MIIITMI 
 
 UNITED
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 J
 
 MILITARY HEROES 
 OF THE UNITED STATES
 
 Frontispiece, Military Heroes. 
 
 Assassination of Colonel Ellsworth.
 
 ALTEAMJS' YOUNG PEOPLE'S LIBRARY 
 
 MILITARY MERGES 
 
 or THE 
 
 UNITED STATES 
 
 PROA\ LEXINGTON TO SANTIAGO 
 
 HARTWELL (JAMES 
 
 WITH NINETY-POUR ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Copyright 1899 by Henry Altemus 
 
 HENRY ALTEAXUS COMPANY
 
 tg) 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY 5 
 
 MILITARY HEROES OF THE U. S 7 
 
 PAUL REVERE 10 
 
 JOSEPH WARREN 19 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON 23 
 
 ISRAEL PUTNAM 36 
 
 NATHAN HALE 42 
 
 ETHAN ALLEN 46 
 
 JOHN STARK 52 
 
 NATHANIEL GREKNE 58 
 
 ANTHONY WAYNE 65 
 
 FRANCIS MARION 71 
 
 HUGH MERCER 77 
 
 RICHARD MONTGOMERY 81 
 
 PHILIP SCHUYLER r 86 
 
 BENEDICT ARNOLD 90 
 
 DANIEL MORGAN . . 98 
 
 1562998
 
 * v Contents. 
 
 MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE . . ." 102 
 
 ANDREW JACKSON '. 110 
 
 SAM HOUSTON 116 
 
 ZACHARY TAYLOR m 
 
 WINFIELD SCOTT : 127 
 
 ULYSSES S. GRANT 131 
 
 WILLIAM T. SHERMAN 139 
 
 PHILIP H. SHERIDAN 146 
 
 GEORGE B. McCLELLAN 153 
 
 AMBROSE E. BURNSIDE 158 
 
 GEORGE H. THOMAS 161 
 
 JOSEPH HOOKER 166 
 
 GEORGE G. MEADE 169 
 
 GEORGE A. CUSTER 175 
 
 ELMER E. ELLSWORTH 179 
 
 ROBERT E. LEE 183 
 
 THOMAS J. JACKSON 189 
 
 NELSON A. MILES 195 
 
 JOSEPH WHEELER 201 
 
 THEODORE ROOSEVELT 205 
 
 HENRY W. LAWTON.... 212
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 "\T apology is necessary for a series of sketches por- 
 _\ traying intelligent military heroism. It is right 
 that we acclaim our heroes, and tell the stories of 
 their lives by our firesides. 
 
 Heroic traditions make heroic nations, and while it does 
 not follow that those who handled the bayonet, swung the 
 sabre, or sent the pitiless shell into opposing ranks at 
 Gettysburg were emulating the deeds of their Fathers in 
 the days of the Ee volution, or that those who swarmed up 
 the hills and through the ingenious entanglements of the 
 Spanish defenses at San Juan and El Caney were con- 
 sciously stimulated by the traditions of the Civil War; yet 
 the love of country and humanity was there and set the 
 fighting string twanging in the breast, and nerved the arm 
 to deeds of irresistible valor. 
 
 The lives of the commanding figures that are shown on 
 the pages of American military history are worthy of emu- 
 lation. From Lexington to Santiago the story is the same 
 the record is splendid.
 
 MILITARY HEROES 
 OF THE UNITED STATES
 
 MILITARY HEROES 
 OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS was the soul of the movement 
 that led to the revolt of the English provinces in 
 America, and the first appeal to arms between the 
 colonists and the mother country took place upon her soil. 
 George III. was King, and General Gage occupied the city 
 of Boston with a British army in the year 1775. Both 
 sides were making. preparations for the coming strife. A 
 " Committee of Supplies " had gathered military stores at 
 Concord, and learning of this, Gage sent a detachment of 
 about eight hundred men to destroy them, on the night of
 
 8 
 
 Military Heroes of ihe United States. 
 
 April 18; but information of the movement had reached 
 the Committee, and Dr. Joseph Warren despatched Wil- 
 liam Dawes through Roxbury and Paul Revere by way of 
 Charlestown to Lexington. Revere was stopped by two 
 
 British officers, but being mounted on a fine horse he es- 
 caped. As he rode through Medford he aroused the cap- 
 tains of the minute-men, and stopping at almost every house 
 on his way to Lexington, aroused the inhabitants and 
 spread the news. Dawes also reached Lexington in safety.
 
 10 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 PAUL REVERE. 
 
 THIS American patriot was born on January 1, 1735, 
 in the city of Boston. His occupation was that of 
 a goldsmith, but he learned the art of engraving on 
 copper, and in 1775 engraved and printed the paper money 
 ordered by Congress. He was one of the band who threw 
 the tea overboard in Boston harbor. He died in Boston, 
 May 10, 1818, at the age of eighty-three years. Long- 
 fellow immortalized him in a stirring poem entitled " Paul 
 Kevere's Ride." 
 
 Samuel Prescott spread the alarm from Lexington to 
 Concord, and about two o'clock in the morning the alarm 
 bell on the belfry in the meeting-house brought together 
 the inhabitants, young and old, with their firelocks. Mes- 
 sengers were sent to other villages, and stores and pro- 
 visions were hurried away and secreted in the woods. 
 
 At Lexington, at about the same hour, the village green 
 was thronged with excited men. The aged stood shoulder 
 to shoulder with their sons, and by their example and 
 experience gave encouragement and strength to the undis- 
 ciplined mass. One hundred and thirty men had answered 
 to their names. Captain John Parker, their commander 
 had ordered each piece loaded with powder and ball; bu" 1 ; 
 the men were instructed not to be the first to fire. No 
 signs of the approach of the enemy being visible, they were 
 dismissed with orders to reassemble at the roll of thu 
 drum.

 
 12 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 i 
 
 The foremost party of the British came in sight about 
 eleven o'clock in the forenoon of April 19, led by Major 
 Pitcairn. Knowing that their errand was discovered, six 
 companies of light infantry were despatched to Concord to 
 secure the two bridges over the river, and messengers were 
 sent to Boston for reinforcements. As the drums beat the 
 alarm, about seventy men assembled on the village green, 
 nearly half of whom were without arms. Captain Parker 
 ordered them to go to the meeting-house and equip them- 
 selves and then join the company. Thirty-eight men who 
 were armed he formed into line, in single file, at the north 
 end of the green. Before those who were in the meeting- 
 house could equip themselves, Pitcairn's men came up and 
 cut them off from the little band under Parker. Pitcairn 
 marched his men to about fifty feet from the handful of 
 patriots, and then, brandishing his sword, he shouted: 
 "Disperse, you villains! Lay down your arm?! Why don't 
 you disperse, you rebels? Disperse!" The patriots stood 
 their ground, and then Pitcairn gave the order to " Fire!" 
 The order was followed first by a few guns, which did no 
 execution, and then by a close and deadly discharge of 
 musketry. In the disparity of numbers, Parker ordered 
 every man to take care of himself, and they accordingly 
 dispersed. While doing so, the second platoon of the enemy 
 fired, killing several and wounding others. Then, and not 
 till then, did a few of the patriots, on their o^;i impulse, 
 return the British fire. These random shots of fugitives or 
 dying men did no harm. Seven of the patriots were killed 
 and nine wounded. One who was taken prisoner was shot 
 :n his endeavor to escape. Thus the first skirmish for lib- 
 erty was fought.
 
 Paul Revere. 13 
 
 The British pushed on to Concord and destroyed the 
 stores. The liberty-pole and several gun-carriages were 
 burned; the court-house took fire, but the fire was extin- 
 guished. By this time some four hundred patriots had 
 gathered on the rising ground above Concord bridge. 
 "Will you let them burn down the town?" cried one. 
 Taking counsel together, the entire body resolved " To 
 march into the middle of the town for its defense, or die 
 in the attempt." Colonel Barrett, who was in command, 
 gave orders to advance, but not to fire unless attacked. 
 " I have not a man that is afraid to go," said Isaac Davis, 
 of Acton, and drawing his sword, he cried: "March!" At 
 the head of his men he led the way to the bridge, with 
 Major Buttrick, of Concord, by his side,* followed by the 
 minute-men and militia. The British began to take up 
 the planks; to prevent it the patriots quickened their steps. 
 At this the British fired one or two shots up the river; 
 then another, by which two were wounded. A volley fol- 
 lowed, and Isaac Davis and Abner Hosmer fell dead. Then 
 Major Buttrick gave the order, " Fire, fellow soldiers; for 
 God's sake, fire!" and a general discharge from the whole 
 line of patriots was given, several of the enemy, including 
 three lieutenants, falling on the spot. In two minutes all 
 was hushed. The British retreated in disorder towards 
 their main body; the countrymen were left in possession of 
 the bridge. 
 
 At this world-renowned Battle of Concord the patriots 
 acted from impulse, and at first attempted no pursuit, but 
 as the British forces retreated the militia ran over the lines 
 and ambushed the flying troops. Every piece of woods, 
 every rock by the wayside, served as a lurking place. The 
 
 a Military Heroes
 
 14 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 hills seemed to the British to swarm with " rebels " as 
 an unintermitted fire was poured on them from behind 
 stone walls and trees. The British began to rim rather 
 than retreat in order. Their officers vainly tried to stop 
 their flight, for they were being driven before the Ameri- 
 cans like sheep. About two o'clock in the afternoon rein- 
 forcements met them, and forming into a square enclosed 
 the fugitives, who lay down for rest on the ground, " their 
 tongues hanging out of their mouths like those of dngs 
 after a chase." After a rest of half an hour the British 
 resumed their retreat, but the patriots dogged every step 
 and finally drove them under the guns of the ships-of-war 
 in the harbor of Boston. 
 
 After Lexington and Concord the militia hurried to 
 Boston. As their terms of service expired other troops 
 were enlisted. There was great want of money, clothing 
 and ammunition. The Committee of Safety decided " That 
 Bunker's Hill be maintained by sufficient force being 
 posted there," and on the night of June 16, 1775, about 
 one thousand men, under the command of Colonel William 
 Prescott, assembled on Cambridge Common. After a 
 prayer by President Langdon, of Harvard College, the 
 troops marched to Breed's Hill, " as being the more com- 
 manding site," and there entrenchments were thrown up; 
 yet the memorable engagement that followed will always 
 be known as the Battle of Bunker Hill. So rapidly did 
 the patriots ply their entrenching tools through the hot 
 night that by daylight the breastworks " assumed form and 
 height and capacity for defense." 
 
 About three o'clock, on June 17, the British troops 
 advanced to the assault. Twice the patriots' terrible fire
 
 16 
 
 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 drove them back in confusion, but their ammunition gave 
 out, and after the third attack they were obliged to retreat 
 
 Death of Major Pitcairn. 
 
 across Charlestown neck. The slaughter among Jtoe Brit- 
 ish was terrific. Amonsr those shot down was Major Pit-
 
 I
 
 18 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 cairn, who had ordered the "rebels" to disperse at Lex- 
 ington. " Nothing," wrote a British officer, " could be 
 more shocking than the carnage that followed the storming 
 of this work. "We tumbled over the dead to get at the 
 living, who were crowding out of the gorge of the redoubt 
 
 Prescott's Men in the Redoubt. 
 
 in order to form under the defenses which they had pre- 
 pared to cover their retreat." Before the British attacked, 
 the tall form of Prescott was seen walking leisurely along 
 the parapet to inspire his men. General Gage, in Boston, 
 by the aid of a glass, could plainly see his commanding
 
 Joseph Warren. 19 
 
 figure, and turning to Counselor Willard, who stood near 
 him, asked who it was. Willard, recognizing his brother- 
 in-law, said: "That is Colonel Prescott." "Will he 
 fight?" inquired Gage. "Yes, sir," replied Willard; "he 
 is an old soldier, and will fight as long as a drop of blood 
 remains in his veins." "The works must be carried im- 
 mediately," responded Gage, as he turned upon his heel to 
 give orders. 
 
 Prescott was the last to leave the fort. Though his coat 
 and waistcoat were pierced with bayonet-thrusts, which he 
 parried with his sword, he got off unhurt. Among the 
 killed was Dr. Joseph Warren, one of the most active and 
 distinguished of the patriots. 
 
 JOSEPH WARDEN. 
 
 JOSEPH WARREN was born on July 11, 1741, at 
 Roxbury, Massachusetts. He was a brilliant scholar, 
 and after his graduation from Harvard College 
 studied medicine and became one of the best physicians in 
 Boston. He early espoused the cause of liberty and became 
 a firm supporter of the cause of the colonists. He pos- 
 sessed a fine, magnetic presence and an engaging address, 
 and became known as a fluent writer and an eloquent 
 speaker. In 1768 he was one of the influential members 
 of the " Sons of Liberty/' and it is recorded that " no im- 
 portant measures were taken without consulting him and 
 his particular friends." He filled various high offices in the 
 history of the colonies, and succeeded John Hancock as
 
 20 Military Hero.es of the United States. 
 
 President of the Provincial Congress. When the fourth an* 
 niversary of the Boston massacre arrived Warren solicited 
 the privilege of delivering the anniversary address, in spite 
 of the threats of the British officers that "They would take 
 the life of any man who would dare speak on that occa- 
 sion." In an eloquent speech, in which he pictured the 
 wrongs of the colonists, he declared that " Resistance to 
 tyrants is obedience to God." 
 
 Warren was a member of the Committee of Safety, and 
 was commissioned a major-general four days previous 
 to the battle of Bunker Hill. To a friend who urged 
 him not to be present on that occasion, and who 
 predicted his death if he participated in the inevitable 
 engagement, Warren replied : " It is sweet to die for 
 one's country." Warren reached the redoubt on Breed's 
 Hill just before the battle opened, public business 
 having prevented him from arriving sooner. Colonel 
 Prescott oit'ercd him the command and asked for or- 
 ders, but he replied that it was honor enough to serve un- 
 der so brave an officer, and, borrowing a musket, rushed 
 into the thickest of the fight. When the patriots' ammu- 
 nition was spent, and the Americans had begun their sullen 
 retreat, Warren was among the last to leave the field. A 
 musket ball struck him in the head and killed him. He 
 was buried on the spot where he fell, but during the next 
 year his remains were removed to the family vault in Bos- 
 ton. Eventually they were placed in St. Paul's Church, in 
 that city. In 1794 a monument was raised to his memory 
 in Charlestown. In 1857 a statue of General Warren was 
 enclosed in Bunker Hill Monument. 
 
 Congress met for the second time after the skirmish at 
 Lexington and the more decisive engagement at Concord.
 
 Joseph Warren. 
 
 21
 
 22 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 A military Confederacy was formed, and General George 
 Washington was the unanimous choice for commander-in- 
 
 Death of General Warren. 
 
 chief of the Continental Army. He declined compensation 
 for his sendees, asking only that his expenses be defrayed. 
 He immediately started for Boston, then occupied by a 
 British army. On his way there when he was told that the 
 patriots had stood their ground until their ammu- 
 nition was expended, he exclaimed: "The liberties of our 
 country are safe!"
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON, the first commander-in- 
 chief of the armies of the United States, was born 
 in Westmoreland County, Virginia, February 22, 
 1732. His father was Augustine Washington, whose an- 
 cestry can be traced back to the year 1183. The house in 
 which Washington was born was burned down when he was 
 a boy, but the spot where it stood is marked by a stone slab. 
 When Washington was a boy of eleven years his father died, 
 and he grew up under the tender care of his mother. His 
 
 23
 
 24 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 education was that afforded by the common schools of the 
 neighborhood, but later he studied surveying and book- 
 keeping. His copy-books show that he wrote a very neat 
 hand. He excelled in athletic sports, and was proficient in 
 horsemanship. He was, from his youth, noted for honor 
 and truthfulness. Among the many anecdotes related of 
 the boyhood of Washington is the story of how he muti- 
 lated one of his father's cherry trees. When questioned 
 about the matter he did not deny it, but said: 
 
 " Father, I cannot tell a lie; I cut the tree." 
 
 " I had rather lose a thousand trees than find falsehood 
 in my son," replied his father, as he tenderly embraced 
 him. 
 
 Later in .his life, at a social gathering given in honor of 
 her son, his venerable mother stood by his side, and, as 
 the clocks struck the hour of nine, she laid her hand upon 
 his shoulder, and said : " Come, George, it is time to re- 
 tire. Late hours are injurious." Throughout his life Wash- 
 ington retained the habits of obedience, sobriety and punc- 
 tuality which he learned from his mother. 
 
 Washington's father left a large estate, and, after the 
 death of his brother Lawrence, Washington inherited the 
 estate of Mount Vernon. At the age of sixteen he began 
 the profession of a civil engineer, and spent a year in sur- 
 veying the immense possessions of Lord Fairfax in the 
 Shenandoah Valley. Later he became the public surveyor, 
 and when nineteen was a major commanding a military dis- 
 trict. 
 
 When England and France grappled in combat for the 
 possession of America, the Governor of Virginia sent the 
 young surveyor on a perilous mission across the trackless
 
 Washington as a Young Man.
 
 26 Military Heroes of tlie United State*, 
 
 wilds to a French fort near Lake Erie. On his return he 
 was in great danger from the Indians, and nearly lost his 
 life in crossing the Allegheny 1'iver. For this service he 
 received the thanks of the Legislature of his State. As a 
 lieutenant-colonel he was sent, in 1754, with a regiment, to 
 build forts near the Ohio Eiver, and to drive away the 
 French. He built Fort Necessity and killed or captured a 
 detachment of French soldiers. Later he was attacked by 
 a French force superior to his own and was obliged to sur- 
 render. Eventually he and his troops were allowed to 
 return to Virginia. He continued to serve during the re- 
 mainder of the French and Indian war, and after the de- 
 feat of General Brad dock he saved the army by his skill 
 and courage. 
 
 It was a beautiful summer's day when Braddock and his 
 army of two thousand men entered a defile upon the banks 
 of the Monongahela. The underbrush grew thick and high 
 and the great trees cast deep shadows on the army as it 
 confidently advanced with waving banners and gleaming 
 muskets. Suddenly a well-directed volley from the French, 
 who, with their Indian allies, had planned the ambuscade, 
 was poured into the British ranks. Not a foe was to be 
 seen, but their deadly rifles sent a message of death from 
 every tree and thicket. Nearly half of the British forces 
 fell under the murderous fire of the enemy, and then, un- 
 used to border warfare, they turned and fled in the utmost 
 confusion. General Braddock lost bis life, but Washing- 
 ton, with cool valor, saved the British army from total de- 
 struction. He was in the most exposed and dangerous part 
 of the defile; two horses were shot under him and four bul- 
 lets tore through his coat, but he seemed to bear a charmed
 
 Washington at Fort Duquesne. 
 
 27
 
 28 Military Heroes of Hie United States. 
 
 life. Eallying a few of the provincials, he placed them be- 
 hind trees, and when the Indians rushed from their places 
 of concealment to scalp the dead and tomahawk the dying, 
 they were greeted with such a deadly fire that the shattered 
 army was able to beat a hasty retreat. 
 
 Washington's health was now impaired by active warfare 
 against the Indians, who were a constant menace to the 
 settlements, and he retired from the service in 1759. In 
 the same year he married Mrs. Martha Custis, a beautiful 
 and wealthy young widow, and retired to his estate at 
 Mount Vernon, leading the life of a rich planter, and be- 
 coming a member of the Virginia Legislature. He always 
 took a deep interest in public affairs. When the odious 
 " Stamp Act " was inflicted upon the colonists, Washington 
 discountenanced " the use of all British merchandise taxed 
 by Parliament to raise a revenue in America," Other op- 
 pressive measures followed, and when the first Continental 
 Congress met in Philadelphia, Washington was a member 
 of that immortal body, exhibiting the loftiest patriotism. 
 
 Washington was appointed Commarder-in-Chief of the 
 American Armies on June 15, 1775. He reached the camp 
 before Boston on July 2, and immediately demonstrated his 
 great organizing genius in making an army out of the raw 
 material he found there. Everything was in confusion; Men 
 were lodged in tents and huts; provisions and powder were 
 scarce. His subordinates hampered him by divided coun- 
 sels. Almost his first offensive movement was to fortify 
 Dorchester Heights, a line of hills to the southwest of Bos- 
 ton. After a siege of eight months he compelled the Brit- 
 ish to leave Boston, and he then moved his army to New 
 York. At this point he was attacked by a British army
 
 The Declaration of Independence Read to the Army. 
 
 3 Military Heroes 
 
 29
 
 30 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 much larger than his own, commanded by Sir Henry Clin- 
 ton. The battle of Long Island, near Brooklyn, was 
 fought on August 27, 1776, and Washington was de- 
 feated. Obliged to give up New York to the enemy, he 
 fought and lost the battle of White Plains, and then re- 
 treated through New Jersey, pursued by General Cornwal- 
 lis. By heavy marching, Washington reached the Dela- 
 ware Eiver a few hours before Cornwallis, and, crowding 
 his men into as few boats as possible, he began the perilous 
 voyage to the Pennsylvania side. The battle with the 
 storm that night was fiercer than a battle with the British 
 would have been. Through snow and sleet and floating ice 
 the half-starved, scantily-clad remnant of the Continental 
 army fought their way and landed in Pennsylvania. On 
 the Christmas morning following, he recrossed the river 
 and fell upon the British army at Trenton, in the midst 
 of their Christmas revelry, and took over a thousand pris- 
 oners. He recrossed the Delaware that night. 
 
 On the morning of January 3, 1777, Washington again 
 crossed the Delaware and attacked the British at Prince- 
 ton, compelling them to retreat. This battle was a decided 
 victory for the Americans, but, owing to the condition of 
 his army, scantily supplied with food, poorly clad, often 
 barefooted, Washington was unable to follow up the vic- 
 tory as he wished, and so went into winter quarters. On 
 September 11, Washington was defeated at the battle of 
 Brandywine, and the British took Philadelphia. He was 
 again defeated at Germantown, and afterwards wintered at 
 Valley Forge, where the army suffered great privations. 
 In June, 1778, the British retreated from Philadelphia, 
 and the battle of Monmouth followed on June 28, with
 
 32 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 the result that the British retreated after a hotly contested 
 engagement. Washington did not participate in any great 
 battles during 1779 and 1780, but in 1781 he besieged 
 
 Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia. The British surren- 
 dered on October 19, 1781, and this act destroyed the last 
 hope of England's ever being able to subdue America. In
 
 George Washington. 
 
 33 
 
 November, 1783, Great Britain acknowledged without re- 
 serve the independence of the United States. 
 
 Throughput the war 
 the labors of Washington 
 were incessant . He lost 
 more battles than he won, 
 but through his untiring 
 efforts, his self-sacrifice 
 and perseverance, he won 
 
 Qgton Inaugurated President.
 
 34 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 the love and respect of all Americans, and when the colonies 
 became free and independent he was acclaimed as the 
 Father of his Country. For eight weary, toilsome, suffer- 
 ing years he held the command of the patriot forces, tak- 
 ing leave of the army on December 4, 1783, and retiring 
 to private life. When the confederacy of states was 
 formed into a nation, he was the unanimous choice for its 
 first President, and wisely directed its affairs for two terms 
 of four years each. In 1796 he sent a farewell address to 
 Congress and refused another re-election. Again he retired 
 to Mount Vernon, but when war with France was imminent 
 he was called to be again Commander-in-Chief of the army. 
 He died at Mount Vernon on December 14, 1799, before 
 the French question was settled, after an illness of two 
 davs. 
 
 Washington's House, Mount Vernon.
 
 35
 
 36 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 ISRAEL PUTNAM. 
 
 ISRAEL PUTNAM, one of the best-known generals of 
 the Revolution, was born in Salem, Massachusetts, 
 January 7, 1718. He grew up a plain, sturdy far- 
 mer's boy, fond of athletic sports and excelling in all vig- 
 orous pastimes. A resolute courage was one of the most 
 striking traits in his character, and it is related of him that 
 he once administered a sound thrashing to a Boston boy 
 who ridiculed him as a rustic. Putnam married early in 
 life, and in 1740 became a farmer in the town of Pomfret, 
 Connecticut, following this occupation for some fifteen 
 years. It was during this period that he had his famous 
 adventure with a wolf. It seems that this wolf committed 
 depredations on the sheep in that neighborhood, and some 
 of the farmers declared that it must be bewitched, for it 
 had escaped them so many times. One morning, in winter, 
 Putnam found two of his sheep killed, and a path in the 
 snow which marked the way the wolf had gone. Getting 
 his gun he followed the trail to a dark cave in the moun- 
 tains. He explored the cave, and finding it deep he went 
 for assistance, returning with a party of neighbors and a 
 rope. Putnam tied the rope about his waist, and, with his 
 gun in one hand and a torch in the other, was lowered into 
 the darkness. Reaching solid ground he saw in a corner a 
 pair of gleaming eyes and a row of glistening teeth. The 
 beast rushed at him, but he did not flinch. He killed the
 
 General Israel Putnam. 
 
 87
 
 38 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 wolf with one shot, and was then drawn out of the cave by 
 his friends. 
 
 When the French and Indian war broke out, Putnam 
 was given a company of Connecticut troops. He was then 
 thirty-six years of age, strong and fearless, delighting in a 
 life of activity and danger. He was an invaluable ranger, 
 or scout, and passed through many exciting adventures. 
 At one time a fire broke out in Fort Edward, and the mag- 
 azine was in danger. Putnam, who was stationed at no 
 great distance from the fort, hurried to the scene. He 
 sprang onto the roof of the burning building and poured 
 water onto the flames as fast as it could be passed to him 
 from the ground below. His mittens were burned from 
 his hands, but a fresh pair was handed to him and he 
 worked on until the structure fell in ruins. Then for more 
 than an hour he continued to pour water onto the blazino 
 mass, until the last spark was extinguished and the maga- 
 zine, containing three hundred barrels of powder, was 
 saved. Putnam's injuries were so severe that he was in- 
 capacitated for service for several weeks. After several 
 hair-breadth escapes from the Indians, who had come to re- 
 gard him as specially favored by their " Great Spirit," Put- 
 nam was captured by a band of Indians led by a French 
 officer. He was tied to a tree and subjected to various 
 tortures, and at last fagots of wood were piled around him 
 and lighted. In a few moments he would have perished, 
 but the French officer in command of the Indians rescued 
 him. After a term of imprisonment an exchange of pris- 
 oners was affected and Putnam returned home. His next 
 military service was in the war between England and Spain, 
 in 1759, when he commanded a Connecticut regiment and 
 assisted in the siege of Havana.
 
 40 Military Heroes f the United States. 
 
 After this war Putnam again retired to his farm and was 
 plowing in the field when the news that patriot blood had 
 been spilled at Lexington reached him. Without stopping 
 to change his clothes, he mounted a horse and set off for 
 the camp before Boston, leaving his plow in the field. The 
 state of Connecticut made him a brigadier-general, and he 
 threw himself into the patriot cause with all his resolution 
 and courage. He participated in the battle of Bunker 
 Hill, and after the evacuation of Boston by the British was 
 placed in command of the city. Later he was in command 
 of the American army at New York, and when that city 
 was invested by the British he contrived to get his forces 
 away in safety. Still later Washington placed him in com- 
 mand of Philadelphia and afterwards he operated in New 
 Jersey, where his strategy and skill enabled him to success- 
 fully oppose large bodies of British troops. 
 
 In 1777, Putnam was defending Stamford. He had only 
 one hundred and fifty militia-men and two old cannon. 
 He was attacked by fifteen hundred British soldiers, but 
 / for a long time defended himself and kept the red-coats at 
 bay. Finding, at last, that he must inevitably be overpow- 
 ered by the force against him, he ordered his men to re- 
 treat into a neighboring swamp. He was the last man to 
 leave the field, and being closely followed by British horse- 
 men, he turned in the direction of " Breakneck Stairs," 
 as they were called. These were one hundred steps cut in 
 the solid rock in the hillside, and were used by the country 
 people ascending the hill to go to church. Giving his 
 horse the rein, he dashed down the steps at full speed. 
 None of his pursuers dared follow him. Their shots flew 
 about him, but he made the descent in safety, receiving 
 no other injury than a "bullet hole through his hat.
 
 Israel Putnam. 
 
 41 
 
 At another time, Putnam captured a Tory spy and sen- 
 tenced him to be executed. Sir Henry Clinton, the British 
 commander, sent a flag of truce to Putnam's camp, and 
 claimed the man as a British soldier. Putnam's reply to 
 the demand was: "Edmund Palmer, an officer in the 
 enemy's service, was taken as a spy, lurking within our 
 lines. He has been tried as a spy, condemned as a spy, 
 and shall be executed as a spy, and the flag is ordered to 
 depart immediately. P.S. He has been accordingly exe- 
 cuted." * j 
 
 Putnam's military service continued until he was stricken 
 with paralysis, in 1779. The old hero never recovered 
 from this attack, but his death did 
 not occur until May 19, 1790. He 
 was buried with military honors, and 
 remembered as a brave and noble man 
 and a devoted patriot.
 
 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 NATHAN HALE. 
 
 NATHAN HALE, the young martyr, patriot and 
 hero, was born in Coventry, Connecticut, June 6, 
 1755. His father was Richard Hale, a descendant 
 of one Robert Hale, who settled in Massachusetts in 1632. 
 As an infant, Nathan was feeble, but as he advanced in 
 years he developed into a robust child; sweet tempered 
 and possessed of many graces of person. He loved out-of-- 
 door sports and excelled in all athletic games. He was 
 brought up strictly, being taught to observe the Chris- 
 tian Sabbath and to reverence ministers and magistrates. 
 His parents destined him for the ministry, and when but 
 sixteen years of age he entered Yale College. He gradu- 
 ated from this institution in 1773 with the highest honors. 
 His personal appearance is described as being notable. 
 
 " He was almost six feet in height, perfectly propor- 
 tioned, and in figure and deportment he was the most 
 manly man I ever met," is the testimony of one who knew 
 him well. His chest was broad; his muscles were firm; 
 his face wore a most benign expression; his complexion 
 was roseate; his eyes were light blue and beamed with in- 
 telligence; his hair was soft and light brown in color; and 
 his speech was rather low, sweet, and musical. His per- 
 sonal beauty and grace of manner were most charming. 
 
 After graduating from college, Hale became a school 
 teacher at East Haddam, Connecticut, and then became an
 
 Nathan Hale. 
 
 instructor in a 
 high-grade gram- 
 mar school at 
 New London, in 
 the same state. 
 Here he made 
 many loving 
 friends, and 
 moved in the best 
 society. He was 
 betrothed to a 
 beautiful girl 
 named Alice 
 Adams, who was 
 one of his pupils . 
 His orderly life 
 was interrupted 
 by the news of 
 bloodshed at Lex- 
 ington and Con- 
 cord, and he em- 
 braced th e patriot 
 cause at once . 
 "Let us march 
 immediately and 
 never lay down 
 our arms until we 
 have obtained 
 our independ- 
 ence ! " were his 
 words to those 
 who assembled at 
 the hastily called 
 town meeting.
 
 44 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 Volunteers were enrolled that night and Hale was 
 among them. The next day he bade farewell to his 
 pupils and started for the patriot camp before Bos- 
 ton. Later Hale became a lieutenant, and participated 
 in the siege of Bostor. He was then made a cap- 
 tain and accompanied the American army to New York. 
 While there he performed a hazardous feat. With a boat's 
 crew, he surprised a British supply vessel, drove the crew 
 below decks and brought the prize to the city, where her 
 cargo was distributed among the hungry soldiers of the 
 army. 
 
 After the Americans were defeated at Long Island, 
 Washington was informed that the British intended to 
 make an advance up the river. It was important to decide 
 whether the city of New York -should be defended or aban- 
 doned. It became necessary to send a competent person, 
 in disguise, into the British lines to learn the intentions 
 of the enemy. A number of officers were called together, 
 the hazardous nature of the undertaking was explained, 
 and a volunteer was called for. While the conference was 
 going on, Hale entered, bearing the marks of recent illness, 
 and exclaimed, " I will undertake it!" His friends en- 
 deavored to dissuade him, but he was not to be turned from 
 his purpose. He knew that if he was caught his death 
 would be that of a spy, yet he said : " I wish to be useful ; 
 and every kind of service necessary for the public good be- 
 comes honorable by being necessary. If the exigencies of 
 my country demand a peculiar service, its claims to the 
 performance of that service are imperious." 
 
 Washington personally gave him his instructions and 
 he set out on his perilous mission. In the dress of a
 
 Nathan Hale. 45 
 
 citizen, and by representing himself as a " schoolmas- 
 ter and a loyalist disgusted with the rebel cause," he 
 visited the British camp, made plans of the fortifica- 
 tions, and obtained the information he sought for. On 
 his way back, he was arrested while looking for his 
 friends, who were to meet him with a boat. He was 
 taken on board a British ship, where he was stripped 
 and searched. The plans of the fortifications were 
 found in his shoes, where he had secreted them, and then 
 he was taken to General Howe's headquarters and confined 
 in a greenhouse belonging to the mansion. This was on 
 Saturday night, September 21. Hale accepted his fate 
 like a man and a true patriot. He frankly told his rank 
 and the purpose for which he entered the British lines. 
 Early on the following day he was turned over to William 
 Cunningham, the provost-marshal of New York, who 
 treated him with the greatest barbarity and heaped in- 
 sults upon him. His last hours were made as miserable as 
 the harshness of his jailor could make them. He asked for 
 a chaplain and then for a Bible. Both requests were de- 
 nied. He wrote letters to friends and relatives, and to his 
 betrothed, but instead of sending them, Cunningham first 
 read them and then tore them up before the eyes of the 
 young hero. When the sun rose, Hale was led from his 
 prison and executed. 
 
 An excellent statue has been erected in New York city, 
 on the spot where the martyred patriot stood for the last 
 time. His arms are bound behind his back; but with 
 throat bare and head erect, he seems almost repeating again 
 his last words: " I regret that I have only one life to give 
 to my country!" 
 
 4 Military Heroes
 
 46 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 ETHAN ALLEN. 
 
 ETHAN ALLEN, one of the best known figures in the 
 war of the Revolution, was born on January 10, 
 1737, in Litchfield, Connecticut. Very little is 
 known of his early life, except that he wae one of a large 
 family of children and grew up to be a sturdy, independent 
 man and an earnest advocate of liberty. In 1772, we hear 
 of him residing in Bennington, Vermont, a trusted leader 
 of the " Green Mountain Boys," as the bold mountaineers 
 of that state were termed at that time. He also repre- 
 sented them in presenting their claims to certain land 
 grants to which they laid claim. These cases were decided 
 at Albany, and were against Allen's clients, who immedi- 
 ately determined to hold their lands by force. Soon they 
 were in constant warfare with the royal officers who came 
 to evict them, and several of these sheriffs were whipped bji 
 the settlers. The Green Mountain Boys banded togethei 
 to resist the injustice of the crown, and in Allen they found 
 a determined and resourceful leader. Finally a price was 
 put upon his head by Governor Tryon, but Allen continued 
 in what he considered was his line of duty, acting only on 
 the defensive, however. Matters were in this condition 
 when news of the massacre at Lexington reached these 
 hardy men, and abandoning their private wrongs, they set 
 out to play their part in the contest for liberty. 
 
 Soon a plan for the capture of Fort Ticonderoga was on 
 foot, as this was a point of great strategic importance
 
 
 Ethan Allen. 
 
 47
 
 48 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 Men from Connecticut and Massachusetts met at Benning- 
 ton, and joined Colonel Allen and his Green Mountain 
 Boys. Allen was appointed commander of the expedition, 
 which comprised some twc hundred and thirty men. On 
 the morning of May 10, 1775, eighty-three men had been 
 taken across the lake and landed near the fort. Great 
 difficulty had been experienced in procuring boats, and as 
 day was breaking, Allen did not dare to wait for more men 
 to cross before making the attack. He addressed his men 
 and told them of the hazardous nature of the undertaking, 
 but every one of them volunteered to attack at once. A 
 sentry snapped his piece at Allen and then fled into the 
 fort, whence the Americans followed him. Another sen- 
 try made a pass at one of Allen's officers, but Allen 
 wounded him, and he cried for quarter. Then Allen com- 
 pelled him to tell where the commander of the fort, Cap- 
 tain De la Place, slept, and when he reached the room, 
 which was in the second story, he called loudly to that 
 officer to come forth instantly or he would sacrifice the en- 
 tire garrison. Soon Captain De la Place appeared only 
 partially dressed. Allen ordered him to deliver the fort 
 instantly. The captain asked by what authority he de- 
 manded it and Allen replied: " In the name of the Great 
 Jehovah and the Continental Congress." De la Place tried 
 to parley, but Allen waved his sword over his head and 
 again demanded the surrender of the garrison. The Brit- 
 ish commander complied and ordered his men to be pa- 
 raded without arms, and so the famous Fort Ticonderoga 
 fell into the hands of the brave Green Mountain Boys. 
 
 A few days later, Crown Point was captured by Seth 
 Warner, who was sent there by Allen for that purpose.
 
 Ethan Allen. 
 
 49 
 
 Benedict Arnold, who was then an earnest and patriotic 
 American, was to have had command of the expedition 
 against Ticonderoga, but the Green Mountain Boys would 
 have no leader but Allen. Arnold submitted gracefully 
 and went as a volunteer, marching side by side with Allen, 
 
 Montreal. 
 
 and entering the fort with him. After receiving pay for 
 his men, and also permission to raise a new regiment, 
 Allen joined General Schuyler as a volunteer, and was 
 sent by that officer on a mission to Canada. He returned, 
 and was raising a force of men to operate with General 
 Montgomery, when he' was induced to join a Major Brown
 
 50 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 in an attack upon Montreal. Brown failed to appear at 
 the appointed time and place, and Allen and his handful of 
 men were captured and taken before Colonel Preseott, 
 who inquired if he was ihe man who took Ticonderoga. 
 Allen replied that he was. Prescott broke into a terrible 
 rage and ordered him bound hand and foot on the Gaspee. 
 To Allen's complaints of the brutality of th's treatment 
 Prescott turned a deaf ear. At last Allen was taken to 
 England, and so many people went to see the hero of 
 Ticonderoga that he became quite a distinguished pris- 
 oner. Allen was exchanged for a Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Campbell, and his captivity of two and a half years war> 
 over. 
 
 After 'reporting to General Washington, at A^alley Forge, 
 Allen returned to his Green Mountain home, where he 
 was enthusiastically received. Congress voted him the 
 pay of a lieutenant-colonel for the time of his imprison- 
 ment, and made him a brevet-colonel in the Continental 
 army. Allen now renewed his efforts in behalf of the in- 
 dependence of Vermont, and was made a general of militia 
 by the people of that state. When the independence of 
 Vermont became a fact, General Allen became a member 
 of the state Assembly. 
 
 Many anecdotes illustrating the strong points of Allen's 
 nature have been related. The following is one of them: 
 
 " On one occasion, an individual to whom he was in- 
 debted commenced a suit against him. Allen, being un- 
 able to pay the debt, employed a lawyer to have the execu- 
 tion of legal processes against him postponed for a short 
 period. As an easy measure to effect this and throw the 
 case over to the next session of the com!;, the lawyer
 
 Ethan Allen. 51 
 
 denied the genuineness of the signature. Allen, who was 
 present, stepped angrily forward, and exclaimed to his 
 astonished counsel: 'Sir, I did not employ you to come 
 here and lie! I wish you to tell the truth. The note is a 
 good one the signature is mine; all I want is for the 
 court to grant me sufficient time to make the payment.' 
 It is needless to add that the plaintiff acceded to his 
 wishes." 
 
 After the capture of Ticonderoga, the pastor of a church 
 in Bennington a Kev. Mr. Dewey preached a sermon on 
 Allen's exploit, and in his prayer thanked the Lord for 
 the victory. Allen was present at the service and was 
 much pleased, but as the preacher continued his thanks- 
 giving, he called out: 
 
 "Parson Dewey!" 
 
 The pr/acher prayed on, not heeding the interruption. 
 
 Allen exclaimed still louder: 
 
 " Parson Dewey !" 
 
 No response. At last Allen was exasperated, and 
 sprang to his feet, while he fairly roared out, for the third 
 time: 
 
 "Parson Dewey!" 
 
 At last the praying clergyman opened his eyes and 
 gazed in astonishment at Allen. Allen then said, with 
 energy: 
 
 " Parson Dewey! please make mention of my being 
 there." 
 
 Vermont owes a great debt to Ethan Allen, and she has 
 reared a statue in his memory, which stands in the State 
 House at Montpelier. The old hero died on his farm, near 
 Colchester, v ermont, on February 13, 1789.
 
 62 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 JOHN STARK. 
 
 JOHN STARK, an incorruptible patriot, was born on 
 August 28, 1728, at Londonderry, New Hamp- 
 shire. His family was of Scotch extraction. When 
 eight years of age the Stark family moved to Manchester, 
 and for nearly twenty years young Stark led the life of a 
 New England settler, varying farming with trapping and 
 hunting. He was fbnd of adventure and possessed of an 
 athletic frame capable of great endurance. It was during 
 this period of his life that he set off on a hunting expe- 
 dition, accompanied by his brother and two friends. The 
 young men separated temporarily and John Stark was 
 suddenly surrounded and seized by Indians. The In 
 dians, knowing that he had companions, asked Stark 
 where they were. He gave the wrong direction, ;m<* 
 for a time the savages were baffled, but they after- 
 wards came upon the remainder of the party. One 
 they quickly made a prisoner and then ordered Stark 
 to hail the others, who were in a boat, and order them 
 to come ashore. Instead, Stark warned them of their 
 danger, and when the Indians fired upon them he struck 
 up their guns and diverted their aim. Twice he did this, 
 but one of the young men was killed. Stark then called 
 to the one who was left to fly for his life, and he did so 
 and escaped. This was Stark's brother. Enraged by their 
 failure to capture the entire party, the Indians fell on 
 Stark and beat him terribly.
 
 John Stark. 
 
 53
 
 54 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 At the Indian camp Stark and' his friend were com- 
 pelled to run the gauntlet. During this ordeal I-Castman 
 barely escaped with his life; but Stark did better, for he 
 snatched a club from one of his tormentors and cleared a 
 path for himself as he ran. This raised him in the estima- 
 tion of his captors, and later, when he threw his hoe into 
 the river and refused to work for them, they adopted him 
 into their tribe. He was eventually ransomed, as was his 
 companion, but the price put upon each showed that the 
 Indians held them at a different valuation, as they re- 
 quired one hundred and three dollars for Stark, while for 
 Eastman they accepted sixty dollars. 
 
 Stark's first military service was in the French and 
 Indian war. He served in a corps of Rangers as a lieuten- 
 ant. Stark was one of an expedition under Major Rogers, 
 fitted out to operate around Lake Champlain. Their march 
 was partly on the ice of the lake and partly through the 
 snow on the shore. They were suddenly attacked, and the 
 enemy made terrible havoc in their ranks. Stark held 
 them at bay until that portion of the band immediately 
 under Rogers rallied. Then the little band of Americans 
 fought on through the winter's afternoon. Stark was 
 wounded in the wrist, and a bullet shattered the lock of 
 his gun. He wrenched another weapon from the grasp of 
 a dying Frenchman, and fought on until the enemy with- 
 drew a* darkness came on. All night the weary line 
 of Americans dragged through the woods, and when the 
 wounded could go no further Stark, with two companions, 
 marched forty miles to get aid, accomplishing the feat on 
 snow shoes. Without waiting for rest, he at once turned 
 back and covered the ground again. Reaching his com-
 
 56 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 rades, he placed the wounded on sleds and started with 
 them for Fort William Henry, the point of safety, thus 
 covering one hundred and twenty miles on snow shoes, in 
 the dead of winter, in less than forty hours, and this after 
 righting a superior force for hours. For this feat of en- 
 durance, and for the humanity displayed in it, Stark was 
 made a captain. 
 
 After some service under Lord Howe, Stark returned 
 home and married. Shortly afterwards he was employed 
 in road making, and then again retired to private life, 
 where he remained until the echoes of Concord and Lex- 
 ington startled him from his peaceful occupations. Then 
 he entered heart and soul into the patriot cause, and be- 
 came colonel of a regiment. He was stationed at Medford, 
 but joined the patriots at Bunker Hill during the hottest 
 of the fight, leading his sturdy New Hampshire boys across 
 Cha^lestown neck through a merciless British fire. Be- 
 hind the historic rail-fence filled with hay, these brave' 
 men fought with the steadiness of veterans, and were 
 among the last to leave the field. 
 
 A characteristic anecdote is told of Stark upon his re- 
 turn to Medford after the battle of Bunker Hill. It seems 
 that the paymaster there did not like Stark and refused 
 to pay the men, alleging ( th at the pay-rolls were not correct. 
 He did this on three occasions, and then the men appealed 
 to their leader. Stark said: "The regiment has made 
 him three visits; he shall now make them one in return." 
 A guard was sent and it brought the paymaster into 
 camp, the drums and fifes playing the " Rogue's March." 
 
 Late in 1776, Stark and his men were sent to reinforce
 
 John Stark. 57 
 
 Washington, and before the battle of Trenton the blunt 
 old soldier told Washington: 
 
 "You have depended a long time on spades and pick- 
 axes, but if you wish ever to establish the independence of 
 the country, you must rely on firearms." 
 
 Washington replied: 
 
 " To-morrow we march on Trenton, and I have ap- 
 pointed you to command the advance guard of the right 
 wing." 
 
 After the battle of Princeton, in which he participated, 
 Stark went to New Hampshire and recruited his regiment. 
 Being justly incensed at the promotion of junior officers, 
 while he was left out of the list, he retired from the army, 
 declaring that an officer who would tamely submit to such 
 an indignity was not fit to be trusted. He lost none of his 
 patriotism, however, and later accepted the command of 
 state troops, refusing to fight under the orders of Con- 
 gress. Men flocked from all directions to fight under his 
 leadership, and he was ordered to place his command un- 
 der general orders; but he stubbornly refused to do this, 
 and in August, 1777, marched to encounter the enemy, 
 who was marching through Vermont. On August 16, he 
 fought and won the famous battle of Bennington. The 
 British were intrenched upon a line, and wheg Stark saw 
 them he turned to his troops with the now historic remark: 
 
 " See there, men! there are the red-coats. Before night 
 they are ours, or Molly Stark's a widow." 
 
 The battle began with a terrible fire of musketry, but 
 the militia fought with the precision of veterans, 
 routed the British horse and foot soldiers, streamed over 
 the breastworks and won the gallant field.
 
 58 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 Stark continued in the militia service for some time. 
 Then Congress gave him a vote of thanks for the victory 
 at Bennington and a commission as brigadier-general. He 
 served through ^he war and then retired to his farm. He 
 lived to the ripe age of ninety-four years, and was buried 
 with military honors. 
 
 NATHANIEL GEEENE. 
 
 ATHANIEL GEEENE was bora in Warwick, Rhode 
 Island, on May 27, 1742. His father was a 
 Quaker preacher, and his son was early instructed 
 in the tenets of that sect. When old enough to assist in 
 the labors of the farm, the boy was put to work, clad in 
 the sober garb affected by the Quakers. After a time lie 
 was taken from farm work and placed at a forge owned 
 by his father. But whether in the fields or at the anvil, 
 Greene expended a good deal of his youthful energy in 
 athletic sports and became very fond of dancing, in order 
 to indulge in this pastime, he would steal out ol the house 
 after the family were asleep; but on one occasion he 
 returned from a ball at an early hour in the morning to 
 find his father waiting for him with a horsewhip. He had 
 just time to slip some shingles under his coat from a con- 
 venient pile, and in the subsequent chastisement found the 
 punishment much mitigated for his resort to this novel 
 armor. 
 
 Books soon claimed the attention of the young Quaker,
 
 Nathaniel Greene. 
 
 59
 
 60 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 and while engaged at his labors he found time to master 
 the difficult problems of Euclid without assistance; to 
 read Horace and Caesar, and even Blackstone. At twenty 
 years of age he was able to take part in the political dis- 
 cussions of the day. Wnen war clouds gathered about the 
 colonies he threw away his Quaker prejudices and studied 
 military science. For this, the people in whose faith he 
 was born took him to account, but he remained firm to 
 his convictions and joined an independent military com- 
 pany. He was a member of the General Assembly of 
 Rhode Island in 1770. Four years later he married. 
 
 After Lexington, Greene started for Boston, and was 
 soon made a major-general of Rhode Island troops. These 
 he put into good condition, and after the battle of Bunker 
 Hill joined Washington at Cambridge.. Washington sent 
 him to occupy Long Island, but falling sick, Putnam was 
 given charge of the operations there. Greene participated 
 in the battle of Harlem Heights, and was with Washing- 
 ton in his retreat through New Jersey. He commanded a 
 division at the battle of Trenton, and also at Princeton, 
 exhibiting in both engagements perfect coolness and reso- 
 lution. At Brandywine, Greene was at the rear of the 
 American army, but feeling that his men were needed at 
 the front, he marched them four miles in forty-nine min- 
 utes, and arrived in time to check the scattering fugi- 
 tives and make a bold stand with his own men. 
 
 General Greene commanded a division of the American 
 army at the Battle of Germantown. His aide-de-camp. 
 Major Burnet,wore his hair in a queue in the old-fashioned 
 style. While the battle was at its height the Major's queue 
 was shot away by a musket ball. "Don't be in a huwy,
 
 Nathaniel Greene. 
 
 61 
 
 Major," said Greene; "just dismount and get that long 
 queue." It was but a few minutes later that another shot 
 from the enemy cut away a large powdered curl from Gen- 
 
 Battle of Cowpens. 
 
 eral Greene's forehead. The British were in hot pursuit 
 of the Americans at this moment, but Major Burnet said: 
 " Don't be in a hurry, General; just dismount and get that 
 
 J Military Htrots
 
 62 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 N 
 
 long curl." The advice was not taken, however. Greene 
 performed splendid services at Germantown, and then 
 with the troops went into winter quarters at Valley Forge, 
 where he was made Quartermaster-General, and did much 
 to reorganize the army. 
 
 Greene served at Monmouth with his usual gallantry 
 and was then sent to Rhode Island to cooperate with La- 
 fayette and Sullivan. From Rhode Island, Greene was sent 
 to New Jersey and heroically defended Springfield in that 
 state. He presided at the court-martial which tried and 
 condemned the unfortunate Major Andre, and later was 
 in command at West Point. From that position he was 
 sent south to retrieve, if possible, the reverses of the 
 patriot cause in that section. He found an army without 
 money, without stores, destitute of clothing, of arms, of 
 everything necessary for an effective force. Of two thou- 
 sand men barely eight hundred were fit for service; but 
 his officers were the bravest of the brave and patriots to 
 the core. Greene employed every possible moment in 
 drilling his troops, and to gain time for this sent out de- 
 tachments to annoy and harrass the enemy without bring- 
 ing on a general engagement. He led Cornwallis a terrible 
 chase, and then came the battle of Cowpens, where Wash- 
 ington cut Tarleton's crack dragoons to pieces, and Mor- 
 gan's militia drove the British infantry before them, like 
 veterans. Morgan was obliged to retreat afterthe battlewas 
 gained, for he could not cope with Cornwallis's army, which 
 was close upon him. That general strained every nerve to 
 cut him off, but failing in this endeavored to prevent his 
 junction with Greene. In this he also failed, and then 
 Greene took up his memorable and masterly retreat
 
 Nathaniel Greene. 63 
 
 through the Carolines, in which he out-generaled the Brit- 
 ish commander. Through rain and mud, Greene fled for 
 twenty days, covering two hundred and fifty miles. He 
 crossed three large rivers, and baffled his adversary at every 
 point, finally bringing his army to a place of safety and 
 covering his own name with renown. 
 
 At Guilford Court House, Greene gave battle to Corn- 
 wall is, but was eventually compelled to retreat after in- 
 flicting a terrible loss on the enemy. As soon as Cornwallis 
 could collect his wounded, he, too, fearing that his victory 
 would be dearly bought if he remained on the field, fled 
 rapidly from the scene of the engagement, having suffered 
 a loss of six hundred killed and wounded. Greene sent a 
 detachment of cavalry to hang on the rear of the British 
 army, and himself pursued them towards Wilmington. 
 But at length his army began to murmur at the hardships 
 they were compelled to undergo. The term of enlistment 
 of many had expired; Greene could not supply them with 
 provisions, and so, after thanking them for their bravery, 
 he saw them depart for their own homes. 
 
 With an army reduced to one-third of its size, Greene 
 now led it into South Carolina and fought the battle of 
 Ilobkirk's Hill, which he lost through no fault of his own, 
 and then moved on to the post known as Ninety-six. He 
 made a noble assault on the position, but was unable to 
 carry it. The British evacuated it, however, shortly after- 
 wards. Through all these reverses Greene's spirit was un- 
 daunted. He fought the enemy and harrassed it con- 
 tinually. After an engagement he would rest his troops 
 and then ,put them in motion again. In his own words: 
 " We will seek the enemy wherever we can find them,
 
 64 Military Heroes of the United States, 
 
 unless they take refuge within the gates of Charleston." 
 He shared the hardships of his men, and on the night be- 
 fore the battle of Eutaw Springs, as on many other occa- 
 sions, he slept on the ground in the midst of his soldiers. 
 
 Greene won the battle of Eutaw Springs, but he suffered 
 severe losses. Both armies buried their dead under a flag 
 of truce, and then the sickly season set in, and he moved 
 his army to the Santee hills. After the surrender of Corn- 
 wallis, Greene boldly took the field again, and finally drove 
 the British into Charleston. Closer and closer he drew his 
 lines about the city, and in spite of the ternble condition 
 of his own army, who were dying by scores in the scorch- 
 ing sun, destitute of clothing and provisions, he held on 
 until the British evacuated the city. Then Greene en- 
 tered and received an ovation from the multitudes who 
 knew the privations that he and his army had passed 
 through. 
 
 After the peace General Greene made his home at Mul 
 berry Grove, Georgia, where he died on June 19, 1786.
 
 Anthony Wayne. 65 
 
 ANTHONY WAYNE. 
 
 A NTHONY WAYNE, a brilliant officer of the Eevo- 
 J\_ lution, and afterwards commander-in-chief of the 
 armies of the United States, was born in Chester 
 County, Pennsylvania, January 1, 1745. His early educa- 
 tion was at the hands of a relative, and afterwards at the 
 Philadelphia Academy, where he appears to have distin- 
 guished himself in mathematics. It is also said of him 
 t'nat he had a liking for military studies as well. Leaving 
 school at seventeen years of age, he became a farmer and 
 knd-surveyor, and was married five years later. 
 
 When the colonies grew restive under the oppressive 
 measures of Great Britain, Wayne openly declared that 
 hostilities would follow, and immediately began to raise 
 volunteers for the war which he deemed inevitable. Con- 
 gress made him a colonel when his prediction became true, 
 and his first service was in Canada. He was wounded at 
 Three Kivers, and then commanded at Fort Ticonderoga, 
 joining Washington in New Jersey in 1777. He was now 
 a brigadier-general, and had been complimented for dis- 
 tinguished bravery and skill. 
 
 Wayne bore a conspicuous part at Brandywine, and at 
 Germantown his horse was shot under him. In this last 
 battle he covered the retreat of the Americans. Subse- 
 quently, at Valley Forge, Wayne commanded a foraging 
 expedition and brought much relief to the destitute -army 
 in, the shape of cattle and provisions of various kinds. At
 
 66 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 Monmouth, Wayne distinguished himself by his bravery, 
 and was commended by Washington in his official letter 
 to Congress. 
 
 The storming of Stony Point, on the Hudson River, 
 was assigned to General Wayne, and he successfully car- 
 ried the position by assault, shortly after midnight of July 
 15, 1779. Its natural defenses had been strengthened, and, 
 with its strong garrison, was regarded as almost impregna- 
 ble. Wayne divided his forces into two columns, and each 
 man at the same time was ordered " to fix a piece of white 
 paper in the most conspicuous part of his hat or cap to 
 distinguish him from the enemy," and a watchword, " The 
 fort's our own," was communicated to each, with orders 
 to give it " with repeated and loud voice when the works 
 were forced, and not before." Scaling the parapet, and- 
 creeping through the embrasures on either side, the assail- 
 ants raised the cry agreed upon, and drove the garrison be- 
 fore them, notwithstanding the most desperate resistance 
 was offered. While this terrible hand-to-hand contest was 
 raging within the fort, Wayne, who had been wounded in 
 the head by a musket ball, was lying near the spot where 
 he fell; but when the enemy had surrendered, as it soon 
 did, he was carried into the fort, " bleeding, but in tri- 
 umph." Three hearty cheers from his victorious troops 
 formed the salute under which the daring general was car- 
 ried into the fort to receive the submission of the garri- 
 son, and again " The fort's our own!" broke out in the in- 
 spiration of the moment. 
 
 In 1781, Wayne was with Lafayette in Virginia. Lafay- 
 ette ordered him to attack the rear guard of Cornwallis's 
 army, thinking the main body had passed over a river.
 
 Anthony Wayne.
 
 68 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 Wayne fell upon the British as directed, but found it to 
 be the army itself. Grasping the situation, he made such 
 a vigorous charge that Cornwallis thought the enlire 
 American army was upon him and began to prepare for a 
 general engagement. Under cover of his movements 
 Wayne was able to withdraw his troops, thus extricating 
 them from a perilous position. 
 
 After the surrender of Yorktown, Wayne joined General 
 Greene and operated in Georgia, where the British out- 
 numbered him three to one. But his indomitable spirit 
 rose above every obstacle, and he drove the enemy from 
 one point to another until he virtually wrested the state 
 from the British. In speaking of this campaign, Wayne 
 said: 
 
 ' " The duty we have done in Georgia was more difficult 
 than that imposed upon the children of Israel; they had 
 only to make bricks without straw, .but we have had pro- 
 vision, forage, and almost every other apparatus of war to 
 procure without money; boats, bridges, etc., to build with- 
 out materials, except those taken from the stump; and 
 what was more difficult than all to make Whigs out of 
 Tories. But this we have effected, and have wrested the 
 country out of the hands of the enemy, with the exception 
 only of the town of Savannah." 
 
 Two tribes of Indians the Choctaws and the Creeks 
 had been induced to join the British forces. Wayne fell 
 upon and completely routed the former and then turned 
 his attention to the Creeks. He instructed his men to 
 rely entirely upon the bayonet and the sword, and led 
 them to a defile through which the enemy must pass. 
 Wayne and his men reached the pass at the same time
 
 " The Fort's Our Own!" 
 
 60
 
 70 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 that the enemy entered it, and although outnumbered he 
 fell upon them with such impetuosity that they fled before 
 him. Later, the Creeks crept stealthily up to AVayne's 
 camp and with a terrible war-whoop drove in his pickets. 
 For a few moments all was terror and confusion, but 
 Wayne rallied his men and led them against their foes. 
 With his own hand he cut down a tall chief, who, in his 
 death throes, fired at him, but missed his aim and killed 
 Wayne's horse. The conflict was a short one, and soon the 
 savages fled in dismay. Shortly afterwards the British 
 evacuated Savannah and peace soon followed. 
 
 Wayne was not allowed to rest in peace, however. An 
 Indian war followed that of the Eevolution, and Wayne 
 was made commander-in-chief of the army. lie con- 
 ducted operations so well that a long peace with the red 
 men was effected. Wayne's death came while exercising 
 the functions of an Indian Commissioner in what was then 
 called the Northwest. He died on December 14, 1796, 
 at Presque Isle, and was buried there, but later his remains 
 were removed to his native county and a monument Avas 
 erected to his memory. 
 
 Wayne was one of the most popular men in the army, 
 and was known the country over as " Mad Anthony." It 
 is said that " this name was originally given by a witless 
 fellow in the camp, who used always to take a circuit 
 when he came near Wayne, and, shaking his head, mutter 
 to himself, ' Mad Anthony! mad Anthony!' It was so 
 characteristic of Wayne, however, that the troops univer- 
 sally adopted it."
 
 Francis Marion. 71 
 
 FRANCIS MARION. 
 
 THERE is perhaps more of romance in the career of 
 Francis Marion; more of personal adventure and 
 daring than in that of any other general of the Revo- 
 lution. He was born in 1732, at Winyah, South Carolina. 
 His ancestors were French Huguenots, and from them he 
 inherited a disposition that enabled him to serve his coun- 
 try well in the hour of its need. 
 
 Marion was a feeble, sickly child until he was about 
 twelve years of age. Then he began to take an interest in 
 athletic pursuits, and soon acquired a frame capable of en- 
 during the hardships of a settler's life. When fifteen 
 years of age he went to sea, but was shipwrecked. He was 
 rescued, however, and, thoroughly cured of a sea life, re- 
 turned to his father's farm. His first military service was 
 against the Indians. At one time he led thirty men against 
 a band of Cherokees, losing twenty-one in the skirmish 
 that ensued. 
 
 When the Revolutionary War broke out Marion was a 
 member of the Provincial Congress of South Carolina, and 
 is described as being small in stature, with a swarthy, 
 thoughtful face, and piercing black eyes. He immediately 
 began to recruit men for the patriot cause, and being thor- 
 oughly acquainted with military tactics soon had his men 
 thoroughly drilled and disciplined. There was a magnet- 
 ism about the man that few could resist, and it was es- 
 teemed an honor to serve under his leadership. When the
 
 72 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 British attacked Fort Moultrie, Marion and his men were 
 part of the brave garrison, and the last shot from the fort 
 is credited to Marion's own hand. After the British ships 
 withdrew Marion remained in command of the fort. 
 
 After the fall of Charleston, and with the British in 
 possession of the surrounding country, Marion, after be- 
 ing hunted from one place of concealment to another, with 
 a handful of men joined General Gates. They were a sorry 
 looking lot their garments tattered and nondescript, 
 their arms rusty, the horses presenting much the same ap- 
 pearance as their riders. In 1780, Marion became the 
 leader of a band of patriots, undisciplined, but brave, and 
 also skilled in the use of firearms. He was commissioned 
 a general by the Governor of South Carolina, and soon the 
 little band of some thirty men was increased and became 
 known as Marion's Brigade. Marion and his men then en- 
 tered upon a career of toil and privation, but they became 
 well disciplined and performed such daring deeds that 
 they were feared alike by the British and the Tories. It 
 became the highest honor to which a man could aspire to 
 belong to Marion's band. Every man was a dead shot and 
 a dashing rider, skilled in the use of the sabre. Marion led 
 them to hiding places in the swamps and then emerged 
 and struck heavy blows upon the enemy. His troop be- 
 came a terror and a menace to the Tories in particular, 
 but no plans to capture the " Swamp Fox," as they called 
 him, were ever successful. 
 
 Well-planned attempts on the part of the enemy to 
 crush Marion utterly failed. He would make a descent 
 upon a British camp or a Tory gathering, and then enter 
 the swamps and lie concealed where his enemies did not
 
 Francis Marion. 
 
 73
 
 74 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 dare to follow him. The fare of these brave men was of 
 the rudest description. They had no money, and subsisted 
 as best they could. Marion's principal camp was at Snow's 
 Island, and there the hardy men who followed his fortunes 
 rested in picturesque array when not engaged in active 
 duty. The place was easily defended, and trusty rifles 
 guarded every avenue of approach. There is a story of a 
 young British officer who visited this camp to arrange for 
 an exchange of prisoners. He was led to the camp blind- 
 folded, and when the bandage was removed from his eyes 
 he looked bewildered upon the scene. He saw the par- 
 tisan soldiers resting beneath the tall pines, their horses 
 tethered close by; he saw their leader, slight of stature, 
 with none of the externals of a successful general, and 
 could hardly believe that this was the hardy band whose 
 very name filled the hearts of their enemies with terror. 
 The business that brought him completed, dinner was 
 served sweet potatoes baked in the ashes and served upon 
 pieces of bark. 
 
 " Doubtless this .is an accidental meal," said the officer; 
 "you live better in general?" 
 
 " No," was the reply; " we often fare much worse." 
 "Then I hope at least you draw noble pay to compen- 
 sate?" 
 
 " Not a cent, sir," replied Marion; " not a cent." 
 In telling this incident, upon his return to the British 
 camp, the officer said: "What chance have we against 
 such men?" It is related that he resigned his commission, 
 and did not serve again throughout the war. 
 
 It has been said of Marion that his only drink was vine 
 gar and water, mixed, and that:
 
 Francis Marion. 75 
 
 " His favorite time for marching was with the setting 
 sun, and then it was known that the march would con- 
 tinue all night. Before striking any sudden blow he has 
 been known to march sixty or seventy miles, taking no 
 
 One of Marion's Men. 
 
 other food in twenty-four hours than a meal of cold pota- 
 toes and a draught of cold water. His scouts were out in 
 all directions and at all hours. They were taught a pecu- 
 liar and shrill whistle, which at night would be heard at
 
 76 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 a most astonishing distance. They did the double duty of 
 patrols and spies. They hovered about the posts of the 
 enemy, crouching in the thickets or darting along the 
 plain, picking up prisoners and information and spoils 
 together." 
 
 Marion successfully evaded every expedition sent to cap- 
 ture him, but one British band penetrated his camp on 
 Snow Island and destroyed it. This greatly disheartened 
 Marion, but his men followed his fortunes, even when they 
 seemed to be at the lowest ebb. He now set out in pur- 
 suit of Colonel Watson, a British officer who had been 
 very active in dogging his footsteps, but Watson fled, and 
 Marion, joining his forces to those of " Light Horse " 
 Harry, invested Fort Watson. As neither party had 
 cannon, Marion resorted to an expedient which proved 
 successful. Tie ordered trees cut down and made into 
 logs and these he piled up during the night, so that when 
 daylight dawned he was able to send a shower of bullets 
 into the garrison, which soon surrendered. Later, Marion 
 joined General Greene and continued to render invaluable 
 services to the country. He was constantly engaged in 
 harassing the enemy. After Greene drove the enemy into 
 Charleston, Marion resumed his duties as a legislator, turn- 
 ing over his brigade to Captain Horry, a trusted officer of 
 his; but, learning that the British were bent upon dis- 
 persing it in his absence, he took the field again and 
 saved it. 
 
 After the war Marion continued active in his legislative 
 duties, and married a lady of about his own age. He died 
 at the age of sixty-three, a pure and lofty patriot, holding 
 country and liberty dearer than all things else in life.
 
 Hugh Mercer. 77 
 
 HUGH MERCER 
 
 HUGH MERCER, a brigadier-general in the war of 
 the Revolution, was a Scotchman who emigrated 
 to America ard made his home on the western 
 frontier of Pennsylvania. We first hear of him in Pro- 
 vincial affairs as a captain in the Indian wars of 1755. Of 
 his earlier life we know very little, but he was in the army 
 of Prince Charles Edward, and participated in the battle 
 of Culloden. By profession he was a physician. He was 
 so badly wounded at Braddock's defeat that he was unable 
 to keep up with the demoralized British troops. Hidden 
 behind a log he watched the savages scalping the dead and 
 dispatching the wounded. He dragged himself to a stream 
 of water, of which he drank, and then kept on the track of 
 the retreating army as rapidly as his shattered shoulder 
 would allow. When nearly exhausted by famine and the 
 pain of his wound he succeeded in killing a rattlesnake. 
 Skinning it with one band, he devoured a portion of it 
 raw, and so, feeding on the reptile from time to time, he 
 managed to reach Fort Cumberland, more dead than alive. 
 Mercer at one time commanded Fort Duquesne, and 
 there made the acquaintance of Washington, who was then 
 a young officer in the Provincial service. Later, when the 
 colonists asserted their rights, and were fighting for their 
 independence, Mercer joined the patriot army and was 
 made a brigadier-general. His early services for his 
 
 6 Military If trots
 
 78 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 adopted country were with Washington at New York, and 
 the commander-in-chief found him in every way worthy 
 of his confidence. He accompanied Washington on the 
 dreary retreat throughout New Jersey, when a deep cloud 
 of gloom hovered over the entire country; but his belief 
 that liberty would triumph remained- unshaken. He was 
 among the first to advocate an aggressive campaign 
 against the British in New Jersey, and became one of 
 Washington's most valued advisers. 
 
 When the battle of Princeton was fought Mercer led one 
 of the attacking columns, and, throwing himself between 
 the main body of the British troops and their reserves, 
 brought about the action. A rapid march of eighteen 
 miles brought Washington's army to the eastern skirts 
 of Princeton on the morning of January 3, 1777. 
 The contending armies being about equal in forces and ar- 
 tillery, the ground was fiercely contested. The patriots 
 were at first thrown into some confusion by the vigorous 
 resistance they encountered, but by great personal exer- 
 tions, in which his own life was recklessly exposed, Wash- 
 ington rallied his men, and leading his raw troops to 
 within thirty yards of the enemy, made a headlong charge. 
 The British regiments broke and fled, unable to resist the 
 terrible onslaught of such men. 
 
 Mercer fought bravely, and when his horse was shot 
 under him, continued to fight on foot against terrible odds. 
 He was wounded, and when taken prisoner asked for hon- 
 orable treatment. Instead, the brutal British soldiers 
 felled him to the earth and then plunged their bayonets 
 into his body. Thinking him dead, they left him where 
 he lay, but he was found and carried to a neighboring
 
 
 
 
 79
 
 80 
 
 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 farmhouse, bleeding from thirteen wounds. He lingered 
 in agony for a few days, and then died, a martyr in the 
 cause of liberty, with a prayer for his family and his coun- 
 try upon his lips. 
 
 Battle of Princeton. Death of Mercer.
 
 Richard Montgomery. 81 
 
 RICHARD MONTGOMERY. 
 
 RICHARD MONTGOMERY was born in Ireland, 
 December 2, 1736, but emigrated to this country 
 in 1772. At the age of eighteen years he was 
 holding a commission in the British army, and later dis- 
 tinguished himself at the siege of Louisburg, earning a 
 lieutenantcy for his gallantry. Still later he served under 
 Amherst; was present at the sieges of Montreal and Que- 
 bec, and was made a captain for distinguished services 
 against the French in the West Indies. Upon his arrival 
 in America he settled near New York and married. It 
 was not until after the battle of Bunker Hill that Mont- 
 gomery really threw in his fortunes with the country of 
 his adoption, although he had been a member of the first 
 provincial convention of New York. 
 
 When Congress voted in favor of the invasion of Canada, 
 Montgomery, who had been made a brigadier-general, be- 
 gan his military service for the colonies under General 
 Schuyler. He was a man of great courage, and when 
 Schuyler was prostrated by sickness, Montgomery took 
 command of the expedition. He quelled a serious mutiny 
 among his troops, and_then, being short of ammunition, at- 
 tacked Fort Chambly and took it, obtaining a much needed 
 supply in this way. Other successes followed, including 
 the capture of Montreal. 
 
 Arnold was then investing Quebec, but was in bad straits.
 
 82 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 Montgomery marched to his relief, making a toilsome 
 march over frozen ground and through drifting snows. 
 His troops encountered great hardships on the way, but 
 Montgomery shared their privations and eventually hrought 
 
 Quebec. 
 
 his undisciplined command to the walls of Quehec. The 
 combined forces of Arnold and Montgomery could do little 
 more than harrass the besieged. Their few cannon could 
 make no impression on the walls of the city and their opera- 
 tions were hampered by the ice and snow. The troops
 
 General Richard Montgomery. 
 
 83
 
 84 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 were miserably clad for any climate, and in the rigors of a 
 Canadian winter it was with difficulty that they could 
 move their benumbed limbs, or serve the cannon, which 
 were mounted upon blocks of ice. Small-pox broke out 
 in the camp, and the army was on the verge of mutiny. 
 With these conditions staring him in the face, Montgomery, 
 who was in command of the combined forces, called a 
 council of war at which it was decided to make an assault 
 upon the fortifications. 
 
 Before daylight on the last day of December, 1775, two 
 officers were sent to make a feint against the upper town, 
 while Montgomery and Arnold should storm the defenses 
 of the lower town. The patriots set out in the dark and 
 gloom of the winter morning, Montgomery at the heal 
 of one column, while Arnold led the other the forlorn 
 hope. Success was with Montgomery at first, but huge 
 masses of ice impeded the progress of his soldiers and gave 
 the British time to recover from the panic into which they 
 were thrown when the Americans surprised the first bat- 
 tery. Struggling on through snow and ice, another bat- 
 tery confronted the handful of brave souls. For an instant 
 they seemed to hesitate. Waving his sword over his head, 
 Montgomery shouted: "Men of New York! You will not 
 fear to follow where your general leads forward!" 
 
 Montgomery fell at the first discharge from the British 
 cannon, and seeing their leader stretched upon the snow, 
 the troops recoiled and fled. 
 
 Arnold intrepidly led his men against another battery, 
 receiving a musket-ball in the leg, and Captain Morgan as- 
 sumed command. Under his leadership, the battery was 
 captured. It was still dark and he knew nothing of the
 
 Richard Montgomery. 85 
 
 fate of Montgomery's column. After being slightly rein- 
 forced, he shouted, " Forward, my brave fellows," and 
 dashed against a second battery. A detachment of British 
 troops met the patriots here and a terrible conflict ensued. 
 Morgan fought with desperation, but was forced to give 
 way. He attempted to cut his way through his foes, but 
 his numbers were too small and he was obliged to sur- 
 render. 
 
 Montgomery was but thirty-nine years of age when he 
 gave his life for his country on the blood-stained snows be- 
 fore Quebec. His career had been bright and promising 
 and the country mourned his loss. Montgomery was buried 
 by the British with the honors of war, but in 1818, the 
 state of New York removed his remains to New York city, 
 and Congress erected a monument to his bravery and 
 worth over them in the portico of St. Paul's Church.
 
 86 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 PHILIP SCHUYLER 
 
 -r)HILIP SCHUYLER, a major-general in the Conti- 
 nental army, and a close friend of Washington, was 
 born in 1733, in Albany, New York. He received 
 a good education, and being proficient in mathematics, 
 embraced the profession of a civil and military engineer. 
 The beginning of the Revolution found him rich and pros- 
 perous, but he cheerfully gave himself and his fortune to 
 his country, and rendered incalculable aid to the cause of 
 liberty and freedom. 
 
 Schuyler was made a major-general and placed in com- 
 mand of the army that invaded Canada. Falling seriously 
 ill, he was compelled to relinquish the command to Mont- 
 gomery, but upon his recovery, he conducted many diffi- 
 cult military operations with uncommon skill. He became 
 especially successful in raising men for the army and money 
 for the needs of Congress, at one time giving his pers r nal 
 security for a large sum of money. ITis energy in these 
 transactions procured him the ill will of many who did 
 not recognize his incorruptible honesty, and this, with 
 other causes, induced him to resign his commission. Con- 
 gress, however, in spite of the slights it had put upon him, 
 entreated him to recall his resignation, and he did so in the 
 cause of liberty. 
 
 While Schuyler was in command of the army operating 
 in the North, he made all possible efforts to obstruct the
 
 General Philip Schuyler. 
 
 87
 
 88 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 march of Burgoyne and his splendid army. He tore up 
 bridges, cut down trees and destroyed navigation wher- 
 ever possible. Consternation pervaded the country. Men, 
 women and children fled before the oncoming British 
 legions. Homes were deserted. Only the necessaries of 
 life were taken. Mothers aroused their sons and sent them 
 to face the foe. Then the battle of Oriskany was fought 
 a most bloody engagement in which the Americans were 
 victorious. Then Fort Schuyler was saved to the patriots. 
 Schuyler planned and marched and fought with consum- 
 mate ability, but just at the time when it seemed that he 
 was to reap the reward of his exertions, he was superseded, 
 and the command of the army given to General Horatio 
 Gates. Schuyler had prepared the way for the disaster 
 that befell Burgoyne eventually, but Gates was allowed to 
 receive the credit, while the man who had planned the cam- 
 paign and done the hard work was pushed aside. 
 
 Schuyler witnessed the surrender of Burgoyne, but his 
 patriotism was of so lofty a character that not a murmur 
 escaped his lips when the plaudits of the nation were given 
 to another instead of to him, to whom they rightfully be- 
 longed. He made the Baroness Reidesel a guest at his own 
 home after the surrender, and extended his hospitality to 
 Burgoyne as well. Burgoyne had caused Schuyler's prop- 
 erty at Saratoga to be burned, and this courtesy, coming 
 after that action, caused him to say on one occasion to 
 Schuyler: " You are too kind to me, who have done you so 
 much injury." " Oh, that was the fate of war; pray think 
 no more of it," was Schuyler's magnanimous reply. 
 
 Later, General Schuyler was urged by Washington to 
 resume the command of the army from which he had been
 
 90 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 deposed, but he would not serve longer under the Congress 
 which had humiliated him, and resigned from the service. 
 He served his country, however, as a member of the New 
 York Senate and as a member of Congress. Advancing 
 age compelled his retirement from that body, however, and 
 he died in November, 1804. One of his last acts was to 
 give their freedom to all of his slaves. 
 
 BENEDICT ARNOLD. 
 
 BENEDICT AENOLD, a major-general in the Conti- 
 nental army, whose incredible daring and gallant 
 behavior in battle dazzled the American people 
 until his treason covered his brilliant career with infamy, 
 was born on January 3, 1740, at Norwich, Connecticut. As 
 a boy he was noted for his love of mischief, his daring and 
 his cruelty. It is related of him that he delighted in rob- 
 bing birds' nests in order to watch the distress of the 
 parent birds, and that he would scatter broken glass in the 
 paths which his companions were obliged to travel bare- 
 footed. He received the best education the town afforded, 
 and was then apprenticed to a druggist, from whom, how- 
 ever, he ran away when he was sixteen years of age to be- 
 come a soldier. His mother, a virtuous and pious woman, 
 was able, through friends, to effect his release, but his dis- 
 position soon induced him to run away again and join the 
 army for the second time. Military discipline and garri-
 
 Benedict Arnold. 
 
 91
 
 92 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 son life were too severe for him, however, and he deserted 
 and returned home. 
 
 After serving his apprenticeship, Arnold engaged in the 
 business of a druggist in New Haven. In this way he ac- 
 quired considerable property, which he invested in ships 
 and entered the West India trade. After a time he became 
 bankrupt and resumed his old business as a druggist, at the 
 same time holding a captain's commission in a militia 
 company. When the news of Lexington and Concord 
 reached New Haven, Arnold found sixty men who were 
 willing to join the patriot army with him as a leader, and 
 with this band he marched to Cambridge, where he was 
 soon made a colonel. When Ethan Allen moved against 
 Fort Ticonderoga, Arnold demanded to be put in command 
 of the expedition, but the Green Mountain Boys would have 
 no one but Allen to lead them, and Arnold went along as 
 a volunteer, entering the gate side by side with him. After 
 the capture of the fort 7 he again claimed command, but 
 Allen was appointed to command the garrison. His arro- 
 gance was boundless and when he was ordered to serve 
 under another officer he flew into a rage and resigned his 
 command. 
 
 When it was decided to send an army to invade Canada, 
 the energy and daring of Arnold enabled him to obtain the 
 command of ten companies of New Englanders, and three 
 companies of riflemen, led by the celebrated Morgan. 
 With these troops he made a march through the wilderness 
 that was comparable with any hazardous daring in military 
 history. Their provisions became exhausted and they 
 were compelled to eat dogs to satisfy their hunger; they 
 forced their rude boats across streams filled with ice; they
 
 Benedict Arnold. 93 
 
 met and overcame perils of every description, and were 
 only kept from despair and death by the indomitable will 
 of Arnold. The worn band at last reached the walls of 
 Quebec and summoned the garrison to surrender. This 
 being refused with derision, Arnold waited for the arrival 
 of Montgomery. In the assault that followed, Arnold 
 intrepidly led his men and received a musket ball in the 
 leg which shattered the bone. For a time he refused to 
 be taken to the rear, but at last he was compelled to con- 
 sent. 
 
 For his bravery at Quebec, Arnold was made a brigadier- 
 general, and when the Americans were forced to leave Can- 
 nda, he was the last man that left the territory. At the 
 battle of Yalcour Island, he fought the British ships with 
 si few miserable galleys, and after a glorious fight, finding 
 himself no match for the enemy, he broke through the 
 British line, beached his galleys and set fire to them. 
 
 There is no doubt but Congress was unjust to Arnold in 
 the matter of promotions and in creating new major-gen- 
 erals. Washington felt the injustice of Congress and en- 
 treated Arnold not to act hastily in the matter. Stung to 
 the quick, Arnold determined to visit Congress in person. 
 While passing through Connecticut, he met a force of 
 Americans who were pursuing the British troops that had 
 burned Danbury. Forgetting his personal wrongs, he 
 joined them and participated in the fighting that followed, 
 exhibiting the most reckless daring and bravery. He 
 coinmanded a division at the first battle of Saratoga, and 
 the credit of the day is largely due to his exertions. He 
 burst like a whirlwind into the thickest of the fight at the 
 second battle near that place. His black steed was seen 
 
 7 Military Heroes
 
 94 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 wherever men fell fastest; his sword flashed wherever 
 death was thickest. He led the last charge against the 
 British camp that ended the fight. His horse was shot 
 
 Arnold Wounded at Battle of Saratoga. 
 
 under him, and he sank to the ground with a ghastly 
 wound in the same leg that was injured at Quebec. 
 
 Congress could not refuse him his rank after such 
 bravery. Washington complimented him in a letter, and
 
 Benedict Arnold. 
 
 95 
 
 later presented him with a sword and epaulettes. He was 
 given the command of the city of Philadelphia, but he 
 made himself unpopular. He became involved in his pri- 
 vate affairs, and eventually he was sentenced to receive a 
 reprimand from Washington. This he regarded as the 
 
 Capture of Andre. 
 
 crowning indignity in his career, and he began to plot 
 treason against the government. He solicited and obtained 
 the command of West Point and then planned to turn it 
 over to the British. Major Andre was sent by Sir Henry 
 Clinton to complete the arrangements with Arnold, and 
 was captured within the American lines. He was tried and
 
 96 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 executed as a spy. Arnold escaped to the British ship 
 Vulture, and from there to New York. He was made a 
 major-general and given a command. He was sent to Vir- 
 ginia, where he laid waste the towns and devastated the 
 country with extreme cruelty. Plans were formed for his 
 capture, but he was able to frustrate them. At one time 
 he inquired of a prisoner whom he had taken, what the 
 Americans would do if they captured him. The prisoner 
 replied, " They would cut off the leg that was wounded in 
 fighting for liberty and bury it with the honors of war, and 
 hang the rest of your body on a gibbet!" Arnold com- 
 manded the British troops that burned New London and 
 Groton, and there, in his native state, apparently de- 
 lighted in cruel and malignant acts. 
 
 After the close of the war Arnold went to England, 
 where he was given a large sum of money and received 
 some public favor, but he became universally detested, and 
 removed to St. John's, New Brunswick, where he engaged 
 in trade. Afterwards he returned to England and died, 
 despised and shunned by all, on June 14, 1801. 
 
 Andre's Prison.
 
 Escape of Benedict Arnold. 
 
 97
 
 98 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 DANIEL MORGAN. 
 
 DANIEL MORGAN", one of the most efficient officers 
 of the war of the Revolution, was born in New Jer- 
 sey, in 1736. Nothing is known of his boyhood life, 
 but at the age of seventeen, he is heard of in Virginia, 
 working as a day laborer. He joined the army of General 
 Braddock as a teamster, and on one occasion was given five 
 hundred lashes with a whip for an alleged act of rudeness 
 to a British officer. After Braddock's disastrous campaign 
 Morgan was made an ensign, and on account of his judg- 
 ment and bravery, was employed as a courier, going from 
 one post to another. This service was especially hazardous, 
 and on one occasion nearly cost Morgan his life. He and 
 his two companions were suddenly attacked by a large 
 party of Indians. Both his friends were killed and Mor- 
 gan's jaw was shattered by a rifle ball. Clinging fast to 
 his horse's neck, he darted away, pursued by his foes. One 
 Indian alone was able to keep pace with the flying steed 
 and his rider, but as he was being distanced, he threw his 
 tomahawk, which missed its aim, and Morgan reached the 
 nearest fort, insensible, but still clinging to his horse. 
 
 After recovering from his wound, Morgan, who was a 
 man of splendid proportions and enormous strength, de- 
 veloped a love for brawls and fighting. Many of his en- 
 counters were severe, but his dogged courage always 
 brought him victory. Eventually he settled down to the
 
 Daniel Morgan. 
 
 99
 
 100 Military Heroes of ilie United States. 
 
 life of a farmer and began to acquire property, but soon 
 after the battle of Bunker Hill he left his farm, enlisted a 
 company of riflemen, and, at their head, marched to Bos- 
 ton. He was attached to Arnold's command and shared 
 all the dangers and privations of that terrible march 
 through the unbroken wilderness until Quebec was 
 reached. He was as headlong and daring as Arnold, and 
 when that officer was carried to the rear, after being 
 wounded, Morgan took the command, and placing ladders 
 against the parapet poured in such a fire that the enemy 
 fled. When the British rallied, and their commander called 
 on the brave handful that was left to lay down their arms, 
 Morgan seized a musket, shot the officer dead, and then, 
 shouting " Forward, my brave fellows!" led them against 
 the leveled bayonets of the enemy. But his bravery and 
 that of his men were unavailing. They were overpowered 
 and forced to surrender. 
 
 Morgan's reputation was such that, during his captivity, 
 he was treated with kindness and offered a commission 
 as colonel if he would join the British army. He scorn- 
 fully refused the offer, and after an exchange of prisoners 
 was effected rejoined the Continental army. He per- 
 formed splendid services at both battles of Saratoga, and 
 his men, with their unerring rifles, picked off the British 
 officers with frightful rapidity. During the first battle the 
 British General Frazer, mounted on a splendid gray horse, 
 was the soul of the British movements. Arnold instructed 
 Morgan not to let him remain long in the saddle. Calling 
 a few of his most expert marksmen to him, Morgan said, 
 as he pointed to Frazer: " That gallant officer is General 
 Frazer. I admire him, but it is necessary that he should
 
 Daniel Morgan. 101 
 
 die. Do your duty." The third shot mortally wounded 
 the general. 
 
 Efforts were made to prejudice Morgan against Wash- 
 ington, but they utterly failed, and as his health had 
 broken down under the strain of continued active service, 
 he obtained leave of absence to recuperate. In 1781, how- 
 ever, he was in South Carolina, serving under General 
 Greene. He fought and defeated the British under Col- 
 onel Tarleton, at the battle of Cowpens, receiving a gold 
 medal from Congress for this victory. 
 
 Morgan's riflemen were the terror of the British. The 
 precision of their fire was marvelous. His men adored 
 their leader, who relied more upon the affection of his 
 m'en for him for effectiveness than upon discipline. He is 
 said to have been " a fearful man in battle," and that " he 
 fought with an obstinacy that nothing seemed able to over- 
 come; indeed, he seldom was beaten, and even when de- 
 feated his retreat was sullen, stern and dangerous." 
 
 After Cowpens, Morgan was disabled by rheumatism 
 and retired from the service. He died at Winchester, Vir- 
 ginia, on July 6, 18Q2.
 
 102 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 MARQUIS DE LAFAYETTE. 
 
 THE people of the United States revere the memory of 
 the Marquis de Lafayette, a wealthy nobleman of 
 France, who abandoned a life of luxurious ease to 
 devote his life, his energies and his fortune to the cause 
 of a brave people struggling to throw off oppression and 
 exercise their heaven-born right to independence. 
 
 Lafayette was born September 6, 1757, at the Castle of 
 Chavaniac, the ancestral home of his mother's family, in 
 the province of Auvergne. He was the descendant of an 
 ancient family which had furnished distinguished soldiers 
 to France, his father being a French colonel who fell at 
 the battle of Minden two months before his son was born. 
 His mother was of equally ancient lineage and a lady of 
 great wealth. 
 
 At twelve years of age Lafayette was entered at the 
 College du Plessis, at Paris, and while pursuing his studies 
 there both his mother and her father d"ied, leaving him the 
 absolute master of a fortune of between thirty thousand 
 and forty thousand dollars a year. At the age of fifteen 
 years he was one of the pages of the young queen Marie 
 Antoinette and a lieutenant of musketeers, and on April 
 11, 1774, he married the daughter of the Duke d'Ayen, the 
 granddaughter of one of the most powerful families at the 
 court of France. This alliance opened the way to a bril- 
 liant career, but the young nobleman had already studied 
 the question of civil liberty, and when he heard of the
 
 The Marquis De Lafayette. 
 
 103
 
 104 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 revolt of the English colonies in America, he said : "When 
 I first learned the subject of this quarrel my heart espoused 
 warmly the cause of liberty, and I thought of nothing but 
 of adding also the aid of my banner." 
 
 Lafayette at once placed himself in communication with 
 the American embassy at Paris, and declared his intention 
 of fitting out a vessel at his own expense. He offered to 
 carry out such officers as wished to ally themselves with 
 the cause of the colonists, and eventually sailed from 
 Pasage, a Spanish port, in his own vessel La Victoire 
 on April 26, 1777, accompanied by the Baron cle Kalb and 
 eleven other French officers. Innumerable obstacles had 
 been placed in the way of his leaving France. His father- 
 in-law had procured a letter of detention from the King, 
 which forbade him to leave the country; but he eluded his 
 guards and the French cruisers which were ordered to 
 intercept him, and after a voyage of some weeks reached 
 Georgetown, South Carolina, where he was .warmly wel- 
 comed by Major Benjamin Huger. 
 
 Pausing at Charleston long enough to equip one hun- 
 dred and fifty men of Moultrie's command with arms and 
 clothing, Lafayette hastened to Philadelphia and presented 
 his letters to Congress. That from our minister at Paris* 
 contained the information that he had promised Lafayette 
 a commission as major-general, but Congress received him 
 coldly. Finally, he sent that body a note, in which he 
 said: "After the sacrifices I have made, I have the right 
 to exact two favors one is to serve at my own expense; 
 the other is to serve at first as a volunteer." This had the 
 desired effect, and Congress gave the boy of nineteen the 
 promised commission. Immediately afterwards he was
 
 Lafayette Meets Washington. 
 
 105
 
 106 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 introduced to General Washington, who invited him to be- 
 come a member of his military family as a volunteer aide- 
 de-camp. A deep attachment grew up between the com- 
 mander-in-chief and the enthusiastic youth, which lasted 
 during their lives. 
 
 Lafayette took part in the battle of Brandywine, and 
 was severely wounded in the leg while endeavoring to rally 
 the broken American lines. After recovering from this 
 wound he served under General Greene, in New Jersey, 
 and distinguished himself by a bold attack upon the ad- 
 vance guard of the enemy. This gave him a reputation, 
 and he was assigned to the command of the Virginia 
 militia. He shared the privations of the patriots at Valley 
 Forge, conducted a masterly retreat at Barren Hill, and 
 fought gallantly at Monmouth, winning the thanks of 
 Congress for his services. Later he was sent to Eh ode 
 Island to cooperate with a French fleet that had been sent 
 f;o aid the patriots; and when the commander of the fleet 
 took his ships to Boston to repair the damages inflicted 
 by severe storms, Lafayette hurried after him to induce his 
 return before the Americans were cut off by the reinforced 
 British army. 
 
 In January, 1779, Lafayette sailed for France, having 
 received leave of absence from Congress. Largely by his 
 representations the French Government sent a force of 
 about four thousand men to assist the American army, 
 and after arranging for their landing Lafayette joined 
 Washington, and was a member of the board of officers 
 that decided the case of Major Andre. 
 
 He distinguished himself at the siege of Yorktown, that 
 resulted in the surrender of Lord Cornwallis, capturing a
 
 Lafayette. 107 
 
 redoubt by a headlong bayonet charge. Again obtaining 
 leave of absence, Lafayette arrived in France in 1782, and 
 was received with popular enthusiasm. The King con- 
 ferred the rank of marshal upon him. He faithfully served 
 the United States by raising a loan in France and later in 
 the conduct of the peace negotiations. When the treaty was 
 signed, he chartered a ship and despatched the first news 
 of the event to the United States. 
 
 In 1784, Lafayette revisited America, arriving in New 
 York on August 4. He received an ovation in every city 
 that he visited. " In every town and village through which 
 he passed, the mothers and daughters and widows of the 
 land, as well as his comrades-in-arms, gathered around him 
 with heartfelt welcome. Congress appointed committees to 
 receive him and to bid him adieu, and in every way a grate- 
 ful nation showered upon him the most gratifying marks 
 of their love and respect." He visited his old battlefields, 
 and was the guest of Washington, for two weeks, at Mount 
 Vernon. Returning to France, after taking leave of Con- 
 gress, he labored for the liberty of his countrymen. He 
 passed through the terrible days of the French Revolution, 
 refusing every offer tendered him by the monarchy. 
 Finally he was obliged to fly from France, and falling into 
 the hands of the Austrians, was made a prisoner. By them 
 and the Prussian government he was treated with inhuman 
 severity. After seeking his release in vain, his heroic wife 
 asked the privilege of sharing his confinement. This was 
 granted; but when her health gave way she was refused 
 absence from her husband for the purpose of restoring it, 
 except upon the condition that she would never return. 
 She remained. The Emperor Napoleon I. secured the re-
 
 108 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 lease of Lafayette and made him a peer of the realm, which 
 dignity he refused, however, but accepted a position in the 
 Chamber of Deputies. He also refused the 
 cross of the Legion of Honor . 
 
 In 1824, Lafayette again visited the United 
 States as the guest of the Nation. He was 
 regarded as the hero of two continents, and 
 treated everywhere with reverence and grati- 
 tude. Cities were illuminated in honor of 
 the "people's friend," and courtesies of 
 every kind were showered upon him. He 
 visited the tomb of Washington, and after a 
 magnificent reception at Yorktown passed 
 through the principal cities of the South. 
 Upon his return to the East he attended 
 the laying of the corner-stone of Bunker Hill 
 monument, performing that office with his 
 own hands. Before he embarked for France 
 Congress passed a bill appropriating two hun- 
 dred thousand dollars and a township of land 
 in part payment for the money he had ex- 
 pended in behalf of the infant republic. Upon 
 his return to his native country he again 
 served in the cham- 
 ber of Deputies, and, 
 in 1832, was placed 
 in command of the 
 National Guard. 
 After the Duke of 
 Orleans was pro- 
 claimed King of 
 France Lafayette re- 
 tired to private life. 
 Hedied May 30, 1834.
 
 8 Military Heroes 
 
 109
 
 110 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 ANDKEW JACKSON. 
 
 ANDREW JACKSON, the Hero of, New Orleans, and 
 the seventh President of the United States, was 
 horn on March 15, 1767, at Waxhaw Settlement, 
 North Carolina. His father died when Andrew was an in- 
 fant, but his mother, who was a woman of uncommon 
 strength of character, provided for her children by her 
 own exertions and contrived to send Andrew to the best 
 school the neighborhood afforded. 
 
 " Reading, writing and arithmetic were all the branches 
 taught in that early day. Among a crowd of urchins, 
 seated on the slab benches of a school like this, fancy a 
 tall, slender boy, with bright blue eyes, a freckled face, an 
 abundance of hair, and clad in coarse copper-colored cloth, 
 with bare feet dangling and kicking, and you have in your 
 mind's eye a picture of ' Andy ' as he appeared in his old 
 field school days in the Waxhaw Settlement." 
 
 Jackson was a mischievous boy, daring, reckless and 
 generous to a fault; fond of athletic sports, and, on the 
 whole, " difficult to get along with." When about thir- 
 teen years of age, a number of settlers, among whom were 
 Andrew and his brother Robert, were surprised and at- 
 tacked by British and Tories in a house where they had 
 met to defend their homes. The house was pillaged, and 
 a British officer insolently commanded Andrew to clean 
 boots. The boy indignantly refused and the officer struck 
 at him with his sword. Andrew parried the blow with his
 
 General Andrew Jackson. 
 
 Ill
 
 112 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 left hand, receiving a citt the scar of which he carried 
 with him through life. Eobert was then ordered to clean 
 the boots. He refused to do it and received a cut on the 
 head from the officer's sword which eventually proved fatal. 
 
 Jackson's mother died when he was about sixteen years 
 of age, and from that time the young man had to make his 
 own way in life. He worked for a while in a saddler's shop, 
 and afterwards taught school, studying law at the same 
 time. Before he was twenty years old he practiced law. 
 Later he moved to that section of country that eventually 
 became the state of Tennessee, became its first member 
 of Congress, then a member of the Senate, next a judge 
 of the Supreme Court, and then a major-general of the 
 state militia. In 1813, he raised a volunteer force and 
 marched against the -Creek Indians. He conquered them 
 so thoroughly that he was made a major-general in the 
 United States army in recognition of his services. In the 
 latter part of 181 1 Jackson was at New Orleans, after cap- 
 turing Pensacola from the Spaniards, who were then as- 
 sisting the British in their operations along the Gulf. 
 
 England was determined to capture New Orleans, and 
 as their war with Napoleon was now over, it was possible 
 to send a great and victorious army across the ocean to 
 whip the Yankees. Thousands of veteran soldiers, 
 trained in all the arts of war and having experiences on 
 many a hard fought battle-field, were commanded by a 
 brilliant leader General Pakenham. On the same day 
 that this ( proud and confident army reached the Mississippi, 
 Jackson marched into New Orleans at the head of some 
 strange looking backwoodsmen from Tennessee, clothed in 
 buckskin, wearing coonskin caps and carrying long rifles.
 
 Andrew Jackson. 
 
 113 
 
 They had fought with Indians and now were to try their 
 strength with the trained military of the old world. 
 
 Atrocities of the Creek Indians. 
 
 Jackson had but little time in which to act. He rapidly 
 threw up defences of mud and logs and cotton bales, and
 
 114 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 when Pakenham failed to batter them down, he deter- 
 mined to carry them by assault. Pakenham had over 
 ten thousand men; Jackson had less than five thousand. 
 As the red-coated grenadiers, supported by the Scotch 
 Highlanders in national costume, advanced upon the 
 American fortifications, they were met by a terrific fire 
 from the artillery, but swept on. Then the Americans 
 arose from behind their breastworks, and, with deadly aim, 
 poured volley after volley into the approaching lines. 
 The carnage was awful and the British broke, only to be 
 reformed and again hurled against the merciless fire of 
 the frontiersmen. Again they broke and ran. Paken- 
 ham was struck by a bullet and fell from his horse; other 
 officers took command, and they, too, were stricken down. 
 Nothing could stay the panic; nothing could stand before 
 the long rifles of Jackson's sharpshooters, and the British 
 fled to the river shore, where they remained for a week, 
 and then, leaving their cannon behind them, sailed for 
 home. Seven hundred British were killed, fourteen hun- 
 dred were wounded and five hundred taken prisoners. 
 The American loss was seven men killed and six wounded. 
 In 1828, Jackson was elected President and proved to 
 be one of the most popular men who have held that office. 
 He served two terms and then retired to his estate, called 
 the " Hermitage," near Nashville, Tennessee, where ho 
 died on June 8, 1845.
 
 116 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 SAM HOUSTON. 
 
 THIS distinguished soldier and quaint American char- 
 acter came of sturdy Scotch lineage. He was born 
 at Timber Eidge Church, near Lexington, Rock- 
 bridge County, Virginia, March 2, 1793. His father, 
 Major Houston, served in the Revolutionary War, and 
 after his death, which took place when Sam was but a 
 boy, his mother emigrated to Tennessee and settled in 
 Blount County. Sam had but little schooling in Virginia, 
 and not much more in his new home. It is said that 
 he obtained from some source a copy of Homer's Iliad, 
 and that he studied it until he could repeat it from begin- 
 ning to end. He early manifested an unconquerable spirit 
 of independence. He refused to be called by his name of 
 Samuel and insisted upon being addressed as plain Sam. 
 He also invariably signed his name in that way to the 
 end of his days. 
 
 Sam became a clerk in a trader's store, but soon ran 
 away and lived with the Cherokee Indians. He thirsted 
 for freedom and found it in a free and untrammeled life 
 with this tribe. In his own words, he "preferred meas- 
 uring deer tracks to tape," and that "the wild liberty 
 of the red man was more to his liking than the tyranny 
 of his brothers." To pay a few debts that he had con- 
 tracted, Houston returned to comparative civilization for 
 while, and taught school to acquire the necessary money.
 
 General Sam Houston. 
 
 117
 
 118 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 When he was twenty years of age he enlisted in a Ten- 
 nessee Volunteer regiment and became a splendid soldier 
 and a fine drillmaster. He reached the grade of ensign, 
 and fought under General Jackson at the battle of Talla- 
 poosa. In this stubborn engagement. Houston proved 
 himself a hero, and was severely wounded by an arrow. 
 He also received two bullets in his right shoulder. His 
 wounds were so severe that his recovery occupied a long 
 time. After the peace with the Creek nation he became 
 an agent to treat with the Cherokees, and took a delegation 
 of them to Washington. Feeling that his services had 
 received but slight recognition from the government, he 
 returned home, resigned his commission, and went to Nash- 
 ville to study law. His progress was so rapid that he was 
 soon admitted to the bar. He became district attorney and 
 made great strides in his profession. He was made a 
 major-general of the state and was elected to Congress. 
 In 1827, he was elected Governor of Tennessee. Later, 
 his wife left him for a cause that has never been explained, 
 and Houston, deeply wounded by the use his enemies 
 made of the occurrence, resigned his office and took up 
 his abode with his former friends, the Cherokee Indians. 
 Houston was formally adopted by the tribe and resumed 
 his old name among them of the " Kaven." He par- 
 ticipated in their councils and visited Washington in their 
 behalf in 1830, and again in 1832. He thrashed a Con- 
 gressman named Stanberry and was reprimanded mildly 
 by Congress. He was convicted of assault and battery 
 by the criminal court and fined five hundred dollars, 
 which fine was remitted by President Jackson. Upon 
 his return to Tennessee he received an ovation.
 
 The Texas Hangers at San Jacinto. 
 
 119
 
 180 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 In 1834, Texas was a part of Mexico. Houston had 
 emigrated there, and with others desired to throw off 
 the yoke of Mexico and set up an independent republic. 
 Houston was the leader and soul of the movement. A 
 convention declared Texas independent, and Santa Anna, 
 the President of the Mexican Republic, underwent a crush- 
 ing defeat at San Jacinto, on April 21, 1836, on which 
 occasion the Texans were commanded by General Hous- 
 ton. 
 
 Previous to this, the celebrated massacre of the Alamo 
 had taken place. A few devoted Texans had taken ref- 
 uge in an old church and were besieged by an overwhelm- 
 ing force of Mexicans. Travis, their gallant commander, 
 did all that mortal man could do to strengthen the place. 
 The enemy made two unsuccessful attempts to scale the 
 walls. On the third attempt, the Texans, whose am- 
 munition was then exhausted, were overpowered. " With 
 clubbed guns the survivors fought on until nearly the 
 whole number were cut down. Travis fell near the west- 
 ern wall; Crockett in a corner near the church. Bowie 
 was butchered and mutilated on his sick-bed. Evans was 
 shot while attempting to fire the magazine, a duty which, 
 by agreement among the defenders, had fallen to him as 
 the survivor. There had been no surrender; there had 
 been no retreat. One brief hour after the Sabbath sun 
 had touched the grim walls flying the flag of the Lone 
 Star Republic, the sacrifice for country was complete." 
 
 At San Jacinto, Houston had only half as many men 
 as were opposed to him, but the Texans were fighting 
 for their liberty and won a glorious victory. Santa Anna 
 was captured and forced to sign a treaty by which Texas
 
 Zachary Taylor. 121 
 
 was made independent. Houston had several horses shot 
 under him and his ankle was shattered by a bullet. In 
 this battle the watchword of the Texans was " Remember 
 the Alamo!" and well they avenged their martyred dead. 
 
 Houston naturally received the highest honors the new 
 republic could pay him. He was elected President, and 
 served two terms. He ruled wisely, made treaties with 
 warlike Indians, and eventually succeeded in having Texas 
 admitted into the Union. Afterwards he became a 
 United States Senator, and then Governor of the new 
 state. He died at Huntersville, Texas, July 25, 1863. 
 
 ZACHARY TAYLOR. 
 
 ZACHARY TAYLOR, a distinguished general, and 
 twelfth President of the United States, was born in 
 Orange County, Virginia, November 24, 1784. 
 His boyhood was passed upon his father's farm and in 
 acquiring an education at the common schools of the 
 neighborhood. When he was twenty-four years of age, 
 his brother, Hancock, died. He had held a lieutenant's 
 commission in the army and Zachary now applied for it. 
 It was given to him. Two years later, he was made a 
 captain, and in 1812 he was promoted to the rank of 
 major for. his brave defense of Fort Harrison against the 
 Indian chief, Tecumseh. 
 
 As the settlers moved further westward, their farms 
 and villages encroached upon the Indian border-line. The
 
 122 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 Indians resented the presence of the white man on their 
 lands and their great chief, Tecumseh, formed a league 
 against the whites. He selected Fort Harrison as a point 
 of attack, and on September 12, 1812, having failed to gain 
 the fort by strategy, commenced a furious assault upon the 
 
 Tecumseh. 
 
 works. A little before midnight, the American sentries 
 gave the alarm, and soon the block-house was in flames. 
 Without were four hundred savages, led by their wily 
 chief; inside the stockade were but fifty men, of whom 
 two-thirds of the number were disabled by sickness. The
 
 Zachary Taylor. 
 
 123
 
 124 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 scene was one of wild confusion, but Taylor ordered the 
 burning boards stripped from the building, and then 
 earthworks were thrown up, behind which, for seven hours, 
 the little garrison offered such a determined resistance 
 that the savages were driven away. 
 
 In 1814, Taylor was fighting the combined British and 
 Indian forces on Eock River. In 1819, he was a lieuten- 
 ant-colonel at New Orleans. He was made a colonel in 
 1832. He served in the Black Hawk war, and then, in 
 1837, he was sent against the refractory Seminole Indians, 
 whom he fought so successfully that the conduct of the 
 campaign was placed in his hands. Osceola, the chief of 
 the Seminoles, had gathered his braves on the edge of 
 a dense swamp near Lake Okeechobee, on December 25. 
 1837. Taylor's men charged across the morass that sep- 
 arated them from the foe and fought the battle knee-deep 
 in the wet, yielding soil. Again and again the Seminoles 
 threw themselves upon the foe, but nothing could break 
 the unflinching column before which they were obliged to 
 retire. 
 
 Taylor became a brigadier-general by brevet after the 
 battle, and was then ordered to the Southwest. The 
 Mexican war broke out, and on May 7, 1S46, lie fought the 
 battle of Palo Alto. He had but twenty-three hundred 
 men to oppose to a Mexican force of six thousand. The 
 battle opened with artillery and raged furiously. The 
 prairie grass became ignited and dense clouds of smoke 
 obscured both friend and foe. Then the Mexican infan- 
 try and cavalry advanced, but recoiled and fled. The next 
 day the Mexicans were again routed at Resaca de la Palma. 
 On that day, seventeen hundred men put to flight six
 
 9 Military Htroes 
 
 125
 
 136 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 thousand Mexicans. In June, Taylor was promoted to 
 the rank of major-general. In the following September 
 he captured Monterey, after a ten days' siege and three 
 days' hard righting. Then followed the battle of Buena 
 Vista, where Taylor fought an army four times the size 
 of his own. 
 
 Before the engagement the Mexican commander sent 
 a flag of truce with a summons to surrender. Taylor 
 knew the odds that were against him, but the message he 
 sent back was: " General Taylor never surrenders." Then 
 he turned to his men and said: "I intend to stand here 
 not only so long as a man remains, but so long as a piece 
 of a. man is left." In the battle that ensued Taylor gave 
 his celebrated order : " A little more grape, Captain 
 Bragg." The battle of Buena Vista was a brilliant con- 
 flict, and a splendid victory for the Americans. 
 
 Taylor was beloved by his soldiers, who spoke of him 
 as "Old Rough and Ready." He was strict in discipline, 
 but careless about his personal appearance. He seldom 
 appeared in uniform, and might easily have been mistaken 
 for a farmer. 
 
 In November, 1847, Taylor asked permission to return 
 to the United States, tiring of the inactive life he was 
 compelled to lead after Buena Vista. He was received 
 with enthusiastic demonstrations everywhere, and was the 
 recipient of many flattering courtesies. Wherever he 
 went the people made a* jubilee. He was elected Presi- 
 dent in 1848, but did not live to finish his term of office. 
 His death occurred on July 9, 1850.
 
 Winfield Scott. 127 
 
 WINFIELD SCOTT. 
 
 THIS distinguished general was born on June 13, 1786, 
 at Petersburg, Virginia. At an early age he 
 studied law and was admitted to the bar, but in 
 1808, left his profession for that of a soldier, becoming a 
 captain of light artillery. When war with Great Britain 
 broke. -out, in 1812, Scott was made a lieutenant-colonel 
 ii^the Second Artillery. He was among the officers at the 
 battle of Queenstown, on the Niagara River, who displayed 
 conspicuous skill and courage. Early in the battle the 
 Americans were victorious, but reinforcements arrived for 
 the British and the American army was captured. After 
 Scott was exchanged he was made a brigadier-general. 
 He captured Fort Erie and tore down the British flag 
 with his own hands. On July 5, 1814, he fought the bat- 
 tle of Chippewa and defeated the British. Although 
 General Brown was his commanding officer, Scott was the 
 one who won the day, his superior saying, " To him more 
 than any other man I am indebted for the victory/' 
 
 On July 25, the battle of Lund/s Lane was fought and 
 was a victory for the Americans. Scott had two horses 
 killed under him, and was wounded in the right shoulder 
 by a musket ball. Six months later peace was declared, 
 but previous to this event Scott had been thanked by 
 Congress, " For his universal good conduct throughout the 
 war." After the war Scott was made a major-general and
 
 128 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 presented with a gold medal by Congress. Later he was 
 Bent to Europe on a confidential mission, and upon his 
 return was placed in command of the seaboard. For the 
 next thirty years he held several .important positions, and 
 in 1841 was made eommander-in-chief of the United 
 States army. 
 
 When the Mexican war began, General Scott arrived at 
 Vera Cruz and invested it on March 13, 1847. He bom- 
 barded it for fifteen days, and then the Stars and Stripes re- 
 placed the Mexican flag over the city and the famous fort- 
 ress of San Juan d'Ulloa. Scott then marched toward 
 the city of Mexico, and on April 18 won the battle of Cerro 
 Gordo. This was a hard-fought field and General Santa 
 Anna, who, before the battle, had boasted that he would 
 die fighting rather than yield, was glad to escape on a 
 mule, leaving his papers and his wooden leg behind him. 
 
 After Cerro Gordo, Scott pushed on, and in succession 
 captured Jalapa, Perote and Puebla. In two months he 
 had gained a series of brilliant victories and carried dis- 
 may into the very heart of Mexico. The battles of Con- 
 treras and Cherubusco followed, and in each instance the 
 Americans were victorious. Then San Antonio was cap- 
 tured, and but few positions lay between the invaders and 
 the metropolis of Mexico itself. On September 8, the for- 
 tifications called El Molino del Eey (the King's Mills) 
 were carried after a desperate conflict. On the same day, 
 the Casa de Mata, another of the outer defenses of Cha- 
 pultepec, was also stormed and carried, and the Castle 
 itself, situated on a rocky height, was the only obstacle 
 to be overcome before the Americans could plant their flag 
 within the capital itself. On September l~2,'the castle of
 
 Winfield Scott. 
 
 129
 
 130 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 Chapultepec was bombarded, and on the following day it 
 was carried by assault. The Mexican authorities now sent 
 a deputation to General Scott and begged him to sparo 
 the city, but Scott had expended a large number of lives 
 in reaching the metropolis and was resolved to humbb 
 the pride of the enemy by entering in force. This he 
 did on September 14, and the flag of the United States 
 was raised upon the National Palace as he rode in full 
 uniform into the Plaza, amid tremendous cheers that 
 broke from the ranks. 
 
 Scott was given a magnificent reception upon his re- 
 turn to the United States, and all united to do him honor. 
 In 1852, he was a candidate for the Presidency, but was 
 defeated. When the Civil War broke out Scott was still 
 the commander-in-chief of the army, but the once splen- 
 did soldier was now old and infirm. He retired to West 
 Point, where his death occurred on May 29, 18G6.
 
 ULYSSES S. GRANT. 
 
 THIS distinguished general and afterwards the eight- 
 eenth President of the United States, was born on 
 April 27, 1822, at Point Pleasant, Clermont County, 
 Ohio. His ancestors distinguished themselves in the old 
 
 Scottish wars and were ever strong fighters for the cause 
 
 131
 
 132 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 of liberty. Ulysses' father was Jesse R. Grant, descended 
 from one Matthew Grant, who came to America in 1630. 
 He married Miss Hannah Simpson, a native of Mont- 
 gomery County, Pennsylvania, and followed the business 
 of a tanner. Their son Ulysses was christened Hiram 
 Ulysses Grant, but the member of Congress who appointed 
 the boy to a cadetship at West Point, by accident changed 
 the name to U. S. Grant. 
 
 It is said of Grant that he never liked the business of 
 o tanner. He was willing to become a farmer or follow 
 almost any other occupation. He was a cool, robust, and 
 strong boy, neither precocious nor stupid. After his son 
 had become famous, his father furnished these anecdotes 
 of his childhood: 
 
 "The leading passion of Ulysses, almost from the time 
 he could go alone, was for horses. The first time he ever 
 drove a horse alone, he was about seven and a half years 
 old. I had gone away from home to Ripley, twelve miles 
 off. I went in the morning and did not get back until 
 night. I owned, at that time, a three-year-old colt, which 
 had been ridden under the saddle to carry the mail, but 
 had never had a collar on. While I was gone, Ulysses 
 got the colt and put a collar and the harness onto him, 
 and hitched him up to a sled. - Then he put a single line 
 onto him, drove off, loaded up the sled with brush, and came 
 back again. He kept at it, hauling successive loads all 
 day, and when I came home at night, he had a pile of 
 brush as big as a cabin. At about ten years of age, he 
 used to drive a pair of horses alone from Georgetown^ 
 where we lived, forty miles to Cincinnati, and drive back 
 a load of passengers.
 
 Ulysses S. Grant. 133 
 
 " When Ulysses was a boy, if a circus or any show came 
 along in which there was a call for somebody to come for- 
 ward and ride a pony, he was always the one to present 
 himself, and whatever he undertook to ride, he rode. 
 This practice he kept up until he got to be so large that he 
 was ashamed to ride a pony. Once, when he was a boy, 
 a show came along in which there was a mischievous pony, 
 trained to go around the ring like lightning, and he was 
 expected to throw any boy that attempted to ride him. 
 ' Will any boy come forward and ride this pony?' shouted 
 the ringmaster. Ulysses stepped forward and mounted 
 the pony. The performance began. Round and round 
 the ring went the pony, faster and faster, making the 
 greatest effort to dismount the rider, but Ulysses sat as 
 steadily as if he had grown to the pony's back. Presently 
 out came a large monkey, and sprang up behind Ulysses. 
 The people set up a great shout of laughter, and on the 
 pony ran, but it all produced no effect on the rider. Then 
 the ringmaster made the monkey jump up onto Ulysses' 
 shoulders. It stood with its feet on his shoulders and with 
 his hands holding on to his hair. At this there was 
 another and a louder shout, but not a muscle of Ulysses' 
 face moved. A few more turns, and the ringmaster gave 
 it up; he had come across a boy that the pony and the 
 monkey both could not dismount." 
 
 Grant received an education at West Point that fitted 
 him for his work in life. He graduated in 18-13, standing 
 twenty-first in a class of thirty-nine. At West Point he 
 was said to be a " plain, common-sense, straightforward 
 youth, shunning notoriety, taking to his military duties in 
 a very business-like manner not a prominent man in the
 
 134 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 corps, but respected by all, and very popular with friends. 
 His best standing was in the mathematical branches, and 
 their application to tactics and military engineering." 
 
 Bombardment of Fort Sumter. 
 
 After graduating from "West Point, Grant served bravely 
 in the war with Mexico, winning the approval of his su- 
 perior officers for distinguished gallantry under fire, and
 
 Ulysses S. Grant. 135 
 
 reaching the rank of a captain. lie resigned from the 
 army in 1854 and retired to a farm near St. Louis. In 
 1859 lie entered into partnership with his father in the 
 leather business, at Galena, Illinois. "When Fort Sumter 
 
 Grant Captures Fort Donelson. 
 
 was fired on by the Confederates, he said -to a friend: 
 " The government educated me for the army. What I 
 am I owe to my country. I have served her through one 
 war, and, live or die, will serve her through this." He
 
 136 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 raised a company of volunteers at once, and tendered his 
 and. their services to the Governor of Illinois, who at once 
 made him adjutant-general of the State. He rendered 
 efficient services in this position, and was then made a 
 
 Capture of the Works at Petersburg. 
 
 colonel of an Illinois regiment, his commission dating 
 June 15, 1861. In August of the same year he was made 
 a brigadier-general, and in December was appointed com- 
 mander of the department of Cairo. He captured Fort
 
 138 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 Henry, on the Tennessee River, and then Fort Donelson, 
 on the Cumberland River, acting in connection with the 
 Union gunboats. Both of them were brilliant affairs, and 
 Grant was made a major-general. 
 
 Grant fought the great battle of Shiloh, on April 7, 
 1862, and in a two days' fight routed the enemy. On Sep- 
 tember 19, he fought and won the battle of luka, and 
 then besieged Vicksburg. This stronghold of the Confed- 
 eracy surrendered to him on July 4, 1863. In November 
 of the same year he won a victory at Chattanooga over 
 General Bragg. On March 1, 1864, General Grant was 
 made lieutenant-general and commander of all the armies 
 of the United States. Previous to this, however, Congress 
 had voted him a gold medal for his services. 
 
 House Where Lee Surrendered.
 
 William T. Sherman. 139 
 
 Then Grant planned his last great campaign, and the 
 battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania and Cold Harbor 
 followed. He then besieged Petersburg and took it, and 
 then Richmond fell into his hands. He then compelled 
 General Lee and his whole army to surrender at Appo- 
 mattox Court House, and the great Civil War was over. 
 On July 25, 1866, Congress created the rank of General 
 and conferred it upon Grant. In 1868 he was elected 
 President of the United States, and again in 1872. After 
 his second term he spent several years in a voyage around 
 the world one of the most memorable, in many respects, 
 ever known in history. No man ever traveled so far and 
 was received with such distinguished consideration wher- 
 ever he went. General Grant made his home at Galena, 
 Illinois, after his return from his tour, and later took up 
 his residence in New York city. A cancerous affliction 
 of the throat now seized upon him, and on June 16, 1885, 
 he was removed. to Mt. McGregor, New York, where he 
 died on July 23, 1885. 
 
 The entire country went into mourning. Flags were at 
 half-mast throughout the land. On August 8 the last sad 
 rites were paid to the dead hero, and he was laid to rest 
 at Riverside Park, New York. 
 
 WILLIAM T. SHERMAN. 
 
 WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN was born on 
 February 8, 1820, at Lancaster, Ohio. His father 
 died when he was nine years of age, and the boy 
 was adopted by the Hon. Thomas Ewing, who placed him
 
 140 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 at school, where he remained until he was sixteen years 
 old. Mr. Ewing then sent him to the United States Mili- 
 tary Academy, at West Point, where he graduated four 
 years later, the sixth in his class. 
 
 When Mr. Ewing offered to adopt one of the Sherman 
 children there were eleven of them after the death of 
 their father, the question arose which one he should se- 
 lect. " I must have the smartest of the lot," said Mr. 
 Ewing. " Well, come and look at them and take your 
 pick," replied the mother. Still undecided, Mr. Ewing 
 continued : " They all look alike to me." " Take ' Gump,' " 
 said the mother and her oldest daughter; "he's by far the 
 smartest." In after life General Sherman said of his 
 benefactor: " He ever after treated me as his own son." 
 And of Sherman as a boy, Mr. Ewing said: "There was 
 nothing especially remarkable about him, excepting that 
 I never knew so young a boy who could do an errand so 
 correctly and promptly as he did. He was transparently 
 honest, faithful and reliable, studious and correct in his 
 habits; his progress in education was steady and sub- 
 stantial." 
 
 According to his own account of himself, Sherman was 
 not selected for any office at West Point, but remained a 
 private throughout the whole four years. After his grad- 
 uation he was made a second lieutenant in the Third Ar- 
 tillery. He served in various parts of the country until 
 1853, when, becoming tired of the monotony of garrison 
 life, he resigned his commission and engaged in the bank- 
 ing business at San Francisco. In 1860 he became the 
 president of the Louisiana State Military Academy, but, 
 resigned when he saw that the Civil War was inevitable.
 
 General William Tecumseh Sherman. 
 
 JO Military Heroes 141
 
 142 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 When the conflict began Sherman was made a colonel, and 
 at the battle of Bull Run commanded a brigade. In this 
 battle he saved General Hunter's command from annihi- 
 lation. Sherman was at Fort Donelson, and under Grant 
 
 Battle at Chattanooga. 
 
 at the bloody battle of Shiloh. Several horses were killed 
 under him at Shiloh, but he seemed to bear a charmed life, 
 although in the hottest of the fire. Grant said of him: 
 " To his individual efforts I am indebted for the success 
 of this battle."
 
 143
 
 144 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 After Shiloh, Sherman was made a major-general. He 
 was conspicuous at the siege of Vicksburg and at the bat- 
 tle of Chattanooga. Early in 1864 he marched towards 
 Meridian, Mississippi, and the Confederates everywhere 
 retreateu before him. Arrived at Meridian, he burned the 
 arsenal and many other buildings. He sent out raiding 
 parties in every direction and destroyed everything that 
 would benefit the Confederacy. No private property was 
 molested, however, but it was impossible to prevent the 
 soldiers from occasionally raiding a henroost. One who 
 was with the army said: " An ardent secession lady dis- 
 covered a vile Yankee purloining a pair of fat chickens. 
 Terribly incensed at this wanton robbery, she made a bold 
 onslaught, but all her expostulations failed to convince 
 the demoralized and hungry ' mudsill ' that he was sin- 
 ning, for he replied, ' Madam! this accursed rebellion must 
 be crushed, if it takes every chicken in Mississippi.' " 
 
 Sherman now invaded Georgia and defeated Generals 
 Johnston and Hood, and besieged Atlanta. In November, 
 1864, Sherman began his famous march to the sea. For 
 a time the North had no intelligence from Sherman's 
 army. " Marching Through Georgia " has been celebrated 
 in song and story. There were no armies to oppose the 
 Union forces, and there were few conflicts with the peo- 
 ple. The army foraged on a gigantic scale, but there wag 
 no pillaging. At last, Fort McAllister, near the city ot 
 Savannah, was reached. Sherman watched the assault 
 from the roof of a mill. To General Howard, who stood 
 by his side, he said: " See that flag in the advance, How- 
 ard? How steadily it moves. Not a man falters. There 
 they go still. Grand! grand! That flag still goes for-
 
 145
 
 146 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 ward! There is no flinching there! Look! It has halted! 
 They waver no, it's the parapet! There they go again. 
 Now they reach it. Some are over! Look there! a flag on 
 the works! Another! another! It's ours the fort is 
 ours!" 
 
 The triumphant march to the sea was ended at Savan- 
 nah. After capturing the city, Sherman telegraphed to 
 President Lincoln: " I beg to present to you as a Christ- 
 mas gift the city of Savannah, with one hundred and fifty 
 guns and plenty of ammunition, and about twenty-five 
 thousand bales of cotton." 
 
 Sherman was made lieutenant-general in 1866, and 
 general in 1869. He afterwards traveled abroad, and was 
 retired from active service in 1884. His death occurred 
 in the city of New York, on February 14, 1891. 
 
 PHILIP H. SHERIDAN. 
 
 PHILIP HENEY SHEEIDAN was born at Somerset, 
 Ohio, March 6, 1831. He was the son of .Irish 
 parents, poor as to this world's goods, and very lit- 
 tle is known of him up to the time he was seventeen years 
 of age, when he was sent to West Point, where he proved 
 to be an energetic student. He had a very quick temper, 
 however, and his life at the United States Military Acad- 
 emy was marked by successive quarrels and fights in which 
 it involved him. He graduated in 1853, and for the next 
 eight years served in the Southwest and on the Pacific 
 Coast. He was then made a captain and stationed aft
 
 General Philip H. Sheridan. 
 
 U7
 
 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. In 1862 Sheridan was the 
 colonel of the Second Michigan Cavalry, and after the 
 battle of Booneville, where he displayed wonderful strat- 
 egic abilities, was made a brigadier-general of volunteers. 
 
 At the battle of Murfreesboro Sheridan added to his 
 fame as a cavalry leader. General Rosecrans said in his 
 report of that battle: " The constancy and steadfastness 
 of his troops enabled the reserve to reach the right of our 
 army in time to turn the tide of battle, and changed a 
 threatened rout into a victory. He has fairly won pro- 
 motion." 
 
 " Little Phil," as he was called in the army, fought with 
 daring, skill and energy at Chickamauga and at Mission- 
 ary Ridge, and later General Grant gave him the command 
 of all the cavalry of the Army of the Potomac. 
 
 In July, 1864, the Confederate General Early invaded 
 Pennsylvania, and burned the town of Chambersburg, 
 contriving to elude the forces that were sent against him. 
 Then Sheridan was placed in command and defeated him 
 at Opequan, on September 19, and again on October 19, 
 at Cedar Creek. Sheridan had gone to Washington, leav- 
 ing General Wright in temporary command, and Early's 
 assault, when it came, was delivered simultaneously against 
 the front and rear. Most of the pickets were captured; 
 the rest of the troops, suddenly aroused from sleep, were 
 thrown into confusion and driven back towards Middle- 
 town. Eighteen of the Union guns were seized by Early 
 and turned on their late possessors, and for a time it 
 seemed as if the Union troops would be utterly over- 
 whelmed. Wright formed a new line of battle, however, 
 and kept up a desperate struggle for five hours, but his
 
 150 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 lines were retreating when Sheridan rode up, having 
 come from Winchester, thirty miles away. For two hours 
 he rode hack and forth along the line, shouting: " Face 
 the other way, hoys! face the other way! We are going 
 back to our camp! We are going to lick them out of their 
 boots." With shouts and cheers the soldiers followed 
 him, filled with his own daring courage and enthusiasm. 
 He threw them upon the enemy under an awful fire of ar- 
 tillery and musketry, arid soon sent the foe flying in utter 
 rout, winning a glorious victory and regaining the guns 
 that had been lost in the morning. 
 
 For his "personal gallantry, military skill and just 
 confidence in the courage and patriotism of his troops," 
 Sheridan was promoted to the rank of major-general, on 
 November 14. He had saved the Union cause from a 
 crushing reverse and permanently crippled Early's army. 
 
 On April 1, 1865, Sheridan gained the battle of Five 
 Forks. The desperate game of the Confederacy was al- 
 most played out. He saw his men starving to death, sur- 
 rounded on every side. " Then Sheridan that new, me- 
 teoric, dashing leader, who had at last waked up Virginia 
 to a realizing sense of what Yankee cavalry could do when 
 properly led, whipped his way through the Shenandoah, 
 came trotting down the valley of- the James, tearing 
 canals, roads and railways into ruins as he rode, joined 
 his great leader now reaching round the southern limits 
 of the threatened lines, and then, one finger at a time, 
 the failing grasp of Lee on his last position began to let 
 go; and on the first of April Sheridan once more had shot 
 round the now quivering flank, fought and won the bril- 
 liant battle of Five Forks, the real wind-up of the war/'
 
 * 
 
 s 
 
 151
 
 152 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 After giving him his instructions, Grant said to Sheri- 
 dan: "I mean to end this business here," and Sheridan's 
 reply was: " That's what I like to hear you say. Let us 
 end this business here." After the splendid victory Sheri- 
 dan sent word to Grant of his success, and the commander- 
 in-chief telegraphed President Lincoln that " Sheridan 
 had carried everything before him/' 
 
 When Lee retreated from Richmond, Sheridan led the 
 pursuit, and he was present when General Lee surrendered 
 the gallant army of Northern Virginia. On that day 
 Sheridan's form "was snugly buttoned in the double- 
 breasted frock coat of a major-general, the dress he wore 
 on all occasions in the field; his short legs were thrust deep 
 into huge cavalry boots; his eyes were still snapping with 
 the flame of the morning fight; his whole manner was so 
 suggestive of the trick he had of hitching nervously for- 
 ward in the saddle when things were not going to suit 
 him, that he looked to some present as though he were 
 still disposed to suspect some ruse, some trick, and was 
 ready to spring to horse and pitch in again at an instant's 
 notice." 
 
 After the Civil War, Sheridan commanded several mili- 
 tary departments and was made lieutenant-general in 1869. 
 He was made Commander-in-chief of all the United States 
 armies upon the retirement of General Sherman, and 
 reached the full rank of general on June 1, 1888.- He 
 died on August 5, 1888, at the age of fifty-seven years. 
 His remains were buried in the Arlington National Ceme- 
 tery, and were followed to their resting place by represen- 
 tatives from every branch of government and by an im- 
 mense concourse of private mourners.
 
 George B. McClellan. 153 
 
 GEORGE B. McCLELLAN. 
 
 GEORGE BRINTON McCLELLAN was born in Phil- 
 adelphia, Pennsylvania, September 3, 1826. His 
 father was a physician and the boy remained under 
 his roof until, at a proper age, he was sent to West Point. 
 He graduated in 1846, the second in his class. He was 
 made a second lieutenant, and soon afterwards was sent 
 to Mexico, where he distinguished himself throughout the 
 war. Here he developed that magnetic attraction which 
 won him so many devoted followers among his soldiers, 
 then and in after life. He was cool under fire at Cerro 
 Gordo and at Chapultepec, as well as in earlier engage- 
 ments, and was commended by his superior officers for 
 " gallant and meritorious conduct." 
 
 After the close of the war with Mexico, McClellan was 
 intrusted with various engineering expeditions, and later 
 was instructed by the Government to investigate the entire 
 railroad system of the United States. His report was a 
 model of clearness and gave him a high reputation. After 
 executing a secret mission for the Government in the 
 West Indies, McClellan was sent to Europe, with two 
 other army officers, to study the European armies in the 
 Crimea. The report of this commission led to great 
 changes in fortifications and military and naval equipment 
 in the United States. In 1857, McClellan resigned from 
 the army and became superintendent and afterwards pres- 
 ident of the Illinois Central Railroad.
 
 154 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 When the Civil War broke out, McClellan was employed 
 by the Governor of Ohio to organize the troops from that 
 state, and on May 13, 1861, he was assigned to the com- 
 
 Battle of Malvera Hill. 
 
 mand of the Department of the Ohio. Two campaigns 
 in Western Virginia followed, in which he was very suc- 
 cessful, receiving the thanks of Congress. In 1861, he
 
 General George B. McClellan. 
 
 155
 
 156 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 was relieved of his command and given that of the Army of 
 the Potomac, a body of troops which soon assumed chape 
 under the effects of his superb discipline. In this work 
 he displayed rare genius and great organizing qualities. 
 
 McClellan marched towards Richmond; captured York- 
 town; fought many battles on the Chickahominy, and then 
 whipped the Confederate General Lee at Malvern Hill. 
 Previous to this engagement, McClellan's operations had 
 been severely criticized by the public and the press. It 
 seemed as though the patience of the country was ex- 
 hausted by the failure of the Army of the Potomac to ac- 
 complish anything tangible, and the people were exas- 
 perated at the severe losses that the Confederates had 
 inflicted upon that splendid body of troops. President 
 Lincoln telegraphed to McClellan, " I think the time is 
 near when you must either attack Richmond or give 
 up the job and come to the defence of Washington." 
 
 On June 30, 1862, McClellan found himself in posses- 
 sion of Malvern Hill. Not content with this strong posi- 
 tion, he left the army there, and on the gunboat Galena ' 
 searched for a place on the river which would be the " final 
 location of the army and its depots." In his absence, the 
 battle of Malvern Hill was fought; but the Confederate 
 Army, under General Lee, was beaten back. McClellan 
 did not follow up this decisive victory, however, but fell 
 back to Harrison's Landing. McClellan's most devoted 
 adherents were dissatisfied and even indignant at this 
 policy. 
 
 In August, McClellan marched to the Potomac to re- 
 sist the Confederates who had invaded Maryland. He 
 fought the two days' battle of Antietam in September,
 
 158 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 but again delayed in following up his victory. In Novem- 
 ber, the command of the army was taken from him and 
 given to General Burnside. After that McClellan took no 
 part in the war. 
 
 In 1864, McClellan was nominated for the Presidency, 
 but was defeated. He then resigned his commission in 
 the army and passed some time in Europe. Upon his 
 return to the United States he was employed as an en- 
 gineer in several important undertakings, and was Gov- 
 ernor of New Jersey from 1878 to 1881. His death oc- 
 curred on October 29, 1885. 
 
 AMBROSE E. BURNSIDE. 
 
 AMBROSE EVERETT BURNSIDE came of Scotch 
 ancestry. He was born on May 23, 1824, at Liberty, 
 Indiana. He was sent to West Point, and gradu- 
 ated from there in 1847. He then served in New Mex- 
 ico, and was made a first-lieutenant in 1852. He invented 
 a breech-loading rifle and introduced some changes in the 
 method of carrying infantry knapsacks. Meanwhile he 
 had resigned his commission in the army, but four days 
 after the first call for troops to defend the Union he was 
 on the way to Washington as^colonel of the First Rhode 
 Island Volunteers. He commanded a brigade at the battle 
 of Bull Run and soon afterwards was promoted to be a 
 brigadier-general. 
 
 Burnside commanded the expedition that had for its 
 object the capture of Newbern and Roanoke, early in 
 1862. On January 13, he made a splendid assault on the
 
 Ambrose E. Burnside. 
 
 159 
 
 Confederate works and carried them, sweeping everything 
 before him. The victory was brilliant and decisive, and 
 Burnside was made a major-general in consequence. Af- 
 terwards Burnside compelled the surrender of Fort Macon 
 
 General Ambrose E. Burnside. 
 
 and the city of Beaufort. Later he won the battle of 
 South Mountain and commanded the left wing of Mc- 
 Clellan's army at Antietam. 
 
 On November 7, 1862, McClellan surrendered the com- 
 mand of his army to General Burnside. Previous to this
 
 160 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 date, the position had been offered to Burnside, but had 
 been refused. It was only on the peremptory order of 
 the War Department that he accepted it now. Burnside 
 reorganized the army, somewhat, and then moved on Fred- 
 ericksburg, situated on the southern side of the Eappa- 
 hannock, where the Confederates had posted heavy 
 batteries. Burnside had at this time an army of one hun- 
 dred and fifty thousand men and a splendid artillery train. 
 It took him weeks to build pontoon bridges and transfer 
 his army across the river, but it was finally accomplished 
 and the battle of Fredericksburg began at an early hour 
 on December 13, 1862. Burnside hoped to cut the 
 enemy's line in two, but was unable to do so. Again and 
 again the Union divisions were ordered to expel the Con- 
 federates from the woods and hills back of Fredericks- 
 burg at the point of the bayonet, but every assault that 
 was made by the Union forces was beaten back by the 
 enemy. The contest continued until dark, but the Union 
 troops were unable to win a single yard or dislodge their 
 opponents from their possessions. Neither army assumed 
 the defensive on the following day, but later, Burnside, in- 
 fluenced by the advice of his generals, withdrew from his 
 perilous position. Two days later Lee found nothing before 
 him but a deserted land, a ruined town, a winding river and 
 a line of batteries frowning from the opposite shore. The 
 affair was disastrous to the Union cause, but Burnside 
 took the entire responsibility of it upon himself and re- 
 signed the command of the army. 
 
 In 1863, Burnside drove the Confederates out of East 
 Tennessee and made a brilliant entry into Knoxville, where 
 the loyal inhabitants received him with great demonstra- 
 tions of joy. His operations were successful until, in 1864,
 
 George H. Thomas. 161 
 
 while assisting Grant before Petersburg, his secret mining 
 operations proved a failure and the enemy were actually 
 benefited by the explosion that was confidently expected 
 to benefit the Union cause. Burnside proffered his resig- 
 nation, but it was not accepted and a leave of absence 
 was given him instead. He eventually resigned from the 
 army in 1865, and the following year was elected Governor 
 of Khode Island. He visited Europe in 1870 and tried 
 his hand at mediation between the powers of France and 
 Germany, but without success. He afterwards served 
 Rhode Island in Congress. His death took place on Sep- 
 tember 13, 1881, at Bristol, in that state. 
 
 GEORGE H. THOMAS. 
 
 GEORGE HENRY THOMAS, was born on July 31, 
 1816, in Southampton County, Virginia. He was 
 the child of wealthy parents and received an ex- 
 cellent education. When twenty years of age, he entered 
 the United States Military Academy at West Point, and 
 graduated the twelfth in his class of forty-five, in 1840. 
 He was made a second lieutenant in the Third Artillery, 
 and his first service was against the Seminole Indians 
 in Florida. His conduct in battle was gallant and irre- 
 proachable, and later he was stationed at Fort Moultrie, 
 and still later at Fort McHenrv. In 1845, he was in Mex- 
 ico with General Taylor. He was conspicuous at the 
 storming of Monterey and bore a distinguished part at
 
 162 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 the battle of Buena Vista. After the close of the Mex- 
 ican war, after performing various services at different 
 points, he was an instructor at West Point for about three 
 years. He then served with distinction in the "West, and 
 in 1860, asked for and obtained a short leave of absence 
 the first he had asked for during a service of twenty years. 
 Although a native of Virginia, Thomas remained faith- 
 ful to the Union instead of following the fortunes of his 
 state, and was soon in command of a brigade, with the 
 rank of colonel. During the early part of the Civil War, 
 he fought under Rosecrans and Grant, and in 1862 was 
 made a major-general. He distinguished himself at Mill 
 Spring and at Shiloh, and then commanded the post at 
 Nashville. He became the faithful friend and adviser of 
 his superior officers and was known as one on whom they 
 could rely. Rosecrans gave him great credit at Murfrees- 
 boro, and then came the battle of Chickamauga, where his 
 bold stand saved the Union army from destruction. It 
 was his rock -like firmness that saved the army fr3m a ter- 
 rible beating and from being driven out of Tennessee. At 
 a critical time during the battle, and when reinforcements 
 were badly needed, Thomas sat upon his horse watching 
 the advance of heavy columns, away to his left. Not 
 knowing whether they were friends or foes, he raised his 
 glass and in silence watched the advancing troops. Turn- 
 ing to his staff after a few moments, he said: "Take 
 my glass, some of you whose horse is steady, and tell me 
 what you can see." One of his officers thought he could 
 make out the " Stars and Stripes." " Thomas caught up 
 his glass again, and watched the advancing column with 
 deepening anxiety. Suddenly the glass was lowered, and a
 
 George H. Thomas. 
 
 163 
 
 load was lifted from his heart. A light wind caught the 
 standards and flapped out every fold to its fullest extent, 
 and the sunlight, breaking through the clouds of dust, 
 shone on the red and blue bars and the white crescent of 
 Gordon Granger's battle-flag." None too soon, though; but 
 
 General George H. Thomas. 
 
 Thomas held his ground as the battle ebbed and flowed, 
 and fell back suddenly during the night, unmolested by 
 the enemy. 
 
 Later, General Bragg invested Chattanooga, which
 
 164 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 Thomas was holding. Grant sent word to hold out to the 
 last. Thomas' answer was: " I will hold the town till we 
 starve !" 
 
 In 1864, Thomas commanded the Army of the Cum- 
 berland under General Sherman. He decided the fate of 
 Atlanta, and then Sherman left him to whip Hood and 
 cover his rear during his march to the sea. Sherman 
 afterwards said: "If Thomafc had not whipped Hood at 
 Nashville, six hundred miles away, my plans would have 
 failed, and I would have been denounced the world over. 
 But I knew General Thomas and the troops under his 
 command and never for a moment doubted a favorable 
 result/' 
 
 Thomas' task was to improvise an army with which to 
 repel Hood's invasion of Tennessee, and he did it. In the 
 two days' fighting at Nashville, he completely smashed 
 the Confederate general. After the magnificent charge 
 of the second day, a captured Confederate general said, 
 " Why, sir, it was the most wonderful thing I ever wit- 
 nessed. I saw your men coming and held my fire a full 
 brigade, too until they were in close range, could almost 
 see the whites of their eyes, and then poured my volley right 
 into their faces. I supposed, of course, that when the smoke 
 lifted, your line would be broken and your men gone; 
 but it is surprising, sir, it never staggered them. Why, 
 they did not even come forward on a run. But right 
 along, cool as fate, your line swung up the hill, and your 
 men walked right up to and over my works and around 
 my brigade before we knew they were upon us. It wa? 
 astonishing, sir, such fighting." 
 
 Thomas was known to his soldiers as old " Major Slow-
 
 166 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 Trot," but they worshiped him. He received a gold 
 medal from the state of Tennessee for his victory at Nash- 
 ville, also the thanks of Congress, and was made a 
 major-general in the regular army. In 1868, he declined 
 the office of lieutenant-general, saying he had done nothing 
 to deserve it. His death occurred at San Francisco, on 
 March 28, 1870. 
 
 JOSEPH HOOKER. 
 
 FIGHTING JOE HOOKER," as he came to be 
 called during the Peninsular campaign of the Civil 
 War, was born at Hadley, Massachusetts, Novem- 
 ber 13, 1814. He graduated from West Point in 1837, and 
 fought in the Florida and Mexican Wars, being three 
 times promoted for gallant conduct. He resigned his 
 commission in 1853, a.nd settled down to the life of a 
 farmer, in the West. He entered the army again in 1861, 
 and soon became a brigadier-general. A year later he was 
 promoted to be a major-general. 
 
 Hooker made himself conspicuous for bravery, dash, 
 and daring throughout McClellan's operations before 
 Richmond, and in the Maryland campaign that followed 
 he participated actively, especially at South Mountain. 
 He was wounded at Antietam and compelled to retire from 
 the field. He commanded a division under Burnside at 
 Fredericksburg, and succeeded to the command of the 
 Army of the Potomac after the resignation of that gen- 
 eral.
 
 Joseph Hooker. 
 
 167 
 
 When Hooker assumed command of the Army of the 
 Potomac it was in a despondent state, as was the country 
 itself, but he succeeded in reorganizing it and took the 
 field with a splendid force in a high state of discipline. 
 
 General Joseph Hooker. 
 
 Heavy rains and swollen streams were against him on 
 his way to Chancellorsville, but he made his celebrated 
 "mud march" of thirty-seven miles, encumbered with 
 baggage and artillery, crossed two rivers and reached 
 Chancellorsville on April 30, 1863. The bloody battle
 
 168 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 that ensued was precipitated by the Confederate General 
 Jackson, who fell upon the right of Hooker's army. The 
 corps that was attacked was preparing supper and arrang- 
 ing for the night. Suddenly, Jackson's men made the 
 attack and drove the Union forces before them. A fur- 
 ious conflict took place later, when Hooker attempted to 
 recover the field. He was wounded and for a time was 
 unable to direct the operations of his troops. His army 
 was divided, while that of the enemy was not, and Hooker 
 was obliged to retreat. He resigned his command on June 
 27, 1863, and General Meade took his place. 
 
 Later in the year, Hooker was at Chattanooga, and dur- 
 ing the " battle above the clouds," won imperishable re- 
 nown. No battle was ever like it. The impossible was 
 attempted. At the word "Forward!" the troops rushed 
 forward over ravines, felled trees, and rough boulders; on 
 and always up, lost in the clouds that wrapped Lookout 
 Mountain in their fleecy folds, until the foe was driven 
 from the summit, and the L T nion flag unfurled fifteen hun- 
 dred feet above the Tennessee. " At two o'clock, a glow- 
 ing line of lights glittered obliquely across the breast of 
 Lookout. It was the Federal autograph scored along the 
 mountain. They were our camp-fires. Our wounded lay 
 there through all the dreary nights of rain, unrepining 
 and content. Our unharmed heroes lay there upon their 
 arms. Our dead lay there, ' and surely they slept well.' " 
 
 Hooker was with Sherman in his march to the sea. His 
 last great contest with the Confederates was near Peach 
 Tree Creek, where he " bore the brunt of the shock." He 
 resigned in August, 1864, when an officer inferior in rank 
 was promoted over him, but later he commanded different
 
 Joseph Hooker. 169 
 
 departments in the army and was mustered out of the 
 volunteer service in September, 1866. Two years later 
 he was breveted major-general in the regular army and 
 later, retired to private life. He died at Garden City, 
 New York, on October 31, 1879. 
 
 GEORGE G. MEADE. 
 
 GEORGE GORDON" MEADE, the "Hero of Gettys- 
 burg," was born on December 30, 1815, at Cadiz, 
 Spain, where his father at that time was United 
 States consul. His grandfather was a patriotic merchant 
 of Philadelphia, and at one time, when it was sorely 
 needed, made the Continental Government a present of 
 several thousand dollars. When but twenty years of age, 
 Meade graduated from West Point, served for a while 
 against the Indians in Florida, and then resigned his 
 commission, becoming a civil engineer. He entered the 
 army again in 1840, and during the Mexican War served 
 on the staffs of both General Taylor and General Scott. 
 The city of Philadelphia gave him a sword of honor upon 
 his return from the campaign. 
 
 Meade engaged in the Civil War, and was made a briga- 
 dier-general after the battle of Bull Run. He was with 
 McClellan during the Peninsular and Maryland campaigns. 
 He especially distinguished himself at Antietam, having 
 two horses shot under him in a headlong charge against
 
 170 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 the Confederates in the early part of the battle, in which 
 he was wounded. In 1863, he was given the command 
 of the Army of the Potomac, having been made a major- 
 general previously. 
 
 In June, 1863, both the Union and Confederate armies 
 were north of the Potomac, and the whole country held its 
 breath as it waited for the result of the combat that must 
 soon follow. On one side was the noble Lee, the idol of 
 the South, with his superbly disciplined infantry; the hard 
 riding troopers of Stuart; " Stonewall " Jackson's old com- 
 mand under Ewell; A. P. Hill, a most gallant officer; Long- 
 street, with a magnificent force, including Hood's Tcxans, 
 and Pickett with his Virginians. These and other gallant 
 Confederates fought for the South in the greatest battle 
 ever known on the continent. 
 
 Against them was Meade, a modest, faithful soldier, a 
 man who commanded respect, and under him were Rey- 
 nolds, the brilliant; the knightly Hancock; brave Sickles; 
 Sykes, the reliable; Howard, eminent for piety; Slocum, 
 the senior of many in rank, and scores of other brave and 
 determined fighters. 
 
 The story of the three days of desperate fighting when 
 the North and the South grappled at Gettysburg, requires 
 volumes for the telling. The first day's combat opened 
 in the forenoon of July 1. The Confederates advanced 
 and engaged Reynolds' corps on the western side of the 
 town. Reynolds rode forward to superintend his troops 
 in person, but was immediately killed by a rifle bullet. 
 The command then devolved on General Doubleday, but 
 he was not able to check the Confederate advance. The 
 scene of the fighting was a small open valley, consisting
 
 General George G. Meade. 
 
 171
 
 Military Heroes of tlie United States. 
 
 of ploughed fields, bounded by thickly wooded uplands. 
 Howard, riding in advance of his troops, then came up and 
 took command, but still the Southerners gained ground. 
 Then Meade sent Hancock to take the chief command, and 
 with Howard he formed the broken corps afresh on the 
 summit of the rising ground. The Confederates occupied 
 the town that night. 
 
 General Meade arrived at Cemetery Ridge at one o'clock 
 in the morning, and inspected the field. In the afternoon 
 the Confederates advanced, and Longstreet attacked the 
 Union left, commanded by Sickles. In spite of all his resist- 
 ance, Sickles was driven back with terrible loss, and he 
 himself was severely wounded. But Meade strengthened 
 his lines and his guns did terrible execution, and at this 
 point the Southern troops were compelled to retire. 
 Ewell attacked Cemetery Hill and demonstrations were 
 made against other portions of the Union line, but these 
 attempts were not well supported, and the result of the 
 day's operations was that the Confederates were driven 
 back with enormous loss. Meade's troops also suffered se- 
 verely. 
 
 The struggle began again on the morning of July 3, 
 this time on the left of the Confederate line. All the 
 strength of the enemy was gathered n.p and thrown in 
 one last, desperate effort on the Union forces. At half- 
 past twelve a furious cannonade burst from more than 
 one hundred guns, forming the batteries of Longstreet 
 and Hill. Ewell's guns were directed against the slopes 
 of Cemetery Hill. The Union guns blazed in reply and 
 for two hours the narrow valley thundered and roared with 
 an infernal interchange of death. Great limbs
 
 174 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 torn from trees; rocks were splintered, and death and 
 destruction scattered far and wide. Then Pickett's Vir- 
 ginians charged. In a vast, surging, gray wave, they tore 
 up the slope and gained ihe crest, only to be heaten back 
 by the blue lines blazing with fire. It was a combat of 
 giants. Battle flags were shot to earth quicker than men 
 could pick them up. The gray coats dropped by hundreds 
 as regiments and brigades came to the assistance of those 
 who defended the crest of the line, and Pickett made his 
 way back under cover of the friendly smoke. Desultory 
 engagements took place in other parts of the field, but the 
 battle of Gettysburg was over and a thrill of hope ran 
 through the North, " such as had not been known since the 
 beginning of the long and cruel war." The tide had at last 
 turned, but not until Virginia had ridden on the topmost 
 wave and been dashed on the rocks of Gettysburg. 
 
 After the battle of Gettysburg, "Congress promoted 
 Meade to the rank of brigadier-general in the regular army. 
 He remained, however, at the head ef the Army of the Po- 
 tomac and enjoyed the confidence of Grant, who was then 
 Lieutenant-General of the armies. After the surrender of 
 Lee's army, Meade was made a major-general in the regular 
 army and later was given command of the military division 
 of the Atlantic, with headquarters in Philadelphia. He 
 died in that city on November 6, 1872, in a house which 
 his gratified countrymen had presented to him.
 
 George A. Ouster. 175 
 
 GEORGE A. OUSTER. 
 
 GEORGE ARMSTRONG OUSTER, the dashing cav- 
 alryman whose name is everywhere associated with 
 brave and chivalrous daring, was born on December 
 5th, 1839, in the little village of New Rumley, Ohio. As a 
 boy he was a sturdy little fellow with flaxen hair, amiable 
 in his disposition, and very fond of playing soldier. When 
 quite young he made his home with a relative in Monroe, 
 Michigan, and in the schools of that town acquired an edu- 
 cation that qualified him for a successful examination to 
 the Military Academy at West Point. He entered in 
 .1857, made rapid progress in his studies and especially ex- 
 celled in horsemanship. 
 
 After graduating from West Point, Ouster reported for 
 duty at Washington. He was at once made the bearer of 
 despatches to General McDowell and assigned to Company 
 G, Second Cavalry. Later he served on the staff of Gen- 
 eral Kearney. His first actual fighting was in a skirmish 
 with a detachment of Confederates, whom he routed at 
 the head of his company. Later, he obtained leave of 
 absence ftnd visited his old home at Monroe. While there 
 he indulged some of the habits he had acquired in the 
 field he became intoxicated and was seen on the street 
 in that condition. His sorrowing sister reproved him so 
 judiciously, however, that the heart of the young man 
 was touched. It was the turning point in his life. He 
 made a solemn pledge not to taste a drop of intoxicating
 
 176 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 spirit as long as he lived. He kept his word and became 
 a sincere Christian. 
 
 Keturning to the field, Ouster performed various duties. 
 He served on the staff of General W. F. Smith and was 
 in charge of balloon reconnoissances. On one occasion he 
 crossed the Chickahominy River to make observations, and 
 on his return, wet, muddy and untidy, was' summoned to 
 General McClellan's presence. They conversed for a short 
 time and the General offered him a place on his staff. Cus- 
 ter accepted gladly and performed splendid services in that 
 capacity. 
 
 Many incidents are related of Ouster's personal bravery 
 and daring. By a dashing movement he fell upon the 
 celebrated "Louisiana Tigers," captured them and their 
 colors and returned in safety. He served through the 
 Peninsular campaign and was continually performing bril- 
 liant feats. On one occasion, he heard the young bugler 
 cry out, " Captain! Captain! here are two ' Secesh ' after 
 me/ 7 He captured one and sent him to the rear, but the 
 other set off with Custer after him. The man would not 
 surrender, so Custer was obliged to shoot him. His spoils 
 were a splendid horse, saddle and trappings, and a mag- 
 nificent sword. 
 
 Custer was afterwards on General Pleasanton's staff, 
 and at the fight at Aldie with Stuart's cavalry he won 
 the star of a brigadier-general. Ivilpatrick, Douty , and 
 Custer led the charge. Douty was killed, Kilpatrick's 
 horse was shot under him, but Custer bore a charmed life 
 and led his men to victory. He was afterwards made com- 
 mander of the Michigan cavalry brigade. At Gettysburg, 
 he charged at the head of a company and drove the enemy
 
 177
 
 178 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 before him. When Lee surrendered, his first flag of truce 
 was sent to Ouster. 
 
 After the war, Ouster, who had been mustered out as 
 a major-general of volunteers, was, in the reorganization 
 of the army, made lieutenant-colonel of the Seventh Cav- 
 alry, and in 1867, was sent to the plains. He became 
 a great hunter and had many perilous adventures fighting 
 the Indians. His success as an Indian fighter exceeded 
 that of any officer in the army. His last battle was fought 
 on the Little Big Horn River, June 25, 1876. By the 
 blunders and incompetency of his subordinates, Ouster 
 found himself surrounded by swarms \)i Indians under 
 Chief Rain-in-the-Face. The heroie band made a desper- 
 ate stand, but every man was killed. Ouster was the last 
 to fall. He was shot by Rain-in-the-Face himself, in 
 fulfilment of a vow he had made. All were buried on the 
 spot where they fell and a monument to their memory 
 was erected by the Government, bearing their names and 
 titles. Latei Ouster's remains were. removed to "West 
 Point and interred in the United States cemetery. Of 
 Ouster it has been said, " Truth and sincerity, honor and 
 bravery, tenderness and sympathy, unassuming piety 
 temperance, were the mainsprings of Ouster, the man ''
 
 Elmer E. Ellsworth. 179 
 
 ELMER E. ELLSWORTH. 
 
 THE pure and noble manhood of Elmer Ephraim Ells- 
 worth and his martyrdom early in the Civil War 
 have endeared him to the people of the United 
 States. He was born on April 23, 1836, at Mechanics- 
 Tille, New York. His education was acquired at common 
 schools. He then learned the trade of a printer and later 
 set up in business for himself. Through the dishonesty 
 of others he failed in business, but he did not complain 
 and began the study of law, earning a meagre living by 
 copying papers and documents whenever he could obtain 
 such employment. He had a terrible struggle with pov- 
 erty, but would accept no favors or courtesies that he 
 feared he would be unable to return. 
 
 He is described as having a voice which was " deep and 
 musical, and instantly attracted attention. His form, 
 though slight, was very compact and commanding; the 
 head statuesquely poised and crowned with a luxuriance 
 of curling black hair; a hazel eye, bright though serene, 
 the eye of a gentleman as well as a soldier; a nose such as 
 you see on Roman medals; a light mustache just shading 
 the lips that were continually curving into the sunniest 
 smiles/' 
 
 Previous to the Civil War, he became interested in 
 military science and developed into an enthusiast in that 
 direction. He saw the defects in the militia drill of the 
 United States, and set about demonstrating his theories.
 
 180 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 He was a superb fencer, holding his own against the most 
 dashing swordsmen of two worlds. He was a magnificent 
 shot with a revolver. He organized the United States 
 Zouave Cadets of Chicago, in 1859, clothing and drilling 
 them according to his own ideas. " He drilled these 
 .young men for about a year, at short intervals. His dis- 
 cipline was very severe and rigid. The slightest exhibi- 
 tion of intemperance or licentiousness was punished by 
 instant degradation and expulsion. He struck from the 
 rolls at one time twelve of his best men for breaking the 
 rule of total abstinence. His moral power over them was 
 perfect and absolute. Any one of them would have died 
 for him!" He also organized and Grilled other companies 
 at different points. He gave exhibition drills at fairs 
 and at New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington. 
 New York's crack organization was vanquished by the 
 Ellsworth Zouaves and their fame spread throughout the 
 country. 
 
 At one time Ellsworth studied law in the office of Abra- 
 ham Lincoln at Springfield, Illinois. When the President- 
 elect went to Washington for his inauguration, Ellsworth 
 was among his escort. When the Civil War broke out, 
 he rushed to New York and raised a regiment among the 
 New York firemen. He recruited, drilled and had them 
 in Washington within three weeks. His regiment was 
 the idol of the public and he personally attended to every 
 detail of regimental business. 
 
 On the night of May 23, 1861, Ellsworth and his Zou- 
 aves crossed the Potomac and entered Alexandria. His 
 mission was to take possession of the telegraph office and 
 to stop railroad communication. Observing the flag that
 
 -. '. ;., . 
 
 Elmer E. Ellsworth. 
 
 181
 
 182 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 was flying over the Marshall House, Ellsworth entered the 
 hotel with a detachment of his men, and asked a partially 
 undressed man whom he met what flag it was. The man 
 replied that he knew nothing about it. Ellsworth then 
 ran up-stairs to the roof and cut down the flag. On his 
 way back a man shot him in the breast with a double- 
 barrelled gun. Private Brownell immediately shot the 
 man, who proved to be one Jackson, the proprietor of the 
 hotel, and the man of whom Ellsworth had inquired re- 
 garding the flag. An eye witness of the murder said: 
 " The chaplain turned him over and I stooped and called 
 his name aloud, at which, I think he murmured inarticu- 
 lately. Winser and I lifted the body with all care, and 
 laid it upon a bed in a room near by. The rebel flag, 
 stained with his blood, we laid about his feet." 
 
 Ellsworth's remains were removed to "Washington and 
 laid in state in the White House. On May 25, funeral 
 obsequies were held amid the tolling of bells and universal 
 grief. Honors were paid the body of the young martyr 
 in the cities through which it passed on its way to the 
 home of his parents at Mechanicsville, where it was in- 
 terred.
 
 Robert E. Lee. 183 
 
 ROBERT E. LEE. 
 
 ROBERT EDWARD LEE, a distinguished general 
 and the idol of the Southern Confederacy, was bprn 
 on January 19, 1807, at Stratford House, in West- 
 moreland County, Virginia. His father was General 
 Henry Lee, the famous " Light Horse Harry," of Revolu- 
 tionary times. His mother was Matilda, daughter of 
 Philip Ludwell Lee. No brighter name appears in Amer- 
 ican history than that of Lee. Richard Lee, an ancestor, 
 settled in Virginia during the reign of Charles I. and 
 occupied a prominent and honorable position in colonial af- 
 fairs, and his descendants have maintained the reputation 
 of the family name. 
 
 Young Lee was but eight years of age when the British 
 ravaged the southern coast and burned the city of Wash- 
 ington. He was twelve years old when his father died, 
 and eighteen when he entered the United States Military 
 Academy at West Point. His conduct during his entire 
 course at this institution was exemplary in the highest 
 degree. He never used intoxicating liquor or tobacco; he 
 never received a reprimand or a demerit, and he stood at 
 the head of his class from first to last. He graduated 
 on July 4, 1829, and was at once appointed to the corps 
 of Topographical Engineers. He made a brilliant mar- 
 riage in 1832, and in course of time two of his three 
 sons became major-generals in the Confederate army. 
 
 Lieutenant Lee continued to follow his chosen profes-
 
 184 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 sion, and in 1838, reached the grade of captain. He sup- 
 erintended many important operations in different parts 
 of the country, and when the Mexican War broke out, was 
 made chief of engineers under General Scott. He served 
 in that war with distinction and was twice promoted. Gen- 
 eral Scott esteemed him highly, and in after years said: 
 " Lee is the greatest military genius in America." 
 
 In 1852, Colonel Lee was superintendent of the Mili- 
 tary Academy at West Point. He held this position for 
 three years. When John Brown captured the United 
 State arsenal at Harper's Ferry, in 1859, Lee was sent to 
 recover the arsenal. With a detachment of marines, he 
 attacked and captured Brown and his party, and turned 
 them over to the civil authorities. He then served in 
 Texas, but in 1860, was in Virginia on leave of absence.
 
 General Robert E. Lee. 
 
 185
 
 186 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 Lee early cast in his fortunes with his native state. 
 Untiring efforts were made to retain him in the old ser- 
 vice, but he said," How can I draw my sword upon Vir- 
 ginia my native state." He resigned from the United 
 States army April 20, 1861, and was at once appointed 
 commander of the Virginia forces. It was not without 
 a long and bitter struggle that he left the flag under which 
 he had fought from early manhood, to serve under the 
 " Stars and Bars," but he held that his first duty was to 
 his state; she had called her children to take up arms in 
 her defence, and her cry could not go unheeded. 
 
 For a time he held no important command, but on June 
 3, 1862, he was made commander of the Confederate army 
 of Northern Virginia. This position he held throughout 
 the war. In the same month in which he assumed com- 
 mand of this army, Lee administered blow after blow upon 
 McClellan, who was opposed to him, and forced him to re- 
 treat to the James Kiver. McClellan, however, stood his 
 ground at Malvern Hill, and Lee's impetuous columns 
 were beaten back at that time. Lee then joined " Stone- 
 wall " Jackson and whipped Pope on the old battlefield of 
 Bull Run. He next invaded Maryland, and Jackson cap- 
 tured Harper's Ferry. Then followed the battle of Stone 
 Mountain and the bloody field of Antietam, after which 
 he retreated across the Potomac. At Fredericksburg, Lee 
 administered a crushing defeat to the Union forces under 
 Burnside, and at Chancellorsville, while he won a victory, 
 it cost him the life of Jackson and ten thousand gallant 
 men. 
 
 Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania resulted in the battle of 
 Gettysburg, which was a victory for the Union forces.
 
 187
 
 188 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 Lee withdrew up the Valley of Virginia, followed by 
 Meade. In 1864, Grant moved towards Richmond. Lee 
 struck him a terrible blow in the densely wooded region, 
 known as the Wilderness. The combat was one of the 
 bloodiest of the war, and lasted for three days, but was 
 indecisive in its results. Lee won at Spottsylvania Court 
 House, and repelled Grant's attack upon his entrench- 
 ments at Cold Harbor, but was compelled to retreat from 
 Petersburg. The Confederate army was brave as ever, 
 but was wasted by sickness and death. The South was 
 exhausted, not beaten, and the end came at Appomattox. 
 Lee and Grant met at a plain country house there and ar- 
 ranged the terms whereby the gallant army of Northern 
 Virginia laid down its arms. Lee said to them: " We have 
 fought through the war together. I have done the best 
 I could for you." 
 
 After the war, General Lee became president of Wash- 
 ington College, Lexington, Va. His death occurred st that 
 place October 12, 1870.
 
 Thomas J. Jackson. 189 
 
 THOMAS J. JACKSON. 
 
 THOMAS JONATHAN JACKSON, commonly known 
 as " Stonewall " Jackson, was born at Clarksburg. 
 Va., January 21, 1824. He was left an orphan at an 
 cany age, and from then until he was seventeen years old, 
 he worked on the farm of an uncle. He went to school 
 when he could and studied hard. He was prompt and 
 faithful in all his duties and won the admiration of all 
 around him for the sterling qualities he manifested. 
 When but sixteen years old, the people of Lewis County 
 made him constable of the county, and in spite of his 
 youth, he discharged the duties of the office with success. 
 When seventeen years of age, Jackson applied for and 
 obtained an appointment to the United States Military 
 Academy at West Point. He entered in 1842, studied 
 hard, and graduated four years later with distinction. 
 He was noted for the thorough mastery of any subject 
 he attempted. After graduation he was appointed to the 
 First Artillery. This regiment was then serving under 
 General Taylor in Mexico, but Jackson did not join it in 
 time to see service until the following year, when he par- 
 ticipated in the siege of Vera Cruz, under General Scott. 
 For his services there, he was promoted to a first lieuten- 
 antcy. During the campaign that resulted in the fall of 
 the city of Mexico, Jackson so distinguished himself that 
 he reached the rank of major a series of promotions un- 
 equalled by any other officer in that army. After the 
 
 1 3 Military Herott
 
 190 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 close of the war Jackson's health was so impaired that he 
 resigned his commission. In 1851, he became a professor 
 in the Virginia Military Institute, at Lexington, also an 
 instructor in artillery tactics. It is said that Major Jack- 
 son was not as popular as some of the other professors, 
 but he possessed the respect of his pupils. He had a 
 wonderful memory, and in listening to a recitation would 
 seldom use a book. He became an active and zealous 
 member of the Presbyterian Church and was honored for 
 his piety. 
 
 The opening of the Civil War found Jackson ready to 
 share the fortunes of Virginia. Like Lee, he came to the 
 deliberate conclusion that his state had the right to de- 
 mand his services. His first duties were in drilling the 
 raw troops that poured into Richmond from all parts of 
 the state. In June, 1861, he destroyed the railroad at 
 Martinsburg, and later checked the advance of the Union 
 forces at Falling Waters. At the Battle of Bull Run, 
 Jackson, who was then a brigadier-general, led the advance 
 of Johnston's army and was slightly wounded. It was 
 here that Jackson gained his name of " Stonewall." He 
 had charged the Union lines and saved a Confederate brig- 
 ade. Its leader then called to his own men: " Look yon- 
 der! there is Jackson standing like a stonewall. Let us 
 determine to die here, and we will conquer. Follow me!" 
 This appeal was repeated throughout the army until the 
 name " Stonewall " was universally applied to Jackson. 
 He was made a major-general after this battle, and placed 
 in command of the Valley of Virginia. Jackson's work 
 in the valley was arduous; he had to dispute the advance 
 of Fremont, Banks and McDowell, but the result of the
 
 General Thomas J. Jackson ("Stonewall"). 
 
 191
 
 192 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 operations there was that Banks was whipped at Winches- 
 ter and fled across the Potomac. Large quantities of mili- 
 tary stores fell into the hands of the Confederates. 
 
 In the Shenandoah Valley, Jackson successfully fought 
 armies much larger than his own, and the campaign closed 
 with the battles of Cross Keys and Port Eepublic. He 
 then Joined Lee and decided the battle of Cold Harbor by 
 his timely arrival. He also took a leading part in the 
 battles of White Oak Swamp and Malvern Hill. When 
 Lee invaded Maryland, Jackson led the advance. He in- 
 vested and captured Harper's Ferry and then took part in 
 the terrible fight at Antietam. He commanded the right 
 wing at Fredericksburg and beat back Franklin's corps, 
 repulsing it with heavy loss. Jackson was conspicuous 
 for bravery during this battle, and at one time, when the 
 conflict was raging, he rode a short distance in front of his 
 line; took off his hat, and with his right hand raised to 
 heaven, prayed the God of battles to be with the army that 
 day. 
 
 At Chancellorsville, Jackson grappled with Slocum and 
 then proposed to Lee a movement upon Hooker's right. 
 " Unaware of impending danger, Howard's corps was pre- 
 paring supper and arranging for the night. Suddenly, 
 with a yell that arose above the bugle calls and outpost 
 fire, the flower of Lee's army fell upon Devens, at the 
 extreme of the Union line. Amid the pandemonium of 
 sound, the Unionists flew in a panic before the irresistible 
 onrush of the Southerners. In a turbulent tide they 
 streamed to the rear and along the road to Chancellors- 
 ville, their commander severely wounded; one third their 
 number were captured or disabled. The contagion of panic
 
 194 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 spread to Schurz's and \ 7 on Steinwehr's divisions; the few 
 regiments who stood their ground crumbled before the 
 assault of the gray-coated legions. With half their num- 
 ber dead or dying, they joined their flying comrades. 
 Through the summer twilight, what was once the gallant 
 Eleventh still fled along the dusty roads." 
 
 While reconnoitering for a second attack, Jackson and 
 his escort were mistaken for Union cavalry and fired upon 
 by his own men. Two of his staff were killed and Jack- 
 son received a bullet in the right hand and two in the left 
 arm. He was carried to the rear under a fearful fire from 
 the Union lines. One of his litter bearers was killed, and 
 the litter fell to the ground. His arm was amputated, and 
 after the operation he seemed to revive, but pneumonia 
 set in, the result of exposure a few nights before. On 
 the night in question one of his aides offered him a cape, 
 as the general had no protection from the cold. Jackson 
 accepted it, but in the night arose and covered the young 
 officer with it as he lay asleep, passing the remainder of 
 the night without covering for himself. 
 
 General Jackson died on May 10, 1863, and among his 
 last words were, " Let us cross over the river, and rest 
 under the shade of the trees."
 
 Nelson A. Miles. 
 
 195 
 
 NELSON A. MILES. 
 
 NELSON APPLETON MILES was born at Westmin- 
 ster, Massachusetts, August 8, 1839. His father 
 was Daniel Miles, a sterling, resolute man, a de- 
 scendant of Rev. John Miles, a Welsh clergyman, an Indian 
 fighter and a schoolmas- 
 ter. His grandfather and 
 great - grandfather took 
 part in the battles of Lex- 
 ington a"nd other engage- 
 ments during the Revo- 
 lutionary War. His 
 mother, Mary Curtis, was 
 a noble Christian woman, 
 a descendant of William 
 Curtis, who settled in 
 Boston in 1632. 
 
 General Miles' own ac- 
 count of his childhood 
 tells us that it was an 
 ideal one. " From my 
 earliest recollection I 
 have felt at home on 
 horseback." He adds: 
 " I first rode in front of my father with his arms about 
 me; afterward behind him, holding on with my arms; later 
 alone, clinging to the mane. I was given a horse and rode 
 him and managed him at the age of six. I became at an 
 
 General Nelson A. Miles.
 
 196 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 early age passionately fond of coasting, skating, ball-play- 
 ing, swimming, hunting and trapping, and many a day 
 was delightfully spent in exploring the surrounding coun- 
 try, with a favorite dog as my only companion." 
 
 Miles' education was derived from the district school 
 in the neighborhood of his father's farm, and later at an 
 academy. He exhibited a tendency for a military life, 
 but no opportunity offered itself in that direction, and at 
 sixteen years of age he engaged in mercantile pursuits in 
 the city of Boston. He, however, found time to study 
 military history and art and devoted a portion of his time 
 to military drill. 
 
 Early in 1861, Miles recruited a company of volunteers, 
 was chosen captain, commissioned by the governor of the 
 state, and duly mustered into the United States service. 
 He was then a smooth-faced young man of twenty-one 
 years, eager for service against the enemies of .his country. 
 He began his military service, however, as a first lieuten- 
 ant in the Twenty-second regiment of Massachusetts Vol- 
 unteers, commanded by Colonel Henry Wilson, who after- 
 wards became vice-president of the United States. The 
 reason for his reduction in rank was that the governor 
 recalled his commission, and gave it to a political friend, 
 alleging Miles' youth as his reason for the acton. Miles 
 would not abandon the service he had undertaken, and, 
 though feeling the injustice deeply, started upon that ca- 
 reer that brought him eventually to the proud position of 
 general-in-chief of the armies of the United States. 
 
 In 1862, Miles was the colonel of the Sixty-first New 
 York Volunteers; became a brigadier-general in May, 1864; 
 a major-general the following year. He served with dis-
 
 Nelson A. Miles. 197 
 
 tinguished bravery at Williamsburg and the terrible fight- 
 ing at Seven Pines, was wounded at Fair Oaks, and partici- 
 pated with great credit in the other battles of the Peninsu r 
 lar campaign. He was seriously wounded at Fredericksburg 
 and again at Chancellorsville, where his hurt was supposed 
 to be mortal. He recovered, however, and took an active 
 part in the campaign of 1864 and also that of 1865. For 
 a time, he was in command of the Second Army Corps, the 
 largest body of men ever commanded by a young man of 
 twenty-five years. After the Civil War, General Miles was 
 commissioned a colonel and brevet-major-general in the reg- 
 ular army, and in 1869, commanded the First United States 
 Infantry. 
 
 " Thenceforward," in his own words again, " I continued 
 to serve west of the Missouri until the fall of 1890, a per- 
 iod of nearly twenty-two years." Afterwards, he was sent 
 to Europe to observe the Turco-Grecian war as the repre- 
 sentative of the United States, and in the same capacity 
 was present at Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, in 1897. 
 
 General Miles successfully conducted many Indian cam- 
 paigns. He prevented many Indian wars by a judicious 
 and humane settlement of difficulties, without displaying 
 military force, and was thanked by many states and ter- 
 ritories. 
 
 In 1898, when the United States declared war with 
 Spain on account of the cruelties practiced by the, latter 
 nation in Cuba, General Miles was at the head of the 
 armies of the United States. He did not take the field, 
 however, until July 7th, when he sailed with reinforce- 
 ments for the armv in Cuba. He arrived before Santiago 
 four days later and assumed charge of affairs. At that
 
 198 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 time, negotiations were going on between General Shafter 
 and the Spanish General Toral, relative to the surrender 
 of the latter's army and the city of Santiago. Miles at 
 once took the matter in hand, having full authority from 
 the Secretary of War to do so. Shafter, who had bungled 
 the whole campaign, was afraid of being superseded and 
 was inclined to make trouble. Eventually Miles sent him 
 the following frank and manly telegram, which settled the 
 matter. Miles was then at Plaza del Este: 
 
 "Have no desire and have carefully avoided any ap- 
 pearance of superseding you. Your command is a part of 
 the United States Army which I have the honor to com- 
 mand, having been duly assigned thereto, and directed 
 by the President to go wherever I thought my presence 
 required, and give such general directions as I thought 
 best concerning military matters, and especially to go to 
 Santiago for a specific purpose. 
 
 " You will also notice that the orders of the Secretary 
 of War, of July 13, left the matter to my discretion. I 
 should regret that any event should cause either yourself 
 or any part of your command to cease to be a part of 
 mine." 
 
 The matter referred to was the surrender of General 
 Toral, who had stated that so long as he had rations and 
 ammunition, he would have to fight in order to maintain 
 the honor of the Spanish army. Miles informed him that 
 he had already done so, and that further-, efforts would 
 result in the wanton sacrifice of human life. Toral sur- 
 rendered, and the American forces entered Santiago on 
 July 17. Miles did not receive the surrender himself, gen- 
 erously leaving that honor to Shafter. From the moment
 
 Nelson A. Miles. 199 
 
 he arrived in Cuba he was charged with the responsibility 
 of ordering an attack upon the Spanish entrenchments 
 which would have cost several thousand lives or of with- 
 holding it. No greater discretion was ever given to any 
 general commanding an army. He was also authorized 
 to receive the surrender of the Spanish forces, but he al- 
 lowed the honor to pass to another. 
 
 General Miles took charge of the army that invaded 
 Porto Rico. The advance guard reached the port of 
 Guanica on July 25. The campaign was brief and pecu- 
 liar, the Spanish forces offering a stubborn resistance, while 
 the inhabitants welcomed the invading army with open 
 hands. A few days after the first landing, General Miles 
 telegraphed the War Department in part: 
 
 " Spanish troops are retreating from southern part of 
 Porto Rico. Ponce and port have a population of fifty 
 thousand now under American flag. The populace re- 
 ceived the troops and saluted the flag with wild enthusi- 
 asm. Navy has several prizes, also seventy lighters. Rail- 
 way stock, partly destroyed, now restored. Telegraph 
 communication also being restored. Ca"ble instruments 
 destroyed. Have sent to Jamaica for others. This is a 
 prosperous and beautiful country. The army will soon 
 be in the mountain region; weather delightful; troops in 
 the best of health and spirits! anticipate no insurmount- 
 able difficulties in the future. Results thus far have .been 
 accomplished without the loss of a single life." 
 
 General Miles issued a proclamation to the people of 
 Porto Rico, in which he assured them that "The chief 
 aim of the American military forces will be to overthrow 
 the authority of Spain and give the people of your beau-
 
 200 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 tiful island the largest measure of liberty consistent with 
 this military occupation." Town after town surrendered 
 to the Americans, and on August 28 General Miles in- 
 formed those under his command that hostilities had been 
 suspended. This information did not reach General Schwan 
 until two days later, and meanwhile that officer was en- 
 gaged with some Spanish forces. Upon receipt of the 
 news, he sent a flag of truce to the enemy's line informing 
 the officer in command that peace negotiations were nearly 
 concluded. The Spaniard would not believe it, however, 
 until he had communicated with the governor-general at 
 San Juan. When he was informed from there that the 
 information was really correct, hostilities were suspended 
 in reality. General Miles returned to the United States 
 and resumed his duties at Washington.
 
 Joseph Wheeler. 
 
 201 
 
 JOSEPH WHEELER. 
 
 JOSEPH WHEELER was born in Augusta, Georgia, 
 September 10, 1836. He entered the Military 
 Academy at West Point in 1854, and graduated four 
 years later. He then 
 became a lieutenant 
 in a cavalry regiment 
 and served in New 
 Mexico. He cast in 
 his fortunes with the 
 South in the Civil 
 War, and by his 
 abilities rose through 
 the different grades of 
 the service until, in 
 1864, he was made the 
 senior cavalry general 
 of the Confederate 
 armies. He was not 
 only a fighter, but he 
 was a strategist. He 
 was audacious, aggres- 
 
 General Joseph Wheeler. 
 
 sive, and tireless in his 
 duties. At the age of 
 twenty-six years, he re- 
 ceived the thanks of the Confederate Congress for his de- 
 fence of Aiken, and the state of South Carolina honored
 
 202 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 him in the same manner for his achievements on that oc- 
 casion. His services to the Confederacy were inestimable, 
 and the name of the dashing cavalryman was known 
 throughout the South as a household word. 
 
 Wheeler fought at Pensacola, and captured General 
 Frentiss' brigade at Shiloh. With his gallant troopers he 
 turned Rosecrans' flank at Murfreesboro, and at Chicka- 
 mauga he was successful in capturing many prisoners, 
 wagons and war material. After the battle, he led his 
 swift horsemen in a famous raid around the Union rear 
 and destroyed twelve hundred wagons loaded with sup- 
 plies. He was at Missionary Ridge, and there his sabre 
 flashed in the thickest of the fight. Later he thwarted 
 Cook's great raid. Sixteen horses were shot under him, 
 and he was three times wounded before the war closed. 
 
 After peace between the two warring sections had been 
 restored, General Wheeler engaged in business in Xew 
 Orleans. He declined the position of a professor anrl c.om- 
 mai.der of cadets in the Louisiana State seminary. In- 
 stead, he became a counsellor-at-law and also a planter. 
 Later, he was elected to Congress and served in the House 
 of Representatives. 
 
 When the war with Spain broke out, in 1898, General 
 Wheeler was summoned to the aid of the Government, 
 and, in spite of his advancing years, threw himself into 
 the conflict with the same energv he had displaved on the 
 battlefields of the Civil War. He commanded the cavalry 
 during the brief campaign in Cuba, and by his intelli- 
 gent jrrasp of situations as thev arose, contributed verv 
 largelv to the success of the American arms. In that 
 dismal time, when many commanders before Santiago felt
 
 Joseph Wheeler. 203 
 
 that the American forces should retreat, the grand old 
 cavalryman refused to entertain the proposition. The 
 poorly clad and worse fed heroes were almost at their last 
 exertion, and to some it seemed murderous to throw them 
 again at the Spanish defences. The monumental blun- 
 ders of the campaign had brought these to feel that to 
 remain was disaster; to advance was extinction. " But 
 Wheeler had been in dilemnas of a more trying sort in the 
 Civil War. He had been surrounded by the bayonets of 
 the Federals, and many a time he hatl cut his way through 
 massive ranks that were quite as formidable as the barbed 
 wire bulwarks, stone walls and clay defences of the Span- 
 iards." He wrote to the commanding officer, " I presume 
 the same influences are being brought to bear on you that 
 are working with me. But it will not do. American 
 prestige would suffer irretrievably if we give up an inch; 
 we must stand firm!" 
 
 One of the stories told of General Wheeler while in 
 Cuba is that, after one of the most trying battles, he or- 
 dered that trenches should be dug in anticipation of the 
 next conflict. Wheeler was sick at the time, but he rose 
 from his cot when an officer said to him: 
 
 " General, I am afraid our men can't dig the trenches." 
 
 "What men?" asked the general. 
 
 " The Cavalry Division," was the reply. 
 
 General Wheeler sat up in bed and began to pull on 
 his boots. 
 
 " Send me the man," he directed. 
 
 "What man?" asked the officer. 
 
 "The man who can't dig the trenches." 
 
 " But it is not one man; it is many men. They are just 
 played out."
 
 204 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 " But you can surely find one man who says he can't 
 dig the trench. Go get him and bring him to me." 
 
 After a while the officer appeared with a colored trooper. 
 
 " Are you the man who says he can't dig those 
 trenches?" 
 
 " I'se one of them, boss, but there's a " 
 
 " You go to sleep now, my man, and I'll go up and dig 
 your trench for you. When the sun comes up to-morrow 
 morning the Spaniards are going to open on us, and every 
 man who isn't protected will be in danger of getting killed. 
 The trenches have to be dug, and if you are unable to dig 
 yours, I'll just go up and dig it for you. Where's your 
 pick?" 
 
 For a half a minute the voice of the trooper stuck vt 
 his throat, and then he said: 
 
 " Boss, you ain't fitten to dig no trenches. If they got 
 to be dug, I'll just naturally do it myself. I'm dog tired, 
 but that ain't no work for you." 
 
 The negro started off, and Wheeler turned to the officer 
 saying: 
 
 " He seems to have changed his mind. Now go find 
 me another man who can't dig the trenches." 
 
 The officer saluted and rode off. The trenches were 
 dug before morning. 
 
 It is said that the men under him were a study and de- 
 light to General Wheeler. They moved at his will like 
 so many machines. The fluctuating chances of battle and 
 the scarcity of provisions at times recalled days in the 
 Confederacy when he made campaigning very serious work 
 for the Union armies. 
 
 After ToraPs surrender; General Wheeler returned with
 
 Theodore Roosevelt. 205 
 
 his men to the United States and for a time was stationed 
 at the camp at Montauk, Long Island. Always a close 
 student, he now turned to authorship, and prepared a val- 
 uable work upon the operations in Cuba. In 1899, he was 
 sent to the Philippine Islands to assist in the .suppression 
 of the Filipino rebellion. 
 
 THEODORE ROOSEVELT. 
 
 THEODORE ROOSEVELT was born in New York, Oc- 
 tober 27, 1858. He graduated from Harvard Uni- 
 versity in 1880, and two years later, became a mem- 
 ber of the New York Legislature. Later he was a Na- 
 tional Civil Service Commissioner, and then the Presi- 
 dent of the New York Police Board. In 1897, he was 
 appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy, but resigned 
 from that important position in 1898, to organize the 
 First United States Volunteer Cavalry. 
 
 The Roosevelt family dates back to 1648, when the 
 Dutch were in control of Manhattan Island. Theodore 
 Roosevelt's great-great-grandfather was Isaac Roosevelt, 
 who was a member of the Kingston Convention of 1777, 
 which framed the constitution of the state of New York, 
 and of the Poughkeepsie convention of 1786, which rati- 
 fied the constitution of the United States. A son of his, 
 also named Isaac, was a noted inventor, and his name will 
 always be associated with that of Robert Fulton in the 
 
 14 Military Herott
 
 206 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 first practical application of steam to navigation. Theo- 
 dore Roosevelt's father was a prominent merchant of New 
 York. His brother, Robert B. Roosevelt, was at one time 
 minister to the Netherlands, and member of Congress. 
 
 Before his participation in the war with Spain, in 1898, 
 Roosevelt had been in public life for many years, and had 
 made a name for himself in politics and literature. He 
 was always active in reforms, and was successful in dis- 
 closing many municipal abuses in New York city. He 
 brought his irrepressible energies to the post of Assistant 
 Secretary of the Navy, and later, in speaking of his ex- 
 periences in that position, said: " One day last spring, 
 when it fell to my lot to help get the navy ready for war, 
 I and my naval aide, Lieutenant Sharpe, went out buying 
 auxiliary cruisers. On this particular day we had spent 
 about seven million dollars. It began to rain. ' Sharpe/ 
 said I, ' I have only four cents in my pockets. Lend me 
 a cent or five cents, will you, so that I can ride home?' 
 Sharpe answered, 'I haven't a single cent.' And I answered 
 him, ( Never mind, Sharpe; that's why we'll beat the Span- 
 iards. It isn't every country where two public servants 
 could spend seven million dollars and not have a cent in 
 their clothes after they were through.' ' 
 
 The regiment raised by Roosevelt became known 
 throughout the country as the " Rough Riders." It was 
 composed of men from all ranks and conditions of life. 
 Almost in a day, Roosevelt gathered his motley throng. 
 The recruits came from cowboy camps and college halls, 
 athletes and dudes, deputy sheriffs from mining camps; 
 frontiersmen, men of letters, joined the ranks. Scions of 
 aristocratic families performed the menial duties of camp
 
 THEODORE ROOSEVEW.
 
 208 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 life as gaily as they would participate in a polo match. 
 Roosevelt declined the colonelcy of the regiment and asked 
 that it might be given to Dr. Leonard Wood. For him- 
 self, he accepted the second command. Both he and Col- 
 onel Wood drilled the regiment until it arrived at a high 
 state of discipline. The camp of instruction was at San 
 Antonio, Texas, and from there the men were conveyed 
 to Tampa, Florida, and soon sent to Cuba as dismounted 
 cavalry. 
 
 On June 22, 1898, the "Rough Riders " disembarked 
 from the transport Yucatan, at Daiquiri, a few miles to 
 the eastward of Santiago, where there was an iron pier 
 belonging to an American mining company. Getting 
 ashore was no easy matter, as the boats were tossed about 
 in the surf that dashed against the pier, and the soldiers 
 were obliged to throw their rifles onto the dock, and then 
 scramble up as best they could. On June 24, the " Rough 
 Riders " had their first fight. Every man was eager for it, 
 and marched gaily along. The day was swelteringly hot, 
 and as they advanced the men threw away their blankets. 
 They toiled on, following trails that compelled them to 
 move in single file. Prickly cactus bushes and thick un- 
 derbrush lined the way and impeded the march. Finally 
 a little open space was reached and shots began to be heard 
 to the right in the direction that had been taken by Gen- 
 eral Young. Shortly the crack of Mauser rifles was heard 
 and bullets flew about the heads of the men. " It's up to 
 us," shouted Roosevelt. Colonel Wood, as coolly as if 
 on parade, commanded, "Deploy! lie down!" The shots 
 came thicker and faster. The Spaniards were using 
 smokeless powder and could not be seen.
 
 210 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 Roosevelt braved every form of danger; men were drop- 
 ping around him, and he had a narrow escape from a bul- 
 let which lodged in a tree near his head. Fourteen men 
 were killed and thirty-six wounded before the Spaniards, 
 were located and driven back. Sergeant Hamilton Fish, 
 Jr., was the first man killed. Captain Capron was killed 
 while shouting an order. After the Spanish fire slackened, 
 their troops were seen running to a blockhouse, evidently 
 intending to make a stand there. With Roosevelt and Wood 
 at their head the "Rough Riders" pursued them, and poured 
 a hail of bullets into them and into the blockhouse as well. 
 The blockhouse was abandoned when the Americans were 
 within a few hundred yards. Its defenders fled in the di- 
 rection of Santiago, and the battle of Las Guasimas- was at 
 an end. 
 
 In a letter to the Secretary of War, Colonel Wood said: 
 " The fight lasted over two hours, and was very hot and 
 at rather close range. The Spanish used the volley a 
 great deal, while my men fired as individuals. We found 
 that instead of fifteen hundred men, we had struck an out- 
 post of several thousand. However, to cut a long story 
 short, we drove them steadily, but slowly, and finally threw 
 them into flight. My men conducted themselves splen- 
 didly and behaved like veterans, going up against the 
 heavy Spanish lines as though they had the greatest con- 
 tempt for them." 
 
 At San Juan, Roosevelt again showed indomitable brav- 
 ery and pluck. There was no protection, the charge was 
 in the open. A hundred feet in the lead of his men, he 
 dashed up the slope in the face of death men dropping 
 at every step. Again the "Rough Riders" drove the
 
 Theodore Roosevelt. 211 
 
 Spaniards before them, and as they fled coolly picked them 
 off. They suffered severely, but no troops ever behaved 
 better under fire. Colonel Wood was promoted to be a 
 brigadier-general and Roosevelt was made a colonel. 
 Roosevelt returned to the United States with his men and 
 the famous regiment was mustered out of service. Roose- 
 velt took leave of each man personally. No such body of 
 men were ever gathered together before. Wherever stor- 
 ies of brave and dashing deeds are told, those of Roose- 
 velt and his " Rough Riders " will not be omitted. 
 
 In 1899 Theodore Roosevelt was elected governor of the 
 state of New York. 
 
 The popular demand that Roosevelt should have a place 
 on the Republican ticket resulted in his nomination for 
 Vice-President by the same convention that nominated 
 William McKinley as President in 1900. He was elected, 
 and the dignity with which he presided over the Senate 
 during the session of 1901 and the clear comprehension 
 of his duties which he displayed, made a favorable im- 
 pression upon that body and further endeared him to 
 the country. When, then, by the death of President 
 McKinley, his office devolved upon Vice-President Roose- 
 velt, the people of the United States,accepted the change 
 without fear or apprehension.
 
 212 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 HENRY W. LAWTON. 
 
 HENRY W. LAWTON, a brilliant and successful 
 officer, was born at Manhattan, Ohio, March 17th, 
 1843. He was a tall, black-eyed boy, fitting himself 
 for a collegiate course at Fort Wayne, Indiana, when Cap- 
 tain Elmer E. Ellsworth visited that town with his com- 
 pany of Zouaves, shortly before the Civil War, and gave an 
 exhibition of their wonderful drill. In Fort Wayne, as in 
 many other towns, the inhabitants went wild over the dash- 
 ing performances and novel drill of this famous organiza- 
 tion. Independent companies, modeled on the plan of the 
 picturesquely-clad Zouaves, were formed, and in one of 
 these young Lawton developed the military instincts of his 
 nature. 
 
 In April, 1861, Indiana was called upon for three- 
 months' regiments, to aid in suppressing the threatened se- 
 cession movement in the South, and Lawton was one of the 
 first to enlist. His- fitness for rank and command were 
 noticeable, and he was quickly made a sergeant in Company 
 E, Ninth Indiana Volunteers. In after life Lawton said 
 of his first service: 
 
 " I never had so much rank since. I was impatient to 
 learn it all, but I soon saw how much there was that I 
 didn't understand. I had the company drill pretty pat, but 
 of guard mounting, picket and outpost duty, and many 
 other things, I absolutely knew nothing."
 
 Henry W. Lawton. 
 
 213 
 
 Sergeant Lawton's first term of enlistment ended with- 
 out any startling episode, and he returned home. A dis- 
 tinguished army officer, who had many opportunities for 
 observing the career of the young subaltern, once said of 
 him: 
 
 " I remember Lawton in 1861 very well. I think he 
 had the biggest, black- 
 est eyes I ever saw in 
 a boy's head. He was 
 a pale, slender young- 
 ster, but he made up 
 for his possible lack of 
 blood by an indomit- 
 able energy, that has 
 grown with his growth 
 and become greater 
 with his strength. He 
 was a most careful 
 military student, too, 
 and one far beyond his 
 years. He used often 
 to puzzle me with 
 difficult tactical ques- 
 tions. I think when his three months' service was ended 
 he was as fine a tactical officer in the school of the company 
 and battalion as I have ever seen ." 
 
 Lawton was determined to obtain a commission, and soon 
 after his return to his home, he again enlisted, and was 
 made a first lieutenant in the Thirtieth Indiana the 
 youngest officer in the regiment. He served in Kentucky 
 at first, and afterwards in Tennessee, and did good work at 
 
 General Henry W. Lawton.
 
 21-i Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 the fight of Pittsburg Landing. He was at Corinth and 
 luka, and in the last days of the war led his regiment on 
 several battlefields. His commission as captain came to 
 him soon after his nineteenth birthday. In speaking of 
 the incident in after years, he said: 
 
 " 1 had been commanding my company for some time, 
 and I knew 1 would receive the formal promotion, for my 
 immediate superiors had all endorsed me in the most favor- 
 able terms. But I had not the formal warrant to assume 
 the rank. When it was handed to me, I would not have ex- 
 changed places with King or Kaiser. 1 was nineteen years 
 old, and, although my upper lip was as bare as a girl's, I was 
 a captain in a fighting regiment. It was then that I felt 
 that if I had a vocation for anything on earth, it was the 
 life of a soldier. Then and there I determined to make the 
 service of my country my life's work." 
 
 After the Civil War Lawton became a second lieutenant 
 in the Regular Army, and was sent to the frontier. There 
 he gained a great reputation as an Indian fighter. His 
 general, himself as gallant a soldier as ever wore a sword, 
 learned to love and respect the young officer, and said of 
 him on one occasion: 
 
 " I like that new captain of mine, Lawton. Unless I'm 
 very wide of the mark, he will prove a great soldier." 
 
 Lawton's regiment was in most of the Indian campaigns 
 from 1868 to 1888, and his record during that time was 
 splendid. The ambitious young Indian war chiefs, Naches, 
 Eskimizin, Geronimo, and others, were leaving a trail of 
 blood behind them in Arizona, but all were eventually 
 killed, captured, or taken prisoner by the tireless young 
 captain and his cavalrymen. Satanta, one of these chiefs
 
 Henry W. Lawton. 215 
 
 after his surrender, said to General Sherman, pointing to 
 the stalwart figure of Lawton: 
 
 " Um, him like Iirjun." 
 
 " I think you are right, for Lawton is more like an In* 
 dian than any white man I ever saw," was the reply. 
 
 In the tedious operations against the treacherous Apaches 
 of the Southwest, Lawton risked his life scores of times, 
 and yet came out unscathed after enduring hardships that 
 would have broken down any man who had not a frame of 
 iron. 
 
 When the war with Spain broke out, in 1898, Lawton was 
 an assistant inspector-general at Washington, with the rank 
 of a lieutenant-colonel. lie was one of the first officers 
 given a high commission and put in charge of regulars. His 
 work in Cuba was without a flaw, and it was his men who 
 took El Caney, and then closed in on the city of Santiago 
 from the north. Before leaving for the seat of war, Law- 
 ton said: 
 
 " I'm going to the field, but not as a staff officer. I 
 want an infantry command; a brigade, if possible." It was 
 given to him, and then he was made a division commander, 
 showing the estimation of his military superiors. 
 
 There is a story of Lawton's dislike to be lionized. It 
 was after his return to the L T nited States, with his division, 
 and at a great dinner, at which officers of high rank in the 
 army and navy were present. Speech followed speech, and 
 Lawton's turn came. Rising amid hearty applause, he 
 bowed to the front, to the right, and to the left, and then 
 sat down without a word, justifying the remark of a brother 
 officer, that he was " the most modest man in the army.'*' 
 
 One of Lawton's own stories was of a returned soldier
 
 216 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 from Santiago, who met profuse admiration with the 
 response, " I ain't no hero; I'm only a reg'lar." 
 
 Lawton was made a major-general of volunteers for his 
 splendid services in Cuba, ?md in January, 1899, was sent 
 to the Philippines, to assist in putting down the insurrec- 
 tion under Aguinaldo. In this duty he employed the same 
 persistent, aggressive tactics which he had used in Arizona. 
 The Filipino strongholds one by one fell before his ener- 
 getic assaults, and he received the personal thanks of the 
 President of the United States for his capture of the rebel 
 position at San Isidro. He fought Aguinaldo's bandits at 
 the head of his men, and it was while pursuing one of these 
 bands that he met his death, in a skirmish near San Mateo, 
 on December 18th, 1899. He was utterly fearless of bul- 
 lets, and when he was reminded, in his last fight, that he 
 was a prominent mark for sharpshooters, he only laughed. 
 He received his death wound while bending over a wounded 
 comrade. 
 
 One who knew General Lawton well, and was in close 
 contact with him in the Philippines, said: 
 
 "His bravery was something more than mere fearless- 
 ness. The night before I left Manila I begged him, as hia 
 friends had begged of him hundreds of times before, to be 
 more careful about exposing himself to the fire of the 
 enemy. At that time he had been seriously exposed on 
 twenty-eight different occasions since his arrival in the 
 Philippines, and I told him he ought not to do it. He told 
 me that he felt it necessary that he should personally direct 
 every movement. Furthermore, he knew that so long as 
 he was with them, his men would never fail to respond to 
 any request or call that might be made upon them, and his
 
 218 Military Heroes of the United States. 
 
 personal bravery was an inspiration to every soldier in his 
 command. He told me that he had not an anxious thought 
 for himself; that he had been a soldier all his life, and 
 would gladly die a soldier's death; but he thought of what 
 might be in store for his wife and children if he should be 
 taken, and this weighed heavily upon him/' 
 
 The nation suffered a great loss in the death of General 
 Lawton, but it amply provided for his family, expressions 
 of sympathy and a willingness to co-operate in the raising 
 of a fund for their relief coming in from all parts of the 
 country. This fund eventually reached the sum of nearly 
 one hundred thousand dollars. 
 
 General Lawton had a striking personality. He was 
 above six feet in height, and straight as an arrow. His 
 hair and mustache were nearly white, and his black eyes 
 fairly blazed when under strong excitement or in an action. 
 He was a medal-of-honor man, that coveted decoration 
 having been given to him " for distinguished gallantry in 
 leading a charge of skirmishers against the enemy's rifle- 
 pits, taking them, with their occupants, and stubbornly and 
 successfully resisting two determined attacks of the enemy 
 to retake the works." This incident occurred in front of 
 Atlanta in 1864. 
 
 General Lawton had none of the advantages resulting 
 from a scientific training at AVest Point. Instead, he fought 
 his way up, step by step, through the display of qualities 
 that could not be passed by. No finer type of a self-devel- 
 oped American soldier has been carried on the army list of 
 the United States.
 
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 GRANDFATHER'S CHAIR. By Nathaniel Hawthorne. 
 With 60 illustrations. 
 
 FLOWER FABLES. By Louisa May Alcott. With*50 
 illustrations. 
 
 AUNT MARTHA'S CORNER CUPBOARD. By Mary 
 and Elizabeth Kirby. With 60 illustrations. 
 
 WATER-BABIES ; A Fairy Tale for a Land-Baby. By 
 Charles Kinsgley. With 84 illustrations. 
 
 BATTLES OF THE WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE, 
 By Prescott Holmes. With 70 illustrations. 
 
 BATTLES OF THE WAR FOR THE UNION. By 
 
 Prescott Holmes. With 80 illustrations. 
 
 YOUNG PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE WAR WITH 
 SPAIN. By Prescott Holmes. With 89 illustrations. 
 
 HEROES OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY. By 
 Hartwell James. With 60 illustrations. 
 
 MILITARY HEROES OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 By Hartwell James. With 60 illustrations. 
 
 UNCLE TOM'S CABIN. By Mrs. Harriet Beecher 
 Stowe. Arranged for young readers. With 90 illus- 
 trations. 
 
 VIC; The Autobiography of a Fox-Terrier. By Marie 
 More Marsh. With illustrations. 
 
 TALES FROM SHAKESPEARE. By Charles and Mary 
 Lamb. With 60 illustrations.
 
 4 ALTEMUS' YOUNG PEOPLE'S LIBRARY. 
 
 ADVENTURES IN TOYLAND. By Edith King K 
 With 70 illustrations. 
 
 THE ADVENTURES OF A BROWNIE. By 
 Mulock. With 18 illustrations. 
 
 MIXED PICKLES. By Mrs. E. M. Field. With 31 
 illustrations. 
 
 THE LITTLE LAME PRINCE. By Miss Mulo-k. 
 With 24 illustrations. 
 
 THE SLEEPY KING. By Aubrey Hopwood and & y- 
 mour Hicks. With 77 illustrations. 
 
 RIP VAN WINKLE. A LEGEND OF THE HUD- 
 SON. By Washington Irving. With 46 illustrations. 
 
 A CHILD'S GARDEN OF VERSES. By Robert Lotus 
 Stevenson. With 120 illustrations. 
 
 ANIMAL STORIES FOR LITTLE PEOPLE. With 30 
 illustrations. 
 
 ROMULUS, the Founder of Rome. By Jacob Abbott. 
 With 49 illustrations. 
 
 CYRUS THE GREAT, the Founder of the Persian 
 Empire. By Jacob Abbott. With 40 illustrations. 
 
 DARIUS THE GREAT, King of the Medes and Persians. 
 By Jacob Abbott. With 34 illustrations. 
 
 XERXES THE GREAT, King of Persia. By Jacob 
 Abbott. With 39 illustrations. 
 
 ALEXANDER THE GREAT, King of Macedon. By 
 Jacob Abbott, With 01 illustrations.
 
 ALTEMTTS' YOTTNG PEOPLE'S LIBRARY. 6 
 
 PYRRHUS, King of Epirus. By Jacob Abbott. With 
 45 illustrations. 
 
 HANNIBAL, the Carthaginian. By Jacob Abbott. 
 With 37 illustrations. 
 
 JULIUS CAESAR, the Roman Conqueror. By Jacob 
 Abbott. With 44 illustrations. 
 
 ALFRED THE GREAT, of England. By Jacob Abbott. 
 With 40 illustrations. 
 
 WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR, of England. By Jacob 
 Abbott. With 43 illustrations. 
 
 HERNANDO CORTEZ, the Conqueror of Mexico. By 
 Jacob Abbott. With 30 illustrations. 
 
 MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS. By Jacob Abbott. With 
 45 illustrations. 
 
 QUEEN ELIZABETH, of England. By Jacob Abbott. 
 With 49 illustrations. 
 
 KING CHARLES THE FIRST, of England. By Jacob 
 Abbott. With 41 illustrations. 
 
 KING CHARLES THE SECOND, of England. By 
 Jacob Abbott. With 38 illustrations. 
 
 MARIA ANTOINETTE, Queen of France. By John S. 
 C. Abbott. With 42 illustrations. 
 
 MADAME ROLAND, A Heroine of the French Revolu- 
 tion. By Jacob Abbott. With 42 illustrations. 
 
 JOSEPHINE, Empress of France. By Jacob Abbott. 
 With 40 illustrations.
 
 6 HENRY ALTEMTTS COMPANY'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 ALTEMUS' ILLUSTRATED 
 
 Young People's Histories. 
 
 By EDWARD S. ELLIS, A.M. 
 
 Cloth, ornamental. 75 cents each. 
 
 YOUNG PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED 
 STATES. 164 illustrations. Strange adventures and 
 marvelous achievement crowd its pages ; and the at- 
 tainments shown in the fields of education, of dis- 
 covery, of invention, of literature, of art and science 
 are wonderful and unprecedented. 
 
 YOUNG PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 160 
 illustrations. The aim of this volume is to enable the 
 reader to easily acquire a knowledge of the leading 
 facts concernfng the stupendous British Empire, whoso 
 full history, teeming with mighty events and spanning 
 twenty centuries, requires volumes for the telling. 
 
 YOUNG PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF FRANCE. 115 Illus- 
 trations. France is a wonderful nation, and her history 
 is instructive, for it includes every system of govern- 
 ment that the ingenuity of man has devised. It is full 
 of warnings, too, and of instructive lessons for American 
 youths. 
 
 YOUNG PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF GERMANY. 112 
 illustrations. The record of Germany, now among the 
 foremost Powers of the globe, is one of valiant achieve- 
 ment on the battlefield, of patient suffering under grind- 
 ing tyranny, of grim resolution and heroic endeavor, 
 and of grand triumphs iu art, science, literature, diplo- 
 macy.
 
 HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 ALTEMUS' ILLUSTRATED 
 
 Miscellaneous Works, 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON JONES, A Christmas Gift 
 That Went A-Begging. By Ruth McEnery Stuart. 
 Pictures by E. Potthast. Cloth $1.00. " George Wash- 
 ington Jones is as endearing a small specimen of 'cul- 
 lud ' humanity as one has met in fiction for many a 
 year, and the history of his touching attempt to give 
 himself away is told with a mingling of humor and 
 pathos that is fairly disarming." New York Evening 
 Post. 
 
 GALOPOFF, THE TALKING PONY. By Tudor Jenks. 
 Pictures by Howard 11. Cork Cloth, $1.00. "The 
 talking pony is a character with whom children and 
 other people, too, would certainly do well to have a 
 listening acquaintance." The Criterion, New York, 
 N. Y. 
 
 GYPSY, THE TALKING DOG. By Tudor Jenks. Pic- 
 tures by Reginald B. Birch. Cloth, $1.00. " It is well 
 to read all that Mr. Jenks tells us about animals that 
 tal k . " Pittsburg leader. 
 
 " After reading this very clever story children will wait 
 for remarks from their own pet dogs." Chicago Post. 
 
 CAPS AND CAPERS. By Gabrielle E. Jackson. Pic- 
 tures by C. M. Relyea. Cloth, $1.00. "It is, in a 
 modest way, a girl's 'Tom Brown,' written by one 
 who knows the heart of a girl, and thoroughly appreci- 
 ates it." The Advance, Chicago.
 
 8 HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 FOLLY IN FAIRYLAND. By Carolyn Wells. Pic- 
 tures by Wallace Morgan. Cloth, $1.00. u It recounts 
 the adventures of a little girl who went to the realm of 
 the fairies, but, unlike the immortal Alice, her experi- 
 ences were all pleasant." Chronicle, San Francisco, Col. 
 
 FOLLY IN THE FOREST. By Carolyn Wells. Pic- 
 tures by Reginald B. Birch. Cloth, $1.00. "In Miss 
 Wells' books there is always something going on from 
 start to finish, and for this reason they are as interesting 
 to young people as any that could be written." Nash- 
 ville American. 
 
 TOMMY FOSTER'S ADVENTURES. By Fred A. Ober. 
 Pictures by Stanley M. Arthurs. Cloth, $1.00. "Tommy 
 is an every-day, honest, wide-awake little fellow, who 
 went out into the world by himself and really saw 
 things." Christian Register, Boston, Mass. 
 
 FOR PREY AND SPOILS; OR THE BOY BUCCA- 
 NEER. By Fred A. Ober. Pictures by Reginald B. 
 Birch. Cloth, $1.00. " A story comparable in interest 
 to Stevenson's ' Treasure Island.' " Nashville American. 
 
 THE LITTLE LADY HER BOOK. By Albert Bige- 
 low Paine. With 45 illustrations by Louise Heustis, 
 Mabel Humphrey, and others. Cloth, $1.00. Helen 
 Leah Reed in her list of thirty best books for young 
 readers in the Clubwoman says : " The Little Lady Her 
 Book, by Albert Bigelow Paine, has all the charm of 
 Mr. Paine's previous books. They are especially appre- 
 ciated by the youngest readers, and are also well 
 adapted to reading aloud." 
 
 THE ARKANSAW BEAR. By Albert Bigelow Paine. 
 With 35 illustrations by Frank Ver Beck. Cloth, $1.00. 
 In this witty and ingenious book a little boy and a big 
 black bear become companions in adventures that are 
 always diverting, sometimes pathetic, but never tragic.
 
 HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY'S PUBLICATIONS. 9 
 
 WINGS AND FETTERS. A Story for Girls. By Flor- 
 ence Morse Kingsley, author of "Titus," "Paul," 
 "Stephen, "etc. Pictures by Reginald B. Birch. Cloth, 
 $1.00. The heroine is an attractive young woman of 
 nineteen, who sacrifices a life of case to care for an 
 invalid aunt and her daughter. 
 
 STEPHEN, A SOLDIER OF THE CROSS. By Florence 
 Morse Kingsley. Cloth, ornamental, illustrated in 
 color, $1.00. 
 
 THE CROSS TRIUMPHANT. By Florence Morse Kings- 
 ley. Cloth, ornamental, illustrated in color, $1.00. 
 
 POLLY PERKINS' ADVENTURES. By E. Louise Lid- 
 dell. Cloth, illustrated, $1.00. "A mere mention of 
 the names of its principal characters should be sufficient 
 to recommend the book to the little folk as well as to 
 many of the grown-ups who still preserve tender recol- 
 lections of mamma's stories at sleepy-time." Ledger 
 Monthly, New York. 
 
 RATAPLAN, A ROGUE ELEPHANT, AND OTHER 
 STORIES. By Ellen Velvin, F. Z. S. Illustrations in 
 color by Gustavo Verbeek. Cloth, $1.00. " We know 
 of no recent children's book that we would more 
 quickly or more confidently give to a child." Chicago 
 Itecord- Herald. 
 
 DOUGHNUTS AND DIPLOMAS. By Gabriello E. 
 Jackson. Pictures by C. M. Relyea. Cloth, $1.00. 
 The heroine is an energetic piece of femininity and 
 manages an incapable mother and a fatherless family in 
 such a capable way as to obtain the education she covets. 
 Eventually she makes doughnuts in the Adirondacks 
 to enable her to acquire a diploma in the University of 
 Michigan,
 
 10 HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 HALF-A-DOZEN HOUSEKEEPERS. By Kate Doug- 
 las Wiggin. Pictures in color by Mills Thompson. 
 Cloth, 75 cents. "An animated record of girlish fun 
 and frolic, simple, natural and attractive." Boston 
 Transcript. 
 
 THE WANDERINGS OF JOE AND LITTLE EM. By 
 Albert Bigelow Paine. Pictures by J. Connacher. 
 Cloth, 50 cents. "A pretty, pathetic story of a 'boy 
 prodigy of song,' who, left an orphan with his little 
 sister, decides to walk to New York and begin his 
 studies there. Joe and Little Em are sure to make as 
 many warm friends in the telling of this story as they 
 made 'on the road,' where Joe's wonderful voice won 
 all hearts." Pittsburg Bulletin. 
 
 MARY AUGUSTA'S PRICE. By Sophie Swett. Cloth, 
 illustrated, 50 cents. Of course Mary Augusta is the 
 heroine her name in full was Mary Augusta Wing 
 and her aspirations, struggles, and development into a 
 successful business woman are told as only Miss Swett 
 can tell them. 
 
 HOW BESSIE KEPT HOUSE. By Amanda M. Doug- 
 las. Cloth, illustrated, 50 cents. Bessie kept house for 
 her father and brothers and sisters while her mother 
 went on a visit. She had pleaded hard to be allowed to 
 do this ; but somehow many things went wrong. What 
 those things were and how her experiences became of 
 the greatest value to her, one must read to find out. 
 
 TRIF AND TRIXY. By John Habberton. Cloth, 50 
 cents. A story of a dreadfully delightful little girl and 
 her adoring and tormented parents, relatives and 
 friends. 
 
 DON'TS FOR GIRLS. A Manual of Mistakes. By 
 Minna Thomas Antrim. Cloth, 50 cents. Ooze calf, 
 gilt top, boxed, $1.00. The book is full of wisdom, but 
 not of the stereotyped kind, and has walked straight, 
 into popularity.
 
 HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY'S PUBLICATIONS. 11 
 
 DON'TS FOR BOYS. Errors of Conduct Corrected. By 
 an Old Boy. Cloth, 50 cents. Ooze calf, gilt top, 
 boxed, $1.00. It is a book for "all sorts and condi- 
 tions" of boys, but will be best appreciated by brainy 
 young Americans who do not relish long-winded advice, 
 but welcome " snappy" paragraphs that appeal to their 
 good sense. 
 
 POOR BOYS' CHANCES. By John Habberton, author 
 of " Helen's Babies." Cloth, 136 illustrations, 50 cents. 
 "We tried it on the office boy, who is ambitious and 
 industrious, and will some day be a great newspaper 
 proprietor. When asked what he thought of the book 
 he replied : ' Fine.' The book is a great acquisition to 
 any boy." Cincinnati Times-Star. 
 
 SEA KINGS AND NAVAL HEROES. By Hartwell 
 James. Cloth, 137 illustrations, 50 cents. " These 
 stories of famous sea fights of the world, with other 
 naval adventures and enterprises, are important as a 
 branch of education, giving as they do adequate ideas 
 of great events and clear conceptions of renowned per- 
 sonages. ' ' Inter- Ocean. 
 
 THE STORY OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE. By And- 
 rew Lang. Pictures by Mills Thompson. Cloth, 50 
 cents. It happened long ago, this adventure of the 
 Golden Fleece, but the fame of the heroes who sailed 
 away to a distant land to win themselves renown for- 
 ever has lived, having been told many times in story 
 and song. Yet who could tell it like Mr. Lang, with 
 his poet's passion for beauty, his artist's eye for color 
 and detail? 
 
 THE LITTLE BOY AND THE ELEPHANT. By Gus- 
 tave Frankenstein. Pictures by Gustave Verbeek. 
 Cloth, 50 cents. 
 
 BUMPER AND BABY JOHN. By Anna Chapin Ray. 
 Illustrated. Cloth, 50 cents. 
 
 A GOURD FIDDLE. By Grace MacGowan Cooke. Illus- 
 trated. Cloth, 50 cents.
 
 12 HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 ALTEMUS' ILLUSTRATED 
 
 Good Time Series. 
 
 Attractive books by popular authors, each containing 
 qualities which children are quick to perceive and 
 appreciate. They strongly appeal to those who judi- 
 ciously select what children shall read. Handsomely 
 printed, profusely illustrated and attractively bodnd. 
 Cloth, illuminated covers (5J x 7| inches), 50 cents each. 
 
 UNDER THE STABS. By Florence Morse Kingsley. 
 Four beautiful stories from the life of Jesus. "A 
 Wateh in the Night." "The Child in Jerusalem." 
 "The Only Son of His Mother." "The Children's 
 Bread." Cloth, 50 cents. 
 
 THE STORY OF THE ROBINS. By Sarah Trimmer. 
 This story has received nothing but praise from the 
 greatest critics; and it has been illustrated by the best 
 artists. Its purpose is to teach kindness to animals. 
 Cloth, 50 cents. 
 
 JACKANAPES. By Juliana H. Ewing. In the story of 
 " Jackanapes," the Captain's child, is the one impor- 
 tant figure. The doting aunt, the faithful Tony, the 
 irascible General, the postman, the boy trumpeter, the 
 silent Major, and the ever-dear Lollo, are there, it is 
 true, but they group around the hero in subordinate 
 positions. Cloth, 50 cents. 
 
 THE CHRISTMAS STOCKING. By Elizabeth Wether- 
 ell. This story of the Christmas Stocking has helped 
 to make many children happy, for without it many 
 fathers and mothers would have never thought of 
 making arrangements for the visit of Santa Claus. 
 Cloth, 50 cents.
 
 HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY'S PUBLICATIONS. 13 
 
 LADDIE. By the Author of " Miss Toosey's Mission." A 
 charming story that has been popular many years, and 
 deservedly so. Cloth, 50 cents. 
 
 MAKING A START. By Tudor Jenks. The story of a 
 bright boy who did not wait for " something to turn 
 up," but exercised his talent for drawing until he 
 secured a good position on a great daily newspaper. 
 Cloth, 00 cents. 
 
 THE STORY OF A DONKEY. By Mine. La Comtesse 
 de Segur. In this book the donkey tells the story of 
 his life and adventure, because, as he says, " I want 
 you to treat all of us donkeys kindly, and to remember 
 that we are often much more sensible than some 
 human beings." Cloth, 50 cents. 
 
 MISS TOOSEY'S MISSION. By the Author of " Laddie." 
 A delightful and wholesome story that has had a wide 
 circulation and still holds its popularity. Cloth, 50 cents. 
 
 JESSICA'S FIRST PRAYER. By Hesba Strctton. A 
 beautiful and pathetic story which appeals to all chil- 
 dren, and to older readers as well. Cloth, 50 cents. 
 
 A BLUE GRASS BEAUTY. By Gabrielle E. Jackson. 
 With the story of the " Blue Grass Beauty " is woven 
 that of some very nice people, and all is set forth in 
 Mrs. Jackson's inimitable manner. It is far too good a 
 book to mislay. Cloth, 50 cents. 
 
 THE STORY OF A SHORT LIFE. By Juliana H. 
 Ewing. Many people admire Leonard's story as much 
 as "Jackanapes." It is a simple, exquisitely tender 
 little story. Cloth, 50 cents. 
 
 THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN. 
 By Rudolph Erich Raspe. These stories are so out- 
 rageous, and Munchausen asserts so strongly that they 
 are all strictly true, that his name has become proverbial 
 as a synonym for extravagant boasting. Cloth, 50 cents.
 
 14 HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 ALTEMUS' ILLUSTRATED 
 
 HOLLY-TREE SERIES. 
 
 A series of good, clean books for young people, by authors 
 whose fame for delightful stories is world-wide. They 
 are well printed on fine paper, handsomely illustrated, 
 have colored frontispieces, and are bound in cloth deco- 
 rated in gold and colors, 50 cents. 
 
 THE HOLLY-TREE. By Charles Dickens. 
 
 THEN MARCHED THE BRAVE. By Harriet T. 
 Comstock. 
 
 A MODERN CINDERELLA. By Louisa M. Alcott. 
 THE LITTLE MISSIONARY. By Amanda M. Douglas. 
 THE RULE OF THREE. By Susan Coolidge. 
 CHUGGINS. By II. Irving Hancock. 
 WHEN THE BRITISH CAME. By Harriet T. Comstock. 
 LITTLE FOXES. By Rose Terry Cooke. 
 
 AN UNRECORDED MIRACLE. By Florence Morse 
 Kingsley. 
 
 THE STORY WITHOUT AN END. By Sarah Austin. 
 CLOVER'S PRINCESS. By Amanda M. Douglas. 
 THE SWEET STORY OF OLD. By L. Haskeil.
 
 HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY'S PUBLICATIONS. 15 
 
 ALTEMUS' ILLUSTRATED 
 
 Mother Goose Series. 
 
 A series of entirely new editions of the most popular books 
 for young people. Handsomely printed from large, 
 clear type, on choice paper; each volume containing 
 about one hundred illustrations. Half vellum, with 
 illuminated sides j((>| x 8| inches), price, 50 cents each. 
 
 ALADDIN; OB, THE WONDERFUL LAMP. 
 
 OUR ANIMAL FRIENDS. 
 
 BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. 
 
 BIRD STORIES FOR LITTLE PEOPLE. 
 
 CINDERELLA; OR, THE LITTLE GLASS SLIPPER. 
 
 THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT. 
 
 JACK AND THE BEAN-STALK. 
 
 JACK THE GIANT-KILLER. 
 
 LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD. 
 
 PUSS IN BOOTS. 
 
 THE SLEEPING BEAUTY. 
 
 WHO KILLED COCK ROBIN?
 
 Id HENRY ALTEMtfS COMPANY'S PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 ALTEMUS' ILLUSTRATED 
 
 Wee Books for Wee Folks. 
 
 Filled with charming stories, beautifully illustrated with 
 pictures in colors and black and white. Daintily, yet 
 durably bound. 50 cents each. 
 
 NURSERY TALES. 
 
 NURSERY RHYMES. 
 
 THE STORY OF PETER RABBIT. 
 
 THE FOOLISH FOX. 
 
 THREE LITTLE PIGS. 
 
 THE ROBBER KITTEN. 
 
 ALTEMUS' ILLUSTRATED 
 
 Banbury Cross Series. 
 
 This is a series of old favorites, printed on plate paper ; each 
 volume containing about forty beautiful illustrations, 
 including a frontispiece in colors. Half vellum, with 
 illuminated sides. Square 16mo. Price, 50 cents each. 
 
 OLD MOTHER HUBBARD. 
 
 CHICKEN-LITTLE. 
 
 BLUE BEARD. 
 
 TOM THUMB. 
 
 THE THREE BEARS. 
 
 THE WHITE CAT. 
 
 THE FAIRY GIFTS. 
 
 SNOW-WHITE AND ROSE-RED. 
 
 ALADDIN, OR THE WONDERFUL LAMP. 
 
 ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Los Angeles 
 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. 
 
 Form L9-Series 4939
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBWRYFACiLITV 
 
 A 001 240 495 o