UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 AT LOS ANGELES 
 
 THE GIFT OF 
 
 MAY TREAT MORRISON 
 
 IN MEMORY OF 
 
 ALEXANDER F MORRISON
 
 A 
 CONCISE HISTORY 
 
 AMERICAN PEOPLE, 
 
 FROM THE DISCOVERIES OF THE CONTINENT 
 TO THE PRESENT TIME. 
 
 JACOB HARRIS PATTON, A.M., 
 
 l\ 
 
 Author of " Yorktown, 1781 1881 ;" " The Natural Resources of the 
 United States ," etc. 
 
 Illustrated 
 
 WITH ABOUT ONE HUNDRED PORTRAITS, CHARTS, MAPS, ETC., 
 
 AND CONTAINING MARGINAL DATES, STATISTICAL REFERENCES, 
 
 AND A FULL ANALYTICAL INDEX. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 NEW YCKRKV VK^ 
 FORDS, HOWARD, & HULBERT. 
 ,1883.
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1882, BY 
 FORDS, HOWARD, & HULBERT,
 
 v. > 
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 JEFFERSON'S ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 The President's Inaugural. Purchase of Louisiana. The Pirates of the 
 Mediterranean. Captain Bainbridge. The Burning of the Philadel- 
 phia. Tripoli Bombarded. Death of Hamilton. Aaron Burr. Oppo- 
 sition to the Navy. Gunboats. Right of Neutrals infringed upon. 
 The unjust Decrees issued by England and France. American Mer- 
 chants demand the Fight to defend themselves. Impressment of 
 American Seamen. Treaty with England rejected by the President. 
 Affair of the Chesapeake. The Embargo ; its effect. Public feeling on 
 the subject. Manufactures. Embargo repealed. 
 
 ON entering upon office Jefferson found the country in a CHAP 
 prosperous condition. The revenue was abundant for 
 current expenses ; the stability of the government had in- 1801 
 spired the industrial interests with confidence, commerce 
 had increased beyond all precedent, and was pressing on 
 to still higher triumphs. 
 
 The prospect of a general peace in Europe also gave as- 
 surance that American ships would no longer be subjected 
 to unlawful seizures under the pretense that they carried 
 cargoes contraband of war. The census just taken had 
 shown the population to be, within a few hundreds, double 
 what it was at the commencement of the revolution. The 
 total population being 5,319,762. The number of mem- 
 bers of the House of Representatives was 141. 
 
 The new President professed to deprecate party spirit : 
 and wished to be recognized as a " moderate republican/' 
 proclaiming as " brethren of the same principles, we are
 
 600 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, called by different names, we are all Republicans, we are 
 
 1 all Federalists." But in a very short time he began to 
 
 1802. remove those from office, who were not of his own political 
 opinions. Tihe bitterness of party spirit was not allayed 
 by this policy. . V ' : i %' 
 
 Immigrants ;had- jbeen; pouring into the region North- 
 west of the 'Ohio.' ''In one 'year' twenty thousand persons 
 had passed into that territory to find homes. The people 
 of the eastern portion, presented themselves at the door 
 of Congress, asking permission to be admitted as a State. 
 The request was granted, and the State of Ohio, with a 
 population of seventy thousand, became a member of the 
 April. Union. 
 
 The Spanish Governor of Louisiana, in violation of an 
 existing treaty that of 1795 refused permission to the 
 traders on the Mississippi to deposit their produce at New 
 Orleans. This act, so injurious to their commerce, caused 
 a great commotion among the people beyond the moun- 
 tains. The government was called upon to redress these 
 grievances ; the Western people must have the privilege 
 of freely navigating the Mississippi, or they would seize 
 New Orleans, and drive the Spaniards from the territory. 
 At this crisis intimations came from Paris that Spain, by 
 a secret treaty, had ceded Louisiana to France. Bona- 
 parte's vision of restoring the French power on this con- 
 tinent had become somewhat dim, especially as the over- 
 powering fleet of Great Britain would seize and occupy 
 the mouth of the Mississippi, whenever it was known to 
 belong to France. To avoid this contingency, he was 
 willing to sell the entire territory of Louisiana to the 
 United States. Accordingly Robert R. Livingston, 
 American Minister at Paris, commenced negotiations, 
 which resulted in the purchase of that region for fifteen 
 1803. millions of dollars. The rights and privileges of Ameri- 
 30. can citizens were guaranteed to the inhabitants of the 
 purchased territory.
 
 ALGERINE PIRATES - BAINBRIDOE. 601 
 
 When the sale was completed. Bonaparte is said to 
 
 . 
 
 have exclaimed : " This accession of territory strengthens __ . 
 forever the power of the United States ; I have just 1803. 
 given to England a maritime rival that will sooner or later 
 humble her pride." 
 
 In the midst of the turmoil of wars in Europe, the 
 pirates of the Mediterranean had renewed their depreda- Sopt 
 tions upon American commerce. Captain Bainbridge in 
 command of the frigate George Washington was sent to 
 Algiers with the usual tribute. The Dey ordered him to 
 carry some presents and his ambassador to Constantinople. 
 Bainbridge at first refused. The Dey was highly indignant, 
 " You pay me tribute, " said he, " by which you become 
 my slaves, and therefore I have the right to order you as I 
 think proper." However, as he was exposed to the guns 
 of the castle and batteries, and learning that English, 
 French, and Spanish ships of war had submitted to similar 
 impositions, Bainbridge thought it more prudent to com- 
 ply with the arrogant demand, hoping at some future time 
 to avenge the indignity thus offered his country's flag. In 
 closing his report to the Navy Department, he wrote, " I 
 hope I will never again be sent to Algiers with tribute unless 
 
 I OU5 
 
 I am authorized to deliver it from the mouth of our cannon." 
 As these depredations continued, and, while the tribute 
 became more and more onerous, a squadron, under Com- 
 modore Preble, was sent to capture the pirates and block- 
 ade the harbor of Tripoli. The frigate Philadelphia, 
 commanded by Bainbridge, when chasing an Algerine 
 cruiser, ran upon a sunken rock near the shore. While 
 thus disabled, Tripolitan gun-boats captured her after a 
 contest, which lasted an entire day. Bainbridge and his 
 crew of three hundred men, were made prisoners, and 
 treated as slaves, for whom an exorbitant ransom was de- 
 manded. 
 
 Finding means, however, to communicate with the 
 American squadron, he suggested the possibility of burn-
 
 602 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, ing the Philadelphia, as she lay moored under the guns 
 
 , of the castle. Lieutenant Decatur volunteered to act on 
 
 1804. the suggestion. A small Tripolitan trader had been cap- 
 tured a few days before. This vessel, now named the 
 Intrepid, was selected for the enterprise. With a crew 
 of seventy-six chosen men all volunteers Decatur sail- 
 ed on his perilous undertaking. Combustibles were pre- 
 pared in bundles, and to each man was assigned his par- 
 ticular duty. 
 
 1804. Passing into the harbor, they approached the Phila- 
 delphia about midnight. When hailed, the interpreter 
 answered they were traders, who had lost their anchor in 
 the late gale, and begged permission to make fast to the 
 frigate till morning. The request was granted, and the 
 Intrepid slipped alongside. Suddenly the Turks noticed 
 that she had her anchors, and gave the alarm, shouting 
 
 Feb. " Americanos." In a moment more, Decatur and his 
 1 fi 
 
 brave companions clambered up one side of the vessel, 
 
 while the panic-stricken Turks, after slight resistance, as 
 rapidly passed over the other into the water. The fag- 
 gots were handed up, and carried to every part of the 
 ship, and in thirty minutes she was on fire from stem to 
 stern. So dry had the vessel and the rigging become in 
 that warm climate, that with difficulty the Americans 
 escaped the flames. When clear of the frigate cheers of 
 triumph told that the daring attempt had been success- 
 ful. The flames soon lighted up the harbor ; the castle 
 opened with its guns upon the Intrepid, which, urged on 
 by the rowers, was rapidly passing out of danger. Soon 
 the guns of the burning frigate began to explode and 
 throw their shot in all directions. This was one of the 
 boldest enterprises ever undertaken by our naval heroes. 
 
 The squadron continued to blockade the harbor of 
 Tripoli, and during the following summer bombarded the 
 town. The contest was severe, and there was much hand- 
 to-hand fighting on board gun-boats. Intelligence came
 
 HAMILTON BURR. 603 
 
 that other vessels were on their way, and a further attack C " A T P - 
 
 A 1.* I . 
 
 was postponed. Before the arrival of this reinforcement . 
 
 the Bashaw came to terms, and desired to make peace ; 1804. 
 other causes aided in hastening this event. He had 
 driven his elder brother, Hamet, into exile, and usurped 
 his throne. Captain William Eaton, American Consul 
 at Tunis, concerted measures with the exiled brother to 
 drive the usurper from Tripoli. With four hundred troops, 
 only nine of whom were Americans, Eaton and Hamet 
 marched a thousand miles across the Libyan desert, and 
 suddenly appeared before Derne, which place, with the aid 
 of the American fleet, they captured in a few days. The 
 Bashaw sent troops against the invaders ; these troops 
 were also defeated, then to save himself he made proposals 
 to negotiate. Peace was concluded by Lear, the American 1805. 
 consul at Tripoli, but not on as favorable terms as justice ^ e 
 demanded. After an exchange of prisoners, man for man, 
 there still remained two hundred Americans ; for these a 
 heavy ransom was paid. Thus conceding the point in 
 dispute, that the Bashaw had a right to receive ransoms 
 for prisoners taken by his pirates. 
 
 Jefferson was re-elected President, and, instead of 
 Burr, George Clinton, of New York, Vice-President. 
 Burr's intrigues had become known to both parties, and 
 he experienced the just fate of the insincere he was sus- 
 pected by all, and trusted by none. Rejected by his own 
 State, his political prospects ruined, and overwhelmed by 
 debts, the result of unsuccessful speculations, his cold and 
 unrelenting spirit panted for revenge. He looked upon 
 the influence of Alexander Hamilton, as one cause of his 
 political failure. To retrieve his political fortunes Burr 
 was willing to risk his own life, if he could but kill the 
 man whose patriotism and integrity he well knew, and 
 whose influence he dreaded. He laid his plans to force 
 Hamilton into a duel. They met on. the banks of the 
 Hudson, opposite New York, Hamilton previously de- 1805.
 
 604 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP - during that to fight a duel was contrary to his judgment 
 and his sense of moral duty ; that he wished Burr no ill, 
 
 1804. and should make no effort to injure him. Burr took de- 
 liberate aim, and Hamilton was mortally wounded ; as he 
 fell his own pistol went off accidentally. When the sur- 
 
 July geon approached he said, " Doctor, this is a mortal 
 11- wound." In twenty-four hours he was no more. Thus 
 fell one of the brightest intellects, and purest, self-sac- 
 rificing patriots of the country a victim to an unchristian 
 custom, the relic of a barbarous age. His loss to the 
 country was second only to that of Washington. 
 
 The most imposing funeral ceremony the city ever 
 saw revealed the depth of feeling in the public mind. 
 Presently the correspondence between the parties was 
 published ; this made known the designing manner in 
 which Hamilton had been entrapped, and the disclosure 
 produced in the public mind still greater indignation 
 against Burr. The coroner's jury brought in a verdict of 
 wilful murder against him. Fearful of violence he was 
 fain to conceal himself for a few days in New York, and 
 then to flee to Philadelphia, and finally to Georgia, until, 
 as he expressed it, " the storm would blow over." 
 
 The sacrifice of a man so eminent, merely to appease 
 the honor of a consummate villain, turned the minds of 
 the people more directly to the moral turpitude, as well 
 as the absurdity of the custom of duelling. Public opinion 
 on this subject became, henceforth, embodied in laws, 
 which banished the custom from some of the States, and 
 will, it may be hoped, eventually banish it from all the 
 others. 
 
 The remaining history of Aaron Burr may be told in 
 a few words. His intriguing and restless nature impelled 
 
 1805. him to other enterprises. The year following the death 
 of Hamilton he went west. That section of the country 
 contained many turbulent spirits, and had, moreover, 
 manifested much dissatisfaction with the General Govern.
 
 THE MYSTERIOUS MOVEMENTS OF BURR - HIS DEATH. 605 
 
 ment. It was thought Burr had some designs for his own - 
 aggrandizement ; either to seize upon New Orleans and - 
 draw off the people of the valley of the Mississippi from 1805. 
 their allegiance to the Union, or to make a foray into 
 Mexico, overturn the existing government, and put him- 
 self at the head of the one he should establish. His mys- 
 terious movements from place to place, and the hints 
 concerning his projects, which he threw out to those 
 whom he wished to enlist, excited the suspicion of the 
 federal government. After being permitted to plan and 
 counter-plan for a year or more, he was finally arrested 
 and brought to trial. But so cunningly had he managed 
 the affair, that no decisive proof could be obtained of his 
 designs. After a prolonged trial, he was acquitted of the 
 charge of treason against the United States. ^^ 
 
 Though acquitted by the jury, public opinion treat- 
 ed him as guilty. Turned upon the world a penniless 
 wanderer, suspected everywhere, even in foreign lands, 
 where he lived in the greatest poverty, a pensioner upon 
 the pittance doled out by a few friends. Ordered out of 
 England as a French spy, and treated in France as a 
 British emissary ; finally, he returned home, to find his 
 family ties all broken, his daughter, an only and beloved 
 child, having, under trying circumstances, recently perish- 
 ed at sea. 
 
 He made no advances to renew former friendships or 
 acquaintance, and would gladly have shunned the public 
 gaze, but he was compelled in his old age to resume the 
 practice of the law as a means of support. With a ban 
 /esting upon him, he went down in loneliness to the 
 grave, in his eighty-first year a melancholy instance of 1336. 
 prostituted talents. 
 
 The country continued to be very prosperous ; the 
 public expences were lessened, and the finances were 
 leaving every year an increasing surplus ; the belligerents 
 36
 
 606 HISTORY OF THE AMEKICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CH A P - in Europe had not yet interfered much with American 
 
 commerce, the great source of the federal revenue. The 
 
 1805. facilities for making money exchanges afforded by the 
 banks had a beneficial effect upon the internal trade of 
 the country. The exportation of domestic produce had 
 tripled in value since the adoption of the Constitution, 
 amounting to forty-two millions. There was also a rapidly- 
 increasing, and immensely profitable trade in the import 
 and export of foreign merchandise, exclusively for the 
 supply of foreign nations. Internal improvements were 
 not overlooked, and companies were formed for the con- 
 struction of roads and bridges, and others for insurance. 
 
 Washington and Adams, in their administrations, 
 both endeavored to place the force of the country on a 
 footing to command the respect of other nations. Hence 
 they strongly urged the creation of a navy to protect 
 American commerce, and the policy of fortifying impor- 
 tant places along the coast. But Jefferson looked upon 
 this as a useless expense. He would prefer to have the 
 public ships hauled out of harm's way into harbors ; in- 
 stead of prosecuting trade upon the ocean, where a cruiser 
 of one of the belligerents might occasionally search a ves- 
 sel for goods contraband of war, he would lay an embargo, 
 and cut off all trade. Harbor fortifications were subjected 
 to the same policy, falsely named economical ; gun-boats 
 were to take the place of other defences. Even the frames 
 of the six ships of the line, commenced by the previous 
 administration, were cut up to make gun -boats. 
 
 For more than six years not a single vessel was added 
 to the navy, though there were indications that war might 
 speedily occur. The hostility in Congress to that branch 
 of the service was confined principally to the southern 
 members. It was avowed that in case of war it would be 
 good policy to abandon the harbors and sea-coast, and 
 retire into the interior ; that it would be better to give 
 up commerce altogether than protect it by a navy.
 
 ENGLISH AND FRENCH DECREES. 607 
 
 The war between France and England had driven CH A P - 
 from the ocean all the merchant vessels of those nations. . 
 This trade passed into the hands of neutrals, the United 1806. 
 States necuring much the largest share. 
 
 The cruisers of the belligerent powers continued to in- 
 fringe upon the rights of the neutrals. The battle of 
 Trafalgar annihilated the fleets of Spain and France. 
 The dread of French cruisers had passed away ; and the 
 British merchants began to complain of the vast profits 
 made by the Americans in the neutral trade, whose emol- 
 uments they wished to secure to themselves. It was 
 suspected that the vast amount of property carried by the 
 Americans did not belong to them, but that it was taken 
 to a neutral port merely to acquire a neutral character, 
 and then transhipped to the ports belonging to those na- 
 tions which were at war, a charge no doubt true in many 
 instances. On this ground American vessels were seized 
 and condemned. 
 
 The English government passed a decree which de- 
 clared the coast of Europe from the mouth of the river Elbe 
 to Brest, to be in a state of blockade ; thus forbidding 
 neutrals to trade within these prescribed limits. Napo- May. 
 leon, unable to contend with England upon the ocean, 
 now issued the famous Berlin decree, which declared the 
 coast of Great Britain to be in a state of blockade. In 
 addition, he prohibited all trade in English merchandise. ^ or 
 Two months later, Great Britain forbade all trade with 
 France whatever. Thus these two nations wantonly dis- 
 regarded the interests and rights of the commerce of the 
 world. Both French and British cruisers, now captured 
 American trading ships, and the commerce which extend- 
 ed to every sea, gradually dwindled down to a coasting 
 trade. Owing to the government's policy fondly cher- 
 ished as the very essence of economy the commerce 
 of the nation was left to the tender mercies of ocean 
 despots ; there was no navy to give it protection, except
 
 608 HISTORY OP THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, a few redoubtable gun-boats, that lay in the harbors^ 
 
 1 patiently waiting for the audacious cruisers to come within 
 
 1806. their range. 
 
 The condemnation of vessels taken by foreign cruisers, 
 and the forfeiture of their cargoes to the amount of mil- 
 lions, caused an intense excitement among American mer 
 chants. In all the seaport towns, especially, meetings were 
 held to express the views of the people, and petitions ask- 
 ing protection, poured into Congress. These petitions only 
 produced a recommendation of the President to that body 
 to build more gun-boats. Is it strange the policy, which 
 neglected the mercantile interests of the country, should 
 be contrasted with the profusion in which money was 
 spent to purchase territory, and to liquidate Indian 
 claims ? Said one party, it is folly to provide a navy, 
 which, in case of war, will fall into the hands of the 
 British. The hardy seamen answered, give us the men- 
 of-war well armed, and we will see that they do not fall 
 into the hands of the enemy. Will not the same energy 
 and spirit, which has extended American commerce to 
 the ends of the earth, defend its interests, and maintain 
 the honor of the country ? In John Adams' adminis- 
 tration, Congress brought to terms the French cruisers on 
 American commerce ; it gave the merchants liberty to 
 protect themselves, and they did it, why not grant the 
 same permission now ? 
 
 To these complaints were added others equally as seri- 
 ous. The British government maintained the doctrine that 
 no subject could expatriate himself, or transfer his alle- 
 giance to another country. The United States govern- 
 ment maintained the reverse, and welcomed emigrantr 
 from other natvus, and as adopted citizens afforded them 
 protection. The commanders of British men-of-war were 
 accustomed to board American merchant vessels, on the 
 high seas, and search for deserters, as they termed those
 
 I 
 
 J
 
 THE IMPRESSMENT COMMISSIONERS OF PEACE. 609 
 
 English or Irish sailors, who had thus entered the Ameri- c $f- 
 <^an service. 
 
 In these impressments great numbers of native born 1806. 
 Americans were forcibly seized and consigned to the slavery 
 .3f a British man-of-war. These high-handed measures, 
 executed in an arrogant manner by the English officers, 
 produced throughout the land a feeling of bitter hostility 
 to England. The English government gave as an apology 
 for these impressments, that in her present struggle she 
 needed all her seamen, and if permission were given, they 
 nearly all would desert, and enter American ships. Eng- 
 land herself was to blame for this want of patriotism in 
 her seamen. The iron hand of unfeeling rule had driven 
 these men from her service ; her cruel press-gangs had 
 crushed out their love of home. They had been seized 
 when unprotected and hurried on board men-of-war, where 
 brutal severities had obliterated their nobler feelings. Thus 
 wantonly treated, the English seaman deserted whenever 
 he had the opportunity. 
 
 Events were evidently tending toward a war, to avoid 
 which the President sent William Pinckney, as joint com- 
 missioner with James Monroe, who was already minister April 
 at the court of St. James. The English commissioners 
 manifested a great desire not to impress American sea- 
 men, but to .redress, as speedily as possible, any mistake 
 of that character. They urged, that to relinquish the 
 right of search for deserters, would be ruinous to the Eng- 
 lish navy in time of war. Suggesting, also, that stringent 
 laws should be made by both nations, to prevent seamen 
 from passing from the service of the one to the other. The 
 prejudices of the English people would not permit, at 
 least for the present, any formal relinquish ment of the 
 right of impressment ; the commissioners further promised, 
 that strict orders should be issued to the naval com- 
 manders not to abuse the right. 
 
 With the understanding that the question of impress-
 
 610 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, ments was still open, and subject to future adjustment^ 
 
 a treaty for ten years was negotiated between the two 
 
 1807. countries. This treaty was more advantageous, upon the 
 an * whole, to the United States, than the one negotiated by 
 Jay, and was certainly better than the existing irritating 
 relations of the two governments. France at this time, 
 by virtue of the Berlin decree, continued to seize and con- 
 fiscate American property, while Great Britain was anx- 
 ious to be on as good terms with the United States as 
 her situation would permit. Yet the President, and 
 Mar. Madison, his Secretary of State, arbitrarily rejected the 
 treaty, without either consulting the rest of the cabinet, 
 or the Senate which was in session. The plea given for 
 this extraordinary act was, that the treaty was not satis- 
 factory on the impressment question. The rejection of 
 the treaty left the relations of the two countries in a worse 
 condition than ever, even endangering their peace. Wash- 
 ington and his cabinet, in ratifying the Jay treaty, secured 
 to the country thirteen years of peace and unexpected 
 prosperity ; the rejection of this treaty was succeeded by 
 four years of ruinous evils, which resulted in plunging the 
 nation into a war. Though the English government itself 
 was disposed to conciliate, and friendly in its expressions, 
 yet its naval commanders were exceedingly insolent in 
 their intercourse with the Americans. The inability of 
 the navy to maintain the nation's honor, tempted these 
 unscrupulous commanders to insult its flag. Thus far 
 they had confined their visits to merchantmen, presently 
 they went a step farther. 
 
 The United States frigate Chesapeake, of thirty-eight 
 guns, had enlisted four men who, it was said, were de- 
 serters from the British ship-of-war Melampus. It was 
 afterward prov xl that only one of them was an English- 
 man. Strict oiders had been issued by the government 
 to the recruiting officers not to enlist British subjects, 
 knowing them to be such.
 
 THE ATTACK ON THE FRIGATE CHESAPEAKE. 611 
 
 Several English men-of-war were, at this time, lying C J^ P 
 
 in Chesapeake Bay ; of the number was the frigate . 
 
 Leopard, of fifty guns. When it was known that the 1807. 
 Chesapeake was about to put to sea, the Leopard passed 
 out a few hours before, and when some miles from the 
 coast,, she neared and hailed the Chesapeake, under the 
 pretense of sending despatches to Europe. A lieutenant 
 came on board with a demand for the English seamen. Jun 
 Commodore Barren refused the demand, on the ground 
 there were no such men on board. This refusal brought 
 a broadside from the Leopard, which killed three men and 
 wounded eighteen others. As the attack was entirely 
 unexpected, and Barron unprepared, he struck his colors, 
 after firing a single gun. The four men were taken from 
 the Chesapeake, and the Leoparl passed on to Halifax, 
 while the Chesapeake returned to Norfolk, her crew deeply 
 mortified and thirsting for revenge. 
 
 The indignation of the whole people was intense. The 
 insults of impressing men from merchantmen were as 
 nothing, compared with firing into a national vessel. 
 The President immediately issued a proclamation, in which 
 he complained of the outrage, and ordered the British 
 men-of-war out of the American waters, but as he had 
 not the power to enforce the order it was disobeyed, and 
 the people were enjoined not to have intercourse with the 
 British vessels. He also called a special session of Con- 
 gress, and a messenger was sent to England, with instruc- 
 tions to the American minister to demand satisfaction for 
 the outrage. But a fast-sailing vessel had already left 
 Halifax with the intelligence. The British government 
 immediately disavowed the act, and sent, soon after, a 
 special messenger to arrange the difficulty. 
 
 In the mean while France and England vied with each 
 other in issuing and enforcing decrees, which, in their 
 effect, would ruin all neutral commerce. English Orders 
 
 * o 
 
 in Council required any vessel bound to a port in France NOT
 
 612 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 C ^tf' * * oucn at 8Ome English port, and there obtain a license 
 
 to proceed on the voyage. Any vessel that did not com- 
 
 1807. ply with this despotic decree was forbidden to export 
 French merchandise, unless the cargo was first brought to 
 an English port and paid duties before it was shipped to 
 Dec. a neutral country. A month later Bonaparte retaliated 
 by another decree, dated at Milan, by which every vessel 
 that complied with the British decree, was declared to be 
 forfeited. Thus American commerce was preyed upon by 
 both parties. 
 
 As a scheme of retaliation, and to bring the belliger- 
 ents to terms, Congress, on the recommendation of the 
 Dec. President, laid an embargo, which prohibited American 
 commerce with France and England. A measure lauded 
 by its advocates as the only means to save to their country 
 American seamen and cargoes, and at the same time 
 compel France and England to repeal their offensive de- 
 Sov - crees. The effect, however, was just the reverse. Bona- 
 parte was delighted with the embargo, because it dimin- 
 ished just so much of England's income, her means tc 
 carry on the war against himself ; on the other hand, 
 Great Britain was not dependent on American produce, 
 the trade to Spain and Portugal, and their colonies, had 
 both been recently opened to her merchants, who were 
 very willing that their enterprising rivals should remain 
 at home to experiment on political theories. The em- 
 bargo itself was exceedingly unpopular in the United 
 States. The intelligent portion of the people was un- 
 able to see what benefit could be derived from their 
 ships rotting in the ports, their seamen out of employ- 
 ment, the industry of the country prostrated, and the 
 millions of surplus property now worthless for want of a 
 market. 
 
 Some years before Jefferson had expressed the senti- 
 ment that the United States "should practise neither 
 commerce nor navigation, but stand with respect to Eu-
 
 OPPOSITION TO THE EMBARGO. 613 
 
 rope precisely 911 the footing of China." Had the people 
 submitted implicitly to the embargo, the system of non- 
 intercourse with other nations would have been complete ; 1807. 
 as it was, on the recommendation of the Executive, Con- 
 gress found it necessary to pass stringent laws to enforce 
 its observance. The President was authorized to call out 
 the militia and employ ships as revenue cutters to prevent 
 cargoes of American produce leaving the country. When 
 it became known that this enforcing act had really become 
 a law, public feeling, in many places, could be no longer 
 restrained. Many of the papers announced its passage in 
 mourning columns, under the motto, " Liberty is dead/' 
 General Lincoln, of revolutionary memory, resigned the 
 collectorship of the port of Boston rather than enforce the 
 law ; and great numbers of custom-house officers in other 
 places did the same. In the agricultural portions of the 
 country, the effect of the embargo was not so immediate 
 as in the commercial. The planters and farmers, implicitly 
 trusting in the wisdom of the Executive, stored up their 
 cotton, tobacco and grain, hoping for a market when the 
 belligerents would be pleased to repeal their hostile 
 decrees. 
 
 Some good grew out of this evil. The tens of thou- 
 sands thrown out of employment by the effect of the em- 
 bargo and kindred measures, were compelled by the iron 
 hand of necessity to seek a livelihood by other means, and 
 their attention was somewhat directed to domestic manu- 
 factures. 
 
 Opposition to the embargo still continued ; in Con- 
 gress violent debates were held from day to day upon the 
 sxciting topic. At length even the planters and farmers 
 began to waver in their faith, and to see as well as the 
 New Englanders that it was a futile measure ; that in- 
 stead of bringing the French and English to terms it was 
 the subject of their ridicule, while it was becoming more 
 and more ruinous to the nation.
 
 614 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. Madison, who had been elected President, plainly in- 
 X ~ L timated his wish that the obnoxious measure should, in 
 18 ' ( - some way, be got rid of ; and three days before the close 
 of Jefferson's term the arbitrary act, forced upon the 
 country without a moment's warning, and which brought 
 ruin upon thousands in loss of property and of employ- 
 ment, was, to the joy of the nation, repealed. 
 
 Thus drew to a close Jefferson's administration. His 
 theories interfered with his statesmanship, and he was 
 unable to see that non -importation acts, so effective in 
 times of colonial dependence, were, in the case of an in- 
 dependent nation, futile in the extreme, and therefore 
 his favorite measure to bring England and France to 
 terms was the embargo. 1 ~No one of our Presidents of 
 Revolutionary fame was so unfortunate in his manage- 
 ment of national affairs, and as such no statesman of 
 those times has been so much overrated. When about 
 to retire from the office he was deeply mortified to 
 find that his well-meant theories, of which he was so 
 tenacious, were found wanting when reduced to practice. 
 When Madison was elected his successor, " he hastened 
 to throw on him the burden of responsibility, and with- 
 drew himself from all but the formalities of administra- 
 tion." " He laid down the sceptre ; he had no party ; 
 Virginia herself ceased to be guided by his opinions." a 
 Said John Randolph, one of his supporters, " Never has 
 there been any administration which went out of office 
 and left the nation in a state so deplorable and calami- 
 tous." His timid and, as it turned out, his spurious 
 peace policy so weakened the Navy that it became nearly 
 useless ; while the coast defenses, as a result of the same 
 theories, became almost dismantled. 3 The measures which 
 he persistently urged, and his adherents, with implicit faith 
 in his wisdom, carried through Congress, rendered the na- 
 tion contemptible in the eyes of the belligerents of Europe. 
 
 i Hist. pp. 612, 613, Life of Gallatin (Adams), pp. 379, 380. 
 ' Hist. pp. 606-608.
 
 CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION 
 
 Cocdition of the Country. Erskine's Negotiation. Depredations upon 
 American Commerce. Bonaparte's Rambouillet Decree. Affair of 
 the Little Belt. The Census. Indian Troubles. Tecumseh and the 
 Prophet. Battle of Tippccanoe. The two Parties. The Twelfth Con- 
 gress. Henry Clay. John C. Calhoun. Threatening Aspect of For- 
 eign Relations. John Randolph. Debates in Congress. Another Em- 
 bargo. War declared against Great Britain. Opposition to the War. 
 * Riots at Baltimore. Operations in the North-west. Surrender of 
 Hull. Impressment of American Seamen. Failures to invade Canada. 
 
 THE incoming administration was virtually pledged 
 to continue the foreign policy of its predecessor, though , : 
 that policy had not yet accomplished what its sanguine 1809. 
 friends anticipated. The prediction of the Federalists 
 the conservative party of those days that such measures 
 would lead to a war with England, seemed to be near its 
 fulfilment. The prospect was gloomy indeed. The 
 nation was totally unprepared for such an event. Neithei 
 army nor navy to command respect ; no munitions of war 
 worthy the name ; the defences of the seaboard almost 
 worthless ; the revenue, owing to the embargo and non- 
 intercourse acts, much diminished and diminishing more 
 and more. The President and his cabinet desired to re- 
 lieve the country of these pressing evils. 
 
 To accomplish this end, negotiations were commenced 
 with Erskine, the resident British Minister. The youth- 
 ful Erskine was a generous and noble-hearted man ; a
 
 616 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 warm friend of the United States, unused to the tricks of 
 diplomacy, he really wished to act generously for the in- 
 
 1809. terests of hoth nations, and not selfishly for his own. He 
 knew that Britain would derive great advantage from the 
 renewal of trade with the United States, and hoped that 
 the latter might be induced to take sides in the present 
 struggle against France. 
 
 In accordance with the spirit of certain instructions, 
 Erskine thought himself authorized to offer " a suitable 
 provision for the widows and orphans of those who were 
 killed on board the Chesapeake," and to announce the 
 conditional repeal of the Orders in Council as far as they 
 applied to the commerce of the United States. This re- 
 peal was to take place on the tenth of the following June. 
 
 1810. The President, on this assurance, issued a proclamation, 
 giving permission for a renewal of commercial intercourse 
 
 April. w ith Great Britain. The news was hailed with .joy 
 throughout the land. In a few weeks more than a thou- 
 sand ships, laden with American produce, were on their 
 way to foreign markets. This gleam of sunshine was soon 
 obscured. Four months after the President issued another 
 
 4u g- proclamation ; he now recalled the previous one, and again 
 established non-intercourse between the two countries. 
 
 The British ministry had disavowed the provisional 
 arrangement made by Erskine, giving as one reason that 
 he had gone beyond his instructions. In the communica- 
 tion accepting Erskine's offer to provide for the sufferers 
 in the Chesapeake affair, the provision was spoken of as 
 an " act of justice comporting with what was due from his 
 Britannic majesty to his own honor." This uncourteous 
 remark gave offence, and furnished another pretext for 
 breaking off the negotiation. 
 
 The failure of this arrangement, which had promised 
 so much, greatly mortified the President and his cabinet, 
 and as greatly wounded the self-respect of the nation. 
 In consequence of this feeling, Jackson, the special envoy,
 
 MERCHANTS ASK PEKMISSION TO AKM THEIR SHIPS. 617 
 
 sent soon after by England, was not very graciously re- XL] 
 
 ceived. Negotiations were, however, commenced with 
 
 him, but after exchanging angry notes for some months, 1810. 
 all diplomatic intercourse was suspended between the two 
 countries. 
 
 American commerce had now less protection than 
 ever. In the desperate conflict going on in Europe it was 
 impossible to obtain redress from any of the belligerents. 
 The ocean swarmed with French and English cruisers, 
 while Danish privateers infested the northern seas. They 
 all enjoyed a rich harvest in plundering American mer- 
 chantmen, under the convenient pretence that they car- 
 ried goods contraband of war. Great numbers of ships 
 thus pillaged were burned at sea to destroy all traces of 
 the robbery. Willing to trust to their own genius to 
 escape capture, the American merchants asked permission 
 to arm their ships in self-defence. Congress denied the 
 request, on the ground that such a state of affairs would 
 be war ! The people, however, thought there was little 
 to choose between actual war and a system of active legal- 
 ized piracy. Even the planters nnd farmers, finding on 
 their hands a vast amount of produce, for which a market 
 was denied, were now inclined to strengthen the navy, 
 that it might protect commerce, or if necessary make an 
 irruption into Canada, and by that means compel Great 
 Britain to repeal her odious decrees. 
 
 France in the mean time was committing greater out- 
 rages on American commerce than even England. Bo- 
 naparte issued a decree, the Kambouillet, by which any 
 American vessel that entered a French port or a port of 
 any country under French control, was declared liable to Mal 
 confiscation. It shows the deliberate design of this pi- 
 ratical decree, that it was not promulgated till six weeks 
 after its date. The first intimation American merchants 
 received of its existence, was the seizure of one hundred 
 and thirty-two of their ships, in French ports. These
 
 618 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, were soon after sold with their cargoes, and the money, 
 
 amounting to eight millions of dollars, placed in the 
 
 181 0. French treasury. Expostulations against such high-handed 
 measures were treated with contempt and insult. The 
 French minister of foreign affairs even charged the United 
 States " with a want of honor, energy, and just political 
 views," in not defending themselves. Bonaparte's great 
 object was to drive them into a war with England, and 
 thus exclude from her American produce. With this in- 
 tention he pretended he would revoke the Berlin and Milan 
 decrees, on condition the United States would make their 
 rights respected, or in other words, go to war with Eng- 
 land. At this time the only port in Europe really open 
 to American commerce was that of Archangel in Russia. 
 There American ships, after running the gauntlet between 
 French and Danish cruisers, landed their cargoes of 
 merchandise, which were thence smuggled into France 
 and Germany. 
 
 Ere long Bonaparte's want of money mastered his 
 hatred of England, and he unblushingly became the viola- 
 tor of his own decrees, and sold to the Americans, at enor- 
 mous prices, licenses which gave them permission to in- 
 troduce their products into French ports. 
 
 None felt the national insult given in the Chesapeake 
 affair so deeply as the naval officers. They were anx- 
 iously watching for an opportunity to retaliate. 
 
 The frigate President, Captain Rodgers, was cruising off 
 the capes of Delaware, when a strange sloop-of-war gave 
 chase, but when within a few miles, her signals not being 
 answered, she stood to the southward. The President 
 now in turn gave chase, and in the twilight of the evening 
 came within hailing distance. Rodgers hailed, but was 
 answered by the same question ; another hail was given 
 with a similar result. The stranger fired a gun, which 
 was replied to by one from the President. These were
 
 TECUMSEH A.ND THE PROPHET. 619 
 
 succeeded by broadsides from both vessels. The action 
 lasted about twenty minutes, when the stranger was com- 
 pletely disabled. Rodgers hailed again, and now was 1810 
 answered that the vessel was his Majesty's sloop-of-war 
 Little Belt. The disparity in the injury done to the re- 
 spective vessels was quite remarkable. The Little Belt 
 had more than thirty of her crew killed and wounded, 
 while the President was scarcely injured, and had only one 
 person slightly wounded. The affair created much ex- 
 citement in both nations, and served to increase that 
 alienation of feeling which had been so long in existence. 
 The statements of the commanding officers differed very 
 much as to the commencement of the encounter, but as 
 each government accepted the testimony of its own officers, 
 the matter was permitted to drop. 
 
 The census just taken, showed the following result: 
 the ratio of representation was fixed at thirty-five thou- 
 sand : 
 
 Free Whites. Slaves. All others. Totals. Reps. 
 
 5,862,093. 1,191,364. 186,446. 7,239,903. 182. 
 
 Events of serious interest were occurring on the western 
 frontier. Numbers of Indian tribes from time to time had 
 ceded their lands and moved farther west. But the in- 
 satiable white man still pressed on ; his cultivated fields 
 still encroached upon the Indian's hunting-grounds, and 
 game was fast disappearing. When is this grasping at 
 land to end ? asked the savages of each other. Two 
 brothers, twins, of the Shawnee tribe, resolved to free 
 their brethren from the aggressions of the settlers. 
 Their plans were well laid, and showed an intimate knowl- 
 edge of the secret of influence. The one, Tecumseh, 
 was to play the warrior's part, the other Elskwatawa, 
 more commonly known as the Prophet, appealed to their 
 superstitions ; he professed to be a wonderful medicine- 
 man, and in communication with the Great Spirit. 
 
 Tecumseh travelled from tribe to tribe, all along the
 
 620 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, frontiers, from north of the great lakes to the Gulf ol 
 
 Mexico, and by his eloquence endeavored to unite them 
 
 1811. in a universal conspiracy against the common enemy 
 He knew the attempt to expel the invaders would be 
 vain, but he hoped his people would unite as one man, 
 and refuse to sell them any more of their lands. To ac- 
 complish their purpose the Indians must be independent ; 
 they must dispense with the few comforts they received 
 from the white man, and they must spurn the religion 
 which missionaries had been laboring to teach them. The 
 Prophet fulfilled his part ; he awed his simple auditors 
 with imposing powwows ; the Great Spirit had given him 
 marvellous powers. He could at a word make pumpkins, 
 as large as wigwams, spring out of the earth ; or ears of 
 corn, each large enough to feed a dozen men ; he appealed 
 to their reverence for the customs of their ancestors, and 
 sneered at their degradation in being the slave of the 
 white man's whiskey, or fire-water, as he significantly 
 called it. He must be obeyed they must throw aside 
 the blanket and dress in skins ; instead of the gun they 
 must use the ancient bow and arrow ; and the iron toma- 
 hawk must give place to the stone hatchet of their fathers ; 
 but above all, they must discard the religion of the white 
 man ; it was the rejection of their ancient religion, which 
 made the Great Spirit so angry. 
 
 Alarm spread along the frontier settlements. The 
 Miamis had sold a portion of their lands on both sides of 
 the Wabash. Tecumseh was absent at the time, but 
 protested afterward, contending that as all the lands be- 
 longed equally to all the Indians, no tribe had a right to 
 sell a portion of them without the consent of the others. 
 
 General William Henry Harrison, the Governor of the 
 Territory of Indiana, held a conference with Tecumseh, 
 who at the time professed to be friendly, but his conduct 
 afterward excited suspicion. Lest the' Indians should 
 unexpectedly commence hostilities, Harrison marched to
 
 BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE. 621 
 
 the town lately established by the Prophet, at the junction 
 of the Wabash and Tippecanoe rivers. Messengers sent 
 by the Prophet met the army a few miles from the town. 1811. 
 Though Indians were hovering around the army on its 
 march, yet efforts to hold a conference with them had thus 
 far been unsuccessful. The messengers expressed great 
 surprise that the Americans should approach their town, 
 since the Prophet and his people were very desirous of 
 peace. Harrison assured them that he had no intention 
 to engage in hostilities, unless they themselves should 
 attack him, and he invited the Prophet and his chiefs to 
 an interview the next day. The messengers departed ap- 
 parently pleased with the proposal, and on their part 
 promised full compliance. 
 
 Knowing the Indian character, Harrison suspected 
 treachery, and encamped with great caution ; his men, 
 placed in a hollow square, slept upon their arms. The 
 next morning, about four o'clock, the Indians suddenly 
 attacked the camp, but failed to break the line. For Nov. 
 three hours the contest was very severe. The Indians 
 would advance with great impetuosity, and then retreat 
 to renew the effort. These movements were regulated by 
 signals given by rattling deers' hoofs. When daylight 
 appeared, the mounted men charged, and the savages fled 
 in great haste. The next day the Prophet's town was 
 found to be deserted. Tecumseh himself was not present 
 at the battle of Tippecanoe. 
 
 The belligerents of Europe still continued their ag- 
 gressions upon American commerce. Kecent intelligence 
 from France indicated but little prospect of obtaining re- 
 dress for present grievances, while the impressment ques- 
 tion made the affairs with Great Britain still more com- 
 plicated. Differences of opinion prevailed, as to the best 
 means of obtakiing justice for these foreign aggressions. 
 The people of New England, and the merchants of the
 
 622 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 commercial cities and seaports of the other States, felt 
 especially aggrieved by the policy of the national govern- 
 1811. ment. The embargo and non-importation acts had ruined 
 their commerce, and brought distress upon tens of thou- 
 sands. Upon them, almost alone, had fallen the evils 
 resulting from these political experiments. The people 
 of the West, and of the interior of the Atlantic States, 
 were in favor of hostilities ; their territory would be exempt 
 from invasion, and they had no seaport towns to suffer 
 from bombardment. Thus there were really two parties, 
 the one in favor of obtaining redress by peaceful measures, 
 the other by resorting to war. 
 
 In view of these threatening indications, the Presi- 
 dent, by proclamation, convened the twelfth Congress a 
 Nov. month earlier than the usual time of meeting. This 
 * Congress and the one succeeding are no less remarkable 
 for the measures they introduced than for the unusual 
 number of their members, who afterward filled a large 
 space in the history of the country. It was a transition 
 period. The patriots of the revolution, now venerable 
 with age, were fast passing away from the councils of the 
 nation, while their places were filled by more youthful 
 members. Heretofore the leaders in Congress had been 
 moderate in their measures, and were unwilling, unless 
 for the best of reasons, to plunge the nation into a war. 
 
 As a member of the House of Eepresentatives, appeared 
 Henry Clay, of Kentucky. The son of a Baptist clergy- 
 man of Virginia, he had been left at an early age a penni- 
 less orphan. Struggling through many trials, his native 
 eloquence had now placed him in the foremost rank of his 
 country's orators. Ardent and generous, bland and yet 
 imperious, as captivating in social life as he was frank in 
 his public acts, he was destined to wield a mighty in- 
 fluence in the councils of the nation. John C. Calhoun, 
 of South Carolina, was also a member ; the close student 
 and ardent theorist, dealing in first principles, he was
 
 THREATENING ASPECT OF FOREIGN RELATIONS. 
 
 logical and eloquent. His style more suited to forensic 
 debates than to popular assemblies. 
 
 The President, in his message, directed the attention 1811 
 of Congress to the threatening aspect of Foreign Relations. 
 This led to animated debates, in which the policy of peace 
 or war ; the defences of the country ; the preliminary 
 measures in case of a declaration of hostilities, came up 
 for discussion. The speeches of the members may be 
 taken as the exponents of the opinions of their constitu- 
 ents. The people of the West were especially clamorous 
 for war. The recent outbreak of the Indians, on the 
 western frontiers, was confidently attributed to the in- 
 fluence of British emissaries. This charge, though based 
 upon surmises, served to increase the prejudice against 
 England, and gave renewed life to the hatred of her pro- 
 duced by the Eevolution. 
 
 Finally, the Committee of Foreign Relations, in their 
 report to the House, recommended, in the words of the 
 President, " That the United States be immediately put Dec 
 into an armor and attitude demanded by the crisis ; 
 that an additional force of ten thousand regulars be 
 raised ; that the President be authorized to accept the 
 services of fifty thousand volunteers ; and also that the 
 vessels of the navy worthy of repair be fitted up and put 
 in commission." Two separate resolutions were offered ; 
 one authorized the merchants to arm in self-defence, and 
 the other, as a preliminary to war, to lay an embargo for 
 ninety days. After an animated discussion these were 
 both rejected. 
 
 Felix Grundy, of Tennessee, avowed that the report 
 of the Committee was designed to prepare the public mind 
 for war. " We are pledged/' said he, " to France to con- 
 tinue our restrictions against Great Britain ; we have tied 
 the Gordian knot ; we cannot untie it ; we can cut it 
 with the sword." " Though our restrictive system 
 operates unequally, we must maintain it." He also advo-
 
 624 HISTOEY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 cated the invasion and conquest of Canada, and the re- 
 ception of her inhabitants as members of the confederacy, 
 
 1811. in order to preserve the equilibrium of the government. 
 ec ' " When Louisiana," said he, " will be fully peopled, the 
 Northern States will lose their power ; they will be at the 
 discretion of others ; they can be depressed at pleasure." 
 Therefore he was not only in favor of admitting Canada, 
 but also Florida. 
 
 John Eandolph, of Virginia, in that sarcastic manner 
 peculiar to himself, characterized the embargo and non- 
 importation acts as most impolitic and ruinous measures 
 they had " knocked down the price of cotton to seven 
 cents and tobacco to nothing," while they had increased 
 the price of every article of first necessity three or four 
 hundred per cent. This is the condition into which we 
 have brought ourselves by our want of wisdom. But is 
 war the true remedy ; who will profit by it ? Speculators, 
 commissioners and contractors. Who must suffer by it ? 
 The people. It is their blood, their taxes, that must 
 flow to support it. Will you plunge the nation into war, 
 because you have passed a foolish and ruinous law, and 
 are ashamed to repeal it ? 
 
 He indignantly repelled the charge of British attach- 
 ment made against those who were not willing to rush 
 into war with England. " Strange," said he, " that we 
 have no objection to any other people or government, 
 civilized or savage ; we find no difficulty in maintaining 
 relations of peace and amity with the Autocrat of all the 
 Russias ; with the Dey of Algiers and his divan of 
 pirates, or Little Turtle of the Miamis, barbarians and 
 savages, Turks and infidels of every clime and color, with 
 them we can trade and treat. But name England, and 
 all our antipathies ar j . up in arms against her ; against 
 those whose blood runs in our veins, in common with 
 whom we claim Shakspeare and Milton, Newton and 
 Locke, Sidney and Chatham, as brethren. Her form of
 
 DEBATES IN CONGRESS HENRY CLAY. 625 
 
 government, the freest on earth, except our own, and CHAP 
 
 from which every valuable principle of our institutions has 
 
 been borrowed. There are honest prejudices growing out 1811 
 of the Kevolution. But by whom had they been suppress- 
 ed when they ran counter to the interests of his country ? 
 By Washington. By whom are they most keenly felt ? 
 By those who have fled to this abused country since the 
 breaking out of the French revolution, and who have set 
 themselves up as political teachers." This was in allusion 
 to the editors of nearly all the papers in favor of war, who 
 were foreigners " these are the patriots who scruple not 
 to brand with the epithet of Tory, those men by whose 
 blood your liberties have been cemented." 
 
 Henry Clay urged, in reply, that the only means left 
 to obtain the recognition of OUT national rights was to 
 fight for them. A war would produce the repeal of the 
 Orders in Council, and give us commerce and character ; 
 the nation by this mongrel peace would not only lose its 
 commerce, but its honor. If we yield one point, presently 
 another will be demanded ; our only safety is to defend 
 the nation's rights ; even if the seaboard should be sub- 
 dued, yet the energy of the West would save the liberties 
 of the country. Shall we bear the cuffs and scoffs of Sept 
 British arrogance, because we fear French subjugation ? 5< 
 Who ever learned, in the school of base submission, the 
 lessons of noble freedom, and courage, and independence !" 
 
 On the other side of the House, it was admitted that 
 causes for war existed, but were they sufficient to justify 
 the government of the United States in rushing unpre- 
 pared into a contest with the most powerful nation on 
 earth ? This was the question to be decided by Congress. 
 " What are we to gain by war ? " asked Sheffey of Vir- 
 ginia. " Shall we throw away a trade of thirty-two millions 
 with Great Britain for two with France ? Peace is our 
 policy ; we are now the most prosperous and happy 
 people on earth. This is more to us, than all the Orders
 
 626 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, in Council or the trade with France. We cannot bring 
 
 \ I.I 1. ^ 
 
 Great Britain to terms by embargo and non-importation 
 
 1811. acts ; neither can we starve the world by refusing to ex- 
 port our surplus grain. Our revenue is low enough now, 
 in time of war it will be almost nothing. We should be 
 willing to fight for the rights of impressed native-born 
 Americans, but not for the right to harbor deserters from 
 the British service." " Is this embargo a preparation for 
 war ? " asked Josiah Quincy of Massachusetts. " We have 
 no information that England intends war. It is her 
 policy to continue commerce with us, not to destroy it. 
 But we are told that the object is to protect our merchants. 
 Heaven help them from embargo protection ! The mer- 
 chants have petitioned not for embargo not for com- 
 mercial embarrassment and annihilation but for pro- 
 tection." 
 
 1812. While these debates were in progress in the House, the 
 same general subject was under discussion in the Senate. 
 In both Houses an unusual number of southern members 
 were now in favor of making the navy more efficient. It 
 was urged that the only way to bring Great Britain to 
 terms was by harassing her commerce on the ocean. To 
 do this a fleet was needed. " Create a fleet of thirty frigates," 
 said Lloyd, of Massachusetts, " and New England alone 
 will officer it in five weeks." " How can we contend with 
 the most colossal power the world ever saw, except by our 
 navy, scattered over the ocean, requiring ten times as 
 many British vessels to watch them ? Adopt this policy, 
 and soon the English people would ask their government, 
 Why this war upon our trade ? why violate the rights of 
 Americans ?' For whose benefit is this war ? Soon you 
 will force the people of the United States to become their 
 
 1 "They (the Orders in Council) were grievously unjust to neutrals, and 
 it is now (1850) generally allowed that they were contrary to the law of na- 
 tions, and to our own municipal laws." Lord Chief Justice Campbell, it 
 his Lives of the Cl ncellors, vol vii. p. 218.
 
 THE PRESIDENT RECOMMENDS "WAR. 627 
 
 own manufacturers ; you will stimulate them to become 
 a naval power, which one day may dispute with you the 
 supremacy of the ocean." " In a short time the English 1812 
 government would he compelled to repeal its odious de- 
 crees." " To protect commerce is to aid agriculture, to 
 benefit the northern as well as the middle and southern 
 States. Moreover, it is essential to the preservation of 
 the Union ; the commercial States will not endure that 
 their rights should be systematically trampled upon from 
 year to year, and they denied the defence which the God 
 of nature has given them." 
 
 The discussions of these five months had a great influ- 
 ence upon the public mind. Though unwilling to use 
 harsher measures than to authorize the merchants to de- 
 fend themselves by arming their ships, the President sent 
 a special message to Congress recommending an embargo 
 for sixty days. The bill was amended by substituting 
 ninety for sixty, in which form it passed, debate being cut April 
 short by the rule of the previous question. 
 
 One month and a half later, intelligence from France 
 made known that Bonaparte, in violation of his word, had 
 declared the obnoxious decrees of Berlin and Milan hence- 
 forth the settled policy of the Empire. Thus the Emperor Tune 
 had entrapped the President. But England was as much 
 in the wrong as France, and if so, why not declare war 
 against both ? It was openly avowed in Parliament that 
 the offensive decrees and blockades must be maintained, 
 or France could receive raw material from the United 
 States ; continue her manufactures, and thus obtain thf 
 means to carry on the war. Great Britain also wished to 
 secure for her own people the monopoly of commerce, as 
 well as that of manufacturing for the world. 
 
 The President finally sent another message to Congress, 
 in which he recapitulated the wrongs inflicted by England 
 in her impressments and violations of the rights of neutrals. 
 This was plainly a war message, and in accordance with
 
 628 
 
 CHAP, that view, a bill was drawn up declaring war agaiusi 
 
 1 Great Britain. It was passed by a strictly party vote : 
 
 1812. in the House 79 to 49, in the Senate 19 to 13. 
 June rp]^ p e0 pj e were f ar from being unanimous in their 
 approbation of the declaration of war. The minority of 
 the Lower House of Congress published an address to 
 their constituents, in which the views of those opposed to 
 the war found expression. After a review of the contro- 
 versy between the United States and the belligerents, they 
 contend there was equal cause for hostilities against both 
 England and France ; that it was unreasonable to expect 
 the full recognition of neutrals' rights while the desperate 
 conflict in Europe was in progress ; that conflict would 
 soon end, and then the cause for war on our part would be 
 removed. The Address says, " The effect of the British 
 orders of blockade, is to deprive us of the commerce of 
 France and her dependencies, while they leave open to us 
 the commerce of all the rest of the world ; the former 
 worth yearly about six millions and a half, and the latter 
 worth thirty-eight millions. Shall the latter be sacrificed 
 for the former ? A nation like the United States, happy 
 in its great local relations ; removed from that bloody 
 theatre of Europe, with a maritime border opening vast 
 fields of enterprise ; with territorial possessions exceeding 
 every real want ; its firesides safe ; its altars undefiled ; 
 from invasion nothing to fear ; from acquisition nothing 
 to hope, how shall such a nation look to Heaven for its 
 smiles, while throwing away as though they were worth 
 less, all the blessings and joys which peace and such a 
 distinguished lot include ? But how will war upon the 
 land protect commerce ? How are our mariners to be 
 benefited by a war which exposes those who are free, 
 without promising release to those who are impressed ? 
 But it is said that war is demanded by honor. If honor 
 demands a war with England, what opiate lulls that 
 honor to sleep over the wrongs done us by France ? "
 
 THE EMBARRASSMENTS OF CONGRESS. 
 
 Such was the diversity of opinion as to the expediency 
 of engaging in war, especially when the country, in every 
 respect, was so unprepared. The opponents of the measure 1812 
 were assailed as unpatriotic, which they retorted by charg- 
 ing the advocates of war with subserviency to the policy 
 of France. 
 
 It was easier for Congress to declare war, than to ob- 
 tain the means to prosecute it. The treasury was almost 
 empty, the non-importation acts, and embargoes, had 
 nearly ruined the revenue ; the army was very limited in 
 number, and very deficient in officers of experience ; while 
 the navy was wanting in ships and munitions. Congress 
 passed a bill to enlist twenty-five thousand men as regu- 
 lars, and authorized the President to accept the services 
 of fifty thousand volunteers. 
 
 In appointing officers for the army, recourse was 
 had, almost exclusively, to those who had served in the 
 Eevolution ; but the most prominent of these had passed 
 away, and the remainder, with but one or two exceptions, 
 had been engaged in civil affairs for thirty years ; and 
 men competent to drill the recruits were not to be found. 
 To remedy this want, Congress, now for the first time, 
 made provision for the constant and liberal instruction of 
 two hundred and fifty cadets in the military art, by estab- 
 lishing professorships in the Academy at West Point. 
 Here was another instance of the foresight of Washing- 
 ton. He had, during his administration, urged upon Con- 
 gress to establish and maintain a school in which military 
 tactics should be taught to officers, who in turn could 
 easily drill the militia. The wise policy of the measure 
 was amply shown in the rapidity with which the American 
 volunteers were drilled and made efficient soldiers in the 
 late Mexican war. But for the present the nation suffered 1848 
 severely from false economy in not founding the Academy 
 when first proposed. 
 
 The first exhibition of the war spirit and the party 
 
 432344
 
 630 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, feeling which existed was an attempt to stifle the freedom of 
 
 . the press. The editor of a paper in Baltimore, Alexander 
 
 1812. Hanson, a grandson of a president of the continental con- 
 gress, had spoken in moderate terms in condemnation of the 
 June declaration of war. A few days after, the mob, headed by 
 a Frenchman, destroyed his press and compelled him to 
 fly for his life. Receiving no protection in his rights, as 
 the magistrates connived at the outrage, Hanson and some 
 twenty others thought it their duty to vindicate the 
 liberty of the press. Among this number was General 
 Henry Lee, the chivalric Light Horse Harry of the Rev- 
 olution, the intimate friend of Washington, his eulo- 
 gist by appointment of Congress, afterward Governor of 
 Virginia, and General Lingan, also a worthy officer of the 
 Revolution. They determined to defend the office of the 
 paper. The mob appeared and stoned the house ; the 
 magistrates meanwhile made no effort to quell the riot. 
 Thus the rabble raged during the night ; in their attempts 
 to force their way into the house, one of the ringleaders 
 was shot. General Lingan was killed outright, and some 
 of the other defenders of the office were most shamefully 
 mangled and abused. General Lee was maimed for life. 
 The leaders of the riot were never punished, though 
 afterwards brought to trial, a mere farce, the district 
 attorney even expressing his regret that all the defenders 
 of the office had not been killed. 
 
 General William Hull, who had served with some dis- 
 tinction in the Revolution, and now Governor of Michigan 
 Territory, was appointed commander of the forces in that 
 region. The Territory contained about five thousand in- 
 habitants, mostly of French origin. He received orders to 
 invade Canada, the ardent friends of the war complacently 
 thinking the inhabitants of that British province would 
 cheerfully put themselves under the protection of the 
 stars and stripes. Hull, however, found himself in a short 
 time surrounded by a superior force of British and In-
 
 GENERAL HULL SURRENDERS HIS ARMY. 631 
 
 dians ; the enemy also held possession of Lake Erie, and 
 had easy communication with the rest of Canada, while ___ 
 between Hull's army and the settlements, intervened a 1812. 
 vast and unbroken forest of two hundred miles. He 
 urged upon the government to secure the command of the 
 Lake before any attempt should he made at invasion, and 
 also to furnish him not less than three thousand well pro- 
 visioned troops. But he was told that he must content 
 himself with two thousand men, while nothing could be 
 done to secure the control of the Lake. 
 
 When Hull arrived at DETROIT, then a village of some 
 
 . 
 eight hundred inhabitants, he had but eighteen hundred 
 
 men, of whom the greater part were militia ; there he re- 
 ceived orders to invade Canada immediately. But by a 
 strange blunder, the intelligence of the declaration of war, 
 designed for Hull, and franked by the Secretary of the 
 Treasury, fell into the hands of the British. They availed 
 themselves of the information, and immediately seized Mack- 
 inaw ; the first intimation the garrison of that distant post 
 received of the declaration of war. In a short time Hull 
 himself was surrounded, and his communications cut off. 
 
 The British general Proctor came up the Lake with 
 reinforcements, whilst the British Fur Company enlisted 
 their employees and excited the Indians. To open a road 
 and obtain supplies, Hull sent out a detachment, but it 
 fell into an ambuscade and was defeated. He now fortified 
 himself, and to open communications to the river Kaisin, 
 sent another detachment under Colonels McArthur and 
 Cass ; they became bewildered in a swamp, and were forced 
 to find their way back to the camp. 
 
 Presently General Brock, governor of Lower Canada, 
 arrived at Maiden with more reinforcements. He passed 
 over the river and summoned Hull to surrender, who re- 
 fused, end an attack was made upon his position, both 
 from the British vessels and batteries. Brock landed and 
 approached with seven hundred and fifty regulars, and as
 
 632 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 many Indians. Hull had but eight hundred men, and > 
 threatened with destruction, as he imagined, by an over- 
 
 1812. whelming force, he surrendered his army and all Michigan 
 
 Ang. at the same time. 
 
 Great indignation was expressed at this failure. The 
 difficulties of Hull's position were very great, and perhaps, 
 while no one doubted his personal courage, he may have 
 wanted that sternness of soul so necessary to a successful 
 commander. Those in authority screened themselves, by 
 making the unfortunate general the scape-goat for their 
 blunders, in sending him with a force and means so inade- 
 quate. When brought to trial, two years afterward, he 
 urged in defence, that all the inhabitants of the territory 
 would have been exposed to certain massacre had he at- 
 tempted further resistance. The court, however, found 
 him guilty of cowardice, and sentenced him to be shot ; 
 but in consideration of his revolutionary services, the Presi- 
 dent granted him a pardon. His papers, since published, 
 have revealed the insurmountable difficulties that sur- 
 rounded him. 
 
 It is remarkable that one of the causes of the war, was 
 removed within four days' after its declaration. France 
 unconditionally repealed the Berlin and Milan decrees, 
 then Great Britain repealed her Orders in Council, which 
 had been based on the French decrees. The impressment 
 question still remained unsettled. Nearly six thousand 
 cases of alleged impressment were on record in the State 
 Department at Washington, It was admitted on the 
 floor of the House of Commons, that there were probably 
 sixteen hundred native-born Americans held in bondage 
 in the British navy. Of these several hundred had already 
 been liberated, and a willingness was expressed to dis- 
 charge the remainder, as soon as their nationality was 
 fully known. But the British naval officers complained 
 that the plea of American citizenship was very much 
 abused ; by forged documents, or by certificates, originally
 
 AMERICAN SHIPS IN ENGLISH POUTS. 633 
 
 genuine, but transferred from one seaman to another as oc- 
 casion required. The English government, moreover, was so 
 trammelled by forms that very seldom could the impressed 1812 
 sailor obtain redress ; all such cases must be brought be- 
 fore the Court of Admiralty in London, to reach which 
 was almost impossible. 
 
 This, after all, was to be a war to protect personal free- 
 dom ; to obtain security from the visits to our ships of 
 British press-gangs, led by insolent officers, and as such 
 took hold of the sympathies of the American people. 
 But Britain said, pass a law prohibiting our seamen from 
 enlisting in your service, and we will not search your 
 ships. The reply was, the flag of the United States must 
 shield those seeking its protection. This sentiment ap- 
 peared to England very like an effort to seduce her sea- 
 men from their allegiance. 
 
 When intelligence of the declaration of war reached 
 England, the government acted generously in relation to 
 the American vessels in its ports. Instead of being con- Aug 
 fiscated as in France, these ships were permitted six 
 \veeks to load and unload, and in addition were furnished 
 with protections against capture by English cruisers on 
 their way home. Yet these very vessels and their car- 
 goes were liable to confiscation, when they should arrive 
 in their own land, and that by a law of Congress ! 
 
 As one of the causes of the war had been removed, 
 Foster, the British Minister at Washington, proposed a 
 cessation of hostilities until another effort should be made 
 to arrange the impressment question. This proposal was 
 not accepted by the American government. Not until 
 all hope of reconciliation was passed, did the English au- 
 thorities issue letters of marque and reprisal against 
 A.merican commerce ; and they still continued to grant 
 licenses and protection to American vessels carrying flour 
 to Spain for the use of the British armies in that country. 
 
 Hull's surrender threw a shadow over the prospect of
 
 634 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, conquering Canada. Strenuous efforts were made to in- 
 
 crease the army on the frontiers of New York. Majo* 
 
 1812. General Dearborn, who, when a youth, had served in the 
 Revolution, and had been Secretary of War, under Jeffer- 
 son, had under his command, in the vicinity of Lake Cham- 
 plain, five thousand troops, three thousand of whom were 
 regulars ; and two thousand militia were stationed at 
 different points on the St. Lawrence, east of Sackett'a 
 Harbor, while another army, miscellaneous in character, 
 being composed of regulars, volunteers and militia, was 
 stationed at different points from the village of Buffalo to 
 Fort Niagara. The latter troops were under the com- 
 mand of General Van Bensselaer. 
 
 To insure success the Americans must have the con- 
 trol of the Lakes Erie and Ontario ; on the latter they 
 had already a little sloop-of-war, of sixteen guns, and 
 manned by a regular crew. Captain Chauncey, of the 
 Sept navy yard at New York, was appointed to the command 
 of the Lakes. He purchased some merchant vessels, and 
 fitted them out with guns and other equipments, brought 
 from Albany, at an immense amount of labor. He soon 
 however swept the Lake of British ships, which took 
 refuge in Kingston harbor ; the Frontenac of the times of 
 French rule in that quarter. Lieutenant Elliot, in the 
 mean time, was sent to equip a fleet on Lake Erie. By 
 a daring exploit he cut out from under the guns of Fort 
 Q ct . Erie, two British armed vessels, which had just come 
 9- down the Lake from Detroit. 
 
 The invasion of Canada commenced by an attempt to 
 obtain possession of Queenstown, on Niagara river. Owing 
 to a deficiency of boats, only about six hundred men, 
 partly regulars and partly militia, passed over. Colonel 
 S. Van Rensselaer, who commanded the militia, became 
 separated from his men, and Colonel Christie, who com- 
 manded the regulars, failed on account of the rapidity of 
 the current to reach the shore. Those who landed were
 
 DEATH OF GENERAL BROCK AMERICAN PRISONERS. 635 
 
 immediately attacked with great vigor. Rensselaer soon 
 
 tell, wounded, but he ordered Captains Ogilvie and Wool 
 
 to storm the battery, which they did in fine style, 1812i 
 
 driving the British into a strong stone house, from which 
 
 they could not be dislodged. General Brock, the same 
 
 to whom Hull surrendered a few months before, was Oct. 
 
 13 
 
 in command. Suddenly he headed a sortie from this 
 house, which was promptly repulsed, and he himself 
 slain. 
 
 During this time, a space of five or six hours, the 
 Americans were striving to pass the river, but only five 
 or six hundred succeeded. Suddenly a band of Indians 
 emerged from the woods, and joined in the fray ; these 
 were soon put to flight by Lieutenant Winfield Scott, 
 who, with a company of regulars, volunteered for the pur- 
 pose. The want of boats, and the want of system, had 
 prevented a suitable number of Americans from passing 
 over. In the mean while General Sheafe was advancing 
 from Fort George, with reinforcements for the British. 
 This intelligence, together with the sight of the wounded, 
 who were brought in boats to the American side, somewhat 
 cooled the ardor of the militia, and they refused to pass 
 the river to aid their countrymen. Their wits were also 
 sharpened, and they suddenly discovered that their com- 
 mander had no constitutional authority to lead them into 
 Canada. The result was, that those who had gone over, 
 about one thousand in number, were compelled to surren- 
 der themselves prisoners of war. General Van Rensselaer, 
 mortified at the want of spirit manifested on the occasion, 
 resigned his command in disgust. 
 
 Inefficiency reigned in triumph all along the frontier. 
 An expedition against Detroit, under the command of 
 Harrison, was abandoned for want of means. The volun- 
 teers from Kentucky, as well as others, became mutinous 
 and refused to advance. One failure followed another in 
 rapid succession. The officers were quarrelling amonaj
 
 636 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP, themselves, charging each other with cowardice and 
 fighting bloodless duels, while the soldiers deserted in 
 
 1812 
 
 bands, and those who remained were insubordinate. These 
 failures were unsparingly ridiculed in the newspapers 
 opposed to the war. 
 
 Soon after the establishment of the Government the 
 religious portion of the people began to inquire as to their 
 duty in sending the Gospel to the heathen of other lands. 
 Samuel J. Mills and some other students of Williams Col- 
 
 IftAT 
 
 ' lege consecrated themselves to the work of foreign missions. 
 A monument a marble shaft surmounted by a globe in 
 Mills Park, just outside the village, marks the spot where 
 these students met behind a haystack to confer with each 
 other and consecrate themselves to the work of evangelizing 
 the heathen. The result was the formation of the Ameri- 
 
 1810. can Board of Missions, which has had a remarkable success 
 in extending the knowledge of the Gospel and introducing 
 a Christian civilization in remote heathen lands. This 
 Society was specially patronized by the Congregationalists 
 and Presbyterians ; the latter, after twenty-one years of co- 
 operation, withdrew and formed the Presbyterian Board of 
 
 1833. Foreign Missions. Meanwhile other denominations entered 
 with zeal upon the work the Baptists (1814), the Metho- 
 dist Episcopal (1819), Reformed Dutch Church (1832), 
 Protestant Episcopal (1835), and afterward others ; in all 
 fifteen societies were formed. Under the control of these 
 societies the missionaries and native teachers whom they 
 
 1882 nave trained now number many thousands. The exertions 
 of these devoted men have been crowned with remarkable 
 success ; they have displayed much practical wisdom in the 
 management of the missions, and have translated the 
 Scriptures into the languages of the various people with 
 whom they labored. For these evidences of their scholar- 
 ship and their enlightened zeal they have oftentimes re- 
 ceived the commendations and thanks of European educated 
 men and statesmen.
 
 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION CONTINUED. 
 
 The Vessels of the Navy. The chase of the Constitution. Capture of the 
 Alert. The Guerriere. Incidents. The Macedonian. The Frolic. 
 TLe Java. The effects of these Naval Conflicts in the United States 
 and England. Plan of Operations. -Harrison advances on Detroit. 
 General Winchester a Prisoner ; Indian Barbarities. The Kentuckians 
 fall into an Ambuscade. Repulse at Fort Stephenson. The loss of the 
 Chesapeake. Perry's Victory. Battle of the Thames. Andrew Jack- 
 sou. Leads an Expedition ; its Termination. York captured ; Death 
 of General Pike. Wilkinson transferred to the North. Another at- 
 tempt to conquer Canada. Fort George destroyed ; Newark burned. 
 The severe Retaliation. The American Coast blockaded. Ravages on 
 the Shores of Chesapeake Bay. Indian War in the South. Jackson 
 and others in the Field. Battle at the Great Horse Shoe. Captain 
 Porter's Cruise. 
 
 WHILE the disasters recorded in the last chapter were CHAI>. 
 in progress, the despised little navy had won laurels, by a XLin 
 series of victories as unexpected as they were glorious, 
 When the war commenced, the whole navy of the United 
 States in commission, consisted of only three first-class 
 frigates ; the President, the Constitution, and the United 
 States ; of the second class two, the Congress and the 
 Essex ; the Wasp and Hornet, sloops-of-war ; and the 
 brigs Argus, Syren, Nautilus, Enterprise, and Vixen. 
 The second class frigates Chesapeake, Constellation, and 
 John Adams, were undergoing repairs. The fleet was 
 ordered to assemble at New York to be in readiness to 
 defend harbors, and not to venture to sea, lest it should
 
 638 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. f a ll i n the hands of the enemy ; a result which had been 
 
 predicted again and again. Owing to the urgent remon- 
 
 1812. strancesof Captains Stewart and Bainbridge, the intention 
 of thus withdrawing the navy was abandoned. Within a 
 few hours after the declaration of war was known in New 
 York, a portion of the fleet was passing out to sea, in 
 search of the enemy. This prompt movement was made 
 for the double purpose of avoiding the orders, which the 
 officers suspected were on the way from Washington, to 
 detain them in the harbor, and to make a dash at the 
 Jamaica fleet, said to be passing under convoy off the coast. 
 When two days out, they chased and exchanged shots 
 with the British frigate Belvidera, which, however, escaped 
 and carried the news of the commencement of hostilities 
 to Halifax. The Americans continued the pursuit of the 
 Jamaica fleet, even to the entrance of the British Channel, 
 but without overtaking it. 
 
 Meanwhile a British squadron issued from Halifax, to 
 cruise off the port of New York. The Constitution, better 
 known as Old Ironsides, commanded by Captain Isaac 
 Hull, in endeavoring to enter that port fell in with this 
 fleet, and was chased by all its vessels for four days the 
 most remarkable chase on record. The unexampled skill 
 with which she was managed, elicited universal admira- 
 My. tion. Every nautical device was exhausted ; such as 
 during a calm carrying out anchors and dropping them, 
 and then pulling the ship up ; in the mean while, when 
 opportunity served, exchanging shots with her adversaries. 
 Finally she escaped into Boston. Orders from Washing- 
 ton were sent to Captain Hull to remain there ; but he 
 anticipated them, and put to sea before they arrived. 
 
 The Essex was the first to capture a prize a trans- 
 port filled with soldiers and shortly after, the British 
 sloop-of-war Alert. The latter mistook the Essex for a 
 merchantman, and came on expecting an easy victory, but
 
 CAPTURE OF THE GUERRIERE INCIDENTS. 639 
 
 found herself so severely handled, thai in a few minutes CHAP. 
 she was fain to strike her colors. . 
 
 OS the mouth of the St. Lawrence, Captain Hull fell 1812. 
 in with the British frigate Guerriere, one of the fleet 
 which had recently chased him. The Guerriere was on 
 the look-out for " Yankee craft ; " on one of her flags was 
 the inscription, Not the Little Belt. Courting the combat, 
 she shortened sail, and at long range opened upon the 
 approaching Constitution ; the latter did not fire a gun, 
 but manoeuvred to obtain a desirable position. Thus an 
 hour and a half was consumed. When the Constitution 
 secured her position, she poured in her broadsides with 
 such rapidity and effect, that the enemy struck his colors 
 in thirty minutes. So completely was the Guerriere cut 
 to pieces, that it was impossible to bring her into port, 
 and Hull ordered her to be burned. The Guerriere had 
 seventy-nine killed and wounded, while the Constitution 
 had only seven, and was ready for action the next day. 
 In connection with this encounter may be related two in- 
 cidents, which show the spirit on board the respective 
 ships. When the Constitution came within cannon-shot, 
 the opening fire from the Guerriere killed two men. The 
 men were impatient to avenge their companions, and 
 Lieutenant Morris came on deck, and asked, " Can we re- 
 turn the fire, sir ? " " No, sir," calmly replied Hull. Soon 
 after, Morris came again, and reported that another man 
 was slain, and asked again, " Shall we return the fire?" 
 " No, sir," was still the reply. For the third time, Morris 
 soon appeared : " Can we fire now ? " Hull, pausing a mo- 
 ment to survey the position of the ships, replied, " Yes, sir, 
 you may fire now." The order was promptly obeyed, and 
 Hull, with his eye intently fixed upon the enemy, ex- 
 claimed, when he saw the effect, " That ship is ours ! " 
 
 On board the Guerriere were ten impressed Americans. 
 They refused to fight against their countrymen, and were 
 ordered below. One of them was afterward called upon
 
 640 HISTORY OF THE AMEBICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, deck, and asked by Captain Dacres if he knew the char- 
 
 acter of the approaching ship. He answered she was a 
 
 1812. frigate. As she drew nearer, and merely manoauvred, and 
 made no reply with her guns, Dacres, somewhat puzzled, 
 inquired again, " What does she mean ? Do you think she is 
 going to strike without firing a gun ? " "I guess not, sir," 
 replied the American ; " she will get the position she 
 wants, and you will then learn her intentions ; with your 
 permission, sir, I will step below." 
 
 The United States, Captain Decatur, when cruising 
 off the Azores, gave chase to a British frigate, which 
 proved to be the Macedonian. A running fight com- 
 Oct. menced, which terminated by the Macedonian striking her 
 23 - colors, after losing one hundred out of her three hundred 
 men, while the United States lost only five men and seven 
 wounded. The other ships made several prizes on their 
 cruise. The Argus escaped by superior seamanship, after 
 being chased three days by six vessels, and took and 
 manned a prize during the chase. The Wasp, Captain 
 Jones, met the British brig Frolic, acting as a convoy for 
 six merchantmen ; to protect them she shortened sail and 
 offered battle. The Wasp watched her opportunity, 
 Oct. raked her antagonist, and then immediately boarded. The 
 boarders found the deck of the Frolic covered with the 
 slain, and only one man unhurt, who was calmly standing 
 at the wheel, and one or two wounded officers, who threw 
 down their swords. Not twenty of the crew were unhurt. 
 The Wasp had only five killed and as many wounded. 
 But before she could make sail, the Poictiers seventy-four 
 came up, and took both vessels. 
 
 Hull resigned the command of the Constitution, and 
 Bainbridge was appointed in his place. Off the coast of 
 Brazil the Constitution gave chase to a British frigate, 
 the Java. The fight began at the distance of a mile, and 
 was continued with great spirit, each manoeuvring to get 
 the advantage. At length they approached so closely as
 
 EFFECTS PRODUCED BY THE NAVAL VICTORIES. 641 
 
 to fight yard-arm and yard-arm. The Java's masts 
 were shot away, and her fire silenced. The Constitution 
 drew off to repair her rigging, and then approached to 1813. 
 renew the conflict, which the Java prevented by striking 
 her flag. Nearly half of her men, numbering four hun- 
 dred, were killed or wounded, while the Constitution had 
 only nine killed and twenty-five wounded ; among the J* - 
 latter was her commander. There being no friendly port 
 in that part of the world to which he could take his prize, 
 Bainbridge ordered her to be set on fire and blown up. 
 
 It is difficult to conceive the exultation with which 
 these victories were hailed in the United States. The 
 very great disparity in the losses sustained by the respect- 
 ive combatants had excited surprise in both nations. 
 The English loss of men in killed and wounded, compared 
 with that of the Americans, was as eight to one. There 
 could be no doubt but the ships of the latter had been 
 better managed and better fought. The English people, 
 we learn from the newspapers of the day, were deeply mor- 
 tified at the loss of their frigates. One of the papers asked, 
 " Shall England, the mistress of the seas and dictator of 
 the maritime law of nations, be driven from her proud 
 eminence by a piece of striped bunting flying at the mast- 
 heads of a few fir-built frigates, manned by a handful of 
 bastards and outlaws ? " Some were thus abusive, but 
 others were more respectful, and even found consolation in 
 the fact that the Americans were the descendants of 
 Englishmen. Says the London Times : " We witnessed 
 the gloom which that event (the capture of the Gruerriere) 
 cast over high and honorable minds ; it is not merely that 
 an English frigate has been taken after a brave resistance, 
 but it has been by a new enemy." And apprehensions 
 were expressed that their maritime superiority was about 
 to be challenged, if not taken away, by this new rival, 
 which had so suddenly sprung into existence. "The 
 mourning for this last most affecting event, (the capture
 
 642 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 o f the Java,) can never be laid aside till the honor 
 of the British flag shall be redeemed, by establishing 
 1810. the same triumphant superiority over the Americans 
 that we have heretofore had over all the nations that tra- 
 verse the seas. Five hundred British vessels and three 
 frigates have been captured in seven months by the 
 Americans. Can the English people hear this unmoved ? 
 Down to this moment not an American frigate has struck 
 her flag. They insult and laugh at us ; they leave their 
 ports when they please ; and return when it suits their 
 convenience ; they traverse the Atlantic ; they beset the 
 West India Islands ; they advance to the very chops 01 
 the Channel ; they parade along the coast of South 
 America ; nothing chases, nothing intercepts, nothing 
 engages them, but yields to them a triumph/' 
 
 To account for these unexampled victories, some said 
 the American frigates were Seventy-fours in disguise ; 
 others that their guns were heavier than those of their op- 
 ponents. The latter supposition may have been true to 
 some extent. But national self-complacency found more 
 consolation in the conjecture, that the spirit of the Ameri- 
 can navy ought to be imputed to the few runaway British 
 sailors enlisted in it ! 
 
 The American privateers maintained the honor of the 
 nation as much ?is the regular navy. Much more would 
 have been accomplished, but the majority of the mer- 
 chants were loth to send privateers to prey upon the prop- 
 erty of their commercial friends and correspondents. As 
 it was, more than three hundred prizes were taken, three 
 thousand prisoners, and a vast amount of merchandise 
 
 Changes were made in the President's cabinet. Gen- 
 eral John Armstrong the author of the famous Anony- 
 mous Address, at the close of the Revolution was ap- 
 pointed Secretary of War in place of William Eustis, of 
 Massachusetts, resigned. James Monroe still remained
 
 THE ARMIES THE DISASTER AT THE RAISIN. 643 
 
 at the head of the State Department, and Albert Galla- 
 tin at that of the Treasury, an office which he held under 
 Jefferson. 1818 
 
 The surrender of Hull aroused the warlike spirit of the 
 West, and volunteers presented themselves in great num- 
 bers. The Americans were divided into three armies. 
 That of the west, at the head of Lake Erie, under General 
 Harrison ; that of the centre, between Lakes Erie and 
 Ontario, under General Dearborn, and that of the north 
 in the vicinity of Lake Cham plain, under General Wade 
 Hampton. A similar arrangement was made by the 
 British. Sir George Prevost was in chief command of 
 the forces in Canada, General Proctor commanded the 
 troops stationed near Detroit, and General Sheafe those 
 in the neighborhood of Montreal and the Sorel river. 
 
 To recover what Hull had lost, Harrison moved toward 
 Detroit and Maiden ; meantime General Winchester ad- 
 vanced with eight hundred volunteers, chiefly young men 
 from Kentucky. That State swarmed with soldiers, 
 drawn from every rank in society. As he drew near the 
 Maumee Rapids, Winchester learned that a body of Brit- 
 ish and Indians was in possession of Frenchtown, on the 
 river Raisin. He sent a detachment, which routed the 
 enemy, and maintained its position until he himself came 
 up. When General Proctor learned of the approach of 
 Winchester, he hastened across the lake on the ice from 
 Maiden, with fifteen hundred British and Indians, to cut 
 him off, before Harrison could give aid. The attack was Jan 
 made on the American camp before daylight. In the 
 midst of the confusion Winchester was taken prisoner. 
 Proctor promised him security for the safety of his men, 
 and thus induced him to surrender them as prisoners. 
 Fearing the approach of Harrison, Proctor retreated as 
 rapidly as possible to Maiden, and in violation of his 
 pledges, he left the wounded Americans. 
 
 The Indians turned back and murdered great numbers
 
 644 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 XLm' ^ *kem, an( * carried the remainder to Detroit ; for some 
 
 , _ of these they demanded enormous ransoms, and others 
 
 1818. they reserved for tortures. The conduct of Proctor, in 
 
 thus breaking his word, and violating the principles ot 
 
 common humanity, excited against the enemy the bitterest 
 
 feelings of revenge. " Remember the Raisin ! " became 
 
 the war-cry of the Kentuckians. 
 
 Harrison advanced to the rapids, and there established 
 a post, which in honor of the Governor of Ohio, he named 
 Fort Meigs. There he was besieged, in the course of a 
 few months, by a large force of British and their Indian 
 allies. Learning that General Green Clay, of Kentucky, 
 was descending the Maumee with twelve hundred men in 
 boats, Harrison sent orders for half the men to land and 
 seize the enemy's batteries on the north side of the river, 
 spike their guns, and then come to the Fort, whence a 
 sortie was to be made against the main batteries on the 
 south side. The first order was fulfilled, and the British 
 routed ; but instead of hastening to the Fort, the Ken- 
 tuckians became unmanageable, and pursued a few In- 
 dians, who led them into an ambuscade prepared by the 
 cunning Tecumseh. They were in turn routed by the 
 Indians and a detachment of British soldiers, and of the 
 Kentuckians only about one hundred and fifty escaped. 
 Nevertheless Proctor was alarmed ; the force of the Ameri- 
 cans was unknown, and as the Indians began to desert, 
 he commenced a hurried retreat across the lake to Maiden. 
 Two months after, Proctor again appeared before Fort 
 Meigs, now under the command of Clay. Not able to 
 take it, and having learned that Fort Stephenson, on the 
 Sandusky, had a small garrison, Proctor left Tecumseh 
 with his Indians to besiege Fort Meigs, while he himself 
 went against Fort Stephenson. This fort had a garrison 
 of only one hundred and sixty young men, commanded 
 by Major George Croghan, a youth in his twenty-second 
 year. When summoned to surrender, he replied that he
 
 THE LOSS OF THE CHESAPEAKE. 645 
 
 should defend the fort till the last man was buried in its CHAP. 
 
 ruins. The siege commenced, and when a breach was 
 
 made, the British regulars, at the word of their Colonel, 1813. 
 who cried out, " Come on, give the Yankees no quarter," 
 rushed to the assault. As they crowded into the ditch, 
 the only cannon in the fort opened from a masked port 
 hole. The gun was loaded with a double charge of musket np 
 balls ; the effect was terrific, the enemy fled in confusion, 
 and abandoned the siege. The Indians at the first repulse 
 deserted, as usual. 
 
 Meanwhile there had been other conflicts at sea. 
 Captain James Lawrence, in command of the Hornet, had 
 captured the Peacock off the coast of South America. Feb. 
 The ships were equal in size and equipments. The action " ' 
 lasted but fifteen minutes. The Peacock raised signals of 
 distress, for she was sinking rapidly, and in spite of the 
 efforts of both crews she went down, carrying with her 
 some of her own men and three of the Hornet's. On his 
 return, Lawrence was appointed to the command of the 
 frigate Chesapeake, then in Boston harbor, undergoing 
 repairs and enlisting a crew. 
 
 The British frigate Shannon, Captain Broke, had ap- 
 peared off the harbor as if offering a challenge. The im- 
 petuous Lawrence put to sea, notwithstanding the de- 
 ficiency of his crew, some of whom were much dissatisfied 
 on account of back arrearages of prize money of a former 
 cruise. The ship was also deficient in officers, the first 
 lieutenant being unable from illness to go on board. The 
 contest was witnessed by thousands from the hills and 
 house tops. When the ships met, the Chesapeake be- 
 came entangled with the Shannon in such a manner as to 
 be exposed to a raking fire. Lawrence, mortally wounded 
 at the commencement of the battle, was carried below. 
 This created confusion for a few minutes, and Broke 
 noticing that the fire had slackened, promptly gave orders 
 to board, leading the men himself. The American
 
 646 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 boarders had just been called, and but few of them wero 
 yet upon deck ; after a hand to hand fight, the Chesa- 
 1813. peake's colors were hauled down. The captor sailed im- 
 mediately to Halifax. There Captain Lawrence died. 
 He was buried with military honors and marks of respect. 
 Afterward his remains were removed to New York. His 
 last command, " Don't give up the ship," has become the 
 watchword in the American navy. 
 
 The rejoicings in England over the capture of the 
 Chesapeake were so great as to become highly compli- 
 mentary to the Americans, to whom they were as gratify- 
 ing as if the Shannon had been captured. It was an un- 
 equivocal evidence of the respect that the navy had inspired. 
 The same spirit which had done so much honor to the 
 nation on the ocean, displayed itself on the lakes. The 
 random incursions of undisciplined volunteers accom- 
 plished nothing until the control of the lakes was secured. 
 A youthful lieutenant in the United States navy, Oliver 
 Hazard Perry, a native of Newport, Rhode Island, volun- 
 teered for that service. Commodore Chauncey appointed 
 him to the command of the fleet on Lake Erie. After 
 much labor, Perry built and fitted out at the port of Erie, 
 nine vessels of various sizes, from one carrying twenty- 
 five guns down to those which carried only one. The 
 American fleet had altogether fifty-five guns ; the British 
 had six vessels carrying sixty-three guns. The number 
 of men was about five hundred in each fleet. Owing to 
 the direction of the wind at the commencement of the 
 battle, Perry's flag ship, the Lawrence, was exposed to the 
 concentrated fire of the enemy's entire fleet, and in a short- 
 time she was made a complete wreck. As the wind in- 
 creased, the remaining ships were enabled to come up. 
 Leaping into a boat, and in the midst of flying balls, 
 Perry now transferred his flag, which bore the motto 
 " Don't give up the ship," to the next largest vessel, the 
 Niagara. When passing through the enemy's line be
 
 BATTLE OF THE THAMES DEATH OF TECUMSEH 647 
 
 poured in broadsides, right and left, within pistol-shot. The 
 other American vessels closed, and in less than an hour 
 every British ship had surrendered. The hero announced 1813. 
 the result to General Harrison, in the memorable despatch, 
 " We have met the enemy and they are ours." 
 
 Harrison hastened to profit by the victory, and to lead jo. 
 his men against Detroit and Maiden. The fleet carried a 
 portion of the troops across the lake, but they found 
 Maiden deserted. Proctor and Tecumseh had destroyed 
 their military stores, and taken with them the horses and 
 cattle in the neighborhood, and were now in full retreat 
 toward the Moravian town, on the Thames. At Detroit 
 Harrison was unexpectedly reinforced by about thirty-five 
 hundred mounted Kentuckians, under the venerable Gov- 
 ernor Shelby, one of the heroes of King's Mountain, and" 
 Colonel Kichard M. Johnson. The pursuit now com- 
 menced in earnest. After a forced march of sixty miles, 
 they overtook the enemy. A desperate encounter took 
 place ; nearly all Proctor's men were either taken or slain, Oct 
 he himself barely escaping with about two hundred dra- 5 - 
 goons. The Indians fought furiously when cheered on by 
 Tecumseh, but when he fell, it is said by a pistol ball 
 fired by Colonel Johnson himself, they broke and fled. 
 With the life of the great savage planner ended Indian 
 hostilities in that part of the frontier. The Kentuckians 
 returned home in triumph. Leaving Colonel Lewis Cass, 
 who was soon after appointed Governor of Michigan, to 
 garrison Detroit with his brigade, Harrison embarked with 
 thirteen hundred regulars for Buffalo, to assist in the 
 cherished project of conquering Canada. 
 
 Military enthusiasm was not confined to Kentucky 
 and the region north of the Ohio. In answer to a call to 
 defend New Orleans, volunteers in great numbers assembled 
 at Nashville, Tennessee. General Andrew Jackson was 
 their chosen commander.
 
 648 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. Jackson was a native of North Carolina, of Scotch- 
 
 Irish descent ; left fatherless at an early age : his mother 
 
 1813 the descendant of a Scotch Covenanter, a woman of 
 great energy, and of a daring spirit, but softened and sub- 
 dued by religious principle and humane sympathy. From 
 her he inherited a hatred of oppression, and an indomi- 
 table will that never failed to triumph. At the age of 
 thirteen in Revolutionary times he began his career un- 
 der General Sumter at the skirmish of Hanging Rock. 
 ?780. His eldest brother had already fallen in battle, and here, in 
 company with the brother next in age, he fought valiantly. 
 Their home broken up and pillaged, the mother and her 
 two sons became exiles from their own fireside. Soon 
 after the sons, through the plottings of Tories, were made 
 prisoners. The next day a British officer ordered Andrew 
 to clean his boots, but the young hero indignantly refused 
 to perform the menial service, and steadily persisted, 
 though his life was threatened and the officer struck him 
 with the flat of his sword. 
 
 The heroic mother at length obtained the exchange of- 
 her sons, but only in a short time to follow to the grave 
 the elder, who died of small-pox, which both the brothers 
 had contracted during their captivity. 
 
 The next year the mother, with some other ladies, 
 travelled more than one hundred miles to minister to the 
 wants of the unfortunate patriots, her neighbors, who were 
 confined as prisoners on board of loathsome prison ships 
 in the harbor of Charleston. Enfeebled by her labors of 
 love, she contracted the fever then raging among the 
 prisoners and speedily passed away. Thus at the age of 
 fifteen Jackson was left without a relative in his native 
 land. Scarcely has it ever fallen to the lot of a youth to 
 experience a series of such harrowing misfortunes. Though 
 young in years these trials had their effect ; they gave him 
 the maturity of manhood ; they strengthened the decision 
 of character, which so marked his life. To his friends
 
 JACKSON'S EXPEDITION TO NATCHEZ. 649 
 
 generous to a fault, yet he never suffered his will to be 
 successfully resisted ; not from stubbornness that strong- _ 
 hold of little minds but from his impression of right. 1796. 
 
 He early emigrated to* Tennessee, then a territory, and 
 was the first representative from that State in the House. 
 He was then described by a contemporary, " as having 
 been a tall, lank, uncouth-looking personage, with long 
 locks of hair hanging over his face, and a cue down his 
 back tied in an eel-skin ; his dress singular, his manners 
 and deportment that of a rough backwoodsman. No eye 
 among his associates was prophetic enough, under that 
 rude aspect, to recognize or imagine the future General 
 and President. 1 
 
 New Orleans was almost defenceless ; the same mis- 1813. 
 taken economy we have seen elsewhere, had been exercised 
 here. There were only sixteen hundred men in the gar- 
 rison, scarcely any ammunition, and no means of con- 
 veyance. Though without authority from the War De- 
 partment, General Wilkinson the same who in the days 
 of the Revolution was one of the aids of General Gates, 
 had taken measures to survey all the water passages to 
 the Gulf, and partially repair their fortifications. 
 
 This expedition from Tennessee had a singular termi- 
 nation. The infantry, in number sixteen hundred, floated 
 in flat-boats down the Cumberland, the Ohio and the 
 Mississippi to Natchez, where they were joined by four 
 hundred horsemen, who had marched across the country. 
 Armstrong, the Secretary of War, sent orders to Jackson, Fob 
 who had been refused a commission in the regular army, 
 to disband his men at Natchez, and deliver his military 
 stores to General Wilkinson. To implicitly obey orders 
 which he did not approve was not one of the virtues of 
 Andrew Jackson. Suspecting that this order was a pre- 
 text to get rid of the volunteers without paying their 
 
 1 Hildreth, vol. iv., p. 692.
 
 650 HISTOET OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, wages, he positively refused to obey. Indignant at the 
 
 wrong done the men, he unceremoniously drove out of the 
 
 1813. camp the United States recruiting officers, who had come, 
 hoping to induce those volunteers to enlist in the regular 
 army, who had not the funds to return home. On his own 
 responsibility, Jackson provided conveyances for the sick, 
 and marched the whole force back to Nashville, and there 
 ^P" 1 disbanded them. The War Department overlooked the in- 
 subordination, and quietly paid the bill. 
 
 The military operations on the northern frontier con- 
 tinued as unimportant, as they were inefficient in bringing 
 Great Britain to terms. To secure the control of Lake 
 Ontario it was necessary to destroy or capture the ships 
 and military stores at York, now Toronto, then the capi- 
 A.pril. tal of Upper Canada, and the head-quarters of General 
 Sheafe. When the spring opened, Commodore Chaunc^y 
 sailed with sixteen hundred men on board his fleet. They 
 landed a short distance from the town, Lieutenant Scott, 
 who had recently been exchanged, leading the van. General 
 Pike led the troops to the assault. The retreating British 
 fired a magazine, which exploded with tremendous power, 
 overwhelmed the advancing Americans, and killed and 
 wounded more than two hundred of their number, among 
 whom was the gallant Pike, who died the next day. The 
 town surrendered, and the contents of another magazine 
 were transferred to Sackett's Harbor. 
 
 Just before the Americans embarked, a little one 
 story building, known as the Parliament House, was 
 burned. The British attributed the act to them, but 
 General Dearborn and his officers believed it was set on 
 fire by the disaffected Canadians, as they had threatened 
 to burn it. 
 
 Major Graffcon certified that no American could have 
 committed the deed without his knowledge, as he had the 
 command of the patrol in the vicinity of the House. The
 
 PRIVATE RESENTMENTS ANOTHER FAILURE. 651 
 
 Canadian Chief Justice of the district, in a communication, CHAP. 
 
 JvJjill. 
 
 spoke of the humane conduct of the Americans, which 
 
 entitled them to the gratitude of the people of York." 1813. 
 Yet retaliation, for the burning of this building, was the 
 excuse offered afterward for the wanton destruction and 
 pillaging of the public buildings at Washington. 
 
 During the summer occurred a number of failures, all 
 traceable to the inefficiency of the commanders. Finally 
 certain members of Congress informally requested the 
 President, through secretary Monroe, to recall Dearborn 
 from the command. Accordingly Wilkinson was trans- 
 ferred frt)m New Orleans to the northern frontier. Q-eneral 
 Wade Hampton, recently in command at Norfolk, was also 
 appointed to the command of a division ; but as he and 
 Wilkinson were not on friendly terms, he accepted the 
 office only on condition that he should not be placed 
 under the command of the latter. That patriotism which 
 would overlook private resentment for the good of the 
 country must be sacrificed to the personal enmities of these 
 gentlemen. Hoping to remove the difficulty, Armstrong, 
 the Secretary of War, suddenly appeared on the ground, 
 and assumed the chief command himself ; but he and 
 Wilkinson could not agree on a plan of operations. After May 
 refusing to accept the proffered resignation of Wilkinson, 
 who did not relish the uncalled-for interference, the Secre- 
 tary returned to his more appropriate duties at Washington. 
 
 Another futile attempt was made to conquer Canada. 
 General Wilkinson moved his army from Sackett's Har- 
 bor, toward Montreal ; in the mean time General Hamp- 
 ton was advancing up from Lake Champlain. The two 
 American armies if united would number twelve thousand 
 men, while the whole British force was about two thou- 
 sand, and these mostly militia. Wilkinson wrote to 
 Hampton, in Armstrong's name, to join him at St. Kegis, 
 but instead of co-operating, Hampton replied that he had 
 given up the expedition and was already on his return to
 
 652 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, winter-quarters. Under these circumstances. Wilkinson 
 
 Ai jlll* 
 
 found it necessary to retreat, as the season would be too 
 
 1813. far advanced before he could obtain the provisions and 
 -^ ' aid which Hampton had failed to supply. During the 
 previous summer there had been on the lake, as well as on 
 its shores, several expeditions as unimportant in them- 
 selves as they were trifling in their results. 
 
 When General Harrison, who soon after resigned his 
 commission, retired, he left a General McClure in com- 
 mand at the head of Lake Ontario. Presently McClure 
 found himself with only a few regular troops, as the militia 
 under his command were returning home ; their' term of 
 enlistments had expired. Not prepared to resist the ad- 
 vancing British, he was forced to retire across the river to 
 the American side. Before leaving he destroyed Fort 
 George, and set on fire the village of Newark, lest the 
 enemy, as he said, should find comfortable winter-quarters. 
 McClure gave as his excuse for thus burning the homes, 
 and turning four hundred inoffensive people, men, women, 
 and children, out into the winter's storms, that he thought 
 he was justified by the orders of the War Department 
 In truth there was no excuse for the cruel and wanton 
 
 Dec. act. Evil begets evil. Ten days after, the enemy passed 
 over to the American side, surprised Fort Niagara, and 
 put the garrison to the sword. Then commenced the 
 retaliation for the burning of Newark. They burned 
 Lewistown, Youngstown, Manchester, Black Bock, and 
 Buffalo, and indeed every house that could be reached 
 from Lake Ontario to Erie. Prevost issued immediately 
 after a proclamation, in which he stated that these rav- 
 ages were provoked by the burning of Newark, and if the 
 Americans would hereafter refrain from such outrages, he 
 should conduct the war on humane and civilized principles. 
 During the summer the whole American coast was 
 
 June, blockaded by the overwhelming force of the British fleet. 
 The Hornet, the frigates United States and Macedonian,
 
 BRITISH ARMED VESSELS IN THE CHESAPEAKE. 653 
 
 were shut up in the harbor of New London. The harbor 
 of New York, the Delaware and Chesapeake bays, the 
 harbors of Charleston and Savannah, the mouth of the 1813. 
 Mississippi, were all blockaded. In the Chesapeake alone 
 there were more than twenty British armed vessels, on 
 board of which were three or four thousand land troops. 
 These frequently landed and pillaged the towns, and in 
 some instances committed outrages upon the inhabitants, 
 especially at Hampton, a small village on James river. 
 The infamy of conducting these marauding expeditions 
 belongs to Vice-Adrniral Cockburn, whose conduct was 
 more in accordance with the brutality of a savage, than 
 with the humanity of an officer of a Christian nation. 
 These marauders were well characterized by the term, 
 " Water Winnebagoes." 
 
 The war was not confined to the northern frontier. 
 The untiring Tecumseh had visited the Creeks the pre- 
 vious year, *,nd inspired them, especially their young war- 
 riors, with his views. The Creeks occupied the greater 
 portion of what is now the State of Alabama, and a por- 
 tion of south-western Georgia. Numbers of the tribe had 
 become partially civilized, living upon the products of 
 their fields and their herds. The nation was divided in 
 opinion. The intelligent and wealthy portion were in 
 favor of peace, while the ignorant and poor were in favor 
 of war. The one party saw in a war with the United 
 States, the utter ruin of their nation ; the other a return 
 to their ancient customs, and a perfect independence of 
 the white man. The settlers blindly neglected the re- 
 peated warnings given of these hostile intentions. When 
 suddenly Wetherford, a celebrated half-breed chief, sur- 
 rounded Fort Mimms, on the lower Alabama, and put to 
 death nearly three hundred persons, men, women, and 
 children. The South was speedily roused, and soon about 
 seven thousand volunteers were on their march in four
 
 654 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 * penetrate the enemy's country, from as manj 
 points, and to meet in the centre. 
 1818. General Jackson, with his recent Natchez volunteers, 
 
 r\ 
 
 ec * moved from Nashville ; from East Tennessee, another 
 division, under General Cocke ; one from Georgia, and 
 1814. one from the Mississippi Territory. In addition the 
 lower Creeks took up arms against their brethren ; and 
 also Cherokees and Choctaws joined in the expedition. A 
 series of attacks commenced upon the savage enemy. 
 The Creeks were defeated in every conflict ; cut down 
 without mercy, their warriors disdaining to ask for their 
 lives. The divisions penetrated the country from different, 
 points, and drove them from place to place. In this last 
 struggle for their homes they were overwhelmed, but not 
 conquered. Thus the war continued for some months, 
 when the greater portion of the volunteers returned home. 
 Jackson was compelled to suspend offensive operations 
 till reinforcements should arrive. At length they came, 
 and he went in pursuit of the enemy. On a peninsula 
 formed by a peculiar bend in the Tallapoosa river, known as 
 Emuchfau, or the Horse-shoe, the Indians made their last 
 stand. They fortified the neck of the peninsula, as much 
 as their rude materials would permit. Thither they trans- 
 ferred their wives and children, in whose defence they 
 resolved to die, and there in gloomy silence they awaited 
 the attack. 
 
 Mar The assault was made on the breastwork, which, after 
 
 28. five hours' fighting, was carried. Nearly six hundred of 
 the warriors perished, and the women and children were 
 taken prisoners. Thus, after a campaign of six months, 
 the power of the Creeks was broken, and with it 
 their spirit was crushed. The warriors who were yet 
 living, began to give themselves up to the conquerors. A 
 noble-looking chief suddenly, at the hour of midnight, pre- 
 sented himself to Jackson. " I fought at Fort Mimms ; 
 I fought th 3 army of Georgia," said he ; "I did you all
 
 THE CRUISE OF THE ESSEX. 655 
 
 the harm I could. Had I been supported as I was prom- 
 ised, I would have done more. But my warriors are kill- __ 
 ed, and I can fight no longer ; I look back with sorrow 1814 
 that I have brought ruin upon my nation. I am now in 
 your power, do with me as you please ; I too am a war- 
 rior." Such were the words of Wetherford, the destroyer 
 of Fort Minims. Jackson could appreciate the man who 
 would fight for his country ; though the volunteers mur- 
 mured, he spared the life of the chief. The General, so 
 stern in the performance of duty, was not devoid of 
 humane sympathy. When walking on the field of battle 
 his attention was arrested by the wail of an Indian babe. 
 He himself was a childless man, yet his heart was touched. 
 Ordering the infant to be brought to the camp, he asked 
 the Indian women to take care of it. " Its mother is 
 dead, let it die too/' was their reply. The General took 
 the child himself, carried it to his home, and reared it in 
 his own family. 
 
 The Essex, Captain Porter, passed round Cape Horn, 
 expecting to meet the Constitution in the Pacific ; but she, 
 as has already been noted, returned home after the capture 
 of the Java. When he arrived at Valparaiso, Porter was 
 gratified to be received as a friend. Chili had thrown off 
 her allegiance to Spain, and was no longer an ally of 
 England. Learning there that the viceroy of Peru had, 
 in expectation of war between Spain and the United 
 States, authorized cruisers against American whalers, he 
 put to sea in order to chastise these cruisers, one of whom 
 he captured and disarmed. He then went in pursuit of 
 the British whalers, who were all armed, and carried com- 
 missions from their own government to capture American 
 whaling vessels. In a few months he captured twelve of 
 these whalers. Hearing that the British frigate Phoebe 
 had been sent in pursuit of him, he returned early in the 
 year to Valparaiso, in search of the enemy. Soon the
 
 656 HISTOEY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 CHAP. Phoebe appeared, accompanied by the sloop-of-war Cherub. 
 - In guns and men the Phoebe was a full match for the Essex. 
 The two hostile vessels took their position off the harbor. 
 Porter determined to avoid the unequal contest by escaping 
 to sea ; but when passing out of the harbor a sudden 
 squall carried away his main-topmast, and, as he could not 
 return to port, he was at the mercy of the Phrebe and 
 Cherub. After an encounter, perhaps the most desperate 
 of any naval engagement during the \var, he was forced to 
 
 March - surrender; but he did not strike his flag until he had lost 
 the unusual number of fifty-eight killed and sixty-six 
 wounded. In giving an account of the affair to the Secre- 
 tary of the Navy, he wrote : "We have been unfortunate, 
 but not disgraced." 
 
 Efforts had been made by local societies, small and lim- 
 ited in their influence, to circulate the Bible, but not until 
 the formation of a large association, with more means and 
 greater facilities, could much be accomplished in publishing 
 and distributing the Scriptures. Sixty delegates, men of 
 influence and representing thirty-five of these local associa- 
 tions, met in New York City and formed the American 
 Bible Society. During the first year eighty-four local 
 ' societies became auxiliary to it ; now the auxiliaries, direct- 
 ly or indirectly connected with the Institution, number 
 over seven thousand. During the first year of its exist- 
 ence the members of the British Bible Society sent it their 
 congratulations and a donation of twenty-five hundred dol- 
 lars. The Society publishes the Bible without note or 
 comment, and has the confidence of all the Protestant 
 denominations. It publishes more than one hundred varie- 
 ties of the English Bible, and more than one hundred and 
 twenty varieties in other languages. Three several times 
 (1829, 1856, and 1866) the Society, as far as possible, has 
 supplied every family in the Union destitute of the Bible 
 with a copy.
 
 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION CONTINUED. 
 
 The Thirteenth Congress; its Members. Daniel Webster. Manifesto of 
 the British Government. Embarrassments. Commissioners of Peace 
 appointed. Britain offers to negotiate. Jacob Brown. Winfield 
 Scott. E. W. Ripley. Wilkinson unsuccessful ; his Misfortunes. 
 Capture of Fort Erie. Battle of Lundy's Lane. Its effect. British 
 repulsed at Fort Erie ; their Batteries captured. Battle on Lake 
 Champlain. British marauding Expeditions on the Shores of the 
 Chesapeake. Bladensburg. Capture of Washington. The Public 
 Buildings burned. Defence of Fort McHenry. Death of General 
 Ross. Bombardment of Stonington. Distress in New England. De- 
 bates in Congress. Embargo and Non-importation Act repealed. 
 Hartford Convention. 
 
 TUB thirteenth Congress, in obedience to the call of 
 the President, met in special session, some months before 
 the usual time. The last census had increased the num- 1813 
 ber of Eepresentatives in the House to 182. Of the 
 present members a greater proportion than in the last 
 Congress were opposed to the war, and, indeed, its own 
 advocates on that subject were by no means harmonious 
 among themselves. 
 
 In this Congress, as well as in the last, appeared many 
 new men, whose influence was afterward greatly felt, not 
 only in their respective States, but in moulding the future 
 policy of the nation itself. Among these were John Forsyth 
 of Georgia, William Graston of North Carolina, John 
 McLean of Ohio, and Daniel Webster of New Hamp- 
 shire, who now commenced that career so marked in oui
 
 668 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, national councils. Born on the frontiers of that State, his 
 
 '. privileges were limited. The quiet, thoughtful boy, fond 
 
 1813. of books, read all within his reach. His father, a man of 
 strong sense and sterling integrity ; his mother, a woman 
 of more than ordinary intellect aid force of character ; to 
 their judicious guidance may be traced the best elements 
 of his education. The father noticed his expanding in- 
 tellect, the calm power of mind that intuitively grasped 
 thoughts far beyond his years. H>s resolution was taken ; 
 though very limited in means, he must educate his sou. 
 At length he informed Daniel of his determination to 
 sen! him to college. At this first intimation that the 
 dreams which had been floating before his imagination 
 were to be realized, the boy's emotions were too deep for 
 utterance ; he threw himself upon hi* father's neck and 
 wept for joy. 
 
 In Congress stirring debates ensued. Not only was 
 the policy of the war severely criticized, but the manner in 
 which it had been conducted. Its advocates were sur- 
 rounded with difficulties ; the means to carry it on were 
 exhausted ; the revenue derived from commerce had 
 dwindled to one million, with a prospect of still greater 
 reduction ; enormous bounties were offered to obtain re- 
 cruits for the army, but very few enlisted. The clashing 
 of opinions on the subject had arrayed the people definitely 
 on one side or the other. 
 
 Jan. The British government issued to the world a mani- 
 
 festo, in which certain charges industriously circulated in 
 the United States were utterly denied such as that 
 they had instigated the Indians to hostilities, or that 
 they had endeavored to seduce the people of the Eastern 
 States from the Union ; but on the contrary, they protested 
 that the English people were actuated by a spirit of for- 
 bearance, and were truly desirous to be at peace and 
 amity with the people of the United States. As to the 
 question of search, they were unwilling to give up the
 
 THE WAR UNPOPULAR IN NEW ENGLAND. 659 
 
 right to recover their deserting seamen, unless the United 
 States would remove the necessity for impressments, by 
 enacting laws forbidding British sailors to enlist in the 1813. 
 American service. This document had a great effect in 
 influencing the minds of the people in England, as well 
 as upon those in the United States. 
 
 The disasters of the last campaign, and the want of 
 money, a sufficiency of which could not be obtained by 
 loans, were not as embarrassing to the government, as the 
 opposition to the war which prevailed in the New Eng- 
 land States. The Legislature of Massachusetts sent a 
 remonstrance to Congress. They denounced the war as 
 unreasonable, for Great Britain had repealed the obnoxious 
 Orders in Council, and also offered to negotiate in relation 
 to impressments. Undue influences in the councils of the 
 nation had led to measures opposed to their interests, and 
 had brought ruin upon them by war. It was a duty to 
 their constituents to make this remonstrance. They ap- 
 pealed to the Searcher of hearts for the purity of their 
 motives, and their devotion to their country. 
 
 The people of New England complained that for the 
 last twelve years, their influence in the national govern- 
 ment had not been in proportion to their population, in- 
 telligence and wealth, that their best and ablest men 
 had been designedly excluded from positions of influence 
 in the councils of the nation. 
 
 In less than a year after the declaration of war, Presi- 
 dent Madison, influenced by an offer of mediation on the 
 part of Russia, appointed Albert Gallatin, his Secretary of 
 the Treasury, and James A. Bayard, commissioners to nego- 
 tiate a peace. They were to act in concert with John 
 Quincy Adams, then minister at the court of St. Peters- 
 burg. The offered mediation by Russia was declined by 
 England ; and nothing was accomplished by the com- 
 missioners. Nearly a year afterward, the British govern- 
 ment made a direct overture to treat of peace, either at
 
 660 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. London or at Gottenburg in Sweden. This offer wap 
 
 .XJjI v . 
 
 made in the face of the ultimate downfall of Bonaparte, 
 
 1814. who had just been defeated at the battle of Leipsic. The 
 j^ President gladly accepted the offer, though he complained 
 that the English government had rejected the mediation 
 of Russia, which had been offered three several times. 
 Accordingly, Henry Clay and Jonathan Russell, recently 
 minister to England, were appointed additional commis- 
 sioners of peace. In a month's time, they had received 
 their instructions, and were on their way to Europe. 
 
 These instructions took decided ground on the im- 
 pressment question. " That degrading practice must cease/' 
 said they. " Our flag must protect the crew, or the United 
 States cannot consider themselves an independent nation." 
 Yet the promise was quietly made to enact a law for- 
 bidding the enlistment of British sailors, either in the 
 United States navy or in the mercantile service. Still 
 more, the commissioners were privately authorized " to go 
 further, to prevent a possibility of failure." It will be re- 
 membered that this was the very law or assurance in 
 effect, that Britain asked of Congress, at the commence- 
 ment of the war. 
 
 Engrossed with the affairs of Europe, England as yet 
 could spare but few men or ships for the American 
 war. Bonaparte having abdicated and retired to Elba, 
 she had on her hands a large veteran army unemployed. 
 Of this army, fourteen thousand soldiers were sent to 
 Canada, while other portions were sent to different places 
 in the United States. This acquisition changed the face 
 of affairs on the northern frontier. 
 
 The failures in that quarter, had thrown the adminis- 
 tration at Washington into despair. The soldiers had 
 but little confidence in officers, who were continually 
 quarrelling with each other, and never acting in concert, 
 and this favorite measure was about to be given up, from 
 sheer want of proper persons to lead the enterprise. New
 
 NEW MEN ON THE STAGE. 661 
 
 men were coming on the stage. The most promising of 
 these was Colonel Jacob Brown, a Pennsylvanian by birth, 
 a Quaker by descent, who, when a school teacher in the 1 31 4-. 
 city of New York, attracted the attentiou of Hamilton, 
 who made him his military secretary in the army of 1798. 
 Brown subsequently removed to the northern part of New 
 York State, and there, in his defence of Ogdensburg, as 
 well as on other occasions, exhibited military talents of a 
 high order. There was another youthful hero, destined to 
 fill an honorable space in the military annals of his country. 
 Winfield Scott, a native of Virginia, originally bred for 
 the bar ; he also belonged to the army of '98. At the 
 commencement of the war he raised and commanded a 
 company of volunteers. To these may be added Eleazar 
 W. Kipley, of Maine, who possessed talents of a high order. 
 
 These young and enthusiastic officers believed that if 
 the Americans were drilled, and led by commanders in 
 whom they had confidence, they would meet the British 
 regulars without fear for the result. Owing to their 
 solicitations, another invasion of Canada was planned. 
 Nothing, however, was gained by the effort, except th 
 verification of their theory. 
 
 Early in the spring, Wilkinson, who had been ill for 
 months, moved with four thousand men, from winter 
 quarters, to repel a British detachment. His progress was 
 arrested near La Colle, at a stone mill, held .as an outpost. M 
 The single heavy cannon brought to batter down the mill, 
 sunk in the mire. An unusual thaw commencing, flooded 
 the whole country, and opened Lake Champlain, of which 
 the British had control. The Americans were fain to re- 
 tire from the danger as soon as possible. Wilkinson was 
 so much abused and ridiculed on account of this failure, 
 that he indignantly resigned, and demanded an inquiry 
 Into his conduct by a court-martial. 
 
 One year from that time, he was honorably acquitted 
 by the court. But the government, which he had faith-
 
 662 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP fully served for forty years, on the reduction of the army 
 
 after the war, dismissed him from its service. Thus in 
 
 1814. his old age he experienced the hardship of being turned 
 upon the world without a competency. The State of 
 Maryland came forward, and generously granted him a 
 pension. 
 
 When spring further opened, a concentration of forces 
 on both sides resulted in a series of movements and counter- 
 movements accomplishing nothing of importance. The 
 first point resolved upon, was to seize Burlington Heights, 
 at the head of Lake Ontario, before aid could come from 
 York. In the mean time, Commodore Chauncey was to get 
 the command of the lake. 
 
 Having obtained permission from the government, 
 General Brown, with thirty-five hundred men, some reg- 
 ulars and some volunteers, passed in the night from 
 Buffalo to Canada, presented himself in the morning be- 
 fore Fort Erie, and summoned the garrison to surrender. 
 In the course of the day, the fort complied. 
 2. The British General Riall, with an army equal in 
 
 number to that of Brown, was stationed behind the Chip- 
 pewa, distant fifteen miles. Colonel Scott, the next day, 
 led the advance against the enemy, whose outposts he 
 drove in ; the remainder of the army came up at midnight. 
 Brown here gave an indication of what he expected of his 
 officers ; he cashiered one of their number for untimely re- 
 treating in a skirmish. On the following day, Riall left 
 his intrenchments and crossed the Chippewa. The volun- 
 teers could not resist the attack, but fled, leaving Scott'a 
 brigade exposed. TheJatter charged the advancing enemy 
 with the bayonet, and forced them to retreat ; as they 
 passed the bridge they destroyed it. Riall immediately 
 abandoned his camp and Queenstown, and leaving a strong 
 force in Fort George, retreated to a favorable position 
 twelve miles distant. The British loss in these engagements 
 was about nV> hundred, the American about three hundred
 
 THE BATTLE OF LUNDY/S LANE. 663 
 
 This first victory, after a fair trial of strength, was very CHAP. 
 
 gratifying to the Americans, privates as well as officers. , 
 
 Brown took possession of Queenstown, but found he had 1814. 
 not the proper cannon to successfully attack Fort George, 
 and that the fleet could not co-operate. After maintain- July 
 ing his position three weeks, he fell back to the Chippewa. 24% 
 
 The British were not idle. On the very day that 
 Brown reached the Chippewa, General Drummond ar- 
 rived from York at Fort George, with large reinforce- 
 ments, To prevent them from sending a detachment to 
 destroy his stores at Schl osser, Brown made an advance 
 upon the enemy. Scott led his brigade, accompanied by 
 the artillery commanded by Towson. General Riall was 
 advancing in force in an opposite direction, intending on 
 the following morning to attack the Americans. About 
 sunset, when directly opposite the falls of Niagara, these 
 parties unexpectedly met. The British took position on 
 a rising ground, and there placed their artillery, consisting 
 of seven pieces. These began to play upon Scott's bri- 
 gade, while, because of their position on the hill, balls 
 from Towson's guns could scarcely reach them. The loss 
 of the Americans was great, yet they maintained their 
 position, expecting Brown with the main army. When it 
 was quite dark, he arrived. One of Scott's regiments under 
 Major Jessup drove the Canadian militia before them, and, 
 gaining the rear of the enemy, captured a number of 
 prisoners, among whom was General Riall himself, who 
 having been wounded, was retiring. It was seen that the 
 key of the position was the park of artillery on the hill. 
 Said Ripley to Colonel James Miller : " Can you take that 
 battery ?" " I'll try, sir," was the prompt reply. Then 
 silently leading his regiment, which was partially concealed 
 by the fence of a churchyard, along which they passed, 
 Miller rushed upon the artillerists, and drove them from 
 their guns at the point of the bayonet. Presently General 
 Drummond advanced ir the darkness to recover the
 
 664 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, guns ; but nis men quailed before the terrible fire which 
 
 they encountered. He rallied them again ; and again 
 
 1814. they were forced from the hill. With the energy of des- 
 peration, for the third time they advanced, and were 
 again met with a resistance equally obstinate, the op- 
 posing forces fighting hand to hand with the bayonet. It 
 , j was now midnight. The British sullenly retired. The 
 25. Americans had maintained their ground, supplying their 
 own exhausted ammunition from the cartridge-boxes of 
 their slain foes. The men were almost perishing with 
 hunger, thirst and fatigue. They had marched during the 
 day fifteen miles, and contended with the enemy five 
 hours. Exhausted, they sank upon the ground. The 
 silence was broken only by the groans of the wounded and 
 dying, and the roar of the mighty cataract, whose moan- 
 ing tones was a fit requiem for the dead on that field of 
 blood. 
 
 The Americans at length retired to their camp, not 
 having horses or any means to carry off the guns which 
 they had captured. The scouts of the enemy soon dis- 
 covered that they had retired, and a strong detachment 
 was sent to reoccupy the hill and recover their artillery. 
 
 Such was the midnight battle of Bridgewater, or Lundy's 
 Lane. The Americans lost nearly seven hundred and 
 fifty men and the British nearly nine hundred ; an un- 
 precedented loss, when compared with the number en- 
 gaged. Brown and Scott were both wounded ; as well as 
 nearly all the regimental officers. The next morning there 
 were but sixteen hundred effective men in the American 
 camp. It was now seen that the Americans, when prop- 
 erly led, could and would fight. They had met the vete- 
 rans who fought under Wellington in Spain, and repulsed 
 them in three desperate encounters. This battle stood out 
 in bold relief, when compared with the imbecility hitherto 
 BO characteristic of the campaigns on the northern froo-
 
 BRITISH REPULSED- -BATTLE ON LAKE CHAMPLAIN. 665 
 
 tier. It acquired a national interest, as important in its CHAP 
 
 A I - 1 V 
 
 effect as the first naval victories. 
 
 The American army fell back to Fort Erie, the com- 1814. 
 mand of which Brown intrusted to Colonel Edmund P. 
 Gaines. In the course of a fortnight, Drummond ad- 
 vanced with four thousand men, and after bombarding 
 the fort, attempted at midnight to carry it by assault. 
 The British, in the face of a destructive fire, charged 
 again and again, even within a few feet of the intrench- Aug. 
 ments. They were finally forced to retire, after sustain- 
 ing a loss of nearly a thousand men the Americans not 
 losing a hundred. In a few weeks the energetic Brown, 
 now partially recovered from his wounds, assumed the 
 command. He determined to make a dash at the enemy's 
 batteries, which were two miles in advance of their camp. 
 The time, mid-day, was well chosen. Hushing out from Sept. 
 the fort, before assistance could come from the British 
 camp, he stormed the batteries, fired the magazines, 
 spiked the guns, captured four hundred prisoners, and re- 
 turned to the fort, leaving six hundred of the enemy 
 killed and wounded. But this brilliant exploit cost him 
 nearly three hundred men. Drummond immediately 
 raised the siege and retreated beyond the Chippewa. 
 
 Stirring events occurred on another part of the frontier. 
 The little navy on Lake Champlain emulated the deeds 
 of the one on Lake Erie just a year before. General 
 Prevost, himself, marched from Canada with twelve 
 thousand veteran troops to invade the State of New York 
 the town of Plattsburg was the spfecial object of attack. 
 There on the south bank of the Saranac, General Macomb 
 was intrenched with an army of three thousand men, 
 many of whom were invalids. The main body of the 
 American forces was under General Izard, at Sackett's 
 Harbor. Macomb called upon the militia of Vermont and 
 New York for aid ; three thousand of whom nobly re- 
 sponded, as did their fathers thirty-seven years before,
 
 666 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, when Burgoyne was moving in the same direction, and for 
 
 A 1 . 1 V . 
 
 the same purpose. Commodore Macdonough, after labor- 
 
 18H. ing incessantly, had at last equipped a fleet. It consisted 
 of a ship, the Saratoga, of twenty-six guns, a brig oi 
 twenty guns, an armed schooner, and a sloop, besides 
 some gun-boats, in all eighty-six guns and eight hundred 
 and fifty-six men. The British soon appeared, and be- 
 gan to prepare batteries in order to assault Macomb's 
 position. It was useless to force the Saranac, unless the 
 command of the lake was secured. Captain Downie had 
 a fleet of one ship of thirty-seven guns, a brig of twenty- 
 four, two sloops each of eleven, and a number of gun- 
 boats, in all ninety-five guns and one thousand men. 
 Macdonough moored his fleet across the entrance of Platts- 
 burg Bay. A strange scene was witnessed on board the 
 Saratoga. As the British fleet drew near, Macdonough 
 knelt in prayer in the presence of his men, and implored the 
 blessing of Heaven upon his country, and especially upon 
 those about to engage with him in the coming conflict. 
 
 Downie stood directly into the harbor, reserving his 
 fire for a close action, but his largest vessel became so 
 disabled that he was obliged to cast anchor a quarter of a 
 mile from the American line. During this time one of 
 his sloops was so cut up as to become unmanageable, and 
 drifting within reach, was secured, while the other sloop 
 for a similar cause drifted ashore. All the guns on one 
 side of Macdonough's largest ship were disabled, but he 
 managed to wind her round, and presented a whole side 
 and guns to her antagonist. Downie attempted the same 
 manoeuvre, but failing he struck his flag ; the entire fleet 
 was captured with the exception of a few gun-boats. 
 
 When the battle began on the lake, Prevost advanced 
 to storm Macomb's position ; he delayed the main attack 
 till a detachment could cross the river above, but before 
 that was accomplished, the fleet had surrendered. The 
 following night, in the midst of a raging storm, the enemy,
 
 THE BRITISH FLEET IN THE CHESAPEAKE. 667 
 
 stricken with a sudden panic, commenced their retreat, 
 abandoned their sick and wounded, and the greater part of _ . 
 their stores. Thus again the navy of the lake had given 1814. 
 a decisive blow. 
 
 Their great number of vessels enabled the British still 
 to blockade the ports of the United States, and effectually 
 prevent their ships of war from getting to sea. The Wasp 
 was their only one afloat. She was known to have lately 
 captured the British sloop-of-war Avon, and subsequently 
 three other prizes. All trace of her was now lost ; she 
 had gone down, carrying with her the only American flag 
 which waved on the ocean from a national vessel. Chesa- 
 peake Bay became the favorite rendezvous for the British 
 fleet ; its shores affording great facilities for marauding 
 expeditious. As a defence, the gun-boats were of no ser- 
 vice, except to make a bold front till the enemy came 
 near, and then to run up the creeks, out of harm's way. 
 
 In the waters of the Chesapeake and its tributaries, 
 there were now sixty ships of war under the command of 
 Admirals Cockburn and Cochrane. On board this fleet 
 was a land force of five thousand troops, under General 
 Robert Boss. The greatest alarm prevailed in that regioa 
 in consequence of a proclamation, signed by Cochrane, 
 which promised to persons desirous of emigrating from the 
 United States, employment in the British army and navy, 
 or transportation as '''free settlers " to the West India 
 Islands, or to Canada. Still more alarming was the j n ij 
 rumor, based on the proposition of some British officers. 9 - 
 that the enemy were about to seize the peninsula between 
 the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays, and there form and 
 drill an army of runaway slaves. 
 
 General Winder, who was appointed to the command 
 in the emergency, was authorized to call out fifteen thou- 
 sand militia from the neighboring States. This he pro- 
 posed to do some weeks before the enemy appeared, and
 
 668 HISTORY OF THE AMEBICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, to place them in a central position, that they might be 
 T able to march to the defence of either Washington, Balti- 
 
 1814. more, or Annapolis, as the case might require. This ju- 
 dicious plan was not adopted. Armstrong, the Secretary 
 of War, opposed it on the ground that with an empty 
 treasury it would be unjustifiable to incur the expense ; 
 and, moreover, he was of the opinion that "Washington 
 would not be attacked by an enemy who were without 
 horses or cannon, and that Baltimore could defend itself. 
 President Madison seems to have been at a loss what to 
 do or advise. In the midst of these discussions the enemy 
 appeared, one portion of their fleet coming up the bay, 
 and another up the Potomac. 
 
 At this late hour word was sent, not by express, but 
 by the tardy mail, to the authorities of Pennsylvania and 
 Virginia, asking them to forward their requisition of 
 militia. It was now impossible for them to reach the 
 scene of action. In the mean time at Benedict, on the 
 Patuxent, about fifty miles from Washington, General 
 Boss landed five thousand troops, without meeting the 
 least opposition from the militia of the neighborhood. 
 He commenced his march toward the capital, moving 
 very slowly, not more than ten miles a day, the marines, 
 for want of horses, dragging their field-pieces, only three 
 or four. The soldiers were enervated from the effects of 
 their voyage, and from the excessive heat of the weather. 
 A few spirited troops could have easily checked them. A 
 company of armed and trained negroes marched in front, 
 cautiously exploring the country, and receiving from run- 
 away slaves information of the Americans. The soul of 
 the enterprise was the notorious Cockburn, who had been 
 for a year engaged in pillaging that region. The planters 
 were so much alarmed for their own safety, lest the slaves, 
 much more numerous than their masters, should rise in 
 insurrection and join the enemy, that they permitted the 
 invaders to advance for four days without making the least
 
 BATTLE OF BLADEN8BUBQ. 669 
 
 opposition. They might have been delayed on their 
 march much longer, if trees had been felled at certain - 
 points where the roads crossed swamps, or if the numerous 1814. 
 bridges on the route had been broken down. 
 
 Commodore Barney, who was in command of the 
 flotilla of gun-boats, ran them up the Patuxent as far as 
 possible, then set them on fire, and marched with five 
 hundred marines to join the militia concentrating in the 
 vicinity of Bladensburg. Here he was put in command 
 of some heavy guns brought from the navy yard. The 
 President himself, accompanied by his cabinet, visited the 
 camp, where all was in confusion. The divisions of 
 militia were stationed by General Winder in such posi- 
 tions as to support each other, but these had been changed 
 by self-constituted officers, who accompanied the Presi- 
 dent. It was ascertained that the enemy was moving 
 toward Bladensburg. Rumor had magnified their num- 
 ber to ten thousand ; all veterans. The discreet militia 
 began to retreat, some with permission and some without. 
 On learning this General Winder sent orders for them to 
 make a stand at the bridge and fight. The village was 
 abandoned, and on the other side of the east branch of 
 the Potomac the marines and militia were arranged. 
 Barney had placed his men in a position to sweep the 
 road with the guns. About the middle of the afternoon 
 the enemy appeared, but so excessive had been the heat, 
 that they were completely exhausted. When Ross re- 
 connoitred the militia stationed on the rising ground, he 
 was somewhat alarmed at their formidable appearance. 
 But he had gone too far to retreat ; the order was given 
 to move forward. His alarm was of short continuance. 
 A few Congreve rockets put the Maryland militia to flight ; 
 the riflemen followed ; the artillery, after firing not more 
 than twice, rapidly retreated ; then the Baltimore regi- 
 ment, on which some hopes were placed, fled also, carry- 
 ing with them the President and his cabinet. The 24.
 
 670 
 
 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. British now moved slowly on until they were checked by 
 
 the guns manned by the marines under Barney. Find- 
 
 1814. ing it impossible to force the position of the marines and 
 sailors in front, detachments filed by the right and left 
 and passed up ravines. At the head of one was stationed 
 the Annapolis regiment, which fled at the first fire. At 
 the head of the other ravine were placed some regulars 
 and militia ; they also showed their discretion by getting 
 out of harm's way as soon as possible. The sailors and 
 marines, thus deserted, and in danger of being surrounded, 
 retired, their guns and wounded companions falling into 
 the hands of the enemy. Owing to the vigorous fire oi 
 the marines, the British lost a large number of men, and 
 others died from fatigue and heat, and it was absolutely 
 necessary to wait some hours before they could march on 
 Washington. Thus ended the battle of Bladensburg, 
 in one respect the most famous in American annals. 
 
 In the cool of the evening the British advanced into 
 Washington, which they found almost entirely deserted 
 by its male inhabitants. The enemy proceeded to dis- 
 grace themselves by fulfilling the instructions which Ad- 
 miral Cochrane had previously officially announced, 
 which were "to destroy and lay waste all towns and dis- 
 tricts of the United S-tates found accessible to the attack 
 of British armaments." They burned the capitol, and with 
 it the Congressional Library, and the buildings used for 
 the Treasury and State Departments, in revenge, as it was 
 said, for the Parliament House at York. Many important 
 A.ng. papers were lost, but the most valuable had been removed 
 ^ some days before. Mrs. Madison had left the President's 
 mansion, taking with her the plate and valuables, and also a 
 portrait of Washington which was taken from the frame 
 and rolled up. The mansion was pillaged and set on fire, 
 as were some private dwellings, and stores were also plun- 
 dered. A complete destruction followed at the navy 
 yard.
 
 GENERAL ROSS SLAIN 1 EFENCE OF FORT M'HENRY. 671 
 
 In the midst of a hostile country, General Ross, with 
 a handful of exhausted men, was ill at ease. Perhaps he 
 had read of Concord and Lexington, and was alarmed 1814. 
 lest " the indignant citizen soldiery " would turn out and 
 harass him on his retreat. Early the following night he 
 kindled the camp fires, and leaving behind him the sick 
 and wounded, he commenced a stealthy retreat to his 
 ships. His alarm was needless ; in a march of four days 
 not the least opposition did he experience. Four days 
 after the taking of the capital, the British frigates, passing 
 by Fort Washington, which offered but little resistance, 
 came up the Potomac and anchored opposite Alexandria, 
 which town saved itself from a bombardment by paying 
 an enormous tribute. 
 
 When his men were refreshed, General Ross moved 
 with the fleet up the Chesapeake, toward Baltimore. The 
 militia of Maryland by this time had assembled for the 
 defence of the city, and also several companies of volun- 
 teers had arrived from Pennsylvania. The enemy, eight 
 thousand strong, landed at North Point, at the mouth of 
 the Patapsco. The land forces commenced their march, 
 and the fleet to ascend the river, intending to capture 
 Fort McHenry, situated two miles below the city. An 
 advance party of Americans were thrown forward. In a 
 skirmish with this party, General Ross was killed, yet the 
 invaders pressed on; the militia, after a spirited encounter, 
 retired in good order. The next morning the enemy ad- 
 vanced, yet hesitatingly, as the neighboring hills were 
 covered with soldiers, field works and artillery, which al- 
 together made a formidable appearance. They were un- 
 der the veteran General Samuel Smith, the same who so 
 gallantly defended Fort Mifflin in the Revolution. The 
 British hesitated to commence the attack without the co- 
 operation of the fleet, which was then busily engaged in 
 bombarding Fort McHenry, but without much success, 
 as the fort was replying with great spirit. When it was
 
 672 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 XLLV' a8cer tained that the fleet could not pass the fort, the in- 
 
 vaders silently retired in the night and re-embarked. 
 
 1814. It was amid the excitement of this cannonade that 
 Francis Key composed the popular song of the " Star 
 Spangled Banner." He had gone to ask the release of 
 certain prisoners, and had been detained during the at- 
 tack on board the British fleet. 
 
 From Eastport in Maine to Sandy Hook, the whole 
 Eastern coast was liable to these marauding expeditions. 
 One of the most serious of these, was the bombardment 
 of Stonington in Connecticut, which continued for four 
 days, but after throwing shells and rockets, and several 
 attempts to land, the enemy retired. They were repelled 
 in every instance by the sturdy militia. Field works, 
 garrisoned by the yeomanry of the country, were thrown 
 up at all points along the coast likely to be an object of 
 
 Aug. attack. This was done by the State authorities, the na- 
 tional government being so completely enfeebled, as to 
 be unable to afford the least aid to any of the States. 
 
 The people of New England, with very few exceptions, 
 continued to complain of their grievances. Their dis- 
 tress was great; the embargo, enforced by severe penalties, 
 ruined their fisheries and their coasting trade, and had 
 deprived them of many of the necessaries of life. They 
 looked upon these restrictions as " more odious and un- 
 feeling than the Boston Port Bill, which roused the colo- 
 nies to independence ; a gross and palpable violation of the 
 principles of the Constitution, not to be submitted to with- 
 out a pusillanimous surrender of their rights and liberties." 
 
 Petitions poured in to the legislature of Massachusetts, 
 asking it to take measures to redress these grievances. A 
 committee to whom these petitions were referred, reported 
 Feb. in terms expressive of the general sentiment of the pe- 
 titioners. They believed that the war, so fertile in failures, 
 and so threatening as to its results, was uncalled for and
 
 DEBATES IN CONGRESS DANIEL WEBSTER. 673 
 
 wrong in principle. They saw in the future the people 
 impoverished, deprived of their comforts, and their hopes 
 blasted. And the committee recommended a convention 1814. 
 of delegates from the commercial States, to obtain amend- 
 ments to the constitution that would secure them against 
 such evils. 
 
 These manifestations of discontent had their effect, 
 and the President himself proposed the abandonment of 
 the restrictive system, not only the embargo, but the non- 
 importation act. In order to encourage domestic manu- Mar 
 factures, instead of the latter he recommended that for 
 three years after the close of the war double duties be 
 imposed upon imported goods, and that the exportation 
 of specie be prohibited. 
 
 The advocates of the war in Congress, annoyed at the 
 failures of the last two years, attributed their want of . 
 success to the influence of those opposed to the war ; in- 
 stead of acknowledging their own imprudence, in thus 
 rushing, without preparation, into hostilities, or ceasing to 
 be infatuated with the idea of conquering Canada. In 
 the discussion on a bill to procure enlistments for the 
 army, Daniel Webster in reply to these charges, no 
 doubt expressed the general sentiment of those opposed 
 to the war. In those sections of the country where the 
 population was most numerous, the war was unpopular 
 because of its impolicy ; it was no detraction from their 
 patriotism that they did not join heart and hand in 
 measures which they deemed the extreme of folly. He 
 continued, " Give up your futile projects of invasion. 
 Extinguish the fires which blaze on your inland frontiers. 
 Establish perfect safety and defence there by adequate 
 force. Let every man that sleeps on your soil sleep in 
 security. Having performed this work of beneficence and 
 mercy oti your inland border, turn and look with the eye 
 of justice and compassion on your vast population along 
 the coast. Unclench the iron grasp of your embargo. Take
 
 674 HISTOET OF THE AMEBICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, measures for that end before another sun sets upon you 
 
 With all the war of the enemy upon your commerce, if 
 
 1814. you would cease to make war upon it yourselves, yon 
 would still have some commerce. That commerce would 
 give you some revenue. Apply that revenue to the aug- 
 mentation of your navy. Let it no longer be said, that 
 not one ship of force, built by your hands since the war, 
 yet floats upon the ocean. If the war must continue, go 
 to the ocean. If you are seriously contending for mari- 
 time rights, go to the theatre where alone those rights can 
 be defended. Thither every indication of your fortune 
 points you. There the united wishes and exertions of 
 the nation will go with you. Even our party divisions, 
 acrimonious as they are, cease at the water's edge. They 
 are lost in attachment to the national character, on the 
 element where that character is made respectable. In 
 time you may be able to redress injuries in the place 
 where they may be offered ; and, if need be, to accompany 
 your own flag throughout the world with the protection 
 of your own cannon." 
 
 The embargo and non-importation act were repealed, 
 while action on the other recommendations of the Presi- 
 dent was postponed. 
 
 The delegates to the convention recommended by the 
 legislature of Massachusetts, met upon the appointed day 
 Deo. at Hartford. In accordance with the sentiments express- 
 ed in the call for the convention, the members were en- 
 joined not to propose measures " repugnant to their obli- 
 gations, as members of the Union." They met in a time 
 of trial and distress to confer with each other on the best 
 means to relieve the country of a ruinous war, and secure 
 the blessings of a permanent peace. The Convention, 
 consisting of but twenty-six members, sat with closed 
 doors. After a session of twenty days it adjourned, and, 
 as the result of their deliberations, published an address 
 to the people. The address disappointed the more violent
 
 THE HARTFORD CONVENTION. 675 
 
 opponents of the war, who thought the occasion demanded 
 more decided measures. The President and his cabinet 
 had been much alarmed ; in the Convention, they imagin- 1814. 
 ed lurked some terrible plot of treason ; they breathed 
 more freely when they read this address and the resolutions 
 
 After recapitulating the evils which the war had 
 brought upon the people whom they represented, they ex- 
 pressed their sentiments upon other wrongs ; such as the 
 enlistment of minors and apprentices ; the national gov- 
 ernment assuming to command the State militia ; and 
 especially the proposed system of conscription for both 
 army and navy. " Strange propositions for a government 
 professedly waging war to protect its seamen from im- 
 pressment ! " " The conscription of the father with the 
 seduction of the son, renders complete the power of the 
 national executive over the male population of the coun- 
 try, thus destroying the most important relations of 
 society." 
 
 " A free constitution administered by great and in- 
 comparable statesmen realized the fondest hopes of liberty 
 and independence, under Washington and his measures. 
 The arts flourished, the comforts of life were universally 
 diffused, nothing remained but to reap the advantages 
 and cherish the resources flowing from this policy." 
 
 " Our object is to strengthen and perpetuate the union 
 of these States, by removing the causes of jealousies." 
 
 In furtherance of these views they proposed amend- 
 ments to the Constitution ; among others, to equalize the 
 representation in the lower House of Congress, by basing it 
 on free population ; against embargoes and non-intercourse 
 laws ; to make the President ineligible for a second term. 
 These amendments were never adopted by the State. 
 The existence of the Convention showed the intense feel- 
 ing on the subject of the war and its consequences, and 
 its deliberations exhibit no other spirit than that of wish- 
 ing to redress grievances by constitutional means.
 
 676 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. Shortly after the adjournment of the Convention, the 
 
 legislatures of Massachusetts and Connecticut, viewing 
 
 1814. the law of Congress which authorized the enlistment of 
 minors and apprentices, as a violation of their rights and 
 unconstitutional, passed laws that subjected the recruiting 
 officers to fine and imprisonment ; and required the State 
 judges to release any such minor or apprentice on appli- 
 cation of the parent or guardian. Fortunately the war 
 was soon after brought to a close, and the necessity for 
 enlistments under this oppressive and demoralizing law, 
 was removed.
 
 CHAPTEK XLV. 
 
 MADISON'S ADMINISTRATION CONCLUDED. 
 
 Jackson enters Pensacola. New Orleans defenceless. The British land- 
 Jackson's Measures of Defence. Battle of New Orleans. The Distress 
 of the Country and Embarrassment of the Government. The Relief. 
 Treaty of Peace. The Frigate President captured. Successes at Sea. 
 War with Algiers. Treaty with that Power. Treaty with the In- 
 dians. Financial Disorders. State of Indiana. John Fitch. Robert 
 Fulton. First Steamboat. 
 
 WHEN arranging affairs with the Creeks, General CHAP. 
 
 Jackson learned that the Spaniards at Pensacola had . 
 
 welcomed the hostile Indians, and also that a British 1814. 
 man-of-war had furnished them with arms. Intelligence 
 of this was sent to Washington, whence orders were trans- 
 mitted to Jackson to seize Pensacola. That these orders 
 were six months on the way, may illustrate the efficiency 
 with which the War Department was conducted. Mean- 
 time some British men-of-war arrived in the harbor, from 
 which a Colonel Nichols landed men and began to enlist 
 the Creeks. Jackson now sent urgent appeals to his 
 favorite Tennessee mounted men to hasten to his aid. 
 The British soon after attacked Fort Bowyer on the east 
 shore of Mobile Bay. The fort was defended by one 
 hundred and thirty men, under Major Lawrence. The 
 vigorous defence soon repulsed the enemy, one of whose 
 ships blew up and the rest were fain to depart. This 
 success encouraged the people of Louisiana and Missis- 
 sippi in their efforts to defend New Orleans themselves,
 
 678 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, without depending upon the General Government. Jack- 
 
 son wrote repeatedly to Washington for orders and re- 
 
 1814. ceived none, but when the three thousand Tennesseans, 
 under General Coffee, arrived, he took the responsibility 
 to enter Pensacola and demand that the British should 
 leave the place. He also intimated in emphatic terms to 
 the Spanish governor, that he would hold him responsible 
 for permitting the British to occupy his territory, for the 
 purpose of encouraging the Creeks in their hostility. The 
 British immediately blew up a fort which they had erected 
 seven miles below the town, and took to their ships. 
 
 Confident that the enemy designed to direct their 
 efforts against New Orleans, Jackson sent in advance 
 General Coffee to some point on the Mississippi, with the 
 mounted men, while he himself followed, as soon as cir- 
 cumstances would permit. The defences of New Orleans 
 were in a deplorable condition ; since Wilkinson left, 
 nothing further had been done to repair them. The city 
 contained nearly twenty thousand inhabitants, not one- 
 half of whom were whites. These were principally of 
 French origin, and others of foreign birth, none of whom 
 were ardently attached to the United States. Jackson 
 hastened to the point of danger. He availed himself of 
 every possible aid ; he released the convicts in the prisons, 
 and enrolled them for the occasion ; accepted the offered 
 services of Lafitte, the head of the Baratarian buccaneers. 
 He also issued an address to " the noble-hearted, gener- 
 ous, free men of color," to enroll themselves for the de- 
 fence of their country. To this call, under an act of the 
 Louisiana Legislature, they heartily responded. 
 
 While he was thus unprepared, the British fleet cast 
 anchor off the entrance of Lake Borgne. It had on board 
 twelve thousand land troops, besides four thousand sailors 
 and marines. These troops had recently been under the 
 Duke of Wellington, in the Peninsular war, and were 
 commanded by able and experienced generals ; Sir Ed-
 
 JACKSON'S PREPARATIONS CONFLICT?. 679 
 
 ward Packingham, a brother-in-law of the Duke of Wei- 
 lington, Gibbs, Keene, and Lambert. Three days later, 
 after a severe contest, they captured the entire American 1814. 
 flotilla on Lake Borgne. 
 
 The Louisiana militia were immediately called out, 
 but they were ill supplied with arms. Some months pre- 
 vious, Jackson, anticipating this very emergency, had 
 urged upon the War Department at Washington to send 
 a supply of arms from the arsenal at Pittsburg. The 
 government agent, unwilling to pay the usual freight on 
 the only steamboat then running to New Orleans, shipped 
 the arms on board keel boats. Thus twenty-five cents on 
 a hundred pounds of freight were saved by the govern- 
 ment, and Jackson received the muskets after the battle ! 
 
 General Coffee had reached Baton Kouge, at which 
 place he received orders to hasten with all speed to the 
 scene of action. With eight hundred of his best mounted 
 men all unerring marksmen, armed with rifles and toma- 
 hawks he made the extraordinary march of one hundred 
 and fifty miles in two days. Thus, by similar exertions, 
 in the space of a fortnight, Jackson had five thousand 
 
 men, four-fifths of whom were militia. Other difficulties Dec 
 
 20 
 presented themselves. Owing to the want of co-operation 
 
 on the part of the legislature, and the necessities of the 
 times, he proclaimed martial law. 
 
 The enemy landed two thousand light armed troops, 
 under General Keene. Jackson marched to meet them 
 with the regulars, and Coffee's men dismounted. Soon 
 after dark the battle began ; the enemy were driven from 
 one point to another, till finally they found protection ^ec 
 behind a levee. Good service was done in this conflict 
 by the armed schooner Carolina, which ran in near the 
 shore, and with her guns swept their ranks. This success- 
 ful repulse of the invaders greatly encouraged the Ameri- 
 cans. 
 
 The next day Jackson took a position on solid ground
 
 680 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 nearly a mile in breadth ; the river protecting one flank, 
 - and a swamp the other. Though strongly reinforced, thi 
 1815. British made no attempt the following day to retrieve 
 what they had lost, being deterred by the reports of 
 prisoners, who greatly exaggerated the strength of Jack- 
 son's force. This delay was profitably occupied in 
 strengthening the defences ; bales of cotton were used as 
 a rampart, and the ditch was extended to the swamp. 
 Five days after the enemy advanced and drove in the 
 American outposts, and when within half a mile of the 
 ramparts opened with artillery and Congreve rockets. 
 Yet Jackson replied with so much vigor, with his five 
 heavy guns, that after a cannonade of seven hours the 
 enemy withdrew, having suffered considerable loss. 
 
 Within three days after this repulse, they made 
 
 Jan. another attack with much heavier artillery. Their move- 
 
 1- ments were concealed by a dense fog, and the intimation 
 
 of their approach was given only by their cannon balls 
 
 crashing through the American camp, but Jackson had 
 
 so strengthened his works, that the British their guns 
 
 dismounted and silenced were again compelled to retire ; 
 
 but it was to make preparations for a grand assault. 
 
 Presently twenty-two hundred Kentucky riflemen 
 
 Jan. arrived ; of whom unfortunately one-half were without 
 
 4- arms, and could not be supplied. These Jackson placed 
 
 to throw up a second line of intrenchments in the rear of 
 
 the first line. 
 
 When prepared, the British moved to the assault, 
 
 under the cover of a battery of six eighteen-pounders, 
 
 which had been erected the previous night. The main 
 
 Jan. column was led by Packenham in person, intending to 
 
 81 storm the centre, one column moved along the river and 
 
 carried a redoubt, another, led by Gibbs and Keene, ad- 
 
 vanced along the edge of the swamp. 
 
 As the advancing columns came within range, the 
 American artillery opened upon them with deadly effect,
 
 BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS. 681 
 
 yet they filled up their ranks and moved steadily on. 
 Presently they reached the range of the Kentucky and 
 Tennessee rifles, which poured in a continuous stream of 1815. 
 unerring bullets. The heads of the columns faltered. 
 While endeavoring to rally them, Packenham fell ; Keene 
 and Gibbs were both wounded, the latter mortally. The 
 command then devolved on General Lambert, who made 
 two more unsuccessful attempts to storm the works, but 
 was forced to retire, leaving on the field two thousand 
 men killed and wounded. Jackson had taken the pre- 
 caution to send General Morgan across the river to throw 
 up intrenchments directly opposite his own. The night 
 previous to the battle, Packenham sent a detachment 
 under Colonel Thornton, who drove Morgan from his 
 position, but when the main body was defeated he took 
 to his boats and hastily retreated. 
 
 In this battle the Americans lost seven men killed and 
 as many wounded. 
 
 Taking every precaution to guard against surprise, 
 Lambert gradually fell back to the first landing place, 
 and then, in the course of twenty days, re-embarked. 
 
 Thus virtually ended the war of 1812. The only 
 battles well fought on land, were those directed by new 
 men called into active service by the war itself. The 
 victories at Lundy's Lane and New Orleans were gained 
 by soldiers who had been trained but a short time, but 
 they were under commanders in whom they had implicit 
 confidence. 
 
 Though these successful events were transpiring in 
 that distant region, yet on the Atlantic coast, and at 
 Washington, it was the gloomiest period of the war. 
 Affairs were almost desperate. The treasury exhausted, 
 the national credit gone, the terrible law of conscription, 
 like an ominous cloud hanging over the people, civil dis- 
 cord seemingly ready to spring up between the States ;
 
 682 
 
 tne coasts f South Carolina and Georgia yet subject to 
 the marauding expeditions of the infamous Cockburn, 
 
 1815. while the inhabitants were crying in vain to the General 
 Government for assistance. Nothing favorable had yet 
 been heard from the commissioners of peace at Ghent, 
 nor even from New Orleans. It was known that a very 
 large force of British veterans was in the vicinity of that 
 place, and that Jackson was very ill-prepared to meet them. 
 As a gleam of sunshine in intense darkness, a rumor, 
 by way of Canada, proclaimed that peace had been con- 
 cluded ; at the same time came another from the south- 
 west that the enemy had been defeated. While all were 
 tremblingly anxious for the truth of these rumors, late of 
 a Saturday night, a British sloop-of-war, the Favorite, 
 commissioned for the purpose, arrived at New York, 
 
 Feb. "bringing the treaty of peace, already ratified by the 
 British government. The cry of PEACE ! PEACE ! ran 
 through the city. As if by one impulse the houses were 
 illuminated, and the citizens, without distinction of party, 
 thronged the streets to congratulate each other. In 
 the midst of their own rejoicings they did not forget their 
 brethren who were yet ignorant of the welcome news, and 
 messengers were sent in every direction. In thirty-two 
 hours, the express with the tidings reached Boston. 
 There the excitement was almost unbounded. The 
 people assembled in crowds to hear the news, which had 
 so unexpectedly brought relief to their distresses. The 
 bells rang their merriest peal, and the schools received a 
 holiday. Flags and streamers were soon displayed on the 
 vessels which had lain so long idle at the wharf. Before 
 night, carpenters and riggers were at work, sailors were 
 engaged, cargoes were passing on board ; Boston was her- 
 self again in commercial activity. The reception of the 
 news was followed by similar rejoicings all along the coast, 
 and throughout the country. To add still more to the 
 happiness, as well as the gratification of the nation, in ,1
 
 THANKSGIVINGS THE FRIGATE PRESIDENT CAPTURED, 683 
 
 few days was confirmed the rumor of the total defeat of 
 the British before New Orleans. 
 
 The Senate unanimously ratified the treaty within 1815. 
 thirty hours after it was laid before them. The President 
 speedily issued a proclamation, announcing the fact, that 
 once more peace reigned throughout the land. A day for Feb. 
 thanksgiving to Almighty God for the blessing, was ob- 
 served by the nation. 
 
 The treaty provided for the mutual restoration of all 
 places taken during the war ; also for determining the 
 northern boundary, and other matters of minor importance 
 were amicably arranged. But not a word was said on the 
 impressment question, for the settlement of which the 
 war had ostensibly been continued after the first two 
 months. Both parties seem to have been heartily tired 
 of fighting ; though Great Britain wished to restrain 
 what she thought an alarming grasping spirit in the New 
 Republic, as evidenced in the acquisition of Louisiana and 
 the attempts on Canada. 
 
 A few days after the ratification of the treaty, the 
 President recommended to Congress the passage of a law 
 to guard against incidents which, during the periods of war 
 in Europe, might tend to interrupt peace, enjoining that 
 " American vessels be navigated exclusively by American 
 seamen, either natives or such as are already naturalized," 
 thus endeavoring to gain by legislation what could not be 
 obtained by war. Yet one object had been secured we 
 hear no more of the impressment of American seamen. 
 
 Previous to the announcement of peace, the command- 
 ers of some of the national vessels determined to evade the 
 blockading enemy and escape to sea. Commodore De- j aa 
 catur, on board the frigate President, commanding the 15 - 
 sloops Hornet and Peacock to follow, attempted to evade 
 the blockade of the port of New York. Passing out in 
 the night, after being unfortunately aground for some
 
 684 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, hours, in the morning he fell in with the British squadron, 
 
 1 by whom he was chased. One of the enemy, the frigate 
 
 1815. Endymion, commenced an engagement, but after a run- 
 ning fight, she was effectually disabled, and fain to haul 
 off. The President unfortunately was also crippled, and 
 the other British vessels coming up, Decatur was com- 
 pelled to strike his colors. 
 
 A few days after, the Hornet and Peacock avoided the 
 blockade, and proceeded to their rendezvous, off the Cape 
 of Good Hope. On her way the Hornet, Captain Biddle, 
 Mar. fell in with and captured the British brig Penguin. The 
 latter was made a complete wreck, and as such was set on 
 fire. The Peacock joined her consort, and in company 
 they sailed to the Indian Ocean. The Hornet was soon 
 after chased by a British seventy-four, and in order to 
 escape, she was compelled to throw her guns and nearlv 
 all her armament overboard, in which condition she re- 
 turned to New York. The Peacock, Captain Warring- 
 j une ton, continued on to the East Indies, where she captured 
 30 - the cruiser Nautilus. 
 
 The Constitution, Captain Stewart, also evaded the 
 blockade off Boston harbor. On a moonlight night she 
 fell in with two war vessels off the port of Lifilxra. They 
 prepared to engage, but the Constitution manoeuvred to 
 keep the wind at about an equal distance from her an- 
 Feb. tagonists. Captain Stewart, seizing a favorable oppor- 
 20< tunity, directed all his force upon the vessel nearest, 
 which almost immediately struck ; then he captured the 
 other in a similar manner. The prizes proved to be the 
 British sloops-of-war Cyane and Levant. These captures 
 were all made after the articles of peace were signed. 
 
 Soon after the commencement of the war with Britain, 
 the Dey of Algiers, thinking the Americans would have 
 no means of punishing him, renewed his old practice of 
 piracy. Pretending to be dissatisfied with the presents 
 be had received from the American government, he dis-
 
 COMMODORE DECATTJR HUMBLES THE DEY OF ALGIERS. 685 
 
 missed Lear, the consul, threatening to reduce him and CHAP. 
 
 his family, and all the Americans in Algiers, to slavery, a '_ 
 
 fate which Lear escaped hy paying a large ransom. Some 1815. 
 American vessels were afterward seized by the pirates, and 
 their crews reduced to slavery. 
 
 Two months after the conclusion of peace, an Ameri- 
 can squadron, under Decatur, consisting of three large 
 frigates and seven other vessels of war, sailed for the 
 Mediterranean. Six weeks later, Bainbridge followed May. 
 with the Independence, the new seventy-four, accompanied 
 by other war vessels ; on the way he was also joined by 
 the Congress frigate. But before his arrival in the Medi- 
 terranean, the energetic Decatur had brought the Dey 
 to terms. On the second day after passing through the 
 Straits of Gibraltar, he fell in with the largest frigate of 
 the Dey under his high Admiral, on a cruise for Ameri- 
 can merchantmen. After a fight of less than thirty 
 minutes the Algerine was captured ; two days after 
 another cruiser shared a similar fate. When the squadron 
 appeared before Algiers, the intelligence of these disasters, 
 by which he had lost his best ship, and six hundred men, 
 had greatly humbled the Dey. To escape a worse pun- 
 ishment, he gladly submitted to the indignity of signing, 
 on Decatur's quarter-deck, a humiliating treaty. He nne 
 bound himself to make indemnities for his extortions ; to 
 surrender all his prisoners without ransom, and to re- 
 nounce all claim for tribute from the American govern- 
 ment, as well as his barbarous practice of piracy and re- 
 ducing prisoners to slavery. 
 
 Decatur proceeded immediately to Tunis and Tripoli, 
 where he demanded and received indemnity for some 
 American vessels, at whose captures, in their harbors, by 
 the English, they had connived. Thus, in a few weeks, 
 these barbarians were taught a lesson which they have not 
 yet forgotten. When Bainbridge arrived, he found all 
 the difficulties arranged. The united navy, consisting of
 
 686 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 fourteen vessels, visited the principal ports of the Medi- 
 - terranean. Their victories over the mistress of the ocean 
 
 1815. secured them treatment manifesting high respect. 
 
 The autumn following the close of the war, a great 
 
 council of the North-western Indian tribes was held, at 
 
 which they made peace with each other. Afterward they 
 
 all made peace with the United States. Thus apprehen- 
 
 Sept- sions of future Indian hostilities were removed. 
 
 The war left the finances of the country in a very 
 confused state. The banks in existence, except those in 
 New England, were unable to redeem their notes in specie, 
 and confidence in their promises to pay was wanting. The 
 national debt, in consequence of the war, was known to be 
 more than one hundred millions of dollars. In order to 
 remove some of the burdens resting upon the people, the 
 Secretary of the Treasury, A. J. Dallas, proposed to remit 
 some of the internal taxes, which had been levied during 
 the last few years. Instead of which he advised the im- 
 position of duties on imports, not merely to secure a revenue, 
 but also to protect the manufactures which had sprung 
 into existence during the war. The President likewise, in 
 his annual message, urged the adoption of such. a policy. 
 To aid in rectifying the financial disorders in the 
 1817. country, Congress chartered, for twenty years, a National 
 M ^ r> Bank, with a capital of thirty-five millions of dollars. It 
 commenced operations at Philadelphia, and, in connection 
 with its branches in other States, afforded the people a uni- 
 form currency redeemable at all times with gold and silver. 
 A bill designed to compel the local banks to pay 
 specie was passed, ordering that all dues to the government 
 should be paid in gold and silver, or " in treasury notes, 
 notes of the Bank of the United States, or in notes of banks 
 payable and paid on demand in specie." 
 
 The Territory of Indiana having adopted a constitu- 
 tion, presented herself for admission into the Union, and 
 was received.
 
 FITCH FULTON - THE FIKST STEAMBOAT. 687 
 
 John Fitch, an uneducated watchmaker of Philadel- c ffi 
 phia, conceived the design of propelling boats by steam. - 
 He applied to Congress for assistance, but, unfortunately, 1785. 
 was refused ; then, with a similar result, he applied to the 
 Spanish authorities of Louisiana. Some years later he 
 found means to construct a boat, and to make a trial trip 
 on the Delaware. The boat went at the rate of eight 
 miles an hour, but unfortunately the boiler exploded. One 
 disaster followed another, and poor John Fitch died, the 
 victim of disappointment, but full of faith that others 
 would yet perfect his invention : he desired to be buried 
 on the banks of the Ohio, that boats propelled by steam 
 might pass near his last resting place. In less than 
 twenty years after his death the steamer Clermont passed 
 up the Hudson from New York to Albany. 1807. 
 
 The Clermont was the work of Robert Fulton, a native 
 of Pennsylvania, once a pupil of West, the painter. He 
 had a decided turn for mechanics, and had studied the sub- 
 ject many years in Europe, where he received pecuniary 
 aid and encouragement from Robert R. Livingston, then 
 American minister at Paris. 
 
 To American enterprise is due the honor of launching 
 the first steamboat and the first Ocean steamer the 
 Savannah that crossed the Atlantic. She left New York, 1818, 
 went to Savannah, and thence to Europe, where she was 
 an object of great interest. Twenty years later the 
 
 British steamer Great Western came to New York in 
 fourteen days. 
 
 Madison's Administration, so full of important events, 
 drew to a close. James Monroe, also from Virginia, had 
 been elected his successor, and Daniel D. Tompkins, of 
 New York, Vice-President. The latter had been Governor 
 of that State, and in that capacity been most efficient 
 in aiding the country in the war just closed. At one time 
 he sustained the garrison of the city by his own private 
 credit.
 
 CHAPTER XLVI. 
 
 MONROE'S ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 A Return to the earlier Policy of the Government. The President's Tow 
 in the Eastern States. The Colonization Society. Revolutions in the 
 Spanish Colonies. Indian War ; the Semiuoles. General Jackson in 
 the Field. Purchase of Florida. The Missouri Compromise. Manu- 
 factures. Increase of Tariff. Visit of Lafayette. 
 
 CHAP. SINCE the close of the war, party distinctions were fast 
 
 XLVI ... 
 
 \ losing their influence. In the minds of the great majonty 
 
 1817. of the people, names were giving place to ideas. The na- 
 tion was prepared for the quiet revival of the leading prin- 
 ciples of Washington's administration. The people had 
 not in so many words thus formally decided; but to return 
 to the policy of the earlier days of the Government seemed 
 the only means to remedy existing evils, and to guard 
 against their recurrence in the future. This may be said 
 in relation to the revenue as arising from commerce, the 
 finances, the policy toward foreign nations, and in the 
 means of national defence both by sea and land. 
 M.ar. The new President in his inaugural fully indorsed these 
 doctrines, and they were echoed and re-echoed throughout 
 the land as the true policy, while some of the old Repub- 
 licans characterized them as being veritable Federalism 
 under another name. The President pointed to the ex- 
 perience of the nation in the last struggle, and unhesi- 
 tatingly advised not only fortifications on the coast with 
 garrisons, but a navy strong enough to maintain the dig-
 
 THE PRESIDENT'S TOUR COLONIZATION SOCIETY. 689 
 
 nity and neutrality of the United States, as well as pro- 
 tect commerce ; he also recommended that a knowledge 
 of naval and military science should be kept up. In ad- 1817 
 dition, that domestic manufactures be protected by im- 
 posts on foreign merchandise, and also, internal improve- 
 ments be aided by the national government, if such ex- 
 penditure was in accordance with the spirit of the Con- 
 stitution. 
 
 Though professing to be much gratified that the party 
 spirit lately so rampant was allayed, the President took 
 good care to appoint none but his most devoted adherents 
 to the offices within his gift. John Quincy Adams was 
 recalled from the court of St. James to become Secretary 
 of State. The other members of his cabinet were Wil- 
 liam H. Crawford of Georgia, Secretary of the Treasury ; 
 Crowningshield of Massachusetts, Secretary of the Navy ; 
 John C. Calhoun, Secretary of War, and William Wirt, 
 Attorney-General. 
 
 The President, some months after his inauguration, 
 made a tour through the Eastern States. The sentiments 
 of his address had become diffused, and prepared the way 
 for his receiving a warm reception in the Federal town of 
 Boston, and throughout New England generally. It was 
 enthusiastically proclaimed that the people were once 
 more to be harmonious in their views of national policy. 
 
 During the following session of Congress the American 
 Colonization Society was formed at Washington. It was 
 designed to provide a home beyond the limits of the 
 United States for the free people of color who should de- 
 sire to emigrate. The condition of these people in the 
 slaveholding States, as well as the laws in some of the 
 others, that forbade their settling within their borders, led 
 to the formation of the Society. The enterprise was 
 ardently advocated by Henry Clay, Judge Washington, 
 John Randolph, and other southern statesmen. This So-
 
 690 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 c jety established the now flourishing Colony of Liberia ou 
 - the west coast of Africa. 
 1817 
 
 The influence of the Revolution had not been without 
 effect upon other nations. The Spanish colonies of South 
 America threw off their allegiance to the mother country, 
 and declared themselves independent. Under the pre- 
 tence of having commissions from these new Republics, 
 a company of adventurers, principally drawn from Charles- 
 ton and Savannah, seized Amelia Island, off the harbor 
 of St. Augustine. These worthies soon began to smuggle 
 merchandise and slaves into the United States. Yet, as 
 a cloak to their deeds, they proclaimed they were block- 
 ading the port of St. Augustine. A similar haunt for 
 buccaneers had existed for some time at Galveston in 
 Texas. Both these establishments were broken up by 
 order of the United States Government. 
 
 The condition of the South American republics excited 
 great sympathy in the minds of the people. Some were 
 advocates for giving them aid, while others were anxious 
 that Congress should, at least, acknowledge their independ- 
 ence. In defiance of the President's proclamation to the 
 contrary, cruisers, bearing the flag of these Republics, were 
 fitted out in some of the ports of the United States to 
 prey upon Spanish commerce. 
 
 These difficulties, combined with other causes, led to 
 a new Indian war in the South. Numbers of Seminoles, 
 refugee Creeks, and runaway negroes, living in the Span- 
 ish Territory, south of Flint river, began to pillage the 
 Georgia settlements north of that river. General Gaines. 
 who was in command at the nearest fort, demanded that 
 these murderers and robbers should be given up. The 
 Indians refused, on the ground that they were not the ag- 
 gressors. Soon after a collision occurred, in which several 
 Nov. Indians were killed. Their death was terribly revenged 
 80< upon the people on board a boat ascending the Apalachi-
 
 JACKSON SUBDUES THE INDIANS PURCHASE OF FLORIDA. 691 
 
 cola, with supplies for Fort Scott. More than forty per- CHAP. 
 
 sons, consisting of men, women, and children, were mas- 
 
 sacred. The War Department ordered General Jackson 1817. 
 to invade the Indian Territory, and " bring the war to a 
 speedy and effectual close." In three months he was on 
 the ground, with, an army composed of Georgians and 
 Tennesseeans. He moved to the vicinity of where Talla- 
 hassee now stands ; the savages made little resistance, but 
 abandoned their towns, and their cattle and grain. With 
 his usual energy, Jackson pressed on, and, without cere- 
 mony, seized St. Mark's, on Appalachee Bay, the only Mar. 
 Spanish fort in that part of Florida, on the ground that 
 its officers were aiding and abetting the Indians in their 
 hostilities to the United States. One of the American 
 armed vessels on the coast hoisted British colors, and two 
 of the hostile Creek chiefs were decoyed on board. These 
 chiefs Jackson unceremoniously hanged. On one of the April 
 incursions against the enemy, two British subjects, Robert 
 C. Ambrister and Alexander Arbuthnot, traders among 
 the Indians, were taken prisoners. These two men were 
 put on trial for their lives before a court-martial, on the 
 charge of aiding the Indians. They were found guilty 
 and sentenced to death, and immediately executed. The 
 measure was much censured as unnecessary and unwar- 
 ranted. Notwithstanding the protest of the Spanish 
 governor against his invasion of Florida, Jackson soon ap- 
 peared before Pensacola, which place surrendered. The 
 governor in the mean time fled to a fort further down the May 
 bay, and finally to Havana. 
 
 These arbitrary proceedings were protested against by 
 Don Onis, the Spanish Minister at Washington. The 
 matter however was not pressed, as negotiations were soon 
 after entered upon to purchase the territory in dispute. 
 
 American citizens had claims amounting to five mil- 
 lions of dollars against the Spanish government. Don 
 Onis received instructions from home, that authorized
 
 692 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 him to cede Florida to the United States for these claims 
 
 __ The purchase was thus made, the American Government 
 1821. assuming the debt. Two years later Spain ratified the 
 Treaty. Florida was then organized as a Territory, and 
 General Jackson was appointed its first Governor. 
 
 The American people have never been indifferent to 
 the political as well as the moral aspects of slavery. 
 From the adoption of the Constitution till the time of 
 which we write, the conscience and the sympathy of the 
 religious portion of the nation, both North and South, 
 found their expression on the subject in memorials ad- 
 dressed to their ecclesiastical assemblies, whose resolutions 
 in reply condemned the system. 
 
 1787. The Continental Congress legislated specially on the 
 subject in adopting the ordinance by which the region 
 north of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi was conse- 
 
 1790. crated to freedom. During the second session of the First 
 Congress, petitions were presented to that body, praying 
 it to take measures to free the nation of the system. The 
 committee to whom these memorials were referred, re- 
 ported that Congress was not authorized by the Constitu- 
 tion to interfere with slavery as existing in the individual 
 States. In accordance with this view, that body has ever 
 acted, when disposing of the numerous memorials on the 
 subject that have, from time to time, been presented to it. 
 The Northern States, for a quarter of a century, had 
 been gradually freeing themselves of the institution, or 
 making provision to that effect, while in the Southern 
 States a different sentiment had been on the increase. 
 The acquisition of Louisiana had given to them a vast 
 region in which slave labor was profitable, especially in 
 the cultivation of cotton. These antagonist opinions 
 were suddenly brought into collision, and a strong sectional 
 
 l j? 1 ' feeling was elicited. 
 16. The territory of Missouri asked permission to form a
 
 DEBATES ON THE RESTRICTION OF SLAVERY. 693 
 
 constitution, preparatory to her admission into the Union 
 as a State. When the question was before the House of _ 
 Kepresentatives, James W. Tallmadge, a member from 1319 
 New York, proposed to insert a clause, prohibiting the 
 further introduction of slaves into the territory, and also 
 another clause granting freedom to the children of slaves 
 already there, when they should attain the age of twenty- 
 five years. 
 
 After a spirited debate both these propositions were 
 adopted. The day following the passage of this bill came 
 up a similar one to organize the Territory of Arkansas. 
 This bill, after a strenuous effort to insert similar clauses, 
 was finally passed without any restriction as to slavery. 
 
 The States admitted into the Union, since the adop- 
 tion of the Constitution, had happened to come in alter- 
 nately as non-slaveholding, and as slaveholding Vermont 
 and Kentucky ; Tennessee and Ohio ; Louisiana and In- 
 diana ; Mississippi and Illinois. As Alabama had ap- 
 plied for admission as a slave State, it was urged that 
 Missouri should be admitted as free. This proposition 
 soon lost its force by the application of Maine, the north- 
 eastern part of Massachusetts, presenting herself to be 
 admitted as a free State. Here was an offset to Alabama, 
 leaving Missouri to make the next slave State. 
 
 In the consideration of these bills the subject of 
 slavery restriction in the territories came up for discussion 
 The members from the Southern States insisted that any 
 restriction upon Missouri would violate the pledge given 
 to the inhabitants of Louisiana, at the time of its pur- 
 chase, that they should enjoy " all the privileges of citi- 
 zens of the United States ; " that such a restriction 
 would eventually interfere with State rights ; tbat the 
 citizens of slaveholding States had the right to take their 
 property into the territories of the Union. It was urged 
 that it would be an act of humanity and a blessing to 
 the poor slave, whose lot was so hard in the old exhausted
 
 694 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP- States, to transfer him to the fertile plains of the west ; 
 
 that this would only be the diffusion of the system, but 
 
 1819. not its extension, as the mimber of slaves would not be 
 increased thereby ; and that the prohibition of slavery 
 would diminish emigration from the South into the ter- 
 ritories. 
 
 To these arguments it was replied : it was true that 
 Congress was forbidden by the Constitution to interfere 
 with slavery in the original thirteen States, but that this 
 did not apply to the territories. They were the property 
 of the Union, and Congress had the control of their or- 
 ganization. Would Congress be justified in spreading 
 over them an institution which even its advocates on the 
 floor of the house had again and again deplored as an evil ? 
 
 It was contended that slave labor and free labor could 
 not coexist on the same soil ; and should the introduction 
 of a few thousands of slaves exclude millions of freemen 
 from the territories ? l 
 
 The debate was conducted with great animation, 
 mingled with much bitterness, and threats to dissolve the 
 Union. The intense excitement was not limited to the 
 National Legislature ; it extended throughout the country, 
 and it was by no means diminished by the speeches made 
 on the subject on the floor of Congress, nor by the fact, 
 which the discussion revealed, that during the previous 
 year more than fourteen thousand slaves had been smug- 
 gled into the United States, from Africa and the West 
 Indies. 
 
 The legislatures of some of the Northern States ex- 
 pressed their wish that slavery should not go beyond the 
 Mississippi, while the people held conventions and me- 
 morialized Congress. Opposite views were as strongly 
 expressed by some of the Southern States. Thus the 
 country was agitated for nearly two years, and the diffi- 
 
 1 The Debates in Congress, Niles's Register, Vola 16, 17, and 18.
 
 THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE. 695 
 
 culty was still unsettled. When the bill came before the CHAP. 
 
 Senate, Jesse B. Thomas of Illinois moved as an amend- 
 
 ment, a clause forbidding the introduction of slavery into 1820. 
 the Louisiana Territory north of thirty-six degrees and 
 thirty minutes north latitude, and west of the proposed 
 State of Missouri. This was the line of the famous Mis- 
 souri Compromise. The House, however, would not at 
 first agree to this arrangement ; but finally, through means 
 of a committee of conference, Maine was admitted, and 
 Missouri, on these conditions, after she should adopt a 
 constitution. 
 
 The following year, when the constitution of Missouri 
 was presented to Congress, it was found to contain a 
 clause that prohibited free people of color from settling in 
 the State. Though this clause " was adopted for the 
 sake of peace for the sake of internal tranquillity and to 
 prevent the agitation of the slave question," l yet it was 
 viewed far differently in Congress, and was the occasion 
 of opening the restriction question with all its bitterness. 
 The insertion of the offensive clause, under the circum- 
 stances, seemed to manifest as little regard for the Consti- 
 tution of the United States, as respect for the opinions of 
 those opposed to the extension of slavery. The citizens 
 of any one State were, by the Constitution, entitled to 
 the privileges of citizens in the other States. Free people 
 of color were thus recognized in some of the States, but 
 by this clause they were deprived of their rights. Another 
 committee of conference, of which Henry Clay was the 
 prime mover, was appointed by the Senate and House of 
 Representatives. ' The difficulty was again compromised 
 by which Missouri was to be admitted on the express con- 
 dition that she would expunge the obnoxious clause, and 
 then the President was authorized to admit her by procla- 
 mation. The Missouri Legislature complied, and the fact 
 
 1 Benton's Thirty Years' View, Vol. i. p. 8.
 
 696 HISTOBY OF THE AMEBICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. wag communicated to the President, who proclaimed hei 
 
 admission to the family of States. Thus the slavery agi- 
 
 1821. tation was allayed for a time, but the same question 
 ug ' under different phases, has returned again and again, and 
 will no doubt continue thus to do till the conscience of 
 the nation is fully satisfied on the subject for questions 
 involving the moral and political relations of so many mil- 
 lions cannot be lightly passed over. 
 
 A new interest was awakened in behalf of the South 
 American Republics. Great efforts had been made by 
 Henry Clay, during their struggle, to induce Congress to 
 acknowledge their independence, but it was then thought 
 Mar. premature ; now the bill was passed. The next year the 
 ' President declared in his message that " as a principle the 
 American Continents, by the free and independent posi- 
 tion which they have assumed and maintained, are hence- 
 forth not to be considered as subjects for future coloniza- 
 tion by any European power." This has since been 
 known as the Monroe Doctrine, though its authorship, it 
 would seem, belongs rather to his Secretary of State, John 
 Quincy Adams. 
 
 Great financial distress prevailed during this period 
 throughout the land. The immense amount of foreign, 
 especially English, merchandise sent, at reduced prices, 
 into the country, paralyzed its industry. These goods 
 were thus sent for the express purpose of ruining the 
 American manufactures, called into existence by the 
 necessities of the war an object which they effectually 
 accomplished. The distress of the people, reacted upon 
 the general government. When they refused to buy, be- 
 cause unable to pay, the importations fell off, and as a 
 consequence, the revenue was so diminished that the 
 government, from necessity, resorted to loans in order to 
 obtain means of defraying its current expenses. The 
 general distress was not a little increased by the measures 
 of the National Bank. Indeed no confidence could be
 
 THE VISIT OF LAFAYETTE. 697 
 
 placed in the banks except those of New England, which CHAP 
 
 redeemed their notes in specie when presented, while 
 
 those in other parts of the Union became bankrupt. The 1824. 
 density of the population of the New England States 
 enabled them to engage with advantage in manufactures, 
 and also in shipping, and the coasting trade, which was 
 especially profitable. For these reasons they withstood 
 the financial crisis, while the agricultural and manufactur- 
 ing interests of the other States were overwhelmed. 
 
 The country, by its own innate energy, began to re- 
 cover from these financial difficulties. As a means to 
 accomplish that desirable object, an increase of tariff was 
 imposed on imported merchandise, thus to protect do- 
 mestic industry from undue foreign competition, to create 
 a diversity of pursuits, and develop the resources of the 
 nation. 
 
 Congress also manifested its sense of justice by mak- 
 ing provision for the wants of the surviving officers and 1818 
 soldiers of the Revolution, and for the widows and orphans 
 of those deceased. 
 
 The last year of Monroe's administration was signal- 
 ized by an event highly gratifying to the people, an event 
 linking the past with the present, the days of conflict and 
 trial with the days of peace and prosperity. The vener- 
 able Lafayette came to the United States, the invited 
 guest of the nation. Around every fireside tradition had r ' 
 fondly cherished his memory, and the people loved him as 
 the noble and generous stranger who, in the days of their 
 fathers, had sacrificed his fortune and shed his blood in 
 their country's cause. They vied with each other in do- 
 ing him honor. His journey from State to State was one 
 continued triumphal procession; compared with this sponta- 
 neous expression of a nation's gratitude, how insignificant 
 the proudest triumph of Roman consul or emperor ! The 
 vessel designated to carry him home was the new frigate 
 Brandywine, a name given by the new President, John
 
 698 HISTOEY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. Quincy Adams that conveyed a delicate compliment, as 
 
 '. on the banks of that little stream he was wounded in his 
 
 1825. first battle in the cause of American freedom. The 
 American people wished to manifest still further their 
 sense of obligation, and Congress conferred upon him two 
 hundred thousand dollars and a township of land. 
 
 When the time came to choose a successor to Monroe 
 now in his second term four candidates were put in 
 nomination ; John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, General 
 Jackson, and William H. Crawford. No one of the can- 
 didates received a majority of the popular vote, and the 
 election devolved upon the House of ^Representatives, by 
 whom Adams was chosen. John C. Calhoun had been 
 chosen Vice-President by the popular vote. 
 
 This election gave the death-blow to the custom of 
 nominating candidates for the Presidency by a caucus 
 held by certain members of Congress. Previous to this, 
 for twenty-four successive years, the candidates had been 
 thus nominated, and consequently chosen from a single 
 State.
 
 CHAPTER XLVII. 
 
 JOHN CUJINCY ADAMS' ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 Manufactures and Internal Improvements. Indian Lands in Georgia. 
 Death of the ex-Presidents Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. Free 
 Masonry. Protection to American Industry. Debates in Congress. 
 Presidential Contest. 
 
 THE new President invited able and experienced men to 
 form his cabinet, at the head of which was Henry Clay, 
 as Secretary of State. This administration was one of 1825. 
 remarkable prosperity ; the nation was gradually advanc- 
 ing in wealth and happiness, gaining strength at home, 
 and securing more and more of the respect of nations 
 abroad. Every branch of industry was increasing in pros- 
 perity ; agriculture, commerce, and manufactures. 
 
 Numerous companies had been formed for the purpose 
 of making iron nails, and also for the manufacture of 1815 
 broadcloths, though the latter were soon involved in ruin 
 by " a deluge of English cloths." In those days fine wool 
 was worth a dollar and a half a pound, while badly made 
 broadcloth cost from eight to twelve dollars a yard. 
 
 The wars of Europe opened a wide field for enterprise 
 in the carrying trade. American genius and art produced 
 the style of ship known as the clipper. These far out- 
 stripped all others in sailing ; they made rapid voyages, 
 and, what was important in those days, they were able 
 very often to evade the French and English cruisers. At 
 first, the United States had but little of their own products
 
 700 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, to send to the old world, but presently Eli Whitney in- 
 vented the cotton-gin, by which the seed was separated 
 
 1793. from the cottm, and that gradually became the most im- 
 portant article of export. 
 
 The great National Road the work of the General 
 Government extending across the Alleghany Mountains, 
 from Cumberland, Maryland, to Wheeling, on the Ohio, 
 and to be continued to the Mississippi, had just been 
 
 1820. completed, at an expense of one million seven hundred 
 thousand dollars. It was commenced in Jefferson's ad- 
 ministration, and had been fourteen years in building. 
 Its beneficial effects upon the country were very great, in 
 thus connecting the valley of the Ohio with the seaboard. 
 A still more important work was also finished the 
 
 1825. Erie Canal, uniting the Hudson and the waters of the 
 great lakes. It was the work of the State of New York, 
 and was completed after a labor of eight years. The pro- 
 ject was at first deemed visionary and impracticable : 
 but owing principally to the energy of De Witt Clinton, 
 privately, as well as a member of the Legislature and as 
 Governor, the work was carried through. The completion 
 ind success of these improvements encouraged the con- 
 struction of others in various parts of the Union one, 
 
 1832. the Ohio Canal, from Lake Erie to the Ohio river. The 
 first railway was the Quincy, in Massachusetts, designed 
 
 1827. to transport granite to the sea-shore. The first locomo- 
 tive used in the United States was on the Hudson and 
 
 1832. Mohawk Railroad. 
 
 A difficult question arose in relation to the removal of 
 the Creeks and the Cherokees, from their lands in Georgia 
 and Alabama, to the region beyond the Mississippi. 
 Georgia claimed jurisdiction over the Indians within her 
 territory. Originally claiming the region west of her 
 1802. boundary, she ceded it to the United States, on condition 
 that the latter should, by purchase, extinguish the title
 
 f
 
 DEATH OF EX-PRESIDENTS JEFFERSON AND ADAMS. 701. 
 
 of the Indian lands reserved within her own limits. The 
 national government promised to fulfil its part of the 
 agreement " as early as the same could be peaceably ob- 1825. 
 tained on reasonable terms." Twenty-five years had 
 passed, and these titles had not been purchased. The 
 Indians were not willing to sell their territory. However, 
 a treaty had been recently made by some of the chiefs, 
 who ceded the lands, but the great majority of the Indians 
 declared these chiefs had no authority to sell the property 
 of the nation. Thus, according to the original contract, 
 the national government could not extinguish the Indian 
 titles. 
 
 The government cancelled this treaty, but the State 
 of Georgia determined to enforce it. The latter sent sur- 
 veyors into the Indian country, to divide the lands into 
 portions suitable for farms, before distributing them by 
 lottery to the citizens of the State. The Federal govern- 
 ment took the part of the poor Indians, and the President 
 proclaimed that he would enforce the laws committed to 
 his trust, while Troup, the bellicose Governor of Georgia, 
 wrote to the Secretary of War : " From the first decisive 
 act of hostility, you will be considered and treated as a 
 public enemy/' The matter for the present was adjusted 
 by the Creeks consenting to dispose of their lands, and to 
 emigrate. Rather than be thus harassed they were will- 
 ing to remove from their happy homes, and give np their 
 hopes of civilization. 
 
 This year was marked by the deaths of two dis- 
 tinguished men, whose names are identified with the 
 history of the government John Adams and Thomas 
 Jefferson. Both were men of liberal education, and both 
 chose the profession of the law ; both had been consistent 
 and strenuous advocates of national independence, and 
 were upon the committee which proposed that famous 
 declaration. The one drew it up, and the other was its 
 most efficient supporter ; both signed it ; both had been
 
 702 HISTOKY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 on foreign missions ; both were first Vice-Pi esidents, and 
 then became Presidents. " They ended their earthly 
 1826. career at the same time and in the same way ; in the 
 regular course of nature, in the repose and tranquillity of 
 retirement, in the bosoms of their families, on the soil 
 which their labors had contributed to make free," and 
 within a few hours of each other, on the fiftieth anniver- 
 sary of American independence. 
 
 A certain William Morgan, of Western New York, a 
 member of the society of Free Masons, suddenly disap- 
 peared, he having been seized and forcibly carried off. 
 Sept. He had proposed to publish a book revealing the secrets 
 of the order, some of whose members were charged with his 
 murder. The affair created a great excitement, which led 
 to the formation of a political party, whose avowed object 
 was to exclude Free Masons from office. In several of 
 the States the party polled a large number of votes, but 
 in a year or two it disappeared. 
 
 The manufacturing interests were still laboring to sus- 
 
 tain themselves against foreign competition. The senti- 
 
 ment prevailed, especially in the northern States and in 
 
 some of the southern, that measures should be taken to 
 
 protect the industry of the nation. In accordance with 
 
 this view, a convention of delegates from twenty-two 
 
 j States of the Union assembled at Harrisburg, in Pennsyl- 
 
 1827* vania. Four of the slave States did not send delegates. 
 
 The Convention memorialized Congress to grant pro- 
 tection to American industry ; to impose a tariff on im- 
 ported goods, sufficiently high to shield American pro- 
 ducers of the same articles from the ruinous effects of 
 foreign competition ; and they also asked that this policy 
 should be fixed, and thus give stability to the enterprise 
 of the country. Capital would not be invested in domes- 
 tic manufactures, if they were liable at any time to be 
 ruined either by the combination of foreign competitor*
 
 THE TARIFF DEBATES IN CONGRESS. 703 
 
 or by change of policy at home. The people of New CHAP. 
 
 England had complained of these changes. Their climate 
 
 and soil forbade their becoming rivals of their sister States 1828. 
 in agriculture, and their industry had been turned into 
 other channels, especially those of commerce and the 
 fisheries. Upon them had fallen nearly all the losses 
 inflicted by the cruisers of France and England, and yet 
 they had been more discouraged and had suffered more 
 loss by the embargoes and other restrictions of their own 
 government. During this period, the central position of 
 New York had been gradually drawing to herself much of 
 the commerce and shipping that once belonged to Boston. 
 A territory so extensive, and climates so diverse, brought 
 into existence many kinds of industry that were liable to 
 be injured or ruined by foreign competition. At first 
 New England was opposed to the policy of protection, 
 and the Middle and Southern States were in its favor. 
 Now this was reversed. New England had been forced 
 to adapt her industry to the change of national policy, 
 while the South had changed her views. 
 
 Said Webster, when this bill was under discussion in 
 Congress : " New England held back and labored to re- 
 strain the General Government from the adoption of this 
 policy, but when it was adopted she then adapted herself 
 to it, and turned herself to manufactures, but now just as 
 she is successful, another change is to be brought about, 
 and she set adrift in another direction." 
 
 The South, on the other hand, expected to reap the 
 harvest, not merely from the exports of the raw material, 
 but also a due share of the profits arising from manu- 
 factures. She was disappointed in seeing northern towns 
 becoming cities, and southern cities decaying ; the North 
 a money lender, the South a borrower. Before the Revo- 
 lution she was pre-eminently the richest part of the 
 colonies, a position which she fully expected to retain 
 after that period. Hers were the only exports from the
 
 704 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 land ; the North was dependent upon commerce and fish- 
 eries ; both precarious. Since the Kevolution, the South 
 1828. had exported more in value than three times all that the 
 mines of Mexico had produced for the same period, yet 
 she did not prosper. This effect she attributed to the 
 protective tariffs of the National Government. She failed 
 to notice that this decline began before these tariffs were 
 May imposed. Other causes aided in the result. 1 A bill 
 passed Congress, imposing higher duties upon cottons and 
 woollens, and also other foreign articles, which would come 
 into competition with those of domestic origin. The dis- 
 satisfaction felt in South Carolina led, two years after, to 
 the open avowal on her part, of the doctrine of nullifica- 
 tion and secession, based upon the ground that the act 
 was unconstitutional. 
 
 The contest for the office of President was between 
 Adams and General Jackson. The " era of good feeling " 
 had passed away, and party lines were stringently drawn. 
 The spirit of the contest was more violent than ever be- 
 fore ; and the whole nation seemed moved to its very 
 centre. The denunciation of the candidates and their 
 principles was, on both sides, unjust, unreasooable and 
 disgraceful. The choice fell upon Jackson as President, 
 and Calhoun as Vice-President. The election over, the 
 excitement calmed down. This fact, as usual, was ad- 
 duced as an evidence of the stability of our institutions, 
 and of the willingness of the people to submit to the will 
 of the majority. Yet who does not lament such exhi- 
 bitions of party strife, or their demoralizing effects ? 
 
 The nation had never been in a condition so pros- 
 perous as at this time. The national debt was much 
 diminished, and a surplus of more than five millions 
 of dollars was in the public treasury. The blessings 
 of peace had been showered upon the land, and it was 
 rejoicing in prosperity and abundance the rewards of 
 active industry. 
 
 1 Benson's Thirty Years' View, Chap, xxxiv.. Vol. L
 
 CHAPTER XLVIII. 
 
 JACKSON'S ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 Appointments to Office. Removal of the Indians from Georgia. Bank of 
 the United States. Hayne and Webster's Debate. Nullification. The 
 Compromise Bill ; its final Passage. Removal of the Deposits. 
 Effect upon the Country. Indian Wars. Black Hawk ; Osceola. In- 
 demnity for French Spoliations. 
 
 THE new President nominated the members of his cabi- CHAP. 
 
 XT VIII 
 
 net, at the head of which he placed Martin Van Buren ' 
 
 as Secretary of State. The Postmaster-General was now 1829. 
 for the first time admitted as a Cabinet Officer. 
 
 The President professed to take the Constitution as 
 the chart by which he should be governed in fulfilling the 
 duties of his office ; rather, it would seem, as he himself 
 understood it, than as expounded by the Supreme Court 
 of the United States. His vigorous arm was immediately 
 exerted in favor of his political friends, and this gave to 
 his administration a decided partisan character. The 
 former Presidents, during a period of forty-four years, had 
 removed sixty-four persons from office ; during his rule 
 of eight years, Jackson removed six hundred and ninety, 
 and put in their places his political friends. These sweep- 
 ing removals secured ardent partisans, as well as produced 
 bitter opponents ; but regardless of either friend or foe, 
 the President pursued the course he had marked out, with 
 his wonted determination.
 
 706 HISTORY OP THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 During his administration, an unusual number of ex- 
 citing questions came up for consideration, and the many 
 1829. interests thus involved affected the people in every State 
 in the Union. The first important measure, was the re- 
 moval of the Cherokee Indians from the State of Georgia. 
 They had been protected by the General Government, 
 under Adams. The Supreme Court of the United States 
 had decided in their favor, and against the action of the 
 State ; but that decision had little influence with the 
 President. He did not rebuke the State, when she be- 
 gan to drive them from their homes, and to distribute 
 their lands, many of them cultivated farms, among hei 
 own citizens. He sent General Scott with troops to re- 
 move them, and his kindness and persuasions induced 
 them to migrate peacefully ; yet with lamentations, they 
 took leave of " the beloved land." 
 
 Their sacrifices as a people were very great, not only 
 in the loss of property, but in the check given to their 
 industrial and moral progress. The self-denying labors 
 of missionaries and teachers had enabled them to advance 
 rapidly toward a Christianized civilization. They derived 
 their sustenance from their own cultivated fields ; they 
 clothed themselves almost entirely with the fabrics which 
 their women spun and wove ; they lived in settled habi- 
 tations, some of wood and some of brick ; they made 
 provision for the education of their children five hun- 
 dred of whom were in schools besides endowing a Na- 
 tional Academy for the youth further advanced. They 
 also established a newspaper, printed partly in English, 
 and partly in their own language. " We hope," said 
 they, " that with God's blessing the time will soon come 
 when the words war-whoop and scalping-knife will be 
 heard no more." 
 
 Two of their missionaries, the Rev. S. A. Worcester 
 and Dr. Elisur Butler, were ruthlessly imprisoned in the 
 penitentiary by the authority of the State of Georgia,
 
 CAUSES OF NULLIFICATION. 707 
 
 though they acted in accordance with the law of the land, CHAP. 
 
 . XLVI1I 
 
 as interpreted by the Supreme Court of the United States, - 
 
 in refusing to take the oath of allegiance to the State. 
 
 Chief Justice Marshall, in pronouncing the opinion 
 of the court, declared the act of the State to be " repug- 
 nant to the Constitution, treaties and laws of the United 
 States ; and therefore void, and ought to be reversed and 
 annulled," and the prisoners discharged. Yet these men 
 obtained no redress on their appeal to the General Gov- 
 ernment, either for themselves or the Indians. 
 
 When at length liberated from prison, the mission- 
 aries accompanied the Indians to their distant homes 
 beyond the Mississippi, there to labor for their good. 
 
 The President, in his first message to Congress, inti- 
 mated his hostility to the Bank of the United States, and 
 his design of refusing his signature to any bill renewing 
 its charter. 
 
 However, when the stockholders of the Bank applied 
 to Congress, a bill to renew its charter passed both Houses, 
 and the President refused to sign it. He gave as a 
 reason his opinion that Congress had no constitutional 
 authority to charter such an institution, and moreover he 
 deemed it inexpedient to continue the Bank. 
 
 As the bill could not obtain the requisite two-thirds 
 vote to become a law, the Bank was forced to close its 
 affairs, when its charter should expire. 
 
 To understand the causes which led to the attempt at 
 Nullification by South Carolina it is necessary, for the 
 reader's convenience, to notice in a consecutive form cer- 
 tain influences that had been at work from the com- 
 mencement of the government under the Presidency of 
 George Washington. When the Constitution of the 
 United States was submitted to the people for their 1738. 
 approval or rejection, objections were made to it by a 
 small minority, principally on the ground that its powers
 
 708 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN" PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, -were too great over the States. This minority consisted 
 
 XL VIII 
 : '. mostly of statesmen belonging to Virginia, two of 
 
 1787. w } 1O8e delegates to the convention to frame the Consti- 
 tution refused to sign it when finished. These were 
 Edmund Randolph and George Mason, with only one 
 other, Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts. These gentle- 
 men, and those who sympathized with them in their 
 views, made strenuous efforts in several of the States to 
 prevent the acceptance of the Constitution by the people, 
 nor even after it was adopted and the Government in- 
 augurated did they cease in their opposition, though 
 they were unable to have the organic law of the nation 
 changed to suit their views. They were now joined by 
 the most efficient opponent of certain principles of the 
 Constitution Thomas Jefferson who had been in France 
 on official duties while the Constitution was being framed 
 and acted upon by the votes of the people ; but he had 
 since returned, having been invited by President Wash- 
 ington to enter his Cabinet as Secretary for Foreign 
 Affairs or of State, which office he was now holding. 
 
 The Constitution says (Article VI.) : " This Constitu- 
 tion, and the laws of the United States which shall be 
 made in pursuance thereof, shall be the supreme law of 
 the land." Some of the States, in order to establish a 
 National Government, were unwilling to give up scarcely 
 any portion of the sovereignty which they had hitherto 
 exercised. 1 This was especially the case in the South- 
 ern States Virginia, the principal one, taking the lead. 
 This opposition in later times developed into extreme 
 views in relation to State Rights or Sovereignty, whose 
 insidious influence has wrought so much harm to the 
 Nation, in assuming that in some way, though indefinable, 
 the General Government would injure the individual 
 States. The advocates of this theory " strict construc- 
 
 1 Hist., pp. 564, 565.
 
 J. 
 
 &O c>/2-
 
 OBLIGATIONS TO THE CONSTITUTION". 709 
 
 tionists" they called themselves were morbidly suspi- CHAP. 
 
 . XLVIIi 
 
 cious of the National Government, and were continually 
 
 deprecating its influence upon the States. In accordance 1833> 
 with their interpretation, the Constitution would be as in- 
 flexible as a cast-iron frame ; no permission was given for 
 that instrument so comprehensive in its principles to 
 adapt itself to the exigencies of a nation industrious and 
 progressive in its development. Hence the habit of 
 these theorists to exclaim " Unconstitutional !" whenever 
 measures were proposed in Congress that would in their 
 influence extend to the States ; for that body to charter 
 a bank was deemed unconstitutional, because, perhaps, 
 in being useful to the general commerce and the indus- 
 tries of the country, it must have branches at commercial 
 centers within the States. Their views were similar in 
 respect to internal improvements made by the National 
 Government. 
 
 On the subject of the United States Bank the opposi- 
 tion in this respect came principally from Virginia and 
 those States further south ; they being nearly altogether 
 agricultural, there was not so much necessity for a 
 medium of mercantile exchange as in the more commer- 
 cial and manufacturing free States. 
 
 We have already seen Thomas Jefferson 1 secretly 
 exerting his influence against the policy of Washington's 
 administration, and to which he was presumed to be 
 friendly, at least, while holding the most important posi- 
 tion in the Cabinet that of Secretary of State. Instead, 
 he encouraged opposition to its most important measures, 
 which, from their intrinsic merits, have since become the 
 fixed policy of the nation. He stimulated this antago- 
 nism in various ways, but principally by diffusing his sen- 
 timents privately in letters to his friends, under pledges 
 of secrecy, and by means of the Democratic clubs, whose 
 
 i Hist., pp. 581,584.
 
 710 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, origin has been noted. 1 Though Vice-President at the 
 
 XLVIII. 
 
 '- time, Jefferson was not in perfect accord with the policy 
 
 >01 ' of John Adams's administration, in its efforts to defend 
 the country against the machinations of foreign refugees, 2 
 who, with the clubs, wished to embroil the country in 
 the wars then in progress in Europe. Says Albert Galla- 
 tin, when writing of this period, " I know that nothing 
 can be more injurious to an administration than to have 
 in that office [Vice-Presidency] a man in hostility to that 
 administration, as he will always become the most for- 
 midable rally ing-point for the opposition." ' 
 
 At one time Jefferson was greatly exercised lest the 
 Government should become a monarchy; and some of 
 his friends professed to be alarmed because the people 
 honored Washington's birthday, but he soothingly sug- 
 gested the theory that, perhaps, the day was celebrated 
 as that of " a General and not of a President." Yet he 
 was desponding ; in one of his letters he says, " The 
 State governments are the best in the world," but that of 
 the United States " has become so arbitrary in the rapid 
 course of nine or ten years, and has swallowed up more 
 of the public liberty than even that of England itself." 
 This paragraph alludes to what is known as the " Sedi- 
 tion Law," which was enacted to punish libel on the 
 Government, or the exciting of "unlawful combinations 
 against the laws." This law, which expired in two years 
 by limitation, was directed in self-defense against a class 
 of foreign adventurers, who as writers in the newspapers 
 were most abusive in denunciation of the administration 
 of John Adams, 4 which, in respect to the policy of neu- 
 trality, followed that of Washington. The law itself, 
 perhaps, was injudicious, and in its brief existence could 
 do little harm, but the political furor bordering on the 
 
 i Hist, p. 583. * Hist., p. 594. * Ldf e of Gallatin, p. 606. 
 
 Hist., pp. 592, 593.
 
 RESOLUTIONS OF '98. 711 
 
 ridiculous which it occasioned among its opponents is CHAP. 
 
 XJjVIll 
 not paralleled in American history. 
 
 To remedy these supposed evils, Jefferson drew up a 
 scries of resolutions embodying sentiments that have 
 been often alluded to in our history ; these are familiarly 
 known as the " Resolutions of '98." He managed to 
 have them introduced into the Legislature of Virginia, 
 and passed by that body, though their most objectionable 
 features were modified through the influence of James 
 Madison. In the same secret manner he had similar 1799. 
 resolutions passed by the Legislature of the recently 
 admitted State of Kentucky. This was accomplished by 
 one of his friends, a Mr. Nicholas, a native of Virginia, 
 but who at this time was a citizen of the new State and a 
 member of its Legislature. It \\-as not known for twenty 
 years that Jefferson was the author of these resolutions, 
 as he had the "solemn assurance that it should not be 
 known from what quarter the resolutions came." ' These 
 resolutions were e en t to the Legislatures of several of the 
 States, and the political principles they endeavored to 
 disseminate elicited much discussion, but little favor 
 from these bodies. Their influence was to show itself in 
 future years. John C. Calhoun was consistent when he 
 characterized Jefferson as " the Apostle of State Rights;" * 
 that is of the extreme view, since all advocate the legiti- 
 mate rights of the States under the Constitution, just as 
 municipal rights of cities chartered by State authority ; 
 but that does not imply that these municipalities should 
 dominate the State itself. 
 
 The eighth of these resolutions announces the theory 
 that " where powers are assumed " (alluding to the United 
 States Government) "which have not been delegated, a 
 nullification of the act is the rightful remedy ; that every 
 
 i Randall's Life of Jefferson, vol. ii., p. 448. 
 "Works, vol. ii., p. 268.
 
 712 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. State has a natural right, in cases not within the compact, 
 ' to nullify of their [its] own authority all assumptions of 
 
 1832- power of others within their [its] limits." ' On the prin- 
 ciples thus enunciated South Carolina determined to 
 " nullify" a United States law, hecause she of her own 
 authority decided that a tariff, said to be protective to 
 American industry, was " unconstitutional,'* and thirty 
 years later in a more serious effort to " nullify" the 
 union of the States. 
 
 There seems to have been an impression on the minds 
 of great numbers of the American people that the opera- 
 tives in large factories in Europe were peculiarly de- 
 graded as to their morals, and that the temptations to 
 vice were very great in such establishments. It was also 
 added that this was specially the case in the mills for 
 manufacturing cotton and wool, as in these, the work 
 being comparatively light, females and boys were much 
 employed. This was given as one reason why the sys- 
 tem of such manufacturing should not be introduced into 
 the United States. Measures, however, were taken to 
 pi-event such evils, and when mills were founded at 
 Lowell and afterward at Lawrence, Mass., special efforts 
 were made to secure the influence of pure morals among 
 those employed. 
 
 In Lowell the corporation or owners, to prevent evil 
 influences in their mills, provided comfortable boarding- 
 places for the young women, usually farmers' daughters, 
 who were in their employ. These boarding-houses were 
 Tinder the control of worthy and judicious matrons 
 selected for the purpose, and to whose protection the 
 parents in the vicinity were willing to intrust their 
 daughters. These young people had been educated in 
 the public schools, and had acquired a taste for reading ; 
 
 ' Randall's Life of Jefferson, vol. iL, p. 450.
 
 L/t_^' e^t^~^*~-r
 
 COTTON MANUFACTURE. 713 
 
 to meet this demand the owners provided libraries and CHAP. 
 
 Y| VIM 
 
 reading-rooms ; to the latter the operatives also con- ' 
 
 tributed to cover incidental expenses. At one time the 1822 - 
 young women who worked in the mills issued a period 
 ical, "The Lowell Offering." These facts show the 
 moral tone and mental requirements of a community 
 that would demand proper guaranties before the 
 parents would permit their young people, especially 
 their daughters, to labor in the cotton and woolen mills 
 of the day. In nearly all of the earlier mills founded 
 in New England similar efforts were made to protect 
 and elevate those whom they employed. A change has 1881. 
 been in progress, and the reading-rooms and libraries are 
 not so well attended as formerly ; the native employees 
 have given way to foreigners, who, unfortunately, care 
 not so much for reading and mental improvement. 
 
 A great advancement was made in the process of 
 manufacturing cotton by the energy of Francis C. Lowell 
 of Boston, who conceived the idea of using water-power 
 in the various operations. He visited Europe and ex- 
 amined the machinery used there, especially that in the 
 mills of England, but to obtain models of which he 
 found impossible, as their machinery was carefully 
 watched lest it should be copied, and he was compelled 
 to depend upon his memory and his own inventive 
 genius. The policy of England in that day, in relation 
 to preserving the secrets of her machinery, was virtually 
 the same as it was forty years before. 1 With the aid of a 
 practical mechanic, Mr. Lowell constructed machinery 
 according to his own designs. This was crude indeed, 
 but he contrived to put in motion 1,700 spindles in a 
 small mill at Waltham, Mass. Here under the same roof 1813. 
 cotton was carded, spun, and woven ; and it is said to 
 
 i Hist., p. 578.
 
 714 HISTORY OF THE AMERICA^ PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, have been the first mill in the world in which all the 
 - - operations of that manufacture were performed. 
 
 Mr. Lowell, from time to time, made improvements 
 in his machinery, and so great was his success that a few 
 enterprising gentlemen formed a company, and at a cer- 
 tain point purchased the land along the banks of the 
 Merrimac, thus securing its entire water-power. On this 
 purchase now r stands the flourishing city of Lowell thus 
 named in honor of its indefatigable projector. Here was 
 inaugurated on a firm basis the American system of 
 manufacturing cotton. Within a dozen years from that 
 time there were nearly 800 cotton factories some of 
 these were very small in the Union ; 738 were in the 
 Free States, and of these 508 were in New England 
 alone. 1 From that time forward the increase has been 
 enormous. 
 1816 During this period the industry of printing calicoes 
 
 1826 was carr i e d n but i n a crude form ; since then it has 
 grown to large proportions under the influence of Ameri- 
 can inventions and improvements. At that time four 
 colors was the highest number impressed at one move- 
 ment ; this has since been increased to twenty. 
 
 The war of 1812 threw the American people upon 
 their own mechanical resources to furnish themselves the 
 needed manufactured articles, which for the greater part 
 had hitherto been supplied by the workshops of England. 
 During this period of about three years the native in- 
 genuity in the invention and application of machinery 
 to manufacturing purposes of various kinds developed 
 rapidly. The war itself afforded sufficient protection 
 from the skill of England and the low wages paid her 
 operatives. In less than two years after the restoration 
 of peace and the renewal of trade the American manu- 
 facturers found themselves utterly ruined by the immense 
 
 . Industrial Hist. U. S., p. 412.
 
 FAR-REACHING POLICY. 715 
 
 influx of English merchandise, which had been accumu- CHAP. 
 
 XI V11I 
 lating for years, and was now thrown upon the American - ' 
 
 market at prices sometimes even below their original cost. 
 The English merchants had two objects in view : one to 1826. 
 stifle the manufacturing industries that had received an 
 impulse during the war, and the other to keep per- 
 manent control of the American market. This they 
 hoped to accomplish by means of English skill and the 
 low wages paid their workmen. The latter item gave 
 the foreigner an immense advantage, as the American 
 must pay higher wages because of the much fewer num- 
 ber willing to be thus employed. 
 
 The statesmen of that day, who had far-reaching 
 views, saw that the alternative was either to abandon tiie 
 policy of advancing the mechanical industries of the 
 people altogether, or counterbalance the advantages of 
 the European manufacturer in his skill and the low 
 wages paid his operatives. They chose the latter policy. 
 This was to impose a tariff sufficiently high to equalize 
 the cost of production and enable the American manu- 
 facturer to compete with the European on equal terms, 
 and at the same time to afford an opportunity for em- 
 ployment to those of our own people who worked for 
 wages ; to introduce diversities of industry, and develop 
 the natural resources of the country, even then supposed 
 to be enormous. 1 
 
 When the question of revising the tariff came before 1816. 
 Congress some of the " strict constructionists" suggested 
 that the Constitution authorized a tariff for "revenue 
 alone ;" that is an imposition of duty in such a manner 
 as to produce the most revenue to the Government, and it 
 would seem without reference to the industrial interests 
 of the people. A question arose which has puzzled 
 Congress ever since : " Where does the rate of a tariff for 
 
 1 Natural Resources of the United States, by J. Harris Fatten.
 
 HISTORY OP THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, 'revenue alone' terminate, and that for 'protection' 
 XLVI1L 
 
 begin ?" On this occasion John C. Calhoun of South 
 
 Carolina argued that a tariff sufficiently high to protect 
 the industries of the people was constitutional, saying, 
 " manufactures ought to be countenanced by the Gov- 
 ernment," and " they will arrive at a certain perfection 
 under its fostering care ;" and he urged Congress to 
 "afford to ingenuity and industry immediate and amplo 
 
 1832. protection." Afterward in the days of Nullification ho 
 said, " I, in common with the almost entire South, gave 
 my support to the tariff of 1816." ' Senator George 
 McDuffie of the same State, in speaking of this tariff, 
 says, " I most perfectly accord in the policy which 
 dictated that measure." James Madison wished the 
 commercial laws revised to " protect and foster the 
 several branches of manufactures." " The constitution- 
 ality of the procedure is not at all thought of, the expe- 
 diency of it is warmly recommended." 8 With this 
 understanding a tariff was imposed upon coarse cottons, 
 woolens, and many other manufactured articles, which 
 tariff was amended from time to time during twelve 
 years. This had ever been the national policy; the 
 
 1789. first tariff imposed by Congress and signed by Washing- 
 ton in its preamble says it was required, " for the sup- 
 port of the Government, and for the encouragement and 
 protection of domestic manufactures." 
 
 During the war of 1812, to cover the unusual expense, 
 and to supply the deficiency caused by the falling off of 
 import duties which had nearly ceased altogether, taxes 
 were imposed on many home-made articles. It was now 
 
 1816. proposed to relieve the people of these burdensome taxes 
 on their own manufactures, and supply the deficiency by 
 increasing the duties on the corresponding foreign-made 
 articles. Thus the object was twofold : to raise the 
 
 i Works, vol. ii., pp. 166-170. 
 * Niles Reg., vol. xxrvi., p. 82.
 
 IMPORT DUTIES. 717 
 
 needed revenue, and to encourage domestic industry ; of CHAP. 
 this policy Henry Clay was the ardent advocate. In 
 accordance with this a tariff was imposed on certain 
 classes of articles ; " 1st, those of which a full domestic 
 supply could be produced ; 2d, those of which only par- 
 tial domestic supply could be afforded ; and 3d, those 
 produced at home very slightly, or not at all." ' 
 
 The cotton-growing States " at that time had a par- 
 ticular interest in encouraging the domestic manufacture 
 of cotton." Such were the views of Calhoun and 
 Lowndes, of South Carolina the latter reporting the 
 bill to Congress. A heavy duty was imposed on woolen 
 and cotton cloths of various grades ; also on iron in all 
 its forms, on spirits, on sugars the latter to encourage 
 the Louisiana sugar-planter ; on hemp and lead to aid the 
 Kentucky farmer and the Illinois miner. The proposed 
 duty on indigo unfortunately failed, as that article was a 
 valuable product of the low lands of South Carolina and 
 Georgia. a Neither the cereals nor raw cotton needed 
 protection the latter staple having virtually the mon- 
 opoly of the world, both as to quantity and quality. 
 After the acquisition of Louisiana the southern portion 
 of the country was deemed by many the richest portion 
 of the Union in its agricultural products cotton, tobacco, 
 and sugar ; the first especially, since the invention of the 
 cotton-gin, had become greatly enhanced in value as a 
 most important export. This theory seemed to pervade 
 the minds of some of the leading men of that section. 3 
 So little did these statesmen know or even suspect of the 
 inherent though thus far latent power of intelligent and 
 industrious communities as those in the Free States, 
 where labor as such was reckoned respectable. This 
 power was wonderfully developed, when manufactures 
 
 ' Hildreth, vol. vi., p. 585. Benton's Thirty Years' View, voL i., p. 97. 
 Hist., p. 634.
 
 718 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, were introduced into these States under the " fostering 
 
 \IVflf 
 
 - care" of the legislation of 1816 and onward. 
 
 It was then supposed the slaves could be taught to 
 manufacture the coarser grades of cotton cloth, with 
 which they themselves were for the most part clothed. 
 It was therefore important to the masters to introduce 
 that manufacture among the employments of their slaves, 
 who could thus have work through the entire year. But 
 after a few years of trial it was found that from their 
 ignorance, want of perseverance, and lack of interest in 
 their work they were inefficient in manufacturing cotton ; 
 they could only hoe and pick it, and that under the 
 harsh supervision of overseers. Similar measures failed 
 to succeed in the factory, where more intelligence and 
 skill were required. Hence the complaints made against 
 the tariff (in Nullification times), that it ruined the South 
 or cotton-producing States. 1 This statement does not 
 seem correct in the light of facts, for the decline com- 
 menced many years before." It is also inconsistent with 
 statistics which show that in 1815 the coarse cotton sheet- 
 ings, with which the slaves were mostly clothed, cost 
 forty cents a yard being made chiefly on hand looms 
 while a better material in 1829 cost but eight and on#- 
 half cents, thus cheapened by the advance made in manu- 
 1829. facturing by machinery. 3 Meanwhile the fall in the price 
 of raw cotton was only about two-fifths as much as that 
 of the woven material this advantage accruing to the 
 planter. A writer* states that at this time (1829) "The 
 cost of a good cotton summer suit for a field hand, taking 
 six yards, was seventy-five cents, and that a winter suit 
 of negro cloth cost three dollars ;" other expenses were 
 at an equally low rate. Yet the Nullifiers proclaimed 
 
 1 See Hist., p. 723, for opinions of McDuffie and Hayne. 
 "Benton's Thirty Years' View, vol. i., p. 101. 
 Industrial Hist. U. S., p. 414. 
 * Niles Register.
 
 THE MOTIVES. 71!) 
 
 that their section was ruined by tariffs, and they entered CHAP. 
 
 x i v 1 1 1 
 upon a crusade against any policy that aided the median- - 
 
 ieal industries of the country. This was on the ground 1829 ' 
 that such aid was unconstitutional. 1 The protest of 
 South Carolina pronounced protective duties " Uncon- 
 stitutional, oppressive, and unjust" As the tariff, how- 
 ever low, is to that extent a protection to the American 
 manufacturer of the same kind of article, it would follow 
 from this that Free Trade alone was constitutional. By 
 a similar process of reasoning, extremists among the slave- 
 owning statesmen argued that the best social condition 
 was for the capitalist to own those whom he employed ; 
 in other words, that " all laborers should be slaves." 
 Such were the views of John C. Calhoun and George 
 McDuffie, and others. The motives that influenced the 
 minds of these legislators were radically different. The 
 statesmen of the Slave States, from the nature of the case, 
 had reference alone to the advantages that would accrue 
 to the masters ; while those of the Free States had refer- 
 ence as much to that large class who obtained their sup- 
 port from wages as to the capitalist who invested his 
 money in manufacturing industries. 
 
 At the commencement of the war of 1812 England 
 was buying our raw cotton and sending it back in the 
 form of cloth made by machines driven by steam, while 
 at that time in the United States were very few, perhaps 
 no factories for weaving cotton-cloth, the mill at Beverly 
 having failed. There were in the country a few small 
 mills for spinning cotton yarn, and the weaving was done 
 by hand on domestic looms; hence this product was 
 termed " domestics." 
 
 Our statesmen then desired to encourage the manu- 
 facture of cottons and woolens in all their forms ; but to 
 do so the people must contend with the acquired skill 
 
 1 Debates in Congress, vol. x., pp. 343-345.
 
 720 HISTOKY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, and machinery of England, and the low wages paid her 
 XI VIII 
 
 '. operatives. The same causes gave an impulse to the 
 
 1816. manufacture of woolens, though this industry remained 
 for a long time in the hands of the household. Not till 
 1816 and onward was a definite impetus given to the 
 manufacture of woolen goods .in its varied forms. The 
 supply of native wool was not sufficient, and to obtain 
 which great exertions were made to induce the farmers 
 to raise sheep for its production. To secure the finest 
 quality merino sheep were imported from Spain, and 
 wool-growing became an important industry. The 
 pioneer woolen mills only wove the yarn spun in the 
 household in the vicinity. Carding and fulling mills 
 came into existence to aid and complete the domestic 
 
 1820. manufacture, and finally in the course of years the work 
 was performed, or nearly so, under the same roof by 
 means of machinery. The advance, however, was not so 
 rapid in the woolen as in the cotton manufacture. The 
 States of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Connec- 
 ticut took energetic measures to advance the manufac- 
 ture of wool. Vermont became the producer of the 
 finest wool in New England, yet it remained for another 
 
 1851. State Tennessee to exhibit the finest specimen wool 
 at the first World's Fair at London. 
 
 Our manufacture of wool has come oftener than any 
 other of our industries in competition with the skill and 
 the low wages paid operatives in England, Belgium, and 
 France, and in consequence has had unusual difficulties 
 to overcome. 
 
 1818 The depression in the industrial interests of the coun- 
 
 1820 tr y a fter tne war f 1812 was very great. Henry Clay 
 estimated the property of the United States to have sunk 
 in value one-half in the course of four years. This esti- 
 mate was no doubt in respect to the States outside New 
 England. The people of that section by their industrial 
 enterprise and economy had secured success in many
 
 EQUALIZING MEASURE. 7'j 1 
 
 respects, especially in their shipping interest, including CHAP. 
 the carrying trade between foreign nations during the XLYIU 
 wars of Napoleon, the coasting trade of their own coun- 1 ^ 20 - 
 try, the fisheries along their coasts, and for whales in the 
 Arctic seas. In consequence of this accumulation of 
 capital their finances were in a good condition, and their 
 banks were sound and able to redeem their notes in 
 specie when presented at their counters, while in the rest 
 of the Union financial distress more or less prevailed. 
 
 The term protection is unfortunate, inasmuch that 
 many are led astray, thinking that those who manufac- 
 ture were protected or aided by the Government at the 
 expense of the other portion of the people. The term is 
 a misnomer ; it should be designated an equalizing 
 measure, designed to put our own workmen and those 
 who employ them on equal terms as manufacturers with 
 the foreigners, who have the advantage in acquired skill, 
 low rate of interest on capital, and more than all, in the 
 small amount of wages paid their operatives. Making 
 the terms thus equal to the manufacturers of both lands, 
 if the American, by means of his energy and mechanical 
 inventions, and the better education of his workmen in 
 industrious habits, is more successful, he and the people 
 have a right to the advantages thus acquired. The " strict 
 constructionists" thought Congress had no authority to 
 levy a tariff so as to equalize the expense of manufactur- 
 ing in the United States with that in Europe. 
 
 Senator Foote of Connecticut submitted a resolution 
 of inquiry as to the disposal of the public lands. The de- 1830. 
 bate on the resolution took a wide range, in the course of 
 which the young and brilliant Senator, Robert Y. Hayne, 
 of South Carolina, avowed the opinion that any State had 
 a right, as a sovereign power, to declare null and void any 
 act of Congress which that State deemed unconstitutional. 
 This was the first time that the doctrine of nullification
 
 722 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAR had been openly maintained in the councils of the nation 
 
 the sentiments rather of Calhoun the Vice-President than 
 
 1832. of the speaker himself: a doctrine based upon the as- 
 sumption that the National Government was a compact 
 between the States, and that any of them could at pleas- 
 ure recede from the Union. 
 
 Daniel Webster at once pointed out the injurious re- 
 sults to the Union if these principles were acted upon. 
 
 This debate, continued for several days, and not only from 
 the masterly manner in which it was conducted, but from 
 the influence it exerted upon the minds of the American 
 people, was one of the most important that ever occurred 
 in the Halls of Congress. Webster clearly exposed the 
 fallacy of the argument adduced to prove that the Na- 
 tional Government was a compact of sovereign, independ- 
 ent States ; or that any of them were at liberty to with- 
 draw from the Union, without the consent of the others. On 
 the contrary, he urged that the Constitution was the work of 
 the people themselves, not as members of each independent 
 State, but as members of all the States ; and that the 
 Supreme Court was the tribunal authorized to decide in 
 cases of conflict between the States and the General 
 Government. Says the venerable Chancellor Kent in 
 reference to the discussion, and especially Webster's 
 speech : " It turned the attention of the public to the 
 great doctrines of national rights and national union. 
 Constitutional law was rescued from the archives of our 
 tribunals and the libraries of our lawyers, placed under 
 the eye, and submitted to the judgment of the American 
 people." And heartily did they respond to the sentiment 
 that the " Union must be preserved." The importance 
 of the subject awakened an intense interest in the nation, 
 and the reports of the discussion were read and commented 
 upon by millions. This debate really settled the question 
 of nullification ; and its influence upon the public mind
 
 REVISION OF THE TARIFF NULLIFICATION. 72o 
 
 created a moral power which gave a death-blow to the CHAP. 
 
 dangerous design then in existence. 
 
 1832. 
 
 Congress, in revising the tariff, instead of diminishing, 
 increased the duties on many articles. This gave still July, 
 greater offence to the cotton-growing States, who com- 
 plained, that they in consequence paid exorbitant prices, 
 especially for cottons and woollens. The question be- 
 came in some respects a sectional one. The North on the 
 one hand had accommodated her industry to manufac- 
 tures ; she had acquired skill, and was unwilling to sac- 
 rifice this and also an immense amount of invested 
 capital. She thought it unjust that her interests should 
 be injured, if not ruined, by a change of the policy under 
 which she had been compelled to turn her attention to 
 that particular sphere of industry. On the other hand, 
 the South, pointing to her exhausted fields, especially in 
 the Atlantic States, and their diminution of population, 
 exclaimed : See what the tariff has done ! Says McDuffie 
 of South Carolina, on the floor of Congress : " Look, sir, at 
 the present aspect of the Southern States. In no part of 
 Europe will you see the same indications of decay. De- 
 serted villages, houses falling to rain, impoverished lands 
 thrown out of cultivation." The reason that the South 
 did not derive benefit from the imposition of a tariff was 
 admitted by Hayne himself. " The slaves," said he in 
 the Senate, " are too improvident, too incapable of minute, 
 constant, delicate attention, and the persevering industry 
 which is essential to the success of manufacturing estab- 
 lishments." Similar sentiments were expressed by other 
 members of Congress. 
 
 The States of Virginia, Georgia and South Carolina 
 were the most opposed to the measure, but only the latter 
 took the responsibility of openly resisting the collection 
 of duties imposed- by this law of Congress. She published 
 an ordinance to that effect, and denied the authority of
 
 724 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 x?Vm' *^ e ^ enera l Government to enforce what she deemed at 
 
 - unconstitutional law. 
 
 1883. The President immediately issued a proclamation, 
 moderate in its language but determined in tone. In 
 plain terms he expressed his views upon the subject, and 
 intimated that he would vindicate the power intrusted to 
 his hands. He appealed "to the understanding and 
 patriotism of the people of the State, and warned them 
 of the consequences that must inevitably result from 
 obeying the dictates of the convention," which had ad- 
 vised resistance to the law. 
 
 Previous to this, Calhoun had resigned the vice-presi- 
 dency, and now appeared in the Senate in the place of 
 Hayne, who had retired to take the office of Governor of 
 South Carolina, and who now replied to the President by 
 11 a coun * er proclamation. He warned the people of the 
 State against " the dangerous and pernicious doctrines " 
 in that document, and called upon them to disregard 
 " those vain menaces " of military force, " to be fully pre- 
 pared to sustain the dignity and protect the liberties of 
 the State, if need be, with their lives and fortunes." 
 
 Nothing daunted, South Carolina proclaimed herseH 
 hostile to the Union, and resolved to maintain her rights 
 as a Sovereign State, by organizing troops and providing 
 munitions of war. Meantime her Legislature passed laws 
 which forbade the collection of United States revenue 
 within her boundaries ; ami intimated that if an attempt 
 was made by the General Government to enforce the col- 
 lection of such duties, sh,> would exercise her right to 
 secede from the Union, and " forthwith proceed to organ- 
 ize a separate government." The attitude of the State 
 was imposing and resolute. But the President was 
 equally as decided in his measures to enforce the laws. 
 Soon a national vessel, with troops on board, appeared in 
 the harbor of Charleston ; they came to aid the officers 
 in the collection of the revenue. The State receded from
 
 THE COMPROMISE BILL ITS FINAL PASSAGE. 75W) 
 
 her defiant position, and the storm calmed down ; the CHAP. 
 
 famous Tariff Compromise, just passed by Congress, fur- -L 
 
 nished a convenient reason for that act of prudence. 1833. 
 
 Henry Clay was the principal author of the measure, 
 and to him "belongs the honor of introducing it into the 
 Senate. The Compromise consisted in gradually dimin- 
 ishing for ten years the imposts, till they should arrive at 
 a uniform rate of twenty per cent. the revenue standard 
 for which the opponents of the tariff contended. Map> 
 
 The secret history of the final passage of that Com- 
 promise bill in the Senate is singular. Its opponents 
 had denounced the principle of protection to American 
 industry, as unconstitutional. In order to prevent op- 
 position to the bill on that ground, after it had become a 
 law, it was necessary that those opposing it should be 
 induced to vote for it ; to vote, not only for the bill as a 
 whole, but for its separate articles. The crisis was near. 
 The President had determined to enforce the law ; he 
 scouted the idea of compromise, and stood ready to arrest 
 the leaders, especially Calhoun, and bring him to trial for 
 treason. John M. Clayton, of Delaware, privately gave 
 the parties 'to understand that he should move to lay the 
 bill on the table, where it should lie, unless the nullifiers 
 should one and all give it their individual support. He 
 assured them that there was a sufficient number of 
 senators (whose names he refused to give), to prevent its 
 passage, if this condition was not complied with. The 
 amendments to the bill had all passed but the last ; the 
 one which embodied the principle of home valuation. 
 This Calhoun and his friends opposed with great vehe- 
 mence. Clayton moved to lay the bill on the table, and 
 no persuasion could induce him to withdraw the motion. 
 The opponents of the measure withdrew from the hall for 
 a few minutes, to consult. One of their number presently 
 returned and requested Clayton to withdraw his motion, 
 to give time to consider the amendment. He consented,
 
 26 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 xmif W ^ *^ e understanding that, if necessary, he would re 
 
 new it. That night, consultations were held by the 
 
 1833. Southern members. The next day, when the bill was 
 under consideration, it was intimated that it could be 
 passed without the aid of Calhoun's vote. But Clayton 
 was inflexible his vote must be given for the bill, or 
 ' g nr ' nothing would be secured by it. It was the last day oi 
 the session another Congress would not meet for months. 
 It was a solemn hour. If the impending collision be- 
 tween the State and the Government should occur, who 
 could tell what would be the result ? How could South 
 Carolina be extricated from the difficulties of her position ? 
 Calhoun remained to the last, his friends one by one 
 voting for the amendment. After making a few remarks 
 on the conditions upon which he should act, he also voted 
 for the amendment, and afterward for the bill as a whole. 1 
 On the fourth of March, General Jackson entered 
 upon his second term of office, with Martin Van Buren, of 
 New York, as Vice-President. The principal opposing 
 candidate was Henry Clay. 
 
 According to its charter, the Bank of the United 
 States was the legal depository of the public funds. The 
 Secretary of the Treasury only, with the sanction of 
 Congress, had authority to remove them. By resolution, 
 Congress had expressed the opinion that the public 
 moneys were safe in the keeping of the Bank. The 
 President thought differently. When Congress was not 
 in session, he made known to the Cabinet his intention to 
 remove the public funds from the custody of the Bank, 
 and to transfer them to certain State Banks. The 
 majority of the Cabinet were opposed to the measure. 
 As he could not reach the money except through the 
 Secretary of the Treasury, William J. Duane, he directed 
 
 1 Thirty Years' View, Vol. i. Chap. Ixxxv.
 
 REMOVAL OF THE DEPOSITS INDIAN WARS. 727 
 
 him to remove the deposits ; but the Secretary viewing CHAP. 
 
 the measure as " unnecessary, unwise, arbitrary, and un- . 
 
 just/' refused. The President immediately dismissed 1833. 
 him from office, and appointed Roger B. Taney, after- 
 ward Chief Justice, in his place, who hastened to issue 
 an order to the collectors, forbidding them to deposit the Oct. 
 public moneys in the Bank of the United States. The 
 intention being to withdraw the funds already in its pos- 
 session, as they should be needed in defraying the current 
 expenses of the government. 
 
 The measure spread distrust through the whole mer- 
 cantile community, and destroyed that confidence which 
 is essential to the success of business transactions. The 
 notes of the Bank were at par throughout the Union, but 
 now the whole system of exchange was thrown into con- 
 fusion. Universal distress prevailed. The wages of daily 
 laborers were especially depressed. Memorials from all 
 parts of the country poured into Congress, asking it to 
 adopt measures that would give relief. After a time, the 
 State banks endeavored to relieve the monetary distress 
 by liberal loans. These loans, in turn, were the occasion 
 of exciting a spirit of speculation that produced still 
 greater evils. 
 
 The Administration was not exempt from Indian 
 troubles. Some of the north-western tribes, led by Black 
 Hawk, a chief of the Sac nation, made incursions against 
 the frontier settlements of Illinois. The government sent 
 troops, under General Atkinson, who soon, with the aid 
 of the militia, drove the savages beyond the Mississippi. 
 In one of the skirmishes, Black Hawk himself was cap- 
 tured. To impress him with the greatness of the nation, 
 he was first taken to Washington, and then to visit the 
 principal eastern cities. 
 
 Two years afterward an attempt was made by the 
 government to remove the Seminole Indians beyond the
 
 728 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. Mississippi River. They refused to emigrate, and anothei 
 '. Indian war was the consequence. Skulking through the 
 
 1834. swamps and woods of Florida, the savages would suddenly 
 dash into the settlements to murder and destroy. Many 
 valuable lives were thus lost. Among these were Major 
 Dade, and more than a hundred men, who all perished 
 by falling into an ambuscade. On the same day, the 
 United States' agent, Mr. Wiley Thompson, and five of 
 his friends were killed and scalped by Osceola, the leading 
 chief of the Seminoles. The year before, Thompson had 
 injudiciously offended the savage, by confining him in 
 irons for a day. Though he feigned friendship, his proud 
 spirit thirsted to revenge the insult. The Creeks joined 
 the Seminoles, and attacked several villages, both in 
 Georgia and Alabama. The unhealthy vapors of the 
 swamps, the bites of poisonous snakes and insects, inflict- 
 ed intense sufferings upon the troops. It was impossible 
 to subdue the Indians, who, after their attacks upon the 
 Whites, would retreat to their hiding-places in the swamps. 
 Led by Osceola, the war, or rather skirmishing, continued 
 for years ; the troops were baffled again and again. At 
 length his own policy, of making treaties only to break 
 them, was practised upon himself. One day he appeared 
 under a flag of truce at the American camp. General 
 
 1837. Jessup, who was in command, immediately made him 
 prisoner, with all his followers. Osceola was sent to 
 Charleston, and while there confined in Fort Moultrie, a 
 fever terminated his eventful life. 
 
 Colonel Zachary Taylor, afterward President of the 
 
 1842. United States, was sent to succeed Jessup. Taylor, by 
 great exertions, brought the war to a close, but not till 
 it had lasted altogether seven years, and cost the nation 
 
 1836. many lives, and thirty millions of dollars. 
 
 During this administration, died John Marshall, one 
 of the most remarkable men of the time, at the age of 
 four-score. He had served in the army of the Revolution,
 
 CLAIMS AGAINST FRANCE SETTLED. 729 
 
 and won the esteem of Washington ; had been a member CHAP. 
 
 XLYI17 
 
 of the House of Kepresentatives, Secretary of State, .' 
 
 Secretary of War, and Minister to France. President John 1836 
 Adams nominated him Chief Justice of the Supreme 
 Court, over which for thirty-five years he presided " with 
 native dignity and unpretending grace." His solidity of 
 judgment, his reasoning powers, his acute and penetrating 
 mind, were remarkable, and none the less striking were the 
 purity of his Christian life and his simplicity of manner. 
 
 The maxim of foreign policy acted upon by the Presi- 
 dent was "to ask nothing but what was right, and to 
 submit to nothing that was wrong." American merchants 
 had claims, amounting to five millions of dollars, against 
 the French government. They had remained unsettled 
 for twenty years. These indemnities were for " unlawful 
 seizures, captures, and destruction of vessels and cargoes," 
 during the wars of Napoleon. The government of Louis 
 Philippe acknowledged their justice, and by treaty en- 
 gaged to pay them. But the Chamber of Deputies, at 
 different times during three years, refused to appropriate 
 the money.' The President sent a message to Congress, 
 recommending reprisals upon French property if the treaty 
 was not complied with. The French Chambers took 
 offence at the tone of the message, and although Congress 
 had not acted upon its suggestions, they refused to pay 
 the money unless the obnoxious proposal was withdrawn. 
 This brought another message, in which the President re- 
 viewed the difficulties existing between the governments. 
 Said he : " Come what may, the explanation which 
 France demands can never be accorded ; and no arma- 
 ment (alluding to a French fleet then on our coast), 
 however powerful and imposing, will, I trust, deter us 
 from discharging the high duties which we owe to our 
 constituents, to our national character, and to the world." 
 He suggested to Congress to prohibit the entrance of
 
 730 
 
 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. French imports into our ports, and the interdiction of 
 ' - all commercial intercourse. 
 
 The Chamber of Deputies soon after paid the money 
 to satisfy the claims and fulfill the treaty. 
 
 Equally successful was the President in arranging 
 other difficulties of long standing ; claims for similar 
 seizures and spoliations against Spain, Naples, and Den- 
 mark. Also treaties of commerce and friendship were 
 negotiated with Russia and the Ottoman Empire the 
 first. American treaty with the latter power. 
 
 Two States, Arkansas and Michigan, were added to 
 the Union; the original thirteen had now doubled. 
 
 After a spirited contest Martin Van Buren, of New 
 Nov. York, was elected President by the people, and Richard 
 M. Johnson, of Kentucky, Yice-President, not by the 
 electoral vote, but by the Senate. 
 
 General Jackson's administration will ever be mem- 
 orable for its measures and for its influence. The nation 
 was greatly agitated by conflicts of opinion in relation to 
 his official acts, since he professed to be governed by the 
 Constitution, iwt as interpreted by the United States 
 Supreme Court, but as he himself understood it a dis- 
 respect for constituted law which in after years was not 
 without malign influence. He introduced extensively 1 
 the vicious system of removing persons from minor of- 
 fices for political purposes alone, filling their places with 
 partisans. From that day this custom has been a corrupt- 
 ing element in the nation's politics. Arbitrary in the ex- 
 treme, he had quarrels with his Cabinet for reasons un- 
 worthy the record of history. Though intensely patri- 
 otic, and not famed for legal acquirements, he had little 
 respect for law or decisions of courts if they did not 
 coincide with his own notions and prejudices; but his 
 energy and determined will enabled him to carry his 
 points in defiance of opposition and established usages. 
 
 i Hist., p. 705.
 
 CHAPTER XLIX. 
 
 VAN BUBEN'S ADMINISTKATION. 
 
 Apparent Prosperity. The Specie Circular. The Surplus Funds. Sufr 
 pension of Specie Payments. Speculation. Special Session of Con- 
 gress. The Sub-Treasury. State Indebtedness. 
 
 T HE last year of Jackson's administration appeared to CHAP. 
 be one of very great national prosperity. The public 
 debt had been cancelled two years before, and there were 1837. 
 nearly forty millions of dollars of surplus. This pros- 
 perity was fallacious in the extreme. 
 
 The State Banks, called in derision the " Pets/' with 
 whom the deposits had been placed, loaned money freely, 
 with the expectation that they should continue to have 
 the use of the public funds until they were called for by 
 the Government. That time seemed to be distant, as its 
 revenue was greater than its current expenses. 
 
 Other banks sprang into existence, until the number 
 amounted, throughout the land, to seven hundred and fifty. 
 These institutions had very little gold or silver in their 
 vaults, as a means to redeem the notes with which they 
 flooded the country, giving a fictitious value to every thing 
 that was bought or sold. They rivalled each other in af- 
 fording facilities for the wildest schemes of speculation. 
 
 The public lands became an object of this speculation, 
 until the sales amounted to millions in a month. Two 
 acts the one of the late President ; the other of Con-
 
 732 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAX PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP gress combined to hasten the crisis. President Jackson, 
 
 in order to restrain the undue sales of the public lands, 
 
 1837. had issued, through the Treasury Department, an order 
 known as the Specie Circular, requiring the collectors 
 at the offices to receive only gold and silver in payments 
 1836'. f r l an d. Six months later, Congress passed a law to dis- 
 tribute among the States the government funds, on de- 
 posit in the banks. They were thus forced to call in their 
 loans to meet this demand, while the Specie Circular 
 arrested the circulation of their notes, and brought them 
 back to their counters, to be exchanged for gold and silver. 
 Within six months after this distribution was ordered, the 
 business of the whole country was prostrated : all im- 
 provements ceased, and twenty thousand laboring men 
 were, within a few weeks, thrown out of employment in 
 New York City alone, where the failures amounted to one 
 hundred millions of dollars, while those of New Orleans 
 were as great in proportion, being twenty-seven millions. 
 May. A few weeks later, the banks of New York City suspended 
 specie payment ; an example which the other banks of 
 the country hastened to follow. 
 
 Previous to the suspension of payments, a large and 
 respectable committee of merchants of New York visited 
 Washington, to lay before the new President the state of 
 the country. Similar representations went from almost 
 every section of the land. The President denied the re- 
 quest of the committee to rescind the Specie Circular, but 
 proposed to call a Special Session of Congress, on the first 
 Monday of the following September. 
 
 The extent to which speculation raged seems almost 
 fabulous. The compromise tariff had nearly run its course, 
 and the duty arrived at its minimum ; foreign merchandise 
 was imported in unheard-of quantities, thus ruining do- 
 mestic industry ; internal improvements, because of the 
 facility in obtaining loans, were projected to an extent 
 almost without limit ; the public lands were bought by
 
 SPECULATION THE GOVERNMENT EMBARRASSED. 733 
 
 the millions of acres, and cities and villages were multi- CHAP 
 plied on paper by hundreds ; and stranger still, the sites \ 
 of these prospective cities, divided into lots, were fre- 1837. 
 quently made the basis of money transactions. 
 
 A few months before, the General Government was 
 free from debt, and had a surplus of forty millions. Now 
 the surplus had been given to the States ; the importers 
 had neither gold nor silver to pay duties, and the Govern- 
 ment itself was deprived of the means to defray its cur- 
 rent expenses. 
 
 When Congress assembled, the President made no Sept 
 suggestion as to the manner in which the commercial em- 4 * 
 barrassments of the country might be relieved, on the 
 ground that the General Government was unauthorized 
 by the Constitution to afford such relief. He was there- 
 fore in favor of the people taking care of themselves. The 
 message contained, however, two recommendations ; one 
 the issue of Treasury notes, to relieve the Government's 
 own embarrassments, the other an Independent Treasury 
 for the public funds. The object of the latter was to 
 avoid the liability of loss by depositing the public moneys 
 in banks. These treasuries were to be located at suitable 
 places ; the sub-treasurers to be appointed by the Presi- 
 dent, and to give bonds for the proper fulfilment of their 
 duties. 
 
 The measure was opposed, lest the withdrawal of so 
 much gold and silver from circulation would injure com- 
 mercial operations. The bill failed in the House, though . 
 it passed the Senate. Three years later it was estab- 
 lished ; the next year repealed then re-enacted, five 
 years after, and is still the law of the land. 
 
 The Legislatures of many of the States became imbued 
 with the spirit of speculation, and as a means to obtain 
 loans, issued State stocks to the amount of one hundred 
 millions. This was done under the laudable pretext of 
 developing their resources, by internal improvements.
 
 734 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. Eight of the States failed to pay the interest on these 
 
 loans or stocks. In time they recovered from the shock, 
 
 1838. and hut one of them, Mississippi, and one territory, Florida, 
 repudiated their debt and defied their creditors. These 
 loans were principally obtained in Europe, where, on the 
 subject of these failures to pay, great indignation was ex- 
 pressed. The whole nation was dishonored ; -two years 
 later, when the National Government wished to obtain a 
 loan, her agents could not induce a capitalist in all 
 Europe to risk a dollar in such investment. 
 
 As the administration of Van Buren drew to a close, 
 the financial condition of the country did not much im- 
 prove. However, his party nominated him, as well as Vice- 
 President Johnson, for a second term. The opposing can- 
 didate was William Henry Harrison, of Ohio, whom we 
 have seen as a popular general of the north-west during 
 
 1812. the last war, as well as filling many civil offices with 
 honor to himself and profit to the country. On the same 
 ticket was John Tyler of Virginia, as the candidate for 
 
 1840. Vice-President. Harrison was elected by a very large 
 majority. The commercial disasters of the country were 
 generally attributed to the interference of the Government 
 with the currency ; this belief had caused a great revul- 
 gion in the public mind.
 
 CHAPTEK L. 
 
 HARBISON AND TYLER'S ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 Tlie Inauguration. Death of Harrison. Tyler President. Sub-Treasury 
 Act repealed. Bankrupt Law. The Bank Charters ; their Vetoes. 
 Proposition to treat with Great Britain. Insurrection in Canada. The 
 Caroline. Trial of McLeod. Boundary Disputes in Maine. Lord 
 Ashburton. Treaty of Washington. Questions of Visit and Impress- 
 ment. Exploring Expedition. Texas Colonization ; struggles. Inde- 
 pendence. Siege of Goliad and the Alamo. Davy Crocket. Massacre 
 of Prisoners. Battle of San Jacinto. Houston President. Question 
 of Annexation in Congress. Texas Annexed. Disturbances in Rhode 
 Island. Iowa and Florida become States. . 
 
 AN immense concourse of people, many of them from CHAP. 
 
 distant parts of the Union, assembled at Washington to . 
 
 witness the inauguration of General Harrison. His ad- 1841 
 dress on that occasion was replete with wisdom ; liberal M ? T ' 
 and generous, and patriotic in its tone ; a transcript of 
 the sincerity of his own heart. His selection of officers to 
 compose his Cabinet was unanimously confirmed by the 
 Senate ; at its head was Daniel Webster, as Secretary of 
 State. 
 
 The certainty of a change of policy in the measures 
 of the General Government inspired confidence in the 
 commercial world, and the nation, made wiser by adver- 
 sity, began to hope. But the expectations of the Presi- 
 dent's friends were doomed to be sadly disappointed. His 
 first official act was to issue a proclamation, calling a 
 special session of Congress, to meet on the 31st of the
 
 736 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, following May, to take into consideration the condition of 
 
 the country. Before that day arrived, the President was 
 
 1841. no more. Suddenly taken ill, all human remedies failed 
 pn * to give relief, and he expired, just one month after his 
 inauguration, in his sixty-ninth year. For the first time, 
 death had removed the Chief Magistrate of the Union 
 when in office. The loss came home to the hearts of the 
 people. Throughout the length and breadth of the land 
 they vied with each other in doing honor to his memory. 
 Since the death of Washington, the nation had not 
 mourned a loss with such imposing ceremonies. This deep 
 and pervading sentiment of sorrow was the tribute due the 
 memory of a good man ; one who had served his country 
 with most scrupulous integrity for more than forty years ; 
 whose whole life, public and private, was without reproach. 
 Though in public office the greater part of his life, his 
 salaries had passed away in charities and hospitalities ; 
 to his house the humblest of the land as well as the most 
 exalted, had been welcomed ; the poor man's friend, he 
 himself died poor. At its very first session after his 
 death, Congress, " out of consideration of his expenses in 
 removing to the seat of government, and the limited 
 means which he had left behind," granted his widow one 
 year's presidential salary twenty-five thousand dollars. 
 
 JOHN TYLER. 
 
 The Vice-President became the President, according 
 to the provisions of the Constitution. He retained the 
 Cabinet of his predecessor, giving them assurances of his 
 respect. Congress convened for the extra session at the 
 time designated. One of its first measures was to repeal 
 the Sub-Treasury act of the last administration. To 
 this regulation for the keeping of the public funds much 
 of the pressure in the money market was attributed. 
 
 The failures in the mercantile world had brought ruio
 
 THE NATIONAL BANK THE VETOES. 737 
 
 upon thousands of upright and enterprising men. They CHAP. 
 
 had become hopelessly bankrupt, in many instances, by 
 
 circumstances beyond their control ; involved in debts, 1S42. 
 which would forever crush their energies without bene- 
 fitting their creditors, themselves, or the country. To 
 relieve persons thus insolvent, Congress passed a general 
 bankrupt law. The effect of the measure was beneficial, 
 and when the necessity for its existence had passed away, 
 it was repealed. 
 
 One of the issues involved in the last presidential 
 election, was the policy of establishing a United States 
 Bank or " Financial Agent," which should facilitate mer- 
 cantile exchanges throughout the Union. The result of 
 the election had shown that the majority of the people 
 were in favor of such an institution. In compliance with 
 this expression of the popular will, both Houses of Con- 
 gress passed a bill chartering such a National Bank. 
 Contrary to expectation, the President refused to give it his 
 signature. Another bill was passed, modified in its pro- 
 visions to accord with his own suggestions. This he also 
 refused to sign. These successive vetoes raised a terrible 
 storm of indignation against their author, though when 
 nominated he was known to be opposed to the United 
 States Bank. The great party, by whose votes he held 
 his high position, charged him with double dealing ; with 
 betraying the trust they had committed to his hands. 
 The members of his cabinet immediately resigned their 
 places, and gave to the country their reasons for so doing. 
 Daniel Webster alone remained, lest the public interests 
 would suffer by his withdrawal before the completion of 
 certain negotiations upon which he was then engaged. 
 
 Between the United States government and that of 
 Great Britain two important questions of controversy re- 
 mained unadjusted. One growing out of certain revolu-
 
 738 HISTOEY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, tionary disturbances along the Canada borders ; and th 
 ' other in relation to the north-eastern boundary between 
 1842. the State of Maine and the British province of New 
 Brunswick. The former of these had been pending dur- 
 ing the previous administration, the latter for fifty years. 
 
 Soon after entering upon his duties as Secretary of 
 State, Mr. Webster, with the sanction of the President, 
 intimated to the British Minister at Washington, that 
 the Government of the United States was desirous to 
 arrange the boundary dispute by agreeing on a line by 
 compromise, or convention. The proposition was received 
 in the friendly spirit in which it had been given, and the 
 British ministry deputed Lord Ashburton, as special 
 minister to the United States, with full powers to settle 
 1837. all points of controversy between the two governments. 
 
 During the first year of Van Buren's administration 
 the people of both the Canadas endeavored to throw off 
 their allegiance to England, and to declare themselves in- 
 dependent. This movement enlisted the sympathies of 
 great numbers in the neighboring States. In northern 
 New York associations were formed, called " Hunters' 
 Lodges/' whose object was to aid the patriots. These 
 illegal combinations flourished in spite of the efforts made 
 by the President and the Governor of New York to sup- 
 press them. 
 
 About seven hundred of these " sympathizers," with 
 some of the patriots, took possession of Navy Island, in 
 Niagara river, near the Canada shore, to which province it 
 belonged. Thither the steamboat Caroline was employed 
 in transporting men, arms, and provisions from Schlosser. 
 on the American shore. The British authorities deter- 
 mined to destroy this boat. Accordingly a detachment 
 was sent on a dark night in December for that purpose ; 
 the officer in command not finding the boat at Navy 
 Island, as expected, passed over to Schlosser, where she 
 was moored it the dock. He captured the boat, and in
 
 THE AFFAIR OF THE CAROLINE M'LEOD. 739 
 
 the short struggle which ensued, an American was killed. CHAP. 
 The Caroline was taken out into the middle of the stream, 
 
 there set on fire, and left to pass over the falls in a blaze. 1837. 
 The British Minister at Washington, Mr. Fox, imme- 
 diately avowed the act, and justified it on the ground that 
 it was done in self-defence. This avowal changed the 
 aspect of the controversy it was now between the gov- 
 ernments. The excitement was by no means allayed, nor 
 the activity of the " lodges " diminished. Three years 
 afterward a still stronger feeling of hostility sprang up 
 between the two countries. A certain Alexander Mc- 
 Leod, a British subject, living in Canada, it was rumored, 
 had boasted of being at the taking of the Caroline, and 
 also that he himself had killed the American. McLeod 
 visited the State of New York at the time just mentioned, 
 the authorities of which immediately arrested him on the 
 charge of murder. The British government demanded his 
 release, unconditionally, on the ground that he was obey- 
 ing the orders of his government, which alone was respon- 
 sible. The State refused to relinquish, either to the 
 National Government or to Great Britain, her right to 
 bring the prisoner to trial, for the crime it was alleged he 
 had committed on her soil. The trial came on, and Mc- 
 Leod was acquitted, he having proved that he was not 
 present at the affray at all. In order to prevent, for the 
 future, clashings of State jurisdiction with that of the 
 National Government, Congress passed a law requiring 
 similar cases to be. transferred to the United States courts. 
 While these events were in progress in the State of 
 New York, difficulties, equally ominous, were brewing on 
 the north-eastern boundary. The inhabitants on either 
 side undertook to say where the line should be ; as they 
 could not agree, the more belligerent were in favor of 
 fighting, and consequently some trifling collisions took 
 place. The Legislature of Maine even appropriated 
 money for tlie defence of her territorial rights and further
 
 740 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, collisions were prevented only by the conciliatory and ju- 
 
 dicious policy of General Scott, who was sent hy the 
 
 1840. President to maintain the peace. 
 
 These disputes so long unsettled, very greatly dis- 
 turbed the harmony existing between the two nations. 
 The correspondence between their governments shows that 
 at this time the controversy had assumed a serious and 
 delicate character, and that it required the exercise oi 
 great wisdom, and a mutual conciliatory spirit to prevent 
 actual war. 
 
 When negotiations commenced, commissioners from 
 the States of Maine and Massachusetts were invited to 
 Washington, that they might be consulted on the subject. 
 The treaty was soon concluded. The United States ob- 
 tained the navigation of the river St. John's to its mouth, 
 and the very important military position Rouse's Point, 
 at the outlet of Lake Champlain. In exchange for these 
 were given a small territory of swamps, heath, and rocks, 
 and barren mountains, covered with snow the greater part 
 of the year. A territory valuable to Great Britain only 
 because it enabled her to make a direct road from the 
 province of New Brunswick to the St. Lawrence. Both 
 nations were benefited by the arrangement, and the vexa- 
 tious question of more than half a century's standing was 
 amicably settled. 
 
 Another article provided for the mutual rendition of 
 fugitives from justice ; but only those who had committed 
 acts which would be deemed criminal in the country 
 where they had taken refuge. This important measure 
 has given general satisfaction to both the contracting 
 parties, and has served since as a model for similar treaties 
 between some of the European powers. The two govern- 
 ments also agreed to maintain each a certain number of 
 armed vessels on the coast of Africa to aid in suppressing 
 the slave-trade. 
 
 After the treaty was concluded two important sub-
 
 THE QUESTIONS OF SEARCH AND IMPRESSMENT. 741 
 
 jects unexpectedly came up for discussion. One was the CHAP 
 
 right assumed by British cruisers to visit, and if necessary 
 
 search, merchant vessels belonging to other nations. In a 1842. 
 letter to the American minister at London, and designed 
 for the English secretary of Foreign Affairs, Webster de- 
 nied the " right," and sustained his opinions against its 
 exercise by arguments that have not yet been invalidated. 
 
 The other subject was the impressment of seamen by 
 British cruisers from American merchant vessels. In a 
 better to Lord Ashburton the Secretary of State assumed 
 that it did not comport with the self-respect of the United 
 States to enter into stipulations in relation to the right 
 of impressment ; as if for a moment the existence of such 
 a right could be admitted. On the contrary-that the ex- 
 ercise of impressment should be deemed an aggression and 
 repelled as such. In an able and conciliatory discussion 
 he pointed out the inconsistency of such a right with the 
 laws of nations. Yet in the happiest language expressed 
 the desire that for the welfare of both countries, all occa- 
 sions of irritation should be removed. He announced as 
 the basis of the policy of the United States : " Every 
 merchant- vessel on the high seas is rightfully considered 
 as a part of the territory of the country to which it be- 
 longs ; " that " in every regularly documented American 
 merchant-vessel the crew who navigate it will find their 
 protection in the flag which is over them," and that " the 
 American Government, then, is prepared to say that the 
 practice of impressing seamen from American vessels can- 
 not hereafter be allowed to take place." l In the same just 
 and conciliatory spirit was the reply of Lord Ashburton. 
 
 An apology was impliedly given for the invasion of 
 the territory of the United States in the " affair of the 
 Caroline." The negotiators conferred informally upon the 
 subject of the northern boundary of Oregon, but for the 
 
 1 The Works of Daniel Webster, voL vi. p. 325.
 
 742 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, present agreed to postpone its settlement. The treaty of 
 
 Washington marks an important era in our history : the 
 
 1842. time when the United States took that position among 
 the nations, to which they were entitled by their power 
 and influence. Four years after, Webster said on the 
 floor of the Senate : " I am willing to appeal to the 
 public men of the age, whether, in 1842, and in the city 
 of Washington, something was not done for the suppres- 
 sion, of crime, for the true exposition of public law, for the 
 freedom and securitv of commerce on the ocean, and for 
 the peace of the world ? " 
 
 The government had not been forgetful of the ad- 
 vancement of science. It sent out an exploring expedi- 
 1838. tion, under Lieutenant Charles Wilkes of the United 
 States navy, accompanied by a corps of scientific men, to 
 make discoveries in the Antarctic and Pacific oceans. 
 After four years it returned bringing the results of inves- 
 1842. tigations in Natural History, not valuable to our own 
 country alone, but to the world. It sailed ninety thousand 
 miles, seventeen hundred of which were along the coast 
 of a great Antarctic Continent never seen before by civil- 
 ized man. 
 
 The four years of this administration was a period 
 fruitful in measures, destined, in their remote consequences, 
 to have a varied and almost unlimited influence upon the 
 nation. A more important question never came before 
 the Houses of Congress, than when the young Republic 
 of Texas presented herself at their doors, and asked to be 
 annexed to the Union. She came offering a fertile ter- 
 ritory almost sufficient in extent to make five such States 
 as Pennsylvania or New York. The " annexation," led to 
 the Mexican war, and that in turn to the acquisition of 
 California. 
 
 The region known as Texas had been claimed, but on 
 doubtful grounds, as a part of the already purchased ter-
 
 MOSES AUSTIN IMMIGRATION TO TEXAS. 74'> 
 
 ritory of Louisiana. This claim was. however, waived, and CHAP. 
 when Florida was obtained Texas was tacitly admitted to " 
 belong to Spain, and when Mexico revolted from the 1842. 
 mother country, she became one of the confederated States 
 which formed the Mexican republic. 
 
 The American who originated the plan of colonizing 
 Texas, was Moses Austin, a native of Durham, Connec- 
 ticut. He was engaged in working the lead mines in 
 upper Louisiana, when, in his explorations, he became 
 acquainted with the fertile soil and delightful climate of 
 Texas. The Spanish Government encouraged immigra- 
 tion to that part of the Mexican territory, and it gave 
 Austin large grants of land, on condition that he would * I8i :> > 
 introduce as colonists three hundred Catholic families 
 from Louisiana. Within a month after these arrange- 
 ments were completed, Austin himself died, but appointed 
 his son Stephen F. Austin to superintend the planting of 
 the colony according to the agreement with the Spanish 
 government. To his energy and perseverance may be 
 attributed the success of the enterprise. 
 
 Little was known at Mexico of what was in progress 
 in that remote region. The Americans, attracted by the 
 liberal grants of land and the fine climate, were pouring 
 in. In a few years they numbered twenty thousand, very IH;SO.. 
 few of whom were Catholics, nor did they all come from 
 Louisiana, but from the other Southern and Western 
 States. 
 
 Meantime in Mexico other great changes were in prog- 
 ress. First came the revolution by which she declared 1*21- 
 herself no longer under the jurisdiction of Spain. This 
 was succeeded by a confederation of States. In that un- 
 happy country one revolution succeeded another in rapid 
 succession, till finally, Santa Anna, overthrowing the ex- 
 isting republic, made himself dictator and tyrant of the 
 people. During this time the Texans did not revolt, uor
 
 7-4 
 
 CHAP, did they acquiesce. They formed a constitution, and 
 
 sent Austin to Mexico to ask admission into the con- 
 
 1835. federacy of the republic as a State. This request was de- 
 nied, and their messenger thrown into prison. Still Texas 
 retained her State officers, and asked that her rights might 
 be respected ; when an armed Mexican vessel appeared 
 otf the coast, and proclaimed that her ports were block- 
 aded ; near the same time a Mexican army appeared on 
 her western borders, with the intention of arresting her 
 State officers, and disarming the inhabitants. It was 
 much easier to demand the Texan rifles than to get them. 
 Sept. The attempt was made at a place named Gonzales, where 
 28 - ' the Mexicans met with a severe repulse. The Texans, 
 though few in number, flew to arms throughout the entire 
 country, and in a few months drove the invaders from 
 their soil, and captured and garrisoned the strong forts of 
 the G-oliad and the mission house of Alamo. Thus they 
 manfully resisted the designs of Santa Anna to make 
 them submit to his usurped authority, and the struggle 
 commenced for their rights, their liberties and their lives. 
 There were no bonds of sympathy between the Texans 
 and Mexicans : neither in religion nor in customs, nor in 
 form of government. The Texan despised the Mexican, 
 and the Mexican hated and feared the Texan. 
 483G. Six months after these reverses Santa Anna invaded 
 
 Texas with a numerous army. The chaiacter of the war 
 he intended to wage may be inferred from his cruel orders 
 to shoot every prisoner taken. The Alamo was invested 
 by Santa Anna himself. The garrison numbered only 
 one hundred and eighty men, while their enemies were as 
 sixteen to their one. When summoned to surrender, they, 
 knowing the treacherous character of the Mexican Chief, 
 refused. The latter immediately raised the blood-red flag, 
 to indicate that he would give no quarter. After repulsing 
 
 the besiegers several times, the Texans, worn out with 
 far. 
 
 . watchings and labors, were overcome, and when calling foi
 
 DAVY CROCKET PRISONERS MURDERED. 745 
 
 quarter the survivors only seven were mercilessly CHAP. 
 butchered. 
 
 Here, surrounded by the bodies of Mexicans who had 1836. 
 fallen by his hand, perished the eccentric Davy Crocket. 
 Born on the frontiers of Tennessee, his only education was 
 that received during two months in a common school. 
 Though singular in his mental characteristics, his strong 
 common sense and undaunted spirit, won him the respect 
 of his fellow-citizens, and they sent him several times to 
 represent them in Congress. When he heard of the strug- 
 gle in which the people of Texas were engaged, he hastened 
 to their aid, and with untiring energy devoted himself to 
 their cause. 
 
 At Groliad the little garrison defended themselves with 
 unexampled bravery ; not until their resources failed, 
 their ammunition exhausted, and famine was staring them 
 in the face, did they accept the terms offered by the Mexi- 
 can in command, and surrendered. Their lives were to 
 be spared, and they aided to leave the country. Other 
 small parties of Texans in different places had been sur- 
 prised and taken prisoners. The following night a courier 
 arrived from Santa Anna, bringing orders to put the 
 prisoners to death the next morning. 
 
 They were marched in little companies outside the 
 town, and there shot ; those attempting to escape were 
 cut down by the cavalry. The wounded prisoners .were 
 then murdered in the same cruel manner ; among the 
 wounded who thus suffered, was Colonel Fanning, their 
 commander. Thus perished three hundred and thirty 
 men, the last words of some of whom were cheers for the 
 liberty of Texas. 
 
 A Texan physician, Dr. Grant, was among the 
 prisoners, but his life was spared on condition that he 
 would attend the wounded Mexican soldiers. He was 
 also promised that he should have a passport to leave the 
 country as soon as they needed his services no more. He
 
 ~4f> HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, faithfully performed his part, but when the soldiers were 
 
 cured, he was tied upon a wild horse, and told to take " hia 
 
 1836. passport and start for home/' The cords were cut, and 
 the frightened animal rushed to the woods, where, some 
 time after, the mangled body of the poor man was found. 
 Santa Anna, with an army of seven thousand men, 
 moved on toward the San Jacinto river. General Samuel 
 Houston had only- seven hundred and fifty men, their 
 only weapons rifles, pistols and bowie-knives j in their 
 element when fighting, they were impatient to attack the 
 enemy. The advance division, consisting of fifteen hun- 
 dred men, under the command of Santa Anna himself, 
 was the flower of the Mexican army. The Mexicans 
 were well posted, and their front, before which was an 
 open grassy space, was carefully fortified. Houston had 
 great difficulty in restraining his men. At three o'clock in 
 the afternoon, when Santa Anna and his officers were en- 
 joying a sleep, and their men engaged in playing cards, 
 Houston passed information along the line that the only 
 bridge by which the enemy could escape was cut down, 
 with the order to move rapidly to the attack. The sur- 
 prise was complete. In twenty minutes their position 
 was forced, and the panic stricken Mexicans leaving every 
 thing, fled in confusion. More than six hundred were 
 slain, and altogether more than eight hundred taken 
 prisoners. The following day a Mexican was found skulk- 
 ing in the grass. He asked to be led to head-quarters. 
 When brought to the Oak under which were the Texan 
 head-quarters, he made himself known as Santa Anna. 
 He complimented Houston on the renown he had acquired 
 in " conquering the Napoleon of the West." Such was 
 April the battle of San Jacinto; the number engaged were com- 
 21 paratively few, yet it virtually ended the contest. Santa 
 Anna, at the request of Houston, ordered the Mexican 
 army to retire from the Territory of Texas. He also ac-
 
 TEXAS INDEPENDENT QUESTION OF ANNEXATION. 747 
 
 knowledged the independence of Texas, but the Mexican ^HAP. 
 Congress refused to ratify his act. 1 
 
 A month previous to this battle, a convention of dele- 1886. 
 gates met at a place named Washington, and declared A J ) 1 nl 
 themselves independent of Mexico. The convention then 
 proceeded to form a Constitution, which in due time was 
 adopted by the people. Six months later Houston was 
 inaugurated President of the Republic of Texas ; and its 
 first Congress assembled. 1 
 
 When its people threw off their allegiance to Mexico, 
 they naturally turned to more congenial associations ; 
 they desired to annex themselves to the United States. 
 
 One of the last official acts of General Jackson had 
 been to sign a bill recognizing their independence, and 
 now the question of their annexation became the absorbing 
 topic of political discussion in the United States, in 
 every section of which many opposed the measure only 
 on the ground that it would incur a war with Mexico, 
 whose government still persisted in fruitless efforts to re- 
 duce the Texans to obedience. The interminable ques- 
 tion of slavery, as usual, was involved in the controversy. 
 The South was almost unanimously in favor of annexa- 1844 
 tion. The genial climate, the fertile soil, and the varied 
 productions of Texas, were so many pledges that slave 
 labor would there be profitable. A strong party in the 
 North was opposed to the measure, lest it should perpetu- 
 ate that institution, while one in the South was devising 
 plans to preserve the balance of power existing between 
 the States in the Senate. 
 
 The subject of annexation, with its varied conse- 
 quences, was warmly discussed in both Houses of Con- 
 gress, in the newspapers, and in the assemblies of the 
 people. 
 
 Calhoun gave his views by saying : " There were 
 
 1 Y oakum's Hist, of Texas.
 
 748 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, powerful reasons why Texas should be a part of this 
 
 . Union. The Southern States, owning a slave population 
 
 1844. were deeply interested in preventing that country from 
 having power to annoy them." Said Webster : " That 
 while I hold to all the original arrangements and compro- 
 mises under which the Constitution under which we now 
 live was adopted, I never could, and never can, persuade 
 myself to be in favor of the admission of other States into 
 the Union, as slave States, with the inequalities which 
 were allowed and accorded by the Constitution to the 
 slaveholding States then in existence/' 
 
 Under the auspices of Calhoun, who was now Secre 
 tary of State, a treaty was secretly made with Texas, by 
 which she was to be admitted into the Union. But the 
 Senate immediately rejected it by a vote more than two 
 to one, on the ground that to carry out its provisions 
 would involve the country in a war with Mexico. This 
 rejection was the signal for raising a great clamor through- 
 out the land. Annexation was made a prominent issue 
 in the pending presidential election the Democratic party 
 in favor of the measure, and the Whigs opposed. To in- 
 fluence the credulous, it was boldly asserted that England 
 was negotiating with Texas to buy her slaves, free them, 
 and, having quieted Mexico, to take the republic under 
 her special protection. This story General Houston said 
 was a pure fabrication ; yet it served a purpose. In cer- 
 tain portions of the South conventions were held, in which 
 the sentiment " Texas, or Disunion," was openly advocated. 
 The threats of secession and uniting with Texas, unless 
 she was admitted to the Union, had but little effect, 
 however, upon the great mass of the people. 
 
 The following year it was proposed to receive Texas 
 by a joint resolution of Congress. The House of Kepre- 
 sentatives passed a bill to that effect, but the Senate 
 added an amendment, appointing commissioners to nego-
 
 THE JOINT RESOLUTIONS TEXAS ANNEXED. 740 
 
 tiate with Mexico on the subject. Thus manifesting a CHAP. 
 
 desire to respect the rights of Mexico as a nation with 
 
 whom we were at peace, and at least make an effort to 1844 
 obtain the annexation with her consent, and also the 
 settlement of boundaries. 
 
 By a clause in the resolutions the President was 
 authorized to adopt either plan. The joint resolutions 
 were passed on Saturday, the 2d of March ; Tyler would 
 leave office two days later. The President elect, James 
 K. Polk, had intimated that if the question came before 
 him he should adopt the Senate's plan, by which it was 
 hoped an amicable arrangement could be made with 
 Mexico. 1 The retiring President, and his Secretary of 
 State, chose to adopt the mode of annexation proposed in 
 the House resolutions. A messenger was sent on Sunday 
 night the 3d, to carry the proposition with all speed to 
 the Legislature of Texas. 
 
 The opposition to annexing slaveholding territory to the 
 Union was so great that Texas came in by compromise. 
 Provision was made that four additional States might be 
 formed out of the Territory when it should become suffi- 
 ciently populous. Those States lying north of the parallel 
 of thirty-six degrees thirty minutes, north latitude the 
 Missouri Compromise line were to be free States ; those 
 south of the line, to " be admitted into the Union with or 
 without slavery as the people of each State asking admission 
 may desire." To the original State, the right was accorded 
 to prevent any State being formed out of her territory, by 
 refusing her consent to the measure. Texas acceded to ]g45 
 the proposition, and thus became one of the United States. J ^ 
 Her population now amounted to two hundred thousand. 
 
 For nearly two hundred years the people of Khode 
 Island had lived under the charter granted by Charles II. 
 This instrument was remarkable for the liberal provisions 
 
 J Beaton's Thirty Years' View, Chap, cxlviii., Vol. ii.
 
 750 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, it contained. The desire to change tins charter gave rite 
 
 !_ to two parties, the " Suffrage," and " The Law and 
 
 1845. Order ;" each determined to secure to their own party 
 the administration of affaire, and each elected State offi 
 cere. Thomas "W. Dorr, elected governor bj the Suf- 
 frage party, tried to seize the State arsenal ; the militia 
 1843. were called out by the other party, and he was compelled 
 IX ^ ^ ee ' ^ u a secon d attempt his party was overpowered 
 by citizen soldiers, and he himself arrested, brought to 
 trial, convicted of treason, and sentenced to imprison- 
 ment for life ; but some time afterward he was pardoned. 
 A free constitution was in the mean time adopted by the 
 people, under which they are now living. 
 
 Almost the last official act of President Tyler was to 
 sign the bill for the admission of Iowa and Florida into 
 the Union. " Two States which seem to have but few 
 things in common to put them together one the oldest, 
 the other the newest territory one in the extreme north- 
 west of the Union, the other in the extreme south-east 
 one the land of evergreens and perpetual flowers, the 
 other the climate of long and rigorous winter one main- 
 taining,, the other repulsing slavery." 
 
 In addition to passing a tariff bill, under whose influ- 
 ence the industries of the country greatly revived, this 
 progressive Congress conferred a lasting benefit on the 
 1842. Nation by cheapening the postage on letters, then a bur- 
 densome tax on the social correspondence of the people 
 and the business of the country. This measure was per- 
 sistently opposed from session to session, especially by 
 the members from that section that never paid its own 
 postage. "When the first bill passed, the letter which 
 now costs three cents cost from two to ten times as 
 much and even more, according to the distance carried. 
 It took twenty-one years of gradual reduction to bring 
 the rate of postage down to what it is to-day. This fre- 
 quent and cheap intercourse by letters and newspapers is 
 of immense value to a nation constituted as we are.
 
 CHAPTER LI 
 
 FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 The Presidential Canvass. Difficulties with Mexico. General Taylor at 
 Corpus Christi. Oregon Territory ; respective Claims to. Settlement 
 of Boundary. Taylor marches to the Rio Grande. Thornton's Party 
 surprised. Attack on Fort Brown. Battle of Palo Alto ; of Resaca 
 de la Palnia. Matamoras occupied. Measures of Congress. The 
 Volunteers. Plan of Operations. Mexico declares War. General 
 Wool. General Worth. The Capture of Monterey. 
 
 ON the 4th of March, James Knox Polk, of Tennessee, CHAP 
 
 LI 
 
 was inaugurated President, and George Mifflin Dallas, of . L 
 
 Pennsylvania, Vice-President ; James Buchanan was ap- 1845. 
 pointed Secretary of State. 
 
 The canvass had been one of unusual interest and 
 spirit. The candidates of the Whig party were Henry 
 Clay and Theodore Frelinghuysen. The questions in- 
 volved were the admission of Texas, and the settlement 
 of the boundary line on the north-west, between the 
 British possessions and Oregon. The latter for the 
 Whigs were also in favor of its settlement thrown in by 
 the successful party. 
 
 The result of the election was assumed to be the ex- 
 pression of the will of the people in relation to the ad- 
 mission of Texas, which measure, as we have seen, the 
 expiring administration had already consummated. We 
 have now to record the events, the consequences in part 
 of that measure. 
 
 Though France and England, as well as the United
 
 HISTORY OF THE AilERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 i!f P States, acknowledged the independence of Texas, Mexico 
 
 . still claimed the territory, and threatened to maintain 
 
 1845. her claim hy force of arms. In accordance with this 
 sentiment, two days after the inauguration of the new 
 President, General Almonte, the Mexican minister at 
 Washington, formally protested against the "joint reso- 
 lutions" of Congress, then demanded his passports and 
 left the country. 
 
 There were other points of dispute between the two 
 governments. American merchants residing in Mexico, 
 complained that their property had been appropriated by 
 that government ; that their ships, trading along the 
 shores of the Gulf, had been plundered, and they could 
 obtain no redress. The United States government again 
 and again remonstrated against these outrages. The 
 Mexican government, poverty-stricken and distracted by 
 broils, was almost in a state of anarchy ; each party as it 
 came into power repudiated the engagements made by its 
 predecessor. 
 
 1881. A treaty had been signed by which redress for these 
 grievances was promised ; the promise was not fulfilled, 
 and the aggressions continued. Nine years later the 
 Mexican government again acknowledged the justness of 
 these demands, which now amounted to six millions of 
 dollars, and pledged itself to pay them in twenty instal- 
 ments, of three hundred thousand dollars each. Three of 
 these had been paid, when the annexation of Texas took 
 place, and, in consequence of that event, Mexico refused 
 further compliance with the treaty. 
 
 Even if Mexico gave her consent for the annexation 
 of Texas, another question arose : What was the western 
 boundary of that territory ; the Nueces or the Bio 
 Grande ? Both parties claimed the region lying between 
 these two rivers. The Legislature of Texas, alarmed at 
 the warlike attitude assumed by Mexico, requested the 
 United States government to protect their territory. Ac-
 
 TAYLOR AT CORPUS CHRISTI THE OREGON QUEs>TION. 
 
 cordingly the President sea t General Zachary Taylor, with 
 
 fifteen hundred men, called the " Army of Occupation/' 
 
 " to take position in the country between the Nueces and 1845 
 the Rio Grande, and to repel any invasion of the Texan 
 territory." General Taylor formed his camp at Corpus 
 Christi, a small village at the mouth of the Nueces. There Sept 
 he remained till the following spring. Also a portion of 
 the Home squadron, under Commodore Conner, was sent 
 into the Gulf to co-operate with the army. Both " were 
 ordered to commit no act of hostility against Mexico un- 
 less she declared war, or was herself the aggressor by 
 striking the first blow." l 
 
 Though Mexico, in her weakness and distraction, had 
 temporized and recently rejected an American minister, 
 yet it was understood that she was now willing to receive, 
 one, and accordingly he had been sent. It was plain that 
 upon the pending negotiations war or peace between the 
 two republics depended. Meanwhile it was known that 
 Mexico was marshalling her forces for a conflict. 
 
 The unsettled question in relation to the boundary of 
 Oregon now engaged the attention of the President and 
 his Secretary of State. Great Britain was from the first 
 desirous to arrange the difficulty, though, as has been 
 stated, the subject was passed over in the negotiations of 
 the Washington treaty. 
 
 A few months after the ratification of that treaty, Mr. 
 
 I ft_l 51 
 
 Henry S. Fox, the British minister at Washington, ad- Nov 
 dressed a note to Daniel Webster, Secretary of State 
 under Mr. Tyler, in which note he proposed to take up 
 the subject of the Oregon boundary. The proposal was 
 accepted, but for some reason negotiations were not com- 
 menced. Two years later, Sir Eichard Packenham, then 
 British minister at Washington, renewed the proposition 
 
 1 President's Message, Dec. 1845.
 
 7.M HISTORY OF THE AMEBICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 C L^ 1> ' * ^ lt Upshur, Secretary of State. It was accepted, but 
 
 a few days after Upshur lost his life by the lamentable 
 
 1844. explosion 011 board the Princeton. Six months later 
 
 I*" V 
 
 Packenharn again brought the matter to the notice of 
 Mr. Calhoun, then Secretary of State. The proposition 
 was promptly accepted, and the next day named for 
 taking up the subject. 
 
 The claims of the respective parties may be briefly 
 noticed. The region known as Oregon lay between the par- 
 allels of forty-two and fifty-four degrees and forty minutes 
 north latitude, the Rocky Mountains on the east, and the 
 
 1819. Pacific Ocean on the west. By the Florida Treaty, Spain 
 had ceded to the United States all her territory north of 
 the parallel first mentioned ; commencing at the sources of 
 the Arkansas and thence to the Pacific, and Mexico, hav- 
 ing thrown off the yoke of Spain, since confirmed by treaty 
 
 1828. the validity of the same boundary. The parallel of fifty- 
 four degrees forty minutes was agreed upon by the United 
 States, Great Britain, and Russia, as the southern bound- 
 
 1825' ar ^ ^ *^ e P ossess i ns f tne latter power. 
 
 The American claim was based upon the cession of 
 
 Spain, who was really the first discoverer ; the discovery of 
 1792. Captain Gray, already mentioned; the explorations of Lewis 
 
 and Clarke, sent by the government of the United States ; 
 
 and the settlement established at the mouth of the Colum- 
 
 I Q1 1 
 
 bia River, by John Jacob Astor of New York. Lewis and 
 jgQg' Clarke, during Jefferson's administration, crossed the 
 
 Rocky Mountains, came upon the southern main branch 
 
 of the Columbia, and explored that river to its mouth. 
 
 The British claim was also based on discovery, and 
 1806. actual settlement founded by the North- West Company. 
 
 on Fraser's River, and also another on the head-waters ot 
 
 the north branch of the Columbia. 
 1844. Calhoun came directly to the point, and proposed as 
 
 the boundary the continuation of the forty-ninth degree
 
 THE OREGON BOUNDARY SETTLED. 755 
 
 of north latitude to the Pacific. This line had already CHAP 
 
 been agreed upon between the United States and Great L. 
 
 Britain by the treaty made at London, as the boundary 1844. 
 of their respective territories from the Lake of the Woods 
 to the summit of the Rocky Mountains. Packenham, 
 unwilling to accept that line, proposed to follow the forty- 
 ninth degree from the mountains some three hundred 
 miles until it should strike the north branch of the Co- 
 lumbia river, and thence down that stream to the ocean. 
 The American Secretary declined this, and as the British 
 minister had no further instructions, the consideration of 
 the subject was postponed. 
 
 Meantime the Presidential canvass was in progress, 
 and " all of Oregon or none " became one of the watch- 
 words of the Democratic party. So long as these senti- 
 ments were proclaimed by partisan leaders and newspapers, 
 they were harmless ; but when the new President, in his 
 inaugural address, asserted that our title to " Oregon Ter- 
 ritory " " was clear and indisputable," and moreover inti- 
 mated that it was his intention to maintain it by arms, 
 the question assumed a far different aspect. 
 
 The position thus officially taken, when the subject 
 of the boundary was under negotiation, took the British 
 Government by surprise, especially since hitherto each 
 party had courteously recognized the other's claim to a 
 portion of the territory. Four months passed. Meantime 
 the good feeling existing between the two governments 
 was seriously disturbed ; England did not again offer to 
 negotiate. A mere partisan watchword was in danger of 
 involving both nations in war. At length the President 
 himself, directed the Secretary of State to reopen nego- 
 tiations by offering as the boundary the forty-ninth par- 
 allel ; but the proposition was not accepted by the British 
 minister. 
 
 To prepare the way for further negotiation, the Presi-
 
 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, dent then recommended that the joint occupation of the 
 
 territory should be abrogated, by giving the twelre 
 
 1844. months' notice, according to a provision in the treaties of 
 1818 and 1828. Congress voted to give the notice. 
 
 Sir Robert Peel expressed in Parliament his regret 
 that the last offer of the American Secretary had not been 
 accepted, and soon after the British minister, Packenham. 
 communicated to the Secretary of State the information 
 that his government would accept the parallel of forty- 
 nine, as recently offered. 
 
 The case admitted of no delay. The President was 
 anxious to relieve himself of the responsibility of acting on 
 the proposition. On the suggestion of Senator Benton, of 
 Missouri, he, following the example of Washington, con- 
 sulted the Senate on the propriety of accepting this last 
 proposition, pledging himself to be guided by their decision. 
 That body decided to accept it, " and gave the President 
 a faithful support against himself, against his cabinet, and 
 against his peculiar friends." 
 
 Presently the treaty was sent into the Senate, when, 
 after a spirited debate for two days, it was ratified. 1 By 
 this treaty, the parallel of forty-nine degrees North lati- 
 tude was agreed upon as the boundary to the middle of 
 the channel between Vancouver's Island and the Con- 
 tinent, and thence southerly through the middle of the 
 Straits of Fuca to the ocean : also the navigation of the 
 Columbia River, and its main northern branch, was left 
 free to both parties. 
 
 1846. We left General Taylor at Corpus Christi, on the west 
 bank of the Nueces. He now received orders from Wash- 
 Feb. ington, to move to the Rio Grande, and establish a fortified 
 camp and fort on the bank opposite the town of Mata- 
 moras, as in the vicinity of that place Mexican troops 
 were assembling in great numbers, with the intention, it 
 
 1 Benton's Thirty Years' View, Vol. ii. Chaps. 156-7-8-9,
 
 MEXICO THREATENS WAR THORNTON'S PARTY SURPRISED. 7. r >7 
 
 was said, of invading Texas. Leaving the main portion CHAP 
 
 of his stores under a guard at Point Isabel, he marched to L. 
 
 the Rio Grande, and, within cannon shot of Matamoras, Irvt6. 
 established a camp and built a fort. These movements 
 called forth from Mexico strongprotests and threats of 
 war. 
 
 When the dispute between the two Republics began, 
 Herrera was President of Mexico. He was desirous of 
 arranging the difficulties by negotiation ; but the war 
 spirit prevailed, and at a recent election the Mexican 
 people chose for President, Paredes, an uncompromising 
 enemy of peace. When he assumed office he sent a large 
 force under General Ampudia, to whom he gave orders to 
 drive the Americans beyond the Nueces. That officer 
 soon after sent a communication to General Taylor, in 
 which he warned him of his danger in thus provoking the 
 anger of " the magnanimous Mexican nation," and de- 
 manded that he should " break up his camp and retire 
 beyond the Nueces " within twenty-four hours. Taylor 
 replied that he should maintain his position, and carry 
 out the instructions of his government, which alone was 
 responsible for his presence on the Rio Grande. He con- 
 tinued to strengthen his fortification, and to closely watch 
 the movements of the Mexicans. Ampudia was at a loss 
 how to act ; both commanders were unwilling to light the 
 flame of war. 
 
 Paredes, dissatisfied with Ampudia, sent General Arista 
 to supersede him. The latter immediately ordered de- 
 tachments of Mexican soldiers to occupy positions between 
 Point Isabel and the American camp, thus cutting off 
 communication with their stores. 
 
 General Taylor had sent Captain Thornton with a 
 party of sixty dragoons to reconnoitre ; the party was 
 surprised, sixteen of their number killed, the remainder 
 captured. Thornton alone escaped. Here was shed the . } 
 first blood in the Mexican war. 24.
 
 8 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. A few days later, Captain Walker, the celebrated 
 
 Texan ranger, who with a select company was engaged 
 
 1846. in keeping up the communication with Point Isabel, came 
 into camp with information that a large force of Mexicans 
 was threatening the latter place. Leaving Major Brown 
 with three hundred men to defend the fort, Taylor hastened 
 to the aid of Point Isabel, which place, after a march of 
 twenty-one miles, he reached without opposition. 
 
 The Mexicans self-complacently attributed this move- 
 ment to fear, and they immediately made preparations to 
 attack the fort. Taylor had concerted with Major Brown 
 that if the latter should be surrounded or hard pressed, 
 he should, at certain intervals, fire heavy signal guns. 
 
 The Mexicans opened with a tremendous cannonade 
 from a battery at Matamoras, while a large force took 
 position in the rear of the fort, and began to throw up in- 
 trenchments. The little garrison defended themselves 
 with great bravery, and not until Major Brown fell mor- 
 tally wounded, did the next in command, Captain Haw- 
 kins, begin to fire the signal guns. 
 
 The cautious Taylor first put Point Isabel in a state 
 of defence, and then set out with a provision train guarded 
 by two thousand two hundred and eighty-eight men to re- 
 lieve Fort Brown thus afterward named in honor of its 
 commander. The little army was truly in peril ; an 
 overwhelming force of the enemy three to its one had 
 taken a strong position to intercept its march. The 
 booming of signal guns still continued, and Taylor ar- 
 dently pressed on with the determination to cut his way 
 through. Presently he came in sight of the enemy, posted 
 Mav in front of a chaparral in which were their reserves 
 b> near a small stream, the Palo Alto. The train was im- 
 mediately closed up, and the soldiers refreshed themselves 
 from the stream, and filled their canteens. As soon as 
 the exact position of the Mexicans was ascertained, the 
 American line was formed, Major Ringgold's battery was
 
 BATTLE OF PALO ALTO. 759 
 
 placed on the right, and Duncan's on the left, while the OHAP. 
 
 eight een-pounders were in the centre on the main road. L. 
 
 The Mexicans commenced the action with their artillery, 1846 
 but at too great distance to reach the American line. The 
 latter moved slowly and silently up till within suitable 
 range, then the artillery opened, and displayed great skill 
 in the rapidity as well as in the accuracy with which each 
 gun was handled. The eighteen-pounders riddled the 
 Mexican centre through and through, while Duncan 
 scarcely noticed their artillery, but poured an incessant 
 stream of balls upon their infantry. Presently the long 
 grass in front was set on fire, by the wadding from the 
 guns, and the smoke obscured the position of the Mexicans. 
 The American batteries groped their way for three-fourths 
 of an hour through the burning grass, and when the 
 smoke cleared away, they found themselves within range 
 of the enemy ; in another moment they opened their guns 
 with renewed vigor. At this crisis night came on ; the 
 contest had continued for five hours, and was a conflict of 
 artillery alone. The only instance when an effort was 
 made to change the form of the battle, was when the 
 Mexican cavalry endeavored to turn the American flank; 
 but the infantry, with bayonets fixed stood firm and 
 awaited the shock ; as the cavalry hesitated to make the 
 onset, a discharge from the American artillery decided 
 them to wheel and rapidly leave the field. 
 
 Such was the first battle in the Mexican war ; a pre- 
 sage of those which were to follow. The enemy lost four 
 hundred men, while the Americans had only nine killed 
 and forty-four wounded ; but among the former was Major 
 Kinggold, universally lamented, both as an efficient 
 officer and a Christian gentleman. As his officers offered 
 him assistance, he said : " Leave me alone, you are wanted 
 forward." To him was due much of the credit for that 
 perfection of drill and rapidity of movement which the 
 Ameiican Flying Artillery exhibited on battle-fields
 
 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN" PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, during this war. The Mexicans manifested here no want 
 
 J-jl. 
 
 . of courage ; they stood for four or five hours under these 
 
 1 846. murderous discharges of grape. 
 
 The Americans encamped on the spot,. and at three 
 o'clock the next morning were on their march toward 
 Fort Brown. Meantime the Mexicans, leaving their dead 
 unburied, had disappeared ; but on the afternoon of that 
 day they were discovered posted in a strong position be- 
 yond a ravine, known as the Dry River of Palms or Resaca 
 de la Palma. They had been reinforced during the night, 
 and now numbered seven thousand men. Their right 
 and left were protected by dense brush and chaparral, 
 while their artillery, placed behind a breastwork and 
 beyond the ravine, swept the road for some distance. 
 M-iy General Taylor placed his artillery on the road in the 
 centre, and ordered divisions on the right and left to 
 grope their way through the chaparral and ferret out with 
 the bayonet the Mexican sharpshooters, who were swarm- 
 ing in the brush which protected them. 
 
 No order could be observed ; the officers became 
 separated from the men ; each soldier acted for himself, 
 as he broke his way through the chaparral and probed for 
 the Mexicans. The sharp twang of the rifle, the dull 
 sound of the musket, the deep mutterings of the cannon, 
 the shrill cries of the Mexicans, so in contrast with the 
 vigorous shouts of the Americans, produced a tremendous 
 uproar. The right and left had gradually forced their 
 way through the chaparral almost to the ravine, but the 
 Mexican battery, handled with great coolness and execu- 
 tion, still swept the road at every discharge, and held the 
 centre in check. That battery, the key of the Mexican 
 position, must be taken. General Taylor turned to 
 Captain May, of the dragoons, and pointing to the battery, 
 said : " You must take it." The captain wheeled his 
 horse and shouted to his troops, " Men, we must take thai
 
 BATTLE OF RESACA DE LA PALMA. 761 
 
 battery !" Just then Lieutenant Ridgely suggested to CHAP 
 
 May to wait until he would draw the Mexican fire. The 
 
 moment a portion of their guns were fired, the bugle was 1846. 
 heard high above the din, to sound a charge. The atten- 
 tion of the combatants was arrested, all eyes were turned 
 toward the road, along which dashed the horsemen, led 
 by their gallant leader. A cloud of dust soon hid them 
 from view ; a discharge of the Mexican guns swept away 
 one-third of their numb r, but in a moment more, the 
 clashing sabres and the trampling' of men under the horses' 
 feet, proclaimed that the battery was taken. The Mexi- 
 can cannoneers were paralyzed at the sudden appearance 
 of the approaching foe, and before they could recover, the 
 dragoons were upon them. May, with his own hands, 
 captured General La Vega, the commander, who was in 
 the act of applying a match to a gun. The dragoons 
 then charged directly through the Mexican centre. 
 
 A shout of triumph arose from the American lines, the 
 infantry pressed on and took possession of the guns, from 
 which the dragoons had driven the men. The entire 
 Mexican force, panic-stricken at the sudden onset, broke and 
 fled in confusion to the nearest point of the Eio Grande ; 
 in their haste to pass over which, numbers of them were 
 drowned. 
 
 It was a complete victory. General Arista fled, and 
 without a companion, leaving his private papers, as well 
 as his public correspondence. All the Mexican artillery, 
 two thousand stand of arms, and six hundred mules, fell 
 into the hands of the Americans. The latter lost one 
 hundred and twenty-two, and the Mexicans twelve hun- 
 dred. 
 
 "We may well imagine the emotions with which the 
 little garrison, exhausted by the exertions of six days' in- 
 cessant bombardment, listened to the sound of the battle, 
 as it drew nearer and nearer ; first was heard the cannon, 
 then the musketry ; then the smoke could be seen floating
 
 762 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 C H AI * above the distant trees ; now Mexicans here and there 
 
 appeared in full flight ; presently the victorious American 
 
 1846. cavalry came in sight, and the men mounted the ramparts 
 and shouted a welcome. 
 
 General Tavlor advanced to Fort Brown, then in a 
 
 v 7 
 
 few days crossed the Rio Grande, and took possession of 
 j. Matamoras. The Mexican^ had withdrawn the previous 
 18. evening and were in full march toward Monterey. The 
 American commander took pains not to change or inter- 
 fere with the municipal laws of the town ; the people 
 enjoyed their civil and religious privileges. They were 
 paid good prices for provisions, which they furnished in 
 abundance ; yet there was evidently in their hearts a 
 deep-toned feeling of hatred toward the invaders. 
 
 Meanwhile intelligence of the capture of Captain 
 Thornton's reconnoitring party had reached the United 
 States, and the rumor that Mexican soldiers, in over- 
 powering numbers, were between the Nueces and the Eio 
 Grande. 
 
 The President immediately sent a special message to 
 Congress, in which he announced that " war existed by 
 Maj the act of Mexico ; " but surely it was an " act " of self- 
 defence on the part of the Mexicans, and made so by the 
 advance of an American army upon disputed soil, that had 
 been in their possession and that of their fathers' fathers. 
 
 The President called upon Congress to recognize the 
 war, to appropriate the necessary funds to carry it on, and 
 to authorize him to call upon the country for volunteers. 
 Congress, anxious to rescue the army from danger, ap- 
 propriated ten millions of dollars, and empowered the 
 President to accept the services of fifty thousand volun- 
 teers ; one-half of whom to be mustered into the army, 
 and the other half kept as a reserve. War was not for- 
 mally declared, yet the war spirit aroused was unprece- 
 dented. Throughout the land publ : c meetings were held
 
 PLAN OF OPERATIONS MEXICO DECLARES WAR. 763 
 
 and in a few weeks two hundred thousand volunteers had CHAP 
 
 .LI. 
 
 offered their services to rescue the gallant little army . 
 
 from its perils, and, if necessary, to prosecute the war. 1846. 
 Notwithstanding these warlike indications, great diversity 
 of opinion prevailed among the people, both as to the 
 justness of the war, or the expediency of appealing to 
 that terrible arbiter, when all the results demanded might 
 be obtained by negotiation. 
 
 On the suggestions of Major-General Scott, a plan of 
 operations, remarkably comprehensive in its outlines, was 
 resolved upon by the government. A powerful fleet was 
 to sail round Cape Horn, and to attack the Mexican ports 
 on the Pacific coast in concert with a force, styled the 
 "Army of the West," which was to assemble at Fort 
 Leavenworth, on the Missouri, then to cross the great 
 plains and the Kocky Mountains, and in its progress re- 
 duce the northern provinces of Mexico. Another force, 
 " The Army of the Centre," was to penetrate to the heart 
 of the Republic by way of Texas, and if deemed best, co- 
 operate with the force under Taylor, known, as we have 
 said, as the " Army of Occupation." The latter part of 
 the plan was afterward modified, and the country was 
 penetrated by way of Vera Cruz. 
 
 The apprehensions of the people for the safety of their 
 little army, gave way to a feeling of exultation, when the 
 news reached them that it had met and repelled its 
 numerous assailants. The war spirit was not diminished 
 but rather increased by this success. Congress manifested 
 its gratification by conferring upon Taylor the commission 
 of Major-General by brevet. 80. 
 
 On the other hand the Mexican people and govern- 
 ment were aroused, and on the intelligence of these dis- 
 asters, war was formally declared against the United May 
 States, and the government commenced to prepare for the 
 Contest.
 
 764 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 General John E. Wool, a native of New York, who 
 had seen service in the war of 1812, and distinguished 
 1846. himself at Queenstown Heights, was commissioned to 
 drill the volunteers. By the most untiring diligence he 
 had, in the short space of six weeks, inspected and taken 
 into the service twelve thousand men, nine thousand oi 
 whom were hurried off to reinforce General Taylor, while 
 the remainder marched under his own command to San 
 Antonio, in Texas, there to be in readiness to act accord- 
 ing to circumstances. 
 
 General Taylor remained three months at Matamoras, 
 
 his operations restricted for want of men, but as soon as 
 
 reinforcements reached him, he prepared to advance into 
 
 the country, in accordance with orders received from 
 
 Washington. He sent in advance General William J. 
 
 Worth, with the first division toward Monterey, the 
 
 ca| ital city of New Leon. Worth took his first lessons 
 
 in warfare in 1812. From love of military life, when a 
 
 mere youth he enlisted as a common soldier, but his ready 
 
 talents attracted the attention of Colonel, now General 
 
 Scott, and from that day his promotion began. A fort- 
 
 Aug. night later, leaving General Twiggs in command at Mata- 
 
 20 * moras, Taylor himself moved with the main division, 
 
 more than six thousand men, and the entire army en- 
 
 9 P ' camped within three miles of the doomed city. 
 
 Monterey was an old city built by the Spaniards nearly 
 three centuries ago. In a fertile valley, hedged in by 
 high mountains, it could be approached only in two direc- 
 tions ; from the north-east toward Matamoras, and from 
 the west by a road, which passed through a rocky gorge, 
 toward Saltillo. The city, nearly two miles in length by 
 one in breadth, had three large plazas or squares ; the 
 houses, built in the old Spanish style, were one story 
 high, with strong walls of masonry rising three or four
 
 MONTEREY ANP ITS FORTIFICATIONS. 765 
 
 feet above their flat roofs. The city itbtlf was fortified by CHAP. 
 
 massive walls, and on its ramparts were forty-two pieces 
 
 of heavy artillery, while from the mountain tops, north of 1846. 
 the town, the Americans could see that the flat roofs of 
 the stone houses were converted into places of defence, 
 and bristled with musketry, and that the streets were 
 rendered impassable by numerous barricades. On the one 
 side, on a hill, stood the Bishop's Palace, a massive stone 
 building, strongly fortified, on the other were redoubts 
 well manned, in the rear was the river San Juan, south 
 of which towered abrupt mountains. Such was the ap- 
 pearance and strength of Monterey, garrisoned as it was 
 by ten thousand troops, nearly all regulars, under the 
 command of General Ampudia. It was now to be assailed 
 by an army of less than seven thousand men. 
 
 Ten days elapsed before the vicinity of the town 
 could be thoroughly reconnoitred. In the afternoon, 
 General Worth was ordered, with six hundred and fifty 
 men, to find his way around the hill occupied by the 
 Bishop's Palace, gain the Saltillo road, and carry the 
 works in that direction, while a diversion would be made 
 against the centre and left of the town, by batteries 
 erected during the night. The impetuous Worth, by great 
 exertions, accomplished his purpose, by opening a new road 
 over the mountains. In one instance he came to a small 
 stream in a deep gully, the bridge over which had been 
 broken down. A neighboring field furnished the material ; 
 his men soon filled the chasm, and passed over on a corn- 
 stalk-bridge. 
 
 The next morning the batteries erected the night be- 
 fore opened upon the enemy, who replied with a hearty 
 good will. At length, after hard fighting, one of the Mexi- 
 can works of great strength, situated in the lower part of 
 the town, was captured. The brigade under General Sept, 
 Quitman, of the Mississippi Volunteers, " carried the work
 
 766 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 UHAP i n handsome style, as well as the stroug building in its 
 _ rear." General Butler had also entered the town on the 
 
 1846. right ; both of these positions were maintained. 
 
 While these operations were in progress, General 
 Worth succeeded in gaining the Saltillo road, and thus 
 cut off the enemy's communication with the west. He 
 carried, in succession, the heights south of the river and 
 road, and immediately turned the guns upon the Bishop's 
 Palace. 
 
 During the night, the Mexicans evacuated their works 
 in the lower town ; but the next day they kept up a vig- 
 orous fire from the Citadel. The following morning at 
 dawn of day, in the midst of a fog and drizzling rain, 
 Worth stormed the crest overlooking the Bishop's Palace, 
 
 Sept. and at noon, the Palace itself fell into the hands of the 
 
 28 
 
 Americans. Yet the city, with its fortified houses, was 
 far from being taken. " Our troops advanced from house 
 to house, and from square to square, until they reached a 
 street but one square in the rear of the principal plaza, 
 in and near which the enemy's force was mostly concen- 
 trated." 1 The Americans obtained the plaza, then forced 
 the houses on either side, and, by means of crowbars, tore 
 down the walls, ascended to the roofs, then drew up one 
 or two field-pieces, and drove the enemy from point to point 
 till the city capitulated. 
 
 The carnage was terrible. The shouts of the com- 
 batants, mingled with the wail of suffering women and 
 children, presented a scene so heart-rending that even the 
 demon of war might be supposed to turn from it in horror, 
 
 The Mexicans had effectually barricaded their streets, 
 but these were almost undisturbed, while the invaders 
 burrowed from house to house. The conflict continued 
 for almost four days, in which the Mexicans fought 
 desperately from behind their barricades on the house- 
 
 1 Gen. Taylor's Report.
 
 CESSATION OF HOSTILITIES. 767 
 
 tops, where they did not hesitate to meet the invaders of CHAP 
 their hearthstones hand to hand. 
 
 The following morning Ampudia surrendered the town 1846. 
 and garrison. The Mexican soldiers were permitted to 
 march out with the honors of war. 
 
 General Taylor was assured that those in authority 
 at the city of Mexico were desirous of peace. In conse- 
 quence of these representations, and also of his want of 
 provisions, he agree 1 to a cessation of hostilities for eight 
 weeks, if his government should sanction the measure. 
 
 He now left General Worth in command of the city, 
 and retired with the main force of the army to Walnut 
 Springs, about three miles distant, and there encamped.
 
 CHAPTER LII. 
 
 FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION CONTINUED. 
 
 He President hopes for Peace. Santa Anna. Hostilities to be renewed. 
 Troops withdrawn from General Taylor. Letter from General Scott. 
 Volunteers arrive at Monterey. Despatches intercepted. Santa 
 Anna's Plans and Preparations. Taylor advances to Agua Nueva. 
 Battle of Buena Vista. Its Consequences. 
 
 CHAP. THOSE in power at Washington had hoped, indeed, it was 
 
 confidently predicted, that the war would be ended within 
 
 1846. " ninety " or " one hundred and twenty days " from its 
 commencement, and a peace concluded, that " should give 
 indemnity for the past and security for the future." These 
 desirable ends were to be attained by treaty, through the 
 means of that incomparable patriot, Santa Anna, then 
 an exile in Havana, who promised, for a certain considera- 
 tion, if restored to authority in Mexico, to exert his influ- 
 ence in favor of peace. A secret messenger from Wash- 
 ington had made to the " illustrious exile " overtures to 
 this effect, about the time that General Taylor was or- 
 dered to the Kio Grande ; the special act which led to hos- 
 tilities. 1 
 
 In his next annual message the President gives some 
 Dec. information on this subject. " Santa Anna/' said that docu- 
 ment, "had expressed his regret that he had subverted 
 the Federal Constitution of his country," and " that he 
 
 1 Benton's " Thirty Years' View," Vol. ii. pp. 561 and 681-2.
 
 SANTA ANNA AND HIS PROFESSIONS. 769 
 
 now in favor of its restoration." He was also opposed CHAP. 
 
 to a monarchy, or "European interference in the affairs L 
 
 of his country/' The President cherished the hope that 1846. 
 the exiled chief would " see the ruinous consequences to 
 Mexico of a war with the United States, and that it would 
 be his interest to favor peace ; " and further the Message 
 said, that Paredes, then President of Mexico, was " a sol- 
 dier by profession, and a monarchist in principle ; " the 
 sworn enemy of the United States, and urgent to prosecute 
 the war. Santa Anna, on the contrary, was in favor of 
 peace, and only wanted a few millions of dollars to bring 
 about that object so dear to his patriotism ; hence the 
 hopes that the war would be brought to a close in three or 
 four months. It was with this expectation that the Presi- 
 dent, in a special message, asked of Congress an appropria- Au 6' 
 tion of two millions of dollars " in order to restore peace, 
 and to advance a portion of the consideration money, for 
 any cession of territory " which Mexico might make. It 
 was also in accordance with this arrangement, that, on the 
 very day Congress, at his suggestion, recognized the " ex- May 
 istence of the war," he issued an order to Commodore 
 Connor, who was in command of the fleet in the Gulf, to 
 permit Santa Anna and his suite to return to Mexico. 
 The latter availed himself of this passport to land at Ang. 
 Vera Cruz. 
 
 President Polk had been duped. Santa Anna never 
 intended to fulfil his promise, except so far as to forward 
 his own selfish ends. Instead of endeavoring to conciliate 
 the hostile countries and obtain peace, he devoted all 
 his energies to arouse the war spirit of his countrymen ; 
 called upon them to rally under his banner and save their 
 nationality ; issued flaming manifestos expressing the 
 most intense hatred of the people of the United States, 
 and his righteous indignation at the wrongs imposed on 
 his country by the " perfidious Yankees."
 
 770 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP His extravagant professions of patriotism were not 
 without effect ; his countrymen deposed Paredes, and 
 
 1846. elected him President. Though they had been unfortu- 
 nate in the field, their spirits revived, and in a few months 
 
 he had an army of twenty thousand men concentrated at 
 Dec. T -D A 
 ban Luis Potosi. 
 
 Meanwhile General Wool had marched from San 
 Sept. Antonio. His indefatigable labors had converted the vol- 
 unteers under his care into well-drilled soldiers. Part of 
 their way was through a region but thinly inhabited and 
 without roads, and across a desert in which they suffered 
 much for water. A laborious march of six weeks brought 
 him to Monclova, seventy miles from Monterey here he 
 learned of the capture of the latter place. It was now 
 arranged that he should take position in a fertile dis- 
 trict in the province of Durango, that would enable him 
 to obtain supplies for his own men, and the army under 
 General Taylor. The inhabitants cheerfully furnished 
 provisions, for which they were paid promptly, and in 
 truth received more favor than they had recently ex- 
 perienced at the hands of their own rulers, as General 
 Wool kept his men under strict discipline and scrupulously 
 protected the persons and property of the Mexicans. 
 
 The cessation of hostilities, by orders from Washing- 
 
 ton, ceased on the 13th of November. Two days later 
 
 Nov. General Worth took possession of Saltillo, the capital of 
 
 Coahuila, and General Taylor himself, leaving a garrison 
 
 in Monterey under General Butler, marched toward the 
 
 coast in order to attack Tampico, but as that place had 
 
 Dec. already surrendered to Commodore Connor, he took pos- 
 
 29 * session of Victoria, the capital of Tamaulipas. 
 
 The United States government now prepared to in- 
 vade Mexico by way of Vera Cruz. Just as Genera] 
 Taylor was ready to commence active operations, Gen- 
 eral Scott was about to sail for that place with the
 
 TROOPS WITHDRAWN FROM TAYLOR'S ARMY. 771 
 
 intention of capturing it, and then, if peace could not be CHAP. 
 obtained, to march upon the city of Mexico itself. 
 
 To carry out the plan of operations, it was necessary 1846. 
 to increase the force under General Scott's immediate 
 control. Troops in sufficient numbers could not be drawn 
 from the United States, and a portion of Taylor's army 
 was ordered to join him before Vera Cruz. He thus in a 
 private letter expresses his generous sympathies with the 
 latter : " My dear General," says he, " I shall be obliged 
 to take from you most of the gallant officers and men 
 whom you have so long and so nobly commanded. I am 
 afraid that I shall, by imperious necessity the approach 
 of the yellow fever on the Gulf coast reduce you, for a 
 time, to remain on the defensive. This will be infinitely 
 painful to you, and, for that reason, distressing to me. 
 But I rely upon your patriotism to submit to the tempo- 
 rary sacrifice with cheerfulness. No man can better afford 
 to do so. Recent victories place you on that high emi- 
 nence." 
 
 General Taylor, though deeply disappointed, at once 
 complied with the orders of the government, and detached 
 Generals Worth and Quitman with their divisions and the 
 greater part of the volunteers brought by General Wool : 
 in truth, the flower of his army. These troops were speedily 
 on their march from Saltillo toward the Gulf coast. Thus 
 Taylor was left with a very small force. During the month 
 of January, and a part of February, reinforcements of 2947 
 volunteers arrived from the United States, increasing his 
 army to about six thousand; but after garrisoning Monte- 
 rey and Saltillo, he had only four thousand seven hundred 
 effective men, of whom only six hundred were regulars. 
 
 General Scott sent Lieutenant Richey and a guard 
 of men with a despatch to General Taylor. The Lieu- 
 tenant imprudently left his men, went near a Mexican 
 village, was lassoed, dragged from his horse and murdered,
 
 772 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, and his despatches sent to Santa Anna. From these the 
 
 Mexican chief learned the plan for invading his country. 
 
 1847. He promptly decided upon his course of action a ju- 
 dicious one. Trusting that the strength of Vera Cruz, 
 and of the Castle San Juan d'Ulloa, would long resist the 
 enemy, and even if they both should be captured, that the 
 fortified places along the road would still retard the ad- 
 vance of the Americans upon the capital, he deter- 
 mined to direct all his force against Taylor, who was now 
 weakened by the loss of the greater part of his army. 
 
 Santa Anna's difficulties were almost insurmountable. 
 The city of Mexico was in confusion, torn by factions. He 
 took most extraordinary and illegal measures to enlist 
 men and obtain the means for their support; raised money 
 by forced loans ; made the church property contribute its 
 share of the public expense ; the Priests protested and 
 appealed to the superstitions of the people ; he immediately 
 seized one of their number, the most factious, and threw 
 him into prison, and the rest were intimidated. Thus, 
 for nearly four months, he exercised an arbitrary, energetic, 
 and iron rule. With a well-organized army of twenty- 
 j an three thousand men, and twenty pieces of artillery, he com- 
 26. menced his march for San Luis Potosi in the direction of 
 Saltillo, and within sixty miles south of that place he 
 halted and prepared for battle. 
 
 Humors reached General Wool that Santa Anna was 
 approaching Saltillo. Major Borland was sent with thirty 
 dragoons to reconnoitre ; he was joined on his way by 
 Major Gaines and Captain Cassius M. Clay, with another 
 company of thirty-five men. No enemy appeared, and 
 they pushed on during the day, and carelessly encamped 
 for the night, but, in the morning, found themselves 
 surrounded by one thousand horsemen under the Mexican 
 General Minon. They were taken prisoners, and Santa 
 Anna sent them, as the first fruits of the campaign, to be 
 paraded through the streets of the city of Mexico.
 
 TAYLOR AT SALTILLO M'CULLOCK'S ADVENTURE. 773 
 
 General Taylor now advanced from Monterey, and CKAF 
 
 Jjll. 
 
 3stablished his head-quarters at Saltillo. Leaving there . 
 
 his stores, he made a rapid march to Agua Nueva, eighteen 1847 
 miles in advance, on the road to San Luis Potosi, thus to 
 secure the southern extremity of the defile through the 
 Sierra Nevada, rather than the northern one at Monterey. Feb 
 At the former point the Mexicans must fight or'starve, be- 
 cause of the "barrenness of the country in their rear ; while, 
 had he remained at Monterey, Santa Anna could have had 
 his head-quarters at Saltillo, and drawn his supplies from 
 that comparatively fertile district. 
 
 Scouts reported that General Minon with a large body 
 of cavalry was to the left of Agua Nueva, and that the 
 American position could be turned. Companies of dra- 
 goons from time to time were sent in different directions 
 to reconnoitre. They at length learned from a " Mexican, 
 dressed as a peon," that Santa Anna had arrived in the 
 neighborhood with twenty thousand men, and that he in- 
 tended to attack the Americans the next morning. 
 
 The clouds of dust toward the east, and the signal 
 fires that blazed upon the tops of the distant hills, seemed 
 to confirm the report. But that daring Texan ranger, 
 Major McCulloch, was not satisfied ; and, accompanied by 
 some dozen volunteers, he determined to ascertain the 
 truth of the " peon's " story. They pushed on across a 
 desert of thirty-six miles to Encarnacion, where they ar- 
 rived at midnight, and found the enemy in force. Send- 
 ing back all his men, save one, McCulloch entered their 
 lines, and, undetected, went from point to point, obtained 
 more correct information of their numbers, then passed 
 out, and escaped to Agua Nueva. 
 
 On the reception of this intelligence, Taylor, leaving 
 a small guard as an outpost, retired up the valley in 
 expectation that Santa Anna in hot haste would pursue 
 him, while he himself should await his approach at a 
 point, which, in passing, he had already noticed. The con- 
 jeotu-e was correct.
 
 774 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 Lii P ' Santa Anna knew well the position of the Americans 
 
 He thought they would not retreat, and he resolved tc 
 
 1847. surprise them. But between him and Agua Neuva there 
 intervened fifty miles, the last thirty-six of which were 
 across a desert. His soldiers were each supplied with 
 water and provisions ; in the morning the march com- 
 menced, and at noon they entered the desert : in the 
 night they halted for a while to refresh, and at dawn they 
 were to attack the unsuspecting foe. The march was 
 rapid and secret ; the silence of the desert was not dis- 
 turbed not a signal was used, not a drum beat. After 
 so much toil he was sadly disappointed ; his enemy had 
 disappeared. He firmly believed the Americans were in 
 full flight, in order to avoid a battle. Some days before 
 he had sent General Minon with his cavalry across the 
 mountains, to their rear, and he now hoped that Minon 
 would be able to hold .the fugitives in check until he 
 himself could come up with his full force. He halted only 
 to refresh his wearied soldiers, and then pursued with all 
 his vigor. 
 
 The ground chosen by General Taylor on which to 
 make a stand, was the pass since so famous known 
 among the Mexicans as >Las Angosturas, or the Narrows. 
 It was at the north end of a valley, about twelve miles 
 long, and formed by mountains on either side. Here an 
 ascent rises to a plateau, a little more than a mile wide, 
 on each side of which rugged mountains, inaccessible to 
 artillery or cavalry, rise from two to three thousand feet. 
 Numerous ravines or deep gullies, formed by the torrents 
 rushing from the mountains during the rainy season, 
 rendered the surface in front and on the sides very un- 
 even. Neither flank could be turned except by light troops 
 clambering up the mountains. The plateau was some- 
 what rough, with here and there open and smooth places, 
 as well as clumps of thorny chaparral. The road through
 
 CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE AMERICANS. 775 
 
 the defile passes much nearer to the west than to the CHAP. 
 
 east side of the Narrows. On this plateau, one mile !_ 
 
 south of the hacienda or plantation known as Buena Vista, 1847 
 the American army awaited the approach of the Mexicans. 
 
 Early the following morning clouds of dust, extending 
 far down the valley to the south, made known that the 
 Mexican army was near and in motion. Soon after, its 
 cavalry came in sight and halted for the infantry and 
 artillery to come up. 
 
 The long roll of the drum called the Americans to 
 arms ; they obeyed the call with hearty cheers. It was 
 the anniversary of the birth of Washington, and on the Feb, 
 impulse his name was adopted as their watchword. They 22 ' 
 were placed under peculiar circumstances. A few months 
 before, they were quietly engaged in the avocations of 
 civil life ; enthusiasm had induced them to volunteer, and 
 now they were on foreign soil- far from their homes. 
 With the exception of a few hundreds, they were all for 
 the first time going into battle, with the prospect that to 
 them defeat would be certain ruin ; they were about to 
 meet an army, in its numbers nearly five to one of their 
 own. In the unequal contest, their only hope was in 
 their own bravery, and in the skill of their commander. 
 
 The cautious Taylor had gone to Saltillo, six miles 
 distant, to superintend in person the defences designed to 
 secure the stores from capture. General Wool was left 
 in temporary command at the Narrows, and he directed 
 the arrangements of the troops. 
 
 Captain Washington's battery was placed to command 
 the road or pass, the key to the position of the army. 
 Colonel Hardin's First Illinois regiment was on a ridge to 
 the left of the pass, and Colonel McKee's Second Ken- 
 tucky on another ridge in their rear. To the left beyond 
 these was posted the Second Illinois, under Colonel Bis- 
 sell, while still further in the same direction, under the 
 mountain, were stationed Colonels Yell and Humphrey
 
 776 
 
 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. Marshall, with the Arkansas and Kentucky volunteers 
 
 The remainder of the army, including Lane's Indiana 
 
 1847. brigade ; the Mississippi riflemen, Colonel Jefferson 
 Davis ; two squadrons of dragoons, and Sherman and 
 Bragg's batteries of flying artillery, were placed in reserve 
 on the rear of the plateau. 
 
 During the morning, and beyond the range of the 
 American artillery, the main body of the Mexicans was 
 also arranged in order of battle. Their right, a battery 
 of sixteen-pounders, rested on the base of the mountains. 
 These guns were manned by the San Patricio regiment, 
 composed of Irish and German deserters from the Ameri- 
 can army. Two divisions, Pacheco's and Lombardini's, 
 extended in the rear of this battery ; guns, twelve and 
 eight-pounders, were posted to the left, and a battalion 
 occupied a hill in advance of the main line, directly op- 
 posite the pass. Theip cavalry was stationed in the rear 
 of either flank, and to be unencumbered, the baggage of 
 the whole army was left many miles in the rear. 
 
 About noon a Mexican officer brought a note to 
 General Taylor. In pompous terms Santa Anna sum- 
 moned him to surrender at discretion, and trust himself 
 to be treated " with the consideration belonging to the 
 Mexican character." In a brief and courteous note the 
 American commander declined the proposal. 
 
 Santa Anna noticed that the mountains to the east, 
 beyond the American left, were unguarded, and he sent 
 General Ampudia, with light troops, around a spur to 
 ascend them from the south side. The movement was 
 observed, and Colonel Marshall dismounted his own rifle- 
 men and those of the Indiana battalion, and commenced 
 to ascend to the crest of the ridge. As the lines gradually 
 approached each other, skirmishing began. The Mexicans 
 kept up a continuous roar of musketry, while the Ameri-
 
 BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA SKIRMISHING. 777 
 
 cans lay among the rocks, whence could be heard the '-^HAP 
 sharp crack of their rifles. 
 
 The Mexican batteries occasionally threw a shot, but 1847 
 the Americans on the plateau remained silent ; they 
 wished a closer conflict. They Avere. not idle, however, 
 but threw up temporary works to protect Washington's 
 battery in front, and also to the right of the pass close up 
 to the base of the mountain. Thus passed the afternoon, 
 with only severe skirmishing on the mountain sides. 
 When night came on the Americans were recalled to the 
 plain. The Mexicans remained in position, and the night 
 passed without any important demonstration on either 
 side. 
 
 General Minon had passed through the defile, Palo- 
 mas Adentro, and in the afternoon appeared with his 
 numerous cavalry upon the plains north of Saltillo. Here 
 Santa Anna sent him orders to remain, and be in readi- 
 ness to fall upon the American forces, which he promised 
 to either capture or put to flight the next morning. 
 
 The appearance of Minon caused no little anxiety, and 
 General Taylor, after night-fall, hastened to Saltillo with 
 aid, to assure himself that any attack upon the stores 
 would.be repelled. 
 
 During the night Ampudia was reinforced ; and at 
 dawn he renewed the attack, and stretched his line farther 
 to the right ; but Colonel Marshall, with a portion of the 
 Illinois volunteers, maintained his position, though pressed Feb. 
 by superior numbers. 
 
 Soon after sunrise, movements in the Mexican ranks 
 indicated that a grand attack was in contemplation. 
 Their strength was nearly all thrown toward the Ameri- 
 can left, where, owing to the smallness of their number 
 and the extent of the ground, the troops were placed at 
 greater intervals. The San Patricio battery was also 
 brought forward and placed on the ridge in front of the
 
 778 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, plateau, while three powerful columns of attack were 
 
 arranged columns composed of the best soldiers of the 
 
 1847. army, and led by its most experienced leaders. As the 
 foremost column advanced, General Lane ordered Captain 
 O'Brien to hold them in check with his guns, and the 
 Second Indiana regiment to support him. O'Brien's shot 
 ploughed through their ranks from front to rear, yet the 
 Mexicans crowded on till the head .of the column was 
 literally broken, and thrown into confusion, and refused 
 to advance. Lane now ordered O'Brien to move forward 
 fifty yards nearer the enemy. The Indiana regiment fol- 
 lowed, but came within range of a Mexican battery, which 
 opened upon their flank. They were ordered to retreat 
 from the face of such overpowering numbers ; the retreat 
 unfortunately soon became a flight, which extended quite 
 beyond the enemy's guns. Now upon O'Brien's artillery 
 was concentrated the entire fire of the Mexican battery 
 and Pacheco's column. His horses were soon disabled ; 
 not a man of his company but was either killed or wound- 
 ed ; he was forced to fall back and leave to the enemy one 
 of his guns as a trophy a trophy which they seemed to 
 appreciate very highly. 
 
 These -forces now advanced and formed a juncture with 
 the division of Lombardini ; the entire body then moved 
 against the plateau, and opened a heavy fire upon the 
 Second Illinois regiment under Colonel Bissell. Four 
 companies of Arkansas volunteers had been directed to 
 dismount and gain the plateau. They reached it in the 
 midst of this conflict, but they soon became panic-stricken 
 and fled. The Illinoians, now unsupported, slowly fell 
 back. While this was in progress, a portion of the Ken- 
 cuckians were forced back, and Ampudia, with his light 
 troops, came down the mountain and completely turned 
 the American left. The third heavy column, under Mora 
 y Villamil, pressed on against Washington's battery on the 
 road. He waited till they came within close range, then
 
 BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA WHOLE COMPANIES RETREAT. 779 
 
 poured in his shot with surprising rapidity and terrible C ? A ; P 
 
 effect ; the head of the column melted away hefore the 
 
 storm, the whole mass was thrown into confusion, swayed 1847, 
 from side to side, then broke and fled, leaving the plain 
 covered with a multitude of slain and wounded. 
 
 Just as the three columns of the enemy had failed to 
 force the American centre on the plateau, General Taylor, 
 accompanied by fresh troops, arrived upon the field ; his 
 presence was needed. He brought with him every avail- 
 able man that could be spared from Saltillo. They were 
 Colonel May's dragoons, a portion of the Mississippi rifle- 
 men, and of the Arkansas cavalry. 
 
 The natural advantages of the position had been lost ; 
 success depended alone upon the bravery of the troops ; 
 many of the officers had fallen, and whole companies of 
 the volunteers, both infantry and horse, had left the field, 
 and were in disastrous retreat toward Buena Vista, in 
 spite of the efforts of General Wool and Colonel Davis, 
 and other officers to restrain them. 
 
 The Mexican infantry, supported by their fine cavalry, 
 right and left, which made shock after shock, continued 
 to press on. By great exertions Davis rallied the majority 
 of his regiment, and a part of the Second Indiana ; they 
 advanced at a quick step, but silent until within rifle 
 shot ; then gave the approaching foe a destructive fire. 
 The Mexicans did not slacken their pace till they came 
 almost to the edge of the last ravine between them and 
 their enemy, when they halted. . The Americans came up 
 to the opposite edge ; thus for a while the two forces con- 
 fronted each other and fired across the ravine. Presently 
 a shout along the American line rose high and clear above 
 the din ; they delivered their fire, dashed into the ravine, 
 lingered a moment to reload, then rose upon the opposite 
 crest, in the face of the enemy, and with defiant shouts 
 urged home their fire more fearfully than ever. The
 
 780 HISTOR3T OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 HAP. Mexicans, apparently astounded at the apparition which 
 was sending death through their ranks, wavered for a few 
 
 1847. minutes, and then in utter confusion rolled back upon the 
 column which wa"s advancing to their support. 
 
 Scarcely was Colonel Davis free from this when he 
 was assailed by a force coming in another direction. A 
 thousand lancers who had not been engaged approached 
 along the broad ridge ; they were well supported by in- 
 fantry. To meet this new enemy Davis, was aided by the 
 Second and Third Indiana regiments. He extended his 
 line across the ridge, stationed Captain Sherman on his 
 left, and placed his men in the form of the letter Y, the 
 opening toward the approaching lancers. They com- 
 menced to advance at a gallop as if to charge their way 
 through the centre. But as they drew near they gradually 
 slackened their pace ; they expected the Americans would 
 fire, and then they would ride them down before they 
 could reload their pieces. The latter fired not a gun, but 
 awaited their approach. At length the lancers came to a 
 walk at the opening of the angle. The silence seemed to 
 fill them with awe ; they were within eighty yards of a 
 thousand marksmen, every one of whom could take de- 
 liberate aim. At the word, every musket and rifle was 
 poised a moment intervened then went forth the mes- 
 sengers of death. The entire front ranks of the lancers 
 were riddled, not a ball appeared to have failed of its 
 errand. This was followed by grape and cannister from 
 Sherman's battery. The dead and wounded men and 
 horses made a barricade of struggling life, over which they 
 could not pass. Even at this time, their overpowering 
 numbers, had it not been for this obstruction, might have 
 enabled them to break through the line and gain the road 
 in the rear of the plateau, and thus have modified or 
 changed the fortune of the day. But those in the rear 
 were appalled at the destruction of their companions, and 
 the whole mass fled headlong from the field. As in eveiy
 
 BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA TORREJON'S REPULSE. 781 
 
 other instance the Americans, for want of numbers and CHAP 
 
 cavalry, could not pursue them, and the fugitives passed 1, 
 
 south of the plateau to be re-formed for another attack. 1847. 
 
 Meantime a squadron of cavalry under Torrejon skirted 
 the mountain base to the left, and penetrated to Buena 
 Vista, whither the commands of Marshall and Yell had 
 retired. General Taylor sent all the cavalry he could 
 spare, under Colonel May, to reinforce that point. Tor- 
 rejon fell back on his approach, and May returned to the 
 plateau. Then Torrejon advanced again : this time the 
 volunteers received him with a scattering fire ; but the 
 Mexicans, confident in numbers, rode on rapidly toward the 
 hacienda; there they were held in check by a portion of 
 the two battalions. It was here that Colonel Yell, as he 
 made a charge, was killed at the head of his men. Tor- 
 rejon himself was wounded, and Colonel May made his 
 appearance again, this time with two field-pieces, and the 
 Mexicans separated into two divisions and retreated out 
 of danger. 
 
 On the plateau the battle had raged in one continuous 
 cannonade : the Mexicans had on the ridge in front, a 
 battery of eighteen and twenty-four pounders, principally 
 manned by the San Patricio regiment, yet they could not 
 silence the American guns. At this point there was a 
 temporary lull in the storm. 
 
 But on the east side of the valley, to the rear of the 
 plateau, a severe conflict was in progress. One of the 
 Mexican divisions retreating from Buena Vista, had united 
 with a large force sent by Santa Anna to make its way on 
 the extreme left round to the American rear. 
 
 Colonel May with his dragoons and a portion of the 
 Illinoians and Indianians was engaged in the unequal con- 
 test. General Taylor sent to his aid a portion of the ar- 
 tillery and the dragoons, with some of the volunteer , 
 cavalry.
 
 782 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 They soon accomplished the object by cutting off (he 
 _ retreat of the Mexicans who had passed so far beyond the 
 1847. American left. They were driven against the base of the 
 mountain and thrown into inextricable confusion. Bragg 
 advanced within close canister range, and with their 
 wonted rapidity his guns played upon them : the shot 
 tore and crashed through the bewildered multitude, and 
 those next the mountain endeavored to escape by clam- 
 bering up its sides. The whole force, about five thousand, 
 became utterly helpless, while the wounded and dying 
 were increasing at a fearful rate : the horses frantic with 
 pain and terror added to the confusion. A few minutes 
 more and they must have laid down their arms ; at this 
 crisis, as if to stay the arm of death, a white flag was 
 seen approaching from General Taylor's position. When 
 it came near the artillery ceased to fire. 
 
 Three Mexican officers had appeared as if for a parley; 
 they professed to bear a message from the Mexican clu'ef. 
 When brought into the presence of General Taylor they 
 wished to know " what he wanted." The reply was the 
 surrender of the Mexican army. They asked time for 
 consideration ; the trick was not suspected, and the re- 
 quest was granted. A messenger bearing a white flag 
 was hastened with orders to Captain Bragg to cease firing, 
 as the Mexicans were about to lay down their arms. 
 
 General Wool was deputed to accompany the officers 
 to Santa Anna, who took care not to be seen. As Wool 
 perceived that the Mexicans continued to fire, though the 
 Americans had ceased, he declared the conference at an 
 end, and returned to his own army. 
 
 Meanwhile, under the protection of the flag of peace, 
 the body of Mexicans in trouble stealthily crept along the 
 base of the mountain out of danger, and joined their main 
 army south of the plateau. Thus, whether designed or 
 not, Santa Anna had extricated his soldiers, and had also 
 learned from his spies the Mexican officers the small
 
 BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA THE LAST ATTACK. 788 
 
 number of American troops only three regiments of in- 
 fantry and three guns on the plateau, and that their 
 main portion was far to the left, whither they had driven 
 the Mexican right wing. Shielding his men from sight 
 by ravines and spurs of the mountain, he had for hours 
 been concentrating all his strength for a final assault 
 upon the American central position at the pass. At 
 Beveral points he had met with partial success ; but in 
 the main his plans had been frustrated by the indomi- 
 table courage, rapid movements, and hard fighting of his 
 opponents. 
 
 Having concentrated his forces, he now brought his re- 
 serve into action, aided by the troops of the right wing 
 which had just been rescued from peril. The whole force 
 twelve thousand strong the front regiments composed of 
 veterans, with General Perez at their head, moved up the 
 ascent from the valley. The scattered companies (Illi- 
 nois and Kentucky volunteers) in advance of the line were 
 taken by surprise at the sudden appearance of the enemy 
 in such numbers ; the enemy, which an hour or two be- 
 fore they had seen in utter confusion, retreating from the 
 field. The multitude, pouring in volley after volley of 
 musketry, pressed on and compelled these companies to 
 retire toward the lines. O'Brien was left almost alone 
 with his artillery, yet for a time he maintained his place. 
 His shot buried themselves in the ranks of the approach- 
 ing enemy ; but the mass closed up the gaps and steadily 
 came nearer and nearer. For round shot he substituted 
 canister, and they were checked for a time ; but it was their 
 last struggle to secure the field. Trusting to numbers 
 and heedless of death, the mass again moved on. Pres- 
 ently there was not an infantry soldier to support the 
 guns, nor a horse to draw them; still the gunners stood to 
 their places, and i ^.treated only as their pieces recoiled. 
 At length overtaken every officer or gunner either killed
 
 784 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 C HAP. or wounded, O'Brien himself among the latter, they aban- 
 
 doned them to the enemy. 
 
 1847. Meanwhile the companies of volunteers took refuge in 
 a deep ravine to the right of the pass. The Mexicans 
 lined its crest and kept upon them a continuous volley of 
 musketry, to which they could scarcely reply, while their 
 cavalry dashed forward to the mouth of the ravine to cut 
 off their retreat. Fortunately the route of the cavalry 
 brought them within range of Washington's battery at 
 the pass. His guns were immediately brought to bear 
 upon them ; they recoiled, relinquished their object, and 
 began to retreat, while, by throwing shot over the heads 
 of the volunteers who were now moving out, he harassed 
 them exceedingly. The Mexican infantry, now unop- 
 posed, descended into the ravine, and cruelly murdered 
 every wounded man they could find. 
 
 It was in this desperate encounter that Colonels 
 Hardin, McKee, and Henry Clay, junior, (son of the dis- 
 tinguished statesman,) and great numbers of brave and 
 generous men were slain. 
 
 The crisis of the conflict was near. O'Brien overcome 
 there was no one to oppose ; and, encouraged by their suc- 
 cess, the Mexicans pushed on with unusual vigor. At 
 the commencement of this last attack the Americans were 
 more or less scattered over the plateau and on the ex- 
 tremes of the field ; but the heavy roar of the battle made 
 known that the issue of the day was about to be deter- 
 mined, and they hastened, of their own accord, to the post 
 of danger. 
 
 It was an hour of intense anxiety to General Taylor, 
 as he saw this unexpected host advance in such order and 
 with such determination. The battle had already lasted 
 eight hours ; the toil of so many rapid movements ovei 
 the rough field had wearied his men, while the approach- 
 ing enemy's force was fresh, and in number four to one
 
 THE BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA THE RESULT 785 
 
 of his own. Was it possible to hold them in check till CITAP 
 
 his own troops could come up ? He sent messenger after 1 
 
 messenger to urge them on. In one direction could be 1847 
 seen Bragg, and in another Sherman, driving with whip 
 and spur the jaded horses attached to their batteries , 
 while in the distance to the left of the pass, could be seen 
 the Mississippians and Indianians, under their officers 
 Davis and Lane, rapidly advancing, now in sight and now 
 disappearing as they crossed the deep ravines. 
 
 Bragg was the first to come up. As he drew near he sent 
 to ask for infantry to support his guns ; but Taylor could 
 only send him word that not a man could be had ; he 
 must fight to the death. The Mexicans were rushing on, 
 and before he could unlimber his guns they were within a 
 few yards of their muzzles ; but his men seemed to be in- 
 spired with an energy beyond human, and with a rapidity 
 greater than ever, discharge followed discharge. The 
 enemy faltered, as if waiting for them to cease but for a 
 moment, that they might rush forward and capture them. 
 No such moment was granted ; they still hesitated, and 
 were thrown into confusion. By this time Sherman came 
 up and opened with his wonted effect ; in a few minutes 
 more Washington's battery at the pass moved forward 
 and did the same. Davis and Lane had just closed with 
 the enemy's right flank and commenced to pour in their 
 fire. The Mexicans recoiled on all sides ; they could not 
 carry the pass ; hope seemed to desert every breast, and 
 pell-mell they rushed from the field. 
 
 Thus ended the battle of Buena Vista. It had lasted 
 ten hours ; had been a series of encounters, in different 
 parts of the field, each one severe in itself, but indecisive 
 in result. Never before had an American army contend- 
 ed with such odds, and under disadvantages so great. It 
 was won by the superior handling of the flying artillery, 
 which thinned and broke the foremost ranks of the enemy 
 before they could bring their superior numbers to bear.
 
 786 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 C HAP. When repulsed, they invariably fell back out of danger, to 
 
 be again re-formed for another attack, while the Arneri- 
 
 1847. cans, for want of cavalry and sufficient numbers, could 
 not pursue and disperse them beyond the power of rally- 
 ing. On the part of the latter the day was one of un- 
 remitting toil ; their fewness of numbers, the extent of 
 the field, the roughness of the ground, and the numerous 
 attacks, forced them to be continually in rapid and 
 laborious motion. General Taylor was in the midst of 
 flying balls for eight hours, only one of which passed 
 through his coat. He was ably seconded by his officers, not 
 one of whom swerved from a post of danger nor neglected a 
 duty especially could this be said of General Wool, who 
 seemed to be at every point where he was specially needed 
 The superior skill with which the American guns were 
 handled was due to the' exertions of the West Point 
 officers, who spared no effort to infuse into the ranks their 
 own spirit of discipline ; and equal honor is due to the 
 volunteers, who, with but few exceptions, cheerfully sub- 
 mitted to the requisite drudgery of drill. 
 
 The Mexicans hoped to win the battle by musketry 
 and charges of cavalry ; their heavy guns they did not 
 bring upon the field, but placed them in battery in front 
 of the pass. 
 
 The influence of this battle was more important than 
 any one of the war. It destroyed that fictitious prestige 
 which Santa Anna had obtained over his countrymen by 
 his vain boastings and unsparing censure of their pre- 
 vious commanders, and it greatly increased their dread 
 of the invader's artillery ; henceforth they met them only 
 from behind defences, and avoided them in the open field. 
 
 Night closed in. The Americans took every precau- 
 tion to repel the attack which was expected the next 
 morning. Strong pickets were posted to prevent the 
 enemy from passing round to the right or left. The troops
 
 SANTA ANNA'S RETREAT. 787 
 
 having been supplied with their rations, remained on the CHAP. 
 field for the night. Fresh companies were brought from 
 the rear to supply the place of those who took charge of 1847. 
 the woundedj who were carried in wagons to Saltillo. 
 The loss of the day had been two hundred and sixty-seven 
 killed, and four hundred and fifty-six wounded. Feb. 
 
 The morning dawned, but not a Mexican could be 
 seen. Santa Anna had retreated, leaving his wounded to 
 their fate, and his dead unburied. More than two thou- 
 sand of his men, including many officers of high rank, lay 
 scattered over the field. 
 
 Scouts hurried on to reconnoitre ; in an hour or two 
 they returned with information that he was far on his way 
 toward Agua Nueva. General Taylor and his staff im- 
 mediately moved on in the same direction, but sent in 
 advance Major Bliss, with a proposition to Santa Anna 
 for an exchange of prisoners, and a request that he would 
 send for his wounded, as well as another assurance that 
 the American government was desirous of peace. An ex- 
 change of prisoners took place, but as Santa Anna pro- 
 fessed to have no means to remove his wc-unded, he left 
 them to be cared for by the Americans ; as to the propo- 
 sition for peace he replied, in his usual style of bravado, 
 that he should prosecute the war until the invaders had 
 left his country. 
 
 The Mexican soldiers were in a truly deplorable con- 
 dition ; they were without hospital supplies, and almost 
 literally without food, and no means to obtain it a desert 
 before them, and a victorious enemy in their rear. Santa 
 Anna urged on his retreat toward San Luis Potosi, 
 whence one month before he had set out sure of victory ; 
 desertions had now reduced his great army to a mere 
 remnant, and that discouraged by defeat, while confidence 
 in his generalship was gone. In addition, signs of another 
 revolution were appearing in the city of Mexico, by which 
 his enemies might triumph.
 
 788 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 General Taylor advanced to Agua Nueva thence two 
 days later he detached Colonel Belknap, with the dra- 
 
 1847. goons and a regiment of infantry transported in wagons 
 27 * across the desert to surprise the rear guard of the Mexi- 
 can army at Encarnacion. The feat was successfully ac- 
 complished. All along the way from the battle-field were 
 found multitudes of poor Mexican soldiers, left by their 
 heartless companions to die of their wounds, hunger, and 
 fatigue. As soon as possible the humane Taylor sent 
 them provisions, and had those that could be removed 
 conveyed to Saltillo and placed under the care of the 
 American surgeons. 
 
 While these operations were in progress, the two 
 Mexican generals, Urrea and Komero, with their corps of 
 cavalry, had appeared on the line of communication be- 
 tween Saltillo and the Eio Grande. They had captured 
 some wagons, taken some prisoners, and spread alarm all 
 along the line. A sufficient force was now sent to chastise 
 them, but they rapidly retreated out of danger by the 
 pass of Tula, leaving the valley of the Bio Grande to the 
 Americans. 
 
 General Taylor, by easy stages, retraced his steps, 
 and encamped once more at the Walnut Springs, near 
 30. Monterey. 
 
 Whilst the line of communication was broken, vague 
 rumors reached the United States, first, that Santa Anna 
 was approaching Monterey with a large army, then, that 
 the American army had been overpowered. These ap- 
 prehensions were greatly increased by a volunteer Colonel 
 at Camargo, who, in his alarm, sent an urgent appeal for 
 fifty thousand men to be sent immediately to the seat of 
 war. Presently came intelligence of the battle of Buena 
 Vista ; and the intense anxiety of the people was 
 Changed to admiration for the men who, under such try- 
 ing circumstances, had maintained the honor of their
 
 GENERAL TAYLOR'S RECEPTION. 789 
 
 country. Gen. Taylor, of whom so little had been known C ^ AP 
 
 before the commencement of this war, rose higher and 
 
 higher in public estimation. Some months later, when 1847. 
 he returned to the United States, he was received with 
 demonstrations of the highest respect.
 
 CHAPTER LIII 
 
 FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION CONTINUED. 
 
 Emigration to Oregon. John C. Fremont ; his Explorations ; his diffi- 
 culties with the Mexican Governor. American Settlers in alarm. 
 California free from Mexican Rule. Monterey on the Pacific captured. 
 Commodores Sloat and Stockton. Kearney's Expedition. Santa 
 Fe taken; a Government organized. Doniphan's Expedition. Various 
 Conflicts. Chihuahua occupied. An Insurrection ; its Suppression. 
 Trial of Fremont. 
 
 C LnF' ^ HE i m P rtance f securing Oregon by settlement had 
 _ especially attracted the attention of the people of the 
 1842. Western States. The stories of hunters, and the glowing 
 descriptions given in the newspapers of that distant region, 
 imbued the minds of the adventurous with an enthusiasm 
 as ardent as that which glowed in the breasts of the earlier 
 explorers and settlers of this country two and a half 
 centuries before. A thousand emigrants, consisting of 
 men, their wives and children, driving before them their 
 flocks and herds, their only weapon the trusty rifle alike 
 to protect from savage violence and to procure sustenance 
 from the wandering droves of buffiilo and deer set out 
 from the confines of Missouri. They passed up the long 
 eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains, over them through 
 the South Pass, thence to Lewis' River and down it to the 
 Columbia, on whose shores they found a resting place, 
 after a toilsome journey of six months, through an un- 
 trodden mountainous region. 
 
 These emigrants were followed the next year by
 
 COLONY ON THE COLUMBIA FREMONT. 791 
 
 another company, consisting of two thousand, who passed CHAP 
 
 over the same route. _ 
 
 These enterprising settlers, with the few who had pre- 1343. 
 ceded them, labored under many difficulties, as the United 
 States government did not exercise the jurisdiction which 
 it claimed over the territory. A bill introduced into the 
 {Senate, granted lands to actual settlers, and made pro- 
 vision to maintain their rights as citizens by extending 
 over them the laws of the territory of Iowa. Though this 
 bill passed only the Senate, it gave encouragement to 
 those persons who desired to emigrate to the banks of the 
 Columbia. A colony thus planted by private enterprise, 
 and thus slightly encouraged by the government, became 
 the germ of another State, (Oregon) now added to the ^ s ^ 9 
 Union. 
 
 It was in connection with this awakened spirit of 
 emigration that Colonel John C. Fremont, then a lieu- 
 tenant, made his first exploring expedition. He was a 
 young man, once friendless arid unknown, but had risen 
 by his own talents and industry, and on the recommenda- 
 tion of Poinsett, then Secretary of War, had been ap- 
 pointed in the Topographical Engineers by President Jack- 
 son. Fremont solicited and obtained permission from the 
 government to explore the Rocky Mountains and their 
 passes, but at this time with special reference to the 
 South Pass and its vicinity. In six months he returned ; 
 he had accurately determined the location of that Pass, 
 which now became a fixed point in the path of emigration 
 to Oregon. 
 
 Soon after his return, Fremont again asked for orders 
 to prosecute still further explorations in that distant 
 region. They were given ; but after his preparations 
 were made, and he and his party had reached the frontiers 
 of Missouri, the government countermanded his orders, on
 
 792 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, the singular plea that he had armed his party, in addition 
 , to their rifles, with a small mountain howitzer. But for- 
 
 1813. tunately for science and the country, the letter containing 
 the order came to Mrs. Fremont, whom he had requested 
 to examine his letters and forward only those he ought to 
 receive. She deemed the government countermand one 
 that he ought not to receive, and Fremont knew nothing 
 of its existence until he returned from his eventful tour. 
 On his return he was received with honor, his conduct ap- 
 proved, and on the recommendation of the Secretary of 
 War, William Wilkins, the brevet of captain was con- 
 ferred upon him by President Tyler. 
 
 He had received special orders to survey the route of 
 travel from the frontiers of Missouri to the tide-waters 
 of the Columbia. This was accomplished by the first of 
 November, after six months' labor, though often he diverged 
 from the main route to make useful observations. He now 
 resolved to return immediately, and when on the way to ex- 
 plore the vast territory which must lie between the route 
 he had passed over and the Pacific. To pass through this 
 region in midwinter was no easy matter. Soon deep 
 snows appeared on the highlands, and the party descended 
 into the valley, now known as the Great Basin, out of 
 which flows no stream. On the west, the mountains 
 loomed up with their snowy tops ; every thing was strange ; 
 the Indians, terrified at the approach of white men, fled : 
 a desert appeared, and with it the vision of starvation 
 and death. No place could they find, as they had hoped, 
 where they might winter and derive their sustenance from 
 hunting the animals of the forest. They passed down to 
 the latitude of San Francisco, as found by astronomical 
 observations ; but between them and that place, the 
 nearest point where they could obtain aid from civilized 
 man, rose mountains, their snowy tops piercing the clouds ; 
 their sides frowning precipices thousands of feet high. No 
 Indian would act as a guide through their passes. The
 
 THE RESULTS OF THE EXPLORATION. 793 
 
 whole party, by excessive toil and want of food, were re- CHAP. 
 duced to skeletons, both men and horses. Finally they 
 " crawled over the Sierra Nevada/' and arrived at the 1843. 
 head-waters of the Sacramento. " In this eventful ex- 
 ploration, all the great features of the western slope of 
 our continent were brought to light the Great Salt Lake, 
 the Utah Lake, the Little Salt Lake at all which places, 
 then desert, the Mormons now are ; the Sierra Nevada, 
 then solitary in the snow, now crowded with Americans, 
 digging gold from its banks ; the beautiful valleys of the 
 Sacramento and San Joaquin, then alive with wild horses, 
 elk, deer, and wild fowls, now smiling with American 
 cultivation. The Great Basin itself, and its contents ; 
 the Three Parks ; the approximation of the great rivers 
 which, rising together in the central region of the Rocky 
 Mountains, go off east and west towards the rising and 
 the setting sun, all these, and other strange features of 
 a new region, more Asiatic than American, were brought 
 to light, and revealed to public view in the results of this 
 exploration." l 
 
 In May, Fremont set out on his third expedition to 1846. 
 explore still further the Great West. There were now 
 indications that war would soon result between Mexico 
 and the United States. But to avoid exciting the sus- 
 picions of the Mexicans, he obtained permission from 
 General De Castro, commandant at Monterey on the 
 Pacific, to pass the following winter in the uninhabitable 
 portion of the valley of the San Joaquin. But before 
 long, De Castro professed to believe that his object was 
 not scientific exploration, but to excite a rebellion among 
 the American settlers, and he undertook to either drive 
 him out of the country or capture the whole party. A 
 messenger, secretly sent by the United States consul at 
 
 Benton's Thirty Years' View, Vol. ii. Chap. 134.
 
 794 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. Monterey, Mr. Larkin, suddenly appeared in his camp and 
 informed him of these unfriendly designs. Fremont iin- 
 
 1845. diately chose a strong position on a mountain, raised the 
 American flag, and he and his sixty determined followers 
 resolved to sell their lives as dearly as possible. After 
 waiting four days, as De Castro hesitated to attack his 
 camp, he came down from the mountain and set out for 
 Oregon through the region of the Tlamath lakes. 
 
 1846. During the former part of May he was overtaken by .1 
 United States officer, Lieutenant Gillespie, who brought 
 a letter of introduction from James Buchanan, Secretary 
 of State, and verbal instructions to the effect that he 
 should counteract any foreign scheme on California, and 
 conciliate the good will of the inhabitants toward the 
 United States. 
 
 Fremont was now on the confines of Oregon, but at 
 once he turned back to California. When he arrived in 
 the valley of the Sacramento, he found the whole com- 
 munity in a state of great excitement. Among the 
 Mexicans two projects were in contemplation : one to 
 massacre the American settlers ; the other to place Cali- 
 fornia under British protection, and thus shield them- 
 selves against the arms of the United States in case of a 
 war with Mexico. 
 
 A deputation from the American settlers hastened to 
 lay before him a statement of these facts ; and, in addition, 
 that the Indians had been incited against them ; that 
 General De Castro was on his march to attack them, and 
 also that a British fleet was daily expected upon the 
 coast. 
 
 Though the countries were at peace when he left home, 
 the approach of De Castro with a hostile army demanded 
 decisive measures, and Fremont accepted the trust in 
 self-defence. The American settlers flocked to his camp, 
 brought their horses, their ammunition, their provisions
 
 COMMODORE SLOAT CAPTURES MONTEREY. 7U5 
 
 and submitted cheerfully to the strictness of military dis- 
 
 i -1 j ^ LI* 
 
 ciplme. _ . 
 
 In one month's time, after a few conflicts, Mexican 1846. 
 rule was at an end in northern California. The flag of " ne 
 independence was raised, its device a grizzly bear indi- 
 cative of indomitable courage while General De Castro 4. 
 was retreating, and all other schemes completely prostated. 
 
 Commodore Sloat, commanding on the Pacific, received 
 directions from the Secretary of the Navy, George Ban- 
 croft. " If you ascertain with certainty," said the Sec- 
 vetary, " that Mexico has declared war against the United 
 States, you will at once' possess yourself of the port of San 
 Francisco, and blockade or occupy such other ports as 
 your force may permit." 
 
 The commodore was at Mazatlan, and a British 
 squadron, under Admiral Seymour, was there also. The 
 former, from certain indications, suspected he was watched; 
 if so, he determined to foil the admiral. Accordingly, he 
 weighed anchor and sailed west as if going to the Sand- 
 wich Islands, Seymour followed, but in the night Sloat 
 tacked and ran up the coast to Monterey, while Seymour 
 continued on to the islands. Sloat arrived at Monterey 
 and offered the usual civilities to the town ; they were 
 declined on a frivolous excuse. It was evident that his 
 presence was not agreeable. Five days later he heard of 
 the movements of Fremont and the settlers, and he at 
 once took possession of the town. Then he sent a cou- 
 rier to the latter, who hastened with his mounted men to j a ] y 
 join the commodore. They were mutually astonished on ? 
 finding that neither of them had acted under direct or- 
 ders from their own government. The flag of independ- 
 ent California was now supplanted by the colors of the 
 United States. 
 
 Commodore Stockton in a few days came into the har- 
 bor, to whom Sloat turned over the command, as he himself July 
 intended to return home. The next day came Admiral
 
 796 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. Seymour in his flag-ship. He saw with surprise tha 
 
 i-illi. 
 
 American flag floating over the town, the American 
 
 1846. riflemen encamped near by, and an American fleet in the 
 jlJ* harbor. One month later Stockton and Fremont took 
 possession of Los Angeles, the capital of Upper California. 
 California had been for some time in a half revolu- 
 tionary state. The inhabitants were dissatisfied with 
 Mexican rule. Some wished to join the United Slates, 
 and some to seek the protection of Great Britain. The 
 conciliatory course pursued by Fremont did much iu 
 winning the Californians to the American standard. 
 
 In the latter part of July the " Army of the West," 
 under Colonel Kearney, consisting of eighteen hundred 
 men, was concentrated near Bent's Fort on the Arkansas. 
 The Secretary of War, William L. Marcy, had given him 
 instructions to take possession of New Mexico and Upper 
 California, to establish therein temporary civil govern- 
 ments, to make known to the inhabitants the designs oi 
 the United States to provide them with free government, 
 and that they would be called upon to elect representa- 
 tives to their own territorial Legislatures. 
 
 The expedition moved rapidly toward Santa Fe, the 
 capital of New Mexico. The population of that province 
 was miscellaneous in its character ; Indians, New Mexi- 
 cans, (a mixture of Spanish and Indian,) some American 
 settlers, and a few of Spanish blood. The mass of the 
 population was half-civilized, by whom honor and moral- 
 ity were reckoned of little worth. They were cowardly, 
 treacherous and cruel ; ignorant and superstitious. The 
 Indians, for the most part, held the idolatrous notions of 
 the ancient Aztecs, and were so debased that a slight 
 reward would insure the committal of almost any crime. 
 
 The governor, Armigo, a bad man and a bad ruler, 
 made an effort to meet the invaders. He assembled about 
 four thousand men, of all grades, and, with six field-pieces,
 
 KEARNEY ENTERS SANTA FE. 797 
 
 took position in a mountain gorge some fifteen miles in CHAP 
 
 advance of Santa Fe ; but for some reason, best known to 
 
 himself, be abandoned his strong post and rapidly retreated 1846. 
 southward, carrying off his own property, and leaving the 
 people and the public interests to take care of themselves. 
 
 Kearney entered Santa Fe and was courteously received A "g- 
 by the lieutenant governor, Vigil. The following day 
 the people assembled in the plaza and had made known 
 to them the designs of the United States government. 
 The majority professed themselves pleased with the change. 
 In a few days the chiefs of the Pueblo Indians also gave 
 in their adhesion to the new order of things. 
 
 Kearney erected and garrisoned a fort, and in the 
 meanwhile made an excursion one hundred and fifty miles 
 to the south to meet a force which a false rumor said was 
 marching against him. On his return he established a 
 government, at the head of which he placed Charles Bent, 
 a worthy citizen of the territory, as governor. After 
 pledging himself to protect the inhabitants against the 
 inroads of the Eutaw and Navajoe Indians, he set out for 
 California. His company consisted of only three huL- 
 dred dragoons, but on the route, when near the river 
 Gila, he met a messenger the celebrated guide and pio- 
 neer Kit Carson who brought intelligence of what had 
 recently taken place in California under Stockton and 
 Fremont. He now sent back two companies of dragoons 
 under Major Sumner, and continued on himself with the 
 remainder. 
 
 Thus, within three months after the orders had been 
 issued at Washington, a force had been organized ; a 
 march of a thousand miles accomplished ; 'and territory 
 subdued, and a new government established on appa- 
 rently a stable foundation. A half-civilized and vicious 
 population are not fit subjects for self-government, and 
 this in a short time proved a failure. Had Kearney re- 
 mained to preserve discipline, that result might have
 
 798 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 C LUL' ^ een Afferent, or at least delayed. The town was filled 
 
 with gambling-houses, and grog-shops, and haunts of 
 
 1846. every vice, while the free manners of the volunteers ex- 
 cited against themselves the hatred of the inhabitants, 
 who laid their plans for revenge, and only waited an op- 
 portunity to carry them into effect. 
 
 Colonel Kearney gave directions to Colonel Doniphan. 
 whom he left at Santa Fe, to enter the country of the 
 Navajoe Indians, living on the waters of the Gulf of 
 Kov. California, and induce them to make peace. Doniphan, 
 with a thousand Missouri volunteers, in three divisions 
 and by as many routes, entered the territory of the hostile 
 tribe, and obtained from them a treaty, by which they 
 agreed to refrain from depredations upon the people of 
 New Mexico. This march, so remarkable, was made in the 
 winter, across mountains covered with snow, and through 
 an unknown region inhabited by barbarous tribes. Doni- 
 phan delayed but a short time in negotiating with the 
 Indians, then he passed on to the south-east to meet Gen- 
 eral Wool at Chihuahua. 
 
 The absence of so many men with Doniphan afforded 
 
 the looked-for opportunity to commence an insurrection 
 
 in New Mexico. The plot was deep laid and kept a pro- 
 
 1 , 84 '- found secret. Suddenly Governor Bent was murdered,' 
 
 14. with five other officers of the territory, some of whom 
 
 were Mexicans, at Taos, fifty miles north of Santa Fe. 
 
 The same day witnessed the murder of many others in 
 
 the upper valley of the Rio . Grande. 
 
 Colonel Price, of the Missouri mounted volunteers, was 
 at Santa Fe with the main force, while detachments were 
 scattered over the country grazing their horses on the 
 plains. With only three hundred and fifty men, Price 
 
 hastened to meet the insurgents, in the vallev of Taos. 
 Jan. 
 
 28 They, numbering about fifteen hundred, took position m a
 
 DONIPHAN'S EXPEDITION. 799 
 
 pass of the road through the highlands. Price routed C . H ,| I F - 
 
 them and continued his march up the valley ; hut the L. 
 
 insurgents made a stand at another pass, still stronger hy 1S47. 
 nature, so narrow that three men could scarcely march 
 abreast, while it was protected by rugged mountains 
 covered with cedars growing in the crevices of the rocks. 
 An advance party clambered up through the cedars, and 
 the terrified Mexicans took to flight. 
 
 Their principal place of defence was taken in a few 
 days, and the rebellion suppressed. Peace was promised 
 only on the condition that the ringleaders should be given 
 up : this was complied with, and several of them were 
 hanged at San Fernando : a hard fate for those who 
 were fighting against the invaders of their country. 
 
 Colonel Doniphan, accompanied by a large number of 
 merchant wagons, crossed without loss a region destitute 
 of water or grass a desert ninety miles in extent, known 
 as the Jornada del Muerto. or Journey of Death the 
 road marked by the graves of former travellers and the 
 bones of beasts of burden. In one instance his men and 
 animals nearly gave out from thirst, when providentially 
 a rain relieved them ; a remarkable occurrence in itself, 
 as at that season of the year rain seldom falls in that 
 region. 
 
 He learned that the Mexicans, under General Her- 
 redia, who commanded in the North-western Department, 
 were awaiting his approach ; nothing daunted he dashed 
 on. His force, including merchants, numbered but eight 
 hundred and fifty-six effective men, nearly all back- 
 woodsmen ; all mounted, armed with rifles, and good 
 marksmen ; untrammelled by discipline, each one fought 
 as he listed. Near Brazito, in the valley of the Bio 
 Grande, they dismounted and were scattered seeking 
 wood and water, when the scouts brought word that the ^ 
 Mexicans were approaching. The alarm was sounded ; 26.
 
 800 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, all flew to arms, and amid a din of shouts fell into ranks 
 .LIU. 
 
 as best they could. The Mexicans more than twelve 
 
 1846. hundred strong, and with a piece of artillery drew near ; 
 an officer bearing a black flag made his appearance, and 
 ill a magniloquent speech, declaring that no quarter would 
 be given, summoned the Missourians to surrender. Doni- 
 phan's answer was characteristic and defiant. 
 
 The Mexican cavalry extended far to the right and 
 left, while the infantry, firing volleys of musketry, ad- 
 vanced in front. Presently they came within rifle range, 
 and the backwoodsmen threw away scarcely a shot. The 
 whole body of the enemy broke and fled they lost nearly 
 two hundred men, killed and wounded, in a few minutes. 
 Only seven Americans were wounded. 
 
 Two days later Doniphan entered the beautiful vil- 
 lage of El Paso, " where a neat cultivation, a comfort- 
 able people, fields, orchards, and vineyards, and a 
 hospitable reception, offered the rest and refreshment 
 which toils, and dangers, and victory had won/' There 
 
 1847. he waited till artillery could join him from Santa Fe, and 
 I'^b. then commenced his march upon Chihuahua. 
 
 The Mexicans kept out of the way ; but after a march 
 of nineteen days it was ascertained that they had taken 
 position at a pass of the Sacramento, a small branch of 
 the Kio Grande. Here General Herredia made a stand 
 with a force of four thousand men, protected by intrench- 
 ments across the pass, and on the neighboring hills, but 
 defences were of little avail against men who never 
 hesitated to attack an enemy. Doniphan suddenly 
 diverted his route from the main road, forced his way 
 round to the flank of their advance, and before the Mexi- 
 cans could bring their guns to bear, he was in full play 
 upon them with his own artillery. Their cavalry as well 
 as artillery, fell back and retired across the river. Now 
 the mtrenchments were to be forced ; this was done in 
 true backwoods style. Each man rushed on and fought
 
 DON1PHAN TAKES POSSESSION OF CHIHOAHUA. 801 
 
 on his own responsibility ; some rode along the entrench- C ? T 4? 
 
 ments seeking a place to enter, while others dismounted 
 
 and crept up to pick off their defenders. The Mexicans 1847. 
 fled from the presence of their assailants, who leaped over 2 8 
 the works and secured every place within reach. Mean- 
 while a party of mounted volunteers crossed the river to 
 storni, on horseback, a battery which crowned the hill on 
 the opposite side. This singular engagement cost the 
 Mexicans three hundred killed and a greater number 
 wounded, while the Missourians lost but one killed, one 
 mortally wounded, and a few disabled. The enemy, com- 
 pletely routed, abandoned every thing ; the officers fled 
 toward the south, and the common soldiers to the moun- 
 tains. 
 
 The following day Doniphan, without opposition, 
 entered Chihuahua a city of nearly thirty thousand in- 
 habitants raised the American flag on its citadel, and, in 
 the name of his government, took possession of the pro- Mar. 
 vince. He was in a very perilous situation, with only a 
 thousand men, from among whom almost every vestige 
 of discipline had vanished. In this city were many 
 American merchants, most of whom were wealthy. 
 Doniphan's measures were prudent and just, and they 
 conciliated the inhabitants. 
 
 On the 27th of April he set out for Saltillo, where he April 
 arrived in a month without opposition, except from a few 
 Indians. From Saltillo he marched to Matamoras ; and 
 as the term of his men was about to expire, they were 
 taken to New Orleans and there discharged. 
 
 The most remarkable expedition on record. They had 
 passed over nearly five thousand miles, three thousand of 
 which was a march through an unknown and hostile 
 country swarming with foes. They returned in one year ; 
 no body of troops had ever in so short a time passed over 
 rfo much space or surmounted so many obstacles. 
 
 Fremont was the militarv commandant of California,
 
 802 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 c f IA .J >> under a ci mmission from Commodore Stockton. Soon 
 
 L1I1. 
 
 after the Commodore sailed from San Francisco to Mon- 
 
 1847. terey, and thence to San Diego. The recently established 
 * ug * government was placed in peril ; a deep laid plot was in 
 train, and only a favorable opportunity was wanting to 
 commence the insurrection. Fremont, by a rapid and 
 secret march of one hundred and fifty miles, surprised 
 and captured the main leader of the insurgents, Don J. 
 Pico, who had been a prisoner, and had violated his 
 parole. A court martial sentenced him to death. Fre- 
 mont remitted the sentence, and thus won Pico's influence 
 and aid in tranquilizing the country. He also endeavored 
 to conciliate the inhabitants, and made no attack upon 
 the hostile parties, which hovered around his march. He 
 came up with the main Mexican force, under Don An- 
 dreas Pico, brother of the one whon he had just pardoned. 
 He sent them a summons to surrender, and they agreed 
 to deliver up their artillery and promised to return to 
 their homes. They were not required to take the oath of 
 allegiance, until a treaty of peace should be concluded 
 between the United States and Mexico. 
 
 Dec. Commodore Stockton now learned of the approach of 
 General Kearney. The latter had experienced great 
 difficulties on his march ; attacked by the enemy, he was 
 placed in desperate circumstances at San Pasqual ; his 
 provisions gone, his horses dead, his mules disabled, and 
 most of his men sick, while the enemy in great numbers 
 completely surrounded his camp and held possession of all 
 the -roads. Three brave men Kit Carson, Lieutenant 
 Beales, of the Navy, and an Indian volunteered to find 
 their way to San Diego, thirty miles distant, and inform 
 Commodore Stockton of Kearney's peril. The Commo- 
 dore promptly sent assistance, at whose appearance the 
 enemy retired and Kearney was enabled to reach San 
 
 Jan- Die 3- 
 S. A mouth later took place the battle at the river San
 
 INSURRECTION QUELLED. 803 
 
 Gabriel. Then General Flores, chief of the insurgents, C I H | L I P - 
 
 sent a flag of truce, proposing a cessation of hostilities in . 
 
 California, and to let the sovereignty of the territory be 1348. 
 determined by the result of the war between the United 
 States and Mexico. Stockton refused to accede to the 
 request, and continued his march. Another flag of truce 
 came in. Now it was offered to surrender the town of 
 Los Angeles, if the rights of the people and their property 
 should be preserved. On these conditions the capital of 
 Upper California was surrendered a second time, and the 
 possession of the country more firmly established than 
 before the insurrection. 
 
 Difficulties now arose among the officers in relation to 
 the question who should be governor. But recent orders 
 from Washington relieved Stockton of his civil functions. Mir, 
 which devolved upon General Kearney as he happened to 
 be on the ground. In truth, the civil government was 
 only in name beyond the range of the' American cannon. 
 
 Fremont, however, refused to recognize the authority 
 of Kearney, and was brought to trial charged with diso- 
 bedience of orders and mutiny. The court found him 
 guilty and sentenced him to be dismissed from the ser- 
 vice. The President did not approve of all the findings 
 of the court ; but, because of " the peculiar circumstances 
 of the case and his previous meritorious and valuable ser- 
 vices/'" remitted the sentence and restored him to his rank 
 in the army. Fremont would not accept the clemency 
 of the President, and thus admit that the proceedings of 
 the court were just ; he at once resigned his commission. 
 In a few weeks he set out at his own expense on his fourth 
 tour of exploration in the Kocky Mountains.
 
 CHAPTEE LIV. 
 
 FOLK'S ADMINISTRATION CONCLUDED. 
 
 Movement of Troops. Vera Cruz invested. Its Bombardment and Capitu- 
 lation. Santa Anna's Energy. Battle of Cerro Gordo. General Scott 
 at Puebla. His Misunderstandings with the Authorities at Washing- 
 ton. Commissioner Trist. Dissensions in Mexico. Scott's Manifesto. 
 Reinforcements. Advance upon the Capital. El Penon turned. 
 Battle of Contreras ; of Cherubusco. Attempts to obtain Peace. 
 Conflict of Molino del Rev. The Castle of Chapultepec captured. The 
 American Army enters the City. Santa Anna again in the Field ; dis- 
 missed from the Mexican Service. Treaty of Peace. Its Conditions. 
 Evacuation of Mexico. Misunderstanding among the American Officers. 
 Discovery of Gold in California. The Effects. Death of John 
 Quincy Adams. The Wilmot Proviso. The Presidential Election. 
 
 CHAP. WHILE these events were in progress, plans were formed 
 
 J_ and partially executed to invade Mexico from, the east ; 
 
 1846. to secure Vera Cruz, the best harbor on the coast, and 
 then, if peace could not be obtained, to march upon the 
 capital itself. 
 
 Numerous delays impeded operations, and it was near 
 the end of November before General Scott left Washing- 
 ton for the seat of war. The quarter-master, General 
 Jessup, was already at New Orleans preparing transports 
 for the Troops ; and communications were held with Com- 
 modore Connor in relation to the co-operation of the fleet. 
 The troops, as already mentioned, drawn from Taylor's 
 command, were speedily concentrated at convenient points 
 on the coast, but the want of transports prevented their 
 embarkation. The place of rendezvous was at the island
 
 VERA CRUZ INVESTED. FOt) 
 
 of Lobos, about one hundred and twenty-five miles north CHAP 
 
 of Vera Cruz. At length the transports were ready, the L. 
 
 troops, about twelve thousand strong, embarked, and, on 1U7. 
 the morning of the 9th of March, began to land near 
 Vera Cruz. No enemy appeared to dispute the move- 
 ment. 
 
 That city contained about fifteen thousand inhabitants. 
 It was protected on its land side by numerous defences, 
 while on the side of the Gulf, upon a reef, stood the 
 Castle of San Juan d'Ulloa, garrisoned by a thousand 
 men, who manned one hundred and twenty-eight heavy 
 guns ; the strongest fortification on the continent, with 
 the exception of Quebec. 
 
 The next morning General Worth was ordered to com- 
 mence the line of investment, which extended nearly six 
 miles. The Mexicans appeared to oppose, but a few 
 shots from the cannon dispersed them. The weather was 
 excessively hot and sultry, and the march through the 
 deep sand laborious and tedious. 
 
 The Governor of the State of Vera Cruz now issued a 
 proclamation, calling upon the inhabitants of the town to 
 defend themselves, while he should retire to harass the 
 invaders and cut off their supplies. He soon appeared 
 among the sand hills, but after a short skirmish, he 
 thought it prudent to keep out of sight. The cannonad- 
 ing from the town and castle was incessant, but without 
 much execution, owing to the distance. The men kept 
 close in their trenches and did not reply. The munitions 
 which had recently arrived were now landed, and the 
 Americans were ready to commence the bombardment. 
 General Scott summoned the city to surrender, stipulating, 
 in order to save the lives and property of the inhabitants, 
 that no batteries should be placed in the town to attack 
 the Castle, unless the latter fired upon the Americans. 
 General Morales, the commander of both the city and 
 castle refused to comply with the summons.
 
 806 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 C i H iy F ^ ^ ' c l c k m the afternoon the bombardment com- 
 
 menced. The Mexicans replied with every gun and 
 
 1847. mortar that could be brought to bear from the city and 
 oljjj 1 ' castle. Some of the smaller American vessels crept near 
 and with their heavy guns added to the uproar ; thuw 
 through the night the contest lasted. Other guns were 
 brought, and other batteries erected within a thousand 
 yards of the devoted city. They were hidden behind the 
 chaparral ; this was cleared away, and revealed to the 
 besieged a new foe the battery of Paixhan guns. Their 
 astonishment was great ; upon this new enemy who had 
 dared to take position so near, they resolutely directed all 
 their force for many hours. They fired rapidly and with 
 precision, but failed to silence this battery. 
 
 How terrific was this storm ! Twenty-one heavy 
 guns pouring forth an incessant stream of balls and shells ; 
 the heavy shot broke through the solid walls and crashed 
 through the houses, while the shells, still more terrible, 
 scattered ruin and death in the streets, and burned every 
 building that would burn. With scarcely any intermis- 
 sion, for four days this horrid work continued. The in- 
 habitants, to be out of range, left their homes, and help- 
 lessly crowded upon the mole at the north part of the 
 town, but ere long the balls began to come nearer and 
 nearer. For twelve days the town had been invested, and 
 its provisions were now nearly exhausted. The foreign 
 residents implored their consuls to aid them. The latter 
 obtained permission of Morales to send a flag of truce to 
 General Scott. They asked a cessation of hostilities till 
 the foreigners, with their families, and the Mexican 
 . women and children could leave the place. The request 
 was properly refused, on the ground that permission had 
 once been offered the foreign residents to leave the town, 
 and that the petition to receive attention must come 
 from the Mexican governor. 
 
 The American batteries re-opened as soon as the fl:ig
 
 VERA CRUZ CAPITULATES MARCH ON JALAPA. 807 
 
 entered the city, and continued during the night. At OHAP. 
 
 break of day another flag was seen approaching. The '_ 
 
 firing ceased. Negotiations commenced, and were ter- 1847. 
 minated by the surrender of Vera Cruz, the Castle, the 
 armaments and stores of each, and the soldiers as prison- 
 ers of war. These terms were agreed to by General Scott 
 and Commodore Perry, who was in command of the 
 squadron. The soldiers were to march out, with the 
 honors of war, lay down their arms and be dismissed on Mar. 
 their parole. The inhabitants were guaranteed in their 29< 
 civil and religious rights. 
 
 General Worth was appointed governor of Yera Cruz. April 
 The advance division, under General Twiggs, soon com- 
 menced the marcb for the city of Mexico by way of Jalapa. 
 The whole army amounted to only eight thousand five 
 hundred men, but there preceded them an influence, that 
 threw a shadow of despondency over the minds of the 
 Mexicans. 
 
 Santa Anna had been very active since his defeat at 
 Buena Vista, (which he labored hard to prove to his 
 countrymen was not a defeat at all ; he only retreated for 
 want of provisions,) in collecting another army, and he 
 had already arrived with twelve thousand men at Cerro 
 Gordo, a mountain pass at the eastern edge of the Cor- 
 dilleras. In the midst of revolutions and distractions, he 
 marched to this, the first of the " Thermopylae s," which 
 he promised his countrymen to defend. Within two 
 months after a disastrous defeat, without money, without 
 the prestige of success, he had quelled an insurrection and 
 established his own power, raised an army, portions of 
 which had marched from three hundred to six hundred 
 miles ; had constructed the fortifications at Cerro Gordo, 
 and made a ditch twejve miles long to supply the camp 
 with watei.
 
 808 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 C HAP. The positions of the Mexicans were reconnoitred, and 
 the attack commenced by the division under General 
 
 1847. Twiggs, sent to turn their position. Presently the whole 
 j^ ri front was assailed. The Americans seized another hill, 
 El Telegrapho, up the sides of which they dragged heavy 
 cannon, and began to play upon the defences of Cerro 
 Gordo. The Mexicans replied with great vigor. During 
 this mutual cannonade, Colonel Harney led his men rapidly 
 down into the valley between the hills, and began to ascend 
 the slope toward the defences on the top. The declivity 
 was steep and rugged, and soon the entire fire of the battery 
 was directed against these new assailants, but fortunately 
 the balls for the most part passed over their heads. But 
 without wavering they pressed up, carried one breastwork 
 after another, until they presented themselves at the last, 
 the strongest on the summit. Santa Anna, a short hour 
 before, had ordered General Vasquez to defend this post 
 to the last extremity, and he bravely stood his ground, 
 and fell while encouraging his men ; confusion ensued, 
 and the struggle was soon ended. The Americans poured 
 in a stream of balls, forced their way through the breast- 
 work, and then charged with the bayonet. The garrison 
 fled down the western slope in the direction of Jalapa. 
 Twiggs had passed round the hill, their retreat was cut ofl 
 and they made prisoners. At this moment Santa Anna 
 returned. He was enraged beyond bounds at seeing the 
 discomfiture of his troops in a position which he was cer- 
 tain could have been maintained. He ordered General 
 Canalize to charge up the hill and re-capture Cerro Gordo ; 
 the latter absolutely refused to obey, but led off his 
 cavalry. Then Santa Anna mounted a mule taken from 
 his carriage, and fled, leaving as trophies to his enemies 
 his travelling equipage and his private papers. 
 
 The Mexican army was annihilated and scattered 11? 
 all directions ; they had lost more than a thousand men, 
 killed and wounded, three thousand prisoners, five
 
 THE VOLUNTEERS RETURN HOME. 809 
 
 generals, all their artillery and military stores. This was C j H A p< 
 
 not obtained without a severe loss to the invaders, who, 
 
 in their rash and headlong charges in the face of batteries, 1847 
 and well protected musketeers, had lost four hundred and 
 thirty-one, killed and wounded, of whom thirty-three were 
 officers. 
 
 Possession was taken of Jalapa, three days later of A P nl 
 Perote. a stronghold on the summit of the Cordilleras, 
 which was abandoned almost without a struggle, and 
 then of the city of Puebla containing eighty thousand 
 inhabitants. At the latter city General Scott established ^ 
 his head-quarters. 15. 
 
 The volunteers' term of enlistments would expire in 
 one month. They refused to re-enlist, but urged that 
 they should be permitted to return to the United States, 
 and there be disbanded, rather than on the soil of Mexico. 
 They greatly dreaded the vomito, or yellow fever, as the 
 season in which it was most severe was near at hand. 
 Though they had no claims to be thus dismissed, General 
 Scott indulged them, as it would be impossible to secure 
 the capital, if the volunteers insisted on returning home 
 at the end of their term of enlistments. Thus situated 
 he was forced to remain inactive three months, till re-in- Aug 
 forcements arrived from the United States. 16 
 
 During this interval several circumstances occurred 
 which embarrassed the General-in-Chief s movements as 
 well as disturbed his equanimity. First was the effort 
 made, as he thought, to degrade him from his position in 
 the army. This was to be accomplished by appointing 
 over him a Lieutenant-General, a rank never held in the 
 service except by Washington. The measure failed to 
 pass the Senate. The same end was apparently aimed at 
 in another measure by which power was given the Presi- 
 dent to appoint officers to any position in the army, 
 without regard to their previous rank.
 
 810 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 C uv P ' Instead of money to buy provisions, came an order 
 
 from the Secretary of War to authorize the collection oi 
 
 1847. duties levied on merchandise entering the Mexican ports. 
 In the same communication was another order to levy 
 contributions upon the Mexican people. This Scott ab- 
 solutely refused to obey, as General Taylor had also done, 
 giving as a reason the poverty of that part of the country. 
 Says Scott in a letter to the Secretary : " If it is expected 
 at Washington, as is now apprehended, that this army is 
 to support itself by forced contributions upon the country, 
 we may ruin and exasperate the inhabitants and starve 
 ourselves ; for it is certain they would sooner remove or 
 destroy the products of their farms, than allow them to 
 fall into our hands without compensation. Not a ration 
 for man or horse would be brought in except by the 
 bayonet, which would oblige the troops to spread them- 
 selves out many leagues to the right and left in search of 
 subsistence, and stop all military operations." ' And he 
 continued to buy provisions for the army at the regular 
 prices of the country, and thus did much to allay a rising 
 feeling of hatred toward the Americans. 
 
 The Secretary had given as a reason for this order, 
 that the Mexican people thus laid under contribution, 
 and compelled to bear the expenses of the war, would soon 
 become willing to conclude a treaty of peace. This might 
 apply to the public revenues, and that part of the order 
 the General took measures to have complied with. 
 
 Other difficulties arose. After the capture of Vera 
 Cruz General Scott suggested to the President the send- 
 ing of commissioners to head-quarters to treat for peace, 
 should an opportunity occur. For this important duty, 
 the president appointed Mr. N. P. Trist, whose qualifica- 
 tions were that he had been Consul at Havana, could 
 
 1 Gen. Scott's letter to the Sc. of War, as quoted by Ripley, Vol. ii., p. 95.
 
 INSTRUCTIONS OF COMMISSIONER TRIST. 811 
 
 speak Spanish and professed to understand the Mexican CHAP. 
 
 character, his skill as a diplomatist could be inferred only _J 1 
 
 from the fact that he was " Chief Clerk " in the State 1847. 
 Department. Having in his possession the draft of a 
 treaty fully drawn out at the department of State, he left 
 Washington and arrived at Vera Cruz. He also bore a May 
 despatch from the Secretary of State, Mr. Buchanan, to 
 the Mexican Minister of Foreign Relations. The plan of 
 the treaty and his instructions he was directed to make 
 known confidentially both to General Scott and Commo- 
 dore Perry. The Secretary of War, Mr. Marcy, wrote to 
 the General-in-Chief, informing him of the mission, but in 
 general terms, and directed him to suspend active mili- 
 tary operations till further orders, unless he was attacked. 
 
 Instead of making known to General Scott the designs 
 of his mission as directed, Mr. Trist sent a short note to 
 head-quarters from Vera Cruz, and transmitted the sealed 
 despatch to be forwarded to the Mexican Minister, and 
 the letter from Secretary Marcy ; the latter could not be 
 understood without the explanations which Mr. Trist 
 alone could give. The general could only see in this an 
 undtrhand attempt to degrade him by making him in 
 some way subordinate to the " Chief Clerk." However, 
 in a few days he wrote to Mr. Trist, what he knew of the 
 views of the Mexican people and government in relation 
 to a treaty of peace, to which at present they were op- 
 posed. In conclusion, he remarked, that the suspension of 
 hostilities belonged properly to the military commander 
 on the field, and not to a Secretary of War a thousand 
 miles distant. 
 
 In reply Trist gave full explanation of his mission, but 
 in disrespectful and arrogant terms, assumed to be the 
 aide-de-camp of the President, and in that capacity to 
 order the General-in-Chief. ' This correspondence led to 
 
 1 Ripley's War with Mexico, Vol. ii., pp. 100, 147.
 
 812 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, much harsh feeling and retarded the advancement of the 
 
 cause. At length explanations in relation to the com- 
 
 1847. rnissioner of peace came to the general from the authori- 
 ties at Washington. The Secretary of State severely 
 censured Mr. Trist " for his presuming to command the 
 General-in-Chief." 
 
 Santa Anna fled from Cerro Gordo to Orizaba, where 
 he remained some time to organize bands of guerillas to 
 harass the American trains, which would be on their 
 way from Vera Cruz. Afterward he returned to Mexico 
 to find his popularity on the wane. For a time the Mexi- 
 cans were paralyzed with consternation. Their army on 
 which they had depended so much had been totally routed 
 at Cerro Gordo. The invincible enemy was pressing on ; 
 not a barrier intervened between them and the capital. 
 The city was filled with factions ; the national councils 
 were divided ; ambitious men forgot their patriotism in 
 their desire for self-aggrandizement. The treasury was 
 bankrupt, its only resource forced loans! Yet in the face 
 of all these difficulties, Santa Anna did succeed in raising 
 an army of twenty-five thousand men with sixty pieces of 
 artillery, and in having the city fortified. After all he 
 was the best commander the nation could afford, and the 
 soldiers once more put themselves under his direction, to 
 repel the invaders of their country and their sacred homes. 
 They did not flock to his standard from a prestige of vic- 
 tory, for even when his boasts were still ringing in their 
 ears, he had been ignominiously defeated ; nor were they 
 induced by the confidence reposed in the integrity of a 
 great and good man, to whom, as if to a superior being, 
 the multitude turn in time*? of great peril ; but from sheer 
 necessity. 
 
 Santa Anna understood the Mexican character. By 
 intrigue and the exercise of a vigorous arm, he seized 
 property, and imprisoned or banished his opponents ; by pre-
 
 PROCLAMATION TO THE MEXICAN PEOPLE. 813 
 
 tending to be desirous of peace he gained time, and dis- C L W > - 
 
 honestly entered upon negotiations ; offered himself to be 
 
 bribed, and was accepted. His plans were cunningly de- 1847. 
 vised : if they succeeded, the glory would all redound to 
 his name ; if they failed, the censure could be thrown 
 upon others. 
 
 Thus he employed the three months that General 
 Scott was forced to wait for the arrival of reinforcements. 
 Had the volunteers consented to remain in the service six 
 months longer, in all probability the capture of Mexico 
 and a treaty of peace would have ended the campaign, 
 and the blood spared which was shed in such profusion in 
 the subsequent conflicts. 
 
 When at Jalapa General Scott issued a proclamation April 
 to the people of Mexico. This manifesto, in its tone aad 20 * 
 spirit, was well adapted to the state of affairs of the 
 country, in showing that the true policy of the Mexican 
 people was to conclude a treaty on the liberal terms 
 offered by the government of the United States. The 
 proclamation was issued at the instance of several Mexi- 
 can gentlemen of influence, one of whom composed it in 
 original Spanish, as it was dictated by the general. It 
 was well received by the people in the country ; but 
 Santa Anna captured a courier, who was bearing copies 
 of it to the capital. He at once discovered by the style 
 that it was not a translation, and he proclaimed with his 
 usual virtuous indignation, that it was the production of 
 some Mexican traitor, and thus neutralized its effects on 
 the people of the city. 
 
 At this time, he had by secret agents intimated to 
 Mr. Trist that he was desirous of peace, and plainly that 
 money would be still more acceptable : if a million of 
 dollars were placed at his disposal something might be 
 done. That this proposition might be considered, a re- June 
 conciliation took place between the general and the com- 25.
 
 814 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, missioner ; as neither could well act without the dther 
 
 General Pillow, who had just arrived at Puebla, was aisc 
 
 1847. admitted to these conferences. He was a particular 
 friend of the President, and, owing to the " informal and 
 confidential request " sent from Washington, this partici- 
 pation was granted. Communications were continued 
 with Santa Anna, but with no more important result 
 than that the latter received ten thousand dollars of the 
 secret service money at the disposal of General Scott. 
 
 As might have been anticipated, it was soon seen that 
 Santa Anna's only object was to obtain money and gain 
 time, and General Scott made preparations to advance 
 upon the city as soon as the reinforcements under Briga- 
 dier-General Franklin Pierce would arrive from Vera 
 Cruz. Meantime, the way to the city had been thoroughly 
 reconnoitred, and General Worth sent forward with the 
 first division. The whole army consisted of not more 
 than ten thousand men, as great numbers had been left in 
 the hospitals at Perote. 
 
 The region through which they marched was a high 
 table land beautiful in the extreme, well watered, inter- 
 spersed with valleys and mountains, whose slopes were 
 covered with the richest verdure, while in the distance 
 their snow-capped summits glittered in the bright sun- 
 shine of August. Almost from the same spot where more 
 than three hundred years before Cortez and his followers 
 viewed the distant temples of the city of Montezuma, the 
 Americans hailed with cheers the city of Mexico. 
 
 The passes on the direct route had been well fortified, 
 and were well garrisoned in the confident expectation 
 that their positions could not be turned. The strongest 
 of these was El Penon, to capture which the American 
 engineers stated would require the loss of three thousand 
 lives. General Scott was proverbially careful of the lives 
 of his soldiers; the sacrifice must be avoided. The vicinity 
 of the city was reconnoitred in the most daring manner :
 
 EL PENON TURNED BATTLE OF CONTRERAS. 815 
 
 and it was discovered that the defences south and west CHAP 
 were not so strongly fortified. '_ 
 
 The general diverted his course to the left and turned 1847. 
 El Penon on the south side, and under the direction of 
 skilful engineers crossed chasms and ravines deemed im- 
 passable, and therefore but imperfectly guarded. General 
 Twiggs led the advance, and encamped at Chalco on the 
 lake of the same name. Worth followed, took the lead, 
 and with his division halted at the town of San Augus- Aug. 
 tin, about eight miles from the city. In his front was 1/ ^ 
 the strong fortress of San Antonio, now the head-quarters 
 of Santa Anna, who left El Penon, when he found that 
 the Americans were on their march round to the south 
 side of the city. North-west of San Antonio and four 
 miles from the city was the village of Churubusco, ren- 
 dered strong by a series of intrenchments. Not far to 
 the west of the village of San Augustin was the fortified 
 camp of Contreras, which contained six thousand men ;-in 
 the rear between the camp and the city were placed twelve 
 thousand men in reserve. The whole number of Mexi- 
 cans in these various defences was about thirty-five 
 thousand, with nearly one hundred pieces of artillery of 
 various sizes. 
 
 General Persifer JF. Smith proposed to attack the 
 camp at Contreras, which was under the command of 
 General Valencia. The night had been one of cold rain 
 and storm and intense darkness, except when enlivened 
 by the fitful glare of the lightning. At three o'clock Aaft 
 in the morning, the expedition set out ; the soldiers, lest 19- 
 they should become separated on the march, were directed 
 to take hold of each other at sunrise the conflict com- 
 menced. The Mexicans were but partially surprised, 
 still the impetuous attack effectually routed them ; three 
 thousand of their number were made prisoners, eighty 
 officers and thirty-five pieces of artillery. Among the 
 latter were two pieces taken at Buena Vista, now recap-
 
 816 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, tured by a portion of tne regiment to which they originally 
 
 belonged. Thus commenced this eventful day severer 
 
 1847. conflicts were yet to come. 
 
 Generals Shields and Pierce had, during the night, 
 thrown their divisions between Santa Anna and Contreras. 
 The fugitives from the latter place had fled to Churu- 
 busco, and there fresh troops had also arrived from the 
 city ; it seemed from the preparations, that here a des- 
 perate defence was to be made. 
 
 A convent, a very strong stone building, was well for- 
 tified and pierced for muskets and cannon, also the head 
 of the bridge over the river was well defended. 
 
 In an hour or two General Scott arrived ; as he rode 
 along through the army he was received with hearty cheers. 
 The morning's success had filled the soldiers with en- 
 thusiasm, and they hoped on that day to end the war. 
 
 Santa Anna himself was busily engaged in arranging 
 his men beyond the Churubusco River whose banks were 
 lined with the maguey plant, which shielded nearly all his 
 force from view. 
 
 The rain of the previous night had flooded the low- 
 lands in the vicinity ; the fortifications were masked by 
 trees and fields of corn ; the latter flooded, and every 
 part well known to the enemy, whose guns were so ar- 
 ranged as to sweep them perfectly. When the Americans 
 commenced the attack, their officers, in the face of these 
 batteries, would advance and reconnoitre the ground, then 
 the men would march up to that point, the officers would 
 again advance, and the same process be repeated. During 
 this time the cannon balls from the unseen enemy came 
 crashing through the corn, the men and officers fell rapidly, 
 yet as if impelled by some all powerful influence, they 
 moved steadily on until the works of Churubusco were in 
 their hands. 
 
 General Scott sent round to the other side a division 
 under General Pillow ; they waded through the mud and
 
 BATTLE OF CHURUBUSCO. 817 
 
 water, in some instances waist deep, before they could 
 reach the enemy. Several companies were entirely broken _ . 
 up, Captain Taylor's artillery men were cut up, his horses 1847. 
 killed, when suddenly the Mexicans rushed out of the 
 convent to charge ; but at this moment a company of 
 A.merican infantry came up and repulsed the assailants. 
 
 The ground was intersected by causeways, and it was 
 impossible to preserve military order ; also owing to their 
 ignorance of the position of the enemy, as well as their 
 own, the Americans were constantly in danger of firing 
 upon their own friends. The battle raged in every direc- 
 tion. General Worth carried San Antonio, and General 
 Twiggs Another fortress. The Mexicans fought bravely, 
 they were more than three to one of their foes, and they 
 made every effort to repel them. 
 
 For two hours the battle had raged. The smoke 
 completely enshrouded the position of the Mexicans. 
 The roar of their twenty thousand muskets seemed to 
 drown the noise of the artillery, and to render the din of 
 the conflict peculiarly terrific. 
 
 The Americans could but feel their way through the 
 corn, and across causeways and ditches, ignorant at what 
 moment they might come upon concealed batteries. At 
 length a party were enabled to cross the river Churubusco, 
 and presented themselves in the rear of the enemy, at the 
 same moment Worth's division emerged from the corn- 
 fields in their front ; those in the rear rushed across 
 ditches and over the parapets and carried the works, 
 while the Mexicans at the head of the bridge abandoned 
 it ; their guns were immediately seized and turned upon 
 them. Both divisions pressed forward with the bayonet, 
 the Mexicans recoiled in confusion, and finally fled ; the 
 dragoons pursuing them to the very gates of the city. 
 
 The victory was won, but it had cost the Americans 
 dear ; a thousand had fallen or been disabled, among 
 these were seventy-six officers. The coolness, the in-
 
 818 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 C ?j^?' domitable courage and perseverance of both men and 
 
 officers were never better displayed. The ground was 
 
 1847. unknown, and they were thrown upon their own resources ; 
 there was no wavering ; each one performed his part, and 
 adapted himself to the emergency. In no battle did the 
 Mexicans fight better ; they struggled hard, and the num- 
 ber of their slain and wounded and missing nearly seven 
 thousand testifies that they were brave. 
 
 Santa Anna fled to the city. The night after the 
 battle several persons connected with the British embassy 
 in Mexico appeared at the American head-quarters, and 
 informed General Scott that the Mexican authorities were 
 disposed to conclude a peace, and advised that the capital 
 should not be assaulted, lest the members of the govern- 
 ment should be dispersed, and leave no acknowledged 
 authority to enter upon negotiations. 
 
 A flag of truce came the next day and presented the 
 request for hostilities to cease preparatory to negotiating 
 a treaty. In accordance with this request, and the repre- 
 sentations made the previous evening, Mr. Trist went 
 to the capital and presented his conditions of peace the 
 same drawn up at Washington. After protracted delays, 
 evidently designed to gain time, the Mexican commis- 
 sioners announced that they would not accede to these 
 conditions, and in turn they proposed others, which they 
 well knew would not be acceptable. 
 
 Sept. Mr. Trist returned with this intelligence, and also that 
 5 ' contrary to the terms of the armistice, Santa Anna was 
 fortifying the city, and in other respects had violated his 
 pledges. 
 
 Indignant at the continued treachery, General Scott 
 now ordered the army to march upon the capital. 
 
 On the way were two strong positions : the one Molino 
 del Bey, (the King's Mill,) a fqundry, where, it was said, 
 the bells of the churches were being rapidly converted into 
 cannon ; near by was the strong castle of Chapultepec,
 
 CAPTURE OF MOLING DEL RET. 819 
 
 which could not be turned, but must be taken, lefore the CHAP. 
 city could be reached. 1. 
 
 It was resolved to capture Molino del Key ; and at 1847. 
 three in the morning General Worth sent forward the S ^ pfc ' 
 different corps of his division to commence the attack at 
 dawn of day. While it was yet dark, the two twenty- 
 four pounders opened and sent their balls through the 
 walls of masonry. There was no reply, and it was thought 
 the Mexicans had abandoned the building. Instead, they 
 had changed their position during the night, and now had 
 their guns in readiness to pour grape and round shot upon 
 the flank of the advancing Americans. From the mani- 
 fest preparations, it is thought, Santa Anna, who was on 
 the ground, knew of the intended attack. His advantages 
 in number and position were great, and when his guns 
 opened, their effect was terrible. In a few minutes the 
 front of the American advance was cut down ; of fourteen 
 officers, eleven were either killed or wounded, and a like 
 proportion of the men. The company was forced to fall 
 back, and the Mexicans, as usual, with savage ferocity, 
 rushed out and murdered all the wounded they could find. 
 
 Worth ordered forward other companies, and these 
 were seconded by another brigade, who vigorously attacked 
 the Mexican flank. Though exposed to a cross fire which 
 did fearful execution, these all fought desperately ; it would 
 seem that the idea of retreating from the face of such 
 overwhelming odds, never occurred to them ; they held on 
 and steadily advanced. 
 
 Presently General Leon himself headed a strong sortie 
 from the Molino del Bey, but it was driven back; Leon 
 was mortally wounded, and several officers of high rank 
 were slain. The attack was continued in a desultory 
 manner, the assailants sought in various ways to gain 
 access to the enemy ; they crept along the sides and fired 
 into the apertures, climbed to the top of the building and 
 tore down the walls with their hands or pritd the stones
 
 820 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 loose with their bayonets. At length they broke through 
 the southern gate, and rushing in with loud shouts engaged 
 
 1847. in close combat. The Mexicans did not yield, but con- 
 tinued to fire upon them, from the building into the 
 courtyards. The Americans burst open door after door, 
 reached the roof, and with the bayonet met the enemy 
 hand to hand. In a few minutes the north-west gate was 
 in like manner forced. A portion of the Mexicans held 
 out a white flag in token of surrender, while others mado 
 their way to Chapultepec. 
 
 This has been deemed the hardest contested conflict 
 of the entire war. The enemy were in numbers three to 
 one, and in a strong position. After the commencement 
 of the attack, the Americans had scarcely any aid from 
 their heavy cannon, but were forced to depend upon their 
 rifles and muskets. Still they carried the place, and 
 captured eight hundred prisoners, and lost themselves 
 seven hundred and eighty-seven killed and wounded, of 
 whom fifty-nine were officers nearly one-fourth of the 
 whole number engaged in the battle. The loss of so many 
 brave men shed a gloom over the entire army. 
 
 The Castle of Chapultepec stood on a high and preci- 
 pitous hill, very steep and rocky, on the south side toward 
 the Americans ; on the west the slope was more gradual. 
 but covered with dense woods and rough with rocks. 
 Here, shielded by these, was a large force of Mexicans. 
 
 At the earliest dawn the full force of the American 
 
 cannon was concentrated upon the walls of the castlej 
 
 Bept. and at the west side, storming parties were waiting anx- 
 
 13> iously for a breach to be made, by which they might 
 
 carry it by assault. They groped their way from tree to 
 
 tree and rock to rock, driving the Mexicans before them. 
 
 when suddenly, on the crest of the hill, the whole force 
 
 came out on the open space in the presence of ram 
 
 parts frowning with cannon and musketry. They ap-
 
 CASTLE OF CHAPULTEPEC TAKEN. 821 
 
 preached cautiously, returning only a few shots, but still CHAP 
 
 drawing nearer and nearer. Presently an ensign bearing 
 
 the standard of his regiment, rushed forward to the ram- 1S47. 
 part, a shout arose, and a few followed with ladders, 
 placed them against the wall and with a cheer bounded 
 over. The Mexicans, taken by surprise, stood but a few 
 minutes, then scrambled over the side and down the 
 precipitous rocks out of danger. This was the only in- 
 stance during the war where the Americans so far forgot 
 themselves as not to cease their fire at the submission of 
 the foe, and even now it continued only for a few minutes. 
 Their provocations had been great. Only a few days be- 
 fore, as on every other occasion, they had seen their 
 wounded companions, found on the field of battle, barba- 
 rously murdered by the Mexicans. The exulting shouts, 
 the disregard of discipline, which continued for an hour, 
 only manifested the deep emotions which prevailed. 
 
 The castle was a mass of ruins ; so effective had been 
 the shots and shells, that it was battered to pieces. Here 
 had been the national military school, and here the young 
 students had bravely stood their ground. All of their 
 number, who were not slain, were taken prisoners, with the 
 aged General Bravo their commander. 
 
 While the conflict was in progress General Quitman 
 was engaged in capturing the defences thrown over the 
 causeways which led through a marsh a lake in the days 
 of Cortez to the city. They were taken in succession ; 
 each one gave more or less resistance. At nightfall the 
 Mexicans were driven within the city, and the Americans 
 held two of its gates. 
 
 At midnight commissioners came with propositions of 
 peace, and to surrender the city ; they stated that Santa 
 Anna was marching out with his army. General Scott 
 refused to listen again to terms of accommodation ; when 
 his kindness of feeling had prompted him to offer them 
 peace, he had been grossly deceived. The following morn-
 
 822 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. ing ? w jth six thousand men, he marched into the city, 
 
 drew up his army upon the great plaza, and hoisted the 
 
 1847. stars and stripes over the National Palace. 
 ^' For several days the troops were occasionally fired 
 upon from windows and the tops of houses ; the work, it 
 was said, of convicts, two thousand of whom had just been 
 liberated ; but stringent measures were taken to insure 
 safety. 
 
 Santa Anna, with three or four thousand troops, had 
 gone toward Puebla. He devolved his authority upon 
 Pena y Pena, the President of the Supreme Court of 
 Justice. The other prominent Mexicans went in different 
 directions. 
 
 Colonel Childs had been . left in command at Puebla 
 with a small garrison, only five hundred men, to protect 
 eighteen hundred sick and disabled American soldiers. 
 The Mexicans, encouraged by false reports of success at 
 the capital, made frequent desultory attacks upon the 
 garrison, but by great exertions Colonel Childs held them 
 Sept. at bay for nine days, when Santa Anna, with a remnant 
 some four or five thousand of his discomfited army, 
 appeared, and in a pompous manner summoned Childs to 
 surrender. The summons was disregarded. The Mexi- 
 can chief blockaded the town for seven days and then 
 marched to intercept a train, on its way from Vera Cruz. 
 General Lane was in command of this convoy troops from 
 Taylor's army, composed of Indiana and Ohio volunteers. 
 
 Santa Anna took position at Huamantla, a town some 
 
 miles north of the main pass El Pinal, intending to attack 
 
 the Americans when they should become entangled in the 
 
 defile. But Lane was not thus to be entrapped. He at 
 
 once set out, surprised Santa Anna himself, and compelled 
 
 him, after some loss, to abandon the town. The train 
 
 _ unmolested moved on the following day to Puebla, and 
 
 8. the garrison, after a month's siege, was relieved.
 
 TREATY OF PEACE CONCLUDED. 823 
 
 Within ten days it was ascertained that Santa Anna pH-^P. 
 
 was concentrating another force at Alixo. Lane, by a 
 
 forced march, suddenly fell upon them, and dispersed 1847. 
 them beyond recovery. Almost immediately after his 
 failure to prevent the capture of the city of Mexico, Santa 
 Anna resigned the presidency of the republic, but still 
 retained his office as commander-in-chief of the Mexican 
 armies. Now he was mortified to receive a note from 
 Senor Kosa, the Minister of War, informing him that his 
 services were no longer required by the government, which 
 had just been inaugurated. He took the hint, and was 
 soon on his way to the Gulf Coast, thence to the West 
 Indies to be ere long again engaged in intrigues to disturb 
 his unfortunate country, 
 
 In a few weeks after the capture of the city of Mexico, 
 the seat of government was removed to Queretaro. Soon 
 after members for a new Congress were elected, and that 
 body commenced its session. At the town of Guadalupe 
 Hidalgo, commissioners and Mr. Trist were negotiating a 
 treaty of peace. It was concluded on the 2d of February, 1848< 
 and now it only remained to be ratified by the authorities 
 at Washington to formally close the war, which, from the ^ y 
 battle of Palo Alto to the capture of the city of Mexico, 1846 
 had lasted one year and five months. Sept. 
 
 In this brief period, armies, of their own free will, had 184r ' 7 
 nocked to the standard of their country ; had been organ- 
 ized, had marched into a foreign land, dissimilar to their 
 own in climate and in feature, some across deserts and 
 through districts infected with direful disease, others in 
 mid-winter passed over untrodden mountains, covered 
 with snow, and then in turn over arid plains, and met 
 the enemy in conflict many hundreds of miles from their 
 homes, while fleets were fitted out, which swept round 
 Cape Horn, and were in time to perform their part. The 
 rapidity with which cannon were manufactured and mu-
 
 #24 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, nitions of war prepared and transported to the scene of 
 
 LIV. , i 
 
 action, was astonishing. 
 
 1847. 
 
 During the time of the occupation of the city of 
 Mexico, difficulties arose between some of the officers of 
 the army. From misunderstandings hasty charges were 
 made, and recriminations followed. Two of the officers, 
 Pillow and Worth, made charges against the General-in- 
 Chief, and he ordered them under arrest for insubordina- 
 tion. -They appealed to the War Department, and made 
 representations, in consequence of which the venerable 
 commander, who had been a worthy leader from Lundy's 
 Lane to Mexico, was superseded by an order from Wash- 
 ington, and the temporary command given to another. 
 Subsequently the charges were virtually withdrawn, and 
 they resumed their respective ranks. It is not expedient 
 to go into detail ; let the matter sink into oblivion. But 
 never before and may it never be again in the history 
 of the country, when its interests were so deeply involved, 
 did the terms of " party/' democrat or whig, of " friends " 
 or " opponents " of the " administration/' have so much 
 influence. 
 
 Certainly, in truth it has been said, that those who 
 served their country well in this war fared badly. Taylor, 
 who was victorious from Palo Alto to Buena Vista, was 
 quarrelled with ; Scott, who marched triumphant from 
 Vera Cruz to Mexico, was superseded ; Fremont, who 
 secured California, was court-martialled, and Trist, who 
 made the treaty, which secured the objects of the war, 
 was recalled and dismissed. 
 
 The war had been an unceasing source of disappoint- 
 ment to those whose measures brought it on. Santa 
 Anna, who was to have been a harbinger of peace, had to 
 be beaten from point to point, and not until he was 
 finally driven from power did those of his countrymen, 
 who were in fav or of an amicable arrangement, dare to act
 
 DISCOVERT OF GOLD IN CALIFORNIA. 825 
 
 When the commissioners, appointed by the President cnA , p - 
 
 to supersede Trist, arrived at Mexico, they found the treaty L. 
 
 negotiated and signed by the parties. In substance it was 1848. 
 the same that had been prepared by the Cabinet. When 
 brought to Washington it was at once laid before the 
 Senate, and after a short discussion ratified. The Presi- 
 dent by proclamation, on the 4th of July, 1848, made 
 known to the nation that the war was at an end, and a 
 satisfactory treaty had been concluded. 
 
 New Mexico and Upper California were ceded to the 
 United States, and the lower Kio Grande, from its mouth 
 to El Paso, was taken as the boundary of Texas. Mexico 
 was to receive fifteen millions of dollars ; the claims of 
 American citizens against her amounting to three and a 
 quarter millions of dollars were assumed by the United 
 States. In a few months not an American soldier was on 
 Mexican soil. 
 
 On the 4th of July, 1845, the annexation of Texas 
 was consummated ; and thus within three years a territory 
 four times as large as France, had been added to the 
 United States regions hitherto imperfectly known, but 
 having in store the elements of great wealth. 
 
 At the very time that the commissioners were nego- 
 tiating the treaty, a laborer engaged at work upon a mill- 
 race belonging to Captain Sutter, on one of the tributaries 
 of the Sacramento river, noticed in the sand some shining 
 particles. They proved to be gold. By the time the 
 treaty was ratified rumors of the discovery reached the 
 United States. The excitement produced was unprece- 
 dented. In a short time thousands were on their way to 
 the land of gold. Every means of conveyance was called 
 into requisition, from the emigrant's pack-horse and wagon, 
 to the sailing-vessel and the steam-ship. Some went in 
 caravans over the plains and the Eocky Mountains ; 
 some crossed the Isthmus of Panama, and found their 
 way up the Pacific coast ; others took ship and passed
 
 826 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 round Cape Horn. The sufferings of the great majority 
 of these adventurers were intense hundreds of them met 
 
 1848. untimely deaths on the way, or by disease, privations, and 
 improvidence, when they reached their journey's end. 
 The ferment extended throughout the civilized world. 
 Multitudes of gold-seekers were soon on their way from 
 the different countries of Europe and South America, and 
 even distant China sent her thousands. The tide of im- 
 migration was directed to SAN FRANCISCO, which, from a 
 miserable village of a few huts, soon became a city of fifteen 
 
 1882. thousand inhabitants, now to have about sixteen times 
 that number, and to be the great entrepot of the Pacific. 
 The influence of this discovery of gold mines, has been 
 incalculable in its effects, not merely upon the United 
 States, but has extended to other nations. " It touched 
 the nerves of industry throughout the world," infused new 
 life into commerce, and awakened a spirit of adventure and 
 individual exertion never before known. /- 
 
 Feb. On the 21st of February, the venerable John Quincy 
 
 Adams, when in his seat in the House of Representatives, 
 was struck by paralysis. Two days later he expired. His 
 last words were, " This is the last of earth : I am con- 
 tent." Born in revolutionary times : " The cradle hymns 
 of the child were the songs of liberty." He had associated 
 with the fathers of the republic, and was the representa- 
 tive of the memories of that heroic age. For more tban 
 sixty years he had been constantly engaged in public 
 affairs. At the age of fourteen, private secretary to 
 Francis Dana, American minister to Russia ; at twenty- 
 seven appointed minister to Holland by Washington, 
 who styled him " the ablest of all our diplomatic corps." 
 Afterward successively, United States Senator ; profes- 
 sor in Harvard College ; minister to Russia ; one of the 
 negotiators of the treaty of Ghent ; Secretary of State 
 under Monroe ; President, and then member of the House 
 till his death, at the age of fourscore. Old in years but
 
 THE WILMOT PROVISO. 827 
 
 buoyant in spirit, he never lagged behind his age ; but CHAP 
 
 with careful eye watched the progress of his country, and L 
 
 sympathized with its youthful energies. 1848. 
 
 The administration of Mr. Polk was drawing to a 
 close. Its great event had been the Mexican war, the 
 train for which was laid under his predecessor. The 
 tariff of 1842, under which the industry of the country 
 had rapidly recovered from its prostration, after an ex- 
 istence of four years was so modified, as to afford less pro- 1846, 
 tection to American manufactures. 
 
 David Wilmot, a member of the House from Penn- 
 sylvania, introduced a proposition into Congress, since 
 known as the " Wilmot Proviso," by which slavery should 
 be prohibited in all territory obtained by treaty. The 
 ''Proviso" did not become a law, but the subject of 
 slavery was once more brought up for discussion. M 
 
 The Democratic convention met at Baltimore to nomi- 1. 
 nate a candidate for the office of President. Two sets of 
 delegates appeared from New York, both claiming to be 
 the true representatives of the Democracy of that State. 
 
 No compromise could reconcile the parties, and the con- 
 vention solved the difficulty by excluding both from its 
 deliberations. It then proceeded to nominate Senator 
 Lewis Cass, of Michigan, for President, and General 
 William 0. Butler, of Kentucky, for Vice-President. 
 
 The delegates representing the Whig party, and those 
 opposed to the measures of the administration, met at 
 Philadelphia, and nominated General Zachary Taylor for 
 President, and Millard Fillmore, of -New York, for Vice- 
 President. Ju ! ne 
 
 One portion of the Democracy of New York accepted 
 the nominations of the Baltimore convention ; another 
 portion rejected them. The latter called a convention, 
 at Buffalo of those who were opposed to the extension of 
 slavery into free territory. They adopted a platform in
 
 828 HISTORY OF THE AMEBICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 ^ avor ^ " ^ ree 8*V an( * nominated ex-president Van 
 _ Buren for the Presidency and Charles Francis Adams 
 1848. (son of John Quincy Adams) for the Vice-Presidency. 
 
 A spirited canvass followed, and the candidates of 
 the Whig party were elected. 
 
 During the last year of this administration, Wisconsin 
 was admitted into the Union as a State, and Minnesota 
 organized as a Territory. 
 
 A new Department, that of the Interior, was created 
 by Congress, to relieve the Secretary of the Treasury of 
 part of his duties. 
 
 On the fifth of March, the fourth occurring on the 
 Sahbath, the new President was inducted into office. 
 
 Mr. Polk, broken down in health, retired to his home 
 in Nashville, Tennessee, where in a few months he was 
 numbered with the dead. A man of exemplary char- 
 acter ; he was lamented by the people.
 
 CHAPTER LV. 
 
 TAYLOR AND FILLMORE'S ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 Discusbion on Slavery. Wilmot Proviso. The Powers of the Constitution ; 
 their Application in the Territories. Thirty-first Congress. President's 
 Message ; its Recommendations. Debate on the Omnibus Bill. Death 
 of Calhoun. Death of President Taylor. Fillmore Inaugurated. 
 The Fugitive Slave Law. The Mormons ; their Origin ; Troubles ; 
 Settlement in Utah. A Disunion Convention. Lopez invades Cuba. 
 The Search for Sir John Franklin. Dr. E. K. Kane. Death of Henry 
 Clay ; of Daniel Webster. The Tripartite Treaty. Presidential 
 Election. 
 
 GENERAL Zachary Taylor was a native of Virginia ; but CHAP. 
 
 when he was very young, his father removed to Kentucky, . 
 
 and on the frontiers of that State he spent his youth as a 1849. 
 farmer. At the age of twenty-four he received a com- 
 mission in the army from President Jefferson, and en- 1808. 
 tered upon a career more congenial to his tastes than cul- 
 tivating the soil. For forty years he was in the military 
 service of his country ; his sphere of duty was on the 
 frontiers ; and thus situated he had never even voted 
 at an election. Honest and frank, blest with common 
 sense and firmness of purpose, he was withal unselfish 
 and patriotic, and uncontaminated with political intrigues. 
 His inaugural address on taking the office of President, 
 was brief, and confined to a declaration of general prin- 
 ciples. His cabinet, at the head of which was John 
 M. Clayton of Delaware, was at once confirmed by the 
 Senate.
 
 830 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, 
 
 C LV ? ' l ^ 1 ^ ie <l ues ^ on f slavery had appeared under different 
 _ phases. For twelve years after the passage of the Mis- 
 
 1820. souri Compromise, the subject had not been agitated in 
 Congress, but now attention was drawn to it by the pre- 
 sentation of memorials, praying that body to abolish the 
 slave-trade and slavery in the District of Columbia. 
 Meantime others, who looked upon the system as an evil 
 to be remedied at all hazards, sent through the mail to 
 
 1832, the South publications, addressed to the slave-owners 
 themselves, and designed to influence them in favor of 
 emancipation ; but there were others who sent papers 
 that contained engravings by no means calculated to 
 make the slave contented with his lot. The fear was 
 great lest the latter might become the occasion of insur- 
 rections and blood-shed. President Jackson recommended 
 
 1885. to Congress to pass a law prohibiting the use of the mail 
 for the circulation of " incendiary publications." But the 
 bill to that effect did not become a law. The excitement 
 was great, both North and South : in the former sometimes 
 developing itself in violent measures against the abolition- 
 ists ; in the latter, some broke into the post-offices and 
 destroyed the obnoxious papers, and others raised the cry 
 of disunion, while, so embittered, had the feeling become 
 
 1836. m Congress, that for a time memorials on the subject 
 would not be. received. 
 
 Now the slavery agitation was a legacy left by the 
 previous administration a question which overshadowed 
 all others, and almost exclusively engaged the attention 
 
 1846 of Congress and the nation. Three years before the Wil- 
 mot Proviso had initiated the discussion, which was fast, 
 acquiring a tone of bitterness hitherto unknown. The 
 contents of the newspapers showed that the question had 
 penetrated into every nook and corner of the land in 
 social circles and in the retirement of the fireside all 
 were alive to the importance of the subject at issue ; the
 
 DISCUSSION ON THE EXTENSION OF SLAVER*. 831 
 
 emotions of a nation swayed in the storm of clashing CHAP 
 opinions. 
 
 1849. 
 
 The annexation of Texas and the consequent war with 
 Mexico, came to be looked upon as designed to further 
 the interests of slavery, and to commit the nation to the 
 policy of extending that system. Those opposed to such 
 measures endeavored to counteract them hy means of the 
 Proviso, hut that had failed to receive the sanction of 
 Congress. With the exception of Texas proper, it was 
 uncertain whether the newly-acquired territories would 
 admit slavery ; the indications were that they would re- 
 ject it. And this feature of the controversy gave rise to 
 another question ; how to introduce the system into free 
 territory. Would Congress subvert the law of Mexico, 
 which had long since prohibited human bondage within 
 her limits ? That body never at any time had interfered 
 with slavery as existing in the States, neither had it 
 directly legislated it into free territory : the policy had 
 rather been not to interfere with the inhabitants in de- 
 ciding the question for themselves. 
 
 The last Congress, absorbed in the turmoil of the dis- 
 cussion, had dissolved without providing governments for 
 the territories. To remedy this evil, President Taylor in- 
 structed the Federal officers in these territories to en- 
 courage the people to organize temporary governments for 
 themselves. 
 
 President Polk in his last message had recommended 
 that the Missouri Compromise line of thirty-six degrees 
 thirty minutes north latitude, be extended to the Pacific, 
 and thus leave the territory south of that line liable to be 
 made slaveholding. Motions to that effect failed in Con- 
 gress. That line had been adopted for the Louisiana 
 territory alone, which was slave, and it made one side free, 
 but if it was produced to the Pacific it would pass through 
 tree territory, and therefore make one side slave
 
 832 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP The advocates of the system contended that they had 
 
 a right to go into any of the territories and take with them 
 
 1819. their property, meaning slaves. That was admitted, but 
 only under the laws of Congress, which so far protected 
 such property, but it was denied that the slaveholder 
 could carry with him the municipal law of the State from 
 which he emigrated, any more than the emigrant from a 
 free State could take with him its peculiar laws. 
 
 The same object was sought by attempting to " ex- 
 tend the constitution of the United States to the terri- 
 tories/' and this under the form of an amendment attached 
 to the general appropriation bill, providing a temporary 
 government for the ceded territories, and extending to 
 them certain acts of Congress. The proposition elicited 
 a discussion in which Calhoun and Webster each took 
 part. The former argued that the Constitution recog- 
 nized slavery ; that it was the supreme law of the land ; 
 therefore it was superior to every law in opposition to 
 slavery, not only overriding any territorial law to that 
 effect, but even superior to any law of Congress designed 
 to abolish it ; and that the property of the South, mean- 
 ing slaves, would thus be protected by the Constitution 
 in the territories into which Calhoun openly avowed his 
 intention to thus carry the institution of slavery. "The 
 Constitution/' said he, " pronounces itself to be the su- 
 preme law of the land ; " the States as well as the Ter- 
 ritories. 
 
 Mr. Webster replied that the Constitution was made 
 for the States and not for the Territories ; that Congress 
 governed the latter independently of the Constitution, 
 and often contrary to it, and was constantly doing things 
 in the Territories that it could not do in the States ; and 
 that the Constitution could not operate of itself in the 
 Territories. " When new territory has been acquired," 
 said he, " it has always been subject to the laws of Con-
 
 THE POWERS OF THE CONSTITUTION. 833 
 
 gress, to such laws as Congress thought proper to pass for c ^ p - 
 
 its immediate government and preparatory state in which L 
 
 it was to remain until it was ready to come into the 1849. 
 Union as one of the family of States." He quoted the 
 Constitution itself, which declares that " it and the laws 
 of Congress passed under it shall be the supreme law o 
 the land." Thus it required a definite law of Congress 
 to establish slavery in the Territories under the Constitu- 
 tion, as shown by the words of that instrument itself. 
 
 The amendment failed in both houses ; but it became 
 the germ of another doctrine, that the Constitution of the 
 United States, independently of an act of Congress, but 
 in spite of it, not only goes of itself to the territories but 
 carries with it a shield protecting slavery. 
 
 During this session of Congress meetings were held at 
 Washington, attended by a majority of the members of 
 Congress from the slave-holding States, to take into con- 
 sideration the measures best adapted to secure southern 
 rights. 
 
 They published an Address to the people of the South. 
 It was drawn up by Calhoun, and by no means was it 
 conciliatory in its tone and sentiments, and for that 
 reason it failed to enlist in its favor all the delegates from 
 the South. In truth it became a party measure. Only 
 forty members, all from the slaveholding States, signed 
 their names to the Address : of these, thirty-eight belonged 
 to the Democratic party. 
 
 This manifesto was soon followed by a Southern Con- 
 vention to dissolve the Union. The Legislatures of two 
 of the States, South Carolina and Mississippi, issued a 
 call for a " Southern Congress," to frame a government 
 for a " United States South." 
 
 The agitation was not limited to the South ; the 
 North was as busily engaged in canvassing the exciting 
 question, and both parties were summoning their energies 
 for the conflict in the new Congress about to meet.
 
 834 HISTOEY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 HAP. The thirty-first Congress, called a month earlier than 
 
 the usual time, met in its first session. Parties were 
 
 1849. nearly equally divided. The House spent three weeks, 
 g v ' and balloted sixty times for a speaker, and only succeeded 
 by changing the rule by which a majority of the whole is 
 required to elect, to that of a plurality. Mr. C. Howell 
 Cobb, of Georgia, was elected ; his competitor was Mr. 
 Kobert 0. Winthrop, of Massachusetts. 
 
 The first and only annual message of President Taylor 
 was sent in. He saw the difficulties which lay in his 
 path. The bitterness of party had been increased by 
 sectional feelings. The President felt the responsibility 
 of his position ; but he fearlessly yet temperately gave his 
 views, and plainly intimated that he should not shrink 
 from his duty to the Union itself ; deprecated sectional 
 controversies, and referred to Washington in confirmation 
 of this sentiment. 
 
 The points at issue were various, and he recommended 
 a plan to settle each. As California, whose population 
 had increased so rapidly, had framed a Constitution, he 
 advised that she should be at once admitted into the 
 Union ; that New Mexico and Utah should be organized 
 as territories, and when they were prepared to come intc 
 the Union as States, be permitted to decide the question 
 of slavery for themselves ; and that the dispute between 
 Texas and New Mexico, in relation to their boundaries, 
 should be settled by the judicial authority of the United 
 States 
 
 Early in the session Henry Clay moved in the Senate 
 a series of resolutions designed to settle these disputes by 
 a compromise. A committee of thirteen was appointed, 
 to whom these resolutions and the various plans which 
 had been proposed were referred. In due time Mr. Clay, 
 as chairman, reported. The spirit of the resolutions was 
 combined in one measure, which, from its character and 
 the dissimilar objects it was designed to accomplish, was
 
 / 
 /--
 
 DISCUSSION ON THE COMPROMISE BILL. SB.') 
 
 I 
 
 styled the Omnibus Bill It proposed the admission of c ^ p 
 
 California ; the organization, without mention of slavery, 
 
 of the territories of New Mexico and Utah ; the arrange- 1849. 
 ment of the Texas boundary, by paying the latter ten 
 millions of dollars ; the abolition of the slave trade in the 
 District of Columbia, and the enactment of a more 
 stringent fugitive slave law. 
 
 Senator Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, insisted that 1850. 
 the bill was not equal in its provisions, because the South 
 gained nothing by the measure ; and he urged that the 
 Missouri line of compromise should be extended to the 
 Pacific, " with the specific recognition of the right to hold 
 slaves in the Territory below that line." 
 
 To this Clay replied, that " no earthly power could 
 induce him to vote for a specific measure for the introduc- 
 tion of slavery where it had not existed, either north or 
 south of that line." " I am unwilling," continued he, 
 " that the posterity of the present inhabitants of Califor- 
 nia and of New Mexico should reproach us for doing just 
 what we reproach Great Britain for doing to us." " If 
 the citizens of those Territories come here with Constitu- 
 tions establishing slavery, I am for admitting them into 
 the Union ; but then it will be their own work and not 
 ours-, and their posterity will have to reproach them and 
 not ns." 
 
 Calhoun, now near to death, in a speech read by a 
 friend, urged that if the Union would be preserved, it 
 must be by an equal number of slave and free States, to 
 maintain the number of senators equal in the Senate. 
 
 " The incurability of the evil," said Senator Benton, 
 of Missouri, " is the greatest objection." " It is a ques- 
 tion of races, involving consequences which go to the 
 destruction of one or the other ; this was seen fifty years 
 ago, and the wisdom of Virginia balked at it then. It 
 seems to be above human reason. But there is a wisdom
 
 836 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 I 
 
 CHAP, above human 1 and to that we must look. In the mean- 
 
 Lv. 
 
 time not extend the evil." 
 
 1849. Soon after this occurred the death of John C. Calhoun. 
 He first entered Congress in 1811, and during almost 
 forty years had filled various offices in the service of his 
 country. A man of primitive tastes and simple manners, 
 uniting the kindliest of feelings with unflinching integrity, 
 and devotion to duty. The latter, portion of his public 
 career was marked by the most strenuous advocacy of 
 
 31 ' States' rights and Southern institutions. 
 
 A few months later President Taylor was also num- 
 bered with the dead. He suddenly became ill with a 
 violent fever, which terminated his life in a few days, after 
 
 11 
 
 g y ' he had held office sixteen months. He had shown him- 
 self equal to the emergency ; and his death was a public , 
 calamity indeed. Though elected by one party, his policy 
 and acts were approved by all, and the whole nation 
 mourned his loss. 
 
 MILLARD FILLMORE. 
 
 The Vice-President, on the 10th of July, took the 
 oath, and was inaugurated as President. It was done 
 without show or parade ; merely a joint committee of 
 three from each House of Congress, and the members of 
 the cabinet, attended him. The oath was administered 
 by the venerable William Cranch, Chief Justice of the 
 Circuit Court of the District of Columbia, who, appointed 
 by John Adams, had held the office for fifty years. Not 
 an unnecessary word was spoken ; the ceremony was one 
 of deep solemnity. 
 
 The first official act of Mr. Fillmore was to call upon 
 Congress to take suitable measures for the funeral of the 
 late President, " who had been so recently raised by the 
 unsolicited voice of the people to the highest civil authority
 
 ADMISSION OF CALIFORNIA. 837 
 
 in the government." An impressive funeral service was c ^ p - 
 performed, and eulogies pronounced upon him by many of __ 
 the leading statesmen of the country. The Cabinet re- 1850. 
 signed, and the President nominated another, at the head 
 of which was Daniel Webster as Secretary of State. 
 
 Four months had nearly elapsed since Henry Clay 
 reported his Compromise Bill. Its provisions had been 
 thoroughly discussed by the members of both Houses. It 
 was then taken up article by article and passed the last 
 the Fugitive Slave law. The similar law which had been Sept. 
 enacted in 1787, as part of the ordinance prohibiting 
 slavery in the Territory north-west of the Ohio, and also 
 a law to the same effect passed during Washington's ad- 
 ministration, were thought to be defective, and a new one ^93. 
 was framed. 
 
 The Supreme Court of the United States held the 
 opinion that justices of the peace in the respective States, 
 were not called upon to enforce the law for the rendition 
 of slaves. Since the agitation of the slavery question in 
 Congress, a dislike to enforcing that law had greatly in- 
 creased in the free States. The feeling reached the 
 Legislatures and some of them, by law, prohibited the use 
 of their jails for the confinement of fugitive slaves, and 
 the justices of the peace refused to act on the subject. 
 To obviate the latter difficulty the present bill provided 
 for the appointment of United States' commissioners, 
 before whom such cases could be tried. 
 
 When the vote on the reception of California was 
 taken, and she admitted to the Union, her senators, Wm. 
 M. Gwin and John C. Fremont, who had been in waiting, 
 immediately took their seats. 
 
 The vast region known as Utah, was in the possession 
 of the Indians and the Mormons or Latter Day Saints, a 
 religious sect. It was founded by Joseph Smith, a native 
 of Vermont, but at that time a resident of Central New 1827
 
 838 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 Cfl y p ' York ; illiterate and superstitious, cunL^.ug and unprrr.- 
 
 cipled ; when a youth he loved to dupe his companions ; 
 
 1850. at the age of fifteen he pretended that he had seen visions ; 
 and at twenty-two that he had received a direct revelation 
 from heaven ; that he had been directed to a certain hill, 
 where he would find golden plates, covered with Egyptian 
 characters, which he alone, as a prophet, was empowered 
 to decipher. This was the famous " Book of Mormon." 
 It professed to give a new system of religion, and to 
 chronicle events which occurred on this continent long an- 
 terior to the Christian era. 
 
 It is said a man named Spaulding, when laboring 
 under ill health wrote the story to alleviate his hours of 
 ennui ; after his death the manuscript fell into the hands 
 of Smith, who unscrupulously used it to deceive his fel- 
 low-men. 
 
 His system of polygamy led to gross immoralities ; 
 
 and the vicious, as well as the ignorant, some of whom 
 
 may have been honest, became his disciples. In five 
 
 1883. years he had twelve hundred followers. At this time the 
 
 whole sect removed to Jackson county, Missouri. As 
 
 they professed to be the true saints, by virtue of which 
 
 they were to become the inheritors of the western country, 
 
 they became objects of distrust to the Missourians. The 
 
 militia were called out, but the Mormons avoided a con- 
 
 1840. flict by crossing the river to Illinois. 
 
 They prepared to make that State their home. On a 
 bluff, overlooking the Mississippi, they founded a city, 
 Nauvoo, and erected an imposing temple. Thefts and 
 robberies were numerous in the vicinity, and these crime? 
 were attributed to the Mormons, some of whom were 
 arrested. The saints, it was said, controlled the courts, for 
 the prisoners were speedily liberated. An intense excite- 
 ment was produced in the country by these proceedings. 
 At length the Prophet himself, and a brother, were ar- 
 rested and thrown into prison in the town of Carthage
 
 SALT LAKE CITY DISUNION CONVENTION. 839 
 
 A mob collected a few days after, and in the melee the CHAP 
 
 brothers were slain. The spirit aroused against them was 
 
 so violent that the Mormons could find safety alone in 1844. 
 flight, and the following year they sold their possessions, 
 left their beautiful city, which contained ten thousand in- 
 habitants, and under chosen elders emigrated away across 
 the plains and over the Rocky Mountains, and finally 
 found a resting place in the Great Basin. As they were 
 now upon the soil of Mexico, they hoped their troubles 
 were at an end. They significantly called their new 
 home, Deseret the land of the Honey Bee. To recruit 
 their numbers they sent missionaries to every quarter of 
 the globe ; that these zealous apostles have met with 
 astonishing success in obtaining proselytes, is a sad 
 reflection. 
 
 Meantime they labored with great zeal in founding a 
 city on the shores of the Great Salt Lake. It is on ground 
 four thousand three hundred feet above the level of the 
 ocean, and planned on a large scale ; its streets eight 
 rods wide, and every house surrounded by a garden. 
 
 Presently came the war with Mexico, and the ceding 
 of all that region to the United States. The Mormons 
 were the first to organize themselves as a territory under 
 the name of Deseret, but Congress saw proper to change 
 the name to Utah. President Fillmore appointed Brigham 
 Young, one of their elders, the first governor. 1850, 
 
 After the passage of the Compromise Bill, the agita- 
 tion by no means ceased in the south. The design of 
 seceding from the Union was openly avowed. A Disunion 
 Convention met at Nashville, Tennessee. It invited the 
 assembling of a " Southern Congress," but the legislatures 
 of only two States responded to the call South Carolina 
 and Mississippi. The former elected their quota of repre- 
 sentatives to the Congress. The great mass of the people 
 were moved but little by these appeals, and the country
 
 840 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, breathed more freely in the confident belief that the vexed 
 
 question was really at rest. 
 
 I860 In no previous discussion of the subject did tht great 
 
 majority of the people of the Union manifest so much 
 interest, not because it had become more important, but 
 a great change had been wrought, since, thirty years be- 
 fore, the country was agitated by the discussions, which 
 led to the enactment of the Missouri Compromise. The 
 number of newspapers had increased at an unprecedented 
 rate, and with them the facilities for publishing general 
 intelligence and reporting the debates in Congress, and 
 now was added the telegraph, which seemed almost to 
 bring the ears of the nation to the Halls of Legislation. 
 Yet in a still greater proportion had the numbers of in- 
 telligent readers increased, millions of whom became 
 familiar with the question and the principles involved, 
 and watched with increasing interest every new phase the 
 subject assumed. This may account for the earnestness 
 which characterized this conflict of opinions ; the mass of 
 the people read and judged for themselves. The philan- 
 thropist may not dread the response of their hearts ; they 
 may be slow to act, but they are untrammelled by pledges 
 and uninfluenced by political aspirations. 
 
 About the commencement of Taylor's administration, 
 General Lopez, a Spaniard, endeavored to create a revo- 
 lution in Cuba. He represented that the people of that 
 island were anxious and prepared to throw off the yoke of 
 the mother country ; and by this means he persuaded large 
 numbers of adventurous spirits in the United States to 
 engage in the enterprise. The pretext was to aid the 
 Cubans ; but the real object was to secure the annexation 
 of the island to the United States. President Taylor 
 promptly issued a proclamation forbidding citizens of the 
 Union to engage in the expedition. The warning was 
 unheeded, and a company of six hundred men, under the
 
 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN DR. E. K. KANE. 841 
 
 lead of Lopez, eluded the United States' authorities, and c ^^- 
 
 landed at Cardenas. But not meeting with sympathy 
 
 from the people whom they professed to have come to 1850. 
 liberate, they re-emoarKed, and sailed for Key West, -^ 
 Florida, barely escaping capture on the way by a Spanish 
 steam- vessel of war. 
 
 The following year the attempt was renewed. A party 
 of four hundred and eighty men landed on the island, but 
 were almoet immediately overpowered and captured. 
 Lopez and B n timber of his deluded followers were put to 
 death by the opaoish authorities at Havana. 
 
 In 1845, Sir John Franklin sailed from England in 
 quest of the long sought for north-west passage. No tid 
 ings had ever been received from him, and the several 
 efforts to send him aid had been unsuccessful. The sym- 
 pathies of the humane were enlisted in behalf of the daring 
 navigator. Mr. Henry Grinnell, a noble-hearted New 
 York merchant, fitted out, at his own expense, an expedi- 
 tion which, under the command of Lieutenant De Haven, 
 of the United States' navy, sailed for the Arctic regions 
 in May, 1850. With De Haven went Dr. E. K. Kane, 
 in the capacity of surgeon and naturalist. The search 
 was unsuccessful, and the vessels returned. 
 
 The United States' Government now sent another 1851. 
 expedition on the same errand of mercy in connection 
 with Mr. Grinnell. The control of this was given to Dr. 
 Kane, whose scientific attainments were of a high order, 
 and whose prudence and indomitable energy excited high 
 hopes of the success of the enterprise. The search was 
 fruitless ; the results of the discoveries made have been 
 embodied and given to the world. Sir John has no doubt 
 long since perished, while his unknown friend, Dr. Kane, 
 broken down in health because of his labors and privations, 
 has also closed his life. 
 
 Two of our greatest statesmen, with whosa names for 
 a third of a century are associated some of the most im-
 
 842 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 HAF. portant measures of the government, passed away. Henry 
 
 Clay and Daniel Webster : The one at Washington, the 
 
 1852. other at his home at Marshfield. 
 28. No two men were more endeared to the American 
 
 Oct. people. Henry Clay, by his generous frankness, and 
 nobleness of character won their love. Daniel Webster 
 in his mighty intellect towered above his peers, and com- 
 manded their respect ; of him they were proud. 
 
 iSpain became alarmed at the attempts of lawless ad- 
 veLturers striving to wrest Cuba from her hands. France 
 and England sympathized with her, and proposed to the 
 United States to join with them in a " tripartite treaty," 
 in which each should disclaim any intention of seizing 
 upon that island, but, on the contrary, should guarantee 
 its possession to Spain. A correspondence to this effect 
 had already commenced, and to the proposal Edward 
 Everett, who since the death of Webster was Secretary of 
 State, replied in the negative. " The President," said he, 
 " does not covet the acquisition of Cuba for the United 
 States." Yet he " could not see with indifference that 
 island fall into the possession of any other European Gov- 
 ernment than Spain." It was shown that this was a 
 question peculiarly American, from the situation of the 
 island itself ; its proximity to our shores ; its commanding 
 the approach to the Gulf of Mexico, and to the entrance 
 to the Mississippi, which with its tributaries forms the 
 largest system of internal water-communication in the 
 world, and also its ability to interfere with the passage to 
 California by the Isthmus route. It was another state- 
 ment of the celebrated Monroe doctrine, that the United 
 States did not recognize European interference in ques- 
 tions purely American. 
 
 For President the Whigs nominated General Scott, 
 and the Democrats, Franklin Pierce, of New Hampshire.
 
 THE HOUSE THE SENATE. 843 
 
 The latter was elected, in connection with "William R. CHAP. 
 
 T V 
 
 King, of Alabama, as Vice-President. Mr. King had 
 
 been United States' Senator from that State with the 1852 - 
 exception of four years, when he was American minister 
 at the court of France since 1819 ; compelled by declin- 
 ing health he went to Cuba, where he took the oath of 
 office. Then he returned home, not to enter upon the 
 duties of the Vice-Presidency, but to die. 
 
 To avoid the inconvenience of too great a number of 
 members in the House of Representatives, as well as to 
 prevent the waste of time in arranging the ratio of its !850. 
 members to the population, it was enacted that after the May 
 third of March, 1853, " The House of Representatives 23 - 
 will consist of two hundred and thirty-three members, 
 Provided, that after the apportionment of the Represen- 
 tatives, under the next or any subsequent census, a new 
 State or States shall be admitted into the Union, the 
 Representatives assigned to such new State shall be in 
 addition to the number of Representatives herein lim- 
 ited, which excess over two hundred and thirty-three 
 shall continue until the next succeeding census." 
 
 Thereafter, when each " subsequent census" is officially 
 known, the House determines by law the number of its 
 own members " until the next succeeding census," and in 
 proportion to that the number of its Representatives is 
 assigned to each State. The Senate, in accordance with 
 
 o ' 
 
 Article L, Section 3, of the Constitution, is divided into 
 three classes, and when Senators are elected from a new 
 State, first in order is the distribution of the times they 
 are to serve into 'long and short terms. This is deter- 
 mined by lot, and ever after on the rolls of the Senate 
 that distinction is preserved. A member of the House 
 of Representatives serves two years, a President four, 
 and a Senator six. This overlapping of terms is designed 
 to secure deliberate legislation. '
 
 CHAPTER LYI. 
 
 PIERCE'S ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 Purchase of the Mesilla Valley. Treaty with Japan. The Kansas-Ne- 
 braska Bill. The effects of the Measure. Emigrants to Kansas. 
 Struggles and Conflicts. James Buchanan, President. The Contest 
 continues in Kansas. National Progress. 
 
 orr A T> 
 
 "LVL* THE new President inaugurated on the 4th of March, 
 
 was a native of New Hampshire, a graduate of Bowdoin 
 
 1858. C n e g ej an( j by profession a lawyer. He had served in 
 the legislature of his native State, two terms in the House 
 of Representatives at Washington and nearly a term in 
 the Senate of the United States. William L. Marcy, of 
 New York, was appointed Secretary of State. 
 
 wing to the incorrectness of the maps used when the 
 treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was made, a dispute arose as 
 to the proper boundaries between New Mexico and the 
 Mexican province of Chihuahua. Both parties claimed 
 the Mesilla Valley, said to be fertile, but more important 
 for affording facilities for a road to California. Santa 
 Jaa. Anna, who was again President of the republic of Mexico, 
 and intent, as usual, on driving a bargain, took possession 
 of the territory in dispute. The United States obtained 
 the valley, and the free navigation of the Gulf of Cali- 
 fornia and of the river Colorado, to the American boun- 
 dary by paying the Mexican government ten millions of 
 dollars.
 
 TEEATT WITH JAPAN THE NEBRASKA BILL. 845 
 
 The acquisition of California made the importance of c ? A r- 
 
 commercial treaties with the nations of eastern Asia more 
 
 and more apparent. During Fillmore's term, Commodore 1853. 
 Perry, brother of the hero of Lake Erie, was sent with 
 a squadron to open communication with the empire of 
 Japan. The inhabitants of those islands from time im- 
 memorial had excluded foreigners. The authorities were 
 greatly astonished at the boldness of the Commodore, 
 when he appeared M ith his steamers the first that ever 
 floated on those waters in the Bay of Jeddo. He was 
 ordered to depart ; but he declined and insisted on seeing 
 the proper authorities, and making known to them the 
 object of his friendly visit. At length a Japanese officer 
 appeared, who promised to lay the matter before the em- 
 peror. The 14th of July was the day named to receive 
 the letter from the President. 
 
 The Commodore, escorted by a company of marines, 
 landed. He was received with the pomp of an oriental 
 pageant, and an answer to the letter promised the following 
 spring. The answer was received and a treaty concluded. 
 The merchants of the United States obtained permission 
 to trade in two specified ports Simodi and Hakodadi 
 and also for the residence of American citizens and con- 
 suls at the ports, as well as to visit without molestation 
 in the interior, ten or twelve miles. April 
 
 The measure that will render the administration of 
 Pierce famous, was the bill to organize the territories of 
 Nebraska and Kansas. This was an immense region 
 extending from the confines of Missouri, Iowa and Min- 
 nesota to the crest of the Rocky Mountains, and from 
 thirty-six degrees thirty minutes north latitude, to the 
 British possessions. This vast territory was a part of the 
 Louisiana Purchase, from which, by the Missouri Com- 
 promise, the system of slavery had been excluded. 
 
 In part this region had been assigned to the various
 
 846 HISTOET OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 f Indians, who years before, to make way for set- 
 - tiers, had removed from their lands north-west of the 
 
 1853. Ohio. The white settlers who had gone to that region 
 wished that the Indian titles should be extinguished, and 
 a territorial government established. 
 
 In accordance with this wish Senator Stephen A. 
 j &rL Douglas, of Illinois, proposed a bill in the United States' 
 
 1854. Senate, to organize this region into two territories, to be 
 known as Kansas and Nebraska. This bill contained a 
 clause repealing the Missouri Compromise, under the plea 
 that it " was inconsistent with the principle of non-in- 
 tervention by Congress with slavery in the States and 
 Territories, as recognized by the compromise measures of 
 1850 ; " " it being the true intent of the act to leave the 
 people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their 
 domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to 
 the Constitution of the United States." 
 
 The people were taken by surprise. The question, 
 so destructive to national harmony, and which it was 
 hoped had been settled forever, had assumed a new form. 
 The Missouri Compromise had been deemed a sacred com- 
 pact between the south and the north, and as such, for 
 the third of a century, had received the sanction of all 
 parties. The irritations caused by the fiery discussions 
 in Congress four years previous were by no means yet 
 healed. A deep-toned feeling was excited, especially in 
 the northern States. 
 
 It was just fifty years since the purchase of the ter- 
 ritory, and up to this time nearly all its benefits had been 
 enjoyed by those who held slaves. Meantime emigrants 
 from the free States had been compelled, from their un- 
 willingness to come in contact with slavery, to seek their 
 homes and farms north of Missouri, and forego the ad- 
 vantages of the genial climate found in the latitude of 
 that State. 
 
 These free laborers, as well as those who intended to
 
 EMIGRANTS TO KANSAS. 847 
 
 geek homes in the west, complained that this region, C ?A P - 
 
 guaranteed to them hy the Missouri Compromise, should 
 
 be rendered liable to be made slaveholdiug. Conventions 1854. 
 were held and petitions poured into both Houses of Con- 
 gress, imploring those bodies not to disturb the tranquillity 
 of the country, nor violate the compact so long held 
 sacred. The South did not participate so much in this 
 feeling. 
 
 In reply to these remonstrances it was said, the prin- 
 ciple of " Squatter or Popular Sovereignty," would obviate 
 all difficulty ; by this principle the people of the territory 
 would be free in their political action, and when they 
 came to form their state constitutions, and ask admission 
 into the Union, they could exercise this right and adopt 
 or reject slavery. With this interpretation the bill passed 
 Congress, after nearly four months' discussion, was signed 
 by the President, and became the law of the land. May 
 
 Now came the struggle to secure the new State by 
 sending emigrants, whose votes were to decide the ques- 
 tion. Two years before, and not with reference to a con- 
 tingency of this kind, the Legislature of Massachusetts 
 incorporated a company known as " The Emigrants' Aid 
 Society." This association had been inactive, but now its 
 aid was invoked, and numbers were assisted to emigrate 
 to Kansas. Similar societies were formed in other north- 
 ern States. The emigrants from the free States went to 
 remain and improve their claims, and found homes for 
 their families. Emigrants came also from the Southern 
 States, but with the exception of those who came from 
 Missouri only a limited number have remained in the ter- 
 ritory to improve their claims. 
 
 Conflicting opinions soon produced political parties 
 known as Pro-Slavery and Free-State, and the practical 
 application of the doctrine of " popular sovereignty"
 
 848 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 C Lvf ' a PP ea ^ e( i to, to test which party had the majority, and 
 
 according to true democracy should rule. 
 
 1854. The first territorial election was held to choose a dele- 
 ' gate to Congress, and four months later a census in the 
 
 Mar. meantime having been taken and the territory divided 
 into districts another election was held to choose members 
 to the Territorial Legislature. In both of these elections, 
 the pro-slavery party claimed that they had chosen theii 
 Candidates, but the free-state men repudiated the elec- 
 tion as fraudulent ; giving as a reason that the polls were 
 controlled by armed men from Missouri. 
 
 The Territorial Legislature assembled at Pawnee and 
 
 J"ly immediately adjourned to the Shawnee Mission, near the 
 Missouri State line. They passed a series of laws, to 
 which Governor Keeder refused his signature, on the 
 ground that the Legislature, by the organic act, could not 
 change the place of meeting appointed by himself. These 
 laws were however passed by a two-thirds vote. 
 
 The Free State men held conventions, denied the le- 
 gality of the legislature, and refused to obey the laws en- 
 acted by it, and made arrangements to choose delegates 
 to a Convention to form a Constitution. In due time this 
 
 O jk Convention assembled at Topeka, framed a Constitution 
 rejecting slavery, and ordered it to be submitted to the 
 vote of the people, who ratified it. One month later the 
 people chose State officers and members for a State Legis- 
 lature. Soon after Governor Beeder was removed from 
 
 l^ his office by the President. 
 
 During these ten months confusion reigned in the 
 Territory. Outrages of almost every kind were com- 
 mitted, robberies, murders, illegal arrests and property 
 destroyed, most of which belonged to the Free State 
 settlers. 
 
 Wilson Shannon, of Ohio, who had recently been ap- 
 pointed Governor, now appeared and assumed office. He
 
 CONGRESS APPOINTS A COMMITTEE OF INVESTIGATION. 849 
 
 declared himself in favor of the laws enacted at the Shaw- C I H ^ L ] P 
 nee Mission. 
 
 The government, under the Free-State Constitution, 1855. 
 was organized, and the contest took the form of civil war. ^, ar> 
 
 4 ' 
 
 At the opening of the session of Congress, the delegate Dec. 
 from Kansas, chosen as related above, appeared and de- 1855 
 manded his seat. After a spicy discussion the House refused 
 the demand, but appointed a committee to proceed to the 
 Territory and summon witnesses in relation to the recent 
 elections. In a month's time the committee had arrived Mar. 
 in Kansas, and commenced the investigation. Their 19< 
 report sustained the charge that those elections had been 
 carried by fraud. 
 
 The summer of 1856 was signalized by the commission 
 of many outrages, committed in different parts of the Ter- 
 ritory. The Free-State men armed themselves, and 
 determined to defend their rights. Several conflicts en- 
 sued and many lives were lost. Presently Shannon 
 received notice of his removal from office, and John W. 
 Geary, of Pennsylvania, soon appeared as his successor. 
 The new governor honestly labored to restore harmony. 
 He ordered " all bodies of men combined, armed, and 
 equipped with munitions of war, without authority of the 
 government, instantly to disband, and quit the territory." 
 Upon this the companies of Free-State men nearly all 
 disbanded, but it was only partially obeyed by the other 
 party, who had concentrated a force of more than two 
 thousand men. The Governor, with the dragoons, threw Sept 
 himself between them and the town of Lawrence and pre- 
 vented another conflict. 
 
 The presidential canvass was now in progress. The 
 main question at issue the extension of slavery into the 
 Territories or its limitation to the States wherein it 
 already existed.
 
 850 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAS PEOPLE. 
 
 C Lvf Within a few years political issues had somewhat 
 
 changed. A party known as American, had arisen ; their 
 
 1863. main principle opposition to foreign influence, and theii 
 motto, " Americans should rule America." The follow- 
 ing year they were successful in most of the state elections. 
 Meantime arose another party, composed principally of 
 Whigs and Democrats, who were opposed to the extension 
 of slavery into free territory. They were known as Re- 
 publicans. On the other hand the Democrats announced 
 themselves willing to let slavery go into the territories if 
 the inhabitants thereof desired it. The latter party 
 nominated James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania ; the Re- 
 publicans, John C. Fremont, of California, and the 
 Americans, ex-president Fillmore. 
 
 The canvass was one of more than usual spirit. The 
 passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill had even added new 
 interest to the main question at issue. It had taken deep 
 hold of the minds of the people ; and they never before 
 gave such evidence of their independence, and repudiation 
 of mere party ties. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan was elected President, and John C. 
 1856 Breckenridge, of Kentucky, Vice-President. 
 
 The House of Representatives at Washington passed 
 a bill, declaring the acts of the Territorial Legislature of 
 Kansas null and void, both on the ground that its enact- 
 ments " were cruel and oppressive," and that " the said 
 legislature was not elected by the legal voters of Kansas, 
 but was forced upon them by non-residents in violation of 
 
 *j b - the organic act of the territory/' This bill failed to pass 
 
 1857. the Senate. 
 
 On the 4th of March, Mr. Buchanan was inaugurated 
 President. He was educated for the legal profession. 
 At the age of twenty-three he served as a member of the 
 Legislature of his native State. He was afterward a
 
 LECOMPTON CONVENTION. 851 
 
 member of the House of Kepresentatives ten years ; then CHAP 
 
 Minister to Russia sent by General Jackson then a L 
 
 member of the Senate of the United States ; then Secre- 1857. 
 tary of State, under President Polk, and then Minister to 
 Great Britain. Senator Lewis Cass was appointed Secre- 
 tary of State, by the new President. 
 
 Under the auspices' jf the Territorial Legislature of 
 Kansas an election was ordered for delegates to a conven- 
 tion for the purpose of framing a constitution, but under 
 conditions to secure a pro-slavery majority of delegates. 
 The Free State men, for the reasons already given, as 
 well as others, refused to take part in the election. It 
 was held, however, and a pro-slavery delegation chosen. Jane. 
 Meanwhile the other party published an address to the 
 people of the United States, in which they set forth the 
 wrongs they had endured, and to which they were still 
 subject. 
 
 Soon after Governor Geary resigned, and the President 
 appointed Robt. J. Walker, of Mississippi. The new 
 Governor endeavored to remedy these evils, and promised 
 the people of the territory a free expression of their wishes 
 at the polls. 
 
 Owing to the influence of Governor Walker the Free 
 State men consented to vote at the coming election for a 
 delegate to Congress, and members for a Territorial Legis- 
 lature. They, I y a vote more than two to one, chose their 
 candidates. ( >( & 
 
 Shortly after this election, the delegates chosen as we 
 have seen, met in convention at Lecompton, and speedily 
 framed a constitution. It contained a provision adopting 
 slavery, and this provision alone, the convention submitted 
 to the people of Kansas to ratify or reject. Connected 
 with this was a clause which made it necessary for those 
 who were challenged at the polls "to take an oath to 
 support the constitution if adopted," before they were
 
 852 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, permitted to deposit their vote. This was followed by a 
 1 proviso that the Constitution could not be amended be- 
 
 1857. f ore the year 1864, and then only by the concurrence of 
 two-thirds of the members of both Houses of the Legisla- 
 ture and " a majority of all the citizens of the State." 
 
 The Free State men refused to vote on the ratification 
 of this constitution, as they denied the authority that 
 framed it ; but it received some votes, and was declared 
 adopted, and sent as such to Congress. There the discus- 
 sion on the subject was as bitter as ever. It was denied 
 that the people of Kansas were fairly treated in not hav- 
 ing the opportunity to vote upon the adoption of the 
 entire constitution as implied by the doctrine of " Popu- 
 lar Sovereignty," said to be the essence of the Kansas- 
 Nebraska bill. 
 
 April Finally, a bill was passed to submit the constitution 
 30> to the people of Kansas, but on two conditions : one, that 
 if they failed to ratify it, they would not be permitted to 
 enter the Union until they had a population of ninety- 
 three thousand ; the other, if they did ratify it, they 
 should receive certain of the public lands for State pur- 
 poses. In the face of these strange conditions the people 
 
 1858. f Kansas, on the 2d of August, rejected the constitution 
 by an overwhelming majority. 
 
 After this decided and noble stand by the Free State 
 men in Kansas there was a lull in the excitement. Mean- 
 while the people were preparing for the territory to 
 assume her place among the States of the Union when 
 the whole nation was startled by an effort to free the 
 
 1859. slaves by force of arms. The plan was organized and 
 ' attempted to be carried out by John Brown better 
 
 known as " Old John Brown of Osawatornie," at which 
 place he lived, and who, in the Kansas troubles, had 
 beaten off an armed force of the pro-slavery party five 
 times as great as his own, the former having an unusual 
 number of men killed and wounded.
 
 JOHN BROWN. 853 
 
 This singular, conscientious, determined man, who CHAP. 
 
 LVI 
 
 under no circumstances ever swerved from what lie . 
 
 thought was right, was a native of Connecticut, and de- 1859 - 
 scended from Peter Brown, a humble Pilgrim on the 
 Mayflower. Religiously trained, he became a church- 
 member at the age of sixteen ; thoughtful for his years, 
 at twelve he found himself an instinctive hater of slav- 
 ery from seeing his friend, a colored boy about his own 
 age, grossly abused without redress. This hatred of 
 the system was never modified, but grew intenser with 
 his years. At the time of which we speak he was a resi- 
 dent of New York State. When he learned of the efforts 
 to force the system of bondage on the territory of Kan- 
 sas he hastened thither, where he already had four sons, 
 and three others who soon after followed their father. 
 There in his peculiar way he became a leader among the 
 Free State men in their conflicts with their enemies from 
 across the boundary line of the territory and Missouri. 
 In one of these battles beside him lay a son just killed, 
 while the father in one hand held the pulse of another 
 mortally wounded, and in the other grasped a rifle. Some 
 time before another son had been murdered. With only 
 
 (~\f*t 
 
 twenty-one men he seized the United States arsenal at IQ 
 Harpers Ferry in northern Virginia. lie may have sup- 
 posed the slaves would avail themselves of an opportunity 
 to fight for their freedom, but none joined him. They 
 always looked for some outside 1 influence to secure their 
 emancipation. John Brown is represented as being kind 
 and sympathetic, and his heart was moved as he contem- 
 plated the system of bondage under which the slaves 
 moaned. He thought himself in the line of duty, and 
 while we may respect his motives we cannot his pru- 
 dence. The explanation may be that he brooded so long 
 over the wrongs suffered by the slaves that he became 
 
 i Hist., p. 902.
 
 854 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, partially crazed on the subject, and overlooked the insu- 
 1, perable difficulties in carrying out his plan for their 
 
 1859. emancipation. In the conflict which ensued with the 
 State authorities, who were aided by United States ma- 
 rines, he was wounded and captured, after a severe strug- 
 gle, in which thirteen of his party were killed two of 
 them his sons six were made prisoners, and two escaped. 
 During his trial he lay on his couch in the court-room. 
 He met death in a calm and heroic manner. 
 
 This was the only instance in which an Abolitionist, 
 as such, attempted to secure the freedom of the slaves by 
 means of violence. 
 
 Three days after the execution of Brown, Congress 
 assembled, and during its session was laid before it a 
 constitution voted upon and approved by the people of 
 
 1860, Kansas. A bill admitting the State passed the House, 
 7. but failed in the Senate. 
 
 A treaty having been made with Japan that govern- 
 ' ' ment sent, in the summer of 1860, a number of officials 
 to bring it when ratified to the United States. This im- 
 posing embassy consisted in all of seventy-one persons of 
 various ranks. They were received and treated as the 
 guests of the Nation, and in consequence of this treaty 
 important commercial relations have since existed between 
 the United States and that empire. 
 
 Minnesota was admitted into the Union, and allowed 
 to have two representatives until the next apportionment 
 of members among the several States. 
 
 A change was made in the laws in relation to the 
 issue of patents, by which " all patents hereafter granted 
 shall remain in force seventeen years from date of issue, 
 and all extensions of such patents are hereby prohibited." 
 
 i860. The Eighth Census of the United States sums up as 
 follows : Entire population, 31,443,790 ; of whom 3,953,- 
 529 are slaves.
 
 PARTY PLATFORMS. 855 
 
 The question of the extension of slavery into the Ter- c ff- 
 
 ritories, was by no means decided in the presidential con- 
 
 test of 1856. During the subsequent four years the 1860< 
 discussion of the subject still continued in Congress and 
 among the people. In proportion as they read and judged 
 for themselves, did party spirit lose its despotic influences, 
 and the change in public sentiment, especially in the 
 non-slaveholding States, was unprecedented. Many thou- 
 sands of intelligent voters, who once acquiesced in the 
 policy of the extension of the system, would no longer 
 lend their sanction to measures the tendency of which 
 they now better understood. 
 
 In view of subsequent events, a more than usual in- 
 terest will ever belong to the exposition of principles as 
 set forth in what are termed " platforms " of the parties 
 in nominating their respective candidates for the office of 
 President in 1860. 
 
 The Democratic party, at a convention held in Charles- 
 ton, South Carolina, became divided into two hostile sec- 
 tions the Breckinridge and Douglas thus designated 
 from their prominent leaders. One section the Breckin- 
 ridge reaffirmed, with explanatory resolutions, the prin- 
 ciples adopted by the entire party four years before at its 
 convention held in Cincinnati. They proclaimed the 1856. 
 " non-interference of Congress with slavery in the Terri- 
 tories or in the District of Columbia," and " The ad- 
 mission of new States with or without domestic slavery, 
 as they may elect/' The other section Douglas also 
 adopted the Cincinnati platform, and likewise affirmed 
 " That as differences of opinion exist in the Democratic 
 party as to the nature and extent of the powers of a Ter- 
 ritorial Legislature, and as to the powers and duties of 
 Congress under the Constitution of the United States over 
 the institution of slavery within the Territories," " That 
 the party will abide by the decisions of the Supreme
 
 856 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 LVI P ' Court of the United States on the questions of Constitu- 
 
 - tional law." These resolutions are significant. That 
 
 60 " court had recently given an opinion known as the Dred 
 
 Scott Decision, which was now assumed to sanction the 
 
 1849. doctrine, first announced by John C. Calhoun, that the 
 Constitution recognized slavery, and sanctioned and pro- 
 tected it in the Territories. 1 On the contrary, the Re- 
 publican party denied that this special decision of the 
 court had a legitimate bearing on the subject, it being a 
 side issue, and therefore null and void ; and now, since 
 other means had failed in Kansas, used only to introduce 
 covertly the system of human bondage into the Terri- 
 tories. The latter party, at their convention held in Chi- 
 cago, announced that " the maintenance of the principles 
 promulgated in the Declaration of Independence and em- 
 bodied in the Federal Constitution, is essential to the 
 preservation of our Republican Institutions." " That all 
 men are created equal ; that they are endowed by their 
 Creator with certain inalienable rights ; " and " That the 
 Federal Constitution, the rights of the States and the 
 union of the States, must and shall be preserved ; " also 
 the rights of the States should be maintained inviolate, 
 "especially the right of each State to order and control its 
 own domestic institutions according to its own judgment 
 exclusively." " That the normal condition of all the 
 Territory of the United States is that of FREEDOM," and 
 they denied " the authority of Congress, of a Territorial 
 Legislature, or of individuals, to give legal existence to 
 slavery in- any Territory of the United States." 
 
 Still another party, heretofore mainly known as 
 American, now adopted the designation of " Constitu- 
 tional Union," and proclaimed as their platform, " The 
 Constitution of the country, the union of the States, and 
 the enforcement of the laws." 
 
 1 See Hist., pp. 832, 833.
 
 CHAP TEE LVII. 
 
 BUCHANAN'S ADMINISTRATION CONTINUED. 
 
 Traits of Character, North and South. Comparative Intelligence in 
 the Free and Slave States. Benevolent Operations. Foreign Pop- 
 ulation. Material Progress. Compromises. Republican Party. 
 Democratic Convention. Presidential Election. Intent of Per- 
 sonal Liberty bills. Union Men. The Corner-Stone. Legisla- 
 tures and Conventions South. Non-coercion. Feeling in the 
 Border States. Finances. Buchanan's Message. Fort Sumter 
 Occupied by Anderson. The Preparations. Yulee's Letter. No 
 Vote of the People Allowed. Mr. Lincoln's Journey. Convention 
 at Montgomery. Fallacies England and Cotton. 
 
 BEFOEE entering upon the narrative of the great Rebellion, CHAP. 
 and to fully understand its cause, we must notice certain - 
 
 influences that have had a share in moulding the character- 
 
 "1857 
 istics of the American people both North and South. 
 
 Though the people of both sections take pride in the same 
 ancestry and cling to the same traditions, cherish the same 
 love of country and have the same belief in Christianity, 
 yet certain influences during a period of two centuries pro- 
 duced slightly marked characteristics. The Southern col- 
 onists, especially of Virginia and the Carolinas, had their 
 notions of rank and aristocracy, and prejudices against the 
 descendants of the Anglo-Saxons who settled in the North- 
 ern portion of the land. The Northern colonists had their 
 prejudices, which grew out of religious differences in the 
 mother country. The seven years' struggle of the Revolu- 
 tion brought the people nearer together by a bond of sym- 
 pathy. The Northern colonists had a better appreciation
 
 858 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, of education, and they labored to extend its influence to 
 
 LVII 
 
 1 all, beginning at the most humble, thus elevating the 
 
 1857. people by making them intelligent and moral ; and for 
 this purpose they established common schools. 1 As labor 
 with them was respected, so voluntary ignorance was 
 despised, while that which was involuntary was pitied, 
 and an effort made to remove the evil. Massachusetts 
 and the other colonies of New England were in this 
 respect in contrast with Virginia and the Carolinas : the 
 latter made scarcely an effort to instruct the children of 
 the people at large, providing no general system of com- 
 mon-school education. 8 In these colonies afterward in 
 the States the people of limited means were non-slave- 
 holders, and when they aspired to a higher rank in the 
 social scale they found themselves confronted with this 
 fact. ' Thus trammeled they made little advancement, 
 and in the course of time this contemptuous treatment on 
 the part of the aristocracy frittered away much of the 
 self-respect of that class of the community. This was 
 specially the case during the first sixty years of the pres- 
 ent century. The laws prohibiting the slaves learning to 
 read and write were most stringent, and persons who 
 should teach them were liable to punishment by fine and 
 imprisonment, while " a code of slave laws, the most 
 wicked that the world has ever seen, guaranteed the sub- 
 jection of the victims." ' 
 
 Just about one hundred years before the Declaration of 
 Independence, when free schools had been established for 
 a generation in the New England colonies, a Governor of 
 Virginia Berkeley in an apparently devout frame of 
 mind, when speaking of the colony, wrote : " I thank 
 God there are no free schools nor printing ; and I hope 
 we will not have them these hundred years God keep 
 us from both." 4 His "hope" was virtually realized ; as 
 
 ' Hist., pp. 333, 134 * Hist., p. 335. 
 
 Mackenzie's Nineteenth Century, p. 75. Hist., pp. 138-142.
 
 EDUCATIONAL EESULT3. o59 
 
 it was more than half a century after that before a print- CHAP. 
 
 LVII 
 
 ing press was at work in Virginia, and common schools L 
 
 waited nearly two centuries for their admission. 186 - 
 
 Time has shown the effects of these two systems, so 
 radically different, because the habits, the customs, and 
 even the prejudices of the colonists passed over into the 
 States, and though softened and modified in the transition, 
 lasted long after the Revolution. For sake of conveni- 
 ence we compare New England and Virginia they two 
 being the most influential before that time and imme- 
 diately afterward. In making a comparison we pass over 
 about six generations to see more perfectly the results of 
 the two systems of education. The one originating in 
 Massachusetts was radical, commencing at the bottom and 
 educating upward ; the other in Virginia commenced at 
 the highest rank in society and educated downward but 
 never reached the bottom. 
 
 Let us look at the census of the United States for 1860. 
 It shows that the six New England States had a popula- 
 tion of 3,135,383, lacking only 180,796 of being three 
 times as large as that of the white inhabitants of Virginia 
 1,105,453. In New England we find of this popula- 
 tion 81, 576 persons, native-born, over twenty years of age, 
 who could neither read nor write, and also of foreigners 
 75,554 of the same age, who were in a similar condition ; 
 thus about fifteen-sixteenths of this illiteracy belonged to 
 foreigners, a large immigration of whom had been pour- 
 ing into these States for forty years. For the most part, 
 these people paid little or no attention to the education 
 of their children. No doubt a very large proportion of 
 these illiterates, though native-born, were the immediate 
 descendants of these immigrants. We now turn to Vir- 
 ginia, and there we find 74,055 white native-born persons, 
 over twenty years of age, who could neither read nor 
 write, and of foreigners 3,152 that is, about one-twenty- 
 fourth part.
 
 860 HISTOKY OF THE AMEKICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. In Hew England we find that of persons over twenty 
 
 L years of age only one of the native-born in thirty-eight 
 
 1860. and four-tenths was unable to read and write, while in 
 Virginia of the same class there was one in fifteen. Of the 
 illiterates in the former about fifteen-sixteenths were 
 foreigners ; in the latter they were about one in twenty- 
 four. Of the entire population of the free States of the 
 Old Thirteen we find one in thirty-eight unable to read 
 and write ; of whites in the corresponding slave States, 
 one in fifteen. Of the illiterates of the former States 
 eleven-fourteenths were foreigners, and in the correspond- 
 ing latter States they were one in twenty-two. In the 
 free States admitted after the Revolution we find one 
 illiterate in thirty-three of the population ; of the whites 
 in the corresponding slave States, one in sixteen / in the 
 former one-third of this class were foreigners, in the 
 latter one-fourteenth. 
 
 Under such influences it was not strange that so many 
 of the white inhabitants of the slave States were not 
 readers, much less thinkers. Had the mass been a read- 
 ing people, and in consequence reasoners, with books and 
 newspapers in every household, they never could have 
 been induced, much less forced, into an attempt to destroy 
 the Union in order to perpetuate slavery, and surely not 
 in support of a theoretical interpretation of the constitu- 
 tion in respect to State Rights. The great majority of 
 those migrating from the old to the new States or Terri- 
 tories, in order to secure a climate to which they were 
 accustomed, passed almost entirely along the same paral- 
 lels of latitude on which they had lived, and as they car- 
 ried with them their institutions and habits, the contrast 
 in respect to education and its results, as revealed by the 
 census of 1860, was equally great between the new free 
 and slave States as that between the Old Thirteen. Had 
 common schools been as well supported and alcended, 
 even by the whites, in the slave as in the free States for
 
 THE PEOPLE DECEIVED BENEVOLENT OPEEATIONS. 861 
 
 the last century, it is doubtful whether the system of slavery 
 could have reached its vast proportions, and more likely it 
 might so far have passed away as not to be a disturbing 
 element in the nation, much less that for its protection and 
 extension a war should be inaugurated. 
 
 The general intelligence of the Northern portion of the 
 country affected its material progress ; the people of mod- 
 erate means were self-respecting and industrious, and their 
 material progress was continuous from generation to genera- 
 tion. In the Southern portion the people of moderate 
 means unfortunately labored under great disadvantages. 
 They were for the most part wanting in that general intel- 
 ligence needed to secure success, and were stigmatized as 
 the "white trash." With them industry was an irksome 
 necessity, since they looked upon manual labor as the spe- 
 cial province of the slave, and therefore degrading. The 
 dignity of the intelligent farmer or mechanic, who read 
 books, educated his children and obtained knowledge of 
 passing events by reading the newspapers, was almost un- 
 known to them. This was their great misfortune ; the 
 result of a disregard of their interests and their children's 
 practiced for generations by their rulers. 
 
 For many years previous to the outbreak of the rebellion 
 Northern newspapers not pleasing to certain leaders were 
 virtually prohibited in the South, and by this means it was 
 easy to deceive the non-slaveowners in respect to the true 
 sentiments of the Northern people. In its influence upon 
 society the system of slavery recognized but two classes : 
 those who owned slaves and those who did not. The for- 
 mer claimed to be the aristocracy, and in their hands were 
 the offices of state. Even wealth invested in lands and 
 slaves gave the possessor a higher social position than the 
 same amount acquired by the industry of the merchant or 
 any other occupation. 
 
 The mass of the Southern people were grossly deceived 
 by those who represented the people of the North as hostile 
 to them ; on the contrary, the sympathies of the Christian
 
 862 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, public of the free States had been unusually drawn out to- 
 
 ward their fellow-citizens of the South. They appreciated 
 
 7- the difficulties under which they labored in respect to re- 
 ligious privileges ; how they had never been trained, but to 
 a very limited extent, either to support schools or the 
 preaching of the Gospel. Benevolent societies (such as 
 the American Tract, Home Missionary, Sunday School 
 Union and others) labored for years to diffuse religious 
 truths among the mass of the Southern people, especially 
 the whites of moderate means, up to the time when their 
 efforts were materially interfered with by political leaders 
 who wished the relations of friendship and intercourse with 
 the North to cease, as an aid to the accomplishment of 
 their secret plan to break up the Union. Without going 
 into details, these leaders assumed that the intercourse be- 
 tween the two sections by means of these operations did or 
 would interfere with slavery, and their benevolent work 
 was gradually restrained to such an extent that when the 
 rebellion began it had nearly ceased, although, owing to 
 intimate commercial relations, the merchants of Northern 
 cities were more than usually liberal in aiding the benevo- 
 lent and religious institutions of the South. Many other 
 efforts were made to alienate the Southern people from the 
 Northern ; parents were urged not to send their daughters 
 to schools or their sons to colleges in the free States ; the 
 separation of religious denominations into Southern or 
 Northern was looked upon with pleasure by these leaders ; 
 as well as the alienation of churches of the same denomina- 
 tion. Only one denomination the Methodist divided on 
 1844 account of slavery alone : in accordance with the Discipline 
 of that church a bishop has jurisdiction in all the States 
 equally, and in this instance a slave-holding bishop became 
 the occasion of the division of the denomination into the 
 Churches North and South. Likewise, owing to the absence 
 of a national system of finances, the moneyed interests of 
 the country had not so great inducement to unite in pre- 
 serving the Union as they would have had under a banking
 
 SLAVERY DISCUSSED. 863 
 
 system by means of which the rate of exchange in com- CHAP. 
 
 LVTT 
 
 mercial transactions between different portions of the L 
 
 Union would have been merely nominal. At the com- 1844 - 
 mencement of the rebellion, and for years previous, the 
 high rate of exchange through the medium of State 
 banks was a heavy tax on the mercantile interests of the 
 whole country. 
 
 Previous to 1826 the system of slavery was acknowl- 
 edged to be contrary to the spirit of Christianity ; and 
 among thoughtful business men or planters it was recog- 
 nized as a wasteful system of labor. When a Northern 
 member proclaimed on the floor of the House of Repre- 
 sentatives that slavery, " while it subsists where it sub- Mar. 9, 
 sists, its duties are presupposed and sanctioned by reli- 
 gion," the sentiment was repudiated by the leading 
 Southern statesmen. John Randolph, in one of his 
 pungent remarks, exclaimed : " Sir, I envy neither the 
 head nor the heart of that man from the North who rises 
 to defend slavery upon principle." In the discussions 
 held hitherto the subject had been treated almost entirely 
 in respect to its political and economical bearings, its 
 moral character being for the most part assumed. Its 
 unwritten, inner history, as a moral evil in domestic re- 
 lations, was infinitely worse than that of its economical ; 
 as in this form it permeated society and poisoned it at 
 the fountain-head the family. 
 
 After the failure of Nullification the form of the dis- 
 cussion changed from the economical more to the moral 
 aspects of slavery, which now found advocates who con- 
 tended that the system was not inconsistent with the 
 teachings of the Bible. In opposition to this the Aboli- 
 tionists took a decided stand. The pioneer in this move- 
 ment was Benjamin Lundy, who was soon joined by 
 William Lloyd Garrison ; the former dying, the latter 
 continued with untiring zeal the conflict till the end was *jo 
 attained. Their efforts, feeble at first, were made by
 
 864 HISTOEY OF THE AMEBICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, means of newspapers and periodicals of quite limited cir- 
 
 '- culation ; to these were added lectures or speeches, and 
 
 the formation of anti-slavery societies throughout the 
 1863. free States : and this continued for a generation. 1 
 
 The Abolitionists made appeals to the slaveholders 
 themselves to take the initiative in emancipating their 
 slaves, and in recognizing on the score of humanity the 
 inalienable rights of the negro as a man, and the sinful- 
 ness of holding him in bondage. Their leading mem- 
 bers were specially careful to violate no law, but labor 
 for the accomplishment of their object only by the 
 presentation of the truth as they believed it ; they 
 used only moral means to secure their end, with but 
 one exception that of John Brown. They had them- 
 selves so clear conceptions of their own duty in the 
 premises that they became indignant at the slowness of 
 the conservatives in the church, who were unwilling to 
 aid emancipation in the way marked out by these enthu- 
 siastic and self-appointed leaders. Nor is it remarkable 
 that the prejudices of the former were roused by the 
 abuse they received, and by the infidelity avowed by 
 many of the Abolitionists. The latter were intensely 
 earnest ; they believed every word they said. Their 
 startling invectives and fiery eloquence rang throughout 
 the land like the tolling of a midnight tocsin. Their 
 arguments compelled acquiescence in the unconscious 
 hearer ; the well-put truths they uttered sank deep into 
 the minds of the people, like seed in a fertile soil, to be 
 vivified and brought into life under other conditions. 9 
 
 The slaveholders demanded acquiescence on the part 
 of Northern merchants in the laws of Congress designed 
 to return fugitive slaves, and to protect the system and 
 further its interests no others would they patronize. 
 Competition in business in the Southern trade at the 
 
 ' Hist. pp. 830, 835. Hist. pp. 885, 886.
 
 GKOUNDS OF DISSATISFACTION. 865 
 
 time was not so much in cheapening goods as in length- CHAP. 
 ening credits. If a publisher issued a book or a periodi- LVIL 
 cal in which were criticisms adverse to the system, even 1828 
 by implication, the newspapers of the South warned their 1863. 
 readers against buying any books whatever of the of- 
 fender. These demands, with others of a political char- 
 acter, prepared the reading people of the free States to 
 take their stand when the crisis came. It was not till 
 the deliberate firing on Sumter revealed its true spirit 
 that the mass of intelligent people in the North recog- 
 nized fully its deadly hostility to right and justice. This 
 truth, like an intuition, flashed in their minds and con- 
 science, and at once increased the number of its enemies 
 a hundred-fold. Though the great majority of the peo- 
 ple believed the system to be a moral, political and 
 economical evil, they were perplexed as to the remedies 
 to be applied in its removal. It was the farthest from 
 their intentions that it should be removed by the horrors 
 of war. They thought of no other means than moral, 
 and certainly not by infringing the right of the slave- 
 owner as guaranteed by the Constitution and the laws 
 made under it. They hoped that the humane spirit of 
 Christianity would finally abolish the system ; but in 
 truth the enactments of laws on the subject in the slave 
 States were becoming harsher and harsher every year. 
 It remained for the slaveowners to place themselves in a 
 position which rid the country of the evil. 
 
 Another ground of dissatisfaction was the progress of 
 the free States in material wealth and population. From 
 about 1825 there had been a large emigration from the Old 
 World, chiefly from Ireland, and mostly unskilled laborers ; 
 nearly all these settled in the free States, where they found 
 employment principally in digging canals and building 
 railroads. Scarcely any of these made their home in the 
 States where slavery existed, because of the stigma resting
 
 866 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, upon manual labor, and also of the lack of enterprise in 
 
 that section to furnish them employment. Meanwhile the 
 
 L844. intelligence and industry of the free States were carrying 
 them far in advance in the enterprises of mining, manufac- 
 turing and commerce. They had taken possession of the 
 region north of the Ohio and east of the Great River, and 
 of the northwest. These plains were covered with farms, 
 and immense crops were harvested by means of machinery 
 requiring not one eighth as many laborers as under the old 
 system the sickle and the scythe. An outlet had been 
 obtained for their grains to Europe, almost a rival of 
 cotton as an article of commerce. Thus the progress of 
 the free States, as revealed every ten years by the census, 
 was unparalleled; and in consequence of the increase of 
 inhabitants they had in the same ratio increased their 
 number of members in the House of Representatives. 
 Though in 1860 the slaves had twenty representatives in the 
 House, and these elected by their owners, yet the majority 
 of the members from the free States was overwhelming, 
 and could never be overcome, bui was increasing from 
 census to census, while the equality of members in the 
 Senate was gone forever. The leaders foreseeing this result 
 the termination of their power' to rule the National Gov- 
 ernment determined to change their tactics in order to 
 secure their ends. 
 
 In accordance with the sentiment held by the people 
 of the free States of non-interference with slavery in the 
 States where it existed, Congress in no instance ever 
 passed a law that was intended to thus interfere ; while 
 the Territories, the common property of the whole Union, 
 were governed under the Constitution by Congress alone, 
 by means of laws of its own enactment, and by officers 
 legally appointed by the President. The disposal of these 
 Territories was thus given to Congress as the common 
 property of the nation, under the control of the repre- 
 sentatives of the whole people; and, as in other cases, in 
 accordance with the cardinal principle of the National
 
 COMPROMISES. 867 
 
 Government, that the majority should rule. Hitherto, CHAP. 
 
 when differences of opinion or policy occurred, the diffi 
 
 culties were arranged by compromises. Such was the case ]L 
 in the famous Missouri Compromise. 1 And in the days 
 of South Carolina nullification by a compromise in respect 
 to the tariff. 3 In the annexation of Texas, a Territory 
 more than five times as great as that of New York or 
 Pennsylvania, the same spirit prevailed ; and that Terri- 
 tory was handed over to the slaveholders for their exclusive 
 benefit, though it had cost thousands of precious lives in 
 the war which ensued with Mexico, and an immense 
 amount of national treasure. This concession was made 
 by the free States, when every intelligent person knew that 
 the profit would inure to the slave States alone, and to 
 the extension of their system of enforced labor. The 
 acquisition of California was not then in contemplation, 
 and this concession was an exhibition of good will by the 
 North toward the South. The population of Texas, 
 though its territory was so extensive, would only entitle 
 her to 'come into the Union as a single State, and not five, 
 into which it could be divided in accordance with the 
 articles of annexation. 3 But California, owing to peculiar 
 circumstances, soon acquired the requisite population to 
 make a State, and was admitted into the Union ; her 
 people by their vote prohibiting slavery, preserving the 
 balance of power between the free and the slave States 
 in the United States Senate. With this result the advo- 
 cates of slavery were not satisfied, and they resolved to 
 make another attempt to secure the coveted majority. 
 The plan now adopted was to repeal the Missouri Compro- 
 mise, 4 which had remained intact for thirty-four years, 
 and secure for their purpose the region west of that State. 
 This repeal raised the question, especially in the free 
 States. Will the advocates of slavery never be satisfied ? 
 Are the politicians, for personal ambition, to keep the 
 
 Hist. pp. 692-695. ' Hist. pp. 723-736. 
 
 Hist. pp. 748-749. ' Hist. pp. 846-847 and 851.
 
 868 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP- nation continually embroiled in this question ? It was 
 - only about ten years since Texas had been yielded to the 
 ' slave owners and yet the cry was for more territory! 
 
 The people of the free States, as they could not restore 
 the "Missouri Compromise," were forced to accept the 
 "squatter sovereignty" theory, and they put it in practice 
 by sending settlers to Kansas Territory who intended to 
 make it their home and that of their children ; and, com- 
 plying with the law in word and in spirit, when the time 
 came they voted to come into the Union a free State. 1 
 These various measures to extend the system of servitude 
 into the Territories excited an unusual resistance in the 
 free States, and a party was formed the Eepublican to 
 prevent by legal means that result. The pledges of the 
 new party were not to interfere with the institution in the 
 States, but only treat it, in respect to the Territories, as 
 Congress had been accustomed to treat other questions, 
 subject to the will of the majority, in accordance with the 
 received notions of the true rule of the people. And in 
 good faith the free States accepted the principle that the 
 inhabitants of a Territory about to become a State might 
 determine for themselves whether it should come in free 
 or slave. It was fondly hoped this would end the contro- 
 versy. The slaveholders were still unsatisfied, and they 
 prepared to carry out their plans of seceding from the 
 Union. The census of 1860 was about to show a still 
 greater increase of population in the free States, and in 
 consequence a still greater majority in the House ; while 
 the ratio of their material prosperity was greater than 
 ever. The same year Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, was 
 elected President, and Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine, Vice 
 President. This was proclaimed a sectional election, for 
 the express purpose of destroying slavery and ruining the 
 South. It is proper to notice the means used to obtain 
 this result. 
 
 Hist. pp. 851, 878.
 
 PKESIDENTIAL ELECTION". 869 
 
 Plans were laid to secede long before the time the CHAP 
 
 political parties were accustomed to make their nomina- 
 
 "I QUA 
 
 tions, and it was openly proclaimed that if an "Abolition- 
 ist" thus designating a Eepublican should be elected, 
 the slave States would secede. When the Democratic 
 Convention assembled at Charleston, South Carolina, for 
 the purpose of nominating a candidate for the presidency, 
 it was soon discovered that -ulterior views were entertained 
 by certain members from the extreme Southern States. 
 These demanded of their fellow members from the free 
 States expression on the subject of slavery contrary to 
 their convictions, and they also endeavored to repudiate 
 Mr. Douglas, the most popular candidate of the party 
 in the free States. The disunionists, unable to enforce 
 their own plans, seceded from the Convention, and thus 
 prevented a nomination. The united Democratic party 
 could, with ease, have elected their candidate, but should 
 he not be a pronounced secessionist the Southern wing 
 determined to divide the party, and thus secure the 
 election of a Republican, and seize upon that as a pretext 
 for breaking up the Union. 
 
 The Convention thus disorganized did not make a nom- 
 ination, but adjourned to meet at Baltimore June 18th, and 
 the seceders to meet at Richmond, June llth: Mr. Douglas 
 was nominated by the conservatives, and John C. Brecken- 
 ridge by the seceders, or disunionists. 
 
 The candidates for the presidency were now Abraham 
 Lincoln, of Illinois, nominated by the Republicans; Stephen 
 A. Douglas, of the same State, John C. Breckenridge, of 
 Kentucky, and John Bell, of Tennessee, on a platform of 
 the " Union and the Constitution." On the sixth of 
 November the election was held and Mr. Lincoln was NOV. 
 chosen, he having 180 electoral votes; Mr. Breckenridge 72, 6< 
 Mr. Bell 39, and Mr. Douglas 12. Of the popular vote Mr. 
 Lincoln, 1,857,610; Mr. Douglas, 1,365,976; Mr. Brecken- 
 ridge, 847,953, and Mr. Bell 590,631. Owing to the 
 system of electing by States, Mr. Lincoln had a majority of
 
 870 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, the electoral vote, while he had only a plurality of the popu- 
 lar vote, and Mr. Douglas had only 12 electoral votes to Mr. 
 
 "1 ftftO 
 
 Breckenridge's 72, while the former's majority over the lat- 
 ter in the popular vote was more than half a million. It is 
 supposed that not more than two-thirds of the popular vote 
 for Breckenridge really desired secession, and then the vote 
 in favor of Union was nearly seven to one; and even if they 
 all desired it, the vote was then about four and a half to 
 one. 
 
 The election of Mr. Lincoln was hailed with joy hy the 
 secessionists, especially in Charleston, South Carolina, 
 which city had been foremost in these hostile demonstra- 
 tions against the National Government. A State Conven- 
 tion, as soon as the result of the presidential election was 
 known, assembled in Charleston, and declared that "the 
 union before existing between South Carolina and other 
 States under the name of the United States of America was 
 dissolved." The sympathizers of the movement in the 
 " Cotton States" sent telegraphic messages of congratula- 
 tion to South Carolina on her prompt action in seceding, 
 and also promised aid ; this was done to manufacture pub- 
 lic sentiment. The stratagem did not fully succeed, the 
 mass of the Southern people were by no means in favor of 
 the disruption of the Union ; the moderate men urged that 
 nothing should be done harshly or hurriedly, their sentiment 
 was : " wait till Mr. Lincoln is inaugurated, and commits 
 the overt act." Virginia urged that time should be given 
 for an effort in Congress to obtain certain measures ; such 
 as the repeal of the Personal Liberty bills in some of the free 
 States ; and a pledge that the fugitive slave law would be 
 henceforth more promptly enforced ; and the concession 
 that the Constitution authorized slavery in the territories, 
 and the protection of slaves as property. 
 
 The secessionists did not charge that the presidential 
 election was unfair or illegal, but they assumed that the 
 administration about to come into power would do some- 
 thing especially against slave 17. The "Cotton States"
 
 PERSONAL LIBERTY BILLS THE UNION MEN. 871 
 
 complained bitterly that the Fugitive Slave Law was not 
 promptly enforced in the free States, but was obstructed by - 
 the Personal liberty bills ; yet, the truth was, very few slaves 
 from the Cotton States ever reached the free States. The 
 runaways were from the border States, who were not 
 so strenuous on the subject as to wish, on that account, to 
 break up the Union, but proposed to remedy the evil com- 
 plained of by influencing Congress. The Personal Liberty 
 bills in the free States were a dictate of humanity and were 
 designed to accomplish two objects : one, to prevent the 
 colored freemen of the free States being kidnapped, and the 
 other to secure to those who were charged with fleeing from 
 slavery a fair and impartial trial as guaranteed to every per- 
 son by the Constitution of the United States. If it was 
 established that the person thus seized had escaped from 
 service, these laws did not forbid the rendition of the fugi- 
 tive to the person claiming such service. The Fugitive 
 Slave law consigned the person thus seized to a commis- 
 sioner to be handed over to slavery in such haste as to ex- 
 clude him from the benefit of a fair trial, at the place of 
 his residence, where he was known and could obtain wit- 
 nesses. 
 
 Meantime, by high handed measures the Union men in 
 the Cotton States were gradually coerced and rendered 
 almost powerless under the persistent efforts of the seces- 
 sionists. Throughout the slave States the non-slaveowners, 
 almost universally, were Union men, and opposed to seces- 
 sion, and looked upon the war of the rebellion as designed 
 by those who commenced it to perpetuate and extend that 
 system. In voting, when they had opportunity they re- 
 jected the principle of secession ; neither did they, as a class, 
 enter the rebel army until forced into its ranks by an unre- 
 lenting conscription. 
 
 It is strange that these leaders were unable or unwilling 
 to see that the decline, which was noticeable forty years 
 before, of the material prosperity of the slave States, was 
 owing to that wasteful system ; and still more strange that in
 
 872 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, the face of these facts they were continually devising means 
 to extend a system of labor which failed to give them success 
 
 IftfiO 
 
 ' as a people. An exponent of the basis of the confederacy 
 may be found in an address by its Vice President and ablest 
 statesman, A. H. Stephens; he proclaims the true condition 
 of the negro to be that of servitude as an inferior being ; 
 Mar. alluding to the United States Constitution and its framers 
 2 *- he said : " This stone (slavery) which was rejected by the 
 first builders is become the chief stone of the corner in our 
 new edifice." And these disunionists went to war to protect 
 and extend slavery; the National Government, as a matter 
 of defense, to protect the public property and to defend the 
 Union of the States. 
 
 The Governors of the States of South Carolina, Georgia, 
 Mississippi, Virginia, Louisiana, and Alabama took measures 
 to have special sessions of the Legislatures called, or to have 
 conventions held the members of which were to be elected 
 by the people. The States of North Carolina and Arkan- 
 sas did not take action by their Legislatures, as the ma- 
 jority of the people were opposed to secession. Thus was 
 Tennessee also loyal to the Union. This loyalty was 
 greatly strengthened by Andrew Johnson in the United 
 States Senate and Emerson Etheridge in the House. 
 
 The doctrine that the President could not coerce a 
 State was strenuously urged as a political truth ; and it 
 gave the disunionists great encouragement to know that 
 Mr. Buchanan, the President, was understood to hold that 
 opinion, hence it became necessary to press matters in 
 order to complete the secession movement before Mr. Lin- 
 coln's inauguration. Meetings to promote the cause were 
 held in prominent places in the Cotton States, and the 
 most remarkable misrepresentations were put forth in 
 respect to the action and the sentiments of the people of 
 the free States ; and these passed without contradiction, 
 for that was prevented by the exclusion of Northern decla- 
 rations to the contrary and Northern newspapers. It is
 
 FEELING IN THE BOEDER STATES 873 
 
 not strange that by these means the people, especially the 
 least intelligent, were grossly deceived. 
 
 The majority of the people of the border States was 
 opposed to these disunion measures ; they knew that in 
 case of war between the two sections they must suffer most 
 from their geographical position, and they did not wish to 
 be made a shield for their rash neighbors. These secession 
 measures were planned and carried out by comparatively 
 very few men, the people scarcely having an opportunity 
 to take action on the subject. When the Colonies com- 
 plained to England the people had the opportunity of 
 freely expressing their views. 
 
 The events transpiring had an influence upon the 
 finances of the country. Business began to decline, and 
 capital, ever sensitive, to withdraw from investment. The 
 vast quantities of merchandise on hand were thrown upon 
 the market both by the importer and the domestic manu- 
 facturer. Early in November almost the only trade with 
 the South was that of fire-arms ; and former debts from 
 that section were unpaid, while exchange was so high as to 
 be almost ruinous to the honorable Southern merchants 
 who wished to pay their Northern creditors. Meanwhile 
 some of the Southern State Legislatures authorized the 
 suspension of specie payments by the banks, and also "a 
 suspension of payments of debts due Northern creditors. 
 This state of trade affected the National Government, and 
 it was forced to borrow money at high rates of interest to 
 pay the current expenses. 
 
 The forts, arsenals, and navy-yards in the South had 
 very few soldiers in them to protect the United States 
 property ; only eighty men were in Fort Moultrie in 
 Charleston Harbor, where, from indications, would be the 
 first assault upon the authority of the Government. The 
 venerable Lieutenant-General Scott urged the President for 
 permission to throw a sufficient number of men into the 
 fort to defend it from any attack the insurgents might 
 make. But in vain. The President in his timidity and
 
 874 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, trammels of party would not comply with this patriotic 
 - request. The loyal people were astounded at this apathy 
 " or remission of duty. 
 
 The Legislature of South Carolina provided for the 
 military defense of the State ; they were henceforth to be 
 "a people happy, prosperous, and free." The army and 
 navy officers natives of the State, more than sixty in 
 number were urged to resign their commissions and join 
 the ranks of secession. * Vigilance Associations" were 
 formed throughout the State ; these assumed " full power 
 to decide all cases that, might be brought before them," 
 "power to arrest all suspicious white persons and bring 
 them before the Executive Committee for trial," to put 
 down all negro preachings, prayer-meetings, and all con- 
 gregations of negroes, that they (the Associations) might 
 deem unlawful. Under these committees great numbers 
 because they were from the North of men and women, 
 teachers, preachers, travelers, and others were driven from 
 the State. 
 
 Dec, The second session of the 36th Congress began, and 
 3 - President Buchanan sent in his Annual Message, in which 
 he ascribed the existing evils between the States to the 
 " violent agitation of the slavery question throughout the 
 North for the last quarter of a century, which had at 
 length produced its malign influence on the slaves, and 
 inspired them with some vague notions of freedom." He 
 announced that the revenue must be collected : he denied 
 the right of a State to secede, but he had no authority 
 under the Constitution to coerce a State a doctrine very 
 consoling to those who bad entered upon the treasonable 
 attempt to break up the Union. He suggested that the 
 late election of President did not afford just cause for dis- 
 solving the Union ; that the incoming President could not, 
 if he wished, interfere with slavery ; he was the executor 
 of the laws, not the maker nor the expounder. These 
 facts the disunion leaders well knew, but they were encour- 
 aged by this announcement of non-coercion to urge the
 
 OCCUPATION OF FORT SUMTEB. 875 
 
 slave States into secession before the new President was 
 inaugurated. 
 
 Discussions continued in both Houses of Congress ; 
 resolutions in great numbers were introduced by the mem- 
 bers, to be referred to the Committee of Thirty-three, 
 which had been appointed on the state of the country. 
 These resolutions show the state of feeling of the members 
 on the subject, and indeed of all the people, their constitu- 
 ents. Efforts were made by the committee to arrive at a 
 satisfactory result by guaranteeing what the slaveowners 
 desired, but it was soon seen that all conciliatory measures 
 were vain; the secessionists did not want compromises; 
 nothing short of absolute separation would satisfy them; 
 and the thinking portion of the people saw that no conces- 
 sions would avert the calamity of an attempt to destroy the 
 Union. 
 
 Floyd, the Secretary of Wai-, early in December passed 
 over to the Governor of South Carolina the United States 
 arsenal at Charleston under the pretext of preventing its 
 being seized by the mob. Here were 70,000 stand of arms, 
 the quotas designed for several Southern States. On the 
 day on which South Carolina seceded he sent an order to 
 the commandant of the Alleghany arsenal, near Pittsburg, 34.' 
 '' to ship 78 guns to Newport, near Galveston, Texas, and 
 46 guns to Ship Island, near Balize, at the mouth of the 
 Mississippi river." These forts were far from being finished 
 or ready for their guns, but they were to be slyly transferred 
 to the secessionists. The loyal people of Pittsburg pro- 
 tested against the shipment and the President counter- 
 manded the order. These guns were ten and eight-inch 
 columbiads, the largest and finest in the country. 
 
 Three days after South Carolina seceded Major Robert 
 Anderson, who was in command of the forts in Charleston Dec 
 Harbor, dismantling Fort Moultrie, spiking the guns and 27. 
 burning the carriages, evacuated it, taking with him its 
 munitions of war, and occupied Fort Sumter. Prudence 
 dictated this transfer, as no reinforcements came and Fort
 
 876 HISTOET OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. Moultrie could easily be taken on the land side, as that was 
 unfortified. Castle Pinckney, another fort, was dismantled 
 
 -loan 
 
 in the same manner. 
 
 This movement created the most intense excitement 
 throughout the land ; the loyal portion thinking it an indi- 
 cation that the government intended to resist the insurgents. 
 In the South the spirit of rebellion was more than ever 
 rampant. The leaders professed to believe this the first 
 advance in "coercing" a State. Major Anderson had only 
 seventy-nine effective men, but in that little band were no 
 traitors. 
 
 Forts Moultrie and Pinckney were at once occupied by 
 the State militia, under orders from Governor Pickens. 
 These were armed from the United States arsenal. It had 
 been proclaimed that " our young men will do the storming 
 and escalading ; our slaves will raise the crops, and make 
 our ditches, glacis, and earthworks for our defense." In 
 accordance with this, more than a thousand negroes, sent 
 by their masters, were put to work to repair the forts and 
 mount guns. This could, easily have been prevented by 
 shells ffom Fort Sumter's guns, but Major Anderson had 
 orders to act only on the defensive. Soon as possible com- 
 missioners from Charleston came to Washington and de- 
 manded of the President either to order Major Anderson to 
 evacuate all the forts in the harbor or reoccupy Fort Moul- 
 trie ! This demand, so arrogant in its manner and terms, 
 was not granted. From this time onward the "vigilance 
 committees " were a greater terror than ever to the Union 
 men and women, especially those of Northern birth. The 
 atrocities inflicted upon them and the free negroes would 
 seem incredible in this age, if the spirit which inspired 
 them is not recognized. 
 
 The Collector of the Port of Charleston began to pay 
 over to the State authorities the duties he collected. The 
 President resolved to collect the duties on shipboard by 
 sending a revenue cutter to lie off the harbor. He removed 
 the Collector from office and nominated another ; this nom-
 
 COLLECTOR OF THE POET OF CHARLESTON YULEE's LETTER. 877 
 
 ination he sent to the Senate for confirmation, but it was CHAP. 
 
 rejected by means of a few Northern Democratic Senators - 
 
 aiding those from the South. L861< 
 
 At a caucus held at Washington by the Senators from Jan. 
 seven of the Southern States it was resolved to assume, for ^ 
 the present, the political control, and also the military 
 affairs, of the South ; to advise the calling of a convention 
 of delegates from these seceding States, to meet at Mont- 
 gomery on the 13th of the following February ; to coerce 
 the border States to secede, and in some way influence 
 Maryland into a conflict with the National Government. 
 They were of the opinion that by remaining in the Senate, 
 though their States had seceded, they might prevent the 
 passage of any measures such as the Volunteer, Force, or 
 Loan bills, and thus disable the incoming administration 
 from defending the Government's authority. In a letter* 
 written from "Washington, and dated January 7th, Yulee, 
 one of the Senators from Florida, says, in speaking of the 
 above bills: "Whereas, by remaining in our places until 
 the 4th of March, it is thought we can keep the hands of 
 Mr. Buchanan tied and disable the Republicans from effect- 
 ing any legislation which will strengthen the hands of the 
 incoming administration." Yet these Senators were at this 
 very time under oath to support the Constitution and the 
 Government. They assumed that Mr. Lincoln would be 
 compelled to wait until a special session of the new Con- 
 gress could assemble in order to vote supplies, authorize the 
 necessary military expenses and calls for volunteers. 
 
 These leaders in only one State, South Carolina, per- 
 mitted the people to vote direct on the subject of secession. 
 The conventions, to which the people elected delegates 
 with the understanding that their action was to be sub- 
 mitted to them for their approval or rejection, took the 
 responsibility to pass ordinances of secession, upon which 
 they did not dare give the people an opportunity to pass 
 
 * This letter, among other documents, was found at Fernan- 
 dina, Florida, by the Union forces.
 
 878 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP- judgment by their vote. This was contrary to their own 
 
 constitutional form of making organic changes in their 
 
 ' ' own State government. Only one State Louisiana in 
 the entire South paid its own postage. The annual 
 expense of carrying the mails in those States averaged 
 annually about three and a half million of dollars more 
 than the postage collected. This, however, was not 
 assumed as one of the grounds of secession. 
 
 The difficulties of the Kansas question, which had 
 lasted over five years, were at length ended by that Terri- 
 
 Jan. tory being admitted into the Union as a free State. A 
 month later the Territories, Nevada, Colorado, and Daco- 
 tah, were organized. Congress by its silence on the subject 
 leaving the question of slavery to be acted upon by the 
 people themselves, when they should apply for admission 
 into the Union. 
 
 Though the President elect had designed to journey in 
 as quiet manner as possible from his home in Springfield, 
 Illinois, to Washington, yet by the great anxiety of the 
 people to see him he was induced to travel more slowly 
 and to visit various places on the route. The Legislatures 
 of the States through which he was to pass cordially 
 invited him to visit their assemblies and become their 
 
 Feb. guest. On the morning of his leaving home his neighbors 
 !- crowded to the depot to bid him farewell. He made a 
 feeling address, in the course of which he said: "My 
 friends, no one not in my position can appreciate the 
 sadness I feel at this parting. A duty devolves upon me 
 which is, perhaps, greater than that which has devolved 
 upon any other man since the days of Washington. He 
 never would have succeeded except for the aid of Divine 
 Providence upon which at all times he relied. I feel that 
 I can not succeed without the same Divine aid which 
 sustained him. I hope you, my friends, will all pray that 
 I may receive that same Divine assistance, with which 
 success is certain." He traveled slowly by special trains 
 to Washington ; at all stations, towns and cities, throngs of
 
 LINCOLN'S JOURNEY CONFEDERATE CONSTITUTION. 879 
 
 people welcomed him, showing an intense interest, for at CHAP. 
 no time previous had a Chief Magistrate entered upon his 
 office in circumstances so perilous to the nation. 
 
 Delegates from six of the seceded States assembled in 
 Convention at Montgomery, Alabama, to frame a constitu- Feb. 
 tion for the Confederacy. They copied very closely that of 
 the United States, only introducing articles in respect to 
 slaves and slavery ; sanctioning the idea of property in man, 
 which idea Madison and the other fathers of the United 
 States Constitution repudiated. The Constitution of the 
 Confederate States in one article reads; "No bill of at- 
 tainder, or ex-post facto law, or law denying or impairing 
 the right of property in negro slaves, shall be passed." 
 The convention established a provisional government and 
 elected Jefferson Davis President, and A. H. Stephens, of 
 Georgia, Vice-President. These were duly inaugurated, 
 Davis making an address in which, he assumed the right of p ebt 
 the seceding States to take possession of the United States 18- 
 forts and property within their boundaries and settle for 
 them afterward ; that " the commercial world had an in- 
 terest in our exports (meaning cotton) scarcely less than our 
 own ;" he suggested " the well known resources for retalia- 
 tion upon the commerce of an enemy." One of the most 
 remarkable fallacies with which the disunion leaders de- 
 ceived themselves was that England would aid them mate- 
 rially in order to obtain cotton for her factories. Though 
 the governing classes in that country, with but few excep- 
 tions, gave the rebellion their sympathy, yet they were too 
 politic to enter upon war to obtain cotton from these 
 States when it could be had from other sources at a little 
 greater expense. At this result the disappointment of the 
 leaders of the Confederacy was beyond expression. On a 
 par with this want of wisdom were their mistaken views of 
 the character of the people of the free States. They seemed 
 to forget that the industrial activity and energy which they 
 had displayed in their onward progress would now be ap- 
 plied to putting down a rebellion.
 
 CHAP TEE LVTII. 
 
 LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 The Inauguration. Effect of the Inaugural. Bombardment of Sum. 
 ter. The President's Call for Volunteers. The Responses. Riot 
 in Baltimore. The Spirit of Loyalty. Confederate Congress at 
 Richmond. Feeh'ng in Missouri and Kentucky. Advance into 
 Virginia. Col. Ellsworth's Death. Proclamations of Generals. 
 Instructions to United States Ministers Abroad. English Neu- 
 trality. Big Bethel Skirmish. West Virginia's Loyalty. Enemy 
 Driven Out. Battle of Bull Run. The Effect. Missouri Battle 
 of Wilson's Creek. Death of General Lyon. Kentucky's Legis- 
 lation. Finances and the Army. Ball's Bluff Disaster. Hatteras 
 Expedition. Mason and Slidell. Battle of Belmont. The In- 
 vasion of Kentucky. Battle of Mill Spring. Davis's Special 
 Message. Meeting of Congress. The Union Army. Edwin M. 
 Stanton. Capture of Forts Henry and Donplson. Confederate 
 Retreat. 
 
 CHAP. THE day of Mr. Lincoln's inauguration drew near ; as it 
 approached the painful suspense and anxiety of the people 
 increased. Eumors were afloat of plots to prevent the new 
 President from assuming office, and indeed of threatened 
 injury to his person. The military were called out under 
 the orders of General Scott ; the first time in our history 
 thought necessary to protect a Chief Magistrate from 
 banded conspirators. In his inaugural the President an- 
 nounced that he should enforce the laws of the Union in 
 accordance with his oath of office. "The power confided to 
 me will be used to hold, occupy and possess the property and 
 places belonging to the government, and collect the duties 
 and imposts." Alluding to the secessionists, he says : "The
 
 INFLUENCE OF THE INAUGUEAL THE CABINET. 881 
 
 government will not assail you ; you can have no conflict 
 without being yourselves the aggressors." His manner - 
 betokened a man cool and determined, but of kindly in- ] 
 stincts, and one who fully appreciated the novelty of his 
 situation. The inaugural gave universal satisfaction, except 
 to those who, from their open or secret opposition to the 
 government, would not approve its sentiments of loyalty. 
 It strengthened the Union men of the South and created 
 a very favorable impression in the Border States. But the 
 secessionists proclaimed it was a war measure, and the 
 Confederate government issued orders for the people to 
 prepare for the conflict. The Southern newspapers more 
 fully expressed the views of the disunion leaders. They 
 urged immediate action ; in the Border States they ex- 
 pressed opposition to "coercion" a favorite term of 
 those who wished to gain time for the inauguration of re- 
 bellion. Mr. Lincoln's principal cabinet officers were : 
 William H. Seward, of New York, Secretary of State ; 
 Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio, Secretary of Treasury ; Simon 
 Cameron, of Pennsylvania, Secretary of War; Gideon 
 Welles, of Connecticut, Secretary of Navy. 
 
 The Confederate government endeavored to "coerce" _ 
 the Border States to join them, by prohibiting the importa- 
 tion of slaves into the Confederacy from the United States, 
 " except by persons emigrating thereto for the purpose of Mar. 
 settlement or residence." This was specially aimed at 
 Yirginia, for the sale of surplus negroes from that State 
 to the Cotton States averaged annually several milHon 
 dollars. This law would materially affect that portion of 
 the State east of the mountains, where the slaves were 
 numerous, but not the portion west, where there were but 
 few, and where the people were almost universally in favor 
 of preserving the integrity of the Union. 
 
 The Confederate authorities desired, by means of com- 
 missioners, to treat as an independent nation with the 
 United States government; but as such they were not 
 recognized.
 
 882 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. The inaugural gave encouragement to the Union senti- 
 ment in the Border States. Kentucky refused to call a 
 State Convention; Tennessee, by a majority of 50,000, 
 resolved to remain in the Union ; North Carolina appeared 
 to be more loyal than ever, and even Virginia began to 
 show strong attachment to the old order of things, but her 
 people were not permitted to have a voice in their own 
 destiny. 
 
 From the inauguration onward for some weeks. Fort 
 Sumter was the subject of much anxiety both South and 
 North ; the former with hopes it would be evacuated, the 
 latter for the most part that it might be maintained, and its 
 garrison reinforced, and above all that there should be no 
 concessions to men with arms in their hands, setting the 
 authority of the government at defiance. Mr. Lincoln, 
 slow and cautious in judgment, determined that Sumter 
 should not be evacuated but defended, and let the responsi- 
 bility rest upon those who should make the attack. The 
 United States Senate, then in session, was also opposed to 
 the withdrawal of the garrison. 
 
 A similar scene occured in the harbor of Pensacola. 
 Lieutenant Slemmer evacuated Fort McRae and passed over 
 to Fort Pickens, which, by the almost superhuman exer- 
 tions of his men and with aid of marines from the ships 
 of war off the harbor, he fortified and held the enemy 
 at defiance. During the night, boats with muffled oars 
 brought him provisions and munitions and men, landing 
 them safely on the island on which stood the Fort. 
 
 The government resolved to send provisions to Sumter ; 
 preparations for this purpose were made in the port of New 
 York. At Charleston, General G. T. Beauregard, unmo- 
 lested by Anderson, had been for weeks fortifying points On 
 the harbor to prevent ships entering, and also to attack 
 Sumtor if not surrendered. President Lincoln sent a mes- 
 senger to inform Governor Pickens of his intention of 
 sending provisions to the garrison of Fort Sumter. The 
 steward of the Fort had been warned a few days before
 
 DAVIS PERPLEXED BOMBARDMENT OF SUMTER. 883 
 
 that he would not be permitted to purchase fresh provisions CHAP. 
 in the Charleston market. LVIIL 
 
 Beauregard telegraphed to Jefferson Davis, at Mont- 1861 ' 
 gomery, the information received from President Lincoln. Apr. 
 The rebel Cabinet was deeply agitated ; should they take a 
 the awful responsibility of commencing civil war ? After 
 two days came a telegram directing Beauregard to demand 
 the surrender of the fort as soon as possible. The demand 
 was made with the promise of facilities for transporting 
 the troops and their private property. Major Anderson 
 courteously refused to surrender his trust, incidentally 
 remarking to the messengers Beauregard's aids that his A P r - 
 provisions would last only for a few days. This refusal 
 was telegraphed to Davis, and also the remark in respect 
 to the provisions. Davis replied, saying : " If Major 
 Anderson will state the time at which, as indicated by 
 him, he will evacuate, and agree that in the meantime he 
 will not use his guns against us, unless ours should be 
 employed against Fort Snmter, you are thus to avoid 
 the effusion of blood." "If this or its equivalent be 
 refused, reduce the fort as your judgment deems to be 
 most practicable." This was in substance communicated 
 to Major Anderson, who replied, that unless he had orders 
 from his Government or supplies he would evacuate by 
 noon on the 15th inst. To this the "aids" answered, 
 that fire would be opened upon Sumter in one hour from Apr. 
 that time ; the surrender was not wanted, except by in- 2 30 
 augurating war, thus " to fire the Southern Heart." A. M. 
 
 Promptly at the time indicated, April 12th, 4.20 A.M., 
 a mortar on Sullivan Island gave the signal. This was 
 followed by one gun from each of five battedes and a 
 floating iron-clad. After a pause of a few moments fifty 
 guns in concert threw forth their solid shot and shell upon 
 the devoted Sumter and its garrison of seventy men. No 
 reply was made ; the men were ordered out of danger ; at 
 six o'clock breakfast was served ; the men were then 
 detailed under their respective officers, with the intention
 
 884 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN IZOFLE. 
 
 CHAP, of relieving each other from time to time. The first 
 detail, under Captain Arthur Doubleday, fired the first gun 
 
 "I si ' i 
 
 ' at 7 A.M., then for nearly three hours solid shot had been 
 pouring in, and shells were bursting every minute within 
 the inclosure. The parapet guns, after a few rounds, were 
 left, as the exposure was too great to man tliem. The men 
 of the second and third details or reliefs refused to wait 
 their turns, but insisted on joining in the fight ; and so 
 vigorous were the discharges from Sumter that the enemy 
 thought the fort must have been reinforced. All were 
 inspired with patriotic zeal ; even some Irish laborers joined 
 in with their native ardor for a fight. Presently one of the 
 officers heard the report of a gun on the parapet ; going to 
 see, he found a company of the laborers amusing them- 
 selves in that exposed place by firing at the enemy. One 
 of them exclaimed with great glee that be had hit the 
 floating battery in the center. The soldiers characterized 
 them as the "Irish Irregulars." During Friday night the 
 mortar batteries kept up their fire to prevent the garrison 
 making repairs, and at dawn all the guns opened. Now 
 was fired red-hot balls, which set the barracks on fire, blew 
 up one magazine and endangered another, so that to avoid 
 further danger ninety barrels of powder were rolled into 
 the sea. The heat and smoke became stifling, yet the 
 brave fellows fought on breathing through wet cloths. 
 For thirty-four hours had the bombardment lasted, when a 
 boat was seen approaching from Fort Moultrie bearing a 
 Apr. white flag. Negotiations began, and Anderson agreed to 
 14< evacuate the fort. The troops were transferred to the 
 Baltic steamer, which brought them to New York. No 
 one of the Union soldiers nor of the enemy was killed in 
 the conflict. Major Anderson from on board the steamer 
 sent his report to Washington. After describing the rain 
 of the fort, he says in conclusion: "The troops marched out 
 with colors flying and drums beating, bringing away com- 
 pany and private property, and saluting their flag with fifty 
 guns."
 
 THE SURRENDER THE CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS. 885 
 
 The firing on Forfc Sumter fired the Northern heart. ^AP 
 
 The insult to the flag and the nation had marvelous effect 
 upon the minds of the people. By this act the secessionists 
 had alienated more or less their most influential friends in 
 the non-slaveholding States ; could they have foretold the 
 outburst of mingled sorrow and indignation that arose from 
 all classes of persons, they would never have fired upon 
 Fort Sumter without provocation. The hitherto sympa- 
 thizers with the demands of the slave owners now, with 
 but comparatively few exceptions, were as outspoken in 
 condemnation of the act as those who had for years opposed 
 those demands. 
 
 There was an indescribable feeling of emotion pervading 
 the minds of all ; one impulse seemed to move millions as 
 one man ; a quiet determination of purpose took possession 
 of the people more powerful than if it h&d been demonstra- 
 tive. The news of the attack and surrender had been sent 
 to wherever the telegraph extended, and on the day the 
 Sabbath the solemnity of the worshipers was deep find 
 all-absorbing. Earnest prayers went up from the pulpits 
 and were earnestly responded to from the congregations, for 
 the Nation and for direction in this momentous crisis. 
 This single act in a few short hours had made rival political 
 partisans a band of brothers; prejudices melted away 
 before the heat of an overwhelming love of country, as if 
 they had never reflected iipon its blessings, until the at- 
 tempt was made to destroy its unity. 
 
 On Monday morning came the President's proclamation Apr. 
 calling for 75,000 men to serve for three months to enforce 
 the laws which had been opposed " and their execution 
 obstructed in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, Ala- 
 bam a, 'Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas." 
 
 An appeal was made to all loyal citizens to maintain 
 the honor, the integrity, and the existence of the National 
 Union. Responses to this appeal came at once from the 
 loyal States ; volunteers were offered by thousands ; espe- 
 cially prompt were the States of Pennsylvania, Massachu-
 
 886 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, setts, New York and Ohio. These anticipating this state 
 
 of affairs had by legislative enactment placed their militia 
 
 ' in a condition for prompt action. 
 
 From the governors of the slave States Kentucky, 
 Missouri, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Arkan- 
 sas came responses within a few days, all refusing to send 
 their quotas of men, Virginia, North Carolina and Tennes- 
 see threatening to resist any attempt at " coercion" on the 
 part of the National Government. This was more the 
 sentiment of the individual governors of these States than 
 of the majority of the people, as it was afterward shown. 
 Every governor of the Border States was in favor of the 
 secessionists except Governor Hicks, of Maryland. So 
 deeply was the plot laid that at first the National authorities 
 were taken at great disadvantage, the usual case with re- 
 bellions; the insurgents were prepared and therefore at first 
 successful. 
 
 Never before in the free States was there such an exhi- 
 bition of love of country. The people were intelligent and 
 familiar with the merits of the question at issue union or 
 disunion and acted accordingly. The flag the symbol of 
 a united Nation became almost an idol ; it floated from 
 church steeples, from public buildings, from private houses, 
 from mast heads ; it decorated the shops and offices along 
 the streets ; the drayman put it on his horse and the engi- 
 neer on his locomotive, while its beautiful colors were 
 blended in rosettes and ribbons worn by matrons and mai- 
 dens all these manifestations told that the hearts of the 
 people were with the government. 
 
 Pennsylvania, being the nearest, was the first to place 
 men in Washington ; six hundred of whom arrived there in 
 four days after the call was issued. Massachusetts was 
 really the first in the field in respect to readiness ; her men 
 were finely drilled and armed, and within twenty-four hours 
 after the telegram brought the call for troops nearly every 
 company of the four regiments called for were in Boston
 
 PROMPTNESS OF VOLUNTEERS THE ATTACK IN BALTIMORE. 887 
 
 ready to march. The men left their workshops, stores and 
 farms at a minute's warning. - 
 
 18fi1 
 
 Benjamin F. Butler was commissioned Brigadier-General 
 of Volunteers, and ordered to Washington with two regi- 
 ments, the Sixth and Eighth ; the Third and Fourth were 
 sent by sea in steamers to Fortress Monroe, thus securing 
 that important place to the nation. The Sixth, in passing 
 through Baltimore, was attacked by a mob in the interest of 
 secession, and three of the men were killed the first blood 
 shed in the great rebellion. This was the anniversary of 
 the battle of Lexington, April 19th, 1775, and the nation A P r - 
 entered upon a second struggle as a prelude to a still greater 
 career of humane and industrial progress, to a higher plane 
 of a Christianized civilization. It took eight years of war 
 to establish our independence, and it took four years of war 
 to make us a united people, in the course of which was 
 removed the greatest drawback to the whole nation's prog- 
 ress. 
 
 The spirit of loyalty in the free States continued to 
 furnish men and means to sustain the cause. In less than 
 a month more than $23,000,000 were given as a free offer- 
 ing to the Government, and volunteers far beyond the num- 
 ber called for. 
 
 Lieutenant Jones, in command at Harper's Ferry, learn- 
 ed that a force of about 2,000 Virginians were on their way ^pr. 
 to pillage the armory. As he had but fifty men, he pru- 19- 
 dently destroyed all the war material, blew up the magazine 
 and withdrew to Carlisle, Pa. The following day the TJ. S. 
 Navy-yard at Gosport, near Norfolk, was destroyed. Satis- 
 factory reasons for this wanton destruction of property, 
 amounting to many millions' worth, have never been grven. 
 The yard could have been defended with prompt action. 
 About 2,000 cannon were thus furnished the dismrionists, 
 which they used during the whole war. 
 
 Threats were frequently made by newspapers and public 
 men in the interest of the slave States that Washington 
 would soon be in the hands of the insurgents. Their
 
 888 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAS' PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, authorities made the most strenuous exertions to increase 
 
 and organize an army. Jefferson Davis first called for 
 
 1861 ' 22,000 men, and soon again for 20,000 more. Their Con- 
 gress met in called session, and resolved to remove their 
 seat of government from Montgomery to Eichmond, intend- 
 ing, no doubt, to "coerce" Virginia to pass an ordinance 
 May of secession, which the majority of the people of the State 
 
 i v pO 
 
 ' in an impartial vote would evidently oppose. Virginia's 
 self-constituted authorities handed her over, and she was 
 graciously received into the Confederacy by this Congress, 
 just assembled at Richmond. But the people were prom- 
 ised the privilege of voting on this illegal ordinance of 
 secession on the 23d instant; however, before that day 
 came, all persons expressing Union sentiments were either 
 driven out of the eastern portion of the State or compelled 
 to hold their peace. Even the Mayor of Richmond, by 
 proclamation, enjoined the people to inform him of any 
 persons suspected of being Union in their sympathies (and 
 Northern female teachers were advised by one of the news- 
 papers not to talk). The election by the people was a farce. 
 The portion of the State west of the Blue Ridge was 
 almost free of slaves and could not be "dragooned" into 
 secession ; the people there understood the question, and 
 did not choose to fight in the cause, hence they refused to 
 answer the call for troops by Governor Letcher for the 
 Southern confederacy ; they also took measures to become 
 separate from the Eastern portion, and in a short time 
 formed a new State known as West Virginia, which as such 
 June in due time was admitted into the Union. The national 
 government threw a protecting force into the new State 
 under General George B. McClellan, and speedily West Vir- 
 ginia was as free from armed secessionists as old Virginia of 
 Unionists. 
 
 In Tennessee the people's vote was disregarded, though 
 by a majority of 50,000 they had decided against secession, 
 yet the legislature led by Isham G. Harris, the governor, in 
 secret session adopted the Constitution of the Confederate
 
 WEST VIRGINIA'S LOYALTY OUTRAGES. 889 
 
 States : Upon this act the people were invited to vote on 8^?- 
 the 8th of the next month. Meantime, as customary, a - 
 series of outrages were perpetrated on the Union men, to 
 prevent their voting against the usurpation. Arkansas also May 
 by resolution of a Convention declared herself out of the 6 ' 
 Union. The Convention proceeded to pass laws by which 
 all moneys due Northern creditors were to be paid into 
 the treasury of the State. 
 
 The governor of Missouri Claiborne F. Jackson was a 
 secessionist, and refused to furnish troops in response to 
 President Lincoln's requisition. But the people themselves, 
 under the leadership of Frank P. Blair and B. Gratz Brown, 
 raised in two months nearly 10,000 men. Captain Nathan- 
 iel Lyon, who was in command at St. Louis, suddenly sur- 
 rounded a rebel camp Fort Jackson^and captured every 
 man. These had assembled under the pretence of preserv- 
 ing the peace of the State, and had been drilling for weeks ; 
 their arms having been secretly sent them from Baton 
 Rouge, Louisiana, whence they had been taken from the 
 United States Arsenal. Previous to this, the energetic 
 Captain Lyon, under orders from Washington, had trans- 
 ferred the arms and war material from the arsenal at St. 
 Louis to Springfield, Illinois. The German element in the 
 population of St. Louis stood bravely for the Union in this 
 crisis. 
 
 Kentucky hesitated. She wanted to be neutral,but that 
 policy was soon seen to be impossible. Under the influence 
 of John C. Breckenridge, her young men were, for the 
 most part, in favor of aiding the disloyal States. Mass 
 meetings were, however, held in different places, and the 
 most influential men of middle life and upward came out 
 in favor of the Union. Kentucky was only saved by the 
 presence of nearly 20,000 volunteers from the free States 
 over the Ohio river ; in truth Maryland and Missouri were 
 also saved to the Union by their nearness to the free States. 
 
 From the frequent reconnoisunces and surveys made by 
 the confederates it was evident they intended to fortify the
 
 890 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, heights of Arlington, of Georgetown and Alexandria, across 
 
 the river from Washington ; they had already occupied 
 
 ' 61 ' many points on the upper Potomac, ready to pass over into 
 Maryland. The disunion leaders in the Cotton States had 
 sent several thousand soldiers to this army now threatening 
 the National Capital. These leaders had determined, as 
 some of their papers indiscreetly stated, to make the horder 
 States, especially Virginia, the battle ground. They were 
 willing to plunge the nation into war, but were anxious to 
 have others suffer the consequences. Howell Cobb, the 
 recent Secretary of the Treasury under Buchanan, said in a 
 speech: " The people of the Gulf States need have no ap- 
 prehension ; they might go on with their planting and their 
 other business as usual ; the war would not come to their 
 section ; its theater would be along the borders of the Ohio 
 river and in Virginia." In truth the Old Dominion was 
 sadly desolated ; for four years, over her soil army after 
 army passed and repassed. The devastation was inaugura- 
 ted by the Confederates themselves, lest any sustenance or 
 shelter should be found for the Union soldiers. 
 
 General Scott anticipated the movements of the enemy 
 by sending 10,000 troops in three divisions at 2 A. M. to 
 seize the heights and fortify them. The Orange and 
 Manassas railroad was seized, and on it a train having on 
 board 300 Confederate soldiers, who were captured. Alex- 
 May andria was also occupied. In this town over the " Marshall 
 34 
 
 House " had floated for weeks a secession flag, which could 
 
 be seen from the President's mansion, and to which it was 
 given out the flag was designed as a taunt. Colonel Elmer 
 Ellsworth, of the Zouaves, seeing the flag floating, deter- 
 mined to get possession of it. He ascended to the roof, 
 pulled down the flag, and when descending was shot and 
 instantly killed by the proprietor of the house, who a 
 moment after was shot dead by a private soldier who had 
 accompanied the Colonel. The death of young Ellsworth 
 was felt throughout the land, as he possessed remarkable 
 qualities as a commander and disciplinarian.
 
 CONCILIATORY SPIRIT BEAUREGARD'S PROCLAMATION. 891 
 
 General Irwin McDowell, in command of the Union ? 
 forces, issued a proclamation in which he enjoined all the 
 officers to make " statements of the amount, kind and 
 value of all private property taken or used for government 
 purposes, and the damage done in any way to private prop- 
 erty, that justice may be done alike to private citizens and 
 government." This is given to show the conciliatory spirit 
 of the National Government ; these regulations were en- 
 forced. Beauregard, in command of the Confederates, a 
 few days later issued a counter-proclamation to the Virginia 
 people in which he said : " A reckless and unprincipled 
 tyrant has invaded your soil. Abraham Lincoln, regardless 
 of all moral, legal and constitutional restraints, has thrown 
 his Abolition hosts among you, who are murdering and 
 impressing your citizens, confiscating and destroying ycur 
 property, and committing other acts of violence and out- 
 rage too shocking and revolting to humanity to be enum- 
 erated." It is due to the truth of history that these facts 
 should be noticed, as it was by such gross misrepresentations 
 the mass of the people of the South were deceived before 
 and during the war. 
 
 The Secretary of State, Mr. Seward, announced to our 
 ministers abroad the policy of the Government in relation 
 to foreign intervention. To Charles Francis Adams, at the 
 British Court, he wrote : " You will make no admissions of ^* y 
 weakness in our Constitution, or any apprehensions on the 
 part of the Government." " You will in no case listen to 
 any suggestions of compromises by this Government under 
 foreign auspices with its discontented citizens." To Mr. 
 Dayton, Minister to France, he said : " The President 
 neither expects nor desires any intervention, nor even any 
 favor, from the government of France or any other in the 
 emergency." " If several European States should combine 
 in that intervention, the President and the people of the 
 United States deem the Union, which would then be at 
 stake, worth all the cost and all the sacrifice of a contest
 
 892 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, with all the world in arms if such a contest should prove 
 
 inevitable." 
 
 1881. j n res p ec t to the blockade the Secretary wrote to Mr. 
 Adams : " You say that by our own laws, and the laws of 
 nations, this Government has a clear right to suppress 
 insurrection. An exclusion of commerce from National 
 ^f y ports, which have been seized by insurgents in the equitable 
 form of blockade, is a proper means to that end. You will 
 not insist that our blockade is to be respected if it is not 
 maintained by a competent force ; you will add that the 
 blockade is now, and it will continue to be so maintained, 
 and therefore we expect it to be respected by Great 
 Britain." 
 
 The astonishment of the American people at the posi- 
 tion taken by England almost equaled their indignation. 
 For many years invectives without number were thrown 
 upon them, especially those of the free States, by influen- 
 tial persons in England, because they did not take political 
 measures to abolish slavery, and thus violate the com- 
 promises of the Constitution made in other days, when the 
 moral, political and economical evils of the system were not 
 so well known. 
 
 But now, when the slave States had entered upon a war 
 to protect and extend slavery, they had, with few excep- 
 tions, the full sympathy of the ruling class of England. 
 Swift sailing vessels and steamers, with little hindrance on 
 the part of the government, were fitted out from her ports 
 laden with munitions of war to aid the Rebellion. The 
 Queen, or rather the government, issued a proclamation 
 of professed neutrality, putting the Confederates on the 
 same footing as the United States Government. The 
 cotton manufacturers and the iron interests, representing 
 many millions of money, and employing several hundred 
 thousand operatives, were in favor of recognizing the Con- 
 federacy. The former of these were nearly ruined by the 
 want of cotton, which was cut off by the blockade, and the 
 latter by the loss of the American market, as the tariffs
 
 BIG BETHEL NATIONAL FORCE IN WEST VIRGINIA. 893 
 
 imposed to meet the extraordinary expenses incurred by the 
 
 civil war had also given the American iron-masters reasons 
 
 iftfii 
 
 to extend their works, and they soon were able to % supply ' 
 the wants of the country. 
 
 General B. F. Butler was transferred from Baltimore 
 to Fortress Monroe. The Confederates, under General 
 Magruder, occupied prominent points commanding the 
 approaches to Richmond, while Yorktown and Gloucester May 
 Point were also fortified. General Butler resolved, by a 10- 
 night movement, to surprise and capture two positions of 
 the enemy in the vicinity Little Bethel and Big Bethel. 
 The latter the stronger, and under the immediate command 
 of Magruder. The plan was well arranged, and the troops j 
 set out on their night march, in order to attack Little 11. 
 Bethel at daylight. But two of the regiments came into 
 collision, by some mistake made in the darkness, and fired 
 into each other till the mistake was discovered. This firing 
 gave information to the enemy, and those in Little Bethel 
 hastily retreated to the larger and better fortified position. 
 Meantime, the other portion of the Federal troops hearing 
 the firing, fell back, lest they should be taken in flank. In 
 the morning the disappointed Federals came together ; a 
 conference was held, and it was rashly determined to attack 
 Big Bethel, whose guns commanded the approach. The 
 result was a repulse, as might have been expected, yet the 
 soldiers, some of who,n had only been under arms a few 
 weeks, stood the fire well. Here fell two of the most 
 accomplished men in the command Lieutenant Greble, of 
 the United States Artillery, and Theodore Winthrop, secre- 
 tary and aid to General Butler. 
 
 An election held in West Virginia shows that the grea't 
 majority of the people of that section were true and loyal to 
 the National Government. A few days afterward a force 
 was thrown across the Ohio at several points. This force 
 made short work with the armed enemy of West Virginia ; 
 driving out both them and the troops sent to their aid by 
 the Confederacy.
 
 '894 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. General McClellan opened the campaign by issuing a 
 - proclamation, in which was promised protection to the lives 
 1861 ' and property of the Union men from the armed enemy who 
 May were preying upon them. Grafton, an important point at 
 ^- the junction of the Baltimore and Ohio Kailway with that 
 of Northwest Virginia, was occupied by the enemy, who, 
 hearing of the advance, evacuated that place, after destroy- 
 ing, as far as possible, culverts and railway bridges. The 
 next place was Philippi, where the enemy were routed and 
 scattered in a spirited fight, they leaving all their muni- 
 tions ; they, however, made a strenuous but unsuccessful 
 attempt to recover their lost ground. A great deal of 
 leniency was shown to the disloyal portion of the inhabit- 
 ants, which policy they but little appreciated. A Confeder- 
 ate force was concentrated at Rich Mountain ; though 
 strongly entrenched, General Rosecrans attacked them so 
 vigorously that, under General Pegram, they retreated in 
 the night in order to reach General Garnet's main force at 
 June ^Laurel Hill ; but they became entangled in the woods, and 
 food failing, six hundred of them surrendered as prisoners 
 of war. When this was known, General Garnet rapidly 
 retreated, throwing away his superfluous baggage. He 
 passed along Cheat River, hoping by means of by-paths to 
 reach the Valley of the Shenandoah. Though he impeded 
 the pursuers by breaking down bridges and felling trees 
 across the road, yet in spite of these obstructions the Union 
 forces overtook him at Carrick's Ford. Garnet here made a 
 stand to confront his indefatigable pursuers. He had taken a 
 strong position on a hill whose base was densely covered by 
 a jungle of laurel bushes ; with him were 2,000 men, and a 
 reserve of 3,000 men in the rear. Rosecrans made a dem- 
 onstration in front at the Ford, while a portion of his men, 
 by a flank movement, groped their way through the jungle 
 and to the top of the hill, and with a shout rushed on the 
 enemy, captured one of the guns commanding the Ford, 
 , and drove them before them. Garnet behaved with 
 12. great bravery, but presently fell pierced by a rifle ball.
 
 BULL RUN. 895 
 
 Then his men, panic-stricken, fled in confusion, and reach- 
 ing the reserves in the rear, the panic was communicated 
 to them and they also fled, only one regiment of Georgians 
 making a short stand. These prisoners were treated with 
 great kindness, clothed and fed, and unwisely permitted to 
 simply take the oath of allegiance to the United States 
 Government and then dismissed. Large numbers of these 
 men, violating their oath, were soon found in the Confeder- 
 ate ranks. The rebel loss in these conflicts was about 1,500 
 killed, wounded and prisoners, while the Union loss was 
 only 20 killed and 60 wounded. 
 
 General McClellan was relieved and ordered to "Washing- July 
 ton ; General Rosecrans taking command of the Union 
 forces in West Virginia. 
 
 Preparations were made for a general advance of the 
 troops in the vicinity of Washington early in July. The 
 troops under General Patterson on the Upper Potomac ; 
 those under McClellan the extreme right from West Vir- 
 ginia ; and the forces under McDowell extending along the 
 river opposite Washington ; these all were to advance and 
 gradually contract their lines around Richmond. The plan 
 was General Scott's. General McDowell was to move direct 
 upon Manassas Junction, on the railroad twenty-seven miles 
 from Alexandria, an important strategic position held by 
 the enemy. General Patterson had already moved from 
 Chambersburg, Pa., and reached the Potomac and passed 
 
 over, General Joe Johnston, in command of the Confeder- June 
 
 ifi 
 ates in the Valley of the Shenandoah, falling back, after 
 
 destroying what was left of the armory at Harper's Ferry 
 and transferring the machinery to Richmond, there to be 
 used in the service of the rebellion to the close of the war. 
 Patterson also issued his proclamation, promising pro- 
 tection to loyal men and private property, and the troops 
 were enjoined to suppress any insurrection of the slaves. 
 Ruin was found along the pathway of the retreating Con- 
 federate army ; it was they who inaugurated the system of 
 desolating the country through which they passed, nor till
 
 896 HISTOEY OF THE AMEBICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, the next year was any retaliation practiced by the Federal 
 
 armies, and that but seldom. 
 
 1 QtiA 
 
 Patterson had about 23,000 men, but he seemed to act 
 without a fixed purpose or design ; for some unexplained 
 reason he recrossed the Potomac and fell back to Hagers- 
 t wn > ne 8a ^ * n consequence of orders from Washington, 
 and the enemy returned to the south side of the river. 
 Then again he crossed the Potomac at Williamsport, and 
 appeared to hesitate, taking no responsibility. The cam- 
 July paign seemed aimless. The enemy now fell back beyond 
 3 - Martinsburg toward Winchester, where Johnston was said 
 to have an army of 15,000 men well supplied with artillery. 
 Patterson occupied Martinsburg. His orders were to press 
 Johnston and prevent his reinforcing Beauregard at Manas- 
 sas ; but he hesitated, and soon it was discovered that 
 Johnston and his whole army had marched southward, yet 
 July he lingered till he heard of the disaster at Bull Run. The 
 ^ Government should have put in command of these troops 
 a regularly educated military officer, and not have risked 
 so much by entrusting them to incompetent hands. 
 
 Meantime the Union troops were moving toward Manas- 
 sas Junction, the enemy making but little resistance and 
 falling back till they made a stand at Blackburn's Ford at 
 Bull Run Creek, which they strongly fortified. McDowell 
 resolved to turn the enemy's position and reach the Manas- 
 sas Gap Railway, and thus intercept reinforcements from 
 Winchester, as he fully expected Patterson to hold John- 
 ston in check so that he could not bring aid to Beaure- 
 gard. 
 
 McDowell made his arrangements to flank the enemy by 
 crossing the creek at other fords. Parties sent out to 
 reconnoitre on Saturday reported they had heard steam- 
 whistles and the distant rumblings of railroad trains. It 
 was learned after the battle that these trains had brought a 
 portion of Johnston's forces. 
 
 , , The various divisions of the Union army, but not in 
 
 21. perfect concert, advanced to cross the fords. Owing to
 
 BULL RUN. 897 
 
 want of discipline some of these divisions were behind the ^- 
 time appointed daylight to cross the fords nearly three 
 hours. Of this want of concert the enemy availed them- 
 selves. They soon discovered the attack in front was a 
 feint, and from that point they withdrew large detachments 
 to be used elsewhere. The contest was a brave one on 
 both 'sides, but desultory in the extreme, as might be 
 expected from inexperienced men, nine-tenths of whom 
 were going into battle for the first time. In different parts 
 of the field the Confederates were driven from time to time 
 and would recover ; batteries of cannon changed hands more 
 than once. Finally the Federals drove the enemy nearly 
 two miles, and deemed the victory won. The Union troops 
 had been in motion from 2 A.M., and had been fighting 
 from ten o'clock, and at 3 P.M., were resting when they 
 were surprised and suddenly attacked by about 5,000 troops 
 fresh from a train from Winchester. At this crisis the 
 other Confederates, thus encouraged, renewed the conflict 
 with vigor. The Union forces were thrown into con- 
 fusion and retreated in disorder, and being undisciplined 
 could not be as a whole effectually rallied. Yet individual 
 regiments one after another stood in the way and fought 
 gallantly, retarding the advance of the enemy till the strag- 
 glers could retire to the rear. While the soldiers of both 
 armies were inexperienced and but partially disciplined, 
 they fought worthy of their fathers. The Union forces 
 lost 481 killed and 1,011 wounded, the Confederates 296 
 killed and 1,533 wounded. This success of the insurgents 
 made known to the people of the free States that the rebel- 
 lion could only be put down by hard fighting. " Beaure- 
 gard's victory at Manassas Junction inspired the Confede- 
 rates with such confidence that they had not doubted for a 
 single instant but that the North had received a mortal 
 blow." " But a few men, such as General Lee and General 
 Joe Johnston and others, alone recognized the vital impor- 
 tance of the struggle in which they were engaged, and they
 
 898 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, ceased not to warn the Southern people against their foolish 
 - imprudence. 1 
 
 1 ftft! 
 
 Missouri being a Border State, the people were much 
 divided, but the majority were in favor of the union, 
 especially might this be said of the entire German popula- 
 tion. Governor Jackson had fled from the capital at Jef- 
 
 June ferson City after issuing a flaming proclamation calling for 
 13 - 50,000 men to repel the invaders, meaning the U. S. 
 troops under Captain Lyon. The Governor had slipped off 
 up the river with steamers laden with the State ordnance. 
 The energetic Lyon went in pursuit in steamers the same 
 evening, and sent troops by land in the same direction to 
 seize railroads and protect bridges and to intercept the fugi- 
 tive governor and his adherents, the main body moving to 
 Eolla, the then terminus of the South Pacific railway. 
 
 Lyon first stopped at the capital and installed a Military 
 Governor, Colonel Boernstein, then with three steamers, on 
 board of which were troops and field artillery, he continued 
 the pursuit, landing near Booneville, a few miles below 
 where Jackson and Sterling Price, a former governor of the 
 State, had made an entrenched camp, and had a motley 
 crowd, composed largely of the outside voters we have 
 seen in the Kansas difficulties. After landing Lyon 
 marched at once to assault the camp, but met the enemy on 
 their way to oppose his landing ; he immediately attacked 
 them and after a few minutes they fled, taking refuge in 
 their camp ; this they also soon abandoned, scattering in 
 
 Juno a ^ directions. About 40 of them were killed and great 
 
 17. numbers made prisoners. Jackson and Price both fled 
 
 toward the South, where they expected to join troops 
 
 from Arkansas and Texas under General Kains and the 
 
 famous Texan ranger, Ben McCullough. 
 
 Lyon was sadly in want of reinforcements, but as all the 
 troops were at that time sent to protect Washington, he 
 was compelled to pursue the enemy with insufficient force. 
 
 1 Childe's Life of Lee, p. 60.
 
 THE REBEL RETREAT SIGEI/S MASTERLY RETREAT. 899 
 
 He sent forward Colonel Franz Sigel, who soon arrived at 
 Springfield, in the south-western portion of the State ; 
 thence he advanced rapidly toward Carthage, to find all the 
 insurgents united under Jackson, Price, and other chiefs. 
 Though the enemy numbered 5,500 and a battery of five 
 guns, and Sigel's force only 1,500 men and eight guns, two 
 of which were twelve pounders, yet he did not hesitate to 
 attack. He found them drawn up on a rising ground on the 
 prairie ; that morning they expected, as they expressed it, 
 "to wipe out the Dutch hirelings." The battle com- 
 menced and the centre guns of the enemy were soon 
 silenced, and they pulled down the secession flag and raised 
 that of the State ; upon this Sigel's men were unwilling to 
 fire. Presently the rebel cavalry, being very numerous, 
 began to outflank the Unionists and Sigel fell back to 
 protect his train. He held the enemy in check, pouring in 
 at the proper moment " a shower of canister and shrapnel 
 shell" until he reached Springfield, in spite of the numer- 
 ous force around him. The next day the insurgents were 
 reinforced by about 5,000 Texans under Ben McCullough. 
 Five days after the battle General Lyon arrived at Spring- 
 field, which place the enemy almost surrounded. 
 
 The Missouri State Convention, largely composed of 
 Union men, took action by electing provisional State offi- July 
 cers. The people of the State respected the authority of 
 the convention. 
 
 General Lyon ascertained that the enemy, 23,000 strong, 
 were concentrating at Wilson's Creek ten miles south of 
 Springfield, and were preparing some onward movement. 
 He resolved to anticipate them. The entire Federal force 
 marched from their entrenchments at Springfield in two 
 divisions the one under Lyon, the other under Sigel to 
 surprise the enemy before they made their advance. Lyon 
 was to attack the front at daylight, and Sigel the rear at Aug 
 the same time Both were prompt, and one of the fiercest 
 battles thus far began ; in front the enemy were driven from 
 the field. Lyon greatly exposed himself and was wounded
 
 900 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 Lvm.' twice. The enemy rallied and made a desperate effort to re- 
 gain what they had lost but were most severely repulsed by 
 the cool determination of the lowans, who lying close on 
 the brow of a hill let their foe come within 40 feet before 
 firing upon them. They recoiled in confusion and finally 
 fell back down the hill. It was seen that they were about 
 to make another attempt, and Lyon desired his men to charge 
 bayonets as soon as they had discharged their pieces. " Who 
 will lead us?" exclaimed the men. " 1 will myself," said the 
 general. "Come on. my brave men." The enemy came up 
 but only fired and did not wait for the bayonet charge but 
 fled down the hill. General Lyon was killed by this dis- 
 charge. He was universally regretted, being one of the 
 most accomplished officers in the United States Army. 
 Meantime General Sigel was also successful in driving 
 the enemy before him, but was at length greatly out- 
 numbered by encountering a large force in his front and 
 compelled to retreat, losing five cannons, three of which the 
 soldiers spiked. This was a drawn battle. The Union 
 army lost 263 killed and 721 wounded ; the rebels, 421 killed 
 and more than a thousand wounded. The Union army 
 under Major Sturgis fell back to Springfield, and finally 
 to Eolla, the terminus of the railway, holding the enemy at 
 bay, who now overran Southern Missouri, driving the Union 
 men from their homes and pillaging the people generally. 
 General J. C. Fremont assumed command in Missouri 
 about the last of July. 
 
 The rebels pushed their line of devastation up to Lex- 
 ington on the Missouri River. This place was defended in 
 the most heroic manner by Colonel Mulligan and his " Irish 
 Brigade" of 2,640 men, but finally, when the enemy 
 increased to nearly 20,000, be surrendered. This was but a 
 Oct. barren victory, as the enemy were compelled to retreat rap- 
 16> idly toward the south, pursued by Fremont, who, after 
 commencing the fortification of St. Louis, and organizing 
 the forces already in the State and those collected at his call 
 from other States, had taken the field (Sept. 26) himself.
 
 THE IRISH BRIGADE A PROCLAMATION. 901 
 
 Fremont was crippled for want of transportation-, arms, 
 clothing, and men. Yet, at a critical moment came to him 
 an order from the Secretary of War and General Scott "to 
 send 5,000 well-armed infantry to Washington without a 
 moment's delay." Fremont, too, had issued a proclama- 
 tion, in which he had declared the Stale under martial 
 law ; threatening, among the penalties, the freedom of the 
 insurgents' slaves. The latter clause offended those of the 
 Union men who owned slaves, and at the suggestion of 
 President Lincoln he modified that clause to read, "all 
 slaves who have been employed on rehel military works." 
 But it raised a clamor among the politicians that did not 
 cease till Fremont was superseded, when General Halleck 
 assumed command of the " Department of the West." 
 
 Fremont's career at the West was brief only one hun- 
 dred days ; but, being a man of military instincts and 
 training, he showed in that time a sagacity which was not 
 allowed fair practical development. In that brief time he 
 was the first to suggest and inaugurate the following prac- 
 tices, then widely decried, but without which the war 
 would not have been successfully concluded : the free use 
 of cavalry (strongly opposed by General Scott and others) ; 
 exchange of prisoners with the enemy; fortification of 
 large cities, to allow armies to take the field ; building of 
 river gun-boats for interior operations at the West; and, 
 the emancipation of the slaves. In short, he contributed 
 more than is generally credited to him. 
 
 After the Union disaster at Bull Run the Confeder- 
 ates endeavored to regain West Virginia; sending a large 
 force under Henry A. Wise and John B. Floyd. The latter 
 was defeated by Rosecrans at Carnifex Ferry on Gauley 
 River, but under favor of darkness fled, his men leaving all 
 their munitions except what they could carry. General 
 Eobert E. Lee was sent with 9,000 men to drive the Fed- 
 erals from Cheat Mountain, but after several conflicts he 
 was defeated and compelled to retreat east. 
 
 Kentucky in a recent election for Members of Congress
 
 902 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, had shown herself loyal by a majority of 55,000 ; though 
 
 her Governor, MacGoffin, was a secessionist, and so was 
 
 July General Buckner, the commander of the State Guards. 
 1- The latter, treacherously betraying his trust, went over to 
 the support of the rebellion. John 0. Breckenridge, who 
 was in the United States Senate, and so much exercised 
 because President Lincoln, as he argued, had violated the 
 Constitution in calling out the 75,000 men to enforce the 
 laws, threw all his influence in favor of the enemy, thus 
 more than usual corrupting the loyalty of the young men of 
 the State. 
 
 Sept, T ne Legislature met and passed laws over the Governor's 
 veto to furnish money to arm the State against invasion on 
 either side, and preserve her neutrality ; that phantom soon 
 vanished. A hostile force advanced from Tennessee, and 
 taking possession fortified two points on the Ohio river 
 Hickman and Chalk Bluffs. On the same day General Zol- 
 licoffer, with an army occupied Cumberland Gap, in the 
 eastern part of the State, intending thereby to cut off the 
 Union men of East Tennessee from aid either from Ken- 
 tucky or the Federal army. This concerted movement 
 made it plain to the most obtuse that the Confederates, as 
 had been their selfish plan, were, in order to save the 
 "Cotton States," about to make the Border States the 
 battle-field. 
 
 General U. S. Grant, who was in command at Cairo, 
 111., at the mouth of the Ohio, immediately telegraphed the 
 fact of the rebel invasion to the Kentucky Legislature, 
 then in session. That body at once passed a resolution 
 inviting General Robert Anderson, of Sumter memory, to 
 enter upon his duties in the "Department of Kentucky," 
 to which he had been assigned by President Lincoln. 
 Thus far there were no United States troops stationed in 
 the State, and the only soldiers were enlisted Kentuckians. 
 
 _ Grant did not wait for orders, but at once passed over 
 
 6. into Kentucky, landing at Paducah ; issuing a proclama- 
 tion, as was the custom in those days, to the effect that he
 
 GBANT'S ADVANCE LOYALTY CONGRESS. 903 
 
 had come to protect the people and aid them in driving the 
 hostile invaders from the State. 
 
 General Anderson assumed command, and the Legisla- 
 ture called out "for defense against the invaders" 40,000 
 men, and by law disfranchised those Kentuckians who had 
 voluntarily joined the enemy if they did not return to their 
 allegiance to the State. The neutrality of Kentucky was 
 at an end. 
 
 The disaster at Bull Run rendered the people of the 
 free States intensely anxious ; fears were entertained of a 
 rapid advance on Washington itself. That such an advance 
 was not made is due to the opposition of Jefferson Davis, 
 who thought the measure premature. At this crisis the 
 terms of the first men called out were about to expire, and 
 now a call was made for men to serve three years. The 
 new rousing of the patriotism of the loyal North was sub- 
 lime : regiments came into existence as if raised by magic ; 
 even the sympathizers with the rebellion cowered before the 
 enthusiasm and determination evoked to repel the advance 
 of the insurgents ; yet they continued to the end to dis- 
 parage every loyal victory and exaggerate every defeat. 
 
 Congress was equal to the emergency ; they passed a bill 
 authorising the enlisting of 500,000 men and appropriated 
 500,000,000 dollars, to carry on the war. They also passed 
 an act confiscating all slaves used by the rebels for military Aug. 
 purposes ; all slaves within the Federal lines were to be em- 
 ployed upon the works and paid as day laborers. General 
 Butler had applied the term " Contraband of war" to the 
 slaves escaping from their masters to his army at Fortress 
 Monroe ; although orders had been issued that such runa- 
 ways should be restored, he delayed to comply with the 
 order. Great care was taken by the National Government 
 to conciliate the slave owners, but without success. 
 
 Gen. McClellan entered upon his duties with commend-, 
 able zeal ; Washington was fortified thoroughly, there being 
 no less than thirty-two forts constructed at different points
 
 904 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. and garrisoned. But his great work was to bring order out 
 
 of disorder, to discipline the numerous new soldiers that 
 
 Oct' had crowded Jby steamboat and railway to the capital. 
 15. This great work he was fully competent to perform, and it 
 was as fully accomplished. By the middle of October he 
 had 150,000 men under his immediate command. No 
 advances were made, except reconnoitering expeditions to 
 ascertain the positions of the enemy and their designs. 
 
 The Confederates, under General Evans, made a feint 
 of evacuating Leesburg, in order to draw some one of these 
 reconnoitering parties into an ambuscade. General Stone 
 was in command in that vicinity. He ordered Colonel 
 Baker to cross the Potomac and try the enemy, for it was 
 well known that Leesburg was well fortified. The crossing 
 was made, but the enemy remained quiet until the Federals 
 were within their power. Then occurred a terrific battle 
 
 Oct. and slaughter, compared with the numbers engaged and 
 Ball's Bluff disaster is the saddest of the war. General 
 Stone sent an order to Colonel Baker warning him of 
 danger, as the enemy were reported to be in strong force. 
 Tiiis order was given to Baker on the battle-field, who 
 asked the bearer what it was. The answer was, "All right, 
 go ahead." Colonel Baker put the order in his hat without 
 reading it, and went "ahead" straight into the trap laid 
 for him by the cunning enemy. After the battle the order 
 was found in the colonel's hat, stained with his own blood. 
 Lieutenant-General Scott asked to be placed on the 
 retired list, on account of his age and infirmities. This 
 request was granted. The President and his Cabinet going 
 to the general's quarters to respectfully bid him farewell as 
 
 Oct commander-iu-chief of the armies of the Republic. General 
 McClellan was appointed to succeed him, and he at once 
 assumed command. 
 
 A combined naval and land expedition was planned at 
 Fortress Monroe, where the veteran General Wool was now 
 in command Butler having been relieved and ordered to 
 active duty. A fleet of three frigates, fifty guns each, and
 
 HATTERAS EXPEDITION. 905 
 
 four vessels of smaller size, besides transports and tug-boats 
 to carry the laud force. No person knew the destination, 
 except a few of the officers, till the expedition was fully out 
 at sea. The fleet was under Commodore Stringham, and 
 the land forces under General Butler. The object was to 
 capture and hold the two forts Hatteras and Clark at 
 the entrance of Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds, in order to 
 break up the contraband trade by which English blockade 
 runners supplied the insurgents with munitions of war, in 
 exchange for tar, turpentine and cotton. 
 
 Fort Hatteras was a very strong battery, nearly sur- 
 rounded by water ; Fort Clark, 700 yards distant, was not 
 as strong. Almost on their arrival the frigates opened on Au S- 
 the forts, while the transports landed their men some four 
 miles distant. Hatteras replied with spirit, but wildly, and 
 the Union frigates poured in their solid shot and shell, 
 laterally tearing the fort to pieces. Toward evening a storm 
 arose and the vessels were forced to withdraw to the offing ; 
 in the morning the weather was clear and the frigates 
 opened again upon Fort Hatteras. Meantime, the land 
 forces occupied Fort Clark, which the enemy had aban- 
 doned. At 11 A.M., a white flag was run up on Fort 
 Hatteras ; both forts were unconditionally surrendered. 
 More than 600 prisoners were taken, while not a Union 
 soldier was injured. For a number of days the men 
 amused themselves in capturing English blockade runners, 
 who, not having learned of the capture, entered the inlet 
 as usual. The blockade was enforced as much as possible 
 aloner the coast, with its multitude of inlets and harbors, 
 
 O 
 
 some of which had one or two entrances. 
 
 Two months later a similar expedition set out from 
 Fortress Monroe. Commodore Dupont commanded the 
 navy, and General Thomas W. Sherman the land forces. 
 This expedition consisted of seventy-seven vessels, of all 
 classes steamers and sailers, steam-tugs, and ocean steam- 
 ers as transports, and fifteen gunboats and one steam 
 frigate, the Wabash. Among the great ocean steamers was
 
 906 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, the VanderMlt, afterward presented to the Government by 
 Cornelius Vanderbilt. These vessels were nearly all volun- 
 
 teers the ship-owners were not behind in their sacrifices 
 29. for the cause. The whole expedition moved from Fortress 
 Monroe ; its destination was not generally known till it 
 arrived off Port Royal, South Carolina, the finest harbor on 
 the South Atlantic coast. After some unavoidable delays 
 the gunboats and the Wabash were ready for the bombard- 
 ment of the forts on each side of the channel. The vessels 
 moved in an ellipse. As they passed up the stream they 
 poured in a deadly fire of solid shot and shell on the forts 
 on one side of the channel, then as they returned paid their 
 respects to the forts on the other side ; the most promi- 
 nent, Hilton Head, was deemed invulnerable. The vessels 
 thus moving passed in and out of the range of the rebel 
 guns. The Wabash came within six hundred yards of 
 Hilton Head, while the gunboats of smaller draft came 
 close in shore and enfiladed the enemy's works. The Con- 
 federates could not stand the storm, but leaving everything 
 fled to the woods. The bombardment lasted four hours. 
 The Federals captured about forty pieces of ordnance, 
 mostly of the heaviest caliber and of the most approved 
 patterns, and an immense quantity of ammunition. The 
 village of Beaufort was occupied. It was made the hospital 
 headquarters during the war for that section, and a resting- 
 place for the sick soldiers, weakened so much by the debili- 
 tating influence of the climate. After the capture of Hilton 
 Head and the adjacent islands the enemy began to burn the 
 Cotton, lest it should fall into the hands of the Union 
 soldiers. The whole heavens were lighted up night after 
 night by the raging fires. 
 
 The unanimity with which tli3 people of the free States 
 responded to the calls of the Government, both for men 
 and money, was truly marvelous. From April 15, 1861, 
 when Mr. Lincoln's proclamation was issued, to August 
 15th, more than 500,000 volunteers had answered to these 
 calls. Of these 3:5,000 were actually in the field. The
 
 COMPOSITION OF UNION ARMIES. 907 
 
 Government, from the first, determined to depend upon the ST- 
 people themselves, not only for soldiers, but for the means 
 
 IRfil 
 
 to defray the expenses of the war. In strictness there was 
 not a mercenary in the Union armies ; there were those of 
 foreign birth, but they were either citizens by adoption and 
 oath of allegiance, or had declared, according to law, their 
 intention to become citizens; they received pay for their 
 services, which was just and proper. When the call for 
 money was made, the banks of the principal cities imme- 
 diately loaned the government fifty million dollars. Then 
 the appeal was made to the people at large, who could sub- 
 scribe in small sums according to their ability. The rapid- 
 ity with which this loan was taken proved the earnest 
 loyalty as well as the intelligence of the people of the free 
 States. The interest on this loan was at the rate of seven 
 and three-tenths per cent., or two cents a day on $100. To 
 raise more revenue a heavy tariff was imposed on foreign, 
 merchandise and manufactures. The result was great devel- 
 opment in the manufacturing industries of the land, and an 
 abundance of employment given to those of moderate means, 
 whose only capital was their skill and hands. Never before 
 did they move so energetically in their industrial pursuits. 
 
 On a dark and stormy night one of the English blockade 
 runners, the steamer Theodora, slipped out of Charleston 
 harbor, having on board John M. Mason of Virginia, au- 
 thor of the fugitive slave law of 1850, and John Slidell, of 
 Louisiana, as special envoys to Great Britain and France. 
 They were landed at Cardenas, Cuba ; thence made their 
 way to Havana, where they went aboard the English mail 
 steamer Trent. Captain Charles Wilkes of the United 
 States steam sloop of war San Jacinto, and who, when a 
 lieutenant, had commanded a voyage of scientific discovery Nov 
 round the world, overhauled the Trent and demanded the 8. 
 envoys, who were delivered up to him. Captain Wilkes called 
 at Fortress Monroe, sent his dispatches to Washington, and 
 then steamed for New York, where he received orders to 
 send the envoys, to Fort AVarren, in Boston harbor, at which
 
 908 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, place they were delivered. The news of this capture caused 
 unprecedented excitement throughout the land. The peo- 
 
 1 ftftl 
 
 pie, with the greatest enthusiasm, approved the action of 
 Captain Wilkes. But the absorbing question arose, what 
 will be the result ? Captain Wilkes justified himself, show- 
 ing his authority from writers on international law, but 
 more from English precedent. It was well known that our 
 .war with England in 1812 arose in part from the fact that 
 English cruisers assumed the right to board neutral ships on 
 the high seas and search them for articles contraband of 
 war. Wilkes deemed the envoys contraband. The United 
 States Government had always denied the right, and fought 
 to maintain its opposite. The British Government, in cour- 
 teous terms, due to the influence of Queen Victoria and 
 Prince Albert, who both sympathized with the North in the 
 rebellion, demanded the release of the envoys. They were 
 returned more in accordance with the American idea that it 
 was wrong to seize neutral vessels on the high seas than 
 from precedent derived from British custom. Indeed before 
 the demand came the matter had been amicably arranged 
 between Lord Lyons, the British Minister, and Mr. Seward, 
 the Secretary of State. As Captain Wilkes, who was on his 
 return from a three years' cruise, had arrested these men 
 without orders, the act was disavowed, and no cause of war 
 remained. Meantime great excitement prevailed in En- 
 gland. War preparations were made in great haste, and 
 troops were sent to Canada. The disappointment of the 
 Confederate authorities was almost unbounded. They had 
 hoped it would lead at least to a collision with England, and 
 perhaps to their material aid. King Cotton had already 
 failed them, and now they were to derive no benefit from 
 the capture of the envoys. 
 
 The enemy under Bishop Leonidas Polk, who had been 
 made a Major-General, held a strongly fortified position at 
 Columbus, Kentucky ; on the other side of the river, at 
 Belmont in Missouri, was a well fortified camp. General 
 Grant, then at Cairo, resolved to break up the latter, as
 
 BATTLE OF BELMONT. 909 
 
 from there expeditions could be easily sent into Missouri or **AP. 
 
 up or down the river. With about 3,000 men aboard steam- 
 ers and escorted by the gunboats Tyler and Lexington, the 
 Union soldiers landed four miles above Belmont and at once 7- 
 took up their march toward the encampment. In about 
 a mile they fell in with the enemy and drove them "foot 
 by foot and from tree to tree back to their encampment on 
 the river's bank, a distance of over two miles ; " as they 
 drew near, suddenly was heard firing and cheers on the rear 
 of the enemy. The lllinoisians, under Colonel Napoleon B. 
 Buford, had made a detour rapidly and were now closing 
 in ; a combined movement was made upon three sides of the 
 enemy's works, which were soon in possession of the Union 
 forces; "The rebels passing over the river bank and into 
 their transports in quick time." The object was accom- 
 plished ; Grant destroyed all the munitions and property of 
 the camp, and then fell back to his transports. Meantime 
 Polk had sent troops to attack the Federals on their way 
 back but without success. Bishop Polk reported ; "It was 
 a hard fought battle lasting from half past ten A.M. to five 
 P.M;" he judged Grant's force to be 7,000 strong. The 
 Federals lost 84 killed and 288 wounded ; the enemy's loss 
 was never accurately known. 
 
 The enemy had taken possession of Cumberland Gap to 
 prevent the Unionists of East Tennessee from being aided 
 by United States troops. The Union men of that section 
 displayed the most heroic patriotism of any portion of the 
 country ; and the Confederate authorities thought it of the 
 highest importance to prevent that section being occupied 
 by Union forces, lest they should cut in twain " The Empire 
 of the South." General William T. Sherman, who had 
 succeeded Anderson in Kentucky, was of the same opinion, 
 but the authorities at Washington seemed to think other- 
 wise. If that point had been occupied in force, communi- 
 cation with Cincinnati and the North could have been kept 
 open. The persecutions and outrages inflicted upon the
 
 910 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. Union men were fiercer in East Tennessee than in any por- 
 
 - tion East of the Mississippi. 
 
 l|^J' General Buell assumed command in Kentucky, and he 
 15. withdrew the Union troops from the eastern portion of the 
 State as a large rebel force was reported to be in the vicinity 
 of Bowling Green, an important and strategic point, and 
 that their intention was to move North and capture Louis- 
 ville, and a strenous effort must be made to drive them from 
 the State. The Union men of the State turned out nobly 
 in aid of the cause more than 18,000 who never flinched in 
 in battle ; and yet the State had furnished many thousands 
 of misguided young men to the very army which was now 
 invading and foraging in their native State. In the eastern 
 portion of the State a series of skirmishes had taken place 
 in which the enemy, often worsted, were driven from 
 point to point, but finally they concentrated under General 
 Zollicoffer, and made an attack on the Union forces under 
 General Thomas at Logan's farm this battle is known as 
 that of Mill Spring, though that was eight miles distant. 
 J 1 a ^ 1 ' General Thomas had made his arrangements to attack 
 the Confederates in their intrenehments ; but they them- 
 selves had thought to attack Thomas in a similar manner. 
 They, accordingly, left their entrenchments after dark on a 
 Saturday night, and the next morning at seven o'clock 
 drove in the Federal pickets. Word was speedily given 
 that the enemy were in force, and in less than half an hour 
 the Union soldiers were in line of battle, a detachment, 
 meanwhile, holding the foe in check. The conflict was 
 severe, and the lines wavered back and forth for hours. 
 The Confederates had protected themselves by an extempor- 
 ized bulwark of fence rails and a barn. Between them and 
 the woods where the Federal soldiers were, was an open field. 
 Colonel McCook determined to capture these defenses, and 
 he ordered the Ninth Ohio, Germans, to fix bayonets ; then 
 moving along the front, he shouted, " My invincible Ger- 
 mans, charge!" A moment afterward the whole regiment 
 was in the open field, and with shouts rushed upon the
 
 BEBEL FINANCES SLAVEKT AGAIN IN CONGRESS. 911 
 
 enemy, who lingered for a moment as if bewildered, and 
 
 then fled. The Union troops with cheers advanced the - 
 
 1 ftf 1 
 
 whole line, and their defeat was complete ; nor did they 
 stop till they reached their entrenchments, eight miles dis- 
 tant. The Union forces pushed on, and late in the after- 
 noon commenced a sharp cannonade. Night came on, and 
 Thomas made preparation to assault in the morning. At 
 daylight the ramparts were scaled, but not a man was to be 
 seen. The night before the enemy had fled silently, leaving 
 everything in their camp, lest the noise of destroying their 
 munitions should betray their design. Their commander, 
 General Zollicoffer, had been killed, and they were com- 
 pletely demoralized and abandoned all their fortifications in 
 that region. 
 
 The way was now open to occupy Cumberland and 
 Pound Gaps, and an entrance into East Tennessee, so much 
 dreaded by the Confederate authorities ; but General Thomas 
 was ordered to cooperate with the Federal advance toward 
 Bowling Green and Nashville. 
 
 Jefferson Davis sent in a special message to the Confed- 
 erate Congress. This document was evidently designed to 
 produce a certain effect, especially in England and France, 
 to whose courts he had just sent the two envoys. Every Nov - 
 conflict thus far had resulted in a glorious victory for the 
 rebels ; not a word was said of the progress of the Federal 
 cause in Missouri, Kentucky, and West Virginia ; not a 
 word of the capture of Hatteras, or Hilton Head, or Beau- 
 fort. The cotton-spinners of England were kindly admon- 
 ished that the blockade might diminish the supply of that 
 article. He proclaimed that the financial system adopted 
 had worked well, when the general impression was that 
 "their National Loan and the Cotton and Produce Loan" 
 were failures. 
 
 The question of the slave came more directly than usual 
 before Congress on its assembling. A change was in prog- p ec 
 ress among thinking minds in the free States in respect to 2. 
 his position in this contest. He was used by the nation's
 
 912 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, enemies to build fortifications, to raise corn and cotton, to 
 
 support and protect the families of those who were in the 
 0/w ' armies of the rebellion. He had been happily characterized 
 as a "contraband" of war; yet commanders in the field 
 had usually treated him as a slave, and in some instances, 
 when a fugitive in the Union army, he had been restored to 
 his master when the latter was disloyal. The annual report 
 of the Secretary of War, Mr. Cameron, favored negro eman- 
 cipation, and remuneration to the loyal slave owners. 
 
 The same report stated that the total number in the 
 army was: infantry, 568,383; cavalry, 59,398; artillery, 
 24,686 ; rifles and sharpshooters, 8,395 ; engineers, 107. 
 In the aggregate, 660,971, of which 20,334 were of the reg- 
 ular army. The rebel army numbered about 350,000 men. 
 There is no data for an accurate estimate, as they usually 
 exaggerated their numbers before a battle and depreciated 
 them afterward. 
 
 Around Washington an army of about 200,000 was 
 drilling during the summer and the entire autumn, and no 
 doubt was as well disciplined as any such body of men could 
 be. The people became impatient that this numerous and 
 well appointed army should lie idle so long ; and the sol- 
 diers themselves became equally impatient. The roads 
 were in perfect order for an advance on the enemy, and the 
 weather all that could be wished. The enemy were almost 
 in sight, flaunting their flags and holding their entrench- 
 ments, while their newspapers sneered at the want of energy 
 in the Union commander. In other portions of the country 
 the Union generals made advances and were successful in 
 West Virginia, Missouri and Kentucky, but " All is quiet 
 on the Potomac " had passed into a proverb. The enemy 
 went deliberately into winter quarters in the vicinity of 
 Centreville and along the upper Potomac. The people 
 began to feel there was something mysterious in this delay. 
 j an> The President appointed Edwin M. Stanton Secretary of 
 15 - War in place of Mr. Cameron, resigned. The new Secre- 
 tary, by his untiring energy and intense loyalty, was most
 
 FORT HENRY CAPTURED. 913 
 
 efficient in promoting the Union cause ; stern and inflexible 
 
 in character, obedient only to the dictates of duty. 
 
 1862 
 
 It was planned, when the stage of water in the Ten- 
 nessee and the Cumberland would admit of the free passage 
 of the gunboats, to penetrate the Confederacy along these 
 rivers, and thus turn the strongholds of the enemy at Colum- 
 bus, on the Mississippi, and at Bowling Green, in Southern 
 Kentucky. Captain A. H. Foote had been detailed from 
 the United States Navy to command the western flotilla of 
 gunboats. These boats were of somewhat different con- 
 struction from the ocean-going, being flat-bottomed and not 
 plated so heavily ; indeed some of them, from the lightness 
 of their armor, were jocosely styled " tin-clads." Grant 
 had about 30,000 men gathered at Cairo, Paducah and 
 Bird's Point. Keconnoissances, which had sorely distracted 
 the enemy, both by land and water, ascertained the positions 
 of their forces. 
 
 At length the expedition was ready to move ; ten regi- Feb. 
 ments, with their artillery and cavalry, embarked on 
 transports at Cairo. The steamers headed up stream to 
 Paducah, at the mouth of the Tennessee, and up that 
 river. The Confederates now learned that Fort Henry was 
 to be attacked. Captain Foote, with his gunboats, bore 
 the steamers company. Four miles below the fort the 
 troops under General McClernand disembarked, Foote 
 meanwhile shelling the woods in search of the enemy. 
 The following day transports brought more troops and 
 General Grant. 
 
 Captain Foote wished the attack to be deferred for a 
 day, so that the fort could be so invested as to secure the 
 prisoners, assuming that he himself could subdue the fort 
 before the troops could get in position. The gunboats had 
 not yet been tried, and both Grant and his officers evidently 
 did not have the faith in them that the captain had. Ftb. 
 Prompt at the hour, 11 A. M., General McClernand moved 6 ' 
 to throw his division on the road leading from Forfc Henry 
 to Fort Donelson on the Cumberland. Captain Foote also
 
 914 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 Lvm.' moved at the same time, and passing up on the west side of 
 an island, and, the water being high, over obstructions put 
 in the channel, suddenly came into the river near the fort. 
 The gunboats took their position and began to throw shots 
 and shells, and approached nearer and nearer ; so terrible 
 was the storm that the earthworks crumbled away and 
 nearly one half of the fort's guns were dismounted, and the 
 infantry supports of the artillery fled, the insurgent flag 
 was hauled down and the fort surrendered unconditionally. 
 Only 130 prisoners were secured, the remainder escaped, as 
 the Union forces were not yet in position to capture them, 
 for, true to his word, Foote had subdued the fort in one 
 hour and fifteen minutes. The astonishment at the success 
 of the gunboats was as great among the army and its officers 
 as the wholesome dread with which they inspired the Con- 
 federates. Unfortunately the boiler of the Essex gunboat 
 was struck by a cannon ball, and the issuing steam scalded 
 twenty-four of the men and killed four instantly, otherwise 
 the boats were scarcely injured. 
 
 The captain sent gunboats in pursuit of the steamers, 
 which they overtook and destroyed, and also transports 
 laden with supplies for the enemy. They ascended to 
 Florence, Ala., making clean work of all war material on 
 the river. The Union gunboats, at almost every point, 
 were welcomed by the people. Captain Foote returned on 
 the evening of the battle to Cairo, to repair damages to the 
 boats and prepare for the expedition against Fort Donelson 
 on the west bank of the Cumberland, twelve miles east 
 of Fort Henry. The Confederates deemed it of the 
 greatest importance to hold this place. Thither General 
 A. Sidney Johnston had sent troops under John B. Floyd 
 and Buckner, the former having chief command. 
 
 The main fort stood on a gradually rising hill ; the top, 
 or plateau, contained about one hundred acres. The crest 
 of this plateau was encircled by rifle pits, and artillery com- 
 manded every approach, and it was deemed impregnable by
 
 FORT DO-NELSON. 915 
 
 the enemy. West and south of the fort were hills densely CHAP. 
 wooded and filled with ravines. 1 
 
 Grant moved from Fort Henry and invested Donelson ^jj- 
 on the afternoon of the same day. The next day were 12. 
 fierce artillery duels; sharpshooters on both sides were 
 busy ; desperate sorties by the enemy were repulsed ; and an 
 equally desperate attempt to capture a battery that annoyed 
 the Union army was made by McClernand's order, but after 
 a heroic effort failed. 
 
 The next morning Captain Focte came up with six gun- y^ 
 boats, and at 2 p. M. commenced the bombardment of the 14 - 
 fort. The boats came within 350 yards of the water bat- 
 tery. For more than an hour the battle raged. Only two 
 of the enemy's guns were able to reply, when a chance shot 
 cut the tiller chain of the Louisville. The boat veered 
 round and exposed her side, and another such shot broke 
 the rudder post, and she was carried helplessly down the 
 current. Encouraged by this mishap, the enemy directed 
 all their fire on the St. Louis, the flag boat, a heavy battery 
 on the hill joining in. The St. Louis was soon as helpless 
 as the Louisville, one of her side wheels being broken bv a 
 solid shot, and she too floated down the stream after having 
 been struck fifty-nine times. 
 
 An assault had been intended all along the enemy's line 
 when the fleet had silenced the guns in the water forts. 
 After the result was known General Grant consulted with 
 Foote, and it was deemed best to repair the gunboats and 
 wait for the mortar floats, that were not in readiness when 
 Foote left Cairo at the peremptory command of Halleck. 
 
 Meantime the enemy became alarmed lest they should be 
 so hemmed in that they could not escape, and they resolved 
 to cut their way out by dislodging their besiegers. Accord- 
 ingly at dawn of day the next morning they moved out in 
 three divisions, intending to converge to one point of Feb 
 attack on the Federal right next the river ; bnt they unex- 
 pectedly found the Union army prepared in front of their 
 own earthworks, and before they were formed in line
 
 916 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, of battle they were attacked and held in check, but only 
 - to make another attempt, and thus on the south side of the 
 62 ' fort the conflict waged for five hours. Regiment after 
 regiment of these inexperienced Union soldiers took their 
 places and remained till their ammunition was exhausted, 
 and they were relieved by fresh troops. Many of these 
 when their cartridges failed begged to be led in a bayonet 
 charge against the enemy. Such was the spiiit of this 
 whole army. The battle for the most part was fought in a 
 forest with a dense undergrowth, which much impeded 
 rapid movements. The Confederates thus far had made 
 desperate aggressive attempts. Now Grant, who had been 
 absent holding a consultation with Captain Foote, in turn 
 determined to assault their lines, and he ordered the 
 Federals, about one P.M., to carry the enemy's position 
 by assault. This was most handsomely done, the enemy 
 being driven at the point of the bayonet to their inner 
 works. On the Federal right a similar assault was made, 
 with the same result. The Union army held all their 
 advanced positions during the night, and were preparing 
 to renew the attack in the morning. This gloomy night 
 was passed in bringing within the Union lines the wound- 
 ed, scattered over a space of two miles and a half. The 
 Union soldiers and the Confederates fared alike, being cared 
 for with equal kindness. 
 
 There was evidently commotion in the enem v's camp. In 
 the morning, when the Union lines advanced at daylight to 
 the assault, numerous muskets were held up along their 
 ramparts displaying white flags. The advance halted, and 
 General Buckner desired to negotiate. He was left in 
 command ; Floyd and Pillow had slipped off up the river 
 with some of their followers on board a transport, and left 
 Buckner to bear the stigma of surrendering. He wished 
 for an armistice and terms of capitulation. General Grant 
 refused the request, and replied, " No terms except uncon- 
 ditional and immediate surrender can be accepted ; I pur- 
 pose to move immediately on your works." Buckner at
 
 DONELS01? CAPTURED. 917 
 
 once surrendered. The number of prisoners was nearly 
 
 14,000, and their killed and wounded 1,300 ; and all the 
 
 1862 
 
 guns and military stores, an immense amount. This vic- 
 tory sent dismay into the Confederacy, while the rejoicings 
 in the loyal States were great. The activity and energy of 
 the Western undrilled armies were contrasted with the 
 inactivity and discipline that reigned around Washington. 
 Immediately after this capture the enemy evacuated 
 Bowling Green and moved toward Nashville, which place 
 they merely passed through, destroying-, in their haste, 
 both the railway and suspension bridges over the Cumber- 
 land an unnecessary destruction of property, as their 
 ruin scarcely impeded the Union army. The Legislature Feb. 
 with the Governor left in haste. The beautiful city was 
 occupied by Federal forces and order restored. That 
 stronghold Columbus, on the Mississippi, was also evacu- 35 
 ated on the receipt of the news of the fall of Fort Don- 
 elson.
 
 CHAPTER LIX. 
 
 LINCOLN'S ADMINISTKATION CONTINUED. 
 
 Burnside's Expedition to North Carolina Capture of Newbern Bat- 
 tle of Pea Ridge Capture of New Madrid and Island No 10 Battle 
 of Pittsburg Landing or Shiloh Capture of New Orleans Death 
 of Admiral Foote Battle of river iron clads Capture of Mem- 
 phisEvacuation of Corinth Plans of movements on Rich- 
 mondThe Merriruac and Monitor duel. 
 
 LIX.' ON the Atlantic coast a naval and laud expedition under 
 1Si33 Commander Goldsboro and General A. E. Burnside was 
 fitted out, against Roanoke Island the scene of Sir Walter 
 Raleigh's colony 1 and to make a demonstration on the 
 coast of North Carolina, to encourage the Union men, and 
 also create a diversion south of Richmond and Norfolk. 
 
 In approaching Albemarle Sound the rebel fleet and an 
 earthwork known as Fort Barton were encouuted ; the ene- 
 my's fleet soon retired out of harm's way, and Goldsboro 
 opened upon the fort, but was not able to reduce it after a 
 bombardment of some hours. During the night the troops 
 g b> landed, and in the morning, under General Foster, moved 
 to the attack over a swampy and difficult way. On the 
 march they came upon a battery, protected by a swamp on 
 either side ; Foster flanked the battery right and left, and 
 when the Union soldiers came out upon their rear flanks, the 
 enemy threw down their arms and fled. This success was 
 
 1 Hist. pp. 72-74.
 
 ROANOKE CAPTURE OF NEWBERtf. 919 
 
 followed up and their entire force about 3.000 on the 
 
 * I . I A . 
 
 island of Roanoke was captured. 
 
 1862 
 Burnside issued the usual proclamation, promising pro- 
 
 tection to those engaged in their usual avocations and 
 enjoining the Union soldiers not to injure private property 
 on their march. Eoanoke Island became the base of opera- 
 tions ; and from it were sent out many expeditions which 
 essentially interfered with the English blockade runners by 
 seizing harbors and filling channels of approach. 
 
 The most important capture of Newbern on the Neuse 
 was accomplished by a combined land and naval force. The 
 troops landed 17 miles below the town, and marched up the 
 road along the river bank and a railway track from Beau- 
 fort, the gunboats by their shells keeping the enemy at a 
 respectful distance. About three miles below the town was 
 found a formidable field work, which promised to offer 
 much resistance. This fortification was flanked by a swamp 
 and Burnside sent a detachment round, while he pressed 
 the enemy in front ; the detachment appeared on the flank, 
 but the Confederates held their ground until a Ehode Island 
 regiment, on the run, charged bayonet and changed the 
 tide of battle ; other Union troops pressed on and the rout 
 was complete. A portion of the fleeing enemy reached a 
 
 train of cars and carried the news of defeat to Newbern. 
 
 Mar. 
 There, as was their custom, they began to burn a bridge 14. 
 
 and all the rosin and turpentine, and the steamers at the 
 wharf, two of which were saved by the United States gun- 
 boats. The enemy had wantonly set the town on fire, but 
 the citizens with aid from the United States Marines suc- 
 ceded in putting it out, though not until the best Hotel 
 and the Court House and many private residences were con- 
 sumed. General Foster was installed as Military Governor 
 in Newbern. 
 
 Other places in the vicinity were captured, such as Beau- 
 fort and Washington, on Pamlico River. Fort Macon, a 
 strong fortification built by the United States Government 
 to protect the harbor of Beaufort, was reduced after a bom-
 
 920 HISTOSY OP THE AMEKICAX PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, bardment of eleven hours. This secured the blockading 
 
 fleet one of the finest and safest harbors on the coast. 
 
 l'^62 
 
 Major-General S. B. Curtis was directed by General Hal- 
 leek to drive Generals Price and liains and their bands 
 out of Missouri into Arkansas. Curtis was soon on the 
 *' march toward Springfield, where Price and his band had 
 been for some time. The latter took the alarm and hastily 
 retreated South, Curtis pursuing and the enemy retreat- 
 ing, till at length they reached the Boston Mountains. 
 Curtis learned that they were concentrating against him 
 under General Van Dorn, whose army numbered about 
 34,000 men ; of these Ben McCullough had 13,000 out- 
 numbering the Union army more than four to one. These 
 made attacks on the various Federal divisions as they came 
 up, but were always repulsed. At length they concentrated 
 at Pea Ridge in Arkansas, and the enemy advanced to give 
 battle, which raged all day on the Federal right with 
 Mar. scarcely a cessation. The ground was hiliy and covered 
 7 * with thick underbrush and broken up by ravines. On the 
 left wing the contest was equally stubborn, but more varied 
 in result. Ben McCullough made a desperate assault upon 
 Colonel Oesterhaus, of Sigel's division, but Curtis ordered 
 up Davis's troops to the Colonel's aid, and the combined 
 force drove the enemy headlong from the field, they leaving 
 dead their commanding generals, McTntosh and Ben McCul- 
 lough the latter the master-spirit of their army. Success 
 had also crowned the left wing. During the night both 
 armies lay on their arms ; the Union soldiers resting for the 
 first time in two days' marching and sleepless nights. 
 
 At sunrise the battle was renewed, and raged most of 
 the day along the whole line, nearly three miles; Sigel 
 handling his artillery with wonderful rapidity and effect. 
 Every attempt to break the Union line was foiled. For 
 more than two hours this continued, when Sigel began to 
 advance his part of the line ; the enemy sought shelter in 
 the woods, but the Federals charged through their shelter 
 and drove them with the bayonet to an open field beyond,
 
 ISLAND NO. 10. 921 
 
 when they broke and fled in all directions. Thus ended 
 
 LIX. 
 
 the two days' fight at Pea Eidge. Never before had the 
 enemy suffered so disastrous a defeat. Soon after those who J 
 had not deserted were transferred to the army of General 
 S. A. Johnston, again to meet the Union soldiers under 
 General Grant. 
 
 The National Government never lost sight of the im- 
 portance of the control of the Mississippi river, and to that 
 end Admiral Foote directed his attention in connection with 
 a land force under General Pope. The enemy made the most 
 strenuous exertions to retain their hold of the great river as 
 a most important source of supplies, both beyond it and on 
 its tributaries. 
 
 The islands in the Mississippi from the mouth of the 
 Ohio downward are designated by numbers. The Confed- 
 erates chose available points on the river to fortify, such as 
 New Madrid in Missouri, opposite Island No. 10, Tipton- 
 ville in Kentucky, and No. 10 itself all three within sup- 
 porting distance. To this island they had directed special 
 attention, Beauregard, their best engineer, superintending 
 the works and pronouncing them impregnable. In conse- 
 quence here were collected vast military stores and provi- 
 sions as for a long siege. 
 
 Admiral Foote was to bombard No. 10, and at the same 
 time Pope to capture New Madrid. The latter found the jyj ar 
 town fortified by earthworks and defended by three gun- 3. 
 boats, which, because of the high water in the river, were 
 able to sweep its banks, and in the face of these guns it 
 would be impossible to hold the town if captured. He 
 therefore sent to Cairo for siege guns 24 pounders. These 
 soon came, and during the night time were placed in posi- 
 tion within 800 yards of the enemy's main fortification, and 
 in the morning opened upon the astonished enemy, every 
 shot telling with fine effect, dismounting several of their 
 heaviest guns. The shot also reached their gunboats 
 and steamers in the river, compelling them to hasten out of 
 range. A night of storm and rain came on, and in the
 
 922 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN" PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, morning, just as the guns were about to reopen, a white flag 
 was seen approaching. The messenger brought word that 
 
 Mar ^ e enem y na( l evacuated the fort, abandoning everything, 
 14. and the town authorities wished to surrender. 
 
 Immediately after the surrender General Pope prepared 
 to cooperate with Admiral Foote in the reduction of No. 
 10. The latter came down with his gun-boats and mortar- 
 floats, and for twenty-two days bombarded the island, but 
 without effecting any great break in the works. The whole 
 west shore of the river opposite the island was under water 
 from the spring freshets, and Pope had no transports to 
 carry his men to the east side of the river, and they could 
 not pass the batteries on No. 10. Pope determined, at the 
 suggestion of General Hamilton, to cut a canal across the 
 peninsula, in the rear of New Madrid, to the river below, 
 and pass through this the transports. By an ingenious 
 
 A P r - apparatus the trees were sawed off four and a half feet below 
 the surface of the overflowing water, and thus a passage 
 "was made for the transports which at once passed through. 
 This unique canal was twelve miles long and fifty feet 
 wide. On the evening of the day on which this canal was 
 finished, the gunboat Carondelet, in the midst of a thun- 
 derstorm, ran past the batteries on No. 10, and two nights 
 after the gunboat Pittsburg performed the same feat. These 
 boats soon silenced the rebel batteries along the river below, 
 
 May and by midnight of the same day Pope's army was across 
 the river and pushing for Tiptonville to intercept the enemy 
 fleeing from No. 10, which place, it was rumored, they were 
 evacuating. Early the next morning No. 10 surrendered to 
 Admiral Foote "17 officers, 363 soldiers, 70 heavy cannon, 
 ranging from 32 to 100 pounders, the latter rifled, and an 
 immense amount of other military stores, four steamers and 
 a floating battery." Meanwhile Pope had intercepted the 
 retreating foe, who laid down their arms, surrendering 
 unconditionally as prisoners of war, in all nearly 7,000. A 
 few days before the surrender Beauregard left No. 10. This 
 defeat and loss was a source of great mortification to the
 
 EEBEL AEMY BATTLE OF SHILOH. 923 
 
 Confederate authorities, and was equally a gratification to ^^P. 
 the loyal people of the free States. 
 
 General Grant and his army left Nashville and marched 
 for the Tennessee River, which they reached, about 240 
 miles from its mouth, at an obscure place of three or four 
 houses, known as Pittsburg Landing, but now famous in 
 the annals of the war. 
 
 General Buell soon after began the march with his Divis- 
 ion for the same place. The ultimate point sought was 
 Corinth, a strategic position in Northern Mississippi on the 
 Memphis and Charleston railway. For two months the 
 enemy had been concentrating here, and fortifying the hills 
 in the immediate vicinity, General A. S. Johnston first in 
 command, and Beauregard second. The most strenuous 
 efforts were made to resist the Union army; Manassas and 
 Centreville were evacuated McClellan by his inactivity 
 permitting it and their lines drawn more closely around 
 Richmond ; in order to spare troops for this emer- 
 gency; General Bragg was ordered from Pensacola with his 
 well-drilled artillery and infantry; Columbus was evacuated 
 and under General-Bishop Polk the garrison marched to 
 the same point ; and from Arkansas, late from Pea Ridge, 
 came General Van Dorn, bringing 15,000 men. The enemy 
 advanced from their stronghold to meet Grant's army at the 
 crossing, and if possible crush him before Buell could bring 
 up his forces. The Union army had crossed over and was 
 stationed in a semi-circle, the center in the front of the 
 road to Corinth, the left extending round to the river at Mar. 
 Hamburg, four miles distant. The Shiloh meeting-house 
 stood directly out in the country, two and a half miles from 
 the landing ; around this church was the principal conflict, 
 hence the Confederates name the battle Shiloh. The coun- 
 try west of the landing is rough, and covered with a dense 
 forest of scrub-oak and black jack, with here and there 
 an open field. The enemy skirmished more or less for two 
 days, no doubt to ascertain the Federal position. 
 
 Early Sunday morning they drove in the advanced
 
 924 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. Federal pickets. The entire division flew to arms and 
 awaited the enemy's advance. After an hour's waiting 
 
 1 ftfi'} 
 
 Apr' they came on, attacking the center ; and, extending their 
 6. line by an oblique movement, threw an overwhelming force 
 upon the left, driving the Federals back and capturing 
 General Prentiss and his regiment almost entire. They 
 pressed on, turning to the left, but were held in check by 
 three Illinois regiments till they were overpowered and 
 forced to retire, losing three guns. General W. T. Sher- 
 man still held his first line at the meeting-house until the 
 enemy passed round to his rear, when he fell back and took 
 a new position. ^My division," he says, "was made up 
 of regiments perfectly new, nearly all having recently 
 received their muskets." Great numbers of these fright- 
 ened men found their way back to the river, two miles 
 distant, and no efforts of their officers could induce them 
 to return. The enemy by main force drove the Union left 
 through their camp toward the river, but were at length 
 held at bay for four hours by the pluck of General McCler- 
 nand and his troops. The Confederates had planned not 
 to attack but in overpowering numbers ; thus when they 
 attacked the center they deployed their main force against 
 the left. They well knew that, if at all, they must crush 
 this advanced Union force before Buell could come up, or 
 troops under Generals Nelson and Thomas could reach the 
 field of battle. At five P.M.. was a brief lull in the firing. 
 The enemy fell back, and then suddenly, as if to take the 
 Federals by surprise, threw forward their whole force for 
 the second time, with such fierceness and desperation that 
 the Union army was .compelled to fall back. Just then the 
 gunboats Lexington and Tyler came up the river. They 
 soon learned by a messenger from General Grant the posi- 
 tion of the enemy. The boats took their station and sent 
 in with great rapidity their shot and shell, the latter burst- 
 ing amid the ranks of the Confederates. "The shells 
 hurling death and destruction through the scrub-oak jun- 
 gles under whose cover the enemy fought securely." In
 
 BATTLE CONTINUED. 925 
 
 less than thirty minutes they had silenced the rebel batter- PIIAP. 
 ies. Just before the boats opened fire Buell's advanced 
 division appeared on the Union right, and they successfully 
 resisted the last charge of the enemy that day. This was 
 nearly a great victory. They had the advantage of supe- 
 rior numbers ; on the morrow that would be changed. 
 General A. Sidney Johnston, their commander-in-chief, 
 was among the slain. 
 
 The Union army in this battle numbered about 38,000, 
 while the enemy had 45,000, under their best generals 
 A. S. Johnston, Beauregard, Bishop Polk, and Hardee 
 and the best fighting material they had in the field ; but in 
 endurance and cool, determined courage the Northern 
 soldiers were superior, though the Southern had the more 
 dash. 
 
 Eeinforcements for the Union army began to arrive on 
 the evening of the battle. The remainder of Buell's forces ; 
 Nelson and Crittenden's divisions, some on foot and some 
 on steamers ; two batteries of the regular army, and 
 McCook's division, by a forced march, reached the landing 
 early the following morning. 
 
 It was General Grant's turn now to take the -offensive, 
 and a general advance was ordered to begin at 5 o'clock the 
 next morning. The hostile pickets were driven in and the 
 battle became general along the whole line. At 10 A. M. 
 the Union army was moving forward and forcing the enemy |* r ' 
 step by step from point to point, and though occasionally 
 checked, the Union army moved steadily forward; their 
 fire was regular as clock-work, and the divisions sustained 
 each other admirably. At length the enemy, after repeated 
 attempts to break through the Union lines and failing, 
 seemed to despair of succeeding. For seven long hours 
 they had fought valiantly. Beauregard made the most 
 strenuous exertions and exposed himself in his efforts to 
 prevent his army falling back toward Corinth. The pursuit 
 was not pressed vigorously owing to the intervening woods, 
 which impeded the movements of cavalry, and the infantry
 
 926 HISTOKY OP THE AMEBICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. on iy pursued the retreating foe for a mile or two. The 
 
 enemy fell back to their entrenchments at Corinth, and 
 
 1862 
 
 ' Beauregard proclaimed a great Confederate victory ; that 
 was for the public, but his private dispatch to Jefferson 
 Davis, captured at Huntsville by General 0. M. Mitchel, 
 told the true story, calling for reinforcements, and saying : 
 " If defeated here we lose the Mississippi Valley and prob- 
 ably our cause." 
 
 The Union loss in killed, 1,785 ; wounded, 7,883 ; the 
 rebel, killed, 1,728, and wounded, 8,012. The enemy, for 
 the most part, were better protected by the dense woods, as 
 they fought on ground of their own choosing. 
 
 While these stirring events were enacting in the West a 
 combined expedition was fitting out against New Orleans in 
 the East, General B. F. Butler to command the land forces 
 and Admiral D. S. Farragut the naval. Through the influ- 
 ence of Butler the men for the enterprise were principally 
 enlisted in N~ew England. The rendezvous for the troops 
 was Ship Island, lying in the waters of the Gulf midway be- 
 tween Mobile and New Orleans, by way of Lake Pontchar- 
 train, thus threatening either place. A powerful fleet of 
 mortar boats had been fitted out at the Brooklyn Navy Yard 
 under the direction of Captain David D. Porter. This flo- 
 
 Mar. tilla joined the fleet off the mouth passes of the Mississippi. 
 Admiral Farragut commanded the whole armament, and 
 Porter, under him, had control of the mortar boats. The 
 whole fleet and transports soon passed within the passes, and 
 
 Apr. gunboats acted as pickets up the river to give notice of the 
 4 - approach of certain iron-clads and rams and fire rafts 
 huge barges laden with split pine over which had been poured 
 melted pitch, rendering them highly inflammable. One of 
 these rams, the Manassas, carried English rifled guns. 
 They also had an iron-clad floating battery, the Louisiana, 
 besides 18 armed steamers, some of which were protected 
 by an armor of iron. Their naval commander, Hollins, an- 
 nounced that with these he would annihilate the Union 
 fleet. An exceedingly strong chain -was stretched on floats
 
 FOKTS ST. PHILIP AND JACKSOK REBEL FLEET. 927 
 
 across the channel from Fort Jackson to the opposite shore, ^-j^' 
 
 near to Fort St. Philip. This chain was commanded by 
 
 1862 
 the guns of the forts. These forts 75 miles below the 
 
 city were very strong structures built by the United States 
 Government. Fort Jackson had 120 guns and St. Philip 
 nearly as many. In addition, the enemy had flanking bat- 
 teries commanding the river for three miles, and also the 
 approach from Lake Pontchartrain. 
 
 Arrangements completed, the Union squadron moved 
 to the attack. Then occurred one of the most terrible 
 cannon battles on record. Fourteen mortar-boats, throw- 4 r * 
 
 lo* 
 
 ing immense shells from the west shore, and six others on 
 the eastern bank of the river in the swamp passages, and so 
 covered by green bushes as to be well masked, six ships 
 of war, and gunboats up and down the stream took part in 
 the thunderous fray, while the forts replied with great 
 vigor. The bombardment lasted all day ; the guns in the 
 embrasures of Fort Jackson were silenced, and also the last 
 one on the side of St. Philip. Meanwhile Hollins sent 
 down fire-rafts in the midst of the battle, but they did but 
 little harm, as they were all destroyed by balls from the 
 guns or seized by grappling irons prepared for the purpose 
 and towed where they could harmlessly burn. At night a 
 deserter came aboard and informed Porter of the condition 
 of the forts. From his statement it was evident they could 
 not be reduced for several days. This information deter- 
 mined Farragut to run past the forts, and orders were given 
 to prepare for the hazardous attempt. Meantime the mor- 
 tar-boats continued to throw shells into the forts. 
 
 That night two parties in boats passed up and cut the 
 chain without being discovered, and also a boat with 
 muffled oars passed above the forts and took soundings, find- 
 ing the channel free of obstructions. This, even, the enemy 
 did not discover, though they had large fires burning all 
 night along the shore to prevent surprises. 
 
 Orders were passed that night from ship to ship to pre- . r 
 pare to run the gauntlet, and at 2 o'clock in the morning 24.
 
 928 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, the fleet was under way. The darkness was so great that 
 
 the sentinels at the fort did not discover the movement 
 
 until the first division approached the chain, in a minute 
 more, and both the forts opened. This was the signal for 
 Porter, who, with his mortars, threw a shower of bursting 
 shells inside the forts, which interfered materially with 
 their firing ; the vessels as they passed by poured in their 
 broadsides. As they passed beyond the forts they found 
 themselves in the midst of hostile iron-clads and rams ; the 
 latter butting in every direction. The Union gunboats, 
 generally, were able to dodge them, and in turn pay them 
 the compliment of a broadside. The Cayuga, a swift 
 vessel, passing through compelled three steamers to strike 
 their flags. The ram Manassas was running round butting 
 at anything in the smoke and darkness ; finally, she ran 
 foul of the Brooklyn, which gave her a broadside with her 
 heavy guns, and the ram disappeared in the darkness. 
 Only one vessel was lost, the Varuna, Captain Boggs. The 
 career of this vessel deserves relating. The captain finding 
 himself "in a nest of rebel steamers" stalled forward, giv- 
 ing broadsides right and left ; the first went into a steamer 
 crowded with troops, exploded her boilers and she drifted 
 ashore ; afterward three other vessels were driven ashore in 
 flames and blown up. Then the Varuna was attacked by 
 an iron-clad ram, which raked her and butted her on the 
 quarter, but she managed, meantime, to plant three 8-inch 
 shells in the armor of her foe, and a rifle shot, when the 
 ram dropped out of action. At this moment another 
 large iron-clad, with a prow under water, struck the 
 Varuna in the port gangway, doing considerable damage ; 
 then her enemy drew off and made another plunge and 
 struck again in the same place, crushing in her sides ; now 
 _the Varuna gave her antagonist five 8-inch shells ; these 
 settled her, and she floated ashore in flames. The Varuna 
 herself was in a sinking condition ; but her men were taken 
 off by boats from the other vessels before she went down. 
 All along the river bank were stranded rebel steamers and
 
 REBEL FLEET DESTROYED NEW ORLEANS SURRENDERS. 929 
 
 rams, nearly all on fire from Union shots and shells ; two C S4 P - 
 or three steamers and the iron-clad battery Louisiana had 
 
 *t Qj?O 
 
 escaped, and sought protection under the guns of Fort 
 Jackson ; two or three hundred prisoners were taken. 
 
 The next day Farragut was ready to move, and the fol- 
 lowing morning the fleet steamed up the river, and after 
 being delayed one-half hour to silence some batteries, he 
 reached New Orleans in the afternoon, and demanded its Apr. 
 surrender, which was complied with by the mayor. General 
 Lovel, who was in command, before leaving the city had 
 fired the long line of ships, steamers and flat-boats, and 
 vast stores of cotton, tobacco and sugar a most wanton 
 destruction of private property, not all contraband of war. 
 The United States public buildings were taken possession 
 of by Union soldiers to protect them. The forts Jackson 
 and St. Philip also capitulated when the fall of New 
 Orleans was known. General Butler arrived and entered 
 upon his duties as commandant of the city and vicinity. Apr. 
 The city was garrisoned immediately the troops marching 
 in to the tune of " Yankee Doodle," and order restored 
 under the skillful and energetic rule of Butler. He pre- 
 pared his proclamation and sent it to the various papers to 
 be published. They all refused. A sufficient number of 
 practical printers volunteered from the ranks, took possess- 
 ion of one of the offices, and issued the proclamation. This 
 incident was similar to many others that occurred during 
 this war showing the intelligence and industrial skill of 
 the soldiers of the Union armies. 
 
 Farragut sent the gunboat Iroquois, Captain Palmer, up 
 the river to the capital of the State, Baton Eouge, which 
 surrendered on demand ; then to Natchez, Mississippi, May 
 which place surrendered ; and then to Vicksburg, which was 12- 
 found to be fortified and garrisoned, and she refused to run 
 up the Stars and Stripes. Her time came in due season. 
 
 During this time Admiral Foote and General Pope were 
 working their way down the Mississippi, capturing fortified 
 places one after another ; delayed a few days at Fort Wright,
 
 930 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. Chickasaw Bluffs. Here Pope was ordered to join Halleck 
 
 TjT X . 
 
 at Corinth : and Admiral Foote, at the imperative orders 
 
 1ftfi2 
 
 ' of his physician, also retired from the service on account of 
 
 12. wounds received in the attack on Fort Donelson. A few 
 weeks later he died, a victim of patriotic ardor, and cheerful 
 in the Christian's hope. 
 
 Captain J. E. Davis succeeded Admiral Foote ; a few 
 
 days after, he defeated a rebel fleet of iron-clads and armed 
 10. 
 
 steamers under Captain Montgomery, in a conflict of thirty 
 
 minutes ; Fores Wright and Pillow were abandoned by the 
 June enemy ; this opened the way down toward Memphis. The 
 
 * Union fleet was joined by Captain Ellet's rams of unique 
 construction ; made out of powerful tug-boats. The whole 
 fleet passed down to island l$o. 45, two miles above Mem- 
 phis, off which place lay the Confederate iron-clads. At four 
 A.M., Captain Davis steamed down to find the enemy's fleet 
 June on the alert. The battle began at long range, but Ellet's 
 
 6- two rams, the Queen of the West and the Monarch, passed 
 rapidly by the Union gunboats, and rushed with great im- 
 petuosity into the midst of the rebel boats, firing heavy 
 shots right and left, and when opportunity served plying 
 the enemy with hot water by means of a hose of peculiar 
 construction. Then came on the gunboats, and the result 
 of this singular contest was that only one of the ten gun- 
 boats of the Confederates escaped they either being sunk 
 or blown up. In consequence of this destruction of their 
 whole fleet Memphis surrendered unconditionally. 
 
 The Confederates deemed Corinth an important strategic 
 point, being at the junction of the Memphis and Charleston 
 and Mobile and Ohio railways, but that importance was 
 gone as soon as the roads were cut and Memphis in the 
 hands of the Union forces. General Halleck assumed com- 
 mand after the battle of Pittsburg Landing, and advanced 
 into the vicinity of Corinth and commenced digging paral- 
 lels and making approaches. Thus he spent six weeks. 
 May ^ e enem y ^ ne meantime, were leisurely carrying away 
 
 30. their war material, and when this was done they evacuated
 
 CORINTH ABANDONED QUIET ON THE POTOMAC. 931 
 
 their stronghold, while Halleck kept 120,000 men within 
 
 striking distance until they were well on their way. Gen- 
 
 1863 
 eral Pope was sent in pursuit, but captured only about 2,000 
 
 prisoners. This was the only instance, thus far, of undue 
 tardiness in a Western army. The enemy had 47,000 men. 
 
 We have seen the Union soldiers in the West gaining 
 battle after battle, and in no instance failing to accomplish 
 their ultimate object. They met the enemy in superior 
 numbers at Pea Ridge and drove them out of Missouri, 
 they captured Forts Henry and Donelson, and opened 
 up the Tennessee and the Cumberland rivers, compelling 
 the evacuation of that stronghold, Columbus ; won the 
 battle of Shiloh, and compelled the enemy to retire to 
 Corinth, which in turn they were made to abandon. Along 
 the South Atlantic coast battles had been fought, and place 
 after place had been captured and held ; an expedition 
 against New Orleans had been eminently successful, and 
 now, after many conflicts, the whole of the Mississippi was 
 held from above to down below Memphis, and from its 
 mouth up to Vicksburg. While these advances were pro- 
 gressing, the Army of the Potomac was chafing at their 
 imposed inactivity, and drilling in entrenchments around 
 the National Capital. 
 
 General McClellan had asked for men till his numbers 
 had gradually increased in February to 222,196 names on 
 his roll, of whom 193,142 were fit for duty. In the pre- Feb 
 vious August, in a note to President Lincoln, he says : " I 
 propose with this force to move into the heart of the 
 enemy's country, and crush the rebellion in its very heart." 
 Yet no movement was made. Time passed on, and McClel- 
 lan did not intimate to the anxious President or Secretary 
 of War that he had any plans of a campaign. Several con- 
 ferences were held by the President and some members of 
 his Cabinet, at one of which the President asked the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief what he intended to do with his army. 
 After a long pause, he remarked he " was very unwilling to 
 develop his plans, hut would do so if ordered." The Presi-
 
 932 HIST03Y OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, dent asked if he had fixed any time in his own mind when 
 
 he would move the army. The reply was, he had. "On 
 
 i>o " 
 
 j an ' that," rejoined the President, "I will adjourn this meet- 
 
 13. ing." Yet McClellan for weeks gave no intimation of 
 moving. At length the President felt it his duty to order a 
 general advance of the Union armies on the 22d of Febru- 
 ary. It is a coincidence that on this day Jefferson Davis 
 was inaugurated at Richmond President of the Confederacy 
 for six years, and Alexander H. Stephens Vice-President. 
 F 2%' Perhaps the President in designating this day had in mind 
 that it was the anniversary of the birth of Washington. 
 
 Previous to this President Lincoln addressed a note to 
 McClellan, saying, "Your plan is by the Chesapeake, up 
 the Bappahannock to Urbana on the York ; mine to move 
 directly to a point on the railroad south-west of Manassas. 
 If you will give satisfactory answers to the following ques- 
 tions I shall gladly yield my plan to yours : Does not your 
 plan involve a greatly larger expenditure of time and money 
 than mine? Wherein is a victory more valuable by your 
 plan than by mine ? In fact, would it not be less valuable 
 in this, that it would break no great line of the enemy's 
 communications, while mine would ? In case of disaster, 
 would not a retreat be more difficult by your plan than 
 mine?" No direct reply was made to these questions, 
 though a report of the same date by the General-in-Chief 
 was claimed to answer. The plan of the President and his 
 advisers was virtually the one selected by General Grant 
 when he advanced on Richmond. 
 
 When the Norfolk navy-yard was destroyed and fell 
 into the hands of the enemy, the Merrimac steam frigate 
 was partially burned and sunk, but was afterward raised 
 by the enemy and made over as an iron-clad of tremendous 
 power. From hints thrown out by their newspapers this 
 mysterious monster became a source of great dread to the 
 fleet in and around the lower Chesapeake and Hampton 
 Roads. 
 
 Meanwhile Captain Ericsson was building at New York
 
 THE MEEBIMAC THE CUMBERLAND SUNK. 933 
 
 a unique iron-clad on a new principle, his own invention. CHAP. 
 
 This was a revolving turret, made entirely of successive - 
 
 layers of wrought iron plates to the thickness of eleven 1862 ' 
 inches. This turret was turned at will by steam ; within it 
 were two rifled guns throwing each an elongated shot 
 weighing 175 pounds, and loaded by machinery ; the turret 
 had two protected port-holes, and was placed on an iron- 
 clad hulk, the deck of which was only about three feet 
 above the water and clear of every thing except the turret. 
 For many weeks the sloop of war Cumberland and the 
 frigate Congress had watched off Newport News for the 
 expected monster, now called the Virginia by the enemy. 
 On the morning of March 8th she suddenly steamed out 
 from the navy yard at Gosport, and made for the Cumber- Mar. 
 land, but when passing by the Congress gave her a a 
 broadside, doing much damage. The Cumberland had a 
 heavy armament of 9 and 10-inch Dahlgren guns, and she 
 poured in her broadsides with precision ; but these heavy 
 balls glanced harmlessly off the sloping sides of the Merri- 
 mac, while one of her solid shots tore through the wooden 
 sloop's bulwarks. The Cumberland's men fought desper- 
 ately, warping round their vessel to give effective broadsides; 
 presently the Merrimac rushed at full speed upon the 
 Cumberland and pierced her hull below the water line, 
 making a hole four feet in diameter, and crushing in the 
 frigate's upper decks, still pouring in solid shot and making 
 a horrible slaughter on the crowded decks. Of the 450 
 men on board not a man wavered in this presence of death ; 
 their vessel was fast filling; in five minutes the water 
 reached the berth deck where lay the dying and wounded. 
 It was seen by her officers that the vessel must sink ; at the 
 last moment a salute was fired in honor of their country's 
 flag ; hardly had this been done when the ship gave a lurch 
 and disappeared under the water. More than 300 of these 
 brave fellows perished, the remainder were picked up by 
 boats which put off from shore. 
 
 Meanwhile the Congress was engaged with the Merri-
 
 934 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, mads two steam tenders the Jamestown and the Patrick 
 
 I^T Jt . 
 
 Henry. She was towed into shallow water and grounded, 
 
 ^pr' but not out of reach of the Merrimac's guns, which soon 
 6. disabled every gun on board the frigate and set her on fire. 
 Lieutenant Pendegrast hauled down his flag to spare further 
 slaughter. An officer from the Merrimac boarded the 
 Congress and received the surrender, but when on his way 
 back some persons on the shore fired rifles upon his tug. 
 When he returned the Merrimac shelled the shore and 
 resumed fire upon the helpless Congress, whose men were 
 not responsible for the firing from the shore. It was a most 
 unwarrantable slaughter of innocent men. The Congress 
 was set on fire by these shells and burned until the maga- 
 zine was exploded ; 150 men were lost. The Merrimac 
 now made for the steam frigate Minnesota, which, when 
 coming to engage in the conflict, had grounded three miles 
 away. The commander of the Merrimac, afraid of getting 
 into shallow water, contented himself by firing a few shots 
 at long range which did but little harm. The rebel iron- 
 clad withdrew at seven in the evening to renew her work of 
 destruction in the morning, which was to sink or destroy 
 every ship of war in the roads, and then what could she not 
 do ? The seaboard cities would be at her mercy. No 
 wonder this was a night of gloom in the Roads and of 
 anxiety all over the land, whither the telegraph had carried 
 the news of these disasters. 
 
 Just after the Merrimac disappeared a singular looking 
 craft appeared in the offing ; it was the Ericsson invention 
 the Monitor of which we have just spoken. She 
 reported for duty and took her position near the Minne- 
 sota. 
 
 Early Sunday morning the Merrimac was seen coming 
 from behind Sewall's Point. She ran down near the Rip 
 Mar. Raps, then turned and ran for the grounded frigate, whose 
 heavy stern guns gave her their solid shot. The Monitor 
 designated by the sailors as a cheese-box on a raft ran 
 down to meet the monster, which seemed to look askance
 
 THE MERRIMAC AND MONITOR DUEL. 935 
 
 at the little craft, and threw a shot at her, as if to say, Get CHAP. 
 
 out of the way or you may be hurt ; but instead, placing - 
 
 herself between the Minnesota and her antagonist, she paid 1862 ' 
 her respects by a solid shot of 175 pounds. The Merrimac 
 now turned with her broadsides against the turret, but 
 without effect. The Monitor's two guns deliberately put in 
 their shot. The Merrimac attempted to run down her 
 little antagonist, and only once grazed her. The nimble 
 Monitor was under such perfect control that she would 
 dodge her enamy, and as she passed regularly gave her a 
 shot. The Merrimac now gave up the attempt to run the 
 craft down, but turned her attention to the Minnesota, but 
 the Monitor again interposed by placing herself between 
 the combatants ; and the Merrimac, to get rid of her, 
 stood down the bay, the Monitor pursuing. Presently the 
 Merrimac turned and ran full speed at her pursuer, which 
 dodged her enemy, and, as she passed, plunged a shot into 
 her iron roof. The Merrimac soon turned and made for 
 Sewall's Point, pursued for some distance by the Monitor; 
 but as the latter had orders only to act on the defensive, 
 she withdrew as soon as the victory was won. It has never 
 transpired how much injury the Merrimac received. It is 
 certain, however, she no more ventured out from her May 
 anchorage, where she was carefully guarded by land batter- " 
 ies, and in the end was blown to pieces lest she should fall 
 into Federal hands. Thus ended the most influential naval 
 duel that ever occurred , as it revolutionized the naval war- 
 fare of the world. All the naval powers now began to 
 build iron-clads and virtually throw aside wooden men-of- 
 war. The United States Government also began to build 
 monitors of various sizes, some very large, and soon had a 
 fleet of iron-clads more powerful than the war fleets of all 
 the world combined. 
 
 At the last broadside of the Merrimac, Captain Worden, 
 the commander of the Monitor, was in the pilot-house, and 
 when looking through the eye-crevice a heavy shot struck 
 the house and the concussion knocked him senseless. When
 
 936 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, consciousness returned, the fight was over and all was 
 
 LIX 
 
 1 silent. He anxiously asked, " Have I saved the frigate?" 
 
 1862. Aye, aye, and whipped the Merrimac" was the answer. 
 " Then I care not what becomes of me," said he. 
 
 When the firing on Surnter took place, the great ma- 
 jority of the loyal people of the free States, and the offi- 
 cers of the National Government, had hitherto complied 
 faithfully with the spirit of the Constitution, and of the 
 laws of Congress in respect to the rendition of fugitive 
 slaves. Even when it was known that more than a thou- 
 sand of that class had been for weeks repairing fortifica- 
 tions, throwing up earthworks, and mounting guns 
 against Fort Sumter, yet the loyal people did not realize 
 that by this act the relation of the slaves to the Union 
 had been changed. So strong was the influence of law, 
 that for some time after the war began the slaves who 
 fled in search of freedom to the Federal armies were re- 
 turned to their masters as fugitives. It was the Aboli- 
 tionists alone who were decidedly opposed to this policy. 
 The loyal people of the free States had not yet been 
 educated up to that plane, nor to that of utilizing these 
 fugitives for the cause of the Union. Masters would come 
 to the camps of the Federal army and demand their slaves 
 under the famous Fugitive Slave Bill ; and these demands 
 were complied with by the generals of Democratic sym- 
 pathies, with one marked exception that of Benjamin 
 F. Butler, in command at Fortress Monroe. That shrewd 
 lawyer-general took in the situation ; he refused to sur- 
 render them, taking the military view that these fugitives 
 were " contraband of war." This decision covered the 
 case ; for it was well known that the slaves, by their labor 
 on fortifications and otherwise, were more efficient aiders 
 of the rebellion than if they were actually in the field. 
 The term " contraband " became during the war the pop- 
 ular designation of such fugitives. Butler put these men 
 to work and paid them wages.
 
 CHAPTER LX. 
 
 LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRATION CONTINUED. 
 
 Movement of the Army of the Potomac. Evacuation of Manassas. 
 Yorktown, Siege of. Battle of Williamsburg. Sanitary Ommis- 
 sion. The Retreao. Excitement in Richmond. Conscription 
 Law. Jackson in Shenandoah Valley. The Chickahotniny. Bat- 
 tle of Fair Oaks Lee in Command. Battle of Gaines' Mill or 
 Cold Harbor. Change of Base. Battle of Malvern Hill. Harri- 
 son's Landing. Cedar Mountain. Second Battle of Bull Run. 
 Lee Invades Maryland. Harper's Ferry Captured. Battle of 
 Antietam. Lee Retreats. McClellan's Slowness; His Removal. 
 Burnside in Command. Battle of Fredericksburg. 
 
 PREPARATIONS on a large scale were made to move the CHAP. 
 
 LX 
 
 Army of the Potomac to its destination on the Peninsula. 
 
 There were employed 113 steamers, 185 schooners, and 85 1862 - 
 barges with tugboats. These were to pass down the bay 
 and up the Eappahannock to Urbana, and thence to " reach 
 the vicinity of Richmond before they (the rebels) could con- 
 centrate all their troops there from Manassas." The latter 
 had railroad communication and could place their troops 
 in defense of Richmond long before the Union army could 
 make its way across a country more or less woody, with 
 four rivers to pass, proverbial for their marshy banks, which 
 in the spring were always overflowed by freshets. This 
 plan of advance, as the President suggested, was to leave 
 a way open on the right flank of the army by which a force 
 accustomed to move with the rapidity of the enemy, or, as 
 we have seen, the Union armies in the West, could come
 
 938 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 C LX P * * n overw ^ e ^ m i D o numbers and attack Washington before it 
 - would be possible to recall the Potomac army from its posi- 
 ' tion. For this reason President Lincoln retained McDow- 
 ell's division for some time that the Capital might be secure. 
 As the Confederates had their spies, male and female, in 
 Washington, every fact worth knowing was communicated 
 to them, and the city when known to be in a position of 
 defense was secure from attack. In a note to McClellan 
 the President gives his reason for retaining McDowell. 
 This reason will always be satisfactory to the people. He 
 says: "After you left I ascertained that less than 20,000 
 unorganized men, without a single field battery, were all 
 you designed to be left for the defense of Washington and 
 Manassas Junction, and part of this even was to go to Gen- 
 eral Hooker's old position." 
 
 The Confederate General T. J. Jackson afterward 
 
 Mar. known as " Stonewall " made a dash at Winchester, where 
 General Shields was in command, but after a day's skir- 
 mishing and fighting retired in the night up the valley, 
 destroying all the bridges on the routs. The Baltimore 
 and Ohio Railway, through the exertions of the chivalrous 
 General Lander, was once more put in order that supplies 
 could be brought to Washington. General Lander had 
 been wounded in a previous battle, but would not retire, 
 though urged by his physician, and in consequence his 
 great exertions led to his death. 
 
 The enemy had been for some time leisurely evacuating 
 Manassas and transporting their war material by railway to 
 Richmond without interference from the Union army. 
 Twenty hours after the fact was known along the 
 front " it was made apparent at headquarters that the 
 enemy was evacuating Centreville and Manassas as well as 
 on the Upper Potomac." Yet orders were not issued for 
 a pursuit until the enemy had been gone thirty-six hours. 
 The Union army, after four days' marching, returned and 
 IQ 1 ' had " gained some experience on the march and bivouac." 
 So said the General-in-Chief.
 
 MOVEMENT OF THE ARMY MANASSAS ABANDONED. 939 
 
 " General Joe Johnston had 44,000 men at Centreville CHAP. 
 
 IjJL. 
 
 and Manassas, and Jackson had 6,000 in the Shenandoah 
 
 Iftfi2 
 
 Valley. Johnston finally fell back behind the Rapidan, 
 deemed a more defensive position than the Rappahannock, 
 of which it is a branch." 1 
 
 Two divisions General Heintzelman commander left 
 Alexandria on transports for Fortress Monroe. Several 
 days after McDowell's division was ready to move, and as it Mar. 
 has been said the President retained it to make Washington 
 safe ; but on June 6th, when McClellan might need them, 
 a large portion of the corps (Franklin and McCall's divi- 
 sions) was dispatched to him, who says in a note to the 
 President, " I shall be in perfect readiness to move forward 
 to take Richmond the moment McCall reaches here and 
 the ground will admit the passage of artillery." 8. 
 
 The plan adopted by McClellan to reach Richmond was 
 by the peninsula formed by the York and James Rivers ; 
 the latter not used lest the Merrimac should interfere, 
 though she was closely blockaded by the Monitor and other 
 war vessels. For one entire month the Union army was Apr. 
 engaged in making the most elaborate redoubts and paral- 4 - 
 lels, and placing in order siege guns, while the enemy could May 
 leave at any moment, as their rear was open and unob- 4 - 
 strncted. The Confederate government never intended to 
 make a stand at Yorktown, and General Magruder had only 
 about 11,000 men to defend a line "em bracing a front from 
 Yorktown to Milberry Point, thirteen and a half miles." 
 But when the comparatively immense force of McClellan 
 appeared, and after a delay of ten days or more began to 
 dig trenches and not attack, General Joe Johnston availed 
 himself of the delay to join Magruder with 53,000 men,' 2 
 and he only remained to make a show of defense until 
 Richmond could be thoroughly fortified. Had the Union 
 army at once advanced with its much superior numbers, 
 Magruder would have fallen back toward Richmond. 
 
 i Life of Lee, p. 74. * Life of Lee, p. 72. .
 
 940 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. Magruder, surprised that he was not attacked, says: 
 '' In a few days the object of McClellan's delay was appa- 
 l62 ' rent. In every direction in front of our lines, through 
 intervening woods and along the open fields, earthworks 
 began to appear." McClellan made requisitions upon the 
 War Department for siege guns, stating that the enemy 
 had within his entrenchments "' not less than 100,000 men, 
 probably more," and that " here is to be fought the great 
 battle that is to decide the existing contest," yet the way 
 was open for the Confederates to retire to Richmond when- 
 ever they chose. He also complained of his want of men. 
 Mr. Lincoln wrote in reply : " Your dispatches, complain- 
 ing that you are not properly sustained, while they do not 
 offend me, pain me very much." He reminds the General- 
 in-Chief that he has with him 85,000 effective men, and en 
 route enough to make 108,000, remarking : " By delay the 
 enemy will relatively gain upon you ; that is, he will gain 
 faster by fortifications and reinforcements than you can by 
 reinforcements alone." After further suggestions and ex- 
 pressions of kindness, he closed by saying " But you must 
 act." Time passed on, the enemy making a bold front to 
 deceive the Union commander, and when he was ready to 
 May open with his siege guns, it was discovered one morning 
 that the enemy were gone ; their rear guard, even, was far 
 on its way toward Richmond. The Federal gunboats 
 passed up York river convoying transports, carrying Frank- 
 lin's division to West Point, twenty-five miles above 
 Yorktown, where it arrived the next day. This capture of 
 Yorktown was hailed as an important victory by the people, 
 and excited hopes of the speedy crushing of the rebellion. 
 The Confederates, meantime, retired as best they could 
 on account of the muddy roads, made so by a pouring 
 rain, which continued for thirty-six hours, and halted to 
 retard the pursuit at Williamsburg, twelve miles above 
 Yorktown, at which place earthwork defenses had been 
 thrown up some time before, mostly by the labor of slaves. 
 About noon the same day the Union cavalry overtook the
 
 BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG. 941 
 
 Confederate army and ascertained their position, but imper- CHAP. 
 fectly. The next morning early Heintzelman arrived with 
 his division, Smith's and Hooker's divisions soon after, jyj' 
 The latter commenced the battle at 7-J A. M. At 10 A. M. 5. 
 the enemy endeavored to turn the Union left, but Hooker 
 persistently held his place, and for six hours the battle 
 raged on this point ; the mire was so deep that artillery 
 could scarcely be handled. There was a lamentable want 
 of cooperation among the division commanders, though 
 General Sumner was nominally in command of the whole 
 force, McClellan being still at Yorktown. 
 
 Early in the afternoon ammunition began to fail 
 Hooker's men. Messenger after messenger had been sent to 
 urge on Kearney's division, which was retarded beyond pre- 
 cedent by the almost impassable roads. Heintzelman and 
 Hooker held their position by bayonet charges alone ; it 
 seemed a carnage to stand any longer owing to the de- 
 ficiency of ammunition. " Shall we retire ?" said Heintzel- 
 man to Hooker. " No sir," said the latter ; " if we must 
 fall, let those responsible for it be made to answer ; we 
 cannot leave this post." "Just my views," said Heintzel- 
 man. Presently a hurrah was heard above the din ; 
 Kearney's men, begrimed with mud, were coming through 
 the forest. Heintzelman waved his wounded arm and 
 shouted them a welcome, and called to the musicians, 
 " Give us Yankee Doodle, boys !" and a cheer of triumph 
 rose along the whole line as these brave men moved to the 
 conflict. "On to the front!" shouted Heintzelman, and 
 Hooker, knowing the ground, led forward the brigade 
 without a moment's delay. The enemy fell back to their 
 earthworks. " Now for the charge, boys !" was shouted, and 
 they carried the rifle-pits and one redoubt at the point of 
 the bayonet. The enemy tried again and again to recover 
 the position, but were as often repulsed. 
 
 In another part of the field were found two redoubts 
 unoccupied ; of these Generals Hancock's and Smith's divis- 
 ions took possession. Soon the Confederates discovered
 
 942 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 C LX. P ' their loss, and made an effort to recover them. Hancock 
 feigned to retreat, and they rushed on to make an assault. 
 The Federals, at the proper moment, wheeled and rapidly 
 delivered several deadly volleys, and then charged upon the 
 surprised enemy, secured 500 prisoners, and scattered the 
 remainder. Night came on ; the Union soldiers remained 
 on the field, sleeping for the most part on the muddy 
 ground, without shelter or food. General McClellan ar- 
 rived just as the battle closed. 
 
 During the night Johnston withdrew from the Williams- 
 burg defenses and passed over to the south side of the 
 Chickahominy, leaving on the field his dead and badly 
 wounded about 1,000. Colonel Averil pursued with a 
 cavalry force and captured a large number of prisoners. 
 The Union army lost 456 killed and 1,400 wounded ; the 
 Confederate loss was never reported. 
 
 The exposure and labor sent a great number of the 
 Union soldiers to the hospitals. Here is where that blessed 
 institution, "The United States Sanitary Commission,*' 
 came to the rescue of the wounded and sick soldiers. This 
 "Commission" sprang from the benevolence of the people 
 themselves, who cheerfully gave their money to sustain it, 
 and ladies of the highest culture and refinement often vol- 
 unteered as nurses. Tens of thousands of wounded and 
 sick soldiers were thus aided, and received, under the cir- 
 cumstances, the tenderest care. The influence of that 
 "Commission" has been felt throughout Christendom ; and 
 commissions modeled after it have blessed the poor soldiers 
 of Europe in wars since the close of the great rebellion. 
 
 Meantime, General Huger was destroying all the war 
 material and ships, to the amount of more than ten mill- 
 ion dollars, at the navy-yard at Gosport, preparatory to 
 evacuating Norfolk, when Magruder would leave Yorktown. 
 The next day Commodore Tatnal, who commanded her, 
 ^gave orders to blow up the Merrimac. Now was the time 
 May for McClellan to change his base to the James, which he 
 11. had wished to do when the " monster " was supposed to be
 
 EXCITEMENT IN RICHMOND LAW OF CONSCRIPTION. 943 
 
 in the way. The gunboats passed up the James, silencing CHAP. 
 
 the hostile batteries, until they reached Drury's Bluff, eight 
 
 miles below Eichmond ; on the Bluff was Fort Darling, so 
 high that the shots from the gunboats passed over, while its 
 guns were depressed so as to make plunging shots. 
 
 These advances caused a thrill of consternation in Rich- 
 mond, for the citizens and the authorities thought the 
 Union army would promptly follow up its successes. The 
 Confederate Congress refused to remain, but adjourned, 
 failing to manifest the proper confidence in the government 
 or army. Even in the President's mansion was "made a 
 painful exhibition to the South of the weakness and the 
 fears of those entrusted with its fortunes." Preparations 
 were made to remove the public archives to Columbia, S. C. 
 But when it was seen that McClellan, instead of working 
 his way up the James, turned aside to follow up the Chick- 
 ahominy, some of the citizens recovered from their alarm, 
 and held a meeting and passed resolutions "to stand by the 
 city or lay it in ashes" before it should fall into the hands 
 of the Federals. A strange infatuation seemed to seize the 
 Southern leaders to destroy the property of their own peo- 
 ple ; lest towns should be occupied by Union soldiers, they 
 would burn them. Thus Magruder had laid in ashes the 
 beautiful village of Hampton on the approach of the Union 
 army. They seemed to act without reason. If they suc- 
 ceeded in separating from the free States, their towns would 
 be safe for themselves ; and if they did not succeed, they 
 would only come back under the old flag, when their homes 
 an.d property would be as secure to their owners as they 
 always had been. In truth, these leaders were very free 
 with not only the property, but with the individual rights 
 of their own people. Their conscription act was cruel in 
 the extreme and enforced without mercy. It read : " Every 
 male citizen between the ages of 18 and 35 is declared ly 
 virtue of Ms citizenship to be in the military service of the 
 Confederate States." Thus, wherever found, male citizens 
 between these ages could be put in the ranks by the officer
 
 944 HISTORY OP THE AMERICAN PEOPLE." 
 
 CHAP, in command. The loyalty of the South is proved " by the 
 
 general and continued submission of the people to the 
 
 impressment system as practiced such a tyranny, I believe, 
 as no other high-spirited people ever endured." 1 In the 
 free States, when a draft was necessary and ordered, the 
 person thus drafted could furnish a substitute ; and the 
 people, having ascertained the quotas of their respective 
 counties or districts, came forward of their own accord and 
 provided the means to pay the men who entered the army ; 
 and, if they had families, pledged themselves to support 
 them while the husband was in the field. 
 
 General Banks was in the Shenandoah Valley, his 
 troops not exceeding 5,000 ; as he had been stripped of two 
 divisions, one that of General Shields, sent to General 
 McDowell at Fredericksburgh ; the other, General Bleu- 
 ker*s, to Fremont, in West Virginia. General Jackson was 
 sent by Johnston, with 15,000 men, to pounce upon Banks, 
 drive him out of the Valley, make a demonstration on 
 "Washington, and delay the movements of McClellan. Gen- 
 eral Banks had a small force stationed at Front Royal to 
 protect the people from roving marauders ; this force Jack- 
 son attacked, but, warned by a contraband, it fell back, 
 skirmishing all the way toward Winchester, where Banks 
 May was. The latter made his arrangements, and at 2 A.M. his 
 troops, artillery, baggage and hospital stores were on their 
 march to the Potomac. This retreat was one continued 
 skirmish, and some severe fighting. Banks deserves credit 
 that, with his limited force, he brought nearly all his train 
 and men safely across the river, and then halted to dispute 
 the passage. Jackson did not linger, for he heard that 
 Generals Shields and Fremont were coming to fall upon his 
 rear, but escaped by great skill and joined Johnston, hav- 
 ing accomplished nothing of importance, but lost by death 
 Colonel Ash by, unquestionably the most competent com- 
 mander of cavalry in the Confederate service. In a few 
 weeks Banks was at his old post. 
 
 1 Johnston's Narrative, p. 425.
 
 THE CHICKAHOMINY FAIK OAKS. 945 
 
 As an evidence of the patriotism of the free States, it c ? p - 
 
 may be mentioned that when Mr. Lincoln called upon 
 
 1862 
 those near at hand for volunteers to repel Jackson and 
 
 defend the capital, in a few days nearly sixty regiments 
 reported themselves ready to march. 
 
 The advance of the Union army was slow; it did noi, 
 reach the Chickahominy until the 21st, when the left wing, 
 unmolested, passed the river at Bottom's Bridge, to the 
 South side, and the right wing remained on the North side-, 
 the whole line extending twelve miles to Cold Harbor 
 the extreme right. Says General Barnard, chief-engineer of 
 the Army of the Potomac: '"This river, at the season we 
 struck it, was one of the most formidable obstacles that 
 could be opposed to the march of an army." "The 
 stream flows through a belt of heavily timbered swamp, 
 which averages three to four hundred yards wide;" "and 
 the water when but a foot or two above its summer level 
 overspreads the whole swamp." 1 
 
 From the White House the head quarters on York 
 river, supplies came on steamers. General McDowell had 
 his division at Fredericksburg, and it was designed, if nec- 
 essary, that he should join McClellan. The Union arrny 
 lay in an exposed position from May 21st to the 31st, the 
 left wing south of this dangerous river and the right north ; 
 Barnard says, the bridges and pontoons were ready ; and the 
 entire right wing of the army could have passed the river any 
 time after the 24th. Should a storm arise, the river swamps 
 would be impassable for either wing ; for this storm the 
 enemy waited : it came, and for two days they attacked the *"! 
 left wing furiously. This battle is known as that of Fair ^ 
 Oaks or Seven Pines, one of the most bloody contests of the 
 war, in which both armies displayed heroic bravery. The 
 enemy were compelled to retire, and Heintzelman and Sum- 
 ner wished to march upon Eichmond, only five miles 
 distant ; in truth Heintzelman's division reached a point 
 
 1 Barnard's Report, p. 18
 
 946 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, within four miles, but the General-in-chief would not per- 
 mit the movement. Heintzelman, foreseeing the peril of 
 having the army divided by that dangerous river, had given 
 warning days before, of what the enemy evidently intended ; 
 and General Sumner on his own responsibility passed the 
 river from the north side on a temporary bridge, and by the 
 presence of his troops the fortunes of the day were saved. 
 These two generals handled their forces independently of 
 each other ; there was no supreme authority on the field, as 
 McOlellan was seven miles away. The Confederate loss was 
 about 8,000, that of the Federals about 5,000. In this bat- 
 tle General Johnston was severely wounded, and General 
 Robert E. Lee was appointed in his place to the command 
 of the Confederate army in front of Richmond. 
 
 After this battle, tbe Union army remained in its origi- 
 nal position. The danger of thus separating the two wings 
 by the river was still the same, and Lee, the new commander, 
 did not fail to take advantage of the blunder. McClellan 
 was still hesitating, it would seem, whether or not to change 
 his base to the James ; he now telegraphed to the President 
 that the enemy had 200,000 men. Says one authority, " the 
 Confederate Capital had for its defence but 100,000 men at 
 most." This included those in garrison in the forts around 
 Richmond, while Childe says "on the 20th of June the 
 army of Northern Virginia numbered 70,000 fighting 
 men." 1 From June 1st to the 20th., the right wing of the 
 Union army lay isolated on the north side of the Chicka- 
 hominy ; a tempting bait which Lee laid plans to secure. 
 '* The Confederate army covered Richmond, extending from 
 the James river, where its extreme right commenced, to- the 
 Chickahominy beyond Meadow Bridge, on which its extreme 
 left abutted." General Huger commanded the right, 
 General Magruder the center and General A. P. Hill the 
 left, while the divisions of Longstreet and D. H. Hill, drawn 
 up behind and beyond the left, were to support, at the fitting 
 
 1 Life of Lee, pp. 75, 77.
 
 THE SEVEN DAYS' BATTLE BEGINS COLD HARBOR. 947 
 
 moment, the turning movement of Jackson. General Lee CHAP. 
 
 JEbXt 
 
 amused McClellan bv making demonstrations on his front. 
 
 1862 
 while Jackson, in accordance with orders, was making a 
 
 long detour to attack the rear of the exposed right wing. 
 
 Meanwhile, Lee sent General James Jt\ B. Stuart with a 
 cavalry force to reconnoiter, which he accomplished effec- 
 tively ; bringing confirmation of the exposed condition of 
 the right wing of the Union army. "The Federal forces 
 offered the strange spectacle of an army invading a country 
 and, although superior in numbers and resources, awaiting 
 the attack, instead of pressing forward and engaging itself 
 in conflict." 1 
 
 McClellan, on the eve of June 26th, fully determined to June 
 change his base ; but now Jackson was almost ready to 
 attack his right, and it was a far different matter to move 
 with a persistent enemy pressing on the rear than to move 
 unobstructed. During the forty days in the marshes along 
 the Chickahominy, his army was almost decimated by 
 diseases thus contracted. Two days before, June 24th, a 
 deserter brought word that Jackson was preparing to attack 
 the Union army at Mechanicsville. on the extreme right. 
 McClellan sent two trusty negroes to verify the deserter's 
 story. They soon returned, reporting that the enemy's 
 pickets were at Hanover Court House. An attack was evi- 
 dently impending. At last the resolution was taken to com- 
 mence changing the base to the James. In the midst of 
 preparations to pass the river, and about 3 P.M., General 
 D. H. Hill's division, 14,000 strong, tired of waiting to 
 hear Jackson's attack, passed the river at Meadow Bridge, June 
 and assaulted Fitz John Porter's division at Mechanicsville. 36 - 
 Here began the famous ''seven days' contest." 
 
 General Porter, seeing the large force of the enemy, fell 
 back to a strong position at a crossing of Beaver Creek, to 
 which the enemy soon came up and endeavored to cross by 
 the two bridges, but were repulsed from both, one after the 
 
 1 Life of Lee, pp. 79 and 86.
 
 948 HISTOKY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, 
 
 CHAP, other ; at 9 P. M. the battle ceased, the enemy losing u be- 
 tween three and four thousand ; the Federals much less." 
 ' The way was open, and during the night Longstreet joined 
 Hill, and both moved round Porter's right to unite with 
 Jackson the next day, and to make an attack on McCall't; 
 division at Cold Harbor. Learning of this movement 
 McClellan ordered by telegraph that line to be abandoned 
 and a new one taken, extending from near and beyond 
 Games' Mill, and to Po white Swamp, thus covering the 
 approaches to the bridges over the Chickahominy, which 
 must be made in order to change the base. During the 
 night heavy guns were put in position on the South side to 
 protect the bridges, and numerous wagons were passed over. 
 "The delicate operation of withdrawing the troops from 
 Beaver Dam Creek was commenced shortly before daylight, 
 and successfully executed." 
 
 General Lee joined his army in the morning, but delayed 
 to attack till he could hear from Jackson's guns ; without 
 waiting longer he, however, began the battle at 4 p. M., and 
 it continued till eight. The greatest bravery was displayed 
 on both sides ; at half-past five P. M. Jackson came upon the 
 Union lines. The Federals, meanwhile, rushed and charged 
 D. H. Hill's division, and to aid him Lee ordered Long- 
 street to feign an attack on the center and left of the 
 Federal right wing. But the latter, seeing the strength of 
 the position, found he must make a real attack if he would 
 aid Hill's troops, and "five brigades rushed to the assault 
 in double-quick time, but were received by a fire so terrible 
 that they recoiled cowed." Jt was just after this that 
 Jackson's troops came upon the ground. 
 
 General Porter asked for aid, and General Slocum's 
 division crossed the river to his assistance, and also other 
 troops were sent over. At 6 P. M. the enemy made an 
 attempt to break the Union line, but failed. An hour later 
 they made a still more fierce attack, and gained the woods 
 held by the left of the Federal right wing, and the Union 
 soldiers fell back to a hill in the rear. Darkness came on,
 
 MAGRUDER'S REPORT BATTLES. 949 
 
 The enemy, having been repulsed several times, did not c ^ p - 
 
 press their recent advantage. This battle of Cold Harbor, 
 
 or Gaines' Mill, was one of the hardest conflicts of the war. 
 " The losses of the two armies were great from 7,000 to 
 8,000 on the Confederate side, and from 6,000 to 7,000 on 
 that of the Federals." 1 The Confederates persist in calling 
 the movements of the subsequent days a retreat ; but the 
 Federals call it a change of base, though undertaken too 
 late. 
 
 During the time this battle was in progress on the North 
 side of the Chickahominy, the enemy were making demon- 
 stration on the South side, in front of Heintzelman's, 
 Keyes' and Sumner's corps. 
 
 According to Childe the number of Confederates thus 
 threatening amounted to only 25,000, while the number of 
 Union soldiers held waiting was 70,000. Says Magruder in 
 his report: "Had McClellan massed his whole force in 
 column, and advanced it against any point of our line of 
 battle, its momentum would have insured him success and 
 the occupation of our works about Kichmond." And Bar- 
 nard says : " As it was, the enemy fought with his whole 
 force (except enough left before our lines to keep up 
 appearances), and we fought with 27,000 men." The Com- 
 mander-in-Chief's movements were all interfered with by 
 his absurd belief of the superior numbers of the enemy. 
 
 During the following night the Union troops were with- 
 drawn from the north side of the Chickahominy ; the 
 trains, having passed over the day before, were far on their 
 way toward the James. All the bridges over the river were 
 blown to pieces to prevent the enemy's crossing. It is sin- June ' 
 gular that not until this Friday evening did the corps 28. 
 commanders learn that they were to " make a flank move- 
 ment to the James river." 
 
 To abandon strong fortifications on which they had 
 spent twenty days of hard labor had a depressing effect on 
 
 life of Lee, p. 97.
 
 950 HISTORY OP THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, the soldiers, yet they bore up manfully under the disap- 
 pointment, though they had been at one time within four 
 
 1 S( 1-1 
 
 ' miles of Richmond. Notwithstanding this depression, in 
 the three succeeding battles of Savage Station, Glendale, 
 White Oak Swamp and Malvern Hill, the last and most 
 "on important, they manifested marvelous courage and endur- 
 July ance. On the morning after the battle of Gaines' Mill 
 L McClellan wrote to the Secretary of War a letter closing in 
 the following singular terms : "If I save this army now, I 
 tell you plainly that I owe no thanks to you, or to any- 
 other persons in Washington. You have done your best to 
 sacrifice this army." The incompetency in leading and 
 directing this unfortunate army, time has placed elsewhere 
 than with the Secretary of War. 
 
 General Porter's corps rested for a few hours, then 
 pressed forward toward the James, through the White Oak 
 Swamp. Nearly 600 wounded men, by order of the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief, were left under a flag of truce at Savage 
 Station, " with a proper complement of surgeons and at- 
 tendants, and a bountiful supply of rations and medical 
 stores." The whole Union army withdrew, slowly and 
 deliberately, and the enemy followed after, but were repulsed 
 from time to time, when they made attacks, and in no in- 
 stance did they in the main delay the withdrawal ; for the 
 corps commanders (as the Commander-in-Chief was in the 
 advance) managed, under general orders, to take turns in 
 repelling the enemy and holding them in check until the 
 portion of the army in motion moved to a certain point, 
 then those that held the opposing force in check passed on, 
 while fresh troops awaited in well-chosen positions the 
 approaching enemy. A part of the rebel army made detours 
 by taking country roads, but when they came upon the 
 line of march of the Union army they found it prepared to 
 meet any assault. In this withdrawal the Confederate army 
 lost many more soldiers than the Federal. Finally the 
 advance reached Malyern Hill, on which McClellan arranged 
 to make a stand. General Franklin held "Stonewall"
 
 BATTLE OF MALVERK HILL. 951 
 
 Jackson in check for half a day at White Oak Swamp 
 
 bridge, then at 10 P.M.. without orders, but with wisdom. 
 
 
 withdrew : General Simmer of his own will followed, then 
 
 Heintzelman and then Hooker, and early in the morning 
 they took their position on Malvern Hill. This hill, 16 
 miles below Kichmond, " is an elevated plateau about a mile 
 and half long by three-fourths wide, and well cleared of 
 timber, and with several converging roads running over it." 
 On this plateau was the Union army, center and left, rignt 
 extending to cover the passage to Harrison's Landing ; 
 thither the trains had passed the night before. On the hill 
 sixty pieces of field artillery were placed in position ; and 
 also ten siege guns. This decision to make a stand on 
 Malvern Hill Barnard says "probably saved the army of 
 the Potomac from destruction." 
 
 Lee, who had been laboring for days to unite his whole 
 army that he might, as usual, attack weak points in force, 
 now found himself in position with his entire army, 60,000 
 or 70,000 strong under their respective commanders. He 
 resolved to envelope the position of the Union army, but 
 delayed the attack till 4 P.M., as he seems not to have had j u ]y 
 his preparations made ; meanwhile, the Union, soldiers of 1 - 
 their own accord were throwing up numerous earthworks to 
 defend certain positions. The attack was made on the 
 Union left ; the Confederates advancing their batteries in 
 an, open field, in front of woods where lay the men to storm 
 the Union lines when their batteries had silenced the 
 Federal guns. But their own batteries were soon disabled 
 by the well-directed fire of the Union artillery, and the 
 storming column had no opportunity to carry out their 
 orders. " Instead of ordering up a hundred or two hundred 
 pieces of artillery to play on the Yankees, a single battery 
 was ordered up and knocked to pieces in a few minutes ; 
 one or two others shared the same fate," says Hill in his 
 report. 
 
 "At six o'clock General D. H. Hill, deceived by what 
 he thought was the signal for the attack, charged with all
 
 952 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, his division ; but finding himself unsupported, although 
 
 Jackson might have hastened to his aid, he was obliged to 
 
 retire with great loss. Magruder also, on the Confederate 
 right, made an attempt which ended like Hill's. The flux 
 and reflux of the rival armies lasted till night." 1 The gun- 
 boats joined in the fray, and made great havoc in the ranks 
 of the Confederates. The Union army, according to the 
 original design, withdrew to Harrison's Landing ; and the 
 following night Lee fell back with his shattered troops to 
 the Richmond fortifications. This ended the seven days' 
 fighting and fearful loss of life, and the campaign became 
 famous as the great failure of the war. The Union loss in 
 killed, wounded and missing was 15,349 ; the Confederate, 
 19,533. 
 
 The most numerous and best drilled army of the nation 
 had accomplished virtually nothing. With but one exception 
 Williamsburg it had never been led against the enemy, 
 but, on the contrary, stood on the defensive. It was kept 
 from May 25th to July 1st in the swamps along the Chick- 
 ahominy, where, amid the malarious influences and the 
 broiling sun, the men became enervated to an unprece- 
 dented degree. Yet be it said to the immortal honor of 
 the soldiers and officers composing this army, that they 
 fulfilled their duty to their country, and under the most 
 trying circumstances. They in every sense were the equals 
 of their Western fellows who had been so much more suc- 
 cessful. Prince De Joinville says: "If their primitive 
 organization had been better, the survivors of this rude 
 campaign, I do not fear to assert, might be regarded as the 
 equals of the best soldiers in the world. " 2 "An army 
 which was able in the midst of so many trials and disasters 
 to continue fighting all day, and marching all night, 
 enduring its defeats bravely and without flinching, deserves 
 the respect and admiration of both friends and foes." 3 
 
 1 Life of Lee, p. 108. 
 
 2 De Joinville's Army of the Potomac, p. 96. 
 
 3 Life of Lee, p. 110.
 
 POPE'S ARMY CEDAK MOUNTAIN". 953 
 
 McClellan at once asked for more men, and the gov- c ^ p - 
 
 .ernment sent a sufficient number to make in the aggregate. 
 
 1862 
 by July 20th, 101,691 men, present for active service. 
 
 The President issued a call for 300,000 more men ; and he 
 also, to secure greater efficiency, consolidated the three 
 small armies of McDowell, Banks and Fremont, to the 
 command of which known as the "Army of Virginia" 
 he appointed General John Pope. He was directed to 
 qover Washington, as the way was open for a Confede- 
 rate march on the National Capital, and McClellan by his 
 .pqsition could offer no obstruction to such a movement. 
 ..In truth, the enemy, emboldened by his inaction, resolved 
 to try for Washington, and at least force his recall from the 
 James. General Halleck, at the recommendation of Gen- 
 eral Scott, was appointed "to the command of the whole 
 laud forces of the United States as commander-in-chief." 
 Halleck assumed command, and after a Cabinet council 
 visited the army on the James to judge for himself whether July 
 it .should be withdrawn or not. "The majority of the 
 officers expressed themselves in favor of the withdrawal." 
 The men had become so weakened because of the hot 
 weather and the malaria of the swamps that they were unfit 
 to enter upon an advance. 
 
 Pope's army when he took the field amounted to 42,000 July 
 men; 5,000 of whom were cavalry the latter somewhat 
 inefficient from want of drill and concentration. Detach- 
 ments of cavalry reconnoitered and reported the enemy 
 in force on the Rapidan and also at Madison Court 
 House. Pope interposed his forces between them and the 
 National Capital. The movements of the Confederates 
 puzzled the Union generals. Their presence was made Aug ' 
 Jcnown by an attack on General Banks. They arranged 
 their forces in such a manner as to amount almost to an 
 ambuscade, into which the Federals fell. At about 3 P.M. : 
 the battle began, and soon became general. At 6 o'clock 
 Pope came upon the field and made some changes of posi- 
 tion, which the enemy mistook for a retreat, and pressed on
 
 954 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLR 
 
 CHAP, and came into an open field and exposed themselves to a 
 
 EQC* 
 
 very destructive fire of artillery, which drove them back to 
 
 A^T their covert of scrub-oak. Night came on, and Jackson 
 11. fell back and disappointed the Federals, who in the morn- 
 ing expected to attack him. Jackson continued to retreat 
 till he reached the south side of the Rapidan, leaving his 
 badly wounded under a flag of truce. This is known as 
 the battle of Cedar Mountain. 
 
 A few days afterward Pope learned, from papers found 
 on Stuart's adjutant, who had been captured, that the 
 plans of the enemy were to march on Washington. Hal- 
 leck telegraphed an order to McClellan to bring his army 
 from the James to Washington. The latter asked that the 
 order might be rescinded, and an advance on Richmond 
 made by way of Petersburg. That movement was available 
 two months before, but it was now too late, and Halleck 
 insisted upon the order being obeyed, and it was complied 
 with in a tardy manner. Halleck had already ordered the 
 wounded and sick soldiers to be brought to northern hos- 
 pitals, to remove all obstructions to active operations. 
 
 At a convocation of the Governors of the loyal States 
 it was recommended to the President to call for 300.000 
 more men. The people of these States, though greatly 
 disappointed and mortified at the sad failure, nevertheless 
 labored with their usual energy to recruit the army and 
 sustain the Government. When Lee learned of this, and 
 that the army of the Potomac was ordered back to its old 
 quarters, he acted promptly, sending a force under Jackson 
 to crush Pope's army before it could be reinforced either by 
 the new levies or by McClellan's army. He sent forward 
 all the troops that could be spared from the fortifications 
 at Richmond, leaving there only the inexperienced. Pope, 
 learning of the number of the enemy in his front, fell back 
 Aug. from the Rapidan to the Rappahannock, at all the fords 
 of which they were checked. Soon the great mass of 
 the Confederate army disappeared ; Jackson was making 
 an unusual detour to reach the Sheuandoah Valley and
 
 THE FIRST BATTLE. 955 
 
 come in on the rear of Pope's army. The latter divined c ^ p - 
 
 the movement and wrote to that effect to McDowell. 
 
 1862 
 Meanwhile, Jackson was pressing on over fields and bad 
 
 roads, and appeared suddenly at Thoroughfare Gap, where 
 the railway of Manassas Gap crosses the hills of Bull Run. 
 Thoroughfare Gap was unoccupied, and Jackson, passing 
 through, sent a detachment which overpowered the little 
 garrison at Manassas Junction, and the hungry Confed- 
 erates reveled in the provisions on hand at that important 
 point. The next day, Longstreet, with his division, joined 
 Jackson ; with him came Lee, who assumed command. 
 Pope now came up with his forces. They had been march- 
 ing and countermarching for ten days to find the enemy, 
 and were weary. His army amounted to about 54,000 men, 
 and not more than 500 effective cavalry; Lee's army to 
 70,000 effective men, according to Childe's account. Pope 
 pressed on as Jackson withdrew from the Junction, and 
 prepared to give battle on the old Manassas ground, of 
 July 21, 1861. 
 
 Gen. Sigel at 10 A.M. commenced the fight; the posi- 
 tion of the enemy was well chosen behind the embankment 
 of a railroad, and the Federal arrangements were equally 
 as well made. The struggle was very severe during the 
 day, and in the end was a drawn battle, though the Con- Aug. 
 federates were driven back and the Federals occupied the 
 field. There was want of concert in the attack and move- 
 ments of the Union divisions ; some of them did not 
 carry out their orders fully, as, for instance, Fitz John 
 Porter's "forces took no part whatever in the action, but 
 were suffered by him to lie idle on their arms, within sight 
 and sound of the battle during the whole day." Had he 
 come into it with his 10,000 fresh men, no doubt the 
 victory would have been complete. This was the second 
 time within two days that Porter had delayed or refused to 
 obey Gen. Pope. He was afterward tried by court-martial 
 for this' conduct and severely censured. 
 
 The next day, about noon, the conflict was renewed :
 
 956 HISTOET OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, the line of battle was nearly five miles long. Porter's 
 division now taking part and fighting bravely, and other 
 
 1 QflO 
 
 ^ *" divisions, such as Heintzelman's and Reno's, maintaining 
 30. their old reputation for persistent bravery and endurance. 
 The contest extended along the line and raged for several 
 hours ; the Confederates bringing up heavy reserves, and 
 hurling mass after mass of troops upon the Federal left. 
 These persistent efforts forced the left back one-half or 
 three-fourths of a mile, but at dark they made a stand 
 firm and unbroken. If the forces of McClellan had been 
 at Acquia Creek by the 20th of August, as ordered, they 
 could have easily aided in this second battle of Bull Run ; 
 but tardiness was the bane of that brave but unfortunate 
 army ; and again there was want of harmony among the 
 commanders of division, owing, it was said, to rivalries. 
 Pope fell back to the intrenchments at Centerville, and 
 
 gg t within a day or two retired to the defenses of the Capital, 
 2. on the way to which was the severe skirmish of Chantilly, 
 in which two most excellent officers were killed General 
 Stevens and General Kearney. General Pope asked to be 
 relieved of further service in that department. The Union 
 losses in all these conflicts amounted to nearly 15,000 men, 
 killed, wounded and missing ; the Confederates lost between 
 nine and ten thousand. These disasters caused the most 
 intense excitement in the loyal States ; they were altogether 
 so uncalled for and unexpected that the people were taken 
 by surprise. But the effect was to rouse them to greater 
 exertions and sacrifices than ever before. 
 
 A party in the Confederacy had urged that their armies 
 should take the offensive rather than the defensive ; and 
 such had been the policy along the line of the Western 
 Border States ; but in these their efforts had signally failed. 
 Now the want of success of the Army of the Potomac 
 and the withdrawal of Pope's army induced Lee of his own 
 
 Sept. accord to push on his army, his vanguard crossing the 
 Potomac at the mouth of Monocacy Creek ; three days after 
 the advance was at Frederick, Maryland.
 
 LEE INVADES MARYLAND HARPER'S FERRY. 957 
 
 "While the Confederates were thus moving, great con- c ^ p - 
 
 fusion reigned at Washington and vicinity. General 
 
 McClellan, in virtue of his position in his army and by 
 direction of the President, took command of all the forces 
 thus demoralized in and around the capital, and displayed 
 his remarkable talents as an organizer by soon bringing 
 order out of confusion. The Union army in a few days was 
 prepared to place itself between the invading foe and the 
 capital, and also to guard Baltimore. The army moved in 
 the direction of the enemy ; Burnside led the left, Sumner 
 the center, and Franklin the right. 
 
 General Lee and his officers were greatly chagrined be- 
 cause the people of Maryland did not hasten to join the 
 Confederates, though Lee had issued amoving proclamation, 
 and laid before them in expressive terms the sorrows they 
 endured from the oppressions of the "United States Govern- 
 ment ; but they poor people did not view it in that light. 
 
 At Harper's Ferry was General Miles with 11,500 men ; 
 he had been assured that aid would be sent him. But Lee 
 was unwilling to leave this force in his rear, and says he, 
 " The advance of the Federal army was so slow as to justify 
 the belief that the reduction of Harper's Ferry would be 
 accomplished, and our troops concentrated before they 
 would be called on to meet it." Accordingly he sent 
 Jackson, who moved rapidly, seized the heights that com- 
 manded the Ferry, and compelled a surrender of the garri- 
 son the aid coming just thirty hours too late. The cavalry, g e pt. 
 however, escaped, and, on its way to join the Union army, 15 - 
 captured an important train of wagons belonging to the 
 enemy. 
 
 The Union advance entered Frederick, in which place 
 was found an order of Lee's, dated the 9th, to his sub- 
 ordinate generals, fully explaining his future movements. 
 McClellan availed himself of this information, and ordered 
 his entire force to certain points. There are two passes 
 or gaps th-rOugh-. the South Mountain name given to the 
 Blue Ridge north of the Potomac -Crampton and Turn-
 
 958 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, er's, within five miles of each other. The former of these 
 General Franklin was ordered to seize, which he did after 
 
 1 Qfip 
 
 ' a sharp conflict, and passed through into Pleasant Valley to 
 find the enemy in force. Burnside also had reached Turner's 
 Sent- Gap and found it held by D. H. Hill, with a strong force, 
 and the crest of the mountain for a mile. The battle com- 
 menced by a cannonade at daylight, lasting all day. The 
 enemy withdrew the next night, having lost about 2,500 
 men. They next appeared drawn up on the west side of 
 Antietam Creek, professing to have gained their point in 
 holding the Gap until Jackson could return from Harper's 
 Ferry. In this battle was killed General Eeno, a great loss 
 to the Union army. 
 
 General Lee's position was very strong, with the creek 
 in his front, Sharpsburg village one mile in his rear on 
 the way to the Potomac, over which, in case of disaster, he 
 could retreat. Over the creek were three stone bridges in 
 a distance of nearly four miles. Lee's army faced east, and 
 on his right he placed Longstreet, opposite the south bridge, 
 then came D. H. Hill, then Hood, and then north of him, 
 Jackson. McClellan's army faced west, and its left was 
 opposite Longstreet and the south bridge. Here was placed 
 Burnside's corps, then came Porter's in the centre, then 
 Hooker's, and a portion of Sumner's on the right. 
 
 The bridge on the Union extreme right, and also a ford, 
 Sept. were unguarded, and in the afternoon, Hooker, in obedience 
 16- to orders, crossed the bridge and ford without opposition : 
 but Lee had placed two of Hood's brigades under cover of 
 the woods to receive the Federals as they moved southwest 
 toward their line, and here the combat commenced. By 
 this time it was dark and nothing decisive was done, both 
 parties remaining in the woods. Hood's troops were re- 
 lieved by a portion of Jackson's forces, and General Mans- 
 field crossed the Antietam and joined Hooker, while Sumner 
 had orders to cross at daylight. 
 
 The sun rose clear and bright, and early in the morning 
 the conflict began in earnest, Hooker taking the initiative.
 
 BATTLE OF ANTIETAM. 959 
 
 The assault was made by his centre division Pennsylvania CHAP. 
 Reserves under General Meade. The attack was so furious 
 
 18(52 
 
 that after an hour's fighting, with the aid of the batteries 
 on the east side of the creek, the enemy were forced to give Sept. 
 way and retreat across an open field, beyond which were 17- 
 woods where they took shelter. Hooker advanced his 
 centre and left over the open field, but when they ap- 
 proached the woods the enemy re-formed, and being rein- 
 forced, met them in the open plain with the most determined 
 vigor. Both equally brave, this was one of the most terrible 
 conflicts of the war, and continued until both sides, ex- 
 hausted, retired as if by mutual consent. 
 
 The Confederates had suffered greatly; several excellent 
 officers had been slain or mortally wounded. Hooker's 
 division had been almost broken to pieces ; he called for 
 Mansfield's division, which came on the ground about half- 
 past 7 A. M. Meanwhile, the Confederates had been rein- 
 forced by D. H. Hill's division, which had been resting in 
 the woods. Now commenced another bitter conflict. 
 Hooker's broken corps and Mansfield's division were forced 
 across the open field to the woods, and there they held their 
 ground. The brave Mansfield was killed as he went to the 
 front to examine the position, and Hooker, severely wound- 
 ed, was carried from the field. At this time, 9 A. M., 
 General Sunmer brought up his corps, and drove one 
 portion of the enemy back to the woods, and another por- 
 tion was withdrawn. These, again reinforced, made an 
 attack upon Sumner's right, which was much advanced, 
 under Sedgwick, and drove it back : then the Confederates 
 retired to a safe position in the rear at 11 A. M. Thus, be- 
 tween the rebel left and Union right was the conflict into 
 which were sent reinforcements by both Lee and McClellan. 
 Little was done by either the right or the center of the 
 Union army in the afternoon. 
 
 Thus far nothing had been done on the Union left. At 
 8 A.M. Burnside had been ordered to force the lower bridge, 
 and occupy the Sharpsburg heights ; but not till 1 P.M. was
 
 960 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP> the bridge carried, and not till two hours afterward were 
 the heights captured, and without much struggle. The 
 guns of the enemy had fully commanded the west end of the 
 bridge ; Burnside held the heights for a few hours, and then 
 fell back to the bridge. 
 
 The next day each army rested ; McClellan was re- 
 inforced by two divisions, and Lee was satisfied to hold his 
 Sept. position. During the following night he withdrew, and the 
 ' next day crossed the Potomac unmolested. McClellan 
 was urged by the authorities at Washington to pursue and 
 harass the enemy while the roads were good, but he was 
 not ready, and the golden opportunity was lost to crush 
 Lee's army, or drive it on its way to Richmond a disorgan- 
 Oct. ized force. Finally the President visited the army himself, 
 and was convinced that it could move as well as Lee's, and, 
 on his return, consulting with the Secretary of War and 
 ct. General Halleck, he sent a peremptory order to cross the 
 Potomac and attack the enemy, lying in the vicinity of 
 Winchester and Martinsburg. 
 
 Lee, emboldened by McClellau's inactivity, sent Stuart 
 
 Q ct on a raid, with nearly 2,000 cavalry, into Pennsylvania. He 
 
 10. made a complete sweep around the Union army, passing 
 
 through Mercersburg, Chambersburg, and several other 
 
 places, levying contributions on them all, and finally crossed 
 
 the Potomac safely, scarcely losing a man. 
 
 McClellan did not obey the order of his superior officer, 
 the President, given October 6th, but still lingered, and the 
 ^g fc< President wrote him a letter, dated October 16th, in which 
 he says: "Are yon not over-cautious when you assume 
 that you can not do what the enemy is constantly doing ? 
 Should you not claim to be at least his equal in prowess and 
 act upon the claim ?" This expostulatory letter was written 
 in the kindest spirit. 
 
 McClellan at that time had an army of 130,000 men, 
 yet he did not move, giving one excuse after another, for 
 the most part trivial. As in the fall of the year before, 
 he permitted the fine weather to pass without putting his
 
 BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBUEG. 961' 
 
 army in motion ; at length the patient President removed CHAP- 
 him from the command of the army, and ordered him to 
 
 report at Trenton, K. J., his home, and appointed General Nov ' 
 A. E. Burnside to succeed him. 5. 
 
 General Burnside thought it better for the army to 
 move direct to Fredericksburg, and crossing the river, force 
 their way to Richmond. General Halleck, Commander-in- 
 Chief, in an interview with Burnside disapproved of the 
 movement, but finally consented and returned to Washing- 
 ton with the understanding that pontoon bridges should be 
 sent across the country to Fredericksburg for the army to 
 pass over. The army moved at once toward that point. 
 while the enemy were deceived by demonstrations at several 
 places ; but when the army arrived opposite Fredericksburg NOV. 
 the pontoons had not come ; by an inexcusable blundering 15 - 
 the proper officers had failed to send them. The object 
 was to seize the heights in the rear of the town, and if 
 storms came on go into winter quarters and then in the 
 spring push on to Richmond. 
 
 While Burnside was waiting for the pontoons General 
 Lee arrived with Longstreet's division, soon followed by 
 others, and began to fortify the heights. Meanwhile, rains 
 came and the Rappahannock was much swollen. Finally, 
 the pontoons were laid in the afternoon, under the fire of 
 sharpshooters and artillery. The crossings were to be made 
 at three points the next morning, above the town, opposite Dec. 
 and below, and the attack to follow. The crossings were 12- 
 made in a very heroic manner, but under great disad- 
 vantages to the Federals from the position of the enemy 
 and their numbers, for their whole army was on those 
 heights. 
 
 The Federal right made a series of assaults upon the 
 enemy's entrenched line, nearly five miles long and crowned 
 with field artillery. The Union heavy batteries on Stafford 
 Heights on the North side of the river could scarcely reach 
 this entrenched line ; between this line and the river was 
 an open space within range of a double row of rifle-pits and
 
 962 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, a strong infantry force concealed right and left. Against 
 
 these the Union soldiers were led ; it is marvelous that so 
 
 few of them were killed, and that they inflicted so much 
 injury upon the Confederates. Assault after assault was 
 made, and the brave Union soldiers rushed heroically into 
 this arena of death. In no other instance in the war were 
 Union soldiers led so recklessly. Night came on and the 
 conflict closed. Only about 25,000 of Lee's troops were 
 engaged, and they behind entrenchments. Two days 
 passed without any special movement being made by either 
 army, except the Federal batteries on Stafford Heights kept 
 up a cannonade on the enemy's entrenchments. The next 
 night came on a violent storm, during which Buvnside 
 jg C- skillfully withdrew his army to the North side of the 
 Rappahanuock. The Confederates lost 4,101 killed and 
 wounded, and the Union army 10,233.
 
 CHAPTER LXI. 
 
 LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRATION CONTINUED. 
 
 Invasion of Kentucky. Buell'a March. Battle of Perry ville. Battle 
 of luka. Preliminary Proclamation. Opposition; the Effect. 
 The Slave's Hope. Battle of Murfreesboro. Confederate Fail- 
 ures. Expedition up the Yazoo. Capture of Fort Hindruan. 
 Galveston Occupied. President's Message. Finances. Northern 
 Industries. Confederate Finances Battle of Chancellorville. 
 Death of Stonewall Jackson. Withdrawal of the Army. 
 
 WE return to the West. The Union array took possession 
 of Corinth, on the Memphis and Charleston Railway. The 
 same day General Halleck sent the Army of the Ohio under CHAP. 
 General Bnell toward Chattanooga, an important strategic 
 
 position on the same road in East Tennessee, two hundred 1863 - 
 miles east of Corinth ; he also ordered General Grant to 
 protect West Tennessee, and to operate from Memphis 
 against Vicksburg. Buell was to pass along the road, put May 
 it in repair, and by that route receive his supplies. General 
 0. M. Mitchel had previously held a portion of the same 
 road, and had advanced into North Alabama, occupying 
 Decatur and Florence, and General G. W. Morgan had also 
 seized Cumberland Gap, the gate of East Tennessee. 
 
 These commands, when united with Buell's force, 
 amounted to about 40,000 men not half enough to accom- 
 plish what was required. In truth, these commands were 
 depleted to augment the army around Washington. Mean- 
 while, the Confederates planned to cause Buell's withdrawal
 
 964 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, from his position. They determined to pass to his rear, 
 invade Kentucky, threatening both Cincinnati and Louis- 
 
 1 QAO 
 
 ' ville, and force him to return for the latter's protection. 
 And General Bragg, who had superseded Beauregard, and 
 General Kirby Smith, with about 50,000 men, invaded 
 Southeastern Kentucky and advanced toward the Ohio, pil- 
 laging as they went ; while John Morgan and Forrest, each 
 having about 1,500 cavalry, were riding and driving in 
 every direction, plundering villages in the same region, 
 defeating small parties of Union men, and destroying 
 bridges. Buell was ordered to cross the State of Tennes- 
 see and meet these forces, and drive them out of Kentucky. 
 He moved from North Alabama as speedily as possible, and 
 came into the State three days behind Bragg, who had 
 made a push from Glasgow toward Louisville to find Gen- 
 Sept, eral Nelson prepared to repel him, and he prudently fell 
 361 back to Bardstown to unite with Kirby Smith, lest Buell 
 should overtake him. The latter arrived at Louisville, and 
 as soon as possible went in pursuit, thus interfering very 
 much with the enemy's plans of carrying off plunder, for 
 which, they had impressed all the wagons, mules, horses, 
 and slaves of the country. They found they must fight, 
 Oct. and they made a stand at Penyville. Buell came up 
 and a severe battle was fought, with various success during 
 the day, but at the close the Federals had a decided advan- 
 tage and made preparations to attack the enemy vigorously 
 in the morning ; but during the night the Confederates left 
 their position and fell back to Harrodsburg. Thence Bragg 
 continued his retreat from the State, disappearing through 
 Cumberland Gap, to reappear in Middle Tennessee, in the 
 vicinity of Murfreesboro, some months afterward. Buell 
 was relieved of his command and General Kosecrans ap- 
 
 Oct. pointed to succeed him. He was of the over-cautious 
 
 30 
 
 school; a most excellent disciplinarian, but failed some- 
 times to make a dash. 
 
 The failure of Bragg and Smith in Kentucky caused 
 the greatest chagrin throughout the Confederacy. Their
 
 BATTLE OF IUKA PRELIMINARY PROCLAMATION. 965 
 
 programme had been to recover Kentucky and drive the CHAP. 
 Federals out of West Tennessee and reoccupy Fort Donel- 
 
 son. This plan was sadly interfered with, first at luka, 
 Miss., where Rosecrans defeated Sterling Price and cap- 
 tured 1,000 prisoners; and the same Union general treated Sept. 
 the Confederates still more severely at Corinth. In this 
 fight the enemy, under Generals Van Dorn, Price, Lovel, 
 and Rust, had about 38,000 men, according to their own ^ ct - 
 estimate ; the Union force was about half that number. 
 They retreated in haste, leaving on the field their dead, 
 1,423 ; wounded, 5,692 ; and prisoners, 2,248 ; the Union 
 loss was only 315 killed and 1,812 .wounded. So dissatis- 
 fied were the authorities at Richmond that General Van 
 Dorn was relieved and John C. Pemberton appointed to 
 succeed him. 
 
 After the battle of Antietam the President issued, on 
 September 22d, a preliminary Proclamation of Emancipation Sept. 
 of the slaves belonging to those engaged in the rebellion, to 23< 
 take place January 1, 1863, unless the States thus engaged 
 should be "in good faith represented in the Congress of 
 the United States by members chosen thereto at elections 
 wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State 
 shall have participated." This "shall be deemed conclu- 
 sive evidence that such State and the people thereof have 
 not been in rebellion against the United States." Here was 
 an offer to the insurgent States to lay down their arms 
 within one hundred days, and save their slaves. But the 
 same infatuation still prevailed ; they would make no con- 
 cessions ; encouraged by the hope that the people of the 
 free States would become divided on the question of eman- 
 cipation, and in the end they would secure a separation 
 from the Union. 
 
 This was pre-eminently a war measure ; for the slaves 
 laboring by thousands on rebel fortifications, or in cultiva- 
 ting the fields at home while their masters were in the 
 Confederate armies, were as useful to the rebellion as if they 
 were soldiers in their army itself ; and the slave became as
 
 966 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 C ** A [ P ' "contraband" of war, as a horse used to draw artillery on 
 
 the field of battle, or carry a trooper on his raids. 
 
 " 
 The opposition made in the North to this measure 
 
 strengthened the hands of the leaders of the rebellion im- 
 mensely, and served to prolong the contest. It was confi- 
 dently asserted that this offer of freedom would lead to 
 insurrections and massacres, rapine and outrage, on the part 
 of the slaves ; all of which was utterly disproved by the 
 events that followed. Those who had prophesied these 
 direful things had taken the San Domingo insurrection 
 with its untold horrors as a type ; these negroes were 
 virtually savages, great numbers of whom were natives of 
 Africa itself, stolen thence and consigned to slavery ; having 
 been deprived of the sweets of liberty, they felt more 
 keenly the contrast than if they had always been in servi- 
 tude. With the slaves of the South it was far different. They, 
 indeed, longed for liberty, but they looked for it through the 
 intervention of others ; they drew their hopes from the case 
 of the Israelites led from Egypt by the hand of Moses ; 
 they trusted God would come to their aid in a similiar way 
 raise up for them a Moses ; and in this trust in Providence 
 their faith was marvelous. The gospel of forgiveness had 
 been preached to them by preachers both of the white race 
 and their own, and the truths of the Bible, thus orally pre- 
 sented, had a wonderful influence in preparing them for the 
 events about to follow. Nor must we think they were 
 entirely unaware of the discussions on the subject of slavery 
 and their own freedom which for so many years had 
 agitated the country. The discussions on political subjects 
 at their masters' tables were carefully treasured up by the 
 reticent slave in waiting, and as carefully related to his 
 fellows outside, and they communicated the same from one 
 to another in a remarkable manner. The people of the 
 South owe the deepest gratitude to the slaves for their 
 wonderful moderation under the circumstances ; it is the 
 highest credit to their humanity and kindly disposition that 
 they committed no outrages on the families left under
 
 BATTLE OF MT7RFREESBORO. 967 
 
 their protection, but with few exceptions labored in good CHAP. 
 
 I j-V ' . 
 
 faith for their support. 
 
 1882. 
 
 When Bragg retreated from Kentucky, he took a long- 
 detour by way of Chattanooga to invade Middle Tennessee. 
 General Rosecrans gradually moved in the same direction, 
 sending forward several divisions of his army to Nashville. 
 It was ascertained the invaders were concentrating south of Dec. 
 that city in the vicinity of Murf reesboro, and that they had 15 - 
 taken position on the west side of Stone Eiver, a crooked 
 .stream whose general course is from the south toward the 
 north. General Rosecrans, after many maneuvers to learn 
 the enemy's position, made his arrangements to fall upon 
 the right of the Confederates with a force sufficient to crush 
 and drive them back upon their center. A citizen of the 
 neighborhood was captured and brought to General Mc- 
 Cook, who commanded the Federal right. The citizen g^ ' 
 said the enemy were massing their men on their left ; it was 
 not possible for want of time to verify the statement. 
 General McCook, in reply to a question of Rosecrans, 
 thought be could hold his position for three hours. In the 
 morning these masses of the enemy rushed upon Rosecrans* 
 right McCook's position. Bragg had learned the plan of 
 battle designed by the Union commander, or it may have 
 been a coincidence. Rosecrans had advanced to fall upon 
 the enemy's right, when he was arrested by the noise of a 
 severe fight upon his own right ; and soon came a mes- 
 senger from McCook, stating that he had been attacked by 
 overpowering forces, was pressed and needed assistance. 
 Rosecrans answered : " Tell him to contest every inch of 
 ground. If he holds them, we will swing into Murfrecs- 
 boro with our left and cut them off/' Soon, however, it 
 was evident to Rosecrans that he must change his original 
 plan and hasten to sustain his own right, which had already 
 been driven, though sullenly, some distance. The Confed- 
 erates came upon the troops under Sheridan. Here he 
 displayed that remarkable promptness and skill which he
 
 968 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, afterward so often showed. The enemy advanced across 
 
 L.XI. 
 
 an open field and in compact mass. Upon them he trained 
 three batteries with terrinc effect, yet they closed their 
 ranks and pressed on to within fifty yards or so of the 
 woods in which the Union infantry lay under cover, when 
 suddenly the latter rose to their feet and poured in such 
 destructive volleys that they broke and fled. General 
 Sill charged and drove them across the field and until they 
 found shelter in their entrenchments. In this charge the 
 gallant Sill lost his life. 
 
 Other divisions moved against Sheridan's position, but 
 he undauntedly changed his front and repelled them. In 
 an hour's time came another assault, for which he prepared 
 by planting his batteries to sweep the advancing columns. 
 Twice more he was assaulted, but repelled the enemy with 
 great loss. It was now three hours since the battle began, 
 and Kosecrans came on the field. New dispositions were 
 made by both armies, and severe fighting occurred at differ- 
 ent points. Finally the Confederates made their last 
 assault, to find themselves subjected to so destructive an 
 artillery fire that when within three hundred yards they 
 broke and hastily retired to their entrenchments. This 
 ended the conflict of that day. The armies lay watching 
 1363. each other for two days. A sharp skirmish occurred on 
 2.' the second, in which the rebels were worsted. The follow- 
 ing night Bragg led off his disappointed army toward the 
 South. Every attempt the Confederates had made of an 
 aggressive character had totally failed from Antietam to 
 Murfreesboro. The influence of this battle was very dis- 
 couraging to the leaders of the rebellion, and even more 
 to their people. The Union army engaged amounted to 
 43,400 and Bragg's about 60,000. The Union loss, killed 
 and wounded, 8,778 ; the Confederate loss more than 10,000 
 killed and wounded, and 1,700 prisoners. 
 
 G-eneral Grant, whose headquarters were at Memphis, 
 was directing his efforts to open the Mississippi ; his special
 
 EXPEDITION UP THE YAZOO. 
 
 object for that purpose was the reduction of Vicksburg, 
 the " Gibraltar of the Confederacy.*' In the latter part of - 
 November he set out with an army to take Vicksburg in ] 
 the rear by capturing Jackson forty-six miles east the 
 capital of the State, while Sherman was to pass down the 
 river from Memphis in transports and steamers convoyed by 
 Porter's gunboats, then up the Yazoo to a certain point, 
 and there land and make a junction with Grant's forces. 
 The latter moved by way of Holly Springs, which place the 
 enemy evacuated on his approach ; he passed on to find 
 
 them drawn up for battle on the other side of the Talla- I 862 - 
 
 Dec 
 hatchie river. He flanked them and they fell back to 2. 
 
 Abbeville, out of which they were driven ; the column 
 moved on to Oxford. There he halted for an accumulation 
 of supplies at Holly Springs, but Van Dorn, with his cav- 
 alry, surprised the regiment guarding these supplies and Deo. 
 most effectually destroyed them. The destruction of these 
 stores necessitated Grant to fall back and give up that plan 
 of attack. 
 
 But Sherman, not aware of this mishap, passed twelve 
 miles up the Yazoo and found the Confederates in force at 
 Hayne's Bluff, a strongly fortified place, and commanding 
 the river and any approach by land. Instead of the cooper- 
 ation of Grant, Sherman found the enemy's entire force free 
 
 . Dec 
 
 to oppose him on the Yazoo. He made a vigorous attack, g9. 
 
 but so amply were they prepared to repel any force 
 that he was compelled to withdraw, sustaining a loss of 
 nearly 2,000 men ; retiring down to the Mississippi, and 
 opposite the mouth of the Yazoo at Young's Point and 
 Milliken's Bend, the army was concentrated twelve miles 
 above Vicksburg. Grant took his forces from Memphis 
 down the river to the same place. 
 
 While waiting for Grant and his forces, General Mc- 
 Clernand, who was in temporary command, captured Fort 
 Hindmau, at Arkansas Post, fifty miles from the mouth of 
 that river. The expedition was well planned ; the troops * 863 ' 
 being on board steamers, Porter convoyed them with his 11.
 
 970 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAX PEOPLE. 
 
 and rams. The troops landed three miles below 
 
 the Fort and invested it as soon as possible, while Porter 
 
 1863 
 
 passed up to close range ; the conflict was sharp and 
 
 decisive ; soon a white flag appeared, the fort was surren- 
 dered and with it all the war material and 5,000 prisoners. 
 !*' General Grant arrived at Young's Point with his forces 
 and assumed command, and in due time prosecuted his 
 designs against Vicksburg. 
 
 1862. General Banks sent a force from New Orleans to recover 
 16 ' and occupy Baton Rouge. The garrison withdrew up the 
 
 river to Port Hudson, soon to become fortified to such a 
 degree as to be second only to Vicksburg. He also sent an 
 expedition to occupy Galvestou, Texas, under the protection 
 of the gunboats. The force landed and took possession. 
 
 1863. The Confederates made an attack by land and by water 
 ' i. ' with three powerful rams. The Harriet IMHB was cap- 
 tured, her commander, Wainwright, being killed. The 
 Westfield, the flag-ship, was aground and prepared to be 
 blown up, but as Commander Renshaw, the last to leave, 
 was stepping off she prematurely blew up, killing that most 
 efficient officer. 
 
 IM-> Congress assembled, and in his annual message Presi- 
 Dec. dent Lincoln proposed compensation for slaves freed under 
 certain restrictions ; that those who were not disloyal to the 
 Government should be thus compensated ; that slaves once 
 freed by the contingency of war should never be reduced to 
 servitude. This message the Southern leaders either passed 
 over in silence or published garbled extracts, accompanied 
 with sneers of contempt. The mass of the people were not 
 permitted to see the whole message. 
 
 On January 1, 1863, President Lincoln, in accordance 
 Jan. with his pledge, unless the insurgents should lay down 
 1- their arms, issued his final decree of Emancipation. From 
 its results this has become famous as a landmark of human 
 progress. He closed by saying : " Upon this act, sincerely 
 believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Consti- 
 tution upon grounds of military necessity, I invite the con-
 
 AID OF SLAVES THE FINANCES. 971 
 
 siderate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of 
 Almighty God." This decree was hailed with enthusiasm 
 
 1863 
 in the free States by those who desired the rebellion to be 
 
 suppressed unconditionally, but was proclaimed by those 
 who wished in some way to stop the rebellion, even by a 
 compromise with armed rebels, as unconstitutional, and all 
 that. The converse of this was, that it was constitutional for 
 the Confederates to use their slaves to aid them in resisting 
 the Government in its legitimate authority. Now there is 
 scarcely an individual, even in the former Slave States, but 
 looks upon the abolition of the system as a great blessing to 
 the South, as well as to the whole nation. 
 
 No one in passing through the free States at this time, 
 and seeing the industrial activity, would have suspected 
 that the nation was engaged in civil war, at the cost of 
 more than a million of dollars a day, and more than five 
 hundred thousand men withdrawn from the active duties of 
 life. A tariff higher than usual had been imposed on im- 
 ports to meet, to some extent, these extraordinary expenses, 
 and the people entered upon manufacturing industries with 
 unprecedented zeal, and the busy hum of work was heard 
 over the land. These resources were, however, insufficient 
 to defray the enormous expenses, and Congress authorized 
 the emission of United States notes, known as greenbacks, 
 to the amount of $150,000,000, and also bonds to the 
 amount of $500,000.000 ; the latter bearing interest at the 
 rate of six per cent. These were offered in small sums to 
 the people at large, and they came forward with wonderful 
 unanimity to aid in the cause by furnishing the sinews of 
 war. Nothing was more astonishing than what might be 
 called the reserved resources of the free States. 
 
 Taxes for the emergency were imposed upon incomes 
 and manufactures. Thus, what was lost by the falling off 
 of import duties was more than gained by domestic taxes. 
 And, what was still more beneficial, the people had employ- 
 ment in the introduction of new industries, or the more 
 extensive prosecution of the old. Taxes were imposed
 
 972 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. paid by stamps on bonds, mortgages, deeds, and numer- 
 
 ous commercial transactions. These onerous taxes were 
 
 '**' repealed or lightened as soon as the Government could 
 afford it. In some instances, foreign manufacturers found 
 it for their pecuniary interest to transfer their machinery 
 and works to this country, thus increasing opportunities of 
 employment to our own working people. After the sus- 
 pension of specie payments the premium on gold rose and 
 fell, and thus interfered very much with the regular prices 
 of merchandise and of wages. 
 
 Ifc is well to glance at the condition of the Confederacy 
 at this time. Their debt was already six hundred million 
 dollars, this was the amount of their scrip afloat, which the 
 people were compelled to take in exchange for what the 
 government wanted. This scrip was only payable on the 
 contingency of a separation from and peace witli the United 
 States. A very heavy direct tax was levied upon the 
 country, to defray current expenses, and to furnish a 
 redemption fund for the scrip to be redeemed at the rate of 
 one dollar for three, thus repudiating two-thirds of their 
 debt. Of their efforts to obtain a foreign loan every one 
 utterly failed; their cotton and tobacco could not be ex- 
 ported because of the blockade, and for the same reason 
 English blockade runners could not come in, while so many 
 of them had been captured with their valuable cargoes that 
 they almost gave up the attempt. 
 
 j an General Burnside at his own request was relieved of his 
 26- command of the Army of the Potomac, and General Joseph 
 Hooker entered upon his duties as his successor. This was 
 an experiment to find the right man, and as the soldiers 
 characterized Hooker as " Fighting Joe," it was hoped he 
 would be successful. There was great want of harmony 
 among the officers of this unfortunate army for which the 
 soldiers were not to blame unjust criticism by subordinates 
 in respect to superiors, and lack of cheerful and prompt 
 obedience to orders. A great many changes of officers, and 
 also dismissals, were made in order to secure obedience and
 
 HOOKER CHANCELLORSYILLE. 973 
 
 competency. The army was reorganized ; an important c ^^ p - 
 change was made in the increase and drilling of the cavalry 
 force, which numbered 12,000 ; and the entire army, when 
 ready to take the field, 120,000. It was still opposite 
 Fredericksburg ; and Lee kept guard at the fords of the 
 Rappahannock for twenty-five miles, holding a very defens- 
 ive position. He had sent Long-street with 24,000 men to 
 guard the approach to Richmond by the James river, he 
 himself having 47,000 effective men ; but their defensive 
 position made them equal to three times that number. 
 
 Hooker, finding the fords in front well guarded, resolved 
 to pass up the river twenty-seven miles, and there cross and 
 move rapidly to Chancellorsville eleven miles southwest 
 from Fredericksburg a country inn where four important 
 roads meet. The army moved rapidly, and on the second 
 day passed over on pontoon bridges laid for the purpose. 
 
 The march to Chancellor's commenced at once ; they came Apr. 
 
 27-9 
 to the Rapidan at a place where the water was about four 
 
 feet deep; they did not delay for pontoons, but stripping 
 by divisions plunged in, and, carrying their clothes and 
 arms and rations above the water, passed over, and clothing 
 themselves in the same order were soon on the move. The 
 crossing continued all night long, and in the morning all 
 were safely over. The afternoon of the same day they 
 arrived at Chancellor's. The forces there were surprised 
 and driven back toward Lee's main army, and an advanced 
 position of great importance was secured by General Sykes' 
 regulars, from which he was ordered back a grievous error, 
 as it afterward proved. Thus far all had been successful in 
 their movements, and Hooker, over-sangnine, exclaimed : 
 "The rebel army belongs to the army of the Potomac!" 
 Other divisions were signaled and passed the Rappahanuock 
 on pontoons with but little opposition and marched toward 
 Chancellor's. General Sedgwick had, according to orders, 
 crossed below Fredericksburg and made demonstrations on 
 the Confederates' extreme right. 
 
 Lee, perceiving this latter to be a feint, left 6,000 men
 
 974 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 <"HAP- to guard the fortifications, and hastened with all the force 
 he could muster to Chancellorsville. On the march he met 
 " Stonewall " Jackson, who proposed to make a long detour 
 and come in on the extreme right of the Union army. 
 Early in the morning he set out with 22,000 veterans in a 
 direction that induced the Union scouts to think he was 
 falling back toward Richmond. Lee, meantime, with only 
 13,000 men, kept Hooker's attention by making feints at 
 different points during the day, while Jackson was moving 
 rapidly round to the rear of the Union army. There is 
 certainly no excuse for Hooker and his officers to be thus 
 deceived by this usual maneuver of Jackson. At eight 
 2 y P.M. the latter fell with unexampled fury upon the Eleventh 
 Corps, General Sigel, which was completely surprised and 
 driven back upon the Twelfth Corps. Darkness came on, 
 and the enemy was checked by some earthworks hastily 
 thrown up, and by the persistent cannonade into the woods 
 kept up by the Federals. Jackson wished to make a night 
 attack, and gave orders to that effect. Not wishing to trust 
 any one, he himself, with a few attendants, went forward 
 to reconnoiter, leaving directions to his soldiers not to fire 
 unless they saw cavalry approaching from the side of the 
 Federals. He was returning, when a brigade of his own 
 men fired by mistake, and he fell mortally wounded. A 
 few days later he died. General J. E. B. Stuart was ap- 
 pointed to the command of his division. 
 
 May Both armies prepared for the struggle of the next day. 
 Sedgewick obtained possession of Fredericksburg and 
 moved toward Chancellor's. Hooker's lines were now in a 
 position that rendered his superiority of numbers unavail- 
 able for a general battle because of dense thickets of scrub- 
 oak. Fighting in certain points continued through the 
 day, and Lee himself, taking four brigades from in front of 
 Hooker, forced Sedgewick back, though his troops suffered 
 much from the Federal artillery. Sedgewick was com- 
 pelled to recross the river. For three hours there was no 
 responsible head to the army, as Hooker when on the
 
 BLUNDERS THE WITHDRAWAL. 975 
 
 piazza of the inn his headquarters was stunned by a CHAP. 
 piece of falling timber knocked down by a cannon-ball 
 from a hostile battery. It is now well known there were a 
 number of inexcusable blunders which made this battle 
 more a disaster than a defeat. A council of war was held 
 at Hooker's headquarters. Generals Meade, Keynolds, and 
 Howard wished to advance and fight it out; Slocum was 
 not present, and Couch and Sickles thought it prudent to 
 withdraw. It was decided by Hooker to withdraw, and 
 
 during the night, in the midst of rain and darkness, the 
 army passed safely to the north bank of the Rappahannock. 
 The Union army lost in killed and wounded about 11,000 
 and the Confederates about 10,000. The disappointment 
 of the loyal people of the country at this disaster was 
 exceedingly great. 
 
 Hooker, when about to move, sent a large co-operating 
 cavalry force under Stoneman around the enemy's army to 
 destroy railroads and bridges, and to cut lines of communi- 
 cation between Lee's position and Richmond. This raid, 
 though not fully completing the orders given, did an' im- 
 mense amount of harm to railways; and a portion under 
 Killpatrick passed entirely around Richmond to Gloucester 
 on the James, and joined the army at Fredericksburg.
 
 CHAPTEE LXII. 
 
 LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRATION CONTINUED. 
 
 Lee's Advance North. Hooker's Movements. Confederates Across 
 the Potomac. Gen. Meade in Command. Battle of Willoughby 
 Run. Death of Reynolds. Battle of Gettysburg. Lee's Defeat. 
 Vicksburg. Running the Gauntlet. Victories. Vicksburg Cap- 
 tured. Port Hudson Captured. Grierson's Raid. Naval Expedi- 
 tion. Capture of the Atlanta. The Draft and Riot. French 
 Protestant Address. Colored Soldiers. 
 
 CHAP. THE cry " On to the North " was heard on all sides in 
 
 LiA.ll. 
 
 Richmond. General Lee coincided in this view ; his army 
 was out of provisions, and it is said that on one of the 
 requisitions to the Commissary-general the latter wrote : 
 "If General Lee wants rations, let him go and get them in 
 Pennsylvania." Another reason was to compel Hooker to 
 withdraw his army to defend Washington. Childe, in his 
 life of Lee, enumerates among the encouragements, that 
 the Emancipation Proclamation " had exasperated the 
 Democratic party, who complained bitterly that all Consti- 
 tutional liberties were disappearing ;" and also great hopes 
 were entertained from the influence of the " Friends of 
 peace." " The victories of Fredericksburg and Chancel- 
 lorsville had filled the South with joy and confidence." 
 "If Lee's cannon had thundered at the gates of Washing- 
 ton or Philadelphia, the ' Peace party ' in the North would 
 have felt sufficiently strong to intervene in an efficacious 
 manner, and it would have been impossible for the strife 
 to continue." 1 
 
 Hooker was vigilant and felt assured that the enemy 
 Life of Lee, pp. 220, 227.
 
 LEE'S ADVANCE NORTH HOOKEfi's MOVEMENTS. 977 
 
 were moving toward the Potomac ; this information he < f% A , p - 
 sent to Washington, and asked permission to attack their 
 rear, but the request was refused. At length Hooker took 
 up his line of march toward Washington, and the 50,000 
 men under Longstreet in his front hastened to join Lee and 
 the advance; their army numbered 70,000 effective men. 
 10,000 of whom were cavalry: by far the best of their 
 armies in discipline. 
 
 Hooker by skillful reconnoitering discovered the move- 
 ments of Lee's army, and in a cavalry skirmish Pleasanton 
 obtained papers at Stuart's quarters which revealed the in- 
 tentions of Lee: this information Hooker at once sent to 
 Halleck's quarters at Washington. Meanwhile, the Con- ^" ne 
 federate advance under Ewell was rapidly and secretly 
 moving down the Shenandoah Valley, marching seventy 
 miles in three days. They surprised Gen. Milroy at Win- 
 chester and compelled him to retreat ; he finally reached 
 the Potomac and passed over, losing on the way about 
 4,000 prisoners. Milroy would not have been surprised if 
 Halleck had telegraphed to him the news of the enemy's 
 advance, which was known at his headquarters several days 
 before. 
 
 The movements of the two armies were nearly the same 
 as the autumn before ; Lee, moving down the valley and 
 crossing the Potomac, and Hooker, conducting his inarch 
 with great prudence, keeping between him and the Na- 
 tional Capital ; they moved in parallel lines, watching 
 each other carefully. Bands of Confederate cavalry in 
 force had cut the Baltimore and Ohio railway at important 
 points, and had passed across Maryland by way of Hagers- 
 town to Chambersburg, Pa., seizing cattle, horses, sheep. June 
 and sending trains of wagons laden with plunder across the 
 Potomac. This continued almost unmolested for two weeks. 
 The Governors of the States of Maryland, Pennsylvania 
 and West Virginia issued proclamations calling for the 
 people to turn out and repel the invaders, and so did Presi- 
 dent Lincoln.
 
 978 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 ( I!XTL' The advance of Lee's army under General Ewell crossed 
 ' " the Potomac at Williamsport and Shepherdstown, passing 
 on to Chambersburg, and thence to York. Two days after- 
 ward the divisions of Longstreet and Hill crossed at the 
 same places, and finally the whole army was reunited at 
 Chambersburg. Hooker crossed the river at Edwards ford 
 and moved to Frederick. Hooker now desired to send a 
 strong force to unite with the troops at Maryland Heights, 
 25 e and take possession of the Potomac ferries in the rear of 
 Lee, and thus cut off his communications and seize the 
 laden trains continually passing south, but Halleck, the 
 General-in-Chief, disapproved of the measure, as he usually 
 did of the suggestions of the commanders in the field, who 
 were presumed to know the situation better than any Gen- 
 eral in his office at Washington. Hooker, irritated at the re- 
 June f usa l> sen t i Q hi 8 resignation, which was accepted, and Major- 
 28. General George G. Meade was appointed to succeed him. 
 
 General Meade did not change the arrangements of bis 
 predecessor, nor were operations delayed longer than one 
 day. The troops on Maryland Heights were directed to 
 join the army. In consequence of the interception of a 
 letter from Jefferson Davis to Lee it became known that no 
 movement could be made direct on Washington from Rich- 
 mond, and from the defenses of the former troops were 
 forwarded to Meade. The Federal army marched up the 
 Monocacy Valley toward Gettysburg, Killpatrick's cavalry 
 29 16 in the advance. 
 
 Meanwhile Lee had heard of Hooker's judicious plan to 
 seize his line of retreat, and he suddenly fell back, as he 
 was marching on Harrisburg, to secure a position east of the 
 South Mountain. Up to this time he was not aware that 
 the Union army had crossed the Potomac, and was in igno- 
 rance of its movements. He at once recalled Ewell from 
 York and Carlisle, and ordered Longstreet and Hill to con- 
 centrate their divisions at Gettysburg, toward which village 
 both armies were approaching, each ignorant of the inten- 
 tions of the other.
 
 WILLOUGHBY ETJX DEATH OF REYNOLDS. 979 
 
 General Buford, with a division of Federal cavalry, was CHAP. 
 the first to enter the village. He learned of the approach 
 of the Confederates. This information he at once sent to 1863 ' 
 Meade. General Reynolds, with the First and Eleventh 
 Corps, was only four miles distant from the town, and had June 
 orders to occupy it the next morning. General Meade's 
 headquarters were at Taneytown, thirteen miles distant ; 
 and at intervals for about twenty miles several corps of 
 Union troops were on their way. General Buford, with his T , 
 division of cavalry, moving out of town, had taken a de- 1. 
 fensive position on "Willoughby Eun, a little stream two 
 miles northward of the village and beyond Seminary Hill. 
 General Hill learned from scouts that Federal cavalry occu- 
 pied the town, and in the morning moved to drive them 
 out, when his advance found an unexpected resistance. 
 Buford determined at all hazards to hold the position till 
 General Reynolds, with his forces, could come to his assist- 
 ance, which he did at 10 A. M. Reynolds had no orders to 
 bring on a battle, but there was no alternative, and putting 
 himself at the head of his division he hastened on, and sent 
 back orders for the Third and Eleventh Corps to come for- 
 ward with all haste. He took position on Seminary Hill 
 in front of the town, lest it should be destroyed by shells. 
 The artillery was under General Doubleday. General Rey- 
 nolds, when directing the position of the last brigade on the 
 right, was killed by a stray bullet a sad loss to the army 
 and the country. General Doubleday then directed the 
 battle, which now began in great earnest. An entire Con- 
 federate brigade crossed Willoughby run and drove Buford 
 back, but in turn were themselves repulsed and captured, 
 with their commander, General Archer. A Mississippi 
 brigade was coming in on the right flank and nearly cap- 
 tured a battery, when the Federals changed front and at 
 once charged bayonets. The Mississippians, thus suddenly 
 attacked, were thrown into confusion and sought refuge in 
 the cut of an unfinished railway, and were soon forced to 
 surrender.
 
 980 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. Lee's orders had been so admirably obeved that Ewell 
 
 LXI I. 
 
 coming from Carlisle on the north, Early from York on the 
 east, and Hill from Chambersburg on the west, all reached 
 Gettysburg at intervals on the same day, July 1st. 
 
 General Hill, early in the morning, had put in line of 
 battle 14,000 men, besides his advance, Heth's division. 
 At noon the Union army had decidedly the advantage. 
 Ewell, who heard the roar of battle ten miles distant, hur- 
 ried forward, and came upon the field at 1 P.M. He at 
 once prepared to assault the Federal left flank, and Hill to 
 renew the fight in front. After the fight had commenced, 
 suddenly Early appeared on the other side, and made an 
 impetuous charge on the Eleventh Corps, which had come 
 up an hour or two before. These accessions to the Confed- 
 erate army gave it the superiority of numbers, and thns 
 pushed on three sides, and thrown into confusion, the 
 Union forces from necessity too much extended were 
 driven back through the village. 
 
 General Howard, when he reached the battle field at 
 1 P.M. with his corps, the Eleventh, assumed command. 
 In coming up he prudently stationed one of his divisions in 
 reserve on Cemetery Ridge, a commanding position south of 
 Gettysburg. This division checked the advance of the 
 enemy, and enabled the Federal troops to rally in order to 
 receive the attack of the now exultant Confederates. The 
 wounded Union soldiers were sent during the day to the 
 village, and, of course, they fell into the hands of the 
 enemy when they obtained possession. Thus ended the 
 battle of July 1st. 
 
 General Lee had not yet arrived, but sent orders to Hill 
 to pursue to the utmost. Early wished to assault the 
 heights immediately ; but Ewell and Hill, seeing the posi- 
 tion strong and the Union soldiers prepared, thought it 
 more prudent to await the morning, when their other forces 
 could come up. When Lee arrived he found that Hill had 
 recalled the troops. 
 
 News of the death of Reynolds had been sent to ileade,
 
 GETTYSBURG. 981 
 
 who directed Hancock to take command ; he arrived near CHAP. 
 the close of the battle, and did much to restore order and 
 
 "I ftf*^i 
 
 place the troops in a position almost impregnable. As the 
 Union troops came up during the night they were arranged 
 along Cemetery Ridge, directly south of the village, the 
 south end of which was terminated by two knobs known as 
 little Round Top and Round Top. Both of these were 
 occupied in force. In front of the former was extended 
 the Third Corps, under General Daniel Sickles, 1,100 yards 
 in advance on a slight elevation a mistake which Meade 
 discovered too late to remedy before the enemy, seeing their 
 advantage, made the assault. 
 
 On the other hand, Lee, who thought to choose his own 
 ground, had to arrange his men to meet the dispositions of 
 his adversary. More than half the day passed without 
 demonstrations except an artillery duel ; Meade was waiting . . 
 for the enemy to begin the conflict. About 4 P.M., without 2. 
 sending forward skirmishers, lest they should give notice of 
 his coming, Longstreet with his entire force made a tre- 
 mendous assault on the advanced position of Sickles, 
 extending his lines to overlap the latter, and by a rush 
 forward seize Little Round Top, the key to the whole posi- 
 tion. Just at that moment Sykes's Corps, which had been 
 held in reserve, were moving by order of Meade to occupy 
 the same key. They had scarcely reached their line on the 
 top when the Confederates, having passed round Sickles's 
 left, came rushing up the slope to find themselves con- 
 fronted with the most determined courage. Here occurred 
 a most desperate hand to hand struggle. It resulted in the 
 repulse of the assailants. 
 
 Longstreet's attack on Sickles's corps was more success- 
 ful ; the soldiers fought well, but their faulty position gave 
 the advantage to their adversaries. Sickles was severely 
 wounded and carried from the field, General Birney taking 
 the command. 
 
 A gap of nearly half a mile north of Round Top was 
 made in the Union lines by the sending of reinforcements.
 
 982 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. The Confederates made an effort to secure this opening, 
 but were beaten off by the Federals sent to occupy the same 
 * 3 ' place, and who reached it first. Then the Confederates 
 made a long detour and came out in the rear of Round 
 Top, with the bope of suddenly securing that important 
 point, but to their dismay they saw its crest crowned 
 with soldiers and cannons. The Fifth and Sixth Corps, 
 fresh troops, bad a few minutes before occupied the top. 
 The latter just arrived, having inarched thirty-six miles at 
 a quick step. To attack such a position was madness, and 
 the enemy fell back disappointed, and bivouaced in a 
 neighboring wheat field. 
 
 Opposite the Union right was stationed Ewell, who only 
 made demonstrations, which Meade soon detected ; but 
 about six P.M. he made a real assault against a portion of 
 Cemetery Ridge, and captured and held a breastwork par- 
 tially manned, most of the troops having been v:5thdrawn. 
 Three of Eaiiy's brigades attacked another portion of 
 the same, and succeeded in driving back the unfortunate 
 Eleventh Corps, though the artillery made sad havoc in 
 their approaching lines. Their triumph was short, for the 
 Second Corps fell upon them with determined vigor, and 
 drove them off faster than they had the Eleventh. 
 
 The Confederates attributed the failure of the day to 
 the want of united action on the part of their officers in 
 command. Darkness ended the afternoon's work ; the 
 Confederates confessing they had "obtained no serious 
 advantage." This ended the battle of July 2d. 
 
 Lee made no change in his general plan, but hoped on 
 the morrow to have perfect concert of action among his 
 own troops. During the night General Picket brought him 
 July his division 4,000 fresh soldiers, yet he was doomed to see 
 hi8 plans frustrated. General Slocum before dawn attacked 
 the Confederates in the breastwork, though they had been 
 reinforced by three brigades, and, after a severe contest of 
 some hours, drove them out with great loss. Finding it 
 impossible to regain the position lost, Lee changed his plan,
 
 THE LAST ASSAULT. 983 
 
 and determined to assail the Federal center on Cemetery 
 Kidge, and by two P.M. his arrangements were completed. - 
 In front of Longstreeb's and Hill's troops he placed 115 
 guns on Seminary Hill, hoping to disable the opposite 
 Federal guns and then carry Cemetery Ridge by assault. 
 General Meade penetrated the design, and made counter 
 preparations by placing only 80 guns in position for want 
 of room, as he had 120 more on hand to replace those dis- 
 abled. Then followed a most terrible combat of field 
 artillery. The Confederate guns accomplished but little, 
 though they kept up an unceasing fire of two hours, as the 
 Union troops were under excellent cover. General Hunt, 
 Chief of Artillery, purposely slackened his fire in order to 
 save ammunition, but Lee thought it was because of the 
 great number of disabled guns in the Federal lines, and he 
 made preparation to carry the Ridge by assault. About 
 four P.M. from the west of Seminary Hill appeared the 
 lines of the Confederates moving to the attack, with a 
 steadiness most remarkable. In the center was Picket's 
 division, the finest troops of the Confederate army, sup- 
 ported right and left by the fine divisions of Pettigrew and 
 Wilcox. The assailing column altogether numbered 13,000 
 bayonets. They had 1,300 yards of plain and rolling land 
 to pass over to reach the Federal lines, all the way under 
 the 6re of batteries on Cemetery Ridge. As they advanced 
 the supports right and left began to waver, the left falling 
 back, and the right, not keeping up, finally melted away. 
 Still the Picket column moved on. closing up their ranks as 
 the men fell, "its flanks exposed to an oblique fire from 
 right and left, and the head of the column torn by bomb- 
 shells and grape shot ; but nothing could arrest it." l The 
 incessant fire caused it to swerve to the left instead of direct 
 upon the 'point intended ; presently they came within mus- 
 ket range, the Federals reserving their fire for more deadly 
 effect. The column pressed on without taking time to re- 
 turn the fire, which had been delivered upon their left ; 
 1 Life of Lee, p. 248.
 
 984 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 when they came within two hundred yards, they were re- 
 ceived by a severe fire from two divisions, this thev return- 
 
 iQftQ 
 
 ' ed, and then rushed on, but soon a portion of the column 
 broke in disorder ; fifteen of its colors were captured and 
 nearly 2,000 prisoners ; another portion swerved to their 
 right and took possession of a stone wall a little way in ad- 
 vance of the main breastworks ; this wall had been hastily 
 constructed and used temporarily ; on this they placed the 
 blue flag of Virginia for Picket's 4,000 were Virginians, 
 and brave fellows too a small success very dearly bought. 
 They became a center of fire front, right and left in a few 
 minutes; they threw down their arms, and fell upon the 
 earth to escape the leaden hail ; twelve stand of colors and 
 about 2,500 prisoners were taken. 
 
 This virtually ended the battle of Gettysburg, when the 
 Rebellion received a blow from which it never recovered. 
 " The Confederate soldiers returned in a mob, pursued by 
 the growling of hostile cannon, which swept all the valley 
 and the slopes of Seminary Hill with balls and shells." 
 Lee exclaimed to an English officer who was present : 
 " This has been a sad day for us, Colonel, a sad day but 
 we can't always expect to gain victories." 1 
 
 J uly Both armies remained in their respective positions ; 
 Meade was prudent and Lee seemed satisfied with his last 
 rash attempt, so disastrous and so wanton in the destruc- 
 tion of the lives of his soldiers. He at once began to send 
 off his trains to the crossings of the Potomac, and on the 
 same night, in the midst of rain and storm, the Confeder- 
 ates began to retreat, leaving their dead on the field and 
 their wounded uncared for ; Ewell's division remaining to 
 keep up appearances until nearly noon on the 5th. 
 
 j , A laborious march brought Lee's whole army to Hagers- 
 
 14. town on the 7th ; finally he crossed the river, whicli had 
 
 been swollen by rains, thus delaying the passage for several 
 
 days. Meade was cautious to excess, and unwilling to run 
 
 risks the end would not justify ; he was much censured for 
 
 i Life of Lee, p. 249.
 
 VICKSBURG RUNNING THE GAUNTLET. 985 
 
 allowing the Confederate army to escape so easily, yet in c ^?- 
 the pursuit he captured great numbers of prisoners ; many 
 of whom were wounded and cruelly left by the roadside to 
 lighten the trains. Lee fell back and finally took position 
 on the south side of the Rapidan, and Meade in his old Au S- 
 quarters on the north side of the Rappahannock. In this 
 battle the Union army lost in killed 2,864, in wounded 
 13,790 ; the Federals buried 4,500 of the enemy's dead, 
 and 26,500 wounded fell into their hands, and 13,621 other 
 prisoners. 
 
 Gen. Grant, finding it impossible to take Vicksburg 
 from his present position, determined to pass a portion of 
 his army on the west side of the river from Milliken's Bend 
 to a point below, and then by running the gauntlet of the 
 Vicksburg batteries obtain gunboats and transports to ferry 
 over his troops to the east side of the river. 
 
 A portion of the army commenced the laborious march, Mar 
 most of the way over an inundated and spongy soil ; the 29. 
 soldiers oftentimes halting to construct corduroy roads. 
 
 Meantime Admiral Porter ran past the Vicksburg bat- 
 teries with gunboats and a number of transports, which 
 were all protected from shot by cotton and hay in bales. 
 These transports were manned by volunteers. Said Gen. 
 Grant in one of his reports : " It is a striking feature of the 
 volunteer army of the United States that there is nothing 
 which men are called upon to do, mechanical or profession- 
 al, that accomplished adepts cannot be found for the duty 
 required, in almost every regiment." 
 
 The gunboats and transports passed down, the former 
 bombarding Grand Gulf, but without much success, and at 
 Bruensburg they met the army, which was at once ferried 
 over, and General McClernand's corps marched out toward 
 Port Gibson to occupy certain hills. He was successful in Apr 
 driving the enemy toward Grand Gulf, which place General 30 - 
 Pemberton ordered to be evacuated and the troops to join ]yj ay 
 him at Vicksburg ; and he urgently cried to General Joe 1- 
 Johnston, who had chief command of the Confederate
 
 986 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CITAP. forces in that section, for reinforcements. The latter re- 
 plied : " If Grant crosses, unite all your troops and beat 
 him back ; success will give back what was abandoned to 
 win it." 
 
 Grant waited five days for supplies and for Sherman, 
 who had made a demonstration up the Yazoo, to join him ; 
 then began a series of rapid movements and victories by the 
 May Union troops. He first moved toward Jackson, the State 
 8< capital, throwing out parallel divisions, bewildering Pem- 
 berton as to his real object. The soldiers had rations for 
 five days, sufficient for this short and decisive campaign. 
 As the army advanced they came in contact with the enemy 
 from time to time. They found them strongly posted in 
 May the woods near the village of Raymond. After a contest 
 12- of three hours the Confederates were driven from their po- 
 sition, they taking the direction of Jackson. Great numbers 
 threw down their arms and deserted. The next day Gen- 
 eral McPherson's corps occupied Clinton, and obtained 
 some important dispatches at the telegraph office ; mean- 
 while Johnston had arrived at Jackson and taken corn- 
 May mand. Sherman and McPlierson, despite the miry roads, 
 were moving on, and three miles from Jackson met John- 
 ston's army, about 11 ,000 strong. McPlierson engaged the 
 main body, and Sherman passed round, flanking the enemy 
 and driving the riflemen from their pits. The Confederates 
 soon left the field, having lost 250 prisoners and eighteen 
 guns. Grant left Sherman at Jackson to destroy the war 
 material and railways, but to protect private property, while 
 he himself hastened to attack Pemberton, who was said to 
 be in a strong position at Champion Hill with 25,000 men. 
 General Grant was on the ground, but wished to delay the 
 battle till the Thirteenth Corps (McClernand's) could come 
 up, but ere he arrived the Confederates began the battle, at 
 May 11 A.M.; and after a short and decisive struggle they were 
 driven from the field, with great loss in killed and wounded. 
 They fell back to Black River railroad bridge, where they 
 made a stand ; but their soldiers were sadly demoralized,
 
 ASSAULT VICKSBURG POET HUDSON. 987 
 
 and when a Union brigade charged their right in order to 
 obtain a better position, they fled in disorder. "All is 
 lost!" re-echoed from the ranks, and the panic-stricken 
 soldiers crowded into Vicksburg, at ten o'clock at night, as 
 into a trap. 
 
 Yicksburg was invested the next day. Grant at first 
 ordered an assault, hoping that in the demoralized condi- 
 tion of the enemy he might cany the place ; but it was too 
 carefully fortified to be thus taken, and he was forced to 
 begin a regular siege. Then followed a series of expedi- 
 ents, such as mines, one of which when exploded blew a M 
 fort one hundred feet into the air. The garrison was nearly 23. 
 exhausted, and famine was pressing on when, on July 3d, 
 at 8 A.M., a flag of truce came out from the besieged lines 
 bearing a communication for General Grant, which con- 
 tained proposals for surrender. The terms were arranged 
 and the Confederates laid down their arms and were paroled ^ ^ 
 about 32,000 in number. 
 
 Port Hudson, twenty-two miles above Baton Eouge, had 
 been invested by General Banks. The attention of the 
 garrison was attracted by echoes of great shoutings in the 
 Federal lines. It was soon ascertained that the cause of 
 the uproar was the announcement of the capitulation of 
 Vicksburg. General Gardner immediately surrendered 9 
 Port Hudson with its garrison of more than 6,000 men 
 with all their war material. The Mississippi was now open 
 its entire length. The Confederacy had lost from July 1st 
 to 9th 80,000 men and an immense amount of war material. 
 General Banks's army consisted partly of troops of African 
 descent. Many of these were from the Northern States, 
 pome were freedmen emancipated by the President's procla- 
 mation. To their honor be it said they were not guilty of 
 outrages on their recent masters. They made efficient 
 soldiers ; more than 50,000 during 1863 enlisted in the 
 Union armies, and about 100,000 the following year. 
 
 Quite a number of minor expeditions were made during 
 the siege of these two important places; the first of these
 
 988 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 *I4?- was marked bv boldness and success. Colonel B. H. 
 
 LiJi.ll. 
 
 Grierson made a cavalry raid from La Grange, Term., with 
 
 ' 1,700 men, sweeping through the center of Mississippi, 
 Apr. destroying $4,000,000 worth of contraband property, and 
 coming round in safety to Baton Rouge. 
 
 The Confederate General John H. Morgan made a raid 
 
 into Kentucky, and after some successes and repulses 
 
 crossed the Ohio at Bradensburg into the State of Indiana. 
 
 The people turned out promptly and met him at every 
 
 July point, though he had an effective force of 2,800 men. He 
 
 8 - was chased so hard that near New Lisbon, Ohio, he himself 
 
 was glad to surrender. Only 500 of his men escaped. The 
 
 gunboats in the river had prevented his recrossing. He 
 
 did much damage to the railroads, but so imperfectly that 
 
 they were soon repaired. 
 
 A naval expedition under Admiral Dupont was fitted 
 out against the forts in Charleston harbor. Nine iron-clads 
 on a clear, bright morning, when there was just sufficient 
 Apr. wind to blow away the smoke of battle, steamed up toward 
 7 - Charleston. Not a gun was fired until they had reached a 
 position on which were trained the guns of Forts Sumter 
 and Moultrie and several other batteries. After a most 
 gallant bombardment the iron-clads were withdrawn, as it 
 was discovered that without a cooperative land force the 
 forts could not be taken. One of the iron-clads was so 
 damaged she was blown up. General Hunter, in command 
 of the department, was succeeded by General Q. A. Gil- 
 , , more, and Admiral Dalgren superseded Dupont. Gilmore 
 6. now began regular siege operations ; and at length by a 
 continuous bombardment of siege-guns and iron-clads Sum- 
 ter was crumbled to pieces. Gilmore occupied a point four 
 Aug. miles distant, and from there he threw shells into Charles- 
 ^ ton itself, which was soon abandoned by most of the 
 inhabitants. 
 
 An English blockade-runner the Fingal came into 
 Savannah in November, 1861, but was unable to return
 
 THE DEAFT AND EIOT. 989 
 
 with a cargo of cotton, because of the fleet investing the 
 harbor. The Confederate authorities fitted her out as an 
 iron-clad, somewhat after the manner of the famous Merri- 
 mac, and called her the Atlanta. Her prowess excited 
 great expectations, and it was proclaimed by her officers 
 that no iron-clad in the Federal navy could withstand her 
 attacks. Admiral Dupont, hearing of this iron-clad ram, 
 sent the monitors WeeliawTcen and Nahant, under Captain 
 Rodgers, to "Warsaw Sound to watch for her, as it was 
 ascertained that in a few days she was coming out to spread 
 havoc along the coast. Rodgers arrived, and sent a little 
 steamer up the Savannah as a scout. Early one morning 17. 
 the scout announced that the Atlanta was coming down 
 the river ; all hands on the monitors were piped to quarters. 
 Rodgers steamed down the river to decoy the Atlanta into 
 deep water, where he could more easily maneuver the Wee- 
 hawken. The ram hastened to pursue, thinking the mon- 
 itor was trying to escape ; when she came within easy 
 range Captain Rodgerr* slackened his speed, and he himself 
 sighted one of the Weehaivken's 15-inch guns, and the shot 
 smashed the Atlanta's pilot-house to flinders, wounding 
 both the pilots ; another 15-inch shot struck her half way 
 from her gunwale, crushing her iron and wood work, and 
 making a large hole, killing one man and wounding twelve. 
 Four out of five of the Weehawken's shots took effect ; the 
 Atlanta failed to injure her antagonist, and after a contest 
 of fifteen minutes she hauled down her flag. The disap- 
 pointment was great to the gentlemen and ladies who had 
 been induced to accompany the Atlanta in other boats, 
 with the expectation of seeing her capture the monitors. 
 
 Congress found it necessary to pass a law authorizing 
 the President to recruit the army by a draft from able- 
 bodied citizens between the ages of 20 and 45. This he 
 ordered for 300,000 men. In consequence of this order a 
 riot, the most terrible in our history, began in the city of 
 New York, and lasted for three days, but was finally put 
 down by the police, with the aid of armed citizens and
 
 990 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, soldiers from the forts in the harbor, but after, it is esti- 
 
 LXll. 
 
 mated, about two hundred persons were killed, mostly 
 rioters. The latter began by burning the houses where the 
 provost marshals had their offices, the fire often extending 
 much farther. The spirit which animated a certain class 
 of the rioters manifested itself in the burning of the Half 
 Orphan Asylum for colored children, and other fiendish 
 outrages were perpetrated upon the colored population. 
 Afterward great numbers of the rioters were arrested, tried 
 and sentenced to years of imprisonment. The riot would 
 have been subdued sooner, had not the National Guard 
 city militia been absent at the call of the President to aid 
 in repelling Lee and his army from Pennsylvania. 
 
 The depression and disquietude in the Confederacy were 
 very great after the reverses from July 1st to 9th. Jeffer- 
 son Davis issued a proclamation ordering into the field all 
 white men between the ages of eighteen and forty-five. 
 These were to serve three years, and if they refused to report 
 themselves they were to be treated as deserters from the 
 Confederate army, that is, to Buffer the penalty of being 
 shot, according to military law. The Confederate financial 
 prospects were becoming worse and worse, and these reverses 
 had crushed every hope of recognition by foreign powers, 
 and even the expectation of mediation faded away. 
 
 The laboring classes of England, as far as they under- 
 stood the matter, sympathized with the free States in their 
 struggle with the slave States. The intelligent portion of 
 the French people were still more pronounced. The Prot- 
 estant pastors of France in an address (dated Paris, March 
 12th, 1863,) to their Protestant brethren in England, 
 because of their want of sympathy with the free States in 
 their struggle, use the following language : " No more 
 revolting spectacle has ever been before the civilized world 
 than a Confederacy, consisting mainly of Protestants, form- 
 ing itself and demanding independence, in the nineteenth 
 century of the Christian era, with a professed design of 
 maintaining and propagating slavery. The triumph of
 
 FRENCH ADDRESS NATIONAL BANKS. 991 
 
 such a cause would put back the progress of Christian CHAP. 
 civilization and of humanity a whole century." 1 
 
 The Confederate authorities were greatly exasperated 1863 - 
 because colored men were allowed to enlist in the United 
 States army. They were in the habit of giving no quar- 
 ter to these soldiers, and the atrocities practiced upon 
 those of them who happened to be captured in battle 
 roused President Lincoln to issue a proclamation announc- 
 ing that for every captured colored soldier sold into 
 slavery there should be put one Confederate prisoner of 
 war to labor on the public works, there to remain until 
 the colored soldier was free and treated as a prisoner of 
 war. This proclamation ended that species of outrage. 
 
 The organization of National Banks has proved an ef- 
 fective agency in securing a uniform currency and cheap 
 exchange in mercantile transactions between the different 
 sections of the whole country. These banks are required 
 to invest their entire capital in United States interest- 
 paying bonds, which interest is paid to the banks them- 
 selves in gold. Ten per cent of their capital is retained 
 by the Government to meet contingencies, while ninety 
 per cent of the same is furnished to the banks in the 
 form of circulating notes. These notes are engraved, 
 printed and registered by the Government alone, in order 
 to control their issue and prevent fraud in the circulation 
 of the banks getting beyond the legal amount. Should 
 a national bank fail, the holder of its bills cannot suffer 
 loss, as they would be redeemed by the United States 
 Treasury. The notes of these banks are at par through- 
 out the Union, and as such are received for all dues, 
 "except duties on imports and interest on the public 
 debt." This financial measure greatly facilitates com- 
 mercial relations between the people of different portions 
 of the land, and aids in strengthening the union of the 
 Nation.
 
 CHAPTEK LXIII. 
 
 LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRATION CONTINUED. 
 
 The March to Chattanooga. The Battle Cbickamauga. Burnside ; 
 Knoxville Consolidated Armies. Battle above the Clouds. 
 Bragg's Defeat. A Stringent Order. Marauders in Missouri. 
 Massacre at Lawrence. Red River Expedition. Massacre at 
 Fort Pillow. Grant ; Lieutenant-General. Position of Affairs. 
 Sherman flanks Johnston; he falls back. Death of Bishop Polk. 
 Kenesaw Mountain. Across the Chattahoochee Hood in Com- 
 mand. Death of McPherson. Battles. Atlanta Captured. 
 March to the Sea. The Christmas Gift. 
 
 xm' FROM the battle of Murfreesboro, at the first of the year, 
 till June 25th, Rosecrans remained in his camp recruiting, 
 especially his cavalry. Meanwhile, General Bragg retired 
 to the south bank of Duck river a deep, narrow stream 
 whose fords he fortified with the greatest care, and waited 
 for Rosecrans to come and attack him in his well-chosen 
 position. Tbe latter advanced not in the way marked out 
 by his adversary, but by a seiies of skillfully devised flank- 
 ing movements compelled Bragg to abandon all his well-laid 
 plans, and to escape being taken at great disadvantage in 
 the rear. He fell back into Alabama and continued his 
 retreat across the Cumberland Mountains to Chattanooga, 
 there he made a stand, having been largely reinforced from 
 Lee's army by Longstreet's division and from Johnston's 
 Mississippi force, and paroled prisoners from Vicksburg 
 who had not been exchanged. He fortified that famous 
 railroad center, and at various points on the Tennessee 
 river threw up defensive works. Rosecrans was much 
 retarded in his pursuit by the excessive rains, the swollen
 
 CHATTANOOGA THE BATTLE. 993 
 
 streams and the want of bridges, which had been carefully CHAP. 
 destroyed by the retiring enemy. Chattanooga is on the 
 Tennessee river at the mouth of a valley formed by a creek 
 of the same name, between Lookout Mountain and Mission- 
 ary Kidge. Lookout Mountain rises 2,400 feet above the 
 sea ; the base is wooded, but .the sides, for the most part, 
 are of abrupt rocks, which in places are perpendicular. 
 
 On Rosecrans's approach Bragg evacuated Chattanooga, 
 which the former occupied, himself, and also a portion of Aug. 
 Lookout Mountain by Crittenden's division, and the valley 
 of the Chickamauga by General Thomas's corps. Bragg 
 advanced his forces over Chickamauga Creek to get between 
 Chattanooga and Rosecrans's main army. This movement 
 brought on an engagement. About 11 A.M. the Confed- 
 erates attacked the Union left flank with their whole 
 strength, and forced it back after an obstinate resistance. 
 The Federals being reinforced in turn took the offensive, 19. ' 
 and by 4 P.M. recovered nearly all the ground lost. The 
 Confederates left their dead on the field and all their badly 
 wounded. Meanwhile, Generals Bishop Polk and Hill 
 assaulted the Union center, which wavered for a short time 
 but recovered and held the enemy in check ; then the 
 assault was made again with a stronger force, and the 
 center was compelled to give way. Sheridan's division came 
 up, and presently others, and after a spirited charge at sun- 
 set regained the entire ground. After dark the enemy 
 made a desperate attempt on the center, but were received 
 so vigorously that they abandoned their position. This 
 ended the first day's battle. 
 
 The Confederates renewed the conflict the next day by Sept. 
 again attacking the Union left. The Federals held their ^ 
 ground for a time, and then fell back in order, and being 
 reinforced, checked the enemy. Two hours after they 
 threw a tremendous force upon the Union center, where 
 General Thomas commanded. During the night his men 
 extemporized a barrier of logs and fence rails, from behind 
 which their musketry told severely on the enemy, while the
 
 HISTORY OF THE AMEKICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, artillery on rising ground in the rear made havoc in their 
 
 ranks. The Confederates came on with frantic yells. 
 
 1863 
 
 Aug.' They often staggered under the well-directed fire, but would 
 
 11 - rally again under the urgency of their officers. The Union 
 center had been weakened by almost one-third ; the disor- 
 dered portions fell back toward Chattanooga, and Kosecrans 
 was carried along with the crowd. Thomas then moved to 
 a position on the slopes of Mission Ridge, and there massed 
 what artillery he had, which played most effectively on the 
 enemy. They were urged against the position of Thomas 
 by Longstreet and Bisfrop Polk with a disregard of human 
 life scarcely known. As they came up they were slaugh- 
 tered at a terrible rate by well-directed discharges of mus- 
 ketry and artillery. Then they made a flank movement, 
 and were attacked by Union cavalry and severely repulsed. 
 At 4 P.M. Thomas retired in order to Chattanooga. The 
 losses of the Confederates were enormous, as they were so 
 much exposed in their assaults. Bragg admitted a loss of 
 18,000 now known to be much below the actual number. 
 The Union loss was 1,644 killed and 9,262 wounded. 
 
 The " Army of the Cumberland" was in straits for pro- 
 visions, at Chattanooga, as the numerous cavalry of the 
 enemy were continually breaking their long line of commu- 
 nications. The Government detached two corps from the 
 Army of the Potomac and sent them under Hooker. They 
 went by rail, and arrived at Chattanooga in an almost 
 incredibly short time. By the* same authority, General 
 Grant sent Sherman with a large portion of the army that 
 had captured Vicksburg. Rosecrans, meantime, had been 
 relieved, and General Thomas appointed to succeed him. 
 General Bnrnside, who was in command of the Depart- 
 
 1. ment of the Ohio, moved through Eastern Kentucky and 
 reached Knoxville, Tenn., where he was hailed with rejoic- 
 ings by the inhabitants. He took possession of the famous 
 Cumberland Gap, cutting the communication between Rich- 
 mond and Middle Tennessee. After the battle of Chicka- 
 mauga, Bragg, at the suggestion of Jefferson Davis, who
 
 CONSOLIDATED ARMIES. 
 
 was visiting his army, sent Longstreet to drive Burnside out 
 of Knoxville. The former made an assault, but was so 
 severely repulsed that he was under the necessity of besieg- g ept '. 
 ing the town, which he did till he was compelled to raise ^9- 
 the siege on the approach of Sherman and retreat into West Dec 
 Virginia, and thence joined Lee's army on the Rapidan. 3- 
 
 The authorities at Washington consolidated the Western 
 armies the Cumberland, the Tennessee, the Ohio and 
 appointed General Grant to the command. He assumed Qct. 
 office and appointed General Thomas to the first named ; 18 - 
 General Sherman to the second, and General Burnside to 
 the third. On the day that Grant himself arrived at Chat- 
 tanooga, Hooker surprised and drove the Confederates out 
 of Lookout Valley; they moving round the mountain to 
 Mission Ridge. Sherman's troops from Vicksburg arrived, Oct. 
 but so secretly that Bragg was entirely ignorant of their 
 presence. Grant at once availed himself of the mistake of 
 sending Longstreet to Knoxville, and began to make demon- 
 strations on Bragg's left to divert his attention ; sending a 
 large force with much ostentation ; and taking position on 
 high ground in sight of the enemy, but as soon as it was 
 dark the force countermarched and reached the main army 
 
 in the morning. He also sent General Thomas, who sur- 
 
 jj"ov 
 prised the enemy and drove them before him, obtaining an 33. 
 
 important position, which he secured by fortifying. Mean- 
 while, to conceal Sherman's march round to Bragg's right, he 
 directed Hooker to make an attempt on Lookout mountain ; 
 he moved at once and soon his men were picking their way 
 up. A fog had rested upon the mountain during the 
 morning, which concealed the movement from the Confede- 
 rates, and they only learned of it as their rifle-pits one by 
 one were taken ; at 12 o'clock Geary's battalion rounded the 
 peak of the mountain still enveloped in clouds. The Fede- 
 ral soldiers had been ordered to maintain their place if they 
 should gain the top, but their appearance was so sudden 
 and unexpected by the enemy that they took to flight, and 
 Geary's soldiers forgot their orders and rushed on in pur-
 
 996 HISTOEY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, suit ; other brigades were coming up, and after two or three 
 - sharp conflicts the plateau was cleared, and the Confede- 
 L863. rateg a jded j u their descent over the rocks to the valley below. 
 About 2 P.M., the clouds rolled down off the mountain and 
 revealed the stars and stripes planted on the summit; such 
 was the battle above the clouds. We may imagine the 
 cheers that went up from the Union army below in Chatta- 
 nooga. Sherman had now come within striking distance 
 
 Nov. and was waiting for the time appointed daylight when 
 the whole Union line was to advance. From a cone-shaped 
 hill called Bald Knob, could be had a view of the entire 
 battle-field ; on the top of this hill, Grant, with some of- 
 ficers, took his stand. 
 
 Sherman commenced the attack on the Confederate 
 right about 10 A.M., and in an hour's time it became 
 general along the lines. The contest was carefully watched 
 
 N from Bald Knob ; it was seen that Bragg was weakening his 
 25. centre by sending troops to his right ; the crisis had come. 
 Grant signalled the command and three or four brigades 
 dashed down the slope and across the valley and straight 
 for the centre of the Confederate army, literally running 
 over the rifle-pits in their front, burst out of the woods like 
 an overwhelming torrent carrying all before them ; the 
 panic stricken enemy fled in every direction. Just at sun- 
 set the Ridge was in Union hands and the Confederates 
 were disastrously defeated. Pollard says: "A disgraceful 
 panic ensued ; the whole left wing of the Confederates be- 
 came involved, gave way and scattered in unmitigated rout." 
 It was a most striking scene to behold the flaunting signal 
 flags on the tops of these mountains, telegraphing to one 
 another, and to hear the cheers that rose along the lines for 
 six miles. 
 
 General Grant the same evening telegraphed to Wash- 
 ington : " I believe I am not premature in announcing a 
 complete victory over Bragg ; Lookout Mountain top, all 
 the rifle-pits in Chattanooga valley, and Missionary Ridge 
 are held by us." The pursuit was commenced the next
 
 A STRINGENT ORDER ARKANSAS. 997 
 
 morning, but was soon discontinued, and Sherman was at ^- 
 once sent to relieve Burnside at Knoxville. 
 
 1 ftfi^? 
 
 The authorities at Kichmond censured Bragg for his 
 misfortune, alleging that his positions were so impregnable 
 that he should not have been defeated, and General Joe 
 Johnston was sent to supersede him in command. 
 
 General Grant issued a very stringent order to restrain 
 the soldiers from marauding upon the inhabitants, and 
 appropriating private property. Any soldier found guilty 
 of such conduct was to be summarily punished. Every 
 effort, consistent with military necessity, was made to pro- 
 tect the poor people of the Confederacy, and these orders July 
 were enforced, as far as possible, by the Union officers. 
 
 General Fred. Steele was sent from Vicksburg to occupy 
 Little Rock, the capital of Arkansas, in order to revive the 
 loyal element in the State, and re-establish the legitimate 
 authority. General Steele repaired to Helena and assumed 
 command, then to Clarendon, on the White river, and then Aug. 
 across the country, driving the Confederates before him, 
 who finally made a stand three miles below Little Rock, 
 but were quickly defeated, and pursued so vigorously they 
 were unable to set fire to the town! Except an iron-clad 
 ram on the stocks, property, both public and private, was iy. ' 
 held sacred. A provisional government was established ; 
 General Steele remaining some months. The Confederate 
 power in the State was effectually broken, and only squads 
 of guerrillas prowled about the country, robbing the houses, 
 granaries and cellars of their own people. 
 
 In Missouri hordes of these men swarmed over the 
 country pillaging the people, disloyal or loyal. Under an 
 outlaw named Quantrell, a band of these marauders dashed 
 into Lawrence, Kansas, at half -past four in the morning, 
 and in cold blood murdered every man they could find. A 
 " Eighty-five widows and two hundred orphans were made 17. 
 that morning." The town was plundered and ladies robbed 
 of their jewelry. 
 
 Expeditions of Federal troops occupied Corpus Christi
 
 998 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. on the coast, and Brownsville on the Rio Grande in Texas ; 
 
 Jj A JLJLJ-* 
 
 an expedition was sent up the Red river against Shreves- 
 
 j an ' port, an important point. 
 
 After much preparation General Banks was ready to 
 move. Admiral Porter, with fifteen gunboats, passed up 
 Red river, freeing it of obstructions and its banks from the 
 presence of the enemy. The gunboats reached Alexandria 
 and Union troops occupied the town. The Confederates, 
 scattering over the country, burned all the cotton they 
 could find, and the houses in which it was stored. The 
 army from necessity left the river ; the advance carelessly 
 fell into an ambuscade, was forced to fall back, and finally 
 abandoning the train reached the main army. The next 
 day the Confederates, much elated, attacked the Federals 
 but were severely repulsed. It was thought best to give up 
 the enterprise since the river was falling fast and the gun- 
 boats would be useless. When the fleet reached the rapids 
 near Alexandria it was found it could not pass down. This 
 was obviated by the genius of Colonel Bailey, of Wisconsin, 
 who constructed a dam across the river, thus raising the 
 water, and at a signal the dam was loosened and the boats 
 passed safely down on 'the flood. Thus ended the fruitless 
 expedition. 
 
 The Confederate General Forrest carried on an irregular 
 warfare in Western Kentucky and Tennessee, always treat- 
 ing the Union inhabitants with great cruelty. He captured 
 Union City and its garrison of 450 men ; he also made an 
 
 Mar. attack on Paducah but was repulsed. The same Forrest and 
 his band carried Fort Pillow by assault ; after the fort 
 surrendered, the garrison to the number of 300 were 
 slaughtered in cold blood, because a portion were colored 
 ^ r ' men. Forrest, from his statement of the case, seems to have 
 been at least not altogether responsible for the outrage. 
 
 The successes of General Grant attracted the attention 
 both of the nation and of Congress, which body revived the 
 grade of Lieutenant-General, extinct since the retirement of
 
 GRANT LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SHERMAN MOVES. 999 
 
 General Scott. This was conferred on General Grant ; who CHAP. 
 at once turned over the army at Chattanooga to General W. 
 T. Sherman, and repaired to Washington, whither he had 
 been summoned by telegraph. He was less known personally 3. 
 than any of the department generals ; a man of deeds and 
 few words ; while a strong vein of common sense in his 
 character gave an earnest he would be equal to emergen- 
 cies likely to arise. 
 
 At the White House the President, in the presence 
 of his Cabinet and General Halleck, presented him his com- 
 mission of Lieutenant-General, saying a few words of kind- g 
 ness and expressing his own confidence, then adding : " As 
 the country here trusts you, so, under God, it will sustain 
 you." Grant, after paying a compliment "to the noble 
 Union armies," ended by saying: "I feel the full weight 
 of the responsibilities devolving upon me, and I know if 
 they are met it will be due to those armies, and, above all, to 
 the favor of that Providence which leads both nations and 
 men." 
 
 He entered immediately upon his duties, visiting the Mar. 
 headquarters of General Meade to confer with him, and the 
 next day left for the West and by appointment met Sher- 
 man at Nashville to consult with him. Grant believed 
 there could be no substantial peace until the military power 
 ,of the Confederacy was utterly crushed, and to that pur- 
 pose he devoted all his energies. As a summary of the 
 position of affairs ,at this time it may be stated : There 
 were two main armies of the Confederacy one under Lee 
 defending Kichmond, the other under Johnston guarding 
 the approaches to Atlanta, the great strategic point and 
 railroad center of Northwest Georgia ; the Mississippi river 
 was patroled by Union gunboats from St. Louis to its 
 mouth ; the line of the Arkansas was held, and all west of 
 the Mississippi north of that stream ; in Southern Louisiana 
 a few points not far from the river were held by the Fed- 
 erals, and at the mouth of the Bio Grande was a small 
 garrison ; along the Atlantic coast, in addition to the block-
 
 1000 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 ilxfn' a< * c ' raan J important places were held ; aud on the Gulf, 
 Peusacola and New Orleans. Such was the position when 
 
 1 * " 1 
 
 ' General Grant assumed supreme command. His design 
 was to keep Lee and Johnston so much pressed that they 
 would be unable, as heretofore, to aid each other. 
 
 Sherman was ready to move. At Dalton, thirty miles 
 southeast of Chattanooga, was the Confederate army, 30,000 
 strong, and, by its well-chosen position, equal to twice that 
 number. Here Johnston was waiting to be attacked, when 
 he learned that a portion of the Union army, by a rapid 
 march through passes and gaps, had flanked him upon his 
 
 May left and was threatening the railroad in his rear, while 
 
 s ~ 10 ' another portion was moving upon his front, and still an- 
 other on his right was marching round his army ; he was 
 therefore compelled to give up his stronghold and fall back 
 eighteen miles to Resaca, another strong position behind 
 Camp Creek, its whole line well fortified on steep hills. 
 
 May Sherman reconnoitered and again flanked his adversary. 
 ia - Johnston at one time, thinking he had discovered a weak 
 point in the Union lines, made an attack upon the Twen- 
 tieth Corps, Hooker's, but was repulsed at all points and 
 driven from several strongholds. Foiled at every attempt, 
 he moved his forces against the Union left flank, and at 7 
 p. M. the Confederates came in tremendous force and over- 
 whelming numbers upon that point. The Federals were 
 forced back. Suddenly a cheer was heard, and Hooker's 
 Corps came up, and the first intimation they gave the 
 enemy was the cheer, which was followed by a rush over 
 
 Mav the dead bodies of their comrades. They broke the enemyV 
 16. line beyond recovery, and drove them more than a mile. 
 At 2 next morning the Confederates evacuated Resaca, 
 passing over Oostenaula River and breaking down the bridge 
 behind them, and moved on until they reached the Etowah 
 River, over which they crossed and took position in the 
 mountains around Altoona. On the crest of these moun- 
 tains were carefully arranged batteries to sweep every ap- 
 proach, and here Johnston resolved to fight a decisive
 
 DEATH OF BISHOP POLK KENESAW MOUNTAIN. 
 
 battle. The Union army came up, but Sherman had no CHAP. 
 
 idea of sacrificing his men by assaulting so strong a posi- 
 tion, and he flanked Johnston again and compelled him to 
 fall back toward Dallas. When within four miles of that 
 place Hooker's division overtook him. A skirmish began, 
 other divisions came up, and it became a battle severely 
 contested ; but at length the Confederates were driven back 
 to where three important roads met. The Union soldiers 
 threw up entrenchments during the night, which Johnston 
 assaulted and was repulsed. The Federals afterward made 
 an assault upon what was deemed a weak point of the 
 enemy's line, and they, too, were repulsed. 
 
 The Confederate commander remained quiet for two 
 days, and Sherman ordered a movement to his rear, and 
 Johnston again thought best to fall back to the new posi- 
 tion at Kenesaw Mountain, fortifying and extending his 
 line about ten miles ; his centre. Pine Mountain, being much 
 advanced. On these mountains the enemy had signal sta- 
 tions, but Sherman's sign-corps soon learned their sign-code 
 and revealed their secrets. Bishop- General Polk, with his 
 staff, came out on the crest of Pine Mountain to reconnoitre. 
 A rifled field-piece was sighted by Captain Simonson, and 
 fired at the group from one of the Union batteries : that 
 shot killed the Bishop. The information was immediately 
 communicated to both armies. 
 
 Sherman decided to break the enemy's line at Pine 
 Mountain, the advanced center, and a rapid artillery fire 
 was opened upon it. During the next night Johnston 
 abandoned the mountain. The following day the Union j unc 
 army pressed nearer and nearer, and Johnston retired to 1 ^- 
 Kenesaw Mountain. Now followed several days of rain, 
 and the Federals made but little progress in their ap- 
 proaches. Hood's division of Confederates made an assault 
 upon Hooker's advanced lines early in-the morning, driving 
 in the pickets, and came upon the main line behind ex- 
 temporized breastworks. They were repulsed, leaving the '22 
 field covered with their dead. Johnston had fortified his
 
 1002 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, lines with great care, and Sherman resolved to make ap- 
 proaches and assault them. The assault was made, but 
 failed to carry the point, yet the Union soldiers held their 
 advanced position, and Johnston again evacuated his lines 
 in the night, and retired toward the Chattahoochee River, 
 to a new fortified line on which a thousand or more slaves 
 had been engaged a month. The fortifications along this 
 line of retreat were constructed more or less by the same 
 hands. Sherman followed up, and by flanking his adver- 
 sary right and left, held the river eighteen miles above and 
 ten miles below him, while Thomas was pressing him in 
 front, and Johnston was compelled to cross the river during 
 July the night, burning the bridge and his pontoons, and fell 
 back toward Atlanta, five or six miles distant. Sherman 
 delayed a few days to repair railways and bridges and 
 strengthen important points. When ready he began to 
 move on Atlanta. 
 
 The Confederate authorities at Richmond were dissat- 
 isfied with Johnston, and he was relieved of his command 
 and General John B. Hood appointed in his place. The 
 latter was incautious to rashness, but full of courage. 
 July " This appointment," says Sherman in his Memoirs. " meant 
 17 - fight." Strong breastworks had been constructed in front 
 and around Atlanta. 
 
 About noon, the Union soldiers, having come up within 
 skirmishing distance, halted and were resting, when sud- 
 denly the enemy rushed out of their nearest entrenchments, 
 j u ] y and fell with great fury upon Hooker's corps and a portion of 
 20- Howard's. The latter extemporized a barrier of fence-rails. 
 After two hours fighting the assailants were forced to retire 
 to their entrenchment?, having lost more than 4,000, killed 
 and wounded, and accomplished nothing except to teach 
 the Union army to be on its guard. The Federals, in con- 
 tracting their lines and cutting communications, seized a 
 hill near the Augusta Railway, from which elevation cannon 
 balls could be thrown into the streets of the city. This
 
 BATTLE DEATH OF MCPHERSON". 1003 
 
 hill the Confederates made a desperate attempt to recover, ^m' 
 but were repulsed with loss. 
 
 The Union army still continued contracting its lines 
 carefully, when about noon the scouts reported the enemy 
 in motion and massing on the Union left. On they came ^"^ 
 without a note of warning, and the battle raged till dark, 
 with occasionally a gain by the Confederates, but in the 
 main they were repulsed with great loss, and the grasp of 
 the besieging army became still more strong on the doomed 
 city. They made seven assaults during the day, and were 
 as often repulsed, Hood's loss being at least twice as great 
 as Sherman's. In this battle fell McPherson, only thirty 
 years of age, but the most promising of the corps com- 
 manders. General 0. 0. Howard was appointed to succeed 
 McPherson in the command of the Army of the Tennessee. 
 
 Meanwhile, the Union cavalry was making successful 
 raids around Atlanta, destroying railways; all of which 
 were broken except the Macon and Atlanta. 
 
 General Howard's corps was sent round to the right 
 of the city to destroy a railroad. Hood was on the alert, 
 and hurried out to crush the force before it could get 
 assistance. On he came in solid columns, sweeping away 
 the Union pickets ; but presently he came in the most 
 reckless manner, with his men crowded together upon the 
 Federals, who were behind breastworks hastily constructed 
 of logs, fence rails and stones. The Union soldiers, delib- 
 erately taking aim, swept away line after line of his best 
 men. The proportion of the killed was unusually large. 
 " Six successive charges were made, which were six times ju] y 
 gallantly repulsed, each time with fearful loss of life." 28 - 
 Hood's lines were about twelve miles in extent, and his for- 
 tifications were manned in part by recent levies, that he 
 might use his veterans in the field. 
 
 Sherman determined at all hazards to break the Macon 
 and Atlanta railway, south of the city, and a large force 
 accomplished the work effectually by burning the ties and 
 heating the rails red hot, and winding them around trees
 
 1004 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. uu <i telegraph poles. Hood, noticing that a large portion 
 of Sherman's army were gone, thought they were retreating. 
 
 The rumor spread, and the citizens crowded to give him 
 28. their congratulations, which he was receiving, when a 
 courier on horseback dashed in and brought the astounding 
 news that Sherman had possession of the road, and that 
 Hardee, who had been sent with a large force to protect 
 Jonesboro, was disastrously defeated. 
 
 That night strange noises like earthquakes or explosions 
 were heard in the direction of Atlanta. Hood was blowing 
 up the magazines and evacuating the place. 
 
 Sherman entered the once beautiful city, now almost 
 3 P ' a mass of ruins, and it was telegraphed over the land, 
 " Atlanta is ours, and fairly won." Hood's scattered forces 
 were afterward more or less united, and he made many 
 attempts to annoy the Union army by cutting railroads and 
 attacking places garrisoned", but in all these he totally 
 failed. Sherman detached General Thomas and his corps 
 with other divisions to move on Nashville and repel Hood 
 should he make an attempt in that direction. Jefferson 
 Davis after the fall of Atlanta visited the region, and at 
 Macon encouraged the people by assuring them Sherman 
 23 ' would yet be driven back, and " our cavalry and our people 
 will harass and destroy his army as did the Cossacks that 
 of Napoleon ; and the Yankee general like him will escape 
 with only a body guard." 
 
 Sherman in one of his letters to Grant made a sugges- 
 tion that it was "futile to chase round after Hood," but, 
 leaving Tennessee in the hands of Thomas, "to destroy 
 Atlanta and march across Georgia to Savannah or Charles- 
 ton. breaking roads and doing irreparable damage ; we 
 cannot remain on the defensive." This led to the consid- 
 eration of the question more fully, though it would seem a 
 similar thought had occurred to Grant ; and preparations 
 were made for the "march to the sea." Meantime, Hood 
 with his army was hastening on toward middle Tennessee, 
 expecting to defeat Thomas.
 
 THE CHRISTMAS GIFT ORDERS. 1005 
 
 Sherman now destroyed in Atlanta the public buildings CHAP. 
 
 LXIII 
 used by the Confederates for military purposes no pri I 
 
 vate dwellings or churches were designedly injured and 
 set out to push across the country to the sea, and if need 
 be come in the rear of Richmond. The army marched 
 in two columns with spreading wings extending sixty 
 miles so thoroughly bewildering the enemy that they 
 were unable to make much opposition. This bold march 
 ended December 10, within a few miles of Savannah, and 
 soon communication was had with the Union fleet which 
 was in waiting. Three days later Fort McAllister, the 
 defense of Savannah, was taken, and General Hardee in 
 consequence evacuated the city, which was immediately 
 occupied by Union forces. Sherman sent the following 
 dispatch to President Lincoln : " I beg leave to present, 
 as a Christmas gift, the city of Savannah, with 150 heavy 
 guns and plenty of ammunition, and also 25,000 bales of 
 cotton." 
 
 The army, when thus cut loose from depots of provi- 
 sions, was forced to depend for sustenance upon the coun- 
 try through which it passed, and strict orders were given 
 to prevent outrages on the people. " Soldiers must not 
 enter the dwellings of the inhabitants, or commit any 
 trespass ;" when needed to replace those injured, foraging 
 parties were permitted to take " horses, mules and wag- 
 ons," " discriminating, however, between the rich, who 
 usually were hostile, and the poor and industrious, usu- 
 ally neutral or friendly ;" " to leave with each family a 
 reasonable portion for their maintenance ;" and "to re- 
 frain from abusive or threatening language." l Com- 
 plaints have been made that these orders were, in some 
 instances, not fully carried out; but there is no evidence 
 that their violation was connived at by the higher officers 
 in command, but that the marauders were punished when 
 detected. 
 
 i Sherman's Memoirs, Vol. II. p. 175.
 
 CHAPTER LXIV. 
 
 LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRATION CONTINUED. 
 
 Grant's choice of subordinates. Battles in the Wilderness. Butler at 
 Bermuda Hundreds. Flanking Movement. Early in the Val- 
 ley. Sheridan in the Valley. Sheridan's ride. The Mine Ex- 
 ploded. Capture of Mobile. Outrages in Missouri Capture of 
 Wilmington. Battle of Nashville. Defeat of Hood. 
 
 Lxrv\ WE now return to the Army of the Potomac. Arrange- 
 ments were in preparation for the final struggle. General 
 B. F. Butler was assigned to the general supervision of the 
 force designed to follow up the James to Richmond, and to 
 make a diversion toward Petersburg. He had about 30,000 
 men, under the command of Generals W. F. Smith and 
 Gilmore the latter had been recalled from Charleston 
 Harbor with 10,000 men. General Sigel was in command 
 in that famous battle-field of the war Shenandoah Valley 
 in connection with General Crook on the Kanawha, West 
 Virginia; General Meade, the hero of Gettysburg, with 
 the main array on the north bank of the Rapidan. 
 
 Genera] Grant always showed great skill and knowledge 
 of men in the choice of subordinate officers ; nor did he 
 ever seem to be influenced by professional jealousy. He 
 brought with him to Washington only three or four staff 
 officers no more than were absolutely necessary. The gen- 
 eral plan of campaigns was marked out, and he availed 
 himself of the skill of his subordinate commanders, who, in 
 the details, were permitted to exercise their own judgment 
 in accordance with the general plan. Some of the best sug- 
 gestions of generals in the field were frequently disregarded 
 by Halleck. the commander-in-chief at Washington, as if
 
 BATTLES IN THE WILDEKNESS. 1007 
 
 he knew better though hundreds of miles away than the CHAP. 
 equally educated commander in the field. We must not 
 overlook the private soldiers composing the armies of the 
 Republic. They were intelligent and understood how much 
 was involved in the contest ; with this knowledge they had 
 left their homes, and were willing to risk their lives in. 
 defense of the Union of their country, and frequently the 
 superior intelligence, the bravery and dash of private 
 soldiers crowned with success important maneuvers. 
 
 Lee's army lay on the South side of the Rapidan, vir- 
 tually entrenched in the "Wilderness." This is a barren 
 region, covered with scrub-oak and tufted trees, where a 
 thousand soldiers could keep four times their number at. 
 bay. This was intersected by many narrow cross roads, 
 bounded on either side by a perfect jungle. The whole 
 district and every road was thoroughly known to the Con- 
 federate generals ; and Lee from his position and knowl- 
 edge of the ground was thus able to throw, as he wished, a 
 strong force on any particular point. 
 
 The Union army crossed the Rapidan at Germana Ford May 
 unopposed purposely, says Childe, in order to secure a 
 battle in the " Wilderness." Grant had intended to pass 
 rapidly through the wilderness, with as little fighting as 
 possible, and force his adversary back toward Richmond, 
 because in that jungle he could not deploy his men, and 
 could only use about twenty out of his three hundred pieces 
 of artillery; neither could be use his cavalry. Early the 
 next morning the Union army began its onward march to 
 get beyond this labyrinth of trees, when it was met at two 
 points by two Confederate forces brought up by parallel 
 roads. This was at first thought to be a feint, but at 11 May 
 A.M. the battle began in earnest by the Union soldiers 
 assaulting the enemy. The conflict of this day was pecu- 
 liar. The soldiers groped for each other through the 
 thicket, and with various successes in different parts of 
 the woods. It was a drawn battle then both armies lay 
 on their arms.
 
 1008 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAS PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. After receiving reports from his subordinates, Grant 
 
 issued orders for attacking the enemy the next morning, 
 
 1 ^t* J. 
 
 Ifay and at dawn Hancock's division, sustained by Wadsworth, 
 0. fell furiously on the Confederate center, and after a few 
 hours drove it a mile and a half, taking many prisoners. 
 They were now reinforced, outnumbering Hancock, and 
 in turn forced him back over the same ground, but at 11 
 A.M. he made a stand from which the enemy failed to 
 move him. Here fell General Wadsworth, a gentleman 
 of excellent worth, and high social position ; and here also 
 fell the Confederate Generals Jones, Jenkins and Stafford, 
 very efficient officers. There was a lull for some hours, 
 when the enemy at 4 P.M. made a desperate assault upon 
 Hancock, and partially forced him from his position, but 
 being reinforced the assailants were in turn driven back. 
 Here Longstreet was severely wounded, and carried from 
 the field, and Lee himself took immediate command. He 
 restored order, but could not retrieve the field. 
 
 When the Union center advanced the next morning, Lee 
 was found to have fallen back to a second position strongly 
 entrenched. This line of battle was six miles long, along 
 which raged the conflict ; Lee fell back again and afterward 
 fought only from behind breastworks, except where it could 
 not be avoided. The Confederates were evidently dis- 
 May couraged, and when a portion of the Union army moved by 
 night toward Spottsylvania Court House, Lee fell back lest 
 he should be taken in the rear. Now commenced a series 
 of conflicts in one of which General Sedgwick, one of the 
 first of the corps commanders, was killed. 
 
 Grant telegraphed to the Secretary of war: "we have 
 jjay. now ended the sixth day of very heavy fighting. The result, 
 11- to this time, is much in our favor. I propose to fight it out 
 on this line if it takes all summer." 
 
 The following morning at 4 o'clock, in a dense fog, the 
 
 orders were given as quietly as possible, and the march was 
 
 12_ in silence. Hancock made a dash at an advanced position 
 
 of the enemy, rushed over the breastwork, and captured the
 
 BUTLER BERMUDA HUNDREDS. 1009 
 
 two Generals, Johnson and Stewart, and nearly 4,000 pris- CHAP. 
 oners, and thirty guns. Hancock moved on and captured a 
 second line of rifle pits ; this brought on a general battle 
 which lasted all day, the latter part in the midst of a violent 
 rain-storm. 
 
 Grant now delayed to move for several days, in order 
 that the wounded could be sent to hospitals. A large num- 
 ber of surgeons arrived from the North, and members of 
 both the Sanitary and Christian Commissions to take care 
 of these wounded ; also reinforcements and supplies came 
 up. 
 
 General Sheridan set out at daylight with a large force May 
 of cavalry, moving toward Fredericksburg to deceive the 
 enemy ; then southward along the Confederate right, 
 reached the railroad in their rear and destroyed ten miles 
 of it, locomotives, trains of cars, and an immense amount of 
 provisions, and released 400 captured Union soldiers. He 
 pursued his way, burning depots and breaking railroads. At 
 length he fell in with that chivalrous raider J. E. B. Stuart ; 
 they came to blows and the Confederates were defeated, 
 leaving their commander, Stuart, mortally wounded. Push- 
 ing on, Sheridan came upon the outer defenses of Kichmond 
 itself. These he took, but found the second line too strong ; 
 he retired rapidly to and across the Chickahominy, and 
 after a raid of five days returned to the army. This raid, 
 in its effects, was one of the most important in the war. 
 
 General Butler put his forces on transports and landed 
 them at a plantation named Bermuda Hundreds, and then 
 fortified his position. Then he sent a force, which after May 
 severe fighting destroyed a railroad bridge and a portion of 
 the track seven miles North of Petersburg ; the force cap- 
 tured some entrenchments at the railroad. Beauregard 
 was in command, and under the cover of a dense fog he 
 made a vigorous attack on the advance, and compelled them 
 to fall back to Bermuda Hundreds, and then threw up en- 
 trenchments paralled to Butler's and prevented his moving. M 
 
 The Union army by a flank movement came upon the 16.
 
 1010 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. Xorth bank of the North Anna ; Lee was found strongly 
 
 - posted beyond the river ; for three days Grant made demon- 
 strations and then in the night commenced flanking his 
 adversary, and Lee was again compelled to abandon his 
 position and fall back ; all the Union army passed the 
 Pamuukey river and moved on three miles toward Rich- 
 mond. 
 
 Here the Confederates made a sudden attack in great 
 force, but were repulsed with loss. Then Grant, to test 
 their works, ordered an assault along the whole line. This 
 
 3. was vigorously done, and the enemy were driven out of 
 their first defenses and took shelter behind their second 
 line. These were too strongly fortified to be easily taken. 
 The Confederates during the day made wild charges against 
 the Union lines, but in every instance were repulsed with 
 loss. Lee ordered attacks on three successive nights on 
 
 7. the Union lines. Every one failed and his army sustained 
 heavy losses. These night attacks showed the desperation 
 of the enemy and the watchfulness of the Federals, who 
 were never surprised. By agreement there was now an 
 armistice of two hours, in which both parties buried their 
 dead and removed their wounded. 
 
 General Grant, finding ths fortifications very strong in 
 front, determined to unite with Butler and move on Rich- 
 mond by way of Petersburg, twenty-two miles south of the 
 former. According to Childe, Lee deemed Richmond more 
 assailable from this direction than from the north. This 
 movement took the enemy by surprise, as it was accom- 
 plished with so much celerity and with scarcely any diffi- 
 culty. A portion of the troops passed by water down the 
 York and up the James, and the remainder by land, cross- 
 ing the James on pontoon bridges. Meantime an impor- 
 tant cavalry raid, under Generals Wilson and Kautz, was 
 conducted south of Richmond, destroying a portion of the 
 Weldon Railroad and the Southside and Danville in all 
 June aoou k seven ty miles, with rolling stock and depots and 
 
 28. then, after severe fighting, returned to the army, having
 
 GENERAL EARLY IN THE TALLET. 1011 
 
 lost their light artillery. "The damage done the enemy in CHAP. 
 
 this expedition more than compensated for the loss sus 
 
 taiued." 
 
 Meanwhile General Sigel, who was in command in May 
 Shenandoah Valley with too small a force 8,000 men 15 * 
 was defeated by Breckenridge ; General Crook, in West 
 Virginia, failing to cooperate with Sigel. General Hunter 
 was appointed in Sigel's place, and he was ordered to 
 move up the valley and destroy railroads in the vicinity of 
 Staunton and Gordonsville, and General Crook was to come 
 in from the Kanawha. Hunter hastened on and met the June 
 enemy within twelve miles of Staunton, and after a conflict 
 of ten hours routed them, capturing 1,500 prisoners ; their 
 commander, General Jones, was killed. Hunter lost only 
 fifty men. Three days later he occupied Staunton. Now 
 joined by Crook's troops, he marched toward Lynchburg, 
 to which place Lee had sent a large force by the railway. 
 Hunter's ammunition had given out, and he, skirmishing 
 on the way with the enemy, fell back, not toward Grant's 
 army as was expected, and from which Sheridan made a raid 
 in order to meet him, but toward West Virginia. This 
 retreat left the valley once more open to the Confederates, 
 who, under General Early, pushed on in force to make a 
 raid into Maryland and Pennsylvania to obtain forage and 
 supplies, and as usual make a demonstration against Wash- 
 ington and induce Grant to send reinforcements from his 
 army. The latter promptly sent troops from the James, 
 and ordered others to follow who had just arrived in Hamp- 
 ton Koads from New Orleans. 
 
 Early, with about 20,000 men, moved rapidly down the 
 valley to Martinsburg, where Sigel was in command with a 3. 
 small force. The latter retreated across the Potomac. 
 The enemy followed rapidly, and crossing over arrived at 
 Hagerstown ; the citizens paying them 820,000 they agreed 
 not to burn the town. General Lew Wallace attacked the 
 invaders so vigorously with his Union raw levies as to 
 retard them until more troops arrived ; then he, being still
 
 1012 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, outnumbered, fell back, and the Confederates moved toward 
 
 Washington ; but being met by the bold attacks of General 
 
 ' Auger they retired across the Potomac, and were in turn 
 
 pursued by Averill with cavalry, who overtook their rear 
 
 guard at Winchester and captured 500 prisoners. 
 
 By this time Hunter had arrived from West Virginia, 
 and was ordered to maintain his -position, but Early was 
 reinforced and again began to move down the valley, forc- 
 ing the Union troops back by outflanking them. 
 
 At this time another Confederate cavalry raid was made 
 into Pennsylvania under McClausland ; he suddenly ap- 
 peared before the village of Chambersburg, then defence- 
 less, and demanded $500,000 ransom. The citizens were 
 unable to raise so large a sum, and the raiders deliberately 
 set the village on fire and burned two-thirds of it. In no 
 instance, as far as known, did the Union soldiers purposely 
 burn the private dwellings of a village. 
 
 General Grant, to satisfy himself, hastened from Citv 
 Ang. 
 rC Point to confer with General Hunter, and directed him to 
 
 pursue the Confederates up the valley and "to keep the 
 enemy in sight"', to sweep the valley clean of provisions 
 that might aid them, but protect private buildings as far as 
 possible. Hunter expressed a desire to be relieved ; Grant 
 accepted the resignation and appointed Sheridan to succeed 
 him, and formed the " Military Department of West Vir- 
 ginia, Washington, and Shenandoah Valley." 
 
 Sheridan soon inspired his men with his own enthusi- 
 asm, and, being reinforced both by infantry and cavalry, he 
 prepared to act promptly. Grant visited Sheridan to assure 
 himself, and after an interview he was assured that the 
 young commander understood himself and the enemy, and 
 
 'l5/ his simple order was, " Go in." In two days Sheridan 
 moved, and, early in the morning, attacked Early, and 
 after fighting all day carried his entire position and drove 
 him through Winchester. Early lost 3,500 killed and 
 
 Sept. wounded and 5,000 prisoners, and he did not dare stop till 
 19> he reached Fishers Hill, thirty miles south of Winchester.
 
 SHERIDAN'S RIDE. 1013. 
 
 Scarcely had he halted to rest his men when the indomitable ^^' 
 Sheridan pounced upon him, driving his forces through 
 Harrisonbnrg and Staunton and scattering them through 
 the gaps of the Blue Ridge. Sheridan sent forward his 
 cavalry to destroy a portion of the Virginia Central Rail- 
 way, and then fell back to Cedar Creek to rest and refresh 22* 
 his men. 
 
 About a month later Early gathered his scattered forces, 
 and, being heavily reinforced, moving rapidly and secret- 
 ly, he, early in the morning, fell suddenly upon the sleep- 
 ing Union soldiers, who were completely taken by surprise, 
 but soon recovered themselves and sullenly fell back. Sher- Oct. 
 idan was at Winchester, twenty miles distant, when his ear 
 first caught the faint roar of booming cannon. Suspecting 
 what was going on, he mounted his horse and rode at full 
 speed, and met his men retreating, they having been driven 
 four miles. HP dashed into their midst, and, waving hie 
 hat, exclaimed, "Face the other way, boys; we are going 
 back!" Inspired by his presence, his men, with loud 
 cheers, faced about and fell into line. The enemy, for the 
 most part, had stopped to plunder the Federal camp. The 
 Union cavalry, meanwhile, moved round and attacked them 
 in flank, while the encouraged infantry charged in front. 
 They were in a short time completely routed and driven 
 from the field, abandoning everything ; neither did they 
 stop until they reached Staunton. Thus ended Confederate 
 efforts to hold the valley or to invade the North. General 
 Grant telegraphed to the Secretary of War: "This glori- 
 ous victory stamps Sheridan, what I have always thought 
 him, one of the ablest of generals." Sheridan was ap- 
 pointed by the President a Major-General in the regular 
 army in place of General McClellan, who had recently Nov. 
 resigned. 
 
 Colonel Henry Pleasants, of the Pennsylvania Volun- 
 teers, a practical miner, proposed to mine a certain point in 
 the enemy's works before Petersburg. The proposition was 
 accepted and the work commenced. In less than a month
 
 1014 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN" PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, it was finished. It extended several hundred feet, and ter- 
 
 I * A 1 V 
 
 minated directly under a redoubt. In the mine was placed 
 June torn' tons ^ P ow der. It was a success, and was exploded 
 25. with terrible effect, tearing the redoubt to pieces ; but un- 
 July fortunately, by some mismanagement, the explosion was not 
 followed up by assault, as it ought to have been, and noth- 
 ing of value was accomplished. 
 
 Around Petersburg the defenses were so well arranged 
 and so well manned that it was madness to throw away 
 human life in assaulting them, as one man within such 
 entrenchments was at least equal to five outside. The 
 Aug. Union army was not idle. A strong detachment seized 
 Weldon Railway, and held it in spite of the most strenuous 
 efforts on the part of the enemy to dislodge them. Several 
 
 other movements were made, but without material success 
 Oct. 
 
 27. ' one on the north side of the James, and another at Hatch- 
 er's Run. 
 
 The capture of Mobile the main port for blockade 
 runners on the Gulf had been delayed for lack of coopera- 
 tion on the part of land forces. At length it was under- 
 taken by Admiral Farragut with his iron-clads and war 
 ships, and General Canby, detached from New Orleans for 
 July the purpose. The expedition arrived, and arrangements 
 8 - were made on board the flag-ship, the Hartford, with Gen- 
 eral Canby. Mobile Bay is thirty miles long and twelve 
 miles wide, and was defended by several strong forts, and 
 within were floating the Confederates' main reliance, the 
 ram Tennessee and several iron-clads all under Rear-Admi- 
 ral Buchanan besides numerous dangerous torpedoes. 
 The troops were landed on the west side of Dauplvine 
 Island, on the west side of the Bay. to operate against Fort 
 A S - Gaines. 
 
 At 4.45 A.M. the fleet, each vessel having another lashed 
 to it, steamed in between the forts and gave their broad- 
 sides at short distance. Admiral Farragut, lashed to the 
 maintop of the Hartford, had the fleet under his eye, and 
 gave his commands by signals. The monitor Tecumseh,
 
 OUTRAGES IN M1SSOUEI WILMINGTON CAPTURED. 1015 
 
 which was to attack the ram Tennessee, ran foul of a tor- 
 pedo and was sunk. Then the Admiral himself turned his 
 attention to the ram. Several vessels ran butt against the 
 Tennessee, and poured in their broadsides at short range. 
 Finally the Hartford bore down and gave her a broadside 
 of nine-inch solid shot. The Tennessee surrendered ; Fort 
 Gaines also hauled down its colors. On the east side of the 
 Bay Fort Morgan held out, and was opened upon ; after a 
 bombardment of fifteen hours, it ran up the white flag. 
 This closed the port of Mobile to English blockade runners. 
 As the city was strongly fortified, it was not worth the 
 investment. 
 
 Genera] Kosecrans was assigned to the command in 
 Missouri, his headquarters at St. Louis. This State was Jan. 
 infested by disloyal secret societies, and so many soldiers 20- 
 had been sent to reinforce the armies in Northern Georgia 
 that it was stripped of its defenders. Bands of bush- 
 whackers were prowling over the State murdering and pil- 
 laging. In one instance they seized a railroad train on 
 which were twenty-two unarmed and sick Union soldiers ; 
 these were taken out and shot ! Sterling Price took the 
 opportunity to invade the State in which he was once 
 honored as Governor. General Pleasanton, with a force of 
 Union cavalry, pursued and overtook him at Big Blue, Oct 
 crushed his force, and Price fled still further south, and 22. 
 made another stand at the Little Osage. There he was 
 most disastrously defeated, losing all his guns and 1,000 
 prisoners. So eager were some of the Union soldiers to 
 catch him that they rode one hundred and two miles in 
 thirtv-six hours. This was the last of the enemy's raids Oct. 
 
 ao 
 
 into Missouri ; and the land had rest. 
 
 Wilmington, N. 0., was defended by Fort Fisher, which 
 commanded the harbor. This place became most impor- 
 tant for blockade runners, and the Government resolved to 
 capture the forts and break up this contraband trade. The 
 first expedition failed by mismanagement, and the second 
 captured Fort Fisher, after hard fighting, with its garrison 15.
 
 1016 HISTORY OF THE AMEKICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 Lxfv.' and entire armament. Two days afterward the Confed- 
 
 rT7~ crates blew up Fort Caswell. This gave the Union navy 
 
 complete control of the river, much to the grief of the 
 
 Feb. English blockade runners. The Union forces took posses- 
 sion of Wilmington. 
 
 When Sherman set out for the seaboard, Hood moved 
 northward with an army of 35,000 men, he confronted 
 Thomas's cavalry which checked him near Florence, Ala- 
 bama, and continued to skirmish before him as he ad- 
 vanced. It was rumored that Hood intended to invade 
 middle Tennessee ; numerous expeditions both of Confeder- 
 ate and Federal cavalry were made during the months of 
 October and November. Thomas, meanwhile, was fortifying 
 Nashville, and having the control of the Cumberland river 
 by means of eight gunboats he was at no loss for provis- 
 ions. General Schofield, who fell back slowly in order to 
 gain time, made a halt at Franklin, his men at once with 
 spade and axe entrenching themselves. This had become 
 a custom with the Union soldiers, their aptness enabled 
 them to throw up breastworks in an almost incredibly short 
 
 time. Hood assaulted these defenses of logs and earth 
 .Nov. 
 
 30. several times, and was as often repulsed with great loss ; he 
 had 1,750 killed and 3,800 wounded while Schofield had 
 only 189 killed and 1,033 wounded. Schofield fell back, in 
 accordance with orders, to Nashville ; the next day Hood's 
 cavalry came up and the day after the infantry ; their prog- 
 Dec, ress was arrested by a series of fortifications on the hills 
 3 - around the city. 
 
 Much uneasiness was felt in the country because Thomas 
 did not attack Hood, and even Grant was on the eve of re- 
 lieving him of command. 
 
 D ec< When ready the sure but cautious Thomas moved out of 
 15 - Nashville, a heavy fog which did not lift till noon favor- 
 ing secrecy, with all his troops in order. A heavy demon- 
 stration was made against Hood's right by General Stedman, 
 by which movement Hood was deceived, and sent reinforce- 
 ments from his left and center. Then at the proper moment
 
 HOOD'S DEFEAT AND LOSSES. 1017 
 
 Generals Smith and Wilson swung round and attacked the CHAP. 
 
 *^jX I y . 
 
 weak point and carried every thing before them ; in one in 
 
 stance, the cavalry dismounted and carried a redoubt sabre 
 in hand, then a second redoubt the same troops carried in 
 the same manner. Then Montgomery Hill, Hood's most 
 advanced position, was carried and many prisoners captured. 
 Thus the Confederates were driven oat of their original line 
 of works and forced back along the base of Harpeth Hills, 
 a new position. The result of the day was the capture of 
 1,200 prisoners and sixteen pieces of artillery, arms and 
 wagons ; the Union loss was light. 
 
 The Federal army bivouaced on the field, and prepared Dec. 
 to drive the enemy on the morrow. At 6 A.M. they drove 
 back the enemy's skirmishers, and came upon a line of 
 works constructed during the night on Overton's hill. 
 Thomas soon arranged his men with a purpose, and felt of 
 the enemy along their lines, then about 3 P.M. ordered an 
 assault on Overton's hill. This was in full sight of Hood, 
 who sent reinforcements from his right and center. The 
 columns moved to the assault, and thoroughly drew the 
 enemy's fire, but they were finally compelled to fall back to 
 be reformed. The signal was given and then upon the 
 Confederate right and center, thus weakened, rushed the 
 Union forces under Smith and Schofield, and carried all 
 before them with the greatest impetuosity. Meanwhile, 
 the assaulting columns having been reformed for the 
 second time moved upon Overton's hill, and carried it at 
 the point of the bayonet. In this assault the colored troops 
 behaved with great bravery. The whole Confederate line 
 was broken beyond recovery; the pursuit continued till 
 dark. This was a most disastrous defeat. From Hood's 
 entrance till his retreat from Tennessee he lost at least 
 24,000 men and 53 pieces of artillery. The desertions from 
 his ranks were enormous ; so that the power of the rebellion 
 in the West was now broken forever. 
 
 Breckenridge was detailed by the Confederate authori- Nov. 
 ties to move into East Tennessee, especially to capture 1 ^-
 
 1018 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. Knoxville. He had some success at first, but General 
 
 1 Stoneman, then at Louisville, was sent to take command, 
 
 1864. an( j j n the short space of four days he drove the Confed- 
 erate forces ou-t of that portion of the State. The Union 
 men of East Tennessee suffered terribly in this war, but 
 with heroic courage, and amid disappointments the most 
 discouraging, they maintained their integrity and loyalty 
 to the government founded by their fathers. Nor would 
 we depreciate, but rather extol, the courage, the perse- 
 verance and the self-denial of those other Southern men 
 who, though misguided, met the Federals on many a bat- 
 tle-field, and with them displayed equal courage. 
 
 Unfortunately the mass of the Southern people, espe- 
 cially in the rural portions of the country, were not fully 
 informed on the questions at issue. Certain leaders 
 called into existence prejudices against the people of the 
 free States, by representing them as hostile to the inter- 
 ests of the South, while at the same time they urged 
 their own extreme theories in respect to State sovereign- 
 ty ; on these points this class of the Southern people had 
 opportunity to hear only one side, and from these par- 
 tial statements a portion of them came honestly to be- 
 lieve they had a right to secede from the Union. It was 
 also a singular feature of this contest that so great num- 
 bers of private soldiers were drawn by conscription ' from 
 the ranks of those who never owned slaves, and who in- 
 stinctively opposed a war designed to protect and extend 
 that system ; and who also, upon every occasion, when 
 the question was fairly presented, voted against secession. 
 Though thus forced into the army they fought bravely, 
 and not till utterly exhausted did they succumb. The 
 women of the South, likewise, displayed heroic fortitude, 
 aided their own soldiers, and, in the midst of trials almost 
 unparalleled, cheered them by the example of their own 
 self-sacrificirisr labors. 
 
 o 
 
 Hist. p. 943.
 
 CHAPTER LXV. 
 
 LINCOLN'S ADMINISTRATION CONTINUED. 
 
 Grant's design. Platforms of Parties. Second Inauguration Disposi- 
 1 tion ot Union forces. Lee's Plans Battle of Five Forks. Jefferson 
 Davis Flees. Lee Surrenders. Richmond on Fire and Occupied. 
 Johnston's Surrender. The Assassination. The Funeral. An- 
 drew Johnson. The Interview between Mr. Lincoln and Grant 
 and Sherman. Union Loss in the Rebellion. Blockade Raised. 
 The Old Flag on Sumter. Amnesty Proclamation English 
 Cruisers. Alabama and Kearsage. Lord John Russell's Protest. 
 Louis Napoleon. No French Blockade Runners. Provisional Gov- 
 ernors. Telegraph Reconstruction. Impeachment Trial. Presi- 
 dential Election. 
 
 WE now return to before Richmond. The victory of CHAP. 
 
 LXIV. 
 
 Thomas and the advance of Sherman toward the coast had ' 
 
 given a sad aspect to the Confederate cause. It was Grant's - 1 
 design to keep Lee and his forces in and around Richmond 
 till such time as he could be captured with his whole army, 
 as he might possibly retreat by Lynchburg to south western 
 Virginia or to western North Carolina, and protract the 
 war still further. 
 
 The platforms of the two parties, Republican and Dem- 
 ocratic, may be taken as exponents of their political views 
 during this Presidential canvass. The former said : "We 
 approve the determination of the government not to com- 
 promise with rebels, nor to offer any terms of peace except 
 such as may be based upon an unconditional surrender of 
 their hostility, and a return to their just allegiance to the 
 Constitution and laws of the United States." And "as 
 slavery was the cause of this rebellion, "and used for its aid, 
 the Convention expressed itself in favor of an amendment 
 to the Constitution that should forever prohibit slavery in 
 the United States. The Convention also approved the 
 Emancipation Proclamation and the "employment as Union
 
 1020 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, soldiers of men hitherto held in slavery"; and "that the 
 
 I. A \ . 
 
 national faith, pledged for the redemption of the public 
 
 ' debt, must be kept inviolate." 
 
 The Democratic Convention resolved "That this Con- 
 vention does explicitly declare that, after four years of 
 failure to restore the Union by the experiment of war, 
 that immediate efforts be made for a cessation of hostilities, 
 with a view to a Convention of all the States, or other 
 peaceable means to the end that at the earliest practicable 
 moment peace may be restored on the basis of the Federal 
 Union of the States." The Convention was silent in respect 
 to slavery and the payment of the public debt. Mr. Lin- 
 coln was elected ; only three States cast their votes for 
 McClellan. 
 
 Why the Confederates did not submit with as good 
 grace as they could after their defeat at Gettysburg and the 
 fall of Vicksburg and Port Hudson all within ten days 
 is one of the marvels of this marvelous rebellion. They 
 were expecting the Democratic party to come into power in 
 1864, which they deemed more favorable to them. Says 
 Childe : " The choice assured the election of Mr. Lincoln^ 
 and the defeat of General McClellan, who was regarded as 
 more favorable to the Southerners." 1 The inconsiderate 
 boast was made again and again by some of their leaders 
 that they would never submit, but as guerrillas take to the 
 fastnesses of the mountains. Under the circumstances this 
 was nothing short of madness. Had they been fighting 
 against a people of different race and civilization, such sen- 
 timents might savor of patriotism. 
 
 On the Fourth of March Mr. Lincoln entered upon his 
 second Presidential term. In the course of his inaugural 
 he uses the following striking language : " Fondly do we 
 hope, personally do we pray, that the scourge of war may 
 speedily pass away. Yet if God wills it to continue until 
 all the wealth piled by the bondman's two hundred and 
 fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every 
 i Life of Lee, p. 291.
 
 DISPOSITION OF UNION FORCES. 1021 
 
 drop of blood drawn by the lash shall be paid by another c ^f 
 
 drawn by the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, 
 
 so, still it must be said, that the judgments of the Lord are 
 true and righteous altogether." Further on he indicates 
 his purpose, saying: "With malice toward none, with 
 charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us 
 to see the right." 
 
 Dispositions were now made of the Union forces that 
 would in a short campaign break the Confederacy to pieces. 
 Sheridan from the valley was to move toward Lynchburg, 
 destroying James River Canal and railroads ; and Stoneman 
 to move from East Tennessee with a cavalry force of 5,000 ; 
 one from Vicksburg, 7,000 or 8,000 strong, to sweep 
 through Northern Mississippi; one from East Port, Miss., 
 numbering 10,000 ; General Canby, from Mobile, with a 
 mixed army of 38,000, to move on Tuscaloosa, Selma and 
 Montgomery ; and 5,000 cavalry were to start from Nash- 
 ville. These movements were to be simultaneous as much 
 as possible. 
 
 Of these, Sheridan was the first to move. He left Win- 1865., 
 Chester with two divisions of cavalry each 5,000 strong. 37 ' 
 Passing up the valley, entered Staunton ; the enemy re- 
 treated, and he pushed on in pursuit to find them in force 
 under General Early in an intrenched position at Wayne s- 
 boro. Without waiting to reconnoiter, he assaulted the 
 works and carried them, and secured 1,500 prisoners and 
 eleven pieces of artillery. Thence his men rode to Char- ^ r ' 
 lottesville, making havoc of railroads and bridges, toward 
 Lynchburg and Richmond, moving along the James River 
 Canal, destroying locks and cutting the banks to let out the 
 water, then passed around and north of Richmond and 
 joined the army before Petersburg. This was the most Mar. 
 effective cavalry raid of the war. 
 
 Lee had laid plans to evacuate both Petersburg and 
 Richmond, and unite near Danville with the force of John- 
 ston, who was to fall back from before Sherman's advance. 
 To cover this movement he made a vigorous attack on
 
 1022 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 cn^ p - Grant's army, intending when it was in confusion to march 
 rapidly by the Cox road toward Danville. Accordingly 
 
 ] a r' Confederate troops under General Gordon, at daylight, 
 &> furiously assaulted Fort Stedman, a point in the Union 
 lines. The garrison were surprised by the suddenness of the 
 attack, and were o\ 7 erpowered. The triumph was short. 
 The neighboring Union forts poured in their shot so inces- 
 santly that in a short time Gordon's troops, 2,000 in all, 
 were forced to surrender. General Meade now ordered 
 forward the Second and Sixth Corps, who seized the Con- 
 federate well-intrenched picket line, securing a large num- 
 ber of prisoners. On the extreme Federal left a similar 
 move was made with similar success. At 2 P.M. Lee made 
 an effort to regain these lines, but his forces were repulsed 
 in every attempt, and with great loss. To make a junction 
 with Johnston was now impossible. 
 
 Grant at once resolved to attack the enemy and cut off 
 their retreat by the Danville road. In preparation he 
 secretly sent troops to his extreme left and gave orders to 
 38. Sheridan to move on Dinwiddie Court House. Lee learned 
 of these movements, and suspecting the design threw 
 17,000 of his best men to the support of his right. A 
 severe storm of rain retarded operations for two days. Lee 
 endeavored to use his accustomed tactics of throwing a 
 
 Mar. i ar g e f orce upon a weak po j ntj an( j in tnis bat fl e of whjte 
 
 Oak road he gained advantage at first, but only to be beaten 
 off ; and finally the Federal troops carried the very earth- 
 works from which the enemy issued, and obtained posses- 
 sion cf the road. 
 
 Lee had fortified Five Forks a crossing where five 
 roads meet a strategic point of great importance, by 
 which was his only way of retreat. Toward this place both 
 armies made their way. When the Union cavalry reached 
 Five Forks they found the enemy in position and were com- 
 pelled to fall back. The Confederates at once pushed on 
 vigorously, and fording a stream attacked Sheridan's left 
 center and drove it back ; but presently a fresh brigade, by
 
 BATTLE FIVE FORKS. 1023 
 
 a gallant onset, checked their advance for a time. Sheridan CHAP. 
 
 I ^A. V . 
 
 dismounted his cavalry and managed them so skillfully as 
 to repel the attack at every point. At dark the Confeder- ' 
 ates withdrew to their entrenchments at Five Forks, where 
 Lee had concentrated his forces. The control of the com- 
 ing battle was entrusted to Sheridan, who was on the field, 
 by Generals Grant and Meade. The former promptly made 
 dispositions of his troops, and in the early morning com- Apr 
 menced the attack. The Union force under General Mer- 1 * 
 rit drove the Confederates in front of them to the Five 
 Forks skirmish line, then by impetuous attacks they were 
 by two P.M. driven within their main works. Sheridan in 
 his report says : " The enemy were driven from their strong 
 line of works and completely routed ; the Fifth Corps 
 doubling up their left flank in confusion and the cavalry of 
 General Herri tt dashing on to the White Oak road, capturing 
 their artillery and turning it upon them, and riding into 
 their broken ranks so demoralized them that they made no 
 serious stand after their line was carried, but took to flight 
 in disorder." The Confederates were pursued six miles, 
 and lost, besides the killed and wounded, between five 
 and six thousand prisoners. 
 
 The following night was made hideous by a constant Apr 
 bombardment along the whole Union line, and at 4 A.M. 
 Sunday, a combined assault was successfully made upon the 
 enemy's works and the South Side Kailroad was seized. 
 The Confederates, driven on their left by Meade and by 
 Sheridan on their right, were broken, and in great confu- 
 sion rushed in a mass westward by the main road along the 
 bank of the Appomattox. 
 
 The following night was one of terror in Eichmond. 
 At the last moment the citizens were convinced that their 
 city must fall into the hands of the Federal troops. Jeffer- 
 son Davis had already gone. When in church in the after- 
 noon he received a telegram from Lee, stating that his army 
 had been driven from their fortifications, and Petersburg 
 was occupied, and he must evacuate Richmond. Lee was
 
 1024 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP moving toward the Danville road, in hopes to form a junc- 
 tion with Johnston, who, at his instance, had been put in 
 
 1 ftfi~ 
 
 ' command of the Confederates hastily concentrated to oppose 
 Sherman. It was of vast importance that both Lee's and 
 Johnston's armies should be captured and the war ended. 
 At length, when Lee was completely surrounded, General 
 
 Apr. G ran t sent a note under a flag of truce to him, saying. " I 
 regard it as my duty to shift from myself the responsibility 
 of any further effusion of blood by asking of you the sur- 
 render of the army under your command." Several com- 
 munications passed between the opposing generals. Finally 
 Grant wrote, " The terms upon which peace can be had 
 are well understood. By tbe South laying down their arms 
 they will hasten that most desirable event, save thousands 
 of human lives, and hundreds of millions of property not 
 yet destroyed." An interview was held between the two 
 commanders. The result was the Confederates laid down 
 their arms, and were paroled as prisoners of war and per- 
 
 ^Y pr mitted to return to their homes. " The victors were mag- 
 y- nanimous ; they abstained from every appearance of insult 
 toward the vanquished. Abundant victuals were distrib- 
 uted to the prisoners, who were dying of hunger." 1 
 
 On Monday, April 4th, about noon, General Weitzel 
 occupied Richmond, which was in a sad condition, on fire, 
 and in the hands of thieves and robbers. The Union sol- 
 diers, as so often before, used their efforts to extinguish 
 the flames and arrest the plundering. Both of these were 
 accomplished by night, when peace and order once more 
 reigned. Thus it was, from tbe wanton burning of Hamp- 
 ton village to the firing of Richmond, the private property 
 of the Southern people suffered from the insane folly of her 
 leaders. General Ewell, commanding the rear guard of the 
 Confederate army, destroyed the bridges over the James 
 river, and then, obeying his instructions to the letter, but 
 against the earnest protest of the mayor and principal citi- 
 zens, set on fire warehouses and flour-mills. Says Pollard; 
 Life of Lee, p. 321.
 
 DAVIS'S PROCLAMATION BURNING OF COLUMBIA. 1025 
 
 " The warehouses were fired ; the flames seized on the 
 neighboring buildings, and soon involved a wide and widen- 
 ing area. The conflagration passed beyond control, and in 
 this mad fire, this wild, unnecessary destruction of private 
 property, the citizens of Richmond had a fitting souvenir 
 of the imprudence and recklessness of the departing admin- 
 istration." 
 
 Jefferson Davis paused in his flight at Danville, Virginia, 
 to issue a proclamation ; after alluding to the abandonment 
 of Petersburg and Richmond he says : *' Virginia, with the 
 help of the people, and by the blessing of Providence, sh.aH 
 be held and defended, and no peace ever be made with the 
 infamous invaders of her territory." A little more than a 
 month afterward, he was captured while in disguise attempt- u 
 ing to escape. He was brought to Fortress Monroe and 
 theve imprisoned under an indictment for treason, but 
 his trial was postponed from time to time, and finally he 
 was released on bail. When the Union troops arrived at 1867. 
 Columbia, South Carolina, they found the place evacuated 
 by Wade Hampton, who before leaving had ordered the cot- 
 ton stored in the place to be burned, much of it in bales in 
 the street ; the Union soldiers labored to put out the fire 
 and thought they were successful, but at night came up a 
 high wind, the smouldering fire revived and spread in spite 
 of the Provost Marshal and his soldiers ; the greater portion 
 of the beautiful village was burned. 
 
 General Sherman pressed on Johnston, and having re- 
 ceived the news of the surrender of Lee, he moved from 
 Goldsboro to Raleigh, the capital of the State, which place 
 was occupied, much to the relief of the inhabitants, who 
 were being pillaged by desperadoes from their own army. 1865. 
 Johnston also had heard of Lee's surrender, and sent a flag $*' 
 of truce to Sherman asking an armistice preliminary to a 
 surrender; a conference was held by the two commanders 
 and an arrangement made for the surrender of Johnston's 
 army ; this was so far modified by the authorities at 
 Washington as to conform to the conditions on which Lee
 
 1026 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, had surrendered. The other Confederate armies through- 
 
 "" 
 
 out the South submitted, Kirby Smith in Texas being the 
 
 1865. jagt . anc j thus the greatest rebellion in history collapsed. 
 
 In the midst of the rejoicings at the downfall of Lee and 
 capture of Richmond, and the sure anticipation of the fate 
 of Johnston's army, the President was assassinated by John 
 Wilkes Booth ; a violent sympathiser with the rebellion, 
 though of Northern birth. Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln were 
 seated in a private box in a theater when the fatal shot was 
 fired, at about half past nine in the evening ; Mr. Lincoln 
 lingered till twenty minutes past seven the following morn- 
 ing. Never before did the nation manifest such intense 
 grief as this event produced. The sorrow of the army was 
 striking and remarkable ; yet those noble men in the midst 
 of their grief never whispered of retaliation in any form. 
 Says General Johnston in relation to the bearing of the 
 Union army after his own surrender, and just after the assas- 
 sination became known : " The Union soldiers treated the 
 people around them as they would have done those of 
 Ohio or New York if stationed among them as their fellow 
 citizens." 1 
 
 Mr. Lincoln had endeared himself to all, even to great 
 numbers of his political opponents, by his self devotion and 
 kindness of heart, and that rare combination of talent and 
 common sense which made him equal to any emergency in 
 which he might be placed. In him the Southern people 
 lost their best friend ; and that truth the intelligent among 
 them recognized. The remains of the Martyr President 
 were carried to Springfield, Illinois, his former place of 
 residence. It was an immense funeral procession, lasting 
 for fourteen days ; the people along the route thronging in 
 crowds to pay honor to his memory. He was laid in his last 
 resting place on the 4th of May. 
 
 It would seem the conspirators aimed at the same time 
 to assassinate the members of the Cabinet. The attempt 
 was made to kill Mr. Seward, Secretary of State, who at the 
 'Military Narrative, p. 419.
 
 JOHNSON PRESIDENT BOOTH. 1027 
 
 time was confined to his room by illness. The assassin CHAP. 
 
 * LXv. 
 
 failed though, he wounded Mr. Seward. and also his son 
 Frederick W. , assistant Secretary. 
 
 JOHNSON'S ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 Andrew Johnson, by virtue of his office as Vice-Presi- 
 deut, and in accordance with the law. assumed the duties of 
 President of the United States. He was a native of Raleigh, 
 North Carolina ; thence removed to Greenville, Tennessee. 
 In his youth his education had been much neglected, not 
 even knowing the alphabet at the age of seventeen ; 
 but by his energy and perseverance he not only educated him- 
 self but won the respect of his fellow citizens, who elected 
 him alderman, then Mayor ; then their representative in 
 the Legislature, then to Congress and finally Governor of 
 the State. 
 
 Booth escaped by leaping from the box to the stage, 
 and then by a side door to the street, where a horse was 
 in readiness, which he mounted and rode rapidly away, 
 accompanied by an accomplice named Harold. He was 
 pursued vigorously, and a few days afterward was traced to 
 a barn in lower Maryland, and when it was surrounded he 
 was ordered to surrender, but refused, though Harold gave 
 himself up. Booth, in desperation, resolved to sell his 
 life dearly, but before he could do harm he was shot down 
 by Sergeant Corbett, one of his pursuers. Others of the 
 conspirators were arrested, tried by court martial, four of 
 them were found guilty and hanged, and the three accom- July 
 plices were sentenced to imprisonment for life. 
 
 In an interview between President Lincoln and Gen- Mar. 
 erals Grant and Sherman, on board a steamer at City 3 ^. 
 Point. Virginia, the two generals gave as their opinion 
 that one more bloody battle would have to be fought before 
 the power of the rebellion could be broken. Mr. Lincoln, 
 with deep emotion, exclaimed more than once, "That 
 there had been blood enough shed, and asked if another
 
 1028 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, battle could not be avoided." The answer was, " That 
 depended on Jefferson Davis and General Lee." During 
 the interim Mr. Lincoln said, " All he wanted for us was 
 to defeat the opposing armies, and to get the men com- 
 posing the Confederate armies back to their homes, at 
 work on their farms and in their shops," 1 "and restore all 
 the men of both sections to their homes." In accordance 
 with this sentiment General Grant, as soon as Lee surren- 
 dered, advised the reduction of the armies, that the men 
 might return to civil life and their duties as citizens ; he 
 even did not visit Richmond, but hastened to Washington 
 to facilitate the disbandment. During the last weeks of 
 April and the first of May were witnessed many imposing 
 scenes, the returning soldiers undergoing their last 
 reviews before leaving for their distant homes to be mus- 
 tered out of the service, and to resume their duties as 
 citizens. Such an imposing sight was never before seen of 
 armies so large, the soldiers of which had so intelligent a 
 view of the great principles for the establishment of which 
 they had freely risked their lives in the perils of battle. 
 They were greeted by ovations all along their route, and 
 welcomed home as the saviors of the Union that heir- 
 loom handed down from the fathers. Yet. also, how sad 
 the occasion ; amid the joy many an eye filled with tears 
 and breast heaved with sorrow for the numbers who went 
 at their country's call but who had laid down their lives 
 on distant battle-fields. Many a regiment with its full 
 complement of men which had set out inspired with hope 
 and patriotism, came back with its banners draggled and bat- 
 tered by hostile balls, and perhaps with not more than one- 
 fourth of its original number. 
 
 The following is a record copied from the lists at the 
 War Office, at Washington, of the killed and wounded on 
 the Union side during the Rebellion : 
 
 Killed 35.408 
 
 Died of wounds 49,205 
 
 Wounded 400,935 
 
 1 Sherman's Memoirs, Vol. II., p. 326-7.
 
 BLOCKADE KAISED AMNESTY PEOCLAMATION. 1029 
 
 There has not been kept a perfect roll or list of the < ^| A * > 
 
 Confederate killed and wounded, but the number is esti- 
 
 mated at very nearly the same. 
 
 The nation incurred a debt of nearly three thousand 
 million dollars, which has been so far paid as to amount 
 now to about two thousand one hundred and twenty-eight 
 millions ; the nation having paid of its debt about eight Dec. 
 hundred and seventy millions in ten years. 
 
 The Government, as soon as it was proper, raised the i65. 
 blockade of the Southern ports and reduced both the army 
 and navy. The men of the army, in a remarkably short 
 time, returned to their homes and families, and entered 
 upon their civil duties with the self-respect natural to those 
 who honestly have performed services in defense of their 
 common country. The immense number of ships, now no 
 longer wanted by the Government, were disposed of to the 
 highest bidders ; all property thus useless was sold, and the 
 proceeds appropriated to paying the debt incurred. 
 
 Charleston was evacuated, and the Stars and Stripes 
 once more floated over the city of nullification and seces- 
 sion. The heart of the city had been burned during tlie jg ' 
 bombardment, and " the rebel garrison, when leaving, fired 
 the railroad depots, which fire had spread, and was only 
 subdued by our troops after they had reached the city." 1 
 On the fourth anniversary of the surrender of Fort Sumter 
 the veritable flag tattered and torn which floated over 
 " that fort during the rebel assault" was replaced by Major, 
 now Major-General, Robert Anderson with imposing cere- 
 monies, and was honored by a salute of one hundred 14. 
 national guns "from every fort and rebel battery that fired 
 on Fort Sumter." 2 
 
 President Johnson issued an amnesty proclamation, in 
 
 which pardon was offered to all who would take an oath of May 
 
 29 
 allegiance to the United States, except certain specified 
 
 classes who had held offices in the cause of the rebellion. 
 
 1 Sherman's Memoirs, Vol. II., p. 269. 
 Sherman's Memoirs, Vol. II., p. 230.
 
 1030 HISTORY OF THE AMEEICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 On the 4th of July, 1868, the President granted pardon 
 unconditionally to all who were not at that time under 
 indictment for treason, and finally, December 25th, he ex- 
 tended pardon to all without exception. 
 
 A number of cruisers, among which were the Alabama, 
 Florida, and the Georgia, were fitted out in English ship- 
 yards to prey on American commerce, under the flag of the 
 so-called Confederacy it not having a single port into 
 which they could enter. These vessels were more or less 
 manned by English seamen under Confederate captains, 
 and into whatever port they entered in the British Empire 
 they were welcomed, furnished supplies and armaments, 
 and permitted to make repairs if needed, and also to enlist 
 men if necessary. Though the English Government had 
 issued a proclamation against the reception and aiding 
 these vessels, yet it was a dead letter ; neither did the Gov- 
 ernment itself make an efficient effort to enforce the law or 
 to punish those who violated it. The Alabama was built 
 expressly for this purpose, and was permitted to steam out 
 of the Mersey, whence she went to the Azores, and there, 
 by appointment, received her full armament of guns and 
 stores sent from London. Raphael Semmes there took 
 command, with a crew of 26 officers and 85 men. mostly 
 Aug. British seamen. She, eluding her pursuers, roamed over 
 the ocean for two years, destroying nearly seventy American 
 vessels; storeships from Liverpool, by arrangement, fur- 
 nishing her from time to time with war material and pro- 
 visions. At length she appeared at Cherbourg in France, 
 but the American Minister protested so strenuously that 
 the French Government gave her permission to obtain coal 
 and provisions, but not to use the national navy-yard in 
 1864 w ki c h * k e re P a i re d. Meanwhile, Captain John A. Wins- 
 June low, of the United States gunboat Kearsarge lying in a 
 lo * port of Holland learned that the famous cruiser was at 
 Cherbourg, and he immediately steamed out and soon 
 appeared off that harbor, watching for the cruiser to put to 
 sea. Semmes, finding he could not escape as the Kear-
 
 KUSSELL'S PROTEST LOUIS NAPOLEON. 1031 
 
 sarge was a swifter vessel than the Alabama, proclaimed 
 that he intended to fight his adversary. 
 
 The Alabama came out of port and the Kearsage 
 
 steamed ahead seven miles, to get beyond French juris- 
 diction, and so far that the Alabama could not get back 
 to the neutral line three miles out before he could over- 
 haul her. At the right time the Kearsage turned and 
 made for her antagonist, running at half-speed and only 
 firing one gun for her two; coming within close range, her 
 guns were shotted with shells of five seconds' fuse. The 
 11-inch shells of the Kearsage went through the Alabama's 
 starboard and burst in the port side, and between decks, 
 with terrific effect. Five English trained gunners were 
 put on board the Alabama the evening before the action, 
 but they seemed to lose their skill, as the Kearsage was 
 scarcely injured. In an hour and ten minutes' time the 
 Alabama was sinking beyond recovery, and Semmes hauled 
 down his colors. A friendly English yacht was near and 
 Captain Winslow asked the owner to aid in saving the crew 
 of the sinking ship. Semmes was taken on board the 
 yacht which slipped away to Southampton, where much 
 sympathy was expressed for him and his cause. 
 
 Under date of April 1, 1864, Lord John Russell, in a 
 communication to Jefferson Davis, as President of the 
 "so-called Confederacy," protested against his employing 
 agents in England to obtain "vessels for war purposes 
 against the United States." Had this protest been made 
 three years before it might have been of benefit, but it was 
 now too late ; the mischief was done, and the United 
 States government had a record of all the vessels destroyed 
 by these English-built cruisers, and in due time would 
 demand payment for the damage. This fact the English 
 authorities had already learned. 
 
 Though Louis Napoleon seems to have been desirous 
 in some way to act as mediator to stop the "fratricidal 
 strife," and was thought to be unfriendly to the Union, 
 because it was a Republic, yet no Frenchman, as far as
 
 1032 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, known, endeavored to advance his pecuniary interest by 
 running the blockade, and thus aiding the enemies of the 
 
 Union by furnishing them the munitions of war. 
 
 The slavery question came up again, and Congress pro- 
 
 Dec. posed an amendment to the Constitution (Article XIII.), 
 by which slavery was to be forever abolished throughout 
 the Union. This was ratified by the States three-fourths 
 of the number voting for its adoption and became a por- 
 
 1866. tion of the organic law of the land. In order to protect 
 r * the Freedmen in their new position the Civil Eights BJ11 
 was passed over President Johnson's veto. 
 
 This year a lawless attempt was made by a society known 
 as Fenians who wished to free Ireland from British sway by 
 invading Canada. They were driven back after some skir- 
 mishing. The President issued a proclamation denouncing 
 the enterprise as a violation of neutrality, and cautioning 
 all engaged in it to desist. General Meade, who was sent 
 to the frontier, soon put an end to the movement. 
 
 Professor Samuel F. B. Morse, a native of Massachu- 
 setts, then a resident of New York City, in whose univer- 
 
 1844. sity his experiments were first made, gave to the world the 
 electric telegraph. It is vain to conjecture the full benefit 
 that will accrue to the human family from this invention. 
 May it be a harbinger of peace, a link to unite the nations 
 in a common union of friendship ! The first attempt to 
 
 1857. } av a ca |ji e acr oss the Atlantic ocean succeeded, but for 
 some unknown cause it ceased to act after a few sentences 
 were transmitted. Nine years afterward another cable was 
 
 1866. l ai 'd the enterprise owing its success to the energy of Cyrus 
 W. Field, of New York City. Other lines have been laid 
 connecting Europe with the United States, while others 
 have united us with our southern neighbors. Also sound- 
 ings have been made from San Francisco to Japan, across 
 
 1874. the Pacific, and a route on the bed of that ocean found 
 feasible for laying a cable. 
 
 1865, Congress passed a bill instructing the Director oi 
 
 * ' the Mint to place the motto "!N GOD WE TRUST" upon
 
 RESTORATION RECONSTRUCTION. 1033 
 
 all coins issued whose size would admit the words an 
 appropriate motto for a Christian Nation. 
 
 The reconstruction of the Union by which the seced- 1865 - 
 ing States were to be received back was a most difficult 
 question to settle ; Congress and the President held almost 
 opposite opinions on the subject. 
 
 Two words were used Kestoration and Reconstruc- 
 tion ; these differed widely in their meanings. The first 
 expressed the President's " policy," as he termed it ; that 
 was to receive the recently rebellious States back into the 
 Union just as they had been before the war, taking no 
 note of the relation now held to the General Govern- 
 ment, and to the whole Nation, by those who were once 
 slaves, but now free men, and as such citizens. The con- 
 ditions which the President required were that the people 
 of these States should acquiesce in the abolition of slavery, 
 repudiate the rebel debt, and repeal the ordinances of 
 secession. Reconstruction meant the readmission of the 
 lately rebellious States, with constitutional guarantees 
 given by them, that the freedmen and their children 
 should be recognized and treated as citizens. 
 
 The second session of the Thirty-eighth Congress 
 according to law, came to a close March 3d, 1865, and the 
 Thirty-ninth would not assemble till December 4th. 
 Meanwhile, in furtherance of his " policy" of restora- 
 tion, the President appointed provisional governors over 
 certain States recently in rebellion ; to these officials he 
 gave special instructions. From May 29th to July 13th 
 he appointed seven governors to as many States. He 
 directed them to have the people send delegates to con- 
 ventions, which should repeal the ordinances of secession, 
 acquiesce in the abolition of slavery, and repudiate the 
 debt of the late "pretended Confederacy." If compli- 
 ance was made with these conditions they were given to
 
 1034 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, understand that at the next session of Congress their 
 
 T ^TV 
 
 '_ representatives would be admitted to the councils of 
 
 1865. the Nation. This was an assumption on the part of the 
 President. He had no authority as the executive to re- 
 store these States ; that power belonged to the legislative 
 branch of the Government, and as such under the Consti- 
 tution this branch had always exercised that authority in 
 admitting States. The undue haste in which the Presi- 
 dent pressed his " policy" of restoration, and the lack of 
 courtesy shown the legislative branch of the Government, 
 created alarm in the minds of the intelligent loyal men of 
 the Nation. If the President deemed the readmission of 
 these States so very urgent, why did he not call an extra 
 session of Congress ? 
 
 It is remarkable that in each instance of the death of 
 the three Presidents who died while in office, the Vice- 
 Presidents succeeding them in a singular manner changed 
 their views in relation to the principles of the party which 
 had elected them, and instead sympathized more or less 
 with the opposing political organization.' The three 
 Presidents who died in office were in principle of the 
 same political party ; for in reality we have had only 
 two prominent parties in our political history, and these 
 virtually preserved their own affiliations. The one in its 
 principles descended under two different names Whig 
 and Republican from that grand organization, the Fed- 
 eral, whose ideas of government were comprehensive and 
 whose aims were national, and which under Washington 
 established the Government and inaugurated our present 
 policy of neutrality in respect to wars between foreign 
 nations ; the other the Democratic took its rise in 
 opposition, especially to that policy, and without change 
 of name " has come down to our own time, meanwhile 
 
 i Hist., p. 737. Hist., p. 583.
 
 TREASON MADE ODIOUS. 1035 
 
 having its influence and share in moulding the destinies CHAP. 
 
 LXV 
 
 of the nation. 1 
 
 1866. 
 
 Andrew Johnson was a most violent denouncer of the 
 principle of secession and of "unrepentant rebels.'' He 
 was specially severe on treason, proclaiming he " would 
 make it odious." This announcement was made within 
 a short time after he became President. Yet, during the 
 recess of Congress, his administration of affairs connected 
 with " restoration" was calculated, if not intended, to 
 give those recently in rebellion every facility to carry out 
 their plans. He also announced himself about the same 
 time " a Moses to lead the colored people to freedom," 
 but every bill adopted to aid them, or secure their rights 
 as citizens, had to be passed over his veto The Civil 
 Rights Bill, The Freedmen's and Refugees Bill. The 
 latter proposed to aid the " whites" who had been ren- 16. 
 dered destitute by the rebellion, as well as the freedmen. 
 This bureau was of great advantage to both these classes, 
 and being temporary in its operations, it was repealed as 
 soon as the end was attained of putting these unfortunate 
 people in the way of supporting themselves. 
 
 In accordance with the instructions of the President, 
 the delegates were elected, and in due time assembled 
 in conventions, and by vote complied with the three 
 requirements already mentioned. The legislatures and 
 Congressmen were as promptly elected ; the former 
 speedily meeting in session, chose United States senators, 
 and nearly all were ready to enter upon their duties as 
 participators in the national councils on the opening of j) ec 4 
 the first session of the Thirty-ninth Congress. 
 
 According to the law hitherto in force in those States, 
 " These conventions had no power either to adopt a new 
 constitution or to amend an old one without the consent
 
 1036 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CH.\P. of the people." The latter had not been invited to vote on 
 
 LXV 
 
 1 them, nor were the writs issued in a legal form for the 
 
 1865. election of the Legislatures and the Congressmen. The 
 ktter gentlemen, in order to enter upon their duties as 
 national legislators, were willing to waive these trilling 
 legal technicalities. 
 
 Another feature was quite remarkable. In the elec- 
 tions for representatives in the House as well as senators 
 chosen, those who had been Union men, or loyal to the 
 Government were rejected, and none but those who had 
 been aiding or in sympathy with the rebellion were elect- 
 ed. Numbers could not take the prescribed oath ; many 
 were unpardoned, and did not conceal their hostility to 
 the Union. These sentiments seemed to simple minds to 
 indicate that these would-be legislators had only made a 
 change of base. 
 
 Several of the conventions in these States deprecated 
 Congress making enactments in respect to the political 
 condition of the freedmen. The coincidence is marked. 
 
 1865, President Johnson says in his first annual message to 
 Dec. 4. Congress: "In my judgment, the freedmen, if they 
 
 show patience and manly virtues, will sooner obtain a 
 participation in the elective franchise through the States 
 than through the General Government ;" again : " It is 
 not competent for Congress to extend the elective fran- 
 chise in the several States." 
 
 Meanwhile the Legislatures, which had been recently 
 elected, entered upon their duties, and enacted laws 
 adapted to the new order of things. It is very strange 
 
 1866. they displayed so little prudence ; yet that fact gives a 
 clearer manifestation of the animating spirit of which 
 they seem to have been unconscious. The negro now 
 being a freedman, they hastened to make laws in order to
 
 THE LOYALTY OF THE SLAVES. 1037 
 
 utilize him. They were anxious to secure his labor, but CHAP. 
 
 upon their own terms ; imposing conditions in respect to 1 
 
 contracts, by laws which could be so construed as to bear 1866 - 
 hard upon the freedman, without affording corresponding 
 facilities for him to obtain redress for injury or pay for 
 his labor. These law-givers professed to be anxious lest 
 the freedrnen should become paupers ; yet they, when 
 slaves, of their own accord, for three or four years during 
 the war had raised the crops and supported themselves 
 and the families of their masters, while the latter were in 
 the Confederate army. History records no instance of 
 such disinterested loyalty ; though they had heard of the 
 proclamation of their freedom, yet they protected the de- 
 fenceless women and children and committed no out- 
 rages ; ' this was a boon beyond price to their nominal 
 owners. The moment the latter had the opportunity they 
 repaid this kindness and loyalty by enacting laws that 
 could be so interpreted as to hold these freedmen and 
 their children in a modified form of slavery and ignorance 
 forever. 
 
 A brief summary of the salient points in the laws 
 relating to freedmen, thus enacted in ten of the former 
 rebellious States, may illustrate their spirit. These laws, 
 however, became an occasion of good, for they compelled 
 Congress, as a matter of justice and humanity, to secure 
 in some permanent form the rights of the freedmen as 
 citizens. 
 
 In accordance with these enactments the colored people 
 were " eligible as witnesses," "where the rights of per- 
 sons or property of persons of color shall be put in issue." 
 " In all other civil and criminal cases such evidence shall 
 be deemed inadmissable unless by consent of the parties 
 
 1 Testimony of Senator Gordon of Georgia, vol. vi. p. 334. Report of 
 Joint Committee on C utrages.
 
 1038 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, of record." Under the term "vagrant" which was 
 
 1 given a very liberal interpretation young colored per- 
 
 1866. sons could be seized and bound by indenture or appren- 
 ticed the male to the age of twenty-one, the female to 
 eighteen, if their parents could not support them, or if 
 they were out of employment. These conditions seem 
 to have been decided by the magistrates alone. The 
 wishes of parents were apparently seldom recognized ; 
 but in securing these indentured servants the former 
 owners, under certain conditions, had the preference. By 
 law in one State Louisiana the first ten days in each 
 January were set apart for making contracts with the 
 f reedmen for the year. If the latter engaged he was held 
 for the year, virtually without redress for wrong done 
 him. If injuries happened to the animals or accidents to 
 the implements he used, he was held responsible, or, in 
 other words, he was charged with the " wear and tear" of 
 the plantation. Several of these Legislatures forbade by 
 law colored men " to keep fire-arms of any kind " the 
 penalty usually being a fine twice the value of the fire- 
 arm and if the fine was not immediately paid, the de- 
 linquent was made to suffer. 
 
 Under the interpretation of the term " vagrant" the 
 poor colored people male and female had scarcely any 
 redress. Gen. A. H. Terry, when in command, found 
 it necessary by order to forbid the enforcement of the 
 laws of the Virginia Legislature in relation to " vagrants." 
 ' The reason given : " wrongful combinations of employers 
 have been entered into for the purpose of depress- 
 ing the wages of freedmen below the real value of 
 their labor." In the State of Mississippi the law did not 
 " allow any freedman, free negro, or mulatto to rent or 
 lease any lands or tenements, except in incorporated 
 towns and cities, in which places the corporate authori- 
 ties shall control the same." A law of South Carolina
 
 SPIRIT. OF THE RULING CLASSES. 1039 
 
 " provided that no person of color shall pursue or practise CHAP. 
 the art, trade, or business of an artisan, mechanic, or shop- _ 1 
 keeper, employment or business on his own account, and 1866> 
 for his own benefit, without a license." The latter ranged 
 in price from ten dollars to one hundred. No such license 
 was required of a white man. A poll-tax of one dollar was 
 levied on colored men over twenty-one years of age, and 
 of fifty cents on colored females over eighteen. White 
 
 females were not thus taxed. This code of South Caro- Jan. 
 
 17 
 lina Gen. Daniel E. Sickles, when in command, uncere- 
 
 moniously blotted out by a special order; 1 and Pro- 
 visional Governor Perry felt constrained to dissolve the 
 convention of the same State as a " revolutionary body," 
 even when assembled under the " Instructions." 
 
 It is easy to see that the effect of this legislation 
 would be to hold the freedmen and their posterity in a 
 state very little above that of the old system of slavery. 
 They were nominally free men, but could have no oppor- 
 tunity of effectually defending themselves or their chil- 
 dren under such laws from being ignorant serfs. These 1865, 
 laws appear to have been enacted in the expectation that %%' 
 the President's plan of restoration would be adopted, as to 
 they were all passed within six months. They reflected 
 
 the animus of the ruling classes in the lately insurgent 25 - 
 States, and disclosed a reason for the non-adoption of the 
 President's theory of restoration. Had these Legislatures 
 passed liberal laws in respect to the freedmen, treated 
 them kindly, and endeavored to give them a chance to 
 succeed in their new relation as citizens of their several 
 communities, and of the whole Union, it is more than 
 probable the President's unauthorized action would have 
 been overlooked to a great extent, and perhaps in a modi- 
 fied form adopted. At the time there was an unusual 
 
 Condensed from McPherson's Handbook of Politics, pp. 29-44.
 
 1040 HISTOEY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, feeling of good will abroad amocg the people of the loyal 
 _ 1 States toward those who had been misguided or forced 
 
 1866. i n to the rebellion, and they were willing to make many 
 concessions, hoping, meanwhile, the poor freedmen would 
 now be permitted to have brighter prospects for them- 
 selves and their children. But the spirit of these laws 
 changed the entire aspect of the issue. This leniency 
 of the loyal people has attracted the attention of for- 
 eign writers. Says one, " The North, singularly merciful 
 in her use of victory, inflicted no penalty on those whom 
 she had defeated." * 
 
 In respect to the action of the President, it was 
 argued he had no power except under the laws as chief 
 Executive. These laws gave him as comrnander-in-chief 
 of the army no authority over the organization of terri- 
 tories nor of these recently rebellious States. It was sim- 
 ply his duty to restore order, to protect the people against 
 violence until provision should be made by Congress for 
 their government. These States were still under martial 
 law, and the provisional governors could exercise military 
 authority merely to preserve order. The President as 
 the chief military authority could only depute similar 
 authority to his subordinates. He might " recognize the 
 people of any State as having resumed the relations of 
 loyalty to the Union," and on that supposition act in his 
 military capacity. This was far different from taking 
 initiative measures to restore States which had been in 
 rebellion, and were still under martial law, " to all the 
 rights and privileges of the Union." The latter " pro- 
 cess" would be an encroachment upon a co-ordinate 
 branch of the Government. Under the Constitution 
 Congress itself alone has the authority to secure to each 
 State of the Union a " republican form of government." 
 
 1 Mackenzie's Hist, of the Nineteenth Century, p. 77.
 
 MORAL SUPPORT ABSTRACT THEORIES. 1041 
 
 This duty cannot be assigned to the War Department ; CHAP. 
 
 hence military governors could not establish State gov- L 
 
 ernments. Congress, as a rule, authorized by an " en- 
 abling act " territories to form constitutions and apply for 1867. 
 admission into the Union, and if the conditions are com- 
 plied with they are received as States. 
 
 On the other hand it was argued that these States, 
 after they had repealed the ordinances of secession, were 
 back in the Union just as they were before the firing on 
 Sumter ; * then again that these ordinances in the first 
 instance were null and void, and therefore during the 
 conflicts of the last four years they were really in the 
 Union, but in an insurrectionary state, and when order 
 was restored their State sovereignty was interfered with 
 in their not being as such recognized. 
 
 In this controversy, which lasted for two years, the 
 framers of the laws quoted had the moral support of those 
 in the North who had not been specially anxious that the 
 loyal portion of the people should bring the disloyal into 
 obedience to the Government. This influence encouraged 
 the original disunionists during the late rebellion, and 
 after its close, to resist reconstruction except in the form 
 of restoration, that would leave the freedmen at their 
 mercy, and thus retard the progress of the country for an 
 indefinite period. 
 
 The question in respect to the future condition of tha 
 freedmen was far more important than abstract theories 
 as to whether or not the rebellious States were in the 
 Union as soon as their last army surrendered. It was 
 evident from the spirit of the laws referred to, and the 
 tone of popular feeling which dictated them, the design 
 
 i Majority and Minority Reports of the Joint Committee on Recon- 
 struction, Handbook of Politics, pp. 84-104.
 
 1042 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, was to hold the colored race in a sort of peonage. Under 
 
 1 the slave code it was a penal offence to teach them to 
 
 1867. rea( j and write ; this law was blotted out, but still the 
 prospect of improvement derived from schools under the 
 conditions was almost hopeless. "Were these four mil- 
 lion of the negro race to be left subject to the unjust 
 laws of their recent nominal owners ? They would now 
 be reckoned citizens of the Union, and as such repre- 
 sented in the national councils, but would have no voice 
 in the selection of their own representatives. This would 
 be even more unjust to the people of the whole Nation 
 than the former arrangement of representation under the 
 system of slavery. This evil, however, was trifling when 
 compared with an infinitely greater one that of keeping 
 the colored race in a state of helpless ignorance and vir- 
 tual slavery. Under such depressing influences they must 
 become necessarily a hindrance to material progress, and 
 thus affect the interests of the whole Nation ; and in pro- 
 portion as their numbers increased would increase these 
 difficulties. This is an economical view of the subject ; 
 but true statesmanship takes notice of both moral and po- 
 litical questions as influencing the future of communities. 
 
 It was essential for the harmonious action of the Gov- 
 ernment that the laws pertaining to suffrage should be 
 uniform throughout the Union. The remedy, therefore, 
 must be applied in such manner as to be the same in 
 effect throughout the whole United States. It became a 
 matter of expediency as well as an alternative to give the 
 colored race the ballot, that they might have the means 
 thus far to protect themselves from unfriendly legisla- 
 tion, \\\eform in which their individual rights had jnst 
 been assailed. The freedman was an illiterate enforced 
 to be such but illiterate whites were not disfranchised ; 
 for the time he was ignorant perhaps more so than a 
 majority of the illiterate whites.

 
 ENABLING ACT REGISTEATION". 1043 
 
 The fourteenth and fifteenth amendments of the Con- CHAP. 
 
 T "X"V 
 
 stitution apply to all the States of the Union. If the 1 
 
 State of New York should by an act of her people de- 
 prive her German or Irish population of the right of suf- 
 frage, she could be legally deprived in the same propor- 
 tion of her representatives in Congress; no more, no less 
 than South Carolina could be if she denied her colored 
 population the right of suffrage. The Constitution is 
 thus designed to protect all classes of citizens, for it reads 
 (Fourteenth amend., sec. 2) : " When the right to vote is 
 denied to any of the male inhabitants of such [a] State, 
 the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the 
 proportion which the number of such male citizens shall 
 bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one 
 years of age in such State." 
 
 Congress took measures to reconstruct the Union on 
 principles of equity, that if fully carried out would 
 secure the civil rights of all citizens. They first passed 
 (over the President's veto) " The enabling act to provide 
 efficient governments for the insurrectionary States." 1867> 
 Then " the Kegistration Act" (based on the " Civil Eights Mar! 
 Bill ") by which the provisional governors were directed 
 in their several States to order a complete registration of 
 all the male citizens over twenty-one years of age, with- 
 out reference to color or former condition of life. This Sept. 
 registration was to be completed by September 1st, be- lt 
 j'ore the election, which was to be held for delegates to 
 conventions to form State constitutions. Under this 
 " act" the colored men were recognized as citizens, and, 
 having registered soon after as such, for the first time, 
 voted. 
 
 Why may not reconstruction on principles of right 
 and justice, be noted in our history as the starting-point 
 for the continuous advancement of the material progress
 
 1044 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, of the Nation? It was then that the Union was totally 
 
 LXV 
 
 1 freed from the incubus of slavery only its debris 
 
 1867. o f ignorance and improvidence remaining ; these two 
 evils in a generation or two can be overcome. The col- 
 ored people in their sphere as laborers are essential in 
 the South to furnish their share in the more perfect 
 advancement of the whole country, and this act of just- 
 ice encourages them to prepare themselves and their 
 children to fulfill the duties of their station, and by 
 education intellectual and moral and by industry, make 
 their lives successful. The reconstruction measures thus 
 founded on justice and equity are comprehensive in their 
 character, and in the end must have a beneficial influence 
 upon the Nation. 
 
 The slaves of the Roman empire were originally pris- 
 oners of war, but they belonged to the white race, and 
 when they became freedmen, they took their places as 
 citizens on an equality ; to them their misfortunes were 
 not attributed as a disqualification. The case of the 
 negro is different from that of all others in history ; 
 never before had a people of a different origin a race 
 physically so distinct and placed in so inferior condition 
 with the depressing influence of six generations of 
 servitude, been made citizens ; they having been ex- 
 cluded by law, as far as possible, from the benefits of 
 the advancing civilization during the last two hundred 
 years. 
 
 Reconstruction was a result of the humanizing influ- 
 ence of Christianity in the minds of the loyal portion of 
 the American people ; they would not sanction the hold- 
 ing of the freedmen in a condition bordering on that of 
 their former bondage, and in which they could not make 
 available the means of elevating themselves and their 
 children.
 
 THE IMPEACHMENT. 1045 
 
 In due time the seceded States adopted the requisite CHAP. 
 
 amendments, and were readmitted to the Union, and 1 
 
 their senators and representatives to their seats in Con- 
 gress. The last to come in were the States of North and 
 South Carolina, Louisiana, Arkansas, Georgia, Alabama, 
 Texas, and Florida. Some of these had been unrepre- 
 sented in Congress for seven years. ' 
 
 Nebraska was admitted into the Union as a State, 
 making the thirty-seventh. The same year Alaska was 
 purchased from Russia for the sum of $7,200,000 in gold. 
 This immense region of 500,000 square miles is chiefly 
 valuable for its fine fisheries, and for seal skins, the most 
 important product, and also for its harbors on the Pacific 
 coast. 
 
 Congress had passed a law entitled The Tenure of 
 Office Bill, by which the consent of the Senate was 
 necessary to the removal from office of any officer whose 
 nomination by the President had to be confirmed by tha'; 
 body. The President, in violation of this law and during 
 the recess of Congress, desired to remove that most effi- 
 cient officer Edwin M. Stanton, the Secretary of "War, 
 from his position. Great political excitement grew out 
 of these proceedings, which resulted in the impeachment 
 of the President, by a resolution of the House of Repre- 
 sentatives, "for high crimes and misdemeanors." His 
 trial ended in his acquittal, as a two thirds vote of the 
 Senate failed, by one vote, to pronounce him guilty. 
 This is the only instance of a President of .the United 
 States being impeached. 
 
 An important treaty was made with the Chinese Em- 
 pire, by which religious toleration was guaranteed to citi- 
 zens of the United States residing in China, and the same 
 privilege was extended to Chinese residents in this coun-
 
 1046 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. try. This treaty was followed by an embassy from that 
 
 1 empire to the United States, which it is hoped will have 
 
 1867 - a most favorable influence upon the policy of that sr 
 eluded empire. 
 
 In the election for President the Republican party 
 nominated for the presidency and vice-presidency Gen- 
 eral U. S. Grant of Illinois, and Schuyler Coif ax of In- 
 diana, and the Democratic party, Horatio Seymour of 
 New York, and General Francis P. Blair, Jr., of Mis- 
 souri. The former were elected, and General Grant was 
 inaugurated President 4th of March, 1869.
 
 CHAPTEK LXYI. 
 
 GRANT'S ADMINISTRATIONS. 
 
 Pacific Railway. The Fifteenth Amendment. Death of General Lee. 
 State Rights Influence. Alabama Claims. Fraudulent Voting. The 
 Ku-Klux-Klan. Enforcement Act. Signal Service. Fires. Manu- 
 factures; Iron; Silk. Railroad Panic. The Bill for Resumption of 
 Specie Payments. New Orleans Riots. The Indian Question. Col- 
 orado State. Deaths. Census of 1870. Centennial. Presidential 
 Election. Greeley; Sumner. Influences binding the Union. Civil 
 Service Reform. Platforms. Electoral Commission. 
 
 WHEN Ulysses S. Grant entered upon the office of Presi- CHAP. 
 
 LXV 
 
 dent the civil war had been concluded about four years ; 1 
 
 the direful effects on the South had been rapidly disappear- 1869. 
 ing ; all the States, by means of reconstruction, were once 4. ' 
 more under the old flag, and the nation had already entered 
 upon a career of progress untrammeled by the incumbrance 
 of slavery to retard advancement and to serve as an irritat- 
 ing element, as it had been for two generations. The 
 President appointed ex-Governor Hamilton Fish, of New 
 York, Secretary of State. 
 
 During this year the Pacific Kailroad, extending from 
 Omaha, Neb., to San Francisco, 1,913 miles, was finished; 
 it supplied the link uniting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. 
 This was. a work of great magnitude entered upon in time 
 of civil war, but pressed to the end by untiring energy. 
 The United States aided in building this road by liberal 
 grants of public lands and otherwise. 
 
 The Fifteenth Amendment, which reads, "The right of 
 citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or 
 abridged by the United States, or by any State, on account 1870. 
 of color or previous condition of servitude," was adopted, 
 and became the law of the land. This completed the
 
 1048 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 LxvT.' amendments to the Constitution deemed necessary for the 
 
 protection of the f reedmen in their new relation as citizens. 
 
 They have manifold difficulties to overcome, but their prog- 
 ress in industry and their endeavor to educate themselves 
 and their children, and to acquire frugal habits, are the 
 cheering features in their case. Too much, unfortunately, 
 has been expected of them as citizens. The degradation of 
 their previous condition has not produced that self-respect 
 so necessary to success in life, and it will take time, and 
 both moral and intellectual improvement, to obliterate the 
 effects of such an influence. A feeling of kindness between 
 the former masters and the freedmen is increasing from 
 year to year, and as the industries of the late slaveholding 
 States increase and their resources develop, the latter, as 
 laborers at least, will doubtless perform their share in this 
 general progress. 
 
 1875. "Now," wrote Vice-President Wilson, "the colored 
 race, though little accustomed to habits of economy and 
 thrift, possess millions of property, has hundreds of thou- 
 sands of children in schools, has been clothed with civil 
 and political rights, occupies high positions at home, and 
 has representatives in Congress." 
 
 1870. General Robert E. Lee died October 12, 1870. He had 
 Oct. won f or himself the respect of the people of the loyal 
 States, and was the idol of those of his own section. He 
 was a Christian and a gentleman ; reserved in manner, 
 but of the kindliest disposition. He was opposed to the 
 secession leaders, and had but little respect for their states- 
 manship ; looking upon them as mere politicians. He be- 
 lieved that the war might have been avoided had it not been 
 for extremists in both sections. Says he, " I did believe at 
 the time that it was an unnecessary condition of affairs, 
 and might have been avoided if forbearance and wisdom 
 had been practiced on both sides." He wrote, Jan. 6th, 
 1861, "I cannot anticipate so great a calamity to the 
 nation as the dissolution of the Union." When the war 
 was over he accepted the situation, and used his influence
 
 DEATH OF GENERAL LEE STATE RIGHTS INFLUENCE. 1049 
 
 for the reconciliation of the North and South. He was CHAP. 
 
 elected president of Washington College in his native - 
 
 State, in which important and useful office he spent the 18 ' ' 
 remainder of his life ; and there used all his influence to 
 direct the young men to become Christians and good 
 citizens, and true lovers of the whole country. A mother 
 brought her two sons to enter the college, and in his 
 presence loudly expressed her hatred of the North ; the 
 dignified president, interrupting her, said, "Madam, don't 
 bring up your sons to detest the United States government. . 
 Eecollect that we form but one country now; abandon all 
 these local animosities, and make your sons Americans." 1 
 He foresaw the ruin of his own Virginia in case of a civil 
 war, and it was through agonies of spirit that he decided 
 to go with her. "My husband has wept tears of blood," 
 Mrs. Lee wrote to a friend, " over this terrible war ; but he 
 must, as a man and a Virginian, share the destiny of his 
 State, which has solemnly pronounced for independence."* 
 His decision, no doubt, was owing to the unconscious 
 influence of the extreme views taken of the doctrine of 
 State Eights, which affected the minds of many of the 
 Southern statesmen of that period to such an extent as to 
 cramp their political ideas. Unlike the statesmen of former 
 times, they were so much engaged in plans of special legis- 
 lation for "the peculiar institution," that their statesman- 
 ship was dwarfed ; in consequence, their views of policy 
 were more sectional than national ; never grasping the 
 whole land in its diversities of climate and manifold indus- 
 tries and institutions. Governments, in theory at least, 
 have been formed to last for all time, and these leaders 
 betrayed their want of true statesmanship when in their 
 Constitution they embodied the doctrine of State Sover- 
 eignty to such an extent as to provide, in the very organi- 
 zation of their government, for its own dissolution the 
 only instance known to history of such inconsistency. 
 
 During the rebellion and at its close the loyal people and 
 Life of Lee, p. 331. 5 Life of Lee, p. 31.
 
 1050 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 LxvF.' Congress felt keenly indignant that the English rulers 
 
 should have given aid to the Confederates and manifested so 
 
 much sympathy for their cause. " We charged and believed 
 that Great Britain and her colonies had been the arsenal, 
 the navy-yard, and the treasury of the Confederacy." But 
 "with generous forbearance" the United States Govern- 
 ment chose to obtain redress by negotiation, and a treaty 
 was made, the Earl of Clarendon acting on the part of the 
 English Government and Hon. Reverdy Johnson, an emi- 
 nent lawyer, acting on the part of the United States. 
 Senator Charles Sumner made 'a scathing analysis of this 
 treaty when it came before the Senate for ratification, and 
 it was rejected. His argument and the rejection irritated 
 the English people exceedingly ; but time and reflection 
 revealed to them that Sumner's statements were so clear 
 and so true that the United States had just reason to com- 
 plain of England's lack of good faith as a neutral, and they 
 began to regret sincerely there should be differences of an 
 unfriendly character between the two nations of all others 
 so nearly related, which feeling came now to be reciprocated 
 by the people of the United States. 
 
 General Grant, soon after the rejection of the treaty, be- 
 came President, and he recommended to Congress to 
 appoint a commission to audit the claims of American citi- 
 zens on Great Britain for losses by Confederate cruisers 
 permitted to leave English ports to prey on American com- 
 merce, in order to have them assumed by the government 
 itself. Soon after this the English government proposed to 
 1871. ^ na ^ ^ ^ e United States a joint High Commission, to hold 
 Jan. its sessions at Washington, to settle some questions in 
 respect to boundaries between the two countries. The 
 President consented on condition that the Alabama claims, 
 so-called, should also be considered. This led to the second 
 treaty of Washington (the first in 1842). l Five Commis- 
 1^ sioners were sent by the British Government, men of emi- 
 8. nence, who met the same number, of equal character, 
 
 'Hist., pp. 739-741.
 
 ENGLISH CRUISERS TREATY OF WASHINGTON. 1051 
 
 appointed by the President. This treaty, from the piin- CHAP. 
 ciples involved in its action, is a noble example of 
 
 1 K"/ 1 
 
 nations settling their controversies by negotiation, and the 
 arbitration of justice and reason, rather than by the barbar- 
 ous arbitrament of the sword. The Commissioners made 
 their work complete. By authority of the Queen the Brit- 
 ish negotiators expressed "in a friendly spirit the regret 
 felt by Her Majesty's Government for the escape, under July 
 whatever circumstances, of the Alabama and other vessels" 
 there were eighteen, including tenders from British ports 
 and for depredations committed by them. 
 
 There were in all five different subjects of controversy 
 between the two nations, and the treaty arranged that these 
 should be submitted to disinterested arbitrators whose 
 award both nations were bound by agreement to accept as 
 final. The points at issue were the claims of American 
 citizens against Great Britain for damages sustained by 
 cruisers fitted out in British ports to aid the Confederates 
 in making war against the United States, and all claims 
 of the citizens of either Government for injuries received 
 during the civil war ; also for the regulation of the Atlantic 
 coast fisheries of the United States and of the British 
 provinces touching on the Atlantic and its estuaries ; and 
 for the free navigation of the St. Lawrence and certain 
 canals in the Canadian Dominion ; and in the United 
 States for the free navigation of Lake Michigan, and also 
 for reciprocal free transit across the territory either of the 
 United States or of the Canadian Dominion : and, finally, 
 the true boundary between Washington Territory and Brit- 
 ish Columbia, which had been postponed to a future time 
 by Daniel Webster and Lord Ashburton when they nego- 
 tiated the first treaty of Washington. 
 
 As long as Lord John Russell, through whose negli- 
 gence the Alabama and other vessels were permitted to 
 escape, had charge of the foreign affairs of Great Britain 
 no redress could be obtained. Though admitting the 
 wrong, he stubbornly refused to make any concession, on 
 

 
 1052 HISTORY OP THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, the ground that the " honor of England would not permit 
 her to make any reparation to the United States." 
 
 All these claims and questions of differences, in accord- 
 ance with the treaty of Washington, were to be referred to 
 a tribunal of five arbitrators, appointed in the following 
 manner : namely, one by the President of the United States 
 and one by the Queen of the United Kingdom, with requests 
 to the King of Italy, the President of the Swiss Confedera- 
 tion, and the Emperor of Brazil each to name an arbitrator. 
 The friendly Powers, as requested, designated each an 
 arbitrator of eminent abilities and learning. The Queen 
 appointed Sir Alexander Cockburn arbitrator and President 
 Grant, Charles Francis Adams. Each party employed coun- 
 sel : in behalf of the United Kingdom was Sir Roundell 
 Palmer aided by two others, and in behalf of the United 
 States the eminent lawyers William M. Evarts, Caleb Gush- 
 ing, and Morrison E. Waite the latter now Chief-Justice 
 of the Supreme Court of the United States. 
 
 The arbitrators, in accordance with this arrangement, 
 1872 
 June me ' ; by appointment at Geneva in Switzerland, and after a 
 
 15 - laborious session in examination first, whether Great 
 Britain failed to fulfill the duties laid down in the treaty 
 in respect to preventing vessels leaving English ports to 
 enter upon a war against American commerce in the service 
 of the so-called Confederacy ; and, secondly, to name the 
 award which was to be in the gross, and paid in coin twelve 
 months after the date of the decision ; the United States 
 Government was to examine the claims of its own citizens 
 and pay them out of the award the decision was in the 
 following terms : " The tribunal, making use of the authori- 
 ty conferred upon it by Article VII. of the treaty of Wash- 
 gg t ington, by a majority of four voices to one awards to the 
 
 14. United States the sum of $15,500,000 in gold as the indem- 
 nity to be paid by Great Britain to the United States, for 
 the satisfaction of all claims referred to the consideration of 
 the tribunal." 1 The money has been paid, and at this 
 i Gushing on the Treaty of Washington, p. 280.
 
 t^i^e*^*^ /
 
 FRAUDULENT VOTING. 1053 
 
 writing the claims are adjusted with the exception of a CHA.P. 
 
 certain class of those presented by Insurance Companies. '. 
 
 1870. 
 
 The Representative in the House holds a twofold re- 
 lation to the people : he represents, specially, his own 
 immediate constituents, who have elected him, and also 
 indirectly the whole people of the Union. The Congress- 
 man from Maine and his fellow-member from Texas, 
 have equal power when they vote on public affairs ; in 
 consequence of this feature, the whole Nation is inter- 
 ested in the selection of each Member of Congress ; and 
 the entire people, in self -protection, have a right to demand 
 that Congressmen should be elected by the legal voters of 
 their own districts. More remotely they have an interest 
 in the election of legislatures, which choose United States' 
 Senators ; and in a much higher degree than either are 
 their interests involved in the choice of a President. 
 
 After the Presidential election in 1868, the whole 1868. 
 country was startled by the revelation that stupendous 
 frauds had been committed in the City of New York, 
 and that these were accomplished by issuing forged natu- 
 ralization papers on which illegal votes were cast. In 
 New York as well as in other large cities certain classes 
 furnish great facilities for committing frauds of this 
 character. These forged papers were also sent to the 
 larger towns and along the railways of the State. 
 
 The statements in detail of these facts astounded the 
 thinking minds of the Nation. Multitudes upon whom 
 the right of voting had been graciously conferred or 
 would be in due time, had been induced by certain lead- 
 ers to abuse the privilege most grossly ! Urgent appeals 
 came up to Congress to prevent the repetition of such 
 frauds. The House of Representatives appointed a com- 
 mittee of seven of its own members to investigate the 
 subject, and with power to summon and compel wit- 
 nesses. The committee found that in the month of Octo-
 
 1054 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, ber alone the election was to take place on the third of 
 
 LXVI -r 
 
 '. the following November were issued in the City of !> ew 
 
 1870. York, 57,217 naturalization papers ; of these 18,314 had 
 not been recorded by the court, but were discovered 
 afterward. Witnesses stated that the recipients of these 
 papers were sworn in in groups of one hundred to one 
 hundred and eighty at a time. Two reports were made 
 to Congress, the majority sustaining the charges, and the 
 minority admitting that " a considerable number of cer- 
 tificates of naturalization was obtained by fraud and per- 
 jury." ' A bill was introduced to prevent frauds in the 
 election of United States' officers. The law provided: 
 " In towns of over 20,000 population upon the written 
 application of ten citizens the judge of the United States 
 Circuit Court shall, ten days before the registration or 
 election, appoint two citizens for each election district of 
 different political parties, who shall be known as super- 
 May visors of elections." " In large cities the United States 
 marshal may appoint two special deputies in each election 
 district to assist the supervisors." These officials are re- 
 quired to attend both the registration and the election, in 
 order to secure complete fairness. 
 
 Though the war was ostensibly at an end, and the 
 insurrectionary States under military commanders and 
 provisional governors, appointed by President Johnson, 
 outrages continued to the end of his administration to be 
 committed on the freedmen and Union men whites na- 
 tive born and upon those who had come thither for the 
 purpose of settling, especially if the latter expressed 
 opinions disliked by these gentlemen or sympathy for the 
 freedmen in their troubles. The abolition of slavery, 
 though acquiesced in, was exceedingly distasteful to the 
 same classes, as well as the Civil Rights Bill by which 
 the freedmen were protected as citizens. To neutralize 
 
 1 Report of " Select Committee on alleged election frauds in Xew Yor- "
 
 THE KU-KLUX KLAtf. 1055 
 
 the effects of these bills, and of the recent amendments to CHAP. 
 
 the Constitution, associations were secretly formed within 1 
 
 a few months throughout these States. They were pop- 187 - 
 ularly known by the name they gave themselves in pub- 
 lic, "THE KU-KLUX KLAN" a barbarous name com- 
 prising the whole class, though in some sections different 
 designations were used, such as the " White-Leaguers," 
 " Knights of the White Camelia," etc., but the official 
 name in the secret record was " THE INVISIBLE EMPIKE." 
 These lawless bands were in active operation during the 
 administration of the President's provisional governors, 
 and before the State governments organized by the au- 
 thority of Congress went into operation under the " Re- 
 construction Acts." l J ul J- 
 
 The Fourteenth Amendment having been proclaimed 
 ratified, and the Fifteenth submitted to the State Legisla- 
 tures with every prospect of being adopted, these facts 
 roused a determination on the part of the Ku-Klux to 
 prevent the principles of these two amendments being 
 applied in the case of freedmen voting. The Ku-Klux 
 bands were made up of idle young men belonging to 
 the best families. They disguised themselves and their 
 horses by means of frightful looking costumes, scoured 
 the country by night, whipping and otherwise maltreat- 
 ing the negroes and white Union men. Assassinations 
 of the most atrocious character were committed. Colored 
 women were frequently barbarously whipped if they re- 
 fused to betray the hiding-place of their friends, and 
 sometimes were even hanged. It may account for the 
 little resistance the Ku-Klux met that they had previ- 
 ously deprived the colored men of their arms. 
 
 Nothing, except it may have been a school-house, ex- 
 cited the rage of the " Ku-Klux" so much as a colored 
 man successful in his business by being industrious and 
 
 J Hist., p. 979.
 
 1056 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, saving, and especially if he learned to read and write. 
 
 LXVI 
 
 ! They frequently burnt school-houses built and owned by 
 
 1870. ^g f ree d men, and maltreating the teachers, drove them off. 
 It seems incredible that such crimes should be committed 
 and apologized for in a community professing to be under 
 the influence of a civilization claimed to be Christian. 
 
 At length Congress partially put an end to these 
 crimes by passing a stringent law known as the " Enforce- 
 ment Act." This authorized the Government to protect 
 the victims of these outrages, and punish the authors of 
 such crimes. President Grant issued a proclamation sus- 
 pending the habeas corpus in nine counties in South 
 Carolina. This was necessary, because the State courts 
 interfered with the Federal officials in the discharge of 
 their duties. The influence of this assertion of law ex- 
 tended to other States, and to some extent prevented 
 similar outrages. 
 
 These unpunished crimes, and the petty annoyances 
 inflicted upon numerous business Northern men and their 
 families, who were desirous of casting in their lot with 
 their Southern brethren, have retarded the material pros- 
 perity of these States for a quarter of a century ; for even 
 when the outrages entirely cease (as they mostly have 
 done), the memory of such deeds must create a prejudice 
 not soon to be eradicated from the minds of men. 1 
 
 Scientific men desired to obtain uniform observations 
 on the atmosphere at the same moment over the entire 
 Union ; and as such information could be made available 
 for practical purposes by the telegraph, Congress estab- 
 lished the " Signal Service Bureau" the first in the 
 world. These observations pertain to the temperature 
 and moisture of the atmosphere, the velocity and direc- 
 tion of the wind, and when likely to be of use, the rise 
 and fall of rivers. The reports of the Bureau are espe- 
 
 i See the 13 vols. of Reports of the Joint Committee of Congress on 
 these outrages.
 
 )
 
 SIGNAL SERVICE. 1057 
 
 dally beneficial to the mercantile marine, as storms are CHAP. 
 predicted many bom's, and sometimes days in advance, ' 
 
 meantime storm signals are placed along the coast to 
 warn vessels which are about going to sea. These bene- 
 fits are shared also by the farmers and the commerce of 
 the Great Lakes, as the observations and predictions are 
 published and sent daily to every post-office in the Union, 
 besides being printed in the daily papers. There are 
 more than one hundred and fifty stations in the United 
 States where, at the same moment, observations are made, 
 recorded, and the result transmitted to the main office of 
 the Bureau at Washington. In order to ascertain the 
 condition of the higher atmosphere, high points that may 
 be available for the purpose are chosen, such as Mount 
 Mitchel, E". C., Mount Washington, N. EL, and Pike's 
 Peak, Colorado, and others. The time appointed to take 
 these observations corresponds to 7.35 A.M., Washington 
 City. It is estimated that nine tenths of these predictions 
 are verified, and great benefits have been thus far con- 
 ferred upon the country, and as the operations of nature 
 become better understood, they will be still greater in the 
 future. The system has been adopted in Europe ; and 
 there have been occasions when great risks on the sea 
 were about to be run parties have sent for and obtained 
 the predictions of the Bureau. 
 
 One of the most terrible fires of modern times in two 1371, 
 days devastated the City of Chicago ; a wind storm of un- 
 precedented violence raged the entire time, and fanned 
 the flames in their onward course until they were stopped 
 by Lake Michigan. Seventeen thousand four hundred 
 and fifty buildings were reduced to ashes ; to do this the 
 flames raged over twenty-one hundred acres ; ninety- 
 eight thousand persons were rendered homeless, while 
 two hundred million dollars' worth of property was vir- 
 tually annihilated. The catastrophe was followed by 
 great distress ; but relief generously poured in from all
 
 1058 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, parts of the Union and even from Europe. But perhaps 
 the most remarkable feature growing out of this great 
 
 1871. misfortune was the indomitable energy of the citizens 
 themselves, who commenced to build before the debris 
 was cold, and to-day their city is more beautiful than 
 ever, and is extending its facilities of commerce and 
 trade farther and farther. 
 
 1872, In the business portion of the city of Boston a fire 
 Nov. 9. b ro k e ou t an( j raged for nearly two days, burning over 
 
 sixty-five acres covered with buildings, destroying prop- 
 erty to the value of more than eighty million dollars. 
 This space has since been built over with substantial 
 houses for commercial purposes. Meanwhile the streets 
 of the same have been straightened. 
 
 The rebellion was the occasion of remarkable prog- 
 ress in all the industries of the loyal States. To equip 
 the Navy and make it effective required an immense out- 
 lay of material, iron, coal, and lumber. Meantime the 
 destruction of railroads during the war, and their unusual 
 wear and tear, to repair which rendered necessary a vast 
 expansion in the manufacture of railway equipments, 
 and this led to an unprecedented development of the 
 iron and coal ' resources of the country. The building of 
 to railways was much extended ; one road the Union Pa- 
 18<3> cific was finished across the continent, and another 
 the Northern Pacific partially so ; while in the lately 
 insurgent States the railroads ruined by the war were 
 put in repair. In the Northern States, also, the roads 
 were refitted and much extended, requiring for the 
 greater part steel rails, thus leading to the manufacture 
 of iron in the form of steel by the rapid process known 
 as the Bessemer, and this again into rails. 
 
 The manufacture of textile fabrics from cotton and 
 wool also received a great impulse, while another indus- 
 
 1 Primer on the Natural Resources of the United States, by J. Harris 
 Patton.
 
 COMMERCIAL FAILURES. 1059 
 
 try, hitherto quite limited, that of manufacturing silk, CHAP 
 was extended enormously, till the yearly product was 
 
 valued at thirty million dollars by the Census. All the 
 industries of the Union were promoted in consequence of 17. 
 the war, and by a tariff designed to equalize the cost of 
 production by counterbalancing the low wages paid opera- 
 tives in Europe. 
 
 One of the most severe commercial failures this coun- 
 try has experienced was inaugurated suddenly by a large 1873 
 banking-house in Philadelphia stopping payment. This 
 institution was so intimately associated with others through- 
 out the land that almost immediately numbers of banks, 
 commercial houses, and manufacturing establishments, 
 and one prominent railway company, failed to meet their 
 obligations. This has been characterized by some the 
 "Money Panic," and by others the "Railroad Panic." 
 The industries of the country were greatly disturbed ; 
 they had been so very successful and had increased their 
 productions to such an extent that they had a large sur- 
 plus on hand for which there was no market. Railway 
 building, a prominent industry of the time, ceased almost 
 entirely, and multitudes of working men in every portion 
 of the Union were thrown out of employment. Unfor- 
 tunately the high wages paid for the last few years had 
 led to habits of extravagance among those who obtained 
 their living from wages alone. Nor did the evil end 
 here ; even those who hitherto had been economical in 
 their expenses and prudent in their investments were 
 tempted to spend more money on their living than their 
 incomes would warrant. In consequence of these im- 
 prudencies the distress was more than usually extended, 
 reaching all classes of the community. " The financial 
 revulsion of 18T3, which was a necessary consequence of 
 the speculation and over-production incited by the inflated 
 currency of the ten years previous, brought its saddest 
 results on the class who depend on wages, cutting off the
 
 1060 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, means of living with many, and perpetuating the distress 
 
 1 through a series of years following. 1 
 
 1875, Two years later, in order to remove these evils and 
 
 10. get back to a solid basis for financial transactions, Con- 
 gress passed a bill making provision for the resumption 
 of specie payments. This meant that the National gov- 
 ernment intended to make its greenbacks, its bonds, and 
 the notes of the National Banks redeemable in coin. This 
 resumption was to take place on January 1, 1879. The 
 day after the bill was signed by President Grant the pre- 
 mium on gold began to disappear, and so carefully were 
 the financial affairs of the government managed that on 
 the appointed day it vanished, and resumption was an 
 accomplished fact. i < 
 
 The unsettled condition of political affairs in Louisi- 
 ana eventually assumed the form of riot in New Orleans. 
 The two candidates for the office of governor both 
 claimed to be elected, in accordance with the decision of 
 the two Returning Boards of elections one Republican, 
 the other Democratic. They mutually charged each 
 other with fraud. Thus, at the same time, there were 
 two acting governors and two Legislatures in session ; the 
 laws were not enforced, and confusion reigned to the 
 detriment of life and property. President Grant at 
 length issued a proclamation enjoining the people to 
 preserve order and restrain themselves from violence. 
 
 1873, He saw reasons to sustain the claims of Governor Kellogg 
 
 22^ (Republican). The difficulties in respect to the election 
 arose from the outrages committed by marauding bands 
 of lawless men, who threatened and abused the freedmen 
 if they voted against the wishes of these bands. In con- 
 sequence the votes of certain districts were counted by 
 one returning board, and rejected by the other. 
 
 This confusion and ill feeling lasted for an entire 
 
 1 Political Economy, Wayland and Chapin, p. 158.
 
 THE INDIAN QUESTION. 1061 
 
 year, when finally they resulted in a riot in the city ; a CHAP. 
 
 conflict occurring in the streets, in which twenty-six per- ' 
 
 sons lost their lives, and Governor Kellogg was forced to 1875 - 
 take refuge in the United States Custom House. The 
 President now interfered and reinstated Kellogg, and 
 compelled obedience for a while to the law. Some 
 months afterward the troubles were renewed ; Congress 
 being in session a committee of that body was sent to 
 New Orleans to make an investigation ; and under its 
 conciliatory influence the difficulties were adjusted. 
 
 One of the most difficult problems for the National 
 Government to solve has been that of the Indian question. 
 Congress deemed it better for the Indians to be settled 
 by themselves on tracts of land or reservations, where 
 their rights would not be encroached upon by white set- 
 tlers, and where they might in time become civilized, 
 which could never be the case so long as they roamed as 
 hunters. The Government at first set apart for their 
 homes a large section of country about 69,000 square 
 miles known as the Indian Territory, one of the finest 
 regions in the Union. At different times since the re- 
 moval there of the southern Indians, 1 various northern 
 and western tribes and portions of tribes, have been trans- 
 ferred thither, until the population has reached nearly 
 Y0,000. Their advances in civilization, in cultivating the 
 soil and in the simpler forms of mechanical industries, 
 and especially in the secular and religious education of 
 their children, have been under the circumstances very 
 successful. There are also in the western section of the 
 Union several smaller reservations ; at all of which the 
 Indians have made much progress during the last ten or 
 fifteen years in acquiring settled habits. At all these 
 reservations are found Christian Missionaries, who are 
 doing much to give a proper tone to the civilization in 
 progress by instructing the adults as well as the children. 
 
 1 Hist. pp. TOO, 706.
 
 1062 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. There are still remaining wild Indians, who are, as 
 LXVL yet, unwilling to settle on reservations. A treaty was 
 1875 - made with a small tribe, the Modocs, living on Lake Kla- 
 math, according to which they were to remove to a reser- 
 vation. They afterward refused and took to the war path, 
 and Gen. Can by, in command of the Department, intended 
 to persuade them to go peaceably. But when about to 
 enter upon the conference agreed upon the Modocs treach- 
 1872 erous ty killed him and one of the United States Commis- 
 sioners, and wounded others. The Government sent a 
 military force which drove the Indians from their hiding 
 places, and finally captured the assassins. Captain Jack, the 
 principal chief, and two minor ones were hanged. The 
 tribe was broken up and a portion scattered ; while the 
 remainder was captured and sent to the Indian Territory. 
 1873, The Territory of Colorado made application for admis- 
 
 April. g { on j n j. o j-jjg u n j on as a State. Its fine deposits of the 
 precious metals, and its facilities for stock raising, togeth- 
 er with a health-giving climate, allured thither an unusu- 
 ally-large immigration. Congress passed the Enabling 
 Act, and the Territory was admitted the following year 
 June, making the thirty-eighth State. 
 
 Within a few years after the close of the Civil "War a 
 number of those who, during that period, were engaged 
 in public affairs, passed away. Among these were Edwin 
 M. Stanton, the efficient Secretary of War under Presi- 
 dent Lincoln ; William H. Seward, Secretary of State 
 under Presidents Lincoln and Johnson, of great learning 
 as a statesman, and most efficient in managing our foreign 
 1876. relations ; Salmon P. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury, 
 to whom is due the system of National Banks ; Gen. 
 George S. Meade, the hero of Gettysburg; Henry Wil- 
 son while Vice-President, and Andrew Johnson, not long 
 after his term of office expired ; Louis Agassiz, one of 
 the great teachers of science, and Joseph Henry, a 
 scientist of world-wide reputation, and for many years
 
 THE CENSUS CENTENNIAL. 1063 
 
 Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution at "Washington CHAP. 
 
 f~. i LXVI. 
 
 City. 
 
 The Census of 1870 gave th.e population of the States 1870< 
 and Territories of the Union as 38,533,191 ; about 7,000,- 
 000 more than that of 1860. This was the most eventful 
 decade of our history. The nation since the close of the 
 rebellion has exhibited remarkable elasticity, and has been 
 rapidly recovering from the strain of an extraordinarily ex- 
 pensive civil war, both in precious lives and treasure. 
 
 Congress passed a law by which, hereafter, all officers of Ift74 
 the national Government elected by the people are to be 
 chosen on "the Tuesday next after the first Monday in 
 November" to take effect in 1876. 
 
 As the time drew near when the nation would be one 
 hundred years old, Congress made arrangements to celebrate 
 its Centennial in an appropriate manner, properly selecting 
 the city of Philadelphia as the place of the national celebra- . 
 
 lo i 1 
 
 tion, because in that city was made the Declaration of Mar. 
 Independence, July 4, 1776. 1 "The act provides f or cele- 3 - 
 brating in a becoming manner the one -hundredth anniver- 
 sary of American Independence, by holding an International 
 Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures and products of the soil 
 and mines, at Philadelphia, in 1876." Congress authorized 
 first a "Commission to consist of not more than one 
 delegate from each State and territory, to be appointed by 
 the governors thereof, whose duty it shall be to prepare and 
 superintend the execution of a plan for holding the Exhi- 
 bition, and its general supervision ; they to continue in 
 office to the end of the Exhibition ; " and secondly a corpora- 
 tion known as "The Centennial Board of Finance," com- 
 posed of prominent citizens from each State and Territory 
 of the United States, equal in number to twice the number 
 of their senators, members, and delegates in Congress. 
 The corporation to hold its meetings in Philadelphia. The 
 President was authorized to invite the co-operation of 
 foreign powers in the celebration. 
 iHist. p.412.
 
 1064 HISTORY OF THE AMEBICAX PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. This invitation was responded to in a most gratifying 
 
 '. manner : nearly forty of the civilized nations of the earth 
 
 1876. were represented in innumerable forms of their manufac- 
 tures and arts, evincing unusual national courtesy and 
 good-will the manifestation of an " era of good feeling" 
 among the nations of the world. The circumstances were 
 such as to command attention; the independent growth of 
 the nation in a brief period of a century, the result of its 
 starting on its career with the elements of national great- 
 ness in abeyance ready to be developed as occasion re- 
 quired ; the energy of a people every one imbued with 
 the self-respect and self-reliance of an intelligent freeman. 
 The Exhibition buildings were in Fairmount Park, 
 were of immense size, and tinely arranged for the purpose 
 designed. By means of the proper adjustment of glass in 
 iron frames, the light was diffused in the most perfect man- 
 ner. The main structure covered an area of 20 acres (the 
 same as that of the London Exhibition in 1851) ; the other 
 buildings, in all, occupied 40 acres more. These were of 
 different styles and finished in accordance with each, dis- 
 playing much taste, and withal an appropriateness of design. 
 The whole buildings combined covered an area about the 
 same as that of the Great Exhibitions of London and Paris 
 (1862-7), while they contained 10 acres more than the one 
 at Vienna (1873). This Exposition has certainly proved to 
 be a school for improvement in the mechanical and taste- 
 ful arts, as here were seen the finest specimen of man's 
 mechanical skill or inventive genius. Every well-wisher of 
 moral and intellectual progress will look with interest 
 upon the effects of such great gatherings of the represen- 
 tatives of the nations of the earth, thus commingling, and, 
 we trust, in the interest of " peace and good-will to men." 
 1872. In the presidential election in 1872 President Grant 
 was the candidate of the Republican party, and Horace 
 Greeley of the Liberal Republicans and Democratic party. 
 The former was elected for a second term.
 
 GREELEY SUMNER. 
 
 Horace Greeley died on the 29th of November, 1872. CHAP. 
 
 Born in New Hampshire, the son of' a humble farmer in 
 
 very limited circumstances, through many trials he ac- 1872 ' 
 quired self-reliance. True to himself and his integrity he 
 rose by his own energy, and won the respect of his country- 
 men. Kind in heart and proverbially benevolent, the 
 friend of the oppressed of every laud and the unrelenting 
 opponent of every system of oppression. At the age of 
 fifteen he began as an apprentice in a country printing 
 office, and after many changes and trials and disappoint- 
 ments he came to the city, and in time founded the New 
 York Tribune. Through that medium he exerted a great 
 influence in promoting the cause of temperance, and the 
 industrial interests of the land. The death of no American 
 private citizen had, hitherto, elicited so much sympathy 
 and respect 
 
 Charles Sumner was born in Massachusetts, and died at 
 Washington, March 11, 1874. Sent direct from the people 
 to the United States Senate, he remained a member of 
 that body for twenty-two years, and in the active duties of 
 his position till his death. In varied learning and refined 
 taste and mature scholarship he towered above his fellows. 
 He maintained his influence in the nation by the purity of 
 his political character and his commanding intellect, his 
 most thorough knowledge of every important subject 
 brought before the Senate, and his comprehensive views 
 of national policy. Unswerving in opposition to the system 
 of slavery and the untiring friend of the colored man 
 whether a bondman or a freedman he labored to remove 
 obstructions to his success in life, if he himself chose to 
 make the proper exertion as a citizen by industry, and culti- 
 vating habits of economy and thrift. 
 
 The nation having just passed through a fearful struggle 
 to preserve its integrity, the question occurs, Will there 
 ever be another attempt to destroy the Union ? No doubt 
 questions of national policy will arise in the future, on 
 which will be differences of opinion, but never, probably,
 
 1066 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, of a class involving principles of morals, of right and 
 - justice, wounding the conscience of the people, as was the 
 
 1867> case in respect to the system of slavery. The signs of the 
 times indicate that the principles of religious freedom will 
 forever secure that perfect toleration in matters of con- 
 science so dear to the heart of the American people. Our 
 system of common schools is destined to be a great har- 
 mouizer of the nation, by preparing the people to become 
 more and more intelligent, uniting them by the strong 
 bond of the same language and its literature, in contrast 
 with the other nations or empires of the world occupying 
 immense areas of territory. The school-books used through- 
 out the land are the same in character. The language 
 of the newspaper, the pulpit, the lecture, the myriads of 
 books published from year to year, is the same, while it is 
 spoken throughout the Union with scarcely a difference of 
 intonation, much less amounting to a dialect. 
 
 The continuous changes of residence by emigration from 
 one part of the country to another, and the facilities of 
 travel, bringing together the people of the various sections 
 in social intercourse, assimilate their characteristics, while 
 the small fraction, comparatively, of the foreign population 
 scarcely affects the homogeneity of the nation, for they soon 
 affiliate, and their children, taught in the public schools, 
 grow up genuine Americans. The numerous railways con- 
 necting all portions of the Union, and affording easy com- 
 munication for travel or transportation of merchandise, are 
 so many bands to hold us together ; while the national 
 system of finances have a binding influence by cheapening 
 exchange from one section to another, and thus saving an 
 immense sum every year to the commercial interests of the 
 land. 
 
 The conformation of our territory is suited to be occu- 
 pied by one nation alone ; and the very diversities of climate 
 with us have a binding influence, inasmuch as they afford 
 us cheaply the necessaries of life and many of its luxuries. 
 The great valley of the Mississippi, extending north and
 
 THE CONTINUANCE OF THE UNION. 1067 
 
 south, with its varied climate, will ever be the indispensa- CHAP. 
 ble storehouse of cereals and live stock, furnishing, in 
 exchange for manufactures and merchandise, most of the 
 food for the inhabitants of the Atlantic slope, and also for 
 the mining regions of the Eocky Mountains; while the 
 States along the South Atlantic and on the Gulf are equally 
 as important in furnishing cotton and sugar. These com- 
 mon wants will make the people of all sections of the land 
 mutually dependent one upon another. Should questions 
 of national policy hereafter arise, under such influences 
 they will be considered in a conciliatory spirit, and decided 
 in the light of truth and justice. 
 
 The rapid and easy communication by means of railways 
 from one section of the land to another precludes the dan- 
 ger of sectional divisions of territory on account of its 
 great extent ; while the telegraph almost brings the listen- 
 ing ear of the nation to the halls of Congress to hear the 
 discussions of questions of national importance, thus en- 
 abling the people to form an intelligent judgment and to 
 decide such questions by their vote in the light of patriot- 
 ism and in the spirit of the Golden Rule. 
 
 The moral influences existing among the various Chris- 
 tian denominations of the land serve to unite the whole 
 people in sympathy of a purer type and to a greater extent 
 than before the civil war, as the greatest obstacle to a genuine 
 national Christian fellowship was removed by the extinction 
 of slavery, which brooded over the churches of the land 
 like a moral incubus and precluded perfect unity of Chris- 
 tian feeling because of the conflicting views held by Chris- 
 tians, both North and South, on the moral character of that 
 system. 
 
 Now the various benevolent and Christian institutions 
 can have full play ; their power is increasing rapidly from 
 year to year, while they are extending their influence and 
 helping hand into fields of labor in every section of the 
 country, inciting a stronger national interest and brother- 
 hood of feeling. Not the least will be the influence for
 
 1068 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, good of that mutual respect which prevails between the 
 - surviving Union and Confederate soldiers who met in 
 
 O 
 
 1871. Battle and tried each other's mettle, and which in due 
 time will banish far away bygone prejudices ; the " Ir- 
 reconcilables," for the most part, have been similar to 
 those whom "Washington in his day characterized as 
 " chimney-corner soldiers." 
 
 The question of Civil Service Reform was agitated to 
 remedy evils arising from appointing persons to minor 
 offices all under the Head Departments for political 
 reasons alone, rather than for integrity and capacity. 
 Congress created a Board of Commissioners to devise a 
 system of rules by which the appointments to office 
 should be governed. The Board recommended that 
 examinations of candidates should be held, and a certain 
 grade of scholarship required ; and, to secure the servi- 
 ces of capable men, as well as to retain their skill and 
 experience for the benefit of the Government, they 
 should not be removed except for malfeasance in office 
 or inability to perform its duties. These regulations are 
 somewhat difficult to be carried out : a candidate may 
 pass the examination on abstract studies, yet lack the ex- 
 perience and business tact to fulfill the duties required. 
 However, a great gain is secured by examinations ; and 
 in time, no doubt, scholarship and experience will be so 
 combined that the affairs of these minor offices will be 
 conducted on common-sense principles. We have seen 
 in what manner the system was introduced, and also the 
 effect produced. 1 It was natural that those who desired 
 to obtain United States offices for themselves or their 
 friends should apply to their own Representative in Con- 
 gress. This custom increased to such an extent that 
 Congressmen, even when uninvited, were tempted to 
 suggest the names of those whom they wished to be ap- 
 
 i Hist. pp. 705, 730.
 
 POLITICAL OPINIONS. 1069 
 
 pointed in their own district; in time the suggestion CHAP, 
 grew into almost a demand. '. 
 
 Another subject of general discussion throughout the 187L 
 country and in Congress was that of the tinances in con- 
 nection with the Tariff and Internal Revenue by the 
 two latter was raised the means to pay the interest on the 
 National debt and defray the current expenses. This 
 was by far the most important question in all its relations 
 before Congress; for on the judicious management of 
 the finances depended much of the material prosperity of 
 the country. 
 
 We can learn the opinions held by the two main po- 1876. 
 litical parties, by noting them as found in their declara- 
 tions of principles, known as platforms, during the Presi- 
 dential canvass. The Republican Convention (at Cincin- 15. 
 nati) said : " Commercial prosperity, public morals and 
 National credit demand that this promise [the pledged 
 faith of the United States Government to pay its bonds 
 in coin] be fulfilled by a continuous and steady progress 
 to specie payments." Again : "That duties upon impor- 
 tations should be, as far as possible, adjusted to promote 
 the interests of American labor, and advance the pros- 
 perity of the whole country.'' The Democratic Conven- og 
 tion (at St. Louis) said : " We denounce the financial 
 imbecility of that party [the Republican] which, while 
 annually professing to intend a speedy return to specie 
 payments, has annually enacted fresh hindrances thereto. 
 As such a hindrance we denounce the resumption clause 
 of the act of 1875, and we here demand its repeal." 
 Again : " We demand that all Custom House taxation 
 shall be only for revenue." The " Greenback" party, in 
 respect to the finances, coincided with the Democratic, 
 saying : " We demand the immediate and unconditional 
 repeal of the specie resumption act of 1875." 
 
 The candidates of the Republican and Democratic 
 Conventions were of the former, Rutherford Birchard
 
 1070 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. Haves, of Ohio, for President, and William Almon 
 
 I YVT 
 
 ljA ' Wheeler, of New York, for Viee-President ; and of the 
 
 1876. latter, Samuel Jones Ttlden, of New York, and Thomas 
 Andrews Hendricks, of Indiana. The canvass was very 
 spirited, and the result very olose, depending upon one 
 electoral vote. A dispute arose, especially in relation to 
 the votes cast in three States Louisiana, South Carolina, 
 and Florida : it was doubtful for which candidate they had 
 legally voted ; two sets of certificates of election being 
 handed in. The excitement was great throughout the 
 land ; fraud was charged on both sides. The truth could 
 be ascertained only by a thorough and impartial investi- 
 gation. In this view all were agreed ; and for that . pur- 
 pose a special tribunal was created by Congress, known 
 as the Electoral Commission, whose decision was to be 
 final, unless rejected by both Houses of Congress. This 
 tribunal consisted of five judges of the Supreme Court of 
 the United States, five United States Senators, and five 
 Representatives of the Lower House. Legal counsel was 
 employed on each side. The returns from every State 
 were examined, discussed and voted upon ; special atten- 
 tion being given to those from the doubtful States men- 
 tioned above. Every discrepancy in the returns was in- 
 vestigated, and after expending much time and labor, 
 the Commission decided that the Republican nominees, 
 Hayes and Wheeler, had 185 electoral votes, and the 
 Democratic, Tilden and Hendricks, 184. 
 
 This decision was made on March 2 ; the 4th came on 
 Sunday ; on that day, in the presence of a few persons, 
 
 1877, Mr. Hayes took an official oath. According to precedent, 
 the following day he was inaugurated. The unusual in- 
 terest in the questions involved drew together an im- 
 mense concourse of people from all parts of the Union. 
 Chief-Justice Waite administered the oath publicly.
 
 CHAPTER LXYII. 
 
 HAYES'S ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 Sketch of Life. Inaugural. Cabinet. Civil Service. Railway Riot. 
 Coinage of Silver. Fisheries Indemnity. Resumption of Specie 
 Payments. Progress. Tariff. Platforms of Parties. Tenth Cen- 
 sus! Ratio of Representatives. 
 
 RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES was born in Ohio, CHAP. 
 on October the ,4th, 1822. After graduating at Kenyon 
 College, lie studied in Harvard University Law School, 
 and began the practice of his profession in Cincinnati. 
 When the Rebellion commenced he was City Solicitor ; 
 he volunteered, and was assigned to a regiment with the 
 rank of Major, and soon after promoted in the same to 
 the rank of Colonel. At the battle of South Mountain 
 (Antietam) he was severely wounded ; on recovery he 
 rejoined the army, and afterward was created Briga- 
 dier-General of Volunteers " for gallant and meritorious 
 services in the battles of Winchester, Fisher's Hill, and 
 Cedar Creek ;" and finally he was brevetted Major-Gen- 
 eral. He was then put in command of a division, and 
 served in that capacity to the end of the war, having 
 been wounded four times and had five horses shot under 
 him in battle. 
 
 At the close of the Rebellion he was elected Repre- 
 sentative for two successive terms to Congress ; but be- 
 fore the close of his second term he was chosen Governor 
 of his native State, and again for the second time ; at the 
 expiration of the latter term he was again elected to Con- 
 gress, but before the close of his term he was for the
 
 1072 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, third time chosen Governor of Ohio ; this office he 
 J: xn1 '- resigned to assume that of President of the United States. 
 1877, 
 4. 
 
 The President outlined his policy in his Inaugural, 
 
 the burden of which was the unsettled condition of the 
 recent insurgent States. He urged " the permanent pa- 
 cification of the country upon such principles and by such 
 measures as will secure the complete protection of all 
 citizens in the free enjoyment of all their constitutional 
 rights." Again : " That a moral obligation rests upon 
 the National Government to employ its Constitutional 
 power and influence to establish the rights of the people 
 it has emancipated." " That universal suffrage should 
 rest upon universal education. To this end liberal and 
 permanent provision should be made for the support of 
 free schools." As a subject of reform he alluded to 
 " certain abuses and practices of so-called official pat- 
 ronage, which have come to have the sanction of usage 
 in the several departments of our Government." He also 
 expressed himself " in behalf of an early resumption of 
 specie payments." 
 
 The President called to his Cabinet William M. Ev- 
 arts, of New York, Secretary of State ; John Sherman, 
 of Ohio, Secretary of the Treasury ; George W. Mc- 
 Crear} 7 , of Iowa, Secretary of War ; Richard W. Thomp- 
 son, of Indiana, Secretary of the Navy ; Carl Schurz, of 
 Missouri, Secretary of the Interior ; David M. Key, of 
 Tennessee, Postmaster -General ; and Charles Deveus, of 
 Massachusetts, Attorney-General. 
 
 President Hayes entered upon measures of Civil Ser- 
 vice by making but few changes and as far as possible 
 consulting the interests of the public alone. He also 
 issued an order requiring officers in the employ of the 
 Government not " to take part in the management of 
 political organizations, caucuses, conventions or election 
 campaigns." A more difficult question was impending
 
 RAILWAY RIOT SILVER. 1073 
 
 that of continuing the United States troops in the States CHAP. 
 
 LXVII 
 of Louisiana and South Carolina, where they had been 
 
 detailed to preserve order. He decided to remove them ; 1877- 
 this was understood to be done on the assurance of gen- 
 tlemen of influence in that section, that in these States 
 there should be no more political disturbances. 
 
 On two of the main trunk lines of railway across the July. 
 Alleghanies the Baltimore and Ohio and the Pennsyl- 
 vania Central commenced a series of strikes, as they are 
 termed, by the persons in employ of these corporations. 
 The strikes for higher wages soon degenerated into riots ; 
 the rioters took possession of the roads, preventing the 
 trains running; meanwhile the freight cars were plun- 
 dered, a hundred locomotives were destroyed at Pitts- 
 burg alone, and an immense amount of merchandise not 
 stolen was burned, and railway traffic was suspended 
 across the continent to California. The authorities of 
 two or three States found themselves unable to restore 
 order, and were compelled to call on the President for 
 aid. United States troops were sent to quell the out- 
 break, which was not accomplished until many lives were 
 lost, and much property, though not belonging to the 
 railroads, was destroyed. 
 
 Congress passed a bill to remonetize silver, which had 
 not been coined to much extent for some years ; it was a 
 legal tender for debts public and private to the amount 
 of five dollars. The mints have since been coining silver 
 dollars according to the law, till there is a vast amount 
 lying idle in the Treasury; for the people, because of its 1881. 
 weight and bulk, are not disposed to use it, when United 
 States greenbacks and National Bank notes are equal in 
 value and so much more convenient. These silver dol- 
 lars are of " the standard weight of four hundred and 
 twelve grains and one-half, troy, of standard silver." 
 The further coinage of the twenty-cent pieces was also 
 prohibited.
 
 1074 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. In accordance with the Second Treaty of Washington, 
 
 L an award of 5,500,000 dollars was rendered to Great Brit- 
 
 1 J 77> ain, as an estimate made by the Commission appointed 
 23. for the purpose, of the value derived by the United States 
 from the Canadian fisheries. Congress made an appro- 
 priation of the amount awarded. 
 
 During more than the first half of Mr. Hayes's admin- 
 istration discussions still continued on the finances and the 
 tariff, both in Congress and in the newspapers. The 
 Democratic party wished to repeal the Resumption Act, 
 to take effect on January 1, 1879 ; and as they had con- 
 trol in the House of Representatives, there they were thus 
 far successful, but not having a majority in the Senate, 
 in that body the repeal failed to pass, and two months 
 before the desired majority was obtained Resumption 
 had taken place much to the advantage of our internal 
 and foreign commerce and the varied industries of the 
 1879, Union. A brighter day dawned upon the financial future 
 Jim. 1. of the country, when on that morning the premium on 
 gold vanished. 
 
 The Resumption placed the National finances on a 
 solid basis, while the Government by its measures inspired 
 through the commercial world so much confidence in its 
 power to meet its liabilities, that the Secretary of the 
 Treasury was able, at the option of the holder, either to 
 pay the United States bonds, as they became due, or 
 change them to a lower rate of interest and for a longer 
 time. By means of this lower, rate of interest there was 
 saved annually to the Treasury more than 13,000,000 dol- 
 lars. In addition, the confidence thus created kept the 
 bonds above par not only in the United States but in 
 Europe. 
 
 Since Resumption there has been, also, a marked and 
 continuous progress in the country ; great advances being 
 made in all its industries. The Centennial Exhibition
 
 EXPORTS PLATFORMS. 1075 
 
 had made known to the world the mechanical skill of the CHAP. 
 
 LXYII 
 
 American people, their inventions and their applications - 
 
 of machinery to so many kinds of industry. The pro- 
 ducts of their factories and their workshops have since 
 found their way into every civilized nation, and have held 
 their own by their merits. As an economical measure 
 the Centennial has paid perhaps more than its expenses 
 in opening these markets to our merchants and manufac- 
 turers. 
 
 Our agricultural products have been abundant for the 
 last few years. The crops of cotton, four-fifths of which 
 have been raised by the colored people since the close of 
 the Rebellion, have been increasing annually in quantity, 
 till that of 1880 was the largest ever made. Our exports 
 to Europe have taken an unusually wide range : wheat 
 as well as flour and other grains ; cotton ; dairy products in 
 the form of cheese and butter ; provisions of other kinds, 
 such as pork and slaughtered meats, in great quantities ; 
 and live stock, beef cattle, sheep and horses. So great 
 have these exports been for the last few years that the 
 balance of trade has been in our favor on an average of 
 150,000,000 dollars a year. In 1879 our exports in value 
 were 265,000,000 dollars more than our imports. 
 
 After specie payments were resumed differences of 
 opinion on the tariff continued to be discussed, and it be- 
 came a prominent question in the Presidential canvass, 1880. 
 because of its great influence on the mechanical indus- 
 tries of the Union. The two main political organizations 
 published their views on the questions at issue in their 
 National Conventions, called to nominate candidates for 
 the Presidency and the Vice-Presidency. The Democrats 
 (at Cincinnati), though concise in their statement, were in 
 accordance with the principles they announced four years 
 before, when they demanded " that all Custom House 
 taxation should be only for revenue " now, " A tariff ^ uaa 
 for revenue only? They urged "that common schools
 
 1076 HISTORY OF THE AMEKICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, should be fostered and protected," and desired " a gen- 
 
 I XVII . . 
 
 eral and thorough reform of the Civil Service." The 
 
 1830, Republicans (at Chicago) said : " We reaffirm the belief 
 5. avowed in 1876 that the duties levied for the purpose of 
 revenue should so discriminute as to favor American 
 labor" " The reviving industries should be further 
 promoted, and that the commerce already increasing 
 should be steadily encouraged." " The work of popular 
 education is one left to the care of the several States, but 
 it is the duty of the National Government to aid that 
 work to the extent of its Constitutional ability." " The 
 reform of the Civil Service should be thorough, radical 
 and complete." 
 
 The Democrats nominated General Winfield Scott 
 Hancock, of Pennsylvania, for President, and William 
 Henry English, of Indiana, for Vice-President. The 
 Republicans nominated James Abram Garfield, of Ohio, 
 1880 ^ or ^ e ^ rs * on< * ce > an d Chester Alan Arthur, of New 
 Nov' York, for the second. The latter were elected. 
 2. 
 
 The tenth census was taken in 1880. It revealed the 
 fact that the population of the United States had in- 
 creased nearly thirteen-fold since the first census in 1790 
 that is, from 3,929,214 to 50,155,783 and also that 
 the increase from the ninth census to the tenth was 
 12,000,278. Congress, in accordance with the law on the 
 subject, enacted that the number of the members of the 
 House of Representatives should be 325 for the five Con- 
 gresses following the XLVIIth, which ends March 3, 1883. 
 This number gives the ratio of one Representative to 
 every 151,918 of the inhabitants of the United States 
 not including Territories. In the first Congress (1789) 
 the ratio was one Representative to every 30,000. 
 
 The administration of Mr. Hayes drew to a close. It 
 had been one of unusual prosperity throughout the land. 
 Great advance was made in Civil Service Reform ; the
 
 INFLUENCE. 1077 
 
 taxes from Internal Revenue were collected and paid in CHAP. 
 
 LXVII 
 
 without loss of a dollar. His administration will long be - 
 
 held in remembrance for the high tone it took in respect 
 to Temperance in the White House, under the direction 
 of Mrs. Hayes, the influence of which has been felt for 
 good throughout the Union.
 
 CHAPTER LXYIH. 
 GARFIELD'S ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 Sketch of life. Senate of the State of Ohio. Volunteers. In command 
 in Eastern Kentucky. Continuance in the army. In Congress. In- 
 augurated President. Success of the finances. The assassination. 
 Sympathy of the world. Removal to Long Branch. Death. Inter- 
 ment. Incident. Training of citizens. The assassinations and the 
 causes. The Spoils System. 
 
 CHAP. JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD was born on the 19th of No- 
 
 J vember, 1831, in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, whither his 
 
 1831. father had removed a few years before, from the State 
 of New York. He is a fitting type of a nation composed 
 of elements derived from so many races ; in his veins 
 flowed the blood of the Anglo-Saxon, the German and 
 the French (Huguenot), on the mother's side. A cabin 
 built of unhewn logs was his birthplace ; it stood in a 
 small clearing, in the midst of a primeval forest of large 
 trees, a portion of the latter having been removed to 
 make room for a dwelling and to open up a farm ; this 
 had been done by the toil of the father, who died when 
 James the youngest of four children was less than two 
 years old. Blest with a mother having remarkable traits 
 of character, of moral and mental power, of will and per- 
 severance, he was trained early to habits of industry and 
 right views of duty. Poverty from the first pressed 
 hard upon the widow, yet she managed to have her boy 
 fitted for college. He himself, when the work was fin- 
 ished on their little farm, only thirty acres labored as a 
 hired hand for the neighbors ; at the age of sixteen for a 
 while he drove the horses on the tow-path of a canal.
 
 THE STAKT IN LIFE. 1079 
 
 Having read Captain Marry att's sea-stories, his imagina- CHAP. 
 tion pictured the future when he too would be a sailor ; - 
 from this dream he was awakened by the good sense and ] 
 tact of his mother, and henceforth with untiring diligence 
 he devoted himself to his books. Soon after he entered 
 upon his preparatory studies in a neighboring academy, 
 paying part of his expenses by performing the duties of 
 janitor and another portion by being assistant teacher. 
 
 Thus prepared he entered the Junior class in Wil- 1856 - 
 liams College, Massachusetts, where, at the age of twenty- 
 five, he graduated, receiving the Metaphysical Honor of 
 his class, one of the highest given by that institution to 
 her graduates ; meanwhile he had taken a noble stand 
 among his fellow students. On his graduation he was 
 invited to teach the classics in the institution now be- 
 come Hiram College in which he had pursued his pre- 
 paratory studies ; at the close of the first year he was 
 elected its president by the trustees. A laborious worker, 
 his studies took a wide range ; reading law meantime and 
 preparing lectures on a number of subjects, which on his 
 part required investigation, and preaching as opportunity 
 served, he being connected with the denomination called 
 " Church of the Disciples." 
 
 He now began to take a special interest in the politi- 
 cal questions then agitating the 'country on the subject of 
 slavery : his views were philosophical and comprehensive, 
 taking in the relations of the system to individual liberty, 
 and to the material progress of the Nation. Unexpect- 
 edly he was nominated, and elected by a large majority 1859 
 to the Senate of the State of Ohio. There his command- 
 ing talents were recognized, as he impressed his own 
 views not theoretical book-learning, but practical ideas 
 upon his fellow members by means of his well-arranged 
 arguments, and his remarkable power in presenting them 
 clearly. " His rule was never to speak on a subject unless 
 he had thoroughly mastered it." He was admitted to the
 
 1080 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, bar of the Supreme Court of Ohio in 1860 ; six years 
 
 ' later to that of the Supreme Court of the United States. 
 
 After the firing on Sumter, when Mr. Lincoln called 
 for 75,000 troops for a three months' service, Garfield 
 was the first to rise in his place and move that Ohio fur- 
 nish 20,000 men and appropriate three million dollars. 
 These volunteers sprang to arms immediately, and were 
 soon ready to move. Some months later other troops 
 were called for and raised ; to the command of one of 
 these regiments Governor Dennison appointed Garfield, 
 with the rank of colonel. When the men were ready, he 
 1861, was directed to occupy Catlettsburg, at the mouth of the 
 Dec. gig Sandy, and he himself to report to Gen. Buell, who 
 was in command of the Department of Ohio, headquar- 
 ters at Louisville, Ky. The General directed Garfield to 
 drive Gen. Humphrey Marshall out of Eastern Kentucky, 
 who was then invading his native State with forces drawn 
 chiefly from Virginia. It was known that Marshall was 
 entrenched in a camp on the head streams of the Big 
 Sandy, and that the disloyal were joining him. As it 
 was necessary to act promptly, Garfield, whose force had 
 been increased, ordered his little army by telegraph from 
 headquarters to move up the Big Sandy some twenty- 
 eight miles to Louisa, there he joined them and moved 
 V^ - forward till within striking distance of the enemy ; here 
 he halted hoping to unite with a Union force coming 
 from Paris. While thus waiting, he learned fully the 
 position of the invaders. Unexpectedly a messenger came 
 into camp from Gen. Buell ; he brought only an inter- 
 cepted letter from Marshall to his wife, in which he 
 wrote that he was daily expecting to be attacked by ten 
 thousand men. Gen. Buell had said : " Colonel Garfield, 
 you will be so far from headquarters, you must act on 
 your own responsibility." He did so ; putting the letter 
 in his pocket without communicating its contents to any 
 one, he promptly made arrangements to attack the in-
 
 SOLDIER AND CONGRESSMAN. 1081 
 
 vaders, offering as imposing a display as possible with CHAP. 
 bis little army of fourteen hundred men, while Marshall 
 
 had five thousand men and twelve cannon. The strata- 
 
 Jan. 
 
 gem succeeded ; the Union soldiers rushed on so vigor- 10. 
 ously from different points, that the Confederates after 
 a short conflict became panic-stricken and fled and were 
 literally driven out of the State. A few weeks later Gar- 
 field, in recognition of this success, was created Brigadier- 
 General of Volunteers dating from this battle of Middle 
 Creek. Soon afterward he was ordered with a portion 
 of his forces to join Gen. Buell at Nashville, and with 
 these troops he took part in the battle of 1 Pittsburg Land- April 
 ing or Shiloh, where he commanded a brigade. 7 - 
 
 Gen. Garfield's health now failed, and he was com- 
 pelled to retire from the army for its recovery. On its 
 restoration he was detailed by the War Department as a 
 member of a court martial held at Washington for the 
 trial of Gen. Fitz John Porter. We again find him in 
 the field under Gen. Rosecrans, then at Murfreesboro, 
 Tenn., by whom he was appointed Chief of Staff. With Dec. 
 the same commander he was at the battle of Chicka- 1S63, 
 
 manga, where he was very efficient, exposing himself to 
 much danger in the discharge of his duties. Two weeks 
 later he was commissioned Major-general of Volunteers 
 by the President, "for gallant conduct and important 
 services." 
 
 Meantime Garfield had been elected to Congress, and 
 at the urgent request of President Lincoln, he retired 
 from the army and began his career as a national legis- 
 lator. He took his seat, the youngest member in the Dec. 4. 
 House of Representatives ; as he had been in the Legis- 
 lature of Ohio, and the youngest brigadier in the army. 
 The clash of arms was exchanged for that of intellect on 
 the floor of the House, where he took an active part in 
 
 i Hist. 923-986.
 
 1082 HISTOBY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, the discussions of the important questions coming before 
 
 : that body. His comprehensive views, and his power as 
 
 1865. a c ] ose reasoner gave him great influence. At first he 
 was assigned to the Committee on Military Affairs; af- 
 terward, when the war was over, at his own request to 
 the Committee of Ways and Means. He wished to study 
 finance in all its phases, for he discerned that the great 
 questions of the future would be on financial measures, 
 including tariffs. When he was nominated for the 
 1880. Presidency, he had already been chosen United States 
 Senator by the Legislature of his native State. 
 
 James A. Garfield was inaugurated President of the 
 United States on March 4, 1881. The next day he sent 
 to the Senate the following nominations of gentlemen to 
 compose his Cabinet. Without being referred to com- 
 mittees, they were unanimously confirmed : James G. 
 Elaine, of Maine, Secretary of State ; William Windom, 
 of Minnesota, Secretary of the Treasury ; Thomas L. 
 James, of New York, Postmaster-General ; Robert Lin- 
 coln, of Illinois, Secretary of War ; William H. Hunt, of 
 Louisiana, Secretary of the Navy ; Wayne MacVeagh, of 
 Pennsylvania, Attorney-General ; and Samuel J. Kirk- 
 wood, of Iowa, Secretary of the Interior. 
 
 We have seen that in the previous administration the 
 financial measures of the Government inspired so much 
 confidence in the commercial world, and in the minds of 
 bond-holders, that the Secretary of the Treasury was 
 enabled to call in the bonds as they came due, and pay 
 their face value, or, at the option of the holders, change 
 them to bonds bearing a lower rate of interest four per 
 cent. This change was made to such an extent as to save 
 annually more than thirteen million dollars interest to 
 the people. Mr. Secretary Windom, acting on the same 
 principles, was able to save yearly to the Treasury more 
 than fifteen million dollars, from reduced interest on 
 bonds. This was accomplished on the 1st of October,
 
 FINANCIAL SUCCESS. 1083 
 
 1881, when the required operations were completed. CHAP. 
 This was done also at the option of the bond-holders, 
 
 either by paying the face value of the bonds five and 
 six per cents or by refunding them at the rate of three 
 and one half per cent per annum. 
 
 To accommodate foreign bondholders, and to prevent 
 the drain of coin from the Treasury, an agency for the 
 exchange of bonds was established in London there the 
 plan was equally successful. In the words of Secretary 
 Windom, this portion of the National debt is reduced " to 
 a loan payable at the option of the Government, and bear- 
 ing interest at only three and a half per cent per annum. 
 The debt itself meanwhile has been diminishing for the 
 last few years at the annual rate of more than fifty mil- 
 lion dollars. At the close of the Rebellion the National Aug! 
 debt was $2,844,649,626, and the annual interest on the 3L 
 same was $150,000,000 ; the debt is now much dimin- 1881 - 
 ished, and the annual interest on the same is only 
 $75,000,000. The total revenue for the fiscal year end- June 
 ing June 30, 1881, was $363,000,000 ; while the balance 
 of trade at the close of the same time was $257,000,000 
 in favor of the United States. 
 
 As an evidence of the integrity of the officials in the 
 Internal Revenue Department, it is stated that of the 
 more than six hundred million dollars collected in that 
 service during the preceding five years, not one dollar 
 failed to reach the Treasury. 1 And, also, as proof of the 
 economy and industry of the people, it may be mentioned 
 that during the year ending May 30, 1881, there were 
 deposited in the Saving Banks in the Union nearly eight 
 hundred and eighty-two million dollars. 2 It is estimated 
 that the number of depositors is about two million five 
 hundred thousand. 
 
 On July 2, 1881, the American people were shocked 
 
 1 Commissioner Raum's Report, Dec. 5, 1881 . 
 9 Banker's Magazine, Sept., 1881, p. 190.
 
 1084 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, by the announcement that the President had been mor- 
 
 T WITT 
 
 .1: tally wounded by a pistol shot of an assassin named 
 
 1881, Quiteau. Rumor soon after carried the report through- 
 out the land that the President was no more. The mani- 
 festations of sorrow were intense, for by his generous and 
 noble nature he had secured the respect of good men, 
 and the love of those who knew him best. Some hours 
 later the telegraph spread the news that he still survived, 
 but there was little hope of his recovery ; he himself 
 bearing up against despondency by his cheerful Christian 
 fortitude. On his asking the attending physician as 
 to his injury, the reply was, " You have a chance for re- 
 covery." Then he said cheerfully, " Doctor, we'll take 
 that chance." He murmured once and once only, " I 
 don't know why they should shoot me ; I have injured 
 no one." The sympathies of the whole civilized world 
 were greatly enlisted. From the heads of the Govern- 
 ments of Europe and- from those of the far East, came 
 messages of condolence. Conventions of men of science 
 and religious assemblies in this land or in Europe, which 
 happened to be in session, sent expressions of sympathy ; 
 from the Patriarch of the Armenian Church at Constanti- 
 nople, and from His Holiness at Rome, came messages of 
 kind words, and Sir Moses Montefiore telegraphed from 
 London to his brethren in Palestine the request that 
 prayers might be offered in behalf of the President in the 
 synagogues of the four holy cities. Days of fasting and 
 prayer were appointed by the Governors of the respec- 
 tive States, and throughout the whole Union prevailed 
 an earnest spirit of supplication to God, modified by a 
 feeling that found expression in the words, "Thy will 
 be done." The American people were especially grati- 
 fied to learn of the depth of kind feeling that prevailed 
 in England. In numbers of the churches and cathedrals 
 special services of prayer were held, and the Queen her- 
 self sent a personal dispatch to Mrs. Garfield saying, "I
 
 THE NATION'S INVALID. 1085 
 
 im most anxious to know how the President is to-day, CHAP. 
 
 I XV11I 
 
 and to express my deep sympathy with you both." 
 
 The President lay at the White House for sixty-six 1881 - 
 days, and often apparently at the verge of death. It was 
 essential that he should be removed from the debilitating 
 
 O 
 
 influence of that climate to an atmosphere more cool and 
 more health-inspiring. Long Branch, on the ocean shore 
 was decided upon. The Pennsylvania Kailway furnished 
 the train and its equipments their most commodious 
 and sumptuous car and three others. The Nation's inva- 
 lid was placed on board by tender hands, and the train at ge t 
 6.30 A.M. moved quietly off, and even when under full 6. 
 speed, with scarcely a perceptible vibration. So admirable 
 were the arrangements, the right-of-way was given 
 over six roads ; a pilot-engine preceding the train by 
 twenty minutes', and lest the patient should be disturbed, 
 not a bell was rung nor a signal-whistle blown. The 
 train for a portion of the time made seventy miles an 
 hour, stopping only to replenish water and fuel. Along 
 the route, especially through the cities, the people in sym- 
 pathizing crowds stood silently by as the train passed, and 
 none the less was this interest manifested at the minor 
 stations. This feeling was not limited to the multitudes 
 that saw the train gliding along swiftly and almost noise- 
 lessly as if conscious of the burden it was bearing, but 
 the telegraph, as if in sympathy, laid aside business, to 
 carry messages over the Union from almost every station 
 passed, telling the hour and the condition of the patient, 
 as reported by the physicians on written slips of paper, 
 which were thrown from the train. Thousands upon 
 thousands in the cities watched these bulletins as they 
 appeared every few minutes. At length, after passing 
 over nearly two hundred and forty miles, the cottage was 
 reached ; and in less than ten minutes the President was 
 safely carried within. Here were witnessed similar 
 manifestations; crowds of people had assembled and
 
 1086 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, were silently awaiting the arrival of the train, and also 
 LXYIIL carriages filled with summer visitors from the neighbor- 
 1881. j n g Catering-places, while in shore lay twenty or thirty 
 pleasure yachts, whose decks were covered with specta- 
 tors. 
 
 Sept. The removal was in vain ; he lingered till the 19th of 
 19> September, then passed away. President Garfield died 
 at 35 minutes past 10 P.M., and the Vice-President, Ches- 
 ter Alan Arthur, in the presence of a few gentlemen, at 
 his residence in New York City, assumed the office of 
 President at 2 A.M. on the 20th, Judge John K. Brady, 
 of the Supreme Court of that State, administering the 
 oath of office. 
 
 The President's remains were taken to "Washington, 
 where they lay in state for two days in the Rotunda 
 under the dome of the Capitol ; thence they were trans- 
 Sept, ferred to their last resting-place in Lake Yiew Cemetery, 
 ' Cleveland, Ohio. The funeral train from Long Branch 
 to "Washington, and thence to Cleveland, elicited every- 
 where evidences of the Nation's sorrow. While at Wash- 
 ington a magnificent wreath of flowers was brought 
 from the British Legation, and placed on the casket ; the 
 card attached read, " Queen Victoria to the memory of 
 the late President Garfield. An expression of her sorrow 
 and sympathy with Mrs. Garfield and the American 
 Nation." The manifestations of grief were remarkable 
 throughout the land ; public buildings, places of business, 
 private dwellings, locomotives and trains, were draped in 
 mourning ; and even more expressive were the emblems 
 of grief in the simplest forms, as everywhere exhibited 
 by those of the humbler classes in respect to wealth. 
 
 For eighty long days President Garfield was in the 
 thoughts of the people as a heroic sufferer ; and he was 
 cherished in their hearts as one of themselves. His 
 domestic life was ennobling ; it was that of the Christian 
 home the corner-stone of the Nation's moral edifice.
 
 THE INCIDENT. 1087 
 
 The Convention in which he was nominated for the Presi- CHAP. 
 
 dency, in its perplexity of clashing opinions, instinctively ' 
 
 turned to him at last, as the one man in whom they all 1881< 
 could confide. He never sought an office ; it always came 
 to him. 
 
 An incident in President Garfield's life is still more 
 striking to-day than at the time it occurred. 1 Congress 1865. 
 had adjourned, and he was in New York City when the 15*' 
 news came of the assassination of Mr. Lincoln. On leav- 
 ing his hotel he strolled down to Wall Street, not being 
 aware that business was suspended, and instead a mass- 
 meeting of business men was to be held in front of the 
 Exchange. A crowd amounting to many thousands was 
 already assembled ; a friend recognizing Garfield invited 
 him to the platform. Speeches were made delineating 
 the enormity of the crime, as well as the causes which led 
 to its commission ; the exasperated multitude swayed 
 with emotion, and was apparently being wrought up to a 
 frenzy of excitement ; here and there in the crowd mur- 
 mured words of vengeance were heard. Presently there 
 appeared borne aloft two long pieces of scantling crossed 
 like the letter X ; from their junction hung a rope with 
 a slip-noose attached. A group of determined men 
 accompanied this significant emblem as it moved slowly 
 among the people ; suddenly some one shouted out giving 
 orders where it should go ; in a twinkling the cross-beams 
 commenced moving in the direction named, followed 
 by an immense crowd. "What would have been the re- 
 sult we may imagine, if these enraged citizens had not 
 been diverted from their design of vengeance ; a tele- 
 gram from Washington had come a few minutes before, 
 saying, " Seward is dying." This announcement added 
 strength to their determination. Garfield on the impulse 
 sprang to his feet, and seizing one of the small flags, 
 
 Edmund Kirke's Life of Garfield, p. 25.
 
 1088 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, waved it till he attracted the attention of the moving 
 LXVlli. crowd ? thinking it was another telegram they halted in 
 1865. silence, then pointing toward heaven, and as if inspired 
 with reverential awe, he slowly and distinctly exclaimed : 
 " Fellow citizens ! Clouds and darkness are round about 
 Him ! His pavilion is dark waters, and thick clouds of 
 the skies ! Justice and judgment are the habitation of 
 His throne ! Mercy and truth shall go before His face ! 
 Fellow citizens ! God reigns ; and the Government at 
 "Washington still lives." The effect was marvelous. 
 The cross-beams were lowered ; vengeance was left to 
 God. When afterward asked what words he had used, 
 he answered, " I cannot tell, I could not have told five 
 minutes afterward. I only know I drew the lightning 
 from that crowd and brought it back to reason." 
 
 The American people look upon those who rise from 
 humble stations to success in life as the natural outgrowth 
 of their systems of education, of self-respect induced by 
 political liberty, and of the underlying principle that the 
 pathway to success is open to every one in the sphere to 
 which he is adapted by nature ; be it in the humbler 
 walks of life, or in positions of trust and responsibility. 
 Their institutions supply the conditions ; success depends 
 upon the talents, the industry, and the integrity of the 
 individual himself ; and those thus trained constitute, in 
 whatever sphere they move, what the better portion of 
 the American people conceive as their ideal of nobility 
 that based on moral and intellectual worth. The pecu- 
 liarity of this mode of training citizens has attracted the 
 attention of thinking minds abroad. Says Dr. Tait, Arch- 
 bishop of Canterbury, after giving a sketch of the char- 
 acter of Garfield : " All this was calculated to enlist our 
 sympathy, and then we were taught to trace a career, 
 such as England knows nothing of, and to wonder at the 
 mode in which great men are formed in a country so like 
 and yet so dissimilar from our own. All this I must say
 
 in 1882 
 with, the data of ficlmis.iTs>n <>r each, staff 
 
 FORDS, HOWARD 1 MULBERT, NEW YORK.
 
 PURE MORALS DEMANDED. 1089 
 
 to most of us was quite new. It opened up a picture of CHAP. 
 manhood, such as in this country we were little acquainted 
 with." 1881. 
 
 A marked change, which has greatly influenced poli- 
 tics, has been going on in our country for nearly half a 
 century. The best elements in American society deem 
 it of primary importance that statesmen, in addition to 
 their qualifications as such, should be pure in their do- 
 mestic life. The national conventions of political organ- 
 izations on occasions when the whole people are to vote, 
 are compelled to nominate candidates of unblemished 
 moral lives for the higher offices in the State govern- 
 ments as well as for the Presidency and the Vice-Presi- 
 dency ; on no point are the people so strenuous as on this. 
 They repudiate the theory that moral character is not an 
 important element in the qualifications of public officials, 
 they demand correct morals as well as statesmanship. 
 
 It is scarcely fair to compare this appreciation of mo- 
 rality by the vast majority of the American people, when 
 they vote for their highest officials, with that of those na- 
 tions who have no voice in the selection of their supreme 
 rulers; the latter claiming the sovereignty, not on the 
 will of the governed but on the accidental claims of birth 
 alone. Though the domestic example of a royal ruler 
 may be injurious to the morals of the people, the latter 
 have no redress. Sometimes ardent advocates of royalty 
 attempt to explain away the equivocal position of such a 
 ruler by endeavoring to separate the private moral char- 
 acter of the individual from his public or political charac- 
 ter. There may be instances in which this evidence of 
 correct moral appreciation is not so markedly clear as 
 when the whole American people demand pure morals 
 in their candidates for the highest offices of the nation. 
 There may be Congressional or Assembly districts that 
 occasionally send representatives whom the majority of 
 the whole people would repudiate. This distinction is
 
 1090 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, so clearly defined in practice, that one may be able from 
 LXVlll t ne character of the representative himself to divine 
 1881. quite clearly that of his especial constituents those who 
 voted for him. 
 
 "Within the space of forty years four Presidents have 
 died in office, all virtually belonging to the same political 
 organization. Of these the last two were assassinated, each 
 
 O * 
 
 of whom was remarkable for his kindly genial nature, 
 and each seemed incapable of designedly doing that which 
 might make personal enemies. "We must look elsewhere 
 for the causes that led to these dire results. In the case 
 of Mr. Lincoln the influences that induced his assassina- 
 tion were the outgrowth of that spirit which had for 
 generations outraged the most sacred rights of humanity, 
 and, struggling in rebellion, became maliciously frenzied 
 when its power was annihilated. The hatred which found 
 expression in publishing vile epithets and vulgar abuse 
 of President Lincoln, stimulated the assassin to imbrue 
 his hands in the blood of the best friend of the surrendered 
 South. Infinitely less excusable were the influences that 
 led to the death of Garfield. There is abroad a spirit 
 of assassination of character which honorable men hold 
 more dear than life as well as of persons ; the former 
 inspired by those in a higher social scale, the latter among 
 the low and vicious. It was misrepresentation and un- 
 relenting abuse of the late President that influenced the 
 groveling mind of a conceited and disappointed office- 
 seeker to murder him. The question may be asked, which 
 is inherently the greater criminal, the slanderer in high 
 position or the assassin in low ? 
 
 It is incumbent upon the American people to banish 
 the spirit of slander and abuse by showing their condem- 
 nation of the crime. The disrespect shown to legitimate 
 authority has an undermining effect upon the morals of 
 the people, and has on a larger scale the same tendency 
 to disorganize society that disobedience to parents has to
 
 THE SPOILS SYSTEM. 1091 
 
 destroy the sacredness of home and injure permanently CHAP. 
 the character of children. The effect of these influences LXYni 
 is to corrupt the inner life of the nation by a sort of 1881. 
 moral blood-poisoning ; it is inconsistent for citizens to 
 deprecate slanderous publications, and at the same time 
 by their patronage encourage them. 
 
 So much misrepresentation and falsehood are usually 
 published by partisans, that intelligent people distrust all 
 statements on political subjects until they are verified ; 
 to such an extent does this feeling prevail, that even gen- 
 tlemen of opposite parties will take the word of each other 
 on business affairs, but hesitate to do so on the subject of 
 politics. "Were the " Spoils System," so called, eliminated 
 from the canvassing of questions of national policy, the 
 temptation would be removed either for the misrepresen- 
 tation of facts or for the slander of personal character. 
 Such questions would then be calmly discussed, both 
 parties being desirous to arrive at the truth and adopt the 
 policy best suited to the whole country. The discussion, 
 might be earnest, but should no more induce undue ex- 
 citement than resolving any ordinary question of political 
 economy. If the minor offices in the service of the 
 United States were conducted on the same principles that 
 govern business men or corporations in managing their 
 affairs, there would be no inducement for tricky dema- 
 gogues to promise offices as rewards for personal services. 
 The minor officers have only to perform their respective 
 duties, since they have no more concern with the policy 
 of the government than the general interest that other 
 citizens have who may not be thus employed, or that the 
 clerk has with the management of the firm or corporation 
 in whose service he is, with the exception that they have 
 their votes like all citizens on that policy which the 
 government is about to adopt. 
 
 The case of the Cabinet or heads of departments in 
 the United States Government is essentially different.
 
 1092 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. They ought to be in sympathy with the principles of 
 
 ' the party in power, that is, of the majority of the peo- 
 
 t81 ' pie ; and to secure harmony they should be appointed as 
 they are now. It would be inconsistent, and would de- 
 feat the will of this majority, to have these officials refuse 
 to carry out the policy virtually decided upon in the 
 election that placed the advocates of that policy in power. 
 
 It is remarkable that the centre of the territory of the 
 United States and the centre of its population are both 
 near the thirty-ninth degree of north latitude. The for- 
 mer is not far from Abilene, Kansas, and the latter, as 
 found by the census of 1880, is in Kentucky, about eight 
 miles west by south of Cincinnati. In the estimate of 
 territory, Alaska has been omitted. According to the 
 first census (1790), the centre of population was east of 
 Chesapeake Bay, about twenty-two miles from Baltimore, 
 and a short distance north of the degree just mentioned ; 
 it has since been moving westward, but near the same 
 parallel of latitude, meanwhile crossing it four times. 
 
 For thirty years this centre remained east of the Alle- 
 ghanies; but from 1820 to 1830 it swayed south of the 
 39th parallel. During that time Florida was obtained 
 and large settlements were made in the Gulf States ; then 
 from 1830 to 1840 it crossed to the north of that parallel, 
 a large population native and foreign having poured 
 into the States south and west of the Great Lakes ; from 
 1840 to 1850 it crossed to the south of the line meantime 
 Texas having been annexed ; from 1850 to 1860, Califor- 
 nia was obtained, and the centre moved west faster than 
 usual, crossed the Ohio and to the north of the parallel ; 
 from 1860 to 1870 it still moved west by north ; while 
 from 1870 to 1880 it has received an impulse toward the 
 south and is now very near the parallel of thirty-nine. 
 This latest result was caused, evidently, by the large in- 
 crease of the colored population of the South.
 
 c
 
 CHAPTER LXIX. 
 
 ARTHUR'S ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 Sketch of Life. The two Law Cases. The Second Oath of Office. The 
 Inaugural. Destructive Fires. Yorktown Celebration. Meeting of 
 Congress and the Message. Progress of the Country. 
 
 CHESTER ALAN ARTHUR was born in October 5, 1830, CHAP. 
 
 F YTY 
 
 in Franklin County, Vermont. When a boy his father, 
 
 an Irishman and a Baptist clergyman, removed to the 1830- 
 State of New York. Young Arthur was fitted for college 
 under the supervision of his father, a ripe scholar in the 
 classics. He entered Union College, N. Y., when only 
 fifteen years of age, and took class honors each year. He 
 taught meanwhile occasionally to aid in his support as a 
 student, but keeping up with his class in his studies ; on 
 graduating he ranked in scholarship with the first six of a 
 class of one hundred members. After his graduation 
 Arthur took charge for a time of an Academy in North 
 Pownal, Yermont, in which institution Garfield afterward 
 taught when he was a student in Williams College. He 
 studied law and entered upon the practice of his profes- 
 sion in the City of New York. 
 
 Mr. Arthur became identified with two cases of law 
 in which he was successful, and the decision in both in- 
 stances had great influence. One was the famous Lem- 
 mon case, in which a gentleman of that name brought 
 eight slaves from Norfolk, Ya., to New York City, in- 
 tending to transfer them in a sailing vessel to Texas, 
 whither he himself was migrating. At the solicitation of 
 a committee of the colored people, Arthur, by writ of
 
 1094 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, habeas corpus, applied to the court and succeeded in 
 L * 1X securing their freedom, as the Fugitive Slave Law passed 
 1852. two years before did not apply, these negroes not being 
 " fugitives." To aid him in the case Mr. Arthur secured 
 the services of Wm. M. Evarts. The other case had a 
 similar result. On a Sunday a respectable and neatly 
 dressed colored woman was returning from her duties as 
 superintendent of a colored Sunday-school, when she 
 stepped on board a street car, paid her fare and took 
 her seat, Presently a " drunken white man," with im- 
 precations, insisted that she should not ride in the same 
 car with him. The conductor asked her to leave, she re- 
 fused, a struggle ensued, the police were called in and she 
 was forcibly ejected from the car, her dress being almost 
 torn to shreds in the struggle. To Mr. Arthur she ap- 
 pealed for redress ; he undertook her case and obtained a 
 verdict against the railway for five hundred dollars dam- 
 ages. The company promptly paid the money, and ever 
 after the colored people on equal conditions with other 
 citizens have ridden in the public conveyances of the 
 city and State of New York. 
 
 When the Rebellion began, Edwin D. Morgan, Gov- 
 ernor of the State of New York, appointed Mr. Arthur 
 Inspector-General, and soon after to the oifice of Quarter- 
 master-General, a position of great responsibility. Though 
 the war accounts of New York were so much larger than 
 those of any other State, yet they were the first handed 
 in at Washington, and when audited were found perfect, 
 not a dollar but was accounted for. When the Governors 
 1862.' of the lo ^ al States privately assembled in the city of New 
 York to concert measures in aid of the National Govern- 
 ment, Mr. Arthur was the only gentleman invited to meet 
 with them in consultation as to the best means of aidino- 
 
 o 
 
 the loyal cause with men and material, his remarkable 
 executive ability being thus recognized. When appointed 
 to the Collectorship of the port of New York, he managed
 
 THE INAUGURAL FOREST FIRES. 1095 
 
 the affairs of the office so perfectly, that when renomi- CHAP. 
 nated four years afterward he was unanimously confirmed LXIX 
 by the Senate without reference to the usual committee. 1881. 
 
 After Garfield's death, in order to have a record of 
 the new official inauguration at the Capital it was 
 thought better to have Mr. Arthur take the oath of 
 office also at Washington. This was administered by 
 Chief Justice Waite in the presence of the Cabinet, ex- 
 Presidents Grant and Hayes, Gen. Sherman, Senator 
 Sherman and Justice Strong of the U. S. Supreme Court. 
 The ceremony was informal but very solemn. The Presi- 
 dent delivered a brief inaugural. After alluding feeling- 
 ly to the sad event that had placed him in his present 
 position he says : " All the noble aspirations of my lament- 
 ed predecessor which found expression in his life, the 
 measures devised and suggested during his brief admin- 
 istration to correct abuses and enforce economy, to ad- 
 vance prosperity and promote the general welfare, to 
 insure domestic security and maintain friendly and honor- 
 able relations with the nations of the earth, will be gar- 
 nered in the hearts of the people, and it will be my earnest 
 endeavor to profit, and to see that the nation shall profit 
 by his example and experience." 
 
 Destructive forest fires occurred in the State of Michi- 
 gan during the first week in September. A terrific hur- 
 ricane was blowing at the time, and the fire leaped from 
 the forest across the clearings and burned the houses 
 and barns of the inhabitants. Several hundred persons 
 perished from the flames and exposure, and the cattle and 
 other domestic animals died by thousands. It is estimated 
 that several hundred square miles of territory were liter- 
 ally burned over, and whole villages were destroyed al- 
 most entirely. As is usual in such cases, the people's 
 sympathies were enlisted and assistance in the form of 
 money and needed supplies flowed in to aid the sufferers. 
 
 Since the Centennial celebration of the conflict at
 
 1096 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. Lexington, April 19, 1775, there have been many others 
 IjXIX - partaking in some instances of a local rather than a national 
 1881. interest. A few were national, as they commemorated 
 events which had a commanding influence upon the prog- 
 ress of the Revolution. "The Centennial" in 1876, be- 
 cause of the day it commemorated, was purely national in 
 its character, and as such was by far the most important ; 
 then came the celebration at Saratoga, 1 which, because 
 of its influence, has been reckoned among the fifteen de- 
 cisive battles of the world,* as it was this victory which 
 decided the French government to acknowledge the In- 
 dependence of the United States. Then followed the 
 treaty with that power, and the alliance which in due 
 time brought aid both by sea and land to the decisive 
 campaign, which ended with the surrender of Cornwallis 
 on the 19th of October, 1781. This surrender being the 
 most important of all events of that period except the 
 Declaration, its anniversary became more than usually in- 
 teresting to the people of the United States, as that vic- 
 tory was the virtual end of the war. The celebration 
 was rendered still more striking by the presence of the 
 invited guests of the nation Frenchmen and Germans. 
 They were the descendants or relatives of the officers 
 belonging to these nations, who in that day aided in the 
 cause Lafayette, Rochambeau, De Grasse and the Baron 
 von Steuben. 3 
 
 The Forty-seventh Congress assembled on Monday, 
 December 5th ; when both Houses were organized Presi- 
 dent Arthur sent in his first annual Message. After al- 
 luding to the bereavement of the nation in the loss of 
 President Garfield, he proceeds to discuss the affairs of 
 the country. In relation to the neutrality and guarantee 
 of the Panama Canal he assumes the same position that 
 was taken by President Garfield, and enunciated by Sec- 
 
 P- 481- Chesney's Fifteen Battles. 
 
 See Patton's Memorial of the Yorktown Celebration.
 
 THE ANNUAL MESSAGE PROSPERITY. 1097 
 
 retary Elaine in his note to Mr. Lowell, our Minister to CHAP. 
 Great Britain. The Message says : " My lamented pro- LXIX - 
 decessor felt it his duty to place before the European 1881. 
 powers the reasons which make the prior guarantee of 
 the United States indispensable, and for which the inter- 
 jection of any foreign guarantee might be regarded as a 
 superfluous and unfriendly act." " I have not hesitated 
 to supplement the action of my predecessor by proposing 
 to her Majesty's Government the modification of that 
 instrument (the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, 1850), and the 
 abrogation of such clauses thereof as do not comport with 
 the obligations of the United States toward Colombia, 
 or with the vital needs of the two friendly parties to the 
 compact." 
 
 On Civil Service Keform the Message says : " Original 
 appointments should be based upon ascertained fitness. 
 The tenure of office should be stable. Positions of re- 
 sponsibility should so far as practicable be filled by the 
 promotion of worthy and efficient officers." On the In- 
 dian question he recommended that lands or homesteads 
 should be allotted in severalty to such Indians as desire 
 it to induce them to become civilized ; he also urged that 
 liberal appropriations be made to support schools for 
 Indian children. 
 
 All the members of Garfield's Cabinet, except Sec. 
 Lincoln, resigned. The new officers were : F. T. Fre- 
 linghuysen of N. J., Secretary of State ; C. T. Folger of 
 N. Y., Treasury ; Wm. E. Chandler of Vt, Navy ; Henry 
 M. Teller of Col., Interior ; T. O. Howe of Wis., Post- 
 master-General ; Benj. H. Brewster of Penn., Attorney- 
 General. 
 
 The country continued to advance in its prosperity 
 during the whole of the year 1881. The income from 
 Internal Revenue was unprecedentedly large, owing 
 to our industrial progress, and the consequent increase of 
 general business throughout the country, as well as that
 
 1098 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, derived from duties on imported merchandise. The sur- 
 
 r VTV 
 
 J plus of these importations has been very largely of arti- 
 
 1881. c ] es o f luxury, such as textile fabrics of an unusually 
 expensive character ; works of art of almost every variety, 
 evincing a tendency in those having the means to gratify 
 their taste in the adornments of persons or of dwellings. 
 These heavy importations of luxuries must aid in turning 
 the balance of trade against us, seeing that our exports 
 may not be hereafter so large as for the last few years, 
 when the crops of Europe were comparatively short. 
 Financial prudence takes alarm at this unusual expendi- 
 ture. 1 
 
 The last six months of the year paid off more than 
 $75,000,000 of the national debt, which on Jan. 1, 1882, 
 was in round numbers about $1,703,000,000. 
 
 The American people have taken an interest in explo- 
 rations, not only in the Antarctic Ocean, but also in the 
 Arctic, 2 in efforts to reach the North Pole. After Dr. 
 Kane's return from his unsuccessful attempt to rescue 
 Sir John Franklin, Dr. Isaac J. Hayes, who accompanied 
 him in capacity of surgeon, organized an expedition to 
 explore what he believed to be an open sea around the 
 Pole. This theory is held by many, though it has not 
 yet been verified ; thus far the discoveries made do not 
 prove its fallacy. Dr. Hayes was aided by private sub- 
 
 18 60. scriptions; he sailed from Boston direct for the west 
 July6. C0 a6t of Greenland, arriving at Upernavik (74 north) in 
 
 that country on the 12th of August. His picked crew 
 
 consisted of only fourteen men, but here he obtained a 
 
 Aug. few more. He sailed again, expecting to reach a point 
 
 20 - about 79 or 80 north, but was frozen in in latitude 78. 
 
 1861. By means of sledges and with much toil he reached Grin- 
 May nell Land, 81 35' north lat. and west long. 70 30', be- 
 yond which further progress was impeded on account of 
 rotten ice and cracks. This was the most northerly point 
 
 1 Hist. p. 1059. t Hist. pp. 743. 841.
 
 ARCTIC EXPEDITIONS. 1099 
 
 thus far reached. From a high peak of land in the vicin- CHAP. 
 
 LXIX 
 
 ity Dr. Hayes saw what he believed to be the open sea 
 surrounding the Pole, but still further north appeared 1861- 
 other high land. 
 
 Captain Charles F. Hall, a practical whaleman who be- 
 came interested in the subject, set out on an exploration 
 from New London, Conn., in 1860 in a whale-ship ; un- 
 fortunately losing his boat he was compelled to return 
 without accomplishing his purpose. Nothing daunted, ig64. 
 lie organized another expedition and sailed for the Arctic 
 regions in 1864. He penetrated north of Hudson's Bay, 
 and brought home many relics of Sir John Franklin and 
 much important information. Captain Hall spent five 
 years among the Esquimaux ; learning their language 
 and obtaining a knowledge of their customs ; he returned 
 to the United States in 1869. He now received aid from 
 Congress and again sailed in the schooner Polaris, 400 1871. 
 tons burden. He reached 81 38 ' north, but impeded 
 by ice he made a sledge expedition, and reached 82 16' 
 about 502 statute miles from the Pole ; he returned to 
 the ship, where soon after he was taken ill and suddenly 
 died. Captain Tyson of Hall's crew with eighteen others 
 became separated from the latter, when suddenly the ice 
 on which they were, separated from the main field and 
 they were carried away ; thus they floated, in different 
 directions, about two thousand miles, and were finally 
 rescued by the British steamship Tigress. 
 
 Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka, of the United States 
 Army, left New York in the ship Eothen. This expedi- 1878 
 tion was fitted out by private subscription, the main ob- June 
 ject being to ascertain more fully in respect to the fate of 
 Sir John Franklin. It was very successful. 
 
 A recent expedition (1879) under the command of 
 Lieutenant De Long was fitted out by the munificence of 
 James Gordon Bennett of New York City. De Long, 
 in a staunch steam vessel, the Jeannette, chose the new
 
 1100 HISTORY 05 THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, 
 
 CHAP, route through Behring Straits ; all the others passed up 
 
 1 either the west side of Greenland or the west side of 
 
 1881. ^" orw ay. "When fairly through the Straits the Jeannette 
 headed toward the Pole, but when in the latitude of 
 about 71 was caught in the ice near an island since 
 known as Herald Island, and thence held fast ; she floated 
 helplessly twenty -one months in a north-westerly direction, 
 until finally crushed by the ice in latitude about 77, and 
 near west longitude 160 from Greenwich. The crew 
 took to the boats, and a portion of them reached land at 
 the mouth of the river Lena in the Russian Empire. The 
 remainder have not been definitely heard from, though at 
 this writing parties have gone in search of them. Prof. 
 Nordenskjold, sailing from Tromsoe in Norway on the 
 Atlantic, passed round to the east and reached Behring 
 Straits in the Pacific, thus accomplishing the long sought 
 for " North-west Passage." 
 
 Meanwhile, several expeditions have been fitted out 
 in Europe from Germany, Austria, Denmark, Norway, 
 France and England. One belonging to the latter, under 
 Commandant Nares in 1876 reached the nearest point to 
 the Pole unless Leigh Smith, an Englishman and inde- 
 pendent yachtsman, has come still nearer in 1880 about 
 84: north, if the maps published recently are correct, and 
 distant from the Pole about 415 statute miles. 
 
 These explorations have assumed an international char- 
 acter. The plan proposed is for each government at 
 some convenient point to establish depots for provisions 
 and suitable materials for making repairs. Parties can 
 avail themselves of these as starting points, and fall back 
 upon them when necessity requires. The United States 
 government has already two such stations ; one at Point 
 Barrow and one at Lady Franklin Bay north of Smith 
 Sound about 81 30 ' north and 50 west longitude. The 
 latter is the most northerly point ever inhabited fora length 
 of time ; it being about 588 statute miles from the Pole.
 
 COMMERCE AGRICULTURE. 1101 
 
 Russia has a similar station at the mouth of the Lena CHAP. 
 
 JRiver, and the remaining European governments propose - 
 
 to establish at least seven other depots, which explorers 
 can make available. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 This Government, founded on the recognition of the 1883< 
 civil and religious rights of man, may be regarded as an 
 experiment in process of trial, but with the highest hopes 
 of success. It is natural that under such a Government 
 the people should make progress in literature, in science, 
 and in those mechanical arts and inventions that promote 
 the comfort and advancement of mankind. 
 
 Let us take a rapid glance at the progress made by 
 this youthful nation in the short life of one hundred 
 years. Since the Declaration of Independence the num- 
 ber of inhabitants, then estimated at three millions, has 
 increased more than sixteen-fold ; and since the first cen- 
 sus (1790) the number has increased from 3,929,214 to 1790 
 50,155,783 thirteen-fold. In the same period foreign ^ 
 commerce has increased in value from twenty to nine 
 hundred million dollars, while the internal trade has 
 reached about twelve hundred millions. In connection 
 with this has been a steady increase in the facilities of 
 communication and transport, first by means of steam- 
 boats, which now abound upon our rivers and great lakes ; 
 by means of canals connecting the lakes and the great 1809. 
 valley of the Mississippi with the Atlantic, and railroads Ig37 
 extending to all parts of the land, and which have in- 
 creased to an aggregate length of ninety-four thousand 
 miles, in operation or in process of construction, at an ex- 
 pense of five thousand million dollars. 
 
 A steady progress has been made in agriculture, in 
 which a greater number are engaged than in any other 
 employment, as farmers in the Northern and planters in 
 the Southern States. As an agricultural product, Indian
 
 1102 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, corn stands first in value, eight hundred and four million 
 dollars ; wheat, five hundred and seventy-four ; hay, four 
 
 1880. hundred and thirty, and cotton about two hundred and 
 seventy millions, and so on through the list of crops ; 
 while the cattle numbered twenty-eight million, and the 
 swine fifty-five. The products of the cotton and woollen 
 manufacturers amounted respectively to one hundred and 
 eighty-eight, and one hundred and sixty-four million dol- 
 lars. 
 
 The inventive genius of the people has been active in 
 securing the powers of nature in adding to the comforts of 
 human life. In implements for cultivating the soil there 
 have been innumerable improvements, from the simple 
 hoe to the steam plough ; and from the primitive sickle 
 and scythe to the reaping and mowing machine. As 
 striking have been the improvements in the steam engine ; 
 in ship-building, from the swift sailing clipper to the 
 sharp-prowed ocean steamer copied now by England's 
 steam marine ; and in printing-presses, by means of one 
 Hoe's thirty thousand impressions can be taken in an 
 hour. The sewing machine, that friend of woman, is a 
 purely American invention, and so is that not less useful 
 machine, the cotton gin. Fifteen thousand patents have 
 been taken out in a single year at Washington. 
 
 1381. We have seen the character of the first settlers of this 
 land ; their intelligence, their zeal in founding institutions 
 imbued with the spirit of civil and religious liberty. The 
 time came to welcome another immigration. In 1819 
 Congress first directed the collectors of ports to take cog- 
 
 1819. nizance of the foreigners who arrived in the country, and 
 make returns of the same to the Secretary of State. 
 That immigration, subject to great fluctuations, in one 
 
 1854. year amounted to three hundred and seventy-two thou- 
 sand. Of these the majority had no higher skill than to 
 engage in the simplest forms of manual labor. They 
 aided immensely in the development of the country ; for
 
 It, 
 

 
 DESIRABLE IMMIGRANTS. 1103 
 
 none but the energetic emigrate to better their condition, CHAP 
 
 LXIX 
 and they bring with them that element of character so 
 
 valuable. Without their toil our canals would never have - 1 
 been dug, nor our railroads built, nor the improvements 
 in our towns and cities. They have received the recom- 
 pense of their daily labor, yet, as a Nation, we acknowl- 
 edge to them our obligations. 
 
 Since then, especially during the three last decades, 
 the character of immigrants from beyond the Atlantic has 
 materially changed. As the manufacturing industries of 
 the country developed its resources the inducement for 
 skilled labor was greatly increased, and a much greater 
 proportion of skilful mechanics have come among us to 
 become valued citizens, and train their children in our 
 common schools to be Americans. The public lands, as 
 offered by the Homestead Bill, have brought an immense 
 number who have settled upon them as industrious, eco- 
 nomical and thrifty farmers, especially in the West and 
 Northwest. Intelligent merchants from abroad have 
 aided in extending our commerce, and also an increasing 
 number of educated men have found here a home and a 
 field of usefulness, both as lawyers and physicians, and as 
 ministers of the Gospel and professors in our colleges, and 
 teachers of our youth. The whole number of immigrants 
 since 1820 now amounts to about ten millions. 
 
 The cheap lands of the great West offered induce- 
 ments- to the enterprising in the older States to migrate, 
 and while they leveled the forests or brought the prairies 
 under cultivation, the industry of the States they had left 
 was stimulated, and, by means of manufactures and com- 
 merce, they supplied the wants of those who had gone 
 West, and were themselves benefited in return by ex- 
 changing the product of their mills and workshops for 
 cheaper food brought from the great valley. 
 
 As reported by the Secretary of the Interior, it ap- 
 pears that under that beneficent measure the Homestead
 
 1104 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP. Billj during the seventeen years it has been in operation, 
 "' an area equal that of the States of Pennsylvania and New 
 
 York has been taken up and occupied as farms by more 
 1881. than four hundred and ninety-nine thousand families or 
 households, which on an average of five persons to each 
 aggregates two million four hundred and ninety-five 
 thousand nearly one half the population of the State of 
 New York by the census of 1880. The yearly average 
 of area settled under this bill is about equal that of the 
 States of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined, while 
 the annual average number of households has been about 
 thirty thousand. In addition nearly one third as much 
 area has been yearly sold by the National Government to 
 settlers, who prefer to purchase farms in certain locali- 
 ties, especially along railroads ; besides the amount sold 
 by railway corporations from lands granted them by the 
 Government in aid of the construction of such roads. 
 The combination of the three systems speedily forms 
 settlements sufficiently populated to sustain churches and 
 schools so dear to the American heart. 
 
 The youth of the land have not been forgotten, pub- 
 lic schools having their origin in Massachusetts, have 
 become the heritage of all the States. 1 At convenient 
 points Congress has set apart a liberal portion of the pub- 
 lic lands for the special support of common schools in 
 the new States and territories. The older States, mean- 
 while, have been making laudable exertions to increase 
 heir school funds. The number of pupils in academies, 
 and in the public and private schools, is estimated at more 
 than seven millions ; and in colleges, theological semina- 
 ries, medical and law schools, the students number about 
 twenty-three thousand. 
 
 The general progress of secular education, as well as 
 in religious instruction, prepared the way for a new form 
 of usefulness ; the young men of the Nation were induced 
 
 Hist. 123, 320.
 
 SUFFRAGE QUALIFICATIONS. 1105 
 
 as a class to make greater exertions than heretofore in CKAP. 
 the cause of morality, and to exert more influence by 
 using their united strength. The first Young Men's -^ ^ A 
 Christian Association in the Union was organized in Bos- 1852, 
 ton ; the second in New York City, and within a year ten ^ O ne 
 similar ones were formed in other cities ; and now there 1881. 
 are in the Union 903 Associations having a membership 
 of 100,000. These Associations, being an outgrowth of 
 this age of the church, have, especially in the cities, ample 
 fields for work in connection with church organizations. 
 The members labor in Sabbath and mission schools ; have 
 libraries and reading-rooms resorts for young men en- 
 gaged in business have Bible classes for their own 
 members and for others ; maintain literary classes as well 
 as rooms for innocent amusements, and over all throw a 
 Christian influence. In many of the cities Associations 
 of Christian Young "Women have been formed on the 
 same principle, to promote a similar work of benevolence 
 among young persons of their own sex. 
 
 Of two impediments to a universal education, one 
 slavery has disappeared ; and the other is diminishing 
 rapidly, as the numerous immigrants, especially from 
 Northern Europe and Germany, are superior in respect 
 to their education to those of former times. If no young 
 man, when 'becoming of age, was permitted to vote unless 
 he could read and write, we should have in less than a 
 score of years a Nation in which there would scarcely ~be 
 an illiterate voter. In these days of free schools, the 
 young man who has not sufficient mental power to learn 
 to read and write should be set aside on the score of im- 
 becility ; and if he has the power and not the will much 
 more is he derelict of duty, and unworthy to exercise the 
 privilege 
 
 The same principles apply to Foreigners, who have 
 ample time in the Jive years before they can become nat- 
 yralized, to thus qualify themselves by learning to read
 
 1106 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, and write ; and if they neglect to perform that duty, 
 LXIX let them be disfranchised as well as the native-born 
 
 In no respect has the mental energy of the Nation 
 manifested itself so much as in the encouragement given 
 to the public press. The common schools taught the 
 youth to read ; the innate desire of acquiring knowledge 
 was fostered ; and the fascinating newspaper, as it statedly 
 enters the domestic circle, reflects the world and records 
 the progress of the age. By this means the most retired 
 can be brought into sympathy with the world, in its 
 yearnings after excellence, peace, and happiness. 
 
 At the commencement of the Revolution there were 
 but thirty-five newspapers, and they of a very limited 
 circulation ; now, of all classes, are more than seven 
 thousand. The population since that time has increased 
 sixteen-fold, and the newspapers more than two hun- 
 dred-fold. Educated and accomplished minds discuss 
 in their columns the important questions of the time, and 
 upon these questions the Nation acts ; thence they pass 
 into history. If the issues of the press are kept pure, the 
 blessing in all its greatness far transcends mortal ken. 
 Public opinion has been termed a tyrant ; but it is a tyrant 
 that, if vicious, can be made virtuous can be reformed if 
 not dethroned. Let the virtue and the intelligence of 
 the Nation see to it that it is a righteous tyrant, and sub- 
 mission to its iron rule will become a blessing. 
 
 In intimate connection with this intellectual progress 
 is the increase of public libraries, found in so many of 
 our cities. There are now more than ten thousand, and 
 they contain about nine million volumes. These store- 
 houses of knowledge are as diversified as the wants of the 
 people. Among them are found the Sunday-school libra- 
 ries, each with its few hundred volumes ; the social or 
 circulating libraries, in almost every village or large town, 
 and the numerous private.as well as public libraries, con- 
 taining much of the current literature of the day. An
 
 /w\^v
 
 HONORED NAMES ART. 1107 
 
 important feature was introduced at the formation of the CHAP. 
 ... . . . LXIX 
 
 ^public library in New York City bearing the name of its 
 
 founder, John Jacob Astor, and since increased by his ] 
 son. It is designed to furnish standard works on the 
 varied subjects of useful human knowledge an armory 
 for the practical student, through whom the influence is 
 to reach those who cannot personally avail themselves of 
 its treasures. 
 
 In the departments of human knowledge and literature 
 we have names that are held in honor wherever the Eng- 
 lish language is read : in History, Prescott, Bancroft, 
 Hildreth, and Motley ; in Systematic Theology, Dr. Timo- 
 thy Dwight, whose works have had a great influence in 
 this country and in England, and Professor Charles 
 Hodge ; in Mental Philosophy, Jonathan Edwards ; in 
 Biblical Literature, Edward Robinson ; in Poetry, Bry- 
 ant, Longfellow, and Whittier ; in Light Literature, Irv- 
 ing, Cooper, and Hawthorne ; in Lexicography, Noah 
 Webster ; in Mathematics, Bowditch many other emi- 
 nent names might be added. 
 
 In art we have those who have exhibited evidence of 
 genius that may yet give the Nation a name honored 
 among those eminent in painting and sculpture. Her 
 sons have not been surrounded by models from great 
 masters to awaken in early life the slumbering genius, 
 nor have they been encouraged by a traditionary rever- 
 ence among the people for such manifestations of talent. 
 It has been in the face of these disadvantages that they 
 have reached their present high position, not by passing 
 through a training laborious and preparatory, but almost 
 at a bound. 
 
 "We rejoice to see the great body of the people asso- 
 ciating themselves for purposes of doing good or for 
 self-improvement. There are in the land many religious 
 and benevolent associations. Of the latter class is the 
 Temperance movement, promoted at first greatly by the
 
 1108 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, eloquence of Dr. Lyman Beecher, and which has had an 
 
 L immense influence for good upon the nation. The moral* 
 
 1882. phase o f the subject has taken deep hold of the minds 
 and conscience of the people, and in the end the cause 
 must prevail. There is also no more cheering sign of the 
 times than that of the people themselves becoming more 
 and more acquainted with their civil rights and duties, and 
 in their demanding virtue and political integrity in those 
 who serve them in a public capacity, and, when there is 
 a dereliction of duty, their promptly appealing to the 
 ballot-box. 
 
 Governments had hitherto interfered more or less 
 with the liberty of conscience. They assumed that in 
 some way though indefinable they were responsible 
 for the salvation of the souls of their subjects. Free in- 
 ' quiry and a knowledge of the truths of the Bible, and 
 the separation of Church and State, shifted that respon- 
 sibility to the individual himself, and in consequence it 
 became his recognized duty to support schools of learning 
 and sustain religious institutions. This change in the 
 minds of the people commenced in the great awakening ' 
 1735. under Jonathan Edwards, and its influence had full ef- 
 fect in the separation of Church and State after the Rev- 
 olution.* To this principle of individual responsibility 
 may be traced the voluntary support and the existence of 
 the various benevolent operations of our own day, in 
 which all the religious denominations participate. These 
 in their efforts are not limited to the destitute portions 
 of our own country, but in many foreign lands may be 
 found the American missionary, a devoted teacher of 
 Christianity and its humanizing civilization, supported 
 and encouraged by the enlightened benevolence of his 
 own countrymen. The same principle produces fruits in 
 founding asylums for the purpose of relieving human 
 suffering and distress, or smoothing the pathway of the 
 
 1 Hist. p. 267. Hist. p. 569.
 
 ENGLISH .LANGUAGE THE ULTIMATE SUCCESS. 1109 
 
 unfortunate. The men of wealth in our day more fully CHAP. 
 
 LXIX 
 appreciate their responsibility, and the mental energy ex- '. 1 
 
 ercised in its accumulation has more than in former times 
 been consecrated to doing good. Millions have thus been 
 given by individuals to found or aid institutions of learn- 
 ing, that the youth may be secured to virtue and intelli- 
 gence a blessed influence that will increase in power 
 from age to age. 
 
 We inherit the English language and its glorious as- 
 sociations the language of a free Gospel, free speech, 
 and a free press. Its literature, imbued with the princi- 
 ples of liberty, civil and religious, and of correct morals, 
 belongs to us. We claim the worthies of the Mother- 
 country, whose writings have done so much to promote 
 sound morality, with no less gratitude and pride than we 
 do those of our own land. The commerce of the world 
 is virtually in the hands of those speaking the English 
 language. On the coasts of Asia, of Africa, in Australia, 
 in the isles of the Pacific it has taken foothold may it 
 be the means of disseminating truth and carrying _to the 
 ends of the earth the blessings of Christianity. 
 
 The ultimate success of this Government and the sta- 
 bility of its institutions, its progress in all that can make 
 a nation honored, depend upon its adherence to the prin- 
 ciples of truth and righteousness. Let the part we are to 
 perform in the world be not the subjugation of others to 
 our sway by physical force, but the noble destiny to sub- 
 due by the influence and the difEusion of a Christianized 
 civilization.
 
 CHAPTER LXX. 
 
 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED. 
 
 Political Training. Colonial Governments. The Congresses. Articles of 
 Confederation. Framing of the Constitution. The House. The Sen- 
 ate. Passage of Bills. The President. The Cabinet. Departments: 
 Of State. Of the Treasury. Of War. Of the Navy. Of the 
 Interior. Of the Post-Office. Of Justice. The Judiciary. The 
 Courts. Trial by Impeachment. Election of the President and Vice- 
 President. Governments: Of the States. Of the Territories. Of 
 the District of Columbia. 
 
 CHAP HAVING in this History traced the influences, and 
 LXX. shown their results in forming our national character, it 
 1882. is thought proper to give a brief sketch of the prin- 
 ciples of our government, and of the manner in which 
 they are applied. In the family of nations ours is the 
 youngest, 1 yet its founders availed themselves of the 
 experience of the past, and in many instances ventured 
 into new fields of political action and experiment. 
 
 We have seen the manner in which the people began 
 to manage their own concerns in town and county meet- 
 ings,* thus taking lessons in civil government; and this 
 instruction, extending through two or three generations 
 of the colonial period, fitted the patriot fathers to ad- 
 vance beyond their time and form a union of States 
 independent in respect to their own internal affairs, yet 
 under one national government. During all this train- 
 ing an underlying principle of popular representation 
 pervaded even the crude forms in these town and county 
 meetings, one which has culminated in " a government 
 of the people, by the people, for the people." 
 
 1 Hist. p. 573. Hist. pp. 231, 236.
 
 A UNIQUE REPUBLIC. 1111 
 
 The efforts of the colonists in protecting themselves CHAP. 
 from the Indians, and afterward from the French and J^_ 
 Indians combined, gave them self-reliance, and taught 1883 - 
 them the elements of government. The period inter- 
 vening between the close of the French and Indian 
 war and the commencement of the Revolution had also 
 a marked effect on their political training; 1 while 
 the self-denial and struggle during the Revolution 
 revealed a power in the people themselves hitherto 
 unknown. At the close of that war so much was true 
 liberty appreciated by the mass of the people that, though 
 distracted by financial troubles, the disorderly elements 
 that came to the surface 8 were but a mere ripple on the 
 otherwise smooth stream of their orderly conduct. A 
 deep sense of responsibility pervaded thinking minds; 
 this led to forming a Republic of States unique in its con- 
 stitution, its members being independent and republican 
 in the administration of their own affairs, and yet under 
 a united National government. Says John Quincy 
 Adams : " Our system is an anomaly in the history of 
 the world ; it is that which distinguishes us from all other 
 nations, ancient and modern."' Thus when the Constitu- 
 tion of the United States was framed it met the wants 
 of the people, who would have been unable to appreciate 
 its merits had they not been familiar with the history of 
 the struggles which their fathers had iiad in colonial 
 times with the Home Government, and more especially in 
 their acquiring for themselves political ideas and making 
 them practical during the twenty years then just past 
 for it was that length of time from the Treaty of Paris 
 to the conclusion of peace with England at the close of 
 the Revolution. 
 
 Our American form of government is that of a repub- 
 lican commonwealth based on popular representation. 
 The source of power is the people themselves, who elect 
 
 1 See Chaps, xxv. and xxvi. * Hist. p. 562.
 
 1112 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, to the Legislatures of the States or to Congress their 
 LXX- agents to make the laws. The same voters that established 
 1882 - and still sustain the United States Government are the 
 authors and supporters of the State governments. The 
 whole present system went into effect after the Constitu- 
 tion of the United States was adopted by the people, 
 and when George Washington was inaugurated president. 
 
 COLONIAL GOVERNMENTS. 
 
 The governments formed in colonial times were of 
 three classes the Charter, the Provincial, and the Pro- 
 prietary. Of the first class were Massachusetts, Con- 
 necticut, and Rhode Island. The latter two had formed 
 for themselves governments whose provisions were after- 
 ward secured to each by a Royal Charter ; to the sec- 
 ond belonged New Hampshire, New York, Virginia, and 
 Georgia, which were Royal Provinces from the first 
 having governors appointed by the king ; to the third, 
 Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware, being governed 
 by the Proprietors to whom their soil was granted. To 
 the latter class at first belonged also New Jersey and 
 the two Carolinas, though afterward they were changed 
 to the Royal or Provincial. 
 
 Virginia took the lead in having a House of Burgesses, 1 
 but none of these colonies in their legislation were inde- 
 pendent of the English Government. We have seen the 
 first efforts to form a union of the New England colo- 
 nies ;* then that of the United Colonies" was agreed upon, 
 and finally that of the United States.* The first Con- 
 gress,* composed of delegates from nine of the colonies 
 (all of New England except New Hampshire, the four 
 Middle ones, and South Carolina), was held in New York 
 in consequence of the passage of the Stamp Act, which 
 act was speedily repealed, to be followed by equally 
 
 1 Hist. p. 87, 88. Hist. pp. 122, 388, 412. s Hist. p. 335.
 
 AKTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 1113 
 
 objectionable modes of taxation by the Home Govern- CHAP. 
 ment. These latter led to the First Continental Con- 
 gress, 1 held in Philadelphia nine years later. This was ] 
 succeeded by the Second Continental Congress 1 the fol- 
 lowing year. These Congresses were composed of dele- 
 gates whose authority as such was derived directly from 
 the people. They adopted the rule that in voting upon 
 measures "each colony should have one vote." That 
 rule remained in force till the adoption of the present 
 Constitution. 
 
 The Second Continental Congress was never dissolved, 
 though the members were not always the same, but con- 
 tinued in session for fourteen years till the adoption of 
 the United States Constitution ; the style was the 
 "United Colonies," to be superseded by that of the 
 " United States of Ameiica" on the Declaration of In- 
 dependence. The latter was the act of the people through 
 their Representatives in the Congress ; not of the States 
 as such, for the States were called into existence by the 
 Declaration, and their former allegiance as colonists was 
 then transferred from the Motherland to the people 
 themselves. 
 
 It is worthy of notice that the people who were under 
 Charters, and next them those under Proprietors, were 
 thrown more upon their own resources in managing their 
 political affairs than those who were under Provincial 
 Governors appointed by the King, and thus having 
 greater experience they became more self-reliant ; there 
 being no impediment in the form of arbitrary class dis- 
 tinctions, the people were mutually dependent upon one 
 another and all were equally interested. 
 
 ABTICLES OF CONFEDERATION. 
 
 After the Declaration was made, the necessity for a 
 closer union among the States became apparent to the 
 
 1 Hist. pp. 351, 367.
 
 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, leading minds of that period, and " Articles of Confed- 
 T|XX oration" were agreed upon by Congress. But these "Ar- 
 1882. tides" were not binding unless ratified by all the States, 
 thus giving the power to any one State to neutralize 
 the " Confederacy ;" and this was the result for nearly five 
 years, for it was only seven months before the surrender 
 of Cornwallis that Maryland approved the "Articles." 
 These " Articles" were the product of the States, as their 
 title indicated a " Confederation and Perpetual Union 
 between the States." The Declaration of Independence 
 spoke of the people, and our present Constitution says in 
 its enacting clause, " We, the people, do ordain and estab- 
 lish this Constitution for the United States of America." 
 It would seem from this that the statesmen of that day 
 had as much as they wished of a " Confederacy of States." 
 The Articles of Confederation remained in force till the 
 adoption of the present Constitution. They were crude 
 and inconsistent. They authorized Congress to contract 
 debts, but gave it no authority to raise money by taxa- 
 tion to pay them ; and a State could at any time with- 
 draw from the Confederacy. The people took in the 
 situation ;' they elected delegates to a Convention, and 
 the latter framed a Constitution which stands unrivaled 
 for its inherent excellences, and its adaptability by 
 means of amendments to all the phases of our national 
 existence. 
 
 THE CONVENTION ITS WORK THE CONSTITUTION. 
 
 This remarkable Convention met in Independence 
 Hall, Philadelphia, on the 14th of May, 17S7.' After 
 four months of labor, in which every principle involved 
 in the Constitution was thoroughly discussed, that instru- 
 ment was presented to the people for their approval or 
 rejection. They approved it, and its principles were 
 
 1 See Hist. pp. 562. 563. Hist. pp. 564-566
 
 POWERS OF THE GOVERNMENT. 1115 
 
 fully carried into effect, when the Government of the CHAP. 
 
 I V Y 
 
 United States assumed a definite form, and George" 
 Washington was inaugurated President. 1882. 
 
 The Constitution arranges the powers of the Govern- 
 ment in their natural order : the Legislative, the Execu- 
 tive, and the Judicial. These general divisions cover 
 the entire field of the duties of administrative govern- 
 ment, while, in a certain sense, they are independent of 
 each other. 
 
 By Article I. the Legislative powers are thus defined : 
 " All Legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in 
 a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a 
 Senate and House of Representatives." 1 Article II. 
 " The Executive power shall be vested in a President of 
 the United States of America." Article III. "The 
 Judicial power of the United States shall be vested in 
 one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as Con- 
 gress may from time to time ordain and establish." 
 Article IY. treats of various minor subjects. Article 
 V. " The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses 
 shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this 
 Constitution," which amendments, " when ratified by the 
 Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, shall 
 be valid to all intents and purposes as part of this Con- 
 stitution." This method being the most convenient has 
 been adopted in making amendments. Article VI. 
 " This Constitution, and the laws of the United States 
 which shall be made in pursuance thereof, shall be the 
 supreme law of the land." Article VII. " The ratifica- 
 tion of the Conventions of nine States shall be sufficient 
 for the establishment of this Constitution between the 
 States so ratifying the same." The delegates to these 
 Conventions were elected by the people. 
 
 Here has been given the substance of the first seven 
 Articles, with their many sections or subdivisions. In 
 
 1 See for a fuller statement the Constitution in the Appendix.
 
 HISTOET OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, addition, fifteen Amendments have been adopted in order 
 LXX " to meet contingencies in the Nation's history. 
 
 1882. 
 
 THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT. 
 
 THE LEGISLATIVE BRANCH. 
 THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
 
 The ratio of representation 1 in the Lower House is 
 determined by the number of members of which it is to 
 consist ; this number is established by vote of Congress. 
 Then it becomes the duty of the Secretary of the Interior 
 after each census to ascertain the number of representa- 
 tives to which each State is entitled in proportion to the 
 number of its inhabitants. Though a State may not 
 have, according to this ratio, a sufficient population to 
 entitle it to a representative, yet to such State one is 
 assigned. Each Territory has one delegate to Congress ; 
 he is authorized to discuss subjects pertaining to his own 
 Territory, but he is not entitled to vote. Vacancies that 
 may occur in the House of Representatives by death or 
 otherwise are filled by special elections, but only for the 
 unexpired term. 
 
 The House elects a member to preside who is known 
 as the Speaker, and of the other subordinate officers the 
 most important is the Clerk. The latter is the only 
 officer that holds over from one Congress to another, and 
 it is his duty to make a list of the members and preside 
 at the opening of a new Congress until its Speaker is 
 chosen ; the latter presides for two years, or the term of 
 the Congress. According to the rules of the House, the 
 important duty of appointing the committees and nam- 
 ing the chairman of each devolves iipon the Speaker. 
 As it would be impossible for every member of Congress 
 to study carefully all the business that comes before that 
 
 Hist. p. 84a
 
 THE SENATE. 1117 
 
 body, classified committees are appointed whose duty it CHAP. 
 
 is to investigate the Bills entrusted to their care, and - 
 
 make a report on the same to the House. The House 1883- 
 of Representatives is changed every two years at the 
 option of the people, for they can send the same member 
 from term to term or refuse to re-elect him. Every Con- 
 gress comes to an end on the third day of March in the 
 odd years. 
 
 THE SENATE. 
 
 The Senate in theory represents the States, each one 
 of which, without reference to the number of its popula- 
 tion, has two Senators. The members of the Senate are 
 indirectly chosen by the people, inasmuch as they elect 
 the State Legislatures who choose the United States Sen- 
 ators. When a vacancy occurs while the State Legisla- 
 ture is in session, that body proceeds to fill the seat, 
 choosing a Senator on the second Tuesday after notice of 
 the vacancy has been given in proper form. Should it 
 occur when the Legislature is not in session, the Gov- 
 ernor appoints a Senator to fill the place till its next 
 meeting. 
 
 Owing to the overlapping of terms 1 (one third of the 
 Senators being chosen every second year) the Senate is 
 virtually a permanent body, as it can, from its constitu- 
 tion, always have a majority of members present. Neither 
 can a Congressman or a Senator be removed from his 
 office unless for cause till his term expires. Each House 
 can discipline, punish, or, by a two third vote, expel its 
 own members. There is no statute on the subject, though 
 a member may be expelled for conduct that is not con- 
 sistent with the trust and duty of a member, the House 
 or Senate being the judge. The Senate elects its own 
 committees by ballot. The Yice-President presides, but 
 has no vote unless there is a tie. If the Yice-President 
 
 ' Hist. p. 843.
 
 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, becomes President of the United States, the Senate 
 
 I Y Y 
 
 _ " " elects from its members a President pro tempore, who is 
 1882. no j. res tricted to a casting vote ; he has a vote only as 
 Senator. Congress both Houses meets on the first 
 Monday in December of each year. The members are paid 
 from the United States Treasury ; thus in that respect 
 they are independent of their own States. The compen- 
 sation is five thousand dollars a year (since 1874), and in 
 addition travelling expenses. 
 
 PASSAGE OF BILLS, ETC. 
 
 Every bill requiring the President's signature, must 
 first pass the House and the Senate by a majority vote, 
 and then be sent officially to the President for his ap- 
 proval. Joint Resolutions of Congress proposing amend- 
 ments to the Constitution, or naming a day for adjourn- 
 ment do not require the signature of the President to 
 make them effective. All bills for raising revenue must 
 originate in the House of Representatives ; perhaps, be- 
 cause its members come more directly from the people 
 themselves ; but the Senate may propose amendments or 
 concur as it does in respect to other bills. 
 
 THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH. 
 
 THE PRESIDENT. 
 
 The President, although his chief duties are to execute 
 the laws of the United States as framed by the Congress, 
 yet has a power in the legislation itself ; although it is a 
 negative rather than a positive power. If he signs the 
 bills passed by Congress they become laws ; if he vetoes 
 them that is, refuses to sign them they can become 
 laws on being passed over his veto by a two-thirds vote 
 of both Houses of Congress the yeas and nays being 
 taken or, if after being passed by both Houses and sent 
 to the President, he retains them ten days (Sundays
 
 THE CABINET. 1119 
 
 excepted) without either signature or veto, they become CHAP 
 laws, unless in the meanwhile Congress has adjourned. 
 
 When a bill has been passed over the President's veto, 1882 - 
 in addition to the official signatures of the Speaker and 
 the President of the Senate, certificates to that effect are 
 also signed by the Clerk of the House of Representa- 
 tives and the Secretary of the Senate and appended to 
 the bill. When a bill has been detained beyond the 
 specified time by the President a note is appended to it 
 by the Department of State certifying to that fact. 
 
 THE CABINET HEADS OF DEPARTMENTS. 
 
 The President has the right to choose his "constitu- 
 tional advisers," or the " Heads of Departments" in the 
 sense of the Constitution; he nominates them to the 
 Senate, which confirms or rejects the nomination. These 
 constitute his Cabinet. At first there were only three 
 departments, now there are seven ; the growth of the 
 country demanding the increase. They are as follows : 
 the Departments of State, of the Treasury, of War, of 
 the Navy, of the Interior, of the Post-office, and of Jus- 
 tice. The presiding officers of the first five are termed 
 Secretaries, the two latter Postmaster-General and Attor- 
 ney-General. The salary of the President is fifty thou- 
 sand dollars a year ; that of the Vice-President and each 
 member of the Cabinet is eight thousand dollars. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF STATE. 
 
 The Department of State is deemed the most import- 
 ant, as on its Secretary, under the direction of the 
 President, devolves the management of our foreign rela- 
 tions, the negotiation of treaties, and intercourse with 
 other governments. To him is entrusted the seal of the 
 United States, which he affixes to the documents signed 
 by the President, such as commissions, proclamations, 
 etc. The credentials of every ambassador, charge
 
 1120 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, d'affaires, consul, etc., to foreign courts all come within 
 LXX the supervision of this department. 
 
 1882. 
 
 THE TREASURY. 
 
 The Treasury Department has control of the financial 
 affairs of the country ; the collection of the revenue, the 
 internal as well as that derived from imposts on imported 
 merchandise ; the issue of warrants for the disbursement 
 of the moneys appropriated by Congress. The import- 
 ance of this department is very great, especially since the 
 national debt has been so much increased. This is 
 manifested in the immense amounts disbursed, and the 
 establishment of a system of National Banks and the 
 supervision of the currency of the country. 
 
 There are in connection with this department sixteen 
 minor officers or heads of bureaus : t wo Comptrollers, lirst 
 and second, six Auditors, a Treasurer, Register, Commis- 
 sioner of Customs, Comptroller of the Currency, Commis- 
 sioner of Internal Revenue, Chiefs of the Bureau of Sta- 
 tistics, the Mint, and Bureau of Engraving and Printing. 
 The latter has charge of the engraving and printing of 
 internal revenue stamps, the notes, bonds, and securities 
 of the United States, and the national bank-notes. In 
 addition to these is t\.v supervision of the Coast Survey 
 and the Light-House Board. Congress alone has the 
 "sole and exclusive right to coin money," and for this 
 purpose it established a Mint at Philadelphia in 1T92. 
 Afterward branch Mints were put in operation at differ- 
 ent places ; of these some have been discontinued. The 
 Mint was made a Bureau of the Treasury in 1873, and 
 since then Mints have been located only at Philadelphia, 
 San Francisco, Cal., Carson City, Nevada, and Denver, 
 Col. With the exception of the main one at Philadelphia, 
 the coins issued from these Mints are stamped with initial 
 letters S. for San Francisco, C. C. for Carson City, etc.
 
 WAR AND NAVY DEPARTMENTS. 1121 
 
 CHAP. 
 WAR DEPARTMENT. LXX 
 
 1882 
 
 The War Department has various subdivisions, such as 
 the offices of the Adjutant, the Quartermaster, Commis- 
 sary, Paymaster, and Surgeon, Generals, and of the Chief 
 of Engineers, the office of Ordnance and the Signal office, 
 with the Bureau of Military Justice. The Military 
 Academy at West Point is also under the supervision of 
 the War Department. This institution is supported by 
 the United States Grovernment, each cadet being fur- 
 nished with sufficient means to pay his entire expenses 
 while a student. They are admitted only between the 
 ages of seventeen and twenty-two. Each Congressional 
 13 istrict Uas one cadet, each Territory one, the District of 
 Columoia one, and ten at large are appointed by the 
 President. On graduation cadets are appointed second 
 lieutenants in the various branches of the army (the 
 Engineer Corps, Ordnance Department, Artillery, Cav- 
 alry, or Infantry), and are expected to serve at least three 
 years before resigning their commissions. 
 
 NAVY DEPARTMENT. 
 
 The Navy Department has seven divisions known as 
 Bureaus : that of Equipment and Recruiting, of Naviga- 
 tion, of Ordnance, of Medicine and Surgery, of Provi- 
 sions and Clothing, of Steam Engineering, and of Con- 
 struction and Repair. It has also nine navy-yards, where 
 vessels are built and repaired. The Naval Academy 
 located at Annapolis, Maryland, bears the same relation 
 to the navy that the Military Academy at West Point, 
 N. Y., does to the army. The students are called cadet- 
 midshipmen ; none are admitted under fourteen nor over 
 eighteen years of age. There may be one from each 
 Congressional District, with ten at large appointed by the 
 Praident, and one from each Territory. The course of
 
 1122 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, study is for six years ; on graduating they take rank as 
 
 _J midshipmen and are promoted as vacancies occur, the 
 
 1882. p rom otion being based on their rank in class. 
 
 THE INTERIOR DEPARTMENT. 
 
 The Department of the Interior has numerous duties 
 to perform. Among these the supervision of the Census, 
 of the Land Office and of Mines, and the Accounts of 
 the Officers of the Courts, Indian Affairs, Pensions, care 
 of the Public Buildings, and of the Territories, Educa- 
 tion, and the Patent Office. 
 
 Every land district has a surveyor-general ; of these 
 there are from fifteen to twenty. It is- their duty to 
 survey the public lands, marking them out into sections 
 of one mile square containing 64:0 acres, and these again 
 into quarter sections, and, if required, into eighths and 
 sixteenths. These measurements are based on meridian 
 lines. The township, another division, contains thirty- 
 six square miles. Of the latter the first square mile and 
 the thirty-sixth are appropriated for the support of 
 schools when the Territory becomes a State. The Office 
 of Education was established by the National Government 
 in 1868, and placed under the supervision of the Interior 
 Department. 
 
 The " Agricultural Bureau" lias for its object to ac- 
 quire and disseminate useful information among the 
 people on subjects connected with agriculture. 
 
 POST-OFFICE DEPARTMENT. 
 
 The Post-Ofiice Departni3nt has been a necessity since 
 the origin of the Government ; its utility has been greatly 
 enhanced since the system of comparative " cheap postage" 
 was introduced. 1 The Postmaster-General has three assist- 
 ants, first, second, and third, and also Superintendents of 
 
 1 Hist. p. 750.
 
 JUDICIARY. 1123 
 
 the Money-order Bureau and of Foreign Mails. In addi- CHAP. 
 
 tion to these are six " chief clerks" as overseers in the 
 
 various offices. This department is nearer being self- 1 
 supporting now than at any time in its existence. 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. 
 
 The Department of Justice was established in 1870. 
 The Attorney-General is its chief officer. It is his duty 
 to prosecute in the Supreme Court all suits in which the 
 United States is a party ; to give in writing legal advice 
 when required by the President or the heads of depart- 
 ments on questions relating to their official acts. To this 
 department has been assigned the Solicitor of the Treas- 
 ury and the Solicitor of Internal Revenue, the Naval 
 Solicitor, and the Examiner of Claims. Thus the secre- 
 taries of the other departments call upon that of justice 
 for the legal service they require. 
 
 THE JUDICIARY BRANCH. 
 
 The States of the Union are divided into nine judicial 
 circuits ; to each one of these a Justice of the Supreme 
 Court of the United States is assigned by order of that 
 court, and each one has its own United States Circuit 
 Judge. Thus the Supreme Court of the United States 
 consists of a Chief Justice and eight Associate Justices, 
 corresponding to the number of circuits the Chief 
 Justice also having one. The Supreme Court the 
 Chief Justice presiding holds a session for a portion of 
 the year at the Seat of Government. In addition the 
 Associates hold courts in their several circuits. The 
 Judges are appointed by the President with the consent 
 of the Senate. That they may be as independent as 
 possible in the discharge of their duties, they hold office 
 during good behavior. There is also a Supreme Court 
 for the District of Columbia and a Court of Claims. In
 
 1124 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, each Territory, when organized, a Chief Justice and two 
 
 L assistants are appointed by the President with the con- 
 
 1882. gent o f tjjg Senate. The salary of the Chief Justice of 
 the United States is $10,500 a year ; each associate 
 $10,000. 
 
 IMPEACHMENT OF U. S. OFFICERS. 
 
 Following the analogy of the civil law, as no citizen 
 can be tried before a court until he is indicted by the 
 Grand Jury, so no officer of the United States Govern- 
 ment can be tried unless articles of impeachment are 
 presented to the court (the Senate) by the House of 
 Representatives. In the latter a committee is appointed 
 to investigate the charges ; they report to the House, 
 which acts upon the question and decides by vote ; if in 
 the affirmative, articles of impeachment are prepared by 
 a Select Committee, whose duty it is to prosecute the trial 
 before the Senate. The Yice-President presides in all 
 cases of impeachment, except when the President of the 
 United States is under trial, then the Chief Justice of 
 the United States presides. This arrangement is for the 
 obvious reason that in case the President is removed the 
 Vice-President would succeed to the office. 
 
 In case of conviction the punishment is only political 
 the " removal from office," to which can be added " dis- 
 qualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust, 
 or profit under the United States." If there has been a 
 criminal violation of law the individual thus found guilty 
 is liable to be brought to trial in a civil court. 
 
 ELECTION OF THE PRESIDENT AND VICE-PRESIDENT. 
 
 The manner in which elections for President and 
 Vice-President are conducted is somewhat complex. The 
 people vote direct for Electors, who are to vote for the 
 candidates. These electoral votes are counted by States ; 
 that is, each State casts as many votes as it has represen-
 
 ELECTORS. 1125 
 
 tatives in Congress, namely, two electors at large to CHAP. 
 represent the Senators, and one for each Congressman 
 
 the State may have. 
 
 Originally the framers of the Constitution thought it 
 inexpedient to give the people the privilege of voting 
 direct for the highest officers the President and Yice- 
 President but instead to vote for electors who were 
 authorized to choose these officers. For aught that is in 
 the Constitution, the electors can choose whom they 
 please without reference to the will of the people. But 
 the latter soon demanded that the former should pledge 
 themselves to vote for the candidates whom the people 
 preferred. The electors were at first authorized to vote 
 for two persons for the office of President and Vice- 
 President without designating one for either office the 
 one having the highest number of votes was to be Presi- 
 dent and the one having the next highest to be Vice- 
 President. 1 As to qualifications the Constitution says : 
 " No person holding an office of trust or profit under the 
 United States shall be appointed an elector." 
 
 The custom has grown up for the people of each State 
 as practically represented by the different political organ- 
 izations or parties, to hold primary assemblies and choose 
 delegates to their own State Convention ; the latter 
 appoints each for its own political party a list of the 
 electors for the State, and chooses the delegates to a 
 National Convention. The various National Conventions 
 then nominate the rival candidates for the presidency 
 and the vice- presidency. The different political organiza- 
 tions or parties have thus virtually secured the pledges 
 of the electors for the party candidates ; and, although 
 the vote in each State is for the " Electoral ticket," that 
 is now but an empty form used to get the candidates they 
 prefer before the people. 
 
 The electors are chosen by popular vote on the Tuesday 
 
 1 Constitution, Article II. and Amendment XII.
 
 1126 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, next after the first Monday of November, in the year 
 previous to the close of the current term of the Presi- 
 dent, and these electors are required by law to meet at 
 the capitals of their respective States and there deposit 
 their votes on the second Monday of the next January. Of 
 these votes they make and sign three certificates, one of 
 which is given to the judge of the district in which the 
 electors meet, one is sent by an authorized messenger to 
 the President of the Senate at Washington, and to the 
 same official the third is sent by mail. On the second 
 Wednesday in the following February these votes are 
 counted in the presence of both Houses of Congress, con- 
 jointly assembled for the purpose. The nominee declared 
 elected President is inaugurated on the 4th of March 
 next succeeding. 
 
 STATE GOVERNMENTS. 
 
 The State governments have in the main the charac- 
 teristics of that of the United States. They have the three 
 primary divisions: the Legislative, the Executive, and 
 the Judicial. They may differ somewhat in detail, but 
 they are all republican in accordance with the spirit of 
 the Constitution of the United States. In all of them, 
 Legislatures and Executives called Governors are elected 
 by the people ; the judges in some States are elected and 
 in others appointed. In respect to the Governor's power 
 of veto, the practice in the States is not uniform; in 
 some it can be overruled by a bare majority in each 
 House, in others it does not exist, while for the most part 
 the States follow the rule that obtains in Congress. The 
 State governments have to do with their own local 
 affairs ; the United States with those that pertain to for- 
 eign nations and to matters belonging to the whole 
 people without regard to State lines, such as the national 
 finances, import duties or tariffs, and internal improve- 
 ments. The laws of the respective States must not con-
 
 TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT. 1127 
 
 flict with the Constitution of the United States, which is CHAP. 
 
 IVY 
 
 the supreme law of the land ; neither should they come - 
 
 in conflict with other State laws; for illustration, it would 
 be better to have uniformity in the States in respect to 
 the descent of property, and one class of crime and 
 immorality would receive a check if stringent laws 
 respecting the marriage relation were uniform throughout 
 the Union. 
 
 THE TERRITORIES. 
 
 Congress has the exclusive right to govern the Terri- 
 tories, as they are the property of the whole Nation. This 
 right is derived from the Constitution of the United 
 States. The people of the Territories have their civil 
 rights, but their political rights are limited to electing 
 their own Legislature and choosing a delegate to represent 
 their interests in Congress. 
 
 Whenever Congress deems it expedient it may organize 
 a Territorial government, which is usually composed of a 
 Legislature consisting of a House of Representatives and 
 a Council elected by a popular vote of the inhabitants ; a 
 Governor, who is appointed by the President with the con- 
 sent of the Senate ; also in the same manner a Chief Jus- 
 tice and two Associate Justices to preside over the courts, 
 which consist of a Supreme Court, District Courts, and 
 Probate Courts ; in addition, a United States Attorney, 
 Marshal, and Justises of the Peace. The members of the 
 Council are elected for two years, the members of the 
 House for one. The Governor has the veto power, sub- 
 ject to the two-thirds vote of the Legislature. The offi- 
 cers of the Territories are paid from the United States 
 Treasury. 
 
 When the people wish to become a State, Congress 
 can pass an enabling act which authorizes them to frame 
 a Constitution. This in due form is presented to Con- 
 gress, and if it is in accordance with the Constitution of
 
 1128 HISTOKY OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. 
 
 CHAP, the United States the Territory is received into the 
 LXX " Union as a State. 
 1882. 
 
 THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 
 
 The District of Columbia is governed by Congress 
 somewhat differently. In 1878 an act passed by that 
 body placed its government under a Board of three Com- 
 missioners; two to be appointed by the President with 
 the consent of the Senate for a term of three years ; for 
 the third the President details an officer from the Corps 
 of Engineers. These Commissioners have the general 
 oversight of the municipal affairs of the District ; they 
 appoint the police, the firemen, and the trustees of the 
 schools. One half of the municipal expenses is borne by 
 the United States Treasury and the other half is raised 
 by taxation of the property of the District.
 
 ANALYTICAL INDEX. 
 
 Abenakis, 245; war with, 256 
 Abercrombie, General, 301 
 Abolition, 830, 864 
 Aborigines, 39-42 
 
 Academy, West Point, 629; officers, 786 
 Acadiens, 67; expatriation, 287-892 
 Adams, Charles Francis, 828, 891, 1052; 
 John, 327, 342, 352, 368, 555; 
 
 Vice-President, 571; President, 591- 
 
 598; death, 701 
 
 John Quincy, 659; President. 
 
 699-704; death, 826 
 Adams, Samuel, 328, 340, 851 
 Ahasistari, 242, 244 
 Alabama claims, 1051-1063 
 Alamo. The, 744 
 Alaska purchased, 1045 
 Algerine pirates, 589 
 Algiers, Dey of, 685 
 Algonquins, 41, 243 
 Alien Act, 596 
 Allen, Ethan, 362, 382, 383 
 Allouez, 246 
 
 Amherst, Lord Jefferey, 301, 305 
 Ampudia, General, 757, 765, 777 
 Anderson, Robert, Major, 875, 883, 902, 
 
 1029 
 
 Andre, Major, 521, 523 
 Andros, Sir Edmpnd, 212, 213 
 Animals, domestic, 239 
 Annapolis Convention, 563 
 Antietam, battle, 957-960 
 Appalachees, 183 
 Archdale, John, 181 
 Arista, General. 757, 761 
 Arkwright, >ir Richard, 577 
 Armed Neutrality, 477 
 Armstrong, Gen. John, 295, 465 
 
 Gen. John, jr., 557; Sec. of 
 
 War, 642, 651 
 Arnold, Benedict, 362, 382, 386, 433, 447, 
 
 450; Behmus' Heights, 478; treason, 
 
 520-523, 532, 547 
 Art, 1107 
 
 Arthur, Chester A., 1093-1098 
 Ashburton. Lord, 738, 741 
 Assembly, Legislative, The first, 87, 88 
 Assistance, writs of, 327 
 Associations, non-importation, 326, 340, 
 
 342,353 
 
 Associations, Vigilance, 810 
 Astor Library, 1104 
 Atlanta city, 1004; iron-clad, 989 
 Augustine, St., 64, 183, 198, 690 
 Austin, Moses, 743 
 Averill, Col., 942, 1012 
 Ayllon, Vasquez de, 45 
 
 Bacon, Nathaniel, 139-141 
 
 Bailey, Col., 998 
 
 Bainbridge, Captain, 601, 640 
 
 Balboa, Nunez de, 43 
 
 Ball's Bluff disaster. 904 
 
 Baltimore, Lord, 133, 135 
 
 Bancroft, George, 88, 322, 795, 1107 
 
 Bank of North America, 544 
 
 United States, 576, 686, 707 
 
 Banks, Gen. N. P., 944, 987, 998 
 
 Barre, Colonel, 331 
 
 Bartram, 323 
 
 Beaumarchais, 456 
 
 Beauregard, P. G. T., 882, 923, 925, 1009 
 
 Beecher, Dr. Lyman, 1105 
 
 Belmont, battle of, 908 
 
 Benevolent operations, 862, 1066 
 
 Bennet, James Gordon. 1099 
 
 Bennington, battle, 475 
 
 Benton, Thomas H., 756, 835 
 
 Berkeley, Sir William, 136, 137, 138-142, 
 235,858 
 
 Bible Society formed, 656 
 
 Big Bethel, 893 
 
 Bills of credit, 368, 486 
 
 Black Hawk, 727 
 
 Bladensburg, battle, 669 
 
 Blair, Frank P., 889, 1046 
 
 Blair, Rev. James, 144 
 
 Blockade, 892; raised, 1029 
 
 Blue Lick, battle, 554 
 
 Board of Trade, 188 
 
 Bonaparte's decrees affecting Ameri- 
 can commerce, 601, 607, 617, 627 
 Louis N., 1031 
 
 Bonds, U. S., 1074 
 
 Boone, Daniel, 507, 554 
 
 Booth, J. W., 1026- r 
 
 Boston, 109, 129; Port BUI, 848; evacu- 
 ated, 399; Fire, 1057 
 
 Bouquet, General, 303, 315 
 
 Bowditch, Mathematician, 1107 
 
 Boylston, Dr., 228. 
 
 Braddock, General, 279-284 
 
 Bradford, William, 98, 103, 105 
 
 Bradstreet, Simon, 107 
 Colonel, 302 
 
 Brandywine, battle, 464 
 
 Brant, Indian chief, 474 
 
 Bragg, Captain, 785; Gen., 964, 967, 992; 
 defeat, 995 
 
 Breckenridge, J. C., 869, 889, 902, 1017 
 
 Brevard, Ephraim, 366 
 
 Brewster, William, 96, 97 
 
 Brock, General. 631 
 
 Brown, General Jacob, 661, 663 
 John, 852
 
 1130 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Bryant, William Cullen, 1107 
 
 Buchanan. James, 751, 794, 812; Presi- 
 dent, 850, 874 
 
 Buckuer. Gen.. 902, 916 
 
 Buell, Gen., 910, 023, 963, 964 
 
 Buena Vista, battle, 774 785 
 
 Buffalo burned. 652 
 
 Buford. N. B., Gen., 909 
 
 Bull Run, battle, 895-897; 2d battle, 
 954-956 
 
 Bunker Hill, battle. 372-377 
 
 Burgoyne. General, 371, 457; surren- 
 ders. 481 
 
 Burke, Edmund, 337, 454 
 
 Buruside, A. E., Gen., 918; in com- 
 mand, 961, 994 
 
 Burr, Aaron. 384, 598; Vice-President, 
 598. 603-605 
 
 Burroughs, George, 226 
 
 Butler, B. F., 887, 893, 905, 926, 929, 1006, 
 1009 
 
 Cabinet Officers, 1119 
 Cabot, John, 47 
 
 Sebastian, 48 
 Calef, Robert, 227 
 Caldwell, Rev. James, 514 
 Calhoun, John C . 622; Vice-President, 
 
 698, 711, 716, 719, 722, 724: Sec. of 
 
 State, 748, 754, 832: death, 836 
 Calvin, John, 322 
 Camden. battle. 518 
 Canada, invasion of, 634, 662 
 Capitol, The, burned. 670 
 Carleton, Sir Guy, 384. 403, 432, 555 
 Canonicus, 108, 111, 118 
 Carolina, 62. 175 
 Caroline affair. 739 
 Caron, Father le, 240 
 Carroll. John, bishop, 569 
 Cartier. James. 50-52 
 Carver, John. 95, 99 
 Cass, Lewis, 631, 827 
 Catawbas. 186 
 Catholic Church. 569 
 Census. 599. 619, 854, 1063. 1076 
 Centennial exhibition. 1063-1064, 1074 
 Oerro Gordo, battle, 808 
 Chambersburg burned. 1012 
 Champlain. Samuel. 67, 68 
 Chapul tepee taken, 820 
 Chancellor's Battle, 973, 975 
 Cliaracteristics of the Colonists,317-324 
 Charities. 861 
 Charters, colonial, 78, 83. 123, 167, 176, 
 
 191,202 
 
 Charleston, 178. 184: taken, 513, 1029 
 Chaae, Salmon P.. 881, 1062 
 Chattanooga. 993. 996 
 Chauncey, Captain. 634 
 Cherokees, 186; war with, 310, 709: 
 
 removal of. 706 
 Chesapeake, affair of, 610; capture of, 
 
 640 
 
 Chicago flre. 1057 
 Chickahominy, 945 
 Chiekamauga, battle, 993 
 Chickasaws. 57. 262 
 Chihuahua taken. 801 
 Chinese policy, effects, 613 
 Ohippewa, battle, 662 
 Chootaws, 192, 061 
 
 Christian Association, Y. Men, 1108 
 Christianized civilization, 574, 1109 
 Church of England, 91, 138, 145, 175. 1S5 
 Episcopal, 212. 213. 568 
 and State, separation, 569, 1006 
 Congregational, 568, 570 
 Methodist. 568 
 Presbyterian, 569 
 Churubusco, battle, 816 
 Cincinnati !<ociety. 559 
 Civil Rights Bill. 968, 1032, 1035 
 Civil Service Reform, 1068. 1072 
 Claims against France, 729 
 Clarke, George Rogers, 508 
 Clarke and Lewis's explorations, 754 
 Clay, Gen. Green, 644 
 Clay, Henry, 622, 625, 660, 695, 725, 834; 
 
 death, 842 
 
 Clayborne, William, 133. 135 
 Clayton, John M.. 725. 829 
 Clinton, DeWitt, 700 
 
 George, 367, 416, 559. 573; Vice- 
 President, 603 
 Clinton, Sir Henry, 371, 376, 397, 482, 
 
 492, 497, 504, 507, 512, 542, 552. 555 
 Clipper, The, 69 
 Clouds, battle above, 995 
 Cobb, Howell,890 
 Cockburn, Sir Alex., 1052 
 Coddington. William. 107, 113 
 Coercion, 872, 874, 881 
 Coke, Thomas, bishop, 568 
 Cold Harbor, battle, 948 
 Coligny, 61. 66 
 
 Colleges, 123, 144, 220, 268, 294, 323, 338 
 Colonial Governments, 1112 
 Colonization Society, 689 
 Columbia burned, 1025 
 Columbus. Christopher, 34-37 
 Common sense, 410 
 Common schools, 123. 320 
 Commerce, increase of, 605 
 Commissioners, British, 493 
 
 of peace, 555. 559 
 of customs. 346 
 of peace. 660 
 
 Company. London. 78, 132 
 Plymouth, 78. 107 
 Dutch, W. India, 149 
 Compromises, constitutional. 565 
 Missouri, 692. 69o 
 of tariff, 725, 837 
 
 Concord and Lexington, battle. 35;* 
 Confederate finances. 972. 990 
 Congress, old Continental, 351 
 the second " 367 
 Provincial. Mass., 357 
 Stamp Act, 335 
 Connecticut colony, 113; emigration 
 
 to. 120. 202 
 Conscription, Confederate, 926. 943: 
 
 debt, 972 
 
 Constitution, Federal, 565: amend- 
 ments to. 968. 969, 971 ; powers of 
 in the territories, 1032, 1043. 1017: 
 text of. 1143 
 Constitution, Confederate, on slavery, 
 
 879. 1049 
 Constitutions, colonial. 88, 99, 120; con 
 
 trast. of States, 857-863 
 Convention, Democratic. 855, 369 
 Disunion, 839
 
 INDEX. 
 
 1131 
 
 Co vention. Republican, 856 
 
 Conway, Cabal, 488 
 
 Cook, Col. Edw., 586 
 
 Cooper, Sir Ashley, 176 
 
 Cooper, J. Fennimore. 1107 
 
 Corinth evacuated, 931 
 
 Cortez, 46 
 
 Cornwallis, Lord, 417, 429, 441, 518, 535; 
 
 at Yorktown, 542, 549 
 Cotton manufacture, 713 
 "Court, The," 236 
 Cowpens, battle, 533 
 Craven, Governor, 187 
 Creeks, 18(5, 188, 193, 653, 700 
 Crockett, Davy, 745 
 Crops, 239 
 Crown Point, 292 
 Cruisers, American, 389, 509 
 
 Confederate, 1030 
 Cruisers, French, 593; and English, 
 
 607, 617 
 Cuba, 840, 842 
 Culpepper, 143 
 Curtis, Gen. S. R., 920 
 Cushing, Caleb, 1052 
 Cushman, Robert, 95 
 
 Dahcotahs or Sioux, 41, 246 
 
 Dahlgren, Admiral, 988 
 
 Dallas, George M., 751 
 
 Danbury burned, 450 
 
 Daniel, Father. 241, 245 
 
 Darrah, Mrs. , 470 
 
 Dartmouth College. &8 
 
 Davenport, Rev. John, 120 
 
 Davis, Capt. J. E.. 930 
 
 Davis. Jefferson, 776, 780; senator, 835, 
 879, 888, 903; special message, 911; 
 inaugurated, 932, 990, 1004; flight, 
 1023; capture, 1025, 1031 
 
 Davies, Rev. Samuel, 286 
 
 Dayton, Win. L., 891 
 
 Day of Holy Rest, 318 
 
 Deane, Silas, 456 
 
 Dearborn, Gen. Henry, 634, 651 
 
 Debt, National, 1029, 1098 
 
 Decatur, Stephen. 602, 640, 685 
 
 Declaration of Independence, by Con- 
 gress, 412 
 Independence, Mech- 
 
 lenburg, 366 
 of rights, 335, 353 
 of war opposed, 628 
 
 Decrees affecting American com- 
 merce, 607, 612, 617 
 
 Delaware, Lord, 84, 85 
 
 Delawares, Christian massacre of, 553 
 
 D'Estaing, Count, 496, 497, 506 
 
 De Joinville, Prince, 952 
 
 De Long, Lieutenant, 1099 
 
 Deposits, removal of, 726 
 
 De Vries. 150, 152-154 
 
 Deseret, 839 
 
 Detroit, 314, 507 
 
 Dictatorship, Washington, 440, 468 
 
 Dieskau. 293, 294 
 
 Pinwiddie, Gov., 271. 273, 295 
 
 Dissenters, 175, 178, 182, 357 
 
 Disunion Convention, 833, 839 
 
 Doniphan's Expedition, 799 
 
 Donop, Count, 424, 470 
 
 Dorr, Thomas W., 750 
 
 Doubleday, Gen., 884, 979 
 Dover destroyed, 253 
 Douglass, S. A., 840, 855, 869 
 Drake, Sir Francis. 73. 75 
 Dreuilettes, Father, 245, 
 Drummond, William, HI, 142, 176 
 Duche, Rev. Jacob, 352 
 Dudley, Thomas, 107, 108 
 
 Joseph, 211, 214, 218 
 Dunbar, Colonel, 280, 285 
 Dunmore, Lord, 364, 396 
 Dupont, Commodore, 905, 988, 989 
 Dustin, Hannah. 256 
 Duties imposed, 339 
 D wight, Timothy, 1107 
 
 Early, General, 980, 1011, 1013, 1021 
 
 Eaton, Theophilus, 120 
 
 Ecclesiastical organizations, 567, 570 
 
 Edwards, Jonathan, 267, 1107, 1108 
 
 Electoral Commission, 1070 
 
 Electors, Presidential, 1125 
 
 Eliot, John, 125, 245 
 
 Elizabeth, Queen, 92 
 
 Ellet's rams, 930 
 
 Ellsworth, Colonel, 890 
 
 Emancipation, decree of, 965, 970 
 
 Embargo, under Jefferson, 612 
 Madison, 627 
 Washington, 584 
 
 Emigration, 865, 1100; West, to the, 
 1101 
 
 Endicott, John, 107, 116 
 
 English enterprise, 69; pluck, 528 
 language, 1109 
 
 Enterprise, American, 577 
 
 Episcopal church, 409, 567 
 
 Era in human progress, 573 
 
 Erie Canal, 700 
 
 Erskine's negotiations, 615 
 
 Etheridge Emerson, 808 
 
 Eutaw Springs, battle, 541 
 
 Evarts, Wm. M., 1052, 1072 
 
 Ewell, Gen., 977, 980, 1024 
 
 Exploring Expedition, 742 
 Arctic, 1098-1101 
 
 Failures, commercial, 1059 
 
 Fair Oaks, battle of, 945 
 
 Fallacies, 879 
 
 Farragut, Admiral, 926. 929, 1014 
 
 Far-reaching views on labor, 715 
 
 Federal Union, 368 
 
 Federalist, the, 566 
 
 Federalist and anti-Federalist, 581 
 
 Fenians, 1032 
 
 Ferguson, Colonel, 524 
 
 Field, Cyrus W., 1032 
 
 Fillmore, Millard, 836, 850 
 
 Finances, confederate, 972, 990 
 
 Financial disorders, 491, 686, 696, 873 
 
 success, 1074, 1083 
 Fish, Hamilton, 1047 
 Fitch, John, 687 
 Five Forks, battle of, 1022 
 Fletcher. Benjamin, 171, 219, 331 
 Florida, 44,54; purchased, 692; aState, 
 
 750, 877 
 
 Floyd, J B., orders, 875. 901, 916 
 Foote, Admiral A. H., 913, 921; death. 
 
 930 
 Foote's resolutions, debate, 721
 
 1132 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Forrest, Gen. N. B., 998 
 Fort Donelson, 915 
 
 Du Quesne, 276, 304 
 
 Edward, 292 
 
 Frontenac, 271 
 
 Henry, 913 
 
 Hiuduian taken, 969 
 
 Necessity, 277 
 
 Niagara, 271 
 
 Pillow Massacre, 998 
 
 William Henry, 297 
 France, relations with, 591-596 
 Franklin, Benjamin, 173, 279, 295, 323, 
 
 i37, 367, 422, 456, 555, 565 
 Franklin, Sir John, 841 
 Fraser, Gen., 459, 480 
 Fredericksburg, battle of, 961 
 Free Masonry, 702 
 Fremont. John C., 791, 793, 802, 803, 
 
 850, 900, 944 
 French Pastors' Address, 990 
 
 Revolution, 582 
 Freneau, Philip, 584 
 Frolic, the, taken, 640 
 Frontenac, 253, 254 
 Fugitive slave law. 837, 871 
 Fulton, Robert, 631 
 
 Gage, General, 281, 341, 349, 356, 372, 377 
 
 Gallatin, Albert, 586, 643, 659 
 
 Garfleld. J. A., 1076. 1078-1088 
 
 Garnet, General, 894 
 
 Garrison, Wm. Lloyd, 863 
 
 Gaspe, revenue vessel, 344 
 
 Gates, Horatio, 285; sketch, 404, 433, 
 
 478; in the South, 517 
 Genet's mission, 583, 540 
 Georgia, 190-200, 490; subdued, 700 
 
 Indian lands in, 706 
 Germans in the colonies, 170,186,193, 261 
 Germantown battle. 468 
 Gerry, Elbridge, 564, 592 
 Gettysburg, battle, 978-984 
 Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, 70 
 Gilmore, Q. A., General, 988, 1006 
 Gist, Christopher, 270, 275 
 Glover, Colonel, 420, 421 
 Goffe, 201, 207 
 Gold discovered, 825 
 Gorges. Sir Ferdinand, 121 
 Gosnold, Bartholomew, 89 
 Gourges, Dinuinie de, 66 
 Government of United States, sketch 
 of, 1110-1128 
 
 Graffenried de, 186 
 
 Grand Model, the, 176 
 
 Grant, Colonel, 803, 312 
 Dr.. 745 
 
 U. S., General, 902. 908. 914, 923, 
 925. 968; Lieutenant-General, 998, 
 1028; President. 1047, 1060 
 
 Grasse, Count de, 542, 546, 549, 552 
 
 Greeley, Horace, 1065 
 
 Green Mountain Boys, 363 
 
 Greene, Nathaniel, General, 380. 402, 
 465, 491; in the South, 526, 535, 538 
 
 Gridley, Colonel, 362, 372 
 
 Grierson, Colonel. 988 
 
 Grundy, Felix, 623 
 
 Guerriere captured, 639 
 
 Guiteau, Charles J., 1080 
 
 Gunboats, Jefferson's, 606, 608 
 
 Hale, Nathan, 423 
 
 Hall.Capt. C. F., 1099 
 
 Halleck, General, 901, 930, 953, 978, 
 
 1008 
 Hamilton, Alexander, 350, 548, 575, 581 ; 
 
 death, 604 
 
 Hamilton, Andrew, 221 
 Hamlin, Hannibal, 868 
 Hampton, Wade, 1025; Sr., Wade, 651 
 Hancock, John, 341, 357, 398, 497 
 General, 941, 1008, 1076 
 Hand, Colonel, 417, 441 
 Hanson, Alexander, 630 
 Hardee, Gen., 1004, 1005 
 Harmer, General, 578 
 Harris. Benjamin, 237 
 Isham G., 888 
 
 Harrisburg Convention, 702 
 Harrison, William Henry, 620, 643; 
 
 President, 735 
 
 Harper's Ferry, 853, 887, 895, 957 
 Hartford Convention, 674 
 Harvard College, 123 
 Harvey, Sir John, 132, 135 
 Haslet. Colonel, 418, 444 
 Hatteras captured, 905 
 Hawkins, Sir John, 63 
 Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 1107 
 Hayes, Dr. I. J., 1098 
 
 R. B., 1070, 1071 
 Hayne, Isaac, 540 
 
 Robert Y., 721, 723 
 Haynes, John, 115 
 Heath, General, 360, 423, 425 
 Heintzelman, General, 939, 941, 946 
 Heister de, General, 418 
 Henry VIII., 90 
 
 Joseph, Scientist. 1062 
 Patrick, 329, 333, 352, 364 
 Herkimer, General, 475 
 Hessians, hired, 390, 459 
 Hiawatha, 243 
 Higginson, Minister, 107 
 Hildreth (Historian), 1107 
 Hill, D. H., General, 947. 951, 958, 979 
 Hilton Head captured, 906 
 Hobkirk's Hill, battle, 539 
 Hodge. Charles, Professor, 1107 
 Homestead Bill, settlers under, 1103 
 Hood, 1002-1004, 1017 
 Hooker, J., General, 941, 958, 972, 976. 
 
 995 
 
 Rev. Thomas, 115, 117 
 Horse-shoe, battle. 654 
 Houston, Samuel. 746. 747 
 Howard, O. O., General. 980, 1003 
 Howe, Admiral, the. 413, 468, 496, 498 
 
 Sir William, 306, 371, 400, 413, 
 422, 425, 457, 464. 466, 467, 492 
 
 Robert, General. 500 
 Hudson, Henry, 146-148 
 Huguenots in the South, 61-66; in 
 
 Canada, 67, 179 
 Hull, Isaac, Captain, 639 
 
 William, General. 630, 631, 643 
 Hunter, General, 1011, 1012 
 Hurons. 241, 243, 246 
 Hutchinson, Anne, 112, 113 
 
 Governor, 343, 346 
 
 D'Ibberville, Lemoine. 259, 260 
 Illiteracy compared, 859, 1102
 
 INDEX. 
 
 1133 
 
 Immigrants, unskilled, 865; skilled and 
 
 educated, 1102, 1103 
 Impressment, British, 608, 627, 632, 741 
 Incidents, 102, 137, 142, 154, 192, 219, &33, 
 
 378, 421, 451, 560, 639, (554, 936, 941, 
 
 984, 999, 1013, 1049, 1087, 1094 
 Indented servants, 138, 144 
 Independence, question of, 408, 412 
 Indians, divisions of, 35; see names of 
 
 tribes 
 Indians, efforts to convert, 125, 135, 156, 
 
 210, 706 
 
 civilize, 1061 
 Indiana, State, 686 
 Indigo, 326 
 
 Individual responsibility, 1108 
 Influence, men of, 215, 570 
 
 of the Dutch, 161 
 
 Influences, religious, 317-320, 409, 1067 
 Inner Life of the Colonists, 126, 235 
 Inoculation, 228 
 Interior Department, 1122 
 Internal improvements, 606, 700 
 Inventions, 1102 
 Iowa a State, 750 
 Irish Irregulars, 884 
 Irving, Washington, 1107 
 Isabella, (jueeii, 35, 37 
 Island No. 10, <J21 
 
 Jack, Captain, 280 
 
 Jackson, Andrew, 647, 654, 677, 691; 
 President, 705-730 
 C. F., 889, 898 
 
 T. J. (Stonewall), 938, 944; 
 death, 974 
 
 James I., 77, 93. 05, 131 
 II., 143, 211, 252 
 Jamestown, 79; burned, 141 
 Jasper, Sergeant, 406 
 Java, the, taken, 640 
 Jay. John, 353, 555; Chief Justice, 575; 
 
 Mission, 587 
 
 Jefferson, Thomas. 367. 411, 567; Sec. 
 of State. 575, 581 : Vice-President, 
 590; President, 599-614; death, 701 
 Jesuits, 67, 78, 241, 246, 256 
 Jogues, Father, 244 
 Johnson, Andrew, 872; President, 1027; 
 amnesty, 1029; impeached, 1035; 
 policy, 1033; military authority, 
 1040, 1045, 1062 
 
 John, 396. 474 
 
 Colonel Rich. M.. 647- Vice- 
 President, 730 
 Sir William. 279, 292, 378 
 Reverdy, 1050 
 
 Johnston. A. Sidney, General, 914, 923, 
 925 
 
 J. E.. General. 895, 986; su- 
 persedes Bragg, 997, 1000-1002; sur- 
 renders, 1025 
 Joliet, Father. 247 
 Jones, John Paul. 509 
 Judiciary of U. S., 1123 
 
 Kalb, Baron de, 455, 463, 515, 519 
 Kane, Dr. E. K., 841 
 Kansas, affairs in, 848, 878 
 Kearney, General, 796, 802, 956 
 Kearsarge and Alabama. 1030 
 Kentucky, neutrality, 889 
 Kieft, William, 151-156 
 
 King's Mountain, battle, 521 
 Kittaning destroyed, 295 
 Knowlton, Colonel, 374, 425 
 Knox Henry, 391, 399, 437, 559; Sec. of 
 
 War, 574 
 
 Knyphausen, General, 466, 511 
 Kosciusko, Thaddeus, 463, 536 
 Ku-Klux Klan, 1055 
 
 Labor, far-reaching views on, 715 
 
 Lafayette, Marquis de, 462, 467, 494, 547; 
 visit of, 697 
 
 Lake Champlain, action on, 666 
 Erie, " 646 
 
 Lander, General, 938 
 
 Land holding, 231, 234 
 
 Lane, James H., General, 776. 822 
 Ralph, 72, 73 
 
 La Salle, 248-251 
 
 Laurens, Henry, 66, 528, 555 
 
 Lawrence, James, Captain, 645 
 
 Lawrence, Massacre, 997 
 
 Laws, humane, 230 
 
 Freedmen, 1036-1039 
 
 Lecompton Convention, 851 
 
 Ledyara, the traveler, 40 
 Colonel, 547 
 
 Lee, Arthur, 456 
 
 Charles, General, 302, 377, 395, 430, 
 434; treason, 492; death, 496 
 Henry, Gen., 490, 506, 537, 596, 630 
 Richard Henry, 329, 351, 353, 411 
 Robert E., General, 910, 946, 954, 
 957, 960, 974, 978-984, 1007, 1010; sur- 
 renders, 1021-1024; death, 1048 
 
 Leisler, Jacob, 216-219 
 
 Leon, Juan Ponce de, 44 
 
 Levant and Cyane captured, 684 
 
 Lexington and Concord, battle, 358 
 
 Libraries, 1106 
 
 Lincoln, Abraham. 868, 870, 878; in- 
 augural. 880, 882; the call, 885: plan 
 of Potomac campaign, 932; retains 
 McDowell, 938, 940; emancipation, 
 965, 970; 2d inauguration, 1020; 
 death. 1026 
 
 Benjamin, General, 357, 479, 
 500, 503, 506, 511, 545. 613 
 
 L'Insurgente. frigate, captured, 596 
 
 Little Belt, affair of, 619 
 
 Livingston, Robert R., 367, 411, 600, 
 
 687 
 William, 334, 351 
 
 Lloyd, Senator. 626 
 
 Locke, John, 176 
 
 London Times, views of, 641 
 
 Long Island, battle, 417-421 
 
 Longfellow, H. W., 1107 
 
 Longstreet, General, 978, 981, 935 
 
 Lopez, General. 840 
 
 Loss on Union side, 1028 
 
 Loudon. Lord. 296, 297 
 
 Louisburg taken, 264; again, 301 
 
 Louisiana. 249; purchased, 600; trou- 
 bles, 1060, 1061 
 
 Lowell, F. C., 713 
 
 Lyman, General, 292 
 
 Lyon, N., 889, 899. 900 
 
 Lyttleton, Lord, 311 
 
 Lundy, Benjamin, 863 
 
 Lundy's Lane, battle of, 663 
 
 Lutherans, 170, 174, 193, 196
 
 1134 
 
 IXDEX. 
 
 Madison, James, 566; Sec. of State, 
 
 610; President, 615. 633, 627, 642, 
 
 659, 668, 673, 683, 087 
 Macedonian taken, 640 
 Macdonough, Commodore. 666 
 Magruder, General, M, U3tt, 949, 952 
 Magazine, first American, 174 
 Magaw, Colonel, 428 
 Magellan. 43 
 Mafvern Hill, battle, 950 
 Manifesto of the British government, 
 
 658 
 Manufactures, colonial, restrictions 
 
 on, 182, 202, 326 
 
 domestic, 129, 577, 702, 
 
 827, 971, 1058 
 Mansfield, General, 959 
 Marcy, William L., 796. 810, 811 
 Marion, General Francis. 516, 539 
 Marquette, James, 247, 248 
 Marshall, John, 592. 594, 707; death, 728 
 
 Color, el Humphrey, 776 
 Maryland, 134, 136; troubles, 145,321 
 Mason, George, 342. 565 
 
 Captain John, 118, 119 
 J. M., 907 
 Massachusetts, 106, 122, 202, 264, 659, 
 
 672, 676 
 
 Massasoit, 102, 103. 210 
 Matamoras occupied, 762 
 Material Progress, 861, 1075 
 Mather, Cotton, 214. 223-228 
 
 Increase, 222 
 May, Colonel. 760, 781 
 Mahew, Thomas, 126 
 Meade, Geo. S., General, 975, 978-984, 
 
 1022. 1032; death, 1062 
 Mechlenburg declaration, 366 
 Megapolensis, Domine, 156, 244 
 Meigs, Colonel, 451. 644 
 Mercenaries in the Union army, 907 
 Merimac and Monitor duel. 933-935 
 McClellan, G. B., 888. 891, 903, 032. 940, 
 
 954, 957; removed, 960, 1013; candi- 
 date, 1020 
 
 McClernand. General, 913. 969, 985 
 McCook, Colonel. 910, 925, 967 
 McCrea, Jenny. 473 
 McCulloch, Major, 773, 898. 920 
 McDowell. General. 891, 945 
 McDuffle, Geo, 719, 723 
 McHenry, Fort, defended, 671 
 McPherson, General, 1003 
 Melendez. Pedro. 64, 65 
 Mercer, General Hugh, 415, 443 
 
 Fort, defended, 470 
 Mesilla Valley purchased. 844 
 Methodist Episcopal Church, 196, 568; 
 
 division, 862 
 
 Mifflin, Thomas, 365.414, 561; GOT., 586 
 Miantonomoh, 117, 118 
 Miles, Gen., 893 
 Miller, Col. James, 663 
 Mill Spring, battle of, 910 
 Milroy. Gen., 913 
 Minuits. Peter, 149, 157 
 Mitchell, O. M.. General, 926, 963 
 Mississippi, 57, 247 
 Missions, Jesuit, 67, 242, 245, 246, 252 
 
 Spanish, 183 
 
 Missionary Societies formed, 636 
 Missouri Compromise, 692-695 
 
 Mobile taken. 260, 1014 
 
 Mobilian tribes. 41 
 
 Mohawks, or Huron-Iroquois, 41. 161, 
 
 153, 243, 253, 378, 458 
 Mohegans, 116, 152 
 Monongahela, battle, 281 
 
 first settlers on, 585 
 Molino del Rey, battle, 818 
 Monmouth, battle, 494 
 Monroe, James, 438, 591, 609; Sec. of 
 
 State, 651; President, 644-698 
 Monroe doctrine. 695 
 Monterey captured, 764 
 Montcalm, 297. 298. 302; death, 309 
 Montgomery, Richard, 383, 386 
 Monts, Sieur de, 68 
 Morality, laws enjoining, 88, 126, 169, 
 
 319 
 
 Moravians, 195. 198, 553 
 Morgan, Daniel. 380, 386, 464, 478, 533 
 
 J. H.. raid, 988 
 Mormons, S37-839 
 Morris, Gouverneur, 584 
 
 Robert, 544 
 
 Morse, Samuel F. B., 1032 
 Motley, Historian, 1107 
 Moultrie, Fort, 405 
 Muhlenburg, Colonel, 448 
 
 Rev. H. M., 174 
 Murfreesboro, battle, 967-8 
 
 Narragansetts, 203, 208 
 Nashville, 509; occupied, 917 
 Natchez, 261. 262 
 National Bank, 576 
 
 debts assumed, 576 
 Bank, 686 
 Banks. 991 
 Flag, 453 
 Road, 700 
 
 Naval efforts, 389, 390 
 Navy, the, 448, 589. 606, 637 
 
 department of, 390. 574 
 Nebraska bill, 845; the State, 1045 
 Nelson, Governor, 548 
 Neutrality professed, 892 
 Newark burned. 652 
 Newspapers. 237, 238, 861, 872, 1103 
 Newbern captured, 919 
 New Amsterdam, 149, 158 
 France. 240 
 Haven, 120 
 Jersey, 162 
 Lights, 267. 330 
 London burned, 547 
 Madrid captured. 921 
 Netherland, 149, 160 
 Orleans. 261 : battle, 679; captured, 
 
 927-929 
 Sweden. 158 
 York City, 146, 148, 732 
 York province, 161 
 Nicholson. Francis, 189, 216 
 Nipmucks, 206. 209 
 Non-coercion. 872 
 Norfolk burned, 396 
 North, Lord. 343, 345, 486, 555 
 Nullification, 721 
 
 causes of, 718-720 
 
 O'Brien. Captain. 728, 783 
 Oglethorpe, 190-200
 
 INDEX. 
 
 1135 
 
 Ohio Company, 269 
 
 State of, 600 
 Old Lights, 267 
 Old Ironsides, 638, 640, 684 
 Opechancanough, ISO, 137 
 Orders in Council, 611, 625, 632 
 Ordinance of 1787, 566 
 Oregon boundary, 753-756 
 
 emigration to, 790; State of, 791 
 Otis. James, 328, 340 
 Outrages on colored soldiers, 927 
 
 Pacific Railway, 1047 
 Packenham, General, 679, 681 
 Palmer, Sir Roundel, 1052 
 Palo Alto, battle, 758 
 Parker, Sir Peter, 405 
 Parliament, measures of, 390 
 Parris, Samuel, 224-228 
 Patroons, 150 
 Patterson, General, 895 
 Pea Ridge, battle of, 320 
 Peace Party, 976 
 
 rumors, 682 
 
 Pemberton, J. C.. General, 965, 985-987 
 Penn, William, 165-173, 335 
 Pennsylvania, 167; settlers, German, 
 
 170; Presbyterian, 172; Western, 585 
 Pepperell, William, 264 
 Pequods, war with, 116-120 
 Perry, Commodore, 845 
 
 O. H., 646 
 
 Personal Liberty bills. 871 
 Petersburg taken, 1023 
 Philadelphia, 168: taken, 468 
 Philip's, King, war, 203, 209 
 Phillips, General, 458, 533 
 Phipps, Sir William, 225, 255 
 Pickett, General, 982 
 Pierce. Franklin, 814, 844 
 Pilgrim Fathers. 98 
 Pilgrims in Hollknd. 94, 96 
 Pinckney, Charles C., 591 
 Pitcairn, Major. 359, 377 
 Pitt, William. 300, 336, 354 
 Pittsburg, 304, 314 
 
 Pittsburg Landing, battle of, 923-926 
 PizaiTo, 46 
 Platforms of parties, 855,856, 1019, 1020, 
 
 1069, 1075 
 
 Pleasants, Col. Henry, 1013 
 Pleasonton, General, 913, 1015 
 Pocahontas, 81, 84, 86 
 Pollard, 996, 1024 
 Polk, James K., 749; President, 751, 762, 
 
 768, 818 
 Leonidas, Bishop Gen., 908, 923; 
 
 death, 1001 
 Pontiac, 313-316 
 
 Pope. John. Gen., 921,929, 953-956 
 Porter, Captain, (555 
 
 D. D., Admiral, 926. 985, 998 
 Fitz-John, Gen., 948, 950, 955 
 Port Hudson taken, 987 
 Portland burned, 389 
 Position of affairs, 999 
 Postage, cheap, 750 
 Post-office department, 1122 
 Powhatan, 80, 81 
 
 Prejudices, sectional, 392, 415, 1066 
 Presbyterians. 163, 172, 175, 181, 185, 
 
 318, 409, 568, 585 
 
 President of U. S., election of, 1124 
 President, frigate, taken, 684 
 Prescott, Colonel William, 372, 425 
 Prescott, General, capture of, 460 
 
 Historian. 1107 
 Press, the, 123, 139, 211, 232, 235, 857 
 
 liberty of, vindicated, 221 
 
 increase, 1106 
 Preston, Captain, 342 
 Price, Sterling, 898, 965, 1015 
 Princeton College, 268 
 
 battle, 443 
 Pring, Martin, 90 
 Prisoners of war, 446, 558 
 Prevost, Sir George, 643, 665 
 Provost, Bishop, 573 
 Pulaski. Count, 463, 467, 506 
 Puritans, 92, 106, 127, 136, 202 
 Putnam, Israel, 292, 361, 374, 418, 446 
 
 Quakers, 124, 164, 170, 181,323 
 Quebec Act, 348 
 
 founded, 68, 306, 310, 385 
 Queenstown attacked, 634 
 Qumcy, Josiah, 342 
 
 Josiah, jr., 626 
 Quit man. John, General, 765 
 
 Raisin River, battle, 643 
 Rahl, Colonel, 436, 438 
 Raleigh, Sir Walter, 71 ; death, 75 
 Randolph, Edmund, 565, 575 
 John, 614, 624, 863 
 Rawdon, Lord, 539 
 Reconstruction of States, 1033 
 Reed, Adjutant-General, 436, 440 
 Red River Expedition, 998 
 Reformation, the. 59. 00 
 Representatives, House of, 843 
 
 ratio o.'. 843. 1076 
 Slave representation 
 
 in, 565, 675, 748, 866. 1042 
 Republican parties, 1st, 582; 2d, 850, 
 
 868 
 
 Republics, South American, 690 
 Repudiation. 734 
 Resaca de la Palma, battle, 760 
 Resolutions of '98, 711 
 Responsibility, individual, 1108 
 Resumption of Specie Payments, 1074 
 Revere, Paul, 347, 359 
 Revival, great. 267 
 Revolt of soldiers, 530 
 Revolution, war of, 355-556 
 
 French, 582 
 
 Reynolds, General, 979 
 Rhode Island, 113, 123, 124, 202, 235, 750 
 Rice, 182 
 
 Richmond, 943; taken, 1023 
 Ringgold, Major, 759 
 Riots at Baltimore, 630 
 New York, 989 
 Railway, 1073 
 Rivington's Gazette, 394 
 Roberval, Lord of, 52, 53 
 Robertson, James. 508 
 Robinson, Ewd.,Prof., 1107 
 Rev. John, 93, 96 
 Rochambeau, Count de, 516, 544 
 Rodgers, Captain, 618 
 Rosecrans, General, 894, 901, 965, 967, 
 
 1015
 
 1136 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Ross, General Robert, 667, 671 
 Russell, Lord John, 597; protest, 1031 ; 
 
 negligence, 1051 
 Rutledge, Edward, 422 
 
 Sabbath, the, 169, 285, 319 
 Samoset, 102 
 
 Sanitary Commission, 942, 1009 
 Santa Anna, 743, 746, 768, 772, 774-786, 
 
 807, 812, 822 
 Santa F6 taken, 797 
 San Jacinto, battle, 646 
 Saratoga, the surrender, 481 
 Sassacus, 118, 119 
 Savannah, 19,2, 506; taken, 1005 
 Sayle, William, 178 
 Schwatka, Lieut. Fred., 1099 
 Schenectady burned, 254 
 Schofleld, General, 1016 
 Schools, 123, 138, 169, 235, 236, 320, 322, 
 
 858, 1101 
 Schuyler, Peter, 258 
 
 General Philip, 377, 381, 383, 
 
 404, 452, 460, 472, 478 
 Scott, Lieutenant-General Winfield, 
 
 685, 661, 706; Mexican war, 763, 771, 
 
 804. 813, 890, 904, 1062 
 Sears, Robert. 365 
 Sedgwick, General, 974, 1008 
 Seminoles, 184; war with, 690, 728 
 Semmes, Raphael, 966 
 Senate, how composed, 843 
 Seward, W. H., 881, 891, 908, 1026 
 Shawnees, 243, 271 
 Shay's rebellion, 562 
 Sheridan, General Philip, 968, 1009; his 
 
 ride, 1Q13 
 
 Sherlock, Bishop, 329 
 Sherman, Roger, 351; T. W., 905 
 
 Wm. T., 909, 969, 986, 9%, 
 
 1000-1005, 1025, 1027 
 Shingis, 274. 295 
 Shiloh, battle of, 924 
 Sickles. General D.. 981. 1039 
 Sigel, Franz, 899, 920, 955. 974 
 Signal Service Bureau, 1056 
 Silk culture. 191, 195, 1059 
 Sioux or Dahcotahs, 41, 246 
 Slater, Samuel, 578 
 Slave law, fugitive, 837 
 
 representation, 565. 675, 866 
 
 trade, 353, 410, 411, 566, 740 
 
 Slavery in the colonies, 130, 159, 180, 
 
 195, 200, 322, 825 
 
 in the territories, 566, 693, 831, 
 
 833,835,846 
 
 discussion on, 830, 835 
 Slaves in British army, 558 
 
 the hopes, 966 
 Slidell. John, 907 
 Slocum, General, 948, 982 
 Sloughter, Colonel Henry, 217, 218 
 Smith, John. 79-84. 90 
 Joseph. 837 
 
 General Kirby. 964, 1026 
 Smugglers, English, 197 
 Society for propagating the Gospel in 
 
 foreign parts, 185, 193 
 Soldiers, colored, 987, 991 
 Soto, De, 54-58 
 Sons of Liberty, 334. 365 
 Specie payments, bill for, 1060, 1074 
 
 Squanto, 90, 102 
 
 St. Clair, General, 447, 458-460; defeat, 
 
 579 
 
 St. Leger, General, 457, 474 
 St. Pierre, 274 
 
 Steele, General; Little Rock taken, 997 
 Specie Circular, 732 
 Speculation, 731, 732, 734 
 Stamp Act, 332, 337 
 btandish, Miles, 98, 104 
 Stanton, E. M.,-912, 1045; death, 1062 
 Stark. John, 292, 361, 374, 437; Benning- 
 
 ton, 476 
 
 State Department, 390, 1119 
 State Rights influence, 1040 
 Stephens, A. H., 872, 879, 932 
 Stephenson, Fort, defended, 644 
 Steuben, Baron de, 490, 542 
 Stirling, Lord, General, 419 
 Stockton, Commodore, 795, 803 
 Stoneman, General, 975, 1018 
 Stonington bombarded, 672 
 Stony Point taken, 505 
 Stoughton, William, 212, 225-228 
 Stringham, Commodore, 905 
 Stuart, J. E. B., raid, 947, 960, 974; 
 
 death, 1009 
 
 Stuyvesant. Peter, 156-160 
 Sub-Treasury. 733 
 Suffrage, qualification, 1105 
 Sullivan, General John, 356, 402, 417, 
 
 435, 465, 497, 502 
 Sumner, Charles, 1050, 1065 
 
 General, 946, 951, 959 
 Sumter, General, 516 
 
 Fort, 875, 883; the Old Flag, 
 
 1029 
 Susquehanna, 134, 139 
 
 Talleyrand, 593, 595 
 
 Taney, Roger B., 727 
 
 Tariffs, 567, 686, 697, 702, 704, 723, 725, 
 
 827, 971 
 
 Tarleton, Colonel, 512, 533 
 Taxes, parliamentary, 321 381, 340 
 
 national, 971 
 Tayac, 135 
 Taylor, Zachary, 728; Mexican war, 
 
 753, 757, 760, 766, 779; President, 
 
 829,836 
 
 Tea taxed, 339, 345: destroyed, 347 
 Tecumseh, 619, 644, 647 
 Telegraph, the, 1032 
 Temperance Movement, 1077, 1107 
 Tennent, Rev. William. 260 
 Territory, North-west, 566 
 Texas annexation. 74S-749 
 Thames, battle. 647 
 Thanksgiving day, 104, 128 
 Thomas, General, 380, 399, 403 
 Thomas, Geo. H.. Gen., 910, 924, 993,1018 
 Thomson, Charles, 351 
 Ticonderoga taken, 363, 459 
 Tilden. Samuel J., 1070 
 Tippecanoe. battle. 621 
 Tithing-man, the, 127 
 Toleration, 136 
 Tompkins. Daniel D., 687 
 Tories, 343. 558, 562 
 Town meetings, 231 
 Trade, colonial, 144; restrictions, 180, 
 
 202, 211, 325
 
 INDEX. 
 
 113? 
 
 Treason made odious, 1035 
 Treasury Department, 401, 574, 1120 
 Treaties with Algiers, 589, 685 
 
 China, 1045 
 
 England, 556; Jay's, 588; 
 at Ghent, 682; at Washington, 
 740, 1050 
 
 France, 493 
 
 Indians, 580, 686 
 
 Japan, 845 
 
 Mexico, 825 
 
 Ottoman empire, 730 
 
 Spain, 589, 692 
 Trent affair, 907 
 Trenton, battle, 436 
 Trist, N. P., Commissioner, 811, 818, 825 
 Truxton, Capt., 596 
 Tryon, Governor, 378, 394, 449, 504 
 Tuscaroras, 186, 187 
 Tyler, John, 736-750 
 
 Uncas, 118, 157, 203 
 
 Uniform, American, 881 
 
 United colonies of New England, 122 
 
 Thirteen, 388 
 States, 412 
 Union Flag, 393 
 
 Union, continuance of. 1065-1067 
 Union men, 871 
 Union war losses, 1028 
 
 Valley Forge, 484 
 Van Buren, Martin, 731-734 
 Vanderbilt, Cornelius, 906 
 Van Dorn, Gen., 920, 965. 969 
 Vane, Harry, 110, 112, 122, 201 
 Vaudreuil, 258, 310 
 Vera Cruz taken, 805 
 Verrazzani, 49. 50 
 Vespucci, Amerigo, 38 
 Vicksburg taken. 985-987 
 Vigilance Associations, 874 
 Virginia, 72, 77, 130 
 Volunteers; Mexican war, 762 
 
 Wadsworth, Win., 213 
 Gen., 1008 
 
 Waite, Morrison R.. 1052 
 Waldron. Major. 253 
 Walker, Robert J., 851 
 Walloons, first settlers on Long Island, 
 
 149 
 
 Wampanoags, 203, 206 
 Wamsutra, death of, 204 
 Warren, Dr. Joseph, 358, 377 
 War Department, 401, 1121 
 Wars, with England, 628-686 
 
 England and Spain, 183, 
 197, 198 
 
 Indian, 116-120, 131, 137, 139, 151- 
 156, 203-209. 578, 690, 728 
 King William's, 252 
 of the Revolution, 355-551 
 Tripoli, 601 
 King George's, 263 
 Washington, Fort, taken, 428 
 
 George, youth, 271-278, 
 274-286, 304; commander-in-chief, 
 
 369, 381, 399, 424, 427, 429, 436, 442, 
 
 457, 465, 467, 495, 510, 544, 559; 
 Washington, retirement, 561, 564; Pres- 
 ident, 571-590; death, 596 
 John, 139 
 
 Colonel William, 534, 539 
 City pillaged, 670 
 Wayne, Anthony, 448, 467; Stony Point, 
 
 505, 543, 580 
 Webster, Daniel, 657, 673. 722; Sec. of 
 
 State, 738, 748, 832; death, 842 
 
 Noah, 1107 
 
 Wesley, John and Charles, 195, 196 
 Wetherford, the chief, 653, 654 
 Wheelock, Rev. E.,338 
 Whigs, 343 
 
 Whiskey Insurrection, 585-587 
 Whitefield, George, 196, 264, 268 
 White, William, bishop, 568 
 White Plains, battle, 426 
 Whitney, Eli, 700 
 Whittier, J. G., 1107 
 Wilderness, battles of, 1007 
 Wilkinson, James, General, 434, 649, 
 
 651,661 
 
 Wilkes, Chas., Capt., 742, 908 
 Williamsburg, battle of, 941 
 William in., 170, 214 
 Williams, College, 636 
 Eunice, 257 
 Colonel E., 293, 294 
 
 O. H., 535 
 
 Roger, 110, 111, 117, 183, S09 
 Wilmot Proviso, 827 
 Wilson, Henry, 1048 
 Wilson's Creek, battle of, 899 
 Winchester, Gen., 643 
 Winder, General, 667-669 
 Winslow, Edward, 98, 101, 103, 111, 
 
 114 
 Winthrop, John, 106 
 
 John, jr., 202 
 Wise, Rev. John, 213 
 Witchcraft, Salem, 222-228. 230 
 
 in Great Britain, 229 
 Withergpoon, Dr., 351 
 Wolfe, James, 301, 307-309 
 Wool, John E., 635, 764, 775, 770, 786, 904 
 Wooster, General, 383, 450 
 Worth, William J., 764, 767, 771, 807, 
 
 815, 819 
 
 Writs of Assistance, 327 
 Wyoming, ruin of, 498; revenged, 502 
 
 Yamasees, 186. 188 
 
 Yeamans, Sir John, 177, 180 
 
 Yeardley, George, 87, 132 
 
 York taken, 650 
 
 Yorktown, siege of, 547-549: 2d siege, 
 
 939; centennial celebration of siege 
 
 of 1781,1096 
 Young, Brigham, 839 
 Young Men's C. A., 1105 
 Youthful Nation, 573 
 Yulee's letter, 877 
 
 Zenger, John Peter, 221 
 Zollicoffer, Gen., 902, 910
 
 TOPICAL INDEX. 
 
 In order to aid the reader who 
 jects treated of in this History, 
 been prepared, with references to 
 where such subjects are noticed : 
 
 DISCOVERIES AND EXPLORA- 
 TIONS. 
 
 Spanish. 
 
 Columbus set sail August 3, 149-2; first 
 discovery, October 12, 1493; main- 
 land of South America, 1498; pp. 
 33-38. 
 
 Balboa discovers the Pacific Septem- 
 ber 26, 1513; p. 43. 
 
 Magellan, first voyage round the 
 world, 1521); p. 43. 
 
 Ponce de Leon discovers Florida, March 
 27, 1512; p. 44. 
 
 Vasquez de Ayllon attempts to con- 
 quer Florida, 1528; pp. 43-46. 
 
 De Soto traverses Florida to the Mis- 
 sissippi, 1539-1541 ; pp. 54-56. 
 
 English. 
 
 Sebastian Cabot reaches the mainland 
 of Western Continent, June 27, 1497; 
 pp. 47-49. 
 
 Sir Walter Raleigh, Armidasand Bar- 
 low, explore coasts of the Carolinas, 
 1584; pp. 69-76. 
 
 John Smith explores Virginia, 1607; 
 New England, 1614; pp. 79; 81-82; 90. 
 
 Oosnold Bartholomew sails straight 
 across the Atlantic and reaches Cape 
 Cod, May 14, 1602; p. 89. 
 
 Henry Hudson in Hudson's Bay, 1612; 
 p. 148. 
 
 French. 
 
 Verra.zza.ni discovers coast of North 
 Carolina, 15S4; pp. 49, 50. 
 1138 
 
 may wish to refer to special sub- 
 the following classified Table has 
 the dates, as well as to the pages 
 
 FRENCH. CONTINUED. 
 
 Carlier explores St. Lawrence River, 
 1534-1535; pp. 50-53. 
 
 Ribault. Huguenots in the South, 
 1562; the massacre, 1568; pp. 01-66. 
 
 De Monts in the North, Acadie settled, 
 1607; p. 67. 
 
 Champlain's explorations, 1608; p. 68. 
 
 Fattier Allouez, 1642-1065; Marquette, 
 
 . 1670; pp. 246. 247. 
 
 La Salle floats down the Mississippi, 
 1682; sails from France for Louisi- 
 ana, 1684: pp. 240-251. 
 
 Dutch. 
 
 Henry Hudson explores Hudson Riv- 
 er, 1609; pp. 146-147. 
 
 American. 
 
 Captain Charles Wilkes. Antarctic 
 Explorations, 1838-1842; p. 742. 
 
 Clarke and Lewis cross Rocky Moun- 
 tains, and down Columbia River, 
 1805, 1806; p. 754. 
 
 Captain Gray, first American voyage 
 round the world, 1792: p. 577; dis- 
 covers the Columbia River. 
 
 John C. Fremont, explores passes in 
 Rocky Mountains, 1843-1846; pp. 
 791-794; 803. 
 
 Dr. E. K. Kane in search of Sir John 
 Franklin. 1850-1851; p. 841. 
 
 Arctic Explorations by Dr. Hayes, 
 Captain Hall. Lieutenant Schwatka, 
 and Lieutenant Commanding De 
 Long; 1860-1882; pp. 1098-1100.
 
 TOPICAL INDEX. 
 
 1139 
 
 SETTLEMENTS. 
 frenfh. 
 
 Huguenots in the South, 1562-1564; 
 pp. 61-60: North, Acadie, 1607: Que- 
 bec founded, 1608; pp. 67, 68. 
 
 Walloons (Protestant) in Brooklyn, 
 N. Y., 1625; p. 149: Missions and 
 Colonists, Oswego, N. Y., 1661; p, 
 346. 
 
 Pascagoula settled, New Orleans foun- 
 ded, 1699-1718; pp. 2:3, 360. 
 
 German colonists under the French, 
 1732; p. 361. 
 
 English. 
 
 Virginia, Jamestown founded, 1607; 
 
 pp. 77-88. 
 New England, Plymouth, landing at, 
 
 December 11 (23 N. S.), 1620; pp. 96- 
 
 101: Salem, 1639; Boston, 1630; pp. 
 
 107-109. 
 Rhode Island, at Providence, 1636; p. 
 
 113; Hartford (Dutch), 1614; Migra. 
 
 lion through the wilderness, pp. 
 
 113-115. 
 New Haven, Theophilus Eaton founds, 
 
 1638; p. 130. 
 Maryland, Lord Baltimore, 1633; p. 
 
 134. 
 Pennsylvania, the grant to Penn, 1681 ; 
 
 pp. 167-170. 
 Carolinas, the Proprietaries: Grand 
 
 Model, 1663; pp. 175-179. 
 Georgia, Oglethorpe, the poor man's 
 
 friend, 1732-1753; pp. 190-195. 
 
 Dutch. 
 
 Hartford, trading houses, 1614; pp. 
 
 113-114. 
 New York, on Manhattan Island. 1614, 
 
 and up the river, 1615; pp. 146-150. 
 O>i the Delaware, with the Swedes, 
 
 1638; pp. 157, 158. 
 
 American . 
 
 Migration beyond Atteghany Moun- 
 tains, from 1768 to 1794; p. 585. 
 
 Texas, first American Colonists, 1813; 
 second migration. 1835; pp. 743. 744. 
 
 Oregon, first settlers, 1842; pp. 790, 
 791. 
 
 Utah, Mormons take possession of, 
 1833-1850: pp. 37 -839. 
 
 LAND HOLDING. - TOWN AND 
 COUNTY MEETINGS. 
 
 Land distribution in New England, 
 
 pp. 105, 331, 333; in Virginia and the 
 
 Carolinas, pp. 334, 235. 
 Homestead law and results, p. 1101. 
 Town meetings, the effect, pp. 331, 
 
 232 
 County meetings, the effect, pp. 333- 
 
 336. 
 Suffrage qualifications, pp. 1105. 
 
 TREATIES. 
 
 England. First, September 3, 1783; p. 
 556: Jay's, 1795; p. 588: of Ghent, 
 proclaimed February 18, 1815; p. 
 683; first Washington, 1842; p. 740: 
 second Washington, 1871; pp. 1050- 
 1052. 
 
 France. Secret, 1777; p. 455: February 
 6, 1778; p. 493: 1783; p. 556: April 30, 
 1803; p. 600: claims, 1836; p. 729. 
 
 Spam. First, 1783; p. 556: 1795; p. 589: 
 Florida ceded, 1821; pp. 691." 693. 
 
 Holland. A virtual treaty, 1780; p. 
 527: commercial, 1780; p. 556. 
 
 Algiers. In 1790, p. 589: June 3, 1805; 
 p. 603. 
 
 Russia and Ottoman Empire, com- 
 mercial. 1836: p. 730. 
 
 Mexico, proclaimed July 4, 1848: p. 
 835. 
 
 Japan, commercial, 1853; p. 845. 
 
 China, commercial, 1867; p. 1045. 
 
 ACQUISITIONS OF TERRITORY. 
 
 Louisiana purchased, 1803; p. 600. 
 
 Florida obtained. 1819; p. 691. 
 
 New Mexico and California ceded, 
 
 1848; p. 825. 
 
 Mesilla Valley bought. 1853; p. 844. 
 Alaska purchased, 1867; p. 1045. 
 
 IMMIGRANTS. 
 
 Unskilled. 1819 and onward, p. 865; 
 skilled and educated, pp. 1102, 1103. 
 
 EDUCATION. THE PRESS. 
 
 Massachusetts, common schools estab- 
 lished. 1647: pp. 133. 124: training of 
 children the results; pp. 126, 127. 
 
 New England schools, pp. 238. 320, 322. 
 
 Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia, 
 138. 335.
 
 1140 
 
 TOPICAL INDEX. 
 
 EDUCATION. THE PRESS. CON- 
 TINUED. 
 
 Middle colonies, schools, 169, 236. 
 Schools in all the States since 1868, p. 
 
 1104. 
 
 Operatives, moral and literary train- 
 ing of, p. 712. 
 Colonists, inner life of, pp. 126-128; 
 
 234, 235. 
 Colonists, characteristics of, pp. 317- 
 
 324. 
 
 Indian Territory Schools, p. 1061. 
 Illiteracy, census of 1860; pp. 858-861. 
 The Press vindicated, 221 ; in colonial 
 
 times, 232-235. 
 Newspapers, origin of, 237; influence, 
 
 238; increase, 1106. 
 Hindrances of Education removed, 
 
 1105. 
 Young Men's and Women's Christian 
 
 Associations, 1104. 
 
 INDUSTRIES. 
 
 Manufactures, colonial, pp. 129, 182; 
 trade crippled, 202, 326; crude han- 
 dicraft, 235, 239 ; crops and animals, 
 239; national, 577, 613, 702; cotton 
 manufacture, 713, 714; results, 717- 
 719; woollen manufacture, 720; equal- 
 izing measure, 721; depression in 
 industries, 696, 732; industrial prog- 
 ress, 971; iron and steel, silk, wool 
 and cotton, 1058-1059. 
 
 Agriculture, progress of, 1075. 
 
 First Locomotive, 1832; p. 700. 
 
 First steamboat, 1807; p. 687. 
 
 First ocean steamer, 1818; p. 687. 
 
 First railroad, 1827; p. 700. 
 
 Canals, Erie and Ohio, 1825-1832; p. 
 700. 
 
 National road, 1820; p. 700. 
 
 Union Pacific, 1869; p. 1047. 
 
 Railways, aggregate length of, p. 1101. 
 
 WARS AND BATTLES. 
 First Period. To close of Revo- 
 lution. 
 
 Bennington, August 16; pp. 476, 477. 
 Braddock's defeat, July 9, 1755; pp. 
 
 279-286. 
 
 Brandy wine, September 11; p. 465. 
 Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775; pp. 371-377. 
 Camden, August 16, 1780; p. 513. 
 Cherry Valley, August, 1778; p. 498. 
 Concord, April 19, 1775; pp. 358-361. 
 
 WARS AND BATTLES. CONTINUED. 
 Cornwallis, surrender of, October 19, 
 
 1781; p. 545, 548-550. 
 Cowpens, January 17, 1781; pp. 513-535. 
 Eutaw Springs, September 8; p. 541. 
 French and Indian war, from 1757 to 
 
 1763; pp. 300-310. 
 Indian War in Virginia, March, 1622; 
 
 pp. 131, 137-139. 
 
 King Philip's, 1671 ; pp. 203-210. 
 King's Mountain, October 9; pp. 524- 
 
 520. 
 
 Lexington, April 19, 1773; pp. 358-361. 
 Long Island, August 27, 1776; pp. 417- 
 
 420. 
 Louisburg captured, June 17, 1745; pp. 
 
 264,265. 
 
 Monmouth, June 28, 1778; p. 494. 
 Pequod War, 1637; pp. 116-120. 
 Princeton, January 3, 1777; pp. 437, 443. 
 Saratoga, the surrender, October 17; 
 
 pp. 480-183. 
 
 Stony Point, July 16, 1779; p. 505. 
 Trenton, December 26, 1776; 
 Wyoming, July, 1778; p. 494. 
 
 Second Period. To close of Mexi- 
 can War. 
 
 Bladensburg, August 24; p. 669. 
 Buena Vista, February 22, 1847; p. 774. 
 Cerro Gordo, April 18; p. 808. 
 Champlain, lake, September 11 ; p. 665. 
 Churubusco, August 20; p. 817. 
 Erie, lake, September 10, 1813; the 
 
 Thames, October 5 ; p. 647. 
 Great Horse shoe, March 28, 1814; p. 
 
 654. 
 Hull's surrender, July 9, 1812; pp. 630- 
 
 632. 
 
 Indian War, 1791; pp. 578-580. 
 Lundy's Lane, July 25; p. 663. 
 Mexico, city of, occupied, September 
 
 14, 1847; p. 821. 
 
 Molino del Rey, September 8; p. 817. 
 Monterey captured, September 23; pp. 
 
 764-767. 
 
 Naval battles, from July 1 , 1812, to Jan- 
 uary 1, 1813; pp. 637-642. 
 New Orleans, January 8, 1815; pp. 678- 
 
 681. 
 
 Palo Alto, May 8, 1846; p. 758. 
 San Jacinto, April 21, 1830; pp. 746. 
 Tippecanoe battle, November 7, 1811; 
 
 pp. 619-621. 
 Vera Cruz bombarded, March 22; p. 806.
 
 TOPICAL INDEX. 
 
 1141 
 
 WARS AND BATTLES. CONTINUED. 
 Third Period. To close of Rebel- 
 lion. 
 
 1861. 
 
 Ball's Bluff, October 21; p. 904. 
 Bull Run (first), July 21 ; pp. 895-897. 
 Hilton Head, November 7; p. 906. 
 Sumpter fired on, April 12, 4.30 A.M. ; 
 
 p. 883. 
 Wilson's Creek, August 9-10; p. 899. 
 
 1863. 
 
 Antietam, September 17; pp. 958-960. 
 Bull Run (second), September 2: pp. 
 
 955, 956. 
 
 Fair Oaks, June 1 ; p. 945. 
 Forts Henry and Donelson, February 
 
 6-16; pp. 913-917. 
 
 Fredericksburg, December 13 ; p. 962. 
 June 26 commenced the Seven Days' 
 
 Battle. 
 
 Malvern Hill, July 1; p. 951. 
 Merrimac and Monitor duel, March 9; 
 
 pp. 932-936. 
 
 Mill Spring, January 17; p. 910 
 New Orleans taken, April 26; pp. 926- 
 
 929. 
 Pittsburg Landing, or Shiloh, April 6 
 
 and 7; pp. 923-926. 
 Williamsburg, May 5; p. 941. 
 
 1863. 
 
 Above the Clouds, November 23; p. 
 995. 
 
 Atlanta (iron-clad) captured, June 17; 
 p. 989. 
 
 Bragg's defeat, November 25; p. 996. 
 
 Chancellorville, May 2 and 3; p. 973. 
 
 Chickamauga, September 19 and 20; 
 p. 993. 
 
 Gettysburg, July 1-3; pp. 979-984. 
 
 Murf reesboro, January 2 ; p. 967. 
 
 Vicksburg and Port Hudson taken, Ju- 
 ly 4 and 9; pp. 985-987. 
 
 1864. 
 
 "Alabama," The, sunk, June 19; p. 
 1030. 
 
 Chattanooga, Sherman's March from, 
 to the sea, May 9 to December 20; 
 pp. 1000-1005. 
 
 Early and Sheridan, July 3 and Octo- 
 ber 13; pp. 1011-1013. 
 
 Mobile virtually captured, August 23; 
 p. 1014. 
 
 WARS AND BATTLES. CONTINUED. 
 Nashville, battle of, December 15 and 
 
 16; p. 1016. 
 Wilderness, battles in the, May 4-18; 
 
 pp. 1007-1009. 
 
 1865. 
 Lee surrenders at Appomattox, Va., 
 
 April 9; Johnston near Raleigh, N. 
 
 C., April 17, pp. 1021-1025. 
 
 HOW WE ARE GOVERNED. 
 A Unique Republic, 1111. Colonial 
 Governments, 1112. Articles of Con- 
 federation, 1113. Framing of the U. 
 S. Constitution, 1114. The House of 
 Representatives, 1116. The Senate, 
 1117. Passage of Bills the Presi- 
 dent, 1118. The Cabinet Depart- 
 ment of State, 1119. The Treasury, 
 
 1120. War and Navy Departments, 
 
 1121. Interior and Post-Office de- 
 partments, 1122. The Judiciary, 1123. 
 Impeachment of U. S. Officers, 1124. 
 Election of President and Vice-Pres- 
 ident, 1124. State Governments, 1126. 
 The Territories, 1127. District of 
 Columbia, 1128. 
 
 INCIDENTS. 
 
 Columbus, p. 38; Spain and England, 
 contrast between, 70; Pocahontas, 
 81, 86; King James I., 93; Squanto, 
 102; Thanksgiving, 104; Good Mr. 
 Higginson, 107; The Apostle Eliot, 
 126; The tithing-man, 127; The Old 
 Dominion, 137; Treachery and in- 
 dignation, 140; Berkeley and Drum- 
 mond, 142; Indian gratitude, 154; 
 Indian diplomacy, 155; Stuyvesant, 
 angry, 159; Penn in the tower, 166; 
 Oglethorpe and the Indian chiefs, 
 192; Faith on shipboard, 194; Wam- 
 sutta's death, 204; Captain Wads- 
 worth and Andros, 213; The same 
 and Fletcher, 219; Stoughton and 
 Burroughs, 226; Father Dreuilettes 
 and the Apostle Eliot, 245; Waldron 
 and the Indians, 254; Hannah Dus- 
 tin, 256; Eunice Williams and her 
 daughter, 257, 258; Captain Jack, 
 280; Washington and Braddock, 281; 
 Captain Jacobs, 296 ; Washington in 
 the House of Burgesses, 305 ; Wolfe 
 and Montcalm, 308 and 309; James 
 Otis and John Adams, 328; Colonel
 
 J142 
 
 TOPICAL INDEX. 
 
 INCIDENTS . CONTINUED. 
 Barre's spirited address, 331; Pat- 
 rick Henry's speech, 333; William 
 Pitt's address in Parliament, 336: 
 The tea overboard, 347; Rev. Mr. 
 Duche, 332; Ethan Allen and Captain 
 Delaplace, 363; Dr. Warren and Put- 
 nam at Bunker Hill, 274,, 375; The 
 two receptions, 378; Sergeant Jas- 
 per, 406;, The mistake and the Tory 
 woman, 421; The way to the Hes- 
 sians, 437; Arnold and the Tory, 451; 
 Capture of General Prescott, 461; 
 Mrs. Darrah overhears, 470; Jenny 
 McCrea, 473; The belligerent par- 
 son, 476; Arnold acting without or- 
 ders, 480; Meeting of Washington 
 ai-.d Lee at the battle of Monmouth, 
 495; Rev. James Caldwell and wife, 
 514; Wayne and his rebellious sol- 
 diers, 531; " Cornwallis is taken," 
 550; Lafayette to Napoleon, 551; 
 Lord North's emotions, 555; Wash- 
 ington's farewell to his soldiers, 560; 
 Mob violence, 630; The Constitution 
 and the Guerriere, 639, 640; General 
 Jackson and Wetherford, 654; and 
 the Indian babe, 655; What the Lon- 
 don Times thought, 641; Colonel 
 Miller at Lundy's Lane, 663; A 
 strange scene, 666; How the com- 
 promise tariff was passed, 725; Dr. 
 Grant's death. 745; Santa Anna at 
 Houston's headquarters, 746; Firing 
 the Southern Heart, 883; The Varu- 
 na, 928: Practical printers, 929: Lin- 
 coln's plan of campaign, 932; Cap- 
 tain Worden's inquiry, 936; Generals 
 Hooker and Heintzelman, 941 ; Lee 
 at Gettysburg, 984; General Grant 
 and President Lincoln, 999; Sheri- 
 dan's Ride, 1013; Reinstatement of 
 the old flag, 1029; General Lee's ad- 
 vice to a mother, 1049; Garfleld in 
 Wall Street, 1087; Chester A. Ar- 
 thur's two law cases, 1093. 
 
 SKETCHES OF INDIVIDUALS. 
 
 John Quincy Adams, p. 826. 
 Samuel Adams, 328. 
 Ethan Allen, 362. 
 John Andre, 521. 
 Benedict Arnold, 362. 
 Chester A. Arthur, 1093. 
 Nathaniel Bacon, 139. 
 
 Jacob Brown, 661. 
 
 John Brown, 853. 
 
 James Buchanan, 850. 
 
 Sebastian Cabot, 48. 
 
 John C. Calhoun, 622. 
 
 Henry Clay, 622. 
 
 James and George Clinton, 416. 
 
 Columbus, 34. 
 
 Elskwatawa, 619, 620. 
 
 Benjamin Franklin, 173. 
 
 Colonel Ferguson, 524. 
 
 John Charles Fremont, 791. 
 
 James A. Garfleld, 1078. 
 
 Horatio Gates, 404. 
 
 Horace Greeley, 1065. 
 
 Nathaniel Greene, 380. 
 
 Alexander Hamilton, 350. 
 
 William H. Harrison, 736. 
 
 R. B. Hayes, 1071. 
 
 Patrick Henry, 329. 
 
 Anne Hutchinson, 112. 
 
 Andrew Jackson, 648. 
 
 Andrew Johnson, 1027. 
 
 King James, 78. 
 
 Sir William Johnson, 378. 
 
 Lafayette, 462. 
 
 Henry Laurens, 528. 
 
 Charles Lee, 430. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln, 1026. 
 
 Benjamin Lincoln, 357. 
 
 Chief-Justice Marshall, 728. 
 
 Cotton Mather, 223, 228. 
 
 Daniel Morgan, 380. 
 
 The Pilgrim Fathers, 97, 98. 
 
 Pontiac, 313. 
 
 Powhattan, 80. 
 
 Israel Putnam, 361. 
 
 William Penn, 165. 
 
 Colonel Rahl, 436. 
 
 Sir Walter Raleigh, 71, 75. 
 
 Santa Anna, 812. 
 
 Winfleld Scott, 661. 
 
 Philip Schuyler, 377. 
 
 Samuel Slater (father of American 
 
 manufactures), 578. 
 John Smith, 79. 
 Edwin M. Stanton, 912. 
 William Stoughton, 225, 228. 
 Charles Sumner, 1065. 
 Colonel Banastre Tarleton, 512. 
 Tecumseh, 619. 
 George Washington, 271. 
 Daniel Webster, 658. 
 Roger Williams. 110. 
 James Wolfe, 309.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 WE the People of the United States, in order to form a more per- 
 fect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquillity, pro- 
 vide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, 
 and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Pos- 
 terity, do ordain and establish this CONSTITUTION for the 
 United States of America. 
 
 ARTICLE I. 
 
 SECTION. 1. All legislative Powers herein granted shall be 
 vested in a Congress of the T Jnited States, which shall consist of 
 a Senate and House of Representatives. 
 
 SECTION. 2. The House of Representatives shall be composed 
 of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several 
 States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications 
 requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State 
 Legislature. 
 
 No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have at- 
 tained to the Age of twenty-five Years, and been seven Years a 
 Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be 
 an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. 
 
 Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among 
 the several States which may be included within this Union, 
 according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined 
 by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those 
 bound to Service for a Term of years, and excluding Indians not 
 taxed, three-fifths of all other Person*. The actual Enumeration 
 *'iall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the 
 ( 'ougress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term 
 of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The 
 N'umber of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty 
 Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative ; 
 and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New- 
 Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, 
 Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five. 
 New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware 
 
 1143
 
 1144 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Caro- 
 lina five, and Georgia three. 
 
 When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, 
 the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Write of Election to 
 fill such Vacancies. 
 
 The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and 
 other officers; and shall have the sole Power of impeachment. 
 
 SECTION. 3. The Senate of the United States shall be composed 
 of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, 
 for six years; and each Senator shall have one Vote. 
 
 Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of 
 the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into 
 three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be 
 vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class 
 at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the 
 Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one-third may be chosen 
 every second Year; and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or 
 otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any State, the 
 Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments until the 
 next meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Va- 
 canciea 
 
 No Person shall be a Senator w> o shall not have attained to 
 the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the 
 United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant 
 of that State for which he shall be chosen. 
 
 The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of 
 the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equal ly divided. 
 
 The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President 
 /m> tempore, in the Absence of the Vice-President, or when he 
 shall exercise the Office of President of the United States. 
 
 The Senate shall have the sole Povrer to try all Impeachments. 
 When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirma- 
 tion. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief 
 Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without 
 the Concurrence of two-thirds of the Members present. 
 
 Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further 
 than to removal from Office, and Disqualification to hold and 
 enjoy any Office of honour, Trust or Profit under the United 
 States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and 
 subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, accord- 
 ing to Law. 
 
 SECTION. 4. The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections 
 for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State 
 by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by 
 Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the places of 
 abusing Senators. 
 
 Th^ Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and
 
 APPENDIX. 1145 
 
 such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they 
 shall by Law appoint a different Day. 
 
 SECTION. 5. Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, 
 Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of 
 each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business ; but a smaller Num- 
 ber may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to com- 
 pel the Attendance of absent Members, in such manner, and under 
 such penalties, as each House may provide. 
 
 Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish 
 its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence 
 of two thirds, expel a Member. 
 
 Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from 
 time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their 
 Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Mem- 
 bers of either House on any question shall, at the Desire of one 
 fifth of those Present be entered on the Journal. 
 
 Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without 
 the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to 
 any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting. 
 
 SECTION. 6. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a 
 Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and 
 paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all 
 Cases, except Treason, Felony, and Breach of the Peace, be privi- 
 leged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their 
 respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same ; 
 and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be 
 questioned in any other Place. 
 
 No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which 
 he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the authority 
 of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emolu- 
 ments whereof shall have been encreased during such time; and 
 no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a 
 Member of either House during his Continuance in Office. 
 
 SECTION. 7. All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the 
 House of Representatives ; but the Senate may propose or concur 
 with Amendments as on other Bills. 
 
 Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representa- 
 tives and the Senate, shall, before it becomes a Law, be presented 
 to the President of the United States ; If he approve he shall sign 
 it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House 
 in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at 
 large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such 
 Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the 
 Bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other 
 House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved 
 by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all 
 such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas
 
 1146 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against 
 the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. 
 If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days 
 (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the 
 Same shall be a law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless 
 the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which 
 Case it shall not be a Law. 
 
 Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of 
 the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except 
 on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President 
 of the United States ; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall 
 be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be re- 
 passed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, 
 uv-cording to the Rules and Limitatious prescribed in the Case of a 
 Bill. 
 
 SECTION. 8. The Congress shall have Power 
 
 To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay 
 the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Wel- 
 fare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall 
 be uniform throughout the United States; 
 
 To borrow Money on the credit of the United States ; 
 
 To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the 
 several States, and with the Indian Tribes ; 
 
 To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform 
 Laws on tho subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States ; 
 
 To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, 
 and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures ; 
 
 To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities 
 and current Coin of the United States ; 
 
 To establish Post Offices and post Roads : 
 
 To promote the progress of Science and useful Arts, by secur- 
 ing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right 
 to their respective Writings and Discoveries ; 
 
 To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court : 
 
 To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the 
 high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations; 
 
 To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, an<1 
 make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; 
 
 To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money 
 to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Tears; 
 
 To provide and maintain a Navy ; 
 
 To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the 
 land and naval Forces; 
 
 To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of 
 the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions ; 
 
 To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, 
 aad for governing . ach Part of them as may be employed in the
 
 APPENDIX. 1147 
 
 Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, 
 the Appointment of the Officers, and the authority of training the 
 Militia according to the Discipline prescribed by Congress; 
 
 To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, 
 over such District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by 
 Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, be- 
 come the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to ex- 
 ercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of 
 the Legislature of the Sfcite in which the Same shall be, for the 
 Erection of Ports, Magazines, Arsenals, Dock- Yards, and other 
 needful Buildings ; And 
 
 To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for 
 carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other 
 Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the 
 United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof. 
 
 SECTION. 9. The Migration or Importation of such Persons as 
 any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall 
 not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand 
 eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or Duty may be imposed on 
 such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person. 
 
 The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be sus- 
 pended, unless when in Cases of Piebellion or Invasion the public 
 Safety may require it. 
 
 No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed. 
 
 No Capi cation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Pro- 
 portion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be 
 taken. 
 
 No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any 
 State. 
 
 No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce 
 or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor 
 shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, 
 clear, or pay Duties in another. 
 
 No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Conse- 
 quence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement 
 and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money 
 shall be published from time to time. 
 
 No Title of Nobility shall be. granted by the United States: 
 And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, 
 shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, 
 Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, 
 Prince, or foreign State. 
 
 SECTION. 10. No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or 
 Confederation ; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal ; coin Money ; 
 emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold aud silver Coin a 
 Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any bill of Attainder, ex post
 
 1148 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant 
 any Title of Nobility. 
 
 No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any 
 Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be 
 absolutely necessary for executing its inspection Laws: and the 
 net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Im- 
 ports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United 
 States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and 
 Controul of the Congress. 
 
 No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any 
 Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, 
 enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or 
 with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, 
 or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of Delay. 
 
 ARTICLE II. 
 
 SECTION. 1. The executive Power shall be vested in a President 
 of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during 
 the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, 
 chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows 
 
 Each State shall appoint, iu such Manner as the Legislature 
 thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole 
 Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may 
 be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or 
 Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, 
 shall be appointed an Elector. 
 
 [* The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote 
 by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an 
 Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make 
 a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for 
 each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed 
 to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the 
 President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the 
 Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all 
 the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person 
 having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if 
 such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors ap- 
 pointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, 
 aud have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representa- 
 tives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President ; 
 and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the 
 List the said House shall in like Manner ohuse the President. But 
 in chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the 
 Representation from each State having one Vote; A Quorum for 
 
 * This clause within brackets has been superseded and annulled by the 
 Xllth amendment, on page 1013.
 
 APPENDIX. 1149 
 
 this Purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two thirds 
 of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to 
 a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the 
 Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall 
 be Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who 
 have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the 
 Vice President.] 
 
 The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, 
 and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall 
 be the same throughout the United States. 
 
 No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the 
 United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, 
 shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Per- 
 son be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the 
 Age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within 
 the United States. 
 
 In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of hit* 
 Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and 
 Duties of the said Office, the satne shall devolve on the Vice Presi- 
 dent, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Re- 
 moval, Death, Resignation, or Inability, both of the President and 
 Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, 
 and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be re 
 moved, or a President shall be elected. 
 
 The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, u 
 Compensation, which shall neither be encreased nor diminished 
 during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he 
 shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from 
 the United States, or any of them. 
 
 Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the 
 following Oath or Affirmation : 
 
 " I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute 
 the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of 
 my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the 
 United States." 
 
 SECTION. 2. The President shall be Commander in Chief of the 
 Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the 
 several States, when called into the actual Service of the United 
 States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal 
 Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any subject 
 relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have 
 Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the 
 United States, except in Cases of Impeachment. 
 
 He shall h^ve Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of 
 the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators 
 present concur ; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Ad- 
 vice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other
 
 1150 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all 
 other Officei-s of the United States, whose Appointments are not 
 herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by 
 Law : but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such 
 inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in 
 the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments. 
 
 The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that 
 may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Com- 
 missions which shall expire at the End of their next Session. 
 
 SECTION. 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress 
 Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their 
 Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expe- 
 dient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, 
 or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, 
 with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them 
 to such Time as he shall think proper ; he shall receive Ambassa- 
 dors and other public Ministers ; he shall take Care that the Laws 
 be faithfully executed, and shall C'ommission all the officers of the 
 United States. 
 
 SECTION. 4. The President, Vice President, and all civil Officers 
 of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeach- 
 ment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high 
 Crimes and Misdemeanors. 
 
 ARTICLE III. 
 
 SECTION. 1. The judicial Power of the United States, shall be 
 vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the 
 Congress may from time t o time ordain and establish. The Judges, 
 both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices 
 during good Behavior, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their 
 Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during 
 their Continuance in Office. 
 
 SECTION. 2. The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law 
 and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United 
 States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Au- 
 thority ; to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers, 
 and Consuls; to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdic- 
 tion ; to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party ; 
 to Controversies between two or more States ; between a State 
 and a Citizen of another State ; between Citizens of different 
 States, between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under 
 (Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens 
 thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects. 
 
 In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and 
 Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme 
 Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases be-
 
 APPENDIX. 1151 
 
 fore mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdic- 
 tion, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under 
 such Regulations as the Congress shall make. 
 
 The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall 
 be by Jury ; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the 
 said Crimes shall have been committed ; but when not committed 
 within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the 
 Congress may by Law have directed. 
 
 SECTION. 8. Treason against the United States, shall consist 
 only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, 
 giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of 
 Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same 
 overt Act, or on Confession in open Court. 
 
 The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of 
 Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of 
 Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted. 
 
 ARTICLE IV. 
 
 SECTION. 1. Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State 
 tfe the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every 
 other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the 
 Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be 
 proved, and the Effect thereof. 
 
 SECTION. 2. The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all 
 Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States. 
 
 A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other 
 Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, 
 shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from 
 which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having 
 Jurisdiction of the Crime. 
 
 No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the 
 Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any 
 Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or 
 Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom 
 such Service or Labour may be due. 
 
 SECTION. 3. New States may be admitted by the Congress into 
 this Union ; but no new State shall be formed or erected within 
 the Jurisdiction of any other State ; nor any State be formed by 
 the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the 
 Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of 
 me Congress. 
 
 The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all 
 needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other 
 Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Con- 
 stitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any claims of the 
 United States, or of any particular State.
 
 1152 CONSTITUTION OF THE U2JTTED STATES, 
 
 SECTION 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State 
 In this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect 
 each of them against Invasion ; and on Application of the Legisla- 
 ture, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be con- 
 vened) against domestic Violence. 
 
 ARTICLE V. 
 
 The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem 
 it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on 
 the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several 
 States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which. 
 lu either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of 
 this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths 
 of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, 
 as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by 
 the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made 
 prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in 
 any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section 
 of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be 
 deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate. 
 
 ARTICLE VI. 
 
 All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before 
 the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the 
 United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation. 
 
 This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which 
 shall be made iu Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or 
 which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall 
 be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State 
 shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of 
 any State to the Contrary notwithstanding. 
 
 The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the 
 Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and 
 judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, 
 shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitu- 
 tion ; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification 
 to any Office or public Trust under the United States. 
 
 ARTICLE VII. 
 
 The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall b 
 sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the 
 S? ;ites so ratifying the Same.
 
 ARTICLES IN ADDITION" TO, AND AMENDMENT OF, 
 THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF 
 AMERICA. 
 
 Proposed by Congress, and ratified by the Legislatures of the several 
 States, pursuant to the fifth article of the original Constitution. 
 
 (ARTICLE I.) 
 
 Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of re- 
 ligion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the 
 freedom of speech, or of the press; or of the right of the people 
 peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a re- 
 dress of grievances. 
 
 (ARTICLE II.) 
 
 A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a 
 free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not 
 be infringed. 
 
 (ARTICLE III.) 
 
 No Soldier shall, in time of p-ouce be quartered in any house, 
 without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a 
 manner to be prescribed by law. 
 
 (ARTICLE IV.) 
 
 The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, 
 papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, 
 shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon prob- 
 able cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly de- 
 scribing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be 
 seized. 
 
 (ARTICLE V.) 
 
 No person shull be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise 
 infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand 
 Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the 
 Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; 
 nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice 
 put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any 
 Criminal Case to be a wit ness against himself, nor be deprived of 
 life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall
 
 1154 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 private property be taken for public use, without just compensa- 
 tion. 
 
 (ARTICLE VI.) 
 
 In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right 
 to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial Jury of the State and 
 district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which dis- 
 trict shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be in- 
 formed of the nature and cause of the accusation ; to be conf rented 
 with the witnesses against him ; to have Compulsory process for 
 obtaining Witnesses in his favour, and to have the Assistance of 
 Counsel for his defence. 
 
 (ARTICLE VII.) 
 
 In Suite at common law, where the value in controversy shall 
 excead twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, 
 and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any 
 Court of the United States than according to the rules of the com- 
 mon law. 
 
 (ARTICLE VIII.) 
 
 Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines im- 
 posed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 
 
 (ARTICLE IX.) 
 
 The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall 
 not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the 
 people. 
 
 (ARTICLE X.) 
 
 The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitu- 
 tion, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States 
 respectively, or to the people. 
 
 (ARTICLE XI.) 
 
 The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed 
 to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted 
 against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or 
 by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State. 
 
 (ARTICLE XII.) 
 
 The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by 
 ballot for President and Vice President, one of whom, at least, 
 shall not be an inhabitant of the same stato with themselves ; they 
 shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and 
 in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they 
 shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of 
 votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit 
 sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed 
 to the President of the Senate; The President of the Senate shall, 
 in presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all 
 the certificates and the votes shall then be counted; The person 
 having the greatest number of votes for President, shall lie the 
 President, if such number shall be a majority of the whole number 
 of Electors appointed ; and .f no person have such majority, then 
 from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three 
 on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Repre- 
 sentatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But 
 in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the 
 representation from each state having one vote ; a quorum for this 
 purpose shall consist of a member or members from two thirds of 
 the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to 3 
 choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a Presi- 
 dent whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before 
 the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President 
 shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other constitu- 
 tional disability of the President. The person having the greatest 
 number of votes as Vice President, shall be the Vice-President, if 
 such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors ap- 
 pointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two 
 highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice- 
 President ; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of 
 the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole num- 
 ber shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally 
 ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice- 
 President of the United States. 
 
 (ARTICLE XIII.) 
 1865. 
 
 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a pun- 
 ishment, for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly con- 
 victed shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to 
 their jurisdiction. 
 
 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appro- 
 prate legislation. 
 
 (ARTICLE XIV.) 
 
 1868. 
 
 SECTION. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United 
 States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the 
 United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall 
 make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or im- 
 munities of citizens of the United States, nor shall any State de-
 
 1156 CONSTITUTION OP THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 prive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process 
 of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal 
 protection of the laws. 
 
 SECTION. 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the 
 several States according to their respective numbers, counting the 
 whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not 
 taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice 
 of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, 
 representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of 
 a State, or the members of the legislature thereof, is denied to any 
 of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of 
 age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, 
 except for participation in rebellion or other crime, the basis of 
 representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which 
 the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number 
 of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State. 
 
 SECTION. 3. No person shall be a senator or representative in 
 Congress, or elector of President or Vice-President, or hold any 
 office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any 
 State, who having previously taken an oath as a member of Con- 
 gress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any 
 State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, 
 to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged 
 in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or com- 
 fort to the enemies thereof ; but Congress may, by a vote of two- 
 thirds of each house, remove such disability. 
 
 SECTION. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United 
 States, recognized by law, including debts incurred for payment 
 of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection 
 or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United 
 States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation 
 incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United 
 States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but 
 all such debts, obligations, and claims shall be held illegal and 
 void. 
 
 SECTION. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by ap- 
 propriate legislation, the provisions of this article. 
 
 
 (ARTICLE XV.) 
 
 1870. 
 
 SECTION. 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote 
 
 shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any 
 
 State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. 
 
 SECTION. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this 
 
 article by appropriate legislation.
 
 APPENDIX. 1157 
 
 
 
 PRESIDENTS OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS, 
 FROM 1774 TO 1788. 
 
 Peyton Randolph Virginia September 5, 1774. 
 
 Henry Middleton South Carolina October 22, 1774. 
 
 Peyton Randolph Virginia May 10, 1775. 
 
 John Hancock Massachusetts May 24, 1775. 
 
 Henry Laurens South Carolina November 1, 1777. 
 
 John Jay New York December 10, 1778. 
 
 Samuel Huntington Connecticut September 28, 1779. 
 
 Thomas McKean Delaware July 10, 1781. 
 
 John Hanson Maryland November 5, 1781. 
 
 Elias Boudinot New Jersey November 4, 1782. 
 
 Thomas Mifflin Pennsylvania November 3, 1783. 
 
 Richard Henry Lee Virginia November 30, 1784. 
 
 Nathaniel Gorham Massachusetts June 6, 178G. 
 
 Arthur St. Clair Pennsylvania February 2, 1787. 
 
 Cyrus Griffin Virginia January 22, 1788. 
 
 AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE DECLARED JULY 4, 1776. 
 
 CHIEF JUSTICES OF THE UNITED STATES SUPREME 
 COURT, 1789-1881. 
 
 John Jay New York September 26, 1789. 
 
 John Rtitledge South Carolina July 1, 1795. 
 
 (Ratification refused by the Senate.) 
 William Cushing Massachusetts January 27, 1796. 
 
 (Appointment declined.) 
 
 Oliver Ellsworth Connecticut March 4, 1796. 
 
 John Jay New York December 19, 1800. 
 
 (Appointment declined.) 
 
 John Marshall Virginia January 31, 1801. 
 
 Roger B. Taney Maryland December 28, 1836. 
 
 Salmon P. Chase Ohio December 6, 1864. 
 
 Morrison R. Waite Ohio January 21, 1874.
 
 1158 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 FROM 1788 TO 1881. 
 
 Name. 
 
 Born. 
 
 Died. 
 
 Age 
 
 George Washington . . . 
 .Toll n Adams 
 
 Va., 1732, 
 Mass., 1735, 
 Va., 1743, 
 Va 1751 
 
 Mt. Vernon, Va., 
 Quincy, Mass., July 4, 
 Monticello, Va., July 4, 
 Montpelier, Vt. , 
 New York, July 4, 
 Washington, D. C., 
 Hermitage, Tenn., 
 Kinderhook, N. Y. , 
 Washington, D. C'., 
 Richmond, Va.. 
 Nashville, Tenn., 
 Washington, D. C., 
 Buffalo, KY.. 
 Concord, N.H., 
 Wheatland, Penn., 
 Washington. B.C.. 
 Greenville, Tenn., 
 
 Elboron. X. J., Sept. 19, 
 
 1 
 
 1799, 67 
 1826, 91 
 1826, 83 
 1836, STy 
 1831, 73 
 1848, j 81 
 1845, 78 
 1862,! 80 
 1841, : 68 
 1862, 72 
 1849, 54 
 1850, 66 
 1873,; 73 
 1869, 65 
 1868, 77 
 1865, 56 
 1875, 67 
 
 1881, 50 
 
 Thomas Jefferson 
 
 James Madison 
 
 James Monroe 
 
 Va., 1758, 
 Mass., 1767, 
 N. C., 1767, 
 N. Y., 1782, 
 Va., 1773, 
 Va., 1790, 
 N. C.,1795, 
 Va., 1784, 
 N.Y., 1800, 
 N. H.,1804, 
 Penn.,1791, 
 Ky.. 1809, 
 X. C., 1808, 
 Ohio, 1822, 
 " 1822, 
 " 1831 
 Vt., 1830 
 
 John Quincy Adams. . 
 Andrew Jackson 
 
 Martin Van Buren. . . . 
 \Vm. Henry Harrison. 
 John Tyler 
 
 James K Polk ... . 
 
 Zacharv Tavlor 
 
 i 
 
 Millard Fillmore . . . 
 
 Franklin Pierce 
 
 James Buchanan 
 
 Abraham Lincoln 
 Andrew Johnson 
 Ulvsses S. Grant 
 
 Rutherford B. Hayes.. 
 James A. Garfield 
 Chester A. Arthur
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 1159 
 
 POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 ACCORDING TO LATEST CENSUS, 1880. 
 
 States. Population. 
 
 Alabama .1,262,344 
 
 Arkansas 802,564 
 
 California .. 864,686 
 
 Colorado 194,649 
 
 Connecticut 622,683 
 
 Delaware 146,654 
 
 Florida 266,566 
 
 Georgia 1,538,983 
 
 Illinois 3,078,636 
 
 Indiana 1,978,353 
 
 Iowa 1,624,463 
 
 Kansas 995,335 
 
 Kentucky 1.64S.599 
 
 Louisiana 940,263 
 
 Maine 648,945 
 
 Maryland 935,139 
 
 Massachusetts 1,783,086 
 
 Michigan 1,634,096 
 
 Minnesota 780,807 
 
 Mississippi 1,131,899 
 
 States. Population. 
 
 Missouri 2,169,091 
 
 Nebraska 452,432 
 
 Nevada 62,265 
 
 New Hampshire 347,784 
 
 New Jersey 1,130,892 
 
 New York' 5,083,173 
 
 North Carolina 1,400,000 
 
 Ohio 3,197,794 
 
 Oregon 174,767 
 
 Pennsylvania 4,282,738 
 
 Rhode Island 276,528 
 
 South Carolina 995,706 
 
 Tennessee 1 ,542,463 
 
 Texas 1,597,509 
 
 Vermont 332,286 
 
 Virginia.. . 1,512,203 
 
 West Virginia 618,193 
 
 Wisconsin 1,315,386 
 
 Total of States 49.369,965 
 
 Territories. Population. 
 
 Alaska 
 
 Arizona 40,441 
 
 Dacotah 134,502 
 
 District of Columbia 177,638 
 
 Idaho 32,611 
 
 Montana , . 39,157 
 
 Territories. Population. 
 
 New Mexico 118,430 
 
 Utah 143,907 
 
 Washington 75,120 
 
 Wyoming 20,788 
 
 Total of Territories.. 782,594 
 " " S;ates 49,369,965 
 
 Total United States ... 50.152,559 
 
 " (1870) 38,155,505 
 
 " (1860) 31,218,021
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 THE MOST POPULOUS CITIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 No. Cities. 1880. 
 
 1. New York 1,206,590 
 
 2. Philadelphia 846,984 
 
 3. Brooklyn 566,689 
 
 4. Chicago 503,304 
 
 5. Boston 362,535 
 
 6. St. Louis 350,522 
 
 7. Baltimore 332,190 
 
 8. Cincinnati 255,708 
 
 9. San Francisco 233,956 
 
 10. New Orleans 216,140 
 
 11. Cleveland 160.142 
 
 12. Pittsburgh 156,381 
 
 13. Buffalo 155,137 
 
 14. Washington City 147,307 
 
 15. Newark 136,400 
 
 16. Louisville 123,645 
 
 17. Jersey City 120,728 
 
 18. Detroit 116.342 
 
 19. Milwaukee 115,578 
 
 20. Providence 104,850 
 
 21. Albany 90,903 
 
 22. Rochester 89,363 
 
 23. Allegheny 78,681 
 
 24. Indianapolis 75,074 
 
 25. Richmond '... 63,803 
 
 26. New Haven 62,882 
 
 27. Lowell 59,485 
 
 28. Worcester 58,295 
 
 29. Troy 56,747 
 
 30. Kansas City 55,813 
 
 31. Cambridge, Mass 52,740 
 
 32. Syracuse, N. Y 51,791 
 
 33. Columbus, 51,665 
 
 34. Paterson 50,887 
 
 35. Toledo 50,143 
 
 36. Charleston, S. C 49,999 
 
 37. Fall River 49,006 
 
 38. Minneapolis . 46,887 
 
 39. Scranton 45,850 
 
 40. Nashville 43,461 
 
 41. Reading 43,280 
 
 42. Hartford 42,553 
 
 43. Wilmington 42,499 
 
 44. Camden, N. J 41,658 
 
 45. St. Paul 41,498 
 
 1870. 
 
 1860. 
 
 942,292 
 
 805.658 
 
 674,022 
 
 565,529 
 
 396,009 
 
 206.661 
 
 298,877 
 
 109,260 
 
 250,526 
 
 177,840 
 
 310,864 
 
 160.773 
 
 367,354 
 
 212,411 
 
 216,239 
 
 161,044 
 
 149,743 
 
 56,802 
 
 191,418 
 
 168,675 
 
 92,829 
 
 43.417 
 
 86,076 
 
 49,217 
 
 117,714 
 
 81,129 
 
 109,199 
 
 61,122 
 
 105,059 
 
 71,941 
 
 100,753 
 
 68,033 
 
 82,546 
 
 29,226 
 
 79,577 
 
 45,619 
 
 71,440 
 
 45,246 
 
 68,904 
 
 50,666 
 
 69,422 
 
 62,367 
 
 62,386 
 
 48,204 
 
 53,180 
 
 28,702 
 
 48,244 
 
 18,611 
 
 51,018 
 
 37,910 
 
 5.0,840 
 
 39,267 
 
 40,928 
 
 36,827 
 
 41,105 
 
 24,960 
 
 40,463 
 
 39,235 
 
 32,260 
 
 
 39,634 
 
 26,660 
 
 43,051 
 
 28,119 
 
 31,274 
 
 18,oo.~> 
 
 33,579 
 
 19.588 
 
 31,584 
 
 13.76'8 
 
 48,956 
 
 40.574 
 
 26,766 
 
 14,026 
 
 13,066 
 
 
 35,092 
 
 
 25,865 
 
 16,987 
 
 33,630 
 
 23,162 
 
 37,180 
 
 29,152 
 
 30,841 
 
 21,258 
 
 20,015 
 
 14.358 
 
 20,030 
 
 below 11,500
 
 MEMORIAL EDITION. 
 
 WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT'S 
 
 Library of Poetry and Song. 
 
 2000 Poems from 700 Authors English, Scottish, Irish, and American, including Transla- 
 tions from the German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Persian, Latin, Greek, 
 Chinese, Sanskrit the masterpieces and gems of ali countries and all ages. 
 
 THIS BOOK stands by general consent at the head of its class. Its fame is an es- 
 tablished fact with the reading and book-buying public. Shortly before his death Mr. 
 Bryant desired to thoroughly revise this beautiful work. It was identified with his name 
 and had carried his reputation not only among readers and literary people, but even 
 into thousands of families that had known little of poetry until this LIBRARY IN. ONE 
 VOLUME placed in their hands, git a trifling cost, the poetical masterpieces of the 
 world. The revision of this book (the latest of his completed literary tasks) was performed 
 by Mr. Bryant in 1876-7, and will be found more fully described by himself in the Preface. 
 
 Some of the improvements were made in the Memorial Edition of 1878, which was 
 issued just after the death of Mr. Bryant; but the more important additions, revisions, 
 and new features made and suggested could not be properly incorporated in the body of 
 the volume without making new plates throughout. The work has, therefore, now 
 undergone an entire reconstruction, and the present edition has been printed from 
 ENTIRELY NEW ELECTROTYPE PLATES. 
 
 It embraces over TWO HUNDRED AUTHORS and over six HUNDRED POEMS not 
 found in former editions. Many of these additions consist of the more recent poems by 
 acknowledged masters, including some of Mr. Bryant's own, and fuller selections from the 
 works of Standard Authors ; while a large number are the striking verses of new poets. 
 
 Perhaps the most notable of the new features is the addition to each of the depart- 
 ments ("Childhood and Youth," " Love," "Nature," etc.) of a series of " FAMOUS 
 AND APT QUOTATIONS," including, with what are found among the complete poems 
 in the book, nearly every -well-known passage and phrase from the poetical literature of the 
 language. Also, an elaborate analytical "INDEX OF POETICAL QUOTATIONS " con- 
 taining above 13,000 references to these passages. This single feature doubles its value 
 as a work of reference, and the volume forms a complete LIBRARY OF POETRY and a 
 classified DICTIONARY OF POETICAL QUOTATIONS. 
 
 " We know of no similar collection in the English language which, in copiousness and felicity 
 of selection and arrangement, can at all compare with it." Kn York Times. 
 
 " It has taken rank as the most complete and satisfactory work of the kind ever issued." 
 New York Tribune. 
 
 " Contains considerable new matter many rare poems seldom found in any such collection, 
 and some that few editors besides Mr. Bryant would nave known where to find." Boston Globe. 
 
 ' No book, save the ' Book of books' and ' Webster's Unabridged,' is more to be desired in a 
 family." Rutland (Vt.) Independent. 
 
 " It is highly fitting that Mr. Bryant, who presided over American poetry almost from its 
 birth, should have left this collection as an evidence of his influence in forming the American taste 
 for what is pure and noble." Cincinnati Christian Standard. 
 
 [SEE OVER THE PAGE.] 
 
 FORDS, HOWARD, & HULBERT. 
 
 27 PARK PLACE, NEW YORK.
 
 BRYANT'S LIBRARY OF POETRY AND SONG. 
 
 CONTENTS OF THE WORK. 
 INDEX OF AUTHORS AND TITLES OF THE POEMS. 
 MR. BRYANT'S PREFACE. 
 
 MR. BRYANT'S INTRODUCTION: " Poets and Poetry of the English Language." 
 GEN. JAMES GRANT WILSON'S MEMOIR OF BRYANT. 
 
 DEPA R TMEN TS OF POETR Y. 
 
 Poems of the Afections : 
 
 Friendship Compliment and Admiration 
 Love Marriage Home Parting 
 Absence Disappointment and Estrange- 
 ment Bereavement and Death. 
 
 Poems of Sorrow and Adversity. 
 
 Poems of Religion. 
 
 Poems of Nature. 
 
 Poems of Peace and War. 
 
 Poems of Temperance and Labor. 
 
 INDEX OF FIRST LINES OF THE POEMS. 
 
 INDEX OF FAMOUS QUOTATIONS (over 13,000 References). 
 
 Poems of Patriotism and Freedom. 
 
 Poems of the Sea. 
 
 Poems of Adventure and Rural Sports. 
 
 Descriptive Poems. 
 
 Poems of Sentiment and Reflection. 
 
 Poems of Fancy. 
 
 Poems of Tragedy. 
 
 Personal Poems. 
 
 Humorous Poems. 
 
 ILL USTRA TIONS. 
 STEEL PORTRAIT OF BRYANT. 
 
 Bryant in his Library: Cedarmere. 
 Longfellow's Home: Cambridge. 
 Whit tier's Home: Amesbury. 
 Rmerson's Home: Concord. 
 Lowell's Home : Cambridge. 
 Bryant's Country Home at Roslyn, L. I. 
 The Blind Milton and his Daughters. 
 The Old Oaken Bucket. 
 
 Love-Letters in Planners. 
 The Sanctuary .- Da-on. 
 The Storm. 
 The Orient. 
 Treasures of the Deep. 
 The Convent. 
 Fisher's Rock. 
 Contentment. 
 
 FAC-SIMILES OF AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPTS. 
 
 7". Q. Adams. 
 G. H. Boker. 
 F. B. Browning. 
 W. C. Bryan ti 
 Lord Bvron. 
 R. H. Dana, 
 ff. W. Emerson. 
 Th. Gray. 
 Fitz-Greene Halleck. 
 
 O. W. Holmes. 
 y. G. Holland. 
 Th. Hood. 
 J. W. Howe. 
 L. Hunt. 
 " H. H." 
 y. Ingelow. 
 J. Keats. 
 F. S. Kev. 
 
 H. W. Longfellow. 
 J. R. Lowell. 
 Wm. Morris. 
 J. H. Pavne. 
 '. A. Po'e. 
 Th. B. Read. 
 y. G. Saxe. 
 L. H. Sigoiirnev. 
 W. G. Simms.' 
 
 F. C. Stedman. 
 R. H. Stoddiird. 
 H. B. Stowe. 
 B. Taylor. 
 A. Tennvson. 
 W. Whitman. 
 J. G. Whittier. 
 N. P. Willis. 
 Wm. Wvrdsivorfh. 
 
 STYLES AND PRICES. 
 
 1 vol., 1068 pp., 8vo. 17 Engravings, 36 Fac-siiniles. 
 IN SILK CLOTH ; Gold and Ink Stamped Sides, Gilt Edges, . 
 IN LIBRARY STYLE ; FULL LEATHER, Marbled Edges, 
 IN HALF MOROCCO, EXTRA ; Gold Side Stamp, Gilt Edges, . 
 IN FULL TURKEY MOROCCO, ANTIQUE; Gold and Antique Side Stamp, Gilt 
 
 $5 oo 
 
 6 oo 
 
 7 50 
 
 Edges 10 oo 
 
 FORDS, HOWARD, & HULBERT, 
 
 27 PARK PLACE, NEW YORK.
 
 PATTON'S CONCISE HISTORY 
 
 I 
 I 
 
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 PRESS NOTICES AND OPINIONS, 
 
 SHOWING THAT THE WORK IS UNIVERSALLY CONCEDED TO BE : 
 
 Impartial and Accurate. 
 
 " We cannot speak too well of its 
 accuracy and impartiality. The style 
 is clear, lively, and yet possessed of 
 a condensed vigor which eminently 
 fits the grave movement of historic 
 narrations. " Christian Intelligencer. 
 
 " With evident integrity of pur- 
 pose, as well as with rare sagacity, 
 the author has steered clear of the 
 errors of a partisan, and has given 
 us the story of the last few years 
 very much as it will be read by an 
 impartial posterity.' 1 N. Y. Evan- 
 gelist. 
 
 " We regard the book, from a 
 somewhat careful examination of it, 
 as a success. Wide as the field is 
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 managed to furnish a correct narra- 
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 ble freedom from prejudices which 
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 r - " It is difficult to report impar- 
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 that were topics of exciting interest 
 at the time of their occurrence. This 
 the author, in our judgment, seems 
 for the most part successfully to have 
 
 accomplished, 
 candid and correct, 
 
 Singularly 
 and we can 
 
 cheerfully recommend it to the youth 
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 structive work. " Boston Christian 
 Register. 
 
 "Just the thing desired by the 
 large class of general readers. The 
 politics.1 history of the United States 
 is an important study for Americans 
 and one too little regarded even by 
 
 those most active in political affairs. 
 Mr. Patton has dealt with the sub- 
 jects coming under his review with 
 fairness." Rochester Democrat. 
 
 "A conscientious impartiality has 
 evidently been studied in the narra- 
 tion of party conflicts and party 
 measures ; and if the impression 
 made is unfavorable to either side, it 
 is, in our judgment, due to the facts 
 themselves." N. Y. Evangelist. 
 
 Popular and Attractive. 
 
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 and names, and dates, but an ani- 
 mated narrative, written with ele- 
 gance and great clearness, presenting 
 comprehensive views of the events 
 and influences that have moulded 
 the national character of American 
 citizens." Phil. Christian Observer. 
 
 " He has compressed the principal 
 facts into a small compass, and he 
 has done it with such a fine arrange- 
 ment, skill, and beauty of style, that 
 it will become, if we mistake not, 
 the most popular history of the 
 country. 1 ' Halifax Provincial Wes- 
 leyan. 
 
 " Its style is concise and eloquent, 
 and in the descriptive parts very 
 forcible. The author has aimed to 
 be candid, discriminating and con- 
 servative in his views, and has pre- 
 pared a most excellent work just 
 such an one as thousands of the 
 American people will be glad to 
 possess." Dubuque Times. 
 
 " Written in a style pure and 
 entirely unimpeachable, it deserves 
 high praise for compressing so much 
 into so small a compass, without 
 omitting the details that enliven and 
 the colors that allure. Philadelphia 
 North American. 
 
 " The subject is handled with 
 much tact and judgment, each event 
 having its due prominence accord- 
 ing to its relative importance, while 
 the style is forcible and attractive. 
 
 It is an admirable compendium of 
 American history, and deserves a 
 place in every family." Boston 
 Journal. 
 
 "The purpose of tins admirable book is 10 hold a middle line be- 
 tween the elaborate histories and the school compends ; .. . . in a 
 word, the plan is that which was later adopted by John Richard Green 
 in his History of the English People. . . . The chapters which treat 
 of the late civil war deserve the commendation they hnve received for 
 discrimination and impartiality. They bear the stamp of a calm judicial 
 mind." JOHN AUSTIN STEVENS, Editor Magazine of A merican History.
 
 PATTON'S 
 
 a 
 
 H 
 
 < 
 
 H 
 C/3 
 
 Q 
 
 a 
 
 ffl 
 
 Comprehensive & Compact. 
 
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 ciseness. From preface to index, 
 everything in the volume speaks of 
 systematic and laborious concentra- 
 tration. The facts of American his- 
 tory have been subjected, seemingly, 
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 and, as here presented, are truly a 
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 is brevity itself. All that is needed is 
 to be found in it and nothing super- 
 fluous has been admitted. That 
 which meets the reader's eye is the 
 sum of the whole matter." Boston 
 Post. 
 
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 the leading events of American his- 
 tory. In one volume we have a 
 concise recapitulation of every prom- 
 inent occurrence which deserves re- 
 cording. Important facts are not 
 lightly passed over, but abridgment 
 has been the author's aim, and he 
 has succeeded well in writing a suffi- 
 ciently comprehensive review of our 
 country's history. His style is ani- 
 mated and chaste." Boston Satur- 
 day Evening Gazette. 
 
 "A very satisfactory account of 
 the history of the country from its 
 first discovery ; not so full as to be 
 unmanageable from its numerous de- 
 tails, nor so short as to be merely a 
 dry detail of facts and dates." 
 Cleveland Herald. 
 
 " Our wonder is that so much of 
 American history could be comprised 
 in one octavo volume ; at the same 
 time, it is very graphically written, 
 in a clear unostentatious style ; our 
 frequent use of it convinces us of its 
 great accuracy." N. Y. Observer. 
 
 " The style is clear and simple, and 
 the author does not fail to be com- 
 prehensive and thorough in the 
 attempt to be succinct. It is an ex- 
 cellent history by which to form the 
 minds of youth to an intelligent ap- 
 preciation of liberty and an enlight- 
 ened patriotism." N. Y. Indepen- 
 dent, 
 
 FORDS, HOWARD, & 
 
 Of High Moral Worth. 
 
 " He takes more distinct cogni- 
 zance than is usual of the religious 
 opinions and ecclesiastical move- 
 ments which have always been a 
 most important and influential ele- 
 ment in moulding the character and 
 directing the activity of the various 
 sections and classes of the American 
 people." North American Review. 
 
 " The religious and Christian ele- 
 ments are more emphasized than in 
 many popular compends. The pro- 
 portion of the parts, too, is well 
 maintained. So far as we have ex- 
 amined, it seems to us to be a val- 
 uable work, and one which fills a 
 place hitherto left vacant." Ameri- 
 can Theolcgical Review. 
 
 " The man's heart is in his work, 
 and he has put his Christianity in it 
 as well, and these merits, combined 
 with its accuracy and succinctness, 
 will render this volume acceptable 
 to every student worthy of the 
 name.'' Toronto Globe. 
 
 Best of Its Kind. 
 
 ' The work has received full com- 
 mendation from eminent scholars 
 and from the press. It is a work of 
 merit, adapted to the families- of 
 America Narrative, descrip- 
 tion, biography and philosophy play 
 their several parts, while the great 
 features of history, political, religious 
 and educational, stand out with in- 
 viting distinctness." Nashville Ban- 
 ner of Peace. 
 
 Mr. Patton's style is deserv- 
 ing of unqualified praise. It is pure, 
 simple, strong, free from mannerism, 
 and singularly easy and graceful. 
 We anticipate for the work a cordial 
 reception and extensive popularity 
 among those who know how to prize 
 the best books.'' North American 
 Review. 
 
 " As a convenient family history, 
 portable and easy of reference, Mr. 
 Patton's work cannot fail to fall into 
 very general use." N. Y. Herald. 
 
 " This history will be preferable 
 to any one yet published of our 
 country." Detroit Advertiser. 
 
 HULBERT, Publishers, 
 
 Park Place, New Yorfc. 
 
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