A i\E\\ HISTORY OF THI- UNITED STATES 
 
 The Greater Republic 
 
 EMBRACING 
 
 THE GKOWTH AND ACHIEVEMENTS OP OUR COUNTRY FROM THE 
 
 EARLIEST DAYS OP DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT 
 
 TO THE PRESENT EVENTFUL YEAR 
 
 SHOWING HOW PROM THIRTEEN COLONIES WITH A SCATTERED I OFtLATION ALONG THE 
 
 ATLANTIC COAST A GREAT REPUBLIC HAS BEEN FORMED, EMBRACING 
 
 FORTY-FIVE STATES WITH 75,000,000 INHABITANTS AND VAST 
 
 COLONIAL FOSSESSIONS IN TWO HEMISPHERES 
 
 By CHARLES MORRIS, LL. D. 
 
 it 
 
 Author of " Decisive Events in American History." " Half Hours with the Best American Authors. 
 " An Historical Review of Civilization," Etc., Etc. 
 
 Embellished With Over 300 New Engravings 
 
 ILLUSTRATING ALL THAT IS INTERESTING AND INSPIRING IN OUR HISTORt 
 
LOAN STACK 
 
 r^wrrd according to Act of Congress in the yer (899. by | 
 
 ! . K. SCULI^ g 
 
 in the oflic* of the Lrt.rarian of Con K rrss. at Washington. 
 
 v t t cc c-r c t ^ -- i --.:--=-- = =--5"--= ^ 
 

 PUBLISHERS INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THE late war with Spain marks a momentous epoch in the progress of our 
 country, whose history, stretching through the centuries of discovery, explora 
 tion, settlement, the struggle for independence, foreign and domestic war, lofty 
 achievement in all departments of knowledge and progress, is the most interest 
 ing in human annals. It is a record full of instruction and incitement to 
 endeavor, which must fill every American with pride in his birthright, and 
 with gratitude to Him who holds the earth and the sea in the hollow of His 
 hand. 
 
 The following pages contain a complete, accurate, and graphic history of our 
 country from the first visit of the Northmen, a thousand years ago, to the open 
 ing of its new destiny, through the late struggle, resulting in the freeing of 
 Cuba, the wresting of the Philippines, Porto Rico, and the Ladrones from 
 the tyranny of the most cruel of modern nations, and the addition of Hawaii 
 to our domain. The Greater United States, at one bound, assumes its place 
 in the van of nations, and becomes the foremost agent in civilizing and 
 christianizing the world. 
 
 The task, long committed to England, Germany, France, Russia, and later 
 to Japan, must henceforth be shared with us, whose glowing future gives promise 
 of the crowning achievement of the ages. With a fervent trust in a guiding 
 Providence, and an abiding confidence in our ability, we enter upon the new 
 
 (5) 
 
 420 
 
6 PUBLISHERS INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and grander career, as in obedience to the divine behest that the Latin race must 
 decrease and the Anglo-Saxon increase, and that the latter, in a human sense, 
 must be the regenerator of all who are groping in the night of ignorance and 
 barbarism. 
 
 It is a wonderful story that is traced in the pages that follow. A compre 
 hension of the present and of the promise of the future necessitates an under 
 standing of the past. The history of the Greater United States, therefore, is 
 complete, from the first glimpse, in the early morning of October 12, 1492, of 
 San Salvador by Columbus, through the settlement of the colonies, their struggles 
 for existence, the colonial wars, the supreme contest between England and 
 France for mastery in the New World, the long gloom of the Revolution that 
 brought independence, the founding of the Republic, in 1787, the growth and 
 expansion of the nation, the mighty War for the Union that united the divided 
 house and planted it upon a rock, and the later " war for humanity," when the 
 perishing islands, stretching their hands to us in helpless anguish, were 
 gathered under the flag of freedom, there to remain through all time to come. 
 
 There have been many leaders in this great work. Not the story of the 
 deeds alone, but of those who performed them is told. History, biography, and 
 all that is interesting and profitable to know are here truthfully set forth, for 
 their lesson is one whose value is beyond measurement. 
 
 In addition to the history of that which was simply the United States, a 
 complete account is given of our new colonial possessions, Hawaii, Porto Rico, 
 the Philippines, the Ladrones, and of Cuba, the child of our adoption. Their 
 geography, their soil, climate, productions, inhabitants, and capabilities are set 
 forth with fullness and accuracy. 
 
 In conclusion, the publishers confidently claim that " The Greater Repub 
 lic " is the fullest, most interesting, reliable, and instructive work of the kind 
 3ver offered the public. 
 
"I AM READY FOR ANY SERVICE THAT I CAN GIVE MY COUNTRY" 
 
 In 1798 our Government was about to declare war against France. Congress appointed Wa c hinrtnn commander-in-chief 
 
 of t.ie American Army. The Secretary of War carried *he commission in person to Mt. Vernon The olci 
 
 hero, sitting on his horse !n .he harves* field, accepted n ^h-- above patriotic words. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Visits of the Northmen to the New World The Indians and Mound Builders Christopher Co 
 lumbus His Discovery of America Amerigo Vespucci John Cabot Spanish Explorers Bal 
 boa His Discovery of the Pacific Magellan Ponce de Leon De Narvaez De Soto Men- 
 endez French Explorers Verrazzani Cartier Ribault Laudonniere Cham plain La Salle 
 English Explorers Sir Hugh Willoughby Martin Frobisher Sir Humphrey Gilbert Sir 
 Walter Raleigh The Lost Colony Dutch Explorer Henry Hudson 33 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 SETTLEMENT OK THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL 
 
 STATES. 
 
 Virginia, Founding of Jamestown Captain John Smith Introduction of African Slavery Indian 
 Wars Bacon s Rebellion Forms of Government Prosperity Education New England, 
 Plymouth Massachusetts Bay Colony Union of the Colonies Religious Persecution King 
 Philip s War The Witchcraft Delusion New Hampshire, The Connecticut Colony, The 
 New Haven Colony, Union of the Colonies Indian Wars The Charter Oak Rhode Island, 
 Different Forms of Government New York, The Dutch and English Settlers New Jersey^ 
 Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Mason and Dixon s Line The Carolinas, Georgia 47 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE INTERCOLONIAL \VARS AND THE FRENCH 
 
 AND INDIAN \VAR. 
 
 King William s War Queen Anne s War King George s War The French and Indian War- 
 England and France Rivals in the Old World and the New The Early French Settlements 
 The Disputed Territory France s Fatal Weakness Washington s Journey Through the 
 Wilderness The First Fight of the War The War Wholly American for Two Years The 
 Braddock Massacre The Great Change Wrought by William Pitt Fall of Quebec Moment 
 ous Consequences of the Great English Victory The Growth and Progress of the Colonies 
 and their Home Life ... ....... 75 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE REVOLUTION THE: \VAR IN NE\V 
 
 ENQLAND. 
 
 Causes of the Revolution The Stamp Act The Boston Tea Party England s Unbearable Meas 
 uresThe First Continental Congress The Boston Massacre Lexington and Concord The 
 Second Continental Congress Battle of Bunker Hill Assumption of Command by Washington 
 
 British Evacuation of Boston Disastrous Invasion of Canada 89 
 
 (7) 
 
8 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE REVOLUTION (CONTINUED). THE \VAR IN 
 THE MIDDLE STATES AND ON THE SEA. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 Declaration of Independence The American Flag Battle of Long Island Washington s Retreat 
 Through the Jerseys Trenton and Princeton In Winter Quarters Lafayette Brandywine and 
 Germantown At Valley Forge Burgoyne s Campaign Fort Schuyler and Bennington 
 Bemis Heights and Stillwater The Conway Cabal Aid from France Battle of Monmouth 
 Molly Pitcher Failure of French Aid Massacre at Wyoming Continental Money Stony 
 Point Treason of Arnold Paul Jones Great Victory . .103 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 THE REVOLUTION IN THE SOUTH (CONCLUDED). 
 
 Capture of Savannah British Conquest of Georgia Fall of Charleston Bitter Warfare in South 
 Carolina Battle of Camden Of King s Mountain Of the Cowpens Battle of Guilford Court- 
 HouseMovements of Cornwallis The Final Campaign Peace and Independence . . 131 
 
 CHAPTEE VII. 
 ORGANIZATION OK THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 ^ie Method of Government During the Revolution Impending Anarchy The State Boundaries- 
 State Cessions of Land Shays Rebellion Adoption of the Constitution Its Leading Fea 
 turesThe Ordinance of 1787 Formation of Parties Election of the First President and Vice- 
 President 143 
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 ADMINISTRATIONS OK \VASHINOTON, JOHN 
 ADAIV1S, AND JEKKERSON 1789-18O9, 
 
 Washington His Inauguration as First President of the United States Alexander Hamilton His 
 Success at the Head of the Treasury Department The Obduracy of Rhode Island Establish 
 ment of the United States Bank Passage of a Tariff Bill Establishment of a Mint The Plan 
 of a FederalJudiciary Admission of Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee Benjamin Franklin 
 Troubles with the Western Indians Their Defeat by General Wayne Removal of the National 
 Capital Provided for The Whiskey Insurrection The Course of "Citizen Genet "-Jay s 
 Treaty Re-election of Washington Resignation of Jefferson and Hamilton Washington s 
 Farewell Address Establishment of the United States Military Academy at West Point The 
 Presidential Election of 1796 John Adams Prosperity of the Country Population of the Country 
 in 1 790 Invention of the Cotton Gin Troubles with France War on the Ocean Washington 
 Appointed Com mander-in-Chief Peace Secured The Alien and Sedition Laws The Census of 
 1800 The Presidential Election of 1800 The Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution Thomas 
 Jefferson Admission of Ohio The Indiana Territory The Purchase of Louisiana Its Im 
 mense Area Abolishment of the Slave Trade War with Tripoli The Lewis and Clark Ex 
 peditionAlexander Hamilton Killed in a Duel by Aaron Burr The First Steamboat on the 
 Hudson The First Steamer to Cross the Atlantic England s Oppressive Course Toward the 
 United States Outrage by the British Ship Leander The Affair of the Leopard and Chesa 
 peake Passage of the Embargo Act The Presidential Election of 1808 153 
 
CONTENTS. 9 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 ADMINISTRATIONS OK MADISON, 18O9-1817. 
 THE \VAR OK 1812. 
 
 AQl 
 
 James Madison The Embargo and the Non-Intercourse Acts Revival of the Latter Against Eng-* 
 land The Little Belt and the President Population of the United States in 1810 Battle of 
 Tippecanoe Declaration of War Against England Comparative Strength of the Two Nations 
 on the Ocean Unpopularity of the War in New England Preparations Made by the Govern 
 mentCowardly Surrender of Detroit Presidential Election of 1812 Admission of Louisiana 
 and Indiana New National Bank Chartered Second Attempt to Invade Canada Battle of 
 Queenstown Heights Inefficiency of the American Forces in 1812 Brilliant Work of the 
 Navy The Constitution and the Guerrtire The Wasp and the Frolic The United States and 
 the Macedonian The Constitution and the Java Reorganization and Strengthening of the 
 Army Operations in the West Gallant Defense of Fort Stephenson American Invasion of 
 Ohio and Victory of the Thames Indian Massacre at Fort Mimnis Capture of York (Toronto) 
 Defeat of the Enemy at Sackett s Harbor Failure of the American Invasion of Canada The 
 Hornet and Peacock Capture of the Chesapeake "Don t Give Up the Ship" Captain 
 Decatur Blockaded at New London Capture of the Argus by the Enemy Cruise of the Essex 
 The Glorious Victory of Commodore Perry on Lake Erie Success of the American Arms 
 in Canada Battle of the Chippewa Of Lundy s Lane Decisive Defeat of the Enemy s 
 Attack on Plattsburg Punishment of the Creek Indians for the Massacre at Fort Mimms 
 Vigorous Action by the National Government Burning of Washington by the British 
 The Hartford Convention . 181 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 ADMINISTRATIONS OK JAMES MONROE AND 
 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, 1817-1829. 
 
 James Monroe The "Era of Good Feeling" The Seminole War Vigorous Measures of 
 General Jackson Admission of Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, Maine, and Missouri The 
 Missouri Compromise The Monroe Doctrine Visit of Lafayette Introduction of the Use of 
 Gas Completion of the Erie Canal The First " Hard Times "Extinction of the West Indian 
 Pirates Presidential Election of 1824 John Quincy Adams Prosperity of the Country In 
 troduction of the Railway Locomotive Trouble witii he Cherokees in Georgia Death of 
 Adams and Jefferson Congressional Action on the Tariff Presidential Election of 1828 . . 205 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 ADMINISTRATIONS OK JACKSON, VAN BUREN, 
 W. H. HARRISON, AND TYLER, 1829-1845. 
 
 Andrew Jackson " To the Victors Belong the Spoils" The President s Fight with the United 
 States Bank Presidential Election of 1828 Distribution of the Surplus in the United States 
 Treasury Among the Various States The Black Hawk War The Nullification Excitement 
 The Seminole War Introduction of the Steam Locomotive Anthracite Coal, McCormick s 
 Reaper, and Friction Matches Great Fire in New York Population of the United States in 
 1830 Admission of Arkansas and Michigan Abolitionism France and Portugal Compelled 
 to Pay their Debts to the United States The Specie Circular, John Caldwell Calhoun, Henry 
 Clay, -and Daniel Webster Presidential Election of 1836 Martin Van Buren The Panic of 
 1837 Rebellion in Canada Population of the United States in 1840 Presidential Election of 1840 
 William Henry Harrison His Death John Tyler His Unpopular Course The Webster- 
 Ashburton Treaty Civil War in Rhode Island The Anti-rent War in New York A Shock- 
 
10 CONTENTS. 
 
 PACK 
 
 ing Accident Admission of Florida Revolt of Texas Against Mexican Rule The Alamo 
 San Jaciuto The Question of the Annexation of Texas The State Admitted The Copper 
 Mines of Michigan Presidential Election of 1844 The Electro-magnetic Telegraph Professor 
 Morse His Labors in Bringing the Invention to Perfection 215 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 KAMOUS PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS PREVIOUS 
 
 TO 1840. 
 
 The Origin of the " Caucus" The Election of 1792 The First Stormy Election The Constitution 
 Amended Improvement of the Method of Nominating Presidential Candidates The First 
 Presidential Convention Convention in Baltimore in 1832 Exciting Scenes The Presidential 
 Campaign of 1820 "Old Hickory" Andrew Jackson s Popularity Jackson Nominated 
 "OldHickory" Defeated The "Log-Cabin " and " Hard-Cider" Campaign of 1840 " Tippe- 
 canoe and Tyler Too " Peculiar Feature of the Harrison Campaign 239 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OK POLK, 1845-1849. 
 
 James K. Polk TheWar with Mexico The First Conflict Battle ofResaca de la Palma Vigorous 
 Action of the United States Government General Scott s Plan of Campaign Capture of 
 Monterey An Armistice Capture of Saltillo Of Victoria Of Tampico General Kearny s 
 Capture of Santa Fe Conquest of California Wonderful March of Colonel Doniphan Battle 
 of Buena Vista General Scott s March Toward the City of Mexico Capture of Vera Cruz 
 American Victory at Cerro Gordo Five American Victories in One Day Santa Anna Con 
 quest of Mexico Completed Terms of the Treaty of Peace The New Territory Gained The 
 Slavery Dispute The Wilmot Proviso "Fifty-Four Forty or Fight" Adjustment of the 
 Oregon Boundary Admission of Iowa and Wisconsin The Smithsonian Institute Discovery 
 of Gold in California The Mormons The Presidential Election of 1848 251 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 ADMINISTRATIONS OK TAYLOR, EILLIVLORE, 
 FIERCE, AND BUCHANAN, 1849-1857. 
 
 achary Taylor The "Irrepressible Conflict " in Congress The Omnibus Bill Death of President 
 Taylor Millard Fillm ore Death of the Old Leaders and Debut of the New The Census of 
 1850 Surveys for a Railway to the Pacific Presidential Election of 1852 Franklin Pierce 
 Death of Vice- President King A Commerical Treaty Made with Japan Filibustering Ex 
 peditionsThe Ostend Manifesto The "Know Nothing" Party The Kansas-Nebraska Bill 
 and Repeal of the Missouri Compromise ... 269 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OK LINCOLN, 1861-1865 
 THE \VAR KOR THE UNION, 1861. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln Major Anderson s Trying Position Jefferson Davis Inauguration of Presi 
 dent Lincoln Bombardment of Fort Sumter War Preparations North and South Attack on 
 Union Troops in Baltimore Situation of the Border States Unfriendliness of England and 
 France Friendship of Russia The States that Composed the Southern Confederacy Union 
 Disaster at Big Bethel Success of the Union Campaign in Western Virginia General George 
 
CONTENTS. 11 
 
 PAGB 
 
 B. McClellan First Battle of Bull Run General McClellan Called to the Command of the 
 Army of the Potomac Union Disaster at Ball s Bluff Military Operations in Missouri Battle 
 of Wilson s Creek Defeat of Colonel Mulligan at Lexington, Mo. Supersedure of Fremont 
 Operations on the Coast The Trent Affair Summary of the Year s Operations . . . 285 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OK LINCOLN (CONTINUED), 
 
 1861-1865. 
 
 WAR FOR THE UNION (CONTINUED;, 1862, 
 
 Capture of Forts Henry and Donelson Change in the Confederate Line of Defense Capture of 
 Island No. 10 Battle of Pittsburg Landing or Shiloh Capture of Corinth Narrow Escape of 
 Louisville Battle of Perryville Battle of Murfreesboro or Stone River Battle of Pea Ridge 
 Naval Battle Between the Monitor and Merrimac Fate of the Two Vessels Capture of New 
 Orleans The Advance Against Richmond McClellan s Peninsula Campaign The First Con 
 federate Invasion of the North Battle of Antietam or Sharpsburg Disastrous Union Repulse 
 at tredericksburg Summary of the War s Operations The Confederate Privateers The 
 Emancipation Proclamation Greenbacks and Bond Issues ....... 301 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OK LINCOLN (CONTINUED), 
 
 1861-1865. 
 
 \VAR FOR THE UNION (CONTINUED), 1863. 
 
 The Military Situation in the West Siege and Capture of Vicksburg The Mississippi Opened 
 Battle of Chickaniauga " The Rock of Chickamauga " The Battle Above the Clouds Siege of 
 Knoxville General Hooker Appointed to the Command of the Army of the Potomac His 
 Plan of Campaign Against Richmond Stonewall Jackson s Stampede of the Eleventh Corps 
 Critical Situation of the Union Army Death of Jackson Battle of Chancellorsville Defeat of 
 Hooker The Second Confederate Invasion Battle of Gettysburg The Decisive Struggle of the 
 War Lee s Retreat Subsequent Movements of Lee and Meade Confederate Privateering 
 Destruction of the Nashville Failure of the Attacks on Charleston The Military Raids 
 Stuart s Narrow Escape Stoneman s Raid Morgan s Raid in Indiana and Ohio . . .333 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OK LINCOLN (CONCLUDED), 
 
 1861-1865. 
 
 WAR FOR THE UNION (CONCLUDED), 1864-1865. 
 
 The Work Remaining to be Done General Grant Placed in Command of all the Union Armies 
 The Grand Campaign Bank s Disastrous Red River Expedition How the Union Fleet was 
 Saved Capture of Mobile by Admiral Farragut The Confederate Cruisers Destruction of the 
 Alabama by the Kearsa.rae Fate of the Other Confederate Cruisers Destruction of the Albe- 
 marle by Lieutenant William B. Cushing Re-election of President Lincoln Distress in the 
 South and Prosperity in the North The Union Prisoners in the South Admission of Nevada 
 The Confederate Raids from Canada Sherman s Advance to Atlanta Fall of Atlanta Hood s 
 Vain Attempt to Relieve Georgia Superb Success of General Thomas " Marching Through 
 Georgia" Sherman s Christmas Gift to President Lincoln Opening of Grant s Final Cam 
 paignBattles in the Wilderness Wounding of General Longstreet and Death of Generals 
 
12 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Stuart and Sedgwick Grant s Flanking Movements Against Lee A Disastrous Repulse at Cold 
 Harbor Defeat of Sigel and Hunter in the Shenandoah Valley " Bottling-up " of Butler 
 Explosions of the Petersburg Mine Early s Raids His Final Defeat by Sheridan Grant s 
 Campaign Surrender of Lee Assassination of President Lincoln Death of Booth and Pun 
 ishment of the Conspirators Surrender of Jo Johnston and Collapse of the Southern Con 
 federacy Capture of Jefferson Davis His Release and Death Statistics of the Civil War 
 A Characteristic Ancedote ... 367 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 ADMINISTRATIONS OK JOHNSON AND QRANT, 
 
 1865-1877. 
 
 Andrew Johnson Reconstruction Quarrel Between the President and Congress The Fenians 
 Execution of Maximilian Admission of Nebraska Laying of the Atlantic Cable Purchase 
 of Alaska Impeachment and Acquittal of the President Carpet-bag Rule in the South Presi 
 dential Election of 1868 U. S. Grant Settlement of the Alabama Claims Completion of the 
 Overland Railway The Chicago Fire Settlement of the Northwestern Boundary Presidential 
 Election of 1872 The Modoc Troubles Civil War in Louisiana Admission of Colorado 
 Panic of 1873 Notable Deaths Custer s Massacre The Centennial The Presidential Election 
 of 1876 the Most Perilous in the History of the Country 407 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 ADMINISTRATIONS OK HAYES, QAREIELD, AND 
 
 ARTHUR, 1877-1885. 
 
 R. B. Hayes The Telephone Railway Strikes Elevated Railroads War with the Nez Perce 
 Indians Reinonetization of Silver Resumption of Specie Payments A Strange Fishery Award 
 The Yellow Fever Scourge Presidential Election of 1878 James A. Garfield Civil Service 
 Reform Assassination of President Garfield Chester A. Arthur The Star Route Frauds 
 The Brooklyn Bridge The Chinese Question The Mormons Alaska Exploration The York- 
 town Centennial Attempts to Reach the North Pole by Americans History of the Greely Ex 
 pedition 427 
 
 CHAPTER XXL 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OK CLEVELAND (KIRST) AND 
 OK HARRISON, 1885-1893. 
 
 Grover Cleveland Completion of the Washington Monument The Bartholdi Statue Death of 
 General Grant Death of Vice-President Hendricks The First Vice-President to Die in Office 
 George Clinton Elbridge Gerry-^William R. King Henry Wilson Death of General 
 McClellan Of General Hancock His Career The Dispute Between Capital and Labor 
 Arbitration The Anarchistic Outbreak in Chicago The Charleston Earthquake Conquest of 
 the Apaches Presidential Election of 1888 Benjamin Harrison The Johnstown Disaster 
 Threatened War with Chili The Indian Uprising of 1890-91 Admission of New States- 
 Presidential Election of 1892 . 459 
 
CONTENTS. 13 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OP^ CLEVELAND (SECOND), 
 
 1893-1897. 
 
 Repeal of the Purchase Clause of the Sherman Bill The World s Columbian Exposition at Chicago 
 The Hawaiian Imbroglio The Great Railroad Strike of 1894 Coxey s Commonweal Army 
 Admission of Utah Harnessing of Niagara Dispute with England Over Venezuela s Bound 
 aryPresidential Election of 1896. ... .487 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OK CLEVELAND (SECOND, 
 CONCLUDED), 1893-1897. 
 
 Settling the Northwest The Face of the Country Transformed Clearing Away the Forests and 
 its Effects Tree-planting on the Prairies Pioneer Life in the Seventies The Granary of the 
 World The Northwestern Farmer Transportation and Other Industries Business Cities and 
 Centres United Public Action and its Influence The Indian Question Other Elements of 
 Population Society and General Culture .... ... .511 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OK IVlcKINLEY, 1897-19O1. 
 
 
 
 William McKinley Organization of Greater New York" Removal of General Grant s Remains 
 to Morningside Park The Klondike Gold Excitement Spain s Misrule in Cuba Preliminary 
 Events of the Spanish-American War . 527 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OK McKINLEY ^CONTINUED), 
 
 1897-19O1. 
 
 THE SPANISH-AMERICAN \VAR. 
 
 Opening Incidents Bombardment of Matanzas Dewey s Wonderful Victory at Manila Disaster 
 to the Winslow at Cardenas Bay The First American Loss of Life Bombardment of San 
 Juan, Porto Rico The Elusive Spanish Fleet Bottled-up in Santiago Harbor Lieutenant 
 Hobson s Daring Exploit Second Bombardment of Santiago and Arrival of the Army Gallant 
 W T ork of the Rough Riders and the Regulars Battles of San Juan and El Caney Destruc 
 tion of Cervera s Fleet General Shafter Reinforced in Front of Santiago Surrender of the 
 City General Mii es i n Porto Rico An Easy Conquest Conquest of the Philippines Peace 
 Negotiations and Signing of the Protocol Its Terms Members of the National Peace Com 
 missionReturn of the Troops from Cuba and Porto Rico The Peace Commission in Paris- 
 Conclusion of its Work Terms of the Treaty Ratified by the Senate 547 
 
14 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION 
 
 OK McKINLEY 
 1897-19O1 
 
 (CONTINUED), 
 
 OUR NEW POSSESSIONS, 
 
 The Islands of Hawaii Their Inhabitants and Products City of Honolulu History of Cuba The 
 Ten Years War The Insurrection of 1 895-98 Geography and Productions of Cuba Its Cli 
 mateHistory of Porto Rico Its People and Productions San Juan and Ponce Location, 
 Discovery, and History of the Philippines Insurrections of the Filipinos City of Manila- 
 Commerce Philippine Productions Climate and Volcanoes Dewey at Manila The Ladrone 
 Islands Conclusion 
 
 587 
 
List of Illustrations. 
 
 Amerigo Vespucci, 
 
 Meeting Between the Northmen and Natives, 
 
 Sebastian Cabot, 
 
 Columbus and the Egg, 
 
 An Indian Council of War, 
 
 " The Broiling of Fish Over the Fire," 
 Indian Village Enclosed with Palisades, 
 
 Sir Walter Raleigh 
 
 Seal of the Virginia Company 
 
 Armor Worn by the Pilgrims in 1620. . . 
 
 Landing of Myles Standish, 
 
 Roger Williams in Banishment. .... 
 Primitive Mode of Grinding Corn, . . . 
 Friends Meeting- House, Burlington, N. J., . 
 Moravian Easter Service, Bethlehem. Pa.. 
 
 Colonial Plow 1706, 
 
 Ancient Horseshoes, 
 
 A Colonial Flax- wheel 
 
 Silk -winding, 
 
 A Comfortier, or Chafing Dish 
 
 Early Days in New England, 
 
 Places of Worship in New York in 1742. . 
 Attack on Rioters, Springfield, Mass., in 1 786. 
 Young Washington Riding a Colt, . . . 
 
 Braddock s Defeat, 
 
 Martello Tower on the Heights of Abraham, 
 A Dutch Household as Seen in the Early 
 
 Days in New York, 
 
 Memorial Hall, Harvard College, 
 
 O / 
 
 Bible Brought Over in the Mayflower, . . 
 American Stage-coach of 1795, .... 
 
 PAGE 
 
 33 
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 43 
 44 
 45 
 47 
 52 
 54 
 57 
 60 
 64 
 68 
 71 
 72 
 72 
 73 
 73 
 74 
 75 
 77 
 79 
 81 
 
 83 
 
 85 
 86 
 
 87 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Old South Church, Boston, .... 91 
 
 Patrick Henry, 93 
 
 The Monument on Bunker Hill, .... 94 
 Nomination of Washington as Commander- 
 in Chief of the Continental Army, ... 96 
 
 Faneuil Hall, Boston, 97 
 
 St. Paul s Church, New York 101 
 
 Independence Hall, Philadelphia, . . . .104 
 
 The Liberty Bell. 105 
 
 The Statue of Liberty, 107 
 
 An Old New York Mansion, 109 
 
 Washington Crossing the Delaware, . . .113 
 
 Give Them Watts, Boys," 115 
 
 Washington at Valley Forge, 117 
 
 An Old Colonial House at Germantown, . 120 
 
 Virginia Currency, 1670, 123 
 
 Paul Jones, 125 
 
 The Bon Homme Richard and Serapis, . .126 
 British Captain Surrendering Sword. . . .127 
 
 Escape of Benedict Arnold 129 
 
 Tarleton s Lieutenant and the Farmer, . .134 
 
 Cornwallis, 137 
 
 A Plantation Gateway, 143 
 
 Senate Chamber 147 
 
 House of Representatives, 149 
 
 An Old Indian Farm-house 152 
 
 Mary Ball, the Mother of Washington, . . 153 
 
 George Washington. 154 
 
 Inauguration of Washington, 155 
 
 Alexander Hamilton, 157 
 
 Ben Franklin in His Father s Shop, . . . 15> 
 
 (15) 
 
16 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Franklin s Grave, 160 
 
 Chief Justice John Jay, 163 
 
 Washington s Bedroom in which He Died, . 165 
 Mother of Washington Receiving Lafayette, 166 
 
 John Adams, 168 
 
 The Cotton Gin, Invented in 1793, ... 169 
 
 Thomas Jefferson, 171 
 
 Development of Steam Navigation, . . .177 
 
 Robert Fulton, 178 
 
 James Madison, 182 
 
 The Arts of Peace and the Art of War, . 187 
 
 Mrs. James Madison, 191 
 
 Burning of Washington 197 
 
 Weathersford and General Jackson, . . . 201 
 First Train of Cars in America, .... 205 
 
 James Monroe, 205 
 
 An Indian s Declaration of War, . . . .207 
 
 John Quincy Adams, 211 
 
 " Johnny Bull," or No. 1, 213 
 
 Andrew Jackson, 216 
 
 Samuel Houston, 218 
 
 Oseola s Indignation, 221 
 
 Western Railroad in Earlier Days, . . .222 
 
 John C. Calhoun, 223 
 
 Henry Clay, - 224 
 
 Daniel Webster, 225 
 
 Martin Van Buren 227 
 
 William Henry Harrison, 239 
 
 John Tyler 231 
 
 Where the First Morse Instrument was Con 
 structed 235 
 
 Speedwell Iron Works, Morristown, N. J., . 236 
 Old Gates at St. Augustine, Florida, . . . 239 
 A Typical Virginia Court-House, . . . .241 
 The White House at Washington, D. C., . 243 
 Old Spanish House, New Orleans, . . . 247 
 The Marigny House, New Orleans, ... 248 
 
 James K. Polk, .251 
 
 Robert E. Lee in the Mexican War, . . , 253 
 
 General Winfield Scott, 257 
 
 Battle of Cerro Gordo, 259 
 
 The Smithsonian Institute, 263 
 
 Gold Washing The Sluice, 264 
 
 Gold Washing The Cradle, 265 
 
 Great Salt Lake City, Utah, 267 
 
 Zachary Taylor, 269 
 
 Millard Fillmore, . 271 
 
 Franklin Pierce, 
 
 Lucretia Mott, 
 
 Henry W T ard Beecher, 
 
 James Buchanan, 
 
 Lucretia Mott Protecting Dangerfield, . . 
 
 Harper s Ferry, 
 
 Abraham Lincoln, 
 
 From Log-Cabin to the White House, . . 
 
 Jefferson Davis, 
 
 Fort Moult rie, Charleston. S. C., . . . . 
 
 A Skirmisher, 
 
 General George B. McClellan, 
 
 Statue of McClellan, Philadelphia, Pa., . . 
 
 Fortifying Richmond, 
 
 Breech-loading Mortar, or Howitzer, . . . 
 
 A Railroad Battery, 
 
 Sec. Stanton s Opinion about the Merrimac, 
 
 John Ericsson, 
 
 Libby Prison in 1865, 
 
 Libby Prison in 1884, 
 
 Moist Weather at the Front, 
 
 Antietam Bridge, 
 
 Model of Gatling Gun, 
 
 U. S. Military Telegraph Wagon, . . . . 
 
 Admiral Porter, 
 
 David G. Farragut, 
 
 Grant After the Battle of Belmont, . . . 
 
 General George H. Thomas, 
 
 General Thomas J. (" Stonewall ") Jackson, 
 House in which Stonewall Jackson Died, 
 
 General Robert E. Lee, 
 
 General George G. Meade, 
 
 Cushing s Last Shot, 
 
 Entrance to Gettysburg Cemetry, . . . . 
 
 The Swamp Angel Battery, 
 
 Bailey s Dams on the Red River, . . . . 
 Monument of Farragut at Washington, . . 
 Bird s-eye View of Andersonville Prison, 
 
 Death of General Polk 
 
 General William T. Sherman, 
 
 General Lee Leading the Texans Charge, . 
 
 General Philip II. Sheridan 
 
 Lincoln Entering Richmond 
 
 The Desperate Extremity of the Confederates, 
 
 Horace Greeley, 
 
 Lincoln s Grave, Springfield, 111., . . . . 
 Andrew Johnson, 
 
 PAGE 
 
 273 
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 17 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Log-cabin Church at Juneau, Alaska, . . .411 
 Southern Legislature Under Carpet-bag Rule, 413 
 
 Ulysses Simpson Grant, 415 
 
 Mrs. Julia Dent Grant, 415 
 
 The Burning of Chicago, 1871, . . . .417 
 Section of Chicago Stock-yards, . . . .418 
 Monument to General Lee, Richmond, Va., 422 
 
 General George Crook, 423 
 
 Memorial Hall of 1876, 425 
 
 Samuel J. Tilden, 426 
 
 Rutherford B. Hayes, ....... 427 
 
 Grant at Windsor Castle, 431 
 
 Grant in Japan, 433 
 
 The Boy James Garfield and his Mother, . 434 
 
 James A. Garfield, , 435 
 
 The Aged Mother of President Garfield, . 436 
 Assassination of President Garfield, . . . 437 
 Memorial Tablet to President Garfield, . . 438 
 
 Chester Alan Arthur, 439 
 
 The Brooklyn Bridge, 440 
 
 Scene in Chinatown, San Francisco, . . . 441 
 A Funeral in the Arctic Regions, . . . 449 
 
 Grover Cleveland, 459 
 
 Tomb of General U. S. Grant, New York, . 464 
 
 City Hall, Philadelphia, 467 
 
 Old Haymarket Plaza, Chicago, . . . .471 
 General Crook s Apache Guide, .... 475 
 
 An Indian Warrior, 477 
 
 Benjamin Harrison, 479 
 
 Indian Mother and Infant, 481 
 
 Indian Agency, . 484 
 
 Henry Moore Teller, .... ... 487 
 
 Model of U. S. Man-of-War, 488 
 
 Machinery Hall, World s Fair, Chicago, 1893, 490 
 Horticultural Building, World s Fair, 1893, . 491 
 Agricultural Building, World s Fair, 1893, . 491 
 Woman s Building, World s Fair, 1893, . . 492 
 
 Thomas A. Edison, 493 
 
 The Viking Ship, World s Fair, Chicago, 1 893, 495 
 Art Palace, World s Fair, Chicago, 1893, . 496 
 Government Building, World s Fair, 1893, . 496 
 
 James G. Blaine, 499 
 
 A Scene of the Chicago Strike of 1894, . 501 
 A Gold Prospecting Party, British Guiana, . 505 
 
 The Venezuelan Commission, 507 
 
 William Jennings Bryan, 508 
 
 Albert Shaw, . . . 511 
 
 PAGE 
 
 A Dispute Over a Brand 513 
 
 Sluice-gate, 517 
 
 Between the Mills, 518 
 
 Barrel-hoist and Tunnel, Washburn Mill, . 518 
 
 Mossbrae, 520 
 
 Section of Chicago Stock-yards. . . . .521 
 The Falls of St. Anthony, 1885, .... 523 
 
 Lake-shore Drive, Chicago, 525 
 
 Wm. McKinley, 527 
 
 The Obelisk, Central Park, New York, . . 529 
 
 John Sherman, 531 
 
 Thomas B. Reed, 533 
 
 Tomb of U. S. Grant, New York, .... 534 
 Review of the Navy and Merchant Marine 
 on the Hudson, April 27, 1897, . . . 535 
 
 Map of Alaska, 536 
 
 Ready for the Trail, 537 
 
 General Calixto Garcia, 539 
 
 General Maximo Gomez, 541 
 
 Jose Marti, 543 
 
 General Antonio Maceo, 544 
 
 The U. S. Battleship Maine and her Officers, 545 
 
 Admiral George Dewey 551 
 
 Camp Scene at Chickamauga, 555 
 
 ^Richmond P. Hobson, 557 
 
 Major-General Fit zh ugh Lee, 559 
 
 Rear- Admiral William T. Sampson, . . . 560 
 
 Gov. Theodore Roosevelt, 561 
 
 Rear-Admiral Winfield S. Schley, .... 565 
 Rear-Admiral John C. Watson, .... 567 
 Major-General William R. Shatter, . . . 570 
 
 Major-General Nelson A. Miles 571 
 
 Major-General Joseph Wheeler, .... 573 
 Major-General Wesley Merritt, .... 577 
 
 Major-General Elwell S. Otis 584 
 
 Admiral Dewey s Flagship the Olympic^ . 585 
 
 Native Grass House, Hawaii, 587 
 
 Royal Palace, Hawaii, 589 
 
 Raising of the American Flag, Honolulu, . 589 
 
 Hula Dancing Girls, Hawaii, 590 
 
 Church in Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands, . . 592 
 Sugar Cane Plantation, Hawaiian Islands, . 594 
 Tomb of Christopher Columbus, Havana, Cuba, 595 
 Indian Statue in the Prado. Havana, Cuba, . 597 
 Daring Attack of Cuban Patriots, .... 599 
 
 General Maximo Gomez 602 
 
 Sunrise Executions, Havana 603 
 
18 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 A Volante, Cuba, 608 
 
 Entrance to the Public Grounds, Havana, . 609 
 
 A Market Girl, Porto Rico, 610 
 
 The Custom House, Ponce, Porto Rico, . .612 
 
 Native Belles, Porto Rico, 614 
 
 The Market Place, Ponce, Porto Rico, . . 615 
 
 Filipinos of the Savage Tribes 617 
 
 Native Hunters, Philippine Islands, . . . 618 
 Philippine Warriors, 622 
 
 Native Residence in the Suburbs of Manila, . 
 A Typical Moro Village, Philippine Islands, 
 Bridge Over the Pasig River, .... 
 A Popular Street Conveyance, Manila, . 
 A Wedding Procession, Philippine Islands, 
 Drying Sugar, Philippine Islands, . . , . 
 The Strange Wagons of Philippine Islands, 
 Native House and Palms, Ladrone Islands, 
 
 PAGB 
 
 624 
 626 
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 631 
 633 
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 .636 
 644 
 
LIST OF FULL-PAGE HALF-TONE ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 ; - i am ready for any service that I can give my country "... Frontispiece. 
 Search for the Fountain of Youth ...... opp. 39 
 
 Pocahontas Saving the Life of John Smith ..... 49 
 
 The Marriage of Pocahontas .... ..." 50 
 
 Gallup s Recapture of Oldham s Boat . ... "58 
 
 William Penn, the good and wise ruler . . . . . . " 65 
 
 Notable Audience in Maryland to hear George Fox . . . . . " 66 
 
 Hiawatha, Founder of the Iroquois League ...... 72 
 
 Washington s First Victory ........ 80 
 
 The Battle of Bunker Hill ........ 89 
 
 The Capture of Major Andre ........ " 128 
 
 Daring Desertion of John Campe . . . . . . " 136 
 
 The Surrender at Yorktown . . . . . . . " 139 
 
 United States Capitol, Washington . . . . . . " 142 
 
 The Battle of Fallen Timbers . . . . . . . " 160 
 
 Campaign Speechmaking in Earlier Days ......" 238 
 
 Fremont, the Great Pathfinder, addressing the Indians " 250 
 
 Battle of Resaca de la Palma .... ..." 256 
 
 The Blue and the Gray . . ....." 284 
 
 The First Battle of Bull Run, 1861 ... ..." 294 
 
 The Attack on Fort Donelson . . . . . " 301 
 
 General Lee s Invasion of the North ......." 324 
 
 The Battle of Malvern Hill .... . " 333 
 
 The Fatal Wounding of Stonewall " Jackson ... "346 
 
 Pickett s Return from his Famous Charge . . . . ..." 355 
 
 Attack on Charleston, August 23 to September 29, 1893 . . 360 
 
 The Sinking of the Alabama " . ... 375 
 
 Sherman s Three Scouts . . . 384 
 
 Surrender of General Lee at Appomattox Court-House. April 9, 1865 . 397 
 
 The Civil War Peace Conference . 400 
 
 The Electoral Commission, 1877 . " 42 ? 
 
 The Farthest North Reached by Lieutenant Lockwood on the Greely Expedition . " 453 
 
 (19) 
 
20 LISi OF FULL-PAGE HALF-TONE ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Washington Monument . . PP- 46 
 Arbitration ..... 
 
 The Hero of the Strike, Coal Creek, Tenn. . " 486 
 
 The Viking Ship at the World s Columbian Exposition at Chicago, 1 893 " 495 
 
 Congressional Library, Washington, D. C. 51(1 
 
 Cathedral Spires in the Garden of the Gods . . . 515 
 
 Greater New York . ....... 528 
 
 President McKinley and the War Cabinet . . . . " 547 
 
 City of Havana, Cuba "549 
 
 The U. S. Battleship " Maine " "550 
 
 Map of Cuba ... ... " 553 
 
 The Battle of Manila, May 1, 1898 " 554 
 
 Americans Storming San Juan Hill .....- 560 
 
 U. S. Battleship " Oregon " "565 
 
 The Surrender of Santiago, July 17, 1898 " 570 
 
 In the War-room at Washington 576 
 
 The United States Peace Commissioners of the Spanish War .... 580 
 
 * Popular Commanders in the Filipino War . . 586 
 
 Prominent Spaniards in 1898 . ... 595 
 
 San Juan, Porto Bico .... . "610 
 
 The Escolta, City of Manila . "619 
 The Beautiful Luneta, Manila s Fashionable Promenade and Drive 
 The Shipyard and Arsenal at Cavite, Philippine Islands 
 Raising the Flag on Fort San Antonio de Abad, Malate 
 
 Scenes from the Philippine Islands .... 
 
 The Mouth of the Pasig River "640 
 
Authors Introduction. 
 
 THE annals of the world contain no more impressive example of the birth 
 and growth of a nation than may be seen in the case of that which has been 
 aptly termed the Greater Kepublic, whose story from its feeble childhood to its 
 grand maturity it is the purpose of this work to set forth. Three hundred years 
 is a brief interval in the long epoch of human history, yet within that short 
 period the United States has developed from a handful of hardy men and women, 
 thinly scattered along our Atlantic coast, into a vast and mighty country 
 peopled by not less than seventy-five millions of human beings, the freest, richest, 
 most industrious, and most enterprising of any people upon the face of the 
 earth. It began as a dwarf; it has grown into a giant. It was despised by the 
 proud nations of Europe ; it has become feared and respected by the proudest 
 of these nations. For a long time they have claimed the right to settle among 
 themselves the affairs of the world ; they have now to deal with the United 
 States in this self-imposed duty. And it is significant of the high moral atti 
 tude occupied by this country, that one of the first enterprises in which it is 
 asked to join these ancient nations has for its end to do away with the horrors 
 of war, and substitute for the drawn sword in the settlement of national disputes 
 a great Supreme Court of arbitration. 
 
 This is but one of the lessons to be drawn from the history of the great 
 republic of the West. It has long been claimed that this history lacks interest, 
 that it is devoid of the romance which we find in that of the Eastern world, has 
 nothing in it of the striking and dramatic, and is too young and new to be 
 worth men s attention when compared with that of the ancient nations, which has 
 come down from the mists of prehistoric time. Yet we think that those who read 
 the following pages will not be ready to admit this claim. They will find in the 
 history of the United States an abundance of the elements of romance. It has, 
 besides, the merit of being a complete and fully rounded history. We can 
 trace it from its birth, and put upon record the entire story of the evolution of a 
 nation, a fact which it would be difficult to affirm of any of the older nations 
 of the world. 
 
 If we go back to the origin of our country, it is to find it made up of a 
 singular mixture of the best people of Europe. The word best is used here in 
 
 (21) 
 
22 AUTHOR S INTRODUCTION. 
 
 a special sense. The settlers in this country were not the rich and titled. They 
 came not from that proud nobility which claims to possess bluer blood than the 
 common herd, but from the plain people of Europe, from the workers, not the 
 idlers, and this rare distinction they have kept up until the present day. But 
 of this class of the world s workers, they were the bes> and noblest. They 
 were men who thought for themselves, and refused to be bound in the trammels 
 of a State religion ; men who were ready to dare the perils of the sea and the 
 hardships of a barren shore for the blessings of liberty and free-thought ; men 
 of sturdy thrift, unflinching energy, daring enterprise, the true stuff out of 
 which alone a nation like ours could be built. 
 
 Such was the character of the Pilgrims and the Puritans, the hardy empire- 
 builders of New England, of the Quakers of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, 
 the Catholics of Maryland, the Huguenots of the South, the Moravians and 
 other German Protestants, the sturdy Scotch-Irish, and the others who sought 
 this country as a haven of refuge for free-thought. We cannot say the same 
 for the Hollanders of New Amsterdam, the Swedes of Delaware, and the 
 English of Virginia, so far as their purpose is concerned, yet they too proved 
 hardy and industrious settlers, and the Cavaliers whom the troubles in England 
 drove to Virginia showed their good blood by the prominent part which their 
 descendants played in the winning of our independence and the making of our 
 government. While the various peoples named took part in the settlement of 
 the colonies, the bulk of the settlers were of English birth, and Anglo-Saxon 
 thrift and energy became the foundation stones upon which our nation has been 
 built. Of the others, nearly the whole of them were of Teutonic origin, while 
 the Huguenots, whom oppression drove from France, were of the very bone and 
 sinew of that despot-ridden land. It may fairly be said, then, that the founders 
 of our nation came from the cream of the populations of Europe, born of sturdy 
 Teutonic stock, and comprising thrift, energy, endurance, love of liberty, and 
 freedom of thought to a degree never equaled in the makers of any other nation 
 upon the earth. They were of solid oak in mind and frame, and the edifice 
 they built had for its foundation the natural rights of man, and for its super 
 structure that spirit of liberty which has ever since throbbed warmly in the 
 American heart, 
 
 It was well for the colonies that this underlying unity of aim existed, for 
 aside from this they were strikingly distinct in character and aspirations. 
 Sparsely settled, strung at intervals along the far-extended Atlantic coast, 
 silhouetted against a stern background of wilderness and mountain range, their 
 sole bond of brotherhood was their common aspiration for liberty, while in all 
 other respects they were unlike in aims and purposes. The spirit of political 
 liberty was strongest in the New England colonies, and these held their own 
 
AUTHOR S INTRODUCTION. 23 
 
 against every effort to rob them of their rights with an unflinching boldness 
 which is worthy of the highest praise, and which set a noble example for the 
 remaining colonists. Next to them in bold opposition to tyranny were the 
 people of the Carolinas, who sturdily resisted an effort to make them the 
 enslaved subjects of a land-holding nobility. In Pennsylvania and Maryland 
 political rights were granted by high-minded proprietors, and in these colonies 
 no struggle for self-government was necessary. -Only in Virginia and New 
 York was autocratic rule established, and in both of these it gradually yielded 
 to the steady demand for self-government. 
 
 On the other hand, New England, while politically the freest, was religi 
 ously the most autocratic. The Puritans, who had crossed the ocean in search 
 of freedom of thought, refused to grant a similar freedom to those who came 
 later, and sought to found a system as intolerant as that from which they had 
 fled. A natural revulsion from their oppressive measures gave rise in Rhode 
 Island to the first government on the face of the earth in which absolute religious 
 liberty was established. Among the more southern colonies, a similar freedom, 
 so far as liberty of Christian worship is concerned, was granted by William 
 Penn and Lord Baltimore. But this freedom was maintained only in Rhode 
 Island and Pennsylvania, religious intolerance being the rule, to a greater or 
 less degree, in all the other colonies ; the Puritanism of New England being 
 replaced elsewhere by a Church of England autocracy. 
 
 The diversity in political condition, religion, and character of the settlers 
 tended to keep the colonies separate, while a like diversity of commercial 
 interests created jealousies which built up new barriers between them. The 
 unity that might have been looked for between these feeble and remote com 
 munities, spread like links of a broken chain far along an ocean coast, had these 
 and other diverse conditions to contend with, and they promised to develop into 
 a series of weak and separate nations rather than into a strong and single com 
 monwealth. 
 
 The influences that overcame this tendency to disunion were many and 
 important. We can only glance at them here. They may be divided into two 
 classes, warlike hostility and industrial oppression. The first step towards union 
 was taken in 1643, when four of the New England colonies formed a confedera 
 tion for defense against the Dutch and Indians. "The United Colonies of New 
 England " constituted in its way a federal republic, the prototype of that of the 
 United States. The second step of importance in this connection was taken in 
 1754, when a convention was held at Albany to devise measures of defense 
 against the French. Benjamin Franklin proposed a plan of colonial union, 
 which was accepted by the convention. But the jealousy of the colonies 
 prevented its adoption. They had grown into communities of some strength 
 
24 AUTHOR S INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and with a degree of pride in their separate freedom, and were not ready to 
 yield to a central authority. The British Government also opposed it, not 
 wishing to see the colonies gain the strength which would have come to them 
 from political union. As a result, the plan fell to the ground. 
 
 The next important influence tending towards union was the oppressive 
 policy of Great Britain. The industries and commerce of the colonies had long 
 been seriously restricted by the measures of the mother-country, and after the 
 war with France an attempt was made to tax the colonists, though they were 
 sternly refused representation in Parliament, the tax-laying body. Community 
 in oppression produced unity in feeling; the colonies joined hands, and in 1765 
 a congress of their representatives was held in New York, which appealed to the 
 King for their just political rights. Nine years afterwards, in 1774, a second 
 congress was held, brought together by much more imminent common dangers. In 
 the following year a third congress was convened. This continued in session 
 for years, its two most important acts being the Declaration of Independence 
 from Great Britain and the Confederation of the States, the first form of union 
 which the colonies adopted. This Confederation was in no true sense a Union. 
 The jealousies and fears of the colonies made themselves apparent, and the 
 central government was given so little power that it threatened to fall to pieces 
 of its own weight. It could pass laws, but could not make the people obey 
 them. It could incur debts, but could not raise money by taxation to pay them. 
 The States kept nearly all the power to themselves, and each acted almost as if 
 it were an independent nation, while the Congress of the Confederation Avas left 
 without money and almost without authority. 
 
 This state of affairs soon grew intolerable. "We are," said Washington, 
 "one nation to-day, and thirteen to-morrow." Such a union it was impossible 
 to maintain. It was evident that the compact must give way ; that there must 
 be one strong government or thirteen weak ones. This last alternative fright 
 ened the States. None of them was strong enough to hold its oVn against 
 foreign governments. They must form a strong union or leave themselves at 
 the mercy of ambitious foes. It was this state of affairs that led to the Consti 
 tutional Convention of 1787, by whose wisdom the National Union which has 
 proved so solid a bond was organized. The Constitution made by this body 
 gave rise to the Republic of the United States. A subsequent act, which in 
 1898 added a number of distant island possessions to our Union, and vastly 
 widened its interests and its importance in the world s councils, made of it a 
 "Greater Republic," a mighty dominion whose possessions extended half round 
 the globe. 
 
 While the changes here briefly outlined were taking place, the country was 
 growing with phenomenal rapidity. From all parts of northern and western 
 
AUTHOR S INTRODUCTION. 25 
 
 Europe, and above all from Great Britain, new settlers were crowding to our 
 shores, while the descendants of the original settlers were increasing in numbers. 
 How many people there were here is in doubt, but it is thought that in 1700 
 there were more than 200,000, in 1750 about 1,100,000, and in 1776 about 
 2,500,000. The first census, taken in 1790, just after the Federal Union was 
 formed, gave a population of nearly 4,000,000. 
 
 A people growing at this rate could not be long confined to the narrow 
 ocean border of the early settlements. A rich and fertile country lay back, 
 extending how far no one knew, and soon there was a movement to the West, 
 which carried the people over the mountains and into the broad plains beyond. 
 A war was fought with France for the possession of the Ohio country. Boone 
 and other bold pioneers led hardy settlers into Kentucky and Tennessee, and 
 George Eogers Clark descended the Ohio and drove the British troops from the 
 northwest territory, gaining that vast region for the new Union. 
 
 After the War for Independence the movement westward went on with 
 rapidity. The first settlement in Ohio was made at Marietta in 1788; Cincin 
 nati was founded in 1790; in 1803 St. Louis was a little village of log-cabins; 
 and in 1831 the site of Chicago was occupied by a dozen settlers gathered round 
 Fort Dearborn. But while the cities were thus slow in starting, the country 
 between them was rapidly filling up, the Indians giving way step by step as the 
 vanguard of the great march pressed upon them; here down the Ohio in bullet 
 proof boats, there across the mountains on foot or in wagons. A great national 
 road stretched westward from Cumberland, Maryland, which in time reached 
 the Mississippi, and over whose broad and solid surface a steady stream of 
 emigrant wagons poured into the great West. At the same time steamboats 
 were beginning to run on the Eastern waters, and soon these were carrying the 
 increasing multitude down the Ohio and the Mississippi into the vast Western 
 realm. Later came the railroad to complete this phase of our history, and 
 provide a means of transportation by whose aid millions could travel with ease 
 where a bare handful had made their way with peril and hardship of old. 
 
 Up to 1803 our national domain was bounded on the west by the Missis 
 sippi, but in that year the vast territory of Louisiana was purchased from France 
 and the United States was extended to the summit of the Rocky Mountains, its 
 territory being more than doubled in area. Here was a mighty domain for 
 future settlement, across which two daring travelers, Lewis and Clark, journeyed 
 through tribes of Indians never before heard of, not ending their long route 
 until they had passed down the broad Columbia to the waters of the Pacific. 
 
 From time to time new domains were added to the great republic. In 1819 
 Florida was purchased from Spain. In 1845 Texas was added to the Union. 
 In 1846 the Oregon country was made part of the United States. In 1848, as 
 
26 AUTHOR S INTRODUCTION. 
 
 a result of the Mexican War, an immense tract extending from Texas to the 
 Pacific was acquired, and the land of gold became part of the republic. In 
 1853 another tract was purchased from Mexico, and the domain of the United 
 States, as it existed at the beginning of the Civil War, was completed. It 
 constituted a great section of the North American continent, extending across 
 it from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and north and south from the Great Lakes 
 to the Gulf of Mexico, a fertile, well-watered, and prolific land, capable of 
 becoming the nursery of one of the greatest nations on the earth. Beginning, 
 at the close of the Revolution, with an area of 827,844 square miles, it now 
 embraced 3,026,484 square miles of territory, having increased within a century 
 to nearly four times its original size. 
 
 In 1867 a new step was taken, in the addition to this country of a region 
 of land separated from its immediate domain. This was the territory of Alaska, 
 of more than 577,000 square miles in extent, and whose natural wealth has 
 made it a far more valuable acquisition than was originally dreamed of. In 
 1898 the Greater Republic, as it at present exists, was completed by the acquisition 
 of the island of Porto Rico in the West Indies, and the Hawaiian and Philip 
 pine Island groups in the Pacific Ocean. These, while adding not greatly to 
 our territory, may prove to possess a value in their products fully justifying 
 their acquisition. At present, however, their value is political rather than 
 industrial, as bringing the United States into new and important relations with 
 the other great nations of the earth. 
 
 The growth of population in this country is shown strikingly in the 
 remarkable development of its cities. In 1790 the three largest cities were not 
 larger than many of our minor cities to-day. Philadelphia had forty-two 
 thousand population, New York thirty-three thousand, and Boston eighteen 
 thousand. Charleston and Baltimore were still smaller, and Savannah was 
 quite small. There were only five cities with over ten thousand population. 
 Of inland towns, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with something over six thousand 
 population, was the largest, In 1890, one hundred years afterwards, New York 
 and Philadelphia had over one million each, and Chicago, a city not sixty years 
 old, shared with them this honor. As for cities surpassing those of a century 
 before, they were hundreds in number. A similar great growth has taken place 
 in the States. From the original thirteen, hugging closely the Atlantic coast, 
 we now possess forty-five, crossing the continent from ocean to ocean, and have 
 besides a vast territorial area. 
 
 The thirteen original States, sparsely peopled, poor and struggling for 
 existence, have expanded into a great galaxy of States, rich, powerful, and 
 prosperous, with grand cities, flourishing rural communities, measureless 
 resources, and an enterprise which no difficulty can baffle and no hardship can 
 
AUTHOR S INTRODUCTION. 27 
 
 check. Our territory could support hundreds of millions of population, and 
 still be much less crowded than some of the countries of Europe. Its products 
 include those of every zone ; hundreds of thousands of square miles of its soil 
 are of virgin richness ; its mineral wealth is so great that its precious metals have 
 affected the monetary standards of the world, and its vast mineral and agricultural 
 wealth is as yet only partly developed. Vast as has been the production of gold 
 in California, its annual output is of less value than that of wheat, in 
 wheat, corn, and cotton, indeed, the product of this country is simply stupendous; 
 while, in addition to its gold and silver, it is a mighty storehouse of coal, iron, 
 copper, lead, petroleum, and many other products of nature that are of high 
 value to mankind. 
 
 In its progress towards its present condition, our country has been markedly 
 successful in two great fields of human effort, in war and in peace. A brief 
 preliminary statement of its success in the first of these, and of the causes of its 
 several wars, may be desirable here, as introductory to their more extended 
 consideration in the body of the work. The early colonists had three enemies 
 to contend with: the original inhabitants of the land, the Spanish settlers in the 
 South, and the French in the North and West. Its dealings with the aborigines 
 has been one continuous series of conflicts, the red man being driven back step 
 by step until to-day he holds but a small traction of his once great territory. 
 Yet the Indians are probably as numerous to-day as they were originally, and 
 are certainly better off in their present peaceful and partly civilized condition 
 than they were in their former savage and warlike state. 
 
 The Spaniards were never numerous in this country, and were forced to 
 retire after a few conflicts of no special importance. Such was not the case with 
 the French, who were numerous and aggressive, and with whom the colonists 
 were at war on four successive occasions, the last being that fierce conflict in 
 which it was decided whether the Anglo-Saxon or the French race should be 
 dominant in this country. The famous battle on the Plains of Abraham settled 
 the question, and with the fall of Quebec the power of France in America fell 
 
 never to rise again. 
 
 A direct and almost an immediate consequence of this struggle for dominion 
 
 was the stru<Me for liberty between the colonists and the mother-country. The 
 
 / . . 
 
 oppressive measures of Great Britain led to a war of seven years duration, in 
 which more clearly and decisively than ever before the colonists showed their 
 warlike spirit and political genius, and whose outcome was the independence 
 of this country. At its conclusion the United States stepped into line with the 
 nations of the world, a free community, with a mission to fulfill and a destiny 
 to accomplish a mission and a destiny which are still in process of development, 
 and whose final outcome no man can foresee. 
 
28 AUTHOR S INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The next series of events in the history of our wars arose from the mighty 
 struggle in Europe between France and Great Britain and the piratical activity 
 of the Barbary States. The latter were forced to respect the power of the 
 United States by several naval demonstrations and conflicts ; and a naval war 
 with France, in which our ships were strikingly successful, induced that country 
 to show us greater respect. But the wrongs which we suffered from Great 
 Britain were not to be so easily settled, and led to a war of three years continu 
 ance, in which the honors were fairly divided on land, but in which our sailors 
 surprised the world by their prowess in naval conflict. The proud boast that 
 "Britannia rules the waves" lost its pertinence after our two striking victories 
 on Lake Erie and Lake Champlain, and our remarkable success in a dozen 
 conflicts at sea. Alike in this war and in the Revolution the United States 
 showed that skill and courage in naval warfare which has recently been repeated 
 in the Spanish War. 
 
 The wars of which we have spoken had a warrant for their being. They 
 were largely unavoidable results of existing conditions. This cannot justly be 
 said of the next struggle upon which the United States entered, the Mexican War, 
 since this was a politician s war pure and simple, one which could easily have been 
 avoided, and which was entered into with the avowed purpose of acquiring terri 
 tory. In this it succeeded, the country gaining a great and highly valuable 
 tract, whose wealth in the precious metals is unsurpassed by any equal section 
 of the earth, and which is still richer in agricultural than in mineral wealth. 
 
 The next conflict that arose was the most vital and important of all our 
 wars, with the exception of that by which we gained our independence. The 
 Constitution of 1787 did not succeed in forming a perfect Union between the 
 States. An element of dissension was left, a " rift within the lute," then seem 
 ingly small and unimportant, but destined to grow to dangerous proportions. 
 This was the slavery question, disposed of in the Constitution by a compromise, 
 which, like every compromise with evil, failed in its purpose. The question con 
 tinued to exist. It grew threatening, portentious, and finally overshadowed the 
 whole political domain. Every effort to settle it peacefully only added to the 
 strain ; the union between the States weakened as this mighty hammer of discord 
 struck down their combining links; finally the bonds yielded, the slavery ques 
 tion thrust itself like a great wedge between, and a mighty struggle began to 
 decide whether the Union should stand or fall. With the events of this struggle 
 we are not here concerned. They are told at length in their special place. All 
 that we shall here say is this : While the war was fought for the preservation of 
 the Union, it was clearly perceived that this union could never be stable while 
 the disorganizing element remained, and the war led inevitably to the abolition 
 of slavery, the apple of discord which had been thrown between the States. 
 
AUTHOR S INTRODUCTION. 29 
 
 The greatness of the result was adequate to the greatness of the conflict. With 
 the end of the Civil War, for the first time in their history, an actual and stahle 
 Union was established between the States. 
 
 We have one more war to record, the brief but important struggle of 1898, 
 entered into by the United States under the double impulse of indignation 
 against the barbarous destruction of the Maine and of sympathy for the starving 
 and oppressed people of Cuba. It yielded results undreamed of in its origin. 
 Not only was Cuba wrested from the feeble and inhuman hands of Spain, but 
 new possessions in the oceans of the east and west were added to the United 
 States, and for the first time this country took its predestined place among the 
 nations engaged in shaping the destiny of the world, rose to imperial dignity in 
 the estimation of the rulers of Europe, and fairly won that title of the GREATER 
 REPUBLIC which this work is written to commemorate. 
 
 Such has been the record of this country in war. Its record in peace has 
 been marked by as steady a career of victory, and with results stupendous almost 
 beyond the conception of man, when we consider that the most of them have 
 been achieved within little more than a century. During the colonial period 
 the energies of the American people were confined largely to agriculture, Great 
 Britain sternly prohibiting any progress in manufacture and any important 
 development of commerce. It need hardly be said that the restless and active 
 spirit of the colonists chafed under these restrictions, and that the attempt to 
 clip the expanding wings of the American eagle had as much to do with bring 
 ing on the war of the Revolution as had Great Britain s futile efforts at taxation. 
 The genius of a great people cannot thus be cribbed and confined, and American 
 enterprise was bound to find a way or carve itself a way through the barriers 
 raised by British avarice and tyranny. 
 
 It was after the Revolution that the progress of this country first fairly 
 began. The fetters which bound its hands thrown off, it entered upon a career 
 of prosperity which broadened with the years, and extended until not only the 
 whole continent but the whole world felt its influence and was embraced by its 
 results. Manufacture, no longer held in check, sprang up and spread with 
 marvelous rapidity. Commerce, now gaining access to all seas and all lands, 
 expanded with equal speed. Enterprise everywhere made itself manifest, and 
 invention began its long and wonderful career. 
 
 In fact, freedom was barely won before our inventors were actively at work. 
 Before the Constitution was formed John Fitch was experimenting with his 
 steamboat on the Delaware, and Oliver Evans was seeking to move wagons by 
 steam in the streets of Philadelphia. Not many years elapsed before both were 
 successful, and Eli Whitney with his cotton-gin had set free the leading industry 
 of the South and enabled it to begin that remarkable career which proved so 
 
30 AUTHOR S INTRODUCTION. 
 
 momentous in American history, since to it we owe the Civil War with all its 
 great results. 
 
 With the opening of the nineteenth century the development of the indus 
 tries and of the inventive faculty of the Americans went on with enhanced 
 rapidity. The century was but a few years old when Fulton, with his improved 
 steamboat, solved the question of inland water transportation. By the end of the 
 first quarter of the century this was solved in another way by the completion of 
 the Erie Canal, the longest and hitherto the most valuable of artificial water-ways. 
 The railroad locomotive, though invented in England, was prefigured when 
 Oliver Evans steam road-wagon ran sturdily through the streets of Philadelphia. 
 To the same inventor we owe another triumph of American genius, the grain 
 elevator, which the development of agriculture has rendered of incomparable 
 value. The railroad, though not native here, has had here its greatest develop 
 ment, and with its more than one hundred and eighty thousand miles of length 
 has no rival in any country upon the earth. To it may be added the Morse 
 system of telegraphy, the telephone and phonograph, the electric light and 
 electric motor, and all that wonderful series of inventions in electrical science 
 which has been due to American genius. 
 
 We cannot begin to name the multitude of inventions in the mechanical 
 industries which have raised manufacture from an art to a science and filled 
 the world with the multitude of its products. It will suffice to name among 
 them the steam hammer, the sewing machine, the cylinder printing-press, the 
 type-setting machine, the rubber vulcanizer, and the innumerable improvements 
 in steam engines and labor-saving apparatus of all kinds. These manufacturing 
 expedients have been equaled in number and importance by those applied to 
 agriculture, including machines for plowing, reaping, sowing the seed, threshing 
 the grain, cutting the grass, and a hundred other valuable processes, which have 
 fairly revolutionized the art of tilling the earth, and enabled our farmers to feed 
 not only our own population but to send millions of bushels of grain annually 
 abroad. 
 
 In truth, we have entered here upon an interminable field, so full of 
 triumphs of invention and ingenuity, and so stupendous in its results, as to 
 form one of the chief marvels of this wonderful century, and to place our 
 nation, in the field of human industry and mechanical achievement, foremost 
 among the nations of the world. Its triumphs have not been confined to 
 manufacture and agriculture; it has been as active in commerce, and now stands 
 first in the bulk of its exports and imports. In every other direction of industry 
 it has been as active, as in fisheries, in forestry, in great works of engineering, in 
 vast mining operations ; and from the seas, the earth, the mountain sides, our 
 laborers are wresting annually from nature a stupendous return in wealth. 
 
AUTHOR S INTRODUCTION. 31 
 
 Our progress in the industries has been aided and inspired by an equal 
 progress in educational facilities, and the intellectual development of our people 
 has kept pace with their material advance. The United States spends more 
 money for the education of its youth than any other country in the world, and 
 among her institutions the school-house and the college stand most prominent 
 While the lower education has been abundantly attended to, the higher educa 
 tion has been by no means neglected, and amply endowed colleges and univer 
 sities are found in every State and in almost every city of the land. In addition 
 to the school-house, libraries are multiplying with rapidity, art galleries and 
 museums of science are rising everywhere, temples to music and the drama are 
 found in all our cities, the press is turning out books and newspapers with 
 almost abnormal energy, and in everything calculated to enhance the intelligence 
 of the people the United States has no superior, if any equal, among the nations 
 of the earth. 
 
 It may seem unnecessary to tell the people of the United States the story 
 of their growth. The greatness to which this nation has attained is too evident 
 to need to be put in words. It has, in fact, been made evident in two great and 
 a multitude of smaller exhibitions in which the marvels of American progress 
 have been shown, either by themselves or in contrast with those of foreign lands. 
 The first of these, the Centennial Exposition of 1876, had a double effect: it 
 opened our eyes at once to our triumphs and our deficiencies, to the particulars 
 in which we excelled and those in which we were inferior to foreign peoples. 
 In the next great exhibition, that at Chicago in 1893, we had the satisfaction to 
 perceive, not only that we had made great progress in our points of superiority, 
 but had worked nobly and heartily to overcome our defects, and were able to 
 show ourselves the equal of Europe in almost every field of human thought and 
 skill. In architecture a vision of beauty was shown such as the world had never 
 before seen, and in the general domain of art the United States no longer had 
 need to be ashamed of what it had to show. 
 
 And now, having briefly summed up the steps of progress of the United 
 States, I may close with some consideration of the problem which we confront 
 in our new position as the Greater Republic, the lord of islands spread widely 
 over the seas. Down to the year 1898 this country held a position of isolation, 
 so far as its political interests were concerned. Although the sails of its 
 merchant ships whitened every sea and its commerce extended to all lands, its 
 boundaries were confined to the North American continent, its political activities 
 largely to American interests. Jealous of any intrusion by foreign nations upon 
 this hemisphere, it warned them off, while still in its feeble youth, by the stern 
 words of the Monroe doctrine, and has since shown France and England, by 
 decisive measures, that this doctrine is more than an empty form of words. 
 
32 AUTHOR S INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Such was our position at the beginning of 1898. At the opening of 181)9 
 we had entered into new relations with the world. The conclusion of the war 
 with Spain had left in our hands the island of Porto Rico in the West Indies 
 and the great group of the Philippines in the waters of Asia, while the Hawaiian 
 Islands had became ours by peaceful annexation. What shall we do with 
 them ? is the question that follows. We have taken hold of them in a way in 
 which it is impossible, without defeat and disgrace, to let go. Whatever the 
 Ethics of the question, the Philippine problem has assumed a shape which admits 
 Df but one solution. These islands will inevitably become ours, to hold, to 
 develop, to control, and to give their people an opportunity to attain civilization, 
 prosperity, and political manumission which they have never yet possessed. 
 That they will be a material benefit to us is doubtful. That they will give us a 
 new position among the nations of the earth is beyond doubt. We have entered 
 formally into that Eastern question which in the years to come promises to be 
 the leading question before the world, and which can no longer be settled by 
 the nations of Europe as an affair of their own, with which the United States 
 has no concern. 
 
 This new position taken by the United States promises to be succeeded by 
 new alliances, a grand union of the Anglo-Saxon peoples, which will give them 
 a dominant position among the powers of the world. In truth, it may not cease 
 with the union of the Anglo-Saxons. The ambition and vast designs of Russia 
 are forcing the other nations to combine for protection, and a close alliance of 
 all the Teutonic peoples is possible, combined to resist the Slavic outgrowth, 
 and eventually perhaps to place the destinies of the world in the hands of these 
 two great races, the Teutonic and the Slavic. 
 
 All this may be looking overfar into the future. All that can be said now 
 is that our new possessions have placed upon us new duties and new responsi 
 bilities, and may effectually break that policy of political isolation which we 
 have so long maintained, and throw us into the caldron of world politics to take 
 our part in shaping the future of the uncivilized races. For this we are surely 
 strong enough, enterprising enough, and moral enough ; and whatever our 
 record, it is not likely to be one of defeat, of injustice and oppression, or of for- 
 getfulness of the duty of nations and the rights of man. 
 
 CHARLES MORRIS. 
 JULY, 1899, 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION 
 
 The Visits of the Northmen to the New World The Indians and Mound Builders Christopher Co 
 lumbusHis Discovery of America Amerigo Vespucci John Cabot Spanish Explorers Balboa 
 His Discovery of the Pacific Magellan Ponce de Leon De Narvaez De Soto Menendez 
 French Explorers Verrazzani Carder Ribault Laudonniere Champlain La Salle English 
 Explorers Sir Hugh Willoughby Martin Frobisher Sir Humphrey Gilbert Sir Walter Raleigh 
 The Lost Colony Dutch Explorer Henry Hudson. 
 
 THE NORTHMEN. 
 
 IT has been established beyond question that the 
 first white visitors to the New World were Northmen, as 
 the inhabitants of Norway and Sweden were called. They 
 were bold and hardy sailors, who ventured further out 
 upon the unknown sea than any other people. It was 
 about the year .1000 that Biorn, who was driven far 
 from his course by a tempest, sighted the northern part 
 of the continent. Other adventurers followed him and 
 AMERIGO VESPUCCI. p i ante d a few settlements, which, however, lasted but a 
 few years. Snorri, son of one of these settlers, was the first child born of 
 European parents on this side of the Atlantic. Soon all traces of these early 
 discoverers vanished, and the New World lay slumbering in loneliness for 
 nearly five hundred years. 
 
 THE MOUND BUILDERS. 
 
 Nevertheless, the country was peopled with savages, who lived by hunting 
 and fishing and were scattered over the vast area from the Pacific to the Atlan 
 tic and from the Arctic zone to the southernmost point of South America. No 
 one knows where these people came from ; but it is probable that at a remote 
 period they crossed Bering Strait, from Asia, which was the birthplace of man, 
 and gradually spread over the continents to the south. There are found scat 
 tered over many parts of our country immense mounds of earth, which were the 
 work of the Mound Builders. These people were long believed to have been a 
 race that preceded the Indians, and were distinct from them, but the best author 
 ities now agree that they were the Indians themselves, who constructed these 
 enormous burial-plaoes -and were engaged in the work as late as the fifteenth 
 
 3 (33) 
 
*4 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION. 
 
 century It is strange that they attained a fair degree of civilization. They 
 builded cities, wove cotton, labored in the fields, worked gold, silver, and copper, 
 and formed regular governments, only to give Avay in time to the barbarism of 
 their descendants, who, though a contrary impression prevails, are inore numerous 
 to-day than at the time of the discovery of America, 
 
 DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY COLUMBUS. 
 
 The real discoverer of America was Christopher Columbus, an Italian, born 
 
 MEETING BETWEEN THE NORTHMEN AND NATIVES. 
 
 in Genoa, about 1435. He was trained to the sea from early boyhood, and 
 formed the belief, which nothing could shake, that the earth was round, and that 
 by sailing westward a navigator would reach the coast of eastern Asia. The 
 mistake of Columbus was in supposing the earth much smaller than it is, and of 
 never suspecting that a continent lay between his home and Asia. 
 
 He was too poor to fit out an expedition himself, and the kings and rulers 
 to whom he applied for help laughed him to scorn. He persevered for years, 
 and finally King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain were won over to his 
 
AMERIGO VESPUCCI. 35 
 
 views. They and some wealthy friends of Columbus furnished the needed funds, 
 and on August 3, 1492, he sailed from Palos, Spain, in command of three small 
 vessels, the Santa Maria, the Pinta, and the Nina. 
 
 As the voyage progressed, the sailors became terrified and several times wert 
 on the point of mutiny ; but Columbus by threats and promises held them to 
 their work, and on Friday, October 12, 1492, land was sighted. He was rowed 
 ashore and took possession of the new country in the name of Ferdinand and 
 Isabella. While it is not known with certainty where he landed, it was prob 
 ably Watling Island, one of the Bahamas. He named it San Salvador, and, be 
 lieving it to be a part of India, called the natives Indians, by which name they 
 will always be known. He afterward visited Cuba and Haiti, and returned to 
 Palos on the 15th of March, 1493. 
 
 Columbus was received with the highest honors, aud, as the news of his great 
 discovery spread, it caused a profound sensation throughout Europe. He made 
 three other voyages, but did not add greatly to his discoveries. He died, neglected 
 and in poverty, May 20, 1506, without suspecting the grandeur of his work, 
 which marked an era in the history of the world. 
 
 OTHER DISCOVERERS. 
 
 Another famous Italian navigator and friend of Co 
 lumbus was Amerigo Vespucci, who, fired by the success 
 of the great navigator, made several voyages westward. He 
 claimed to have seen South America in May, 1497, which, 
 if true, made him the first man to look upon the American 
 continent. Late investigations tend to show that Vespucci SEBASTIAN CAB OT. 
 was correct in his claim. At any rate, his was the honor of having the country 
 named for him. 
 
 John Cabot, also an Italian, but sailing under the flag of England, discov 
 ered the continent of North America, in the spring of 1497. A year later, 
 Sebastian, son of John, explored the coast from Nova Scotia as far south as 
 Cape Hatteras. It was the work of the elder Cabot that gave England a valid 
 claiiri to the northern continent. 
 
 From what has been stated, it will be seen that Spain, now decrepit and de 
 cayed, was one of the most powerful of all nations four hundred years ago. 
 Other leading powers were England, France, and Holland, and all of them soon 
 began a scramble for new lands on the other side of the Atlantic. Spain, hav 
 ing been the first, had a great advantage, and she was wise enough to use all the 
 means at her command. We will first trace the explorations made by that 
 nation. 
 
 In 1513, Vasco Nunez de Balboa, a lawless rogue, hid himself in a cask OD 
 
36 
 
 DISCOVERY A XI) EXPLORATION. 
 
 board of a vessel in order to escape his creditors, and was not discovered by the 
 angry captain until so far from land that he could not be taken back again. 
 As it turned out, this was a fortunate thing for the captain and crew, for Balboa 
 was a good sailor, and when the ship was wrecked on the coast of Darien he led 
 the men through many dangers to an Indian village, where they were saved from 
 starvation. Balboa had been in the country before and acquired a knowledge 
 of it, which now proved helpful. 
 
 The story of Spain in America is one long, frightful record of massacre, 
 cruelty, greed, and rapine. Ferocious by nature, her explorers had not sufficient 
 sense to see that it was to their interest to treat the Indians justly. These people, 
 although armed only with bows and arrows, atwhichthe Spaniards laughed, still 
 outnumbered them a thousandfold and could crush them by the simple force of 
 
 numbers. Besides, they were always provided with 
 food, which they were eager to give to their pale-faced 
 brothers, who were often unable to obtain it, but 
 whose vicious nature would not permit them to be 
 manly and just. * 
 
 Moreover, the Spaniards were crazy after gold, 
 which they believed existed in many places in pro 
 digious quantities. The sight of the yellow orna 
 ments worn by the natives fired their cupidity, and 
 they inquired eagerly in the sign language where the 
 precious metal could be found. One of the Indians 
 replied that six days travel westward would bring 
 them to the shores of a great sea, where gold was as 
 plentiful as the pebbles on the beach. 
 
 CARAVELS OF CHRISTO 
 PHER COLUMBUS. 
 
 (After an engraving published in 1584.) 
 
 DISCOVERY OF THE PACIFIC. 
 
 This information, as may be believed, set the 
 Spaniards wild, and, engaging a number of the natives as guides, they plunged 
 into the hot, steaming forests, and pressed on until one day they came to the base 
 of a mountain, from the top of which the guides said the great sea could be seen. 
 Balboa made his men stay where they were while he climbed to the crest of the 
 mountain alone. This was on the 26th of September, 1513, and, as Balboa 
 looked off to the westward, his eyes rested upon the Pacific Ocean, the mightiest 
 body of water on the globe. 
 
 He had made a grand discovery, and one which led to the conquest of 
 Mexico and Peru and the colonization of the western coast of our country. 
 Spain sent her armed expeditions thither, and in time they overran the sections 
 named, their footprints marked everywhere by fire and blood. Many remains 
 
FIRST CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF THE GLOBE. 
 
 37 
 
 exist to-day in the Southwest of the early visits of those rapacious adventurers, 
 during the first half of the sixteenth century. In JSanta Fe, New Mexico, is a 
 building made of adobe or sun-dried clay which was built in 1582. 
 
 THE FIRST CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF THE GLOBE. 
 
 In 1519 Ferdinand Magellan coasted South America to the strait named 
 in his honor, and, passing through it, entered upon the vast body of water dis 
 covered six years before by Balboa. Magellan gave it the name of Pacific 
 
 COLUMBUS AND THE EGG-. 
 
 At a dinner the Spanish courtiers, jealous of Columbus, said anyone could discover the Indies. When, at Columbus request, 
 they failed to make an egg stand on its end, he showed them how to do it by flattening the end of it. "Anyone could do that," 
 remarked a courtier. " So anyone can discover the Indies, after I have shown the way." 
 
 Ocean, and, sailing westward, discovered the Philippine Islands, which have 
 lately acquired such importance in our history. There Magellan died. Several 
 of his ships were lost, but one of them succeeded in reaching Spain after an 
 absence of two years. This was the first circumnavigation of the globe and 
 demonstrated the grandeur of the discovery made by Columbus. 
 
 One of the companions of Columbus on his second voyage was Ponce de 
 Leon. He was well on in years, and became deeply interested in a story told 
 
38 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION. 
 
 by the Indians of a wonderful land to the north of Cuba, where there was a 
 marvelous spring, which would bring back youth to any who drank from its 
 waters. De Leon set out to hunt for the land and discovered it in Florida on 
 Easter {Sunday, in 1513. He drank to repletion again and again from the springs 
 he found, but without restoring his youth, and he was killed by Indians in 1521, 
 while trying to form a settlement on the coast. 
 
 De Narvaez visited Florida, in 1528, in charge of a large expedition, with 
 the intention of inarching into the interior, but the Spaniards were so brutal to 
 the Indians that they fought them step by step, until only four wretched beings 
 were left alive. They lived a long time with the natives, but gradually worked 
 their way across the continent to California, where they found some of their 
 countrymen, who took care of them. 
 
 DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI. 
 
 One of the best-equipped expeditions ever sent out was that of Hernando de 
 Soto, which landed at Tampa Bay in May, 1539. Although the intention was 
 to penetrate far into the interior, the Spaniards had no sooner set foot on land 
 than they began their outrages against the Indians, who, as in the case of De 
 Narvaez, turned upon them and slew large numbers. The explorers, however, 
 pushed on and passed over a large section of country, though the precise course 
 taken is not known. In the summer of 1541 they crossed the present State of 
 Mississippi and thus discovered the Father of Waters. Three years were spent 
 in wandering through the South, during which one-third of the number were 
 killed or died and all the property destroyed. Losing heart at last, De Soto 
 turned about, in May, 1542, and started for the sea with the intention of re 
 turning home. He was worn and weakened from fever, and he expired on the 
 21st of the month. Fearful that the news of his death would incite the Indians 
 to attack them, his survivors wrapped the body in blankets, weighted it with 
 stones, and at midnight rowed stealthily out into the river and let it sink from 
 sight There was something fitting in the fact that the Mississippi should prove 
 the last resting-place of its discoverer. 
 
 Pedro Menendez was one of the most execrable miscreants that ever lived. 
 He arrived off the coast of Florida with a large expedition and at the mouth 
 of the St. John s saw a number of ships flying the flag of France. He furiously 
 attacked them and drove them to sea. Then he returned to a fine harbor which 
 he had discovered and began the town of St. Augustine. This was in 1565 t 
 and St. Augustine is, therefore, the oldest settlement within the present limits 
 of the United States, excluding those founded in some of our colonial pos 
 sessions. 
 
 Let us now turn attpntion to the French explorations. France in those 
 
SEARCH FOR THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH BY PONCE DE LEON 39 
 
40 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION. 
 
 days was a spirited rival of Spain, and, 111 1524, she sent out a fleet of four 
 vessels under the command of Verrazzani, who, strange as it may seem, was also 
 an Italian. Two months later, with only a single ship remaining, he sighted 
 the mainland of America, it is believed near North Carolina, from which point 
 he coasted northward along New England. He gave the name of New France 
 to all the countries he visited, but his account of his explorations is so vague 
 that it is uncertain what lands he saw. Verrazzani, however, seems to have been 
 the first navigator who formed a correct idea of the size of the globe. 
 
 In 1534 Jacques Carrier, with two ships, entered the mouth of the St. 
 Lawrence. He was so impressed by the desolation of the shores of Newfound 
 land that he declared his belief that it was the land to which God had banished 
 Cain. Nevertheless, he took possession of the country in the name of France 
 and then returned home. 
 
 Carrier visited the country the following year with a larger expedition and 
 sailed up the St. Lawrence to the sites of Quebec and Montreal. He was not 
 successful in his attempts to found colonies, but his discovery gave France a title 
 to the immense region which she held with a firm grasp for more than a hun 
 dred years. 
 
 Failing to establish colonies in the North, France now directed her efforts 
 to the south. The Huguenots suffered so much persecution in the Old World 
 that they sought a home in the New. Captain John Ribault, sailing from Havre 
 with two ships, sighted Florida on the last day of April, 1562. The Indians 
 were friendly and the explorers were charmed with the country. Ribault took 
 possession of it in the name of France and gave French names to various places. 
 Finally he dropped anchor in the harbor of Port Royal and began founding a 
 settlement. 
 
 All were in good spirits and wished to remain, but Ribault sailed for France, 
 leaving thirty men behind. After a time they quarreled and rigged up a 
 worthless boat with which they set sail for home. All would have perished, 
 had they not been picked up by an English vessel, which humanely landed the 
 feeblest on the coast of France, while the strong men were taken to England as 
 prisoners of war. 
 
 ^ It was the intention of Ribault to return to America, but civil war was 
 raging in France, and for a time he was prevented. In April, 1564, three more 
 ships set sail to repeat the attempt at colonization. They were under the com 
 mand of Captain Laudonniere, who had been a member of the former expe- 
 He began a settlement at what is now known as St. John s Bluff. The 
 friendly Indians helped and all promised well, but unfortunately the colonists 
 became dissatisfied and rebelled against the strict rule of Laudonniere. Some 
 of the men stole two small vessels and set sail for the West Indies on a piratical 
 
THE FRENCH EXPLORERS. 
 
 41 
 
 expedition. Laudonniere hurriedly prepared two larger vessels to pursue them. 
 When they were ready, the malcon tents stole them and followed their comrades. 
 Three of the buccaneers were captured by the Spanish, while the pilot of the 
 fourth, who had been pressed into service, steered the vessel back to the colony 
 before the rogues suspected what he was ^fM>^ 
 
 doing. Laudonniere made them pris 
 oners and hanged the ringleaders. 
 
 At the time when utter ruin im 
 pended, Ribault arrived with seven ships 
 
 
 ;V~ 
 -^ s 
 
 AN INDIAN COUNCIL OF WAR. 
 
 pps , and plenty of supplies. It 
 $jf was at this juncture, when 
 everything promised well, 
 that Menendez, the Spanish 
 miscreant, as already stated, appeared with his powerful fleet and attacked the 
 French ships. Three were up the river, and the four, being no match for the 
 Spaniards, escaped by putting to sea. Menendez landed men and supplies further 
 
42 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION. 
 
 south, learning which Ribault prepared to attack them. Before he could do so. a 
 violent tempest scattered his ships. By a laborious march through swamps and 
 thickets, amid a driving storm, Menendez descended like a cyclone upon the unpro 
 tected French and massacred them all, including the women and children. Another 
 force of French, under solemn promise of protection, surrendered, but they, too, 
 were put to death. They were afterwards avenged by an expedition from France. 
 
 Samuel de (Jhainplain proved himself one of the greatest of French 
 explorers. He left the banks of the St. Lawrence at the beginning of the 
 seventeenth century, and discovered the lake which bears his name. His 
 numerous excellent maps added much to the knowledge of the country. Join 
 ing De Monte, another explorer, he founded the colony of Pon Royal in Nova 
 Scotia in 1605. This settlement, afterward named Annapolis, was the first 
 permanent French colony planted in America. Quebec was founded by Cham- 
 plain in 1008. 
 
 The greatest French explorer, however, was Sieur de la Salle, who was 
 hardly twenty-three years old when he first visited Canada in 1666. Leading 
 an expedition westward, he fell ill while in the country of the Seneca Indians 
 and was forced to part with his companions near the head of Lake Ontario. 
 When he regained his strength he pressed on to the Ohio River, down which 
 he descended to the falls opposite the present city of Louisville., Returning to 
 France, he was made a nobleman and appointed governor of the country around 
 Fort Frontenac, which he had planted on the shore of Lake Ontario. He 
 demolished the fort and erected a much stronger one, built four small vessels, 
 and established a thriving trade with the Indians. 
 
 In August, 1679, La Salle launched a vessel at the port of Niagara, with 
 which he sailed the length of Lake Erie, across Lakes St. Clair, Huron, and 
 Michigan to Green Bay. He then sent back his vessel for supplies and crossed 
 the lake in canoes to the mouth of the St. Joseph, where he built a fort. He 
 visited the Indian tribes in the neighborhood and made treaties with the 
 chiefs. 
 
 On the present site of Peoria, he erected a fort in 1680. Then, sending Father 
 Hennepin to explore the country to the northward, La Salle made the entire 
 journey of several hundred miles, alone and on foot, to Fort Frontenac, where 
 he learned that the vessel he had sent back for supplies was lost. 
 
 With a new party he made his way to the fort planted on the Illinois 
 River, but found it had been broken up and all the white men were gone. 
 Thence La Salle went down the Mississippi to its mouth, where he set up a 
 column with the French arms and proclaimed the country the possession of the 
 king of France. He was welcomed back to his native land, and when he pro 
 posed to his ruler to conquer the fine mining country in the Southwest, the offer 
 
ENGLISH EXPLORERS. 43 
 
 was promptly accepted and he was made commandant. He set out with four 
 ships and about 300 persons. 
 
 But the good fortune that had marked the career of La Salle up to this 
 point now set the other way, and disaster and ruin overtook him. His men 
 were mostly adventurers and vagabonds, and the officer in command of the ships 
 was an enemy of the explorer. The two quarreled and the vessels had gone 
 some distance beyond the mouth of the Mississippi before La Salle discovered 
 the blunder. He appealed to the captain to return, but he refused and anchored 
 off Matagorda Bay. Then the captain decided that it was necessary to go home 
 for supplies, and sailing away he left La Salle with only one small vessel which 
 had been presented to him by the king. 
 
 The undaunted explorer erected a fort and began cultivating the soil. The 
 Indians, who had not forgotten the cruelty of the Spaniards, were hostile and 
 continually annoyed the settlers, several of 
 whom were killed. Disease carried away 
 others until only forty were left. Selecting 
 a few, La Salle started for the Illinois 
 country, but had not gone far when he was 
 treacherously shot by one of his men. The 
 Spaniards who had entered the country 
 to drive out the French made prisoners of 
 those that remained. 
 
 THE ENGLISH EXPLORERS. 
 
 Next in order is an account of the 
 
 English explorations. Going back tO May, (From the original drawing made by John White in 1585. 
 
 1553, we find that Sir Hugh Willoughby 
 
 sailed from London in that month with three ships. At that time, and for many 
 years afterward, the belief was general that by sailing to the northwest a shorter 
 route to India could be found, and such was the errand that led the English 
 navigator upon his eventful voyage. 
 
 For two years not the slightest news was heard of Sir Hugh Willoughby. 
 Then some Eussian fishermen, who were in one of the harbors of Lapland, 
 observed two ships drifting helplessly in the ice. They rowed out to the wrecks, 
 and climbing aboard of one entered the cabin where they came upon an impres 
 sive sight. Seated at a table was Sir Hugh Willoughby, with his journal open 
 and his pen in hand, as if he had just ceased writing. He had been frozen to 
 death months before. Here and there about him were stretched the bodies of 
 his crews, all of whom had succumbed to the awful temperature of the far North. 
 
 The third ship was nowhere in sight, and it was believed that she had been 
 
44 
 
 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION. 
 
 crushed in the ice and sunk, but news eventually arrived that she had succeeded 
 in reaching Archangel, whence the crew made their way overland to Moscow. 
 A result of this involuntary journey was that it opened a new channel for 
 profitable trade. 
 
 Still the ignis fatuus of a shorter route to India tantalized the early navi 
 gators. The belief was general that the coveted route lay north of our conti 
 nent. In 1576 Martin Frobisher started on the vain hunt with three small 
 vessels. He bumped helplessly about in the ice, but repeated the effort twice, 
 and on one of his voyages entered the strait that bears his name. The region 
 ^ visited by him is valueless to the 
 
 r world, and his explorations, there 
 
 fore, were of no practical benefit to 
 anyone. 
 
 Sir Humphrey Gilbert, in 
 June, 1583, sailed for America 
 with an important expedition 
 which gave every promise of suc 
 cess. In his case, however, dis 
 aster overtook him earlier than 
 others. He was hardly out of 
 sight of land when his most impor 
 tant vessel deserted and went back 
 to port. The men were a sorry 
 lot, and at Newfoundland he sent 
 another ship home with the sick 
 and the mutineers. Of the three 
 vessels remaining, the largest was 
 
 INDIAN VILLAGE ENCLOSED WITH PALISADES. . r*i> 
 
 (From the original drawing in the British Museum, made by John Wreckedaild all DUt fifteen drOWUCd. 
 
 Sir Humphrey was on the smallest 
 
 boat on his way home, when one dark night it foundered, carrying down all 
 on board. 
 
 The famous Sir Walter Raleigh, a half-brother of Gilbert, and a great 
 favorite at the court of Queen Elizabeth, was deeply interested in the plans of 
 his relative, and in April, 1584, sent out two well-equipped vessels for the 
 purpose of colonization. They brought back a glowing report and Raleigh 
 was knighted by the pleased queen, who gave him the privilege of naming 
 the new country. He called it Virginia, in honor of the virgin Queen Eliza 
 beth. 
 
 A large expedition sailed for the new country in the spring of 1585 and a 
 fort was built on Roanoke Island. But the Englishmen were as greedy for gold 
 is the Spaniards, and, instead of cultivating the land, they spent their time grop- 
 
THE LOST COLONY. 45 
 
 ing for the precious metal. This was suicidal, because the Indians were violently 
 hostile, and would not bring forward any food for the invaders. All must have 
 perished miserably but for the arrival of Sir Francis Drake, who carried the 
 survivors back to England. 
 
 It is worth recording that this stay in America resulted in the Englishmen 
 learning the use of tobacco, which they introduced into their own country. Sir 
 Walter Raleigh became a great smoker, and the incident is familiar of his ser 
 vant, who, seeing his master smoking a pipe, was terrified at the belief that he 
 was on fire and dashed a mug of ale over him to put out the flames. 
 
 Much more useful knowledge was that gained of maize or Indian corn, the 
 potato, and sassafras. They attracted favorable attention in England, and were 
 gradually introduced to other countries in Europe, where the amount raised is 
 very large. 
 
 THE LOST COLONY. 
 
 A strange and romantic interest attaches to the colony which Sir Walter 
 Raleigh sent out in 1587. It numbered 300 men and 
 women and was in charge of John White. While resting 
 at Roanoke, the daughter of Governor White, the wife of 
 Ananias Dare, had a daughter born to her. She was 
 given the name of " Virginia," and was the first child of 
 English parentage born within the present limits of the 
 United States. 
 
 These settlers were as quarrelsome as many of their 
 predecessors and got on ill together. Governor White 
 sailed for England for more immigrants and supplies, but 
 
 , /. i , i , 11 SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 
 
 whenhereached that country he found the internal troubles 
 
 so serious that he was kept away from America for three years. When finally 
 he returned to Virginia, he was unable to find a member of the colony. On one 
 of the trees was the word " CROATAN " cut in the bark, which seemed to 
 indicate that the settlers had removed to a settlement of that name ; but, though 
 long and continuous search was made and many of the articles belonging to 
 the settlers were recognized, not a person could be discovered. Sir Walter 
 Raleigh sent several expeditions with orders to use every effort to clear up the 
 mystery, but it was never solved. The story of the " Lost Colony" has led to 
 a great deal of investigation and surmise. Two theories have supporters. The 
 most probable is that all the settlers were massacred by Indians. Another is that 
 they were adopted by the red men and intermarried among them. In support 
 of this supposition is the fact that a long time afterward many members of the 
 adjoining tribes showed unmistakable signs of mixed blood. There were so- 
 called Indians with blonde hair, bine eyes, and light complexion characteristics 
 never seen among those belonging to the genuine American race. 
 
4(5 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION. 
 
 Holland s explorations in America were less important than those of any 
 of her rivals. The thrifty Dutchmen were more anxious to secure trade than to 
 find new countries, and seemed content to allow others to spend wealth and pre 
 cious lives in penetrating to the interior of the New World and in planting set 
 tlements, which almost invariably succumbed to disaster. 
 
 Early in the seventeenth century a company of English merchants sent out 
 a skillful navigator named Henry Hudson to hunt for the elusive northwest pas 
 sage. He took with him only eleven men, one of whom was his son. He made 
 a brave effort to succeed, ploughing his way through the frozen regions until he 
 passed the 80th degree of latitude, which was the furthest point then attained by 
 man. But, within less than ten degrees of the pole, he was forced by the ice to 
 turn back. 
 
 THE DISCOVERY OF THE HUDSON RIVER. 
 
 Hudson s reputation as a skillful navigator led the wealthy corporation 
 known as the Dutch East India Company to seek his services. He was placed 
 in command of a small vessel called the Half Moon and ordered to sail to the 
 northeast instead of the northwest. He did as directed, but his experience was 
 similar to his previous one, and, being compelled to withdraw, he headed west 
 ward. Sighting Cape Cod, he named it New Holland, unaware that it had al 
 ready been named by Champlain. He continued southward to Chesapeake Bay, 
 where he learned that the English had planted a settlement. Turning north 
 ward, he entered Delaware Bay, but was displeased with the shallow water and 
 sailed again northward. On September 3, 1609, he dropped anchor opposite 
 Sandy Hook. 
 
 Hudson now began ascending the magnificent river which bears his name. 
 At the end of ten days he had reached a point opposite the present site of Al 
 bany. The Indians were friendly and curious. Many of them put out in their 
 canoes and were made welcome on board the little Dutch vessel, which was a 
 source of constant wonderment to them, for they had never seen anything of the 
 kind before. 
 
 Descending the stream, Hudson made his way to Dartmouth, England, from 
 which point he sent an account of his discovery to Holland. That country lost 
 no time in claiming sovereignty over the new territory, the claim being so valid 
 that no other nation could legitimately dispute it. 
 
 Hudson s achievement added to his fame, and he was once more sent in search 
 of the northwest passage. He entered the bay and strait which bear his name, 
 and passed a winter in that terrible region. In the following spring his crew 
 mutinied, and, placing the navigator, his son, and several members in an open 
 boat, set them adrift, and none of them was ever heard of again. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 SKTTLRMKNT OK T^HK THIRTKKN ORIGINAL 
 
 STATES. 
 
 Virginia, Founding of Jamestown Captain John Smith Introduction of African Slavery Indian 
 Wars Bacon s Rebellion Forms of Government Prosperity Education New England, Ply 
 mouth Massachusetts Bay Colony Union of the Colonies Religious Persecution King Philip s 
 War The Witchcraft Delusion New Hampshire, The Connecticut Colony, The New Haven 
 Colony, Union of the Colonies Indian Wars The Charter Oak Rhode Island, Different Forms 
 of Government NeivYork, The Dutch and English Settlers New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsyl 
 vania, Maryland, Mason and Dixon s Line The Carolinas Georgia. 
 
 AT the opening of the seventeenth century there was not a single English 
 settlement on this side of the Atlantic. It has been shown that the French 
 succeeded in planting colonies in Canada, that of De Monts, in 1605, in Acaclia 
 (the French name of Nova Scotia), proving successful, while Champlain founded 
 Quebec three years later. St. Augustine, Florida, was founded by the Spanish 
 in 1565, but it has played an insignificant part in our history. England was 
 the mother of the colonies, from which the original thirteen States sprang, and 
 we are vastly more indebted to her than to all other nations combined. 
 
 THE FIRST ENGLISH SETTLEMENT. 
 
 In the year 1606, when James I. was king of England, he gave a charter 
 or patent to a number of gentlemen, which made them the owners of all that 
 part of America lying between the thirty-fourth and thirty-eighth degrees of 
 north latitude. The men who received this gift associated themselves together 
 under the name of the London Company, and in the same year sent out three 
 vessels, carrying 105 men, but no women or children. A storm drove them 
 out of their course, and, in the month of May, they entered the mouth of a 
 
 (47) 
 
48 SETTLEMENT OF THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES 
 
 broad river, which they named the James in honor of their king. They sailed 
 up stream for fifty miles, and, on the 13th of May, 1607, began the settlement of 
 Jamestown, which was the first English colony successfully planted in America. 
 Everything looked promising, but the trouble was that the men did not 
 wish to work, and, instead of cultivating the soil, spent their time in hunting 
 for gold which did not exist any where near them. They were careless in their 
 manner of living and a great many fell ill and died. They must have perished 
 before long had they not been wise enough to elect Captain John Smith presi 
 dent or ruler of the colony. 
 
 CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AND HIS ADVENTURES. 
 
 This man is one of the most interesting characters in the early history of our 
 country. He was a great boaster, and most of his associates did not like him. 
 He had been a wanderer in many parts of the world, and had any number of 
 stories to tell of his wonderful adventures. Probably some of those stories were 
 true and many fiction. Be that as it may, he was an energetic and brave man, 
 and the very one to save the perishing settlers. He made every man work, and 
 none wrought harder than himself. As a consequence matters began to mend at 
 once. 
 
 Obeying his orders in London, Captain Smith, when it seemed prudent to 
 do so, spent much of his time in exploring the streams that flowed into the 
 James. It must not be forgotten that it was still believed in Europe that 
 America formed a part of Asia, and that no one needed to penetrate far into the 
 interior to reach that country. 
 
 On one of these voyages Captain Smith was taken prisoner by the Indians, 
 who led him before their chief Powhatan. The chief decided that he must 
 be put to death, and, with his hands tied together, he was placed on the ground, 
 with his head resting on two big stones. Then one of the warriors stepped for 
 ward to dash out his brains with a club. At that moment Pocahontas, the young 
 daughter of the chief, ran forward, and, throwing her arms around the head of 
 Smith, begged her father to spare his life. The chief consented, and the prisoner 
 was set free and returned to Jamestown. Such is the story which Captain Smith 
 told after the death of Pocahontas in England, which she had visited with her 
 husband, an Englishman named Rolfe, and it can never be known whether the 
 incident was true or not. Some years later Smith was so badly injured by the 
 explosion of gunpowder that he had to return to England for treatment. There 
 he died in 1631. His invaluable services in this country have led historians to 
 regard him as the saviour of the Virginia colony. 
 
 The most woeful blow that was struck the American colonies was in August, 
 1619, when a Dutch ship sailed up the James and sold twenty negroes, kidnapped 
 
THE MARRIAGE OF POCHAHONTAS. 
 
BACON S REBELLION. 51 
 
 in Africa, to the colonists as slaves. It was thus that African slavery was intro 
 duced into this country, bringing in its train more sorrow, suffering, desolation, 
 and death than pen can describe or imagination conceive. The institution be 
 came legal in all the colonies, and the ships of New England, as well as those 
 of old England, were actively engaged for many years in the slave trade. 
 
 WARS WITH THE INDIANS. 
 
 The marriage of Pocahontas to one of the settlers made her father a firm 
 friend of the whites as long as he lived. At his death, his brother Opechan- 
 kano succeeded him. He hated intensely the invaders of the hunting grounds, 
 and began plotting to exterminate them. On the 22d of March, 1622, he made 
 such a sudden and furious assault upon the plantations, as the farms were called, 
 along the James that 400 people were killed in one day. The settlers rallied, 
 slew many of the Indians and drove the remainder far back in the woods, but 
 by the time this was accomplished half of the 4,000 settlers were dead and the 
 eighty plantations were reduced to eight. 
 
 Opechankano was not crushed, and for more than twenty years he busied 
 himself in perfecting his plans for a greater and more frightful massacre. It was 
 in April, 1644, that he struck his second blow, killing between three and four 
 hundred of the settlers. Once more the Virginians renewed the war of extermi 
 nation, and pressed it mercilessly until the Indians sued for peace, gave a large 
 tract of land to their conquerors, and retired still further into the wilderness. It 
 is worth noting that at the time of this last massacre Opechankano was nearly a 
 hundred years old. 
 
 BACON S REBELLION. 
 
 Sir William Berkeley was the most bigoted ruler Virginia ever had. In 
 one of his messages, he thanked God that there were no free schools or printing 
 in his province. He was very tyrannous, and, having friends in the assembly, 
 they prevented the election of any new members from 1666 to 1676. The taxes 
 became intolerable, and trade fell into the hands of a few individuals. Not only 
 that, but the governor disbanded the troops which had gathered for protection 
 against the Indians, who renewed their attacks on the exposed plantations. 
 
 This was more than the people could stand, and they rose in rebellion 
 under the leadership of Nathaniel Bacon, a popular young planter, who had 
 lost several members of his family through the attacks of the Indians. Berkeley 
 was cowed for a time, but the arrival of some ships from England enabled him 
 to take the field against Bacon. During the civil war, Jamestown was burned 
 to the ground and never rebuilt. Bacon pressed his resistance so vigorously 
 that his success seemed certain, when unfortunately he fell ill and died. Left 
 without a leader, the rebellion crumbled to pieces. The exultant Berkeley pun- 
 
52 
 
 SETTLEMENT OF THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES. 
 
 ished the leading rebels without mercy. He hanged twenty-two, and was so 
 ferocious that the king lost patience and ordered him to return to England. 
 " The old fool ! " he exclaimed ; " he has taken away more lives in that naked 
 country than I did for the murder of my father." 
 
 Colonial 
 
 Virginia 
 
 PROSPERITY OF THE COLONY. 
 
 underwent several changes in its form of government. 
 
 A "Great Charter" was 
 granted to it in 1613 by the 
 London Company. This 
 permitted the settlers to 
 make their own laws. The 
 House of Burgesses, which 
 was called together at James 
 town by Governor Yeardley, 
 July 30, 1619, was the first 
 legislative body that ever 
 met in this country. King 
 James was dissatisfied with 
 the tendency of things, and 
 in 1624 he took away the 
 charter and granted a new 
 one, which allowed the col 
 ony to elect the members of 
 the House of Burgesses, 
 while the king appointed 
 the council and their gov 
 ernor. This made Virginia 
 a royal province, which she 
 remained until the Revolu 
 tion. 
 
 Virginia became very 
 prosperous. Immense quan 
 tities of tobacco were raised 
 and sent to England and 
 Holland, where it became widely popular. Its cultivation was so profitable in 
 the colony that for a time little else was cultivated. It was planted even along 
 the streets of Jamestown and became the money of the province. Everything 
 was paid for in so many pounds of tobacco. The population steadily increased, 
 and in 1715 was 95,(K)(), which was the same as that of Massachusetts. A half- 
 
 ARMOR WORN BY THE PIL.GRIMS IN 1620. 
 
THE PILGRIMS AT PLYMOUTH. 53 
 
 century later, Virginia was the richest and most important of the thirteen colo 
 nies. The people lived mostly on large plantations, for land was plentiful and 
 the Indians gave no further trouble. Most of the inhabitants were members of 
 the Church of England, and their assemblies passed severe laws against the 
 entrance of people of other religious beliefs into the colony. It required the 
 furnace blasts of the Revolution to purify Virginia and some other provinces 
 of this spirit of intolerance. 
 
 Education was neglected or confined to the rich who could send their chil 
 dren to England to be educated. Some of the early schools were destroyed by 
 Indians, but William and Mary College, founded in 1692, was the second col 
 lege in the United States. It was never a very strong institution. 
 
 THE " OLD DOMINION." 
 
 It is worth recording how Virginia received the name of the " Old Do 
 minion." She remained loyal to Charles I. throughout the civil war in England 
 which ended in the beheading of the king. She was true also to Charles II. 
 when he was a fugitive and declared an outlaw. While in exile, he sent 
 Governor Berkeley his commission as Governor of Virginia, and that ruler was 
 immensely pleased. The king, to show his appreciation of the loyalty.of his 
 colony, made public declaration that Virginia added a fifth country to his king 
 dom, making it consist of England, Scotland, France, Ireland, and Virginia, 
 and he devised as an addition to the motto of the English coat of arms, "En dat 
 Virginia quintam" ("Lo! Virginia gives the fifth"). While Cromwell was 
 turning things topsy-turvy in England, a great many of the best families among 
 the Royalists emigrated to Virginia, where they were received with open arms 
 by Governor Berkeley and the owners of the plantations. From this arose the 
 name " Old Dominion," which is often applied to Virginia. 
 
 THE PILGRIMS AT PLYMOUTH. 
 
 During the early days of Virginia there was bitter persecution in England 
 of those whose religious views differed from the Church of England. This 
 cruelty drove many people to other countries, and because of their wanderings 
 they were called " Pilgrims." Those who remained members of the English 
 church and used their efforts to purify it of what they believed to be loose and 
 pernicious doctrines were nicknamed " Puritans." Those who withdrew from 
 the membership of the church were termed " Separatists " or " Independents." 
 This distinction is often confounded by writers and readers. 
 
 One hundred and two Pilgrims, all Separatists, who had fled to Holland, 
 did not like the country, and decided to make their homes in the New World, 
 where they could worship God as their consciences dictated. They sailed in 
 
54 
 
 SETTLEMENT OF THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES. 
 
 the Mayflower, and, after a long and stormy passage, landed at Plymouth, 
 Massachusetts, December 21, 1620, in the midst of a blinding snowstorm. 
 
 The Pilgrims were hardy, industrious, and God-fearing, and were prepared 
 to face every kind of danger and suffering without murmur. They were 
 severely austere in their morals and conduct, and, when writhing in the pangs 
 of starvation, maintained their faith unshaken in the wisdom and goodness of 
 their Heavenly Father. All these admirable qualities were needed during the 
 awful winter, which was one of the severest ever known in New England. 
 They built log-houses, using oiled paper instead of glass for the windows, and in 
 the spring were able to buy corn of the Indians, who pitied their sufferings, for 
 
 LANDING OF MYLES STANDISH. 
 
 in the space of a few weeks one-half of the Pilgrims had died. At one time 
 there were but seven well persons in the colony. Among those who passed 
 away was John Carver, the first governor. 
 
 The survivors held their ground with grim heroism, and by-and-by other 
 
 arrived, and the growth and prosperity, though slow, was certain. 
 
 had no charter, but was governed by an agreement which had been drawn up 
 
 an. signed in the cabin of the Mayflower, about the time the bleak coast of 
 
 New England was sighted. For sixty years after the settlement of Plymouth 
 
 history was uneventful. It was never very large, but the real work which 
 
MASSACHUSETTS HAY COLONY. 55 
 
 it accomplished was in bringing thousands of other colonists to follow it to New 
 England, who were opponents of the Established Church, and who gave to that 
 section of our country a distinctive character of its own. 
 
 MYLES STANDISH. 
 
 It is an interesting coincidence that while Virginia had her Captain John 
 Smith, Plymouth possessed a character quite similar in the person of Captain 
 Myles Standish. He was the military leader of the colony, with a courage that 
 was absolutely fearless. He has been described as a very small man, with a 
 "long, yellow beard," and a temper as inflammable as gunpowder. Nothing 
 would rouse his anger sooner than to hear any slur upon his stature. A big, 
 hulking Indian, belonging to a party much larger than Standish s, once looked 
 down upon the diminutive Englishman, and, with a curl of his lip, referred to 
 him as too small to fight. The next day, in a fight that arose with the chiefs, 
 Standish killed the insulting Indian with his own knife. All readers are famil 
 iar with the beautiful poem of Longfellow, which tells how Standish employed 
 John Alden to woo Priscilla, the " loveliest maid of Plymouth," for him, and 
 he did it with such success that Alden won her for himself. 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS BAY COLONY. 
 
 The Massachusetts Bay Colony included the part of the present State of 
 Massachusetts from the neighborhood of Boston northward. It Avas foundeo 
 by Puritans, who, it will be remembered, had not separated wholly from the 
 Church of England, but opposed many of its ceremonies. In the civil war 
 with England they sided with the Parliament and were subjected to the same 
 persecution as the Separatists. In 1628 a number of wealthy Puritans bought 
 the territory from the Council of Plymouth, and, receiving a charter the follow 
 ing year from Charles I., sent small colonies across the Atlantic. Then the 
 company itself followed, taking with it the charter and officers, thus gaining a 
 colony in America that was wholly independent of England. Salem and some 
 other small settlements had previously been made. 
 
 The colony was one of the most important that ever settled in this country. 
 Its leaders were not only of the best character, but were wealthy, wise, and far- 
 seeing. A large number arrived in 1630, and founded Boston, Cambridge, 
 Lynn, and other towns. Although they suffered many privations, they were not 
 so harsh as those of Plymouth, and the colony prospered. During the ten years 
 succeeding 1630, 20,000 people settled in Massachusetts, and in 1692 the two 
 colonies united under the name of Massachusetts. 
 
 It would seem that since these people had fled to America to escape religious 
 persecution, they would have been tolerant of the views of those among them, 
 

 KING PHILIP S WAR-DEATH OF THE KING. 
 
RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION. 
 
 57 
 
 but such unhappily was not the case. The most important part of their work 
 was the building of churches and the establishment of religious instruction. The 
 minister was the most important man in the colony, and no one was allowed to 
 vote unless a member of the church. A reproof in church was considered the 
 most disgraceful penalty that could be visited upon a wrong-doer. The sermons 
 were two, three, and sometimes four hours long, and the business of one of the 
 officers was to watch those overcome by drowsiness and wake them up, sometimes 
 quite sharply. 
 
 RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION. 
 
 Roger Williams, a Baptist preacher, told the Puritans, as the people came 
 generally to be called, that 
 they did wrong to take the 
 land from the Indians with 
 out paying for it, and that a 
 person was answerable to God 
 alone for his belief. These 
 charges were answered by 
 the banishment of Williams 
 from the colony. All the 
 Baptists were expelled in 
 1635. Shortly afterward, 
 Anne Hutchinson boldly 
 preached the doctrine of 
 Antinomianism, which de 
 clares that a man is not 
 saved by the help of good 
 works, but by divine grace 
 alone. In other words, no 
 matter how wickedly he lives, 
 his salvation is wholly inde 
 pendent of it. She went to 
 Rhode Island and afterward 
 to New Netherland, where 
 
 she was killed in one of the attacks of the Indians upon the Dutch settlements. 
 The Quakers greatly annoyed the New England colonists. They persisted 
 in rising in the Puritan meetings and disputing with ministers. Many were 
 fined, whipped, imprisoned, and banished, but in the face of warnings they 
 returned. As a consequence, four were put to death. Then a reaction set in 
 and the persecution ceased. 
 
 The most formidable war in which the early colonies of New England 
 
 ROGER WILLIAMS IN BANISHMENT. 
 
58 SETTLEMENT OF THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES. 
 
 were involved was with King Philip, who was the son of Massasoit, a firm 
 friend of the settlers until his death. Philip was one of the great Indians of 
 history. Like many of his people he saw with anger the growth of the white 
 men, who in time would drive him and his warriors from their hunting grounds. 
 Realizing the magnitude of the work of exterminating all the settlers, he visited 
 the different tribes and used every effort to unite them in a war against the 
 invaders. He was partly successful, and, with the allies secured, King Philip 
 began the war by attacking a party of settlers at Swansea, on Sunday, June 24, 
 1675, while they were on their way to church. Several whites were killed, 
 when the Indians hurried off to the Connecticut Valley to continue their dread 
 ful work. 
 
 All understood their peril, and flew to arms. Every man carried his musket 
 to church, and they were stacked outside the door, while a sentinel paced up 
 and down. More than once the long sermon was interrupted by the crack of 
 the red men s guns and their wild whoops, as they swarmed out of the woods. 
 Springing down from the pulpit, the minister was among the foremost in beat 
 ing the heathen back, and, when quiet Avas restored, probably he resumed and 
 finished his sermon. 
 
 The war was prosecuted furiously on both sides. In the depth of winter, 
 when the snow lay several feet on the ground, John Winslow led 1,500 men 
 against the Narragansett stronghold, which was in the heart of a great swamp, 
 and was one of the most powerful fortifications ever erected by the red men on 
 this continent. In the terrible fight, 200 white men and nearly 1,000 Indians 
 were killed. Finally, Philip was run down in a swamp near his old home on 
 Mount Hope, not far from the present city of Bristol, Rhode Island. While 
 stealing out of his hiding-place, he was confronted by a white soldier and a 
 friendly Indian. The gun of the former missed fire, whereupon the Indian 
 leveled his musket and shot the Wampanoag leader dead. The war ended a 
 few months later. During its continuance, six hundred white men were killed 
 and many more wounded ; thirteen towns were destroyed and five hundred build 
 ings burned, but the Indian power in southern New England was shattered 
 forever. 
 
 THE WITCHCRAFT DELUSION. 
 
 One of the most fearful delusions recorded in history is that of the general 
 belief in witchcraft which prevailed in Europe down to the seventeenth cen 
 tury. Its baleful shadow all too soon fell upon New England. Massachusetts 
 and Connecticut made laws against witchcraft and hanged a number of persons 
 on the charge of being witches. In 1692 the town of Salem went crazy over 
 the belief that the diabolical spirits were at work among them. Two little girls, 
 who were simpletons that ought to have been spanked and put to bed, declared 
 
GALLUP S RECAPTURE OF OLDHAM S BOAT 
 
 Which had been taken by the Indians from the Puritan exiles in 1636. "Steer straight for the vessel," cried Gallup, and stationing 
 himself at the bow he opened fire on tl.e Indians. Every time his gun flashed some one was hit. This incident 
 
 was the beginning of the Pequot War. 
 
THE CONNECTICUT COLONY. 59 
 
 with bulging eyes that different persons had taken the form of a black cat and 
 pinched, scratched, and bitten them. The people, including the great preacher 
 Cotton Mather, believed this stuff, and the supposed wizards and witches were 
 punished with fearful severity. Suspicion in many cases meant death ; evil men 
 disposed of their creditors and enemies by charging them with witchcraft; fami 
 lies were divided and the gentlest and most irreproachable of women suffered 
 disgraceful death. Everybody, including ministers and judges, lost their wits. 
 The magistrates crowded the jails, until twenty had been put to death and fifty- 
 five tortured before the craze subsided. Then it became clear that no one, no 
 matter what his station, was safe, and the delusion, which forms one of the black 
 est pages in New England, passed away. 
 
 SETTLEMENT OF MAINE AND NEW HAMPSHIRE. 
 
 New Hampshire was the name of John Mason s share of a territory granted 
 to him and Sir Fernando Gorges by the Council of Plymouth in 1622. This 
 grant included all the land between the Merrimac and Kennebec Kivers. The 
 first settlement was made in 1623, at New and at Little Harbor, near Ports 
 mouth. In 1629 the proprietors divided their grants, the country west of the 
 Piscataqua being taken by Mason, who named it New Hampshire, while Gorges, 
 who owned the eastern section, called it Maine. 
 
 The settlements were weak and their growth tardy. In 1641 New Hamp 
 shire placed itself under the protection of Massachusetts, but the king separated 
 them in 1679, and made New Hampshire a royal colony. In 1688 it again 
 joined Massachusetts, and three years later was set off once more by the king, 
 after which it remained a royal colony until the Revolution. 
 
 THE CONNECTICUT COLONY. 
 
 The Connecticut colony included all of the present State of Connecticut, 
 excepting a few townships on the shore of Long Island Sound. It came into the 
 possession of the Earl of Warwick in 1630, and the following year he transferred 
 it to Lords Say, Brooke, and others. The Dutch claimed the territory and erected 
 a fort on the Connecticut River to keep out the English. The latter, howeN ,r, paid 
 no attention to them, and a number of Massachusetts traders settled at Windsor in 
 1633. Saybrook, at the mouth of the Connecticut, was settled in 1635. A great 
 many emigrants came from Massachusetts in 1636, the principal leader being 
 Thomas Hooker. They founded Weathersfield, Windsor, and Hartford, and in 
 1639 adopted the name of the Connecticut colony and drew up a written consti 
 tution, the first ever framed by a body of men for their own government. Other 
 settlements were made and Saybrook united with them. 
 
 The most eventful incident in the history of Connecticut was the war with 
 
60 
 
 SETTLEMENT OF THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES. 
 
 the Pequot Indians, who were a powerful tribe in the eastern part of the State. 
 They tried to persuade the Narragansetts to join them, but Roger Williams, who 
 lived among them, persuaded Canonicus, their chief, to refuse. Then the Pequots 
 committed the fatal mistake of going to war alone. The settlers, fully roused to 
 their danger, assailed the Pequot stronghold with fury, one summer morning in 
 1637, and killed all their enemies, sparing neither women nor children. Thus? 
 a leading tribe of Indians were blotted out in one day. 
 
 THE NEW HAVEN COLONY. 
 
 The New Haven colony comprised the townships already reterred to as lying 
 
 PRIMITIVE MODE OF GRINDING CORN. 
 
 on Long Island Sound. It was settled in 1638 by a company of English immi 
 grants, who were sufficiently wise and just to buy the lands of the Indians. 
 Other towns were settled, and in 1639 the group took the name of the New 
 Haven colony. Neither of the colonies had a charter, and there was much 
 rivalry in the efforts to absorb the towns as they were settled. The majority 
 preferred to join the Connecticut colony, for the other, like Massachusetts, would 
 permit no one not a member of church to vote or hold office. 
 
 THE COLONY OF CONNECTICUT. 
 
 What is known in the history of England as the Commonwealth, established 
 
THE CHARTER OAK. 61 
 
 by Cromwell, came to an end in 1660. Charles II. ascended the throne, and 
 Winthrop, governor of the Connecticut colony, which had now grown to be the 
 stronger of the two, went to England to secure a charter. It was granted 
 to him in 1662, and covered the territory occupied by both colonies, who were 
 permitted to elect their assembly, their governor, and to rule themselves. New 
 Haven, after deliberating over the question, reluctantly accepted the charter, and 
 in 1665 the two were united under the name of the Colony of Connecticut. 
 
 Everything was going along smoothly, when, in 1687, Governor Andros 
 came down with a company of soldiers from Boston and ordered the people to 
 surrender their charter. He was acting under the orders of the king, who did 
 not fancy the independence with which the colony was conducting matters. 
 Andros confronted the assembly, which were called together in Hartford. They 
 begged that he would not enforce his demands. He consented to listen to their 
 arguments, though there was not the slightest probability of it producing any 
 effect upon him. 
 
 THE CHARTER OAK. 
 
 The talk continued until dark, when the candles were lighted. Suddenly, 
 at a signal, all were blown out. When they were re-lighted, the charter, which 
 had been lying on the table in plain sight, was nowhere to be found. Captain 
 Wadsworth had slipped out during the interval of darkness and hidden the 
 paper in the hollow of an oak. Then he returned and took his place among 
 the members, looking the most innocent of all. Andros fumed and raved and 
 informed the assembly that their trick would avail them nothing, since their 
 charter government was at an end. He went back to Boston, to be turned out 
 of office two years later, when the precious charter was brought from its hiding- 
 place. 
 
 No effort was spared to preserve the historical " Charter Oak," that had 
 thus been made famous. It was supported and propped in every part that 
 showed signs of weakness, and held up its head until 1856, when a terrific 
 storm brought it to the ground, shattered to fragments, all of which were care 
 fully gathered and preserved by those fortunate enough to obtain them. 
 
 * The early division of the colonies was long marked by the fact that 
 ford and New Haven served as the two capitals of the State until 1873, when 
 Hartford became the sole capital. 
 
 SETTLEMENT OF RHODE ISLAND. 
 
 It has been stated that when Eoger Williams was banished from Massa- 
 j ohusetts he took refuse among the Narragansett Indians, who occupied the 
 i country at the head of Narragansett Bay. Canonicus, the chief, held 
 man in hi-h esteem, and presented him with a large tract of land, which the 
 
62 SETTLEMENT OF THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES. 
 
 devout Williams named " Providence " in remembrance of the manner in which 
 he believed God had directed him thither. Settlers from Massachusetts fol 
 lowed him, and all were hospitably received and kindly treated. The fullest 
 religious liberty was allowed, and even when Anne Hutchinson visited Wil 
 liams, he treated her like a sister. Williams obtained a charter in 1644 from 
 the Parliament and it was confirmed in 1654. The new one granted by Charles 
 II. in 1663 united all the colonies into one, under the name Rhode Island and 
 Providence Plantations. This is still the legal name of the State, which retains 
 its two capitals, Providence and Newport, the Legislature meeting alternately in 
 each. The charter of Charles II. suited the people so well that it remained in 
 force until 1842, when Thomas Dorr headed a rebellion, as related hereafter, 
 which resulted in the establishment of a new charter. 
 
 The existence of Rhode Island was threatened by the claim of Connecticut 
 to all the land on the west to the shore of Narragansett Bay, while Plymouth 
 insisted that the land on the east to the shore of the same bay belonged to her. 
 Rhode Island stoutly resisted, and succeeded in 1741 and 1752 in fixing her 
 boundaries as they are to-day, which make her the smallest State in the Union. 
 
 SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK. 
 
 It has been shown that Holland was more anxious to secure trade than 
 territory. Soon after the discovery of the Hudson, by Captain Henry Hudson, 
 the Dutch traders sent vessels to Manhattan Island, now constituting the city of 
 New York, and began bartering with the Indians. In 1621 Holland granted 
 the territory from Delaware Bay to the Connecticut River to the Dutch West 
 India Company. The name given to the territory was New Netherland, while 
 the settlement, which grew in time into the metropolis of America, was called 
 New Amsterdam. The whole island wns bought from the Indians for sixty 
 guilders, equal to about twenty-four dollars, a price which is considerably less 
 than would be demanded to-day for the site of Greater New York. 
 
 New Netherland was governed successively by Peter Minuet, Walter Van 
 Twiller, William Kieft, and Peter Stuyvesant, who were sent out by the Dutch 
 West India Company, and whose rule extended from 1626 to 1664. Of these, 
 Stuyvesant was by far the ablest, and he made a strong impression on the social 
 and political life of New Netherland. He was severe and stubborn, however, 
 and many of the Dutchmen found his rule so onerous that they were rather 
 pleased than otherwise, when the English, in 1664, claimed the territory by 
 right of discovery and sent out a fleet which compelled Stuyvesant to surrender 
 the town. The doughty old governor stamped about New Amsterdam with his 
 wooden leg, calling upon his countrymen to rally and drive back the rascals, 
 but little or no heed was paid to his appeals. 
 
WILLIAM KIDD, THE PIRATE. 63 
 
 Charles II. had granted the territory to his brother the Duke of York, who 
 soon after ascended the throne, thus making the colony, which included that of 
 New Jersey, a royal one. The Connecticut people had settled a large part of 
 Rhode Island, which they claimed, but the duke was too powerful to be resisted, 
 and Long Island became a part of New York, as the city and province were 
 named. 
 
 In 1673, while at war with England, Holland sent a fleet which recaptured 
 New York, but it was given back to England, upon the signing of a treaty in 
 1674. The manner in which New Netherland was settled by the Dutch was 
 quite different from that of New England. Wealthy men, termed "patroons," 
 were granted immense tracts of laud and brought over settlers, whose situation 
 was much like that of the serfs of Russia. Traces of the patroon system 
 remained long after the Revolution, and, in 1846, caused the "Anti-Rent 
 War," which resulted in the death of a number of people. 
 
 The province of New York suffered greatly from misrule. The people 
 were not permitted to elect their own assembly until 1683, and two years later, 
 when the Duke of York became king, he took away the privilege. William 
 and Mary, however, restored it in 1691, and it remained to the Revolution. 
 
 As a proof of the bad governorship of New York, it may be sa : d that there 
 is good reason to believe that one of its rulers was interested with the pirates 
 who infested the coast, while another, who refused to sign the death-warrant of 
 two persons who had committed no serious crime, was made drunk and then 
 persuaded to sign the fatal paper. When he became sober, he was horrified to 
 find that both had been executed. 
 
 WILLIAM KIDD, THE PIRATE. 
 
 The piracy alluded to became such a scandalous blight that strenuous meas 
 ures were taken to crush it In 1697 Captain William Kidd, a New York ship 
 master and a brave and skillful navigator, was sent to assist in the work. After 
 he had cruised for a while in distant waters, he turned pirate himself. He had 
 the effrontery to return home three years later, believing his friends would pro 
 tect him ; but, though they would have been willing enough to do so, they dared 
 not. He was arrested, tried in England, convicted, and hanged. Piracy was 
 finally driven from the American waters in 1720. 
 
 In 1740 New York was thrown into a panic by the report that the negroes 
 had formed a plot to burn the town. It is scarcely possible that any such plot 
 existed, but before the scare had passed away four whites and eighteen negroes 
 were hanged, and, dreadful as it may sound, fourteen negroes were burned at the 
 stake. In addition, nearly a hundred were driven out of the colony. 
 
 The fine harbor and noble river emptying into it gave New York such ad- 
 
64 
 
 SETTLEMENT OF THE Till R TEE X ORIGINAL STATES. 
 
 vantages that, by 1750, it had become one of the most important cities on the 
 coast, though its population was less than that of Philadelphia. At the time 
 named, its inhabitants numbered about 12,000, which was less than that of Phil 
 adelphia. The province itself contained 90,000 inhabitants. The chief towns 
 were New York, Albany, and Kingston. Brooklyn, which attained vast pro 
 portions within the following century, was merely a ferry station. 
 
 SETTLEMENT OF NEW JERSEY. 
 
 New Jersey, as has been stated, was originally a part of New Netherland. 
 As early as 1618, the Dutch erected a trading post at Bergen. All now included 
 in the State was granted, in 1664, by the Duke of York to Lord John Berkeley 
 and Sir George Carteret. Carteret was once governor of the island of Jersey 
 in the English Channel, and gave the name to the new province. In the year 
 mentioned, the first English settlement was made at Elizabethtown, now known 
 
 as Elizabeth. 
 
 In 1674, the province was 
 i divided into East and West 
 Jersey, a distinction which is 
 preserved to some extent to the 
 present day. Berkeley, who 
 owned West Jersey, sold it to a 
 number of Quakers, some of 
 whom settled near Burlington. 
 Carteret sold his part to William 
 Penn and eleven other Quakers. 
 The various changes of owner 
 ship caused much trouble with the 
 land titles. In 1702, all the proprietors surrendered their rights to the crown 
 and New Jersey became a royal colony. The same governor ruled New York 
 and New Jersey, though those in the latter elected their own assembly. A com 
 plete separation from New York took place in 1788, and New Jersey remained 
 a royal province until the Revolution. Its location averted all troubles with 
 the Indians. Newark, the principal city, was settled in 1666, by emigrants from 
 Connecticut. Burlington, founded in 1677, was one of the capitals and Perth 
 Am boy the other. 
 
 EARLY SETTLEMENTS ON THE DELAWARE. 
 
 In 1638, a number of Swedes formed the settlement of Christina on the 
 Delaware, near Wilmington. They bought the land from the Indians and 
 named it New Sweden. A second settlement, that of Chester, was made just be 
 low the site of Philadelphia in 1643, and was the first in the present State of 
 
 ; j $ 
 
 THE FIRST FRIENDS MEETING-HOUSE, 
 BURLINGTON, NEW JERSEY. 
 
WILLIAM PENN,THE GOOD AND WISE RULER. 
 
NOTABLE AUDIENCE IN MARYLAND TO HEAR GEORGE FOX, THE FOUNDER OF THE 
 66 "SOCIETY OF FRIENDS" OR QUAKERS. 
 
PENNSYLVANIA AND DELAWARE. 67 
 
 Pennsylvania. The fiery Governor Stuy vesant of New Netherland looked upon 
 these attempts as impudent invasions of his territory, and, filled with anger, hur 
 ried down to Delaware and captured both. It was a matter of no moment to the 
 thrifty Swedes, who kept on the even tenor of their way and throve under the 
 new government as well as under the old. A further account of the settlement 
 of Delaware will be given in our history of that of Pennsylvania. 
 
 SETTLEMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA AND DELAWARE. 
 
 The peace-loving Quakers were among those who suffered persecution in 
 England for conscience sake. William Penn was the son of Admiral Penn, who 
 disliked the Quakers and had been a valiant officer for the English government. 
 When he died, the crown owed him a large sum of money, which William offered 
 to liquidate in return for a grant of the land now known as the State of Penn 
 sylvania. The king willingly agreed to this, and the Duke of York, who had 
 a strong liking for Penn, added the present State of Delaware to the grant, in 
 which, as has been stated, the Swedes had made a number of settlements. 
 
 William Penn was one of the best and wisest rulers that had to do with the 
 settlement of our country. The king, more as a piece of pleasantry than other 
 wise, insisted upon naming the province " Pennsylvania," in honor of the pro 
 prietor, much to the good man s dismay. He offered the royal secretary a liberal 
 fee to omit the first part of the name from the charter, but it was not done. No 
 rule could have been more kindly. Absolute freedom of conscience was permitted ; 
 in all trials by jury of an Indian, one-half of the jury were to be composed of 
 Indians, and, although Penn was induced to permit the punishment of death fcr 
 treason and murder, to be provided for in the code, no man was ever executed 
 while Penn had anything to do with the province. 
 
 His first act, after his arrival in 1682, was characteristic. He called the 
 Indian chiefs together, under a great spreading elm at Shackamaxon, and paid 
 them for the land that was -already his by royal grant. In addition, he made 
 the red men many presents and signed a treaty, which neither party broke for 
 sixty years. It has been truly said that this was the only treaty not sworn to 
 which was kept inviolate by both parties. 
 
 Penn himself laid out the city of Philadelphia in 1683. A year later, it 
 had a population of 7,000, and in three years more its population increased 
 faster than that of New York in half a century. Delaware, then called the 
 " Three Lower Counties," was given a separate government at the request of the 
 people in 1703. They were allowed their own deputy governor, but Pennsyl 
 vania and Delaware continued substantially under one government until the 
 Revolution. 
 
 The good ruler met with many misfortunes. In 1692, the province was 
 
68 
 
 SETTLEMENT OF THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES. 
 
 taken from him, because of his friendship to James II., but restored soon after 
 ward. In 1699, when he made his second visit, he found the people had in a 
 great measure grown away from him, and were unwilling that he should exercise 
 his former supervision. While absent, a dishonest steward robbed him of nearly 
 all his property in England ; and, failing in health and mind, he died in 1718. 
 His sons became proprietors, but the people grew more and more discontented 
 with the payment of rents. To end the disputes and quarrels, the State abolished 
 the rents during the Revolution, paying the proprietors the sum of $650,000 for 
 the extinguishment of their rights. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 Philadelphia was prosper 
 ous from the first. New York 
 City did not catch up to it until 
 after the year 1810. It was early 
 noted, as it has been since, for 
 its cleanliness, fine buildings, 
 and the attention it gave to 
 education. It had a printing 
 
 MORAVIAN EASTER SERVICE, BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 press in 1686, and three years later a public high school. In the year 1749, the 
 present University of Pennsylvania was founded as a school, becoming a college 
 in 1755, and a university in 1779. Many of the names of streets, such as Wal 
 nut, Chestnut, Pine, Mulberry, and others, were given to it when the city was 
 laid out. 
 
 The settlement of the province was confined for a long time to the eastern 
 section. No population was more varied. The Scotch and Irish were mainly 
 in the central portion, the Dutch and Germans in the east and northeast, and 
 the English in the southeastern part of the colony. There are hundreds of 
 people to-day in Pennsylvania, whose ancestors for several generations have been 
 born there, who are unable to speak or understand a word of English. 
 
 Maryland is the next colony in order of settlement, The Roman Catholics 
 
SETTLEMENT OF MARYLAND. 69 
 
 were among those who suffered persecution in England, and Maryland was 
 founded as a place of refuge for them. Among the most prominent of the 
 English Catholics was Sir George Calvert, known as Lord Baltimore. His first 
 attempt to found a colony was in Newfoundland, but the rigorous climate com 
 pelled him to give it up. He decided that the most favorable place was that 
 portion of Virginia lying east of the Potomac. Virginia had its eye already 
 upon the section, and was preparing to settle it, when Charles I., without con 
 sulting her, granted the territory to Lord Baltimore. Before he could use the 
 patent, he died, and the charter was made to his son, Cecil Calvert, in 1632. He 
 named it Maryland in compliment to the queen, Henrietta Maria. 
 
 Leonard Calvert, a brother of Lord Baltimore, began the settlement of 
 Maryland at St. Mary s, near the mouth of the Potomac. He took with him 
 200 immigrants and made friends with the Indians, whom he treated with 
 justice and kindness. Annapolis was founded in 1683 and Baltimore in 1729. 
 
 Despite the wisdom and liberality of Calvert s rule, the colony met with 
 much trouble, because of Virginia s claim to the territory occupied by the new 
 comers. William Clayborne of Virginia had established a trading post in 
 Maryland and refused to leave, but he was driven out, whereupon he appealed 
 to the king, insisting that the Catholics were intruders upon domain to which 
 they had no right. The king decided in favor of Lord Baltimore. Clayborne 
 however, would not assent, and, returning to Maryland in 1645, he incited a 
 rebellion which was pressed so vigorously that Calvert was forced to flee. He 
 gathered enough followers to drive Clayborne out in turn. The Catholics then 
 established a liberal government and passed the famous " Toleration Act," which 
 allowed everybody to worship God as he saw fit. Many persons in the other 
 colonies, who were suffering persecution, made their homes in Maryland. 
 
 After a time, the Protestants gained a majority in the assembly and made 
 laws which were very oppressive to the Catholics. The strife degenerated into 
 civil war, which lasted for a number of years. The proprietor in 1691 was a 
 supporter of James II., because of which the new king, William, took away his 
 colony and appointed the governors himself. The proprietor s rights were 
 restored in 1716 to the fourth Lord Baltimore. The Cal verts became extinct 
 in 1771, and the people of Maryland assumed proprietorship five years later. 
 Comparative tranquillity reigned until the breaking out of the Revolution. 
 
 An interesting occurrence during this tranquil period was the arrival from 
 England of George Fox, the founder of the Society of Friends or Quakers. In 
 the assemblage which gathered on the shores of the Chesapeake to listen to his 
 preaching were members of the Legislature, the leading men of the province, 
 Indian sachems and their families, with their great chief at their head. 
 
 The disputed boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania was fixed in 
 
70 SETTLEMENT OF THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES. 
 
 1767, by two surveyors named Mason and Dixon. This boundary became 
 famous in after years as the dividing line between the free and slave States. 
 
 Charles II., in 1663 and 1665, granted the land between Florida and 
 Virginia to eight proprietors. The country had been named Carolina in honor 
 of their king, Charles IX. (Latin, Carolus), and since Charles II. was King 
 of England the mime was retained, though he was not the ruler meant thus 
 to be honored. The country was comparatively uninhabited after the failure of 
 the French colony, except by a few Virginians, who made a settlement on the 
 northern shore of Albemarle Sound. 
 
 THE CAROLINAS. 
 
 For twenty years the proprietors tried to establish upon American soil one 
 of the most absurd forms of government ever conceived. The land was to be 
 granted to nobles, known as barons, landgraves, and caziques, while the rest of 
 the people were not to be allowed to hold any land, but were to be bought and 
 sold with the soil, like so many cattle. The settlers ridiculed and defied the 
 fantastical scheme, which had to be abandoned. It was the work of John 
 Locke, the famous philosopher, who at one time was secretary of Lord Cooper, 
 one of the proprietors. 
 
 The first settlement of the Carteret colony was made in 1670, on the banks 
 of the Ashley, but in 1680 it was removed to the present site of Charleston. 
 The colonies remained united for about seventy years, when it became apparent 
 that the territory was too large to be well governed by one assembly and a single 
 governor. In 1729, the present division was made, and the rights of government 
 and seven-eighths of the land were returned to the crown. 
 
 The soil and climate were so favorable that thousands of immigrants were 
 attracted thither. Among them were numerous Huguenots or French Protest 
 ants, whose intelligence, thrift, and morality placed them among the very best 
 settlers found anywhere in our country. Newbern was settled by a colony of 
 Swiss in 1711, and there was a large influx of Scotch after their rebellion of 
 1740, England giving them permission to leave Scotland. Scotch immigrants 
 settled Fayetteville in 1746. 
 
 There were occasional troubles with the Indians, the most important of 
 which was the war with the Tuscaroras, in 1711. This tribe was utterly defeated 
 and driven northward into New York, where they joined the Iroquois or Five 
 Nations. The union of the Tuscaroras caused the Iroquois to be known after 
 ward as the Six Nations. 
 
 The Carolinas were afflicted with some of the worst governors conceivable, 
 interspersed now and then with excellent ones. Often there was sturdy resist 
 ance, and in 1677 one of the governors, who attempted to enforce the Naviga- 
 
GEORGIA. 71 
 
 tion Act, was deposed and imprisoned. In 1688, another was driven out of the 
 colony. The population was widely scattered, but the people themselves were 
 as a whole the best kind of citizens. They would not permit religious perse 
 cution, and defeated the effort to make the Church of England the colony 
 church. As a consequence, the Carolinas became, like Maryland and Pennsylva 
 nia, a refuge for thousands of those who were persecuted in the name of religion. 
 
 GEORGIA. 
 
 Georgia was the last of the thirteen original colonies to be settled, and, 
 though it long remained the weakest of them all, its history is very interesting. 
 It, too, was a country of refuge for those suffering persecution, but their affliction 
 was different in its nature from those of whom we have made record. 
 
 One of the remarkable facts connected with the government of nations 
 claiming the highest civilization, hardly more than a century ago, was the 
 brutality of their laws. Many crimes, 
 comparatively trifling in their nature, 
 were punishable with death. One of 
 the most cruel of these oppressive laws 
 was that which permitted a man to 
 throw into prison a neighbor who was 
 unable to pay the money he owed. If a 
 poor tenant fell ill, and could not pay 
 his landlord, the latter could have him 
 
 flung into jail and kept there until the COLONIAL PLOW WITH WOODEN 
 debt was paid. Since the debtor was - 
 able to earn a penny while in prison, 
 and probably his wife and children were equally helpless, the landlord thus de 
 prived himself of all possibility of getting his money, while the wretched debtor 
 literally "rotted" in prison. Thousands died in dreadful misery, merely because 
 they were poor. 
 
 This system of allowing imprisonment for debt prevailed in our own 
 country until within the memory of men still living. It makes one s cheeks 
 tingle with shame and indignation to recall that Robert Morris, who devoted ail 
 his wealth and energies to raising money for the patriots during the Revolution, 
 who furnished Washington with thousands of dollars, and but for whose help 
 the war must have failed, became poor after independence was gained and was 
 imprisoned for debt. 
 
 The system caused such horrible suffering in England that the pity of all 
 good men was stirred. Among these was James Edward Oglethorpe, one of the 
 most admirable characters in modern history. He was a brave and skillful 
 
72 
 
 SETTLEMENT OF THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES. 
 
 soldier, eminently just, of the highest social position and a member of Parlia 
 
 ment. He determined to do something practical for the 
 
 perishing debtors in English jails. He, therefore, asked 
 
 George II. to give him a grant of land in America to 
 
 which the imprisoned debtors could be sent, and the 
 
 king, whose heart also seemed to be touched, promptly 
 
 did so. It was said of Oglethorpe that the universal 
 
 respect felt for him made certain that any favor he 
 
 asked of his own associates or friends would be willingly 
 
 granted. 
 
 The king not only presented him with valuable 
 equipments, but Parliament granted him a liberal sum, 
 to which wealthy citizens added. He had the best wishes 
 of his entire country when he sailed for America with 
 one hundred and fourteen persons. He named the new 
 colony Georgia in honor of the king, and began the set 
 tlement of Savannah in 1733, Darien and Augusta being 
 founded three years later. It need hardly be said of 
 such a man, that, like Penn and Baltimore, he bought 
 the lands anew of the Indians and retained their friend 
 ship from the start. On one of his visits to England 
 he took a party of red men with him, entertained them at 
 his country place and presented them at court. 
 
 SCHENECTADY co., 
 
 (In the New * 
 
 The Spaniards claimed Georgia as their own terri- 
 
 ral Museum -> 
 
 A COLONIAL FLAX- WHEEL. 
 
 better. 
 
 tory, and raised a large force with which 
 to expel Oglethorpe, whose colony had 
 been increased by the arrival of other 
 immigrants, but the English officer handled 
 his men with such extraordinary skill that 
 the Spaniards were utterly routed. 
 
 It would be supposed that Georgia 
 would have been one of the most successful 
 of the original colonies, since seemingly it 
 possessed every advantage, but such was far 
 from the fact. One cause for this was the 
 "coddling" the pioneers received. They 
 were harmed by too much kindness. Had 
 they been compelled to hew their own way, 
 like their neighbors, they would have done 
 
 They were like children spoiled by being granted too many favors. 
 
HIAWATHA, FOUNDER OF THE IROQUOIS LEAGUE 
 
 The Iroquois League was composed of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca and Tuscarora nations, 
 
 who founded in the New York wilderness a barbaric republic, with bonds of union that might serve in 
 
 many respects as a model for civilized nations. 
 
GROWTH OF THE AMERICAN COLONIES. 
 
 73 
 
 Another cause was the poor laws by which the people were ruled. Slavery 
 at first was forbidden within 
 its borders, though it was tol 
 erated all about them. Then, 
 in 1747, the trustees yielded 
 to the general demand and ad 
 mitted slavery. Other rules 
 caused discontent, and many 
 settlers moved away. Popula 
 tion appeared to be at a stand 
 still, and finally the trustees in 
 1752 surrendered their rights 
 to the crown. More liberal 
 laws followed and the prosper- 
 itv increased SILK-WINDING. 
 
 J (Fac-simile of a picture in Edward Williams " Virginia Truly Valued." 1650.) 
 
 Of General Ogletnorpe, it 
 
 may be added that he lived to reach his ninety-eighth year. It was said of him 
 that he was the handsomest old man in London, and people often stopped on the 
 streets to look at and admire him. He always had a warm regard for the 
 American colonies. Indeed, it was this marked friendship for them which pre 
 vented his appointment as commander-in-chief of the British forces during the 
 Re volution. 
 
 GROWTH OF THE AMERICAN COLONIES. 
 
 It will thus be seen that, beginning with Virginia, in 1607, the American 
 colonies had grown in a little more than a century and a quarter to thirteen. 
 These were strung along the Atlantic coast from Maine to Florida, and in 1750 
 their population was about 1,260,000. This was vigorous growth. All the 
 colonists, although born on this side of the Atlantic, considered themselves Eng 
 lishmen, and were proud of their king, three thousand miles away across the 
 
 ocean. With such loyal subjects, the English 
 crown had the best opportunity in the world to 
 become the most powerful of all the nations. 
 
 But Great Britain was not free from mis 
 giving over the rapid growth of her American 
 colonies. Nothing looked more probable than 
 
 > ^-^ssa^ggF- that before many years they would unite in one 
 
 A COMFORTIER, OR CHAFING- o-overiimeiit of their own and declare their inde- 
 
 <Ne W YO* state *.f s n.i H is or y , Jendence of the British crown. Then was the 
 
 Albany.) tmie f or the display of wise statesmanship, but 
 
 unhappily for England and happily for the colonies, such wise statesmanship 
 
74 
 
 SETTLEMENT OF THE THIRTEEN ORIGINAL STATES. 
 
 proved to be lacking on the other side of the water. The colonies displayed 
 great industry. They grew tobacco, rice, indigo, and many other products 
 which were eagerly welcomed by the British merchants, who exported their 
 own manufactures in exchange for them. The inevitable result was that 
 England and the American colonies increased their wealth by this means. 
 Not only that, but the colonies voted ships, men, and money to help the 
 mother country in the wars in which she was often involved. 
 
 As early as 1651, Parliament passed the first of the oppressive Navigation 
 Acts, which forbade the colonies to trade with any other country than England, 
 or to receive foreign ships into their ports. This act was so harsh and unjust 
 that it was never generally enforced, until the attempt, more than a century 
 later, when it became one of the leading causes of the American Revolution. 
 
 EARLY DAYS IN JNIttW ENGL.AND. 
 
L l i*j 
 
 3 4 6 6789 
 
 PLACES OF WORSHIP IN NEW YORK IN 1742. 
 1. Lutheran. 2. French. 3. Trinity. 4. New Dutch. 5. Old Dutch. 6. Presbyterian. 7. Baptist. 8. Quaker. 9. Synagogue. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THK INTERCOLONIAL WARS AND THK KRKNCH 
 
 AND INDIAN WAR. 
 
 King William s War Queen Anne s War King George s War The French and Indian War Eng 
 land and France Rivals in the Old World and the New The Early French Settlements The 
 Disputed Territory France s Fatal Weakness Washington s Journey Through the Wilderness 
 The First Fight of the War The War Wholly American for Two Years The Braddock Mas 
 sacreThe Great Change Wrought by William Pitt Fall of Quebec Momentous Consequences 
 of the Great English Victory The Growth and Progress of the Colonies and Their Home Life. 
 
 KING WILLIAM S WAR. 
 
 IF anything were needed to prove the utter uselessness and horrible bar 
 barity of war, it is found in a history of the strife in which the American 
 colonies were involved through the quarrels of their rulers, thousands of miles 
 away on the other side of the Atlantic. Men lived for years in America as 
 neighbors, meeting and exchanging visits on the most friendly terms, and with 
 no thought of enmity, until the arrival of some ship with news that their respec 
 tive governments in Europe had gone to war. Straightway, the neighbors be 
 came enemies, and, catching up their guns, did their best to kill one another. 
 Untold misery and hundreds of lives were lost, merely because two ambitious 
 men had gotten into a wrangle. The result of such a dispute possessed no earthly 
 interest to the people in the depths of the American wilderness, but loyalty to 
 their sovereigns demanded tint they should plunge into strife. 
 
 As time passed, Spain and Holland declined in power, and England and 
 France became formidable rivals in the New World as well as in the Old. In 
 1689, when William III. was on the throne of England, war broke out between 
 that country and France and lasted until 1697. The French, having settled in 
 Canada, were wise enough to cultivate the friendship of the Indians, who helped 
 them in their savage manner in desolating the English settlements. Dover, New 
 
 (75) 
 
76 INTERCOLONIAL WARS FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 
 
 Hampshire, was attacked by the French and Indians, who killed more than a 
 score of persons and carried away a number of captives. In other places, settlers 
 were surprised in the fields and shot down. Early in 1690, another party came 
 down from Canada, and, when the snow lay deep on the ground and the people 
 were sleeping in their beds, made a furious attack upon Schenectady. The town 
 was burned and sixty persons tomahawked, while the survivors, half-clad, 
 struggled through the snow t> Albany, sixteen miles distant. 
 
 The Americans in retaliation attempted to invade Canada, but the result 
 was a disastrous failure. The war continued in a desultory way, with great 
 cruelties on both sides, until 1697, when a treaty signed at Ryswick, Holland, 
 settled the quarrel between King William and James II., by deciding that the 
 former was the rightful king of England. The suffering and deaths that had 
 been inflicted on this side of the Atlantic produced not the slightest effect upon 
 the quarrel between the two claimants to the throne. 
 
 QUEEN ANNE S WAR. 
 
 In 1702, England got into a wrangle with France and Spain. This time 
 the Iroquois Indians took no part, because of their treaty with France, although 
 in the previous war they fought on the side of the English. In the depth of 
 winter in 1703-4, Deerfield, Massachusetts, was attacked and destroyed. Forty- 
 seven of the people were tomahawked and more than a hundred carried into 
 captivity. Their sufferings were so dreadful on the long tramp through the 
 snow to Canada that nearly all sank down and died. Maine and New Hamp 
 shire were devastated by the hordes, who showed no mercy to women and chil 
 dren. Another English invasion of Canada was attempted, but failed like its 
 predecessor. The aimless, cruel war continued until 1713, when a treaty of 
 peace was signed at Utrecht in Holland, by which England secured control of 
 the fisheries of Newfoundland, while Labrador, Hudson Bay, and Acadia or 
 Nova Scotia were ceded to Great Britain. The result in both instances would 
 have been the same had the English and French settlers and the Indians con 
 tinued on amicable terms. 
 
 KING GEORGE S WAR. 
 
 In 1740, the War for the Austrian Succession broke out in Europe and 
 soon involved most of the European nations. Because George II. was on the 
 throne of England, the struggle is known in this country as King George s War. 
 
 A notable event in America was the capture of the fortress of Louisburg, 
 one of the strongest fortifications in the world, mainly by New England troops. 
 It was a grand achievement which thrilled this country and England, and 
 caused consternation in France. A treaty of peace was signed in 1744 at Aix- 
 la-Chapelle, a town in western Germany. New England was enraged to find 
 
THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 
 
 77 
 
 that by the terms of this treaty Louisburg was given back to France, and all 
 her valor, sacrifice, and suffer 
 ing went for naught. 
 
 THE FKENCH AND INDIAN 
 
 WAR. 
 
 It has already been shown , 
 that England and France, 
 who had long been rivals in 1 
 the Old World, had become 
 
 ^a^ps 
 
 THE ATTACK ON RIOTERS AT SPRINGFIELD, MASS., 
 IN 1786. 
 
 equally bitter rivals 
 on this side of the 
 Atlantic. On the 
 west, the thirteen 
 English colonies were 
 walled in by the Al- 
 leghany Mountains, 
 beyond which none 
 of the settlers had advanced. 
 All the country lying be 
 tween these mountains and 
 the Mississippi was claimed 
 by France, who was pushing 
 southward through it, and 
 had given it the name of New 
 France or Louisiana. The 
 first French settlement within 
 
 the northwestern part of our 
 country was the mission of St. Mary, near Sault Ste. Marie, now in the State of 
 
78 INTERCOLONIAL WARS FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 
 
 Michigan, it having been established in 1668. (Several others of minor import 
 ance were planted at different points. 
 
 England did not oppose the acquirement of Canada by the French early 
 in the seventeenth century, but no serious attempt was made by that people to 
 colonize the territory within the United States until 16 ( J ( J, when D Iberville 
 crossed the Gulf of Mexico in quest of the mouth of the Mississippi. When he 
 found it, he planted a settlement at Biloxi, now in Mississippi, but removed it 
 in 1702 to Mobile. The Mississippi Company, a French organization, obtained 
 in 1716 a grant of Louisiana, and in 1718 sent out a colony that began the 
 settlement of New Orleans. 
 
 It will thus be seen that by 1750 the French had acquired large posses 
 sions in North America. *They were determined to hold them, and, to do so, 
 established a chain of sixty forts reaching from Montreal to the Gulf of Mexico. 
 These forts were the foundations of many important cities of to-day, such as 
 New Orleans, Natchez, Detroit, Vincennes, Toledo, Fort Wayne, Ogdensburg, 
 and Montreal. To the rear of the main chain of forts were others like Mack 
 inaw, Peoria, and Kaskaskia. 
 
 Extensive as was the territory thus taken possession of by the French, 
 they were fatally weak because of their scant population, amounting to less than 
 150,000 souls, while the English colonies had grown to 1,500,000. The French 
 traders were just about strong enough to hold the Indians in check, but no 
 more. 
 
 Thus with the French on the west and the English on the east of the 
 Alleghanies, the two rival forces were slowly creeping toward each other, and 
 were bound soon to meet, when the supreme struggle for possession of the 
 North American continent would open. By-and-by, the French hunters and 
 traders, as they climbed the western slope of the mountains, met the English 
 trappers moving in their direction. Being the advance skirmishers of their 
 respective armies, they often exchanged shots, and then fell back to report what 
 they had seen and done to their countrymen. 
 
 The fertile lands of the Great West had long attracted attention, and 
 many efforts had been made to buy them at a cheap price to sell again to 
 settlers. In 1749, the Ohio Company was formed by a number of London 
 merchants and several prominent Virginians. The lands they bought lay in 
 western Pennsylvania, which Virginia claimed as part of her territory. This 
 company proved its earnestness by sending out surveyors, opening roads, and 
 offering tempting inducements to settlers. 
 
 The French were equally prompt and took possession of the country 
 between the Alleghanies and their main chain of forts. They built a fort at 
 Presq Isle, on the site of the present city of Erie, and began erecting a new 
 
WASHINGTON S JOURNEY. 
 
 79 
 
 chain of forts southward toward the Ohio. Governor Dinwiddie of Virginia 
 saw the danger of permitting this encroachment, and he wrote a letter of remon 
 strance to the French commander, which was placed in the hands of GEORGE 
 WASHINGTON, to be carried five hundred miles through wilderness, across moun 
 tains and dangerous rivers, to the point in western Pennsylvania where the 
 French officer was building his forts upon disputed ground. 
 
 
 
 
 YOUNG WASHINGTON RIDING A COLT. 
 
 One summer morning, young George, with three or four boys, was in the field looking at a colt, given him by his mother, 
 and when the boys said that it could never be tamed, George said : " You help me get on its back, and I ll tame it." 
 
 The journey was a long and perilous one, but Washington, who was a 
 magnificent specimen of vigorous young manhood, performed it in safety and 
 brought back the reply of the French commander, which notified Governor 
 Dinwiddie that he not only refused to vacate the territory, but would drive out 
 every Englishman he found within it. 
 
 This meant war, and Virginia made her preparations. She raised about 
 400 men and placed them under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Washing- 
 
80 INTERCOLONIAL WARS FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 
 
 ton, who was more familiar with the country than anyone else. The Ohio 
 Company at that time were putting up a fort on the present site of Pitteburg, 
 and Washington hurried forward to protect it. The Frenchmen understood 
 the value of a post at the junction of the Alleghany and Monongahela Rivers, 
 and also started on a race for it. They arrived first, captured the fort, strength 
 ened it, and gave it the name of Fort Duquesne. That done, they set out to 
 meet Washington, who was descending the Monongahela. 
 
 OPENING OF THE WAR. 
 
 The meeting between these forces brought on the first fight of the French 
 and Indian War. It was the advance party of each which met, and it is said 
 that the first musket was fired by Washington himself. The French had en 
 listed a number of Indians, but Washington killed or captured nearly all of 
 them as well as the whites. The main body of the French, however, was so 
 much more powerful than his own, that Washington moved back a few miles 
 and built a fortification which he named Fort Necessity. There, after a brisk 
 fight, he was compelled to surrender, July 4, 1754, on the promise that he and 
 his men should be allowed to return to Virginia. That province was so well 
 pleased with his work that he acted as its leading officer throughout the re 
 mainder of the war. 
 
 A peculiarity of the French and Indian War must be noted. For two 
 years it was entirely an American war, not extending to Europe until 1756. 
 For the first time the English colonies acted together. They saw the value of 
 the territory in dispute and were ready to make common cause for its possession. 
 England was inclined to let them do the best they could without help from 
 her. She advised that they form some plan for united action. In accordance 
 with this suggestion, a meeting was held at Albany in 1754, composed of dele 
 gates from Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, and the New England colonies. 
 Benjamin Franklin, the great philosopher, proposed the "Albany plan of 
 Union," which was agreed upon. 
 
 When this was submitted to the king, he saw too much of American inde 
 pendence in it, and promptly rejected it, while the colonies did the same on 
 the ground that it gave the king too much power. There was much significance 
 in this action. 
 
 EXPULSION OF THE CANADIANS. 
 
 It was now so evident that war must soon come that England ana France 
 began sending troops to America. At the same time, the respective govern 
 ments continued to profess diplomatically their strong friendship for each 
 other. In June, 1755, a force consisting of British regulars and colonial troops 
 sailed from Boston and captured the few remaining French forts in Nova 
 
BRADDOCK S MASSACRE. 
 
 81 
 
 Scotia. The inhabitants were gathered together in their churches, placed on 
 ships, and then distributed southward among the English colonies. This act 
 has been often denounced as one unworthy of the British people. 
 
 BRADDOCK S MASSACRE. 
 Among the English officers who arrived in 1755 was General Edward 
 
 Bradd ock. 
 He was brave l\ 
 and skillful, but \ 
 conceited and stub- ( 
 born. When Washing- */" 
 ton, who was one of his * 
 aides, explained to him J 
 the character of the 
 treacherous foes whom 
 he would have to fight 
 and advised him to adopt 
 similar tactics, the English 
 officer insultingly answered 
 that when he felt the need 
 
 of advice from a young Virginian, he would ask for it. He marched toward 
 Fort Duquesne and was within a few miles of the post, when he ran into an am 
 bush and was assailed so vehemently by a force of French and Indians that 
 half his men were killed, the rest put to flight, and himself mortally wounded. 
 Washington and his Virginians, by adopting the Indian style of fighting, 
 checked the pursuit and saved the remainder of the men. 
 
 In the spring of 1756, England and France declared war against each 
 6 
 
 
 BRADDOCK S DEFEAT. 
 
82 INTERCOLONIAL WARS FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 
 
 other and the struggle now involved those two countries. For two years the 
 English, despite their preponderance of forces in America, lost rather than 
 gained ground. Their officers sent across the ocean were a sorry lot, while the 
 French were commanded by Montcalm, a brilliant leader. He concentrated his 
 forces and delivered many effective blows, capturing the forts on the northern 
 border of New York and winning all the Indians to his support. The English 
 fought in detached bodies and were continually defeated. 
 
 ENGLISH SUCCESSES. 
 
 But a change came in 1758, when William Pitt, one of the greatest Eng 
 lishmen in history, was called to the head of the government. He weeded out 
 inefficient officers, replaced them with skillful ones, who, concentrating their 
 
 troops, assailed the French at three import 
 ant points. Louisburg, on Cape Breton 
 Island, which had been captured more than 
 a hundred years before, during King 
 George s War, was again taken by a naval 
 expedition in the summer of 1758. In the 
 autumn, Fort Duquesne was captured with 
 out resistance and named Fort Pitt, in honor 
 L^ of the illustrious prime minister. The single 
 - defeat administered to the English was at 
 Ticonderoga, where Montcalm commanded 
 %^ ~ in person. This was a severe repulse, in 
 which the English lost in the neighborhood 
 
 MARTELLO TOWER ON THE HEIGHTS of 1,000 meil. It Was offset by the 6 
 
 OF ABRAHAM WHERE WOLFE gion of the French from northwestern New 
 
 W Ao JvJ.l_iJ_ilLiL). 
 
 York and the capture of Fort Frontenac, 
 on the present site of Kingston in Canada. 
 
 One wise step of Pitt was in winning the cordial support of the provincials, 
 as the colonists were called, to the British regulars. Our ancestors thus gained 
 a most valuable military training which served them well in the great struggle 
 for independence a few years later. 
 
 WOLFE S GREAT VICTORY. 
 
 The year 1759 brought decisive success to the English. Knowing that 
 they intended to attack Quebec, Montcalm drew in his troops to defend that 
 city. It therefore was an easy matter for the English to capture Ticonderoga, 
 Crown Point, and Fort Niagara. General Wolfe, one of the very ablest of 
 English leaders, left Louisburg with a fleet and sailed up the St. Lawrence. 
 
WOLFE S GREAT VICTORY. 
 
 83 
 
 He found the fortifications of Quebec at so great an elevation that he could make 
 no impression upon them. Three months passed in idle waiting and the 
 besiegers were almost disheartened. Wolfe himself was so distressed by anxiety 
 
 that he fell ill. The saga 
 cious Montcalm could not be 
 induced to cume out and give 
 
 A DUTCH HOUSEHOLD. 
 As seen in the early days in New York. 
 
 battle, and there seemed no 
 way of reaching him. 
 
 But the lion-hearted 
 Wolfe would not be denied. He found a path leading up to the Heights of 
 Abraham, as the plain above was called, and, selecting a mild night in September, 
 his troops floated down the river in their boats and landed at the foot of the cliff. 
 All night long the English soldiers were clambering up the steep path, dragging 
 a few guns with them, and, when the morning sun rose, it shone on the flashing 
 bayonets of the whole army drawn up in battle array before the walls of Quebec. 
 
84 INTERCOLONIAL WARS FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 
 
 The astonished Moiitcalm, instead of remaining within the city, marched 
 his army out and gave battle. In the fight both Wolfe and Moiitcalm were 
 fatally wounded. Wolfe lived long enough to learn that the French were flee 
 ing before his victorious troops. " Now, I can die happy/ lie said, and shortly 
 after expired. "When Moiitcalm was told he must die, he mournfully replied : 
 "So much the better; I shall not live to see the surrender of Quebec." 
 
 MOMENTOUS RESULTS OF THE WAR. 
 
 This battle was one of the decisive ones of the world, for, as will be seen, 
 its results were of momentous importance to mankind. The conquest of Canada 
 followed in 17(30, and the other French forts fairly tumbled into the possession 
 of the English. Pontiac, Chief of the Ottawas, was so angered at the turn of 
 events that he refused to be bound by the terms of the surrender. He brought 
 a number of tribes into an alliance, captured several British posts in the West, 
 and laid siege to Detroit for more than a year, but in the end he was defeated, 
 his confederacy scattered, and Pontiac himself, like Philip, was killed by one 
 of his own race. 
 
 The war was over, so far as America was concerned, but England and 
 France kept it np for nearly three years, fighting on the ocean and elsewhere. 
 In 1702, Spain joined France, but received a telling blow in the same year, 
 when an English expedition captured the city of Havana. In this important 
 event, the provincials gave valuable aid to the British regulars. The colonies 
 also sent out a number of privateers which captured many rich prizes from the 
 Spaniards. 
 
 By 1763, Great Britain had completely conquered France and Spain, and a 
 treaty of peace was signed at Paris. France and Spain agreed to give up all of 
 North America east of the Mississippi, and England ceded Cuba to Spain in ex 
 change for Florida, exchanging Florida in 1783 for the Bahama Islands. The 
 former was a victory for Spanish diplomacy, since Florida was practically worth 
 less to Spain, while Havana, the capital of Cuba, was an enormously wealthy 
 city, and the island possessed marvelous fertility and almost boundless resources. 
 
 France, after her wholesale yielding to England, paid Spain her ally by 
 ceding to her all her possessions west of the Mississippi, including the city of 
 New Orleans. This enormous territory, then known as Louisiana, compre 
 hended everything between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River, from 
 British America to the Gulf of Mexico. In extent it was an empire from which 
 many of the most important States of the Union have been carved. When it 
 is remembered that these changes were the result of a war in which the capture 
 of Quebec was the decisive conflict, it will be admitted that there was ample 
 warrant for pronouncing it one of the great battles of the world. 
 
MOMENTOUS RESULTS OF THE WAR. 
 
 85 
 
 The thirteen original colonies were now "full grown/ Their population 
 had increased to 2,000,000 and was fast growing. Their men had proven their 
 bravery and generalship in the French and Indian War. Many of them had 
 developed into fine officers, and all compared favorably with the British regu 
 lars. Their loyalty to England was proven by the 30,000 lives that had been 
 given that she might conquer her traditional rival and enemy. 
 
 The adventurous spirit of the colonists was shown by the fact that many 
 began crossing the Alleghanies into the fertile district beyond, where they were 
 in continual danger from the fierce Indians. James Robertson led a party of 
 
 MEMORIAL HALL, HARVARD COLLEGE. 
 
 emigrants who made the first settlement in Tennessee in 1768, and the famous 
 Daniel Boone and a company of immigrants were the pioneers in Kentucky in 
 1769. No effort was made to settle the country north of the Ohio until after 
 the Revolution. 
 
 The intellectual progress of the colonies was remarkable. The first print 
 ing press was set up at Cambridge in 1639, and newspapers and books were in 
 general circulation. Harvard College was founded in Massachusetts in 1638 ; 
 William and Mary, in Virginia, in 1692 ; Yale, in Connecticut, in 1700 ; the 
 College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), in 1746 ; the University of 
 Pennsylvania, in 1749; and King s College (now Columbia), in New York, in 
 
86 INTERCOLONIAL WARS FRENCH A XI) INDIAN WAR. 
 
 1754. Much attention was given to education, commerce was greatly extended, 
 the oppressive Navigation Act being generally disregarded, and thousands of 
 citizens were in prosperous circumstances. 
 
 More significant than all else was the growth of the sentiment of unity 
 among the different colonies. Although properly known as provincials, to dis 
 tinguish them from the British, they now, instead of speaking of themselves as 
 New Englanders or Virginians or Englishmen, often substituted the name 
 " Americans." The different colonies were looked upon as members of the 
 same great family, ready to make common cause against a danger threatening 
 any one of them. Some of the bolder ones began to express the thought that it 
 would be a fine thing if they were all independent of the mother country, 
 though for years the sentiment assumed no importance. 
 
 Now was the time for England to display wisdom, justice, and statesman 
 ship toward her subjects in America. 
 Had she treated them as she now treats 
 Canada and Australia and her other col- 
 
 *"^T V; ^SllS "*Sk. I on ^ es t nere never would have been a 
 ^ Kevolution. No doubt in time we should 
 
 have separated from her, but the sepa 
 ration would have been peaceable. 
 
 But while Great Britain has always 
 been immeasurably above Spain in her 
 I treatment of her American subjects, she 
 was almost as foolish, because she 
 chilled the loyalty that had been proven 
 in too many instances to be doubted. 
 The mother country was laboring under 
 the weight of burdensome taxes, and, 
 since the colonies had always been prompt in voting money and supplies as well 
 as men to assist England, Parliament thought she saw a way of shouldering a 
 large part of this burden upon the Americans. Her attempts to do so and the 
 results therefrom properly belong to the succeeding chapter, 
 
 HOME LIFE OF THE COLONISTS. 
 
 A few facts will assist in understanding the events that follow. Slavery, 
 as has been stated, was legal and existed in all the colonies, but climatic con 
 ditions caused it to flourish in the South and decline in the North. All the 
 colonies were Protestant, though religious liberty was permitted everywhere. 
 
 The laws were amazingly strict and would never be submitted to in these 
 times. To illustrate : a watchman in Hartford rang a bell every morning as 
 
 BIBLE BROUGHT OVER IN THE "MAY 
 FLOWER," IN PILGRIM HALL, 
 NEW PLYMOUTH. 
 
HOME LIFE OF THE COLONISTS. 
 
 87 
 
 notice to all adults to rise from their beds. Massachusetts had fourteen and 
 Virginia seventeen offenses that were punishable with death. Some of the 
 minor punishments were unique. If a woman became a common scold, she 
 was placed near her own door, with a gag fastened in her mouth, that all might 
 see and beware of her example. For other offenses, a man was ducked in water 
 or put in the stocks. A stock was a strong framework, through which the feet 
 or both feet and hands were thrust and held fast, while the pillory was a frame 
 work through which the head and hands of a criminal were imprisoned. Be 
 sides the disgrace attending such punishment, it was very trying. The whipping 
 post was quite common long after the Revolution, and it is still occasionally used 
 in Delaware. 
 
 AMERICAN STAGE-COACH OF 1795, FROM " WELD S TRAVELS." 
 
 (Probably similar in form to those of the later colonial period.) 
 
 Men and boys dressed much alike, and the fashions for women and girls 
 were similar. The breeches of the men suggested the present style of knicker 
 bockers, the rich making quite a display of silver buckles and buttons. The 
 breeches of the poorer people were made of coarse cloth, deerskin, or leather, the 
 object being to obtain all the wear possible. The wealthy used velvet, and the 
 men and women were as fond of display as their descendants. 
 
 In the earliest days, all the houses were made of logs, and oiled paper took 
 the place of glass for windows. Carpets were an unknown luxury. Often the 
 floor was the smooth, hard ground. The cooking was done in the big fireplace, 
 
88 INTERCOLONIAL WAR FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 
 
 where an iron arm called a crane was swung over the fire and sustained the 
 pots and kettles. Coal and matches were unknown, a fire being started by 
 means of a piece of steel and flint or with the help of a sun glass. 
 
 Coffee and tea were great luxuries, but nearly every family made its own 
 beer. Rum and hard cider were drunk by church people as well as others, the 
 only fault being when one drank too much. The important cities and towns 
 were connected by stages, but most of the traveling was done on foot or horse 
 back. Since most of the settlements were near the sea or on large rivers, long 
 journeys were made by means of coasting sloops. When a line of stages in 
 1766 made the trip between New York and Philadelphia in two days, it was 
 considered so wonderful that the vehicles were called "flying machines." 
 
 Regarding the state of religion in the colonies, Prof. George F. Holmes 
 says : 
 
 " The state of religion among the people differed greatly in the different 
 provinces. The Church of England was the established religion in New York, 
 Virginia, and the Carolinas. In Maryland, the population remained largely 
 Roman Catholic. In New England the original Puritanism was dominant, but 
 its rigor had become much softened. A solemn and somewhat gloomy piety, 
 however, still prevailed. The Presbyterians were numerous, influential, and 
 earnest in New Jersey. There, but especially in Pennsylvania, were the quiet 
 and gentle Quakers. In Carolina and Georgia, Moravians and other German 
 Protestants were settled, and Huguenot families were frequent in Virginia and 
 South Carolina. 
 
 "Everywhere, however, was found an intermixture of creeds, and conse 
 quently the need of toleration had been experienced. Laxity of morals and of 
 conduct was alleged against the communities of the Anglican Church. In the 
 middle of the eighteenth century a low tone of religious sentiment was general. 
 The revival of fervor, which was incited then by the Wesleys, was widely spread 
 by Whitefield in America, and Methodism was making itself felt throughout the 
 country. The Baptists were spreading in different colonies and were acquiring 
 influence by their earnest simplicity. They favored liberty in all forms and be 
 came warm partisans of the revolutionary movement." 
 
CHAPTER IV, 
 
 THE REVOLUTION THE WAR IN NEW 
 
 ENOLAND. 
 
 Causes of the Revolution The Stamp Act The Boston Tea Party England s Unbearable Measures 
 The First Continental Congress The Boston Massacre Lexington and Concord The Second Con 
 tinental Congress Battle of Bunker Hill Assumption of Command by Washington British 
 Evacuation of Boston Disastrous Invasion of Canada. 
 
 CAUSES OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 ENGLAND was never guilty of greater folly than in the treatment of her 
 American colonies after the close of the French and Indian War. As has been 
 said, she was oppressed by burdensome taxation and began seeking excuse for 
 shifting a large portion of it upon the shoulders of her prosperous subjects 
 across the sea, who had always been ready to vote money and give their sons to 
 help in the wars which were almost solely for the benefit of the mother country. 
 It has been shown that the intercolonial conflicts were of no advantage to the 
 colonies which were dragged into them and suffered greatly therefrom. Since 
 the surrounding territory would soon be necessary for the expansion of the 
 Americans, they had much to gain by the defeat of the French and their expul 
 sion from America; but they had done their full share, and it was unjust to de 
 mand further sacrifices from them. 
 
 PASSAGE OF THE STAMP ACT. 
 
 Hardly had peace been declared, when, in 1764, the British government 
 asserted that it had the right to tax her colonies. The latter paid little atten 
 tion to the declaration, but were rudely awakened in 1765 by the passage of 
 the Stamp Act, which was to go into effect in November of that year. It de 
 creed that thenceforward no newspapers or pamphlets could be printed, no mar 
 riage-certificate given, and no documents used in lawsuits, unless stamps were 
 attached, and these could be bought only from British agents. 
 
 It was ordered further that the oppressive Navigation Acts, which had 
 been evaded for a hundred years, should be rigidly enforced, while soldiers were 
 to be sent to America to see that the orders were carried out. Since these 
 troops were to be paid from the money received for the stamps, it will be seen 
 
 (89) 
 
90 THE REVOLUTION THE WAR IN NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 that the Americans would be obliged to bear the expense of the soldiers quar 
 tered upon them. 
 
 Now we use revenue stamps to-day and no one objects, but the difference 
 in the two cases is that we tax ourselves for our own expenses, and our repre 
 sentatives grade the taxes so as to suit the people. If we do not think the taxes 
 equitable, we can elect other representatives, pledged to change them. But it- 
 must be remembered that we never had a representative in the British Parlia 
 ment, whose English members did just as they pleased. That was " taxation 
 without representation." 
 
 The news of the action of the British government threw the colonies into 
 an angry mood and they vehemently declared their intention to resist the Stamp 
 Act. They did not content themselves with words, but mobbed the stamp 
 agents, compelled others to resign, and, when the date arrived for the act to go 
 into effect, they refused to buy a single obnoxious stamp. 
 
 REPEAL OF THE STAMP ACT. 
 
 The Stamp Act Congress, as it was called, met in New York City, October 
 7, 1765. There were representatives from all the colonies except four, but they 
 supported the others. Lacking the authority to make any laws, it issued a bold 
 declaration of rights and sent petitions to the king and Parliament, setting forth 
 the American grievances. The sturdy resistance of the colonies alarmed Eng 
 land. They had many friends in Parliament, including the illustrious Pitt, 
 and, at the beginning of 1766, the act was repealed. The Americans were so 
 delighted that they almost forgot that England in repealing the act still asserted 
 her right to tax them. 
 
 Several years now followed in which the colonies quietly resisted the efforts 
 of England to tax them. This was done by a general agreement not to buy 
 any of the articles upon which taxes were laid. The men who did this and 
 opposed the mother country were known as Whigs, while those who stood by 
 England were called Tories. 
 
 DEFIANT ACTS BY THE AMERICANS. 
 
 But violence was sure to follow where the indignation was so intense and 
 widespread. There were continual broils between the British soldiers and citi 
 zens, the most serious of which occurred in Boston on March 5, 1770, when the 
 soldiers fired upon the citizens who had attacked them, killed three and wounded 
 several. This incident, known in history as the " Boston Massacre," added to 
 the mutual anger. In North Carolina, William Tryon, the Tory Governor, had 
 a battle with the patriots at Alamance in 1771, killed a large number, and 
 treated others so brutally that many fled across the mountains and helped to 
 
ENGLAND S UNBEARABLE MEASURES 
 
 91 
 
 settle Tennessee. In 1772, a British vessel, the Gaspe, which was active in col 
 lecting duties from Providence, was captured and burned by a number of Rhode 
 Island people. England offered a reward for the capture of the " rebels," but, 
 though they were well known, no one would have dared, if so disposed, to arrest 
 them. 
 
 THE BOSTON TEA PARTY. 
 
 The British Parliament was impatient with the colonies, and threatened all 
 sorts of retaliatory measures. In 1770, Parliament took the tax off of all articles 
 except tea, upon which it was made 
 so light that the luxury was cheaper 
 in America with the tax than in Eng 
 land without it. The Americans, 
 however, were contending for a prin 
 ciple, and contemptuously rejected the 
 offer. When the tea ships reached 
 Charleston, the cargoes were stored 
 in damp cellars, where they soon mold 
 ed and spoiled. At New York, Phil 
 adelphia, and other points they would 
 not allow the ships to land their car 
 goes, and they sailed back to Eng 
 land. A similar reception having 
 been given the vessels in Boston, the 
 British officers refused to leave the 
 harbor. Late at night, December 16, 
 1773, a party of citizens, painted and 
 disguised as Indians, boarded the ship- 
 and emptied 342 chests all on board 
 into the harbor. 
 
 The "Boston Tea Party" thrilled 
 the colonies and exhausted the pa 
 tience of England, who felt that the time for stern measures had come. Her 
 dallying course had only encouraged the rebels, and as in the story, having tried 
 in vain the throwing of grass, she now determined to see what virtue there was 
 
 in using stones. 
 
 ENGLAND S UNBEARABLE MEASURES. 
 
 The measures which she passed and which were unbearable were : 1. The 
 Boston Port Bill, which forbade all vessels to leave or enter Boston harbor. 
 This was a death-blow to Boston commerce and was meant as a punishment of 
 those who were leaders in the revolt against the mother country. 2. The Mas- 
 
 THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH, BOSTON. 
 An immense assemblage gathered here on the evening of Dec. 
 16, 1773, and stirring addresses were made by Josiah Quincy and 
 Samuel Adams. The " Boston Tea Party " followed. 
 
92 THE REVOLUTION THE WAR IN NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 sachusetts Bill, which was another destructive blow at the colony, since it 
 changed its charter by taking away the right of self-government and placing it 
 in the hands of the agents of the king. 3. The Transportation Bill, which 
 ordered that all soldiers charged with the crime of murder should be taken 
 to England for trial. 4. The Quebec Act, which made the country east of the 
 Mississippi and north of the Ohio a part of Canada. These acts were to be 
 enforced by the sending of troops to America. 
 
 THE FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. 
 
 The result of the passage of these harsh measures was to unite all the colo 
 nies in a determination to resist them to the last. The necessity for consulta 
 tion among the leaders was so apparent that, in response to a general call, the 
 First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia, September 5, 1774, all the colo 
 nies being represented except Georgia, which favored the action. 
 
 This Congress adopted a declaration of rights, asserting that they alone 
 were empowered to tax themselves, and it named a number of acts of Parliament 
 that were a direct invasion of such rights. An address was sent to the king 
 and to the people of Great Britain, but none to Parliament, which had deeply 
 offended the Americans. The agreement known as the Articles of Association 
 pledged our ancestors not to buy goods or sell them to Great Britain until the 
 obnoxious acts were repealed by Parliament. It declared further that, if force 
 was used against Massachusetts by England, all the other colonies would help 
 her in resisting it. Before adjournment, a new Congress was called to meet in 
 the following May. 
 
 The language of the First Continental Congress sounds bold, but the people 
 themselves were bolder. Companies of armed men began drilling everywhere, 
 and the Americans were eager for a conflict with the detested " red coats." The 
 excitement was more intense in Massachusetts than anywhere else, and it was 
 plain that the opening gun of the impending Revolution would be fired upon 
 her soil. The affairs of the colony were directed by a provincial congress, 
 which collected a quantity of guns and ammunition, and ordered the enrollment 
 of 20,000 "minute men," w r ho were to hold themselves ready to answer any call 
 at a minute s notice. 
 
 General Gage was the British commander in Boston, and he was so alarmed 
 by the aggressive acts of the Americans that he began to throw up fortifications 
 on the neck of land connecting the town with the mainland. His alert spies 
 notified him that the Americans had collected a quantity of military supplies 
 which were stored at Concord, some twenty miles from Boston. Gage ordered 
 800 troops to march secretly to Concord and destroy them. 
 
 Guarded as were the movements of the British, the Americans were equally 
 
BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 93 
 
 watchful and discovered them. Paul Revere dashed out of the town on a swift 
 horse and spread the news throughout the country. In the gray light of the 
 early morning, April 19, 1775, as the soldiers marched into Lexington, on the 
 way to Concord beyond, they saw some fifty minute men gathered on the village 
 green. Major Pitcairn ordered them to disperse, and they refusing to do so, a 
 volley was fired. Eight Americans were killed and a large number wounded, 
 the others fleeing before the overwhelming force. Thus was the shot fired that 
 "was heard round the world." 
 
 The British advanced to Concord, destroyed the stores there, and then began 
 their return to Boston. All the church bells were ringing and the minute men 
 were swarming around the troops from every direction. They kept up a con 
 tinuous fire upon the soldiers from behind barns, 
 houses, hedges, fences, bushes, and from the open 
 fields. The soldiers broke into a run, but every 
 one would have been shot down had not Gage sent 
 reinforcements, which protected the exhausted fu 
 gitives until they reached a point where they were 
 under the guns of the men-of-war. In this first 
 real conflict of the war, the Americans lost 88 and 
 the British 273 in killed, wounded, and missing. 
 General Gage was now besieged in Boston by the 
 ardent minute men, who in the flush of their patri 
 otism were eager for the regulars to come out and 
 give them a chance for a battle. Men mounted on 
 swift horses rode at headlong speed through the " PATRICK HENRY, 
 
 America s greatest orator ; member of the 
 
 colonies, spreading the stirring news, and hundreds 
 
 of patriots hurried to Boston that they might take part in the war for their 
 rights. Elsewhere, the fullest preparations were made for the struggle for inde 
 pendence which all felt had opened. 
 
 As agreed upon, the Second Continental Congress assembled in Philadel 
 phia, May 10, 1775. It included some of the ablest men in America, such as 
 George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, Richard Henry Lee, 
 and Peyton Randolph, of Virginia ; Benjamin Franklin and Robert Morris, of 
 Pennsylvania ; John Adams, Samuel Adams, and John Hancock, of Massachu 
 setts ; John Jay, of New York ; and Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth, of 
 Connecticut. The former Congress had talked ; the present acted. By general 
 consent it was accepted as the governing body of the colonies. The forces 
 around Boston were declared to be a Continental army, money was voted to 
 support it, and Washington was appointed its commander. 
 
 Meanwhile, British reinforcements under Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne 
 
94 
 
 THE REVOLUTION THE WAR IN NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 arrived in Boston, swelling Gage s army to 10,000 men. They occupied the 
 town, on the peninsula which covers the middle of the harbor, while around 
 them on the hills of the mainland was a larger force of Americans, without uni 
 forms, poorly clothed, badly armed and undisciplined, but overflowing with 
 patriotism. 
 
 A little to the north of Boston 
 the harbor. It has several eleva 
 the patriots determined to seize 
 a thousand men set out one dark 
 lieving Breed s Hill more de 
 he set his men to work upon that, 
 euphonious than "Breed s," and 
 by the former name. Upon it has 
 ment.) 
 
 a second peninsula extended into 
 dons, one of which, Bunker Hill, 
 and fortify. Colonel Fresco tt with 
 night to perform the task, but, be- 
 sirable, since it was nearer Boston, 
 (The name "Bunker" is more 
 the latter is now generally known 
 been built the Bunker Hill Monu- 
 
 
 Although close to the 
 ricans toiled through the 
 When the sun rose June 
 Boston were astonished to 
 mente extending across the 
 Americans still working 
 tinned without interruption 
 ish were seen coming across 
 were the regulars, finely 
 ed nearly 3,000, who, land 
 formed in fine order and 
 against the 1,500 patriots, 
 behind their intrench 
 It was about the middle 
 British columns marched 
 a heavy fire of cannon and 
 commanding the right 
 roofs of Boston swarmed 
 watching the thrilling 
 been fired and four him 
 ashes. 
 
 The Americans behind their breastworks were impatient to open fire, but 
 Prescott restrained them until they could " see the whites of the eyes " of their 
 enemies. Then in a loud, clear voice he shouted "Fire!" There was an 
 outflame of musketry along the front of the intrenchments, and scores of troops 
 in the first rank fell. The others hesitated a moment, and then turned and fled 
 
 
 THE MONUMENT ON 
 BUNKER HILL. 
 
 British sentinels, the Ame- 
 l night without discovery. 
 17, 1775, the enemy in 
 see a line of in trench- 
 hill above them, with the 
 like beavers. They con- 
 until noon, when the Brit- 
 j the harbor in boats. They 
 I disciplined, and number- 
 [ ing near Charlestown, 
 ! advanced with precision 
 jj eagerly waiting for them 
 1 ments. 
 
 \ of the afternoon that the 
 to the attack, covered by 
 howitzers, Howe himself 
 wing. The steeples and 
 with people, breathlessly 
 sight. Charlestown had 
 dred of its houses laid in 
 
BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. 95 
 
 down the slope. There their officers formed them into line, and once more they 
 advanced up the slope. The delay gave the Americans time to reload, and they 
 received the troops with the same withering fire as before, sending them scurry 
 ing to the bottom of the hill, where with great difficulty the daring officers 
 formed them into line for a third advance. The British cannon had been 
 brought to bear, and the ships and batteries maintained a furious cannonade. 
 The patriots were compelled to withdraw from the breastwork outside the fort, 
 and the redoubt was attacked at the same moment from three sides. The spec 
 tators were confident of seeing the invaders hurled back again, but saw to their 
 dismay a slackening of the fire of the Americans, while the troops, rushing over 
 the intrenchments, fought with clubbed muskets. 
 
 At the very moment victory was within the grasp of the patriots, their 
 recklessly fired ammunition gave out, and they began sullenly retreating, fighting 
 with clubbed weapons. As it was, their retreat would have been cut off, had 
 not a company of provincials checked the British until the main body of Ameri 
 cans had fallen back. The battle of Bunker Hill was over and ended with the 
 defeat of the patriots, who had lost 150 killed, 270 wounded, and 30 taken pris 
 oners. General Gage gave his loss as 224 killed and 830 wounded. Among the 
 killed was Major Pitcairn, the leader of the English troops who fired upon the 
 minute men at Lexington. The American Colonel Prescott had his clothing 
 torn to shreds by bayonet thrusts, but was not hurt. A British officer, recog 
 nizing the brilliant Warren, snatched a musket from the hands of a soldier and 
 shot him dead. 
 
 Prescott and Putnam conducted the retreat by way of Charlestown Neck 
 to Prospect Hill, where new intrenchments commanding Boston were thrown 
 up. The British fortified the crest of Breed s Hill. General Gage, in report 
 ing the affair to his government, used the following impressive language : 
 
 "The success, which was very necessary in our present condition, cost us 
 dear. The number of killed and wounded is greater than our forces can afford 
 to lose. We have lost some extremely good officers. The trials we have had 
 show the rebels are not the despicable rabble too many have supposed them to 
 be, and I find it owing to a military spirit encouraged among them for a few 
 years past, joined with uncommon zeal and enthusiasm. They intrench and 
 raise batteries ; they have engineers. They have fortified all the heights and 
 passes around the town, which it is not impossible for them to occupy. The 
 conquest of this country is not easy ; you have to cope with vast numbers. In 
 all their wars against the French, they never showed so much conduct, atten 
 tion, and perseverance as they do now. I think it my duty to let you know 
 the situation of affairs." 
 
 General Washington, accompanied by his aide, Mifflin, Joseph Keed, his 
 
96 
 
 THE REVOLUTION THE WAR IN NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 military secretary, and General Lee, arrived at Cambridge, July 2, 1775. He 
 was joyfully welcomed, and he and his companions remained for a few days the 
 
 guests of President Langdon of Harvard 
 College. On the 3th of July, Wash 
 ington s commission was read to a part 
 of the army and to the provincial con 
 gress of Massachusetts, and he assumed 
 
 command of 
 the Continen 
 tal forces. 
 
 A prodig 
 ious task con 
 fronted him. 
 The undisci 
 plined and 
 wretchedly 
 clad swarm 
 came and went 
 as they chose, 
 none having 
 
 o 
 
 enlisted for 
 more than a 
 brief term. 
 About 2,000 
 were sick or 
 absent on fur 
 lough, out of a 
 total of 16,771 
 soldiers. Sev 
 eral thousand 
 more were 
 needed to re 
 sist the attack 
 that it was be 
 lieved the ene 
 my would soon 
 
 But the British had received so severe treatment that it required weeks 
 for them to recover, and the summer became oppressively hot. England recalled 
 Gage, who sailed for home in October, and was succeeded by Howe. Washing 
 ton closely besieged the enemy in Boston. Throwing up intrenchments, he 
 
 NOMINATION OF WASHINGTON AS COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF 
 THE CONTINENTAL ARMY. 
 
BRITISH EVACUATION OF BOSTON. 
 
 97 
 
 steadily approached the city, and day by day and week by week the situation 
 of Howe became more critical. When winter arrived, Washington formed the 
 plan of crossing Charles Eiver on the ice, but at a council of war the majority of 
 officers declared the scheme too hazardous. 
 
 Washington now decided to fortify and occupy Dorchester Heights, which 
 would command the city and in a large degree the harbor. General Knox 
 brought a number of cannon from Ticonderoga, that were dragged over the 
 Green Mountains on sleds. Their arrival did much to cheer the spirits of the 
 patriots, who numbered about 14,000. The commander called upon Massachu 
 setts to furnish him with 
 6,000 militia, wjiich was 
 partly done. 
 
 With a view of con 
 cealing his real purpose, 
 Washington kept up a 
 bombardment of the British 
 
 
 FANEUIL HALL, BOSTON, "THE CRADLE OF LIBERTY." 
 
 lines throughout the nights of March 2, 3, and 4, 1776. On the night last 
 named, General Thomas moved with 1,200 men from Roxbury and took posses 
 sion undetected of the higher hill which commanded Nook s Hill, nearer the 
 city. General Howe was amazed the next morning when he saw what had been 
 done, for his position had become untenable. Preparations were made to em 
 bark men in boats and attack the Americans, but a violent storm prevented. 
 Then it was agreed that but one thing could be done, and that was to evacuate 
 Boston. 
 
 The evacuation took place March 17th. The British destroyed a great deal 
 
 7 
 
98 THE REVOLUTION THE WAR IN NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 of property, but left many supplies behind which fell into the hands of the 
 Americans. Washington entered the city on the 19th, the main body of troops 
 following the next day. The street through which he rode still bears his name. 
 The Massachusetts Legislature voted their thanks to the great man, and Congress 
 ordered a commemorative medal in gold and bronze to be struck. This medal 
 is now in the possession of the Massachusetts Historical Society. 
 
 When Howe sailed away, he took with him more than a thousand Tories, 
 who dared not remain behind and meet their indignant countrymen. Instead 
 of going to New York, as he originally intended, the British commander went 
 to Halifax, where he waited for reinforcements and gave his thoughts to forming 
 campaigns for the conquest of the colonies. 
 
 DISASTROUS INVASION OF CANADA. 
 
 While the siege of Boston was in progress, the Americans fixed upon a 
 plan for the invasion of Canada. The mistake, which has been repeated more 
 than once, was in believing that the Canadians, if given the opportunity, would 
 make common cause against Great Britain. General Philip Schuyler was placed 
 in command of the expedition, but fell ill, and Richard Montgomery, the second 
 in command, took charge. He was a valiant Irishman, who had done brilliant 
 service in the British army, and was full of ardor for the American cause. 
 
 In several unimportant skirmishes, his men were so insubordinate and 
 cowardly that he was disgusted, and expressed his regret that he had ever taken 
 command of such a lot of troops. Nevertheless, he pressed on from Ticon- 
 deroga, while Schuyler at Albany used every effort to forward him supplies. 
 St. John was invested, and the impetuous Ethan Allen, one of his officers, 
 hastened to Chambly to raise a force of Canadians. He recruited nearly a 
 hundred, and, being joined by a few Americans, set out to capture Montreal. 
 The promised reinforcements did not reach him, and, being attacked by a pow 
 erful force, he made the best defense he could, but was finally compelled to 
 surrender, with all of his men who had not escaped. Allen was sent to England, 
 where he was held a prisoner for a long time. 
 
 The British fort at Chambly was besieged, and surrendered October 18th. 
 With its capture, the Americans secured six tons of powder and seventeen 
 cannon. The fort of St. John was captured November 3d. By that time, Carle- 
 ton, the British commander, was so alarmed that he abandoned Montreal, which 
 surrendered on the 20th. Taking possession, Montgomery issued a proclama 
 tion, urging the Canadians to unite with the colonies in the war for independ 
 ence, and to elect representatives to the Continental Congress. 
 
 Benedict Arnold, at the head of eleven hundred men, had withdrawn from 
 the camp before Boston, September 13th, and was pressing forward to join Mont- 
 
DISASTROUS INVASION OF CANADA. 99 
 
 gomery. His course was up the Kennebec, through the gloomy wilderness to 
 the Chaudiere, down which he passed to Point Levi. The journey was of the 
 most trying nature. The weather became bitterly cold, and the stream was too 
 swift at times for them to make headway against it, except by wading the chilly 
 current and slowly dragging the boats against it. At other places, even this 
 was impossible, and the heavy boats had to be laboriously carried around the 
 falls and rapids. 
 
 Finally the time came to leave the river and plunge into the snowy forests, 
 where all would have been lost, had not a small party, sent in advance, " blazed " 
 the trees. There was plenty of ice in the swamps, but none was strong enough 
 to bear their weight, and they sank through to their knees in the half-frozen 
 ooze. Toiling doggedly forward, a month passed before they reached Duck 
 River, by which time they were in a starving condition. Their provisions gave 
 out, and they ate dogs and candles. Some, in their extremity, chewed boiled 
 moccasins for the infinitesimal nourishment to be extracted from them. Roots 
 and the bark of saplings were devoured, and the wonderful courage of Arnold 
 was all that prevented the men from throwing themselves on the ground and 
 giving up. So many fell ill and died that Colonel Enos, in command of the 
 rear division, turned about with his men and returned to Cambridge. 
 
 Nothing, however, could shake the dauntless courage of Arnold. He 
 pushed on, and, obtaining a few cattle, was able to give his men temporary relief. 
 Winter was closing in, the weather was growing colder every day, many men 
 were barefoot, and without any protection against the icy rain except the branches 
 of the leafless trees. The wonder is that the whole band did riot perish. 
 
 Finally on the 4th of November, the famishing band caught sight of the 
 first house they had seen in weeks. Traveling now became better, and about a 
 week later they reached Point Levi, opposite Quebec. There they had to wait 
 several days to procure canoes, with which the seven hundred men, resembling 
 so many shivering tramps, crossed the St. Lawrence and huddled together under 
 the Heights of Abraham. 
 
 What earthly hope could such a body of men, without cannon, with injured 
 muskets and powder, and cartridges partly spoiled, have in attacking the walled 
 town of Quebec ? None, unless the Canadians made common cause with them. 
 Following the steep path up which Wolfe and his brave men had climbed seven 
 teen years before, the gaunt Americans struggled after their intrepid leader. 
 
 The next act in the grim comedy was to send forward a flag of truce with 
 a demand for the surrender of Quebec. General Carleton must have smiled at 
 the grotesqueness of the proceeding, when he sent back a refusal. A few shots 
 followed, when Arnold, finding lie had not half a dozen rounds of ammunition 
 apiece for his men, and was in danger of being attacked himself, retreated to a 
 
100 THE REVOLUTION THE WAR IN NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 point twenty miles below Quebec, where Montgomery joined him on the 1st of 
 December and assumed command. 
 
 The Americans now numbered 3,000, and had six fieldpieces and five light 
 mortars. They set out for Quebec, in front of which they encamped four days 
 later. 
 
 Of all the series of disastrous invasions of Canada, none was more dismal 
 and pathetic than that of Montgomery and Arnold. The winter was unusually 
 severe for a region which is noted for its intensely cold weather. The ground 
 froze to the hardness of a rock, and, unable to make any impression in it with 
 shovel and pick, the besiegers threw up walls of ice, which the cannon of the 
 defenders sent flying into thousands of fragments. The men grew mutinous, 
 and, realizing the desperate situation, Montgomery ordered an assault to be 
 made on the last day of the year. 
 
 The plan was for the first division under Montgomery to move down the 
 river and attack the lower town near the citadel, while the second division under 
 Arnold was to pass around the city to the north, assault by way of the St. 
 Charles, and unite with Montgomery in his attack upon the Prescott gate. The 
 other two divisions were to remain in the rear of the upper town and divert the 
 garrison by feint attacks. 
 
 A blinding snowstorm was raging and the men could hardly distinguish 
 one another. Success depended upon surprise, but the defenders had learned of 
 the intended attack, and Montgomery had hardly started when the battery 
 delivered a fire which instantly killed him and both his aides. Their deaths , 
 threw his men into a panic, and they fled in such haste that they escaped the* 
 fate of their leaders. 
 
 Meanwhile, Arnold had moved, as agreed upon, with his division along 
 the St. Charles, the men bending their heads to the icy blast and protecting 
 their muskets under their coats. As soon as the garrison caught sight of the 
 dim figures they opened fire, but the Americans pressed on and carried the first 
 barricade. Arnold, however, received a severe wound in the leg, and, suffering 
 great pain, was carried to the rear. Daniel Morgan, one of the bravest officers 
 of the Revolution, succeeded to the command, and, with his riflemen at his heels, 
 was the first to climb the ladders placed against the barricade. Two musket- 
 balls grazed the leader s face, which was scorched by the flash, and he was 
 knocked down ; but he instantly sprang to his feet and called upon his men to 
 follow him. They did so with such dash that the enemy took refuge in the 
 houses on both sides of the street. 
 
 But for the disaster that had overtaken Montgomery, Quebec probably 
 would have been captured, but Morgan s command was in darkness, the driving 
 enow interfered with tiring, and they knew nothing of the town. Only a few 
 
DISASTROUS INVASION OF CANADA. 
 
 101 
 
 of the troops found the next barricade, and, when they climbed the ladders, 
 were confronted by leveled muskets whose lire was very destructive. Not only 
 
 ST. PAUL S CHURCH, NEW YORK, WHERE MONTGOMERY WAS BURIED. 
 
 that, but the British, who had taken refuge in the houses in the streets, kept up 
 
 their firing. 
 
 The Americans fought for a long time with the greatest heroism, but after 
 
102 THE REVOLUTION THE WAR IN NEW ENGLAND. 
 
 the loss of sixty, the remainder, with the exception of a few that had fled, were 
 obliged to surrender. The fragments of the helpless army fell again under the 
 command of the wounded Arnold, who, despite the hopelessness of the attempt, 
 still pressed the siege of Quebec. He had sent an urgent message to Schuyler 
 for reinforcements. They straggled through the wintry forests to his aid, some 
 3,000 arriving in the course of the winter. Carleton, who was too wise to ven 
 ture out on the plain as Montcalm had done, felt secure behind the walls, and 
 gave little heed to the ragged swarm huddled together in front of the town. 
 
 General Wooster brought fresh troops in March and assumed command. 
 He lacked military skill, and two months later was succeeded by General 
 Thomas. The latter saw that he had no more than a thousand effective troops 
 under his control, and decided to withdraw the ill-starred expedition. Carle- 
 ton, who had received large reinforcements, attacked him on his retreat and 
 captured a hundred prisoners and nearly all the stores. The sufferings of the 
 Americans were now aggravated by smallpox, which broke out among them 
 and caused many deaths, General Thomas being one of the victims. General 
 Sullivan succeeded him in command. He lost a number of prisoners and re 
 treated to Ticonderoga and Crown Point, thus bringing the disastrous expedition 
 to a close in the month of June, 1776. 
 
 It is proper that tribute should be given to the humanity of Carleton, the 
 British commander. He caused search to be made in the snow for the body of 
 Montgomery, and, when it was found, it was brought into the city and buried 
 with the honors of war. Other parties scoured the woods for the suffering 
 Americans, who were placed in the hospital and received tender care. Those 
 who voluntarily came in were allowed to go as soon as they were strong enough 
 to travel, and to the needy ones Carleton furnished money. A half-century 
 later the remains of Montgomery were brought to New York and deposited 
 beneath the monument in St. Paul s churchyard. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 REVOLUTION (CONTINUKD). THK WAR IN 
 THE MIDDLK STATKS AND ON THK SKA. 
 
 Declaration of Independence The American Flag Battle of Long Island Washington s Retreat Through 
 the Jerseys Trenton and Princeton In Winter Quarters Lafayette Brandywine and Germantown 
 At Valley Forge Burgoyne s Campaign Fort Schuyler and Bennington Bemis Heights and 
 Stillwater The Conway Cabal Aid from France Battle of Monmouth Molly Pitcher Failure of 
 French Aid Massacre at Wyoming Continental Monej 7 Stony Point Treason of Arnold Paul 
 Jones Great Victory. 
 
 DIFFERENT THEATRES OF WAR. 
 
 THE Revolution, beginning in New England, gradually moved southward. 
 After the first few conflicts it passed into the Middle States, which for nearly 
 three years became the theatre of the war. Then it shifted to the South, which 
 witnessed its triumphant close. 
 
 It has been shown that, despite this change of scene, the colonies were 
 ardently united from the beginning in the struggle for independence. It should 
 be remembered, however, that, for a considerable time after the beginning of 
 actual fighting, the Americans were not struggling so much to gain their liberty 
 as to compel England to do them justice. But for the stubbornness of George 
 III., who at times was insane, the reasonable prayers of the patriots would have 
 been granted, and our ancestors would have been retained as subjects of the 
 crown. 
 
 But the most far-seeing of Americans comprehended the inevitable end, 
 which must be subjection to tyranny or independence. The trend of events so 
 
 (103) 
 
104 
 
 WAR IN THE MIDDLE STATES AND ON SEA. 
 
 clearly indicated this that steps were taken looking toward the utter and final 
 separation of the colonies from the mother country. 
 
 Congress was still in session in Philadelphia, and early in June the ques 
 tion of declaring American independence was brought forward by Richard 
 Henry Lee, of Virginia, who 
 seconded by John Adams, of 
 the colonies free and indepen 
 was of so momentous impor 
 long and earnestly by the 
 there was no doubt that definite 
 place, a committee was appointed 
 tion of Independence. The mem 
 ferson, John Adams, Benjamin 
 
 man, and R. R. Livingston. 
 
 the work of Thomas Jefferson, 
 
 members being so slight that it 
 
 introduced a resolution, 
 Massachusetts, declaring 
 dent States. The matter 
 tance that it was debated 
 able members, but since 
 action would soon take 
 to draw up the Declara- 
 bers were Thomas Jef- 
 Franklin, Roger Slier- 
 immortal document was 
 the assistance of the other 
 is not worth mention. 
 
 INDEPENDENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 (Washington s statue in front.) 
 
 The debate over the Declaration, after it was read to Congress, was earnest, 
 and considerable difference of opinion developed, but on the 4th of July it was 
 adopted and signed by every member present, excepting one, while the absent 
 delegates afterward attached their signatures. Thornton, the member from New 
 
THE AMERICAN FLAG. 
 
 105 
 
 Hampshire, signed it precisely four months after its adoption. John Hancock, 
 being President of the Congress, placed his name first in his large, bold hand, 
 and it appropriately stands by itself. 
 
 As soon as the Declaration was adopted, it was ordered that copies of it 
 should be sent to the various assemblies, conventions, and committees or councils 
 of safety, to the commanding officers of the Continental troops, and that it 
 should be proclaimed in each of the United States and at the head of the army. 
 
 It was received everywhere with delight. Bells were rung, bonfires kin 
 dled, and eloquent addresses 
 made. The old Liberty 
 Bell, still carefully preserved 
 in Independence Hall, sent 
 out its note over the city and 
 across the Delaware. How 
 appropriate is the inscription 
 on the bell, cast many years 
 before anyone dreamed of 
 the American Revolution: 
 " Proclaim liberty through 
 out all the land unto all the 
 inhabitants thereof." 
 
 THE AMERICAN FLAG. 
 
 Now that the nation was 
 3orn, it required a flag under 
 which to fight for its inde- 
 pendence. Various patterns 
 d been used. The one 
 irst raised over the Ameri 
 can troops at Boston con 
 tained thirteen stripes, as at 
 present, but, in place of 
 
 THE LIBERTY BELL, AS EXHIBITED AT THE NEW 
 ORLEANS EXPOSITION. 
 
 white stars in a blue field, 
 
 it displayed a union of the crosses of St. Andrew and 8t George. Numerous 
 designs were submitted to Congress, but the first recognized Continental standard 
 |as that raised by Washington, January 2, 1776. By resolution of Congress, 
 June 14, 1777, this was replaced by the pattern as it is to-day, excepting in the 
 number of stars. The rule is that whenever a new State is admitted to the 
 Union its representative star shall appear in the blue field of the banner on 
 the 4th of July following its admission. 
 
106 WAR IN THE MIDDLE STATES AND ON SEA. 
 
 Despite the enthusiasm with which the Declaration of Independence was 
 received everywhere, the affairs of the States (as they must now be called) were 
 by no means encouraging. Montgomery and Arnold were engaged upon their 
 disastrous invasion of Canada, and the city of New York was in grave peril 
 from the enemy. Moreover, England was not to be frightened by the Declara 
 tion of Independence. The angered king and Parliament put forth more 
 strenuous efforts than before to conquer their rebellious subjects. 
 
 GENERAL LEE IN NEW YORK. 
 
 When Washington entered Boston after the British evacuation, he immedi 
 ately sent six of his best regiments to New York, which he was convinced would 
 soon be attacked. General Charles Lee had been placed in command there and 
 Washington intended to follow. The people in New York were alive to their 
 danger and Lee did his utmost to strengthen the defenses. An intrenched 
 camp was laid out on Columbia Heights, on the Brooklyn side, to guard the 
 town against an attack from the sea, and another intrenched camp was erected 
 on the New York side, between Fulton and Wall Streets. This was named Fort 
 Stirling and was an important position, since it permitted the batteries to sweep 
 the channel, or, in case of the occupation of the city by an enemy, they could be 
 bombarded. A fort was built opposite Hell Gate to defend an approach by way 
 of the Sound, while works were placed below Canal Street to cover the river. 
 There were no fortifications, however, on the Jersey shore. 
 
 Lee ruled with a high hand in New York, showing no consideration to the 
 Tories and making himself highly popular with the revolutionary party. Hav 
 ing been placed in command of the southern department, he left New York, and 
 Lord Stirling (an American who inherited his title) succeeded him. He put 
 forth every effort to make the city impregnable, following the advice and orders 
 of Washington, who knew the necessity of such rigorous measures. 
 
 BRAVE DEFENSE OF CHARLESTON. 
 
 The British plan of campaign was to capture the city of New York, over 
 run the State, push the war in the South, and invade the Northern States from 
 Canada. The South Carolinans, as soon as they heard the news of Lexington, 
 began fortifying the harbor of Charleston. These included the barricading of 
 the streets, in case of the capture of the harbor defenses. General Lee, as soon 
 as he arrived, inspected the defenses and gave it as his opinion that they were 
 not strong enough to resist the British fleet and the forts would be knocked into 
 ruins. 
 
 " Then," said Colonel Moultrie, " we ll fight behind the ruins." 
 
 " You have no means of retreat." 
 
SERGEANT JASPER S EXPLOIT. 
 
 107 
 
 " Since we shall not retreat, no means are needed." 
 
 Lee, although still apprehensive, yielded to the bravery of the defenders 
 and agreed to do his utmost to assist them in their defense. 
 
 On the 17th of June, ,_^ 2,500 British troops 
 
 landed with the inten 
 Sullivan s Island, but 
 too deep. Delays fol 
 the fleet under Admiral 
 on the fort. The pal 
 was composed were the 
 since they were too 
 and seemed to absorb the 
 against them. The re 
 wrought great havoc 
 the battle raged fiercely 
 When everything 
 blinding smoke, the flag 
 away by a cannon ball, 
 when Sergeant William 
 
 tion of wading across to 
 found the supposed ford 
 lowed, and on the 28th 
 Parker opened the attack 
 metto logs of which it 
 best possible material, 
 spongy to be shattered, 
 ponderous balls hurled 
 turn fire of the garrison 
 among the vessels, and 
 for hours. 
 
 was obscured by the 
 staff of the fort was cut 
 It had scarcely fallen, 
 Jasper sprang through 
 
 TIE STATUE OF LIBERTY ON GOVERNOR S ISLAND, IN NEW YORK HARBOR. 
 
 (Presented to the United States by Bartholdi.) 
 
 one of the embrasures, caught up the flag, climbed the wall amid a frightful 
 fire, waved it defiantly at the enemy, fastened it to a pike, fixed it in place, and 
 then coolly leaped down among his comrades. 
 
 That night Admiral Parker withdrew his fleet, having lost more than two 
 
108 WAR IN THE MIDDLE STATES AND ON SEA. 
 
 hundred in killed and wounded, while of the Americans only ten had been killed 
 and twenty-nine wounded. The triumph of the patriots was absolute, and General 
 Lee in a letter to Washington wrote that he was enraptured by the coolness and 
 bravery of the defenders. In honor of the gallant conduct of Colonel Moultrie, 
 the fort was given his name, and the whole country was inspired by what was 
 certainly one of the most remarkable achievements of the Revolution. 
 
 AN UNSATISFACTORY SITUATION. 
 
 The progress of the war, however, was less satisfactory in the North. On 
 the same day that the British attacked Fort Moultrie, a part of the fleet from 
 Nova Scotia appeared off Sandy Hook, with the purpose of attacking the city. 
 Before Lee left for the South, he expressed the opinion that no fleet could cap 
 ture it, but Washington, after arriving and inspecting the defenses, failed to 
 share his confidence, and strengthened the works in every way possible. 
 
 Believing Governor s Island a place of strategic importance, General Put 
 nam had seized it before the arrival of Washington, and threw up a number of 
 breastworks, occupying also Red Hook on Long Island. Then Paulus Hook 
 (now Jersey City) was fortified and hulks were sunk in the channel between 
 Governor s Island and the Battery. The erection of Fort Lee, up the Hudson, 
 was begun during the summer, on the Palisades, while Fort Washington was 
 built on the New York side. By the time the fleet arrived, about a hundred 
 cannon and mortars were ready for service. 
 
 GENERAL HOWE S FIRST MOVE. 
 
 Governor Tryon, formerly of North Carolina, was now Governor of New 
 York and a bitter Tory. There were thousands who thought like him, and 
 they welcomed General Howe, whose intention was to land on Long Island, but 
 the strong defenses of the Americans caused him to disembark his troops on 
 Staten Island. Admiral Howe, brother of the general, arrived soon after, and, 
 in August, the Hessians swelled the British force to 32,000 men. The Hessians 
 were natives of Hesse-Cassel, Germany, and were hired by England. De Heis- 
 ter, their commander, was a veteran of many campaigns, and they formed fully 
 one-fourth of the enemy s forces. Compared with this formidable array, the 
 Americans presented a pitiful plight. They were scarcely one-half as numer 
 ous, were poorly armed and disciplined, most of them without uniforms, while 
 many were lacking in courage, as their commander was to learn to his cost. 
 
 General Howe s first move was to send two ships and three tenders up the 
 Hudson, aiming to cut off Washington s communication with the country and 
 Canada. At the same time, he wished to take soundings of the river and 
 encourage the Tories, who were more plentiful than would be supposed. Several 
 
AMERICAN DEFEAT ON LONG ISLAND. 
 
 109 
 
 weeks were spent in this work, during which one of the tenders was burned by 
 the Americans. 
 
 AMERICAN DEFEAT ON LONG ISLAND. 
 
 In the latter part of August, the British troops were moved from Staten 
 Island to Gravesend Bay on Long Island, and it was evident that Howe, 
 instead of bombarding New York, meant to advance upon it from across Long 
 Island. In anticipation of this movement, Washington had stationed General 
 Greene s division at Brooklyn. Unfortunately that admirable officer was ill, 
 and General Sullivan took his place. He boastingiy declared that no force of 
 
 AN OLD NEW YORK MANSION. 
 
 the British could carry his fortification, and, indeed, was so foolishly confident, 
 that Washington superseded him with Israel Putnam, who was no better, for 
 he left the pass on the British right unguarded. Quick to discover the over 
 sight, the enemy took advantage of it, and in the battle of Long Island, fought 
 August 27th, the Americans suffered disastrous defeat. Sullivan was caught be 
 tween two fires, and, fighting with the energy of desperation, most of his men 
 cut their way through the English line and reached Brooklyn. Lord Stirling s 
 division was surprised in the same manner and few escaped the enemy. By 
 noon the victory of the British was complete. 
 
110 WAR IN THE MIDDLE STATES AND ON SEA. 
 
 Washington with deep anguish witnessed the overwhelming disaster. He 
 hurriedly crossed to Brooklyn and sent forward every man that could be spared, 
 but nothing availed to check the panic of the rest of the forces, who were 
 chased to the foot of the lines in Brooklyn. Howe was so confident of bagging 
 the whole lot that, in order to save loss of lite, he resorted to regular 
 approaches. 
 
 The situation of the Americans could not have been more critical, for, when 
 the British fleet passed up the river, their supplies would be cut off. Three 
 hundred patriots had been killed and wounded, and among the prisoners were 
 Lord Stirling and General Sullivan. The Americans in Brooklyn numbered 
 10,000, while the enemy were twice as numerous. 
 
 When it looked as if all hope was gone, the elements came to the relief of 
 the sorely beset patriots. A violent head-wind held back the ships, and a 
 tremendous downpour of rain on the 28th and 29th suspended operations. It 
 was so clear that the only course open was to evacuate Brooklyn, that the work 
 was begun and pressed incessantly for thirteen hours a the rain and fog hiding 
 the movement from Howe. Too weak to hold the city against him, there was 
 nothing left to do but to retreat, future movements being guided by events. 
 
 CAPTURE OF NEW YORK BY THE BRITISH. 
 
 Four ships ascended the river, September 13th, and anchored a mile above 
 the city. Others followed. The movement, however, was a feint, intended to 
 cover General Howe s attack by land. Before the latter, the Americans made 
 such a cowardly flight that Washington and other officers were filled with irre- 
 strainable rage, struck many with the flat of their swords, and threatened to run 
 them through. But nothing could check the panic, until they joined the main 
 body at Harlem. In this manner, the city of New York fell into the hands of 
 the British, who captured 300 prisoners, a number of cannon, and a large 
 quantity of stores. The American army pulled itself together on Harlem 
 Heights, while the enemy encamped in front, their right resting on the East 
 River and their left on the Hudson, with both flanks supported by armed ships. 
 
 NATHAN HALE, THE " MARTYR SPY." 
 
 While General Howe occupied New York, one of the most pathetic inci 
 dents of the Revolution occurred. It was of the highest importance that 
 Washington should gain information of the intentions and the strength of the 
 enemy. In order to do so, Captain Nathan Hale, of Connecticut, voluntarily 
 entered the British lines disguised as a spy. He did his work with shrewdness 
 and skill, but on his return, and when about to re-enter the American lines, he 
 was recognized and captured. When accused, he admitted his identity and 
 
THE DARK DAYS OF THE DEVOLUTION. Ill 
 
 business, and without trial was condemned to death. He was brutally treated 
 by the provost-marshal, who refused him a light to read his Bible, and destroyed 
 the letters he wrote to his mother. He was hanged the morning after his cap 
 ture, his last words being : " My only regret is that I have but one life to give 
 to my country." 
 
 The months passed without any important movement on either side. Howe 
 made careful preparations and Washington closely watched him. The Conti 
 nental army was divided into four divisions, commanded respectively by Generals 
 Heath, Sullivan, Lincoln, and Lee (who had lately returned from the South). 
 At a council of war it was decided that Harlem Heights could not be held 
 against the enemy, but at the urgent request of General Greene, a strong garri 
 son was left in Fort Washington. It numbered 3,000, and was under the 
 command of Colonel Robert Magaw of Philadelphia. 
 
 CONTINUED RETREAT OF THE AMERICANS. 
 
 In accordance with the plan agreed upon, Washington fell slowly back and 
 was attacked at White Plains. He inflicted severe loss on the enemy, but con 
 tinued to retreat, whereupon Howe turned back and assailed Fort Washington 
 with such an overwhelming force that Colonel Magaw surrendered. 
 
 Washington s fear now was that the British would press a campaign against 
 Philadelphia, the capital. Accordingly, he crossed to New Jersey, and, with 
 General Greene, took position at Fort Lee. The enemy threatened it with such 
 a large force that it was abandoned and he began his retreat through New Jer 
 sey, with Cornwallis, the ablest of the British generals, in close pursuit. The 
 two armies were frequently so near each other that they exchanged shots. 
 
 THE DARK DAYS OF THE REVOLUTION. 
 
 The " dark days " of the Revolution had come. Winter was at hand, and 
 hundreds of the ragged Continentals, as they tramped over the frozen roads, left 
 the bloody prints of their bare feet on the ground. Many lost heart, and the 
 desertions were so numerous that it looked as if the whole army would crumble 
 to pieces. 
 
 The remark has often been made of Washington that he never won a battle, 
 but the wonder is that he did so well with the miserable force under his com 
 mand. His greatness, however, rests upon a much broader foundation. He, far 
 more than any other man, saw the end from the beginning, and embodied within 
 himself the spirit of the struggle for American independence. He was the 
 Revolution. Had he been killed, the struggle would have stopped, for no one 
 could have been his successor. Subjected to trials whose exasperating nature it 
 is impossible for us to comprehend, he never lost heart. He pressed forward 
 
112 WAR IN THE MIDDLE STATES AND ON SEA. 
 
 with sublime faith that no disaster, defeat, or misfortune could weaken. More 
 over, let it not be forgotten that he fought from the opening to the close of the 
 struggle without accepting a cent in the way of payment. 
 
 When Washington reached the little town of Trenton, he was joined by 
 Stirling, the junction raising the force to 5,000 men. General Lee, disobeying 
 orders, marched so tardily that he was captured at Basking Ridge, N. J., by a 
 company of British horse. Investigations that have since been made leave no 
 doubt that Lee purposely allowed himself to be taken, and that while in the 
 enemy s hands he offered to do all he could in the way of betrayal of his coun 
 try. Washington crossed the Delaware into Pennsylvania, just as Cornwallis 
 entered the upper end of the town. 
 
 The great man, knowing the universal depression, saw that a blow must be 
 struck to raise the drooping spirits of his countrymen. Otherwise the struggle 
 would 3ollapse from sheer despair. As for the enemy, they gave scarcely a 
 thought to the shivering ragamuffins on the other side of the river. The Hes 
 sian commander, Colonel Rail, had occupied the town with his men, and they 
 prepared to enjoy life to the full. Rail drank toddy, smoked, and played cards, 
 while the wintry winds roared outside. Perhaps a feeling akin to pity moved 
 him when he thought of the starving, freezing Continentals who were foolish 
 enough to rebel against the rule of the great and good King George III. 
 
 BATTLE OF TRENTON. 
 
 Washington determined to attack the Hessians in Trenton. He divided his 
 army into three divisions, sending one to Bristol, opposite Burlington, another 
 remained opposite Trenton, while he himself marched several miles up stream 
 to a point since known as Washington s Crossing. 
 
 The movements down the river were to be directed against the enemy s de 
 tachments at Bordentown, Burlington, and Mount Holly, but the stream was so 
 choked with masses of floating ice that neither division was able to force its way 
 over. Washington, with 2,500 of the best officers and men in the army, crossed 
 the stream in the face of a driving storm of snow and sleet, and, reaching the 
 village of Birmingham, several miles inland, divided his force. Sullivan took 
 the road which runs close to and parallel with the river, while Washington, 
 with Greene, followed the Scotch road. The latter joins the upper part of the 
 town, while the river road enters the lower end. The plan was for the two 
 divisions to strike Trenton at the same time and attack the Hessians in front 
 and rear. It was hardly light on the morning succeeding Christmas, 1776, when 
 Washington drove in the sentinels and advanced rapidly in the direction of 
 Sullivan, the report of whose guns showed that he had arrived on time and was 
 vigorously pressing matters. 
 
BATTLE OF TRENTON. 
 
 113 
 
 The rattle of musketry and the boom of cannon roused the startled Hes 
 sians, who made the best defense possible. Colonel Rail leaped from his bed, 
 and, hastily donning his clothes, strove to collect and form his men. While 
 doing so he was r 
 mortally wounded. 
 The moment quickly f 
 came when his situa 
 tion was hopeless. | 
 Supported on either 
 side by a sergeant, i 
 Rail walked pain 
 fully forward to 
 where Washington 
 was seated on his 
 horse, and, handing 
 his sword to him 
 asked that mercy 
 should be shown his 
 men. Washington 
 assured him his re 
 quest was unneces 
 sary. Rail was car 
 ried to a building, 
 where, as he lay on 
 the bed, he was vis 
 ited by Washington, 
 who expressed his 
 sympathy for his 
 sufferings, which soon 
 were terminated by 
 death. 
 
 The battle of 
 Trenton, as it is 
 known in history, was remarkable in more than one respect. The Americans 
 captured 950 prisoners, six guns, a large number of small arms, killed twenty 
 and wounded nearly a hundred of the enemy. Of the Americans, four were 
 wounded and two killed, and it is probable that these deaths were due to the 
 extreme cold rather than the aim of the Hessians, whose work is very suggestive 
 of that of the Spaniards in the late war. 
 
 The moral effect of the victory, however, was aLnost beyond estimate. 
 
 \ 
 
 WASHINGTON CROSSING THE DELAWARE. 
 
114 WAR IN THE MIDDLE STATES AND ON SEA. 
 
 The threatening clouds that had so long darkened the land were scattered, and 
 the glorious sun of hope burst through and cheered all. The triumph may be 
 summed up in the expression that it marked the " turning of the tide." Re 
 verses were yet waiting for the Americans, but the war for independence was 
 steadily to advance to its triumphant conclusion. 
 
 THE EFFECT OF THE VICTORY. 
 
 The situation of Washington at Trenton, however, was critical. Corn 
 wall is with his powerful force was at Princeton, ten miles distant, and was sure 
 to advance against him as soon as he learned of the reverse at Trenton. Wash 
 ington, therefore, recrossed the Delaware on the same day of the victory, with 
 his prisoners and captured war material. One result was that the British, as 
 soon as they learned what had taken place, abandoned South Jersey. 
 
 Washington remained three days in Pennsylvania, when he again crossed 
 the Delaware and re-entered Trenton. More than 3,000 reinforcements joined 
 him, and 1,400 New England soldiers, whose terms of enlistment were expiring, 
 were so inspired by the victory that they volunteered for six weeks longer. 
 Robert Morris, to whom we have referred as the financier of the Revolution, 
 raised $50,000 in specie and sent it to Washington to be used in paying the 
 troops, who very sorely needed it. 
 
 As soon as Cornwallis was told by his scouts that Washington had returned 
 to Trenton, he advanced against him with a force of 7,000 men, determined to 
 wipe out the disgrace of a few days before. This was on the 2d of January, 
 1777. Greene held the British commander in check until the close of the day, 
 when he was able to drive the Americans to the eastern shore of the Assunpink 
 Creek, which runs through the middle of the town and was spanned by a wooden 
 bridge. There was brisk fighting at this bridge, but the cannon of Washington 
 were so effective that the British troops gave up the attempt to force a passage 
 until the morning of the following day. 
 
 WASHINGTON S CRITICAL SITUATION. 
 
 The two armies encamped in sight of each other on opposite banks of the 
 Assunpink, their camp-fires and sentinels in plain sight. The situation of the 
 American army could not have been more- critical. Behind it was the Delaware 
 filled with floating ice and in front the superior army of Cornwallis, confident 
 of capturing AVashington and his forces on the morrow. 
 
 But when the raw wintry morning dawned, Cornwallis was astounded to 
 hear the booming of cannon in the direction of Princeton, ten miles behind him. 
 Washington had withdrawn his entire force, and, reaching the college town by 
 a roundabout course, was driving the British troops before him. The chagrined 
 
BATTLE OF PRINCETON. 
 
 115 
 
 and angered Cornwallis hurried to Princeton in order to avert the threatened 
 disaster. 
 
 BATTLE OF PRINCETON. 
 
 But Washington had already won a victory, scattering the British forces 
 right and left. Although he lost a number of brave officers and men, he killed 
 
 sixty of the enemy 
 and captured 250 pris 
 oners. When Corn 
 wallis arrived the Americans were 
 gone, and the British troops hurried 
 to Brunswick (now New Brunswick) to 
 protect the stores there. Washington 
 withdrew to Morristown, where he 
 went into winter quarters and re 
 mained until May, much of the time 
 being devoted to making forays upon 
 the enemy, who now and then retali 
 ated in kind. 
 
 Washington left Morristown on the 28th of May, aware that Howe in 
 tended to make a campaign against Philadelphia. There was considerable 
 manoeuvring by the two armies, Howe trying to flank Washington, who was 
 too alert to be entrapped, and no material advantage was grained by either side. 
 
 "GIVE THEM WATTS, BOYS!" 
 
 The spirit shown by our sturdy patriots is well illustrated 
 
 by the story of the minister, who, when in one battle there 
 
 was a lack of wadding, brought out an armful of hymn books 
 
 and exclaimed : "Give them Watts, boys ! " 
 
116 WAR IN THE MIDDLE STATES AND ON SEA. 
 
 About this time a number of foreign officers joined the American army. 
 The most distinguished was the Marquis de Lafayette, who served without pay 
 and won the gratitude of the whole country because of his devotion to the cause 
 of American independence and his intimate friendship with Washington. 
 
 Meanwhile, being driven out of New Jersey, the British pushed their cam 
 paign against Philadelphia by way of the Chesapeake. In August, 1777, Sir 
 William Howe sailed from New York with 16,000 troops, and, on the 24th, 
 reached the head of Elk River in Maryland. At Brandy wine, on the llth of 
 September, the American army was defeated with severe loss, Lafayette being 
 among the wounded. Washington entered Philadelphia the next day, and, 
 crossing the Schuylkill, posted his troops on the eastern bank of the river, with 
 detachments at the ferries where it was thought the enemy were likely to attempt 
 to cross. General Wayne concealed himself and 1,500 men in the woods, in 
 tending to attack the British in the rear, but a Tory betrayed his presence to the 
 enemy, who in a furious assault slew 300 of his men. This disaster is known 
 in history as the Paoli Massacre. 
 
 BRITISH OCCUPATION OF PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 Howe, having gained control of the Schuylkill, crossed with his army, and, 
 advancing to Germantown, took possession of Philadelphia on the 27th of Sep 
 tember. The main body remained in Germantown, while the American army, 
 now reinforced to 11,000, were on the eastern side of the Schuylkill, eighteen 
 miles distant. Howe was engaged in reducing the forts on the Delaware to open 
 a passage for his fleet, when Washington advanced against the force at German- 
 town, hoping to surprise it. He would have succeeded, but for several obstacles 
 wholly unexpected. The stone building known as the "Chew House" offered a 
 stubborn resistance and defied the cannon fired against it, The delay caused by 
 the attempt to reduce it gave the enemy time to rally. Besides, the dense fog 
 disorganized the attack, and more than once bodies of Americans fired into one 
 another. On the verge of victory, a retreat was ordered and the Americans fell 
 back, after having suffered a loss of 1,200 men. Congress on the approach of 
 the enemy fled to the little town of York, Pennsylvania. 
 
 WASHINGTON AT VALLEY FORGE. 
 
 W T liile the British were holding high revel in Philadelphia, the Continentals 
 shivered and starved at Valley Forge, twenty miles away. Thousands of the 
 men were without shoes and stockings. In each log hut were twelve privates, 
 who had scarcely any bedding, and who kept from freezing at night by the 
 mutual warmth of their bodies. The farmers of the neighborhood were so un 
 patriotic that Washington was often compelled to take straw and grain from 
 
WASHINGTON AT VALLEY FORGE. 
 
 117 
 
 them by force, giving in return an order upon the government for the property 
 thus used. It is said that Isaac Potts, a Quaker at whose house Washington 
 made his headquarters, was passing through the woods one day, when he heard 
 the voice of some one in prayer. Peering among the trees he saw Washington on 
 
 his knees, beseeching 
 the struggle for liberty, 
 to bis home and related 
 he added that he could 
 success of the Ameri 
 Washington praying 
 It has been shown 
 important campaigns 
 was that of invading 
 ada. If successful, New 
 off from the other States 
 Formidable prepara 
 this movement. An 
 7,000 British and Hes 
 to a corps of artillery, 
 command of General 
 accompanied by several 
 who had crossed the 
 
 WASHINGTON AT VALLEY FORGE. 
 
 the help of heaven in 
 When Potts returned 
 the incident to his wife, 
 no longer doubt the 
 cans, since he had heard 
 for it. 
 
 that one of the most 
 planned by the British 
 New York from Can- 
 England would be cut 
 and forced to submit 
 dons were made for 
 army of more than 
 sian troops, in addition 
 was placed under the 
 Burgoyne, who was 
 members of Parliament, 
 ocean for the pleasure 
 
 ft . . i W A.Orti\ \jr J.WXM Ji.J. v .rt.-Ljj_i.cj i -c VXVVTJU. n, -I 1 IT 
 
 ot witnessing the over throw ot the rebellious 
 
 Americans. The route was from Canada by way of Lake Champlain to Albany, 
 where the army was to be joined by a strong force to be sent up the Hudson 
 from New York. Clinton failed to carry out his part, because of the delav in 
 
118 WAR IN THE MIDDLE STATES AND ON SEA. 
 
 sending to him from London a detailed account of the intended plan of cam 
 paign. 
 
 A CLEVER STRATAGEM. 
 
 At Crown Point, Burgoyne was joined by a number of Indian allies, a pro 
 ceeding which greatly incensed the patriots. It was arranged that another body 
 of British troops under Colonel St. Leger, including Indians and Tories, were 
 to ascend the St. Lawrence to Lake Ontario, and advance across the State by 
 way of the Mohawk to Albany. Carrying out this programme, St. Leger 
 invested Fort Schuyler at the head of the Mohawk, with a force of 1,800 men. 
 While General Herkimer was hurrying with some militia to the relief of the 
 garrison, he was ambuscaded by a detachment of British and Indians and killed, 
 but an advance from the fort drove off his assailants. St. Leger persisted in his 
 siege of the fort, and Benedict Arnold marched with a brigade to attack him. 
 His force, however, was so weak that he saw the folly of assault, and had 
 recourse to an ingenious and successful stratagem. He sent an underwitted boy, 
 who had been arrested as a Tory, into the British camp with the story that the 
 reinforcements just arrived for the Americans numbered several thousand, the 
 fable being confirmed shortly after by an Indian scout. St. Leger was so 
 frightened that he fled to Canada, leaving his tents and most of his military 
 stores. 
 
 The Americans abandoned Fort Ticonderoga before the advance of Bur 
 goyne, who reached Fort Edward, while General Schuyler crossed the Hudson 
 and assumed position at Saratoga. Burgoyne crossed the river on the 13th and 
 14th of September, and General Gates, lately appointed to the command of the 
 northern department, advanced toward the enemy and encamped a few miles 
 north of Stillwater. On the night of .the 17th, the two armies were within four 
 miles of each other, and, two days later, Burgoyne attacked Gates. The loss on 
 each side was severe, but the result was indecisive. 
 
 A danger of another character threatened the invading army. Provisions 
 and supplies were running out, and it was impossible to obtain more. No help 
 arrived from Clinton, the desertions were numerous, and, realizing his desperate 
 situation, Burgoyne determined to drive the Americans from their position on 
 the left and then retreat to Canada. He made a determined attempt, but was 
 defeated with the loss of several hundred men, including a number of his best 
 officers, nine pieces of artillery, and the encampment and equipage of a Hessian 
 brigade. 
 
 SURRENDER OF BURGOYNE. 
 
 General Gates now disposed his forces so as almost completely to surround 
 Burgoyne, who called a council of war, at which it was agreed that nothing was 
 left for them but to capitulate. Accordingly, October 17, 1777, he surrendered 
 
AID FROM FRANCE. 119 
 
 his army to General Gates. This consisted of 5,763 officers and men, including 
 the disappointed members of Parliament. All the Indians having fled, none 
 was left of them to surrender. The spoils of war included a fine train of 
 artillery of forty-two pieces, 5,000 muskets, and a vast quantity of ammunition 
 and stores. The prisoners were treated with great kindness, their captors shar 
 ing their food with them. 
 
 The news of the loss of one of her most important armies caused dismay in 
 England and unbounded rejoicing in America. It was the climax of the 
 triumph at Trenton, and renewed hope thrilled the country from New England 
 to Georgia. 
 
 THE CONWAY CABAL. 
 
 Congress awarded a gold medal to Gates for his capture of Burgoyne, and 
 he was placed at the head of the new board of war. He was puffed up over his 
 victory, for which most of the credit was due to Schuyler and Arnold. Find 
 ing congenial spirits in General Mifflin and an Irishman named Con way, 
 both members of the board, including also General Charles Lee, who had been 
 exchanged, a plot was formed for displacing Washington and putting Gates in 
 supreme command of military affairs. The " Con way Cabal " utterly failed, for 
 there were precious few in the country who did not appreciate the lofty char 
 acter of Washington, and none except the plotters felt sympathy with any 
 attempt to dim the lustre of the name that will always be among the brightest 
 in history. 
 
 AID FROM FRANCE. 
 
 One of the immeasurable advantages that followed the capture of Burgoyne 
 was our alliance with France. That country sympathized with us from the 
 first, though her traditional hatred of England had much to do with the senti 
 ment, but hitherto her assistance had been secret. She wished a good pretext 
 for coming out openly, and this was furnished by the capture of Burgoyne. 
 Franklin was in France as our representative, and his quaint wit and homely 
 wisdom made him very popular at the gay court. He urged the claims of the 
 United States so forcibly that the king yielded, and concluded a treaty, February 
 6, 1778, by which the independence of the United States was acknowledged and 
 relations of reciprocal friendship formed with our country. This was the first 
 treaty tnade by the United States with a foreign country. France agreed to 
 send a fleet of sixteen war-vessels, under D Estaing, and an army of 4,000 men 
 to our assistance. Great Britain at once declared war against France, and 
 offered to give the United States freedom from taxation and representation in 
 Parliament if they would join in the hostilities against her old enemy. The 
 Americans were incapable of so perfidious a course, and were now fully deter 
 mined on securing their independence. Spain joined France, in 1779, in the 
 
120 
 
 WAR IN THE MIDDLE STATES AND ON SEA. 
 
 war against Great Britain (because of the relations of the ruling families), and 
 Holland for commercial reasons united with them in 1780. Thus Great Britain 
 soon found her hands full. 
 
 Congress decided, while Washington was at Valley Forge, that the army 
 should cons ; t of 40,000 foot, besides artillery and horse. Washington had 
 12,000, while the total American force under arms was barely 15,000. At the 
 same time the British had 30,000 troops in New York and Philadelphia, besides 
 3,700 in Khode Island. 
 
 EVACUATION OF PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 The British army occupied Philadelphia from September, 1777, until June 
 
 AN OLD COLONIAL HOUSE OF GERMANTOWN. 
 
 the following year. Admiral Howe s fleet lay in the Delaware, and General 
 Howe, who was of a sluggish temperament, was superseded by Sir Henry Clin 
 ton, between whom and Cornwallis the relations soon became strained. With 
 a view of concentrating the British forces, and, since the French fleet was known 
 to have sailed for America, it was decided that the army in Philadelphia should 
 be removed to New York. Wishing to strike France, it was determined to 
 make a descent upon the French West Indies, for which 5,000 troops were to 
 be detached from the army. 
 
 BATTLE OF MONMOUTH. 
 
 Clinton found that he had not enough transports to tatfe nis troops to New 
 York, and a considerable number started overland. On the same day that he 
 
EVACUATION OF PHILADELPHIA. 121 
 
 marched out of Philadelphia, Washington s vanguard entered it. On the 28th. 
 Clinton was encamped near Monmouth Court-House, New Jersey (now Free 
 hold), with Washington close upon him. With five miles separating the two 
 armies at night, Lee, who had command of 5,000 men, moved them nearer the 
 enemy, Washington having ordered him to attack in the morning as soon as 
 Clinton began moving. 
 
 The days were the longest in the year and the heat frightful. At the 
 earliest dawn, Washington was notified that the enemy had started toward New 
 York. He ordered Lee to advance and open battle without delay, unless he saw 
 urgent reasons for not doing so. Washington at the same time pushed forward 
 with the main body to his support. 
 
 The attack was made about eight o clock, but the reports of the movements 
 were so confusing that those of the Americans became disjointed ; but everything 
 was going in their favor, when greater confusion caused a falling back of the 
 patriots, with the result that at noon Lee s whole division was in retreat, and he 
 had started to follow them when he came face to face with Washington himself. 
 
 Those who saw the meeting never forgot it. It required immense provoca 
 tion to rouse Washington s anger, but he was in a savage mood, and in a voice 
 of thunder demanded of Lee the meaning of his retreat. Lee was confused, but, 
 breaking in upon him, the commander ordered him to the rear, while he took 
 command. The battle lasted until five o clock in the afternoon, scores on each 
 side succumbing from the heat. While the advantage was with the Americans, 
 the battle was indecisive, and Washington anxiously waited for daylight to com 
 plete his victory ; but Clinton moved away in the night, and, reaching Sandy 
 Hook, was taken aboard of Howe s fleet and landed in New York on the 5th of 
 July. Washington marched to the Hudson, crossed at King s Ferry, and took 
 position near his former camp at White Plains. Lee was court-martialed and 
 dismissed for his conduct, and, as stated elsewhere, it has been proven that he 
 was a traitor to the American cause. 
 
 There are several interesting facts connected with the battle of Monmouth, 
 on whose grounds a fine monument was erected some years ago. Among the 
 British grenadiers slain was a sergeant who was seven feet four inches in height. 
 So many of these grenadiers were killed that thirteen were buried in one grave. 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Monckton, their commander, was among the slain. On the 
 pews and floor of the old Tennent church, still standing on the scene of the 
 battle, may be seen the dark stains from the wounds of several soldiers who were 
 carried within the quaint structure. 
 
 THE STORY OF MOLLY PITCHER. 
 
 It would never do to omit the story of Molly Pitcher from the account of 
 
122 WAR IN THE MIDDLE STATES AND ON SEA. 
 
 the battle of Monmouth, for the incident is true, and is commemorated on one 
 of the bronze reliefs of the monument. Her husband was a cannoneer, who with 
 his companions suffered so much from thirst that Molly was kept busy carrying 
 water for them from a neighboring spring. While thus engaged, her husband 
 was killed before her eyes, and there being no one available to handle the piece, 
 an officer ordered its removal. Molly asked the privilege of taking her hus 
 band s place. Permission was given, and she handled the cannon with skill 
 throughout the entire action. 
 
 The incident was told to Washington, who after the battle asked that she 
 be presented to him. He complimented her warmly, and conferred upon her the 
 rank of lieutenant, while Congress gave her half-pay during life. The State of 
 Pennsylvania, where she afterward made her home at Carlisle, added to this, so 
 that she lived in comfort for the rest of her days. Her right name was Mary 
 McAuley, and she died in Carlisle in 1833, a fine slab of marble marking her 
 last resting-place. 
 
 DISAPPOINTMENT OVER THE AID FROM FRANCE. 
 
 Despite the great expectations roused by the friendship of France and the 
 arrival of her fleet, it gave little aid to the Americans until the Yorktown 
 campaign. D Estaing had a fine opportunity of forcing his way into New York, 
 destroying the British fleet and blockading Clinton, but he lacked the courage to 
 do so. Then he sailed for Newport, Rhode Island, to attack the British forces 
 there, but matters were so delayed that Howe arrived with a fleet of equal 
 strength. While they were manoeuvring for position, a violent storm arose, and, 
 at the close, D Estaing sailed to Boston for repairs, taking all his troops with 
 him, while Howe returned to New York. 
 
 The Americans were indignant over the desertion of their allies. The 
 French officers were insulted on the streets of Boston, and one of them was 
 killed in a brawl. Sullivan and Greene were so outspoken that it required all 
 the shrewdness of Washington and Congress to prevent an open rupture. 
 
 THE WYOMING MASSACRE. 
 
 In the month of July, 1778, a band of Tories and Indians entered the 
 lovely valley of Wyoming, under the leadership of Colonel John Butler, whose 
 cousin, Colonel Zebulon Butler, was commander of the old men and boys left in 
 the town by the departure of nearly all of the able-bodied men to fight in the 
 Continental armies. The patriots made a brave defense, but they were overcome 
 and put to flight. Women and children ran to the woods, in which they were 
 overtaken and tomahawked ; others died from exposure, while a few succeeded 
 in reaching the towns on the upper Delaware. This sad massacre has made the 
 
THE CONTINENTAL CURRENCY. 
 
 name of Wyoming known throughout the world, and gives a saa pathos to the 
 monument which was erected in 1824 over the bones of the victims. 
 
 PUNISHMENT OF THE IROQUOIS. 
 
 Some months later, Cherry Valley in New York suffered a similar visita 
 tion from the Indians, who now learned for the first time that a power had 
 grown up in this country which could not only punish, but could do so with un 
 precedented vigor. The red men were so troublesome that Congress saw it 
 would not do to defer giving them a much-needed lesson. The guilty Indians 
 were the Iroquois in central New York. In 1779, General Sullivan led an ex 
 pedition against them. He showed no mercy to those that had denied mercy to 
 the helpless. Hundreds were killed, their houses burned, their fields laid waste, 
 and the whole country 
 made such a desert that 
 many perished from star 
 vation. 
 
 ONE SIXTH OFA. SPANISH 
 
 thereof vn GolclorSilver 
 to&c given in ex change at 
 
 Treasury of VlRGItfTA* 
 Pursuant fo A. C T of 
 
 ASSEMBLY 
 
 THE CONTINENTAL 
 CURRENCY. 
 
 One of the "sinews 
 of war " is money. It is 
 impossible for any nation 
 to carry on a waif long 
 without funds. The 
 Americans were poor, 
 
 but they issued paper - 
 
 promises to pay, which were known as Continental money. 
 
 VIRGINIA CTJRRUNC X 
 
 As the war pro 
 gressed, and more money was needed, it was issued. In 1778, it took eight 
 paper dollars to equal one of gold or silver. More was necessary and more was 
 issued. Besides this, the paper and printing were of such poor quality that the 
 British in New York made a great many counterfeits that were exchanged with 
 the farmers in the vicinity. The value of the currency decreased until the time 
 came when it was absolutely worthless. 
 
 When Clinton occupied New York and Washington was encamped on the 
 Hudson above, there were many forays against each other. The design of the 
 British commander was to force his way to the Highlands, seize the passes and 
 gain full command of the Hudson. He had already secured Stony Point, and 
 Washington formed a Man for retaking it, which was intrusted to the brilliant 
 Anthony Wayne. 
 
 In the middle of July, Wayne took command of four regiments of infantry, 
 
124 WAR IN THE MIDDLE STATES AND ON SEA. 
 
 which marched twelve miles through the insufferably hot night, when they 
 reached a point about a mile from the fort. Wayne went forward while his 
 men were resting and made a careful reconnoissance. Rejoining his troops, he 
 divided them into two columns, and, to prevent any mistake as to their identity, 
 a piece of white paper was pinned to each hat. All the superfluous clothing 
 was flung aside. He impressed upon his men that the bayonet alone was to be 
 used, and, to prevent the discharge of a gun by some nervous soldier, he ordered 
 his officers to cut down the first man who took his musket from his shoulder 
 without the order to do so. 
 
 The two divisions approaching from opposite sides were to attack the fort 
 at the same moment. Before it was reached, the pickets discovered them and 
 opened fire. The garrison was aroused, and, hurrying to their posts, cried out 
 tauntingly : 
 
 " Come on, you rebels ! we re waiting for you ! " 
 
 " We ll be there," was the reply ; and the patriots kept their word, carrying 
 matters with such a rush that the flag was speedily lowered. While leading his 
 men, Wayne was struck in the forehead by a musket-ball and fell to the ground. 
 Believing himself mortally wounded, he asked to be carried forward that he 
 might die within the fort. While his men were assisting him, it was found that 
 he had only been stunned. He recovered a moment later and was among the 
 first to enter the defenses. 
 
 The American loss was slight, and they secured nearly six hundred prisoners, 
 with a lot of valuable stores. The fort was destroyed before they left, the ruins 
 being occupied some days later by a British force. 
 
 THE INFANT AMERICAN NAVY. 
 
 Thus far we have had nothing to tell about the infant American navy. 
 At the beginning of the war, in 1775, Washington sent several privateers to 
 cruise along the New England coast, and Congress established a naval depart 
 ment. Thirteen ships were fitted out and two battalions of seamen enlisted. 
 The opportunity of capturing prizes from the enemy was very alluring to the 
 skillful American seamen, and so many dashing privateers started forth in quest 
 of them that in the course of three years fully five hundred ships, sailing under 
 the English flag, were captured. Some of the daring cruisers did not hesitate 
 to enter British waters in search of the enemy. 
 
 GREAT NAVAL VICTORY OF PAUL JONES. 
 
 No braver man than John Paul Jones ever trod the quarter-deck. On the 
 first chance he displayed so much courage and skill that he was made a captain. 
 He was cruising off Solway Firth near his birthplace one night, when he rowed 
 
GREAT NAVAL VICTORY OF PAUL JONES. 
 
 125 
 
 ashore on the coast of Cumberland, with only thirty-one volunteers, and burned 
 three vessels in the harbor of Whitehaven and spiked a number of cannon in 
 the guard-room of the fort. England was alarmed, declared him a pirate, and 
 put forth every effort to capture him. 
 
 In 1779, Paul Jones, as he is more generally known, put to sea in com 
 mand of the Bon Homme Richard, and accompanied by two consorts, the 
 Alliance and the Pallas. The Richard was an old East Indiaman, given him 
 by the king of France and 
 named in compliment to 
 Franklin, who had published 
 " Poor Richard s Almanac " 
 for so many years that he was 
 often identified with the publi 
 cation. 
 
 When Jones was off Scar 
 borough, he sighted the Baltic 
 fleet of merchantmen home 
 ward bound, and escorted by 
 the frigates Countess of Scar 
 borough and the Serapis. The 
 latter carried fifty guns and the 
 former twenty-two, while Jones 
 had forty-four guns and three 
 hundred and seventy-five men, 
 two-thirds of whom were pris 
 oners of war, since he had 
 greatly weakened his crew in 
 order to send home the many 
 prizes captured. 
 
 The moment Jones iden 
 tified the enemy, he signaled 
 to his consorts to join him in pursuit. Night had closed in and the moon was 
 shining, when the captain of the Serapis hailed Jones, who answered by opening 
 fire. The enemy was equally prompt, and thus one of the most famous fights 
 in naval history began. It is almost past comprehension how Jones fought so 
 terrifically when the disadvantages under which he labored are known. Firing 
 had scarcely begun when one of the guns on the lower deck exploded, killing 
 several men. The survivors ran above, and the piece was not used again during 
 the fight. 
 
 Jones tried to close with the Serapis, but, finding he could not bring his 
 
 PAUL JONES. 
 
J26 
 
 WAR IN THE MIDDLE STATES AND ON SEA. 
 
 guns to bear, he allowed his ship to fall off. The prisoners, who outnumbered 
 his crew, were kept busy extinguishing the fires that continually broke out, by 
 being told that it was the only way to save themselves from death by burning. 
 In the midst of the terrific fighting, when the Richard seemed doomed, Captain 
 Pearson of the Serapis shouted : 
 " Have you struck ? " 
 "Struck ! " replied Jones; "I am just beginning to fight." 
 
 While the ships 
 were lurching, one 
 of the enemy s 
 anchors caught the 
 quarter of the Rich 
 ard and the two 
 held fast, thence 
 forward fighting 
 side by side. They 
 were so close indeed 
 that the Serapis 
 could not open her 
 starboard ports, and 
 the cannon were 
 fired through the 
 port-lids, which 
 were blown off; but 
 the main deck of 
 the Richard was so 
 high that the broad 
 sides of the enemy 
 injured no one, 
 though they did 
 great damage to the 
 vessel. Thistremen- 
 
 TWEEN BON HOMME RICHARD AND SERAPIS. ^ ^^ fc^ 
 
 for two hours, the muzzles of the guns scraping one another, and the cannon being 
 discharged as fast as they could be loaded. The Richard was soon shattered 
 to that extent that she began sinking. Fire broke out repeatedly on both vessels, 
 and finally Jones was able to work only three of his guns. At this crisis, he 
 (bund that his consort, the Alliance, Captain Landais, was firing into him as 
 well as the Serapis; but not heeding him, he continued his battle with the 
 Serapis, whose sailors fought as bravely as his own. 
 
GREAT NAVAL VICTORY OF PAUL JONES. 
 
 127 
 
 
 The fearful struggle was decided by a sailor in the rigging of the Richard, 
 who was engaged in throwing hand-grenades on the deck of the Serapis. One 
 of these dropped into the hatchway and exploded a mass of eighteen-pound 
 cartridges, which killed twenty and wounded twice as many more. Captain 
 Pearson placed himself at the head of his boarders and made a rush for the 
 deck of the Richard. Jones, leading his own men, drove them back. The 
 
 explosion of the 
 grenades silenced 
 the main battery 
 of the Serapis, and 
 Captain Pearson 
 himself hauled 
 down his colors, 
 both crews in the 
 awful confusion 
 believing for some 
 minutes that it 
 was the Richard 
 that had surren 
 dered. 
 
 When day 
 dawned, the rid 
 dled Richard was 
 settling fast, and 
 Jones had barely 
 time to remove his 
 crew to the Serapis 
 when his own ves 
 sel went down. 
 Four-fifths of his 
 men had been 
 killed or wounded. 
 
 of the conduct of 
 
 Captain Landais in firing into the Richard led to the conclusion that he was 
 insane, and he was deprived of his command. Jones did no more special service 
 for the Americans. For his unsurpassable achievement he received the thanks 
 of Congress, and the king of France presented him with a gold sword. After 
 the war he became a rear-admiral in the Russian navy, and died in Paris in 
 1792. 
 
 BRITISH CAPTAIN SURRENDERING HIS SWORD TO PAUL JONES. 
 
128 WAR IN THE MIDDLE STATES AND ON SEA. 
 
 One of the saddest and most shocking events of the Revolution was the 
 treason of Benedict Arnold, who had won a brilliant reputation for his bravery 
 and generalship. He was quick-tempered, treacherous, and extravagant, and dis 
 liked by most of his men, despite his extraordinary daring. His first resent 
 ment against Congress was the failure of that body to make him one of the first 
 five major-generals, in the face, too, of Washington s urgent recommendation 
 for such promotion, which was made after Arnold s splendid services at 
 Saratoga. 
 
 He was placed in command at Philadelphia, while recovering from the 
 wounds received at Saratoga. He married a Tory lady, and his misconduct 
 caused his trial by court-martial, which sentenced him to be reprimanded by the 
 commander-in-chief. Washington performed the unpleasant duty with delicacy, 
 but its memory rankled and was increased by his anger against Congress for its 
 refusal to allow his claims for expenses in the Canadian expedition. Influenced 
 also, no doubt, by the Tory sentiments of his wife, he determined to take the 
 step which has covered his name with everlasting infamy. 
 
 On the plea that his wounds were not yet healed, he induced Washington 
 to place him in command at West Point, the most important post in the country 
 and the principal depot of supplies. He opened a correspondence with Sir 
 Henry Clinton at New York, and agreed for a stated sum of money and an 
 appointment in the British army to surrender the post to a force which Clinton 
 was to send against it. When a point in the negotiations was reached where it 
 was necessary to send a trusted agent to meet Arnold, Clinton dispatched Major 
 John Andre, who went up the Hudson in a sloop, and, September 22, 1780, met 
 Arnold at the foot of Long Clove Mountain. Everything being agreed upon, 
 Andre started to return to the sloop, but found that, owing to its having been 
 fired upon by a party of Americans, it had dropped down stream. Obliged to 
 make his way to New York by land, he assumed the dress of a civilian, and, 
 furnished with a pass by Arnold, he set out on horseback. 
 
 When near Tarry town, he was stopped by three Americans, Isaac Van 
 Wart, John Paulding, and David Williams, who demanded his identity and 
 business. One of the three happened to be wearing a British coat, which he 
 had exchanged for one of his own while a prisoner of war, and the fact led 
 Andre to think they were friends. Before he discovered his mistake, he had 
 made known that he was a British officer, and he was ordered to dismount and 
 submit to a search. The fatal papers were found on him, and, seeing his busi 
 ness was known, he offered everything he had, besides the promise of a large 
 sum of money from Sir Henry Clinton, to be allowed to go. His captors re 
 fused and conducted him to North Castle, where he was given up to Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Jameson. That officer had the proof before him in the papers that 
 
THE CAPTURE OF MAJOR ANDRE 
 
 Much sympathy was felt in America for Andre, but the justice of his being hung as a spy was never questioned, 
 three captors, Paulding, Van Wart and Williams, were honored with medals and $200.00 a year each for life, 
 and monuments were erected to their memories by our Government. 
 
 His 
 
THE TREASON OF BENEDICT ARNOLD. 
 
 129 
 
 
 Arnold was the unspeakable traitor, but with a stupidity difficult to understand, 
 he sent a letter to Arnold acquainting him with the capture of Andre. 
 
 Arnold was eating breakfast 
 at his house near the Hudson, when 
 the note was brought to him by the 
 messenger. Knowing what it meant, 
 he called his wife to him, told her 
 of his danger, 
 kissed his 
 
 ESCAPE OF BENEDICT ARNOLD. 
 
 sleeping boy in the cradle, ran 
 out of the house, mounted his 
 horse and galloped at headlong 
 speed for the river. There he sprang into a boat and ordered the men to row 
 
130 WAR IN THE MIDDLE STATES AND ON SEA. 
 
 with all haste to the sloop, still at anchor a short distance down stream and 
 waiting for Andre. Since these men had no suspicion of the truth they obeyed 
 orders, and Arnold, by waving a white handkerchief over his head, prevented 
 the Americans on the shore from firing at him. He reached the sloop in safety 
 and was carried to New York. 
 
 The fact that Andre was wearing a civilian suit at the time of his capture 
 made him a spy, according to the laws of war, and the court-martial before 
 which he was called sentenced him to be hanged. Clinton was greatly distressed 
 by the impending fate of his favorite officer and did his utmost to secure his 
 release by Washington. It was intimated to Clinton that Washington might be 
 induced to exchange Andre for Arnold, but such an act by the British com 
 mander would have covered his name with infamy, and he was too honorable 
 even to consider it. 
 
 Andre* accepted his fate bravely, only asking that he might be shot instead 
 of hanged, but even that boon was denied him. General Greene, who presided 
 at the court-martial, insisted that such leniency would have been an admission 
 of a doubt of the justice of his sentence. Andre was hanged October 2, 1780. 
 King George III. caused a mural tablet to be erected to his memory, and his re 
 mains were removed to England in 1821 and placed in Westminster Abbey. A 
 pension was conferred upon his mother and his brother was created a baronet. 
 Sad as was the fate of Andre, and general as was the sympathy felt for him in 
 this country, there can be no question of the justice of his sentence. He was a 
 spy, and, had he succeeded in his mission, might have caused the failure of the 
 war for independence. 
 
 Arnold received more than $30,000 as. a reward for his treason. He was 
 disliked by the British officers, and Cornwallis did not hesitate to show his con 
 tempt for him. He engaged in several raids against his countrymen, but since 
 he always fought "with a rope around his neck," he was never trusted with any 
 important command. 
 
 He removed to England with his family after the war, and his sons received 
 commissions in the British army. It is worth noting that all did creditable ser 
 vice, and their descendants became worthy members of the community, a fact 
 which no one can regret, since they could be held in no way responsible for the 
 horrifying crime of their ancestor, who, despised by all around him, died in 
 London in 1801. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 THE REVOLUTION IN THE SOUTH (CONCLUDED). 
 
 Capture of Savannah British Conquest of Georgia Fall of Charleston Bitter Warfare in South Caro 
 lina Battle of Camden Of King s Mountain Of the Cowpens Battle of Guilford Court-House 
 Movements of Cornwallis The Final Campaign Peace and Independence. 
 
 CONQUEST OF GEORGIA. 
 
 THE wave of war continued to roll southward. The British had met with 
 such meagre success in the Northern and Middle States that they turned their 
 efforts toward the conquest of the South. In the latter part of December, 1778, 
 an expedition from New York compelled the small garrison at Savannah to sur 
 render. British troops from Florida then reinforced the expedition, Augusta 
 and other towns were captured, and the whole State was brought under British 
 control. General Benjamin Lincoln, the American commander, had too few 
 troops to offer successful resistance, and the Tories gave much trouble. 
 
 In September, 1779, Lincoln crossed into Georgia and, with the aid of the 
 French fleet under D Estaing, made an attempt to recapture Savannah. The 
 attack was made with the greatest bravery by the allies, but they suffered a dis 
 astrous repulse, and D Estaing again sailed for the West Indies. Georgia was 
 brought so completely under British control that a royal governor and officers 
 were installed. The Whigs were treated with great cruelty, and for two years 
 the struggle in the Carolinas assumed a ferocious character. It was civil war in 
 its most frightful form. Neighbor was arrayed against neighbor. Every man 
 was compelled to be a Whig or Tory, and when one party captured another, it 
 generally executed the prisoners as traitors. There were many instances in 
 which those of the same family fought one another with the utmost fury, and the 
 horrors of war were displayed in all their dreadful colors. 
 
 For a long time the British kept a strong force at Newport, but they were 
 withdrawn, and a strong expedition was sent South to capture Charleston. 
 
 BRITISH CAPTURE OF CHARLESTON. 
 
 General Lincoln had a garrison of 3,000, his forts, and a number of vessels, 
 with which he was confident of making a successful defense of the city. The 
 ships, however, were so inferior to those of the enemy that Commodore Whipple 
 
 (131) 
 
132 THE REVOLUTION IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 sank all except one at the mouth of Cooper Eiver to block the channel, and 
 added his men and guns to the defenses of Charleston. 
 
 Clinton s force was about double that of Lincoln, and he made his 
 approaches with care and skill. By April 10th he was within a half-mile of the 
 city, and, Lincoln having refused the demand for surrender, the enemy opened 
 fire. Lieutenant-Colonel Tarleton, the best cavalry leader the British had in the 
 country, scattered the patriot cavalry at the rear of the city, which was fully in 
 vested. Reinforcements arrived from New York, and the siege was pushed 
 vigorously. The garrison made a sortie which accomplished nothing. Tarleton 
 continually defeated the American cavalry at the rear, many guns were dis 
 mounted, food and supplies were exhausted until all hope was gone, and on the 
 12th of May, 1780, Lincoln surrendered his army and the city. 
 
 This was one of the severest blows of the war. Clinton secured the city 
 and more than 400 pieces of artillery. He treated his prisoners kindly, but lost 
 no time in following up his success. Tarleton destroyed the command of Col 
 onel Abraham Btiford, numbering 400 men, and thus effectually quenched all 
 organized resistance for a time in South Carolina. 
 
 Clinton would have completed the conquest of the South by advancing into 
 North Carolina, had he not learned that a French fleet was expected on the 
 coast. This let! him to return to New York with the main army, while Corn- 
 wallis was left behind with 4,000 men to complete the unfinished work as best 
 he could. 
 
 In the spring of 1780, Washington sent reinforcements to the South, with 
 a regiment of artillery under Baron DeKalb, a German veteran who had come 
 to America with Lafayette. Although one of the finest of officers, he could 
 scarcely speak a word of English, and General Gates, on June 13, 1780, was 
 ordered by Congress to assume command of the southern department. He 
 proved unequal to the difficult task, for not only were the troops few and miser 
 ably disciplined and armed, but they were in a starving condition. The summer 
 was one of the hottest ever known, and, although reinforcements were expected, 
 Gates decided not to wait before putting his forces in motion. Reinforcements 
 reaching him after a time, he marched against Cornwallis, who was eager to 
 meet him. 
 
 AMERICAN DEFEAT AT CAMDEN. 
 
 The battle was fought at Camden, and was conducted with such skill by 
 Cornwallis that the raw and untried patriots were utterly routed. The centre 
 and left wings were swept from the field, but the right under De Kalb fought 
 with splendid heroism, and it required the whole army of Cornwallis to drive it 
 from the field. In the fight De Kalb received eleven wounds, and died the next 
 morning. 
 
AN INTERESTING ANECDOTE. 133 
 
 The battle of Camden marked the complete destruction of Gates army. 
 The militia scattered to their homes, convinced that it was useless to fight longer, 
 while Gates with a few adherents continued his flight for nearly two hundred 
 miles. Two days later, Colonel Sumter with eight hundred men was attacked 
 on the Wateree by Tarleton, who killed half his force and recaptured his 
 prisoners and booty. 
 
 PATRIOT PARTISANS. 
 
 Confident that the complete conquest of the South was close at hand, Corn- 
 wallis gave every energy to the work. This was rendered difficult by the ac 
 tivity of Francis Marion, Thomas Sumter, Andrew Pickens, and other partisan 
 leaders, who were acquainted with every mile of the country, and on their 
 horses made swift marches, struck effective blows, and were off again before pur 
 suit could be made. The wonderful work of Marion in this respect caused him 
 to be known as the " Swamp Fox of the Carolinas." Many of Tarleton s 
 troopers fell before the fire of these daring rangers, who occasionally were 
 strong enough to capture important posts. It is worthy of mention in this place 
 that to Sumter was the distinction of attaining the greatest age of any officer of 
 the Revolution. At his death, in 1832, he was in his ninety-ninth year. 
 
 AN INTERESTING ANECDOTE. 
 
 As illustrative of the spirit of the Southern colonists, we may be pardoned 
 for the digression of the following anecdote. The fighting of Marion and his 
 men was much like that of the wild Apaches _ the southwest. When hotly 
 pursued by the enemy his command would break up into small parties, and these 
 as they were hard pressed would subdivide, until nearly every patriot was fleeing 
 alone. There could be no successful pursuit, therefore, since the subdivision of 
 the pursuing party weakened it too much. 
 
 " We will give fifty pounds to get within reach of the scamp that galloped 
 by here, just ahead of us," exclaimed a lieutenant of Tarleton s cavalry, as he 
 and three other troopers drew up before a farmer, who was hoeing in the field 
 by the roadside. 
 
 The farmer looked up, leaned on his hoe, took off his old hat, and, mopping 
 his forehead with his handkerchief, looked at the angry soldier and said : 
 
 " Fifty pounds is a big lot of money." 
 
 " So it is in these times, but we ll give it to you in gold, if you ll show us 
 where we can get a chance at the rebel ; did you see him ? " 
 
 " He was all alone, was he ? And he was mounted on a black horse with a 
 white star in his forehead, and he was going like a streak of lightning, wasn t he?" 
 
 " That s the fellow ! " exclaimed the questioners, hoping they were about to 
 get the knowledge they wanted. 
 
134 
 
 THE REVOLUTION IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 " It looked to me like Jack Davis, though he went by so fast that I couldn t 
 get a square look at his face, but he was one of Marion s men, and if I ain t 
 greatly mistaken it 
 
 was Jack Davis him- ^fliiiii 
 
 self." 
 
 Then looking 
 up at the 
 four British 
 
 TARLETON S LIEUTENANT AND THE FARMER (JACK DAVIS). 
 
 horsemen, the farmer added, with a quizzical expression : 
 
 " I reckon that ere Jack Davis has hit you chaps pretty hard, ain t he ? " 
 
PATRIOT VICTORY AT KING S MOUNTAIN. 135 
 
 " Never mind about that" replied the lieutenant; " what we want to know 
 is where we can get a chance at him for just about five minutes." 
 
 The farmer put his cotton handkerchief into his- hat, which he now slowly 
 replaced, and shook his head: " I don t think he s hiding round here," he said; 
 " when he shot by Jack was going 80 fast that it didn t look as if he could stop 
 under four or five miles. Strangers, I d like powerful well to earn that fifty 
 pounds, but I don t think you ll get a chance to squander it on me." 
 
 After some further questioning, the lieutenant and his men wheeled their 
 horses and trotted back toward the main body of Tarle ton s cavalry. The 
 farmer plied his hoe for several minutes, gradually working his way toward the 
 stretch of woods some fifty yards from the roadside, where he stepped in among the 
 trees and disappeared. You understand, of course, that the farmer that leaned 
 on his hoe by the roadside and talked to Tarleton s lieutenant about Jack Davis 
 and his exploits was Jack Davis himself. 
 
 One day a British officer visited Marion under a flag of truce. When the 
 business was finished Marion urged him to stay to dinner, and the officer ac 
 cepted the invitation. The meal consisted of only baked sweet potatoes. Noting 
 the surprise of his guest, Marion explained that the fare was the regular food of 
 himself and soldiers, but, in honor of the guest, the allowance had been increased 
 that day. This anecdote, which seems to be authentic, was supplemented by 
 the officer s return to Charleston, where he resigned his commission, declaring 
 that it was useless to try to conquer such men. Marion led a spotless life, held 
 in high esteem by friend and enemy, and his name will always be revered 
 throughout this country, especially in the South. 
 
 PATRIOT VICTORY AT KING S MOUNTAIN. 
 
 The next battle took place at King s Mountain, October 8, 1780. Corn- 
 wallis had sent Colonel Ferguson with about 1,100 men to rouse the Tories in 
 North Carolina. He met with slight success, and fortified himself on King s 
 Mountain, between the Broad and Catawba Rivers, and on the border between 
 North and South Carolina. Aware of his danger, he sent messengers to Corn- 
 wallis urging him to forward reinforcements without delay. The Americans 
 captured every one of the messengers, and of course no reinforcements arrived. 
 
 The patriots consisted mainly of North Carolina and Kentucky riflemen, 
 numbering 1,500, all excellent marksmen. They attacked in three separate 
 columns, each of which was repulsed by Ferguson s men, who fought with cool 
 ness and bravery. Then the Americans united and attacked again. Ferguson 
 was mortally wounded, and his successor was so hard pressed that he surrendered. 
 Four hundred of his men fled, three hundred were killed, and eight hundred 
 laid down their arms, while the loss of the Americans was no more than twenty. 
 
136 THE REVOLUTION IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 King s Mountain was a brilliant victory for the Americans and caused 
 Coriiwallis to retreat into North Carolina, His men suffered greatly, and the 
 commander himself fallhig ill, the command was turned over to Lord Rawdon, 
 
 then a young man and famous afterward in India as the Marquis of Hastings. 
 
 t 
 
 GENERAL GREENERS SUCCESS IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 The failure of Gates led Congress to send the Quaker General Greene to 
 the South. Next to Washington, he was the most skillful leader of the Revolution, 
 and, despite his discouragements and difficulties, he speedily demonstrated the 
 wisdom of the step that placed him where he was so much needed. 
 
 DEFEAT OF TARLETON. 
 
 Greene sent Daniel Morgan, the famous commander of the Virginia rifle 
 men, into South Carolina with a thousand men to gather recruits. Cornwallis 
 dispatched Tarleton with the same number after him. The forces met at the 
 Cowpens, near Spartanburg, in January, 1781. This time the terrible Tarleton 
 found that he had met his master. Morgan utterly routed him, as was proven 
 by the fact that Tarleton lost a hundred men killed, besides ten commissioned 
 officers. A large number were wounded, and six hundred prisoners, his two 
 guns, his colors, eight hundred muskets, a hundred horses, and most of his bag 
 gage train were captured. Of the Americans only twelve were killed and 
 about fifty wounded. Tarleton himself had a narrow escape, but got away with 
 a handful of men. 
 
 GREENE S SKILLFUL RETREAT. 
 
 Determined to punish the audacious Morgan, Cornwallis started after him 
 with his entire army. Greene and Morgan, having united, fell back, for their 
 troops were too few to risk a battle. Their retreat across North Carolina into 
 Virginia has never been surpassed in this country. Three times the British 
 army were at the heels of the Americans, who avoided them through the for 
 tunate rise of the rivers, immediately after they had crossed. Cornwallis main 
 tained the pursuit until the Dan was reached, when he gave up and returned to 
 Hillboro. 
 
 BATTLE OF GUILFORD COURT-HOUSE. 
 
 Having obtained a number of recruits, Greene turned back into North 
 Carolina, and the two armies encountered at Guilford Court-House (now Greens 
 boro), in March, 1781. Some o the American militia gave way, but the rest 
 bravely held their ground, and, when compelled at last to retreat, did so in good 
 order. Cornwallis had been handled so roughly that he did not venture to 
 pursue the Americans. 
 
 Cornwallis now withdrew to Wilmington, while Greene moved across North 
 
MOVEMENTS OF CORNWALLIS. 
 
 137 
 
 Carolina after the British forces under Lord Rawdon. Several engagements 
 took place, the principal one being at Hobkirk s Hill, near Camden. Greene 
 inflicted severe losses upon 
 the enemy, but was com 
 pelled to retreat, and spent 
 the summer among the hills 
 of the Santee, in the neigh 
 borhood of Camden. Ad 
 vancing toward the coast, 
 he fought the last battle in 
 the State, at Eutaw Springs, 
 near Charleston, September 
 8, 1781. The advantage 
 was with the British, but 
 the victory was one of those 
 that are as disastrous as de 
 feat. Their loss was so 
 heavy that they retreated 
 during the night and took 
 shelter in Charleston. 
 Greene had completed his 
 work with admirable effect 
 iveness. Without winning 
 victories he had, by his cau 
 tion, skill, celerity of move 
 ment, and generalship, al 
 most cleared the South of 
 the enemy, for the only 
 points held by them were 
 Charleston and Savannah, 
 where they were closely 
 hemmed in for the rest of 
 the war. 
 
 MOVEMENTS OF CORNWALLIS. 
 
 Meanwhile Cornwallis 
 was at Wilmington, where 
 he learned of Greene s move 
 ments too late to intercept him. He was confident, however, that Rawdon was 
 strong enough to overthrow Greene, and he moved northward into Virginia 
 
 CoRNWALLfS =*m 
 
138 THE REVOLUTION IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 to join the forces already there, and complete the conquest of the State. No seri 
 ous opposition was encountered by him, and Tarleton plundered the country as 
 he passed through it. Entering Virginia, Cornwallis found himself opposed by 
 Lafayette, with 4,000 troops, which was hardly one-half the force under his own 
 command. Orders came from Clinton in New York for Cornwallis to seize 
 upon some suitable place near the coast, easily reached by the British vessels. 
 Cornwallis selected Yorktown, on the peninsula between the James and York 
 Rivers, where he fixed the headquarters of the army, and began throwing up 
 fortifications. 
 
 OUR FRENCH ALLIES. 
 
 The time had come when the friendship of France for America w r as to 
 accomplish something. In the summer of 1780 Rochambeau landed at Newport 
 with 6,000 troops, and later they were marched to Washington s camp, near 
 Peekskill and Morristown. Confident that he now had an army that could 
 achieve important results, Washington made preparations to attack Clinton in 
 New York. Rochambeau gave him every help, the allies working together 
 with the utmost cordiality and enthusiasm. 
 
 THE YORKTOWN CAMPAIGN. 
 
 Clinton was in a constant state of apprehension, for he had good cause to 
 fear the result of the attack that impended. Washington s plan, however, was 
 changed, in the summer of 1781, by the news that a French fleet and a strong force 
 would soon arrive in Chesapeake Bay and shut off Cornwallis from all assistance 
 from Clinton. Washington decided to march southward and capture Yorktown 
 and Cornwallis, meanwhile keeping Clinton under the belief that he meant to 
 attack him. So well was the secret kept that Clinton s suspicions were not 
 aroused until several days after the departure of the allied armies. 
 
 De Grasse, the commander of the French fleet, arrived in Chesapeake Bay 
 August 30th. Thus Cornwallis was blocked off from the sea, and enough soldiers 
 were landed to prevent the British commander s escape by land. On the same 
 day Washington and Rochambeau, after making a feint toward Staten Island, 
 began a rapid march through New Jersey to Philadelphia, and thence to Elkton, 
 Maryland. Officers and men were in high spirits, for they knew they were on 
 the eve of great events. The citizens of Philadelphia shared the feeling, and 
 cheered the men as they marched through the streets. On the way southward 
 Washington made a hurried visit to Mount Vernon, which he had not seen 
 since the opening of the war. 
 
 Aware of the grave danger threatening Cornwallis, a British fleet made an 
 effort to relieve him, but the more powerful French fleet easily beat it off. The 
 
THE SURRENDER AT YQRKTQWN 
 
THE SURRENDER. 
 
 allied armies boarded the waiting ships at Elkton, and, sailing down the Chesa 
 peake to James River, joined Lafayette s force in front of Yorktown. 
 
 The historical siege of Yorktown opened September 30, 1781. The French 
 and American armies were ranged in a half-circle in front of Yorktown. Corn- 
 wallis was indignant at the apparent desertion by Clinton, and wrote to him in 
 the middle of September : " This place is in no state of defense. If you cannot 
 relieve me very soon, you must expect to hear the worst." Word came from 
 Clinton that a fleet of twenty -three ships and more than 5,000 troops would sail 
 to his relief about the 5th of October. 
 
 The French soldiers in their gay uniforms and the Continentals in their 
 rags maintained an ardent but friendly rivalry in pressing the siege. Wash 
 ington aimed and applied the match to the first gun that was fired into Yorktown. 
 Governor Nelson, being asked to direct the bombardment, selected the house 
 which he believed to be the headquarters of Cornwallis, and calmly saw it bat 
 tered to ruins. It was his own home. 
 
 The condition of the defenders hourly grew worse. The lack of forage 
 compelled them to kill most of their horses, whose bodies drifted down the river. 
 As is generally the case at such times, sickness broke out among the British 
 troops, and 2,000 of the 7,000 were in the hospital. The allies steadily worked 
 their way forward by means of parallels, and finally the guns along the entire 
 front of Cornwallis were dismounted and his shells expended. 
 
 His situation had become so desperate that no one could have condemned 
 him for surrendering, but, before doing so, he resolved to make a determined 
 effort to extricate himself from the trap in which he was caught, His plan was 
 to abandon his sick, baggage, and all incumbrances, cross the river in the dark 
 ness to Gloucester, attack and scatter the French force stationed there, and then 
 hasten northward through Pennsylvania and New Jersey to New York. 
 
 This attempt would have been made, but, after a part of the army had 
 crossed, a violent storm scattered the boats and compelled their return. The 
 result quenched the last spark of hope in the breast of Cornwallis. He opened 
 negotiations with Washington, and the terms of surrender were signed 
 October 18th. 
 
 THE SURRENDER. 
 
 At two o clock the next afternoon, the British troops marched slowly out 
 of Yorktown, drums beating, muskets shouldered, and colors cased. The 
 American line was drawn up on the right of the road and the French on the 
 left, its extent being fully a mile. Washington allowed no idle spectators present, 
 and repressed every sign of exultation on the part of the captors. 
 
 General O Hara, riding at the head of the troops, saluted when he came 
 opposite Washington, and apologized for the absence of Cornwallis, who was 
 
140 THE REVOLUTION IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 suffering from illness. When O Hara s sword was offered to Washington, he 
 replied that General Lincoln had been designated to receive it. There was 
 poetical justice in this, since it was Lincoln who had been obliged to surrender 
 Charleston to Clinton the previous year. 
 
 The prisoners numbered 7,247 English and Hessian soldiers and 840 
 sailors. Seventy-five brass and thirty-one iron guns were also secured, including 
 the accoutrements of the army. Clinton with the promised relief arrived off the 
 Chesapeake on the 24th, and learned to his consternation that every British sol 
 dier in Virginia was a prisoner of war. With indescribable sadness he sailed 
 back to New York, feeling, as did everyone else, that English rule in America 
 was ended and American independence won. 
 
 Washington dispatched a courier with the glorious news to Philadelphia. 
 Hiding at headlong speed and changing his horse frequently, he reached the 
 national capital on the evening of the 23d. In those days the city was provided 
 with watchmen, who made the tour of the streets crying the hour. That night 
 the cry rang out 
 
 " PAST TWO O CLOCK AND CORNWALLIS is TAKEN." 
 
 Windows flew up, lights twinkled from every house, men rushed out half- 
 clothed, cheering, flinging their hats in air and embracing one another in their joy. 
 All the bells were set ringing, and the whole city gave itself over to rejoicing. 
 It was stirred to its profoundest depths by the thrilling tidings, for even the 
 dullest knew it meant the independence for which the patriots had struggled 
 throughout more than six suffering years. 
 
 Congress assembled at an early hour and marched to the Dutch Lutheran 
 Church, where all united in giving thanks to God for His great mercy and blessing. 
 The aged doorkeeper of Congress was so overcome with joy that he dropped 
 dead. Washington directed that divine service be held at the heads of the 
 regiments, in gratitude for the " particular interposition of Providence in their 
 behalf." 
 
 THE NEWS IN ENGLAND. 
 
 It would be difficult to describe the dismay caused in England when the 
 news crossed the ocean. Lord North strode up and down his room, flinging 
 his arms above his head and moaning, " My God! it is all over! " While others 
 were equally stricken by the tidings, America had many friends in that country 
 who had opposed from the beginning the attempt to subjugate the colonies. 
 Even those who voted for the war measures were now loud in insisting that no 
 more blood and treasure should be wasted in continuing hostilities. They de 
 manded the removal of the ministers who advised the contrary, and the House 
 of Commons declared by vote that anyone who favored the continuance of the 
 war was a public enemy. 
 
TREATY OF PEACE AND ITS TERMS. 141 
 
 While the surrender at Yorktown virtually ended the struggle, Washington 
 was too wise to disband the army. No more battles took place, but the country 
 remained in an unsettled condition for a long time, and the embers of hate often 
 broke into flame. It is claimed that the last blood shed in the Revolution was 
 that of Captain Wilmot, shot in a skirmish in September, 1782, at Stone Ferry. 
 
 TREATY OF PEACE AND ITS TERMS. 
 
 It had been agreed by both parties that hostilities should stop, and com 
 missioners were appointed to arrange the terms of peace. The preliminary 
 articles were signed at Versailles, November 30, 1782, but the final treaty was 
 not executed until September 3d of the following year. On April 19, 1783, 
 the eighth anniversary of Lexington, Washington at the headquarters of the 
 army officially declared the war at an end. 
 
 By the final treaty, England acknowledged the United States to be free 
 and independent, with Canada as a boundary on the north, the Mississippi 
 River on the west, and Florida, extending westward to the Mississippi, on the 
 south. Spain, which still owned Louisiana west of the Mississippi, now received 
 Florida from Great Britain. 
 
 The American army was disbanded, and officers and men went to their 
 homes dissatisfied because they had not been paid for years. Washington pre 
 sented himself before Congress at Annapolis and resigned his commission. The 
 British evacuated Savannah in July, 1782, Charleston in December, and New 
 York City, their last post, November 25, 1783. The forts north of the Ohio, 
 however, were held by English garrisons for about twelve years longer. 
 
142 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ORGANIZATION OK THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 The Method of Government During the Revolution Impending Anarchy The State Boundaries^ 
 State Cessions of Land Shays Rebellion Adoption of the Constitution Its Leading Features 
 The Ordinance of 1787 Formation of Parties Election of the First President and Vice-President. 
 
 WAR is not only a blight to mankindj 
 but it inflicts wounds that can never heal 
 and brings a train of woe and suffering 
 which lasts for years. The social system 
 is disorganized, industry checked, resources 
 exhausted, and a debt entailed whose 
 burden is felt for generations. The United 
 States had won the priceless boon of in 
 dependence, but the States were exhausted 
 and in the lowest depths of poverty. They 
 were like those who, having lost every 
 thing, are compelled to begin life anew. 
 
 WEAKNESS OF THE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 While the war was under way, the 
 States were held together by the one com 
 mon danger, and the Continental Con 
 gress managed the affairs of the Union, 
 but the body was without any authority 
 to govern, and whatever it did in that di 
 rection was only what the people permit 
 ted. The State governments were tangible, 
 for State constitutions had been formed 
 and the Legislatures received direct au 
 thority from the people. When they 
 chose to disobey Congress they did so, 
 and no penalty could be visited upon them. As the end of the war approached, 
 the authority \)f the respective States increased and that of Congress dwindled 
 until it was but a mere name and shadow. 
 
 A PLANTATION GATEWAY. 
 (Entrance to the Estate of William Byrd, at Westover, Va ) 
 
144 ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 The Articles of Confederation were agreed upon by Congress in 1777. 
 They defined the respective powers of Congress and were not to go into effect 
 until a majority of the States should agree to them. Within the following two 
 years all yielded their assent except Maryland, which did so March 1, 1781. 
 
 DISPUTE OVER STATE BOUNDARIES. 
 
 The cause of this prolonged delay was the dispute over western territory. 
 Few pei-sons suspect the extent of the wrangling over the respective boundaries 
 of the States. When the charters were granted by England, the western bound 
 aries of New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, 
 and Maryland were defined, and consequently they could not ask for an exten 
 sion of them. New York insisted that she had no western boundary. The 
 remaining six States had their western boundaries named as the Pacific Ocean, 
 which was at a distance that no one dreamed of at the time. They asserted 
 that the transfer of Louisiana to Spain fixed the Mississippi River as the limit 
 in that direction. 
 
 Among these claims none was so remarkable as that of Virginia. The 
 most that her sister States asked was that their northern and southern bound 
 aries should run parallel to the westward, but Virginia insisted that her northern 
 boundary extended northwest, which, if allowed, would have given her all of the 
 present States of Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. 
 Her claim was crossed by those of Massachusetts and Connecticut. 
 
 The States whose western boundaries had been settled were indignant over 
 the injustice of the claims of the others, for, since the whole thirteen assisted in 
 wresting the territory from Great Britain, they asserted that all should share it. 
 Some of the States sold lands in the west, whose ownership was disputed by 
 other States, and Maryland, as intimated, refused her assent to the Articles of 
 Confederation until assured that these western claims would be abandoned. 
 
 HOW THE DISPUTE WAS SETTLED. 
 
 It was evident that the only way out of the confusion was by the surrender 
 of these claims, and New York set the example in 1780. In response to the 
 earnest request of Congress, Virginia did the same in 1784, Massachusetts in 
 1785, Connecticut in 1786, South Carolina in 1787, North Carolina in 1790, 
 and Georgia in 1802. The result was that the western boundaries of the States 
 named were fixed as they are to-day, and the United States came into the pos 
 session of a large territory. Connecticut held fast to a large strip of land in 
 northeastern Ohio, which is still known as the Western Reserve. The same 
 State, which had settled Wyoming in Pennsylvania, claimed it for a time, but 
 finally gave it up. 
 
SHAYS INSURRECTION. 145 
 
 It took but a short time to demonstrate the utter worthlessness of the Ar 
 ticles of Confederation. Congress, the central governing power, had no author 
 ity to lay taxes, punish crimes, or regulate foreign or domestic commerce. Its 
 whole function was to give advice to the respective States, which, as might be 
 supposed, paid little or no heed to it. Furthermore, the stronger States made 
 laws inimical to the smaller ones, and Congress was powerless to remedy it. 
 Naturally Great Britain oppressed American commerce, and there was no way 
 of checking it. 
 
 The prosperity which most of the people expected to follow peace did not 
 appear. The Continental currency was not worth the paper it was printed on. 
 Even at this late day, when a man uses the expression that an article is "not 
 worth a Continental," it is understood to mean that it has no value at all. 
 
 WASHINGTON S PATRIOTISM. 
 
 The condition of no one was more pitiful than that of the heroes who had 
 fought through the Revolution and won our independence. They went to their 
 poverty-smitten homes in rags. While Washington was at his headquarters at 
 Newburgh, in 1783, an anonymous paper was distributed among the troops 
 calling upon them to overthrow the civil governments and obtain their rights 
 by force. They even dared to ask Washington to become their king, but that 
 great man spurned the offer in a manner that prevented it ever being repeated. 
 But his sympathy was aroused, and he finally secured five years full pay for 
 the officers, and thus averted the danger. 
 
 At that time the Northern and Middle States contained about a million and 
 a half of people and the Southern a million. Virginia had 400,000 inhabit 
 ants, and was the most populous, with Pennsylvania and Massachusetts next, 
 each having 350,000. The present Empire State of New York was one of the 
 weak States, the city containing about 14,000, Boston 20,000, and Philadelphia 
 40,000. It was estimated that the debt of the respective States was $20,000,000 
 and of the country $42,000,000. 
 
 SHAYS INSURRECTION. 
 
 Rioting and disorder are always sure to follow so deplorable a condition of 
 affairs. Daniel Shays, formerly a captain in the Continental army, headed a mob 
 of 2,000 men in Massachusetts, who demanded the stoppage of the collection of 
 taxes and the issuance of a large amount of paper money for general use. When 
 they had dispersed the Supreme Court, sitting at Springfield, General Lincoln 
 was sent with 4,000 troops to put down the rebellion. Lincoln placed the 
 judges in their seats, and then, when the rioters were about to attack him, he 
 
 10 
 
146 ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 gave them a volley. The rioters scattered and the rebellion ended. Fourteen 
 of the ringleaders were afterward sentenced to death, but were reprieved and 
 finally pardoned. 
 
 THE MEETING AT ANNAPOLIS. 
 
 Shays rebellion was one of the best things that could have happened, for it 
 showed the country more clearly than before that it was on the verge of anarchy, 
 and that the remedy must not be delayed. Long before this, Washington com 
 prehended the serious peril of the country, and he was in continual consultation 
 with men whose worth and counsel he valued. The result was that a meeting of 
 commissioners from Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New 
 York met at Annapolis in September, 1786. They held an earnest discussion, 
 but as only a minority of the States were represented, nothing positive could be 
 done, and an adjournment was had with a recommendation that each State should 
 send delegates to meet in Philadelphia in May, 1787. The prestige of Wash 
 ington s name gave so much weight to the recommendation that at the appointed 
 date all the States were represented except Rhode Island. 
 
 The wisdom of Washington was again manifest in a letter which he wrote 
 some months before the meeting of the Constitutional Convention, and which 
 contained the following: 
 
 "We have errors to correct. We have probably had too good an opinion 
 of human nature in forming our confederation. Experience has taught us that 
 without the intervention of a coercive power, men will not adopt and carry into 
 execution measures best calculated for their own good. I do not conceive we can 
 exist long as a nation without having lodged somewhere a power that will per 
 vade the whole Union in as energetic a manner as the authority of the State 
 governments extend over the several States. ... I am told that even respect 
 able characters speak of a monarchical form of government without horror. 
 From thinking proceeds speaking ; thence acting is but a single step. But how 
 irrevocable and tremendous ! What a triumph for our enemies to verify their 
 predictions ! What a triumph for the advocates of despotism to find that we 
 are incapable of governing ourselves, and that systems founded on the basis of 
 equal liberty are merely ideal and fallacious! " 
 
 When the news reached Washington of the disorders in New England, he 
 was greatly troubled. "What stronger evidence can be given," he asked, of 
 the want of energy in our government than these disorders? If there is not a 
 power in it to check them, what security has a man for his life, liberty, or prop 
 erty? The consequences of a bad or inefficient government are too obvious to 
 be dwelt upon. Thirteen sovereigns pulling against one another, and all tugging 
 at the federal head, will soon bring ruin on the whole; whereas, a liberal and 
 energetic constitution, well checked and well watched to prevent encroach- 
 
THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1787. 
 
 147 
 
 meats, might restore us to that degree of respectability and consequence to which 
 we had the fairest prospect of attaining." 
 
 THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1787. 
 
 Washington was placed at the head of the delegation from Virginia. Al 
 though he hoped that he would be permitted to spend the rest of his days in the 
 domestic quiet of Mount Vernon, his patriotism would not permit him to decline, 
 even though he saw the certainty that the action would bring him forward once 
 
 SENATE CHAMBER. 
 
 more into public affairs. Only a part of the delegates met in Philadelphia, 
 May 14, 1787, and an adjournment was had from day to day until the 25th, 
 when, a majority being present, the convention organized and unanimously chose 
 Washington as chairman. For four months it sat with closed doors, meeting in 
 the same room in Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence 
 was signed, and where the chair is still preserved in which Washington sat. 
 
 What an assemblage of great and noble men, all of whose names have be 
 come historical ! With the peerless Washington at the head, there were James 
 
148 ORGANIZATION < .7 THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Madison, afterward President of tie United States ; Benjamin Franklin, Alex 
 ander Hamilton, Benjamin West, i<,dmund Randolph, Robert Morris, Gouv- 
 erneur Morris, Sherman, Clymer, Road, and Dickinson. It may well be 
 imagined that among those men the discussions, which were continued several 
 hours daily, were of the most interesting nature. Inevitably there was a diversity 
 of views, and the arguments at times grew warm, but with such an aggregation 
 of statesmanship and wisdom, the best results were certain. Steadily the 
 wonderful Constitution was moulded into shape, and on the 17th of September 
 was signed by all the delegates except Randolph and Mason, of Virginia, and 
 Gerry, of Massachusetts. It was then submitted to Congress, which forwarded 
 it to the respective States for acceptance or rejection the assent of nine being 
 necessary to make it operative. 
 
 So important a document was sure to elicit earnest discussion and many able 
 men opposed its adoption. At that early day appeared the germs of the pres 
 ent political parties. The problem was as to the right division of power between 
 the national or central government and the respective States. Those who 
 favored the widest latitude to the States were called Republicans, while their 
 opponents were given the name of Federalists. The views of the latter pre 
 dominated in the main, though the Constitution was really a compromise 
 between its supporters and opponents. 
 
 The beneficent features of the instrument were so manifest that its adop 
 tion soon followed. On June 21, 1788, New Hampshire ratified it, and, 
 being the ninth State, its provisions became operative throughout the Union. 
 North Carolina and Rhode Island did not assent, and the Constitution went 
 into effect without their vote. These two States had issued a good deal of paper 
 money, and disliked the Constitution because it forbade such action. The oppo 
 sition of the other States was caused by the fear that too much power was con 
 ferred npon the central government. To remove this not wholly unreasonable 
 objection, the first ten amendments were adopted and ratified in 1791. 
 
 FEATURES OF THE CONSTITUTION. 
 
 The Constitution supplied the great requirement without which the gov 
 ernment itself would have been a nullity : the power to act supplanted the 
 power simply to advise. The government consists of three departments : a leg 
 islative or Congress, which makes the laws; an executive department, consisting 
 of the President and his officers, to execute the laws made by Congress ; and a 
 judiciary department (the Federal courts), which decides disputed questions 
 under the laws. The Constitution is our supreme law and must be obeyed by 
 the general government, the State governments, and the people ; if not, the gen 
 eral government punishes the offender. 
 
FEATURES OF THE CONSTITUTION. 
 
 149 
 
 Congress, or the legislative department, consists of two branches, the Sen 
 ate and House of Representatives. Each State, no matter what its population, 
 is entitled to two Senators, who serve for six years and are elected by the respec 
 tive State Legislatures ; the Representatives are apportioned according to the 
 population, are voted for directly by the people, and serve for two years. In 
 this admirable manner, each State is protected by its Senators against any 
 encroachment upon its rights, while the populous States receive the recognition 
 to which they are entitled through the House of Representatives. 
 
 Congress, the two branches acting together, lay taxes, borrow money, regu- 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
 
 late commerce, coin money, establish postoffices, declare war, raise and support 
 armies and navies, and employ militia to suppress insurrections. All States are 
 forbidden to do any of these things, except to impose their own taxes, borrow 
 for themselves, and" employ their own militia. A majority of each house is 
 enough to pass any bill, unless the President within ten days thereafter vetoes 
 the act (that is, objects to it), when a two-thirds vote of each branch is necessary 
 to make it a law. Treaties made by the President do not go into effect until 
 approved by a two-thirds vote of the Senate. 
 
 The executive department is vested in the President, chosen every four 
 years by electors, who are voted for by the people. The President is com- 
 mander-in-chief of the army and navy and appoints the majority of officers, it 
 
150 ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 being necessary that most of the appointments shall be confirmed by the Senate. 
 In case of misconduct, the President is to be impeached (charged with miscon 
 duct) by the House of Representatives and tried by the Senate. If convicted 
 and removed, or if he should die or resign or be unable to perform the duties 
 of his office, the Vice-President takes his place and becomes President. With 
 this exception, the Vice-President presides over the Senate, with no power to 
 vote except in case of a tie. No provision was made for a successor in the 
 event of the death of the Vice-President, but in 1886 the Presidential Succes 
 sion Law was passed, which provides that, in case of the death or disability of 
 the President and Vice-President, the order of succession shall be the secretaries 
 of State, of the treasury, of war, the attorney-general, the postmaster-general, 
 and the secretaries of the navy and of the interior. 
 
 The judiciary department, or power to decide upon the constitutionality of 
 laws, was given to one supreme court and such inferior courts as Congress should 
 establish. The judges are appointed by the President and Senate and hold 
 office during life or good behavior. The State courts have the power of appeal 
 to the supreme court of the United States, whose decision is final, the questions 
 being necessarily based upon offenses against any law of Congress, or upon the 
 doubtful meaning of a law, or the doubt of the constitutional power of Congress 
 to pass a law. 
 
 At the time of the adoption of the Constitution, three-fifths of the slaves 
 were to be counted in calculating the population for the Representatives. 
 Fugitive slaves were to be arrested in the States to which they had fled. New 
 Territories were to be governed by Congress, which body admits the new States 
 as they are formed. Each State is guaranteed a republican form of government, 
 and the vote of three-fourths of the States can change the Constitution through 
 the means of amendments. The provisions regarding slavery, as a matter of 
 course, lost their effect upon the abolishment of the institution at the close of the 
 Civil War. 
 
 THE ORDINANCE OF 1787. 
 
 Congress remained in session in New York, while the Philadelphia conven 
 tion was at work upon the Constitution, and during that period organized a ter- 
 ritorial government for the immense region northwest of the Ohio, which belonged 
 to the United States. The enterprising nature of the American people asserted 
 itself, and hundreds of emigrants began making their way into that fertile sec 
 tion, where the best of land could be had for the asking. But the Indians were 
 fierce and warred continually against the settlers. Most of these had been 
 soldiers in the Revolution, and they generally united for mutual protection. 
 The Ohio Company was formed in 1787, and, in order to assist it, Congress 
 passed the Ordinance of 1787, of which mention has been made. 
 
THE FIRST PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. 151 
 
 Slavery was forever forbidden in the Territory northwest of the Ohio, and 
 the inhabitants were guaranteed full religious freedom, trial by jury, and equal 
 political and civil privileges. The governors of the Territory were to be 
 appointed by Congress until the population was sufficient to permit the organi 
 zation of five separate States, which States should be the equal in every respect 
 of the original thirteen. From the Territory named the powerful and prosper 
 ous States of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin were afterward 
 formed. 
 
 SETTLEMENT OF THE WEST. 
 
 The Indian titles to 17,000,000 acres of land in the Territory had been ex 
 tinguished by treaties with the leading tribes, despite which the red men con 
 tested the advancing settlers with untiring ferocity. Flatboats were attacked on 
 their way down the Ohio, and the families massacred; block-houses were 
 assailed, and the smoke of the settlers burning cabins lit the skies at night. The 
 pioneer path to the fertile region was crimsoned by the blood of those who hewed 
 their way through the western wilderness. 
 
 Until formed into States, the region was known as The Northwestern Ter 
 ritory. In 1788, Rufus Putnam, of Massachusetts, at the head of forty pioneers, 
 founded the settlement of Marietta, and within the same year 20,000 people 
 erected their homes in the region that had been visited by Daniel Boone and 
 others nearly twenty years before. 
 
 No sooner had the ninth State ratified the Constitution than the Congress of 
 the Confederation named March 4, 1789, as the day on which, in the city of 
 New York, the new government should go into effect. 
 
 The time had come for the selection of the first President of the United 
 States, and it need not be said that the name of only one man WASHINGTON 
 was in people s thoughts. So overmastering was the personality of that great 
 man that he was the only one mentioned, and what is most significant of all, not 
 a politician or leader in the country had the effrontery to hint that he had 
 placed himself "in the hands of his friends" in the race for the presidency. 
 Had he done so, he would have been buffeted into eternal obscurity. 
 
 Whatever may be said of the ingratitude of republics, it can never be 
 charged that the United States was ungrateful to Washington. The people ap 
 preciated his worth from the first, and there was no honor they would not have 
 gladly paid him. 
 
 THE FIRST PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. 
 
 The date of the 4th of March was fixed without special reason for launching 
 the new government, and it has been the rule ever since, though it often falls 
 upon the most stormy and unpleasant day of the whole year. Some of the 
 States were so slow in sending their representatives to New York, that more than 
 
152 
 
 ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 a month passed before a quorum of both houses appeared. When the electoral 
 vote for the President was counted, it was found that every one of the sixty-nine 
 had been cast for Washington. The law was that the person receiving the next 
 highest number became Vice-President. This vote was: John Adams, of Mas 
 sachusetts, 34; John Jay, of New York, 9; K. H. Harrison, of Maryland, 6; 
 John llutledge, of South Carolina, 6; John Hancock, of Massachusetts, 4; 
 George Clinton, of New York, 3 ; Samuel Huntington, of Connecticut, 2 ; John 
 Milton, of Georgia, 2; James Armstrong, of Georgia, Benjamin Lincoln, of 
 Massachusetts, and Edward Telfair, of Georgia, 1 vote each. Vacancies (votes 
 not cast). 
 
 John Adams, of Massachusetts, therefore, became the first Vice-President. 
 
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 AN OLD INDIAN FARM-HOUSE. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ADMINISTRATIONS OK W ASHINQTON, JOHN 
 ADAMS, AND JKKKERSON 1789-18O9. 
 
 Washington His Inauguration as First President of the United States Alexander Hamilton His Suc 
 cess at the Head of the Treasury Department The Obduracy of Rhode Island Establishment 
 of the United States Bank Passage of a Tariff Bill Establishment of a Mint The Plan of a 
 Federal Judiciary Admission of Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee Benjamin Franklin Troubles 
 with the Western Indians Their Defeat by General Wayne Removal of the National Capital Pro 
 vided for The Whiskey Insurrection The Course of "Citizen Genet" Jay s Treaty lie-election 
 of Washington Resignation of Jefferson and Hamilton Washington s Farewell Address Estab 
 lishment of the United States Military Academy at West Point The Presidential Election of 1796 
 John Adams Prosperity of the Country Population of the Country in 1790 Invention of the 
 Cotton Gin Troubles with France War on the Ocean Washington Appointed Commander-in- 
 Chief Peace Secured The Alien and Sedition Laws The Census of 1800 The Presidential Elec 
 tion of 1800 The Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution Thomas Jefferson Admission of Ohio 
 The Indiana Territory The Purchase of Louisiana Its Immense Area Abolishment of the 
 Slave Trade War with Tripoli The Lewis and Clark Expedition Alexander Hamilton Killed in a 
 Duel by Aaron Burr The First Steamboat on the Hudson The First Steamer to Cross the Atlantic 
 England s Oppressive Course Toward the United States Outrage by the British Ship Leander 
 The Affair of the Leopard and Chesapeake Passage of the Embargo Act The Presidential Elec 
 tion of 1808. 
 
 MARY BALL, AFTERWARD THE 
 MOTHER OF GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 THE name of Washington will always 
 stand peerless and unapproachable on the 
 pages of human history. In great crises, 
 Heaven raises up men for its appointed 
 work. As soldier, statesman, and patriot, 
 he combined in his own personality the full 
 requirements of the prodigious task than 
 which no greater was ever laid upon the 
 shoulders of man. Through trials, suffer 
 ings, discouragements, disappointments, 
 
 ill frPfltmPnt nrmr^itirm fliirl 
 
 , ill treatment, oppo, m, an 
 
 (153) 
 
154 
 
 WASHINGTON, ADAMS, AND JEFFERSON. 
 
 derstandings, he never lost heart ; his lofty patriotism was never quenched ; his 
 Bublime faith in God and the destiny of his country never wavered, and, seeing 
 with the eye of un dimmed faith the end from the beginning, he advanced with 
 serene majesty and unconquerable resolve to the conclusion and perfection of his 
 mighty work. 
 
 It has been said of Washington that he embodied within himself the genius 
 of sanity and the sanity of genius. We can conceive of Lincoln, Grant, or any 
 other great man losing his mind, but like the snowy crest of a mountain, rising 
 fur above the plain, he stood by himself, and it is impossible to think of him as 
 
 losing even in the slightest degree 
 the magnificent attributes of his 
 personality. As has been stated, his 
 was the single example in our his 
 tory in which the fate of our coun 
 try rested with one man. Had he 
 fallen in battle at any time between 
 Lexington and Yorktown, the Revo 
 lution would have stopped and inde 
 pendence been postponed indefinite 
 ly. But when Heaven selects its 
 agent, it shields him in impenetrable 
 armor, and, though Washington was 
 exposed to innumerable personal 
 perils in the wilderness and in battle, 
 when his comrades were smitten with 
 death around him, he never received 
 the slightest wound, and lived to see 
 his work finished, when, in the quiet 
 J of his own home at Mount Vernon, 
 he lay down, folded his arms, and 
 passed to his reward. 
 George Washington was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, Febru 
 ary 22, 1732. There is a general misunderstanding as to his family. He had 
 three half-brothers, one half-sister, and three brothers and two sisters. His half- 
 brothers and sister, children of Augustine Washington and Jane Butler, were: 
 Butler (died in infancy), Lawrence, Augustine, and Jane. His brothers and 
 isters, children of Augustine Washington and Mary Ball, were: Betty, 
 Samuel, John Augustine, Charles, and Mildred (died in infancy). 
 
 Washington s father died when the son was eleven years old, and his train 
 ing devolved upon his mother, a woman of rare force of character. He re- 
 
 GEORQE WASHINGTON. 
 
 (1732-1799.) Two terms, 17N9-1797. 
 
WASHINGTON. 
 
 155 
 
 ceived a common school education, but never became learned in books. He 
 early showed a liking lor military matters, was fond of the sports of boyhood, 
 and was manly, truthful, and so eminently fair in everything, that his playmates 
 generally selected him as umpire and cheerfully accepted his decisions. He 
 became an expert surveyor, and, at the age of sixteen, was employed by Lord 
 Fairfax to survey his immense estate. The work, which continued for three 
 years and was of the most difficult nature, attended by much hardship and 
 danger, was performed to the full satisfaction of his employer. 
 
 INAUGURATION OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 Washington grew to be a magnificent specimen of physical manhood. He 
 six feet two inches tall, with a large frame and a strength surpassing that of 
 two ordinary men. No one in the neighborhood was his equal in horseman 
 ship, running, leaping, throwing, swimming, and all manner of athletic sports. 
 He was of the highest social rank, wealthy, and a vestryman and member of 
 the Episcopal Church. He was rather fond of pomp and ceremony, somewhat 
 reserved in manner, and ai, times seemed cold and distant, but with a character 
 that was without flaw or stain. It has already been said that he served through- 
 
156 WASHINGTON, ADAMS, AND JEFFERSON. 
 
 out the Revolution without accepting a penny for his services. He kept an 
 account of all he received from the government, but sometimes forgot to note 
 what he paid out. In such cases he balanced his books by paying the deficit 
 from his own pocket, so that it may be truthfully said he not only won inde 
 pendence for his country, but paid for the privilege of doing so. 
 
 Washington from his first services in the French and Indian War was 
 so identified with the history of his country that the account of one includes 
 that of the other. Having told of his election to the presidency, it, therefore, 
 remains to give the principal incidents of his administration. 
 
 WASHINGTON S INAUGURATION. 
 
 A special messenger reached Mount Vernon with news of Washington s 
 election on the 14th of April, and two days later he set out for New York. 
 The journey was one continual ovation, special honors being shown him at Bal 
 timore, Philadelphia, Trenton, and New York, where they attained their cul 
 mination. He arrived on the 23d of April, and the inauguration took place a 
 week later. Amid impressive ceremonies, the oath was administered by Robert 
 R. Livingston, the chancellor of the State of New York, in Federal Hal], on 
 the present site of the sub-treasury building. Washington stood in a balcony 
 of the senate chamber, in full view of the great multitude on the outside. He 
 showed considerable embarrassment, but was cheered to the echo .and was greatly 
 touched by the manifestations of the love of his fellow-countrymen. 
 
 At the opening of his administration, Washington became ill and no im 
 portant business was done until September. On the 10th of that month, Con 
 gress created a department of foreign affairs, a treasury department, and a 
 department of war. Thomas Jefferson was nominated to the first, Alexander 
 Hamilton to the second, and General Henry Knox to the third. All were admi 
 rable appointments. 
 
 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 
 Hamilton, the secretary of the treasury, was one of the most remarkable 
 men identified with the history of our country. He was born in the West 
 Indies in 1757, and, while a child, displayed extraordinary ability. When 
 fifteen yonrs old, he was sent to New York City and entered King s (now Colum 
 bia) College. A patriotic speech made when he was only seventeen years old 
 held his hearers spellbound by its eloquence. At twenty, he organized a com 
 pany of cavalry and performed excellent service on Long Island and at White 
 Plains. Washington was so impressed by his brilliancy that he placed him on 
 his staff and made him his military secretary. Many of the best papers of the 
 commander-in-chief received their finishing touches from the master hand of 
 Hamilton. He was in Congress in 1782-1783, and helped to frame the Consti- 
 
HAMILTON S WISE MANAGEMENT OF THE FINANCES. 157 
 
 tution. When the New York Convention assembled to ratify the new Consti 
 tution, three-fourths of its members were strongly opposed to it, but Hamilton 
 by the sheer force of his eloquent logic won them over and secured the assent 
 of the State to the adoption of the Constitution. He was one of our most 
 brilliant statesmen and the foremost Federalist of his time. 
 
 HAMILTON S WISE MANAGEMENT OF THE FINANCES. 
 
 The greatest problem which confronted the country was that of finance, 
 and Hamilton grasped it with the skill of a master. Hardly had he received 
 his commission, when Congress called 
 upon him for a plan to provide for 
 the public debt and to revive the 
 dead national credit. Hamilton s 
 first answer was that the country 
 would begin by being honest, and 
 that every dollar of the confedera 
 tion, then amounting almost to $80,- 
 000,000, should be paid, the United 
 States assuming all debts due to 
 American citizens, as well as the 
 war debt of each State. This bold 
 and creditable ground greatly im 
 proved public credit, before any pro 
 vision was made for the payment of 
 the vast debt. 
 
 Hamilton s plan was to fund 
 the entire debt and issue new certifi 
 cates. It was vehemently opposed, 
 especially the provision that the 
 State debts should be assumed by the 
 general government; but solely by 
 his wonderful ability he carried the measure through Congress. The debate 
 sharpened the lines between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists or Republi- 
 cans. 
 
 It will be remembered that at that time neither North Carolina nor Rhode 
 Island had adopted the Constitution. The former called a convention, and, on 
 the 13th of November, 1789, ratified it, but Rhode Island continued to sulk until 
 Providence and Newport withdrew from the State, and Massachusetts and Con 
 necticut made ready to parcel the State between them. This frightened her, 
 and, on May 29, 1790, she joined her sisters, 
 
 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 
 (1757-1^04). 
 
158 WASHINGTON, ADAMS, AND JEFFERSON, 
 
 The following year Hamilton gave another proof of his power by carrying 
 through Congress, in the face of the strongest opposition, a measure for the 
 relief of the financial straits of the government. The only banks in the 
 country were one each in Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, all of which 
 were State institutions. He advocated the establishment of a bank in which the 
 government should be one-fifth owner of the capital stock of $10,000,000 and a 
 preferred borrower to the same amount. It was to be under private manage 
 ment. In the face of the strong opposition, the act creating it was passed, and 
 it was chartered for twenty years. The subscriptions required that one-fourth 
 should be paid in specie and the rest in six per cent, certificates of the bank. 
 Within two hours after the subscription books were opened the entire amount of 
 stock was subscribed. The United States Bank was destined to play an im 
 portant part in national affairs in after years. 
 
 PASSAGE OF A TARIFF BILL. 
 
 Having provided the means for funding the debt and for borrowing money, 
 it yet remained to find some way of earning the money. The method was so 
 apparent that Congress lost no time in passing a tariff bill. A law placed a duty 
 on imported and domestic spirits, and, in February, 1792, a protective tariff bill 
 was enacted. This provided that the materials from which goods are manufac 
 tured should not be taxed, while articles competing witli those made in this 
 country were prohibited. A mint was also established in Philadelphia for coin 
 ing money. 
 
 THE FEDERAL JUDICIARY ORGANIZED. 
 
 The plan for the Federal judiciary was perfected on the lines proposed by 
 Ellsworth, of Connecticut. The national judiciary consisted of a supreme court, 
 having a chief justice and five associate justices, who were to hold two sessions 
 annually at the seat of the Federal government. Specified jurisdiction was given 
 to the circuit and district courts, and each State was made a district ; the Terri 
 tories of Maine and Kentucky were provided for in the same manner, and the 
 remaining Territories were grouped into three circuits. When the matter in dis 
 pute amounted to $2,000, an appeal could be taken from the lower courts to the 
 supreme court. The President was to appoint a marshal in each district, 
 possessing the general powers of a sheriff, and the interests of the government 
 were placed in the hands of a district attorney. 
 
 The first chief justice of the United States was John Jay, of New York, 
 while Edmund Randolph, of Virginia, was made attorney-general. The asso 
 ciate judges were John Rutledge, of South Carolina ; James Wilson, of Penn 
 sylvania ; William Gushing, of Massachusetts; Robert H, Harrison, of Mary 
 land; and John Blair, of Virginia. 
 
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. 
 
 159 
 
 Vermont was admitted to the Union on March 4, 1791 ; Kentucky, June 1, 
 1792 ; and Ten BnBB^^BBHHHHHBE] nessee ( X:I(<1 L v two 
 years later, 
 were all that 
 the presidency 
 
 Benjamin 
 Philadelphia, 
 age of eighty- 
 was one of the 
 
 These three States 
 were formed during 
 of Washington. 
 Franklin died in 
 April 17, 1790, at the 
 four years. Since he 
 greatest of all Ameri 
 
 ; 
 
 ** > 
 
 cans, he is entitled 
 to fitting notice. 
 He was born in 
 Boston in 1706, 
 and was the young- 
 est of seventeen 
 children. His father was a tallow 
 chandler and soap boiler, a trade 
 which Benjamin detested. He 
 was apprenticed to his brother, 
 who was a printer, and while a 
 boy gave evidence of his remarka 
 ble keenness and brilliant common 
 sense. Rebelling against the discipline of his brother, he ran away, tramping 
 
 BEN FRANKLIN MOULDING CANDLES IN HIS 
 FATHER S SHOP. 
 
160 
 
 WASHINGTON, ADAMS, AND JEFFERSON. 
 
 most of the distance to Philadelphia. There he secured a situation and 
 showed himself so skillful and tasteful a printer that he never lacked for 
 work. He established a paper in Philadelphia in 1729, and began the publica 
 tion of Poor Richard s Almanac in 1732, the year in which Washington was 
 born. The wit, homely philosophy, and keen penetration shown by Franklin 
 attracted wide attention and gave the almanac an enormous circulation, which 
 lasted as long as it was published. Many of his proverbs are still popular and 
 widely quoted. 
 
 In 1753, he was appointed deputy postmaster of the British colonies, and, 
 as a delegate to the Albany Convention in 1754, proposed an important plan for 
 colonial union. From 1757 to 1762, and again from 1764 to the Revolution, he 
 
 was agent of Pennsylvania in England ; 
 part of the time also for Massachusetts, 
 New Jersey, and Georgia. . Returning 
 to Philadelphia in 1775, he was at once 
 chosen a delegate to the Continental 
 Congress. Few persons, in looking at 
 his handsome signature on the Declara 
 tion of Independence, would suspect that 
 it was written when he was seventy years 
 old. It has been shown that he was one 
 of the committee of five who drew up 
 the Declaration, and in the following 
 autumn was sent to Paris to join Arthur 
 Lee and Silas Deane. His services 
 there were of the highest importance. 
 He had a leading part in the negotia 
 tions of the treaty of peace in 1783, 
 after which he negotiated a favorable 
 
 treaty with Russia. He returned to America in 1785, and was chosen president 
 of Pennsylvania, and again in 1786 and 1787. He was an influential member 
 of the Constitutional convention, and probably was second to Washington in 
 popularity. His funeral in Philadelphia was attended by more than 20,000 
 persons. 
 
 Franklin s researches in electricity, though slight as compared with the 
 discoveries since made by Edison, Tesla, and others, extended his fame to Europe. 
 By means of the kite which he sent aloft in a thunderstorm, he proved that the 
 lightning in the atmosphere is identical with that developed by frictional 
 electricity. This discovery led to the invention of the lightning-rod for build 
 ings, which has been the means of saving property beyond estimate. He was 
 
 FRANKLIN S GRAVE. 
 
WAYNE S VICTORY OVER THE INDIANS. 161 
 
 the inventor also of an economical stove and other useful contrivances. He 
 made himself wealthy, and the fortune which he left at his death was the foun 
 dation of the splendid institution of learning known as the University of Penn 
 sylvania. 
 
 DISASTROUS EXPEDITION AGAINST THE WESTERN INDIANS. 
 
 Returning to the history of Washington s presidency, mention must be 
 made of the troubles with the western Indians, who, as has been stated, fought 
 relentlessly against the advance of civilization into their hunting grounds. 
 Between 1783 and 1790, 1,500 persons were killed by the red men near the 
 Ohio. It being clear that peace could not be secured except by a thorough 
 chastisement of the Indians, Congress gave General Arthur St. Clair, governor 
 of the Northwest Territory, authority to call for 500 militia from Pennsyl 
 vania and a thousand from Kentucky, to which were added 400 regulars. 
 Under General Harmar they marched against the Indian villages. 
 
 In the campaign the Indians outgeneraled Harmar, who, after inflicting 
 some damage, was defeated and lost 200 men in killed and wounded. The defeat 
 encouraged the savages, who became more aggressive than ever. General St. 
 Clair organized a second expedition consisting of 2,000 men, including cavalry 
 and artillery, with which in October, 1793, he entered the Indian country, only 
 to suffer a more disastrous defeat than General Harmar, and in which the losses 
 were so dreadful that the news caused consternation in Philadelphia. Washing 
 ton had cautioned St. Clair against the very mistakes he made, and he com 
 pletely lost his temper. He paced up and down his room, giving such expres 
 sions to his feelings that those around him were awed into silence. By-and-bv, 
 he seemed to regret the outburst, and, when the trembling St. Clair some time 
 later presented himself, the President received him without reproach ; but St. 
 Clair was overwhelmed by his disgrace and resigned his command. 
 
 WAYNE S VICTORY OVER THE INDIANS. 
 
 Washington determined that no more blunders should be made, an^ ap 
 pointed Anthony Wayne to the command of the next expedition. He raised a 
 large force, moved cautiously, and took every precaution against surprise, as 
 Washington had told him to do. He had 4,000 men under his command, and the 
 consummate woodcraft and tricks of the red men failed to deceive him. At 
 Fallen Timbers, near the present city of Toledo, he met a large force, August 
 20, 1794, of Canadians and Indians, completely routed them, killed a great 
 many, with slight loss to himself, and so crushed the confederation of tribes 
 that they gave no more trouble for a long time. A year later, 1,100 chiefs and 
 warriors met the United States commissioners at Fort Greenville and signed a 
 treaty of peace, by which they ceded to the government an immense tract of 
 
 n 
 
162 WASHINGTON, A^AMS, AND JEFFERSON. 
 
 land lying in the present States 01 Michigan and Indiana. An impetus was 
 given to western emigration, which suffered no interruption for many years. 
 
 THE WHISKEY INSURRECTION IN PENNSYLVANIA. 
 
 One of the acts of Congress was to declare that Philadelphia was to be the 
 national capital for ten years, from 1790, when it was to be removed to a point 
 on the Potomac River, where the city of Washington now stands. One meas 
 ure which Hamilton induced Congress to pass caused trouble. It doubled the 
 duty on imported spirits and taxed those distilled in this country. So much 
 dissatisfaction appeared in North Carolina and Pennsylvania that the law was 
 modified, but it did not end the discontent. The officers sent to Pennsylvania 
 to collect the taxes were resisted and the militia sympathized with the rioters, 
 whose numbers swelled to 7,000 under arms. When they began to talk of ap 
 pealing to England, Washington lost patience and sent a large body of Virginia, 
 Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey militia to the section. They were 
 under the command of General Henry Lee, governor of Virginia, and arrived 
 on the scene in October, 1704. Order was soon restored, and the ringleaders, 
 expressing sorrow for their acts, were not punished. This seems to be the rule 
 in our country, except that repentance on the part of criminals is not required. 
 
 CITIZEN GENET." 
 
 The action of "Citizen Genet" caused a flurry during Washington s presi 
 dency. The "Reign of Terror" had begun in France, where the most appalling 
 revolution in history had taken place. The tyranny of the rulers had driven 
 the people to frenzied desperation, and, overthrowing the government, their 
 massacres were not checked until literally hundreds of thousands of people were 
 killed. Since their rebellion was begun against tyranny, and France had 
 helped us in our war for independence, there was general sympathy for the 
 people in our own country, though everyone was shocked by the deeds that 
 soon horrified the civilized world. 
 
 Having established a government, the revolutionists sent Edward Charles 
 Genet to this country as its representative. He was warmly welcomed at Charles 
 ton, where he landed in April, 1793. He was too discourteous to go to Phila 
 delphia to present his credentials, and began enlisting recruits for France and 
 intriguing for an alliance with us. Since France was fighting England, Aus 
 tria, Prussia, Sardinia, and Holland, it can be understood how desirable such an 
 alliance would have been to her. 
 
 Washington was too wise to be misled, and he issued a proclamation of 
 neutrality, forbidding citizens of the United States to equip vessels to carry on 
 hostilities against the belligerent powers^ Genet paid no attention to this, but 
 
JAY S r JT ATY. 
 
 163 
 
 kept on enlisting men and fitting out crui ;rs in American waters. His course 
 became so intolerable that Washington demanded his recall. This demand was 
 complied with, and he was ordered to return home. No one knew better than 
 he that if he showed himself in Frai ce he would lose his head. So he stayed 
 in this country until his death in 1834. 
 
 JAY S TREATY. 
 
 The course of England became so unjust toward the commerce, because of 
 her war with France, that Chief Justice John Jay, in May, 1794, was sent as 
 envoy extraordinary to that country 
 to demand redress. A treaty was 
 agreed upon and ratified by the Sen 
 ate in June, 1795, which provided 
 that the British garrisons should be 
 withdrawn from the western posts 
 by June 1, 1796; free inland navi 
 gation upon lakes and rivers was 
 guaranteed to both nations, except 
 that the United States was excluded 
 from the territory of the Hudson 
 Bay Company ; British vessels were 
 admitted to the rivers and harbors 
 on our sea-coast, but our shipping 
 was shut out from the rivers and 
 harbors of the British provinces, with 
 the exception of small vessels trading 
 between Montreal and Quebec; our 
 northeastern boundary was to be 
 fixed by a commission ; the payments 
 
 of debts incurred before the war were CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN JAY. 
 
 guaranteed to British creditors, if such 
 
 debts were collectible by an American creditor ; Great Britain was to pay for losses 
 resulting from irregular captures by her cruisers; citizens of either country were 
 allowed to hold landed possessions in the territory of the other; private property 
 was not to be confiscated in time of war; trade between the United States and 
 the West Indies was free to the vessels of both nations, but American vessels 
 were forbidden to carry West Indian products from the islands or from the 
 States to any other part of the world. The last clause was to be in force only 
 two years when further negotiation was to take place. In addition, the two 
 years 1 limit was applicable to the right of American vessels to trade between the 
 
 
164 WASHINGTON, ADAMS, AND JEFFERSON. 
 
 East Indies and the United States, but in time of war they were not to take 
 thither any rice or military stores ; free commerce was established between the 
 British dominions in Europe and the United {States; the regulation of duties was 
 provided for, as well as the appointment of consuls and the rules of blockade ; 
 privateering was regulated; what was contraband of war was defined, and it was 
 agreed that piracy should be punished ; ships of war could enter the ports of 
 either country; criminals escaping from one country to the other were to be sur 
 rendered ; and, in the event of war between the two countries, citizens in 
 hostile territory were not to be molested. 
 
 Although this treaty possessed many good points, and was the best obtain 
 able by our envoy, it gave so many advantages to Great Britain that it roused 
 bitter enmity in this country. Public meetings were held in the leading cities, 
 where it was denounced as cowardly and made for the express purpose of avoid 
 ing a war with England. The feeling rose so high that Jay was burned in 
 effigy, Hamilton was assaulted at a public meeting, the British minister in 
 sulted, and even Washington himself treated with disrespect. Better judgment 
 prevailed, when the passions cooled, and it is now admitted that Jay s treaty, 
 when all the circumstances are considered, was a commendable one. 
 
 SECOND ELECTION OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 It was Washington s wish to retire to private life on conclusion of his first 
 term, but he could not disregard the demand from all quarters. No competitor 
 appeared in the field against him, and for a second time he was unanimously 
 elected. His vote was 132; that cast for the candidates for the minor office 
 being, John Adams, Federalist, 77 ; George Clinton, of New York, Eepublican, 
 50; Thomas Jefferson, of Virginia, Republican, 4; Aaron Burr, of New York, 
 Republican, 1 ; vacancies, 3. This vote made John Adams again Vice-Presi- 
 dent. 
 
 Since Jefferson was the leader of the Republicans (or as now called the 
 Democrats), and Hamilton of the Federalists (afterward the Whigs), and the 
 two, as members of Washington s cabinet, were able and aggressive, they were 
 continually disputing. Sometimes they sorely tried Washington s patience, who, 
 appreciating the ability of both, often had hard work to prevent an open rup 
 ture. On the last clay in 1793, Jefferson resigned his office as secretary of 
 foreign affairs and retired to private life at Monticello, Virginia. A year later 
 Hamilton resigned as minister of finance. Through his efforts public credit had 
 been restored, and industry and trade had revived. He well deserved the 
 eloquent tribute of Daniel Webster: "He smote the rock of the national 
 resources, and abundant streams of revenues burst forth. He touched the dead 
 corpse of public credit, and it sprung upon its feet." 
 
RETIREMENT OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 165 
 
 As Washington s second term drew to a close, a universal demand was 
 made that he should serve again. Despite the fact that the two great political 
 parties were fairly organized, and each contained many able men, no one would have 
 had the temerity to offer himself as a competitor ; but he was growing old, his 
 strength had been worn out in the service of his country, and the rest he 
 yearned for could no longer be denied him. He, therefore, issued his immortal 
 Farewell Address to his countrymen and withdrew to Mount Vernon, where he 
 peacefully passed away December 14, 1799, mourned by the whole country and 
 revered by the civilized world. 
 
 The Farewell Address contains counsel that can never lose its value to 
 America. After thanking his fellow-countrymen for the confidence they had 
 always shown in 
 him, and the sup 
 port he had re 
 ceived from them, 
 he said that the 
 love of liberty was 
 so interwoven with 
 every ligament of 
 their hearts that 
 no recommendation 
 of his was necessary 
 to fortify that at 
 tachment. The 
 unity of govern 
 ment, by which 
 they were made one 
 people, had also become very dear to them. 
 
 "It is justly so, 7 he said, "for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real 
 independence the support of your tranquillity at home, your peace abroad ; of 
 your safety, of your prosperity ; of that very liberty which you so highly prize. 
 But, as it is easy to foresee that, from different causes and from different quar 
 ters, much pains will be taken, many artifices be employed to weaken in your 
 minds the conviction of this truth as this is the point in your political fortress 
 against which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most con 
 stantly and actively (though often covertly and insidiously) directed it is of 
 infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of your 
 national union to your collective and individual happiness; that you should 
 cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it; accustoming your 
 selves to think and speak of it as the palladium of your political safety and 
 
 WASHINGTON S BEDROOM, MT. VERNON, IN WHICH HE DIED. 
 
166 
 
 WASHINGTON, ADAMS, AND JEFFERSON. 
 
 prosperity; watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing 
 whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned, 
 and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate 
 any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which 
 now link together the various parts. For this you have every inducement of 
 sy in pa thy 
 and interest. 
 Citizens, by 
 birth or 
 choice, of 
 a common 
 country, that 
 
 THE MOTHER OF WASHINGTON RE 
 CEIVING MARQUIS LAFAYETTE. 
 
 Previous to his departure for Europe, in the fall of 1784, the Marquis de La 
 fayette repaired to Fredericksburg to pay his parting respects to Washington s 
 mother and to ask her blessing 
 
 Conducted by one of her grandsons he approached the house, when, 
 the young gentleman observing, "There, sir, is my grandmother," the Marquis 
 
 rking in her garden, clad in domestic-made clothes and her gray COlintry lias a ri^llt to 
 head covered by a plain straw hat. the mother of "his hero, his friend, and a & . 
 
 The Imly saluted him kindly, observing, "Ah, Marquis, you Centrate yOUr atteCtlOnS. 
 see an old woman: but come. I cnn make you welcome to my poor dwelling , ^f \ , 
 
 trithout the parade of changing my dress." name 01 AMERICAN, 
 
 belongs to you in your na 
 tional capacity, must also exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any 
 appellation derived from local discriminations. With slight shades of differ 
 ence, you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles. 
 You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together; the independence 
 
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1796. 167 
 
 and liberty you possess are the work of joint counsels and joints efforts; of 
 common dangers, sufferings, and successes." 
 
 Washington next pointed out the mutual advantages derived from one 
 another in the different sections of the Union, and impressively warned his 
 countrymen against the danger of sectional parties and the baneful effects of 
 party spirit. He commended the Constitution, which could be amended, when 
 ever the necessity arose, as beneficent in its provisions and obligatory upon all. 
 Other wholesome counsel, which he added, made the Farewell Address a price 
 less heritage to the generations that came after him. 
 
 The immediate effect of the paper was excellent. The various State Legis 
 latures voted thanks to Washington, and were warm in their praises of his 
 wise and patriotic services as President. The regret was universal that the 
 country was so soon to lose his valuable counsel and guidance. 
 
 WEST POINT MILITARY ACADEMY ESTABLISHED. 
 
 During the Revolution Washington recommended the excellent location of 
 West Point as the proper one for a military school of instruction. An act 
 establishing the United States Military Academy at that place was passed March 
 16, 1802. It provided that fifty students or cadets should be given instruction 
 under the senior engineer or officer, assisted by the corps of engineers of the 
 army. As the institution grew, professorships of mathematics, engineering, 
 philosophy, etc., were added, and the academy was made a military body subject 
 to the rules and articles of war. A superintendent was designated in 1815, and 
 the present system of appointing cadets was instituted in 1843. The rigid 
 course, steadily elevated, probably prevents fully one-half of those entering from 
 graduating, and a comparison of the West Point Military Academy with simi 
 lar institutions establishes the fact that it is the finest of the kind in the world. 
 
 PKESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1796. 
 
 The presidential election of 1796 was a close one, the result being : John 
 Adams, Federalist, 71 ; Thomas Jefferson, Republican, 68 ; Thomas Pinckney, 
 of South Carolina, Federalist, 59 ; Aaron Burr, of New York, Republican, 30 ; 
 Samuel Adams, of Massachusetts, Republican, 15 ; Oliver Ellsworth, of Con 
 necticut, Independent, 11 ; George Clinton, of New York, Republican, 7 ; John 
 Jay, of New York, Federalist, 5; James Iredell, of North Carolina, Federalist, 
 3 ; George Washington, of Virginia, John Henry, of Maryland, and S. John 
 son, of North Carolina, all Federalists, 2 votes each ; Charles Cotesworth Pinck 
 ney, of South Carolina, Federalist, 1 vote. Since it required 70 votes to elect, 
 it will be seen that John Adams was barely successful, with Jefferson close to 
 him. 
 
168 
 
 WASHINGTON, ADAMS, AND JEFFERSON. 
 
 John Adams, the second President, was born at Braintree, Massachusetts, 
 October 19, 1735. He graduated at Harvard, at the age of twenty, and was 
 admitted to the bar three years later. He was one of the most active and influ 
 ential members of the First and Second Continental Congresses. It was he who 
 by his eloquent logic persuaded Congress to adopt the Declaration of Independ 
 ence. Jefferson, his strenuous political opponent, declared that Adams was the 
 pillar of its support and its ablest advocate and defender. It was Adams who 
 suggested the appointment of General Washington as commander-in^chief of 
 the Continental army. During the progress of the war, he criticised the man 
 agement of Washington, but, long 
 1 before the death of the Father of 
 his Country, candidly acknowl 
 edged the injustice of such criti 
 cism. 
 
 The services of Adams were not 
 confined to his early efforts in Con 
 gress nor to his term as President. 
 He did important work as commis 
 sioner to France and Holland, and 
 as minister plenipotentiary to nego 
 tiate a treaty of peace with Great 
 Britain. He obtained large loans 
 and induced leading European powers 
 to make excellent treaties with his 
 country. Adams and Franklin 
 framed the preliminary treaty of 
 Versailles, and, as the first American 
 minister to England, he served until 
 1788. He received the thanks of 
 J Congress for the " patriotism, perse 
 verance, integrity, and diligence " 
 
 displayed while representing his country abroad. When John Adams assumed 
 the duties of the presidency, he found the country comparatively prosperous 
 and well governed. 
 
 The South was the most prosperous. Until 1793, its principal productions 
 were rice, indigo, tar, and tobacco. The soil and climate were highly favorable 
 to the growth of cotton, but its culture was unprofitable, for its seeds were so 
 closely interwoven in its texture that only by hard work could a slave clean five 
 pounds a day. In the year named, Eli Whitney, a New England school 
 teacher, living in Georgia, invented the cotton gin, with which a man can clean 
 
 : 
 
 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 UT:r,-is26.) One term, 1797-1*01. 
 
TROUBLES WITH FRANCE 
 
 169 
 
 a thousand pounds of cotton a day. This rendered its cultivation highly profit 
 able, gave an importance to the institution of slavery, and, in its far-reaching 
 effects, was the greatest invention ever made in this country. 
 
 TROUBLES WITH FRANCE. 
 
 The matter which chiefly occupied public attention during the adminis 
 tration of the elder Adams was our difficulties with France. That country had 
 hardly emerged from the awful Eeign of Terror in which a million of people 
 were massacred, and it was under the control of a set of bloody minded mis 
 creants, who 
 warred against 
 mankind and 
 believed they 
 could compel 
 the United 
 States to pay a 
 large sum of 
 money for the 
 privilege of 
 being let alone. 
 They turned 
 our represen 
 tatives out of 
 the country, 
 enacted laws 
 aimed to de 
 stroy our com 
 merce, and in 
 structed their 
 naval officers 
 to capture and sell American vessels and cargoes. 
 
 President Adams, who abhorred war, sent special ministers to protest against 
 the course of France. The impudent reply was there would be no stoppage 
 until the men who controlled the French government were paid large sums of 
 money. This exasperating notice brought the answer from Charles Cotesworth 
 Pinckney which has become historical : " Millions for defense, but not one cent 
 for tribute." 
 
 Although war was not declared, it prevailed on the ocean during the latter 
 half of 1798. Congress convened, abolished the treaties with France, 
 strengthened the navy, and ordered it to attack French vessels wherever found. 
 
 THE COTTON GIN, INVENTED IN 1793. 
 A machine which does the work of more than 1,000 men 
 
170 WASHINGTON, ADAMS, AND JEFFERSON. 
 
 Several engagements took place, in all of which the French inen-of-war were 
 whipped " to a standstill." The most important of the naval battles was between 
 the Constitution, under Commodore Truxton, and the French frigate L lnsur- 
 gente, in which the latter was captured. A messenger was sent to Mount Vernon, 
 carrying the appointment of Washington as commander-in-chief of the American 
 army. He found the great man in the harvest field ; but when Washington donned 
 his spectacles and read the paper, he replied that he was then as always ready 
 to serve his country in whatever capacity he could. He accepted with the 
 understanding that he was not to be called into the field until actual hostilities 
 took place on the land, and that Alexander Hamilton should until then be the 
 com mander-i n-ch ief. 
 
 Doubtless a destructive war would have resulted, but for the fact that 
 Napoleon Bonaparte, as a stepping-stone to his marvelous career, overturned the 
 French government and installed himself as emperor. He saw the folly of a 
 war with the United States, when he was certain soon to be embroiled with more 
 powerful neighbors near home. He offered fair terms of peace to our country 
 in 1799, and they were accepted. 
 
 THE ALIEN AND SEDITION LAWS. 
 
 One of the gravest mistakes made by the Federalists in Congress was the 
 passage of the Alien and Sedition Laws. Irritated by the mischief-making of 
 foreigners, a law was enacted which permitted the President to arrest any alien 
 in the country whose presence he considered dangerous. The acts under which 
 this was to be done were known as the Alien Laws. The most detested measure, 
 however, was that which authorized the arrest of any person who should speak 
 evil of the government, and was known as the Sedition Law. There were arrests 
 and punishments under its provisions, and the majority of the people were bitterly 
 hostile to it. It was unquestionably a direct invasion of the liberty of speech. 
 The claim that no editor, public speaker, or private citizen should be allowed to 
 condemn an action of the government which he disproved was unbearable, but 
 it was in direct line with the Federal policy of a powerful central government, 
 and as directly opposed to Republican principles. The feeling became so intense 
 that at the next presidential election the Federal party was defeated and never 
 afterward gained control of the government. 
 
 REMOVAL OF THE NATIONAL CAPITAL TO WASHINGTON. 
 
 The census of 1800 showed that the population of the country had 
 increased to 5,308,483. In that year, the national capital was removed from 
 Philadelphia to the straggling, partly built village of Washington, standing in 
 the woods, and without any of the structures that have made it one of the most 
 attractive cities in the world. 
 
THOMAS JEFFEKSON. 
 
 171 
 
 The presidential election of 1800 was an exciting one. Thomas Jefferson 
 and Aaron Burr, both Republicans, received 73 electoral votes, while John 
 Adams, Federalist had 65 ; Charles C. Pinckney, Federalist, 64 ; John Jay, 
 Federalist 1. The vote between the leaders being a tie, the election was thrown 
 into the House of Representatives, where, after thirty-eight ballots, Jefferson 
 was elected, with Burr, the next highest candidate, Vice-President. The pre 
 ceding election, as will be remembered, gave a President and Vice-President of 
 different political parties, always an undesirable thing, and this fact, added to 
 the difficulties of the election just over, led to the adoption in 1804 of the 
 Twelfth Amendment to the Consti- 
 tution, which requires the electors 
 to vote separately for the President 
 and Vice-President. ^flmt. .! 
 
 THOMAS JEFFERSON. 
 
 Thomas Jefferson, third Presi 
 dent of the United States, was born 
 at Shad well, Albemarle County, 
 Virginia, April 2, 1743. His father, 
 a wealthy planter, died when his son ( 
 was fourteen years old, and he en 
 tered William and Mary College, 
 where he was the most assiduous 
 student in the institution. Jefferson 
 was as fond as Washington of ath 
 letic sports, and, though he was of 
 less massive build, he attained the 
 same stature, six feet two inches. 
 In college, he was an awkward, \ 
 freckle-faced, sandy haired youth, 
 who, but for his superior mental 
 attainments, would have commanded little respect. Except for his fondness fot 
 hunting and horseback riding, he never could have acquired the physique which 
 allowed him to spend ten, twelve, and sixteen hours of every twenty- four in 
 hard study. 
 
 Jefferson was undoubtedly the most learned of all our Presidents. He was 
 not only a fine mathematician, but a master of Latin, Greek, French, Spanish, 
 and Italian. He was an exquisite performer on the violin, and it was said of 
 him, by one of the most noted European musicians, that he never heard an 
 amateur play the king of instruments as well as the slim Virginian. 
 
 THOMAS JEFFERSON. 
 (17-13-1826.1 Two terms, 1801-1809. 
 
172 WASHINGTON, ADAMS, AND JEFFERSON. 
 
 Jefferson married a wealthy lady and named his attractive home Monti- 
 cello. His great ability caused his election to the Virginia Legislature while a 
 young man, and he was soon afterward sent to Congress. Lacking the gifts of 
 oratory, he had no superior as a writer of line, classical, forceful English. 
 Among the many excellent laws he secured for Virginia was the separation of 
 Church and State. He was the author of a parliamentary manual for the gov 
 ernment of the United States Senate, which is still an authority, and of our 
 present system of decimal currency ; but the reader does not need to be re 
 minded that his fame will go down to posterity chiefly as the writer of the 
 Declaration of Independence ; but Jefferson felt almost equally proud of the 
 fact that he was founder of the University of Virginia, which, abandoning the 
 old system, introduced the "free system of independent schools." He also pro 
 posed for his State a comprehensive system of free public schools. 
 
 Although wealthy, he went almost to the extreme of simplicity. His dress 
 was as plain as that of the Quakers ; he wore leathern shoestrings instead of the 
 fashionable silver buckles; and strove to keep his birthday a secret, because some 
 of his friends wished to celebrate it. He was opposed to all pomp, ceremony, 
 and titles. He is universally regarded as the founder of the Democracy of the 
 present day, and was undeniably one of the greatest Presidents we have had. 
 
 WELCOME LEGISLATION. 
 
 The administration of Jefferson proved among the most important in the 
 history of our country. Congress promptly abolished the tax on distilled 
 spirits and a number of other manufactures, a step which enabled the President 
 to dismiss a large number of revenue collectors, whose unwelcome duties had en- 
 toiled considerable expense upon the country. The obnoxious Sedition Law 
 was repealed, and the Alien Law so modified that it was shorn of its disagree 
 able features. 
 
 ADMISSION OF OHIO. 
 
 In the year 1800, a line was run through the Northwest Territory from the 
 mouth of the Great Miami to Fort Recovery and thence to Canada. Three 
 years afterward, the territory thus defined was admitted to the Union as the 
 State of Ohio. The Indiana Territory included the portion west of the line 
 named, with Vincennes as the capital. The Mississippi Territory was organized 
 so as to extend from the western boundaries of Georgia to the Mississippi. 
 
 The punishment administered to France in 1798 naturally gave that coun 
 try a respect for the United States, and in 1802 our relations with her became 
 quite friendly. Bonaparte, having established a truce with the nations around 
 him, found time to give some attention to the American republic. He seemed to 
 believe he could establish a French colonial empire, not only in the West Indies, 
 
SLAVE TRADE ABOLISHED. 173 
 
 but in the immense province of Louisiana. Had Bonaparte succeeded, he would 
 have acquired control of the Mississippi and the Gulf of Mexico. Nothing 
 would have pleased England more than to see so serious a check placed upon our 
 growth, and nothing would have displeased our countrymen more than to be 
 shut off from the Father of Waters and the right to emigrate westward. They 
 were ready to go to war before submitting to such deprivation. 
 
 PURCHASE OF LOUISIANA. 
 
 No one was more keenly alive to the situation than Jefferson. He carefully 
 instructed our envoy at Paris to make the strongest possible representations to 
 the French ruler of the grave mistake of the course he had in mind, which 
 must inevitably result in an alliance with Great Britain in sweeping France 
 from the seas and driving her from the West Indies. Bonaparte was too wise 
 not to perceive that this was no empty threat, and that his visionary French 
 empire in the West would prove an element of weakness rather than strength. 
 Nothing was plainer than the truth that the stronger the United States became, 
 the more dangerous would it be for his traditional enemy, England. He, there 
 fore, proposed to sell Louisiana to the United States. 
 
 This was the very thing for which Jefferson had been skillfully working 
 from the first. The bargain was speedily completed. On April 30, 1803, 
 Louisiana came into our possession for the sum of $11,250,000, we agreeing at 
 the same time to pay certain debts due from France to American citizens, 
 amounting to $3,750,000, so that the total cost of Louisiana was $15,000,000. 
 
 It must not be forgotten that the Territory of Louisiana, as purchased by 
 us, was vastly more extensive than is the present State of that name. It in 
 cluded the area from which have been carved the States of Louisiana, Arkansas, 
 Missouri, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, the Dakotas, Montana, part of Kansas, 
 Wyoming and Colorado, and the Territory of Oklahoma, the whole area 
 being 1,171,931 square miles, as against 827,844, which was all the territory oc 
 cupied previous to 1803. Peaceable possession was taken on the 20th of Decem 
 ber following. The governorship of the Territory was offered to Lafayette, and 
 declined by him, but he received a grant of 12,000 acres within its limits. 
 
 SLAVE TRADE ABOLISHED. 
 
 At the time of the adoption of the Constitution, it was agreed that the slave 
 trade should be permitted for twenty years. It was abolished, therefore, in 1808, 
 and the penalty for engaging in it was made punishable with death. At the 
 time of the purchase of Louisiana, it was believed that it included Texas, but 
 the United States gave up this claim in 1819 to Spain in return for the cession 
 of Florida. 
 
174 WASHINGTON, ADAMS, AND JEFFERSON. 
 
 It seems incredible, but it was true, that for twenty years we had been pay 
 ing a large tribute to Algiers on condition that she would not molest our com 
 merce. Other nations did the same, because it was more convenient than 
 keeping a navy in those far-off waters. A treaty with Morocco had been signed, 
 in 1787, under which we also paid her tribute. The people of the Barbary 
 States naturally waxed insolent, and when we were slow in sending our tribute 
 they imposed a heavy penalty, which we meekly paid. 
 
 WAR WITH TRIPOLI. 
 
 One of the most disgusted men was Captain William Bainbridge, when 
 obliged to carry the tribute in 1800 to the Dey of Algiers, who informed him 
 that the Americans were his slaves, and must do as he ordered. The indignant 
 officer expressed the hope that the next tribute he delivered would be from the 
 mouths of his cannon. The following year the ruler of Tripoli became ruffled 
 because we did not send him as much tribute as he thought he was entitled to, 
 and actually declared war against us. 
 
 The flurry of 1798 with France had caused a considerable increase in our 
 navy, which was furnished with plenty of daring officers, who afterward made 
 names for themselves. They eagerly welcomed a war of that nature which of 
 necessity was a naval one. The operations were confined to the Mediterranean, 
 on whose shore are the Barbary States. 
 
 The first real fight took place in August, 1801, between the Enterprise, a 
 vessel of twelve guns, and a Tripoli tan vessel of fourteen guns. It occurred off 
 Malta, and lasted for two hours, when the Tripolitan hauled down his flag. 
 Thereupon the Americans left their guns and were cheering, when the enemy 
 treacherously fired a broadside into the Enterprise. Nothing loth, Lieutenant 
 Sterrett renewed the battle with such vigor that in a few minutes the flag was 
 lowered a second time, only to renew the fighting when the enemy saw an ad 
 vantage. 
 
 Thoroughly exasperated, Lieutenant Sterrett now determined to complete 
 the business. The vessel was raked fore and aft, the mizzen-mast torn away, 
 the hull knocked to splinters, and fifty men killed and wounded. Then the 
 American officer caught sight of the captain leaping up and down on the deck, 
 shrieking and flinging his arms about, as evidence that he was ready to surrender 
 in earnest He threw his own flag overboard, but Lieutenant Sterrett demanded 
 that his arms and ammunition should follow, the remainder of the masts cut 
 away, and the ship dismantled. That being done, Sterrett allowed him to rig a 
 jury mast and told him to carry his compliments to the Dey. 
 
 The war against the Tripolitans was very similar to that against the Span 
 iards in 1898. The Enterprise had not lost a man, although the Americans 
 
THE BOMB KETCH. 175 
 
 inflicted severe loss on the enemy. In July, 1802, the Constellation, in a fight 
 with nine Tripolitan gunboats, drove five ashore, the rest escaping by fleeing into 
 the harbor. More than once a Tripolitan vessel was destroyed, with all on 
 board, without the loss of a man on our side. 
 
 But the war was not to be brought to a close without an American disaster. 
 In 1803 the fine frigate Philadelphia, while chasing a blockade-runner, ran 
 upon a reef in the harbor of Tripoli, and, being helpless, a fleet of the enemy s 
 gunboats swarmed around her and compelled Captain Bainbridge and his crew to 
 surrender. The frigate was floated off at high tide and the enemy refitted her. 
 
 A GALLANT EXPLOIT. 
 
 One night in February, 1804, the Intrepid, a small vessel under the command 
 of Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, one of the bravest of American naval officers, 
 approached the Philadelphia, as she lay at anchor, and, being hailed, replied, 
 through a native whom he had impressed into service, that he was a merchant 
 man who had lost his anchors. The Tripolitans allowed the vessel to come 
 alongside without any suspicion on their part. Suddenly a score of Americans 
 sprang up and leaped through the portholes of the frigate. It took them but 
 a few minutes to clear the deck, when the vessel was fired in several places and 
 the men safely withdrew. The Philadelphia burned to the water s edge. 
 
 Early in August, Commodore Preble bombarded the town of Tripoli from 
 his mortar boats. During a fight with the gunboats James Decatur, a brother 
 of Stephen, received the surrender of one he was fighting, and stepped on the 
 deck to take possession. As he did so, the captain shot him dead. Stephen had 
 just destroyed a gunboat when he learned of this treacherous occurrence and 
 dashed after the craft, which he boarded. Recognizing the captain from his 
 immense size, he attacked him, and, in a desperate personal encounter, in which 
 he narrowly escaped death himself, killed the Moor. 
 
 THE BOMB KETCH. 
 
 The Americans fixed up the Intrepid as a bomb ketch, storing a hundred 
 barrels of powder and missiles and a hundred and fifty shells on deck. Under 
 command of Captain Richard Somers, and accompanied by twelve men, the 
 vessel ran slowly into the harbor one dark night. The intention was to fire 
 a slow-match and then for the officer and men to withdraw in boats. Captain 
 Somers was discovered by the enemy, and in some unknown way the ketch was 
 blown up with all on board, and without doing any material harm to the ship 
 ping and fortifications in the harbor. 
 
 Commodore Preble was superseded in November by Commodore Barron, 
 who arrived with the President and Constellation. This gave the Americans 
 
176 WASHINGTON, ADAMS, AND JEFFERSON. 
 
 ten vessels, carrying 264 guns. Hostilities were pressed with so much vigor 
 that the Dey of Tripoli became anxious to make peace before the terrible fleet 
 from the West destroyed him and his people. Accordingly, a treaty was signed 
 on the 3d of June by which the Tripolitans were given $60,000 for the prison 
 ers in their hands, and the payment of tribute to them was ended. 
 
 EXPEDITION OF LEWIS AND CLARK. 
 
 In those comparatively modern days the vast region west of the Mis 
 sissippi was almost unknown. President Jefferson recommended a congressional 
 appropriation for the exploration of the country. The appropriation being 
 made, a party of thirty men left the Mississippi, May 14, 1804, under command 
 of Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Both had had a good deal 
 of experience in the Indian country, and they ascended the Missouri in a flo 
 tilla for 2,600 miles. To the three streams which form the Missouri they gave 
 the names of Jefferson, Gallatin, and Madison. A detachment was then left in 
 charge of the boats, and the remainder, riding the horses they had captured 
 and tamed, made their way across the mountains. They discovered the two 
 streams which bear their names, and traced the Columbia to its outlet in the 
 Pacific Ocean. 
 
 The expedition was absent for two years, and its report on returning added 
 much to our geographical knowledge of the section. They were the first party 
 of white men to cross the continent north of Mexico. Captain Lewis was 
 appointed governor of Missouri Territory in 1806, and was acting as such 
 when he committed suicide in 1809. Captain Clark was also governor of Mis 
 souri Territory, and afterward superintendent of Indian affairs. He died in 
 St. Louis in 1838. 
 
 THE BURR AND HAMILTON DUEL. 
 
 No one read the wicked character of Aaron Burr more unerringly than 
 Alexander Hamilton. Pie saw that he was ready to ruin his country for the 
 sake of gratifying an insatiate ambition. Hamilton was always outspoken in 
 expressing his opinions, and the hostility between the two became so bitter 
 that Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel. Although the latter had had a son 
 killed through the barbarous code within the preceding year, he was foolish 
 enough to accept the challenge, and the duel was fought at Weehawken, New 
 Jersey, July 12, 1804. Hamilton fired in the air, but Burr aimed straight for 
 his antagonist and inflicted a wound from which he died the next day. 
 
 Although Burr presided in the Senate after the duel, the whole country 
 was shocked by the occurrence, and his friends fell away from him. In 1804, 
 when Jefferson was re-elected to the presidency, George Clinton took the 
 place of Burr as Vice-President. Burr then engaged in a plot to form a 
 
THE BURR AND HAMILTON DUEL. 
 
 177 
 
 A FLOATING PALACE 
 
 FROM NEW YORK TO BOSTON 
 
 ftffc 
 
 f 
 
 r?r-. 
 
 GREAT BATTLE. SHIP "KEARSARGE" 
 LARGEST IN THE NAVY 
 
 PINE STEAMBOAT 
 ON THE MISSISSIPPI 
 
 
 |*0 NT 
 
 FULTON S FIRST STEAM BOAT 
 ftN FROM NEW YORK TO ALBANY iSO7 
 
 / 
 
 y 
 
 FITCH S STEAMBOAT 
 N BETWEEN PHILADELPHIA AND BURLINGTON, N.J. 1788 
 
 
 
 new empire in the southwest, the precise 
 nature of which is uncertain. He found 
 a few to join with him, but it came to 
 \ naught, and in 1807 he was tried at 
 1 f Richmond, Virginia, on the charge of 
 treason, but acquitted. He spent some 
 years in wandering over Europe, and then 
 returned to resume the practice of law in 
 New York. He died in obscurity and pov- 
 1 erty on Staten Island in 1836. 
 
 A notable event of Jefferson s ad 
 ministrations was the first voyage of a 
 steamboat up the Hudson. This was the Cler- 
 mont, the invention of Robert Fulton, who 
 was born in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, 
 in 1765. This boat was slightly over one hun 
 dred feet in length and about twenty feet 
 broad, with side paddle-wheels and a sheet-iron 
 / boiler brought from England. There was general 
 
 X^ u m3s,I FLATSOAT. ridicule of the idea of moving boats by steam against 
 
 a current, and the craft was called " Fulton s Folly." 
 The crowd which gathered on the wharf in New York, 
 August 1, 1807, indulged in jests which were not 
 
 DEVELOPMENT OF STEAM hushed until the craft moved slowly but smoothly up 
 ^^^o^^co^^ stream. Heading against the current, she made the 
 
 12 
 
178 
 
 WASHINGTON, ADAMS, AND JEFFERSON. 
 
 voyage to Albany in thirty-two hours. She met with some mishaps, but 
 after a time made regular trips between that city and New York, at the rate of 
 five miles an hour. 
 
 OCEAN STEAMERS. 
 
 This incident marked an epoch in the history of the West, where the first 
 steamboat was built in 1811. Within a few years, they were plying on all the 
 important rivers, greatly assisting emigration and the development of the 
 country. The first steamer to cross the Atlantic was the Savannah in 1819. 
 The screw propeller was introduced by the great Swedish inventor, John Erics 
 son, in 1836. Really successful ocean navigation began in 1838, when the 
 
 Sirius and Great Western made the 
 voyage from England to the United 
 States. 
 
 OPPRESSIVE COURSE OF ENGLAND. 
 
 The devastating war raging be 
 tween England and France was de 
 structive to American commerce and 
 interests. The star of the wonder 
 ful Napoleon Bonaparte was rapidly 
 in the ascendant, and his marvelous 
 military genius seemed to threaten the 
 " equilibrium of the world." England 
 had no love for the United States and 
 played havoc with our shipping. 
 Her privateers infested our coasts, like 
 swarms of locusts. Because of her 
 immense naval superiority, she pes 
 tered us almost beyond bearing. She 
 stopped our vessels off-shore, followed 
 them into rivers and harbors, overhauled the crews, and in many cases took 
 sailors away under the plea that they were English deserters. Her claim was 
 that "once a British subject, always a British subject;" no sworn allegiance 
 to any other government could release the claim of England upon him. 
 
 Our vessels were prohibited from carrying imports from the West Indies 
 to France, but evaded the law by bringing imports to this country and then 
 reshipping them to France. England peremptorily ordered the practice to stop 
 and declared that all vessels thus engaged should be lawful prizes to her ships. 
 This action caused general indignation in this country and thousands of citizens 
 clamored for war. 
 
 ROBERT FULTON. 
 
THE AFFAIR OF THE LEOPARD AND CHESAPEAKE. 179 
 
 Jefferson never lost his self-poise. While a thorough patriot, he knew the 
 weaning of war. He sent a message to Congress on the subject in January, 
 1806, and the question was one of earnest and prolonged discussion, ending 
 in the adoption of a resolution to prohibit certain articles of British manufac 
 ture. 
 
 But matters rapidly grew worse. In Msiy following England declared the 
 coast of Europe, from the Elbe in Germany to Brest in France, in a state of 
 blockade. Bonaparte retaliated with the famous Berlin Decree, which block 
 aded the British Islands. In the spring of 1807 the British ship Leander fired 
 into a coasting vessel and killed one of the men. The President issued a proc 
 lamation forbidding the Leander and the two ships in her company from 
 entering any of the waters of the United States; calling upon all officers to 
 apprehend the captain of the Leander on a charge of murder; prohibiting all 
 communication between the shore and the ships, and warning all citizens from 
 giving them aid under penalty of the law. Envoys were sent to England to 
 adjust the trouble, but their efforts came to naught. 
 
 THE AFFAIR OF THE LEOPARD AN T D CHESAPEAKE. 
 
 Matters were in this tense state when the most glaring outrage of all was 
 perpetrated. The British ship-of-war Leopard, of fifty guns, was cruising off 
 the capes of Virginia, hunting for the American frigate Chesapeake, which she 
 claimed had a number of English deserters on board. The Chesapeake was 
 hailed, and the English captain asked permission to send dispatches on board. 
 Such courtesies were common, and Captain James Barron, the American com 
 mander, willingly complied with the request, When the boat arrived, a letter 
 was presented to Captain Barron, containing the orders of the British admiral 
 to search the Chesapeake for a number of deserters, who were mentioned by 
 name. Captain Barron sent word that he had no knowledge of any deserters, 
 and refused to submit. Thereupon the Leopard fired several broadsides into the 
 Chesapeake, which, being entirely unprepared for battle, was obliged to strike 
 her flag, three men having been killed and eighteen wounded. Four men were 
 then selected from the crew of the Chesapeake, three of whom were negroes, all 
 declared to be deserters, and taken on board the Leopard. 
 
 The country was thrown into a tumult of excitement, and the President, 
 by proclamation, closed all American harbors and waters against the British 
 navy, prohibited any intercourse witli such vessels, and sent a special minister 
 to England to demand satisfaction. Congress was called together, and a hundred 
 thousand men in 7he different States were ordered to hold themselves in readi 
 ness for service. The action of the captain of the Leander was disavowed, 
 reparation offered, and the offending admiral was recalled, but the reparation 
 
180 WASHINGTON, ADAMS, AND JEFFERSON. 
 
 promised was never made, and Great Britain refused to give up the right of 
 search. 
 
 THE EMBARGO ACT. 
 
 Although the action of England was anything but satisfactory, it averted 
 war for the time. In December, Congress passed the Embargo Act, which for 
 bade all American vessels to leave the coast of the United States. The belief 
 was that by thus suspending commerce with England and France, the two countries 
 would be forced to respect our neutrality. The real sufferers, however, were 
 ourselves ; New England and New York, whose shipping business was ruined, 
 denounced the act in unmeasured terms. Thus the administration of Jefferson, 
 which had brought so much material prosperity to the country and was so pro 
 lific in beneficent events, closed amid clouds and threatened disaster. 
 
 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1808. 
 
 Iii the presidential election of 1808, the electoral vote was as follows: 
 James Madison, of Virginia, Republican, 122 ; Charles C. Pinckney, of South 
 Carolina, Federalist, 47 ; George Clinton, of New York, Republican, 6. For 
 Vice-President, George Clinton, Republican, 113; Rufus King, of New York, 
 Federalist, 47; John Langdon, of New Hampshire, 9; James Madison, 3; 
 James Monroe, 3. Vacancy, 1. Thus Madison and Clinton became respectively 
 President and Vice-President. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 ADMINISTRATIONS OK IVLADISON, 18O9 1817 
 
 THE WAR OF 1812. 
 
 James Madison The Embargo and the Non-Intercourse Acts Revival of the Latter Against England 
 The Little Belt and the President Population of the United States in 1810 Battle of Tippecanoe 
 Declaration of War Against England Comparative Strength of the Two Nations on the Ocean 
 Unpopularity of the War in New England Preparations Made by the Government Cowardly Sur 
 render of Detroit Presidential Election of 1812 Admission of Louisiana and Indiana New 
 National Bank Chartered Second Attempt to Invade Canada Battle of Queenstown Heights- 
 Inefficiency of the American Forces in 1812 Brilliant Work of the Navy The Constitution and the 
 Guerriere The Wasp and the Frolic The United States and the Macedonian The Constitution and 
 the Java Reorganization and Strengthening of the Army Operations in the West Gallant Defense 
 of Fort Stephenson American Invasion of Ohio and Victory of the Thames Indian Massacre at 
 Fort Minims Capture of York (Toronto) Defeat of the Enemy at Sackett s Harbor Failure of the 
 American Invasion of Canada The Hornet and Peacock Capture of the Chesapeake "Don t Give 
 Up the Ship" Captain Decatur Blockaded at New London Capture of the Argus by the Enemy 
 Cruise of the Essex The Glorious Victory of Commodore Perry on Lake Erie Success of the 
 American Arms in Canada Battle of the Chippewa Of Lundy s Lane Decisive Defeat of the 
 Enemy s Attack on Plattsburg Punishment of the Creek Indians for the Massacre at Fort Mimms 
 Vigorous Action by the National Government Burning of Washington by the British The 
 Hartford Convention. 
 
 JAMES MADISON. 
 
 JAMES MADISON, the fourth President of the United States, was born at Port 
 Conway, Virginia, March 16, 1751, and died June 28, 1836. He received 
 the best educational facilities and graduated from Princeton College at the 
 age of twenty. He devoted himself so closely to study that he permanently 
 injured his health. In 1776, he was elected a member of the Virginia Legis 
 lature, and was offered the mission to France, after the return of Jefferson, but 
 declined it. Again he had the chance of becoming Jefferson s successor, when 
 the 1 utter resigned as secretary of State, but refused through fear of causing 
 differences in Washington s cabinet. He was a Federalist at first, but changed 
 his views and became an earnest Republican. Jefferson made him his secretary 
 of State, and he served throughout both administrations. He was a cultured 
 gentleman, an ardent friend of Jefferson, and carried out his policy when he 
 became President. 
 
 THE NON-INTERCOURSE ACT. 
 
 Just before the close of Jefferson s last term, Congress repealed the Embargo 
 Act and passed the Non-Intercourse Act, which forbade all trade with England. 
 
 (181) 
 
182 
 
 ADMINISTRATIONS OF MADISON. 
 
 This was in 1809, and the law was abrogated in the following year. Our rela 
 tions with England, however, continued to grow more irritating, until it became 
 clear that war was at hand. Congress gave notice that if either Great Britain or 
 France would repeal their offensive decrees, the Non-Intercourse Act would be 
 revived against the other. Bonaparte immediately announced that he revoked 
 bis decrees, but instead of doing so, he enforced them more rigidly than before, 
 thus accomplishing what he sought, that of arraying the United States against 
 Great Britain. The Non-Intercourse Law was revived against Great Britain, 
 whose conduct became more exasperating than ever. Our whole coast was under 
 
 surveillance, and many of our mer 
 chant vessels were captured without 
 any excuse whatever. 
 
 In the dusk of early evening, 
 May 16, 1811, the British sloop Lit 
 tle Belt, while occupied in holding 
 up American vessels, hailed the frig 
 ate President off the coast of Vir 
 ginia. Deeming the reply of the 
 American not sufficiently respectful, 
 the Little Belt fired a shot at the 
 President, which instantly let fly 
 with a broadside, followed by several 
 others, that killed eleven men and 
 wounded twenty-one. The incident 
 added to the angry excitement in 
 both countries and brought war 
 nearer. 
 
 BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE. 
 
 The population of the United 
 States in 1810 was 7,239,881, some 
 what more than a third of Great 
 itain and Ireland. Our growth in the West was rapid. There was a con- 
 stream of emigration thither, and the Indians, seeing how rapidly their 
 hunting grounds were passing from them, combined to resist the invasion. This 
 done under the leadership of Tecumseh, the ablest Indian that ever lived. 
 In this course he was incited by British agents, who, knowing that war was 
 were anxious to do the Americans all the harm they could. The out 
 rages of the red men became so numerous that General William Henry Harri- 
 >n, governor of the Northwest Territory, gathered a large force and marched 
 Near the present city of Lafayette, while encamped at a place 
 
 JAMES MADISON. 
 
 0751-ia36.) Two terms, 1809-1817. 
 
ENGLAND S OVERWHELMING NAVAL STRENGTH. 183 
 
 called Tippecanoe, lie was furiously assailed (Nov. 7, 1811) by the Indians. 
 Tecumseh was absent at the time, and the battle was brought on, against his 
 orders, by his brother, called " The Prophet." The loss was severe on both 
 sides, but the Indians were decisively defeated. 
 
 By this time the American people were clamoring more loudly than ever 
 for war with England. The congressional candidates were obliged to declare 
 whether they favored or opposed the war. Those who opposed it were beaten at 
 the polls. Congress, which had been making preparations for some time for 
 hostilities, declared war against England, June 18, 1812. It is a regrettable fact 
 that we could not know that almost on the same day England suspended the 
 Orders of Council, so far as they affected this country. Had the Atlantic cable 
 been in existence at the time, there would have been no war. 
 
 ENGLAND S OVERWHELMING NAVAL STRENGTH. 
 
 England had been fighting so continuously with her neighbors that her 
 strength on the ocean was overwhelming when compared with ours. She had 
 1,036 vessels, of which 254 were ships-of-the-line, not one of which carried less 
 than seventy-four guns. This immense navy was manned by 144,000 men. 
 The American navy numbered 12 vessels, besides a few gunboats of little value. 
 Indeed, the relative strength of the warring nations was so disproportionate 
 that the intention of the United States at first was not to attempt a conflict on 
 the ocean. Captains Bainbridge and Stewart, however, persuaded the govern 
 ment to allow our little navy to try its hand. 
 
 Despite the seeming hopelessness of such a struggle, it had some advantages 
 for the Americans. In the first place, it was easier for them to find the enemy 
 than for the latter to find them, because of the disproportion between the num 
 ber of their vessels. More important, however, than all was the fact that our 
 navy contained no politicians. The men were brave sailors, and marvelously 
 skillful in handling guns. With these conditions they were sure to win glory 
 on the ocean. 
 
 Still another fact must be mentioned, for it will explain many of the inci 
 dents recorded in the following pages. England had been triumphant so long 
 on the ocean that she had become unduly confident and careless. She held the 
 surrounding nations in light esteem, and had good warrant for doing so. 
 Naturally this led her greatly to underestimate the insignificant American navy. 
 When such a mistake is made the consequences are sure to be disastrous to the 
 one committing the blunder. 
 
 Truth compels the statement that in every war in which our country has 
 been engaged since the Revolution, the disasters have been mainly due to the 
 politicians. They have the " pull," as it is called, with the government, and 
 
184 ADMINISTRATIONS OF MADISON. 
 
 secure the appointment of men as leaders who are totally lacking in military skill. 
 When defeat has followed defeat, with exasperating regularity, the government 
 gradually awakes to the fact that the most criminal thing it can do is to place a 
 politician in charge of a body of brave men, or to appoint a callow youth to the 
 same position, merely because his father was a good soldier and has become a 
 politician. 
 
 THE WAR UNPOPULAR IN SOME SECTIONS. 
 
 Moreover, it must be remembered that our country was by no means a unit 
 in favoring the second war with England. It was popular in most of the Middle 
 States and the South, but bitterly opposed in New England. When the news 
 reached Boston of the declaration of war, the shipping hung their flags at half- 
 mast. Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Jersey, through their Legislatures, 
 protested against it, but, as in the Revolution, the general enthusiasm swept 
 away all opposition. 
 
 An increase of the regular army was ordered to 25,000 men, in addition to 
 the call for 50,000 volunteers, while the States were asked to summon 100,000 
 militia, to be used in defense of the coast and harbors. The government 
 authorized a loan of $11,000,000, and Henry Dearborn, of Massachusetts, was 
 made the first major-general and commander-in-chief of the army, while the 
 principal brigadiers were James Wilkinson, William Hull, Joseph Bloomfield, 
 and Wade Hampton, the last being father of the general of the same name 
 who became famous as a Confederate leader in the War for the Union. 
 
 A SHAMEFUL SURRENDER. 
 
 The opening battle of the war was one of the most shameful affairs that 
 ever befell the American arms. General William Hull, who had made a 
 creditable record in the Revolution, was governor of Michigan Territory. He 
 was ordered to cross the river from Detroit, which was his home, and invade 
 Canada. He showed great timidity, and learning that a British force, under 
 General Brock, was advancing against him, he recrossed the river and returned 
 to Detroit, before which General Brock appeared, on the 12th of August, at the 
 head of 700 British soldiers and 600 Indians. In demanding the surrender of 
 the post, he frightened Hull, whose daughter and her children were with him 
 by telling him he would be unab 1 ,^ to restrain the ferocity of his Indians, if the 
 Americans made a defense. 
 
 The soldiers were brave and eager to fight, but, to their inexpressible dis 
 gust, the siege had been pressed but a short time when Hull ran up a white 
 flag and surrendered, August 16th. With the submission of Detroit went the 
 whole territory northwest of Ohio. 
 
 The country was angered and humiliated by the act. Twenty-five men were 
 
BATTLE OF QUEENSTOWN HEIGHTS. 185 
 
 given in exchange for Hull, and he was placed on trial, charged with treason, 
 cowardice, and conduct unbecoming an officer. He was convicted on the last 
 two charges and sentenced to be shot. In recognition of his services in the 
 Revolution, however, the President pardoned him, and he died, without ever 
 having gained the respect of his countrymen, in 1825. 
 
 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1812. 
 
 Before proceeding with the history of the war, a few incidents not con 
 nected with it should be recorded. In the presidential election of 1812, the 
 electoral vote was : for President, James Madison, Republican, 128 ; De Witt 
 Clinton, of New York, Federalist, 89. For Vice-President, Elbridge Gerry, of 
 Massachusetts, Republican, 131 ; Jared Ingersoll, of Pennsylvania, Federalist, 
 86. Vacancy, 1. Thus Madison and Gerry were elected. 
 
 Louisiana was admitted as a State in 1812, being a part of the immense 
 territory of that name purchased from France in 1803. Indiana was admitted 
 in 1816, and was the second of the five States carved out of the old Northwest 
 Territory. It will be recalled that the United States Bank was chartered in 
 1791 for twenty years. Its charter, therefore, expired in 1811. In 1816, 
 Congress chartered a new bank, on the same plan and for the same length of 
 time. The public money was to be deposited in it or its branches, except when 
 the secretary of the treasury choose to order its deposit elsewhere. 
 
 BATTLE OF QUEENSTOWN HEIGHTS. 
 
 Returning to the history of the war, it has to be said that the second 
 attempt to invade Canada was more disastrous if possible than the first, and 
 more disgraceful to American arms. The troops on the Niagara frontier were 
 mainly New York militia, with a few regulars and recruits from other States, all 
 under the command of Stephen Van Rensselaer. Resolved to capture the 
 Heights of Queenstown, he sent two columns across the river on the morning 
 of October 13, 1812. They were led by Colone4 Solomon Van Rensselaer, 
 cousin of the general and a brave officer. The engagement was a brisk one, 
 the colonel being wounded early in the fight, but his troops gallantly charged 
 the Heights and captured the fortress. General Brock was reinforced and 
 attacked the Americans, but was repulsed, Brock being killed. The fierceness 
 of the battle is shown by that fact that the three commanders who succeeded 
 Brock were either killed or severely wounded. 
 
 Under the attack of superior forces, the Americans had managed to hold 
 their ground and they now began to intrench. Meanwhile, the 1,200 New 
 York militia on the other side of the river had become frightened by the 
 sounds of battle, and when called upon to cross refused to do so, on the cowardly 
 
186 ADMINISTRATIONS OF MADISON. 
 
 plea that they had enlisted to defend only their State. Lieutenant-Colonel Winfield 
 Scott had taken command of the brigade and was engaged in intrenching, when 
 the enemy, again reinforced, drove his troops, after two attacks, to the river, 
 where they were hemmed in and compelled to surrender. The American loss 
 in killed and wounded was fully a thousand. General Van Rensselaer was so 
 disgusted with the conduct of his militia that he resigned his command, and 
 was succeeded hy General Alexander Smyth, of Virginia, whose conduct led to 
 the general conviction that he was mentally about as near to being an idiot as 
 it is possible for a man to be and still retain a little ground for being thought 
 otherwise. 
 
 The first thing General Smyth did was to issue a proclamation of so bom 
 bastic a character that his friends were humiliated. He made several starts 
 toward Canada, but in each instance recalled his troops, and acted so inexplic 
 ably that the militia were on the point of revolting, when he was deprived of his 
 command. This closed the military operations for the year 1812, and the story 
 is enough to crimson the cheek of every American with shame. 
 
 BRILLIANT WORK OF THE AMERICAN NAVY. 
 
 On the ocean, however, the record was brilliant and as astonishing to 
 friends as to enemies. Hardly had the news of the declaration of war reached 
 New York, when Commodore John Rodgers put to sea in the President, the 
 same vessel that had taught the Little Belt her severe lesson. Some time later 
 Rodgers sighted the frigate Belvidera and gave chase. He killed a number 
 of the crew, but the vessel managed to escape. Continuing his cruise, he cap 
 tured a number of merchantmen and retook an American prize. The luckiest 
 ship in the American navy was said to be the Constitution, afterward popu 
 larly known as "Old Ironsides." Under command of Captain Isaac Hull, 
 nephew of the disgraced general of Detroit, she engaged the sloop-of-war Guer- 
 riere off the coast of Massachusetts. The battle was a desperate one, but 
 extraordinary markmanship prevailed, and the enemy were compelled to strike 
 their flag after a loss of 79 killed and wounded, while that of the Americans 
 was 7 killed and 7 wounded. 
 
 The victory caused deep chagrin in England and corresponding rejoicing 
 in the United States. Congress gave Captain Hull a gold medal and distributed 
 $50,000 among his crew. 
 
 In October, the sloop-of-war Wasp, Captain Jacob Jones, met the British 
 brig Frolic off Cape Hatteras. Since the vessels were of precisely the same 
 strength, the contest could not have been a more perfect test of the bravery and 
 efficiency of the ships of England and our own country. As respects bravery, 
 vt was equal, for the men on both sides fought with a courage that could not 
 
BRILLIANT WORK OF THE AMERICAN NAVY. 
 
 187 
 
 ^ 
 
 been surpassed. When the crew of the 
 Wasp boarded the Frolic, they found no 
 one on deck except the man at the wheel 
 and two wounded officers. The vessels were 
 so damaged that on the same day the 
 British ship Poicters captured both. 
 
 During the same month (Octo 
 ber 2oth), Commodore Stephen De- 
 catur, in command of the frigate 
 United States, encountered 
 ilie British frigate Macedo 
 nian off the Island of Madeira, 
 tured her after a battle of two 
 which he lost twelve 
 of the enemy was 
 a hundred. The 
 ian was so shattered 
 with the greatest 
 was she 
 
 THE ARTS OF PEACE AND THE AKT OF WAR. 
 
 and cap- 
 hours, in 
 while that 
 more than 
 Macedon- 
 that only 
 difficulty 
 New London. 
 The com 
 mand of the Con 
 stitution was now 
 turned over to 
 Bainbridge, who 
 sighted the frigate 
 Java off the coast 
 of Brazil, December 29th. 
 In the terrific battle that 
 followed he lost 34 men, 
 but killed 120 of the enemy, 
 tore out every mast, and 
 burst her hull with round 
 . - shot. The Java was blown 
 up, and the prisoners and 
 wounded were taken to 
 Boston, where Bainbridge 
 received a right royal wel 
 come. 
 
 This ends the history 
 of the first half-year of the 
 
188 ADMINISTRATIONS OF MADISON. 
 
 war of 1812. While everything went wrong on land, the ocean showed only 
 a succession of brilliant victories. England, chagrined and humiliated, declared 
 that her flag had been disgraced "by a piece of striped bunting flying at the 
 mast-heads of a few fir-built frigates, manned by a handful of outlaws." 
 
 REORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY. 
 
 Congress took measures for strengthening and reorganizing the army. 
 The pay and bounty of the soldiers were increased; the President was em 
 powered to raise twenty additional regiments of infantry, to borrow money, 
 and to issue treasury i.otes, and provisions were made for adding four ships-of- 
 the-line, six frigates, and as many vessels of war on the Great Lakes as might be 
 needed. The army was organized into three divisions: the Army of the North, 
 under General Wade Hampton, to act in the country about Lake Champlain ; 
 the Army of the Centre, under the eommander-in-chief, General Henry Dear 
 born, to act on the Niagara frontier and Lake Ontario; and the Army of the 
 East, under General Winchester, who soon after was superseded by General 
 William Henry Harrison. 
 
 IN THE WEST. 
 
 The last-named officer did his utmost to drive the British out of Detroit. 
 His troops were volunteers, brave but undisciplined, and displayed their most 
 effective work in scattered fighting and against the Indians; but their success 
 was not decisive. When the swamps and lakes of the Northwest were suffi 
 ciently frozen to bear their weight, Harrison repeated his attempts to expel the 
 British from Detroit. His advance, under General Winchester, was attacked 
 on the River Raisin by the British, led by General Proctor. Winchester was 
 as prompt as General Hull in surrendering. Proctor allowed his Indians to 
 massacre the wounded prisoners, most of whom were Kentuckians. Thereafter, 
 when the Kentucky troops rushed into battle they raised the war-cry, "Re 
 member the Raisin !" 
 
 The disaster to Winchester caused Harrison to fall back to Fort Meigs, 
 which stood near the site of the present town of Defiance. There, in the spring 
 of 1813, he was besieged by Proctor. A force of Kentuckians relieved him, 
 after severe loss, and Proctor retreated. Some months later he again advanced 
 against Fort Meigs, but was repulsed, and marched to Fort Stephenson, where 
 Fremont now stands. 
 
 The besiegers consisted of 3,000 British and Indians, while the garrison 
 numbered only 160, under the command of Major George Croghan, only twenty 
 years of age. When Proctor ordered the youth to surrender he threatened 
 that, in case of resistance, every prisoner would be tomahawked. Major 
 Croghan replied that when the surrender took place there would not be a single 
 
CAPTURE OF TORONTO (YORK). 189 
 
 man left to tomahawk. Although Croghaii had but a single cauiion, he made 
 so gallant a defense that his assailants were repulsed, and Proctor, fearing the 
 approach of Harrison, withdrew from the neighborhood. 
 
 BATTLE OF THE THAMES. 
 
 Perry s great victory on Lake Erie in September, 1813, as related further 
 on, gave the Americans command of that body of water. Harrison s troops 
 were placed on board of Perry s vessels and carried across from Ohio to Canada. 
 They landed near Maiden and Proctor fell back to Sandwich, with the Ameri 
 cans following. He continued his retreat to the Thames, where, with the help 
 of Tecumseh, lie selected a good battle-ground and awaited the Americans, who 
 attacked him on the 5th of October. Proctor fled early in the battle, but his 
 regulars fought bravely. The 1,500 Indians, under the lead of Tecumseh, 
 displayed unusual heroism, but, when the great Tecumseh fell, they fled in a 
 panic. The American victory was overwhelming and complete. 
 
 Tecumseh s irresistible eloquence had roused the Creeks to take the war 
 path in the South. The danger became so imminent that 500 of the inhabitants 
 took refuge in a stockade known as Fort Mimms, Alabama, thirty-five miles 
 above Mobile. The sentinels, believing there was no danger, were careless, and 
 on August 21, 1813, nearly a thousand Creeks attacked the place, which was 
 surprised and captured after feeble resistance. More than 200 were tomahawked, 
 the negroes being spared to become slaves of the Indians. 
 
 CAPTURE OF TORONTO (YORK). 
 
 In April of this year, General Dearborn crossed Lake Ontario from 
 Sackett s Harbor to Toronto (then known as York), which was the capital of 
 Upper Canada and the chief depot for the supply of the western garrisons. 
 Under a sharp fire, General Zebulon Pike drove the enemy from the works. 
 The explosion of a magazine in the fort caused the death of General Pike in 
 the moment of victory. 
 
 The operations left Sackett s Harbor almost unprotected, and led to an 
 attack by the British admiral, Sir James Yeo, and General Prevost. The com 
 mander of the garrison appealed to General Jacob Brown, a militia officer of 
 the neighborhood, who hurriedly gathered a small force and added it to the 
 defenders. In the attack which followed Brown showed great skill, and 
 General Prevost, believing his retreat was about to be cut off, fled in a panic, 
 leaving 300 dead and wounded. In the engagements in that section during the 
 remainder of the year, General Brown was about the only officer who displayed 
 any military ability, his skill eventually placing him at the head of the United 
 States army. 
 
190 ADMINISTRATIONS OF MADISON. 
 
 The fighting that followed was mainly in favor of the British, who recap 
 tured York. Eight hundred Americans were made prisoners at Beaver Dams, 
 and, as the autumn approached, the enemy found themselves in command of a 
 powerful squadron. 
 
 INCOMPETENT COMMANDERS. 
 
 There was much dissatisfaction with General Dearborn, the head of the 
 army. He was in ill-health, never led his troops in person, and missed a good 
 opportunity of capturing Montreal. He was relieved in June and succeeded by 
 General Wilkinson, who arrived at Sackett s Harbor in August. He began 
 preparations for invading Canada, but was so laggard in his movements that the 
 enemy had abundance of time in which to make ready. The St. Lawrence 
 seemed to be fortified at every point, but General Brown, by brave fighting, 
 opened the way for the flotilla. 
 
 General Wilkinson reached St. Regis, November llth, at which point 
 General Wade Hampton was to co-operate with him. But that officer, owing to 
 a lack of provisions, had fallen back to Plattsburg, hoping to keep open his 
 communications with the St. Lawrence. This obliged General Wilkinson to 
 retreat, and Wilkinson, Hampton, and other officers quarreled like so many 
 children. 
 
 Disaster and disgrace seemed to follow the American land forces during the 
 first two years of the war, but the fault lay wholly with the officers, who were 
 incompetent, and many times lacking in patriotism. The soldiers were brave 
 but were comparatively powerless with such poor commanders. 
 
 Once again the American navy performed brilliant work, though, unfor 
 tunately, the record was marred by a sad disaster. On February 24th, Captain 
 James Lawrence, who had made several minor captures from the enemy, riddled 
 the English brig-of-war Peacock, while in command of the Hornet, and, in a 
 fierce engagement of fifteen minutes, compelled her to surrender and hoist a 
 signal of distress. She went down so quickly that several of the Hornet s crew, 
 who were giving aid, sank with her, besides thirteen of the enemy. Captain 
 Lawrence treated his prisoners so kindly that, upon reaching New York, they 
 gave him a letter of thanks. 
 
 CAPTURE OF THE CHESAPEAKE BY THE SHANNON. 
 
 Captain Lawrence s fine work caused him to be promoted to the command 
 of the Chesapeake, then refitting at Boston. Captain Broke (afterward Sir 
 Philip, B. V.), commander of the Shannon, cruising off Boston, challenged 
 Lawrence to come out and fight him. The American promptly accepted the chal 
 lenge. It was a piece of unwarrantable recklessness, for the Chesapeake was 
 not yet ready for the sea, and his crew was undisciplined and in a surly mood, 
 
CAPTAIN DECATUR CHECKED. 
 
 191 
 
 because some promised prize money had not been paid them. Moreover, it is 
 said that most of the sailors were under the influence of liquor. 
 
 The Chesapeake sailed gaily out of the harbor on the 1st of June, followed 
 by a number of pleasure boats and barges crowded with spectators, while the hills 
 swarmed with people, many with glasses, all anxious to witness the triumph of 
 the gallant young captain. A woeful disappointment awaited them. 
 
 The battle was a terrific one. In a short time the rigging of the Chesa 
 peake was so mangled that she became unmanageable, and could not escape a 
 raking fire which did frightful 
 execution. Captain Lawrence was 
 twice wounded, the last time mor 
 tally, and was carried below at the 
 time the enemy were preparing to 
 board. He ordered that the colors 
 should not be struck. " Tell the 
 men to fire faster," he cried ; " don t 
 give up the ship ! " 
 
 Boarders swarmed over the 
 Chesapeake and a few minutes later 
 she was captured, the loss of the 
 Americans being 48 killed and 98 
 wounded, that of the enemy being 
 about half as great. Lawrence lived 
 four days, most of the time delirious, 
 during which he continually re 
 peated the appeal, "Don t give up 
 the ship ! " The impressiveness of 
 the circumstances and the words 
 themselves made them the motto of 
 the American navy in many a sub 
 sequent engagement. 
 
 Lawrence was one of the brav- 
 est of men, and entered the navy when only seventeen years old. He helped 
 Captain Decatur in burning the Philadelphia, in the harbor of Tripoli, dur 
 ing the war with that country. His body was taken to Halifax and buried 
 with the honors of war, several of the oldest captains in the British navy 
 acting as pall-bearers. 
 
 CAPTAIN DECATUK CHECKED. 
 
 An exasperating experience befell Captain Decatur. On the day of the 
 capture of the Chesapeake, he was compelled to take refuge in the harbor of 
 
 MRS. JAMES MADISON 
 
 iDOLLY PAYNE). 
 
 During the burning of Washington in 1812 by the British, Dolly 
 Madison s heroism saved the Declaration of Independence from de- 
 She broke the glass case containing it and fled. 
 
192 ADMINISTRATIONS OF MADISON. 
 
 New London, to escape a powerful squadron. He was in command of tla- 
 United States, the Macedonian, and the Hornet. Chafing with impatience, he 
 made repeated attempts to get to sea, but he declared that in every instance the 
 blockading squadron were notified by means of blue lights displayed by Tories 
 on shore. He was thus held helpless until the close of hostilities. This 
 betrayal by his own countrymen caused much resentment throughout the coun 
 try, and the enemies of the Federal party gave it the name of " Blue Lights," 
 and Connecticut was often taunted for her disloyal course in the war, though the 
 offenders were probably few in number. 
 
 By this time, England had acquired so wholesome a respect for the Ameri 
 can navy that orders were issued that two or three vessels should always cruise 
 in company, and under no circumstances should a single vessel engage an 
 American, where there was the least preponderance against the British. The 
 Americans were the only nation against whom such an order was ever issued. 
 
 Captain William Henry Allen, in command of the brig Argus, boldly 
 entered the English Channel and destroyed much shipping of the enemy. 
 Many vessels were sent in search of him, and on the 14th of August he was cap 
 tured by the Pelican. Soon afterward the brig Enterprise captured the British 
 Boxer off the coast of Maine. The fight was a desperate one, both commanders 
 being killed. They were buried side by side in Portland. 
 
 THE CRUISE OF THE ESSEX. 
 
 In the spring of 1813, Captain David Porter (father of Admiral David 
 Dixon Porter), in command of the Essex, doubled Cape Horn and entered the 
 Pacific, where until then no American frigate had ever been seen. He pro 
 tected American vessels and nearly broke up the British whaling trade in that 
 ocean. He made so many captures that he soon had almost a fleet under his 
 command, and was able to pay his men with the money taken from the enemy. 
 Every nation in that region was a friend of England, and he seized the Mar 
 quesas Islands, where lie refitted his fleet and resumed his cruise. Early in 
 1814, he entered the neutral harbor of Valparaiso, where he was blockaded by 
 two British vessels that had long been searching for him. Regardless of inter 
 national law, they attacked the Essex, which was in a crippled condition and 
 unable to close with them, and finally compelled her surrender. 
 
 OPERATIONS ON THE LAKES. 
 
 Thus far our record of the exploits of the American navy has been con 
 fined to the ocean, but the most important doings of all occurred on the lakes. 
 At the beginning, our force upon these inland waters was weak. On Lake 
 Ontario, there was but one small vessel, while the British had several. Both 
 
PERRY S GREAT VICTORY. 193 
 
 sides began building war- vessels. The American fleet was commanded by Com 
 modore Cliauncey and the British by Sir James Yeo. They alternated in gain 
 ing command of the lake. Meanwhile, the ship-builders were so busy that from 
 about a dozen vessels on either side they increased the number to more than a 
 hundred each by the close of the war. 
 
 PERRY S GREAT VICTORY. 
 
 One of the grandest of all triumphs was gained by the American navy in 
 the early autumn of 1813. Captain Oliver Hazard Perry was sent to Lake 
 Erie to build a navy. Perry at that time was not thirty years old and had 
 never seen a naval battle. By August, he had a squadron of two large and 
 seven small vessels, carrying 54 guns and 416 men, with which he set out to 
 find Commodore Barclay, who had two large and four small vessels, with 63 
 guns and 440 men. 
 
 The two squadrons met at the western end of Lake Erie on the 10th of 
 September. Barclay centred such a furious fire upon the Lawrence, Perry s 
 flagship, that in two hours she was in a sinking condition. Perry entered a 
 small boat, and, exposed to a sharp fire, was rowed to the Niagara, on which 
 he hoisted his flag. The battle was renewed, and, while the enemy was trying 
 to form a new line of battle, Perry ran the Niagara directly through the fleet, 
 delivering broadsides right and left. The other vessels were prompt in following 
 her, and poured such a raking fire into the enemy that fifteen minutes later 
 Barclay surrendered. The British commander had but one arm when the 
 battle opened, and, before it ended, his remaining arm was shot off. He lost 
 200 killed and wounded and 600 prisoners, while the Americans had 27 killed 
 and 96 wounded. 
 
 It has already been shown that this victory was of the utmost importance, 
 for Proctor was waiting to invade Ohio, if it went his way, while General 
 Harrison was also waiting to invade Canada, in the event of an American 
 triumph. In sending news of his victory to General Harrison, Perry, in his 
 hastily written dispatch, used the words which have been quoted thousands of 
 times : " We have met the enemy and they are ours." It will be recalled that 
 Harrison immediately embarked his troops on Perry s ships, and, crossing the 
 lake, pursued Proctor to the Thames, where he decisively defeated him and 
 ended all danger of an invasion of Ohio by the enemy. 
 
 The American government now began to heed the benefit of the severe 
 lessons of defeat. The worthless generals were weeded out, and the army in 
 western New York reorganized so effectually that the country was rheered by a 
 number of victories proof that the rank and file were of the best quality and 
 that their previous defeats were clue to their leaders. 
 
 13 
 
191 ADMINISTRATIONS OF MADISON. 
 
 On July 3, 1814, Gens. Scott, Ripley, and Brown crossed the Niagara from 
 Black Rock to Erie with 3,000 men. Brown s ability had become so manifest 
 that by this time he was a major-general. When he appeared in front of Fort Erie, 
 it surrendered without resistance. Brown pursued a British corps of observa 
 tion down the river until it crossed Chippewa Creek and joined the main body. 
 Brown withdrew and united also with the principal forces of the Americans, who 
 attacked the British on the 5th of July, in their strong intrenchments behind 
 the Chippewa. They were completely defeated, routed out of their defenses, and 
 driven up the shore of Lake Ontario. Their Indian allies were so disgusted 
 with the defeat of the British and the furious fighting of the Americans that all 
 deserted the British commander. 
 
 BATTLE OF LUNDAY s LANE. 
 
 The British army received reinforcements and turned back to meet the 
 Americans who were pursuing them. The armies met, July 25th, at Lundy s 
 Lane, within sight of Niagara Falls, where the fiercely contested battle, begin 
 ning at sunset, lasted until midnight. The British commander was wounded 
 and captured and the enemy driven back. The loss of the Americans was 
 serious. Scott was so badly wounded that he could take no further part in the 
 war, Brown was less severely injured, and Ripley withdrew with the army to 
 Fort Erie. 
 
 An exploit of Colonel James Miller deserves notice. At a critical point in 
 the battle, General Brown saw that victory depended upon the silencing of a 
 battery of seven guns stationed on a hill, that was pouring a destructive fire 
 into the Americans. 
 
 " Colonel/ said he, " can you capture that battery ? " 
 
 " I can try," was the modest reply, and a few minutes later Colonel Miller 
 was in motion with his regiment. The darkness enabled the men to conceal them 
 selves under the shadow of a fence, along which they silently crept until they 
 could peep between the rails and see the gunners standing with lighted matches 
 awaiting the order to fire. Thrusting the muzzles of their guns through the 
 openings, they shot down every gunner, and, leaping over the fence, captured 
 the battery in the face of a hot infantry fire. The enemy made three attempts 
 to recapture the battery, but were repulsed each time. When General Ripley 
 retreated, he left the guns behind, so that they again fell into the hands of the 
 British from whom they had been so brilliantly won. 
 
 The enemy soon received reinforcements and besieged the Americans in 
 Fort Erie. Brown, although still suffering from his wound, resumed command 
 and drove his besiegers once more beyond the Chippewa. The Americans 
 evacuated Fort Erie on the 5th of November, and recrossing the Niagara went 
 
PUNISHMENT OF THE CREEK INDIANS. 195 
 
 into winter quarters at Black Rock and Ontario. There were no more military 
 operations during the war between Lakes Erie and Ontario. 
 
 THE ARMY OF THE NORTH. 
 
 General Wilkinson was so inefficient with the Army of the North that he 
 was superseded by General Izard, who advanced with his force to the aid of 
 General Brown at Fort Erie. This left Plattsburg uncovered, and the British 
 decided to attack it by land, and to destroy at the same time the American 
 flotilla on Lake Champlain. 
 
 Sir George Prevost, at the head of an army of 14,000 men, entered Ameri 
 can territory on the 3d of September, and three days later reached Plattsburg. 
 The garrison withdrew to the south side of the Saranac, and prepared to dispute 
 the passage of the stream. Commodore Downie appeared off the harbor of 
 Plattsburg, with the British squadron, September llth. The American squad 
 ron, under Commodore Macdonough, was in the harbor, and consisted of two 
 less barges than the enemy, 86 guns, and 820 men, while the English com 
 mander had 95 guns and more than a thousand men. 
 
 During the battle which followed the British land forces made repeated 
 attempts to cross the Saranac, but were defeated in every instance. The battle 
 on the water lasted less than three hours, during which Commodore Downie was 
 killed, his vessel sunk, and the remainder sunk or captured. The destruction 
 of the British squadron was complete, and the land forces withdrew during the 
 night. England was so dissatisfied with the action of Sir George Prevost that 
 he was dismissed from command. No more serious fighting took place in that 
 section durinsr the war. 
 
 o 
 
 PUNISHMENT OF THE CREEK INDIANS. 
 
 Mention has been made of the massacre at Fort Mimms in Alabama by 
 the Creeks, August 30, 1813. Tennessee acted with prompt vigor. General 
 Jackson at the head of 5,000 men marched into the Creek country and pun 
 ished the Indians witli merciless rigor. After repeated defeats, the Creeks made 
 a stand at the Great Horseshoe Bend of the Tallapoosa River. There a thousand 
 warriors gathered, with their wives and children, prepared to fight to the last. 
 The desperate battle was fought March 27, 1814, and at its close 600 Indians 
 were killed and the remainder scattered. The spirit of the Creeks was crushed, 
 and General Jackson s exploit made him the most popular military leader in 
 the Southwest. 
 
 Matters looked gloomy for the Americans at the beginning of 1814. Eng 
 land sent a formidable force of veterans to Canada, and another to capture 
 Washington, while the main body expected to take New Orleans, with the 
 
196 ADMINISTRATIONS 01 MADISON 
 
 intention of retaining the city and province of Louisiana upon the conclusion 
 of peace. 
 
 PREPARING FOR THE FINAL STRUGGLE. 
 
 The American government gathered up her loins for the great struggle. 
 The President was authorized to borrow $25,000,000, and to issue treasury 
 notes to the amount of $5,000,000. Such sums are but bagatelles in these days, 
 but in 1814 the credit of the government was so poor that the notes depreciated 
 one-fifth of their face value. One hundred and twenty -four dollars were offered 
 as a bounty for every recruit, while the pay, rations, and clothing were placed 
 upon a generous scale. An order was issued increasing the regular army to 
 66,000 men, and an embargo laid with the aim of stopping trade under British 
 licenses was repealed in April. 
 
 The British cruisers kept the Atlantic coast in continual alarm. Entering 
 Delaware Bay they burned every merchant vessel in sight. When the people 
 of Lewiston refused to sell food to them, they bombarded their homes. In 
 Chesapeake Bay Admiral Cockburn plundered private dwellings. Among 
 the places sacked and burned were Lewes, Havre de Grace, Fredericktown, 
 and Georgetown. More leniency was shown the New England coast because 
 of her opposition to the war. Another inexcusable proceeding on the part of 
 the invaders was that of persuading many slaves to leave their masters and join 
 the enemy. This business compelled England, after the close of the war, to pay 
 the United States one million and a quarter dollars, on the award of the Em 
 peror of Eussia, to whom the question was submitted. 
 
 CAPTURE AND BURNING OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 But this year saw the crowning disgrace to the American arms. The mis 
 management of affairs left our national capital defenseless. In August, 1814, 
 Sir Alexander Cochrane carried a British army up the Chesapeake on board his 
 squadron. Commodore Barney with his few ships had taken shelter in the 
 Patuxent. Paying no attention to him, Eoss landed his 5,000 veterans within 
 40 miles of Washington and advanced against the city. The government had 
 awakened to the threatened peril a short time before, and placed 500 regulars 
 and 2,000. undisciplined militia under the command of General William H. 
 Winder. 
 
 Winder took a strong position at Bladensburg and awaited Eoss and Coch- 
 ran. The British army met with no opposition, and, upon reaching Marl- 
 borough, found that Commodore Barney, acting under the orders of the secretary 
 of war, had burned his fleet and hurried to Washington. The English com 
 mander arrived in sight of Washington on the 24th of August. His approach 
 to Bladensburg was over a bridge defended by artillery from Barney s flotilla, 
 
CAPTURE AND BURNING OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 197 
 
 
 which were handled by Barney and his sailors. They fought with the utmost 
 heroism, repelling the British again and 
 again ; but the militia fled, and, when 
 Barney was wounded and his command 
 helpless, he surrendered. General Ross 
 complimented him for his bravery and im 
 mediately paroled him. 
 
 This was the only check encountered 
 
 guard of 
 
 The 
 
 BURNING OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 by the British in their ad 
 vance upon Washington. 
 General Winder had learned 
 enough of his militia to 
 know that no dependence 
 could be placed upon them, 
 and he fled to Georgetown. 
 The President, heads of 
 departments, and most of 
 the citizens joined in the 
 stampede, and the advance 
 
 General Ross entered the city that evening. 
 
 British commander offered to spare the city for a large sum of money* 
 
198 ADMINISTRATIONS OF MADISON. 
 
 but no one was within reach with authority to comply with his demand. Ross 
 claimed that his flag of truce had been fired on, and he ordered the city to be 
 burned. In the conflagration that followed, the President s house, the depart 
 ment offices, numerous private dwellings, the libraries and public archives, many 
 works of art in the public buildings, the navy yard and its contents, a frigate 
 on the stocks, and several small vessels were destroyed. The patent office and 
 jail were the only public property spared. The burning of Washington was an 
 outrage which was generally condemned in England. 
 
 After a rest and the reception of reinforcements, Ross marched against 
 Baltimore, which he declared should be his winter quarters. While on the 
 road he was mortally wounded by an American sharpshooter in a tree. Such a 
 brave defense was made by Forts McHenry and Covington, guarding the narrow 
 passage from the Patapsco into the harbor of Baltimore, that the British fleet 
 and the land forces were repelled. The success of this defense inspired Francis 
 S. Key to write our famous national song, The Star- Spangled Banner. 
 
 THE HARTFORD CONVENTION. 
 
 The war became intensely unpopular in New England. Its shipping suf 
 fered severely, and the demands for peace grew more clamorous. On the 15th 
 of December, 1814, a convention of delegates, appointed by the Legislatures of 
 Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Vermont, met in 
 Hartford and held secret sessions for three weeks. An address was agreed upon 
 charging the national government with carrying on a policy injurious to New 
 England. Amendments were proposed to the Constitution, and a committee 
 was selected to confer with the government at Washington and to propose that the 
 revenues of New England should be applied to her own defense. An agree 
 ment was made that if their proposed action failed, and peace was not soon 
 made, the convention should meet again in the following June. There was 
 open talk of a withdrawal from the Union, and doubtless grave results would 
 have followed had the war gone on. The Hartford Convention and the "Blue 
 Lights" of Connecticut gave the final death-blow to the Federal party. 
 
 A TREATY OF PEACE SIGNED. 
 
 Despite the progress of the war, peace negotiations had been going on for 
 a long time. Rlissia, whose system of government has always been the exact 
 opposite of ours, has shown us marked friendship in many instances. As 
 early as 1813 she offered to mediate between Great Britain and the United 
 States. The President appointed five commissioners, John Quincy Adams, 
 James A. Bayard, Henry Clay, Jonathan Russell, and Albert Gallatin, who 
 were sent to Ghent. Belgium, where they were met by Lord Gambier, Henry 
 
GREAT VICTORY AT NEW ORLEANS. 199 
 
 Goulburn, and William Adams, the commissioners for Great Britain. After 
 long negotiations, the commissioners reached an agreement on the 24th of 
 December, 1814. The treaty did not contain a word about the search of 
 American vessels for alleged deserters, which was the real cause of the war, nor 
 was any reference made to the wrongs done our commerce, and the rights of 
 neutral nations were not defined. The Orders of Council, however, died of 
 themselves, Great Britain never again attempting to enforce them. It was 
 agreed that all places captured by either side during the progress of the war or 
 afterward should be surrendered, and provisions were made for fixing the boun 
 dary between the United States and Canada. 
 
 In those days, when the ocean telegraph was not thought of and there 
 were no swift-going steamers, news traveled slowly, and it did not reach Wash 
 ington until February 4, 1815. Meanwhile, the most important battle of the 
 war had taken place and several captures were made on the ocean. 
 
 The Creek Indians had been so crushed by General Jackson that they 
 ceded a large part of their lands to the Americans. They were sullen, and 
 when a British squadron entered the Gulf of Mexico they eagerly did all they 
 could to help the enemy. The squadron, by permission of the Spanish author 
 ities took possession of the forts of Pensacola, and fitted out an expedition 
 against Fort Bower a f the entrance to Mobile Bay. They attacked the fort, 
 September loth, by sea and land, but were repulsed. Among the land assailants 
 were several hundred Creek warriors, who thus received another lesson of the 
 bravery of American soldiers. 
 
 General Jackson, in command of the southern military district, was enraged 
 by the course of the Spanish authorities. He marched from Mobile at the head 
 of 2,000 Tennessee militia and a number of Choctaws, stormed Pensacola, 
 November 7th, drove the British from the harbor, and compelled the Spanish 
 governor to surrender the town. 
 
 GENERAL JACKSON S GREAT VICTORY AT NEW ORLEANS. 
 
 Having completed his work in this summary fashion, he returned to 
 Mobile, where he found an urgent call for him to go to the defense of New 
 Orleans, which was threatened by a powerful force of the enemy. The invasion, 
 to which we have referred in another place, was a formidable one and had been 
 arranged a long time before. General Jackson reached New Orleans, Decem 
 ber 2d, and began vigorous preparations. He enlisted almost everybody capable 
 of bearing arms, including negroes and convicts. One of the most famous 
 freebooters that ever ravaged the Gulf of Mexico was Lafitte, to whom the 
 British made an extravagant offer for his help, but he refused, and gave his ser 
 vices to Jackson. 
 
200 ADMINISTRATIONS OF MADISON. 
 
 Jackson s vigor filled the city with confidence, but he was so strict that 
 dissatisfaction was expressed, whereupon he declared martial law ; in other 
 words, he took the city government into his own hands and ruled as he thought 
 best. He neglected no precaution. Fort St. Philip, guarding the passage of the 
 Mississippi at Detour la Plaquemine, was made stronger by new works, and a 
 line of fortifications was built four miles below the city, on the left of the river, 
 and extended eastward to an impassable cypress swamp. It was a disputed 
 question for a time whether Jackson used cotton bales in the defenses of New 
 Orleans, but it is established that he placed them on the tops of the intrench- 
 ments. Cannon were also mounted at different points. The militia under 
 General Morgan, and the crews and guns of a part of the squadron of Commo 
 dore Patterson, held the west bank of the river. These precrutions enabled the 
 defenders to enfilade the approaching enemy. A detachment guarded the pass 
 of Bayou St. John, above the city, and a number of gunboats awaited to dis 
 pute the passage of the river between Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne. 
 
 The British fleet appeared at the entrance to this channel, December 14th, 
 and was immediately assailed by the American flotilla, which was destroyed 
 before it could inflict serious damage. Left free to select the point of attack, 
 the British sent a force in flat-bottomed boats to the extremity of the lake, 
 where they landed in a swamp. They repelled an attack by Jackson, who fell 
 back toward the city. On the 28th of December the British were within half 
 a mile of the American lines. They began a fire of shells, but were repulsed 
 by Jackson s artillery. 
 
 The defenders numbered some 3,000 militia, who were stationed in a line 
 of intrenchments a mile long and four miles from the town. This line was 
 protected by a ditch in front, flanked by batteries on the other side of the river, 
 and, in addition, eight other batteries were in position. 
 
 The British worked slowly forward until on the first day of the year they 
 were within less than a quarter of a mile of New Orleans. As the best material 
 at hand from which to erect breastworks they used hogsheads of sugar and 
 molasses, which were sent flying in fragments by the American cannon. Several 
 attacks upon the defenders were repulsed and the final assault delayed for a 
 number of days. 
 
 Sir Edward Pakenham, a veteran of the Peninsular wars, and a brother- 
 in-law of Wellington, the conqueror of Napoleon, was in command of the 
 reinforcements. While the advance went on slowly, 3,000 militia joined Jackson. 
 They were composed mainly of Kentucky and Tennessee riflemen, the finest 
 marksmen in the world. They were men, too, who did not lose their heads in 
 battle, but, kneeling behind their intrenchments, coolly took aim and rarely 
 threw away a shot. 
 
GREAT VICTORY AT NEW ORLEANS. 
 
 201 
 
 On the morning of Jan. 8, 1815, the English army advanced against the 
 American intrenchments. They numbered nearly 8,000 veterans, and England 
 never placed a finer body of men in the field. The American riflemen, with 
 shotted cannon and leveled rifles, 
 
 calmly await 
 mand to open 
 ing host. 
 
 <? 
 
 ed the c o m - 
 on the advanc- 
 They were 
 
 WEATHERSFORD AND GENERAL JACKSON. 
 
 formed in two lines, those at the rear loading for those in front, who were thus 
 enabled to keep up an almost continuous fire. 
 
 Before the outburst of flame the British dissolved like snow in the sun, 
 but the survivors with unsurpassable heroism persisted until it was apparent that 
 
202 ADMINISTRATIONS OF MADISON. 
 
 not a man would be left alive if they maintained their ground. Then they fell 
 back to decide upon some other method of attack. 
 
 Angered by his repulse, Pakenham ran to the head of a regiment bearing 
 scaling ladders and called upon his men to follow him. Only a few succeeded 
 in piercing the American lines. Pakenham fell, mortally wounded ; his suc 
 cessor was killed, and the third in command was so badly injured that he could 
 give no orders. "All that were left of them " retreated. From the opening to 
 the close of the battle was less than half an hour, during which the British lost 
 2,500 in killed, wounded, and prisoners, one-third being killed. On the Amer 
 ican side eight were killed and thirteen wounded. A few days later the British 
 withdrew to their ships and sailed for the West Indies, where they learned of 
 the signing of the treaty of peace. 
 
 WORK OF THE AMERICAN NAVY. 
 
 It will be noticed that as the war progressed the principal fighting changed 
 from the ocean to the land. Several encounters took place on the sea, but they 
 were mostly unimportant, and did not always result favorably for us. In Sep 
 tember, 1814, Captain Samuel C. Reid, in command of the privateer Armstrong, 
 while lying in the harbor of Fayal, one of the Azores, was attacked by a fleet 
 of boats from three British frigates. He fought all through the night, and, 
 although outnumbered twenty to one, made one of the most remarkable defenses 
 in naval annals. 
 
 On the 10th of January following, the President was captured by the British 
 ship Endymion. On the 20th of February, while Captain Charles Stewart was 
 cruising off Cape St. Vincent, in the Constitution, with no thought that peace 
 had been declared, he fell in with two British brigs, the Cyane and the Levant. 
 It was a bright moonlight night, and, after a brief engagement, in which Stewart 
 displayed consummate seamanship, he captured both vessels. 
 
 But peace had come and was joyfully welcomed everywhere. The war had 
 cost us heavily in men, ships, and property ; the New England factories were 
 idle, commerce at a standstill, and the whole country in a deplorable state. But 
 everything now seemed to spring into life under the glad tidings. The shipping 
 in New England was decked with bunting, and, within twenty-four hours after 
 the news arrived, the dockyards rang with the sound of saw and hammer. 
 
 WAR WITH ALGIERS. 
 
 The Barbary States did not forget their rough treatment at the hands of 
 the United States a few years before. During the war they allowed the British 
 to capture American vessels in their harbors, and sometimes captured them on 
 their own account. In 1812 the Dey of Algiers compelled the American consul 
 
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1816. 203 
 
 to pay him a large sum of money to save himself, family, and a few friends from 
 being carried off into slavery. We were too busily occupied elsewhere to give 
 this barbarian attention, but in March, 1815, war was declared against Algiers, 
 and Commodores Decatur and Bainbridge were sent to the Mediterranean with 
 two squadrons to conduct operations. 
 
 They did it to perfection. After capturing several frigates, they approached 
 the city of Algiers and demanded the immediate surrender of every American 
 prisoner, full indemnity for all property destroyed, and the disavowal of all 
 future claims to tribute. The terrified Dey eagerly signed the treaty placed 
 before him on the quarter-deck of Decatur s ship. The Pasha of Tunis was com 
 pelled to pay a round sum on account of the American vessels he had allowed 
 the British to capture in his harbor during the war. When he had done this, 
 the Pasha of Tripoli was called upon and forced to make a similar contribution 
 to the United States treasury. 
 
 FOUNDING OF THE NATIONAL COLONIZATION SOCIETY. 
 
 The negro had long been a disturbing factor in politics, and, in 1816, 
 the National Colonization Society was formed in Princeton, N. J., and imme 
 diately reorganized in Washington. Its object was to encourage the emancipa 
 tion of slaves by obtaining a place for them outside the United States, whither 
 they might emigrate. It was hoped also that by this means the South would be 
 relieved of its free black population. The scheme was so popular that branches 
 of the society were established in almost every State. At first free negroes were 
 sent to Sierra Leone, on the western coast of Africa, under the equator. Later, 
 for a short time, they were taken to Sherbrooke Island, but in 1821 a permanent 
 location was purchased at Cape Mesurado, where, in 1847, the colony declared 
 itself an independent republic under the name of Liberia. Its capital, Monrovia, 
 was named in honor of the President of the United States. The republic still 
 exists, but its functions were destroyed by the war for the Union, which abolished 
 slavery on this continent, and Liberia has never been looked upon with great 
 favor by the colored people of this country. 
 
 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1816. 
 
 It has already been shown that the course of the Federal party in the War 
 of 1812 ruined it. The Federal nominee for the presidency was Rufus King, 
 of New York. He was a native of Maine, a graduate of Harvard College, and 
 had served as a delegate to the Continental Congress. It was he who in 1785 
 moved the provision against slavery in the Northwest Territory, and he was an 
 active member of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, afterward returning 
 to Massachusetts and giving all his energies to bringing about the ratification of 
 
204 ADMINISTRATIONS OF MADISON. 
 
 the Constitution. He was United States senator from New York in 1789" 
 1796; was minister to London, 1796-1803; and again a United States senator, 
 1813-1825. 
 
 John Eager Howard, the candidate for the vice-presidency, had hardly a 
 less claim upon the recognition of his countrymen, for he joined the patriot 
 army at the outbreak of the Revolution, and fought with marked gallantry at 
 White Plains, Germantown, Monmouth, and Camden, and won special honor 
 at the Cowpens in 1781. He was afterward governor of Maryland, declined 
 the portfolio of war in Washington s cabinet, and was United States senator 
 from 1796 to 1803. 
 
 These facts are given to show the character and standing of the candidates 
 of the Federalists in the presidential election of 1816. The following was the re 
 sult: For President, James Monroe, of Virginia, Republican, 133 ; Rufus King, of 
 New York, Federalist, 34. For Vice-President, Daniel D. Tompkins, of New 
 York, Republican, 183 ; John Eager Howard, of Maryland, Federalist, 22 ; 
 James Ross, of Pennsylvania, 5; John Marshall, of Virginia, 4; Robert G. 
 Harper, of Maryland, 3. Vacancies, 4. Thus Monroe became President and 
 Tompkins Vice-President. 
 
FIRST TRAIN OF CARS IN AMERICA. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 OK JAMKS MONROE: AND 
 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, 1817-1829. 
 
 James Monroe The "Era of Good Feeling" The Seminole War Vigorous Measures of General 
 Jackson Admission of Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, Maine, and Missouri The Missouri Com 
 promiseThe Monroe Doctrine Visit of Lafayette Introduction of the Use of Gas Completion 
 of the Erie Canal The First " Hard Times "Extinction of the West Indian Pirates Presidential 
 Election of 1824 John Quincy Adams Prosperity of the Country- -Introduction of the Railway 
 Locomotive Trouble with the Cherokees in Georgia Death of Adams and Jefferson Congressional 
 Action on the Tariff Presidential Election of 1828. 
 
 JAMES MONROE. 
 
 JAMES MONROE, the fifth Presi- | 
 dent of the United States, was born 
 at Monroe s Creek, Westmoreland 
 County, Virginia, April 28, 1758, 
 and died July 4, 1831. It will be 
 noticed that four out of the first five 
 Presidents were natives of Virginia, 
 and in course of time three others 
 followed. It will be admitted, there 
 fore, that the State has well earned 
 the title of the " Mother of Presi 
 dents." 
 
 Monroe received his education 
 at William and Mary College, and 
 was a soldier under Washington. 
 He was not nineteen years old when, 
 as lieutenant at the battle of Tren 
 ton, he led a squad of men who cap 
 tured a Hessian battery as it was 
 about to open fire. He studied law 
 under Jefferson, was elected to the 
 Virginia House of Burgesses, and, 
 when twenty-five years old, was a delegate to the Continental Congress. He 
 
 (205) 
 
 JAMES MONROE. 
 (1758-1831.) Two terms, 1817-1825. 
 
206 ADMINISTRATIONS OF MONROE AND ADAMS. 
 
 was minister plenipotentiary to France in 1794, but his course displeased the 
 administration and he was recalled. From 1799 to 1802 he was governor of 
 Virginia, and, in the latter year, was sent to France by President Jefferson 
 to negotiate the purchase of Louisiana. In 1811 he was again governor 
 of Virginia, and shortly afterward appointed secretary of State by Madison. 
 He also served as secretary of war at the same time, and, as the treasury was 
 empty, pledged his private means for the defense of New Orleans. Monroe 
 was of plain, simple manners, of excellent judgment and of the highest integrity. 
 While his career did not stamp him as a man of genius, yet it proved him to be 
 that which in his situation is better an absolutely "safe" man to trust with the 
 highest office in the gift of the American people. Under Monroe the United 
 States made greater advancement than during any previous decade. 
 
 Everything united to make his administration successful. The Federal 
 party having disappeared, its members either stopped voting or joined the Re 
 publicans. Since, therefore, everybody seemed to be agreed in his political 
 views, the period is often referred to as u the era of good feeling," a condition 
 altogether too ideal to continue long. 
 
 TARIFF LEGISLATION. 
 
 Shortly after Monroe s inauguration he made a tour through the country, 
 visiting the principal cities, and contributing by his pleasing manner greatly to 
 his popularity. The manufactures of the country were in a low state because of 
 the cheapness of labor in Great Britain, which enabled the manufacturers there 
 to send and sell goods for less prices than the cost of their manufacture in this 
 country. Congress met the difficulty by imposing a tax upon manufactured 
 goods brought hither, and thereby gave our people a chance to make and sell 
 the same at a profit. The controversy between the advocates of free trade and 
 protection has been one of the leading questions almost from the first, and there 
 has never been and probably never will be full accord upon it. 
 
 THE SEMINOLE WAR. 
 
 Perhaps the most important event in the early part of Monroe s adminis 
 tration was the Seminole war. Those Indians occupied Florida, and could hide 
 themselves in the swampy everglades and defy pursuit. Many runaway slaves 
 found safe refuge there, intermarried with the Seminoles, and made their homes 
 among them. They were not always fairly treated by the whites, and committed 
 many outrages on the settlers in Georgia and Alabama. When the Creeks, who 
 insisted they had been cheated out of their lands, joined them, General Gaines 
 was sent to subdue the savages. He failed, and was caught in such a dangerous 
 situation that General Jackson hastily raised a force and marched to his assistance 
 
THE SEMINOLE WAR. 
 
 207 
 
 Since Florida belonged to Spain, Jackson was instructed by our government 
 not to enter the country except in pursuit of the enemy. "Old Hickory" was 
 not the man to allow himself to be hampered by such orders, and, entering 
 Florida in March, 1818, he took possession the following month of the Spanish 
 post of St. Mark s, at the head of Appalachee Bay. Several Seminoles were 
 captured, and, proof being obtained that they were the leaders in a massacre of 
 some settlers a short time before, Jackson hanged every one of them. 
 
 Advancing into the in 
 terior, he captured two British 
 subjects, Robert C. Ambrister, 
 an Englishman, and Alexan 
 der Arbuthnot, a Scotchman. 
 There seemed to be no doubt 
 that the latter had been guilty 
 of inciting the Indians to com 
 mit their outrages, and both 
 were tried by court-martial, 
 which sentenced Arbuthnot to 
 be hanged and Ambrister to 
 receive fifty lashes and un 
 dergo a year s imprisonment. 
 Jackson set aside the verdict, 
 and shot the Englishman and 
 hanged the Scotchman. He 
 then marched against Pensa- 
 cola, the capital of the prov 
 ince, drove out the Spanish 
 authorities, captured B a r - 
 rancas, whose troops and offi 
 cials were sent to Havana. 
 
 Jackson carried things 
 with such a high hand that 
 Spain protested, and Congress had to order an investigation. The report 
 censured Jackson ; but Congress passed a resolution acquitting him of all blame, 
 and he became more popular than ever. 
 
 Spain was not strong enough to expel the Americans, and she agreed to a 
 treaty, in October, 1820, by which East and West Florida were ceded to the 
 United States, the latter paying Spain $5,000,000. The Sabine River, instead 
 of the Rio Grande, was made the dividing line between the territories of the 
 respective governments west of the Mississippi. Jackson was the first governor 
 
 AN INDIAN S DECLARATION OF WAK. 
 
208 ADMINISTRATIONS OF MONROE AND ADAMS. 
 
 of Florida, and, as may be supposed, lie had a stormy time, but lie straight 
 ened out matters with the same iron resolution that marked everything he did. 
 
 STATES ADMITTED THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE. 
 
 A number of {States were admitted to the Union while Monroe was Presi 
 dent. The tirst was Mississippi, in 1817. The territory was claimed by 
 Georgia, which gave it to the United States in 1802. Illinois was admitted in 
 1818, being the third of the five States formed from the old Northwest Terri 
 tory. Alabama became a State in 1819, and had been a part of the territory 
 claimed by Georgia. Maine was admitted in 1820, and, as has been shown, 
 was for a long time a part of Massachusetts, and Missouri became a State in 1821. 
 
 The strife over the admission of the last-named State was so angry that 
 more than one person saw the shadow of the tremendous civil war that was to 
 darken the country and deluge it in blood forty years later. The invention of 
 the cotton gin in 1793 had made cotton the leading industry of the South and 
 given an enormous importance to slavery. The soil and the climate and econo 
 mic conditions caused it to flourish in the South, and the lack of such conditions 
 made it languish and die out in the North. 
 
 Missouri applied for admission in March, 1818, but it was so late in the 
 session that Congress took no action. At the following session a bill was intro 
 duced containing a provision that forbade slavery in the proposed new State. 
 The debate was bitter and prolonged, accompanied by threats of disunion, but a 
 compromise was reached on the 28th of February, 1821, when the agreement 
 was made that slavery was to be permitted in Missouri, but forever prohibited 
 in all other parts of the Union, north and west of the northern limits of Ar 
 kansas, 36 30 , which is the southern boundary of Missouri. The State was 
 admitted August 21st, increasing the number to twenty-four. The census 
 showed that in 1820 the population of the United States was 9,633,822. The 
 State of New York contained the most people (1,372,111) ; Virginia next 
 (1,065,116); and Pennsylvania almost as many (1,047,507). 
 
 i 
 
 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1820. 
 
 It was in the autumn of 1820, during the excitement over the admission 
 of Missouri, that the presidential election occurred. The result is not likely 
 ever to be repeated in the history of our country. There was no candidate 
 against Monroe, who would have received every electoral vote, but for the action 
 of one member, who declared that no man had the right to share that honor 
 with Washington. He therefore cast his single vote for Adams of Massachu 
 setts. For Vice-President, Daniel D. Tompkins, Republican, received 218; 
 Richard Stockton, of New Jersey, 8 ; Daniel Rodney, of Delaware, 4 ; Robert 
 
COMPLETION OF THE ERIE CANAL. 209 
 
 G. Harper, of Maryland, and Richard Rush, of Pennsylvania, 1 vote each. 
 Monroe and Tompkins were therefore re-elected. 
 
 THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 
 
 South America has long been the land of revolutions. In 1821, there was 
 a general revolt against Spain in favor of independence. Great sympathy was 
 felt for them in this country, and, in March, 1822, Congress passed a bill recog 
 nizing the embryo republics as sovereign nations. In the following year Presi 
 dent Monroe sent a message to Congress in which he declared that for the future 
 the American continent was not to be considered as territory for colonization by 
 any foreign power. This consecration of the whole Western Hemisphere to 
 free institutions constitutes the MONROE DOCTRINE, one of the most precious 
 and jealously guarded rights of the American nation. The memorable docu 
 ment which bears the President s name was written by John Quincy Adams, 
 his secretary of State. 
 
 America could never forget Lafayette, who had given his services without 
 pay in our struggle for independence, who shed his blood for us, and who was 
 the intimate and trusted friend of Washington. He was now an old man, and, 
 anxious to visit the country he loved so well, he crossed the ocean and landed 
 in New York, in August, 1824. He had no thought that his coming would 
 cause any stir, and was overwhelmed by the honors shown him everywhere. 
 Fort Lafayette saluted him as he sailed up New York Bay, and processions, 
 parades, addresses, feastings, and every possible attention were given to him 
 throughout his year s visit, during which he was emphatically the " nation s 
 guest." Nor did the country confine itself to mere honors. He had been treated 
 badly in France and was poor. Congress made him a present of $200,000 in 
 money, and sent him home in the frigate Brandywine, named in his honor, for 
 it was at the battle of the Brandywine that Lafayette was severely wounded. 
 
 An important invention introduced into this country from England in 
 1822 was lighting by gas, which soon became universal, to be succeeded in later 
 years by electricity. Steamboat navigation was common and travel by that 
 means easy. On land we were still confined to horseback and stages, but there 
 was great improvement in the roads, through the aid of Congress and the differ 
 ent States. 
 
 COMPLETION OF THE ERIE CANAL. 
 
 The Erie Canal, connecting Buffalo and Albany, was begun on the 4th of 
 July, 1817, its most persistent advocate being Governor De Witt Clinton. It 
 was costly, and the majority believed it would never pay expenses. They 
 dubbed it " De Witt Clinton s Ditch," and ridiculed the possibility that it would 
 prove of public benefit. In October, 1825, it was opened for public traffic. It 
 
 14 
 
210 ADXIXISTRATIOXS OF MONROE AND ADAMS. 
 
 is 363 miles long, having the greatest extent of any canal in the world. It 
 passes through a wonderfully fertile region, which at that time was little more 
 than a wilderness. Immediately towns and villages sprang into existence along 
 its banks. Merchandise could now be carried cheaply from the teeming West, 
 through the Great Lakes, the Erie Canal, and the Hudson Eiver, to New York 
 City Tnd the Atlantic. Its original cost was $7,600,000, and its earnings were 
 so enormous that in many single years they amounted to half that sum. It is 
 now operated by the State without charge to those using it. 
 
 No combination of statesmen are wise enough to prevent the occasional 
 recurrence of " hard times." Nearly everyone has a cure for the blight, and 
 the intervals between them are irregular, but they still descend upon us, when 
 most unexpected and when it seems we are least prepared to bear them. No 
 one needs a long memory to recall one or two afflictions of that nature. 
 
 THE FIRST " HARD TIMES." 
 
 The first financial stringency visited the country in 1819. The establish 
 ment in 1817 of the Bank of the United States had so improved credit and in 
 creased the facilities for trade that a great deal of wild speculation followed. The 
 officers of the branch bank in Baltimore were dishonest and loaned more than 
 $2,000,000 beyond its securities. The President stopped the extravagant loans, 
 exposed the rogues, and greatly aided in bringing back the country to a sound 
 financial basis, although the Bank of the United States narrowly escaped bank 
 ruptcy a calamity that would have caused distress beyond estimate. 
 
 Amid the stirring political times our commerce suffered from the pirates 
 who infested the West Indies. Their depredations became so annoying that in 
 1819 Commodore Perry, of Lake Erie fame, was sent out with a small squadron 
 to rid the seas of the pests Before he could accomplish anything, he was 
 stricken with yellow fever and died. Other squadrons were dispatched to 
 southern waters, and in 1822 more than twenty piratical vessels were destroyed 
 in the neighborhood of Cuba. Commodore Porter followed up the work so 
 effectively that the intolerable nuisance was permanently abated. 
 
 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1824. 
 
 There were plenty of presidential candidates in 1824. Everybody now was 
 a Republican, and the choice, therefore, lay between the men of that political 
 faith. The vote was as follows : Andrew Jackson, of Tennessee, 99 ; John Quincy 
 Adams, of Massachusetts, 84 ; Henry Clay, of Kentucky, 37 ; William H. Craw 
 ford, of Georgia, 41. For Vice-President : John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, 
 182 ; Nathan Sandford, of New York, 30 ; Nathaniel Macon, of North Carolina, 
 24 ; Andrew Jackson, 13 ; Martin Van Buren, of New York, 9; Henry Clay, 2. 
 
JOHX QUINCY ALA MS. 
 
 211 
 
 This vote showed that no candidate was elected, and the election, there 
 fore, was thrown into the House of Representatives. Although Jackson was 
 far in the lead on the popular and electoral vote, the friends of Clay united 
 with the supporters of Adams, who became President, with Calhoun Vice- 
 President. The peculiar character of this election led to its being called the 
 " scrub race for the presidency." 
 
 at Brain tree, Massa- 
 
 JOHN QUIXCY ADAMS. 
 
 John Quincy Adams, the sixth President, was 
 chusetts, July 11, 1767, and was 
 the son of the second President. 
 He was given every educational ad 
 vantage in his youth, and when 
 eleven years old accompanied his 
 father to France and was placed in 
 a school in Paris. Two years later 
 he entered the University of Ley- 
 den, afterward made a tour through 
 the principal countries of Europe, 
 and, returning home, entered the 
 junior class at Harvard, from which 
 he graduated in 1788. Washington 
 appreciated his ability, and made 
 him minister to The Hague and 
 afterward to Portugal. When his 
 father became President he trans 
 ferred him to Berlin. The Federal 
 ists elected him to the United States 
 Senate in 1803, and in 1809 he 
 was appointed minister to Russia. 
 He negotiated important commer 
 cial treaties with Prussia, Sweden, and Great Britain, and, it will be remem 
 bered, he was leading commissioner in the treaty of Ghent, which brought the 
 War of 1812 to a close. He was a man of remarkable attainments, but he pos 
 sessed little magnetism or attractiveness of manner, and by his indifference 
 failed to draw warm friends and supporters around him. Adams was re- 
 elected to Congress repeatedly after serving out his term as President. He was 
 seized with apoplexy while on the point of rising from his desk in the House 
 of Representatives, and died February 23, 1848. 
 
 The country was highly prosperous during the presidency of the younger 
 
 JOHN QUINCY .ADAMS. 
 1 1707-1848.) One term, 1825-1829. 
 
212 ADMINISTRATIONS OF MONROE AND ADAMS. 
 
 Adams. The public debt, to which the War of 1812 added $80,000,000, began 
 to show a marked decrease, money was more plentiful, and most important of 
 all was the introduction of the steam locomotive from England. Experiments 
 had been made in that country for a score of years, but it was not until 1829 
 that George Stephenson, the famous engineer, exhibited his "Rocket," which 
 ran at the rate of nearly twenty miles an hour. 
 
 INTRODUCTION OF THE STEAM LOCOMOTIVE. 
 
 The first clumsy attempts on this side were made in 1827, when two short 
 lines of rails were laid at Quincy, near Boston, but the cars were drawn by horses, 
 and, when shortly after, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was chartered, the 
 intention was to use the same motor. In 1829, a steam locomotive was used on the 
 Delaware and Hudson Canal Railroad, followed by a similar introduction on the 
 Baltimore and Ohio Road. The first railroad chartered expressly for steam was 
 granted in South Carolina for a line to run from Charleston to Hamburg. The 
 first locomotive made by Stephenson was brought across the ocean in 1831. 
 The Americans set to work to make their own engines, and were successful in 
 1833. It will be noted that these events occurred after the administration of 
 Adams. 
 
 THE CHEROKEES IN GEORGIA. 
 
 Most of the country east of the Mississippi was being rapidly settled. 
 Immense areas of land were sold by the Indian tribes to the government and 
 they removed west of the river. The Cherokees, however, refused to sell their 
 lands in Georgia and Alabama. They were fully civilized, had schools, churches, 
 and newspapers, and insisted on staying upon the lands that were clearly their own. 
 Georgia was equally determined to force them out of the State, and her govern 
 ment was so high-handed that President Adams interfered for their protection. 
 The governor declared that the Indians must leave, and he defied the national 
 government to prevent him from driving them out. The situation of the Chero 
 kees finally became so uncomfortable that, in 1835, they sold their lands and 
 joined the other tribes in the Indian Territory, west of the Mississippi. 
 
 AN IMPRESSIVE OCCURRENCE. 
 
 
 
 One of the most impressive incidents in our history occurred on the 4th of 
 July, whfcn John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died. It was just half a 
 century after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, of which Jeffer 
 son was the author and whose adoption Adams secured. 
 
 Adams attained the greatest age of any of our Presidents, being nearly 
 ninety-one years old when he died. He retained the brightness of his mind, 
 his death being due to the feebleness of old age. When he was asked if he knew 
 
AN IMPRESSIVE OCCURRENCE. 
 
 213 
 
 the meaning of the joyous bells that were ringing outside, his wan face lighted 
 up, and he replied : " It is the 4th of July ; God bless it ! " His last words, 
 uttered a few minutes later : " Jefferson still survives. 7 
 
 It was a .-. natural error on 
 
 the part of Adams, 
 passed away 
 before, in 
 fourth 
 He 
 
 but Jefferson had 
 several hours 
 his eighty- 
 year, 
 died 
 
 JOHNNY BUljlV OR NO. 1. 
 
 (The first locomotive used.) 
 
 quietly, surrounded by friends, with his mind full of the inspiring associations 
 connected with the day. His last words were : " I resign my soul to God, 
 and my daughter to my country." 
 
214 ADMINISTRATIONS OF MONROE AND ADAMS. 
 
 An important issue of the younger Adams administration was the tariff. 
 Naturally the South were opposed to a protective tariff, because they had no 
 manufactures, and were, therefore, compelled to pay higher prices for goods than 
 if admitted free of duty. A national convention was held at Harrisburg, 
 Pennsylvania, in the summer of 1827, to discuss the question of the protection 
 of native industry. Only four of the slave-holding States were represented, but 
 the members memorialized Congress for an increase of duties on a number of 
 articles made in this country. In the session of 1827-28, Congress, in defer 
 ence to the general sentiment, passed a law which increased the duties on fabrics 
 made of wool, cotton, linen, and on articles made from lead, iron, etc. The 
 Legislatures of the Southern States protested against this action as unjust and 
 unconstitutional, and in the presidential election of that year the entire electoral 
 vote of the South was cast against Adams. 
 
 The "Era of good feeling" was gone and politics became rampant. The 
 policv of a protective tariff became known as the American System, and Henry 
 Clay was its foremost champion. Their followers began to call themselves 
 National Republicans, while their opponents soon assumed the name of Demo 
 crats, which has clung to them ever since, though the National Republicans 
 changed their title a few years later to Whigs. 
 
 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1828. 
 
 The presidential election of 1828 resulted as follows: Andrew Jackson, 
 Democrat, 178; John Quincy Adams, National Republican, 83. For Vice- 
 President, John C. Calhoun, Democrat, 171 ; Richard Rush, of Pennsylvania, 
 National Republican, 49 ; William Smith, of South Carolina, Democrat, 7. 
 Jackson and Calhoun therefore were elected. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 ADMINISTRATIONS OK JACKSON, VAN BURKN, 
 \V. H. HARRISON, AND TYLER, 1829-184:5. 
 
 Andrew Jackson il To the Victors Belong the Spoils" The President s Fight with the United States 
 Bank Presidential Election of 1828 Distribution of the Surplus in the United States Treasury 
 Among the Various States The Black Hawk War The Nullification Excitement The Seminole 
 War Introduction of the Steam Locomotive Anthracite Coal, McCormick s Reaper, and Friction 
 Matches Great Fire in New York Population of the United States in 1830 Admission of Ar 
 kansas and Michigan Abolitionism France and Portugal Compelled to Pay their Debts to the 
 United States The Specie Circular, John Caldwell Calhoun, Henry Clay, and Daniel Webster 
 Presidential Election of 1836 Martin Van Buren The Panic of 1837 Rebellion in Canada Popu 
 lation of the United States in 1840 Presidential Election of 1840 William Henry Harrison His 
 Death John Tyler His Unpopular Course The Webster-Ashburton Treaty Civil War in 
 Rhode Island The Anti-rent War in New York A Shocking Accident Admission of Florida 
 Revolt of Texas Against Mexican Rule The Alamo San Jacinto The Question of the Annexa 
 tion of Texas The State Admitted The Copper Mines of Michigan Presidential Election of 1 844 
 The Electro-magnetic Telegraph Professor Morse His Labors in Bringing the Invention to 
 Perfection. 
 
 ANDREW JACKSON. 
 
 ANDREW JACKSON, seventh President, ranks among the greatest of those who 
 have been honored with the highest gift their countrymen can confer upon 
 them. He was born of Scotch-Irish parents, at Waxhaw Settlement, on the 
 line between North and South Carolina, March 15, 1767. His parents were 
 wretchedly poor and he received only a meagre education. His father died just 
 before the birth of his son, who enlisted in the patriot army when but thirteen 
 years old, and was captured at the battle of Hanging Rock. When a British 
 officer ordered the boy to clean his boots, he refused. He was brutally beaten 
 for his stubbornness ; he told the officer that he might kill him, but he could 
 never make a servant of him. 
 
 Shortly afterward he was seized with smallpox and was abandoned to die, 
 but his mother secured his release and nursed him back to health. She died 
 soon afterward, and, while still a boy, Andrew was left without a single near 
 relative. At the close of the Re volution, he took up the study of law, pursuing 
 it in a desultory way, until his removal to Nashville, at the age of twenty-one 
 years. He threw his law books aside when the Indians began their outrages, and 
 we have told of his striking services as a soldier and military leader, culmina 
 ting with his great victory at New Orleans, the anniversary of which is still 
 widely celebrated. Jackson became the idol of his countrymen, and he pos- 
 
 (215) 
 
216 
 
 JACKSON, VAN BUREN, HARRISON, AND TYLER. 
 
 sessed many admirable qualities. Never, under any circumstances, did he betray 
 personal fear. He was ready to attack one man, ten men, a hundred, or a thou 
 sand, if he deemed it his duty to do so. He was honest to the core, intensely 
 patriotic, and he either loved or hated a man. He would stand by a friend to 
 the death, unless he became convinced of his un worthiness, when he instantly 
 became his unrelenting enemy. 
 
 He fought numerous duels, and stood up without a tremor in front of one 
 
 of the most famous of duelists. 
 When his opponent s bullet tore a 
 dreadful wound in his breast, he 
 resolutely repressed all evidence of 
 pain until he had killed his antag 
 onist, in order that the latter should 
 not have the pleasure of knowing 
 he had hurt Jackson. 
 
 While carrying one arm in a 
 sling from this wound, he led a 
 strong force into the Creek country. 
 When the men were close upon star 
 vation, they mutinied. Jackson 
 rode in front of them, pistol in hand, 
 and declared he would shoot the 
 first one who refused to obey his or 
 ders. Not a man rebelled. At the 
 same time he divided all the food he 
 had among them, which consisted 
 solely of acorns. Nevertheless, he 
 pressed on and utterly destroyed 
 the Indian confederation. 
 Added to these fine qualities was his chivalrous devotion to his wife, the 
 unvarying respect he showed to the other sex, and the purity of his own character 
 Such a man cannot fail to exercise a powerful influence upon those with whom 
 he comes in contact. In Jackson s estimation, the only living person whose 
 views were right upon every question was himself. He was intolerant of opposi 
 tion, and merciless in his enmity of a personal opponent. He made mistakes, 
 as was inevitable, and some of them wrought great injury ; but even his oppo 
 nents respected while they feared him, and the qualities which we have indi 
 cated gave him a warm place not only in the affection of his own generation but 
 in the generations that came after him. 
 
 When his tempestuous career came to a close, Jackson retired to his home, 
 
 ANDREW JACKSON. 
 (1767-1845.) Two terms, 1829-1837. 
 
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1832. 217 
 
 known as the Hermitage, in Tennessee, where he passed his declining years in 
 quiet and peace. He became a devout Christian, and died of consumption, June 
 8, 1845. 
 
 " TO THE VICTORS BELONG THE SPOILS." 
 
 It need hardly be said that when Jackson became President he shared his 
 authority with no one. He made up his cabinet of his personal friends, and, on 
 the principle of " To the victors belong the spoils," that an administration to be 
 successful must be composed of those of the same political faith with its head, he 
 began a system of removals from office. The total number of such removals 
 made by his predecessors was seventy-four, some of which were for cause. A 
 year after his inauguration, Jackson had turned 2,000 office-holders out, and, 
 since their successors were obliged in many instances to remove subordinates, in 
 pursuance of the same policy, it will be seen that the President adopted no half 
 way measures. 
 
 He regarded the members of his cabinet as simply clerks, and, when he 
 wished to consult with trusted friends, called together a certain number of boon 
 associates, who became known as his " Kitchen Cabinet." 
 
 JACKSON S FIGHT WITH THE UNITED STATES BANK. 
 
 One of the President s unbearable aversions was the United States Bank. 
 He believed that its strength had been exerted against him, and in his first 
 message to Congress, in December, 1829, he charged that it had failed to establish 
 a uniform and sound currency and that its existence was contrary to the 
 spirit of the Constitution. Its charter would expire in 1836, and Congress 
 passed an act renewing it for fifteen years. Jackson vetoed the measure, and the 
 two-thirds majority necessary to pass it again could not be obtained. 
 
 By law the deposits of the bank were subject to the secretary of the treasury, 
 who could not remove them without giving Congress his reasons for the step. 
 Jackson ordered his secretary to remove the deposits, and when he very properly 
 refused, the President removed him. He made Roger B. Taney, afterward 
 chief justice of the United States, his new secretary of the treasury, and that 
 pliable official promptly transferred the deposits to certain banks that had been 
 selected. 
 
 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1832. 
 
 Although the fight caused much excitement, and the action of Jackson was 
 bitterly denounced, it added to his popularity, as was proven in the presidential 
 election of 1832, when the following electoral vote was cast : Andrew Jackson, 
 219 ; Henry Clay, of Kentucky, National Republican, 49 ; John Floyd, of 
 Georgia, Independent, 11 ; William Wirt, of Maryland, Anti-Masonic, 7. For 
 Vice-President, Martin Van Buren, Democrat, of New York, received 189 
 
218 
 
 JACKSON, VAN BUREN, HARBISON, AND TYLER. 
 
 votes; John Sergeant, of Pennsylvania, National Republican, 49 ; Henry Lee, 
 of Massachusetts, Independent, 11 ; Amos Ellmaker, of Pennsylvania, Anti- 
 Masonic, 7; William Wilkins, of Pennsylvania, Democrat, 30. On the popular 
 vote, Jackson had more than a hundred thousand in excess of all the others in 
 a total of one million and a quarter. It was a great triumph for "Old Hickory." 
 It rarely happens in the history of any country that the government finds 
 
 itself in the possession of more 
 money than it wants. It became 
 clear, however, that not only would 
 the public debt soon be paid, but a 
 surplus would accrue. In view of 
 this certainty, Henry Clay secured 
 the passage of a bill in 1832, which 
 reduced the tariff, except where 
 such reduction came in conflict with 
 home labor. Several years later, 
 the surplus, amounting to $28.000,- 
 000, was divided among the States. 
 
 BLACK HAWK WAR. 
 
 In the year named occurred 
 the Black Hawk War. The tribes 
 known as the Sacs, Foxes, and Win- 
 nebagoes lived in the Territory of 
 Wisconsin. The Sacs and Foxes 
 made a treaty with the United 
 SAMUEL HOUSTON. States in 1830, by which they ceded 
 
 One of" Old Hickory V volunteers, afierward famous im the Texan a ll their lands in Illinois to the OV- 
 War for Independence. 
 
 ernment. When the time arrived 
 
 for them to leave, they refused, and the governor called out a military force to 
 compel them to remove beyond the Mississippi. Black Hawk, a famous chieftain 
 of the Sacs, left, but returned at the head of a thousand warriors, gathered from 
 the tribes named, and began a savage attack upon the settlements. The peril 
 was so grave that the government sent troops under Generals Scott and Atkinson 
 to Rock Island. On the way thither, cholera, which had never before appeared 
 in this country, broke out among the troops and raged so violently that opera 
 tions for a time were brought to a standstill. 
 
 W T hen Atkinson was able to do so, he pushed on, defeated the Indians, and 
 captured Black Hawk. He was taken to Washington, where he had a long 
 
 with President Jackson, who gave him good advice, and induced him to 
 
SECOND SEMINOLE WAR. 219 
 
 sign a new treaty providing for the removal of his people to the Indian Terri 
 tory. Then Black Hawk was carried on a tour through the country, and was 
 sc impressed by its greatness that, when he returned to his people, he gave no 
 more trouble. It is worth remembering that both Jefferson Davis and Abraham 
 Lincoln served in the Black Hawk War. 
 
 NULLIFICATION MEASURES IN SOUTH CAROLINA. 
 
 South Carolina had long been soured over the tariff measures, which, while 
 they helped the prosperity of other sections of the Union, were oppressive to her, 
 because there were no manufactures carried on within her borders. When 
 Congress, in the spring of 1832, imposed additional duties, she was so angered 
 that she called a convention in November, at which her governor presided. 
 The new tariff was declared unconstitutional, and therefore null and void, and 
 notice was given that any attempt to collect the duties would be resisted by South 
 Carolina, which, unless her demands were granted, would withdraw from the 
 Union and establish herself as an independent government. Other States 
 endorsed her action and the situation became serious. 
 
 President Jackson hated the tariff as much as South Carolina, but his love 
 for the Union was unquenchable, and, having sworn to enforce the laws, he was 
 determined to do it in the face of any and all opposition. Because Vice-Presi 
 dent Calhoun sided with his native State, Jackson threatened to arrest him. 
 Calhoun resigned, went home, and was elected United States senator. 
 
 President Jackson issued a warning proclamation on the 10th of December, 
 but South Carolina continued her war preparations, and the President sent 
 General Scott, with the sloop-of-war Natchez, to Charleston, with orders to 
 strengthen the garrison in the harbor. Scott displayed great discretion, and 
 won the good-will of the citizens by his forbearance and courtesy. The other 
 Southern States condemned the rash course of South Carolina, within which 
 gradually appeared quite a number of supporters of the Union. Then Clay 
 introduced a bill in Congress, which became law, providing for a gradual 
 reduction of duties until the 30th of June, 1842, when they were to reach a 
 general level of twenty per cent. Calhoun, now a member of the Senate, sup 
 ported the compromise, and the threatened civil war passed away for the time. 
 
 SECOND SEMINOLE WAR. 
 
 Trouble once more broke out with the Seminoles of Florida. The aggra 
 vation, already referred to, continued. Runaway slaves found safe refuge in the 
 swamps of the State and intermarried with the Indians. A treaty, known as 
 that of Payne s Landing, was signed in May, 1832, by which a number of 
 chiefs visited the country assigned to the Creeks, it being agreed that, if they 
 
220 JACKSON, VAN BUREN, HARRISON, AND TYLER. 
 
 found it satisfactory, the Seminoles should remove thither. They reported in 
 its favor, but the oilier leaders, incensed at their action, killed several of them, 
 and declared, probably with truth, that they did not represent the sentiment of 
 their people, and doubtless had been influenced by the whites to make their 
 report. The famous Osceola expressed his opinion of the treaty by driving his 
 hunting-knife through it and the top of the table on which it lay. 
 
 It being clear that the Seminoles had no intention of going west, President 
 Jackson sei>^ General Wiley Thompson to Florida with a military force to drive 
 them out. The Indians secured a delay until the spring of 1835, under the 
 promise to leave at that time ; but when the date arrived, they refused to a man. 
 Osceola was so defiant in an interview with General Thompson that the latter 
 put him in irons and held him prisoner for a couple of days. Then the chief 
 promised to comply with the terms of the treaty and was released. He had not 
 the slightest intention, however, of keeping his promise, but was resolved to be 
 revenged upon Thompson for the indignity he had put upon him. 
 
 In the month of December, 1835, while Thompson and a party of friends 
 were dining near Fort King, with the windows raised, because of the mildness of 
 the day, Osceola and a party of his warriors stole up and fired a volley through 
 the windows, which killed Thompson and four of his companions. Before the 
 garrison of the fort could do anything, the Seminoles had fled. 
 
 DADE S MASSACRE. 
 
 On the same day of this tragical occurrence, Major Francis L. Dade set 
 out with 140 mounted men to the relief of General Clinch, stationed at Fort 
 Drane, in the interior of Florida, where he was threatened with massacre. 
 Dade advanced from Fort Brooke at the head of Tampa Bay, and was not far 
 on the road when he was fired upon by the Indians from ambush. Half the 
 men were killed, including Major Dade. The remainder hastily fortified 
 themselves, but were attacked in such overwhelming numbers that every man 
 was shot down. Two wounded soldiers crawled into the woods, but afterward 
 died. " Dade s Massacre " caused as profound a sensation throughout the 
 country as did that of Custer and his command forty years later. 
 
 The Seminole War dragged on for years. General Scott commanded for a 
 time in 1836, and vigorously pressed a campaign in the autumn of that year; 
 but when he turned over the command, in the spring of 1837, to General 
 Zachary Taylor, the conquest of the Seminoles seemingly was as far off as ever. 
 Taylor attempted to use a number of Cuban bloodhounds for tracking the mon 
 grels into the swamps, but the dogs refused to take the trail of the red men, and 
 the experiment (widely denounced in the North) was a failure. 
 
 In October, while Osceola and a number of warriors were holding a con- 
 
GREAT IMPROVEMENTS IN THE COMFORT* OF LIFE. 
 
 221 
 
 ference with General Jessup under the protection of a flag of truce, all were 
 made prisoners, and Osceola was sent to Charleston, and died in Fort Moultrie 
 in 1838. The war dragged on until 1842, when General Worth, after it had 
 cost $40,000,000 and many lives, brought it to an end by destroying the crops 
 of the Seminoles and leaving to them the choice between starvation and sub 
 mission. 
 
 GREAT IMPROVEMENTS IX THE COMFORTS OF LIFE. 
 
 The steam locomotive, of which we have given a brief history, came into 
 
 OSOEOLA S INDIGNATION, 
 
 general use during the presidency of General Jackson. When he left office 
 1,500 miles of railway had been built, and many more were being laid in dif 
 ferent parts of the country. It wrought a social revolution by bringing all parts 
 of the country into close communication, making settlement easy and the cost 
 of moving crops slight. Anthracite coal was tested in 1837, and, because of its 
 great advantages, was soon widely used. McCormick s reaper was patented in 
 1834, and gave an enormous impetus to the cultivation of western lands. In 
 the early days fire was obtained by the use of flint and steel or the sun-glass 
 
222 JACKSON, VANBVREK, HARRISON, AND TYLER. 
 
 Friction matches appeared in 1836, and quickly supplanted the clumsy method 
 that had been employed for centuries. 
 
 On the iiirht of December 1G, 1835, New York City was visited by tne 
 most destructive tire in its history. The weather was so cold that the volunteer 
 fire department could do little to check the conflagration, which destroyed 648 
 builings, covering seventeen blocks and thirteen acres of ground. The value of 
 the property lost was $20,000,000. 
 
 THE COUNTRY IN 1830. 
 
 The population of the United States in 1830 was 12,866,020, and the post- 
 offices, which in 17DO numbered only 75, had grown to 8,450. The sales of the 
 
 western lands had increased from $100,000 
 
 - - J to $25,000,000 a year, a fact which ex 
 
 plain* the rapid extinguishment of the 
 public debt. 
 
 Two States were admitted to the 
 Union, Arkansas in 1836 and Michi 
 gan in 1837. The former was a part 
 of the Louisiana purchase, and was 
 originally settled by the French at 
 Arkansas Post, in 1635. Michigan 
 was the fourth State formed from the 
 Northwest Territory, and was first 
 
 settled b tbe French at Detroit in 
 
 WESTERN RAILROAD 
 IN EARLIER DAYS. 
 
 17G1 - 
 
 Abolitionism assumed definite form in 1831, when Wil 
 liam Lloyd Garrison, in his Boston paper, The Liberator, 
 1 manded the immediate abolition of slavery. Anti-slavery 
 societies were organized in different parts of the country and the 
 members became known as abolitionists. The South was incensed by the agi 
 tation, which reached its culmination in the great Civil "War of 1861-65. 
 
 FRANCE AND PORTUGAL FORCED TO TERMS. 
 
 President Jackson impressed his personality upon everything with which 
 he came in contact, We had been pressing a suit against France for the in 
 juries she inflicted upon our commerce during the flurry of 1798, but that 
 country was so laggard in paying that the President recommended to Congress 
 that enough French vessels should be captured to pay the bill. France red 
 up and threatened war unless Jackson apologized. A dozen wars would not 
 have moved him to recall his words. England, however, mediated, and France 
 
JOHN C. CALHOUN. 
 
 223 
 
 paid the debt. Portugal took the hint and lost no time in settling a similar 
 account with us. 
 
 President Jackson, imitating Washington, issued a farewell address to his 
 countrymen. It was well written and patriotic ; but his last official act, which 
 was characteristic of him, displeased many of his friends. The speculation in 
 western lands had assumed such proportions that the treasury department, in 
 July, 1836, sent out a circular ordering the collectors of the public revenues to 
 receive only gold and silver in payment. This circular caused so much con 
 fusion and trouble that, at the beginning of 1837, Congress modified it so that it 
 would have given great relief. Jack- w 
 son held the bill in his possession 
 until the adjournment of Congress, 
 and thus prevented its becoming a 
 law. 
 
 The stormy years of Jackson s 
 presidency brought into prominence 
 three of the greatest of Americans. 
 All, at different times, were mem 
 bers of the United States Senate, 
 where their genius overshadowed 
 those who under other circumstances 
 would have attracted national at 
 tention. These men were John Cald- 
 well Calhoun, Henry Clay, and 
 Daniel Webster. 
 
 JOHN C. CALHOUN. 
 
 The first named was born near 
 Abbeville, South Carolina, March 1 8, 
 1782, and, graduating at Yale, studied 
 law and early developed fine qualities 
 of statesmanship. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1811, and 
 became at once the leader of the younger element of the Democratic party. He 
 was a vehement advocate of the war with Great Britain, and, in 1817, was ap 
 pointed secretary of war under Monroe, serving to the close of his presidency. 
 It has been shown that he was elected Vice-President with Adams. Elected 
 again with Jackson, the two became uncompromising opponents, and he re- 
 sigr ,n 1832, immediately entering the Senate, where he was accepted as the 
 leader of the " State rights " men. 
 
 His services as senator were interrupted for a short time when, in 1844-45, 
 
 ; 
 
 JOHN C. CALHOOiV. 
 
 (172-l650). 
 
224 JACKSON, VAN BUREN, HARRISON, AND TYLER. 
 
 he acted as secretary of State in Tyler s administration. He was determined to 
 secure the admission of Texas and by his vigor did so, in the face of a strong 
 opposition in the North. He re-entered the {Senate and resumed his leadership 
 of the extreme southern wing of the Democratic party. He died in Washing 
 ton, March 31, 1850, while Clay s compromise measures were pending. 
 
 Calhoun ranks among the foremost of American statesmen, and as the 
 champion of the South his place is far above any who appeared before or who 
 have come after him. As a speaker, he was logical, clear, and always deeply in 
 earnest. Daniel Webster said of him : " He had the indisputable basis of all 
 
 high character unspotted integrity 
 and honor unimpcached. Nothing 
 groveling, low, or meanly selfish 
 came near his head or his heart." 
 
 HENRY CLAY. 
 
 Henry Clay was born April 
 12, 1777, iii the "Slashes," Virginia. 
 He studied law, and at the age of 
 twenty removed to Kentucky, which 
 is proud to claim the honor of hav 
 ing been his home and in reality 
 his State. His great ability and win 
 ning manners made him popular 
 everywhere. He served in the Ken 
 tucky Legislature, and, before he was 
 thirty years old, was elected to the 
 United States Senate, of which he 
 was a member from 1806 to 1807. 
 He soon became recognized as the 
 foremost champion of the cause of 
 internal improvements and of the 
 tariff measures, known as the "American System." His speakership of the 
 Kentucky Assembly, his term as United States senator again, 1800-11, and 
 as a member of the House of Representatives in 1811, followed rapidly. 
 Against precedent, being a newcomer, he was chosen Speaker, and served until 
 his resignation in 1814. He was as strenuous an advocate of the war W 7 ith 
 Great Britain as Calhoun, and it has been stated that he was one of the com 
 missioners who negotiated the treaty of Ghent in 1814. The following year 
 he was again elected to tlio House of Representatives, and acted without a 
 break as Speaker until 1821.. He was the most powerful advocate of the recog- 
 
 HENRY CLAY. 
 
DANIEL WEBSTER. 
 
 225 
 
 nition of the Spanish-American States in revolt, and but for Clay the Missouri 
 Compromise would not have been prepared and adopted. 
 
 Absent but a brief time from Congress, he again acted as Speaker in 
 1823-25. President Adams appointed him his secretary of State, and he 
 retired from office in 1829, but two years later entered the Senate from Ken 
 tucky. For the following twenty years he was the leader of the Whig party, 
 opposed Jackson in the bank controversy, and secured the tariff compromise of 
 1833 and the settlement with France in 1835. He retired from tke Senate in 
 1843, his nomination for the presidency following a year later. Onee more he 
 entered the Senate, in 1849, and 
 brought about the great compromise 
 of 1850. He died June 29, 1852. 
 
 Clay s vain struggle for the 
 presidency is told in the succeeding 
 chapter. It seems strange that 
 while he was indisputably the most 
 popular man in the United States, 
 he was not able to secure the great 
 prize. The American Congress 
 never knew a more brilliant debater, 
 nor did the public ever listen to a 
 more magnetic orator. His various 
 compromise measures in the interest 
 of the Union were beyond the at 
 tainment of any other man. His 
 fame rests above that which any 
 office can confer. His friends idol 
 ized and his opponents respected 
 him. A strong political enemy once j_ 
 refused an introduction to him on 
 the ground that he could not with 
 stand the magnetism of a personal acquaintance which had won "other good 
 haters" to his side. John C. Breckin ridge, his political adversary, in his 
 funeral oration, said: "If I were to write his epitaph, I would inscribe as the 
 highest eulogy on the stone which shall mark his resting-place, Here lies a 
 man who was in the public service for fifty years and never attempted to deceive 
 his countrymen." 
 
 DANIEL WEBSTER. 
 
 Daniel Webster was born January 18, 1782, at Salisbury, New Hampshire, 
 and died October 24, 1852. He was educated at Exeter Academy and graduated 
 
 DANIEL WEBSTER. 
 
226 
 
 JACKSON, VAN BUREX, HARRISON, AND TYLER. 
 
 from Dartmouth College in 1801. After teaching school a short time m Maine, 
 he studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1805, and began practice at Boscawen, 
 in his native State. Two years afterward, he removed to Portsmouth, where he 
 speedily became a leader at the bar and served in Congress from 1813 to 1817. 
 At that time he was a moderate Federalist. He settled in Boston in 1818, 
 and assumed a front rank among lawyers by his argument before the United 
 {States Supreme Court in the celebrated " Dartmouth College Case/ which 
 involved the obligation of contracts and the powers of the national government. 
 He was congressman from Massachusetts from 1823 to 1827, was chairman of 
 the judiciary committee, and attracted great attention by his speeches on Greece, 
 then struggling for independence, and his pleas in favor of free trade. 
 
 Webster s fame as an eloquent orator was already established. As such, he 
 was the greatest that America ever produced, and many claim that he surpassed 
 any who spoke the English tongue. Among his masterpieces were his speeches 
 at Plymouth, 1820, on the bi-centennial ; at the laying of the corner-stone of 
 the Bunker Hill monument, 1825 ; and his eulogy on Adams and Jefferson, 
 
 1826. 
 
 When he entered the United States Senate in 1827, he immediately took 
 rank beside the giants, Calhoun and Clay. He was an advocate of the protec 
 tive tariff of 1823, and in 1830 reached the highest point of thrilling and 
 eloquent logic in his reply to Robert Young Hayne, of South Carolina, who 
 asserted that any State had the right to disobey such laws of Congress as 
 she deemed unconstitutional. Webster s speech is a classic, never surpassed in 
 its way, and the debate won for him the proud title of " Expounder of the 
 Constitution." 
 
 Naturally Webster opposed nullification, and he and Calhoun had many 
 earnest contests worthy of two such masters of logic. W. H. Harrison appointed 
 him his secretary of State, and he remained with Tyler until 1843. In 1845, 
 he was again sent to the United States Senate, but in 1850 he alienated many 
 of his former supporters by his speech in favor of Clay s compromise measures. 
 He was secretary of State "in 1850-52, and his death called out more addresses 
 and testimonials than any other since that of Washington. 
 
 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1836. 
 
 The following was the electoral vote cast in 1836 : Martin Van Buren, of 
 New York, Democrat, 170 ; William Henry Harrison, of Ohio, Whig, 73 ; Hugh 
 L. White, of Tennessee, Wliijr, 26 ; Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts, Whig, 
 14; Willie P. Mangum, of North Carolina, Whig, 11. For Yice-President, 
 Richard M. Johnson, of Kentucky, Democrat, 147 ; Francis Granger, of New 
 York, Whig, 77 ; John Tyler, of Virginia, Whig, 47 ; William Smith, of Ala- 
 
MARTIN VAN BUREN. 
 
 227 
 
 baraa, Democrat, 23. The vote for Johnson as Vice-President was not sufficient 
 to elect him, but he was chosen by the House of Representatives. 
 
 MARTIN VAN BUREN. 
 
 Martin Van Buren, eighth President, was born December 5, 1782, at 
 Kinderhook, N. Y., and died July 24, 1862. He became eminent as a lawyer, 
 and his skill as a Democratic politician caused him to be known as the "Little 
 Magician." He held a number of public offices, being State senator, United 
 States senator, 1821-28 ; governor of New York, 1828-29 ; and secretary of 
 State under Jackson, 1829-31, when 
 Jackson appointed him minister to 
 England, but his political opponents 
 secured his defeat in the Senate. 
 Becoming Vice-President under 
 
 c* 
 
 Jackson, he presided in the Senate 
 from 1833 to 1837. Jackson was 
 so pleased with Van Buren that he 
 chose him as his successor. He 
 was the Free Soil candidate for the 
 presidency in 1848, and thereby 
 Drought about the defeat of Cass by 
 Taylor. 
 
 The administration of Van Bu 
 ren was one of the most unpopular 
 we have ever had, and through no 
 fault of his. A great deal of the 
 prosperity of Jackson s term was 
 superficial. He had been despotic, 
 as shown in his removal of the 
 
 United States Bank deposits and the MARTIN VAN BUREN. 
 
 issue of the specie circular of 1836. (1782-1862.) one term, ISST-IMI. 
 
 Confusion ensued in business, and an era of wild speculation followed a distribu 
 tion of the surplus in the treasury among the States. The credit system took the 
 place of the cash system, banks sprang up like mushrooms, and an immense 
 amount of irredeemable money was put in circulation. 
 
 These institutions were known as " wild-cat banks," and their method of 
 defrauding the public was as follows : They bought several hundred thousands 
 of cheap bills which, having cost them practically nothing, they used in offering 
 higher prices for public lands than others could pay in gold and silver. They 
 trusted to chance that their bills would not soon come back for redemption, but 
 
228 JACKSON, VAN BUREN, HARRISON, AND TYLER. 
 
 if they did so, the banks "failed" and the holders of the notes lost every 
 
 dollar. 
 
 The fraud was a deliberate one, but the establishment of the national bank 
 ing law since then renders a repetition of the swindle impossible. 
 
 THE PANIC OF 1837. 
 
 Van Buivn was hardly inaugurated when the panic of 1837 burst upon the 
 country. The banks were forced to suspend specie payment, many failed, and 
 mercantile houses that had weathered other financial storms toppled over like ten 
 pins. In two months the failures in New York and New Orleans amounted to 
 $lf)0,000,000. Early in May, a deputation of New York merchants and bankers 
 called upon the President and asked him to put off the collection of duties on 
 imported goods, to rescind the specie circular, and convene Congress in the hope 
 of devising measures for relief. All that the President consented to do was to 
 defer the collection of duties. Immediately the banks in New York suspended 
 specie payments, and their example was followed by others throughout the 
 country. The New York Legislature then authorized the suspension of specie 
 payments for a year. This left the national government without the means of 
 paying its own obligations (since no banks would return its deposits in specie) 
 except by using the third installment of the surplus revenue that had been 
 promised to the States. 
 
 The country was threatened with financial ruin, and Congress convened in 
 September. The President in his message proposed the establishment of an 
 independent treasury for the custody of the public funds, and their total separa 
 tion from banking institutions. Such a bill failed, but it became a law in 1840. 
 Congress, however, obtained temporary relief by authorizing the issue of 
 $10,000,000 in treasury notes. 
 
 The fact remained, however, that the country was rich, and though much 
 distress prevailed, the financial stress began to lessen as more healthy methods 
 of business were adopted. In 1838 most of the banks resumed specie payments, 
 but the effect of the panic was felt for years. Since the distress occurred while 
 Van Buren was President, the blame was placed by many upon the adminis 
 tration. 
 
 At that time the present Dominion of Canada was divided into two prov 
 inces, known as Upper and Lower Canada. Dissatisfaction with some of the feat 
 ures of Great Britain s rule caused a rebellion in Lower Canada in 1837. Much 
 sympathy was felt for them in this country, and especially in New York, from 
 which a force of 700 men seized and fortified Navy Island, in Niagara River. 
 There were plenty of loyalists in Canada, who made an attempt to capture the 
 place, but failed. On the night of December 29, 1837, they impetuously 
 
WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 
 
 229 
 
 attacked the supply steamer Caroline, killed twelve of the defenders, set the 
 boat on fire, and sent it over Niagara Falls. 
 
 President Van Buren issued a proclamation forbidding all interference in 
 the affairs of Canada, and General Wood was sent to the frontier with a military 
 force strong enough to compel obedience. He obliged the insurgents on Navy 
 Island to surrender and pledge themselves to refrain from all unlawful acts. 
 These vigorous measures soon brought quiet to the border, and England s wise 
 policy toward the disaffected provinces has made Canada one of her most loyal 
 provinces. 
 
 The population of the United 
 States in 1840 was 17,649,453, 
 further evidence of the real pros 
 perity of the country. Railroad 
 building went on vigorously, there 
 being fully 4,000 miles in operation 
 at the close of Van Buren s term. 
 
 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1840. 
 
 The following was the presiden 
 tial vote of 1840: William Henry 
 Harrison, of Ohio, Whig, 234; 
 Martin Van Buren, 60. For Vice- 
 President, John Tyler, 234; K. M. 
 Johnson, 48; L. W. Tazewell, of 
 Virginia, Democrat, 11; James K. 
 Polk, of Tennessee, Democrat, 1. 
 
 WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 
 
 William Henry H ? -isori, ninth 
 President, was born Fe raary 9, 1773, 
 in Virginia, and was the son of Benjamin Harrison, a signer of the Declaration of 
 Independence, and afterward governor of Virginia. The son graduated from 
 Hampden-Sidney College, and took up the study of medicine, but was fond of 
 military matters, and, entering the army of St. Clair, he displayed great bravery 
 and skill. He helped General Wayne win his victory over the Indians in 
 1794, and was rapidly promoted. He became secretary of the Northwest Terri 
 tory in 1798, and the following year was made delegate to Congress. In 1800, 
 he was appointed governor of Indiana Territory, and was acting as such when 
 he won his decisive victory at Tippecanoe, in the autumn of 1811. An account 
 has been given of his brilliant services in the War of 1812. 
 
 WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 
 (1773-1841.) One month, 1841. 
 
230 JACKSON, VAN BUREN, HARRISON, AND TYLER, 
 
 He attained the rank of major-general in the regular army, but resigned in 
 1814. He was congressman from 1816 to 1819, United States senator from 
 1825 to 1828, and United States minister to the United States of Columbia, 
 1828-29. 
 
 President Harrison wore no hat or overcoat while delivering his inaugural. 
 Although accustomed to the hardships of the frontier, and naturally one of the 
 most rugged of men, he was now old and weak in body. His imprudence, 
 added to the annoyance from the clamorous office-seekers, drove him frantic. 
 He succumbed to pneumonia and died on the 4th of April, just one month 
 after his inauguration. He was the first President to die in office, and an im 
 mense concourse attended his funeral, his remains being interred near North 
 Bend, Ohio. 
 
 JOHN TYLER. 
 
 As provided by the Constitution, the Vice-President, John Tyler, was 
 immediately sworn into office as his successor. Like many of his prede 
 cessors, John Tyler w r as a native of Virginia, where he was born March 29, 
 1790. He possessed great natural ability and was a practicing lawyer at the 
 age of nineteen, and a member of the State Legislature at twenty-one. When 
 thirty-five, he was chosen governor of Virginia, and was a United States sena 
 tor from 1827 to 1836. 
 
 Since he was the first President not elected to the office, there was con 
 siderable discussion among the politicians as to his precise status. It was con 
 tended by some that he was chief executive " in trust," and was therefore bound 
 to carry out the policy of his immediate predecessor. Tyler insisted that he 
 was as much the President, in every respect, as if he had been elected by the 
 people to that office, and in this insistence he was unquestionably right. 
 
 Tyler quickly involved himself in trouble with the Whigs. They passed 
 an act to re-establish" the United States Bank, whose charter expired in 1836, 
 though it had continued in operation under the authori^ of the State of Penn 
 sylvania. President Tyler vetoed the bill. He suggested some modifications, 
 and it was passed again, but to the indignant amazement of his party he vetoed 
 it a second time. He was declared a traitor and widely denounced. All his 
 cabinet resigned, with the exception of Daniel Webster, who, as stated else 
 where, remained until 1843, in order to complete an important treaty with 
 England then under negotiation. 
 
 THE WEBSTER-ASHBURTON TREATY. 
 
 This was known as the Webster-Ashburton Treaty. Our northeastern 
 boundary was loosely defined by the treaty of 1783, and it was finally agreed 
 by Great Britain and the United States to refer the questions in dispute to three 
 
THE ANTI-RENT WAR IN NEW YORK. 
 
 231 
 
 commissions to be jointly constituted by the two countries. The first of these 
 awarded the islands in Passamaquoddy Bay to the United States ; the third 
 established the boundary line from the intersection of the forty-fifth parallel 
 with the St. Lawrence to the western point of Lake Huron. It remained 
 for the second commission to determine the boundary from the Atlantic to the 
 St. Lawrence. The question was a bone of contention for many years, and at 
 last was referred to Daniel Webster and Lord Ashburton. These two gentle 
 men met in a spirit of fairness, calmly discussed the matter, and without the 
 slightest friction reached an agreement, which was signed August 9, 1842, and 
 confirmed by the Senate. 
 
 CIVIL WAR IX RHODE ISLAND. 
 
 Rhode Island had been gov 
 erned down to 1842 by the charter 
 received from Charles II., in 1663. 
 This charter permitted only the 
 owners of a certain amount of prop 
 erty to vote. Dissatisfaction gradu 
 ally grew until 1842, when two 
 political parties were formed in the 
 little State, one favoring a new con 
 stitution and the other clinging to 
 the old. The former carried the 
 Legislature, after adopting a State 
 constitution, and elected Thomas W. 
 Dorr governor. Their opponents 
 elected Samuel W. King, and both 
 placed armed forces in the field. 
 When civil war was imminent, the 
 national government interfered and 
 
 , , * v i vi JOHN TYLER. 
 
 Dorr s forces were dispersed without (1790-1862.) one partial term, 1841-1545. 
 
 bloodshed. Dorr was arrested, and on his trial found guilty of treason. He 
 was sentenced to imprisonment for life, but offered liberty on condition of tak 
 ing the oath of allegiance. He refused, and, in June, 1845, was unconditionally 
 released. Meanwhile, the general dissatisfaction with the colonial charter led 
 to the calling of a convention, which adopted a new constitution, that went 
 into effect in May, 1843. 
 
 THE ANTI-RENT WAR IN NEW YORK. 
 
 It has been shown that when the Dutch were the owners of New York 
 
232 JACKSON, VAN BUREN, HARRISON, AND TYLER. 
 
 State many of them took possession of immense tracts of lands, over which they 
 ruled like the feudal lords in ancient England. These grants and privileges 
 were inherited by their descendants and were not affected by the Revolution. 
 Among the wealthiest patroons were the Van liensselaers, whose estates included 
 most of Albany and Rensselaer Counties. Stephen Van Rensselaer was easy 
 going and so wealthy that he did not take the trouble to collect the rents due 
 from his numerous tenants, who, at his death, in 1840, owed him nearly a quarter 
 of a million of dollars. His heirs determined to collect this amount and set 
 vigorous measures on foot to do so. The tenants resisted, furious fights took 
 place, and the military were called out, but the tenants remained resolute in re 
 fusing to pay rent. The disturbances continued and were known as "The Anti- 
 Rent War." The eastern towns of Rensselaer County and the Livingston manor 
 of Columbia County were soon in a state of insurrection, and many outrages 
 were committed. In Delaware County, while a deputy-sheriff was trying to 
 perform his duty he was killed. The civil authorities were powerless to sup 
 press the revolt, and, in 1846, the governor declared the County of Delaware 
 in a state of insurrection, and called out the military. They arrested the ring 
 leaders, and the murderers of the deputy-sheriff were sentenced to imprisonment 
 for life. Conciliatory measures followed, most of the patroon lands were sold 
 to the tenants, and the great estates gradually passed out of existence. 
 
 A SHOCKING ACCIDENT. 
 
 A shocking accident occurred on the 28th of February, 1844. Mr. 
 U pshur, secretary of State, Mr. Gilmer, secretary of the navy, and a number of 
 distinguished ladies and gentlemen were taken on an excursion down the 
 Potomac, by Commodore Stockton, on the steamer Princeton. For the enter 
 tainment of his guests, the commodore ordered the firing of an immense new 
 gun that had been placed on board a short time before. It had been discharged 
 several times, and, upon what was intended and indeed proved to be the last dis 
 charge, it exploded, killing Mr. Upshur, Mr. Gilmer, Commodore Kennon, 
 Virgil Maxey, lately minister to The Hague, and several of the visitors, besides 
 wounding seventeen sailors, some of whom died. Although Commodore 
 Stockton lived many years afterward, he never fully recovered from the shock. 
 The accident cast a gloom throughout the whole country. 
 
 ADMISSION OF FLORIDA. 
 
 One State, Florida, was admitted to the Union during Tyler s adminis 
 tration. Its early history has been given, it having been bought from Spain in 
 181D. It was made a State in 1845. 
 
 Texas now became a subject of national interest. Although the United 
 
ADMISSION OF TEXAS. 233 
 
 States made claim to it as a part of the Louisiana purchase, the claim was 
 abandoned in 181 ( J, when Florida came into our possession. In 1821, a colony 
 of Americans formed a settlement in Mexican territory, encouraged to do so 
 by the home government. Others emigrated thither, among whom were many 
 restless adventurers and desperate men. By-and-by they began talkin^ of 
 wresting Texas from Mexico and transferring it to the United States. There 
 is little doubt that in this design they received encouragement from many men 
 holding high places in the United States. 
 
 THE TEXAS REVOLUTION. 
 
 The ferment in Texas increased, and, on the 2d of March, 1836, a con 
 vention declared Texas independent. Santa Anna, president of the Mexican 
 Eepublic, crossed the Rio Grande with a large force and advanced to San 
 Antonio, where less than 200 Texans had taken refuge in a mission-house 
 known as the Alamo, with their flag, consisting of a single star, floating defiantly 
 above it. In this body of fearless men were the eccentric Davy Crockett, 
 formerly congressman from Tennessee ; the Bowie brothers, one of whom was 
 the inventor of the Bowie knife; Colonel Travis, and others as dauntless 
 as they. They had several rifles apiece, and maintained a spirited defense, 
 night and day, for ten days, under the incessant attacks of the Mexicans. 
 Finally, when the brave band was reduced to less than a dozen, they surrenderd 
 under the promise that their lives would be spared. Santa Anna caused the 
 massacre of every one. 
 
 "Remember the Alamo! " became the war-cry of the Texans, and, in the 
 following month, under the command of Sam Houston, they virtually destroyed 
 the Mexican army and took Santa Anna prisoner. Houston was more merciful 
 to him than he had been to the Alamo prisoners, and protected him from the 
 vengeance of the soldiers. He was very glad to sign a treaty acknowledging the 
 independence of Texas. 
 
 The Mexican government, however, repudiated the action of its president, 
 and a guerrilla warfare was waged by both sides for several years without any 
 progress being made in the conquest of the province. Texas organized itself 
 into an independent republic, elected Sam Houston president, and secured recog 
 nition from the United States, England, and several European governments. 
 While making no organized effort to conquer Texas, Mexico insisted that the 
 province was her own. 
 
 ADMISSIOX OF TEXAS. 
 
 One of the first steps of Texas, after declaring her independence , was to 
 apply for admission into the Union. There was great opposition in the North 
 because its admission would add an enormous slave area to our country. For the 
 
234 JACKSON, VAN BUREN, HARRISON, AND TYLER. 
 
 same reasoii the South clamored that it should be made a State. Calhoun, who 
 succeeded Upshur as secretary of State, in March, 1844, put forth every effort 
 to bring Texas into the Union. Clay s opposition lost him the support of the 
 South in his presidential aspirations. President Tyler, who favored its admis 
 sion, made an annexation treaty with Texas, but the Senate refused to ratify it. 
 Then a joint resolution was introduced, and, after a hot discussion, was passed 
 with the proviso that the incoming President might act, if he preferred, by 
 treaty. The resolution was adopted March 1, 1845, by the Senate, three days 
 before the close of President Tyler s term. Calhoun instantly dispatched a 
 messenger to Texas with orders to travel with the utmost haste that the new 
 State might be brought in under the resolution. President Tyler immediately 
 signed the bill, and the "Lone-Star" State became a member of the Union. 
 On the last day but one of the close of his term he signed the bills for the 
 admission of Florida and Iowa, but the latter was not formally admitted until 
 the following year. 
 
 THE COPPER MINES OF MICHIGAN. 
 
 There were many events of a non-political nature, but of the highest 
 importance, that occurred during Tyler s administration. Copper took its place 
 as one of the great mineral productions of the United States in 1844. The 
 Indians at last abandoned their claims to the country near Lake Superior, in 
 northern Michigan, and the explorations that followed proved that the copper 
 mines there are the richest in the world. Numerous companies were formed 
 and copper-mining became the leading industry of that section. An interesting 
 discovery was that many of the mines had been worked hundreds of years 
 before by the Indians. 
 
 The wonderful richness of the gold deposits in California, the vast mineral 
 resources of Missouri and Tennessee, and the untold wealth of the petroleum, 
 bed under the surface of Pennsylvania were unsuspected. 
 
 THE PRESIDENTIAL CONTEST OF 1844. 
 
 The presidential election of 1844 hinged on the question of the proposed 
 annexation of Texas. It has been stated that the Whigs nominated Henry Clay, 
 who opposed annexation. Van Buren lost the Democratic renomination through 
 his opposition to annexation, and the Southern Democrats secured the candidacy 
 of James K. Polk. The Abolitionists did not think Clay s opposition to annex 
 ation quite as earnest as it should be, and they placed William Birney in nomi 
 nation. As a result Clay lost the State of New York, and through that his 
 election to the presidency. The electoral vote was as follows : 
 
 James K. Polk, of Tennessee, Democrat, 170; Henry Clay, of Kentucky 
 Whig, 105. For Vice-President, George M. Dallas, of Pennsylvania, Democrat, 
 
THE MAGNETIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 236 
 
 170 ; Theodore Frelinghuysen, of New Jersey, Whig, 105. This secured the 
 election of Polk and Dallas. James G. Birney and Thomas Morris, candidates 
 of the Liberty party for President and Vice-President, received no electoral 
 vote, but, as stated, caused the loss of the State of New York to Clay, thereby 
 throwing enough electoral votes to Polk and Dallas to give them success. 
 
 THE MAGNETIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 The convention which placed Polk in nomination was held in the city of 
 Baltimore. A railway train was waiting to carry the news to Washington, and, 
 
 as soon as the passengers could hurry on board, 
 it steamed at the highest speed to the national 
 capital. When the people left the cars an 
 Qt hour later they found, to 
 
 their i n - 
 expressible 
 amazement, 
 newspaper 
 extras for sale 
 containing 
 the news of 
 Polk s nomi 
 nation. In 
 answer to 
 their ques 
 tions they 
 were told that 
 it had been 
 received from 
 Baltimore by 
 
 TELEGRAPH. 
 
 This was 
 
 >th of May, 1844, and was the first public message sent by magnetic 
 telegraph. It marked an era in the history of civilization. 
 
 ^ Investigation seems to establish that Professor Joseph Henry, of the Smith 
 sonian Institute, was the real inventor of the electro-magnetic telegraph, though 
 that honor has been given and will continue to be given by most people to Pro 
 fessor Samuel F. B. Morse, whose relation to the telegraph was much the same 
 as that of Fulton to the steamboat. He added to the ideas of those before him 
 and first brought them into practical use. 
 
 Professor Morse deserves all the credit he has received as one of the greatest 
 
 SHOP IN WHICH THE FIRST MORSE INSTRUMENT WAS CONSTRUCTED 
 FOR EXHIBITION BEFORE CONGRESS 
 
236 
 
 JACKSON, VAN BUREN, HARRISON, AND TYLER. 
 
 of inventors. He studied painting when young and became an artist of consid 
 erable skill. As early as 1832 he conceived the idea of an electro-magnetic 
 telegraph and began his experiments. The project absorbed all his energies 
 until he became what is called in these days a " crank/ which is often the name 
 of one who gives all his thoughts and efforts to the development of a single 
 project. He drifted away from his relatives, who looked upon him as a visionary 
 dreamer, and when his ragged clothes and craving stomach demanded attention, 
 he gave instruction in drawing to a few students who clung to him, 
 
 Light gradually dawned upon Morse, and he continued his labors under 
 discouragement that would have overcome almost any other man. He secured 
 help from Alfred Vail, of Morristown, N. J., who invented the alphabetical 
 
 characters and many es 
 sential features of the sys 
 tem, besides furnishing 
 Morse with funds, with 
 out which his labors 
 would have come to a 
 standstill. There was not 
 enough capital at com 
 mand to construct a line 
 of telegraph, and Morse 
 a n d his few friends 
 haunted Congress with 
 their plea for an appro 
 priation. Ezra Cornell, 
 founder of Cornell Uni 
 versity, gave assistance, 
 and, finally, in the very closing days of the session of Congress in 1844, an ap 
 propriation of $30,000 was made to defray the expenses of a line between Bal 
 timore and Washington. 
 
 The invention, like most others of an important nature, was subjected to 
 merciless ridicule. A wag hung a pair of muddy boots out of a window in 
 Washington, with a placard announcing that they belonged to a man who had just 
 arrived by telegraph ; another placed a package on the wires, and called to his 
 friends to see it whisked away by lightning ; while many opposed the apparent 
 experimenting with the electric fluid, which they believed would work all sorts 
 of mischief. Nevertheless, the patient toilers kept at work, often stopped by 
 accident, and in the face of all manner of opposition. The first line was laid 
 underground, and, as has been shown, carried the news of Folk s nomination 
 for the presidency to Washington. 
 
 THE SPEEDWELL IRON WORKS, MORRISTOWTsT, N. J. 
 
 Here was forged the shaft for the Savannah, the first steamship which crossed the 
 Atlantic. Here was manufactured the tires, axles and cranks of the tirst American 
 locomotive. Shop in which Vail and Baxter constructed the first telegraph appa 
 ratus, invented by Morse, for exhibition before Congress. 
 
THE FIRST TELEGRAM. 237 
 
 Professor Morse was in Washington, and the first message was dictated by 
 Annie Ellsworth, March 28, 1844, and received by Alfred Vail, forty miles away 
 in Baltimore. It consisted of the words, " What hath God wrought ? " and the 
 telegram is now in the possession of the Connecticut Historical Society. It may 
 be said that since then the earth has been girdled by telegraph lines, numbers 
 of which pass under the ocean, uniting all nations and the uttermost extremities 
 of the world. 
 
 In the preceding pages we have done little more than give the results of the 
 various presidential campaigns. The two leading political parties were the 
 Whigs and the Democrats, and many of the elections were of absorbing interest, 
 not only to the participants, but to the country at large. Several were distin 
 guished by features worthy of permanent record, since they throw valuable 
 light upon the times, now forgotten, and were attended in many instances by far- 
 reaching results. 
 
 It seems proper, therefore, that a chapter should be devoted to the most 
 important presidential campaigns preceding and including one of the most mem 
 orable that of 1840 often referred to as the "hard cider campaign." 
 
OLD GATES AT ST. AUGUSTINE, FLOKIDA. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 FAMOUS PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS PRKVIOUS 
 
 TO 18-40. 
 
 The Origin of the " Caucus "The Election of 1792 The First Stormy Election The Constitution 
 Amended Improvement of the Method of Nominating Presidential Candidates The First Presiden 
 tial Convention Convention in Baltimore in 1832 Exciting Scenes The Presidential Campaign of 
 1820 " Old Hickory "Andrew Jackson s Popularity Jackson Nominated " Old Hickory" De 
 feated The "Log-Cabin " and " Hard-Cider " Campaign of 1840" Tippecanoe and Tyler Too " 
 Peculiar Feature of the Harrison Campaign. 
 
 THE presidential nominating convention is a modern institution. In the 
 early days of the Republic a very different method was pursued in order to 
 place the candidates for the highest office in the land before the people. 
 
 THE ORIGIN OF THE " CAUCUS." 
 
 In the first place, as to the origin of the " caucus." In the early part of 
 the eighteenth century a number of caulkers connected with the shipping busi 
 ness in the ^North End of Boston held a meeting for consultation. That meet 
 ing was the germ of the political caucuses which have formed so prominent a 
 feature of our government ever since its organization. 
 
 The Constitution of our country was framed and signed in the month of 
 September, 1787, by the convention sitting in Philadelphia, and then sent to 
 the various Legislatures for their action. It could not become binding until 
 ratified by nine States. On the 2d of July, 1788, Congress was notified that 
 the necessary nine States had approved, and on the 13th of the following Sep- 
 
 (239) 
 
240 FAMOUS PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS PREVIOUS TO 1840. 
 
 tember a day was appointed for the choice of electors for President. The day 
 selected was the first Wednesday of January, 1789. The date for the begin 
 ning of proceedings under the new Constitution was postponed to the first Wed 
 nesday in March, which happened to fall on the 4th. In that way the 4th of 
 March became fixed as the date of the inauguration of each President, except 
 when the date is on Sunday, when it becomes the oth. 
 
 Congress met at that time in the city of New York. It was not until the 
 1st of April that a quorum for business appeared in the House of Representa 
 tives, and the Senate was organized on the Gth of that month. The electors 
 who were to choose the President were selected by the various State Legislatures, 
 each elector being entitled to cast two votes. The rule was that the candidate 
 receiving the highest number became President, while the next highest vote 
 elected the Viee-President, The objection to this method was that the two 
 might belong to different political parties, which very condition of things came 
 about at the election of the second President, when John Adams was chosen to 
 the highest office and Thomas Jefferson to the second. The former was a Fed 
 eralist, while Jefferson was a Republican, or, as he would have been called later, 
 a Democrat. Had Adams died while in office, the policy of his administration 
 would have been changed. 
 
 There could be no doubt as to the first choice. While Washington lived 
 and was willing thus to serve his country, what other name could be considered ? 
 So, when the electoral vote was counted on the Gtli of April, 1789, every vote 
 of the ten States which took part in the election was cast for him. He received 
 69 (all) ; John Adams, 34 ; John Jay, 9 ; R. H. Harrison, 6 ; John Rutledge, 
 6; John Hancock, 4 ; George Clinton, 3; Samuel Huntingdon, 2; John Mil 
 ton, 2 ; James Armstrong, Benjamin Lincoln, and Edward Telfair, 1 each. 
 
 THE ELECTION OF 1792. 
 
 At the next election, in 1792, the result was : Washington, 132 (all) votes ; 
 John Adams, 77 ; George Clinton, 50 ; Thomas Jefferson, 4 ; Aaron Burr, 1 ; 
 vacancies, 3. It would have been the same at the third election had the illus 
 trious Father of his Country consented to be a candidate ; but he was growing 
 feeble, and had already sacrificed so much for his country, that his yearning for 
 the quiet, restful life at Mount Vernon could not be denied him. So he retired, 
 and, less than three years later, passed from earth. 
 
 THE FIRST STORMY ELECTION. 
 
 What may be looked upon as the first stormy election of a President took 
 place in 1800. When the electoral votes came to be counted, they were found 
 to be distributed as follows : Thomas Jefferson, 73 ; Aaron Burr, 73 ; John 
 
THE FIRST STORMY ELECTION. 241 
 
 Adams, 65 ; Charles C. Pinckney, 64 ; John Jay, 1. Jefferson and Burr being 
 tied, the election was thrown into the House of Kepresentatives, where the con 
 test became a memorable one. The House met on the llth of February, 1801, 
 to decide the question. On the first bailor, Jefferson had eight States and Burr 
 six, while Maryland and Vermont were equally divided. Here was another 
 tie. 
 
 Meanwhile, one of the most terrific snowstorms ever known swept over 
 
 
 A TYPICAL VIRGINIA COURT-HOUSE. 
 
 Washington. Mr. Nicholson, of Maryland, was seriously ill in bed, and yet, if 
 he did not vote, his State would be given to Burr, who would be elected Presi 
 dent. Nicholson showed that he had the " courage of his convictions " by allow 
 ing himself to be bundled up and carried through the blizzard to one of the 
 committee rooms, where his wife stayed by his side day and night, On each 
 ballot the box was brought to his bedside, and he did not miss one. The House 
 remained in continuous session until thirty-five ballots had been cast without 
 any change. 
 
 It was clear by that time that Burr could not be elected, for the columns 
 of Jefferson were as immovable as a stone wall. The break, when it came, must 
 
 16 
 
242 FAMOUS FP^IDENTIA L CAMPAIGNS PREVIOUS TO 184-0. 
 
 be in the ranks of Bui/r Jn the thirty-sixth ballot, the Federalists of Mary 
 land, Delaware, and South Carolina voted blank, and the Federalist of Vermont 
 stayed away. This gave the friends of Jefferson their opportunity, and, for 
 tunately for the country, Thomas Jefferson was elected instead of the miscreant 
 Burr. 
 
 THE CONSTITUTION AMENDED. 
 
 As a result of this noted contest, the Constitution was so amended that each 
 elector voted for a President and a Vice-President, instead of for two candidates 
 for President. It was a needed improvement, since it insured that both should 
 belong to the same political party. 
 
 During the first term of Washington, the country was divided into two 
 powerful political parties. Men who, like Washington, Hamilton, and others, 
 believed in a strong central government, with only such political power as was 
 absolutely necessary distributed among the various States, were Federalists. 
 Those who insisted upon the greatest possible power for the States, yielding 
 nothing to Congress beyond what was distinctly specified in the Constitution, 
 were Republicans, of whom Thomas Jefferson was the foremost leader. Other 
 points of difference developed as the years passed, but the main distinction was 
 as given. After the election of John Adams, the Federalist party gradually 
 dwindled, and in the war of 1812 its unpatriotic course fatally weakened the 
 organization. 
 
 THE COUNTRY DIVIDED IN PARTIES. 
 
 The Republican party took the name of Democratic-Republican, which is 
 its official title to-day. During Monroe s administration, when almost the last 
 vestige of Federalist vanished, their opponents gradually acquired the name of 
 Democrats, by which they are now known. After a time, the Federalists were 
 succeeded by the Whigs, who held well together until the quarrel over the 
 admission of Kansas and the question of slavery split the party into frag 
 ments. From these, including Know Nothings, Abolitionists, Free Soilers, and 
 Northern Democrats, was builded, in 1856, the present Republican party, whose 
 foundation stone was opposition to the extension of slavery. Many minor 
 parties have sprung into ephemeral life from time to time, but the Democrats 
 and Republicans will undoubtedly be the two great political organizations for 
 many years to come, as they have been for so many years past. 
 
 IMPROVEMENT OF THE METHOD OF NOMINATING PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES. 
 
 It will be noted that the old-fashioned method of nominating presidential 
 candidates was clumsy and frequently unfair. Candidates sometimes announced 
 themselves for offices within the gift of the people ; but if that practice had con 
 tinued to modern times, the number of candidates thus appealing for the suffrages 
 
THE FIRST PRESIDENTIAL CONVENTION. 
 
 243 
 
 of their fellow-citizens might have threatened. to equal the number of voters 
 themselves. The more common plan was for the party leaders to hold private 
 or informal caucuses. The next method was for the legislative caucus to name 
 the man. The unfairness of this system was that it shut out from representation 
 those whose districts had none of the opposite political party in the Legislature. 
 To adjust the matter, the caucus rule was so modified as to admit delegates spe 
 cially sent up from the districts that were not represented in the Legislature. 
 This, it will be seen, was an important step in the direction of the present system, 
 which makes a nominating convention consist of delegates from every part of a 
 State, chosen for the sole purpose of making nominations. 
 
 THE WHITE HOUSE AT WASHINGTON, D. C. 
 
 The perfected method appeared in New Jersey as early as 1812, in Penn 
 sylvania in 1817, and in New York in 1825. There was no clearly defined plan 
 followed in making the presidential nominations for 1824, and four years later 
 the legislative caucus system was almost universally followed. After that, the 
 system which had been applied in various States was applied to national matters. 
 
 THE FIRST PRESIDENTIAL CONVENTION. 
 
 In the year 1826, William Morgan, a worthless character, living in Bata- 
 via, New York, attempted to expose the secrets of the order of Free Masons, of 
 which he had become a member. While he was engaged in printing his book, 
 
244 FAMOUS PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS PREVIOUS TO 184O. 
 
 he disappeared and was never afterward seen. The Masons were accused of 
 making way with him, and a wave of opposition swept over the country which 
 closed many lodges and seemed for a time to threaten the extinction of the 
 order. An anti-Masonic party was formed and became strong enough to carry 
 the election in several States. Not only that, but in September, 1831, the anti- 
 Masons held a National nominating convention in Baltimore and put forward 
 William Wirt, former attorney-general of the United States, as their nominee 
 for the Presidency, with Amos Ellmaker, candidate for the Vice-Presidency. 
 The ticket received seven electoral votes. The noteworthy fact about this 
 almost forgotten matter is that the convention was the first presidential one held 
 in this country. 
 
 CONVENTION IN BALTIMORE IN 1832. 
 
 The system was now fairly launched, for in December of the same year 
 the National Republicans met in convention in Baltimore and nominated Henry 
 Clay, and in May, 1832, Martin Van Buren was nominated by a Democratic 
 convention. He was renominated at the same place and in the same manner in 
 1835, but the Whigs did not imitate their opponents. In 1840, however, the 
 system was adopted by both parties, and has been followed ever since. 
 
 Our whole country seethes with excitement from the hour when the first 
 candidate is hinted at until his nomination is made, followed by his election or 
 defeat a few months later. Some persons see a grave peril in this periodic con 
 vulsion, which shakes the United States like an earthquake, but it seems after 
 all to be a sort of political thunderstorm which purifies the air and clarifies the 
 ideas that otherwise would become sodden or morbid. It is essentially Ameri 
 ca n, and our people s universal love of fair play leads them to accept the ver 
 dict at the polls with philosophy and good nature. 
 
 And yet there have been many exciting scenes at the nominating conven 
 tions of the past, as there doubtless will be in many that are yet to come. Com 
 ing down to later times, how often has it proved that the most astute politicians 
 were all at sea in their calculations. The proverbial " dark horse " has become 
 a potent factor whom it is not safe to forget in making up political probabilities. 
 
 THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1820. 
 
 Probably the most tranquil presidential campaign of the nineteenth cen 
 tury was that of 1820, when James Monroe was elected for the second time. 
 He was virtually the only candidate before the country for the exalted office. 
 When the electoral college met, the astounding fact was revealed that he had 
 every votethe first time such a thing had occurred since Washington s elec 
 tion. 
 
 But there was one elector who had the courage to do that which was never 
 
ANDREW JACKSON S POPULARITY. 245 
 
 done before and lias never been done since: he voted contrary to his instruc 
 tions and in opposition to the ticket on which he was elected. Blumer, of New 
 Hampshire, explained that, as he viewed it, no President had the right to share 
 the honor of a unanimous election with Washington, and > though an ardent 
 friend of Monroe, he deliberately cast his one vote for Adams, in order to pre 
 serve Washington s honor distinct. His motive was appreciated, and Blumer 
 was applauded for the act, Monroe himself being pleased with it. 
 
 " OLD HICKORY." 
 
 It is hardly necessary to repeat that this incident has not been duplicated 
 since that day. Andrew Jackson, " Old Hickory," was probably the most pop 
 ular man in the country when, the time came for naming the successor of Mon 
 roe. It may sound strange, but it is a fact, that when the project of running 
 him for the presidency was first mentioned to Jackson, he was displeased. It 
 had never entered his head to covet that exalted office. 
 
 "Don t think of it," he said; "I haven t the first qualification; lama 
 rough, plain man, fitted perhaps to lead soldiers and fight the enemies of our 
 country, but as for the presidency, the idea is too absurd to be held." 
 
 But what American cannot be convinced that he is pre-eminently fitted for 
 the office ? It did not take long for the ambition to be kindled in the breast 
 of the doughty hero. His friends flattered him into the conviction that he was 
 the man of all others to assume the duties, and the " bee buzzed " as loudly in 
 Jackson s bonnet as it ever has in that of any of his successors. 
 
 ANDREW JACKSON S POPULARITY. 
 
 It cannot be denied that " Old Hickory " was a great man, and though he 
 was deficient in education, lacking in statesmanship, and obstinate to the last 
 degree, he was the possessor of those rugged virtues which invariably command 
 respect. He was honest, clean in his private life, a stanch friend, an unre 
 lenting enemy, and an intense patriot one who was ready to risk nis life at 
 any hour for his country. In addition, he never knew the meaning of per 
 sonal fear. No braver person ever lived. When the sheriff in a court-room 
 was afraid to attempt to arrest a notorious desperado, Jackson leaped over the 
 chairs, seized the ruffian by the throat, hurled him to the floor, and cowed him 
 into submission. When a piece of treachery was discovered on a Kentucky 
 racecourse, Jackson faced a mob of a thousand infuriated men, ruled off* the 
 dishonest official, and carried his point. He challenged the most noted duelist 
 of the southwest, because he dared to cast a slur upon Jackson s wife. It mat 
 tered not that the scoundrel had never failed to kill his man, and that all of 
 Jackson s friends warned him that it was certain death to meet the dead-shot. 
 
246 FAMOUS PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS PREVIOUS TO 1840. 
 
 At the exchange of shots, Jackson was frightfully wounded, but he stood as 
 rigid as iron, and sent a bullet through the body of his enemy, whom he did 
 not let know he was himself wounded until the other breathed his last. 
 
 Above all, had not "Old Hickory" won the battle of New Orleans, the most 
 brilliant victory of the War of 1812? Did not he and his unerring riflemen 
 from the backwoods of Tennessee and Kentucky spread consternation, death, 
 and defeat among the red-coated veterans of Waterloo? No wonder that the 
 anniversary of that glorious battle is still celebrated in every part of the 
 country, and no wonder, too, that the American people demanded that the hero 
 of all these achievements should be rewarded with the highest office in the gift 
 of his countrymen. 
 
 JACKSON NOMINATED. 
 
 Jackson, having "placed himself in the hands of his friends," threw 
 himself into the struggle with all the unquenchable ardor of his nature. On 
 July 22, 1822, the Legislature of Tennessee was first in the field by placing him 
 in nomination. On the 22d of February, 1824, a Federalist convention at Har- 
 risburg, Pa., nominated him, and on the 4th of March following a Republican 
 convention did the same. It would seem that he was now fairly before the 
 country, but the regular Democratic nominee, that is, the one named by the 
 congressional caucus, was William H. Crawford, of Georgia. The remaining 
 candidates were John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay, and all of them belonged 
 to the Republican party, which had retained the presidency since 1800. Adams 
 and Clay were what was termed loose constructionists, while Jackson and Craw 
 ford were strict constructionists. 
 
 "OLD HICKORY" DEFEATED. 
 
 The canvass was a somewhat jumbled one, in which each candidate had his 
 ardent partisans and supporters. The contest was carried out with vigor and 
 the usual abuse, personalities, and vituperation until the polls were closed. 
 Then when the returns came to be made up it was found that Jackson had 
 received 99 electoral votes, Adams 84, Crawford 41, and Clay 37. "Old 
 Hickory" was well ahead, but his strength was not sufficient to make him Presi 
 dent, even though on the popular vote he led Adams by more than 50,000. 
 Consequently the election went to the House of Representatives, where the 
 supporters of Clay combined with those of Adams and made him President. 
 Thus came the singular result that the man who had the largest popular and 
 electoral vote was defeated. 
 
 It was a keen disappointment to Jackson and his friends. The great Sena 
 tor Benton, of Missouri, one of the warmest supporters of "Old Hickory," 
 angrily declared that the House was deliberately defying the will of the people 
 
THE "LOG-CABIN AND HARD-CIDER" CAMPAIGN. 247 
 
 by placing a minority candidate in the chair. The senator s position, however, 
 was untenable, and so it was that John Quincy Adams became the sixth Presi 
 dent of our country. 
 
 JACKSON S TRIUMPH. 
 
 But the triumph of " Old Hickory " was only postponed. His defeat was 
 looked upon by the majority of men as a deliberate piece of trickery, and they 
 " lay low " for the next opportunity to square matters. No fear of a second 
 chance being presented to their opponents. Jackson was launched into the can 
 vass of 1828 like a cyclone, and when the returns were made up lie had 178 
 electoral votes to 83 for Adams a vote which lifted him safely over the edge of 
 a plurality and seated him firmly in the White House. 
 
 It is not our province to treat of the administration of Andrew Jackson, for 
 
 ttMi,^ 
 OLD SPANISH HOUSE ON BOURBON STREET, NEW ORLEANS. 
 
 that belongs to history, but the hold which that remarkable man maintained 
 upon the affections of the people was emphasized when, in 1832, he was re- 
 elected by an electoral vote of 219 to 49 for Clay, 11 for Floyd, and 7 for Wirt. 
 Despite the popular prejudice against a third term, there is little doubt that 
 Jackson would have been successful had he chosen again to be a candidate. 
 He proved his strength by selecting his successor, Martin Van Buren. 
 
 THE "LOG-CABIN AND HARD-CIDER" CAMPAIGN or 1840. 
 
 The next notable presidential battle was the " log-cabin and hard-cider * 
 
 campaign of 1840, the like of which was never before seen in this country,, 
 
 General William Henry Harrison had been defeated by Van Buren in 1836, 
 
 but on the 4th of December, 1839, the National Whig Convention, which met 
 
248 FAMOUS PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS PREVIOUS TO 184-0. 
 
 at Harrisburg to decide the claims of rival candidates, placed Harrison in 
 nomination, while the Democrats again nominated Van Buren. 
 
 General Harrison lived at North Bend, Ohio, in a house which consisted 
 of a lo--cabin, built many years before by a pioneer, and was afterward covered 
 with clapboards. The visitors to the house praised the republican simplicity of 
 the old soldier, the hero of Tippecanoe, and the principal campaign biography 
 said that his table, instead of being supplied with costly wines, was furnished 
 with an abundance of the best cider. 
 
 The canvass had hardly opened, when the Baltimore Republican slurred 
 General Harrison by remarking that, if some one would pension him with a 
 
 THE MARIGNY HOUSE, NEW ORLEANS. 
 (Where Louis Philippe stopped in 1798.) 
 
 few hundred dollars and give him a barrel of hard cider, he would sit down in 
 his log-cabin and be content for the rest of his life. That sneer furnished the 
 keynote of the campaign. Hard cider became almost the sole beverage of the 
 Whigs throughout the country. In every city, town and village, and at the 
 cross-roads, were erected log-cabins, while the amount of hard cider drank 
 would have floated the American navy. The nights were rent with the shouts 
 of " Tippecanoe and Tyler too/ and scores of campaign songs were sung by 
 tens of thousands of exultant, even if not always musical, voices. We recall 
 that one of the most popular songs began : 
 
 44 Oh, where, tell me where, was the log-cabin made? 
 Twaa made by the boys that wield the plough and the spade." 
 
 There was no end to the songs, which were set to the most popular airs and 
 
PECULIAR FEATURE OF THE HARRISON CAMPAIGN. 249 
 
 sung over and over again. You would hear them in the middle of the night 
 on some distant mountain-top, where the twinkling camp-fire showed that a 
 party of Whigs were drinking hard cider and whooping it up for Harrison; 
 some singer with a strong, pleasing voice would start one of the songs from the 
 platform, at the close of the orator s appeal, and hardly had his lips parted, 
 when the thousands of Whigs, old and young, and including wives and daughters, 
 would join in the words, while the enthusiasm quickly grew to a white heat. 
 The horsemen riding home late at night awoke the echoes among the woods 
 and hills with their musical praises of "Old Tippecanoe." The story is told that 
 in one of the backwoods districts of Ohio, after the preacher had announced 
 the hymn, the leader of the singing, a staid old deacon, struck in with a Har 
 rison campaign song, in which the whole congregation, after the first moment s 
 shock, heartily joined, while the aghast preacher had all he could do to restrain 
 himself from "coming in on the chorus." There was some truth in the declara 
 tion of a disgusted Democrat that, from the opening of the canvass, the whole 
 Whig population of the United States went upon a colossal spree on hard cider, 
 which continued without intermission until Harrison was installed in the White 
 House. 
 
 And what did November tell ? The electoral vote cast for Martin Van 
 Buren, 60; for General Harrison, 234. No wonder that the supply of hard 
 cider was almost exhausted within the next three days. 
 
 PECULIAR FEATURE OF THE HARRISON CAMPAIGN. 
 
 As we have noted, the method of nominating presidential candidates by 
 means of popular conventions was fully established in 1840, and has continued 
 uninterruptedly ever since. One peculiar feature marked the Harrison cam- 
 paio*n of 1840. The convention which nominated Martin Van Buren met in 
 
 X o 
 
 Baltimore in May of that year. On the same day, the young Whigs of the 
 country held a mass-meeting in Baltimore, at which fully twenty thousand 
 persons were present. They came from every part of the Union, Massachusetts 
 sending fully a thousand. When the adjournment took place, it was to meet 
 again in Washington at the inauguration of Harrison. The railway was then 
 coming into general use, and this greatly favored the assembling of mass-eon- 
 
 o 
 
 ventions. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OK ROLPC, 18451849. 
 
 James K. Polk The War with Mexico The First Conflict Battle of Resaca de la Palm a Vigorous 
 Action of the United States Government General Scott s Plan of Campaign Capture of Monterey 
 An Armistice Capture of Saltillo Of Victoria Of Tampico General Kearny s Capture of 
 Santa Fe Conquest of California Wonderful March of Colonel Doniphan Battle of Buena Vista 
 General Scott s March Toward the City of Mexico Capture of Vera Cruz American Victory at 
 Cerro Gordo Five American Victories in One Day Santa Anna Conquest of Mexico Completed 
 -Terms of the Treaty of Peace The New Territory Gained The Slavery Dispute The Wilmot 
 Proviso "Fifty-Four Forty or Fight" Adjustment of the Oregon Boundary Admission of Iowa 
 and Wisconsin The Smithsonian Institute Discovery of Gold in California The Mormons The 
 Presidential Election of 1848. 
 
 - 
 
 JAMES K. POLK. 
 (1795-1849.) One tewa, 184*-! 849. 
 
 JAMES K. POLK. 
 
 JAMES K. POLK, eleventh Presi 
 dent, was born in Mecklenburg 
 County, North Carolina, November 
 2, 1795, and died June 15, 1849. 
 His father removed to Tennessee 
 when the son was quite young, and 
 he therefore became identified with 
 that State. He studied law, was a 
 leading politician, and was elected to 
 Congress in 1825, serving in that 
 body for fourteen years. He was 
 elected governor of Tennessee in 
 1839, his next advancement being to 
 the presidency of the United States. 
 
 The President made George 
 Bancroft, the distinguished historian, 
 lii secretary of the navy. It was he 
 who laid the foundation of the United 
 States Naval Academy at Annapolis, 
 which was opened October 10, 1845. 
 It is under the immediate care and 
 supervision of the navy department 
 
 and corresponds te the Military Academy at West Point. 
 
 J251) 
 
252 ADMINISTRATION OF POLK. 
 
 Everybody knew that the admission of Texas meant war with Mexico, for 
 that country would never yield, until compelled to do so, the province that had 
 rebelled against her rule and whose independence she had persistently refused 
 to recognize. Texas was unable to withstand the Mexican army, and her au 
 thorities urged the United States to send a force for her protection. General 
 Zachary Taylor, who was in camp in western Louisiana, was ordered to advance 
 into and occupy Texan territory. 
 
 Mexico had always insisted that the Nueces River was her western boun 
 dary, while Texas maintained that the Rio Grande was the dividing line. The 
 dispute, therefore, was really over the tract of land between the two rivers. Our 
 country proposed to settle the question by arbitration, but Mexico would not 
 consent, claiming that the section (known as Coahtiila) had never been in 
 revolt against her authority, while Texas declared that it was a part of itself, 
 and its Legislature so decided December 19, 1836. 
 
 General Taylor established a camp at Corpus Christ! in the latter part of 
 1845, at the mouth of the Kueces. With nearly 5,000 troops, he marched, in 
 January, to the Rio Grande to meet the Mexicans who were preparing to invade 
 the disputed territory. Taylor established a depot of provisions at Point Isabel 
 on the Gulf, and, upon reaching the Rio Grande, hastily built Fort Brown, 
 opposite the Mexican town of Matamoras. 
 
 Some time later the Mexican forces reached Matamoras, and General 
 Arista on the 26th of April notified Taylor that hostilities had begun. To 
 emphasize his declaration, Captain Thornton with a company of dragoons was 
 attacked the same day, and, after the loss of sixteen men in killed and wounded, 
 was compelled to surrender to a much superior force. This was the first engage 
 ment of the war and was fought on ground claimed by both countries. 
 
 BATTLE OF PALO ALTO. 
 
 The Mexicans acted vigorously and soon placed Taylor s lines of communi 
 cation in such danger that he hurried to Point Isabel to prevent its falling 
 into the hands of the enemy. He left Major Brown with 300 men in charge 
 Fort Brown. The Mexicans were exultant, believing Taylor had been 
 frightened out of the country. But that valiant officer paused at Point Isabel 
 only long enough to make its position secure, when ho marched rapidly toward 
 Brown. Reaching Palo Alto, on the road, he found the way disputed by 
 30 Mexicans, who were three times as numerous as his own army. 
 Attacking the enemy with great spirit, he routed them with the loss of a hun 
 dred men, his own loss being four killed and forty wounded. 
 
 Resuming his march toward Fort Brown/ Taylor had reached a point 
 within three miles of it, when he was brought face to face with a much larger 
 
WAR DECLARED BY CONGRESS. 
 
 253 
 
 force at Eesaca de la Palma. The battle was a severe one, and for a long time 
 was in doubt ; but the tide was turned by a dashing charge of Captain May 
 with his dragoons. Despite a destructive fire of grapeshot, the horsemen gal 
 loped over the Mexican batteries, cut down the gunners, and captured the com 
 manding officer. Tavlor then pushed on to Fort Brown and found it safe, 
 
 
 ROBERT B. LEE IN ONE OF THE BATTLES OF THE MEXICAN WAR. 
 "Always to be found where the fighting was the fiercest." 
 
 though it had been under an almost continuous bombardment, in which Major 
 Brown, the commandant, was killed. 
 
 WAR DECLARED BY CONGRESS. 
 
 News of these battles was carried north by carrier pigeons and telegraph. 
 
254 ADMINISTRATION OF POLK. 
 
 and the war spirit of the country was roused. Congress on the llth of 
 May declared that war existed by the act of the Mexican government, and 
 $10,000,000 was placed at the disposal of the President, who was authorized 
 to accept 50,000 volunteers. The call for them was answered by 300,000, 
 who were eager to serve in the war. 
 
 GENERAL SCOTT S PLAN OF CAMPAIGN. 
 
 General Scott, as head of the army, formed a careful plan of campaign for 
 the conquest of Mexico. Of the three divisions, General Kearny, with the 
 army of the west, was to cross the Rocky Mountains and conquer the northern 
 Mexican provinces; General Scott himself, with the army of the centre, was to 
 advance from the coast into the interior of the country, making the city of 
 Mexico, the capital of the republic, his objective point; while General Taylor, 
 with the army of occupation, was to seize and hold the Rio Grande country. 
 The work of mustering in the troops was intrusted to General Wool, who, some 
 time later, established himself at San Antonio, and sent many soldiers to the 
 different commands. 
 
 CAPTURE OF MONTEREY. 
 
 Within less than two weeks after his victory at Resaca de la Pal ma, Taylor 
 crossed over from Fort Brown and captured Matamoras. Then he turned up 
 the right bank of the Rio Grande and marched into the interior. The Mexi 
 cans retreated to the fortified town of Monterey, where they were so powerful 
 that Taylor waited for reinforcements before attacking them. His forces 
 amounted to 6,600 by the latter part of August, and he then advanced against 
 Monterey, which was defended by a garrison of 10,000 men. 
 
 The city was invested on the 19th of September. Two days sufficed for 
 General Worth to capture the fortified works in the rear of the town, and on 
 the next day the remaining defenses on that side were carried by storm. At 
 daylight, on the 23d, the city in front was captured by assault. The Mexicans 
 maintained a vicious defense from their adobe houses, but the Americans, 
 charging through the streets, battered in the doors, chased the defenders from 
 room to room and over the housetops until they flung down their arms and 
 shouted for mercy. The commander was allowed to evacuate the city, and fell 
 back toward the national capital. 
 
 OTHER VICTORIES. 
 
 Taylor was about to resume his advance when the enemy asked for an 
 armistice, saying the authorities wished to negotiate for peace. Taylor agreed 
 to an armistice of eight weeks, but the proposal was a trick of the enemy, who 
 spent every hour of the respite in making preparations to resist the Americans 
 
CONQUEST OF CALIFORNIA. 255 
 
 advance. Santa Anna, who was undergoing one of his periodical banishments, 
 was called back and given the presidency. When the armistice granted by 
 Taylor expired, the Mexicans had an army of 20,000 in the field, and, under 
 orders from Washington, the American commander moved forward. The first 
 town captured was Saltillo, seventy miles southwest of Monterey. It was taken 
 by General Worth, with the advance, on the loth of November, 1846. In the 
 following month Victoria, in the province of Tamaulipas, was captured by 
 General Butler, who, advancing from Monterey, united with Patterson at this 
 place. Their intention was to move upon Tampico, on the coast, but they 
 learned that it had surrendered to Captain Conner, commander of an American 
 squadron. Meanwhile, General Wool, marching from San Antonio, arrived 
 within supporting distance of Monterey. Such was the situation when General 
 Scott reached the army and took command. 
 
 GENERAL KEARNY s OPERATIONS. 
 
 General Kearny, in command of the army of the west, left Fort Leaven- 
 worth, in June, 1846, on the way to conquer New Mexico and California, He 
 had a long and laborious march before him, but he reached Santa Fe on the 
 18th of August, and it was easily captured and garrisoned. New Mexico was 
 powerless, and the whole province surrendered. Then Kearny, at the head of 
 400 dragoons, set out for the Pacific coast, but he had not gotten far on the road 
 when he met a messenger who informed him that California had been conquered 
 by Colonel John C. Fremont, acting in conjunction with Commodores Sloat and 
 Stockton. Kearny sent most of his men back to Santa Fe and pushed for the 
 Pacific coast, with a hundred dragoons. He arrived in November, and joined 
 Fremont and Stockton. 
 
 CONQUEST OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 Fremont acquired the name of the " Pathfinder " because of his exploring 
 expeditions in the far West. He explored a portion of the Rocky Mountains in 
 1842, and, in the following two years, conducted an expedition with much skill 
 and success through the regions of Utah, the basin of the Columbia, and the 
 passes of the Sierra Nevada. He was in charge of a third expedition in 1846, 
 and was in California when the Mexican war broke out, He received the dis 
 patches as if they were news to him, but there is good reason to believe that the 
 government had sent him thither, in order that he might be on the ground and 
 do the very work he did. He urged the pioneers to declare their independence. 
 They ardently did so, raised the " Black Bear Flag," and gathered around Fre 
 mont, who continually defeated the superior forces of Mexicans. 
 
 The town of Monterey, eighty miles south of San Francisco, was captured 
 by Commodore Sloat with an American squadron, and San Diego was taken 
 
256 ADMINISTRATION OF POLK. 
 
 soon afterward by Commodore Stockton, in command of the Pacific squadron ; 
 learnin^ which, Fremont raised the American flag in the place of that of Cali 
 fornia, and, joining the naval commanders, advanced upon Los Angeles, which 
 submitted without resistance. In a short time the immense province of Cali 
 fornia was conquered by what may be called a handful of Americans. 
 
 THE WONDERFUL MARCH OF COLONEL DONIPHAN. 
 
 Colonel Alexander W. Doniphan had been left at Santa Fe with his small 
 force of dragoons. At the head of 700 men, he performed one of the most re 
 markable exploits of the war. Hiding directly through the enemy s country 
 for nearly a thousand miles, he reached the Rio Grande on Christmas day 
 and won a battle; he then crossed the river and captured El Paso, and, head 
 ing for Chihuahua, was met by a Mexican force on the banks of Sacramento 
 Creek. They outnumbered Doniphan s force four to one, and displayed the 
 black flag, as notice that no quarter would be given. The Americans lay flat 
 on the ground, and the first volleys passed harmlessly over their heads. The 
 Mexicans made the mistake of believing they had been decimated by the dis 
 charge, and charged upon what they supposed were the few survivors. They 
 were received with a withering volley, and assailed with such fierceness by the 
 Americans that they were utterly routed. Chihuahua thus fell into the pos 
 session of Colonel Doniphan, but, since the term of the enlistment of his men 
 had expired, he could advance no further. He then conducted them to New 
 Orleans, w r here they were mustered out of service. They had marched a dis 
 tance of 5,000 miles, won several victories, suffered not a single defeat, and 
 were back again in their homes all within a year. 
 
 General Scott had landed on the coast for the purpose of marching into 
 the interior to the national capital. In order to make his advance resistless, he 
 withdrew the larger part of Taylor s army and united it with his own. Taylor 
 felt he was used unjustly, for both he and Wool were threatened by Santa 
 Anna at the head of 20,000, men, but bluff " Old Rough and Ready " made 
 no protest and grimly prepared for the danger. The greatest number of troops 
 he could concentrate at Saltillo was about 6,000, and, after placing garrisons 
 there and at Monterey, he had only 4,800 remaining, but, undismayed, he 
 marched out to meet Santa Anna. Four miles away, he reached the favorable 
 battle ground of Buena Vista, posted his men, and awaited attack. 
 
 The Mexican commander was so confident of overwhelming the Americans 
 that, in his message to Taylor, he assured him lie would see that he was person 
 ally well treated after his surrender. General Taylor sent word that he declined 
 to obey the summons, and the messenger who carried the message to Santa 
 Anna added the significant words : " General Taylor never surrenders." 
 
BATTLE OF RESACA DE LA PALMA 
 
 Captain May leaped his steed over the parapets, followed by those of his men whose horses could do a like feat, and was among 
 
 the gunners the next moment, sabering right and left. General La Vega and a hundred of his men were made 
 
 prisoners and borne back to the American lines. 
 
BATTLE OF BUEXA VIXTA. 
 
 257 
 
 The American army was placed at the upper end of a long and narrow 
 pass in the mountains. It was flanked on one side by high cliffs and on the 
 other by impassable ravines, which position compelled the enemy to attack him 
 in front 
 
 BATTLE OF BUEXA VISTA. 
 
 The battle opened early on the morning of February 23d, with the Mexi 
 cans swarming through the gorges and over the hills from San Luis Potosi. 
 The first assault was against the American right, but it was beaten back by the 
 Illinois troops ; the next was against the centre, but it was repelled by Captain 
 Washington s artillery; and then the 
 left Hank was vehemently assailed. 
 A mistaken order caused an Indiana 
 regiment to give way, and for a time 
 the whole army was in danger ; but 
 the Mississippians and Kentuckians 
 gallantly flung themselves into the 
 breach, the Indiana and Illinois troops 
 rallied, and the Mexicans were driven 
 tumultuously back. In this brilliant 
 exploit Colonel Jefferson Davis, with 
 his Mississippi regiment, played a, 
 prominent part. 
 
 "A LITTLE MOKE GRAPE, CAPTAIX 
 BRAGG." 
 
 The next charge was upon Cap 
 tain Bragg s battery, but that officer, 
 in obedience to General Taylor s fa 
 mous request, "A little more grape, 
 Captain Bragg," scattered the Mex 
 ican lancers in every direction. The 
 success was followed up by a cavalry charge, which completed the discomfiture 
 of the enemy, who fled with the loss of 2, OCX) men. 
 
 Buena Vista was a superb victory for the Americans, but it cost them dear. 
 The killed, wounded, and missing numbered nearly 800. Among the killed 
 was Colonel Henry Clay, son of the Kentucky orator and statesman. The 
 battle completed the work of General Taylor, who soon afterward returned to 
 the United States. The glory he had won made him President less than two 
 two years later. 
 
 Returning once more to General Scott, he entered upon the last campaign, 
 
 17 
 
 GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT. 
 
258 ADMINISTRATION OF POL A . 
 
 March 9, 1847. Old army officers of to-day contrast the admirable manner in 
 which he did his preliminary work with the mismanagement in the Spanish- 
 American War of 1898. Impatience was expressed at his tardiness in getting 
 his troops ready on the transports at New York. To all such complaints, the 
 grim old soldier replied that he would embark when everything was ready and 
 not a single hour before. As a consequence, his men landed at Vera Cruz in 
 the best condition, there was not the slightest accident, and every soldier when 
 he stepped ashore had three days rations in his knapsack. Twelve thousand 
 men were landed, and in three days the investment of Vera Cruz was complete. 
 Then a Mexican train was captured and the troops had provisions in abundance. 
 
 CAPTURE OF VERA CRUZ. 
 
 The city having refused to surrender, the bombardment opened on the 
 morning of March 1>1M. The water-side of Vera Cruz was defended by the 
 castle of San Juan d Ulloa, built a century and a half before by Spain at enor 
 mous cost. Commodore Conner assisted throughout the four days that the can 
 nonade lasted. The success of the bombardment made the Americans confident 
 of capturing the castle by assault, and they were preparing to do so when the 
 authorities proposed satisfactory terms of surrender, which took place March 
 
 29th. 
 
 The direct march upon the capital now began, with General Twiggs in com 
 mand of the advance. The road steadily rises from the coast and abounds in 
 passes and mountains, which offer the best kind of natural fortifications. When 
 Twiggs reached one of these passes, named Cerro Gordo, he found that Santa 
 Anna had taken possession of it with 15,000 troops. The whole American 
 army numbered only 9,000, and it looked as if they were halted in front of an 
 impregnable position, but it must be captured or the whole campaign would 
 have to be abandoned. 
 
 BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO. 
 
 There was no hesitation on the part of our troops, who, under the lead of 
 the bravest and most skillful of officers, attacked with their usual energy and 
 daring. The Mexicans made the best defense possible, but within a few hours 
 they abandoned every position and were driven in headlong confusion from the 
 field. They lost 3,000 prisoners, among whom were five generals, while the 
 escape of Santa Anna was so narrow that he left his cork leg behind. 
 
 The American army pressed on to Jalapa, which made no resistance, and 
 furnished a large amount of supplies, and Puebla, a city of 80,000 inhabitants, 
 was occupied on the 15th of May. There the ground was high and the air cool 
 and salubrious. The men were exhausted from their arduous campaign, and 
 Soott decided to give them a good rest, so as to be fully prepared for the final 
 
THE MARCH UPON THE CAPITAL. 
 
 259 
 
 struggle. Besides it was necessary to receive reinforcements before venturing 
 further. Santa Anna, realizing that the critical period of the struggle was at 
 hand, put forth every energy to collect an army to beat back the invaders. 
 
 I 
 
 BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO. 
 
 "Captain Lee led the way, and showed the men just what to do. They lowered the cannons by ropes down the steep clifls and 
 
 hauled them up on the opposite hill-side." 
 
 Early in August the American army had been increased to 11,000 men, 
 and, leaving a small garrison at Puebla, Scott set out for the beautiful city of 
 Mexico. No serious resistance offered until they reached Ayotla, fifteen miles 
 
260 ADMINISTRATION OF POLK. 
 
 from the capital. There it was found that the regular road bristled with forts, 
 and, although there was no doubt that all could be carried, the American com 
 mander wisely decided to move his army around to the south, where he could 
 advance over a comparatively undefended route. Without any difficulty he 
 reached San Augustine, which was within ten miles of the capital. 
 
 Had the positions been changed, a force ten times as great as the Americans 
 could not have captured the city of Mexico, and yet it fell before a force only 
 one-third as numerous as the defenders. 
 
 A DAY OF VICTORIES. 
 
 The fighting began before sunrise, August 20, 1847, and when night came 
 five distinct victories had been won. The fortified camp of Contreras was cap 
 tured in about fifteen minutes. Shortly after the fortified village of San Anto 
 nio was taken by another division of the army. Almost at the same time, a 
 division stormed one of the fortified heights of Churubusco, while still another 
 captured the second height. Seeing the danger of his garrisons, Santa Anna 
 moved out of the city and attacked the Americans. The reserves immediately 
 assailed, drove him back, and chased him to the walls of the capital, into which 
 the whole Mexican force crowded themselves at night. 
 
 It was in accordance with the nature of Santa Anna that he should set 
 2,000 convicts loose that night on the promise that they would fight against the 
 Americans. Then he stole out of the city, whose authorities sent a delegation 
 to Scott to treat for peace. This trick had been resorted to so many times by 
 the Mexicans, who never kept faith, that the American commander refused to 
 listen to them. An advance was made, and in a short time the city was com 
 pletely in our possession. 
 
 SANTA ANNA. 
 
 At Puebla there were 2,000 Americans in the hospital under charge of a 
 small guard. Santa Anna attacked them, thinking that at last he had found a 
 foe whom he could beat ; but he was mistaken, for reinforcements arrived in 
 time to drive him away. This terminated for a time the career of the treacher 
 ous Santa Anna, with whom the Mexican people were thoroughly disgusted. 
 
 It is proper to state at this point that Santa Anna while in command of the 
 Mexican army made a direct offer to General Taylor to betray his cause for 
 a large sum of money, and he actually received an installment, but circumstances 
 prevented the completeness of the bargain. This miscreant was president and 
 dictator of Mexico in 1853-55, was banished and returned several times, and 
 was still plotting to recover his power when he died, in his eighty-second year. 
 
 The capture of the capital of Mexico completed the victorious campaign. 
 The entrance into the city was made September 14, 1847, the American flag 
 
THE SLAVERY QUESTION. 261 
 
 raised over the palace, and General Scott, with a sweep of his sword over his 
 head, while his massive frame made a striking picture in front of the palace, 
 proclaimed the conquest of the country. All that remained was to arrange the 
 terms of peace. 
 
 TERMS OF PEACE. 
 
 In the following winter, American ambassadors met the Mexican congress in 
 session at Guadalupe Hidalgo, so named from the small town where it was situated. 
 There was a good deal of discussion over the terms, our ambassadors insisting 
 that Mexico should surrender the northern provinces, which included the present 
 States of California, Nevada, Utah, and the Territories of Arizona and New 
 Mexico and portions of Colorado and Wyoming, as indemnity for the war. 
 Mexico would not consent, and matters drifted along until the 2d of February, 
 1848, when the new Mexican government agreed to these terms. The treaty was 
 modified to a slight extent by the United States Senate, adopted on the 10th of 
 March, ratified by the Mexican congress sitting at Queretaro, May 30th, and 
 proclaimed by President Polk on the 4th of July. Thus ended our war with 
 Mexico. 
 
 By the terms of the treaty, the United States was to pay Mexico $15,000,- 
 000, and assume debts to the extent of $3,000,000 due to American citizens from 
 Mexico. These sums were in payment for the immense territory ceded to us. 
 This cession, the annexation of Texas, and a purchase south of the Gila River in 
 1853, added almost a million square miles to our possessions, nearly equaling the 
 Louisiana purchase and exceeding the whole area of the United States in 1783. 
 
 It may sound strange, but it is a fact, that the governing of the new territory 
 caused so much trouble that more than once it was seriously proposed in Congress 
 that Mexico should be asked to take it back again. General Sherman was 
 credited with the declaration that if the identity of the man who caused the annexa 
 tion of Texas could be established, he ought to be court-martialed and shot. 
 However, all this changed when the vast capabilities and immeasurable worth of 
 the new countries were understood. The section speedly developed a wealth, 
 enterprise, and industry of which no one had before dreamed. 
 
 THE SLAVERY QUESTION. 
 
 The real peril involved in the acquisition of so much territory lay in the 
 certainty that it would revive the slavery quarrel that had been put to sleep by 
 the Missouri Compromise, nearly thirty years before. The North demanded that 
 slavery should be excluded from the new territory, because it was so excluded 
 by Mexican law, and to legalize it would keep out emigrants from the free 
 States. The South demanded the authorization of slavery, since Southern emi 
 grants would not go thither without their slaves. Still others proposed to divide 
 
262 ADMINISTRATION OF POLK. 
 
 the new territory by the Missouri Compromise line. This would have cut 
 California in two near the middle, and made one part of the province slave and 
 the other tree. Altogether, it will be seen that trouble was at hand. 
 
 Before the outbreak of the Mexican War, Congressman David Wilmot, of 
 Pennsylvania, introduced the Proviso known by his name. It was a proposal 
 to purchase the territory from Mexico, provided slavery was excluded. The 
 introduction of the bill produced much discussion, and it was defeated by the 
 opposition of the South. 
 
 THE OREGON BOUNDARY DISPUTE. 
 
 Great Britain and the United States had jointly occupied Oregon for 
 twenty years, under the agreement that the occupancy could be ended by either 
 country under a year s notice to the other. Many angry debates took place in 
 Congress over the question whether such notice should be given. The United 
 States claimed a strip of territory reaching to Alaska, latitude 54 40 , while 
 Great Britain claimed the territory south of the line to the Columbia River. 
 Congress as usual had plenty of wordy patriots who raised the cry of " Fifty- 
 four forty or light," and it was repeated throughout the country. Cooler and 
 wiser counsels prevailed, each party yielded a part of its claims, and made a 
 middle line the boundary. A minor dispute over the course of the boundary 
 line after it reached the Pacific islets was amicably adjusted by another treaty 
 in 1871. 
 
 STATES ADMITTED. 
 
 It has been stated that the bill for the admission of Iowa did not become 
 operative until 1846. It was the fourth State formed from the Louisiana pur 
 chase, and was first settled by the French at Dubuque ; but the post died, and no 
 further settlements were made until the close of the Black Hawk War of 1832, 
 after which the population increased with great rapidity. 
 
 Wisconsin was the last State formed from the old Northwest Territory. A 
 few weak settlements were made by the French as early as 1668, but, as in the 
 case of Iowa, its real settlement began after the Black Hawk War. 
 
 THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE. 
 
 James Smithson of England, when he died in 1829, bequeathed his large 
 estate for the purpose of founding the Smithsonian Institution at Washington 
 " for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men." In 1838, his estate, 
 amounting to more than half a million dollars, was secured by a government 
 agent and deposited in the mint. John Quincy Adams prepared a plan of 
 organization, which was adopted. 
 
 The Smithsonian Institution, so named in honor of its founder, was placed 
 
THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN CALIFORNIA. 
 
 263 
 
 under the immediate control of a board of regents, composed of the President, 
 Vice-President, judges of the supreme court, and other principal officers of the 
 government. It was provided that the entire sum, amounting with accrued 
 interest to $625,000, should be loaned forever to the United States government 
 at six per cent.; that from the proceeds, together with congressional appropri 
 ations and private gifts, proper buildings should be erected for containing a 
 museum of natural history, a cabinet of minerals, a chemical laboratory, a 
 gallery of art, and a library. The plan of organization was carried out, and 
 
 THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 
 
 Professor Joseph Henry of Princeton College, the real inventor of the electro 
 magnetic telegraph, was chosen secretary. 
 
 THE DISCOVERY OF GOLD IX CALIFORNIA. 
 
 For many years hardy hunters and trappers had penetrated the vast wil 
 derness of the West and Northwest in their hunt for game and peltries. Some 
 of these were in the employ of the Hudson Bay Company, whose grounds 
 extended as far toward the Arctic Circle as the rugged men and toughened 
 Indians could penetrate on their snowshoes. 
 
 At points hundreds of miles apart in the gloomy solitudes were erected 
 trading posts to which the red men brought furs to exchange for trinkets, blank 
 ets, firearms, and firewater, and whither the white trappers made their way, after 
 an absence of months in the dismal solitudes. Further south, among the rugged 
 
264 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF POLK. 
 
 mountains and beside the almost unknown streams, other men set their traps for 
 the beaver, fox, and various fur-bearing animals. Passing the Rocky Moun 
 tains and Cascade Range they pursued their perilous avocation along the head 
 waters of the rivers flowing through California. They toiled amid the snows 
 and storms of the Sierras, facing perils from the Indians, savage beasts, and the 
 weather, for pay that often did not amount to the wages received by an ordinary 
 day laborer. 
 
 Little did those men suspect they were walking, sleeping, and toiling over a 
 tivu.-uiv U-d ; that instrad uf tramping through snow and over ice and facing 
 
 the arctic blasts 
 and vengeful red 
 men, if they had 
 dug into the 
 ground, they 
 would have found 
 wealth beyond 
 estimate. 
 
 The priests 
 lived in the adobe 
 haciendas that 
 the Spanish had 
 erected centuries 
 before, and, as 
 they counted their 
 beads and dozed 
 in calm happi 
 ness, they became 
 rich in flocks and 
 the tributes re 
 ceived from the simple-minded red men. Sometimes they wondered in a mild 
 way at the golden trinkets and ornaments brought in by the Indians and were 
 puzzled to know where they came from, but it seemed never to have occurred 
 to the good men that they could obtain the same precious metal by using the 
 pick and shovel. The years came and passed, and red men and white men con 
 tinued to wnlk over California without dreaming of the immeasurable riches 
 that had l>een nestling for ages under their feet. 
 
 One day in February, 1848, James W. Marshall, who had come to Cali 
 fornia from New Jersey some years before, and had been doing only moderately 
 well with such odd jobs as he could pick up, was working with a companion at 
 building a saw-mill for Colonel John A. Sutler, who had immigrated to this 
 
 THE SLUICE. 
 
DISCOVERY OF GOLD IN CALIFORNIA. 
 
 265 
 
 country from Baden- in 1834. Going westward, lie founded a settlement on the 
 present site of Sacramento in 1841. He built Fort Sutter on the Sacramento, 
 where he was visited by Fremont on his exploring expedition in 1846. 
 
 Marshall and his companion were engaged in deepening the mill-race, the 
 former being just in front of the other. Happening to look around, he asked : 
 
 " What is that shining near your boot ? " 
 
 His friend reached his hand down into the clear water and picked up a 
 bright, yellow fragment and held 
 it between his fingers. 
 
 "It is brass," he said; "but 
 how bright it is ! " 
 
 "It can t be brass," replied 
 Marshall, " for there isn t a piece 
 of brass within fifty miles of us." 
 
 The other turned it over again 
 and again in his hand, put it in 
 his mouth and bit it, and then 
 held it up once more to the light. 
 Suddenly he exclaimed : 
 
 " I believe it s gold ! " 
 
 " I wonder if that s possible," 
 said Marshall, beginning to think 
 his companion was right ; " how 
 can we find out ? " 
 
 " My wife can tell ; she has 
 made some lye from wood-ashes 
 and will test it," 
 
 The man took the fragment 
 to his wife, who was busy washing, 
 and, at his request, she boiled it 
 for several hours with the lye. Had it been brass the only other metal it pos 
 sibly could have been it would have turned a greenish-black. When examined 
 again, however, its beautiful bright lustre was undiminished. There was scarcely 
 a doubt that it was pure gold. 
 
 The two men returned to the mill-race with pans, and washed out probably 
 fifty dollars worth of gold. Despite the certainty of his friend, Marshall was 
 troubled by a fear that the fragment was neither brass nor gold, but some 
 worthless metal of which he knew nothing. He carefully tied up all that had 
 been gathered, mounted a fleet horse, and rode to Sutter s store, thirty miles 
 down the American River. 
 
 GOLD WASHING-THE CRADLE. 
 
266 ADMINISTRATION OF POLK. 
 
 Here he took Colonel Butter into a private room and showed him what lie 
 had found, saying that he believed it to be gold. Butter read up the account of 
 gold in an encyclopedia, tested the substance with aqua fortis, weighed it, and 
 decided that Marshall was right, and that the material he had found was un 
 doubtedly gold. 
 
 It was a momentous discovery, repeated nearly a half-century later, when the 
 same metal was found in enormous quantities in the Klondike region. Colonel 
 Gutter and his companions tried to keep the matter a secret, but it was impos 
 sible. Marshall, being first on the ground, enriched himself, but by bad man- 
 ao-ement lost all he had gained and died a poor man. Colonel Sutter tried to 
 keep intruders off his property, but they came like the swarms of locusts that 
 plagued Egypt. They literally overran him, and when he died, in 1880, he 
 was without any means whatever; but California has since erected a handsome 
 statue to his memory. 
 
 For the following ten or twenty years, it may be said, the eyes of the 
 civilized world were upon California, and men rushed thither from every quar 
 ter of the globe. There was an endless procession of emigrant trains across the 
 plains; the ships that fought the storms on their way around Cape Horn were 
 crowded almost to gunwales, while thousands halved the voyage by trudging 
 across the Isthmus of Panama to the waiting ships on the other side. Cali 
 fornia became a mining camp and millions upon millions of gold were taken 
 from her soil. 
 
 THE MORMONS. 
 
 By this time the Mormons engaged much public attention. Joseph Smith, 
 of Sharon, Vermont, and Palmyra, New York, was the founder of the sect. 
 He claimed to have found in a cave a number of engraved plates, containing 
 the Mormon Bible, which was his guide in the formation of a new form of 
 religious belief. Although polygamy was not commended, it was afterward 
 added to their peculiar faith, which is that sins are remitted through baptism, 
 and that the will of God was revealed to his prophet, Smith, as it was to be 
 revealed to his successors. 
 
 The most grotesque farce in the name of religion is sure to find believers, 
 and they soon gathered about Smith. The first Mormon conference was held at 
 Fayette, N. Y., in 1830. As their number increased, they saw that the West 
 offered the best opportunity for growth and expansion, and, when there were 
 nearly 2,000 of them, they removed to Jackson, Missouri, where they made a 
 settlement. Their practices angered the people, and, as soon as they could find 
 a good pretext, the militia were called out and they were ordered to "move on." 
 
 Crossing the Mississippi into Illinois, they laid out a city which they 
 named Nauvoo. Some of them were wealthy, and. as they held their means in 
 
THE MORMONS. 
 
 267 
 
 common, they were able to erect a beautiful temple and numerous residences. 
 Converts now flocked to them until they numbered fully 10,000. Their neigh 
 bors were displeased with their presence, and the feeling grew into indignation 
 when the Mormons not only refused to obey the State laws, but defied them and 
 passed laws of their own in open opposition. In the excitement that followed, 
 Joseph Smith and his brother Hyram were arrested and lodged in jail at Car 
 thage. Lynch-law was as popular in the West as it is to-day in the South, and 
 a mob broke into the jail and killed the Smith brothers. This took place in 
 June, 1844, and the Illinois Legislature annulled the charter of Nauvoo. 
 
 GKEAT SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH. 
 
 The experience of the Mormons convinced them that they would never be 
 allowed to maintain their organization in any of the States. They, therefore, 
 gathered up their worldly goods, and, in 1846, set out on the long journey to 
 the far West. Reaching the Basin of Utah, they founded Great Salt Lake City, 
 which is one of the handsomest, best governed, and cleanest (in a physical 
 sense) cities in the world. 
 
 While referring to these peculiar people, we may as well complete their 
 history by anticipating events that followed. 
 
 In 1857, our government attempted to extend its judicial system over Utah 
 Territory. Brigham Young, the successor of Joseph Smith, until then had not 
 been disturbed, and he did not mean to be interfered with by any government. 
 
268 ADMINISTRATION OF POLK. 
 
 He insulted the Federal judges sent thither and drove them out of the Terri 
 tory, his pretext being that the objectionable character of the judges justified 
 the step. Our government, which is always patient in such matters, could not 
 accept this explanation, and Alfred Gumming, superintendent of Indian affairs 
 on the Upper Missouri, was made governor of Utah and Judge Delano Eckels, 
 of Indiana, was appointed chief justice of the Territory. Knowing that he 
 would be resisted, Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston was sent thither to compel 
 obedience to the laws. 
 
 The United States troops, numbering 2,500, entered the Territory in Oc 
 tober and were attacked by the Mormons, who destroyed their supply train and 
 compelled the men to seek winter quarters near Fort Bridges. Affairs were in 
 this critical state when a messenger from the President, in the spring of 1858, 
 carried a conciliatory letter to Brigham Young, which did much to soothe his 
 ruffled feelings. Then, by-and-by, Governor Powell of Kentucky and Major 
 McCulloch of Texas appeared with a proclamation of pardon to all who would 
 submit to Federal authority. The Mormons were satisfied, accepted the terms, 
 and in May, 1860, the United States troops were withdrawn from the Territory. 
 
 Since that time our government has had many difficulties in dealing with 
 the Mormons. Although polygamy is forbidden by the laws of the States and 
 Territories, the sect continued to practice it, In March, 1882, Congress passed 
 what is known as the Edmunds Act, which excluded Mormons from local offices 
 which they had hitherto wholly controlled. Many persons were indicted and 
 punished for the practice of polygamy, while others abandoned it. Brigham 
 Young, who had become governor of Deseret in 1849, and two years later was 
 appointed governor of Utah, died in 1877, at which time he was president of 
 the Mormon church. The practice of polygamy was never fully eradicated, 
 and Utah, at this writing, is represented in the United States Senate by men who 
 make no attempt at concealing the fact that they are polygamists. 
 
 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1848. 
 
 The former Democrats and Whigs who were friendly to the Wilmot 
 Proviso formed the Free Soil party in 1848, to which also the Abolitionists 
 naturally attached themselves. The regular Whigs and Democrats refused to 
 support the Wilmot Proviso, through fear of alienating the South. The Free 
 Soilers named as their nominees Martin Van Bnren, for President, and Charles 
 Francis Adams, of Massachusetts, for Vice-President ; the Democrats selected 
 Louis Cass, of Michigan, for President, and William O. Butler, of Kentucky, for 
 Vice-President; the Whig candidates were General Zachary Taylor, of Louis 
 iana, for President, and Millard Fillmore, of New York, for Vice-President. 
 At the electoral vote Zachary Taylor was elected President and Millard Fill- 
 more Vice-President. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 ADMINISTRATIONS OK TAYLOR, KILLNIORE, 
 PIERCK, AND BUCHANAN, 18-491857. 
 
 Zachary Taylor The "Irrepressible Conflict" in Congress The Omnibus Bill Death of President 
 Taylor Millard Fillmore Death of the Old Leaders and Debut of the New The Census of 1850 
 Surveys for a Railway to the Pacific Presidential Election of 1852 Franklin Pierce Death ^ of 
 Vice-President King A Commercial Treaty Made with Japan Filibustering Expeditions The 
 Ostend Manifesto The "Know Nothing" Party The Kansas Nebraska Bill arid Repeal of the 
 Missouri Compromise. 
 
 ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 GENERAL ZACHARY TAYLOR, twelfth President of the United States, was born 
 at Orange Court-House, Virginia, 
 September 24, 1784, but, while an 
 infant, his parents removed to Ken 
 tucky. His school education was 
 slight, but he possessed fine mili 
 tary instincts and developed into 
 one of the best of soldiers. His 
 services in the war of 1812 and in 
 that with Mexico have been told in 
 their proper place. His defense of 
 Fort Harrison, on the Wabash, dur 
 ing the last war with England, won 
 him the title of major by brevet, 
 that being the first time the honor 
 was conferred in the American 
 army. 
 
 No man could have been less a 
 politician than "Old Rough and 
 Ready," for he had not cast a vote 
 in forty years. Daniel Webster char- 
 acterized him as an " ignorant fron 
 tier colonel," and did not conceal his 
 disgust over his nomination by the great party of which the New England 
 orator was the leader. It was Taylor s brilliant services in Mexico that 
 made him popular above all others with the masses, who are the ones that 
 
 (269) 
 
 ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 (1784-18 -u; One paitial term, 1849-1S5Q. 
 
270 TAYLOR, FILLMORE, PIERCE, AND BUCHANAN. 
 
 make and unmake presidents. Besides, a great many felt that Taylor had nor. 
 been generously treated by the government, and this sentiment had much to do 
 with his nomination and election. 
 
 THE IRREPRESSIBLE CONFLICT. 
 
 The " irrepressible conflict " between slavery and freedom could not be post 
 poned, and when, on the 13th of February, 1850, the President sent to Con 
 gress the petition of California for admission as a State, the quarrel broke out 
 afresh. The peculiar character of the problem has already been stated. A 
 part of California lay north and a part south of 36 30 , the dividing line be 
 tween slavery and freedom as defined by the Missouri Compromise, thirty years 
 before. Congress, therefore, had not the power to exclude slavery, and the 
 question had to be decided by the people themselves. They had already done 
 so by inserting a clause in the Constitution which prohibited slavery. 
 
 There were violent scenes on the floor of Congress. General Foote, of 
 Mississippi, was on the point of discharging a pistol at Colonel Benton, of Mis 
 souri, when bystanders seized his arm and prevented. Weapons were frequently 
 drawn, and nearly every member went about armed and ready for a deadly 
 affray. The South threatened to secede from the Union, and we stood on the 
 brink of civil war. 
 
 THE COMPROMISE OF 1850. 
 
 It was at this fearful juncture that Henry Clay, now an old man, submitted 
 to the Senate his famous " Omnibus Bill," so called because of its many feat 
 ures, which proposed a series of compromises as follows : the admission of Cali 
 fornia as a State, with the Constitution adopted by her people (which prohibited 
 slavery) ; the establishment of territorial governments over all the other newly 
 acquired Territories, with no reference to slavery ; the abolishment of all traffic 
 in slaves in the District of Columbia, but declaring it inexpedient to abolish 
 slavery there without the consent of the inhabitants and also of Maryland ; the 
 assumption of the debts of Texas ; while all fugitive slaves in the free States 
 should be liable to arrest and return to slavery. 
 
 John C. Calhoun, the Southern leader, was earnestly opposed to the coin- 
 promise, but he was ill and within a few weeks of death, and his argument was 
 read in the Senate by Senator Mason. Daniel Webster supported the measure 
 with all his logic and eloquence, and it was his aid extended to Clay that 
 brought about the passage of the bill, all the sections becoming laws in Septem 
 ber, 1850, and California, conquered from Mexico in 1846, took her place among 
 the sisterhood of States. Webster s support of the fugitive slave law lost him 
 many friends in the North, and, has been stated, rendered his election to the 
 ^residency impossible. 
 
MILLARD FILLMORK 
 
 271 
 
 On the 4th of July, 1850, the remains from Kosciusko s tomb were depos 
 ited in the monument in Washington, and President Taylor was present at the 
 ceremonies. The heat was terrific and caused him great distress. On his return 
 home he drank large quantities of ice-water and milk, though he was warned 
 against the danger of doing so. A fatal illness followed, and he died on the 9th 
 of July. Vice-President Fillmore was sworn into office on the following day. 
 
 MILLARD FILLMORE. 
 
 Millard Fillmore, the thirteenth President, was born at Summer Hill, 
 New York, February 7, 1800. He . mmm 
 
 learned the fuller s trade, afterward 
 taught school, and, studying law, 
 was admitted to the bar in Buffalo, 
 where he attained marked success. 
 He was State comptroller for one 
 term and served in Congress for four 
 terms. He died in Buffalo, March 
 7, 1874. Fillmore was a man of 
 good ability, but the inferior of many 
 of those who preceded him in the 
 exalted office. He was a believer in 
 the compromise measures of Clay, 
 and performed his duties conscien 
 tiously and acceptably. 
 
 Fillmore s administration is no 
 table for the fact that it saw the 
 passing away of the foremost lead 
 ers, Clay, Webster, and Calhoun, 
 with others of less prominence. 
 They were succeeded in Congress 
 by the anti-slavery champions, Wil 
 liam H. Seward, of New York; Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts; and 
 Salmon P. Chase, of Ohio. From the South, too, came able men, in Jefferson 
 Davis, of Mississippi ; John Y. Mason, of Louisiana ; and others. The giants 
 had departed and their mantles fell upon shoulders that were not always able 
 to wear them as fittingly as their predecessors. 
 
 The slavery agitation produced its natural effect in driving many of the 
 Southern Whigs into the Democratic party, while a feAV Northern Democrats 
 united with the Whigs, who, however, were so disrupted that the organization 
 
 MILLARD FILLMORE. 
 
 (1800-1874.) one partial term, 1850-53. 
 
272 TAYLOR, F1LLMORE, PIERCE, AND BUCHANAN. 
 
 crumbled to pieces after the presidential election of 1852, and, for a time, no 
 effective opposition to the Democratic party seemed possible. 
 
 TUE NEED OF A TRANS-CONTINENTAL RAILROAD. 
 
 The population of the United States in 1840 was 23,191,876. General 
 prosperity prevailed, but all felt the urgent need of a railroad connecting Mis 
 souri and California. The Pacific coast had become a leading part of the Union 
 and its importance was growing every year. But the building of such a rail 
 way, through thousands of miles of wilderness, across lofty mountains and large 
 rivers, was an undertaking so gigantic and expensive as to be beyond the reach 
 of private parties, without congressional assistance. Still all felt that the road 
 must be built, and, in 1853, Congress ordered surveys to be made in order to 
 find the best route. The building of the railway, however, did not begin until 
 the War for the Union was well under way. 
 
 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1852. 
 
 When the time arrived for presidential nominations, the Democratic con 
 vention met in Baltimore, June 12, 1852. The most prominent candidates 
 were James Buchanan, Stephen A. Douglas, Lewis Cass, and William L. Marcy. 
 There was little variance in their strength for thirty-five ballots, and everybody 
 seemed to be at sea, when the Virginia delegation, on the next ballot, presented 
 the name of Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire. 
 
 "Who is Franklin Pierce? "was the question that went round the hall, 
 but, on the forty-ninth ballot, he received 282 votes to 11 for all the others, and 
 the question was repeated throughout the United States. Pierce s opponent 
 was General Win field Scott, the commander-in-chief in the Mexican War, 
 who had done fine service in the War of 1812, and ranks among the foremost 
 military leaders of our country. But, personally, he was unpopular, overbear 
 ing in his manners, a martinet, and without any personal magnetism. No 
 doubt he regarded it as an act of impertinence for Pierce, who had been his sub 
 ordinate in Mexico, to presume to pit himself against him in the political field. 
 But the story told by the November election was an astounding one and read 
 as follows : 
 
 Franklin Pierce, of New Hampshire, Democrat, 254; Winfield Scott, of 
 New Jersey, Whig, 42 ; John P. Hale, of New Hampshire, Free Democrat, 0; 
 Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts, Whig, 0. For Vice-President: William R. 
 King, of Alabama, Democrat, 254; William A. Graham, of North Carolina, 
 Whig, 42; George W. Julian, of Indiana, Free Democrat, 0. 
 
 The Whig convention which put Scott in nomination met also in Baltimore, 
 a few days after the Democratic convention. Webster was confident of receiv- 
 
FRANKLIN PIERCE. 
 
 273 
 
 (no- the nomination, and it was the disappointment of his life that he failed. 
 The " Free Democrats," who placed candidates in nomination, represented those 
 who were dissatisfied with the various compromise measures that had been 
 adopted by Congress. The only States carried by Scott were Vermont, Massa 
 chusetts, Kentucky, and Tennessee. 
 
 FRANKLIN TIERCE. 
 
 Franklin Pierce, the fourteenth President, was born at Hillsborough, New 
 Hampshire, November 23, 1804. Upon his graduation from Bowdoin College, 
 he became a successful lawyer. He - 
 always showed a fondness for mili 
 tary matters, though not to the ex 
 tent of neglecting politics and his 
 profession. He was elected to his 
 State Legislature and was a mem 
 ber of Congress from 1833 to 1837, 
 and, entering the Senate in 1839, he 
 remained until 1842, afterward de 
 clining a cabinet appointment from 
 President Polk. He volunteered in 
 the Mexican War, commanded a 
 brigade, and showed great gallantry 
 in several battles. He died October 
 8, 1869. 
 
 Mr. King, the Vice-President, 
 was in such feeble health that he 
 took the oath of office in Cuba, and, 
 returning to his native State, died 
 April 18, 1853, being the first vice- 
 president to die in office. One re 
 markable fact should be stated re 
 garding the administration of Pierce : there was not a change in his cabinet 
 throughout his whole term, the only instance of the kind thus far in our history. 
 
 A TREATY WITH JAPAN. 
 
 It seems strange that until a few years, Japan was a closed nation to the 
 world. Its people refused to have anything to do with any other country, and 
 wished nothing from them except to be let alone. In 1854, Commodore M. C 
 Perry visited Japan with an American fleet and induced the government to 
 make a commercial treaty with our own. This was the beginning of the mar- 
 
 18 
 
 FRANKLIN PIERCE. 
 
 (1804-1868.) One term, 1~>3-1857. 
 
274 TAYLOR, FILLMORE, PIERCE, AND BUCHANAN. 
 
 velous progress of that country in civilization and education, which forms one 
 of the most astonishing records in the history of mankind. Japan s over 
 whelming defeat of China, whose population is ten times as great as pur own ; 
 her acceptance of the most advanced ideas of civilization, and the wisdom of 
 her rulers have carried her in a few years to a rank among the leading 
 powers and justified the appellation of the "Yankees of the East," which is 
 sometimes applied to her people. 
 
 FILIBUSTERING. 
 
 Pierce s administration was marked by a number of filibustering expeditions 
 against Spanish possessions in the West Indies. None of them succeeded, and 
 a number of the leaders were shot by the Spanish authorities. The American 
 government offered to purchase Cuba of Spain, but that country indignantly 
 replied that the mints of the world had not coined enough gold to buy it. Could 
 she have foreseen the events of 1898, no doubt she would have sold out for a 
 moderate price. 
 
 In August, 1854, President Pierce directed Mr. Buchanan, minister to Eng 
 land, Mr. Mason, minister to France, and Mr. Soule, envoy to Spain, to meet at some 
 convenient place and discuss the question of obtaining possession of Cuba. These 
 distinguished gentlemen met at Ostend on the 9th of October, and adjourned 
 to Aix-la-Chapelle, from which place they issued, on the 18th of October, what 
 is known as the " Ostend Manifesto or Circular," in which they recommended 
 the purchase of Cuba, declaring that, if Spain refused to sell, the United States 
 would be justified "by every law, human and divine," in wresting it from her. 
 This declaration, for which there was no justification whatever, caused angry 
 protest in -Europe and in the free States of our country, but was ardently 
 applauded in the South. Nothing came of it, and the country soon became so 
 absorbed in the slavery agitation that it was forgotten. 
 
 THE "KNOW NOTHINGS." 
 
 Patriotic men, who feared what was coming, did all in their power to avert 
 it. One of these attempts was the formation of the "Know Nothing" party, 
 which grew up like a mushroom and speedily acquired a power that enabled it 
 to carry many local elections in the various States. It was a secret organization, 
 the members of which were bound by oath to oppose the election of foreign- 
 born citizens to office. The salutation, when one member met another, was, 
 "Have you seen Sam?" If one of them was questioned about the order, his 
 reply was that he knew nothing, from which the name was given to what was 
 really the Native American party. It soon ran its course, but has been suc 
 ceeded in its cardinal principles by the American Protective Association of the 
 present day. 
 
THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE. 
 
 275 
 
 Meanwhile, the slavery question was busy at its work of disintegration. 
 The Democratic party was held together for a time by the Compromise of 1850, 
 to the effect that the inhabitants of the new Territories of New Mexico and 
 Utah should be left to decide for themselves the question of slavery. In a few 
 years the settlements in Nebraska and Kansas made it necessary to erect terri 
 torial governments there, and the question of slavery was thus brought before 
 Congress again. The Missouri Compromise forbade sir. very forever in those sec 
 tions, for both of them lie to the north parallel of 86 80 . Stephen A. Douglas, 
 however, and a number of other Democratic leaders in Congress claimed that 
 the Compromise of 1850 nullified this 
 agreement, and that the same freedom of 
 choice should be given to the citizens 
 of Kansas and Nebraska as was given 
 to those in Utah and New Mexico. 
 This policy was called "Squatter Sov 
 ereignty." 
 
 THE MISSOURI COMPROMISE. 
 
 The bill was bitterly fought in Con 
 gress, but it passed the Senate by a vote 
 of thirty-seven to fourteen, and after 
 another fierce struggle was adopted in 
 the House by a vote of 113 to 100. 
 It received several amendments, and the 
 President signed it May 81, 1854. 
 Thus the Missouri Compromise was 
 repealed and the first note of civil war 
 sounded. The question of slavery was 
 opened anew, and could never be closed 
 without the shedding of blood to an extent that no one dreamed. 
 
 FORMATION OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. 
 
 The enforcement of the fugitive slave law was resisted in the North and 
 numerous conflicts took place. During the attempted arrest of Anthony Burns 
 in Boston a deputy-sheriff was shot dead, and Federal troops from Rhode Island 
 had to be summoned before Burns could be returned to slavery. Former political 
 opponents began uniting in both sections. In the North the opponents of 
 slavery, comprising Democrats, Free-Soilers, Know Nothings, Whigs, and Abo 
 litionists, joined in the formation of the "Anti-Nebraska Men," and under that 
 name they elected, in 1854, a majority of the House of Representatives for the 
 
 LUCRETIA MOTT. 
 
 The advance agent of emancipation. 
 (1 793-1880.) 
 
TAYLOR, FILLMORE, PIERCE, AND BUCHANAN. 
 
 next Congress. Soon after the election, the new organization took the name of 
 Republicans?, by which they are known to-day. Its members, with a few ex 
 ceptions among the Germans in Missouri and the Ohio settlers in western 
 Virginia, belonged wholly to the North. 
 
 CIVIL WAR IN KANSAS. 
 
 Kansas became for the time the battle-ground between slavery and freedom. 
 Societies in the North sent emigrants into Kansas, first furnishing them with 
 Bibles and rifles, while the pro-slavery men swarmed thither from Missouri, and 
 the two parties fought each other like Apache Indians. In the midst of the 
 civil war, a territorial legislature was formed, and in many instances the majority 
 of thr randidati s flirted was double that of the voting population in the district. 
 
 Governor A. H. Reeder, of Pennsylvania, had 
 been appointed governor of the Territory, and, 
 finding himself powerless to check the anarchy, 
 went to Washington in April, 1855, to consult 
 with the government. While there he was 
 nominated for Congress, and defeated by the 
 fraudulent votes of the pro-slavery men. 
 
 Meanwhile, two State governments had been 
 formed. The pro-slavery men met at Lecomp- 
 ton, in March, and adopted a Constitution per 
 mitting slavery. Their opponents assembled in 
 Lawrence, August 15th, and elected delegates, 
 who came together in October and ratified the 
 Topeka Constitution, which forbade slavery. 
 In January, 1856, the people held an election 
 under this Constitution. In the same month 
 
 President Pierce sent a message to Congress, in which he declared the for 
 mation of a free State government in Kansas an act of rebellion, while 
 that adopted at Lecompton was the valid government, Governor Reeder 
 was superseded by William Shannon. A committee sent by Congress into 
 the Territory to investigate and report could not agree, and nothing came 
 of it. 
 
 The civil war grew worse. A free State government, with General Joseph 
 Lane as its head and supported by a well-armed force, was formed at Lawrence. 
 The town was sacked and almost destroyed, May 20, 1856. On the 4th of July 
 following, the free State Legislature was dispersed by Federal troops, upon order 
 of the national government. 
 
 John W. Geary now tried his hand as governor. His first step was to call 
 
 HENRY WARD BEECHER. 
 The (Jrenl Pulpit Orator and Anti-Slavery 
 
JAMES BUCHANAN. 271 
 
 upon both parties to disarm, and neither paid any attention to mm. Finding he 
 could not have the support of the President in the vigorous policy he wished to 
 adopt. Governor Geary resigned and was succeeded by .Robert J. Walker of Mis- 
 sissirpi. He showed a disposition to be fair to all concerned, but, before he 
 could accomplish anything, he was turned out to make room for J. W. Denver. 
 He was soon disgusted and gave way to Samuel Medary. Before long, it be 
 came evident that the influx of northern settlers must overcome the pro-slavery 
 men, and the struggle was given up by the latter. A constitution prohibiting 
 slavery was ratified in 1859 and Charles Robinson elected governor. 
 
 VIOLENT SCENES IN CONGRESS. 
 
 Nebraska lies so far north that it was not disturbed. Acts of disgraceful 
 violence took place in Congress, challenges to duels being exchanged, personal 
 collisions occurring on the floor, while most of the members went armed, not 
 knowing what minute they would be assaulted. In May, 1856, Senator Charles 
 Su inner, of Massachusetts, for utterances made in .debate, was savagely assaulted 
 by Preston S. Brooks, of South Carolina, and received injuries from which he 
 did not recover for several years. Brooks was lionized in the South for his 
 brutal act and re-elected to Congress by an overwhelming majority. 
 
 The Republican party was growing rapidly in strength, and in 1856 it 
 placed its candidates in the field and astonished the rest of the country by the 
 vote it rolled up, as shown in the following statistics : 
 
 James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, Democrat, 174 ; John C. Fremont, of 
 California, Republican, 114; Millard Fillmore, of New York, Native Ameri 
 can, 8. For Vice-President, John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, Democrat, 
 174 ; William L. Dayton, of New Jersey, Republican, 114 ; A. J. Donelson, of 
 Tennessee. Native American, 8, 
 
 JAMES BUCHANAN 
 
 James Buchanan, fifteenth ! resident, was born in Mercersbtirg, Pennsyl 
 vania, April 23, 1791, and graduated from Dickinson College in 1809. He be 
 came a lawyer, was elected to the State Legislature and to Congress in 1821. 
 Thenceforward, he was almost continuously in office. President Jackson 
 appointed him minister to Russia in 1832, but, soon returning home, he was 
 elected to the United States Senate in 1834. He left that body, in 1845, to 
 become Folk s secretary of State. In 1853, he was appointed minister to 
 England, where he remained until his election to the presidency in 1856. He 
 died at his home in Lancaster, June 1, 1868. The many honors conferred upon 
 Buchanan prove his ability, though he has been often accused of showing timid- 
 
278 
 
 TAYLOR, FILLMORE, PIERCE, AND BUCHANAN. 
 
 ity during his term of office, which was of the most trying nature. He 
 only bachelor among our Presidents. 
 
 the 
 
 STATES ADMITTED. 
 
 Minnesota was admitted to the Union in 1858. It was a paH of tire Lou- 
 isana purchase. Troubles over the Indian titles delayed its settlement until 
 1851, after which its growth was wonderfully rapid. Oregon was admitted in 
 1859. The streams of emigration to California overflowed i/xto Oregon, where 
 some of the precious metal was found. It was learned, however, in time that 
 
 Oregon s most valuable treasure 
 mine was in her wheat, which is ex 
 ported to all parts of the world. 
 Kansas, of which we have given an 
 account in the preceding pages, was 
 quietly admitted, directly after the 
 seceding Senators abandoned their 
 seats, their votes having kept it out 
 up to that time. The population of 
 the United States in 1860 was 31,- 
 443,321. Prosper ity prevailed every 
 where, and. but for the darkening 
 shadows of civil war, the condition of 
 no people could have been more 
 happy and promising. 
 
 THE DRED SCOTT DECISION. 
 
 Dred Scott was the negro slave 
 ot Dr. Emerson, of Missouri, a sur 
 geon in the United States army. In 
 the discharge of his duty, his owner 
 took him to military posts in Illi 
 nois and Minnesota. Scott married a negro woman in Minnesota, and both 
 were sold by Dr. Emerson upon his return to Missouri. The negro brought suit 
 for his freedom on the ground that he had been taken into territory where 
 slavery was forbidden. The case passed through the various State courts, and, 
 reaching the United States Supreme Court, that body made its decision in March, 
 1857. 
 
 This decision was to the effect that negro slaves were not citizens, and no 
 means existed by which they could become such ; they were simply property, 
 like household goods and chattels, and their owner could take them into any 
 
 JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 (17 J1-186S.) One term, 18,57-1861. 
 
THE DEED SCOTT DECISION. 
 
 279 
 
 State in the Union without forfeiting his ownership in them. It followed also 
 from this important decision that the Missouri Compromise of 1820 and the 
 Compromise of 1850 were null and void, since it w;i> hcyond the power 
 of the contracting parties to make such 
 agreements. Six of the justices con 
 
 cur reel in 
 
 1 in this decision and two dissented. 
 
 LUCRETIA MOTT PROTECTING THE NEGRO DANGERFIELD FROM THE MOB IN 
 
 PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 .Then Daniel Dangerfield, a fugitive slave, was tried in Philadelphia, Lucretia Mott sat during all his trial by the side of the 
 prisoner. When the trial was ended Dangerfield was set at liberty, and Mrs. Mott walked out of the court-room and through the 
 mob which threatened to lynch him, her hand on the colored man s arm, and that little hand was a sure protector, for no one 
 dared tq touch him. 
 
 This decision was received with delight in the South and repudiated in the 
 .North. The contention there was that the Constitution regarded slaves as 
 
280 TAYLOR, FILLMORE, PIERCE, AND BUCHANAN. 
 
 "persons held to labor" and not as property, and that they were property only 
 
 by State law. 
 
 JOHN BROWN S RAID. 
 
 While the chasm between the North and South was rapidly growing wider, 
 a startling occurrence took place. John Brown was a fanatic who believed 
 Heaven had appointed him its agent for freeing the slaves in the South. He 
 was one of the most active partisans on the side of freedom in the civil war in 
 Kansas, and had been brooding over the subject for years, until his belief in his 
 mission became unshakable. 
 
 Brown s plan was simple, being that of invading Virginia with a small 
 armed force and calling upon the slaves to rise. He believed they would flock 
 around him, and he fixed upon Harper s Ferry as the point to begin his cru 
 sade. 
 
 Secretly gathering a band of twenty men, in the month of October, 1859, 
 he held them ready on the Maryland shore. Late on Sunday night, the 16th, 
 they crossed the railway bridge over the Potomac, seized the Federal armory at 
 Harper s Ferry, stopped all railroad trains, arrested a number of citizens, set 
 free such slaves as they came across, and held complete possession of the town 
 for twenty-four hours. 
 
 Brown acted with vigor. He threw out pickets, cut the telegraph wires, and 
 sent word to the slaves that their day of deliverance had come and they were 
 summoned to rise. By this time the citizens had themselves risen, and, attack 
 ing the invaders, drove them into the armory, from which they maintained fire 
 until it became clear that they must succumb. Several made a break, but were 
 shot down. Brown retreated to an engine-house with his wounded and prisoners 
 and held his assailants at bay all through Monday and the night following. 
 
 News having been sent to Washington, Colonel Robert E. Lee arrived 
 Tuesday morning with a force of marines and land troops. The local militia of 
 Virginia had also been called out. The situation of Brown was hopeless, but 
 he refused to surrender. Colonel Lee managed matters with such skill that 
 only one of his men was shot, while Brown was wounded several times, his 
 two sons killed, and others slain. The door of the engine-house was battered in 
 and the desperate men overpowered. The enraged citizens would have raided 
 them to pieces, had they been allowed, but Colonel Lee protected and turned 
 them^over to the civil authorities. Brown and his six companions were placed 
 on trial, found guilty of what was certainly an unpardonable crime, and hanged 
 on the 2d of December, 1859. 
 
 Many in the South believed that the act of Brown was planned and 
 supported by leading Republicans, but such was not the fact, and they were as 
 earnest in condemnation of the mad proceeding as the extreme slavery men, but 
 
PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1860. 
 
 281 
 
 John Brown s raid served to fan the spark of civil war that was already kindled 
 and fast growing into a flame. 
 
 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN OF 1860. 
 
 The presidential campaigns that had been pressed heretofore with a certain 
 philosophic good nature, now assumed a tragic character. The South saw the 
 growing preponderance of the North. New States were continually forming 
 out of the enormous territory in the West, the opposition to slavery was inten- 
 
 KARPER S FERRY. 
 
 sifying, and its overthrow was certain. Senator Seward had announced the 
 " irrepressible conflict " between freedom and the institution, and the only 
 remedy the South saw lay in secession from the Union, for they loved that less 
 than slavery. They announced their unalterable intention of seceding in the 
 event of the election of a president of Republican principles. The Republicans 
 placed Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois,*in nomination. Jefferson Davis saw that 
 the only way of defeating him was by uniting all the opposing parties into one. 
 He urged such a union, but the elements would not fuse. 
 
282 TAYLOR, FILLMORE, PIERCE, AND BUCHANAN. 
 
 The Democratic convention assembled in Charleston in April, 1860, and 
 had hardly come together when the members began quarreling over slavery. 
 Some of the radicals insisted upon the adoption of a resolution favoring the 
 opening of the slave trade, in retaliation for the refusal of the North to obey the 
 fugitive slave law. This measure, however, was voted down, and many were in 
 favor of adopting compromises and making concessions for the sake of the 
 Union. Stephen A. Douglas was their candidate, but no agreement could be 
 made, and the convention split apart. The extremists were not satisfied with 
 "squatter sovereignty," and, determined to prevent the nomination of Douglas, 
 they withdrew from the convention. Those who remained, after balloting some 
 time without result, adjourned to Baltimore, where, on the 18th of June, they 
 placed Douglas in nomination, with Herschel V. Johnson as the nominee for 
 Vice-President. Their platform was the doctrine that the people of each 
 Territory should settle the question of slavery for themselves, but they expressed 
 a willingness to abide by the decision of the Supreme Court. 
 
 The seceding delegates adjourned to Richmond, and again to Baltimore, 
 where, June 2Sth, they nominated John C. Breckinridge for President and 
 Joseph Lane for Vice-President. Their platform declared unequivocally in 
 favor of slavery being protected in all parts of the Union, where the owners 
 chose to take their slaves. 
 
 The American party, which called themselves Constitutional Unionists, 
 had already met in Baltimore, and nominated John Bell for President and 
 Edward Everett for Vice-President, Their platform favored the " Constitu 
 tion, the Union, and the enforcement of the laws." This platform was of the 
 milk-and-water variety, appealing too weakly to the friends and opponents of 
 slavery to develop great strength. The question of African slavery had become 
 the burning one before the country, and the people demanded that the political 
 platforms should give out no uncertain sound. 
 
 Amid uncontrollable excitement, the presidential election took place with 
 the following result : 
 
 Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, Republican, 180; Stephen A. Douglas, of 
 Illinois, Democrat, 12; John C. Breckinridge, of Kentucky, Democrat, 72; 
 John Bell, of Tennessee, Union, 39. For Vice-President: Hannibal Hamlin, 
 of Maine, Republican, 180; Herschel V. Johnson, of Georgia, Democrat, 12 ; 
 Joseph Lane, of Oregon, Democrat, 72 ; Edward Everett, of Massachusetts, 
 Union, 39. 
 
 On the popular vote, Lincoln received 866,352 ; Douglas, 1,375,157 ; Breck 
 inridge, 845,763 ; Bell, 589,581. Lincoln had the electoral votes of all the 
 Northern States, except a part of New Jersey ; Virginia, Kentucky, and Ten 
 nessee supported Bell, while most of the Southern States voted for Breckin- 
 
FORMATION OF THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY. 283 
 
 ridge. The Democratic party, which, with the exception of the break in 1840 
 and 1848, had controlled the country for sixty years, was now driven from the 
 field. 
 
 SECESSION AND FORMATION OF THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY. 
 
 The hope was general that the South would not carry out her threat of 
 seceding from the Union, and, but for South Carolina, she would not have done 
 so ; but that pugnacious State soon gave proof of her terrible earnestness. Her 
 Convention assembled in Charleston, and passed an ordinance of secession, De 
 cember 20, 1860, declaring " That the Union heretofore existing between this 
 State and the other States of North America is dissolved/ The other Southern 
 States, although reluctant to give up the Union, felt it their duty to stand by 
 the pioneer in the movement against it, and passed ordinances of secession, as 
 follows : Mississippi, January 9, 1861 ; Florida, January 10th ; Alabama, Jan 
 uary llth ; Georgia, January 19th ; Louisiana, January 26th ; and Texas, 
 February 23d. 
 
 In the hope of averting civil war numerous peace meetings were held in 
 the North, and Virginia called for a "peace conference," which assembled in 
 Washington, February 4th. The States represented included most of those in 
 the North, and Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, 
 Kentucky, and Missouri. Ex-President Tyler, of Virginia, was made president 
 of the conference. The proposed terms of settlement were rejected by the Virginia 
 and North Carolina delegates and refused by Congress, which, since the with 
 drawal of the Southern members, was controlled by the Republicans. 
 
 The next step of the Southern conventions was to send delegates to Mont 
 gomery, Alabama, where they formed " The Confederate States of America," 
 with Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, President, and Alexander H. Stephens, of 
 Georgia, Vice-President. A constitution and flag, both resembling those of the 
 United States, were adopted and all departments of the government organized. 
 
 As the various States adopted ordinances of secession they seized the gov 
 ernment property within their limits. In most cases, the Southern United 
 States officers resigned and accepted commissions in the service of the Confeder 
 acy. The only forts saved were those near Key West, Fort Pickens at Perisa- 
 cola, and Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor. The South Carolina authorities 
 began preparations to attack Sumter, and when the steamer Star of the West 
 attempted to deliver supplies to the fort, it was fired upon, January 9th, and 
 driven off. Thus matters stood at the close of Buchanan s administration, 
 March 4, 1861. 
 
THE BLUE AND THE GRAY 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OK LINCOLN, 1861-1865. 
 \VAR KOR THE UNION, 1861. 
 
 Abraham Lincoln Major Anderson s Trying Position Jefferson Davis Inauguration of President 
 Lincoln Bombardment of Fort Sumter War Preparations North and South Attack on Uniou 
 Troops in Baltimore Situation of the Border States Unfriendliness of England and France Friend 
 ship of Russia The States that Composed the Southern Confederacy Union Disaster at Big Bethel 
 Success of the Union Campaign in Western Virginia General George B. McCiollan First Battle 
 of Bull Run General McClelhin Called to the Command of the Army of the Potomac Union Dis 
 aster at Ball s Bluff Military Operations in Missouri Battle of Wilson s Creek DC- feat of Colonel 
 Mulligan at Lexington, Mo. Supersedure of Fremont Operations on the Coast The Trent Affair 
 Summary of the Year s Operations. 
 
 the greatest that 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, sixteenth President, ranks amon 
 has ever presided over the desti 
 nies of our country. He was born 
 in Hardin (now Lame) County, 
 Kentucky, February 12, 1809, but 
 when seven years old his parents 
 removed to Indiana, making their 
 home near the present town of Gen- 
 tryville. 
 
 His early life was one of extreme 
 poverty, and his whole schooling 
 did not amount to more than a 
 year; but, possessing a studious 
 mind, he improved every spare 
 hour in the study of instructive 
 books. At the age of sixteen the 
 tall, awkward, but powerful boy 
 was earning a living by managing 
 a ferry across the Ohio. He re 
 mained for some time after reaching 
 manhood with his parents, who re 
 moved to Illinois in 1830, and built 
 a log-cabin on the north fork of the 
 Sangamon. He was able to give valuable help in clearing the ground and 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 (1809-18<>s.) Two terms (died in office;, 1&61-1865. 
 
 (285) 
 
ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 
 
 f - 
 
 286 
 
 in splitting rails. With the aid of a few friends he constructed a flat-boat, 
 with which he took produce to New Orleans. Selling both goods and boat, 
 he returned to his home and still assisted his father on the farm. In the Black 
 Hawk War he was elected captain of a company, but did not see active 
 
 service. 
 
 By this time his ability had attracted the notice of friends, and at the age 
 of twenty-five he was elected to the Illinois Legislature, in which he served for 
 
 four terms. Meanwhile he 
 had studied law as oppor 
 tunity presented, and was 
 sent to Congress in 1846. 
 He opposed the war with 
 Mexico, but, among such 
 giants as Webster, Clay, 
 Calhoun, Benton, and 
 others, he could not make 
 any distinctive mark; but 
 his powerful common sense, 
 his clear logic, his unassail 
 able integrity, his states 
 manship and grasp of pub 
 lic questions, and hia 
 quaint humor, often ap 
 proaching the keenest wit, 
 carried him rapidly to the 
 front and made him the 
 leader of the newly formed 
 Republican party. I n 
 1858 lie stumped Illinois 
 for United States senator 
 against Stephen A. Doug 
 las, his valued friend. His 
 speeches attracted national 
 attention as m;istTpi <vs of eloquence, wit, and forceful presentation of the 
 great issues which were then agitating the country. He was defeated by Doug 
 las, but the remarkable manner in which he acquitted himself made him the 
 successful candidate of the Republican party in the autumn of 1860. 
 
 Lincoln was tall and ungainly, his height being six feet four inches. His 
 countenance was rugged and homely, his strength as great as that of Washington, 
 while his wit has become proverbial. His integrity, which his bitterest opponent 
 
 FROM LOO-CABIN TO THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
MAJOR ANDERSON AND FORT SUMTER. 
 
 287 
 
 never questioned, won for him the name of " Honest Abe." He was one of the 
 most kind-hearted of men, and his rule of life was " malice toward none and 
 charity for all. He grew with the demands of the tremendous responsibilities 
 placed upon him, and the reputation he won as patriot, statesman, and leader 
 lias been surpassed by no previous President and becomes greater with the passing 
 years. 
 
 MAJOR ANDERSON AND FORT SUMTER. 
 
 All eyes were turned toward Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor. It was 
 the strongest of the defenses. Major Robert Anderson, learning that the Con 
 federates intended to take possession 
 of it, secretly removed his garrison 
 from Fort Moultrie on the night of 
 December 26, 1860. Anderson was 
 in a trying position, for the secretary 
 of war, Floyd, and the adjutant- 
 general of the army, Cooper, to 
 whom he was obliged to report, were 
 secessionists, and not only refused to 
 give him help, but threw every ob 
 stacle in his way. President Bu 
 chanan was surrounded by secession 
 ists, and most of the time was be 
 wildered as to his course of duty. 
 He resented, however, the demand 
 of Secretary Floyd for the removal 
 of Anderson because of the change 
 he had made from Moultrie to Sum 
 ter. Floyd resigned and was suc 
 ceeded by Joseph Holt, of Kentucky, 
 an uncompromising Unionist, who 
 did all he could to hold up the Presi 
 dent in his tottering position of a friend of the Union. The latter grew 
 stronger as he noted the awakening sentiment of loyalty throughout the North. 
 An admirable act was the appointment of Edwin M. Stanton as attorney-general, 
 for he was a man of great ability and a relentless enemy of secession. 
 
 JEFFERSON DAVIS. 
 
 Jefferson Davis, who had been chosen President of the Southern Confederacy 
 that was formed at Montgomery, Alabama, early in February, was born in Ken 
 tucky, June 3, 1808. Thus he and President Lincoln were natives of the same 
 
 JEFFERSON DAVIS. 
 
288 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 State, with less than a year s difference in their ages. Davis was graduated at 
 West Point in 1828, and served on the northwest frontier, in the Black Hawk 
 War. He was also a lieutenant of cavalry in the operations against the Co 
 ma nches and Apaches. He resigned from the army and became a cotton-planter 
 in Mississippi, which State he represented in Congress in 1845-46, but resigned 
 to assume the colonelcy of the First Mississippi regiment. 
 
 Colonel Davis displayed great gallantry at the storming of Monterey and 
 at the battle at Buena Vista, and on his return home was immediately elected to 
 the United States Senate, in which he served 1847-51 and 1857-61. From 1853 
 to 1857 he was secretary of war under Pierce. He was one of the Southern 
 leaders, and had already been mentioned as a candidate for the presidency. 
 He resigned his seat in the United States Senate in January, 1861, upon the 
 secession of his State, and, being elected Provisional President of the Southern 
 Confederacy February 9th, was inaugurated February 18th. In the following 
 year he and Stephens were regularly elected President and Vice-President 
 respectively, and were inaugurated on the 18th of the month. 
 
 INAUGURATION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN. 
 
 President-elect Lincoln left his home in Springfield, Illinois, on the llth 
 of February for Washington. He stopped at various points on the route, and 
 addressed multitudes that had gathered to see and hear him. A plot was 
 formed to assassinate him in Baltimore, but it was defeated by the vigilance of 
 the officers attending Lincoln, who took him through the city on an earlier train 
 than was expected. General Scott had the capital so well protected by troops 
 that no disturbance took place during the inauguration. 
 
 BOMBARDMENT OF FORT SUMTER. 
 
 The Confederate government sent General Beauregard to assume charge of 
 the defenses in Charleston harbor. Finding the fort was being furnished with 
 supplies, he telegraphed to his government for instructions. He was ordered to 
 enforce the evacuation. Beauregard demanded the surrender of the fort, and, 
 being refused by Major Anderson, he opened fire, early on the morning of April 
 12th, from nineteen batteries. Major Anderson had a garrison of 79 soldiers 
 and 30 laborers who helped serve the guns. He allowed the men to eat break 
 fast before replying. In a few hours the supply of cartridges gave out, and 
 blankets and other material were used as substitutes. The garrison were kept 
 within the bomb-proof galleries, and did not serve the guns on the open para 
 pets, two of which had been dismounted by the fire from the Confederate 
 batteries, which after a time set fire to the officers barracks. The flames were 
 extinguished, but broke out several times. The smoke became so smothering 
 
UNION TROOPS ATTACKED IN BALTIMORE. 
 
 289 
 
 that the men could breathe only by lying flat on their faces. Finally the posi 
 tion became so untenable that Anderson ran up the white flag in token of 
 surrender. No one was killed on either side. 
 
 The news of the surrender created wild excitement North and South and 
 united both sections. While the free States rallied to the Union, almost as one 
 man, the Unionists in the South became ardent supporters of the cause of dis 
 union. It was now a solid North against a solid South. 
 
 Three days after the surrender of Fort Sumter, President Lincoln called 
 
 FORT MOULTRIE, CHARLESTON, WITH FORT SUMTER IN THE DISTANCE. 
 
 for 75,000 volunteers to serve for three months, and Congress was summoned to 
 meet on the 4th of July. Few people comprehended the stupendous work that 
 would be required to crush the rebellion. While the South was hurrying its 
 sons into the ranks, 300,000 answered the call of President Lincoln, who on the 
 19th of April issued another proclamation declaring a blockade of the Southern 
 ports. 
 
 UNION TROOPS ATTACKED IN BALTIMORE. 
 
 Many of the Confederates demanded that an advance should be made upon 
 
 19 
 
290 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 Wasliington, and, had it been done promptly, it could have been captured without 
 difficulty. Realizing its danger, the national government called upon the States 
 for troops and several regiments were hurried thither. While the Seventh 
 Pennsylvania and Sixth Massachusetts were passing through Baltimore, they 
 were savagely assailed by a mob. A portion of the Sixth Massachusetts were 
 hemmed in, and stoned and pelted with pistol-shots. They remained cool 
 until three of their number had been killed and eight wounded, when they let 
 fly with a volley which stretched nearly a dozen rioters on the ground, besides 
 wounding many others. This drove the mob back, although they kept up a 
 fusillade until the train drew out of the city with the troops aboard. 
 
 ACTIVITY OF THE CONFEDERATES. 
 
 The Confederates in Virginia continued active. They captured Harper s 
 Ferry and the Norfolk Navy Yard, both of which proved very valuable to them. 
 Their government issued " letters of marque " which permitted private persons 
 to capture merchant vessels belonging to the United States, against which the 
 Confederate Congress declared war. 
 
 The border States were in perhaps the most trying situation of all, for, 
 while they wished to keep out of the war, they were forced to act the part of 
 buffer between the hostile States. The secessionists in Maryland, Kentucky, 
 and Missouri made determined efforts to bring about the secession of those 
 States, but the Union men were too strong. The armies on both sides received 
 many recruits from the States named, which in some cases suffered from guer 
 rilla fighting between former friends and neighbors. 
 
 Kentucky, whose governor was a secessionist, thought she could hold a 
 neutral position, but the majority of the citizens were Union in their sentiments. 
 Besides, the situation of the State was such that it was soon invaded by armed 
 forces from both sides, and some of the severest battles of the war were fought 
 on its soil. 
 
 THE WAR AS VIEWED IN EUROPE. 
 
 The prospect of the splitting apart of the United States was pleasing to all 
 the European powers, with the single exception of Russia. France was 
 especially urgent in favoring an armed intervention in favor of the Confederacy, 
 but England would not agree, nor would she recognize the Confederate States 
 as an independent nation, for, had she done so, the United States would immedi 
 ately have declared war against her. In May, however, England declared the 
 Confederacy a belligerent power, thereby entitling it to make war and man war 
 vessels, which could take refuge in foreign ports. While this recognition was 
 of unquestionable help, it would not have amounted to a great deal had not 
 England permitted the building of swift and powerful cruisers, which were 
 
THE MILITARY SITUATION. 
 
 291 
 
 turned over to the Confederates, and did immense damage to Northern com 
 merce. 
 
 When June arrived, the Southern Confederacy was composed of eleven 
 States : South Carolina, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, 
 Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. As soon as Virginia 
 seceded (May 23d), the capital was removed from Montgomery to Richmond. 
 It was clear that Virginia would be the principal battle-ground of the war, 
 and the Confederate volunteers throughout the South hurried into the 
 State. 
 
 An intelligent knowledge of the direction from which danger was likely to 
 come was shown by the placing of troops in western Virginia to meet Confederate 
 attacks, while soldiers were moved into southern Kentucky to defend Ten 
 nessee. In Virginia they held 
 the line from Harper s Ferry to 
 Norfolk, and batteries were built 
 along the Mississippi to stop all 
 navigation of that stream. The 
 erection of forts along the At 
 lantic and Gulf coasts for pro 
 tection against the blockading 
 fleets soon walled in the Confed 
 eracy on every hand. 
 
 THE MILITARY SITUATION. 
 
 General Scott for a time 
 held the general command of all 
 the United States forces. But he 
 was old and growing weak in 
 body and mind, and it was evi 
 dent must soon give way to a 
 younger man. The national forces held the eastern side of the Potomac, from 
 Harper s Ferry to Fort Monroe, and a small section of the western side oppo 
 site Washington. While enlisting and drilling troops, they strove to hold also 
 Kentucky and Missouri, succeeding so well that their grip was never lost 
 throughout the war. 
 
 With the opposing forces face to face, continual skirmishing was kept up. 
 This had no effect on the war itself, but was expressive of the martial spirit 
 which animated both ldes. General B. F. Butler, who had great executive but 
 slight military ability, was in command at Fort Monroe. While there he 
 refused to surrender a number of fugitive slaves that had fled into his lines, 
 
 A SKIRMISHER. 
 
292 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 declaring them " contraband of war." The phrase was a happy one and caught 
 the fancy of the North. 
 
 UNION DISASTER AT BIG BETHEL. 
 
 Butler fortified Newport News, which is a point of land at the junction of 
 the James River and Hampton Roads. Fifteen miles away was a Confederate 
 detachment, on the road to Yorktown, where the main body was under the 
 command of General J. B. Magruder, a former artillery officer of the United 
 States army. The Confederate position at Big Bethel was a strong one and had 
 a garrison of more than a thousand troops. A short distance in front was 
 Little Bethel, where a small detachment was under the command of Colonel D. 
 H. Hill, also a former member of the United States army. 
 
 General Pierce advanced to the attack early on the morning of June 9th. 
 The two columns mistook each other, and not until 10 men were killed was the 
 sad blunder discovered. An assault quickly followed, but the assailants were 
 defeated with the loss of 14 killed and 49 wounded. Among the slain was 
 Lieutenant John T. Greble, a brilliant West Point officer, who ought to have 
 been in command of the brigade, with which he doubtless would have achieved 
 a success. The incompetency of the political leader cost dearly, but the govern 
 ment was yet to learn that full-fledged officers are not to be found among men 
 who have made politics their life profession. 
 
 SUCCESSFUL UNION CAMPAIGN IN WESTERN VIRGINIA. 
 
 The only place where there were any Union successes was in western Vir 
 ginia. Colonel Wallace with a detachment of Indiana Zouaves a favorite form 
 of military troops at the beginning of the war made a forced march at night 
 over a mountain road from Cumberland, in Maryland, to Romney, where the 
 Confederates had a battery on a bluff near the village, guarded by a number of 
 field-pieces. By a spirited dash, the Union troops captured the position and 
 drove the defenders into the woods. Unable to overtake them, Colonel Wallace 
 returned to Cumberland. 
 
 This incident had important results. General Jo Johnston, one of the 
 best commanders of the war, was at Harper s Ferry, and, fearing for his com 
 munications, he evacuated the post and marched up the Shenandoah Valley to 
 a point near Winchester. 
 
 GENERAL M CLELLAN. 
 
 The operations in western Virginia brought into prominence an officer 
 who was destined to play an important part in the war. He was George B. 
 McClellan, born in Philadelphia in 1826, and graduated at West Point in 1846. 
 He rendered fine service in the Mexican War, after which, resigning from the 
 army, he was for several years engineer for the Illinois Central Railroad and 
 
GENERAL MoCLELLAN. 
 
 293 
 
 afterward a railroad president. He was appointed a major-general at the open 
 ing of the Civil War, and, with 15,000 troops, mostly from the Western States, 
 he advanced against the Confederates in western Virginia under the command 
 of General Garnett, also a graduate and formerly an instructor at West Point. 
 Garnett held a position west of the principal line of the Alleghanies, which 
 covered the road leading from Philippi to Beverly. Colonel Pegram was placed 
 in charge of the hill Rich Mountain, a short distance south of Garnett. 
 
 McClellan advanced against these two positions. Colonel Rosecrans, with four 
 regiments and in the face of a blind- 
 
 o 
 
 ing rain-storm, followed a circuitous 
 path through the woods, and charged 
 up the elevation against a strong 
 fire. The Confederates were driven 
 from their position and down the 
 other side of the hill. Colonel Peg 
 ram, finding his position turned, re 
 treated in the direction of Beverly. 
 Rosecrans pursued and Garnett 
 turned to the north, aiming for St. 
 George on the Cheat River. Pegram 
 had surrendered with 600 men, the 
 remainder joining Garnett, who was 
 hard pressed by General Morris. 
 Despite the obstructions thrown in 
 his path, he overtook the fugitives 
 on the 13th of July at Carrick s 
 Ford on the Cheat River. There 
 the Confederates were routed and 
 Garnett shot dead at the head of 
 his troops. The remnant of his 
 force fled in disorder, and succeeded in reaching Monterey on the eastern side 
 of the mountains. 
 
 The campaign in western Virginia was a brilliant Union success. A thou 
 sand prisoners, seven guns, 1,500 stands of arms, and twelve colors were captured, 
 with slight loss to the victors. All the credit of this success was given to Mc 
 Clellan, and, since the North was yearning for some leader with the halo of suc 
 cess attached to his name, they at once proclaimed " Little Mac " as their idol, 
 destined to crush secession and re-establish the Union in all its strength and 
 former glory. 
 
 In September General Robert E. Lee was sent into western Virginia to 
 
 GENERAL GEORGE B. McCLELLAN. 
 
 (1 826-1 8te6). 
 
294 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 regain the ground lost, but he failed and was driven out of the section by Rose- 
 crans, the successor of McClellan. Before this took place, however, the opening 
 battle of the war had been fought elsewhere. 
 
 " ON TO RICHMOND ! " 
 
 The removal of the Confederate government from Montgomery to Richmond 
 was unbearably exasperating to the North. It may be said that the secession flag 
 was flaunted in sight of Washington. The New York Tribune, the most influ 
 ential journal of the North, raised the cry "On to Richmond!" and the pressure 
 became so clamorous and persistent that the government, although conscious of 
 the risk of the step, ordered an advance against the Confederate capital. Con 
 gress, which had met July 4th, appropriated $500,000,000 for carrying on the 
 war, and authorized President Lincoln to call out 500,000 volunteers for crushing 
 
 the rebellion. 
 
 The Union army across the Potomac from Washington numbered about 
 40,000 men and was under the command of General Irvin McDowell. It was 
 only partly disciplined, had a few good and many incompetent officers, was com 
 posed of fine material, but of necessity lacked the steadiness which can only be 
 acquired by actual campaigns and fighting. 
 
 General Beau regard, with a Confederate army not quite so numerous, held 
 a strong military position near Manassas Junction, some thirty miles from Wash 
 ington, and connected with Richmond by rail. General Jo Johnston had a 
 smaller Confederate army at Winchester, it being his duty to hold General 
 Patterson in check and prevent his reinforcing McDowell. At the same time 
 Patterson, to prevent Johnston from joining Beauregard, planned an offensive 
 movement against the Confederate commander at Winchester. 
 
 THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 
 
 McDowell s plan was to advance to Fairfax Court-House, and then, turning 
 south, cut Beauregard s communications. The first movement was made on the 
 afternoon of July 16th. General Mansfield with 16,000 men remained in 
 Washington to protect the capital from surprise. The advance was slow, occupy 
 ing several days. McDowell discovered six Confederate brigades posted along the 
 creek known as Bull Run, and he decided to begin his attack upon them. While 
 General Tyler was sent across the stone bridge to threaten the Confederate front, 
 Hunter and Heintzelman were directed to make a detour and attack the enemy s 
 front and rear. Johnston, who had hurried up from Winchester, had decided to 
 hasten the battle through fear of the arrival of Patterson with reinforcements 
 for McDowell, but the latter, moving first, Johnston was compelled to act on the 
 defensive. 
 
THE FIRST BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 
 
 295 
 
 Tyler and Hunter were tardy in their movements, but by noon McDowell 
 had turned the Confederate left and uncovered the stone bridge. Instead of 
 using the advantage thus secured and assuming position at Manassas depot, he 
 kept up his pursuit of the fleeing Confederates to the woods. There, when 
 everything seemed to be going the way of the Union army, it was checked by 
 General T. J. Jackson s brigade, whose firm stand in the face of seeming dis 
 aster won for him the soubriquet of " Stonewall" Jackson, first uttered in com 
 pliment by Gen- 
 e r a 1 Bee, by 
 which name the 
 remarkable man 
 will always be 
 remembered. 
 
 The stand of 
 Jackson enabled 
 Johnston to rally 
 the right and 
 Beau regard the 
 left, but matters 
 were in a critical 
 shape, when Kir- 
 by Smith, who 
 had escaped Pat 
 terson in the val 
 ley, rushed across 
 the fields from 
 Manassas w i t h 
 15,000 fresh 
 troops. This! 
 timely arrival 
 turned the for 
 tunes of the day. 
 McDowell was 
 
 driven from the plateau he had occupied, and the whole Union army was thrown 
 into a panic and rushed in headlong flight for the defenses of Washington. 
 Nothing could stay their flight, and the city was overrun with the terrified fugi 
 tives, who swarmed into the railroad trains, fled to the open fields beyond, 
 spreading the most frightful rumors, while many did not believe themselves safe 
 until at home in the North. 
 
 Had the Confederates followed up the pursuit, they could have easily cap- 
 
 STATUE OF McCLELLAN IN CITY HALL SQUARE, PHILADEL 
 PHIA. 
 
296 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 turetl Washington. They failed to do so, because they did not know how beaten 
 and disorganized the Union forces were. The Union losses in this first great 
 battle of the war were: Killed, 470; wounded, 1,071; captured and missing. 
 l,7l)o ; total, o,oo4. The Confederate losses were : Killed, 387 ; wounded, 
 1,582 ; captured and missing, 13 ; total, 1,1*82. 
 
 GENERAL Al CLELLAN APPOINTED TO THE COMMAND OF THE ARMY OF THE 
 
 POTOMAC. 
 
 Bull Run was a bitter humiliation for the North, but it served a good pur 
 pose. The national government understood for the first time the formidable 
 nature of the task before it. Its determination to subdue the rebellion was 
 intensified rather than lessened, but it now went about it in the right way. 
 Incompetent officers were weeded out, careful and vigorous measures set on foot, 
 and, what was the most popular movement of all, General McClellan was called 
 to the command of the Army of the Potomac. He took charge August 20th, 
 and set about organizing and disciplining the magnificent body of men. No 
 one could surpass him at such work, and he had the opportunity of establishing 
 himself as the idol of the nation. That he failed to do so was due to an inherent 
 ilrfrct of his nature. He shrank from taking chances, lacked nerve and dash, 
 distrusted himself, and was so slow and excessively cautious that he wore out 
 the patience of the government and finally of the nation itself. 
 
 General Scott s old age and increasing infirmities compelled him in Novem 
 ber to give up the command of the Union armies, and all hopes centred upon 
 McClellan. He kept drilling the Army of the Potomac, and by the close of 
 the year had 150,000 well-trained soldiers under his command. The impatience 
 of the North began to manifest itself, but no general advance took place, though 
 the Confederate line was gradually pushed back from its threatening position 
 in front of Washington to its first position at Bull Run. The Confederacy was 
 also busy in recruiting and drilling its forces. Knowing that Richmond was 
 the objective point of the Union advance, the city was surrounded with formid 
 able fortifications. 
 
 DISASTER AT BALL S BLUFF. 
 
 On the 10th of October General McCall was ordered to occupy Draines- 
 ville, eighteen miles northwest of Washington. At the same time, General 
 Stone was directed to keep watch of Leesburg, from which the patrols afterward 
 reported a weak Confederate force. An advance was ordered, whereupon Col 
 onel Evans, who had given the Confederates great help at Bull Run, concen 
 trated his forces on the road leading from Leesburg to Washington, and, on the 
 morning of the 21st, had assumed a strong position and was ready to be 
 attacked. 
 
DISASTER AT BALL S BLUFF. 
 
 297 
 
 The Union troops were ferried across the river in three scows, two skiffs, 
 and a life-boat, which combined would not carry one-fourth of the men. When 
 all were over they advanced to Leesburg, where no Confederate camp was found, 
 
 . 
 
 FORTIFYING RICHMOND. 
 In the foreground we see R. E. Lee and two other Confederate officers directing the work. 
 
 but the enemy in the woods attacked them. Colonel E. D. Baker, a civilian 
 officer from California, hurried across the river with 1,900 men and took com 
 mand. The enemy was reinforced and drove the Unionists back. Colonel 
 
298 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 Baker was killed and the Federals fled in a panic to the Potomac, with the Con 
 federates upon them. The fugitives swarmed into the boats and sank three of 
 them ; others leaped over the bank and swam and dived for their lives, the 
 enemy shooting and bayoneting all who did not surrender. When the horrible 
 affair was over, the Union loss was fully a thousand men. This occurrence was 
 in some respects more disgraceful than Bull Hun. 
 
 MILITARY OPERATIONS IN MISSOURI. 
 
 Claiborne F. Jackson, governor of Missouri, was a strong secessionist, and 
 did all he could to take the State out of the Union, but the sentiment against 
 him was too strong. St. Louis was also secession in feeling, but Captain 
 Nathaniel Lyon kept the disloyalists in subjection so effectively that he was 
 rewarded by being made a brigadier-general. Governor Jackson by proclama 
 tion called out 50,000 of the State militia to repel the* "invasion" of the State 
 by United States troops. Sterling Price, a major-general of the State forces, 
 was dispatched to Booneville and Lexington, on the Missouri River. 
 
 Colonel Franz Sigel, with 1,100 Union troops, had an engagement in the 
 southwestern part of the State and was compelled to retreat, but he managed 
 his withdrawal so skillfully that he killed and wounded a large number of his 
 pursuers. General Lyon joined Sigel near Springfield, and the Confederates, 
 under General Ben McCulloch, retreated to Cowskin Prairie, on the border of 
 the Indian Territory. 
 
 BATTLE OF WILSON S CREEK. 
 
 Both sides were reinforced, the Unionists being under the command of 
 General John C. Fremont, who had been assigned to the department of the 
 West, which included Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, and Kansas. The two 
 armies met early in August near Wilson s Creek. The Confederates were the 
 most numerous, but were poorly armed and disciplined. The battle was badly 
 mismanaged by both sides, and General Lyon, while leading a charge, was shot 
 dead. His men were defeated and retreated in the direction of Springfield. 
 
 Missouri was now overrun with guerrillas and harried by both sides. 
 Colonel Mulligan made a desperate stand at Lexington in September, but an 
 overwhelming force under General Price compelled him to surrender. Price 
 moved southward and Lexington was retaken by the Unionists, who also occupied 
 Springfield. The Legislature sitting at Neocho passed an ordinance of secession, 
 but most of the State remained in the hands of the Federals until they 
 finally gained entire possession. 
 
 General Fremont s course was unwise and made him unpopular. He issued 
 what was in reality an emancipation proclamation, which President Lincoln was 
 compelled to modify. He was fond of show and ceremony, and so extravagant 
 
THE TRENT AFFAIR. 299 
 
 that he was superseded in November by General Hunter, who was soon sent to 
 Kansas, and was in turn succeeded by General Halleck. The fighting in the 
 State was fierce but of an indecisive character. 
 
 The expected neutrality of Kentucky was speedily ended by the entrance 
 of a body of Confederates under the command of General Leonidas Polk, a 
 graduate of West Point and a bishop of the Episcopal Church. General U. 
 S. Grant was dispatched with a force from Cairo, as soon as it became known 
 that Polk had entered Kentucky. Grant destroyed a Confederate camp at Bel- 
 mont, but was attacked by Polk and compelled to retreat to his gunboats. 
 
 OPERATIONS ON THE COAST. 
 
 A formidable coast expedition, with land and naval forces on board, under 
 command of General B. F. Butler and Commodore Stringham, in August, 1861, 
 captured Hatteras Inlet and the fort defending it. Establishing themselves at 
 that point, they made other attacks along the adjoining coast of North Carolina. 
 A still larger expedition left Fort Monroe in November under Commodore 
 Dupont and General T. W. Sherman and captured Port Royal. The fleet was 
 so powerful, numbering nearly one hundred vessels and transports, that the 
 garrisons were easily driven out of the forts, after which the land-forces took 
 possession of them. The islands between Charleston and Savannah were seized, 
 and in September a Union fleet took possession of Ship Island, not far from 
 the mouth of the Mississippi, with a view of aiding an expedition against New 
 Orleans. 
 
 THE TRENT AFFAIR. 
 
 It was all important for the Confederacy to secure recognition from Eng 
 land and France. The Confederate government thought they could be induced 
 to act, if the proper arguments were laid before the respective governments. 
 Accordingly, James M. Mason, of Virginia, and John Slidell, of Louisiana, 
 both of whom had been United States senators, were appointed commissioners, 
 the former to England and the latter to France. 
 
 They succeeded in running the blockade to Havana, where they took pas 
 sage on the British steamer Trent for England. Captain Charles Wilkes, of 
 the steamer San Jacinto, knew of their intended sailing and was on the lookout 
 for them. Before they were fairly on their way, Captain Wilkes stopped the 
 Trent, and, despite the protests of the captain and the rebel commissioners, he 
 forcibly took them off and carried them to the United States. 
 
 In acting thus Captain Wilkes did the very thing that caused the war with 
 England in 1812. It was our opposition to the search of American vessels by 
 British cruisers that caused that war, while England was as persistent in her 
 claim to the right to make such search. The positions were now reversed, and 
 
300 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 England expressed indignation, and demanded the return of the commissioners 
 and a disavowal of the act of Captain Wilkes. The position of our govern 
 ment was untenable, and Secretary Seward gracefully confessed it, and .surren 
 dered the prisoners, neither of whom was able afterward to be of the slightest 
 benefit to the Confederacy. 
 
 SUMMARY OF THE YEAR S OPERATIONS. 
 
 The close of 1861 was to the advantage of the Confederates. The two 
 real battles of the war Bull Run and Wilson s Creek had been won by 
 them. In the lesser engagements, with the exception of West Virginia, they 
 had also been successful. This was due to the fact that the people of the North 
 and West had been so long at peace that they needed time in which to learn 
 war. In the South the men were more accustomed to the handling of firearms 
 and horseback riding. Moreover, they were on the defensive, and fighting, as 
 may be said, on inner lines. 
 
 It must not be forgotten, however, that the Union forces had saved Ken 
 tucky, Maryland, and Missouri from joining the Confederacy, despite the 
 strenuous efforts of their disunion governors and an aggressive minority in each 
 State. Washington, which more than once had been in danger of capture, was 
 made safe, and the loyal section of Virginia in the West was cut off and formed 
 into a separate State. In wealth and resources the North vastly preponderated. 
 An immense army had been raised, money was abundant, commerce thriving, 
 the sentiment overwhelmingly in favor of the prosecution of the war, and the 
 manufactories hummed with work made necessary by the building of hundreds 
 of ships for the navy and the furnishing of supplies and equipments to the 
 armies. 
 

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CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OK LINCOLN (CONT1NUKD), 
 
 1861-1865. 
 
 WAR KOR THK UNION (CONTINUED), 1862. 
 
 Capture of Forts Henry and Donelson Change in the Confederate Line of Defense Capture of Island 
 No. 10 Battle of Pittsburg Landing or Shiloh Capture of Corinth Narrow Escape of Louisville 
 Battle of Perry ville Battle of Murfreesboro or Stone River Battle of Pea Ridge Naval Battle 
 Between the Monitor and Merrimac Fate of the Two Vessels Capture of New Orleans The Advance 
 Against Richmond McClellan s Peninsula Campaign The First Confederate Invasion of the North 
 Battle of Antietam or Sharpsburg Disastrous Union Repulse at Fredericksburg Summary of 
 the Wars Operations The Confederate Privateers The Emancipation Proclamation Greenbacks 
 and Bond Issues. 
 
 CAPTURE OF FORTS HENRY AND DONELSON. 
 
 THE fighting of the second year of the war opened early. General Albert 
 Sidney Johnston, one of the ablest leaders of the Confederacy, was in chief 
 command in the West. The Confederate line ran through southern Kentucky, 
 from Columbus to Mill Spring, through Bowling Green. Two powerful forts 
 had been built in Tennessee, near the northern boundary line. One was Fort 
 Henry on the Tennessee River, and the other Fort Donelson, twelve miles away, 
 on the Cumberland. 
 
 Opposed to this strong position were two Union armies, the larger, number 
 ing 100,000, under General Don Carlos Buell, in central Kentucky, and the 
 lesser, numbering 15,000, commanded by General U. S. Grant, at Cairo. Under 
 Buell was General George H. Thomas, one of the finest leaders in the Union 
 army. In January, with a division of BuelPs army, he attacked the Confeder 
 ates, routed and drove them into Tennessee. In the battle, General Zollicoffer, 
 the Confederate commander, was killed. 
 
 Embarking at Cairo, General Grant steamed up the Tennessee River, in 
 tending to capture Fort Henry. Before he could do so, Commodore Andrew H. 
 Foote, with his fleet of gunboats, compelled it to surrender, though most of the 
 garrison escaped across the neck of land to Fort Donelson. 
 
 CAPTURE OF FORT DONELSON. 
 
 Upon learning that Fort Henry had fallen, Grant steamed up the Cumber 
 land to attack Fort Donelson, which was reinforced until the garrison numbered 
 
 (301) 
 
302 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 some 20,000 men. It was a powerful fortification, with many rifle-pits and 
 intrenchments on the land side, and powerful batteries commanding the river. 
 The political General Floyd was in chief command, the right wing being under 
 General Simon B. Buckner and the left in charge of General Gideon J. Pillow. 
 
 On the afternoon of February 14th, Commodore Foote opened the attack 
 with two wooden vessels and four iron-clad gunboats. The garrison made no 
 reply until the boats had worked their way to within a fourth of a mile of the fort, 
 the elevation of which enabled it to send a plunging fire, which proved so de 
 structive that two of the boats were disabled and drifted down current, the other 
 following. Some fifty men were killed, and among the wounded was Commodore 
 Foote. He withdrew to Cairo, intending to wait until a sufficient force could 
 be brought up from that 
 point. 
 
 But General Grant, 
 like the bull-dog to which 
 he was often compared, 
 having inserted his teeth 
 in his adversary, did not 
 
 UNITED STATES 12-INCH BREECH-LOADING MORTAR, OR HOWITZER 
 
 mean to let go. Placing his troops in front of the works, it did not take him 
 long to invest the whole Confederate left, with the exception of a swampy strip 
 near the river. The weather, which had been unusually mild for the season, 
 now became extremely cold, and some of the Union men were frozen to death 
 in the trenches. The garrison also suffered greatly, but the siege was pressed 
 with untiring vigor. Seeing the inextricable coils closing round them, the 
 defenders made an attempt to cut their way out, but Grant with true military 
 genius saw the crisis and ordered an advance along the whole line, the gun 
 boats giving all the help they could. 
 
 The situation of the garrison was so dangerous that a, council of war was 
 held that night. Floyd and Pillow were frightened nearly out of their wits. 
 They rated themselves so high as prizes for the Federals that they determined 
 
CAPTURE OF ISLAND NUMBER 10. 303 
 
 to make their escape before the surrender, which was inevitable, was forced. 
 Buckner was another sort of man. Disgusted with the cowardice of his asso 
 ciates, he quietly announced that he would stay by his men to the last. Floyd 
 stole out of the fort with his brigade and crossed the river in boats, while Pillow 
 followed in a scow, a large number of the cavalry galloping by the lower road 
 to Nashville. 
 
 Grant was ready for the assault at daylight the next morning, when he 
 received a note from General Buckner proposing an armistice until noon in 
 order to arrange terms of capitulation. Grant s reply became famous : " No 
 terms except immediate and unconditional surrender can be accepted ; I pro 
 pose to move immediately upon your works. Buckner was disappointed, but 
 he had no choice except to submit. He was greatly relieved to find that his 
 conqueror was a chivalrous man, who granted better terms than he expected. 
 The privates were allowed to retain their personal baggage and the officers their 
 side-arms. The number of prisoners was 15,000, and the blow was the first 
 really severe one that the South had received. As may be supposed, the news 
 caused great rejoicing in the North and was the beginning of Grant s fame as a 
 military leader a fame which steadily grew and expanded with the progress of 
 the war. 
 
 Jefferson Davis saw the mistake he had made in intrusting important inter 
 ests to political generals. He deprived Floyd of his command, and that officer 
 dropped back to the level from which he never ought to have been raised. 
 Pillow had done some good work in the Mexican War, but he was erratic and 
 unreliable, and he, too, was summarily snuffed out. Buckner, a West Point 
 graduate, upon being exchanged soon afterward, was assigned to an important 
 command and proved himself an excellent soldier. 
 
 CHANGE IN THE CONFEDERATE LINE OF DEFENSE. 
 
 The capture of Forts Henry and Donelson compelled a change in the 
 Confederate line of defense. General Albert Sidney Johnston withdrew from 
 Bowling Green to Nashville, but fell back again upon learning of the fall of 
 Fort Donelson, and assumed position near Murfreesboro , Tennessee. All the 
 northern part of that State, including the Cumberland River, was given up by 
 the Confederates, and, when the new line was established, the centre was held 
 by Beauregard at Jackson, the left by Polk at New Madrid, and the right by 
 Johnston at Murfreesboro . Thus the Confederates were driven out of Ken 
 tucky and the northern part of Tennessee. It was a serious check for the Con 
 federacy. 
 
 CAPTURE OF ISLAND NO. 10. 
 
 General Grant gave the enemy no rest. In order to retain possession of 
 
304 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 Island No. 10, it was necessary for them to hold the outpost of New Madrid. 
 In the latter part of February, General Pope led an expedition against that 
 place, while Commodore Foote made a demonstration in front with his gunboats. 
 Through cold and storm the Unionists bravely pushed their way, and the gar 
 rison of New Madrid were compelled to take refuge on Island No. 10, and in 
 the works on the Kentucky side of the river. Operations were then begun 
 against Island No. 10. By digging a canal twelve miles long, which permitted 
 the gunboats to pass around the defenses, and by energetic operations in all 
 directions, the Confederate position was rendered untenable, and the post, with a 
 large amount of war material, was surrendered to Commodore Foote. 
 
 Meanwhile, General Grant, after the occupation of Nashville, went down 
 the Tennessee River to Pittsburg Landing, while General Buell, with the other 
 portion of the Union army, started for the same point by land. Aware of this 
 division of the Federal forces, General Albert Sidney Johnston hastily concen 
 trated his own divisions with the intention of crushing the two Union armies 
 before they could unite. When Johnston arrived in the vicinity of Pittsburg 
 Landing on the 3d of April he had 40,000 men, divided into three corps 
 and a reserve. 
 
 BATTLE OF PJTTSBURG LANDING. 
 
 Pittsburg Landing, or Shiloh, as it is called in the South, consists of a 
 high bluff, a half-mile in extent, where General W. T. Sherman had been 
 ordered to take position and prepare for the arrival of 100,000 men. Grant was 
 not prepared for the unexpected attack. Buell was some distance away with 
 40,000 troops, and the Union commander had a somewhat less force on his side 
 of the Tennessee River. Only a few defenses had been thrown up, and the 
 men were scattered over the ground, when at daylight on Sunday morning, 
 April 6th, the Confederates furiously assailed the outlying divisions of the Union 
 army and drove them back upon the main body. They steadily gained ground, 
 and it looked as if nothing could save the Union army from overwhelming 
 disaster. 
 
 When the attack was made Grant was on the opposite side of the river in 
 consultation with Buell. Hurrying to the scene of the furious conflict, it looked 
 as if his army was on the edge of inevitable destruction, but he handled his 
 demoralized forces with such masterly skill that the panic was checked, and on 
 the river bank, over which they had been well-nigh driven, an effective stand 
 was made and the Confederates were checked, the gunboats giving invaluable 
 assistance in saving the army from defeat. The night closed with all the 
 advantage on the side of the Confederates. 
 
 The darkness, however, was of immeasurable value to the Federals. 
 BuelFs army was brought across the river and other reinforcements arrived, so 
 
EVACUATION OF CORINTH. 
 
 305 
 
 that in the morning Grant found himself in command of fully 50,000 well- 
 equipped troops. The greatest advantage gained by the Federals, however, came 
 during the previous day s fighting, when everything was going the way of their 
 enemies. General Albert Sidney Johnston, while directing operations, was 
 struck by a shot which shattered his knee and mortally wounded him. He 
 spoke only a few words as he was lifted from his horse, and the command 
 devolved upon Beauregard, much his inferior in ability. He was unable to 
 restrain the troops from plundering the captured Union camps; and when on 
 the second day Grant launched his regiments against them, they were driven 
 
 A RAILROAD BATTERY. 
 
 pellmell from the field, and did not stop their retreat until they reached Corinth, 
 Mississippi. 
 
 Little fear of the Union troops being caught a second time at such a dis 
 advantage. They were established on the upper part of the Tennessee, prepared 
 to strike blows in any direction. 
 
 EVACUATION OF CORINTH. 
 
 The withdrawal of Beauregard to Corinth made that point valuable to the 
 Unionists, because of the large number of railroads which centre there. It was 
 
 20 
 
306 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 strongly fortified, and no one expected its capture without a severe battle 
 General Halleck, who was high in favor with the government, assumed com 
 mand of the Union armies and began an advance upon Corinth. He moved 
 slowly and with great caution, and did not reach the front of the place until 
 the close of May. While making preparations to attack, Beauregard withdrew 
 and retired still further southward. No further Union advance was made for 
 some tf.c e. The important result accomplished was in opening up the Missis 
 sippi from Cairo to Memphis and extending the Union line so that it passed 
 along the southern boundary of Tennessee. 
 
 Beauregard resembled McClellan in many respects. He was excessively 
 cautious and disposed to dig trenches and throw up fortifications rather than 
 fight. Jefferson Davis always had a warm regard for General Braxton Bragg, 
 whom he now put in the place of Beauregard. By the opening of September, 
 Bragg had an army of 60,000 men. Kirby Smith s corps was at Knoxville and 
 Hardee and Polk were with Bragg at Chattanooga. 
 
 They were ordered to march through Kentucky to Louisville, threatening 
 Cincinnati on the way. Kirby Smith s approach threw that city into a panic, 
 but he turned off and joined Bragg at Frankfort. 
 
 A KACE FOR LOUISVILLE. 
 
 By this time the danger of Louisville was apparent, and Buell, who was 
 near Nashville, hastened to the defense of the more important city. Bragg ran 
 a race with him, but the burning of a bridge, spanning the river at Bardstown, 
 stopped him just long enough to allow Buell to reach Louisville first. This 
 was accomplished on the 25th of September, and BuelPs army was increased to 
 100,000 men. 
 
 BATTLE OF PERRYVILLE. 
 
 Disappointed in securing the main prize, Bragg marched to Frankfort, 
 where he installed a provisional governor of Kentucky and issued a high-sound 
 ing proclamation, to which few paid attention. Bragg had entered one of the 
 richest sections of the State, and he secured an enormous amount of supplies 
 in the shape of cattle, mules, bacon, and cloth. His presence in the State 
 was intolerable to the Union forces, and Buell, finding a strong army under his 
 command, set out to attack him. Bragg started to retreat through the Cumber 
 land Mountains on the 1st of October, with Buell in pursuit, A severe but 
 indecisive battle was fought at Perryville, and the Confederates succeeded in 
 carrying away their immense booty to Chattanooga, while the Union army took 
 position at Nashville. 
 
 The government was dissatisfied with the sluggishness of Buell and re 
 placed him with General William S. Rosecrans. He posted a part of his army 
 
BATTLE OF PEA RIDGE. 307 
 
 at Nashville and the remainder along the line of the Cumberland River. 
 Advancing against Bragg, he faced him in front of Murfreesboro , some forty 
 miles from Nashville. On the 30th of December brisk firing took place 
 between the armies, and when they encamped for the night their fires were in 
 plain sight of each other. 
 
 BATTLE OF MURFREESBORO OR STONE RIVER. 
 
 The opposing forces were on both sides of Stone River (this battle is gen 
 erally referred to in the South by that name), a short distance to the northwest 
 of Mnrfreesboro . By a curious coincidence, each of the respective commanders 
 formed the same plan of attack, it being to mass his forces on the left and 
 crush his enemy s right wing. A terrific engagement lasted all day, and night 
 closed without any decisive advantage to either side, though the Confederates 
 had succeeded in driving back the Union right upon the left and occupying a 
 considerable portion of the field formerly held by the Federals. 
 
 The exhaustion of the armies prevented anything more than skirmishing 
 on New Year s day, 1863, but on the afternoon of January 2d the furious 
 battle was renewed. Rosecrans ordered an advance of the whole line, and the 
 Confederate right wing was broken and the flank so endangered that Bragg was 
 compelled to withdraw his entire army. The only way for him to retain Ten 
 nessee was to abandon Murfreesboro . Accordingly, he retreated to a point 
 beyond Duck River, about fifty miles south of Murfreesboro , which was occu 
 pied by the Federals, January 5, 1863. 
 
 Other important events took place in the West. General Sterling Price 
 wintered in Springfield, Missouri, in the southern part of the State, and gained 
 a good many recruits and a large amount of needed supplies. He was attacked 
 by Sigel and Curtis on the 12th of February, and continued his retreat to the 
 Boston Mountains, where he was reinforced by McCulloch, Van Dorn, and 
 Albert Pike, and felt himself strong enough to turn about and attack Curtis, 
 who was in the neighborhood of Pea Ridge. 
 
 BATTLE OF PEA RIDGE. 
 
 The Union right was commanded by General Sigel, the left by General 
 Carr, and the centre by General Jefferson C. Davis. Sigel was surprised and 
 came very near being cut off, but he was master of the art of retreating rather 
 than of advancing, and he extricated his Germans with astonishing skill and 
 joined the main army. General Curtis changed his front, and in the attack his 
 right wing was driven back, obliging him that night to take a new position a 
 mile to the rear. The fighting next day was at first in favor of the Confederates, 
 and for a time the Union army was in a critical position ; but with great bravery 
 
308 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 and skill the enemy s left was turned, the centre broken, and their forces driven 
 in disorder from the field. 
 
 In this battle Albert Pike used 2,000 Indian allies. They belonged to the 
 " civilized " tribes, and good service was expected from them ; but they were un 
 accustomed to fighting in the open, could not be disciplined, and in the excite 
 ment of the struggle it is alleged they so lost their heads that they scalped about 
 as many of the Confederates as Unionists. At any rate, the experiment was a 
 failure, and thereafter they cut no figure in the war. 
 
 INDECISIVE FIGHTING. 
 
 The enemy were so badly shaken that they retreated toward the North 
 to reorganize and recruit. Reinforcements from Kansas and Missouri also 
 joined Curtis, who advanced in the direction of Springfield, Missouri, upon 
 learning that Price was making for the same point. Nothing followed, and 
 Curtis returned to Arkansas. He had been at Batesville in that State a few 
 months when he found himself in serious peril. His supplies were nearly ex 
 hausted, and it was impossible to renew them in the hostile country by which 
 he was surrounded. An expedition for his relief left Memphis in June, but 
 failed. Supplies from Missouri, however, reached him early in July. 
 
 Curtis marched to Jackson port, and afterward established himself at Helena 
 on the Mississippi. In September he was appointed commander of the depart 
 ment of Missouri, which included that State, Arkansas, and the Indian Terri 
 tory. There were many minor engagements, and the Unionists succeeded in 
 keeping the Confederates from regaining their former foothold in Missouri and 
 north of Arkansas. It may be said that all the fighting in that section pro 
 duced not the slightest effect on the war as a whole. The best military leaders 
 of the Confederacy advised President Davis to withdraw all his forces beyond 
 the Mississippi and concentrate them in the East, but he rejected their counsel, 
 and his stubbornness greatly weakened the Confederacy. 
 
 Having given an account of military operations in the West, it now remains 
 to tell of the much more important ones that occurred on the coast and in the 
 East, for they were decisive in their nature, and produced a distinct effect 
 upon the progress of the war for the Union. 
 
 CONSTRUCTION OF THE MERRIMAC. 
 
 It has been stated that early in the war the Norfolk navy yard was burned 
 to prevent its falling into the possession of the Confederates. Among the 
 vessels sunk was the frigate Merrimac, which went down before much injury 
 was done to her. She was a formidable craft of 3,500 tons, 300 feet in length, 
 and had mounted 40 guns. The Confederates succeeded in raising her, and 
 
CONSTRUCTION OF THE MERRIMAC. 
 
 309 
 
 proceeded to work marvelous changes in her structure, by which she was turned 
 into the first real armor-clad ever constructed. She was protected by layers of 
 railroad iron, which sloped like the roof of a house, and was furnished with a 
 prow of cast iron which projected four feet in front. Pivot guns were so fixed 
 as to be used for bow and stern chasers, and the pilot-house was placed forward 
 of the smoke-stack and armored with four inches of iron. She carried ten 
 guns, one at the stern, one at the bow, and eight at the sides, and fired shells 
 
 SECRETABY STANTON S OPINION ABOUT THE MERBIMAC. 
 
 " The whole character of the war will be changed." 
 
 Her iron armor sloped down at the sides, so that she looked like an enormous 
 mansard-roof moving through , the water. Her commanding officer was Com 
 modore Franklin Buchanan, formerly of the United States navy, while under 
 him were Lieutenant Catesby R Jones, the executive officer, six other lieuten 
 ants, six midshipmen, surgeons, engineers, and subordinate officers, in addition 
 to a crew of 300 men. She was rechristened the Virginia, but will always be 
 remembered as the Merrimac. 
 
 Of necessity this craft, being the pioneer of its kind, had many defects. She 
 
310 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 could move only very slowly, and her great length of 300 feet and poor steering 
 apparatus required a half-hour for her to make a complete turn, while her draft 
 of 22 feet confined her to the narrow channel of the Roads. Still she could go 
 faster than an ordinary sailing vessel, and her resistless momentum and iron 
 prow enabled her to crush any vessel afloat as if it were an egg-shell. 
 
 Great pains were taken by the Confederates to keep secret the particulars of 
 her building ; but it was known in Washington that a strange craft was in 
 course of construction at Norfolk, with which it was expected to capture Wash 
 ington and devastate the leading cities along the Atlantic seaboard. Ericsson, 
 the famous Swedish inventor, was engaged near New York in building a smaller 
 vessel upon the same principle, and he was pressed to make all possible haste in 
 finishing it ; for, though the government did not suspect the terrible effective 
 ness of the Merrimac, they meant to take all reasonable precautions against it. 
 
 AWFUL WORK OF THE MERRIMAC. 
 
 There were lying at Hampton Roads at that time five Union vessels, which, 
 being so close to the dangerous craft, were on the alert day and night for her 
 appearance. About noon on March 8th a column of dark smoke in the direc 
 tion of the Norfolk navy yard, followed by the forging into sight of the huge 
 hulk, left no doubt that the long-expected Merrimac was coming forth upon her 
 errand of death and destruction. In her company were three gunboats ready 
 to aid her in any way possible. The steam frigate Minnesota and Roanoke and 
 the sailing frigates Congress, Cumberland, and St. Lawrence immediately cleared 
 their decks for action. 
 
 The Minnesota and Roanoke moved out to meet the Merrimac, but both 
 got aground. In the case of the Minnesota this was due to the treachery of the 
 pilot, who was in the employ of the Confederates. The Cumberland swerved 
 so as to bring her broadsides to bear, and opened with her pivot guns, at the 
 distance of a mile. The aim was accurate, but the iron balls which struck tiie 
 massive hide of the Merrimac bounded off like pebbles skipping over the water. 
 Then the Congress added her broadsides to those of the Cumberland, but the 
 leviathan shed them all as if they were tiny hailstones, and, slowly advancing in 
 grim silence, finally opened with her guns, quickly killing four marines and 
 five sailors on the Cumberland. Then followed her resistless broadsides, which 
 played awful havoc with officers and men. Swinging slowly around, the Merri 
 mac next steamed a mile up the James, and, turning again, came back under full 
 speed. Striking the Cumberland under the starboard bow, she smashed a hole 
 into her through which a horse might have entered. The ship keeled over 
 until her yardarms were close to the water. The terrific force broke off the 
 prow of the Merrimac, but her frightful shots riddled the Cumberland and set 
 
THE MONITOR, 311 
 
 her on fire. The flames were extinguished, and the Cumberland delivered 
 broadside after broadside, only to see the enormous missiles fly off and spin 
 harmlessly hundreds of feet away. 
 
 Lieutenant George U. Morris, of the Cumberland, ran up the red flag 
 meaning " no surrender," and with a heroism never surpassed maintained the 
 unequal fight, if fight it can be called where there was absolutely no hope for 
 him. Finally the Cumberland went down to her cross-trees, in fifty-four feet of 
 water. Lieutenant Morris succeeded in saving himself by swimming, but of 
 the crew of 376, 121 lost their lives. 
 
 The Cumberland being destroyed, the Merrimac headed for the Congress, 
 which had run aground. She replied with her harmless broadsides, but the 
 Merrimac held her completely at her mercy, raking her fore and aft, and killing 
 100 of the crew, including the commander. It being evident that not a man 
 could escape, the white flag was run up in token of surrender. The hot firing 
 from the shore preventing Commodore Buchanan from taking possession of the 
 Congress, whereupon he fired her with hot shot. 
 
 During the fighting, Commodore Buchanan fearlessly exposed himself on 
 the upper deck of the Merrimac, and was badly wounded in the thigh by a 
 Union sharpshooter, whereupon the command was assumed by Lieutenant Jones. 
 By that time it was growing dark and the Merrimac steamed back to Sewall s 
 Point, intending to return the next morning and complete her appalling work 
 of destruction. 
 
 CONSTERNATION IN THE NORTH. 
 
 The news of what she had done caused consternation throughout the 
 North. President Lincoln called a special cabinet meeting, at which Secretary 
 Stan ton declared, in great excitement, that nothing could prevent the monster 
 from steaming up the Potomac, destroying Washington, and laying the prin 
 cipal northern cities under contribution. The alarm of the bluff secretary was 
 natural, but there was no real ground for it, 
 
 THE MONITOR. 
 
 The Swedish inventor, John Ericsson, had completed his Monitor, which 
 at that hour was steaming southward from New York. Although an iron-clad 
 like the Merrimac, she was as different as can be conceived in construction. 
 She resembled a raft, the upper portion of which was 172 feet long and the 
 lower 124 feet. The sides of the former were made of oak, twenty-five inches 
 thick, and covered with five-inch iron armor. 
 
 The turret was protected by eight-inch plates of wrought iron, increasing 
 in thickness to the port-holes, near which it was eleven inches through. It 
 was nine feet high, with a diameter of twenty-one feet. She drew only ten feet 
 
312 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 of water, and was armored with two eleven-inch Dahlgren guns, smooth bore, 
 firing solid shot weighing 180 pounds. 
 
 The pilot-house was made of nine-inch plates of forged iron, rose four 
 feet above the deck, and would hold three men by crowding. The Monitor was 
 one-fifth the size of the Jferrimac, and her appearance has been likened to that 
 of a cheese-box on a raft. She was in command of Lieutenant John L. Worden, 
 with Lieutenant S. Dana Green as executive officer. Her crew consisted of 
 >ixtirii officers :md forty-two men, and she left New York on the morning of 
 
 March 6th, in tow of a tug-boat. 
 The greatest difficulty was en 
 countered in managing her, the 
 men narrowly escaping being 
 smothered by gas, and, had not 
 the weather been unusually favor 
 able, she would have foundered ; 
 but providentially she steamed 
 into Hampton Roads, undiscov 
 ered by the enemy, and took her 
 position behind the Minnesota, 
 ready for the events of the mor 
 row. 
 
 The Merrimac was promptly 
 on time the next morning, and 
 was accompanied by two gun 
 boats; but while steaming toward 
 the remaining Union vessels the 
 Monitor darted out from behind 
 the Minnesota and boldly advanced 
 to meet her terrible antagonist. 
 They silently approached each 
 other until within a hundred 
 yards, when the Monitor fired a shot, to which the Merrimac replied. The 
 firing was rapid for a time and then became slower, with the intervening 
 space varying from fifty yards to four times that distance. A number of the 
 Merrimac s shots struck the Monitor s pilot-house and turret, the crash doing no 
 harm except almost to deafen the men within. Most of the shells, however, 
 missed or skipped over the low deck of the smaller boat. 
 
 The latter was able to dodge the rushes of the larger craft and play all 
 around her, but the terrible pounding worked damage to both, the Monitor suf 
 fering the most. The iron plate of the pilot-house was lifted by a shell, which 
 
 JOHN ERICSSON. 
 
 The famous constructor of the Monitor. 
 
CAPTURE OF NEW ORLEANS. 313 
 
 blinded Lieutenant Worden, and so disabled him that he was forced to turn 
 over the command to Lieutenant Green. Worden, who lived to become an 
 admiral, never fully recovered from his injuries. The firing, dodging, ramming, 
 and fighting continued for four hours, but the Herrimac was unable to disable 
 her nimble antagonist, and slowly steamed back to Norfolk, while the Monitor 
 returned to her former position, and was carefully kept in reserve by the govern 
 ment against future perils of a similar character. 
 
 FATE OF THE MERRIMAC AND MONITOR. 
 
 Neither of the vessels was permitted to do further service. Some months 
 later, upon the evacuation of Norfolk, the Merrimac was blown up to prevent 
 her falling into the hands of the Unionists, and the Monitor foundered off Hat- 
 teras in December, 1862. The battle wrought a complete revolution in naval 
 warfare. The days of wooden ships ended, and all the navies of the world are 
 now made up mainly of ironclads. 
 
 More important work was done by the Union fleets during this year. The 
 government put forth every energy to build ships, with the result that hundreds 
 were added to the naval force, many of which were partial and others wholly 
 ironclad. 
 
 OTHER COAST OPERATIONS. 
 
 A month before the fight between the Monitor and Merrimac, a formidable 
 naval expedition under Commodore Goldsborough and General Ambrose E. 
 Burnside passed down the Atlantic coast and captured Roanoke Island. St. 
 Augustine and a number of other places in Florida were captured by troops from 
 Port Eoyal. Siege was laid to Fort Pulaski, at the mouth of the Savannah 
 River, and it surrendered April llth. The advantage of these and similar cap 
 tures was that it gave the blockading fleets control of the principal harbors, and 
 made it easier to enforce a rigid blockade. There were two ports, however, 
 which the Union vessels were never able to capture until the close of the war. 
 They were Charleston and Wilmington, North Carolina. The latter became 
 the chief port from which the Confederate blockade-runners dashed out or en 
 tered and were enabled to bring the most-needed medical and other supplies to 
 the Confederacy, while at the same time the owners and officers of the ships 
 reaped fortunes for themselves. 
 
 CAPTURE OF NEW ORLEANS. 
 
 One of the primal purposes of the war was to open the Mississippi, which 
 was locked by the enemy at Vicksburg and New Orleans. As a necessary step 
 in the opening of the great river, an expedition was fitted out for the capture 
 of New Orleans. Well aware of what was coming, the Confederates had done 
 
314 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 all they could to strengthen the defenses of the city. Thirty miles from the 
 mouth of the Mississippi were the powerful Forts Jackson and St. Philip, on op 
 posite sides of the river. They mounted 100 heavy guns, and six powerful 
 chains were stretched across, supported by an immense raft of cypress logs. 
 Thus the river was closed and no fleet could approach New Orleans until these 
 obstructions were removed or overcome. When this should be done, it was still 
 seventy-five miles to New Orleans. 
 
 Above the boom of hulks and logs was a fleet of fifteen Confederate ves 
 sels, including the ironclad ram Manassas, and a partly completed floating bat 
 tery armored with railroad iron, and known as the Louisiana. It has been 
 stated that the ironclads of those days were only partly protected by armor. 
 
 The naval and military expedition which sailed for New Orleans in the 
 spring of 18G2 consisted of six sloops of war, sixteen gunboats, five other ves 
 sels, and twenty-one mortar-schooners, the last being under charge of Captain 
 David D. Porter, while Commodore David G. Farragut had command of the 
 fleet, The troops, mostly from New England, were commanded by General 
 B. F. Butler. 
 
 Farragut crossed the bar, April 8th, and spent several days in making his 
 preparations for bombarding Forts Jackson and St. Philip. The bombardment 
 began April 27th, 1,400 shells being thrown in one day. Farragut then called 
 his captains together and told them he had resolved to run by the forts. The 
 only question, therefore, was as to the best means of doing it. It was decided 
 to make the attempt at night. The darkness, however, was of little benefit, 
 since the enemy s huge bonfires on both shores lit up the river as if it were 
 noonday. Previous to this, Lieutenant C. H. B. Caldwell, in the gunboat Itasca, 
 had ascended the river undiscovered in the darkness and opened a way through 
 the boom for the fleet. 
 
 Farragut arranged the fleet in two columns, his own firing upon Fort Jack 
 son, while the other poured its broadsides into Fort St. Philip. The flagship 
 Hartford led the way under cover of Porter s mortar-boats and the others fol 
 lowed. There was a furious fight between the fleets, but every Confederate was 
 either captured or destroyed. 
 
 Farragut steamed on to the city, silencing the batteries along the banks, 
 and, at noon, a messenger was sent ashore with a demand for the surrender of 
 the city. General Lovell was in command of 3,000 troops, intended for the 
 defense of New Orleans, but he fled. The mayor refusing to haul down the 
 secession flag, the Union troops took possession, raised the Union banner over 
 the mint, and placed the city in charge of General Butler. The citizens were in 
 such a savage mood that Commodore Farragut had to bring them to their senses 
 by a threat to bombard the city. 
 
THE ADVANCE AGAINST RICHMOND. 
 
 315 
 
 General Butler ruled with great strictness, and virtually held New 
 Orleans under martial law. A Confederate won the applause of his friends by 
 climbing to the top of the mint, hauling down the flag, dragging it through the 
 mud, and then tearing it to shreds. Butler brought him to trial before a military 
 commission, and, being found guilty of the unpardonable insult to the flag, he 
 was hanged. 
 
 The fall of New Orleans, one of the leading cities, was a severe blow to the 
 Confederacy. The only points where the Mississippi was strongly held by the 
 enemy were at Vicksburg and Port Hudson, and attention was already turned 
 to them. Farragut having completed his work, for the time took command in 
 the Gulf of Mexico. 
 
 The most momentous events of the year occurred in the east and marked 
 
 LIBBY PRISON IN 1865. 
 
 the struggle between the Army of the Potomac and the Confederate Army of 
 Northern Virginia, as it came to be called. 
 
 THE ADVANCE AGAINST RICHMOND. 
 
 McClellan continued to drill and train his army through the fall of 1861, 
 and well into the following year. It numbered nearly 200,000 men and was 
 one of the finest organizations in the world. In reply to the expressions of 
 impatience, the commander invariably replied that a forward movement would 
 soon be begun, but the weeks and months passed and the drilling went on, and 
 nothing was done. Finally, the government gave the commander to understand 
 that he must advance. 
 
 McClellan s plan was to move against Richmond, from the lower part of 
 Chesapeake Bay, by way of Urbana on the Rappahannock. While this had 
 
316 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 many advantages, its fatal objection in the eyes of the President was that it 
 would leave Washington unprotected. He issued an order on the 27th of Jan 
 uary directing that on the 22d of February there should be a general land and 
 naval movement against the enemy s position on the Potomac, and that, after 
 providing for the defense of Washington, a force should seize and occupy a 
 point upon the railway to the southwest of Manassas Junction. McClellan was 
 offended by the act of the President and protested, but Mr. Lincoln clung in 
 the main to his plan, and, since the delay continued, he issued orders directing 
 the formation of the army into corps and naming the generals to command 
 them. Another order made arrangements for the intended advance, and it was 
 left to McClellan to carry them out. 
 
 LIBBY PRISON IN 1884, BEFORE ITS REMOVAL TO CHICAGO. 
 
 Reliable information reached Washington that General Joseph E. John 
 ston, commander of the Confederate forces at Manassas, was engaged in with 
 drawing his lines with a view of taking a stronger position nearer Richmond. 
 General McClellan began a forward movement with the Army of the Potomac 
 on the 10th of March. The truth was that Confederate spies in Washington 
 had apprised Johnston of the intended advance of McClellan from the lower 
 Chesapeake, and his action was with a view of checkmating the Union corn- 
 Instead of carrying out this plan, McClellan marched to Centreville 
 and occupied the vacated intrenchments of the enemy. The general hope was 
 that Johnston would be forced to give battle, but the roads in Virginia, at that 
 
THE ADVANCE AGAINST RICHMOND. 317 
 
 season, were one sea of mud, which made progress so slow that the Confederates 
 had time in which to withdraw at their leisure. 
 
 Crossing the Potomac into Virginia, with the main army, McClellan made 
 his first headquarters at Fairfax Court-House. About that time he received 
 news that he was relieved of the command of the other departments, his authority 
 being confined to the direction of the Army of the Potomac. He was directed 
 by the President to garrison Manassas securely, see that Washington was pro 
 tected, and, with the rest of his force, assume a new base at Fort Monroe, or 
 " anywhere between here and there," and, above all things, to pursue the enemy 
 " by some route." 
 
 McClellan s four corps commanders were Sumner, McDowell, Heintzel- 
 man, and Keyes, and they and he agreed upon a plan of campaign. The 
 difficulties of transporting nearly 100,000 men to Fort Monroe were so great 
 that two weeks were occupied in completing the transfer. In order to prevent 
 the Confederates from getting in his rear, McClellan directed Banks to rebuild 
 the railroad from Washington to Manassas and Strasburg, thus keeping open 
 communication with the Shenandoah Valley, where the enemy were in force, a 
 fact which caused the government much uneasiness for the national capital. 
 Indeed, it was a part of the effective plan of Johnston to embarrass the cam 
 paign against Richmond. 
 
 Banks occupied Winchester about the middle of March and sent a force 
 under Shields to Strasburg. He found Stonewall Jackson there with such a 
 strong force that he fell back to Winchester, where, after the withdrawal of the 
 main body by Banks, he was attacked by Jackson, who was repulsed. 
 
 In pursuance of the new plan of campaign, McClellan made Fort Monroe 
 his first base of operations, using the route through Yorktown and West Point 
 for the advance to Richmond. He expected to fight a great battle on the way 
 thither, for the enemy could not fail to read the meaning of his movements. 
 McClellan reasoned that this battle would take place between West Point and 
 Richmond, and his intention was to advance without delay to the former posi 
 tion and use it as his chief depot for supplies. His plan was to make a com 
 bined naval and military attack on Yorktown, send a strong force up the York 
 River, aided by the gunboats, and thus establish his new base of operations 
 within twenty-five miles of the Confederate capital. 
 
 It was not long before he began calling for reinforcements, and the govern 
 ment, instead of aiding him, took away piecemeal many of the troops upon 
 which the commander had counted to aid him in his campaign. He wanted 
 150,000 men and a large increase of cannon. The 10,000 men, composing 
 Blenker s division, were detached, as the President informed him, to support 
 Fremont, but Mr. Lincoln promised to withdraw no more from the main army. 
 
318 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN.. 
 
 McClellan remained at his headquarters near Alexandria until most of his 
 forces were well on the road to the Yorktown peninsula. He left on the 1st of 
 April and the troops were landed three days later. Then a force of 56,000 
 men with 100 guns started for Yorktown. 
 
 But for the inherent timidity and distrust of McClellan, he might have 
 captured Richmond, by marching straight ahead to the city, for the Confederate 
 force opposed to him was but a fragment of his own, and could have been 
 trampled underfoot. The Confederate intrenchments were a dozen miles in 
 length, and were defended by Magruder with a force that allowed less than a 
 thousand men for each mile. 
 
 Instead of pushing on, McClellan began a regular siege of Yorktown. 
 Immense siege guns were dragged through the muddy swamps, and the musket 
 was laid aside for the spade and shovel, which the men applied week after week, 
 until worn out and with thousands prostrated by sickness. The delay, as a 
 matter of course, was improved by the Confederates in strengthening the 
 defenses of their capital. At the end of a month, the Union army advanced, 
 whereupon Magruder fell back to other fortifications nearer Richmond. The 
 whole month had been worse than thrown away by McClellan, for it had given 
 the enemy all the time they needed to complete their defenses. 
 
 The Confederate army was increased, and reinforcements were sent to 
 McClellan, whose forces were fully 20,000 in excess of those under Johnston, 
 but the Union leader magnified the strength of the enemy and continued to call 
 for more troops. It was this unvarying demand that brought the impatient 
 remark from Secretary of War Stanton : 
 
 " If I gave McClellan a million men, he would swear the rebels had two 
 millions, and sit down in the mud and refuse to move until he had three 
 millions." 
 
 The Confederates fell back to Williamsburg, at the narrowest part of the 
 peninsula, between the James and York Rivers, and began fortifying their posi 
 tion. The Union gunboats ascended to Yorktown, where the Federal depots 
 were established. Longstreet, in command of the Confederate rear, halted and 
 gave battle with a view of protecting his trains. 
 
 The engagement took place on May 5th. The Unionists were repulsed at 
 first, but regained and held their ground, the night closing without any decided 
 advantage to either army. Longstreet, however, had held the Federals in check 
 as long as was necessary, and when he resumed his retreat McClellan did not 
 attempt to pursue him. 
 
 The Confederates continued falling back, with McClellan cautiously follow 
 ing. The delay secured by the enemy enabled them to send their baggage and 
 supply trains into Richmond, while the army stripped for the fray. They aban- 
 
THE ADVANCE AGAINST RICHMOND. 
 
 319 
 
 doned the Yorktown peninsula altogether and evacuated Norfolk, which was 
 occupied by General Wool. It was this movement which caused the blowing 
 up of the Merrimac, referred to elsewhere. 
 
 From this it will be seen that both 
 shores of the James were in possession 
 of the Union forces. The Confederate 
 army withdrew within the defenses of 
 Richmond on the 10th 
 of May, and the Fed 
 eral gunboats, after 
 steaming up the river 
 to within twelve miles 
 of the city, were com 
 pel 1 e d to withdraw 
 before the plunging 
 shots of the batteries, 
 
 which stood on the 
 tops of the high bluffs. 
 Following the line 
 of the Pamunkey, 
 _ McClelland advance- 
 
 ~* | guard reached the Chickahominy 
 on the 21st of May, and could plainly 
 see the spires and steeples of Rich 
 mond, which was thrown into a state 
 of great alarm. Rain fell most of 
 the time, and the rise of the Chicka 
 hominy carried away the bridges, 
 made the surrounding country a 
 swamp, and badly divided the Union 
 army. 
 
 MOZST WEATHEB AT THE TOONT. " e f tllG m St effeCtiV6 ^^ 
 
 employed by the Confederate com 
 mander against the Union advance was by creating a diversion in the Shenan- 
 doah Valley and fear for the safety of Washington. Rather than lose that, 
 our government would have sacrificed the Army of the Potomac. General 
 Johnston had sent Stonewall Jackson into the Valley, where Banks was in 
 
320 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 command. He was another of the political generals, wholly unfitted for the 
 responsibilities placed in his hands. 
 
 At the opening of hostilities, Banks was so confident that he telegraphed 
 the government that Jackson was on the eve of being crushed ; but it proved 
 the other way. Banks was completely outgeneraled and sent flying toward 
 Washington. His troops marched more than thirty miles a day, and would 
 have been captured or destroyed to a man had Jackson continued his pursuit, 
 but his forces were fewer in numbers, and he allowed the exhausted and panic- 
 stricken fugitives to find refuge in Washington. 
 
 This routing of Banks frightened Washington again, and McDowell was 
 hastily called from Fredericksburg to the defense of the capital. This was the 
 very thing for which the Confederates had planned, since it kept those rein 
 forcements away from McCIellan, who was ordered by President Lincoln to 
 attack at once or give up his plan. Still cautious and wishing to feel every foot 
 of the way, McCIellan pushed a reconnoissance in the direction of Hanover Court- 
 House. 
 
 When fire was opened on the Confederates most of them fell back to 
 Richmond, General Jo Johnston, p^rueiving that the Union army was divided 
 by the swollen Chickahominy, quickly took advantage of it, and prepared to 
 hurl a force of 50,000 against the Union corps, which numbered a little more 
 than half as many. A violent rain so interfered with his plans that 10,000 of 
 his troops were unable to take part in the battle. In the disjointed struggle 
 which followed, the Confederates were successful at what is known as the battle 
 of Seven Pines, but were defeated at Fair Oaks. Both were fought on June 1st. 
 
 GENERAL LEE BECOMES CONFEDERATE COMMANDER. 
 
 In the fighting on the morrow, General Johnston, while directing the at 
 tack of the right, was desperately wounded by an exploding shell, which broke 
 several ribs and knocked him from his horse. General G. W. Smith succeeded 
 him in command, but three days later gave way to General R. E. Lee, who in 
 time became the supreme head of the military forces of the Confederacy, and 
 retained his command to the last. 
 
 M CLELLAN S TARDINESS. 
 
 The corps commanders believed that if McCIellan would press matters 
 Richmond could be captured, but the Union leader devoted several weeks to 
 building bridges. It rained incessantly and the health of the men suffered. 
 Many more died from disease than from bullets and wounds, and McClellan s 
 tardiness gave the enemy the time they needed in which to make their combinations 
 as strong as possible. Stonewall Jackson, although placed in a perilous position 
 
THE SEVEN DAYS FIGHT. 321 
 
 in the Shenandoah Valley, skillfully extricated himself and united his corps 
 with the troops that were defending Richmond. 
 
 GENERAL STUART S RAID. 
 
 While McClellan was engaged in constructing bridges over the Chicka- 
 hominy, and no important movement was made by either army, General J. E. 
 B. Stuart, the famous cavalry leader, left Richmond, June 13th, with a strong 
 mounted force, and, by rapid riding and his knowledge of the country, passed 
 entirely around the Federal army, cutting telegraph wires, burning bridges, 
 capturing wagons and supplies, frightening McClellan, and returning to Rich 
 mond, after two days absence, with the loss of only a single man. 
 
 The Union commander was discouraged by the withdrawal of McDowell 
 to the defense of Washington, by the uncertainty regarding the disposition of the 
 enemy s corps, and by the belief that they were much more numerous than was 
 the fact. He decided to change the base of his operations from the Pamunkey 
 to the James. Both he and Lee fixed upon the same day June 26th for an 
 offensive movement; but Lee was the first to act. On the afternoon of that day 
 a vehement attack was made upon the Union right. The assault was repulsed, 
 after a furious struggle, and it marked the beginning of that fearful series of 
 battles known as the Seven Days Fight. 
 
 THE SEVEN DAYS* FIGHT. 
 
 Feeling insecure, McClellan fell back, and the terrific fighting, beginning 
 June 26th, at Mechanicsville, continued with scarcely any intermission until 
 July 1st. Both armies were well handled and fought bravely, but McClellan 
 kept steadily falling back. Lee was not satisfied with simply defeating the 
 Union army; he strained every nerve to destroy it, but he was defeated in his 
 purpose, and, as the hot afternoon of June 30th was drawing to a close, the last 
 wagon train of the Union army reached Malvern Hill, and preparations were 
 hurriedly made to resist the assault that every one knew would soon come. 
 
 Malvern Hill was a strong position. In addition the Federals had the aid 
 of the gunboats. Indeed, the place was so well-nigh impregnable that the 
 warmest admirers of General Lee must condemn his furious and repeated 
 assaults upon it. He suffered a disastrous repulse, and in the end withdrew to 
 i the defenses of Richmond, while McClellan took position at Harrison s Land 
 ing. All the Union troops had arrived by the night of July 3d, and their 
 commander began to study out a new plan for another advance against the Con 
 federate capital. Before anything could be done, he was peremptorily ordered 
 to withdraw his army from the peninsula. The movement was begun with the 
 
 21 
 
322 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 purpose of uniting the troops with those of General Pope, who was to the south 
 east of Washington, and placing them all under his command. 
 
 Pope had 40,000 troops between Fredericksburg and Washington. Learn 
 ing the situation, Lee kept enough men to hold Richmond, and sent the rest, 
 under Stonewall Jackson, against Pope in the north. Jackson executed the 
 task intrusted to him in his usual meteoric fashion. Despite the risk involved, 
 he threw himself between Pope and Washington and struck here, there, and 
 everywhere so rapidly that the Union general became bewildered, his associate 
 officers disgusted, and everything was involved in inextricable confusion. 
 
 SECOND BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 
 
 The second battle of Bull Run, or Manassas, opened early on August 29th 
 and lasted until dusk. The fighting was desperate, Jackson standing mainly on 
 the defensive and waiting for Longstreet, who was hurrying forward through 
 Thoroughfare Gap. At night Jackson withdrew so as to connect with Long- 
 street. Believing the movement meant a retreat, Pope telegraphed to that effect 
 to Washington. But he was grievously mistaken, for the Confederates were 
 rapidly reinforced, as was discovered the next day, when the battle was renewed 
 and pressed resistlessly against the Federals. In the afternoon Lee arrived on 
 the ground, and, taking command, ordered an advance. Pope retreated, and 
 that night crossed Bull Run and took position behind the field works at Centre- 
 ville. Other corps joined him, and on the 1st of September Lee made a demon 
 stration against the Union right flank. Pope now became terrified, as he saw 
 that Washington was threatened, and he began a tumultuous retreat toward the 
 capital, pursued and harassed by the Confederates, until at last the whole 
 disorganized army found rest and safety behind the fortifications at Washing 
 ton. Pope had been disastrously defeated, and the second campaign against 
 Richmond was one of the worst failures conceivable. 
 
 M CLELLAN RECALLED TO COMMAND. 
 
 Pope had done the best he knew how, but the task was beyond his ability, 
 and he was glad enough to be relieved of his command, which was assumed 
 once more by McClellan, who still retained a great deal of his popularity with 
 the rank and file. Pope s division had been styled the Army of Virginia, but 
 the name was now dropped, and the consolidated forces adopted the title of the 
 Army of the Potomac, by whicb it was known to the close of the Avar. 
 
 The success of the Confederates had been so decisive that the Richmond 
 authorities now decided to assume the aggressive and invade the North. It was 
 a bold plan thus to send their principal army so far from its base, and General 
 Lee did not favor it, but the opportunity was too tempting for his superiors to 
 
THE CONFEDERATE ADVANCE INTO MARYLAND. 323 
 
 disregard. One great incentive was the well-founded belief that if the Confed 
 eracy gained a marked advantage, England and France would intervene and 
 thus secure the independence of the South. 
 
 The neighboring State of Maryland was viewed with longing and hopeful 
 eyes by Lee and his army. It was a slave State, had furnished a good many 
 men to the Confederate armies, and, had it been left to itself, probably would 
 have seceded. What more likely, therefore, than that its people would hasten 
 to link their fortunes with the Confederacy on the very hour that its most 
 powerful army crossed her border ? 
 
 THE CONFEDERATE ADVANCE INTO MARYLAND. 
 
 The Confederate army began fording the Potomac at a point nearly oppo 
 site the Monocacy, and by the 5th of September all of it was on Maryland soil. 
 The bands struck up the popular air, "Maryland, my Maryland," the exultant 
 thousands joining in the tremendous chorus, as they swung off, all in high spirits 
 at the belief that they were entering a land "flowing with milk and honey," 
 where they would find abundant food and be received with outspread arms. 
 
 Frederick City was reached on the 6th, and two days later Lee issued an 
 address to the people of Maryland, inviting them to unite Avith the South, but 
 insisting that they should follow their free-will in every respect. The document 
 was a temperate one, and the discipline of the troops was so excellent that 
 nothing in the nature of plundering occurred. 
 
 But it did not take Lee long to discover he had made a grievous mistake by 
 invading Maryland. If the people were sympathetic, they did not show it by 
 anything more than words and looks. They refused to enlist in the rebel army, 
 gave Lee the "cold shoulder," and left no doubt that their greatest pleasure 
 would be to see the last of the ragged horde. 
 
 While at Frederick, Lee learned that the Union Colonel Miles was at 
 Harper s Ferry with 12,000 troops, held there by the direct order of General 
 Halleck, who was the acting commander-in-chief of the United States forces. 
 Lee determined to capture the whole body, and, detaching Stonewall Jackson 
 with three divisions, ordered him to do so and return to him with the least pos 
 sible delay. 
 
 Military critics have condemned this act of Lee as one of the gravest blun 
 ders of his career. His advance thus far had been resistless, and it was in his 
 power to capture Baltimore, and probably Philadelphia and Washington ; but 
 the delay involved in awaiting the return of Jackson gave McClellan, who was 
 a skillful organizer, time to prepare to meet the Confederate invasion. 
 
 Jackson lost not an hour in capturing Harper s Ferry, the defense of which 
 was so disgraceful that had not Colonel Miles been killed just as the white flag 
 
324 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 was run up he would have been court-martialed and probably shot. Many sus 
 pected him of treason, but the real reason was his cowardice and the fact that he 
 was intoxicated most of the time. Be that as it may, Harper s Ferry surren 
 dered with its garrison of 11,500 men, who were immediately paroled. The 
 Confederates obtained seventy-two cannon, 13,000 small arms, and an immense 
 amount of military stores. 
 
 Scarcely had the surrender taken place, when Jackson, who had hardly 
 slept for several days and nights, received orders from Lee to join him at once. 
 He started without delay, but he and his men were almost worn out. It is likely 
 that by this time Lee was aware of the mistake he had made when he stopped 
 for several days while his leading assistant went off to capture a post that was 
 of no importance to either side. 
 
 M CLELLAN S PURSUIT OF LEE. 
 
 Leaving a strong garrison to defend Washington, McClellan, at the head 
 of 100,000 troops, set out to follow Lee, who had about 70,000 under his im 
 mediate command. The Union leader reached Frederick on the 12th of Sep 
 tember, and there a curious piece of good fortune befell him. 
 
 In the house which had been used as the headquarters of General D. H. 
 Hill was found a copy of an order issued by General Lee, which detailed his 
 projected movements, and contained his instructions to his various leaders. It 
 was priceless information to General McClellan, who made good use of it. 
 
 Lee manoeuvred to draw McClellan away from Washington and Baltimore, 
 that he might attack them before the Union commander could return to their 
 defense. Lee left Frederick on September 10th, after Jackson had started for 
 Harper s Ferry, and, marching by South Mountain, aimed for Boonsboro . 
 Stuart and his cavalry remained east of the mountains to watch McClellan, 
 who was advancing with every possible precaution. Lee expected Harper s 
 Ferry would fall on the 13th, but the surrender did not take place until two 
 days later. The Confederate army being divided, McClellan tried to take 
 advantage of the fact, hoping to save Colonel Miles at Harper s Ferry. It did 
 not take Lee long to perceive from the actions of the Union commander that 
 in some way he had learned of his plans. 
 
 It would not be interesting to give the details of the many manoeuvres by 
 each commander, but before long Lee saw he could not hold his position at 
 South Mountain, and he retreated toward Sharpsburg, near the stream of water 
 known as Antietam Creek. He was thus on the flank of any Federal force 
 that might attempt to save Harper s Ferry. Naturally he held the fords of the 
 Potomac, so that in case of defeat the way to Virginia was open. 
 
 Still Lee and Jackson were separated by a wide stretch of mountain, river, 
 
GENERAL LEE S INVASION OF THE NORTH 
 
 The Confederate army under General Lee twice invaded the North. The first invasion was brought to a disastrous end bv the Battle 
 
 of Antietam, September 17, 1862. The second invasion ended with greater disaster at Gettysburg, July 1-3, 1863. 
 
 Gettysburg was the greatest and Antietam the bloodiest battles of the war. 
 
BATTLE OF ANTIETAM OR SHARPSBURG. 
 
 325 
 
 and plain, and McClellan was aware of the fact. He had the opportunity to 
 cut off each division in detail, but lacked the nerve and dash to do it. There 
 were subordinates in the Army of the Potomac who yearned for just such a 
 chance, but McClellau s timidity and excessive caution deprived him of another 
 golden opportunity, as it had done before and was soon to do again. 
 
 The position of Lee was among a range of hills, which, following the form 
 of a crescent, extended from the lower point of Antietam Creek to a bend in 
 the Potomac. Jackson was straining every nerve to join Lee, but his men were 
 
 A.NTIETAM BRIDGE. 
 
 taxed beyond endurance, and many of them fell by the roadside from utter 
 exhaustion, only a portion reaching Sharpsburg on the 16th. The full Confed 
 erate army did not exceed 40,000, while McClellan, who arrived on the opposite 
 side of Antietam Creek, that afternoon, had 70,000. Instead of attacking at 
 once, he waited two days, and thus gave Lee time to gather many thousand 
 stragglers. 
 
 BATTLE OF ANTIETAM OR SHARPSBURG. 
 
 Finally, when McClellan had no excuse for further delay, and the enemy 
 was in fine form, he opened the attack on the morning of the 17th. To reach 
 
326 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 Lee the Union commander bad to cross the creek, which was spanned by three 
 bridges, each defended by Confederate batteries. 
 
 The first attack was by Hooker on the enemy s left, where he drove Jack 
 son back, after he had been reinforced by Hood, cleared the woods, and took 
 possession of the Dunker Church, which stood slightly north of Sharpsburg. 
 A little way beyond the Confederates made a stand, and, being reinforced, 
 recovered most of the ground they had lost. General Mansfield was killed and 
 Hooker received a painful wound in the foot. When their two corps were 
 retreating in confusion, Simmer arrived, rallied them, and made a successful 
 stand. Seeing the critical situation, Lee hurried every available man to that 
 point. This left only 2,500 troops in front of the bridge, where Burnside had 
 14,000. McClellan sent repeated orders for him to advance, but he paid no 
 attention until one o clock, when he crossed without trouble, and then remained 
 idle for three more hours. The heights were soon captured, and a position 
 secured from which the rebel lines could be enfiladed. A. P. Hill arrived at 
 this juncture from Harper s Ferry with 4,000 men, and drove Burnside in a 
 panic to the creek. Fighting soon ceased, both sides too much exhausted 
 to keep up the terrific struggle, the position of the two armies being much the 
 same as at first. 
 
 This fierce battle had wrenched and disorganized both armies, but McClel 
 lan, who had much the larger body, could have destroyed or captured those in 
 front of him, had he followed the urgent advice of his officers, and given the 
 enemy no rest. But he decided to await reinforcements, which arrived to the 
 number of 14,000 that night. Then he resumed his preparations, and on the 
 morning of the 19th advanced against the enemy, only to find there was none 
 in front of him. 
 
 LEE S RETREAT. 
 
 The retreat of Lee was deliberate. Having accurately gauged the 
 commander in front of him, he spent all of the 18th in completing his 
 preparations, and made no move until the next morning. Then, protected by 
 batteries on the opposite bank, he crossed the Potomac, and on the 20th drove 
 back a Union reconnoissance. The government, impatient with McClellan s 
 tardiness, urged and almost ordered him to follow up Lee, but the commander 
 preferred to guard against being followed up himself by the Army of Northern 
 Virginia. Thus again a golden opportunity slipped away unimproved. 
 
 Naturally each side claimed a victory at Antietam or Sharpsburg, as it is 
 called in the South, but such a claim in either case is hardly justifiable. It 
 may be said, on the one hand, that Lee s invasion of the North was brought to 
 a disastrous end by his check at Antietam, but the claim of Lee was that his 
 failure to secure the expected recruits from Maryland, and his distance from the 
 
McCLELLAN SUPERSEDED BY BURNSIDE. 327 
 
 base of supplies, necessitated such a withdrawal on his part, for it is established 
 that he was opposed to the northward advance from the first. 
 
 On the other hand, he had received a serious check, but his army remained 
 intact and was as well prepared as ever to contest the campaign against Richmond, 
 a campaign which had to be pushed to a successful conclusion before the war 
 could end. The one grand opportunity of General McClellan s life was 
 presented to him at the close of the battle of Antietam, and, failing to seize 
 it, it never came again, and his military career ended with failure. 
 
 Antietam was, in comparison to numbers engaged, the bloodiest battle of 
 the Civil War. The Union loss was 2,108 killed ; 9,549 wounded ; 753 missing; 
 total, 12,410. The Confederate loss was 1,886 killed; 9,348 wounded; 1,367 
 captured and missing; total, 12,601. 
 
 The government was insistent that McClellan should push his advance 
 against Richmond, but the favorable autumn wore away and the wet season 
 arrived before a plan of campaign was formulated. This was to cross the 
 Blue Ridge Mountains from Harper s Ferry, following the southeastern side of 
 the range, leaving detachments to guard all the passes, and thus threaten the 
 Confederate communications in the Shenandoah Valley. 
 
 M CLELLAN SUPERSEDED BY BURNSIDE. 
 
 Accordingly, on the 25th of October, the Army of the Potomac once more 
 faced toward the Confederate capital. In the course of a week, it held the 
 whole region southwest of the Blue Ridge and was near the army of General Lee, 
 who fell back, caut : ously followed at a safe distance by the Union commander. 
 On the night of November 7th, while McClellan was talking in his tent with 
 Burnside, a messenger arrived from Washington with an official order, relieving 
 McClellan of the command of the Army of the Potomac and appointing Burnside 
 as his successor. McClellan promptly turned over the care of the army to him, 
 and, as directed, proceeded to Trenton, N. J., to await further orders. 
 
 It may be added that General McClellan never served again in the army. 
 He resigned in 1864, and was nominated the same year for President of the 
 United States, but received only 21 electoral votes. He was Democratic governor 
 of New Jersey 1878-1881, and died at his home in Orange, N. J., October 29, 
 1885. 
 
 Burnside, although a fine corps commander, was not qualified to command 
 the splendid body over which he was thus placed. He devoted a number 
 of days to acquainting himself with his vastly enlarged duties. The six corps 
 were united into three divisions of two corps each, Sumner commanding the 
 right, Hooker the centre, and Franklin the left, while General Sigel had charge 
 of a body of reserve. 
 
328 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 After consulting with General Halleck, it was decided that the Army of 
 the Potomac should make a rapid march down the Rappahannock, cross by 
 ponton-bridges at Fredericksburg, and then advance upon Richmond by way of 
 Hanover Court-House. 
 
 Everything depended upon initiating the movement before it was dis 
 covered by the enemy, but the delays, which perhaps were unavoidable, revealed 
 the truth to Lee. When Simmer s division reached a point opposite Fredericks- 
 burg they saw the Confederates on the other side awaiting them. Still the force 
 was so meagre that Sumner wished to cross and crush it, but Burnside would 
 not permit. The delay gave Lee time to bring up his whole army and make his 
 position impregnable. He stationed a battery some miles below the town to 
 prevent any Union gunboats coming up stream, while every ford was closely 
 guarded. 
 
 Burnside faltered before the position that was like a mountain wall, but the 
 North was clamorous for something to be done, and he decided to make the 
 hopeless attack. One hundred and forty-seven cannon were posted, on the night 
 of December 10th, so as to command the town and cover the crossing of the 
 river. Unable to prevent this, Lee made his preparations to annihilate the 
 Unionists after they had crossed. 
 
 UNION DISASTER AT FREDERICKSBURO. 
 
 In the lace of a brisk fire, a force was sent over the river and occupied the 
 town, while Franklin laid his bridges two miles below and crossed without 
 trouble. When the cold, foggy morning of December 13th broke, the whole 
 Army of the Potomac was on the southern shore and the Confederate army was 
 on the heights behind Fredericksburg. 
 
 As the fog had cleared to some extent, General Franklin advanced 
 against the Confederate right, but, misunderstanding Burnside s order, he made 
 only a feint. Fighting was kept up throughout the day, and once General 
 Meade forced a gap in the enemy s line, but he was not reinforced, and was 
 driven back with severe loss. 
 
 The attack on the right having failed, Sumner threw himself against the 
 left. This required the seizure of Marye s Hill, and was hopeless from the first. 
 As the Union troops emerged from the town they were in fair range of an 
 appalling fire that mowed down scores. Still they pressed on with a courage 
 that could not be surpassed until one-half lay dead and dying, when the rest 
 staggered backward out of the furnace-blast of death. The gallant Hancock 
 gathered up the fragments of the shattered line, and, uniting them with his own 
 men, numbering 5,000 in all, he led a charge, which in a brief while stretched 2,000 
 dead or wounded. Still the survivors held their ground and were joined by 
 
UNION DISASTER AT FREDERICKSBURG. 
 
 329 
 
 others, who fell so fast that it was soon evident that every man would be killed. 
 Then grimly remarking, " I guess we have had enough killed to satisfy Burn- 
 side," Hancock ordered the brave fellows to fall back. 
 
 Burnside was frantic over the repeated failures. He was determined that 
 the heights should be carried, and ordered Hooker, his only remaining general, 
 to do it. Hooker went across with his three divisions, made a careful reconnois- 
 sance, and saw that to carry out the command meant the massacre of all his 
 troops. He returned to Burnside and begged him to recall his order. He re 
 fused, and Hooker attempted to obey, leading 4,000 of as brave men as ever 
 shouldered a musket ; but before they could reach the stone wall 1,700 lay 
 helpless on the icy earth and the remainder fled. 
 
 Had not night been at hand, Burnside would || have ordered another 
 charge and sacrificed 
 hundreds of more 
 lives, but he con 
 cluded to let the men 
 live until the next 
 morning. Already 
 1,200 had been 
 killed, almost 10,000 
 wounded, and sev 
 eral thousand were 
 missing. The com 
 manders gathered 
 a r o u n d Burnside 
 and insisted that the 
 army should be 
 brought across the 
 
 river before it was annihilated, but he refused. He was resolved on sacrificing 
 several thousand more under the ghastly name of a " charge." At last, how 
 ever, he became more reasonable and listened to his officers. Perhaps the 
 shrieks of the wounded, who lay for two days and nights where they had fallen 
 without help, produced some effect in awaking him to a sensp of his horrible 
 blundering and incompetency, for, when the bleak, dismal morning dawned, 
 the intended " charge " was not ordered. The Army of the Potomac had been 
 wounded so well-nigh unto death that it could not stand another similar 
 blow. 
 
 On the cold, rainy night of December loth, the wretched forces tramped back 
 over the river on the ponton-bridges, having suffered the worst defeat in the 
 army s whole history. It was in the power of Lee to destroy it utterly, but it 
 
 
 
 LATEST MODEL OF GATLINQ GUN. 
 
330 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 slipped away from him, just a^ it had slipped away from McClellan after the 
 battle of An detain. 
 
 The Union losses at Fredericksbnrg were: Killed, 1,284 ; wounded, 9,600 ; 
 missing, 1,769 ; total, 12,653. The Confederate losses were : Killed, 596 ; 
 wounded, 4,068 ; captured and missing, 651. Total, 5,315. 
 
 SUMMARY OF THE YEAR S OPERATIONS. 
 
 The eventful year had been one of terrible fighting. It had opened with 
 the Union successes of Forts Henry ana Donelson, followed by Pea Ridge, 
 Pittsburg Landing, and Corinth in the West, the naval battle between the 
 Merrimac and Monitor, the capture of Roanoke Island and of New Orleans. 
 Bragg s invasion of Kentucky was injurious to the Union cause, while, as w^ 
 have seen, the campaign against "Richmond had been a series of disastrous 
 failures. Still, taken as a whole, the year showed a decisive step forward. The 
 Union line had been advanced across the State of Tennessee, substantial 
 progress had been made in opening the Mississippi, and the blockade was 
 enforced with a rigidity that caused great distress in the Confederacy. 
 
 Both sides felt the terrific strain of the war. The Confederacy in April 
 passed a conscription act, which made all able-bodied males between the ages of 
 eighteen and thirty-five years soldiers for the war. All such were taken from 
 the control of the State of which they were residents and placed at the disposal 
 of President Davis until the close of the war. This conscription act was soon 
 made much more severe in its provisions. 
 
 THE CONFEDERATE PRIVATEERS. 
 
 One source of help to the Confederacy was her privateers, which wrought 
 immense damage to northern shipping. England assisted in fitting them out. 
 Despite the protests of Minister Adams, many of these were allowed to put to 
 sea. One of the first was the Oreto, afterward known as the Florida. She 
 succeeded in eluding the blockade at Mobile, through flying the British flag, 
 delivered her valuable freight, received her armament, and came forth again in 
 the latter part of December and began her wholesale destruction of American 
 merchantmen. 
 
 The privateer Sumter was driven into Gibraltar, and so closely watched by the 
 Tuscarora that Captain Semtnes, her commander, sold her, and made his way to 
 England, where the English built for him the most famous privateer the Con 
 federacy ever had the Alabama of which much more will be told further on. 
 
 THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. 
 
 The national government had learned by this time the full measurement 
 
THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. 
 
 331 
 
 of the gigantic task before it. By the close of the year, 1,300,000 volunteers 
 had been called for, and the daily expenses amounted to $3,000,000. The 
 conviction, too, was growing that slavery was the real cause of the war, and the 
 time had come to treat it with less consideration than many leading officers and 
 men whose patriotism could not be doubted were disposed to show toward the 
 "peculiar institution." President Lincoln was one of the wisest men who ever 
 sat in the executive chair, and none read so unerringly the signs of the times as 
 he. The Abolitionists were impatient with his slowness, while many of the 
 
 UNITED STATES MILITARY TELEGRAPH WAGON 
 
 doubting thought he went too fast. He waited until the right hour, and then 
 issued his Emancipation Proclamation. 
 
 This appeared soon after the battle of Antietam, and it is said was the ful 
 fillment of the pledge President Lincoln had made to heaven that, if Lee s 
 invasion was turned back, he would issue the great paper, which, in effect, would 
 see free 4,000,000 bondsmen. In it he warned the seceding States that in every 
 one which failed to return to its allegiance by the first of January, 1863, he 
 would declare the slaves free. The warning was received with scorn, as was 
 
332 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 expected. From the date named, therefore, all the armed forces of the Union 
 treated the slaves as free wherever encountered. Before long colored men were 
 enlisted as soldiers and sailors, and they bore no inconsiderable part in the 
 prosecution of the war. 
 
 "GREENBACKS." 
 
 It will be understood that the revenue of the government was altogether 
 unequal to the vast demands upon it. Taxation was increased, and, in 1862, 
 the government began the issue of its own paper money. The backs of the 
 bills being printed in green ink, these bills were known as " greenbacks." They 
 were made a legal tender, despite considerable opposition to the measure. The 
 law gave any person owing a debt, no matter if contracted in gold and silver, the 
 right to pay the same with greenbacks. Since it is impossible to regulate the 
 value of money except by the law of supply and demand, the bills, as compared 
 with gold, depreciated a good deal in value. 
 
 The act of February 25, 1862, authorized the issue of $150,000,000, and 
 further issues were made on June 11, 1862, and March 3, 1863. The depre 
 ciation of greenbacks was such that the price of gold averaged 2.20 through 
 out 1864, and at one time reached 2.85. In other words, a greenback dollar was 
 worth only thirty-five cents. Another method of raising money was through 
 the sale of bonds, of which many millions were issued. To encourage their 
 sale, the National Banking System was established in 1863. This required all 
 banks that issued currency to deposit a slightly larger amount of bonds in 
 Washington. Thus the banks were compelled to help the government by 
 loaning it money. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OK LINCOLN (CONTINUED), 
 
 1861-1865. 
 
 \VAR KOR THK UNION (CONTINUKD), 1863. 
 
 The Military Situation in the West Siege and Capture of Vicksburg The Mississippi Opened Battle of 
 Chickamauga " The Rock of Chickaniauga " The Battle Above the Clouds Siege of Knoxville 
 General Hooker Appointed to the Command of the Army of the Potomac His Plan of Campaign 
 Against Richmond Stonewall Jackson s Stampede of the Eleventh Corps Critical Situation of the 
 Union Army Death of Jackson Battle of Chancellors ville Defeat of Hooker The Second Con 
 federate Invasion Battle of Gettysburg The Decisive Struggle of the War Lee s Retreat Sub 
 sequent Movements of Lee and Meade Confederate Privateering Destruction of the Nashville 
 Failure of the Attacks on Charleston The Military Raids Stuart s Narrow Escape Stoneman s 
 Raid Morgan s Raid in Indiana and Ohio. 
 
 THERE were now such immense armies in the field and military operations 
 were conducted on so vast a scale that the reader must carefully study the 
 situation in order to gain an intelligent idea of the progress of the momentous 
 events. We will give our attention first to operations in the West. 
 
 THE SITUATION IJs T THE WEST. 
 
 There were four Union armies in that section. The first was the one under 
 Rosecrans, which, on the opening days of the year, won the victory at 
 Murfreesboro or Stone River, an account of which is given in the preceding 
 chapter. The second was near Holly Springs, under General Grant ; a third 
 was in New Orleans, under General Banks, who had succeeded General Butler; 
 and the fourth was in Arkansas. The main object of all these armies was to 
 open the Mississippi. When that should be accomplished, the Confederacy 
 would be split in two. Hundreds of thousands of beeves were drawn from 
 Texas and the country beyond the Mississippi, and to shut off this supply 
 would be one of the most effective blows that could be struck against the 
 rebellion. 
 
 GRANT BEFORE VICKSBURG. 
 
 General Sherman had failed to capture Vicksburg, and General Grant 
 assumed command of the forces besieging it. He saw that the defenses facing 
 the Mississippi and the lower part of the Yazoo were too powerful to be taken 
 
 (333) 
 
334 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 by storm. He decided as a consequence to turn the rear of the lines, and, 
 securing an entrance into the upper part of the Yazoo, reach the rear of the 
 batteries at Haines Bluff. 
 
 In this important work he received valuable help from the ironclads of 
 Admiral Porter. AVith one of them he opened communication with the 
 squadron in the lower part of the Mississippi and disabled a Confederate 
 steamer under the guns of Vicksburg. Two of the boats groped their way 
 through the swamps and wooded creeks, where nothing more than canoes and 
 dugouts had ventured before, obtained a great deal of cotton and burned much 
 more, disregarded the torpedoes and fought the rebels along the banks, explored 
 new routes, and in the end both were captured by the enemy. 
 
 Several ingenious plans were 
 tried to capture these formidable 
 fortifications. One was an attempt 
 to force a passage into the Upper 
 Yazoo. Another was to open a 
 new channel for the Mississippi. 
 Both were failures, but the levees 
 along the Yazoo were cut and 
 many acres in the rear of Yicks- 
 burg overflowed, while a great deal 
 of Arkansas and Louisiana was 
 flooded. The object of all this was 
 to shut off the supplies of Vicks 
 burg. Admiral Farragut now 
 strove to pass from the lower Mis 
 sissippi by the Port Hudson bat 
 teries to Vicksburg. The effort 
 
 was made on the night of March 14th, which was of inky darkness. The 
 approach was discovered by the enemy, who kindled large bonfires on the bank 
 which revealed the passing vessels. The latter opened on the batteries with 
 great effect, but only two, including the flagship, were able to get past, the 
 thirteen being forced to turn back. The Mississippi ran aground and was set 
 on fire and abandoned. With the two vessels in hand, Farragut blockaded 
 the mouth of the Red River and gave valuable help to General Grant, but the 
 land forces advancing from Baton Rouge to aid in the attack on Vicksburg 
 turned back upon learning of the failure of Farrngut s fleet to run past the 
 batteries. 
 
 General Grant had set out to capture Vicksburg and nothing could turn 
 him from his purpose. His aim was to sever the Confederate communications 
 
 ADMIRAL POHTER. 
 
RUNNING THE BATTERIES. 
 
 335 
 
 with the east by turning the defenses of the Yazoo and the Mississippi. General 
 McClernand was sent in the latter part of March to occupy New Carthage to 
 the south, while General Banks, by advancing from New Orleans, threatened 
 Port Hudson in conjunction with the fleet lying near. 
 
 Banks force was so large that the most the enemy could do was to delay 
 his advance by burning bridges and obstructing the river. In the latter part 
 of April, he established himself at Simmsport, near the junction of the 
 Atchafalaya and the Mississippi. Admiral Porter, who was lying with his 
 fleet above Vicksburg, now made the attempt to join Farragut below, and it 
 proved one of the most exciting ex 
 periences of the war. 
 
 RUNNING THE BATTERIES. 
 
 Naturally a dark night April 
 16th was selected, and eight gun 
 boats, three transports, and several 
 barges loaded with supplies silently 
 dropped down the river in the im 
 penetrable mist, while the thousands 
 of Union troops intently watched the 
 hulls as they melted from sight ii, 
 the gloom. The hope was general 
 that they would be able to float past 
 undiscovered, and, when an hour of 
 intense stillness went by, the watch 
 ers and listeners began to breathe 
 more freely, though their anxiety 
 was only partly lifted. 
 
 Suddenly two crimson lines of 
 fire flamed along the river front, and 
 the earth trembled under the stu 
 pendous explosion. The ships had been detected, and the river was swept by 
 a tempest of shot and shell that it seemed must shatter to fragments every one 
 of the craft. It should be remembered that these batteries extended for a long 
 distance along the shore, and they opened one after the other, as the ships came 
 opposite. Thus the fleet became the target of battery after battery, and had 
 a continuous and extended gantlet to run before reaching safety. 
 
 The gunboats returned the fire as they swept by, and many of their shots 
 were effective, but in such a duel the advantage is always with the land batteries. 
 One of the transports was disabled, and another, directly behind her, had to 
 
 DAVID G. FARRAGUT. 
 
336 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 stop to avoid running into the injured craft. The crew of the former, finding 
 themselves the centre of a terrific fire, launched the yawl, and, leaping into it, 
 pulled for the shore. They had scarcely left their vessel when it was fired by 
 a shell, and, aflame from stem to stern, it drifted down stream. Meanwhile, the 
 transport that had grounded was towed out of danger. With this exception, 
 the whole fleet got safely past, the loss being only one man killed and two 
 wounded on Porter s flagship. 
 
 General Grant was greatly pleased with this success. A few nights later 
 a second attempt was successful. He was thus enabled to send supplies to the 
 army, with which he intended to attack Vicksburg on the south. Gradually 
 shifting his own position, he reached a point opposite Grand Gulf, a short 
 distance below the mouth of the Big Black River. 
 
 CAPTURE OF GRAND GULF. 
 
 Although Grand Gulf was strongly fortified its quick capture was a neces 
 sity. McClernand had been ordered several times to attack it, but he was so 
 laggard that Grant himself undertook the task. It proved one of extreme 
 difficulty, and he was obliged to make a change of plans, but he handled his 
 troops with admirable skill and with such effect that the Confederate com 
 mander s position at Grand Gulf became untenable and he withdrew. Grant 
 rode into town and found the place in the possession of Admiral Farragut. 
 
 The success was so brilliant that Pemberton, the Confederate general com 
 manding the forces at Vicksburg, became alarmed and telegraphed to General 
 Jo Johnston for reinforcements, but Johnston was too much occupied with Rose- 
 crans in Tennessee to spare any of his men, and about all he could do was to 
 send encouraging words to his subordinate. 
 
 GRANT S FINE GENERALSHIP. 
 
 General Grant never displayed his great genius more strikingly than in 
 the operations before Vicksburg. For days and nights he seemed scarcely to 
 eat or sleep. He was here, there, and everywhere, and was familiar with all 
 the minute details of his momentous enterprise. General Pemberton confessed 
 in his reports that the amazing activity of Grant "embarrassed him." 
 
 Grand Gulf was made the base of operations, and, well aware that rein 
 forcements would be hurried to the garrison, Grant hastened his movements. 
 While pressing his attack he learned that Johnston was at Jackson with a 
 strong force, with which to reinforce Pemberton. He immediately dispatched 
 McPherson and Sherman thither, and, after a fierce fight, Jackson was captured. 
 Grant learned from deserters that Johnston, the chief Confederate commander 
 in that section, had sent peremptory orders to Pemberton to leave Vicksburg 
 
GRANT S FINE GENERALSHIP. 
 
 337 
 
 and attack him in the rear. The latter, with his usual promptness, met this 
 danger, and, by decisively defeating the enemy at Champion Hill, he accom 
 plished the splendid feat of keeping Johnston out of Vicksburg and Pemberton 
 in. It was a great 
 exploit, for Jo John 
 ston was one of the 
 ablest generals of 
 the war, and the 
 fi n e campaign 
 which he had plan 
 ned was brought to 
 naught. Not only 
 was he kept out of 
 Vicksburg, but it 
 was made impossi 
 ble for him to send 
 any help to Pember 
 ton, around whom 
 the Union com 
 mander was draw 
 ing the coils more 
 tightly each day. 
 
 Still the de 
 fenses of Vicksburg 
 were too powerful to 
 be captured by 
 storm, and Grant 
 did the only thing 
 possible he be 
 sieged the city. The 
 siege began about 
 the middle of May. 
 The garrison had 
 provisions for barely 
 two months, from QRANT AFTER THE BATTLE QF BELMONT . 
 
 which they had to 
 
 supply the inhabitants of the town. Jo Johnston saw the peril and set to work 
 with such vigor to raise a force to send to the relief of Pemberton, that Grant 
 was hurried into making an assault on the rebel works. This took place before 
 daylight on the morning of May 19th. Though successful at first, the Federals 
 
 22 
 
338 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN.. 
 
 were repulsed. A grand assault was undertaken three days later and pressed 
 with the utmost bravery, but it resulted in another repulse, in which the loss of 
 the assailants was three times greater than that of the defenders. Porter tried 
 to help with his fleet, but his vessels were so baldy injured by the batteries that 
 they were compelled to withdraw from action. 
 
 This failure showed that it was useless to try to capture Vicksburg except 
 through a regular siege, which was pressed henceforth without intermission. 
 Shells were thrown into the doomed city night and day ; the people lived in 
 caves, on short rations, and underwent miseries and sufferings which it is hard 
 to comprehend in these days. All the time Grant was edging closer and closer. 
 Parallels and approaches were constructed ; mines sunk and countermining 
 done. Several attempts were made to relieve Vicksburg, but the bulldog-like 
 grip of Grant could not be loosened, and the condition of the garrison became 
 much like that of Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781 
 
 FALL OF VICKSBURG. 
 
 The defenders displayed the greatest bravery and endurance, and held out 
 until the time came when it was apparent that it was a choice between surrender 
 and starving to death. That man who prefers to starve rather than submit to 
 a magnanimous foe is a fool. Pemberton had 21,000 troops under his command, 
 but 6,000 were in the hospitals, while Grant had fully 60,000 soldiers waiting 
 and eager to make the assault. On the 3d of July, a flag of truce was displayed 
 in front of Vicksburg, and a message was sent to the Union commander, ask 
 ing for an armistice with a view of arranging for the capitulation of Vicks 
 burg. Grant s reply was his usual one, that the only terms he could accept 
 were unconditional surrender, and he, therefore, declined to appoint commis 
 sioners. 
 
 The commanders then met between the lines, and Grant agreed that the 
 garrison should be paroled and allowed to go to their homes, and that the city, 
 stores, arms, and supplies should belong to the conquerors. Although the Union 
 commander s terms "unconditional surrender" sounded harsh, they always 
 proved of a generous nature. There was a good deal of criticism in the South 
 of Pemberton for selecting the 4th of July for making his submission, since the 
 Union people would be sure to make a greater ado over it. Pemberton s 
 explanation was that he believed Grant would be more disposed to give him 
 liberal terms on that date than on any other, and it would not be strange if he 
 was partly right. 
 
 IMPORTANCE OF THE CAPTURE. 
 
 The capture of Vicksburg was one of the most important Union successes 
 of the war. In his official report. Grant thus summarized the results of his 
 
ROSECRANS CAMPAIGN. 339 
 
 campaign: "The defeat of the enemy in five battles outside of Vicksburg; the 
 occupation of Jackson, the capital of Mississippi ; and the capture of Vicksburg, 
 its garrison and munitions of war; a loss to the enemy of 37,000 prisoners, at 
 least 10,000 killed and wounded, and hundreds, perhaps thousands, who can 
 never be collected or reorganized. Arms and munitions of war for an army 
 of 60,000 men have fallen into our hands, beside a large amount of other public 
 property and much that was destroyed to prevent our capturing it." 
 
 Thus one of the great objects of the war was accomplished. The Mississippi 
 was opened throughout its entire length and the Confederacy cut in twain. That 
 President Davis felt the gravity of the blow (to which one still more decisive was 
 added about the same time) was proven by his proclamation calling into service 
 all persons in the Confederacy not legally exempt, who were between the ages 
 of eighteen and forty-five years. He also appointed the 21st of August as a 
 day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer. 
 
 Grant s magnificent success greatly increased his popularity in the North. 
 His praises were in every one s mouth ; he was declared to be the ablest military 
 leader that had yet appeared, and more than one saw in him the coming saviour 
 of the Union. 
 
 Perhaps it is slightly premature to say that the Mississippi was opened 
 from the hour of the surrender of Vicksburg. Port Hudson held out, but its 
 fall was a corollary of that of the more important city. It had stoutly resisted 
 several attacks, but, realizing the hopelessness of his situation, the Confederate 
 commander surrendered on the 9th of July, and the opening of the Mississippi 
 was fully completed. 
 
 ROSECRANS CAMPAIGN. 
 
 The reader will recall that the battle of Murfreesboro took place at the 
 very beginning of the year. Kosecrans, the Union commander, never repeated 
 the brilliant skill he had shown in fighting Bragg on Stone River. He seemed 
 to think that that repulse of the enemy was sufficient to last a good while, for 
 he remained idle throughout the several months that followed. There were a 
 number of brisk skirmishes and fights, but none was of importance. When 
 June arrived without anything of account having been accomplished, the 
 government suggested to Rosecrans that it was time he took steps to drive 
 Bragg into Georgia and thus secure Eastern Tennessee, where the sentiment 
 was strongly Union. 
 
 Rosecrans hesitated, but upon receiving a stronger intimation that he ought 
 to be up and doing, he began a series of movements, in the latter part of June, 
 which caused Bragg to withdraw to Chattanooga, where he intrenched himself. 
 Burnside then advanced from Ohio into Eastern Tennessee, but was so delayed 
 that Bragg was heavily reinforced from Virginia. To protect his communi- 
 
340 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 cations, he fell back, however, upon tjie approach of the Federal army, which 
 occupied Chattanooga. 
 
 Unaware of the increased strength of the enemy, Rosecrans divided his 
 army into three columns, separated by wide spaces of mountains, and marched 
 in loose order against his foe, observing which Bragg determined to overwhelm 
 each of the columns in detail. 
 
 The first demonstration was against General George H. Thomas, who 
 commanded the Federal left, and was encamped at the foot of Lookout 
 Mountain. That splendid officer eluded the enemy launched against him, 
 and effected a junction with the other two corps. 
 
 At the same time the centre of the three columns was attacked, but the 
 assault was repulsed, and the reunited Union army on the 18th of September 
 stood on the western bank of the Chickamauga, which stream was well named, 
 for the Indian word means "the river of death." The position was twelve miles 
 from Chattanooga, and it was a perilous one, for, as has been stated, Bragg had 
 been heavily reinforced, and Longstreet with a powerful column of veterans 
 from Lee s Army of Northern Virginia was approaching. He, therefore, 
 decided to make an attempt to recover Chattanooga, 
 
 BATTLE OF CHICKAMAUGA. 
 
 The Confederates crossed the Chickamauga, and, on the morning of the 
 19th, Rosecrans opened the battle by attacking the enemy s right wing. The 
 entire armies were soon involved, and the fighting lasted until nightfall, with 
 the result in favor of the Confederates. Although forced from several positions, 
 they gained and held the road leading to Chattanooga, and the Union troops 
 were driven almost to the base of Missionary Ridge. 
 
 Late that night, Longstreet arrived with his fire-seasoned veterans. He 
 was one of Lee s best lieutenants, and it was arranged that the battle should be 
 renewed the next morning at daybreak, with Longstreet commanding the left 
 wing. From some cause, the Confederate attack was delayed until ten o clock, 
 the delay giving the Federals time to throw up a number of breastworks. 
 Against these Bragg repeatedly charged with his right wing, but was repulsed 
 each time. 
 
 Thomas, in command of the Union left, also repelled a sharp attack, but 
 Longstreet routed Rosecrans, and, discerning a gap caused by the transfer of 
 the Union centre to strengthen the left, Longstreet led his men impetuously 
 into the opening, thus splitting the Union army in two. Striking in both 
 directions, he threw the two divisions into such disorder and confusion that the 
 frightened Rosecrans galloped in hot haste to Chattanooga to secure his supply 
 train and the ponton-bridges over the Tennessee. At the same time, he 
 
SUPERSEDURE OF R08ECRANS BY THOMAS. 
 
 341 
 
 telegraphed the terrifying tidings to Washington that the whole Union army 
 had been beaten. 
 
 "THE ROCK OF CHICKAMAUGA. 
 
 At a crisis in the tremendous battle, General Hood, one of the Confederate 
 leaders, was wounded, and a halt was made until another officer could be 
 brought up to take his place. Short as was the delay, it gave the Unionists 
 time to rally and strengthen their endangered points. Despite this advantage, 
 the telegram of Rosecrans would have been verified and the magnificent army 
 destroyed except for one man. He was George H. Thomas, the heroic 
 commander of the Union left. Long- 
 street launched his veterans against 
 him again and again, but he beat 
 them back in every instance. Never 
 did men fight more bravely than 
 those Americans, arrayed against 
 each other, and never was finer gen 
 eralship displayed than by General 
 Thomas, whose wonderful defense 
 that day won for him the name by 
 which he will always be remembered 
 -"The Rock of Chickamauga." 
 
 Holding his heroes well in hand, 
 
 O 
 
 Thomas was ready to renew the battle 
 the next day, but Bragg did not 
 molest him. The Confederates, how 
 ever, had Avon a victory, for they 
 drove the Federals from the field and 
 retained possession of it. Thomas 
 fell slowly back toward Chattanooga, 
 presenting a firm front to the enemy. 
 Chicknmau2;a ranks as one of 
 
 O 
 
 the great battles of the war. The Union losses were: killed, 1,656; wounded, 
 9,749; missing, 4,774; total, 16,179. The Confederate losses were: killed, 
 2,268; wounded, 13,613; captured and missing, 1,090; total, 16,971. 
 
 SUPERSEDURE OF ROSECRANS BY THOMAS. 
 
 Rosecrans conduct of this battle caused his supersedure by Thomas, while 
 several division commanders were suspended, pending an inquiry into their 
 course. President Davis removed General Leonidas Polk, who was thought to 
 have shown hesitancy of action at critical points. Bragg, however, was the 
 
 GEORCJE H. THOMAS. 
 
 "The Rock of Chickamauga." 
 
342 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 most blainable, for, with the advantage overwhelmingly in his favor, he refused 
 to permit Longstreet to follow up his success. One of the peculiarities of the 
 Confederate President was his strong likes and dislikes. He was a personal 
 enemy of Jo Johnston, and more than once humiliated him, but he was also a 
 friend of Bragg, and, in the face of indignant protests, retained him in chief 
 command in the southwest. 
 
 As soon as the Union army reached Chattanooga intrenchments were 
 thrown up. Bragg appeared before the town on the 23d, and, finding the posi 
 tion too strong to be carried by assault, he laid siege to it. The situation of the 
 army became so dangerous that great uneasiness was felt in Washington, where 
 the wise step was taken of sending General Grant thither, with his appoint 
 ment to the command of the entire West. Abundant reinforcements were hurried 
 to the imperiled point, the entire Eleventh and Twelfth Corps from the Army 
 of the Potomac forming the principal commands. The Federals became much 
 the stronger, but Bragg did not abandon his siege of Chattanooga. 
 
 Recalling the advance of Burnside from the Ohio to the relief of Rose- 
 crans, it should be stated that he did not arrive in time to take part in the battle 
 of Chickamauga, but occupied Knoxville on the 9th of September. Bragg sent 
 Longstreet with a strong force to attack Burnside, the Confederate commander 
 thereby weakening his army, which could ill stand it. Grant arrived at Chat 
 tanooga on the night of October 20th, and telegraphed Burnside to hold Knox 
 ville at all hazards, while he gave his attention to Bragg. 
 
 Sherman came up with his troops November 15th, and a week later Grant 
 had an army of 80,000 men on the ground, while the removal of Longstreet 
 left Bragg with only 50,000. His line, twelve miles long, embraced two eleva 
 tions commanding a view of Chattanooga Valley. Lookout Mountain was on 
 the south, while Missionary Ridge on the east was not quite so high. The Con 
 federate left wing rested on the former, and the right on Missionary Ridge, with 
 the Chattanooga flowing between. Bragg was justified in considering his posi 
 tion impregnable. 
 
 THE BATTLE ABOVE THE CLOUDS. 
 
 Grant, however, held a different opinion. On the night of the 23d the 
 enemy s picket lines were forced back and an improved position secured. The 
 following morning, Hooker, having already crossed the river, was ordered to 
 attack the position on Lookout Mountain. His movements were hidden for a 
 time by a dense fog, and it was his intention to stop as soon as the enemy s rifle- 
 pits at the base were captured; but, when this was accomplished, the men were 
 carried away by their enthusiasm, noting which Hooker ordered them to charge 
 the Confederate position. Up the mountain the cheering, eager fellows swept 
 with irresistible valor. The Stars and Stripes was planted on the crest and 
 
BURNSIDE SUPERSEDED BY HOOKER. 343 
 
 2,000 of the fleeing Confederates were made prisoners. The fog still lay heavy 
 in the valley below, a fact which has led to the battle being called the "Battle 
 above the Clouds." 
 
 DEFEAT OF THE CONFEDERATES. 
 
 The following morning was also foggy, but, when it lifted, Sherman s corps 
 was seen advancing against the Confederate right, close to Chickaimiuga station. 
 In the face of a heavy artillery fire the Federals pressed on, but at the end of 
 an hour they were compelled to retreat. By order of Grant the attack was 
 renewed, but another severe repulse followed. Next a general movement 
 against the left centre was ordered, and this was successful. The enemy was 
 driven in confusion toward Ring-gold, to the southeast, while a large number of 
 prisoners and a vast amount of supplies were captured. 
 
 General Hooker pursued and drove the Confederates out of Binggold, but 
 they assumed so strong a position at Taylor s Ridge that Grant ordered him not 
 to attack, but to remain and hold Ring-gold, Sherman, in the meantime, march 
 ing against Longstreet. . Bragg had blundered so much in conducting this 
 disastrous campaign that President Davis was forced to replace him with 
 Hardee. 
 
 RAISING OF THE SIEGE OF KNOXVILLE. 
 
 Meanwhile, Longstreet was besieging Burnside at Knoxville, where the 
 15,000 Union troops were threatened with starvation. The town was invested 
 November 17th, and the next day some of the outworks were carried. Well 
 aware that Grant, after his defeat of Bragg, would hurry to the relief of Knox 
 ville, Longstreet attacked on the 29th, but suffered a bloody repulse. He stub 
 bornly held his ground until he learned that Sherman was close upon him, when 
 he withdrew and started on his march to Virginia. The campaign soon ended in 
 Tennessee, which was virtually recovered to the Union. 
 
 The reader will note that we have described the leading events in the West 
 and Southwest from the opening of the year to its close. Once more it is neces 
 sary to return to January, 1863, in order to give a history of the most important 
 campaign of all that against Richmond, which was defended by the formidable 
 Army of Northern Virginia, under the command of General Robert E. Lee. 
 
 BURNSIDE SUPERSEDED BY HOOKER. 
 
 Burnside s management of the attack on Fredericksburg in December, 
 1862, was so incompetent and disastrous that it was impossible for him to retain 
 the chief command. Knowing that several of his generals had severely criti 
 cised him, Burnside sent a list of names to Washington, giving the government 
 the choice of removing them or accepting his resignation. Prominent on 
 
344 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 Burnside s "black list "was the name of Hooker. On the 26th of January 
 Burnside s resignation was accepted, and Hooker was made his successor. 
 
 The morale of the grand organization had been injured by its wretched 
 leadership, but the material itself could not have been finer. Hooker set 
 resolutely to work, and, by the 1st of May, the army was well trained and 
 disciplined, and numbered 130,000 men, of whom fully 12,000 were cavalry. 
 Lee had about half as many troops. 
 
 Knowing it would not do to remain idle when the beautiful spring weather 
 came, Hooker had been carefully planning for another campaign against 
 Richmond. He had won a fine reputation for himself as a fighter and skillful 
 corps commander, and the hopes were high that he would lead his superb army 
 directly into the rebel capital. Everything seemed to be in his favor, and the 
 campaign opened promisingly. 
 
 THE NEW CAMPAIGN AGAINST RICHMOND. 
 
 Hooker s plan was to assail Lee at two points. The Rappahannock and 
 Rapidan were to be crossed a short distance west of Fredericksburg, and the 
 left wing attacked. While this was going on, Hooker s own left wing was to 
 occupy the heights and secure possession of the Richmond Railroad. The 
 powerful Union cavalry were to ride around Lee s position and cut off his 
 retreat to Richmond. This involved the destruction of the railroads and 
 bridges over the North and South Anna Rivers. 
 
 This important movement was begun April 27th. The main portion of the 
 corps of Meade, Howard, and Slocum, numbering 36,000 men, marched thirty 
 miles up the Rappahannock and crossed the stream without resistance. A force 
 then moved ten miles down the other side of the river, driving away several 
 Confederate detachments, and opened the way for Couch with 12,000 men to 
 cross and join the other three corps. Taking different routes, the 48,000 
 advanced toward Chancellorsville, which had been named as the rendezvous. 
 They were soon followed by Sickles with 18,000 men. 
 
 It was not until the Union movement had progressed thus far that Lee read 
 its purpose. He hastily called in his divisions, and, on the forenoon of May 1st, 
 the Army of Northern Virginia was drawn up in battle-line in front of that 
 dense-wooded district known as the Wilderness. 
 
 Exultingly confident, Hooker ordered an advance that day from near 
 Chancellorsville toward Fredericksburg. Hardly had he started when he 
 learned that Lee was moving against him; he, therefore, paused and threw up 
 defenses. His aim was to flank Lee, and, to prevent it, the Confederate 
 commander took desperate chances. Keeping up a rattling demonstration in 
 front, ha sent Stonewall Jackson with 30,000 men around the right of the Union 
 
DEATH OF STONEWALL JACKSON. 345 
 
 army. Had Hooker known of this daring movement, he could easily have 
 crushed each division in detail. 
 
 STONEWALL JACKSON S FLANK MOVEMENT. 
 
 Jackson carried out his programme with fearful completeness. Without 
 his purpose being suspected, he traveled fifteen miles, reaching the road leading 
 from Orange to Fredericksburg, on the southern side of the Rapidan. He was 
 thus within two miles of General Howard s Eleventh Corps. The men were 
 preparing supper with no thought of danger, when the air was suddenly split 
 by thousands of "rebel yells," and 
 the graybacks rushed out of the 
 woods and swept everything before 
 them. The whole Eleventh Corps 
 broke into a wild panic, and ran for 
 their lives toward Chancel! orsville. 
 The German division especially, 
 under the command of Carl Schurz, 
 were irrestrainable in their terror. 
 
 The majority, however, stood 
 their ground bravely, and their com 
 manders put forth every effort to stop 
 the wild stampede. A partial success 
 was attained, and the artillery poured 
 in a fire which checked the pursuit, 
 Fortunately night was at hand, and 
 the fighting soon ceased. The po 
 sition of the Union army was critical 
 in the extreme. It was squeezed in 
 between Chancellorsville and the 
 fork of the two rivers. What fate 
 
 ., , ., ,, THOMAS J. ("STONEWALL") JACKSON. 
 
 awaited it on the morrow ? 
 
 At this juncture, the Confederate cause received the severest blow in its 
 history. That remarkable man, Stonewall Jackson, was confident that the 
 destruction of the Union army was at hand, and he was impatient for the morrow 
 that he might complete the fearful work. In the dusk of early evening he 
 rode forward, accompanied by several of his staff, to reconnoitre the Union 
 position. Passing beyond the outer line of skirmishers, the party halted in the 
 gloom and peered toward the Federal lines. Dimly discerned by a South 
 Carolina regiment; they were mistaken for the enemy, and a volley was fired at 
 them. One of the staff was killed and two wounded. Comprehending the 
 
346 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 blunder, Jackson wheeled and galloped into the woods, but before the shelter 
 could be reached, the South Carolinans fired a second time. 
 
 Jackson was struck twice in the left arm and once in the right hand. His 
 frightened horse whirled about and plunged away. A limb knocked t)ff his 
 hat and came near unseating him, but he managed to keep in the saddle and 
 guide his steed into the road, where one of his staff helped him to the ground 
 and supported him to the foot of a tree where he was laid down. He was 
 suffering so keenly that he could not walk, and was carried on a litter to the 
 
 HOUSE IN WHICH STONEWALL JACKSON DIEJX 
 
 rear. For a part of the way, all were exposed to such a hot artillery fire that 
 they had to pause several times and lie down. 
 
 The wound grew so bad that the arm was amputated, but pneumonia 
 followed, and Jackson died on Sunday, May 10th. His last words, uttered in 
 his delirium, were : "Let us cross over the river and rest under the shadow of 
 the trees." 
 
 BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE. 
 
 The fighting at Chancellorsville was renewed at daylight, May 3d. 
 General Stuart succeeded to the command of Jackson s corps. The superior 
 
THE SECOND CONFEDERATE INVASION. 347 
 
 numbers of the Union army and its compact formation gave it all the 
 advantage. It needed but one thing to insure overwhelming success : that was 
 competent leadership, and that was the one thing which it did not have. 
 
 With the weaker army still separated, it forced the Federals back toward 
 the river, where Hooker was compelled to form a second line. Holding him 
 there, Lee turned toward Sedgwick, who was at Fredericksburg with 25,000 
 men. He had a good opportunity to assail Lee in the rear, but failed to do so, 
 and gave his efforts to capturing Marye s Heights, which was defended by a 
 weak garrison. It was easily taken, and Sedgwick sent a column in the 
 direction of Chancellorsville. On the road it encountered some breastworks, 
 thrown up by the force which Lee had dispatched to check Sedgwick s advance. 
 He was driven back, and the rebels, having been reinforced, recaptured Marye s 
 Heights. Sedgwick made a hurried retreat, and thenceforward formed no factor 
 in the battle. 
 
 Having disposed of him, Lee turned again upon Hooker. Early on the 
 5th, he placed a number of his guns within range of United States Ford 
 and dropped a few shells among the wagon trains. Nothing, however, was 
 accomplished on this day, except that the dry and parched woods were set on 
 fire, and many of the wounded who were unable to help themselves were 
 burned to death. Every horror that can be conceived as to war was added to 
 the awful scene. 
 
 RETREAT OF THE UNION ARMY. 
 
 A heavy rainstorm caused the Rapidan and Rap pahan nock to rise so 
 rapidly that Hooker decided, after consulting his officers, to get back while he 
 had the chance to do so. The bridges were covered with pine boughs, and, with 
 the noise of the wheels deadened by the crashing thunder, the wagons and 
 artillery made the passage without discovery. By the following morning, the 
 entire Army of the Potomac was once more across the Rappahannock and 
 marching back to its old camp at Falmouth, and once more the advance against 
 Richmond had ended in woeful disaster. 
 
 The losses of the Unionists at Chancellorsville were: killed, 1,606; 
 wounded, 9,762; missing, 5,919; total, 17,287. The losses of the Confederates 
 were: killed, 1,665; wounded, 9,081; captured and missing, 2,018; total, 12,764. 
 
 THE SECOND CONFEDERATE INVASION. 
 
 After such a frightful Union defeat, it was no wonder that the Confederates 
 again decided to invade the North. Lee was not favorable to the plan, but he 
 must have felt that the prospect of success was better than ever before. He 
 made his preparations with great care, and strengthened his army to 75,000 
 men, divided into three corps, commanded respectively by Longstreet, Ewell. 
 
348 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 and A. P. Hill. He had in addition lo,000 cavalry under General J. E. B. 
 ("Jeb") Stuart. 
 
 The northward march was begun the first week in June. Longstreet and 
 Ewell advanced upon Culpeper, while Hill remained near Fredericksburg, 
 aiming to deceive Hooker as to his intentions. Hooker quickly perceived that 
 most of the rebel army had disappeared from his front, but it was a mystery to 
 him where it had gone. A reconnoissance developed the direction taken by the 
 two missing corps. Unsuspicious of the grand project that was in the mind of 
 the Confederate commander, Hooker moved down the Shenandoah Valley, 
 
 taking the same course as Lee, but 
 with the Blue Ridge Mountains be 
 tween them. 
 
 LEE S PRELIMINARY MOVEMENTS. 
 
 Passing through the defiles in 
 this range, Lee dropped down on 
 Milroy at Winchester before he 
 dreamed of danger. Most of his 
 7,000 men were captured, but Mil 
 roy and a few escaped by a hurried 
 flight at night, All doubt now had 
 vanished as to the intentions of Lee; 
 ^^^^^ he was aiming for Pennsylvania, at 
 
 Mffitafc / the head of a powerful, well-organ- 
 
 "^K-T -Jy* -^y 1 *-! i/e(l arm y; Washington and prob- 
 
 *JjJE^ ably Philadelphia were in peril. 
 
 The only check that could block its 
 A way was the Army of the Potomac, 
 
 ami Hooker lost no time in moving. 
 He readied Fairfax Court-House on 
 the night of the 14th, thus placing 
 himself on the flank of Ewell. The Confederates, however, held the mountain 
 passes securely, and nothing effective could be done. 
 
 On the !>2d the headquarters of Lee were at Beverly, ten miles from Win 
 ter, with which Lee kept up communication through A. P. Hill s corps, 
 which was between Culpeper and Front Royal. Ewell, without hesitation, 
 forded the Potomac into Maryland, while his cavalry pushed on into Pennsyl 
 vania. 
 
 By this time the government was so alarmed that President Lincoln, on the 
 by proclamation on the governors of Ohio, Pennsylvania, 
 
 Ntfjfc: 
 
 % 
 
 ROBERT E. LEE. 
 Confederate commander-in-chlef at Gettysburg. 
 
MOVEMENTS OF GENERAL MEADE. 349 
 
 Maryland, and West Virginia to furnish 100,000 militia for the protection of 
 those States. Pennsylvania, the one in greatest danger, was so laggard that she 
 asked New Jersey to come to her help, and that little State gallantly did so. 
 
 GENERAL MEADE APPOINTED TO THE COMMAND OF THE ARMY OF THE POTOMAC. 
 
 Hooker deserved credit for appreciating his own unfitness for the command 
 of the army that was again to fight Lee. He crossed the Potomac June 26th, 
 making a movement which threatened Lee s communications, and resigned 
 the next day, At Frederick, on the 28th, he published an order to the 
 effect that the army had been placed in charge of Major-General George G. 
 Meade. 
 
 This was an excellent appointment. Although Meade was born, in 1815, 
 in Cadiz, Spain, he was an American, because his father was the United States 
 naval agent at the time. Meade was graduated from West Point in 1835, and 
 won distinction in the war with the Seminoles and with Mexico. The appoint 
 ment was a surprise to him, but it pleased everybody, and he modestly took 
 hold, resolved to do the best he could. 
 
 MOVEMENTS OF GENERAL MEADE. 
 
 He adhered to the general plan of Hooker. His army numbered about 
 100,000, and no braver men lived anywhere. Nearly all of Lee s troops were 
 north of the Potomac, partly in Maryland and partly in Pennsylvania. On 
 the 27th of June the whole army was at Chambersburg, Pennsylvania ; but 
 Lee was greatly hampered by the absence of Stuart and his cavalry. That 
 dashing officer was very fond of making raids, and, giving a wider meaning to 
 the permission of Lee than that general intended, he was off on another of his 
 bold ventures, with no certainty as to when he would return. It was upon him 
 that Lee was obliged to depend for news of the Union army. Receiving none, 
 he was on the point of advancing against Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylva 
 nia, when he paused upon receiving the first reliable news of the Army of the 
 Potomac. 
 
 Meade had pushed his advance beyond Middleton, where his left was lying 
 when he took command of the army at Frederick. This action of the Union 
 commander looked as if he intended to cross the mountains and attack the 
 Confederate rear. EwelFs corps was at York and Carlisle, but still there was 
 no knowledge whatever of the whereabouts of Stuart. 
 
 Lee now attempted to draw Meade away from the Potomac by concentrating 
 his army to the east of the mountains. Hill and Longstreet advanced to 
 Gettysburg, while Ewell was ordered to do the same. Lee himself lagged in 
 die hope that Stuart would join him, and because of that, Meade, who was 
 
350 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 keenly on the alert, arrived in the neighborhood of Gettysburg first. On the 
 last day of June, he was within a few miles of the town, while Lee was somewhat 
 to the north and making for the same place. 
 
 Stuart and his cavalry had harassed the Army of the Potomac in Virginia, 
 but, unable to stay its advance, they crossed the Potomac, and, moving to the 
 east of Meade. entered Carlisle shortly after Ewell had left for Gettysburg. 
 Stuart s delay was owing to the fact that he did not know Lee s whereabouts. 
 
 THE FIKST DAY AT GETTYSBURG. 
 
 The two mighty armies were now within striking distance of each other. 
 It was yet early in the day when a collision took place between a Confederate 
 division and Reynolds Corps on the western side of the town. Reynolds was 
 one of the best officers in the Union army. He was engaged in directing the 
 movements of his troops when he was struck in the head by a rifle bullet and 
 instantly killed. General Doubleday succeeded him in command, but was 
 unable to drive back the enemy. Howard arrived with the Eleventh Corps 
 early in the afternoon and took charge of the whole force. These were mainly 
 composed of Germans, who were so overwhelmingly -stampeded by Stonewall 
 Jackson at Chancellorsville. They did not appear to have recovered from 
 that panic, for they fled pell-mell through Gettysburg, with the enemy whoop 
 ing at their heels. Nearly all who did not run were cut down or they surren 
 dered. 
 
 Meade had sent Hancock to take chief command, and, aided by Howard, 
 he rallied the shattered corps on the crest of Gulp s Hill, behind the town. 
 The keen eye of Hancock was quick to see that it was here the decisive struggle 
 must take place, and he sent an urgent message to Meade, fifteen miles away, 
 to lose not an hour in hurrying his troops forward. Meade followed the 
 counsel. Some of his men arrived that night, some the next morning, while 
 those from the greatest distance did not come in until the following after 
 noon. 
 
 The line as formed by Hancock extended along Cemetery Hill on the west 
 and south of Gettysburg. It was a formidable position, and Lee, after carefully 
 studying it, decided to await the arrival of Longstreet and Ewell with their 
 corps before making his attack. Events proved that the decision was a disastrous 
 mistake on the part of the Confederate commander. 
 
 When the sultry first day of July drew to a close, the Federal right held 
 Gulp s Hill, the centre Cemetery Hill, the left was along Cemetery Ridge, and 
 the reserve on the right. This line curved in the form of a horseshoe, with the 
 projecting portion facing Gettysburg. Sedgwick, it will be remembered, had riot 
 
THE SECOND DAY. 
 
 351 
 
 arrived, but the force was composed of a hundred thousand veterans who had 
 200 cannon at command. 
 
 That night the Confederates were in Gettysburg and a part of the country 
 to the east and west. Ewell formed the left and held the town; Seminary 
 Ridge was occupied by Hill s Corps, and confronted the centre and left of the 
 Union line on Cemetery Ridge. When Pickett s division came up on the 3d, 
 it was placed on the right of Hill s position and faced Round Top. 
 
 Most of the succeeding day was spent by both armies in preparing for the 
 tremendous death-grapple. At about five o clock in the afternoon, having 
 become convinced that the left and 
 left centre of the Union line were 
 the weakest points, Lee directed his 
 efforts against them. They were 
 held by Sickles, who made a blunder 
 by advancing a portion of his force 
 beyond the battle-line and seizing a 
 ridge. It was because of this blun 
 der that the first Confederate attack 
 was made at that point, 
 
 Longstreet and Ewell opened with 
 a sharp cannonade, under cover of 
 which Hood s division impetuously 
 assaulted Sickles left. He drove his 
 right wing between Sickles left and 
 Little Round Top, and was steadily 
 succeeding in his purpose, when one 
 of those apparently trifling things, 
 for which no one can account, in 
 terfered and brought about moment 
 ous results. 
 
 Little Round Top was the key 
 to the position, and yet it had no real defenders. Had Hood known this, he 
 could have seized it without the slightest difficulty. Perceiving its importance, 
 he began working his way toward it, and only some extraordinary interference 
 could prevent it speedily falling into his possession. 
 
 But General Gouverneur Warren, chief engineer, and his officers had 
 climbed Little Round Top and were using it as a signal station. Soon the 
 shots began flying so fast about them that they made hurried preparations to 
 leave. Warren, however, saw the importance of holding the hill, and told his 
 
 GEORGE G. MEADE. 
 
 The Union comraander-in-chief at Gettysburg. 
 
352 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 associates to make a pretense of doing so, while he looked around for a force to 
 bring to the spot. 
 
 Fortunately, a large body of reinforcements were hurrying past to Sickles, 
 who had sent an urgent call for them. Without hesitation, General Warren 
 detached a brigade for the defense of Little Round Top. They ran up the 
 slope, dragging a battery with them. Hardly had they done so, when Hood 
 made a fierce charge. The fighting was of the most furious nature, and it 
 looked for a time as if the yelling Texans would carry the hill, but they were 
 forced back, and, pressing their way up the ravine at the foot, turned the left 
 Union flank, but were forced again to retire by a bayonet charge. 
 
 Sickles called for reinforcements when attacked by Longstreet, but with 
 their aid he could not hold his position. He was rushed back by the terrific 
 fighter, and Longstreet gained and held the key-point of the line against the 
 repeated assaults of the Union troops. Not only that, but he was resistlessly 
 advancing, when more reinforcements arrived and attacked him just as he reached 
 a wheatfield and grove of woods on the western side of Plum Run. The Confed 
 erates were beginning to give way, when Hood, having carried Sickles extreme 
 left, arrived. A vehement charge carried Hood through two divisions that were 
 doubled back on their main line on Cemetery Ridge ; Sickles left having been 
 crushed, his centre and right were assailed, and the latter was driven back. In 
 the fighting Sickles lost a leg as well as his entire advanced position. 
 
 The close of the 2d of July brought brilliant, but only partial, success to 
 the Confederates. After reaching Cemetery Ridge, Longstreet s men were 
 repulsed by Hancock. The Confederate commander fell back to the western 
 side of the wheatfield, where he remained until morning. Ewell, impetuously 
 attacking the Union right centre at Cemetery and Gulp s Hill, kept back 
 Federal reinforcements from reaching the left, which Longstreet was pounding, 
 drove out the Federal artillery and infantry, and held the works. This was a 
 most important success, and, if Ewell could maintain his position throughout 
 the morrow, General Lee would have a chance of taking Meade s line in 
 reverse. The conclusion of the second day, therefore, left matters in dubious 
 shape for both sides. While the Confederates had made gains, they were not 
 decisive. Still they were such as to cause grave concern on the part of Meade 
 and his brother officers, who held a long, anxious consultation, and discussed 
 the question whether it was not wise to fall back and assume a new and stronger 
 position. The decision was to remain where they were. 
 
 THE THIRD DAY. 
 
 Naturally Lee strengthened his force near where Ewell had secured a 
 lodgment within the breastworks of Gulp s Hill, with the purpose of making 
 
PICKETT S CHARGE. 353 
 
 his main attack there ; but Meade could not fail to see the utmost importance of 
 driving out the enemy from his position. He shelled it at daylight on the 3d, 
 and sent a strong body of infantry against the intruders. The Confederates 
 made a desperate resistance, but in the end were expelled, and the Union line 
 re-established. 
 
 It will be seen that this miscalculation of Lee compelled him to change his 
 plans. Sitting on his horse, riding back and forth, often halting and scanning 
 the battlefield through his glasses, and continually consulting his officers, he 
 finally decided to direct his supreme effort against the Union centre. Success 
 there meant the defeat and rout of the Union army, for, if the two wings could 
 be wedged apart, they would be overwhelmed and destroyed by the charging 
 Confederates. 
 
 But the impressive fact was as well known to the Federals as to their 
 enemies, and nothing was neglected that could add to the strength of their 
 position. All night long troops kept arriving, and in the moonlight were 
 assigned to their positions for the morrow. It took Lee several hours to com 
 plete his preparations for the assault upon the Union centre. At noon he had 
 145 cannon posted on Seminary Ridge, opposite Meade s centre, while Meade 
 had 80 pieces of artillery lined along the crest of Cemetery Hill. 
 
 PICKETT S CHARGE. 
 
 At noon the Confederates opened with all their cannon, their object being 
 to silence the batteries in front, to clear the way for the charge against the 
 Union centre. The eighty Federal pieces replied, and for two hours the earth 
 rocked under the most prodigious cannonade ever heard on this side of the 
 Atlantic. Then the Union fire gradually ceased, and, as the vast volume of 
 smoke slowly lifted, a column of 5,000 gray-coated men were seen to issue from 
 the Confederate lines more than a mile away and advance at a steady stride 
 toward the Union intrenchments. Their bayonets shone in the afternoon sun, 
 and their fluttering battle-flags, the splendid precision of their step, and their 
 superb soldierly appearance made so thrilling a picture that an involuntary 
 murmur of admiration ran along the Union lines, even though these same men 
 were advancing to kill and wound them. 
 
 They formed the division of General George E. Pickett, and no more 
 magnificent charge was ever made. They advanced in a double line, their own 
 artillery ceasing firing as they gradually passed within range with beautiful 
 regular step, which seemed to hasten, as if even with their perfect discipline 
 they could not restrain, their eagerness to join in the death-grapple. 
 
 The Union artillery remained silent until half the space was crossed, 
 when it burst forth, and the Confederates went down by the score. The gaps 
 
 23 
 
354 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 could be seen from every point of the immense field, but those who were unhurt 
 immediately closed up and continued their dauntless advance without a tremor. 
 Coming still closer under the murderous artillery fire, they broke into the 
 double-quick, and it looked as if nothing could check them. 
 
 Waitiiiir until within a few hundred yards, the artillery and musketry 
 
 blazed forth 
 
 again. 
 
 Through 
 
 a misconception of orders, the Confederate 
 
 CUSHING S LAST SHOT. 
 
 line had become disjointed, and the supports of Pickett were repelled and 
 a large number killed or taken prisoners, but Pickett s own division came on 
 unfalteringly, let fly with a volley at the breastworks in front of them, and 
 then, with their resounding yells, dashed up the crest of Cemetery Ridge and 
 drove out the defenders at the point of the bayonet, 
 
 Immediately the hand-to-hand fighting became like that of so many tigers. 
 Guns were clubbed, men wrestled and fought and struck with their bare fists, 
 while a fire was converged upon the assailants of so murderous a nature that 
 even the daring Pickett saw that every one of his men would be killed, if they 
 
Drawn by W. B. DAVIS. 
 
 PICKETT S RETURN FROM HIS FAMOUS CHARGE. 
 " General, mv noble division is swept away." 
 
356 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 remained. He gave the order to fall back, and the survivors broke into a run 
 down the slope for their own lines. 
 
 Pickett s charge ranks among the famous in modern history, and was one 
 of the most striking incidents of the war. The double column which marched 
 across that fire-swept field numbered 5,000 of the flower of the Confederate army. 
 Thirty-five hundred were killed, wounded, or taken prisoners. Of the three 
 brigade commanders, one was killed, the second mortally wounded, and the 
 third badly hurt. One only of the fourteen field officers returned, and out of 
 the twenty-four regimental officers, only two were unhurt. The ferocity of the 
 charge resulted in many deaths among the Unionists, and General Hancock 
 was painfully wounded, but refused to leave the field until the struggle was 
 over. 
 
 And all this valor had gone for naught. The Southerners had attempted 
 an impossible thing, and the penalty was fearful. Unspeakably depressed, 
 General Lee saw the return of the staggering, bleeding survivors, and, riding 
 among them, he did all he could to cheer the mute sufferers by his sympathetic 
 words. He insisted that the failure was wholly his own fault, and that not a 
 word of censure should be visited upon anyone else. 
 
 The expectation of the Confederates was that the Federals would follow up 
 this repulse with an immediate advance, and preparations were hurriedly made 
 to repel it ; but the ammunition was low on Cemetery Ridge, and the furious 
 struggle had exhausted the defenders. Day was closing and the great battle of 
 Gettysburg was ended. 
 
 THE FEARFUL LOSSES. 
 
 The Union losses were: killed, 3,070; wounded, 14,497; missing, 5,434; 
 total, 23,001. The Confederate losses were: killed, 2,592; wounded, 12,706; 
 captured and missing, 5,150; total, 20,448. To quote from Fox s "Regimental 
 Losses in the American Civil War:" "Gettysburg was the greatest battle of the 
 war; Antietam the bloodiest; the largest army was assembled by the Confederates 
 in the Seven Days Fight; by the Unionists at the Wilderness. 1 
 
 THE DECISIVE BATTLE OF THE WAR. 
 
 ^ Gettysburg has been styled the Waterloo of the Southern Confederacy. 
 "Highest tide" was reached by its fortunes during those three first days in 
 July, 1863. Lee put forth his supreme effort, and the result was defeat. He 
 and his leading generals clearly saw that their cause had received its death-blow, 
 and, as one of them expressed it, the fighting thenceforward was for terms. They 
 were not yet conquered, and severe work remained to be done, but never again 
 did the Lost Cause come so near success. Its sun, having reached meridian, 
 must now go down until it should set forever in gloom, disaster, and ruin. 
 
LEE S RETREAT. 
 
 357 
 
 General Lee could not fail to perceive that all that remained to him was to 
 leave the country before overtaken by irretrievable disaster. He withdrew 
 Swell s Corps that night from Gettysburg and posted it on Seminary Ridge, 
 where intrenchments were thrown up. The town was occupied by Meade, and 
 the dismal morrow was spent by the Confederates in burying their dead and 
 removing their wounded. At night the retreat was begun by the Chambers- 
 burg and Fail-field roads, which enter the Cumberland Valley through the 
 South Mountain range. Great battles always produce violent storms, and one 
 of these added to the unspeakable wretchedness of the homeward march. 
 Finding Lee was retreating, Meade sent Sedg- 
 wick in pursuit. The rear guard was over- 
 
 ENTRANCE TO GETTYSBURG CEMETERY. 
 
 taken on the night of the 6th, but its position was too strong to be attacked 
 and the Union army took a route parallel to that of the Confederate. There 
 was considerable skirmishing, but nothing decisive occurred, and the retiring 
 army reached Hagerstown, where it found the fords of the Potomac so swollen 
 as to be impassable. Lee, therefore, intrenched, and stayed where he was until 
 the 13th, by which time the river had fallen sufficiently to be forded, and he once 
 more re-entered Virginia. Meade, fearful that the great prize was about to escape 
 him, made strenuous efforts to intercept him, but failed, and returned to the 
 Rappahan nock, while Lee established himself in the neighborhood of Culpeper. 
 A period .of inactivity now followed. Both Meade and Lee sent strong 
 
358 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 detachments from their armies to the southwest, where, as we have seen, they 
 had the most active kind of service at Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, 
 Knoxville, and other places. When Lee had considerably depleted his forces, 
 Meade thought the prospect of success warranted his making a move against 
 him. Accordingly, he sent his cavalry across the Rappahannock, whereupon 
 Lee withdrew to a position behind the Rapidan, which was so strong that 
 Meade dared not attack, and he, therefore, attempted a flank movement. 
 Before, however, it could be carried out, he was called upon to send two more 
 of his corps to the southwest, because of the defeat of Rosecrans at Chickamauga. 
 These corps were the Eleventh and Twelfth under the command of Hooker. 
 
 This withdrawal compelled Meade to give up his purpose, and he remained 
 on the defensive. By-and-by, when the troops were returned to him, he 
 prepared once more to advance, but Lee anticipated him by an effort to pass 
 around his right flank and interpose between him and Washington. Crossing 
 the Rapidan on the 9th of October, he moved swiftly to Madison Court-House, 
 without detection by Meade, who did not learn of it until the next day, when 
 his outpost was attacked and driven back on the main army at Culpeper. This 
 was proof that the Union right flank had been turned, and Meade immediately 
 started his trains toward the Rappahannock, following a few hours later with 
 his army. On the further side of Bull Run, he fortified himself so strongly 
 that Lee saw it was useless to advance further, and, on the 18th of October, he 
 returned to the line of the Rappahannock. 
 
 Meade started for Richmond on the 7th of November. The Confederates 
 were found occupying earthworks on the north of the Rappahannock. An 
 impetuous assault drove them out and across the river. Meade pushed on to 
 Culpeper, and Lee hurriedly retreated across the Rapidan. 
 
 Meade s judgment was that no further advance should be made, but the 
 clamor of the North forced him to try another of the many attempts to capture 
 Richmond. He crossed the river on the 26th and 27th of November, his aim 
 being to divide the Confederate army by a rapid march on Orange Court-House. 
 But it seemed as if the flood-gates of heaven were then opened. The rain fell 
 in torrents day and night, and the country became a sea of mud and water. 
 Bridges had to be laid to connect different portions of the army, and all offensive 
 movements were for a while out of the question. The delay gave Lee time to 
 form his troops into a compact mass, so that when the Unionists were ready to 
 attack, it was so evident that another Fredericksburg massacre would follow 
 that the plan was abandoned. 
 
 In truth, Lee felt so strong that he was disposed to advance himself, but 
 was dissuaded by the belief that some blunder of the Union commander would 
 give him a better opportunity, but Meade was too wise to do so. On the 1st of 
 
FAILURE OF THE ATTACKS ON CHARLESTON. 359 
 
 December he returned to his old quarters on the Rapidan. The weather had 
 become extremely cold, and both armies went into winter quarters. 
 
 The principal military movements of this year have now been described, 
 but it remains to tell of the operations on the seacoast and of the leading mili 
 tary raids. 
 
 PRIVATEERING! 
 
 The Confederates displayed great activity and ingenuity in the construction 
 of ironclads and in running the blockade. Their vessels continually dodged in 
 and out of a few of the leading ports, the principal one being Wilmington, 
 North Carolina. The profits in a single cargo of a blockade-runner were so 
 enormous that the owners were enriched by several successful voyages, while a 
 single one would reimburse them for the loss of their ship. Under such 
 ^circumstances it was no wonder that they took desperate chances, and firms 
 were organized who paid liberal salaries to the officers of vessels, who adver 
 tised among their friends the regular dates of their departure, and, the worst of 
 it was, they were very regular in keeping them. 
 
 The Alabama and other privateers were busy on the ocean, and the Con 
 federates strained every nerve to send others to sea. The Nashville was a fine 
 steamer that was in the Ogeechee River, Georgia, waiting for a chance to slip 
 out and join the commerce destroyers. She had a valuable cargo of cotton, and 
 the Federal cruisers were alert to prevent her escape. They would have gone 
 up the river after her, but there were too many torpedoes waiting for them, and 
 the guns of Fort McAllister were too powerful. 
 
 Captain Worden, of the old Monitor, was now in command of the 
 Montauk, and he was delighted on the night of February 27th to observe the 
 Nashville lying stuck fast in shallow water above Fort McAllister. The oppor 
 tunity was too tempting to be neglected, and the next morning, despite a hot 
 attack from the fort, he fired into the Nashville until she broke into flames and 
 soon after blew up. 
 
 FAILURE OF THE ATTACKS OX CHARLESTON. 
 
 Naturally the desire was strong in the North to humble Charleston, where 
 the baleful secession sentiment was born and brought all the woe upon the 
 country. General Beau regard was in command of that department, and he 
 made every preparation for the attack, which he knew would soon come. In a 
 proclamation he urged the removal of all non-combatants, and called upon 
 the citizens to rally to the defense of the city. 
 
 A fleet of ironclads was always lying outside of Charleston, watching for 
 an opportunity to give its attention to the forts or city. One tempestuous night 
 in January a couple of rams dashed out of the harbor, and, in a ferociously 
 vicious attack, scattered the ironclads, and compelled a gunboat to surrender. 
 
360 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 Thereupon the Confederates claimed that the blockade had been raised, but no 
 one paid any attention to the claim. 
 
 An expedition was carefully organized for the capture of Charleston, and 
 placed in command of Admiral Samuel F. Dupont. The fleet, numbering a 
 hundred vessels, left the mouth of the North Edisto River on the 6th of April, 
 and on the same day crossed the bar and entered the main channel on the coast 
 of Morris Island. 
 
 A dense haze delayed operations until the following day, when a line of 
 battle was formed by the ironclads, the wooden vessels remaining outside the 
 bar. A raft was fastened to the front of the Weehawken, with which it was 
 intended to explode the torpedoes. The cumbrous contrivance greatly delayed 
 the progress of the fleet, which advanced slowly until the Weehawken had 
 passed the outer batteries and was close to the entrance to the inner harbor. 
 Then Fort Moultrie fired a gun, instantly followed by that of Fort Sumter, and 
 the batteries on Sullivan and on Morris Island. Then a hawser, which the 
 Confederates had stretched across the channel with the purpose of clogging the 
 screws of the propellers, was encountered, the Weehawken was compelled to 
 grope around for a better passage, and everything went wrong. The New 
 Ironsides made an attempt to turn but became unmanageable, two other ironclads 
 ran afoul of her, and matters were in a bad way when Admiral Dupont signaled 
 for each one to do the best it could. 
 
 After a time, eight ironclads secured position in front of Fort Sumter, at 
 distances varying from a third to half a mile. This placed them in direct range 
 of 300 heavy guns which concentrated their appalling fire upon them, the shots 
 following one another as rapidly as the ticking of a watch. The Keokuk, which 
 ran close to Fort Sumter, was struck ninety times, in the course of half an hour, 
 in the .hull and turrets, and nineteen shots pierced her sides close to and below 
 the water-line. Her commander with great difficulty extricated her from her 
 perilous position, and she sank the next day. 
 
 The fight was another proof of the fact that, in all such engagements, the 
 preponderating advantage is with the land batteries. The ships of the squadron 
 were severely injured, but they inflicted no perceptible damage upon the forts. 
 Admiral Dupont had gone into the battle against his judgment, and he now 
 signaled for the ships to withdraw. All with the exception of the New Iron 
 sides returned to Port Royal on the 12th of April. 
 
 This failure caused great disappointment in the North and to the govern 
 ment. Admiral Dupont was ordered to hold his position inside of Charleston bar, 
 and to prevent the enemy from erecting any new defenses on Morris Island. 
 The admiral replied that he was ready to obey all orders, but, in his judgment, 
 he was directed to take an unwise and dangerous step. Thereupon he was 
 
FAILURE OF THE ATTACKS ON CHARLESTON. 361 
 
 superseded by Rear-Admiral Dahlgren, and preparations were begun for a 
 combined land and naval attack upon Charleston. 
 
 One of the best engineer officers in the service was General Quincy A. 
 Gillmore, who had captured Fort Pulaski at Savannah the previous year. He 
 was summoned to Washington, and helped the government to arrange the plan 
 of attack upon Charleston. The most feasible course seemed to be for a military 
 force to seize Morris Island and bombard Fort Sumter from that point, the fleet 
 under Dahlgren giving help. There was hope that the monitors and ironclads 
 would be able to force their way past the batteries and approach nigh enough 
 to strike Charleston. 
 
 Accordingly, a sufficient detachment was gathered on Folly Island, which 
 lies south of Morris Island, and batteries were erected among the w r oods. On 
 the 10th of July, General Strong with 2,000 men attacked a force of South 
 Carolina infantry at the southern part of Morris Island, and drove them to 
 Fort Wagner at the opposite end. The Confederates were reinforced, and, in 
 the attack on Fort Wagner, the Federals were repulsed and obliged to retreat, 
 with heavy loss. 
 
 On the night of the 18th, in the midst of a violent thunderstorm, a 
 determined assault was made upon Fort Wagner, one of the newly formed negro 
 regiments being in the lead. The fighting was of the most furious character, 
 but the Federals suffered a decisive defeat, in which their losses were five times 
 as great as those of the defenders. 
 
 General Gillmore carried parallels against the fort, and the ironclads 
 assisted in the bombardments; but, though it continued for weeks, the city of 
 Charleston seemed to be as far from surrender as ever. A part of the time the 
 weather was so intolerably hot that operations were suspended. 
 
 Gillmore, however, was so near Charleston that he was able to reach it with 
 his heaviest guns, and he prepared to do so. His principal piece was a Parrott, 
 which threw a 100-pound ball, and was christened the "Swamp Angel/ 
 
 The first shot was fired at midnight, August 22d. As the screeching shell 
 curved over and dropped into the sleeping city, witli its frightful explosion, it 
 caused consternation. The people sprang from their beds and rushed into the 
 streets, many fleeing to the country. Beauregard sent an indignant remonstrance, 
 telling Gillmore that all civilized nations, before bombarding a city, gave warning 
 that the non-combatants might be removed. Gillmore explained his reason for 
 his course, and agreed to wait until the following night before renewing the 
 bombardment. 
 
 At that hour it was resumed, with the promise of grave results, but at the 
 thirty-sixth discharge the Swamp Angel exploded, and thus terminated its own 
 career. General Gillmore continued to push his parallels against Fort Wagner. 
 
362 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 Although the ironclads could not pass the obstructions to the inner harbor so as 
 to help, Gillmore persevered, and finally rendered Forts Wagner and Gregg 
 untenable. The evacuation occurred on the night of September Gth. As soon 
 as the Federals took possession, they had to make all haste to repair the ramparts 
 to protect themselves against the fire from Fort Moultrie and James Island, 
 whose guns were immediately turned upon them. 
 
 By this time, Fort Sumter was in ruins, its artillery could not be served, 
 and its garrison comprised only a detachment of infantry. Upon being 
 summoned to surrender by Dahlgren, the commander invited the admiral to 
 come and take the fort. The effort to do so was made by a military force and 
 the ironclads on the 9th of September, but failed. No more important attempts 
 followed. The result had shown that the defenses of Charleston were practically 
 impregnable, and, though shells were occasionally sent into the forts and city, 
 the latter was not captured until near the end of the war, and then it was 
 brought about, as may be said, by the collapse of the Confederacy itself. 
 
 When the war began the Southerners were the superiors of the Northerners 
 as regarded their cavalry. Horseback riding is more common in the South than 
 in the North, but it did not take the Union volunteers long to acquire the art, 
 and, as the war progressed, the cavalry arm was greatly increased and 
 strengthened. One of the natural results of this was numerous raids by both 
 sides, some of which assumed an importance that produced a marked effect on 
 the military campaigns in progress, while in other cases, the daring excursions 
 were simply an outlet to the adventurous spirit which is natural to Americans 
 and which manifests itself upon every opportunity and occasion. 
 
 ONE OF GENERAL STUART S RAIDS. 
 
 Mention has been made of the embarrassment caused General Lee during 
 his Gettysburg campaign by the absence of Stuart with his calvary on one of 
 his raids. In the autumn, Stuart started out on a reconnoissance to Catlett s 
 Station, where he observed French s column in the act of withdrawing from the 
 river, whereupon he turned back toward Warren ton. Taking the road leading 
 from that town to Manassas, he found himself unexpectedly confronting the 
 corps of General Warren. Thus he was caught directly between two fires and 
 in imminent clanger of defeat and capture, for his force was but a handful 
 compared with either column of the Federals. Fortunately for the raider, he 
 and his men were in a strip of woods, and had not been seen, but discovery 
 seemed certain, for their enemies were on every hand, and the slightest inad 
 vertence, even such as the neighing of a horse, was likely to betray them. 
 
 Stuart called his officers around him to discuss what they could do to 
 extricate themselves from their dangerous situation. No one proposed to 
 
ONE OF GENERAL STUART S RAIDS 
 
 363 
 
 surrender, and it looked as if they would be obliged to abandon their nine 
 pieces of horse artillery and wait until night, when they might cut their way 
 out. 
 
 Stuart did not like the idea of 
 
 losing his guns. At any rate, he Jlf 
 
 would not consent, until another plan 
 which had occurred to him was tried. 
 Several of his men were 
 dismounted, and each 
 
 I 
 
 THE SWAMP ANGEL BATTERY BOMBARD 
 ING CHARLESTON. 
 
 was furnished with a musket and 
 infantry knapsack. The uniform was 
 
 not likely to attract notice in the darkness, in case they met any Federals. 
 These messengers were ordered to pick their way through the Union lines to 
 Warrenton, where they would find General Lee, who was to be told of the danger 
 in which Stuart was placed. The Confederate commander could be counted 
 
364 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 upon to send prompt help. Fortunately for Stuart, two of his men succeeded 
 in getting through the Union lines and reaching Lee. 
 
 At the best, however, the night must pass before help could arrive, and it 
 need not be said that the hours were long and anxious ones to the troopers 
 hiding in the woods, with the Federal camp-fires burning on every side, and 
 the men moving about and likely to come among them at any moment. They 
 were so close, indeed, that their laughter and conversation were plainly heard. 
 
 The alert horsemen suddenly observed two Union officers coming toward 
 them. Their careless manner showed they had no thought of danger, and they 
 were strolling along, when several dark figures sprang up from the ground, 
 shoved their pistols in their faces, and warned them if they made the least 
 outcry they would be instantly shot. The prisoners saw the shadowy forms all 
 around them, and were sensible enough to submit and give no trouble. The 
 night gradually wore away, and just as it was growing light, and while the 
 Union division on the heights of Cedar Run, where they were posted to protect 
 the rear of General Warren, were preparing breakfast, they were alarmed by 
 the firing of musketry from the advance of a Confederate column coming uj> 
 the Warren ton road. 
 
 That means that Uncle Bob has sent us help!" was the gratified exclama 
 tion of Stuart to his delighted friends ; " we must take a hand in this business." 
 The cavalry opened fire on the Union lines, which were thrown into some 
 confusion, during which Stuart limbered up his guns and quickly rejoined 
 Ewell. 
 
 STONEMAN S RAID. 
 
 As has been stated, General Hooker at the opening of the battle of Chan- 
 
 rsville was confident that he was going to defeat Lee. In order to cut off 
 
 etreat, he sent General Stoneman, with 2,300 cavalry, on April 28th to 
 
 the rear of the Confederate army. Stoneman crossed the Rappahannock at 
 
 Ford, where his force was divided. One-half, led by General Averill, 
 
 for the Orange Railroad, a little way above Culpeper, then occupied by 
 
 zbugh Lee, with a force of 500 men. He was attacked with such vigor that 
 
 > hurriedly retreated across the Rapidan, burning the bridges behind him. 
 
 11, instead of pursuing, turned about and made his way back to Hooker 
 
 to accompany him in his retreat to the northern bank of the Rappa- 
 
 bannock. 
 
 Meanwhile, Stoneman crossed the Rapidan on the 1st of May, and galloped 
 
 >tat.on, on the Virginia Central Railroad, a dozen miles to the east 
 
 There he paused and sent out several detachments, which 
 
 wrought a great deal of mischief. One of them advanced to Ashland, only fifteen 
 
 from Richmond, while another went still closer to the Confederate capital 
 
MORGAN S RAID. 365 
 
 These bodies of troopers caused much alarm, and a general converging of the 
 enemy s cavalry caused Stoneman to start on his return, May 6th. For a time 
 he was in great danger, but his men Avere excellently mounted, and, by hard 
 riding, they effected a safe escape along the north bank of the Pamunkey and 
 York Rivers, and rejoined their friends at Gloucester. 
 
 GRIERSON S RAID. 
 
 During the siege of Vicksburg a daring raid was made in the rear of the 
 city by Colonel B. H. Grierson. In this instance his work was of great help to 
 General Grant, for he destroyed the Confederate lines of communication, and 
 checked the gathering of reinforcements for Pemberton. Grierson, who con 
 ceived the plan of the raid, left La Grange on the 17th of April with three 
 regiments of cavalry. After crossing the Tallahatchie, he rode south to the 
 Macon and Corinth Railroad, where the rails were torn up, telegraph lines cut, 
 and bridges and other property destroyed. To do the work thoroughly detach 
 ments were sent in different directions, and they spared nothing. 
 
 Grierson now changed his course to the southwest, seized the bridge over 
 Pearl River, burned a large number of locomotives, and forced his way through 
 a wild country to Baton Rouge, which he found in the possession of Unionists. 
 He had been engaged for a fortnight on his raid, during which he destroyed an 
 immense amount of property, captured several towns, fought several sharp 
 skirmishes, and carried off many prisoners. 
 
 John S. Mosby was the most daring Confederate raider in the East. Some 
 of his exploits and escapes were remarkable, and an account of them would fill 
 a volume with thrilling incidents. General Lee did not look with favor on such 
 irregular work, but accepted it as one of the accompaniments of war, and it 
 cannot be denied that Mosby gave him valuable help in more than one instance. 
 
 MORGAN S RAID. 
 
 John H. Morgan was famous in the southwest as a raider and guerrilla. 
 At the beginning of July, 1863, he seized Columbia, near Jamestown, Kentucky, 
 and advanced against Colonel Moore at Greenbrier Bridge. His reception was 
 so hot that he was obliged to retreat, whereupon he attacked Lebanon, where 
 there was considerable vicious fighting in the streets. One of Morgan s regi 
 ments was commanded by his brother, who was killed. The incensed leader set 
 fire to the houses, and, although the defenders surrendered, the place was sacked. 
 Then the invaders retreated before the Union cavalry who were advancing 
 against them. Their course was through Northern Kentucky, where they 
 plundered right and left, and spread dismay on every hand. 
 
 Reckless and encouraged by their successes, they now swam their horses 
 
366 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 over the Ohio River, and, entering Indiana, gave that State its first experience 
 in war. The local militia were called out, but the experienced cavalry easily 
 brushed them aside. They knew, however, it would be different when they 
 met the regular Union cavalry who were riding hard after them. To escape 
 them, Morgan started for western Virginia, When he entered Ohio, the State 
 was terrified, and even Cincinnati trembled, but the raiders had no thought 
 of stopping until they reached western Virginia, where they would be safe. 
 
 The telegraph had carried the news of Morgan s movements everywhere, 
 and the determination was general that he should not be allowed to escape from 
 the entanglements in which he and his men had involved themselves. The 
 militia guarded all the fords of the Ohio; gunboats steamed back and forth; the 
 roads were blocked by felled trees, and everything possible was done to 
 obstruct the band, who were so laden with plunder that their exhausted animals 
 had to proceed slowly. 
 
 It is stated by credible witnesses, who saw the formidable company riding 
 along the highway when hard pressed, that nearly every man in the saddle was 
 sound asleep. They dared not make any extended halt through fear of their 
 pursuers, and when they did pause it was because of their drooping animals. 
 
 Reaching the Ohio at last, Morgan planted his field guns near Buffington 
 Island, with the view of protecting his men while they swam the river. Before 
 he could bring them into use, a gunboat knocked the pieces right and left like 
 so many tenpins. Abandoning the place, Morgan made the attempt to cross at 
 Belleville, but was again frustrated. It was now evident that the time had come 
 when each must lookout for himself. Accordingly, the band broke up and 
 scattered. Their pursuers picked them up one by one, and Morgan himself and 
 a few of his men were surrounded near New Lisbon, Ohio, and compelled to 
 surrender. He and his principal officers were sentenced to the Ohio penitentiary, 
 where they were kept in close confinement until November 27th, when through 
 the assistance of friends (some of whom were probably within the prison), he 
 and six officers effected their escape, and succeeded in reaching the Confederate 
 lines, where they were soon at their characteristic work again. 
 
 Morgan was a raider by nature, but, as is often the case, the " pitcher went 
 to the fountain once too often." While engaged upon one of his raids the follow 
 ing year he was cornered by the Federal cavalry, and in the fight that followed 
 was shot dead. 
 
 Far below these men in moral character were such guerrillas as Quantrell, 
 who were simply plunderers, assassins, and murderers, who carried on their 
 execrable work through innate depravity, rather than from any wish to help the 
 side with which they identified themselves. Most of them soon ran their brief 
 course, and died, as they had lived, by violence. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OK LINCOLN CCONCLUDKD). 
 
 1861-1865. 
 
 WAR KOR THK UNION (CONCUUDKD), 1864-1865. 
 
 rhe Work Remaining to be Done General Grant Placed in Command of all the Union Armies The 
 Grand Campaign Banks Disastrous Red River Expedition How the Union Fleet was Saved 
 Capture of Mobile by Admiral Favragut The Confederate Cruisers Destruction of the Alabama 
 by the Kearsarge Fate of the Other Confederate Cruisers Destruction of the Albemarle by Lieu 
 tenant William B. Gushing Re-election of President Lincoln Distress in the South and Prosperity 
 in the North The Union Prisoners u the South Admission of Nevada The Confederate Raids 
 from Canada Sherman s Advarc? to Atlanta Fall of Atlanta Hood s Vain Attempt to Relieve 
 Georgia Superb Success of General Thomas "Marching Through Georgia" Sherman s Christ 
 mas Gift to President Lincoln Opening of Grant s Final Campaign Battles in the Wilderness 
 Wounding of General Longstreet and Deaths of General Stuart and Sedgwick Grant s Flanking 
 Movements Against Lee A Disastrous Repulse at Cold Harbor Defeat of Sigel and Hunter in the 
 Shenandoah Valley " Bottling-up " of Butler Explosions of the Petersburg Mine Early s Raids 
 His Final Defeat by Sheridan Grant s Campaign Surrender of Lee Assassination of President 
 Lincoln Death of Booth and Punishment of the Conspirators Surrender of Jo Johnston and 
 Collapse of the Southern Confederacy Capture of Jeiferson Davis His Release and Death Statis 
 tics of the Civil War A Characteristic Anecdote. 
 
 THE WORK TO BE DONE. 
 
 Two grand campaigns remained to be prosecuted to a successful conclusion 
 before the great Civil War could be ended and the Union restored. The first 
 and most important was that of General Grant against Richmond, or, more 
 properly, against Lee, who was still at the head of the unconquered Army of 
 Northern Virginia, and who must be overcome before the Confederate capital 
 could fall. The second was the campaign of General Sherman, through the 
 heart of the Southern Confederacy. Other interesting and decisive operations 
 were to be pressed, but all were contributory to the two great ones mentioned. 
 
 Several momentous truths had forced themselves upon the national govern 
 ment. It had learned to comprehend the magnitude of the struggle before it. 
 Had the North and South possessed equal resources and the same number of 
 troops, the latter could not have been conquered any more than the North could 
 have been defeated had the situation been reversed. But the North possessed 
 uien, wealth, and resources immensely beyond those of the South. The war 
 iiad made the South an armed camp, with privation and suffering everywhere. 
 
 (367) 
 
368 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 while in the North a person might have traveled for days and weeks without 
 suspecting that a domestic war was in progress. It was necessary to overwhelm 
 the South, and the North had not only the ability to do so, but was resolved that 
 it should be done. Its estimates were made on the basis of an army of a million 
 men. Large bounties were ottered for soldiers, and, when these did not provide 
 all that was needed, drafting was resorted to. There had been rioting and 
 disorder in New York City and other places during the summer of 1863, when 
 there was a vicious revolt against drafting, but the government persisted and 
 obtained the men it needed. 
 
 THE RIGHT LEADER. 
 
 Another proven fact was that the war could not be successfully prosecuted 
 by a bureau in Washington. This attempt at the beginning had brought 
 disaster ; but the excuse for this interference w r as that the right leaders had not 
 yet appeared. General after general was tried at the head of the armies, and 
 had either failed or come short of the expected success. The events of 1863, 
 however, indicated unerringly the right men to whom the destinies of the nation 
 could be safely intrusted. Foremost among these was General Ulysses S. 
 Grant. With that genius of common sense, which always actuated President 
 Lincoln, he nominated him to the rank of lieutenant-general, the grade of which 
 was revived by Congress in February, 1864, and the Senate confirmed the 
 appointment on the 2d of March. In obedience to a summons from Washing 
 ton, Grant left Nashville on the 4th of the month, arrived on the 9th, and 
 President Lincoln handed him his commission on the following day. 
 
 "I don t know what your plans are, general," said the President, " nor do 
 I ask to know them. You have demonstrated your ability to end this war, and 
 the country expects you to do it. Go ahead, and you may count upon my 
 unfaltering support." 
 
 Grant modestly accepted the tremendous responsibility, which placed him 
 in command of all the armies of the United States, and he established his head 
 quarters with the Army of the Potomac at Culpeper, Va., March 26, 1864. 
 
 THE GRAND CAMPAIGN. 
 
 The plan of campaign determined upon by Grant was to concentrate all 
 the national forces into a few distinct armies, which should advance on the same 
 day against the opposing Confederate armies, and, by fighting incessantly, prevent 
 any one of them from reinforcing the other. The armies of the enemy were 
 themselves to be the objective points, and they were to be given no time for rest. 
 Sherman was to advance from Atlanta against Johnston, who had an army 
 larger in numbers than that of Lee; Banks army, as soon as it could be with 
 drawn from the disastrous Red River expedition, was to act against Mobile; 
 
BANKS RED RIVER EXPEDITION, 369 
 
 Sigel was to pass down the valley of Virginia and prevent the enemy from 
 making annoying raids from that quarter; Butler was to ascend the James and 
 threaten Richmond ; and, finally, the Army of the Potomac, under the immediate 
 command of Meade, was to protect Washington, and essay the most herculean 
 task of all the conquest of Lee and his army. 
 
 Orders were issued by Grant for a general movement of all the national forces 
 on the 4th of May. Since they were so numerous, and began nearly at the 
 same time, it is necessary to give the particulars of each in turn, reserving that 
 of the most important Grant s own for the last. 
 
 BANKS 7 RED RIVER EXPEDITION. 
 
 One of the most discreditable affairs of the war was what is known as 
 Banks Red River Expedition. That officer was in command at New Orleans? 
 when it was decided to send a strong force up the Red River, in quest of the 
 immense quantities of cotton stored in that region, though the ostensible object 
 was the capture of Shreveport, Louisiana, 350 miles above New Orleans, and 
 the capital of the State. 
 
 The plan was for the army to advance in three columns, supported by 
 Admiral Porter with a fleet, which was to force a passage up the Red River. 
 General A. J. Smith was to march from Vicksburg, with the first division of 
 the army, which numbered 10,000 men ; Banks was to lead the second from 
 New Orleans, and Steele the third from Little Rock. 
 
 General Edmund Kirby Smith was the Confederate commander of the 
 Trans-Mississippi Department. Although he had fewer men than the invaders, 
 he prepared for a vigorous resistance. He sent Generals Price and Marmaduke 
 to harass Steele, directed General Dick Taylor to obstruct the Red River as 
 much as he could, while he made ready to make the best fight possible. 
 
 Fifty miles above the mouth of the Red River stood Fort de Russy, which, 
 although considerably strengthened, was carried by assault, March 13th. On 
 the loth, Porter s twelve gunboats and thirty transports joined Franklin at 
 Alexandria. The Federal cavalry occupied Natchitoches, on the last day of 
 the month, and in the van of the army; they arrived at Mansfield on the 8th of 
 April, several days after Admiral Porter had reached Grand Echore on the 
 Red River. 
 
 Meanwhile, the Confederate General Dick Taylor kept fighting and falling 
 back before the Union advance, but he was continually reinforced, until he 
 felt strong enough to offer the Federals battle. This took place on the 8th, a 
 short distance from Mansfield. The assault was made with vehemence, and the 
 Union troops, who were straggling along for miles, were taken by surprise and 
 driven into headlong panic, leaving their artillery behind, and not stopping 
 
 24 
 
370 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 their flight until under the protection of the guns of the Nineteenth Corps. 
 Then a stand was made, and Banks fell back to his old camping ground at 
 Pleasant Hill. His intention was to remain there, but his command was so 
 disorganized that he continued his flight. The Confederates had already 
 chased them so long that they were worn out, while Banks continued retreating 
 until he reached Grand Ecliore, where he breathed freely for the first time, since 
 he had the protection of the gunboats. 
 
 Disgraceful as was the overthrow of the land forces, a still greater disaster 
 threatened the fleet. Porter had gone further up the river, but returned to 
 Grand Echore upon learning of the defeat of Banks. He had to sweep the 
 shores continually with grapeshot, to clear it of the Confederate sharpshooters, 
 who succeeded in capturing two of the transports and blowing up another with 
 a torpedo. The Red River was low, with the water falling hourly. The retreat 
 ing army reached Alexandria on the 27th of April, but the fleet was stopped by 
 the shallowness of the water above the falls, and the officers despaired of saving 
 it. The only possible recourse seemed to destroy all the vessels to prevent their 
 tailing into the hands of the enemy. 
 
 HOW THE UNION FLEET WAS SAVED. 
 
 In this crisis, Colonel Joseph Bailey, of Wisconsin, submitted a plan for 
 a series of wing dams above the falls, believing they would raise the water high 
 enough to float all the vessels. The other engineers scoffed at the project, but 
 Porter placed 3,000 men and all that Bailey needed at his command. 
 
 The task was a prodigious one, for the falls, as they were termed, were a 
 mile in length and it was necessary to swell the current sufficiently to carry the 
 vessels past the rocks for the whole distance. The large force of men worked 
 incessantly for nearly two weeks, by which time the task was accomplished and 
 the fleet plunged through unharmed to the deeper water below the falls. The 
 genius of a single man had saved the Union fleet. 
 
 Banks, having retreated to Alexandria, paused only long enough to burn 
 the town, when he kept on to New Orleans, where some time later he was re 
 lieved of his command. The Red River expedition was the crowning disgrace 
 of the year. 
 
 THE CAPTURE OF MOBILE. 
 
 After the fall of New Orleans, in April, 1862, Mobile was the leading port 
 of the Southern Confederacy. It was blockaded closely, but the Confederate 
 cruisers succeeded now and then in slipping in and out, while a number of iron 
 clads were in process of building, and threatened to break the blockade. 
 Admiral Farragut, the greatest naval hero of modern times, after a careful recon- 
 noissance of the defenses, told the government that if it would provide him with 
 
THE CAPTURE OF MOBILE. 371 
 
 a single AMiclad, he would capture Mobile. He was promised a strong land 
 force under General Granger and several monitors, which were sent to him. 
 
 Farvagut, fully appreciating the task before him, made his preparations 
 with care and thoroughness. His fleet consisted of eighteen vessels, four of 
 which the Tecumseh, Winnebago, Manhattan, and Chlckasaw were ironclads, 
 while the others were of wood. Admiral Buchanan (commander of the Her- 
 rimac in her first day s fight with the Monitor) had less vessels, three gunboats, 
 and the formidable ram Tennessee. But he was assisted by three powerful forts, 
 
 BAILEY S DAMS ON THE RED RIVER. 
 
 with large garrisons Gaines, Morgan, and Powell which commanded the en 
 trance, while the Tennessee was regarded by the Confederates as able to sink the 
 whole Union fleet. 
 
 The wooden vessels were lashed in couples, so as to give mutual help, and 
 with the Brooklyn and Hartford (Farragut s flagship) in the lead, the proces 
 sion entered Mobile Bay on the morning of August 5, 1864. As they came 
 opposite the forts they opened fire upon them, and in a few minutes the latter 
 began their thunderous reply. The battle was tremendous, and the smoke was 
 so dense that Farra.gi.it, who was closely watching and directing the action of the 
 
372 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 fleet, gradually climbed the rigging, so as to place himself above the obstructing 
 vapor. His height was such that the captain of the vessel became anxious for 
 his safety, since if he was struck, as looked probable, he was sure to fall to the 
 deck or overboard. He, therefore, sent a man after him, with a rope in hand. 
 Amid the gentle remonstrances of the admiral, this man lashed him fast to the 
 rigging. When the increasing smoke made it necessary to climb higher, Farra- 
 gut untied the fastenings, and, after he had taken several upward steps, tied him 
 self again. 
 
 The harbor bristled with torpedoes, to which, however, Farragut and his 
 officers paid little heed. The Tecumseh, Commander T. A. M. Craven, was hur 
 rying to attack the ram Tennessee, when a gigantic torpedo exploded beneath 
 her, smashing in the bottom and causing her to sink so suddenly that nearly a 
 hundred men went down with her. The pilot and Craven were in the pilot 
 house, and, feeling the boat dropping beneath them, both sprang to the narrow 
 ladder leading out. They reached the foot together, when the commander 
 bowed and, pausing, said to the pilot : " You first, sir." He had barely time to 
 scramble out, when Captain Craven and the rest went down. 
 
 The Union vessels pressed forward with such vigor that, with the exception 
 of the loss of the Tecwmeh, the forts were passed without the ships receiving 
 serious injury. When, however, the battle seemed won, the Tennessee came out 
 from under the guns of Fort Powell and headed for the Union vessels. She 
 believed herself invulnerable in her massive iron hide, and selected the flagship 
 as her special target. The Hartford partly dodged her blow and rammed her 
 in return. The ram was accompanied by three gunboats, which were soon 
 driven out of action, but the Tennessee plunged here and there like some enraged 
 monster driven at bay, but which the guns and attacks of her assailants could 
 not conquer. 
 
 Tons of metal were hurled with inconceivable force against her mailed 
 sides, only to drop harmlessly into the water. She was butted and rammed, and 
 in each case it was like the rat gnawing a file : the injury fell upon the assailant. 
 She was so surrounded by her enemies that they got in one another s way and 
 caused mutual hurt. 
 
 But as continual dropping wears away stones, this incessant hammering 
 finally showed effect. Admiral Buchanan received a painful wound, and a num 
 ber of his men were killed ; the steering-chains were broken, the smokestack 
 was carried away, the port shutters jammed, and finally the wallowing " sea-hog " 
 became unmanageable. Then the white flag was displayed and the battle was 
 over. Farragut had won his most memorable battle, and the last important 
 seaport of the Confederacy was gone. 
 
 Two days later .Fort Gaines was captured, and Fort Morgan surrendered 
 
THE CONFEDERATE CRUISERS. 
 
 373 
 
 on the 23d of the same month. The land force rendered valuable assistance, 
 and the blockade became more rigid. The coast line, however, was so extensive 
 that it was impossible to seal every port, and the Confederacy obtained a good 
 deal of sorely needed medical supplies through the daring blockade-runners, 
 which often managed to elude the watchful fleets. 
 
 The Confederate cruisers were still roaming the ocean and creating immense 
 havoc among the Union shipping. Despite our protests to England, she helped 
 
 MONUMENT TO ADMIRAL FARRAGUT AT WASHINGTON. 
 
 to man these vessels, and laid up a fine bill for damages which she was compelled 
 to pay after the close of the war. 
 
 THE CONFEDERATE CRUISERS. 
 
 During the year 1864, several new cruisers appeared on the ocean, one of 
 which, the Tallahassee, boldly steamed up and down off our northern coast, and, 
 in the space of ten days, destroyed thirty-three vessels. The most famous of 
 all these cruisers was the Alabama, which was built at Birkenhead, England, 
 and launched May 15, 1862. She was a bark-rigged propeller of 1,016 tons 
 register, with a length over all of 220 feet Her two horizontal engines were 
 
374 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 of 300 horse-power each. When completed, she was sent on a pretended trial 
 trip. At the Azores she received her war material from a waiting transport, 
 while her commander, Captain Raphael Semmes, and his officers, who had gone 
 thither on a British steamer, went aboard. The Alabama carried 8 guns and a 
 crew of 149 men, most of whom were Englishmen. Thus fairly launched, she 
 started on her career of destruction, which continued uninterruptedly for 
 twenty-two months. 
 
 DESTRUCTION OF THE ALABAMA. 
 
 One of the many United States vessels that was engaged in a hunt for the 
 Alabama was the Kearsarge, Captain John Ancrum Winslow. She was of 
 1,030 tons, carried 7 guns, and had a crew of 163 men, nearly all of whom were 
 Americans. On Sunday, July 12, 1864, while lying off the town of Flushing, 
 Holland, Captain Winslow received a dispatch from Minister W. L. Dayton, at 
 Paris, notifying him that the Alabama had arrived at Cherbourg, France. 
 Winslow lost no time in steaming thither, and reached Cherbourg on Tuesday, 
 where he saw the cruiser across the breakwater with the Confederate flag 
 defiantly flying. 
 
 Winslow did not dare enter the harbor, for, had he done so, he would have 
 been obliged, according to international law, to remain twenty-four hours after 
 the departure of the Alabama, which would thereby gain all the opportunity 
 she needed for escape. He, therefore, took station off the port, intending to 
 wait until the cruiser came out. 
 
 This precaution, however, was unnecessary, for Semmes, grown bold by his 
 long career of destroying unarmed merchantmen, had resolved to offer the 
 Kearsarge battle. He sent a challenge to Captain Winslow, couched in 
 insulting language, and the Union officer promptly accepted it. 
 
 The news of the impending battle was telegraphed far and wide, and 
 excursion trains were run from Paris and other points to Cherbourg. On 
 Sunday, June 19th, fully 15,000 people lined the shores and wharves, and 
 among them all it may be doubted whether there were more than a hundred 
 whose sympathies were not keenly on the side of the Alabama. France 
 was intensely in favor of the Southern Confederacy, and nothing would have 
 pleased Louis Napoleon, the emperor, better than to see our country torn 
 apart. He did his utmost to persuade England to join him in intervening 
 against us. 
 
 With a faint haze resting on the town and sea, the Alabama steamed slowly 
 out of the harbor on Sunday morning, June 19th, and headed toward the 
 waiting Kearsarge. The latter began moving seaward, as if afraid to meet her 
 antagonist. The object of Captain Winslow, however, was to draw the Alabama 
 so far that no question about neutral waters could arise, and in case the Alabama 
 
DESTRUCTION OF THE ALABAMA. 375 
 
 should be disabled, he did not intend to give her the chance to take refuge in 
 Cherbourg. 
 
 Three miles was the neutral limit, but Captain Winslow continued to steam 
 out to sea until he had gone nearly seven miles from shore. Then he swung 
 around and made for the Alabama. As he did so, Captain Semmes delivered 
 three broadsides, with little effect. Then fearing a raking fire, Captain Winslow 
 sheered and fired a broadside at a distance of little more than half a mile, and 
 strove to pass under the Alabama s stern, but Semmes also veered and 
 prevented it. 
 
 Since each vessel kept its starboard broadside toward the other, they began 
 moving in a circular direction, the current gradually carrying both westward, 
 while the circle narrowed until its diameter was about a fourth of a mile. 
 
 From the beginning the fire of the Kearsarge was much more accurate and 
 destructive than her antagonist s. Hardly had the battle opened when the gaff 
 and colors of the Alabama were shot away, but another ensign was quickly 
 hoisted at the mizzen. Captain Winslow instructed his gunners to make every 
 shot count. This was wise, for its effects became speedily apparent. The 
 Kearsarge fired 173 shots, nearly all of which landed, while of the 370 of the 
 Alabama, only 28 hit the Kearsarge. One of these, a 68-pounder shell, 
 exploded on the quarter-deck, wounding three men, one mortally. Another 
 shell, bursting in the hammock nettings, started a fire, which was speedily 
 extinguished. A third buried itself in the sternpost, but fortunately did not 
 explode. The damage done by the remaining shots was trifling. 
 
 One of the Kearsarge s 11-inch shells entered the port of the Alabama s 
 8-inch gun, tore off a part of the piece, and killed several of the crew. A 
 second shell entered the same port, killed one man and wounded several, and 
 soon a third similar shot penetrated the same opening. Before the action closed, 
 it was necessary to re-form the crew of the after pivot gun four times. These 
 terrific missiles were aimed slightly below the water-line of the Alabama, with a 
 view of sinking her. 
 
 About an hour had passed and seven complete revolutions had been 
 described by the ships, and the eighth had just begun, when it became apparent 
 that the Alabama was sinking. She headed for neutral waters, now only two 
 miles distant, but a few well-planted shots stopped her, and she displayed the 
 white flag. Her race was run, and Captain Winslow immediately ceased firing 
 and lowered his only two serviceable boats, which were hurried to the aid of 
 the drowning men. A few minutes later the bow of the Alabama rose high in 
 air, and then the noted cruiser plunged downward, stern foremost, and disap 
 peared forever in the bottom of the ocean. 
 
 Cruising in the neighborhood of the fight was the English yacht Deer- 
 
376 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 hound, which now joined in rescuing the crew of the Alabama at the request 
 of Captain Winslow. She was in duty bound to deliver the men she saved to 
 Winslow as prisoners of war, but, instead of doing so, she watched her chance, 
 and, under full steam, made for Southampton, carrying forty-two, among whom 
 were Captain Semmes and fourteen officers. Semmes had flung his sword into 
 the sea and leaped overboard as the Alabama was going down. His vessel had 
 nine killed, ten drowned, and twenty-one wounded, while on the Kearsarge of 
 the three wounded only one died. A demand was made upon the English 
 government for the surrender of the men carried away by the Deerhound* but 
 it was refused. 
 
 FATE OF THE OTHER CRUISERS. 
 
 The Confederate cruiser Georgia took on the guise of a merchant vessel, 
 but was seized off the coast of Portugal by the Niagara, and sent to this country 
 as a lawful prize. The Florida, while lying in the neutral port of Bahia, 
 Brazil, was attacked, October 7th, by the Wachuset, captured, and taken to 
 Hampton Eoads. This action was illegal, being similar to the attack made upon 
 the Essex in the harbor of Valparaiso in the War of 1812. While awaiting 
 decision as to the legality of her capture, she was run into by a steam transport 
 and sunk. It may be doubted whether this method of settling the dispute was 
 wholly accidental. 
 
 The Shenandoah did most of her destructive work in the far Pacific. As 
 a consequence she did not hear of the conclusion of the war until several 
 months afterward, and she was, therefore, virtually a pirate fighting under a flag 
 that had no legal existence. Her captain, when the news reached him, steamed 
 for England, and turned over his vessel to the British government. 
 
 DESTRUCTION OF THE "ALBEMARLE" BY LIEUTENANT GUSHING. 
 
 Probably no more formidable ironclad was ever built by the Southern Con 
 federacy than the Albemarle. She had been constructed under great difficulties, 
 work being begun early in 1863, when, it was said, her keel was laid in a 
 cornfield. When finished she was 122 feet over all, and was propelled by twin 
 screws with engines of 200 horse-power each. Her armament consisted of an 
 Armstrong gun of 100 pounds at the bow and a similar one at the stern. 
 
 The Albemarle demonstrated on the first opportunity the appalling power 
 she possessed. The Federals had captured Plymouth, North Carolina, which 
 was attacked by the Confederates, April 17th and 18th. They were repulsed 
 mainly through the assistance of two wooden gunboats, the Miami and South- 
 field, but the Albemarle came down the river on the 19th and engaged them. 
 The shots of the gunboats did no more harm than those of the Cumberland and 
 Congress when fired against the Merrimac. The Southfield was crushed as 
 
DESTRUCTION OF THE ALEEMARLE. 377 
 
 so much pasteboard, and sent to the bottom of the river, while the mangled 
 Miami limped off, accompanied by two tugboats. The next day Plymouth 
 surrendered to the Confederates. In a fight some weeks later with the Union 
 vessels, the Albemarle inflicted great injury, and withstood all the ramming 
 and broadsides that could be brought against her. She was a most dangerous 
 vessel indeed, and caused the government a great deal of uneasiness. 
 
 Several attempts were made to destroy her, but the Confederates were 
 watchful and vigilant. She was moored to the wharf, about eight miles up the 
 river, upon the shores of which a thousand men were encamped. They 
 patroled the banks and kept bright fires burning all night. The crew of the 
 ram were alert, and a boom of cypress logs encircled the craft some thirty feet 
 from the hull, to ward off the approach of torpedoes. It would seem that no 
 possible precaution was neglected. 
 
 Among the most daring men ever connected with the American navy was 
 William Barker Gushing. He was born in 1842, and educated at the Naval 
 Academy. He was of so wild a disposition that many of his friends saw little 
 hope of his success in life. But, entering the service at the beginning of the 
 war, he quickly gave proof qf a personal courage that no danger could affect. 
 He seemed to love peril for the sake of itself, and where death threatened he 
 eagerly went. He expressed confidence that he could destroy the Albemarle 
 and asked permission to make the attempt. His superior officers knew that if 
 its destruction was within the range of human possibility, he would accomplish 
 it, and the ram was so great a menace to the Union fleet that he was told to try 
 his hand at the seeming impossible task. 
 
 Although Gushing was a young man of unsurpassable bravery, ready at all 
 times to take desperate chances, there was what might be termed method in his 
 madness. He needed no one to tell him that in his attempt to destroy the 
 Albemarle, the slightest neglect in his preparations were likely to prove fatal. 
 He, therefore, took every precaution that ingenuity could devise. Two picket 
 boats were constructed with spar torpedoes attached, and with engines so formed 
 that by spreading tarpaulin over them all light and sound was obscured. When 
 traveling at a low rate of speed, they could pass within a few yards of a person 
 in the darkness without his being able to hear or see anything. A howitzer was 
 mounted at the bow, and the spar, with the torpedo attached, was fitted at the 
 starboard bow. 
 
 The boats, having been completed in New York, were sent to Norfolk by 
 way of the canals. One of them was lost in Chesapeake Bay, but the other 
 reached its destination. Several days were spent in preparation, and the night 
 of October 27th was selected for the venture. It could not have been more 
 favorable, for it was of impenetrable darkness and a fine, misty rain was falling. 
 
378 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 Cushing s companions in the picket boat were : Acting Ensign W. L. Howarth, 
 Acting Master s Mates T. S. Gay and John Woodman, Acting Assistant Pay 
 master F. H. Swan, Acting Third Assistant Engineers C. L. Steever and W. 
 Stotesbury, and eight men whose names were as follows : S. Higgens, first-class 
 fireman ; R. Hamilton, coal heaver ; W. Smith, B. Harley, E. J. Houghton, 
 ordinary seamen ; L. Deming, H. Wilkes, and R. H. King, landsmen. H^took 
 in tow a small cutter, with which to capture the guard that was in a schooner 
 anchored near the Southjield that had been raised, and whose duty it was to 
 send up an alarm rocket on the approach of any expedition against the Albe- 
 marle. It was intended to run ashore a little below the ram, board and capture 
 her by surprise, and take her down the river. 
 
 It was about midnight that the start was made. Several of the men were 
 familiar with the river, and the boat kept close to shore, where the gloom 
 was still more profound. No one spoke except when necessary and then in the 
 lowest tones, while all listened and peered into the drizzly night. The straining 
 ears could hear only the soft rippling of the water from the prow and the faint 
 muffled clanking of the engine. The speed was slackened as they approached 
 the schooner, whose outlines soon assumed form. No one whispered, but all 
 held themselves ready for the rush the moment the guard discovered them. 
 
 Sentinels, however, are not always alert, and on this dismal night the 
 guard detected nothing of the phantom craft which glided past like a shadow 
 with the cutter in tow. This was the first stroke of good fortune, and each man 
 felt a thrill of encouragement, for only a mile remained to be passed to reach the 
 Albcmarlc. 
 
 A little way further and the boats swept around a bend in the river, where, 
 had it been daylight, they could have seen the ram. Here was where the fires 
 had been kept blazing the night through, but the guards were as drowsy as 
 those below, for they had allowed them to sputter and die down to a few embers, 
 while the sentinels were doubtless trying to keep comfortable in the wet, dismal 
 night. 
 
 Still stealing noiselessly forward, the men in the boat soon saw the gloom 
 slowly take shape in front. The outlines revealed the massive ironclad lying 
 still and motionless against the wharf, with not a light or sign of life visible. 
 The nerves of each of the brave crew were strung to the highest tension, when 
 the stillness was broken by the barking of a dog. The canine, more vigilant 
 than his masters, gave the alarm, and -instantly it seemed as if a hundred dogs 
 were making night hideous with their signals. Springing to their feet, the 
 sentinels on shore discerned the strange boat and challenged it. No reply was 
 given ; a second challenge was made, and then a gun was fired. The guards 
 seemed to spring to life everywhere, more dogs barked, alarm rattles were sprung, 
 
DESTRUCTION OF THE ALE EM A RLE. 379 
 
 wood was thrown on the fires which flamed up, soldiers seized their weapons and 
 rushed to their places under the sharp commands of their officers. 
 
 Gushing now called to the engineer to go ahead under full speed. At the 
 same moment, lie cut the towline and ordered the men on the cutter to return 
 and capture the guard near the Southfield. The launch was tearing through the 
 water straight for the ram, when, for the first time, Gushing became aware of 
 the boom of logs which inclosed it. His hope now was that these logs had 
 become so slimy from lying long in the water that it was possible for the launch 
 to slip over them. With wonderful coolness, he veered off for a hundred yards, 
 so as to gain sufficient headway, and then circled around and headed for the 
 ram. 
 
 Standing erect at the bow, Gushing held himself ready to use the torpedo 
 the moment he could do so. A volley was fired, which riddled his coat and 
 tore off the heel of one of his shoes, but he did not falter. Then followed the 
 crisp snapping of the primers of the cannon, which showed the immense guns 
 had missed fire. Had they been discharged, the boat and every man on it would 
 have been blown to fragments. 
 
 " Jump from the ram ! " shouted Gushing, as he rushed forward, with the 
 speed of a racehorse ; " we re going to blow you up ! " 
 
 The howitzer at the front of the launch was fired at that moment, and then 
 the boat slid over the logs, like a sleigh over the snow, carrying the men directly 
 in front of the gaping mouth of the 100-pounder Armstrong. 
 
 The critical moment had come, and, crouching forward, Gushing shoved 
 the torpedo spar under the overhang, and waited till he felt it rise and bump 
 against the ship s bottom, when he jerked the trigger line. A muffled, cav 
 ernous explosion was heard, the ram tilted partly over, and an immense geyser 
 spouted upward, filling the launch and swamping it. The enormous cannon 
 was discharged, but, aimed directly at the boat, the aim was deflected by the 
 careening of the ram, and the frightful charge passed harmlessly over the heads 
 of the men. 
 
 Gushing called to each one to lookout for himself, and leaped as far as he 
 could into the water. There he kicked off his shoes, and dropped his sword and 
 revolver. The incensed Confederates shouted to the Unionists to surrender, and 
 a number did so ; but others, including Gushing, continued swimming until in 
 the darkness they passed out of range. 
 
 It surpasses comprehension how Gushing escaped. Nearly half his crew 
 had been struck before the launch was submerged, and Paymaster Swan and 
 another man were shot at his side. Gushing, Woodman, and Houghton leaped 
 into the water at the same time and swam in different directions, no one know- 
 .ing where he would come out. Houghton was a powerful swimmer, and, keep- 
 
380 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 ing cool and husbanding his strength, he made shore a short distance below, 
 passed through the enemy s line to the mouth of the river, and escaped un 
 harmed. 
 
 Gushing continued swimming for nearly a mile, when hearing a splashing 
 near him he approached and found Woodman in the last stage of exhaustion. 
 Gushing gave him all the help he could, but he himself was worn out, and, 
 despite his efforts, Woodman slipped from his grasp and was drowned. When 
 about to give up Gush ing s feet touched bottom and he struggled to shore, 
 where he sank in a collapse, unable to stir until morning. By that time his 
 strength had sufficiently returned to enable him to stagger to a swamp where he 
 threw himself down near a path. A few minutes later, two officers walked by 
 talking earnestly about the sinking of the Albemarle, but the listener could not 
 overhear enough of their conversation to learn whether or not the ram had been 
 destroyed. 
 
 Growing stronger, he pushed into the swamp, until he reached a negro s 
 hut. There he made himself known, and was received kindly. Gushing asked 
 the negro to go to Plymouth and find out whether the Albemarle had been 
 harmed. The African departed, and, when he returned at the end of several 
 hours, his arms were filled with food and his eyes protruding. 
 
 " Suah as yo s born, marse ! " he gasped, " de Albemarle am at de bottom 
 ob de riber ! " 
 
 Such was the fact, for the exploding torpedo had gouged more than twenty 
 square feet out of the ram abreast of the port quarter, through which the torrent 
 rushed and carried it down in a few minutes. Gushing remained with his dusky 
 friend until night, when he tramped a long way through swamp and wood to 
 where an old skiff rested against the bank of a small stream. Paddling down 
 this to the river, he kept on until he reached the Union vessels, where he was 
 taken on board and welcomed as deserved the hero who had accomplished that 
 which was beyond the ability of the whole fleet. 
 
 Before proceeding with our account of the closing military operations of 
 the war, it is proper to record several minor, but important, events. 
 
 THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1864. 
 
 The year 1864 was a presidential one. Although Hannibal Hamlin had 
 served acceptably as Vice-President throughout Lincoln s first term, political 
 wisdom suggested replacing him with a man more closely identified with the 
 struggle for the Union. Hamlin belonged to the State of Maine, where the 
 voice of disloyalty was never heard. Andrew Johnson, as we shall learn in the 
 next chapter, was what was termed a war Democrat, who had risked his life in 
 the defense of his principles. He was nominated for Vice-President, while 
 
PROSPERITY OF THE NORTH. 381 
 
 Lincoln, as was inevitable, was renominated for the presidency. The nominees 
 of the Democrats were General George B. McClellan, the unsuccessful Union 
 commander, and George H. Pendleton, of Ohio. McClellan acted very credit 
 ably when, finding that many believed him opposed to the war, he stated in 
 unequivocal language that he favored its prosecution until the Union was fully 
 restored. His platform may be described as a criticism of the methods of the 
 administration. His position drove away many who would have supported a 
 candidate in favor of peace at any price, but he preserved his self-respect, 
 although it helped to bring his decisive defeat. 
 
 In the November election the result was: Lincoln and Johnson each 212 
 electoral votes ; McClellan and Pendleton each 21. On the popular vote, the 
 Republican ticket received 2,216,067 and the Democratic 407,342 votes. Of 
 course, no vote was cast in the eleven seceding States. The result was 
 emphatic proof that the North was unalterably opposed to peace upon any terms 
 except the full restoration of the Union. The great successes, such as Gettys 
 burg, Vicksburg, Mobile, and the destruction of the Confederate cruisers, as well 
 as the rapid exhaustion of the South, contributed very much to the success of 
 the Republican party. 
 
 DISTRESS IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 The distress in the South was intense and grew daily more so. The Con 
 federate money had so depreciated in value that a paper dollar was not worth 
 more than a penny, and by-and-by it had absolutely no value at all. The farce 
 of such a currency caused many grim jests among the Confederates themselves. 
 Thus an officer gave his colored servant five thousand dollars to curry his horse, 
 and another officer exchanged six months of his own pay for a paper dollar. 
 In truth, the Southerners were fighting without pay, while their clothing and 
 food were of the poorest character. All the men being in some branch of the 
 service, the women had to look after the homes that were running to waste. The 
 conscription act was made so rigid that the drag-net gathered in the large boys 
 and men past middle life. 
 
 PROSPERITY OF THE NORTH. 
 
 It was far different in the North. The enormous demands of the govern 
 ment for war supplies gave the country an unnatural prosperity. Although 
 prices were high, there was an abundance of money, which, while depreciating 
 to some extent, never did so to a degree to cause distress. The resources were 
 almost limitless, and the conviction was so general that the war was near its 
 conclusion, that the greenback currency and the national bonds began to rise in 
 value. The real dissatisfaction was in the continual demand fcr more soldiers. 
 In the course of the year fully 1,200,000 men had been summoned to the ranks. 
 
382 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 Several drafts took place, and bounties were paid, which in many instances 
 were at the rate of a thousand dollars to a man. A good many people began to 
 declare this demand exorbitant, and that, if the real necessity existed, the Union 
 was not worth such an appalling cost of human life. 
 
 WAR S DESOLATION. 
 
 Behind all this seeming prosperity were thousands of mourning households 
 and desolate hearthstones in the North as well as the South. Fathers, brothers, 
 and sons had fallen, and would nevermore return to their loved ones. The 
 shadow was everywhere. Sorrow, broken-hearts, and lamentation were in the 
 land, for war, the greatest curse of mankind, spares neither parent, child, nor 
 babe. The exchange of prisoners, carried on almost from the very opening of 
 the war, ceased, because the Confederate authorities refused to exchange negro 
 soldiers. As a consequence, multitudes of Union prisoners suffered indescribable 
 misery in many of the Southern prisons. This was especially the case in 
 Andersonville, Georgia, where a brute named Wirz, a Swiss, showed a fiendish 
 delight in adding to the tortures of those committed to his care. This miscreant 
 was afterward tried for his atrocities, found guilty, and hanged. He was the 
 only man executed for the part he took in the war. There was less suffering in 
 other places. The straits to which the Confederates themselves were driven 
 made it impossible in some instances to give the care they would have given to 
 their prisoners. In the early part of 1864, more than a hundred Unionists 
 confined in Libby Prison, Richmond, escaped by tunneling, but most of them 
 were recaptured and returned to confinement. 
 
 Nevada was admitted to the Union in 1864. It formed part of the Mexican 
 cession of 1848, prior to which time no settlement had been made in the State. 
 In that year the Mormons settled in Carson and Washoe Valleys. In 1859, 
 silver was found to exist in vast quantities, and, in 1866, the area of the State 
 was increased by additions from Arizona and Utah. 
 
 CONFEDERATE RAIDERS FROM CANADA. 
 
 One of the most irritating annoyances resulted from the presence of Con 
 federates in Canada, who continually plotted mischief against the North. In 
 October, 1864, a band of them rode into St. Albans, Vermont, which is only 
 fifteen miles from the border, robbed the bank of a large amount of money, 
 burned a hotel, fired into a crowd of citizens, committed other outrages, and 
 galloped back to Canada, where thirteen were arrested and thrown into prison. 
 The legal proceedings which followed resulted in the discharge of the prisoners 
 on technical grounds. General Dix, in command of the Eastern Department, 
 issued orders that in the future all such narauders were to be pursued and shot 
 
GENERAL SHERMAN S ADVANCE TO ATLANTA. 
 
 383 
 
 down or arrested, no matter where they took refuge. Had these measures been 
 carried out, there would have been war with England, which would never 
 permit such invasion of her territory. General Dix s action was disavowed by 
 our government, while the Canadian authorities took care to prevent any more 
 similar outrages. 
 
 It has been stated that General Grant planned a forward movement of the 
 
 4* _*&. 
 
 -^- ----. i 
 
 BIKD S-EYE VIEW OF THE NORTH END OF ANDERSONVILLE PRISON. 
 
 (From a photograph.) 
 
 In the middle-ground midway of the swamp is the " Island " which was covered with shelters after the higher ground 
 
 had all been occupied. 
 
 Union forces early in May of this year, with the purpose of keeping the 
 Confederate armies so incessantly engaged that they would have no opportunity 
 of reinforcing one another. 
 
 GENERAL SHERMAN S ADVANCE TO ATLANTA. 
 
 General Sherman, the faithful lieutenant of Grant, was in command of the 
 three armies, respectively, of the Cumberland, of Tennessee, and of Ohio, led 
 
384 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 by Generals Thomas, McPherson, and Schofield. General Jo Johnston was 
 Sherman s opponent, his commanders being Hardee, Hood, and Polk. The 
 troops were less numerous than the Federals, but they were the finest of soldiers 
 and were led by skillful officers. 
 
 Sherman made his preparations with care and thoroughness. Chattanooga 
 was his starting-point on his march through the South, and by the 1st of May 
 he had 254 guns, 100,000 men, and an immense amount of supplies at that 
 town. He began his famous march on the 7th of May. Johnston, who saw 
 his purpose, confronted him at Dalton, where an attack by Unionists was 
 repulsed; but Sherman resorted to flanking tactics, and Johnston fell back, 
 crossing the river, May loth, and taking a new position at Etowah, forty miles 
 to the south of Resaca. 
 
 The great risk assumed by Sherman will be understood. It was necessary 
 to preserve his communications, for he had but a single railroad line behind 
 him. To do this, he had to leave strong detachments at different points, thereby 
 weakening his army as he advanced into Confederate territory. Johnston, being 
 among friends, was not obliged to do anything of that nature. He could pre^ 
 serve his forces intact and add slightly to them. By-and-by, the armies would 
 be nearly equal in numbers, when Johnston proposed to give battle to the 
 invaders. 
 
 The Union army marched in three columns, their flanks guarded by 
 cavalry, and the columns always within supporting distance of one another. 
 The steady advance and retreat went on with occasional brisk fighting. On the 
 14th of June, during an exchange of shots, the head of General Leonidas Polk 
 was carried away by a cannon ball. Now and then Johnston attacked Sherman, 
 but invariably without gaining any important advantage. 
 
 At last Sherman grew tired of continually flanking his enemy, and made 
 the mistake of assaulting him. This was at Kenesaw Mountain on the 27th of 
 June. The attack was made with great gallantry, but the Unionists were 
 repulsed with the loss of 3,000 men. 
 
 Sherman returned to his flanking tactics, which were conducted with so 
 much skill that finally Johnston was forced into the defenses of Atlanta. It 
 was there he meant to make a stand and deliver battle on something approaching 
 equal terms. His generals were dissatisfied with his continual falling back and 
 protested. That Johnston was sagacious in what he did cannot be questioned; 
 but his old enemy, President Davis, took advantage of the opportunity to 
 remove him and place General Hood in chief command. 
 
 Hood had not half the ability of Johnston, but he believed in fighting. 
 He assumed Johnston s place on the 17th of July. The news was pleasant to 
 Sherman, for he rated Hood at his true value as compared with Johnston. 
 
SHERMAN S THREE SCOUTS 
 
 Setting out at night they paddled continuously down the river until daylight, when they ran the boat among the reeds and remained 
 
 in hiding until night came again." 
 
GENERAL SHERMAN S ADVANCE TO ATLANTA. 
 
 385 
 
 It had been a long and difficult march from Chattanooga to Atlanta, and 
 yet it may be said that Sherman had only reached his true starting-point. He 
 gave his soldiers a needed rest, and 
 waited for reinforcements. Those JL 
 expected from Corinth,** 
 Mississippi, were routed by 
 General 
 
 - m 
 
 
 Forrest, 
 but the 
 
 I V JBBT1 needed 
 
 /> ;.;;* ;> !AN flBijser> ^m men were obtained from 
 
 other quarters, and the 
 three columns converged 
 upon Atlanta, July 20th. 
 The defenses extended for 
 three miles about the city, but were 
 not quite completed. McPherson 
 secured possession of a hill that gave 
 him a view of the city, observing which Hood made a furious assault upon him 
 on the night of the 22cl. He came perilously near success, but, by hastening 
 reinforcements to the threatened point, Sherman was able to repel the attack. 
 
 26 
 
 DEATH OF GENERAL, POLK. 
 
386 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 In the fighting General McPhersou, one of the best of the Union generals, was 
 killed. 
 
 The plan of Sherman was to shut off Atlanta from the rest of the world. 
 By thus excluding its supplies, it would be starved into submission, as was the 
 case at Vicksburg. Accordingly, he began a series of works, intended to be 
 extended gradually around the city. This was difficult and dangerous, as was 
 proven when two columns of Union cavalry, failing to effect a junction, through 
 some misunderstanding, were separately attacked and routed. Among the many 
 prisoners taken was General Stoneman, and the cavalry arm of the service was 
 greatly weakened. 
 
 The impetuous Hood made a furious onslaught upon the Union army 
 July 28th, renewing it several times, but was defeated with heavy loss in each 
 instance. Sherman, through the failure of one of his generals to reach his 
 assigned position in time, narrowly missed bagging Hood and his whole army. 
 
 FALL OF ATLANTA. 
 
 But Sherman displayed masterly generalship by so manoeuvring as to 
 draw Hood away from the defenses and by thrusting his army between the 
 corps of Hardee and Atlanta. The only escape now for the Confederates was 
 to abandon the city, which was done on the 1st of September, many of the 
 citizens going with the retiring army. At nine o clock the next morning 
 General Slocum, at the head of a strong reconnoitering column, rode into 
 Atlanta, and the mayor made a formal surrender of the place. 
 
 The news of the fall of Atlanta caused great rejoicing in the North, and 
 corresponding depression in the South. President Davis hurried to the neigh 
 borhood to investigate for himself. He found matters so bad that they could 
 not be much worse. Hood, however, was as combative as ever, and proposed to 
 attack Sherman s lines of communication. It was a dangerous proceeding, but 
 Davis consented. On his way back to Richmond he stopped at Macon and 
 made a speech, in which he announced the plans of Hood. This speech was 
 published in the Southern papers, reached the North, where it was republished, 
 and in due time these papers went to Sherman. It can well be understood that 
 Davis speech proved "mighty interesting" reading to the Union commander. 
 
 FAILURE OF HOOD S PLAN FOR THE RELIEF OF GEORGIA. 
 
 Hood s plan was simple. He proposed to march into Tennessee, and, by 
 threatening Sherman s communications, compel him to withdraw from Georgia. 
 But Sherman was not to be caught thus easily. He followed Hood to the north 
 of the Chattahoochee, and, then letting him go whither he chose, turned back to 
 Atlanta. Hood kept right on through northern Alabama, and advanced 
 
SHERMAN y S MARCH FROM ATLANTA TO THE SEA. 387 
 
 against Nashville. General Thomas had been sent by Sherman from Atlanta, 
 with the Army of the Cumberland, to look after Hood. General Schofield, in 
 command in the southern part of the State, fell back to Franklin, eighteen miles 
 south of Nashville, where he was attacked November 30th by Hood. It was a 
 savage battle, but the Confederates were held in check until night, when Schofield 
 retreated across the river, and took refuge in Nashville. There General Thomas 
 gathered all his troops, and threw up a line of intrenchments to the south of 
 the city. Hood appeared in front of them December 2d, and began building 
 works and counter batteries. He was certain of capturing the place and its 
 defenders by regular siege operations. Never did the genius of Thomas shine 
 more brilliantly than at the siege of Nashville. He industriously gathered 
 reinforcements, perfected his defenses, and refused to move until fully prepared. 
 The whole country became impatient; even General Grant sent him urgent 
 messages, and at one time issued an order for his removal. But Thomas could 
 
 cT> 
 
 not be shaken from his purpose. Not until December loth did he feel himself 
 ready to strike, and then he did it with the might of a descending avalanche. 
 He sallied forth, captured several redoubts, and drove back the Confederates for 
 a number of miles. He renewed the battle on the 16th, and utterly routed 
 Hood s army. The panic-stricken troops fled in confusion, drawing Forrest 
 and his cavalry into the disorganized flight, while Thomas vigorously pursued 
 until the fugitives scrambled over Duck Eiver toward the Tennessee, waic-: as 
 crossed on the 27th of December. 
 
 Hood s army was virtually destroyed. He lost more than 13,000 prisoners, 
 including several general officers, and many guns, while more than 2,000 
 deserters joined Thomas. The disgusted Hood asked to be relieved of his 
 command, and Dick Taylor, who had defeated Banks some months before in 
 Texas, assumed his place, but he really was left with no army to command. 
 The proud host which had promised so much existed no longer. The Rock 
 of Chickamauga had fallen upon it and ground it to powder. 
 
 SHERMAN S MARCH FROM ATLANTA TO THE SEA. 
 
 Sherman proved his confidence in Thomas by not waiting for him to com 
 plete his wonderful task, before beginning his march from Atlanta to the sea, 
 300 miles distant. Since it was impossible to maintain the long and increasing 
 slender line of communications behind him, Sherman made no effort to do so. 
 He "cut loose" entirely, proposing to live off the granary of the South, through 
 which his 60,000 veterans began their famous tramp. Weeks passed, during 
 which the national government heard not a word from Sherman, except such 
 as filtered through the Confederate lines, and which was always tinctured by 
 the hopes of the enemy. There were continual rumors of the Union army 
 
388 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 meeting "a lion in its path," and of its being overwhelmed by disaster, but 
 nothing of a positive nature was learned, and naturally there was considerable 
 uneasiness, though Grant knew Sherman too well to feel any distrust of his 
 success. 
 
 At the beginning of his march, Sherman aimed to deceive the enemy as 
 to his real destination. The secret was shared only with his corps commanders 
 and General Kilpatrick, leader of the cavalry. The advance was in two 
 columns, the right under General Howard and the left under General Slocum. 
 Atlanta was burned on the night of November loth, and Sherman himself rode 
 out from the city the next day with the left wing. 
 
 It was impossible for the Confederates to present any serious opposition to 
 the invaders. Frantic appeals were issued to the South to rise and crush the 
 enemy, but they accomplished nothing. The bands of militia were brushed 
 aside like so many children, and the march "From Atlanta to the Sea" was 
 simply a huge picnic for Sherman and his army. The opening of the 
 Mississippi had sliced off the left limb of the Southern Confederacy, and 
 Sherman was now boring his way through the heart. 
 
 Milledgeville, the capital of the State, was reached on the 21st, but before 
 the Federals arrived the Legislature adjourned precipitately and took to its 
 heels. Governor Brown and most of the members ran to Augusta, which was 
 surrendered two days later, plundered, and partly burned. Kilpatrick made a 
 demonstration against Macon, and could easily have captured it, but his move 
 ment was intended only as a feint. Rightly surmising by this time that the 
 seacoast was Sherman s destination, General Hardee did all he could to obstruct 
 the roads leading thither, but he was powerless to check the invaders. Thousands 
 of negroes followed the army, singing the "Day of Jubilee has Come," but 
 many of the poor people perished amid the dismal wastes and barrens of 
 Eastern Georgia. 
 
 Finally Sherman passed down the peninsula formed by the Ogeechee and 
 Savannah Rivers and approached Savannah. The enemy were easily driven from 
 their field-works, and by December 10th all the Confederates were forced into 
 their lines and the whole Union army was in front of Savannah. The 300 
 miles had been passed in twenty-five days and the listening ears could now hear 
 the faint boom of the distant Atlantic breakers. 
 
 But Hardee was in Savannah with 15,000 men, capable of offering a strong 
 defense. To meet his heavy cannon, Sherman had only field artillery, and, 
 instead of making a direct attack, which would have involved considerable loss 
 of life, he decided to starve the garrison to terms. Admiral Dahlgren was lying 
 off the coast, but the mouth of the river was commanded by Fort McAllister, 
 and it was dangerous work to attempt to communicate with the Union fleet. 
 
PRESIDENT LINCOLN S UNIQUE CHRISTMAS GIFT. 
 
 389 
 
 Sherman sent off three scouts, who paddled cautiously down the river at night, 
 hiding in the rice-fields by day, until they finally succeeded in attracting the 
 notice of a gunboat which ran in and picked them up. The glorious news was 
 carried to Admiral Dahlgren, who immediately dispatched it North, where, as 
 may be supposed, it caused unbounded rejoicing. 
 
 Fort McAllister, fifteen miles below the city, was such an obstacle to the 
 co-operation of the fleet that Sherman determined to capture it. It was taken 
 with a rush on the loth of December, and the way opened for a supply of am 
 munition and heavy guns from Hil 
 ton Head. General Forster, the 
 Union commander of that depart 
 ment, was ordered to occupy the rail 
 road connecting Savannah and 
 
 o 
 
 Charleston. When that should be 
 done, Savannah would be completely 
 invested. 
 
 PRESIDENT LINCOLN S UNIQUE 
 CHRISTMAS GIFT. 
 
 On the 17th, Sherman demand 
 ed the surrender of the city. Hardee 
 refused and Sherman prepared to 
 bombard it. But the Confederates, 
 who still had control of Savannah 
 River, retreated across that stream 
 on the night of the 20th, and 
 tramped into South Carolina. Sher 
 man entered the city the next day 
 and wrote at once to President Lin 
 coln : " I beg to present you, as a 
 Christmas gift, the city of Savannah, with 150 heavy guns and plenty of am 
 munition ; also about 25,000 bales of cotton." It was a unique Christmas gift 
 indeed, and President Lincoln sent back the thanks of the government and 
 nation to the Union commander, his officers and soldiers. 
 
 One pleasing feature of Sherman s entrance into Savannah was the wide 
 spread Union sentiment which manifested itself among the citizens. They were 
 tired of the Avar and glad to see this evidence that its close was near. They did 
 not destroy their cotton or property, but were quite willing to turn it over to 
 their conquerors. General Geary was appointed commandant and ruled with 
 tact and kindness. Here we will leave Sherman for a time, and give our atten- 
 
 WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHEBMAW. 
 
 (1820-1891.) 
 
390 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 tion to the single remaining, but most important, campaign of all that of 
 General Grant against Lee. 
 
 GRANT S ADVANCE AGAINST LEE. 
 
 When the Army of the Potomac was ready to move against Lee and Rich- 
 mond, it consisted of three instead of five corps. Hancock commanded the 
 Second, Warren the Fifth, and Sedgwick the Sixth. Beside this, the Ninth 
 Corps, which included many colored troops, was under command of Burnside, 
 and was left for a time to guard the communications with Washington. This 
 force numbered 140,000 men, and, as has been stated, was the largest number 
 ever assembled by the Unionists. 
 
 In addition to this stupendous host, 42,000 troops were in and about Wash 
 ington, 31,000 in AVest Virginia, and 59,000 in the department of Virginia and 
 North Carolina. In South Carolina, Georgia, and at other points were 38,000. 
 General Lee had less than 58,000 under his immediate command, and the whole 
 number of Confederates in the region threatened by Grant s 310,000 was about 
 125,000. 
 
 General Meade retained command of the Army of the Potomac, and the 
 cavalry corps was under General Philip H. Sheridan. Best of all, the veterans 
 were now inspired by a feeling of confidence to which they had long been 
 strangers. They felt that they had a commander at last who was competent to 
 lead them to victory. 
 
 Lee was acting on the defensive and held a powerful position. Longstreet 
 was at Gordonsville, Ewell on the Rapidan, and A. P. Hill at Orange Court- 
 House. The Rapidan itself was held by small bodies of troops, whose duty it 
 was to keep watch of the movements of the Union army. 
 
 Grant s plan was to advance directly to Richmond. He intended to cross 
 the Rapidan, attack Lee s right, cut his communications, and compel him to 
 fight. At the same time Butler was to ascend the James from Fort Monroe, 
 seize City Point, and, advancing along the south bank of the river, cut the Con 
 federate communications south of the James, and, if possible, capture Peters 
 burg. 
 
 If Grant succeeded in defeating Lee, he intended to follow him to Rich 
 mond. If he failed, he meant to transfer his whole army to the southern side 
 of the James, using Butler s column to cover the movement, and attack from 
 that quarter. At the same time, General Sigel was to organize his army into 
 two expeditions, one under General Crook in the Kanawha Valley, and the 
 other commanded by himself in the Shenandoah Valley. The object of this 
 campaign was to cut the Central Railroad and the Virginia and Tennessee Road. 
 
WOUNDING OF GENERAL LONGSTREET. 391 
 
 Since the bulk of Lee s supplies were received over these lines, the success of the 
 plan would inflict a mortal blow upon the Confederate army. 
 
 The Army of the Potomac began moving, May 3d, at midnight. The 
 advance was in two columns. The right, including Warren s and Sedgwick s 
 Corps, crossed the Kapidan at Gerrnania Ford, and the left, Hancock s Corps, 
 made the passage at Ely s Ford, six miles below. On the following night, the 
 bivouac was between the Rapidan and Chancellorsville. 
 
 THE BATTLES IN THE WILDERNESS. 
 
 Reading Grant s purpose, Lee determined to attack him in the dense, 
 wooded country known as the Wilderness, where it would be impossible for the 
 Union commander to use his artillery. Acting promptly, a furious assault was 
 made and the Confederates attained considerable success. The ground was 
 unfavorable for the Unionists, but Grant did not shrink. His line was five 
 miles long and mostly within the woods, where he could use neither cavalry 
 nor artillery with effect ; but he made his attack with such vehemence that after 
 several hours of terrific fighting he drove the flying Confederates back almost 
 to the headquarters of Lee, where Longstreet saved the army from overthrow 
 and re-established the line. 
 
 WOUNDING OF GENERAL LONGSTREET. 
 
 Before noon the next day, Longstreet forced Hancock s left to the Brock 
 Road and determined to seize the latter. Had he done so, another disastrous 
 defeat would have been added to those suffered by the Army of the Potomac at 
 the hands of Lee. Longstreet was in high spirits and determined to lead the 
 movement in person. While riding forward, he met General Jenkins, who was 
 also exultant over what seemed certain success. The two stopped to shake hands, 
 and when doing so, they and their escorts were mistaken by a body of Confederate 
 troops for Union cavalry and fired upon. Longstreet waved his hand and 
 shouted to the men to stop firing. They did so, but Jenkins had already been 
 killed and Longstreet himself was shot in the throat. He fell from his saddle 
 and lay beside the body of Jenkins. He was believed to be dead, but, showing 
 signs of life, was placed on a litter and carried to the rear, the soldiers cheer 
 ing as he was borne past. The reader will recall the strange wounding of 
 Stonewall Jackson, under almost similar circumstances, by his own men. 
 Longstreet recovered in time to take a leading part in the closing incidents of 
 the war. 
 
 This occurrence caused a feeling akin to dismay in the Confederate ranks, 
 and defeated the movement that was about to be undertaken. General Lee was 
 so disturbed that he placed himself at the head of a Texas brigade, with the 
 
392 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 resolve to lead it in a charge that should be decisive, but his men would not 
 permit, and compelled him to resume his place at the rear. 
 
 Grant s position was too strong to be carried and Lee was equally secure. 
 Meanwhile Grant carefully hunted for a weak spot in his enemy s line, and 
 decided that Spotteylvaiiia Court-House was the place, and thither he inarched 
 his army on the night of May 7th. 
 
 While this movement was in progress, Sheridan and his cavalry made a 
 dash toward Richmond in the effort to cut Lee s communications. The vigilant 
 Stuart intercepted them at Yellow Tavern, within seven miles of the city, and 
 compelled Sheridan to return, but in the fighting Stuart received a wound 
 from which he died the next day. 
 
 When Grant s advance reached Spottsylvania Court-House, the Confederates 
 were in possession, and repulsed the attempt to drive them out. While the 
 preparations for renewing the battle were going on, General Sedgwick was 
 struck in the head by a Confederate sharpshooter and instantly killed. 
 
 GRANT S REPULSE AT COLD HARBOR. 
 
 A series of flank movements followed, with fierce fighting, in which the 
 Union loss was great. Reinforcements were sent to Grant, and nothing could 
 deter his resolution to drive Lee to the wall. At Cold Harbor, on June 3d, 
 however, the Union commander received one of the most bloody repulses of the 
 war, suffering a loss .of ten thousand in the space of less than half an hour, and 
 his losses from the Rapidan to the Chickahominy whither he moved his army 
 equaled the whole number of men in Lee s army. The latter was within the 
 defenses of Richmond, of which the centre was Cold Harbor. Having much 
 shorter lines, the Confederates were able to anticipate the movements of the 
 Army of the Potomac and present a defiant front at all times. 
 
 Meanwhile matters had gone wrong in the Shenandoah Valley. On the 
 loth of May, Sigel was utterly routed by Breckinridge. The Union officer 
 failed so badly that he was superseded by Hunter, who made just as wretched 
 a failure. The 15,000 troops under Breckinridge were sent to reinforce Lee, 
 when, had Sigel and Hunter done their duty, this force would have been 
 compelled to stay in the Shenandoah Valley. 
 
 Another movement that was meant to help Grant materially was that of 
 Butler, who was to threaten Richmond by water, while Grant and Meade were 
 assailing the city in front. But Butler was outgeneraled by Beauregard, who 
 succeeded in " bottling him up," as Grant expressed it, at Bermuda Hundred, a 
 peninsula formed by the James, twenty miles below Richmond. There Butler 
 was held helpless, while Beauregard sent a small part of his meagre force to 
 reinforce Lee. 
 
GRANT 9 8 REPULSE AT COLD HARBOR. 
 
 393 
 
 The terrible repulse which Grant received at Cold Harbor convinced him 
 that it was only throwing away life to persist in the campaign against Richmond 
 by the "overland " route. With characteristic decision, he decided to move his 
 army to the front of Petersburg and thus shut off Lee s communication with the 
 South. Holding his position in front of the Confederate leader until June 12th, 
 
 GENERAL LEE DASHES TO THE FRONT TO LEAD THE TEXANS CHARGE. 
 
 Grant crossed the Chickahominy and advanced to City Point. Passing the 
 James on ponton-bridges, he marched toward Petersburg, where the army 
 arrived on the loth. The next day the Army of the Potomnc was south of the 
 James. Petersburg was immediately attacked, but the defenders repelled every 
 assault. The next day, Lee s whole army entered the breastworks of the town. 
 After repeated attacks by the Unionists, Grant saw the impossibility of captur- 
 
394 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 ing Petersburg by direct attack and he began its siege. Several times the Con 
 federates made sallies against threatening movements and drove the Federals 
 from the positions that had been gained at no little loss of life. 
 
 Early in July, Grant consented to allow Lieutenant-Colonel Pleasant, of a 
 Pennsylvania regiment belonging to Burnside s corps, to run a mine under one 
 of the approaches to the enemy s intrenchments before Petersburg. It was 
 believed, apparently with reason, that the explosion would open a gap in the 
 line through which the Federals might make a dash and capture the town before 
 the defenders could rally from their confusion. 
 
 The mine was laid and four tons of powder were fired at daylight on the 
 morning of July 30th. A cavity was opened by the stupendous explosion, 200 
 feet long, 60 feet wide, and 30 feet deep. Instantly, the Union batteries opened 
 on those of the enemy, silenced them, and the assaulting column charged. The 
 dreadful mistake was made by the men of halting in the cavity for shelter. The 
 troops sent to their help also stopped and huddled together, seeing which the 
 terrified gunners ran back to their abandoned pieces and opened upon the dis 
 organized mass in the pit. The slaughter continued until the Confederate offi 
 cers sickened at the sight and ordered it stopped. The horrible business resulted 
 in the loss of nearly 1,000 prisoners and 3,000 killed and wounded. 
 
 GENERAL EARLY s RAIDS. 
 
 Since the entire Army of the Potomac was in front of Petersburg, the Con 
 federates took advantage of the opportunity to give Washington another scare, 
 in the hope, also, of compelling Grant to withdraw a considerable body of troops 
 from before Richmond. General Early was sent thither with 8,000 men by 
 General Lee, with orders to attack the Federals in the valley. Sigel, whose 
 great forte was that of retreating, fell back before the advance of Early, crossed 
 the Potomac, and took position on Maryland Heights. Early moved up the 
 Monocacy into Maryland, causing great alarm in Washington. The President 
 called upon Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts for militia with which 
 to repel the invasion. They were placed under the command of General Lew 
 Wallace, who was defeated at Monocacy Junction, July 9th. Early attacked 
 Rockville, fourteen miles west of Washington, and Colonel Harry Gilmor, him 
 self a citizen of Baltimore, cut the communications between that city and Phila 
 delphia, He captured a railway train, and among his prisoners was General 
 Franklin, who was wounded and on his way north. The loose watch kept over 
 the captives allowed them to escape. 
 
 Early was in high feather over his success, and his cavalry appeared in 
 front of Washington, July llth, and exchanged shots with Fort Stevens ; but 
 a spirited attack drove them off, and they crossed the Potomac at Edward s 
 
SHERIDAN IN THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 
 
 395 
 
 Ferry, and passed to the western side of the Shenandoah. Early made his head 
 quarters at Winchester and repelled several assaults upon him. 
 
 The Confederate leader had been so successful that he soon made a second 
 raid. He crossed the Potomac, July 29th, and, entering Pennsylvania, reached 
 Chambersburg, from which a ransom of $200,000 in gold was demanded. It 
 not being forthcoming, the city was fired, and the invaders, after some hard 
 fighting, succeeded in getting back to the southern shore of the Potomac. 
 
 SHERIDAN IN THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY. 
 
 These raids were so exasperat 
 ing that Grant, who could not give 
 them his personal attention, deter 
 mined to put an effectual stop to 
 them. The government united the< 
 departments of western Virginia, 
 Washington, and the Susquehanna, 
 and placed them under the charge of 
 General Sheridan, who had 40,000 ! 
 men at his disposal. Sheridan, 
 whose force was three times as nu 
 merous as Early s, was anxious to 
 move against him, and Grant final h 
 gave his consent on the condition 
 that he would desolate the Shenan 
 doah Valley to that extent that noth 
 ing would be left to invite invasion. 
 
 In the first encounter between 
 Sheridan and Early, near the Ope- 
 quan, a small tributary of the Poto 
 mac, west of the Shenandoah, Early 
 was routed and sent flying toward 
 
 Winchester, with the loss of many prisoners and supplies. He was drive* 
 through the town, and his troops intrenched themselves on Fisher s Hill, near 
 Strasburg. They were again attacked, on the 21st of September, and compelled 
 to retreat further up the valley. Early received a reinforcement, and secured 
 himself at Brown s Gap, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where for the first 
 time he was really safe. 
 
 This left Sheridan free to carry out the orders of Grant to devastate the 
 valley, and he made thorough work of it. Nothing was spared, and the burning 
 and destruction were so complete that his homely remark seemed justified when 
 
 GENEBAL PHILIP II. SHEHIDAN. 
 
396 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 he said that no crow would dare attempt to fly across the region without taking 
 his rations with him. 
 
 Feeling that the situation was secure, Sheridan now went to Washington 
 to consult with the government. On the 19th of October the Union camp at 
 Cedar Creek was surprised and routed by Early, who captured eighteen guns, 
 which were turned on the fugitives as they fled in the direction of Middletown. 
 Their commander, General Wright, finally succeeded in rallying them, mainly 
 because the Confederates were so overcome at sight of the food in the abandoned 
 camps that they gave up the pursuit to feast and gorge themselves. 
 
 SHERIDAN S RIDE." 
 
 Sheridan had reached Winchester, "twenty miles away," on his return from 
 Washington, when the faint sounds of firing told him of the battle in progress. 
 Leaping into his saddle, he spurred at headlong speed down the highway, 
 rallied the panic-stricken troops, placed himself at their head, and, charging 
 headlong into the rebel mob at Cedar Creek, scattered them like so much chaff, 
 retook the camps, and routed Early so utterly that no more raids were attempted 
 by him or any other Confederates during the remainder of the war. Indeed, it 
 may be said that this disgraceful overthrow ended the military career of Jubal 
 Early. When some months later General Lee was placed at the head of all the 
 military affairs of the Confederacy, he lost no time in doing two things: the 
 first was to restore General Jo Johnston to his old command, and the second to 
 remove Early from his. 
 
 The stirring incident described furnished the theme for the well-known 
 poem of T. Buchanan Read, entitled "Sheridan s Ride." 
 
 Grant held fast to that which he won by terrific fighting. Petersburg lies 
 about twenty miles to the south of Richmond, and the strongly fortified Union 
 lines were nearly thirty miles in length, extending from a point close to the 
 Weldon Railroad, on Grant s left, across the James to the neighborhood of 
 Newmarket, on the right. Holding the inner part of this circle, Lee was able 
 for a long time to repel every assault. 
 
 The Confederate commander fought furiously to prevent his enemy from 
 obtaining possession of the Weldon Road, but late in August a lodgment was 
 effected from which the Federals could not be driven. Other advantages were 
 gained, but the close of the year saw Lee still unconquered and defiant. 
 
 GRANT S SLOW BUT RESISTLESS PROGRESS. 
 
 Early in February, 1865, Grant attempted to turn the Confederate right, 
 but was repulsed, though he gained several miles of additional territory. Sheri- 
 
EVACUATION OF RICHMOND. 397 
 
 dan soon after destroyed the Richmond and Lynchburg Railroad and the 
 locks of the James River Canal, after which he joined the Army of the 
 James. 
 
 But Lee was beginning to feel the tremendous and continued pressure. 
 His army numbered barely 35,000 men. A. P. Hill commanded the right 
 wing, stretching from Petersburg to Hatcher s Run; General J. B. Gordon, the 
 centre, at Petersburg; and Longstreet, who had recovered from his wound, the 
 left wing, north and south of the James ; while the cavalry did what it could to 
 cover the flanks. This attenuated line was forty miles long. Realizing the 
 desperate straits, the Confederate authorities early in 1865 placed the entire 
 military operations of the Confederacy in the hands of Lee. 
 
 The latter planned to fall back toward Danville and unite with Johnston. 
 If successful this would have given him a formidable army; but Grant did not 
 intend to permit such a junction. Fighting went on almost continually, the 
 gain being with the Union army, because of its greatly superior numbers and 
 the skill with which they were handled by the master, Grant. April 1st a 
 cannonade opened along the whole Union line. Lee s right wing had been 
 destroyed, but the others were unbroken. At daylight the next morning an 
 advance was made against the Confederate works. Lee was forced back, and he 
 strengthened his lines by making them much shorter. 
 
 The Confederates steadily lost ground, many were killed and taken 
 prisoners, and in a charge upon the Union left General A. P. Hill lost his life. 
 At last the enemy s outer lines were hopelessly broken, and Lee telegraphed the 
 startling fact to President Davis, who received it while sitting in church, 
 Sunday, April 2d. The Confederate President was told that Lee could hold 
 Petersburg but a few hours longer, and Davis was warned to have the authori 
 ties ready to leave Richmond unless a message was sent to the contrary. No 
 such longed-for message arrived. 
 
 EVACUATION OF RICHMOND. 
 
 The counsel of Lee was followed. Jefferson Davis, the members of his 
 cabinet, and a number of leading citizens left the capital that night for Char 
 lotte, North Carolina. The whole city was thrown into the wildest confusion; 
 rioting and drunkenness filled the streets, buildings were fired, and pandemo 
 nium reigned. General Witzel, who occupied the Union works to the north of 
 Richmond, learned the astounding news, and the next morning rode into the 
 city without opposition. The tidings were telegraphed to Washington. The 
 following day President Lincoln arrived, and was quartered in the house 
 formerly occupied by Jefferson Davis. Martial law was proclaimed, and order 
 restored in the stricken citv. 
 
398 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 
 But General Lee had not yet surrendered. No men ever fought more 
 heroically than he and his soldiers. On the Sunday that he sent his message 
 to President Davis, the commander found the only line of retreat left to him 
 was that which led to the westward, and even that was threatened. Antici 
 pating Lee s retreat, Grant used all possible energy to cut him off. On the 
 night of April 6th Lee crossed the Appomattox near Farmville. That night 
 his general officers held a consultation, and agreed that but one course was left 
 
 to them and that 
 was to surrender. 
 Their views were 
 communicated to 
 Lee, but he would 
 not yet consent to 
 that decisive step. 
 Grant was in 
 Farmville on the 
 7th, and he sent 
 a letter to Lee, re 
 minding him of 
 the uselessness of 
 further resistance 
 and asking for his 
 surrender. Lee 
 still declined, and 
 continued his 
 retreat. T hen 
 Sheridan threw 
 his powerful di 
 vision of cavalry 
 in front of the 
 Confederates, and 
 Lee decided to cut 
 his way through 
 the ring of bayo- 
 
 i and sabres by which he was environed. This desperate task was assigned 
 to the indomitable Gordon. He made a resistless beginning, when he saw the im 
 possibility of success. The news was sent to Lee, who realized at last that all 
 hope was gone. He forwarded a note to Grant, asking for a suspension of hos- 
 ities with a view to surrender. The two generals met at the house of Major 
 McLean, in the hamlet of Appomattox Court-House, on the 9th of April where 
 
 LINCOLN ENTERING RICHMOND. 
 
ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN. 399 
 
 Lee surrendered all that remained of the Confederate army, which for nearly 
 four years had beaten back every attempt to capture Richmond. 
 
 Grant s terms as usual were generous. He did riot ask for Lee s sword, arid 
 demanded only that he and his men should agree not to bear arms again against 
 the government of the United States. They were to surrender all public pro 
 perty, but Grant told them to keep their horses, " as you will need them for your 
 spring ploughing." The soldiers who had fought each other so long and so fiercely 
 fraternized like brothers, exchanged grim jests over the terrible past, and pledged 
 future friendship. The reunion between the officers was equally striking. Most 
 of them were old acquaintances, and all rejoiced that the war was at last ended. 
 General Lee rode with his cavalry escort to his home in Richmond and rejoined 
 his family. He was treated with respect by the Union troops, who could not 
 restrain a feeling of sympathy for their fallen but magnanimous enemy. 
 
 ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN. 
 
 The bonfires in the North had hardly died out and the echoes of the glad 
 bells were still lingering in the air, when the whole country was startled by one 
 of the most horrifying events in all history. President Lincoln, on the night 
 of April 14th, was sitting in a box at Ford s Theatre in Washington, accom 
 panied by his wife and another lady and gentleman, when, at a little past ten 
 o clock, John Wilkes Booth, an actor, stealthily entered the box from the rear, 
 and, without any one suspecting his awful purpose, fired a pistol-bullet into 
 the President s brain. The latter s head sank, and he never recovered con 
 sciousness. 
 
 Booth, after firing the shot, leaped upon the stage from the box, brandished 
 a dagger, shouted "Sic semper tyrannis ! " and, before the dnmfounded specta 
 tors could comprehend what had been done, dashed out of a rear door, sprang 
 upon a waiting horse, and galloped off in the darkness. 
 
 No pen can describe the horror and rage which seized the spectators when 
 they understood what had taken place. The stricken President was carried 
 across the street to a house where he died at twenty-two minutes past seven the 
 next morning. 
 
 About the time of his assassination, an attempt was made upon the life of 
 Secretary Seward, who was confined to his bed, suffering from a fall. A male 
 attendant prevented the miscreant from killing the secretary, though he was 
 badly cut. The best detective force of the country was set to work, and an 
 energetic pursuit of Booth was made. He had injured his ankle when leaping 
 from the box upon the stage of the theatre, but he rode into Maryland, accom 
 panied by another conspirator, named David E. Harrold. At the end of eleven 
 days they were run down by the pursuing cavalry, who brought them to bay on 
 
THE CIVIL WAR PEACE CONFERENCE. 
 
 Three commissioners from the Confederacy suggesting terms of peace to President Lincoln and Secretary Seward in Fortress 
 
 Monroe, January 1865. 
 
PUNISHMENT OF THE CONSPIRATORS. 401 
 
 the 26th of April. They had crossed from Maryland into Virginia and taken 
 refuge in a barn near Po^t Royal, on the Rappahannock. 
 
 DEATH OF BOOTH. 
 
 The barn was surrounded and the two men were summoned to surrender. 
 Harrold went out and gave himself up. Booth refused and defied the troopers, 
 offering to fight them single-handed. To drive him from his hiding-place, the 
 barn was set on fire. Booth, carbine in hand and leaning on his crutch, ap 
 proached the door with the intention of shooting, when Sergeant Boston Corbett 
 fired through a crevice and hit Booth in the neck. The wound was a mortal 
 one, and Booth was brought out of the barn and laid on the ground, where he 
 died after several hours of intense suffering. The body was taken to Washing 
 ton and secretly buried. There is good reason to believe that it was sunk at 
 night in the Potomac. 
 
 PUNISHMENT OF THE CONSPIRATORS. 
 
 The country was in no mood to show leniency to any one concerned in the 
 taking off of the beloved President. Of the five conspirators tried, four were 
 hanged. They were : Payne, Harrold, G. A. Atzeroot, and Mrs. Mary A. Sur- 
 ratt, at whose house the conspirators held their meetings. Dr. S. A. Mudd, who 
 dressed Booth s wounded ankle, and was believed to be in sympathy with the 
 plotters, was sentenced to the Dry Tortugas for a number of years. He showed 
 so much devotion during an outbreak of yellow fever there that he was pardoned 
 some time later. John Surratt, the assailant of Secretary Seward, fled to Italy, 
 where he was discovered by Archbishop Hughes, and the Italian government, 
 as an act of courtesy, delivered him to our government. On his first trial the 
 jury disagreed, and on the second he escaped through the plea of limitations. 
 
 The whole country mourned the death of President Lincoln. His great 
 ness, his goodness, and his broad, tender charity were appreciated by every one. 
 The South knew that they had lost in him their best friend. Had he lived, 
 much of the strife of the succeeding few years would have been saved, and the 
 bitter cup that was pressed to the lips of the conquered South would have been 
 le^s bitter than it was made by others. The remains of the martyred President 
 were laid in their final resting-place at Springfield, Illinois, and the fame of 
 Lincoln grows and increases with the passing years. 
 
 SHERMAN S NORTHWARD ADVANCES. 
 
 The army of General Jo Johnston did not surrender until after the death 
 of President Lincoln. Sherman, as will be remembered, made the city of Sa 
 vannah a Christmas present to the President. Leaving a strong detachment in 
 
 26 
 
402 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 the city, Sherman moved northward with an army of 70,000 men, including 
 artillery, the start being made on the 1st of February. Charleston, where the 
 first ordinance of secession was passed and which had successfully defied every 
 movement against it, now found itself assailed in the rear. The garrison, after 
 destroying the government stores, the railway stations, blowing up the ironclads 
 in the harbor, bursting the guns on the ramparts of the forts, and setting the city 
 on fire, withdrew. This took place February 17th. The next day General 
 Gillmore entered Charleston and his troops extinguished the few buildings that 
 were still burning. 
 
 It has not been forgotten that Wilmington, North Carolina, had become 
 the great blockade-running port of the Southern Confederacy. The mouth of 
 Cape Fear River was defended by Fort Fisher, a very powerful fortification. 
 General Butler made an attempt to capture it in December, but failed. Another 
 effort followed January loth, under General Alfred Terry, and was successful. 
 The defeated garrison joined Johnston to help him in disputing the northward 
 advance of Sherman. 
 
 There was severe fighting, especially at Goldsborough, but the Union army 
 was so much the superior that its progress could not be stayed. There 
 Schofield reinforced Sherman, who, feeling all danger was past, turned over the 
 command to his subordinate and went north to consult with Grant, reaching 
 his headquarters on the 27th of March. Soon after the surrender of Lee, the 
 whole Confederacy was in such a state of collapse that the Union cavalry 
 galloped back and forth through every portion at will. 
 
 Returning to his command, Sherman moved against Johnston, April 10th. 
 Four days later, Johnston admitted in a communication to the Union commander 
 that the surrender of Lee meant the end of the war, and he asked for a temporary 
 suspension of hostilities, with the view of making arrangements for the laying 
 down of the Confederate arms. Sherman consented, and these two commanders 
 met and discussed the situation. 
 
 SURRENDER OF JO JOHNSTON AND COLLAPSE OF THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY. 
 
 In the exchange of views which followed, the great soldier, Sherman, was 
 outwitted by Johnston and the Confederate president and cabinet, who were 
 behind him. They secured his agreement to a restoration, so far as he could 
 bring it about, of the respective State governments in the South as they were 
 before the war, with immunity for the secession leaders from punishment, and 
 other privileges, which, if granted, would have been throwing away most of the 
 fruits of the stupendous struggle. Sherman thus took upon himself the disposi 
 tion of civil matters with which he had nothing to do. The more sagacious 
 Grant saw the mistake of his old friend, and, visiting his camp, April 24th, told 
 
SURRENDER OF JO JOHNSTON. 
 
 403 
 
 him his memorandum was disapproved, and notice was to be sent Johnston of the 
 resumption of hostilities. Two days later, Sherman and Johnston again met, 
 and the Confederate commander promptly agreed to surrender his army on the 
 same conditions that were given to Lee. 
 
 General J. H. Wilson and his cavalry captured Macon, Georgia, April 
 21st, and, on the 4th of May, General Dick Taylor surrendered the remainder 
 of the Confederate forces east of the Mississippi, at which time also Admiral 
 
 THE DESPERATE EXTREMITY OF THE CONFEDERATES AT THE END OF 
 
 CIVIL WAR. 
 
 Farrand surrendered to Admiral Thatcher aJl the naval forces of the Confederacy 
 that were blockaded in the Tombigbee River. At that time, Kirby Smith was 
 on the other side of the Mississippi, loudly declaring that he would keep up the 
 fight until independence or better terms were secured, but his followers did not 
 share his views, and deserted so fast that he, Magruder, and others made their 
 way to Mexico, where, after remaining awhile, they returned to the United States 
 and became peaceful and law-abiding citizens. The troops left by them passed 
 
404 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 under the command of General Brent, who, on the 26th of May, surrendered to 
 General Canby, when it may be said the War for the Union was ended. 
 
 After the surrender of Johnston, Jefferson Davis and the members of his 
 cabinet became fugitives, under the escort of a few paroled soldiers. It was 
 feared they might join Kirby Smith and encourage him to continue his 
 resistance, while others believed he was striving to get beyond the jurisdiction 
 of the United States. 
 
 The party hurried through the dismal wastes of Georgia, in continual fear 
 that the Union cavalry would burst from cover upon them and make all 
 prisoners. In the early morning light of May 10th, Mr. Davis, while asleep 
 in his tent, near Irwinsville, Wilkinson County, Georgia, was aroused by the 
 alarming news that the camp was surrounded by Union cavalry. He leaped to 
 his feet and ran for his horse, but the animal was already in the possession of a 
 Federal trooper. His wife threw a shawl over his shoulders, and he attempted 
 to escape from the camp without being recognized, but he was identified and 
 made prisoner. He had been captured by a squad of General J. H. Wilson s 
 cavalry, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Pritchard of the Fourth 
 Michigan. His fellow-prisoners were his wife and children, his private secretary, 
 Burton Harrison, his aide-de-camp, and Postmaster-General Reagan, all of 
 whom were taken to Macon, and thence to Fort Monroe, Virginia. 
 
 It was a serious problem, now that the president of the defunct Confederacy 
 was captured, what should be done with him. He was kept in Fort Monroe 
 until his health was impaired, when he was released on bail; Horace Greeley, the 
 well-known editor of the New York Tribune, being one of his bondsmen. He 
 had been indicted for treason in 1866, being released the following year, but his 
 trial was dropped on the 6th of February, 1869. He passed the remainder of 
 his life in Memphis, and later at Beauvoir, Mississippi, dying in New Orleans, 
 December 6, 1889, in the eighty-second year of his age. 
 
 STATISTICS OF THE WAR. 
 
 The most carefully prepared statistics of the Civil War give the following 
 facts: Number of men in the Union army furnished by each State and Terri 
 tory, from April 15, 1861, to close of war, 2,778,304, which, reduced to a three 
 years standing, was 2,326,168. The number of casualties in the volunteer and 
 regular armies of the United States, according to a statement prepared by the 
 adjutant-general s office, was: Killed in battle, 67,058; died of wounds, 43,012; 
 died of disease, 199,720; other causes, such as accidents, murder, Confederate 
 prisons, etc., 40,154; total died, 349,944; total deserted, 199,105. Number of 
 soldiers in the Confederate service, who died of wounds or disease (partial state 
 ment), 133,821. Deserted (partial statement), 104,428. Number of United 
 
STATISTICS OF THE WAR. 
 
 405 
 
 States troops captured during the war, 212,508; Confederate troops captured, 
 476,169. Number of United States troops paroled on the field, 16,431 ; Con 
 federate troops paroled on the field, 248,599. Number of United States troops 
 who died while prisoners, 30,156; Confederate troops who died while prisoners, 
 30,152. It is safe to say that the number of men killed and disabled on both 
 sides during the War for the Union was fully one million. The public debt of 
 the United States, July 1, 1866, was $2,773,236,173.69, which on the 1st of 
 November, 1897, had been reduced to |l, 808,777, 643.40. 
 
 Mention has been made of the frightful brutalities of Captain Wirz, the 
 keeper of Anderson ville prison. He richly merited the hanging which he 
 suffered on the 10th of November, 1865. As has been stated, he was the only 
 person executed for his part in the Civil War 
 
 England, upon receiving news of the arrest 
 of Jefferson Davis, declared all ports, harbors, and 
 waters belonging to Great Britain closed against 
 every vessel bearing the Confederate flag. Thu 
 French government took the same action a few 
 days later. 
 
 More than a generation has passed since the 
 close of the great Civil War, which resulted in the 
 cementing of the Union so firmly that the bonds 
 can never again be broken. Whatever resentment 
 may have been felt lasted but a brief while, and 
 the late war with Spain removed the last vestige. 
 
 A little incident may serve as one of the 
 thousand similar occurrences which prove how 
 perfectly the North and South fraternized long 
 ago. The officer who did the most effective work for the Union in the South dur 
 ing the closing months of the war was General James H. Wilson, a detachment 
 of whose cavalry captured the fugitive Jefferson Davis. It was General Wilson r 
 who, on the 21st of April, 1865, rode into Macon, Georgia, and took possession 
 of the city. In the month of December, 1898, while on a visit to Macon, he 
 made an address to the citizens, from which the following extract is given : 
 
 THIRTY-THREE YEARS LATER. 
 
 FELLOW-CITIZENS : It is with infinite pleasure that I address myself in 
 words of peace to a Macon audience. [Cheers.] Thirty-odd years ago I came 
 into this town with 15,000 cavalry thundering at my heels. [Laughter and 
 shouts.] I was met with the roaring of cannon and the firing of musketry. 
 [Cheers.] I was greeted by the burning of warehouses and the destruction of 
 
 HORACE GREELEY. 
 
 (1811-1872.) 
 
406 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF LINCOLN. 
 
 property, which I now profound ly regret. [Cheers.] The welcome that was 
 extended to me then was of the silent quality. [Laughter.] An illustrious 
 citizen, then your chief magistrate, the Hon. Joseph E. Brown, after a four- 
 hours interview, speaking of me then, said to another gathering of illustrious 
 citizens, at the head of which was Howell Cobb : " He is a clever young man, 
 but, gentlemen, lie takes the military view of the situation." [Laughter.] That 
 was a fact then, but now I come among you and I receive a different welcome. 
 I was then a victor; to-day I am a captive. [Cheers.] I must say I am a 
 willing captive of your city. The fair women and the brave and excellent 
 gentlemen of your town have, by their open and generous hospitality, 
 imprisoned me deep down in their hearts, and I would be recreant to every 
 feeling of my own if I desired release from such pleasing bondage. 
 
 ^&^f3p^*^*z*&*~****-*^ f ^ ~-^^^ 
 
 LINCOLN S GRAVE, SPRINGFIELD. ILLINOIS. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 ADMINISTRATIONS OK JOHNSON AND GRANT 
 
 18651877. 
 
 Andrew Johnson Reconstruction Quarrel Between the President and Congress The Fenians Exe. 
 cution of Maximilian Admission of Nebraska Laying of the Atlantic Cable Purchase of Alaska 
 Impeachment and Acquittal of the President Carpet-bag Rule in the South Presidential Election 
 of 1868 U. S. Grant Settlement of the Alabama Claims Completion of the Overland Railway 
 The Chicago Fire Settlement of the Northwestern Boundary Presidential Election of 1872 The 
 Modoc Troubles Civil War in Louisiana Admission of Colorado Panic of 1873 Notable Deaths 
 Custer s Massacre The Centennial The Presidential Election of 1876 the Most Perilous in the 
 History of the Country. 
 
 THE SEVENTEENTH PRESIDENT. 
 
 As provided by the Constitution, Andrew Johnson, Vice-President, took 
 
 the oath of office as President on the 
 day that Abraham Lincoln died. He 
 was born in Raleigh, North Caro 
 lina, December 29, 1808, and his 
 parents were so poor that they did 
 not send him to school at all. When 
 only ten years old, he was apprenticed 
 to a tailor, and anyone who at that 
 time had prophesied that he would 
 some day become President of the 
 United States would have been set 
 down as an idiot or a lunatic. 
 
 Among the visitors to the tailor 
 shop was a kind-hearted old gentle 
 man who was in the habit of reading 
 to the boys and men. Andrew be 
 came interested in what he heard, 
 and, seeing how much better it 
 would be for him to be able to read 
 for himself, set to work and learned. 
 He removed to Greenville, Tennes 
 see, in 1826, and there married a 
 
 (407) 
 
 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 (1608-1875.) One partial term, 1865-1809. 
 
408 ADMINISTRATIONS OF JOHNSON AND GRANT. 
 
 noble woman, who encouraged his ambition and helped him in his studies. 
 Nature had given him marked ability, and he became interested in local politics. 
 The citizens had confidence in him, for he was twice elected alderman, twice 
 mayor, was sent three times to the State Legislature, and in 1843 was elected to 
 Congress. He remained there for ten years, when he was chosen governor of 
 Tennessee, and, in 1857, became United States senator. 
 
 Johnson had always been a Democrat, and, when the political upheaval 
 came in I860, he supported Breckinridge. While he favored slavery, he was 
 a Unionist in every fibre of his being, and declared that every man who raised 
 his hand against the flag should be hanged as a traitor. Tennessee was torn by 
 the savage quarrel, and for a time the secessionists were rampant. When John 
 son returned to his home in May, 1861, his train was stopped by a mob who 
 were determined to lynch him, but he met the angered men at the door with 
 a loaded revolver and cowed them. 
 
 It was such men as Johnson that President Lincoln appreciated and deter 
 mined to keep bound to him. He appointed him military governor of Tennes 
 see in 1862, and it need hardly be said that Johnson made things lively for the 
 secessionists, and did not forget to give attention to those who had persecuted him. 
 His personal courage and honesty won the admiration of the North, and, as we 
 have shown, led to his being placed on the ticket with President Lincoln, when 
 he was renominated in 1864. 
 
 The reader will not forget that the surrender of Johnson and the capture, 
 imprisonment, and release of Jefferson Davis occurred while Johnson was 
 President 
 
 THE PROBLEM OF RECONSTRUCTION. 
 
 Reconstruction was the grave problem that confronted the country at the 
 close of the war. The question was as to the status of the States lately in rebellion. 
 It would not do to restore them to their full rights, with the same old govern 
 ments, for they might make better preparations and secede again. Nothing 
 was clearer than that slavery was the real cause of the war, and the safety of 
 the nation demanded that it should be extirpated forever. The Emancipation 
 Proclamation was a war measure and simply freed the slaves, but did not pre 
 vent the re-establishment of slavery. In December, 1865, therefore, the 
 Thirteenth Amendment, having been adopted by three-fourths of the States, was 
 declared a part of the Constitution. By it slavery was forever abolished, and 
 one of the gravest of all perils was removed. 
 
 Prasident Johnson was a man of strong passions and prejudices. He had 
 been a "poor white" in the South, whose condition in some respect was worse 
 than that of slaves. He held a bitter personal hatred of the aristocratic 
 Southerners, who had brought on the war. His disposition at first was to hang 
 
QUARREL BETWEEN CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT. 409 
 
 the leaders, but after awhile he swung almost as far in the opposite direction. 
 At the same time, he was not particularly concerned for the welfare of the 
 freed slaves, who were called " freedmen." 
 
 THE PRESIDENT S POLICY. 
 
 President Johnson termed his plan " my policy," and hriefly it was : To 
 appoint provisional or temporary governors for each of the States lately in 
 rebellion. These governors called conventions of delegates, who were elected by 
 the former white voters of the respective States. When the conventions met 
 they declared all the ordinances of secession void, pledged themselves never to 
 pay any debt of the Southern Confederacy, and ratified the Thirteenth Amend 
 ment, as proposed by Congress early in 1865, and which abolished slavery. 
 Before the close of the year named, each of the excluded States had been reor 
 ganized in accordance with this plan. Virginia, Tennessee, and Arkansas took 
 the step while Lincoln was President. 
 
 The vexatious question was as to the treatment of the freedmen. The South 
 had no faith that they would work, except when compelled to do so by slave- 
 overseers. The new governments passed laws, therefore, to compel them to 
 work, under the penalty of being declared vagrants and sent to jail, where they 
 would be forced to hard labor. This method was denounced in the North as a 
 re-establishment of slavery under a new name. The Republican majority in 
 December, 1865, refused for a time to admit any members from the States that 
 had been in rebellion. 
 
 QUARREL BETWEEN CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT. 
 
 Thus a quarrel arose between the President and Congress. The latter pro 
 posed to keep the States on probation for a time, before giving them their full 
 rights, while the President strenuously insisted that they should be admitted at 
 once on the same status as those that had not been engaged in secession. To 
 keep out the eighty-five members who had been refused admission, Congress 
 imposed a test oath, which excluded all who had been connected in any way 
 with the Confederate government. The Republicans had a two-thirds vote in 
 Congress which enabled them to pass any bill they chose over the President s 
 veto. While they had not formulated any clear policy, they were resolved to 
 protect the freedmen in all their rights. The reorganization of Tennessee being 
 satisfactory, her members were received by Congress in 1866. 
 
 The congressional elections of this year intrenched the Republicans in Con 
 gress, and they were sure of the power for the next two years to carry through 
 any policy upon which they might agree. By that time, too, they had fixed 
 upon their plan of reconstruction and prepared to enforce it. 
 
410 ADMINISTRATIONS OF JOHNSON AND GRANT. 
 
 This policy was to allow the freedraen to vote and to deprive the Confed 
 erate leaders of the right to do so. To accomplish this, the plan was to place all 
 the seceding States under military governors, who should call new conventions 
 to form State governments. The negroes and not the leading Confederates had 
 the power to vote for these delegates. Provided the new governments allowed 
 the freedmen the right of suffrage, and ratified the Fourteenth Amendment 
 (which excluded the leading Confederates from office), then the Southern senators 
 and representatives would be admitted to Congress. 
 
 THE CIVIL RIGHTS BILL. 
 
 The "civil rights" bill, which placed the blacks and whites on the same 
 footing, was vetoed by the President, March 27th. He pointed out the danger 
 of giving suffrage to 4,000,000 ignorant people, lately slaves, and said unscrup 
 ulous men in the North would hasten South and take advantage of their igno 
 rance. This was precisely what took place. The South was overrun by a set of 
 scoundrels known as " carpet-baggers " (because they were supposed to carry 
 all their worldly possessions when they reached the South in a carpet bag ; in 
 many instances a score of trunks would not have sufficed to hold what they took 
 back), whose rule was worse than a pestilence, and forms one of the most shame 
 ful episodes in our history. According to the old system, the negroes were 
 counted in making up the congressional representation of the South, and the 
 Republicans insisted that they were, therefore, entitled to vote. The bill was 
 passed April 9th, over the President s veto. 
 
 The story of the bitter quarrel between the President and Congress is 
 mi unpleasant one. Words were uttered by him and by leading members of 
 Congress which it would be well to forget. The President became angrier as the 
 wrangle progressed, for, in the face of the hostile majority, he was powerless. 
 The fight continued through the years 1867 and 1863. In June of the latter 
 year, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina, and South Caro 
 lina were re-admitted to Congress. The States that had seceded were divided 
 into five military districts, and President Johnson, much against his will, was 
 obliged to appoint the governors. As a result of all this, the negroes were 
 largely in the majority in the South, and the Republican vote in Congress was 
 greatly increased. But in the North, the fall elections went mostly Democratic, 
 though not enough so to overcome the opposing majority in Congress. 
 
 During these exciting times there were several occurrences of a different 
 nature which require notice. The Fenians are men of Irish birth who favor the 
 independence of their country from Great Britain. One of their favorite methods 
 is by the invasion of Canada. In 1866, about 1,500 of them entered Canada 
 from Buffalo, and some skirmishing occurred, but the movement was so clearly 
 
ADMISSION OF NEBRASKA. 
 
 411 
 
 a violation of law that the President sent a military force to the frontier and 
 promptly stopped it. 
 
 EXECUTION OF MAXIMILIAN. 
 
 France had taken advantage of our Civil War to make an attempt to estab 
 lish a monarchy in Mexico. French troops were landed, an empire proclaimed, 
 and Maximilian, an Austrian archduke, declared emperor. He went to Mexico in 
 1864, where he was compelled to fight the Mexicans who had risen against his 
 rule. With the help of the strong military force which Louis Napoleon placed 
 at his disposal, he was able to maintain himself for a time. With the conclusion 
 of the war, our government intimated to Emperor Napoleon that it would be 
 politic for 
 him to with 
 draw from 
 Mexico, al 
 though we 
 were quite 
 willing to al 
 low Maximil 
 ian to remain 
 emperor if it 
 was the wish 
 of the Mexi 
 cans. Napol 
 eon acted on 
 the warning, 
 but the mis 
 guided victim 
 chose to stay, 
 and was cap 
 tured by the Mexicans in 1867 and shot. That was the end of the attempt to 
 establish an empire in Mexico, which has long been a prosperous and well- 
 governed republic. 
 
 ADMISSION OF NEBRASKA. 
 
 Nebraska was admitted to the Union in 1867. It was a part of the Louis 
 iana purchase and was made a Territory in 1854, by the Kansas-Nebraska act. 
 Being located much further north than Kansas, it escaped the strife and civil 
 war which desolated that Territory. It has proven to be a rich agricultural 
 region, though it suffers at times from grasshoppers, drought, and storms. 
 
 The attempts to lay an Atlantic telegraph cable resulted in failures until 
 1866, when a cable was laid from Ireland to Newfoundland. 
 
 LOG-CABIN CHURCH AT JILNEATJ, ALASKA. 
 
 Since then other 
 
412 ADMINISTRATIONS OF JOHNSON AND GRANT. 
 
 cables have been successfully stretched beneath the ocean until it may be said 
 the world is girdled by them. 
 
 PURCHASE OF ALASKA. 
 
 In 1867 our country purchased from Russia the large tract in the northwest 
 known as Russian America. The sum paid was $7,200,000, a price which 
 many deemed so exorbitant that it was considered a mere pretext of Secretary 
 Seward, who strongly urged the measure, in order to give Russia a bonus for 
 her valuable friendship during the Civil War. Inclusive of the islands, the area 
 of Alaska is 577,390 square miles. The country was looked upon as a cold, dis 
 mal land of fogs and storms, without any appreciable value, but its seal fisheries 
 and timber have been so productive of late years that it has repaid its original 
 cost tenfold and more. 
 
 WIDENING OF THE BREACH BETWEEN CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT. 
 
 One of the acts passed by Congress in March, 1867, forbade the President 
 to dismiss any members of his cabinet without the consent of the Senate. The 
 President insisted that the Constitution gave him the right to do this. Secretary 
 of War Stanton, who had resigned by his request, was succeeded by General 
 Grant, who gave way to Stanton, when the latter was replaced by the Senate, 
 in January, 1868. On the 21st of February the President dismissed him and 
 appointed Adjutant-General Thomas secretary ad interim. Stanton refused to 
 yield, and remained at his office night and day, with a company of friends and 
 a military guard. Several demands for the office were made by General 
 Thomas, bat all were refused. It was believed the President would send troops 
 to enforce his order, but he did not proceed to that extremity. 
 
 IMPEACHMENT AND ACQUITTAL OF THE PRESIDENT. 
 
 On the 24th of February the House of Representatives passed a resolution 
 to impeach the President. This was simply to accuse or charge him with the 
 commission of high crimes and misdemeanors. In such cases the trial must be 
 conducted by the Senate. A committee was appointed to prepare the articles of 
 impeachment, which, in the main, accused the executive of violating the civil 
 tenure act in his removal of Secretary Stanton, though other charges were 
 added. 
 
 When the President is impeached, the Constitution provides that his trial 
 shall take place before the Senate, sitting as a court. The trial occupied thirty- 
 two days, lasting until May 26th, with Chief Justice Chase presiding, on which 
 day a vote was taken on the eleventh article of impeachment. Thirty-five 
 senators voted for acquittal and nineteen for conviction. One more vote 
 
SAD CONDITION OF THE COUNTRY. 
 
 413 
 
 making the necessary two-tliircls would have convicted. Ten days later the 
 same vote was given on the other charges, whereupon a verdict of acquittal was 
 ordered. 
 
 SAD CONDITION" OF THE COUNTRY. 
 
 The country was in a lamentable condition. Congress censured the Presi 
 dent, who expressed his contempt for that body. General Sheridan, whom the 
 President had removed from the governorship of Louisiana, was complimented 
 
 A SOUTHERN LEGISLATURE UNDER CARPET-BAG RULE. 
 
 The carpet-baggers debauched the negroes, sending some <f the most ignorant of them to the Legislature, where their personal 
 conduct was a disgrace and they voted away vast sums of money for adventurers who bribed them with a pittance. 
 
 for his administration, and Congress declared that there was no valid govern 
 ment in the South, the jurisdiction of which was transferred to General Grant, 
 the head of the army. 
 
 By this time the carpet-baggers had swarmed into the sorely harried region 
 like so many locusts. They secured the support of the ignorant blacks, by 
 falsehood and misrepresentations, controlled the State Legislatures, and had 
 themselves elected to Congress. Enormous debts were piled up, and negroes, 
 who could not write their names, exultingly made laws for their former masters 
 
414 ADMINISTRATIONS OF JOHNSON AND GRANT. 
 
 who remained in sullen silence at their homes and wondered what affliction was 
 coming next. The colored legislators adjourned pell-mell to attend the circus ; 
 hundreds of thousands of dollars were stolen, and extravagance, corruption, 
 and debauchery ran riot. As a public man remarked, one general conflagration, 
 sweeping from the Potomac to the Gulf of Mexico, could not have wrought more 
 devastation in the South than the few years of carpet-bag governments. 
 
 Yet all such evils are sure to right themselves, sooner or later. The 
 means are apt to be violent and revolutionary, and sometimes breed crime of 
 itself. It was not in the nature of things that the whites should remain passive 
 and meek under this unspeakable misrule. Tl>ey united for self-protection. 
 One of the bands thus formed was the Ku-Klux, which in time committed so 
 many crimes in terrorizing the negroes that they were suppressed by the stern 
 arm of the military ; a revolt of the best people took place, and soon after 1870 
 the blight of carpet-bag government disappeared from the South. 
 
 TRUE RECONCILIATION. 
 
 Despite the turbulence and angry feeling, the work of reconciliation went 
 on of itself. Northern capital entered the promising fields of the South; former 
 Union and Confederate leaders, as well as privates, respected one another, as 
 brave men always do, and became warm friends. While many of the former 
 went South, hundreds of the latter made their homes in the North, where they 
 were welcomed and assisted in the struggle to "get upon their feet." This 
 fraternal mingling of former soldiers and the friendly exchange of visits 
 between Union and Confederate posts brought about true reconciliation, despite 
 the wrangles of politicians. 
 
 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1868. 
 
 Before, however, this was fully accomplished, the presidential election of 
 1868 took place. The most popular hero in this country, as in others, is the 
 military one, and the great value of General Grant s services in the war for the 
 Union made it clear, long before the assembling of the nominating convention, 
 that he would be the candidate of the Republican party. He was unanimously 
 named, with Schuyler Colfax, of Indiana, the Speaker of the House of Repre 
 sentatives, as the nominee for Vice-President. The Democrats placed in 
 nomination Horatio Seymour, of New York, and General Francis P. Blair, of 
 Missouri. The result in November was as follows: Republican ticket, 214 
 electoral votes; Democratic, 80. The election was a striking proof of the 
 popularity of the great soldier. 
 
 Andrew Johnson was hopeful of a nomination from the Democrats, but 
 his name was scarcely mentioned. He lived in retirement for a number of 
 
THE EIGHTEENTH PRESIDENT. 
 
 415 
 
 years, but was elected United States senator in 1875, and he died at his home 
 July 31st of that year. 
 
 THE EIGHTEENTH PRESIDENT. 
 
 Ulysses S. Grant had already 
 become so identified with the history 
 of our country that little remains to 
 be added to that which has been re 
 corded. He was born at Point 
 Pleasant, Ohio, April 27, 1822. Ap 
 pointed to West Point, he gave no 
 evidence of special brilliancy, and 
 was graduated in 1843 with only a 
 fair standing. He did good service 
 in the war with Mexico and was bre- 
 vetted captain, but resigned his com 
 mission in 1854 and went into busi 
 ness, where he attained only moderate 
 success. He was among the first to 
 volunteer when the Civil War broke 
 out. The opportunity thus presented 
 for the full display of his military 
 genius rapidly brought him to the 
 front, the culmination of his career being reached when he compelled the sur 
 render of General Lee at Appomattox Court- 
 House in April, 1865, thereby bringing the long 
 and terrible war to a triumphant conclusion. He 
 was a man of simple tastes, modest, but with an 
 unerring knowledge of his own abilities, thor 
 oughly patriotic, honest, chivalrous, devoted to 
 his friends, and so trustful of them that he re 
 mained their supporters sometimes after receiving 
 proof of their unworthiness. The mistakes of his 
 administration were due mainly to this trait of 
 his character, which it is hard to condemn with 
 out reservation. 
 
 The country being fairly launched once more 
 on its career of progress and prosperity, the gov 
 ernment gained the opportunity to give attention to matters which it was com 
 pelled to pass by while the war was in progress. The first most important step 
 
 ULYSSES SIMPSON GRANT. 
 
 (1822-1885.) Two terms, 1869-1877. 
 
 MRS. JULIA DENT GRANT. 
 
416 ADMINISTRATIONS OF JOHNSON AND GRANT. 
 
 was to call England to account for her help in fitting out Confederate privateers, 
 when we were in extremity. It required considerable tact and delicacy to get 
 the " Alabama Claims," as they were termed, in proper form before the British 
 authorities, for they felt sensitive, but it was finally accomplished. The arbitra 
 tion tribunal which sat at Geneva, Switzerland, in June, 1872, decreed that 
 England should pay the United States the sum of $15,500,000 because of the 
 damage inflicted by Confederate cruisers upon Northern commerce. The amount 
 was paid, and friendly relations between the two countries were fully restored. 
 
 Our rapid growth had long since made the building of a railroad from the 
 East to the Pacific a necessity that continually grew more urgent. Construction 
 was begun as early as 1863, but the Civil War caused the work to lag, and at 
 the end of two years only one hundred miles had been graded and forty laid. 
 The progress then became more vigorous. 
 
 The road consisted of two divisions. The first was from Omaha, Nebraska, 
 to Ogden, Utah, a distance of 1,032 miles, while the western division, known as 
 the Central Pacific, covered the distance of 885 miles between Ogden and San 
 Francisco. Steadily approaching each other, these long lines of railway met on 
 the 10th of May, 18(39, when the last spike, made of solid gold, was driven, 
 and the two locomotives, standing with their pilots almost touching, joined in a 
 joyous screech of their whistles. The important event was celebrated with 
 much ceremony, for it was worthy of being commemorated. 
 
 RECONSTRUCTION COMPLETED. 
 
 The vexatious work of reconstruction was completed during the early 
 months of 1870. Virginia had held out against the terms prescribed by 
 Congress, but her senators and representatives were admitted to their seats in 
 the latter part of January; those of Mississippi in the following month, and 
 those of Texas in March, at which time the secretary of State issued a procla 
 mation declaring the adoption of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution, 
 which guarantees negro suffrage. For the first time in almost twenty years, all 
 the States were fully represented in Congress. 
 
 THE CHICAGO FIRE. 
 
 On the 8th of October, 1871, Chicago was visited by the greatest conflagra 
 tion of modern times, with the single exception of that of Moscow. Like many 
 events, fraught with momentous consequences, it had a trifling cause. A cow 
 kicked over a lamp in a stable on De Koven Street, which set fire to the straw. 
 A gale swiftly carried the flames into some adjoining lumber yards and frame 
 houses. All the conditions were favorable for a tremendous conflagration. The 
 fire swept over the south branch of the Chicago River, and raged furiously in 
 
SETTLEMENT OF THE NORTHWESTERN BOUNDARY. 417 
 
 the business portion of the city. The main channel of the river was leaped as 
 if it were a narrow alley, and there were anxious hours when thousands believed 
 the whole city was doomed. As it was, the fire-swept district covered four or 
 five miles, and fully 20,000 buildings were burned. It is believed that 250 lives 
 were lost, about 100,000 people made homeless, and $192,000,000 worth of 
 property destroyed. 
 
 Chicago s affliction stirred the sympathy of the whole country. Contribu 
 tions were sent thither from every State, and everything was done to aid the 
 
 THE BURNING OP CHICAGO IN 1871. 
 
 sufferers who had lost their all. With true American pluck, the afflicted people 
 bent to the work before them. Night and day thousands toiled, and within the 
 space of a year a newer and more magnificent city rose like a Phoenix from its 
 ashes. Chicago to-day is one of the grandest and most enterprising cities in the 
 world. 
 
 SETTLEMENT OF THE NORTHWESTERN BOUNDARY. 
 
 We had made a treaty with England in 1846 which located the line of our 
 northwestern boundary along the 49th parallel westward to the middle of "the 
 
 27 
 
418 
 
 yS OF JOHNSON AND GRANT. 
 
 channel" separating the continent from Vancouver s Island, and then southward 
 through the middle of the channel and of Fuca s Strait to the Pacific Ocean. 
 It was found, however, there were several channels, and it was impossible to 
 decide which was meant in the treaty. The claim of England included the 
 island of San Juan, she insisting that the designated channel ran to the south 
 of that island. Naturally, we took the opposite view and were equally insistent 
 that the channel ran to the north, and that San Juan, therefore, belonged to us. 
 The two nations displayed their good sense by referring the dispute to arbitra 
 tion and selected the Emperor of 
 
 Germany as the arbitrator, 
 decided in 1872 in our favor. 
 
 He 
 
 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1872. 
 
 It was a curious presidential 
 election that took place in 1872. 
 The South was bitterly opposed to 
 the Kepublican plan of recon 
 struction and a good many in the 
 North sympathized with them. 
 One of the strongest opponents of 
 Grant s renomination was the New 
 York Tribune, of which Horace 
 Greeley was editor. The Repub- 
 licans who agreed with him were 
 called "Liberal Kepublicans," 
 while the Straight-out Democrats 
 retained their organization. Nat 
 urally, the regular Republicans 
 renominated Grant, but Henry 
 Wilson, of Massachusetts, took the 
 place of Schuyler Colfax as the 
 pminee for the Vice-Presidency. Horace Greeley, who had spent his life in 
 vigorously fighting the principles of the Democratic party, was now endorsed by 
 that organization after his nomination by the Liberal Republicans, with B. Gratz 
 Brown, of Missouri, as his running partner. 
 
 The election was a perfect jumble. Eight candidates were voted for 
 President and eleven for Vice-President. Grant received 286 electoral 
 votes and carried thirty-one States. Greeley was so crushed by his defeat that 
 his reason and died within a month after election. His electors scat 
 tered their votes, so that Thomas A. Hendricks, the regular Democratic candi- 
 
 SECTION OP CHICAGO STOCK-YARDS, THE 
 LARGEST IN THE WORLD. 
 
THE MODOC TROUBLES 419 
 
 date, received 42 ; B. Gratz Brown, 16 ; Charles J. Jenkins, 2 ; and David 
 Davis, 1. 
 
 THE INDIAN QUESTION. 
 
 The second term of Grant was more troublous than the first. The difficulties 
 with the Indians, dating from the first settlement in the country, were still with 
 us. At the suggestion of the President, a grand council of delegates of the 
 civilized tribes met in December, 1870, in the Choctaw division of the Indian 
 Territory. The subject brought before them was the organization of a repub 
 lican form of government, to be under the general rule of the United States. 
 A second convention was held in the following July and a provisional govern 
 ment organized. A proposal was adopted that the United States should set 
 aside large tracts of land for the exclusive occupancy and use of the Indians. 
 These areas were to be known as " reservations," and so long as the Indians 
 remained upon them they were to be protected from molestation. 
 
 This scheme seemed to promise a settlement of the vexed question, but it 
 failed to accomplish what was expected. In the first place, most of the Indians 
 were unfriendly to it. No matter how large a part of country you may give to 
 a red man as his own, he will not be satisfied without permission to roam and 
 hunt over all of it. 
 
 A more potent cause of trouble was the origin of all the Indian troubles, 
 from the colonial times to the present : the dishonesty and rascality of the white 
 men brought officially in contact with the red men. Not only did these mis 
 creants pursue their evil ways among the Indians themselves, but there was an 
 " Indian ring " in Washington, whose members spent vast sums of money to secure 
 the legislation that enabled them to cheat the savages out of millions of dollars. 
 This wholesale plundering of the different tribes caused Indian wars and 
 massacres, while the evil men at the seat of the government grew wealthy and 
 lived in luxury. 
 
 THE MODOC TROUBLES. 
 
 Trouble at once resulted from removing the Indians to reservations that 
 were inferior in every respect to their former homes. The Modocs, who had only 
 a few hundred warriors, were compelled by our government to abandon their 
 fertile lands south of Oregon and go to a section which was little better than a 
 desert. They rebelled, and, under the leadership of Captain Jack and Scar- 
 faced Charley, a number took refuge among some lava beds on the upper edge 
 of California. On the llth of April, 1873, a conference was held between the 
 Indian leaders and six members of the peace commission. While it was in pro 
 gress, the savages suddenly attacked the white men. General Edward S. Canbv 
 and Dr. Thomas were instantly killed, and General Meachem, another member, 
 was badly wounded, but escaped with his life. 
 
420 ADMINISTRATIONS OF JOHNSON AND GRANT. 
 
 The war against the Modocs was pushed. After much difficulty and 
 fighting, they were driven to the wall and compelled to surrender. Captain 
 Jack and two of his brother chiefs were hanged in the following October. 
 The remaining members were removed to a reservation in Dakota, where they 
 have given no further trouble. 
 
 CIVIL WAR IN LOUISIANA. 
 
 Ill the early part of this year, civil war broke out in Louisiana because of 
 the quarrels over reconstruction measures. The difficulty first appeared two 
 years earlier, when opposing factions made attempts to capture the Legislature by 
 unseating members belonging to the opposing party. Matters became* so grave 
 that in the following January Federal troops had to be used to preserve the peace. 
 In December, 1872, another bitter quarrel arose over the election of the gov 
 ernor and members of the Legislature. The returning board divided, one part 
 declaring William P. Kellogg elected, while the other gave the election to John 
 McEnery, the candidate of the white man s party. Most of the negro vote had 
 been cast for Kellogg. 
 
 As a consequence, two rival State governments were organized. McEnery 
 was enjoined by the United States district court from acting, because, as was 
 asserted, the returning board which declared him elected had done so in defiance 
 of its order. 
 
 In the face of this prohibition, McEnery was inaugurated. The question 
 was referred to the Federal government, which declared in favor of Kellogg. 
 Thereupon the McEnery government disbanded, but in the latter part of 1874 
 McEnery again laid claim to election. D. P. Penn, his lieutenant-governor, and 
 his armed followers took possession of the State House. A fight followed in 
 which Kellogg was driven from the building, twenty-six persons killed and a 
 large number wounded. Kellogg appealed to Washington for help. McEnery, 
 who was absent during these violent proceedings, now returned and took the 
 place of Pen 11. President Grant ordered his supporters to disperse and General 
 Emory forced McEnery to surrender. The peace was broken in January, 1875, 
 over the election of members to the Legislature, and the Federal troops were 
 again called to restore order. A congressional committee was sent South to 
 investigate, and finally the quarrel was ended and Kellogg was recognized as 
 the legal governor. 
 
 ADMISSION OF COLORADO. 
 
 Colorado became the thirty-eighth State in August, 1876. The name is 
 Spanish, and refers to that part of the Rocky Mountains noted for its many 
 colored peaks. Colorado has more than thirty peaks within its borders whose 
 height is quite or nearly three miles. The wild, mountainous region was 
 
- NOTABLE DEATHS. 421 
 
 explored in 1858 at two points, one near Pike s Peak and the other in the 
 southwestern portion. Both exploring parties discovered gold, which, while 
 abundant, is hard to extract. The Territory was organized in 1861, and the 
 principal discoveries of the enormous deposits of silver have been made since 
 1870. The date of Colorado s admission has caused it often to be referred to as 
 the "Centennial State." 
 
 THE PANIC OF 1873. 
 
 We had learned the meaning of hard times in 1837 and again in 1857. 
 Once more, in 1873, the blight fell upon the country. There were various 
 causes, all of which, in one sense, were the war. Prices had become inflated, 
 money was plentiful, and cities, towns, and people had become extravagant. A 
 mania seemed to seize municipal corporations for indulging in "improvements," 
 which brought ruinous debts upon the municipalities. Enormous sums of money 
 were invested in the building of new railroad lines where the country was not 
 developed sufficiently to repay the expenditures. The quantity of goods brought 
 into this country was much in excess of that exported, a fact which turned the 
 balance of trade, as it was termed, against us. This required the sending 
 abroad of a large amount of money. 
 
 As illustrative of the extravagance in railroad building, it may be said that, 
 in the single year 1871, 8,000 miles were put in operation. Instead of using 
 ready money with which to build these lines, bonds were issued by the railroad 
 companies, which expected to pay the debts out of the future earnings of the 
 roads. In the course of five years $1,750,000,000 were invested in railroad 
 projects. The same speculative spirit pervaded mining and manufacturing 
 companies, which also borrowed money by issuing bonds. A great amount 
 of these were sold abroad, after which the home market was industriously 
 worked through the newspapers, which overflowed with glowing promises. 
 Thousands of poor widows, orphans, and the trustees of estates invested all 
 their scanty savings in these enterprises. 
 
 Then the failures began. The banking firm of Jay Cooke & Company, 
 Philadelphia, one of the greatest in the United States, suspended, and the whole 
 country was alarmed. Next came the panic, which reached its height in 
 a few months. This was followed by dull times, when factories closed, and 
 multitudes were thrown out of employment. Several years passed before the 
 country fully recovered from the panic of 1873. 
 
 NOTABLE DEATHS. . - 
 
 Many noted men died during those tir reservation in Dakota. 
 patriotic Edwin M. Stan toi^V -trie United States was one hundred years old. 
 1869, shortly afo-oeeiY on foot for several years to give it a fitting celebration. 
 
422 
 
 ADMINISTRATIONS OF JOHXXOX AND GRAXT. 
 
 dent Grant. General R. E. Lee, who had become president of the Washington 
 and Lee University, died at his home in Lexington, Virginia, in 1870. Among 
 others of prominence who died in the same year were General George H. 
 Thomas and Admiral Farragut. In 1872, William H. Seward, Horace Greeley, 
 Professor Morse, and General George H. Meade breathed their last, and in 
 the year following Chief Justice Chase and Charles Simmer died. Millard 
 Fillmore and Andrew Johnson, as has been stated, died respectively in 1874 
 and 1875. 
 
 The Democrats now gained a majority in the House of Representatives for 
 
 MONUMENT TO GENERAL LEE AT RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. 
 
 the first time since 1860. Among the members elected from the South were 
 iveral distinguished military leaders of the Southern Confederacy, besides 
 Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, who had been its vice-president. 
 
 It was about this time that gold was discovered among the Black Hills, 
 
 VbKtrpatv belonged to the Sioux Indians, since the section was within 
 
 Spanish, and refers 16 tnat I|TOFP w , to keep ^ ^ ^ faken 
 
 colored peaks. Colorado has more than thuv,- the forbidden d> 
 
 height is quite or nearly three miles. Ihe wild, i^^. . i , 3 ^ 
 
 J Old, and thou- 
 
OUSTER S MASSACRE. 
 
 423 
 
 F 
 
 sands of the most desperate characters hurried to the BlacK Hills and began 
 digging for the yellow deposit. 
 
 OUSTER S MASSACRE. 
 
 The Sioux are fierce and warlike. They have given our government a 
 oreat deal of trouble, and, finding their reservation invaded by white men, they 
 retaliated by leaving it, burning houses, stealing horses, and cattle, and killing 
 settlers in Wyoming and Montana. 
 Their outrages became so serious 
 that the government sent a strong 
 military force thither under Generals 
 Terry and Crook, which drove a for 
 midable body of warriors under the 
 well-known Sitting Bull and others 
 toward the Big Horn Mountains and 
 River. 
 
 Generals Eeno and Custer rode 
 forward with the Seventh Cavalry to 
 reconnoitre, and discovered the In- 
 . dians encamped in a village nearly 
 three miles long on the left bank of 
 the Little Big Horn Eiver. Custer, 
 who was an impetuous, headlong 
 officer, instantly charged upon the 
 
 waiting 
 
 for rein- 
 
 GENERAL GEORGB CROOK. 
 
 Indians without 
 for cements. 
 
 This woful blunder was made 
 June 25, 1876. All that is known of 
 it has been obtained from the Indians 
 themselves. They agree that Custer 
 and his men dashed directly among 
 the thousands of warriors, and that 
 they fought with desperate heroism, but Custer and every one of his 
 killed The number was 261. General Reno held his position at the lower end 
 of the encampment on the bluffs of the Little Big Horn until reinforcements 
 arrived. Soldiers were sent to the neighborhood, and there was more sharp 
 fighting. It was a long time and there was much negotiation necessary before 
 the Sioux could be persuaded to return to their reservation in Dakota. 
 
 On the 4th of July, 1876, the United States was one hundred years old. 
 Preparations had been on foot for several years to give it a fitting celebration. 
 
424 ADMINISTRATIONS OF JOHNSON AND GRANT. 
 
 A bill was passed by Congress as early as March, 1871, providing that an exhi 
 bition of foreign and American arts, products, and manufactures should be held 
 under the auspices of the government of the United States. A centennial com 
 mission was appointed, consisting of General Joseph R. Hawley, of Connecticut ; 
 Professor John L. Campbell, of Indiana ; Alfred T. Goshorn, of Ohio ; and John 
 L. Shoemaker, of Pennsylvania. Naturally Philadelphia, where the Declara 
 tion of Independence was written and signed, was selected as the most fitting 
 place to hold the celebration. Fairmount Park, one of the largest and finest in 
 the world, was set apart for the buildings. 
 
 The invitations sent to other nations were courteously accepted, the follow 
 ing being those that took part : The Argentine Confederation, Austria, Belgium, 
 Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, China, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, France (including 
 Algeria), German Empire, Great Britain and her colonies, Greece, Guatemala, 
 Hawaii, Haiti, Honduras, Italy, Japan, Liberia, Mexico, Netherlands, Nicaragua, 
 Norway, Orange Free State, Persia, Peru, Portugal, Russia, Siam, Spain, Sweden, 
 Switzerland, Tunis, Turkey, United States of Colombia, and Venezuela. 
 
 To furnish room for the display of the myriads of articles, five principal 
 buildings were erected, viz.: the Main Building, 1,876 feet long and 464 feet 
 wide ; the Art Gallery or Memorial Hall, Machinery Hall, Agricultural Hall, 
 and Horticultural Hall. The exhibition was formally opened by President 
 Grant, May 1st, and closed by him six months later. The daily attendance 
 began with about 5,000, but rose to 275,000 toward the close. The total number 
 of visitors was some 10,000,000, and the total receipts, as officially given out, 
 were $3,761,598. The exhibition was a splendid success in every sense. 
 
 THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1876. 
 
 Few people to-day understand the danger through which the country passed 
 in the autumn and winter of 1876. In June, the two great political parties put 
 their presidential tickets in the field. That of the Republicans was Rutherford 
 B. Hayes, of Ohio, and William A. Wheeler, of New York ; of the Democrats, 
 Samuel J. Tilden, of New York, and Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indiana. The 
 Independent Greenback party also nominated a ticket, at the head of which was 
 the venerable philanthropist, Peter Cooper, of New York, with Samuel F. Gary, 
 of Ohio, the candidate for the vice-presidency. 
 
 There was little difference between the platforms of the two leading parties. 
 The Democrats declared for reform through all the methods of the administra 
 tion. The Republicans were equally loud in their calls for the reform of every 
 political abuse, and for the punishment of any and all who made wrongful use 
 of political offices. They also insisted that the rights of the colored men should 
 
THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1876. 
 
 425 
 
 be safeguarded, and denounced the doctrine of State sovereignty, of which there 
 was little to be feared, since it had been effectually killed by the war. 
 
 The Greenbackers made considerable stir. They also used the shibboleth 
 of reform, but put the currency question before all others. Although the govern 
 ment was committed to the redemption of the national legal-tenders and bonds 
 in gold, the Greenbackers insisted that this was impossible, and was also unjust 
 to the debtor class. They claimed, further, that it was the duty of the govern 
 ment to provide a national paper currency, based not on specie, but on bonds 
 bearing a low rate of interest. The Republicans and Democrats maintained that 
 the government could not abrogate its promises of redeeming the currency and 
 bonds in gold. 
 
 The Green 
 back party polled 
 81,740 votes, the 
 Prohibition 9,522, 
 and the American 
 2,636, none gain 
 ing an electoral 
 vote. For several 
 days after the No 
 vember election, it 
 was generally be 
 lieved that the 
 Democrats had 
 been successful, 
 though a few Re 
 publican papers, notably the New York Times, persistently claimed that the 
 Republican ticket had been successful. 
 
 There was a dispute in four States. In Louisiana, the returning board 
 threw out the returns from several parishes on the ground of intimidation and 
 fraud, thereby placing 4,000 majority to the credit of the Republicans. The 
 Democrats insisted that the rejected votes should be counted, and, had it been 
 done, Tilden would have been elected. 
 
 In Soutli Carolina, two bodies claimed to be the legal Legislature and both 
 canvassed the returns, one giving a plurality of 800 to the Republican ticket 
 and the other a smaller majority to the Democratic. Precisely the same wrangle 
 occurred in Florida, where each side claimed a majority of about a hundred. 
 Matters were still more complicated in Oregon, where a Republican elector was 
 declared ineligible, because he held the office of postmaster at the time he was 
 
 MEMORIAL HALL OF 1876. 
 
426 
 
 ADMINISTRATIONS OF JOHNSON AND GRANT. 
 
 chosen elector. The governor proposed to withhold the certificate from him 
 and give it to a Democrat. Had everything claimed by the Republicans been 
 conceded, they would have had 185 and the Democrats 184. It was necessary, 
 therefore, for the Republicans to maintain every point in order to secure their 
 President, for it was beyond dispute that Tilden had received 184 electoral votes. 
 On the popular vote, lie had 4,284,885 to 4,033,950 for Hayes. Each party 
 charged the other with fraud, and thousands of Democrats were so incensed at 
 what they believed was a plot to cheat them out of the presidency that they 
 were ready to go to war. Had they done so, it would have been the most ter 
 rible peril that ever came upon the 
 Republic, for the war would not 
 have been one section against the 
 other, but of neighborhood against 
 neighborhood throughout the land. 
 
 As if nothing in the way of dis 
 cord should be lacking, the Senate 
 was Republican and the House 
 Democratic. The election being dis 
 puted, it fell to them to decide the 
 question something they would 
 never do, since they were dead 
 locked. This was so apparent that 
 thoughtful men saw that some new 
 and extraordinary means must be 
 found to save the country from civil 
 
 war. 
 
 SAMUEL J. TILDEN 
 
 (1814-1886.) 
 
 Congress, after long and earnest 
 discussion, passed a bill creating an 
 Electoral Commission, to which it 
 was agreed to submit the dispute. 
 This commission was to consist of 
 fifteen members, five to be appointed by the House, five by the Senate, and the 
 remaining five to consist of judges of the Supreme Court. 
 
 The Senate being Republican, its presiding officer, the Vice-President, 
 named three Republicans and two Democrats ; the House naturally appointed 
 three Democrats and two Republicans ; while of the Supreme Court, three were 
 Republicans and two Democrats. This, it will be noted, gave to the commission 
 eight Republicans and seven Democrats. The body by a strict party vote de 
 cided every dispute in favor of the Republicans, and on the 2d of March, 1877, 
 two days before inauguration. Rutherford B. Hayes was decided President-elect 
 of the United States. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 OK HAYKS, OARKIELD, AND 
 ARTHUR, 1877-18S5. 
 
 E. B. Hayes The Telephone Railway Strikes Elevated Railroads War with the Nez Perce Indians 
 Renionetization of Silver Resumption of Specie Payments A Strange Fishery Award The 
 Yellow Fever Scourge Presidential Election of 1 878 James A. Garfield Civil Service Reform 
 Assassination of President Garfield Chester A. Arthur The Star Route Frauds The Brooklyn 
 Bridge The Chinese Question The Mormons Alaska Exploration The Yorktown Centennial 
 Attempts to Reach the North Pole by Americans History of the Greely Expedition. 
 
 THE NINETEENTH PRESIDENT. 
 
 RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES was born in Delaware County, Ohio, Octo 
 ber 4, 1822, and was graduated from 
 Kenyon College at the age of twenty 
 years. In 1845 he completed his 
 legal studies at Harvard University, 
 and practiced law, first at Marietta, 
 in his native State, then at Fre 
 mont, and finally in Cincinnati. He 
 entered the military service, at the 
 beginning of the war, as major, and 
 rose to the rank of brevet major- 
 general. His career as a soldier 
 was creditable. While still in the 
 service, in 1864, he was elected to 
 Congress, and was governor of Ohio 
 in 1867, 1869, and again in 1875. 
 His popularity as chief magistrate 
 of one of the leading States led to 
 his nomination to the presidency, 
 to which, however, it must be con 
 ceded, he had not a clear title. 
 
 TT -,. -, ^ ^v, . T RUTHERFORD BIRCH ARD 
 
 He died at Fremont, Ohio, January ,I*SMB.) one term, ISTT-IHM 
 
 17, 1893. 
 
 President Hayes proved his desire to strengthen the fraternal feeling 
 
 (427) 
 
428 HAYES, GARFIELD, AND ARTHUR. 
 
 between the North and South by appointing as a member of his cabinet David 
 McKey, his postmaster-general. Mr. McKey was from Tennessee, and had served 
 the Confederacy during the Civil War. Hayes administration on the whole 
 was uneventful, though marked by a number of incidents which deserve men 
 tion. It was in 1877 that the first telephone for business purposes was put into 
 use. It connected the residence of Charles Williams, in Somerville, Massa 
 chusetts, with his business office in Boston, three miles distant. Alexander 
 Bell, of the latter city, was the inventor of the instrument, which is now in 
 general use throughout the country, and serves to connect points more than a 
 thousand miles apart. 
 
 RAILWAY STRIKES. 
 
 In the summer of 1877 occurred one of the most violent outbreaks among 
 labor men that has ever been known in this country. There was unrest in the 
 mining districts over the question of wages, and the dissatisfaction spread to the 
 principal manufacturing points. When the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad made 
 a reduction of 10 per cent, in the pay of its employees it was followed, July 
 14th, by a partial strike on their line. The men had the sympathy of workmen 
 throughout the country, and the strike spread to the Pennsylvania, Erie, New 
 York Central, and their western connections, including the Missouri and Pacific, 
 and a number of less important lines west of the Mississippi. 
 
 The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers is one of the most intelligent 
 and conservative labor organizations in the country. It has won the respect of 
 corporations as well as of the community-at-large by its fairness and its refusal 
 to engage in strikes, except as a last resort against grievances. Its members are 
 located in all parts of the country, and include a good many thousands. In the 
 strike named the Brotherhood took the lead, and the firemen, brakemen, and 
 other railroad employees joined them. The result was the stoppage of the wheels 
 of commerce and the ruin of vast amounts of perishable freight, to say nothing 
 of the expensive delays of all kinds. The railroad companies called upon the 
 various State authorities for protection in operating their lines, but, as is gen 
 erally the case, the militia were either in sympathy with the strikers or were 
 afraid of them. As a final resort, an appeal was made to the United States 
 government, whose soldiers understand only one duty, that of obeying orders. 
 
 The strikers stopped all trains in Baltimore and Martinsburg, West Vir 
 ginia, and defied the authorities. The militia were scattered, but a few regulars 
 were sufficient to raise the blockade. On the 20th of July, in an attempt of the 
 rioters to resist the clearing of the streets in Baltimore, nine persons were killed 
 and a score wounded. The strike extended until it included the whole country, 
 with the exception of the cotton-growing States. 
 
 The most dangerous outbreak was in Pittsburg, where an immense mob 
 
THE NEZ PERCE WAR. 429 
 
 held control of the city for two days. Disorder and violence reigned, and the 
 authorities were powerless. When on the 21st soldiers appeared on the streets 
 they were assailed with stones and pistol-shots, and they replied with several 
 volleys which killed and wounded a number of rioters. This only added fuel 
 to the flames, and the mob became more savage than ever. The soldiers were 
 attacked so furiously that they ran into a roundhouse of the railway company 
 for protection. There they were besieged, and oil cars were rolled against the 
 building and fired with the purpose of burning the soldiers to death. The fire 
 men were not allowed to put out the flames, and it was several days before the 
 defenders were rescued. 
 
 The infuriated mob applied the torch to the buildings of the railroad com 
 pany, gutted. cars, scattered or carried off the contents, burst open and drank 
 barrels of whiskey, and raged like so many wild beasts. Before the terrific out 
 break subsided, the Union Depot and all the machine shops and railway build 
 ings in the city were burned. Among the losses were 126 locomotives and 
 2,500 cars laden with valuable freight. The regular troops finally subdued the 
 rioters, but not until a hundred people had been killed and property destroyed 
 to the value of five million dollars. 
 
 There was rioting accompanied with violence in Chicago, Buffalo, Colum 
 bus, Ohio, and at many other points. In Chicago, on the 26th of July, nine 
 teen persons were killed. St. Louis was disturbed, but there was no special out 
 break. In San Francisco a savage attack was made on the Chinese and the 
 managers of the lumber yards. At one period, on 6,000 miles of railroad not 
 a wheel was turned, and 100,000 laborers were idle or assisting in the rioting. 
 Such violent ebullitions soon expend themselves. By-and-by the men began 
 returning to their work, and within two or three weeks all the railroads were 
 operating as usual. 
 
 About this time the elevated railway system was adopted in New York 
 City. It has proved so convenient that many lines have been added in the 
 metropolis, and the same means of travel is used in other cities, though of late 
 years electric trolley cars have been widely introduced. 
 
 THE NEZ PERCE WAR. 
 
 When Lewis and Clarke journeyed across the upper part of our country, at 
 the beginning of the century, they made a treaty with the Nez Perce Indians, 
 whose home was in the northwest. They were visited afterward by missionaries, 
 and no trouble occurred with them until after our war with Mexico. A large 
 section of their land was bought by the United States government in 1854, and 
 a reservation was set apart for them in northwestern Idaho and northeastern 
 Oregon. As in the case of the Seminoles of Florida however, many of the chiefs 
 
430 HAYES, GARFIELD, AND ARTHUR. 
 
 were opposed to the sale of their lands, and, when the date came for their depar 
 ture, refused to leave. 
 
 Chief Joseph of the Nez Perces was one of the most remarkable Indians of 
 the century. He was shrewd, sagacious, brave, and remarkably intelligent. 
 General Wesley Merritt, of the United States army, has pronounced his military 
 genius of the highest order, and, in the incidents we are about to narrate, his 
 exploit in its way has never been surpassed. A good many people will recall 
 seeing Joseph at the ceremonies at the tomb of General Grant in 1897, where 
 his line military appearance attracted much attention. 
 
 In 1877, General Howard, commanding the department of the Columbia, 
 marched against the troublesome Nez Perces with a small force of regulars. 
 Being too weak to light the soldiers, Chief Joseph, at the head of his band, 
 rej>eatedly eluded them with masterly skill. This strange chase continued for 
 hundreds of miles, Joseph keeping his women, children, and impedimenta not 
 only intact, but beyond reach of the pursuers, who were filled with admiration 
 of his genius. In the autumn of 1877, the Nez Perces passed through the moun 
 tains of northern Montana, where they were confronted by Colonel Miles and 
 the regulars. Even then Joseph could not be brought to battle, and crossed the 
 Missouri near the mouth of the Mussel Shell. In the Bear Paw Mountains, 
 however, his camp was surrounded and he was brought to bay. The Nez 
 Perces fought with great bravery, but were defeated. Joseph faced the inevit 
 able, and, walking forward to where General Howard was sitting on his horse, 
 handed him his rifle. Then, pointing to the sun in the sky, he said: " From 
 where the sun is in yonder heavens, I fight the white man no more." 
 
 General Howard admired the valiant and chivalrous warrior, who had 
 conducted his campaign not only with rare skill, but without any of the out 
 rages and cruelties which seem natural to the American race. He took his 
 hand, and promised to be his friend. General Howard was able to keep his 
 promise, and secured such a favorable location for Joseph and his band that 
 they have been peaceable and satisfied ever since. 
 
 REMONETIZATION OF SILVER. 
 
 The money or currency question has long been a disturbing factor in poli 
 tics. During the war the silver currency had been out of circulation, its place 
 being taken for awhile by postage stamps and afterward by " shinplasters," which 
 were paper fractional parts of a dollar. In 1873, Congress made gold the exclu 
 sive money standard. Silver depreciated some ten per cent., and the " hard 
 money " people opposed the measures that were set on foot to remonetize silver ; 
 that is, to bring it into circulation again. Such a bill was passed, then vetoed 
 by the President, promptly repassed over his veto, and it was ordered that the 
 
THE FISHERY AWARD. 
 
 431 
 
 coinage of silver should proceed at a rate not to exceed $2,000,000 a month. 
 About this time (December 18, 1878), gold and paper money for the first time 
 in seventeen years was of equal value. 
 
 In accordance with the law of 1875, specie payments by the United States 
 government was effected January 1, 1879. At that time there was an accumu 
 lation of $138,000,000 in ^ 
 the United States treas 
 ury, nearly all of it gold, 
 representing forty per 
 cent, of the outstanding 
 bonds. The mere knowl- 
 edge of this fact so 
 strengthened the public 
 credit that, instead of the 
 anticipated rush on the 
 1st of January, only $11,- 
 000,000 was offered for 
 redemption. The prob 
 lem of specie payment 
 proved to be a bugbear. 
 
 THE FISHERY AWARD. 
 
 By the treaty of 
 Washington, signed in 
 1872, Americans were al 
 lowed to take fish of 
 every kind, except shell 
 fish, on the seacoasts and 
 shores and in the bays, 
 harbors, and creeks of the 
 provinces of Quebec, 
 Nova Scotia, New Bruns 
 wick, Prince Edward s Is 
 land, and the adjacent is 
 lands, without restriction as 
 
 to the distance from shore. In return for this privilege, our government agreed to 
 charge a duty upon certain kinds of fish brought by British subjects into Ameri 
 can harbors. There were other mutual concessions, and, in order to balance 
 matters and make everything smooth, the whole question was placed in the 
 hands of an arbitration commission, which began its sessions in the summer of 
 
 GRANT AT WINDSOR CASTLE. 
 
432 HAYES, GARFIELD, AND ARTHUR. 
 
 1877, at Halifax. The commission included a member appointed by the Queen, 
 one by the President, and the third by the Austrian ambassador at the Court of 
 St. James. Our country was astounded by the verdict of this commission, whwh 
 was that the United States should pay the sum of $5,000,000 to the British 
 government. Even England was surprised, and our government was disposed 
 to refuse to accept the verdict; but to do that would have established a bad pre 
 cedent, and the sum named was paid to Great Britain in the autumn of 1878. 
 
 THE YELLOW FEVER SCOURGE. 
 
 Yellow fever has been one of the most dreadful scourges that our country 
 has suffered. It first appeared on this continent in 1780, when Boston was 
 ravaged in the summer of that year. It afterward appeared in New fork and 
 Philadelphia, especially in 1793 and 1797, after which its visitations have been 
 mainly confined to the South, where the sanitation measures have been less 
 rigid than in the North. It has been proven that strict quarantine and abso 
 lute cleanliness are safeguards against its entrance, though, after the frightful 
 plague has once appeared in a place, it is impossible to stamp it out. It sub 
 sides before the approach of frost and cold weather, and the cure for those 
 smitten is to carry them to cool elevations. Thus far science has not been able 
 to discover the real nature of yellow fever, nor to provide a remedy. It has 
 been established, however, that it is due to bacilli or disease germs, as is the 
 case with cholera, consumption, and many other diseases, and there is reason to 
 believe a specific remedy will soon be brought to light. 
 
 One of the most destructive visitations of yellow fever was in the summer 
 and autumn of 1873. Memphis and New Orleans suffered the most, and at 
 one time those cities were abandoned by all who could leave them. Other por 
 tions of the country contributed every possible assistance in the way of medical 
 help, nurses, and money, but before the scourge was extirpated by cool weather 
 fully 15,000 persons had succumbed. 
 
 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1878. 
 
 The Republican National Convention was held in Chicago at the opening 
 of June. As General Grant had returned from his memorable tour round the 
 world, having been received everywhere with the highest honors, a determined 
 effort was now made to renominate him for a third term. Roscoe Conkling, 
 United States senator from New York, was the leader in the movement, and the 
 whole number of Grant s supporters was 306, who without a break cast their 
 vote for him thirty-six times in succession. They failed because of the wide 
 spread opposition to any man holding the exalted office for a longer period than 
 Washington, the Father of his Country. 
 
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1878. 
 
 433 
 
 The pnncipal rivals of General Grant were James G. Elaine, of Maine, and 
 John Sherman, of Ohio. There being a deadlock, the supporter, of these two 
 candidates united and thereby nominated James A. Garfield, of Ohio with 
 Chester A. Arthur, of New York, as the nominee for Vice-President 
 
 1 
 
 GRANT IN JAPAN. 
 
 The Democratic Convention, which met in Cincinnati in the latter part of 
 June, placed in nomination General Winfield 8. Hancock, of Xew York, and 
 William H. English, of Indiana. The prospect of Hancock s election was 
 
 28 
 
434 HAYES, GARFIELD, AND ARTHUR. 
 
 excellent, but he destroyed it by one of those unfortunate expressions which more 
 than once have defeated candidates for high office. When questioned con- 
 cerning the tariff he expressed the opinion that it was a "local issue," a remark 
 which many accepted as displaying ignorance of the important subject, and 
 they, therefore, voted against him. The result was as follows: James A. 
 Gartield and Chester A. Arthur, 214 electoral votes; W. S. Hancock and W. H. 
 English, loo; Jaine* B. Weaver and B. J Chambers, the Greenback candidates, 
 
 received 307,306 popular votes; Neal 
 Dow and H. A. Thompson, the 
 Prohibition, 10,305; and John W. 
 Phelps and S. C. Pomeroy, Ameri 
 can, 707; but none of the three 
 secured an electoral vote. 
 
 James A. Garfield was 
 born at Orange, Cuyahoga 
 County, Ohio, November 
 19, 1831. While he was 
 an infant his father died 
 and he was left to the care 
 of his noble mother, to 
 whom he was devotedly 
 attached. 
 
 Garfield spent his boy 
 hood in the backwoods, and 
 at one time was the driver 
 of a canal-boat. He became 
 strong, rugged, and a fine 
 athlete, and at the same 
 time obtained the rudiments 
 
 of an English education. 
 At the age of seventeen he 
 attended the high school 
 at Chester, and by hard study acquired an excellent knowledge of Latin, Greek, 
 and algebra. He was a student at Hiram College, and became an instructor 
 in 1854. The same year he entered Williams College, from which he was 
 graduated with honor in 1856. He returned to Ohio, and was appointed a 
 professor in Hiram College. He indulged his taste for politics and law, and 
 served for a time in the State Senate, but was president of the college when 
 the war broke out. He at once volunteered, and was appointed lieutenant-colonel 
 and afterward colonel of the Forty-second Regiment of Ohio Volunteers. 
 
 THE BOY JAMES GARFIELD BRINGING HIS FIRST 
 DAY S EARNINGS TO HIS MOTHER 
 
CIVIL SERVICE REFORM. 
 
 435 
 
 Gartield displayed remarkable ability in the military service, and had he 
 remained would have won high distinction. As a brigadier-general he did fine 
 work in Kentucky and Tennessee. He was chief-of-staff to General Rosecrans, 
 and showed great gallantry in the tremendous battle of Chickamauga. He was 
 in the field when elected to Congress in 1802. His desire was to remain, but, at 
 the personal request of President Lincoln, he entered Congress, where it was felt 
 his help was needed in the important legislation before the country. The estimate 
 in which he was held by his fellow-citizens is shown by the fact that he served 
 as a member of Congress for seventeen years. In 1879 he was chosen United 
 States senator, but did not take his p 
 seat because of 
 the presidency. 
 
 his nomination for 
 
 CIVIL SERVICE REFORM. 
 
 The question of " civil service 
 reform," as it is termed, assumed 
 prominence during the term of Hayes. 
 This, as all understand, means that 
 the public offices should be filled 
 not in accordance with politics, but 
 be determined by fitness. The 
 charge has been made with reason 
 
 o 
 
 that, Avhen public servants have be 
 come skilled in the discharge of 
 their duties, they are turned out 
 to make room for the friends of the 
 new administration, where politics 
 are different. In thftt way public 
 service is injured. 
 
 The opponents of civil service re 
 form maintain, on the other hand, that 
 
 there are thousands out of office who are just as capable as those in office, and that 
 the party ought to reward those that have helped it to success. "To the victor 
 belong the spoils" was the policy of Andrew Jackson, and it has been followed 
 in a greater or less degree ever since. The cry of civil service reform was long 
 a well-sounding motto with which to catch votes, but no serious effort was made 
 to enforce it. Hayes tried his hand, but the clamor for political rewards was so 
 insistent that he gave it up, and matters dropped back into their old ruts. The 
 vexatious question was inherited by Garfield, and the hope was general that he 
 
 
 JAMES A. GARFIELD. 
 
 1 1831-1881.) One partial term, iv 
 
436 HA r/;s, GARFIELD, AND ARTHUR. 
 
 would not only make a determined effort, but would succeed in carrying out the 
 principles of real civil service reform. 
 
 The task soon proved beyond the capacity of himself or any human being. 
 It seemed as if netirl v every man in the country had been the deciding factor, in 
 the election of the President, while the "original Garfield man would have 
 formed a full regiment. The executive threw up his hands, and decided to pass 
 over the plague to the next administration. 
 
 The quarrel produced a split in the Republican party itself, and two wings 
 formed, known as " Half-breed* " and Stalwarts." At the head of the 
 
 latter was the brilliant New York 
 senator, Roscoe Conkling, who had 
 been so persistent in his efforts to 
 renominate General Grant for a 
 third term. The leader of the 
 Half-breeds was James G. Elaine, as 
 brilliant as Conkling, while both 
 were strong personal opponents. 
 The Stalwarts claimed the right of 
 dividing the offices, as had been the 
 custom for a century, the senators 
 and representatives apportioning the 
 plums among the horde of claim 
 ants. The President was supported 
 by the Half-breeds in his claim that 
 it was his province to bestow these 
 gifts as he saw fit. 
 
 The collectorship of the port of 
 New York is one of the best offices 
 at the disposal of the administration. 
 The President nominated Judge 
 William Robertson. He was per 
 sonally distasteful to Conkling, and, when he found himself unable to pre 
 vent his confirmation by the Senate, he and Thomas C. Platt, the junior sena 
 tor from New York, resigned their seats. Both afterward sought and failed to 
 secure a re-election from the Legislature. Congress adjourned in June. 
 
 ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD. 
 
 Relieved from the pressure of his duties, the President now made his 
 arrangements for placing his two sons in Williams College and joining his 
 invalid wife at the seashore. On the 2d of July, 1881, accompanied by Secre- 
 
 AGBD MOTHER OF PRESIDENT 
 GARFIELD. 
 
ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT GAREIELD. 
 
 437 
 
 tary Elaine and several friends, he rode to the Baltimore Railroad station to board 
 the cars. He had just entered the building and was chatting with his secretary, 
 when a miscreant named Charles Julias Guiteau stepped up behind him and shot 
 him with a pistol in the back. The wounded President sank to the floor and 
 was carried to the executive mansion, while the assassin was hurried to prisofi 
 before he could be lynched, as he assuredly would have been but for such 
 prompt action by the authorities. 
 
 The shock to the country was scarely less than when Abraham Lincoln 
 was shot in Ford s Theatre. Although the wound of the President was severe, 
 it was not be 
 lieved to be 
 ne ce ss aril v 
 fatal. He re- 
 c e i v e d the 
 best medical 
 attention, and 
 prayers for his 
 recovery were 
 sent up from 
 every quarter 
 of the land and 
 across the sea. 
 Daily bulletins 
 of his condition 
 were issued 
 and messages 
 o f sympathy 
 were received 
 from many 
 crowned heads 
 
 on the other side of the Atlantic. The sufferer was removed on the 6th of Sep 
 tember to Elberon, New Jersey, where it was hoped the invigorating sea-air would 
 bring back strength to his wasted frame. These hopes were vain, and, on the 
 19th of September, he quietly breathed his last. It may be noted that this date 
 was the anniversary of the battle of Ciiickamauga, where General Garfield per 
 formed his most brilliant service in the war. Amid universal expressions of 
 sympathy the remains were borne to Cleveland, where a line monument has 
 been erected to his memory. 
 
 Guiteau was a miserable " crank," who had long dogged the President for 
 an appointment, failing to obtain which he shot him. That his brain was partly 
 
 ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT GABPIE"LD. 
 
HAYES, GARFIELD, AND ARTHUR. 
 
 awry, with perhaps a taint of insanity, cannot be questioned, but, none the less, 
 it was shown that he clearly knew the difference between right and wrong and 
 was morally responsible for his unspeakable crime. He was given a fair trial, 
 and, having been found guilty, was hanged on the 30th of June, 1882. 
 
 THE TWENTY-FIRST PRESIDENT. 
 
 Chester Alan Arthur, who was immediately sworn in as President, was 
 born in Vermont, October 5, 1830. He received his education at Union 
 College, from which he was graduated in 1849. He taught school for a time 
 in his native State, and then removed to the City of New York, where he 
 studied law and was admitted to the bar. His ability speedily brought him 
 to the front and gave him a lucrative practice. He was quartermaster-general 
 
 of the State of New York during the war and 
 displayed fine executive ability. When the war 
 ended, he resumed the practice of law and was 
 made collector of customs for the port of New 
 York in 1871. Seven years later he was re 
 moved by President Hayes, and shortly after he en 
 tered the presidential canvass of 1880. He died 
 November 18, 1886. 
 
 Arthur took the oath of office in New York, 
 on the day succeeding the death of Garfield, and 
 left at once for Washington. Chief Justice Waite 
 administered the oath again to him in the vice- 
 
 TABLET IN THE WAITING- > i 1 A ,1 r-( 
 
 BOOM OF THE RAILWAY president s room. Among those present were Gen- 
 
 , 
 
 Mil t \M 
 
 GARFIELD eral Grant, General Sherman, Senator Sherman, 
 and ex-President Hayes. 
 
 While President Arthur showed slight disposition to change the policy of 
 the administration, he inherited many vexatious matters from his predecessor. 
 One of the worst of these was the " Star Route Frauds." 
 
 The rapid settlement of the West naturally created a demand for improved 
 mail facilities. In a number of places, fast mail routes had been organized by 
 the postoffice department, and these were designated on the official documents 
 by the figures of stars. The authorized expenditures of the postoffice depart 
 ment were clearly defined, but a clause in the law permitted it to " expedite " 
 such routes as proved to be inefficient. This opened the door for fraud, and, as 
 is always the case, it lost no time in entering. 
 
 The contracts were let at the legal rates, and then, availing themselves of 
 the legal authority, the same routes were " expedited " at immense profits. The 
 money thus stolen and it amounted to immense sums was divided among the 
 
THE CHINESE. 
 
 parties letting the contracts and the contractors. Stephen W. Dorsey, John W. 
 Dorsey, and Thomas J. Brady formerly second-assistant postmaster-general 
 were indicted for a conspiracy to defraud the government and enrich themselves. 
 All were prominent politicians, and their trial attracted national attention. Al 
 though the testimony seemed to establish the guilt of the parties accused, all 
 three escaped, the miscarriage of justice causing a qualm of disgust and indig 
 nation among right-minded citizens. 
 
 One of the famous structures in the country is the Brooklyn Bridge, which 
 was completed and opened for traffic May 24, 1883. Operations on it were 
 begun January 3, 1870, and the 
 towers were finished six years later. 
 The first wire reaching from tower 
 to tower was strung August 14, 
 1876. Each of the four cables con 
 tains 5,296 wires, untwisted, lying 
 straight, and held in place by other 
 wires coiled tightly around them. 
 The length of the main span is 
 l,595i feet; the two land spans are 
 930 feet each ; the masonry ap 
 proach on the New York side is 
 1,562 feet long, and that on the 
 Brooklyn side 971 feet, The total 
 distance, therefore, is about 6,000 
 feet, or more than a mile. The 
 middle of the main span is about 
 135 feet above the water in summer, 
 and in winter, owing to the con 
 traction caused by cold, it is three 
 feet more. Tiie height is such that 
 nearly any ship can pass under the 
 bridge without lowering its top-mast. Twenty persons were killed during the 
 construction of the bridge. Although the day was inclement and unfavorable, 
 the opening of the structure to travel was attended with many ceremonies, in 
 cluding civic and military processions, oratory, salutes by naval vessels, and 
 illuminations and fireworks in the evening. 
 
 THE CHINESE. 
 
 The State of California, on account of its situation, received thousands of 
 Chinese immigrants every year from across the Pacific. These people live so 
 
 CHESTER ALAN ARTHUR 
 (1830-1836.) One partial term, issi-istfo 
 
440 
 
 HA YES, GARFIELD, AND ARTHUR. 
 
 meanly that they could afford to work for wages upon which a white man would 
 starve. Consequently they crowded out other laborers and caused so much dis 
 content that something in the nature of a revolt took place against them. The 
 grievance of the Californians was so well-founded that Congress, while Hayes 
 was President, passed a bill which forbade the immigration of Chinese laborers to 
 this country, and requiring those already here to take out certificates, if they left 
 the United States, so as to identify themselves before being allowed to return. 
 President Hayes vetoed the bill, but it was passed in 1882. The amazing 
 
 THE BROOKLYN 
 
 ingenuity of the Chinese has enabled them to evade the law in many instances, 
 but their immigration was substantially checked. Probably there is no more 
 degraded community on the face of the earth than the part in San Francisco 
 known as " Chinatown." Most of the yellow celestials live underground, where 
 their unspeakable villainies are a flaming reproach to the authorities that permit 
 them. 
 
 THE MORMONS. 
 
 The Mormons proved a thorn in the side of the body politic. Their polyg 
 amous practices led to the passage in 1882 of Senator Edmunds bill which 
 
EXPLORATION OF ALASKA. 
 
 441 
 
 excluded polygamists from holding office. A good many persons were convicted 
 and sentenced for violation of the law, which was upheld by the Supreme Court. 
 While this legislation did much to abate the crime, it cannot be said that 
 it effectually ended it, for, at this writing, one of the representatives from the 
 new State of Utah is the husband of several wives, and it is apparent that still 
 more severe legislation will be required to stamp out the evil. 
 
 EXPLORATION OF ALASKA. 
 
 Attention was so generally directed toward Alaska, our recent purchase 
 
 SCENE IN CHINATOWN, SAN FRANCISCO. 
 
 from Eussia, that an exploring expedition visited that country in 1883, under 
 the command of Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka. It should be stated that the 
 party, which was a small one, went thither without authority from the govern 
 ment, its departure from Portland, Oregon, May 22d, being secret. It was gone 
 for several months, and brought back interesting and valuable information. 
 One bit of knowledge was new. The explorers learned that the length of the 
 great river Yukon is 2,044 miles, which makes it the third in length in the 
 United States, the fourth in North America, the seventh in the western hemb- 
 
440 HAYES, GARFIELD, AND ARTHUR. 
 
 phere, and the seventeenth in the world. The area drained by this immense 
 
 stream is 200,000 square miles. 
 
 THE YORKTOWX CENTENNIAL. 
 
 We have learned of the centennial celebration of the birth of our republic 
 in Philadelphia. Many other celebrations of important events were held in di 
 ferent parts of the coumrv, the most important of which was the commemoration 
 of the great victory at Yorktown, which brought the Revolution to a close and 
 secured the independence of our country. 
 
 As was befitting preparations were made on a grand scale for this celebra 
 tion Thousands journeyed thither days before the exercises opened. President 
 Arthur arrived at ten o clock on the morning of October 18, 1881, in a govern 
 ment steamer, his approach being announced by salute after salute, each < 
 twentv-one guns, from the different ships of the fleet. 
 
 The exercises were opened with prayer by Rev. Robert Nelson, grandson 
 of Governor Nelson, who commanded the Virginia militia at Yorktown and 
 directed the fire so as to destroy his own home, in which Cornwallis had his 
 headquarters, after which Governor Holliday, of Virginia, made the address. 
 At its conclusion, the sword was held up to view which was presented to the 
 horseman who rode at high speed to Philadelphia with the news of the sur 
 render of Cornwallis. Another interesting fact was that W. W. Henry, the 
 grandson of Patrick Henry, was sitting at that moment on the platform. 
 
 The corner-stone of the monument was laid with Masonic ceremonies. The 
 chair in which the Grand Master for the occasion sat was one that had been 
 used by Washington when he was Grand Master of the Virginia Masons. The 
 sash and apron were presented to him at Mount Vernon in 1784, and had been 
 worked by Mrs. Lafayette. The gavel was made from a portion of the quarter 
 deck of the United States frigate Lawrence, flagship of Commodore Perry, when 
 he won his great victory on Lake Erie in September, 1813. Space cannot be 
 given to enumerate the notables who were present nor the eloquent addresses 
 that were made. Among the guests were descendants of Rochambeau, Steuben, 
 and many German and French friends. The centennial ode was written by 
 Paul H. Hayne,the Southern poet (who died in 1886), and the oration of the 
 day was by Robert C. Winthrop. 
 
 It was a graceful tribute to the friendly course of England, when Secretary 
 Blaine, at the reception which followed the ceremonies, read the following 
 order : 
 
 44 In recognition of the friendly relations so long and so happily existing 
 between Great Britain and the United States, in the trust and confidence of 
 
ATTEMPTS TO REACH THE NORTH POLE. 443 
 
 peace and good-will between the two countries for all centuries to come, and 
 especially as a mark of the profound respect entertained by the American people 
 for the illustrious sovereign and gracious lady who sits upon the British throne, 
 it is hereby ordered that at the close of these services, commemorative of the 
 valor and success of our forefathers in their patriotic struggle for independence, 
 the British flag shall be saluted by the forces of the army and navy of the United 
 States now at Yorktown. The secretary of war and the secretary of the navy 
 will give orders accordingly. 
 
 " CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 
 " By the PRESIDENT. 
 
 " JAMES G. BLAINE, Secretary of State." 
 
 The final ceremonies of Yorktown occurred on the 20th of October, at 
 which time 9,000 sailors, regulars, and militia made an impressive spectacle. 
 They were under the command of General Hancock, and represented all of the 
 thirteen original States, including a number of others. They passed in review 
 before the President, both branches of Congress, governors of the States and 
 their staffs, and the French and German guests of the government. 
 
 ATTEMPTS TO REACH THE NORTH POLE. 
 
 One of these days the North Pole will be reached, but no one can say 
 when. For hundreds of years the attempt has been made again and again, and 
 daring navigators have penetrated far into those icy regions, where the tempera 
 ture for months at a time registers forty, fifty, and sixty degrees below zero, only 
 to perish or be turned back disappointed. 
 
 The first American expedition into the Arctic regions was conducted by 
 Dr. Elisha Kent Kane. He sailed from New York in the steamer Advance, 
 May 30, 1853. He reached Smith Strait, as far as Cape George Russell, and 
 then returned to Van Rensselaer Harbor for the winter. A number of excur 
 sions were made from that point, and 125 miles of coast were traced to the 
 north and east, Two of the men penetrated to Washington Land in latitude 
 82 27 , and discovered an open channel, which they named Kennedy. Kane 
 came home in 1855, having been further north than any other explorer. He 
 was obliged to abandon his ship and proceed overland to the Danish settle 
 ments in the south, where he was met by a relief party. 
 
 One of the members of this expedition was Dr. Isaac I. Hayes, who, in 
 1860, attained 81 35 north latitude, when he was forced to return without 
 having accomplished anything of importance. Sir John Franklin, an English 
 navigator, had been lost in the Arctic regions a number of years before, and 
 several expeditions had been sent in search of him, but all failed to secure 
 
444 HAYES, GARFIELD, AND ARTHUR. 
 
 any definite information. In 1860, Dr. Charles F. Hall, of Connecticut, led an 
 expedition in quest of the lost explorer. He was unfortunate enough to lose 
 his boat and was obliged to return. The most interesting discoveries made by 
 Dr. Hall were a number of relics of Frobisher s expedition to those dismal 
 regions fully 300 years before. A second party, under Hall, found the same 
 year several relics of Franklin, and dissipated all possible hope that he or any 
 of his men were still living. 
 
 Dr. Hall was an enthusiastic explorer of those inhospitable regions and 
 spent five years among the Eskemos. Coming home, he organized a third 
 party, for, cheerless and dismal as are those frozen solitudes, they seemed to hold 
 a resistless fascination to all who have visited them. This expedition reached 
 80 north latitude, where Hall died. 
 
 THE GREELY EXPEDITION. 
 
 In 1880, the proposal was made by an international polar commission that 
 the leading countries should unite in establishing meteorological stations in the 
 polar region. This was with no intention of helping explorations toward the 
 North Pole, but to permit the study of weather phenomena and the actions of 
 the magnetic needle, respecting which much remains to be learned. 
 
 Congress appropriated funds with which to establish a scientific colony for 
 Americans, one at Point Barrow in Alaska and the other at Lady Franklin 
 Bay in Grinnell Land. These stations were to be occupied for periods varying 
 from one to three years. 
 
 The party designed for Lady Franklin Bay consisted of First Lieutenant 
 Adolphus W. Greely, U. S. A., Commander; Lieutenants F. S. Kislingbury 
 and James B. Lockwood, U. S. A., as assistants ; and Dr. O. Pavy as surgeon 
 and naturalist. In addition, there were twenty-two sergeants, corporals, and 
 privates, all belonging to the army, and two Eskemos. All the other attempts to 
 establish circumpolar stations, numbering about a dozen, were successful. 
 
 The steamer Proteus conveyed the expedition to Lady Franklin Bay, the 
 start being made from the harbor of St. John s, Newfoundland. It would seem 
 that every needed precaution had been taken to avert disaster. Since the expedi 
 tion had an attainable point fixed upon as its destination, it would seem that it had 
 only to establish a base, where the government would deposit abundant supplies, 
 to which Greely could return when he chose or when he found himself com 
 pelled to retreat. Then he could carry forward supplies on his sleds and leave 
 them at different points along his route, so that he would be sure of finding 
 them on his return. This scheme is so simple that it would seem that there 
 was no possible, or at least probable, way of going wrong. Yet misfortune has 
 been the fate of most of the Arctic expeditions. 
 
THE GREELY EXPEDITION. 445 
 
 It was arranged that two ships were to go to Lady Franklin Bay in the 
 summer of 1883 to bring back the explorers. These ships were to be the 
 steam whaler Proteus and the United States gunboat Yantic, commanded by 
 Lieutenant E. A. Garlington ; but the Proteus, when near Cape Sabine and 
 before she had landed her supplies, was crushed by the ice and sunk. With 
 great difficulty, Garlington and his men escaped from the wreck in small boats 
 and made their way to Upernavik, where they had left the Yantic. The party 
 then returned to the United States, without having left an ounce of supplies at 
 Lady Franklin Bay, where Greely expected to find all he needed on his return. 
 
 Now let us follow the exploring party under Greely which left St. John s, 
 Newfoundland, July 7, 1881, in the Proteus, that was afterward lost. Icebergs 
 were soon encountered, but seven hundred miles were passed without any land 
 appearing. The days had lengthened, light appearing shortly after midnight 
 and lasting until ten o clock the succeeding night, but the fog was dense and all- 
 pervading. On July 16th, the Proteus was steaming cautiously through the 
 mist, when the icy coast of Disco Island, several hundred feet in height, loomed 
 up directly ahead. 
 
 The most interesting sight was a vast iceberg in two parts, joined by an 
 immense overhanging arch, under which it would have been easy for the ship 
 to sail. The captain was too wise to make any such attempt. He steamed to 
 one side of it, and, when some distance beyond, fired a signal gun for a pilot. The 
 report was followed by a thunderous rumbling, and, looking back, the crew saw 
 the vast arch, weighing thousands of tons, descend to the water with a crash 
 that caused the steamer to rock to and fro for several minutes. Had she been 
 caught beneath the mass, she would have been crushed like a tiny insect. 
 
 A landing was made at the settlement of Disco. In this squalid town all 
 the dwellings were mere huts, with the exception of those of the inspector and 
 governor. It was a strange sight to find in one of these dwellings in the North 
 a piano, billiard table, carpets, and many of the luxuries of civilized life. The 
 visitors were treated with the utmost hospitality and took part in a dance in 
 progress. 
 
 Returning to the Proteus the party steamed through the fog to Upernavik, 
 which was reached on the 23d of July. They were never out of sight of ice 
 bergs, but they caused no trouble, and were easily avoided. By means of the 
 steam launch, several men made a passage through inner waters to Proven, a 
 sparse settlement, where they procured some clothing suitable for the high 
 latitudes. 
 
 These settlements, far beyond the Arctic Circle, belong to Denmark, which 
 exercises a nominal control over them. One of the industries of Proven is the 
 furnishing of supplies to Arctic explorers. A liberal quantity of fresh food was 
 
446 HAYES, GARFIELD, AND ARTHUR. 
 
 secured, beside two native guides and thirty-two Eskemo dogs. It was near 
 here that McClintock, the explorer, was frozen in for an entire year; but the 
 weather continued unusually mild. A mountainous iceberg while drifting 
 slowly with the current sloughed off so much from one side that its centre of 
 gravity was displaced and the mountain of ice turned a complete somersault 
 before it settled to rest. 
 
 There is hardly any limit to the time in which provisions can be preserved 
 in the polar regions. A cache was found among the Cary Islands which had 
 been left by JSir George Nares years before, and nearly all was in as good condi 
 tion as when placed there. One of the strange phenomena of the Arctic regions 
 is the red snow, mentioned by Sir John Ross, which was seen by the Greely 
 party. This color is found to be due to myriads of tiny plants deposited on the 
 crust. That most eminent botanist, Robert Brown, subjected it to careful 
 examination and pronounced it to be a unicellular plant of the order Algce, and 
 Dr. Greville, of Edinburgh, gave it its name (Protococcus nivalis), by which 
 it is now known to the scientific world. 
 
 The steamer halted at Littleton Island on the 2d of August. A number 
 of articles were found at " Life-Boat Cove," that had been left by the Polaris 
 expedition in 1873. A quantity of coal was unloaded here to be taken aboard 
 on the return. 
 
 Steaming up Kennedy Channel, a deposit of provisions was made near 
 Franklin Island and Carl Ritter Bay. A short distance north, an immense ice 
 pack stopped the ship which repeatedly tried in vain to butt its way through. 
 It was compelled to drift with the pack until the llth of August, when an 
 opening appeared and the Proteus forced a passage to Bellot Island, at the 
 entrance to Discovery Harbor. 
 
 AT LADY FRANKLIN BAY. 
 
 The steamer had now reached Lady Franklin Bay, which was its destina 
 tion, and near which Fort Conger, a signal station, was to be established. The 
 ship was unloaded and a house built, the men living in tents the meanwhile, 
 and on the 19th of August the Proteus bade the explorers good-by and started 
 on her return to Newfoundland. 
 
 A number of musk oxen were shot in the vicinity, and now and then a 
 ptarmigan was bugged. The men moved into the house in the latter pant of 
 August, and Lock wood directed the laying out of the observatory and the dig 
 ging of the foundation pier for the transit. The earth was frozen so hard that 
 it was like chipping solid ice. The house gave the men comfortable quarters. 
 On the first Sunday all work was stopped and religious services held. The 
 ntention was to send an exploring expedition along the northern coast of 
 
INTOLERABLE LONELINESS. 447 
 
 Greenland, and it was placed in charge of Lockwood. It would have been 
 given to Kislingbury, the senior officer, but for the fact that he and Greely 
 were not on good terms. 
 
 Men were sent to examine St. Patrick s Bay to the northeast, for a site to 
 establish a depot on the channel of exploration. Such a place was found and 
 the exploring parties were continually active, some of them going a good many 
 miles from camp. Game was plentiful, but the wolves were fierce. Numbers 
 were poisoned by means of arsenic mixed with meat thrown in their way. It 
 being the beginning of their Arctic experience, the men enjoyed themselves to 
 an extent that would hardly be supposed. This was mainly because they were 
 kept busy and the novelty of their life had not yet worn off. One pleasant 
 custom was that of celebrating the birthdays of different members of the party, 
 which was done with a vigor that sometimes reached good-natured boisterous-* 
 ness. 
 
 When the sun sank far from sight on the 16th of October, every one knew 
 that it would not show itself again for four months. It will be admitted, too, 
 that the weather had become keen, for it registered forty degrees below zero 
 most of the time and the moisture within the house was frozen to the depth of 
 an inch on the window-panes. 
 
 With the coming of the long, dismal night the wolves became fiercer, and 
 prowled so closely around the building that no one dared venture far from the 
 door without firearms in his hands, and the men generally went in company, 
 ready for an attack that was liable to be made at any minute. 
 
 INTOLERABLE LONELINESS. 
 
 Time always hangs heavy when one is forced to remain idle and the 
 dismal night stretches through a third or half of the year. On the 1st. of 
 November, Lieutenant Lockwood, accompanied by seven men, left the dwelling 
 to try the passage of the straits, hoping to push his way to the place where 
 Captain Hall made his winter quarters. They dragged a heavily loaded sled 
 after them, upon which rested a boat, which they expected to use in case they 
 reached open water. The men set out bravely and toiled hard, but were com 
 pelled to turn back, finding it impossible to make any progress. 
 
 No one can describe the horrible loneliness of such a life as the party were 
 now compelled to lead. They played cards and games, told stories, and held 
 discussions until all such things palled on their taste. Then they grew weary 
 of one another s company, and hours would pass without a man speaking a 
 word. Dr. Hayes has related that, when thus placed, he has dashed out of the 
 dwelling in desperation and wandered for miles through the frozen solitudes, for 
 no other reason than that the company of his friends had become unbearable. 
 
448 HAYES, GARFIELD, AND ARTHUR. 
 
 He stated further that a rooster on his ship deliberately flew overboard and 
 committed suicide out of sheer loneliness. 
 
 One means resorted to by the explorers for relieving the frightful 
 monotony was the publication of a paper called the Arctic Moon. The contents 
 were written and copies made by the hektograph process. Then Greely formed 
 a class in arithmetic, and Lockwood taught a class in geography and grammar. 
 Matters were quite lively on Thanksgiving Day (the party being careful to note 
 the passage of the regular days), when foot-races were run and shooting matches 
 indulged in, Greely distributing the prizes. 
 
 One of the many curious facts regarding life in the Arctic regions is that 
 its rigors are often withstood better by the inexperienced than by the experi 
 enced. The two Eskemo guides were the most depressed of the whole party, and 
 one of them wandered off in a dazed condition. When found miles away, he 
 was running as if in fear of his life, and it was with great difficulty he was per 
 suaded to return. The second native would have run off had he not been closely 
 watched. 
 
 In the middle of February, the thermometer fell to sixty-five degrees below 
 zero, an intensity of cold which few living men have experienced. At such a 
 terrible temperature pure brandy and glycerine freeze hard, and a man, though 
 heavily clothed, will perish in a few minutes. The Eskemo dogs by choice 
 slept in the snow outside rather than within the building. 
 
 THE GRAVE OF DR. HALL. 
 
 On the last day of February, Lieutenant Lockwood, accompanied by 
 Brainard, Jewell, Long, the two Eskemos, and a couple of dog teams, started on 
 a journey to Thank God Harbor, seventy-five miles away. The journey was 
 made without accident and the observatory was found still standing, while near 
 at hand was the grave of the Arctic explorer, Captain C. F. Hall. The grave 
 was marked by a metallic headboard, put up by the English and the other by 
 Hall s comrades. On the British board are these words : " To Captain Hall, 
 who sacrificed his life in the advancement of science, November 8, 1871. This 
 tablet has been erected by the Britisli Polar Expedition of 1875, which followed 
 in his footsteps and profited by his experience." The American inscription is 
 as follows : 
 
 IN MEMORY OF 
 
 CHARLES FRANCIS HALL, 
 
 LATE COMMANDER U. S. STEAMER POLARIS, NORTH POLE EXPEDITION. 
 
 DIED NOVEMBER 8, 1871. 
 
 "I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE; HE THAT BELIEVETH IN ME, 
 THOUGH HE WERE DEAD, YET SHALL HE LIVE." 
 
LOCKWOOD S EXPEDITION. 
 
 449 
 
 The great ambition of Lieutenant Lockwood was to lead an expedition 
 along the northern coast of Greenland, to which Arctic explorers hitherto had 
 paid comparatively slight attention. His intelligence, daring, and skill caused 
 Greely to give him his full confidence and to leave the entire arrangement of the 
 venture in his hands. 
 
 Lockwood s intention was to start about the 1st of April. Sergeant Brainard 
 was to go with the supporting parties in advance to Cape Sumner and leave 
 supplies. Then when Lockwood s party reached the same point, with all the 
 provisions they could carry with comfort, the explorers would be well supplied. 
 
 LOCKWOOD S EXPEDITION TO THE FAR NORTH. 
 
 Amid the firing of pistols, waving of flags, and cheers, the start was made 
 by Lockwood 
 on the 2d of 
 April. Three 
 days later, the 
 party drag 
 ging a sled 
 laden with 
 pemmican 
 reached a 
 snow-house, 
 where they 
 found Brain 
 ard and his 
 friends return 
 ing. There 
 were thirteen 
 
 in all, and they were crowded in their close quarters, but the fact gave them 
 additional warmth. 
 
 It will be remembered that the long Arctic night was about ended. In the 
 misty light, a dark object was discerned on the top of a neighboring iceberg, 
 which being scrutinized was recognized as an eagle. It was accepted as a good 
 omen by the men, who cheered the noble bird that vividly reminded them of 
 their distant home. 
 
 The direction was now to the northeast. They crossed the straits at Cape 
 Beechy, pushing to within a few miles of the eastern shore, whence they were 
 to proceed directly to Fort Sumner. In order to follow the course of the party 
 intelligently the reader needs to keep a reliable map of the Arctic regions 
 before him. 
 
 29 
 
 A FUNERAL IN THE ARTIC REGIONS. 
 
450 HAYES, GARFIELD, AND ARTHUR. 
 
 Fort Conger stood close to the intersection of sixty-fifth meridian and the 
 eighty-second parallel, being a little south of the latter and east of the former. 
 From this starting-point, the route of Lockwood was slightly south of northeast 
 to its termination. Almost from the beginning, the traveling was so difficult 
 that the bravest explorers could not have been blamed for turning back. 
 
 The ice was tumbled together in irregular masses many feet in thickness,, 
 through which they often had to cut the way with axes for their sledges. The 
 wind rose to a hurricane, and was of piercing coldness, and so filled with fine par 
 ticles that they cut the face like bird-shot. Most of the time they could not see 
 one another when separated by a few feet. Muffled to their eyes, the brave 
 explorers fought their way onward, often compelled to stop and turn their backs- 
 to the gale, which almost swept them off their feet. Frequently they crouched 
 behind the piles of ice to regain their breath while the furious wind roared 
 above their heads. 
 
 Toughened, as were all the men, some of them succumbed under the fearful 
 work. These returned to camp, and the party was reduced to nine. This 
 occurred on the 10th of April, very near where the 82d parallel crosses the 60th 
 meridian. There Lieutenant Lockwood came to a halt, and turned back with 
 the dogs to Fort Conger. The round journey was a hundred miles, but it was 
 necessary to get supplies that could be obtained in no other way, and to secure 
 new runners for their sledges, which were battered by their rough usage. 
 
 Accompanied by the two Eskemos, Lockwood made a new start on the 14th 
 of April, and averaged two miles an hour until he reached his new camp. 
 From that point the nine men had three sledges, which they dragged, and a 
 fourth that was drawn by the dogs. With indomitable pluck they struggled 
 onward, and all were thrilled on the 25th of the month by the knowledge that 
 they had reached a point further north than had ever been attained by an 
 American, and they hoped to surpass all others. 
 
 The heroic explorers had by no means finished their task. At regular 
 points they cached their provisions against the return. If the reader will locate 
 on his map the intersection of the 55th meridian with the parallel of 82 20 , 
 he will have a point close to Cape Bryant, where the supports of the party 
 withdrew and started on their return to camp. All who were now left were 
 Lieutenant Lockwood, Sergeant Brainard, and the Eskemo Frederick. 
 
 Lockwood apportioned rations for twenty-five days among the three. 
 Consequently the northward journey and the return must be made within that 
 time, since they believed it impossible to obtain food in that fearful region. 
 Shaking hands with their companions, who wished them good-speed, the little 
 party broke into two divisions, one tramping southward, while the other resumed 
 its laborious journey toward the northeast. 
 
LOCKWOOD S EXPEDITION. 451 
 
 Before Lockwood left Cape Sabine, Lieutenant Greely gave it as his belief 
 that his brave assistant might succeed in reaching Cape Britannia, which lies 
 about 40 east and 82 45 north. The explorer Beaumont saw this cape, but 
 was unable to reach it. When Lockwood and Brainard arrived there, however, 
 they had no thought of stopping. A cairn was built, a written account of their 
 travels deposited, and five days rations left. Then the heroes bent to their 
 herculean task again. 
 
 The Eskemo was left with the dogs, while the two white men, wrapped in 
 their furs, laboriously climbed an adjoining mountain, half a mile in height 
 From the crest they scanned the snowy landscape, the very picture of desola 
 tion. Twenty miles to the northeast, the direction they were traveling, they 
 made out a dark promontory, terminating in a rocky headland and penetrating 
 the Polar Ocean, while between it and them a number of islands reared their 
 heads and were separated by fiords. Half of the remaining horizon was filled 
 with the dismal ice of the Frozen Sea. 
 
 They had no expectation of meeting with animal life in this world of deso 
 lation, but they fired several times (and missed) at ptarmigan, and, having 
 wounded a rabbit, succeeded in running it down. It was a mystery to them 
 how this little animal found the means of sustaining life so near the Pole. 
 
 It may be wondered how far these three men would have gone had it been 
 possible to travel. They became accustomed to the exhaustive work, but the 
 end of the journey was reached on the 13th of May, when they paused on the 
 edge of an immense fissure in the ice, extending indefinitely to the right and left, 
 and too broad to be crossed. They searched for a long time, only to learn that 
 it was utterly out of their power to go a foot further. Nothing remained but to 
 learn their exact location. 
 
 While Lockwood was preparing to take an observation, the sun was ob 
 scured by fog. All the next day so furious a storm raged that they could do 
 nothing but huddle in their tent and wait for it to pass. Finally, the condi 
 tions became favorable and Lockwood made his observations with the utmost 
 care. When they were completed the astounding truth was revealed that their 
 latitude was 84 24i north and 40 46i west from Greenwich. This surpassed 
 the achievement of the Nares expedition sent out by England, in 1875-76, for 
 the sole purpose of reaching the furthest northern point possible. Lockwood 
 and Brainard, therefore, had attained the highest point, which up to that time 
 had never been reached by man. On the 7th of April, 1895, however, Dr. 
 Fridtjof Nansen, the Norwegian explorer, penetrated to 86 15 , which surpassed 
 that of Lockwood and Brainard by 200 miles and was within 225 miles of the 
 Pole itself. 
 
 The return journey was as exhausting and trying as the outward one, but 
 
452 HAYES, GARFIELD, AND ARTHUR. 
 
 the little party never lost courage. Fort Conger was reached early in June, 
 and, as may be supposed, the explorers received a royal welcome from their 
 comrades. The three men were suffering from snow blindness, rheumatism, 
 and various ills brought on by their exposure and terrific labors, but all were 
 in high spirits, as they might well be, when they recalled the wonderful 
 achievement they had made. 
 
 WEARY WAITING. 
 
 The brief summer was at hand. The snow melted during the middle of 
 the day and the first rain they had seen fell. On the 4th of July they had 
 shooting matches and engaged in a game of baseball. It can hardly be said, 
 however, that the American game has gained much of a foothold north of the 
 Arctic Circle. 
 
 All suffered from intense depression of spirits which could not be shaken off. 
 Again hours would pass without a man speaking a word. They seemed 
 mutually repellent and miserable. This sad condition resulted from purely 
 physical causes and no one could be blamed for it. 
 
 The company were now waiting for the Proteus which was due. Several 
 reports that she was in sight threw all into pleasurable excitement, but it need 
 not be said they were doomed to disappointment, since the relief ship was at the 
 bottom of the Arctic Ocean. The little steam launch had been repaired and 
 enabled the party to explore the neighboring coasts for a distance of several 
 hundred miles. A number of musk oxen were shot, but, except at certain sea 
 sons, their flesh is so strongly impregnated with musk that it is unpalatable for 
 food. 
 
 As the weary days passed without bringing the wished-for steamer, hope 
 sank. Many were sure some accident had befallen the ship and she would 
 never be seen again. If so (and of course such was the fact), more months 
 must pass before the news could be carried to the United States and a new relief 
 expedition be sent. It was hard thus to be forgotten by their friends at home. 
 As a last resort the party could retreat in their boats, but all dreaded the almost 
 hopeless recourse. Gradually the summer drew to a close and once more they 
 saw the low-sweeping sun dip below the horizon not to appear again for months. 
 The long, horrible Arctic night again enveloped them in misery and gloom. 
 
 When the month of January came every member of the party, including 
 Greely himself, were convinced that their country had abandoned them and 
 they must look out for themselves. He announced that if no relief appeared 
 they would start for home not later than the 8th of August, 
 
 Lieutenant Lock wood seems to have been about the only member of the 
 party who for a time kept up his high spirits. He was not satisfied with what 
 he had already done, and insisted upon another chance to push northward. 
 
THE FARTHEST NORTH REACHED BY LIEUT. LOCKWOOD ON THE GREELY EX- 
 
 PEDITION. 
 
 4o3 
 
454 HAYES, GARFIELD, AXD ARTHUR. 
 
 He had fixed upon the eighty-fourth parallel as the point to reach, and he 
 urged the matter so strongly that Greely, who greatly admired his courage, 
 gave his consent, though confident that he would find it impossible to do as well 
 sis in the former instance. 
 
 A FAILURE. 
 
 Lockwood made his start on the morning of March 27, 1883, his com 
 panions being the same as before. Two weeks later, as Greely was lying in his 
 tent, wondering how his friend was making out, Lockwood walked in with a 
 smile : 
 
 " Too much water," he said ; " if it had only been ice, we could have man 
 aged it, but we had no means of getting across the water. Better luck next 
 time." 
 
 The next time, however, never came. Greely, Lockwood, and Brainard 
 always remained on good terms, but it was not the case with some of the others. 
 Companionship, under such conditions, is a bore, and many a time the three 
 gentlemen named went off on explorations that occupied several days, with no 
 other object than to get away from those whose company was distasteful beyond 
 bearing. 
 
 THE START HOMEWARD. 
 
 Greely had given up all hope of receiving help from the United States and 
 determined to start for home as soon as his surroundings would permit. His 
 plan was to proceed to Littleton Island, where it was possible they might find 
 a vessel that would take them to Newfoundland. The explorers, twenty-five in 
 nil, made their start southward, August 9, 1883. Their boats were the steam 
 launch referred to, a whale boat, an English boat, and a smaller one, which il 
 was thought would prove useful in the event of an accident. 
 
 For a time the progress was encouraging. The water w r as quite open, but 
 ice soon appeared. They saved their boats from being nipped by drawing them 
 up on a floe. When open water again showed, they took to the boats and 
 reached Sun Bay without mishap. Then they made their way to Cape Lieber, 
 twenty miles south from Fort Conger, where they were almost overwhelmed in 
 a blinding snowstorm. There they landed and waited for the ice to move and 
 open the way for them along the western shore of the strait, A fog kept them 
 there several days, and when they started again it was in the midst of another 
 blinding snowstorm. One of the incidents of the struggle against ice and 
 tempest was the falling overboard of Lieutenant Greely and an accident to the 
 launch. Scoresby Bay was reached on the 22d of August, and found to be full 
 of floating ice. It was necessary again to save the boats by drawing them up 
 on the floe. By that time, too, the supply of coal had become so low that Greely 
 held a consultation with his officers over their situation, which was not only 
 
THE LAST EXTREMITY. 455 
 
 dangerous but rapidly becoming more so. He proposed to abandon the launch 
 and use the other boats with which to pusli along the western shore, but the 
 majority believed they had a chance of making Littleton Island. Ere long it 
 was found necessary to leave behind the smallest boat, and when that was done 
 most of the party believed all were doomed. The elements and even the tides 
 were against them. 
 
 The launch soon became useless and was abandoned. Resort was then had 
 to sledge travel, two carrying a boat between them, and all pulled by the men. 
 They had not gone far in this toilsome manner when another of the boats had 
 to be left behind, giving them only one. Even the courageous Lockwood now 
 expressed his belief that none of the party would escape alive. Still it was better 
 to die struggling than to sit down and fold their hands. 
 
 Misfortunes crowded upon them. The current continued the wrong way 
 and the floe upon which they were drifting carried them toward Baffin Bay. 
 Sludge ice, the most troublesome of all, abounded, and their poor rations grew 
 scant. In the latter part of September enough of the floes came in contact to 
 permit the men to pass over them to solid land, some twelve miles from Cape 
 Sabine. A reconnoitering party in attempting to reach that point was turned 
 back by the open water. Another company, however, got through and brought 
 back important news. The Proteus had been wrecked and a couple of caches, 
 left by English ships, together with the stores brought from the wreck of the 
 Proteus, were discovered. As may be supposed, they formed a welcome addi 
 tion to the meagre stock of food. 
 
 THE LAST EXTREMITY. 
 
 It being inevitable that another winter must be passed in the land of deso 
 lation, preparations were made for doing so. The spot selected was between 
 Cape Sabine and Cocked Hat Island. A hut was erected and the supplies 
 moved thither. Greely informed the men that he had decided to reduce the 
 rations so that they would last until the coming March. A cairn was built at 
 Cape Sabine in which was placed a record of what had been done by the 
 explorers. 
 
 All admitted the necessity of reducing the rations, but it was done to that 
 extent that the men suffered continually from hunger. They were glad to eat 
 mouldy potatoes, and, when, occasionally, a fox was shot, nothing was left but 
 the shining bones. If the preceding period was horrible it was now more so, 
 for all felt they had every reason for depression, gloom, and despair. The 
 meagre food made them more susceptible to cold, and, although Greely strove 
 to awaken an interest in different educational subjects, the conditions were so 
 woful that he accomplished little. It may seem strange, but it was natural that 
 the men s thoughts should dwell almost continually upon delicacies in the way 
 
456 HAYES, GARFIELD, AND ARTHUR 
 
 of eating. They talked about the choicest viands and smacked their lips over 
 tempting feasts which, alas ! existed only in imagination. 
 
 Every man uttered a prayer of thanks when the 21st of December arrived, 
 for it meant that the appalling polar night was half over, but how endless the 
 other half seemed to them ! 
 
 In the following month the feet of Corporal Ellison were so badly frozen 
 that they sloughed off, as did several of his fingers. Soon afterward one of the 
 men died. The brave Lockwood felt himself growing so weak that he privately 
 requested Greely to leave him behind, if he should be alive, when the home 
 ward start was made. Greely replied that under no conceivable circumstances 
 would he abandon any one if alive, provided he himself survived the period of 
 
 waiting. 
 
 An attempt was made in February to reach Littleton Island in the hope of 
 finding the relief ship or stores, but the open water compelled the men to turn 
 back. The same cause prevented their getting to the Greenland shore, which 
 could be seen when the weather was clear. 
 
 When the middle of March came all were placed on starvation rations. 
 None of the canned vegetables, coffee, or chocolate was left. The straits re 
 mained open and shut them off from reaching Greenland, where they might 
 have found game. The bravest of the party lost heart and sank into the apathy 
 of despair. They felt themselves simply waiting for death. Lockwood wrote 
 in his diary : " I am glad that each day comes to an end. It brings us nearer 
 the end of this life, whatever that end may be." 
 
 The fuel, which had been carefully husbanded, gave out in the latter part 
 of March. The famishing sufferers gathered their furs more tightly around 
 them and huddled together to secure the mutual warmth of their emaciated 
 bodies. The furs and shoes could be gnawed and eaten when the last extremity 
 arrived. Unexpectedly to all, Sergeant Lynn and one of the Eskemos died at 
 the beginning of April. When there was a chance to shoot game the men were 
 too weak to hunt for it. 
 
 Lieutenant Lockwood, the hero of the wonderful achievement narrated, 
 whose high spirits and exalted courage carried him through all manner of 
 perils, died early on the morning of April 9th, his death being due to starvation. 
 When the brave fellow had passed away there had not been a mouthful of food 
 within reach for several days. 
 
 Before this, it became evident that some one was stealing from the scanty 
 store. Investigation disclosed the wretched thief to be a man named Henry. 
 Greely warned him, for he was imperiling the lives of all. He stole again r 
 whereupon, by orders of Greely, he was shot. When the final extremity came 
 there is reason to believe that cannibalism was indulged in, though not to much 
 
THE RESCUE. 457 
 
 extent. There is no certainty, however, on die matter, and the survivors denied 
 having seen it. 
 
 THE RESCUE. 
 
 Though it may seem that the Greely party was forgotten at home, yet such 
 was not the fact The loss of the Proteus caused the gravest fears for their 
 safety, and, in the spring of 1884, the navy department fitted out a new relief 
 expedition, consisting of the Thetis, the Bear, and the Alert, under Commander 
 Wmfield S. Schley, who made such a brilliant record in our late war with 
 Spain. 
 
 Commander Schley sailed from Brooklyn in May, and lost not an hour. 
 Be left St. John s on the 12th, meeting a great deal of ice in Baffin Bay and 
 Smith Sound, but he fought his way through, and sent a strong party ashore 
 June 22d to hunt for signs of the missing explorers. The steam launch of the 
 Bear took the party to Brevoort Island, where Lieutenant Lockwood s letter 
 was found, giving their location and stating that they were nearly out of 
 provisions. Since the letter was dated eight months before, the dismayed 
 commander and his officers believed it hardly possible that any of the men 
 would be found alive. 
 
 The Bear was pushed on, and the launch started out again early the next 
 morning. Before sunset Greely s camp was discovered. Making all haste 
 forward, the relief party lifted the flap and breathlessly peered in. 
 
 They saw Greely on his knees, muttering the prayers for the dying over 
 one of his comrades. He looked up, dazed, bewildered, and unable to read the 
 full meaning of what met his eyes. Around him, in different postures, were 
 stretched his comrades, some dead and the others close to death. Those still 
 living were Greely, Brainard, Biederbeck, Fredericks, Long, Connell, and 
 Ellison. A few days later arrival on the part of the Bear, and not one would 
 have been breathing. As it was their lives were still in great danger, and it 
 was necessary to nurse them with the utmost care. The remains of all who had 
 died, with the exception of the Eskemo, were brought back to the United States. 
 During the halt in the harbor of Disco, to leave the body of the Eskemo, 
 Corporal Ellison, who had been so badly frozen, died. The relief expedition 
 reached St. John s on July 17th and Xew York on the 8th of August. 
 
 In 1886 the prize of the Royal Geographical Society of Great Britain and 
 the back premium were awarded to Captain Adolphus W. Greely and Sergeant 
 David L. Brainard, for having attained the greatest results for the year in 
 adding to geographical knowledge by examinations or explorations. No one 
 can deny that this recognition and honor were well won. 
 
 The Greely expedition possesses so much interest that we have given con 
 siderable space to the narration. Among the many explorations of the far 
 
458 HAYES, GARFIELD, AND ARTHUR. 
 
 North, few or none equal this, not only in heroic daring but in results accom 
 plished. It may be said that the fate of the Sir John Franklin party was made 
 clear in 1880, by Lieutenant Frederick Schwatka, of the United States army, 
 who discovered the skeletons of several of the unfortunate explorers, together 
 with various relics of the expedition. 
 
 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1884. 
 
 In the presidential election of 1884 the Democratic candidates were Grover 
 Cleveland, of New York, and Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indiana. The Repub 
 lican were James G. Elaine, of Maine, and General John A. Logan, of Illinois. 
 The chief issue with the Republicans was the tariff, while the Democrats put 
 forward that of civil service reform. There was much bitter discussion, some 
 of the leading Republican papers refusing to support Elaine because of charges 
 affecting his personal integrity. On the other hand, Cleveland was attacked 
 with scarcely less bitterness. The quarrel between the leading parties caused 
 some of the weaker ones to put forward candidates, with a result as follows: 
 Grover Cleveland and T. A. Hendricks, 219: James G. Elaine and John A. 
 Logan, 182; John P. St. John and William Daniel, Prohibition, received 
 151,809 popular votes; and Benjamin F. Butler and A. M. West, People s 
 party, 133,825. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OK CLEVELAN D (FIRST) 
 OK HARRISON, 1SS5-1893. 
 
 Grover Cleveland Completion of the Washington Monument The Bartholdi Statue Death of General 
 Grant Death of Vice-President Heudricks The First Vice- President to Die in Office George 
 Clinton Elbridge Gerry William R. King Henry Wilson Death of General McClellan Of 
 General Hancock His Career The Dispute Between Capital and Labor Arbitration The Anarch 
 istic Outbreak in Chicago The Charleston Earthquake Conquest of the Apaches Presidential 
 Election of 1888 Benjamin Harrison The Johnstown Disaster Threatened War with Chili The 
 Indian Uprising of 1890-91 Admission of New States Presidential Election of 1892. 
 
 THE TWENTY-SECOXD PRESIDENT. 
 
 THE city of Buffalo, N. Y., has the distinction of being the only one in the 
 United States which has furnished r - 
 
 two presidents of the country. Mil- 
 lard Fillmore hailed from Buffalo 
 and Grover Cleveland went from 
 that city to occupy the highest office 
 in the gift of the American people. 
 His native place, however, was Cald- 
 well, New Jersey, where he was 
 born, March 18, 1837. He was the 
 son of a clergyman and received a 
 fair education in the public schools, 
 and became an instructor for a time 
 in an institution for the blind at 
 Clinton, N. Y. He removed to 
 Buffalo in 1855, and, having en 
 gaged in the study of law, soon be 
 came prominent at the bar. He was 
 appointed assistant district attorney 
 in 1863, and in 1870 was elected 
 sheriff of the county. His course 
 gained the confidence of the com 
 munity and led to his election as 
 mayor of Buffalo, in 1881, though the city was naturally strongly Republican 
 
 in politics. 
 
 GROVER CLEVELAND. 
 (1837- .) Two terms, 1885-18891893-1897. 
 
460 ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND.. 
 
 Mr. Cleveland added to his popularity by his able administration and was 
 nominated for governor of the State in the autumn of the following year. His 
 success by the unprecedented majority of 192,854 attracted national attention 
 and led the Democrats to believe he was their most available candidate for the 
 presidency. His course as governor commended itself to his friends, who were 
 so numerous that, when his name was presented at Chicago, he received 683 
 votes against 137 for all others. 
 
 It will be noted that Mr. Cleveland was the first Democratic President 
 since the opening of the war. He assumed his office with the best wishes of the 
 people, though it is worth noting in this place that the majority by which he 
 was elected was much less than a glance at the returns would suggest. At a 
 public reception of Mr. Elaine, during the canvass, a clergyman referred to the 
 Democratic party as that of " Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion." This unfor 
 tunate expression drove away a number of votes from Mr. Blaine, who was 
 defeated in New York by a few hundreds only ; but they were sufficient to turn 
 the thirty-six electoral votes to Mr. Cleveland and secure his election by the 
 majority already named. 
 
 COMPLETION OF THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT. 
 
 For years preceding the Civil War, and for a long time afterward, the 
 Washington monument was a source of reproach and jest among the people, 
 because so long a period was allowed to pass before its completion. The corner 
 stone was laid July 4, 1848, at which time Robert C. Winthrop, Speaker of the 
 House of Representatives, delivered the address. The occasion was made 
 notable by the presence of Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, and 
 President Polk. The memorial to the greatest American citizen that ever lived 
 was allowed to stand uncompleted for thirty-seven years, its formal dedication 
 taking place February 21st (the 22d fell on Sunday), 1885. The address of 
 the venerable W. W. Corcoran, first vice-president of the Washington Monu 
 ment Society, formed in 1833, was read by Dr. J. C. Welling, president of 
 Columbia University, and the ceremonies were of an interesting character. 
 The Masonic services were conducted by the Grand Lodge of the District of 
 Columbia, which used the gavel that Washington had employed in laying the 
 corner-stone of the national capitol, September 18, 1793, while the Bible was the 
 one upon which he took his vows when made a Mason. A second Bible was 
 the one upon which he was sworn into office, April 30, 1789, when inaugurated 
 President of the United States. This relic is now the property of St. John 
 Lodge, No. 1, of New York City. 
 
 President Arthur s address was as follows: 
 
WASHINGTON MONUMENT, WASHINGTON, D. C. 
 
462 ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND. 
 
 "FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN : Before the dawn of the century whose eventful 
 years will soon have faded into the past when death had but lately robbed the 
 republic of its most beloved and illustrious citizen the Congress of the United 
 States pledged the faith of the nation that in this city, bearing his honored name, 
 and then, as now, the seat of the general government, a monument should be 
 erected to commemorate the great events of his military and political life/ 
 
 "The stately column that stretches heavenward from the plain whereon 
 we stand bears witness to all who behold it that the covenant which our fathers 
 made their children have fulfilled. In the completion of this great work of 
 patriotic endeavor there is abundant cause for national rejoicing; for while this 
 structure shall endure it shall be to all mankind a steadfast token of the affec 
 tionate and reverent regard in which this people continue to hold the memory 
 of Washington. Well may he ever keep the foremost place in the hearts of his- 
 countrymen; the faith that never faltered; the wisdom that was broader and 
 deeper than any learning taught in schools; the courage that shrank from no- 
 peril and was dismayed by no defeat; the loyalty that kept all selfish purposes 
 subordinate to the demands of patriotism and honor; the sagacity that displayed 
 itself in camp and cabinet alike; and, above all, that harmonious union of moral 
 and intellectual qualities which has never found its parallel among men; these 
 are the attributes of character which the intelligent thought of this century 
 ascribes to the grandest figure of the last. 
 
 "But other and more eloquent lips than mine will to-day rehearse to you 
 the story of his noble life and its glorious achievements. To myself has been 
 assigned a simpler and more formal duty, in fulfillment of which I do now, as- 
 President of the United States and in behalf of the people, receive this monu 
 ment from the hands of the builder, and declare it dedicated from this time 
 forth to the immortal name and memory of George Washington." 
 
 The ceremonies at the monument being completed, those within the capitol 
 followed. General Sheridan was in charge of the military, and the oration of 
 Robert C. Winthrop, who was kept away by illness, was read by Governor 
 Long. John W. Daniel, a leading soldier on the side of the Confederacy 
 during the Civil War and afterward a member of Congress from Virginia, 
 delivered a graphic sketch of Washington, and closed with the eloquent 
 peroration : 
 
 "Long live the republic of Washington ! Respected by mankind, beloved 
 by all its sons, long may it be the asylum of the poor and oppressed of all lands 
 and religions long may it be the citadel of that liberty which writes beneath 
 the eagle s folded wings : We will sell to no man, we will deny to no man right 
 and justice. 
 
1HE BART HOLD 1 STATUE. 463 
 
 " Long live the United States of America ! Filled with the free, magnani 
 mous spirit, crowned by the wisdom, blessed by the moderation, hovered over by the 
 guardian angel of Washington s example, may they ever be worthy in all 
 things to be defended by the blood of the brave who knew the rights of man 
 may they each be a column, and all together, under the Constitution, a perpetual 
 temple of peace, unshadowed by a Caesar s palace, at whose altar may freely 
 commune all who seek the union of liberty and brotherhood. 
 
 " Long live our country ! Oh, long through the undying ages may it 
 stand, far removed in fact, as in space, from the Old World s feuds and follies 
 solitary and alone in its grandeur and glory itself the immortal monument 
 of him whom Providence commissioned to teach man the power of truth, and 
 to prove to the nations that their Redeemer liveth." 
 
 It is worth noting that the Washington Monument with its 555 feet is the 
 highest in the world ; the Cathedral at Cologne, 511 feet, is next; while the 
 height of the Great Pyramid is 486 feet. The cap-stone was put in position 
 December 6, 1884, and the whole cost of the monument was $1,187,710, of 
 which Congress furnished $900,000. An iron stairway of 900 steps and an 
 elevator provide means for ascending the interior. 
 
 THE BARTHOLDI STATUE. 
 
 When a person enters New York harbor on his visit or return to the New 
 World, the most striking object upon which his eyes rest is the Statue of Liberty. 
 This represents the idea of Liberty enlightening the world, as conceived by 
 Frederick Auguste Bartholdi, the eminent French sculptor. He began circula 
 ting his subscriptions for the work through France in 1874. The popularity 
 of the scheme is attested by the fact that contributions were received from 180 
 cities, forty general councils, a large number of chambers of commerce and 
 of socities, and more than 10,000 subscribers. On the 22d of February, 1877, 
 Congress voted to accept the gift, and set apart Bedlow s Island for the site. 
 The statue was finished in 1883, and displayed to public view for some time in 
 Paris. Its official presentation to the minister of the United States took place 
 July 4, 1884. 
 
 The French transport Isere, with the Liberty statue on board, arrived at 
 New York, June 24, 1885, and was saluted and welcomed by a hundred 
 different vessels. The dedication ceremonies, October 28, 1886, were among the 
 most impressive ever witnessed in the metropolis of our country. Among those 
 on the reviewing stand, near the Worth Monument, were President Cleveland, 
 General Sheridan, the members of the President s cabinet, M. Bartholdi, M. de 
 Lesseps, representative of the diplomatic corps at Washington, and many 
 distinguished American citizens. 
 
464 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND. 
 
 The following facts will give an idea of the size of this great statue : the 
 forefinger is more than eight feet long ; the second joint is about five feet in 
 circumference ; the finger-nail is a foot long, and the nose nearly four feet ; the 
 head is fourteen and a half feet high, and can accommodate forty persons, while 
 the hollow torch will hold twelve persons. The copper sheets which form the 
 outside of the statue weigh eighty-eight tons. From the base to the top of the 
 torch is slightly more than 150 feet, which is 305 feet above low-water mark. 
 
 DEATH OF GENERAL GRANT. 
 
 In no event of Cleveland s first administration was the public more deeply 
 
 THE FUNERAL TRAIN OF GENERAL GRANT PASSING "WEST POINT. 
 
 concerned than in the death of General Grant, the foremost defender of the 
 Union. After his return from his triumphant journey around the world, he 
 engaged in business in the city of New York. The soul of honor himself, it 
 was hard for him to believe the dishonesty of others ; but he became the victim 
 of unscrupulous persons, and lost not only all his own savings but those of many 
 of his friends. He did everything in his power to make good his losses, but 
 succeeded only to a slight extent. He was ruined financially, though a grateful 
 nation would never permit him to suffer want. 
 
 It was at this sad period that a cancer developed at the root of his tongue, 
 and, though he received the best medical attention in the country, the malignant 
 excrescence soon made it evident that he was beyond human help. He devoted 
 
OTHER VICE-PRESIDENTS WHO DIED IN OFFICE. 465 
 
 himself heroically to writing his memoirs, and, with the grim determination 
 which was so marked a feature of his character, he fought off the last great 
 enemy until the valuable work was finished. 
 
 General Grant s last days were spent with his family at Mount McGregor 
 in New York State, where he quietly breathed his last on the evening of July 
 22, i885. The body was embalmed and removed to the City Hall in New 
 York, where it was viewed by mourning thousands before its removal to the 
 last resting-place in Riverside Park. The final impressive scenes, when the re 
 mains were deposited in the mausoleum on the banks of the Hudson, took place 
 in 1897. 
 
 DEATH OF VICE-PRESIDENT HENDRICKS. 
 
 Thomas A. Hendricks, Vice-President of the United States, died November 
 25, 1885, at his home in Indianapolis, from paralysis of the heart. He was 
 born in Ohio in 1819, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1843. He was 
 elected to the Indiana Legislature in 1848, and three years later became Demo 
 cratic member of Congress from the central district of Indiana. He was chosen 
 a United States senator in 1868, and strongly opposed the impeachment of 
 President Johnson. He was prominently named several times for the presidency 
 of the United States. In Indianapolis, where he had long made his home, he 
 was universally respected by members of all parties. 
 
 OTHER VICE-PRESIDENTS WHO DIED IX OFFICE. 
 
 Since Mr. Hendricks was not the first Vice-President to die in office, it will 
 be interesting to complete the list. George Clinton served one term under Jef 
 ferson, and had nearly ended another under Madison, when he died in 1812. 
 His career had been extraordinary. He was a soldier in the French and Indian 
 War, was a sailor on a privateer, and became a brigadier-general in the Revolu 
 tion, but was unsuccessful in his defense of the Highland forts in 1777. At one 
 time he was a member of the Provincial Congress and was the first governor of 
 New York, serving for eighteen years, from 1777 to 1795, and again 1801-04, 
 when he became Vice-President. His death occurred in Washington, and the 
 eight pall-bearers were Revolutionary soldiers. 
 
 It was a curious coincidence that the next Vice-President to die in office was 
 the immediate successor of Clinton, Elbridge Gerry, who died November 23, 
 1814. He was a native of Massachusetts, a member of its colonial House of 
 Representatives and a delegate to the Continental Congress. He signed the 
 Declaration of Independence and aided in framing the Constitution, though he 
 refused to sign it, on the ground that it conferred too much power on the national 
 government. He held a number of important public offices and was governor 
 of Massachusetts in 1810 and 1811. In the latter year, the Republicans (modern 
 
 30 
 
466 ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND. 
 
 Democrats) carried out a ^districting sclieme by which the Essex district took 
 a form which many fancied bore a resemblance to a salamander. It was from 
 this incident that the word "gerrymander," so often heard in politics in these 
 days, took its name. 
 
 It will be recalled that when Franklin Pierce became President, the Vice- 
 President, William R. King, was an invalid in Cuba, where he took the oath of 
 office before the American consul. He was in the last stages of consumption 
 and died shortly after his return to his home in Alabama. 
 
 Henry Wilson, Vice-President with General Grant, died November 25, 
 1875, his death being hastened, it is believed, by the news of the death of his 
 intimate friend, Senator Ferry, of Connecticut. 
 
 The death of General McClellan has already been mentioned as taking 
 place on the 29th of October, 1885. A few months later, February 9, 1886, 
 General Hancock died at his home on Governor s Island. 
 
 DEATH OF GENERAL HANCOCK HIS CAREER. 
 
 General Winfield Scott Hancock was an ideal American soldier and officer,. 
 brave, chivalrous, courteous to foe as well as friend, patriotic, a gentleman at all 
 times and under all circumstances, genial, remarkably handsome and prepos 
 sessing in manner, who made friends everywhere. His conduct of political 
 affairs in a section of the South during the troublous reconstruction days won 
 the commendation of his government and the respect of the South, who pro 
 nounced him a "just man," for whom they formed a strong personal affection. 
 But for Hancock s unfortunate slip, he assuredly would have been elected Presi 
 dent of the United States in 1880. 
 
 The two peculiarities of Hancock s birth was that he was a twin and was 
 born on St. Valentine s day, February 14, 1824, in Montgomery County, Penn 
 sylvania. Appointed to West Point, he found among his fellow-cadets U. S. 
 Grant, G. B. McClellan, Rosecrans, Longstreet, and Stonewall Jackson. 
 
 Hancock entered the Mexican War as second lieutenant, taking part in 
 three engagements, receiving a wound and winning the brevet of first lieutenant. 
 He was appointed quartermaster in 1855, with the rank of captain. Three 
 years later he was a member of the expedition to Utah to bring the Mormons to 
 terms. When the Civil War broke out, he was at Los Angeles, Southern 
 California, where considerable sympathy was shown for the Southern Con 
 federacy. The tact of the United States forces in that section held the State 
 true, a patriotic speech of General Hancock contributing greatly to the same 
 end. 
 
 His patriotism would not allow him to remain idle, and, when he learned 
 of the grave condition of affairs in the East, he applied to be called thither. 
 
DEATH OF GENERAL HANCOCK 
 
 467 
 
 The request was granted, and he was so anxious to serve his country that he 
 did not pause to call on his parents while on the way to Washington. 
 
 Hancock s first appointment was as quartermaster-general in General 
 Robert Anderson s command in Kentucky; but McClellan, who knew his 
 worth, made a personal request of President Lincoln to appoint him brigadier- 
 general. His commission was dated September 23, 1861. McClellan said of 
 him : " He was a man of the most chivalrous courage and of superb presence, 
 especially in action ; he had a wonderfully quick and correct eye for ground 
 
 CITY HALL, PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 Equestrian statues of Generals Reynolds and McClellan ornament the plaza, and one of General Hancock is to be erected on one 
 
 of the vacant corners. 
 
 and for handling troops ; his judgment was good, and it would be difficult to 
 find a better corps commander." 
 
 General Hancock gave invaluable help in moulding the Army of the 
 Potomac into the magnificent form it attained, and his brigade was conceded to 
 be the finest and most effective in the whole army at the time the landing was 
 made on the peninsula between Chesapeake Bay and the James River. 
 
 In the bloody battle of Williamsburg, his skill and personal courage were 
 of the highest order. Making a feint of retreating, he drew the enemy after 
 
468 ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND. 
 
 him into the position he intended, when he turned and assailed them with a 
 furious musketry fire. It was his men who captured the first colors taken by 
 the Army of the Potomac, and it was on that occasion that Hancock used the 
 expression which has been often quoted. In the midst of the tumult and swirl of 
 battle he shouted : " Now, gentlemen, we will give them the bayonet ! " Han 
 cock received the personal thanks of McClellan for his fine work. 
 
 He was always loyal to his superiors, McClellan, Burnside, McClellan 
 again, Hooker, and Meade, rapidly rising in prominence until at the great battle 
 of Gettysburg he contributed perhaps more than any single man to the success 
 of the Union arms. Among the titles applied to him by his admiring country 
 men were "The Superb " and " The Hero of Gettysburg." 
 
 The Confederates who came in contact with him expressed their admiration 
 of his dauntless courage and coolness. He was painfully wounded, but, while 
 lying on a stretcher, he sent a message to General Meade that the Confederate 
 army was in retreat. Meade replied with his grateful thanks and sympathy, 
 and Congress also thanked him. 
 
 His ardent patriotism placed him in the saddle before his wound had 
 healed, and at one time during the battle of the Wilderness he was obliged to 
 give up his command. At Cliancellorsville he captured the whole division of 
 General Edward Johnson. When that officer was brought into Hancock s tent 
 the latter extended his hand to his old acquaintance, exclaiming heartily, " How 
 are you, Ned ? " 
 
 " I refuse to take your hand," replied the humiliated prisoner. 
 
 " All right," said Hancock, " I shouldn t have offered it to you under any 
 other circumstances." 
 
 Hancock was in command of the Second Army Corps for the last time at 
 the battle of Boydton. His remarkable skill in training soldiers caused Secretary 
 Stanton to assign to him the task of organizing the First Veteran Corps, com 
 posed of soldiers, all of whom had been in service two years. He afterward 
 commanded the Army of the Shenandoah, and was in charge at Washington at 
 the time of the assassination of Lincoln. 
 
 In 1809, he was transferred from the command of the division of the 
 Atlantic and assigned to that of Dakota, where he remained until 1872, when 
 he resumed command of the division of the Atlantic. His last public appear 
 ance was when he commanded the military forces which assisted in the funeral 
 ceremonies of General Grant. 
 
 As a proof that General Hancock s skill with the pen was hardly less than 
 that with the sword, the following extract is given from an article by him on 
 the battle of Gettysburg : 
 
 " Cemetery Hill has since become consecrated ground. The place where 
 
CAPITAL AND LABOR. 469 
 
 General Howard was superseded in command on the first day of the fight is 
 now covered with the graves of thousands of gallant soldiers whose bones lie 
 buried at the base of the beautiful monumental column which commemorates 
 their fame. Two of the marble statues ornamenting the pedestal personify War 
 and History. War, symbolized by a soldier resting from the conflict, narrates 
 to History the story of the struggle and the deeds of the martyr-heroes who fell 
 in that famous battle. In remembrance of these noble comrades who laid down 
 their lives for the general weal, it were simply sacrilege for any survivor to pour 
 into the ears of History an incorrect account of the contest, still more to assume 
 to himself honors belonging perhaps less to the living than to the dead. 
 
 "The historian of the future who essays to tell the tale of Gettysburg 
 undertakes an onerous task, a high responsibility, a sacred trust. Above all 
 things, justice and truth should dwell in his mind and heart. Then, dipping 
 his pen as it were in the crimson tide, the sunshine of heaven lighting his page, 
 giving honor to whom honor is due, doing even, justice to the splendid valor 
 alike of friend and foe, he may tell the world how the rain descended in streams 
 of fire, and the floods came in the billows of rebellion, and the winds blew in 
 blasts of fraternal execration, and beat upon the fabric of the Federal Union, and 
 that it fell not, for, resting on the rights and liberties of the people, it was 
 founded upon a rock." General Hancock died February 9, 1886. 
 
 CAPITAL AND LABOR. 
 
 Perhaps the gravest problem which confronts our country is the eternal 
 strife between capital and labor. It is a problem which w r hen solved will prove 
 one of the most beneficent boons that ever blessed mankind. Disputes continu 
 ally arise between employers and employes ; strikes have occurred without 
 number, many of them attended by violence, the destruction of property and 
 lamentable loss of life. Arbitration is the best and most sensible cure for the 
 grave peril which at times has seemed to threaten the safety of our institutions, 
 and when the employer and those dependent upon him for the support of them 
 selves and families meet in a friendly spirit and discuss their differences, they 
 are certain to reach an amicable agreement. 
 
 That men have the right to strike and combine against a lowering of their 
 wages or for the purpose of increasing them is beyond all dispute. That they 
 have the right to destroy property or prevent other men from taking their 
 places is contended by no intelligent person, but, so long as human nature 
 remains as it is, they will do so, with the result that in almost every instance 
 it is the laborers themselves who are the greatest losers and sufferers. 
 
 One fact for which all ought to be grateful is that the murderous anarchists 
 who once plotted and struck with the venom of rattlesnakes have either disap 
 peared or ceased their evil work. They are scarcely heard of in these days, and 
 
470 ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND. 
 
 that it may ever remain thus is the fervent wish of every patriotic and right- 
 minded citizen. 
 
 It is inevitable that so long as the United States remains an asylum for the 
 persecuted and oppressed of all nations, it must receive many of the miscreants 
 that have been compelled to flee from their own countries to escape the penalty 
 of their crimes. Despite the ravings of the anarchists, we have good-naturedly 
 let them alone, not believing they would ever dare to carry out any of the 
 threats which they were so fond of making. Thus they became emboldened 
 and finally ventured to put their execrable principles into practice. 
 
 There were a good many strikes in different parts of the country in the 
 early months of 1886. A number were settled by arbitration, such as the 
 strike on the elevated railroads in New York City, but others were fought out 
 to the bitter end. 
 
 A strike occurred on the Missouri Pacific Railroad in the spring of 1886. 
 The strikers became violent, destroyed property, and a number of lives were lost. 
 The end came in May, and, as is generally the case, it was against the em 
 ployes, many of whom were unable to regain the places that had been taken by 
 others. 
 
 ANARCHISTIC OUTBREAK IN CHICAGO. 
 
 The cry for eight hours, at the same rate of wages previously paid for ten, 
 was raised in New York and Chicago in May, 1886. Here and there a com 
 promise of nine hours was agreed upon with a half of each Saturday for the em 
 ployes, but in other cases the employers would not yield anything. This issue 
 led to the strike of 40,000 workmen in Chicago, who were chiefly lumbermen, 
 brickmakers, freight-handlers, iron-workers, and men employed in factories. 
 So many people were idle that business of all kinds suffered. Naturally there 
 were many parades and much speech-making. That "an idle mind is the 
 devil s workshop" was proven by the appearance of the communistic red flag 
 in some of the parades and by the savage utterances of their speech-makers. 
 
 The pork packers and brewers amicably adjusted the strikes of their men, 
 but the majority of the employers refused to concede anything. Sunday, the 
 2d of May, passed without incident, but the police knew the anarchists were 
 plotting and trouble was at hand. Probably 12,000 strikers gathered the next 
 day at the McCormick Reaper Works on Western Avenue, where they shattered 
 the windows with stones. At the moment an attack was about to be made upon 
 the buildings, a patrol wagon dashed up with twelve policemen, who sprang to 
 the ground. Drawing their revolvers they faced the mob and ordered them to 
 disperse. They were answered with a volley of stones. The policemen fired 
 twice over the heads of the rioters, thereby encouraging instead of intimidating 
 them. Seeing the folly of throwing away their shots, the policemen now fired 
 
ANARCHISTIC OUTBREAK IN CHICAGO 
 
 471 
 
 directly at the rioters, who answered with pistol-shots, but they did not hit any 
 of the officers. 
 
 Other patrol wagons hurried up, and the officers did not wait until they 
 could leap out before opening fire. Their brave attack forced back the mob, 
 and in the course of an hour the streets were cleared. The terrified workmen 
 were escorted by the policemen to their homes. But for such protection they 
 would have been killed by the 
 infuriated rioters. 
 
 Tuesday was marked by 
 many affrays between the offi 
 cers and law-breakers, but no 
 serious conflict occurred. Pla 
 cards were distributed during 
 the day, calling upon the 
 " workingmen " to meet that 
 evening at the old Haymarket 
 Place, and the organ of tlie 
 anarchists urged the men to 
 arm against the police. At the 
 meeting the most incendiary 
 speeches were made, and the 
 speakers had roused the several 
 thousand listeners to the high 
 est pitch of excitement, when 
 Inspector Bon field at the head 
 of a column of officers forced 
 his way to the stand, ordered 
 the speaker to stop, and com 
 manded the crowd to disperse. 
 He was answered with jeers 
 and a storm of missiles. While 
 the policemen were calmly 
 -awaiting the orders of the in 
 spector, some one in the crowd threw a sputtering dynamite bomb at the feet 
 of the officers. 
 
 A moment later it exploded, killing seven and crippling eleven for life. 
 The enraged survivors dashed into the mob, shooting and using their clubs with 
 fearful effect, Within five minutes the crowd was scattered, but many lny dead 
 and wounded on the ground. In the investigation that followed, it was shown 
 that the anarchists had planned to slay hundreds of innocent people and plunder 
 
 OLD HAYMARKET PLAZA, CHICAGO. 
 
 This monument shows the spot where on May 3, 1886, a dynamite bomb 
 was thrown by anarchists into a group of policemen, killing seven, crip 
 pling eleven for life, and injuring twelve others so they were unable to do 
 duty for a year. 
 
472 ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND. 
 
 the city. Their leaders were brought to trial, ably defended, and the most 
 prominent sentenced to death. One committed suicide, a number were hanged, 
 and others sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. All of the latter were 
 pardoned by Governor Altgeld when he assumed office. Since that time, as 
 has been stated, the anarchists have given little trouble. 
 
 THE CHARLESTON EARTHQUAKE. 
 
 The year 1886 was marked by one of the most terrifying visitations that 
 can come to any country. Earthquake shocks have been felt in different places 
 in the United States, and the earth-tremors are so frequent in California that 
 they cause little alarm, for very few have inflicted any damage to property or 
 life. 
 
 On the night of August 31st, the city of Richmond, Virginia, was thrown 
 into consternation by a series of earthquake shocks. The convicts in the peni 
 tentiary became so panic-stricken that the militia had to be called out to control 
 them. The shock was felt still more violently in Columbia, South Carolina, 
 The buildings swayed as if rocked in a gale, and hundreds of citizens rushed 
 into the street in their night robes. The scenes were less startling in Memphis, 
 Nashville, Raleigh, Chattanooga, Selma, Lynchburg, Norfolk, Mobile, St. Louis, 
 Cleveland, Indianapolis, Chicago, Pittsburg, while the tremor was felt as far 
 north as Albany, N. Y. 
 
 The most fearful visitation, however, was at Charleston, South Carolina. 
 Telegraphic communication was cut off with the rest of the world, and for hours- 
 the horrifying belief prevailed that the city had been entirely destroyed. Such r 
 happily, was not the fact, though never in all the stormy history of Charleston 
 did she pass through so terrible an experience. 
 
 Late on the evening named, the inhabitants found themselves tossed about y 
 with their houses tumbling into ruins. They ran in terror into the streets, many 
 not stopping until they reached the open country, while others flung themselves 
 on their knees and begged heaven to save them. 
 
 The shocks that night were ten in number, each less violent than its pre 
 decessor. Fires started in several quarters, and twenty houses were burned be 
 fore the firemen gained control. The next morning vibrations again shook the 
 city, all coming from the southeast and passing off in a northwesterly direction. 
 The first warning was a deep, subterraneous rumbling, then the earth quivered 
 and heaved, and in a few seconds the terrific wave had gone by. When night 
 came again, 50,000 people men, women, and children were in the streets, none 
 daring to enter their houses. They fled to the open squares to escape being* 
 crushed by the falling buildings. Many believed the day of judgment had come 
 and the negroes were frenzied with terror. 
 
CONQUEST OF THE APACHES. 473 
 
 Singular effects of the earthquake showed themselves. In some places, 
 the covers were hurled from the wells and were followed by geysers of mud and 
 water. Some wells were entirely emptied, but they soon refilled. The shocks 
 continued at varying intervals for several weeks, though none was as violent as 
 at first. In Charleston fully a hundred people were killed and two-thirds of the 
 city required rebuilding. While damage was done at other points, none equaled 
 that at Charleston. 
 
 The country was quick to respond to the needs of the smitten city. Con 
 tributions were forwarded from every point as freely as when Chicago was devas 
 tated by fire. Tents, provisions, and many thousands of dollars were sent thither. 
 Even Queen Victoria telegraphed her sympathy to President Cleveland. One 
 of the mitigations of such scourges is that they seem to draw humanity closer 
 into one general brotherhood. 
 
 COXQUEgT OF THE APACHES. 
 
 An important work accomplished during the first administration of Cleve 
 land was the conquest and subjection of the Apaches of the Southwest. These 
 Indians are the most terrible red men that ever lived anywhere. They are in 
 credibly tough of frame, as merciless as tigers, and capable of undergoing hard 
 ships and privations before which any other people would succumb. They will 
 travel for days without a mouthful of food, will go for hour after hour through 
 a climate that is like that of Sahara without a drop of moisture, will climb pre 
 cipitous mountains as readily as a slight declivity, will lope across the burning 
 deserts all day without fatigue, or, if riding one of their wiry ponies, will kill 
 and eat a portion of them when hunger must be attended to, and then continue 
 their journey on foot. 
 
 If a party of Apache raiders are hard pressed by cavalry, they will break 
 up and continue their flight singly, meeting at some rendezvous many miles 
 away, after the discouraged troopers have abandoned pursuit. They seem as 
 impervious to the fiery heat of Arizona and New Mexico as salamanders. To 
 night they may burn a ranchman s home, massacre him and all his family, and 
 to-morrow morning will repeat the crime fifty miles distant. 
 
 No men could have displayed more bravery and endurance in running 
 down the Apaches than the United States cavalry. The metal-work of their 
 weapons grew so hot that it would blister the bare hands, and for days the 
 thermometer marked one hundred and twenty degrees. 
 
 Captain Bourke, who understands these frightful red men thoroughly, gives 
 the following description of the Apache : 
 
 " Physically, he is perfect; he might be a trifle taller for artistic effect, but 
 his apparent squattiness is due more to great girth of chest than to diminutive 
 
474 ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND. 
 
 stature. His muscles are hard as bone, and I have seen one light a match on 
 the sole of his foot. When Crook first took the Apache in hand, he had few 
 wants and cared for no luxuries. War was his business, his life, and victory 
 his dream. To attack a Mexican camp or isolated village, and run off a herd 
 of cattle, mules, or sheep, he would gladly travel hundreds of miles, incurring 
 every risk and displaying a courage which would have been extolled in a 
 historical novel as having happened in a raid by Highlanders upon Scotchmen; 
 but when it was your stock, or your friend s stock, it became quite a different 
 matter. He wore no clothing whatever save a narrow piece of calico or buck 
 skin about his loins, a helmet also of buckskin, plentifully crested with the 
 plumage of the wild turkey and eagle, and long-legged moccasins, held to the 
 waist by a string, and turned up at the toes in a shield which protected him 
 from stones and the cholla cactus. If he felt thirsty, he drank from the 
 nearest brook ; if there was no brook near by he went without, and, putting a 
 stone or a twig in his mouth to induce a flow of saliva, journeyed on. When he 
 desired to communicate with friends at home, or to put himself in correspondence 
 with persons whose co-operation had been promised, he rubbed two sticks 
 together, and dense signal smoke rolled to the zenith, and was answered from 
 peaks twenty and thirty miles away. By nightfall, his bivouac was pitched at 
 a distance from water, generally on the flank of a rocky mountain, along which 
 no trail would be left, and up which no force of cavalry could hope to ascend 
 without making noise enough to wake the dead." 
 
 This graphic picture of the dusky scourge of the Southwest will explain 
 the dread in which he was held by all who were compelled to live away from 
 the towns. When practicable, the ranchmen combined against the Apaches, 
 but, from the necessities of the case, they were powerless to extirpate the pests. 
 Unsuccessful attempts were made by the military forces, but nothing definite 
 was accomplished until General George Crook took the work in hand. 
 
 Crook was an old Indian campaigner who thoroughly understood the nature 
 of the* difficult task before him. His preparations being completed, he ordered his 
 different columns to converge, December 9, 1872, on Tonto Basin, which was 
 one of the principal strongholds of the Apaches in Arizona. The section is 
 inclosed by the Mogollen, the Mazatzal, and the Sierra Ancha Mountains, and 
 the timbered region is so elevated that during the winter months it is covered 
 with snow. Crook himself took station at Camp Grant, one of the most. unat 
 tractive posts in the country. 
 
 This officer having started on his campaign pushed it with untiring energy. 
 He had selected the best Indian fighters to be found anywhere, and they pursued 
 and rounded up the bucks with amazing skill and persistency. As soon as they 
 corralled a party of hostiles, they impressed the best trailers and used them in 
 
CONQUEST OF THE APACHES. 
 
 475 
 
 running down the others. The Indians were allowed no time to rest. When 
 
 they had fled many miles, and supposed their pursuers were left far out of sight, 
 
 as had hitherto been the case, they discovered them *it their heels. Plunging 
 
 into their fastnesses in the mountains did not avail, for the white and the red 
 
 trailers could follow and did follow them wherever they took refuge. 
 
 The pursuing detachments frequently crossed one another s trails, often 
 
 met and kept within supporting distance. The danger which threatened the 
 
 Apaches was as present in the 
 
 darkness as when the sun was 
 
 shining. One of the seemingly 
 
 inaccessible strongholds was 
 
 reached by the troopers pushing 
 
 the pursuit all through the night. 
 
 As a proof of the skill of the 
 
 Apache trailers, it may be said 
 they were often guided in the 
 
 gloom by the feeling of their feet, 
 which told them when they were 
 on the trail of the enemy. Cap 
 tain Bourke, whom we have 
 quoted, was in command of a 
 detachment of the best Indian 
 trailers and sharpshooters. He 
 thus describes the scene and in 
 cidents, when, after hours of 
 stealthy pursuit through the rough 
 region, they came upon the hostiles, 
 who believed themselves beyond 
 reach of the most persistent ene 
 mies of any race: 
 
 " Lieutenant William J. Eoss, 
 of the Twenty-first Infantry, was 
 assigned to lead the first detachment, which contained the best shots from among 
 the soldiers, packers, and scouts. The second detachment came under my own 
 orders. Our pioneer party slipped down the face of the precipice without acci 
 dent, following a trail from which an incautious step would have caused them 
 to be dashed to pieces ; after a couple of hundred yards this brought them face 
 to face with the cave, and not two hundred feet from it, In front of the cave 
 vras the party of raiders, just returned from their successful trip of 1 
 robbing in the settlement near Florence on the Gila River. They were danc:** 
 
 GENERAL CROOK S APACHE GUIDE. 
 
476 ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND. 
 
 to keep themselves warm and to express their joy over their safe return. Half 
 a dozen or more of the squaws had arisen from their slumbers and were bending 
 over a fire and hurriedly preparing refreshments for their victorious kinsmen. 
 The fitful gleam of the glowing flame gave a Macbethian tinge to the weird 
 scene, and brought into bold relief the grim outlines of the cliffs, between whose 
 steep walls, hundreds of feet below, growled the rushing current of the swift 
 
 Sal ado. 
 
 " The Indians, men and women, were in high good humor, and why should 
 they not be? Sheltered in the bosom of these grim precipices, only the eagle, 
 the hawk, the turkey buzzard, or the mountain sheep could venture to intrude 
 upon them. But hark ! What is that noise ? Can it be the breeze of morning 
 which sounds click, click ? You will know in one second more, poor, deluded, 
 red-skinned wretches, when the bang! boom! of rifles and carbines, reverbera 
 ting like the roar of a cannon, from peak to peak, shall lay six of your number 
 dead in the dust. 
 
 " The cold, gray dawn of that chill December morning was sending its first 
 rays above the horizon and looking down upon one of the worst bands of 
 Apaches in Arizona, caught like wolves in a trap. They rejected with scorn 
 our summons to surrender, and defiantly shrieked that not one of our party 
 should escape from the cafion. We heard their death-song chanted, and then 
 out of the cave and over the great pile of rocks, which protected the entrance 
 like a parapet, swarmed the warriors. But we outnumbered them three to one, 
 and poured in lead by the bucketful. The bullets, striking the mouth and roof 
 of the cave, glanced among the savages in rear of the parapet, and wounded 
 some of the women and children, whose wails filled the air. 
 
 " During the heaviest part of the firing, a little boy not more than four years 
 old, absolutely naked, ran out at the side of the parapet and stood dumfounded 
 between the two fires. Nantaje, without a moment s pause, rushed forward, 
 grasped the trembling infant by the arm, and escaped unhurt with him, inside 
 our lines. A bullet, probably deflected from the rocks, had struck the boy on 
 top of his head and plowed around to the back of his neck, leaving a welt an 
 eighth of an inch thick, but not injuring him seriously. Our men suspended 
 their firing to cheer Nantaje and welcome the new arrival ; such is the incon 
 sistency of human nature. 
 
 " Again the Apaches were summoned to surrender, or, if they would not 
 do that, to let such of their women and children as so desired pass out between 
 the lines ; again they yelled their refusal. Their end had come. The detach 
 ment led by Major Brown at the top of the precipice, to protect our retreat in 
 case of necessity, had worked its way ever to a high shelf of rock overlooking 
 the enemy beneath, and began to tumble down great bowlders, which speedily 
 
A GREAT TRANSFORMATION. 
 
 477 
 
 crushed the greater number of the Apaches. The Indians on the San Carlos 
 reservation still mourn periodically for the seventy-six of their relatives who 
 yielded up the ghost that morning. Every warrior died at his post. The 
 women and children had hidden themselves in the inner recesses of the cave, 
 which was of no great depth, and were captured and taken to Camp McDowell. 
 A number of them had been struck by glancing bullets or fragments of falling 
 rock. As soon as our pack trains could be brought up, we mounted the captives 
 on our horses and mules and started for the nearest military station, the one 
 just named, over fifty miles away." 
 
 This was one of the most decisive blows received by the hostiles. No more 
 murderous band had ever desolated the ranches of Southern Arizona. It had 
 been virtually wiped out by the troopers, 
 who, complete as was their work, lost only 
 a single man. 
 
 A GREAT TRANSFORMATION. 
 
 This achievement may illustrate the 
 manner in which the American troopers 
 did their work. A few days later a blow 
 almost as destructive was delivered at 
 Turret Butte, and within a month a hun 
 dred and ten Apaches in the Superstition 
 Mountains surrendered to Major Brown 
 and accompanied him to Camp Grant. 
 The Indians understood the character of 
 the man who was pressing them so re 
 morselessly. They offered to surrender 
 to General Crook, who told them that, if they would stop killing people and live 
 peaceful lives, he would teach them to work, find a market for their products, 
 and prove himself the truest friend they could have. 
 
 They accepted the offer, for they knew Crook could be trusted. Strange 
 as it may appear, he had all the Apaches within a month at work digging 
 ditches, cutting hay and wood, planting vegetables, and as peaceful and 
 contented as so many farmers in the interior of one of our own States. This 
 transformation -included all the Apaches in Arizona, excepting the Chiricahuas, 
 who were not within the jurisdiction of Crook. 
 
 The terrible scourge that had so long desolated the Southwest was gone, and 
 all would have been well but for the vicious "Indian King" in Washington, or, 
 as it was more popularly known, the "Tucson King," who secured legislation by 
 which the 6,000 Apaches were ordered to leave the reservation and go to that 
 
 AN INDIAN -WARRIOR. 
 
478 ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND. 
 
 of San Carlos, where the soil is arid, the water brackish, and the flies make life 
 intolerable. As was inevitable, the Indians were exasperated and revolted. They 
 preferred to be shot down while resenting the injustice than to submit quietly 
 to it. Again the reign of terror opened, and the blood of hundreds of innocent 
 people paid for the villainy of the rapacious miscreants who were beyond 
 reach. 
 
 GERONIMO, THE FAMOUS APACHE CHIEF. 
 
 The most famous chief of the Warm Spring Apaches was Geronimo* 
 Another hardly less prominent was his cousin Chato, who joined the whites in 
 their attempts to run down Geronimo. They professed to hate each other, but 
 there is ground for believing the two were secret allies, and kept up continual 
 communication by which Geronimo was able to avoid his pursuers and continue 
 his fearful career. 
 
 General Crook took the saddle again, when Geronimo escaped from Fort 
 Apache in May, 1885, with a band of more than a hundred warriors, women, 
 and children. They traveled one hundred and twenty miles before making 
 their first camp. Try as they might, the cavalry could not get within gunshot, 
 and, though the chase was pressed for hundreds of miles, the fugitives placed 
 themselves beyond reach for a time in the Sierra Mad re Mountains. 
 
 But Crook never let up, and finally corralled Geronimo. He held him just 
 one night, when he escaped. The wily leader stole back to camp the next night, 
 carried off his wife, and was beyond reach before pursuit could be made. 
 
 There was an agreement between the United States and Mexico by which 
 the troops of the former were allowed to follow any marauding Indians beyond 
 the Rio Grande when they were seeking escape by entering Mexico. General 
 H. W. Lawton (who won fame in Cuba during our late war with Spain and 
 still more in the Philippines) took the field with the Fourth Cavalry, May 5 
 1885. Lawton is a giant in stature and strength, with more endurance than 
 an Indian, absolutely fearless, and he was resolute to run down the Apaches, 
 even if compelled to chase them to the city of Mexico. 
 
 And he did it. Geronimo was followed with such untiring persistency, 
 
 losing a number of his bucks in the attacks made on him, that in desperation 
 
 he crossed the Rio Grande and headed again for the Sierra Madre. A hot chase 
 
 of two hundred miles brought the Apaches to bay, and a brisk fight took place 
 
 within the confines of Mexico. The Indians fled again, and Lawton kept after 
 
 The pursuit took the troopers 300 miles south of the boundary line, 
 
 :rail winding in and out of the mountains and canons of Sonora, repeatedly 
 
 crossing and doubling upon itself, but all the time drawing nearer the dusky 
 
 scourges, who at last were so worn out and exhausted that when summoned to 
 
 surrender they did so. 
 
THE TWENTY-THIRD PRESIDENT. 
 
 479 
 
 Geronimo, one of the worst of all the Apaches, was once more a prisoner 
 with his band. But he had been a prisoner before, only to escape and renew 
 his outrages. So long as he was anywhere in the Southwest, the ranchmen felt 
 unsafe. Accordingly, he aiul his leading chiefs were sent to Fort Pickens, 
 Florida, the others being forwarded to Fort Marion, St. Augustine. Their 
 health after a time was affected, and they were removed to Mount Vernon, 
 Alabama. The prisoners, including the women and children, number about 
 400. A school was opened, whither the boys and girls were sent to receive 
 instruction, and some of the brightest pupils in the well-known Indian School 
 at Carlisle were the boys and girls 
 whose fathers were merciless raiders 
 in Arizona only a few years ago, 
 and who are now quiet, peaceful, con 
 tented, and "good Indians." The 
 Apaches have been thoroughly con 
 quered, and the ranchmen and their 
 families have not the shadow of a 
 fear that the terror that once shad 
 owed their thresholds can ever return. 
 
 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1888. 
 
 Although President Cleveland 
 offended many of his party by his 
 devotion to the policy of civil ser 
 vice reform, he was renominated in 
 1888, while the nominee of the Re 
 publicans was Benjamin Harrison. 
 Other tickets were placed in the 
 field, and the November election 
 resulted as follows : Grover Cleve 
 land and Allen G. Thurman, Demo 
 crats, 168 electoral votes ; Benjamin Harrison and Levi P. Morton, Republicans,. 
 233; Clinton B. Fisk and John A. Brooks, Prohibition, received 249,907 pop 
 ular votes ; Alson J. Streeter and C. E. Cunningham, United Labor, 148,105;. 
 James L. Curtis and James R. Greer, American, 1,591. 
 
 THE TWENTY-THIRD PRESIDENT. 
 
 Benjamin Harrison was born at North Bend, Ohio, August 20, 1833. His- 
 father was a farmer, and his father was General William Henry Harrison, gov 
 ernor of the Northwest Territory, and afterward President of the United States,. 
 
 BJ5NJAMIN HARBISON. 
 (1833- .) One term, 1889-1894. 
 
480 ADMINISTRATION OF HARRISON. 
 
 and the first to die in office. His father was Benjamin Harrison, one of the 
 signers of the Declaration of Independence. Thus the twenty-third President 
 possesses illustrious lineage. 
 
 Benjamin Harrison entered Miami University when a boy, and was grad 
 uated before the age of twenty. He studied law, and upon his admission to the 
 bar settled in Indianapolis, which has since been his home. He volunteered 
 early in the war, and won the praise of Sheridan and other leaders for his gal 
 lantry and bravery. He was elected to the United States Senate in 1881, and 
 his ability placed him among the foremost leaders in that distinguished body. 
 As a debater and off-hand speaker, he probably has no superior, while his ability 
 as a lawyer long ago placed him in the very front rank of his profession. 
 
 THE JOHNSTOWX DISASTER. 
 
 The Conemaugh Valley, in the eastern part of Pennsylvania, is about twenty 
 miles in length. The city of Johnstown lies thirty-nine miles west-southwest of 
 Altoona and seventy-eight miles east-by-south of Pittsburg. It is the seat of the 
 Cambria Iron Works, which give employment to fully 6,000 men, and is one 
 of the leading industrial establishments of the country. Conemaugh Lake is at 
 the head of the winding valley, eighteen miles away, and was the largest reser 
 voir of water in the world. It was a mile and a half wide at its broadest part, 
 and two miles and a half long. Most of the lake was a hundred feet deep. 
 The dam was a fifth of a mile wide, ninety feet thick at its base, and one hun 
 dred and ten feet high. The mass of water thus held in restraint was incon 
 ceivable. 
 
 The people living in the valley below had often reflected upon the appalling 
 consequences if this dam should give way. Few persons comprehend the mighty 
 strength of water, whose pressure depends mainly upon its depth. A tiny stream, 
 no thicker than a pipe-stem, can penetrate deeply enough into a mountain to 
 split it apart, and, should the reservoir ever burst its bounds, it would spread 
 death and desolation over miles of country below. 
 
 There had been several alarms, but the engineers sent to make an examina 
 tion of the dam always reported it safe, and the people, like those who live at 
 the base of a volcano, came to believe that all the danger existed in their 
 imagination. 
 
 On the 31st of May, 1889, the dam suddenly gave way, sliding from its 
 base, like an oiled piece of machinery, and the vast mass of water shot forward 
 at the speed of more than two miles a minute. Seven minutes after the bursting 
 of the dam, the head of the resistless flood was eighteen miles down the valley. 
 A man on horseback had started, at a dead-run, some minutes before the catas 
 trophe, shouting a warning to the inhabitants, some of whom, by instantly 
 
A FURIOUS TORRENT. 
 
 481 
 
 taking to flight up the mountain side, were able to save themselves, but the 
 majority waited too long. 
 
 A FURIOUS TORRENT. 
 
 Imagination cannot picture the awful power of this prodigious torrent. 
 Trees were uptorn or flattened to the earth, houses, locomotives, and massive 
 machinery were tumbled over and over and bobbed about like so many corks, 
 and the flood struck Johnstown with the fury of a cyclone, sweeping everything 
 before it, as if it were so much chaff. Tearing through the city and carrying 
 with it thousands of tons of wreckage of 
 every description, it plunged down the 
 valley till it reached the railroad bridge 
 below r Johnstown. There, for the first 
 time, it encountered an obstruction which 
 it could not overcome. The structure 
 stood as immovable as a solid mountain, 
 and the furious torrent piled up the de 
 bris for a mile in width and many feet in 
 depth. In this mass were engines, houses, 
 trees, furniture, household utensils, iron in 
 all forms, while, winding in and out, were 
 hundreds of miles of barbed wire, which 
 knit the wreckage together. In many of 
 the dwellings people were imprisoned, and 
 before a step could be taken to relieve 
 them fire broke out and scores were burned 
 to death. 
 
 How many people lost their lives in 
 the Johnstown flood will never be known. 
 The remains of bodies were found for 
 months and even years afterward. The 
 
 official list, when made up, was 2,280, of which 741 bodies were unidentified; 
 but there is little doubt that the loss was fully twice the number given. 
 Nothing of the kind has ever before occurred in the history of our country, 
 and it is to be hoped that such a disaster will never be repeated. 
 
 Again the calamity awoke an instant sympathetic response. Provisions, 
 tents, and money were sent to the sufferers from all parts of the Union, and 
 nothing that could relieve them was neglected. Johnstown was soon rebuilt, 
 and to-day there are no signs of the fearful visitation it received, only a compara 
 tively short time since. On November 14, 1892, at the payment of the annu 
 ity provided for the orphans of Johnstown, the sum of $20,325 was distributed. 
 
 31 
 
 INDIAN MOTHER AND INFANT. 
 
482 ADMINISTRATION OF HARRISON. 
 
 We came very near to having a war with Chili in the latter part of 1891. 
 On the 16th of October of that year, some forty men, attached to the American 
 warship Baltimore, lying in the harbor of Valparaiso, obtained leave to go 
 ashore. Sailors at such times are as frolicksome as so many boys let out for a 
 vacation, and it cannot be claimed that these Jackies were models of order and 
 quiet behavior. They were in uniform and without weapons. 
 
 They had been in the city only a short time, when one of them became 
 involved in a wrangle with a Chilian. His companions went to his assistance 
 whereupon a native mob quickly gathered and set upon them. The Chilians 
 detest Americans, and, seeing a chance to vent their feelings, they did so with 
 vindictive fury. They far outnumbered the sailors, and besides nearly every 
 one of them was armed. The boatswain s mate of the Baltimore, Riggin by 
 name, was killed and several seriously wounded, one of whom afterward died 
 from his injuries. Thirty-five of the Americans were arrested and thrown into 
 prison, but as they could not be held upon any criminal charge they were 
 released. 
 
 The captain of the Baltimore was the present Rear-Admiral Schley, who 
 rescued the Greely party of Arctic explorers, and gave so good an account of 
 himself, while in command of the Brooklyn, during the destruction of Cervera s 
 fleet off Santiago, July 3, 1898. AVhen our government learned of the affair, 
 it directed Captain Schley to make a full investigation. He did so, and his 
 report left no doubt that the Chilians had committed a gross outrage against 
 our flag. 
 
 The next act of our government was to demand an apology from Chili and 
 the payment of an indemnity to the sufferers and to the families of those who 
 had been killed by the attack of the mob. Chili is a fiery nation, and her 
 reply was so insolent that preparations were set on foot to bring her to terms 
 by force of arms. At the moment, as may be said, when war impended, she 
 sent an apology and forwarded a satisfactory indemnity, whereupon the flurry 
 subsided. 
 
 A GREAT INDIAN WAR THREATENED IN 1890-1891. 
 
 A still greater danger threatened the country in the winter of 1890-1891, 
 when we were menaced by the most formidable Indian uprising that has ever 
 occurred in.tlie history of our country. 
 
 Indian wars hitherto had been confined to certain localities, where, by the 
 prompt concentration of troops, they were speedily subdued ; but in the instance 
 named the combination was among the leading and most warlike tribes, who 
 roamed over thousands of square miles of the Northwest. A fact not generally 
 suspected is that the red men of this country are as numerous to-day as they 
 ever were. While certain tribes have disappeared, others have increased in 
 
KITTING BULL. 4S3 
 
 number, with the result that the sentimental fancy that at some time in the 
 future the red man will disappear from the continent has no basis in fact. The 
 probability is that they will increase, though not so rapidly as their Caucasian 
 brethren. 
 
 The strongest tribe in the Northwest is the Sioux. It was they who per 
 petrated the massacres in Minnesota in 1862. If necessary they could place 
 5,000 warriors in the field, with every man a brave and skillful fighter in his 
 way. It was they, too, who overwhelmed Ouster and his command on the Little 
 Big Horn in June, 1876. When it is added that the squaws are as vicious 
 fighters as their husbands, it will be understood what a war with them means, 
 especially since they have the help of neighboring tribes. 
 
 For a long time there have been two classes of Indians. The progressives 
 favor civilization, send their children to Carlisle and other schools, engage in 
 farming, and, in short, are fully civilized. They remain on their reservation 
 and give the government no trouble. Opposed to them are the barbar >ns, or 
 untamable red men, who refuse to accept civilization, hate the whites, and are 
 ready to go to war on a slight pretext, even though they know there can be but 
 one result, which is their own defeat, 
 
 The Indians are among the most superstitious people in the world. When,, 
 therefore, a number of warriors appeared among them, dressed in white shirts,, 
 engaging in furious " ghost dances," and declaring that the Messiah was about 
 to revisit the earth, drive out the white men, and restore the hunting grounds 
 to the faithful Indians, the craze spread and the fanatical promises of the ghost 
 dancers were eagerly accepted by thousands of red men. 
 
 SITTING BULL. 
 
 The most dangerous Sioux Indian was the medicine man known as Sitting 
 Bull, already referred to in our account of the Custer massacre. He always 
 felt bitter against the whites, and had caused them a good deal of trouble. He 
 saw in the ghost dance the opportunity for which he longed, and he began 
 urging his people to unite against their hereditary enemies, as he regarded them. 
 
 It soon became apparent that, unless he was restrained, he would cause the 
 worst kind of trouble, and it was determined to arrest him. The most effective 
 officers employed against the men are the Indian police in the service of the 
 United States government. These people did not like Sitting Bull, and hoped 
 they would have trouble in arresting him, since it would give the pretext they 
 wanted for shooting him. 
 
 o 
 
 Sitting Bull s camp was forty miles northwest of Fort Yates, North 
 Dakota, whither the Indian police rode on the morning of December 15, 1890, 
 with the United States cavalry lingering some distance in the rear. The taunts 
 
484 ADMINISTRATION OF HARRISON. 
 
 of Sitting Bull s boy Crowfoot caused him to offer resistance, and in a twinkling 
 botli parties began shooting. Sitting Bull, his son, and six warriors were killed 
 while four of the Indian police lost tlu ir lives, among them the one who had 
 fired the fatal shot at the medicine man. 
 
 The remaining members of Sitting Bull s command fled to the Bad 
 Lands" of Dakota, but a number were persuaded to return to Line Ridge 
 Agency There were so many, however, who refused to come in that the peril 
 assumed the gravest character. The only way to bring about a real peace was 
 to compel the disarming of the Indians, for so long as they had weapons in their 
 hands they were tempted to make use of them. 
 
 It was the time for coolness, tact, and discretion, and the American officers 
 displayed it to a commendable degree. They carefully avoided giving the 
 
 Indians cause for of 
 fense, while insisting 
 at the same time upon 
 their being disarmed. 
 On December 
 28th, a band of mal 
 contents were located 
 near Wounded Knee 
 Creek, by the Seventh 
 Cavalry, who had 
 been hunting several days for 
 them. They were sullen, but, 
 when ordered to surrender their weapons, made 
 n.r. b .M a pretense of doing so. Emerging from their tepees, how- 
 INDIAN AGENCY. ever) they produced only a few worthless weapons. Being 
 sharply ordered to bring the remainder, they suddenly wheeled and began fir 
 ing upon the soldiers. In an instant, a fierce fight was in progress, with the 
 combatants standing almost within arm s reach of one another. 
 
 SQUAWS AS VICIOUS AS WILDCATS. 
 
 Twenty-eight soldiers were killed and thirty wounded, while fully as many 
 of the Indians were shot down. In the fighting, the squaws were as vicious as 
 wildcats, and fought with as much effectiveness as the warriors. A wounded 
 officer was beaten to death by several of them before he could be rescued. 
 Finally, the Indians fled and joined the malcontents, already assembled in the 
 Bad Lands. 
 
 This affair made the outlook still darker. The Seventh Cavalry had just 
 reached camp on the morning of December 30th, when a courier dashed up to 
 
THE ALARMING CLOUD DISSOLVED. 485 
 
 Pine Hidge, with word that the Catholic Mission building was on fire and the 
 Indians were killing the teachers and pupils. The wearied troopers galloped 
 hurriedly thither, but found the burning building was the day school, a mile 
 nearer Pine .Ridge. A strong force of Indians were gathered beyond, and the 
 Seventh attacked them. The Sioux were so numerous that the cavalry were in 
 great danger of being surrounded, when a vigorous attack by the Ninth Cavalry 
 (colored) on the rear of the Indians scattered them. 
 
 Warriors continued to slip away from the agency and join the hostiles. 
 Their signal fires were seen burning at night, and recruits came all the way 
 from British America to help them. It was remarked at one time that the only 
 friendly Indians were the police, a few Cheyennes, and the scouts, including a 
 few Sioux chiefs, among whom American Horse was the most conspicuous. He 
 never wavered in his loyalty to the whites, and boldly combated in argument 
 his enemies, at the risk of being killed at any moment by his infuriated coun 
 trymen. 
 
 THE ALARMING CLOUD DISSOLVED. 
 
 There were a number of skirmishes and considerable fighting, but General 
 Miles, who assumed charge of all the military movements, displayed admirable 
 tact. When the Sioux began slowly coming toward the agency, it was under 
 orders from him that not a gun should be fired nor a demonstration made except 
 to repel an attack or to check a break on the part of the Indians. This course 
 was followed, the troopers keeping at a goodly distance behind the hostiles, who 
 seemed more than once on the point of wheeling about and assailing them, 
 despite their promises to come into the agency and surrender their arms. 
 
 The Sioux, however, kept their pledge, and, on the 15th of January, 1891, 
 the immense cavalcade entered the agency. Everyone was amazed at <he 
 strength displayed by the Indians, which was far greater than supposed. In 
 the procession were 732 lodges, and careful estimates made the whole number 
 11,000, of whom 3,000 were warriors. Had these red men broken loose and 
 started upon the war trail, the consequences would have been frightful. 
 
 While the weapons turned in by the Indians were only a few in number 
 and of poor quality, General Miles was satisfied the trouble was over and issued 
 a congratulatory address to those under his command. His opinion of the 
 situation proved correct, and the alarming war cloud that had hung over the 
 Northwest melted and dissolved. While there have been slight troubles in 
 different parts of the country since, none assumed a serious character, and it is 
 believed impossible that ever again the peril of 1890-91 can threaten the 
 country. 
 
 ADMISSION OF NEW STATES. 
 
 Several States were admitted to the Union during Harrison s administration. 
 
486 ADMINISTRATION OF HARRISON. 
 
 The first were North and South Dakota, which became States in November, 
 1889. The Dakotas originally formed part of the Louisiana purchase. The 
 capital was first established at Yankton in March, 1862, but was removed to 
 Bismarck in 1883. The two States separated in 1889. 
 
 In November of the latter year Montana was admitted, and in July follow 
 ing Idaho and Wyoming. Montana was a part of Idaho Territory until May, 
 1864, when it was organized as a separate Territory. Idaho itself was a part 
 of Oregon Territory until 1863, and, when first formed, was made up of portions 
 of Oregon, Washington, Utah, and Nebraska. The boundaries were changed 
 in 1864 and a part added to Montana. Wyoming gained its name from the 
 settlers who went thither from Wyoming Valley, Pennsylvania. It first 
 became a Territory in 1863. 
 
 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1892. 
 
 The Republicans renorainated President Harrison in 1892, with Whitelaw 
 Reid the candidate for Vice-President, while the Democrats put forward ex- 
 President Cleveland and Adlai E. Stevenson. The result of the election was as 
 follows : 
 
 Grover Cleveland and Adlai E. Stevenson Democrats, 277 electoral votes ; 
 Benjamin Harrison and Whitelaw Reid, Republicans, 144. Of the popular 
 vote, James B. Weaver and James G. Field, People s Party, received 1,041,028 
 votes; John Bidwell and James B. Cranfil, Prohibition, 264,133; and Simon 
 Wing and Charles M. Matchett, Social Labor, 21,164 votes. 
 
THE HEROOFTHE STRIKE, CO A L CR E E K, TEN N. 
 
 In 1892 a period of great labor agitation began, lasting for several years. One of the irost heroic figures of those 
 troublesome times is Colonel Anderson, under a flag of truce, meeting the infuriated iniuera at Coal Creek. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OK CLKVKLAND (SBCOND). 
 
 1893-1897 
 
 Repeal of the Purchase Clause of the Sherman Bill The World s Columbian Exposition at Chicago The 
 Hawaiian Imbroglio The Great liailroad Strike of 1894 Coxey s Commonweal Army Admission 
 of UtahHarnessing of Niagara Dispute with England Over Venezuela s Boundary Presidential 
 Election of 1896. 
 
 REPEAL OF THE PURCHASE CLAUSE OF THE SHERMAN BILL. 
 
 GROVER CLEVELAND was the first Provident of tlio United States who had 
 an interval between his two terms. 
 His inauguration was succeeded by 
 a financial stringency, which ap 
 peared in the summer and autumn 
 of 1893. There seemed to be a 
 weakening of general confidence in 
 all parts of the country, and much 
 suffering followed, especially in the 
 large cities, greatly relieved, however, 
 by the well-ordered system of char 
 ity. Many people thought that one 
 cause of the trouble was the Sher 
 man Bill, which provided for a 
 large monthly coinage of silver. 
 Congress was convened in extraor 
 dinary session August 7th by the 
 President, who recommended that 
 body to repeal the purchase clause 
 of the Sherman act. Such a repeal 
 was promptly passed by the House, 
 but met with strong opposition in 
 
 the Senate. There is leSS CUrb tO senator from Colsrado. The most prominent among the Silvet 
 
 debate in that branch of Congress, 
 
 and the senators from the silver States, like Colorado, Idaho and Nevada, where 
 
 the mining of silver is one of the most important industries, did what they could 
 
 (487) 
 
 HENRY MOORE TELLER. 
 
488 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND. 
 
 to delay legislation. Some of the speeches were spun out for days, with no other 
 purpose than to discourage the friends of the measure by delaying legislation. 
 Finally, however, a vote was reached October 30th, when the bill passed and 
 was immediately signed by the President. 
 
 THE WORLD S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION. 
 
 The most notable event of Cleveland s second administration was the 
 World s Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago. Properly the four hundredth 
 anniversary of the discovery of America should have taken place in 1892, but 
 the preparations were on so grand a scale that they could not be completed in 
 time. 
 
 The part of the government in this memorable celebration was opened by 
 
 U.S. HAN OP WAR 
 
 BuiLi. fOR-t^hiBij AT- WORLDS- FAIR 
 
 a striking naval parade or review of the leading war-ships of the world. They 
 assembled at Hampton Roads, Virginia, coming from points of the globe thou 
 sands of miles apart. Steaming northward to New York, the review took place 
 April 27, 1893. In addition to the thirty-five war-shij>s, there were the three 
 Columbian caravels sent by Spain and presented to the United States. When 
 ranged in two lines on the Hudson, these ships extended for three miles, and 
 represented, besides our own country, Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia, 
 Italy, Spain, Brazil, Holland, and Argentina. The steel-clad yacht Dolplmn 
 steamed between these two lines, bearing President Cleveland and his cabinet, 
 while each ship as she came opposite thundered her salute. No conqueror of 
 ancient or modern times ever received so magnificent a tribute. 
 
 Chicago, having won the prize of the location of the World s Fair, selected 
 
OPENING OF THE GROUNDS AND BUILDINGS. 489 
 
 the site on the 2d of July, 1890. This covered nearly 700 acres of beautiful 
 laid-out grounds and parks, extending from the point nearest the city, two and 
 a half miles, to the southern extremity of Jackson Park. The site selected by 
 the directors was the section known as Jackson Park and the Midway Plaisance. 
 The park has a frontage of one and a half miles on Lake Michigan and contains 
 600 acres, while the Midway Plaisance, connecting Jackson and Washington 
 Parks,^ afforded eighty-five acres more. It is 600 feet wide and a mile in length. 
 Since world s fairs have become a favorite among nations, the following 
 statistics will give a correct idea of the vastness of the one held in Chicago, from 
 May 1 to November 1, 1893: 
 
 London, 1857, 21} acres occupied ; 17,000 exhibitors ; total receipts $1 780 000 
 
 Paris, 1855, 24 
 
 i 
 
 22,000 
 
 
 
 6,441,200 
 
 London, 1862, 23 
 
 i 
 
 28,633 
 
 
 
 1,644,260 
 
 Paris, 1867, 37 
 
 1 
 
 52,000 
 
 
 
 2,103,675 
 
 Vienna, 1873, 280 
 
 1 
 
 142,000 
 
 
 
 6,971,832 
 
 Philadelphia, 1876, 236 
 
 < 
 
 30,864 
 
 
 
 3,813.724 
 
 Paris, 1878, 100 
 
 
 
 40,366 
 
 
 
 2,531,650 
 
 Paris, 1889, 173 
 
 55,000 
 
 
 
 8,300,000 
 
 Chicago, 1893, 645 
 
 65,422 
 
 
 
 33,290,065.58 
 
 The countries which made generous appropriations for exhibits were: 
 Argentine Kepublic, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, 
 Denmark, Danish West Indies, Ecuador, France, Germany, Great Britain, 
 Barbadoes, British Guiana, British Honduras, Canada, Cape Colony, Ceylon, 
 India, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, New South Wales, New Zealand, Trinidad, 
 Greece, Guatemala, Hawaii, Honduras, Haiti, Japan, Liberia, Mexico, Morocco, 
 Netherlands, Dutch Guiana, Dutch West Indies, Nicaragua, Norway, Orange 
 Free State, Paraguay, Peru, Russia, Salvador, San Domingo, Spain, Cuba, 
 Sweden, Uruguay. 
 
 All the States in the Union entered heartily into the scheme, their total 
 appropriations amounting to $6,000,000. The original plan called for ten main 
 buildings: Manufactures, Administration, Machinery, Agriculture, Electricity, 
 Mines, Transportation, Horticulture, Fisheries, and the Venetian Village; but 
 there were added: the Art Galleries, the Woman s Building, the Forestry, 
 Dairy, Stock, Pavilion, Terminal Station, Music Hall, Peristyle, Casino, Choral, 
 Anthropological, and many others. 
 
 OPENING OF THE GROUNDS AND BUILDINGS. 
 
 The grounds and buildings were opened October 21, 1892, with appropriate 
 ceremonies by Vice-President Morton and other distinguished citizens. The 
 most important exhibits were as follows: 
 
 The Transportation Building displayed about everything that could ta 
 
490 ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND. 
 
 possibly used in transportation, from the little baby-carriage to the ponderous 
 locomotive. The progress of shipbuilding from its infancy to the present was 
 shown, among the exhibits being an accurate model of the Santa Maria, the 
 principal ship of Columbus, which was wrecked in the West Indies, on his first 
 voyage. The Bethlehem steam hammer, the largest in the world, was ninety- 
 one feet high and weighed 125 tons. 
 
 Among the locomotives were the "Mississippi," built in England in 1834; 
 a model of Stephenson s "Rocket;" a steam carriage, used in France in 1759; 
 and a model of Trevithick s locomotive of 1803. There were also the first cable 
 car built, the boat and steam fixtures made and navigated by Captain John 
 
 r^^^^-^^^ 
 Stevens in 1804, :m.l the "John Bull," 
 
 used on the Camden and Amboy Kail- 
 road, and which, it is claimed, is the oldest locomotive in America. 
 
 The exhibit in the Mines and Mining Building were divided into 123 
 classes, including cement from Heidelberg, mosaics in Carlsbad stone, French 
 asphalt specimens, French work in gold, platinum, and aluminum, silver and 
 ores from nearly every part of the world, and ores from different sections of our 
 own country. 
 
 The Government Building was specially attractive, with its exhibits of the 
 several departments of the United States government. A case of humming 
 birds contained 133 varieties, and in another case were represented 106 families 
 of American birds. There were stuffed fowls, flamingoes, nests, Rocky Mountain 
 goats and sheep, armadilloes from Texas, sea otters, American bisons, a Pacific 
 
OPES US G 0* THL GROUSDb AND JBJfLDINGti. 
 
 walrus, 300 crocodiles of the Nile, crocodile birds, fishes and reptiles, and an 
 almost endless display of coins and metals. 
 
 The Department of Ethnology contained figures of Eskemos and specimens 
 of their industry, 
 Canadian Indians, 
 Indian wigwam, an 
 cient pottery, mod 
 els of ruins found 
 in Arizona, a brass 
 lamp used at a feast 
 169 years before 
 Christ ; scrolls of 
 the law of Tarah, 
 made in the tenth 
 century in Asia; 
 silver spice-box of 
 the time of Christ; 
 
 phylacteries, used by the Jews at morning prayers, except on Saturday; knife 
 used by priests in slaying animals for sacrifice. 
 
 In the State Department thousands of people gazed with awe upon what 
 was believed to be the original Declaration of Independence as it came from 
 
 the hand of Thomas 
 Jefferson. It was, 
 however, only a close 
 
 K copy, since the gov 
 
 ernment under no 
 circumstances will 
 permit the original 
 to leave the archives 
 at Washington. But 
 among the original 
 papers were the peti 
 tion of the United 
 Colonies to George 
 III., presented by 
 Benjamin Franklin 
 
 in 1774; the original journal of the Continental Congress: Lincoln s Emanci 
 pation Proclamation; an autograph letter of George III.: and various proc 
 lamations issued by Presidents, with their autographs and letters, by Wash- 
 
192 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND. 
 
 
 > 
 
 ington, Franklin, the Adamses, Jefferson, Madison, Polk, Van Buren, Monroe, 
 Lincoln, Grant, Arthur, and Hayes. 
 
 WONDERFUL HISTORIC RELICS. 
 
 The most interesting historic papers were letters penned by Napoleon, 
 Alexander of Kussia, and other foreign potentates, the Webster- Ashbur ton 
 treaty signed by Queen Victoria, and a shark s tooth sent as a treaty by the 
 king of JSamoa. Precious relics were Washington s commission as commander- 
 in-chief of the colonial forces, his sword, his diary, and his account books and 
 army reports; the sash with which Lafayette bound up his wound at Brandy- 
 wine; the calumet pipe which Washington smoked when seventeen years old; 
 Benjamin Franklin s cane; the sword of General Jackson; a waistcoat em 
 broidered by Marie 
 Antoinette ; wam 
 pum made before 
 t h e discovery of 
 America; camp 
 service of pewter 
 used by Washing 
 ton throughout the 
 Revolution; Bible 
 brought over by 
 John Alden in the 
 Mayflower; and a 
 piece of torch car 
 ried by " Old Put" 
 
 Fsrael Putnam) into the den of the wolf which he killed. 
 A section of one of the big trees of California was 20 feet in diameter at 
 the top and 20 feet at the base. 
 
 The dreadful sufferings of persons imprisoned for debt in England, which 
 to the founding of Georgia, were recalled by a warrant for the arrest and 
 imprisonment of one of the unfortunates, issued in 1721. 
 
 There also were to be seen a page from the Plymouth records of 1620 and 
 
 and patent of 1028 ; the royal commission creating the common pleas 
 
 onrtof Massachusetts in 1090; a page from the horrible witchcraft trials in 
 
 a door-knocker brought to this country in the Mayflower; and 
 
 portraits of many historical persons. 
 
 In the War Department were shown a six-pounder bronze gun presented 
 by Lafayette to the colonial forces ; the four-pounder gun that fired the first shot 
 in the Civil AVar ; the rifled gun that fired the last shot; cannon used in the 
 
EXHIBITS OF THE TREASURY AND POSTOFFICE. 
 
 493 
 
 Mexican War ; cast-iron cannon found in the Hudson River ; Chinese cannon 
 captured at Corea ; cannon captured at Yorktown ; boot-legs from which the 
 starving members of the Greely Arctic expedition made soup ; relics of Sir 
 John Franklin ; a wagon used by General Sherman throughout all his marches; 
 the sacred shirt worn by Sitting Bull at the time of the massacre of Custer and 
 his command on the Little Big Horn. 
 
 EXHIBITS OF THE TREASURY AND POSTOFFICE DEPARTMENTS. 
 
 In the Treasury Department was represented the United States Mint in 
 operation, besides historic medals, 
 ancient and modern coins, including 
 those of foreign countries, a ten- 
 thousand gold dollar certificate and 
 a silver certificate of the same de 
 nomination. 
 
 The eyes of the philatelists 
 sparkled at the treasures in the 
 Postoffice Department, which in 
 cluded all the issues of stamps from 
 1847 to 1893. Some of the single 
 stamps were worth thousands of dol 
 lars, and it would have required a 
 fortune to purchase the whole col 
 lection, had it been for sale. The 
 methods of carrying the mail were 
 illustrated by a representation of 
 dogs drawing a sled over the snow 
 and a Rocky Mountain stage-coach. 
 It would require volumes to convey 
 an intelligent idea of the display in 
 the Patent Office, Interior Depart 
 ment, Geological Survey, Agricultural Department 
 Commission. . . 
 
 Everybody knows that wonderful discoveries have been made in . ity, 
 
 and no doubt we are close upon still greater ones. The name of Edison is con 
 nected with the marvelous achievements in this field, and there was much 
 for thought and speculation in the exhibits of the Electricity Building, 
 while profoundly interesting, were mainly so in their hints of wh 
 
 in the near future. . . , 
 
 Machinery Hall was a favorite with thousands of the visitors. 
 
 THOMAS A. EDISON. 
 (1847- .) 
 
 and the United States 
 
494 ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND. 
 
 exhibits were so numerous that they were divided into eighty-six classes, 
 grouped into : 
 
 1. Motors and apparatus for the generation and transmission of power 
 hydraulic and pneumatic apparatus. 
 
 2. Fire-engines, apparatus and appliances for extinguishing fire. 
 
 3. Machine tools and machines for working metals. 
 
 4. Machinery for the manufacture of textile fabrics and clothing. 
 
 5. Machines for working wood. 
 
 C. Machines and apparatus for type-setting, printing, stamping and em 
 bossing, and for making books and paper making. 
 
 7. Lithography, zincography, and color painting. 
 
 Photo-mechanical and other mechanical processes for illustrating, etc. 
 
 9. Miscellaneous hand-tools, machines and apparatus used in various arts. 
 
 10. Machines for working stones, clay, and other minerals. 
 
 11. Machinery used in the preparation of foods, etc. 
 
 OTHER NOTARLE EXHIBITS. 
 
 The cost of the model of the Convent of Santa Maria de la Kabida, where 
 the wearied Columbus stopped to crave food for himself and boy, was $50,000. 
 The relics of the great explorer were numerous and of vivid interest. 
 
 Hardly less interesting was the reproduction of the Viking ship unearthed 
 in a burial mound in Norway in 1880, the model being precisely that of the 
 i in which the hardy Norsemen navigators crossed the Atlantic a thousand 
 years ago. It was seventy-six feet in length, the bow ornamented with a large 
 and finely carved dragon s head and the stern with a dragon s tail. Rows of 
 embellished shields ran along the outside of the bulwarks, and all was open ex 
 cept a small deck fore and aft, while two water-tight compartments gave protec- 
 lon to the men in stormy weather. The rigging consisted of one mast with a 
 yard, that could be readily taken down, but there were places for immense 
 >ars, whose handling must have required tremendous muscular power. 
 
 The Agricultural Building had an almost endless variety of articles such 
 
 as cocoa, chocolate, and drugs from the Netherlands; wood pulp from Sweden ; 
 
 shoes and agricultural products from Denmark and from France 
 
 sinking of which was- the Menier chocolate tower that weired fifty 
 
 ; fertilizers and products from Uruguay ; an elephant tusk seven and a half 
 
 wools, and feathers from the Cape of Good Hope ; a Zulu six 
 
 ? ven and a half inches tall ; a Canadian cheese weighing eleven tons, 
 
 other exhibits from various countries, and specimens of what are grown in 
 
 The articles were so numerous that a list is too" lengthy 
 to be inserted in these pages. fe J 
 
THE VIKING SHIP. 
 
 1. Appearance when discovered. 
 
 2. After restoration. 
 
 3. Rudder, shield, and dragon-head. 
 
49G 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND. 
 
 7,1 
 
 -ffTf rff rrff> (If jji| F; Pf f f/f f f f f J 
 
 The Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building was of such unprecedented 
 size tliat its ground area was more than thirty acres, and its gallery space forty- 
 four acres. Its roof structure surpassed any ever made, and it was the largest 
 building in the world. So vast indeed was it that it is worth our while to im- 
 
 press it upon our 
 
 minds by several 
 comparisons. Any 
 church in Chicago, 
 which contains nu 
 merous large ones, 
 can be placed in 
 the vestibule of St. 
 Peter s at Kome, 
 but the lattdr is only 
 one-third of the 
 size of the Manu 
 factures and Lib 
 eral Arts Building. 
 Coliseum of ancient Rome would seat 80,000 persons, but in the central 
 
 hall of the Chicago building, which is a single room without a supporting 
 
 column, 7o,000 people could be comfortably seated, while the building itself 
 
 would seat 300,000 
 
 persons. The iron 
 
 and steel in the 
 
 roof would build 
 
 two Brooklyn 
 
 bridges, and it re 
 quired eleven acres 
 
 of glass to provide 
 
 for the skylights. 
 
 In its construction 
 
 17,000,000 feet of 
 
 lumber, 13,000,000 
 
 pounds of steel, and 
 
 2,000,000 pounds 
 
 iron were used, with a total cost of $1,700,000. T he ground plan was twice 
 the size of the pyramid of Cheops. 
 
 We have recorded enough, however, to give some idea of the wealth of 
 
 hib,W at Chicago in 1893, and which drew visitors from al " 
 
 not worth wlnle to refer at length to the display of the 
 
THE GRAND WORK BY THE STATES. 497 
 
 foreign countries, for those who had the pleasure of looking upon them will 
 always carry their pleasant memory, while those who were deprived of the privi 
 lege can gain no adequate idea from the most extended description. The Mid 
 way Plaisance was a unique feature, with its Hungarian Orpheum, Lapland 
 Village, Dahomey Village, the captive balloon, Chinese Village, Austrian Village, 
 Cyclorama of the volcano of Kilauea, the Algerian and Tunisian Village, the 
 Ferris Wheel, the never-to-be-forgotten street in Cairo, the numerous natives, 
 and other scenes that were not always on the highest plane of morality. 
 
 THE GRAND WORK BY THE STATES. 
 
 We as Americans are prone to forget some of the important events in our 
 history. The memory of them fades too soon. A hundred years must pass 
 before our country will look upon another Columbian Exposition. That, in 
 the nature of things, will surpass the one in 1893, as far as that surpassed the 
 ordinary country fairs of our grandparents. When that great year 1992 
 comes around, none of us will be here to look upon its wonders. It seems 
 proper, therefore, that, in dismissing the subject, we should place on record the 
 amount contributed by each State, without which the grand success of the 
 enterprise could never have been attained. 
 
 Alabama $38,000 Nebraska $85,000 
 
 Arizona 30,000 Nevada 10,000 
 
 Arkansas 55,000 New Hampshire 25,000 
 
 California 550,000 New Jersey 
 
 Colorado 167,000 New Mexico. 35,000 
 
 Connecticut 75,000 New York 600,000 
 
 Delaware 20,000 North Carolina 
 
 Florida 50.000 North Dakota 70,000 
 
 Georgia 100,000 Ohio 200,000 
 
 Idaho 100,000 Oklahoma 
 
 Illinois 800.000 Oregon 60,000 
 
 Indiana 135,000 Pennsylvania 360,000 
 
 Iowa 130,000 Rhode Island 57,500 
 
 Kansas 165,000 South Carolina 50,000 
 
 Kentucky - 175,000 South Dakota 85,00 
 
 Louisiana 36,000 Tennessee 
 
 Maine 57,000 Texas 
 
 Maryland 60,000 Utah 
 
 Massachusetts 175,000 Vermont 
 
 Michigan 275,000 Virginia 
 
 Minnesota 150,000 Washington.. 
 
 Mississippi 25,000 West Virginia 40,00 
 
 Missouri 150,000 Wisconsin 212,00 
 
 Montana 100,000 Wyoming 
 
 Total $6.060,350 
 
 The islands composing the group known under the general name of 
 
498 ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND. 
 
 Hawaii have long been of interest to different nations, and especially to our 
 country. A treaty was made in 1849 between Hawaii and the United States, 
 which provided for commerce and the extradition of criminals, and in 1875 a 
 reciprocity treaty was concluded. This gave a marked impetus to the sugar 
 industry, which was almost wholly in the hands of foreigners. Further treaty 
 rights were confirmed by Congress in 1891. 
 
 David Kalakaua became king of Hawaii in 1874. He had slight ability, 
 and was fonder of the pleasures of life than of measures for the good of hia 
 country and subjects. He was displeased to see the hold gained by foreigners 
 in his country and their rapidly growing power. He joined with the native Leg 
 islature in its cry of " Hawaii for the Hawaiians," and did all he could to check 
 the material progress of the islands. Progressive men, however, gained control, 
 and in 1887 Kalakaua w r as compelled to sign a new constitution which deprived 
 him of all but a shadow of authority. The white residents were granted the 
 right of suffrage and closer relations were established with the United States. 
 
 While engaged in negotiating a treaty with our country Kalakaua died, in 
 1891, in San Francisco, and his sister, Liliuokalani, succeeded him as queen. 
 She was much of the same mould as her brother, but of a more revengeful 
 nature. She was angered against the foreigners and the progressive party, and 
 alert for an opportunity to strike them a fatal blow. She thought the time had 
 come in January, 1893, when the leading party was bitterly divided over im 
 portant measures. She summoned the Legislature and urged it to adopt a new 
 constitution, which took away the right of suffrage from the white residents and 
 restored to the crown the many privileges that had been taken from it. She 
 was so radical in her policy that her friends induced her to modify it in several 
 respects. She was thoroughly distrusted by the white residents, who did not 
 doubt that she would break all her promises the moment the pretext offered. 
 Nor would they have been surprised if a general massacre of the white inhab 
 itants were ordered. 
 
 So deep-seated was the alarm that the American residents appealed for 
 
 :tion to the United States man-of-war Boston, which was lying in tl*e 
 
 lonolulu. The commander landed a company of marines, against 
 
 t of the queen s minister of foreign affairs and the governor of the 
 
 id although they were assured that no attempt would be made to interfere 
 
 -th their rights. In the face of this assurance, a revolt took place, the 
 
 chy was declared at an end, and a provisional government was organized, 
 
 to continue until terms of union with the United States could be agreed upon. 
 
 More decided steps followed. On February 1, 1894, the government was 
 
 lly placed under the protectorate of the United States, and the Stars and 
 
 3 was hoisted over the government building by a party of marines. There 
 
PRESIDENT CLEVELAND^ CHANGE OF POLICY. 
 
 499 
 
 a strong sentiment in favor of annexation, and the American minister was 
 highly pleased. 
 
 President Harrison was of the same mind, and authorized the presence on 
 the island of troops that might be needed to protect the lives and property of 
 Americans there, but he disavowed the protectorate. No doubt, however, he 
 favored the movement, but thought it wise to "make haste slowly." 
 
 In a short time, a treaty was framed which was acceptable to the President 
 It provided that the government of Hawaii should remain as it was, the supreme 
 power to be vested in a commissioner of the United States, with the right to 
 veto any of the acts of the local 
 government. The public debt was 
 to be assumed by the United States, 
 while Liliuokalani w r as to be pen 
 sioned at the rate of $20,000 a 
 year, and her daughter was to 
 receive $150,000. President Harri 
 son urged upon the Senate the rati 
 fication of the treaty, fearing that 
 delay would induce some other power 
 to step in and take the prize. 
 
 PRESIDENT CLEVELAND S CHANGE 
 
 OF POLICY. 
 
 Such was the status w r hen Presi 
 dent Cleveland came into office on 
 the 4th of March, 1893. His views 
 were the very opposite of his prede 
 cessor s, and he took steps to enforce 
 them. He maintained there would 
 have been no revolution in Hawaii 
 had not the force of marines landed 
 from the Boston. He withdrew 
 the proposed treaty from the Senate, and sent James H. Blount, of Georgia, to 
 Hawaii as special commissioner to make an investigation of all that had occurred, 
 and to act in harmony with the views of the President. On the 1st of April, 
 Blount caused the American flag to be hauled down, and formally dissolved the 
 protectorate. Minister Stevens was recalled and succeeded by Mr. Blount as 
 minister plenipotentiary. Steps were taken to restore Liliuokalani, and her own 
 brutal stubbornness was all that prevented. She was determined to have the lives 
 of the leaders who had deposed her, and to banish their families. This could 
 
 JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 Secretary of State under Harrison s administration. 
 
600 ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND. 
 
 not be permitted, and the Dole government refused the request to yield its 
 authority to the queen. 
 
 The situation brought President Cleveland to a standstill, for he had first 
 to obtain the authority of Congress in order to use force, and that body was so 
 opposed to his course that it would never consent to aid him. The provisional 
 government grew stronger, and speedily suppressed a rebellion that was set on 
 foot by the queen. It. won the respect of its enemies by showing clemency to 
 the plotters, when it would have been legally justified in putting the leaders to 
 death. The queen was arrested, whereupon she solemnly renounced for herself 
 and heirs all claim to the throne, urged her subjects to do the same, and 
 declared her allegiance to the republic. 
 
 ANNEXATION OF HAWAII. 
 
 Let us anticipate a few events. In May, 1898, Representative Newlands 
 introduced into the House a resolution providing for the annexation of Hawaii. 
 Considerable opposition developed in the Senate, but the final vote was carried, 
 July Gth, by 42 to 21. The President appointed as members of the commission, 
 Senators Shelby M. Cullom, of Illinois; John T. Morgan, of Alabama; Repre 
 sentative Robert R. Hitt, of Illinois; and President Dole and Chief Justice 
 Judcl, of the Hawaiian Republic. All the congressmen named were members 
 of the Committee on Foreign Relations and Foreign Affairs. 
 
 The news of the admission of Hawaii to the Union was received in the 
 islands with great rejoicing. A salute of one hundred guns was fired on the 
 Executive Building grounds at Honolulu, and the formal transfer, August 12th, 
 was attended with appropriate ceremonies. In 1900 Hawaii was made a Terri 
 tory of the United States, Sanford B. Dole, president of the late republic, being 
 continued in power as governor of the Territory. 
 
 THE GREAT RAILROAD STRIKE OF 1894. 
 
 One of the greatest railroad strikes in this country occurred in the summer 
 of 1894. Early in the spring of that year, the Pullman Car Company, whosa 
 works are near Chicago, notified their employes that they had to choose between 
 accepting a reduction in their wages or having the works closed. They accepted 
 the cut, although the reduction was from twenty-five to fifty per cent, of what 
 they had been receiving. 
 
 When May came, the distressed workmen declared it impossible for them 
 and their families to live on their meagre pay. They demanded a restoration 
 of the old rates; but the company refused, affirming that they were running the 
 business at a loss and solely with a view of keeping the men at work. On the 
 llth of May, 3,000 workmen, a majority of the whole number, quit labor and 
 the company closed their works. 
 
THE GREAT RAILROAD STRIKE OF 
 
 501 
 
 The American Railway Union assumed charge of the strike and ordered 
 a boycott of all Pullman cars. Eugene V. Debs was the president of the Union, 
 and his sweeping order forbade all engineers, brakemen, and switchmen to 
 handle the Pullman cars on every road that used them. This was far-reaching, 
 since the Pullman cars are used on almost every line in the country. 
 
 A demand was made upon the Pullman Company to submit the question 
 to arbitration, but the directors refused on the ground that there was nothing to 
 arbitrate, the question being whether or not they were to be permitted to operate 
 their own works for themselves. A boycott was declared on all roads running 
 
 ON THE BALTIMORE AND OHIO RAILWAY. 
 
 out of Chicago, beginning on the Illinois Central. Warning was given to every 
 road handling the Pullman cars that its employes would be called out, and, if 
 that did not prove effective, every trade in the country would be ordered to 
 strike. 
 
 The railroad companies were under heavy bonds to draw the Pullman cars, 
 and it would have cost large sums of money to break their contracts. They 
 refused to boycott, and, on June 26th, President Debs declared a boycott on 
 twenty-two roads running out of Chicago, and ordered the committees repre 
 senting the employes to call out the workmen without an hour s unnecessary 
 delay. 
 
502 ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND. 
 
 The strike rapidly spread. Debs urged the employes to refrain from injur 
 ing the property of their employers, but such advice is always thrown away. 
 Very soon rioting broke out, trains were derailed, and men who attempted to 
 take the strikers places were savagely maltreated. There was such a general 
 block of freight that prices of the necessaries of life rose in Chicago and actual 
 suffering impended. So much property was destroyed that the companies called 
 on the city and county authorities for protection. The men sent to cope with 
 the strikers were too few, and when Governor Altgeld forwarded troops to the 
 scenes of the outbreaks, they also were too weak, and many of the militia 
 openly showed their sympathy with the mob. 
 
 Growing bolder, the strikers checked the mails and postal service and re 
 sisted deputy marshals. This brought the national government into the quarrel, 
 since it is bound to provide for the safe transmission of the mails. On July 2d 
 a Federal writ was issued covering the judicial district of northern Illinois, for 
 bidding all interference with the United States mails and with interstate railway 
 commerce. Several leaders of the strike were arrested, whereat the mob became 
 more threatening than ever. The government having been notified that Federal 
 troo{)s were necessary to enforce the orders of the courts in Chicago, a strong 
 force of cavalry, artillery, and infantry was sent thither. Governor Altgeld pro 
 tested, and President Cleveland told him in effect to attend to his own business 
 and sent more troops to the Lake City. 
 
 There were several collisions between the mob and military, in which a 
 number of the former were killed. Buildings were fired, trains ditched, and the 
 violence increased,. whereupon the President dispatched more troops thither, with 
 the warning that if necessary he would call out the whole United States army to 
 put down the lawbreakers. 
 
 The strike, which was pressed almost wholly by foreigners, was not confined 
 to Chicago. A strong antipathy is felt toward railroads in California, owing to 
 what some believe have been the wrongful means employed by such corporations 
 on the Pacific coast. 
 
 There were ugly outbreaks in Los Angeles, Oakland, and Sacramento, the 
 difficulty being intensified by the refusal of the militia to act against the strikers. 
 A force of regular soldiers, while hurrying over the railroad to the scene of the 
 disturbance, was ditched by the strikers and several killed and badly hurt. The 
 incensed soldiers were eager for a chance to reach the strikers, but they were 
 under fine discipline and their officers showed great self-restraint. 
 
 END OF THE STRIKE. 
 
 The course of all violent strikes is short. The savage acts repel whatever 
 sympathy may have been felt for the workingmen at first Few of the real suf- 
 
COXEY S COMMONWEAL ARMY. 503 
 
 ferers took part in the turbulent 8 .ts. It was the foreigners and the desperate 
 men who used the grievances as a pretext for their outlawry, in which they were 
 afraid to indulge at other times. Then, too, the stern, repressive measures of 
 President Cleveland had a salutary effect. Many labor organizations when 
 called upon to strike replied with expressions of sympathy, but decided to keep 
 it work. President Debs, Vice-President Howard, and other prominent mem 
 bers of the American Hallway Union were arrested, July 10th, on the charge of 
 obstructing the United States mails and interfering with the execution of the 
 laws of the United States. A number forty-three in all was indicted by 
 the Federal grand jury, July 19th, and the bonds were fixed at $10,000 each. 
 Bail was offered, but they declined to accept it and went to jail. On December 
 14th, Debs was sentenced to six months imprisonment for contempt, the terms 
 of the others being fixed at three months. 
 
 On August 5th, the general committee of strikers officially declared the 
 strike at an end in Chicago, and their action was speedily imitated elsewhere. 
 
 COXEY S COMMONWEAL ARMY. 
 
 One of the most remarkable appeals made directly to the law-making 
 powers by the unemployed was that of Coxey s " Commonweal Army." De 
 spite some of its grotesque features, it was deserving of more sympathy than it 
 received, for it represented a pitiful phase of human poverty and suffering. 
 
 The scheme was that of J. S. Coxey, of Massillon, Ohio, who left that town 
 on the 25th of March, 1894, with some seventy-five men. They carried no 
 weapons, and believed they would gather enough recruits on the road to number 
 100,000 by the time they reached Washington, where their demands made 
 directly upon Congress would be so imposing that that body would not dare 
 refuse them. They intended to ask for the passage of two acts: the first to 
 provide for the issue of $500,000,000 in legal-tender notes, to be expended 
 under the direction of the secretary of war at the rate of $20,000,000 monthly, 
 in the construction of roads in different parts of the country; the second to 
 authorize any State, city, or village to deposit in the United States treasury non- 
 interest-bearing bonds, not exceeding in amount one-half the assessed valuation 
 of its property, on which the secretary of the treasury should issue legal-tender 
 
 notes. 
 
 This unique enterprise caused some misgiving, for it was feared that such 
 an immense aggregation of the unemployed would result in turbulence and 
 serious acts of violence. Few could restrain sympathy for the object of the 
 " army," while condemning the means adopted to make its purpose effective. 
 
 The result, however, was a dismal fiasco. The trampers committed no 
 depredations, and when they approached a town and camped near it the authori- 
 
60 4 ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND. 
 
 ties and citizens were quite willing to supply their immediate wants in order to 
 get rid of them. But, while a good many recruits were added, hilly as many 
 deserted. At no time did Coxey s army number more than 500 men, and 
 when it reached Washington on the 1st of May it included precisely 336 
 persons, who paraded through the streets. Upon attempting to enter the 
 Capitol -rounds they were excluded by the police. Coxey and two of his 
 friends disregarded the commands, and were arrested and fined five dollars 
 apiece and sentenced to twenty days imprisonment for violating the statute 
 against carrying a banner on the grounds and in not " keeping off the grass. 
 The army quickly dissolved and was heard of no more. 
 
 Similar organizations started from Oregon, Montana, Colorado, Wyoming, 
 and different points for Washington. In some instances disreputable characters 
 joined them and committed disorderly acts. In the State of Washington they 
 seized a railroad train, had a vicious fight with deputy marshals, and it was 
 necessary to call out the militia to subdue them. Trouble occurred in Kansas, 
 Illinois, and Pennsylvania, The total strength of the six industrial armies 
 never reached 6,000. 
 
 ADMISSION OF UTAH. 
 
 On the 4th of January, 1896, Utah became the forty-fifth member of the 
 Federal Union. The symbolical star on the flag is at the extreme right of the 
 fourth row from the top. The size of the national flag was also changed from 
 6 by 5 feet to 5 feet 6 inches by 4 feet 4 inches. 
 
 Utah has been made chiefly famous through the Mormons, who emigrated 
 thither before the discovery of gold in California. Its size is about double that 
 of the State of New York, and its chief resources are mineral and agricultural. 
 It forms a part of the Mexican cession of 1848, and its name is derived from 
 the Ute or Utah Indians. Salt Lake City was founded, and Utah asked for 
 admission into the Union in 1849, but was refused. A territorial government 
 was organized in 1860, with Brigham Young as governor. It has been shown 
 elsewhere that in 1857 it was necessary to send Federal troops to Utah to 
 enforce obedience to the laws. Polygamy debarred its admission to the Union 
 for many years. 
 
 The constitution of the State allows women to vote, hold office, and sit on 
 juries, and a trial jury numbers eight instead of twelve persons, three-fourths 
 of whom may render a verdict in civil cases, but unanimity is required to con 
 vict of crime. The constitution also forbids polygamy, and the Mormon 
 authorities maintain that it is not practiced except where plural marriages were 
 contracted before the passage of the United States law prohibiting such unions. 
 
 It has been said by scientists that the power which goes to waste at Niagara 
 Falls would, if properly utilized, operate all the machinery in the world. The 
 
NIAGARA HARNESSED. 
 
 505 
 
 discoveries made in electricity have turned attention to this inconceivable storage 
 of power, with the result that Niagara has been practically "harnessed." 
 
 In 1886, the Niagara Falls Power Company was incorporated, followed 
 three years later by 
 that of the Cataract 
 Construction Com 
 pany. Work began 
 in October, 1890, 
 and three more 
 years were required 
 to complete the tun- 
 n e 1 , the surface- 
 canal, and the pre 
 liminary wheel-pits. 
 
 The first dis 
 tribution of power 
 was made in August, 
 1895, to the works 
 of the Pittsburg Re 
 duction Company, 
 near the canal. 
 Other companies 
 were added, and the 
 city of Buffalo, in 
 December, 1895, 
 granted a franchise 
 to the company to 
 supply power to that 
 city. The first 
 customer was the 
 Buffalo Kail way 
 Company. Novem 
 
 ber 15, 1896, at 
 midnight, the cur 
 rent was transmitted 
 by a pole line, con- 
 
 A GOLD PROSPECTING PARTY ON DEBATABLE 
 BRITISH GUIANA. 
 
 by a pole line, con- 
 
 sistin- of three continuous cables of uninsulated copper, whose total length was 
 seventy-eight miles. Since that date, the street cars have been operated by 
 the same motor, with more industrial points continually added. 
 
 While our past history shows that we have had only two wars witn < 
 
506 ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND. 
 
 Britain, yet it shows also that talk of war has been heard fully a score of times. 
 Long after 1812, we were extremely sensitive as regarded the nation that the 
 majority of Americans looked upon a* our hereditary foe, and the calls for war 
 have been sounded in Congress and throughout the land far oftener than most 
 people suspect. That such a calamity to mankind has been turned aside is due 
 mainly to the good sense and mutual forbearance of the majority of people in 
 both countries. England and the United States are the two great English- 
 speaking nations. Together they are stronger than all the world combined. 
 With the same language, the same literature, objects, aims, and religion, a war 
 between them would be the most awful catastrophe that could befall humanity. 
 
 The last flurry with the "mother country" occurred in the closing weeks 
 of 1895, and related to Venezuela, which had been at variance with England 
 for many years. Until 1810, the territory lying between the mouths of the 
 Orinoco and the Amazon was known as the Guianas. In the year named 
 Spain ceded a large part of the country to Venezuela, and in 1814 Holland 
 ceded another to Great Britain. The boundary between the Spanish and Dutch 
 possessions had never been fixed by treaty, and the dispute between England 
 and Venezuela lasted until 1887, when diplomatic relations were broken off 
 between the two countries. 
 
 Venezuela asked that the dispute might be submitted to arbitration, but 
 England would not agree, though the territory in question was greater in extent 
 than the State of New York. The United States was naturally interested, for 
 the "Monroe Doctrine" was involved, and in February, 1895, Congress passed 
 a joint resolution, approving the suggestion of the President that the question 
 should be submitted to arbitration, but England still refused. A lengthy 
 correspondence took place between Great Britain and this country, and, on 
 December 17, 1895, in submitting it to Congress, President Cleveland asked for 
 authority from that body to appoint a commission to determine the merits of the 
 boundary dispute, as a guide to the government in deciding its line of action^ 
 insisting further that, if England maintained her unwarrantable course, the 
 United States should resist "by every means in its power, as a willful aggres 
 sion upon its rights and interests, the appropriation by Great Britain of any 
 lands, or the exercise of governmental jurisdiction over any territory, which 
 after investigation we have determined of right belongs to Venezuela." 
 
 There was no mistaking the warlike tone of these words. The country and 
 Congress instantly fired up, and the land resounded with war talk. Congress 
 immediately appropriated the sum of $100,000 for the expense of the commission 
 of inquiry, and two days later the Senate passed the hill without a vote in 
 opposition. The committee was named on the 1st of the following January and 
 promptly began its work. 
 
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 18 J6. 507 
 
 But the sober second thought of wist- men in both countries soon made 
 itself felt. Without prolonging the story, it may be said that the dispute 
 finally went to arbitration, February J, 18 ( .)7, where it should have gone in the 
 first place, and it was settled to the full satisfaction of Great Britain, the United 
 States, and Venezuela. Another fact may as well be conceded, without any 
 reflection upon our patriotism: ILid England accepted our challenge to war, for 
 which she was fully prepared with her invincible navv, and we were in a state 
 
 COUDERT WHITE. BREWER. ALVEV. OILMAN. 
 
 VENEZUELAN COMMISSION. 
 
 Appointed by President Cleveland, January, 1890, to determine the true boundary between British Guiana and Venezuela. 
 
 of uneasiness, the United States would have been taught a lesson that she 
 would have remembered for centuries to come. Thank God, the trial was spared 
 to us, and in truth can never come while common sense reigns. 
 
 THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1896. 
 
 The presidential election in the fall of 180G was a remarkable one. The 
 month of September had hardly opened when there were eight presidential 
 tickets in the field. Given in the order of their nominations they were : 
 
508 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND. 
 
 Prohibition (May 27th) Joshua Levering, of Maryland; Hale Johnson, 
 of Illinois. 
 
 National Party, Free Silver, Woman-Suffrage offshoot of the regular Pro- 
 hibition (May 28th) Charles E. Bentley, of Nebraska; James H. Southgate, 
 of North Carolina. 
 
 Republican (June 18th) William McKinley, of Ohio; Garret A. Hobart, 
 of New Jersey. 
 
 Social 1st -Labor (July 4th) Charles H. Matchett, of New York; Matthew 
 
 Maguire, of New Jersey. 
 
 Democratic (July 10th to llth) 
 -William Jennings Bryan, of 
 Nebraska; Arthur Sewall, of Maine. 
 People s Party (July 24th to 
 25th) William Jennings Bryan, of 
 Nebraska; Thomas E. Watson, of 
 Georgia. 
 
 National Democratic Party 
 (September 8th) John McAuley 
 Palmer, of Illinois; Simon Boliver 
 Buckner, of Kentucky. 
 
 As usual, the real contest was 
 between the Democrats and Republi 
 cans. The platform of the former 
 demanded the free coinage of silver, 
 which was opposed by the Republi 
 cans, who insisted upon preserving 
 the existing gold standard. This 
 question caused a split in each of the 
 leading parties. When the Repub 
 lican nominating convention inserted 
 
 the gold ami silver plank in its platform, Senator Teller, of Colorado, led 
 thirty-two delegates in their formal withdrawal from the convention. A large 
 majority of those to the National Democratic Convention favored the free 
 coinage of silver in the face of an urgent appeal against it by President 
 Cleveland. They would accept no compromise, and, after "jamming" through 
 their platform and nominating Mr. Bryan, they made Arthur Sewall their 
 candidate for Vice-President, though he was president of a national bank and a 
 believer in the gold standard. 
 
 In consequence of this action, the Populists or People s Party refused to 
 
 WM. JENNINGS BRYAN. 
 Democratic candidate for President. 1896. 
 
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 1896. 509 
 
 accept the candidature of Mr. Sewall, and put in his place the name of Thomas 
 E. Watson, who was an uncompromising Populist. 
 
 There was also a revolt among the "Sound Money Democrats," as they 
 were termed. Although they knew they had no earthly chance of winning, 
 they were determined to place themselves on record, and, after all the other 
 tickets were in the field, they put Palmer and Buckner in nomination. In their 
 platform they condemned the platform adopted by the silver men and the tariff 
 policy of the Republicans. They favored tariff for revenue only, the single 
 gold standard, a bank currency under govermental supervision, international 
 arbitration, and the maintenance of the independence and authority of the 
 Supreme Court. 
 
 Mr. Bryan threw all his energies into the canvass and displayed wonderful 
 industry and vigor. He made whirlwind tours through the country, speaking 
 several times a day and in the evening, and won many converts. Had the 
 election taken place a few weeks earlier than the regular date, it is quite probable 
 he would have won. Mr. McKinley made no speech-making tours, but talked 
 many times to the crowds who called upon him at his home in Canton, Ohio. 
 The official vote in November was as follows : 
 
 McKinley and Hobart, Republican, 7,101,401 popular votes; 271 electoral 
 votes. 
 
 Bryan and Sewall, Democrat and Populist, 6,470,656 popular votes; 176 
 electoral votes. 
 
 Levering and Johnson, Prohibition, 132,007 popular votes. 
 
 Palmer and Buckner, National Democrat, 133,148 popular votes. 
 
 Matchett and Maguire, Socialist-Labor, 36,274 popular votes. 
 
 Bentley and Southgate, Free Silver Prohibition, 13,969 popular votes. 
 
 Despite the political upheavals that periodically occur throughout our 
 country, it steadily advances in prosperity, progress and growth. Its resources 
 were limitless, and the settlement of the vast fertile areas in the West and 
 Northwest went on at an extraordinary rate. In no section was this so strik 
 ingly the fact as in the Northwest. So great indeed was the growth in that 
 respect that the subject warrants the special chapter that follows. 
 
CORNER AT TOP OF STAIRWAY NEW CONGRESSIONAL LIBRARY, WASHINGTON, D. C- 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OK CLKVELANID (SECONO- 
 CONCLUDED), 1893-1897. 
 
 THE GREAT NORTHWEST. 
 
 BY ALBERT SHAW, PH.D., 
 Editor "Review of Reviews," formerly editor of " Minneapolis Tribune." 
 
 Settling the Northwest The Face of the Country Transformed Clearing Away the Forests and its 
 Effects Tree-planting on the Prairies Pioneer Life in the Seventies The Granary of the World 
 The Northwestern Farmer Transportation and Other Industries Business Cities and Centres 
 United Public Action and its Influence The Indian Question Other Elements of Population- 
 Society and General Culture. 
 
 "NORTHWEST" is a shifting, uncertain designation. The term has been 
 
 used to cover the whole stretch of country from 
 Pittsburg to Puget Sound, north of the Ohio 
 River and the thirty-seventh parallel of latitude. 
 Popularly it signified the old Northwestern Terri 
 tory including Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, 
 and Wisconsin until about the time of the Civil 
 War. In the decade following the war, Illinois 
 and Iowa were largely in the minds of men who 
 spoke of the Northwest. From 1870 to 1880, 
 Iowa, Kansas, northern Missouri, and Nebraska 
 constituted the most stirring and favored region 
 the Northwest par excellence. But the past dec 
 ade has witnessed a remarkable development in 
 the Dakotas; and Minnesota, North and South 
 Dakota, and Montana, with Iowa and Nebraska, 
 are perhaps the States most familiarly comprised in the idea of the Northwest 
 These States are really in the heart of the continent midway between oceans; 
 and perhaps by common consent the term Northwest will, a decade hence, 
 have moved on and taken firm possession of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, 
 and Wyoming, while ultimately Alaska may succeed to the designation. 
 
 But for the present the Northwest is the great arable wedge lying between 
 
 (511) 
 
 A.LBERT SHAW. 
 
512 ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND. 
 
 the Mississippi and Missouri Kivers, and between the Missouri River and the 
 Rocky Mountains. It is a region that is pretty clearly defined upon a map 
 showing physical characteristics. For the most part, it is a region of great 
 natural fertility, of regular north-temperate climate, of moderate but sufficient 
 rainfall, of scant forests and great prairie expanses, and of high average alti 
 tude without mountains. In a word, it is a region that was adapted by nature to 
 the cultivation of the cereals and leading crops of the temperate zone without 
 arduous and time-consuming processes for subduing the wilderness and redeem 
 ing the soil. 
 
 SETTLING THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 This "New Northwest," in civilization and in all its significant character 
 istics, is the creature of the vast impulse that the successful termination of the 
 war gave the nation. No other extensive area was ever settled under similar 
 conditions. Tlie homestead laws, the new American system of railroad building, 
 and the unprecedented demand for staple food products in the industrial centres 
 at home and abroad, peopled the prairies as if by magic. Until 1870, fixing 
 the date very roughly, transportation facilities followed colonization. The rail 
 roads were built to serve and stimulate a traffic that already existed. The 
 pioneers had done a generation s work before the iron road overtook them. In 
 the past two decades all has been changed. The railroads have been the 
 pioneers and colonizers. They have invaded the solitary wilderness, and the 
 population has followed. Much of the land has belonged to the roads, through 
 subsidy grants, but the greater part of the mileage has been laid without the 
 encouragement of land subsidies or other bonuses, by railway corporations that 
 were willing to look to the future for their reward. 
 
 It would be almost impossible to overestimate the significance of this 
 method of colonization. Within a few years it has transformed the buffalo 
 ranges into the world s most extensive fields of wheat and corn. A region 
 comprising northern and western Minnesota and the two Dakotas, which con 
 tributed practically nothing to the country s wheat supply twelve or fifteen 
 years ago, has, by this system of railroad colonization, reached an annual pro 
 duction of 100,000,000 bushels of wheat alone about one-fourth of the crop 
 of the entire country. In like manner, parts of western Iowa, Nebraska, and 
 Kansas, that produced no corn before 1875 or 1880, are now the centre of corn- 
 raising, and yield many hundreds of millions of bushels annually. These 
 regions enter as totally new factors into the world s supply of foods and raw 
 materials. ^ A great area of this new territory might be defined that was 
 inhabited in 1870 by less than a million people, in 1880 by more than three 
 millions, and in 1899 by from eight to ten millions. 
 
 Let us imagine a man from the East who has visited the Northwestern 
 
SETTLING THE NORTHWEST. 
 
 States and Territories at some time between the years 1870 and 1875, and who 
 retains a strong impression of what he saw, but who has not been west of 
 Chicago since that time, until, in the World s Fair year, he determines upon a 
 new exploration of Iowa, Nebraska, the Datokas, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. 
 However well informed he had tried to keep himself through written descrip 
 tions and statistical records of Western progress, he would see what nothing 
 but the evidence of his own eyes could have made him believe to be possible. 
 Iowa in 1870 was already producing a large crop of cereals, and was inhabited 
 
 A DISPUTE OVER A BRAND 
 
 by a thriving, though very new, farming population. But the aspect of the 
 country was bare and uninviting, except in the vicinity of the older com 
 munities on the Mississippi Eiver. As one advanced across the State the farm 
 houses were very small, and looked like isolated dry-goods boxes; there were 
 few well-built barns or farm buildings; and the struggling young cotton wood 
 and soft-maple saplings planted in close groves about the tiny houses were so 
 slight an obstruction to the sweep of vision across the open prairie that they only 
 seemed to emphasize the monotonous stretches of fertile, but uninteresting, 
 plain. Now the landscape is wholly transformed. A railroad ride in June 
 
 33 
 
514 ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND. 
 
 through the best parts of Iowa reminds one of a ride through some of the 
 pleasautest farming districts of England. The primitive " claim shanties " of 
 thirty years ago have given place to commodious farm-houses flanked by great 
 barns and hay-ricks, and the well-appointed structures of a prosperous agricul 
 ture. In the rich, deep meadows herds of fine-blooded cattle are grazing. 
 What was once a blank, dreary landscape is now garden-like and inviting. The 
 poor little saplings of the earlier days, which seemed to be apologizing to the 
 robust corn-stalks in the neighboring fields, have grown on that deep soil into 
 great, spreading trees. One can easily imagine, as he looks off in every direc 
 tion and notes a wooded horizon, that he is as in Ohio, Indiana, or Kentucky 
 in a farming region which has been cleared out of primeval forests. There are 
 many towns I might mention which twenty-five years ago, with their new, wooden 
 shanties scattered over the bare face of the prairie, seemed the hottest place on 
 earth as the summer sun beat upon their unshaded streets and roofs, and 
 seemed the coldest places on earth when the fierce blizzards of winter swept 
 unchecked across the prairie expanses. To-day the density of shade in those 
 towns is deemed of positive detriment to health, and for several years past 
 there has been a systematic thinning out and trimming up of the great, cluster 
 ing elms. Trees of from six to ten feet in girth are found everywhere by the 
 hundreds of thousands. Each farm-house is sheltered from winter winds by its 
 own dense groves. Many of the farmers are able from the surplus growth of 
 wood upon their estates to provide themselves with a large and regular supply 
 of fuel. If I have dwelt at some length upon this picture of the transformation 
 of the bleak, grain-producing Iowa prairies of thirty years ago into the dairy 
 and live-stock farms of to-day, with their fragrant meadows and ample groves, 
 it is because the picture is one which reveals so much as to the nature and 
 meaning of Northwestern progress. 
 
 CLEARING AWAY THE FORESTS AND ITS EFFECTS. 
 
 Not a little has been written regarding the rapid destruction of the vast 
 white-pine forests with which nature has covered large districts of Michigan, 
 Wisconsin, and Minnesota. It is true that this denudation has progressed at a 
 rate with which nothing of a like character in the history of the world is com 
 parable. It is also true, doubtless, that the clearing away of dense forest areas 
 has been attended with some inconvenient climatic results, and particularly with 
 some objectionable effects upon the even distribution of rainfall and the regu 
 larity of the flow of rivers. But most persons who have been alarmed at the 
 rapidity of forest destruction in the white-pine belt have wholly overlooked the 
 great compensating facts. It happens that the white-pine region is not espe 
 cially fertile, and that for some time to come it is not likely to acquire a pros- 
 
THE CATHEDRAL SPIRES, COLORADO 
 
 515 
 
516 ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND. 
 
 perous agriculture. But adjacent to it and beyond it there was a vast region of 
 country which, though utterly treeless, was endowed with a marvelous richness 
 of soil and with a climate fitted for all the staple productions of the temperate 
 zone. This region embraced parts of Illinois, almost the whole of Iowa, south 
 ern Minnesota, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, and parts of 
 Montana a region of imperial extent. Now, it happens that for every acre 
 of pine land that has been denuded in Michigan, northern Wisconsin, and 
 northern Minnesota there are somewhere in the great treeless region further 
 south and west two or three new farm-houses. The railroads, pushing ahead 
 of settlement out into the open prairie, have carried the white-pine lumber from 
 the gigantic sawmills of the Upper Mississippi and its tributaries; and thus 
 millions of acres of land have been brought under cultivation by farmers who 
 could not have been housed in comfort but for the proximity of the pine forests. 
 The rapid clearing away of timber areas in Wisconsin has simply meant the 
 rapid settlement of North and South Dakota, western Iowa, and Nebraska. 
 
 TRKE PLANTING ON THE PRAIRIES. 
 
 The settlement of these treeless regions means the successful growth on 
 every farm of at least several hundred trees. Without attempting to be statis 
 tical or exact, we might say that an acre of northern Minnesota pine trees 
 makes it possible for a fanner in Dakota or Nebraska to have a house, farm 
 buildings, and fences, with a holding of at least one hundred and sixty acres 
 upon which he will successfully cultivate several acres of forest trees of different 
 kinds. Even if the denuded pine lands of the region south and west of Lake 
 Superior would not readily produce a second growth of dense forest which, it 
 should be said in passing, they certainly will their loss would be far more than 
 made good by the universal cultivation of forest trees in the prairie States. It 
 is at least comforting to reflect, when the friends of scientific forestry warn us 
 against the ruthless destruction of standing timber, that thus far at least in our 
 Western history we have simply been cutting down trees in order to put a roof 
 over the head of the man who was invading treeless regions for the purpose of 
 planting and nurturing a hundred times as many trees as had been destroyed 
 for his benefit ! There is something almost inspiring in the contemplation of 
 millions of families, all the way from Minnesota to Colorado and Texas, living 
 in the shelter of these new pine houses and transforming the plains into a 
 shaded and fruitful empire. 
 
 PIONEER LIFE IN THE SEVENTIKS. 
 
 The enormous expansion of our railway systems will soon Uave made it 
 quite impossible for any of the younger generation to realize what hardships 
 were attendant upon such limited colonization of treeless prairie regions as pre- 
 
PIONEER LIFE IN THE SEVENTIES. 
 
 51V 
 
 ceded the iron rails. In 1876 I spent the summer in a part of Dakota to which 
 a considerable number of hardy but poor farmers had found their way and taken 
 up claims. They could not easily procure wood for houses, no other ordinary 
 building material was accessible,, and they were living in half-underground 
 dug-outs," so-called. There was much more pleasure and romance in the 
 pioneer experiences of my own ancestors a hundred years ago, who were living 
 
 in comfortable log-houses with huge fire ^^^>laces, and shooting 
 
 abundant supplies of deer and wild ^^ ^^^turkey in the 
 
 deep woods of southern Ohio. S ^^The pluck 
 
 and industry of these 1 );l k ()t < 1 Jj^S^ ^L pioneers, 
 
 most of whom were Irish ^8 S^fKl ^men and 
 
 Norwegians, won my heart 
 iest sympathy and re 
 spect, Poor as they 
 were, they maintained 
 one public institution 
 in common namely, 
 a school, with its place 
 of public assemblage. 
 The building had no floor 
 but the beaten earth, and g 
 its thick walls were blocks ] 
 
 m 
 
 of matted prairie turf, itsj 
 roof also being of sods 
 supported upon some 
 poles brought from 
 the scanty timber- 
 growth along the margin 
 of a prairie river. To-day 
 these poor pioneers are enjoying 
 their reward. Their valley 
 traversed by several railroads 
 prosperous villages have sprung 
 
 up; their lands*" are of considerable value; they all live in well-built farm, 
 houses; their shade trees have grown to a height of fifty or sixty feet; a bus 
 tling and ambitious city, with fine churches, opera-houses, electric illumination, 
 and the most advanced public educational system, is only a few miles away from 
 them. Such transformations have occurred, not alone in a few spots in Iowa 
 and South Dakota, but are common throughout a region that extends from the 
 British dominions to the Indian Territory, and from the Mississippi River to 
 
 SLUICE-GATE. 
 
518 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND. 
 
 the Rocky Mountains a region comprising more than a half-million square 
 miles. 
 
 THE GRANARY OF THE WORLD. 
 
 Naturally the industrial life of these Northwestern communities is based 
 
 solidly upon agriculture. There is, per 
 haps, hardly any other agricultural re 
 gion of equal extent upon the face of the 
 earth that is so fertile and so well 
 adapted for the production of the most 
 necessary articles of human food. During 
 the past decade the world s markets have 
 been notably disturbed and affected, and 
 profound social changes and political agi 
 tations have occurred in various remote 
 
 parts of the 
 earth. It is 
 within 
 bounds 
 to as- 
 
 BETWEEN THE 
 MILLS. 
 
 sert that the most 
 potent and far-reach 
 ing factor in the altered 
 conditions of the industrial 
 world during thess recent 
 years lias been the sudden 
 invasion and utilization of this 
 great new farming region. Most parts of the world which are fairly prosperous 
 t produce staple food supplies in appreciable surplus quantities. Several 
 vh.ch are not highly prosperous sell surplus food products out of their 
 poverty rather than out of their abundance. That is to say, the people of 
 
 BARREL-HOIST AND TUNNEL THROUGH THE 
 WASHBURN MILL. 
 
THE NORTHWESTERN FARMER. 519 
 
 India and the people of Russia have often been obliged, in order to obtain 
 money to pay their taxes and other necessary expenses, to sell and send away 
 to prosperous England the wheat which they have needed for hungry mouths at 
 home. They have managed to subsist upon coarser and cheaper food. But in 
 our Northwestern States the application of ingenious machinery to the cultiva 
 tion of fertile and virgin soils has within the past twenty-five years precipitated 
 upon the world a stupendous new supply of cereals and of meats, produced in 
 quantities enormously greater than the people of the Northwestern States 
 could consume. These foodstuffs have powerfully affected agriculture in Ireland, 
 England, France, and Germany, and, in fact, in every other part of the accessible 
 and cultivated globe. 
 
 THE NORTHWESTERN FARMER. 
 
 So much has been written of late about the condition of the farmer in these 
 regions that it is pertinent to inquire who the Western farmer is. In the old 
 States the representative farmer is a man of long training in the difficult and 
 honorable art of diversified agriculture. He knows much of soils, of crops and 
 their wise rotation, of domestic animals and their breeding, and of a hundred 
 distinct phases of the production, the life, and the household economics that 
 belong to the traditions and methods of Anglo-Saxon farming. If he is a wise 
 man, owning his land and avoiding extravagance, he can defy any condition of 
 the markets, and can survive any known succession of adverse seasons. There 
 are also many such farmers in the West, But there are thousands of wheat- 
 raisers or corn-growers who have followed in the wake of the railway and taken 
 lip government or railroad land, and who are not yet farmers in the truest and 
 best sense of the word. They are unskilled laborers who have become specu 
 lators. They obtain their land for nothing, or for a price ranging from one 
 dollar and fifty cents to five dollars per acre. They borrow on mortgage the 
 money to build a small house and to procure horses and implements and seed- 
 : grain. Then they proceed to put as large an acreage as they can manage into 
 a single crop wheat in the Dakotas, wheat or corn in Nebraska and Kansas. 
 They speculate upon the chances of a favorable season and a good crop safely 
 Inirvested; and they speculate upon the chances of a profitable market. They 
 hope that the first two crops may render them the possessor of an unincumbered 
 estate, supplied with modest buildings, and with a reasonable quantity of 
 machinery and live stock. Sometimes they succeed beyond their anticipations. 
 In many instances the chances go against them. They live on the land, and the 
 title is invested in them; but they are using borrowed capital, use it unskillfully, 
 meet an adverse season or two, lose through foreclosure that which has cost 
 them nothing except a year or two of energy spent in what is more nearly akin 
 to gambling than to farming, and finally help to swell the great chorus that 
 
520 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND. 
 
 calls the world to witness the distress of Western agriculture. It cannot be 
 said too emphatically that real agriculture in the West is safe and prosperous 
 and that the unfortunates are the inexperienced persons, usually without capital 
 who attempt to raise a single crop on new land. For many of them it would 
 be about as wise to take borrowed money and speculate in wheat in the Chicago 
 bucket-shops. 
 
 The great majority, however, of these inexperienced and capital-less wheat 
 and corn producers gradually be 
 come farmers. It is inevitable, at 
 first, that a country opened by the 
 railroads for the express purpose 
 of obtaining the largest possible 
 freightage of cereals should for a 
 
 MOSSBB^E. 
 
 few seasons be a "sinHe-oron 
 
 
 following 
 
 of 
 
 by year matgin of 
 
 ten 
 
TRANSPORTATION AND OTHER INDUSTRIES. 
 
 ther West, and the single-crop sort of fanning tends to recede. The wheat 
 growers produce more barley and oats and flax, try corn successfully, introduce 
 live stock and dairying, and thus begin to emerge as real farmers. 
 
 Unless this method of Western settlement is comprehended, it is not pos 
 sible to understand the old Granger movement and the more recent legislative 
 conflicts between the farmers of Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, and the 
 Dakotas, on the one hand, and the great transportation and grain-handling cor 
 porations on the other. It was fundamentally a question of the division of 
 profits. The railroads had 
 "made" the country: were they 
 entitled to allow the farmers 
 simply a return about equal to 
 the cost of production, keeping 
 for themselves the difference be 
 tween the cost and the price in 
 the central markets, or were they 
 to base their charges upon the 
 cost of their service, and leave 
 the farmers to enjoy whatever 
 profits might arise from the pro 
 duction of wheat or corn ? Out 
 of that protracted contest has 
 been developed the principle of 
 the public regulation of rates. 
 The position of these communi 
 ties of farmers with interests so 
 similar, forming commonwealths 
 so singularly homogeneous, has 
 led to a reliance upon State aid 
 that is altogether unprecedented 
 in new and sparsely settled re 
 gions, where individualism has usually been dominant, and govei 
 activity relatively inferior. 
 
 TRANSPORTATION AND OTHER INDUSTRIES. 
 
 But agriculture, while the basis of Northwestern wealth, is not the sole 
 pursuit. Transportation has become in these regions a powerful 
 because of the vast surplus agricultural product to be carried away and o 
 great quantities of lumber, coal, salt, and staple supplies m general, t * d 
 tributed throughout the new prairie communities. The transformation of the 
 
 ANCIENT BLOCK-HOUSE, ALASKA. 
 
522 ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND. 
 
 pine forests into the homes of several million people has, of course, developed 
 marvelous sawmill and building industries; and the furnishing of millions of 
 new homes has called into being great factories for the making of wooden 
 furniture, iron stoves, and all kinds of household supplies. In response to the 
 demand for agricultural implements and machinery with which to cultivate five 
 hundred million acres of newly utilized wild land, there have come into exist 
 ence numerous great establishments for the making of machines that have been 
 especially invented to meet the peculiarities and exigencies of Western farm life. 
 Through Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas, Indian corn has become a 
 greater product in quantity and value than wheat; while in Wisconsin, Minne 
 sota, and North and South Dakota the wheat is decidedly the preponderant 
 crop. Although in addition to oats and barley, which flourish in all the 
 Western States, it has been found possible to increase the acreage of maize in 
 the northern tier, it is now believed that the most profitable alternate crop 
 in the latitude of Minneapolis and St. Paul is to be flax. Already a region 
 including parts of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, and the Dakotas has 
 become the most extensive area of flax culture in the whole world. The crop 
 has been produced simply for the seed, which has supplied large linseed oil 
 factories in Minneapolis, Chicago, and various Western places. But now it has 
 been discovered that the flax straw, which has heretofore been allowed to rot in 
 the fields as a valueless product, can be utilized for a fibre which will make a 
 satisfactory quality of coarse linen fabrics. Linen mills have been established 
 in Minneapolis, and it is somewhat confidently predicted that in course of time 
 the linen industry of that ambitious city will reach proportions even greater 
 than its wonderful floifr industry, which for a number of years has been without 
 a rival anywhere in the world. 
 
 THE " TWIN CITIES." 
 
 The railroad system of the Northwest has been developed in such a way 
 that no one centre may be fairly regarded as the commercial capital of the 
 region. Chicago, with its marvelous foresight, has thrown out lines of travel 
 that draw to itself much of the traffic which would seem normally to belong to 
 Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Duluth on the north, or to St. Louis and Kansas 
 Sty on the south. But, in the region now under discussion, the famous "Twin 
 ities," Minneapolis and St. Paul, constitute unquestionably the greatest and 
 most distinctive centre, both of business and of civilization. They are beauti- 
 situated, and they add to a long list of natural advantages very many 
 equally desirable attractions growing out of the enterprising and ambitious fore 
 thought of the inhabitants. They are cities of beautiful homes, pleasant parks, 
 enterprising municipal improvements, advanced educational establishments, and 
 
UNITED PUBLIC ACTION AND ITS INFLUENCE. 
 
 523 
 
 varied industrial interests. Each is a distinct urban community, although they 
 lie so near together that they constitute one general centre of commerce and 
 transportation when viewed from a distance. Their stimulating rivalry has had 
 the effect to keep each city alert and to prevent a listless, degenerate local 
 administration. About the Falls of St. Anthony, at Minneapolis, great manu 
 facturing establishments are grouping themselves, and each year adds to the 
 certainty that these two picturesque and charming cities have before them a 
 most brilliant civic future. 
 
 THE FALLS OF ST. ANTHONY, 1885. 
 UNITED PUBLIC ACTION AND ITS INFLUENCE. 
 
 The tendency to rely upon united public action is illustrated in the growth 
 of Northwestern educational systems. The universities of these commonwealths 
 are State universities. Professional education is under the State auspices and 
 control. The normal schools and the agricultural schools belong to the State. 
 The public high school provides intermediate instruction. The common 
 district school, supported jointly by local taxation and State subvention, gives 
 elementary education to the children of all classes. As the towns grow the 
 tendency to graft manual and technical courses upon the ordinary public school 
 curriculum is unmistakably strong. The Northwest, more than any other part 
 of the country, is disposed to make every kind of education a public function. 
 
 Radicalism has flourished in the homogeneous agricultural society of the 
 
524 ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND. 
 
 Northwest. In the anti-monopoly conflict there seemed to have survived some 
 of the intensity of feeling that characterized the anti-slavery movement; and a 
 tinge of this fanatical quality has always been apparent in the Western and 
 Northwestern monetary heresies. But it is in the temperance movement that 
 this sweep of radical impulse has been most irresistible. It was natural that 
 the movement should become political and take the form of an agitation for 
 prohibition. The history of prohibition in Iowa, Kansas, and the Dakotas, and 
 of temperance legislation in Minnesota and Nebraska, reveals even better 
 perhaps than the history of the anti-monopoly movement the radicalism, 
 homogeneity, and powerful socializing tendencies of the Northwestern people. 
 Between these different agitations there has been in reality no slight degree of 
 relationship; at least their origin is to be traced to the same general conditions 
 of society. 
 
 The extent to which a modern community resorts to State action depends 
 in no small measure upon the accumulation of private resources. Public or 
 organized initiative will be relatively strongest where the impulse to progress is 
 positive but the ability of individuals is small. There are few rich men in the 
 Northwest. Iowa, great as is theHawkeye State, has no large city and no large 
 fortunes. Of Kansas the same thing may be said. The Dakotas have no rich 
 men and no cities. Minnesota has Minneapolis and St. Paul, and Nebraska 
 has Omaha ; but otherwise these two States are farming communities, without 
 large cities or concentrated private capital. Accordingly the recourse to public 
 action is comparatively easy. South Dakota farmers desire to guard against 
 drought by opening artesian wells for irrigation. They resort to State legisla 
 tion and the sale of county bonds. North Dakota wheat-growers are unfor 
 tunate in the failure of crops. They secure seed-wheat through State action 
 and their county governments. A similarity of condition fosters associated 
 action and facilitates the progress of popular movements. 
 
 In such a society the spirit of action is intense. If there are few philoso 
 phers, there is remarkable diffusion of popular knowledge and elementary 
 education. The dry atmosphere and the cold winters are nerve-stimulants, and 
 life seems to have a higher tension and velocity than in other parts of the 
 country. 
 
 THE INDIAN QUESTION. 
 
 The Northwest presents a series of very interesting race problems. The 
 first one, chronologically at least, is the problem that the American Indian pre 
 sents. It is not so long ago since the Indian was in possession of a very large 
 portion of the region we are now considering. A number of tribes were gradu 
 ally removed further West, or were assigned to districts in the Indian Territory. 
 But most of them were concentrated in large reservations in Minnesota, 
 
OTHER ELEMENTS OF POPULATION. 
 
 525 
 
 Nebraska, North and South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming. The past few 
 years have witnessed the rapid reduction of these reservations, and the adoption 
 of a policy which, if carried to its logical conclusion with energy and good 
 faith, will at an early date result in the universal education of the children, in 
 the abolition of the system of reservations, and in the settlement of the Indian 
 families upon farms of their own, as fully enfranchised American citizens. 
 
 OTHER ELEMENTS OF POPULATION. 
 
 The most potent single element of population in the Northwest is of New 
 England origin, although more than half of it has found its way into Iowa, 
 Minnesota, the Dakotas, Nebraska, 
 and Kansas, by filtration through 
 
 the intermediate States of New / ^\ 
 
 York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Mich- J&gL*.. \ 
 
 igan, Wisconsin, and Illinois. 
 But there has also been a vast 
 direct immigration from abroad; 
 and this element has come more 
 largely, by far, from the northern 
 than from the central and south 
 ern races of Europe. The Scan 
 dinavian peninsula and the coun 
 tries about the Baltic and North 
 Seas have supplied the Northwest 
 with a population that already 
 numbers millions. From Chi 
 cago to Montana there is now a 
 population of full Scandinavian 
 origin, which, perhaps, may be 
 regarded as about equal in numbers to the population that remains in Sweden 
 and Norway. In Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota, as 
 well as in northern Iowa and in some parts of Nebraska, there are whole counties 
 where the population is almost entirely Scandinavian. Upon all this portion of 
 the country for centuries to come the Scandinavian patronymics will be as firmly 
 fixed as they have been upon the Scotch and English coasts, where the North 
 men intrenched themselves so numerously and firmly about nine hundred or a 
 thousand years ago. The Scandinavians in the Northwest become Americans 
 with a rapidity unequal ed by any other non-English-speaking element. Their 
 political ambition is as insatiate as that of the Irish, and they already secure 
 ofiices in numbers. Their devotion to the American school system, their polit- 
 
 LAKE-SHORE DRIVE, CHICAGO. 
 
626 ADMINISTRATION OF CLEVELAND. 
 
 ical aptitude and ambition, and their enthusiastic pride in American citizen 
 ship are thoroughly hopeful traits, and it is generally believed that they will 
 contribute much of strength and sturdiness to the splendid race of North 
 western Americans that is to be developed in the Upper Mississippi and Mis 
 souri Valleys. The Northwestern Germans evince a tendency to mass in towns, 
 as in Milwaukee, and to preserve intact their language and national traits. 
 
 SOCIETY AND GENERAL CULTURE. 
 
 The large towns of the Northwest are notable for the great numbers of the 
 brightest and most energetic of the young business and professional men of the 
 East that they contain. While they lack the leisure class and the traditions of 
 culture that belong to older communities, they may justly claim a far higher 
 percentage of college-bred men and of families of cultivated tastes than belong 
 to Eastern towns of like population. The intense pressure of business and 
 absorption of private pursuits are, for the present, seeming obstacles to the 
 progress of Western communities in the highest things; but already the zeal 
 for public improvements and for social progress in all that pertains to true 
 culture is very great. Two decades hence no man will question the quality of 
 Northwestern civilization. If the East is losing something of its distinctive 
 Americanism through the influx of foreign elements and the decay of its old- 
 time farming communities, the growth of the Northwest, largely upon the basis 
 of New England blood and New England ideas, will make full compensation. 
 
 Every nation of the world confronts its own racial or climatic or industrial 
 problems, and nowhere is there to be found an ideal state of happiness or virtue 
 or prosperity; but, all things considered, it may well be doubted whether there 
 exists any other extensive portion, either of America or of the world, in which 
 there is so little of pauperism, of crime, of social inequality, of ignorance, and 
 of chafing discontent, as in the agricultural Northwest that lies between Chicago 
 and the Rocky Mountains. Schools and churches are almost everywhere flour 
 ishing in this region, and the necessities of life are not beyond the reach of any 
 element or class. There is a pleasantness, a hospitality, and a friendliness in 
 the social life of the Western communities that is certainly not surpassed. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 OK McPCINLKY, 18O7-1OO1, 
 
 William McKinley Organization of "Greater New York "Removal of General Grant s Remains to, 
 Morningside Park The Klondike Gold Excitement Spain s Misrule in Cuba Preliminary Events 
 of the Spanish-American War. 
 
 THE TWENTY-FIFTH PRESIDENT. 
 
 WILLIAM McKiNLEY was born at Niles, Trurabull County, Ohio, January 
 29, 1843, of Scotch ancestry, his father, David, being one of the pioneers of the 
 iron business in Eastern Ohio. 
 
 The parents were in moderate 
 circumstances, and the son, having 
 prepared for college, was matricu 
 lated at Alleghany College, Mead- 
 ville, Pennsylvania, but his poor 
 health soon obliged him to return 
 to his home. He became a school 
 teacher at the salary of $25 per 
 month, and, as was the custom in 
 many of the country districts, he 
 "boarded round;" that is, he made 
 his home by turns with the different 
 patrons of his school. He used 
 rigid economy, his ambition being 
 to save enough money to pay his 
 way through college. 
 
 Destiny, however, had another 
 career awaiting him. The great 
 Civil War was impending, and when 
 the news of the firing on Fort Su in 
 ter was flashed through the land, 
 his patriotic impulses were roused, and, like thousands of others, he hurried 
 to the defense of his country. He enlisted in Company E, as a private. It 
 was attached to the Twenty-third Ohio regiment, of which W. S. Rosecraus, 
 
 (527) 
 
 WILLIA.M McKiNLEY. 
 
 (1S43- .) One term, 1M7-1901. 
 
528 ADMINISTRATION OF McKINLEY. 
 
 was colonel and Rutherford B. Hayes major. Of no other regiment can it be 
 said that it furnished two Presidents to the United States. 
 
 For more than a year Private McKinley carried a musket, and on the loth 
 of April, 1862, was promoted to a sergeancy. Looking back to those stirring 
 days of his young manhood, President McKinley has said : 
 
 "I always recall them with pleasure. Those fourteen months that I served 
 in the ranks taught me a great deal. I was but a schoolboy when I went into 
 the army, and that first year was a formative period of my life, during which I 
 learned much of men and affairs. I have always been glad that I entered the 
 service as a private and served those months in that capacity." 
 
 McKinley made a good soldier and saw plenty of fighting. Six weeks 
 after leaving Columbus, his regiment was in the battle of Carnifex Ferry, 
 Western Virginia, where the only victories of the early days of the war were 
 won. It was the hardest kind of work, hurrying back and forth through the 
 mountains, drenched by rains, and on short rations most of the time. The boy 
 did his work well and was soon ordered to Washington, where he became one 
 of the units in the splendid Army of the Potomac under General McClellan. 
 
 At Antietam, the bloodiest battle of the war, McKinley s gallantry was so 
 conspicuous that he was promoted to a lieutenancy. He was sent to West 
 Virginia again, where he was fighting continually. As an evidence of the kind 
 of work he did, it may be said that one morning his regiment breakfasted in 
 Pennsylvania, ate dinner in Maryland, and took supper in Virginia. 
 
 Winning promotion by his fine conduct, he became captain, July 25, 1864, 
 and was brevetted major, on the recommendation of General Sheridan, for con 
 spicuous bravery at Cedar Creek and Fisher s Hill. The title, "Major McKin 
 ley," therefore, is the military one by which the President is remembered. 
 
 With the coining of peace, the young man found himself a veteran of the 
 war at the age of twenty-two, and compelled to decide upon the means of earning 
 his living. He took up the study of law, and was graduated from the Albany. 
 N. Y., law school, and admitted to the bar in 1867. He began practice in 
 Canton, Ohio, and, by his ability and conscientious devotion, soon achieved 
 success. He early showed an interest in politics, and was often called upon to 
 make public addresses. He identified himself with the Republican party, and 
 was elected district attorney in Stark County, which almost invariably went 
 Democratic. In 1876, he was elected to Congress, against a normal Democratic 
 majority, for five successive terms, being defeated when he ran the sixth time 
 through the gerrymandering of his district by his political opponents. 
 
 During his seven terms in Congress, Mr. McKinley was noted for his clear 
 grasp of national questions and his interest in tariff legislation. It was in 1890 
 that he brought about the passage of the tariff measure which is always asso- 
 
"GREATER NEW YORK: 9 
 
 529 
 
 ciated with his name. In the same year he was defeated, but, being nominated 
 for governor, he was elected by 80,000 majority. As in the case of Mr. Cleve 
 land, this triumph attracted national attention, and his administration was so 
 satisfactory that he could have received the nomination for the presidency twice 
 before he accepted it. 
 
 The presidential administration of Me 
 the most eventful in our history, for, as set 
 ters, it marked our entrance among the lead 
 in the field of territorial expansion beyond 
 tinent and hemisphere. Before entering 
 phase of our national existence, attention 
 happenings of a different nature. One of 
 these was the organization of what is popu 
 larly known as "Greater New York." 
 
 Kinley has proven one of 
 forth in the following chap- 
 ing nations of the world, 
 the limits of our own con- 
 upon the history of this 
 must be given to important 
 
 THE OBELISK IN CENTRAL PARK, NEW YORK. 
 
 "GREATER NEW YORK." 
 
 For a number of years, a prominent question among the inhabitants of the 
 metropolis and. outlying cities was that of their union under one government. 
 The New York Legislature in 1890 appointed a committee to inquire into and 
 report upon the subject. After several years of discussion, the Legislature 
 provided for a referendum, the result of which showed a large majority in favor 
 
ADMINISTRATION OF McKINLEY. 
 
 of uniting the cities referred to. A bill was carefully framed, passed both 
 branches of the law-making body by a strong vote in February, 1897, and was 
 signed by the mayors of Brooklyn and of Long Island City. Mayor Strong, 
 of New York, however, vetoed the bill, but the Legislature immediately repassed 
 it, and it was signed by Governor Black. 
 
 The expanded metropolis began its official existence January 1, 1898, the 
 government being vested in a mayor and a municipal assembly, which consists 
 of two branches elected by the people. The population at the time named was 
 about 3,400,000, the daily increase being 400. Should this rate continue, the 
 total population at the middle of the twentieth century will be 10,000,000, 
 which will make it the most populous in the world, unless London wakes up 
 and grows faster than at present. 
 
 The area of Greater New York is 317.77 square miles. Its greatest width 
 from the Hudson River to the boundary line across Long Island beyond Creed- 
 moor is sixteen miles, and the extreme length, from the southern end of Staten 
 Island to the northern limits of Yonkers, is thirty-two miles. Within these 
 bounds are the cities of New York, Brooklyn, Long Island City, Jamaica, all 
 of Staten Island, the western end of Long Island, Coney Island, Kockaway, 
 Valley Stream, Flushing, Whitestone, College Point, Willets Point, Fort 
 Schuyler, Throggs Neck, Westchester, Baychester, Pelham Manor, Van 
 Cortlandt, Riverdale, and Spuyten Devil. 
 
 REMOVAL OF GENERAL GRANT S REMAINS TO MORNINGSIDE PARK. 
 
 The removal of the remains of General Grant to their final resting-place 
 in the magnificent tomb on Morningside Heights, on the banks of the Hudson, 
 took place during the first year of McKinley s administration, and was marked 
 by ceremonies among the most impressive ever witnessed in the metropolis of 
 the country. The final tributes to the foremost defender of the country were 
 made by eloquent tongues, and pens, and by the reverent affection of the nation 
 itself. 
 
 There have been many attempts made to analyze the character of this remark 
 able man. Some of his most intimate friends failed to understand him. Among 
 the best of these analyses is that of Lieutenant-General John M. Schofield. In 
 this our last reference to General Grant, the words of his trusted confidant 
 deserve record: 
 
 "General Sherman wrote that he could not understand Grant, and doubted 
 
 Grant understood himself. A very distinguished statesman, whose name I 
 
 1 not mention, said to me that, in his opinion, there was nothing special in 
 
 Grant to understand. Others have varied widely in their estimates of that 
 
REMOVAL OF GENERAL GRANT S REMAINS. 
 
 531 
 
 terest, 
 being 
 
 extraordinary character. Yet I believe its most extraordinary quality was its 
 extreme simplicity, so extreme that many have entirely overlooked it in their 
 search for some deeply hidden secret to account for so great a character, 
 unmindful of the general fact that simplicity is one of the most prominent 
 attributes of greatness. 
 
 "The greatest of all the traits of Grant s character was that which lay 
 always on the surface, visible to all who had eyes to see it. That was his moral 
 and intellectual honesty, integrity, sincerity, veracity, and justice. He was 
 incapable of any attempt to deceive anybody, except for a legitimate purpose, 
 as in military strategy; and, above p* 
 all, he was incapable of deceiving 
 himself. He possessed that rarest 
 of all human faculties, the power 
 of a perfectly accurate estimate of 
 himself, uninfluenced by vanity, 
 pride, ambition, flattery, or self-in- 
 Grant was very far from 
 a modest man, as the word 
 is generally understood. His just 
 self-esteem w r as as far above it as it 
 was above flattery. The highest 
 enconiums were accepted for what he 
 believed them to be worth. They 
 did not disturb his equilibrium in 
 the slightest degree. Confiding, just, 
 and generous to everybody else, he 
 treated with silent contempt any 
 suggestion that he had been unfaith 
 ful to any obligation. He was too 
 
 proud to explain where his honor JOHN SHERMAN. 
 
 had been questioned. Secretar > of state under Pr " itk>m M(>Kin ey : resig " e 
 
 "While Grant knew his own merits as well as anybody did, he also knew 
 his own imperfections and estimated them at their real value. For example, 
 his inability to speak in public, which produced the impression of extreme 
 modesty or diffidence, he accepted simply as a fact in his nature which was of 
 little or no consequence, and which he did not even care to conceal. He would 
 not, for many years, even take the trouble to jot down a few words in advance, 
 so as to be able to say something when called upon. Indeed, I believe he would 
 have regarded it as an unworthy attempt to appear in a false light if he had 
 made preparations in advance for an extemporaneous speech. Even when he 
 
 
532 ADMINISTRATION OF McKINLEY. 
 
 did in later years write some notes on the back of a dinner-card, he would take 
 care to let everybody see that he had done so by holding the card in plain view 
 while he read his little speech. After telling a story, in which the facts had 
 been modified somewhat to give the greater effect, which no one could enjoy 
 more than he did, Grant would take care to explain exactly in what respects he 
 had altered the facts for the purpose of increasing the interest in his story, so 
 that he might not leave any wrong impression. 
 
 "When Grant s attention was called to any mistake he had committed, he 
 would see and admit it as quickly and unreservedly as if it had been made by 
 anybody else, and with a smile which expressed the exact opposite of that 
 feeling which most men are apt to show under like circumstances. His love of 
 truth and justice was so far above all personal considerations that he showed 
 unmistakable evidence of gratification when any error into which he might 
 have fallen was corrected. The fact that he had made a mistake and that it was 
 plainly pointed out to him did not produce the slightest unpleasant impression ; 
 while the further fact, that no harm had resulted from his mistake, gave him 
 real pleasure. In Grant s judgment, no case in which any wrong had been 
 done could possibly be regarded as finally settled until that wrong was righted, 
 and if he himself had been, in any sense, a party to that wrong, he was the 
 more earnest in his desire to see justice done. While he thus showed a total 
 absence of any false pride of opinion or of knowledge, no man could be firmer 
 than he in adherence to his mature judgment, nor more earnest in his deter 
 mination, on proper occasions, to make it understood that his opinion was his 
 own and not borrowed from anybody else. His pride in his own mature 
 opinion was very great; in that he was as far as possible from being a modest 
 man. This absolute confidence in his own judgment upon any subject which 
 he had mastered, and the moral courage to take upon himself alone the highest 
 responsibility, and to demand full authority and freedom to act according to his 
 own judgment, without interference from anybody, added to his accurate esti 
 mate of his own ability and clear perception of the necessity for undivided 
 authority and responsibility in the conduct of military operations, and in all 
 that concerns the efficiency of armies in time of war, constituted the foundation 
 of that very great character. 
 
 "When summoned to Washington to take command of all the armies, with 
 the rank of lieutenant-general, he determined, before he reached the capital, 
 that he would not accept the command under any conditions than those above 
 stated. His sense of honor and of loyalty to the country would not permit 
 him to consent to be placed in a false position, one in which he could not 
 perform the service which the country had been led to expect from him, and he 
 had the courage to say so in unqualified terms. 
 
REMOVAL OF GENERAL GRANT S REMAINS. 
 
 533 
 
 " These traits of Grant s character must now be perfectly familiar to all 
 who have studied his history, as well as to those who enjoyed familiar inter 
 course with him during his life. They are the traits of character which made 
 him, as it seems to me, a very great man, the only man of our time, so far as we 
 know, who possessed both the character and the military ability which were, 
 under the circumstances, indispensable in the commander of the armies which 
 were to suppress the great rebellion. 
 
 "It has been said that Grant, like Lincoln, was a typical American, and 
 for that reason was most beloved and respected by the people. That is true of 
 the statesman and the soldier, as 
 well as of the people, if it is meant 
 that they were the highest type, that 
 ideal which commands the respect 
 and admiration of the highest and 
 best in a man s nature, however far 
 he may know it to be above himself. 
 The soldiers and the people saw in 
 
 Grant or in Lincoln, not one of 
 
 themselves, not a plain man of the 
 
 people, nor yet some superior being 
 
 whom they could not understand, 
 
 but the personification of their high 
 
 est ideal of a citizen, soldier, or 
 
 statesman, a man whose greatness 
 
 they could see and understand as 
 
 plainly as they could anything else 
 
 under the sun. And there was no 
 
 more mystery about it all, in fact, 
 
 than there was in the popular mind." [_ 
 
 SPEAKER THOMAS B. REED. 
 ~ Resigned as Speaker in 1899. 
 
 To the widow of General Grant . 
 
 was <nven the right to select the spot tor the last resting-place of his re! 
 The to repose after death beside her husband. She decided upon Reside 
 It then be came the privilege of his friends to provide a suitab e tomb fo, the 
 illustrious soldier. The funds needed, amounting to nearly half a mil >1- 
 
 aTwer raised by subscription, ground was broken on the anniversary of 
 Grant s birthday, April 27, 1891, and a year later the corner-stone was laid by 
 
 
 Grant, standing on the banks of the Hudson, is an 
 impoing strture, s.uare in shape, ninety feet on each side, and of the Grec.an- 
 
534 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF McKINLEY. 
 
 Doric order. The entrance on the south side is guarded by a portico in double 
 lines of columns, approached by steps seventy feet in width. The tomb is 
 surmounted at a height of seventy-two feet with a cornice and parapet, above 
 which is a circular cupola, seventy feet in diameter, terminating in a top the 
 shape of a pyramid, which is 280 feet above the river. 
 
 The interior of the structure is of cruciform form, seventy-six feet at its 
 greatest length, the piers of masonry at the corners being connected by arches 
 which form recesses. The arches are fifty feet in height, and are surmounted 
 by an open circular gallery, capped with a panneled dome, 105 feet above the 
 tioor. Scenes in General Grant s career are depicted with sculpture on the plane 
 
 TOMB OF U S. GRANT, NEW YORK. 
 
 and relieved surfaces in alto rilievo. The granite of the structure is light in 
 color, and the sarcophagus of brilliant reddish porphyry. The crypt rests 
 directly under the centre of the dome, stairways connecting with the passage 
 surrounding the sarcophagus, where the remains of the widow of General Grant 
 are eventually to repose. 
 
 The ceremonies attending the removal of the remains on April 27, 1897, 
 included three impressive displays, the ceremony at the tomb, the parade of the 
 army the National Guard and civic bodies and the review of the navy and 
 merchant marine on the Hudson. Those who gathered to take part in the final 
 tribute to the great soldier included the President, Vice-President of the United 
 
REMOVAL OF GENERAL GRANT S REMAINS. 
 
 535 
 
 States, the Cabinet, many State governors, prominent American citizens, and 
 representatives of foreign nations. From 129th Street to the Battery, and from 
 Whitehall up East River to the Bridge, thousands of American and foreign 
 flags were displayed, while the parade of men on foot included 60,000 persons. 
 Bishop Newman opened the exercises with prayer, and President McKinley 
 made one of the finest speeches of his life, the opening words of which were: 
 
 "A oreat life, dedicated to the welfare of the nation, here finds its earthly 
 coronation. Even if this day lacked the impressiveness of ceremony and was 
 
 - _ mrwr 
 
 devoid of pagean 
 be memorable, be 
 anniversary of the 
 famous and best be 
 icau soldiers." 
 
 The President 
 the words : 
 
 "With Wash 
 coin, Grant had an 
 
 try, it would still 
 cause it is the 
 birth of the most 
 loved of Amer- 
 
 concluded with 
 
 KEVIEW OF THE NAVY AND MERCHANT 
 ON THE HUDSON, APBIL 27, 1897. 
 
 ington and Lin- 
 exalted place in 
 
 an e affections of the people. To-day * 
 esteem by those whom he led to victory, and by those who accepted his ge ^ous 
 STof peace The veteran leaders of the Blue and Gray here meet not onlj 
 oh nor Te name of Grant, but to testify to the living reality of a fraternal 
 
536 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF McKINLEY. 
 
 national spirit which has triumphed over the differences of the past and trans 
 cends the limitations of sectional lines. Its completion which we pray God to 
 speed will be the nation s greatest glory. 
 
 "It is right that General Grant should have a memorial commensurate with 
 his greatness, and that his last resting-place should be in the city of his choice, 
 to which he was so attached, and of whose ties he was not forgetful even in 
 death. Fitting, too, is it that the great soldier should sleep beside the noble 
 river on whose banks he first learned the art of war, and of which he became 
 master and leader without a rival. 
 
 " But let us not forget the glorious distinction with which the metropolis 
 among the fair sisterhood of American cities has honored his life and memory. 
 
 With all that riches and sculpture can do 
 to render the edifice worthy of the man, 
 upon a site unsurpassed for magnificence, 
 has this monument, been reared by New 
 York as a perpetual record of his illus 
 trious deeds, in the certainty that, as time 
 passes, around it will assemble, with grati 
 tude and reverence and veneration, men of 
 all climes, races, and nationalities. 
 
 " New York holds in its keeping the 
 precious dust of the silent soldier, but his 
 achievements what he and his brave com 
 rades wrought for mankind are in the 
 keeping of seventy millions of American 
 citizens, who will guard the sacred heritage 
 forever and forevermore." 
 
 VlKIII \MIHK\\ !K\\s!M/kM\llU\ 
 L IRMUM, IHMIYO "> 
 
 \l ASKA 
 
 General Horace Porter, president of the Grant Memorial Association, made 
 an address, giving the history of the crowning work of the association, rendering 
 acknowledgment to those who had given valuable help, and closing with a 
 masterly and eloquent tribute to the great citizen whom all had gathered to 
 honor. 
 
 THE KLONDIKE GOLD EXCITEMENT. 
 
 There was much excitement throughout the country in 1897 over the 
 reported discoveries of rich deposits of gold in the Klondike, as the region 
 along the Yukon River in Alaska is called. These reports were discredited at 
 first, but they were repeated, and proof soon appeared that they were based 
 upon truth. In the autumn of 1896, about fifty miners visited the section, led 
 thither by the rumors that had come to them. None of the men carried more 
 
SPAIN S MISRULE IN CUBA. 
 
 537 
 
 than his outfit and a few hundred dollars, but when they returned they brought 
 gold to the value of from $5,000 to $100,000 apiece, besides leaving claims behind 
 them that were worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. In July, 1897, a 
 party of miners arrived at Seattle from the Klondike, bringing with them 
 nuggets and gold-dust weighing more than a ton and worth a million and a 
 half of dollars. Besides this, other men continually came back with such 
 quantities of the precious metal that it was apparent that not only were the 
 reports justified, but, what 
 is the exception in such 
 cases, the whole truth had 
 not been told. 
 
 The natural . conse 
 quence was that a rush 
 set in for the Klondike, 
 which is the name of a 
 tributary of the Yukon, 
 and flows through the 
 richest gold fields, where 
 the mining days of early 
 California were repeated. 
 Dawson City was founded 
 at the mouth of the Klon 
 dike, and in a short time 
 had a population of 5,000. 
 Before the year closed, 
 500 claims were located, 
 with more taken up daily. 
 As was inevitable, there 
 was much suffering, for 
 the Yukon is closed by 
 ice during the greater 
 part of the year, and the 
 winter climate is of Arctic 
 severity. The most productive fields were found to be not in Alaska, but in 
 the British provinces known as the Northwest Territories. While many 
 gathered fortunes in the Klondike, the majority, after great hardships and 
 suffering, returned to their homes poorer than when they left them. 
 
 READY FOR THE TRAIL. 
 
 SPAIN S MISRULE IX CUBA. 
 
 The administration of McKinley occupies a prominent place in American 
 
538 ADMINISTRATION OF McKINLEY. 
 
 history because of our brief and decisive war with Spain. A full account is 
 given in the pages that follow, but it is proper in this chapter to set forth some 
 historical facts, that will serve to clear the way to a proper understanding of the 
 btory of the war itself. 
 
 Spain may best illustrate the certain decline of the Latin race and the rise 
 of the Anglo-Saxon. When America was discovered, she was the leading 
 maritime power of the world, but she was corrupt, rapacious, ferocious, and 
 totally devoid of what is best expressed by the term "common sense." So 
 lacking indeed was she in this prime requisite that she alienated, when it was 
 just as easy to attract, the weaker nations and colonies with which she came in 
 contact. It has been shown in the earlier chapters of this work that when her 
 exploring expeditions into the interior of America were obliged to depend for 
 their own existence upon the good-will of the natives, and when they could 
 readily gain and retain that good-will, they roused the hatred of the simple- 
 minded natives by their frightful cruelties. The chief amusement of the early 
 Spaniards was killing Indians. They did it from the innate brutality of their 
 nature, when they could have gained tenfold more by justice and kindness. 
 
 The treatment of those poor people was precisely what on a larger scale has 
 been shown to her colonies. England wins and holds her dependencies through 
 her liberality and justice; Spain repels hers through her treachery, falsehoods, 
 and injustice. As a consequence, England has become one of the mightiest 
 nations in the world, while Spain has steadily declined to a fourth-rate power. 
 With the example of the results of her idiocy, to say nothing of its dishonor, 
 ever before her, she has persisted in that idiocy, never learning from experience, 
 but always selfish, short-sighted, cruel, treacherous, and unjust. 
 
 The steadiness with which Cuba clung to the mother country won for her 
 the title of the "Ever Faithful Isle." Had she received any consideration at 
 all, she still would have held fast. She poured princely revenues into the lap 
 of Spain; when other colonies revolted, she refused to be moved. It required 
 long years of outrage, robbery, and injustice to turn her affection into hate, but 
 Spain persisted until the time came when human nature could stand no more. 
 The crushed worm turned at last. 
 
 When Napoleon Bonaparte deposed the Bourbon King, Ferdinand VII., 
 in 1808, and placed his brother Joseph on the throne of Spain, Cuba declared 
 her loyalty to the old dynasty, and the king made many promises of what he 
 would do to prove his gratitude when he should come to his own. This took 
 place five years later, whereupon the king violated every pledge he had made. 
 
 The truth gradually worked its way into the Cuban mind that the only 
 thing a Spaniard could be depended upon to do is to violate his most solemn 
 promises. Secret societies began assuming form in the island, whose plotting 
 
SPAIN S MISRULE IN CUBA. 
 
 539 
 
 and aim were to wrest their country from Spain, on the ground of the non-ful 
 fillment of the pledges made by Ferdinand VII. of what he would do when he 
 came to the throne. 
 
 Preparations were made for a revolt, whose avowed object was the estab 
 lishment of a Cuban republic. A certain night in 1823 was fixed upon for a 
 general uprising, but there were traitors in the councils, who notified the author 
 ities, and, before the date named, the leaders were arrested and the revolt 
 quenched ere a blow could be struck. 
 
 These severe measures could not quell the spirit of liberty that was abroad. 
 It was not long before the Black Eagle Society was formed. It included many 
 hundred members, had its headquarters in 
 Mexico, and boldly secured recruits in 
 the United States. But again the cause 
 was betrayed by its members, the leaders 
 were arrested and imprisoned, and Spain 
 was secure for a time in the control of 
 the island. 
 
 As an illustration of that country s 
 course against suspected citizens, it may 
 be said that in 1844 a rumor spread that 
 large numbers of the slaves on the plan 
 tations near Matanzas were making secret 
 preparations to rise and slay their masters. 
 Investigation failed to establish the truth 
 of these charges, but many were put to 
 the torture to compel them to confess, and 
 nearly a hundred were condemned and 
 shot in cold blood. 
 
 Naturally the affairs of Cuba from 
 
 its proximity were always of great interest to the United States, and a number 
 of filibustering expeditions landed on the island and aided the Cubans in their 
 futile revolts against Spain. These attempts at their best could only keep the 
 island in a turmoil, and give Spain the pretext for using the most brutal meas 
 ures of repression. 
 
 In 1868 a revolution occurred in Spain itself, and Queen Isabella, one of 
 the worst rulers that sorely accursed country ever had, was driven into exile. 
 Cuba had not forgotten the lesson of the opening of the century, and, instead 
 of proclaiming her loyalty to the deposed dynasty, she seized what promised to 
 be a favorable opportunity for gaining her own independence. 
 
 One of the fairest and most impartial publications anywhere is the Edin- 
 
 GENERAL CALIXTO GARCIA. 
 
 Hero of three wars for Cuba s freedom. Died of pneumonia 
 
 in Washington, D. C., December, 1598. 
 
640 ADMINISTRATION OF McKINLEY. 
 
 burgh Review, which used the following language in giving the reasons for the 
 Cuban revolt of 1868: 
 
 " Spain governs the island of Cuba with an iron and blood-stained hand. 
 The former holds the latter deprived of political, civil, and religious liberties. 
 Hence the unfortunate Cubans being illegally prosecuted and sent into exile, or 
 executed by military commissions, in times of peace; hence their being kept 
 from public meetings, and forbidden to speak or write on affairs of State; hence 
 their remonstrances against the evils that afflicted them being looked upon as 
 the proceedings of rebels, from the fact that they are obliged to keep silence 
 and obey; hence the never-ending plague of hungry officials from Spain to 
 devour the product of their industry and labor; hence their exclusion from the 
 art of government; hence the restrictions to which public instruction with them 
 is subjected in order to keep them so ignorant as not to be able to know and 
 enforce their rights in any shape or form whatever; hence the navy and the 
 standing army, which are kept in their country at an enormous expenditure 
 from their own wealth to make them bend their knees and submit their necks 
 to the iron yoke that disgraces them ; hence the grinding taxation under which 
 they labor, and which would make all perish in misery but for the marvelous 
 fertility of their soil." 
 
 The opportunity was a golden one for Spain to win back the affection of 
 Cuba by generosity and justice. What steps did she take to do so? 
 
 Although the Cubans were ground to the very dust by taxation, levied in 
 all cases by Spaniards, and not by their own officials, Spain proposed, in 1868, 
 to add to the burden. In October of that year Carlos M. de Cespedes, a lawyer 
 of Bayamo, raised the standard of revolt, placed himself at the head of a 
 handful of patriots, which were soon joined by thousands, and in April, 1869, 
 a republican constitution was adopted, slavery declared abolished, Cespedes was 
 elected president, Francisco Aguilero vice-president, and a legislature was called 
 together. 
 
 There never was hope of this insurrection securing the independence ot 
 Cuba. The patriots were too few in number, too badly armed and equipped, 
 and not handled so as to be effective. But they caused great suffering and ruin 
 throughout the island. They instituted a guerrilla system of warfare, and cost 
 Spain many valuable lives. The wet and rainy seasons came and went, and still 
 the savage fighting continued, until at last the rebels as well as the Spaniards 
 were ready to welcome peace. 
 
 Martinez Campos was the Spanish commander, and he promised General 
 Maximo Gomez, leader of the insurgents, that the reforms for which he and his 
 
SPAIN S MISRULE IN CUBA. 
 
 541 
 
 comrades were contending should be granted on condition that they laid down 
 their arms. The pledge was a sacred one, and no doubt Campos meant 
 honestly to keep it. Unfortunately, however, there were higher powers than 
 he behind him. Gomez accepted the promises of a brother soldier, and on 
 February 10, 1878, the treaty of El Zanjon was signed. 
 
 This treaty guaranteed representation to the Cubans in the Spanish Cortes, 
 and all who took part in the insurrection were pardoned. 
 
 Now the lesson of all this was so plain that the wayfaring man, though a 
 fool, had no excuse for erring. Spain had bitterly learned the temper of the 
 Cubans. She could not fail to see that but one possible way existed for her to 
 retain control of them, and, of course, that 
 was the very way she avoided. The 
 Madrid authorities thought they did a 
 wise thing when they secured control of 
 the polls, and made sure that the dele 
 gates elected were their own. Schools, 
 sewerage, roads, everything that could 
 help the island were neglected and taxa 
 tion increased. The reforms promised to 
 the insurgents upon condition of laying 
 down their arms proved a delusion and a 
 snare. Thus the "captain-general" had 
 his name changed to " governor-gene 
 ral," but his tyrannical powers remained 
 the same as before. The right of banish 
 ment was formally repealed, but the out 
 rages continued under another law that 
 was equally effective, and so on to the end 
 of the chapter. Once again the Cubans 
 had been fooled by trusting to Spanish honor. They resolved that as soon as 
 arrangements could be effected, they would set another insurrection on foot, which 
 would be fought out to the death or until independence was secured. 
 
 Several important ends were accomplished by the Ten Years War. 
 Slavery was abolished in 1886, and the island was divided into the present six 
 provinces. As in previous instances the United States was counted upon for 
 the greatest material assistance in prosecuting the revolution. The spirit of 
 adventure is always strong among Americans, and the filibustering enterprises 
 appealed strongly to them. The spice of danger by which they were attended 
 was their chief attraction. Our government was bound by treaty to prevent 
 them, so far as she could, and it went to great expense in doing so. A number 
 
 GENERAL MAXIMO GOMEZ- 
 
 The Washington of Cuba is the title applied to this hero, 
 who, as Commander-in-Chief of the patriot army, made 
 Cuban liberty possible. 
 
543 ADMINISTRATION OF McKINLEY. 
 
 of expeditions were unable to get away from New York, but others escaped the 
 vigilance of officials, and landed guns, ammunition, and men at different points 
 on the island. One of the greatest helps in this unlawful business was the dis 
 honesty of the officials employed by Spain to prevent the landing of supplies 
 and men. There was never any difficulty in bribing these officers, who stumbled 
 over one another in their eagerness to be bribed. 
 
 THE LAST CUBAN REVOLUTION LAUNCHED. 
 
 Meanwhile, the leader^ in the former late revolt were consulting upon the 
 best steps to launch the new revolution. Maximo Gomez was living in San 
 Domingo, and, when he was offered the command of the revolutionary forces, he 
 promptly accepted the responsibility. The offer came to him through Jose 
 Marti, the head of the organization. 
 
 The grim veterans were resolute in their purpose. After studying the 
 situation, they agreed that a general uprising should be set on foot in all the 
 provinces on February 24, 1895. It was impossible to do this, but the standard 
 of revolt was raised on the date named in three of the provinces^ 
 
 One Spanish official read truly the meaning of the signs. He was Calleja, 
 the captain-general. Though the revolt in the province of Santiago de Cuba 
 looked trifling, he knew it was like a tiny blaze kindled in the dry prairie 
 grass. He wished to act liberally toward the insurgents, but the blind govern 
 ment at Madrid blocked his every step. Since it had played the fool from the 
 beginning, it kept up the farce to the end. They ordered Calleja to stamp out 
 the rebellion, and he did his utmost to obey orders. 
 
 Could the royal and insurgent forces be brought to meet in fair combat, 
 the latter would have been crushed out of existence at the first meeting. But 
 the insurgent leaders were too shrewd to risk anything of that nature. They 
 resumed their guerrilla tactics, striking hard blows, here, there, anywhere that 
 the chance offered, and then fled into the woods and mountains before the 
 regulars could be brought against them. 
 
 Such a style of warfare is always cruel and accompanied by outrages of a 
 shocking character. The Cubans were as savage in their methods as the 
 Spaniards. They blew up bridges and railroad trains with dynamite, regard 
 less of the fact that, in so doing, it was the innocent instead of the guilty who 
 suffered. They burned the sugar cane, destroyed the tobacco and coffee 
 plantations, and impoverished the planters in order to shut off the revenues of 
 Spain and deprive her forces of their needed supplies; they spread desolation 
 and ruin everywhere, in the vain hope that the mother country could thus be 
 brought to a realizing sense of the true situation. 
 
 But Spain was deaf and blind. She sent thousands of soldiers across the 
 
THE LAST CUBAN REVOLUTION LAUNCHED. 
 
 ;j 13 
 
 Atlantic, including the members of the best families in the kingdom, to die in 
 the pestilential lowlands of Cuba, while trying to stamp out the tires of revolu 
 tion that continually grew and spread. 
 
 The island was cursed by three political parties, each of which was 
 strenuous in the maintenance of its views. The dominant party of course was 
 the loyalists, who held all the offices and opposed any compromise with the 
 insurgents. They were quite willing to make promises, with no intention of 
 fulfilling them, but knew the Cubans could no longer be deceived. 
 
 The second party was the insurgents, who, as has been shown, had 
 "enlisted for the war," and were determined not to lay down their arms until 
 independence was achieved. The autono 
 mists stood between these extremes, favor 
 ing home rule instead of independence, 
 while admitting the misgovernment of 
 Cuba, 
 
 The Spaniards were determined to 
 prevent the coming of Antonio Maceo, a 
 veteran of the Ten Years War, possessed | 
 of great courage and resources, who was 
 living in Costa Rica. They knew he had 
 been communicated with and his presence 
 would prove a tower of strength to the in 
 surgents. Bodies of Spanish cavalry gal 
 loped along the coasts, on the alert to catch 
 or shoot the rebel leader, while the officials 
 closely watched all arrivals at the seaports 
 for the feared rebel. 
 
 Despite these precautions, Maceo and 
 twenty-two comrades of the previous war 
 
 effected a landing on the eastern end of the island. They were almost im 
 mediately discovered by the Spanish cavalry, and a fierce fight followed, in which 
 several Cubans were killed. Maceo fought furiously, seemingly inspired by the 
 knowledge that he was again striking for the freedom of his country, and he 
 came within a hair of being killed. He eluded his enemies, however, and, 
 plunging into the thickets, started for the interior to meet the other insurgent 
 leaders. The abundance of tropical fruits saved him from starving, and it was 
 not long before he met with straggling bodies of his countrymen, who hailed 
 his coming with enthusiasm. Recruits rapidly gathered around him, and he 
 placed himself at the head of the ardent patriots. 
 
 It was just ten days after the landing of Maceo that Gomez and Jase 
 
 JOSE MARTI. 
 
 President of the Cuban Revolutionary Party. Led into 
 ambush and killed by the Spaniaids, Slay 19, 1896. 
 
544 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OF McKINLEY. 
 
 Marti, coming from Santo Domingo, landed on the southern coast of Cuba. 
 They had a lively time in avoiding the Spanish patrol, but succeeded in reach 
 ing a strong force of insurgents, and Gomez assumed his duties as commander- 
 in-chief. Recruits were gathered to the number of several thousand, and 
 Gomez and Marti started for the central provinces with the purpose of formally 
 establishing the government. Marti was led astray on the road by a treacherous 
 guide and killed. 
 
 Fully alive to the serious work before him, Captain-General Calleja called 
 upon Spain for help in quelling the rebellion. She sent 25,000 troops to Cuba 
 and Calleja was relieved by Field-Marshal Campos. This w r as a popular move, 
 
 for it was Campos who brought the Ten 
 Years War to a close, and it was gener 
 ally believed he would repeat his success. 
 The first important act of Campos 
 was to divide Cuba into zones, by means 
 of a number of strongly guarded military 
 lines, extending north and south across 
 the narrower part of the island. They 
 were called "trochas," and were expected 
 to offer an impassable check to the in 
 surgents, who, thus confined within defi 
 nite limits, could be crushed or driven 
 into the sea with little difficulty. 
 
 The scheme, however, was a failure. 
 The rebels crossed the trochas at will, 
 kept up their guerrilla tactics, picked off 
 ANTONIO MACEO. the regulars, destroyed railroad trains, 
 
 Lieutenant-General in the Cuban Array. 1 / i ,-, 
 
 and went so far as to shoot the messen 
 gers who dared to enter their camp with proposals for making peace on other 
 terms than independence. 
 
 The Cubans were full of hope. They had their old leaders with them, 
 men who had led them in former campaigns and proven their courage and 
 skill. Recruits flocked to their standards, until it has been estimated that by 
 the close of the year fully 20,000 insurgents were in the field. With such 
 strong commands, the leaders were able to attain several important successes. 
 Considerable bodies of the regulars were defeated with serious losses, and, in 
 one instance, Campos succeeded in saving himself and command only by the 
 artillery he happened to have with him. 
 
 Campos had prosecuted the war through civilized methods, and, therefore, 
 fell into disfavor at home. He was not a representative Spanish commander, 
 
THE LAST CUBAN DEVOLUTION LAUNCHED. 
 
 545 
 
 and was now superseded by General Valeriano Weyler, who arrived in Havana 
 in February, 1896. This man had as much human feeling in his heart as a 
 wounded tiger. His policy was extermination. He established two powerful 
 trochas across the island, but they proved as ineffective as those of Campos. 
 Then he ordered the planters and their families, who were able to pick up 
 a wretched living on their places, to move into the nearest towns, where they 
 would be able to raise no more food for the insurgents. It mattered not to 
 Weyler that neither could these reconcentrados raise any food for themselves, 
 
 and therefore must starve: that was no concern of his. As he viewed it, starva 
 tion was the right method of ridding Cuba of those who yearned for its freedom. 
 No pen can picture the horrors that followed. The woeful scenes sent a 
 shudder throughout the United States, and many good people demanded that 
 the unspeakable crime should be checked by armed intervention. To do this 
 meant war with Spain, but we were ready for that. A Congressional party 
 visited Cuba in March, 1898, and witnessed the hideous suffering of the Cubans, 
 of whom more than a hundred thousand had been starved to death, with score. 
 
 35 
 
546 ADMINISTRATION OF McKINLEY. 
 
 still perishing daily. In referring to what they saw, Senator Proctor, of Ver 
 mont, said: "I shall refer to these horrible things no further. They are there, 
 God pity me, I have seen them ; they will remain in my mind forever, and 
 this is almost the twentieth century. Christ died nineteen hundred years ago, 
 and Spain is a Christian nation. She has set up more crosses in more lands, 
 beneath more skies, and under ihem has butchered more people than all the 
 other nations of the earth combined. God grant that before another Christmas 
 morning the last vestige of Spanish tyranny and oppression will have van 
 ished from the western hemisphere." 
 
 The ferocious measures of Weyler brought, so indignant a protest from our 
 country that he was recalled, and his place taken by General Ramon Blanco, 
 who reached Havana in the autumn of 1897. Under him the indecisive 
 fighting went on much as before, with no important advantage gained by either 
 side. Friends of Cuba made appeals in Congress for the granting of bellig 
 erent rights to the insurgents, but strict international law demanded that their 
 government should gain a more tangible form and existence before such rights 
 could be conceded. 
 
 Matters were in this state of extreme tension when the blowing-up of the 
 Maine occurred. While riding quietly at anchor in the harbor of Havana, on 
 the night of February 15, 1898, she was utterly destroyed by a terrific 
 explosion, which killed 266 officers and men. The news thrilled the land with 
 horror and rage, for it was taken at once for granted that the appalling crime 
 had been committed by Spaniards, but the absolute proof remained to be 
 brought forward, and the Americans, with their proverbial love of justice and 
 fair-play, waited for such proof. 
 
 Competent men were selected for the investigation, and they spent three 
 weeks in making it. They reported that it had been established beyond question 
 that the Maine was destroyed by an outside explosion, or submarine mine, 
 though they were unable to determine who was directly responsible for the act. 
 
 The insistence of Spain, of course, was that the explosion was accidental 
 and resulted from carelessness on the part of Captain Sigsbee and his crew ; but 
 it may be doubted whether any of the Spanish officials in Havana ever really 
 held such a belief. While Spain herself was not directly responsible for the 
 destruction of the war-ship and those who went down in her, it was some of her 
 officials who destroyed her. The displacement of the ferocious Weyler had 
 incensed a good many of his friends, some of whom most likely expressed their 
 views in this manner, which, happily for the credit of humanity, is exceedingly 
 rare in the history of nations. 
 
 The momemous events that followed are given in the succeeding chapters 
 
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 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OK McKINLEY (CONTINUED), 
 
 1897-1001. 
 
 THE SPANISH-AMERICAN \VAR. 
 
 Opening Incidents Bombardment of Matanzas Dewey s Wonderful Victory at Manila Disaster to 
 the Window at Cardenas Bay The First American Loss of Life Bombardment of San Juan, 
 Porto Rico The Elusive Spanish. Fleet Bottled-up in Santiago Harbor Lieutenant Hobson s 
 Daring Exploit Second Bombardment of Santiago and Arrival of the Army Gallant Work of the 
 Rough Riders and the Regulars Battles of San Juan and El Caney Destruction of Cervera s 
 Fleet General Shafter Reinforced in Front of Santiago Surrender of the City General Miles in 
 Porto Rico An Easy Conquest Conquest of the Philippines Peace Negotiations and Signing of 
 the Protocol Its Terms Members of the National Peace Coinmission Return of the Troops from 
 Cuba and Porto Rico The Peace Commission in Paris Conclusion of its Work Terms of the 
 Treaty Ratified by the Senate. 
 
 "STRIPPING FOR THE FIGHT." 
 
 ENOUGH has already been stated to show the real cause of the war oetween 
 the United States and Spain. It was, in brief, a war for humanity, for America 
 could no longer close her ears to the wails of the dead and dying that lay 
 perishing, as may be said, on her very doorsteps. It was not a war for con 
 quest or gain, nor was it in revenge for the awful crime of the destruction of 
 the Maine, though few nations would have restrained their wrath with such 
 sublime patience as did our countrymen while the investigation was in progress. 
 Yet it cannot be denied that this unparalleled outrage intensified the war fever 
 in the United States, and thousands were eager for the opportunity to punish 
 Spanish cruelty and treachery. Congress reflected this spirit when by a unani 
 mous vote it appropriated $50,000,000 "for the national defense." The War 
 and Navy Departments hummed with the activity of recruiting, the prepara 
 tions of vessels and coast defenses, the purchase of war material and vessels a\ 
 home, while agents were sept to Europe to procure all the war-ships in the market 
 
 (547) 
 
548 THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. 
 
 Unlimited capital was at their command, and the question of price was never an 
 obstacle. When hostilities impended the United States was unprepared for war, 
 but by amazing activity, energy, and skill the preparations were pushed and 
 completed with a rapidity that approached the marvelous. 
 
 War being inevitable, President McKinley sought to gain time for our 
 consular representatives to leave Cuba, where the situation daily and hourly 
 grew more dangerous. Consul Hyatt left Santiago on April 3d, but Consul- 
 General Lee, always fearless, remained at Havana until April 10th, with the 
 resolution that no American refugees should be left behind, where very soon 
 their lives would not be worth an hour s purchase. Lee landed in Key West 
 April llth, and on the same day President McKinley sent his message upon the 
 situation to Congress. On April 18th the two houses adopted the following: 
 
 WHEREAS, The abhorrent conditions which have existed for more than three years in the island 
 of Cuba, so near our own borders, have shocked the moral sense of the people of the United States, 
 have been a disgrace to Christian civilization, culminating, as they have, in the destruction of a United 
 States battle-ship with 200 of its officers and crew, while on a friendly visit in the harbor of Havana, 
 and cannot longer be endured, as has been set forth by the President of the United States in his 
 message to Congress of April 11, 1898, upon which the action of Congress was invited; therefore, 
 
 Resolved, By the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in 
 Congress assembled 
 
 First That the people of the island of Cuba are, and of right ought to be, freea^d independent. 
 
 Second That it is the duty of the United States to demand, and the government of the United 
 States does hereby demand, that the government of Spain at once relinquish its authority and govern 
 ment in the island of Cuba, and withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba and Cuban waters. 
 
 Third That the President of the United States be, and he hereby is, directed and empowered to 
 use the entire land and naval forces of the United States, and to call into the actual service of the 
 United States the militia of the several States, to such extent as may be necessary to carry these reso 
 lutions into effect. 
 
 Fourth That the United States hereby disclaims any disposition or intention to exercise 
 sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over said island, except for the pacification thereof, and asserts its 
 determination when that is completed to leave the government and control of the island to its people. 
 
 This resolution was signed by the President April 20th, and a copy served 
 on the Spanish minister, who demanded his passports, and immediately left 
 Washington. The contents were telegraphed to United States Minister Wood- 
 ford at Madrid, with instructions to officially communicate them to the Spanish 
 government, giving it until April 23d to answer. The Spanish authorities, 
 however, anticipated this action by sending the American minister his passports 
 on the morning of April 21st. This act was of itself equivalent to a declara 
 tion of war. 
 
 The making of history now went forward with impressive swiftness. 
 
 On April 22d the United States fleet was ordered to blockade Havana. 
 On the 24th Spain declared war, and the United States Congress followed with a 
 
h 
 
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 88 
 
 If 
 
THE BATTLE OF MANILA. 
 
 551 
 
 similar declaration on the 25th. The call for 75,000 volunteer troops was increased 
 to 125,000 and subsequently to 200,000. The massing of men and stores was 
 rapidly begun throughout the country. Within a month expeditions were organ 
 ized for various points of attack, war-vessels were bought, and ocean passenger 
 steamers were converted into auxiliary cruisers and transports. By the first 
 of July about 40,000 soldiers had been sent to Cuba and the Philippine Islands. 
 The rapidity with which preparations were made and the victories gained and 
 the progress shown by the Americans at once astonished and challenged the 
 admiration of foreign nations, who had regarded America as a country unpre 
 pared for war by land or sea. On 
 April 27th, following the declaration 
 of war on the 25th, Admiral Samp 
 son, having previously blockaded the 
 harbor of Havana, was reconnoiter- 
 ing with three vessels in the vicinity 
 of Matanzas, Cuba, when he dis 
 covered the Spanish forces building 
 earthworks, and ventured so close 
 in his efforts to investigate the same 
 that a challenge shot was fired from 
 the fortification, Eubal Cava. Ad 
 miral Sampson quickly formed the 
 New York, Cincinnati, and Puritan 
 into a triangle and opened fire with 
 their eight-inch guns. The action 
 was very spirited on both sides for 
 the space of eighteen minutes, at the 
 expiration of which time the Spanish 
 batteries were silenced and the earth 
 works destroyed, without casualty on 
 the American side, though two shells 
 
 burst dangerously near the New York. The last shot fired by the Americana 
 was from one of the Puritan s thirteen-inch guns, which landed with deadly 
 accuracy in the very centre of Eubal Cava, and, exploding, completely 
 destroyed the earthworks. This was the first action of the war, 4 
 could hardly be dignified by the name of a battle. 
 
 ADMIRAL GEORGE DEWEY. 
 
 though 
 
 THE BATTLE OF MANILA. 
 
 It was expected that the next engagement would be the bombardment of 
 Morro Castle, at Havana. But it is the unexpected that often happens in war. 
 
552 THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. 
 
 In the Philippine Islands, on the other side of the world, the first real battle 
 one of the most remarkable in history was next to occur. 
 
 On April 2oth the following dispatch of eight potent words was cabled to 
 Commodore Dewey on the coast of China: "Capture or destroy th? Spanish 
 squadron at Manila." "Never," says James Gordon Bennett, "were instructions 
 more effectively carried out. Within seven hours after arriving on the scene of 
 action nothing remained to be done." It was on the 27th that Dewey sailed 
 from Mirs Bay, China, and on the night of the 30th he lay before the entrance 
 of the harbor of Manila, seven hundred miles away. Under the cover of dark 
 ness with all lights extinguished on his ships, he daringly steamed into this 
 unknown harbor, which he believed to be strewn with mines, and at daybreak 
 engagod the Spanish ileet. Commodore Dewey knew it meant everything for 
 him and his fleet to win or lose this battle. lie was in the enemy s country, 
 7,000 miles from home. The issue of this battle must mean victory, Spanish 
 dungeons, or the bottom of the ocean. "Keep cool and obey orders" was the 
 signal he gave to his fleet, and then came the order to fire. The Americans 
 had seven ships, the Olympia, Baltimore, Raleigh, Petrel, Concord, Boston, and 
 the dispatch-boat McCuJlomjh. The Spaniards had eleven, the Relna Christina, 
 Antonio de Ulloa, Ma de Luzon, Ma de Cuba, General Lezo. 
 Marquis de Duero, Cano, VeJasco, Ma de Mindanao, and a transport 
 
 From the beginning Commodore Dewey fought on the offensive, and, after 
 the manner of Nelson and Fa.-ragut, concentrated his fire upon the strongest 
 ships one after another with terrible execution. The Spanish ships were inferior 
 there were more of them, and they were under the protection of the 
 The fire of the Americans was especially noted for its terrific 
 rapidity and the wonderful accuracy of its aim. The battle lasted for about 
 lours, and resulted in the destruction of all the Spanish ships and the 
 fencing of the land batteries. The Spanish loss in killed and wounded was 
 timated to be fully one thousand men, while on the American side not a ship 
 ren seriously damaged and not a single man was killed outright, and only 
 More than a month after the battle, Captain Charles B. 
 ommander of the Olympia, died, though his death was the result 
 an accident received in the discharge of his duty during the battle, and not 
 iron, a wounc On May 2d Commodore Dewey cut the cable connecting 
 [ong Kong, and destroyed the fortifications at the entrance of 
 I took possession of the naval station at Cavite. This was to 
 pro .mmunication between the Philippine Islands and the government at 
 
 ibitetl the sending of Commodore Dewey s official account of 
 battle by the dispatch-boat McCullouah to Hong Kong whence it was 
 cabled to ,he Lnited States, After its receipt, May 9th, both H ^ses adopted 
 
554 TUP: SPANISH-AMERICAS WAR. 
 
 resolutions of congratulation to Commodore Dewey and his officers and men for 
 their gallantry at Manila, voted an appropriation for medals for the crew and a 
 fine sword for the gallant Commander, and also passed a bill authorizing the 
 President to appoint another rear-admiral, which honor was promptly conferred 
 upon Commodore Dewey, accompanied by the thanks of the President and of 
 the nation for the admirable and heroic services rendered his country. 
 
 The Battle 01 Manila must ever remain a monument to the daring and 
 courage of Admiral Dewey. However unevenly matched the two fleets 
 may have been, the world agrees with the eminent foreign naval critic w r ho 
 declared: "This complete victory was the product of forethought, cool, well- 
 balanced judgment, discipline, and bravery. It was a magnificent achievement, 
 and Dewey will go down in history ranking with John Paul Jones and Lord 
 Nelson as a naval hero." 
 
 Admiral Dewey might have taken possession of the city of Manila imme 
 diately. He cabled the United States that he could do so, but the fact remained 
 that he had not sufficient men to care for his ships and at the same time effect a 
 successful landing in the town of Manila. Therefore he chose to remain on his 
 fillips, and though the city was at his mercy, he refrained from a bombardment 
 because he believed it would lead to a massacre of the Spaniards on the part of 
 the insurgents surrounding the city, which it would be beyond his power to stop. 
 This im inane manifestation toward the conquered foe adds to the lustre of the 
 hero s crown, and at the same time places the seal of greatness upon the brow 
 of the victor. He not only refrained from bombarding the city, but received 
 and cared for the wounded Spaniards upon his own vessels. Thus, while he did 
 all that was required of him without costing his country the life of a single 
 citizen, he manifested a spirit of humanity and generosity toward the vanquished 
 foe fully in keeping with the sympathetic spirit which involved this nation in 
 the war for humanity s sake. 
 
 The Battle of Manila further demonstrated that a fleet with heavier guns is 
 virtually invulnerable in a campaign with a squadron bearing lighter metal, 
 however gallantly the crew of the latter may fio-ht. 
 
 Before the Battle of Manila it was recognized that the government had 
 
 serious trouble on its hands. On May 4th President McKinley nominated ten 
 
 -Generals, including Thomas H. Wilson, Fitzhugh Lee, Wm. J. 
 
 (who was not com missioned), and Joseph Wheeler, from private life, 
 
 Brigadier-Generals Breckinridge, Otis, Coppinger, Shatter, 
 
 am Wade, and Merriam, from the regular army. The organization 
 ition of troops was promptly begun and rapidly pushed. Meantime 
 our naval vessels were actively cruising around the Island of Cuba, expecting 
 the appearance of the Spanish fleet. 
 
THE BOMBARDMENT OF SAN JUAN. 555 
 
 On May llth the gunboat Wilmington, revenue-cutter Hudson, and the 
 torpedo-boat Winslow entered Cardenas Bay, Cuba, to attack the defenses and 
 three small Spanish gunboats that had taken refuge in the harbor. The Winslow 
 being of light draft took the lead, and when within eight hundred yards of the 
 fort was fired upon with disastrous effect, being struck eighteen times and ren 
 dered helpless. For more than an hour the frail little craft was at the mercy 
 of the enemy s batteries. The revenue-cutter Hudson quickly answered her 
 signal of distress by coming to the rescue, and as she was in the act of drawing 
 the disabled boat away a shell from the enemy burst on the Winslow s deck, 
 killing three of her crew outright and wounding many more. Ensign Worth 
 
 CAMP SCENE AT CHICKAMAUQA. 
 
 Bagley, of the Winslow, who had recently entered active service, was one of the 
 killed. He was the first officer who lost his life in the war. The same shell 
 badly wounded Lieutenant Bernadou, Commander of the boat. The Hudson, 
 amidst a rain of fire from the Spanish gunboats and fortifications, succeeded in 
 towing the Winslow to Key West, where the bodies of the dead were prepared 
 for burial and the vessel was placed in repair. On May 12th the First Infantry 
 landed near Port Cabanas, Cuba, with supplies for the insurgents, which they 
 succeeded in delivering after a skirmish with the Spanish troops. This was the 
 first land engagement of the war. 
 
 On the same date Admiral Sampson s squadron arrived at San Juan, Porto 
 Rico, whither it had gone in the expectation of meeting with Admiral Cervera s 
 
556 THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. 
 
 fleet, which had sailed westward from the Cape Verde Islands on April 29th, 
 after Portugal s declaration of neutrality. The Spanish fleet, however, did not 
 materialize, and Admiral Sampson, while on the ground, concluded it would be 
 well to draw the fire of the forts that he might at least judge of their strength 
 and efficiency, if indeed he should not render them incapable of assisting the 
 Spanish fleet in the event of its resorting to this port at a later period. Accord 
 ingly, Sampson bombarded the batteries defending San Juan, inflicting much 
 damage and sustaining a loss of two men killed and six wounded. The loss of 
 the enemy is not known. The American war-ships sustained only trivial in 
 juries, but after the engagement it cuiild be plainly seen that one end of Morro 
 Castle was in ruins. The Cabras Island fort was silenced and the San Carlos 
 battery was damaged. No shots were aimed at the city by the American fleet. 
 Deeming it unnecessary to wait for the Spanish war-ships in the vicinity of 
 San Juan, Sampson withdrew his squadron and sailed westward in the hope of 
 finding Cervera s fleet, which was dodging about the Caribbean Sea. First it 
 was heard of at the French island, Martinique, whence after a short stay it 
 sailed westward. Two days later it halted at the Dutch island, Curagoa, for 
 coal and supplies. After leaving this point it was again lost sight of. Then 
 began the chase of Commodore Schley and Admiral Sampson to catch the 
 fugitive. Schley, with his flying squadron, sailed from Key West around the 
 western end of Cuba, and Sampson kept guard over the Windward and other 
 passages to the east of the island. It was expected that one or the other of these 
 fleets would encounter the Spaniard on the open sea, but in this they were mis 
 taken. Cervera was not making his w r ay to the Mexican shore on the west, as 
 some said, nor was he seeking to slip through one of the passages into the 
 Atlantic and sail home to Spain, nor attack Commodore Watson s blockading 
 vessels before Havana, according to other expert opinions expressed and widely 
 published. For many days the hunt of the war-ships went on like a fox-chase. 
 On May 21st Commodore Schley blockaded Cienfuegos, supposing that Cervera 
 was inside the harbor, but on the 24th he discovered his mistake and sailed to 
 Santiago, where he lay before the entrance to the harbor for three days, not know 
 ing whether or riot the Spaniard was inside. On May 30th it was positively dis 
 covered that he had Cervera bottled up in the narrow harbor of Santiago. He 
 had been there since the 19th, and had landed 800 men, 20,000 Mauser rifles, a 
 great supply of ammunition, and four great guns for the defense of the city. 
 
 OPERATIONS AGAINST SANTIAGO. 
 
 On May 31st Commodore Schley opened fire on the fortifications at the 
 mouth of the harbor, which lasted for about half an hour. This was for the 
 purpose of discovering the location and strength of the batteries, some of which 
 
OPERATIONS AGAINST SANTIAGO. 
 
 557 
 
 were concealed, and in this he was completely successful. Two of the batteries 
 were silenced, and the flagship of the Spaniards, which took part in the engage 
 ment, was damaged. The Americans received no injury to vessels and no loss 
 of men. On June 1st Admiral Sampson arrived before Santiago, and relieved 
 Commodore Schley of the chief command of the forces, then consisting of six 
 teen war-ships. 
 
 Admiral Sampson, naturally a cautious commander, suffered great appre 
 hension lest Cervera might slip out of the harbor and escape during the dark 
 ness of the night or the progress of a storm, which would compel the blockading 
 fleet to stand far off shore. There was a point in the channel wide enough for 
 only one war-ship to pass at a time, 
 and if this could be rendered im 
 passable Cervera s doom would be 
 sealed. How to reach and close this 
 passage was the difficult problem to 
 be solved. On either shore of the 
 narrow channel stood frowning forts 
 with cannon, and there were other 
 fortifications to be passed before it 
 could be reached. Young Lieutenant 
 Kichmond Pearson Hobson, a naval 
 engineer, had attached himself to Ad 
 miral Sampson s flagship, New York, 
 just before it sailed from Key West, 
 and it was this young man of less 
 than thirty years who solved the pro 
 blem by a plan originated by Admiral 
 Sampson, which he executed with 
 a heroic daring that finds perhaps no 
 parallel in all naval history. At three 
 o clock A. M., June 3d, in company 
 
 with seven volunteers from the A^ York and other ships, lie took theUmted 
 collier Merrimac, a large vessel with 600 tons of coal on board, and star ted widi 
 the purpose of sinking it in the channel. The chances were ten to one that 
 batteries from the forts would sink the vessel before it could reach the narrow 
 neck, and the chances were hardly one in one hundred that any of *e men on 
 board the collier would come out of this daring attemp alive. The s p 
 hardly started when the forts opened fire, and amid the thunder o aiUll an 
 i rain of steel and bursting shells the boat with its eight brave heroes hel 
 L was^S as if th^r knew not their danger. The channel was reached, 
 
 RICHMOND PEARSON HOBSON. 
 
558 THE SPA XISH- AMERICAN WAR. 
 
 and the boat turned across the channel. The sea-doors were opened and tor 
 pedoes exploded by the intrepid crew, sinking the vessel almost instantly, but 
 not in the position desired. As the ship went down the men, with side-arms 
 buckled on, took to a small boat, and, escape being impossible, they surrendered 
 to the enemy. It seems scarcely less than a miracle that any of the eight men 
 escaped, yet the fact remained that not one of them was seriously injured. The 
 Spaniards were so impressed with this act of bravery and heroism that they 
 treated the prisoners with the utmost courtesy, confined them in Morro Castle, 
 and Admiral Cervera promptly sent a special officer, under a flag of truce, to 
 inform Admiral Sampson of their safety. The prisoners were kept confined in 
 Morro Castle for some days, when they were removed to a place of greater safety, 
 where they were held until exchanged on July 7th. 
 
 THE SECOND BOMBARDMENT OF SANTIAGO AND THE COMING OF THE AE5IY. 
 
 On the 6th of June the American fleet under Admiral Sampson bombarded 
 
 the forts of Santiago for about three hours. The gunners were all instructed, 
 
 however, to spare Morro Castle lest they should inflict injury upon Hobson and 
 
 i heroic companions, who were then confined within its walls. Nearly all of 
 
 the fortifications at the entrance of the harbor were silenced. An examination 
 
 fleet had withdrawn revealed the fact that no lives were lost on the 
 
 ide, and none of the vessels were seriously injured. The Spanish 
 
 lap Rema, Mercedes was sunk in the harbor, she being the only ship from the 
 
 s fleet which ventured within the range of the American s guns. 
 
 danger of entering the narrow harbor in the face of Cervera s fleet 
 
 t necessary to take the city by land, and the government began pre- 
 
 >ons to send General Shatter with a large force from Tampa to aid the fleet 
 
 ducing the city. Some 15,000 men, including the now famous Rough 
 
 New York, were hurried upon tiansports, and under the greatest con- 
 
 gunboats, cruisers, and battle-ships which ever escorted an army started 
 
 for the western end of the island of Cuha. 
 
 But the honor of making the first landing on Cuban soil belongs to the 
 
 was on June the 10th, a few days before the army of General 
 
 led from Tampa, that a landing was effected by Colonel Huntington s 
 
 ^ marines at Caimanera, Guantanamo Bay, some distance east of 
 
 >. The object of this landing was twofold : first, to secure a place where 
 
 rar-ships could safely take on coal from colliers, and, second, to unite if pos- 
 
 the insurgents in harassing the Spaniards until General Shafter s armv 
 
 Furthermore, Guantanamo Bay furnished the American ships "a 
 
 nai oor in case of storm. 
 
 In the whole history of the war few more thrilling passages are to be 
 
SECOND BONBARDMEN1 OF SANTIAGO. 
 
 found than the record of this brave band s achievements. The place of landing 
 was a low, round, bush-covered hill on the eastern side of the bay. On the 
 crest of the hill was a small clearing occupied by an advance post of the 
 Spanish army. When the marines landed and began to climb the hill, the 
 enemy, with little resistance, retreated to the woods, and the marines were soon 
 occupying the cleared space abandoned by them. They had scarcely begun to 
 compliment themselves on their easy victory when they discovered that the 
 retreat had only been a snare to lure them into the open space, while unfor 
 tunately all around the clearing the woods grew thick, and their unprotected 
 position was also overlooked by a range of higher hills covered with a dense 
 undergrowth. Thus the Spanish were 
 able under cover of the bushes to 
 creep close up to our forces, and they 
 soon began to fire upon them from the 
 higher ground of the wooded range. 
 The marines replied vigorously to the 
 fire of their hidden foe, and thus con 
 tinued their hit-and-miss engagement 
 for a period of four days and nights, 
 with only occasional intermissions. 
 Perhaps the poor marksmanship of the 
 Spaniards is to be thanked for the 
 fact that they were not utterly anni- 
 . hilated. On the fourth day the Span 
 ish gave up the contest and aban 
 doned the field. 
 
 Major Henry C. Cochrane, second 
 in command, states that he slept only 
 an hour and a half in the four days, 
 and that many of his men became so 
 
 exhausted that they fell asleep stand- M AJOR . OMEBAL PITZ HUOH LEE. 
 ing on their feet with their rifles in 
 
 their hands. It is remarkable that during the four days the Americans lost only 
 six killed and about twenty wounded. The Spaniards suffered a loss several times 
 as great, fifteen of them having been found by the Americans dead on the field. 
 It is not known how many they carried away or how many were wounded. 
 
 THE LANDING OF SHAFTER*S ARMY. 
 
 On June 13th troops began to leave Tampa and Key West for operations 
 against Santiago, and on June 20th the transports bearing them arrived off 
 
560 
 
 THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. 
 
 city. Two days later General Shatter landed his army of 16,000 soldiers at 
 Daiquiri, a short distance east of the entrance to the harbor, with the loss of 
 only two men, and they hy accident. Before the coming of the troops the 
 Spanish had evacuated the village of Daiquiri, which is a little inland from the 
 anchorage bearing the same name, and set fire to the town, blowing up two 
 magazines and destroying the railroad round-house containing several locomotives. 
 As the transports neared the landing-place Sampson s ships opened fire upon 
 Juragua, engaging all the forts for about six miles to the west. This was done 
 to distract the attention of the Spanish from the landing soldiers, and was 
 entirely successful. After the forts were silenced the New Orleans and several 
 
 ininboats shelled the woods in ad- 
 
 O 
 
 vance of the landing troops. The 
 soldiers went ashore in full fighting 
 trim, each man carrying thirty-six 
 rations, two hundred rounds of am 
 munition for his rifle, and a shelter- 
 tent. 
 
 While the troops were landing 
 at Daiquiri, the battle-ship Texas, 
 hitherto considered as an unfortu 
 nate ship by the attaches of the navy, 
 completely changed her reputation 
 and distinguished herself by assail 
 ing and silencing, unaided, the. 
 Spanish battery La Socapa at Santi 
 ago, which had hitherto withstood 
 the attacks against it, though all the 
 ships of Commodore Schley s com 
 mand had twice fiercely bombarded 
 it without result, Captain Philip 
 and his men were complimented in 
 w:mn terms of praise by Admiral Sampson. The Texas was struck but once, 
 and that by the last shot from the Spanish fort, killing one man and wounding 
 eight others, seriously damaging the ship. 
 
 THE VICTORY OF THE ROUGH RIDERS. 
 
 On June 24th the force under General Shafter reached Juragua, and the 
 battle by land was now really to begin. It was about ten miles out from San 
 tiago, at a point known as La Guasima. The country was covered with high 
 grass and chaparral, and in this and on the wooded hills a strong force of 
 
 REAR-ADMIRAL WILLIAM T. bAMPSON. 
 
AMERICANS STORMING SAN JUAN HILL 
 
 The most dramatic scene and most destructive battle of the Spanish War 
 
THE VICTORY OF THE ROUGH RIDERS. 
 
 561 
 
 Spaniards was hidden. Lieutenant-Colonel Roosevelt s Rough Riders, tech 
 nically known as the First Volunteer Cavalry, under command of Colonel 
 Wood, were in the fight, and it is to their bravery and dash that the glory of 
 the day chiefly belongs. Troops under command of General Young had been 
 sent out in advance, with the Rough Riders on his flank. There were about 
 1,200 of the cavalry in all, including the Rough Riders and the First and 
 Tenth Regulars. They encountered a body of two thousand Spaniards in a 
 thicket, whom they fought dismounted. The volunteers were especially eager 
 for the fight, and, perhaps due somewhat to their own imprudence, were led into 
 an ambuscade, as perfect as was ever 
 planned by an Indian. The main 
 body of the Spaniards was posted on 
 a hill approached by two heavily 
 wooded slopes and fortified by two 
 blockhouses, flanked by intrench- 
 ments of stones and fallen trees. At 
 the bottom of these hills run two 
 roads, along one of which the Rough 
 Riders marched, and along the other 
 eight troops of the Eighth and Tenth 
 Cavalry, under General Young. 
 These roads are little more than gul 
 lies, very narrow, and at places al 
 most impassable. Nearly half a 
 mile separated Roosevelt s men from 
 the Regulars, and it was in these 
 trails that the battle began. 
 
 For an hour they held their 
 position in the midst of an unseen 
 force, which poured a perfect hail of 
 bullets upon them from in front and on both sides. At length, seeing that their 
 only way of escape was by dashing boldly at the hidden foe, Colonel Wood took 
 command on the right of his column of Rough Riders, placing Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Roosevelt at the feft, and thus, with a rousing yell, they led their soldi, 
 in a rushing charge before which the Spaniards fled from the hills and 
 torious assailants took the blockhouses. The Americans had sixteen 1 
 fifty-two wounded, forty-two of the casualties occurring to the Rough Riders an. 
 twenty-six amon* the Regulars. It is estimated that the Spanish killed were 
 
 ., . r* 11 i.1. ^ A v-w/-ki rtn r>cj HoorJ 
 
 nearly or quite one hundred. 
 
 THEODORE ROOSEVELT. 
 
 t J- L JO V. O L A J J 
 
 Thirty-seven were found by the Americans dead 
 
 36 
 
562 THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. 
 
 on the ground. They had carried off their wounded, and doubtless thought 
 they had taken most of the killed away also. 
 
 PREPARING FOR THE ASSAULT UPON SANTIAGO. 
 
 The victory of the Rough Riders and the Regulars at La Guasima, though 
 so dearly bought, stimulated the soldiers of the whole army with the spirit of 
 war and the desire for an opportunity to join in the conquest. They had not 
 loner to wait. The advance upon Santiago was vigorously prosecuted on the 
 land side, while the ships stood guard over the entrapped Spanish Admiral 
 Cervera in the harbor, and, anon, shelled every fort that manifested signs of 
 activity. On June 25th, Sevilla, within sight of Santiago, was taken by General 
 Chaffee, and an advance upon the city was planned to be made in three columns 
 by way of Altares, Firmeza, and Juragua. General Garcia with 5,000 Cuban 
 insurgents had placed himself some time before at the command of the American 
 leader. On the 28th of June another large expedition of troops was landed, so 
 that the entire force under General Shafter, including the Cuban allies, num 
 bered over 22,000 fighting men. 
 
 The enemy fell back at all points until the right of the American column 
 Tas within three miles of Santiago, and by the end of June the two armies had 
 well-defined positions. The Spanish intrenchments extended around the city, 
 being kept at a distance of about three and one-half miles from the corporation 
 limits. The trenches were occupied by about 12,000 Spanish soldiers, and there 
 were some good fortifications along the line. 
 
 It was the policy of General Shafter to distribute his forces so as to face 
 this entire line as nearly as possible. A week was consumed, after the landing 
 was completed, in making these arrangements and in sending forward the 
 artillery, during which time the battle of La Guasima, referred to, with some 
 minor affairs, had occurred. Meantime the ships of Admiral Sampson had 
 dragged up the cables and connected them by tap-wires with Shafter s head 
 quarters, thus establishing communication directly with Washington from the 
 scene of battle. 
 
 THE BATTLES OF SAX JUAN AND EL CANEY. 
 
 The attack began July 1st, involving the whole Hue, but the main struggle 
 occurred opposite the left centre of the column on the heights of San Juan, and 
 the next greatest engagement was on the right of the American line at the little 
 town of El Caney. These two points are several miles apart, the city of San 
 tiago occupying very nearly the apex of a triangle of which a line connecting 
 these two positions would form the base. John R. Church thus described the 
 battles of July 1st and 2d : 
 
THE BATTLES OF SAN JUAN AND EL CANEY. 563 
 
 " El Caney was taken by General Lawton s men after a sharp contest and 
 severe loss on both sides. Here as everywhere there were blockhouses and 
 trenches to be carried in the face of a hot fire from Mauser rifles, and the rifles 
 were well served. The jungle must disturb the aim seriously, for our men did 
 not suffer severely while under its cover, but in crossing clearings the rapid fire 
 of the repeating rifles told with deadly effect. The object of the attack on El 
 Caney was to crush the Spanish lines at a point near the city and allow us to 
 gain a high hill from which the place could be bombarded if necessary. In all 
 of this we were entirely successful. The engagement began at 6.40 A. M., and 
 by 4 o clock the Spaniards were forced to abandon the place and retreat toward 
 their lines nearer the city. The fight was opened by Capron s battery, at a 
 range of 2,400 yards, and the troops engaged were Chaffee s brigade, the 
 Seventh, Twelfth, and Seventeenth Infantry, who moved on Caney from the 
 east; Colonel Miles brigade of the First, Fourth, and Twenty-fifth Infantry, 
 operating from the south; while Ludlow s brigade, containing the Eighth and 
 Twenty-second Infantry and Second Massachusetts, made a detour to attack 
 from the southwest. The Spanish force is thought to have been 1,500 to 2,000 
 strong. It certainly fought our men for nine hours, but of course had the 
 advantage of a fort and strong intrench ments. 
 
 "The operations of our centre were calculated to cut the communications 
 of Santiago with El Morro and permit our forces to advance to the bay, and the 
 principal effort of General Linares, the Spanish commander in the field, seems 
 to have been to defeat this movement. He had fortified San Juan strongly, 
 throwing up on it intrenchments that in the hands of a more determined force 
 would have been impregnable. 
 
 " The battle of San Juan was opened by Grimes battery, to which the 
 enemy replied with shrapnell. The cavalry, dismounted, supported by Haw- 
 kins brigade, advanced up the valley from the hill of El Pozo, forded several 
 streams, where they lost heavily, and deployed at the foot of the series of hills 
 known as San Juan under a sharp fire from all sides, which was exceedingly 
 annoying because the enemy could not be discerned, owing to the long range 
 and smokeless powder. They were under fire for two hours before the charge 
 could be made and a position reached under the brow of the hill. It was not 
 until nearly 4 o clock that the neighboring hills were occupied by our troops 
 and the final successful effort to crown the ridge could be made. The obstacles 
 interposed by the Spaniards made these charges anything but the rushes 
 which war histories mention so often. They were slow and painful advances 
 through difficult obstacles and a withering fire. The last charge continued 
 an hour, but at 4.45 the firing ceased, with San Juan in our possession. 
 
 " The Spaniards made liberal use of barbed-wire fencing, which proved to 
 
 \ 
 
564 THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. 
 
 be so effective as a stop to our advance that it is likely to take its place among 
 approved defensive materials in future wars. It was used in two ways: Wires 
 were stretched near the ground to trip up our men when on the run. Beyond 
 them were fences in parallel lines, some being too high to be vaulted over. 
 
 "The object of our attack was a blockhouse on the top of the hill of San 
 Juan, guarded by trenches and the defenses spoken of, a mile and a half long. 
 Our troops advanced steadily against a hot fire maintained by the enemy, who 
 used their rifles with accuracy, but did not cling to their works stubbornly when 
 we reached them. San Juan was carried in the afternoon. The attack on 
 Aguadorea was also successful, though it was not intended to be more than a 
 feint to draw off men who might otherwise have increased our difficulties at San 
 Juan. By nightfall General Shatter was able to telegraph that he had carried 
 all the outworks and was within three-quarters of a mile of the city. 
 
 "Though the enemy s lines were broken in the principal places, they 
 yielded no more than was forced from them, and the battle was resumed on the 
 2d. The last day saw our left flank resting on the bay and our lines drawn 
 around the city within easy gun-fire. Fears were entertained that the enemy 
 would evacuate the place, and the right flank was pushed around to the north 
 and eventually to the northwest of the city." 
 
 In the fight at San Juan General Linares, commanding the Spanish forces 
 in Santiago, was severely wounded, and transferred the command to General 
 Jose Toral, second in authority. 
 
 THE DESTRUCTION OF CERVERA ? S FLEET. 
 
 During the previous two days fight by land the fleet of Admiral Cervera 
 in Santiago harbor had taken an active part in shelling our positions, with no 
 inconsiderable effect; and General Shafter, largely on this account, had about 
 despaired of taking the city, with the force at his command. In fact, he went 
 so far on the morning of July 3d as to telegraph Washington that his losses 
 had been greatly underestimated, that he met with stronger resistance than 
 he had anticipated, and was seriously considering falling back to a position five 
 miles to the rear to await reinforcements. He was also anxious for an interview 
 with Admiral Sampson. The fleet had been shelling the enemy during the two 
 days fight, but it was necessary that the navy and army should have an under 
 standing; and at 8.30 o clock on Sunday morning Admiral Sampson with his 
 flagship New York steamed eastward for the purpose of conferring with the 
 general. 
 
 General Miles telegraphed General Shafter, in response to his request to 
 hold his position, that he would be with him in a week with strong reinforce 
 ments; and he promptly started two expeditions, aggregating over 6,000 men, 
 
THE DESTRUCTION OF CERVERA S FLEFT. 
 
 565 
 
 which reached Santiago on the 8th and 10th respectively, in time to witness the 
 closing engagements and surrender of the city. But fortune again favored our 
 cause and completely changed the situation, unexpectedly to the American com 
 manders of the land and naval forces. 
 
 It was on Sunday morning, July 3d, just before Sampson landed to meet 
 Shafter, that Admiral Cervera, in obedience to commands from his home 
 government, endeavored to run his fleet past the blockading squadron of the 
 Americans, with the result that all of his ships were destroyed, nearly 500 of 
 his men killed and wounded, and himself and about 1,300 others were made 
 prisoners. This naval engagement 
 was one of the most dramatic and 
 terrible in all the history of conflict 
 upon the seas, and, as it was really 
 the beginning of the end of what 
 promised to be a long and terrible 
 struggle, it was undoubtedly the most 
 important battle of the war. 
 
 It had been just one month, to 
 a day, since Hobson sunk the Merri- 
 mac at the harbor s mouth to keep 
 Cervera in, and for nearly one month 
 and a half the fleets of Schley and 
 Sampson had lain, like watch-dogs 
 before the gate, without for one mo 
 ment relaxing their vigilance. The 
 quiet of Sunday morning brooded over 
 the scene. Even the winds seemed 
 resting from their labors and the sea 
 lay smooth as glass. For two days 
 before, July 1st and 2d, the fleets 
 had bombarded the forts of Santiago 
 for the fourth time, and all the ships, except the Oregon, had steam down so 
 low as to allow them a speed of only five knots an hour. At half-past nine 
 o clock the bugler sounded the call to quarters, and the Jackies appeared on 
 deck rigged in their cleanest clothes for their regular Sunday inspection. On 
 board the Texas the devout Captain Philip had sounded the trumpet-call to re 
 ligious services. In an instant a line of smoke was seen coming out of the 
 harbor by the watch on the Iowa, and from that vessel s yard a signal was run 
 up "The enemy is escaping to the westward." Simultaneously, from her 
 bridge a six-pounder boomed on the still air to draw the attention of the other 
 
 REAR-ADMIRAL WINFIELD SCOTT SCHLEY. 
 
566 THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. 
 
 ships to her fluttering signal. On every vessel white masses were seen scram 
 bling forward. Jackies and firemen tumbled over one another rushing to their 
 stations. Officers jumped into the turrets through manholes, dressed in their 
 best uniforms, and captains rushed to their conning towers. There was no time 
 to waste scarcely enough to get the battle-hatches screwed on tight. Jingle, 
 jingle, went the signal-bells in the engine-rooms, and "Steam! Steam!" the cap 
 tains cried through the tubes. Far below decks, in 125 to 150 degrees of heat, 
 naked men shoveled in the black coal and forced drafts were put on. 
 
 One minute after the Iowa fired her signal-gun she was moving toward the 
 harbor. From under the Castle of Morro came Admiral Cervera s flagship, the 
 Infanta Maria Teresa, followed by her sister armored cruisers, Almirante 
 Oquendo and Vizcaya so much alike that they could not be distinguished at 
 any distance. There was also the splendid Cristobal Colon, and after them all 
 the two fine torpedo-boat destroyers, Pinion and Furor. The Teresa opened 
 fire as she sighted the American vessels, as did all of her companions, and the 
 forts from the heights belched forth at the same time. Countless geysers around 
 our slowly approaching battle-ships showed where the Spanish shells exploded in 
 the water. The Americans replied. The battle was on, but at a long range of 
 two or three miles, so that the secondary batteries could not be called into use ; 
 but thirteen-inch shells from the Oregon and Indiana and the twelve-inch shells 
 from the Texas and Iowa were churning up the water around the enemy. At 
 -this juncture it seemed impossible for the Americans to head off the Spanish 
 cruisers from passing the western point, for they had come out of the harbor at 
 a speed of thirteen and one-half knots an hour, for which the blockading fleet 
 was not prepared. But Admiral Sampson s instructions were simple and well 
 understood "Should the enemy come out, close in and head him off" and 
 every ship was now endeavoring to obey that standing command while they 
 piled on coal and steamed up. 
 
 Meanwhile the New York was far away to the eastward, and the direction 
 of affairs was left to Commodore Schley. The exciting news was sent in all 
 haste to Admiral Sampson, and the flagship sped swiftly back, but reached the 
 scene too late to take part in the stirring event. 
 
 It was not until the leading Spanish cruiser had almost reached the western 
 point of the bay, and when it was evident that Cervera was leading his entire 
 fleet in one direction, that the battle commenced in its fury. The Iowa and 
 the Oregon headed straight for the shore, intending to ram if possible one or 
 more of the Spaniards. The Indiana and the Texas were following, and the 
 Brooklyn, in the endeavor to cut off the advance ship, was headed straight for 
 the western point. The little unprotected Gloucester steamed right across the 
 harbor mouth and engaged the Oquendo at closer range than any of the other 
 
DESTRUCTION OF CERVERA S FLEET. 
 
 667 
 
 ships, at the same time firing on the Furor and Pluton, which were rapidly 
 approaching. 
 
 It then became apparent that the Oregon and Iowa could not ram, and that 
 the Brooklyn could not head them off, as she had hoped, and, turning in a 
 parallel course with them, a running fight ensued. Broadside after broadside 
 came fast with terrific slaughter. The rapid-fire guns of the Iowa nearest the 
 Teresa enveloped the former vessel in a mantle of smoke and flame. She was 
 followed by the Oregon, Indiana, Texas, and Brooklyn, all pouring a rain of 
 red-hot steel and exploding shell into the fleeing cruisers as they passed along in 
 their desperate effort to escape. The 
 Furor and Pluton dashed like mad 
 colts for the Brooklyn, and Commo 
 dore Schley signaled "Repel tor 
 pedo-destroyers." Some of the heavy 
 ships turned their guns upon the 
 little monsters. It was short work. 
 Clouds of black smoke rising from 
 their thin sides showed how seriously 
 they suffered as they floundered in 
 the sea. 
 
 The Brooklyn and Oregon 
 dashed on after the cruisers, fol 
 lowed by the other big ships, leaving, 
 the Furor and Pluton to the Glou 
 cester, hoping the New York, which 
 was coming in the distance, would 
 arrive in time to help her out if she 
 needed it. The firing from the main 
 and second batteries of all the bat 
 tle-ships Oregon, Iowa, Texas and 
 the cruiser Brooklyn was turned upon 
 the Vizcaya, Teresa, and Oquendo with such terrific broadsides and accuracy of 
 aim that the Spaniards were driven from their guns repeatedly; but the officers 
 gave the men liquor and drove them back, beating and sometimes shooting down 
 those who weakened, without mercy ; but under the terrific fire of the Americans 
 the poor wretches were again driven away or fell mangled by their guns or 
 stunned from the concussions of the missiles on the sides of their ships. 
 
 Presently flames and smoke burst out from the Teresa arid the Oquendo. 
 The fire leaped from the port-holes ; and amid the din of battle and above it all 
 rose the wild cheers of the Americans as both these splendid ships slowly reeled 
 
 REAR-ADMIRAL JOHN C. WATSON. 
 
 Commander of the Blockading Fleet at Havana. 
 
568 THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. 
 
 like drunken men and headed for the shore. "They are on fire! We ve finished 
 them," shouted the gunners. Down came the Spanish flags. The news went 
 all over the ships it being commanded by Commodore Schley to keep every 
 one informed, even those far below in the fire-rooms and from engineers and 
 firemen in the hot bowels of the great leviathans to the men in the fighting-tops 
 the welkin rang until the ships reverberated with exuberant cheers. 
 
 This was 10.20 A. M. Previously, the two torpedo boats had gone down, 
 and only two dozen of their 140 men survived, these having been picked up by 
 the Gloucester, which plucky little unprotected "dare-devil," not content with 
 the destruction she had courted and escaped only as one of the unexplainable 
 mysteries of Spanish gunnery, was coming up to join the chase after bigger 
 game ; and it was to Lieutenant Wainwright, her commander, that Admiral 
 Cervera surrendered. The Maine ivas avenged. (Lieutenant Wainwright was 
 executive officer on that ill-fated vessel when she was blow r n up February 15th.) 
 Cervera was wounded, hatless, and almost naked when he was taken on board 
 the Gloucester. Lieutenant Wainwright cordially saluted him and grasped him 
 by the hand, saying, "I congratulate you, Admiral Cervera, upon as gallant a 
 fight as was ever made upon the sea." He placed his cabin at the service of 
 Cervera and his officers, while his surgeon dressed their wounds and his men 
 did all they could for their comfort Wainwright supplying the admiral with 
 clothing. Cervera was overcome with emotion, and the face of the old gray- 
 bearded warrior was suffused in tears. The Iowa and Indiana came up soon 
 after the Gloucester and assisted in the rescue of the drowning Spaniards from 
 the Oquendo and Teresa, after which they all hurried on after the vanishing 
 Brooklyn and Oregon, which were pursuing the Vizcaya and Colon, the only 
 two remaining vessels of Cervera s splendid fleet. From pursuer and pursued 
 the smoke rose in volumes and the booming guns over the waters sang the song 
 of destruction. 
 
 In twenty-four minutes after the sinking of the Teresa and Oquendo, the 
 Vizcaya, riddled by the Oregon s great shells and burning fiercely, hauled down 
 her flag and headed for the shore, where she hung upon the rocks. In a dying 
 effort she had tried to ram the Brooklyn, but the fire of the big cruiser was too 
 hot for her. The Texas and the little Vixen were seen to be about a mile to the 
 rear, and the Vizcaya was left to them and the loiva, the latter staying by her 
 finally, while the Texas and Vixen followed on. 
 
 It looked like a forlorn hope to catch the Colon. She was four and one- 
 half miles away. But the Brooklyn and the Oregon were running like express 
 trains, and the Texas sped after the fugitives with all her might. The chase 
 lasted two hours. Firing ceased, and every power of the ship and the nerve of 
 commodore, captains, and officers were devoted to increasing the speed. Men 
 
DESTRUCTION OF CERVERXS FLEET. 569 
 
 from the guns, naked to the waist and perspiring in streams, were called on deck 
 for rest and an airing. It was a grimy and dirty but jolly set of Jackies, and 
 jokes were merrily cracked as they sped on and waited. Only the men in the 
 fire-rooms were working as never before. It was their battle now, a battle of 
 speed. At 12.30 it was seen the Americans were gaining. Cheers went up and 
 all was made ready. " We may wing that fellow yet," said Commodore Schley, 
 as he commanded Captain Clark to try a big thirteen-inch shell. "Remember 
 the Maine" was flung out on a pennant from the mast-head of the Oregon, and 
 at 8,500 yards she began to send her 1,000-pound shots shrieking over the 
 Brooklyn after the flying Spaniard. One threw tons of water on board the 
 fugitive, and the Brooklyn a few minutes later with eight-inch guns began to 
 pelt her sides. Everyone expected a game fight from the proud and splendid 
 Colon with her smokeless powder and rapid-fire guns; but all were surprised 
 when, after a feeble resistance, at 1.15 o clock her captain struck his colors and 
 ran his ship ashore sixty miles from Santiago, opening her sea-valves to sink 
 her after she had surrendered. 
 
 Victory was at last complete. As the Brooklyn and Oregon moved upon 
 the prey word of the surrender was sent below, and naked men poured out of 
 the fire-rooms, black with smoke and dirt and glistening with perspiration, but 
 wild with joy. Commodore Schley gazed down at the grimy, gruesome, joyous 
 firemen with glistening eyes suspicious of tears, and said, in a husky voice, 
 eloquent with emotion, " Those are the fellows who made this day" Then he 
 signaled "The enemy has surrendered." The Texas, five miles to the east, 
 repeated the signal to Admiral Sampson some miles further away, coming at top 
 speed of the New York. Next the commodore signaled the admiral " A 
 glorious victory has been achieved. Details communicated later." And then, to 
 all the ships, " This is a great day for our country" all of which were repeated 
 by the Texas to the ships further east, The cheering was wild. Such a scene 
 was never, perhaps, witnessed upon the ocean. Admiral Sampson arrived before 
 the Colon sank, and placing the great nose of the New York against that vessel 
 pushed her into shallow water, where she sank, but was not entirely submerged. 
 Thus perished from the earth the bulk of the sea power of Spain. 
 
 The Spanish losses were 1,800 men killed, wounded, and made prisoners, 
 and six ships destroyed or sunk, the property loss being about $12,000,000. 
 The American loss was one man killed and three wounded, all from the Brooklyn, 
 a result little short of a miracle from the fact that the Brooklyn was hit thirty- 
 six times, and nearly all the ships were struck more than once. 
 
 The prisoneis were treated with the utmost courtesy. Many of them were 
 taken or rescued entirely naked, and scores of them were wounded. Their be 
 havior was manly and their fortitude won the admiration of their captors. 
 
570 
 
 THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. 
 
 Whatever may be said of Spanish marksmanship, there is no discount on Spanish 
 courage. After a short detention Cervera and his captured sailors were sent 
 north to New Hampshire and thence to Annapolis, where they were held until 
 released by order of President McKinley, August olst. 
 
 THREATENED BOMBARDMENT OF SANTIAGO AND FLIGHT OF THE REFUGEES. 
 
 On July 3d, while the great naval duel was in progress upon the sea, 
 General Shafter demanded the surrender of Santiago upon pain of bombard 
 ment. The demand was refused by General Toral, who commanded the forces 
 
 after the wounding of General Lin 
 ares. General Shafter stated that 
 he would postpone the bombardment 
 until noon of July 5th to allow 
 foreigners and non-combatants to 
 get out of the city, and he urged 
 General Toral in the name of hu 
 manity to use his influence and aid 
 to facilitate the rapid departure of 
 unarmed citizens and foreigners. 
 Accordingly late in the afternoon of 
 July 4th General Toral posted no 
 tices upon the walls of Santiago 
 advising all women, children, and 
 non-combatants that between five 
 and nine o clock on the morning of 
 the 5th they might pass out by any 
 gate of the city, all pilgrims going on 
 foot, no carriages being allowed, and 
 stating that stretchers would be pro 
 vided for the crippled. 
 
 Promptly at five o clock on the 
 following morning a great line of pilgrims wound out of Santiago. It was no 
 rabble, but well-behaved crowds of men and women, with great droves of chil 
 dren. About four hundred persons were carried out on litters. Many of the 
 poorer women wore large crucifixes and some entered El Caney telling their 
 beads. But there were many not so fortunate as to reach the city. Along the 
 highroads in all directions thousands of families squatted entirely without food 
 or shelter, and many deaths occurred among them. The Red Cross Society did 
 much to relieve the suffering, but it lacked means of transporting supplies to 
 the front. 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL WILLIAM R. SHAFTER. 
 
THE LAST BATTLE. 
 
 571 
 
 While the flag of truce was still flying on the morning of July 6th a com 
 munication was received from General Toral, requesting that the time of truce 
 be further extended, as he wanted to communicate again with the Spanish 
 government at Madrid concerning the surrender of the city; and, further, that 
 the cable operators, who were Englishmen and had fled to El Caney with the 
 refugees, be returned to the city that he might do so. General Shafter extended 
 the truce until four o clock on Sunday, July 10th, and the operators returned 
 from El Caney to work the wires for General Toral. During all this time the 
 refugees continued to throng the roads to Siboney and El Caney, until 20,000 
 fugitives were congregated at the 
 two points. It is a disgraceful fact, 
 however, that while this truce was 
 granted at the request of the Spanish 
 general, it was taken advantage of 
 by the troops under him to loot the 
 city. Both Cuban and Spanish 
 families suffered from their rapacity. 
 
 THE LAST BATTLE AND THE SUR 
 RENDER OF THE CITY. 
 
 On July 8th and 10th the two 
 expeditions of General Miles arrived, 
 reinforcing General Shafter s army 
 with over 6,000 men. General 
 Toral was acquainted with the fact 
 of their presence, and General Miles 
 urgently impressed upon him that 
 further resistance could but result in 
 a useless loss of life. The Spanish 
 commander replied that he had not 
 received permission to surrender, 
 and if the Americans would not wait longer he could only obey orders of 
 his government, and that he and his men would die fighting. Accordingly a 
 joint bombardment by the army and navy was begun. The artillery reply 
 of the Spaniards was feeble and spiritless, though our attack on the city was 
 chiefly with artillery. They seemed to depend most upon their small arms, 
 and returned the volleys fired from the trenches vigorously. Our lines were 
 elaborately protected with over 22,000 sand-bags, while the Spaniards were 
 protected * with bamboo poles filled with earth. In this engagement the 
 dynamite gun of the Eough Riders did excellent service, striking the enemy s 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL NELSON A. MILES. 
 
572 THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. 
 
 trenches and blowing field-pieces into the air. The bombardment continued 
 until the afternoon of the second day, when a flag of truce was displayed over 
 the city. It was thought that General Toral was about to surrender, but 
 instead he only asked more time. 
 
 On the advice of General Miles, General Shafter consented to another 
 truce, and, at last, on July 14th, after an interview with Generals Miles and 
 Shafter, in which he agreed to give up the city on condition that the army 
 would be returned to Spain at the expense of America, General Toral surren 
 dered. On July 16th the agreement, with the formal approval of the Madrid 
 and Washington governments, was signed in duplicate by the commissioners, 
 each side retaining a copy. This event was accepted throughout the world as- 
 marking the end of the Spanish-American War. 
 
 The conditions of the surrender involved the following points: 
 
 " (1) The 20,000 refugees at El Caney and Siboney to be sent back to the 
 city. (2) An American infantry patrol to be posted on the roads surrounding 
 the city and in the country between it and the American cavalry. (3) Our 
 hospital corps to give attention, as far as possible, to the sick and wounded 
 Spanish soldiers in Santiago. (4) All the Spanish troops in the province, 
 except ten thousand men at Holguin, under command of General Luque, to- 
 come into the city and surrender. (5) The guns and defenses of the city to be 
 turned over to the Americans in good condition. (6) The Americans to have 
 full use of the Juragua Railroad, which belongs to the Spanish government, 
 (7) The Spaniards to surrender their arms. (8) All the Spaniards to be con 
 veyed to Spain on board of American transports with the least possible delay, 
 and be permitted to take portable church property with them." 
 
 TAKING POSSESSION OF SANTIAGO AND RAISING THE AMERICAN FLAG. 
 
 The formality of taking possession of the city yet remained to be done. 
 To that end, immediately after the signing of the agreement by the commis 
 sioners, General Shafter notified General Toral that he would formally receive 
 his surrender of the city the next day, Sunday, July 17th, at nine o clock in the 
 morning. Accordingly at about 8.30 A. M., Sunday, General Shafter, accom 
 panied by the commander of the American army, General Nelson A. Miles, 
 Generals Wheeler and Lawton, and several officers, walked slowly down the 
 hill to the road leading to Santiago. Under the great mango tree which had 
 witnessed all the negotiations, General Toral, in full uniform, accompanied by 
 200 Spanish officers, met the Americans. After a little ceremony in military 
 manoeuvring, the two commanding generals faced each other, and General Toral,. 
 speaking in Spanish, said : 
 
GENERAL SH AFTER S ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE VICTORY. 573 
 
 "Through fate I am forced to surrender to General Shatter, of the American 
 army, the city and the strongholds of the city of Santiago." 
 
 General ToraPs voice trembled with emotion as lie spoke the words giving 
 up the town to his victorious enemy. As. he finished speaking the Spanish 
 officers presented arms. 
 
 General Shatter, in reply, said : 
 
 "I receive the city in the name of the government of the United States." 
 
 The officers of the Spanish general then wheeled about, presenting arms, 
 and General Shatter, with the American officers, cavalry and infantry, chosen 
 for the occasion, passed into the city 
 and on to the governor s palace, 
 where a crowd, numbering 3,000 
 persons, had gathered. As the great 
 bell in the tower of the cathedral 
 nearby gave the first stroke of twelve 
 o clock the American flag was run up 
 from the flag-pole on the palace, and 
 as it floated to the breeze all hats 
 were removed by the spectators, 
 while the soldiers presented arms. 
 As the cathedral bell tolled the last 
 stroke of the hour the military band 
 began to play "The Star-Spangled 
 Banner," which was followed by 
 "Three Cheers for the Red, White, 
 and Blue." The cheering of the 
 soldiers were joined by more than 
 half of the people, who seemed 
 greatly pleased and yelled "Viva 
 los Americanos." The soldiers along 
 almost the whole of the American line could see and had watched with alter 
 nating silence and cheers the entire proceeding. 
 
 GENERAL SHAFTER ? S ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE VICTORY. 
 
 Having assigned soldiers to patrol and preserve order within the city, 
 General Shatter and his staff returned to their quarters at camp, and the victor 
 ious commander, who two weeks before was almost disheartened, sent a dispatch 
 announcing the formal surrender of Santiago. It was the first dispatch of the 
 kind received at Washington from a foreign country for more than fifty years. 
 The following extract from General Shatter s telegram sums up the situation : 
 
 GENERAL JOSEPH WHEELER. 
 
574 THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. 
 
 "I have the honor to announce that the American flag has been this 
 instant, 12 noon, hoisted over the house of the civil government in the city of 
 Santiago. An immense concourse of people was present, a squadron of cavalry 
 and a regiment of infantry presenting arms, and a band playing national airs. 
 A light battery fired a salute of twenty-one guns. 
 
 "Perfect order is being maintained by the municipal government. The 
 distress is very great, but there is little sickness in town, and scarcely any 
 yellow fever. 
 
 "A small gunboat and about 200 seamen left by Cervera have surrendered 
 to me. Obstructions are being removed from the mouth of the harbor. 
 
 "Upon coming into the city I discovered a perfect entanglement of 
 defenses. Fighting as the Spaniards did the first day, it would have cost five 
 thousand lives to have taken it. 
 
 "Battalions of Spanish troops have been depositing arms since daylight in 
 the armory, over which I have a guard. General Toral formally surrendered 
 the plaza and all stores at 9 A. M. About 7,000 rifles, 600,000 cartridges, and 
 many fine modern guns were given up. 
 
 "This important victory, with its substantial fruits of conquest, was won 
 by a loss of 1,593 men killed, wounded, and missing. Lawton, who had the 
 severe fighting around El Caney, lost 410 men. Kent lost 859 men in the still 
 more severe assault on San Juan and the other conflicts of the centre. The 
 cavalry lost 285 men, many of whom fell at El Caney, and the feint at Agua- 
 dores cost thirty-seven men. One man of the Signal Corps was killed and one 
 wounded. Trying as it is to bear the casualties of the first fight, there can be 
 \o doubt that in a military sense our success was not dearly won." 
 
 Thus within less than thirty days from the time Shafter s army landed 
 upon Cuban soil he had received the surrender not only of the city of Santiago, 
 but nearly the whole of the province of that name or about one-tenth of the 
 entire island. 
 
 THE WAR IN PORTO RICO. 
 
 It was General Miles original plan after establishing a blockade of Cuban 
 ports to open the war in Porto Rico, and make no general invasion of Cuba 
 during the sickly season, but the enclosure of Cervera s fleet in the harbor of 
 Santiago changed the conditions and made it necessary to move a military force 
 to that point before going elsewhere. 
 
 Now that Santiago had surrendered, according to the original plan of 
 General Miles, the attention of the army and navy was again turned to Porto 
 Rico, and the work of fitting out expeditions to that island was begun at once. 
 There were three expeditions sent. The first under General Miles sailed from 
 
THE WAR IN PORTO RICO. 575 
 
 Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, July 21st; the second under General Ernst on the same 
 day sailed from Charleston, S. C. ; the third under General Brooke embarked at 
 Newport News on July 26th. All of these expeditions, aggregating about 
 11,000 men, were convoyed by war-ships, and successfully landed. The first, 
 under General Miles, reached Guanica at daylight on July 25th, where a 
 Spanish force attempted to resist their landing, but a few well-directed shells 
 from the Massachusetts, Gloucester, and Columbia soon put the enemy to flight. 
 A party then went ashore and pulled down the Spanish flag from the block 
 house the first trophy of war from Porto Rican soil. As the troops began to 
 land the Spaniards opened fire upon them. The Americans replied with their 
 rifles and machine guns, and the ships also shelled the enemy from the harbor. 
 Five dead Spaniards were found after the firing had ceased. Not an American 
 was touched. 
 
 Before nightfall all the troops were landed. The next clay General Miles 
 marched toward Ponce. Four men were wounded in a skirmish at Yauco on 
 the way, but at Ponce, .where General Ernst s expedition from Charleston met 
 them and disembarked on July 28th, the Spaniards fled on the approach of the 
 Americans, whom the mayor of the city and the people welcomed with joy, 
 making many demonstrations in their honor and offering their services to hunt 
 and fight the Spaniards. General Miles issued a proclamation to the people 
 declaring clearly the United States purpose of annexing them. The mayor of 
 Ponce published this proclamation, with an appeal from himself to the people 
 to salute and hail the American flag as their own, and to welcome and aid the 
 American soldiers as their deliverers and brothers. 
 
 On August 4th General Brooke arrived, and the fleet commander, Captain 
 Higginson, with little resistance opened the port of Arroyo, where they were 
 successfully landed the next day, and General Haines brigade captured the 
 place with a few prisoners. 
 
 The Americans were then in possession of all the principal ports on the 
 south coast, covering between fifty and sixty miles of that shore. A forward 
 movement was inaugurated in three divisions all of which we will consider 
 together the object of General Miles being to occupy the island and drive the 
 Spanish forces before him into San Juan, and by the aid of the fleet capture 
 them there in a body, though the Spanish forces numbered 8,000 regulars and 
 9,000 volunteers, against which were the 11,000 land forces of the Americans 
 and also their fleet. 
 
 The town of Coamo was captured August 9th after half an hour of fighting 
 by Generals Ernst and Wilson, the Americans driving the Spaniards from 
 their trenches, and sustaining a loss of six wounded. On the 10th General 
 Schwan encountered 1,000 Spaniards at Eosario River. This was the most 
 
576 THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. 
 
 severe engagement in Porto Rico. The Spaniards were routed, with what loss 
 is unknown. The Americans had two killed and sixteen wounded. 
 
 On the llth General Wilson moved on to Abonito and found the enemy 
 strongly intrenched in the mountain fastnesses along the road. He ventured 
 an attack with artillery, sustaining a loss of one man killed and four wounded. 
 On pain of another attack he sent a messenger demanding the surrender of the 
 town of Abonito ; but the soldierly answer was sent back : " Tell General 
 Wilson to stay where he is if he wishes to avoid the shedding of much blood." 
 General Wilson concluded to delay until General Brooke could come up before 
 making the assault, and, while thus waiting, the news of peace arrived. 
 
 Meantime General Brooke had been operating around Guayama, where he 
 had five men wounded. At three o clock, August 12th, the battle was just 
 opening in good order, and a great fight was anticipated. The gunners were 
 sighting their first pieces when one of the signal corps galloped up with the 
 telegram announcing peace. " You came just fifteen minutes too soon. The 
 troops will be disappointed," said General Brooke, and they were. 
 
 So ended the well-planned campaign of Porto Rico, in which General Miles 
 had arranged, by a masterly operation with 11,000 men, the occupation of an 
 island 108 miles long by thirty-seven broad. As it was, he had already occu 
 pied about one-third of the island with a loss of only three killed and twenty- 
 eight wounded, against a preponderating force of 17,000 Spaniards. 
 
 After the signing of the protocol of peace General Brooke was left in 
 charge of about half the forces in Porto Rico, pending a final peace, while 
 General Miles with the other half returned to the United States, where he 
 arrived early in September and was received with fitting ovations in New York, 
 Philadelphia, and Washington, at which latter city he again took up his quarters 
 as the Commander of the American Army. 
 
 THE CONQUEST OF THE PHILIPPINES. 
 
 After Dewey s victory at Manila, already referred to, it became evident that 
 he must have the co-operation of an army in capturing and controlling the city. 
 The insurgents under General Aguinaldo appeared anxious to assist Admiral 
 Dewey, but it was feared that he could not control them. Accordingly, the big 
 monitor Monterey was started for Manila and orders were given for the imme 
 diate outfitting of expeditions from San Francisco under command of Major- 
 General Wesley Merritt. The first expedition consisted of between 2,500 and 
 3,000 troops, commanded by Brigadier-General Anderson, carried on three ships, 
 the Charleston, the City of Pekin, and the City of Sydney. This was the longest 
 expedition (about 6,000 miles) on which American troops were ever sent, and 
 *he men carried supplies to last a year. The Charleston got away on the 22d, 
 
THE CONQUEST OF THE PHILIPPINES. 
 
 577 
 
 and the other two vessels followed three days later. The expedition went 
 through safely, arriving at Manila July 1st. The C /tar lesion had stopped on 
 June 21st at the Ladrone Islands and captured the island of Guam without 
 resistance. The soldiers of the garrison were taken on as prisoners to Manila 
 and a garrison of American soldiers left in charge, with the stars and stripes 
 waving over the fortifications. 
 
 The second expedition of 3,500 men sailed June 15th under General Greene, 
 who used the steamer China as his flagship. This expedition landed July 16th 
 at Cavite in the midst of considerable excitement on account of the aggressive 
 movements of the insurgents and the 
 daily encounters and skirmishes be 
 tween them and the Spanish forces. 
 
 On June 23d the monitor Mo- 
 nadnoc sailed to further reinforce 
 Admiral Dewey, and four days later 
 the third expedition of 4,000 troops 
 under General McArthur passed out 
 of the Golden Gate amid the cheers 
 of the multitude, as the others had 
 done ; and on the 29th General Mer- 
 ritt followed on the Newport. Nearly 
 one month later, July 23d, General 
 H. G. Otis, with 900 men, sailed on 
 the City of Rio de Janeiro from San 
 Francisco, thus making a total of 
 nearly 12,000 men, all told, sent to 
 the Philippine Islands. 
 
 General Merritt arrived at Ca 
 vite July 25th, and on July 29th the 
 American forces advanced from Ca- 
 
 .. j TVT -1 r\ n o-i i MAJOR-GENERAL WESLEY MERRITT. 
 
 vite toward Manila. On the 31st, 
 
 while enroute, they were attacked at Malate by 3,000 Spaniards, whom they 
 repulsed, but sustained a loss of nine men killed and forty-seven wounded, nine 
 of them seriously. This was the first loss of life on the part of the Americans 
 in action in the Philippines. The Spanish casualties were much heavier. On 
 the same day General McArthur s reinforcements arrived at Cavite, and several 
 days were devoted to preparations for a combined land and naval attack. 
 
 On August 7th Admiral Dewey and General Merritt demanded the sur 
 render of the city within forty-eight hours, and foreign war-ships took their 
 respective subjects on board for protection. On August 9th the Spaniards 
 
 37 G. R. 
 
578 THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. 
 
 asked more time to hear from Madrid, but this was refused, and on the 13th a 
 final demand was made for immediate surrender, which Governor-General 
 Augusti refused and embarked with his family on board a German man-of-war, 
 which sailed with him for Hong Kong. At 9.30 o clock the bombardment be 
 gan with fury, all of the vessels sending hot shot at the doomed city. 
 
 In the midst of the bombardment by the fleet American soldiers under 
 Generals McArthur and Greene were ordered to storm the Spanish trenches 
 which extended ten miles around the city. The soldiers rose cheering and 
 dashed for the Spanish earthworks. A deadly fire met them, but the men 
 rushed on and swept the enemy from their outer defenses, forcing them to their 
 inner trenches. A second charge was made upon these, and the Spaniards 
 retreated into the walled city, where they promptly sent up a white flag. The 
 ships at once ceased firing, and the victorious Americans entered the city after 
 six hours fighting. General Merritt took command as military governor. The 
 Spanish forces numbered 7,000 and the Americans 10,000 men. The loss to 
 the Americans was about fifty killed, wounded, and missing, which was very 
 small under the circumstances. 
 
 In the meantime the insurgents had formed a government with Aguinaldo 
 as president. They declared themselves most friendly to American occupation 
 of the islands, with a view to aiding them to establish an independent govern 
 ment, which they hoped would be granted to them. On September 15th they 
 opened their republican congress at Malolos, and President Aguinaldo made the 
 opening address, expressing warm appreciation of Americans and indulging the 
 hope that they meant to establish the independence of the islands. On Sep 
 tember 16th, however, in obedience to the command of General Otis, they with 
 drew their forces from the vicinity of Manila, 
 
 PEACE NEGOTIATIONS AND THE PROTOCOL. 
 
 Precisely how to open the negotiations for peace was a delicate and difficult 
 question. Its solution, however, proved easy enough when the attempt was 
 ^ During the latter part of July the Spanish government, through M. 
 Jules Cambon, the French ambassador at Washington, submitted a note, asking 
 the United States government for a statement of the ground on which it would 
 be willing to cease hostilities and arrange for a peaceable settlement. Accord 
 ingly, on July 30th, a statement, embodying President McKinley s views, was 
 transmitted to Spain, and on August 2d Spain virtually accepted the terms by 
 On August 9th Spain s formal reply was presented by M. Cambon, and 
 on the next day he and Secretary Day agreed upon terms of a protocol, to be 
 sent to Spain for her approval. Two clays later, the 12th inst, the French 
 ambassador was authorized to sign the protocol for Spain, and the signatures 
 
PEACE NEGOTIATIONS AND THE PROTOCOL. 579 
 
 were affixed the same afternoon at the White House (M. Cambon signing for 
 Spain and Secretary Day for the United States), in the presence of President 
 McKinley and the chief assistants of the Department of State. The six main 
 points covered by the protocol were as follows : 
 
 " 1. That Spain will relinquish all claim of sovereignty over and title to 
 Cuba, 
 
 " 2. That Porto Rico and other Spanish islands in the West Indies, and 
 an island in the Ladroiies, to be selected by the United States, shall be ceded to 
 the latter. 
 
 " 3. That the United States will occupy and hold the city, bay, and harbor 
 of Manila, pending the conclusion of a treaty of peace which shall determine the 
 control, disposition, and government of the Philippines. 
 
 " 4. That Cuba, Porto Rico, and other Spanish islands in the West Indies 
 shall be immediately evacuated, and that commissioners, to be appointed within 
 ten days, shall, within thirty days from the signing of the protocol, meet at 
 Havana and San Juan, respectively, to arrange and execute the details of the 
 evacuation. 
 
 " 5. That the United States and Spain will each appoint not more than five 
 commissioners to negotiate and conclude a treaty of peace. The commissioners 
 are to meet at Paris not later than October 1st. 
 
 " 6. On the signing of the protocol, hostilities will be suspended and notice 
 to that effect be given as soon as possible by each government to the com 
 manders of its military and naval forces." 
 
 On the very same afternoon President McKinley issued a proclamation 
 announcing on the part of the United States a suspension of hostilities, and over 
 the wires the word went ringing throughout the length and breadth of the land 
 and under the ocean that peace was restored. The cable from Hong Kong to 
 Manila, however, had not been repaired for use since Dewey had cut it in May ; 
 consequently it was several days before tidings could reach General Merritt and 
 Admiral Dewey ; and meantime the battle of Manila, which occurred on the 
 13th, was fought. 
 
 On August 17th President McKinley named commissioners to adjust the 
 Spanish evacuation of Cuba and Porto Rico, in accordance with the terms of 
 the protocol. Rear-Admiral Wm. T. Sampson, Senator Matthew C. Butler, and 
 Major-General James F. Wade were appointed for Cuba, and Rear-Admiral 
 W. S. Schley, Brigadier-General Wm. W. Gordon, and Major-General John R. 
 Brooke for Porto Rico. In due time Spain announced her commissioners, and, 
 as agreed, they met in September and the arrangements for evacuation were 
 speedily completed and carried out. 
 
 President McKinley appointed as the National Peace Commission, Secre- 
 
580 THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. 
 
 tary of State Wm. R. Day, Senator Cushmaii K. Davis of Minnesota, Senator 
 Wm. P. Frye of Maine, Senator George Gray of Delaware, and Mr. Whitelaw 
 Reid of New York. Secretary Day resigned his State portfolio September 16th, 
 in which he was succeeded by Colonel John Hay, former Ambassador to Eng 
 land. With ex-Secretary Day at their head the Americans sailed from New 
 York, September 17th, met the Spanish Commissioners at Paris, France, as 
 agreed, and arranged the details of the final peace between the two nations. 
 Thus ended the Spanish-American War. 
 
 HOME-COMING OF OUR SOLDIERS. 
 
 After Spain s virtual acceptance of the terms of peace contained in Presi 
 dent McKinley s note of July 30th, it was deemed unnecessary to keep all the 
 forces unoccupied in the fever districts of Cuba and the unsanitary camps of 
 our own country; consequently the next day after receipts of Spain s message 
 of August 2d, on August 3d, the home-coming was inaugurated by ordering all 
 cavalry under General Shafter at Santiago to be transported to Montauk Point, 
 Long Island, and on the 6th instant transports sailed bearing those who were to 
 come north. These were followed rapidly by others from Santiago, and later 
 by about half the forces from Porto Rico under General Miles, and others from 
 the various camps, so that by the end of September, 1898, nearly half of the 
 great army of 268,000 men had been mustered out of service or sent home 
 on furlough. 
 
 It is a matter of universal regret that so many of our brave volunteers 
 died of neglect in camps and on transports, and that fever, malaria, and 
 exposure carried several times the number to their graves as were sent there by 
 Spanish bullets. Severe criticisms have been lodged against the War Depart 
 ment for both lack of efficiency and neglect in caring for the comfort, health, 
 and life of those who went forward at their country s call. 
 
 However, it must be remembered that the War Department undertook and 
 accomplished a herculean task, and it could not be expected, starting with a 
 regular force of less than 30,000 men, that an army of a quarter of a million 
 could be built up out of volunteers who had to be collected, trained, clothed, 
 equipped, and provisioned, and a war waged and won on two sides of the globe, 
 in a little over three months, without much suffering and many mistakes. 
 
 THE TREATY OF PEACE. 
 
 December 10, 1898, was one of the most eventful days in the past decade 
 one fraught with great interest to the world, and involving the destiny of more 
 than 10,000,000 of people. At nine o clock on the evening of that day the 
 commissioners of the United States and those of Spain met for the last time, 
 
THE UNITED STATES PEACE COMMISSIONERS OF THE SPANISH WAR 
 
 Appointed September 0. 1898. Met Spanish Commissioners at Paris, October 1st. Treaty of Peace, signed by the Commis 
 sioners at Paris, December 10th. Ratified by the United States Senate at Washington, February 6, 1899. 
 
THE TREATY OF PEACE. 
 
 581 
 
 after about eleven weeks of deliberation, in the magnificent apartments of the 
 foreign ministry at the French capital, and signed the Treaty of Peace, which 
 finally marked the end of the Spanish-American War. 
 
 This treaty transformed the political geography of the world by establish 
 ing the United States authority in both hemispheres, and also in the tropics, 
 where it had never before extended. It, furthermore, brought under our 
 dominion and obligated us for the government of strange and widely isolated 
 peoples, who have little or no knowledge of liberty and government as measured 
 by the American standards. In this new assumption of responsibility America 
 essayed a difficult problem, the solving of which involved results that could not 
 fail to influence the destiny of our nation and the future history of the whole 
 world. 
 
 On January 3, 1899, the Hon. John Hay, Secretary of State, delivered the 
 Treaty of Peace to President McKinley, who, on January 4th, forwarded the 
 same to the Senate of the United States with a view to its ratification. Below 
 will be found the complete text of the treaty as submitted by the President. 
 
 ARTICLE I. Spain relinquishes all claim of sovereignty 
 over and title to Cuba. 
 
 And as the island is, u-pon its evacuation by Spain, to 
 be occupied by the United States, the United States will, 
 BO long as such occupation shall last, assume and discharge 
 the obligations that may under international law result 
 from the fact of its occupation, for the protection of life 
 and property. 
 
 ARTICLE II. Spain cedes to the United States the 
 island of Porto Rico and other islands now under Spanish 
 sovereignty in the West Ladies, and the island of Guam 
 in the Marianas or Ladrones. 
 
 ARTICLE III. Spain cedes to the United States the 
 archipelago known as the Philippine Islands, and com 
 prehending the islands lying within the following line: 
 
 "A line running from -west to east along or near the 
 twentieth parallel of north latitude and through the 
 middle of the navigable .channel of Bachi, from the one 
 hundred and eighteenth (USth) to the one hundred and 
 twenty-seventh < 127th) degree meridian of longitude east 
 of Greenwich, thence along the one hundred and twenty- 
 seventh (127th) degree meridian of longitude east of 
 Greenwich to the parallel of four degrees and forty-five 
 minutes (4-45) north latitude to its intersection with the 
 meridian of longitude one hundred and nineteen degrees 
 and thirty-five minutes (119-35) <east of Greenwich, thence 
 along the meridian of longitude one hundred and nineteen 
 degrees and thirty-five minutes <1 19-35) east of Green 
 wich to the parallel of latitude seven degrees and forty 
 minutes (7-40) north, thenee along the parallel of latitude 
 seven degrees and forty minutes <7-40) north to its inter 
 section with the one hundred and sixteenth (1 16th) degree 
 meridian of longitude east of Greenwich, thence by a 
 direct line to the intersection of the tenth (10th) degree 
 
 parallel of north latitude with the one hundred and 
 eighteenth (118th) degree meridian of longitude east of 
 Greenwich, and thence along the one hundred and 
 eighteenth (118th) degree meridian of longitude east of 
 Greenwich to the point of beginning." 
 
 The United States will pay to Spain the sum of twenty 
 million dollars ($20,000,000) within three months after 
 the exchange of ratifications of the present treaty. 
 
 ARTICLE IV. The United States will, for the term of 
 ten years from the day of the exchange of the ratifications 
 of the present treaty, admit Spanish ships and merchandise 
 to the ports of the Philippine Islands on the same terms 
 as ships and merchandise of the United States. 
 
 ARTICLE V. The United States will, upon the signature 
 of the present treaty, send back to Spain at its own cost 
 the Spanish soldiers taken as prisoners of war on the 
 capture of Manila by the American forces. The arms of 
 the soldiers in question shall be restored to them. 
 
 Spain will, upon the exchange of the ratifications of the 
 present treaty, proceed to evacuate the Philippines as well 
 as the island of Guam, on terms similar to those agreed 
 upon by the commissioners appointed to arrange for the 
 evacuation of Porto Rico and other islands in the West 
 Indies, under the protocol of August 12, 1898, which is 
 to continue in force till its provisions are completely ex 
 ecuted. 
 
 The time within which the evacuation of the Philippine 
 Islands and Guam shall be completed shall be fixed by 
 the two Governments. Stands of colors, uncaptured war- 
 vessels, small arms, guns of all calibers, with their car 
 riages and accessories, powder, ammunition, live stock, 
 and materials and supplies of all kinds belonging to the 
 land and naval forces of Spain in the Philippines and 
 Guam, remain the property of Spain. Pieces of heavy 
 
582 
 
 THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. 
 
 ordnance, exclusive of field artillery, in the fortifications 
 and coast defenses shall remain in their emplacements for 
 the term of siz months, to be reckoned from the exchange 
 of ratifications of the treaty ; and the United States may, 
 in the meantime, purchase such material from Spain if a 
 satisfactory agreement between the two Governments on 
 the subject shall be reached. 
 
 ARTICLE VI. Spain will, upon the signature of the 
 present treaty, release prisoners of war and all persons 
 detained or imprisoned for political offenses in connection 
 with the insurrections in Cuba and the Philippines and 
 the war with the United States. 
 
 Reciprocally, the United States will release all persons 
 made prisoners of war by the American forces and will 
 undertake to obtain the release of all Spanish prisoners in 
 the hands of the insurgent* in Cuba and the Philippines. 
 
 The Government of the United States will at its own 
 cost return to Spain and the Government of Spain will at 
 its own cost return to the United States, Cuba, Porto Rico, 
 and the Philippines, according to the situation of their 
 respective homes, prisoners released or caused to be released 
 by them, respectively, under this article. 
 
 ARTICLE VII. The United States and Spain mutually 
 relinquish all claims for indemnity, national and indi 
 vidual, of every kind, of either Government or of its citi 
 zens or subjects, against the other Government that may 
 have arisen since the beginning of the late insurrection in 
 Cuba, and prior to the exchange of ratifications of the 
 present treaty, including all claims for indemnity for the 
 cost of the war. 
 
 The United States will adjudicate and settle the claims 
 of its citizens against Spain relinquished in this article. 
 
 ARTICLE VIII. In conformity with the provisions of 
 Articles I, II, and III of this treaty, Spain relinquishes in 
 Cuba and cedes in Porto Rico and other islands in the 
 West Indies, in the island of Guam and in the Philippine 
 archipelago, all the buildings, wharves, barracks, forts, 
 structures, public highways, and other immovable prop 
 erty, which, in conformity with law, belong to the public 
 domain, and as such belong to the Crown of Spain. 
 
 And it is hereby declared that the relinquishment or 
 cession, as the case may be, to which the preceding para 
 graph refers, cannot in any respect impair the property or 
 rights which by law belong to the peaceful possession of 
 property of all kinds, of provinces, municipalities, public 
 or private establishments, ecclesiastical or civic bodies, or 
 any other associations having legal capacity to acquire 
 and possess property in the aforesaid territories renounced 
 or ceded, or of private individuals, of whatsoever nation 
 ality such individuals may be. 
 
 The aforesaid relinquishment or cession, as the case 
 may be, includes all documents exclusively referring to 
 the sovereignty relinquished or ceded that may exist in 
 the archives of the Peninsula, Where any document in 
 such archives only in part relates to said sovereignty, a 
 copy of such part will be furnished whenever it shall be 
 requested. Like rules shall be reciprocally observed in 
 favor of Spain in respect of documents in the archives of 
 the islands above referred to. 
 
 In the aforesaid relinquishment or cession, as the case 
 
 may be, are also included such rights as the Crown of 
 Spain and its authorities possess in respect of the official 
 archives and records, executive as well as judicial, in the 
 islands above referred to, which relate to said islands or 
 the rights and property of their inhabitants. Such archives 
 and records shall be carefully preserved, and private per 
 sons shall, without distinction, have the right to require 
 in accordance with law authenticated copies of the con 
 tracts, wills, and other instruments forming part of notarial 
 protocols or files, or which may be contained in the execu 
 tive or judicial archives, be the lail/er in Spain or in the 
 islands aforesaid. 
 
 ARTICLE IX. Spanish subjects, natives of the peninsula, 
 residing in the territory over which Spain by the present 
 treaty relinquishes or cedes her sovereignty, may remain 
 in such territory or may remove therefrom, retaining in 
 either event all their rights of property, including the 
 right to sell or dispose of such property or of its proceeds, 
 and they shall also have the right to carry on their indus 
 try, commerce, and professions, being subject in respect 
 thereof to such laws as are applicable to other foreigners. 
 In case they remain in the territory they mav preserve 
 their allegiance to the Crown of Spain by making before 
 a court of record, within a year from the date of the 
 exchange of ratifications of this treaty, a declaration of 
 their decision to preserve such allegiance, in default of 
 which declaration they shall be held to have renounced 
 it and to have adopted the nationality of the territory in 
 which they may reside. 
 
 The civil rights and political status of the native inhab 
 itants of the territories hereby ceded to the United States 
 shall be determined by the Congress. 
 
 ARTICLE X. The inhabitants of the territories over 
 which Spain relinquishes or cedes her sovereignty shall 
 be secure in the free exercise of their religion. 
 
 ARTICLE XL The Spaniards residing in the territories 
 over which Spain by this treaty cedes or relinquishes her 
 sovereignty shall be subject in matters civil as well as 
 criminal to the jurisdiction of the courts of the country 
 wherein they reside, pursuant to the ordinary laws govern 
 ing the same; and they shall have the right to appear 
 before such courts and to pursue the same course as citizens 
 of the country to which the courts belong. 
 
 ARTICLE XII. Judicial proceedings pending at the time 
 of the exchange of ratifications of this treaty in the terri 
 tories over which Spain relinquishes or cedes her sover 
 eignty shall be determined according to the following 
 rules : 
 
 1. Judgments rendered either in civil suits between 
 private individuals or in criminal matters before the date 
 mentioned and with respect to which there is no recourse 
 or right of revenue under the Spanish law shall be deemed 
 to be final, and shall be executed in due form by compe 
 tent authority in the territory within which such judg 
 ments should be carried out. 
 
 2. Civil suits between private individuals which may 
 on the date mentioned be undetermined shall be prose 
 cuted to judgment before the court in which they may 
 then be pending or in the court that may be substituted 
 therefor. 
 
THE TREATY OF PEACE. 
 
 583 
 
 3. Criminal actions pending on the date mentioned 
 before the Supreme Court of Spain against citizens of the 
 territory which by this treaty ceases to be Spanish shall 
 ;ontinue under its jurisdiction until final judgment; but 
 such judgment having been rendered, the execution 
 thereof shall be committed to the competent authority 
 of the place in which the case arose. 
 
 ARTICLE XIII. The rights of property secured by copy 
 rights and patents acquired by Spaniards in the Island 
 de Cuba, and in Porto Rico, the Philippines, and other 
 ceded territories, at the time of the exchange of the ratifi 
 cations of this treaty, shall continue to be respected. 
 Spanish scientific, literary, and artistic works not subver 
 sive of public order in the territories in question shall 
 continue to be admitted free of duty into such territories 
 for the period of ten years, to be reckoned from the days 
 of the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty. 
 
 ARTICLE XIV. Spain will have the power to establish 
 consular offices in the ports and places of the territories 
 the sovereignty over which has been either relinquished 
 or ceded by the present treaty. 
 
 ARTICLE XV. The Government of each country will, 
 for the term of ten years, accord to the merchant vessels 
 of the other country the same treatment in respect of all 
 port charges, including entrance and clearance dues, light 
 dues and tonnage duties, as it accords to its own merchant 
 vessels not engaged in the coastwise trade. 
 
 This article may at any time be terminated on she 
 months notice given by either Government to the other. 
 
 ARTICLE XVI. It is understood that any obligations 
 assumed in this treaty by the United States with respect 
 to Cuba are limited to the time of its occupancy thereof; 
 but it will, upon the termination of such occupancy, 
 advise any government established in the island to 
 assume the same obligations. 
 
 ARTICLE XVII. The present treaty shall be ratified by 
 the President of the United States, by and with the advice 
 and consent of the Senate thereof, and by Her Majesty, 
 the Queen Regent of Spain, and the ratifications shall be 
 exchanged at Washington within six months from the 
 date hereof, or earlier, if possible. 
 
 In faith whereof, we, the respective Plenipotentiaries, 
 have signed this treaty and have hereunto affixed our 
 seals. 
 
 Done in duplicate, at Paris, the tenth day of December, 
 in the year of our Lord one thousand eighteen hundred 
 and ninety-eight. 
 
 WILLIAM R. DAY, 
 
 WILLIAM P. FRYE, 
 
 WHITELAW REID, 
 
 B. DE ABARZUZA, 
 
 W. R. DE VILLA URRUTIA, 
 
 CUSHMAN K. DAVIS, 
 GEORGE GRAY, 
 EUGENIO M. RIOS, 
 J. DE GARNICA, 
 RAFAEL CERERO. 
 
 The Queen Regent of Spain signed the ratification of the Treaty of Peace 
 on March 17, 1899, and the final act took place on the afternoon of April llth, 
 when copies of the final protocol were exchanged at Washington by President 
 McKinley and the French ambassador, M. Cambon, representing Spain. The 
 President immediately issued a proclamation of peace, and thus the Spanish- 
 American War came to an official end. A few weeks later the ^sum of 
 $20,000,000 was paid to Spain, in accordance with the treaty, as partial com 
 pensation for the surrender of her rights in the Philippines, and diplomatic 
 relations between the Latin kingdom and the United States were resumed. 
 
 The treaty with Spain was finally consummated on July 3, 1899, on which 
 day it was ratified by the Spanish Cortes. It gave the United States, for the 
 first time in its history, an insular territory, tropical in situation, with a 
 bined area of about 150,000 square miles and a population of probably over 
 8 000,000. It comprises some of the most fertile lands of the tropics, produc 
 ing in abundance sugar, coffee, tobacco, tropical fruits and timber, and 
 to be of great advantage to the United States. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 ADMINISTRATION OK NlcKlNLEY (CONTINUED). 
 
 THB CLOSING KVHNTS OK THK NINKTEENTH 
 
 CENTURY. 
 
 Affairs in Cuba and Porto Rico Dcwey s Promotion and Return The Philippine Situation Aguinaldo s 
 Insurrection The War in Luzon The Philippine Commission Amnesty Proclaimed Presi 
 dential Nominations in 1900 Party Platforms Affairs in China The Boxer Outbreak, The 
 Foreigners in Peking The New Census. 
 
 THE UNITED STATES BECOMES A WORLD POWER. 
 
 Ox the last (lay of 1898 the Spanish troops were withdrawn from Havana, 
 and on the first day of 1899 the stars and stripes proudly floated over that 
 queen city of the American tropics. But this was only for a time. The United 
 States was pledged to give freedom to Cuba, and no man in authority thought 
 of breaking this pledge, for the honor of the country was involved. 
 
 In the summer of 1900 the Cuban people were asked to hold a convention 
 and form a Constitution, with the single proviso that it should contain no clauses 
 favoring European aggression or inimical to American interests. This done, 
 American troops and officials would be withdrawn and Cuba be given over to 
 the Cubans. 
 
 The occupation of Porto Rico, on the contrary, was permanent. It had 
 been fully ceded to the United States, and steps were taken to make it a constitu 
 ent part of that country. But the period of transition from Spanish to 
 American rule was not favorable to the interests of the people, who suffered 
 severely, their business being wrecked by tariff discrimination. Action by 
 Congress was demanded, and a bill was passed greatly reducing the tariff in 
 Porto Rico, but not giving free trade with the United States, though many held 
 that this was the Constitutional right of the islanders. Under this new tariff 
 business was resumed, and the lost prosperity of the island was gradually 
 restored. 
 
 The occupation of our new possessions in the Pacific presented serious diffi 
 culties. This was not the case with Hawaii, which fell peacefully under its 
 new rule, and in 1900 was made a Territory of the United States. With the 
 Philippine Islands the case was different. There hostility to American rule 
 
 (584) 
 
THE UNITED STATES BECOMES A WORLD POWER. 
 
 585 
 
 soon showed itself, and eventually an insurrection began, leading to a war, 
 which proved far more protracted and sanguinary than that with Spain. 
 
 DEWEY RETURNS HOME. 
 
 Shortly after these troubles began Admiral Dewey received a well-merited 
 reward. On the 3d of March, 1899, he was promoted by President McKinley 
 and the Senate from the rank of rear-admiral to that of full admiral, a grade 
 of high honor which only two Americans, Farragut and Porter, had borne 
 before him. Worn out with his labors, this distinguished officer soon after set 
 out for home. His journey was a 
 leisurely one, and he was the recip 
 ient of the highest honors at every 
 stopping-place on his route. On 
 reaching his own country he found 
 himself a great popular hero, and was 
 everywhere greeted with enthusiastic 
 applause. His reception at New York 
 was one of the striking events of the 
 century, and as a lasting testimonial 
 of appreciation and esteem his grate 
 ful countrymen purchased him a beau 
 tiful residence in Washington. Here, 
 taking to himself a wife, the Admiral 
 settled down to peace and domestic 
 comfort after his stormy career. 
 
 THE PHILIPPINE INSURRECTION. 
 
 Dewey left the Philippines in a 
 state of convulsion. On the 30th of 
 December, 1898, President McKinley 
 had issued a proclamation offering 
 the natives, under American suprem 
 acy, a considerable measure of home rule, including a voice in local government, 
 the right to hold office, a fair judiciary, and freedom of speech and of the press. 
 These concessions were not satisfactory to Emilio Aguinaldo, the leader in the 
 late insurrection against Spain, who demanded independence for the islands. 
 He claimed that Dewey had promised it to him in return for his aid in the 
 capture of Manila a claim which Dewey positively denied. 
 
 General Elwell S. Otis, who had succeeded General Merritt as military 
 
 MAJOR-GENERAL ELWELL S. OTIS. 
 
586 ADMINISTRATION OF McKINLEY. 
 
 governor of the islands, found himself plunged into the midst of an active war. 
 Admiral Dewey s aid \vas not needed in this conflict, and soon after it began he 
 returned to the United States. On the 3d of March, 1899, he had been pro 
 moted to the exalted naval rank of full admiral, which only Farragut and 
 Porter had previously held, and which was looked upon as the sole fitting 
 reward for his services. During his journey home he received the highest 
 honors at every halting-place on the route, and in the United States he was 
 greeted as the chief hero of the Spanish war. His reception in New York was 
 one of the events of the century, and his admiring countrymen showed their 
 appreciation by purchasing him a beautiful home in the city of Washington. 
 
 Before his return he had served on a commission, organized with the hope 
 of reaching a peaceful end of the difficulties. The other members of the 
 commission were General Otis, Jacob G. Shurman, President of Cornell Univer 
 sity, Professor Dean Worcester, and Charles Denby, late Minister to China. 
 The commission began its work on April 4, 1899, by issuing a proclamation to 
 the Philippine people, offering them, under the supremacy of the United States, 
 an abundant measure of civil rights, honest administration, reform of abuses, 
 and development of the resources of the country. This proclamation fell still 
 born, so far as the insurgent forces were concerned, Aguinaldo issuing counter 
 proclamations and calling on the people to fight for complete independence. It 
 was evident that the settlement of the affair would depend on the rifle and the 
 sword rather than on paper proclamations and promises. 
 
 THE INSURRECTION IN LUZON. 
 
 On the 30th of December, 1898, President McKinley "had issued a proc 
 lamation to the Philippine people, in which he offered them a large measure of 
 local self-government, the right to hold office, a fair judiciary and freedom of 
 speech and of the press. These concessions were not satisfactory to their leaders, 
 and in January, 1899, a conference was held with General Otis in which the 
 Philippine spokesman demanded a greater degree of self-government than lie 
 had authority to grant. As the debate in the Senate upon the treaty of 
 peace with Spain approached its termination, and promised to end in the ratifi 
 cation of the treaty and the cession of the islands to the United States, the rest 
 lessness and hostility of the natives increased, and on the night of February 
 4th the threatened outbreak came, in a fierce attack on the American outposts 
 at Manila. A severe battle ensued, continuing for two days, and ending in 
 the defeat of the natives, who had suffered severely and were driven back for 
 miles beyond the city limits. 
 
 Meanwhile a republic had been proclaimed by the Philippine leaders, 
 
THE UNITED STATED BECOMES A WORLD POWER. 587 
 
 Aguinaldo being chosen president and commander-in-chief of the native armies. 
 He immediately issued a declaration of war, and both sides prepared for active 
 hostilities. The first step taken by the Filipinos was a desperate one an 
 attempt at wholesale arson. On the night of February 22d the city of Manila 
 was set on fire at several points, and the soldiers and firemen who sought to 
 extinguish the flames were fired upon from many of the houses. The result was 
 not serious except to the natives themselves, since the conflagration was in great 
 part confined to their quarter of the city. General Otis took vigilant precau 
 tions to prevent the recurrence of such an attempt, and from that time forward 
 Manila, though full of secret hostiles, was safe from the peril of incendiarism. 
 
 THE CAMPAIGN OF 1899. 
 
 The American forces, being strengthened with reinforcements, began their 
 advance on March 25th. They met with sharp resistance, the Filipinos having 
 thrown up earthworks at every defensible point, and being well armed with 
 Mauser rifles. But they nowhere seemed able to sustain the vigorous onsets of 
 the Americans, who did not hesitate to charge their works and swim wide rivers 
 in face of their fire, and they were driven back from a long succession of forti 
 fied places. On March 31st Malolos, the capital of Aguinaldo, was occupied. 
 Calumpit, another Philippine stronghold, was taken near the end of April. 
 General Lawton, an old Indian fighter, who had recently reached the islands, 
 led an expedition northward through the foothills and captured San Isidro, the 
 second insurgent capital. Various other places were taken, and at the beginning 
 of July, when the coming on of the rainy season put an end to active operations, 
 a large and populous district to the north and west of Manila was in American 
 hands. 
 
 By this time it had become evident that a larger army was needed to com 
 plete the task, and reinforcements were now hurried across the ocean. With them 
 was sent a considerable body of cavalry, the lack of which had seriously handi 
 capped the troops in the spring campaign. Fighting was resumed in mid- 
 autumn, and Aguinaldo s new capital of Tarlac quickly fell. The insurgents 
 seemed to have lost heart from their reverses in the spring, and defended them 
 selves with less courage and persistence, the result being that by the 1st of 
 December the Americans were masters of the whole line of the Manila- 
 Dagupan Railway and the broad plain through which it ran, and the Filipinos 
 were in full flight for the mountains, hotly pursued by Lawton and Young, 
 with their cavalry and scouts. 
 
 From that time forward there was no Filipino army, properly so-called, 
 Aguinaldo s forces being broken up into fugitive bands, capable only of guerilla 
 
588 ADMINISTRATION OF McKINLEY. 
 
 warfare. The American troops traversed the island from end to end, having 
 frequent collisions with small parties of the enemy, in one of which, unfortu 
 nately, the gallant Lawton was shot dead. Many of the insurgent leaders were 
 captured or surrendered, but Aguinaldo continued at large, and the hope of a 
 final end of the war came to depend largely upon the event of his capture. 
 
 In November the Philippine Commission made its report to the government, 
 and a system which was thought to be well adapted to the situation was formu 
 lated at Washington. This declared that the people of the Philippines, while 
 many of them were intelligent and capable, had no experience in self-govern 
 ment, and that it was necessary for the United States to retain a firm political 
 control, while giving them such share in the government as they were fitted to 
 exercise, increasing this as they gained political training. In accordance with 
 this policy, local governments were established in those localities which had 
 become pacified, and with very promising effect. By the summer of 1900 the 
 resistance to American domination had so much decreased that President 
 McKinley issued a proclamation of amnesty, with the hope that the natives still 
 in arms would take advantage of the opportunity to cease their desultory 
 resistance. 
 
 THE SITUATION IN CHINA. 
 
 While this was going on in the Philippines a disturbed condition of affairs 
 suddenly developed in a new quarter, the ancient and populous empire of China. 
 It is necessary to go a step backwards to trace the course of events leading to this 
 unlooked-for situation. The whole intercourse of European nations with China 
 had been of a character to create indignation and hatred of foreigners in the 
 populace of that country. The Japano-Chinese war increased this feeling, while 
 demonstrating the incapacity of the Chinese to cope in war with modern nations. 
 In the years that followed, the best statesmen of China vividly realized the 
 defects of their system, and recognized that a radical reform was necessary to 
 save the nation from a total collapse. The nations of Europe were seizing the 
 best ports of the empire and threatening to divide the whole country between 
 them, a peril which it needed vigorous measures to avert. 
 
 The result was an effort to modernize the administration. Kailroads had 
 long been practically forbidden, but now concessions for the building of hundreds 
 of miles of road were granted. Modern implements of war were purchased in 
 great quantities, and the European drill and discipline were introduced into the 
 imperial army. The young emperor became strongly imbued with the spirit of 
 reformed ordered radical changes in the administration of affairs. In short, 
 a promising beginning was made in the modernization of the ancient empire. 
 
THE UNITED tiTATEti BECOMES A WORLD POWER. 589 
 
 A movement of this kind in a country so rigidly conservative as China 
 could scarcely fail to produce a revulsion. The party of ancient prejudice and 
 conservative sentiment a party comprising the bulk of the nation took the 
 alarm. The empress-dowager, who had recently laid down the reins of govern 
 ment as regent, took them up again, under the support of the conservative 
 leaders, seized and held in palace seclusion the emperor, put to death his 
 advisers, and restored the old methods of administration. 
 
 THE BOXER OUTBREAK. 
 
 This revolution in the palace soon made itself felt in the hovel. A secret 
 society of the common people, known as " The Boxers," rose in arms, made a 
 murderous onslaught upon the missionaries, who were widely domiciled within 
 the realm, and soon appeared in the capital. Here, aided by many of the soldiers, 
 and led by men high in rank in the anti-foreign party, they made a virulent 
 assault upon the legation buildings, and put the ministers of the nations in 
 imminent peril of their lives. These exalted officials were cut off from all 
 communication with their governments, stories of their massacre alone filtering 
 through, and the powers, roused to desperation by the danger of their envoys, 
 sent ships and troops in all haste to the nearest point to Pekin. In this move 
 ment the United States actively joined, its minister, Edwin H. Conger, and the 
 members of the embassy sharing the common peril. 
 
 What followed must be briefly told. A small force, made up of soldiers 
 and marines of various nations, under Admiral Seymour, of the British navy, 
 set out on June llth for Pekin. This movement failed. The railroad was 
 found to be torn up, a strong force of Chinese blocked the way, and Seymour 
 and his men were forced to turn back and barely escaped with their lives. 
 
 At the same time a naval attack was made on the forts at Taku ; Admiral 
 Eemey, of the United States navy, refusing to take part in this ill-advised 
 action. Its immediate result was an assault in force by Boxers and troops on 
 the foreign quarter of the city of Tien Tsin, in which the Chinese fought with 
 an unexpected skill and persistence. They were repulsed, but only after the 
 hardest fight which foreigners had ever experienced on Chinese soil. 
 
 THE RESCUE OF THE MINISTERS. 
 
 As the month of July went on the mystery at Pekin deepened. It became 
 known that the German minister had been murdered, and doubtful reports of 
 the slaughter of all the foreigners in the capital were cabled. As it seemed 
 impossible to obtain authentic news, the greatest possible haste was made to 
 collect an army strong enough to march to Pekin, and early in August this 
 
590 ADMINISTRATION OF McKINLEY. 
 
 force, consisting of some 16,000 Japanese, Russians, Americans and British, 
 set out. A severe struggle was looked for, and their ability to reach Pekin 
 seemed very doubtful. At Peitsang, some twelve miles on the route, the Chinese 
 made a desperate resistance, which augured ill for the enterprise ; but their 
 defeat there seemed to rob them of spirit, and the gates of Pekin were reached 
 with little more fighting. On the 14th the gates were assailed, the feeble opposi 
 tion from within was overcome, and the troops marched in triumph to the British 
 legation, the stout walls of which had offered a haven of refuge to the 
 imperilled legationers. 
 
 Glad, indeed, were the souls of the beleaguered men and women within, so 
 long in peril of death from torture or starvation, to see the stars and stripes 
 and the union jack waving over the coming troops. Only then was the 
 mystery surrounding their fate made clear and the safety of all the ministers, 
 except the representative of Germany, assured. So far as the United States 
 was concerned, the work was at an end. That country wanted no share in the 
 partition of China. All it demanded was an " open door " to commerce, an 
 equal share in the important Chinese trade. No sooner was its minister rescued 
 than it was announced that the American troops would be withdrawn as soon as 
 proper relations with the Chinese government had been consummated, and that 
 in no case would the United States support any land-seizing projects of the 
 nations of Europe. 
 
 THE POLITICAL CAMPAIGN OF 11)00. 
 
 In the summer of 1900 the national conventions of the political parties 
 were held to nominate candidates and formulate platforms for the presidential 
 campaign of that year. The candidates for President proved to be the same as 
 in 1800, William McKinley being chosen by the Republicans, William J. 
 Bryan by the Democrats and Populists. For Vice-President, Adlai E. 
 Stevenson, who had filled that office under Cleveland, was selected by the 
 Democrat and Populist parties ; Theodore Roosevelt, Governor of New York 
 and the hero of the battle of San Juan, by the Republicans. 
 
 The platforms of the parties were significant in that the old party war cries 
 sank into the background and new principles rose into prominence. The tariff, 
 so long the leading issue, vanished from sight. The question of free silver 
 coinage, so prominent in 1800, became a minor issue. The new points in debate 
 were the trusts and the policy of so-called Imperialism. The trusts, however, 
 could not be made a leading question. Both parties condemned them in their 
 platforms, though the Democrats maintained that they were supported by the 
 existing administration, and that the Republican party was the sustainer of 
 monopoly. This left as the leading issue the question of Imperialism versus 
 
THE UNITED STATES BECOMES A WORLD POWER. 
 
 691 
 
 Anti-Imperialism, a controversy based on the effort of the administration to 
 subdue and control the people of the Philippines. The persons opposed to this 
 policy had grown in numbers until Anti-Imperialism was taken up as the main 
 principle of the Democratic platform. The country became divided upon this 
 great question, and the campaign orators fulminated pro and con, with all their 
 eloquence, upon the grand problem of the conquest or the independence of the 
 Filipinos. Such was the debatable question with which the United States ap 
 proached the portals of the twentieth century, the final and most critical out 
 come of the war with Spain and of Dowey s wonderful victory in the bay of 
 Manila. 
 
 THE CENSUS OF 1900. 
 
 Much interest was taken throughout the United States in the results of the 
 twelfth census which was taken in July, 1900, under the direction of William 
 R. Merriam. Elaborate preparations were made and numerous calculating and 
 registering machines were employed to facilitate the work. The country was 
 divided into 52,600 districts, and from these the returns indicate a total popu 
 lation of about 76,000,000 against 62,600,000 by the census of 1890. For 
 many years it had been predicted that the census of 1900 would show a popu 
 lation of 100,000,000. There being less public land to be distributed for homes 
 has reduced immigration, and been one of the reasons that the percentage of 
 increase in population has diminished. The census of 1900 shows that about 
 thirty-three per cent, of the population is living in cities or towns of 8,000 
 inhabitants or over. In 1890 this percentage was 29. The centre of popula 
 tion for the United States in 1880 was near Chillicothe, Ohio. In 1890 near 
 Decatur, 111., and in 1900 near Chicago. 
 
 The following table shows the aggregate population of twenty cities by the 
 twelfth census, in their order, in comparison with that of the eleventh : 
 
 Greater New York 
 
 Chicago 
 
 Philadelphia 
 
 Brooklyn 
 
 St. Louis 
 
 Boston 
 
 Baltimore . 
 
 Cleveland . 
 
 Buffalo 
 
 San Francisco 
 
 Cincinnati . 
 
 Pittsburg 
 
 New Orleans 
 
 Detroit 
 
 Milwaukee . 
 
 Washington 
 
 Newark 
 
 Jersey City . 
 
 Louisville . 
 
 Minneapolis 
 
 12th Census. 
 
 llth Census. 
 
 1900. 
 
 1890. 
 
 3,437,202 
 
 2,506,591 
 
 1,698.575 
 
 1,099.850 
 
 1,293,697 
 
 1,046,964 
 
 1,166,582 
 
 806.343 
 
 575,238 
 
 451,770 
 
 560.892 
 
 448,477 
 
 608,957 
 
 434,439 
 
 381,768 
 
 261,353 
 
 352,219 
 
 255,664 
 
 342,782 
 
 298,997 
 
 325,902 
 
 296,908 
 
 321,616 
 
 238,617 
 
 287,104 
 
 242,039 
 
 285,704 
 
 205,876 
 
 285,315 
 
 20-4.468 
 
 278,718 
 
 230,392 
 
 246,070 
 
 181,830 
 
 206,433 
 
 163,003 
 
 204,731 
 
 161,129 
 
 202,718 
 
 164,738 
 
GEN. ARTHUR MAcARTHUR. 
 
 GEN. CHARLES KING. 
 
 GEN HENRY W. LAWTON. 
 
 GEN. FRED. FUNSTON. 
 
 POPULAR COMMANDERS IN THE FILIPINO WAR. 
 
CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 ADMINISTRATION OK McKINLKY (CONTINUED) 
 
 1897-19O1. 
 
 OUR NKW ROSSKSSIONS. 
 
 The Islands of Hawaii Their Inhabitants and Products City of Honolulu History of Cuba The Ten 
 Years War The Insurrection of 1895-98 Geography and Productions of Cuba Its Climate- 
 History of Porto Rico Its People and Productions San Juan and Ponce Location, Discovery, 
 and History of the Philippines Insurrections of the Filipinos City of Manila Commerce Philip 
 pine Productions Climate and Volcanoes Dewey at Manila The Ladrone Islands Conclusion. 
 
 THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS "THE PARADISE OF THE PACIFIC." 
 
 wanan 
 
 NATIVE GHRASS HOUSE, HAWAII. 
 
 THE annexation of the Ha- 
 Islands to the United 
 States, by a joint vote of Con 
 gress, July 7, 1898, marks a new 
 era in the history of our country. 
 It practically sounded the death- 
 knell of the conservative doctrine 
 of non-expansion beyond our own 
 natural physical boundaries. The 
 only precedent approaching this 
 act, in our history, is the annex 
 ation of Texas. The Louisiana 
 Territory, Florida, and Alaska were acquired by purchase; California, New 
 Mexico, and a part of Colorado were obtained by cession from Mexico ; Oregon, 
 Washington, Montana, and Idaho by treaty with Great Britain. Texas alone 
 was annexed. The fact, however, that it was a republic is the only circumstance 
 which makes its case analogous to that of Hawaii. Texas lay between two large 
 nations, and was obliged to seek union with one of them. It was within our 
 own continent and inhabited largely by our own people. Hawaii marks our 
 first advance into foreign lands, and ranges America for the first time among 
 the nations whose policy is that of expansion, by territorial extensions, over 
 the globe. 
 
 Hawaii is called the " Paradise of the Pacific," and there is little doubt that 
 
 38 
 
594 OUR NEW POSSESSIONS. 
 
 its climate, fertility and healthfulness justify the name. It is one of the few 
 spots upon earth where one can almost, to use a slang phrase, " touch the 
 button " and obtain any kind of weather he desires. Mark Twain s suggestion 
 to those who go to these islands to find a congenial clime is about as practical as 
 it is humorous " Select your climate, mark your thermometer at the temperature 
 desired, and climb until the mercury stops there." Everyone who visits Hawaii 
 is charmed with the country, and never forgets its novelty, stupendous and 
 delightful scenery, clear atmosphere, gorgeous sunlight, and profusion of fruits 
 and flowers. 
 
 " No alien land in all the world," writes Mr. Clemens, " could so longingly 
 and beseechingly haunt me, sleeping and waking, through half a life-time, as 
 that has done. Other things leave me, but that abides. Other things change, 
 but that remains the same. For me its balmy airs are always blowing ; its 
 summer seas flash in the sun ; the pulsing of its surf beats in my ear ; I can see 
 its garlanded crags, its leaping cascades, its plumy palms drowsing by the shore, 
 its remote summits floating like islands above the cloud rack ; I can feel the 
 spirit of its woodland solitudes ; I can hear the splash of its brooks ; in my 
 nostrils still lives the breath of flowers that perished twenty years ago." 
 
 DISCOVERY AND LOCATION. 
 
 Captain Cook discovered the islands in January, 1778, and named them 
 the Sandwich Islands, after Lord Sandwich ; but the native name, Hawaii, is 
 more generally used. There is good evidence that Juan Gaetano, in the year 
 1555 223 years before Cook s visit landed upon their shores. Old Spanish 
 charts and the traditions of the natives bear out this theory, but they were not 
 made known to the world until Cook visited them. It is popularly believed 
 that the original inhabitants of Hawaii came from New Zealand, though that 
 island is some 4,000 miles southwest of them. The physical appearance of the 
 people is very similar, and their languages are so much alike that a native Ha 
 waiian and a native New Zealander, meeting for the first time, can carry on a 
 conversation. Their ideas of the Deity and some of their religious customs are 
 nearly the same. That the islands have been peopled for a long time is proven 
 by the fact that human bones are found under lava beds and coral reefs where 
 geologists declare they have lain for at least thirteen hundred years. 
 
 There are eight inhabited islands in the archipelago, Hawaii, Maui, Kahoo- 
 lawi, Lanai, Molokai, Oahu, Kauai, and Niihau, comprising an area of 6,700 
 square miles, a little less than that of the State of New Jersey, and about five 
 hundred miles greater than the combined areas of Rhode Island and Connecti 
 cut. They extend from northwest to southeast, over a distance of about 380 
 miles, the several islands being separated by channels varying in width from 
 
SKNOR MONTERO RIOS 
 
 President of the Spanish Peace Commission whose painful 
 
 duty required him to siyn away his country s 
 
 colonial possessions. 
 
 GENERAL RAMON BLANCO 
 
 Who succeeded Weyler as Captain-General of Cuba in 1897. 
 He was formerly Governor-General of the 
 
 Philippine Islands. 
 
 ADMIRAL CERVERA 
 Commander of Spanish Fleet at Santiag 
 
 SAGASTA 
 Premier <>f Spain during the Spanish-American War. 
 
 PROMINENT SPANIARDS, LAST HALF OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 
 
OUR NEW POSSESSIONS. 
 
 595 
 
 six to sixty miles. They lie entirely within the tropics, not far from a direct 
 line between San Francisco and Japan, 2,080 miles from San Francisco, which 
 is nearer to them than any other point of land, except one of the Carolines. 
 The largest and most southern island is Hawaii, which has given its name to the 
 group. 
 
 THE HIGHEST AND LARGEST VOLCANOES. 
 
 The entire archipelago is of volcanic origin, but there nrp no active errors 
 
 KAISING THE AMEBICAH FiLAG- IN HONOLULU, AD GUST 12, 1898. 
 
 The cut in the corner shows the Royal Palace formerly occupied by the Hawaiian Kings. 
 
 to be found at the present time, except two, on the island of Hawaii. Maun a 
 Loa is the highest volcano in the world, being nearly 14,000 feet above the sea. 
 It has an immense crater ; but, while it still sends forth smoke and has a lake 
 of molten lava at the bottom, there have been no eruptions for a number of 
 years. Kilauea, the largest active volcano on the globe, is about sixteen miles 
 from Mauna Loa, on one of its foothills, 4,000 feet above the sea, and is in a 
 constant state of activity. Its last great eruption occurred in 1894. This vol 
 cano was described by the missionary Ellis in the year 1823, and hundreds of 
 tourists visit it every year. Its crater is nine miles in circumference and several 
 
596 
 
 OUR NEW POSSESSIONS. 
 
 hundred feet deep. Under the conduct of competent guides the tourists descend 
 into the crater and walk over the cool lava in places, while near them the hot 
 flame and molten lava are spouting to the height of hundreds of feet. 
 
 The largest extinct volcano in the archipelago is on the island of Maui, the 
 bottom of the crater measuring sixteen square miles. All of these stupendous 
 volcanic mountains rise so gently on the western side that horsemen easily ride 
 to their summits. 
 
 INHABITANTS OF THE ISLANDS. 
 
 When Cook visited Hawaii, 
 he found the islands inhabited, 
 according to his estimate, by 400,- 
 000 natives. Forty years later 
 when the census was taken there 
 were 142,000. These diminished 
 one-half during the next fifty years, 
 and the native population of the 
 islands in 1897 was only 31,019. 
 The total population by the last 
 census, when the islands became a 
 part of the United States, was 
 109,020, made up, in addition to 
 the natives mentioned, of 24,407 
 Japanese, 21,616 Chinese, 12,191 
 Portuguese, and 3,086 Americans. 
 The remainder were half-castes 
 from foreign intermarriage with 
 the natives, together with a small 
 representation from England, 
 Germany, and other European 
 countries. 
 
 That the original Kawaiians 
 
 must soon become extinct as a pure race is evident, though they have never 
 been persecuted or maltreated. They are a handsome, strong-looking people, 
 with a rich dark complexion, jet black eyes, wavy hair, full voluptuous lips, and 
 teeth of snowy whiteness; but they are constitutionally weak, easily contract 
 and quickly succumb to disease, and the only hope of perpetuating their blood 
 seems to lie in mixing it by intermarriage with other races. 
 
 OLD TIMES IN HAWAII. 
 
 Prior to 1795, all the islands had separate kings, but in that and the 
 
 HULA DANCING GIRLS. HAWAII. 
 
OUR NEW POSSESSIONS. 507 
 
 following year the great king of Hawaii, Kamehameha, with cannon that he 
 procured from Vancouver s ships, assaulted and subjugated all the surrounding 
 kings, and since that time the islands have been under one government. Pre 
 vious to this, the natives had been at war, according to their traditions, for three 
 hundred years. The fierceness of their hand-to-hand conflicts, as described by 
 their historians, has probably not been surpassed by those of any other people 
 in the world. The four descendants of Kamehameha reigned until 1872, when 
 the last of his line died childless. A new king was elected, who died within a 
 year, and another was then elected by the people. It was to this last line that 
 Queen Liliuokalani belonged, and she was deposed by the revolution of 1893, 
 led by the American and European residents upon the islands. These patriots 
 set up a provisional government and made repeated application for admission to 
 the United States, the tender of the islands being finally accepted by a joint 
 vote of Congress on July 7, 1898, since which time the Hawaiian Islands have 
 been a part of our country. 
 
 The manners and customs of the native Hawaiians are most interesting, 
 but space forbids a description of them here. Their religion was a gross form 
 of idolatry, with many gods. Human sacrifice was freely practiced. They 
 deified dead chiefs and worshiped their bones. The great king, Kamehameha 
 L, though an idolater, was a most progressive monarch, and invited Vancouver, 
 who went there in 1794, taking swine, cattle, sheep, and horses, together with 
 oranges and other valuable plants, to bring over teachers and missionaries to 
 teach his people " the white man s religion." 
 
 THE WORK OF AMERICAN MISSIONARIES. 
 
 But it was not until 1820, after the death of the great king, that the first 
 missionaries arrived, and they came from America. The year previous, in 
 1819, Kamehameha II. had destroyed many of the temples and idols and for 
 bidden idol worship in the islands ; consequently, when the missionaries arrived 
 they beheld the unprecedented spectacle of a nation without a religion. The 
 natives were rapidly converted to Christianity. It was these American mis 
 sionaries who first reduced the Hawaiian language to writing, established schools 
 and taught the natives. As a result of their work, the Hawaiians are the most 
 generally educated people, in the elementary sense, in the world. There is 
 hardly a person in the islands, above the age of eight years, who cannot read 
 and write. In spite of education, however, many of the ancient superstitions 
 still exist, and some of the old stone temples are yet standing. What the United 
 States will do with these heathen temples remains to be seen. The natives re 
 vere them as relics of their savage history, and as such they may be preserved. 
 
 Aside from the horrors of superstitions, the Hawaiians lead a happy life, 
 
598 
 
 OUR NEW POSSESSIONS. 
 
 full of amusements of various kinds on the land and water for Hawaiian men, 
 women and children live much of their time in the water. Infants are 
 often taught the art of swimming before they can walk. The surf riding or 
 swimming of the natives astonished Captain Cook more than any of their re 
 markable performances. The time selected was when a storm was tossing the 
 waves high and the surf was furious. Then the men and women would dive through 
 the surf, with narrow boards about nine inches wide and eight feet long, and, 
 
 CHURCH IN HONOLULU, HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 Built of lava stone. Seating capacity about 3 KXi. 
 
 swimming a mile or more out to sea, mount on the crest of a huge billow, and 
 sitting, kneeling or standing, with wild gesticulations, ride over the waves 
 and breakers like gods or demons of the storm. This practice has now ceased 
 to be indulged in. But the swimming of the Kanaka boys, who flock around 
 incoming steamers, and dive after and catch coins which tourists throw into the 
 water, like so many ducks diving after corn, shows what a degree of perfec 
 tion the natatorial art has attained among the native Hawaiians. Sledging 
 down the mountain sides, boxing, and tournament riding are other popular 
 
OUR NEW POSSESSIONS. 599 
 
 amusements ; and, with the exception of boxing, the women compete with the 
 men in the amusements. 
 
 PRODUCTS AND COMMERCE. 
 
 Sugar is king in Hawaii as wheat is in the Northwest. In 1890 there were 
 19,000 laborers nearly one-fifth of the total population engaged on sugar 
 plantations. Ten tons to the acre have been raised on the richest lauds. The 
 average is over four tons per acre, but it requires from eighteen to twenty 
 months for a crop to mature. Rice growing is also an important industry. It 
 is raised in marsh lands, and nearly all the labor is done by Chinese, though 
 they do not own the land. Coffee is happily well suited to the soil that is un 
 fitted for sugar and rice, and Cae Hawaiian coffee is particularly fine, combining 
 the strength of the Java with a delicate flavor of its own. 
 
 Diversified .farming is coming more into vogue. Fruit raising will un 
 doubtedly become one of the most important branches when fast steamers are 
 provided for its transportation. Sheep and cattle raising must also prove profit 
 able, since the animals require little feeding and need no housing. 
 
 " Almost all kinds of vegetables and fruits can be raised, many of those 
 belonging to the temperate zones thriving on the elevated mountain slopes. 
 Fruit is abundant; the guava grows wild in all the islands, and were the manu 
 facture of jelly made from it carried on, on a large scale, the product could 
 doubtless be exported with profit. Both bananas and pineapples are prolific, 
 and there are many fruits and vegetables, which as yet have been raised only 
 for local trade, which would, if cultivated for export, bring in rich returns. 
 
 " Of the total exports from the Hawaiian Islands in 1895, the United States 
 received 99.04 per cent., and in the same year 79.04 per cent, of the imports to 
 the islands were from the United States. The total value of the sugar sent to 
 the United States in 1896 was $14,932,010 ; of rice, $194,903 ; of coffee, $45,444 ; 
 and of bananas, $121,273." 
 
 THE CHIEF CITY. 
 
 Honolulu, the capital city, is to Hawaii what Havana is to Cuba, or better, 
 what Manila is to the Philippine Islands. Here are concentrated the business, 
 political and social forces that control the life and progress of the entire archi 
 pelago. This city of 30,000 inhabitants is situated on the south coast of Oahu, 
 and extends up the Nuuanu Valley. It is well provided with street-car lines 
 which also run to a bathing resort four miles outside the city a telephone sys 
 tem, electric lights, numerous stores, churches and schools, a library of over 
 10,000 volumes, and frequent steam communication with San Francisco. There 
 are papers published in the English, Hawaiian, Portuguese, Japanese, and 
 
600 
 
 OUR NEW POSSESSIONS. 
 
 Chinese languages, and a railroad is being built, of which thirty miles along the 
 coast are already completed. Honolulu has also a well-equipped fire department 
 and public water-works. The residence portions of the city are well laid out, the 
 houses, many of which are very handsome, being surrounded by gardens kept 
 green throughout the year. The climate is mild and even, and the city is a 
 delightful and a beautiful place of residence. Hawaii is peculiarly an agricul 
 tural country, and Honolulu gains its importance solely as a distributing centre 
 
 SUGAR CANE PLANTATION, HAWAIIAN ISLANDS. 
 
 re population is engaged in sugar culture. The average product is about three tons per acre. 
 
 or depot of supplies. Warehouses, lumber yards, and commercial houses 
 ound but there is a singular absence of mills and factories and productive 
 rtablkhmente There are no metals or minerals, or as yet, textile plants or 
 d plaj ts, whose manufacture is undertaken in this unique city. 
 
 The Hawaiian Islands are, without question, on the threshold of a zreat 
 industrial era, fraught with most potent results to the prosperity and develop 
 ment of that land. Its climate is delightful and healthful, and its soil so fertile 
 that it will easily support 5,000,000 people. 
 
OUR NE\V POSSESSIONS (CONTINUED). 
 
 CUBA, "THE CHILD OF OUR ADOPTION." 
 
 ALTHOUGH Cuba is not a part or a 
 possession of the United States, it has 
 since the war with Spain, in 1898, come 
 under the protection of this government, 
 and is, therefore, entitled to a place in 
 this volume. In the hand of Providence, 
 this island became the doorway to Amer 
 ica. It was here that Columbus landed, 
 October 28, 1492. True, he touched 
 earlier at one of the smaller islands to 
 the north ; but it was merely a halting 
 before pushing on to Cuba. " Juana " 
 Columbus called the island, in honor of 
 Isabella s infant son. Afterward it was 
 successively known as Fernandina, 
 Santiago, and Ave Maria ; but the simple 
 natives, who were there to the number 
 of 350,000, called it Cooba, and this 
 name prevailed over the Spanish titles, 
 as the island has finally prevailed over 
 Spanish domination, and it has come 
 under the protection of America with its 
 Indian name, slightly changed to Cuba, 
 remaining as the sole and only heritage 
 we have of the simple aborigines who 
 have utterly perished from the face of 
 the earth under Spanish cruelty. 
 
 In 1494 Columbus visited Cuba a second time, and once again in 1502. In 
 1511 Diego Columbus, the son of the great discoverer, with a colony of between 
 three and four hundred Spaniards, came, and in 1514 he founded the towns of 
 Santiago and Trinidad. Five years later, in 1519, the present capital Havana, 
 
 or Habana, was founded. The French reduced the city in 1538, practically 
 
 601 
 
 TOMB OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS IN 
 THE CATHEDRAL AT HAVANA. 
 
 Fhe ashes of the great discoverer were removed from this 
 tomb to Spain in December, 1898. 
 
602 CUBA, "THE CHILD OF OUR ADOPTION." 
 
 demolishing the whole town. Under the governor, De Soto, it was rebuilt and 
 fortified, the famous Morro Castle and the Punta, which are still standing, being 
 built at that early date. 
 
 THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS. 
 
 The natives, whom Columbus found in Cuba, were agreeable in feature, and 
 so amiable in disposition that they welcomed the white man with open arms, and, 
 besides contributing food, readily gave up their treasures to please the Spaniards. 
 Unlike the warlike cannibal tribes of the Lesser Antilles, known as the Caribs, 
 they lived in comparative peace with one another, and had a religion which rec 
 ognized the Supreme Being. Columbus held several conferences with these 
 simple natives, who numbered, according to his estimate, from 350,000 to half 
 a million souls, and his associations and dealings with them on his first visit 
 were always friendly and of a mutually pleasing nature. But when he returned 
 to Spain he left soldiers, who brutally maltreated them, until the natives rose in 
 revolt and exterminated every white man. Even Columbus himself, in 1494, 
 had to fight the Indians at the landing-place. 
 
 A salubrious climate, a fertile soil, and simple wants rendered it unneces 
 sary for the native to do hard work ; and although it is well proven that he did 
 mine copper and traded in it with the mound builders of Florida, yet the native 
 was not accustomed to arduous toil, and rebelled against it. This, perhaps, was 
 unfortunate, for the perpetuity of his race at that time depended upon this very 
 quality. The Spanish " friend " who came to the island was incapable of work. 
 He neither would nor could, under his ethics of self-respect, abase himself to 
 labor, so he proceeded to enslave the native to labor for him. The Cuban re 
 belled, and fled before the superior Spanish weapons from the coasts to the 
 mountain fastnesses of the interior. 
 
 EXTERMINATION OF THE NATIVES. 
 
 Then began that cruel and long-continued war of extermination, of which 
 history has recorded the most shocking details. The conquest was begun under 
 Diego Columbus, the son of the great discoverer. The merciless Velasquez was 
 his general, and the frightful cruelties which he inaugurated upon the simple 
 natives have been continued for nearly four hundred years by his successors in the 
 island, though the annihilation of the aboriginal tribes themselves was a brief and 
 bloody work. Velasquez rode them down and trampled them regardless of age 
 or sex under the iron hoofs of his war-horses, slashed them with swords, devas 
 tated their villages, and bore them away into slavery. The Cuban had no 
 weapons ; the mountain fastnesses could not hide him from his relentless pur 
 suer. African slaves, who were brought to the island in Spanish ships, were 
 
CUBA, "THE CHILD OF OUR ADOPTION." 
 
 603 
 
 armed and forced by their masters to chase the natives, and not a forest or moun 
 tain top was a place of refuge for these doomed children of the soil. One histo 
 rian declares : " There is little doubt that before 1560 the whole of this native 
 population had disappeared from the island. They were so completely extermi 
 nated that it is doubtful if the blood of their race was even remotely preserved 
 in the mixed classes who followed African and Chinese introduction." 
 
 A PEKIOD OF REST. 
 
 For nearly two hundred years after the extermination of the natives, Cuba 
 
 MAGNIFICENT INDIAN STATUE IN THE PRADO, HAVANA, CUBA. 
 
 rested without a struggle in the arms of Spain. The early settlers engaged al 
 most wholly in pastoral pursuits. Tobacco was indigenous to the soil, and in 
 1580 the Cuban planters began its culture. Later, sugar-cane was imported from 
 the Canaries, and found to be a fruitful and profitable crop. The beginning of 
 the culture of sugar demanded more laborers, and the importation of additional 
 slaves was the result. In 1717, Spain attempted to make a monopoly of the to 
 bacco culture, and the first Cuban revolt occurred. In 1723 a second uprising 
 took place, because of an oppressive government ; but these early revolts against 
 tyranny were insignificant as compared with those of the last half-century. 
 
604 CUBA, "THE CHILD OF OUR ADOPTION." 
 
 In 1762, the city of Havana was captured by the English, with an expedi 
 tion commanded by Lord Albemarle, but his fighting troops were principally 
 Americans under the immediate command of Generals Phineas Lyman and 
 Israel Putnam of Revolutionary fame. The story of Putnam s command in this 
 war is thrilling and sad. After first suffering shipwreck and many hardships in 
 reaching the island, they lay before Havana, where Spanish bullets and fever al 
 most annihilated the whole command. Scarcely more than one in fifty lived to 
 return to America. By the Treaty of Paris, 1763, Cuba was unfortunately re 
 stored to Spain, and it was afterward that her troubles with the " Mother Coun 
 try," as Spain affectionately called herself to all her provinces, began. The 
 hand of oppression for one and a quarter centuries relaxed not its grasp, and 
 year by year grew heavier and more galling. 
 
 DISCONTENT AND INSURRECTIONS. 
 
 Some of the most prolific seeds of modern revolutions may be said to have 
 been sown when the African slave trade assumed important proportions, in 1791. 
 About the same time began a large importation of Chinese coolies, for which 
 Cuba paid a bounty of $400 apiece to the importer. These coolies bound 
 themselves to the Spaniards for eight years, for which they were paid $4.00 per 
 month as wages. The new influx of labor and the corning of Las Casas as 
 Captain-General to Cuba, in 1790, mark the beginning of Cuba s great period of 
 prosperity. This enterprising ruler introduced numerous public improvements, 
 established botanical gardens and schools of agriculture, with a view to develop 
 ing and increasing Cuba s resources and commercial importance. Owing to his 
 wise administration, Cuba prospered and remained undisturbed fora long while. 
 An insurrection occurred among the slaves in 1812, which was promptly put 
 down with characteristic cruelty, and the blacks remained "good niggers" for a 
 third of a century. By the year 1844, the slave trade with Cuba had grown to 
 enormous proportions. In that year alone, statistics tell us, 10,000 slaves were 
 landed from Africa upon the island. Another wild and fanatical insurrection 
 occurred the same year among them, which, as before, ended in failure. Seventy- 
 eight of the rebels were shot, and many otherwise punished. By 1850, the 
 slaves had so multiplied and the importation had been so large that the census 
 showed there were nearly 500,000 on the island. 
 
 Meantime, in 1823 and 1827, insurrections were attempted on the part of the 
 Creoles (descendants of Spanish and French settlers) and other free Cubans. They 
 failed, and the blood of the martyrs was seed in the ground. Revolutionist and 
 enslaved insurrectionist gradually drifted together. They had a common cause 
 to struggle for freedom against oppression. The bondsman was little or no 
 worse off than the Creoles, Chinese coolies, and free negroes all native-born 
 
CUBA, "THE CHILD OF OUR ADOPTION." 
 
 Cubans were shut out from the enjoyment of true citizenship. They must do 
 the work and pay the tribute, but Spaniards, born in Spain, were alone allowed 
 to hold office of profit or trust under the government; and they looked with in 
 expressible contempt upon the rest of the population, and, with the backing of 
 the army, preserved 
 their domination in 
 spite of their in 
 ferior numbers. 
 The governor-gen 
 eral was appointed 
 from Spain and 
 held office from 
 three to five years, 
 and was expected to f 
 steal or extort him 
 self rich in that 
 time. It is said not 
 one governor-gen 
 eral ever failed to 
 do so. 
 
 THE TEN YEARS 
 
 WAR. 
 
 The first long 
 and determined 
 struggle of the op 
 pressed people of 
 Cuba for liberty be 
 gan in 1868. In 
 that year a revolu 
 tion broke out in 
 Spain, and the 
 patriots seized the 
 opportunity, while 
 the mother country 
 
 was occupied at home, for an heroic effort to liberate themselves. They rose first 
 at Yara, in the district of Bayamo, and on October 10th of that year made a dec 
 laration of independence. Eight days later the city of Bayamo was taken by the 
 patriots, and early in November they defeated a force sent against them from Santi 
 ago. The majority of the South American republics hastened to recognize the 
 
 DARING ATTACK BY THE PATRIOTS OF CUBA UPON A FORT 
 NEAR VUELTAS. 
 
606 CUBA, -THE CHILD OF OUR ADOPTION." 
 
 Cubans as belligerents ; but though they held their own in guerrilla warfare 
 against the Spanish forces for ten years, fighting in the forests and bravely 
 resisting all the efforts of Spain to subdue them there was not one great power 
 in the world willing to extend to the patriots the recognition of belligerent rights. 
 The cruelty of the {Spaniards toward the soldiers they captured, and to all in 
 habitants who sympathized with the patriots cause, was equaled only by the 
 courage, fortitude, and exalted patriotism which animated their victims. The 
 following instances, selected from scores that might be cited, are given in the 
 Spaniards own words, translated, verbatim, into English : 
 
 SPANISH TESTIMONY OF HORRORS PRACTICED. 
 
 Jacob Rivocoba, under date of September 4, 1896, writes : 
 
 "We captured seventeen, thirteen of whom were shot outright; on dying 
 they shouted, Hurrah for free Cuba ! hurrah for independence ! A mulatto 
 said, Hurrah for Cespedes ! On the following day we killed a Cuban officer 
 and another man. Among the thirteen that we shot the first day were found 
 three sons and their father ; the father witnessed the execution of his sons with 
 out even changing color, and when his turn came he said he died for the inde 
 pendence of his country. On coming back we brought along with us three carts 
 filled with women and children, the families of those we had shot; and they 
 asked us to shoot them, because they would rather die than live among 
 Spaniards." 
 
 Pedro Fardon, another officer, who entered entirely into the spirit of the 
 service he honored, writes on September 22, 1869 : 
 
 " Not a single Cuban will remain in this island, because we shoot all those 
 we find in the fields, on the farms, and in every hovel." 
 
 And, again, on the same day, the same officer sends the following good 
 news to his old father : 
 
 " We do not leave a creature alive where we pass, be it man or animal. If 
 we find cows, we kill them ; if horses, ditto ; if hogs, ditto ; men, women, or 
 children, ditto ; as to the houses, we burn them : so every one receives his due 
 the men in balls, the animals in bayonet-thrusts. The island will remain a 
 desert." 
 
 These atrocities were perpetrated not alone by the common soldier. In 
 fact, the above reports come from men who were officers in the Spanish army, 
 and they show that such actions were approved by the highest authority. A 
 well-authenticated account assures us that General Count Balmaceda himself 
 went on one occasion to the home of a patriot family, Mora by name, to arrest or 
 kill the patriots he had heard were stopping there; but, finding the men all 
 
CUBA, "THE CHILD OF OUR ADOPTION." 607 
 
 absent, lie wreaked his vengeance and thirst for blood by butchering the two 
 Mora sisters and burning the house over their bodies. 
 
 PEACE AND FAIR PROMISES. 
 
 At last, Spain, seeing that she could neither induce the Cubans to surrender 
 nor draw them into a decisive battle ; and finding, furthermore, that her army of 
 200,000 men was likely to be annihilated by death, disease, and patriot bullets, 
 made overtures, which, by promising many privileges to the people that they 
 had not before enjoyed, effected a peace. As a result of this war, slavery was 
 abolished in the island ; but Spain s promises for fair and equitable government 
 were repudiated, and the civil powers became more extortionate and severe than 
 ever. This war laid a heavy debt upon Spain, and Cuba was taxed inordinately. 
 The people soon saw that they had been duped. The world looked upon Cuba 
 and Spain as at peace. To the outsider the surface was placid, but underneath 
 " the waters were troubled." Such heroic spirits as Generals Calixto Garcia, 
 Jose Marti, Antonio Maceo, and Maximo Gomez, leaders in the ten years 
 struggle, still lived, though scattered far apart, and in their hearts bore a load 
 of righteous wrath against their treacherous foe. While such men lived and 
 such conditions existed another conflict was inevitable. 
 
 THE LAST GREAT STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM. 
 
 It was on February 24, 1895, that the last revolution of the Cuban patriots 
 began. Spain had heard the mutterings of the coming storm, and hoped to stay it 
 by visiting with severe punishment every Cuban suspected of patriotic affiliations. 
 Antonio Maceo, a mulatto, but a man of fortune and education, a veteran of the 
 ten years war, and a Cuban by birth, was banished to San Domingo. There were 
 other exiles in Key West, New York, and elsewhere. Jose Marti was the leading 
 spirit in forming the Cuban Junta in New York and organizing revolutionary 
 clubs among Cubans everywhere. Antonio Maceo was the first of the old 
 leaders in the field. He went secretly to Cuba and began organizing the insur 
 rectionists, and when war was declared the flag of the new republic, bearing a 
 lone white star in a red field, was flung to the breeze. Captain-General Calleja 
 declared martial law in the insurgents vicinity, and troops were hastily summoned 
 and sent from Spain. The revolutionists from the start fought by guerrilla 
 methods of warfare, dashing upon the unsuspecting Spanish towns and forces, 
 and escaping to the mountains before the organized Spaniards could retaliate. 
 
 Jose Marti and Jose Maceo brother of the general were prompt to join 
 the active forces, and on April 13, 1895, General Maximo Gomez, a native of 
 San Domingo, came over and was made commander of the insurgent forces. 
 This grizzled old hero, with nearly seventy years behind him, was at once an 
 
608 CUBA, -THE CHILD OF OUR ADOPTION." 
 
 inspiration and a host within himself. An army of 6,000 men was ready for his 
 command, and the revolution took on new life and began in all its fury. On 
 May 19th the insurgents met their first great disaster, when Jose Marti was led 
 into an ambush and killed. But his blood was like a seed planted, from which 
 thousands of patriots sprang up for the ranks. Within a few days there were 
 10,000 ill-armed but determined men in the field. They had no artillery, nearly 
 half were without guns, and there was little ammunition for those who were 
 armed. 
 
 THE PLANS OF CAMPOS THWARTED. 
 
 In April, 1895, Captain-General Calleja was replaced by Martinez Campos, 
 thr rnmmundrr in the preceding war, and one of the ablest of the Spanish gene- 
 
 i rals. He sought to conciliate the people and al 
 leviate the prevailing distress, but the rebels in 
 arms had lost all faith in Spanish honor, while 
 the veteran Gomez proved so wily that Campos 
 could neither capture him nor force him into an 
 engagement. Everywhere Gomez marched he 
 gathered new patriots. Near the city of Bayamo, 
 Maceo attacked Campos, and the Spanish com 
 mander barely escaped with his life. He was 
 besieged in Bayamo, and had to stay there until 
 10,000 soldiers were sent to escort him home. 
 That was the last of Campos fighting. By 
 August, Spain hpd spent $21,300,000 and lost 
 | 20,000 men by death, and 39,000 additional sol- 
 BS diers had been brought into the island, 25,000 of 
 
 CAPTAIN C. D. SIGSBEE ,1 ,i n r i 01 i 11 
 
 Om.n.n,lrfihoMalne"atthrfriKhtf,,l,.at.H- tlieiT1 tllG fl Wer f tllG Spanish army, and Sll6 
 
 was also forced to issue $120,000,000 bonds, 
 which she sold at a great sacrifice, to carry on the war. 
 
 The patriots met September 13, 1895, at Camaguey and formed their govern 
 ment by adopting a constitution and electing a president and other state officers. 
 Tliis body formally conferred upon Gomez the commission of commander-in- 
 chief of the army. Before the close of the month, there were 30,000 rebels in 
 Spanish warships patroled the coast, but the insurgents held the 
 whole interior of Santiago province, and government forces dared not venture 
 away from the sea. The same was true of Santa Clara and Puerto Principe, 
 was debatable ground; but Gomez made bold raids into the very 
 cinity of Havana. Spain continued to increase her army, till by the year 
 1898 it numbered about 200,000 men. 
 
CUBA, "THE CHILD OF OUR ADOPTION." 
 
 609 
 
 As if the cup of Cuba s sorrow were not sufficiently bitter, or her long- 
 suffering patriots had not drunk deep enough of its gall, General Campos was 
 recalled, and General Valeriano Weyler (nicknamed " The Butcher ") arrived 
 in February, 1896. He promptly inaugurated the most bitter and inhuman 
 policy in the annals of modern warfare. It began with a campaign of in 
 timidation, in which his motto was " Subjugation or Death/ He established 
 a system of espionage that was perfect, and the testimony of the spy was all the 
 evidence he required. He heeded no prayer and knew no mercy. His prisons 
 overflowed with suspected patriots, and his sunrise executions, every morning, 
 made room for others. It was thus that General Weyler carried on the war from 
 his palace against the unarmed natives, 
 his 200,000 soldiers seldom securing 
 a shot at the insurgents, who were 
 continually bushwhacking them with 
 deadly effect, while yellow fever car 
 ried them off by the thousands. How 
 many lives Weyler sacrificed in that 
 dreadful year will never be known. 
 How many suspects he frightened into 
 giving him all their gold for mercy 
 and then coldly shot for treason, no 
 record will disclose ; but the crowded, 
 unmarked graves on the hillside out 
 side Havana are mute but eloquent 
 witnesses of his infamy. 
 
 Under these conditions, Gomez 
 declared that all Cubans must take 
 sides. They must be for or against. 
 It was no time for neutrals and there 
 
 could be no neutral ground, so he boldly levied forced contributions upon plant 
 ers unfavorable to his cause, and extended protection to those who befriended 
 the patriots. Exasperated by Weyler s atrocities upon non-combatant patriots, 
 he dared to destroy or confiscate the property of Spanish sympathizers. 
 
 THE DEATH OF GENERAL MACEO. 
 
 On the night of December 4, 1896, the insurgents suffered an irreparable 
 loss in the death of General Maceo, who was led into an ambush and killed, it 
 is believed, through the treachery of his staff physician. Eight brothers of 
 Maceo had previously given their lives for Cuban freedom. 
 
 At the close of 1896, the island was desolate to an extreme perhaps unpro 
 
 39 
 
 SUNRISE EXECUTIONS 
 
 Outside the prison walls. Havana. Weyler s way of getting 
 rid of prisoners. 
 
610 
 
 CUBA, "THE CHILD OF OUR ADOPTION." 
 
 cedented in modern times. The country was laid waste and the cities were 
 starving. Under the pretext of protecting them, Weyler gathered the non- 
 combatants into towns and stockades, and it is authoritatively stated that 200,000 
 men, women, and children of the " reconcentrados," as they were called, died of 
 disease and starvation. The insurgents remained masters of the island except 
 along the coasts. The only important incident of actual warfare was the capture 
 of Victoria de las Tunas, in Santiago province, by General Garcia at the head 
 of 3,000 men, after three days fighting. In this battle the Spanish commander 
 lost his life and forty per cent, of his troops were killed or wounded ; the rest 
 surrendered to Garcia, and the rebels secured by their victory 1,000 rifles, 
 1.000,000 rounds of ammunition, and two Krupp guns. 
 
 In the spring of 1893 the United 
 States intervened. The story of our war 
 with Spain for Cuba s freedom is else 
 where related. 
 
 Spain has paid dearly for her su 
 premacy in Cuba during the last third of 
 the nineteenth century. Notwithstand 
 ing the fact that the revenue from Cuba 
 for several years prior to the Ten Years 
 War of 1868-78 amounted to $26,000,- 
 000 annually about $18 for every man, 
 woman, and child in the island $20,- 
 000,000 of it was absorbed in Spain s 
 official circles at Havana, and " the other 
 $6,000,000 that the Spanish government 
 received," says one historian, " was hardly 
 enough to pay transportation rates on the 
 help that the mother country had to 
 send to her army of occupation." Consequently, despite this enormous tax, a 
 heavy debt accumulated on account of the island, even before the Ten Years 
 War began. 
 
 FEARFUL COST OF THE WAR. 
 
 At the close of the Ten Years War (1878) Spain had laid upon the island 
 a public debt of $200,000,000, and required her to raise $39,000,000 of revenue 
 annually, an average at that time of nearly $30 per inhabitant. But Spain s 
 own debt had, also, increased to nearly $2,000,000,000, and during this Ten 
 Years War she had sent 200,000 soldiers and her favorite commanders to the 
 island, only about 50,000 of whom ever returned. According to our Consular 
 Report of July, 1898, when the last revolution began, 1895, the Cuban debt 
 
 CLARA BARTON 
 President of the American lied Cross Society. 
 

 i\ 
 
CUBA, "THE CHILD OF OUR ADOPTION." 
 
 611 
 
 had reached $295,707,264. The interest on this alone imposed a burden of 
 $9.79 per annum upon each inhabitant. During the war, Spain had 200,000 
 troops in the island, and the three and one-half years conflict cost her the loss 
 of nearly 100,000 lives, mostly from sickness, and, as yet, unknown millions of 
 dollars. The real figures of the loss of life and treasure seem incredible when 
 we consider that Cuba is not larger than our State of Pennsylvania, and that 
 her entire population at the beginning of the war was about one-fourth that of 
 the State named, or a little less than that of the city of Chicago alone. Yet 
 Spain, with an army larger than the combined northern and southern forces at 
 the battle of Gettysburg, was unable to overcome the insurgents, who had never 
 more than one-fourth as many men enlisted. But she harassed, tortured, and 
 starved to death within three years, per 
 haps, over 500,000 non-combatant citizens 
 in her attempt to subjugate the patriots, 
 and was in a fair way to depopulate the 
 whole island when the United States at 
 last intervened to succor them. 
 
 THE FUTURE OF THE ISLAND. 
 
 What the future of Cuba may be 
 under new conditions of government re 
 mains to be seen. Certainly, in all the 
 world s history few sadder or more de 
 vastated lands have gathered their rem 
 nants of population upon the ashes of 
 their ruins and turned a hopeful face to 
 the future. 
 
 But the soil, the mineral and the 
 timber not even Spanish tyranny could 
 destroy ; and in these lie the hope, we might say the sure guarantee, of Cuba s 
 future. In wealth of resources and fertility of soil, Cuba is superior to all other 
 tropical countries, and these fully justify its right to the title " Pearl of the An 
 tilles," first given it by Columbus. Under a wise and secure government, its 
 possibilities are almost limitless. Owing to its location at the entrance of the 
 Gulf of Mexico, which it divides into the Yucatan and Florida channels, on the 
 south and north, the island has been termed the " Key to the Gulf of Mexico," 
 and on its coat of arms is emblazoned a key, as if to imply its ability to open or 
 close this great sea to the commerce of the world. 
 
 Cuba extends from east to west 760 miles, is 21 miles wide in its narrowest 
 
 A SPANISH MESTIZA 
 
612 CUBA, "THE CHILD OF OUR ADOPTION." 
 
 part and 111 miles in the widest, with an average width of 60 miles. It has 
 numerous harbors, which afford excellent anchorage. The area of the island 
 proper is 41,655 square miles (a little larger than the State of Ohio); and includ 
 ing the Isle of Pines and other small points around its entire length, number- 
 ing in all some 1,200, there are 47,278 square miles altogether in Cuba and be 
 longing to it. The island is intersected- by broken ranges of mountains, which 
 gradually increase in height from west to east, where they reach an elevation of 
 nearly 8,000 feet. The central and western portions of the island are the most 
 fertile, while the principal mineral deposits are in the mountains of the eastern 
 end. In Matanzas and other central provinces, the well-drained, gently slop 
 ing plains, diversified by low, forest-clad hills, are especially adapted to sugar 
 Culture, and the country under normal conditions presents the appearance of vast 
 fields of cane. The western portion of the island is also mountainous, but the 
 elevations are not great, and in the valleys and along the fertile slopes of this 
 district is produced the greater part of the tobacco for which the island is 
 famous. 
 
 FERTILITY OF SOIL AND ITS PRODUCTS. 
 
 The soil of the whole island seems well-nigh inexhaustible. Except in to 
 bacco culture, fertilizers are never used. In the sugar districts are found old cane- 
 fields that have produced annual crops for a hundred years without perceptible 
 impoverishment of the soil. Besides sugar and tobacco, the island yields Indian 
 corn, rice, manioc (the plant from which tapioca is prepared), oranges, bananas, 
 pineapples, mangoes, guava, and all other tropical fruits, with many of those be 
 longing to the temperate zone. Raw sugar, molasses, and tobacco are the chief 
 products, and, with fruits, nuts, and unmanufactured woods, form the bulk of 
 exports, though coffee culture, formerly active, is now being revived, and its fine 
 quality indicates that it must in time become one of the most important products 
 of the island. 
 
 As a sugar country, Cuba takes first rank in the world. Mr. Gallon, the 
 English Consul, in his report to his government in 1897 upon this Cuban crop, 
 declared : " Of the other cane-sugar countries of the world, Java is the only one 
 which comes within 50 per cent, of the amount of sugar produced annually in 
 Cuba in normal times, and Java and the Hawaiian Islands are the only ones 
 which are so generally advanced in the process of manufacture." Our own 
 Consul, Hyatt, in his report of February, 1897, expresses the belief that Cuba 
 is equal to supplying the entire demands of the whole western hemisphere with 
 sugar a market for 4,000,000 tons or more, and requiring a crop four times as 
 large as the island has ever yet produced. Those who regard this statement as 
 extravagant should remember that Cuba, although founded and settled more 
 
CUBA, "THE CHILD OF OUR ADOPTION." 613 
 
 than fifty years before the United States, has nearly 14,000,000 acres of un 
 cleared primeval forest-land, and is capable of easily supporting a population 
 more than ten times that of the present. In fact, the Island of Java, not so 
 rich as Cuba, and of very nearly the same area, with less tillable land, has over 
 22,000,000 inhabitants as against Cuba s perhaps at this time not more than 
 1,200,000 souls. 
 
 MINERAL AND TIMBER RESOURCES. 
 
 The mineral resources of Cuba are second in importance to its agricultural 
 products. Gold and silver are not believed to exist in paying quantities, but 
 its most valuable mineral, copper, seems to be almost inexhaustible. The iron 
 and manganese mines, in the vicinity of Santiago, are of great importance, the 
 ores being rated among the finest in the world. Deposits of asphalt and min 
 eral oils are also found. 
 
 The third resource of Cuba in importance is its forest product. Its millions 
 of acres of unbroken woodlands are rich in valuable hard woods, suitable for 
 the finest cabinet-work and ship-building, and also furnish many excellent dye 
 woods. Mahogany, cedar, rosewood, and ebony abound. The palm, of which 
 there are thirty-odd species found in the island, is one of the most characteristic 
 and valuable of Cuban trees. 
 
 CITIES AND COMMERCE. 
 
 The commerce of Cuba has been great in the past, but Spanish laws made 
 it expensive and oppressive to the Cubans. Its location and resources, with wise 
 government, assure to the island an enormous trade in the future. There are 
 already four cities of marked importance to the commercial world : Havana 
 with a population of 250,000, Santiago with 71,000, Matanzas with 29,000, 
 and Cienfuegos with 30,000, are all seaport cities with excellent harbors, and 
 all do a large exporting business. Add to these Cardenas with 25,000, Trini 
 dad with 18,000, Manzanillo with 10,000, and Guantanamo and Baracoa, each 
 with 7,000 inhabitants, we have an array of ten cities such as few strictly 
 farming countries of like size possess. Aside from cigar and cigarette making, 
 there is little manufacturing in Cuba ; but fruit canneries, sugar refine 
 ries, and various manufacturing industries for the consumption of native 
 products will rapidly follow in the steps of good government. Hence, in the 
 field of manufacturing this island offers excellent inducements to capital. 
 
 SEASONS AND CLIMATE. 
 
 Like all tropical countries, Cuba has but two seasons, the wet and the dry. 
 The former extends from May to October, June, July, and August being the 
 most rainy months. The dry season lasts from November to May. This fact 
 
614 
 
 CUBA, "THE CHILD OF OUR ADOPTION." 
 
 must go far toward making the island more and more popular as a winter health 
 resort. The interior of the island is mountainous, and always pleasantly cool at 
 night, while on the highlands the heat in the day is less oppressive than in New 
 York and Pennsylvania during the hottest summer weather; consequently, when 
 once yellow fever, which now ravages the coasts of the island on account of its 
 defective sanitation, is extirpated, as it doubtless will be under the new order of 
 things, Cuba will become the seat of many winter homes for wealthy residents of 
 the United States. Even in the summer, the temperature seldom rises above 
 
 A VOI.ANTE, THE TYPICAL, CUBAN CONVEYANCE. 
 
 90, while the average for the year is 77. At no place, except in the extreme 
 mountainous altitude, is it ever cold enough for frost. 
 
 THE EVACUATION OF HAVANA. 
 
 The complete transfer of authority in the island of Cuba from Spain to 
 
 United States took place on Sunday, January 1, 1899. At noon on that day 
 
 Captain-General Castellanos and staff met the representatives of the United States 
 
 in the hall of his palace, and with due formality and marked Spanish courtesy, 
 
 in the name of the King and Queen Regent of Spain, delivered possession of 
 
CUBA, "THE CHILD OF OUR ADOPTION." 615 
 
 Cuba to General Wade, head of the American Evacuation Committee, and he in 
 turn transferred the same to General Brooke, who had been appointed by Presi 
 dent McKinley as Military Governor of the Division of Cuba. No unpleasant 
 incident marred the occasion. General Castellanos spoke with evident yet be 
 coming emotion on so important an occasion. Three Cuban generals were pre 
 sent, who, at General Castellanos request, were presented to him, and the Span 
 iard said, with marked grace and evident sincerity, " I am sorry, gentlemen, that 
 we are enemies, being of the same blood;" to which one of the Cuban patriots 
 
 ENTHANCE TO THE PUBLIC GROUNDS, HAVANA, CUBA. 
 
 courteously responded, with commendable charity, "We fought only for Cuba, 
 and now that she is free we are no longer enemies." 
 
 The formal transfer had scarcely taken place within the palace hall when 
 the flag of Spain was lowered from Morro Castle, Cabanas Fortress, and all the 
 public buildings, and the stars and stripes instantly arose in its place on the flag 
 poles of these old and historic buildings. As its graceful folds floated gently 
 out upon the breeze, the crowds from the streets cheered, the band played the 
 most appropriate of all airs, while voices in many places in the throng, catching 
 up the tune, sang the inspiring words of the " Star-Spangled Banner." 
 
OUR NKW POSSESSIONS (CONTINUED), 
 
 BEAUTIFUL PORTO RICO. 
 
 IT was in November of the 
 year 1493, on his second voyage 
 to the New World, that Columbus 
 landed upon a strange island in 
 quest of water for his ships. He 
 found it in abundance, and called 
 the place Aquadilla the water 
 ing place. As he had done at 
 Cuba the year before, the great 
 discoverer held pleasant confer 
 ences with the natives, and with 
 due ceremony took possession of 
 the island for his benefactors and 
 sovereigns Ferdinand and Isa 
 bella of Spain. From that day 
 until it was ceded to the United 
 States in 1898, as a result of the 
 Spanish-American War, Porto 
 Rico remained one of the most attractive and valuable of Spain s West Indian 
 possessions. 
 
 The simple and friendly natives gladly welcomed their Spanish invaders, 
 who, with the same promptness which was manifested in Cuba, proceeded to 
 enslave and exterminate them. In 1510, Ponce de Leon founded the first settle 
 ment on the site of the present village of Puerto Viejo. The next year the 
 noted invader founded San Juan, the present capital of the island. One of the 
 most interesting sights of this old city to-day is the Casa Blanca, built at that 
 period as the palatial residence of Ponce de Leon. It was there, perhaps, after 
 he had finished his conquest of the island, that this famous old Spaniard listened 
 to the wonderful story of the natives, who served him as slaves, concerning the 
 mysterious country over the sea which had hidden in its forests a fountain 
 wherein an old man might plunge and be restored to all the vigor of youth. 
 It was there and thus, perhaps, while sitting at leisure in his palace, that de 
 G16 
 
 A MARKET GIRL, PORTO RICO. 
 
BEAUTIFUL PORTO EICO. 617 
 
 Leon planned the voyage in search of that " fountain of youth " which resulted 
 in the discovery and exploration of Florida. 
 
 ANCIENT INHABITANTS. 
 
 As to the number of natives in Porto Rico when the Spaniards came old 
 chroniclers differ. Some say there were 500,000, others 300,000. It is all 
 surmise. Probably the latter figure is an over-estimate, for Cuba, more than 
 ten times as large, was not thought to contain more than half a million inhabit 
 ants at most. A detailed account of their manners and customs was written by 
 one of the early Spaniards, and part of it is translated by the British Consul, 
 Mr. Bidwell, in his Consular Report of 1880. Some of the statements in this 
 old book are most peculiar and interesting. Within the last forty years archae 
 ologists have discovered many stone axes, spear-heads and knives, stone and 
 clay images, and pieces of earthenware made by the aboriginal Porto Ricans, 
 and these are preserved in the Smithsonian Institute at Washington, in Berlin, 
 and elsewhere. It is curious that none of these remains had been found prior 
 to 1856. On the banks of the Rio Grande there still stands, also, a rude stone 
 monument, with strange designs carved upon its surface. 
 
 From the earliest times, the island, with its rich produce and commerce, 
 was the prey of robbers. The fierce cannibal Caribs from the south made 
 expeditions to it before the white men came ; and for many decades after the 
 Spanish conquest it suffered attacks from pirates by sea and brigands upon land, 
 who found easy hiding within its deep forests. 
 
 ATTACKS AND INVASIONS BY FOREIGN FORCES. 
 
 In 1595, San Juan was sacked by the English under Drake, and again, 
 three years later, by the Duke of Cumberland. In 1615, Baldwin Heinrich, a 
 Dutchman, lost his life in an attack upon the governor s castle, and several of 
 his ships were destroyed by a hurricane. The English failed to capture it, 
 fifty-three years later ; and Abercrombie tried it again in 1797, but had to give 
 up the undertaking after a three days siege. It was one hundred and one 
 years after Abercrombie s siege before another hostile fleet appeared before and 
 bombarded San Juan. That was done by Admiral Sampson, May 12, 1898, 
 with the United States squadron of modern iron-clad battleships and cruisers. 
 In this engagement Morro Castle, which, though impregnable a hundred years 
 before, was unable to withstand modern guns, and was in a large part reduced 
 
 to ruins. 
 
 General Nelson A. Miles landed his United States troops on the island in 
 July, 1898, and on the 12th of August, before he completed his conquest, hos 
 tilities were closed by the protocol of peace, and amid the rejoicing of the natives 
 
818 
 
 BEAUTIFUL PORTO RICO. 
 
 " Beautiful Porto Rico " became a province of the United States. Tht; one and 
 only attempt the Porto Ricans ever made to throw off the Spanish yoke was 
 in 1820 ; but conditions for hiding from the soldiers were not so good as the 
 Cubans enjoyed in their large island, and Spanish supremacy was completely 
 re-established by 1823. 
 
 THE ISLAND AND lib POPULATION. 
 
 Porto Rico is at once the most healthful and most densely populated island 
 of the West Indies. It is almost rectangular in form 100 miles long and 36 
 broad. Its total area is about 3,600 square miles a little larger than the com 
 bined areas of Rhode Island and Delaware. Its population, unlike that of Cuba, 
 
 THE CUSTOM HOUSE, PONCE, PORTO RICO, AFTER THE RAISING OF THE AMERICAN 
 
 FLAG BY GENERAL MILES. 
 
 has greatly increased within the last fifty years. In 1830, it numbered 319,000 ; 
 in 1887, 813,937 about 220 people to the square mile, a density which few 
 States of the Union can equal. About half of its population are negroes or 
 mulattoes, who were introduced by the Spaniards as slaves in the 16th and 17th 
 centuries. 
 
 Among the people of European origin the most numerous are the Spaniards, 
 with many Germans, Swedes, Danes, Russians, Frenchmen, Chuetos (descend- 
 
BEAUTIFUL PORTO RICO. 019 
 
 ants from the Moorish Jews), and natives of the Canary Islands. There are 
 also a number of Chinese, while the Gibaros, or small land-holders and day- 
 laborers of the country districts, are a curious old Spanish cross with the abo 
 riginal Indian blood. In this class the aborigines are more fortunate than the 
 original Cubans in having even a trace of their blood preserved. 
 
 The island is said to be capable of easily supporting three times its present 
 population, the soil is so universally fertile and its resources are so well diver 
 sified. Though droughts occur in certain parts of the island, it is all extremely 
 well watered, by more than one thousand streams, enumerated on the maps, and 
 the dry sections have a system of irrigation which may be operated very effect 
 ually and with little expense. Of the 1,300 streams, forty-seven are consider 
 able rivers. 
 
 TIMBER IN ABUNDANCE AND VARIETY. 
 
 Forests still cover all the elevated parts of the hill country of the interior, 
 the inhabitants living mostly along the coast. The main need to set the interior 
 teeming with a thrifty and healthy population is a system of good roads. The 
 interior, with the exception of a few extensive savannas, is one vast expanse of 
 rounded hills, covered with such rich soil that they may be cultivated to their 
 summits. At present these forests are accessible only by mule tracks. " The 
 timber of the island," says our official report, " comprises more than five hun 
 dred varieties of trees, and in the more elevated regions the vegetation of the 
 temperate zones is not unknown. On the hills is found a luxuriant and diver 
 sified vegetation, tree-ferns and mountain palms being abundant. At a lower 
 level grow many varieties of trees noted for their useful woods, such as the ma 
 hogany, cedar, walnut, and laurel. The mammee, guaiacum, and copal, besides 
 other trees and shrubs valuable for their gum, flourish in all parts of the island. 
 The coffee tree and sugar cane, both of which grow well at an altitude of a thou 
 sand feet or more, were introduced into the island the former from Martinique 
 in 1722, the latter from the Canaries, through Santo Domingo. Tobacco grows 
 easily in the lowlands, while maize, pineapples, bananas, etc., are all prolific. 
 The banana and plantain bear fruit within ten months after planting, and, like 
 the cocoa palm, live through an ordinary lifetime." 
 
 MINERALS AND MINING. 
 
 "The mineral resources of the island," says our consul in his report, "have 
 been very little developed, the only mineral industry of any importance being 
 the salt works situated at Guanica, Salinas, and Cabo Kojo. Sulphides of copper 
 and magnetic oxides of iron are found in large quantities, and formerly gold to 
 a considerable extent was found in many of the streams. At present the natives 
 Still wash out nuggets by the crude process in use in the time of Ponce de Leon. 
 
BEAUTIFUL PORTO RICO. 
 
 Marble, carbonates, lignite, and amber are also present in varying quantities 
 
 and hot springs and mineral waters occur, the best known ones being at Coamo, 
 
 near Santa Isabel." 
 
 COMMERCE. 
 The commerce of Porto Rico amounted, in 1896, to $36,624,120, exceeding 
 
 the records of all previous years ; the increase, no doubt, being largely due to 
 
 the unsettled condition of 
 Cuba, The value of the 
 exports for the same year 
 was, for the first time for 
 more than a decade, slight 
 ly in excess of that of the 
 imports ; the former being 
 valued at $18,341,430, the 
 latter at $18,282,690. The 
 chief exports from the isl 
 and are agricultural pro 
 ducts. The principal ar 
 ticles are sugar, - coffee, 
 molasses, and tobacco; 
 while rice, wheat, flour, 
 and manufactured articles 
 are among the chief im 
 ports. The value of the 
 sugar and molasses export 
 ed to the United States 
 during the ten years from 
 1888 to 1897 made up 95 
 per cent, of the total value 
 of the exports to that 
 country. Fruits, nuts, and 
 spices are also exported to 
 
 NATIVE BELLES, PORTO RICO. 
 
 SZfSS 3? " ie - "-"" 
 
 ", ,: "; <lr ! " >" i unmanufactured wood, and salt 
 
 .nick, of import from the United States is wheat Jour. Corn 
 
 " aity i>ro<lucto 
 
 CITIES AND TOWNS. 
 
 n Jan, the capital, is situated on an island off the northern coast of the 
 
BEAUTIFUL PORTO RICO. 621 
 
 mainland, with which it is now connected by the San Antonio bridge. The city 
 is a perfect specimen of a walled and fortified town, with Morro Castle crowning 
 the promontory at the western extremity of the island. The population, including 
 the inhabitants of Marina and Puerta de Tierra, as well as those within the city 
 walls, was estimated in 1896 at 30,000, and consists largely of negroes and of 
 mixed races. Owing to the lack of a good water supply, and the general unsan 
 itary conditions which prevail, the city is unhealthy. The houses are all of two 
 stories, the poorer inhabitants occupying the ground floor, while those better off 
 
 THE MARKET PLACE, PONCE, PORTO RICO. 
 
 live above them. There is no running water in the city, the inhabitants being 
 dependent for their supply upon the rainfall which is caught on the flat roofs 
 of the houses and stored in cisterns, and in dry seasons the supply is entirely 
 exhausted. The city is built upon clay mixed with lime packed hard and im 
 pervious to water. Its manufactures are of small importance. 
 
 The city of Ponce, with a population of 37,500, and in commercial import 
 ance the second city of Porto Eico, is situated two miles from the coast in the 
 southern part of the island. With an ample water supply conveyed to the city 
 by an aqueduct it is, perhaps, the healthiest town on the island. Playa, its port, 
 having a population of 5,000, is connected with it by a fine road. 
 
622 BEAUTIFUL PORTO EICO. 
 
 The town of Arecibo, with a population of from 6,000 to 7,000, is situ 
 ated on the northern coast of Porto Rico, and is the port for a district of some 
 30,000 inhabitants. 
 
 CLIMATE. 
 
 The climate of the island, though hot and humid, is healthful, except in 
 marshy districts and in cities where sanitary rules are neglected. Yellow fever 
 seldom occurs, and when it does it is confined to the unsanitary towns and their 
 surroundings, never appearing far from the coasts. The thermometer does not 
 fall below 50 or rise above 90. The heat is not so great as at Santiago, though 
 the latter is one and a half degrees further north. As in Cuba, there are but 
 two seasons, the rainy and the dry, the former lasting from July to December, 
 the latter from January to the close of June. The delightful, dry and salubrious 
 atmosphere of midwinter and spring, with its general healthfulness, promises to 
 bring this island into prominence both as a resort for invalids and for homes to 
 those who would escape the rigors of northern winters. 
 
 Porto Rico is an ideal lazy man s country, and the overworked American 
 will, undoubtedly, come to make it more and more his Mecca for rest and recu 
 peration. Even the interior feels the soft, salt air from the ocean. The people 
 are kind-hearted, " easy-going," hospitable, and fond of amusement. Every 
 environment conduces to the dismission of all worriment, to rest, sleep, and a 
 happy-go-lucky state of mind. 
 
 
OUR NEW POSSESSIONS (CONTINUED). 
 
 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 
 
 ** Most bounteous here in her sea-girt lands, 
 Nature stretches forth her hands, 
 
 * * * * * * 
 
 And walks on gold and silver, and knows her power increased, 
 Nor fears the tyrant longer k Our Lady of the East. 
 
 StoddarcL 
 
 FILIPINOS OF THE SAVAGE TRIBES. 
 
 THE most important^ 
 and by far the most inter 
 esting, as well as the least 
 known of America s new 
 possessions, gained by her 
 war with Spain, are the 
 Philippine Islands. Com 
 paratively few Americans 
 have ever set foot upon that 
 far-away and semi-civilized 
 land, the possession of which 
 enables America to say with 
 England, "The sun never 
 sets upon our flag." 
 
 The Philippines lie al 
 most exactly on the other 
 side of the globe from us. 
 Approximately speaking, 
 our noonday is their mid 
 night; our sunset is their 
 sunrise. There are some 
 1,200 of these islands, 400 of 
 which are inhabited or capa 
 ble of supporting a popu 
 lation; they cover about 
 125,000 square miles ; they lie in the tropical seas, generally speaking, from five 
 to eighteen degrees north latitude, and are bounded by the China Sea on the west 
 and the Pacific Ocean on the east ; they are about 7,000 miles southwest from 
 San Francisco, a little over 600 southeast from Hong Kong, China, and about 
 
 623 
 
624 
 
 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 
 
 1,000 almost due north from Australia; they contain between 5,000,000 and 
 >.IH n M i. ii . inhabitants, about one-third of whom had prior t<> I tewey s victory, 
 May 1, 1898, acknowledged Spanish sovereignty to the extent of paying regular 
 tribute to the Spanish crown ; the remainder are bound together in tribes under 
 independent native princes or Mohammedan rulers. Perhaps 2,500,000 all told 
 have become nominal Catholics in religion. The rest are Mohammedans and 
 idolaters. There are no Protestant churches in the islands. 
 
 THE STORY OF DISCOVERY, 
 
 It was twenty-nine years 
 after Columbus discovered 
 America that Magellan saw 
 the Philippines, the largest 
 archipelago in the world, in 
 1521. The voyage of Magel 
 lan was much longer and 
 scarcely less heroic than that 
 of the discoverer of America. 
 Having been provided with 
 a fleet by the Spanish king 
 with which to search for spice 
 islands, but secretly deter 
 mined to sail round the world, 
 he set out with five vessels on 
 August 10, 1519, crossed the 
 Atlantic to America, and 
 skirted the eastern coast south 
 ward in the hope of finding 
 some western passage into the 
 Pacific, which, a few years 
 previous, had been discovered 
 by Balboa. It was a year and 
 two months to a day from the 
 Spain until he reached the southern point of the mainland of 
 
 outh America and passed through the straight which has since borne his name. 
 
 the way, one of his vessels deserted ; another was wrecked in a storm. When 
 
 sed through the Straight of Magellan he had remaining but three of his 
 
 ;mal five ships, and they were the first European vessels that ever breasted 
 
 3 waves of the mighty western ocean. Once upon the unknown but placid 
 
 lea-which he named the Pacific-the bold navigator steered straight to the 
 
 NATIVE HUNTERS, PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, 
 
THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 627 
 
 northwest. Five months later, about March 1st, he discovered the Ladrone 
 Islands which name Magellan gave to the group on account of the thieving 
 propensities of the natives the word Ladrone meaning robber. 
 
 After a short stay at the islands, he steered southwest, landing on the north 
 coast of Mindanao, the second largest island of the Philippines. The natives 
 were friendly and offered to pilot Magellan to the island of Cebu, which lay to 
 the north, and which they reported to be very rich. After taking possession of 
 Mindanao in the name of his king, the discoverer proceeded to Cebu, where he 
 made such demonstrations and gave such descriptions of the glory and power 
 of Spain that he easily formed a treaty with the king of the island, who swore 
 allegiance to his new-found master and had himself and chief advisers baptized 
 in the Catholic faith. Magellan then joined the king in his war against some of 
 the neighboring powers, and on April 25, 1521, was killed in a skirmish. The 
 spot where he fell is now marked by a monument. 
 
 FIRST CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF THE GLOBE. 
 
 Trouble soon arose between Magellan s sailors and their new-found allies. 
 The Spaniards were invited to a banquet, and twenty -seven of them were treach 
 erously slain. The remainder, fearing for their lives, escaped in their ships and 
 sailed for home. It was soon discovered that they had too few men to manage 
 the three vessels, and one of them was destroyed. The other two proceeded on 
 their voyage and discovered the spice island of Tidor, where they loaded with 
 spices ; but a few days later one of the vessels sprang a leak and went down with 
 her freight and crew. The other, after many hardships, reached Spain, thus 
 completing the first circumnavigation of the globe. 
 
 SECOND EXPEDITION TO THE PHILIPPINES. 
 
 In 1555, Philip II. came to the Spanish throne and determined to send 
 another expedition to the East Indies. His religious zeal inspired him to con 
 quer and christianize the islands. To shorten the long and dangerous voyage, 
 he decided to prepare and start with five ships from the coast of Mexico. 
 Miguel Lopez de Legaspi led the expedition, consisting of four hundred soldierc 
 and sailors and six Augustine monks. In due time the expedition landed at 
 Cebu. The formidable appearance of the ships awed the natives, and on April 
 
 27, 1565 forty years after Magellan s remnant had fled from the island 
 
 Legaspi landed and took possession. In honor of the Spanish king the archi 
 pelago was given the name of the Philippine Islands. 
 
 In 1570 Legaspi sent his grandson, Salcedo, to subdue the island of Luzon, 
 the northernmost and the largest of the Philippine group. He landed near the 
 present site of Manila. The trustful natives readily agreed to accept the Spanish 
 
628 
 
 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 
 
 king as their master, and to pay tribute. Such slight tribal resistances as were 
 offered were quickly subdued. The next year Legaspi went to Manila to visit 
 his grandson ; and, seeing the importance of the situation and its fine harbor, 
 declared that city the capital of the whole archipelago and the king of Spain 
 the sovereign of all the islands. Accordingly, he moved his headquarters to that 
 point, built houses and fortifications, and within a year had the city well organ 
 ized, when he died, leaving Salcedo as his successor in command. It is remark- 
 
 ^^i n . able how much these two 
 
 men accomplished with so 
 small a force ; but they 
 did it not so much by arms 
 as by cajoling and deceiv 
 ing the simple natives. 
 Furthermore, they allowed 
 the conquered people to be 
 governed by their own 
 chiefs in their own way, 
 so long as they paid a 
 liberal tribute to the Span 
 ish crown. 
 
 STRUGGLES FOR SUPREM 
 ACY. 
 
 The history of the 
 Philippines has been mo 
 notonous from their dis 
 covery until the present, a 
 monotony broken at times 
 by periods of adventures 
 in which Manila has gen 
 erally been the central 
 scene. About 1580, Lima- 
 hong, a Chinese pirate, 
 
 ity with an armed fleet of sixty-two vessels, bearing 4,000 men and 
 
 ) women. They met with stubborn resistance, but succeeded in scaling the 
 
 land entering the city. The Spanish forces were driven into a fort, which 
 
 Chinese stormed. A bloody hand-to-hand conflict followed, and the Chinese 
 
 were finally repulsed. 
 
 f ,1 ^V" - the sev " nteenth Centui 7 the Dutch attempted to obtain possession 
 E hihppmes. They captured scores of Spanish merchantmen and treasure 
 
 PHILIPPINE WARRIORS. 
 
THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 629 
 
 ships. Many naval engagements followed, the details of which read like the 
 thrilling records of buccaneers and pirates, rather than the wars between two 
 civil powers. Finally, after half a century of warfare, the Dutch were deci 
 sively beaten, and abandoned their efforts to capture the Spanish islands, much 
 to the disadvantage of the Filipinos, for the islands of Java, Sumatra, and other 
 Dutch possessions to the south of the Philippines have been remarkably pros 
 perous under the mild rule of the Netherlands. 
 
 MANILA TAKEN BY THE ENGLISH. 
 
 In 1662, the Chinese planned a revolution against the Spanish authorities. 
 The governor heard of it, and a general massacre of the Mongolians followed. 
 It was even planned to destroy every Chinaman on the islands, and they were 
 in a fair way to do it, when, at length, the Spaniards bethought themselves that 
 by so doing they would practically depopulate the islands of tradesmen and 
 mechanics. Accordingly, they offered pardon to those who would surrender 
 and swear allegiance. A century later, England sent a fleet under Admiral 
 Cornish, with General Draper commanding the troops, against Manila. After 
 a desperate battle the city fell, and the terms of surrender incorporated provis 
 ions for free trade, freedom of speech, and, best of all, freedom in religion to the 
 inhabitants of the islands, and required Spain to pay England about $4,000,000 
 indemnity. By the Peace of Paris, in 1763, however, the war between England 
 and Spain was terminated, and one of the conditions was that Spain should 
 retain the sovereignty of the Philippines. The English troops were withdrawn, 
 and the unfortunate islands were again placed (as Cuba was by the same treaty) 
 under the domination of their tyrannical mistress, and remained under Spanish 
 rule from that time until the Americans freed them in 1898. 
 
 UPRISINGS OF THE NATIVES. 
 
 In nearly all the uprisings of the natives, the tyranny of the church, as con 
 ducted by the friars and priests, was the cause. Such was the case in 1622, in 1649, 
 and in 1660. The occasion of the revolt of 1744 is a fair example of the pro 
 vocations leading to all. A Jesuit priest ordered all his parishioners arrested as 
 criminals when they failed to attend mass. One of the unfortunates died, and 
 the priest denied him rights of burial, ordering that his body be thrown upon 
 the ground and left to rot in the sun before his dwelling. The brother of 
 the man in his exasperation organized a mob, captured the priest, killed him, 
 and exposed his body for four days. Thus was formed the nucleus of a rebel 
 army. The insurgents in their mountain fastnesses gained their independence 
 and maintained it for thirty-five years, until they secured from Spain a promise 
 of the expulsion of the Jesuit priests from the colony. 
 
630 
 
 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 
 
 Other revolutions followed in 1823, 1827, and 1844, but all were sup 
 pressed. In 1872, the most formidable outbreak up to that time occurred at 
 Cavite. Hatred of the Spanish friars was the cause of this uprising also. 
 Spain had promised in the Council of Trent to prohibit friars from holding 
 parishes. The promises were never carried out, and the friars grew continually 
 richer and more powerful and oppressive. Had the plan of the insurgents not 
 been balked by a mistaken signal, no doubt they would have destroyed the 
 
 A NATIVE RESIDENCE IN THE SUBURBS OF MANILA. 
 
 Every cottage, however humble, is surrounded by tropical trees and flowers. The interiors are remarkably clean and cheerful. 
 Bamboo enters largely into the construction of all native houses and they are generally covered with thatch. 
 
 Spanish garrison at Manila, but a misunderstanding caused their defeat. The 
 friars insisted that the captured leaders should be executed, and it was done. 
 
 THE LAST STRUGGLE FOR LIBERTY. 
 
 In 1896, the insurrection broke out again. Its causes were the old oppres 
 sions: unbearable taxes, and imprisonment or banishment, with the complete 
 confiscation of property of those who could not pay ; no justice except for those 
 
THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 631 
 
 Vno could buy it ; extortion by the friars ; marriage ceremony so costly that a 
 poor man could not pay the fee ; homes and families broken up and ruined ; 
 burial refused to the dead, unless a large sum was paid in advance ; no provision 
 and no chance for education. Such were some of the causes that again goaded 
 the natives to revolution and nerved them with courage to achieve victory after 
 victory over their enemies until they were promised most of the reforms which 
 they demanded. Then they laid down their arms, and, as usual, the Governor- 
 General failed to carry out a single pledge. 
 
 Such was the condition, and another revolt, more formidable than any of 
 the past, was forming, when Commodore Dewey with his American fleet entered 
 Manila Bay, May 1, 1898, and, by a victory unparalleled in naval warfare, sunk 
 the Spanish ships, silenced the forts, and dethroned the power of Spain forever 
 in a land which her tyranny had blighted for more than three hundred years. 
 
 THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS: THEIR MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 It is impossible within the scope of this article to give details concerning 
 all the inhabitants of this far-away archipelago. Professor Worcester, of the 
 University of Michigan, tells us that the population comprises more than eighty 
 distinct tribes, with individual peculiarities. They are scattered over hundreds 
 of islands, and one who really wants to know these peoples must leave cities and 
 towns far behind, and, at the risk of his life, through pathless forests, amid 
 volcanic mountains, at the mercy of savages, penetrate to the innermost wilds. 
 Notwithstanding the fact that for hundreds of years bold men, led by the love of 
 science or by the spirit of adventure, have continued to penetrate these dark 
 regions, there are many sections where the foot of civilized man has never trod ; 
 or, if so, he came not back to tell of the lands and peoples which his eyes beheld. 
 
 DIFFICULTIES OF EXPLORING THE COUNTRY. 
 
 There have been great obstacles in the way of a thorough exploration 
 of these islands. Spain persistently opposed the representatives of any other 
 nation entering the country. She suspected every man with a gun of designing 
 to raise an insurrection or make mischief among the natives. The account of 
 red tape necessary to secure guns and ammunition for a little party of four or 
 five explorers admitted through the customs at Manila is one of the most signifi 
 cant, as well as one of the most humorous, passages in Professor Worcester s 
 story of his several years sojourn while exploring the archipelago. 
 
 In the second place, the savage tribes in the interior had no respect for 
 Spain s authority, and will have none for ours for years to come. Two- thirds 
 of them paid no tribute, and many of them never heard of Spain, or, if so, only 
 remembered that a long time ago white men came and cruelly persecuted the 
 
632 
 
 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 
 
 natives along the shore. These wild tribes think themselves still the owners of 
 the land. Some of them go naked and practice cannibalism and other horrible 
 savage customs. Any explorer s life is in danger among them ; consequently 
 most tourists to the Philippines se e Manila and make short excursions around 
 that city. The more ambitious run clown to the cities of Iloilo and Cebu, 
 making short excursions into the country from those points, and then return, 
 thinking they have seen the Philippines. Nothing could be further from the 
 truth. Such travelers no more see the Philippine Islands than Columbus 
 explored America. 
 
 Even near the coast there are savages who are almost as ignorant as 
 
 A TYPICAL MORO VILLAGE, SOUTHERN PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 
 
 their brethren in the interior. Mr. Stevens tells us that only "thirty miles 
 from Manila is a race of dwarfs that go -without clothes, wear knee-bracelets 
 of horsehair, and respect nothing but the jungle in which they live." The 
 principal native peoples are of Malayan origin. Of these, to the north of Manila 
 are the Igorrotes ; in the islands south of Luzon are the civilized Visayas, and 
 below them in Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago are the fierce Moros, who 
 originally came from the island of Borneo, settling in the Philippines a short 
 time before the Spanish discovery. They are Mohammedans in religion, and 
 .as fanatical and as fearless fighters as the Turks themselves. For three hundred 
 
THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 633 
 
 years the Spaniards have been fighting these savages, and while they have 
 overcome them in nearly all the coast towns, they have expended, it is said, 
 upward of $100,000,000 and sacrificed more than one hundred thousand lives 
 in doing so. 
 
 THE WARLIKE MOROS. 
 
 The fierce Moro warriors keep the Spanish settlers along their coasts in a 
 constant state of alarm, and the visitor to the towns feels as if he were at an 
 Indian outpost in early American history, because of the constant state of appre 
 hension that prevails. Fortunately, however, the Moros along the coast have 
 learned to distinguish between the Spaniard and the Englishman or American, 
 and through them the generosity of the Englese, as they call all Anglo-Saxons, 
 has spread to their brethren in the interior. Therefore, American and English 
 explorers have been enabled to go into sections where the Spanish friars and 
 monks, who have been practically the only Spanish explorers, would meet with 
 certain death. The Mohammedan fanaticism of the Moros, and that of the 
 Catholic friars and Jesuits, absolutely refuse compromise. 
 
 The Negritos (little Negroes) and the Mangyans are the principal repre 
 sentatives of the aboriginal inhabitants before the Malayan tribes came. There 
 are supposed to be, collectively, about 1,000,000 of them, and they are almost 
 as destitute of clothing and as uncivilized as the savages whom Columbus found 
 in America, and far more degenerate and loathsome in habits. 
 
 THE CITY OF MANILA. 
 
 The Island of Luzon, on which the city of Manila stands, is about as large 
 as the State of New York, its area being variously estimated at from 43,000 to 
 47,000 square smiles. It is the largest island in the Philippine group, com 
 prising perhaps one-third of the area of the entire archipelago. Its inhabit 
 ants are the most civilized, and its territory the most thoroughly explored. The 
 city of Manila is the metropolis of the Philippines. The population of the city 
 proper and its environs is considered to be some 300,000 souls, of whom 200,000 
 are natives, 40,000 full-blooded Chinese, 50,000 Chinese half-castes, 5,000 Span 
 ish, mostly soldiers, 4,000 Spanish half-castes, and 300 white foreigners other 
 than Spaniards. Mr. Joseph Earle Stevens, already referred to, who repre 
 sented the only American firm in the city of Manila, under Spanish rule 
 (which finally had to turn its business over to the English and leave the island 
 a few years since), informs us that he and three others were the only representa 
 tives of the United States in Manila as late as 1893. 
 
 The city is built on a beautiful bay from twenty-five to thirty miles across, 
 and on both shores of the Pasig Eiver. On the right bank of the river, going 
 up from the bay, is the old walled town, and around the walls are the weedy 
 
634 
 
 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 
 
 moats or ditches. The heavy guns and frowning cannon from the walls suggest 
 a troubled past. This old city is built in triangular form, about a mile on each 
 side, and is regarded as very unhealthful, for the walls both keep out the breeze 
 and keep in the foul air and odors. The principal buildings in the old part of 
 the city are the cathedral, many parish churches, a few schoolhouses, and the 
 official buildings. The population in the walled city is given at 20,000. Up 
 to a few years ago, no foreigner was permitted to sleep within its walls on account 
 of the Spaniards fear of a conspiracy. A bridge across the Pasi<r connects old 
 
 BRIDGE OVER THE PASIQ RIVER. 
 
 This bridge connects the old walled city on one ride of the river with the new unwalled city on the other. Sea-going vessels 
 
 ascend the river up to the bridge. 
 
 Manila with the new or unwalled city, where nearly all of the business is done 
 and the native and foreign residents live. 
 
 
 
 EARTHQUAKES AND TYPHOONS. 
 
 It does not take one long to exhaust the sights of Manila, if the people, 
 who are always interesting, are excepted. Aside from the cathedral and a few 
 of the churches, the buildings of the city are anything but imposing. In fact, 
 there is little encouragement to construct fine edifices because of the danger 
 from earthquakes and typhoons. It is said that not a year passes without a 
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THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 
 
 637 
 
 1645 nearly all of the public buildings were wrecked and 600 persons killed. 
 A very destructive earthquake was that of 1863, when 400 people were killed, 
 2,000 wounded, and 46 public buildings and 1,100 private houses were badly 
 injured or completely destroyed. In 1874 earthquakes were again very numer 
 ous throughout the islands, shocks being felt at intervals in certain sections for 
 several weeks. But the most violent convulsion of modern times occurred in 
 1880 when even greater destruction than in 1863 visited Manila and other 
 
 A POPULAR STREET CONVEYANCE. 
 
 As elsewhere, carriages and street cars are used in Manila, but there are hundreds of the above " native cabs," for carrying 
 single persons short distances, and they are liberally patronized. 
 
 towns of Luzon. Consequently there are very few buildings to be found more 
 than two stories high ; and the heavy tile roofs formerly in use have, for the 
 most part, been replaced by lighter coverings of galvanized iron. 
 
 These light roofs, however, are in constant danger of being stripped off by 
 the typhoons, terrible storms which come with a twisting motion as if rising 
 from the earth or the sea, fairly pulling everything detachable after them. 
 Masts of ships and roofs of houses are frequently carried by these hurricanes 
 
63 8 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 
 
 miles distant. The better to resist the typhoons, most of the light native houses 
 are built on bamboo poles, which allow the wind to pass freely under them, and 
 sway and bend in the storm like a tree; whereas, if they were set solidly on the 
 earth, they would be lifted up bodily and carried away. Glass windows being 
 too frail to resist the shaking of the earthquakes and the typhoons, small, trans 
 lucent oyster shells are used instead. The light thus admitted resembles that 
 passing through ground-glass, or, rather, stained glass, for the coloring in the 
 shells imparts a mellow tinted radiance like the windows of a cathedral. 
 
 MANILA AS A BUSINESS CENTER. 
 
 The streets of Manila are wretchedly paved or not paved at all, and as late 
 as 1893 were lighted by kerosene lamps or by wicks suspended in dishes of 
 cocoanut oil. Lately an electric plant has been introduced, and parts of the 
 city are lighted in this manner. There are two lines of street cars in Manila. 
 The motive power for a car is a single small pony, and foreigners marvel to see 
 one of those little animals drawing thirty-odd people. 
 
 The retail trade and petty banking of Manila is almost entirely in the 
 hands of the half-castes and Chinese, and many of them have grown immensely 
 wealthy. There are only about three hundred Europeans in business in the 
 whole Philippine group, and they conduct the bulk of the importing and ex 
 porting trade. Manila contains a number of large cigar and cigarette facto 
 ries, one of which employs 10,000 hands. There is also a sugar refinery, a 
 steam rice mill, and a rope factory worked partly by men and partly by oxen, 
 a Spanish brewery and a German cement factory, a Swiss umbrella factory and 
 a Swiss hat factory. The single cotton mill, in which $200,000 of English 
 capital is invested, runs 6,000 spindles. 
 
 The statistics of 1897 show that the whole trade of Manila comprised only 
 forty-five Spanish, nineteen German, and seventeen English firms, with six Swiss 
 brokers and two French storekeepers having large establishment . One of the 
 most profitable businesses is said to be that of selling cheap jewelry to the na 
 tives. Breastpins which dealers buy in Europe for twelve cents each are 
 readily sold for from $1.50 to $2.00 each to the simple Filipinos. Almost every 
 thing that is manufactured abroad has a fine prospective market in the Philip 
 pines, when the condition of the people permits them to buy. 
 
 A certain charm attaches to many specimens of native handiwork. The 
 women weave exquisitely beautiful fabrics from the fiber of plants. The floors 
 of Manila houses are admired by all foreigners. They are made of hard wood 
 and polished with banana leaves and greasy cloths until they shine brightly and 
 give an aspect of cool airiness to the room. 
 
THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 
 
 639 
 
 Any kind of amusement is popular with the Filipinos with so much 
 leisure on their hands provided it does not require too great exertion on their 
 part. They are fond of the theatre, and, up to a few years ago, bullfighting 
 was a favorite pastime; but the most prominent of modern amusements for the 
 natives and half-castes is cockfighting. It is said that every native has his 
 fighting cock, which is reared and trained with the greatest care until he 
 shows sufficient skill to entitle him to an entrance into the public cockpit where 
 
 A WEDDING PROCESSION. 
 
 As in Asiatic countries, weddings in the Philippines are occasions of great ceremony. No marriage would be considered " in 
 
 style " without a gorgeous procession. 
 
 he will fight for a prize. The chickens occupy the family residence, roosting 
 overhead; and, in case of fire, it is said that the game " rooster" is saved before 
 the babies. Professor Worcester tells an amusing story of the annoyance of the 
 crowing cocks above his head in the morning and the devices and tricks he and 
 his companions employed to quiet them. The Manila lottery is another insti 
 tution which intensely excites the sluggish native, and takes from him the 
 money which he does not lose on the cockfights. Under the United States 
 Government this lottery will, no doubt, be abolished in time. It formerly 
 
640 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 
 
 belonged to the Spanish Government, and Spain derived an annual profit of 
 half a million dollafs from it. 
 
 GENERAL COMMERCE OF THE PHILIPPINES. 
 
 It is hardly necessary, so far as the commercial world is concerned, to men 
 tion any other locality outside of the city of Manila. To commerce, this city 
 (whose total imports in 1897 were only $10,000,000 and its exports $20,000,000) 
 is the Philippine Islands. Its present meagre foreign trade represents only an 
 average purchase of about one dollar per inhabitant, and an average sale of two 
 dollars per inhabitant for the largest archipelago in the world, and one of the 
 richest in soil and natural resources. The bulk of these exports were hemp, 
 sugar, and tobacco ; and, strange as it may seem, the United States received 41 
 per cent, of her hemp and 55 per cent, of her sugar for the year 1897, notwith 
 standing the fact that we had not one commercial firm doing business in that 
 whole vast domain. 
 
 The city of Iloilo is on the southern coast of the fertile island of Panay, 
 and, next to Manila, the chief port of the Philippines. It has an excellent 
 harbor, and the surrounding country is very productive, having extensive plan 
 tations of sugar, rice, and tobacco. The population of Iloilo is only 12,000, but 
 there are a few larger towns in the district, of which it is the seaport. Though 
 the city at springtides is covered with water, it is said to be a very healthful 
 place, and much cooler than Manila. 
 
 The other open port, Cebu, on the eastern coast of the island of the same 
 name, is a well-built town, and has a population of about 13,000. From this 
 point the bulk of the hemp for export comes. 
 
 GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE ISLANDS. 
 
 It is impossible to speak of the other islands in detail. Seven of the group 
 average larger than the State of New Jersey ; Luzon is as extensive as Ohio, 
 Mindanao equals Indiana ; and, as we have stated before, about four hundred 
 of them are inhabitable, and, like Java, Borneo, and the Spice Islands, all are 
 rich in natural resources. They are of a volcanic origin, and may be described 
 in general as rugged and mountainous. The coasts of most of the islands are 
 deeply indented by the sea, and the larger ones are well watered by streams, the 
 mouths of which afford good harbors. Many of the mountainous parts abound 
 in minerals. Mr. Karuph, President of the Philippine Mineral Syndicate, in 
 May, 1898, addressed a letter to Hon. John Hay, at that time our ambassador to 
 England, in which he declares that the Philippines will soon come prominently 
 forward as a new center of the world s gold production. "There is not a 
 brook," says Mr. Karuph, " that finds its way into the Pacific Ocean whose 
 
THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 
 
 641 
 
 sands and gravel do not pan the color of gold. Many valuable deposits are 
 close to deep water. I know of no other part of the world, the Alaskan Tread- 
 well mines alone excepted, where pay ore is found within a few hundred yards 
 of the anchorage of sea-going vessels." In addition to gold, iron, copper, lead, 
 sulphur, and other minerals are found, and are believed to exist in paying quan 
 tities. The numerous mineral springs attest their presence in almost every part 
 of the principal islands. 
 
 DRYING SUGAR. 
 
 Large pans containing the sugar are set in the sun to evaporate the moisture. No refining or clarifying machinery has been 
 
 introduced into the Philippine Islands. 
 
 FORESTS AND TIMBER. 
 
 The forest products of the islands are perhaps of greater value than their 
 mineral resources. Timber not only exists in almost exhaustless quantity, but 
 considering the whole group, which extends nearly a thousand miles from 
 north to south in unprecedented diversity, embracing sixty varieties of the 
 most valuable woods, several of which are so hard that they cannot be cut with 
 ordinary saws, some so heavy that they sink in water, and two or three so dura 
 ble as to afford ground for the claim that they outlast iron and steel when 
 
 41 
 
642 
 
 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 
 
 placed in the ground or under water. Several of these woods are unknown else 
 where, and, altogether, they are admirably suited for various decorative purposes 
 and for the manufacture of fine implements and furniture. 
 
 Here also are pepper, cinnamon, wax, and gums of various sorts, cloves, tea, 
 and vanilla, while all tropical fruits, such as cocoanuts, bananas, lemons, limes, 
 
 THE GRANGE WAGONS OF ALB AY. 
 
 The eighty-odd different tribes who inhabit the Philippines have varying dialects, manners, and customs. The peculiar house* 
 roofed wagons, shown in the above illustration, are found in only one locality. 
 
 oranges of several varieties, pineapples, citrons, brend-frtiits, custard apples, 
 pawpaws, and mangroves flourish, and most of them grow wild, though, of 
 course, they are not equal to the cultivated fruit. There are fifty-odd varieties 
 of the banana in the archipelago, from the midget, which makes but a single 
 mouthful, to the huge fruit eighteen inches long. There seems to be no limit to 
 which tropical fruite *nd farm products can be cultivated. 
 
THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 643 
 
 The animal and bird life of the Philippines offer a field of interesting re 
 search to naturalists. There are no important carnivorous animals. A small 
 wild-cat and two species of civet-cats constitute about all that belong to that 
 class. The house-cats of the Philippines have curious fish-hook crooks in the 
 ends of their tails. There are several species of deer in the archipelago. Hogs 
 run wild in large numbers. The large water buffalo (carabao) has been do 
 mesticated and is the chief beast of burden with the natives, The timarau is 
 another small species of buffalo, very wild and entirely untamable ; and, though 
 numerous in certain places, is hard to find, and when brought to bay dies 
 fighting. 
 
 Birds abound in all of the islands ; nearly six hundred species have been 
 found, over fifty of which exist nowhere else in the world. One of these species 
 builds a nest which is highly prized by Chinese epicures as an article of diet. 
 Prof. Worcester tells us " the best quality of them sometimes bring more than 
 their weight in gold." Crocodiles are numerous in fresh-water lakes and 
 streams, attaining enormous size, and in certain places causing much loss of 
 life among stock a/id men as well. Snakes also abound, and some of them are 
 very venomous. Cobras are found in the southern islands. Pythons are 
 numerous, some of the smaller sizes being sold in the towns and kept in houses 
 to catch rats, at which they are said to be more expert than house-cats. 
 
 All the domestic animals, aside from the carabao, have been introduced 
 from abroad. Cattle are extensively raised, and in some of the islands run wild. 
 The horses are a small Spanish breed, but are very strong and have great en 
 durance. Large European horses do not stand the climate well. 
 
 CLIMATE, VOLCANOES, ETC. 
 
 The mean annual temperature of Manila is 80 F. The thermometer seldom 
 rises above 100 or falls below 60 anywhere in the archipelago. There is no 
 month in the year during which it does not rise as high as 91. January and 
 December are the coldest months, the average temperature being 70 to 73. 
 May is the warmest, the average being 84. April is the next warmest, with an 
 average of 83 ; but the weather is generally very moist and humid, which makes 
 the heat more trying. The three winter months have cool nights. Malaria is 
 prevalent, but contagious diseases are comparatively few. Yellow fever and 
 cholera are seldom heard of. 
 
 The Philippines are the home of many volcanoes, a number of them still 
 active. Mayon, in the island of Luzon, is one of the most remarkable volcanic 
 mountains on the globe. It is a perfect cone, rising to the height of 8,900 feet, 
 and is in constant activity ; its latest destructive eruption took place in 1888. 
 Apo, in the island of Mindanao, 10,312 feet high, is the largest of the Philippine 
 
644 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 
 
 volcanoes. Next is Canloon in Negros, which rises 8,192 feet above the sea. 
 Taal is in a lake, with a height of 900 feet, and is noteworthy as being the lowest 
 volcano in the world. To those not accustomed to volcanoes, these great fire- 
 spouting mountains, which are but prominent representatives of many lesser ones 
 in the islands, seem to be an ever-present danger to the inhabitants ; but the 
 natives and those who live there manifest little or no fear of them. In fact, 
 they rather pride themselves in their possession of such terrifying neighbors. 
 
 Such is an outline view of the Philippine Archipelago of the present day. 
 A new era has opened up in the history of that wonderful land with its libera 
 tion from the Spanish yoke. The dense ignorance and semi-savage barbarities 
 which exist there must not be expected to yield too rapidly to the touch of 
 human kindness and brotherly love with which the Christian world will now 
 visit those semi-civilized and untamed children of nature. Nevertheless, western 
 civilization and western progress will undoubtedly work mighty changes in the 
 lives of those people, in the development of that country, during the first 
 quarter of the twentieth century, which ushers in the dawn of its freedom. 
 
 THE BATTLE OF MANILA. 
 
 In all the annals of naval warfare there is no engagement, terminating in 
 so signal a victory with so little damage to the victors, as that which made 
 the name of George Dewey immortal on the memorable Sunday morning of 
 May 1, 1898, in Manila Bay. The world knows the story of that battle, for it 
 has been told hundreds of times in the thousands of newspapers and magazines 
 and scores of books throughout the civilized world. But few, perhaps, who 
 peruse these pages have read the simple details of the fight as narrated by that 
 most modest of men, Admiral Dewey himself. We cannot better close this 
 chapter on the Philippines than by inserting Admiral Dewey s official report 
 of the battle which wrested the Filipinos from Spanish tyranny and placed 
 nearly ten millions of oppressed people under the protecting care of the United 
 States. 
 
 ADMIRAL DEWEY S STORY OF MANILA. 
 
 " UNITED STATES FLAGSHIP OLYMPIA, CAVITE, May 4, 1898. 
 " The squadron left Mirs Bay on April 27th, arrived off Bolinao on the 
 morning of April 30th, and, finding no vessels there, proceeded down the coast 
 and arrived off the entrance to Manila Bay on the same afternoon. The 
 Boston and the Concord were sent to reconnoitre Port Subic. A thorough 
 search was made of the port by the Boston and the Concord, but the Spanish 
 fleet was not found. Entered the south channel at 11:30 P. M., steaming in 
 column at eight knots. After half the squadron had passed, a battery on the 
 south side of the channel opened fire, none of the shots taking effect. The 
 
1 
 
 YOCJNG MAN OF THE UPPER CLASS. 
 
 White duck or crash trousers and a silk or pina shirt 
 make a fashionable suit. 
 
 AGUINALDO AT THE AGE OF 22. 
 Dressed in fine pina cloth shirt 
 
 DOING THE FAMILY WASH. 
 
 The glory of all Philippine women is their lonir and 
 beautiful hair. 
 
 NATIVE WOMAN FRUIT SELLER 
 Aii l (.-ustoniers, Manila. 
 
 645 
 
THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 647 
 
 Boston and McCulloch returned the fire. The squadron proceeded across the 
 bay at slow speed and arrived off Manila at daybreak, and was fired upon at 
 5:15 A. M, by three batteries at Manila and two near Cavite, and by the Spanish 
 fleet anchored in an approximately east and west line across the mouth of Bakor 
 Bay, with their left in shoal water in Canacao Bay. 
 
 " The squadron then proceeded to the attack, the flagship Olympia, under 
 my personal direction, leading, followed at a distance by the Baltimore, Raleigh, 
 Petrel, Concord, and Boston in the order named, which formation was main 
 tained throughout the action. The squadron opened fire at 5:41 A. M. While 
 advancing to the attack two mines were exploded ahead of the flagship, too far 
 to be effective. The squadron maintained a continuous and precise fire at ranges 
 varying from 5,000 to 2,000 yards, countermarching in a line approximately 
 parallel to that of the Spanish fleet. The enemy s fire was vigorous, but gene 
 rally ineffective. Early in the engagement two launches put out toward the 
 Olympia with the apparent intention of using torpedoes. One was sunk and 
 the other disabled by our fire and beached before they were able to fire their 
 torpedoes. 
 
 "At seven A. M. the Spanish flagship Reina Cristina made a desperate 
 attempt to leave the line and come out to engage at short range, but was received 
 with such a galling fire, the entire battery of the Olympia being concentrated 
 upon her, that she was barely able to return to the shelter of the point. The 
 fires started in her by our shells at the time were not extinguished until she sank. 
 The three batteries at Manila had kept up a continuous fire from the beginning 
 of the engagement, which fire was not returned by my squadron. The first of 
 these batteries was situated on the south mole-head at the entrance of the Pasig 
 River, the second on the south position of the walled city of Manila, and the 
 third at Molate, about one-half mile further south. At this point I sent a mes 
 sage to the Governor-General to the effect that if the batteries did not cease 
 firing the city would be shelled. This had the effect of silencing them. 
 
 "At 7:35 A. M. I ceased firing and withdrew the squadron for breakfast. 
 At 11:16 I returned to the attack. By this time the Spanish flagship and almost 
 all the Spanish fleet were in flames. At 12:30 the squadron ceased firing, the 
 batteries being silenced and the ships sunk, burned, and deserted. 
 
 "At 12:40 the squadron returned and anchored off Manila, the Petrel being 
 left behind to complete the destruction of the smaller gunboats, which were 
 behind the point of Cavite. This duty was performed by Commander E. P. 
 Wood in the most expeditious and complete manner possible. The Spanish lost 
 the following vessels: Sunk, Reina Cristina, Castilla, Don Antonio de Ulloa; 
 burned, Don Juan de Austria, Isla de Luzon, Isla de Cuba, General Lezo, Mar- 
 
6 48 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 
 
 quis del Duero, El Correo, Velasco, and Isla de Mindanao (transport) ; captured, 
 Rapido and Hercules (tugs), and several small launches. 
 
 "I am unable to obtain complete accounts of the enemy s killed and 
 wounded, but believe their losses to be very heavy. The Reina Cristina alone 
 had 150 killed, including the captain, and ninety wounded. I am happy to 
 report that the damage done to the squadron under my command was inconsid 
 erable. There were none killed and only seven men in the squadron were 
 slightly wounded. Several of the vessels were struck and even penetrated, but 
 the damage was of the slightest, and the squadron is in as good condition now 
 as before the battle. 
 
 " I beg to state to the department that I doubt if any commander-in-chief 
 was ever served by more loyal, efficient, and gallant captains than those of the 
 squadron now under my command. Captain Frank Wildes, commanding the 
 Boston, volunteered to remain in command of his vessel, although his relief 
 arrived before leaving Hong Kong. Assistant Surgeon Kindelberger, of the 
 Olympia, and Gunner J. C. Evans, of the Boston, also volunteered to remain, 
 after orders detaching them had arrived. The conduct of my personal staff 
 was excellent. Commander B. P. Lamberton, chief of staff, was a volunteer 
 for that position, and gave me most efficient aid. Lieutenant Brumby, Flag 
 Lieutenant, and Ensign E. P. Scott, aide, performed their duties as signal officers 
 in a highly creditable manner ; Caldwell, Flag Secretary, volunteered for and 
 was assigned to a sub-division of the five-inch battery. Mr. J. L. Stickney, 
 formerly an officer in the United States Navy, and now correspondent for the 
 New York Herald, volunteered for duty as my aide, and rendered valuable 
 service. I desire especially to mention the coolness of Lieutenant C. G. Calkins, 
 the navigator of the Olyrnpia, who came under my personal observation, being 
 on the bridge with me throughout the entire action, and giving the ranges to 
 the guns with an accuracy that was proven by the excellence of the firing. 
 
 " On May 2d, the day following the engagement, the squadron again went 
 to Cavite, where it remains. On the 3d the military forces evacuated the Cavite 
 arsenal, which was taken possession of by a landing party. On the same day 
 the Raleigh and the Baltimore secured the surrender of the batteries on Cor- 
 regidor Island, paroling the garrison and destroying the guns. On the morning 
 of May 4th, the transport Manila, which had been aground in Bakor Bay, was 
 towed off and made a prize." 
 
OUR NEW POSSESSIONS (CONTINUEU). 
 
 THE LADRONE, OR MARIANA ISLANDS. 
 
 It was a welcome sight to Magellan and his crew when, one day in March, 
 nearly 400 years ago, they beheld the verdant and beautifully sloping hills of 
 the Ladrone Islands. Eighteen weary months before they had sailed from the 
 coast of Spain, and all that time, first to the southwest and then to the north 
 west, they had followed the setting sun. Theirs were the first vessels manned by 
 white men that had ever plowed the trackless Pacific; and this was the first land 
 ever seen by white men within that unknown ocean. 
 
 It was a pitiable crew on those three small, weather-beaten ships, who drew, 
 that March morning, toward the coast of the present island of Guam, which is 
 now a possession of the United States. Hunger and thirst had driven them to 
 the verge of madness. They had eaten even the leather thongs from their sail 
 fastenings, and only a small mug of water per day was the portion of drink for 
 a man. "Land! Land!! " It was a glad cry from the watch aloft. There were 
 palm trees, cocoanuts, green grass, tropical fruits, an abundance of fresh water, 
 and though naked a curious and friendly people. No wonder Magellan 
 paused to rest himself and his sailors. 
 
 Those little islands have never been of much value, and never can be. Sev 
 enteen of them stretching in a row about six hundred miles from north to south, 
 and, their total area, including their islets and reefs, is variously estimated at 
 from 400 to 560 square miles. Hence, there is but about one-fourth more terri 
 tory on the whole seventeen islands combined than is included within the cor 
 porate limits of the city of Greater New York. 
 
 A broad channel divides the Ladrones into two groups. The northern 
 group consists of ten islets, without inhabitants ; the southern group has seven 
 islands, four of which are inhabited. The largest island, Guahan, known to us 
 as Guam, ceded to us by Spain, was taken by our warship Charleston on July 
 4, 1898. This island contains the only town in the colony. Its full Spanish 
 name is San Ignacio de Agana. It is the capital of the archipelago, and con 
 tains more than half of the whole population. 
 
 THE NATIVE INHABITANTS. 
 
 When first visited by Europeans, the archipelago contained from 40,000 to 
 60,000 souls, represented by two distinct classes, the nobles and the people, be 
 tween whom marriage, and even contact, were forbidden. But the Spanish con- 
 
 649 
 
650 
 
 THE LADRONE ISLANDS. 
 
 quest soon ended this distinction by reducing all alike to servitude. For a long 
 time after Spanish occupation, the natives complained and finally rebelled against 
 the oppressive measures of their rulers ; but by the end of the seventeenth century 
 they ceased their resistance, and it was found by a census that fully half of them 
 had perished or escaped in their canoes to the Caroline Islands, and that two- 
 thirds of their one hundred and eighty villages had fallen to ruins. Then came 
 an epidemic which swept away nearly all the natives of Guam ; and the island 
 of Tiniau (one of the group) was depopulated and its inhabitants brought to 
 Guam. 
 
 Nearly all the new arrivals soon died. In the year 1760, a census showed 
 
 .NATIVE HOUSE AND PALMS, LADRONE ISLAND: 
 
 a total of only 1,654 inhabitants left in all the islands, and the Spaniards repop- 
 ulated them by bringing Tagals from the Philippines. These, mixed with the 
 remaining natives and Spaniards, have steadily increased. The population of 
 elands in 1899 was estimated at about 9,000. The people are generally 
 lacking in energy, loose in morals, and miserably poor. Their education has 
 been seriously neglected. Their religion is Catholic, no Protestant missions 
 having been encouraged we might say, not allowed there or in the Philip- 
 pines or the Carolines. 
 
 TOPOGRAPHY, CLIMATE, ETC. 
 
 The islands of the northern group are mountainous, the altitudes reaching 
 
THE LADRONE ISLANDS. 651 
 
 from 2,600 to 2,700 feet. There are evidences of volcanoes all over the archi 
 pelago, and some mountains contain small craters and cones not yet extinct. The 
 climate of the Ladrones, though humid, is salubrious, and the heat, being tem 
 pered by the trade winds, is milder than in the Philippines. The yearly aver 
 age temperature of Guam is 81. Streams are everywhere copious though the 
 clearing of the land has diminished their size of late years. The original flora 
 consists generally of Asiatic plants, but much has been introduced from the 
 Philippines and other sources. 
 
 Cocoanuts, palms, the bread tree, and tropical trees and plants generally, 
 thrive. The large fruit bat which abounds in the Philippines is indigenous to 
 the Ladrones, and, despite its objectionable odor, is a principal article of food. 
 Swine and oxen are allowed to r in wild, and are hunted when needed. There 
 are only a few species of birds; even insects are rare; and the reptiles are rep 
 resented by several kinds of lizards and a single species of serpent. No domes 
 tic animals were known in the islands until introduced by the Spaniards. 
 
 When the United States steamship Charleston opened fire on the little city 
 of Agaiia, July 4, 1898, the people had not heard of the war, and the governor 
 said he thought " the noble Americans were saluting " him, and was " deeply 
 humiliated because he had no powder to return their salute." It was an easy, 
 bloodless victory. The governor and his soldiers were carried to Manila as 
 prisoners, and an American garrison of a few men left to take charge of this 
 new American territory in the Pacific. 
 
652 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 Thus at the close of the nineteenth century, the Greater United States 
 assumes its appointed place among the foremost nations of the world, and stands 
 on the threshold of achievements whose grandeur no man dare attempt to 
 prophesy. We pause, awed, grateful, and profoundly impressed, when we recall 
 the mighty events, the amazing progress, and the wonderful advancements in 
 discovery, science, art, literature, and all that tends to the good of mankind that 
 are certain to give the twentieth century a pre-eminence above all the years 
 that have gone before. 
 
 The new era of our country has opened. The United States enters on the 
 first stage of the transformation from an isolated commonwealth into an out- 
 reaching power with dependencies in both hemispheres. We can no longer 
 hold an attitude of aloofness from the rest of the world. With vulnerable 
 points in our outlying possessions, we must make ready to defend them not only 
 by force of arms but by diplomatic skill. Entangling alliances as heretofore 
 will be avoided, and the conditions, complications, and policies of foreign powers 
 must in the future possess a practical importance for us. 
 
 The original thirteen States have expanded into forty-five, embracing the 
 vast area between the two oceans and extending from the British possessions to 
 the Gulf of Mexico. To them has now been added our colonial territory, so vast 
 in extent that, like the British Empire, the sun never sets on our dominions. 
 Where a hundred years ago were only a few scattered villages and towns, 
 imperial cities now raise their heads. Thousands of square miles of forest and 
 solitude have given place to cultivated farms, to factories, and workshops that 
 hum with the wheels of industry. The Patent Office issues 40,000 patents each 
 year. We have three cities with more than a million population apiece, and 
 twenty-five with a population ranging from a hundred thousand to half a mil 
 lion. Greater New York is the second city in the world, and, if its present 
 rate of growth continues, it will surpass London before the middle of the coming 
 century. Our population has grown from 3,000,000 at the close of the Revolu. 
 tion to 75,000,000. When Andrew Jackson became President there was not a 
 mile of railroad in the United States. To-day our mileage exceeds that of all 
 the countries of Europe, Asia, and Africa combined, and the employes, con 
 nected directly or indirectly with railroads in the United States, number almost 
 a million persons. The half-dozen crude newspapers of the Revolution have 
 expanded into more than 20,000, whose daily news is gathered from every 
 quarter of the globe. The total yearly issue is more than three billions. 
 
 No country can approach the advancements we have made in invention, in 
 discovery, in science, in art, in education and in all the civilizing agencies of man- 
 
CONCLUSION. *716 
 
 kind. Volumes would be required to name our achievements in these lines. Our 
 material property has been or is equally wonderful. When the Civil War closed, 
 our public debt was nearly $3,000,000,000. On December 1, 1898, it was 
 $1,036,000,000. Most of the leading nations have great debts, but the United 
 States is the only one which is steadily decreasing its debt and at the same time 
 enormously increasing its resources. The debt of Great Britain is now about 
 $87 per capita, that of France $115, of Holland $100, of Italy $75, and of the 
 United States less than $15, with the security increasing all the time. 
 
 Let the thoughtful reader note these striking facts. European nations 
 generally, and some South American nations also, have been compelled to resort 
 to various methods of taxation to supply the sums needed for ordinary govern 
 mental expenses, to meet the interest on the existing debt, to provide resources for 
 new expenditures, buildings, armament, subsidies, and various public works. Eng 
 land has an income tax and many stamp taxes, a house tax, and collects some 20 per 
 cent, of its revenue from direct taxation. France has a tobacco monopoly, regis 
 tration taxes, stamp taxes, tax on windows, and innumerable local taxes, one being 
 the octroi, or tax on goods entering cities. In addition to an income tax, and 
 many stamp taxes, Austria derives a good deal of its public revenue from lotteries. 
 Italy goes still further with her tobacco monopoly, house tax, income tax, salt 
 tax, octroi duties, stamp taxes, and heavy legacy and registration taxes. In the 
 United States, however, the public revenues have been provided for and all public 
 expenses met, and the national debt reduced beside, without recourse to any direct 
 taxation. We have no government monopolies, and the Treasury maintains a 
 healthful condition from the receipts of customs and internal revenue payments. 
 
 Thus with the spirit of fraternity between all sections of the Union stronger 
 than ever before, with the spirit of patriotism more deeply imbedded and all-per 
 vading, with our moral, educational, and material prosperity and progress greater 
 than any time in our past history, and never equaled by any nation, since the 
 annals of mankind began we face the future, bravely resolved to meet all 
 reduirements, responsibilities, and duties as become men whose motto is 
 
 IN GOD IS OUR TRUST. 
 
 The 
 
 * Sixty-four pages are here added to the folio of the previous page to cover the full-page illustrations not included in the 
 previous folios 
 
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