotton supply. Messrs. Mason and Slidell, who were appointed commissioners to the foreign courts, having run the blockade, took passage at Havana on the Trent, an English mail-steamer. The next day, Captain Wilkes, of the United States steamer San Jacinto, intercepted the Trent and captured the envoys. On the reception of the news, the British government began at once to prepare for hostilities. The United States authorities, however, promptly disavowed the act, which, in fact, was directly opposed to the principles of the war of 1812, and surrendered the commissioners. The threatening cloud of foreign intervention was thus brushed away. TH2 SAN JACINTO INTERCEPTING THE TRENT. CHAPTER XIV. SECOJJ YEAfc OF THE CIVIL cCLELLAN had shown great ability in organizing the men and material poured out so lavishly by the North. The Army of the Po tomac, February ist, numbered over two hundred and twenty thousand troops, admirably equipped. During the fall and early winter, the weather was excellent, and everybody expect ed an advance. None was made. The phrase "All is quiet on the Potomac" became a proverb. The President, impatient of this delay, gave expression to the common expectation of the country by his order of January 2/th, directing that on Washington s birth day there should be a "forward march" of all the troops of the United States. During the preceding year, the war had been carried on entirely at random. Henceforth the movements of the armies were more in accordance with a definite plan. Three objects were kept prominently in view. These were the opening of the Mississippi River, the enforcement of the blockade, and the cap ture of Richmond. At the West, the Confederates had a line of defence extending from the Mississippi to the Cumberland Mountains. The right was at Mill Spring and Cumberland Gap, and the left at Colum bus, which was so strongly fortified that it was called the Gibral tar of America. Forts Donelson and Henry held the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. A force at Bowling Green protected the railroad southward to Nashville. General Halleck, in com mand of the western troops, adopted the plan of piercing this line 496 SECOND YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. [ Ja l862 e , b " at the centre, thereby forcing the evacuation of Columbus. He would thus open the way to Nashville, recover a part of the Mis sissippi, and finally threaten the Memphis and Charleston rail road, the great route between the eastern and western parts of the Confederacy. The western armies, with the ardor so characteristic of the people, were ready to march long before the time fixed by the President. General George H. Thomas opened the campaign, January i8th, by repulsing a dashing Confederate attack at Logan s Cross Roads. This was followed by the evacuation of the strong position at Mill Spring. Commodore Foote, with a fleet of gun-boats and transports carrying seventeen thousand men under General Grant, left Cairo February 2d, and ascended the Tennessee. The troops disembarked about four miles below Fort Henry, and marched up both banks of the river, while the fleet bombarded the fort. Under the terrific rain of bombs and balls, the place soon became untenable. General Tilghman, having sent away his garrison to Fort Donelson before the arrival of Grant s army, gallantly resolved to sacrifice himself to secure the retreat of his men. He remained behind with a mere handful of artiller ists, manning his guns until defence was hopeless. He then hauled down his flag, surrendering at discretion. During the action, a shot tore through the side of the steamer Essex and pierced her boiler. The vessel was instantly filled with steam, which killed both the pilots at their posts and severely scalded Captain W. D. Porter and nearly forty of his crew. Commodore Foote, with his fleet, then returned to the Ohio and came up the Cumberland River, while Grant crossed over by land to co-operate in the reduction of Fort Donelson. This was a large field-work, covering one hundred acres and mounting sixty-five guns. It crowned a bluff one hundred feet high, which commanded the river for a distance of two miles. On the land side was a line of rifle-pits and batteries, protected by abattis and interlaced brush, extending along the wooded hills two and one- half miles. On the 1 3th, soon after Grant s arrival, McClernand s division assaulted a battery, but was repulsed. A bitter storm of hail and snow came on at dark, but the hardy western troops lay down in line of battle with no fires nor tents, and many of them with no blankets. The wounded who could not crawl off were left in the narrow space between the two armies, where their* piteous cries F , e 8 b 6jl? ] CAPTURE OF FORT DONELSON. 497 were heard through the night. The next afternoon, the gun boats, moving up to within three hundred yards, engaged the water-batteries. The plunging fire from the bluff, however, told heavily. The flag-ship was struck by fifty-nine shots, and the crippled boats finally withdrew, the commodore himself being wounded. The Confederate works were uninjured, and no one in them was seriously hurt. So far everything had gone against the Union army, but it had received heavy reinforcements, until it amounted to u thirty thou sand, may be forty thousand men." The Confederates, therefore, despaired of a successful defence, and General Floyd (Buchanan s late Secretary of War) called a council, at which it was decided to break through the investment and force a way to Nashville. The next morning, an hour before day, having massed his men heavily on the left, General Pillow sallied out on Grant s right wing, while Buckner made a vigorous attack at the centre. The Confederates were successful, and the Wynn s Ferry road lay open before them. By some strange fatality, they did not seize the object for which they had been fighting. Meanwhile Grant, who had visited the fleet to consult with Commodore Foote, came upon the field, and seeing that the critical moment had arrived, ordered a general advance along the whole line. His men swept all before them, recovered the battle-field, and, at the left, General Smith secured a foothold on the hill, the very key of the fort. A half hour more of daylight, and Donelson would have been taken. That night the thermometer sank to 10 above zero. The troops on both sides, with neither fire nor shelter, shivered in the pitiless storm, while the ground on which they lay was covered with a sheet of ice. But, sadder yet, the wounded by hundreds strewed the fields, staining the snow with a crimson tint, and slowly stiffening and freezing as the life-current ebbed away. General Wallace s men, who were nearest, spent nearly the whole night in ministering to the wants of friend and foe. Under cover of the darkness, Generals Pillow, Floyd, and Forrest escaped from the fort. General Buckner, who succeeded to the command of those who disdained to flee, found many of his men so exhausted that they fell asleep when standing in line of bat tle, even under fire. In the morning, he wrote to General Grant, asking the terms of capitulation. Grant replied that none would be accepted except an " unconditional surrender," and that he 32 498 SECOND YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. TFeb. -March 1862. " proposed to move immediately upon his works." Buckner had no choice, and the garrison accordingly laid down their arms. These victories accomplished the result which was expected. Bowling Green and Columbus were evacuated. The Confed erates fell back to Corinth, the great railroad centre for Mississippi and Tennes see, where their forces were gradually collected under the command of Generals Albert Sydney Johnston and Beauregard. General Buell, in command of the Depart- SURRENDER OF FORT DONELSON. ment of the Ohio, at once advanced and took posses sion of Nashville, which became his headquarters. The next move ment of the Union army was to secure the Memphis and Charles ton railroad, thus cutting off Memphis and recovering another section of the Mississippi River. Grant having had some difficulty with Halleck, his army was turned over to General C. F. Smith, who ascended the Tennessee and encamped at Pittsburg Land ing. This officer fell ill of a mere scratch which he received in getting upon a boat, and, his health having been injured by ex posure during the siege of Fort Donelson, died soon after. Mean- April 6-7, 1 1862. J BATTLE OF PITTSBURG LANDING. 499 while Grant was restored to the command, and Duel was ordered to reinforce him, preparatory to an advance upon Corinth. The Confederate generals, detecting this plan, decided to fall upon Grant s army before Buell could arrive. They accordingly set out quietly from Corinth at three o clock in the morning of April 3d, with about forty thousand men. On Saturday night, the 5th, the army lay concealed within three-quarters of a mile of the Union pickets. " It would have required a keen eye," says the Comte de Paris, " to discover at the bottom of a ravine the only fire which had been kin dled in camp ; where every one was pre paring in silence, and without light, for the conflict of the next day. Its flick ering flame projected on the surrounding trees the shadows of a few officers wrapped up in cavalry cloaks. These were the lead ers of the Confeder ate army, assembled to discuss the chances of the battle which was to restore to them the whole valley of the Mississippi ; Johnston, who seemed already to bear upon his gloomy brow the presentiment of his approaching death ; Beauregard, full of ardor and of confidence, which he was endeavoring to impart to the others ; Hardee, the practiced officer, whose European mili tary education invested him with a peculiar authority ; Braxton Bragg, as stiff, and even haughty, toward his equals as he was stern to his inferiors ; Bishop Polk, who only remembered the early years of his youth passed at the West Point Academy ; finally, Breckenridge, the politician, very lately Vice-President of the United States, an improvised general, who was learning his profession in this great and rough school. Their deliberations were long. At last the soldiers, who were watching them at THE MIDNIGHT COUNCIL OF WAK. 500 SECOND YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. [*\&62. a distance, saw them separate, and each direct his steps toward his own headquarters. Gentlemen, said Beauregard, to-mor row we shall sleep in the enemy s camp. The Federal troops were scattered over a plateau extending three or four miles back from the river. This was cut up with ravines, woods, and a very maze of roads and by-paths. It was known that the enemy was in force at Corinth, only a score of miles away, and during Saturday the woods had been found alive with scouts; yet no breastworks had been thrown up ; no abattis, there made so easily, had been constructed ; no careful reconnoitering parties sent for ward ; and no efficient system of spies and advance-pickets estab lished. That night the Union army, about thirty-three thousand strong, slept in quiet, never dreaming of impending peril. Just at daybreak, the pickets were driven in. Close on their heels came the shells, and then, pouring at double-quick from the woods, the magnificent Confederate lines of battle. Many of the Federals, especially officers, had not yet risen ; some were dress ing ; some washing or cooking ; some eating their breakfast ; and some were never awakened, and were afterward found dead in their beds. Surprised, but not panic-stricken, the troops formed their ranks as best they could. The brigades of Sherman and Prentiss received the first shock. The latter general, with three regiments, becoming separated from the rest, was surrounded and taken prisoner. His division had only been organized eleven days, and many of his men had received no ammunition. His camp was soon occupied and plundered. Sherman, by his reck less bravery inspiring his raw troops with his own undaunted resolution, held them in place till the middle of the afternoon, when he fell back to a new line guarding the bridge, by which General Wallace s brigade was expected to arrive from Crump s Landing, five miles below. There seemed no hope for the Union army. It had been pushed to the very edge of the river. Beneath the bluff, at the. landing, huddled a mass of five or six thousand fugitives, pale, trembling, cowardly, whom no entreaties nor menaces could move to the aid of their brave companions. One more bold dash, and the Confederates would drive all pell-mell into the water. Grant, who, as at Donelson, was absent from the field, had arrived at eight o clock, only to find an already beaten army. He then did his utmost to reorganize his men and establish fresh points of defence. At half-past two General Johnston was wounded. He Af i862" 7 ] BATTLE OF PITTSBURG LANDING. 5OI still kept his horse, however, and was only taken off to die. It was some time ere Beauregard got his troops in hand. Grant used this precious delay to the utmost. Scattered guns were massed in a semicircle upon a bluff commanding the road to the landing. These were worked by volunteers soldiers,, officers, and a surgeon. Behind them gathered the troops who yet stood firm. In front was a deep ravine, wet and slippery, at the foot of which were anchored two gun-boats, the Lexington and the Tyler. Just at eve, the Confederates essayed this last obstacle. But struggling through the mud and water, torn by musket-ball and cannon-shot from above and eight-inch shell from below, few reached the brow of the bluff. Just then the advance of Buell s army, Ammen s brigade, came upon the field at the double-quick. They repulsed the final charge and drove the enemy headlong down the slope. The Confederates were indeed checked, but they had reaped all the substantial fruits of victory. They had taken the Union camps, three thousand prisoners, thirty flags, and immense stores. All the night of that lurid Sunday, a day sacred to the Prince of Peace, the gun-boats threw their enormous shells into the woods, where the wearied Confederates were seeking rest. Stragglers plundered and reveled in the captured tents, and the wounded, gray and blue, lay in their pain. The woods caught fire, and the flames, creeping among the leaves and up the dead trunks, gave place only to torrents of rain, which so often follow a heavy en gagement. The next morning the tide turned. Lew Wallace, whom Grant expected to come upon the enemy s flank and decide the battle, as Bliicher did at Waterloo, had spent the whole day in wandering about to find the Union army ; but he was now on the field with five thousand fresh troops. Buell s army, twenty-two thousand strong, was in line. The wearied Confederates were in no condition to resist their overwhelming attacks. Beauregard, contesting, step by step, every tree and ridge, was driven from the field. He retired, however, in good order, and, unmolested, returned to Corinth. He had lost nearly eleven thousand men, and Grant thirteen thousand. An eye-witness of this retreat says : " In this ride I saw more of human agony and woe than I trust I shall ever again be called to behold. The retreating host wound along a narrow and almost impassable road. Here was a long line of wagons loaded with 502 SECOND YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. [*!%62. wounded, piled in like bags of grain, groaning and cursing; while the mules plunged on in mud and water, the latter sometimes coming into the wagons. Next was a straggling regiment of infantry, pressing on past the train of wagons ; then a stretcher, borne upon the shoulders of four men, carrying a wounded officer ; then soldiers staggering along, with an arm broken and hanging down, or other fearful wounds. To add to the horrors of the scene, the elements of heaven marshaled their forces a fitting accompaniment of the tempest of human desolation and passion which was raging. A cold, drizzling rain commenced about nightfall, and finally turned to pitiless, blinding hail. I passed wagon-trains filled with wounded and dying soldiers, without even a blanket to shield them from the driving sleet and hail, which fell in stones as large as partridge-eggs, until it lay on the ground two inches deep. Some three hundred men died during that awful retreat, and their bodies were thrown out to make room for others who, although wounded, had struggled on through the storm, hoping to find shelter, rest, and medical care." History reveals a page on which, now the " cruel war is over," no American can look without a moistening of the eye, a flutter ing of the heart, and a secret pride that we are all one again. The " incomparable infantry," as Draper styles them, which so nearly snatched the victory from the Union banners on the bloody plateau of Pittsburg Landing, exhibited a patient endurance and a heroic valor which made them the admiration of the Northern soldiers who met them on so many hard-fought fields. In a letter written by a lady to a friend after a visit to Camp Douglas, Chicago, is a touching description of the appearance of the pris oners taken at Shiloh, as this battle is often called from a little church near by : "I have not told you how awfully they were dressed. They had old carpets, new carpets, rag carpets, old bed-quilts, new bed-quilts, and ladies quilts for blankets. They had slouch hats, children s hats, little girls hats ; but not one soldier had a soldier s cap on his head. One man had two old hats tied to his feet instead of shoes. They were the most rag ged, torn, and worn, and weary-looking set I ever saw. Every one felt sorry for them, and no one was disposed to speak un kindly to them." To read of their sufferings and endurance is like perusing a misplaced page of Revolutionary times. General Halleck now assumed command of the Union army, which was increased to one hundred thousand men, and, bv slow AND ISLAND N0> 10> OPERATIONS ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI. 503 stages, followed the Confederates. Beauregard, finding himself outnumbered, evacuated Corinth, and, May 3<Dth, Halleck took possession of that important railroad centre. Closely connected with the movements of the army of the Ten nessee were the efforts made to reopen the navigation of the Mis sissippi, which the South had carefully fortified at every stragetic point from the Ohio to the Gulf, a distance of a thousand miles. The Confederates, on retreating from Columbus, fell back to New Madrid and Island No. 10. General Pope, with the Union forces, descending the Mis souri side of the river, invested the former place March 3d. The garrison, however, precipitately abandoned their position, "leaving their supper uii- touched and their candles burning," and retired to Island No. 10. Here they were bombarded by Commodore Foote for three weeks, with little effect ; three thousand shells having killed only one man. Pope s engineers, meanwhile, were digging a canal twelve miles long and fifty feet wide across Donaldson s Point. Half of the way was through heavy timber, where the trees had to be cut off four feet below the surface of the water. This heavy task was accom plished in nineteen days. Steamboats and barges were then safely transferred below the newly-made island, while the Carondelet and the Pittsburg ran the batteries. Under the protection of these gun boats, Pope crossed the Mississippi in the midst of a fearful storm, took the Confederate works on the opposite bank, and prepared to attack the principal fortifications in the rear. The garrison, nearly seven thousand strong, finding their retreat cut off, surren dered on the last, day of the conflict at Shiloh. Commodore Foote then descended the river, and, May loth, defeated the Confederate fleet above Fort Pillow after a desperate engagement. In consequence of the retreat of the Confederate army southward, that fort was evacuated. The Union gun-boats proceeded southward, and, June 5th, off the levee at Memphis, engaged the flotilla which defended that city. It was a singular combat, recalling the sea-fights of the Romans. A Union ram, the Queen of the West, striking the General Price, a Confederate ram, sank her at once ; in turn, the Queen was run into by the Beauregard, and disabled ; thereupon the Monarch made at the Beauregard, and sank her. All the Confederate vessels except one were destroyed. Memphis then surrendered, thus giving to the Union army the control of the Memphis and Charleston railroad. 504 SECOND YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. [ AU |86 Ctl General Halleck having been called to Washington, the com- mand-in-chief fell to General Grant, who held Memphis, Grand Junction, and Corinth. The Confederate army was soon after concentrated under Bragg at Chattanooga, Price at luka, and Van Dorn at Holly Springs. We shall follow the attempts they made to break through the rapidly contracting line of the Federal in vestment. The South was determined to reconquer the border States, which had been so early lost, and to carry the burdens of war beyond her own limits. In the latter part of August, General Braxton Bragg set out from Chattanooga upon a grand raid into Kentucky. General Buell moved northward to Nashville, where, by intercepted de,- spatches, he learned that Louisville was the objective point of the expedition. Then ensued between them a race of nearly three hundred miles. At Frankfort, Bragg was joined by Kirby Smith, who had marched from Knoxville, routed a Union force under General Manson at Richmond, Kentucky, and had then moved North as far as Cynthiana, where he threatened to attack Cincin nati, but was repelled by the extensive preparations made by Gen eral Lew Wallace. Bragg was detained by the burning of a bridge at Bardstown, and so Buell reached Louisville first. The Union army was here heavily reinforced until it numbered one hundred thousand, double the strength of the enemy. Buell, however, waited to reorganize and get thoroughly ready before he moved. Bragg took advantage of the delay to declare Ken tucky a Confederate State ; to appoint a provisional government ; and to scour the country, seizing cattle, bacon and grain, break ing open stores and taking the goods on paying for them in Con federate money, and forcing the inhabitants to join his army. Buell was at last compelled by the Washington authorities and the pressure of public opinion to make a move, when he slowly followed Bragg, who as leisurely fell back. At Perryville, Bragg fiercely turned upon his pursuers, and a desperate battle was fought. In the darkness, however, Bragg retreated, and finally escaped with his plunder, which filled a wagon train forty miles long. At this juncture (October 3Oth), General Buell was super seded by General William S. Rosecrans. Previous to this appointment, important events had taken place within Grant s command. He had sent the veterans of Donelson and Shiloh to Buell s help, and his army was greatly depleted. But thinking that Rosecrans, then at Tuscumbia, ^ / = J f JSliarpsDurg s* YV nwi i n i V4 i vi^ /wFtfi* ^.~A- X Harn/rs Ferrv.iiSti.- .. -f /J^ - ff " <.^ . .1 so^vTo^ *%*" f try: ^ *s& ( .vw sj ^^^P^^A^^MHA^ iB==: CIVIL, WAB EASTERN REGION. 506 SECOND YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. [?pfio 4 could destroy Price at luka, before Van Dorn could come from Holly Springs to prevent, he directed him to make the attempt. It proved a bloody failure. Price and Van Dorn thereupon united their forces, forty thousand strong, and, October 4th, attacked Rosecrans, who had fallen back into Corinth with only half that number. Price s column moved forward in the shape of an immense wedge. Its point pierced the Union centre and reached Rosecrans s headquarters in the town. But on its sides, spread out like great wings, the Federal batteries opened upon the right and left. The Confederate troops, cowering before the storm, "bent their necks downward and marched steadily to death, with their faces averted, like men striving to protect themselves, against a driving hail." They \vere flanked on every side, and no human courage could stand the tempest. The whole Union line finally charged upon them, and a gleaming row of steel swept their torn and ragged ranks back to the edge of the forest. Van Dora s attack on the Union left should have been simul taneous with Price s upon the centre, but he was delayed until that was repulsed. Twenty minutes after, the Texas and Missis sippi troops made a brilliant charge upon Fort Robinette. Steady and unyielding, they advanced to within fifty yards of the entrenchments, received a shower of grape and canister with out flinching, and were only driven when the Ohio brigade poured a full volley of musketry into their ranks. They were then rallied by Colonel Rogers, who led them back through the abattis, where, with the colors in one hand and a revolver in the other, he sprang upon the embankment and cheered on his men. An instant more, and he fell, with five brave fellows who had dared to leap to his side. A hand-to-hand struggle ensued with bayonets, clubbed muskets, and brawny fists. The charge, how ever, was checked, and the Eleventh Missouri and the Twenty- seventh Ohio, jumping over the entrenchments, chased the broken fragment of the Southern column back to the cover of the woods. The Union army, being reinforced, continued the pursuit for forty miles. The Federal loss was about twenty-four hundred, and the Confederate more than double that amount. We now follow Rosecrans to Nashville, where he concentrated Buell s forces after assuming command of that army. He reached the city November loth. It is pleasant to notice that, orders having been given to transfer his headquarters on the Qth, the general, remembering that it would be Sunday, countermanded Dec.,~| I862.J ATTACK ON FORT ROBINETTE. 507 them. His example fixed in the minds of his men the very whole some idea that the Sabbath should be sacred in war as in peace. Rosecrans s efforts to discipline and equip his dilapidated army were indefatigable. To one of the men, who gave as an excuse for being barefooted that he could not get shoes, he replied : HEROISM OF COLONEL ROGERS. BATTLE OF CORINTH. " Can t get shoes ! Why ? Go to your captain and demand what you need ! Go to him every day till you get it. Bore him for it ! Bore him, bore him, bore him ! Don t let him rest. Let the captains bore their colonels ; let colonels bore their brigadiers ; brigadiers their division generals ; division generals their corps commanders ; and let the corps commanders bore me. Fll see then if you don t get what you want. Bore, bore, bore, until you get everything you are entitled to." The last of December, Rosecrans moved southward with 508 SECOND YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. [ D |862 31 forty-six thousand troops to check Bragg, who was already en route upon a second grand foraging tour, with over sixty thousand men according to Union accounts, and thirty-five thousand by his own. The two armies met near Murfreesborough on the closing day of the year. Both generals had formed the same plan for the approaching contest. This was to mass his strength on the left wing, and with that to crush the enemy s right. The advantage clearly lay with the army which struck first. Bragg secured the initiative. As the Union left was crossing Stone River to attack the Confederate right, the strong Confederate left fell heavily on the weak Union right. The shock was as unexpected as it was impetuous. Two batteries were taken without firing a gun. There was some resistance, but the right was swept away like forest leaves in an autumn gale. The blow then fell on the centre. Here Phil. Sheridan held the fate of the battle. Out flanked on either side, he wheeled back until his lines finally formed a wedge that pierced the advancing column, and could not be driven. He broke four charges. He fought until his three brigade commanders were killed, his cartridge-boxes emptied, and one-quarter of his command lay bleeding and dying, when, with fixed bayonets, his men slowly withdrew from the cedar thicket, still unconquered and clamoring for ammunition. As they passed Rosecrans, for whom they had saved the day, Sheridan said, gloomily, " Here s all that s left of us, general." Meanwhile, Rosecrans had been busy. With consummate skill, he had arranged a new line of battle along the railroad and turnpike. The gray-coats soon emerged from the thicket, driving a cloud of fugitives before them. Rosecrans s men held their fire as was the wont in Revolutionary days. When the Confederate columns drew near, there suddenly burst upon them a sheet of flame from cannon and musket. Four times they tried to face this " burning sirocco," and four times they fell back to the protection of the cedars. Late in the afternoon, Breckenridge went across the river to make a final assault on the Union left ; but in vain. New Year s day 1863, found the two armies still face to face. Late in the afternoon of January 2d, Breckenridge s troops, having recrossed the river, suddenly emerged from the woods in three heavy columns. The tactics of Wednesday were repeated and now the Union left was forced to the stream. But as the South erners came within the range of the Federal guns on the opposite bank, their lines were torn with a fire before which they broke OPERATIONS ON THE MISSISSIPPI. 509 and fled. The next night, Bragg retreated, leaving to Rosecrans the blood-stained field. This was one of the most fiercely-fought battles of the war, the loss being one-quarter of the number engaged. Meantime, Grant, having been reinforced, had continued the task of reopening the Mississippi. His plan was to advance along the Mississippi Central Railroad, while Sherman should descend the river with Commodore Porter s fleet, and all combine in an attack on Vicksburg. Everything was progressing favorably, when Van Dorn, by a brilliant dash with his cavalry, December 2oth, captured Grant s depot at Holly Springs, and destroyed two million dollars worth of supplies. This broke up the entire arrangement. Sherman, ignorant of the disaster, landed on the Yazoo River, and made an attack on Chickasaw Bayou, north of Vicksburg, but suffered a disastrous repulse. General McCler- nand then assumed command, and as the army returned, an ex pedition was sent up the Arkansas River, which captured Fort Hindman, January 11, 1863. The effort just described to open the Mississippi from the North was seconded by a powerful expedition from the Gulf. Early in the spring, Captain, afterward Commodore, Farragut, with a fleet of forty-seven armed vessels carrying several thou sand troops under General Butler, attempted the capture of New Orleans. The mortar boats anchored under the banks and bom barded Forts Jackson and St. Philip, which defended the approach to the city by the river. To conceal the vessels, they were dressed with leafy branches, which rendered them undistinguishable from the green woods. The direction had been accurately calculated, so that the gunners did not need to see the points toward which they were to aim. For six days and nights they continued to throw into the forts about fourteen hundred thirteen-inch shells every twenty-four hours. So severe was the fire, that " windows at the Balize, thirty miles distant, were broken. Fish, stunned by the explosion, lay floating on the surface of the water. Overcome with fatigue, the commanders and crews of the bomb-vessels might be seen lying fast asleep on deck, with a mortar on board the vessel next to them thundering away." The bombs pene trated the ground in and about the forts eighteen or twenty feet, and, exploding, lifted the earth high in air. Very little real dam age, however, was done to the works, as the earth fell back to its place again. 5io SECOND YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. TApril 24, - I8( 1862. Finding that this bombardment, terrible as it seemed, was really full of sound and fury, signifying nothing, Farragut boldly resolved to run the fleet past the defences. The gun-boats were accordingly armored extempore by looping two layers of chain- cables along the sides, while the boilers were protected by bags of sand and coal. The Confederates had closed the river by a heavy chain supported on several old hulks anchored in the stream. This cable was cut during the night, and the current soon opened a passage. At three o clock in the morning of April 24th, the ships advanced, pouring grape and canister into the forts BIRD S-EYE VIEW OF NEW OKLEA at short range, and receiving in return heavy volleys from all the batteries on shore. After running a fearful gauntlet of shot, shell, and the flames of fire-rafts, they next encountered the Confederate fleet of thirteen armed steamboats, the steam-battery Louisiana, and the iron-plated ram Manassas. The flag-ship Hartford caught fire, and was forced on shore ; but the men kept their places at the guns, the flames were extinguished, the ship was backed off and again pushed to the front. After a desperate struggle, twelve of the Confederate flotilla were destroyed, and the Federal fleet then steamed up to New Orleans. The Southern troops had nearly all been sent to take part in the battle of Shiloh, and the city now lay helpless under the Union guns. Vast quantities of cotton, together with loaded steamers CAPTURE OF NEW ORLEANS. 511 and the shipping of the port, were burned by the Confederate authorities. Pollard says : " No sooner had the fleet turned the point and come within sight of the city, than the work of destruc tion commenced. Vast columns of smoke darkened the face of heaven and obscured the noon-day sun ; for five miles along the levee fierce flames darted through the lurid atmosphere. Great ships and steamers wrapped in fire floated down the river, threat ening the Federal vessels with destruction. Fifteen thousand bales of cotton, worth one and a half million dollars, were consumed. About a dozen large river steamboats, twelve or fifteen ships, a great floating battery, several unfinished gun-boats, the immense ram Mississippi, and the docks on the other side of the river, were all embraced in the fiery sacrifice." Amid this scene of dire destruction the alarm-bells were perpetually tolling. The forts below, being threatened by the troops under Butler, soon after surrendered. Farragut then ascended the river, took possession of Baton Rouge and Natchez, and, running the bat teries at Vicksburg, joined the Union fleet above. The contest in Missouri culminated early in the season. The Confederates under General Price, having been roughly handled in February by General Pope, had retreated into Arkansas, keenly pursued by the Federals under General Samuel R. Curtis. Price had been joined by some Arkansas and Texas troops under General Benjamin McCulloch. He was also reinforced by Gen eral Albert Pike with a brigade of Indians, and by Major-General Van Dorn, who took command of the army, then nearly twenty thousand strong. He resumed the offensive, and struck at the division of General Franz Sigel in Bentonville. That officer retired with great skill upon General Curtis, who concentrated his troops in a strong position at Pea Ridge. A desperate strug gle took place March /th, which lasted all day, the Union troops being worsted. The next day Curtis made a new disposition of his forces, carrying everything before him until the middle of the forenoon, when the enemy suddenly disappeared from the front. So skillfully was the retreat conducted by obscure ravines, that it was afternoon before the Federal officers could find out what road Van Dorn had taken. The Union loss was about thirteen hun dred ; the Confederate could not have been less, and included Generals McCulloch and Mclntosh killed, and Generals Price and Slack wounded. Soon after this, both the Union and Con federate armies were weakened by detachments sent to take 512 SECOND YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. [1862. part in the terrible struggle going on in Tennessee. No import ant battles, therefore, occurred either in Arkansas or in Missouri. There were some minor engagements, but they had little effect on the issue of the war. The whole country, however, was harried by guerilla bands, which plundered friend and foe alike. Mis souri became a land of desolation and death. As this was the only appearance of the Indians on the battle fields of the war, it is interesting to notice their behavior. It is said that the white officers had great difficulty in keeping them in order, and that their principal service was in consuming rations. They were greatly alarmed by the guns which ran around on wheels, by the falling of the trees behind which they had taken shelter, and by the roar of battle which drowned their loudest war-whoop. During the winter of 1861-2, another important step was taken toward the enforcement of the blockade along the Atlantic coast. General Burnside, with eleven thousand men, and Flag-Officer Goldsborough, in command of the fleet, conducted an expedition against Roanoke, memorable as the scene of Raleigh s lost colony. This island was the key to the rear defences of Norfolk. " It unlocks," said General Wise, " two sounds, eight rivers, four canals, and two railroads;" and commands the seaboard from Capes Henry to Hatteras. The Confederate forts were captured February 8th, and their fleet was destroyed. Elizabeth City and Newbern were occupied. Finally, on the very day Farragut appeared before New Orleans, Fort Macon, at the entrance to Beaufort harbor, was taken. Thus all the coast of North Caro lina, with its intricate network of water communication through Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds, fell into the Union hands ; while the blockading squadron secured a convenient depot of supplies and a safe rendezvous from storms. Port Royal, which was captured in the autumn of 1861, became during this year the base of operations against Florida and Georgia. These States had been denuded of their strength to reinforce the Confederate armies, the former alone having fur nished ten thousand men. They, therefore, became an easy prey to the powerful expeditions which were sent against them. Fernandina, Fort Clinch, Jacksonville, Darien, and St. Augustine were captured. In the spring, General Quincy A. Gillmore laid siege to Fort Pulaski. The walls of this stronghold were seven and a half feet M |862 8 ] THE MONITOR AND MERRIMAC. 513 thick, and the Union batteries were a mile, and some two miles away. Yet the pointed balls from the rifled guns penetrated from twenty to twenty-six inches into the masonry, and honeycombed it completely ; while the solid ten-inch shot, pounding like trip hammers, knocked out the loosened pieces. In fifteen hours of fighting, the fort was compelled to surrender. This capture effectually closed the port of Savannah. At the end of the year, every city of the Atlantic sea-coast, except Savannah, Charleston, and Mobile, was held by the Federal armies. We now turn from the minor operations, as it were, of the fleet, to the great naval event of the war. When the United States navy-yard at Norfolk was abandoned, the steam-frigate Merrimac, the finest in the service, was scuttled. The Confederates after ward raised her, razeed her deck, and fitted her with an iron prow and a sloping roof plated with four and a third inches of iron. She was christened the Virginia, though still generally known as the Merrimac. About noon, March 8th, the last day of the desperate struggle at Pea Ridge, this strange craft, looking not unlike a great house sunk in the water to its eaves, steamed out into Hampton Roads. She was convoyed by several gun boats. Disdaining to fire a shot, she steered directly for the sloop- of-war Cumberland, whose terrific broadsides glanced harmlessly, like rubber balls, from the monster s iron roof. Her sharp beak, striking squarely under the bow, made a hole large enough for a man to enter. This terrible blow disabled the Cumberland, but her heroic crew continued to work their guns, until the vessel, with all on board, plunged beneath the water. Her flag was never struck, and floated from her masthead after the ship had gone to the bottom. Warned by the fate of his companion, the captain of the frigate Congress, on the approach of the Merrimac, ran his vessel ashore ; but the iron-clad, taking a position astern, deliberately fired shells into her till the helpless crew was forced to surrender. Mean while, the steam-frigate Minnesota, coming to the relief of her consorts, grounded. Exposed to the fire of the gun-boats and an occasional shot from the Merrimac, she lay at the mercy of her foes. The Merrimac, at sunset, returned to Norfolk, awaiting, the next day, an easy victory over the rest of the Union fleet. All was now delight and anticipation among the Confederates ; all was dismay and dismal forebodings among the Federals. That night the Monitor arrived in the bay, after a tedious 33 514 SECOND YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. [ M |862 9 voyage from New York, where she had been building, in order to meet the long-expected Merrimac. This " Yankee cheese-box on a raft," as it was called, was the invention of Captain Ericsson. It was the hull of a vessel with the deck a few inches above the water. The upper part, which was exposed to the enemy s fire, projected several feet beyond the lower portion, and was made of thick white oak covered with iron plating five inches thick on the sides and two inches on deck. In the centre of the ship was a curious round, shot-proof tower, made to revolve slowly by machinery connected with the engine, thus turning its two heavy guns in every direction. Sunday morning dawned, bright and beautiful. Heedless of its sanctity, the Merrimac again appeared to complete the destruc- NAVAL DUEL BETWEEN THE MONITOR AND THE MERRIMAC. tion of the Minnesota. Suddenly, from under the lee of that ship, the Monitor darted out, and hurled at the monster two one hundred and sixty-eight pound balls. Startled by the appearance of this unexpected and queer-looking antagonist, the Merrimac poured in a broadside, such as the night before had destroyed the Congress ; but the balls glanced off the Monitor s turret, or broke and fell in pieces on the deck. Then began the battle of the iron ships. It was the first of the kind in the world. Close against each other, iron rasping against iron, they exchanged their tremendous volleys. One heavy bolt hit the Monitor s turret squarely, but broke and left the head sticking in the iron armor. Repeatedly the Merrimac tried to run down the Monitor, but her huge beak only grated over the iron deck, while the Monitor glided out unharmed ; and in return, each time as she slipped away, gave her answer THE PENINSULAR CAMPAIGN. 515 from both the huge eleven-inch guns in her turret. Drawing so little water, she nimbly steamed about her adversary on every side seeking a weak point to put in a ball. Again and again the Merrimac sought to grapple with the Minnesota, but the Monitor quickly interposed. At last, despairing of doing any thing with her doughty little antagonist, and being herself some what damaged, the Merrimac steamed back to Norfolk. As she drew off, she hurled a parting shot which, striking the Monitor s pilot-house, broke a bar of iron nine inches by twelve, and seriously injured the eyes of the gallant commander, Lieutenant Worden, who was at that moment looking out through a narrow slit and directing the fire of his guns. As he recovered his conscious ness, his first words were, " Did we save the Minnesota?" The effect of this victory was most important. Had the Moni tor not appeared, the Merrimac would in all probability have destroyed the rest of the Union fleet, thence she might have ascended the Potomac and laid the Capitol under her guns ; steamed to New York and sunk its shipping ; or broken up the blockade and made an egress for cotton. A different result might have changed the issue of the war. The fate of these two historic vessels was strangely mean and unworthy. The Merrimac was blown up on the evacuation of Norfolk a few months after, and the Monitor foundered at sea. Having now traced the war at the west and along the coast, we return to the army of the Potomac. McClellan made no forward movement on Washington s birthday, notwithstanding the general order. It was not till March loth that his forces were set in motion. Through the mud and rain they at last plodded to Manassas, only to find to their chagrin that the position had been abandoned the day before, and that the entrenchments behind which the Confederates had sat for nearly a year were quite in significant, and armed largely with Quaker guns i. e., wooden logs shaped and painted to imitate cannon. By the skillful strategy of Johnston, the enemy had escaped without the loss of a wagon or a man. Against the President s judgment, McClellan had long insisted that the easiest way to reach Richmond, the objective point of the war at the east, was by the Peninsula. Having gained a reluctant consent to execute his plan, the army of the Potomac was rapidly transferred down the river, from Washington to Fortress Monroe, by a fleet of three hundred and eighty-nine vessels. McClellan, 5 i6 SECOND YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. being relieved of all responsibility except that of his immediate command, left the capital April ist. Having arrived at the for tress, he undertook the second " On to Richmond " movement. The Union army was over one hundred thousand strong. The troops were full of enthusiasm. Weary of their tedious and inglorious encampment around Washington, they were glad to take the field. The orders to march the next morning with five- days rations were, therefore, heard with cheers, and the exultant men heaped high the fires with rails and tree-tops. The camp that night presented a beautiful scene the very poetry of war. The new moon hung low in the western sky, and the bright stars looked down wonderingly through the soft, pure air. The forest trees cast long shadows over stacked arms, and watch fires, and pacing sentinels, and groups of boys in blue some writing home to loved ones, some cooking, some burnishing their arms, and some cracking the merry jest. Bands of music were playing, and through the trees stole, strangely blended, the strains of " Dixie " and of "Auld Lang Syne." Hours passed, and one by one the stars sank, the fires died away, and the soldiers dropped on the grass to rest, until, at last, quiet settled down over the white city of tents. At Yorktown, McClel- lan found General Ma- gruder with a Confeder ate division of about five thousand men, exclusive of small garrisons, de fending a line thirteen miles long, reaching en tirely across the Penin sula. Instead of breaking through at some weak point with his overwhelming force, he set his magnificent army down in the swamps, to begin a regular siege. Heavy guns were ordered from Washington ; miles of corduroy road were built ; and the open fields were filled with ditches and entrenchments. Mean while, General Joseph E. Johnston had reinforced the Confeder ates with the troops from Manassas ; while the Federals, unused to the climate, were sickening and dying by thousands. The spade was found quite as useful in digging graves as in raising fortifications. Just as McClellan was ready to open fire, Johnston MAP OF THE PENINSULA. BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG. 517 BUILDING A CORDUROY ROAD THROUGH A SWAMP. quietly retired up the Peninsula toward Richmond. Again, as at Winchester and at Manassas, he had given his enemy the slip. A rapid pursuit was at once made. The Confederate rear guard, afterward reinforced by Longstreet s division, took post at Williamsburg, in order to gain time for the baggage-trains. At this point, Fort Magruder, with thirteen redoubts, commanded all the roads leading northward. About half-past five o clock in the morning of May 5th, General Joseph Hooker, " Fighting Joe," as he was called, came up with his division, and at once ordered an attack. For nine long, bloody hours he continued the struggle. His ammunition was exhausted, and the living gathered the car tridges from the boxes of the dead. Thirty thousand Union troops, many of them in line of battle and anxious to share the danger, stood within sound of his guns, and yet none of them were sent to his help. In the afternoon, General Philip Kearney threw his men to the front, and took the brunt of the struggle. Later, General D. N. Couch arrived with his division. McClellan came upon the field with his brilliant staff" after the contest was decided. That night the Union troops, exhausted by the day s march and fight, lay in the rain and mud, many of them without food, shelter, or fire. In the morning, to their surprise, they awoke 5l8 SECOND YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. not to renew the battle, but to find the fort empty. Johnston, having accomplished his end, had quietly drawn off his men, and they were already out of reach. The scene which the field presented upon that bright, sunny day was a far different one from that of the happy, starlight evening which preceded the Union march up the Peninsula. The dead and wounded of both armies lay thick through the swamp and the miry road in front of Magruder. The trees were scarred by bullets and shells. Knapsacks, haversacks, guns, horses and equipments, the wreck of battle, strewed the ground. At one point, behind a fence, a hundred dead bodies lay in a broad windrow, as they had stood in rank. Here one soldier was surrounded by five whom he had slain ere he fell. There a man was shot while eating his lunch ; part of the broken bis cuit yet remained in his hands ; over the remainder his mouth had stiffened in his sudden death-agony. By the roadside reposed a boy apparently not over fourteen ; the lower part of his body was buried in the mud, but the rain had washed his upturned face, and it looked calm and peaceful, as if, in a quiet slumber, he were still dreaming of home and mother. Close by was a strong man, stretched at full length, with stiffened limbs and corded muscles, as though fighting to the last even against death. Another had received the fatal shot while, with extended arm, he was in the act of ramming down a ball ; by a strange coincidence he had fallen against a tree that supported him in nearly an upright position ; and there he stood, still and white, like a grim figure in a tableau. A rifleman was biting off his cartridge as the deadly ball entered his breast ; he merely pressed more tightly his teeth and clutched his fingers over the crumpled paper. Back of a fallen tree, seven soldiers, each with a ghastly red spot in the forehead, reclined side by side, as if taking a noon-tide rest. Fatigue parties were busy burying the dead and bringing in the wounded. The latter had often, in their blind fear, crawled away into the woods and hidden under the leaves and logs, where they were found only by the most careful search, whence, damp and mouldy, they were borne in on stretchers. A barn was taken as a hospital. The floor was covered with the maimed, whose matted hair, soiled garments, and undressed wounds touched every heart. By the door were three tables surrounded by sur geons, while cut-off limbs, ragged and torn, lay in heaps upon the ground. There was no soft bed, no delicate food, no cooling jalJ J BEFORE RICHMOND. 519 drinks, no tender care ; instead, there were heaps of corn-husks, " hard-tack " and salt pork, rough men who could only try to be gentle, and, above all, the hot sun pouring on the roof and heating the air, alive with groans and shrieks and foul with sickening odors. The dead were buried side by side in long trenches, near where they had fallen. Over one grave a comrade was seen to twine some green boughs, smooth the earth, and then, reverently, to place at the head a piece of paper with the name written upon it, a simple tribute of a loving heart. The next day the scene was strangely changed. High officers were gayly prancing by, dashing Zouaves flitting around like butterflies, heavy batteries lumbering along the road, brass bands discoursing brilliant music ; while long lines of plain blue uni forms and uplifted bayonets led off the eye to the distance, where the glittering steel blended into a mass of burnished metal. The abattis before Magruder, by some chance, had been fired, and the flames had crept over the battle-field, consuming in one funeral pyre friend and foe. Dense, black volumes of smoke rolled up to the heavens and rested like a pall over that scene of slaughter. Beneath, the fire hissed and sparkled, wrapping the unburied dead in a shroud of flame, while long tongues leaped out and lapped up the dry leaves, or coiled around and crawled up the huge pines, which burned and crackled until they looked in the heated air like blood-red pillars. McClellan, now unopposed, slowly followed the retreating army. Nearly two weeks were consumed in marching less than fifty miles. This brought the Union advance within sight of the steeples of Richmond. In that city all was confusion. The Con federate Congress hastily adjourned. Davis sent his family to Carolina, and the trains were crowded with fleeing women and children. General Irvin McDowell, who was at Fredericksburg with thirty thousand men, was daily expected to reinforce McClellan. General Fitz John Porter had been sent out upon the Union right, and, after a sharp skirmish, had taken Hanover Court-House, in order to facilitate the junction. McClellan was apparently only awaiting the advent of this reinforcement before making the final and long-anticipated assault upon the Confed- erate capital. Johnston saw the danger, and, too shrewd to let the blow fall as intended, resolved to parry it. Stonewall Jackson, being re inforced, was ordered to ascend the Shenandoah and threaten 520 SECOND YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. TMay-Ju L 1862. June, Washington. This indefatigable officer moved up the valley like a whirlwind, captured Front Royal, and then dashed after Gen eral Nathaniel P. Banks at Strasburg, who escaped with his men across the Potomac only by marching in one day thirty -five miles. Washington was thrown into a ferment of excitement. The gov ernment took military possession of all the railroads. Troops were called from every direction to save the Capitol. Fremont at Franklin, Banks at Harper s Ferry, and McDowell at Freder- icksburg, three major-generals and sixty thousand men, were ordered to intercept Jack son. But that valiant leader was as skillful in retreat as he was bold in advance, and rapidly fell back, burning the bridges behind him. He had a slight brush with his pursuers at Cross-Keys, and another at Port Republic, where, dexterously dodg ing between Fremont and McDowell, he darted across the Shenandoah, and then hurried back to take his place under Johnston in the Peninsula. Meanwhile, stirring events had transpired be fore Richmond. McClel- lan had incautiously pushed his left wing across the Chicka- hominy and taken possession of Seven Pines and Fair Oaks. Just then a terrible storm came on, which flooded the swamps and turned that sluggish creek into a roaring river. Johnston seized the opportunity, and concentrated his army on the exposed wing. General Silas Casey s division, which was the first attacked, had never before been under fire, and now received the shock of nearly double its number of Longstreet s veterans. The first warning of the battle was from two rifle-shells, which suddenly flew screaming over the camp. The men stood hurriedly to arms, as the rapid picket-firing told of the nearness of the danger. They gallantly held some slight entrenchments in their front until the second line under Couch had time to take position. The GENERAL GEORGE B. MCCLELLAN. May | 3 862 U . nel> ] BATTLE OF FAIR OAKS. $21 Confederates, however, swept all before them, and seemed likely to seize Bottom s bridge upon the Chickahominy, and thus en tirely cut off the left wing from the centre. In this moment of peril, General Sedgwick s division of Sumner s corps crossed upon a tottering log bridge, and hauled over a battery of twenty- four Napoleon guns. Following the roar of the cannon, they soon came into the thickest of the fight, checked the Confederate col umn, and drove it back headlong upon Fair Oaks station. Just at sunset, General Johnston was badly wounded by a shell. The loss of their commander was fatal, and, though the Confederates renewed the contest the next morning, they were easily repulsed. Conspicuous for his bravery in this engagement was General Kearney, who had lost an arm at the gates of Mexico. Taking his bridle in his teeth and his sword in his left hand, he led his men in the most dashing charges. During the thickest of the battle, " Up came the reserves to the mellay infernal, Asking where to go in through the clearing or pine ? " To which the gallant Kearney, who " snuffed, like his charger, the wind of the powder," shouted back, " Oh, anywhere ! Forward ! Tis all the same, Colonel : You ll find lovely fighting along the whole line ! McClellan made no attempt to follow up his success at Fair Oaks. Nearly a month of inactivity succeeded. Almost three months had elapsed since he landed at Fortress Monroe. His unaccountable delay had given the Confederates time to pass the conscription law, enroll troops, and collect the largest force they had yet put in the field. General Robert E. Lee, who succeeded Johnston in command of the "Army of Northern Virginia," having thoroughly fortified Richmond, was anxious to strike a blow which should be more telling than the one delivered at Seven Pines. General Stuart, with fifteen hundred picked cavalry, was accordingly detached to gather information concerning the de fences on the right and rear of the Federal line. This dashing officer drove the outposts from Hanover Court-House, destroyed a great quantity of stores along the York River railroad leading to White House the Union depot of supplies made the entire circuit of McClellan s army, and, throwing a bridge across the Chickahominy, came safely back into camp. He had found 522 SECOND YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. ["June, LI862. no works to hinder his march, and Lee s plan was quickly formed. He decided to fall with all his strength upon the Union right wing at Mechanicsville, while Jackson, now daily expected from the Shenandoah, should advance still farther to the left, cut off the Federal communications with White House, and then attack their rear. McClellan, alarmed by the news of the advance of Jackson, and disappointed in the non-arrival of McDowell, on whom he had counted to strengthen his right wing, but who was detained for the defence of Washington, resolved to abandon the York River railroad and " change the base " of supplies to James River, seventeen miles dis tant. To do this it was necessary for the right wing to hold its posi tion firmly, while the remainder of the army, with the trains, forty miles long, should traverse the narrow and difficult route through the White Oak Swamp. Ere this movement began, Lee s blow had fallen. On the 26th of of June, Generals A. P. Hill and Longstreet crossed the Chicka- hominy and attacked the Union right at Mechanicsville. The contest lasted till nine o clock at night, when the Confederates were repulsed at every point. At dawn the next morning, however, General Porter withdrew the Federal forces to a strong position at Gaines s Mill, which covered the bridges connecting with the main body of the army. In the afternoon, the Confederates renewed their attacks. Jackson, having joined them, fell upon the Union flank with fearful force. It was only by the most des perate exertions, and by repeated reinforcements, that Porter managed to prevent a total rout. That night, under cover of the darkness, he retired to the south bank. Up to this time Lee had been in doubt as to his opponent s in tentions, whether he would try to hold his position on the north bank of the Chickahominy, or, what was most feared, throw all his strength into the left wing and suddenly hurl it into Richmond, which was but slightly guarded. A retrograde movement being now apparent, Lee ordered Jackson to cross the Chickahominy GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE. June | 2 8 6 62 Ju y2 ] THE SEVEN-DAYS BATTLES. 523 and press upon the Federal rear, while other columns were pushed along the roads which intersected the line of march. On Sunday, June 29th, Magruder struck the flank of the " vast caravan" at Savage s Station. Here Sumner held the ground till dark. Large quantities of supplies were destroyed, and a railroad train and locomotive, piled with military stores, was fired and set loose on the track, the shells exploding as it flew wildly along, and, at last, dashed off the broken bridge into the Chickahominy. When night came, abandoning twenty -five hundred sick and wounded in the hospitals, the Union troops fell back through the White Oak Swamp. The next day, Longstreet and A. P. Hill, having passed around the swamp, encountered the line of march at Frazier s Farm. General McCall s division was then passing. The Confederates threw themselves with reckless valor upon the column, but could not break it. Jackson coming up on the Federal rear, found the bridge over White Oak Creek destroyed, and the crossing held by General Franklin. Thus the admirable arrangements of McClellan foiled every effort of his adversaries. During the night the Union army collected for a final stand at Malvern Hill. Here, upon an elevated plateau cleared of trees, about one and a half miles long and three-quarters of a mile wide, the shattered fragments of the army of the Potomac gathered in solid array. On the sides of the amphitheatre-like slope the cannon were ar ranged in tier above tier, sweeping every inch of the glacis in front, while gun-boats lay on the left, ready to hurl their ponder ous shells upon the advancing enemy. The Confederates, flushed with success, repeatedly charged upon this impregnable position, but they were repulsed with hor rible slaughter. Strangely enough, under cover of the darkness and a fearful tempest, the Union troops were ordered to flee like a routed army from their own victory. General Kearney echoed the sentiment of many a patriot amid the disorder of that midnight flight when, rising in his stirrups, he exclaimed, " I, Philip Kearney, an old soldier, enter my solemn protest against this order to retreat. We ought, instead, to follow up the enemy and take Richmond. And, in full view of all responsibility of such a declaration, I say to you all that such an order can only be prompted by cowardice or treason ! " The Confederates, staggered by the blows they had received, made no further opposition, and the wearied fugitives found rest 524 SECOND YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. at Harrison s Landing, where they huddled under the cannon of the friendly gun-boats. Lee had raised the siege of Richmond, and, with not over seventy-five thousand men, had driven to a calamitous retreat an army that, even after all the disasters of the seven-days fight, still mustered eighty -six thousand under its colors. The losses of this brief campaign had been fearful, cer tainly not less than forty thousand on both sides. It was expected that Lee would now march upon Washing ton. McClellan was therefore ordered to transfer his army to Acquia Creek, in order to reinforce General Pope, who was sta tioned on the Rapidan in command of the forces collected for the defence of the national capital. Lee immediately turned to crush Pope before the troops from the James River could reach him. Meanwhile, Jackson having been sent forward, defeated General Banks at Cedar Mountain, August 9th; but, unable to maintain his position, he fell back upon Lee s advancing army. Pope, per ceiving the fearful odds concentrating upon him, retired behind the Rappahannock. Lee thereupon divided his army, sending Jackson through Thoroughfare Gap to march around Pope s right wing and destroy his communications with Washington; while Longstreet, with his division, held his attention in front. Pope then turned all his strength on Jackson, hoping to cut off that redoubtable leader while thus separated from the main body. But mysterious causes, among which jealousy has been alleged, prevented the Army of the Potomac from co-operating fully with Pope, and he found himself at last, August 29th, on the old battle-field of Manassas, face to face with the whole Confeder ate army under the firm hand of Lee. The positions of the an tagonists were changed from those of the previous year, and the Federals held the ground formerly occupied by the Confederates. That very afternoon, says Draper, McClellan suggested to Lincoln " to leave Pope to get out of his scrape ; " the President, reading the message, fell back in his chair, his honest heart horror-stricken at the thought. After two days of fighting, the Federal forces, staggering under repeated blows in front and flank, reeled back to Centreville. Jackson thereupon set out to turn again Pope s right wing. A sharp conflict occurred at Chantilly, September ist, in the midst of a furious thunder-storm. Phil. Kearney, dashing forward in advance, met a Confederate soldier, of whom he made an inquiry. Seeing his mistake, he wheeled, when the soldier fired, and this gallant officer fell mortally wounded. Sept. 5,1 1862. J LEE ENTERS MARYLAND. 525 " Oh, evil the black shroud of night at Chantilly That hid him from sight of his brave men and tried ! Foul, foul sped the bullet that clipped the white lily, The flower of our knighthood, the whole army s pride ! Yet we dream that he still, in that shadowy region, Where the dead form their ranks at the wan drummer s sign, Rides on, as of old, down the length of his legion, And the word still is, Forward ! along the whole line." Stedman. Pope steadily retired before the enemy. Exhausted by constant march ing and fighting, overwhelmed by numbers, destitute of ammunition and of food, the remains of the army at last found shelter be hind the entrench ments at Washing ton. Pope was here relieved of his com mand and the na tional forces again placed under Mc- Clellan, who, in spite of his failure on the Peninsula, was exceedingly popular with the troops. Lee, his army flushed with success, now crossed the Potomac, and advanced to Frederick, the bands playing the air of " Mary land, my Maryland." That day, September 5th, Bragg entered Kentucky on his grand raid. The movements were made in con cert. The North was to be struck at two points simultaneously. We have described the result of the western attempt ; the eastern, despite its brilliant beginning, proved yet more unsatisfactory to the Confederate cause. McClellan, rapidly reorganizing the Federal forces, and in spiring them with the enthusiasm of his personal presence and influence, once more took the field against his old antagonist. Meanwhile, Lee had sent Jackson, with twenty-five thousand men, to capture Harper s Ferry, after which he was to rejoin the DEATH OF GENERAL KEARNEY. 526 SECOND YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. main body at Hagerstown, preparatory to an invasion of Pennsyl vania. McClellan, steadily following Lee, entered Frederick, Septem ber 1 2th, just after its evacuation by the Confederates. Here, by a singular piece of good fortune, he secured a copy of Lee s order of march. Put in possession of the plan of his adversary, he saw the danger of the garrison at Harper s Ferry. Leaving it, how ever, to its fate, he moved slowly after the main body. At the South Mountain Gap, the Confederate rear-guard stubbornly re sisted his progress. But, outflanked, it retreated under cover of night, and in the morning the Union army poured into the valley beyond. Harper s Ferry was then being surrendered to Jackson. Lee, now fairly brought to bay, took a strong position behind Antietam Creek. His situation was perilous. Jackson, with a large portion of the army, had not yet rejoined him. McClellan, however, waited a day, and that gave an opportunity for a part of the detached troops to arrive. Even then, Lee had only forty thousand against McClellan s eighty thousand. Moreover, half his men were in rags, and thousands, barefooted, had traced their path thither in crimson ; while on the other side of the Potomac was a weary, gaunt, and still more ragged crowd, left behind because of inability to keep pace with the rapid progress of the army. McClellan s plan was for General Hooker to fall upon the Con federate left ; while Burnside, as soon as affairs looked favorable, was to carry the bridge over the creek and attack their right. At early dawn, Hooker s men made an impetuous rush, driving Jack son s brigades into the woods, where their reserves, lying behind rocky ledges of limestone, occupied an almost impregnable for tress. A desperate struggle ensued. Both antagonists were nearly destroyed. When the broken fragments were drawn off, the windrows of blue and gray showed where the lines of battle had been mowed down by the reaper, death. Reinforcements came up ; on the Confederate side, Hood s and then McLaw s and Walker s divisions as they arrived from Harper s Ferry ; on the Union side, Mansfield s, Summer s, and finally Franklin s corps. As each came on the field, the tide turned, and so ebbed to and fro, marking its bloody passage with bruised and mangled corpses. It was not till one o clock in the afternoon that Burn- side crossed the bridge. Meanwhile, Lee had been able to con centrate all his force to resist the attack on his left, and now Sept. 17,-] 1862. J BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 527 Hill, coming up from Harper s Ferry, easily repulsed this assault. The next day, neither commander seemed disposed to renew the struggle. That night Lee retired across the Potomac. This battle, indecisive as it seemed, had overthrown all his plans for an invasion of Pennsylvania. STORMING THE BRIDGE AT ANTIETAM. Six weeks after the strug gle of Antietam, at the im perative order of the Presi dent, the Union army cross ed the Potomac. Its pursuit of Lee, however, was slow. McClellan had long since lost the confidence of the President as well as of General Halleck, then at Washington, and it was resolved to supersede him. A messenger bearing the despatch arrived at McClellan s tent in Rectortown, during a heavy snow-storm, at midnight, November 7th. The general read the letter, and, handing it over to his suc cessor, said, indifferently, " Well, Burnside, you are to command." The army of the Potomac was now a hundred and fifty thousand strong. Burnside was reluctant to accept the responsibility, de claring that he was unfit to handle so large a body of men ; and he, at last, yielded only to positive orders. 528 SECOND YEAR OF THE WAR. [ N i862? C " The plan which Burnside adopted was to move toward Rich mond along the north bank of the Rappahannock, while making a feint in the direction of Gordonsville. Lee, perceiving his real intention, advanced in a parallel line. When the main body of the Federals reached Fredericksburg, where they were to cross, they saw in front of them the red flags and gray ranks of their old adversaries. After several days, the pontoons, which had been delayed through some inattention at Washington, came to hand. An attempt to lay them failed, because of a galling fusillade kept up by the Confederate sharp-shooters, hidden in the houses along the bank. A tremendous artillery fire was then opened upon the town, and under its cover a company of daring volunteers crossed in boats and expelled the riflemen at the point of the bayonet. The bridges were quickly completed, and on the morning of December I3th the Union army was massed in and about the vil lage of Fredericksburg. So dense a fog lay in the valley that Longstreet approached near enough to the Federal lines to hear the commands of the officers. The Confederates, eighty thousand strong, occupied a series of heights carefully entrenched, with artillery sweeping the plain at the foot. Burnside s design was for General Franklin, who had crossed the Rappahannock two miles below with over fifty thou sand men, to attack the Confederate right wing under Jackson ; while Sumner should carry Marye s Height on the Confederate left. Through some misunderstanding, Franklin sent only Meade s corps. The column had not gone far when it encountered an annoying obstacle. Stuart had placed a single gun under Major Pelham at the junction of the Richmond and River roads to worry the flank of the advancing force. Four Federal batteries opened fire upon him ; but the major, though a young man of only twenty- three years, held his ground and kept up a rapid and destructive cannonade until ordered away. General Lee, watching his gal lant conduct, exclaimed, " It is glorious to see such courage in one so young." This obstruction being brushed aside, the column charged bravely up the hill, broke through the enemy s line, and penetrated to the reserves. From lack of support, however, this assault utterly failed. It was the only one that promised success, as it would have turned the stronghold in front of Fredericks burg. The chief interest of the battle centres about the repeated charges upon Marye s Height. Just before noon, Sumner sent D |862? ] BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG. $2$ French s and Hancock s corps forward into the plain. When half way across, the Confederate batteries converged their fire upon them from every side. An observer says that the gaps made in the ranks could be seen at the distance of a mile. " The long lines moved through the focus of death, quivering, but still advancing, their own guns on the north bank of the river giving them what help they might, a canopy of iron." When the Federals had nearly reached the base of the hill they were struck by a storm of bullets from two Confederate brigades securely posted behind a long, solid stone wall. The weakened ranks yielded to the tem pest, and sought refuge in a protecting ravine. Thrice again they rallied and rushed forward with desperate valor, but in vain. It was a pitiless, useless slaughter, and the survivors fled leaving half their number strewing the bloody field. In this attack, Meagher s Irish Brigade especially distinguished itself. The London Times s correspondent says : " Never at Fon- tenoy, Albuera, nor Waterloo was more undoubted courage dis played by the sons of Erin than during those frantic dashes against the almost impregnable position of their foe. That any mortal man could have carried the position, it seems idle to believe. But the bodies which lie in dense masses within forty-eight yards of the muzzles of Colonel Walton s guns are the best evidence of what manner of men they were who pressed on to death with the dauntlessness of a race which has gained glory on a thousand battle-fields, and never more richly deserved it than at the foot of Marye s Height, on the I3th day of December, 1862." There was no hope of success, yet Hooker, though he pleaded against it, was ordered to renew the fruitless struggle. Accord ingly, toward night, General Humphreys s division was thrown forward. Shouting and hurrahing, the troops swept within sixty yards of the fatal stone wall. There the column staggered and broke. It was all over within fifteen minutes after the first gun was fired, but seventeen hundred and sixty out of four thousand men had fallen. Darkness mercifully put an end to this horrible massacre. General Burnside, brave to a fault, had determined to form his own corps, the Ninth, into columns of regiments, and make, the next morning, a new assault upon Marye s Height. Sumner, it is said, persuaded him to abandon this hazardous design. The following night, the troops, discouraged but not dismayed, crept back across the bridges to their old camping-ground. They had 34 53O SECOND YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. [,g ec 62. lost over twelve thousand men, and the Confederates not half that number. Both armies then went into winter-quarters. To add to the bloody record of this year of battles, the Sioux Indians, becoming dissatisfied with the payment of money claimed by them, in bloody imitation of their pale brothers, took the war path. Little Crow and other chiefs perpetrated barbarous mas sacres in Dacotah, Iowa, and Minnesota. Hundreds of the inhab itants were butchered, and thousands, driven from their homes, saw all they possessed perish by the torch. The savages were finally routed. Thirty-nine of the captives were tried and con demned to death. They were hung on a common scaffold at Mankato, Minnesota, December 26th. In the Southern States, domestic life now began to feel the stringency of the blockade. The money issued by the Confeder ate government had steadily depreciated in value. Flour brought forty dollars per barrel, salt a dollar per pound, and a pair of boots fifty dollars. Woolen clothing was scarce, and the army depended largely on captures from the ample Federal stores. " Pins were so rare that they were picked up with avidity in the streets." A spool of thread came to be worth twenty dollars, a pound of sugar seventy -five dollars, and one of black pepper three hundred dollars. Paper was so scarce that matches could no longer be put in boxes. Butter, eggs and white bread became luxuries even for the rich. THE MONITOR AT SEA. CHAPTER XV. YEJtt OF THE CIVIL N New Year s day, the Emancipa tion Proclamation issued by Lin coln the preceding September went into effect. All the slaves within the seceded States were declared free. It is said that the original draft of this document was prepared in July, when the Union forces were in the midst of reverses. Carpenter repeats the President s words thus : " I put the draft of the proclama tion aside, waiting for a victory. Well, the next news we had was of Pope s disaster at Bull Run. Things looked darker than ever. Finally came the week of the battle of Antietam. I determined to wait no longer. The news came, I think, on Wednesday that the advantage was on our side. I was then staying at the Soldier s Home. Here I finished writ ing the second draft of the proclamation; came up on Saturday; called the cabinet together to hear it, and it was published the following Monday. I made a solemn vow before God that if General Lee was driven back from Maryland I would crown the result by the declaration of freedom to the slaves." No measure of the Avar was more bitterly opposed than the project of arming the slaves, which was now adopted by the Fed eral government. It was denounced at the North ; while at the South, the Confederate Congress threatened with death any white officer captured while in command of negro troops, leaving the men to be dealt with according to the laws of the State in which they were taken. Yet, so willing were the negroes to en list, and so faithful did they prove themselves in service, that by 532 THIRD YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. TMarch, L 1863. . 9 December over fifty thousand had been enrolled, and before the close of the war that number was quadrupled. The Federal plan for the war this year remained unchanged, except that it included also the occupation of Tennessee. The Union army was about seven hundred thousand strong ; the Confederate, not more than half that number. At the West, the grand prize of the war was Vicksburg, the capture of which would reopen the Mississippi, the main artery of trade through that immense valley. Early in the spring, Grant resumed this task. The northern defences of the city had proved so strong that it was de cided to make the next attempt from the south. The difficulty, however, was to get the army and the gunboats below the for- RUNNING THE BATTERIES AT VICKSBURG. tifications. Various efforts were made to " flank the Mississippi." One plan was to cut a canal across the great bend in the river opposite Vicksburg, and so turn the Mississippi from its bed as Apr i863" ne ] BEFORE VICKSBURG. 533 had been done at Island No. 10 ; another, was to dig a channel from the river to Lake Providence, whence there is water communica tion to the Red River; a third channel was proposed, by the way of various bayous from Milliken s Bend to New Carthage ; and a fourth through the Yazoo Pass and Moon Lake, and thence via the Cold Water, Tallahatchie, and Yazoo Rivers to the rear of the works at Raines s Bluff. These plans proving futile, it was finally decided to march the army down the west bank of the river, while the gun-boats and transports took the risk of running the batteries. Seventy miles of corduroy road were constructed through the morass, on which the troops were safely passed below. On the nights of the i6th and 22d of April, the fleet successfully ran the gauntlet of the eight miles of batteries commanding the channel. It then ferried the army across the river at Bruinsburg. Cutting loose from his base, Grant now hastened his column northward, defeating the advance of Pemberton s army at Port Gibson, May ist. Learning that General Joseph E. Johnston was coming to Pemberton s assistance, he rapidly pushed between them to Jackson, that, while holding back Johnston with his right hand, with his left he might drive Pemberton into Vicksburg, and afterward capture his whole army. Pursuing this design, he de feated Johnston at Jackson, May I4th, and then, turning to the west, drove Pemberton from his position at Champion Hills, May i6th, and finally at Big Black River, May i/th. In seventeen days from the landing, Grant had marched two hundred miles, fought four battles, taken ninety guns and six thousand prisoners. " That night," says an eye-witness, " Grant and Sherman had an inter view, seated on a fallen tree, in the light of a pile of burning fence- rails, while the eager and swift-marching men of the Fifteenth corps filed by them and disappeared in the darkness." Their plans were soon laid, and on the morning of the igth the invest ment of Vicksburg was complete. Two desperate and bloody assaults having failed, a regular siege was begun. Mines and countermines were dug. The gar rison could not show their heads above the entrenchments with out being picked off by the watchful riflemen. A hat held for two minutes at a port-hole was pierced with fifteen balls. Shells searched out all parts of the city, the cannon of the army and fleet during the siege firing one hundred and fifty-three thousand three hundred and twenty-three shots. To escape the iron storm 534 THIRD YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. MAP OF VICKSBURG AND VICINITY. which incessantly poured upon them, the inhabitants burrowed in caves until the city looked like a " prairie-dog s village." Meat gave out entirely, and the troops were reduced to half rations. Percussion -caps became scarce, and at one time there were only ten to a man. At last the gar rison, exhausted by forty-seven days and nights of ceaseless labor in the trenches, could hold out no longer. Seeing that Grant was ready to make the final assault, Pemberton asked for terms of surrender. The two com manders met under an oak tree be tween the lines, at three P. M., July 3d. The next day the city capitulated with twenty-seven thousand men. The Union loss was less than nine thousand all told. Meanwhile, Port Hudson had been besieged by General Banks. Gardner, who was in command, made a valiant defence, but on learning of the fall of Vicksburg, he also surrendered. The entire length of the Mississippi was now clear, and one great object of the war was accomplished. July i6th, the steamer Imperial made the voyage from St. Louis to New Orleans. It was the first in two years. Late in June, Rosecrans took the field against his old antago nist, Bragg. By his strategic movements he drove the Confed erates back to Chattanooga. Here Bragg had a chance to be shut up within entrenchments, as Pemberton was at Vicksburg ; but, a more acute tactician, he knew the superior value of an army in the field, and so evacuated the place in good time. The Union forces pressed forward, and in the eager chase, became carelessly stretched out over a line forty miles long. Bragg, powerfully reinforced, suddenly turned upon his pursuers. The Federals rapidly concentrated, and the two armies met, September iQth, in the valley of the Chickamauga the river of death. Bragg s plan was to turn the Union left, where General Thomas commanded. Against him he massed the bulk of his force under General Polk. The first day s contest was indecisive. Early the next morning the struggle was renewed. Rosecrans was forced to move brigade after brigade to his left in order to resist the tre mendous pressure at that point. About noon, General Wood having withdrawn too hastily, Longstreet pushed a brigade into Sept f863. 2 ] BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA. 535 the gap before the rest could close up the line of battle, and swept the Federal right and centre from the field. Rosecrans himself was borne away, and, reaching Chattanooga, he telegraphed to Washington that his army was defeated. Thomas, however, the " Rock of Chickamauga," held his ground. All through the long afternoon the entire Confederate army surged against him, but to no effect. At one time he seemed lost. Long- street discovered a defile in the hills, and began to pour his men upon the Federal rear. Just then Granger came up with the Union reserves, and Thomas showed him the enemy that moment debouching into the plain. Quick as thought, Granger threw upon the foe a brigade of cavalry, and ordered a battery forward to check the tide till the other troops could be brought up to the point of danger. In this crisis heroes seemed to multiply. Colonel George, of the Second Minnesota, being asked, " How long can you hold this pass?" replied, " Until the regiment is mustered out of service." A part of Steedman s division wavering before the terrible fire, that general seized the colors, and shouting, " Go back, boys, go back, but the flag can t go with you," wheeled his horse and rode straight toward the enemy. At sunset, the Confederates made their last charge. The Union troops had expended their ammunition, but repelled the attack with the bayonet. At night, Thomas deliberately withdrew to Chattanooga, picking up five hundred prisoners on the way. The Union army, defeated in the field, was now shut up in Chattanooga, where Rosecrans threw up entrenchments. Bragg occupied the hills commanding the place, and cut off its communi cations. Ere long, the Federal supplies were exhausted. Ten thousand animals died, and the troops were threatened with star vation. It was doubtful whether they could hold the place. Rosecrans had been displaced, and Thomas was in command. Grant, now in charge of the military division of the Mississippi, hastened to his rescue. Fearful lest Thomas might surrender before reinforcements could reach him, he telegraphed him to de fend his post. The characteristic reply was, " I will stay till I starve." Every effort was then made to relieve the beleagured city. Hooker, with two corps of the Army of the Potomac, was carried by rail from the Rapidan to the Tennessee, about twelve hundred miles, in seven days. Grant arrived from New Orleans, October 536 THIRD YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. [ 23d. Affairs soon wore a different look. A bold dash on the morn ing of the 2/th cleared the road to Bridgeport, and restored com munications with the river below. Sherman now came fighting his way from Mississippi. Eighty thousand men awaited Grant s orders to break through their environment. Yet by a strange misapprehension, Davis, when visiting Bragg s lines a fortnight before, thought that the Union army was in a trap, and had sent Longstreet with fifteen thousand men to attack Burnside at Knoxville. Monday morning, November 23d, was clear and bright. Thomas s troops, twenty-five thousand strong, were drawn up before Chattanooga. The men had on their best uniforms, and the bands discoursed the liveliest music. The surrounding hills and entrenchments were crowded with eager spectators. The Confederates stationed on the heights could see every movement ; and their pickets, resting on their muskets, watched the parade. Suddenly the drums beat the charge, the Union army broke into a double-quick, the review was turned into a battle, and that line of blue two miles long "swept true as a sword -blade" over the field. Soon there came dropping shots, then volleys of musketry and the deep roar of artillery. After a sharp resistance, Orchard Knob, a craggy knoll in front of the Confederate position, was seized and crowned with batteries. The Confederate line, twelve miles long, rested its left on Look out Mountain, over two thousand feet high, and its right upon Missionary Ridge, so-called because, many years ago, it was the location of Indian mission-schools. A series of earthworks in the valley between, connected the two flanks. Grant s plan was for Sherman to attack the extreme right of this position, and Hooker the left ; then, when Bragg, in order to resist these blows, had sufficiently weakened the centre, to pounce upon that point and pierce it. On the night of the 23d, Sherman crossed the river, and early in the morning, under cover of a mist which hid his men, moved up to the foot of the Ridge and seized the northern extremity. Hooker charged the works on Lookout Mountain in flank, taking many prisoners. The troops had been ordered to stop on the CHATTANOOGA AND VICINITY. N V |8 2 63 . 25> ] BATTLE OF CHATTANOOGA. 537 lower plateau of the hill, but, carried away by the ardor of the attack, they swept round to the front, and, passing under the muzzles of the guns on the summit, drove the enemy before them. Through the mist that filled the valley, the anxious watchers below caught only glimpses of this far-famed " battle above the clouds." That evening, Hooker s camp-fires gleamed like jewels on Lookout Mountain s brow. The Union soldiers, amid cheers and songs, laid down to rest, feeling that on the morrow would be the decisive contest. During the night the enemy abandoned the crest of the moun tain. At dawn, Captain Wilson and fifteen men of the Eighth Kentucky crept up among the rocky clefts and unfurled the Stars and Stripes. As the fog lifted, the Confederate camp in the valley was seen to be deserted also, and their line to have shrunk back to Missionary Ridge. While the guns were roaring along Lookout Mountain the day before, the soldiers said, laughingly, " Old Hooker is opening the hard-tack line." Sure enough, about noon, the screech of a steamer was heard down the river, and soon the vessel crawled up to the dock at Chattanooga. " It was a sorry craft," says a writer, " but it seemed the sweetest-voiced and prettiest piece of naval architecture that ever floated upon the Tennessee." At sunrise, Hooker pushed down across Chattanooga Creek, advancing in Bragg s rear, south of the Ridge. All this time, Sherman was steadily pounding on the Confederate right, so heavily that Bragg mistook it for the real attack, and accordingly depleted his centre to meet it. Grant from his post on Orchard Knob saw that the crisis of the battle had arrived, and promptly launched Thomas s corps on the enemy s centre. The signal for the assault had been arranged six cannon-shots, fired at intervals of two seconds. The fateful moment arrived. " Strong and steady the commands rang out. Number one, fire ! Number two, fire ! Number three, fire ! It seemed the tolling of the clock of des tiny, and when at Number six, fire ! the roar throbbed out with the flash, the dead line that had been lying behind the works all day, all night, all day again, came to resurrection in the twinkling of an eye, leaped like a blade from its scabbard, and swept toward the Ridge." The orders were to take the rifle-pits at the foot of Missionary Ridge, then to halt and re-form ; but the men forgot all that, car ried the works at the base, and dashed on up the ascent. Grant 538 THIRD YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. TNov.25 1863. caught the inspiration, and directed a grand charge along the whole front. it was a splendid sight to see, For one who had no friend, no brother there." Up they went without firing a shot, and heedless of plunging ball and hissing bullet ; clambering over rocks ; leaping chasms ; crawling under fallen trees ; stumbling over the dead ; creeping along, hand over hand ; all lines broken, and the flags far ahead, A CHARGE AT MISSIONARY RIDGE. each one surrounded by a group of the bravest. Just as the sun sank below the horizon, the advance surged over the crest ; a hundred men followed, and an instant later captured the guns and turned them on the retreating foe. Bragg, after the rout of his army, resigned. The possession of Chattanooga gave to the Federal cause the control of East Tennessee, and, what was of far greater importance, a ready entrance into Georgia, Alabama, and the Carolinas. " The day after the battle was Thanksgiving," says B. F. Taylor, in his prose-poem, " Camp and Field " ; " and we had services in Chattanooga sad, solemn, grand. The church-bells hung dumb in their towers, indeed, but for all that, there were chimes so grand that men uncovered their heads as they heard them. At twelve o clock, the great guns at Fort Wood began [J 6 V 3;] SCENES IN CHATTANOOGA. 539 to toll. Civilians said, Can they be at it again ? and sol diers replied, * The guns are not shotted, and the sound is too regular for work/ I hastened out to the fort, and the guns chimed on. What it was like flashed upon me in a moment : the valley was a grand cathedral, Fort Wood the pulpit of the mighty minster, and down the descending aisle in front rose Orchard Knob, the altar. The dead were lying there, far out to the east ern wall, and God s chandelier hung high in the dome. They were the accents of praise I was hearing ; thirty -four syllables of thanksgiving the guns were saying : O/t, give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good ; for His mercy endureth forever ! And the hills took up the anthem and struck sublimely in ; from the Ridge it came back, Give thanks unto the Lord and Waldron s Height uttered it, for His mercy endureth, and Lookout Valley sang aloud, forever, forever, and all the mountains cried, l Amen ! " And the churches of Chattanooga had congregations that day. Those who composed them had come silent and suffering and of steady heart : had come upon stretchers ; come in men s arms, like infants to the christening. Ambulances had been drawing up to the church-doors all night with their burdens, and within those walls it looks one great altar of sacrifice. The doors are noiselessly opening and closing, and I see pale faces bloody garments. Right hands lie in the porch that have offended and been cut off; castaway feet are there, too, but there is nothing about sinning feet in the Sermon on the Mount ! It is not the house of wailing on whose threshold I am waiting ; it is the house of patience. Five still figures, covered by five brown blankets, are ranged on the floor beside me. Their feet are manacled with bits of slender twine, but a spider s thread could hold them. I lift a corner of the blankets, and look at the quiet faces. Do men look nearer alike when dead than when alive ? Else how could it have chanced that one of these sleepers in Federal blue should resem ble another in Confederate gray nearly enough for both to have been twinned at a birth ? They are not wounded in the face, and so there is nothing to shock you ; they fell in their full strength. Tread lightly, lest they be not dead, but sleeping. The silence within oppresses me ; it seems as if an accent of pain from some sufferer in that solemn church would be a welcome sound, and I think of a brave bird wounded unto death that I have held in my hand, its keen eye undimmed and full upon me, throbbing with the pain and dying, and yet so silent ! " 540 THIRD YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. [[gj^; The same brilliant writer narrates a touching incident con nected with the battle of Chattanooga. The Third Ohio regi ment, which was captured with Streight s command in April of this year, while en route to Richmond stopped over night at a town where the Fifty-fourth Virginia was encamped. Naturally, the Confederates came strolling about " to see the sorry show of poor supperless Yankees. They did not stare long, but hastened away to camp, and came streaming back with coffee-kettles, corn- bread and bacon the best they had, and all they had and straightway little fires began to twinkle, bacon was suffering the martyrdom of the Saint of the Gridiron, and the aroma of coffee rose like the fragrant cloud of a thank-offering. Loyal guests and rebel hosts were mingled ; the hungry prisoners ate and were satisfied. Night and the Union boys departed together; the pris oners in due time were exchanged, and were encamped within rifle-shot of Kelly s Ferry, on the bank of the Tennessee. " And now comes the sequel that makes a beautiful poem of the whole of it. On the day of the storming of Mission Ridge, among the prisoners was the Fifty-fourth Virginia, and on the Friday following, it trailed away across the pontoon bridge and along the mountain road, nine miles to Kelly s Ferry. Arrived there, it settled upon the bank like bees, awaiting the boat. Some of the Union boys were on duty at the landing when it arrived. 1 What regiment is this ? they asked, and when the reply was given, they started for camp like quarter-horses, and shouted, as they rushed in and out among the smoky cones of the Sibleys, * The Fifty-fourth Virginia is at the Ferry ! The camp swarmed in three minutes. Treasures of coffee, bacon, sugar, beef, pre served peaches, everything, were turned out in force/ and you may believe they went laden with plenty, at the double-quick, to the Ferry. The same old scene, and yet how strangely changed ! The twinkling fires, the grateful incense, the hungry captives ; but guests and hosts had changed places ; the star-lit folds floated aloft for the bonny blue flag; and a debt of honor was paid to the uttermost farthing. If they had a triumph of arms at Chat tanooga, hearts were trumps at Kelly s Ferry. And there it was, and then it was, that horrid war smiled a human smile, and a grateful, gentle light flickered for a moment on the point of the bayonet." While Rosecrans was marching to his fate, as we have seen, at Chickamauga, General Burnside, having been relieved of the com- Ja T863? ril> ] THE WAR IN VIRGINIA. 541 mand of the army of the Potomac, was assigned to the Depart ment of the Ohio. He advanced from his headquarters at Cin cinnati into East Tennessee, and, with little loss, conquered it for the Union. In November, however, Longstreet arrived with his corps from Chattanooga. The Confederates were in a deplorable state, ragged, shoeless, hatless, blanketless, and hungry ; but they were veterans, and Burnside s forces were driven within the en trenchments of Knoxville. Two fruitless assaults had been made upon the city, when Sherman came to the rescue from the victory at Chattanooga. As his advance arrived in sight, Longstreet s men filed out of their camp in full retreat. Between September 2/th and December 4th, Sherman s corps, hastening to the relief of Chattanooga, had marched four hun dred miles from the Big Black River in Mississippi, often without rations, sometimes barefoot, and three successive nights without sleep. They had fought during that week of battles, and thence they had traveled over terrible roads one hundred and twenty miles to the assistance of Burnside. " It was," says Draper, " the harbinger of the March to the Sea." General Hooker succeeded to the command of the Army of the Potomac, January 26th. He found the troops greatly demor alized. Many had lost all heart in the cause. At one time, three thousand officers and eighty thousand privates were absent from the ranks, while the daily desertions numbered two hundred. The army was now carefully reorganized and disciplined until, as the commander declared, it was " the finest on the planet." The last of April, Longstreet with two divisions having been de tached to the James, the Confederate force was reduced to sixty thousand, some say as low as forty-five thousand. As Hooker had one hundred and twenty thousand men at least, he saw the opportunity. His plan was for General Sedgwick to pass the river at Fredericksburg, as if to renew Burnside s enterprise, while he threw the main body across the Rappahannock above Chancellorsville, and then swept down on the Confederate rear. All worked admirably. The 3Oth found the "gray cavalier" still on the heights at Fredericksburg, Avhile over seventy thousand men in blue were grouped under the Stars and Stripes about Chan cellorsville. Hooker exultingly exclaimed, in a congratulatory order to his troops, that they now occupied " a position so strong that the enemy must either ingloriously fly, or come out from behind his defences and give us battle on our own ground, where certain destruction awaits him." 542 THIRD YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. rMay I, L 1863, The next day the Union army moved out of the Wilderness into an advantageous position in the open country, where it could communicate with Sedgwick by Banks s Ford. All anticipated a vigorous advance. Unexpectedly, however, Hooker changed from the offensive to the defensive, fell back into the Wilderness, and took post again at Chancellorsville. Here he made ready to LEE AND JACKSON PLANNING THE BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE. receive battle in a wild and desolate region -a, thicket of under growth so dense that the " men had to flatten their bodies to glide between the stunted oaks;" a jungle traversed only by narrow roads and bridle-paths, where neither cavalry nor artillery could operate, and every movement of an antagonist was effectually hidden. Lee, seeing the real intention of Hooker, now rapidly swung his army into position. On the eve of May ist, "seated upon some cracker-boxes under a pine tree " with his famous lieutenant, Jackson, he devised a method of attack. It was decided to take once more the risk of dividing the army in the face of the enemy; and that, while Lee made a show of fighting in front, Jackson with twenty thousand men should make a detour of fifteen miles through the woods and turn the Federal right. Early in the morning the movement was begun. The line of march was about a mile in advance of the Federal position. General ^isei. 3 ] BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE. 543 Daniel E. Sickles, saw the Confederates steadily streaming over a hill in his front, and, making a dash forward, captured the Twenty- third Georgia Regiment, which was guarding the flank of the column ; but as the road there turned southward, it was supposed the Confederates were retreating to Richmond. Screened by the wood and by Stuart s cavalry-scouts, Jackson kept on, completely circummarching the Federal right. Then, carefully forming his line of battle in silence, he suddenly burst out of the thicket like a whirlwind. The Union troops, scattered through their camps, were busy cooking their suppers. Before they could unstack their guns, the enemy sprang upon them. Howard s entire corps was panic-stricken. Arms, knapsacks and accoutrements were thrown away. Artillery-horses wildly plunged off at a gallop, and the wagons, striking against tree-trunks, were over turned and blocked the way. Amid this crowd of rushing fugitives, General A. Pleasanton came up with five hundred cavalry. He ordered Colonel Keenan to charge with the Eighth Pennsylvania. The gallant officer knew that it was his death- warrant, but smilingly said, " I will," and dashed into the wood. In ten minutes he was prostrate, while the most of his men lay bleeding around him. These were precious minutes, however, and they had been improved. Pleasanton s battery of horse-artil lery had been wheeled into position, and other guns had been brought up. When the enemy emerged into the opening, the cannon, double-shotted and trained low, opened fire upon them with terrible force. The Confederates, having become inextri cably mingled in the forest, recoiled. Jackson ordered Hill s brigade to the fro nt, and himself rode forward in the bright moonlight to reconnoitre. As he returned, his men mistook the party for Federal cavalry, and, firing upon it, he was mortally wounded. General A. P. Hill continued the Confederate attack, but he, also, was wounded, and General Stuart, the famous cavalry leader, took command of Jackson s corps. " The men had been accustomed," says Cooke, " to see their commander pass slowly along their lines on a horse as sedate-looking as himself, a slow- moving figure, with little of the poetry of war in his appear ance. They now found themselves commanded by a youthful and daring cavalier on a spirited animal, with floating plume, silken sash, and a sabre which gleamed in the moonlight, as its owner galloped to and fro, cheering his men and marshalling them for 544 THIRD YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. [863. the coming assault. As he advanced with joyous vivacity, his sabre drawn, his plume floating proudly, one of the men com pared him to Henry of Navarre at the battle of Ivry. But Stuart s wild gayety destroyed the romantic dignity of the scene. The next day, he led the men of Jackson against General Hook er s breastworks, bristling with cannon, singing, Old Joe Hooker, will you come out of the wilderness ? During the night, Hooker took a new position. His line was shaped like the letter U, with both flanks resting on the river. As the mist of Sunday morning lifted, Stuart seized Hazel Grove, a little hill in front, and planted thirty cannon upon it. It was the very key to the battle-field ; yet Hooker had just ordered Sickles to abandon it. The whole Confederate army now surged against Sickles s and Slocum s men. The former, finding his ammunition running low, sent back for reinforcements ; but none came. Hooker was standing on the veranda of the Chancel- lorsville House, when a cannon-ball struck the pillar against which he was leaning ; he was stunned by the blow, and for an hour, in the heat of the fight, the army was deprived of its com mander. Sickles repulsed five charges with the bayonet while forty thousand Federal troops lay idle, with no enemy before them. Lee and Stuart had now fought their way to a union, and together bore down on the Chancellorsville House. At ten o clock, the Union forces were driven back at every point. The Confederate army being drawn up on the plateau, Lee rode in front of the line. As he stopped near Chancellorsville House, the flames were leaping out of every window of the burn ing building. The woods had caught fire, and the blaze was crackling through the thicket where the dead and wounded lay thickest. Clouds of smoke swept over the field, strewed with the horrid ddbris of battle. Cool and collected amid this fearful scene, he was just giving the order for a grand charge when he was stopped by the startling news that Sedgwick had taken Freder- icksburg. Drawing back, he turned against this new antagonist, and, by severe fighting that night and the next day at Salem Church, compelled him to recross the river. Wednesday, Lee returned to renew the conflict with Hooker. That general had lain idly in his entrenchments while this struggle with Sedgwick was going on, and had then retreated. During the night, the Army of the Potomac had spread pine-boughs on the bridges to dull the noise san STONEWALL JACKSON. 545 of the trains, and quietly crept back to its old camping-ground opposite Fredericksburg. It numbered about seventeen thousand less than when it set out on this adventure ; while the Confederate force was weakened by about thirteen thousand men. The South had achieved a victory, but it was far more than counterbalanced by the loss of her favorite leader. Stonewall Jackson died a week after this great bat tle, which had been mainly decided by the tremendous blow he delivered on the Federal right. Jack son was a sincere Christian, and his character commands the respect due to exalted integrity wherever found. He was accustomed in all he did to ask the Divine blessing and guidance. His old body - servant said that he " could tell when a battle was at hand by seeing the general get up a great many times in the night to pray." His ejaculatory prayers during the heat of a conflkt were often heard by those near him. At a council of war held in Manassas, after he had made his successful move to Pope s rear in the cam paign of 1862, he listened quietly to the opinions of the other members, and then asked until the following morning to mature his own plan. A general officer present remarked to another, as they retired, " Jackson wants time to pray over it." About twelve o clock that night, this officer, having occasion to go to the gen eral s headquarters, found him on his knees, pleading earnestly for wisdom to direct him. The next day, he came before them with a plan which instantly commended itself to all. The distinguished 35 STONEWALL JACKSON IN HIS TENT. 546 THIRD YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. [ May, 1863. officer who relates this incident was so deeply affected by it as to be led to make a public profession of religion. Jackson was a diligent student of the Bible, frequently rising before day that he might find time to study a portion before going to his other duties. He delighted in religious conversation, and engaged in it at times least expected by those who did not know him. Once, while manceuvering to flank the enemy, he entered into a warm conversation with a young officer of his staff on the power of Christian example. Being interrupted by an orderly who reported " the enemy advancing," he paused only long enough to give the laconic order, " Open on them," and then resumed the conversation, which he continued for some time, breaking it only now and then to receive despatches and give the necessary replies. A chaplain relates that on the eve of Fredericksburg, he saw an officer wrapped in a plain overcoat, lying in the rear of a battery, quietly reading his Bible. He approached and entered into conversation on the prospects of the impending battle, but the officer soon changed the conversation to religious topics, and the chaplain was led to ask, " Of what regiment are you, chap lain?" To his astonishment, he found that the quiet Bible reader was none other than the famous Stonewall. The circumstances of Jackson s death, as narrated by his sur geon, Dr. McGuire, are exceedingly touching. Conversing with Captain Smith, he alluded to his wounds, and said, " Many would regard them as a great misfortune ; I consider them as one of the blessings of my life." Captain Smith replied, "All things work together for good to those that love God." " Yes," he answered ; "that s it, that s it." The general s joy at the coming of his wife and child was very great, and made him unusually demonstrative. Noticing the sad ness of his wife, he said to her tenderly, " I know you would gladly give your life for me, but I am perfectly resigned. Do not be sad ; I hope I may yet recover. Pray for me, but always remember to use the petition, * Thy will be done. " About daylight on Sun day morning, Mrs. Jackson informed him that his recovery was very doubtful, and that he should be prepared for the worst. He did not reply for a moment ; then he said, " It will be infinite gain to be translated to heaven." Colonel Pendleton coming into the room about one o clock, he asked him, " Who is preaching at headquarters to-day?" Being told that "the whole Jun l8 2 63 . 25< ] LEE ENTERS MARYLAND. 547 army was praying- for him," he exclaimed, " Thank God ! They are very kind." Afterward he said, " It is the Lord s day ; my wish is fulfilled. I have always desired to die on Sunday." His mind now began to wander. A few moments before he died, he cried out in his delirium, " Order A. P. Hill to prepare for action ! " " Pass the infantry to the front rapidly ! " " Tell Major Hawks -" then stopped, leaving the sentence unfinished. Presently a smile of ineffable sweetness spread itself over his pale face, and he said quietly, and with an expression as if of relief at closing up life s work at last, "Let us cross over the river and rest under the shade of the trees." Until midsummer of 1863, it seemed as if the Stars and Bars were ultimately to be victorious. The army of the Potomac had been defeated at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville ; Burnside had not yet overrun East Tennessee ; Banks was vainly knocking at the gates of Port Hudson, and Grant at Vicksburg ; Bragg had held Rosecrans at bay before Chattanooga for a good half year since the battle of Murfreesborough ; Magruder had recap tured Galveston, Texas, taking valuable stores, securing a fort for the Confederates, and greatly depressing the Union cause in that State ; while an attempt of the iron-clads under Dupont to reach Charleston (see page 554) had ended in disaster. Worse than all these repulses at the hand of the enemy, a powerful peace party had arisen in the Free States, which either openly denounced the effort to " subjugate the sister States," or asked for quiet at the price of a dissolution of the Union. Encouraged by these successes, the South felt that the time had come to carry the war into the North, and dictate terms of peace in Philadelphia or New York. With the flower of that infantry which, on so many battle-fields, had wrenched victories from the best armies and generals the Federal government had yet sent forth, Lee, June 3d, just a month after Chancellorsville, broke camp, moved rapidly down the Shenandoah, and, crossing the Potomac, advanced to Chambersburg. The Confederates very generally obeyed Lee s stringent orders forbidding all plundering and wanton waste of property. A Southern paper, sarcastically alluding to this forbearance, declared that if the commander-in-chief saw a top rail off the fence, he would dismount and replace it. The army, however, lived upon the country through which it traveled horses, cattle, and supplies being exacted from the farmers. York was ordered to have ready 548 THIRD YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. [June-Ju.y, in the market-place, at four o clock in the afternoon of the requisi tion, " one hundred and sixty-five barrels of flour, or twenty-eight thousand pounds baked bread ; thirty-five hundred pounds sugar ; sixteen hundred and fifty pounds coffee ; three hundred gallons molasses; twelve hundred pounds salt; thirty-two thousand pounds fresh beef, or twenty-one thousand pounds bacon or pork ; two thousand pairs shoes or boots ; one thousand pairs socks ; one thousand felt hats ; and one hundred thousand dollars in money." The Union army followed northward along the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge, the passes of which were occupied by Stuart s cavalry and gave no glimpse to prying Federal eyes of what was doing on the other side. June 27th, Hooker resigned, and General George G. Meade was appointed to the command of the army of the Potomac. Stuart, after crossing the river, moved off on the Union right, thus leaving Lee s communica tions with Richmond open to the Union army through the gaps in the South Mountain. Lee thereupon turned to the east, in order to secure a good position for the defensive battle which he was resolved to offer. Meade, also intending to act only on the defensive, had de cided to make a stand at a point on Pipe Creek, about fifteen miles southeast from Gettysburg. Neither commander was pur posing a battle where it occurred ; but mere chance, the finger of destiny, or the hand of providence, as men may varyingly style the current of events, steadily drifted the two armies into collision on that fatal Cemetery Ridge. Meade had sent his left wing, under General J. F. Reynolds, to Gettysburg, in order to screen the movements of the main body toward his objective point. In the morning of July ist, Bu- ford s cavalry, moving out a couple of miles west of Gettysburg, struck the head of Lee s advance. Reynolds hurried to the front, MAJOR-GENERAL GEORGE G. MEADE. VICINITY OF GETTYSBURG. J ^ y 6 3 3 ] BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG. 549 and, while reconnoitering the enemy through a fence, was struck by a sharp-shooter. After having bravely fought in Mexico, California, and Virginia, he returned to die in his native State, " almost within sight of his home." Reinforcements rapidly came up on both sides ; but the Federal troops were finally forced back, and, becoming entangled in the streets of the village, lost many men, besides abandoning their wounded. Hancock arrived at the moment when they were retreating in disorder through the town, hotly pursued by the tri umphant enemy. He at once made ready to hold the strong position on Cemetery Ridge already occupied by General Howard. All the men at hand were thrown into line, and Buford s cavalry was drawn up in front to offer battle. Awed by this firm appearance, and ignorant whether the whole Union army were not in his front, Lee decided to defer the attack till morning. Hancock informed Meade of the advantages of the location, and about midnight that general came up, when, amid the tombs of the dead, the plans were laid for the coming struggle. All that bright moonlight night the troops were arriving and taking their positions. By morning, both armies, each about eighty thousand strong, were in line of battle. On the Union side, Sedgwick s corps, having thirty-six miles to travel, marched all night, and, weary and footsore, did not arrive on the field until afternoon. On the Confederate, Pickett s division, coming from Chambersburg, joined Lee about the same time. The Union line was upon a fish-hook-shaped ridge about six miles long, with Gulp s Hill at the barb, Cemetery Ridge along the side, and Little Round Top and Round Top two eminences at the eye. The troops lay behind rocky ledges and stone walls, constituting a natural rampart, which they soon strengthened by improvised breastworks. The Confederate line was on Seminary Ridge, at a distance of about a mile and a half, the men being largely hidden in the woods. In the valley between the hostile ranks were fields of golden grain and green meadows, where cattle were quietly grazing, all unheeding the gathering storm. On the Union left, General Sickles, by mistake, had taken a position in front of Meade s intended line of battle. Lee saw the 550 THIRD YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. [ J |863 3> error, and sent Longstreet to break this weak point and carry Little Round Top. It was the key to the Union line, yet was strangely left unoccupied. The Confederates, far outflanking, swung around Sickles, but as they reached the summit they met Vincent s brigade, which General Warren had, by a quick thought, sent in the nick of time. Vincent fell, and also Weed, who came with a brigade to his relief; but the hill was held, and the Texans, whom Lee said he relied upon for every " tight place," at last retired their commander, Hood, losing an arm. Sickles was, however, crowded back to Cemetery Ridge, where he stood firm. Later in the day, General Ewell made an attack on the Federal right, then greatly weakened by detachments sent to help Sickles, and succeeded in getting a position on Gulp s Hill. At night, the Federal army had been forced back on both flanks. Lee, encouraged by this success, and by the wonderful spirit of his men, who were eager and confident, resolved to continue the fight another day. The Confederate advantage, however, was only ap parent. Sickles was then in a better position than at first, and the one which Meade had intended him to occupy ; while Ewell could not hold his ground, and was driven out of the Union works early the next morning. About one o clock in the afternoon of the third day, Lee, hav ing massed one hundred and forty-five guns, suddenly opened on Cemetery Ridge. For two hours the air was alive with shells. " Every size and form of shell known to British or American gun nery," says Wilkinson, " shrieked, whirled, moaned, whistled, and wrathfully fluttered over our ground. As many as six in a sec ond, constantly two in a second, came screaming around the headquarters. They burst in the yard ; burst next to the fence, garnished, as usual, with the hitched horses of aids and orderlies. The fastened animals reared and plunged with terror. One horse fell ; then another ; sixteen lay dead and mangled before the fire ceased. Through the midst of the storm of screaming and ex ploding shells, an ambulance, driven by its frenzied conductor at full speed, presented to all of us the marvelous spectacle of a horse going rapidly on three legs. A hinder one had been shot off at the hock. A shell tore up the little step at the headquarters cot tage, and ripped bags of oats as with a knife. Another soon car ried off one of its two pillars. Soon a spherical case burst opposite the open door; another tore through the low garret. The re- July 3, n 1863. J BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG. 551 maining pillar went almost immediately to the howl of a fixed shot that Whitworth must have made. Soldiers in Federal blue were torn to pieces in the road, and died with the peculiar yell that blends the extorted cry of pain with horror and despair." The Union guns replied for a time, and were then withdrawn to cool. The men lay crouching behind rocks and hiding in hollows REPULSING A CHARGE AT GETTYSBURG. from the iron tempest which drove over the hill, anxiously await ing the charge which they knew would follow. Finally the cannonade lulled, and out of the woods swept the Confederate double battle-line, over a mile in length, preceded by a cloud of skirmishers, and with wings on either side to prevent its being flanked. A thrill of admiration ran along the Union ranks, as, silently and with disciplined steadiness, that magnificent column of eighteen thousand men moved up the slope with its red battle-flags flying and the sun playing on its burnished bayonets. A quarter of a mile away and a hundred guns opened upon it. Great gaps were torn in the front, but the men closed up and sternly moved on. Then the "quick time" became " double- 552 THIRD YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. [ J |863 4> quick," and they dashed forward on the run. Infantry volleys now struck their ranks. Their line was broken, and their sup ports were scattered to the wind. Still Pickett s veteran Virgin ians pushed forward. They planted their battle-flags on the breast works. They bayoneted the cannoneers at their guns. But be yond, upon the crest of the hill, was a second and stronger line. As they dashed ahead to charge this, the Federal fire smote them full in the face and on either flank. The whole column seemed to break into pieces and disappear at once. The bravest gave up in despair. Many surrendered, while the wreck fled from the field, leaving the ground strewn with the debris of battle the wounded and the dead. The division had lost three generals, fourteen field-officers, and three-fourths of its men. This was the supreme moment of the war. At that very time Pemberton was seated beside Grant, under an oak-tree near Vicksburg, negotiating for the surrender of that city. These disasters determined the fall of the Confederacy. From that hour its fate was sealed. Yet at the time the issue did not seem so clear as it does now to the historian. Lee had staked all on this charge, and he made no attempt to renew the battle. In the three-days fight he had lost probably thirty-six thousand and Meade twenty-three thousand men. The Union commander was severely criticised at the North for not immediately attacking Cemetery Ridge before the enemy could rally from its confusion. He probably judged wisely in being content with the victory he had achieved. Lee expected such a charge, and was ready to receive it. The morale of the Confeder ate army was not shaken. Its confidence in its commander was strong, and the veterans came back from Cemetery Ridge saying, " Uncle Robert will get us into Washington yet, you bet he will." On the 4th, Lee retreated, and nine days after crossed the Potomac, Meade slowly following. The second invasion of the North had ended in disaster. The first lasted thirteen days ; this, seventeen days ; the two had cost the South at least eighty or ninety thousand men. Lee retired back of the Rapidan, sending Longstreet south to Bragg. Meade likewise detached Hooker to Chattanooga. A curious circumstance mentioned in the official accounts of the battle of Gettysburg shows to what extent, on both sides, the excitement of the conflict caused the loss of self-possession among the soldiers. Of twenty-four thousand loaded muskets picked up C I863! VM ] FALL CAMPAIGN IN VIRGINIA. 553 at random on the field of battle, one-fourth only were properly loaded ; twelve thousand contained each a double charge, and the other fourth from three to ten charges ; in some were six balls to a single charge of powder ; others contained six cartridges, one on the top of the other, none having been opened ; a few more had twenty-three complete charges regularly inserted (this can be ac counted for by the fact that, amid the din of battle, one cannot hear the report of his gun) ; and finally, in the barrel of a single musket there were found jumbled together twenty -two balls, sixty- two buck-shot, and a proportionate quantity of powder. In October there occurred a trial of tactical skill which is interesting, though it did not result in any great battle. Lee recrossed the Rapidan, intending to turn Meade s right flank and force him to a battle. Meade detected the plan, and began to retreat. So well executed was the movement, that when the Confederate army entered Culpepper, scarce a cracker-box was found to reward the pursuit. Lee pressed on, hoping to strike the Orange and Alexandria railroad near Manassas, in the rear of the Union army. The Federal columns, however, moved with such celerity, that the rear-guard only was overtaken near Bristoe station. Here Warren turned sharply upon the enemy, dealt him a staggering blow, and then safely joined the army at Centerville. Lee, disappointed in his object, ceased the pursuit, and, content with two thousand prisoners, taken in several sharp encounters which had occurred, retired to his former position near Orange Court-House. Meade followed him up closely, at Kelly s Ford routing Early and capturing nearly his whole command. A curious incident happened during this advance. General Stuart was vigorously pursuing the Federal forces when, on the night of the 1 3th, near Auburn, he suddenly found that strong columns of the enemy were passing along in front and rear of the woods where he was encamped, the nearest one not over two hundred or three hundred yards distant. If discovered, his fate was sealed. The only resource was to keep silent and await the turn of events. His troopers accordingly sat their horses through the night, anxiously listening to the roll of artillery, the tramp of cavalry, and the steady march of infantry. At dawn, seeing the Federal rear encamped near by and quietly preparing their break fast, he suddenly opened his guns, promiscuously knocking over their coffee-pots, while, under cover of a heavy fire, his men dashed off in safety. 554 THIRD YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. [ Ap i863 U y November 26th, Meade in turn crossed the Rapidan, thinking to cut up in detail the Confederate army, then scattered in winter- quarters. Lee rapidly concentrated his troops behind Mine Run, and fortified his lines. Trees were cut down, and the logs piled up in double walls, and filled in with earth. In front was a sluggish stream, with steep and slippery banks. The Federal troops felt that his position was unassailable, and it is said that the men detailed for the attack wrote their names on bits of paper, which they pinned to their breasts, to enable their bodies to be recog nized. The assault was finally abandoned, the Union army secretly withdrawn to its former quarters, and the campaign of the army of the Potomac for the year 1863 was closed. During this year, the events of the greatest moment along the seaboard occurred at Charleston. Such was the confidence then felt in the ability of iron-clads to resist the heaviest cannonade, that Admiral Dupont attempted, April /th, to run past the batteries and enter the harbor of that city. The little fleet, mounting only thirty-two guns, accordingly moved up the chan nel ; but the vessels were stopped by obstructions, and held under the concentrated fire of three hundred cannon. The Keokuk, which was in advance, was struck ninety-nine times, the officers declaring that they heard the balls pounding against the iron sides of their ships as rapidly as the ticks of a watch. All the monitors were more or less injured, and were glad to creep out of harm s way again. In July, General Gillmore, being placed in charge of the Union troops, secured a landing on Morris s Island, a low sandy beach but little above the level of the sea. An attack on Fort Wagner, a strong fortification at the northern end of the island, having failed, after a heavy bombardment it was again assaulted on the night of July i8th. The men double-quicked across the sand half a mile, under a heavy fire of guns, great and small. Though their ranks were torn by hand-grenades, they struggled through the ditch and planted their flag on the top of the crumbling wall. It was only for an instant. General Strong was mortally wounded ; Colonel Shaw and others were killed. The survivors crept off in the friendly darkness. In this disastrous failure, the Union loss was twelve hundred, and the Confederate not over one hundred. Colonel Shaw was in command of the Fifty-fourth colored regiment. It was the first raised in the Free States. In order to AUg i863 e . Pt "] BEFORE CHARLESTON. 555 be in season for the assault, it had marched two days through heavy sands and drenching storms. With only five minutes rest, it took its place at the front of the attacking column. The men fought with unflinching gallantry, and so many of the officers were killed that the remainder of the troops was led off by a boy, Lieutenant Higginson. The garrison, to show their contempt for the colonel, a noted abolitionist, " threw his body into the same pit with his niggers." A regular siege was now undertaken. Parallels were rapidly pushed close to the walls. By night, powerful calcium lights blinded the eyes of the garrison, while they brought out every angle of the works vividly to the aim of the besiegers. At last, the fort being silenced and its men driven into their bomb-proof for shelter, Gillmore was preparing for a third assault when the place was evacuated. Meanwhile, Sumter had been bombarded until it was reduced to a shapeless mass of ruins. On the night of September 8th, a party of sailors, landing from the fleet, clambered up the heaps of rubbish, only to meet the garrison starting out from their hiding- places, and to be all either killed or captured. In a marsh west of Morris s Island, piles were driven into the soft, black mud, twenty feet deep, and a platform was made, on which was placed an eight-inch rifled Parrot gun, nicknamed by the soldiers " the Swamp Angel." It threw 1 5o-lb. shells five miles into Charleston, but burst on the thirty-sixth round. The bom bardment of the city was afterward continued from the other batteries. After the disaster at Gettysburg, the Confederate Congress decreed a more rigorous conscription act, ordering all male per sons from eighteen to forty-five to repair to camp on pain of being considered deserters. Before the close of the year, the age was extended to fifty-five, and no exemption allowed, even where a substitute had been previously furnished. The next year, the whole male population was rendered liable to military service. The Federal government passed a conscription law, March 3d, enrolling all able-bodied citizens between twenty and forty-five years, and in May, the President ordered a draft of three hundred thousand men. The project was exceedingly unpopular, and was bitterly denounced on every hand. The anti-slavery measures of the administration had already awakened a wide-spread hostility to the war. While Pickett s column was assaulting Cemetery 556 THIRD YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. [July-Nov., 186 1863. Ridge, inflammatory handbills were being circulated in New York. July 1 3th, a riot broke out in that city. The mob rose in arms, sacked houses, demolished the offices of the provost-mar shals, burned the colored orphan asylum, attacked the police, and chased negroes women and children even wherever they appeared on the streets, and, when caught, hanged them on the DRAFTING. nearest lamp-post. For four days, the populace ruled. Veterans from the army of the Potomac then arrived upon the scene, when law and order were soon restored. Two million dollars of prop erty had been destroyed, and it is said that one thousand of the rioters had fallen. A part of the Gettysburg battle-field was dedicated as a national cemetery, November iQth. After the usual solemnities, President Lincoln came forward, and, amid the tiers of encircling graves, slowly, tremulously pronounced these memorable words: " We cannot consecrate nor hallow this ground. The brave men, f 8 P 6 r ^;] CAVALRY RAIDS. 557 living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our power to add or detract. The world will but little note, nor long remember, what we say here ; but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us, the living, rather to dedi cate ourselves to the unfinished work which they so nobly advanced ; to consecrate ourselves to the great task remaining, and to gather from the graves of these honored dead increased devotion to that cause for which they gave their lives. Here let us resolve that they shall not have died in vain ; that this nation shall, under God, have a new birth of freedom ; and that govern ment of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish forever from the earth." " His voice all elegies anticipated, For whatsoe er the strain, We hear that one refrain : We consecrate ourselves to them, the consecrated ! " During this year there were several minor expeditions which at the time attracted much attention, though they exercised little influence on the issue of the war, and served mainly to excite the bitterest feeling on both sides. April i;th, while Grant was pre paring to move below Vicksburg, Colonel Grierson, with seven teen hundred Union horsemen, started south from La Grange, Ten nessee. He traversed the country in the rear of the Confederate forces, in sixteen days marching six hundred miles, and destroy ing railroads and supplies wherever he could reach them. De tachments sent out to mislead his pursuers often traveled sixty miles a day over almost bottomless roads to regain the main body. Near Louisville he crossed a swamp where, for eight miles, the water was from three to four feet deep, and in which twenty of his horses were drowned. The last twenty-eight hours he rode seventy-six miles, swimming a river, fighting two skirmishes, and capturing a camp. He reached Baton Rouge at last with three- fourths of his men asleep in their saddles. About the same time, Rosecrans sent Colonel Streight and eighteen hundred cavalry to raid in the rear of Bragg s army and destroy the manufactories at Rome and Atlanta. He was over taken, however, by Forrest and Roddy, beaten in a running fight of over one hundred miles, and finally forced to surrender. The men were exchanged, but Streight and his officers were confined in Libby Prison, Richmond, on the charge of having negro sol- 558 THIRD YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. diers under their command. After a confinement of nearly a year, Streight escaped with many of his companions, and after a series of romantic adventures, reached the Union lines. Just before the battle of Chancellorsville, Hooker sent General Stoneman with twelve thousand cavalry to destroy the railroads in the rear of the Confederate army, and to cut off Lee s retreat to Richmond. Stoneman weakened his force by dividing it into six detachments. Unable to accomplish anything, they could only run from the enemy instead of after him. Some of them finally fled down the Peninsula, and the rest escaped across the Rappa- hannock to the Union lines. Meanwhile, the little gaps they had made in the railroads were repaired within three days. Cotemporaneous with Lee s invasion of Maryland, that daring rider, John H. Morgan, crossed the Cumberland with two thou sand well-mounted horsemen. At Tebb s Bend on Green River he found two hundred Michigan volunteers entrenched behind earthworks which had been thrown up within twenty-four hours. Colonel Moore, the commander, being summoned to surrender, replied : " If to-day were not the 4th of July, we might think of it." Driven thence by this plucky little garrison, Morgan next attacked a post at Lebanon, under Colonel Hanson, and compelled it to capitulate. His force having increased to four thousand men, he crossed the Ohio, July 7th, and marched in an easterly zigzag course through Indiana and Ohio. En route he destroyed bridges and depots, cut telegraph wires, burned factories and mills, and picked up the best horses. He reached the Ohio River again near Parkersburg. The Federal gun-boats, however, came up; the militia fast gathered on his path ; and after several ineffectual attempts to recross the river, he was captured with most of his command. On the night of August 2ist, a guerilla band from Missouri of about three hundred men, under Quantrell, attacked Lawrence, Kansas. They burned houses, plundered stores, shot peaceful men at their doors, and finally rode off, leaving behind them one hundred and forty dead bodies and one hundred and eighty -five ruined homes. A great desire being felt at the North to effect the release of the Union prisoners at Richmond, during the winter of 1863-4 an expedition was sent from the Army of the Potomac for that pur pose. Fifteen hundred cavalry under Custer made a feint on the west flank of the Confederate forces; while Kilpatrick with a March.1 1864. J CAVALRY RAID ON RICHMOND. 559 -stronger body moved by the East, through Spottsylvania Court- House. The latter passed the first and second lines of defence before Richmond, but was stopped by the third, and being fiercely pursued, was driven pell-mell down the Peninsula. Meanwhile, a detachment under Colonel Dahlgren a young man of only twenty- one, who had already lost a foot in the service turned to the right, intending to cross the James and enter Richmond from the south. But finding the river too deep to ford, Dahlgren passed down the north bank and charged the Richmond defences on the night of March 2d. Being repulsed, and finding Kilpatrick had fled, he attempted to follow, but at Dabney s Ford, on the Mattapony, he was killed and his command scattered. ~"**>i"fl NATIONAL MONUMENT AT GETTYSBURG. CHAPTER XVI. FOURTH YEAfc OF THE CIVIL Wjifci864. RANT was made Lieutenant-Gen- eral and commander of all the forces of the United States, March 2d. Leaving Sherman in charge of the Western troops, he took up his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac ; Meade, however, still retaining his former position. General Phil. H. Sheridan was put at the head of the cavalry. The strength of the Confederates was concentrated under Lee in Vir ginia and Johnston in Georgia. While the army of the Potomac was crossing the Rapidan, May 4th, Grant, seated on a log by the road-side, penciled a tele gram to Sherman to take the field immediately. Sherman had then in his department the enormous number of three hundred and fifty-two thousand two hundred and sixty-five men. One can form some idea of the waste of our mode of warfare when he learns that the total effective force was only one hundred and fourteen thousand eight hundred and twelve, and on no occasion was half of this number actually engaged in battle. The Confederate army aggregated nearly one hundred and fifty thousand, with only a little over fifty thousand present for duty. May 6th, Sherman advanced from Chattanooga. Johnston, ex pecting this movement, had entrenched his army at Dalton. In his front was Rocky-Face Ridge, pierced by a rugged glen known as Buzzard Roost, through which wound the railroad. A demon stration having shown this pass to be impregnable, Sherman sent General McPherson with his corps through Snake Creek Gap toward Resaca, thus turning the Confederate left. Johnston M H364" y ] SHERMAN S MARCH TO ATLANTA. 561 fell back hastily to Resaca, already strongly fortified. Here Sherman pressed heavily in front, while McPherson, on the Union right, gained a post which enfiladed the enemy s works. The next day the national troops obtained a foothold close to the Confederate entrenchments, dug away the earth, pulled out the cannon with ropes, and, bursting through the breach, secured a lodgment within the lines. During the night, Johnston retreated. The pursuit was so vigorous as to save one of the bridges over the river. The broad valley of the Etowah and the Oostenaula, with the foundries and the mills at Rome, fell into the Union hands. At Allatoona Pass, Johnston made a new stand. Sherman did not attempt to force him thence, but moved around upon the Con federate left toward Dallas. Johnston had anticipated this, and, at New Hope Church, was found waiting to head off the advance. Desperate assaults were made to and fro. Finally the Union army worked past into the rear of Allatoona, when Johnston evacuated all his posts and retired to Lost, Pine and Kenesaw Mountains. Here the whole country was one vast fort with fifty miles of en trenchments, above which towered "the everlasting hill" of Kene saw, whence the Confederates could watch every movement in the national lines. Sherman, wishing, it is said, to "show that he could assault fortified lines as well as the Army of the Potomac," June 27th, made two fierce dashes upon the enemy s works. Both were repulsed, with a loss of three thousand men and many valuable officers. Resorting then to his favorite tactics, he swung his army around toward Turner s Ferry. The result was magical. Before daylight the next day the Union outposts were creeping over the deserted entrenchments on Kenesaw. Johnston next endeavored to defend the strong t$te du pont and outworks at the crossing of the Chattahoochee. Amusing the Confederate army by demonstrations in front, Sherman secretly sent off Scofield, Howard, and McPherson to the left. They quickly laid bridges, and were soon across the stream above the Confederate lines. Johnston s position was once more turned, and he was ere long en route for Atlanta. Johnston was not in the confidence of the Confederate authori ties. Failing to appreciate the magnificent strategy by which he had so long delayed the Federal advance, they superseded him, July 1 7th, by General Hood. The Fabian tactics were at once exchanged for a more dashing policy. 36 $62 FOURTH YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. [ Jul J864. Pt " Sherman was moving down upon Atlanta, when, on the 2Oth, Hood gave him a staggering blow, which was warded off. Again, on the 22d, Hood, having sent Hardee with a heavy column by a night-march to turn the Union left, suddenly enveloped it with a superior force. A desperate battle ensued. The Federals facing now this way and now that, as the enemy came upon them from the forest, fought sometimes on one side and sometimes on the other of their breastworks, and sometimes without any protection. McPherson was at headquarters when the sound of the guns in dicated danger. He at once galloped in that direction, down a quiet country lane in the rear of his line. Some dropping shots were heard, and then a riderless horse came dashing back from the woods. When help arrived, this gallant, Christian warrior was no more. Hours of fierce fighting followed, but the Con federates were at length repulsed with heavy loss. Six days after, Hood made a third tremendous sally upon the Union position. It was useless. During the next four weeks, Sherman kept feeling the formidable works about Atlanta ; but finding them too strong for a direct assault, he loaded his wagons with fifteen-days provisions, and, by a circuit, brought his whole army around in the rear of the city and seized the railroad. Hood, detecting the movement, sent Hardee with two corps to Jones- borough to guard his line of supplies. Sherman instantly closed down upon him. The Confederate army was irrevocably sun dered, and the Union forces were between the two portions. Hardee, however, managed to escape. Hood evacuated the city, after blowing up the magazines, depots, and machine-shops. Thus the Confederate army, which was the chief object of attack, slipped away. The campaign had lasted from May 6th to September 2d. In its ten pitched battles and scores of minor engagements, it had cost the Union army about thirty thousand and the Confederate forty thousand men. It had been almost a constant skirmish. Said Sherman, " I have not seen ten thousand of the enemy in one view, yet, by advancing my lines one hundred yards, I could at any time draw the fire of one hundred guns and fifty thousand muskets." When either party stopped, even for a brief time, it fortified its front with an abattis of felled trees and a ditch with a head-log placed on the embankment. The head-log was a tree, twelve or fifteen inches in diameter, resting on small cross-sticks, leaving a * ^23feS^Sj^iJ^>W^^^KL-b. ^^2W"^ H r . <aggz r H 45?v-^^r^"i^fF "" H%--^v ^ T* fc:]^ ^pS^tifc?^ * p^ap) * ik .1 ?fe&-4 -i-^ji/ -\AS| ^s ^\ ^^v^^ rSr-f\ Newton I l>_ >JX -""5x > /^o%i w - " /a _^ ^3e^L5^w / er^C&H 1 * 1 ^^ MTOO " BRV J c -3;.\?i v/Sfc^Hn* fr-- r"iH l^^^^/.^r^ \ii,J. y^, f^ Sa ^ea^T|^ o0 _^. c^lc^/;^^- vrtL. C( \Baton Rouge ,/\ .?^J& *i ^^S on *>kX,.>eE^ s - ^fe^f^^X MK^U. ^^ v CIVJDLTVAR WESTERN REGION. Scale of i i i Milei 564 FOURTH YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. [ Sep i864. V> space of four or five inches between the log and the dirt, through which the guns could be pointed. Thus, in a few hours, a field- work was thrown up which was almost unassailable. Sherman s supplies during the entire campaign had been brought by a single line of railroad from Nashville, a distance of three hundred miles, exposed throughout to the attacks of the enemy. Yet so carefully was it garrisoned, and so rapidly were bridges built and breaks repaired, that the damages made by the Confederate cavalry were often mended before the news of the accident had reached the front. The whistle of the locomotive was frequently heard on the camp-ground before the echoes of the skirmish fire had died away. The loss of Atlanta was a severe blow to the South ; as it was a great railroad centre, and the chief seat of her machine-shops and manufactories. The Confederacy was cut off from Georgia its granary, arsenal, and workshop. Hood, having reunited his army, moved northward as far as Dalton, capturing several small posts along the line of the Federal communications. Sherman pursued him eagerly, hoping to bring him to battle, but Hood slipped out of his fingers, and at last struck for the Tennessee. Sherman gave up the pursuit at Gayles- ville, Alabama, and, sending Thomas to Nashville to gather troops to meet Hood s invasion, turned back to Atlanta and prepared his army for his famous March to the Sea. Reinforcements were ordered to General Thomas ; the sick and wounded were sent back to Chattanooga ; supplies for forty days were packed in the wagons ; the railroads were destroyed ; and a large part of Atlanta was burned, all the buildings on two hundred acres of ground being left a heap of ruins. The last thing, a telegram was sent to Thomas " All is well " when the wire was cut. The army, sixty thousand strong, stood free on southern soil. November i6th, it struck out boldly for the sea, three hundred miles away. The left wing, under Gen eral Slocum, moved along the Georgia and South Carolina rail road, and the right, under General Howard, along the Western and Macon and the Central Georgia railroad. The tracks were torn up and the rails destroyed as they passed. A cloud of cav alry under Kilpatrick and lines of skirmishers covered the march and guarded against a surprise. The troops foraged upon the country along the route. A swath sixty miles wide was thus cut through the very heart of the Confederacy. The path of the Nov.-Dec-.H 1864. J THE MARCH TO THE SEA. $6$ ^^M^V i J army was marked by trampled fields, deserted villages, and chimneys standing sentinel over blackened ruins. The able-bodied men had been sent North to Lee and Johnston, and the " gray -beards and boys" that were left could offer no effective resistance. A feint on Augusta led to a concentra tion at that city of what forces could be gathered, leaving the route to Savannah open; and Sherman rapidly moved down the peninsula between the Sa vannah and Ogeechee Rivers. December Qth, three scouts left the army. Paddling down the river by night, and hiding in the swamps by day, they crept past the enemy s pickets unobserved, and reached the Federal fleet in safety. They brought the first direct news received at Washington from the lost army since it swung loose from Atlanta. Fort McAllister, a strong redoubt on the Ogeechee, was car ried by Hazen s division. The garrison of two hundred fought desperately, and gave up only as each man was overpowered ; but THE MARCH TO THE SEA. 566 FOURTH YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. in fifteen minutes from the time the bugle sounded the charge, the Stars and Bars were run down from the flag-staff. The army then rapidly closed in around Savannah. Hardee, in command of its defences, despairing of a successful resistance, evacuated the city, and the Union army entered in triumph. Sherman sent to " President Lincoln, as a Christmas present to the nation," the news of its capture with twenty-five thousand bales of cotton and one hundred and fifty cannon. The March to the Sea had proved a magnificent military promenade. Sherman s entire loss was only five hundred and sixty-seven men in killed, wounded and missing. If the destruc tion of property be the object of war, it had been a great success. Sherman estimated the damage done at one hundred million dollars. We left Hood making another sortie within the Union lines. It was a desperate venture, and he marched only to his doom. About the middle of November, he crossed the Tennessee at Florence. Generals Scofield and Stanley were in his front with twenty thousand men, about half as many as were in his com mand, seeking to delay his advance upon Nashville. Hood pressed them steadily back, at Spring Hill coming within half a mile of cutting off their line of retreat, and at last caught them at Franklin before they could cross the river. Scofield hastily threw up slight works on the south bank and made a stand with a part of the troops, while the rest guarded the trains, which were rap idly pushed forward. About four P. M., November 3Oth, Hood made a tremendous dash upon the entrenchments. By sheer might, the Confederate column swept everything before it, and soon the Federals, guns and men, were streaming wildly to the bridges in the rear. At this moment of peril, General Opdycke, waiting for no order, shouted, " First Brigade, forward to the works," and himself led the charge. They struck the enemy when disordered by their very success, forced them back, cap tured ten flags, and restored the line. Opdycke, with clubbed revolver and then with musket, drove the stragglers and skulkers to their duty. Others as brave came to his aid. Till ten o clock at night, they held the front against repeated assaults. Under cover of the darkness, this gallant rear-guard fell back silently and before noon the following day the entire Federal force was safe within the entrenchments at Nashville. In this hard-fought battle, the Union loss was less than twenty-five hundred, and the D ,|&4 5 ] BATTLE OF NASHVILLE. 567 Confederate, by Hood s report, was forty-five hundred, including five generals killed, six wounded and one captured. The next day Hood approached Nashville. He had there to confront an army superior to his own, and protected by numerous forts. An attack was hopeless. Thomas s delay to drive off his adversary under these circumstances excited great disappoint ment at the North. Indeed, Grant had ordered him to move, and had actually started to take command of the troops in person when he learned of his lieutenant s success. On the 1 5th, Thomas took the field. Feigning an attack on the Confederate right, he delivered the real blow on the left, driv ing Hood from his works, and forcing him to take up a new line of battle at the base of Harpeth Hills. The Union troops lay on the hard-won ground during the bleak December night, and the next morning renewed the conflict. The Confederate position was forced at a dozen points by overwhelming charges. Over- ton s Hill was carried after a desperate resistance, and the whole army driven into headlong flight. Wilson s cavalry, ten thousand strong, had all the while been working around into Hood s rear. They now took up the pursuit with untiring energy, and the in fantry followed hard after. The weather was cold and rainy ; the roads were trampled into almost bottomless mud ; the creeks were swollen to torrents ; the bridges were burned by the Confederates as they passed, and Thomas s pontoon-train was away with Sher man. Forrest, the famous Confederate cavalry leader, came up to Hood s relief and organized a powerful rear-guard. Yet no obstacle could check the chase. The Confederate troops bare footed, wet to the skin, blinded by the sleet, and half-frozen by the cold fled day and night. Save the rear, which remained firm to the last, the whole organization dissolved into a mere rabble. The rock of Chickamauga had become the sledge of Nashville. For the first time in the history of the war, an army was destroyed. The contest at the west, so far as great movements were concerned, was at an end. Thomas had now no enemy to meet, and his troops were scattered on various expeditions. Having seen one great weapon of the Confederacy annihilated in Tennessee, we now turn to consider the fate of the other the army under Lee. We left Grant crossing the Rapidan, May 4th, with one hundred and thirty thousand men. He had turned Lee s right flank, and his plan was by a rapid march to get be- 5 68 FOURTH YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. [-May 5, L 1864. tween him and Richmond, and then force him to a battle. Lee, however, though he had only about fifty thousand men, did not retreat. Instead, he resolved to fall upon the Union army while entangled in the Wilderness, so famous in the Chancellorsville struggle a year before. The morning of the 5th found Warren with his corps moving out from the old Wilderness Hotel, while Hancock was pushing along the Brock road, the same over which Jackson made his secret flank march. Suddenly the Union column was struck in flank by Swell s corps passing down the Orange Turnpike at right-angles to the Federal line of march. At first, CROSSING THE RAPIDAN GRANT S TELEGRAM. Meade took it to be a matter of the skirmishers only ; but the heavy firing and the dense masses of men hastening along the roads told a different story. Hancock, then ten miles away, was hur riedly recalled, and Getty s division was placed to hold the Brock road open at every cost till his arrival. By great exertions the ground was maintained, and the Union line was formed. It was five miles long, with Warren in the centre, Sedgwick on the right, and Hancock on the left. Another battle was now to be fought in this " land of jungle, thicket, and ooze." There is little need to picture its details. There was no strategy. The two mighty antagonists clutched at each other blindly, and wrestled in the dark. " Death came un seen ; regiments stumbled on the enemy, and sent swift destruc- May 5-6,n 1864. . BATTLE OF THE WILDERNESS. 569 tion into his ranks, guided by the crackling of the bushes." The officers, compass in hand, led the charge as best they could. Both sides cut down saplings, threw up slight breastworks of poles and dirt, and made abattis. Though they heard the ringing of the axes, they saw no one on the opposite side. The line surged to and fro, and no eye could follow it ; only the ear marking the sound as it advanced or receded. Men fell, and their dying groans were drowned in the dull continuous roar, while their bodies were hidden in the tangled underbrush. The first day of this horrid butchery decided nothing. Grant s only order for the next morning was to attack along the whole line. The sun blazed like a furnace. The gloomy shades were stifling with smoke. Not a breath of air was stirring. The thicket caught fire, as at Chancellorsville, and the men fought amid the crackling flames. General Wadsworth, on the Union side, was killed ; and on the Confeder ate, Longstreet was severely wound ed. Till late at night there streamed out of the woods the horrid wreck of battle mangled, bleeding forms borne on stretchers. " The Wilder ness," says Draper, " was throbbing with the wounded." Grant had now lost twenty thou sand and Lee ten thousand men. The next day each general quietly watched his adversary. At night, Grant pushed his army by the Con federate right flank to Spottsylvania Court-House, Warren leading the ad vance. Lee, mistrusting the movement, at nine o clock in the evening hurried off Anderson along a parallel road toward the same point. Stuart with his cavalry so delayed the Federal march that when Warren arrived the next morning, he found the Con federates planted squarely across the road. As the van thus came in front of the enemy s works, the rear-guard was firing its part ing shots on the field of the Wilderness. Ere night, the two armies were again face to face. Two weeks GRANT S CAMPAIGN AROUND RICHMOND. 5/O FOURTH YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. [,^ of cautious watching followed, with the planting of an occasional blow on either side, as opportunity offered. The trees along the front were full of sharp-shooters, picking off the officers. On the 9th, General Sedgwick was out superintending the planting of a battery under a heavy fire. Seeing some of his men wincing as the Minie-balls hissed past, he bantered them, saying, " Pooh ! they can t hit an elephant at this distance." That very moment, this excellent officer was himself struck full in the face, and fell dead. The next day, repeated assaults were made on the Confederate works, ending with one by twelve picked regiments under Colonel Upton. By a sudden dash, they broke through the line, and then turned right and left. Efforts were made to support the attack, but in vain. The Federals had gained no advantage, but had lost ten thousand men. From the midst of this slaughter, Grant telegraphed to Washington, " I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer." The 1 2th witnessed a yet more desperate enterprise. Before dawn, Hancock s corps was drawn up twelve hundred yards in front of a salient of Lee s works. Shrouded by the fog of the early morning, it swept out of the wood, and, breaking into a double-quick, dashed through the entrenchments, surrounding a division and taking three thousand prisoners, including two generals. Officers were captured at their breakfast. The sur prise was as complete as that of the Union army at Shiloh, but the result showed the difference between veterans and raw troops. At this critical moment, Lee formed a new line in the rear. " With his eyes all ablaze with the fire of battle," says his biog rapher Cooke, u he rode down to a standard, and, taking off his hat, pointed to the Federals. A storm of cheers rose as the men saw they were to be led by the gray cavalier himself. Just then, General Gordon seized his reins, saying, General Lee, this is no place for you. Go to the rear. These are Virginians and Geor gians, sir, who have never failed. Turning to his troops, and rising in his stirrups, he called out, * Men, you will not fail now? 1 No ! no ! was the reply, while the cry ran down the line, * Lee to the rear ! Lee to the rear ! " As at the battle of the Wilder ness when Lee placed himself at the head of Gregg s Texans, the column would not charge until he retired out of harm s way. Five desperate attempts were made to recover the works. The fighting was furious ; oftentimes the contending battle-flags, were planted on the same entrenchments. So severe was the Ma i864. 12 ] BATTLE OF SPOTTSYLVANIA. 571 musketry fire, that the whole forest was blighted by it. " One tree, eighteen inches in diameter, was actually cut in two by the bullets. From dawn to dusk, the roar of the guns was ceaseless ; a tempest of shell shrieked through the forest and plowed the field. When night came, the angle where the fire had been hot test had a spectacle for whoever cared to look that would never have enticed his gaze again. Men in hundreds, killed and wounded, were piled in hideous heaps some bodies, that had lain for hours under the concentric fire of the battle, being per forated with wounds. The writhing of the wounded beneath the dead moved these masses at times ; and occasionally a lifted arm or a quivering limb told of an agony not quenched by the Lethe of death around. Bitter fruit this ; a dear price it seemed to pay for the capture of a salient angle of an enemy s entrenchment." Each side had lost about ten thousand men, and nothing was really gained. Lee s new position was only a few yards in the rear, and the foothold so desperately fought for was finally abandoned. While the struggle was going on before Spottsylvania, Sheri dan, with his cavalry, passed in the rear of the Confederates ; destroyed miles of railroad ; recaptured four hundred Union pris oners ; defeated a cavalry force which barred his progress, with the loss of their famous officer, Stuart ; entered the outer defences of Richmond ; and then returned to the Union army in time to take part in the ensuing engagement. Grant, finding that all attempts to drive Lee from his post upon the River Po were useless, resorted to the favorite tactics of the year. Carefully withdrawing his troops from right to left, he set out for the North Anna. Lee, also, started in the same direction. When the Union advance troops reached the bank of that river, they found the gray-coats waiting on the opposite side to receive them. Thus again Lee had handled his men so admirably as to checkmate his antagonist. Grant once more turned the Confederate line on its right flank, crossed the Pamunkey at Hanovertown, and proceeded to Cold Harbor, where, as usual, he found the Confederate army barring his road to the capital. At the first streak of light on the morning of June 3d, the Union forces moved swiftly out of their entrench ments and fell desperately upon the Confederate works. In little over a half hour, they returned defeated, leaving fully ten thou sand of their number " stretched writhing on the sod, or still and calm in death." Later in the day, Meade directed the corps-corn- 5/2 FOURTH YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. manders to renew the attempt ; but, appreciating the uselessness of this butchery, the army quietly disregarded the order. The two armies were now coming upon ground familiar to the veterans. Gaines s Mill was in the rear of the Confederate centre, while the White House was the Union base of supplies. Before Grant started on this Overland Campaign, as it is called, he had arranged for two co-operative movements, in order to distract the attention of the Confederate army in Virginia. The first was for a column under General Sigel to advance up the Shenandoah and threaten the railroad to Richmond. This force having been defeated at New Market, May I5th, Hunter took command and pushed down as Tar as Lynchburg, but finding the Confederates mustering before him, he prudently retired across the Mountains into West Virginia. The second was an expedition under General Butler. With thirty thousand men, he was directed to ascend the James and attack Richmond from the south. He accordingly went up from Fortress Monroe and landed at Bermuda Hundred. Here he was surprised by Beauregard and forced back into his defences. The Confederates threw up fortifications across the narrow neck connecting Bermuda Hundred with the main land, and so held the army securely " corked up," as the phrase of the times termed it. Thus both expeditions, which had promised much, failed utterly. It had not taken "all summer" to prove the impossibility of reaching Richmond from the north. That line of advance must now be abandoned, and a second change of base to the James River be effected. Bitter experience had shown the essential wisdom of McClellan s original plan so long discarded. Grant accordingly decided to cross the James, seize Petersburg, and cut the railroads leading south from Richmond. Then began the feat of throwing one hundred and thirty thousand men over a broad stream in the presence of a vigilant enemy. The Federal army, with its trains in a continuous line, would have crowded a single road for a hundred miles. Cavalry feints veiled the movement. Pontoons and ferry-boats were soon on the spot. Every road and lane through a wide expanse was filled by the hurrying troops. Divisions frequently traveled twenty miles to gain a quarter of that distance. For three days and nights the vast procession poured over by bridge and boat before all had passed. Meanwhile, Grant pushed on a detachment to secure Peters- June,"] I864.J BEFORE PETERSBURG. 573 burg. General W. F. Smith, who commanded the advance, skir mished up to the fortifications of that city, which were held only by some local militia. He carried the outer line ; but at this pre cious moment, though the night was clear and the moon full, he rested till morning, " after the old but not good fashion of 6i- 2," says Greeley. Daybreak showed long lines of Confederate troops filing into the trenches, and the battle-flags of the army of Northern Virginia flaunting defiance. It was too late for a surprise. The main body of his army having arrived, Grant repeatedly tried to carry the works. Four days of slaughter cost nine thou sand men, and secured only a single line of entrenchments, while Lee held stubbornly an inner one, which he had carefully fortified. Grant then swung his attacking columns to the left to seize the Weldon Rail road. Disaster followed, and he was driven back inside his former position. In this fruitless attempt four thousand men were killed or wounded. That this event was not mentioned in the military report and has received no specific name, shows the enormous proportions the war had assumed, and how changed it was from the time when Big Bethel and Ball s Bluff were esteemed great battles. The end of June had come. The Southern army behind its strong entrenchments was safe against any assault. Grant was compelled to sit down and begin regular approaches. The cam paign had at last resolved itself into a siege of Richmond with Petersburg as its advanced post. The On-to-Richmond move ment of this year, like its predecessors, had proved a failure. " Grant had sent the Confederate army," says Draper, " reeling and dripping with blood from the banks of the Rapidan to the James, but at what a fearful expense ! " He had lost at least seventy thousand men to the Confederate forty thousand, or, as some say, twenty -eight thousand. The " process of attri tion," which, according to Grant s favorite theory, was to sub due the Confederacy by destroying its soldiers, seemed a slow, it was certainly a costly, process. Lee s army had hewn out of the GENERAL ULYSSES S. GRANT. 574 FOURTH YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. Union ranks more than its own number, and yet remained appar ently as unconquerable as ever. The On-to-Atlanta movement, at this time, had not been any more successful. Grant and Sherman were both apparently balked of their object. Their paths could be traced through a hundred miles of wilderness by the graves they had filled. The depression at the North was deep and anx ious. In July occurred two events a raid to Washington, and the mine disaster which greatly augmented the gloom. The retreat of Hunter had left the way to the national capital invitingly open. Lee accordingly detached a force under Early to advance upon that city. This officer moved down the Shenan- doah under a summer s sun, at the rate of twenty miles per day ; crossed the Potomac ; defeated a small militia force under General Lew Wallace at Monocacy Bridge ; and on the evening of July loth, came within six miles of Washington. Great was the alarm in the Federal city. The fire of the Confederate skirmishers could be heard at the White House. The forts were garrisoned only by troops from the invalid corps, three-months men, depart ment clerks, and others who volunteered for the emergency. Early delayed a day. Meanwhile, the Sixth corps sent on from before Petersburg, and the Nineteenth corps just arrived from the Gulf, reached the city. At the wharf they were met by Lincoln, who was anxiously watching for them. In the afternoon of the I2th, a reconnoissance was pushed out from Fort Stevens. As the Confederates saw the line of battle move forward, and caught sight of the familiar flags and the easy, swinging gait of the veterans, they cried, " The Sixth corps has come," and knew that the long-coveted prize had escaped their grasp. That night, Early retreated into Virginia, carrying with him five thousand horses and twenty-five hundred cattle. The pursuit was very mild. Subsequently a Confederate raiding party recrossed the Potomac and burned Chambersburg, in default of a ransom of half a million dollars. That Lee should dare thus to divide his force in front of Grant, in order to make this bold inroad, and that Early should escape unscathed, were matters of deep humiliation at the North. Davis, with some show of fact, declared that " Washington, not Richmond, was besieged." For several weeks, the troops belonging to Burnside s corps had been busy digging a mine under the Confederate entrench ments before Petersburg. They began in a secluded ravine back J "8 y 6 4? ] THE MINE EXPLOSION. 575 of the Union lines. The work was pushed forward with great diligence, though the men had nothing but cracker-boxes in which to remove the dirt. The main shaft, five hundred and twenty feet long, reached to a point directly under the enemy s position, with laterals running forty feet each way. A charge of eight thousand pounds of powder was fired on the morning of July 3Oth. The explosion was terrific. A mass of earth, with mingled flame and smoke, shot high into the air. A gulf yawned in the Confederate works, one hundred and fifty feet long, sixty feet wide, and thirty feet deep. The battery and two hundred men stationed at this point were overwhelmed in the ruin. Instantly every gun along the Union entrenchments opened fire. Then was the time for a sudden, overwhelming charge upon the shattered line. But a delay occurred before the assaulting col umn advanced. It only reached the chasm, and then halted. The Confederates, recovering from their confusion, planted bat teries and brought every musket to bear upon the point of danger. Union reinforcements came up, but they, too, huddled into the crater. All organization was lost ; company mingled with com pany, man on top of man. Into this struggling mass, the merciless shot and ball were poured, until the sight became so sickening that, it is said, General Mahone ordered the firing to stop. For eight hours death had held high carnival. The Federal loss in this " miserable affair," as Grant well termed it, was four thousand. The Federal government had already this year called out four hundred thousand additional troops. In the midst of this gloom, five hundred thousand, and still later, three hundred thousand more, were demanded. The national debt had reached two billion dollars. Gold had risen to 190^ premium. There was a possibility of giving up the effort to subdue the South. Indeed, a large party was in favor of abandoning hostilities at once. Still, however, the mass of the people held firm. Lincoln, who had been renominated by the Republicans for the presidency, was re-elected by a large majority ; though General McClellan, the Democratic candidate, advocated a vigorous prosecution of the war, and differed with the administration only in its policy. The repeated incursions into Maryland from the Shenandoah valley, and the demoralized condition of the Union troops in that department, induced Grant to send Sheridan thither. Having thoroughly organized his army, that dashing officer took the field with greatly superior forces. He had received, says Grant, only FOURTH YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. rSept. Oct., L 1864. two words of instruction, " Go in ! " September iQth, he routed Early at Winchester, and, two days after, drove him from his en trenchments at Fisher s Hill, and sent him " whirling up the valley." Sheridan, returning, laid this lovely region waste, burning, according to his report, two thousand barns filled with wheat and hay ; seventy mills, stored with flour and grain ; and driving off or killing seven thousand cattle and sheep, besides a number of horses. The axe and the torch finished what the sword had left. Having posted his army at Cedar Creek, Sheridan went to Washington. During his absence, Early rallied his shattered troops and being reinforced from Lee, surprised the national SHERIDANS ARRIVAL AT CEDAR CREEK. forces in the fog and mist of early morning, October iQth, carried their camps, and pursued the fugitives four miles. General Wright, with a portion of the national army which remained intact, here rallied the men and checked the retreat. Sheridan was already returning, and at Winchester, thirteen miles away, heard " The terrible grumble and rumble and roar, Telling the battle was on once more." Putting spurs to his steed, he galloped to the front without drawing rein. Meanwhile, the Confederates had become scattered in plundering the captured camps. Sheridan, seeing the oppor tunity of retrieving the disgrace, turned upon the enemy, recap tured all that had been lost, and struck such a telling blow that Early escaped with only the wreck of his army. Feb i864 ar h> WAR IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. 577 This brilliant campaign had lasted only a month, but it ended the war in the Shenandoah. It had cost the Union forces nearly seventeen thousand, and the Confederates, according to their own accounts, eight thousand men and sixty pieces of artillery. "At the time," says Pollard, " wags in Richmond were accustomed to label cannon designed for the valley, * General Sheridan, care of Jubal Early. During this year, the war in the Mississippi valley had lan guished, as the necessities of the contest in Georgia and Virginia had drawn off nearly all the available troops. Sherman, before he was called to Grant s aid at Chattanooga, made a destructive foray to Meridian, the intersection of the Southern Mississippi and the Mobile and Ohio railroad. General W. S. Smith was to join him with seven thousand cavalry from Memphis, and move on to Selma. But Smith fell in with Forrest s troopers, who drove him back. Sherman, however, destroyed " one hundred and fifty miles of railroad, sixty-seven bridges, seven hundred trestles, twenty locomotives, twenty-eight cars, several thousand bales of cotton, several steam-mills, and over two million bushels of corn." Thousands of fugitive slaves accompanied the column on its return, as they did afterward in the March to the Sea. They came, says an eye-witness, "some on foot, some on horseback, some in ox-carts. Some were clad in their Sunday-best/ the cast-off clothes of their masters. Of the women, some had ban dana handkerchiefs twisted in turban-fashion round their heads, or were decorated with scraps of ribbon and fantastic finery of every conceivable hue. I saw one carrying a little child in her arms ; she had another on her back, and still another was holding by her skirts. The father strode in front ; a pile of bundles was sustained by a stick on his shoulder, and all sorts of kitchen uten sils and household trumpery were hanging upon his body. So vast was the crowd, that families were separated, and women and children lost in the throng." Early in March, after the brief Meridian campaign, a joint land and naval expedition was organized under General Banks, then in command at New Orleans, to ascend the Red River in order to capture Shreveport, the seat of the Confederate government of Louisiana. The advance carried Fort de Russy by assault, March I4th, and two days after entered Alexandria. At Natchitoches the road diverged from the river, and the army was compelled to 37 5/8 FOURTH YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. [^ise^ lose the protection of the gun-boats. No enemy, however, was seen until the advance was passing through a dense pine-forest near Mansfield, when it was suddenly attacked by the Confeder ates under General Kirby Smith. The Union troops, scattered along the road for a distance of thirty miles, and encumbered with baggage-trains, were unable to make any effective resistance. A sudden panic seized the men, and they fled wildly, leaving wagons and guns to the enemy. At Pleasant Hill, the fugitives were rallied on the main body. Here the pursuit was stopped the next day by the veterans of Emory s and A. J. Smith s divisions. Banks, however, decided to abandon the expedition. He accord ingly fell back to the river, leaving the dead unburied and aban doning the wounded. The retreat of the gun-boats was a difficult task. The water was falling, and the Confederates swarmed in the woods along the banks and planted batteries at every favor able point. At Alexandria, it was feared that it would be neces sary to blow up the vessels to prevent their falling into the enemy s hands. Lieutenant-Colonel Bailey, formerly a Wisconsin lumberman, came to the rescue. He constructed a series of wing-dams, and thus raised the water so that the boats were safely floated over the rapids. This skillful expedient was almost the only relieving feature of a campaign which cost the Union army three thousand men and twenty pieces of artillery. There were rumors that the ex pedition was undertaken simply as a gigantic cotton speculation. As the army advanced, Avagons were scouring the country, gins were being erected, and the marines were busily gathering this staple. Transports came off loaded with cotton bales, while the Union people of Alexandria, who begged to be taken away, were abandoned. General Fred. Steele, who was stationed at Little Rock, had advanced toward Shreveport to co-operate with Banks ; but learn ing of that general s retreat, he fell back as rapidly as possible. He was greatly harassed by the accumulating forces of the enemy, but managed to reach Little Rock again. This disaster restored to the Confederacy a large part of the State. After defeating Smith s cavalry at Okalona, Forrest captured Jackson, Tennessee, and then advanced rapidly upon Paducah, Kentucky. Here the garrison of Fort Anderson, aided by the gun-boats, defended itself stoutly and drove him off. Moving south, he next fell upon Fort Pillow, April I2th. His troops crept Aug. 5,1 1864. J FARRAGUT AT MOBILE. 5/9 along under shelter of a ravine until very near, and then charged upon the entrenchments. Rushing into the fort, they raised the cry, "No quarter!" " The Confederate officers," says Pollard, " lost control of their men, who were maddened by the sight of negro troops opposing them." An indiscriminate slaughter fol lowed. Neither age nor color was spared. The war along the coast this year comprised several important events. August 5th, Admiral Farragut ran past the forts at the NAVAL BATTLE IN MOBILE BAY. entrance of Mobile Bay. The I admiral was stationed in the rig- ! ging of the flag-ship Hartford, I whence he could watch the move ments of his fleet. The lead ing monitor, Tecumseh, struck a torpedo and sunk, carrying down nearly all her crew. As the vessels swept past the forts, they fired such broadsides of grape and canister as drove the cannoneers from their guns. Then came a desperate fight with the Confederate ram Tennessee and three supporting gun-boats. Detaching several vessels to engage the latter, Farragut signalled the others to attack the ram, not only with their guns but by dashing upon it at full-speed. In antici pation of this, the wooden ships had been provided with false bows 580 FOURTH YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. [ N i864. eC of iron. The odds were overpowering. True, not a shot pene trated the thick armor of the Tennessee, but the shutters of one of her port-holes was destroyed, and thus a vulnerable point was presented. Such was the accuracy of the firing, that it is said ten shots struck close to this port ; while a fragment of a shell entered through it and wounded Admiral Buchanan, who commanded the Merrimac in Hampton Roads, and was also injured in that en gagement. The ram was soon sore beset on every side by blows of beak and ball. After sustaining the battle for over an hour single-handed against half the Union fleet, it surrendered. The forts capitulated soon after, and thus the port of Mobile was closed. The city itself was not taken until the surrender of Lee and his army had already decided the war. Late in the fall, a naval expedition under the command of Ad miral Porter, and a fleet of transports carrying about six thou sand five hundred troops under Generals Butler and Weitzel, attempted the capture of Fort Fisher and the other defences guarding the entrance to Wilmington, a famous rendezvous for blockade-runners. Grant intended that General Weitzel should command the troops. Mrs. Willard naively remarks upon this: " General Butler, through whom, as the superior officer, the in structions were sent, put them in his pocket, and went himself. Grant did not dream that Butler would take the direction, and thought that he went merely to see the explosion of a boat laden with powder, which he had prepared at great expense and delay, as if fancying that the mud walls of Fort Fisher would fall at the noise, as the walls of Jericho did at the sound of Joshua s trum pets. On the morning of November 24th, the powder-boat was exploded, but with so little effect that the Confederates did not know the object of it until they were informed by the Northern newspapers." It is said that the Southern commander, Colonel Lamb, supposed the noise was caused by the bursting of a heavy gun on the fleet. After a brief bombardment and a reconnoissance, Butler and Weitzel, deeming the fort too strong for an assault, re-embarked their troops and returned to Fortress Monroe. The war-vessels, however, remained, and Porter was anxious for a new attempt. Grant, therefore, sent back the same soldiers with a small rein forcement, but this time under General A. H. Terry. By a tremendous fire from the ships he compelled the garrison to keep under the shelter of the bomb-proofs. Meanwhile a body J ?865? ] SECOND ATTACK ON FORT FISHER. 581 of sailors and marines, by digging ditches and rifle-pits, cautiously worked its way within two hundred yards of the fort. On the land-side, the troops also advanced under shelter and lay ready for the assault. At three P. M., January i4th, the steam-whistles gave the signal. Both columns dashed forward. The fleet had to stop its guns, as their fire would be liable to injure the attack ing parties. The Confederates instantly swarmed out upon the walls. The Federal ranks were swept by grape and canister and volleys of musketry. The sailors were repulsed. But the other column broke through the palisade and effected a lodgment on the parapet. Reinforcements came up ; nine successive traverses were carried ; the sailors joined in the metie, and near midnight the garrison was driven from every defence to the water s edge and forced to surrender. In reading the account of this assault, one knows not which to admire the more, the heroism of the defence or the gallantry of the attack. " In foreign countries," remarks Draper, " it was often said that the reunion of the States after the close of the war was a political impossibility. In Amer ica there was a very different opinion. Conquered and conquer ors looked upon each other with pride." The neighboring works were now abandoned by the Con federates, and this port of entry was sealed. After the victory at Nashville, General Scofield came with a corps from the Army of the Tennessee, and occupied Wilmington on the anniversary of Washington s birthday. The Confederate privateers having been captured or driven from the ocean, the Richmond authorities made arrangements in Great Britain, at the ship-yards of Liverpool and Glasgow, for building their war-steamers. The Tallahassee, the Chickamauga, and the Shenandoah were accordingly fitted out in British ports. They sailed under the British flag. They were manned by British sailors, and welcomed in British ports. The commerce of the United States was nearly annihilated by them. In 1863 alone, one thousand American ships were sold to foreign merchants. The most noted of the Anglo-Confederate cruisers was the Alabama, Captain Semmes. This ship was built by Laird, a mem ber of the British Parliament. She is said to have destroyed sixty- five American vessels and their cargoes, valued at ten million dollars. In June, 1864, she went to Cherbourg, France. Captain Winslow, of the United States gun-boat Kearsarge, learning of her arrival, immediately sailed thither. Semmes, anxious for the THE ALABAMA. 582 FOURTH YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. ^isf* 9 duel, came out into the open sea, Sunday, June iQth. He left with his friends on shore a chest of coin and sixty-two chro nometers, the relics of his buccaneering exploits. In a speech to his men before the engagement, he repeated the words of Nelson, " England expects every man to do his duty ! " The Kearsarge immediately steamed to with in nine hundred yards of her antagonist, when she began to circle about her, firing slowly and deliberately. At the sev enth round, the Alabama ran up the white flag, and soon sank. Capt. Winslow picked up a part of her crew, and the rest were rescued by the boats of the Deerhound, a British yacht which accompanied the Alabama. No one was killed on the Kearsarge. One sailor, how ever, William Gowin, was mortally wounded, but he refused to go below, and sat on deck through the fight waving his hat and en couraging his comrades. After the battle was over he was taken to the hospital, exclaiming, " I am willing to die for my country since our ship got the victory ! " The whole South was now a vast beleaguered camp. The lines of circumvallation had been drawn so closely as nearly to cut off supplies. It was impossible to secure sufficient medicines for the sick or clothing for the well. The price of foreign goods in Confederate money had become fabulous. Coffee was sold at fifty dollars per pound ; calico at thirty dollars per yard ; and kid gloves at one hundred and twenty-five dollars to one hundred and seventy-five dollars per pair. The enormous profits of a success ful venture led many European merchants to attempt to run the blockade of the Confederate ports. Swift steamers, sitting low in the water and painted of a neutral color, were constantly hover ing along the Southern coast watching for a chance to dart past the Federal cruisers into port and land their cargoes. The activ ity of the Union navy may be estimated from the fact that during the war it captured or destroyed over fifteen hundred ships, worth, with their cargoes, about fifty million dollars. The stringency of the blockade thus largely prevented not only the ingress of foreign supplies, but also the egress of cotton, by the sale of which the Southern government could alone procure funds for the prosecution of the war. 1864.] CONFEDERATE FINANCES AND COMMISSARIAT 583 The Confederate currency had depreciated until fifty dollars would bring but one in specie, and finally its own officials publicly exchanged it in Richmond for gold at a premium of 5900 %. The cost of all articles of trade took on prices corresponding with this shrinkage, unprecedented since Revolutionary times. Many of the soldiers of the Confederate army had not been paid for two years, and when their pittance was received, it required three dollars to buy a loaf of bread, while a month s wages would scarcely procure a pair of stockings or a substantial dinner. The transportation of food to the army at Richmond over the worn- out railroads became difficult, and the rations of the soldiers were often only " a quarter of a pound of rancid bacon and a little coarse corn-meal." Shoeless, ragged, and weak with hunger, it is not strange that desertions materially diminished the strength of the " Army of Northern Virginia," especially when the homes of the soldiers were so constantly threatened alike by want and the incursions of the Federals. GENERAL SHERIDAN. CHAPTER XVII. LAST YEAfc OF THE CIVIL HE plan of the final campaign was simple. All depended on the issue of the struggle before Richmond. Upon this focus the Union forces were converged from every side. February 2/th, Sheridan, with ten thousand cavalry, swept down from the Shenandoah, cut the railroad communications north of Richmond, and in a month from the time of starting took his place in the Union lines before Peters burg. Wilson, with thirteen thou sand horsemen, raided from Eastport on the Tennessee through Alabama, capturing " Selma, Columbus and Macon, with six thou sand eight hundred and twenty prisoners, two hundred and eighty pieces of artillery, twenty-two stands of colors ; destroying two gun-boats, ninety-nine thousand small arms, besides two hun dred and thirty-five thousand bales of cotton, and all the mills, collieries, iron works, factories, arsenals, railroad bridges and rolling stock in the line of march." Stoneman, with five thousand cavalry from Knoxville, Tennessee, poured through the passes of the Alleghanies, captured Salisbury, North Carolina, ransacked its depots of supplies, and destroyed all the railroad bridges within reach. Early in February, Sherman, having rested and refitted his army, set out on his march northward to join Grant. Heavy rains impeded his progress. His route lay through morasses, and rice-fields flooded with water. The rivers overran their banks and the swamps became lakes. The bridges had been burned and the roads barred with felled trees by the Confederate cavalry. Tees .] SHERMAN S MARCH THROUGH THE CAROLINAS. 585 But the Federal troops, who had fought their way across the Alleghanies and made the March to the Sea, were not to be stopped by any ordinary obstacle. They built bridges, made corduroy roads, waded swamps, and, at the Salkehatchie, fought with the water up to their armpits. In Georgia, few dwelling-houses had been burned, but in South Carolina, destruction and pillage became the rule ; officers and men uniting to bring home to the State which had inau gurated the war, its bitterest curse. Columns of smoke marked the progress of the troops. The heavens were black even at mid day. " Bummers," with a keen scent for valuables, scoured the country far in advance of the army. Columbia, the capital of the State, was taken, February i/th. That night saw the city in flames and nearly reduced to ashes. During the march thither, in order to prevent a concentration of the Confederate forces, strong demonstrations had been made toward Augusta and Charleston. Hardee, at the latter place, finding that Sherman had reached Branchville, evacuated the city, February i8th; on leaving, he set fire to the buildings in which cotton was stored. A quantity of powder having been left at the Northwestern railroad station, the boys amused themselves by throwing handfuls of it upon the flames. The powder which they spilt soon formed a train, along which the fire leaped to the depot. A tremendous explosion followed, killing two hundred persons. The fire spread rapidly, and, in spite of the efforts of the Union troops who quickly came to the rescue from Morris s Island, four entire squares were consumed. The siege of Charleston had lasted five hundred and forty -two days. This stronghold had fallen at last, not before the prowess of its besiegers, but by the strategy of a general who never paused in his victorious march to seize his prize. The scars of war were manifest through a large part of the city. An eye witness says : " No pen, no pencil, no tongue can do justice to the scene ; no imagination can conceive the utter wreck, the universal ruin, the stupendous desolation. Ruin, ruin, ruin, above and below, on the right hand and on the left ruin, ruin, ruin, every where and always, staring at us from every paneless window, looking out at us from every shell-torn wall, glaring at us from every battered door, pillar and veranda, crouching beneath our feet on every sidewalk. Not Pompeii, nor Herculaneum, nor Tad- mor, nor the Nile, has ruins so saddening, so plaintively eloquent." 586 LAST YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. flVlarch, I 1865. The Confederate government now recalled Johnston to unite the garrisons of Charleston, Wilmington and Columbia, in order to make head against the triumphant progress of Sherman s army, which had already reached Fayetteville, North Carolina. These old antagonists met again. But Johnston could do little with the means at hand. So low had the military spirit of the Confederacy sunk, that Hardee s army, in marching from Charleston to Averys- boro, had been reduced, mainly by desertion, from eighteen thou sand to six thousand men. Sharp engagements with the heads of the advancing columns took place at Averysboro, March SHERMAN AT THE HEAD OF HIS TROOPS. and three days later at Bentonville. While Johnston was guard ing the route to Raleigh, Sherman pushed forward to Goldsboro, in order to join General Schofield, who had made his way thither from Wilmington, and General Terry, who had come up from Newbern. Their three armies having united, one hundred thou sand men upheld the Flag of the Union along the banks of the Neuse. Sherman then went to City Point to arrange with Grant the plan of the final campaign against Richmond. Lee s position was fast becoming desperate. Though there were one hundred and fifty thousand men on his muster-rolls, he had but forty thousand present for duty. His only hope lay in breaking through his environment and joining Johnston s forces. Accordingly, March 25th, he hurled a strong column upon Fort March,-) 1865. J THE LAST CAMPAIGN. 587 Steadman at the right of the Union line, hoping- that Grant would weaken his left to meet this attack, and thus give the Confederate army a chance of escape. This forlorn hope eventuated in a repe tition of the mine disaster ; the Southern troops being this time the victims. The fort was carried ; but reinforcements did not arrive. The batteries on the right and left commanding the posi tion opened fire. The assaulting division could not advance, and dared not retreat. Two thousand men laid down their arms. Meade followed up this success by a brilliant dash and carried the Confederate picket lines, taking many prisoners. Grant had not stirred his left. The heavy " hammer" which he had lifted so often was now about to fall for the last time. The plan was the old one of "moving by the left." Two corps of infantry had been withdrawn from the right without attracting the attention of Longstreet, who was in their front. With these and nine thousand troop ers Sheridan moved out, March 29th, to pass the Confederate right and destroy the Southside Railroad. Lee perceived the design. In or der to meet Grant as he gradually stretched his lines westward, Lee had already extended his fortifica tions till they were nearly forty miles in length. It was a desperate alter native, but, by stripping his entrenchments until at many points there was left only a strong skirmish line, he was able to mass seventeen thousand men on his right wing. Sheridan s intention was to keep his infantry snug to the Confederate right, while with the horsemen he should sweep far around to grasp the railroad. By night-fall he had occupied Din- widdie Court-House. Encouraged by this success, Grant wrote him, " I feel now like ending this matter. Push around the enemy and get in his rear." Sheridan at once abandoned his design of cutting loose for a cavalry raid. The next day the rain prevented any further movement. March 3ist, ere he could attack the Con federate lines, Lee, with the old Peninsular impetuosity, himself took the initiative. The storm burst with fearful force. It fell first on Warren at White Oak Ridge, but he succeeded in beat- GENERAL JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON. 588 LAST YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. [ Ap |865. 2 ing it back. Then it struck Sheridan, whose advance had already seized upon Five Forks a strategic point of great value. The Federals were overpowered. Dismounting his troopers, Sheridan deployed them in the woods, leaving only enough men to take care of the horses. His line then fell back, stubbornly resisting. During its slow retreat, Sheridan got his troops in hand, and, throwing them behind the entrenchments at Dinwiddie, stopped the Confederates. April ist, Sheridan again moved upon Five Forks. The cavalry, pushed up in front of the Confederate works, formed a screen, behind which Warren with the Fifth Corps, twelve thou sand strong, got into the enemy s rear. Attacking front, flank, and rear at once, the Federals swept all before them, captured the entrenchments, and pursued the Confederates six miles down the White Oak road, taking five thousand prisoners. It was the beginning of the end. That night every cannon in the Union batteries before Petersburg was in full play. At dawn, the entire Union line from the Appomattox to Hatcher s Run leaped from behind its entrenchments, and poured in an over whelming flood upon the Confederate works. All opposition was crushed by the irresistible force of the onset. The outer line was taken in the first fierce rush. Fort Alexander, in the rear, fell next. Fort Gregg, however, made a stout defence. Three times the assailants were repulsed ; on the fourth charge they swept over the crest. Of the gallant little garrison of two hundred and fifty men, only thirty survived. General A. P. Hill was at the headquarters of General Lee discussing the prospects of the day. Suddenly, Lee, listening, said, " General, your men are giving way." Hill quickly mounted his horse and dashed down the road. As he Avas spurring on, he caught a glimpse of several Federals with rifles leveled upon him. " Throw down your arms ! " he commanded. For an instant the men hesitated, but the next moment the clang of their pieces was heard, and General Hill fell dead. In this crisis of his fortunes, says his biographer Cooke, Lee was clad in a new uniform, and had put on his dress-sword, which he seldom wore, declaring that if he must surrender it should be in full harness. From the lawn in front he saw the Federal infantry moving forward at the double-quick, their bayonets flashing in the April sun ; the Union batteries were seizing the neighboring knolls, whence they quickly opened on his fleeing troops ; while April 2, 3,1 1865. FALL OF RICHMOND. 589 on every hand buildings set on fire by the fast-falling shells were sending up volumes of smoke and flame. Mounting, he escaped only by spurring his steed into a gallop, under a heavy fire. Lee then gathered his men into the inner line of works, and immediately sent word to the civil authorities that Richmond must be surrendered. The messenger reached Davis in his seat at St. Paul s Church. With pallid face, the ruined president hastily retired. The fatal news startled the people like a thunder clap from the clear sky. Suddenly, the streets, which had before been so silent, were filled with men hastening to escape with their CITY OF RICHMOND. effects from the doomed city. The excitement was like that in the front of a sweeping conflagration. A hundred dollars in gold were paid for the use of a wagon for a single hour. Night in creased the disorder. The guards having been withdrawn, the inmates of the Penitentiary escaped. The mob got control of the city. Stores were broken open. Costly fabrics strewed the side-walks. The gutters ran with liquor. Confederate scrip was trampled in the mud. Men and women reeled through the streets staggering under the plunder they had secured . The yells of the crowd, the crash of broken glass, and the noise of mad revel, made the night hideous. Then came a new horror. General Ewell, in command of the Confederate rear-guard, having blown up the iron-clads in the 590 LAST YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. [ A |865 3> river, set fire to a large tobacco Avarehouse in the very heart of the city. The flames soon extended to the neighboring buildings, and thirty squares were laid in ashes. Amid the roar of the flames, the noise of falling buildings, the screams of women and children, the explosion of shells, and the ghastliness of the air thick with cinders, came the advance of the Federal army, driving before it the maddened crowd of plunderers. The Stars and Stripes soon floated from the Capitol ; order was restored in the streets ; soldiers were set at work fighting the fire ; and before night, every one was safe under the national protection. Yet sad indeed were the hearts of those who lay down by the side of blackened walls, amid the quiet of a great desolation, their hearts aching the while with " a dull sense that the work of years had been ruined and that all they possessed had been swept away." Meanwhile, Lee, with the wreck of his army, had been pushing rapidly toward Burkesville, at the junction of the Danville and Southside railroads. By daylight, April 3d, when the Union pickets were cautiously creeping over the deserted entrench ments before Petersburg, he was already sixteen miles away. There was to be a different pursuit from that after Antietam or Gettysburg. Grant at once threw every man, horse and gun into the chase. Lee had sent instructions to have rations ready for his men at Amelia Court-House. On reaching this point, he found to his dismay that the Richmond authorities had ordered the supply- train thither on Sunday, without unloading. It was necessary to halt for two days, that the army might collect food in this impoverished country. Sheridan, with his cavalry, now got the start and struck the railroad at Jetersville, seven miles in advance of the Confederate army. The Fifth corps soon joined him. The victors of Five Forks were thus planted squarely across Lee s path, and he was forced to take a new route. He accordingly gave up joining Johnston and turned toward Lynchburg, whence he hoped to reach the cover of the mountains. Then began a terrible race for life. It lasted four days. Grant threw one column on the south and another on the north, while a third pressed upon the rear of the retreating army. Sheridan s cavalry hung on its flanks with dogged tenacity. Davies, with his command, struck the Confederate wagon-train at Paine s Cross-Roads, burned one hundred and eighty wagons, and captured five guns. The Confederate infantry closed in April 5, 6,1 1865. LEE S RETREAT. 591 about him, but Gregg and Smith came to his help. Custer, with another division, pierced the Confederate line of march, destroy ing four hundred wagons and taking sixteen guns. Crook s and Devin s brigades having joined him, together they cut off Ewall s men, and by incessant charges kept them at bay until the Sixth corps came up, when they forced them to surrender, six thousand CAVALRY CHARGE ON THE CONFEDERATE WAGON-TRAIN. strong. Read, with a squadron of cavalry and two regiments of infantry, recklessly threw himself before Lee s column as it was about to cross the High Bridge over the Appomattox. The Confederates thrust his little force aside, and he was killed in a hand-to-hand fight with a Southern officer. Lee crossed the river, and by marching all night left his pursuers far behind. At dawn, however, the last of the Confederates, the debris of the retreat, had just crossed. General Mahone, who had charge of the rear, having established a line of defence, went back to the bridge and found the officer in command stupidly waiting for orders to fire it. Fuel was hastily brought together and the 592 LAST YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. match applied. At that instant, the Federal skirmishers, coming up on the hill beyond, caught sight of the bridge and rushed forward. Under their dropping shots, the guard retreated. The Second corps soon arrived and captured the bridge with eighteen guns upon the bank. Pushing on rapidly, General Humphreys found Lee s army encamped in a strong position. He attempted to carry it, but was driven back with a loss of six hundred men. Under cover of the darkness, Lee continued his flight. The condition of his army was indeed woful. History has not recorded such a retreat since Napoleon fled from Moscow. Every mud-hole along the route was choked with blazing wagons, fired to prevent their capture. Ammunition trains were blown up, and the air resounded with exploding powder and bursting shells. Famine was fast doing its work on the jaded, starving men, who yet clung to their banners. Many dropped their guns from pure exhaustion. If they straggled in search of food, or laid down to catch a moment s rest, on their heels quickly thundered the remorseless enemy, who drove them on day and night. " Death itself," says an eye-witness, " was often welcomed as God s messenger in disguise." At midnight of the 8th, Custer, by a thirty-miles march, reached Appomattox Station, captured four trains loaded with supplies for Lee, drove back the Confederate advance, and took possession of the road in front of the fleeing enemy. Before dawn, Sheridan came up with the troops of Ord and Griffin. The road to Lynch- burg was closed. For two days Lee and Grant had been corresponding concern ing a surrender, and the Union general had offered generous terms, hoping to prevent further bloodshed. Early in the morning of the 9th, Lee, consulting with Longstreet and Mahone around his camp- fire, decided that if they should find infantry in front, there was no escape. General Gordon accordingly advanced with his corps, supported by Fitz Lee s cavalry. They dashed forward, driving Sheridan s troopers before them, when suddenly the Federal cav alry drew aside to the right and left, revealing in the rear dense masses of infantry in solid battle-line. It was the last charge of the Army of Northern Virginia. A white flag appeared in the Confederate front. The battle was stayed. Lee, learning the result of Gordon s movement, requested an interview with Grant. The two generals accordingly met in the largest of the five houses in Appomattox, passing through a April 9,1 1865. J LEE S SURRENDER. 593 yard blooming with spring flowers. There was no display, no sentiment. Simply greeting each other, they proceeded at once to business. Seated at a plain table they drew up the papers of surrender, exchanged bows, and parted. Lee returned to his headquarters. On his arrival, the lines of battle, no longer nec essary, were quickly broken, and his men thronged about him for a farewell. He could only say in sup pressed tones, and with eyes full of tears, "We have fought through the war to gether. I have done the best I could for you." The Confederate army paraded for the last time on the I2th, just four years from the firing of the first gun on Sumter. At the signal, the men fixed bayonets, stacked guns, and threw over them their tat tered colors, some reverently kissing the banners they had de fended so long and so well. There were only eight thousand soldiers to lay down their arms, although twenty-seven thousand eight hundred and five Avere included in the surrender. They were then paroled and allowed to go home. Grant, with true delicacy, absented himself from the ceremony. Every effort was made to spare the feelings of the vanquished, and the Union troops, in that hour of triumph, shared the contents of their haversacks with their starving brethren. Sherman, learning of Lee s surrender, put his army in mo tion to prevent Johnston s escape. On the I4th, he received a letter from that officer relative to a capitulation. An interview took place near Durham s Station, and terms were arranged for disbanding the remaining armies of the Confederacy. Besides 38 LEE AND GRANT SIGNING THE TERMS OF SURRENDER. 594 LAST YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. rMay, LI865. this, however, the basis of a peace was agreed upon, which recog nized the several State governments, and guaranteed to the people the elective franchise, their political rights, and a general amnesty. The memorandum was transmitted to Washington. Meanwhile, important events had there occurred which had materially changed the views of the authorities. The terms were rejected. Grant was sent to Sherman to take charge of affairs. Johnston had no resource but to surrender on the same conditions with Lee. The other Confederate troops rapidly followed. The situa tion was universally accepted. Guerilla-bands everywhere threw down their arms. Peace came as by magic. Smith s trans -Missis sippi army, the last Confederate force, surrendered to General Can- by, May 26th. The civil war was over. We left Davis passing out of St. Paul s Church, Richmond. He escaped to Danville, where he sought to re-establish the Confed erate government. On the sur render of Lee, he fled to Johnston s army. Finding the Confederacy generally despaired of, he con tinued on to Charlotte, where his cabinet forsook him. The fugitive president then hurried through Georgia, hoping to reach Texas. A reward of one hundred thou sand dollars, however, had been offered for his arrest, and the Federals were on his track. May loth, a detachment of Wilson s cavalry overtook his party while in camp at Irwinville. Lieu tenant Stuart, of Davis s staff, says : " Hearing musketry-firing, we supposed it to be between some apprehended marauders and the camp-defenders. Mr. Davis hurriedly put on his boots, and prepared to go out for the purpose of interposing, saying, " They will at least as yet respect me. " As he reached the tent-door, he saw a few cavalry ride up the road and deploy in front. " Ha ! Federals ! was his exclamation. " Then you are captured ! cried Mrs. Davis. " In a moment she caught an idea a woman s idea and, as quickly as women in an emergency execute their designs, it was JEFFERSON DAVIS. A , P 865 4 ] LINCOLN S ASSASSINATION. 595 done. He slept in a wrapper a loose one. It was yet around him. This she fastened, and bidding him adieu, urged him to go to the spring, a short distance off, where his horses and arms were. Davis felt that this was his only course, and complied. As he was leaving the door, followed by a servant with a water-bucket, Miss Howell flung a shawl over his head." As the three, Davis, his wife and sister, moved toward the woods, they were stopped in the gray dawn by a corporal s " Halt, or I ll fire ! " The disguise had failed and escape was hopeless. The ex-president s family were carried to Savannah and set at liberty ; while he was taken to Fortress Monroe. An indictment for treason was found against him, and the next year one for treason and conspiracy. In 1867, he was released on bail, Horace Greeley and John Minor Botts, among others, becoming his bondsmen. After various delays in bringing the case to trial, he was discharged under the Proclama tion of Amnesty, December 25, 1868. We now turn to Washington, where, during these months pregnant with such momentous consequences to the country, a sad tragedy had been enacted. Lincoln, though he had vigor ously pressed the war to its conclusion, now that peace had come thought only of reconciliation and mercy. " With malice toward none, with charity for all," his simple heart could not entertain the thought of that personal danger against which he had been so often warned. On the day after the fall of Rich mond, he visited that city, walked its streets unguarded, and gave a public reception in Jefferson Davis s mansion. Having returned to Washington, it was announced that he would visit Ford s Theatre on the evening of the Hth, the anniversary of the fall of Sumter. Although feeling quite indisposed, he went in order not to disappoint the public. While sitting in his box with Mrs. Lincoln, a play-actor named John Wilkes Booth entered from behind and shot him through the head. The assassin then came forward, brandished a knife, and shouted Sic semper tyrannis So always to tyrants. Endeavoring to leap to the stage, his spur caught in the flag draped in front of the box, and he fell, breaking his leg. He sprang up, however, and amid the confu sion escaped behind the scenes. Lincoln dropped forward uncon scious, and was removed to a private house, where he died the next morning, without a sign of recognition or a parting word to the friends who watched so anxiously by his side. In the midst of the national rejoicings over the return of peace, LAST YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. [ApriM4_-26, 1865. the tidings of the President s assassination came to every heart with a keen, sudden anguish. Fast upon this was flashed the news that at the same hour, an accomplice had forced his way to the bed of William H. Seward who had been thrown from a carriage and was laid up with his injuries severely wounded his son, and then stabbed the helpless secretary three times with a bowie-knife. The conspirators who were to assassinate other cabinet officers, together with Vice-President Johnson and Gen eral Grant, had fortunately failed of their purpose. ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN. A thrill of horror ran over the civilized world. The North was outraged. For the moment, it was supposed that the late Confederate authorities were implicated. Sherman s terms of peace were at once rejected. The South found that in Abraham Lincoln it had lost a friend on whom it could rely, and that the work of reconciliation was greatly complicated by this act of a madman. Booth, after his escape, mounted a horse which was in readi ness and fled into Maryland. He rode thirty miles before he dared to stop to have his leg set. Having crossed the Potomac, he was overtaken by his pursuers in a barn near Bowling Green. As he refused to surrender, the building was fired to drive him out. While he stood at bay, defiant, one of the soldiers shot him by the light of the flames. Singularly, the fatal wound was in 1861-5.] COST OF THE WAR. 597 nearly the same place as that of the martyred President. Booth s accomplices were arrested, tried by a military court and con victed. Harrold, who aided Booth ; Payne, who attacked Sew- ard ; Atzerott, who was to have assassinated Johnson ; and Mrs. Surratt, at whose house the conspirators met, were hanged ; Arnold and McLaughlin, who were also accomplices, and Dr. Mudd, who dressed Booth s wound, were imprisoned for life ; Spangler, who assisted the assassin in his escape, was sentenced for six years. There are some general topics connected with the Civil War worthy of attention. The entire number of soldiers enlisted by the national government was two million six hundred and eighty- eight thousand five hundred and twenty -three. As many of these served on more than one call and desertions were frequent, per haps not more than one million five hundred thousand actually took the field. The Confederates had in active service probably six hundred thousand soldiers. Each side lost about three hun dred thousand men, who were either killed in battle or who died of disease or wounds ; to which should be added at least two hundred thousand more who were crippled or enfeebled for life. The industries of the country, therefore, lost the services of one million able-bodied men by these four years of strife. The monetary cost of this struggle is partly shown by the war-debts on both sides. The Union debt, June, 1860, was only about sixty-five million dollars ; January, 1866, it had reached two billion seven hundred and fifty million dollars. Add to this vast amount the bounties paid by the States, counties, cities, towns, and individuals ; the pensions to the wounded ; and the benefac tions to soldiers families, and the aggregate would exceed four billion dollars. The Confederate debt at the breaking up of its government was two billion dollars, which, of course, has never been paid. These immense sums leave untouched the vast waste and wholesale devastation incident to war the desolated fields, the ruined towns and cities, and the demolished railroads. Various financial measures were adopted by the Federal authorities to meet the current expenses, Avhich at one time reached three million five hundred thousand dollars per day. At first, fifty million dollars were advanced by the principal banks. Large subscriptions were made by wealthy persons. Additional duties were imposed on tea, coffee and other articles. Such was the derangement of the finances that, December 30, 1861, the 598 LAST YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. [1861-5. banks of New York suspended specie payments, an example which was generally followed. By successive acts, Congress authorized the issue of one hundred and fifty million dollars of paper money, familiarly known as greenbacks." Silver and gold began to command a premium and to disappear from circulation. Postage stamps, ferry and omnibus tickets, and " shinplasters," issued by individuals or corporations, were used for small change. Con gress hereupon authorized a fractional or postal currency, which soon came into common use. February 25, 1863, the act estab lishing the national banking system was passed. Duties were greatly increased. Taxes were levied on incomes and manu factures, and revenue stamps were ordered to be affixed to all notes, checks, bonds, mortgages, etc. The principal relief, how ever, was obtained from the sale of United States bonds. The several issues of these are known as Seven-Thirties the rate of interest being seven and thirty-hundredths per cent. ; Five-Twen ties and Ten-Forties the time of redemption of the former being fixed at not less than five nor more than twenty years, and of the latter, at not less than ten nor more than forty years. During the war, Humanity had its own victories. The San itary and Christian Commissions performed a work of mercy unknown in the history of the world. Sanitary fairs were held in the chief towns and cities. Voluntary contributions were offered. Lint was picked. Garments were made and dainties prepared without stint. Every possible comfort was provided for the sick and the wounded. Loving hands toiled tirelessly, while the warm hearts which strengthened them stretched out to Southern battle fields, and Enfolded in an atmosphere of prayer The dear, brave boys who fought and suffered there. The Christian Commission sent clergymen who visited the camps, prayed and talked with the soldiers, and, while they min istered to their physical necessities, tried to lead them to a higher life. Agents of the Sanitary Commission were almost omnipresent. Wherever there was a camp or a picket station, and much more where a great battle impended, thither came these messengers of mercy, provided with every appliance that ingenuity could devise, love prepare, or money procure. They furnished ambu lances, hospital cars and steamers, stretchers, nurses, canned fruits, medicines, bandages, clothing, hot coffee, postage stamps, 1861-5.] SANITARY COMMISSIONS. 599 paper and envelopes, reading matter, prayer-meetings, Christian burial no want of body or soul was overlooked. The blue and the gray shared alike in these offices of mercy. Soldiers who had wandered from their regiments, or who had been dis charged or were on sick leave, found Lodges ready to receive them. Troops en route to or from the seat of war, at every halting-place were fed with generous hospitality, and waited upon by the first ladies of the neighborhood. Wives and mothers who came to visit their friends in the army were welcomed to Homes with kindness and sympathy. The Sanitary Commission alone thus became the almoner of nearly twenty-five million dollars. The South, with its limited means, was less prodigal, but no less hearty in its generosity. The men were swept off by the relentless conscription law, but the women, left at home alone, devoted themselves to the struggle with that earnestness and ardor characteristic of the Southern race. (See Appendix.) Self-sacrifice to them was only adding privation to privation, yet they shrunk from nothing which might aid " The Cause." Already, from necessity, raspberry leaves the old Revolutionary resource shared with sassafras the honors of the tea-pot, while roasted grains and sweet-potato chips took the place of mocha. Sugar became an expensive luxury, and the once despised sor ghum was made to do service in desserts and sweetmeats, which were eaten from the rare old family china with a heroic ignoring of the plebeian molasses " twang." Salt was a necessity for which there was no substitute. So carefully was it economized that even the barrels were soaked in which salt pork or fish had been packed, the water being afterward evaporated, that not a grain might be lost. Fashion became submissive, and at the gay " starvation parties," where no refreshments were served, beauti ful women appeared in garments carded, woven, spun and dyed by their own fair hands. Gas was beyond the reach of most families, but light-wood knots, tallow candles, and, above all, the so-called " Confederate candle " supplied its place. The last- named substitute consisted of a long wick the longer the better drawn through a mixture of wax and resin till it was thoroughly and smoothly coated, when it was wound on a little wooden frame which was called the " Confederate candlestick " ; the free end of the wick was passed through a bit of tin which was nailed on the upper part of the candlestick, and, on being lighted, was uncoiled as wanted. Large thorns with wax heads were made 6oo LAST YEAR OF THE CIVIL WAR. [1861-5. to serve for hair-pins. Shoes were manufactured with wooden soles, to which the uppers were fastened by means of small tacks. The devices of the women for raising money to carry on the war were many and ingenious. Silver-plate and jewelry became free-will offerings, and the government published " monthly lists of contributions of rings, sugar-pots and spoons." One associa tion advertised all through the South for broken kitchen-pots and pans, hoping thus to procure enough iron to build an armored steamer. It was even suggested by an ardent woman in Mobile that all the true feminine patriots should consent to be shorn, and a calculation was seriously made of the amount which might be realized in the European markets by the sale of so many heads of hair. Whatever opinion one may hold of the justice of the cause which lay so near the hearts of the Southern women, they can never be accused of lukewarmness or of lack of devotion to their principles. Their courage held good to the last ; and when Lee surrendered, hundreds of delicate ladies were living on half rations, that they might share their few remaining comforts with his famishing men. THE SURRENDER AT APPOMATTOX COURT-HOUSE. PART V. t ftp tra. " Immortal Brothers, we have heard ! Our lips declare the reconciling word : for Battle taught, that set us face to face, The stubborn temper of the race, And both, from fields no longer alien, come, To grander action equally invited, Marshaled by Learning s trump, by Labor s drum, In strife that purifies and makes united ! We force to build, the powers that would destroy ; The muscles, hardened by the sabre s grasp, Now give our hands a firmer clasp : We bring not grief to you, but solemn joy I And, feeling you so near, Look forward with your eyes, divinely clear, To some sublimely-perfect, sacred year, When sons of fathers whom ye overcame Forget in mutual pride the partial blame, And join with us, to set the final crown Upon your dear renown, The People s Union in heart and name /" BAYARD TAYLOR S ODE AT GETTYSBURG. CHAPTER XVIII. THE ECA<DE OF ttECOJfSTfcUCTIOJf 1865-1875. ITHIN three hours after Lincoln expired, Andrew Johnson took the oath of office as the seventeenth President of the United States. Johnson was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, December 29, 1808. When he was two years old, his father died, leaving the family in poverty. At the age of ten, Andrew was apprenticed to a tailor. A gentleman often came into the shop and read to the workmen. The young boy, eagerly listening, became inspired with a desire to secure an edu cation. All his leisure hours were thenceforth devoted to study. In 1826 he removed to Greenville, Tennessee, taking with him his mother. Here he married. Thus far he had learned only to read. His wife taught him to write and to cipher. He soon took a great interest in politics. Elected an alderman, he rose to be mayor 604 THE DECADE OF RECONSTRUCTION. [1865. member of the legislature, and representative in Congress, holding the last office for ten years. He was twice chosen governor. The canvass for his re-election was exciting. At one meeting Johnson appeared with a pistol in his hand, laid it on the desk, and said : " Fellow-citizens, I have been informed that part of the business to be transacted on the present occasion is the assassination of the in dividual who has now the honor of addressing you. I beg respect fully to propose that this be the first business in order. Therefore, if any man has come here to-night for the purpose indicated, I do not say to him, let him speak, but let him shoot." After pausing for a moment, with his hand on his pistol, he said : " Gentlemen, it appears that I have been misinformed. I will now proceed to address you on the subject that has called us together." When Tennessee passed the ordinance of secession, he remained stead fast to the government. His loyal sentiments, his efforts to aid the Union refugees, and the persecution which he experienced at home, commended him to the North. In 1862, he was appointed military governor of Tennessee, in which position he upheld the Federal cause with great ability and zeal. Soon after his inauguration as President, in the course of a speech on the condition of the country, he declared : " The people must understand that treason is the blackest of crimes, and will be surely punished." Severe measures were consequently ex pected, but his official acts soon dissipated the impression. The close of the war found at least one million five hundred thousand men under arms. The opening of the new era was marked by the disbanding of this vast armament. A grand re view of the armies of Grant and Sherman, two hundred thousand strong, took place in the presence of the President and his cabinet. For twelve hours this triumphal procession, thirty miles long, massed in solid column twenty men deep, rolled through the broad avenues of the capital. With no disturbance, no excite ment, the men laid down their arms and returned to their homes. Soon there was nothing to distinguish the soldier from the citi zen, except the recollection of his bravery. Never had the world seen such a triumph of democratic institutions. Now came the task of reconstruction. It presented more dif ficult problems than the war itself. Johnson took the position that a State could not secede, and therefore none of the Southern States had ever been really out of the Union. Having laid down their arms, it was only necessary for them to submit to the na- 1865.] JOHNSON S ADMINISTRATION. 605 tional authority to be in all respects as they were be fore the war. He recog nized the State govern ments that had been formed in Virginia, Tennessee, Ar kansas and Louisiana under the protection of the Fed eral army. In the others, he appointed provisional governors, and authorized the calling of conventions to establish loyal govern ments. The conventions, which were accordingly held, re pealed the ordinances of secession, repudiated the Confederate war debt, and ratified the thirteenth amendment. April 29th, the President removed re strictions on trade with the South, and a month later he issued a proclamation of amnesty to all who would take the oath of allegiance to the United States. A few classes of individuals were excluded, but many persons thus debarred were pardoned on special appli cation to the President. The thirteenth amend ment abolishing slavery having been ratified by the legislatures of twenty-sev en States, on the iSth of December it was declared to be a part of the Consti tution of the United States. 606 THE DECADE OF RECONSTRUCTION. [1865-8. Congress, on assembling in the fall, took strong ground against the reconstruction policy of the President. It claimed that the seceded States were really out of the Union, and Congress alone had the power to prescribe to them the terms of re-admission. A committee of fifteen was appointed, to which were referred all questions concerning the reorganization of the States. Several important acts were passed over Johnson s veto. January 25, 1866, enlarged powers were granted to the Freedmen s Bureau a de partment of the government which had the care of the emancipated blacks and the destitute whites of the South. The Civil Rights bill was enacted April Qth, guaranteeing to the negroes the privi leges of citizenship. The Tenure-of-office bill, passed March 2, 1867, provided that, contrary to the decision reached by the first Congress (see page 336), no removal from office should be made by the President without the consent of the Senate. The same day the South was divided into five districts and placed under military governors. By a subsequent enactment, the commanders were made amenable only to the general of the army. Meanwhile, Congress had declared that, as an additional guar anty, another amendment to the Constitution should be adopted. This provided (i) that equal civil rights should be conceded to all, regardless of race or color ; (2) that where the right of suffrage was denied to any portion of the citizens of a State, the basis of representation should be correspondingly reduced ; (3) that no person should hold any office under the national or State govern ments who had violated his oath of allegiance to the United States by engaging in secession ; (4) that the national debt should be held inviolate ; (5) that the Confederate war debt should be void ; and (6) that no compensation should be given for emancipated slaves. This was incorporated in the Constitution July 28, 1868. The effect of these various congressional measures was largely to exclude from office the better class of the Southern people, and to throw the political power into the hands of an ignorant popula tion, and of Northern men who had gone South after the war. The latter were, in too many cases, mere adventurers " carpet-bag gers," as they were styled who had been drawn hither by the hope of position and of plunder. Tennessee having ratified the fourteenth amendment, in July, 1866, it was restored to the Union. The military governors in the other States made a registry of votes, and held elections for con ventions to remodel their constitutions, in accordance with the 1866-8.] JOHNSON S ADMINISTRATION. 607 provisions of Congress. After a protracted struggle, Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, and North and South Carolina were reconstructed, and their senators and representa tives admitted to the councils of the nation, June 24, 1868. In the fall of 1866, Johnson, with a brilliant party, made a tour from Washington to Chicago, to be present at the laying of the corner-stone of a monument to Stephen A. Douglas. At all the principal places, the President addressed the assembled multitude on the political issues. An expression which he used several times gave rise to the popular phrase, " Swinging round the circle." The feeling between the executive and the legislative branch of the government at last came to an issue. In August, 1867, the President notified Mr. Stanton, the Secretary of War, of his suspension from office and the appointment of General Grant ad interim. The Secretary vacated his post under protest, considering the removal a violation of the Tenure-of-office bill. When Congress assembled, it re fused to sanction the President s act, whereupon General Grant re signed his office to Secretary Stan- ton. In February, 1868, the Presi dent again informed the Secretary of his removal and the appointment of General Thomas to the vacancy. The Senate resolved that the Pres- sident had no power to remove the Secretary of War and desig nate any other person to perform the duties of that office. February 24th, the House agreed to impeach the President of " high crimes and misdemeanors." The trial began March 23d, the Senate being organized as a court, with Chief-Justice Chase presiding. Messrs. Bingham, Butler, Boutwell, Logan, Stevens, Williams and Wilson of the House were the managers of the prosecution ; and Messrs. Curtis, Evarts, Groesbeck, Nelson and Stanbery were the counsel for the President. The decision was taken May 26th, when thirty-five Senators answered " guilty," and nineteen, " not guilty." As a two-thirds vote was necessary for conviction, the President was sustained. Stanton immediately resigned his post, and General Schofield succeeded him. LIB*. ANDREW JOHNSON. K THE 6o8 THE DECADE OF RECONSTRUCTION. [1862-6. On July 4, 1868. the ninety-second anniversary of the national birthday, a pardon was proclaimed to all engaged in the late war, except those already indicted for treason or other felony. On Christmas of the same year a day most fitting for acts of good will and mercy to erring brethren a UNIVERSAL AMNESTY was declared. Though the nation was still agitated by political strife the ground-swell, as it were, of the recent terrible storm the coun try was rapidly taking on the appearance and ways of peace. The South was slowly adjusting herself to the novel conditions of free labor. The soldiers retained somewhat their martial air ; but " blue-coats " and " gray-coats " were everywhere to be seen engaged in quiet avocations. The ravages of war were fast dis appearing. Nature had already sown grass and quick-growing plants upon the battle-fields where contending armies had strug gled. " There were domes of white blossoms where swelled the white tent ; There were plows in the track where the war-wagons went ; There were songs where they lifted up Rachel s lament." Strangely symbolical of the new era of growth which had dawned on the nation, a wanderer over the cannon-plowed slope of Cemetery Ridge found a broken drum, in which a swarm of bees were building their comb and storing honey gathered from the flowers growing on that soil so rich with Union and Confed erate blood. The annual interest on the debt was about one hundred and thirty million dollars ; but the revenue from duties on imported goods, from taxes on manufactures, incomes, etc., and from the sale of revenue stamps, was over three hundred million dollars. Hence this provided not only for the current expenses of the government and the payment of interest, but also for the gradual extinguishment of the debt. It is a striking evidence of the abundant resources of the country that, in 1866, "before all the extra troops called out by the war had been discharged, the national indebtedness had been diminished more than thirty-one million dollars." While the United States was absorbed in the Civil War, Napoleon III. took advantage of the opportunity to attempt to secure a foothold on this continent. In 1862, France, England and Spain sent an expedition into Mexico to obtain redress for injuries suffered by foreign residents in that country, and also to 1865-7.] JOHNSON S ADMINISTRATION. 609 induce the people to elect a ruler and put an end to the anarchy which had so long distracted the nation. Difficulties arose, and the Spaniards and the English abandoned the enterprise. The French thereupon advanced inland, and after many reverses, suc ceeded in taking the city of Mexico. Refusing to treat with the liberal government under Juarez, the French commander called an assembly, which decided that Mexico should be an empire, and tendered the throne to Archduke Maximilian of Austria. He accepted on certain conditions, one of which was that the call should be a spontaneous expression of the whole nation. After his accession, the new emperor found that he had been deceived, and that the republican feeling was still strong. The United States government, now freed from its domestic difficulty, was ready to assert the Monroe doctrine, and accordingly demanded that the French troops should be withdrawn from this continent. Maximilian, abandoned by his allies, was unable to maintain his authority against Juarez. He was captured, tried by court-mar tial, and executed, June 19, 1867. With him fell the Mexican empire and the dream of French dominion in the West. During these grand political movements, science had achieved a peaceful triumph whose importance far transcended the victo ries of diplomatic or military skill. As early as 1853, Cyrus W. Field of New York had conceived the idea of an ocean telegraph. An association was organized the next year, and in 1856, a line was finished from New York to St. John s, Newfoundland, a dis tance of over one thousand miles. A company was then formed, with a capital of about one million seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars, to carry the wire across the ocean. A cable was made, but it parted while being laid, August, 1857. A second attempt, in June, 1858, failed after repeated trials. A third effort in July of the same year was successful. A message was sent from the Queen of England to the President of the United States, and a reply transmitted. But the wire worked for only a few weeks and then became silent. The time and money spent seemed a total loss. Mr. Field alone was hopeful. Through his efforts the company was revived, three million dollars were subscribed, and a new cable was manufactured. Meanwhile, seven years had elapsed since the first failure. In July, 1865, the Great East ern commenced laying the cable, but in mid-ocean it parted and sunk to the bottom. Again Mr. Field went to work, raised a new company, with a 39 6io THE DECADE OF RECONSTRUCTION. [1866. capital of three million dollars, and made a third cable. The Great Eastern sailed with this, June, 1866, and successfully accomplished its task; the first message transmitted being, "A treaty of peace has been signed between Austria and Prussia." To make the triumph more complete, the vessel went back, found the very spot in the broad ocean where the cable of 1865 had parted, and, dropping her huge grappling-irons down two miles into the sea, caught the lost cable, brought it to the surface, and, splicing it, laid the remaining portion. The two cables were THE GREAT EASTERN IN MID-OCEAN LAYING THE CABLE. found to work admirably. So perfect is the connection and so delicate the instruments used, that a despatch has been sent from Valentia Bay, Ireland, to Heart s Content, Newfoundland, a dis tance of eighteen hundred and sixty-four miles, by a battery made in a gun-cap. Field had spent twelve years of anxious labor, during which he had crossed the Atlantic nearly fifty times ; but American energy and ingenuity triumphed at last. In 1866, the movements of the Fenians, a society formed for the avowed purpose of delivering Ireland from the English rule, caused great apprehension in Canada. Large amounts of money were subscribed by the Irishmen in this country, and extensive military organizations perfected. June ist, fifteen hundred men crossed the frontier from Buffalo, but they were quickly driven back. Seven hundred fugitives were captured by a United States 1868.] JOHNSON S ADMINISTRATION. 611 gun-boat. General Barry paroled large numbers of the privates and released the officers on bail. The main body of the so-called " Fenian army" advanced a little later from St. Albans, Vermont, but, after some skirmishing with the British troops, returned across the line. The United States authorities sent home the men at government expense and held the officers to bail. The 4th of July, this year, was marked by a destructive con flagration at Portland, Maine, caused by a fire-cracker. Nearly one-third of the city was consumed, the loss being ten million dollars. The year 1867 was signalized by the purchase of Alaska from Russia for the sum of seven million two hundred thousand dollars. The territory comprises five hundred and eighty thousand square miles and twenty-nine thousand inhabitants. It is chiefly valuable for its fisheries, furs and lumber. During Lincoln s administration, but one State, the thirty- sixth, was received into the Union. This was Nevada, so named from a range of mountains on its eastern border, the Sierra- Nevada, signifying " snow-covered mountains." It was the third State carved out of the territory acquired by the Mexican war ; Texas being the first and Colorado the second. During Johnson s administration, also, one State, the thirty-seventh, was admitted, March i, 1867. This was Nebraska, so named from an Indian term meaning the " water-valley." The " National Union Republicans " held a convention at Chicago, May 21, 1868. There were six hundred and fifty dele gates present, all of whom, on the first ballot, cast their votes for Ulysses S. Grant as their candidate for the presidency. Schuyler Colfax of Indiana was then nominated for the vice-presidency. The National Democratic convention at New York, July 4th, put in the field Horatio Seymour of New York for the presidency, and Frank P. Blair of Missouri for the vice-presidency. The election resulted in the choice of the Republican candi dates, Grant and Colfax receiving two hundred and seventeen electoral votes ; Seymour and Blair, seventy-seven. In the pop ular vote there was not so great a difference, as the former candi dates received two million nine hundred and eighty-five thousand and thirty-one ; and the latter, two million six hundred and forty- eight thousand eight hundred and thirty. Mississippi, Texas and Virginia did not take part in this election. Ulysses S. Grant was inaugurated eighteenth President of the 6l2 THE DECADE OF RECONSTRUCTION. [1869. GENERAL GRANT S RESIDENCE AT GALENA, ILL. (l86o). United States, March 4, 1869. Grant was born of Scotch parentage at Point Pleasant, Ohio, April 27, 1822. His name was Hiram Ulysses, but on being appointed to West Point in 1839, ne was registered as Ulysses S., and so remained. He graduated twenty- first in a class of thirty- nine, and became a sec ond lieutenant in the army. For gallantry at Molino del Rey, he was promoted to a first lieutenancy, and at Chapultepec he was brevetted captain. In 1854, he resigned his commission, and when the war broke out, he was engaged with his father in the leather trade at Galena, Illinois. He raised a company of volunteers, and finally took the field as colonel of the Twenty-first regiment. Soon -after, his history became a part of the general record of the war. President Grant chose for his official advisers : Elihu B. Washburne of Illinois, Secretary of State; Alexander T. Stewart of New York, Secretary of the Treasury ; General J. M. Schofield of the United States Army, Secretary of War ; Adolph E. Borie of Pennsylvania, Secretary of the Navy ; Jacob D. Cox of Ohio, Secretary of the Interior; John A. J. Creswell of Maryland, Postmaster-General ; and E. Rockwood Hoar of Massachusetts, Attorney-General. Mr. Washburne resigning soon after, Hamil ton Fish of New York was appointed in his stead. A law, passed near the close of the eighteenth century, forbids any person engaged in trade or commerce to serve as Secretary of the Treasury. Mr. Stewart being a merchant, was accordingly ineli gible to the place, and George S. Boutwell of Massachusetts was selected. General Schofield washing to return to the army, John A. Rawlins of Illinois was appointed to fill the vacancy. This year was made memorable in our history by the com pletion of the Central Pacific Railroad. The project was first advocated by Asa Whitney, who spoke upon the subject as early as 1846. Surveys to decide upon the best route were made 1869.] GRANT S ADMINISTRATION. by the authority of the War Department in 1853. Nothing, how ever, was accomplished until July, 1862, and 1864, when Congress granted to the companies undertaking the work of building the road, for each mile they should complete, twelve thousand acres of land and a subsidy, varying, according to the difficulties encoun tered, from sixteen thousand to forty-eight thousand dollars. The road was extended eastward from California by the Central Pa cific Company, and from the Missouri River westward by the Union Pacific Company. The work was performed with great rapidity, the track being laid at the rate of two or three miles per day. The last tie connecting the two lines was laid with much cere mony at Ogden, May 10, 1869. It was of polished laurel- wood DRIVING THE LAST SPIKE. bound with silver-bands. Three spikes were used a gold one, presented by California ; a silver one, by Nevada ; and a gold, silver and iron one, by Arizona. The strokes of the hammer were telegraphed over the Union. When the junction was complete, an invoice of tea was immediately shipped over the road from San Francisco, and the telegraph announced that the " overland trade 614 THE DECADE OF RECONSTRUCTION. [1870. with China and Japan was inaugurated. The entire length of the road from Omaha to San Francisco is nineteen hundred and eleven miles, and from New York, about three thousand four hundred miles. Cars run the whole distance in less than a week. September 24th, 1869, is famous in business circles as " Black Friday." An association known as the " Gold Exchange" had planned to get control of all the gold in circulation. At the date named it had succeeded in raising the price from 1.38 to 1.60. That difference meant the financial ruin of multitudes. At this crisis it was announced that the Secretary of the Treasury would sell four million dollars in gold the ensuing day. The stringency of the market was at once relaxed, and gold dropped back to 1.32. November I2th of this year is a notable date in the ecclesi astical history of this country. The two schools of the Presby terian Church had been separated, on account of some doctrinal differences, since 1837. Representatives of the two bodies having convened at Pittsburg decided upon a reunion ; and on that day their Moderators grasped each other s hands in token thereof, amid indescribable enthusiasm. The Fifteenth Amendment, which guarantees to all the right of suffrage, irrespective of " race, color, or previous condition of servitude," was formally announced to be a part of the Constitu tion, March 30, 1870. Early in 1870, the representatives of the three remaining South ern States took their seats in Congress ; Texas being the last to resume her former place. The ninth census of the United States was completed this year. The inhabitants then numbered over thirty-eight millions, an in crease of seven millions during the previous decade. The centre of population in 1840 was just south of Clarksburg, West Virginia ; in 1850, a little south-east of Parkersburg, West Virginia ; in 1860, south of Chillicothe, Ohio; and in 1870, near Hillsboro, Ohio. During the last three decades the tide of population had set west ward at the rate of 5.5, 8.2, and 4.6 miles per annum respectively. In 1840, half of the people of the United States lived east of a line drawn from Oswego to Appalachee Bay; in 1870, the dividing line ran from Cleveland, Ohio, a little west of Rome, Georgia. The Republic of Santo Domingo, on the island of Hayti, seemed anxious to be annexed to the United States. President Grant strongly favored the plan. He accordingly appointed Senator Wade of Ohio, President White of Cornell University, and Dr. 1871.] GRANT S ADMINISTRATION. 615 Howe of Massachusetts, as a Board of Commissioners to visit the island. They reported favorably, but the measure was rejected by Congress. There was at this time in New York a combination familiarly known as " The Ring," which controlled public affairs. William M. Tweed stood at its head. By forging bills or by fraudulent accounts it had abstracted millions of dollars from the treasury. A committee of prominent men was formed, which broke up the conspiracy. Tweed was arrested, tried, and imprisoned, but he escaped in December, 1875. Several of his companions had previously fled the country. Our government had constantly pressed upon the attention of the English authorities a claim for the damages caused to Amer ican commerce by the Anglo-Confederate cruisers. A joint high- commission, consisting of five eminent statesmen and jurists from each country accordingly assembled at Washington, February 27, 1871. They arranged the basis of the Treaty of Washington, pro viding that the claim for losses should be submitted to a board of arbitration appointed by the President of the United States and by friendly powers. This body met at Geneva, Switzerland, in the summer of 1872. Sixteen million two hundred and fifty thou sand dollars were awarded to the United States. On the eve of October 8, 1871, a fire broke out in Chicago, which proved the most disastrous conflagration since the burning of Moscow in 1812. The flames, driven by a high wind, swept over the neighboring lumber-yards, leaped the South Branch of the river, and spread through the business part of the city. All efforts to check it were fruitless. Fire-proof buildings burned like tinder. The conflagration raged for three days, when it died out for lack of fuel. A territory a mile wide and four and a half miles long had been swept barren by the fiery deluge ; two hun dred persons had been killed, one hundred thousand persons left homeless, and two hundred million dollars worth of property con sumed. As the tidings of this terrible disaster were telegraphed over the world, meetings were called and contributions to the amount of seven million dollars were made for the relief of the sufferers. Never was there such a display of charity ; it was only paralleled by the energy of the citizens themselves . Within a year the burnt district was nearly all rebuilt, and within two years the business part of the city was larger than ever. A curious incident is recorded in connection with this fire. A 6l6 THE DECADE OF RECONSTRUCTION. [1872. news establishment containing an immense stock of books and periodicals was consumed. Among the blackened ruins there was found a single leaf of a Bible charred around the edges. It con tained the first chapter of the Lamentations of Jeremiah, opening with the words : " How doth the city sit solitary, that was full of people ! how is she become as a widow ! she that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary ! She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on her cheeks : among all her lovers she hath none to comfort her." About the same time of this disaster, extensive conflagrations raged in the forests of Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan. Entire villages were consumed, and in Wisconsin alone, fifteen hundred people perished. On the Qth of October, 1872, Boston was also visited by a fire, that destroyed the very heart of its wholesale trade, causing a loss of seventy-five million dollars. Nearly eight hundred buildings were consumed, many of them of granite, and four or five stories high. During the last session of the Forty-second Congress, the salary of the President was doubled ; the pay of the Vice-Presi dent, Speaker of the House, Justices of the Supreme Court, and Heads of the Departments was increased twenty-five per cent. ; and that of Congressmen was raised to seven thousand five hun dred dollars. As the action was made, in part, retrospective, a popular outcry was raised, and the terms " salary grab " and "back pay" became incorporated into the political as well as social vocabulary of the country. The Liberal Republicans, i. e., the members of that party who were opposed to the policy of the administration, met at Cincin nati, May i, 1872. They nominated Horace Greeley for Presi dent, and B. Gratz Brown of Missouri, for Vice-President. The Democratic convention at Baltimore afterward endorsed their selection. The Republican party renominated General Grant by acclamation, choosing Henry Wilson of Massachusetts for the vice-presidency. The campaign was heated and bitter. The question of the reconstruction of the South and all the issues of the late war were discussed, oftentimes with virulence. The Republican candidates were elected. They received two hun dred and sixty-eight votes in the electoral college, against eighty for the others, and had a popular majority of seven hundred and sixty-two thousand nine hundred and ninety-one. 1873.] GRANT S ADMINISTRATION. 6l 7 The sad fate of Horace Greeley cast a gloom over the whole country. The desertion of his life-long friends, the excitement of the presidential canvass, and the death of his wife combined to weaken both his mind and body. He died at a private asylum, November 29th. Forty- one years before, he came to New York a young man of twenty. He had only ten dollars in his pocket, but he possessed energy, will, and a good trade. Step by step, he rose from the compositor s desk to an acknowledged leadership in journalism. In our history, he is known as the " Founder of the New York Tribune." General Grant a second time took the oath of office as President of the United States, March 4, 1873. An anecdote told concerning the inauguration of Mr. Wilson as Vice-President, is character istic of the man and the republic. " The evening before the ceremony, he called on Senator Sumner and said, * Sumner, can you lend me a hundred dollars? I have not money enough to be inaugurated upon." The Senator replied, Certainly. If it had been a large sum, I might not have been able to help you ; but I can always lend a friend that amount. He then gave Mr. Wilson a check, and after the latter had retired, turning to Mr. Carpenter, he remarked, There is an incident worth remember ing ; such a one as could never have occurred in any country but our own. The cabinet, as first organized, was as follows ; Hamilton Fish of New York, Secretary of State ; William A. Richardson of Massachusetts, Secretary of the Treasury ; William W. Belknap of Iowa, Secretary of War ; George M. Robeson of New Jersey, Secretary of the Navy ; Columbus Delano of Iowa, Secretary of the Interior ; George H. Williams of Oregon, Attorney-General ; and John A. J. Creswell of Maryland, Postmaster-General. Sev eral changes by death or resignation afterward occurred, and the HORACE GREELEY. 6l8 THE DECADE OF RECONSTRUCTION. [1873. following new appointments were made ; Benjamin H. Bristow of Kentucky, Secretary of the Treasury ; Zachariah Chandler of Michigan, Secretary of the Interior ; Edwards Pierrepont of New York, Attorney-General; and Marshall Jewell of Connecticut, Postmaster-General. The proper method of treating the Indians was a mooted question throughout the decade. The Society of Friends having suggested to Congress the wisdom of using charity instead of gunpowder, a committee of Quakers was appointed to visit the various tribes and make a practical trial of the effect of kindness. The result was favorable, but the influence was necessarily limited. There were continued difficulties with the red men along the entire frontier. In every case, the military power was used to enforce submission. In 1865-6, the Sioux and Cheyennes took the war-path, and perpetrated horrible massacres. Sheridan and Custer were sent against them, and the victory of Wacheta put an end to the dis turbance. In 1870, a tribe of the Blackfeet Indians in Montana renewed the horrors of the Old French and Indian War. Troops were called out. The Indian villages were burned, and men, women and children put to the sword. The remnant sued for peace. Three years later, Captain Jack s band of Modocs in Ore gon left its reservation and refused to return. Troops were sent to enforce submission. The Modocs retreated to the Lava Beds, which formed a natural fortification. Commissioners were sent to learn their grievance, but during a peaceful conference, the Indians brutally murdered General Canby and Rev. Dr. Thomas, and stabbed Mr. Meachem. The Modocs were soon after be sieged in their stronghold and forced to surrender. The leaders were tried by military commission and executed at Fort Kla- math, October 3, 1873. The company formed for the purpose of constructing the Pacific Railroad purchased the charter of an organization known as the Credit Mobilier of America. The stock was increased to three million seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars ; enormous dividends were declared, and the shares rapidly rose in value. In 1872, during a law-suit tried in Pennsylvania, the startling fact was developed that several members of Congress, the Vice-Presi dent and one of the candidates for that office had accepted, even if they did not then own, stock in the Credit Mobilier. The nation was greatly scandalized by the thought of its official ser- 1875.] GRANT S ADMINISTRATION. 619 vants being thus pecuniarily interested in a corporation whose profits were so largely dependent on their votes. Subsequent investigation disclosed cases of corruption which shocked the public confidence. The panics of 1837 and of 1857 were repeated in 1873. As Jackson s " Specie Circular " and the failure of the " Life and Trust Company " of Cincinnati were, in the former instances, the signals for a financial crash, so in this, the failure of the banking-house of Jay Cooke and Company, Philadelphia, began the panic. Money took the alarm and fled to its hiding-places. Innumerable failures ensued. Confidence was destroyed. Values shrank. Great railroad enterprises were stopped. The causes of the crash were numerous. Among the principal ones may be recorded : an excessive importation of foreign goods, necessitating an exportation of gold and silver in payment ; the building of railroads beyond the immediate wants of the country ; the grow ing extravagance of the people ; and the contraction of the national currency from six hundred and ninety-nine million dollars in 1865, to three hundred and forty-seven million dollars in 1873. The idea of the benefits of association among those having a similar pursuit was unusually prevalent during the decade. Prominent among the organizations formed on this basis is the one known as the Patrons of Industry. The first grange of this order was located at Fredonia, New York, April 16, 1868. At the recent national meeting at Charleston, there were reported to be in the United States twenty-four thousand granges, having a membership of one million seven hundred and fifty thousand. The objects of the order are various, but among them are the following : to dispense with the services of middlemen ; to bring producers and consumers, farmers and manufacturers, in direct communication ; to buy and sell together ; to elevate the social standing of the farmer ; and to improve agriculture. March 3, 1875, an act was passed admitting Colorado, the thirty-eighth State. Though the last to be admitted into the Union, its territory was among the earliest to be discovered, Vasquez Coronado having led a Spanish expedition from Mexico to explore it in 1 540. The latter portion of the decade was marked by the death of many men who have borne a distinguished part in our his tory. The following is a list of the most prominent: In 1869, Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War under President Lincoln 62O THE DECADE OF RECONSTRUCTION. [1876. and afterward Justice of the Supreme Court, and Franklin Pierce, ex-President of the United States. In 1870, General Robert E. Lee, General George H. Thomas, and Admiral Farragut. In 1872, William H. Seward, Horace Greeley, General Meade, and Professor Morse. In 1873, Chief-Justice Chase, and in 1874, Charles Sumner. In 1875, John C. Breckenridge, Vice-Presi dent under Buchanan ; ex-President Johnson, and Henry Wilson, then Vice-President. The century closes with no President liv ing except its present incumbent, and no Vice-Presidents except Hannibal Hamlin, who held that office during Lincoln s first administration, and Schuyler Colfax, who held it during the first administration of General Grant. We have now traced the story of our Independence to the close of its first century. Already, as we have reached the an niversary of the stirring events which preceded the Declaration in 1776, there have been imposing observances. The popular pulse has beaten with the fervor of patriotism as crowds have gathered to celebrate the Boston Tea Party, the Mecklenburg Declaration, and the battles of Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill. Everywhere there has been manifested a desire to recog nize the kind Providence which has so abundantly prospered the nation ; to gather the rich fruitage from the experience of the past ; to draw closer the bands of national fellowship ; to cherish the recollections of the fields whereon our forefathers, North and South, fought side by side to achieve a common Independence ; and to learn from the conflicts wherein we, their sons, have met face to face, lessons of mutual respect and forbearance. CENTENNIAL MEDAL REVERSE. APPENDIX APPENDIX I. THE CEJfTEJVJfljiL EXHIBITION. As the one hundredth anniversary of the National Birthday approached, there was a general desire expressed to celebrate the occasion in a suitable manner. As early as 1870, the plan of holding an International Exposition at Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence was adopted and signed, met with general approval. The next year, Congress passed a bill providing for a Centennial Exhibition in that city and creating a commission of two persons from each State and Territory to make the necessary arrange ments therefor. To secure funds, a Board of Finance was formed, author ized to issue stock to the amount of ten million dollars, in shares of ten dollars each. Hon. Joseph R. Hawley of Connecticut was chosen president of the commission, and measures were at once inaugurated for holding the Exhibition upon a scale of magnificence never before seen on this continent. President Grant was requested, in the name of the United States, to invite all foreign governments to participate in the celebration ; forty of them accepted and chose commissioners to be present upon that occasion. The different States and Territories appointed Advisory State Boards ; and large sums of money were appropriated by the municipal authorities of Phil adelphia, by Congress, and by various State and city governments. Fairmount Park, on the banks of the Schuylkill, was selected as the site of the celebration, and two hundred and thirty-six acres on Lansdown Plateau, lying over one hundred feet above tide-water, were enclosed for the purposes of the Exhibition. The grounds were covered with stately trees, thickets of brush, and wild-wood flowers. Wayward foot-paths wound hither and thither, under the overhanging boughs, leading to shaded seats, with glimpses of river and city, and a far-reaching landscape. This scene of sylvan beauty is now wonderfully transformed. The skill of the architect, the civil engineer, the landscape gardener, and the florist have here com bined to fashion a place which shall be a worthy representation of American taste and industry. Walks and drives have been laid out, bridges built, magnificent structures erected, and Nature made to serve the purposes and adorn the creations of Art. The principal edifices are the Main Exhibition Building, the Art Gal lery, and the Machinery, Horticultural and Agricultural Halls. The Main Exhibition Building is constructed of iron and glass. It is eighteen hundred and eighty feet long and four hundred and sixty-four wide. 624 THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. The cornice is forty-five and the ridge seventy feet from the ground; the central pavilion rising to a height of ninety-six and the towers of one hun dred and twenty feet. The enclosed area exceeds twenty acres. The eye of the visitor wanders over this expanse, bewildered by its extent and the impossibility of grasping its vast dimensions. Through the centre of the building runs an aisle one hundred and twenty feet wide and over one-third of a mile long ; this is flanked by two others, one on each side, one hun dred feet in width. The cross-walks of this gigantic structure have a width of twenty-four to forty-eight feet, and the narrowest aisles of ten feet. The Memorial Hall, or Art Gallery, is a permanent edifice, intended, after the Exhibition closes, for the reception of an art and industrial collec tion, like the South Kensington Museum in London. It was erected by the city of Philadelphia and the State of Pennsylvania at an expense of a million and a half of dollars. The style of architecture is the Modern Renaissance. The only materials used are granite, iron and glass, thus rendering the structure fire-proof, and ensuring the preservation of the treasures of art which it contains. The building is three hundred and sixty-five feet long, two hundred and ten feet wide and fifty-nine feet high. It is surmounted by a graceful dome, rising one hundred and fifty feet and terminating in a colossal ball, which supports a figure of Columbia standing with outstretched hands, as if protecting all. In front are three huge doorways, each forty feet high and fifteen feet wide. The doors are of iron, with bronze panels, con taining the coats-of-arms of all the States and Territories. On either side of the main entrance, reaching to the pavilions at the corners of the building, are highly-decorated arcades, with promenades looking outward on the Exhi bition grounds and inward upon beautiful gardens ornamented with fountains and statuary. From the main entrance a broad hall leads to the centre grand hall, from which extend the galleries. Together they are capable of holding eight thousand persons, and they furnish seventy-five thousand APPENDIX I. 625 square feet of wall-space for the display of paintings. The application for room in the Memorial Hall so greatly exceeded its capacity that an annex was built in the rear, which affords sixty thousand additional square feet of wall-space. The Machinery Hall being located on the same line with the Main Exhi bition Building, is practically a continuation of that immense structure. A walk through both from end to end would be about three-quarters of a mile long. This building consists of a main hall and an annex, together covering an area of about thirteen acres. A steam-engine of fourteen hundred horse power drives the shafting and belts, which reach to every avenue and aisle, and so run the immense number of machines which are exhibited over this vast area. A large tank, constantly supplied with water pumped up from the river, serves to operate all sorts of hydraulic machines, and the overflow forms a waterfall thirty-five feet high and forty feet wide. The Horticultural Hall was erected by the city of Philadelphia, and will remain as a permanent ornament of the park. It is approached on either side by ornamental bridges, which span romantic ravines extending to the river. The length of the building is three hundred and eighty-three feet ; width, one hundred and ninety-three feet ; and height, seventy-two feet. The style of architecture is the Moresque of the twelfth century. Both entrances are very attractive, being by flights of blue marble steps leading up from terraces, at the centre of each of which stands an open kiosque or summer-house twenty feet in diameter. The centre of the building is occu pied by a conservatory, two hundred and thirty feet by eighty feet. A gal lery five feet wide and twenty feet from the ground extends entirely around, and affords a fine view of the interior. Off from the conservatory are four forcing-rooms, each one hundred feet by thirty feet, noticeable in the picture for their curved roofs of iron and glass. From the vestibules ornamental stairways lead to the internal galleries of the conservatory, to the external 626 THE CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. galleries which overlook the forcing-rooms, and to a grand promenade formed by the flat roofs of the vestibules. Thirty-five acres of ground surrounding the building are devoted to horticultural purposes. The Agricultural Hall presents upon the outside a novel appearance. The interior resembles that of a grand Gothic cathedral. The central nave is eight hundred and twenty feet long, one hundred and twenty-five feet wide, and seventy-five feet high. It is crossed by three transepts, the central one being one hundred feet, and the end ones each eighty feet in width. The entire area is over ten acres. Outside of the Exhibition enclosure are a yard of twenty-two acres appro priated to the display of live-stock, and two farms of fifty acres each, which have been sown with reference to a trial of agricultural implements. In addition to the principal structures already named, there are nearly two hundred smaller buildings artistically scattered through the Exhibition grounds. These were erected by various nations, by States and by different industries and interests, as the headquarters of their representatives. Among the most noticeable of these buildings are the elegant Women s Pavilion, for the exhibition of the work of women of all nations ; the Jury Pavilion, appropriated to the deliberations of the International Juries ; the Judges Building; the Halls for the use of the Centennial Boards of the various States ; and the Japanese Dwelling-House and Bazaar, all the materials for which were prepared in Japan, shipped to this country, and put together by native workmen. The general arrangements for the Exhibition are of the most ample char acter. There are six large restaurants on the grounds, besides two or more buffets in each of the principal buildings. Seven miles of substantial roads and walks lead to the principal points of interest. The system of drainage is complete, there being two miles of pipes underlying the Main Exhibition Building alone. A reservoir containing forty million gallons of water is APPENDIX I. 627 close at hand, while special pumping-engines can raise from the river six million gallons daily. The railroad tracks are laid within the enclosure, and heavy machines are thus carried directly into the broad aisles of the building assigned for their display ; while facilities are afforded at various platforms scattered at convenient points over the grounds, for unloading sixty cars at once. The several railroads, with trains capable of carrying twenty-four thou sand passengers per hour, seven different lines of street cars running on " one-minute time," besides numerous omnibuses and transfer coaches, con vey visitors to and fro between Philadelphia and the Exhibition. For the accommodation of travelers, the Philadelphia and Reading and the Pennsyl vania Railroad Companies have erected commodious stations near the grounds. The depot of the latter is close to the main entrance. Three tracks are here laid in a circle one thousand feet in diameter for the trains arriving from the East, West and South respectively. The trains stop so as not to overlap, and discharge and receive passengers upon long, covered plat forms. There are thirteen entrances to the Exhibition grounds, at each of which the visitors pass through self-registering turn-stiles. In order to afford a fitting and permanent memorial of this national anni versary, by special act of Congress a Centennial Medal has been struck at the Mint in Philadelphia. The " obverse " of this beautiful work of art represents the Genius of Independence rising from a recumbent position, with her right hand grasping the sword which is to enforce her demands, and with her left pointing to the thirteen stars which are blazing in the sky above her head ; beneath is the date, 1776. The " reverse " exhibits the Genius of Liberty, an ornamental sword hanging from her girdle and a shield decorated with the Stars and Stripes leaning at her side, while with outstretched hands she crowns with chaplets the figures of Art and Science, around w r hom are grouped the evidences of their skill and workmanship ; underneath is the date, 1876. CENTENNIAL MEDAL OBVERSE. APPENDIX II. THE SOUTHERN WOMEN. [This page was prepared by Mrs. Dr. W. F. Westmoreland, President of the Sanitary Commission, Atlanta, and Chairman of the Georgia Centennial Association.] To say that the women of the South acted with Spartan courage during the war is scarcely saying enough, for they not only encouraged their hus bands and sons to go into the army, but, in addition to this self-sacrifice, submitted without a murmur to every conceivable deprivation. In the States where the most active incidents of the war took place, Soldiers Relief Socie ties and Hospital Associations were duly organized, and every attention that interest, affection or patriotism could suggest, was lavished by the members upon the sick, the wounded, and the dying. These societies were likewise subdivided into committees, whose duty it was to minister to the inmates of the hospitals, as well as to have refreshments ready for the sick and wounded upon the arrival of the various trains from the different battle-fields. By day and by night, in heat and in cold, these faithful sisters of mercy were always at their post. Neither were the prisoners ignored on these occasions, but, actuated by the highest motives, some few noble women, substituting human ity for prejudice, ministered alike to friend and foe. Though the number was small, be this recorded to their honor. In the beginning of the war, and for at least a year afterward, supplies continued to be plentiful, and Southern hospitality was lavished with that extravagance for which the section was proverbial. But after this, when the whole country was overrun and the blockade became more stringent, the few luxuries that could be obtained were hoarded by the women for those brave men who cheerfully gave their lives for their country. Thus, willingly did these heroic women drink concoctions of okra, rye, chestnuts and ground-nuts, while saving the genuine coffee for the boys who wore the gray. Thus, without a murmur, did these women turn their cloth ing into lint and bandages, while many a wedding-dress was converted into flags, and " somebody s darling " was cared for by the sacrifice of some heir loom or bridal gift in the way of jewelry. And so,- hoping against hope, and apparently expecting deliverance by a miracle, the end came, before the women of the South realized its fatal approach. But their heroism was not to end here, for when the truth could no longer be withheld, and the men, broken in health and spirit, returned to their desolate homes to mourn over defeat and ruin, these gentle, delicate women, who had been reared in luxury and who had never known a hard ship, took up the broken thread of life, and not only became the support of the family, but the stay and comfort of their despairing husbands. Surely God s blessing will rest upon these women, who, in the words of Lee, can " be as great in misfortune as in prosperity." APPENDIX III. AMERICAN SCHOOL=<BOOKS. In nothing is our present advance more apparent than in the variety of our school-books. The one standard text-book for our fathers and mothers in their childhood was the New England Primer. " Little as was this sixpenny book," says Watson, " it was a formidable concern to publish it. Its extensive sale could alone sustain it as an undertaking intended to compete with the imported copies." Our gray-headed citizens will remem ber how, after having passed the " ba, be, bi, bo, bu," they plodded on to the alphabetical pictures, where each letter was enriched with a choice rhyme, as, A. In Adam s fall, We sinned all. B. Thy life to mend, This Book attend. C. The Cat doth play, .... And after slay. And so on, the sentiments comprising ethics, natural, biblical and secular history, and various moral reflections. We can imagine the sturdiness with which the young voices proclaimed that K. Britain s King in spleen . . Lost States thirteen ; and the awe with which they spelled out, Y. Youth forward slips, .... Death soonest nips ; having one eye stealthily fixed on the picture, with its grim skeleton running in hot haste after a poor, fated boy. And then there was the awful picture and account of John Rogers at the stake, having taken leave of his wife with " nine small children and one at the breast," by which many a little heart was thrilled and solemnized. Moral precepts abounded, and it was enjoined that Good children must Fear God all day, Love Christ alway, Parents obey, In secret pray, No false thing say, Mind little play, By no sin stray, Make no delay, In doing good. Occasionally there was a slight relaxation in style, as thus : " Billy, what do you think the world stands on ? " "I don t know," says Harry ; " but our Tom says it stands on a great turtle." This little book was stereotyped in 1824, and was long without a rival. APPENDIX IV. OF GEJ^E^AL LEE. General Lee, after the Gettysburg defeat and the retirement of his army back of the Rapidan, conscious that his Pennsylvania campaign had been a failure and that the South wa^ grievously disappointed, sent the following letter to the President of the Confederacy. This letter has but recently been made public, too late for use in its proper place in the narrative of the Penn sylvania campaign of 1863, and it is therefore given here verbatim : " CAMP ORANGE, 8 Aug., 1863. " MR. PRESIDENT : Your letters of 28 July and 2 Aug. have been rec d, and I have waited for a leisure hour to reply, but I fear that will never come. I am extremely obliged to you for the attention given to the wants of this army and the efforts made to supply them. Our absentees are returning, and I hope the earnest and beautiful appeal made to the country in your proclamation may stir up the whole people, and that they may see their duty and perform it. Nothing is wanted but that their fortitude should equal their bravery to insure the success of our cause. We must expect reverses, even defeats. They are sent to teach us wisdom and prudence, to call forth greater energies, and to prevent our falling into greater disasters. Our peo ple have only to be true and united, to bear manfully the misfortunes inci dent to war, and all will come right in the end. " I know how prone we are to censure and how ready to blame others for the nonfulfillment of our expectations. This is unbecoming in a generous people, and I grieve to see its expression. The general remedy for the want of success in a military commander is his removal. This is natural, and in many instances proper. For, no matter what may be the ability of the officer, if he loses the confidence of his troops, disaster must sooner or later ensue. " I have been prompted by these- reflections more than once since my return from Penna. to propose to your Exc y the propriety of selecting another commander for this army. I have seen and heard of expressions of discontent in the public journals at the result of the expedition. I do not know how far this feeling extends in the army. My brother officers have been too kind to report it, and so far the troops have been too generous to exhibit it. It is fair, however, to suppose that it does exist, and success is so necessary to us that nothing should be risked to secure it. I therefore, in all sincerity, request your Exc y to take measures to supply my place. I do this with the more earnestness because no one is more aware than myself of my inability for the duties of my position. I cannot even accomplish what RESIGNATION OF GENERAL LEE. 631 I myself desire. How can I fulfil the expectations of others ? In addition, I sensibly feel the growing failure of my bodily strength. I have not yet recovered from the attack I experienced the past spring. I am becoming more and more incapable of exertion, and am thus prevented from making the personal examinations and giving the personal supervision to the opera tions in the field which I feel to be necessary. I am so dull that in making use of the eyes of others I am frequently misled. Everything, therefore, points to the advantages to be derived from a new commander, and I the more anxiously urge the matter upon your Exc y from my belief that a younger and abler man than myself can readily be obtained. I know that he will have as gallant and brave an army as ever existed to second his efforts, and it would be the happiest day of my life to see at its head a worthy leader ; one that would accomplish more than I could perform, and all that I have wished. I hope your Exc y will attribute my request to the true reason, the desire to serve my country and do all in my power to insure the success of her righteous cause. " I have no complaints to make of any but myself. I have received nothing but kindness from those above me and the most considerate atten tion from my comrades and companions in arms. To your Excellency I am specially indebted for uniform kindness and consideration. You have done everything in your power to aid me in the work committed to my charge, without omitting anything to promote the general welfare. I pray that your efforts may at length be crowned with success, and that you may long live to enjoy the thanks of a grateful people. " With sentiments of great esteem, I am very respectfully and truly yours, R. E. LEE, General" Davis refused to accept the resignation, well knowing that he could not fill the place of his chief general, and that no one else possessed so fully the confidence of the army, and the people of the South. HRONOLOQICA;L JABLE OF THE 177S. South Carolina organizes a provincial congress. Local congress assembles in Georgia. Fairfax County Committee recommends the people to raise companies of troops. Chatham, in the House of Lords, advises recall of troops from Boston. Petition from C9ntinental Con gress to the king, laid before Parliament. 1776. 1777. Norfolk burned by the British. Robert Morris borrows money in Philadelphia. Washington retreats from Trenton to Princeton. Battle of Princeton. New Hampshire provincial Washington reaches Morris- congress becomes House j town ; Hackensack and of Representatives. Newark abandoned ; Spring field and Elizabethtown sur- News of the burning of Nor folk reaches Congress. Paine s " Common reaches Congress. Sense Governor Franklin of New Jersey made a prisoner in his own house. prised. Dr. Shippen appointed head of medical department. Maryland delegates instruct- General Mercer dies, ed not to vote for Indepen- i dence, without consent of the convention. American Commissioners at Paris send to Frederick of Prussia copy of Declaration of Independence. Vermont organizes as a State. Lee at New Haven. Sir James Wright taken pri- Half a million livres paid to the banker of the American Commissioners in Paris. General Howe invested with the Order of the Bath. Johnson s Highlanders near j Dickinson defeats a foraging Johnstown surrender to I party near Somerset Court- Schuyler. House. Lee at Stamford ; Lord Stirling captures British transports off Sandy Hook. Washington issues a procla mation in N. Jersey ; Whigs attack a Tory block-house m West Farms. 6 3 2 Of THE 1778. 1779. 178O. 1781. Arnold leaves Philadel phia tor Albany. Clark receives his in structions. Clark leaves Williams- burg. Washington asks Con gress for supplies ; Battle of the Kegs. Sunbury, Georgia, sur rendered to General Prevost. Lafayette sails for Fr nce. Congress resolves not to make peace without consent of France. Stirling tries to surprise a British post on Staten Island. Captain Lee surprised near Valley Forge. Clark s boats pass Falls of Ohio. New Providence taken. Lincoln writes to Wash ington for orders. Academy at Newark burned. Verdict rendered in Ar nold s trial. British take Augusta. Revolt at Momstown ; Cornwallis moves n rth from Winnsborough. Arnold appears in James River. News of the mutiny reaches Washington. Arnold proceeds tap Jas. River ; Goy. Jefferson calls out militia. Richmond burned by Arnold. Washington writes ur gent Tetters to New England States. Simcoe attacks Charles Court-House. British emissaries hang ed as spies. Morgan encamps at Burr s Mills. Morgan retreats before Tarleton. Battle of the Cowpens. Cornwallis joined by Leslie. N. Jersey troops mutiny. Cornwallis at Ramsour s Mills. Howe reaches Pompton, New Jersey. Flood in the Catawba. Greene assumes com mand of Morgan s men. 633 ^HFjONOLOQiCAL ^ABLE Of THE 1773. 1776. 1777. Massachusetts provincial con gress meets at Cambridge. Lord North offers a bill to cut off New England trade ex cept with Great Britain. Lord Cavendish deprecates civil war. Address to the king declares a rebellion in Massachusetts. Address to the king recom mends declaration of war. Lord North asks the House of Commons for an increase of the British army. Franklin, by appointment, meets Lord Howe. Lord North proposes in House of Commons plan of concili ation. Motion lost in New York as sembly to send delegates to Continental Congress. Cargo of Charming Sally" thrown into Hog Island Creek, S. C. British go to Salem from Bos ton to seize cannon. Lee enters New York ; Clin ton arrives there on a visit to his "friend Tryon." South Carolina convention thanks Rutledge and Mid- dleton for services in Con gress. John Adams resumes seat in Congress ; Gadsden presents standard tor Amer. navy. Gov. Wright made a prisoner in his own house. McDonald marches toward Wilmington ; Moore takes the field at Rockfish. Schuyler writes to Congress. Poor commissioned brigadier ; Georgia frames constitution. Stirling, St. Clair, Lincoln, Mifflin, and Stephen com missioned major-generals. Congress authorizes thirteen million dolls, loan certificates. Congress votes Washington "ideal reinforcements. Washington issues general or ders to his army. Battle of Moore s Creek. 634 OF THE 1778. 1779. 1780. 1781. Baron Steuben welcom ed at Valley Forge. France acknowledges Amer. independence. Committee report desti tution at Val. Forge. Troops from Pittsburg arrive at Natchez. United States flag hoist ed at Natchez. Moultrie defeats British on Port Royal Island. Clark commences his march to Vincennes. Arnold issues an address to the public. Pickens defeats Tories at Kettle Creek. Fear of Spain joining England. Congress refers Arnold s appeal to a committee. Congress refers terms of peace to committee. Clark attacks Vincen nes. Hamilton and his garri son surrender. Congress directs Wash ington to chastise the Senecas. British troops land at Elizabethtown Point. Young s house, near White Plains, sur prised. Skirmish near Four Cor ners, Westchester. Congress calls for thirty- five thousand men. Cornwallis crosses the Catawba ; Battle of McGowan s Ford. Greene crosses the Yad- kin. Cornwallis crosses the Yadkin. Cornw lis encarr ps near Salem. Clinton reaches North Edisto Sound. Clinton lands on St. John s Island. Congress confirms Ar nold s sentence. Congress calls upon the States for supplies. Pennsylvania adopts emancipation law. Greene crosses the Dan. Cornwallis reaches the Dan. Cornwallis retreats. Cornwallis takes post at Hillsborough. Greene recrosses the Dan. Lee routs Tories at Haw River. Cornwallis abandons Hillsborough. Cornwallis crosses the Haw. jalvez, Gov. of Louis iana, sails from N. O. to attack Pensacola. 635 YABLE OF THE 177S. 1776. 1777. Anniversary of Boston mas- sacr< Riot at Westminster; two Green Mount n Boys killed. Delaware assembly send dele gates to Continental Cong. Va. convention send delegates to Continental Congress. Bill passed depriving New England of fisheries. Lee takes command of Conti nental forces south of Poto mac. Moultrie takes command at Sullivan s Island. Washington bombards Boston. Washington occupies Dorches ter Heights. Lee sets out for the South. Washington places battery oil Dorchester Neck. Washingt n throws up a breast work on Nook s Hill. Boston evacuated. Washington orders five regi ments to New York. Main body of Washington s army enters Boston. Continental Congress declares British vessels lawful prizes. South Carolina resolves itself into an assembly. Continental Congress learns of evacuation of Boston. South Carolina forms a pro vincial constitution. Washington at the evening lecture- Rutledge, pres. of South Carolina congress. Thanksgiving sermon preach d at Boston. Congress returns to Philadel phia. Convent n at Kingston, N. Y., reports draft of Constitution. Gen. Lee sends to Congress requesting interview. British destroy stores at Peek- skill. Convention for Middle States fix scale of prices. Lee s letter received at Phila delphia. Congress resolves to hold no communication with Lee. 636 Of THE f^EVOLUTIOJM. 1778. 1779. 1780. 1781. Greene elected quarter master-general. Prevost defeats Ashe in South Carolina. Council of Indians meet at Johnstown. Maryl nd ratifies Articles of Confederation. Lafayette reaches Head of Elk. Cornwallis crosses Ala- mance Creek ; Wash ington at Newport. French fleet leave New port for Virginia. Clinton approaches Charleston. Affair of Quintan s Br ge. South Carolina constitu tion adopted. M Dougal takes com nd at West Point. Arnold resigns his com mission. Greene encamps at Gun- ford Court-House ; La- layette at York. Battle of Guilford Court- House. French-Eng. engagem t off Chesapeake. Cornwallis retreats from Guilford Court-House. British fleet under Ad- Washingt n ret rns from miral Arbuthnot pass Newp t to New Wind- Charleston bar. Defeat of Putnam at Greenwich. Tryon reaches King s Bridge. Wilkinson writes to Washington of Con- way matter. Clinton reaches Amer works on Charleston Neck. Gen. Phillips at Ports mouth, Va. Greene arrives at Ram sey s Mills. Greene discharges his militia at Deep River. 6 37 fABLE Of 1 THE 1775. 1776. 1777. Daniel Boone builds fort at Boonesborough, Ky. Provincial congress meets in North Carolina. Green Mpunt n Boys renounce authority of New York. Gage ordered to take posses sion of colonial forts. Gage sends British to destroy stores at Concord. Battles of Lexington and Con cord. General Ward takes command of troops around Boston. Dunmore orders powder plac d on board a vessel. Massachusetts congress votes to raise an army. News of battle of Lexington reaches New York. Maryland assembly appoints delegates to Con. Congress. Rhode Island assembly votes fifteen hundred men. Connecticut assembly votes six thousand men. Lord Mayor of London pre sents a remonstrance ag inst u oppression of their fellow- subjects in colonies." Wooster takes command of troops around Quebec. N. C. congress meets ; Wash ington leaves Cambridge for New York. Lee at Williamsburg, Va. N. C. congress appoints Com mittee on British Injuries. Governor s Island fortified. North Carolina congress de clares for Independence. Washington arrives at N. Y. British ships-of-war anchor at Newport. Washington prohibits inter course with British ships. Congress votes monument to General Warren. Cornwallis tries to surprise Lincoln at Boundbrook. Congress appoints committee of inquiry into Schuyler s conduct. New York convention com pletes its constitution. Tryon sails from New York to Danbury, Conn. Tryon lands at Compo. Lafayette embarks for Amer ica j British destroy stores at Danbury. Arnold at Ridgefield. British sail from Compo. 638 \Yy\R Of THE DEVOLUTION. 1778. 1779. 178O. 1781. Lord Chath m, in Parlia ment, falls in a fainting fit while protesting agt. the dismemberment of the empire. Washington declares for Independence. Congress offers pardon to all who return to allegiance by June 16. Reinforcem ts for Wilk s- barre, under Mai. Pow ell, fall into Indian am buscade. Seven hundred Virgin ians reach Charleston. Arbuthnot anchors off Charleston. Charleston summoned to surrender. Lincoln calls council of war. Tarleton defeats Huger at Monk s Corner. Greene sets out for Cam- den. Cornwallis reaches Wil mington ; Greene marches from Deep River. Cornwallis arr. at Cha s- ton with reinforcem ts. Lafayette arr. at Boston from France. Lee joins Marion. General Phillips sails up James River. Greene encamps at Cam- den. Fort Watson surrenders to Lee and Marion. Greene takes position on Hobkirk s Hill. Cornwallis leaves Pet rs- burg. Wright s Bluff capitu lates. Battle of Hobkirk s Hill. Lafayette arr. at Rich mond. 639 HROJVIOJLOQIC>L TABLE op THE 1773. 1776. 1777. New Jersey committee calls provincial congress. Dunmore convenes Virginia council; sends family on board ship. hinmore issues proc against Patrick Hen enry. Ticonderoga taken ; Conti nental Congress assemble at Philadelphia. Powder taken from king s magazine at Savannah. Crown Point taken. New York instructed not to oppose landing of British troops. Arnold captures St. John s. New Hampshire proy. con gress votes three regiments. Arnold captures British sloop at St. John s. Citizens of Mecklenburg Co. frame Declaration of Inde pendence. British try to get hay on Grape Island, in Boston harbor. New York provincial congress assembles. Provincial congress organized in New Jersey. Hancock appointed president of Continental Congress. Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne arrive at Boston. Americans drive stock from Noddle s Island (E. Boston). Congress addresses the Cana dians. Address to Great Britain pub lished in London. Thomas arrives at Quebec. Parker and Cornwallis enter Cape Fear River. Rhode Island assembly throw off royal government. The Howes authorized to grant pardons. British squadron anchors be low Boston. Congress recommends colonies to establish governments. British flag on Virginia State House struck. Jas. Mugford captures British ship Hope. Mugford mortally wounded at Nantasket. Pennsylvania assembly meets. Maryland convention votes it is not necessary to suppress all authority of the crown. Schuyler announces his inten tion to resign. Burgoyne arrives at Quebec. Tweitlen chosen governor of Georgia. Washington instructs Greene to examine forts in the High lands. Massachusetts assembly votes for Independence. Meigs embarks at Guilford. Meigs lands on Long Island. Washington encamps at Mid- dlebrook. Congress presents Arnold a horse. 640 Of THE DEVOLUTION. 1778. 1779. 178O. 1781. Chain stretched across the Hudson. Treaty with Louis XVI. ratified by Congress. French alliance celebra ted at Valley Forge. Unfinished continental frigates b rned by Brit ish at Bordentown. Clinton arrives in Phila delphia. Clinton takes command of Brit, army in Phila. Connecticut mutiny. regiments Mischianza at Philadel phia ; Lafayette crosses the Schuylkill. Lafayette takes post on Barren Hill. Lafayette retreats from Barren Hill. Delaware signs Articles of Confederation. British anchor in Hamp ton Roads. Brit, occupy Portsmouth and Norfolk. Prevost appears before Charleston. Ft. Moultrie surrenders. Virginia legisla. meets. Lafayette rejoins Wash ington. Charleston surrenders to British. General Lovell arrives in the Penobscot. Lovell effects a landing. Clinton ascends the Hud son. Whigs in S. C. threaten ed with confiscation of property. Arnold asks for com mand of West Point. Washington learns of the sur nder of Charleston. Buford s command mas sacred by Tarleton. Phillips retires to City Point. Pensacola surrenders. Camden evacuated ; Rawdon retreats to Monk s Corner. Orangeburg surrenders to Sumter. Fort Schuyler destroyed by fire; Fort Motte taken. General Phillips dies. British abandon post at Nelson Ferry. Ft. Granby surrenders. Cornwallis arrives at Petersburg. Rochambeau and Wash ington plan campaign. Fort Galphin taken. Greene commences siege of Ninety-Six. Cornwallis marches from Petersb rg to Jas. Riv. Lafayette retreats from Richmond. 641 HFJONOLOQICA;L JABLE oj 7 THE 177S. 1776. 1777. Virginia House of Burgesses convened the last time by British governor. S. Carolina congress pledge lives and fortunes to liberty. Dunmore goes on board man- of-war at York. Gates declares martial law. Congress authorizes enlist ment of troops. Washingt n elected command- er-in-chief. Prescott takes possession of Bunker Hill. Battle of Bunker Hill. Thomas Jefferson enters Con gress ; Washington leaves Philadelphia for Cambridge. Greene commissioned briga dier ; News of Bunker Hill battle reaches Congress. Washington escorted from Phila. by Mass, delegates. General Washington and Gov. Tryon received at N. Y. N. Y. provincial congress ad dresses Washington. N. Y. Congress prepares plan of reconciliation. Jas. Clinton appointed colonel. Sullivan assumes command in Canada. Congr ss forms " flying camp" in New Jersey. Brit, fleet appears off Charles ton harbor. Hugh Mercer commissioned brigadier-general. Geo. R. Clark, rep. from Har- rodston to assembly of Vir. Lee proposes in Congress free dom of the colonies. Clinton lands on Long Island. Committee chosen to prepare Declaration of Independence. Declaration of Rights adopted in Virginia. Sullivan retreats from Canada. New Hampshire assembly fa vors Independence. National fast. Prov. conference of Pennsyl vania approves Declaration of Independence Sullivan reaches Isle aux Noix. Franklin, last royal gov. N. J., calls meeting of asse of assem. Maryland Com. ot Safety, calls a convention. N. J. convention resolves to form a government. Congress resolves that all who live in the colonies owe them allegiance. Gates starts for Canada. Attack on Ft. Moultrie : Howe lands on Staten Island. Moultrie receives congratula tions from Charlest n people. Mrs. Elliott presents second regim nt, in behalf of Charles ton ladies, two silken colors. 642 Burgoyne collects forces at St. John s. Committee appointed at Wind sor, Vt., to prepare constitu tion. Schuyler meets Gates at Al bany. Gates sets out from Albany for Philadelphia. St. Clair reaches Ticonderoga. Howe sallies from Brunswick, New Jersey. Howe advances toward Som erset Court-House. Burgoyne advances from St. John s. Schuyler visits Ticonderoga ; U. S. flag adopted. Gates arrives at Philadelphia. Howe returns to Brunswick; Gates appears before Con gress. Burgoyne meets Indians in council. Howe retreats toward Amboy. Washington at Ouibbletown (NewMarket). Crown Pt. abandoned ; Corn wall is moves toward Rah- way. Burgoyne issues a proclama tion. Howe withdraws to Staten Island. OF THE I^EVOLUTIOJM 1778. British commissioners arrive at Philadelphia. Clinton informs Wash ington of the arrival of commissioners. Congress receives letter, etc., from commis ners. Lee writes to Washing ton. Congress answers com missioners u that peace is impossible without independence." British evacuate Phila delphia. Clark s boats pass falls of Ohio. Wayne joins Washing ton s advance in N. J. Lee assumes command of the advance. Battle of Monmouth. Lee tried by court-mar tial. 1779. Verplanck s Point sur renders to British. Congress asks Louis XVI. for his portrait. Spain declares war agt. Great Britain. Battle of Stono Ferry. Sullivan arr. at Wilkes- barre. Pennsylvania. Bo ts with supplies reach Wyoming Valley. 178O. Clinton and Arbuthnot issue proclamation at Charleston. Clinton issues proclama tion at Charleston. Sir Henry Clinton em barks for New York. Knyphausen lands at Elizabethtown. Colonel Drayton retires before Knyphausen. Congress appoints Gates to command southern army. Clinton arrives in New York bay. Clinton goes to New Jersey. Kalb reaches Hillsbor- ough, N. C. ; Battle of Ramsour s Mills. Springfield, New Jersey, burned. British evacuate Eliza bethtown. British cross from Am- boy to Staten Island. 1781. Virginia assembly ad journ to Staunton. Augusta, Ga., capitu lates. Laf ette join d by Wayne. Fox in House of Com mons recom nds peace measures. Greene retires across the Saluda. Rawdon enters Ninety- Six. Rawdon leaves Ninety- Six. French march from Newport ; Cornwallis reaches Williamsburg. Affair at Spencer s Or dinary. 643 fyVBLX OF THE 177S. 1776. 1777. Washington arrives at Cam bridge. Washington takes command before Boston; McDonald raises loyal Highlanders. Georgia sends delegates to Continental Congress. Franklin writes to Lord North. Declaration of war issued. Petition to the king adopted. Washington calls council of war. South Carolina legislature meets. Greaton burns hay on Long Island for British cavalry. Nine colonies vote for Decla ration of Independence. Lee s resolution of Independ ence passes. Declaration of Independence. Statue of King George de stroyed in New York. Declaration of Independence read in Philadelphia ; Brit ish land on Staten Island. Declaration of Independence read in New York ; N". Y. prov. cong. at White Plains. British abandon Gwynn s Is land in Chesapeake. Howe reaches Staten Island ; British ships ascend the Hudson. Howe sends letter to Washing ton. President Langdon reads Dec. j Phila. convention assumes of War to army at Cambr ge. government of Pennsylvania. Convention organized at Rich- j Declaration of Independence mond. read in Boston. Schuyler arrives at Ticonder- oga. Massachusetts House of Rep- | Howe s aide-de-camp requests resentatives chosen. interview with Washington. Continental Fast. Congress thanks people of Indians repulsed at Fort Wa- Ireland for sympathy. tauga. Dunmore summons Burgesses to meet him on man-of-war. ! Congress thanks assembly of Declaration of Independence Jamaica for sympathy. read in Virginia. Franklin appoint d postmaster- general ; Maryland conven tion meets at Annapolis. Seth Warner elected colonel of Green Mountain Boys. Maryland convention appoints Committee of Safety and Correspondence. Major Tupper captures British Lord Howe receives letter at Boston light-house. from Franklin. Burgoyne appears before Ti- conderoga. Vermont asks admission into the Union. Fraser s corps occupy Mount Hope. Howe embarks for Philadel phia ; British occupy Mount Defiance. St. Clair abandons Ticonder- oga. Battle of Hubbardton ; White hall taken. Battle at Fort Ann. Warner reaches Rutland ; Schuyler at Fort Edward. Barton takes Prescott prisoner. St. Clair joins Schuyler at Fort Edward. Schuyler retreats below Fort Edward. Arnold joins Schuyler ; Howe sails from Staten Island. Murder of Miss McCrea. Burgoyne reaches the Hudson. Washington at Germantown ; British fleet off the Delaware. 644 F THE DEVOLUTION. 1778. 1779. 178O. 1781. Forts in Wyoming Val ley surrender. Congress meets in Phila delphia- Indian battle in Schoharie county. Massacre of Wyoming. Cahokia surprised Clin ton crosses to Sandy Hook. Count d Estaing arrives off the Delaware. French fleet anchors in Delaware bay ; Butler leaves Wyoming. Articles of Confederation signed by eight States. Washington crosses the Hudson ; N. C. signs Art. of Confederation. D Estaing sails from the Delaware to Rhode Is. Georgia signs Articles of Confederation. French fleet arrives in Narraganset Bay. Affair of Poundridge. Island of Grenada sur renders to d Estaing. Tryon lands at New Haven. D Estaing defeats British fleet off the Indies. Tryon burns Fairfield. Tryon retreats to his ships. British burn Norwalk. Stony Point captured. Battle of Minisink, N. J. Massachusetts expedition enters Penobscot Bay. Mass, troops land Castine, Maine. French fleet appears off Virginia. De Kalb encamps at Deep River. French troops arrive at Newport. Sumter defeats Huck at Cross Roads. English fleet blockades Narraganset Bay. Four British ships ap pear off Newport. Lincoln attacks De Lan- cey on Harlem River. Lincoln lands above Spuyten Duyvel Creek. Cornwallis sets out from Williamsburg. Lafayette follows Corn wallis. Battle of Green Spring, Jamestown ; Washing^ ton joins Rochambeau. Rawdon joins Stewart at Orangeburg. Sumter joins Greene near Orangeburg. Greene crosses the Sal- uda. American troops arrive at King s Bridge. R. I. assembly presents address to Rocham beau and Ternay. Gates joins army at Deep River. Gates marches to Cam- den. Sumter attacks Rocky Mount. Sullivan ascends the Sus- quehanna. 645 ^HFJONOLOQICAL ^AB^E Of THE 1775. 1776. 1777. Congress adjourns. Washington writes to Gov. Cook of R. I. for powder. Linzee, captain of the Falcon, captures schooners off Glou cester. Mass. prov. congress forbids waste of powder in sporting. Mowat fires upon Gloucester. Montgomery arrives at Ticon- deroga. Committee appointed to erect forts on the Hi [udson. North Carolina congress as sembles. Franklin s plan of confederacy introduced. Washington occupies Plough d Hill. Gage commences a cannonade. Washington offers battle on Bunker Hill. Bernard Romans commences fort opposite West Point. Gage cuts down Boston liberty tree. Declaration of Independence signed. Heath, Spencer, Sullivan, and Greene appointed major- generals. Congress issues five million dollars. Maryland frames its constitu tion. Hessians arrive on Staten Is land. Sullivan succeeds Greene on Long Island. British land on Long Island. Washington crosses from New York to Brooklyn. De Heister s Hessians rein force Howe. Clinton marches from Flat- lands. Battle of Long Island. British cannonade Fort Put nam. Washington retreats from L. T. British fleet anchors near Gov ernor s Island. Vergennes reads Declaration oflndep. to Louis XVI. 646 Congress inquires into the conduct of northern gener ls. St. Leger besieges Ft. Schuy- ler. Gates chosen Schuyler s suc cessor. Battle of Oriskany. St. Leger summons Ft. Schuy- ler. Gansevoort asks reinforce ments. Burgoyne sends Baum to Ben- nington. Stark arrives at Bennington. Baum approaches Bennington. Arnold raises troops to relieve Fort Schuyler ; Berkshire militia reinforce Stark. Battle of Bennington. Arnold arrives at Fort Dayton (Herkimer). Gates assumes command ; St. Leger retreats ; British enter the Chesapeake. Washington leads his troops through Philadelphia. I Washington reaches Wilming ton ; Brit, anchor in the Elk. Howe issues a proclamation. Lee arr. in Washington s camp with twenty-four prisoners. 1778. Spalding quarters at Wilkesbarre Fort. French fleet anchors in Newport harbor. Lord Howe anchors near Point Judith, R. I. Both fleets set sail. Storm shatters fleets. D Estaing appears off Newport. D Estaing weighs anchor for Boston. Sullivan, at Newport, takes post on Butt s Hill. Battle of Quaker Hill. Lord Howe arr. at Bos ton, hoping to inter cept d Estaing. Sullivan retreats ; Clinton arr. from New York. 1779. Sullivan arrives at Shes- hequin. Sullivan at Tioga Point. Brit, fleet attacks Amer icans in Penobsc t Bay. Surprise of Paulus Hook. Clinton joins Sullivan. Sullivan ascends Tioga. the Sullivan ascends the Chemung. Sullivan destroys Che mung village. Battle of Chemung, near Elmira. Sullivan burns Newtown (Elmira). 1780. 1781. Brandt appears before Fort Plain. Arnold assumes com and of West Point ; Gates crosses the Pedee. Gates issues a proclama tion. Battle of Hanging Rock. Cornw lis leaves Charl s- ton. Gates camps at Clerm nt ; Cornwallis reinforces Rawdon at Camden. Stevens s, Va., militia reach Gates. Battle of Camden. Tarleton surprises Sum- ter at Fishing Creek ; Williams attacks Brit, at Musgrove s Mills. Sumter reaches Char lotte ; Marion surprises British near Nelson s Ferry. Cornwallis goes to York- town. French fleet under de. Grasse arrives. Col. Hayne executed. Washington starts for Virginia. Greene marches to Cam den. Hood arrives off Chesa peake ; Colonel John Laurens arr. in Boston. De Grasse anchors in Chesapeake ; Washing ton arr. in Philadelphia. 6 4 7 ^ABLE OF THE 1773. Schuyler attacks St. John s. Council of war opposes an at tack on Boston. Washington calls a council of war. Arnold sets out for Canada. Patriots seize Fort Johnson, near Charleston. Gov. Campbell of S. C. flees to British ship ; Schuyler starts for Ticonderoga. Fort Moultrie evacuated. Committee on trade appointed. Ethan Allen crosses the St. Lawrence. 25 | Transylvania sends delegate to Continental Congress. Allen taken prisoner at Mont real. Stonington bombarded. 1776. New York legislature meets at Fishkill. Congress appoints committee to confer with Howe. Howe confers with committee. Council of war decides to evac uate New York. Four ships of war anchor in East River. Six ships of war anchor in East River. English colors raised on Fort George, N. Y. ; Talbot fires the Renomme. Skirmish at Harlem Plains. The Howes issue a proclama tion. Delaware adopts a constitu tion. Fire in New York city. Nathan Hale executed. Paroled prisoners from Quebec at Elizabethtown. Pennsylvania adopts a consti tution. 648 1777. Howe marches toward Phila delphia. Washington appeals to the army. Washington summons council of war. Jay, first chief-justice of N. Y., opens court at Kingston ; Washington on the Brandy- wine. Battle of Brandywine ; Con gress adjourns to Lancaster. Gates at Bemis s Heights ; Washington at Germanto n. Burgoyne crosses the Hudson. Washingt n crosses the Schuyl- Burgoyne advances to Cove- ville. Washington Schuylkill. the Burgoyne at Wilbur s Basin. First battle of Saratoga. Burgoyne retires to W T ilbur s Basin ; Paoli massacre. Clinton promises Burgoyne a diversion on the Hudson. Howe crosses the Schuylkill ; Arnold remonstrates with Gates. British at Germantown. British capture Philadelphia. Congress assembles at Lan caster. Lincoln takes command of right wing of Gates s army. Washingt n at Skippack Creek. Of THE ^EVOI_UTIOJ1 1778. 1779. 1780. 1781. New Bedford and Fair- haven laid waste. Franklin appointed com missioner to France. Massacre at Tappan. D Estaing captures four Brit, ships off Georgia. Sullivan s army at Cath arine s Town. Talmadge surp. Tories at Lloyd s Neck, L. I. Kendaia destroyed. Fort Kanadaseagea de stroyed. Sullivan destroys Kan- andaigua. Fr nch land at Savan ah ; Kanaghsaws burned. Capture of Lieut. Boyd. Sullivan in Genesee Val ley. D Estaing Prevost. Sullivan recrosses Seneca Lake outlet. Baton Rouge surrenders to Galvez, governor of Louisiana. Paul Jones s victory ; Lincoln joins French at Savannah. Sullivan at Newtown. Celebrates dec. of war by Spain agt. England. John Jay, envoy to Spain. Massachusetts commit tee assemble at Boston. Vulture ascends the Hudson. Cornwallis issues a proc lamation. Washington goes to Hartford. Andr6 lands at West Point: Washington and Rochambeau at Hartford. Andre" meets Arnold. Andr6 captured. Washington returns to West Point. Andre" at the Robinson House. larion surpi at Black M Andre" tried. mgo. American troops pass through Philadelphia. Amer. army at Chester ; French-English naval engagement in Chesa peake. Washington at Head of Elk. Battle of Eutaw Springs ; Washington crosses the Susquehanna. Washington reaches Mt. Vernon. Chastellux reaches Mt. Vernon. Washington leaves Mt. Vernon. Washington arrives at Williamsburg. Washingt n descends the James. Washingt n visits Fr nch fleet. Washington returns to Williamsburg. French-American army at Williamsburg. French-American army at Yorktown. 649 JABIX of THE 177S. 1776. 1777. Plan for a navy proposed to Congress. Bristol bombarded. Gage embarks for England. Congress votes two armed vessels. Falmouth bombarded. New Hampshire asks leave to form a government. Howe issues a proclamation. Tryon takes up his quarters on ship at New York. Carleton advances. Lee appears before Continent al Congress at Philadelphia. Lee leaves Philadelphia. Connecticut charter changed. Naval battle at Crown Point between Arnold and Carle- ton. Howe sends troops to Throe s Point ; bridge at Throg s Pt. burned. Second engagement at Crown Point between Arnold and Carleton. Carleton lands at Crown Pt. ; Lee arrives in camp. Mercer takes seventeen pris oners at Richmond, Staten Island. Washington calls council of British land just below East Chester. Howe at New Rochelle ; Stir ling routs Queen s Rangers at Mamaroneck, Westchester. Knyphausen lands near New Rochelle. Washington s headquarters at White Plains ; Colonel Hand routs Brit, at East Chester. Movement against Fort Wash ington. Battle of White Plains. Washington at White Plains. Earl Percy reinforces Howe. Washington retires to North Castle. 650 Burgoyne s army on short al lowance. American army leaves Skip- pack Creek. Battle of Germantown. Clinton lands at Verplanck s Point. Tryon burns Continental Vil lage ; Forts Clinton and Montgomery captured. Second battle of Saratoga. Fraser buried ; Americans oc cupy British camp. Burgoyne retreats toward Saratoga. Burgoyne retreats across the Fishkill. Spy hanged near Kingston. Vaughan burns Kingston. Surrender of Burgoyne. News of Burgoyne s surrender reaches Washington. Howe concentrates his forces at Philadelphia. Howe and M Dougal chosen major-generals. Donop arrives at Fort Island ; attack on Fort Mercer. " Augusta " and " Merlin " burned ; Fort Mifflin at tacked. Washington congratulates Gates on his success. Of THE DEVOLUTION. 1778. Hamiton leaves Detroit for Vincennes. erguson laski. surprises Pu- The dead of Wyoming massacre buried. D Estaing issues procla mation. 1779. Colonel White s adven^ ture. Sullivan ret rns to Tioga. Riot in Philadelphia. Sullivan arrives at Wy oming. Repulse at Savannah. Convention of the East ern States at Hartford. British evacuate Rhode Island. 1780. Andre executed at Tap- pan. Congress inquires into Gates s conduct. Battle of King s Moun tain. Johnson attacks Scho- harie forts. Caughnawaga burned. Battle of Fort Keyser. Mohawk Valley. Champe s desertion. Massachusetts adopts Constitution. 1781. Tarlet n crosses to Glou cester. Bombardment of York- First parallel before Yorktown; Tallmadge captures Fort Slongo, Conn. Second parallel opened. Redoubts before York- town taken. Surrender of Cornwallis. Indian battle at Johns town ; Clinton reach es capes of Virginia. Butler killed in last bat tle near Mohawk. 6 5 I HFJONOLOQICA;L OF THE 177S. 1776. 1777. Hessians set sail from Ritze- buttel. St. John s surrenders. Pennsylvania elects delegates to Continental Congress. Arnold reaches the St. Law rence. Dunmore issues a proclama tion. Pennsylv ia delegates to Con gress enjoined to reject sep aration from England. Mass, authorizes fitting out privateers : Arnold opposite Quebec ; Penn at the bar of House of Lords. Montreal surrenders to Mont gomery. Arnold on the Plains of Abra ham. Burke seeks to repeal acts hos tile to Americans. Arnold retreats to Point aux Trembles. Dunmore takes possession of Norfolk. Rivington s printing-office in New York sacked. Virginia militia marches to Great Bridge. Howe follows Washington. Knyphausen leaves New Ro- chelle. Carleton abandons Crown Point. Howe retreats to Fordham Heights. Howe moves to Dobb s Ferry. Garrison at Ticonderoga with out supplies. Washington desires Greene to evacuate Fort Washington. Washington sends troops to the Jerseys. Lee warned to guard against surprises ; Washington rides from White Plains to Peek- skill. Washington goes up the Hud son to West Point. Washington goes to Hacken- sack. Washington reaches Ft. Wash ington. Washington at Fort Lee ; Am. army at Hackensack. Howe summons Magaw. Fort Washington taken. Washington orders Lee to join him. Cornw lis crosses the Hudson ; Greene retreats. Washington moves beyond the Passaic. Washington arr. at Newark. Washington sends to Philadel phia for reinforcements. Congress votes Lieut.-Colonel Greene a sword. Wilkinson, Gates s aid, made a brigadier. Burgoyne s army arrives at Cambridge. Washington writes to Conway. Howe opens fire on Fort Mif- flin. Congress at Yorktown adopts Articles of Confederation. Red Bank evacuated. Cornw lis crosses from Chester into the Jerseys. The king opens the session of parliament. Congress receives Conway s resignation. Washington at Newark re- Gates appointed president of ceives letter from Lee. the Board of War. Cornwallis s advance guard Wash- reaches Newark as ington leaves. Washington at Brunswick. Howe issues proclamation: Lee at Peekskill ; Washing ton at Brunswick. 652 Congress resolves to carry on a winter campaign. Of THE I^EVOjLUTION. 1778. 1779. 1780. 1781. D Estaing sails for the West Indies. Judge Jones, a Tory, captured near Smith- town. Affair of William s Br ge. Laurens leaves Phila delphia. Congress imposes a tax on the States. De Grasse sets sail. Ind. massacre at Cherry Valley. Battle of Fishdam Ford. Simcoe with Queen s Rangers at Oyster Bay, Congress approyes a regulation of prices in paper at 20 to i. News of Cornwallis s surrender reaches Ver sailles. Sumter defeats Tarleton at Blackstock. Tallmadge captures Ft. George on Long Is. New Jersey accepts the Confederation. South Carolina constitu tion takes effect. News of Cornwallis s surrender reaches Eng land. 53 ^ABLE OF THE 1773. 1776. 1777. Montgomery arrives at Point aux Trembles. Montgomery marches to Que bec. Montgomery joins Arnold ; Dunmore abandons Norfolk. Montgomery arrives before Quebec. Battle of Great Bridge. Robt. Howe of North Carolina arrives at Great Bridge. Naval Committee empowered to fit out thirteen frigates. Robert Howe takes possession of Norfolk. Washington leaves Brunswick as Cprnwallis enters. Washington goes to Trenton, leaving Stirling at Prince ton : N. J. legislature retires to Hattonfield. Lee at Haverstraw. Cornwallis joined by Howe; West part of Virginia incor porated as county of Kent. Washington advances toward Princeton ; Lee at Pompton ; British fleet enters Newport. Newp t evacuated ; Washing ton crosses the Delaware; Cornwallis reaches Trenton. Lee at Chatham. Congress sends Mifflin through Pennsylvania to rouse its freemen to arms. Lee at Morristown. Cong, adjourns to Baltimore ; Lee at Baskingridge. Lee captured by Brit. ; Howe prepares for winter-quarters. Donop quarters at Borden- town and Blackhorse. North Carolina constitution ratified. Sullivan joins Washingt n with Lee s division ; Congress reassembles at Baltimore. Trade with the colonies for- Franklin reaches Paris, bidden. Washington writes for the watchword, " Victory or Death ! " Gates sets out for Baltimore. Washington crosses the Dela ware ; Griffin draws Donop to Mount Holly. Battle of Trenton. Cadwallader crosses the Dela ware ; Congress constitutes Washington a dictator. Colonel Reed at Trenton. Washington recrosses the Del aware. Washington encamps at Tren ton. Battle of Quebec ; Montgom ery killea. Lord North receives news of Burgoyne s surrender. British march from Philadel phia to attack Washington at White Marsh. British halt near Chestnut HilL Howe marches back to Ger- mantown. Action on Edge Hill. British return to Philadelphia. Washington sets out for Val ley Forge. Con way made inspector-gen eral. Thanksgiving Day. Washington arrives at Valley Forge. Troops build log-huts. Washington writes to Con gress. Congress votes Barton a sword. Sullivan advises Washington to attack Howe. Time of New England regi ments expires. 654 Congress recommends to seize supplies for the use of the army. \YyVR Of THE ^EVCXLUTIOJM. 1778. 1779. 178O. 1781. Lincoln takes command in Charleston. Greene assumes com and of southern army. Colonel Washington at Rugeley s Mills. Jay chosen president of Congress. Hamilton arrives at Vin- cennes. Court assembles at Mor- ristown for trial of Ar nold. Campbell arrives off the island of Tybee. Clinton embarks for Charleston. Paul Jones with prizes leaves the Texel. Reed chosen president of Penn. assembly. Brit, capture Savannah. Morgan encamps on the Pacolet. Congress commissions Lawrence minister to France. Davids n reinforces Mor gan. Colonel Washington de feats Maccall near Fair Forest. National thanksgiving. 655 APPENDIX V. COLONEL JIATHAJJ HALE. The charges made against Col. Hale of misconduct in the battle of Hubbardton, as given on page 205 of this work and in most histories of the Revolution, are based upon the statements of Ethan Allen s Narrative. The friends of Col. Hale urge in his defence that Allen was not in the country at the time of this battle, and that his allegations were founded upon infor mation derived from officers who were jealous of Col. Hale ; that Allen wrote from impulse and feeling, based upon such information, rather than from research or calm judgment ; and that Allen was in character and habits of mind rather a brave and impulsive soldier, than a safe and unbiased his torian of events not within his personal knowledge. They further claim that Col. Hale was in command of a detachment formed by the invalids and con valescents of the army ; that to his charge were confided the sick and feeble who were not attached to his regiment ; that his men were not adequately equipped for active duty ; that they were surprised while preparing an early breakfast ; and that far from surrendering without striking a blow, a spirited though brief resistance was made, until his corps of raw militia, demoralized by sickness and absence of discipline and arms, broke and fled, leaving their officers to be captured by the enemy. Col. Hale was afterward paroled and permitted to go to his home (Rindge, N. H.), and while there the records show that he participated in town-meetings, and was put on important com mittees on two occasions (see Stearns History of Rindge) ; this would hardly have occurred, in this patriotic town, if his fellow-townsman had believed that he had disgraced them by cowardice and desertion. In a letter to Gen. Washington, he demanded an investigation of his conduct by court-martial. But before this could be had he died a prisoner within the enemy s lines, on Long Island, in 1780. A vindication of his conduct and memory, written by Hon. Winslow C. Watson, may be found in the American Historical Record for October, 1873, and also in the History of Rindge, above referred to, published in Boston, 1875, by George H. Ellis. INDEX ACADIA, devastation of, 78. Adams, Charles Francis, 460. Adams, John, 135, 141, 144, 253, 255 ; elected Vice- President, 334, 338 ; elected President, 342 : death, 415. Adams, John Quincy, Anti-Federalist, 367 ; Sec. of State, 400 ; chosen President, 410 ; a Rep resentative, 423 ; death, 459. Adams, Samuel, 138, 144, 255-6. Alabama, admission of, 404. Alabama Claims, the, 615. Alabama, a Confederate cruiser, 581. Alamance Creek, battle of, 141. Alamo, the, 445. Alaska, purchase of, 611. Allatoona Pass, capture of, 561. Algiers, treaty with, 339, 361, 362, 399. Alien and Sedition Laws, the, 345. Allen, Colonel Ethan, 150, 340. American Party (see Party). American System, the, 416. Ames, Fisher, 338. Amnesty Proclamation, 605, 607. Anderson, Major Robert, 486. Andre, Major, 301. Andros, Governor, 54, 58, 59. Anglo-Confederate Cruisers, 581. Ann, Skirmish at Fort, 206. Annapolis, naval school at, 448. Anti-Renters, 440. Anti-Slavery Party (see Part^ ). Anti-Slavery Society, the, 403. Antietam, battle of, 526-7. Appomattox Court-House, surrender at, 593. Arctic Expedition, 469. Arizona, remains in, 12. Arkansas, admission of, 431. Arkansas Post (Fort Hindman), capture of, 509. Arlington Heights, capture of, 488. Arnold, Benedict, at Ticonderoga, 150 ; Fort Schuyler, 208 ; Saratoga, 214 ; Ridgefield, 236 ; treason of, 300 ; in Virginia, 315 : death of, 316. Asbury, Bishop, 341. Ashe, John, 137, 138, 271. Atlanta, battles at, 562. Augusta, capture of, 312. Averysboro, battle of, 586. BACON, Nathaniel, 40. Baker, Colonel E. D., 493. Ball s Bluff, skirmish at, 493. Baltimore, 394, 488. Banks, Savings, 403. Bank, the United States, 337, 424, 426. Banks, Nathaniel P., 475, 520, 576, 578. Barnburners (see Party). Barton, Lieut.-Col., captures Prescott, 238. Baylor s Massacre, 265. Beauregard, Gen. P. G. T., 457, 486, 490, 499, 503. Belmont, attack on, 490. Bemis s Heights, battle of, 213. Bennington, battle of, 210. Benton, Thomas H., 427. Bentonville, battle of, 586. Berkeley, Governor, 40, 60, 88. Bermuda Hundred, battle at, 572. Bible Society, the American, 402. Big Bethel, skirmish at, 489. Big Black River, battle at, 533. Birney, J. G., 443 . Black, Jeremiah S., 476. Black Friday, 614. Blackstock Hill, attack on, 297. Bladensburg, battle of, 393. Blennerhassett, Harman, 365. Blockade, the, 493, 582. Blue Lights, the, 390. Boone, Daniel, 340. Booth, J. Wilkes, 595. Boston, massacre at, 140 ; tea-party, 142 ; port bill, 143 ; evacuation of, 167 ; fire in, 616. Bowling Green, evacuation of, 498. Braddock, General Edward, 77. Bragg, General Braxton, 499, 504, 508, 534-8. Brandt, Joseph, 14, 266, 267, 277. Brandywine, battle of, 229. Breckenridge, John C., 475, 499, 508. Brewton s Hill, battle of, 268. Brier Creek, battle of, 271. Bristoe Station, action at, 553. Brown, John, 474, 477. Bryant, William Cullen, 467. Buchanan, James, 475. Bucktails, the (see Party). Buell, General D. C., 498, 504. Buena Vista, battle of, 454. Bull Run, battle of, 490. Bunker Hill, battle of, 151. Burgoyne s Campaign, 204-219. Burke, Edmund, 140, 354. Burnside, General A. E.. 512, 527, 541. 658 INDEX. Burr, Colonel Aaron, 342, 347, 354, 362, 365. Butler, John, 263, 266, 267. Butler, Benjamin F., 488, 509, 572, 580, 607. CADWALLADER, General S., 191, 196, 256. Caldwell, Rev. James, 298 ; Mrs., 299. Calhoun, John C., 372, 400, 409, 417, 470. California, admission of, 464. Calvert, George (Lord Baltimore), 41. Cambridge settled, 46. Camden, battle of, 294. Campbell, Col. William (American), 295, 313. Campbell, Lieut.-Col. (British), 267, 270. Capitol, location of national, 337, 346 ; rebuilding of, 415 ; extension of, 469. Carleton, Sir Guy, Governor of Canada, 163, 165, 203, 323. Carnifex Ferry, battle at, 489. Carolinas, settlement of, 62 ; war in the, 286. Carpets, use of, 353. Carrick s Ford, Battle at, 489. Carteret, Sir George, 60. Carthage, battle of, 489. Cartier, James, 29. Cass, Lewis, 423, 432, 460. Castine, attack on Fort, 276. Catholics, the Roman, 347. Caucus, system of the, 364. Cedar Creek, battle of, 576. Cedar Mountain, battle of, 524. Cerro Gordo, capture of, 457. Chambersburg, burning of, 574. Champe, John, the spy, 304. Champion Hills, battle of, 533. Champlain, Samuel, 67. Chancellorsville, battle of, 542. Chantilly, battle of, 524. Charleston, settlement of, 63 ; British capture of, 284 ; British evacuate, 323 ; fall of, 585. Charlestown settled, 46. Charter Oak, the, 54. Chase, Salmon P., 485. Chattanooga, battle of, 536-7. Chatterton s Hill, attack on, 184. Cheat Mountain, battle of, 489. Chemung, battle of, 277. Cherry Valley, massacre in, 266. Chicago, settlement of, 404. ; fire at, 615. Chickamauga, battle of, 534. Chickasaw, Bayou, attack on, 509. Chippewa, battle of, 391. Cholera, the Asiatic, 425. Christian Commission, the, 598. Chrysler s Field, battle of, 380. Clark, Colonel Geo. R., 265. Clay, Henry, Speaker of the House, 372 ; favors a tariff, 401 ; presidential candidate, 409 ; Sec. of State, 412; offers tariff compromise, 424 ; pres idential candidate, 426, 434, 443 ; offers Omni bus bill, 463 ; death, 469. Clinton, DeWitt, 367, 372, 414. Clinton, capture of Fort, 238. Clinton, Governor George, 200, 238, 363, 372. Clinton, General James, 238, 277. Clinton, Sir Henry, 151 ; at Bunker Hill, 155 ; at Charleston, 170 ; at Brooklyn, 178 ; at Newport, 189 ; ascends Hudson, 238, 274 ; at Philadelphia, 260 ; at Monmouth, 261 ; at Charleston, 284. Coal, the use of, 348. Cobb, Howell, 406, 476. Cockburn, Admiral, 389, 393. Cold Harbor, battle of, 571. Colfax, Schuyler, 611, 620. Coligny, Admiral, 29. Colleges, founding of, 89, 401. Colonial Life, 84. Colorado, admission of, 619. Columbus, Christopher, 21. Compromise, the Missouri, 406. Compromise, the tariff, 424. Commissioners, Peace, 259, 267, 479. Committees of Correspondence, 143. Common Sense, Paine s, 172. Concord, battle of, 146. Confederation, articles of, 262, 307, 328. Congress, a Peace, 479. Congress, Constitutional, 335, 337, 364, 462. Congress, Continental, 144, 151, 161, 262. Connecticut, settlement of, 53. Connecticut Farms, burning of, 299. Conscription, Federal and Confederate, 555. Constitution, the, u Old Ironsides," 377. Constitution, formation of, 331 ; adoption of, 333 ; amendments to, 336, 361, 605, 606. 614. Continental Currency, 283, 306. Convention, the Hartford, 395. Convention, the Constitutional, 332. Conway, General Thomas, 255-6. Cooper, J. Fenimore, 467. Corinth, attack on, 506. Cornwallis, Earl, at Brooklyn, 178 ; in New Jer sey, 178, 187 ; at Trenton, 197 ; at Camden, 294 ; in North Carolina, 295 : pursues Greene, 309 ; in Virginia, 316. Corwin, Thomas, 464. Cotton, cultivation of, 348. Cotton-gin, the, 348. Cowpens, battle of, 308. Crawford, William H., 400, 409. Crawford, Geo. W., 461. Credit Mobilier, the, 618. Creek Indians, 14, 388, 412. Cross-Keys, affair at, 520. Cross-Roads, battle of, 293. Crown Point, 79, 80, 150. Cuba, 468. Currency, Confederate, 530, 583. Currency, Continental, 161, 283. Gushing, Caleb, 442, 471. Custer, General G. A., 558, 591, 592, 618. DADE Massacre, the, 423. Dahlgren, Ulric, death of, 559. Dallas, George M., 442. Dana, James D., 467. Danbury, Tryon at, 235. Darrah, Lydia, 244. Dartmoor, prison at, 398. Davis, Jefferson, 471, 479, 589, 594. Deane, Silas, 200, 351. Dearborn, Fort, 375, 404, 407. Dearborn, General Henry, 213, 355, 373, 377. Debt, National, 597, 608. Decatur, Lieutenant, 362, 378. Delaware, Lord, 37. Democrats (see Party). INDEX. 659 Demoralization of the People, 257. D Estaing, Count, 262, 279. Detroit, 373, 432. Dieskau, Baron, 79. Donelson, capture of Fort, 496-8. Dongan, Governor, 58. Doniphan, Colonel, 452. Donop, Count, 191, 196, 241. Dorchester Heights, 151, 167. Douglas, Stephen A., the " Little Giant," 472, 479, 485, 607. Drake, Sir Francis, 31. Dranesville, skirmish at, 493 Dred Scott Decision, the, 476. Drummond, William, 40. Dunmore, Governor, 157, 159. Duplessis, Captain, 241. Dupont, Admiral S. F., 554. EARLY, General Jubal A., 574.. Elizabethtown settled, 60 ; attacked, 200. Ellsworth, Colonel E. E., 488. Emancipation Proclamation, the, 531. Embargo Act, the, 367. Episcopalians, the, 347. Ericsson, John, 514. Erie Canal, the, 413. Erie, capture of Fort, 391-3. Erie Railway, the, 468. Eutaw Springs, battle of, 313. Ewell, General R. S., 550, 568, 589. Ewing, Thomas, 461. FAIRFAX, Lord Thomas, 129. Fair Oaks, battle of, 520. Fair, the World s, 471. Falmouth burned, 157. Farragut, Admiral D. G., 383, 509, 579. Federalist, the, 333. Federalists, the (see Party). Fenians, the, 610. Ferguson, Major Patrick, 265, 287, 295. Field, Cyrus W., 609-10. Fillmore, Millard, 460, 464. Fishdam Creek, skirmish at, 297. Fisher, capture of Fort, 580. Fishing Creek, battle of, 295. Five Forks, battle of, 588. Flag, origin of American, 207, 403. Florida, purchase of, 404 ; admission of, 443. Floyd, John B., 476, 497. Foote, Commodore, 496, 503. Forrest, N. B., 497, 567, 578. Forsyth, John, 427, 486. France, treaty with, 259, 360. Franklin, Benjamin, 76, 87, 121, 139, 201, 332. Franklin, General W. B., 523, 526, 528. Franklin, state of, 341. Franklin, battle of, 566. Fraser, General, 205, 215, 216. Frazier s Farm, battle of, 523. Fredericksburg, battle of, 528. Freedman s Bureau, 606. Free Soilers, the (see Party). Frelinghuysen, Theodore, 443. Fremont. Colonel J. C., 452, 465, 475, 489, 520. Frobisher, Martin, 31. Frolic, capture of, 378. Frye, Colonel, 76. Fugitive Slave Law, the, 466. Fulton, Robert, 365. GAGE, General, 139, 145, 146, 167. Gaines s Mill, battle of, 522. Gallatin, Albert, 355, 356, 369. Gansevoort, Lieutenant-Colonel, 207. Garrison, William Lloyd, 424. Gaspee burned, 141. Gates, General Horatio, 165, 191, 212, 294, 307. Geiger, Emily, 313. Genet, " Citizen," 338-9. Georgia, settlement of, 65. Gerry, Elbridge, 332, 344, 372, 396. Gettysburg, battle of, 548-53. Gettysburg Cemetery, dedication of, 556. Gibbes, Robert, story of, 272. Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, 31. Gillmore, General Q. A., 512, 554. Goife, Colonel William, 51. Gourges, Dominique de, 31. Grant, General U. S., at Belmont, 490 ; Fort Don elson, 496 ; Vicksburg, 533 ; Chattanooga, 535 ; lieutenant-general, 560 ; overland cam paign, 567 ; before Richmond, 573 ; supports Congress against Johnson, 607 ; elected Pres ident, 611 ; re-elected, 616. Grasse, Count de, 318. Great Bridge, battle at, 158. Greeley, Horace, 429, 616-17. Greene, General Nathaniel, 151, 177, 186-7: Bran dy wine, 229 ; quartermaster-general, 258 ; Monmouth, 260 ; Quaker Hill, 263 ; Spring field, 299 ; succeeds Gates, 307 ; retreat, 309 ; at Guilford Court-House, 311 ; Eutaw Springs, 313 ; Charleston, 323. Green Spring, battle of, 317-18. Greenwich, battle of, 274. Grey, " No Flint," 231, 265. Grierson, Colonel B. H., 557. Griswold, capture of Fort, 316. Guerriere, the, 377. Guilford Court-House, battle of, 311. HADLEY, attack on, 50. Hale, Captain Nathan, 181 ; Col. Nathan, 205, 656. Hale, John P., 471. Hall, Professor James, 467. Halleck, General H. W., 489, 495, 502, 504. Hamlin, Hannibal, 478. Hamilton, Alexander, 320, 332, 333, 335, 336, 345, 357i 3 6a - Hancock, John, 139. Hancock, General W. S., 529, 549, 568, 570. Hanging Rock, battle of, 293. Hanover Court-House, skirmish at, 521. Hardee, General W. J., 499, 562, 585. Hard-shells (see Party). Harlem Plains, battle of, 183. Harmar, General, 337. Harper s Ferry, capture of, 526. Harrison, General Wm. H., 370, 375, 431, 434, 438. Harrison s Landing, retreat to, 522. Hart, Nancy, 291. Hatteras, expedition to, 494. 66o INDEX. Haverhill, attack on, 71. Haw River, battle at, 310. Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 467. Hayne, execution of Colonel Isaac, 313. Hayne, Robert Y., 421. Heath, General, 235. Heintzelman, General S. P., 490. Henry, Patrick, 136, 138, 144, 333, 344- Henry Affair, the ,^71^. Henry, Joseph, 457. Henry, capture of Fort, 496. Herald, the New York, 429. Herkimer, General, 207. Hessians, the, 188. Hill, General A. P., 522, 543, 588. Hobkirk s Hill, battle of, 311. Holly Springs, capture of depot at, 509. Hood, General J. B., 526, 561-2, 567. Hooker, General Joseph, 517, 526, 536. Hooker, Thomas, 53. Horry, Colonel, 288. Horse Heads named, 279. Horse Neck, battle of, 273. Houston, Sam., 445. Howard, General O. O., 549, 561, 564. Howe, General, Boston, 151 ; sails to Halifax, 167 ; Brooklyn, 176 ; White Plains, 184 ; proc lamation, 189; Brandywine, 228; Philadel phia, 232 ; Whitemarsh, 243 ; resigns, 259. Howe, Admiral (Lord), 176, 190, 263. Hubbardton, battle of, 205. Hudson, Henry, 55, 67, 101. Huguenots, the, 63. Hull, General William, 373, 374. Hull, Captain Isaac, 377. Hunkers (see Party). ILLINOIS, admission of, 404. Impressment of Seamen, 369. Independence, Declaration of, 173 ; Signed, 175 ; first celebration of, 204. Indiana, admission of, 400. Indians, North American, 13. Internal Improvements, 413. Iowa, admission of, 460. Irving, Washington, 366, 467. Island No. 10, capture of, 503. Israel, Hannah Irwin, 230. luka, action at, 506. JACKSON, Andrew, 293 ; in Alabama, 388-9 ; New Orleans, 396 ; Florida, 403 ; presidential can didate, 409 ; chosen President, 417. Jackson, T. J. ( Stonewall"), at Bull Run, 490; the Shenandoah, 520; Mechanicsville, 522; Chancellorsville, 542 ; death, 545-6. Jamestown, settlement of, 34. Japan, treaty with, 469. Jasper, Sergeant, 171, 268, 279. Jay, John, 333, 335, 338. Jefferson, Thomas, writes Declaration of Inde pendence, 172 ; elected Vice-President, 342 : elected President, 347, 354 ; death, 415. Jesuit Missionaries, u, 67. Johnson, Sir William, 79, 266-7, Johnson, Sir John, 266-7, 2 77- Johnson, Richard M., 431, Johnson, Reverdy, 461. Johnson, Andrew, inaugurated President, 603; reconstruction policy, 604 ; impeached, 607. Johnston, General Albert Sydney, 476, 498, 500. Johnston, General Joseph E., Bull Run, 490; Peninsular campaign, 516 ; wounded, 521 ; at Jackson, 533 ; Atlanta campaign, 560 ; super seded by Hood, 561 ; North Carolina, 586 ; surrender, 593. Jones, Paul, 208, 281. KALB, Baron de, 202, 293, 294. Kansas, 472, 474. Kearney, General Stephen Watts, 452. Kearney, General Philip, 517, 521, 523, 524. Kearsarge, the, 581. Kegs, battle of the, 248. Kelly s Ford, skirmish at, 553. Kenesaw ML, battle of, 561. Kentucky, admission of, 340. Kettle Creek, battle of, 270. Kidd, Captain, 59. Kieft, Governor, 57. Kilpatrick, General Judson C., 558, 564- King, Rufus, 332, 333, 364, 400. King s Mountain, battle of, 296. Kingston burned, 239. Kitchel, Anna, 283. Know Nothings (see Party). Knowlton, Colonel, 183. Knox, General Henry, 233, 320, 335. Knoxville, siege of, 541. Knyphausen, General Baron, 297.299. Kosciusko, Thaddeus, 202. Kossuth, Louis, 469. Koszta, Martin, 472. LAFAYETTE, Marquis de, 201, 229, 255, 259, 315, 410. Lake Erie, battle of, 383, 387. La Salle, Cavalier Robert de, 68, 75. Laurens, Colonel, 279, 320, 323. Lawrence sacked, 558. Lee, General Robert E., 457 ; joins Virginia, 488 ; command of army, 521 ; enters Maryland, 525; Chancellorsville, 542; enters Maryland, 547 ; overland campaign, 568 ; before Rich mond, 573 ; retreat, 590 ; surrender, 593. Lee, Captain Henry, 250, 276, 300, 310-13. Lee, Fort, abandoned, 187. Lee, Major-General Charles, 157 ; at Charleston, 170; New York, 176; White Plains, 185: captured, 187 ; exchanged, 238 ; Monmouth, 260; dismissed, 262, 294. Lee, Richard Henry, 144, 172. Leisler, Captain, 59. - Leon, Ponce de, 27. Lexington, battle of, 146. Lexington, capture of, 489. Lewis and Clarke, expedition of, 361. Liberty, Sons of, and Liberty Tree, 137. Library of Congress, 358. Life, Colonial, 84. Life, close of eighteenth century, 349-353- Light-Horse Harry (see Captain Henry Lee). Lincoln, General Benjamin, 212, 270, 279, 284, 320, 321- INDEX. 66 1 Lincoln, Abraham, elected President, 479 ; inau guration, 484 ; calls for troops, 488 ; issues emancipation proclamation, 531 ; at Gettys burg dedication, 556; re-elected President, 575 ; assassination, 595. Lind, Jennie, 468. Little Belt, the, 369. Livingston, William, 332, 360. Loco-Focos, the (see Party). Longfellow, Henry W., 467. Longstreet, General James S., 517, 520, 522, 534, 541, 549, 569. Long Island, battle of, 177. Lookout Mountain, battle of, 536-7. Lopez, General, 468. Louisburg captured, 74, 80. Louisiana, purchase of, 360 ; admission of, 371 ; secession of, 479. Lovelace, Governor, 87. Lundy s Lane, battle of, 391. Lyon, Captain Nathaniel, 489. MADISON, James, 331, 332, 355, 368. Magruder, General J. B., 489, 516, 547. Maine, admission of, 405. Majorabanks, Major, 315. Malvern Hill, battle of, 523. Manassas, battles of, 490, 524. Manning, story of, 314. Map of Boston and Concord, 148 ; Bunker Hill, 153 ; Burgoyne s Campaign, 219 ; Carolinas and Georgia, 272 ; Chattanooga, 536 ; Civil War, East, 505; West, 563; Colonies, 138; Discoveries, 29 ; Donaldson s Point, 503 ; French and Indian Wars, 72 ; Gettysburg, 549; Hudson River, 185; Long Island, 178; Mexican War, 454 ; New England, 47 ; New Jersey and Pennsylvania, 230 ; Peninsula, 516 ; Richmond, campaign before, 569 ; Terri torial Growth, 332 ; Vicksburg, 534 ; War of 1812-14, 374 ; World, 23-4 ; Yorktown, 320. Marcy, Governor William L., 358, 471. Marie Antoinette, 259. Marion, General Francis, 287, 296, 312, 313. Marquette, James, 68, 75. Marshall, John, 344, 359, 401, 428. Martin, Governor, 168. Maryland, settlement of, 41. Mason and Slidell Affair, the, 494. Masonic Party, the Anti- (see Party). Massachusetts Bay, settlement of, 46. Maximilian in Mexico, 608. McAllister, capture of Fort, 565. McClellan, General George B., supersedes Scott, 492-3 ; Peninsular Campaign, 515 ; super sedes Hooker, 525 ; at Antietam, 526 ; is su perseded by Burnside, 527. McClernand, General John A., 496, 509. McCrea, Jane, murder of, 211. McCulloch, General Benjamin, 511. McDonough, Commodore, 392. McDowell, General Irvin, 490, 519. McHenry, James, 344. McHenry, bombardment of Fort, 394. McPherson, General James B., 560-2. Meade, General George G., supersedes McClel lan, 548 ; at Mine Run, 553-4 ; overland cam paign, 567 ; before Richmond, 587. Mechanicsville, battle of, 522. Mecklenburg Declaration, 160. Meigs, Colonel Return Jonathan, at Sag Harbor 2 37- Meigs, siege of Fort, 381. Mercer, General Hugh, 197, 198. Mercer, attack on Fort, 241. Meridian Expedition, 577. Merrimac, the, 513. Meteoric Shower, 427. Methodists, the, 347. Mexico, battles before, 458. Mexico, treaty with, 459. Michigan, admission of, 431. Mifflin, Fort, 242. Mifflin, General, 180, 254. Miller, Colonel, 391, 420. Mine Explosion before Petersburg, 574. Mine Run, affair at, 554. Minnesota, admission of, 476. Mischianza at Philadelphia, 259. Missionary Society, Foreign, 402. Mississippi, admission of, 404. Missouri, admission of, 406, 410. Missouri Compromise, 406. Mobile settled, 68, 405. Modoc Indians, the, 618. Monitor, the, 513. Monk s Corner, battle of, 284. Monmouth, battle of, 260. Monroe Doctrine, the, 409. Monroe, Fortress, 488. Monroe, James, 333, 360, 400, 423. Montcalm, Marquis de, 79. Montgomery, General Richard, 163. Montgomery, Fort, taken, 238. Monterey, capture of, 451. Monticello, Jefferson s home at, 415. Moore, Colonel Andrew, 168. Moore s Creek, battle of, 169. Morgan, General John H., 558. Morgan, General Daniel, 163, 215, 216, 307. Mormons, the, 440, 476. Morris, Gouverneur, 332, 414. Morris, Robert, 195, 298, 307, 332-3. Morristown, army at, 283. Morse, Professor Samuel F. B., 442. Motte, Fort, 312 ; Mrs., 312. Moultrie, Colonel William, 170, 270. Moultrie, Fort, 170, 284. Mound Builders, the, 9. Murfreesborough, battle of, 508. Murray, Robert, 182. Musgrove s Mill, storming of, 295. Mutiny Act, 136. Mutiny of Connecticut troops, 298 ; at Morris- town, 306 ; of New Jersey troops, 307. NAPOLEON BUONAPARTE, 345, 367. Nashville, battle of, 567. Navigation Acts, 38. Nebraska, admission of, 611. Necessity, Fort, 76. Negro Soldiers, 531. Nelson s Ferry, skirmish at, 295. Nevada, admission of, 611. New London burned, 316. New Madrid, capture of, 503. 662 INDEX. New York, settlement of, 55 ; evacuation of, 323 ; fire in, 429 ; riot in, 556. New Netherland, 56, 60. New Orleans, capture of, 510. New England in Seventeenth Century, 89. New Haven, attack on, 274. Newtown (Elmira) burned, 278. Niagara Falls, ship sent over, 420. Ninety-Six, siege of, 312. Norfolk burned, 159. North, Lord, 259, 323. Northmen, the, 20. Northwestern Territory, 331-2. Nullification, 416, 424. OGLETHORPE, James Edward, 65. Ohio, admission of, 359. Omnibus Bill, the, 463. Orangeburg, Fort, captured, 312. Oregon, boundary of, 448 ; admission of, 477. Oriskany, battle of, 207. Osceola, a Seminole chief, 429. Oswego, capture of Fort, 79, 391. Otis, James, 135, 139, 141. Overland Campaign, the, 567. Oyster Point (Charleston), 63. PACIFIC RAILROAD, 612. Paine, Thomas, 172. Palo Alto, battle of, 449. Panic of 1833, 426 ; of 1837, 433 ; of 1873, 6l8 - Paoli, massacre at, 231. Parker, Admiral, 170. Parties, Political : Anti-Masonic, nominates Wirt and Ellmaker, 426. Anti-Slavery, or Liberty, nominates Birney, 434 ; Birney, 443. Barnburner anti-slavery Democrats, 357. Bucktail, 357. Constitutional Union, nominates Bell and Ev erett, 478. Democratic, 336 ; nominates Jackson and Cal- houn, 417 ; Jackson and Van Buren, 426 ; Van Buren and Johnson, 431 ; Van Buren, 434 ; Polk and Dallas, 442 ; Cass and But ler, 460 ; Pierce and King, 470 ; Buchanan and Breckenridge, 475 ; Breckenridge and Lane, Douglas and Johnson, 478-9 ; Mc- Clellan and Pendleton, 575 ; Seymour and Blair, 611 ; Greeley and Brown, 616. Federal, 336 ; nominates Adams and Pinck- ney, 342 ; Adams and Pinckney, 346 ; Pinckney and King, 364 ; Pinckney and King, 368 ; Clinton and Ingersoll, 372 ; King, 400. Free Soil, nominates Van Buren and Adams, 460 ; Hale and Julian, 471. Hard-shell extreme Democrats, 357. Hunker pro-slavery Democrats, 357. Know-Nothing, or American, nominates Fill- more and Donelson, 474-5 ; Bell and Ev erett, 478. Loco-Focos, 357. Republican (Democratic), 336, 357 : nominates Washington, 338 ; Jefferson, 342 ; Jefferson and Burr, 347 ; Jefferson and Clinton, 363 ; Madison and Clinton, 368 ; Madison and Gerry, 372 ; Monroe and Tompkins, 400 ; Monroe and Tompkins, 406 ; Adams, Crawford, Calhoun, Clay, Jackson, 409. Republican, the Liberal, nominates Greeley and Brown, 616. Republican, the National, nominates J. Q. Adams, 417 ; Clay and Sergeant, 426. Silver-Grey Whig, 464. Soft-shellmoderate Democrats, 357. The Republican, nominates Fremont and Dayton, 475 ; Lincoln and Hamlin, 478 : Lincoln and Johnson, 575 ; Grant and Colfax, 6n ; Grant and Wilson, 616. Whig, 427 ; nominates Harrison, McLean, and Webster, 431 ; Harrison and Tyler, 434 ; Clay and Frelinghuysen, 443 ; Taylor and Fillmore, 460 ; Scott and Graham, 470. Partisan Warfare, 286. Patrons of Industry, 619. Paulus Hook, capture of, 276. Peacemaker, explosion of the, 442. Pea Ridge, battle of, 511. Peninsular Campaign, the, 515. Penn, William, 60. Pennsylvania, settlement of, 60. Perry, Oliver H., 383. Perryville, skirmish at, 504. Philip, King, 13, 49. Pickens, Colonel, 270. Pickens, Fort, 480. Pickens, General Andrew, 287, 310, 312, 313. Pickering, Timothy, 344. Pierce, General Franklin, 470. Pike, General Z. N., 380. Pinckney, C. C., 332, 344, 346. Pitcher, Molly, 261. Pitt, William, 79. Pittsburg Landing (Shiloh), battle of, 499. Plattsburg, battle of, 392-3. Pleasant Hill, battle of, 578. Pleasanton, General Alfred, 543. Plymouth Colony, settlement of, 42. Pocahontas, 13, 36. Poe, Edgar Allan, 467. Polk, James Knox, 443. Polk, Bishop, 490, 499, 534. Pontiac, 13, 82. u Poor Richard s Almanac," 76. Pope, General John, 503, 511, 524, 525. Population, centre of, 614. Porter, General Fitz John, 519, 522. Porter, Captain W. D., 496. Porter, Captain David, 377, 383. Porter, Admiral D. D., 580. Port Gibson, battle of, 533. Port Hudson, fall of, 534. Portland, fire in, 611. Port Royal (Annapolis) captured, 74. Port Royal Expedition, 512. Port Republic, action at, 520. Potts, Isaac, 248. Powhatan, 13, 36, 38, 49. Prehistoric Peoples, 9. Presbyterians, the, 347. Prescott, Colonel William, 151. Prescott, General, captured, 238. Prescott, William H., 467. President, the frigate, 369, 372. INDEX. 663 Preston, Wm. B., 461. Prevost, General, 270, 272, 279. Price, General Stirling, 506, 511. Princeton, battle of, 197. Prison Ships, 179. Privateers, Confederate, 493, 581. Proctor, General, 381, 382, 387. Proviso, the Wilmot, 453. Pulaski, Count, 202, 235, 265, 279. Pulaski, capture of Fort, 513. Putnam, General Israel, 149, 155, 168, 177, 182, 191, 273. QUAKER HILL, battle of, 263. Quebec captured, 82. Quincy, Josiah, 142, 372, 390. Queenstown Heights, battle of, 375. Quesne, Fort du, 76, 80. RAILROADS, 416, 612. Raisin, massacre at the, 381. Raleigh, Sir Walter, 31-2. Randolph, Edmund, 332, 335. Randolph, John, 364, 413. Rawdon, Lord, 311, 312. Rebellion, the Whiskey, 338 ; Dorr s, 440. Redbank, Fort, 243. Redemptioners, the, 56. Red Jacket, 14, 277. Red River Expedition, 577. Reed, Colonel Joseph, 191, 196. Regulators, the, 141. Rensselaer, General Van, 373, 375. Republicans (see Party}. Resaca de la Palma, battle of, 449. Reynolds, General John F., 548. Ribaut, Jean, 30. Rich Mountain, skirmish at, 489. Richmond, fire at, 370 ; capture of, 589-90. Riedesel, journal of Madame, 220-6. Roanoke Island, colony at, 31 ; expedition to, 512. Rochambeau, Count de, 318. Rocky Mount, attack on, 293. Rolfe, John, 36. Rosecrans, General Wm. S., 504, 534. Rotation in office introduced, 419. Rush, Benjamin, 255. Russy, capture of Fort de, 577. Rutledge, Governor John, 171, 332. SABINE CROSS-ROADS (Mansfield), battle of, 578. Sackett s Harbor, attack on, 380. San Francisco, 466. Sanitary Commission, the, 598. Santa Anna, 445, 453. Santee, battle at ford of, 285. Santo Domingo, annexation of, 614. Saratoga, battles of, 213-15. Savage s Station, battle of, 523. Savannah, 268, 278, 323, 566. Schenectady, burning of, 70. Schuyler, Fort, 207, 209. Schuyler, General Philip, 205, 206, 212, 414 : anec dote of Mrs., 212. Scofield, General John M., 561, 566, 581. Scott, General Winfield, Queenstown, 375 ; Chip- pewa, 391 ; presidential candidate, 434, 470 ; Mexico, 457 ; Civil War, 484, 490, 493. Sedgwick, General John, 521, 542-4, 549, 568, 570. Seminole Indians, 14, 403, 429, Semmes, Captain R., 493, 581. Senecas, the, 278. Seven-Days Battles, 522. Seven Pines, battle of, 520. Sevier, Governor John, 295, 341. Sewall, Judge Stephen, 52. Seward, Wm. Hr, 426, 463, 485. Sewing Machine, the, 462. Shaw, Colonel Robert G., 554. Sheridan, General Phil. H., 508, 571, 576, 584, 587, 590, 618. Sherman, General T. W., 494. Sherman, General W. T., at Pittsburg Landing, 500; Chickasaw Bayou, 509; Chattanooga, 536 ; Knoxville, 541 ; March to Atlanta, 560 ; March to the Sea, 564 ; in Carolina, 584. Shiloh (Pittsburg Landing), 499. Sickles, General Daniel E., 543, 549. Sigel, General Franz, 511, 572. Silliman, Professor Benjamin, 467. Silver-Greys, the (see Party). Skippack Creek, Washington at, 233. Slemmer, Lieutenant A. J., 480. Slocum, Mrs., 169. Slocum, General Henry W., 544. Slocumb, Mrs., 289. Smith, Captain John, 34, 56. Smith, Robert, 355, 369. Smith, General A. J., 578. Smith, General C. F., 498. Smith, General Kirby, 504, 578, 594. Smith, General W. S., 577, 478. Smithsonian Institution, the, 431. Soft-shells (see Party). Soto, Ferdinand de, 27, 28. Southard, Sam. L., 40x3, 412. South Mountain, battle of, 526. Spain, treaty with, 339. Spy hanged, 240. Stamp Act, 135, 139. Stanton, Edwin M., 486, 620. Stark, General John, 209. St. Clair, General Arthur, 204, 337. Steadman, attack on Fort, 587. Steam Navigation, 365, 434. Steele, General Fred., 578. Steele, John, 53 ; Mrs. Elizabeth, 309. Steele, Salmon, anecdote of, 155. Stephens, Alexander H., 479. Steuben, Baron, 256, 257, 329. Stirling, General (Lord), 177, 260, 297. St. Leger, Colonel, 206, 207. St. Louis, 410. Stoddart, Benjamin, 345, 355. Stoneman, General Geo. D., 558, 584. Stonington bombarded, 395. Stono Ferry, battle of, 272. Stony Point, capture of, 275. Stowe, Mrs. Harriet Beecher, 467. Streight, Colonel A. D., 557. Stuart, General J. E. B., 521, 543, 548,553, 5691 57*. Stuyvesant, Governor, 57. Sugar House, the Old, 298. Sullivan, General John, 177, 192, 228, 262, 277. Sumner, Charles, 468, 472. Sumner, General Edwin, 521, 526, 529. 664 INDEX. Sumter, attack on Fort, 486, 554, 555. Sumter, General Thomas, 287, 313. Sun, the New York, 428. Sunbury, capture of, 270. TALBOT, Silas, fires Renomme, 182. Tammany Society, the, 339. Taney, Roger B., 423, 428, 476. Tariff, the, 416 ; compromise, 424. Tarleton, Colonel, 284, 287, 296, 297, 308, 317. Taylor, Zachary, 430, 448, 460. Tecumseh, 13, 370, 381, 387. Telegraph, the Magnetic, 442 ; the Submarine, 609. Tennessee, admission of, 341 ; restored to the Union, 606. Territory, Northwestern, 331. Terry, General A. H., 580, 586. Texas, admission of, 443. Thames, battle of the, 387. Thomas, General George H. (" Old Pap Safety"), Logan s Cross-Roads, 496 ; Chickamauga, 534, 567- Ticonderoga, Fort, 80, 150, 204. Tippecanoe, 370, 434. Tompkins, Daniel D., 400, 401, 406. Treaty of Paris, 323 ; with England, 338 ; with France, 360 ; the Ashburton, 439 : Guadalupe Hidalgo, 459 ; Clayton-Bulwer, 464 ; Gads- den, 472 ; Washington, 615. Trenton, battle of, 190. Tribune, the New York, 429. Tryon, Governor, 141, 159, 203, 235, 274. Tweed, Wm. M., 615. Tyler, John, 434, 438, 479. UMBRELLAS first used, 122. Unitarians, the, 347. VALLEY FORGE, 245-8. Van Buren, Martin, 414, 419, 426, 431, 460. Van Dorn, General Earl, 506, 511. Vera Cruz, capture of, 457. Verazzani, 28. Vermont, admission of, 339. Vernon, Mount, 343. Vespucci, Amerigo, 26. Vicksburg, capture of, 534. Virginia, settlement of, 34. WADSWORTH, General James S., 569. Wagner, attack on Fort, 554-5. Waldron, Major, 70. Walker, Wm., 474. Wallace, General Lew, 497, 500, 504. War, Black Hawk, 425 ; Civil, 481 ; Colonial, 67 ; Creek, 388, 412 ; 1812-14, 372 ; French and In dian, 68 ; King George s, 68 ; King Philip s, 51 ; King William s, 71 ; Mexican, 448 ; " Pa triot," 433 ; Pequod, 53 ; Pontiac s, 83 ; Queen Anne s, 68 ; Revolutionary, 131 ; Seminole, 403, 429. Ward, General Artemas, 151. Warner, Colonel Seth, 151, 205, 209. Warren, death of General Joseph, 155. Warren, General Gouverneur K., 550, 553, 568, 588. Washington, capture of Fort, 186. Washington, Captain Wm., 193, 307, 308, 311, 313. Washington, the capital at, 337, 346, 359 , 415, 469. Washington, treaty of, 615. Washington, George, in French and Indian War, 75 ; at Mount Vernon, 129 ; elected command- er-in-chief, 151 ; at Cambridge, 156 ; at Brook lyn, 180 ; at New York, 182 ; in New Jersey, 187 ; crosses the Delaware, 191 ; a dictator, 194 ; at Trenton and Princeton, 196-7 ; at Middlebrook, 226 : anecdote of, 227 ; at White- marsh, 243 ; at Valley Forge, 245 ; at Brandy- wine, 228-9 & t Monmouth, 260 ; at Spring field, 299 ; resignation of, 328 ; at Newburg, 329 ; elected President, 334 ; private life, 334 ; farewell address, 342 ; levees, 343 ; death of, 345. Waxhaw Creek, battle of, 285. Wayne, General Anthony, 229, 260, 275, 337. Webster, Daniel, 421, 439, 464, 469. Weed, Thurlow, 426. Weitzel, General Godfrey, 580. Wesley, John and Charles, 66. West Point, academy at, 358. Whigs, the (see Party). White, Colonel, anecdote of, 280. Whitefield, George, 66, 74. White Plains, battle of, 184. Whittier, John G., 467. Wilderness, battle of, 568. Willard, Mrs. Emma, 402. Wilkes, Captain, in Trent Affair, 494. Wilkinson, General James, 365, 380. Willett, Colonel, 207-8. Williams, Roger, 53. William Henry, massacre at Fort, 79. Williams, Colonel, 295, 309, 313. Williamsburg, powder seized at, 157. Williamsburg, battle of, 517. Wilmington, capture of, 580. Wilson, Henry, 616. Wilson, General James H., 567, 584. Wilson s Creek, battle of, 489. Winthrop, Governor, 46, 54, 94. Winthrop, Major Theodore, 489. Wirt, Wm., 401, 412, 426. Wisconsin, admission of, 460. Wise, Governor Henry A., 474. Witchcraft, Salem, 51. Wolcott, Oliver, 344. Wolfe, General James, 80, 82. Wool, General John E., 375, 453. Wooster, General David, 164, 236. Wright, Sir James, 270. Wright s Bluff, capture of, 312. Wright, Silas, 442. Wright, General H. G., 576. Wyoming, massacre of, 263. YORK, capture of, 379. York, Duke of, 58-9. Yorktown, siege of, 319, 516. Young, Brigham, 441. Young s House, attack on, 298. 14 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED LOAN DEPT. 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