'^^'-y of Cong^".^ MURAT HALSTEAD. Our country in war AND RELATIONS WITH ALL NATIONS. A HISTORY OF WAR TIMES AND AMERICAN HEROES ON LAND AND SEA. MURAT HALSTEAD, AMERICA'S VETERAN ^A/■AR CORRESPONDENT. Containing a Vivid Description of Our Present Foreign Complications. PROFUSELY ILLUSTRATED WITH NUMEROUS PHOTOGRAPHS AND DRAWINGS. THE UNITED SUBSCRIPTION BOOK PUBLISHERS OF AMERICA. Copyrighted, 1898 BY F. OLDACH, SR. ^^^/^f Z^\^^ 1st COPY, W-^ 1098. Co [i-] 2-. AUTHOR'S PREFACE. ON the front of the palace at Versailles, is in golden letters the famous inscription, "To All the Glories of France," and the splendor of the sentiment has pre- served from the ruthless hands of revolution, and from defacement by enemies in temporary triumph, the marbles of the magnificent edifice and the proud letters of gold. The memories of nations have many forms of expression, and it is not those distinguished by pomp that seem to have been the most certainly preserved and to possess the greater assurance of perpetuity. In the mounds of the ancient cities on the Euphrates, in the hills of desolation that mark the sites of mighty capitals, are found cylinders of burnt clay on which are the records of the dynasties that have otherAvise perished, of peoples among whose memorials no tower stands to tell the tale of the race, no arch abides to speak of the vanished ages or locate in the abyss beyond the era of history, the Empires that are lost. It is the cylinder of clay that has the quality of immortality. Still more in the printed leaves of our time will be found the pages that minister to the pride of people, and on which are inscribed the lessons of the rise and fall of nations that shall enshrine the lives of great men and apply the excellence of good deeds. It is hoped in this volume to assemble the glories of our country, not alone those of war, but of peace, and especially to celebrate the policies that are executed for the general welfare, and the things that are done with public purpose for the common good. This is to array the events that are luminous on the paths of Progress we have THE AUTHORS PREFACE. passed. Our country is in evidence before the world. Its foundations spanning a continent, its States an arch between the two greater oceans of the globe, Its position is a com- manding one. To us Is committed the leadership of the Freemen of a Hemisphere. We emerged from a colonial State ruled by remote masters, through war to Indepen- dence, and we have been consolidated and at the same time extended and self-educated through war. The same gen- eral outlines of advancement are marked In the other American Republics that have advanced and arisen from the condition of European dependencies to be sovereign States. We would include in this volume not only the accom- plishments of our own country, but those achievements of others that are related to us in geographical association and under their own constitutions and flags are to share with us American Destiny. Our own stature, we are aware, is our title to seat ourselves where the Great Powers meet to determine the affairs that are International, and we trust, as we believe In Republican Government, we may know how to use a giant's glorious strength gloriously. MURAT HALSTEAD. INTRODUCTION. THE national policy of the people of the United States was simplified by the war of states and sections into which we were drifting forty years ago. War educates and legislates. As we emerged from the conflict of states and nations one and indestructible, many and indivisible, it was into a consciousness that we had underestimated our strength in our Fourth of July literature. We had so adorned ourselves with complacency, were so pleased with compliments, that we had omitted to give our capacity due estimation. We were most appreciative of our splendor, but had an inadequate estimation of the substance that sustained the glittering show. The North and South had confronted each other as great nations, and there was a kindling, on both sides, of pride in the One Nation whose majestic outlines were soon sharply defined, while the com- bined energies of the people, developed for destruction, were devoted to the works of the soil and shops ; and the marvelous land we have inherited prospered beyond example. There has been much more than our material progress. We have lifted ourselves among the group of the nations of the earth, and are shoulder to shoulder with the loftiest of them. We have a giant's strength, and have not ill-used it. All-absorbing Russia consented to sell us the huge territory of Alaska, and its archipelago that ex- tends across the North Pacific. There were those who shrank from more territory, were feeble-minded about INTRODUCTION. the natives, and worked up for misuse the phrase " entan- ghng alliances." That sort of conservatism has been, as always, discredited with results. Russia has not enough money to buy the land that she sold us for seven millions — and yet she has not lost as we have gained. Our enrich- ment has not been her impoverishment. It is the mighty magic of our fortune that transforms all that becomes ours. It was so with Louisiana, California and the rest. It will be so with Cuba and Hawaii. Mexico never had what we gained, and the land, and the rivers, and the sky she keeps, have a natural opulence that needs many generations of labor for full revelation. In Our Relations With All Other Nations, we have, since the stalwart unity that the war made, in making us ac- quainted, more and more manifested ourselves. The em- pire established by the French in Mexico was offensive to us and disappeared at our command. We called upon England to accept, in the interest of peace, the responsibility for the privateering which she provided in the "Alabama." She comprehended the obligation and had the statesman- ship to pay the bill. The world seemed to find out our rank among the great peoples and powers before we did. We are the Dominant Power of the Western Hemisphere — so called because the American continents were found, by those who knew the art of navigation, when voyaging west- ward. This dominance is not necessarily to be used for our own selfish purposes of increase, but for the good of the American countries that defer to us on account of the seniority of our Republic — and that we insist that European colonies or colonization systems are out of date here. We are not interfering in Africa or Asia, but America must be let alone for Americans. That is the brevity and beauty of the Monroe Doctrine. Spain is losing the last of her American INTRODUCTION. islands as she lost all her American continental empires. Look at the map and see whether we are not concerned. We are more interested than either Spain or Cuba in "The Pearl of the Antilles," and we are in such relations with Spain that she is appealing to Europe against us. The effect of this cannot be other than to press us to the front of the nations — to augment our sense of power and the sensibilities of others of it. The world is a neighborhood. We are one of the big neighbors and our vast possessions have not caused to pale, the original spirit of liberty — but heightened that patriotism that was aflame in our country before the forms of political expression were organized. Our country will no longer play a role of meekness because we may or may not have enemies beyond the seas. We shall make our potentiality felt in other lands — not as Jingo or Fillibuster — but as an armed nation that will stand with head among the stars where the red, white and blue are, sword in hand ! We have a glorious record of wars, and this book shall tell of them — and of other wars in the Americas that have broken foreign bonds and helped to Americanize America. We shall celebrate the freedom from the despotism that still kindles baleful fires within sight of our shores, from the misgovernment that compels Cubans to fight to the death — for the battle of American freedom against Spanish des- potism has been won all the way from our own Carolinas to Cape Horn. The manifest destiny of the islands of the American seas is that of the disenthralled continents — with a higher and, we trust, broader and brighter enlightenment of those who have studied the Schools of Sorrow from which come the Teachings of Wisdom. TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE Introduction, 17 CHAPTER I. THE UNITED STATES MUST DOMINATE AMERICA. We Live in War Times — The Old Peace Dream Over — America must Take Her Place as the Dominant Power of this Hemisphere and one of the Greater Nations of the Earth — It is Pohcy and Destiny, ... 21 CHAPTER II. GETTING INTO THE SADDLE. George Washington in his Boyhood Put Our Country in the Saddle — In International Matters Conservative, he was, in his Youth, the Foremost of the Adventurers of the Gentlemen of his State Invading the Great West — He Knew More of That which is now the Heart of the Country than any other Man of his Generation, and more Wisely Appreciated the Value of the Ohio and the Mississippi Valleys — He was the Chosen Leader when but Twenty-two Years of Age, of the First Band of Colonists who took the field against the French Aggression in the Ohio Country — It was at his Personal Command that the First Guns were Fired and the First Blood Shed in the Great War for the Domination in North America Between England and France, terminating in the Possession, by the People of the United States, of the Soil they Now Occupy — He First Assisted the English to Put Out the French, and then the French Assisted Him in Putting Out the English, 31 CHAPTER III. THE HANNIBAL OF THE WEST. George Rogers Clark the Winner of the Title for the United States or the North-western Territory, Preparing the Way for the Louisiana Purchase — His Slender Means and Vast Achievements — He Captures Kaskaskia and Vincennes — His Wonderful Wading March in the Wabash Flood— He Died a Poor Man, but one of the Immortals, . . 49 13 14 TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. JEFFERSON S TERRITORIAL ENTERPRISE. PAGE Merrivvether Lewis and William Clark carry Westward the Course of Empire — Their Journey up the Missouri River — Their Passage through the Yellowstone Region — On the Great Divide — Down the Columbia — Shooting the Rapids through the Dalles on to the Pacific, 75 CHAPTER V. THE STORY OF TECUMSEH. The Projected Confederacy of the Red Nations — The Measures adopted by Tecumseh's Brother, the Artful " Prophet,'' to Induce the Savages to Join the Confederacy — Tecumseh and the Prophet make strategic Use of the Superstitious Trait in the Indian Character— The Death of Tecumseh as Related by Black Hawk, 90 CHAPTER VI. THE RACE FOR OREGON. Marcus Whitman Determines the Future Ownership of Oregon and Washington — England through the Hudson Bay Company was His Keen Competitor — His Heroic Ride to the National Capital to Save the Territory — His Manly Appeal to President Tyler and Secretary of State, Daniel Webster — The Return with One Thousand Settlers, One Year After his Departure — Devastation During His Absence and His Massacre with His Wife and Many Others Four Years Later, .... loi CHAPTER VII. THE FRENCH AS OUR ALLIES IN THE REVOLUTION. The French as Our Allies Beat the British at the Capes of Virginia, and were Beaten on the way to Attack Jamaica — The French Gift of Money to Our Fathers — The French from Dobb's Ferry to Yorktown — The Count De Grasse who Beat the British at the Capes of Virginia was Beaten and Captured by Admiral Lord Rodney, April 8, 1781, ... 112 CHAPTER VIII. JOHN PAUL JONES AND THE FLAG. The Ranger, Eighteen Guns, was the First American Vessel to Sail Under the Stars and Stripes — "Old Glory" First Saluted by a French TABLE OF CONTENTS. 15 Aainiral in 1778 — The First Battle Fought Under the American Flag at Sea — The Capture of the Drake — Paul Jones' Attack on White- haven — The Attempt to Capture the Earl of Selkirk — The Fight of the Bon Hoimne Richard and the Serapis — Sketch of the Life of Paul Jones — His Service in the Russian Navy, and His Death in Paris, . . 123 CHAPTER IX. OUR WAR UPON THE PIRATES. Our Navy at the Beginning'of the Century — The War with the Barbary Pirates — Picturesque and Deadly Fighting at Tripoli — The Glory of Decatur — The Praise of Nelson — Hand to Hand Fighting — Decatur Kills his Brother's Murderers — The Burning of the *' Philadelphia " and the Awful Fate of the Fire Ship, 132 CHAPTER X. WHEN OUR NAVY WON GREAT GLORY. Henry Clay and Naval Preparations — His Sympathy with Greece — The Recognition of Greece — The Triumph of Clay — The Fear of Clay that England would Possess Cuba — The Seventeen Years' War of Spain — Clinging to Her South American Colonies — Correspondence with the Emperor of Russia — The Fights of our Frigates in the Last War With England — The Impressment of American Seamen that Caused the War — Actual Fighting Before War was Declared — The Famous Chase of the Constitution and the Combat with the Guerriere, 142 CHAPTER XI. JACKSON AND THE SPANIARDS IN FLORIDA. The British and Spanish at Pensacola — The Advance of the Great New Orleans Expedition — An Appeal to People of Louisiana and Kentucky to Accept Spanish Liberty — The Story of Lafitte and His Refusal of British Gold — The Overture of the Battle of New Orleans and Jack- son's Dealings with the Spaniards in Florida, r/o CHAPTER XII. OUR RELATIONS WITH OTHER NATIONS. Clay and Webster on Presidential Power and the Right of Free Speech, and Humane Sympathy with Liberty at Home and Abroad — Henry Clay on the Power of the President and the Duties of a Nation to 1 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE Humanity — Henry Clay's Flaming Denunciations of the Turks for Carrying on War against the Greeks — The most Atrocious and Brutal War that ever Stained Earth or Shocked High Heaven — Daniel Web- ster Accused of being a Revolutionist — This for some Civil Words to Kossuth — How the Great Constitutional Lawyer and Conservative Statesman answered the Charge — The Famous Hulsemann Letters — Laying Down the Great American Principles of our Relations with Other Nations and the Cause of Liberty, 197 CHAPTER XIII. Mexico's wars of independence. The Imperial Tragedies in Mexican History — The Philosophy of Re- bellion against Spain, and the Dominant Nature of Spaniards and Hatred of Native Americans — The Interference of Napoleon in Spain, and the Conflict of Jurisdiction of Juntas, and How the Republic of Mexico Emerged from Chaos, 214 CHAPTER XIV. THE SPANISH WARS FOR SOUTH AMERICA. Disturbances in Spain Offer South Americans Opportunities for Freedom — Loyalty to Spain Requited by Tyranny and Massacre — Feeling against the Bonapartes in Colombia — The Usual Pompous Proclama- tions—Spaniards Sent to Fill all Places and the People Robbed — The Same Misgovernment that has Brought Cuba to Woe — How the South American Republics were Almost a Confederacy in the Revolutionary Period — The Native Americans Opposing the Spaniards — The Same Grievances Existed from Paraguay and ChiH to Venezuela— The Character and Career of Simon Bolivar, 227 CHAPTER XV. HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF IN CUBA. The Spanish Colonial System in South America too strong for the Home Government, and Intolerable and Irreconcilable in its Oppression and Animosity — It is the same old story told in the Current History of Cuba — The Colonies of Spain were Intensely Attached to Her, but Cruelly Spurned— Nothing Short of Slavery would Suffice— The Con- federacy of Colombia — French and British Influence— American Sym- pathizers with Cuba owe Historical Regard to Colombia — The Revolu- tions in the United States and France Agitate the World — British TABLE OP CONTENTS. \y PAGE Policy Hostile to Spain, and the Influence of the Intrusion of Napoleon — Proclamation of the Governor of Trinidad — British Expedition to La Plata— Defeated at Montimaro— Pitt's Policy— The War for Inde- pendence in Mexico Reads Like Late Cuban News, 242 CHAPTER XVI. THE REVOLUTION IN CHILI. The People of Chili the Yankees of South America — Napoleon Indirectly the Cause of the Revolution in Chili — Colonists Deprived of Polidcal Rights — The Colonies were Governed for the Benefit of the Mother Country only — All Offices Held by European Spaniards — Chili's Con- servative Course in the Struggle for Greater Liberties — That Wars that Finally Won Chihan Independence 256 CHAPTER XVII. THE ACHIEVEMENT OF THE INDEPENDENCE OF PERU. The Liberators of Chili Aid the Peruvians in Establishing Their Inde-^ pendence — The United Expedition Designated as the " United Liber- ating Army of Peru'' — Capture of the Spanish Frigate Esmeralda by the Chilians and the Defeat of the Royalists by the Patriots— San Martin Proclaimed Protector of Peru, 275 CHAPTER XVIII. THE INDEPENDENCE OF PARAGUAY. How De Francia Became Dictator of Paraguay — Paraguay the First South American State to Declare its Entire and Absolute Independ- ence — The Declaration of Independence 283 CHAPTER XIX. THE BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA IN OUR WAR WITH MEXICO. The Honor of the Arms of Mexico — Mexican Account of Buena Vista —A Splendidly Told Story That Gives the American Troops Full Credit — Santa Anna's Terrible Retreat, 295 CHAPTER XX. THE BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO. The Policy which Mexico should have Pursued — The Demoralizing Effect of Defeat on Nations of Spanish Descent — The Boastful Vanity of the Spanish-American Compared with the Active Energy of our 1 8 TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE Troops— The Story of the Battle of Cerro Gordo and a Vivid Descrip- tion of the Terrible and Demoralizing Retreat, 315 CHAPTER XXI. THE BATTLES BEFORE THE CITY OF MEXICO. The United States Proves Herself the Dominant Power of America — The Remarkable Campaign Before the City of Mexico — Though Fighting Against Powerful Odds the Valor of our Troops Counts for more than Superior Numbers — Our Officers Prove Themselves Su- perior Strategists — The Overwhelming Defeat of the Mexicans Compels them to Ask for an Armistice to Gain Time which is Shortly Fol- lowed by Renewed Hostilities, soon Terminating in the Surrender of Mexico, 336 CHAPTER XXII. AN EXAMPLE OF A FIGHTING AMERICAN FAMILY. The Guarantee of the Military Power of the United States Lies in the Superior Energy of Her Citizens — The Fighting McCooks are a Fair Sample of the American Type — A Brief Sketch of the Individual Members of the Two Families, 354 CHAPTER XXIII. THE EVOLUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF BRAZIL, FROM AN EMPIRE. The Transformation of the Empire of Brazil to a Republic was more easily accomphshed by the Liberal-mindedness of the Emperor — Brazil, on account of her Gold Fields, at one time received the at- tention of the Various Powers of Europe— Napoleon was the prime Cause of the Establishment of the Empire of Brazil, and the Just and Liberal-minded Emperor, Don Pedro II. was the Cause of the Long Delay in Establishing the Brazilian Republic, 368 CHAPTER XXIV. THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. The Picturesqueness, Commercial Value and Historic Interest of the Philippine Islands — The Agricultural Industry as Manipulated by the Natives — Manila one of the Greatest Commercial Centres of the Orient— The Siege of Manila by the English in the Year 1762— A His- torical Coincidence, 383 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 19 CHAPTER XXV. THE CANARY ISLANDS. PAGE Area and Inhabitants— Ancient Traditions and Histories — The Soil and Chmate — The Productions and the Beauty of the Scenery — A Retreat for Invalids and Paradise of Artists — Water is Precious — Love-making and I^leas, 406 CHAPTER XXVI. THE ACQUISITION OF ALASKA. Our Great Territorial Purchase from Russia — The Great Bargain of Seward and Sumner Extending our Dominion into the Polar Regions and Asiatic Waters — An Immense and Significant Enlargement of our Area of Empire, 425 CHAPTER XXVII. OUR RELATIONS WITH CHINA. Our Pohcy in Relation to China and Our Opposition to the Second Opium War — The Confidence of China in the United States — The Pro- tection Offered China by the United States, through Her Representa- tives—The Fall of China Principally Due to Her Opposition to Chris- tian Civilization — The Fame of " Chinese Gordon" the Work of an American — China's Recognition of the Services of Our Countrymen, . 432 CHAPTER XXVIII. OUR INTERNATIONAL POLICY. We must go up and to the Front — All the Land we have Annexed has been Good for the People — We have Reached the Limit on this Con- tinent and Need Islands — The Duties Belonging to our Growth and Destiny, 440 CHAPTER XXIX. OUR COUNTRY, SPAIN AND THE FUTURE. The Philosophy and Logic of Our War with Spain and the Good Fruit Thereof^Causes of Spanish Degeneracy — The United States the Only True Republic — Spanish Losses a Guarantee of her Future — The Logic of Our Expansion — The Future of Cuba — The Living and Dead Nations — Our Growth in Peace and Glory in War — Annexation and Immigration — We have, for Forty Years, been Drifting into War with Spain about Cuba, 467 20 TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXX. SPANISH DESPOTISM IN CUBA. PAGE The Sorrowful History of Cuba — The Spanish Colonial System was Founded in Personal Despotism^The Wrongs of the Cubans — The Justice and Triumph of their Cause, and the Causes that Led up to the War between the United States and Spain, 482 CHAPTER XXXI. THE CRISIS IN CUBAN AFFAIRS. Congress Declares War — Reasons for the Patience of the President — Cause of the Impatience of Congress in Going to War with Spain — Scenes and Speeches in the Senate and House — Development of Pub- he Opinion — The Order of the Proceedings, the Declaration of War, and the Executive Proclamations, 494 CHAPTER XXXII. THE BATTLE OF MANILA. Commodore Dewey Receives Orders to Capture or Destroy the Spanish Fleet at Manila — Orders Immediately Carried Out— Spanish Squadron Annihilated — Manila, Capital of the Philippines, Blockaded— Thanks of the Nation Extended Through Congress to Commodore Dewey — His Promotion to Rank of Rear-Admiral — The Effect of Dewey's Vic- tory in the Phihppines — Their Future Ownership and the Anglo- American Alliance, 520 CHAPTER XXXIII. OUR NATIONAL DEFENCE AND HEROISM. The Power of Our Country Lies in the Intelligence of Our Citizens and Our Great Wealth — The Quality of our Fighting Stock Made up Largely of Raw Recruits, Shows a Remarkable Development of Hero- ism — The Battle of Manila, and the Sinking of the Merrimac at Santi- ago are Samples of American Strategy — Europe again Recognizes Our Almost Forgotten Fighting Qualities, 546 GEORGE WASHINGTON. The Father of Our Country. OUR COUNTRY IN WAR. CHAPTER I. THE UNITED STATES MUST DOMINATE AMERICA. We Live in War Times — The Old Peace Dream Over — America must Take Her Place as the Dominant Power of this Hemisphere and one of the Greater Nations of the Earth — It is Policy and Destiny. Half a century ago — in days still remembered by many active in the affairs of our States and the nation — the chil- dren of America were taught in the schools, the newspapers, the churches, and in the fireside talks at home, that there was to be war in the world no more. The youth of our country read the histories of the great wars with a convic- tion that these things belonged to other conditions of human life and organized society. There had been great inventions that made for peace. The spirit of progressive Christianity was abroad : the sword would not devour forever. We Amercans were especially exempt from the slaughter of the people wrought by the ambition of foolish kings. The solemn admonition of Washington, that we should avoid entangling alliances abroad, dwelt with us. Separated, as we were, by oceans and by ages from war as the natural occupation of a people, the elements of strife were lacking in our land of plenty and of liberty, — liberty marred only in part by the existence of a racial system of slavery in our midst. What should or could we fear ? Orefjon at the mouth of 2 21 22 THE UNITED STATES MUST DOMINATE AMERICA. the Columbia was ours. The mouth of the Mississippi was ours also ; and orators were accustomed to say, as a climax, that our possessions extended from Maine to Florida. We were isolated in our own grandeur; and our free, popular government guaranteed us against the contention of com- munities. If we wanted anything settled, we had only to take a vote on it, — and there was the infallible Constitution of the United States. As for differences among sections, Andrew Jackson had threatened Calhoun with condign punishment if he crossed the line of national prerogative with the doctrine of nullification. Concerning slavery, Washington owned many slaves ; and the Bible commanded servants to obey their masters. And as for cranks, they should be judged and dealt with according to law. We had liberty that would solve all troubles, though it had not been precisely proclaimed " throughout the land and to all the inhabitants thereof," according to the inscription on the Declaration of Independence Bell. It is but half a century since we found ourselves at war with Mexico. Texas and California were added by the sword to our sisterhood of states, and it is one of the happy facts of history that our gains did not turn out to be Mexico's losses. There was a profound disturbance in Europe that sent Continental monarchs flying. After all, the volcanoes were not extinct. The great wars since those days have been that of the Crimea, in which England, France, Turkey, and Sardinia fought the statesmanship of Russia, and Tur- key was preserved as a living Asiatic menace in Europe ; then the war of France against Austria, culminating at Sol- ferino ; the war of our States that closed at Appomattox ; the French invasion of Mexico ; the war in which Prussia beat down Austria at Sadowa ; the Franco-German war, in which Paris fell and France lost Alsace and Lorraine ; and THE UNITED STATES MUST DOMINATE AMERICA. 23 the war of Russia against Turkey, that roared around Plevna. There were the wars of the Mutiny in India, of the occupation of Egypt, of the fall of Khartoum, the wars to open the ports of China, the war in which Chili struck down Peru, the civil war in Brazil, the war in which Japan put China to the sword, the wars in Cuba, and the Turco- Grecian war. No continent has been exempt ; and the latest of this series . of combats is not the least, so far as we are con- cerned. The increase of military and naval armaments within this generation has been beyond example. The armed nations, in their equipments for asserting themselves, have consumed the products of industry, and mortgaged the future for money to cover extraordinary expenditures for the machinery of destruction, — expenditures amounting to more than the cost of armies, fleets, fortifications, and the ravages of campaigning, from Bunker Hill to Waterloo. The world is learning war more than ever; and the arbitrament of arms was never so costly as now. The Turks, Austrians, French, Chinese, Peruvians, and Mexicans lost territory in the wars of the later half of the century. The Turkish losses became small kingdoms ; the Austrians gaining two provinces and the Greeks one. The greater importance of the acquisition of Alsace and Lor- raine by the Germans, has been the unquenchable enmity of France ; and the symbol of it is the old statue of Marshal Ney in the park at Metz, musket in hand, as he faced the Russians on the retreat from Moscow. The statue of Stras- burg crowned with mourning wreaths, in the Place de la Concorde at Paris, has not such sinister significance as the defiant figure of Ney on German territory. At night, in the electric light that glows near the French field-marshal, he seems to listen and almost to speak. 24 THE UNITED STATES MUST DOMINATE AMERICA. The greatest gain of land by the sword in modern times was that which we acquired from Mexico. We were par- ticularly fortunate in earlier and later days, in buying Louisiana from the French, and Alaska from the Russians. In the same period England and Russia have obtained vast landed possessions, Germany has unified German States, and the Italian peninsula has crystallized into one kingdom. Naturally the tendency of the times has been to the ex- pansion of sovereignties, partly for the same reason that there has been an unexampled growth of cities and aug- mentation of popular demonstrations. These things result from the extension and perfection of railway systems ; from telegraphy and cheap papers ; from the manufacture of high-grade steel at low rates, permitting the erection of bridges and buildings otherwise impracticable ; and from the improvement of the condition of the hosts of labor. The victories in peaceful conventions, not less than those on the fields of combat, make for the aggrandizement of em- pires and the concentration of peoples. Our Confederates fought against the stars when they took up arms against that consolidation which we call nationality, and which, with guarantees of popular liberty in republicanism and democ- racy, has in it the enduring and dominating substance of imperialism, that overcomes and expands and constructs and goes on to greater destinies. It is the rule of the many, not of the few, that is the stronger government. It is not the Czars and Kaisers, the Sultans, the Emperor-Kings, and the Empress-Queens, who are to be magnified in the future by our higher civilization ; but the millions themselves shall be great, by reason of the conditions of equal oppor- tunity and the discipline of common and inviolable order. The world is no longer inaccessible and unknown to its THE UNITED STATES MUST DOMINATE AMERICA. 25 inhabitants. It is explored, measured, traversed, until there is instantaneous communication between the old mysteries of the atlas. Some of our States, in cost of time and move- ment, are farther away from our commercial and political capitals and the clusters of our manufacturing industries than are England and France ; but the States fronting the two great oceans are better acquainted with each other, and have a closer sense of companionship, than the counties of the older States — Virginia and New York, for example — had, before the steamboat, the railroad, the telegraph, and the telephone came to intensify the application of the an- cient and honored motto, " E pluribus unuvi!' If we are of New York, the nations of Europe are now more distinctly our neighbors than were the New-England States when the girl-queen, Victoria, was crowned. Whether or not it was the pro-slavery ambition that caused the war with Mexico and the magnificent country we appropriated, it was a wise and masterly stroke. Those who delivered it may have builded more wisely than they knew ; but no blame attaches to workmen who do that. The oppo- sition to the annexation of Texas was narrow, even if there was a little speculation in the Texas debt ; and when we accepted as a State Texas, the France of America, the Americanization of the people was justification. New Mex- ico has not changed, and developed American characteris- tics so rapidly as we could desire ; but the example that, above all, vindicates the policy of annexation — not excepting Louisiana, Florida, or Texas — is California. We have nothing more priceless than the Golden Gate ; but some of our statesmen shuddered when we got it. There were many criticisms when William H. Seward and Charles Sumner accepted the friendly offer of Russia to sell us Alaska. If they had not improved the happy moment, 26 THE UNITED STATES MUST DOMINATE AMERICA. it never would have come again. Now, the American peo- ple would not tolerate the idea of selling that vast Northern reserve for our people in the future, with its forests, its fish- eries, and mines, for one hundred times the sum we paid for it — nor indeed for any sum at all. We never have an- nexed a bit of land we would care or dare to part with ; and we never shall. The Mexican land we won by the sword was beyond valuation, measured in precious metals. We had matchless good fortune in that. Our great civil war taught the peo- ple of the antagonistic sections to respect each other ; and when the Union was reestablished, our gigantic resources were revealed to the whole nation. The retirement of the French from Mexico, and the payment of the Alabama award by England, as well as our resumption of specie payments and the elevation of national credit, asserted with glorious achievements, confirmed, before consenting nations, our standing as one of the great Powers. In the three latest wars, two of which have shaken con- tinents historically older than ourselves, we are deeply con- cerned. We name first, as it is still going on and is nigh us, the war in Cuba. It is vain for the Spaniards to say that they alone are interested in and responsible for that island. We have an interest and responsibility in it, because it guards the Mediterranean of America ; and the waters of more than half our States flow by the shores of Cuba, whether they reach the Atlantic by the Gulf Stream or by the Caribbean Sea. We have the right to stop, at our doors, savagery in warfare, and to protect the lives and property of American citizens ; and we overshadow all this, and far more, with the right of the Dominant Power of this hemis- phere. The war between Turkey and Greece has made changes THE UNITED STATES MUST DOMINATE AMERICA. 27 in Europe that may effect us more seriously than any other event abroad in the closing decade of the century. It is not improbable that the Emperor of Germany — the most restless and enterprising of modern monarchs — was the manager of that war; that he prepared the theatre, and supplied the actors. He visited Vienna at a critical time in the relations of the Powers ; and then the Emperor of Austria made haste to visit the Czar of Russia. From that time there was concert between the Kaiser, the Czar, the Sultan, and the Emperor-King of Austria and Hungary, — the masters of the armed nations in which there is the least public opinion, indeed so little of it, that imperial affairs are decided without reference to the sentiments of the people. The Austrian sovereign does not assert him- self absolutely as the others do in their respective do- minions. But he has two Turkish provinces ; and, as he wanted more, he maintained the concert. The German Emperor has the greatest military machine the world has ever seen. Next to him in that respect is the Czar, — a young man in the iron grip of a system, with a million thoughtless bayonets. The Sultan has been rehabilitated. It is seen that he has an immense army, and that there is no better fighting material in Europe than that which com- poses it. It is well worth while for us to consider that the combi- nation of emperors growing out of the Greco-Turkish war is the most formidable alliance of military Powers ever formed. There are four great armies in it, — the Turkish, with half a million men, being the smallest, — and three considerable navies. The Kaiser and the Czar are young in experience, and not limited within defined responsibili- ties. Germany is the leader, and has the colonizing passion. This country is the one that would naturally 28 THE UNITED STATES MUST DOMINATE AMERICA. appear to the imperial mind of the Kaiser as the strongest example of a wrong form of government ; and other despots could hardly help agreeing with him. We may be sure there will be more friction than there has been between us and other nations, because each year brings us closer together. We can send orders for goods to Germany by cable, and have them landed here within ten days of the date of the message. One hundred of the ships of war reviewed at Portsmouth in the course of Queen Victoria's Jubilee could be off our coast in a fort- night. There is ready at Bermuda and Halifax an abund- ance of docks, stores, provisions, and ammunition, as well as all the machinery for handling and fitting out ships of war ; and away down in the Carribbean Sea the English have another vast station of like character. We should not count England as an enemy ; but she is our only rival on this continent. She holds more continental land and more islands in the American hemisphere than we do. She is prepared for war both in the Atlantic and the Pacific. The imperialism of England is to-day a considerable fact, and means more to us than to any other people except the English. We say English rather than British ; for the evolution is of England, Already the English colonies are in sharp competition with us in producing food for the metropolitan centres of congested civilization. Australians have broken the markets of New York more than once. A cablegram to Melbourne brings butter by the thousand tons from the other side of our planet, where the grass is green all the year. Australia is not as far away in time and charges as Europe was in the middle of the nineteenth century. The English invested a great deal of capital in Argentina, and seemed to have lost it ; but the railroads they THE UNITED STATES MUST DOMINATE AMERICA. 29 built and the ships they subsidized opened immense wheat- lands. Besides, the oceans are easy roads. We have rights as a humane Power, with faith in self- government, and a consciousness of manifest destiny, to do the things counting for freedom and peace and the ex- tension of our just influence in Cuba. Shall we take steps looking to retirement, or must we walk in the ways made familiar by those who established the zone of our national predominance across the continent, took Florida, and, touch- ing the tropical climate of the Southern Seas, moved north and west into the Arctic regions, so that from the eastern border of Maine to the western islands of the Aleutian group, we have in the summer days eighteen hours of sun- shine on the land covered by our flag? Shall we not go on where the honors and the glories await us as the Power that is competent, if we will, to speak for half the globe ? Once the Alleghenies were our western horizon; but we have crossed the space that divided the discoveries of Co- lumbus from the lands of his dreams, where the east and the west are blended, like sea and sky, in the boundless blue of the waters and the air. The objection is made that we neither have nor can have, under our system of States, anything but States and Ter- ritories. We, the people of the United States, however, ordained a Constitution to establish "a more perfect Union " ; and that very Union was triumphant, through the conquest of States whose statesmen largely made the Union greater than the States. And the continuance of the policy of annexation only invites us to be masterful in peace. We need to formulate a colonial system, and then the pre- cedents should be everlasting examples. Thomas Jef- ferson saw that if the Constitution was not equal to the occasion of the absorption of the Louisiana purchase, there 30 THE UNITED STATES MUST DOMINATE AMERICA. was a higher and a more fundamental law, that of our in- heritance, written over the continent, in rivers and ranges of mountains, in plains and valleys, and that, therefore, the Constitution would have to be accommodating. No parch- ment can forbid the march of mankind. Our territorial system has served us well. It has yielded thirty-two States, each as sovereign and inviolable as the others ; and there is no primacy by reason of seniority. We ought to be armed as becomes a great Power ; not for military aggression, as our volunteers have always been and will prove to be sufficient for that. But, whether we include the American islands in the scope of our sover- eignty or not, we need to equip ourselves for international eventualities. We are one of the great Powers, This fact should ap- pear elsewhere than in our statistical tables and on the maps. We care nothing for the "balance of power" in Europe. That is a matter of locality and detail. We have little concern how Africa, Asia, or Australia are cut up. But the American islands are ours for the here- after ; and we shall, in good time, annex Cuba, as we an- nexed Florida, Texas, and California, and add her tropical riches to the arctic resources of Alaska, so that all the zones may be included in the patrimony of our people. It is the logic and lesson of current history, that the greatest of wars are to come ; for the nations are spend- ing money, time, and toil in learning war, with an extrava- gance incessantly increasing as the later years of the century are numbered. CHAPTER II. GETTING INTO THE SADDLE. George Washington in his Boyhood Put Our Country in the Saddle — In Inter- national Matters Conservative, he was, in his Youth, the Foremost of the Adventurers of the Gentlemen of his State Invading the Great West — He Knew More of That which is now the Heart of the Country than any other Man of his Generation, and More Wisely Appreciated the Value of the Ohio and the Mississippi Valleys — He was the Chosen Leader when but Twenty- two Years of Age, of the First Band of Colo- nists who took the Field against the French Aggression in the Ohio Country. It was at his Personal Command that the First Guns were Fired and the First Blood Shed in the Great War for the Domination in North America Between England and France, terminating in the Pos- session, by the People of the United States, of the Soil they now Occupy — He First Assisted the English to Put Out the French, and then the French Assisted Him in Putting Out the English. There is hardly to be found in the records of mankind an occasion more grateful and opportune to sweep away a work of historic injustice than that afforded in writing- a history of "Our Country in War and Our Foreign Rela- tions," by declaring at the outset, the splendor of the youthful heroism and achievements of George Washing- ton in laying broader and deeper the foundations of the government by the people, of which he stands in the august and universally ascribed relation as the Father. For more than a century the name of Washington has been used by those who have been opposed to the expansion of our coun- try. No man ever had a more direct hand than himself in expanding it. He was too early to see beyond the Missis- sippi, for it had not then entered the imagination of man that this Republic was to be bounded only by the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans, and the Great Lakes and the Great 31 32 GETTING INTO THE SADDLE. Gulf. So far-seeing, however, was Washington, that it is easy to conjecture that he must have had some ghmpses of the glory to come. His personal part, in extreme youth, as the representative of Virginia and the colonies associated with her in resisting the French system of grasping all the lands watered by the tributaries of the Mississippi, is most inter- esting, little understood, and rarely realized in its full pro- portions. About one hundred and fifty years ago the French, under the patronage of their King and court and army, were busily establishing themselves along the waters of the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi, and by several routes con- necting the enormous basins of the greater North Ameri- can rivers. They first crossed to the Lakes high up the Mississippi, and later discovered the advantages of the Ohio and the Wabash, which they thought would serve their purpose. Therefore they ascended the Ohio, and reach- ing the shores of Lake Erie, found their true line of com- munication between the imperial masses of their posses- sions along the Allegheny River, which was then regarded as the Ohio, the Monongahela, having consideration only as the most important branch of the " beautiful river." The Indian tribes were stirred up from forts of the French who fortified positions in close relations along Lake On- tario and Lake Erie, and advancing constructed an im- portant fortification in what is now Erie county, Pa. They also had another place at Venango, where the Allegheny received a considerable affluent, and at this stage of the pro- ceedings. Major Washington, a member of the staff of Governor Dinwiddie, was sent with a letter challenging the French commandant in the Ohio country, on the sub- ject of his aggressions upon the land belonging to the King of England. On the way Washington passed the GETTING INTO THE SADDLE. 33 Forks of the Ohio, before there had been a stick cut on the site of the city of Pittsburg, and when he returned one of the points of his report to the Governor was the ex- treme importance of that position. Governor Dinwiddie immediately began to organize to head off the French at that point, and Washington was the man selected to take command of the forces. There were great deficiencies, however, in the organization of the colonies, and when in the following spring he set forth, it was with insufficient forces; and the French were ahead of him, as he had re- ported they probably would be, unless the utmost speed of enterprise was reached in taking armed possession of the land. There followed the familiar story of Fort Duquesne and Braddock's defeat ; but more interesting is the fact that, with his little band, Washington moved resolutely into the wilderness, encountered the French, and regarding them as trespassers, ordered them fired upon, resulting in the death of a French officer, De Joinville. Thereupon Washington was forced to fortify himself, but was assailed by overwhelm- ing numbers, and on the night before the fourth of July, 1 753, he signed articles of capitulation as a prisoner of war. He it was who started the fight, and he it was who saw the French off, when the forces of England at last vindicated her reputation, the French abandoned the Forks of the Ohio, and the Indians sailed away in their canoes down the beautiful river, leaving the colonies north of the posts on the lower Mississippi to the English-speaking people for- ever. Thus it was, in the days of his youth, that George Washington put the American people in the saddle ; and the result was our national independence. We refer to the war that was opened between the French and the Virginians in 1754, as the Opening War of our Country. In a great historic sense it was so. The colo- 34 GETTING INTO THE SADDLE. nists had participated with the British in fighting the French and Indians at an earher period, but the affairs did not affect Continental relations. The colonists who took the field were not contending for dominion, only to maintain their frontiers, to beat the French and help the King of Eng- land ; but from 1754 they were in the war and fought for land to belong to themselves and their children and for Liberty. George Washington was, in 1751, appointed one of the four adjutant-generals of Virginia. Each was assigned to a military district of the colony, with the duty of organizing troops. The age of Washington was nineteen, his rank major, and he was attached to the staff of Governor Din- widdle, who, in October, 1753, commissioned him to find the commandant of the French forces on the Ohio, and deliver a letter to him demanding his retirement from the territories of the crown of Great Britain. Major Washing- ton, representing the Governor of Virginia and the King of England, set out from Williamsburg on the last day of the month, crossed the mountains, the headwaters of the Potomac and the Ohio, into the land where the rivers ran west and south. The French had invaded and were fortifying this country. The Virginian major bore the challenge of England to France, and was destined to begin in person, within eight months, the impending war. The prize contended for by the two most enlightened and powerful nations of the world was the valley of the Mississippi. It was the fortune of young Washington to be the foremost representative of the English race, in the irrepressible conflict for the richest regions of the North Temperate Zone. On the 14th of November he reached the house of Chris- topher Gist, on Will's Creek — the present site of the City of Cumberland. Christopher Gist was a frontier man u{ GETTING INTO THE SADDLE. 35 intelligence and experience in the wilderness, and to him Washington delivered a letter from the Council of Virginia, requesting his attendance in the journey to the Post on the Ohio, where the French Commander-in-Chief could be located. In 1 743 there had been published in Paris " The History of New France," by Charlevoix. This work was reviewed in the "London Magazine," in 1747, under the head of " The French Setdements in North America." The re- viewer declared that in wars with France " the conquest or destruction of the French settlements in America ought to be our principal view." It appeared from the French history and map that they, "by means of their setdements in Canada and on the River Mississippi, have entirely sur- rounded our settlements upon the continent of North America, and thereby absolutely cut us off from all commu- nication with the natives of that vast continent, except the few that inhabit the country eastward of the Mississippi and the lakes of Canada ; and from this history it appears that they have now opened a communication, mostly by water- carriage, from the mouth of the river St. Lawrence, to the mouth of the Mississippi, and have, in a manner, taken pos- session of every one of the great lakes in North America, which are the largest in the known world." The author of " New France" had made a voyage by the lakes and rivers from Quebec to New Orleans, and it ap- peared to the reviewer, " that the French were much more artful and diligent than the English in making setdements among, and in gaining the affections of the Indians;" and that one of their favorite methods was to push forward their priests, who made themselves agreeable and useful to the savages, and prepared the way with missions for forts. The French strength, in their struggle for the greater 36 GETTING INTO THE SADDLE. and better part of the continent, was in their abiHty to cajole and employ the red men, and share with them the wilderness as a mysterious fortification. It was the English fashion at the time to complain of the superiority of the French as colonists. A letter from Virginia published in the " Lon- don Magazine" of 1747, declares: "With regard to the churchmen to be employed in America, the French infinitely excel us ; and even with regard to laymen, they are at more pains to find out such men as are proper for the business in which they are to be employed." The English and French were contesting the rich lands in North America a century and a half ago, as they are now assisting the expansive efforts of their colonists in Africa. To-day it is the vast regions between the Nile and the Niger and along their tributaries, instead of between the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi as in our ancient history. The surrounding of the English settlements by the French was what Englishmen most complained of, but their concern was rather for the good land of the future. The continent was not crowded with people. The population of the English colonies at this time was reported, pardy by count, partly by estimate, at 1,428,000. The States north of the Potomac had 882,000 white inhabitants and 85,000 blacks ; south of the Potomac, 283,000 whites and 178,000 blacks. The Canadian French numbered less than 12,000. In 1688 the French census for North America showed only 1 1,249. They, possessing the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi, sought to connect those enormous continental channels by way of the Ohio and Lake Erie, and with the Indians on the great lakes and rivers, iriade wonderful voyages with canoes. M. du Quesne, Governor of Canada, early in 1753, detached M. Sieur de St. Pierre with a sufficient force to GETTING INTO THE SADDLE. 39 make a lodgement and to maintain his ground on the River Boeuf, or Beef River, till re-enforced, which St. Pierre performed ; and he built a fort upon the spot in honor of M. du Quesne." This fort was called " Le Boeuf" and was in Erie County, Pennsylvania, now Waterford, thir- teen miles from the town of Erie, near Le Boeuf Lake ; and the famous French Creek of the same name has its head near Lake Chautauqua. There had been received in the colonies from the " back settlements " information of the aggression of the French, in building three forts on the Ohio. The Governor of Virginia wrote to the Governor of Pennsylvania, January 29, 1754. of " the return of the gent whom I sent by express to the French commandant, to know what steps the French were taking on the Ohio ; " and the Governor added that he " wrote to the colonies to the northward of this for their aid and assistance " in the emergency, and at once made preparations to prevent the French from fortifying the fork of the Ohio, the real importance of which was first made known by Major Washington in recording the result of his expedition. The letter the youthful Major bore to the French com- mandant was dated Williamsburg, October 31, 1753, and was a very explicit document, saying : " The lands upon the River Ohio, in the western part of the Colony of Virginia, are so notoriously known to be the property of the Crown of Great Britain, that it is a matter of equal concern and sur- prise to me, to hear that a body of French forces are erect- ing fortresses, and making settlements upon that river within His Majesty's Dominions." Major Washington's report of his first journey to the Ohio country, is a document remarkable for the literary faculty it declares, and no one can read it without a sense 3 40 GETTING INTO THE SADDLE. of the manliness and modesty of " the gent, sent " by Gov- ernor Dinvviddie. Such was the Interest in Major Washing- ton's report that he was allowed but one day after his return to Williamsburg and the time for the Council's meeting, to " prepare and transcribe from the rough minutes " taken in his travels, the whole paper, and he apologized for ina- bility to correct the "dicdon." He did an extraordinarily good day's work as a reporter; and did not know his report would be published, until it had been printed. He concluded his exemplary explanation of his hasty work, saying the only thing that could commend it to the public was: "Those things which came under the notice of my own observation, I have been explicit and just in a recital of. Those which I have gathered from report, I have been particularly cautious not to augment, but col- lected the opinions of the several intelligencers, and selected from the whole the most probable and consistent account." There is in this a striking suggestion of the style of preci- sion, of the one man named with Washington as his rival in reputadon — Abraham Lincoln. The journey of Major Washington, of which this record was made, began October 31, 1753. He arrived at Fred- ericksburg next day, and at Cumberland two weeks out. Excessive rain and vast quantities of snow caused delays, preventing their arrival at the place of Mr. Frazier, an Indian trader, at the mouth of Turtle Creek, on the Monon- gahela, and it was proposed to cross the Ohio (the Alle- gheny) at the fork. Here, in the original London pamphlet, a note says, " The Ohio and the Allegheny are the same river." The loan of a canoe to reach " the fork " was obtained, but Washington spent some time on the way, in the saddle, closely examining the rivers passing over the scene of the defeat of Braddock in i 755 — a year and a half GETTING INTO THE SADDLE. 41 later — and he studied with the eye of a surveyor and mih- tary man by nature, the " Land in the Fork," of which he said : " I think it extremely well situated for a fort, as it has the absolute command of both rivers." A race soon took place between the French and the English to occupy and fortify the fork of the Ohio — the English got the start, but were driven out, and the French enjoyed a brief triumphal occupation. It was Major Wash- ington who, when the land in the fork was wholly unoccu- pied, saw its advantages and urged it as above all others, the spot to fortify. No newspaper correspondent ever did more faithful work than George Washington did in reporting in his tent. November 25th, in the afternoon between three o'clock and dark, fifteen miles from the fork of the great river the French called the " Fair," and the group consisted of Washington, his interpreter Davidson, and the " Half King." There is the flavor of the individuals and races of the red men and the Frenchmen, in the speeches reported. We have the dignity of the Indian Chief, the vivacity of the French officer ; the aggression, the defiance, all this duly noted, and there is intelligence, particularly acceptable to military men. The Major also jotted down his conversa- tion with the " Half King " the matter concerned him thus : " He informed me that they, the French, had built two forts — one on Lake Erie and another on French Creek, near a small lake about fifteen miles yonder, and a large wagon road between ; they are both built after the same model, but different in size, that on the lake the largest. He gave me a plan of them, of his own drawing." The " Half King" desired to hold the country against the whites. He had already told the English of his intention, 42 GETTING INTO THE SADDLE. and claimed that " the Great Being above allowed the land to be a place of residence for the Indians. Our brethren, the English, have heard this, and I come now to tell it to you, for I am not afraid to discharge you off this land." The reply on behalf of France was severe. " My child," said the Frenchman, " you need not put yourself to the trouble of speaking, for I will not hear you," and " I am not afraid of flies, or mosquitoes, for Indians are such as those. I tell you, down the river I will go, and will build upon it according to my command. If the river is blocked up, I have forces sufficient to burst it open, and tread under my feet all who stand in opposition, together with their alliances ; for my force is as the sand upon the seashore. Therefore, here is your wampum. I fling it at you. Child, you talk foolish ; you say this land belongs to you, but there is not the black of my nails of it yours." When Washington waited upon the commander, a knight of the military order of St. Louis, Legardeur de St. Pierre, an elderly gentleman, with much the air of a soldier, and who had commanded the fort only a week. The arrival of a Captain Reparti, "who understood a little English," was daily awaited, and Governor Dinwiddle's letter was read. Washington was asked to walk in with his inter- preter to hear and correct the construction of the Gover- nor's paper. The French held a council of war after mas- tering the Governor's letter, and while this was going on, the ever-watchful Major was studying the fort, " taking the dimensions," and " making what observations I could." The fort was on the south or west bank of French Creek, and nearly surrounded by it. There were eight six-pound can- non in each bastion, and one piece of four-pound before the gate, and " there are several barracks without the fort for the soldiers' dwelling ; covered some with bark, and some GETTING INTO THE SADDLE. 43 with boards, made chiefly with logs. There are also several other houses, such as stables, smiths' shops, etc." The indefatigable nature of the Major's labors is seen in the pains he took to find how many men there were in the garrison, and he made them about one hundred, exclusive of the officers, " of whom there are many." The canoes were counted, and there were fifty of birch bark, and one hundred and seventy of pine, and " many others blocked out." This told the strength of the expedition to descend the river in the spring. The canoes were numbered by Washington's people acting under his orders, and the capacity and purpose of the canoe fleet were verified the next spring. The most specific statement Washington could gain of the strength of the French invading the Ohio country was that they had been 1,500 strong, but had been recalled, except the garrisons of four forts, about 150 to each, and he reported : '* The first of these is at French Creek near a small lake, about sixty miles from Venango, near N. N. W. ; the next lies on Lake Erie where the greater part of their stores is kept, about fifteen miles from the other. From this it is 1 20 miles to the carrying place, at the falls of Lake Erie, where there is a small fort which they lodge their goods at, in bringing them from Montreal, the place from whence all their stores come. The next fort lies about twenty miles from this on Ontario Lake." The trip from the fort on Lake Erie to Montreal, the French officers said, could be made in four weeks by large boats, and six weeks by canoes. The larger boats were used to cross Lake Erie, and their existence shows the skill and energy of the French in navigation. The reply of the French commander to the communica- 44 GETTING INTO THE SADDLE. tion from Governor Dinwiddle was received on the evening of die 1 6th, and next day the journal says, " the comman- dant ordered a plentiful store of liquor, provisions, etc., to be put on board our canoe, and appeared to be extremely complaisant, though he was exerting every artifice he could invent to set our Indians at variance with us, to prevent their going till after our departure. Presents, rewards, and everything which could be suggested by him or his fellow-officers — I can't say that ever in my life I suffered so much anxiety as I did in this affair. I saw that every strat- agem which the most fruitful brain could invent was prac- ticed to win the ' Half King ' to their interest, and that leaving him here was giving them the opportunity they aimed at." Washington was long detained by drunken Indians and his return was through terrible hardships. There was an attempt to assassinate him, and he was flung from a raft into the Allegheny when the river was flooded and loaded with ice. The Major was "in an Indian walking dress" — a "hunt- ing shirt" and leggings — and continued with the party for three days — but had to hasten forward " the nearest way through the woods on foot." It was a dreary time. The cold " increased " very fast ; the woods were becoming much worse with a deep snow, continually freezing. This was Christmas Day. The simplicity of the journal is very striking, and it is the more to be regarded, for it is one of the rare occasions in which Washington spoke of himself. He says : " I took my necessary papers ; pulled off my clothes, and tied myself up in a watch coat. Then with gun in hand and pack at back, in which were my papers and provisions, I set out with Dr. Gist, fitted in the same manner." GETTING INTO THE SADDLE. 45 Major Washington was for a time utterly alone, in a forest where his life had been attempted. He was dressed almost like an Indian, carrying pack and gun, resolutely walking all night and then all day, though footsore and ex- ceedingly fatigued, finding his way in the pathless and frozen woods by the compass, discovering a trail of pro- bably hostile Indians — parting with his one companion that they might evade their enemies if pursued, meeting again and keeping up their desperate pace, until they came to a place where they thought they were safe enough to sleep, and encamped. They were not disturbed through the long night and " set out early." On the first of January, 1 754, two months after setting out from Williamsburg, Washington says: "Tuesday, January I, we left Mr. Frazier's house, and arrived at Mr. Gist's, at Monongahela, the 2d, where I bought a horse, saddle, etc. The 6th we met seventeen horses loaded with materials and stores for a fort at the forks of the Ohio, and the day after, some families going out to settle." They were the advance guard of an ill-fated expedition. This day Will's Creek (Cumberland on the Potomac) was reached, and on the nth Belvoir, the seat of the Fairfax family, where there occurs this line in the journal : •' I stopped one day to take necessary rest." The arrival at Williamsburg was on the 1 6th, and Major Washington " waited upon His Honor the Governor, with the letter I had brought from the French commandant ; and to give an account of the success of my proceedings." The report was at once written up and submitted, and hop- ing the Governor was satisfied with his conduct, the Major subscribed himself " With infinite pleasure, George Wash- ington," and in the phrase "infinite pleasure" is the only touch of the extravagance of youth in the wonderfully clear 46 GETTING INTO THE SADDLE. and forcible account of a journey that was O- extreme hardship and various imminent dangers, of great pubHc utihty, and finally of international influence. The Governor, after reading the French commandant's letter, at once began preparing for a military expedidon, in the spring, to capture the fork of the Ohio. It was the eye of Washington that had found the commanding military and commercial importance of the site of Pittsburg. The journal of his first Western travel is by far the most important of Washington's early writings. It is crowded with business intelligence, not a point missed, and is the indubitable evidence of the uncommon manner in which, through the most trying experiences, he won in his youth an exceptional and glorious reputation, spreading his name through the colonies as one in whom absolute confidence could be reposed, becoming, through devoted bravery and good conduct, the most distinguished and promising young man in Virginia. Under the hardest tests, his extraordinary excellence was thus early made manifest. No men could have been better qualified than the Virginians of that day to understand his admirable merit, his courage indomitable, and judgment unfailing ; and he had by his fearless and in- telligent devotion, deeply impressed the leading men of the commonwealth, and took his place then and forever as a leader and a hero. His keen eyes had searched, and his hand recorded the secrets of the enemies of Virginia and England. His sagacity guided him through the most desperate hazards, followed, without faltering, the line of duty, and had saved his life for the coming time. His return to the seat of government of the colony, having placed him by the sur- prisingly thorough accomplishment of his mission, among the first ciuzens who had served the State, was a month GETTING INTO THE SADDLE. 47 before his twenty-second birthday. The letter he bore to the Governor of Virginia was in stately form and high spirit justifying the description Washington gives of the soldierly bearing of the writer, who clearly had an adequate sense of the importance of his position — that of commanding the advanced guard of his nation — in asserting authority over the richest land of the continent ; and the paper was one which it was fitting should be in charge of the messenger, whose fortune it was to be first to inform the English and their colonies, from personal observation, of the exact state of French aggression, pushing to completion their chain of fortresses, to draw a boundary that British enterprise could never pass on the ridges of the Alleghenies. The prize for the victor was the possession of a region exceeding Europe in resources, and it was Major Wash- ington who led, in the year following, the first military expedition against the centre of the French line, extending from Quebec to New Orleans ; and under the orders of this young gentleman, the first blood was shed in the war that, after many vicissitudes, ended the ambitious scheme of French dominion, and confirmed to Virginia her imperial territory, yet leaving Louisiana with a more magnificent inheritance even than that Virginia held and gave away. Napoleon, the master of France, sold this truly imperial possession to the country of Washington, because the French were unequal to the defence of New Orleans against the sea power of the English. The task and triumph won the empire beyond the Mississippi, and the defence of Louisiana against Great Britain was transmitted to another generation and race, and accomplished by another hero, Andrew Jackson. The French commandant at Fort Le Boeuf comes down to us a not unpleasing personage — a knightly figure, court- 48 GETTING INTO THE SADDLE. eous and haughty, and his romantic name will be known through the centuries, because he met in his wooden fort, in a wintry wilderness, on a little river, alternately flooded and frozen, the young Virginian, whom he received with a distinction suitable, as he said, to the dignity of the Gover- nor of Virginia and the " quality and great merit " of the young man himself. It would have seemed a fantastic dream to the old officer, exiled in duty so far from Paris, and from all it seemed possible could become memorable, if he had beheld in a vision that immortality had been conferred upon him, not by his King, or any honors France could bestow, or glory he should gain in toilsome services, but through the presence of an enemy's emissary whose appointed destiny it was to lead the advanced guard of the colonists in finally conquering for the English race " the fair River Ohio," and the fruitful lands it watered. Still more strange it would have seemed, to have revealed in the mist of fancy a glimpse of the fated field on the Monongahela, where George Washington was the hero of the fight, relieving, by his valor, the gloom of a day of dis- aster ; and how impossible it would have been to imagine that after the French lost the key to the country, and floated in their barges discomfited down the river whose beauty they had celebrated, that glittering regiments from France should, in alliance with the picturesque Continentals, under George Washington, march from the Hudson to the capes of Virginia, to force the surrender of his Britannic Majesty's army at Yorktown, — the war that deprived Eng- land of her original American colonies, and the greatest of her conquests from the French — the Mississippi Valley. CHAPTER III. THE HANNIBAL OF THE WEST. George Rogers Clark the Winner of the Title for the United States of the North Western Territory, Preparing the Way for the Louisiana Purchase — His Slender Means and Vast Achievements — He Captures Kaskaskia and Vincennes — His Wonderful Wading March in the Wabash Flood — He Died a Poor Man, but one of the Immortals. The name of George Rogers Clark should always be re- membered as of one who contributed, by acts of almost incredible bravery and hardihood, to broadening the foun- dations of this Great Republic. His fame should be asso- ciated with that of George Washington, as one who was engaged in heroic enterprise to secure good land for the people of the States destined to expand as the course of empire took its way westward, even to the shores of the Pacific. Washington was the foremost man in fighting the French from their Ohio lines, and Clark was the leader who, as our Revolutionary war drew to a close, secured, by cap- turing British posts, a title that finally could not be ignored in the treaty with England, and at last defined the territory of the United States, to extend beyond the Alleghenies. The Northwest was conquered from the British by Clark. That was the deed of empire. George Rogers Clark was a native of the prolific county of Albemarle, Virginia, a neighbor and friend of Thomas Jefferson. He emigrated to Kentucky, when that great State was a county of the State of Virginia. The treaty that closed the war of the Revolution was made in 1783, but the final adjustments were not fixed for several years. Mary Cone, in the " Magazine of Western History," cites a 49 50 T'HE HANNFBAL OF THE WEST. remarkable chapter of our history, in which we came near giving up the Northwest and the Mississippi Valley to the British, in these terms : "When France entered into an alliance with the United States, one of the conditions of the treaty was that peace with England should not be made by that government until the independence of the United States, in all its entirety, should be acknowledged by Great Britain. By this compact the nation was bound, so that the question as to what territory was actually in possession of the United States when hostilities ceased was one of prime importance, and the answer to it must determine the line of action, at least, for France. " The territory beyond the disputed line was readily dis- posed of. England gave up the Floridas to Spain. France relinquished all claim to its once splendid domain, and accepted, instead thereof, the Bermudas. England retained the extended territory in the north. But neither of the three great powers, that had taken the adjustment of matters into their hands, showed much generosity toward the United States. Differing in many things, they agreed in wishing to prevent the expansion of the new country toward the west. There was at first an attempt to make the Alleghenies a cordon to bind them in, and prevent growth in that direction. The utmost liberality of the triple governments sufficed only to grant the Ohio river for the western boundary. Neither of the nations cared very much who should have the vast territory lying to the west- ward, so that the United States did not have it. If it could be saved from the grasp of the young nation, that had already given proof of will to purpose, and energy to per- form, after-consideration might determine what disposition should be made of it. THE HANNIBAL OF THE WEST. 51 " The commissioners from the United States were Benja- min FrankHn, John Adams and John Jay. Monsieur Vergen- nes, the able minister of Louis XIV., so argued the case with Dr. FrankHn, and so presented the difficulty, if not impossibility, of securing peace on any better terms than making the Ohio river the boundary, that, fearing to lose the whole by trying to grasp too much, he was finally induced to agree to accept that condition, rather than run the risk of renewing the war by demanding more territory. John Jay also was persuaded to consent to the same, though he yielded with much reluctance. There remained only John Adams to be won over to that view of the case. But he, with far-seeing eye, saw that a great nation could not be built up on the Atlantic coast, if severed from the Mississippi and the west. To him it seemed the manifest purpose and intent of Providence that, in the lap of this continent, there should be a mighty nation between the eastern and western extremities, of which the Mississippi should be the bond of union. There could be no great compact and powerful government that did not own and control the great Father of Rivers, which, taking up the waters shed by the Alleghenies on the east, and holding them in his hands, while he gathers together the drainage of the Rocky Mountains on the west, goes on his way with the commingled flood, till he pours the whole into the great ocean ; and to the prophetic eye there could be seen to go on the surface of the flood the commerce of a great nation, that owned and governed the whole — the offering of a free people to the welfare and business of the world. It was plain to see that a nation that would be great must hold the Mississippi and its tributaries in its possession. When, therefore, the proposition was made to him to fall short of this goal, and take the Ohio river for his country's bound- 52 THE HANNIBAL OF THE WEST. ary, and thereby relinquish all right to the magnificent domain lying to the westward, sturdy John Adams said : ' No ! never ! ' and he declared that, sooner than agree to such terms, he would go home and exhort his countrymen to buckle on their swords again and load their guns anew, and fight till there was no more blood to be poured out, or until their just demands were agreed to. " Yet his remonstrance and opposition would not have availed had not the claim to territory west of the Ohio, on the part of the United States, been based upon a show of right. The guarantee of France enabled the commissioners to claim from Great Britain not only all the territory pos- sessed by right of purchase or treaty before the war, but also all that had been conquered during the war. That, at the commencement of hostilities, the colonies did not pos- sess a rood of land, not an outpost or a fort west of the Ohio, was admitted by all the parties concerned ; and, but for the courage and enterprise of a brave and able man, with a mere handful of men as brave as himself, there would not have been the shadow of a foundation upon which to base a claim of conquest during the war." This brave and able man was Geo. Rogers Clark. Ban- croft said, as he proposed to record the enterprise of Clark, that " the valor of its actors, their fidelity to one another, and the seeming feebleness of their means and the great results of their hardihood, remain forever memorable in the history of the world." During the Revolutionary war, the west was much neglected, and there was a great deal of opinion to the effect that the country would be better off without the west — more homogeneous and easily self- governed. George Rogers Clark loved land as Washington did, and marked it not for himself, though all the pay he got was THE HANNIBAL OF THE WEST. 53 land and much depreciated paper money, as for the people. He was in his youth, as Washington was, a surveyor, and was thus educated for dominion in the wilderness. He distinguished himself in war against French and Indians, and was offered a commission in the British army. He appeared in Kentucky in 1774, twenty-two years of age, and became a permanent resident two years later. The gifted historical writer Mary Cone says of him : " He was a born leader, and could not anywhere, and under any circumstances, have been kept in the back- ground. Of fine appearance and commanding presence, he so impressed those with whom he came in contact with his superiority, that its recognition was prompt and sincere. Yet he was genial and heartsome to such an extent that it was a willing obeisance he gained from the hearts of his fellow-men. The first office of trust to which he was chosen was that of representative of the county of Kentucky in the House of Burgesses in Virginia. It was the first time the district had been represented in the body by which it was governed. He and one Gabriel Jones, the other rep- resentative, set out together for the capital of Virginia, but their progress was so slow, and their journey so long, that the legislature had adjourned before they reached Wil- liamsburg, the seat of government. Determined to be of use to the county he had been chosen to represent, Clark waited upon the governor, the celebrated Patrick Henry, and after stating the necessities and exposed condition of the people of Kentucky, asked for a supply of gunpowder to help them in defending their homes against the attack of the Indians. It was not until after much entreaty and skill- ful manoeuvering that he succeeded in obtaining from the council an order for the needed supply. The trouble was not over then. He incurred great risk and encountered 54 THE HANNIBAL OF THE WEST. numerous difficulties in getting the gunpowder to Ken- tucky." This was the beginning of Clark's great achievements. The British were in possession, at this time, of important posts ceded to them by France in 1765. Kaskaskia, Vin- cennes, called St. Vincents, and Detroit, were held by British garrisons. Kaskaskia was the capital of Illinois, called by the French Upper Louisiana, and was settled in 1683. In 1777 Kaskaskia had two hundred and fifty houses, and the inhabitants were French. Vincennes, one hundred and fifty miles above the mouth of the Wabash, was called by the English, Sackville. The place was named by the French for Francois Morgan de Vincenne, who commanded the post in 1733. Detroit was an old French town that had fallen into the hands of the English along with the rest of the spoil of France. These places were depots for arming the savages, and there was a trade in scalps. The policy of the English was to confederate the Indian tribes, and use them to strike the revolted colonies along the Atlantic, in the rear. It was the great merit of Clark to understand the situation, both as soldier and statesman. He saw all the circumstances, generalized facts, and studied out conclusions. He made particular note of the fact that the military posts of the British were in French towns, and that the French might render him assistance as against the British, There was some Indian dissatisfaction with the British, especially in the Delaware and Shawnee tribes. Clark kept his plans secret and sent two young men in the summer of 1777 to examine the British posts. Their report was so encouraging that he set out at once for Williamsburg to get aid from Virginia. The surrender of Burgoyne, while he was making the journey, caused him to be listened to. In November Clark stated his plans to THE HANNIBAL OF THE WEST. 57 Governor Henry. As secrecy had to be observed, the legislature could not be taken into confidence. Clark wanted five hundred men. Among those trusted with the secret were Thomas Jefferson, George Mason and George Wythe. Clark believed in himself so much that they be- lieved in him. The governor promoted Clark to a col- onelcy, and he received January 2, 1778, two sets of in- structions, the one for show, the other for use, twelve hundred pounds in degenerate currency and the privilege of enlisting his men anywhere west of the Alleghenies. He also received a guarantee that these men would use their best endeavors to secure a grant of three hundred acres of land to every man who enlisted in the undertak- ing. The governor addressed orders to a Virginia officer at Fort Pitt, desiring him to furnish ammunition, boats and all necessary equipments. The secret orders which Colonel Clark received from Governor Henry closed with these words : "The corps you are to command are to receive the pay and allowance of militia. . . . It is in contemplation to estabHsh a fort near the mouth of Ohio. Cannon will be wanted to fortify it. Part of those at Kaskaskia will be easily brought thither or otherwise secured as circumstances will make necessary. You are to apply to General Hand, at Pittsburg, for powder and lead necessary for this expedi- tion. If he can't supply it, the person who has that which Captain Lynn brought from New Orleans can. Lead was sent to Hampshire by my orders that it may be delivered to you. Wishing you success, " I am, sir, your humble servant, "P. Henry." As Clark could not make public explanation of his pur- 4 58 THE HANNIBAL OF THE WEST. poses, and was supposed to be raising troops to protect Kentucky, recruiting- was slow. He liad expected to find all the men wanted at Fort Pitt, but got only one hundred. He sent agents to Kentucky, got a few additional adven- turers on the way, and while descending the Ohio heard of the French alliance. He knew as Cone, the historian, says : "As the forts he intended to attack and take, if possible, were in a territory occupied mainly by French inhabitants, it would go far toward securing their good will, and ulti- mately their assistance, to be able to assure them that the King of France and the government of France were friends to his cause and enemies to the alien garrison to which they were already none too friendly. The voyage down the river was successfully accomplished and the falls of the Ohio reached in safety. The troops were landed on Corn Island, opposite Louisville, and Colonel Clark pro- ceeded to fortify the island that he might, with the hope of safety, leave there the families that had come with him from Pennsylvania. " The time had at last come when he might and ought to reveal to his men the important secret that concerned them so nearly. Colonel Clark assembled his troops, and in a few stirring words made known to them the real object of the expedition. It was not to defend Kentucky that they had been mustered in, but to take the offensive and dis- lodge the British from the forts which they were making the centres of supplies for the Indians, and from whence these savages were sent out to murder defenceless women and helpless children, and burn and torment every living thing that fell into their hands. The announcement was received with shouts of applause." One company fell out of line, however. Some Tennes- seeans failed to appear, and on the 24th of June Clark THE HANNIBAL OF THE WEST 59 Started with four small companies, all told one hundred and fifty men. Each man carried his own baggage. The first thing was to take Kaskaskia. The boats were rushed down the Ohio, and in four days were at the mouth of the Tennessee. A boat with hunters eight days out from Kaskaskia was captured, and the news was encouraging. The distance overland was about loo miles. Of Colonel Clark it is said : ** He fared no better in any way than his men ; carried his own knapsack and gun, bore his full share in every hardship, and with story and song tried to interest and amuse his men." There were fifty miles of rough country and fifty of prai- ries, very swampy. July 4th Kaskaskia was in sight. Boats were found a mile from the fort, the men crossed, and Clark's journal says : "I immediately divided my little army into two divisions, ordered one to surround the town and with the other broke Into the fort and secured the governor, M. Rocheblame. In fifteen minutes we had every street secured and the garrison, with their commandant, prisoners. ... I sent runners through the town ordering the people on pain of death to keep close in their houses. . . . Before daylight we had the whole town disarmed." The English were in superior force. Colonel Clark's success was due to the secrecy of his expedition. He began to work at once upon the fears and jealousies of the French. He had the chief men of the town collected, and, after ex- plaining to them the causes of the war between Great Britain and her colonies, told them that though the fate of war had placed them in his hands, it was the custom of the Americans to make those whom they captured free. If they were already wearing shackles they were knocked off. They had been reduced to subjection by the English. The king of France, their king, was the friend of the Americans. 6o THE HANNIBAL OF THE WEST. He had promised to help them in their fight with the Brit- ish. Therefore Frenchmen everywhere were regarded as brothers by the Americans. They were now free to choose. If they preferred to join the British, the enemy of France as well as America, they could do so. But if they chose to take the oath of allegiance and become American citizens, they might do that, and they should be entitled to all the rights of citizenship. The reply was that they would be the happiest people in the world if they might be allowed to unite with the Americans. Their priest, Pierre Gibault, had recently come from Canada, where he had heard the causes of the war discussed, and knew the merits of the case. He was already in favor of the American cause, and worked zealously to bring his people over to his views. They wanted permission to meet in their church, and were told to do so as often as they pleased, and they became devoted to Clark and his cause. Many of the Indians became converted to the American cause. His next ob- jective point was Fort St. Vincent ; but his force was so small it was necessary to keep it concealed except to the guards. Re-enforcements were promised, but they came not. The Kaskaskia priest visited Vincennes and reported favorably of the disposition of the people. Clark sent a pro- clamation to the people about the fort. Captain Helm accompanied the priest. The commandant of the fort was ab- sent at Detroit, feeling perfectly secure. The people trans- ferred their allegiance, and Captain Helm took posses- sion. Suddenly the British came down the Wabash eight hun- dred strong under General Hamilton and retook Vincennes. There were two men in the garrison when it surrendered ; Captain Helm and one private. "When the attack began Captain Helm placed a cannon in the open gate of the fort, which was charged by the THE HANNIBAL OF THE WEST. 6 1 soldier, a man named Henry, while Captain Helm stood by with a lighted torch ready to touch it off. When Governor Hamilton and his troops were within hailing distance. Captain Helm cried * Halt ! ' The governor demanded the surrender of the garrison. Captain Helm declared with an oath that no man should enter until he knew the terms demanded. The answer was, ' You shall have the honors of war.' The conditions were accepted, and the garrison surrendered with its entire force, — one officer and one private." Hamilton was reported on the march to retake Kaskaskia, but he did not come. There was a story that an expedition had started from Pittsburg to capture Detroit, and Clark was elated, but his information was untrue. He concluded that his safe course was to take the offensive, because if he could not take Hamilton, Hamilton would take him. It was midwinter and Ham- ilton proposed an early spring campaign. Col. Clark says : " I collected the officers and told them the possibility I thought there was of turning the scale in our favor. They were all eager for the undertaking and all hands set about getting ready for an enterprise that to the eye of cool, cal- culating persons would have appeared not only hazardous, but foolhardy." As many recruits as possible were gathered from among the French. The women took a warm interest in the movement and presented standards to the different com- panies and cheered and encouraged the men. A large boat was prepared which mounted two four-pounders and four large swivels ; an abundant supply of provisions was put on board. The boat was called "The Willing" and Lieutenant Rogers in command. He had on board only forty-six men ; but few as there were of them, there was 62 THE HANNIBAL OF THE WEST. enough courage and energy among them to have supplied a ship of war. This boat was to follow the Kaskaskia river into the Mississippi, go down that to the Ohio, and up the Ohio till the mouth of the Wabash was reached. The Wabash would bring it to St. Vincent's, it was hoped, in time to meet the force that was to go across the country, and co-operate with them in taking the fort. Colonel Clark started on the 5th of February, 1778, He says : "I cannot account for it, but I still had an inward assur- ance of success, and never could, when weighing every- thing, doubt it. But I had some inward check." The distance to be traversed was 250 miles. The force numbered 1 70. The enemy had about 680. Major Bow- man, with Clark, kept a journal : " P^ebruary 7. — Began our march early ; made a good march for about nine hours ; the roads very bad with mud and water. " 8th. — March early through the waters, which we now begin to meet in these large and level plains, where, from the flatness of the country, the water rests for a considera- ble time before it drains off. Notwithstanding which, our men were in great spirits, though much fatigued. " 13th. — Arrived at the two Wabashes. Although a league asunder, they now make but one. We set to making a canoe. " 14th. — Finished the canoe and put it into the river about four in the afternoon. "15th. — Ferried across the Wabashes (now known as the Little Wabash and Muddy rivers), it being then five miles in water to the opposite hills, where we encamped. Still raining. Orders not to fire any guns in future but in case of necessity. THE HANNIBAL OF THE WEST. 63 " i6th, — Marched all day through mud and water ; our provisions begin to be short. " 17th. — Marched very early ; crossed several runs very deep. Sent Mr. Kennedy, our commissary, with three men to cross the river Embarrass, if possible, and proceed to a plantation opposite Post St. Vincent's, in order to steal boats or canoes to ferry us across the Wabash. Found the country all overflowed with water. We strove to find the Wabash. Traveled till eight o'clock in mud and water, but could find no place to encamp upon. Still kept marching on, but after some time Mr. Kennedy and his party returned — found it impossible to cross the river Embarrass. We found the water falling from a small spot of ground. Stayed there the remainder of the night. Drizzly and dark weather. " 1 8th. — At break of day heard Governor Hamilton's morning gun. Set off and marched down the river. Saw some fine land. About two o'clock came to the bank of the Wabash ; made rafts for four men to cross and go up town and steal boats. But they spent all day and night in the water to no purpose, for there was not one foot of dry land to be found." In the closing paragraph of his journal, on the eighteenth. Major Bowman says : " No provisions now for two days. Hard fortune." " 20th. — Camp very quiet but hungry. Some almost in despair. "2 2d. — Colonel Clark encourages his men, which gives them great spirits. Marched on in the waters. Those that were weak and famished with so much fatigue, went in the canoes. . . . No provisions yet. Lord help us ! "23d. — Setoff to cross the plain called Horseshoe plain, about four miles long, all covered with water breast high. Here we expected some of our brave men must certainly perish, having froze in the night and so long fasting." 64 THE HANNIBAL OF THE WEST. Colonel Clark writes of this dreadful time : "This last day's march through the water was superior to anything- the Frenchmen had any idea of. ... A canoe was sent off and returned without finding that we could pass. I went in her myself and sounded the water, and found iu deep as to my neck. I returned with the design to have the men transported on board the canoes to the sugar camp, which I knew would spend the whole day and ensuing night, as the vessels would pass slowly through the bushes. The loss of so much time to men half-starved was a matter of consequence. I would have given a great deal now for a day's provisions or for one of our horses. I returned but slowly to the troops, giving myself time to think. On our arrival all ran to hear our report. Every eye was fixed on me. I unfortunately spoke in a serious manner to one of the officers. The whole were alarmed without knowing what I said. I viewed their confusion for about one minute, whispered to those near me to do as I did, immediately put some water in my hand, poured in powder, blackened my face, gave the war-whoop, marched into the water without saying a word. The party gazed, fell in one after another without saying a word, like a flock of sheep. I ordered the men near me to give a favorite song of theirs. It soon passed through the line and the whole went on cheerfully. . . . They reached a sugar camp in which there was about half an acre of dry ground. Hungry and weary, the men lay down there and slept till morning. The most of the weather we had on our march was moist and warm for the season. This was the coldest night we had. The ice in the morning was from one-half to three-quarters of an inch thick near the shores and in still water. A litde after sunrise I lectured the whole. I con- cluded by informing them that passing the plain that was THE HANNIBAL OF THE WEST. 65 in full view, and reaching the opposite woods, would put an end to their fatigue, and immediately stepped into the water. A huzza took place. As we generally marched through the water in a line, before the third entered I halted and called to Major Bowman, ordering him to put to death any man who refused to march, as we wished to have no such person among us. The whole gave a cry of appro- bation and on we went. This was the most trying of all the difficulties we had experienced. " I generally kept fifteen or twenty of the strongest men near myself, and judged from my own feelings what must be those of the others. Getting about the middle of the plain, the water about mid-deep, I found myself sensibly failing, and as there were no trees or bushes for the men to sup- port themselves, I feared that many of the most weak would be drowned. I ordered the canoes to make the land, dis- charge their loading, and ply backward and forward with all diligence and pick up the men, and to encourage the party, sent some of the men forward, with orders, when they got to a certain distance, to pass the word back that the water was getting shallower, and when getting near the woods to cry out Tand.' This stratagem had the desired effect. The men, encouraged by it, exerted them- selves almost beyond their abilities — the weak holding by the stronger. Getting to the woods, where the men ex- pected land, the water was up to my shoulders, but gain- ing the woods was of great consequence. All the low men and weakly hung to the trees and floated on all old logs until they were taken off by the canoes. The tall and strong got ashore and built fires. Many would reach the shore and fall with their bodies half in the water, not being able to support themselves without it." Colonel Clark's expedition was in a forlorn state when 65 THE HANNIBAL OF THE WEST. Vincennes was approached. The armed boat with fifty men and provisions did not come. There was no food, and the march had been exhausting and distressing. A young Frenchman out shooting ducks was taken prisoner, and stated the fort was finished, and there were six hundred men to defend it. There was one gleam of encour- agement, the fact that the French were the friends of the Americans, and there was no thought that Clark would venture on a winter campaign. The case was desperate. An Indian canoe loaded with supplies was captured and starvation averted. Clark wrote a letter to the inhabitants of the town saying that he would take it, and they should remain in their houses. He then moved in full sight of the fort, over uneven ground, and took advantage of the hills to deceive the enemy as to his strength. The history of the manceuver is given by Cone as follows : "When Clark was enlisting his men in Illinois, flags had been given generally by ladies to each of the small bodies of troops gathered in the towns and villages. These were hung out to the wind on this occasion, and were enough for a thousand men. By marching and counter-marching through the ravine and over the elevations in the view of the garrison, these men seemed to be tenfold more in num- ber than they really were." After three days' skirmishing Clark demanded the sur- render of the fort, and being refused, made so vigorous an attack that Governor Hamilton asked for an interview. Clark was so resolute and exacting that he imposed upon Hamilton, who, intimidated, agreed to surrender on these terms. 1st. — Lieutenant-Colonel Hamilton engages to deliver up to Colonel Clark Fort Sackville as it is at present, with all its stockade, etc. THE HANNIBAL OF THE WEST. 67 2d. — The garrison are to deliver themselves as prisoners of war, and march out with their arms and accoutrements, etc. At ten o'clock on the 25th of February Colonel Hamilton surrendered the fort, the sentries were relieved, the tri- colored flag soon waved from the tower of the garrison and thirteen guns were fired to celebrate the victory. Two days after the surrender the armed batteau arrived. It was estimated that the stores surrendered were worth $50,- 000. Hamilton was sent to Virginia, imprisoned and treated as a felon, for he had been engaged in "buying hair," that is, scalps taken by the Indians. Washington at last decided to have Hamilton treated as a prisoner of war. Colonel Clark's personal ascendancy alone seems to account for the surrender of six hundred men in a well- furnished fort to less than two hundred. He was ambi- tious to take Detroit, but the paper money given him to defray expenses depreciated so that he had to use his personal credit, and was disabled and impoverished. He was, after two years, made a brigadier-general and ordered to raise men to capture Detroit, but failed, for he had to fight Indians with the troops he succeeded in raising. This was in 1781. Misfortunes crowded upon him, and it seemed that having, with slender forces, done wonderful things, establishing the title of his country to an empire, his per- sonal force declined, and, that made manifest, he became a dreamer of vague triumphs rather* than an actor who real- ized ambitious hopes. Virginia granted, in 1781, "one hundred and fifty thousand acres of land to the officers and soldiers who aided General Clark in his enterprise, the land to be located between the Scioto and Little Miami rivers, which tract was reserved for that purpose when Virginia relinquished to the general government her claims to territory west of the Ohio." 68 THE HANNIBAL OF THE WEST. Robert E. Coleman, writing in " Harper's Magazine," in 1 86 1, quotes Governor Harrison writing to Colonel Clark July 3d, 1783: "The conclusion of the war and the distressed condition of the finances of the State call on us to adopt the most prudent economy. It is for this reason alone that I have come to the determination to give over, for the present, all thought of carrying on offensive war with the Indians, which, you will easily perceive, will render necessary the employment of a general officer in that quarter, and will therefore consider yourself out of command. But before I take leave I feel called upon, in the most forcible manner, to return you my thanks, and those of my council, for the very great and singular services you have rendered to your country by wresting so great and extensive a country out of the hands of the British enemy, repelling the attacks of their savage allies, and carrying on a successful war in the very heart of their country. This tribute of thanks and praise, so justly your due, I am happy to communicate to you as the united voice of the Executive," etc. Colonel Clark was given a tract of land in Indiana, oppo- site Louisville. Coleman says of the close of Clark's career : " His day of glory was over, and his career finished at an age when that of many has but just begun, and at thirty-one he was laid aside like a superannuated veteran. The very prime of that powerful and active genius was lost to his country, as well as to his own fame, and left to rust away in obscurity ; or, sadder still, to destroy itself by seek- ing a forbidden relief from vain longing and repinings, while war was raging along the whole frontier, from Lake Huron to the confines of Florida ; and when at times it appeared as if the misdirected power of the whole conti- nent combined would fail to hold that country which he, THE HANNIBAL OF THE WEST 69 with a mere handful of men, had wrested from the hands of the English. " At last, so inefficient was the protection afforded by the regular army, and so audacious had the attacks of the savages on the Ohio become, that the Kentuckians thought it once more necessary to take their defence into their own 'hands. After three years of retirement Clark was again called to take command of an expedition against the tribes in Indiana. But he was no longer the leader who had waded the flooded Wabash to recapture Vincennes, and whose swift blows had so promptly avenged the fall of Ruddell's Station, or the defeat of the Blue Licks. The army, numbering about twelve hundred men, marched from the falls in the summer of 1786 toward Vincennes, expect- ing to meet at that point their provisions, which had been placed on keel-boats to be transported up the Wabash. But it soon became evident that the General no longer possessed that absolute ascendancy over his soldiers which had rendered his former operations so marvellously rapid and energetic. A spirit of defiance among the superior officers, and of disaffection and insubordination among the men, quickly began to manifest itself. This was increased to absolute mutiny when it was discovered that the com- mander had sent a flag of truce to the enemy for the pur- pose of demanding whether they would have peace or war. This act, which at once destroyed all chance of effecting a surprise, would appear, at first sight, to indicate a state of mind bordering on fatuity. But it is all explained when we learn that the whole enterprise was unlawful, as Kentucky had no right to send, without the authority of the Federal Government, such an expedition against tribes living be- yond her own borders ; tribes, too, with whom Clark him- self had, as United States Commissioner, negotiated a 70 THE HANNIBAL OF THE WEST. treaty of peace only one year before, and he was naturally unwilling to make an unannounced attack upon people who had never been proved to have violated that treaty. His error was in accepting the command at all under these circumstances." The expedition ended in the mutiny and dispersion of the force. Coleman says : "This failure gave a blow to the reputation of Clark from which it never recovered. Yet no vital error can be discovered in his conduct, and had his advice been followed success would have been certain. In vigor or generalship we can see no diminution ; it was his ability to command obedience that was gone." Colonel Clark had a fault to commit. He was one of those captivated by the French Minister Genet, and under- took to raise troops in Kentucky to go against the Span- iards in Louisiana, and accepted a position as Major-Gen- eral in the French army. This proved fictitious. Genet lost his head and left the country under a cloud. Wilkin- son intrigued against Clark and wrote (Coleman's account) "exultingly, to a friend in Lexington, 'The sun of General Clark's military glory has set never more to rise ! ' ' There was,' says a contemporary historian, 'a meaning in this sentence which those who had fathomed Wilkinson knew how to interpret and appreciate.' But the malignant prophecy was fulfilled to the letter. Clark's military repu- tation suffered an eclipse from which it never emerged ; nor did he ever recover the personal popularity he had lost by this miserable affair, and henceforth lived neglected, not only by the nation to which he had rendered such inesti- mable services, but also by the State which may be said to have owed its very existence to him. For six years his acts had constituted almost the whole history of Kentucky THE HANNIBAL OF THE WEST 71 and the West. At the age of thirty-four he disappears so completely from that history that, during the thirty-two suc- ceeding years of his life, his name is to be found only upon one obscure page thereof." Theodore Roosevelt writes in his " The Winning of the 'West " of the collapse of the Kentucky movement against the Spaniards in Louisiana : " The whole movement col- lapsed when Genet was recalled early in 1 794, Clark being forced at once to abandon his expedition. Clark found himself out of pocket as the result of what he had done ; and as there was no hope of reimbursing himself by Span- ish plunder, he sought to obtain from the French Govern- ment reimbursement for the expenses, forwarding to the French Assembly, through an agent in France, his bill for the 'Expenses of the Expedition ordered by Citizen Genet.' The agent answered that he would try to secure the pay- ment; and after he got to Paris he first announced himself as hopeful ; but later he wrote that he had discovered that the French agents were really engaged in a dangerous conspiracy against the Western country, and finally had to admit that the claim was disallowed." Afflictions of rheumatism and paralysis closed Colonel Clark's life in 18 18, and he was buried at Locust Grove, near Louisville. The territory that Colonel Clark won by the capture of the British posts of Kaskaskia and Vin- cennes was organized by Virginia as the county of Illinois, and the historian Cone justly observes : " Had not this conquest of General Clark been made, the Alleghenies, or at best the Ohio river, would have been the western boundary of the United States, and there would then have been no inducement to effect the magnifi- cent purchase made by President Jefferson of the French government, in 1802, nor should we have secured the sub- 72 THE HANNIBAL OF THE WEST. sequent addition of the grand stretch of country which ends only where the Pacific washes its border." Though the life of Colonel George Rogers Clark closed in poverty, and he was held to have been unsuccessful by the common-place estimates, he had served his country beyond all calculation, and will be more and more remem- bered and honored. He had done enough for immortality. His mistakes were for a day; his glory will endure forever. 4 -^as^ REUBEN JAMES SAVING DECATUR'S LIFE. CHAPTER IV. Jefferson's territorial ENTERrRisE. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark carry Westward the Course of Empire — Their Journey up the Missouri River — Their Passage through the Yellow- stone Region — On the Great Divide — Down the Columbia — Shooting the Rapids through the Dalles on to the Pacific. Very largely it was the conquest of the northwest by George Rogers Clark of Virginia and Kentucky that made the purchase of Louisiana so commanding a policy and magnificent a bargain ; and Clark saved the bulk of the continent by the capture of two petty military posts, thus gaining title to th-e vast territories north of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi, when even Franklin was ready to surrender it, as Canada was given up. President Jeffer- son, after the purchase of Louisiana and when Napoleon had spent the money to manufacture the superior muskets with which he equipped his army at Boulogne and won the victories of Austerlitz and Jena, devised and instructed the Lewis and Clark expedition, conferring the high historical distinction of leadership upon his friend and secretary, Meriwether Lewis. The object was to explore the Missouri river and find its sources in the Rocky Mountains, and beyond that to trace the grand river that flowed to the Pacific through the land of which Bryant wrote the famous line: "Where rolls the Oregon and hears no sound." This exploration was an enterprise that flashed from the brain of the far-sighted Jefferson, and served to guide and spread the Americanism of our nation to the summit of the Rockies and carry the march westward of our course of 5 75 76 JEFFERSON'S TERRITORIAL ENTERPRISE. empire to the Pacific. The voyages of Columbus, and the navigators Magellan and Captain Cook were hardly more adventurous, crossing the unknown Atlantic and cir- cumnavigating the globe, in search of new worlds and remote archipelagoes, than the exploration of the Missouri and the Oregon by Lewis and Clark, through the trackless wilderness, swarminir with savao^es, and stored with the riches of virgin soil and forest and mountain mines, the inheritance of the children of the Republic. We quote and summarize the features of the official report. The narrative is one of the indispensable threads that are the clues we must follow, to find the sources of our grandeur; and the secrets of our destiny were revealed, as Lewis and Clark ascended the river of North America that rivals the Nile in length and converted mystery into history. On the acquisition of Louisiana, in the year 1803, the attention of the government of the United States was early directed towards exploring and improving the new terri- tory. Accordingly, in the summer of the same year, an expedition was planned by President Jefferson, for the pur- pose of discovering the course and sources of the Missouri, and the most convenient water communication thence to the Pacific ocean. His private secretary. Captain Meri- wether Lewis, and Captain William Clark, both officers of the army of the United States, were associated in the com- mand of this enterprise. After receiving the requisite instructions, Captain Lewis left the seat of government, and, being joined by Captain Clark at Louisville, in Ken- tucky, proceeded to St. Louis, where they arrived in the month of December. Their original intention was to pass the winter at La Charette, the highest settlement on the Missouri. But the Spanish commandant of the province, not having received an official account of its transfer to the JEFFERSON'S TERRITORIAL ENTERPRISE. yy United States, was obliged, by the general policy of his government, to prevent strangers from passing through the Spanish territory. They, therefore, encamped at the mouth of the Wood river, on the eastern side of the Mississippi, out of his jurisdiction, where they passed the winter in disciplining the men, and making the nec- essary preparations for setting out early in the spring, before which the cession was officially announced. The party consisted of nine young men from Kentucky, four- teen soldiers of the United States army who volunteered their services, two French watermen, an interpreter and hunter, and a black servant belonging to Captain Clark — all these, except the last, were enlisted to serve as privates during the expedition, and three sergeants were appointed from amongst them by the captains. In addition to these were engaged a corporal and six soldiers, and nine water- men to accompany the expedition as far as the Mandan nation, in order to assist in carrying the stores, or repelling an attack, which was most to be apprehended between Wood river and that tribe. The necessary stores were subdivided into seven bales, and one box, containing a small portion of each article in case of accident. They consisted of a great variety of clothing, working utensils, locks, flints, powder, ball, and articles of the greatest use. To these were added fourteen bales and one box of Indian presents, distributed in the same manner, and composed of richly laced coats and other articles of dress, medals, flags, knives and tomahawks for the chiefs — ornaments of differ- ent kinds, particularly beads, looking-glasses, handker- chiefs, paints, and generally such articles as were deemed best calculated for the taste of the Indians. The party was to embark on board of three boats ; the first was a keel boat fifty-five feet long, drawing three feet of water, carry- 78 JEFFERSON'S TERRITORIAL ENTERPRISE. ing one large square sail and twenty-two oars, a deck of ten feet in the bow and stern formed a forecasde and cabin, while the middle was covered by lockers, which might be raised so as to form a breastwork in case of attack. This was accompanied by two perioques or open boats, one of six, and the other of seven oars. Two horses were at the same time to be led along the banks of the river for the purpose of bringing home game, or hunting in case of scarcity. The report reads : "All the preparations being com- pleted, M^e left our encampment on Monday, May 14th, 1804. This spot is at the mouth of the Wood river, a small stream which empties into the Mississippi, opposite to the entrance of the Missouri. It is situated in latitude 38°, 55', 19" north, and longitude from Greenwich 89°, 57', 45". On both sides of the Mississippi the land for two or three miles is rich and level, but gradually swells into a high, pleasant country, with less timber on the western than on the eastern side, but all susceptible of cultivation. The point which separates the two rivers on the north, extends for fifteen or twenty miles, the greater part of which is an open and level plain, in which the people of the neigh- borhood cultivate what little grain they raise. Not being able to set sail before four o'clock, p.m., we did not make more than four miles, and encamped on the first island opposite a small creek, called Cold Water. "The next morning we set sail at five o'clock. At the distance of a few miles, we passed a remarkable large coal hill on the north side, called by the French, La Charbonniere, and remained at the town of St. Charles. " On the 2 2d we made about eighteen miles, passing sev- eral small farms on the bank of the river, a number of islands and a large creek on the south side, called Bon- JEFFERSON'S TERRITORIAL ENTERPRISE. ' yg homme, or Goodman's river. A small number of emigrants from the United States have settled on the sides of this creek, which are very fertile. We also passed some high lands, and encamped, on the north side, near a small creek. Here we met with a camp of Kickapoo Indians who had left us- at St. Charles, with a promise of procuring us some provisions by the time we overtook them. They now made us a present of four deer, and we gave them in return two quarts of whiskey. " This tribe resides on the heads of the Kaskaskia and Illinois rivers, on the other side of the Mississippi, but oc- casionally hunt on the Missouri. "June 7th, we passed at four and a half miles Big Mani- tou creek, near which is a limestone rock inlaid with flint of various colors, and embellished, or at least covered, with uncouth paintings of animals and inscriptions. We landed to examine it, but found the place occupied by a nest of rattlesnakes, of which we killed three. We also examined some licks and springs of salt water, two or three miles up this creek. We then proceeded by some willow islands and encamped at the mouth of Good Woman river on the north. It is about thirty-five yards wide and said to be navigable for boats for several leagues. The hunters, who had hitherto given us only deer, brought in this evening three bears, and had seen some indication of buffalo. "On the morning of the 12th, we passed through diffi- cult places in the river, and reached Plum Creek on the south side. At one o'clock we met two rafts loaded, one with furs, the other with the tallow of buffalo ; they were from the Sioux nation, and on their way to St. Louis ; but we were fortunate enough to engage one of the party, a Mr. Durion, who had lived with that nation more than twenty years, and was high in their confidence, to accom- 8o JEFFERSON'S TERRITORIAL ENTERPRISE. pany us thither. On the 13th, we passed at between four and five miles, a bend of the river, and two creeks on the north, called Round Bend creeks. Between these two creeks is the prairie, in which once stood the ancient village of the Missouris. Of this village there remains no vestige, nor is there anything to recall this great and numerous nation, except a feeble remnant of about thirty families. They were driven from their original seats by the invasion of the Sauks and other Indians from the Mississippi, who destroyed, at this village, two hundred of them in one con- test ; the rest sought refuge near the Little Osage, on the other side of the river. The encroachment of the same enemies forced, about thirty years since, both these nations from the banks of the Missouri. A few retired with the Osage, and the remainder found an asylum on the river Platte, among the Ottoes, who are themselves declining. Opposite the plain there was an island and a French fort, but there is now no appearance of either, the successive inundations having washed them away, as the willow island which is in the situation described by Du Pratz, and is small and of recent formation. Five miles from this place is the mouth of the Grand River, where we encamped. This river follows a course nearly south or southeast, and is be- tween eighty and a hundred yards wide where it enters the Missouri, near a delightful and rich plain. A raccoon, a bear and some deer were obtained to-day." There is an enormous amount of detail in the report, for President Jefferson was a very determined man in his anxiety for exact and voluminous information. Reaching the Platte country, there was a halt to send a report to the President, and there is complaint of the scarcity of game, but "the hunters saw deer, turkeys and grouse ; we'have also an abundance of ripe grapes; and one of our men ' JEFFERSON'S TERRITORIAL ENTERPRISE. 8 1 caught a white catfish, the eyes of which were small, and its tail resembling that of a dolphin. The present season Is that in which the Indians go out into the prairies to hunt the buffalo ; but as we discovered some hunters' tracks, and observed the plains on fire in the direction of their villages, we hoped that they might have returned to gather the green corn, and therefore despatched two men to the Ottoes or Pawnee villages with a present of tobacco and an invitation to the chiefs to visit us." Then follows an account of the Indian villages and tribes, closing with this remark : " All these tribes live in villages and raise corn, but during the intervals of culture rove in the plains in quest of buffalo." As for the river, it was "much more crooked since we passed the River Platte, though generally speaking, not so rapid ; more of prairie, with less timber, and cottonwood in the low grounds, and oak, black walnut, hickory and elm." Some Ottoe and Missouri Indians came in with a Frenchman who " resided among them, and interpreted for us. Captain Lewis and Clark went out to meet them, and told them that we would hold a council in the morning. In the meantime we sent them some roasted meat, pork, flour and meal ; in return for which they made us a present of watermelons. We learned that our man Liberte had set out from their camp a day before them ; we were in hopes that he had fatigued his horse or lost himself in the woods, and would soon return, but we never saw him again." A great deal of space is given the Indians, and in one case the red men were presented with " paint, garters, and cloth ornaments of dress ; and to this we added a canister of powder, a bottle of whiskey, and a few presents to the whole, which appeared to make them perfecdy satisfied. The air-gun, too, was fired, and astonished them gready. 82 JEFFERSON'S TERRITORIAL ENTERPRISE. The absent chief was an Ottoe, named Weahrushhah, which in EngHsh degenerates into Little Thief." At a Sioux village the interpreter and a few others were met by a " committee " " with a buffalo robe, on which they desired to carry their visitors, an honor which they declined, in- forming the Indians that they were not the commanders of the boats. As a great mark of respect, they were then presented with a fat dog, already cooked, of which they partook heartily, and found it well flavored." At one of the Indian villages there was a dance, " and in the course of their amusement we threw among them some knives, tobacco, bells, tape, and binding, with which they were much pleased. Their musical instruments were the drum, and a sort of little bag made of buffalo hide, dressed white, with small shot or pebbles in it, and a bunch of hair tied to it." The speeches of Indians at the councils are reported, and are of the usual Indian quality. In the tribe of the Yanktons what struck the explorers most was " an institu- tion peculiar to them, and to the Kite Indians, further to the westward, from whom it is said to have been copied. It is an association of the most active and brave young men, who are bound to each other by attachment, secured by a vow never to retreat before any danger, or give way to their enemies. In war they go forward without shelter- ing themselves behind trees, or aiding their natural valor by any artifice. This punctilious determination, not to be turned from their course, became heroic or ridiculous a short time since, when the Yanktons were crossing the Missouri on the ice. A hole lay immediately in their course, which might easily have been avoided by going round. This the foremost of the band disdained to do, but went straight forward and was lost. The others would have followed his example, but were forcibly prevented." JEFFERSON'S TERRITORIAL ENTERPRISE. 83 The Missouri river is the constant theme of elaborate observation and description. This is a touch : " As in every bend of the river, we again observe the red berries resembhng currants." There was discovered a tribe of Indians called Ricaras, and " we were gratified at discovering that these Ricaras made no use of spirituous liquors of any kind, the example of the traders who bring it to them, so far from tempting, has in fact disgusted them. Supposing that it was as agreeable to them as to other Indians, we at first offered them whiskey ; but they refused it with this sensible re- mark, that they were surprised that their father should pre- sent to them a liquor which would make them fools. On another occasion they observed that no man could be their friend who tried to lead them into such follies." Passing Mandan villages, " the Indians flocked to the bank to see us as we passed, and they visited in great numbers the camp, where some of them remained all night," and the expedition received " several presents from the women, consisting of corn, boiled hominy, and garden stuffs : in our turn we gratified the wife of the great chief with a gift of a glazed earthen jar. Our hunter brought us two beaver." " November 5th. The Indians are all out on their hunting parties : a camp of Mandans caught within two days one hundred goats a short distance below us ; their mode of hunting them is to form a large strong pen or fold, from which a fence made of bushes gradually widens on each side ; the animals are surrounded by the hunters and gendy driven toward this pen, in which they imperceptibly find themselves enclosed, and are then at the mercy of the hunters. "Thursday, 27th. Almost the whole of that vast tract of 84 JEFFERSONS TERRITORIAL ENTERPRISE. country comprised between the Mississippi, the Red river of Lake Winnipeg, the Saskaskawan, and the Missouri, is loosely occupied by a great nation whose primitive name is Darcota, but who are called Sioux by the French, Sues by the English. "Tuesday, January i, 1805. The new year was welcomed by two shots from the swivel and a round of small arms. The party now consisted of thirty-two persons Besides ourselves were Sergeants John Ordway, Nathaniel Pryor, and Patrick Gass ; the privates were William Bratton, John Colter, John Collins, Peter Cruzatte, Robert Frazier, Reu- ben Fields, Joseph Fields, George Gibson, Silas Good- rich, Hugh Hall, Thomas P. Howard, Baptiste Lapage, Francis Labiche, Hugh McNeal, John Potts, John Shields, George Shannon, John B. Thompson, William Werner, Alexander Willard, Richard Windsor, Joseph Whitehouse, Peter Wiser, and Captain Clark's black servant, York. The two interpreters were George Drewyer and Tousaint Chaboneau. All this party with the baggage was stowed in six small canoes and two large perioques. At the same time that we took oxir departure, our barge, manned with seven soldiers, two Frenchmen, and Mr, Gravelines as pilot, sailed for the United States loaded with our presents and dispatches. "Friday, April 26. We continued our voyage in the morning, and by twelve o'clock encamped at eight miles distance, at the junction of the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers ; where we were soon joined by Captain Lewis. "On leaving us yesterday he pursued his route along the foot of the hills, which he ascended at the distance of eight miles; from these wide plains, watered by the Missouri and the Yellowstone, spread themselves before the eye, occasionally varied with the wood of the banks, enlivened JEFFERSON'S TERRITORIAL ENTERPRISE. 85 by the irregular windings of the two rivers, and animated by vast herds of buffalo, deer, elk and antelope. Along the margin of the river grows the small-leafed willow; in the low grounds adjoining are scattered rosebushes three or four feet high, the redberry, serviceberry, and redwood. The higher plains are either immediately on the river, in which case they are generally timbered, and have an under- growth like that of the low grounds, with the addition of the broad-leafed willow, gooseberry, chokecherry, purple currant, and honeysuckle." There is a charming description of the Yellowstone coun- try ; but of it there is complaint of the lack of timber. "The wild licorice is found in great abundance on these hills, as is also the white apple. As usual we are sur- rounded by buffalo, elk, common and black-tailed deer, beaver, antelopes, and wolves." A tributary stream is thus noted: "The water has a peculiar whiteness, such as might be produced by a table- spoonful of milk in a cup of tea, and this circumstance induced us to call it Milk river. "June 13, 1805. They left their encampment at sun-rise, and ascending the river hills, went for six miles in a course generally southwest, over a country which, though more waving than that of yesterday, may still be considered level. At the extremity of this course they overlooked a most beautiful plain, where were infinitely more buffaloes than we had ever before seen at a single view. To the southwest arose from the plain two mountains of appear- ance like ramparts of high fortifications. They are square figures with sides rising perpendicularly to the height of two hundred and fifty feet, formed of yellow clay." The great falls of the Missouri are described in a few sentences: "For ninety or a hundred yards from the left 86 JEFFERSON'S TERRITORIAL ENTERPRISE. cliff, the water falls in one smooth even sheet, over a pre- cipice of at least eighty feet. The remaining part of the river precipitates itself with a more rapid current, but being received as it falls by the irregular and somewhat projecting rocks below, forms a splendid prospect of per- fecdy white foam two hundred yards in length, and eighty in perpendicular elevation. "July 28, 1805. On examining the two streams it became difficult to decide which was the larger or real Missouri; they are each ninety yards wide, and so perfectly similar in character and appearance that they seem to have been formed in the same mould. We were therefore induced to discontinue the name of Missouri, and gave to the southwest branch the name of Jefferson, in honor of the President of the United States, and the projector of the enterprise, and called the middle branch Madison, after James Madison, secretary of state." The climax of the expedition was the discovery of the source of the Missouri and passing the dividing ridge, from which the water ran east and west, to the two oceans. "August 12, 1805. Captain Lewis wound along the foot of the mountains to the southwest, approaching obliquely the main stream he had left yesterday. Down this trail he now went towards the southwest ; at the distance of five miles it crossed a large run or creek, which is a principal branch of the main stream into which it falls, just above the high cliffs or gates observed yesterday, and which they now saw below them ; here they halted and breakfasted on the last of the deer, keeping a small piece of pork in reserve against accident ; they then crossed through the low bottom along the main stream near the foot of the mountains on their right. For the first five miles the valley continues toward the southwest from two to three miles in width ; JEFFERSON'S TERRITORIAL ENTERPRISE. 8/ then the main stream, which has received two small branches from the left to the valley, turns abruptly to the west through a narrow bottom between the mountains. The trail was still plain, and as it led them directly on towards the mountain, the stream gradually became smaller, till after going two miles it had so gready diminished in width that one of the men in a fit of enthusiasm, with one foot on each side of the river, thanked God that he had lived to bestride the Missouri. As they went along their hopes of seeing the waters of the Columbia arose almost to painful anxiety, when after four miles from the last abrupt turn of the river, they reached a small gap formed by the high mountains which recede on each side, leaving room for the Indian road. " From the foot of one of the lowest of these moun- tains, which rises with a gende ascent of about half a mile, issues the remotest water of the Missouri. They had now reached the hidden source of that river, which had never yet been seen by civilized man ; and as they quenched their thirst at the chaste and icy fountain — as they sat down t)y the brink of that little rivulet, which yielded its distant and modest tribute to the parent ocean, they felt themselves rewarded for all their labors aiid all their difficulties. They left reluc- tantly this interesting spot, and pursuing the Indian road through the interval of the hills., arrived at the top of a ridge from which they saw high mountains, partially covered with snow, still to the ivest of them. The ridge on which they stood formed the dividing line betzveen the waters of the At- lantic and Pacific oceans. They folloived a descent much steeper than that on the eastern side, and at the distance of three-quarters of a mile, reached a handsome bold creek of cold clear water running to the westward. They stopped to taste for the first time the waters of the Columbia; and after 88 JEFFERSON'S TERRITORIAL ENTERPRISE. a few minutes, followed the road across steep hills and low hollows, till they reached a spring on the side of the moun- tain ; here they found a sufficient quantity of dry willow brush for fuel, and therefore halted for the night ; and hav- ing killed nothing in the course of the day, supped on their last piece of pork, and trusted to fortune for some other food to mix with a little flour and parched meal, which was all that now remained of their provisions." On the Columbia, the report says : " We proceeded on in the boats, but as the river was very shallow and rapid, the navigation is extremely difficult, and the men who are almost constantly in the water, are getting feeble and sore, and so much worn down by fatigue, that they are very anxious to commence traveling by land." "Saturday, November 2, 1805. We now examined the rapids below more particularly, and the danger appearing to be too great for the loaded canoes, all those who could not swim were sent with the baggage by land. The canoes then passed safely, and were reloaded ; at the foot of the rapid we took a meridian altitude of 59° 45' 45". Just as we were setting out seven squaws arrived across the port- age loaded with dried fish and bear grease, neady packed in bundles, and soon after four Indians came down the rapid in a large canoe. The rapid which we have just passed is the last of all the descents of the Columbia. At this place the first tide-water commences, and the river in consequence widened. The hunters brought in two deer, a crane, some geese and ducks, and several brant, three of which were white, except a black part of the wing, and much larger than the grey brant, which is itself a size beyond the duck. "Saturday, November i6th. The morning was clear and beautiful. We, therefore, put all our baggage to dry and JEFFERSON'S TERRITORIAL ENTERPRISE. 89 sent several of the party to hunt. Our camp is in full view of the ocean." "Saturday, November 17th. A fair cool morning and easterly wind. The tide rises at this place eight feet six inches in height, and rolls over the beach in great waves. CHAPTER V. THE STORY OF TECUMSEH. The Projected Confederacy of the Red Nations — The Measures adopted by Tecumseh's Brother, the Artful " Prophet,'' to Induce the Savages'to Join the Confederacy — Tecumseh and the Prophet make Strategic Use of the Superstitious Trait in the Indian Character — The Death of Tecumseh as Related by Black Hawk. The most famous and respected of Indian chieftains in North America, if perhaps we except the heroic Mexican kings who were worthy the steel of Cortez, is Tecumseh. He was born in an Indian village in Ohio between the present cities of Dayton and Springfield, in the heart of the pleasant country between the head-waters of the Mad river and the little Miami. It is remarkable that a man of the dignified and charming character and grave profession of Judge Sherman, the father of the distinguished brothers, the General and the Statesman, should have named a son for an Indian, even if the red man was one of the foremost of the long list of Ohio men conspicuously placed in his- tory. Tecumseh began his career that is recorded in American annals, as an organizer of tribes of his race to make a stand against the overwhelming advance of the white men, and he was aided by a brother almost as illus- trious as himself, the Prophet, who inspired the attack upon General William Henry Harrison, known as the bat- tle of Tippecanoe. It shows the scope of the conceptions of the brothers who were, in war and religion, the leaders of their people, that while the Prophet was fighting Harri- son on the Wabash, Tecumseh was on a journey to the South, doing missionary work for war with the Creeks and 90 DRAFTING THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. PAUL luNLS CAI'ILRING IHE SKRAPIS. THE STORY OF TECUMSEH. 93 Other powerful tribes. It is tradition that Tecumseh blamed the Prophet for a premature outbreak which he believed caused the eventual failure of his thoughtfully projected and carefully prepared confederacy of the Red Nations. "Tecumseh's plan," Tuttle tells us in his " Border Wars of Two Nations," was to surprise and capture forts Detroit, Wayne, Chicago, St. Louis, Vincennes and the adjacent American posts and unite all the tribes east of the Missis- sippi. As early as 1807 the Shawnee chieftain and his brother were actively engaged in sending their deputies, with large presents and bloody war belts, to the most dis- tant nations, to persuade them to come into the league, "and when the comet appeared in 181 1 the Prophet art- fully turned it to account by practicing upon the supersti- tions of the savages." Early in May a special emissary was sent to the distant tribes of Lake Superior, and a grand council being there assembled by the deputy, "he told the Indians that he had been sent by the messenger and repre- sentative of the Great Spirit, and that he was commissioned to deliver to them a speech from the first man whom God had created, said to be in the Shawnees' country." He delivered the speech with which he was charged in these words : "I am the father of the English, and of the French, and of the Spaniards, and of the Indians. I created the first man who was the common father of all these people, as well as of ourselves, and it was through him, whom I have awakened from his long sleep, that I now address you. But the Americans I did not make. They are not my children, but the children of the evil spirit. They grew from the scum of the great water when it was troubled by the evil spirit and the froth was driven into the woods by a strong east wind. But I hate them. My children, you must not speak of this talk to the whites ; it must be hid- 6 94 THE STORY OF TECUMSEH. den from them. I am now on the earth sent by the Great Spirit to instruct you that you may be taught. The bearer of this must point out to you the way to my wigwam. I could not come myself, L'Arbre Croche, because this world is changed from what it was. It is broken and leans down, and as it declines the Chippewas and all beyond will fall off and die. Therefore, you must come to me and be instructed. Those villages which do not listen to this talk will be cut off from the face of the earth." vSuch were the measures adopted by the artful Prophet to induce the savages to fall into the ranks of Tecumseh's army, and they were in every respect successful. Thus did the cunning Shawnee chief carry his work forward. Be- fore the month of June, 1806, they had removed from Greenville to the banks of the Tippecanoe, a tributary of the Upper Wabash, where a tract of land had been granted them by the Pottawatomies and Kickapoos. In the follow- ing July, the Prophet sent a messenger to General Harrison, begging him not to believe the tale told by his enemies, and promising to visit him soon. In August he repaired to Post Vincennes, and by his fine talk convinced the gover- nor that he had no evil designs. Mr. Brown, in speaking of Chief Tecumseh and his brother, the Prophet, in his "History of Illinois," says : "Tecumseh entered upon the great work he contemplated in the year 1805 or 1806. He was then thirty-eight years of age. To unite the several Indian tribes, many of which were hostile to, and had often been at war with each other, in this great and important undertaking, prejudices were to to be overcome, their original manners and customs to be re-established, the use of ardent spirits to be abandoned, and all intercourse with the whites to be suspended. The task was herculean in its character, and beset with difficulties on THE STORY OF TECUMSEH. 95 every side. Here was a field for the display of the highest moral and intellectual powers. He had already gained the reputation of a brave and sagacious warrior, and a cool- headed, upright, wise, and efficient counsellor. He was neither a war nor a peace chief, and yet he wielded the power and influence of both. The time having now ar- rived for action, and knowing full well that to win savage attention some bold and striking movement was necessary, he imparted his plan to his brother, the Prophet, who adroitly and without a moment's delay, prepared himself for the part he was appointed to play in this great drama of savage life. Tecumseh well knew that excessive super- stition was everywhere a prominent trait in the Indian character, and, therefore, with the skill of another Crom- well, brought superstition to his aid. Suddenly his brother began to dream dreams, and see visions ; he became after- ward an inspired prophet, favored with a divine commission from the Great Spirit — the power of life and death was placed in his hands — he was appointed agent for preserving the property and lands of the Indians, and of restoring them to their original happy condition. He thereupon commenced his sacred work. The public mind was aroused, unbelief gradually gave way, credulity and wild fanaticism began to spread its circles, widening and deepening, until the fame of the Prophet, and the divine character of his mission, had reached the frozen shores of the lakes and overran the broad plains which stretched far beyond ' the great Father of Waters.' Pilgrims from remote tribes sought with fear and trembling, the headquarters of the' prophet and the sage. Proselytes were multiplied, and his followers increased beyond all former example. Even Tecumseh became a believer, and, seizing upon the golden opportunity, he mixed with the pilgrims, won them by his 96 THE STORY OF TECUMSEH. address, and, on their return, sent a knowledge of his plan of concert and union to the most distant tribes. The bodily and mental labors of Tecumseh next commenced. His life became one of ceaseless activity. He traveled, he argued, he commanded. His persuasive voice was one day listened to by the Wyandots, on the plains of Sandusky ; on the next his commands were issued on the banks of the Wabash. He was anon seen paddling his canoe across the Mississippi, then boldly confronting the Governor of In- diana in the council houses at Vincennes. Now carrying his banner of union among the Creeks and Cherokees of the south, and from thence to the cold, inhospitable regions of the north, neither intoxicated by success nor discouraged by failure." The following article appeared in the Baltimore Ameri- can, soon after Black Hawk's death. The article was written by one acquainted with the circumstance. It gives an ac- count of the death of Tecumseh and many interesting points in the life of the Sac chief " During a residence of several years in what is now the territory of Iowa, I had many opportunities of seeing and conversing with this noted warrior, and often look back with feelings of great pleasure to the many tokens of good- will and friendship that he has frequently bestowed upon men. His lodge was always open to a stranger, and he was ever ready to share that with him which he might most want, either his furs and blankets for a couch, or his corn and venison for a repast. He always spoke in terms of ■ high regard of the whites, saying that in war he fought like a brave man, but in peace he wished to forget that his hand had ever been raised against them. His career as a war- rior commenced at a very early age ; when he was but fourteen years old, his father, Pawheese, led a war party THE STORY OF TECUMSEH. 97 against the Osages, in which expedition he accompanied him. They succeeded in reaching the village of Osages, which they attacked, and after a very severe encounter, they routed their enemies and burned their town. In this battle Black Hawk's father was killed, but he revenged his death by killing and scalping the Osage who had slain him. He was fond of recounting his earlier exploits, and often boasted of his being at the right hand of Tecumseh, when the latter was killed at the battle of the Thames. His ac- count of the death of this distinguished warrior, was related to me by himself, during an evening that I spent in his lodge some winters ago. In the course of our talk, I asked him if he was with Tecumseh when he was killed. He replied : " T was, and I will now tell you all about it. Tecumseh, Shaubinne and Caldwell, two Pottawatomie chiefs, and my- self, were seated on a log near our camp-fire, filling our pipes for a smoke on the morning of the battle, when word came from the British general, that he wished to speak with Tecumseh. He went immediately, and after staying some time rejoined us, taking his seat without saying a word, when Caldwell, who was one of his favorites, observed to him, ' My father, what are we to do ? Shall we fight the Americans ? ' 'Yes, my son,' replied Tecumseh, ' we shall go into their very smoke — but you are now wanted by the general. Go, my son, I never expect to see you again.' Shortly after this (continued Black Hawk), the Indian spies came in and gave word of the near approach of the Ameri- cans. Tecumseh immediately posted his men on the edge of a swamp, which flanked the British line, placing himself at their head. I was a little to his right, with a small party of Sacs. It was not long before the Americans made their appearance ; they did not perceive us at first, hid as we were by the undergrowth, but we soon let them know gS THE STORY OF TECUMSEH. where we were by pouring in one or two volleys, as they were forming into line to oppose the British. They faltered a little, but very soon we perceived a large body of horse (Colonel Johnson's regiment of mounted Kentuckians), pre- paring to charge upon us in the swamp. They came bravely on, yet we never stirred until they were so close that we could see the flints of their guns, when Tecumseh, springing to his feet, gave the Shawnee war cry, and discharged his rifle. This was the signal for us to commence the fight ; but it did not last long ; the Americans answered the shout, re- turning our fire, and at the first discharge of their guns, I saw Tecumseh stagger forward over a fallen tree near which he was standing, letting his rifle drop to his feet. As soon as the Indians discovered he was killed, a sudden fear came over them, and thinking that the Great Spirit was displeased, they fought no longer, and were quickly put to flight. That night we returned to bury. our dead and search for the body of Tecumseh. He was found near where he had first fallen ; a bullet had struck him above the hip, and his skull had been broken by the butt end of the gun of some soldier, who had found him, perhaps, when life was not yet quite gone. With the exception of these wounds his body was untouched ; lying near him, however, was a large, fine-looking Pottawatomie, who had been killed, decked off in his plumes and war paint, whom the Ameri- cans no doubt had taken for Tecumseh ; for he was scalped, and every particle of skin flayed from his body. Tecumseh himself had no ornaments about his person save a British medal. During the night we buried our dead, and brought off the body of Tecumseh, although we were in sight of the fires of the American camp.' "This is somewhat different from the account which is commonly given of Tecumseh's death, yet I believe it to be THE STORY OF TECUMSEH. 99 true ; for after hearing Black Hawk relate it, I heard it cor- roborated by one of the Pottawatomie chiefs, mentioned by him. I asked him if he had ever fought against the whites after the death of Tecumseh. He said not, that he returned home to his village on the Mississippi, at the mouth of Rock River, and there he remained until driven away by the whites in the year 1832. The wish to hold possession of this village was the cause of the war which he waged against the whites during that year. He told me that he never wished to fight ; that he was made to do so ; that the whites killed his warriors when they went with a white flag to beg a parley, and that after this was done he thought they intended to kill him at all events, and therefore he would die like a warrior, " In speaking of his defeat, he said it was what he expected ; that he did not mind it ; but what hurt him more than anything else was our Government degrading him in the eyes of his own people, and setting another chief (Keokuk) over him. This degradation he appeared to feel very sensibly. Still he continued to possess all his native pride. One instance that came under my observation, I recollect well, in which it was strongly displayed. He hap- pened to be in a small town in Iowa on the same day in which a party of dragoons, under Capt. r, arrived, and in paying a visit to a friend with whom he always partook of a meal whenever he stopped at the village, he met with the captain, who had been invited to dine. Black Hawk remained, also expecting the usual invitation to stay and eat with them ; but when the dinner was ready the host took him aside and told him the captain, or rather the white man's chief, was to dine with him that day and he must wait until they had finished. The old chief's eye glistened with anger as he answered him, raising the forefinger of one jOO THE STORY OF TECUMSEH. hand to his breast, to represent the officer, "'I know the white man is a chief, but /,' elevating the finger of the other hand far above his head, ' was a chief and led my warriors to the fight long before his mother knew him. Your meat — 7ny dogs should not eat it ! ' Saying this, he WHEN OUR NAVY WON GREAT GLORY. H7 of state he took up the cause of Greece, having failed, when in Congress, to procure on the part of the United States, the recognition of Grecian independence. He sent a min- ister to represent our government at Greece, and thus that country was hailed into the family of independent nations. America was the first to recognize her, and the measure was effected by the zeal and perseverance of Mr. Clay. The recognition of America grave heart to the Greeks, and the Turks were beaten back. Another interference in the affairs of other nations that seemed to demand the help of America was, when in an official letter addressed to Mr. Middleton, American Minis- ter to Russia, he sought to induce the Emperor Alexander to use his influence toward putting a period to the war, that for seventeen years had been raging between Spain and her South American colonies. He had, in an address in Congress, on a bill to prevent ships from being built at Baltimore for supposed use by the rebellious colonies, splendidly championed their cause, and on the subject of strict neutrality called attention to the fact that Spain had had an accredited minister to watch over its interests and to remonstrate against any acts of which it might complain, while the colonies, being wholly unrepresented, had no organ through which to communicate grievances. "Whenever war exists," said Mr. Clay, " between two independent states or between parts of a common empire, I know of but two relations in which other powers can stand towards the belligerents. The one is that of neu- trality and the other that of belligerency." Being then in a state of neutrality the question was whether the provi- sions of the bill were necessary to the performance of duty. For his part he wished for their independence. It had 9 148 WHEN OUR NAVY WON GREAT GLORY. been said that the people of South America were incapable, from the ignorance and superstition prevailing among them, of achieving independence or enjoying liberty. Mr. Clay asked " to what cause is that ignorance and superstiuon owiiig? Is it not due to the offices of their government, to the tyranny and oppression of hierarchical and polidcal rule under which they groan ? Independence is the first step toward improving their condition." Mr. Clay described the state of South America, illus- trated the impossibility of her ever being re-conquered by Spain, dwelt upon the benefits that would result from the re-establishment of peace, not only to the belligerent pow- ers, but to all Europe, and suggested that the Emperor of Russia, by effecting such a measure, might render himself as great and glorious in peace as he had already become in war. Although Mr. Clay, in this letter, did not directly ask the interference of Russia in behalf of Greece, still he was careful to suggest to the Emperor the cause of the Greeks, and reminded him of the fame that would crown his years, if he were to deliver that suffering people, as well as the South Americans, from the grasp of tyranny. The em- peror instructed his minister at the Spanish court to use every exertion in favor of the pacification of the colonies, and shortly afterwards the effusion of blood was stopped, and the independence of South America acknowledged by the parent country. In the meantime Alexander directed his personal attention more immediately to the Greeks, preparing to w^ar with them, when death took him off and left their liberation to his successor. The war of 1812 is of particular Interest as showing the wonderful fighdng capacity of the United States Navy with the ten frigates built through the energy and far-sightedness of Henry Clay. WHEN OUR NAVY WON GREAT GLORY. 149 Lord Castlereagh, in a speech before the House of Parlia- ment on February 18, 181 1, stated that out of 145,000 sea- men employed in the British service, the whole number of American subjects amounted to more than 3.300. A search of the papers of the State Department at Washington showed that some 6,257 American citizens had been im- pressed into the British service, and there were as many pro- tests filed. John R. Spears in his " History of Our Navy," claims that there were more than 20,000 free American men who were forced into the service of the British Navy by press-gangs. It was this that led up to the war of 1812. It happened that the actual fighting occurred before war was declared. The British frigate Guerriere of thirty-eight guns, commanded, then, by Captain Samuel John Pechell, met on May i, 181 1, the American merchant ship Spitfire. The Guerriere deliberately stopped her and took off John Deguyo, an American citizen, who was a passenger. At the time of this outrage the United States frigate. President of forty- four guns, commanded by Captain John Rodgers, was lying at Fort Severn, Annapolis, Md. He had been ordered to cruise up and down the coast to protect American commerce, and the facts of the Gtcerriere's assault upon the liberty of John Deguyo had been com- municated to him. He at once sought the Guerriere, and late, that evening, met a stranger. The President, with her crew at quarters, drew up close on the other, and Captain Rodgers hailed from the lee rail, " What Ship is that ? " Instead of an answer the stranger replied by hailing in turn, " What Ship is that ? " Captain Rodgers repeated his question, and to his intense surprise he got for an answer a shot from the stranger that struck the Presi- dent's main mast. Like an echo to this shot was one fired I50 WHEN OUR NAVY WON GREAT GLORY. without orders from the President. To this the stranger repUed with three shots in quick succession, and then with a broadside. At that, the impatient gunner who had fired the first shot from the Presideiit, had the opportunity to try again under orders, and the rest of the crew joined in. For ten minutes they loaded the guns with a rapidity well worth noting, and fired with a deliberation and precision never to be forgotten. For some unknown reason the stranger ceased firing. She was manifestly much inferior to the President in armament. Captain Rodgers ordered his men to stop the engagement ; but no sooner had this order been obeyed than the stranger re-opened fire. Despite the darkness and growing wind and sea, one broadside knocked the stranger helpless. Now, when Rodgers once more hailed, he received a reply, but, owing to his position to windward, he could not understand it, but it is recorded that the captain pluckily said " No," when asked if he had struck. However, Rogers ran down under the stranger's lee, and hove to where he might be of service in case she should sink, and there he waited for daylight. During the night the vessels drifted apart, but at eight o'clock the next morning Captain Rodgers sent Lieutenant Creighton on board the stranger to "regret the necessity which had led to such an unhappy result, and offer assist- ance if any were needed." It was then learned that she was the twenty-gun corvette Little Belt, under command of Arthur B. Bingham. More than one quarter of her crew were destroyed ; on the President one boy was slightly hurt by a splinter. The whole affair was, of course, carefully investigated by both governments, the officers on each ship swore that the other had fired the first gun. WHEN OUR NAVY WON GREAT GLORY. 151 Theodore Roosevelt, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, in his book on " The War of 1812," explains the superiority of the American seaman with the fact that the French, Spaniards, Algerians, Malays, and others constantly at- tacked American commerce. " Wherever an American sea- man went, he not only had to contend with all the legitimate perils of the sea, but he had also to regard almost every stranger as a foe. The effect of such a state of things, which made commerce so remunerative that bolder spirits could hardly keep outof it, and so hazardous that only the most skill- ful and daring could succeed in it, was to raise up as fine a set of seamen as ever manned a navy. The American was more easily managed than most of his kind, being shrewd, quiet, and, in fact, comparatively speaking, rather moral than otherwise ; if he was a New Englander, and retired from a sea life, he was not unapt to end his days as a deacon. Altogether there could not have been better ma- terial for a fighting crew than cool, gritty American Jack." The three days' chase of the Cofistitutioii by the British fleet was a test of seamanship of the highest order, and resulted in a victory for the American, for he escaped over- whelming odds by the wonderful handling of the boat. The Guerriere, which afterward had to strike her flag to the Constitution, was the first of the British boats to get near her in the long pursuit. Just before sunset, the lookout on the Constitutio7i sighted three strangers, and later another. They were thought to be English, and the American there- fore discreetly started to get out of the way. All through the night she was followed by the English. As daylight broadened three sails were discovered on the starboard quarter, and three more at the stern. Soon another was spied to the westward. By nine o'clock when the mists had lifted, the Constitution saw to leeward two 152 WHEN OUR NAVY WON GREAT GLORY. frigates, a ship of the Hne, two small frigates, a brig and a schooner. It was the squadron of Captain Philip Vere Broke. Luckily for " Old Ironsides " all of the English- men were beyond gun shot. Hull sent his boats ahead and then began the weary work of towing. At the same time the stern chasers were run out over the after-bulwarks and throupfh the cabin windows. It fell a dead calm, and before long all of the English vessels had begun to tow also. Then a brilliant idea occurred to Lieutenant Morris of the Constitution. All the spare hawsers and rope that could stand the strain were spliced together, and a line almost a mile in length was towed ahead of the ship and the kedge- anchor dropped. At once the Constitution began to walk away from her pursuers ; as she tripped one kedge she commenced a haul upon another. Hull displayed his colors and fired a gun, but it was not long before the British discovered the Yankee trick and were trying it themselves. A slight breeze happily sprang up which the Constittition got first and forged ahead of the leading vessel that had fifteen or sixteen boats towing away at her. Soon it fell calm again and the towing and hedging were resumed. The British gained once more, and Hull sent overboard some twenty-four hundred gallons of water to lighten his vessel. At daybreak, of the following day, three of the enemy's frigates had crept up to within long gunshot on the lee quarter, and the Gucr^^iei'e was close on the beam. Slowly but surely the Bclvider drew ahead, and at last she was almost off the Constitution s bow when she tacked. Hull, to preserve his position and the advantage of being to the westward, was obliged to follow suit. The American was then apparently in the midst of the foe. The breeze fresh- ening, flull hoisted in his boats, and the weary rowers rested their strained arms. WHEN OUR NAVY WON GREAT GLORY. 153 An American merchantman appeared. The EngHshman did not dispatch a vessel to pursue her, but to encourage her to continue her course, Hew the stars and stripes. Hull straightway as a warning drew down his own flag and set the English ensign. The merchantman hauled on the wind and made his best efforts to escape. The wind freshened, and the sails being trimmed and watched closely, the Constitution gained two miles and more upon the pursuers. Dark, angry clouds and deeper shadows on the water to westward showed that a sudden squall was approaching. The topmen were sent aloft, and the Constitution held on with all sails set, but with everything ready at the command to let go. As the rush of wind and rain approached all the canvas was furled, a reef taken in the mizzen topsail, and the ship was brought under short sail as if she expected to be laid on her beam ends. The English vessels astern probably expected that a hard blow was going to follow so they let go and hauled down as they were, without waiting^ for the wind to reach them. Some of them hove to and began to reef, and then scat- tered in different directions as if for safety, but no sooner had the rain assailed the Constitution than Hull hoisted his fore and main top-gallant as well, and with the wind blowing the water all about him he soared away over the seas at a gait of eleven knots. For an hour the breeze held strong and then it disappeared. A Yankee cheer broke out in which the officers joined, for the English fleet was far down the wind. A few minutes more sailing and the leading frigates were hull-down below the horizon. Still they held in chase throughout all the night, signaling each other now and then. At daybreak all fear was over, but the Constitutio7i kept under all sail even after Broke's squadron gave up. 154 WHEN OUR NAVY WON GREAT GLORY. The first real test of fighting was on the occasion of the affair between the Constitution and the G2Lerriere. A month after the successful eluding of the British navy, the Constitution sighted, in latitude 41°, 40', and longitude 55°, 48', a British man-of-war, which proved to be the Guerriere. Hull raised his flag. Immediately in response, up went every masthead of the other ship, the red cross of Old England. It was growing late in the afternoon ; the breeze had freshened, and the white caps had begun to jump on every side. The crew of the Constitution broke into three ringing cheers as their grand old craft bore down upon the enemy. When almost within range, the English let go her broadside, and turning on the tack, fired her other broad- side. The shot fell short, and the Constitution reserved her fire. For three-quarters of an hour, the two man- oeuvered, trying to rake and to avoid being raked in turn. At six in the evening, the enemy, seeing all attempts to outsail her antagonist were in vain, showed a brave indica- tion of wishinor to close the ficrht. Hull reserved his fire until quite close to the Guerriere, when he shouted : " Now boys, pour it into them." The broadside was as one single explosion, and the destruction was perfect. The enemy's decks were strewn with the dead and wounded, and the blood ran out of the scuppers. Her cockpit filled with the wounded. For a few minutes, shrouded in smoke, they fought at the distance of a half-pistol shot. But in that short space of time, the Englishman was literally torn to pieces in hull, spars, sails and rigging. As her mizzen mast gave way, the Englishman brought up into the wind, and the Constitution forged slowly ahead and fired again, and then fell afoul of her antagonist, with her bowsprit across her larboard quarter. While in this position, Hull's cabin was set on fire by the enemy's for- WHEN OUR NAVY WON GREAT GLORY. 155 ward battery, and part of the crew were called away from the guns to extinguish the threatening blaze. Now both sides tried to board. It was the old style of fighting for the British tars, and they bravely swarmed on deck at the call, " Boarders away ! " and the shrill piping of 'tween decks. The Americans were preparing for the same attempt, and three of their officers, who mounted the taff-rail, were shot by the English. The swinging and grinding of the huge ships against each other made boarding impossible, and it was at this anxious moment that the sails of the Constitu- tion filled. She fell off, and shot ahead. Hardly was she clear when the foremast of the enemy fell, carrying with it the main-mast, and leaving the proud vessel of a few hours before, a helpless wreck, " rolling like a log in the trough of the sea, entirely at the mercy of the billows." It was now nearly seven o'clock ; the sky had clouded over ; the wind was freshening, and the sea was growing heavy. Hull drew off for repairs, rove new rigging, secured his masts, and, wearing ship, approached, ready to pour in a final broad- side. It was not needed. Before the Constitution could fire, the flag, which had been flying at the stem of the enemy's mizzen-mast, was struck. The fight was over. In the Gonstitution seven were killed and seven wounded ; in the Guerriere, fifteen killed, sixty-two wounded and twenty- four were missing. The next day the G^ierriere, being useless, was set on fire. At 3.15 in the afternoon she blew up. Great Britain had, when we challenged her to combat in 181 2, one thousand ships of war, and was so thoroughly in command of the sea that "her title there was none to dis- pute." Exclusively of gunboats we had : [56 WHEN OUR NAVY WON GREAT GLORY. Constitution 44 President 44 United States 44 Congress . . 38 Constellation 38 Chesapeake 38 New York 36 Adams 28 Boston 28 Essex 32 John Adams 28 Wasp 18 Hornet 18 Argus 16 Siren 16 Oneida 16 Vixen 14 Enterprise 14 Viper 12 Nautilus 14 The quarrel was about the impressment of our sailors. We expected to take Canada, and the British proposed to occupy and possess forever, New Orleans and Louisiana, Neither got what they wanted, and nothing was said in the treaty about the ostensible cause of the war, but the British stopped searching our ships for their subjects. Two of the ships in our list were unseaworthy, the New York and Boston, and the Oneida was on Lake Ontario. The Adams required repairs. We had seventeen cruisers on the ocean, and the British had fifty to our one. In addition England had the West India Islands, Bermuda and Halifax for places of refuge and repairs. In his naval history Cooper says : The vessels were scattered ; some were underoroincr repairs, others were at a distance ; and with the exception of one small squadron, everything was virtually committed to the activity, judgment and enterprise of the different captains. In the port of New York were collected the President 44, Commodore Rodgers ; Essex 32, Captain Porter; and Hornet 18, Captain Lawrence. These vessels were ready to sail at an hour's notice, except the Essex, which ship was overhauling her rigging, and restoring her hold. Commodore Rodgers had dropped into the bay, with the Preside7it and Hornet, where he was joined by the United States 44, Commodore Decatur ; Congress 38, Cap- tain Smith; and Argus 16, Lieutenant-Commandant Sin- WHEN OUR NAVY WON GREAT GLORY. 157 clair, all of which vessels arrived from the southward on the 2 1 St of June. A few days after the chase of the Constitution, the Eng- lish squadron separated, the Africa returning to port with the prisoners and prizes, and the frigates shaping their courses in different directions, in the hope that the ship which had avoided them so carefully when in company, might be less averse to meeting them singly. The Essex 32, Captain Porter, got to sea from New York, not long after the departure of Commodore Rodgers, and went first to the southward. She made several prizes early, destroying most of them and receiving the prisoners on board. The weather now compelled the Essex to run to the northward. When a few weeks from port a small fleet was approached at night, which was immediately understood to be enemies. The English ships were steer- ing to the northward, before the wind, and the Essex was stretching toward them, on an easy bowline, and under short canvas. The night had a dull moon, and it wanted but an hour or two to daylight. As the Essex drew near, it was perceived that the English were sailing in very open order, with considerable intervals between them, and that the convoying ship, a large vessel, was some distance ahead, and of course to leeward. As it was the intention of Captain Porter to preserve the weather gauge, until he ascertained who and what the con- voy might be, he stretched in towards the sternmost ship of the strangers, which he spoke. At this time the people of the Essex were at their guns, with everything ready to engage, but keeping the men on deck concealed, and having the lower ports in. After some conversation with the first vessel, it was ascertained that the fleet consisted of a few transports, under the convoy of a frigate and bomb- 158 WHEN OUR NAVY WON GREAT GLORY. vessel, whereupon Captain Porter determined to get along- side of the former, if possible, and to carry her by surprise. With this view, the Essex shot ahead, leaving the first ves- sel, apparently, without exciting her suspicions. On rang- ing up close abeam of a second, some further discourse passed, when the Englishman so far took the alarm, as to announce the intention of making the signal of a stranger's having joined the fleet. It became necessary, therefore, to throw aside disguise, and to order the transport to haul out of the convoy, under the penalty of being fired into. This was done quietly, and seemingly, without attracting the attention of the rest of the fleet, which, of course, passed to leeward. On taking possession of her prize, the Essex found her filled with soldiers, and so much time was neces- sarily consumed in securing the latter, that the day dawned and it became inexpedient to renew the attempt on the convoy. The frigate was said to be the Minej'va 2,^, and the troops in the convoy amounted to nearly i,ooo men. About 1 50 were taken in the prize. A few days after this success, the Essex sighted a strange sail to windward. The American at that moment was dis- guised as a merchantman, having her gun-deck ports in, top-gallant mast housed, and sails trimmed in a slovenly manner. Deceived by these appearances, the stranger came running down free. The American ship showed her ensign and kept away, under short sail. This em- boldened the stranger, who followed, and having got on the weather quarter of his chase, began his fire, setting the English colors. The Essex now knocked out her ports, and opened upon the enemy, who appears to have been so much taken by surprise, that after receiving one or two broadsides the crew deserted their quarters and ran below. In ei"-ht minutes after the Essex had beeun to fire WHEN OUR NAVY WON GREAT GLORY. 159 the English ship struck. On sending- Lieutenant Finch on board to take possession, the prize proved to be his Brit- annic Majesty's ship Alert, Captain Laugharne, mount- ing 20 eighteen-pound carronades, and with a full crew. The lieutenant found seven feet of water in the Alert, and was obliged to ware round to keep her from sinking. The Alert was the first vessel of war taken from the English in this contest, and her resistance was so feeble as to excite surprise. It was not to be expected, certainly, that a ship carrying eighteen-pound carronades could suc- cessfully resist a ship carrying thirty-two pound carron- ades, and double her number of guns and men ; but so exaggerated had become the opinion of the British prowess on the ocean, that impossibilities were sometimes looked for. As it is understood that only a part of the guns of the Essex bore on the Alert, the manner in which the latter was taken, must be attributed to a sudden panic among her people, some of whom were censured after their ex- change. Even the officers did not escape, the first lieu- tenant being dismissed from the service by a court-martial. The Alert had but three men wounded, and the Essex sus- tained no injury at all. Another interesting story is that of the brig Argus, under Captain Sinclair, which after separating from the United States.^ cruised alone, making several captures of merchantmen, though she met no vessel of war of a force proper for her to engage. During this cruise she was chased for three days and nights, by a squadron of the enemy, two of which were ships of the line. On this occa- sion the Argus proved her fine qualities, and the coolness of her officers and crew did them infinite credit. All the guns were preserved, though the brig was so hard pressed as to be obliged to cut away anchors, and to throw over- l6o WHEN OUR NAVY WON GREAT GLORY. board some of her boats. Notwithstanding the persever- ance of her pursuers, the Argus actually took and manned a prize during the chase, though two of the enemy got near enough to open their fire as the vessels separated. The brig escaped, having made five prizes before she got in. The Wasp, i8 guns, Captain Jones, left the Delaware on a cruise. She was one of the sloops fitted out at the close of the Tripolitan war, a beautiful and fast cruiser. She retained all of her old armament and construction, having been a ship from the first, mounting i6 thirty-two pound carronades and 2 long twelves. The Wasp sailed to the northward. She ran off Boston, made one capture, and, after an absence of three weeks, returned to the Delaware. On the 13th of October she sailed a second time to get into the track of vessels steering north, and about 1 1 o'clock in the night of the 17th several sail were made. Two of these appeared large, and Captain Jones did not deem it prudent to close, but, hauling off to a convenient distance, he steered in the same direction with the un- known vessels, with the intention of ascertaining their characters in the morning. When the day dawned the strangrers were seen ahead and to leeward. Makingf sail to close, they were ascertained to be a convoy of six Eng- lish ships, under the charge of a heavy brig-of-war. Four of the merchantmen were armed, apparently, mounting from 12 to 18 guns. The commander of the brig, however, manifested no wish to avail himself of the assistance of any of his convoys, but shortening sail, the latter passed ahead, while he prepared to give battle. As it was the evident intention of the Englishman to cover his convoy, very little manceuverlng was necessary to bring the vessels alongside of each other. At 32 minutes past 11 a. m., the Wasp ranged close up on the starboard side of the enemy, WHEN OUR NAVY WON GREAT GLORY. i6i receiving her broadside, at the distance of about sixty yards, and dehvering her own. The fire of the EngHsh- man immediately became very rapid, it having been thought at the time, that he discharged three guns to the Wasfs two, and as the main-topmast of the latter ship was shot away within five minutes after the action commenced, appear- ances, at first, were greatly in the enemy's favor. In eight minutes the gaff and mizzen top gallant-mast also fell. But though the fire of the Wasp was the most deliberate, it was also the most deadly. In consequence of the fall of the main-topmast of the American ship, which, with the main-topsail-yard, lodged on the fore and fore-topsail braces, it became next to im- possible to haul any of the yards, had circumstances re- quired it, but the battle was continued with great spirit on both sides, until the ships had gradually closed so near that the bends of the Wasp rubbed against her antagonist's bows. Here the vessels came foul, the bowsprit of the enemy passing in over the quarter-deck of the Wasp, forcing her bows up into the wind, and enabling the latter to throw in a close raking fire. When Captain Jones perceived the effect of the enemy's fire on his spars and rigging, it was his intention to board, as he had closed with this view ; but finding his ship in so favorable a position to rake the enemy, he countermanded an order to that effect, and directed a fresh broadside to be delivered. The vessels were now so near that in loading some of the Wasfs guns, the rammers hit against the bows of her antagonist, and the people of the English ship could no longer be kept at their quarter's forward. The dis- charge of one or two of the carronades swept the enemy's decks, and the impetuosity of the Wasp's crew could no longer be restrained ; they began to leap into the rig- 1 62 WHEN OUR NAVY WON GREAT GLORY. ging-, and from thence on the bowsprit of the brig. As soon as Lieutenant Biddle, of the IVasp found that the crew was eagerly awaiting the command to board, he sprang into the rigging, followed by Lieutenant Rodgers and a party of officers and men. On the forecastle of the brig Lieutenant Biddle passed all his own people, but there was no enemy to oppose him. Two or three officers were standing aft, most of them bleeding. The decks were strewn with killed and wounded, but not a common hand was at his station, all of those that were able having gone below, with the exception of the man at the wheel. The latter remained at his post, with the spirit of a true seaman, to the very last. The English officers threw down their swords as Lieu- tenant Biddle and his men passed aft. The prize was the British sloop of war F7'olic i8, Captain Whinyates, homeward bound, with the vessels in the Hon- duras trade under convoy. The Frolic, mounted on her main deck, sixteen thirty-two pound carronades, four long guns, differently stated to have been sixes, nines and twelves, and with two twelve-pound carronades on a top-gallant fore- castle. This armament would make a force greater than that of the Wasp by four guns. The Wasp was cut up aloft to an unusual degree, there having been no question that her antagonist's fire was heavy and spirited. The braces and standing rigging were nearly all shot away, and some of the spars that stood were injured. She had five men killed and five wounded. The hull sustained no great damage. The Frolic was also much injured In her spars and rigging, more particularly in the former ; and the two vessels were hardly separated before both her masts fell. She had been hulled at almost every discharge, and was virtually a wreck THE ESSEX CAPTURING THE ALERT. WHEN OUR N'AVY WON GREAT GLORY. 165 when taken possession of by the Americans. Her loss in men was never accurately known, but her captain, lieutenant and master, were wounded ; the two latter mor- tally. Lieutenant Biddle, who remained in charge of the prize, after so gallandy boarding her, stated, that so far as he could ascertain, she had from seventy to eighty killed and wounded. Subsequent information, however, has given reason to believe that the number was even greater. Cap- tain Whinyates, in his official report, states that not twenty of his crew escaped unhurt, which would probably raise the casualdes to a number between ninety and a hundred. The F7^olic had scarcely submitted, when a sail was seen standing in towards the two vessels, evidendy a ship of force. Instructions were given to Lieutenant Biddle to make the best of his way to Charleston with the prize, and the Wasp began to make sail, with an intendon to condnue her cruise; but, on opening her canvas, and turning the reefs out of her topsails, they were found to be nearly in ribands. The stranger, which turned out to be the enemy's ship Poichers, 74, hove a shot over the Frolic in passing, and, soon ranging up near the Wasp, both vessels were captured. The Poidiers proceeded with her two prizes to Bermuda, and the Americans being paroled, soon after returned home. As this was the first combat of the war between vessels of a force so nearly equal as to render cavilling difficult, the result occasioned much exultation in America. The success of the Constitution and Hornet, two of the vessels of Commodore Bainbridge's squadron, served gready to increase the popularity of the navy. Their com- manders were rewarded with medals, swords, and votes of thanks by different legislatures, and Captain Lawrence was promoted, and transferred to die command of the Chesa- peake. l66 WHEN OUR NAVY WON GREAT GLORY. Cooper's History gives the great story of the Essex : "In the way of service to the pubHc, perhaps the great- est performed by the Essex was in protecting the American ships in the Pacific, nearly all of which would probably have fallen into the hands of the enemy, but for her appearance in that ocean. And the positive injury done the English commerce was far from trifling. The Essex had now cap- tured about 4000 tons of its shipping, made near 400 pris- oners, and for the moment had literally destroyed its fisheries in this part of the world." The Essex and Essex Junior quitted the harbor of Nooa- heevah, on the 12th of December, 181 3, bound for the coast of South America, which was made early in January. After watering at San Maria, and looking into Conception, the ships proceeded to Valparaiso. Up to this time not a dollar had been drawn for, to meet the expenses of the frigate. The enemy had furnished provisions, sails, cord- age, medicines, guns, anchors, cables, etc. A considera- ble amount of pay even had been given to the officers and men, by means of the money taken. After the arrival in Valparaiso, it was found that the feelings of the Chilean government had taken an entirely new direction, as had been reported by Mr. Downes, favoring on all occasions the interests of the English, in preference to those of the Americans. Without paying much regard to this circumstance, however, Captain Porter determined to remain in, or off, the port, in waiting for the Phoibe 36, Captain Hillyar, one of the ships sent out in quest of him, under the impression that her commander would not fail, sooner or later, to seek him at that place. There was also the prospect of intercepting such of the English traders as might happen to touch at that port. The Pha^be arrived as was expected, but instead of WHEN OUR NAVY WON GREAT GLORY. 167 coming alone, she had the Che7'-ub 20, Captain Tucker, in company. As the Pha:be came in, the wind was hght, and she passed quite near the Essex, with her people at quarters. Captain Hillyar hailed and inquired after the health of Captain Porter. After making the usual reply, the latter informed the English officer that if the vessel got foul, much con- fusion would ensue, and that he could not be answerable for the consequences. Captain Hillyar now observed that he did not meditate any attack, though the manner in which this was uttered, does not appear to have quieted the suspicions of the American officers. While the two vessels and their crews were in this novel position, the Phcebc was taken suddenly aback, and her bows played directly upon the Essex. Captain Porter immediately called away his boarders, and for a few minutes there was every appear- ance of a combat in a neutral port. The English ships, having obtained some supplies, went outside, and cruised off Valparaiso for six weeks. During this time, the Essex made several attempts to engage the Phoebe alone, sometimes by bringing her to action with the Essex Junior in company, and at others by bringing her to action singly having the crew of the Essex Jmiiur on board the frigate. Captain Porter ascertained to his satisfaction, that he could easily outsail either of the enemy's vessels, but his object was not so much to escape, as to capture the Pha-'be, which he had reason to think he might do, could he bring her to close action without her consort's interference. On the 27th of February, the Cherub being nearly a league dead to leeward of her, the Phcebe ran close in, hove to off the port, hoisted a motto flag and fired a gun to windward, when the Essex immediately weighed and stood out of the harbor, and answered the weather crun of 1 68 II' HEN OUR NAVY WON GREAT GLORY. the enemy. On this occasion, the ships got within gun- shot of each other, and when the American frigate opened fire, the Phoebe ran down and joined her consort. This conduct excited a good deal of feeUng among the offi- cers of the Essex, who rightly judged that the challenge should not have been given, if it were not the intention of the enemy to engage singly. The Essex met with an accident in attempting to leave the harbor and finding it impossible to beat up to the com- mon anchorage, in his present condition, in time to avoid the enemy. Captain Porter stood across the entrance of the harbor, to the northeastern side, where he let go an anchor, about three miles from the town, a mile and a-half from the Castello Viego, which, however, was concealed by a bluff, half a mile from a detached battery of one twenty- four pound gun, and within pistol-shot of the shore. Not- withstanding this position, the enemy continued to approach, and it soon became evident, by the motto f^ags and jacks he set, that it was his serious intention to engage. The Essex, in consequence, cleared for action, and attempted to get a spring on her cable, but had not succeeded in effect- ing this important object, when the Phoebe, having obtained an advantageous position, nearly astern, about 4 p. m. opened her fire, at long shot. At the same time, the Cherub commenced the action on the starboard bow. The fire of the Phcvbe, from the double advantage she possessed in her long guns and her station, became very destructive, as scarce a gun from the Essex could touch her. The Cherub, however, was soon driven off, when she ran down to leeward, and engaged from a position near that taken by the Phcvbe. Three long twelves were got out aft, and they played with so much effect on the enemy, that at the WHEN OUR NAVY WON GREAT GLORY. 169 end of half an hour, both his ships hauled off from shore to repair damages. The enemy was not long in making his repairs, and both ships next took position on the starboard quarter of the Essex, where it was not in the power of the latter vessel to bring a single gun to bear upon him, as he was too dis- tant to be reached by carronades. His fire was very gall- ing, and it left no alternative to Captain Porter, between submission, and running down to assail him. He gallandy decided on the latter. But, by this time, the Essex had received many serious injuries, in addition to the loss of her topmast. Her topsail sheets and halyards had all been shot away. The only sail that could be got upon the ship to make her head pay off was a flying jib, which was hoisted, when the cable was cut, and the vessel edged away, with the intention of laying the Phcvbe aboard. The fore-topsail and foresail were now let fall, though, for want of tacks and sheets they were nearly useless. Still the Essex drove down her assailants, closing near enough to open with her carronades. For a few minutes the firing on both sides was tremendous, the people of the Essex proving their discipline and gallantry, at that trying moment, in a way to jusdfy all the high expectadons that had been formed of them, though their decks were already strewn with killed, and the cockpit was crowded with the wounded. This work proved too hot for the Cherub, which hauled off a second dme, nor did she come near enough to use her carronades again, during the remainder of the action, keeping up a distant fire with her long guns. Three entire crews of one of the guns of the Essex were swept away, the captain, though wounded, being the only survivor. Captain Porter had a hawser bent to the sheet- anchor which was let go and brought the head of the ship I/O WHEN OUR NAVY WON GREAT GLORY. around, bringing her broadside to bear, and doing execution until the hawser parted. By this time the ship was on fire. Captain Porter summoned his officers. Only one, Acting Lieutenant McKnight, could join him on the quarter-deck. The first lieutenant, Mr. Wilmer, had been knocked over- board by a splinter and drowned, while getting the sheet- anchor from the bow ; Acting Lieutenant Cowell, the next in rank, was mortally wounded ; Acting Lieutenant Olden- heimer had just been knocked overboard. Seventy-five men, officers included, were all that remained for duty; and the enemy, in perfectly smooth water, was firing his long eighteens at a nearly unresisting ship, with as much pre- cision as he could have discharged them at a target. It had become an imperative duty to strike, and the colors were hauled down. In this bloody contest the Essex had 58 men killed, 66 wounded, making a total of 124. Of the missing there were 31, most of whom were drowned in attempting to swim ashore when the ship was on fire, or by being knocked overboard by the splinters, or pieces of the rigging. The entire loss was 152 out of 255. The Americans lost a ship, but not honor. Admiral Farragut was through the slaughter as a midshipman. HUMBLING THE BARBARY STATES. Commodore Decatur had the grateful mission, in 1815, to humble the Dey of Algiers, who made the mistake of supposing the navy of the United States had been de- stroyed in the war with England. Decatur sailed with a small squadron in May, 181 5. His flagship was the Guerriei^e, 44 guns. When he passed the Strait of Gibraltar he found the Algerine pirate fleet cruising in search of American vessels. On the 17th WHEN OUR NAVY WON GREAT GLORY. 171 of June he met, fought, and captured the flagship of the Algerine admiral (a frigate of forty-four guns), and another pirate ship with six hundred men. With these prizes he sailed for the harbor of Algiers, and demanded of the ruler, (June 28th), the instant surrender of all American prisoners in his hands, full indemnity for all American property destroyed by his forces, and all claims to tribute from the United States thereafter. When the Dey heard of the fate of his fleet, he hastened to comply with Decatur's demands. The commodore summoned him to the deck of the Guer- riere, with his captives. The Dey appeared with them and some of his officers, on the 30th of June. There he signed a treaty and left the frigate in deep humiliation. Decatur then sailed for Tunis, and demanded and re- ceived from the Bashaw, or ruler of that State, ^46,000 in payment for American vessels, which he had allowed the British to capture in his harbor. This was in July. Then Decatur proceeded to Tripoli, and in August he demanded, from its ruler, ^25,000 for the same kind of injury to pro- perty, and the release of prisoners. The Tripolitans' trea- sury was nearly empty, and the commodore accepted, in- stead of cash, the release from captivity of eight Danish and two Neapolitan seamen who were held as slaves. This closed Decatur's services at sea. perry's victory. Perry's fleet, on Lake Erie, was the brig Lazvrence, 20 guns, the brig Niagara, 20, brig Caledonia, 3, schooner Ariel, 4, schooner Scorpion, 2, and two swivels, sloop Trippe, i, schooner Tigress., i, and schooner Porcupine, i. The British squadron was the ship Detroit, 19 guns, one on pivot, and two howitzers, ship Queen Charlotte, 17 guns, one howitzer, schooner Lady Provost, 13 guns, one how- 1/2 WHEN OUR NAVY WON GREAT GLORY. itzer, brig Hunter, lo guns, sloop Little Bclt^ 3 guns, schooner CJiippewa, i gun, and two swivels. On the morning of September 10, at sunrise, the British fleet was seen on the horizon. At ten o'clock the Lawrence was cleared for action, and Perry brought out a battle-flag with the dying words of Lawrence, " Don't give up the ship." Perry said : •' My brave lads ! This flag contains the last words of Captain Lawrence. Shall I hoist it? " " Ay, ay, sir," they all shouted, and aloft went the flag, greeted with cheers of the whole fleet. The Niagara, Captain Elliott, led the fleet. Barclay's vessels were near together, the Detroit (his flag-ship), in the van. At noon a bugle sounded on board the Detroit as a signal for action; the British bands struck up "Rule Britannia," and a 24 pound shot was sent over the water from the Detroit toward the Laivre^ice. It fell short ; but a few minutes afterward another shot, from Barclay's long guns, went crashing through the bulwarks of the Laivrence. The latter kept silent. " Steady, boys ! Steady," said Perry, who knew the advantage possessed by Barclay with his long guns, and he determined to fight at close quarters. His ship suffered shockingly during the action — the Nia- gara falling behind — the Lawrence receiving the fire of nearly all the heavy guns of the enemy. At last she be- came a wreck and a slaughter-house, without men to handle the guns. Lossing writes: "The Niagara had lagged behind — the swift, staunch, well-manned Niagara. She did not come to the relief of the helpless and severely wounded Lazure7ice, but Perry went to her — an exploit at that hour of peril, one of the most gallant on record. He determined to fly to her, and, bearing down with her upon his foe, secure a victory. So certain did he feel of ultimate triumph, and having occasion WHEN OUR NAVY WON GREAT GLORY. 173 to receive guests, that he exchanged his sailor's suit for the uniform of his rank. Leaving the gallant and thrice wounded Yarnall in charge of the Lawre7ice, the colors of which were yet flying, he entered a boat with his litde brother and four stout seamen, and standing erect, with the pennant and battle flag half folded around him, he pushed off for the Niagara, half a mile distant. " The hero, now so conspicuous, was made a special mark for the missiles of his antagonists. Barclay knew that if the man who had fought the Lawrence so bravely reached the Niagara, the British squadron would be in great danger of defeat. For fifteen minutes, during Perry's fearful voyage in the open boat, the great and litde guns of the British, by Barclay's order, were brought to bear upon him, but he received no bodily harm from cannon balls, grape shot, canister and musket bullets showered upon him. Oars were splintered, bullets traversed the boat, and his oarsmen were covered with spray caused by the fall of round shot near the boat, but not a person was hurt. Perry sprung on board of the Niagara, took the command, bore down upon the British, and broke their line. For awhile the whole American squadron was en- gaged in the combat. " Eight minutes after Perry dashed through the British line the colors of the Detroit were lowered, and her exam- ple was followed at once by all the other British vessels. The batde had lasted three hours. When the smoke cleared away, it was discovered that the vessels of the two squadrons were intermingled. The victory was complete. As soon as it was assured. Perry wrote, in pencil, on the back of an old letter, resting the paper on his navy cap, that remarkable dispatch to General Harrison, the first sentence of which has been so oft repeated : 174 WHEN OUR NAVY WON GREAT GLORY. ''We have met the enemy, and they are ours: two ships, two brigs, one schooner, and one sloop. Yours with great respect and esteem, O. H. Perry." " The next movement In the solemn drama was the recep- tion of the British officers, the expected guests of Perry — who deUvered to him their swords. Barclay had been severely wounded. All the captives were treated with great courtesy and kindness. The bodies of the slain were buried in the deep waters of the lake, at the twilight hour of that beautiful September day, after the impressive burial service of the Anglican Church had been read. " This victory proved to be one of the most important events of the war. It saved the western states from inva- sion by the British and Indians, and opened the way for Harrison to recover what Hull had lost, and more. It lifted the pall of despondency, which reverses to the land troops had spread over the land, and there was great jubi- lation everywhere. The effect upon the country was elec- tric, and amazingly inspiring." The loth of September is as well remembered as the 8th of January, and Perry's victory ranks with New Orleans in the general estimation. During many years it was cele- brated by popular festivals — the ringing of bells, the firing of cannon, public addresses and the singing of songs. The loth of September we shall ever remember. Although the English had surrendered, two of their boats tried to escape. It was the schooner Chippezva and the sloop Little Belt, who had taken advantage of the veil- ing cloud of smoke, in an endeavor to escape back to the Detroit river. The commander of the Scorpion, Stephen Chaplin, and Thomas Holdup, in command of the Trippe^ noticed this WHEN OUR NAVY WON GREAT GLORY. 175 little trick on the part of the Englishmen, and went in chase, capturing both of them. It thus happened that Chaplin fired the last shot of the battle. After the British commander had struck his colors, a cheer went up from each of the American ships, the last of all being the battered Lawrence, from which came but a feeble response. Perry, who had been preparing to re- ceive the British officers, on hearing this faint appeal from the remnant of the crew of the Lawrence, determined to return to her at once. After informing the British officers that they would be received there, he entered a boat, and was conveyed to his former flagship. Those of his crew who were able, gathered to receive him with uncovered heads, in silence, amidst a most touching scene. The number of dead among the Americans was 27 (of whom 22 were killed on the Lawrence) ; the wounded, 96. The British lost 41 killed and 94 wounded. CHAPTER XI. JACKSON AND THE SPANIARDS IN FLORIDA. The Britibh and Spanish at Pensacola — The Advance of the Great New Orleans Expedition — An Appeal to the People of Louisiana and Kentucky to Accept Spanish Liberty — The Story of Lafitte and his Refusal of British Gold — The Overture of the Battle of New Orleans and Jackson's Deal- ings with the Spaniards in Florida. In 1 814, in the latter days of August, the old Spanish town of Pensacola became lively. There was a British tleet in the harbor, and Parton says: "Arms and ammunition in great quantities were landed and being conveyed to the forts." A body of negro soldiers from the West Indies, in the British uniform, had come on shore, along with several companies of English troops. The forts were in course of repair ; from one of them floated the English flag in friendly conjunction with the standard of Spain. The commander of the English forces had taken up his residence with the Spanish gov- ernor. There was a swarm of Indians. The forces were the advance of the great expedition that was to capture and hold New Orleans, and if the English did not want it for themselves, to restore it to the Spanish, who claimed Napoleon had no title to the Jefferson purchase. Lieut.- Col. Edward Nichols was the commander, and on his way from the Bahamas to Pensacola, he had touched at Havana, where the secret of his destination escaped, and was promptly conveyed to New Orleans. No sooner had he reached Pensacola than he published to his troops an Order of the Day, which in a few days appeared in the newspapers of New Orleans. The colonel had about 300 176 JACKSON AND THE SPANIARDS IN FLORIDA. lyy men, and addressed them as his majesty's forces at Pensa- cola. He said to his soldiers : " The people whom you are now to aid and assist have suffered robberies and murders committed on them by Americans. " The noble Spanish nation has grieved to see her territories insulted ; having been robbed and despoiled of a portion of them while she was overwhelmed with distress, and held down by the chains which a tyrant had imposed on her, gloriously struggling for the greatest of all possible blessings (true liberty). The treacherous Americans, who call themselves free, have attacked her, like assas- sins, while she was falhng. But the day of retribution is fast approaching. These atrocities will excite horror in the heart of a British soldier, they will stimulate you to avenge them, and you will avenge them like British soldiers. Valor, then, and humanity ! " " Natives of Louisiana ! On you the first call is made to assist in liberating from a faithless, imbecile government, your paternal soil ! Spaniards, French- men, Itahans and British, whether settled or residing for a time in Louisiana, on you, also, I call to aid me in this just cause ! The American usurpation of this country must be abolished, and the lawful owners of the soil put in possession. I am at the head of a large body of Indians, well armed, disciplined, and com- manded by British officers — a good train of artillery with every requisite, sec- onded by the powerful aid of a numerous British and Spanish squadron of ships and vessels of war. Be not alarmed, inhabitants of the country, at our ap- proach; the same good faith and disinterestedness which have distinguished the conduct of Britons in Europe, accompanies them here ; you will have no fear of litigious taxes imposed on you for the purpose of carrying on an unnat- ural and unjust war; your property, your laws, the peace and tranquility of your country, will be guaranteed to you by men who will suffer no infringement of theirs ; rest assured that these brave red men only burn with an ardent desire of satisfaction, for the wrongs they have suffered from the Americans, to join you in liberating these souther nprovinces from their yoke, and driving them into those limits formerly prescribed by my sovereign. " Inhabitants of Kentucky, you have too long borne with grievous imposi- tions. The whole brunt of the war has fallen on your brave sons; be imposed on no longer, but either range yourselves under the standard of your forefathers, or observe a strict neutrahty ; if you comply with either of these offers, whatever provisions you send down, will be paid for in dollars, and the safety of the persons bringing them, as well as the free navigation of the Mississippi, guaran- teed to you. '' Men of Kentucky, let me call to your view (and I trust to your abhorrence) the conduct of those factions which hurried you into this civil, unjust, and unnatural war, at a time when Great Britain was straining every nerve in defence of her own and the liberties of the world — when the bravest of her sons were fighting and bleeding in so sacred a cause — when she was spending lyS JACKSON AND THE SPANIARDS IN FLORIDA. millions of her treasure in endeavoring to pull down one of the most formid- able and dangerous tyrants that ever disgraced the form of man — when groan- ing Europe was almost in her last gasp — when Britons alone showed an undaunted front— basely did those assassins endeavor to stab her from the rear; she has turned on them, renovated from the bloody but successful struggle. Europe is happy and free, and she now hastens justly to avenge the unprovoked insult. Show them that you are not collectively unjust; leave that contemptible few to shift for themselves, let those slaves of the tyrant send an embassy to Elba, and implore his aid ; but let every honest, upright Ameri- can spurn them with united contempt. After the experience of twenty-one years, can you any longer support those brawlers for liberty, who call it freedom when they themselves are free ? Be no longer their dupes— accept of my offers —everything I have promised in this paper I guarantee to you, on the sacred honor of a British officer." A body of seven hundred Indians was raised to aid in restoring Spanish liberty to the people of Louisiana, and to g-ive the Kentuckians a chance to redeem themselves from the offence of being friends of Bonaparte. The real effect of the expedition was to obtain knowledge of the gulf ports, and they made the discovery of Barataria, a rendezvous not of pirates but of privateers, with Jean Lafitte, blacksmith, as chief. The British armed ship Sophia found the little harbor, and Lafitte, according to Barton's lively description : " Ordered out his boat and proceeded, rowed by four men, to the shallow strait that formed the entrance to the harbor; where he saw, not without aston- ishment, an armed vessel showing British colors. At the same moment, a boat, with a white signal flying from the bow, and the British flag from the stern, darted from the vessel's side and rapidly approached him. It contained three officers in British uniform, who proved to be Captain Lockyer, a Heutenant of the Sophia and a captain of the army. Upon coming up. Captain Lockyer called out his name and rank, and inquired if Mr. Lafitte was at home. Lafitte, puzzled at these proceedings, replied that that individual could be seen on shore at the settlement, and invited the officers to accompany him to Mr. Lafitte's quarters. On the way across the harbor, however, he announced himself as Jean Lafitte ; whereupon Captain Lockyer handed him a package, directed to ' Mr. Lafitte,' which Captain Lockyer stated was an important communication from the British government. Lafitte cautioned them to conceal their object from the men on shore. These lawless buccaneers, it may be remarked, besides being, in their way, loyal to the United States, had a lively recollection of a dash made upon their settlement by British ships at the beginning of the war, JACKSON AND THE SPANIARDS IN FLORIDA. lyg when some of their vessels had been captured, and some of their plunder car- ried off. When, therefore, the uniform of the officers was recognized by the crowd on the beach, a tumult arose, and they clamored loudly for their seizure. " Lafitte contrived to pacify them for the moment, and conducted the officers to his quarters. Before proceeding to business, Lafitte, who was a man of su- perior address, and exceedingly polite, ordered a repast to be prepared for his guests. The costliest wines of Spain, the daintiest fruits of the West Indies, the fish and game of the neighborhood, were served to the astonished officers on the finest carved silver plate; and the urbane Lafitte presided at the feast with the courtly grace that belonged to the Frenchman of that day, whether peasant, privateersman, or noble. The banquet over, cigars were handed round, of a flavor which seldom regales the senses of people who obtain their cigars by the vulgar process of purchase. While these were discussed, the polite and reticent Mr. Lafitte proceeded to open and examine the package addressed to him.'' Colonel Nichols called upon Lafitte and his "brave fol- lowers to enter the service of Great Britain and offered him the rank of a captain ; with lands to all of his people in proportion to their respective ranks." The first point the British hoped to make was the capture of Mobile. Captain Lockyer, the British officer in authority, offered Lafitte besides a captaincy in the British army, thirty thou- sand dollars in cash, payable at New Orleans or Pensacola. The war, said Lockyer, was about to be prosecuted with unusual vigor. The great expedition against New Orleans was already on its way. There could be no doubt of its success. Indeed, they expected to meet with scarcely any opposition in Louisiana, the people of which, being of differ- ent manners and temper from the Americans, would receive the expedition, he thought, with joy. As soon as the Eng- lish were in possession of New Orleans, they intended to effect a junction with the forces in Canada, when the United States would be at their mercy. From being proscribed and persecuted, his brother in prison and his establishment in danger, he had only to join the English, and give them the benefit of his intimate knowledge of the Gulf, and rank, fame and fortune were his own. l8o JACKSON AND THE SPANIARDS IN FLORIDA. Lalitte asked for a fortnight's time, and immediately com- municated with the authorities of Louisiana, saying : " This point of Louisiana which I occupy is of great importance in the present crisis. I tender my services to defend it ; and the only reward I ask is that a stop be put to the proscrip- tion against me and my adherents, by an act of oblivion for all that has been done hitherto. I am the stray sheep wish- ing to return to the fold." Lafitte's story was not believed and his establishment was soon broken up by those he sought to serve, but when the people got hold of the facts they believed him, and he was one of the factors in saving New Orleans from the overwhelming invasion of Welling- ton's veterans who were beaten on Jackson's Day, January 8, 1815. It was as the conqueror of the Creeks, the avenger of the Fort Mimms massacre, that Andrew Jackson first gained notoriety as a military chieftain, became "Old Hickory" and was prepared to become the hero of New Orleans. The British did not retire gracefully from the gulf coast after their failure with a great fleet and army to occupy and pos- sess Louisiana with the mouths of the Mississippi, and those who lingered, found themselves in queer associations in Florida, mingling with Spaniards, Seminoles and negroes, very few and independent, armed and organized as ma- rauders, with a fort containing a great deal of gunpowder and arms. The British, in the treaty of Ghent, sought to protect their Indian allies, and the provisions of the treaty were stretched to include officers, and that remarkable literary and military man, Col. Edward Nichols, who issued a proclamation to Kentuckians, reappeared. The Seminoles were his pets, and, as Parton describes him : " He went through the preposterous ceremony, in the spring of 18 15, of forming an alliance offensive and defensive between the GENERAL BLANCO. VICE PRESIDENT HOBART. JACKSON AND THE SPANIARDS IN FLORIDA. 183 Seminoles and Great Britain. He repaired and strength- ened a fort on the Appalachicola river, sixty miles below the junction of the Chattahoochie and Flint, which he styled the ' British Post on the Appalachicola,' and which afterwards acquired a sad celebrity as the ' Negro Fort.' These things he did entirely, it seems, on his own responsi- bility, and without condescending to pay the slightest regard to the authority of the Spanish governor." The Spanish and Seminoles and the negro bandits took kindly to Nichols, who thus addressed Col. Benjamin Hawkins : •'British Post, Appalachicola River, May 12, 1815. '' In my letter to you of the 28th ult., I requested you would be so good as to make inquiry into the murder and robberies committed on the Seminoles be- longing to the chief called Bowlegs, at the same time declaring my determination of punishing with the utmost rigor of the law any one of our side who broke it." Nichols was for peace in his proclamations, but he con- tinued the letter to Colonel Hawkins : " Since the last complaint from Bowlegs, I have had another from him to say, your citizens have again attacked and murdered two of his people ; that they had stolen a gang of his cattle, but that he had succeeded in regaining them. " I asked him what proof he had of their being killed. He said they had found their bloody clothes in the American camp, which was hastily evacuated on their approach. Now, sir, if these enormities are suffered to be carried on in a Christian country, what are you to expect by showing such an example to the uncultivated native of the woods (for savage I will not call them, their con- duct entitles them to a better epithet) ? I have, however, ordered them to stand on the defensive, and have sent them a large supply of arms and ammnnition, and told them to put to death, without mercy, any one molesting them ; but at all times to be careful and not to put a foot over the American line. In the meantime that I should complain to you ; that I was convinced you would do your best to curb such infamous conduct. Also that those people who have done such deeds would, I was convinced, be disavowed by the government of the United States and severely punished. They have given their consent to await your answer before they take revenge; but, sir, they are impatient for it, and well armed as the nation now is, and stored with amnuitiition and provi- sions, having a stronghold to retire upon i?i case of a superior force appearing, II l84 JACKSON AND THE SPANIARDS IN FLORIDA. picture to yourself, sir, the miseries that may be suffered by good and innocent citizens on your frontiers, and I am sure that you will lend me your best aid in keeping the bad spirits in subjection. " Yesterday, in a full assembly of chiefs, I got them to pass a law for four resolute chiefs to be appointed in different parts of the nation, something in the character of our sheriffs, for the purpose of inflicting condign punishment on such people as broke the law, and I will say this much for them, that I never saw men execute laws better than they do. " I am also desired to say to you by the chiefs, that they do not find that your citizens are evacuating their lands, according to the ninth article of the treaty of peace, but that they were fresh provisioning the forts. This point, sir, I beg of you to look into. They also request me to inform you that they have signed a treaty of offensive and defensive allegiance with Great Britain, as well as one of commerce and navigation, which, as soon as it is ratified at home, you shall be made more fully acquainted with. " I am, sir, your very humble servant, Edward Nichols, Commanding his Britannic Majesty's forces in the Creek Nation. "Addressed ' On his Britannic Majesty's service, to Col. Benjamin Hawkins, commanding at Fort Hawkins.' " Colonel Nichols sailed for England after doing all the mischief he could, and proving that he knew as little of Indians as he did of Kentuckians, but he did not succeed in getting the recognition he wanted. One of the savages with Nichols, was a red prophet named Francis, and he was presented, in consideration of his past services, with the commission and uniform of a brigadier general, a gold-mounted tomahawk, a diamond snuff-box, and a sum of money. He was also admitted to an interview with the Prince Regent, who received him with an imposing show of ceremony. "A double flourish of trumpets," says a journal of the time, " announced the approach to the pres- ence of the Regent of ' the patriot Francis, who fought so gloriously in our cause in America. He was dressed in a most splendid suit of red and gold, and by his side he wore the tomahawk mounted in gold.' " The swamps of Florida afforded refuge for many negro JACKSON AND THE SPANIARDS IN FLORIDA. 185 slaves, and their numbers were, in 18 16, estimated at 800. They had a chief, Garcon, and the fort erected by Colonel Nichols, on the Appalachicola, was their stronghold. Nich- ols thought he left the fort to the Seminoles, but they pre- ferred the woods. The fort was strong, mounted twelve cannon, and Nichols had been good enough to leave the Indians 2500 muskets, the same number of sets of accoutre- ments, five hundred carbines, five hundred steel-scabbarded swords, four hundred pistols, three hundred quarter-casks - of rifle powder, and seven hundred and sixty-three barrels of common powder. The arms were new and of excellent quality, and the greater part of them were still in the boxes and packing-cases in which they had been brought from England. The negroes thought their fort a secure refuge. It placed them on a pedestal. About this fort Andrew Jack- son wrote a letter to the Spanish governor at Pensacola, who was supposed to control the territory where the fort was located. Jackson said he could not permit himself to indulge the belief, that " the governor of Pensacola, or the military commander at that place, will hesitate a moment in giving orders for this banditti to be dispersed, and the property of the citizens of the United States forthwith restored to them, and our friendly Indians particularly, when I reflect that the conduct of this banditti is such as will not be tolerated by our government, and if not put down by Spanish authority, will compel us, in self-defence, to destroy them. This communication is entrusted to Captain Amelung, of the first regiment of United States Infantry, who is charged to bring back such answer as you will be pleased to make to this letter. In your answer you will be pleased to state whether that fort has been built by the government of Spain, and whether those negroes who 1 86 JACKSON AND THE SPANIARDS IN FLORIDA. garrison it are considered as subjects (">f his Catholic Majesty, and if not by his Catholic Majesty, by whom, and under whose orders it has been erected." The Spanish governor hoped in many words General Jackson would not consider himself bound to do anything in violation of the sovereignty of the king, his royal master. Having spread these sentiments over ten pages of foolscap, the sublime governor concluded by observing that he held the virtues and military talents of General Jackson in the highest possible esteem, and that he prayed God to pre- serve his excellency many years. The Spanish had not the force at Pensacola to fight the negroes with, and Jackson ascertaining that, wrote to the War Department that the Spanish authorities would not take it seriously amiss if the negro fort were destroyed by the forces under his own command, and he requested the orders of the President with regard to it. General Gaines, in the spring of 1816, having Fort Scott to build at the junction of the Chattahoochie and Flint, at- tempted to navigate the Appalachicola. The negroes re- sisted the freedom and fired on a boat sent to ask informa- tion. The men were savagely massacred. Colonel Clinch, with two companies, dropped down the river and was joined by a party of Seminoles who had a way of seizing and selling fugitive slaves. There was at the same time an expedition ascending the river. During the first clay of the investment, the Indians, during an interval of silence, demanded the surrender of their fort. The negroes hooted derisively in reply, hoisted a red flag, and over it on the same staff the British union jack, and sent a thirty-two pound shot crashing into the forest again. On the ap- proach of Colonel Clinch, all the negroes in the vicinity had hurried into the fort for safety. The place contained, when JACKSON AND THE SPANIARDS IN FLORIDA. 187 it was Invested, one hundred men and two hundred and thirty-four women and children. There were two maga- zines within the fortification, one containing six hundred barrels of powder, and the other one hundred and sixty- three. The negroes fired artillery with great enthusiasm, but without effect except in smashing trees and scaring the In- dians. No impression was made on the fort until a heated cannon ball was fired with steady, accurate aim. It pene- trated the magazine, and the great store of powder ex- ploded. Of the three hundred and thirty-four inmates of the fort two hundred and seventy were killed instandy ! The greater part of those who were taken out alive died soon after. Three men only crawled from the ruins uninjured, one of whom was Garcon, the commandant. The Indians, with that mingled meanness and ferocity which marks their conduct on such occasions, raised the untimely yell of triumph, and clambered up the bluff. The troops and the crews of the gun-boats, stunned and appalled for some moments by the explosion, soon followed. The gun baat-men were concerned for the fate of the sailor Daniels, who had been taken prisoner by Garcon at the mouth of the river and conducted to the fort. Upon in- quiring of the survivors what had become of him, they as- certained that he had been tarred and burned alive. As a punishment for this savage act, Garcon and a Choctaw chief were delivered over to the Seminoles, who also carried off a large supply of British muskets, and other weapons, becoming very dangerous. The immense store of powder bestowed with diplomatic indirecdon by the British upon the free and independent nec^roes, who had a grand fort meant for Seminoles, wlio preferred larger liberties than those enjoyed in fortifications, 1 88 JACKSON AND THE SPANIARDS IN FLORIDA. proved the destruction of the civiHzed community, and Andrew Jackson, general commanding, was reheved of all re- sponsibility for the escaped property in mass of the Southern farmers, and deprived of a promising opening for war with the Spaniards. The explosion of six hundred barrels of powder erased the black blot from the landscape, but the Seminoles carried off all the English muskets they wanted, and themselves became the disturbers of the peace, and the first of the several Seminole wars was soon under way and lingered like the hostilities of later days in Cuba. "On the 1 6th of January, 1818 [we quote from the 'Life of Andrew Jackson,' by John Frost, 1847], the Secre- tary of War wrote General Gaines, informing him that the honor of the United States required that the war with the Seminoles should be terminated speedily, and with exem- plary punishment for hostilities so unprovoked ; and that orders were issued directing the war to be carried on within the limits of Florida, should it be necessary to its speedy and effectual termination. These orders, it was presumed, he had received. That as soon as it was known that he had repaired to Amelia island, in obedience to them, and it being uncertain how long he might be detained there, the state of things at Fort Scott made it necessary to order General Jackson to take command there. From his known promptitude, it was presumable that his arrival might soon be expected. " A letter from the Secretary of War to General Jackson, dated January 29, 181 8, acknowledged the receipt of letters from him of the 12th and 13th of that month; and states that the measures he had taken to bring an efficient force into the field were approved ; and it concluded by express- ing a confident hope that a speedy and successful termina- tion of the Indian war would follow his exertions. JACKSON AND THE SPANIARDS IN FLORIDA. 189 "He crossed the Flint river on the loth of March and advanced with his army toward the mouth of the Appala- chicola. On the i6th he arrived at Prospect Bluff, the site of the Indian and negro fort which had been blown up by the fire of the American gunboats, in the month of July, 1 81 7. This Jackson ordered to be rebuilt, designing to use it as a depot for the provisions expected from New Orleans. He called it Fort Gadsden, in honor of one of his aids. General Gaines joined him in his march to the fort. " Having completed the necessary arrangements at Fort Gadsden, General Jackson started from that point on the 26th of March, for the purpose of driving the enemy from the Mickasuky villages. When he had nearly reached these villages, on the ist of April, he was joined by the main body of the Tennessee volunteers, who, having heard of the starving condition of the garrisons stationed at Forts Gaines and Scott, had taken a circuitous route through Georgia, to obtain subsistence. As he approached the principal village his advanced guard had a smart conflict with a party of Indians, who fled as soon as the main body came up. When the army entered the towns they were found deserted by their inhabitants. The wigwams were burned, the adjacent country reconnoitred, and an abund- ant supply of corn and catde obtained. In the council- house of the principal village, Jackson found more than fifty fresh scalps, and in the centre of the town, the old Red-stick standard stood crowned with the scalps, recog- nized by the hair as those torn from the heads of the unfor- tunate companions of Lieutenant Scott. " Hearing that a body of five hundred negroes and Indians had approached St. Mark's, and having been refused admittance, had demanded its surrender, and igo JACKSON AND THE SPANIARDS IN FLORIDA. knowing the duplicity of Luengo, the governor, who now pretended friendship for the Americans, while a short time before he had, to the best of his ability, aided and protected their enemies, — knowing these things. General Jackson left Mcintosh with his warriors to scour the country in the neighborhood of Mickasuky village, and hastened to pre- vent the surrender of the strong post of St. Mark's to the enemies of the United States. From the moment that the Negro-Indian fort was destroyed, St. Mark's had become the depot and storehouse of the savages. " This post was now threatened by the hostile Indians and negroes, and the Spanish garrison was unable to defend it against them. It was, therefore, necessary to occupy it with an American garrison, to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Seminoles, who, uncontrolled by Spain, might issue forth at any time, murder the citizens of the United States, and, when closely pursued, fall back upon St. Mark's, their stronghold. Accordingly, General Jack- son marched to that fort, took possession of it without the least resistance, and shipped the Spanish authorities and garrison to Pensacola. It was near St. Mark's that Alexander Arbuthnot was captured. " Arbuthnot's schooner was taken at the mouth of the Suwanee river and employed in transporting the sick and baggage of the army to St. Mark's. On the i8th, Robert C. Ambrister, late a lieutenant of marines in the British service under Nichols, was captured in the neighborhood of the villaores. Ambrister was accused of leadino- and o o inciting the Indians to make war on the Americans, and was detained a close prisoner until the general found an opportunity to examine the evidence on which the accusa- tion rested. "On the next day (22d) he convened a special court for JACKSON AND THE SPANIARDS IN FLORIDA 191 the purpose of investigating; the charges exhibited against Alexander Arbuthnot and Robert C. Ambrister; with in- structions to record all the documents and testimony of the several cases, and give their opinion as to the guilt or innocence of the prisoners, and v^hat punishment (if any) should be inflicted. This court of inquiry was composed of Major-General Gaines, president, three colonels, three lieutenant-colonels, four majors, two captains and a lieu- tenant. " The court of inquiry found Arbuthnot guilty of exciting and sdrring up the Creek Indians to war against the United States and her citizens, he being a subject of Great Britain, with whom the United States were at peace ; and of aiding, abetting and comforting the enemy, and supplying them with the means of war. They accordingly sentenced him to be suspended by the neck until he was dead. " They also found Ambrister guilty of aiding, abetting, and comforting the enemy, and supplying them with the means of war, he being a subject of Great Britain, who were at peace with the United States, and late an officer in the British colonial marines, and also of leading and com- manding the lower Creek Indians, in carrying on a war against the United States. They, therefore, sentenced him to suffer death by being shot. The members of the court requested a reconsideration of the vote on this sentence ; and, it being had, they sentenced him to receive fifty stripes on the bare back, and to be confined with a ball and chain, at hard labor, for twelve months." This, not being a court martial had no authority to pro- nounce sentence upon the prisoners ; but as a special court, or a court of inquiry into the circumstance of the case, to advise the commanding-general, in such cases as he might require their opinion. Accordingly, General Jackson ap- 192 JACKSON AND THE SPANIARDS IN FLORIDA. proved the sentence of the court with regard to Alexander Arbuthnot, and he was hung on the 29th of April. He also approved the first sentence of the court in the case of Robert C. Ambrister, and disapproved its reconsideration. In passing final sentence upon Ambrister, the general re- marked : " It appears from the evidence and pleading of the prisoner, that he, being a subject of Great Britain, did lead and command, within the territory of Spain, the In- dians in a war against the United States,. those nations being at peace. It is an established principle of the law of nations, that any individual of a nation making war against the citizens of any other nation, they being at peace, for- feits his allegiance, and becomes an outlaw and pirate. This is the case of Robert C. Ambrister, clearly shown by the evidence adduced." He was accordingly shot on the same day that Arbuthnot was executed. On the 5th day of May he wrote to the Secretary of War from Fort Gadsden, and gave him a detailed account of his operations in the war, and also informed him of the execution of Arbuthnot and Ambrister. In this dispatch he says : " I hope the execution of these two unprincipled villains will prove an awful example to the world, and con- vince the government of Great Britain, as well as her subjects, that certain, if slow, retribution awaits those un- christian wretches, who, by false promises, delude and excite an Indian tribe to all the horrid deeds of savage war." It was in this campaign, " away down on the Suwanee river," that the ill-fated Arbuthnot had a trading post, and a letter of his to his son warned the Indians Jackson was after, to get across " The River of the Song." Mr. Graham Sumner says in his "American Statesmen : " "Their escape enraged Jackson. He had already regarded Arbuthnot as JACKSON AND THE SPANIARDS IN FLORIDA. 193 one of the British emissaries. He now considered Arbuth- not's letter an overt act of interference in the war. The town was burned by Jackson.", Mr. Graham Sumner evidendy regards General Jackson as having been an arbitrary "American statesman." He says with great simplicity of the General, " It was as a mere incident of his homeward march that Jackson turned aside and captured Pensacola, May 24, 181 8, because he was told that some Indians had taken refuge there. He deposed the Spanish government, set up a new one, and established a garrison. He then continued his march homewards." But the close of this record is, " General Jackson had, in five months, broken the Indian power, established peace on the border, and substantially con- quered Florida." Frost says : " Robert C. Ambrister had formerly borne a lieutenant's commission in the Bridsh service, under Nich- ols and Woodbine, and had remained in the Floridas as a kind of successor and agent to them. He had resided a con- siderable dme at Suwanee, and pursued the same general system of measures in reladon to the negroes and Indians as Arbuthnot had done ; though not to the same extent, or in concert with him. When the alarm was given of the approach of the American troops, he put himself at the head of what Indians and negroes he could rally, broke open Arbuthnot's store, and distributed its contents, among which were some powder and ball, to his followers, and attempted to organize a party to go out and fight the Americans." It was on the loth of May, that General Jackson, having smitten the Seminoles, hanged Arbuthnot, shot Ambris- ter, and restored tranquillity, except where the Spaniards were in authority, arrived at Escambria, near Pensacola, with twelve hundred men. He notified the governor of his 194 JACKSON AND THE SPANIARDS IN FLORIDA. approach, who, in answer, ordered him to retire from Florida ; and if he did not, that he would use force to repel him. Frost says, " The governor of Pensacola did not apply force to prevent Nichols from occupying his town ; he did not use force to prevent Indians and negroes, hostile to the United States, from entering Pensacola. The General, hearing that some hostile Indians had received provisions in Pensacola, and had escaped across the bay, disregarded the remonstrance of the Spanish governor, and determined to take the town. His obligations to the United States compelled him to do so. Spain was expressly obliged, by treaty, to restrain, by force, the Indians within her territory from committing hostilities against the United States. The Spanish officers commanding in Florida did not restrain the Indians from war, but aided and abetted them in it ; it then became the duty of Spain to have displaced and superseded those officers, and to have confided to others the command of Florida, who would have preserved the neutral character of that territory. Spain did not displace or supersede them. In order, therefore, to prevent the per- petration of future atrocities by Indians, negroes, and foreign emissaries and impostors, it became necessary to occupy St. Mark's, Pensacola and the Barrancas, with de- tachments of troops from the United States, who would defend these fortresses, not from the lawful authority of Spain, but from unlawful seizure and occupation by enemies of the United States, consisting of Indians, negroes, and the villains from other countries, who were stimulating these savages to every species of barbarous warfare on our exposed frontier." On the 24th, General Jackson, at the head of twelve hundred men, in the language of President McKinley, in his first annual message, regarding Spanish insults in Cuba, JACKSON AND THE SPANIARDS IN FLORIDA. 195 " intervened with force " to remove the Spaniards from Florida. Jackson advanced against Pensacola, captured the town, besieged and took the fortress of Barrancas, at the entrance, to the bay, sent the Spanish authorities to Havana, and the government of the United States extended her authority over the captured posts, until they should be restored by proper representation to Spain. General Jackson then scoured the whole territory in search of the fugitives, and having made every necessary arrangement for the security of the settlers, discharged his Tennessee volunteers, left General Gaines in command, and refurned to the Hermitage near Nashville. Three months afterwards, St. Augustine, the only remaining Spanish fortress in Florida, was captured by General Gaines, in obedience to General Jackson's orders, and the whole province was thus brought into the military pos- session of the United States. It was decided that the Spanish posts taken by Jackson should be restored and Jackson was threatened mildly with a court martial, for his impetuous executive ability. In a letter to the Secretary of War, June 2, 1818, Jackson said : " The Seminole war may now be considered at a close ; tranquillity is again restored to the southern frontier of the United States, and as long as a cordon of military posts is maintained along the Gulf of Mexico, America has nothing to apprehend from either foreign or Indian hostilities. The immutable principles of self defence justified the occu- pancy of the Floridas, and the same principles will warrant the American government in holding it, until such time as Spain can guaranty, by an adequate military force, the maintaining of her authority within the colony." Jackson returned to Nashville and resigned his com- mission in the army. The Spaniards in Florida never re- 196 JACKSON AND THE SPANIARDS IN FLORIDA. covered from the shock he gave them, and they did not feel that the honor of their arms demanded they should expend their resources in men and money to retain that peninsula. It would have been well if their practical wis- dom had asserted itself in the case of Cuba. The Seminole and Spanish campaign of Jackson, three years after his victory at New Orleans, was a fitting appendix to the tri- umphant defence of the mouth of the Mississippi river. The war, though not one of the big wars that make am- bition virtue, is worthy to be celebrated as one of the strokes of enterprising daring and good fortune, that have rounded out our country, tracing her boundaries by the great lakes and the Gulf that is the American Mediter- ranean, and along the surf of the two great oceans of the Globe pulsating on our shores. CHAPTER XII. OUR RELATIONS WITH OTHER NATIONS. Clay and Webster on Presidential Power and the Right of Free Speech and Humane Sympathy with Liberty at Home and Abroad — Henry Clay on the Power or the President and the Duties of a Nation to Humanity — Henry Clay's Flaming Denunciations of the Turks for Carrying on War against the Greeks — The most Atrocious and Brutal War that ever Stained Earth or Shocked High Heaven— Daniel Webster Accused of being a Revolutionist — This for some Civil Words to Kossuth — How the Great Constitutional Lawyer and Conservative Statesman Answered the Charge — The Famous Hulsemann Letters — Laying Down the Great American Principles of our Relations with Other Nations and the Cause of Liberty. In 1824 Daniel Webster offered the following resolution in the House of Representatives : Resolved, That provision ought to be made by law for defraying the expense incident to the appointment of an agent or commissioner to Greece, whenever the President shall deem it expedient to make such appointment. Henry Clay, on the 20th of January, 1824, said in regard to Mr. Webster's resolution : " Mr. C hairman : Is it not extraordinary that for these two successive years the President of the United States should have been freely indulged, not only without censure, but with universal applause, to express the feelings which both the resolution and the amendment proclaim, and yet, if this House venture to unite with him, the most awful consequences are to ensue. Everywhere the interest in the Grecian cause is felt with the deepest intensity, expressed in every form, and increases with every new day and passing hour, and are the representatives of the people alone to be insulated from the common moral atmosphere of the whole land ? "This measure has been most unreasonably magnified. Gentlemen speak of the watchful jealousy of the Turk and seem to think the slightest move- ment of this body will be matter of serious speculation at Constantinople. The Turk will, in all probability, never hear of the names of the gentlemen who either espouse or uphold the resolution. It certainly is not without value, and that value is not altogether without a moral. 197 198 OUR RELATIONS WITH OTHER NATIONS. " There is reason to apprehend that a tremendous storm is ready to burst upon our happy country, one which will call into action all our vigor, courage and resources. Is it wise or prudent in preparing for the storm, if it must come_ to talk to this nation of its incompetency to repel the European invasion, to lower its spirit, to weaken its moral energy, and to qualify it for easy con- quest and base submission? If there be any reality in the dangers which are supposed to encompass us should we not animate the people and adjure them to believe, as I do, that our resources are ample and that we can bring into the field a million of freemen ready to exhaust their last drop of blood, and to spend their last cent in the defense of the country, its liberty and its institutions ? Sir, are we, if united, to be conquered by all Europe combined ? All the perils to which we could possibly be exposed are much less in reality than the imagina- tion is disposed to paint them. They are best averted by an habitual contem- plation of them, by reducing them to their true dimensions. If combined Europe is to precipitate itself upon us, we cannot too soon begin to invigorate our strength, to teach our heads to think, our hearts to conceive, and our arms to execute the high and noble deeds which belong to the character and glory of our country. " The experience of the world instructs us that conquests are already achieved, which are boldly and firmly resolved on, and that men only become slaves who have ceased to resolve to be free. We may content ourselves with studying the true character of our own people, and with knowing that the interests are confided to us of a nation capable of doing and suffering all things for liberty. Such a nation, if its rulers be faithful, must be invincible. Are we so humble, so low, so debased that we dare not express our sympathy for suffering Greece, that we dare not articulate our detestation of the brutal excesses of which she has been the bleeding victim, lest we might offend some one or more of their im- perial and royal majesties ? " If gentlemen are afraid to act rashly on such a subject, suppose, Mr, Chair- man, that we unite in an humble petition addressed to their majesties, beseech- ing them that of their gracious condescension they would allow us to express our feelings and our sympathies. How shall it run ? ' We, the representatives of the free people of the United States of America, humbly approach the thrones of your imperial and royal majesties and supplicate that of your imperial and royal clemency '—I cannot go through the disgusting recital. My lips have not yet learned to pronounce the sycophantic language of a degraded slave. "Are we so mean, so base, so despicable that we may not attempt to express our horror, utter our indignation at the most brutal and atrocious war that ever stained earth or shocked high Heaven ; at the ferocious deeds of a savage and infuriated soldiery stimulated and urged on by the clergy of a fanatical and inimical religion and rioting in all the excesses of blood and butchery, at the mere details of which the heart sickens and recoils ? If the great body of Christendom can look on calmly and coolly while all this is perpetuated on a SECRETARY PRUDEN CARRYING McKINLEY'S MESSAGE TO CONGRESS. OUR RELATIONS WITH OTHER NATIONS. 20I Christian people in its own immediate vicinity, in its very presence, let us at least evince that one of its remote extremities is susceptible of sensibility to Christian wrongs and capable of sympathy for Christian sufferings ; that in this remote quarter of the world, our hearts are not yet closed against compassion for human woes, that they pour out their indignant feehngs at the oppression of a people endeared to us by every ancient recollection and every modern tie, as her attempts have been made to alarm the committee by the dangers of our commerce in the Mediterranean, ah, sir, 'what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?' Or, what shall it avail a nation to save the whole of a miserable trade and lose its liberties ? " ■' It is not for Greece alone that I desire to see this measure adopted. It will give to her but httle support, and that purely of a moral kind. It is principally for America, for the credit and character of our common country, for our own unsullied name that I hope to see it pass. '' Go home, if you can ; go home, if you dare, to your constituents, and tell them that you voted it down. Meet, if you can, the appalling countenances of those who sent you here, and tell them that you shrank from the declaration of your own sentiments ; that you cannot tell how, but that some unknown dread, some indescribable danger, drove you from your purpose ; but that scimetars and crowns, and crescents, gleamed before you and alarmed you ; and that you suppressed all the noble feehngs prompted by religion, liberty, by national independence and by humanity ! '' Daniel Webster, Secretary of State In President Fill- more's term, laid down, in the language of diplomacy, the principle that any citizen of the United States, had the right to free speech, whether favorable or otherwise to a foreign government, and that under the flag of the United States all were protected. The Hungarian patriot, Kossuth, had been a sort of guest of the Nation, and was tendered many public honors. The Austrian Charge d'Affaires Chevalier Hulsemann objected particularly to the fact that the Secretary of State had publicly delivered an address in the presence of Kossuth, which he claimed was revolu- tionary and in which was held out encouragement to Hun- gary in her struggle for liberty. The Chevalier took it upon himself to complain to the President of the United States and also to write to the Secretary of State objecting to what he claimed was an international discourtesy, par- 202 OUR RELATIONS WITH OTHER NATIONS. ticularly the proposing of a test for the speedy emancipation of Hungary by the Secretary of State. The following letter addressed to Mr. McCurdy, the American Charge d'Affaires at Vienna, shows how Daniel Webster, in his personal capacity, handled the difficulty. The Secretary of State to Mr. McCurdy. Department of State, Washington, June 8, 1852. Sir : — I transmit a copy of a note of the 29th of April last, addressed to me by Chevalier Hulsemann, announcing his intention of returning to Austria. This note leached me in Baltimore, I being then bound on a visit to Massa- chusetts from which I have now lately returned. On receiving it I directed Mr. Hunter to return the answer, a copy of which is also herewith inclosed. It is obvious from the tenor of all his recent communications to this depart- ment, that the Chevalier Hulsemann's experience in the diplomatic service of his government has not instructed him accurately in the nature and limits of his official functions, and that, notwithstanding his long residence in this coun- try, he is quite uninformed as to the character of our institutions and the re- sponsibility of public men in the United States, for their acts and for their sentiments in a private capacity in regard to the foreign powers. The Chevalier Hulsemann came here in 1838 as Secretary of Legation, under the highly accomplished Baron de Mareschall, who was accredited as Envoy Extraordinary to his Imperial Majesty. Ever since the retirement of that gentleman he has acted as Charge d' Affaires, but, so far as we are aware without any regular commission from his government. It is certain that he has never been accredited to this department by the Austrian Minister for Foreign Affairs. The Chevalier Hulsemann, it appears, has yet to learn that no foreign government or its representative can take just offence at anything which an officer of this government may say in his private capacity. Official communications only are to be regarded as indicating the sentiments and views of the government of the United States. If these communications are friendly in their character, the foreign government has no right or reason to infer that there is any insincerity in them, or to point to other matters as showing the real sentiments of the government. You will see from Chevalier Hulsemann's note that he made an appeal to the President against what he calls newspaper improprieties, and unofficial remarks of the head of this de- partment. The President, actuated by a benevolent desire to preserve unim- paired the friendly relations between the two governments, waved ceremony, and unofficially listened to his remarks. In pursuing this course, however, he by no means intended to allow the Chevalier Hulsemann to suppose that he was not well aware of his official position. The Chevalier Hulsemann should know that a Charge d' Affaire, whether regularly commissioned or acting as OUR RELATIONS WITH OTHER NATIONS. 203 such without commission, can hold official intercourse only with the Depart- ment of State. He has no right even to converse with the President on matters of business, and may consider it as a liberal courtesy that he is presented to him at all. I take it for granted that if you should imagine the Austrian Min- ister for Foreign Affairs had offended you, you would lay claim to the right to ap- peal to the Emperor. Although usually we are not rigid in these matters, yet a marked disregard of ordinary forms implies disrespect to the goverment itself. I shall not, of course, notice the specific subject of complaint of Chevalier Hulsemann. Whatever is personal to him must be allowed to pass without observation. You are at liberty to read this dispatch to the Austrian Minister for ForeignA ffairs. i am, Sir, respectfully, your obedient servant. To C. H, McCuRDY, etc., Vienna. Daniel Webster. Chevalier Hulsemann was immortalized by Mr. Webster's great paper addressed to him defining the atutude of the United States toward all other nations on questions of popular freedom and personal liberty. The case in hand was that of Austria and Hungary, but the principles abide and have not only permanent interest and authority, but application to all nations. This is the higher law of our foreign relations. The Secretary of State to Mr. Hulsemann. Department of State, Washington, Dec. 21, 1850. The undersigned. Secretary of State of the United States, had the honor to receive, some time ago, the note of Mr. Hulsemann, Charg6 d'AfFaires of his Majesty, the Emperor of Austria, of the 30th of September. Causes, not arising from any want of personal regard for Mr. Hulsemann, or of proper respect for his government, have delayed an answer until the present moment. Having submitted Mr. Hulsemann's letter to the President, the undersigned is now directed by him to return the following reply. The object of Mr. Hulsemann's note are, first, to protest, by order of his government, against the steps taken by the late President of the United States to ascertain the progress and probable result of the revolutionary movements in Hungary ; and, secondly, to complain of some expressions in the instruc- tions of the late Secretary of State to Mr. A. Dudley Mann, a confidential agent of the United States, as communicated by President Taylor to the Senate on the 28th of March last. The principal ground of protest is founded on the idea, or in the allegation, that the government of the United States, by the mission of Mr. Mann and his instructions, has interfered in the domest c affairs of Austria in a manner unjust or disrespectful toward that power. The President's message was a 204 OUR RELATIONS WITH OTHER NATIONS. communication made by him to the Senate, transmitting a correspondence between the executive government and a confidential agent of its own. This would seem to be itself a domestic transaction, a mere instance of intercourse between the President and the Senate, in the manner which is usual and indis- pensable in communications between the different branches of the government. It was not addressed either to Austria or Hungary; nor was it a public mani- festo, to which any foreign state was called on to reply. It was an account of its transactions communicated by the executive government to the Senate, at tlie request of that body ; made public, indeed, but made public only because such is the common and usual course of proceeding. It may be regarded as somewhat strange, therefore, that the Austrian Cabinet did not perceive that, by the instructions given to Mr. Hulsemann, it was itself interfering with the domestic concerns of a foreign state, the very thing which is the ground of its complaint against the United States. This department has, on former occasions, informed the ministers of foreign powers, that a communication from the President to either house of Congress is regarded as a domestic communication, of which, ordinarily, no foreign state has cognizance ; and in more recent instances, the great inconvenience of making such communications the subject of diplomatic correspondence and discussion has been fully shown. If it had been the pleasure of his Majesty, the Emperor of Austria, during the struggles in Hungary, to have admonished the provisional government or the people of that country against involving themselves in disaster, by following the evil and dangerous example of the United States of America in making efforts for the establishment of independent governments, such an admonition from that sovereign to his Hungarian subjects would not have originated here a diplomatic correspondence. The President might, perhaps, on this ground, have declined to direct any particular reply to Mr. Hulsemann's note; but, out of proper respect for the Austrian govern- ment, it has been thought better to answer that note at length ; and the more especially, as the occasion is not unfavorable for the expression of the general sentiments of the government of the United Slates upon the topics which that note discusses. A leading subject in Mr. Hulsemann's note is that of the correspondence between Mr. Hulsemann and the predecessor of the undersigned, in which Mr. Clayton, by direction of the President, informed Mr. Hulsemann " that Mr. Mann's mission had no other object in view than to obtain reliable information as to the true state of affairs in Hungary, by personal observation." Mr. Hulsemann remarks, that "this explanation can hardly be admitted, for it says very little as to the cause of the anxiety which was felt to ascertain the chances of the revolutionists." As this, however, is the only purpose which can, with any appearance of truth, be attributed to the agency ; as nothing whatever is alleged by Mr. Hulsemann to have been either done or said by the agent incon-- sistent with such an object, the undersigned conceives that Mr. Clayton's explanation ought to be deemed, not only admissible, but quite satisfactory. Mr. Hulsemann states, in the course of his note, that his instructions to address his present communication to Mr. Clayton reached Washington about OUR RELATIONS WITH OTHER NATIONS. 205 the time of the lamented death of the late President, and that he delayed from a sense of propriety the execution of his task until the new administration should be fully organized ; " a delay which he now rejoices at, as it has given him the opportunity of ascertaining from the new President himself, on the occasion of the reception of the diplomatic corps, that the fundamental policy of the United States, so frequently proclaimed, would guide the relations of the American government with other powers." Mr. Hulsemann also observes that it is in his power to assure the undersigned "that the Imperial government is disposed to cultivate relations of friendship and good understanding with the United States." The President receives this assurance of the disposition of the Imperial gov- ernment with great satisfaction ; and, in consideration of the friendly relations of the two governments thus mutually recognized, and of the peculiar nature of the incidents by which their good understanding is supposed by Mr. Hulse- mann to have been for a moment disturbed or endangered, the President regrets that Mr. Hulsemann did not feel himself at liberty wholly to forbear from the execution of instructions, which were of course transmitted from Vienna without any foresight of the state of things under which they would reach Washington. If Mr. Hulsemann saw, in the address of the President to the diplomatic corps, satisfactory pledges of the sentiments and policy of this government in regard to neutral rights and neutral duties, it might, perhaps have been better not to bring on a discussion of past transactions. But the undersigned readily admits that this was a question fit only for the consideration and decision of Mr. Hulsemann himself; and although the President does not see that any good purpose can be answered by reopening the inquiry into the propriety of the steps taken by President Taylor to ascertain the probable issue of the late civil war in Hungary, justice to his memory requires the undersigned briefly to restate the history of those steps, and to show their consistency with the neutral policy which has invariably guided the government of the United States in its foreign relations, as well as with the established and well-settled principles of national intercourse, and the doctrines of public law. The undersigned will first observe, that the President is persuaded, his Majesty, the Emperor of Austria, does not think that the government of the United States ought to view with unconcern the extraordinary events which have occurred, not only in his dominions, but in many other parts of Europe, since February, 1848. The government and people of the United States, like other intelligent governments and communities, take a lively interest in the movements and events of this remarkable age, in whatever part of the world they may be exhibited. But the interest taken by the United Stales in those events has not proceeded from any disposition to depart from that neutrality toward foreign powers, which is among the deepest principles and the most cherished traditions of the political history of the Union. It has been the neces- sary effect of the unexampled character of the events themselves, which could not fail to arrest the attention of the contemporary world, as they will doubtless fill a memorable page in history. But the undersigned goes further, and freely admits that, in proportion as 2o6 OUR RELATIONS WITH OTHER NATIONS. these extraordinary events appeared to have their origin in those great ideas of responsible and popular government, on which the American constitutions themselves are wholly founded, they could not but command the warm sympathy of the people of this country. Well-known circumstances in their history, indeed their whole history, have made them the representatives of purely popular principles of government. In this light they now stand before the world. They could not, if they would, conceal their character, their condition, or their destiny. They could not, if they so desired, shut out from the view of mankind the causes which have placed them, in so short a national career, in the station which they now hold among the civilized states of the world. They could not, if they desired it, suppress the thoughts or the hopes which arise in men's minds, in other countries, from contemplating their successful example of free government. That very intelligent and distinguished personage, the Emperor Joseph the Second, was among the first to discern this necessary con- sequence of the American Revolution on the sentiments and opinions of the people of Europe. In a letter to his minister in the Neitherlands in 1787, he observes, that '* it is remarkable that France, by the assistance which she afforded to the Americans, gave birth to reflections on freedom." This fact, which the sagacity of that monarch perceived at so early a day, is now known and admitted by intelligent powers all over the world. True, indeed, it is, that the prevalence on the other continent of sentiments favorable to republican liberty is the result of the reaction of America upon Europe ; and the source and center of this reaction has doubtless been, and now is, in these United States. The position thus belonging to the United States is a fact as inseparable from their history, their constitutional organization, and their character, as the oppo- site position of the powers composing the European alliance is from the history and constitutional organization of the government of those powers. The sovereigns who form that alliance have not infrecjuently felt it their right to interfere with the political movements of foreign states ; and have, in their manifestoes and declarations, denounced the popular idea of the age in terms so comprehensive as of necessity to include the United States, and their forms of government. It is well known that one of the leading principles announced by the allied sovereigns, after the restoration of the Bourbons, is, that all popular or constitutional rights are holden not otherwise than as grants and indul- gences from crowned heads. ' ' Useful and necessary changes in legislation and administration," says the Laybach Circular of May, 1821, "ought only to emanate from the free will and intelligent conviction of those whom God has rendered responsible for power; all that deviates from this line necessarily leads to disorder, commotions, and evils far more insufferaljle than those which they pretend to remedy." And his late Austrian Majesty, Francis the First, is reported to have declared, in an address to the Hungarian Diet, in 1820, that "the whole world had become foolish, and, leaving their ancient laws, were in search of imaginary constitutions." These declarations amount to nothing less than a denial of the lawfulness of the origin of the government of the United States, since it is certain that that government was established in consequence of a change which did not proceed from thrones, or the permission of crowned OUR RELATIONS WITH OTHER NATIONS. 207 heads. But the government of the United States heard these denunciations of its fundamental principles without remonstrance, or the disturbance of its equanimity. This was thirty years ago. The power of this republic, at the present moment, is spread over a region, one of the richest and most fertile on the globe, and of an extent in comparison with which the possessions of the house of Hapsburg are but as a patch on the earth's surface. Its population, already twenty- five millions, will exceed that of the Austrian empire within the period during which it may be hoped Mr. Hulse- mann may yet remain in the honorable discharge of his duties to his govern- ment. Its navigation and commerce are hardly exceeded by the oldest and most conunercial nations ; its maritime means and its maritime power may be seen by Austria herself, in all seas where she has ports, as well as they may be seen, also, in all other quarters of the globe. Life, liberty, property, and all personal rights, are amply secured to all citizens, and protected by just and stable laws ; and credit, public and private, is as well established as in any government of Continental Europe; and the country, in all its interests and concerns, partakes most largely in all the improvements and progress which distinguish the age. Certainly, the United States may be pardoned, even by those who profess adherence to the principles of absolute government, if they entertain an ardent afTection for those popular forms of political organization which have so rapidly advanced their own prosperity and happiness, and enabled them, in so short a period, to bring their country, and hemisphere to which it belongs, to the notice and respectful regard, not to say the admiration, of the civilized world. Nevertheless, the United States have abstained, at all times, from acts of interference with the political changes of Europe. They cannot, however, fail to cherish always a hvely interest in the fortunes ot nations struggling for institutions like their own. But this sympathy, so far from being necessarily a hostile feeling toward any of the parties to these national struggles, is quite consistent with amicable relations with them all- The Hungarian people are three or four times as numerous as the inhabitants of these United States were when the American Revolution broke out. They possess, in a distinct language, and in other respects, important elements of a separate nationality; which the Anglo Saxon race in this country did not possess ; and if the United States wish success to countries contending for popular constitutions and national independence, it is only because they regard such constitutions and such national independence, not as imaginary, but as real blessings. They claim no right, however, to take part in the struggles of foreign powers in order to promote these ends. It is only in defense of his own government, its principles and character, that the undersigned has now expressed himself on this subject. But when the people of the United States behold the people of foreign countries, without any such interference, spontane- ously moving toward the adoption of institutions like tlieir own, it surely cannot be expected of them to remain wholly indifferent spectators. In regard to the recent very important occurrences in tlie Austrian empire, tlie undersigned freely admits the difficulty which exists in this country, and is alluded to by Mr. Hulsemann, of obtaining accurate information. But this dif- 2o8 OUR RELATIONS WITH OTHER NATIONS. ficulty is by no means to be ascribed to what Mr. Hulsemann calls, with little justice, as it seems to the undersigned, '' the mendacious rumors propagated by the American press." For information on this subject, and others of the same kind, the American press is, of necessity, almost wholly dependent upon that of Europe ; and if " mendacious rumors " respecting Austrian and Hungarian affairs have been anywhere propagated, that propagation of falsehoods has been most prolific on the European continent, and in countries immediately bordering on the Austrian empire. But, wherever these errors may have origi- nated, they certainly justified the late President in seeking true information through authentic channels. His attention was first particularly drawn to the state of things in Hungary by the correspondence of Mr. Stiles, Charg^ d'AfFaires of the United States at Vienna. In the autumn of 1848 an application was made to this gentleman, on behalf of Mr. Kossuth, formerly Minister of Finance for the Ivingdom of Hun- gary by Imperial appointment, but, at the time the application was made, chief of the revolutionary government. The object of this application was to obtain the good offices of Mr Stiles with the Imperial government, with a view to the suspension of hostilities. This application became the subject of a conference between Prince Schwarzenberg, the Imperial Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Mr. Stiles. The prince commended the considerateness and proi)riety with which Mr. Stiles had acted ; and, so far from disapproving his interference, advised him in case he received a further communication from the revolution- ary government in Hungary, to have an interview with Prince Windischgriitz, who was charged by the Emperor with the proceedings determined on in rela- tion to that kingdom. A week after these occurrences, Mr. Stiles received, through a secret channel, a communication signed by L. Kossuth, President of the Committee of Defence, and countersigned by Francis Puslzky, Secretary of State. On the receipt of this communication, Mr. Stiles had an interview with Prince Windischgratz, " who received him with the utmost kindness, and thanked him for his efforts towards reconciling the existing difficulties." Such were the incidents which first drew- the attention of the government of the United States particularly to the affiiirs of Hungary, and the conduct of Mr. Stiles, though acting without instructions in a matter of much delicacy, having been viewed with satisfaction by the Imperial government, was approved by that of the United States. In the course of the year 1848, and in the early part of 1849, ^ considerable number of Hungarians came to the United States. Among tliem were individ- uals representing themselves to be in the confidence of the revolutionary gov- ernment, and by these persons the President was strongly urged to recognize the existence of that government. In these applications, and in the manner in which they were viewed by the President, there was nothing unusual ; still less was there anything unauthorized by the law of nations. It is the right of every independent state to enter into friendly relations with every other independent state. Of course, questions of prudence naturally arise in reference to new states, brought by successful revolutions into the family ofnations ; but it is not to be required of neutral powers that they should await the recognition of the OUR RELATIONS WITH OTHER NATIONS. 209 new government by the parent state. No principle of public law has been more frequently acted upon, within the last thirty years, by the great powers of the world, than this. Within that period, eight or ten new states have established independent governments, within the limits of the colonial dominions of Spain, on this continent ; and in Europe the same thing has been done by Belgium and Greece. The existence of all these governments was recognized by some of the leading powers of Europe, as well as by the United States, before it was acknowledged by the states from which they had separated themselves. If, therefore, the United States had gone so far as formally to acknowledge the independence of Hungary, although, as the result has proved, it would have been a precipitate step, and one from which no benefit would have resulted to either party ; it would not, nevertheless, have been an act against the law of nations, provided they took no part in her contest with Austria. But the United States did no such thing. Not only did they not yield to Hungary any actual countenance or succor, not only did they not show their ships of war in the Adriatic with any menacing or hostile aspect, but they studiously abstained from every thing which had not been done in other cases in times past, and contented themselves with instituting an inquiry into the truth and reality of alleged political occurrences. Mr. Hulsemann incorrectly states, unintention- ally certainly, the nature of the mission of this, agent, when he says that "a United States agent had been despatched to Vienna with orders to watch for a favorable moment to recognize the Hungarian republic, and to conclude a treaty of commerce with the same." This, indeed, would have been a lawful object, but Mr. Mann's errand was, in the first instance, purely one of inquiry. He had no power to act, unless he had at first come to the conviction that a firm and stable Hungarian government existed. "The principal object the President has in view," according to his instructions, "is to obtain miimte and reliable information in regard to Hungary, in connection with the affairs of adjoining countries, the probable issue of the present revolutionary movements, and the chances we may have of forming commercial arrangements with that power favorable to the United States." Again, in the same pppar, it is said : "The object of the President is to obtain information in regard to Hungary, and her resources and prospects, with a view to an early recognition of her independence and the formation of commercial relations with her." It was only in the event that the new government should appear, in the opinion of the agent, to be firm and stable, that the President proposed to recommend its recognition. Mr. Hulsemann, in qualifying these steps of President Taylor with the epithet of "hostile," seems to take for granted that the inquiry could, in the expecta- tion of the President, have but one result, and that favorable to Hungary. If this were so, it would not change the case. But the American government sought for nothing but truth ; it desired to learn the facts through a reliable channel. It so happened, in the chances and vicissitudes of human affairs, that the result was adverse to the Hungarian revolution. The American agent, as was stated in his instructions to be not unlikely, found the condition of Hun- garian affairs less prosperous than it had been, or had been believed to be. He 210 OUR RELATIONS WITH OTHER NATIONS. did not enter Hungary, nor hold any direct communication with her revolution- ary leaders. He reported against the recognition of her independence, because he found she had been unable to set up a firm and stable government. He carefully forebore, as his instructions required, to give publicity to his mission, and the undersigned supposes that the Austrian government first learned its existence from the communications of the President to the Senate. Mr. Hulsemann will observe from this statement, that Mr. Mann's mission was wholly unobjectionable, and strictly within the rule of the law of nations and the duty of the United States as a neutral power. He will accordingly feel how little foundation there is for his remark, that "those who did not hesitate to assume the responsibility of sending Mr. Dudley Mann on such an errand, siiould, independent of considerations of propriety, have borne in mind that they were exposing their emissary to be treated as a spy." A spy is a person sent by one belligerent to gain information of the forces and defences of the other, to be used for hostile purposes. According to practice, he may use deception, under the penalty of being lawfully hanged if detected. To give this odious name and character to a confidential agent of a neutral power, bear- ing the commission of his country, and sent for a purpose fully warranted by the law of nations, is not only to abuse language, but also to confound all just ideas, and to announce the wildest and most extravagant notions, such as cer- tainly were not to have been expected in a grave diplomatic paper ; and the President directs the undersigned to say to Mr. Hulsemann, that the American government would regard such an imputation upon it by tiie Cabinet of Austria as that it employs spies, and that in a quarrel none of its own, as distinctly offensive, if it did not presume, as it is willing to presume, that the word used in the original German was not of equivalent meaning with " spy " in the Eng- glish language, or that in some other way the employment of such an opprobri- ous term may be explained. Had the Imperial government of Austria subjected Mr. Mann to tiie treatment of a spy, it would have placed itself without the pale of civilized nations ; and the Cabinet of Vienna may be assured, that if it had carried, or attempted to carry, any such lawless purpose into effect, in the case of an authorized agent of this government, the spirit of the people of this country would have demanded immediate hostilities to be waged by the utmost power of the republic, military and naval. Mr. Hulsemann proceeds to remarks that " this extremely painful incident, therefore, might have been passed over, without any written evidence being left on our part in the archives of the United States, had not General Taylor thought proper to revive the whole subject by communicating to the Senate, in his message of the i8th (28th) of last March, tlie instructions with which Mr. Mann had been furnished on the occasion of his mission to Vienna. Tiie publicity which has been given to that document has placed the Imperial government under the necessity of entering a formal protest, through its official representative, against the proceedings of the American government, lest thai government should construe our silence into approbation^ or toleration even, of the principles which appear to have guided its action and the means it has adopted." The undersigned re-asserts to Mr. Hulsemann, and to the Cabinet OUR RELATIONS WITH OTHER NATIONS. 21 1 of Vienna, and in the presence of the world, that the steps taken by President Taylor, now protested against by the Austrian government, were warranted by the law of nations and agreeable to the usages of civilized states. With respect to the communication of Mr. Mann's instructions to the Senate, and the language in which they are couched, it has already been said, and Mr. Hulse- mann must feel the justice of the remark, that these are domestic affairs, in reference to which the government of the United States cannot admit the slightest responsibility to the government of his Imperial majesty. No state, deserving the appellation of independent, can permit the language in whicli it may instruct its own officers in the discharge of their duties to itself to be called in question under any pretext by a foreign power. But even if this were not so, Mr. Hulsemann is in an error in stating that the Austrian government is called an "iron rule" in Mr. Mann's instructions. That phrase is not found in the paper; and in respect to the honorary epithet bestowed in Mr. Mann's instructions on the late chief of the revolutionary government of Hungary, Mr. Hulsemann will bear in mind that the govern- ment of the United States cannot justly be expected, in a confidential commu- nication to its own agent, to withhold from an individual an epithet of distinction of which a great part of the world thinks him worthy, merely on the ground that his own government regards him as a rebel. At an early stage of the American Revolution, while Washington was considered by tiie English govern- ment as a rebel chief, he was regarded on the continent of Europe as an illustrious hero. But the undersigned will take the liberty of bringing the Cabinet of Vienna into the presence of its own predecessors, and of citing for its consideration the conduct of the Imperial government itself. In the year 1777 the war of the American Revolution was raging all over these United States. England was prosecuting that war with a most resolute determination, and by the exertion of all her military means to the fullest extent. Germany was at that time at peace with England ; and yet an agent of that Congress, which was looked upon by England in no other liglit than that of a body in open rebellion, was not only received with great respect by the ambassador of the Empress Queen at Paris, and by the minister of the Grand Duke of Tuscany (who afterwards mounted the imperial throne), but resided in Vienna for a considerable time; not, indeed, officially acknowledged, but treated with courtesy and respect; and the Emperor suffered himself to be persuaded by that agent to exert himself to prevent the German powers from furnishing troops to England to enable her to suppress the rebellion in America. Neitlier Mr. Hulsemann nor the Cabinet of Vienna, it is presumed, will undertake to say that anything that was said or done by this government in regard to the recent war between Austria and Hungary is not borne out, and much more than borne out, by this example of the Imperial Court. It is believed that Emperor Joseph the Second habitually spoke in terms of respect and admiration of the character of Washington, as he is known to have done of that of Franklin ; and he deemed it no infraction of neutrality to inform himself of the progress of the revolu- tionary struggle in America, or to express his deep sense of the merits and the talents of those illustrious men who were then leading their country to inde- 212 OUR RELATIONS WITH OTHER NATIONS. pendence and renown. The undersigned may add that in 1781 the courts of Russia and Austria proposed a diplomatic congress of the belhgerent powers, to which the commissioners of the United States should be admitted. Mr. Hulsemann thinks that in Mr. Mann's instructions improper expressions are introduced in regard to Russia; but the undersigned lias no reason to suppose that Russia herself is of that opinion. The only obervation made in those instructions about Russia is, that she " has chosen to assume an attitude of interference, and her immense preparations for invading and reducing the Hungarians to the rule of Austria, from which they desire to be released, gave so serious a character to the contest as to awaken the most painful solicitude in the minds of Americans." The undersigned cannot but consider the Austrian Cabinet as unnecessarily susceptible in looking upon language like this as a "hostile demonstration." If we remember that it was addressed by the government to its own agent, and has received publicity only through a com- munication of one department of the American government to another, the language quoted must be deemed moderate and inoffensive. The comity of nations would hardly forbid its being addressed to the two imperial powers themselves. It is scarcely necessary for the undersigned to say, that the relations of the United States with Russia have always been of the most friendly kind, and have never been deemed by either party to require any compromise of their peculiar views upon subjects of domestic or foreign polity, or the true origin of governments. At any rate, the fact that Austria, in lier contest with Hungary, had an intimate and faithful ally in Russia, cannot alter the real nature of the question between Austria and Hungary, nor in any way affect the neutral rights and duties of the government of the United States, or the justi- fiable sympathies of the American people. It is, indeed, easy to conceive, that favor toward struggling Hungary would not be diminished, but increased, when it was seen that the arm of Austria was strengthened and upheld by a power whose assistance threatened to be, and which in the end proved to be, overwhelmingly destructive of all her hopes. Toward the conclusion of his notes Mr. Hulsemann remarks, that " if the government of the United States were to think it proper to take an indirect part in the political movements of Europe, American policy would be exposed to acts of retaliation, and to certain inconveniences which would not fail to affect the commerce and industry of the two hemispheres." As to this possible fortune, this hypothetical retaliation, the government and people of the United States are quite willing to take their chances and abide their destiny. Taking neither a direct nor an indirect part in the domestic or intestine movements of Europe, they have no fear of events of the nature alluded to by Mr. Hulsemann. It would be idle now to discuss with Mr. Hulsemann those acts of retaliation which he imagines may possibly take place at some indefinite time hereafter. Tliose questions will be discussed when they arise ; and Mr. Hulsemann and the Cabinet at Vienna may rest assured, that, in the mean time, while perform- ing with strict and exact fidelity all their neutral duties, nothing will deter either the government or the people of the United States from exercising, at their own discretion, the rights belonging to them as an independent nation, and of forming OUR RELATIONS WITH OTHER NATIONS. 213 and expressing their own opinions, freely, and at all times, upon the great political events which may transpire among the civilized nations of the earth. Their own institutions stand upon the broadest principles of civil liberty ; and believing those principles and the fundamental laws in which they are embodied to be eminently favorable to the prosperity of states, to be, in fact, the only principles of government which meet the demands of the present enlightened age, the President has perceived, with great satisfaction, that, in the constitution recently introduced into the Austrian empire, many of these great principles are recognized and applied, and he cherishes a sincere wish that they may produce the same happy effects throughout his Austrian Majesty's extensive dominions that they have done in the United States. The undersigned has the honor to repeat to Mr. Hulsemann the assurance of his high consideration. Daniel Webster. The Chevalier J. G. Hulsemann, Charge d' Affaires of Austria, Washington. CHAPTER XIII, Mexico's wars of independence. The Imperial Tragedies in Mexican History — The Philosophy of Rebellion against Spain, and the Dominant Nature of Spaniards and Hatred of Native Americans — The Interference of Napoleon in Spain, and the Conflict of Jurisdiction of Juntas, and How the Republic of Mexico Emerged from Chaos. There is in Nile's " History of Mexico," a passage regard- ing the final expulsion of the Spanish flag from Mexico, that is remarkable. It follows the account of the execution of Iturbide, and finds a striking parallel in a recent situation. Mexico, as well as the other independent States, at one period felt some apprehension that the allied powers in Europe, which interfered in the internal concerns of Spain, would extend their kind offices to her possessions on this side of the Atlantic ; but the disposition manifested by Great Britain has removed such apprehensions, as her min- isters have declared that England would not agree to any cession Spain might make of the States which were de facto released from her dominion. The tragedy of Iturbide is told in the terms following : A conspiracy in the Mexican capital was discovered, and twenty persons implicated were arrested, among whom were several general officers, a number of colonels, and some citizens of distinction. The papers of the conspira- tors were headed, " God, Independence and the Hero of Iguala ; " it is said that a woman acted as secretary. The criminals were brought to trial before a council of war and two of them sentenced to death, and the rest to perpetual 214 MEXICO'S U^ARS OF INDEPENDENCE. 215 banishment. After this premature explosion of the con- spiracy, the infatuated Iturbide landed at Soto la Marina in disguise, on the 14th of July, 1824. He came in an Eng- lish brig with Charles de Beneski, a foreigner, who pre- tended that his object was to treat with the Mexican gov- ernment concerning a plan of colonization, and that he had powers for that purpose from three Irish capitalists of Lon- don. Beneski presented himself to General Garza, military commandant, who inquired concerning Iturbide, and was informed by Beneski, that he left him at London, residing quiedy with his family. Iturbide, being disguised, passed himself as the companion of Beneski, who was permitted to go into the country, and thus attempted to advance into the interior. On the i6th, General Garza was informed by an officer who commanded a detachment of troops, that he had seen Beneski, with another person in disguise, proceed- ing into the interior, which excited his suspicion. General Garza at once went in pursuit with some troops and over- taking them at Arrogas, he immediately recognized in the disguised person, Don Augusdn Iturbide, arrested him and conveyed him under a strong guard to Soto la Marina. General Garza communicated the arrest of Iturbide to the provincial congress of the State of Tamaulipas, then in ses- sion at Padilla, which resolved that the decree of the gen- eral congress of the 28th of April, 1824, be carried into immediate effect, and ordered the minister of state to cause Iturbide to be executed without delay. Accordingly, he was shot in the town of Padilla. Thus terminated the career of Don Augustin Iturbide, the first, and it is hoped, the last usurper of sovereign power in America. This event relieved the republic of one source of apprehen- sion, and one cause of the vacillation of public opinion ; by annihiladng forever the hopes and designs of the pardsans 2i6 MEXICO'S WARS OF INDEPENDENCE. of a military usurper. It tended to concentrate public opinion in favor of the political system which had been adopted, and to give stability and energy to the government. Since this period public tranquillity has not been dis- turbed in Mexico by civil commotions ; the government has been administered with success, and has enjoyed the increasing confidence of all classes of the population. The Spaniards still retained possession of the strong fortress of St. Juan de Uloa, which, commanding the en- trance into the port of Vera Cruz, greatly deranged the Mexican commerce, by exactions from all vessels entering the harbor. This was the more vexatious, in consequence of there being no seaport to which the trade of Vera Cruz could be transferred. The annoyance which the castle oc- casioned to the commerce of the country, united with the desire to reduce the last stronghold of Spanish power in Mexico, rendered the government and the nation anxious to accelerate an event which it was evident could not long be delayed. The superiority of the Mexican navy to that of the Spanish prevented the governor of the castle, Cop- pinger, from receiving any reinforcements, or even supplies from abroad, whilst the garrison continually wasted away by disease and hardships, till they at last became reduced to a handful of men. Still the governor obstinately re- fused to capitulate. At length, however, the time arrived when he could hold out no longer, and accordingly, on the 1 8th of November, 1821, the castle surrendered, to the great joy of all Vera Cruz and Mexico. The garrison, (except the sick who were conveyed to Vera Cruz) were, with the governor, sent to Havana. Mexico has probably received less aid from foreigners than most of the other new republics ; some enterprises have been undertaken from the United States against the f.n MEXICO'S WARS OF INDEPENDENCE. 219 Texas country, but these have had no influence on the great contest, and some individuals from the United States and the British isles have engaged in the Mexican service ; but she has had no foreign succor of any importance ; the Mexican patriots have maintained the long and sanguinary struggle alone, without allies and without assistance, and by their own valor and perseverance, have overcome both foreign and domestic tyranny. The patriots of Mexico, as well as those of other parts of America, formerly Spanish, made an early attempt to se- cure the countenance, if not the assistance, of the United States. In 181 1, Don B. Gutierrez was sent by the patriots of Mexico as their agent or commissioner to Washington, where he condnued until nearly the close of the following year, at which dme he joined Toledo in an expedition ao-ainst the eastern internal provinces. In 181 6 the Mexi- can Conp-ress sent Don Herrera to the United States. But these missions were productive of no other advantage than the promotion, in the breasts of our cidzens of feelings of friendship and sympathy for a people who were strug- gling for the same rights, the attainment of which a few years since had cost the United States so much blood and treasure. Yet for our government to have assisted the Spanish colonies would have been violating the fundamental principles of the Constitution, and the genius of our foreign policy. Hence it was that Congress, in 181 7, passed an act for the more effectually preserving the neutrality of the United States, which authorized the President to prevent the sale of vessels of war by the cidzens of the United States to the subjects of any foreign power, and prohibited the exportation of arms or ammunition, except bonds were given as security against their being conveyed to either of the belligerent parUes. In pursuance of this policy, an 13 220 MEXICO'S WARS OF INDEPENDENCE. expedition, which was preparing at New Orleans in 1815, and destined against the north-eastern provinces of Mexico, was stopped by a proclamation of the President. Near the close of the year 18 18, the President appointed commissioners to visit some of the South American States, which claimed to be independent, and in 1822 Congress formally acknowledged the independence of Mexico and the other republics of the South. The tribute to Mexico for her self-sustaining power in winning her freedom and capacity for retaining it, is as well put, as deserved. The country was greatly im- poverished. The Mexican patriots received litde or no assistance from abroad, except in funds, and not that until the contest was decided. The war had destroyed the machinery, and stopped the operation of the mines, destroyed the govern- ment magazines of tobacco, and essentially impaired every branch of revenue, whilst at the same time it had aug- mented in a greater ratio the expenses of the government. Whilst the colonial authority existed, the patriots secured the public property for their own use, and destroyed what they could not thus appropriate ; both parties had recourse to forced loans. These causes, together with the devasta- tion of a civil war, and the suspension of industry, had so impoverished the country that the revenue was almost entirely annihilated, and the government which succeeded the overthrow of Iturbide was placed under the most dis- tressing embarrassments. The end of imperial illusions about Mexico did not terminate with the execution of Iturbide. The tragedy of Maximilian was one of the dramas in real life that surpass historic and romantic invention. This would never have occurred if the United States had not been absorbed MEXICO'S WARS OF INDEPENDENCE. 221 in her war of states and sections. The Emperor Napoleon III. thought the time had come to re-estabHsh imperiaHsm in North America. There were thousands of instances of heroism in the contest of Mexico for her freedom and independence. The confusion of authority both in Spain and Mexico can only be accounted for by the disorganization of Spain following the conquests and usurpations of Napoleon I. and the rival juntas that disputed possession with each other, and Joseph Bonaparte made by his masterful brother King of Spain. The Maximilian episode by Napoleon III. and his effort to influence the choice of a king in Spain, during the in- trigues that saw the elevation of an Italian prince to that dignity, and France, crushed by Germany in a quarrel beginning in French resentment at the proposal of a Ger- man prince as a candidate, are reminders of the first Napoleon's Spanish mistakes. The American colonies of Spain were not disposed to take advantage of the humilia- tion of the mother country by France, to become independ- ent, for they hated the French for the deeds of Napoleon, but the Spanish juntas had all the vices of the deposed monarchy they were supposed to represent, and made war with vindictiveness upon the colonial people whose juntas were sensitive as to their authority, but many of them ani- mated by a sentiment of loyalty to the dynasty superseded by French force of arms. Niles, the historian, says : " A general revolt of the inhabitants against the authority of the Bonapartes occurred in the peninsula. Intelligence of this reached Mexico on the 29th of July, 1808. It im- mediately raised the feelings of the people into the highest enthusiasm. In Spain, juntas were established in the dif- ferent provinces, for their government and security. The 222 MEXICO'S WARS OF INDEPENDENCE. junta at Seville styled itself the supreme junta of Spain and the Indies ; several other of the provincial j u ntas claimed the like superiority, which led to dissensions in the penin- sula, and distracted the Americans, so that they knew not which to acknowledge, as entided to their allegiance. Before the enthusiam had subsided in Mexico, the deputies sent by the junta of Seville arrived in America, to demand the sovereignty of the country, and to induce the colonies to yield obedience to the junta, the deputies represented that its authority was submitted to, throughout the whole of Spain. " Such was the hostility of the people against the French, and their loyalty and zeal toward their sovereign, that they seemed ready to acknowledge the authority of any tribunal in Spain, although self-created, which claimed their alle- giance in the name of their king." But there were other juntas and a regency, and the greater the conflict of jurisdiction the wilder the passions excited. There was a muddle of masters. One document throws a great deal of light upon the conditions in Mexico. The municipality of Mexico, on the 5th of August, 1808, pre- sented a memorial to Iturrigaray, the viceroy, for assem- bling of a junta, from which we make an extract: " Juntas of the government, and respectable bodies of the cities and kingdoms, are no more than in exact con- formity to the law, which ordains that all arduous cases shall be considered of, in general assemblies. As in exist- ing circumstances, in consequence of the seizure of the king, the sovereignty is vested in the nation, in order that its interests may be consulted, the united authorities, together with the municipalities, which are the heads of the people, do exacdy the same as would the monarch himself for the general welfare. MEXICO'S WARS OF INDEPENDENCE. 223 " Mexico has in view the same principles that influenced Seville, Valencia, and the other cities of Spain, and she is empowered, in like manner as the above two faithful capi- tals, to do what she conceives is advisable in such urgent circumstances. "These examples point out what ought to be done — to organize a governing junta, composed of the royal audien- cia, the archbishop, municipality, and deputies from the tri- bunals, ecclesiastical and secular bodies, the nobility, and principal citizens, as well as the military. This junta shall deliberate on the most weighty subjects that concern us, which shall be determined conformably to our interests. " The junta is necessary ; for, although we are at present free from the urgent danger which threatened us on the side of France, we, nevertheless, ought not to neglect our means of defence, till we receive such positive advices, as may place us perfectly at ease. It is at the same time necessary to satisfy the wishes of the people, by restoring to them those means they formerly had of appeal to the Council of the Indies, or to the person of the king ; and, finally, many amendments ought to be made in the nomina- tion to secular and ecclesiastical dignities. These are the only means, in consequence of the absence of the monarch, by which the kingdom, being thus united, may overcome all its difficulties. "This union of authorities is likewise necessary, as being the best means to produce unanimity in the minds of the people, and of preventing the fatal consequences which must arise throughout the country from disunion. Every one will then be happy ; their patriotism and wishes will be united by love, enthusiasm, and a sense of the public good. " The city, consequendy, thinks that the time has arrived for adopting the same means as have been carried into 224 MEXICO'S WARS OF INDEPENDENCE. effect in Spain. The junta which your excellency is to form, for the present, of the authorities and respectable bodies above-mentioned, when the representatives of the kingdom are assembled, will carefully examine its interests, etc. " But the two fundamental points on which the junta is to act, ought not to be forgotten. The first is, that the authorities retain the full extent of their power, in the same manner as if the derangement we deplore in the monarchy had not taken place ; that is, that your excellency shall still hold the same power which the laws grant, and that the same be observed with respect to the other tribunals. The second is, that in order to fill up the immense void which exists between the authority of your excellency and the sovereign, the proposed junta is to be had recourse to." The Viceroy was inclined to submit, but the Spaniards conspired against him, bribed the officers of the guard, captured him in his palace and imprisoned him in a nun- nery, setting up a junta of their own,, and Niles says : " The violent proceedings in Mexico were not only ap- proved by the central junta, which received the intelligence while in session at Seville, but the junta manifested great joy that the Viceroy, who had favored the wishes of the Creoles, had been deposed and imprisoned, without consid- ering the danger of the example, or the evidence it afforded of the feebleness of all sentiments of subordination. These high-handed measures of the European faction greatly ex- asperated the Creoles against the Spaniards in Mexico, and tended to produce disaffection toward the rulers of Spain. The authority of the central junta, although illegal (as the laws required that in case of a suspension of the royal functions, the government should be vested in a regency)^ was, nevertheless, submitted to by the colonists, and large sums of money remitted from America to Spain, which MEXICO S WARS OF INDEPENDENCE. 225 enabled the Spaniards to carry on the war against the French." Of the sanguinary scenes of strife in the evolution of Mexico, a few'' examples will serve for the whole history. The Spanish Cortes granted in iSioan amnesty promising oblivion of all that took place in the revolution, but the Spanish Americans disregarded it totally, and used the promise as a trap. The Viceroy had to get the Church to endorse his proclamations, and the cabildo ecclesiastico, m a pastoral charge addressed to the clergy, on the 17th of May, 181 2, says: " His excellency the Viceroy, the worthy and legitimate representative of our Catholic and most Christian king, Ferdinand VII., has had the unparalleled goodness, not only to authorize us to be the guarantees and trustees of the indulto, or general pardon, granted to the insurgents, but also to permit us to grant to you like- wise the power, reverend brethren, as by these presents we do, to offer, promise, and assure, in the name of the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and in the name of the Virgin of Guadaloupe, protectress of this kingdom, and in the name of the Christian and Catholic king, Ferdinand VII., and of his Viceroy in these kingdoms, that a general pardon shall be duly granted to all those who, repenting themselves of their past faults, are now willing to lay down their arms." Notwithstanding this solemnity, the war con- tinued, and the patriots repeatedly defeated the royalists. The revolution gaining ground, the patriot Rayon estab- lished, August, 18 12, a junta for the government of the country, consisting of himself. Doctor Berdusco, and Don J. M. Liceaga, which nominally, at least, acknowledged the authority of Ferdinand, and published their acts in his name. Calleja, the moment he received intelligence of the creation of this junta, issued a proclamation from his head- 226 MEXICO'S WARS OF INDEPENDENCE. quarters at Guanaxuato, offering ten thousand dollars for each of the heads of the junta, and the Viceroy, gready alarmed at this measure of Rayon, regarding it as a har- binger of a general rising of the people, ordered Calleja to make an immediate attack upon the insurgents at Zita- quaro. Calleja, after a hard fight, carried the town, and remarked in his official report : " My stay here will be as short as possible, and before my departure I will erase every vestige of the town from the face of the earth, that I may, by this means, punish the criminal instigators of so barbarous, impolitic, and destructive an insurrection, and give an example of terror to those who might otherwise be willing to support it." Presently this champion of order struck another rebel town, Ouaulta, and March 15, 181 2, wrote to a friend: " We will precipitate this town and its inhabitants into the very centre of hell, whatever exerdons or fatigue it may cost us. The enthusiasm of these insurgents is unpar- alleled. Morelos, with a prophetic countenance, gives his orders, and, whatever they may be, they are always punc- tually executed. We continually hear the inhabitants swear that they will be buried under the ruins rather than deliver up the town. They dance around the bombs as they fall, to prove they are fearless of danger." The Spaniards' passion to rule for their own purposes was unappeasable save by absolute authority, in the name of some ruler or governing body beyond the Atlantic, and implacable in their relentless resoludon that the natives in a colony should not govern it, but be perpetually an inferior and subordinate class. It was from this chaos that the Republic of Mexico at last emerged, and after many trials and vicissitudes, taught in hardship, the true divinity of popular sovereignty grew in strength and power. CHAPTER XIV. THE SPANISH WARS FOR SOUTH AMERICA. Disturbances in Spain Offer South Americans Opportunities for Freedom —Loyalty to Spain Requited by Tyranny and Massacre— Feeling Against the Bonapartes in Colombia— The Usual Pompous Proclama- tions—Spaniards Sent to Fill all Places and the People Robbed— The Same Misgovernment that has Brought Cuba to Woe— How the South American Republics were Almost a Confederacy in the Revolutionary Period— The Native Americans Opposing the Spaniards— The Same Grievances Existed from Paraguay and Chih to Venezuela— The Char- acter and Career of Simon BoUvar. The Revolution and war in Colombia was more import- ant than in any other part of South America, for there the war commenced, the struggle was more protracted and severe, and here, too, Spain made her greatest exer- tions, and the success of the revolution in Colombia, in no small degree, has been the means of the ultimate triumph of Liberty's cause through the Spanish Ameri- can dominions. We shall therefore, in noticing the causes of events which led to the revolution, have to consider many, whose influence was general on all parts of the Spanish dominions in America, as well as on those now constituting the Colom- bian Republic. The first causes of the civil commotions in America are to be sought for in the disturbances which occurred in Spain. These disturbances, the offspring of the ambitious views of Napoleon Bonaparte, although without his inten- tion, prepared the way for the revolution in South America, and in this view have been productive of important benefits 227 228 THE SPANISH WARS FOR SOUTH AMERICA. to the inhabitants of that country, and to the world. His proceedings at Bayonne, in compelHngr Ferdinand to abdi- cate the throne of Spain in favor of Joseph Bonaparte, and the evident designs of Napoleon, threw Spain into confusion. The loyalty, and spirit of the nation was roused, and the people refused to submit to a monarch imposed on them by treachery, and supported by foreign bayonets. In the provinces not occupied by the French, juntas were estab- lished, which assumed the government of their districts ; and that at Seville styling itself the supreme junta of Spain and the Indies, dispatched deputies to the different govern- ments in America, requiring an acknowledgment of its authority ; to obtain which, it was represented that the junta was acknowledged and obeyed throughout Spain. At the same time, the regency created at Madrid by Ferdinand, when he left his capital, and the junta at Asturias, each claimed superiority, and endeavored to direct the affairs of the nation. Napoleon, on his part, was not less attentive to America ; agents were sent in the name of Joseph, king of Spain, to communicate to the colonies the abdication of Ferdinand, and his own accession to the vacant throne, and to procure the recognition of his authority by the Americans. Thus the obedience of the colonies was demanded by no less than four tribunals, each claiming to possess supreme authority at home. There could scarcely have occurred a conjuncture more favorable for the colonists to throw off their dependence on Spain, being convulsed as she was by a civil war, the king a prisoner, the monarchy subverted, and the people unable to agree among themselves where the supreme authority was vested, or which of the pretend- ers to it were to be obeyed. The power of the parent state over its colonies was de facto at an end ; in conse- THE SPANISH WARS FOR SOUTH AMERICA. 229 quence of which, they were, in a measure, required to " pro- vide new guards for their security." But so totally unpre- pared were the colonists for a political revolution, that instead of these events being regarded as auspicious to their prosperity, they only served to prove the strength of their loyalty and attachment to Spain. Notwithstanding that the viceroys and captain-generals, excepting the viceroy of New Spain, manifested a readiness to acquiesce in the cessions of Bayonne, to yield to the new order of things, and to sacrifice their king, provided they could retain their places, in which they were confirmed by the new king, the news of the occurrences in Spain filled the people with indignation; they pubHcly burnt the proclamations sent out by King Joseph, expelled his agents, and such was their rage, that all Frenchmen in the colonies became the subject of insult and execration. As the disorders in the peninsula continued, and no sovereign power existed there which the colonies could respect, a number of the most distinguished inhabitants of Caraccas presented a petidon to Cacas, the captain-general, recommending the establishment of a junta, similar to those in Spain. These sentiments led to the establishment of a junta in the province of Quito, in August, 1809; and the Marquis Selva Allegre was chosen its president. A similar junta had previously been created in La Paz, the capital of one of the districts under the dominion of the audience of Charcas, and was suppressed by the military force of the viceroy of Buenos Ayres. The viceroy of New Granada, Don Amar, determined to destroy the junta formed at Quito ; but desirous of exhibiting an appearance of acting in conformity to the will of the people, he convened the principal inhabitants of Santa Fe de Bogota, for the pur- 230 THE SPANISH WARS FOR SOUTH AMERICA. pose of consulting them on the subject ; beHeving that they would not have independence sufficient to oppose his will. In this, however, he was disappointed ; the assembly not only approved of the proceedings at Quito, but de- clared that a similar body ought to be formed in Santa Fe, for the security of the country, in case Spain should finally be conquered by the French. When the assembly again met, they were surprised to see that the guards of the palace were doubled, and that great military preparations had been made, as if an enemy was approaching the city. But even this seasonable dis- play of military force did not have the effect of overawing the assembly; its debates were bold and spirited. The viceroy took immediate steps to suppress the popular junta at Quito by an armed force ; and the viceroy of Peru hav- ing dispatched troops for the same object, the junta was obliged to yield to a power which it had no means of resist- ing. And although an assurance was given by the presi- dent of the aiidieiicia of Quito, that no one should, in any way, suffer on account of what had taken place, yet in vio- lation of this plighted faith, a large number of those who had belonged to, or supported the popular government, were arrested and imprisoned ; and on the 2d of August, the following year, they were all massacred in prison, under pretense of revolt. The troops stationed in the city, after massacring the prisoners, were suffered to plunder the in- habitants ; the scene of rapine and carnage was shocking, and involved the property of thousands, and the lives of more than three hundred persons, murdered in cold blood. The anniversary of the fate of these early victims to the liberation and independence of Colombia, was commemo- rated by order of the junta of Caraccas, in 1810, in a solemn manner, with appropriate funeral honors. THE SPANISH WARS FOR SOUTH AMERICA. 23 1 These tyrannical and sanguinary measures, producing great excitement throughout the colonies, tended to weaken the attachment that was felt towards the parent country. Few individuals, however, even thought of independence ; on the contrary, all were anxious for a re-establishment of the government of Spain, and a reformation in the colonies. The intelligence of the disturbance in America, and the violent measures pursued by the colonial chiefs, alarmed the central junta of old Spain, and with a view to conciliate the wounded feelings of the Americans, they issued a pompous declaration, in which they asserted that "the colo- nies were equal to the mother country." But this was entirely deceptive ; no reformation of the system, no cor- rection of abuses, was attempted; and, notwithstanding the disturbances which the violence of the governors had occa- sioned, Spaniards were sent to America to fill all places, and to occupy all public employment, as had been done for ages past ; while the colonies were still drained of money to supply the pressing wants of Spain, engaged in a strug- gle with the gigantic power of France. Nothing could exceed the astonishment of the Americans, when, at the very time they were expecting to hear of the final triumph of the patriots in Spain, and the restoration of Ferdinand VII., they learned that the French were mas- ters of Madrid, and that the central junta had been driven to Andalusia. But their confidence in the courage of the people of Spain remained unshaken ; and instead of being discouraged by these disasters, they only served to awaken the zeal of the Americans in the cause of the mother coun- try, which they still regarded as their own. Hence, not only the regular remittances were made, but large sums were raised by subscriptions from every class of the popu- lation. 232 THE SPANISH WARS FOR SOOTH A Af ERICA. There was the same situation after the American and French revolutions, and the fall of Spain for a time into the hands of Napoleon, in all the countries of Spanish America — the same confusion as to rulers — the same cling- ing to the Spanish dynasties — the same doubts as to the authority of the juntas — the same bitterness of the natives of Spain in contesting the aspirations for equal rights with them by the natives of America — the same cruelties, and through all the wars, characteristic combats. It was within the consciousness of the people of Central and South America that they had far greater wrongs to redress than those in North America which ceased to be the colonies of Great Britain and became the United States. In the long wars and the many contentions as to forms of govern- ment, there was developed neither a Washington nor a Na- poleon, though many able men appeared in affairs, military and civil. The one name that stands first in the world's consideration, of the patriots of South America, is Simon Bolivar, and his history cannot be written without in- cluding largely that of several countries. Mr. Holstein's " Memoirs of Bolivar " open with these just observations : "To trace with justice and impartiality the history of powerful men who have not yet finished their career, is by no means an easy task. Burke says ' that death canonizes a great character.' In the political and military life of General Bolivar, many traits, however, have already ap- peared, which give a correct knowledge of the character and talents of the Liberator. "The most extravagant and contradictory opinions have, at different times, been given of General Bolivar. Some say, ' He is a great — an extraordinary man ; a man of transcendent knowledge and talents ; the hero of South America; the benefactor of his country ; its Washington ; THE SPANISH WARS FOR SOUTH AMERICA. 233 its Napoleon.' Others assure us ' He is the Cromwell, the tyrant, the oppressor of his country.' Truth is rarely to be found in any extreme. *'That such various opinions should have been received of this man, is not at all surprising, when we consider that the majority of mankind are inclined to admire splendor, power and success ; and the more so, when the object of their attention is beyond their own sphere ; moreover, they blame or approve, according to their own interest or feelings. Rarely is their opinion formed from the evidence of truth, or with the spirit of impartiality. But the pro- fessed defender of freedom and the rights of man, natu- rally attract our attention more and more intensely by every successful event." The actions of General Bolivar have been considered as being in accordance with the wishes of all liberal and en- lightened men ; nay, with those of every oppressed and enslaved being. His smallest successes have given general satisfaction, and every eye has been fixed upon him and his proceedings. But without any exact and positive knowl- edge of facts, each individual has formed his own idea of General Bolivar, in conformity with his own wishes, and with his confused and incorrect notions of events on the main. Public opinion was soon captivated to such a degree that whatever accurately informed and impartial men could say against the Liberator was disregarded, and treated as mere calumny, or coming from the agents of the Holy Al- lianee, from enemies of the cause of freedom, or from rash adventurers. The majority of the public have been pre- vented from judging for themselves, and have continued to contemplate General Bolivar as the hero, the father, the liberator of South America. Various causes, in the commencement of General Bolivar's 234 THE SPANISH WARS FOR SOUTH AMERICA. career, contribute to form these opinions : First. The great difficulty of procuring exact information, because every one possessing it, had his own opinions, his own views, his own interests, while corresponding with his friends ; others con- cealed the real state of facts, or circumstances which might enlighten, fearing their letters might be intercepted or miscarry, or that their names might be mentioned by their friends, and so their interest be affected. Secondly. The bulletins and proclamations of the rulers in Colombia, on many occasions, have been very extrava- gant and partial, as is generally the case with documents of this description, in every army throughout the world. These bulletins and proclamations have been faithfully trans- lated without comment, without any of the particulars which would give a correct idea of the events, and have naturally inspired gigantic notions of the power of armies in Colom- bia ; and of the heroic bravery and deep military skill of the leaders of these armies. Besides, the Spanish language is distinguished from all others by its pompous phrases, which give it an agreeable and high-sounding expression. The effect of the language, too, is enhanced by the Caraguin character, which is generally vain and boasting. And so it has happened that a skirmish, in which, in fact, only a few men were killed or wounded, was given out as a regular and bloody battle. Thirdly. We are in absolute want of a good, detailed and exact history of the events of the revolution, and of the contending parties from 1810 to the present time. It is a fact, that the people of the United States know little or nothing with certainty of what has passed, and is still pass- ing in Colombia. Our gazettes give some accounts, but they are few and exceedingly imperfect. The imperfect and erroneous statements which have been THE SPANISH WARS FOR SOUTH AMERICA. 237 published, and the exaggerated proclamations and bulletins have chiefly influenced public opinion ; the habit, too, of thinking General Bolivar a great and extraordinary man, a hero, has been growing since 18 13. and has increased to such a degree that it will be a difficult task to convince men of the exaggeration of their ideas, and the extravagance of their notions respecting him. So far as I am concerned, I can declare, that I have neither desire nor interest to flatter or calumniate General Bolivar. I vouch for the correctness of all the facts contained in these memoirs, well knowing that this work will obtain only that degree of credit with the public which it may appear to merit by its accuracy and candor. Simon Bolivar was born in the city of Caraccas, July 24, 1783, and is the second son of Don Juan Vicente Bolivar y Ponte, a military colonel in the plains of Aragua, and Dona Maria Conception Palacios y Sojo ; and both were natives of Caraccas, and were Mantuanas. The first died in 1786, the latter in 1 789. Young Bolivar was sent to Spain at the age of fourteen, in compliance with the custom of the wealthy Americans of those times, who usually spent in one year in Europe, the amount of several years' income at home ; seeking office and military decorations, that were often put up to the highest bidder, under the administration of Manuel Godoy, Prince of the Peace. The young Americans were likewise accustomed to go to Spain to complete their education, and to pursue their studies in the profession of law, physic, or theology; for, according to the laws of the time, no Ameri- can was admitted to the bar, and allowed to practice in his profession in the universities of old Spain, nor could he exercise his profession at home without a diploma from a university in Spain. Without the same qualification, too, no 14 238 THE SPANISH WARS FOR SOUTH AMERICA. American could, at least in New Granada, have the honor of being a Capuchin Friar! But as the object of young Simon was to see the world, and not in any manner to study seriously, he paid little attention to any object other than that of pleasure, and of satisfying his desire to witness the different scenes of life. He, however, devoted some time to the study of jurisprudence. He was at this period lieutenant in the corps of militia in the plains of Aragua, of which his father had been com- mander. He had an elder brother, who died in 181 5, and two sisters who enjoyed an annual income of from ^40,000 to ^50,000, the produce of several considerable estates, and particularly of an extensive Hato, on which were raised large herds of cattle. These estates were at no great dis- tance from the city of Caraccas, and at one or another of them Bolivar and his family usually resided. San Mateo was, however, the place he always preferred. It was the largest of his possessions, where between 1,000 and 1,500 slaves were regularly kept before the revolution. His res- idence in the valley of Aragua, not far from the lake of Valencia, was beautiful and striking. The famous Boves destroyed it in 18 14. From Spain Bolivar passed into France, and resided at Paris, where he remained a number of years enjoying, at an early period, all the pleasures of life, which a rich young man, with bad examples constantly before him, can there easily find. I have remarked that whenever Bolivar spoke to me of the Palais Royal, he could not restrain himself from boasting of its delights. It was on such occasions that all his soul was electrified ; his physiognomy became animated, and he spoke and gesticulated with such ardor as showed how fond he was of that enchantinqr abode* so dan- gerous to youth. THE SPANISH WARS FOR SOUTH AMERICA. 239 In the year 1823 Mr. Ackermann published in London a very interesting monthly periodical in the Spanish language, under the tide of " El Mensagero." It was entirely devoted to the affairs of the new Spanish republics. It contains, among other articles, a biographical sketch of General Boli- var, in which the author asserts that the young Bolivar, during his residence in Paris, gave himself up to all the possible amusements of young men of his age : " Still," said the author, " he was assiduous to obtain the dear object he has always had in view, as the accomplishment of all his wishes, and his ambition, namely, that of making with eager- ness all possible acquaintances which might have been useful to hirn for the emancipation of his country!' There is a freedom of personal disparagement in these Memoirs that gives great force to the compliment that defines his public ambition. He had many military vicissi- tudes. He was not an extreme partisan, and that was great gain to him, but he did not escape calumny, as one who was sanguinary and merciless. The nature of the warfare as conducted appears in the Spanish treatment of Col. Bricenno, who was defeated and taken prisoner with seven of his officers, and the governor of Barinas, Don Francisco Tiscar, ordered them to be shot. Eight of the most respectable inhabitants of Barinas, being suspected of having assisted Colonel Bricenno in his organization, were also shot ! From that time the war became much more bloody and murderous. Not only was every prisoner shot, but various Spanish chieftains extended this system to the peaceable inhabitants. The reason the governor (Tiscar) gave, for ordering the death of Bricenno and his officers was, their having been the principal instigators and signers of the proclamation of January 16, 181 3, in which they declared they would put 240 THE SPANISH WARS FOR SOUTH AMERICA. to death all Spaniards and Islennos (inhabitants of the Canary Islands) that might be taken prisoners. Of that sanguinary document, the following are the true causes : " Bolivar and his companions, while upon their march from Carthagena to Venezuela, heard that the Spaniards and Islennos committed the most barbarous acts upon the peaceable inhabitants in Venezuela, who, in virtue of the convention between Miranda and Monteverde, had confidently resumed their former occupations." It will be remembered that Monteverde was born in one of the Canary Islands. Surrounded as he was, by numbers of his countrymen, he was weak enough to concede altoge- ther to their passions, and their hatred against all who took an active part in the revolution at Caraccas. This news so enraged the Caraguins, companions in arms of General Bolivar, that they published a solemn declaration, in form of a manifesto, in which they proclaimed the " war of death" against all the European Spaniards and Islennos. Bolivar was falsely accused of signing this document, but he did not. While the Spaniards were engaged in dissensions ; he united the patriots, gained victories, and made a triumphant entry into Caraccas, the capital of his native land, August 4, 18 13. The enthusiasm was universal, reaching every class and each sex of the inhabitants of Caraccas. The women came to crown their liberator. They spread the ground with many flowers and branches of laurel and olive on his pass- age through the streets of the capital. The shouts of thou- sands were mingled with the noise of artillery, bells and music ; and the crowd was immense. The prisons were opened and the unfortunate victims of liberty came forth with pale and emaciated faces, like spectres from their graves. THE SPANISH WARS FOR SOUTH AMERICA. 241 The writer of the memoirs tells this story. Previous to his entry into Caraccas, a kind of triumphal car was prepared, like that which the Roman consuls used on returning from a campaign, after an important victory. Theirs was drawn by horses ; but Bolivar's car was drawn by twelve fine young ladies, very elegantly dressed in white, adorned with the national colors, and all selected from the first families in Caraccas. They drew him in about half an hour from the entrance of the city to his residence ; he standing on the car bareheaded and in full uniform, and he assumed, after a few days, the title of " Dictator and Liberator of the Western Provinces of Venezuela." Bolivar gave the name of "liberating army" to all those troops that came with him, and established an order of knighthood called, " The Order of the Liberator." CHAPTER XV. HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF IN CUBA. The Spanish Colonial System in South America too strong for the Home Government, and Intolerable and Irreconcilable in its Oppression and Animosity — It is the same story told in the Current History of Cuba — The Colonies of Spain were intensely attached to her, but cruelly Spurned — Nothing Short of Slavery would suffice — The Confederacy of Colombia— French and British Influence — American Sympathizers with Cuba owe Historical Regard to Colombia — The Revolutions in the United States and France agitate the World — British Policy hostile to Spain, and the Influence of the Intrusion of Napoleon — Proclamation of the Governor of Trinidad — British Expedidon to La Plata — Defeated at Mondmaro — Pitt's Pohcy — The War for Independence in Mexico reads like late Cuban News. The very confusion into which the people of the Spanish possessions of northern South America fell, owing to the partial conquest of Spain by Napoleon, caused a protrac- tion of the struggle in various communities, because no one seemed to remain competent to make peace. The historian Niles says : " The natural, but mistaken apprehension of a union among states similarly situated, and having a common interest, of which history affords so many examples, has been strikingly illustrated in Colombia. When the country threw off the Spanish yoke, not only Venezuela and New Granada, which had been separate governments, but many of the provinces of each, formed juntas for themselves, declared their independence, and raised military forces to maintain it, not only against the authority of Spain, but that of the general governments estabhshed by the revolutionists claiming jurisdicdon over them. In New Granada, the congress, composed of deputies from a number of the provinces, were obliged to make war upon the provinces of Cundanimarca and Carthagena, to force them into a union, or to compel obedience to its decrees. Although these contentions disparaged and greatly injured the provinces, yet it is not improbable that the existence of so many independent governments was, on the whole, serviceable in the prosecution of the war. Hostilities were carried on by the general governments of Venezuela and New 242 HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF IN CUBA. 243 Granada, and also by the governments of many of the provinces at the same time, in conjunction or separately, and sometimes in the latter mode, when they were at war with each other. When the patriots were overcome in one province, they kept up resistance in another ; and when the armies of congress were defeated, and the government itself overthrown, still the provincial juntas would keep alive the spirit of resistance. When the cause was prostrated in Venezuela, it was maintained in New Granada, and the former again liberated by troops furnished by the latter. The existence of so many independent separate governments, all of whom were engaged in carrying on the war, distracted the attention of the Spanish chiefs, and greatly embarrassed their operations ; but, on the other hand, it prevented the concentration of power, and the establishment of an energetic and efficient government, as well as occasioned almost constant dissensions. It required a long course of fatal experience to overcome the apprehensions and prejudices which existed against a consolidated government, embracing all the provinces composing the present territory of Colombia ; and it is probable that it could not have been effected, at least in a peaceable manner, except for the influence of Bolivar. The government estabUshed in Venezuela in 181 1, was a confederacy similar to that of the United States, and at that time, and long after, was almost univer- sally popular both in Venezuela and New Granada. General Miranda, by favoring a more concentrated and energetic government, gave great offence, and occasioned himself to be viewed with suspicion. The province (now department) of Cundanimarca, in 18 14, could not be induced to unite, under the most urgent circumstances, with the other provinces, with which it had formerly been connected, and the employment of troops and the capture of Bogota, its capital, only, could compel it tojoin the confederation. When these circumstances are considered, it is apparent that the revolution, in the public mind must have been great, which should have led to the union of Venezuela and New Granada, an event not apparently even thought of at the time of which we have been speaking; and to the estabhshment of a government, which is not a confederacy of provinces, but an entire consolidation of them into one state, with a unity of authority. The first of these events took place in December, 1819, when, after the overthrow of the royal power, by the great victory of Boyaca, a congress was convened at Angostura. Bolivar delivered to the congress an elaborate speech, in which he showed that he had studied profoundly the prin- ciples of government, their forms, and their spirit. The object of this speech was to produce a conviction of the importance of a union of Venezuela and New Granada, and the establishment of an efficient government. On the 17th of the month a fundamental law was passed, which united, in one state, Vene- zuela and New Granada, to be called the Republic of Colombia. "The prevailing anxiety of the colonists, from the commencement of the disturbances in Spain, had been an apprehension of falling under the power of Bonaparte, in the event of his becoming master of the Spanish peninsula; and as the cause of the Spanish patriots became more desperate, the fears of the 244 HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF IN CUBA. colonists incieaaed. 'What will become of us if Spain shall be conquered?' was a question universally asked ; and its discussion directly led to to the con- sideration of the necessity and right of providing new guards for their own security. The question admitted of only two answers ; for if Spain fell under the power of France, her colonies must have shared her fate, or taken care of themselves. The case supposed, presented but one alternative to America ; to fall under the power of France, or become independent. The first ideas which the Spanish Americans had of independence did not relate to independence as it respected Spain, but as to France. How different was the origin of the revolu- tion which resulted in the independence of the British-American colonies from that which separated the Spanish colonies from the mother country. The revolution in the British colonies originated from measures of oppression on the part of the parent state, and long and systematical resistance to those measures on the part of the colonies. The Anglo-Americans were alarmed from an apprehension of being oppressed by the parent country ; but the Spanish- Americans, although tyrannized over by Spain for centuries, were terrified at the prospect of the overthrow of the power of their oppressors, and they detested the idea of being placed under the dominion of a foreign power. " The news of the disastrous events in the Spanish peninsula, and the procla- mation of the regency, reached Caraccas in the year 1810, and occasioned great alarm. The struggle in Spain was believed to be nearly at an end, and the final triumph of Bonaparte certain. At such a conjuncture the inhabitants felt it to be their duty and their right to provide for their own security ; the legitimate government of the mother country being annihilated, and the colonies exposed to fall into the hands of a foreign power. " The prime object of the colonial rulers was to keep the colonies in a state of dependence on some power in Europe, and they seemed hardly to care where or what it was. And it is not difficult to discover the motives of this conduct; as long as America could be kept in a state of dependence, the colonial rulers supposed a readiness to acknowledge any authority which claimed dominion over Spain, and consequently over America, was the most sure way of preserv- ing their stations. They wished to keep America dependent, not so much from a regard to the interests of Spain, as to preserve their own power, being very sensible that they could have no part in any government constituted by the people. Hence, the violence with which they pursued the American patriots; every act, every movement tending toward the independence of the colonies, although temporary, and with the entire and express recognition of Ferdinand VII., was regarded as a blow aimed at their own power. This is the cause of the fury with which they pursued the first patriots in the colonies ; and the zeal they pretended to feel for their country was stimulated by an apprehension of losing their own power. "The influence which the condition of Spain had on her colonies, the meas- ures that the Americans had adopted, and the violence with which they had been opposed by the Spanish rulers, both in S])ain and the colonies, had greatly HISTOR V REPEA TS ITSELF IN CUBA. 245 increased the jealousy and unfriendly feelings between the Creoles, or native Americans, and the European-Spaniards in America. In July, 1810, an affray occurred at Santa Fe de Bogota, which originated from a European-Spaniard insulting a native American, and including in the opprobrious and reproachful language which he applied to him, all his countrymen. The quarrel between these two individuals soon assumed a serious aspect; the citizens collecting to the scene of contention, the Spaniards joining on the side of their countrymen, and the Creoles taking part with theirs, a contest ensued, in which the latter, being the most numerous, were triumphant. Under the influence of the excite- ment which this popular contest had occasioned, a meeting of the inhabitants was convened and a junta established. In Chili the Captain-General exas- perated the people to such a degree that he was obliged to resign his office, and a junta was formed in September; and in Mexico an insurrection broke out the same month in consequence of the violent measures of Venegas, the new Viceroy." The fact that the rebels recognized Ferdinand had no influence on the colonial system of Spain, and the Regency of Spain declared Caraccas to be in a state of blockade in this decree, August 31, 1810: " Scarcely had the council of regency received intelligence of the occurrences at Caraccas, whose inhabitants, instigated no doubt by some intriguing and factious persons, were guilty of declaring themselves i7tdepeiident of the mother country, and of forming a governitig junta to exercise this supposed independent authority, when it determined to take the most active and efficacious means to attack the evil in its origin aftd prevent its progress. But in order to proceed with mature deliberation the regency consulted the council of Spain and the Indies, and has taken such measures as will answer the end proposed, particu- larly as neither the province of Maracaibo, nor the department of Coro, have taken part in the criminal proceedings ; but, on the contrary, have acknowledged the council of regeticy, and taken the most efficacious measures to oppose the absurd idea of Caraccas declaring herself independe7it, without being possessed of the meajis of obtaining independcttce I The regency hereby declares the province of Caraccas in a state of rigorous blockade, etc. These resolutions do not extend to the above-mentioned divisions, which, having refused to follow the pernicious examples of Caraccas, have manifested their constant fidelity by opposing the plan of rebellion, which only originated in the unlimited ambition of some persons and in the blind credulity of others, who suffered themselves to be hurried away by the ardent passions of their fellow-countrymen. The regency has taken the most secure measures to extirpate these evils, and to punish the authors of them with all the rigor which the rights of sovereignty authorize it to use, unless theie be a previous and voluntary submission, in 246 HISTOR Y REPEA TS ITSELF IN CUBA. which case the regency grants them a general pardon. The regency commands that these resolutions be circulated through all the Spanish dominions, that tliey may be carried into effect there as well as in foreign countries, and that (hey may act conformably with the measures taken for the blockade of the said coasts," etc. The historian Niles says : " This decree of the regency was a declaration of war, and its authors, without inquiring into the causes which occasioned the measures pursued in the colonies, or making a single effort for conciliation, rashly plunged the two countries into all the horrors of civil war. The answer of the junta of Caraccas to the Marquis de las Hermanzas, minister in Spain, containing an expose of the reasons which occasioned the establishment of the junta, and justifying the measure, instead of tending to allay the feelings of the regency, and the people of Spain, greatly inflamed them. " Emissaries were sent to Porto Rico, Montevideo, Panama and Mexico, for the purpose of arousing political and religious prejudices in favor of Spain, and against the new governments in America, by making promises to some and threatening others, to produce dissensions among the patriots, thus to destroy the new governments in the bud. But the principal reliance of the rulers of Spain was on the sword, and consequently troops were sent to Monte- video, Vera Cruz, Coro, Santa Martha and Panama, with a view to dragoon the Americans into submission ; although at this time every soldier was wanted at home for the defence of the country. The rage, however, which prevailed against the invaders of their own country, violent as it was, did not equal that towards the rebellious Americans, The animosity of the Cortes against the colonists corresponded with the feelings of the regency, and although some Americans, who happened at the time to be in the Isle of Leon, were chosen members of the Cortes, so strong were the feelings of that body, they scarcely dared to speak in favor of their countrymen." It will be perceived that this is the same story as that of Cuba, with the difference that the loyalty of Cuba to Spain during the Bonaparte invasion was exceptional. The Spaniards were so slow to understand the Americans that they found those who would have been with them always alienated before there was a thought of conciliation. The American members of the Cortes, in January, 181 1, sub- mitted propositions of conciliation, a most instructive docu- ment, as follows : " 1st. In conformity to the decree of the central junta, dated the 15th of HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF IN CUBA. 247 October, 1809, which declared the inhabitants of Spanish-America equal in rights to those of the Peninsula, the national representation of every part of Spanish- America, the Spanish West Indies, and the Philippine Islands, includ- ing every class of their inhabitants, shall be the same in form, manner, and without distinction, as in the kingdom and islands of European Spain. " 2d. The free natives and inhabitants of Spanish- America shall be allowed to plant and cultivate whatever their chmate will produce, with license to encourage industry, and to promote manufactures and arts to their fullest extent. " 3d. Spanish-America shall enjoy the liberty of exporting her own natural and manufactured productions to the Peninsula, as well as to the allies and to neutral nations ; and of importmg whatever she may want. All her ports are consequently to be opened." [This and the preceding demand were agreed to, but the order to carry them into execution was never published.] " 4th. There shall be a free trade between Spanish-America and the Spanish settlements in Asia. Everything militating against this freedom to be abolished. " 5th. Freedom of trade to be granted from all the ports in Spanish-America and the Philippine Islands to other parts of Asia. Any law existing contrary to such freedom to be annulled. " 6th. All estancos or monopolies in favor of the public treasury or of the king, shall be suppressed ; but the public treasury shall be indemnified for the loss of the profits arising from such monopoly by new duties on the same articles. " 7th. The working of the quicksilver mines shall be free in Spanish-, America, but the administration of the produce shall remain in charge of the officers of the mining department, independent of the viceroys and captain- general, and officers of the real hacienda." [This was granted, and orders were published for carrying it into execution in the provinces under the Spaniards.] " 8th. All Spanish-Americans shall be eligible equally with Spaniards to all appointments of rank or emolument, whether at court or in any part of the monarchy, — either in political, military or ecclesiastical departments. "gth. Consulting the natural protection of each kingdom in Spanish-America, half of the public appointments shall be filled by Spanish subjects born in America. " loth. That the above stipulations may be punctually adhered to, a con- sultive junta shall be formed in each capital, to the intent that it may propose persons suited to fill each vacancy.'' This has the flavor of the futile autonomist literature in Cuba ; and the fatalities of the Spanish colonial system that appeared in South America have been duplicated in current Cuban experience. The people of the United States 248 HISTOR V REPEA TS ITSELF IN CUBA. who sympathize so keenly with the Cubans, owe historical respect for the South Americans, who won their indepen- dence through the same course of horrors and sorrows. The Bonapartes finding that the Americans disliked the French so intensely they would never submit to France, did what they could to promote a coalition in Spanish-America. Joseph Bonaparte dispatched agents to America for the purpose of exciting and encouraging the revolution there ; giving them full and minute histructions, embracing even the motto to be inscribed on the revolutionary banners, which was, " Long live the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman religion, and perish the bad government." These instruc- tions were given to M. Desmolard, of Baltimore, who was the principal agent of Joseph Bonaparte, and to other emis- saries sent into the colonies. A copy of these instructions was found in Caraccas, in the office of the secretary of the junta, and forwarded to the admiral of the Barbadoes station, as a caution against the intrigues of the Bonapartes. The French agents pene- trated into different parts of the American settlements, and one of them was discovered in the town of Habana and shot. The court of St. James, in 1797, openly encouraged a revolution in Venezuela, as appears by the proclamation of the governor of Trinidad. Spain then being an ally of France, and her resources wasted by Napoleon in support- ing his wars against England and her allies, the British ministry wished to separate her colonies from Spain, to deprive her of the supplies she received from them, and also to secure to Great Britain a lucrative trade with America. But after the general rising in Spain against Bonaparte, the tables were turned, and the Spaniards, from being the enemies of Great Britain, became her friends and HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF IN CUBA. 249 allies. Feeling interested in the success of the war prose- cuting in the Spanish peninsula against France, Great Britain became the mediator between Spain and her col- onies, and in June, 18 10, Lord Liverpool wrote to General Layard, governor of Curacoa, "that his Britannic majesty had strong reasons for hoping that the inhabitants of Car- accas would acknowledge the authority of the regency of Spain." The English attempted mediation between Spain and Colombia in hostility to France, and Colombia invited the sympathy and assistance of the United States. The British influence was finally weighed in Colombia in opposi- tion to impossible Spain. The revolutions in the United States and France in the last quarter of the eighteenth century aroused the people of all enlightened nations, and deepened the conflict for supremacy on the seas between England, France and Spain. The influence of her vast American possessions aggrandized Spain, but was not wholesome, and her enormous colonial fabric was easily shaken, but the several parts were strangely moved to inconsistency by their attachment to the dynasty of Spain and pride in the grandeur of her name, still fascinating, though declining. England closely estimated the lessons she received in the loss of her colonies, and remembered that in the later days of the Continental con- flict, both France and Spain were against the British, the French and Spaniards when Rodney won his decisive victory being about to unite to attempt the conquest of Jamaica. The French Revolution followed closely upon that in the United States. For a time the whole world seemed against the French who had taken the liberty of throwing off the monarchical system, the United States being, for the time, the only country in diplomatic relations with the French Republic, Suddenly there was a starding apparition, that 250 HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF IN CUBA. of Napoleon. Mr. Pitt had, in remembrance of the shifty course of Spain, encouraged the first manifestations of dis- satisfaction among the Spanish colonists. The following proclamation from the British Governor of Trinidad defines the policy of his government. " By virtue of an official paper, which I, the governor of this island of Trini- dad, have received from the right honorable Henry Dundas, minister of his Britannic majesty for foreign affairs, dated 7th April, 1797, which I here pub- Hsh in obedience to orders, and for the use which your Excellencies may draw from its pubhcation, in order that you may communicate its tenor, which is literally as follows: 'The object which at present I desire most particularly to recommend to your attention is the means which might best be adapted to lib- erate the people of the continent near the island of Trinidad, from the oppres- sive and tyrannic system which supports, with so much rigor, the monopoly of commerce, under the title of exclusive registers, which the government Hcenses demand ; also to draw the greatest advantages possible, and which the local situation of the island presents, by opening a direct and free communication with the other parts of the world without prejudice to the commerce of the British nation. In order to fulfill this intention with greater facility, it will be prudent for your Excellency to animate the inhabitants of Trinidad in keeping up the communication which they had with those of Terra Firma, previous to the reduction of that island; under the assurance that they will find there an entrepot, or general magazine of every sort of goods whatever. To this end his Britannic majesty has determined, in council, to grant freedom to the ports of Trinidad, with a direct trade to Great Britain. " ' With regard to the hopes you entertain of raising the spirits of those per- sons, with whom you are in correspondence, toward encouraging the inhabitants to resist the oppre'.sive authority of their government, I have little more to say, than that they may be certain that, whenever they are in that dispositioft, they may receive, at your hands, all the succors to be expected from his Britannic Majesty , be it with forces, or with arms and ammunition, to any extent; with the assurance that the views of his Britannic Majesty go no further than to secure to them their independence, without pretending to any sovereignty over their country, nor even to interfere with the privileges of the people, nor in their political, civil, or religious rights.' "Thomas Picton, &c., &c. •'Puerto de Espana, 26th June, 1797.' " Niles, Historian of South America and Mexico, says : " It had long been a favorite project of Mr. Pitt to aid the emancipation of South America, and to open a trade with that country. He had frequent con- HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF IN CUBA. 251 ferences with the ex-Jesuit, Juan Pablo Viscardi Gusman, a native of Peru, and an enthusiast in favor of the independence of America, who represented the country to be impatient under the Spanish yoke, and ripe for revolt. He also published in London an appeal to his countrymen, using all the powers of his eloquence in attempting to bring them to a sense of their degraded condition. The British ministry encouraged General Miranda in his designs to revolutionize Venezuela, and aided the premature expedition which he fitted out in 1801 ; and furnished the funds for that which he afterward fitted out from the United States in 1806, though it was done without the assistance or sanction of Congress, This expedition failed without accomplishing anything, and a number of young men from the United States, falling into the hands of the Spaniards, became victims of their own credulity, and the cruelty of tyrannical power. It is said, that during President Adams' administration, the British ministry made pro- posals to our government to assist in the emancipation of the Spanish colonies, which did not meet a favorable reception. "The failure of Miranda's expedition did not discourage the British govern- ment; for in 1806 Spain then being in alhance with France in the war which prevailed in Europe, they fitted out a squadron under Sir Home Popham, which entered the La Plata on the 25th of June, and anchored about twelve miles below Buenos Ay res, where the troops disembarked without opposition. " The inhabitants, and the Viceroy Soleimente, were filled with consternation. After experiencing a feeble opposition at Rio Chueto, three miles from the city. General Beresford entered the capital and took possession of the citadel. Don J. M. Pueyredon, afterward dictator, at the head of a company of hussars, was the only officer who did anything to oppose the advance of the English. The Spaniards, on learning the small number of their enemies, determined to expel them The viceroy had escaped to Montevideo, and Liniers, a French emi- grant, but an officer in the Spanish service, passed over to the eastern shore of the river, exciting the people to arms. The viceroy collected one thousand recrulars, which he joined with those of Liniers, to whom the command of the united force was given. With these troops, Liniers immmediately recrossed the river when the inhabitants flocking around his standard, soon enabled hmi to attack the British with great effect, compelling them, after they had sustained a heavy loss, to surrender on the 12th of August, 1806. Soon after this event reinforcements arrived from the Cape of Good Hope, which enabled Sir Home Popham to reduce Montevideo by storm. " This expedition, as appeared from the trial of Sir Home Popham, was not expressly authorized by the British ministry, but was so far from being disap- proved of by them, that it was followed up by a bold and extensive plan of conquest. Two squadrons, each with a large body of troops, one commanded by General Whitlock, the other by General Crawford, were fitted out for the capture of Buenos Ayres; after accomplishing this, Crawford had received orders to proceed around Cape Horn and capture Valparaiso; and, for the more efl-ectu- ally securing their conquest, to establish military posts across the continent, 252 HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF IN CUBA. from Buenos Ayres to Valparaiso. The object of the ministry was entirely changed since 1797 ; now it was not to aid the inhabitants in establishing their independence, but to subjugate the country." In this enterprise the British were defeated with great loss, the native Americans not rising as expected to throw off the Spanish yoke. The EngUsh had not made material progress in any quarter to upset the Spanish government in American colonies, when the scene was changed by the subjugation of Spain by Bonaparte. The native American- Spanish rivaled the Spaniards of the peninsula in their hatred of the French, and they preferred with great passion the Spanish King Ferdinand, to Joseph Bonaparte. Niles writing of Mexico, in 1838, says: " All the officers of government being sent from Spain, the inhabitants could view them in no other light than as their oppressors, and as having been im- ported for that express purpose. The possession of power, and the favor of the government, rendered the Europeans haughty and insolent, as is always the case with a privileged class, and this tended still more to exasperate the feelings of the Creoles. Hence the long, bitter and sanguinary war of the late revolution. " If there ever was a people in a state of political bondage, of oppressive and degrading servitude, it was the Spanish colonists. Fortunately for them, the cause of liberty, and the honor of America, circumstances favored their emancipation, and they are now free. The struggle has been long, ardu- ous and bloody, characterized by a spirit of bitterness and animosity, which spread desolation over the fairest portions of America, and in some districts almost swept away the entire population. The independence and liberty of Spanish-America has been dearly purchased ; it has been bought with the best blood of the country, and this has flowed freely. In Mexico, after a destructive war for twelve years, the royal government was finally overthrown. But this only established a new and ephemeral tyranny, rn the person of Iturbide, who had been the instrument of crushing the Spanish despotism. Whilst he was at the head of affairs the government acquired no stability.'' It is remarkable how close the correspondence is between the elements of the war in Mexico that gave to that country her freedom, and those that appear in the long agony of the Cuban conflict. This from the Mexican historian reads like a fresh chapter of Cuban history: GENERAL FITZ-HUGF[ LEE. CAPTAIN SIGSBEE. HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF IN CUBA. 255 " The contest assumed a character peculiarly savage and horrible ; the war was not only a war of death, but of desolation. Vengeance and destruction seem to have filled the minds of the royal chiefs, who were as weak as they were destitute of every sentiment of justice or humanity, in supposing that 'examples of terror,' and destruction, would restore tranquillity to a distracted country. After the capture of Zitaquaro, Calleja published a decree, depriving the Indians, of that department, of their property and immunities, declaring the property of all Mexicans, who had taken any part in the insurrection, or who fled from the city on the entry of the royal troops, to be forfeited ; transferring the capital of the department to Marabatio, and ordering the town of Zitaquaro razed to the ground, allowing the inhabitants six days only to leave it, with their movables, which they were permitted to take 'as proof of mercy;' and threatening the same destruction against any town which should harbor the members of the junta. The scene of horror and distress which this decree, conceived in the true spirit of Vandalism, produced, surpassed the power of imagination.'' CHAPTER XVI. THE REVOLUTION IN CHILI, The People of Chili the Yankees of South America — Napoleon Indirectly the Cause of the Revolution in Chili — Colonists Deprived of Political Rights — The Colonies were Governed for the Benefit of the Mother Country only — All Offices Held by European-Spaniards— Chili's Conservative Course in the Struggle for Greater Liberties — The Wars that Finally Won Chilian Independence. It has been meant as a compliment to the people of Chili to call them the Yankees of South America. Their energy, perseverance, thrift and enterprise have been in mind when the characterization referred to has been employed as a choice descriptive phrase. The influences that ripened into revolution in Chili originated in the Madrid court in- trigrues. The Queen, Maria Louisa, in reality governed Spain rather than the King, Charles IV. At that time. Prince Ferdinand, heir to the crown, was conspiring against Godoi, the Queen's favorite, who had been raised by her from an officer of the g-uards to the position of prime minister, and was in constant quarrels with his royal parents. It was at this time that Napoleon concerted with Godoi and gained permission to enter Spain with his armies. Napoleon ad- vanced to Madrid now. Charles IV. abdicated in favor of his son Ferdinand, the people having pronounced against Godoi and the court. He was a fickle monarch, and soon desired to resume his crown ; that Ferdinand would not permit him to do. Napoleon wanted Spain, and took un- scrupulous advantage of the situation. He caused both father and son to renounce their rights to the throne in favor 256 THE REVOLUTION IN CHILI 257 of his brother Joseph. Charles and Ferdinand were held in France. It was a plain case of Napoleonic baseness. Of course the Spaniards organized juntas, and entered upon guerrilla warfare, but there were too many juntas. There were like proceedings in the colonies. The great his- torian, who has done admirable work in pouring light upon the Spanish fields of American history, makes this striking statementoftheinherent viciousnessof the Spanish colonial system : " The system was in its theory or principles a most absolute and despotic government, and rendered more oppressive by the corruptions and abuses of power which had been introduced into every department of the adminis- tration. Some account of this system is given in the sketch of the history of Spanish- America, previous to the revolu- tion, which we will not repeat here. The colonists were deprived of all political rights, scarcely excepting what was strictly municipal ; they were denied all the advantages of commerce and manufactures, and even agriculture was sub- jected to discouraging and onerous restrictions. The colo- nial system was founded on the principle that the colonies were in a state of minority and tutelage, and were to be governed, not for their own benefit, but for the advantage of their parent, who, without regard for the future well-being of her offspring, in the exercise of paternal authority, thought only of rendering it most conducive to her own immediate interest. Among the abuses of the system was the practice, which had long prevailed, of conferring all offices on Euro- pean-Spaniards, to the entire exclusion of the Creoles or Americans, notwithstanding it was declared in the original compact between the king and the first settlers, that after the first discoverers and conquerors, the settlers and those born In the provinces were to be preferred in all appoint- ments and public employments." 258 THE REVOLUTION IN CHILI This is the precise truth of all the Spanish colonies, and it is by this system that the grandeur of Spain has perished. One thing further we quote from the same historical au- thority : "The colonies would neither recognize Joseph Bonaparte nor the Spanish juntas as having authority over them, but wished to govern themselves through the me- dium of juntas of their own creating, during the captivity of the king. This was obnoxious to the Spanish officials in the new world and was looked upon as treasonable by the junta of Seville and the Cadiz regency. The Creoles, or American-born subjects of Spanish descent, established juntas or governing boards composed of three or more leading citizens, and began the reform of institutions and abuses. The Spanish party resisted and war followed." When Ferdinand regained his throne, the continental colonies of America were lost, or so far on the pathway to independence that there was no returning. The course of events became irresistible. The Spanish governments in the Americas have been as abusive of popular rights as possible, and as for the crimes charged against the later Spanish governors, the historian Hancock says : "These men are only exaggerated examples of the Spanish viceroys and governors from Pizarro to Lascerna. The greed and corruption of the civil and military men sent out by Spain to govern the natives, with few excep- tions, from the time of the conquest to the revolution, tended to alienate the natives and American-born Spanish people from the mother country. They practiced horrible cruelties upon the Indians, enslaving them upon their fiefs, and compelHng them to work and perish in the mines. The Spanish system of governing was tyrannical In the extreme, and gave the people few of the benefits of govern- ment, or their labor, and of the natural productions of the THE REVOLUTION IN CHILI 259 countries ; the right of the cultivation of grapes, olives and tobacco was denied them ; they were compelled to buy their wines, oils and tobacco from monopolies promoted by the mother country ; enormous duties were levied on all imported manufactured goods, and these importations were confined to a monopoly of Cadiz merchants who sent out only a few vessels each year. These goods the natives were compelled to purchase at extortionate prices by the Spanish governors, who often shared in the profits. The financial system of the colonies was based upon a perfect monopoly and exclusion in favor of Spain, and the reve- nues were raised in a corrupt and tyrannical manner. The estanco was a monopoly which the government claimed for itself exclusively ; it was a monopoly of the growth and sale of tobacco, and the sale of foreign wines and spirits. Of these, tobacco yielded an immense profit. Guayaquil was the principal place for the cultivation of the plant ; at Lima, the king had extensive central warehouses. No tobacco was suffered to grow in Chili ; every person sell- ing the article must pay a license and even then could only purchase from the government depots, which were estab- lished in the different towns. In the year 1808 the royal revenues from tobacco amounted to ^183,278, and it is probable that the amount would have reached ^300,000 had it not been for official peculations and depreciations in value. "Another burden the colonists endured under Spanish rule was the system of tithes. By a special act of the papal authorities the king of Spain was given the Church under his special care, and by him the tithes were claimed and collected. Nominally these were distributed in the follow- ing manner : one-fourth to archbishops and bishops, one- fourth to deacons and canons, one-fourth to curates, the 26o THE REVOLUTION IN CHILI. remainder to the building of churches. In time corruption crept in ; the king appropriated large sums to other pur- poses and cut down ecclesiastical salaries ; the tithes were farmed out to individuals in large lots, and these again to smaller bidders, all seeking to make large profits from the purchases. This came at length to be a severe burden and imposition upon the peasantry, who had the tithes to pay." There was a great deal of talk of reform, but none of the reality. As revolutions broke out in Chili and Peru they were assailed by the Spaniards with murderous menace, and those who rebelled against intolerable oppression suf- fered for their resentment of wrong, the most frightful tor- tures. It is the old, old story, and it is high time the United States entered upon the duty of clearing the Amer- icas of the last vestiges of the ancient scoundrelism, the most corrupt, savage, and vicious in the world. The Spanish power was strongly organized in Peru, and after several revolts and a defeat in 1815, Hancock says : " Few further attempts to achieve their independence were made by the Peruvians until after the battle at Maypo, in Chili, in April, 1818 ; their final Independence was not achieved until Bolivar had won the battle of Pinchincha, near Quito, in 1822. "Chili, Peru, the Argentine Republic, Bolivia and Colom- bia are so Intimately associated in the revolutionary struggle that the history of the period applies scarcely more to one than to all of these provinces. Belgrano, San Martin and Bolivar are names connected with the struggle from Colom- bia to La Plata. In this united struggle it was necessary for Buenos Ayres, where the revolutionary movement had been early made in the south, to assist both Chili and Peru to preserve her own declared independence against the THE REVOLUTION IN CHILI. 261 royalist household in Lima. This brought the war early to that part of Peru bordering upon the territories of Buenos Ayres — Upper Peru, now Bolivia. The revolution broke out in Buenos Ayres and Caraccas ; in the former place, the viceroy, Cisneros, was deposed and a junta formed, May 22, 18 10. CastelH's eloquence in the congress, which was assembled, confounded the royalists and paved the way for a revolution. After some successes, followed by reverses in Montevideo and the province of Salta, the patriots of Buenos Ayres finally made a treaty with the Brazilian- Portuguese sent against them to Monte- video, the Spanish colonies of La Plata being then at war with Brazil over boundaries. A conspiracy was formed at Montevideo, instigated by royalist Spaniards of Buenos Ayres. A battle was fought at Vilcapugio, in which Belgrano was defeated by the royal- ist force of Peru under Pezuela, and a little later the patriots were completely routed. The situation of Buenos Ayres was now critical, threatened as it was on the side of Peru by a victorious royalist army, and on the side of Monte- video by an opposing Portuguese-Brazilian army. "While the struggle was going on in Buenos Ayres, and in Chili and Peru, the northern provinces were in like manner fighting for their independence. Here the war was waged by the royalists with even greater persistence and ferocity than in the south. Venezuela was the first to form an independent junta and throw off the Spanish yoke ; but there the royalists were after a time victorious, and terrible was their revenge. The people of Venezuela were pro- scribed, Caraccas was turned into a vast prison. These brutal measures raised up young Marino with an army ; cruelty and extortion had, indeed, previously raised up a patriot army in Venezuela for General Miranda. The 262 THE REVOLbTION IN CHILI. liberation of Venezuela and Colombia was finally achieved by Marino and Bolivar. " The fate of Quito was decided favorably by Bolivar and Sucre in the battle of Pinchincha, June 22, 1822. The battle of Ayacucho, December 9, 1824, struck the fatal blow to the royalist power in Peru. Olaneta was defeated by Gen- eral Sucre at Potosi, in April, 1825, and the territories of Upper Peru, the theatre of the first and last acts in the bloody drama, were made free, and declared themselves the Republic of Bolivar. The battle of Maypo, April 5, 18 1 8, decided the issue in Chili in favor of the patriots." This rapid review by the historian Hancock puts a lu- minous thread through a mass of entangled and obscure records. In Chili the people were slow to make revolt radical. They first asked to be permitted to plant and cultivate whatever their soil and climate would produce, to open their ports to all nations, to have free trade among themselves and between the colonies of the mother coun- try, to have all monopolies in favor of the king and public treasuries suppressed, to have free working of quicksilver mines, to make Spanish-Americans eligible equally with Spaniards to all appointments of rank and employment, to have consulting juntas formed in each capital to the intent that they might propose persons to fill vacancies. In Ca- racas, Buenos Ayres, Santiago, La Paz, and Quito, the first juntas made no declarations of independence ; they sought only redress of wrongs. Nevertheless they assailed the Spanish system, and they "excited the bitterest antag- onism of the governing body of Spain, of Spanish rulers, of the Cadiz monopolists, of Spaniards in America, and greatly increased also the jealousy and unfriendly feelings which had long existed between the native Spanish-Ameri- cans, or Creoles, and the European-Spaniards in America. THE REVOLUTION IN CHILI 263 War was at first rather with the arrogant and corrupt vice- roys and their Spanish sympathizers, than with Spain her- self." But the Spaniards were desperately determined to put down rebellion and alienate the people of the colonies. In the Cuban history of to-day we have the history of other days in South America. Cuba is only the latest and last example of Spanish misgovernment in America. The first congress assembled in Chili on July 4th, 181 1. Many reformatory measures were passed, including the abolition of slavery. The Royal Audience had been dis- solved and the executive power vested in the junta. Con- gress decreed that curates should be paid from the public treasury, not by tithes ; that restriction should be removed from commerce ; that the ancient law regulating the ap- pointment of ofiicers in the municipalities (the cabildos) should be annulled, and that henceforth such offices should be filled by annual elections. But this was revolution. It was the leading citizens of Chili, rather than the native population, who were inspired by the news from Caraccas, La Paz, Quito and Buenos Ayres, the rumbling preceding the storm, to do something toward alleviating their own galling burdens. Their desire was not at first to separate themselves from Spain, but rather to modify the laws. There were two parties. The Spanish party headed by the president and supported by the Royal Au- dience, the clergy and the government officers, who desired that the juntas of Spain should be recognized as authority; the patriots formed the other party and advocated the for- mation oi-2i junta nacional de gobierno, or national govern- ing body, to take charge of the government during the captivity of the king. They were simply rebels to the Spaniards. The captain-general began to arrest leading 264 THE REVOLUTION IN CHILI. citizens. There was a large raid of juntas, and the usual massacres. The Spaniards were those born in Spain and they were royalists. The Americans were natives and patriots. As the latter gained power steps were taken to replace Spanish officers with patriots. The three Carrera brothers, Jose Miguel, Juan and Luis, had this in charge, and executed the manoeuvre skillfully. The Spanish officers were seized in their barracks and the troops gained over. Congress passed a decree to the effect that all Spaniards, who were not satisfied with the new movement, should quit the country within six months with all their property and effects. The Carreras now sought to effect a revolution, by which means they hoped to place themselves at the head of the government. The junta of leading citizens which had been formed, one of whom was Jose Miguel Carrera, the eldest brother, became impatient of the restraint and control of congress, and considered the advisability of usurping the whole governing power. The thing needful when there was any change was a new Junta. Patriots and radicals conspired against them- selves. Hancock remarks : During the time that the Carreras were in power, there were constant dissensions and disaffections. Four conspiracies against them were suppressed ; all kinds of shocking enormities were com- mitted ; many were the confiscations, great was the cor- ruption. Carrera induced printers to come to the country from the United States and had procured a press and printing materials. A paper was started called " La Auro- ra," which advocated the revolutionary cause. This was conducted by Father Camilo Henriquez. Other writers also contributed to the revolutionary cause ; such as Antonio Jose de Irizarri, a Guatemalian, Doctor Bernardo Vera, THE REVOLUTION IN CHILI 265 an Argentine and the poet of the revokition, Manuel Salas and Juan Egana, who drew up the first draft of the Con- stitution. After many batdes the patriots got the worst of the warfare and Osorio marched his victorious royahst army to Santiago and there restored the authority of Spain and the viceroy. In fact, the inhabitants of the capital, tired of the misrule of the Carreras, sent a deputation inviting him to come and restore order. At the end of October, Valparaiso and all the principal towns were occupied. Then Osorio soon threw off the mask. The leading citizens became the victims of his ven- geance ; arrests, imprisonments and banishments followed. More than one hundred of the principal patriots were ban- ished to the desolate Island of Juan Fernandez, of Robinson Crusoe fame, lying three hundred and eighty miles from the Chilian coast. Among these were Dona Rosarlo de Rosalis, "who solicited and obtained permission to accom- pany her aged father to the island. For two years and a half, 1 8 14 to 1 81 7, the viceroy maintained the Spanish authority in Chili, which he governed with the greatest rigor. Don Fernando de Abascal, the Peruvian viceroy, was the ablest, the most resolute of the Spanish leaders ; he crushed the uprising of Pumacagua, the revolution in Upper Peru and the revoludon in Chili. At first there was a large body of Chilians to hail this return to the royal power and authority of the viceroy with satisfaction, for the country had grown tired of the factional disputes and the arbitrary rule of the Carreras. After all there was no evil so acute as Spanish rule, and help came to the patriots from Buenos Ayres, the deliverer being Don Jose de San Martin, "the Hannibal of the Andes," who was " tall and well-formed ; his whole appearance was 266 THE REVOLUTION IN CHILI soldierly ; he had an olive complexion, black hair, wore large side-whiskers without moustache ; his eyes were large and black and full of fire ; his countenance was expressive, his deportment gentlemanly and insinuating. He was a cautious, brave general, with a Napoleonic talent for organ- ization." The passage of the Andes is thus sketched by Hancock: " General San Martin led his cavalry by way of Puntaendo, January 17th, 181 7. The infantry and artillery advanced by the usual route, passing Cuevas. It was such a march as Almagro undertook two hundred and eighty years before ; it was a Hannibal or a Bonaparte crossing the Alps. Every cavalryman had a sword, a horse, a saddle, a poncho; each infantry soldier carried a musket, cartridge- pouch and poncho, besides provisions for the journey. The latter consisted of dried meat and parched corn. The army was not encumbered with baggage, tents, stores or provisions. There were depots of provender established every twelve leagues. There were 7,359 mules for the workmen and cavalry, and 1,922 beef cattle. Field-pieces were carried, slung between mules, or dragged on sledges made of hides. Derricks were used to hoist or lower them over precipitous places. The ganchos were soon short of provisions, and this fact caused them to push forward with incredible exertion, so that the rapidity with which they traversed the passes, here more than 1 3,000 feet above sea-level, and covered with perpetual snow, is almost beyond belief. Three hundred miles over the giddy verges of yawning quebradas they passed in thirteen days. The Spaniards had carelessly permitted the patriot army to come through the passes without taking the trouble to ascertain its strength. They took it for granted that only THE REVOLUTION IN CHILL 267 cavalry could traverse the mountains within the time spent by the army in crossing. Deceived by this, they formed for battle, drawn up in a square. As the morning was foggy, it was some time before it was discovered that San Martin was upon them with his whole army. O'Higgins ordered a charge. The Spanish officers, dis- covering their mistake, sought to deploy their men into lines ; but the enthusiastic patriot cavalry, led on by Colonel Solar, dashed into their ranks and threw them into con- fusion. Hardly firing a musket, the royalists followed their fleeing commander in a total rout. It had been necessary to begin the action at once, for Maroto was advancing with reinforcements of 1,200 troops. The victory was import- ant ; the cavalry detachment under Colonel Nicochea de- scended into the plain from the pass of Tavon, and, falling pell-mell upon the royalists, cut them down in their flight, which demoralized the whole Spanish army. On the 15th of February, 18 17, San Martin, with two doubloons in his pocket, no military chest, no stores, no medicine or surgeon for his wounded soldiers, entered the capital with his wild gauchos and refugees at his back. Some there are who say that the general was hailed as the Saviour of the country; others affirm that he was greeted by few voices, that he was received in sullen silence by the natives, and looked upon as an invader by a people who had grown tired of patriotic machinations. The Spaniards had been defeated because of their over- weening confidence and imprudence, for Marco and Maroto commanded a far superior army to San Martin's, in point of veteran troops, officers, equipment and discipline. A junta was again formed by the leading citizens of San- tiago. The office of supreme director was offered to San Martin, but he refused it, having his eyes on Peru, where 268 THE REVOLUTION IN CHILI the viceroy, Abascal, still maintained his authority. The office was then conferred upon General Bernardo O'Hig- gins, the government taking about the form it had under Lastra, save that the revolution from this time meant com- plete independence from Spain. The independence was declared and a provisional constitution announced. Chili, with the exception of Concepcion, Talcahuano and Valdivia, fell during the year completely under the authority of the patriots. One of the first acts of the new government was to des- patch a vessel to the island of Juan Fernandez to bring away patriots banished there by Osorio. Then reprisals began upon the royalists. The energetic Abascal was not long in despatching rein- forcements to Chili upon learning the disastrous rout at Chacabuco ; this he was now the better enabled to do for the reason that he had recently received 3,500 veterans from Spain. This was the latter part of November, 181 7. Marco del Ponte and Maroto had proven themselves inferior generals, and therefore General Osorio was a second time appointed to command the royalist army intended for operations in Chili. San Martin had been making active preparations and getting together an army for the purpose of invading Peru, when Osorio landed at Talcahuano with his army of 3,400 veterans. This was an unexpected move on the part of the viceroy, who, doubtless, intended by it, not only the stamping out of the revolution in Chili, but the protection of Peru from invasion by thus striking a decisive blow at San Martin before he could get together an army and supplies. On the I 2th of February, 18 18, the first anniversary of the battle of Chacabuco, O'Higgins formally declared the THE REVOLUTION IN CHILI. 269 absolute independence of Chili, which had not hitherto been clearly manifest. This he did upon his retirement from the unsuccessful campaign in the south, and it was in the nature of a bold defiance of Osorio. In every city two blank books were opened during a period of fifteen days. In one of these all the citizens signed who favored absolute independence ; in the other those signed who were of the contrary opinion. The first books were filled with names ; the second, nobody signed. Having consulted public opin- ion in this novel manner, O'Higgins solemnly affirmed the act as declaratory of the complete independence of Chili. The royalist army advanced slowly toward the capital, crossing the Maule in the direction of Talca. San Martin moved forward from San Fernando on the 13th of March with his whole army. He moved to defeat. Monteagudo, San Martin's advocate general of the army, was the first to reach the capital, on his way to Mendoza, and tell of the defeat. Great was the consternation. Pa- triots at once began to get together their effects for flight to Mendoza. The contents of the public treasury was packed ready to load upon mules; the streets of the capital were thronged with the equipages of those preparing to depart the country; groups of women were everywhere wringing their hands in grief and terror. The greatest anxiety prevailed, as it was several days before intelligence came of the whereabouts of San Martin. He was at San Fernando and the right wing of the army, consisting of about three thousand men, was with him. The patriots were rapidly reorganized and again met the enemy. On the afternoon of the 3d of April, 1818, Osorio crossed the Maypo and came to the plains, the flanks and rear of his army constantly harassed by parties of patriot cavalry. Skirmishing was kept up during the afternoon of the 3d 270 THE REVOLUTION IN CHILI. and all day die 4th, On the 5th die royalist army took up a position on the brow of a hill; the famous Spanish Burgos regiment occupied the right wing, the Infantos of Don Carlos the left, the Peruvian and Concepcion troops the centre. Four squadrons of dragoons flanked the right, a body of lancers- the left, with a battery placed on a hill still farther to the left. The royalist lines were about a mile in length and confronted by the patriot ranks. The batde began about eleven o'clock by a light cannon- ading from the patriot artillery on the right. . In an hour the action became general. Colonel Blanco Enclada com- manded the artillery, and with this met the enemy's left as it moved down the hill. A charge was made upon the four field-pieces at the left of the royalist lines; these were cap- tured and turned against the foe. The battle raged most fiercely about a farm-house of the Espejo, which place was captured and retaken many times during the day. Until near the close of the day the ad- vantage seemed to be with Osorio, the centre and one wing of his army held the field and the defeat of the patriots seemed certain. On San Martin's left wing the patriots had been able to withstand the Burgos regiment for some time, but the regi- ment of negroes stationed there at last became confused; four hundred of them were lying dead upon the field. The Burgos regiment now attempted to form itself into a square for a decisive charge ; this broke the Spanish lines and threw them into momentary disorder. Colonel O'Brien, a gallant Irishman, commanded here a troop of patriot horse- grenadiers. With them he reinforced the reserves under General Ouintana, which had been ordered to support this wing. Forming rapidly for a charge, O'Brien threw his men so furiously upon the forming regiment of the Burgos U. S. S. "OREGON" HOLDING OFF SPANISH SQUADRON FIGHTING OFF TORPEDO BOATS THE REVOLUTION IN CHILI. 273 that he dispersed it. This regiment was the flower of Osorio's army, and its defeat caused such confusion in the ranks, that the patriots were able to press their foe at all points. The Burgos troops fled to the Espejo farm-house ; Las Heras soon overthrew the left, which also rushed to the Espejo. For awhile the action was kept up in the cen- tre, but with both wings beaten back, this part of the royal army soon gave way and retreated with the rest. The vic- tory was decisive ; half of Osorio's troops were killed and wounded and the rest taken prisoners ; the patriots lost upward of one thousand men. Manuel Rodriguez, who had so gready distinguished himself at San Fernando prior to San Martin's marching over the mountains, and afterward in the capital after the rout of the patriot forces at Talca, was a few days after the battle of Maypo placed under arrest, charged with enter- taining designs against the government of O'Higgins. He was sentenced to banishment, and while on his way to Val- paraiso under guard, was shot by a villain named Navarro, who commanded the escort. The authorities, whether con- niving at this plot or not, were suspected and did not escape censure. The patriots, it would seem, were not slow in adopting Marco del Ponte's methods of raising revenues, both before and after the battle of Maypo. Many of the old Spanish families were robbed and their property delivered up to the public use. Just before the battle of Maypo, it is said that more than five millions of dollars' worth of readily con- vertible property was seized by the patriot government to keep up the military organization, and that subsequent to the battle three millions of dollars' worth was taken in the same way and for the same purpose. A typical scoundel was Bernanides who joined the In- 16 274 THE REVOLUTION IN CHILL dians, pretending to act under Spanish authority, but was a desperado. He disregarded flags of truce, put his prisoners to death most barbarously, murdered unoffending settlers, burned and sacked cities, intrigued with the Carreras, cap- tured British and American vessels, shot the captains and imprisoned the crews, equipped a private vessel and sent it along the coast with instructions to spare no flag and put insurgent crews to death. He was a high-handed free- booter, and, having gathered together three thousand men in the summer of 182 1, even meditated the capture of Santiago and Valparaiso and the conquest of Chili. Colonel Joaquin Prieto was despatched against him in the latter part of 1 82 1, and completely defeated him on the plains of Saldias near Chilian, October 9th. He was then closely followed into Araucania by a force under Captain Manuel Bulnes. His capital, Arauco, was finally taken and burned on the first of February, 1822 ; the bandit himself was taken at Topocalma where he had been obliged to put to shore in a boat for water, being at this time on his way to Peru with his wife and a few companions. Sentence was passed upon him February 21st; he was ordered dragged from the prison in a pannier, tied to the tail of a mule, hanged and his head and hands cut off and placed up on high poles. Chili won her independence on the field of Maypo, and recuperated after the ravages of war with surprising rapidity, equipped a navy and cleared their coast of Spanish war ships. Thus Chili took her place among the nations of the earth. CHAPTER XVII. THE ACHIEVEMENT OF THE INDEPENDENCE OF PERU. The Liberators of Chili Aid the Peruvians in EstabHshing Their Independence — The United Expedition Designated as the " United Liberating Army of Peru" — Capture of the Spanish Frigate Esmi^ralda by the Chihans and the Defeat of the RoyaUsts by the Patriots — San Martin Proclaimed Protector of Peru. The liberators of Chili, after the battle of Maypo, made efforts to aid the capable General San Martin in the inva sion of Peru, an enterprise he had long contemplated. Hancock says : " For two years little had been accomplished save the brilliant exploits of Blanco, Encalada and Lord Cochrane at sea. Spanish war vessels had been secured and put in readiness, Valdivia had been taken ; these achievements cleared the way and enabled the exhausted republics of Chili and Buenos Ayres at last conjointly to prepare for the final denouement in the struggle for South American independence. The government of ChiH now became ac- tive, and the resources of the country were industriously called forth ; troops were collected and drilled ; the execu- tive department was removed to Valparaiso to be able the more effectively to co-operate with San Martin and Lord Cochrane, the former having repaired there with what troops and equipments he had been able to raise at Mendoza, the latter from Valdivia with the fleet. "The difficulty attending this enterprise was stupendous, owing to the poverty of the country. But the unremitting efforts of San Martin and Lord Cochrane went far to remove all obstacles. The expedition was in readiness by the 15th 275 2^6 THE INDEPENDENCE OF PERL. of August, 1820. The navy of Chili was put to active use and transports hired for the occasion. On the i8th the army marched into Valparaiso, and, superintended by Gen- eral Las Heras, embarked from the arsenal. There were 4,400 men, and a corps of supernumerary officers intended for the work of recruiting- in Peru. At Coquimbo five hun- dred more troops were taken aboard. Fifteen thousand stands of arms, with ammunition, clothing and stores, were shipped for the purpose of equipping the patriots of Peru, who, it was expected, would revolt and come to San Mar- tin's standard. San Martin was named commander-in-chief of the troops, who were designated as the " United Liberat- ing Army of Peru." The fleet under Lord Cochrane in- tended for the transportation of this army, consisted of the seven or eight warships of the navy and from fifteen to twenty transports. " On the 13th of August the chiefs of the liberating army had issued a bulletin declaring the purposes of the expedi- tion ; that it was to redeem the land in which slavery had so long existed, and from whence the latest efforts to op- press the whole continent had been made ; to decide whether or not the time had arrived when the influence of South America upon the rest of the world should be commensurate with its extent, its riches and its situation." This expedition was really a joint effort to aid the Na- tionals of Peru to liberty and independence. The fleet was eighteen days on the voyage from Valparaiso to Pisco. Four days after, the army was landed ; the Spanish troops having previously fallen back upon Lima, where the vice- roy intended to concentrate his forces. Colonel Arenales was well acquainted with the country and marched with a strong detachment of one thousand men into the vicinity of Lima, taking up a position east of the city. He was THE INDEPENDENCE OF PERU. 277 some time on the way, crossing the Andes by a circuitous route, and traversing a country filled with royalists. He encountered on the way a strong division of 1,800 of the royalist troops under General O'Reilly, which he cut to pieces and made prisoners. An armistice was agreed upon between San Martin and the viceroy while the liberating army was still in Pisco. Eight days were consumed in diplomatic efforts made by the viceroy, Pezuela, to compro- mise in favor of retaining some of Spain's authority ; but to none of these propositions would San Martin agree, nor would he consent to do anything short of the independence of Peru. The army remained at Pisco until October 26, 1820, when it was again embarked and arrived off Callao on the 29th, Not deeming it advisable to disembark at Callao, which was strongly garrisoned, San Martin proceeded to Ancon, a port a few miles north of Callao, where he remained a few days. In the meantime Cochrane planned an attack upon the Spanish frigate Esmeralda, lying in the harbor of Callao. The harbor was guarded by ex-tensive batteries, and the anchorage by a boom made of spars chained together. The Esmeralda was moored under the guns of the batteries within the boom and surrounded by gunboats. With two hundred and forty volunteers from the different ships, com- manded in divisions by Captains Guise and Crosbie, the attacking force proceeded toward the warship in fourteen boats. At ten o'clock at night the expedition reached the line of gunboats. To the guard's challenge of "Who's there ? " Cochrane presented a pistol and gave him the alternative of "silence or death." Pushing on, the frigate was reached and boarded on all sides by the men in the boats. 2/8 THE INDEPENDENCE OF PERL. The Esmeralda s crew sprang up and defended the vessel obstinately for several moments, but were finally driven into the forecastle, where, after a short resistance, they yielded, but only to rally again upon the deck where a mo- mentary stand was made. But finally the cables were cut, sailors mounted the rigging, and the ship was sailed out of the bay under a heavy fire from the batteries. Of the Esmeralda s crew one hundred and twenty were killed and wounded ; the boarding force lost eleven killed and thirty wounded. This action gave the patriot fleet the undisputed mastery of the coast. San Martin named the Esmeralda Valdivia, in honor of Cochrane, and thenceforth she be- came a Chilian vessel. Following this action the troops at Ancon were again embarked, and on the loth of November landed at Huacho. San Martin's headquarters were then established at Huara, a place a few miles distant from Huacho, and seventy-five miles north of Lima. Lord Cochrane' s brilliant achieve- ments had given so much popularity to the patriot cause, that, shortly afterward, December 3d, the Numancia regi- ment of eight hundred men deserted the viceroy and joined San Martin's army. Guayaquil and Truxillo declared for the patriot cause, which practically gave independence to all Lower Peru, save only the capital, and even in the latter the cause of the viceroy was daily losing ground. With the exception of an advance made to within three leagues of the capital, San Martin preferred to maintain an inactive and conciliatory policy for the following six months, to the great disgust of Lord Cochrane and some others of the more spirited officers. The port of Callao was blockaded, by which means the patriots hoped to re- duce the inhabitants of the capital to submission by keep- THE INDEPENDENCE OF PERh. 279 ing supplies cut off; in the end this plan had the desired result. An armistice, which continued two months, had been sought by the viceroy, and for the reason that the capital was reduced to extremities by a scarcity of provisions. No agreement was reached, as San Martin would consent to nothing short of complete independence, and it soon be- came apparent that the Spaniards were about to abandon the capital to the patriots and retire to the interior. On the 6th of July, 1821, the royalist authorities did quit the city and retire by way of Xauxa to Cuzco ; on the 12th San Martin entered, his troops having taken possession the night before. On the 28th of July, 182 1, the independence of Peru was proclaimed by San Martin, and "Viva La Patria ! " "Viva La Libertad ! " and " Viva San Martin ! " were shouted by the people who assembled in the great square to listen to San Martin, who spoke to them from an elevated stage. The same people were shouting " Viva San Martin " who a day or two before had rushed out in a mad rout and fright, fearing that the general, if not " El Diablo," as they styled Lord Cochrane, was at least an invader who would sack the city. On the 3d of August, San Martin assumed the reins of government, gave himself the title of " Protector of Peru," and issued a proclamation, declaring the supreme political and military authority vested provisionally in himself, while a new government was formed with Juan Garcia del Rio as secretary of state, Don Bernardo Monteagudo, minister of war, Don Hypolito Unanue, minister of finance. Henceforth San Martin held himself no longer an officer of Chili, ceased to transmit bulletins to Valparaiso, and conducted himself in all respects as though the recognized 28o THE INDEPENDENCE OE PERL. head of an independent state. From this time his opera- tions in Peru can hardly be deemed a part of Chihan his- tory. On the loth of September, the Spanish army under General Catatrac returned from the interior, and, marching past Lima, entered Callao. San Martin forebore to inter- fere with the royalist troops, believing that they would but hasten the fall of Callao by diminishing the provisions. This proved to be the outcome ; after a short stay, Canta- trac withdrew his troops, carrying off the treasure deposited in Callao castle and the stronghold was surrendered to the patriots. The protector remained inactive at Lima until May of the following year when he despatched two expeditions against the royalists at different places and totally de- stroyed them. Next he directed his attention to obtaining possession of Guayaquil, which, with its fine harbor, arsenal, dockyard and province, he desired to attach to Peru. General Boli- var, in Colombia, was also looking in that direction ; he had successfully invaded Quito and was now marching toward Guayaquil with the intention of occupying it. San Martin was hindered by difficulties at home, and was anticipated by General Sucre, who, acting for Bolivar, took possession of Guayaquil. San Martin determined to have an inter- view with Bolivar, but he got little satisfaction as the latter treated him with considerable hauteur. The chiefs were brother patriots and liberators, but even patriots may feel some degree of jealousy and a spirit of rivalry. While San Martin was absent on this diplomatic mission the people of Lima forcibly deposed Monteagudo. The wily minister, fearing the vengeance of the people, hastened aboard a vessel and was conveyed to Panama. The su- THE INDEPENDENCE OF PERL. 28 1 preme delegate, Torre Tagle, who conducted the affairs of the government in the absence of San Martin, suppHed the place of Monteagudo with a temporary junta; this body immediately summoned a national congress, taking advan- tage, perhaps, of San Martin's absence. At any rate, the protector was deeply chagrined when he returned from the north and found a congress holding secret sessions at the capital. Surrounded by difficulties with a rival at the north, disaffection among the patriots and intrigues among the royalists, San Martin on the 20th of September, 1822, re- signed his authority in an able and patriotic address. He perceived that his day was a thing of the past in Peru, and was politic enough to lay down his authority in time. He returned to Buenos Ayres, stopping a short time at Val- paraiso. In 1823 he sailed for England. He died at Bou- logne on the 17th of August, 1850, aged seventy-two years. Peru's subsequent efforts to maintain her independence were not successful until General Bolivar achieved that result in the battle of Xauxa, August 6th, 1824, and finally, in the decisive battle of Ayachuco, December 9, 1824. The prosecution of war had not prevented O'Higgins attending to other interests of the young republic of Chili. He restored the public library in Santiago and the nadonal university which had been suppressed by the royalists; he created a military academy, prohibited the unhealthy prac- tice of burying the dead in the churches, founded the first cemeteries, constructed markets and boulevards [paseos), particularly the paseos in the Canada of Santiago, which until then were filled with rubbish. He gave freedom of commerce which led to a new impetus in trade, protected foreigners and promoted agricultural interests. The ancient Maypo canal was completed, and the water obtained from this for irrigadng purposes made green fields of the sterile 282 THE INDEPENDENCE OF PERU. plains. Don Domingo Eyzaguirre engaged actively in promoting the completion of this work, and afterward founded a town upon the plain which he called Bernardo in honor of O'Higgins. O'Higgins managed Chili fairly well with the slender means at his disposal, for the revenues of the State were small and inadequate. In the last year of his administration it was found necessary to negotiate a loan in London of ^5,000,- 000, and Don Antonio Jose de Irizarri was sent there for that purpose. He obtained the money and thus began Chili's foreign debt. In effect, Bernardo O'Higgins was absolute king of Chili, governing without a constitution, laws or congress, though he himself desired the formation of a federation with a constitution. Despite his splendid services to the state his dictatorial position retarded the organization of a constitutional government. There was opposition to this centralized form of government, but while the war lasted O'Higgins was able to keep the power, aided by the active influence of San Martin, the army, and in- triguers who do not reflect much credit upon their superiors. The Carreras and Manuel Rodriguez fell victims to these intrigues, but in the end the advocates of constitutional and representative government forced O'Higgins to abdicate. General O'Higgins was given an estate by the Peruvian government ; there he passed the remainder of his days, dying at Lima in 1842, eight years before San Martin died in France. CHAPTER XVIII. THE INDEPENDENCE OF PARAGUAY. How De Francia Became Dictator of Paraguay-Paraguay the First South American State to Declare its Entire and Absolute Independence-The Declaration of Independence. The famous De Francia, who became the Dictator of Paraguay when ceasing- to be a dependency of Spain, took no part in the revokition and was not a poHtician before he gained power. Washburn's "History of Paraguay" characterizes him in these terms : " His inordinate vanity had been continually chafed at seeing the Spaniards holding most of the more important and responsible offices, while he, the star-gazer, who could read French, and could solve a problem in algebra, and had even gone as far in geometry as the pons asinortmi, had never risen above a simple alcalde or municipal judge He had been opposed to the revolution in Buenos Ayres." Dr. Smollers speaking of the way Francia became a member of the junta, says : "I proposed a junta of three, and that Cabellero should be the president until the arrival of Fulgencio Yegros whose brother Tomas was charged to make public this act,' and I proposed that Dr. Francia should be one of this junta He was the only Paraguayan that could direct them. My proposal was generally reprobated; the officers knew he had been opposed to the revolution in Buenos Ayres- but I, who in a meeting called by Velasco the year before, had heard him express the opinion that the Spanish govern- ment had fallen, tried to persuade these officials of their 283 284 THE INDEPENDENCE OF PA RAG LAY. mistake, and in support of my opinion I referred to the Padre Fernando Caballero, a pious Franciscan, respected for his age and for the ecclesiastical sway that he held with his order. He was in Buenos Ayres the 25th of May (the day of the revolution there), after that he came to Asun- cion, and had advocated the justice of the cause ; most of the revolutionary officials knew him, and had conferred with him. His judgment upon the part to which Dr. Francia was inclined, notwithstanding the relationship that existed between him and the doctor, would suffice to remove their doubts, and I proposed that we should consult the Padre Caballero. They agreed with me, and I arranged that he should come to their quarters. Whilst awaiting the arrival of Padre Caballero, that part of the work directed to the government junta at Buenos Ayres was attended to, and Don Jose de Maria was ordered to prepare to start in the morning for Corrientes in a canoe, as soon as the projected junta should be formed. It was at this moment when Padre Caballero arrived, and he then gave in expressive terms his felicitations to the revolutionists. I impressed upon him what we thought of doing and spoke of the little se- curity we had in regard to the views of Dr. Francia. His answer was : ' I answer with my blood for the views [modo de pcnsar') of my sobrino (nephew) Caspar.' This tran- quilized the officials, and they agreed that the place which I had proposed should be given to Dr. Francia. He was then in his country house at Ibrai, some four leagues dis- tant from the capital, where he had established his residence a year before. I had not seen him since June of the pre- vious year. So I wrote a brief note to Francia, giving him notice of what was done, and I called upon him with urgency that he should take the direction of affairs. I hastened the coming of Francia, because all my desire was to free my- THE INDEPENDENCE OF PARAGUAY. 285 self from the compromises I had made, and return with my family to Buenos Ayres. At eight in the morning of the 15th of May, Dr. Francia had arrived at the cuartel. I in- formed him quickly of what had transpired, and of the state in which the business was, and of the despatch of a messenger to Buenos Ayres." Thus Francia was named a member of the first junta, for the reason that he alone of all the Paraguayans in Asuncion had sufficient education and knowledge of forms to organize into working order the improvised government. Somellera was a foreigner, and, besides, he wished to return to his home in Buenos Ayres. There was one other man in the country deemed fit for the task. Dr. Don Jose M. Baiz, who was not obnoxious to the suspicion of being op- posed to the revolution; but he was a son-in-law of Espinola, the detested confidant and agent of Velasco's predecessor in the governorship, and the same who had been so un- wisely sent by the Junta at Buenos Ayres to persuade the Paraguayans to follow their example. But a greater, and indeed an insuperable, objection to making him a member of the junta, instead of Francia, was the fact that he was not at the moment in the capital. He was in Concepcion, some three hundred miles away, and there was no time to be lost. Francia was accordingly called in, and the Junta was made up. The first act was to call a Congress, which was done on the following day, the i6th of May. This Congress could have little formality and less authority, and was composed of such persons as were invited by the junta, of which Francia was the scribe and working member to attend ; and it was called only to determine the form and character of the new government. This Congress, or, as it might more properly be called, informal assembly, met on the 17th of June, and adjourned on the 20th, during which SPANISH COLONIES ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO. The dark portion gives the extent of Spanish possessions in America. THE SPANISH COLONIES TO-DAY. The small dark portions (Cuba and Porto Rico) show Spanish possessions in America. 287 288 THE INDEPENDENCE OF PARAGUAY. time a plan of government that had been prepared by Francia was submitted, and of course approved. Accord- ing to this plan, the junta was to consist of five members, including a secretary. Yegros was named president, and the other members were the commander of the troops, Caballero, a priest by the name of Bogardin, Dr. Francia and Don Fernando Mora. The last was named secre- tary. The term of their authority was limited to five years. This Congress issued a declaration of independence, which independence the country has maintained ever since. Buenos Ayres, though it had deposed the Viceroy and set up a government of its own, was yet looking for a sovereign to be sent to it from Europe. Paraguay was accordingly the first of the South American States to declare its entire and absolute independence. The declaration was to this effect : " I St. That Paraguay should govern itself without inter- vention from Buenos Ayres, proclaiming by that act the Paraguayan independence. •*2d. That, notwithstanding, it should preserve good rela- tions with that province and send deputies to the general Congress. " 3d. That the custom-house duties should be regularly administered, and that the monopoly of tobacco should be suppressed. •' 4th. That in no case should the laws or resolutions of the Congress of Buenos Ayres be binding on Paraguay, without being first approved by the Paraguayan general assembly." This declaration, with such scanty outlines of organic law, having been approved by the Congress, it adjourned. Everything had been done conformably with Francia's sug- ASCENSION OF A WAR BALLOON. THE INDEPENDENCE OF PARAGUAY. 29 1 gestions, and thus the government was inaugurated. Dr. Somellera's narrative continues : " On the evening of the day of the adjournment of Con- gress the aspect of affairs was changed. Francia had labored with his colleagues, and already the proposed jour- ney of Don Jose de Maria to Buenos Ayres was reconsid- ered, and it was determined that Don Jose Tomas Yegros should go in the character of envoy to represent the Junta as soon as all should be arranged ; then I began to observe a certain briskness {despejo) in Francia. From my first arrival in Paraguay we had treated each other with frank- ness and friendship. During the years 1808 and 1809 he had visited me daily. In the former of these years he had been alcalde of the first grade, and in the latter I had labored that he might be x\^vci^A sindico procurador (state attorney), and I tried to persuade him to accept the office. We gave each other the title of companero, from having been educated, both of us, in the college of Monserrat in Cordova. This evening I wondered at the ceremony with which he treated me; but I never suspected the extremity to which matters had arrived. On the morning of the i6th, Caballero sent to call me ; I found him with Iturbe and other officers ; Francia had retired to his house ; the call of Caballero was to give me a satisfactory explanation for the detention of the despatch to Buenos Ayres as had been agreed upon at daylight the morning before. A little later Francia returned, and he could not dissemble his displeasure at seeing me there with the officers. We went on telling some anecdotes of the night of the 14th that pleased Francia. At my retiring, he spoke to me very particularly. We crossed over the yard to the door of the cuartel, and in this transit he told me it was necessary that each one should serve his country; that I had not failed in Paraguay, and 17 292 THE INDEPENDENCE OF PARAGUAY. would be of much service in my own country. I answered him that for what I had done in these times all was with the same idea, and that I thought of going to Buenos Ayres with my family as soon as the river should be free. This innuendo worked, as it was intended, its effects. I did not return to enter the cuartel for a month, when I was carried there. I tried to isolate myself, notwithstanding which some of the officers visited me; they did not know the evil they were doing me." None but the officers, however, were permitted to see him. He was shut up in a small room by himself, and not allowed to communicate with his family. Washburn says : "This was the treatment that Somellera received at the hands of Francia so soon as he had the power to inflict it. Being a man of intelligence, the people might in their ex- tremities look to him for counsel and advice, and this would interfere with Francia's plans for immediate and absolute power. He was, therefore, put out of the way. But he was not alone in receiving such flattering attentions from Francia. "In the same cuartel," Somorella adds, " the members of the cabildo that had been displaced by the revolution were also prisoners. This was one of the things that mortified me most, to see myself a prisoner with those over whom I had just triumphed, and shut up with them in the very place of triumph." Of the native people Washburn says the most intelli- gent of them "were mere children in all matters of a poli- tical character. They knew little but implicit obedience, and never having had any contact with other people or other nations, they were just in a fit condition to become the willing tools of the strongest man that should arise among themselves. Had they gained their independence THE INDEPENDENCE OF PARAGUAY. 293 after a long struggle with a foreign enemy, the war must have brought out some men of courage and capacity, and have given the common people an idea that there might be a power independent of, and apart from the central govern- ment at Asuncion. The revolution itself was the work of a foreigner. He knew that the people were tired of paying tribute to Spain, and that, once the government being changed, they would pay the same respect and deference to the new one as to the old. But how to organize a gov- ernment on a new plan out of the materials at hand was the difficulty that presented itself to Dr. Somellera, after he had succeeded in the overthrow of his chief. Governor Velasco. With no disposition to violence, the people, from the utter lack of all practical knowledge, were on a sea of anarchy. As the deposed governor had been exceedingly popular, there was no feeling of resentment towards anybody in the country, Somellera, as a matter of necessity, took the initiatory steps toward establishing some sort of author- ity, and appears to have followed the course that had been taken in Buenos Ayres. This was to establish a junta. The only real power now left in the capital was in the hands of the military, of which Caballero was military commander. It was with his connivance that Somellera effected the revo- lution, and he was named for president of the junta. Som- ellera himself seems to have had no personal ambition to gratify, and to have been actuated solely by a desire to see the country liberated. He has himself given an account of the part he took at that critical time, in a review that he wrote of the work of Rengger and Longchamp. In this review, which he professes is to correct some errors into which the Swiss doctors had fallen by receiving Dr. Fran- cia's own words as true, he gives from his own knowledge the history of those times which both Rengger and Robert- 294 ^-^^ INDEPENDENCE OF PARAGUAY. son received at second-hand. He severely criticises many of the statements of Dr. Rengger, and, though giving him credit for a sincere intention to tell the exact truth, he believes that his book is altogether too favorable to Francia." Questions are always raised about a people struggling to be free by those who are of the opinion that they are in the enjoyment of free government and themselves the governors, whether they are capable of governing them- selves. There are no people who are not better capable of self-government than others are of governing them. Washburn says: "The independence of Paraguay had been achieved too easily ; the people were unfit to form a government for themselves, after having thrown off one that greatly oppressed them." It is true, doubtless, that strength is found in suffering. CHAPTER XIX. THE BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA IN OUR WAR WITH MEXICO. The Honor of the Arms of Mexico. — Mexican Account of Buena Vista. — A Splendidly Told Story That Gives the American Troops Full Credit. — Santa Anna's Terrible Retreat. In no war, not even in the great war of the Sections and States of the United States, did American valor shine more brilliantly, and was the capacity of our commanders more in evidence, than in the war with Mexico, which began on the Rio Grande and was ended at the City of Mexico. The habit of our historians of disparaging the Mexican soldiery and discrediting the capacity of Santa Anna, because he was made a prisoner of war in Texas, has diminished un- fairly and most unwisely the credit due our small armies and their great leaders, for their splendid and surprising achievements. The Mexican armies did not lose honor, though they suf- fered defeat at Buena Vista and Cerro Gordo, to say noth- ing of Cherubusco, Contreras and Chapultepec. The glory won by American soldiers is only enhanced by the conces- sion, according to the truth of history, of the manly qualities of the enemy they overcame, and those enemies are now our friends and co-operate with us in good works and com- pete with us in progressive civilization. It is not only due to historical truth, but it is consonant with American states- manship of Continental bearing, to give the Mexicans due consideration for the vigor and fortitude with which they resisted us at Monterey and Vera Cruz, in the midst of the mountains and at the gates of the City of Mexico. 295 296 THE BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA. General Scott, charged with a direct movement upon the Mexican capital, drew from General Taylor, whose base was on the Rio Grande; and Santa Anna advanced, expect- ing to crush Taylor, hoping to beat him conclusively and, returning, to check Scott. His movement was excellently planned, but failed of execution, largely owing to the hard- ships of the Mexican army in its arduous advance that was halted at Buena Vista. In a Mexican account of this move- ment there is this striking picture, worthy of memory. " The night was passed in the gate of Carnero. There were the light corps, the Hussars, and the other troops in the midst of a plantation of palm trees. • In the night,' relates an eye-witness in a periodical of the capital, ' the cold was intense, beyond description, and the army shiver- ing, by an instinct almost of desperation set fire to different points in the groves of palms. The flame increased its volume, and an ocean of fire suddenly sprang up with its awful waves in the midst of the heavens. The spectacle was imposing and sublime. By the light the soldiers were seen half dead with cold, looking like an army of lifeless bodies.' "On the 2 2d the march was resumed. General Santa Anna on horseback presented himself to the troops and aroused their spirits. He proceeded to the advance guard, whose enthusiasm was at the highest pitch. Information was soon received that the Americans, who it was believed would defend the post of Aguanueva, had abandoned that hacienda, after having given it to the flames. " As soon as Santa Anna had become certain of this fact, he rode hastily to Aguanueva with his staff and the Hussars. Having come there, he resolved at once to follow up the enemy, and ordered the cavalry to the front. They imme- diately obeyed, and while the divisions of the infantry halted THE BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA. 297 to provide themselves with water, the cavalry passed with- out one man stopping to drink a drop, although alJ were fatigued, without food and burning with thirst. In passing the hacienda they turned their wistful looks to the well which reanimated, with its crystal waters; but submissive to the voice of duty, they went on together without leaving the ranks." This showed devotion and discipline, but was not a good preparation for batde. The fortunes of the day might have been changed if the cavalry rushing to combat, with the hardest work before them, had paused to partake of the " Crystal Waters." "A litde further on they came up with the enemy on the field of batde, known by the narae of the Angostura.'^ The ground which had to be passed over was formed of exten- sive and broad plains, in which it would not have been pos- sible to resist the vigorous attack of our troops, especially of our invincible cavalry. But where the enemy had halted to give battle, two successive series of hills and barrancas began, which formed a position truly formidable. Each hill was fordfied with a battery, and ready to deal its mur- derous fire upon any attempdng to take it. The position presenting serious obstacles to an attack manifested very plainly that for the Mexicans to gain a victory they would have to sustain a heavy loss in men. As soon as the cavalry arrived at Encantada, where they came in contact with the enemy, the firing of light arms commenced. The general-in-chief immediately ordered the infantry to accelerate their speed by marching in double- quick dme. When this was effected, notwithstanding the troops being exhausted, they were pushed forward to the Angostura, which thus made the day's tramp in all some * The Mexican name for Buena Vista. 298 THE BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA. twelve leagues. The fatigue alone killed several soldiers, who remained stretched upon the road. When the infantry came up, the brigade of General Mejia took a position to the left in the cornfields, and was supported by a corps of cavalry. The remainder of the infantry being placed upon the right, formed in two lines, with sufficient reserves and batteries. The brigade of cavalry were halted in the rear. " The General-in-chief directed Ampudia to occupy, with the light corps, a mountain that had remained abandoned on our right, and which was extremely important to decid- ing the action. These troops moved toward the position, and General Taylor at the same time perceived the mistake he had made. In order to retrieve his error, he sent a re- spectable force in the same direction in hopes to anticipate our reaching the point. The two divisions approached each other, and knowing that the occupation of the mountain would not now be an easy undertaking, and that it would belong to the victor, they opened their fire and joined in a fierce struggle. Besides the opposition of the enemy, this eminence in itself presented weighty obstacles. The ascent was almost perpendicular, and consequently to take the position presented painful difficulties, making it necessary to adopt a thousand expedients to overcome them." The action was prolonged with animation, and when the night had completely closed in, the result was still very doubtful. The light corps fought courageously, and the other part of the army, simply spectators of the batde, fol- lowed with their eyes, the direction of the fires, anxious be- tween doubt and hope. " As soon as it was dark," con- tinues the account before quoted, "the scene was magnifi- cent. A cloud of fire was seen, in fact, floating in the skies, which increased or diminished as the enemy gained or lost ground." At last the Americans gave way, their soldiers 777^ BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA. 299 retreated, and ours scaled a summit as desperately defended as intrepidly won. . " For the balance of the night they bivouacked in front of the enemy. It had rained, the cold was intense, and to make fires was not proper, as all lights had been prohibited in the camp. The greater portion of the army awaited the action, indifferent and tranquil, as if death were not ringing in sounds about their heads. Meanwhile some officers watched, oppressed with reflections which prevail on the eve of a great battle. " The 23d commenced, and the first dawn of that ever memorable day was saluted by martial strains from all the corps. General Santa Anna was now on his horse giving directions. The fire of the cannon opened and the troops took their positions, and the brigade of General Mejia passed from the left to the right of the road. The batde soon after became general, and as there was no time to pre- pare food, the soldiers fought all day without eating, " The action began at the mountain gained in the evening, where the enemy now contended with our light corps with- out success. Between seven and eight in the morning the General-in-chief gave the order to charge. All the troops now advanced, moving in a parallel line of battle. Along the road moved forward, a column under the orders of General Blanco (D. Santiago), composed of the battalions of sappers, the mixed troops of Tampico, and the Fijo de Mexico, their left being supported by the Hussars. To the right of this column was the division of Lombardini, forming the centre, and at his side was that of Pacheco. A little further back still to the right, serving as a reserve, followed that of General Ortega. General Ampudia, with the light corps, reinforced by the Fourth of the line, continued fighting with the American force at the foot of the mountain. 300 THE BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA. " The line of the enemy was oblique, therefore, when our army marched in line parallel, as we have said, the column on the road received a destructive fire from cannon, while the other divisions were yet distant from the Americans. However, it was not disconcerted, and the soldiers fearlessly rushed forward, closing up the gaps which the balls opened in their ranks, with musket to the shoulder, and desiring to come to the bayonet to avenge their slain comrades, sacri- ficed with impunity. But General Santa Anna perceiving the slaughter ordered a halt, sheltering them behind a slight undulation which shut out the enemy's fire. " In the meanwhile the divisions of Lombardini and Pa- checo had debouched and were at the points contested. When the action began Lombardini received a dangerous wound which caused him to retire, and the command de- volved upon General Perez. The troops of General Pa- checo, almost entirely raw recruits, were shaken and soon drew back, pressed by the unerring fire which they received in the front, and a fierce attack in their flank which effectually threw them into disorder. The dispersion was general. In vain Pacheco, with a valor worthy of eulogy, endeavored to hold his men, who never halted until they reached the last ranks. The enemy, desirous of improving their advantage, hastened to complete the victory and ad- vanced with intrepidity. But the division of General Perez calmly and steadily made a change of front to the right, and obliged them to retire. This skillful movement was sec- onded by a battery of eight, of which Captain Ballarta had charge, and which Santa Anna had placed under the orders of the serene General Michaeltorena. The fire from these pieces occasioned a considerable loss to the Americans. Each discharge was effective from the short distance at which they fought, being only that of a small hill. The THE BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA. 301 enemy who had dreamed for a moment of victory retired routed, leaving the field covered with bodies, the brave mixed up on both sides who had fallen in this bloody con- flict. " The ardor had been great with all who had been engaged. Now our soldiers, ascending the hill, charged with the bayo- net, now descending the barranca closed with the enemy, and again climbing up without ceasing to fight, and again turned like an avalanche from above headlong to the bot- tom. Thus they gained and lost ground, and thus at last they remained masters of the place, achieved by such heroic efforts. The triumph would at that instant have been com- plete if the cavalry had been at hand to dash upon the broken remains of the conquered forces. Unfortunately, this was at a distance, and when it came up it met them already re-formed. But it charged with boldness under the direction of the valiant General Juvera. All did their duty, and General D. Angel Guzman, colonel of the regiment of Morelia, distinguished himself in a special manner, pursuing the enemy to the hacienda of Buena Vista. Part of the cavalry followed so far in the chase that to return to our camp they had to take the rear of Taylor's troops and pass out by the left of the position. " In the first battle, to which we have referred, the Mexi- cans had conquered. But the advantages which the ground afforded to the enemy required continued efforts, and not one victory, but many. Rallying the troops upon the top of a hill, they at once re-formed them, and it was necessary to proceed by taking hill after hill. The column which we had left upon the road, sheltered by the unevenness of the ground, came now to form the reserve of the line. Our troops ad- vanced in good order ; the battery of General Michael- torena alone, which played upon our side, destroyed the 302 THE BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA. enemy, and it came to the bayonet, with the soldiers figrht- ing hand-to-hand. For the second time our brave men conquered. The Americans ralhed on the next hill-top, leaving for a trophy one piece of cannon and three flags. " At this time some persons, for a parley, presented them- selves to theGeneral-in-chief, intimating for him to surrender. Santa Anna answered with dignity, and refused to accede to so original a request. We should have passed over this incident in silence, as unimportant, if it were not for the fact that the envoy of this parley communicated that Gene- ral Taylor was under the impression that Santa Anna had sent another to him, and that officer has so certified in his official report. To clear up the affair, we will explain in what this mistake consisted. " At the second charge of our troops, a lieutenant, D. Jose Maria Montoya, who was in the front rank, became mixed up with the Americans. Seeing himself alone, and not desiring to be killed or taken prisoner, he availed him- self of a stratagem to feign a parley, whereby he was carried into the presence of General Taylor. This was followed by his returning to our camp accompanied by two officers of their army, to have an interview with General Santa Anna. But Montoya, who had his reasons for not presenting himself, separated from the commissioners, who fulfilled their instructions." * * This personal anecdote does not embellish the text, nor does it seem to have been introduced for that purpose, but only to create the im.pression that Santa Anna had not summoned Taylor to surrender, but that Taylor had, on the contrary, summoned him. On the 22d at ii o'clock in the morning the- American General received a written communication from Santa Anna inform- ing him that he was surrounded by 20,000 Mexican troops, and demanding him to surrender. This note was soon after answered in another dechningto do so, and which was carried to the Mexican headquarters. The correspondence is still preserved among the official papers of the American staff. The story of Jose Montoya may be true in substance, for Taylor on the 23d THE BATTLE OE BUENA VISTA. 303 "After the second combat, which was in the morning between ten and eleven, a hght drizzhng rain fell. Our troops now took some rest and at twelve returned to march again upon the positions of the enemy. The sap- pers and other corps who were in reserve having, at this time, already turned to engage in the battle. General Taylor believed our left was weak. He therefore advanced some forces in that direction, who met with an unconquer- able resistance. The brigade of Torrejon charged upon them, and they lost many officers and soldiers. The action became general ; our line advanced ; the light corps, who in the course of the battle had made the troops which they met give way, were now at the very extreme end of the brow of a hill, closed with the enemy. Again the affray became desperate, the dead and wounded increased on both sides ; the one attacked gallantly, the other defended bravely; none yielded; the combat was prolonged for whole hours, and at the end, only after unheard-of efforts, did they succeed in forcing the enemy to their last position. Two more of their pieces and a field forge fell into our hands. did receive a verbal message from the Mexicans, purporting to come from their headquarters. He, therefore, sent General Wool to learn what was wanted, and stopped firing, but that officer, as General Taylor says, " upon reaching the Mexican lines could not cause the enemy to cease their fire, and accordingly returned without having an interview." Montoya is a young man of excellent manners, of some scientific acquire- ments, of good character, and conversant with the French, but not the English language. He is now employed in the ofifice of topography and statistics in the war department of Mexico. There are many reasons for believing his statement to be veracious. Yet no one will imagine that a summons for a sur- render to General Taylor was absurdly answered by the same demand in return being made of Santa Anna. The whole subject of the text is to insin- uate the belief that the respective forces were so nearly equal in numbers, that the American General entered the action flushed with the most sanguine antici- pations. General Taylor had no more thought of summoning Santa Anna to surrender than he had of sendmg him a challenge to single combat. 304 THE BATTLE OF DUENA VISTA. " At this time there came on a heavy shower of rain, and the troops, dead with fatigue, halted. Taylor, having tenaciously receded from hill to hill and losing each, after an obstinate resistance, prepared to make his final stand before yielding the palm of victory. But the battle had ceased ; the charge feebly made was the last stroke of our forces. The enemy did not believe themselves routed, for so well had they lost their positions, except one, which was sufficient still to present a hostile attitude, that they feigned the glory of having conquered. On our part the army was proclaimed victorious, alleging in proof the trophies captured, the positions taken, and the divisions vanquished. The truth is, our arms routed the Americans in all the encounters, and so far the issue of the battle was favorable to us. There had been three partial triumphs, but not a complete victory. " We have done no more than to explain the movements of the army as a whole, omitting strokes of valor and pa- triotism, which could not be inserted in this narrative. Upon the whole, however, we must say in general, that to the many persons whose conduct has been eulogized with justice, there are more who merit equally the estimation of their fellow-citizens. It was seen that various chiefs of corps took their flags in hand, led on their soldiers to ac- tion, and occupied the posts of the greatest danger. The officers behaved with dignity and proper deportment. The valor of the troops has extorted praise, even from the very enemy, who have only spoken ill of some generals, alleging that if all had imitated the example of the subordinates, the issue of the battle would have been decided in our favor. " General Santa Anna has not been embraced in this ac- cusation, Friends and enemies have recognized the valor THE BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA. 305 with which he constantly braved the fire. It is to be re- gretted his combinations did not correspond with his gallantry, that his errors dim the splendor of his merits, and that while it is painful to blame his conduct as a gen- eral, it is also pleasing to praise his courage as a soldier. "The batde of Angostura had ended. The columns, masters of the field of acdon, .received the unexpected order to stop fighdng and redre at sundown to Aguanueva. There they met with provisions and supplies so much needed, and which were wandng in the place where they had fought. The drawing off commenced with the ardl- lery, trains and wagons, followed by the different brigades and corps. General Torrejon, with the third brigade, com- posed of the 3d, 7th, and 8th regiments, and the acdve of Guanajuato, remained, charged with the duty of passing the night on the field and of making fires over the whole extent to deceive the enemy. " Our soldiers had displayed a valor worthy of a better fate ; they had rushed boldly upon the enemy, crossing barrancas, ascending hills, and throwing themselves on the American batteries, which swept their ranks. They had fallen killed, or wounded, and with their last breath had shouted ' Viva Republica.' Thus fighdng in a cause less just, were those men endeared to the grand army, which the captain of the age commanded, who, falling in battle, sent forth in their agony no other cries than 'Vive la France,' ' Vive I'Empereur.' " Those whose wounds were slight were carried half a league from the batdefield, and there, with the pure atmos- phere, with some few appliances, and with limited and in- sufficient medical supplies, cures were effected. Such was the surgical hospital, in which might be seen the chiefs of the higrhest distincdon and rank down to the most 3o6 THE BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA. miserable soldiers. These unfortunates had not learned even the fate reserved for them ; they did not know that death would have been for many a less mournful evil and an enviable destiny. " In taking the road for Aguanueva a scene of horror was presented which moved the hearts of those who had braved danger with serenity during the most critical mo- ments of the combat. The wounded were upwards of 800 in number, and the means of transportation at their dis- posal were too few to permit all being removed. It was im- perative, therefore, to leave a portion to their unhappy fate. These men, abandoned on a desert, steeped in their blood, shivering with cold, parched with thirst, without medical stores, without shelter, without food, saw their companions disappear, bearing with them all life and hope ; and then was depicted on their livid countenances the appalling calmness of despair. In sight, already, might be viewed the jackals and dogs, who waited for the moment when they might begin their frightful banquet. Those who, more fortunate, could escape the horror of that night, had, in the future, one less cruel. They counted upon the sympathy of the enemy, and it is due to justice to say that they complied with the laws of war and the dictates of hu- manity. " On our side, they who had retired could not but feel a vivid grief for the wounded who had been abandoned. Many saw among them relations and friends from whom they were separating forever, and without the power more- over of paying them the last tribute of affection, leaving the buzzards to gorge upon their dead bodies. To com- plete the catalogue of misfortunes, this was not the last pain suffered on the night of the 25th, and which will fill a page of woe in our military festivals. |H|B,S||i I'Jl 1 ': Wm ililj': i ' i \ ^H, pliHi| Ifi' :';,i i ai i 1 II 1 1 i_3'"' ^' • ^'' '■'■<' 11 1 V ^^^^^^^^■* ' faHW HI ■ (l ' tH II } 11 1 ' .^p flul i THE BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA. 309 " The retreat had begun at sundown, but the army, which now formed a confused mass, marched slowly, the brigades embarrassing each other, and advancing with diffi- culty. Although the battle ground was not more than four leagues distant from Aguanueva, the advance only reached there at ten o'clock at night. This hacienda which the Americans, on retiring, had fired, even now was burn- ing when our troops returned. On one side of the road was a slimy, stagnant pond, into which the soldiers plunged, dying with thirst. But the water, instead of refreshing, only served to open the grave ; since scarcely had they tasted it, when they expired in frightful convulsions. The few wounded who had got back to this place, and many who came worn out, but not hurt, died in this manner, and their blood, mixing with the scum upon the pool made the drinking intolerable. Yet there was no water to ap- pease the burning thirst of the troops, and there were not wanting, some, who touched their lips with this unclean, dis- gusting, and baneful liquid. " Soon the sight of the dead bodies, the death rattle of the dying, the moaning of the wounded, and the cursing of all, added new griefs to the spirits already sad with so many sufferings. The spectacle presented to view infused the most painful misery; the walking over the dead, and the trampling upon those who had not yet breathed their last." This is a most interesting account of the famous battle. Few Americans have seen a Mexican account of the com- bat. The testimony of the historian we quote is as flatter- ing to the quality of our soldiers, as we could wish, and the fact that the Mexicans fought well was long since conceded, but rarely, if ever, related so effectively as here. The Story of the Retreat shows the extent of the American vic- tory and the Mexican misfortune. 18 ^lO THE BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA. The retreat of the Mexican army is told with picturesque effect by Albert Ramsey, from Mexican accounts. " The wagons and trains blocked up the road, the pack animals stumbled at every step. The saddle horses and draught mules, fatigued, and without anything to eat, could scarely move. All was confusion, all wretched, and all en- during privations. At least, on the field of battle, the night, with its protecting shades, covered half the disasters; but in Aguanueva the picture of horror of the retreat was revealed in all its deformity, illuminated by the reddish glare of the burning pile, which mingled with the pale rays of the yellow and cheerless moon. At dawn of day on the 24th the call beat; that warlike sound reanimated the troops, dissipating the depression on their minds in seeing how few had survived their toils and labors. The review which was ordered exhibited the immense loss of the army, caused not so much by those who fell in action, as by the dispersion of the night ; a dispersion which continued on the subsequent days." Presently there was reorganization, and while this was being done, three American officers arrived, in the character of commissioners. Conducted into the presence of the General-in-chief, they explained that our wounded had been collected and sent to Saltillo, where they would receive careful attention. They made, in the name of General Taylor, a high-flown eulogium upon the valor displayed by our troops in battle, and offered refreshments and provi- sions, which we knew were scarce in camp. They proposed ultimately an agreement for the suspension of arms and for terminating the differences existing between the two nations. General Santa Anna answered, and thanked them for what was due, such as the meritorious deportment observed to the wounded, as well as for the generous offer THE BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA. 311 they had made ; but he could not entertain the proposition, let alone enter into a convention, not being authorized by the Government, and, moreover, it was impossible while the territory was not free and occupied by the American forces. In the course of the interview the General himself directed that, instead of the commissioners leaving the camp with their eyes bandaged, in conformity with established usages in such cases, they might pass before the army, observe its condition, and even review it if they wished. His object was to convince them with their own eyes that the falling back to Angostura had not originated in terror of the American arms. In effect, the commissioners, accompanied by two adju- tants of Santa Anna, passed in review the forces who remained even under arms. Their martial aspect, their fine deportment, their discipline and valor, which were appreciated at Buena Vista, attracted the attention of the Americans, who expressed themselves in words of praise. But the retreat continued, and the demoralization that had been partially overcome increased, and the privations and panic of the troops augmented. Most of the wounded went in thirty carts, drawn by oxen, who had been selected there in preference to those having less hope of recovery. Various officers were also borne forward, carried by their soldiers, among whom there were many who watched with the greatest attention. Others, on the contrary, availed themselves of the occasion to commit crimes. They dis- persed, and they deserted, not without first robbing their unfortunate officers and carrying their cruelty to the extreme of killing them for the greater security to their wickedness. The same disorder facilitating the soldiers in separating 312 THE BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA. from the ranks, caused a large dispersion. Those who, endowed with more constancy, followed their banners, anticipated being- victims of new sufferings. The day's journey from Aguanueva to the Encarnacion was fourteen leagues. To this large space was added the want of whole- some sustenance ; of the most serious, even that of water, they had not one drop ; and the painful sensation of awful cold penetrated to the marrow of the bones. On the brigades arriving at the Encarnacion, a general dismay was noticed, and which every moment was augmented. All classes were equally disgusted, for their hardships were in common, and none had a better lot than others. On the 27th they marched to the Salado, walking this day eleven leagues. There was unfolded a new misfortune, which was the most serious that they had yet encountered. The food in the days before had been reduced to detestable and putrid meat, and the water which they drank was brackish. Those who had taken these unhealthy aliments were attacked with a violent dysentery, which spread with a gloomy prevalence until very few were free from it. The ravages of the infirmity became extremely deplorable ; death devoured the unfortunate troops, so that every day a considerable number died. The army seemed made up of dead men ; the miserable condition to which the sick were reduced, caused the skin of many to stick to their bones, and its shrinking exposed their teeth, giving to the counte- nance the expression of a forced laugh, which filled one with horror. On the way there was bad news from Mexico. A pro- nunciamento had succeeded against the Administration, and the Mexican writer says : " Great was the despondency which this disconsolate information produced. The brave men, w^ho had gone to THE BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA. 313 contend with a foreign enemy, saw, with a heavy heart, that our internal dissensions were not forgotten, when the menaced invasion destroyed all things, like a fire which spreads rapidly in a thick wood full of combustible materials. The proximity of danger, which Vera Cruz felt, gave a new throb to their sad forebodings. The nation — attacked first in the north, next in the east, points of fatal augury — pre- sented a spectacle to the world, by her fratricidal strife in the beautiful city, at whose gates the Americans were now rapping in their irruption. " In Matehuala the arrest of General Minon was an event that caused a deep sensation. It was published that to him, in the battle of Angostura, the mistake was attributed for his not attacking the enemy, as had been agreed upon, and thus accusing him for our not having obtained a com- plete triumph. This antecedent and various remarks which, in the course of the campaign, Minon had made on Santa Anna, upon his operations, irritated the latter to such a degree that he resolved to submit to a court the conduct of the censorious general. The order was to seize him and place him in rigorous and close confinement. "On the ist of March they marched from Matehuala, and, without any incident occurring of importance, they arrived at Peiiasco on the 8th. In the haciendas of the Presa and Solis the first symptoms of gratitude were mani- fested. Their proprietor aided the army with a generous hospitality, distributing also proper nourishment among the sick and wounded. On the way to the Venado new supplies were given with liberality and the greatest good- will. "The troops made their entrance into San Luis Potosi on the 9th, where they were received with unequivocal testi- monies of the public gratitude. This city, as well as the 314 THE BATTLE OF BUENA VISTA. whole State of which it is the capital, gave repeated proofs of the patriotism of its inhabitants. Its excellent conduct, imitated by very few states, should put to the blush those who had not done their duty. This city gave the army a triumphal reception. The citizens endeavored in their courtesy, without sparing any efforts, to serve as far as they could, the soldiers of the Angostura. " The remains of that army which had been seen to sally forth enthusiastic and respectable, returned dispirited and reduced to a small number. The perplexities of the road had infused a new disorganization into the brigades. The corps came with a force gready diminished, order lost, and discipline relaxed. The condition, which these unfortunate troops now showed, made only too plain the almost incredi- ble disasters of the army. The loss sustained from the Angostura to San Luis exceeded 10,500 men." That the fortunes of war wavered from side to side in the Batde of Buena Vista is a fact always recognized by the people of the United States, and there was much disputa- tion as to the incidents of the combat. The Mexican account gives a stranger impression of the disastrous extent of the defeat of Santa Anna, than the reports and reflec- tions of our own writers. CHAPTER XX. THE BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO. The Policy which Mexico should have Pursued — The DemoraUzing Effect of Defeat on Nations of Spanish Descent — The Boastful Vanity of the Spanish-American Compared with the Active Energy of our Troops — The Story of the Battle of Cerro Gordo and a Vivid Description of the Terrible and Demoralizing Retreat. Ripley says of the Mexican policy when the American invasion was on two Hnes : " Mexico's first want was a victory. Every thing might be hoped from such an event on the part of Mexico, and all which could be feared was to have been anticipated on the part of the United States. Had the Mexican army once beaten an American army, the result would have been such as followed the battle of Baylen ; the only important one where Spaniards were successful in the war with the French in their peninsula, and then only through the surprising errors of the French general. But from that time Spanish energy was aroused. Spaniards had conquered at Baylen, and that one victory flattered their obstinate pride and induced them to continue the struggle. Their country, mountain and valley, swarmed with guerrillas; armies were raised with the most surprising rapidity ; and, though beaten again and again, were only dispersed to reappear in stronger force. Baylen was and still is the cry of the Spaniards in their remembrance of former, and hope of future success. "Such might have been the anticipated effect of a victory of the Mexican general over either Taylor, who had been thus far the terror of Mexico, or Scott, the general-in-chief 315 3i6 THE BATTLE OE CERRO GORDO. of the American army. When the immense importance of the victory is considered, it cannot be doubted that, when it had once been gained, and the nation fairly aroused by the cheering" news, then, and not till then, would geograjDhical points of defence have formed principal topics for the con- sideration of Santa Anna. Had these been remembered by the American commanders, there would have been no difficulty in deciding whether the Mexican president would have marched to Vera Cruz to oppose the landing of a large force, composed in great part of the veterans of the line of the American army, or moved in the direction which he had long observed, especially when the American troops were reduced to one third of their former strength, and the regular force of all arms, to less than a thousand men. So long as the prospect of success was brighter in the north than in the south, so long as it was certain that Santa Anna (unless his genius was underrated) would attack there ; and the di- version which General Scott considered of so much import- ance, was made on General Taylor's part the moment his position offered more probabilities of successful attack than that which Scott was about to take ; it was believed that the Mexican general would refrain from attacking either, in which case it made small difference about the strength of either division. "Santa Anna's movements had given up the whole coun- try north and east of the Sierra Madre without a struggle. But he had put three hundred miles of comparatively des- ert country, on the direct route from Saltillo to San Luis, between himself and General Taylor, of which the water tanks could be destroyed to impede the advance of his enemy, and which, for that purpose as well as to secure his own movement, should he choose to make one, were guarded by strong corps of his cavalry. It was in cross- THE BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO. 317 ing this desert to attack Taylor that the Mexican army was forced to enter the Buena Vista fight in a state of fatigue most distressing. Santa Anna overcame the discourag- ing condition at the capital, and reviving his army, met Scott at Cerro Gordo." The Mexican account of this dis- tinguished battle is most interesting. We quote from Albert Ramsey's "Other Side," which gives the Mexicans, fighting on their own soil, due credit, and the American troops the greater glory. "The American army had encamped on the road, in front of our positions on the right, at a distance of about three- quarters of a league. On the i ith, one of their guerrillas, which came out to reconnoitre, had an encounter with our advance, in which we lost three soldiers, and the Americans, as we afterwards learned, had an officer wounded. On the following days an attack was plainly expected. General Santa Anna mounted his horse at daybreak and, escorted by his staff, reviewed the line, paying particular attention to the dismounted men, and the construction of barracks for the troops, and returned about noon to headquarters. In the evening he was mounted again till sun-down, when he retired, accompanied by some of his adjutants, and the principal chiefs of the army, to dine, while at intervals a military band, stationed outside, performed choice pieces of music. " With vanity then, he supposed that he had stopped the triumphal march of the enemy. Flattered by his fortune, which had abandoned him for an instant in 1844, he be- lieved it had returned to smile on his arrival in the republic in 1846 ; and he cherished fatal illusions, perhaps produced by want of foresight. Under a complete fascination, and despising even the voice of science, he required the humilia- tion of those who surrounded him, and was inaccessible to 3i8 THE BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO. reason and truth. Some of our chiefs, also, destitute of interest in the cause, confined themselves to blaming his conduct in private circles, without having the energy necessary to dissuade him from his errors. We have heard some one boast, after passing along our line for the first time, of having observed important defects in the general plan of defence, which he communicated only to his friends, presaging an inevitable misfortune. " The enemy remained in camp opposite our positions, without undertaking the attack so much desired by our army, who looked forward with determination to victory or death. Their sufferings rendered their condition more distressing, and continually increased their anxiety for a battle. "And to him who, for the first time, found himself in the midst of the army, in the presence of the enemy, in circum- stances so solemn for the country, beholding the soldier at last in the exercise of his chivalrous mission, and partici- pating in his sufferings and isolation ; to one who, from that scene, contemplated a whole nation carelessly aban- doned to the fate of a handful of men, and read, as in a book, one of the most important pages of our history ; to one, in short, who looked upon that new and imposing situation through the glass of time, — it seemed like realiz- ing a dream of the imagination. "General Santa Anna, more impatient perhaps than any one else, wishing to provoke the enemy to some movement, and to obtain some information of the state and number of the opposing forces, made arrangements on the night of the 14th that the cavalry should march out the next day, under the command of General Canalizo, making a recon- noissance on the American camp without hazarding a deci- sive action, and above all things to take a few prisoners, THE BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO. 319 that he might interrogate them concerning what he wished to know. D. Angel Frias, Governor of Chihuahua, who had come to his state after the lamentable battle of the Sacra- mento, to implore aid against the invaders, and full of gener- ous patriotism, had asked leave to take part in the approach- ing contest, was appointed by the General-in-chief to accompany that expedition, and to interrogate for him the prisoners who might be captured. " On the 15th, at break of day, the cavalry arrived from Corral Falso, consisting of the Fifth and Ninth regiments, the Morelia and Coraceros, and the squadrons of Jalapa, Hussars, Chalchicomula and Orizava ; and soon after sun- rise the General-In-chief put them in motion, making them file along the rear of our camp, and pass by a rugged path which declined to the Rio del Plan, in order that after- wards, mounting the opposite height, they might cross it to surprise the enemy's left. After that force had marched, General Santa Anna, proceeding to our position on the right, the only point from which the American encampment could be discerned, awaited the result of the movement. A few of the enemy's guerrillas showed themselves on the hill where our cavalry were to make their appearance, and the General and those who accompanied him, anxiously looked for the moment when our forces should meet and destroy them, perhaps without allowing a single soldier to escape. But they waited in vain and the General, growing impatient, and wishing to do them some injury, ordered a few cannon to be fired, which, although perhaps not reaching them, made them disperse ; not, however, until some of their marksmen had fired a few shots at our left fiank. "Soon after the return of General Santa Anna to head- quarters. Colonel Codallos, his Excellency's adjutant, who had been sent to hasten the cavalry with an order for Gen- 320 THE BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO. eral Canalize, returned excessively fatigued. He said that he had made extraordinary exertions to perform his com- mission ; that the path which the forces had to pursue was impracticable ; that the difficulties had finally become so great that they had already lost two or three dragoons in the defiles, who, falling down the rocks, horse and man, had perished at the bottom of the precipice. The General-in- chief therefore desisted from the movement, and the cavalry returned by the hills to Corral Falso, where they arrived at sunset, with their horses completely broken down. " The enemy having made no movement on the 1 6th, their intentions were doubted, and it was even imagined that^ intimidated by the position of our army, they would not make an attack, but retire, to await reinforcements from the United States. It was ascertained also, from two prisoners, that the yellow fever had made great ravages among the American troops, which added to the evils of their position. At length, however, on the 17th, General Alcorta, having gone out at noon to make a reconnoissance by the hill of the Atalya, met a portion of the enemy's forces, which he foucrht on his retreat with our advance, while the Third in- fantry, which garrisoned the Telegrafo, came down to protect them. General Santa Anna immediately proceeded thither, sending down several corps, after ordering the reserve col- umn to form on the road. He placed the light battalions on the declivity of the Telegrafo in several lines, in echel- lon, from the centre of that position, and the Fourth of the line toward the left, where the enemy was charging with the greatest resolution ; while at the summit on the para- pets, remained a portion of the Third line and the Eleventh Infantry. The Sixth Infantry moved to the right, at the order of General Vega, preventing, with their battery, the turning of the position. A very vigorous fire was sustained THE BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO. 321 on both sides, and the assaults of the Americans upon our lines vvej-e repulsed with the greatest vigor. The presence of General Santa Anna, who on the top of the hill, accompanied by his staff, directed the action, gave animation to the troops. The lively vivas to the republic, to independence, and to the General-in-chief, that burst forth, and which greeted his Excellency, excited in them spirited enthusiasm. Our sol- diers confronted death with courage ; they defied it, and the light of victory shone in their countenances. The battery on the summit, commanded by Lieutenant Olzinger, was dexterously managed, causing much destruction among the Americans, who, divided into three sections, were charging upon the left, the centre and right of the position, and succeeded in advancing further on the left, yet failed to gain any decided advantage. Being assisted, at that point, by the Fourth of the line they poured upon them a terrible fire, which disabled a multitude of soldiers and officers. In the other points equal resistance was made, so that the action was prolonged from hour to hour, but finally terminated, the enemy being repulsed at all points. Some retreated to the very hill of the Atalaya, and some penetrated by the bushy canadas, which were discovered on the left of our positions. " About five o'clock in the afternoon the beat of the drums, the bands, and the enthusiastic vivas diffused universal rejoicing through our camp. More than 200 men, who had fallen dead or wounded that evening, lay upon a field which, by their efforts, for one more day belonged to the republic. The bodies of the unfortunate dead men were interred in the night and the wounded were sent to Jalapa in wagons, the motion of which increased the poignancy of their suffer- ings. The corps that had sustained the action retired to their respective encampments, with the exception of the 322 THE BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO. Fourth infantry and the First and Second light, which that night reinforced the garrison of the hill. An express imme- diately set off for Mexico with the news of the favorable results of our arms that morning. It was the general con- viction that night that the enemy would begin their attack by the left, after the reconnoissance which had been made, and it is very remarkable that our resistance was greater when they only attempted to try our strength than when they proposed decidedly to conquer us. " On the same day, the 1 7th, the brigade of General Arteaga arrived at Jalapa, composed of active battalions and the National Guard of Puebla ; and they had scarcely retired to their quarters before an order was received from General Santa Anna to take up their march immediately for Cerro Gordo. Without taking any rest after their journey those wretched soldiers proceeded ; and most of them reached Dos Rios that night, leaving various parties behind, who could not endure the fatigue. On the following day, at a very critical moment indeed, the united brigade arrived at Cerro Gordo. "Although General Santa Anna apparently fixed his whole attention on the position of the right, where he naturally expected the decisive attack, instructed by what had hap- pened, he sent two 12-pounders and one 16, that night, up the hill ; but the last only reached half way up on the left side. He also ordered the chiefs of engineers, Robles and Cano, to construct the most necessary fortifications on that eminence ; and, on the following day, before dawn, he him- self placed a battery on the side of the road, almost in front of headquarters, at the aperture of a bushy barranca. The Americans, in the course of the night, also established a battery in the hill of the Atalaya ; and in their preparations for an attack on the following day, were interrupted only THE BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO. 323 by a few cannon shots, which General Vasquez, Comman- dante of the Telegrafo, ordered to be fired at them. "At dawn on the i8th, the roar of the enemy's artillery resounded through the camps as a solemn announcement of a battle. "On the hill, where the brave insurgents had in former days shed their blood for independence, now waved our flag ; and under its shadow, from that elevation, was seen a line of men, who were to serve as a wall against the in- vader. Among the files, the different and distinctive ranks of the army, from the common soldier to the General-in- chief, then invested with the supreme dignity of the nation, appeared at that time in all the prestige and with all the splendor which the illusions of patriotism conceded to them. " The enemy, using the battery of Atalaya, opened from thence, for some hours, their fire upon the Telegrafo, from which our own replied. General Santa Anna then em- ployed himself in completing the battery by the roadside ; and the engineers, Robles and Cano, under the enemy's fire, erected temporary works on the declivity of the Tele- grafo, on the very spot where the corps, who defended the centre of the position the evening before, had formed. Above the positions of the center and the right of our line, were now the same forces which had previously garrisoned them ; upon the hill the First and Second Light were sent, which had gone down early in the morning, to take their rations ; and the Sixth Infantry returned to cover the right. The Fourth of the Line remained on the spot where they had fought so bravely on the 17th. The cavalry, which had been ordered down from Corral Falso in the night, formed on the road, resting their right opposite the battery just erected, and were supported by the Eleventh Infantry. The 324 THE BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO. Third and Fourth Light battalions remained also on the road, ready to march to any point that might be designated. " Such was the disposition of our forces before sunrise, while the cannonade was becoming more and more active between the two hills, until the roar was repeated every instant. The enemy, without cessation, poured down gre- nades, rockets and all other kinds of projectiles which fell upon the hill, upon the road and even far beyond our camp. Their columns, in the meantime, marched beyond the Ata- laya by the crags in front of our left ; and about seven in the morning, one of them, under the command of General Twiggs, commenced the attack upon the Telegrafo. " General Santa Anna, as soon as he had established the battery on the left, proceeded to the positions on the right, influenced, perhaps, by his first idea. But stopping after he had passed the battery of the center and observing from that spot, the activity with which the cannonade was sus- tained on our part, sent orders to General Vazquez, not to expend his park, and to shelter the troops from the enemy's fire. Then returning by the road, on arriving at the foot of the Telegrafo, the fire of musketry opened, and he im- mediately sent up the Third and Fourth Light battalions to aid the troops in defending that point. "The Americans charged with firmness, deploying as skirmishers, covering themselves among the bushes and briers that were on the ground upon the lines, scarcely marked out, which it had been intended to construct that morning, being supported by the Third of the Line, the Second Light and part of the Fourth. They made equal exer- tions against the left of the Telegrafo, defended by the Fourth of the Line, and against the right, where the Sixth Infantry was posted, to reinforce them, as on the previous evening. The artillery had ceased to play on both sides on account of THE BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO. 327 the proximity of the combatants. The fire of musketry was as active as the excitement of the contest. Death flapping her wings over that bloody field set on fire in some places by the projectiles of the enemy, and which was mixed in a horrible manner with the thick smoke that enveloped thou- sands of men crimsoned with the contest. Our soldiers fell in heaps in the midst of the confusion, and the enemy falling also, were instantly replaced by others, who seemed to reproduce them. There fell the worthy Palacios, com- mander of the artillery of the field, wounded by the enemy's fire ; there a warrior's fame crowned the career of General Vazquez, in the fulness of his energies with a glorious death, amidst the tumult of battle, and there hundreds of brave men shed their blood in the most holy cause. This commander should have been succeeded by his second. General Uraga, but he was at the head of his battalion, the Fourth of the Line, on the left declivity of the Telegrafo ; and having not a moment to lose. General Baneneli took the command, whose corps, the Third Light, had remained in re- serve, sheltered from the fire by the very summit of the hill. The activity of the engagement redoubling more and more, destroyed new victims. The Second Light and the Third and Fourth of the Line, had lost almost their entire force, and the last, even the greater part of its officers. The enemy, pressing upon our troops with superior numbers, successively gained possession of the lower works of the position, and without losing an instant, rapidly ascended to assault the last crest of the hill. " Some of our soldiers now began to leave their ranks, and to descend to the opposite side, attempting to mingle with the wounded, who were retiring, but General Santa Anna, observing it, ordered some of his adjutants to prevent this disorder, and they, either on compulsion, or by the stimulus 19 328 THE BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO. of enthusiasm, succeeded in persuading the fugitives to return. " In the meantime, General BaneneH appealed to the last resource, and ordered his men to charge bayonets. They, eager to join in an action which they had only heard, im- mediately hastened this movement in full force, to come up to where they were directed ; but surprised at finding them- selves hand to hand with an enemy so superior in numbers, and surrounded on all sides, were panic-stricken in an instant and fell into disorder ; their commander in vain en- deavoring to keep them in the ranks. Being himself in- volved in the crowd with the chief of engineers and many other officers, who endeavored, sword in hand, to keep back the men, they were actually rolled down the opposite declivity, borne along by the multitude, which poured on- ward like a torrent from the height. " On the summit of the hill was now seen, in the midst of a column of dense smoke, a multitude of Americans, standing amidst the flashing of their fires, which were directed against the enormous mass of men precipitating themselves down the steep declivity, covered, as it were, with a white robe from the color of their dress. That shocking spectacle was like the violent eruption of a vol- cano, throwing out flames and cinders from its bosom, and spreading them all over its surface. "Among the fire and smoke, and above the mass of blue formed by the Americans behind the summit of the Tele- grafo, still floated our deserted flag. But the banner of the stars was soon raised by the enemy upon the same staff, and for an instant both became entangled, our own at length falling to the ground, amidst the shouts and roar of the victors' guns, and the mournful cries and confused voices of the vanquished. THE BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO. 329 " It was now three-quarters past ten o'clock in the morn- ing. The enemy had appeared on the right of our Hne during the attack on the Telegrafo ; and advancing in col- umn upon our position of the center, endeavored to take all our entrenchments by assault. Captain Godinez of the navy, commanding the artillery, had concerted with the re- spective commanders of the three positions, to allow the ene- my to advance upon any of them without firing, until they should approach within a short distance, taking the precau- tion to have the cannon loaded with' grape shDt. The American column, composed of volunteers, under the com- mand of General Pillow, approached nearer and nearer to our lines without receiving a single shot ; but as soon as they reached a convenient place, a close discharge of our pieces^ which raked their ranks, accompanied with a vigorous vol- ley of small arms from the three positions, made a horrible slaughter among the enemy, threw them into disorder, and obliged them to make a precipitous retreat. " Before they could reorganize, and though our soldiers had not suffered the slightest loss, the Telegrafo had yielded ; and the Americans who had possession of it, decending by the right declivity, upon the battery on the road, which our forces had not begun to use, entirely cut off those positions, now surrounded on all sides, and commanded by the hill, from which the enemy directed their fire. General Jareo no longer attempted any resistance, but surrendered with his force. " When the Telegrafo was lost, the Sixth Infantry had retreated to the positions on the right, where they capitu- lated with the other corps. The Grenadier battalion, which had been drawn out from the battery of the center to the foot of the hill, chiefly dispersed, in spite of the exertions made to collect it. 330 THE BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO. "The brigade of General Arteaga, that had arrived in the midst of the conflict, being infected by the disorder of the other forces, fell into confusion, opposite headquarters, without having come into action. The Eleventh Infantry, in obedience to different orders from the Commander-in-chief, made repeated marches and counter-marches for that same point ; while the scattered remains of the Second, Third, and Fourth Light battalions, and the Third and Fourth of the line, likewise became disordered ; and the entire mass of men, panic-stricken, without discipline, moved about in that small piece of road, in the most frightful state of confusion. " An enthusiastic officer harangued the troops at the pitch of his voice, assuring them that they had yet lost nothing, wishing to re-animate the spirit now dead in all that unfortunate crowd. General Baneneli, rushing in with his horse, and full of wrath, poured forth a thousand horri- ble imprecations upon his soldiers, and with the butt of his pistol threatened particularly one of his captains. The General-in-chief vented his rage upon the officers who had lost their positions ; and the agitation of the multitude, and the difficulties of the ground, with the general dangers and desperation, rendered the scene indescribable. '' In the meantime the enemy's column, commanded by General Worth, passing the barrancas and crags on our left, which had been deemed inaccessible, approached the battery that had been thrown up that day, the only remain- ing one in our possession. The General-in-chief ordered General Canalizo to charge with the cavalry, but the woods absolutely prevented the execution of the movement. The column advanced, in spite of the fire of the cannon, in a direction for the road, to the left of our battery, to cut off our retreat. When, however, they had approached near THE BATTLE OF CERRO GORDu. 331 enough, more than two hundred skirmishers were sent forward, whose fire, as if with a breath of wind, fast cleared away the men at our guns, which were supplied by the artillery and a party of cuirassiers, who had been ordered to dismount to reinforce the battery. The first adjutant, Velasco, chief of the cuirassiers, had the glory of falling at the guns. The skirmishers advanced to the front of the battery, so that the head of the column was very near the road, when our cavalry, seeing that they were about to be cutoff, retreated rapidly by the Jalapa road. The last effort was then made by Robles, and the brave artillery officers, Malagon, Arguelles and Olzinger, who, surrounded on all sides, turned their pieces towards the left, directing them against the head of the column, a few moments before the skirmishers, who rushed upon them with the bayonet, got possession of them and turned them against us. " General Santa Anna, accompanied by some of his adju- tants, proceeded by the road to the left of the battery, when the enemy's column, now coming out of the woods, abso- lutely prevented his passage by a discharge which obliged him to fall back. The carriage in which he had left Jalapa was riddled with shot, the mules killed and taken by the enemy, as well as a wagon containing sixteen thousand dollars, received the day before for the pay of the troops, Every tie of command and obedience now being broken among our troops, safety alone being the object, and all being involved in a frightful whirl, they rushed desperately to the narrow pass of the defile that descends to the Plan del Rio, where the General-in-chief had proceeded, with the chiefs and officers who accompanied him. " Horrible, indeed, was the descent by that narrow and rocky path, where thousands rushed, disputing the passage with desperation, and leaving a track of blood upon the 332 THE BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO. road. All classes being confounded, all military distinc- tion and respect were lost, the badges of rank became marks for sarcasms, that were only meted out according to their grade and humiliation. The enemy, now masters of our camp, turned their guns upon the fugitives. This augmented more and more the terror of the multitude crowding through the defile, and pressed forward every in- stant by a new impulse, which increased the confusion and disgrace of the ill-fated day. " Cerro Gordo was lost ! Mexico was opened to the iniquity of the invader. " General Santa Anna, frowning and silent, letting his horse go almost at his will, and followed by a bleeding crowd, descended to the bottom of the barranca, crossed the river, and climbed the opposite height. There it was probable he would meet an ambush of the enemy, who would have killed, with impunity, as many as might ascend in disorder by the narrow sloping path, unable to defend themselves or to find any refuge. " Having reached the summit, the General halted, and ordered Generals Ampudia and Rangel and Colonel Ramiro to collect, at that point, all the dispersed ; that they might be drawn off in order and in the best possible manner. Then, taking to the right, he proceeded toward Encero, by a path almost parallel to the road from Cerro Gordo to Jalapa. He was followed by a small company : Generals Perez, Arguelles, and Romero, and the chiefs and officers Schiafino Escovar, Galindo, Veea, Roaas, Ouintana, and Arriora, and Srs. Trias, Armendaris, Urquidi and a nephew of his own. "From the field of battle shots were still heard occasion- ally, fired at the wretched and defenceless men who had not succeeded in escaping. "In the meantime a party of the enemy's cavalry, with two THE BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO. 333 light pieces, had left there, by the Jalapa road, in pursuit of our cavalry, and were about to reach the Encero almost the same moment with Santa Anna. On discoverino- each o other the Americans fired several cannon shots, and Gen- eral Santa Anna, leaving the path, proceeded towards the left, in a direction at right angles to it. "He wandered for a long time, uncertain, with his com- panions, without pursuing any fixed route, until he formed a resolution, and then proceeded in the paths leading to the hacienda of Tuzamapan. " Having passed many villages and scattered ranches, among the undulations of an unknown district, they con- tinued their march, all overcome with amazement at the misfortune which they had suffered. A melancholy expres- sion overspread the countenances of those who had accom- panied Santa Anna. Everything within the presence of this man, the first chief of our nation and our army, whom a few hours before they had seen erect and proud, possessed of power which he exercised, and hopes of the brightest glory, now humbled and confused, seeking among the wretched a refuge to flee to, was to them a lively pic- ture of the fall of* our country, of the debasement of our name, of the anathema pronounced against our race. "At several places the general dismounted to take some rest, and, sitting on a bench where his attendants placed it, he remained immovable, unable, in consequence of his lameness, to take a single step. A horse, which he asked for in the place of his own, was perdy refused by a curate, and all these occurrences, insignificant as they were in themselves, appeared deeply affecting under existing cir- cumstances. "About five in the morning he reached the hacienda of Tuzamapan, where he resolved to remain until the next ^34 THE BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO. day. Soon after his arrival, two or three soldiers of the Eleventh appeared, bringing with them the chest of their corps, which contained some money, to deliver it to their commander. General Perez ; an honorable deed, which appears to iis worthy of praise, in a few unhappy men, who were about to be abandoned in these places in the greatest misery. "At eleven at night the overseer of the hacienda informed the General that he had just received notice of the approach of a party of Americans, detached for the pursuit, who were about to surround the house. Several musket shots were soon heard, at a very short distance, which confirmed the news, and it was necessary to set off immediately to secure a safe retreat. "The night was so dark that the nearest objects were invisible. The firing became nearer^ and more frequent, and the servants of the hacienda, working mechanically, managed so that the litera prepared for the General was not ready. He therefore mounted his horse, and a servant on foot, with a candle, took his place before him, serving as a guide to the party, who filed, one after the other, by a road which seemed to sink under the feet of the horses. It was one of those steep descents, leading down from the hill country between Tuzamapan and Orizava. After traveling a long time, they halted in the ruins of a small sugar-mill, where they awaited the approach of day, when they continued their march. " Having crossed a river, whose current flowed on to meet that of the Junta, they came to the banks of the latter, where flowed its waters, placid, blue, and deep, through one of its highest ridges. This rose almost perpendicular, covered with beautiful, leafy groves, forming an extensive border, and at its foot stood many old trees, which, with THE BATTLE OF CERRO GORDO. 335 their thick branches, threw a somber Hght upon the place and gave it an aspect truly majestic. A few fishermen who lived there in miserable hovels took them over on a small raft, guided by a rope, extending from one shore to the other. " By winding they ascended the elevation which rises on that bank, and finally reached the rancho of Volador, and remained long at this place. There, for the first time, General Santa Anna broke silence, and in conversation expressed the idea of continuing the war with obstinacy, by appealing to the last resource which was left us, the system of guerrillas. "At a short distance from the rancho the road which they followed leads among most beautiful trees ; and from some open spots are seen, now on this side and now on that, profound ravines, whose bottom was lost in obscurity, caused by the thickness of the dark green foliage of the immense groves, covering that region with perpetual spring. " The Mexicans, with all their hard fighting, failed to gain their point — a victory, and the spell of their discourage- ment was not dispelled to the bitter end." CHAPTER XXI. THE BATTLES BEFORE THE CITY OF MEXICO. The United States Proves Herself the Dominant Power of America — The Re- markable Campaign Before the City of Mexico — Though Fighting Against Powerful Odds the Valor of our Troops Counts for more than Superior Numbers — Our Officers Prove Themselves Superior Strategists — The Overwhelming Defeat of the Mexicans Compels them to ask For an Armistice to Gain Time which is Shortly Followed by Renewed Hostilities, soon Terminating in the Surrender of Mexico. On entering the palace of the City of Mexico, General Scott issued an order saying: "The General-in-chief calls upon his brethren in arms to return both in public and private worship, thanks and gratitude to God for the signal triumphs which they have recently achieved for their country. Beginning with the 19th of August, this army has gallantly fought its way through the fields and forts of Contreras, San Antonio, Cherubusco, Molino del Rey, Chepultepec and the gates of San Casone and Tacubaya of Belen, into the Capital of Mexico." Tuttle, the historian gives an excellent compilation of the official reports of General Worth and makes the battle pictures most vivid, uniting this with the Mexican stories of Buena Vista and Cerro-Gordo, we have a dramatic revelation of the greater scenes of the Mexican war — three almost incomparable battle pictures. "A detachment under General Worth captured Pueblo, on the 15th of May, where the army remained until the 7th of August, when the whole army marched for the City of Mexico. On the afternoon of the third day's march, a sudden turn in the route revealed a scene that was well calculated to excite the weary soldiers. The whole vast 336 THE BATTLES BEFORE THE CITY OF MEXICO. 337 plain of Mexico was before them. The coldness of the air, which was most sensibly felt at this great elevation, their fatigue and dangers were forgotten, and their eyes were the only sense that thought of enjoyment. Mexico, with its lofty steeples and chequered domes, its bright reality, and its former fame, its modern splendor and its ancient magnificence, was before them, while around on every side its thousand lakes seemed like silver stars on a velvet mantle. Scott's army encamped that night at the base of the mountains with the enemy's scouts on every side. On the following day the army halted at Ayotta, only fifteen miles from Mexico. We were separated, says one who bore the fatigues of the march, from the city by the marshes which surround Lake Tezcuco, and by the lake itself. The road from this point was commanded by a steep and lofty hill called El Pinnal, which had been strongly fortified by Santa Anna. Batteries mounting over fifty guns in all, had been placed on its sides, and a deep ditch, twenty-four feet wide and ten deep, filled with water, had been cut, connect- ing the forts already surrounded by marshes. On this side Santa^ Anna had twenty-five thousand men against the American force of a little over nine thousand. On the 2 2d of August the Americans made a recon- noissance of the work, which was pronounced impracticable, as the lives of half the troops would be sacrificed before the ditch could be crossed. After a long search another road was found which led around on the left, but which was guarded with five strong batteries at a point about five miles from the city. All approach to the city seemed to be cut off, but at length, by means of his scouts. General Worth, who was encamped about five miles distant, found a path around the left of Lake Chalco, which led to the western gate of the city, and which had not yet been forti- 338 THE BATTLES BEFORE THE CITY OF MEXICO. fied. On the 14th the army commenced its march by this route; on the 19th it arrived at San Juan, Worth's divi- sion being considerably in advance. When the Americans arrived at this place they received orders to sling their blankets across their shoulders, put their knapsacks into their wagons, and to put two days' bread and beef in their haversacks. When this order came the men knew that the work was at hand. The enemy was reported to be in po- sition as follows : Santa Anna, with twenty thousand men, was at St. Augustine ; Valencia, with ten thousand, was at an elevation called Contreras, which commanded the road in that direction. It now became Scott's object to drive Valencia from his position, and thus get in between Santa Anna and the city. With a view to effecting this. General Worth was directed to keep Santa Anna in check, while a portion of the army under General Twiggs was to rout Va- lencia. The progress from this point is thus described by one who participated : * "We left San Juan about i o'clock, not particularly de- siring a fight so late in the day, but still not shunning it in case we could have a respectable chance. About 2 p. m., as we had crawled to the top of a hill, whither we had been ourselves pulling Magruder's battery and the mountain howitzers, we suddenly espied Valencia fortified on a hill about two hundred yards off, and strongly reinforced by a column which had just come out of the city. We laid down close to avoid drawing their fire, while the battery moved past at a full gallop. Just then General Smith's manly voice rang out, ' Forward the rifles, to support the battery! On they went until we got about eight hundred yards from the work, when the enemy opened upon them with the long guns, which were afterwards found to be six- *"The Mexican War and Its Heroes." THE BATTLES BEFORE THE CITY OF MEXICO. 339 teen and eight-inch howitzers. The ground was the worst possible for artillery, covered with rocks, large and small, prickly-pear and cactus, intersected by ditches filled with water and lined with maguey-plant, itself imperviable to cavalry, and with patches of corn which concealed the enemy's skirmishers, while it impeded our own passage. The artillery advanced but slowly under a most tremendous fire, which greatly injured it before it could be got in range, and the thickness of the undergrowth caused the skirmishers, thrown forward, to lose their relative position, as well as the column. At 4 p. m. the battery got in position under a most murderous fire of grape, canister and round-shot. Here the superiority of the enemy's pieces rendered our fire nugatory. We could get but three pieces in battery, while they had twenty-seveft, all of them three times the calibre of ours. For two hours our troops stood unmoved, the storm of iron and lead hailing upon them. At every discharge they laid flat down to avoid the storm, and then sprung up to serve the guns. At the end of that time, two of the guns were dismounted, and we badly hurt ; thirteen of the horses were killed and disabled, and fifteen of the cannon- iers killed and wounded. The regiment was then recalled. The lancers had been repelled in three successive charges. The Third Infantry and First Artillery had also engaged and successfully repelled the enemy's skirmishers without losing either officers or men. The greatest loss had been at the batteries. Affairs looked gloomy for the first day's fight, but the brigade was formed, and General Smith, in person, took command. All felt revived, and followed him with a yell, as, creeping low to avoid the grape, which was coming very fast, we made a circuit in the rear of the batteries ; and, passing off to the right, we were soon lost to view in the chaparral and cactus. 340 THE BATTLES BEFORE THE CITY OF MEXICO. " Passing over the path that we scrambled through, be- hold us at almost six o'clock in the evening, tired, hungry and sorrowful, emerging from the chaparral and crossing the road between it and Valencia. Here we found Cad- walader and his brigade already formed, and discovered Riley's brigade skirmishing in rear of enemy's works. Valencia was ignorant of our approach, and we were as yet safe. He was strongly entrenched on a hillside and sur- rounded by a regular field-work. Mendoza, with a column of six thousand, was in the road, but thought us to be friends. On our right was a large range of hills whose continued crest was parallel to the road, and in which were formed in line of battle five thousand of the best Mexican cavalry. On our left we were separated from our own forces by an almost impassable wilderness, and it was now twilight. Even Smith looked around for help. Suddenly a thousand vivas came across the hillside like the yelling of pirate wolves in the dead of night, and the squadrons on our right formed for charging. Smith is himself again ! ' Face to the rear ! ' ' Wait till you see their red caps, and then give it to them ! ' Furiously they came on a few yards, then changed their minds, and, disgusted at our cool recep- tion, retired to their couches. " On the edge of the road, between us and Valencia, a Mexican hamlet spread out, with its mud huts, large orchards, deep-cut roads, and a strong church ; and through the centre of this hamlet ran a path parallel to the main road, but concealed from it ; it is nearly a mile long. In this road Smith's and Riley's corps bivouacked. Shields, who came up In the night, lay in the orchard, while Cadwal- ader was nearest the enemy's works. As we were within range of their batteries, which could enfilade the road in which we lay, we built a stone breastwork at either end to THE BATTLES BEFORE THE CITY OF MEXICO. 341 conceal ourselves from their view and grape. There we were, completely surrounded by the enemy, cut off from our communications, ignorant of the ground, without artil- lery, weary, dispirited and dejected. We were a disheart- ened set. With Santa Anna and Sala's promise of * no quarter,' a force of four to one against us, and one-half defeated already, no succor from Puebla, and no news from General Scott, all seemed dark. Suddenly the words came whispered along, ' We storm at midnight.' Now we are ourselves again ! But what a horrible night ! There we lay, too tired to eat, too wet to sleep, in the middle of that muddy road, officers and men side by side, with a heavy rain pouring down upon us, the officers without blankets or overcoats (they had lost them in coming across), and the men worn out with fatigfue. xAibout midnio-ht the rain was so heavy that the streams in the road flooded us, and there we stood crowded together, drenched and benumbed, waiting for daylight. " At half-past three the word 'fall in ' was passed down, and we commenced our march. The enemy's works were on a hillside, behind which rose other and slightly higher hills, separated by deep ravines and gullies, and intersected by streams. The whole face of the country was of stiff clay, which rendered it almost impossible to advance. We formed our line about a quarter of a mile from the enemy's works, Riley's brigade on our right. At about four we started, winding through a thick orchard which effectually concealed us, even had it not been dark, debouching into a deep ravine, which ran within about five hundred yards of the work, and which carried us directly in rear and out of sight of their batteries. At dawn of day we reached our place, after incredible exertions, and got ready for our charge. The men threw off their wet blankets and looked to their 342 THE BA TTLES BEFORE THE CITY OF MEXICO. pieces, while the officers got ready for a rush, and the first smile that lit up our faces for twelve hours boded but litde good for the Mexicans. On the right, and opposite the right of their work, was Riley's brigade of the Second and First Infantry and Fourth Artillery, next the rifles, then the First Artillery and Third Infantry. In rear of our left was Cadwalader's brigade, as a support, with Shield's brigade in the rear as a reserve — the whole division under com- mand of General Smith, in the absence of General Twiggs. They had a smooth place to rush down on the enemy's work, with the brow of the hill to keep under until the word was given. " At last, just at daylight. General Smith, slowly walking up, asked if all was ready. A look answered him : 'Me7t, forward!' — and we did 'forward.' Springing up at once, Riley's brigade opened, when the crack of a hundred rifles starded the Mexicans from their astonishment, and they opened their fire. Useless fire, for we were so close that they overshot us, and before they could turn their pieces on us we were on them. Then such cheers arose as you never heard. The men rushed forward like demons, yelling and firing the while. The carnage was frightful, and though they fired sharply, it was of no use. The earthen parapet was cleared in an instant, and the blows of the stocks could be plainly heard mingled with the yells and groans around. Just before the charge was made a large body of lancers came winding up the road, looking most splendidly in their brilliant uniforms. They never got to the work, but turned and fled. In an instant all was one mass of confusion, each trying to be foremost in the flight. The road was literally blocked up, and while many perished by their own guns, it was almost impossible to fire on the mass from the danger of killing our own men. Some fled up the ravine on the THE BA TTLES BEFORE THE CITY OF MEXICO. 345 left, or on the right, and many of these were slain by turn- ing their own guns on them. Towards the city the rifles and Second Infantry led off the pursuit. Seeing that a large crowd of the fugitives were jammed up in a pass in the road some of our men ran through the cornfield, and thus, by heading them off and firing down upon them, about thirty men took over five hundred prisoners, nearly a hundred of them officers. After disarming the prisoners, as the pursuit had ceased, we went back to the fort, where we found our troops in full possession, the rout com- plete. " We found that the enemy's position was much stronger than we had supposed, and their artillery much larger and more abundant. Our own loss was small, which may be accounted for by their perfect surprise at our charge, as to them we appeared as if rising out of the earth, so unper- ceived was our approach. Our loss was one officer killed, Captain Hanson, of the Seventh Infantry, and Lieutenant Van Buren, of the rifles, shot through the leg, and about fifty men killed and wounded. Their force consisted of about eight thousand men, under Valencia, with a reserve which had not yet arrived, under Santa Anna. Their loss, as since ascertained, was as follows : killed and buried in the field, seven hundred and fifty ; wounded, one thousand ; and fifteen hundred prisoners, exclusive of officers, includ- ing four generals — Salas, Mendoza, Garcia and Guadalupe — in addition to dozens of colonels, majors, captains, etc. We captured, in all, on the hill twenty-two pieces of cannon, including five eight-inch howitzers, two long eighteens, three long sixteens, and several of twelve and eight inches. In addition to these were taken immense quantities of ammu- nition and muskets ; in fact, the way was strewn with muskets, escopets, lances and flags for miles. Large quan- 346 THE BATTLES BEFORE THE CITY OF MEXICO. titles of horses and mules were also captured, though large numbers were killed. "Thus ended the glorious battle of Contreras, in which two thousand men, under Gen. P. F. Smith, completely routed and destroyed an army of eight thousand men, under General Valencia, with Santa Anna and a force of twenty thousand men within five miles. Their army was so com- pletely routed that not fifteen hundred men rejoined Santa Anna and participated in the second battle. Most people would have thought that, a pretty good day's work. Not so. We had only saved ourselves, not conquered Mexico, and men's work was before us yet. "At eight A. M. we formed again, and General Twiggs having taken command, we started on the road to Mexico. We had hardly marched a mile before we were sharply fired upon from both sides of the road, and our right was deployed to drive the enemy in. We soon found that we had caught up with the retreating party, from the very brisk firing in front, and we drove them through the little town of San Angelo, where they had been halting in force. About half-a-mile from this town we entered the suburbs of another, called San Katherina, when a large party in the churchyard fired on the head of the column, and the balls came right among us. Our men kept rushing on their rear and cutting them down, until a discharge of grapeshot from a large piece in front drove them back to the column. In this short space of time five men were killed, ten taken prisoners, and a small color captured, which was carried the rest of the day. " Meanwhile General Worth had made a demonstration on San Antonio, where the enemy was fortified in a strong hacienda ; but they retired on his approach to Cherubusco, where the works were deemed impregnable. They con- THE BA TTLES BEFORE THE CITY OF MEXICO. 347 sisted of a fortified hacienda, which was surrounded by a high and thick wall on all sides. Inside the wall was a stone building-, the roof of which was flat, and higher than the walls. Above all this was a stone church, still higher than the rest, and having a large steeple. The wall was pierced with loop holes, and so arranged that there were two tiers of men firing at the same time. They thus had four differ- ent ranges of men firing at once, and four ranks were formed on each range, and placed at such a height that they could not only overlook all the surrounding country, but at the same time they had a plunging fire upon us. Outside the hacienda, and completely commanding the avenues of approach, was a field-work extending around two sides of the fort, and protected by a deep, wet ditch, and armed with seven large pieces. This hacienda is at the commencement of the causeway leading to the western gate of the city, and had to be passed before getting on the road. About three hundred yards in the rear of this work another field-work had been built where a cross-road meets the causeway, at a point where it crosses a river, thus forming a bridge-head, or tete de pout. This was also very strong, and armed with three large pieces of cannon. The works were surrounded on every side by large cornfields, which were filled with the enemy's skirmishers, so that it was difficult to make a reconnoissance. It was, therefore, decided to make the attack immediately, as they were full of men, and extended for nearly a mile on the road to the city, completely covering the causeway. " The attack commenced about i p. m. General Twiggs' division attacked on the side towards which they ap- proached the fort ; that is, opposite the city. General Worth's attacked the bridge-head, which he took in about an hour and a half; while Generals Pillow and Quitman 348 THE BATTLES BEEORE THE CITY OE MEXICO. were on the extreme left, between the causeway and Ouiggs' division. The rifles were on the left and in the rear of the work, entrusted by General Scott with the task of charging it in case General Pierce gave way. The firing was most tremendous — in fact one continued roll while the combat lasted. The enemy, from their elevated station, could readily see our men, who were unable to get a clear view from their position. Three of the pieces were manned by 'the deserters,' a body of about one hundred, who had deserted from the ranks of our army during the war. They were enrolled in two companies, commanded by a deserter, and were better uniformed and disciplined than the rest of the army. These men fought most desperately, and are said not only to have shot down several of our officers whom they knew, but to have pulled down the white flag of surrender no less than three times. "The battle raged most furiously for about three hours, when, both sides having lost a great many, the enemy be- gan to give way. As soon as they commenced retreating, Kearney's squadron passed through the tete de pont, and, charging through the retreating column, pursued them to the very gate of the city. When our men got within about five hundred yards of the gate they were opened upon with grape and canister, and several officers wounded. The official returns give our loss in killed and wounded at one thousand one hundred and fifty, besides officers. The Mexican loss was five hundred killed in the second battle, one thousand wounded, and eleven hundred prisoners, ex- clusive of officers. Three more generals were taken, among them General Rincon, and Anaya, the Provisional Presi- dent ; also ten pieces of cannon and an immense amount of ammunition and stores. Santa Anna in his report states his loss in killed, wounded and missing at twelve thousand. THE BATTLES BEFORE THE CITY OF MEXICO. 349 He has only eighteen thousand left out of thirty thousand, which he gives as his force on the 20th in both actions. "Thus ended the battle of Cherubusco, one of the most furious and deadly for its length, of any of the war. For reasons which he deemed conclusive. General Scott did not enter the city that night, but encamped on the battle-field, about four miles from the western gate of the city. The next day a flag of truce came out, and propositions were made which resulted in an armistice." An armistice was concluded on the 24th of August be- tween General Scott and President Santa Anna, with a view of terminating the war and effecting a treaty of peace. Negotiations were at once commenced, but terminated on the 7th of September, when both armies assumed hostile attitudes. On the date last mentioned a large body of Mexi- cans was discovered hovering about Molino del Rey, within a mile of the American camp and General Scott's headquar- ters. General Worth was at once ordered to attack the enemy at this point, and, his division being reinforced, he moved forward to battle. The position of the Mexicans was well taken. Their left rested upon and occupied a group of strong stone buildings, called El Molino del Rey, adjoin- ing the grove at the foot of the hill of Chapultepec, and directly under the guns of the castle which crowned its summit. The right of his line rested upon another stone building, called Casa Mata, situated at the foot of the ridge that slopes gradually from the heights above the village bf Tacubaya to the plain below. Midway between these build- ings was the enemy's field battery, and their infantry forces were disposed on either side to support it. "The early dawn," says Worth, "was the moment appointed for the attack, which was announced to the troops by the opening of Huger's guns on El Molino del Rey, upon which they 350 THE BATTLES BEFORE THE CITY OF MEXICO. continued to play actively until this point of the enemy's lines became sensibly shaken when the assaulting party, commanded by Wright, and guided by that accomplished officer, Captain Mason, of the engineers, assisted by Lieu- tenant Foster, dashed gallantly forward to the assault." * " Unshaken by the galling fire of musketry and canister that was showered upon them, on they rushed, driving the infantry and artillerymen at the point of the bayonet. The enemy's field battery was taken, and their own guns were trained upon the retreating masses ; before, however, they could be discharged, perceiving that they had been dispos- sessed of this strong position by comparatively a handful of men, the enemy made a desperate effort to regain it. Accord- ingly, their retiring forces rallied and formed with this object. Aided by the infantry, which covered the house-tops (within reach of which the battery had been moved during the night), the enemy's whole line opened upon the assaulting party a terrific fire of musketry, which struck down eleven out oi four- teen officers that composed the command, and non-commis- sioned officers and men in proportion, including among the officers Brevet-Major Wright, the commander ; Captain Mason and Lieutenant Forster, engineers, all severely wounded. This severe shock staggered, for a moment, that gallant band. The light battalion held to cover Huger's battery, under Captain E. Kirby Smith, and the right wing of Cadwalader's brigade, were promptly ordered forward to support, which order was executed in the most gallant style ; the enemy was again routed, and this point of their line car- ried and fully possessed by our troops. In the meantime Garland's brigade, ably sustained by Captain Drum's artil- lery, assaulted the enemy's left, and, after an obstinate and very severe contest, drove them from this apparently impreg- * General Worth's report. THE BATTLES BEFORE THE CITY OF MEXICO. 351 nable position, immediately under the guns of the castle of Chepultepec, Drum's section and the battering guns under Captain Huger advanced to the enemy's position, and the captured guns of the enemy were now opened on their re- treating forces, on which they continued to fire until beyond their reach. While this work was in progress of accomplishment by the centre and right, the troops on the left were not idle. Duncan's battery opened on the right of the enemy's line, up to this time engaged, and the Second brigade, under Colonel Mcintosh, was now ordered to assault the extreme right of the enemy's line. The direction of this brigade soon caused it to mask Duncan's battery, the fire of which, for the moment, was discontinued, and the brigade moved steadily on to the assault of Casa Mata, which, instead of an ordinary field entrenchment, as was supposed, proved to be a strong stone citadel, surrounded with bastioned en- trenchments and impassable ditches, an old Spanish work, recently repaired and enlarged. When within easy musket range the enemy opened a most deadly fire upon the ad- vancing troops, which was kept up, without intermission, until the gallant men reached the very slope of the parapet of the work that surrounded the citadel. By this time a large proportion of the command was either killed or wounded, among whom were the three senior officers pres- ent, Brevet-Colonel Mcintosh, Brevet-Lieutenant-Colonel Scott, of the Fifth Infantry, and Major Waite, Eighth Infan- try ; the second killed and the first and last desperately wounded. Still the fire from the citadel was unabated. In this crisis of the attack, the command was momentarily thrown into disorder and fell back on the left of Duncan's battery, where they rallied. As the Second brigade moved to the assault a very large cavalry and infantry force was 352 THE BATTLES BEFORE THE CITY OF MEXICO. discovered approaching rapidly upon the left Hank to re- inforce the enemy's right. As soon as Duncan's battery was masked, as before mentioned, supported by Andrews's vohigeurs, of Cad- walader's brigade, it moved promptly to the extreme left of the line to check the threatened assault on this point. The enemy's cavalry came rapidly within canister range, when the whole battery opened a most effective fire, which soon broke the squadrons and drove them back in disorder. During this fire upon the enemy's cavalry, Major Sumner's command moved to the front, and changed direction in admirable order, under a most appalling fire from the Casa Mata. This movement enabled his command to cross the ravine immediately on the left of Duncan's battery, where it 'remained, doing noble service until the close of the action. At the very moment the cavalry were driven be- yond reach, the American troops drew back from the Casa Mata, and enabled the guns of Duncan's battery to re-open upon this position, which, after a short and well-directed fire, the enemy abandoned. The guns of the battery were now turned upon the retreating columns. The Mexicans were now driven from every point of the field, and their strong lines, which had certainly been de- fended well, were in Worth's possession. In fulfillment of the instructions of General Scott, the Casa Mata was blown up, and such of the captured ammunition as was useless to the Americans, as well as the cannon-moulds found in El Molino del Rey, were destroyed. After which, Worth's command, under the orders of the General-in-chief, returned to quarters at Tacubaya, with three of the enemy's four guns, as also a large quantity of small arms, with gun and musket ammunition, and exceeding eight hundred prison- ers, including fifty-two commissioned officers. By the con- THE BATTLES BEFORE THE CITY OF MEXICO. 353 current testimony of prisoners, the enemy's force exceeded four thousand men, commanded by General Santa Anna in person. His total loss, killed (including the second and third in command. Generals Valdarez and Leon), wounded, and prisoners, amounted to three thousand, exclusive of some two thousand who deserted after the rout. Worth's command, reinforced as before stated, only reached three thousand one hundred men of all arms. The contest con- tinued two hours, and its severity was painfully attested by the heavy loss of American officers, non-commissioned officers and privates, including in the first two classes some of the brightest men of the service. A series of batdes of forty-eight hours' continuance fol- lowed Worth's triumph at Molino del Rey, after which, on the 14th of September, 1847, General Scott's glorious army hoisted the flag of the United States on the walls of the National Palace of Mexico. CHAPTER XXII. AN EXAMPLE OF A FIGHTING AMERICAN FAMILY. The Guarantee of the Mihtary Power of the United States Lies in the Superior Energy of Her Citizens — Tlie Fighting McCooks are a Fair Sample of the American Type— A Brief Sketch of the Individual Members of the Two Families. The fundamental feature of the military power of the United States is the ever-ready army of the volunteers. It is true this force is not organized, but it is the young man- hood of the country, intelligent, patriotic, alert, ambitious to share in the honor and glory of arms, of remarkable soldierly aptitude, keen in drill, restive under the severities of discipline, marvelously quick to receive instruction, proud of the record of the fathers, such men as swept over Mis- sionary Ridge with Sheridan, or charged at Chickamauga and Gettysburg. There are millions of these men. They are an army that outnumber and outclass the Legions of Germany, Russia and France. A brief historical account of one of the families distin- guished in the war of the states and sections, especially as volunteers in the army that established the nation, will show the fountains of blood of the brave that was poured out for the cause that the flag signified, and display in one picture, full of the pathos of sacrifice, and the fame of hero- ism, that the family is the unit of the life of our country that has shaped and endowed the records of America in the homes, the churches, the schools, the armies that have made 354 A FIGHTING AMERICAN FAMILY. 355 the character that abides, and the history that comes down to us in traditions of inspiration and goes forth to glorious realization. "The fighting McCooks " of Ohio are a typical American family, and the sketch of them, given in the proceedings of the Scotch-Irish Society of America for 1894, is of such universal illustrative interest, that we give it as a chapter in " Our Country in War " for its example of the heroic devotion of our countrymen who fly to arms when the people are summoned to fight for the government that is of themselves. Major Daniel McCook and Dr. John McCook were the fathers of the fighters. Of the family of Major Daniel McCook there were engaged in military service the father, Major Daniel McCook, Surgeon Latimer A. McCook, Gen. George W. McCook, Gen. Robert L. McCook, Gen. Alexander McD. McCook, Gen. Daniel McCook, Jr., Gen. Edwin Stanton McCook, Private Charles Morris McCook, and Col. John J. McCook. Another son, Midshipman J. James McCook, died in the naval service before the re- bellion. Thus ten in all honorably served their country. Of the family of Dr. John McCook, there were engaged in the service. Gen. Edward M. McCook, Gen. Anson G. McCook, Chaplain Henry C. McCook, Commander Rod- eric S. McCook, U. S. N., and Lieut. John J. McCook— five in all. This makes a total of fifteen, every son of both families commissioned officers except Charles, who was killed in the first battle of Bull Run, and had declined a commission in the regular army, preferring to serve as a private volunteer. The two branches of the family have been familiarly dis- tinguished as the "Tribe of Dan" and the " Tribe of John." 356 A FIGHTING AMERICAN FAMILY. I. The Daniel McCook Branch. Major Daniel McCook was born June 20, 1 798, at Can- nonsburg, Pa., where he received his education. On August 28, 1 81 7, he married Martha Latimer, daughter of Abra- ham Latimer, of Washington, Pa. In 1826 they removed to New Lisbon, C, and later to Carrollton, O. At the beginning of the war he was in Washington, D. C, and, although sixty-three years of age, at once tendered his services to President Lincoln. Each of his eight sons, then living, also promptly responded to the call of the Pre- sident for troops. When the rebel general, John Morgan, made his raid into Ohio, Major McCook was stationed at Cin- cinnati, and joined the troops sent in his pursuit. Morgan undertook to recross the Ohio River at Buffington Island. Major McCook led an advance party to oppose and inter- cept the crossing. In the skirmish that took place he was mortally wounded, and died next day, July 21, 1863. During the war of the rebellion, Mrs. McCook was in a peculiarly diflicult position. Her husband and sons were all in the service. No battle could take place but some of her loved ones were in danger. Each succeeding year brought death to a member of her family upon the batde- field. Her husband and three sons were thus taken from her ; and the others were so frequently wounded that it seemed as if, in her old age, she was to be bereft of her en- tire family. Her life during these long years of anxiety was well-nigh a continuous prayer for her country and for her husband and sons who had given themselves for its de- fence. This patriotic woman well illustrates the heroic sufferings endured by the women of the republic no less than by the men. Latimer A. McCook, M. D., first son of Daniel, was born at Cannonsburg, Pa., April 26, 1820. He entered the army A FIGHTING AMERICAN FAMII V. 357 in 1 86 1 as assistant surgeon, and was soon promoted to be surgeon, with the rank of major, of the Thirty-first Regi- ment, IlHnois Vohuiteers, known as "John A. Logan's Regiment." He served throughout the campaigns of the Army of the Tennessee, and while caring for the wounded of his regi- ment, during action, he was himself twice wounded — once in the trenches before Vicksburg, and again at Pocotaligo Bridge, in General Sherman's movement northward from Savannah. Second son, George Weythe McCook, was born at Can- nonsburg. Pa., November 2, 182 1. He studied law with, and afterwards became the partner, of Edwin M. Stanton, the great War Secretary, He served as an officer in the Third Ohio Regiment throughout the Mexican war, and returned as its commander. He was one of the first four brigadier-generals appointed by the governor of Ohio to command the troops from that state at the outbreak of the rebellion. Third son, John James McCook, was born at Cannonsburg, Pa., December 28, 1823. While serving as midshipman of the United States frigate Delaware off the coast of South America, he was taken ill with a fever, following long-con- tinued exposure while on duty. He died March 30, 1842, and was buried in the English burying-ground at Rio Jan- eiro. Admiral Farragut, in his autobiography, pays a high tribute to the personal character and ability of Midshipman McCook. Fourth son, Robert Latimer McCook, was born at New Lisbon, Ohio, December 28, 1827. When the news reached him that Fort Sumter had been fired upon he organized and was commissioned colonel of the Ninth Ohio Regiment, among the Germans, enlisting a thousand men in less than 358 A FIGHTING AMERICAN FAMILY. two days. He was ordered to West Virginia, put in com- mand of a brigade, and made the decisive campaign there under McClellan. His brigade was then transferred to the Army of the Ohio, and took a most active part in the battle of Mills Spring, in Kentucky, where he was severely wounded. The rebel forces were driven from their lines by a bayonet charge of General McCook's brigade, and so closely pursued that their organization, as an army, was completely destroyed. General McCook rejoined his bri- gade before his wound had healed, and continued to com- mand it when he was unable to mount a horse. His remarkable soldierly qualities procured him the rank of major-general, and the command of a division. He met his death, August 6, 1862, while on the march near Salem, Ala. Fifth son, Major-General Alexander McDowell McCook, was born near New Lisbon, Ohio, April 22, 1831. He entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, and graduated in the class of 1852. At the opening of the war he was promptly made colonel of the First Ohio Regi- ment, which he led among the very earliest troops to the relief of the capital, and commanded at Bull Run, or Man- assas. He became a brigadier-general in September, 1861, and commanded a division under General Buell in the Army of the Ohio. He was made a major-general for distin- guished services at the battle of Shiloh, and was placed in command of the Twentieth Army Corps, forming the right wing of the Army of the Cumberland, with which he served during the campaigns of Perry ville, Stone's River, Tulla- homa, Chattanooga and Chickamauga. General McCook subsequently commanded one of the Trans-Mississippi departments. He is now a major-general in the regular army, stationed at Denver, Col., in command of the Depart- ment of Colorado. A FIGHTING AMERICAN FAMILY. 359 Sixth son, Daniel McCook, Jr., was born at Carrollton, O., July 22, 1834. When the war broke out he was a partner in the law firm of Sherman & Ewing. That office was closed, and each of the partners soon became general officers. General Sherman at the close of the war being second in rank to General Grant. Daniel McCook, Jr., was captain of a local company, the Shields Guards, with which he volunteered, and, as a part of the First Kansas Regiment, served under General Lyon at Wilson's Creek. He then served as Chief of Staff of the First Division of the Army of the Ohio in the Shiloh cam- paign, and became colonel of the Fifty-second Ohio Infantry in the summer of 1862. He was assigned to the command of a brigade in General Sheridan's division, and as such continued to serve with the Army of the Cumberland. He was selected by his old law partner. General Sherman, to lead the assault on Kennesaw Mountain. After all the arrangements for the assault had been made, the brigade was formed in regiment front and four deep. Just before the assault Colonel McCook recited to his men in a per- fectly calm manner the stanzas from Macaulay's " Hora- tius" in which occur these lines , Then out spoke brave Horatius, The captain of the gate : " To every man upon this earth Death cometh soon or late. And how can man die better Than facing fearful odds, For the ashes of his fathers And the temples of his gods ?'* Then he gave the word of command and dashed forward. He had reached the top of the enemy's works, and was encouraging his men to follow, when he was riddled with 360 A FIGHTING AMERICAN FA Mil V. minie balls and fell back wounded unto death. For his courage and gallantry in this assault he was promoted to the full rank of brigadier-general, an honor which he did not live to enjoy, as he survived but a few days. He died July 21, 1864. Seventh son, Edward Stanton McCook, was born at Carrollton, O., March 26, 1837. He was educated in the United States Naval Academy, at Annapolis, but, pre- ferring the other arm of the service, when the Civil War began, he recruited a company and joined the Thirty-first Illinois Infantry, of which his friend, John A. Logan, was colonel. He served with his regiment at the battles of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, where he was severely wounded. In his promotions he succeeded General Logan, and followed him in the command of regiment, brigade, and division throughout the Vicksburg and other campaigns under Grant, in the Chattanooga and Atlanta campaigns and in the march to the sea under Sherman. He was promoted to the rank of full brigadier and brevet major-general for his services in these ' campaigns. He was three times severely wounded, but survived the war. While acting Governor of Dakota, and in presiding over a public meeting, September 11, 1873, he was shot and killed by a man who was not in sympathy with the object of the meeting. Eighth son, Charles Morris McCook, was born at Car- rollton, O., November 13, 1843. He was a member of the freshman class at Kenyon College when the war began, and, although less than eighteen years of age, volunteered as a private soldier in the Second Ohio Infantry for three months' service. Secretary Stanton offered him a lieuten- ant's commission in the regular army, but he preferred to serve as a volunteer. U.S.S CHICAGO SENOR rOLO Y BERNABK. A FIGHTING AMERICAN FAMILY. 363 At the battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861, he served with his regiment, which was covering the retreat of the shat- tered army. As he passed a field hospital he saw his father, who had volunteered as a nurse, at work among the wounded, and stopped to assist him, the regiment passing on. As he started to rejoin his company young McCook was surrounded by an officer and several troopers of the famous Black Horse Cavalry, who demanded his surrender. His musket was loaded, and he quickly disabled the officer, and, as he was highly trained in the bayonet exercise, kept the other horsemen at bay. His father, seeing the odds against the lad, called to him to surrender, to which he replied, " Father, I will never surrender to a rebel," and a moment after was shot down by one of the cavalrymen. Ninth son, John J. McCook, was born at Carrollton, O., May 25, 1845. He was a student at Kenyon College, when the war began, and, after completing his freshman year, en- listed in the Sixth Ohio Cavalry. He was promoted to a first lieutenancy on September 1 2, 1 862, and was assigned to duty on the staff of Gen. Thomas L. Crittenden, commanding a corps of the Army of the Ohio, which subsequently became the Twenty-first Corps of the Army of the Cumberland. He served in the campaigns of Perry ville, Stone's River, Tullahoma, Chattanooga and Chickamauga, with the Wes- tern armies, and in General Grant's campaign with the Army of the Potomac, from the batde of the Wilderness to the crossing of James River. He was commissioned a cap- tain and aide-de-camp of United States volunteers in Sep- tember, 1863, and was breveted major of volunteers for gallant and meritorious services in action at Shady Grove, Va., where he was severely and dangerously wounded. He was afterwards made lieutenant-colonel and colonel for gal- lant and meritorious services in the same campaign. Colonel 364 A FIGHTING AMERICAN FAMILY. McCook survives, the only member but one of a family of ten when the war began, and is a lawyer engaged in active practice in New York City. //. The John McCook Branch. Dr. John McCook was born and educated at Cannons- burg, Pa. Dr. McCook practiced medicine for many years in New Lisbon, O., whence he removed to Steubenville. He was an ardent patriot, and, although a lifelong Democrat, joined the Union-Republican party and gave the whole weight of his influence and service to the support of the government during the Civil War. He died just after its close, October II, 1865, at the headquarters of his son. Gen. Anson G. McCook, in Washington, D. C, during a temporary visit. Major-General Edward Moody McCook, his eldest son, was born at Steubenville, O., June 15, 1833. He was one of the earliest settlers in the Pike's Peak region, where he had gone to practice his profession, law. He represented that district in the Legislature of Kansas, before the division of the Territory. He was temporarily in Washington in the troubled era preceding the war, and by a daring feat as a volunteer secret agent for the government, won such ap- probation that he was appointed into the regular army as a lieutenant of cavalry. At the outbreak of the rebellion he was appointed major of the Second Indiana Cavalry, rose rapidly to the ranks of colonel, brigadier and major-general, and after brilliant and effective service, retired at the close of the war with the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the regular army. His most difficult and dangerous service, perhaps, was penetrating the enemy's lines by way of diversion pre- vious to Sherman's march to the sea. He returned from this " forlorn hope," having inflicted great damage upon the enemy, defeated and captured a large number, whom he A FIGHTING AMERICAN FAMILY. 365 was compelled to release, and retired in the face of Hood's entire army. He resigned from the regular army to accept the appointment of United States Minister to the Sandwich Islands. He was subsequently twice appointed Governor of Colorado Territory by President Grant. Second son, Brigadier-General Anson George McCook, was born at Steubenville, Ohio, October 10, 1835, and at an early age crossed the plains to California, where he spent several years. He returned shortly before the war, and was engaged in the study of law. At the outbreak of the rebellion he promptly raised a company of volunteers, and was elected captain of the company, which was the first to enter the service from eastern Ohio. He was assigned to the Second Ohio Regiment, and took part in the first battle of Bull Run. Upon the reorganization of the troops he was appointed major of the Second Ohio, and rose by death and resignation of his seniors to the rank of colonel. At the battle of Peach Tree Creek, near Atlanta, he commanded a brigade. He was in action in many of the principal battles of the West, including those of Perryville, Stone's River, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Resaca, etc. On the muster-out of the Second Ohio, at the close of the three years' service, he was ap- pointed colonel of the One Hundred and Ninety-fourth Ohio, and was ordered to Virginia, where he was assigned to command a brigade. He was breveted a brigadier- general at the close of the war. He returned to Steuben- ville, whence, after several years' residence, he removed to New York City, his present residence. He served six years in Congress from the Eighth New York District in the Forty-fifth, Forty-sixth and Forty-seventh Congresses. He is, at present, Secretary of the United States Senate. Third son. Rev. Henry C. McCook, D. D., was born July 366 A FIGHTIhG AMERICAN FAMILY. 3, 1837, at New Lisbon, Ohio. He was a student in the Western Theological Seminary, Allegheny City, on the outbreak of the rebellion, and having made an engagement to go West to spend his summer vacation, stopped at Clin- ton, De Witt county, 111. Here he was actively engaged in raising troops for the service until the first battle of Bull Run, when he enlisted as a private soldier, stumped the county to raise troops, and was mustered into the Forty- first Illinois as first lieutenant. He was appointed chaplain of the regiment, and returned home for ordination by the Presbytery of Steubenville, Ohio. He served for less than a year, and resigned with the intention of taking another position in the army ; but, convinced that he could serve his country best in a public position at home, returned to his church at Clinton. Fourth son. Commander Roderic Sheldon McCook, U, S. N., was born in New Lisbon, Ohio, March 10, 1839. He graduated at the Naval Academy, Annapolis, in 1859, and his first service was off the Congo River, Africa, whence he was sent home with a prize crew in charge of a captured slaver. From 1861 to 1865 he took active part in aggressive operations before New Berne, Wilmington, Charleston, Fort Fisher and on the James River. At New Berne he bore an active and successful part in the battle on land. He offered himself and the services of his marines to the land force in moving a battery of guns from his vessel. With this battery he took a conspicuous part in the con- flict, and had the honor of receiving the surrender of a Confederate regiment of infantry, probably the only sur- render of this sort which occurred during the Civil War. During his arduous services with monitors, particularly the Canonicus at Fort Fisher, he seriously impaired his health. He was engaged in the operations on the James River, and A FIGHTING AMERICAN FAMILY. 367 also those ending in the surrender of Charleston. He attained the grade of commander, September 25th, 1873. Failing in health, he was retired from active service Febru- ary 23, 1885. The fifth son and sixth child. Rev. Prof John James McCook, was born at New Lisbon, Ohio, February 4, 1843. He served as lieutenant in the First Virginia Volunteers during a short campaign in West Virginia, a regiment re- cruited almost exclusively from Ohio. There were so many volunteers from this state that its quota of regiments was immediately filled, and many of its citizens entered the ser- vice with regiments from other states. He was at Kelleys- ville, one of the earliest engagements of the war. He was afterward rector of St. John's, Detroit, and is now of St. John's, East Hartford. CHAPTER XXIII. THE EVOLUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF BRAZIL, FROM AN EMPIRE. The Transformation of the Empire of Brazil to a Repubhc was more easily accomplished by the Liberal-mindedness of the f^mperor — Brazil, on account of her Gold Fields, at one time received the attention of the Various Powers of Europe— Napoleon was the prime Cause of the Estab- lishment of the Empire of Brazil, and the Just and Liberal-minded Emperor, Don Pedro II. was the Cause of the Long Delay in Establish- ing the Brazilian Republic. The last Emperor of Brazil was understood to be a Re- publican gentleman, and was indefatigable in industry, seek- ing knowledge that he might apply it to the promotion of the welfare of his country. He was a fine and imposing figure at the Centennial Exposition of the United States in 1876, and his investigations taxed the strength and ex- hausted the intelligence of many exhibitors. Though the people of the United States have not been especially fond of American Emperors, they respected and liked the hearty Emperor of Brazil, were pleased to see him, and did not rejoice in his misfortunes, fond as they are of the extension of the area of Republican freedom. The annals of Brazil have lacked the tragic interest of those of Paraguay, Chili, Peru and Venezuela. The Rev. James C. Fletcher gives this account of the origin of the name of the vast country in South America that is, in a grand sense, geographically an Empire, though enjoying a Republican form of government: "As the most valuable part of the cargo which Americus Vespucius brought back to Europe was the well-known dyewood, Qcsalpinia Braziliensis, called in the Portuguese 368 THE EVOLUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF BRAZIL. 369 language pau brazil, on account of its resemblance to brazas, ' coals of fire,' the land whence it came was termed ' the land of the brazil-wood;' and, finally, this appellation was shortened to Brazil, and completely usurped the names Vera Cruz or Santa Cruz. This change was not effected without protestations on the part of some, not because their taste for euphony was shocked, but on the ground that the cause of religion required a sacred tide to the fairest pos- session of faithful Lusitania in the New World, One of the revere^idissimos declared that it was through the express interposition of the devil that such a choice and lovely land should be called Brazil instead of the pious cognomen given to it by Cabral." " Other eyes," say Fletcher and Kidder, " than those of Spanish navigators were looking toward Brazil, and to that very portion of it which had been slighted by Martin Alfonso de Souza. Among the adventurers from France was Nich- olas Durand de Villegagnon, a Knight of Malta, a man of considerable abilities, and of some distinction in the French service. He had even been appointed to the gallant post of commander of the vessel which bore Mary, Queen of Scots, from France to her own realms. Villegagnon aspired to the honor of establishing a colony in the New World, and Rio de Janeiro was the chosen spot for his experiment. " For one hundred and forty years after its foundation, the city of San Sebastian enjoyed a state of tranquil prosperity. This quietness was in happy contrast with the turbulent spirit of the age, and especially with the condition of the principal towns and colonies of Brazil ; nearly all of which, during the period referred to, had been attacked by either the English, the Dutch, or the French. In this interval the population and commerce of the place greatly increased. " At the commencement of the eighteenth century the 370 THE EVOLUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF BRAZIL. principal gold mines of the interior were discovered by the Paiilistas — the inhabitants of San Paulo. These gave the names of Minas Ger^ts (General Mines) to a large inland province, which became then, as it still remains, tributary to the port of Rio de Janeiro. Gold-digging was found to produce here, effects similar to those which resulted from it in the Spanish countries. Agriculture was nearly aban- doned ; the price of slaves, who had been early introduced, became enormous, and the general prosperity of the country retrograded ; while every one who could, rushed to the mines, in hope of speedily enriching himself. We even find that the curious and abnormal condition of Cali- fornia in 1848 had its counterpart three centuries ago in Brazil. "The system of government maintained during these periods throughout Brazil was absolute in the extreme, and by no means calculated to develop the great resources of the country. Nevertheless, it was anticipated by the more enlightened statesmen of Portugal, that the colony would some day eclipse the glory of the mother-country. None, however, could foresee the proximity of those events which were about to drive the royal family (the house of Brag- anza) to seek an asylum in the New World, and to establish their court at Rio de Janeiro. The close of the eighteenth century witnessed their development. "The French Revolution, and the leading spirit which was raised up by it, involved the slumbering kingdom of Portugal in the troubles of the continent. Napoleon deter- mined that the court of Lisbon should declare itself against its ancient ally, England, and assent to the Continental system adopted by the imperial ruler of France. The Prince-Regent, Dom John VI., promised, but hesitated, de- layed, and finally, too late, declared war against England. THE EVOLUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF BRAZIL. ^y i The vacillation of the Prince- Regent hastened events to a crisis. The English fleet, under Sir Sydney Smith, estab- lished a most rigorous blockade at the mouth of the Tagus, and the British ambassador left no other alternative to Dom John VI. than to surrender to England the Portuguese fleet, or to avail himself of the British squadron for the protec- tion and transportation of the royal family to Brazil. The moment was critical : the army of Napoleon had penetrated the mountains of Beira ; only an immediate departure would save the monarchy. No resource remained to the Prince-Regent but to choose between a tottering throne in Europe, and a vast empire in America. His indecisions were at an end. By a royal decree he announced his intention to retire to Rio de Janeiro until the conclusion of a general peace. The archives, the treasures, and the most precious effects of the crown were transferred to the Portuguese and English fleets ; and on the 29th of Novem- ber, 1807, accompanied by his family and a multitude of faithful followers, the Prince-Regent took his departure amid the combined salvos of the cannon of Great Britain and of Portugal. That very day Marshal Junot thundered upon the heights of Lisbon, and the next morning took possession of the city. Early in January, 1808, the news of these surprising events reached Rio de Janeiro. "The fleet having been scattered in a storm, the princi- pal vessels had put into Bahia, where Dom John VI. gave that ca7^le regia which opened the ports of Brazil to the commerce of the world. At length all made a safe entry into the harbor of Rio on the 7th of March, 1808. In the manifestations of joy upon this occasion, the houses were deserted, and the hills were covered with spectators. Those who could, procured boats and sailed out to meet the royal squadron. The prince, immediately after landing, pro 372 THE EVOLUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF BRAZIL. cceded to the cathedral, and pubHcly offered thanks for his safe arrival. "On the arrival of the Prince-Regent the ports were thrown open. A printing-press was introduced, and a Royal Gazette was published. Academies of medicine and the fine arts were established. The Royal Library con- taining sixty thousand volumes of books, was opened for the free use of the public. Foreigners were invited, and embassies from England and France took up their residence at Rio de Janeiro. " Business assumed an aspect equally changed. Foreign commercial houses were opened, and foreign artisans es- tablished themselves in Rio and other cities. "This country could no longer remain a colony. A de- cree was promulgated in December, 1815, declaring it ele- vated to the dignity of a kingdom, and hereafter to form an integral part of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Algarves, and Brazil. It is scarcely possible to imagine the enthu- siasm awakened by this unlooked-for change throughout the vast extent of Portuguese America. Messengers were despatched to bear the news, which was hailed with spon- taneous illuminations from the La Plata to the Amazon. Scarcely was this event consummated when the queen. Donna Maria I., died. " There had always been, to a greater or less extent, a certain rivalry between the native Brazilian and the Por- tuguese ; but now it found a new cause of excitement. The government felt itself bound to find places for the more than twenty thousand needy and unprincipled adventurers who had followed the royal family to the new world. These men cared very little for the welfare of Brazil, either in the administration of justice or in acts for the benefit of the public. Their greatest interest by far was manifested THE EVOLUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF BRAZIL. 37^ in the eager desire to fleece the country and enrich them- selves. Honors were heaped upon those Brazilians who had furnished house and money to the Prince-Regent, and, as lie had nothing to give them but decorations, he was soon surrounded by knights who had never displayed either chivalry or learning, and the most degrading sycophancy was practiced to obtain the royal favor. " On this ground the native Brazilians and the newly ar- rived Portuguese fought their first battles. They were rivals for place, and, once in office, the Brazilian was as open to every species of bribery and corruption as the most venal hanger-on of the court of Lisbon. The Brazilians, how- ever, had one advantage over their adversaries. The na- tives sympathized most fully with their recently knighted brethren and listened to their complaints with a willing ear. The independence of the North American colonies and the successful revolutionary struggle of some of the neighboring Spanish-American provinces still more aug- mented the uneasiness of the people, and a consciousness of this increasing discontent, and a fear that Brazil might be induced to follow the example of her revolting Spanish neighbors, doubdess had a powerful influence upon the government in making the concessions named. "Tranquillity followed the erection of Brazil into a con- stituent portion of the kingdom, but it was of short dura- tion. Discontent was at work. The intended revolt at Pernambuco in 181 7 was betrayed to the government, and the insurgents were prematurely compelled to take up arms, and suffered defeat from the troops sent against them by the Count dos Arcos. From this time there seems to have been a systematic exclusion of native Brazilians from commands in the army. " Murmurs were gradually disseminated; but they found 374 1^^^ EVOLUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF BRAZIL. no echoes — as in the case of the North American colonies — from the press, which had, with the common schools, followed the immediate wake of the English colonists. The first, and at that time, the only printing press in the country, was brouorht from Lisbon in 1808, and was under the direct control of the royal authorities. Its columns faithfully recorded, for the Brazilian public, the health of all the European princes. It was filled with official edicts, birth- day odes, and panegyrics on the royal family; but its pages were unsullied by the ebuUitions of the Democracy, or the exposure of their grievances. As has been well said by Armitage, ' to have judged of the country by the tone of its only journal, it must have been pronounced a terrestrial paradise, where no word of complaint had ever yet found utterance.' " But at length the time arrived when the monotony of the Court Gazette was interrupted, and the people soon found voices for their grievances, and in the end substantial redress. The revolution which occurred in Portugal in 1 82 1, in favor of a Constitution, was immediately responded to by a similar one in Brazil. " After much excitement and alarm from the tumultuous movements of the people, the King, Dom John VI., conferred upon his son Dom Pedro, Prince-Royal, the office of Regent and Lieutenant to His Majesty in the kingdom of Brazil. He then hastened his departure for Portugal, accompanied by the remainder of his family, and the principal nobility who had followed him. The disheartened monarch em- barked on board a line-of-battle ship on the 24th of April, 1 82 1, leaving the widest and fairest portion of his dominions to a destiny not indeed unlooked for by his Majesty, but which was fulfilled much sooner than his melancholy fore- bodings anticipated. THE EVOLi TION OF THE REPUBLIC OF BRAZIL. 375 " Dom Pedro had left Portugal when a mere lad, and it was believed that his highest aspirations were associated with the land of his adoption. In the office of Prince-Regent he certainly found scope for his most ardent ambition ; but he also discovered himself to be surrounded with numerous difficulties, political and financial. So embarrassing, indeed, was his situation that in the course of a few months he begged his father to allow him to resign his office and attributes. The Cortes of Portugal, about this time becom- ing jealous of the position of the Prince in Brazil, passed a decree ordering him to return to Europe, and at the same time abolishing the royal tribunals at Rio. The decree was received with indignation by the Brazilians, who imme- diately rallied around Dom Pedro and persuaded him to remain among them. His consent to do so gave rise to the most enthusiastic demonstrations of joy among both patriots and loyalists. The Portuguese military soon evinced symptoms of mutiny. " A conflict seemed inevitable ; but the Portuguese com- mander vacillated in view of the determined opposition manifested by the people, who flew to arms, and offered to capitulate on the condition of his soldiers retaining their arms. This was conceded on their agreeing to retire to Praia Grande, a city on the opposite side of the bay, until transports could be provided for their embarkation to Lis- bon, which was subsequently effected. The measures of the Cortes of Portugal, which continued to be arbitrary in the extreme toward Brazil, finally had the effect to hasten, in the latter country, a declaration of absolute independ- ence. This measure had long been ardently desired by the more enlightened Brazilians, some of whom had already urged Dom Pedro to assume the tide of Emperor. Hitherto he had refused, and reiterated his allegiance to Portugal. 376 THE RVOI.UTTON OF THE REPUBLIC OF BRAZIL. But he at length, while on a journey to the province of San Paulo, received despatches from the mother-country, which had the effect of cutting short all delay, and caused him to declare for independence in a manner so decided and explicit that henceforward all retrograde measures would be utterly impracticable. " On the 7th of September, 1822, when he read the des- patches, he was surrounded by his courtiers, on those beau- tiful campinas in sight of San Paulo, a city which had ever been, as it is now, celebrated in Brazil for the liberality and intelligence of its inhabitants. It was then on the margin of an insignificant stream — the Ypiranga — that he made that exclamation, ' hidependencia ou morte ' (independence or death), which became the watchword of the Brazilian Revo- lution ; and from the 7th of September, 1822, the independ- ence of the country has since held its official date. It has been truly said that in the eyes of the civilized world it was a memorable circumstance, and must ever form an epoch in the history of the Western continent. " It was indeed a great event, which led to vast results. It was a grand revolution, begun by one whose very birth and position would have led the contemplative philosopher or statesman to pronounce it impossible that he should become the leader of a popular cause. It was the descendant of a long line of European monarchs who inaugurated that movement which severed the last — the most faithful — of the great division of South America from trans-adantic rule. "The Brazilian revolution was comparatively a bloodless one. The glory of Portugal was already waning ; her re- sources were exhausted and her energies crippled by inter- nal dissensions. " That nation made nothing like a systematic and perse- THE EVOLUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF BRAZIL. 377 vering" effort to maintain her ascendancy over her long-de- pressed but now rebellious colony. The insulting measures of the Cortes were consummated only in their vaporing decrees. The Portuguese dominion was maintained for some time in Bahia and other ports, which had been occu- pied by military forces. So little contested, indeed, and so rapid was this revolution, that in less than three years from the time independence was declared on the plains of Ypi- ranga, Brazil was acknowledged to be independent at the court of Lisbon. In the meantime the Emperor had been crowned as Dom Pedro I., and an assembly of delegates from the provinces had been convoked for the formation of a constitution. " The administration of Dom Pedro I. continued about ten years, and, during its lapse, the country unquestionably made greater advances in intelligence than it had done in three centuries which intervened between its first discovery and the proclamation of the Portuguese Constitution in 1 820. Nevertheless, this administration was not without its faults or its difficulties. Dom Pedro, although not tyrannical, was imprudent. He was energetic, but inconstant ; an admirer of the representative form of government, but hesitating in its practical enforcement. " In addition to the imprudence and inconstancy of the Emperor, it was said — and not without truth — that his habits were extravagant and his morals extremely defective. And yet, the main cause of his personal unpopularity seems to have consisted in his never having known how to become the man of his people — in his never having constituted him- self entirely and truly a Brazilian. His institution of a secret cabinet and his appointment of naturalized Portuguese to the highest offices of the State, to the apparent exclusion of natives of the soil, had, among a jealous people, given 378 THE EVOLUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF BRAZIL. rise to the universal impression that the monarch himself was still a Portuguese at heart." After various popular agitations, which had the continual effect of widening the breach between the Imperial party and the patriots, the populace of Rio de Janeiro assembled in the Campo de Santa Anna on the 6th of April, 1831, and began to call for the dismissal of the new ministry, and for the reinstatement of some individuals who had that very morning been dismissed. Dom Pedro I., on being in- formed of the assemblage and the objects, issued a pro- clamation, signed by himself and the existing ministry, assuring them that the administration was perfecdy consti- tutional, and that its members would be governed by con- stitutional principles. A justice of the peace was despatched to read this to the people ; yet scarcely had he concluded when the document was torn from his hands and trampled under foot. The cry for the reinstatement of the cabinet became louder; the multitude momentarily increased in numbers ; and, about six o'clock in the afternoon, three justices of the peace (in Spanish-American, it would have been a battalion of soldiers) were despatched to the Im- perial residence to demand that the " ministry who had the confidence of the people " — as the late cabinet were desig- nated — should be reappointed. The emperor listened to their requisition, but refused to accede to their request. He exclaimed, " I will do every- thing for the people, but nothing by the people ! " No sooner was this answer made known in the Campo, than more seditious cries were raised, and the troops began to assemble there for the purpose of making com- mon cause with the multitude. Further representations were made to the Emperor, but were unavailing. He declared that he would suffer death rather than consent to REPRESENTATIVE JOSEPH W. BAILEY. THE EVOLUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF BRAZIL. 381 the dictation of the mob. It was two o'clock in the morn- ing when he sat down, without asking the advice of any one, or even informing the ministry of his resolution, and wrote out his abdication in the following terms : " Availing myself of the right which the Constitution conceded to me, I declare that I have voluntarily abdicated in favor of my dearly-beloved and esteemed son, Dom Pedro de Alcantara. " Boa Vista, 7th April, 1831, tenth year | of the Independence of the Empire." j He then rose, and, addressing himself to the messenger from the Campo, said, " Here is my abdication : may you be happy ! I shall retire to Europe and leave the country that I have loved and that I still love." Tears now choked his utterance and he hastily retired to an adjoining room, where were the Empress and the English and French ambassadors. He loved the country of his adoption ; and a few days after the memorable night of his abdication, as he gazed for the last time upon the city of Rio de Janeiro, the mag- nificent bay and the lofty mountains, he poured, from a full heart, a touching farewell to his son Dom Pedro II,, in which not only is parental tenderness manifest, but a deep solicitude for the land whose destiny at one time seemed so closely linked to his own. Dom Pedro II. was born in Rio de Janeiro, December 2, 1825, and was crowned July 18, 1841. After his accession to the throne, Brazil steadily increased in power and use- fulness. The Emperor possessed remarkable literary and scientific aquirements, was a just and liberal sovereign, and enjoyed the warm affection of his people. However, the love of liberty and absolute Republican independence per- vaded the atmosphere in North and South America, and an 382 THE EVOLUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF BRAZIL. Empire, though directed by the most Hberal and just of monarchs, was yet not a Republic. Though the Empire of Brazil had existed for almost sixty years, it was not surprising that the time would come when it would follow the example of its neighbors and establish a government directed by the people. On November 14, 1889, and the succeeding days, a revolution broke out, which, in many respects, was a remarkable event. The outside world had no suspicion that a strong republican feeling existed in Brazil, or that any dissatisfaction was felt at the course of the aged Emperor, who had reigned in peace and prosperity for fifty years. The revolution is also notable for the swiftness with which it succeeded, and for the absence of riot and violence during its brief progress. It appears that the Emperor had no partisans, even in his own capital, to strike a blow for him, nor does the Emperor himself seem to have, for a moment, thought of resisting the revolutionary tide. He simply awaited the good pleasure of the successful chiefs of the Republican party ; and their good pleasure was that he should sail for Portugal. Set sail, he did, without a word of remonstrance or even of regret. Thus quickly and quietly passed away the only monarch remaining in the Western Hemisphere, and thus was the circle of American republics made at last complete by the memorable accession to them of the United States of Brazil. It is important to note that this event completed the chain of self-governing American nations from Canada to Cape Horn, interrupted only by the islands of Cuba and Porto Rico, which were still in the grasp of mediaeval misgovernment. CHAPTER XXIV. THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. The Picturesqueness, Commercial Value and Historic Interest of the Philippine Islands — The Agricultural Industry as Manipulated by the Natives — Manila one of the Greatest Commercial Centres of the Orient — The Siege of Manila by the English in the Year 1762 — A Historical Coincidence. The most populous and prosperous province of the Philippines, takes its name from the fortification of Manila ; and the port of Manila is among the best-known and most frequented harbors of the Eastern world. The capital is renowned for the splendor of its religious processions, for the excellence of its cheroots, which, to the east of the Cape of Good Hope, are generally preferred to the cigars of Havana ; while the less honorable characteristics of the peo- ple are known to be a universal love of gambling, which is exhibited among the Indian races by a passion for cock- fighting, an amusement, made a productive source of revenue to the state. Artists usually introduce a Philippine Indian with a game-cock under his arm, to which he seems as much attached as a Bedouin Arab to his horse. It is said that many a time an Indian has allowed his wife and children to perish in the flames, when his house has taken fire, but was never known to fail in securing his favorite gallo from danger. The bay of Manila, one of the finest in the world, and the river Pasig which flows into it, were, no doubt, the great recommendations of the position chosen for the capital of the Philippines. During the four months of March, April, May and June, the heat and dust are very oppressive, and 383 384 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. the mosquitoes a fearful annoyance. These months are followed by a rainy season, but on the whole the climate is good, and the general mortality not great. The average temperature through the year is 81° Fahrenheit. There is a quarantine station at Cavite, a town of consid- erable importance on the other side of the harbor. It has a large manufacturing establishment of cigars, and gives its name to the surrounding province, which has about 57,000 inhabitants, among whom are about 7,000 mestizos (mixed race) . The life at Manila is said to be intolerably monotonous, and Sir John Bowring, in " A Visit to the Philippine Islands," says : " In my short stay it appeared to me full of interest and animadon, but I was perhaps privileged. The city is certainly not lively, and the Spaniard is generally grave, but he is warm-hearted and hospitable, and must not be studied at a distance nor condemned with precipitancy. He is, no doubt, susceptible and pimdonoroso, but is rich in noble qualities. Confined, as is the population of Manila within the fortification walls, the neighboring country is full of attractions. To me, the villages, the beautiful tropi- cal vegetation, the banks of the rivers, and the streams adorned with scenery so picturesque and pleasing, were more inviting than the gayety of the public parade. Every day afforded some variety, and most of the pueblos have their characteristic distinctions. Malate is filled with pub- lic offices, and women employed in ornamenting slippers with gold and silver embroidery. Santa Ana is a favorite Villagiatura for the merchants and opulent inhabitants. Near Paco, is the cemetery, * where dwell the multitude,' in which are interred the remains of many of the once distinguished who have ceased to be. Guadalupe is illus- trious for its miraculous image, and Paco, for that of the THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 385 Saviour. The Lake of Arroceros (as its name implies) is one of the principal gathering places for boats laden with rice ; near it, too, are large manufactories of paper cigars. Edifices of superior construction are generally the abodes of the mestizos, or of the gobernadorcillos belonging to the different pueblos, " Philip the Third gave armorial bearings to the capital, and conferred on it the title of the ' Very Noble City of Manila,' and attached the dignity of * Excellency ' to the Aynintamiento (municipality). " During my stay at Manila, every afternoon, at five or six o'clock, the Governor-General called for me at my apartments, and escorted by cavalry lancers we were con- veyed in a carriage and four to different parts of the neigh- borhood, the rides lasting from one to two hours. We seldom took the same road, and thus visited, not only all the villages in the vicinity, but passed through much beautiful country, in which the attention was constantly arrested by the groups of graceful bamboos, the tall cocoa- nut trees, the large-leafed plantains, the sugar-cane, the papaya, the green paddy-fields, in which many people were fishing — and who knows when the fields are dry what be- comes of the fish, for they never fail to appear again when irrigation has taken place — and that wonderful variety and magnificence of tropical vegetation — leaves and flowers so rich and gorgeous, on which one never becomes tired of gazing." Charles Wilkes, U. S. N., in his description of the ex- ploring expedition of 1838-42, writes : "So far as our information and observations went, the whole of the Philippine Islands are of similar geological formation. In some of the islands the volcanic rock pre- vails, while in others coal and the metalliferous deposits 386 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. predominate. On some of them the coal-beds form part of the diffs along the shore ; on others copper is found in a chlorite and talcose state. The latter is more particu- larly the case with Luzon, and the same formation extends to Mindoro. Much iron occurs on the mountains. Thus, among the Tagala natives, who are as yet unsubdued by the Spaniards, and who inhabit these mountains, it is found, by them, of so pure a quality that it is manufactured into swords and cleavers. These are occasionally obtained by the Spaniards in their excursions into the interior against these bands. "The country around Manila is composed of tufa of a light grey color, which, being soft and easily worked, is employed as the common building material in the city. It contains, sometimes, scoria and pumice, in pieces of various sizes, besides occasional impressions of plants, with petrified woods. These are confined to recent species, and include palms, etc. "This tufa forms one of the remarkable features of the volcanoes of the Philippine Islands, showing a strong con- trast between them and those of the Pacific Islands which have ejected little else than lava and scoria. " Few portions of the globe seem to be so much the seat of internal fires, or to exhibit the effects of volcanic action so strongly as the Philippines. During our visit it was not known that any of the volcanoes were in action ; but many of them were smoking, particularly that in the district of Albay, called Isaroc. Its latest eruption was in the year 1 839 ; but this did litde damage compared with that of 18 14, which covered several villages, and the country for a great distance around, with ashes. This mountain is situ- ated to the southeast of Manila one hundred and fifty miles, and is said to be a perfect cone, with a crater at its apex. THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 387 " It does not appear that the islands are much affected by earthquakes, although some have occasionally occurred that have done damage to the churches at Manila. " The coal, which we have spoken of, is deemed of value ; it has a strong resemblance to the bituminous coal of our own country, possesses a bright lustre, and appears very free from all woody texture when fractured. It is found asso- ciated with sandstone, which contains many fossils. Lead and copper are reported as being very abundant ; gypsum and limestone occur in some districts. From this it will be seen that these islands have everything in the mineral way to constitute them desirable possessions. " With such mineral resources and a soil capable of pro- ducing the most varied vegetation of the tropics, a liberal policy is all that the country lacks. The products of the Philippine Islands consist of sugar, coffee, hemp, indigo, rice, tortoise-shells, hides, ebony, saffron-wood, sulphur, cotton, cordage, silk, pepper, cocoa, wax, and many other articles. In their agricultural operations the people are industrious, although much labor is lost by the use of defec- tive implements. The plough, of very simple construction, has been adopted from the Chinese ; it has no coulter, the share is flat, and being turned pardy to one side, answers in a certain degree to the purpose of a mould board. This rude implement is sufficient for the rich soils, where the tillage depends chiefly upon the harrow, in constructing which, a thorny species of bamboo is used. The harrow is formed of five or six pieces of this material, on which the thorns are left, firmly fastened together. It answers its purpose well, and is seldom out of order. A wrought-iron harrow, that was introduced by the Jesuits, is used for clearing the ground more effectually, and more particularly for the purpose of exdrpating a troublesome grass, that is 388 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. known by the name of cogon (a species of Andropogon), of which it is very difficult to rid the fields. The bolo, or long-knife, a basket and hoe, complete the list of imple- ments, and answer all the purposes of our spades, etc." The buffalo is, perhaps, the most useful of Philippine quadrupeds. Immense herds of wild buffaloes are found in the interior, but the tamed animal is employed in the labors of the fields and the transport of commodities, whether on its back or in wagons. Its enjoyment is to be merged in water or mud. The buffalo was used, until within a few years, exclusively in their agriculture, and they have lately taken to the use of the ox ; but horses are never used. The buffalo, from the slowness of his motions and exceeding restlessness under the heat of the climate, is ill adapted to agricultural labor, but the natives are very partial to them, notwithstanding they occasion them much trouble in bathing them during the great heat. This is absolutely necessary, or the animal becomes so fretful as to be unfit for use. If it were not for this, the buffalo would, notwithstanding his slow pace, be a most effective animal in agricultural operations ; he requires little food, and that of the coarsest kind ; his strength sur- passes that of the stoutest ox, and he is admirably adapted for the rice or paddy-fields. They are very docile when used by the natives, and even children can manage them, but it is said they have a great antipathy to the whites, and all strangers. The usual mode of guiding them is by a small cord attached to the cartilage of the nose. The yoke rests on the neck before the shoulders, and is of simple construction. To this is attached v/hatever it may be neces- sary to draw, either by traces, shafts, or other fastenings. Frequently this animal may be seen with large bundles of bamboo lashed to it on each side. Buffaloes are to be THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 389 met with on the lake, with no more than their noses and eyes out of the water, and are not visible until they are approached within a few feet, when they cause alarm to the passengers by raising their large forms close to the boat. It is said that they resort to the lake to feed on a favorite grass that grows on its bottom in shallow water, and which they dive for. Their flesh is not eaten, except that of the young ones, for it is tough and tasteless. The milk is nutritious, and of a character between that of the goat and cow. The general appearance of the buffalo is that of a hybrid of the bull and rhinoceros. Its horns do not rise upwards, are very close at the roots, bent backwards, and of a trian- gular form, with a flat side above. One of the peculiarities of the buffalo is its voice, which is quite low, and in the minor key, resembling that of a young colt. It is as fond of mire as swine, and shows the consequence of recent wal- lowing, in being crusted over with mud. The skin is visible, being but thinly covered with hair ; its color is usually that of a mouse, or occasionally darker. Rice is the principal agricultural product, the article upon which the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands depend most for food and profit ; of this they have several different varieties, which the natives distinguish by their size and the shape of the grain. Being of far more general production it is estimated to give an average yearly profit of from 1 2 to 20 per cent, ; cocoanuts may be considered at about equal to rice in the yearly benefits they leave, but the conditions are so various that it may be difficult to generalize. It may, however, be asserted, with tolerable certainty, that money, employed with ordinary prudence, in agricultural investments will give an interest of from 20 to 30 per cent. 390 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. The consumption of rice is universal, and the superfluity of the harvests is taken to the Chinese markets. The varieties of rice may be classed under the two general heads of water and mountain rice. The aquatic rice is cultivated in Europe and America ; the sowing of the dry rice usually precedes that of the water rice, and takes place at the end of May. It is usually sown broadcast on the hills, requires to be hoed and weeded, and is ripened in from three to five months. There are four species of water-cultivated, and five of mountain-produced rice. Of the first-class, the lanmyo is principally cultivated, especially in Batangas. The barbed rice grows in Ilocos. Of the mountain rice, that called quinanda is the most esteemed. The cultivation of the water rice begins by the preparation of the seed deposits into which, at the beginning of the rainy season, the seed is thrown, after a thorough impregnation of the ground with water, of which several inches remain on the surface. Ploughing and harrowing produce a mass of humid mud. During the growth of the seed, irrigation is continued, and after six weeks the crops are ready for transplanting to the rice-fields. Men generally pull up the plants and convey them to the fields, where women, up to their knees in mire separate the plants and place them in holes at a regular distance of about five inches from one another. They are left for some days to take root, when the grounds are again irrigated. The rice grows to the height of somewhat more than a yard, and after four months is ready for harvest. It is a common usage to cut every ear separately with an in- strument whose Indian name \s yatap. In some parts a sickle called a lilit is used. The lilit has a crook by which a number of ears are collected, and, being grasped with the left hand, are cut by the serrated blade of the sickle held THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 391 in the right hand. The crops of aquatic rice vary from thirty to eighty fold. The mountain rice is sown broadcast after ploughing and harrowing, and buffaloes are employed to trample the seed into the ground. More care is sometimes taken, and holes made at regular distances, into which three or four grains of rice are dropped. Careful cultivation and great atten- tion to the removal of weeds will produce hundred-fold crops. It is said that a third of the rice harvest has been known to perish in consequence of the dilatory and lazy way in which the reaping is conducted. The sugar cane thrives well here. It is planted after the French fashion, by sticking the piece diagonally into the p^round. Some, findingr the cane has suffered in times of drought, have adopted other modes. It comes to perfection in a year, and they seldom have two crops from the same piece of land, unless the season is very favorable. There are several varieties of the sugar-cane. The plant- ing of the sprouts takes place between February and May. Weeds are removed by ploughing, and the plants ripen in ten or twelve months. In some provinces crops are cul- tivated for three successive years ; in others, the soil is allowed to rest an intermediate year, and maize or other produce grown. When cut, the canes are carried to mills by the natives to be crushed. The mills consist of two cylindrical stones with teeth of the molave wood ; a buffalo turns the wheel and the juice is conveyed to the boilers. The improvements of the West are being slowly intro- duced, and sundry economical processes have been adopted. Increasing demand, extended cultivation, and, above all, the application of larger capital and greater activity, will, un- doubtedly, make the Philippines one of the great producing 392 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. countries. A variety of tables have been printed, showing that the average annual profits op coffee cultivation are from 20 to 30 per cent. ; in some provinces considerably more. The coffee plant is well adapted to these islands. A few plants were introduced into the gardens of Manila, during the end of the i8th Century, since which time it has been spread all over the island, as it is supposed, by the civet-cats, which, after swallowing the seeds, carry them to a distance before they are voided. The coffee of commerce is obtained from the wild plant, and is of an excellent quality. Upwards of two thousand tons of coffee are now exported, of which one-sixth goes to the United States. Manila hemp is also a great article of commerce, especi- ally between these Islands and the United States. That which comes to the United States is principally manufac- tured into rope. A large quantity is also manufactured into mats. The exports of hemp in 1896 valued at ^7,500,000, amounted to over 100,000 tons. It will be merely necessary to give the prices at w^hich laborers are paid, to show how low the compensation is, in comparison with those in our own country. In the vicinity of Manila, twelve and a half cents per day is the usual wages ; this, in the provinces, falls to nine and even as low as six cents. A man with two buffaloes is paid about thirty cents. The amount of labor performed by the latter, in a day, would be the plowing of a soane, about two-tenths of an acre. The most profitable way of employing laborers is by the task, when, it is said, the natives w^ork w^ell, and are industrious. The manner in w^hich the sugar and other produce is brought to market at Manila is peculiar, and deserves to be THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 393 mentioned. In some of the villages the chief men unite to build a vessel, generally a pirogue, in which they embark their produce, under the conduct of a few persons who go to navi- gate it and dispose of the cargo. In due time they make their voyage, and when the accounts are settled, the returns are distributed to each according to his share. Festivites are then held, the saints thanked for their kindness, and bless- ings invoked for another year. After this is over the vessel is taken carefully to pieces and distributed among the owners to be preserved for the next season. The profits in the crops, according to estimates, vary from sixty to one hundred per cent., but it was thought, as a general average, that this was, notwithstanding the great productiveness of the soil, far beyond the usual profits ac- cruing from agricultural operations. In some provinces this estimate would hold good, and probably be exceeded. Indigo would probably be a lucrative crop, for that raised here is said to be of a quahty equal to the best, and the crop is not subject to so many uncertainties as in India ; the capital and attention required in vats, etc., prevent it from being raised in any quantities. Among the productions the bamboo and rattan ought to claim a particular notice, from their great utility ; they enter into almost everything. Of the former their houses are built, including frames, floors, sides and roof; fences are made of the same material, as well as every article of household use. The total export trade of the Philippine Islands during 1896 was over ^21,000,000, while the imports amounted to a littie over ^i 1,000,000. The occupation of the Philippine Islands and the capture of Manila by our Asiatic Squadron calls to mind a coln- dence In the history of these Islands. They were visited by the English almost in the same way, and with the same 394 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. result as in our case during- the war with Spain. The account of the seige of Manila by the English which is here given, will be found very interesting. It has been taken from the historical writing of an eye-witness, Mar- tinez De Zuniga. "The courts of England and Spain had declared war in the month of November, 1761, but nothing of this was known at Manila, although there were reasons for our being, in some degree, on our guard. A priest, who held a correspondence with the English on the coast, received in- formation of an expedition which was preparing there. On the 14th of September, 1762, an English vessel appeared in the bay, which would not admit our officers on board, and having made soundings all over the bay, sailed again by the point of Mariveles. " The Mahicas Indians informed us they had seen a large ship of two tiers of guns, and manned with white men, the captain of which had put many questions to them respect- ing the ships which traded to New Spain. It afterwards appeared that an English fleet had sailed from Madras the beginning of August for the express purpose of taking Manila. " On the 22d of September, at half past five in the after- noon, a fleet was discovered consisting of thirteen sail, and notwithstanding that he was taken by surprise, the governor immediately adopted every needful measure of defence, and sent reinforcements to Cavite. On the morning of the following day two English officers landed, and brought the message of Admiral Cornish, who commanded the squad- ron, and Brigadier General Draper, who commanded the troops, stating that they had orders from the King of Great Britain to take possession of these islands, and they demanded an immediate surrender, for if any resistance THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 395 were made, having a force sufficiently formidable to attain the object in view, they should commence hostilities as soon as they received an unfavorable reply. The governor answered, that the proposition they had made could not be accepted by subjects faithful to their allegiance, and that they were ready to lose their lives in the defence of the honor of their sovereign. The squadron, in consequence, approached near the south front of the powder manufac- tory, and about six in the afternoon they took possession of that redoubt, in which our people had left some salt- petre, and other effects, having only had time to remove the powder. Supported by the fire of the squadron, they took possession successively of the churches of Malate, La Hermita, San Juan de Bagunbayan, and Santiago, and of all the houses in those suburbs of Manila. " The whole force in Manila consisted of the King's regi- ment, which was so reduced by death and desertion, and by different detachments in the galleons and garrisons, that they could scarcely muster five hundred and fifty men, of which the artillery consisted of eighty, most of them In- dians, very little accustomed to the use of great guns. " On the morning of the 27th, at eight o'clock, some In- dians and Mestizos, without having any orders to that effect, presented themselves before the advanced guard of the English camp, fell upon them, and drove them from their posts, but a reinforcement of three hundred men ar- riving, the advantage was lost and the Indians repulsed, to whom a signal was made to leave the field open, in order that the artillery might play upon the enemy. " The bombardment now continued with vigor. The ene- my had, in the commencement of the siege, placed three mortars behind the church of Santiago, to which they added another battery of three more mortars, which threw the 39^ THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. whole city into consternation. On the 29th, they fired against the houses of the governor and admiral, but without effect; the shots which were fired horizontally, reaching only to the beach, and those which they threw by elevation passing over the fort to the other side. " On the second of October, at day-break, a battery of eight twenty-four pounders opened against the angle of the foundry bulwark, and by ten in the morning the whole of the parapet was a ruin. The enemy, at the same time, di- rected their shells against that battery from nine mortars of various calibres, assisted by the fire of two ships in front; and so hot was the fire that we picked up four thousand balls of twenty-four pounds. But what incommoded the place most was the fusileers, who could see, from the tower and church of Santiago all that passed in the city, and they could fire as they pleased against its defenders. Notwith- standing such a heavy fire directed against a bulwark with- out a parapet, only seven men were killed and about twenty wounded. Our people endeavored to get possession of the church of Santiago, and the artillery, but could not suc- ceed. The ships discontinued their fire about sunset, but the fire from the camp continued all night, and dismounted the artillery of our bastion, so that it became necessary to abandon it; the same night, or rather in the morning of the 3d, it was resolved that a sortie should be made from the fort. About five thousand Indians had arrived from the provinces, of which two thousand Pampangos were selected for the undertaking; they were divided into three columns to advance by different routes: the first, under command of Don Francisco Rodriguez, was to attack the church of Santiago ; the second, commanded by Don Santiago Oren- dain, was ordered to throw itself upon Malate and Hermita; the third, was to attack the troops on the beach, and was THE PHILIPPINE ISLAADS. 399 commanded by Eslava y Bastos; the whole to be supported by two piquets of fusileers. The Indians were no sooner on the outside of the fort than they began a loud outcry, which prepared the enemy for their reception ; and when the column, commanded by Rodriguez, arrived near the English camp, the Indians hesitated to advance ; but being urged on by the famous Manalastas, their chief, they pro- ceeded and finding the church of Santiago abandoned, they ascended the tower and began to ring the bells ; but the peals were of very short duration, for the English fell upon them and scarcely allowed them time to retreat. "The other column, which was ordered to advance on Hermita, marched with the utmost silence until Orendain gave them orders to attack, when they began with their accustomed bowlings and beating of their drums, and thus threw the English camp into complete disorder. The Eng- lish general put his troops under arms and commenced a fire on the Pampangos, who were speedily put to flight, and their confusion was so great that every shot told. Two hundred were left dead on the field, and Orendain, clapping spurs to his horse, was very soon out of all personal danger. From this time forward he was considered as a traitor, and after Manila was delivered up to the English, many were even more inclined to believe this, as he was much seen with the English, although nothing was actually proven against him. The third column was more fortunate, as, without hav- ing done or received any damage they returned with more honor than the rest. This action, however, so intimidated the Indians that they almost all retreated to their towns. The fire from the battery did not cease during all this time, and demolished the whole face and platform of the works of the foundry, whose ruins filled up the fosse ; but what caused the greatest uneasiness was a battery which the 23 400 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. enemy had constructed, and which, at twelve o'clock at noon, was opened against the works of San Andres and San Euc^enio, and so hot was the fire, that in two hours, the guns were dismounted from their carriages, the parapets thrown down and several fusileers and workmen killed, and though new parapets were twice replaced with timber and bags of sand, they were immediately demolished. The Governor held a council of war that same evening, at which were present the staff officers, the Royal Audience, the deputies of the city and the prelates. The military men gave their opinion for a capitulation, the rest were for ob- stinately continuing the defence, availing themselves of the usual methods of repairing the works. Orders were ac- cordingly given to this effect, but they could not be put in execution, as the few Indians, who remained, would not un- dertake such dangerous work, and the Spaniards could not support the fatigue. " On the morning of the 4th, the enemy began to throw carcasses into the fort ; they set fire to some buildings, and the soldiers and inhabitants of Manila were in the greatest consternation. At one o'clock in the afternoon of this day, the English troops presented themselves before the lines, showing a very extensive front The grenadiers were somewhat advanced and in position to make the assault. The town was thrown into complete confusion, and many inhabitants, with the clergy, seeing that no capitu- lation was in agitation, determined to quit the city, which they could easily do, as the guard of the Parian gate was composed of the townspeople of Manila. The English maintained their threatening position for some time, and retiring without making any further attempt, the inhabitants resumed their tranquillity, and thought no more of capitu- ladon. On the night of the 4th, the fire of the enemy's THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 401 artillery was resumed with terrible effect and continued until two o'clock in the morning when it ceased. From the commencement of the siege they had thrown more than twenty thousand balls, five thousand shells, and twenty- five carcasses. In the city they ruined a great many build- ings, and set it on fire in five different places. We cannot account for this otherwise than that the English, to give more splendor and value to their conquest, resolved on such an enormous expenditure of powder and ball, for much less would have sufificed to take a place which was only in a state to defend itself against Asiatic nations, and not against Europeans. " General Draper advanced through the Calle Real as far as the palace, with considerable risk, for in Fort Santiago there was a field piece which commanded the whole street, and being loaded with canister shot might have swept down immense numbers ; but the Archbishop, who had retired to this fort with the Oidors, would not allow them to fire it, apprehending that the English would afterwards revenge themselves on the inhabitants of Manila. Colonel Monson, despatched by Draper, presented himself at the fort, inti- mating, on the part of his general, that the surrender of the place was expected. The Archbishop presented him a paper containing the terms of capitulation which he pro- posed, and requested him to be the bearer of them to his commanding officer for his approbation. The Colonel declined so doing, having no orders to that effect, and threatened that hostilities should proceed if he did not immediately surrender. The Archbishop, seeing no other remedy, and taking the word of honor of the Colonel for his personal safety, resolved to leave the fort, accom- panied by the colonel of the Spanish troops, to present himself to the English general, who was by this time in the 402 THE PfllLIPPINE ISLANDS. palace. On his arrival there, he was about to kneel, but General Draper would not permit him. He then delivered himself up as a prisoner, and presented the paper, which contained the terms of capitulation, and which chiefly con- sisted in the free exercise of our religion, the security of private property, a free trade to all the inhabitants of the islands, and the continuation of the powers of the Royal Audience to keep order among the ill-disposed. " The English general retired to consult on these points, and very shortly returned with an answer accordingly, to all of them, with certain restrictions and additions, which were suggested on the part of his Britannic Majesty, and the capitulation, thus arranged, was signed by General Draper and his Excellency, the Archbishop. The colonel took it to the fort in order to have it countersigned by the Oidors, which, being done, they immediately delivered up the fort to the English, and retired to the palace to pay their re- spects to the conqueror. "The principal feature in the capitulation was the sur- render of the whole of these islands to the English, an arti- cle in it which the Archbishop and Oidors were compelled, by circumstances, to accede to, though reluctantly ; but this was not so easily accomplished, as Senor Anda was charged with the defense of them, and he was not disposed to submit without an appeal to arms. General Draper, being informed of this, thought himself justified in avail- ing himself of stratagem. He issued a proclamation in which he commiserated the fate of the Indians on account of the tribute which they paid to the Spaniards, giving the assurance that the king of Great Britain would not exact it of them, and thus endeavoring to ex- cite them to open rebellion. He then persuaded the Archbishop that he was the proper governor, and as such THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 403 got him to despatch an escort, to induce the Spanish fami- hes, who had taken refuge in the provinces, to return to Manila, and to appoint an EngHshman as Corregidor of Tondo, who had been some time married and estabhshed in Manila. General Draper treated the religious orders with much respect, and granted permission to the monks to return to their convents, in order to draw over to his in- terest this body, which, from what the Franciscans had done, he judged must have great influence in the interior of the country. He ordered the Archbishop to assemble a congress of the principal people of the city, and to propose to them the cession of all these islands to his Britannic Majesty, but Senor Viana, the royal fiscal, opposed it most strenuously. The day following, however, in consequence of threats held out by the English, the Spaniards had the weakness to sign this cession. Monsieur Faller, who had been suspected of treason, conducted himself more honor- ably, as he would, on no account, accept the government of Zamboanga, where the English commander wished to send him with a sufficiency of troops to take possession, in case they were unwilling to receive him, and a similar conduct was observed by a poor, but honorable Spaniard, named Don Louis Sandobal. " On the day before the capture of Manila, Senor Anda quitted the city, with the title of visitor and lieutenant-gov- ernor, in order to maintain the islands in obedience to the King of Spain. He arrived at Bulacan with forty orders under the royal seal, which were the only supply of arms and money with which he was furnished, as the treasure had been sent to Lake Bay. As soon as it was known in Bulacan that the English were in possession of Manila, he summoned a meeting at which were present Father Her- nandez, who filled the office of provincial of St. Augustins, 404 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. the chief magistrates of the pi'ovince, and othef Spaniards and Augustine friars, and laying before them the resolu- tions of the royal audience and the authority with which he was furnished by the governor to defend the islands, he at the same time adverted to the insufficiency of their force to make resistance to the English. They highly praised the measures of the royal audience, and the governor of Manila, and promised to spill the last drop of their blood rather than forsake him. The monks offered to raise troops in the towns for the service and conduct them to the field. He gave them thanks for their loyalty, and thinking that the title of visitor appeared of too little importance for the undertaking he was upon, he declared himself under the necessity of having recourse to certain old-established regu- lations, which ordain that the royal audience may be pre- served in the person of one Oidor, and in case of a vacancy in the goverment seat, that the royal audience may take the government and the oldest Oidor, command the military, unless any other arrangement should be made by his Ma- jesty. And on this occasion, the Oidors and Governor, being prisoners of war and dead in the eyes of the law, all these offices fell of necessity on him. He, accordingly, got him- self acknowledged as governor of the islands, in which capacity, joined to the office of royal audience, he circulated his orders to the different alcaldes and ecclesiastical super- intendents of missions ; no one, in the smallest degree, questioning his authority. "The English, perceiving that decrees were of very little service, and that it was necessary to have recourse to force, determined to take possession of a position on the Pasig in order to open a passage for provisions from the Lake Bay, and Thomas Backhouse, whom the Spaniards called Becus, for that purpose, filed off with five hundred men to THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. 405 the left of the river. He arrived in front of Maybonga, where the famous Bustos was stationed with his Cagayans, ready to defend the passage of the river. He fired upon the first EngHsh party that advanced, but as soon as they returned it he retired to Maraquina with his people. The enemy passed the river without hesitation, and sent an officer with a white flag to summon the Indians to surren- der. The boasting little Governor answered that the Pasig was not Manila, and if the Spaniards had given that up to them in a treacherous manner, he would defend his post to the last ; adding, that should the officer return with the white flag (a trick he might deceive children with), he would hang him on the first tree. This reply being reported to Back- house, he immediately ordered the troops to march, and the two field-pieces he had with him beginning to play, the Indians became alarmed to such a degree that they fled precipitately. Such, indeed, was their hurry and confusion at the bridge near the convent, that numbers of them were drowned. "The English got possession of the convent without re- sistance, and pursued the Indians as if they had been a flock of goats as far as the river Bamban, which they swam over, at least all who had the good fortune to escape the enemy's bullets. The King of Jolo, attempting to defend a place occupied by his family, was obliged to surrender. The English fortified the post, and maintained it themselves until peace was declared between England and Spain." CHAPTER XXV. THE CANARY ISLANDS. Area and Inhabitants — Ancient Traditions and Histories — The Soil and Climate — The Productions and the Beauty of the Scenery — A Retreat for Inva- lids and Paradise of Artists — Water is Precious — Love-making and Pleas. Our Country in War is, in its relations with foreign nations, interested in the possessions of Spain. We have a claim on her islands. Her experience with colonies has been so unfortunate that it would be a relief to her to be deprived of them all. The Canary Islands lie in the North Atlantic Ocean. The following are the seven principal islands : Teneriffe, Grand Canary, Palma, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Gomera, Hierro. Their area in English square miles is about 2,980, and their population about 320,000. There is ground for supposing that the Phoenicians were not ignorant of the Canaries. The Romans, in the time of Augustus, received intelligence of them through Jiiba, king of Mauritania, whose account has been transmitted to us by the elder Pliny. He mentions ** Canaria, so called from the multitude of dogs of great size," and " Nivaria, taking its name from perpetual snow, and covered with clouds," doubtless Teneriffe. Canaria was said to abound in palms and pine trees. Both Plutarch and Ptolemy speak of the Fortune Islands, but their description is so imperfect that it is not clear whether the Madeiras or the Canaries are referred to. There is no further mention of them until we read of their re-discovery about 1334, by a French vessel driven- amongst them by a storm. A Spanish nobleman 406 THE CANARY ISLANDS. 407 thereupon obtained a grant of them with the title of king, from Clement VI., but want of means prevented him from carrying out his project of conquest. Two expeditions subsequently set out from Spanish ports, and returned without having taken possession. At length three vessels, equipped by Jean de Bethencourt, a gentleman of Nor- mandy, sailed from Rochelle in 1400, and bent their course to the Canaries. He landed at Lanzarote and Fuerteven- tura, but being opposed by the natives, and finding himself deficient in means to effect his purpose, he repaired to the court of Castile, and obtained from Henry III. a grant of the islands, with the tide of king. He sailed in 1404 with a strong force, which mastered Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Gomera and Hierro without bloodshed. Being repulsed in his attempts on Palma and Canary, he returned to Europe in 1408 to obtain further assistance. He was well received at the Castilian court, where he was promised aid ; but he died shortly afterwards in France. Bethencourt's nephew had been left governor of the islands, and claimed to suc- ceed his uncle's rights. Being charged with many acts of misgovernment, he went to Spain to clear himself, and whilst there sold his rights to Don Enrique de Guzman, who, after expending large sums in fruitless endeavors to reduce the unconquered islands, sold them to another Spaniard named Paraza. His successor, about 1441, took nominal possession of Canary and Teneriffe, but the natives effectually resisted their occupation of them. Meantime it appeared that Jean de Bethencourt's nephew had fraudu- lently made a second sale of the islands to Portugal, and the difference thus arising between the crowns of Spain and Portugal was ended by the cession of the islands to the former. Grand Canary, Teneriffe, and Palma remaining unsubdued in 1476, Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain com- 4o8 THE CANARY ISLANDS. pelled Paraza's successors to sell those islands to the crown; and the following year one thousand men were despatched to reduce them. After much bloodshed, and with reinforce- ments from the mother country, the Spaniards, under Pedro de Vera, became masters of Grand Canary in 1483. Palma was conquered in 1491, and Teneriffe in 1495, by Alonzo de Lugo. All the islands still continue in the possession of Spain. Santa Cruz de Santiago, on the south coast, is the resi- dence of the governor-general of the Canaries, the civil lieutenant-governor of the Teneriffe district, and the mili- tary governor of the island. It is a well-built and tolerably clean town of 10,830 inhabitants, lying on a small plain bounded by bare and rugged volcanic rocks, amongst which lie narrow valleys called barrancas. The Rev. Thomas Debary, M. A., in " Notes of a Resi- dence in the Canary Islands," 1851, gives a pleasing com- bination of ancient and modern history, as follows : " The generic name of the ancient inhabitants of these islands was Guanchees. They appear to have been a par- ticularly hardy and high-minded race. Whence they came, there have been various conjectures, and a difference of opinion wholly, as it seems to me, uncalled for. From Teneriffe the island of Canary is seen very plainly ; and on a clear day Fuerteventura is seen from Canary ; and from Fuerteventura the coast of Africa is visible ; it seems, therefore, next to impossible that these islands should not have been visited and peopled by the Libyans ; besides which, many of the customs recorded of the ancient inhabi- tants are similar to those found in various parts A Africa. In propordon as countries are little advanced in civilization, it is easy to trace their origin or connection with one another. It would not be impossible to show a sort of fellowship THE CANARY ISLANDS. 409 existing between the varioys races and tribes of Africa, vast as that continent is. " The dry and sandy character of the soil has afforded facil- ities for a custom that seems to have prevailed in every part of Africa — namely, that of living in caves. The Africans, from Ethiopia to Libya, were, and still are, to some extent, troglodites, or livers in holes, and the ancient inhabitants of these islands depended almost entirely upon the rocks for their habitation. The custom of shaving the head is very prevalent throughout Africa, which, under certain circum- stances, the Guanchees did. The disposition to embalm or make mummies of the dead is another African custom ; and the ancient inhabitants of these islands rolled their dead in goat skins. The preparation of goffo or goffu, which was their main support, and is still eaten by the poor people of the island of Teneriffe, is similar to the cuscusu eaten in Barbary and on the shores of the Gambia. All these argu- ments, for the fact, would scarcely be necessary, but that some have asserted the aborigines to be Americans, from the shape of the skull ; indeed, I have seen a statement that the lost tribes of Israel found their way here — thus, as .hey so often have been, being pressed into the service of a despairing antiquarian. " The sentiments of the aborigines were of an heroical character ; they had orders of nobility as well as kings amongst them, and any ill treatment of women and children was enough to exclude them from the rank of nobility ; they are said not to have been much given to navigation, so that it is difficult to understand how they got from one island to another. " Proceeding in our route to Orotava, for a long way, we passed through fields of maize, flax and lupin, which latter is sown here in great abundance for manure. My mind 4IO THE CANARY ISLANDS. was prepared to admire the beauties of Teneriffe ; accord- ingly, as we journeyed on, I allowed myself to fall into rap- tures at the beauty of those tints that the mountains and all above the peak assumed under the influence of the set- ting sun. Clear outlines and bright colors are not what an artistic eye generally delights in ; yet the artist who would represent tropical landscapes must be prepared for these. The peak, which appeared to us a minute ago en- tirely white, now exhibited every hue of purple, from pink to indigo ; and no sooner had the sun vanished than the stars came out with a degree of brilliancy I had never seen before. " I was quite taken aback by the prospect, as I beheld the peak quite clear from the extreme summit to its ocean- washed base. It is not, in outline, by any means a pic- turesque mountain. The upper part is of the ogee shape ; yet it is an object calculated to fill the mind with wonder and amazement. It certainly looks like one of the land- marks of the creation, and must have filled the Carthag- inian navigators with great surprise when they saw it, as it is probable they did, in all the glories of an active volcano. " We now entered what may be described as the palm district of Teneriffe. Many of the trees were very much disfigured, being tied up that the inner leaves might whiten for Palm Sunday, being then used to adorn the churches; but on looking up the barrancas, or deep valleys, we saw forests of them; and the kind of shock, which a strange vegetation, when first seen, gives the mind, began to yield to admiration. After passing a defile where the rays of the sun called for umbrellas as much almost as a hailstorm in England, we emerged upon that, which is doubtless the grandest and finest feature in the island of Teneriffe — the Valley of Orotava. The sloping plain, which is circum- THE CANARY ISLANDS. 4I I scribed by the mountains and the sea, is Hterally Hke a bed in a green-house ; the soil is excellent, and produces every- thing ; however, for the most part the vine covers it like a net. In the middle of the plain stands the Villa of Orotava, surrounded as it is by such remarkable natural objects. Many of the buildings are built in a stately style, evidendy the creation of the best days of Spanish history. Three or four miles from La Villa is the port, or as it is called, Port- Orotava ; and the country intervening is dotted with quintas and various kinds of detached residences. In the garden of one of the palaces at Orotava stands the cele- brated dragon tree, the largest, I believe, and oldest tree in the world. Five hundred years ago it was seen by the first invaders of the island, and was then venerated by the natives for its great size and antiquity ; a great part of it now has become a species of touch-wood, and It has pretty well lost its characteristic features, and must have under- gone some diminution since it was last figured. " Teneriffe is an extinct volcano, and if I may compare it with an active one, I should say it presented many features similar to those of Vesuvius. I should have judged that where we were sitting was once in a state of active erup- tion, and that then there was no peak as we now saw it ; but that, after this had subsided, another eruption broke out in the middle of the bed, and continued in a state of activity for many, many years, and the present mountain was, as it were, gradually accumulated — just as now, in the middle of the black crater of Vesuvius, rises a small cone, from the apex of which vapor and scoriae are perpetually being ejected, and dropping down, continually increase the heap of the cone. " The character of the scenery on this side of the peak, as you descend, is very different from the other. Here we 412 THE CANARY ISLANDS. found, in a very unmistakable manner, the ravaging effects of some former eruption, and everything about us much wilder than on the side of Orotava. The descent is, in reality, over vast steps of black lava, such as Herculaneum lies buried under. The first indications of real vegetation we came to was a wood of fir trees. Some distance below, and after passing over a wild region, we entered a wood of what in England would be called exotics ; gigantic arbuta, and heath-like plants waved over our heads, having an appearance very different from anything I have ever seen before. On leaving the wood we looked down upon rich and cultivated fields. "The town of Las Palmas has a population of about 10,000; it is built on either side of a ravine, which divides it, in the bottom of which flows a narrow stream, spanned by rather an elegant bridge, built by a former bishop of the place. On looking up the ravine from the bridge, you see many palm trees, and the whole prospect is crowned by the pale blue Pexos ridge of mountains, which are 6,500 feet high. The valley itself is exceedingly fertile, and is so well irrigated that it produces two crops of Indian corn in the year, besides a crop of potatoes. " Canary is the richest of the seven islands in water, an element only properly valued in such places as these ; every drop of which, come how it may, from the mountains or from the sky, is collected into tanks and reservoirs ; and where several families have a claim upon it, it is doled out with jealous impartiality ; it is by witnessing the immediate importance of water in a naturally arid country that the full tyranny of that Persian monarch can be appreciated, who, shutting up the gorges of the mountains which surrounded the plain where the river Acis took its rise, blessed or cursed the different provinces of his kingdom, as they fur- THE CANARY ISLANDS. 413 nished him with tribute. He who should possess the keys of such a reservoir would be all-powerful ; for upon it depends everything." Mrs. Elizabeth Murray, in "Sixteen Years of an Artist's Life in Morocco, Spain, and the Canary Islands " (1859), gives this instructive and charming picture of the Canaries : " In the years 1812 and 181 5, Port Orotava may be said to have been at the height of its commercial activity. The wines of the island were in high favor, and between the two years last mentioned, from eight to twelve thousand pipes were annually shipped from it to Great Britain and America, the East and West Indies, and other places. Orchilla weed and other articles of Island produce, were exported in considerable quantities. The value of the imports from the various countries that traded with the Canary Islands was also very considerable. "The declaration of peace in Europe, in 1815, gave a severe blow to the trade of Teneriffe, from which it can hardly be said to have ever recovered. After that period the wine-trade gradually fell to a very low figure, and with the appearance of a fatal disease in the vines, which had been experienced for four successive years, the aver- age annual production fell from twenty-four or twenty- five thousand to barely a twentieth part of that quantity. Besides, in more recent times, Santa Cruz became a serious rival to Orotava ; various large mercantile establishments, doing a considerable amount of business, having been established, one after another, in the capital. The few remaining merchants in Orotava soon lost all their former commercial spirit, and one mercantile disaster was followed by another, until El Puerto sank almost to its former insig- nificance, and the era of its activity was brought to an end. "The peasantry are extremely ignorant of the most ele- 414 THE CANAR V ISLANDS. mentary branches of knowledge, the instances in which they are able to read and write being very rare. If neces- sity were not the mother of invention, this would be rather awkward in their love-communings, which would, of neces- sity, be confined to personal interviews, which are not always convenient. In their ignorance, therefore of one of the three important R's, indeed all of them, they have invented a kind of flower language, by which they can express most eloquently every secret thought and every tender feeling, the utterances of these beautiful symbols being perfectly comprehended by the one to whom they are addressed. Specific feelings are ascribed to different flowers, to their various arrangements, to leaves, to buds and blossoms ; a complete alphabet and vocabulary of love being thus made up, which must be, at least, a more romantic method of com- municating the feelings of the heart than our direct and matter-of-fact way. " On the " ferias " and other merry meetings of a similar nature, of which there are very many, the lover has excel- lent opportunities, of which he generally takes care to avail himself, of presenting his ' moza ' with a sprig of thyme, to the Spanish name of which, ' tomillo,' a certain meaning is made to jingle in rhyme in the established phrase, 'a tus pies me humillo,' the simple interpretation of which is, ' I humble myself at your feet.' If a piece of rosemary, called by the people * romero,* is returned, it is taken as an unfavorable answer to the poor lover's suit, for 'romero,' rhyming with 'mojadero,' means in plain language, 'You are a bore, sir.' But if a flower with a more compassionate meaning is returned, the suit is con- sidered to have made a good commencement, and the gratified lover seeks such opportunities as he can find of holdincr licrht chat with the fair one at her window as he THE CANARY ISLANDS. 417 passes to and fro from his daily labor. The conversation, it must be confessed, is not quite of such a nature as one would imagine likely to be indulged in by the victims of the tender passion. If one were to listen to a dialogue between two young persons in such a Romeo and Juliet-like position, he would be astonished to hear that the deepest sighs of an ardent passion were breathed forth as the accompani- ment to questions about the price of potatoes, the appear- ance of the crops, the labor of the farm, the work of the household, and indeed, anything but the great, the all-im- portant subject that brings them together. That, in fact, which is nearest their hearts is never once alluded to. It must not be supposed, however, that this domestic and agricultural conversation serves no good purpose. By such interviews, repeated as often as possible, the love-smitten Lothario is enabled to form a very adequate judgment of the domestic capacities of the lady, and of her fitness to be; a useful helpmate to him in the daily business of life, for they know there is little or no honeymoon of listless indo- lence for them. Having satisfied himself as to her qualifi- cations, and, after all the reflection that so important a step demands, having made up his own mind, he goes, one evening, to their accustomed interview with a green sprig or flower, which, during the conversation, he fixes in some chink of the window, in full view of his inamorata, to whom it conveys an important question. This operation is much facilitated by the circumstance that all the houses of the peasantry consist only of a ground floor. The lady is allowed time for consideration and takes the night to con- sider what reply she shall make to the proposal, " The next morning, the anxious lover, who has doubtless passed a sleepless night, at least we may imagine so, pro- ceeds to learn his fate, eagerly fixing his eye upon the 24 41 8 THE CANARY ISLANDS. window as he approaches. If the symbol of his affection has been taken in, great. is his joy, for he knows that he is an accepted lover, and that matters may now proceed cji 7'egle to their legitimate issue. If, on the contrary, tlie symbol of his affection has been disregarded, and allowed to wither on the outside, it is understood as an unequivocal announcement that his suit is not acceptable, and that he may carry his love to some other market. If the lady jilts her suitor, she is said, in a style of similar imagery, " to have given him pumpkins," Da le calabazas, a phrase not uncommon even among the higher and more educated classes. " The fleas of Laguna are said to be so famous for their size, strength and activity, that they are regarded with uni- versal interest, and incidents relating to them are introduced even into the love-songs of the country, accompanied, in lieu of castanets, with expressive snappings of the fingers. Such a verse, for instance, as the following, is popular among the lower classes, and is intended to give a zest to the monotony of love-making : " Last night I passed your window, And saw you catching fleas, Surely, you might have said to me, 'Come and catch some, if you please.' " " But our poor matter-of-fact ' Uncle Sam ' will have none of those literary associations to comfort him should he take it upon himself to act as guardian to this group of beautiful islands. " The laboring classes of the population enjoy but a limited variety of amusements. Of athletic sports the men prac- tice none but those of pitching the crowbar and wrestling, exercises for which they are very famous. Although their manner of conducting these sports might surprise and THE CANARY ISLANDS. 41 o puzzle a Cornishman, he would probably find them tough customers to deal with. There is great rivalry, in these trials of strength and skill, between the several islands, as well as between the several districts, and a festival rarely takes place without a good-natured contest between the different parties." " Cock-fighting is another amusement in which the inhab- itants of the Canary Islands are fond of indulging, and in which large sums of money are frequently won and lost. To gambling of all kinds they are passionately addicted. Wherever half a score of them are congregated, a greasy pack of cards is sure to be produced by some one of the company, and the game of monte, which is the most popu- lar here, is played by all with the greatest animation. " All the amusements of the people are carried on in the most orderly, decorous, and cordial spirit, without quarrels or disturbance. This favorable feature in their character is, no doubt, owing chiefly to their abstemious and sober habits, for it is a most unusual thing to witness a single instance of intoxication among them. They have one pecu- liar custom, however, to which women, as well as men, are addicted, but it never leads to the slightest extra-indulgence in the pernicious habit of dram-drinking. Every one takes a small glass of the country brandy the first thing in the morning, ' para espantar el diabolo,' to frighten away the devil, alleging, as an excuse for this moderate indulgence, the bad effects which the morning cold and the rarefied mountain air at or before daydawn would produce on their stomachs unfortified by such a preservative. Their toil generally commences at this early period of the day, and for the remainder of the twenty-four hours they rarely touch anything else but water. Every country, however, has its peculiar vices; and if, in this almost tropical climate, intoxi- 420 THE CANARY ISLANDS. cation is not one of them, there is a laxity in their morals and a carelessness in their conduct, that will bear anything- but a favorable comparison even with those other fair lands that are most famed for vices of this kind. "The African custom of embalming the- dead was uni- versally practiced among the Guanchees. A tribe of priests was maintained for the sacred office of cleansing the body. After repeated washings with salt and water, which was also the habits of the Egyptians, they anointed it with aro- matic herbs and butter made from goats' milk. The body was opened with sharp stones made of opsidian, called ' tabonas,' analogous to the Ethiopian stone employed to open bodies at the side — an incision which has also been remarked in the sides of some Guanchee mummies. They were then left to dry in the sun, and afterwards rubbed with herbs, powder of wood, pumice-stone and other ab- sorbent substances. This preparation lasted a fortnight, which time the relations of the deceased celebrated with great pomp, singing the praises of the defunct, and giving themselves up to grief When the body was very dry, and as light as charcoal, it was wrapped in several goatskins, either tanned or raw, and impressed with a distinguishing mark. The kings and principal dignitaries were enveloped in finer skins, and, being put into a ' Sabino,' or coffin of pine-wood, were carried to the most inaccessible caverns, where they were placed vertically against the walls, or in great order upon shelves. " Some of the native Grand Canarian laws and customs were barbarous in the extreme. Though the island con- tained so disproportionately large a population as fourteen thousand souls, it was very imperfectly cultivated, and its productions not sufficient for the wants of its numerous population. As the number of births, notwithstanding, THE CANARY ISLANDS. 42 1 greatly exceeded that of deaths, the inhabitants were kept in a constant dread of famine through the failure of any of their crops. They had no means of supplying their wants from any other source, for their knowledge of any kind of navigation was so small that not even the rudest kind of canoe or raft was ever known in any of the islands. It was this dread of famine that led them to estab- lish the inhuman law that all but the first-born child of every woman should be destroyed at the moment of its birth. The feelings of natural affection, however, ere long triumphed over so barbarous an enactment, and It was abolished before the time of the Spanish conquest. " Their women, as In Teneriffe, enjoyed the legal privilege of having three husbands, each of whom acted in his turn as lord and master for one month, the other two being in the condition of servants during that time. Many, however, preferred to have only one partner through life, In which case the bride, as in Morocco, was required to remain as quiet as possible in a cavern, in a reclining posture, for a period of thirty days, eating abundantly of gofio. At the expiration of that period she was expected to have attained the degree of embonpoint that fitted her for the marriage state. The marriage could not take place until the lady was declared to be in a fit condition by the Faycan, or High Priest, or by the temporal chief, one of which Individuals not only gave away the bride, but likewise claimed the same sort of tribute that was once exacted in many of the French and other continental seignetirages. "The Canarlans were remarkable for their good govern- ment, and for their strict administration of justice. When a man committed a crime which they deemed worthy of death, he was at once apprehended and committed to pri- son. He was then tried, and, if found guilty, led to the 422 THE CANARY ISLANDS. place of execution, which was also the scene of their feasts, wrestling-matches, and duels. The delinquent being stretched on the ground, and his head placed on a large stone, the executioner, who was a man set apart for the office, taking up another heavy stone, and lifting it as high as he could, suddenly let it fall upon the culprit's head. For crimes that were not considered worthy of death, they proceeded on the principle of Lex Talionis — an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. "The people of Canary had several public festivals, as. for example, at the period of gathering in their crops of barley, which may be considered their harvest home. Most public events, such as the accession of a new local chief, were celebrated with great rejoicing. During the periods of their festivals, all internal wars were suspended, the belligerents on both sides fraternizing as long as the cere- monies lasted, and at the termination renewing the fight with even greater ardor than before." 4^3 424 CHAPTER XXVI. THE ACQUISITION OF ALASKA. Our Great Territorial Purchase from Russia — The Great Bargain of Seward and Sumner Extending our Dominion into the Polar Regions and Asiatic Waters — An Immense and Significant Enlargement of our Area of Empire. We quote from the works of Charles Sumner : " Late in the evening of Friday, March 29, 1867, Mr. Sumner, on reaching home, found this note from Mr. Seward awaiting him: 'Can you not come to my house this evening? I have a matter of pubHc business in regard to which it is desirable that I should confer with you at once.' Without delay he hurried to the house of the Secretary of State, only to find that the latter had left for the Department. His son, the Assistant Secretary, was at home, and he was soon joined by Mr. De Stoeckl, the Russian Minister. From the two Mr. Sumner learned, for the first time, that a treaty was about to be signed for the cession of Russian- America to the United States. With a map in his hand, the minister, who had just returned from St. Petersburg, explained the proposed boundary according to verbal in- structions from the Archduke, Constantine. After a brief conversation when Mr. Sumner inquired and listened, with- out expressing an opinion, they left together, the Minister on his way to the Department, where the treaty was copy- ing. The clock was striking midnight as they parted, the Minister saying with interest, 'You will not fail us.' The treaty was signed about four o'clock in the morning of 425 ^26 THE ACQUISITION OF ALASKA. March 30th, being the last day of the current session of Congress, and on the same day it was transmitted to the Senate, and referred to the Committee on Foreign Rela- tions. " April I St, the Senate was convened in Executive session by the proclamation of the President of the United States, and the committee proceeded to the consideration of the treaty. The committee, at the time, consisted of Messrs. Sumner (chairman), Fessenden, of Maine ; Cameron, of Pennsylvania ; Harlan, of Iowa ; Morton, of Indiana ; Patter- son, of New Hampshire, and Reverdy Johnson, of Mary- land. Carefully and anxiously they considered the ques- tion, and meanwhile it was being discussed outside. Among friendly influences, was a strong pressure from Hon. Thad- deus Stevens, the acknowledged leader of the House, who, though without constitutional voice on the ratification of a treaty, could not restrain his earnest testimony. Mr. Sumner was controlled less by a desire for more territory, than by a sense of the amity of Russia, manifested especially during our recent troubles, and by an unwillingness to miss the opportunity of dismissing another European sovereign from our continent, predestined, as he believed, to become the broad, undivided home of the American people ; and these he developed in his remarks before the Senate." A Russian translation, by Mr. Buynitzky, appeared at St. Petersburg, with an introduction, whose complimentary character is manifest in its opening ; " Senator Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts, appears, since the election of Lincoln, as one of the most eloquent and conspicuous representatives of the Republican part)'. His name stands in the first rank of the zealous propaga- tors of Abolitionism, and all his political activity is directed toward one object, — the completion of the glorious act of THE ACQUISITION OF ALASKA. 427 enfranchisement of five millions of citizens, by a series of laws calculated to secure to freedmen, the actual possession of civil and political rights. As chairman cf the Senate Committee upon Foreign Relations, Mr. Sumner attentively watches the march of affairs in Europe generally; but, in the course of the present decade, his particular attention was attracted by the reforms which took place in Russia. The emancipation of the peasants in our country was viewed with the liveliest sympathy by the American states- man, and this sympathy expressed itself eloquently in his speeches, delivered on various occasions, as well in Con- gress as in the State Conventions of Massachusetts." THE CESSION OF RUSSIAN-AMERICA TO THE UNITED STATES. Speech in the Senate on the Ratification of the Treaty between the United States and Russia, April 9, 1867. "Thirteen governments founded on the natural authority of the people alone, without a pretense of miracle or mys- tery, and which are destined to spread over the norther^i part of that zvhole quarter of the globe, are a great point gained in favor of the rights of mankind." — John Adams, Preface to his Defence of the American Constitutions. BOUNDARIES AND CONFIGURATION. " Starting from the frozen ocean, the western boundary descends Behring Strait, midway between the two islands of Krusenstern and Ratmanoff, to the parallel of 65-30, just below where the continents of America and Asia ap- proach each other the nearest ; and from this point it pro- ceeds in a course nearly southwest through Behring Strait, midway between the island of St. Lawrence and Cape Chukotski, to the meridian of 172° west longitude, and thence, in a southwesterly direction, traversing Behring Sea, midway between the island of Attoo, on the east and 428 THE ACQUISITION OF ALASKA. Copper Island on the west, to the meridian of 193° west longitude, leaving the prolonged group of the Aleutian Islands in the possessions transferred to the United States, and making the western boundary of our country the divid- ing line which separates Asia from America. " Look at the map and observe the configuration of this extensive region, whose estimated area is more than five hundred and seventy thousand square miles. I speak by authority of our own coast survey. Including the Sitkan Archipelago at the south, it takes a margin of the mainland fronting on the ocean thirty miles broad and five hundred miles long to Mt. St. Elias, the highest peak of the conti- nent, when it turns with an elbow to the west, and along Behring Strait northerly, then rounding to the east along the frozen ocean, " In the Aleutian range, besides innumerable islets and rocks, there are not less than fifty-five islands exceeding three miles in length ; there are seven exceeding forty miles, with Oonimak, which is the largest, exceeding sev- enty-three miles. In our part of Behring Sea there are five considerable islands, the largest of which is St. LawTence, being more than ninety-six miles long. Add to all these the group south of the peninsula of Alaska, including the Shumagins and the magnificent island of Kadiak, and then the Sitkan group, being archipelago added to archipelago, and the whole together constituting the geographical com- plement to the West Indies, so that the northwest of the continent answers to the southeast, archipelago for archi- pelago. " I cannot doubt that the enlightened Emperor of Russia, who has given pledges to civilization by an unsurpassed act of emancipation, would join the first Napoleon in a desire to enhance the maritime power of the United States." THE ACQUISITION OF ALASKA. 429 [This reference by Charles Sumner refers to the Louisiana purchase.] THE TREATY. "The treaty begins with the declaration that 'the United States of America and his Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, being desirous of strengthening, if possible, the good understanding which exists between them/ have appointed plenipotentiaries who have proceeded to sign articles wherein it is stipulated on behalf of Russia that 'his Majesty, the Emperor of all the Russias, agrees to cede to the United States by this convention, immediately upon the exchange of the ratification thereof, all the territory and dominion now possesseci by his said Majesty on the continent of America and in the adjacent islands, the same being contained within the geographical limits herein set forth ; ' and it is stipulated on behalf of the United States, that ' in consideration of the cession aforesaid, the United States agree to pay at the Treasury in Washington, within ten months after the exchange of the ratifications of this convention, to the diplomatic represen- tative or other agent of his Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias, duly authorized to receive the same, ^7,200,000 in gold.' The ratifications are to be exchanged within three months from the date of the treaty, or sooner if possible.'"'' Mr. Sumner said : " Beyond the consideration founded on the desire of ' strengthening the good understanding ' between the two countries, there is the pecuniary consider- ation already mentioned which underwent a change in the progress of the negotiation. The sum of seven millions was originally agreed upon ; but when it appeared that * United States Statutes at Large, Vol. XV., pp. 539-543- 430 THE ACQUISITION OF ALASKA. there was a fur company and also an ice company enjoying monopolies under the existing government, it was thought best that these should be extinguished, in consideration of which our Government added two hundred thousand to the purchase-money, and the Russian Government in formal terms declared ' the cession of territory and dominion to be free and unincumbered by any reservations, privileges, franchises, grants or possessions, by any associated com- panies, whether corporate or incorporate, Russian or any other, or by any parties, except merely private individual property-holders.' Thus the United States receive the cession free of all incumbrances, so far, at least, as Russia Is in a condition to make it. The treaty proceeds to say : "The cession hereby made conveys all the rights, fran- chises and privileges now belonging to Russia in the said territory or dominion and appurtenances thereto." In other words, Russia conveys all she has to convey. " Department of State, Washington, March 23, 1867. "Sir: — With reference to the proposed convention between our respective governments for a cession by Russia of her American territory to the United States, I have the honor to acquaint you that I must insist upon that clause in the sixth article of the draft which declares the cession to be free and unincum- bered by any reservations, privileges, franchises, grants, or possessions by any associated coinpanies, whether corporate or incorporate, Russian or any other, etc., and must regard it as an ultimatum. With the President's approval, how- ever, I will add $200,000 to the consideration money on that account. " I avail myself of this occasion to offer you a renewed assurance of my most distinguished consideration. " William H. Seward. ''Mr. Edward de Stoeckl, etc., etc., etc." TRANSLATION. "Washington, March 17 (29), 1867. '' Mr. Secretary of State — 1 have the honor to inform you, that, by a tel- egram, dated i6th (28th) of this month, from St. Petersburg, Prince Gortchakofif informs me that h's INIajesty the Emperor of all the Russias gives his consent to the cession of the Russian possessions on the American continent to the United States, for the stipulated sum of ;j57, 200.000 in gold, and that his Majesty the Emperor invests me with full powers to negotiate and sign the treaty. THE ACQUISITION OF ALASKA. 431 " Please accept, Mr. Secretary of State, the assurance of my very high consid- eration. " Stoeckl, "To Hon. William H. Seward, Secretary of State of the United States." " Territorial acquisitions are among the landmarks of our history. In 1803, Louisiana, embracing the valley of the Mississippi, was acquired from France for fifteen million dollars. In 1819 Florida was acquired from Spain for about three million dollars. In 1845 Texas was annexed without purchase, but subsequently, under the compromise of 1850, an allowance of twelve and three-fourths million dollars was made to her. In 1848, Cahfornia, New Mex- ico, and Utah were acquired from Mexico after war, and on payment of fifteen million dollars. In 1854 Arizona was acquired from Mexico for ten million dollars. And now it is proposed to acquire Russian America. "The passion for acquisition, so strong in the individual, is not less strong in the community. A nation seeks an outlying territory, as an individual seeks an outlying farm. The passion shows itself constantly. France, passing into Africa, has annexed Algeria. Spain set her face in the same direction, but without the same success." There was a great deal of opposition to this great achievement. Mr. Sumner, in his later years, saw new glories in this great country of ours, and yet in vindicating the purchase of Alaska, his tone became almost apologetic, but he did not flinch from the main question and purpose, the imperial enlargement of our landed possessions. Sec- retary Seward was one of the broadest-minded statesmen America has produced, and yet he forced conditions upon Russia that might have lost, to the nation, the vast endow- ment of the American people for the hereafter, gained in the Arctic purchase. Practically this was going beyond seas, and was a bold precedent for the ambitious policy that now sends fleets and armies to occupy and possess tropical islands. CHAPTER XXVII. OUR RELATIONS WITH CHINA. Our Policy in Relation to China and Our Opposition to the Second Opium War — The Confidence of China in the United States — The Protection Offered China by the United States, through Her Representatives -The Fall of China Principally Due to Her Opposition to Christian Civilization — The Fame of " Chinese Gordon " the Work of an American — China's Recog- nition of the Services of Our Countrymen. There is an instructive sketch by Wm. E. Curtis, Esq., in " The United States and Foreign Powers," referring to the year 1857, when Mr. W. B. Reed was appointed Envoy and Minister there : " The British and French were united in their demands upon China, and desired the assistance of the United States in armed co-operation. This, however, was refused. Our pohcy was to gain everything necessary by peaceful and friendly overtures alone, a course also most consistently followed by the Russian minister. Count Pontiatine. Mr. Reed was particularly instructed to say to the Chinese that we were not parties to the existing hostilities — the second opium war, as it may justly be termed, having begun — but our people desired only to engage in trade under suitable guarantees for their protection, and that the United States Government did not wish to legalize the opium trade, in violation of the laws of China. "The correspondence between the Chinese Commis- sioner Yeh, at Canton, and Mr. Reed, is curiously illus- trative of the skill and elegance of composition so typical of a learned Chinese diplomat. Mr. Reed says that citizens of the United States ' have suffered many wrongs from the 432 OUR RELATIONS WITH CHINA. ..^ rulers and people of China.' Yeh says: ' But allow me to observe that since the merchants and citizens of the United States have come to China to trade, they have ever been treated with courtesy and kindness, and therefore can have no wrongs to redress.' When Mr. Reed expressed his regret that the Commissioner was unable to meet him for a personal interview, the Commissioner replied : ' From this it is plainly to be perceived that your excellency well under- stands the position of things, and the heartfelt regrets which you express have gready tranquillized my feelings '—which means that a personal interview is not necessary, and, indeed, it was not accorded. In fact, the tranquil and extremely arrogant Yeh could not be made to acknowledge that there was anything wrong or inoperative about the old treaty. 'Our two countries,' he said, 'are Hke two good friends,' and since making the treaty 'are still in every respect on the best of terms.' " The scene of action now changes. Finding satisfactory negotiations at Canton impossible, Mr. Reed determined to proceed to Pekin. The British and French fleets were about to sail for the mouth of the Peiho, there to demand satisfaction for their wrongs, if necessary, by an armed demonstration at Pekin. Mr. Reed accompanied them, and was an observer of all that took place at Taku, but not a participant in any of the warlike operations. All his influence was exerted to prevent hostilides, but in vain. The allies captured the Taku forts and sailed up the tor- tuous channel to Tientsin, where new treaties were drawn up by all the Powers represented, and duly signed. It was agreed that ratifications should be exchanged the next year. "The treaty negodated by Mr. Reed, signed June i8, 1858, gave the United States the right of direct corres- 25 436 OUR RELATIONS WITH CHINA. pondence with the Privy Council at the capital. Under certain limitations the United States minister was to be allowed to visit Pekin annually, but permanent residence was not granted. The ports Niuchwang, Tangchow (Che- foo), Swatow, Taiwan, Tamsui, and Kiungchow were opened to the foreign trade at this time. "When this treaty was signed, and for several years before and afterwards, the country was in the midst of a disastrous civil war, which threatened the dynasty with extinction and the restoration of the Mings. This was the famous Taiping insurrection. The Emperor, Tao Kuang, died on the 26th of February, 1850. 'At the hour mao in the morning his celestial majesty transmitted the imperial dignity to his fourth son, and in the evening at the hour of hai, he set off for the abode of the gods.' The new Em- peror was a young man of nineteen, who assumed the title of Hienfung. One of his first acts was to dismiss and degrade two of the best and highest officers in the court, and appoint in their stead, persons most fanatically opposed to the foreign barbarians, as the Europeans were designated. " There was an old prophecy in China that about this time, 1 85 1, the former dynasty of the Mings would be re- established. This gave a sort of prophetic promise of vic- tory to the rebellion, w^hich just then broke out in Kiansi and soon assumed such threatening proportions as seri- ously to endanger the government. It was originally a re- ligious movement, inspired without any doubt by the teach- ings of the Christian missionaries, although by no means conducted in the interest, or with any clear conception, of the Christian religion. In 1852 the pretender occupied a throne at Nankin and issued edicts dated ' the first year of Taiping of the dynasty of the late Mings.' OUR RELATIONS WITH CHINA. 437 " This great rebellion, which for ten long years desolated the country, was finally suppressed with foreign aid. The British general, Gordon, has won all the fame and laurels for the result, but the true victor was the one who organ- ized and led the Ever Victorious Army. We read of him in English books as 'an American adventurer named Ward.' He may have been an adventurer, and he certainly was an American named Frederick Ward ; but he fell at the head of his men in 1862, at a time when General Gor- don had only to reap the honors for the completion of a work already nearly done. Whatever may be said on the other side as to the relative merits of the two men, the one a mere 'adventurer,' if you like, the other an officer in the British army, one fact remains to testify how the Chinese recognized the services of our countryman. Only two foreigners have ever been awarded posthumous honors by the emperor of China. One of these is Frederick Ward and the other, Anson Burlingame. " It soon became obvious that the commissioners were determined to delay the exchange of ratifications beyond the date appointed, and also that they designed to prevent the foreign envoys from reaching Pekin. The latter de- cided to lose no more time, so they left Shanghai, and in a few days were again at anchor in the Gulf of Pechili. Greatly to their surprise they found the entrance to the Peiho closed by barricades, and the forts at Taku repaired and strengthened. The indications were that the approach of the foreigners to Pekin would be met with resistance. The British admiral demanded the removal of the obstruc- tions, adding, that if not removed by the morning of the 25th of July, he would order them blown up. Mr. Ward, however, determined to make an attempt to reach Pekin in advance. Accordingly, he crossed the bar early on 438 OUR RELATIONS WITH CHINA. the following day, in a small steamer, but when about half a mile from the forts the steamer grounded, and he had to remain there until the evening tide enabled him to return to the Powhatan. About midnight the British began re- moving the barriers, and the forts opened fire on the ships. The next day the battle began in earnest, and the British suffered an ignominious defeat. This broke off all nego- tiations on the part of the English and French, who forth- with returned to Shanghai. " Mr. Ward, however, opened correspondence with the governor of Chihli and expressed his desire to visit Pekin in accordance with the provisions of the treaty. In reply the governor stated that he would be conducted to Pekin from Pehtang, a port a few miles north of Taku ; and that carts, horses and coolies would be provided for the journey by the provincial treasury. Accordingly Mr. Ward and his suite went to Pekin, but subjected to annoying restrictions. "The next year the British and French returned to the Peiho with a powerful fleet and army. They again cap- tured the forts at Taku, and marched to Pekin. Their treaties were ratified in the Hall of Ceremonies, and the British embassy was then established in the city." It has always been the policy of the United States to treat with the Asiatic Nations diplomatically, and not by force of arms. There is only one instance in history where our guns were turned against China, and that was through no fault of the home government. It was" Josiah Tattnall, flag-officer of the Asiatic station, who was born in Bona- venture near Savannah, Georgia, and was educated in England under the supervision of his grandfather in 1805- 1 1. On returning to the United States in 181 1, he entered the navy as a midshipman, and on the 15th of October, 1857, was appointed flag-officer of the Asiatic station. OUR RELATIONS WITH CHINA, 439 He found China at war with the allied English and French fleets, and went to the scene of operations at Peiho. Shortly before the engagement his flag-ship grounded and was towed off by the English boats. This service was taken as an excuse for subsequent active participation in the attack on the Chinese. In explanation of his violation of neutrahty, Tattnall exclaimed that "blood was thicker than water." He was sustained in his course by public opinion at the time, and also by the govern- ment. On February 2nd, 1861, he resigned his commis- sion as captain in the navy, and offered his services to the governor of Georgia. He was commissioned senior flag-officer of the Georgia navy February 28th, 1861, and in March, 1861, he became a captain in the Confederate navy, and was ordered to command the naval defences of Georgia and South Carolina. On November 7th, 1861, he led an improvised naval force against the attack on Port Royal. He conducted attacks on the blockading fleet at the mouth of the Savannah, constructed batteries for the defence of that river, and materially delayed the operations of the national forces. In March, 1862, he was ordered to relieve Franklin Buchanan, who was wounded in the engagement with the " Monitor," and took command of the " Merrimac " and the naval defences of the waters of Vir- ginia. CHAPTER XXVIII. OUR INTERNATIONAL POLICY. We must go up and to the Front — All the Land we have Annexed has been Good for the People — We have Reached the Limit on this Continent and Need Islands— The Duties Belonging to our Growth and Destiny. The progress of mankind summons the nation ot the United States of North America to exercise the influence belonging to a great people, and participate, as a power, in the affairs of the world. The century, whose closing years we have reached, has been, in human advancement, equal to a thousand years of other times, and we have been exceptional in growth in all that increases resources and responsibilities. The citizens of this republic revere the memory of the fathers, and have so affectionate a regard for their pre- cepts, and respect for that which they accomplished, it seems unfaithful not to recognize the limitations of those who fought out the Revolution, framed the Constitution, converted the colonies into states, and formed a "more perfect union " than the confederation. However, it is clear to the students of our country's ex- pansion and consolidation that the men of the Revolution had but an imperfect idea of the immensity of the fabric of which they laid the deep foundations. Washington and Jefferson were the men who, more than others of their day, had foresight of the stupendous destiny of the people who absorbed, to themselves, the splendid name of America, and gave the word a glorious, national character, though geographically it comprehended two vast continents. Wash- ington, whose appreciation of the West exceeded that of 440 OUR INTERNATIONAL POLICY. 44 j his generation, did not understand that we had a future beyond the Mississippi, and Jefferson had not, in his su- perb and searching foresight, beheld the Pacific as a boun- dary of the republic, until Washington was in his grave, and the Louisiana Purchase made a vast reality out of a vision few dreamers had dared to dream. The first necessities in founding a nation are people of integrity and capacity, active in good works, bravery and enterprise, rich in vital force, and land upon which they can increase in population, and thrive through productive in- dustry. We, of the United States have had unexampled happy fortune in gaining the territory indispensable to our im- perial development. In this volume is recorded the story of the Conquest of the North-western Territory by George Rogers Clark. There is perpetual surprise that there was so enormous a gain by ways so rude, and means so scanty. Including all that Clark occupied and possessed for Virginia, through the capture of Kaskaskia and Vincennes, we started where the boundaries were formed between our premises and those of Great Britain, with less than one- fourth the area of the landed estate that is our unchal- lenged dominion. The territory of the United States was acquired in ces- sions by foreign nations as follows : NATION. DATE OF TREATY. 1. Great Britain Sept. 3, 1783 2. France Apr. 30, 1803 3- Spain, Feb. 22, 1819 4. Texas, March 2, 1845 5. Mexico, Feb. 2, 1848 6. " . Dec. 30, 1853 7. Russia, March 30, 1867 AMOUNT PAID. AREA SQ. MILES, 827,844 $15,000,000 I.I7I.93I 6,500,000 59,268 10,000,000 376,133 15,000,000 545783 10,000,000 45.535 7,200,000 577,390 Total area of the United States 3,603,^ 442 OUR INTERNATIONAL POLICY. It should be remembered that the whole area of the United States was given away by patents or grants. In 1609, for instance, King James I., of England, granted a charter to the so-called Virginia Companies of a strip of country four hundred miles wide, extending from the At- lantic westward. It was to be measured from Old Point Comfort, two hundred miles north and two hundred miles south. In 1620 the Plymouth Company obtained a charter to the so-called "Great Patent," comprising the country between the fortieth and forty-eighth parallel of latitude, extending from the Atlantic Ocean westward. Under this grant all the earliest settlements in New England were made, the Plymouth Company making sub-grants for this purpose. One of the first of these was the grant to the Massachusetts Bay Company of the lands lying between the lines drawn three miles north of all parts of the Merri- mac, and three miles south of the Charles River and of Massachusetts Bay. This grant was made in 1629. The territory of Connecticut was granted in 1631 by the Plymouth Company to Lords Say-and-Seal, Brooke and others. Its limits were defined as follows : " All of that part of New England west of the Narragansett, extending the space of forty leagues upon a straight line near the seashore, towards the south and west, as the coast lieth towards Virginia, accounting three English miles to the league ; and also all and singular lands and hereditaments whatsoever, lying and being within the lands aforesaid, north and south in latitude, and in breadth and length, a longitude of, and within all the breadth aforesaid, throughout all the mainlands there from the western to the South Sea." The first charter of the Carolinas was granted to Sir Walter Raleigh in 1584, and as the attempts at coloniza- tion under the original grant failed, Connecticut made a OUR INTERNATIONAL POLICY. 443 grant of the Carolinas to Earl Clarendon in 1663, including in it the territory lying between the thirty-first and thirty- sixth parallels and the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The lines of the original grants mark, in a great many instances, the boundary lines between our States. The original limits of the United States at the close of the Revolution extended as far west as the Mississippi, and as far south as the boundary line between Georgia and Florida. The Treaty of Peace between the United States and Great Britain, concluded September 3d, i 783, conceded this boundary ; but no sooner had the treaty been ratified when the northern boundary line became a source of con- tention between the two countries, which was not settled until 1872. In the Treaty of London, signed November 19, 1794, provision was made for ascertaining whether a line drawn due west from the northwest point of the Lake of the Woods would strike the Mississippi. This question was not settled, however, until 181 8. The same treaty made provision for the settlement of the identity of the River St. Croix. The line was established along this stream, and a monument was erected at the head of its northern branch, the Cheputneticook, for the purpose of defining that branch. By the Treaty of Ghent, December 24, 18 15, provision was made for a final adjustment of the northern boundary, but no definite agreement was reached. In 181 8 it was agreed that the boundary line should be extended westward on the 47th parallel of latitude from the Lake of the Woods to the Rocky Mountains, and that the country west of the Rocky Mountains should be free and open to the citizens of both countries for a period of ten years. In 1824-26 negotiations were again opened for the set- tlement of the boundary west of the Rocky Mountains, but 444 OUR INTERNATIONAL POLICY. again no agreement was reached, as both parties insisted on the legahty of their claim. In 1827 the points of differ- ence between the two countries, with regard to the northern boundary of Maine, were referred to the King of the Nether- lands as an arbitrator. The decision of the King was a compromise, making the course of St. John's River the boundary line. This was agreed to by Great Britain, but was strongly opposed by the citizens of Maine. It at one time threatened to be the cause of war. By the Webster- Ashburton Treaty, concluded in 1842, the boundary was established finally, very nearly as decided by the royal arbitrator. This treaty also finally established the boundary as far West as the Rocky Mountains. By the treaty with Great Britain in 1846, the northern boundary was continued from the Rocky Mountains west- ward to the straits of Juan de Fuca, along the 49th parallel, and down through the main channel of the above straits to the Pacific. The question immediately arose, however, as to the definition ofthe " main ship channel," in the straits of Juan de Fuca. The English claimed the Rosario Strait, while the United States claimed that it should follow the Canal Haro. This dispute was setded by arbitration of the Emperor of Germany, who decided in favor of the United States on the 21st day of October, 1872, thus disposing of the last remaining point at issue. Concerning the Southern boundary, the boundaries be- tween the Thirteen Oriorinal States were, at the oro^aniza- tion of the United States Government, established very nearly as they are at present, with the exception of the western lands owned or claimed by several of the States. Maine was a province of Massachusetts ; Vermont was part of New York State; Massachusetts had very nearly its OUR INTERNATIONAL POLICY. 445 present boundaries and area, but also laid claim to all of the country lying west of a meridian, passing twenty miles west of Niagara River, extending south to latitude 42.2, and west to the Mississippi River, an area some seventy or eighty miles in breadth, and comprising the southern part of Michigan and Wisconsin, and the northern part of Illinois. Connecticut also laid claim to the country west of the western boundary of Pennsylvania to the Missis- sippi, between latitude 41 and 42.2, being the northern part of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, and the southern part of Michigan. New York state laid claim, under an old charter, to all of the lands between the source of the Great Lakes and the Cumberland mountains. Pennsylvania did not origi- nally extend to Lake Erie ; that area has been since added and previously belonged to the state of New York. Vir- ginia laid claim to the area covered by West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin and that part of Minnesota lying east of the Mississippi. North Carolina claimed the territory covered by the state of Tennessee ; South Carolina laid claim to a narrow strip of country, four- teen miles wide, south of the 35th parallel of latitude, also extending to the Mississippi. Georgia had, with the exception of the latter strip, an undoubted title, in addition to its own area, to the portion of Alabama and Mississippi then owned by the United States. The organization of territories, the admission of states, and the principal changes in the boundary lines of states and territories will be here briefly stated. In 1788 what was known as the North-west Territory, comprising the present states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and that part of Minnesota east of the Mississippi River, was organized. 446 O VR INTERNA TIONAL POLICY. March 4, 1791, Vermont was admitted as a state. March 30, 1 791, the District of Columbia, comprising one hundred square miles, was ceded to the United States by the states of Maryland and Virginia. June 1, 1792, Ken- tucky was admitted to the Union. June i, 1796, Tennessee became one of the states. April 7, 1 798, Mississippi Territory was organized from a portion of the lands ceded by Georgia, comprising about one-half of the southern area of the states of Alabama and Mississippi. Jurisdiction over this area, however, remained with the state of Georgia. May 7, 1800, Indiana Territory was organized. It was constituted from that portion of the North-west Territory lying west of the present eastern boundary line of Indiana and extending due north to the Great Lakes. April 30, 1802, that part of the state of Michigan east of the eastern boundary of Indiana was added to Indiana Ter- ritory. The state of Ohio attained its present boundary, also a narrow strip in the northernmost part. On November 29, 1802, Ohio was admitted to the Union as a state. 1804, Mississippi Territory was enlarged by the addi- tion of the remainder of the present areas of Alabama and Mississippi, with the exception of those portions to the south of the 31st parallel extending to the Gulf of Mexico. 1804, the Territory of Orleans was organized, comprising the present area of Louisiana, with the exception of the portion between the Amite river, and Lakes Mourepas and Pontchartrain and the Pearl river. The remainder of the Louisiana Purchase continued to bear the name of Louis- iana Territory. June 30, 1805, Michigan Territory was organized from OUR INTERNATIONAL POLICY AA7 the northern part of Indiana Territory, between Lake Su- perior, Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. February 3, 1809, the Territory of llHnois was formed. April 30, 181 2, Orleans Territory was admitted as a state under the name of Louisiana, and Louisiana Territory was changed to Missouri Territory. 181 2, Mississippi Territory was enlarged by the addition of the portions extending to the Gulf of Mexico, below the 2 1 St parallel. December 11, 18 16, Indiana was admitted as a state, with its present boundaries. March 3, 181 7, Alabama Territory was created from a part of Mississippi Territory, excepting that portion below the 31st parallel. December 10, 181 7, Mississippi was admitted to the Union as a state. December 3, 181 8, Illinois was admitted to the Union. March 2, 18 19, Arkansas Territory was created from a part of Missouri Territory, its western boundary extending to the Spanish possessions, afterwards ceded to the United States. December 14. 18 19, Alabama was admitted to statehood with its present limits. March 15, 1820, Maine was detached from Massachusetts and admitted to the Union. August 10, 182 1, the state of Missouri was formed from part of Missouri Territory and was admitted as a state. March 30, 1822, Florida Territory was organized, com- prising the area purchased from Spain in 1819. In 1828 the western boundary of Arkansas Territory was reduced to its present area. June 15, 1836, Arkansas was admitted to statehood. July 30, 1836, Wisconsin Territory was organized from 448 OUR INTERNATIONAL POLICY. parts of Michigan and Missouri Territories. In 1836, the western boundary of Missouri was changed, estabhshing the present area of that state. In 1836 the northern boundary of Ohio was readjusted, giving the state its present area. January 26, 1837, Michigan was admitted to the Union. July 3, 1838, Iowa Territory was created. March 3, 1845, Iowa was admitted to statehood. March 3, 1845, Florida was admitted to the Union. December 29, 1845, Texas, which had declared her inde- pendence of Mexico in 1836, joined the United States. July 9, 1846, that portion of the District of Columbia which had been ceded to the general government by Vir- ginia, was retroceded to that state. December 28th, 1846, the boundary of the state of Iowa was readjusted, giving it its present limits. May 29, 1848, Wisconsin was admitted as a state. August 14, 1848, the Territory of Oregon was created, comprising the present states of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and part of Montana. March 3, 1849, Minnesota Territory was created, com- prising that part of the former Territory of Iowa now in- cluded in the State of Iowa, and extending east to the western boundary of Wisconsin. In 1850, Texas sold to the general government, all of her original area not included in her present limits, for ^10,000,000. September 9, 1850, California was admitted as a state. September 9, 1850, Utah Territory was created. It ex- tended as far west as California, and east to the Rocky Mountains, south to the 37th parallel and north to the 42d parallel. December 13, 1850, the Territory of New Mexico was created ; its area being composed of the remainder of the OUR INTERNATIONAL POLICY. 449 land acquired from Mexico, and a part of the land sold to the United States by Texas. On March 2, 1853, Washington Territory was organized, extending east to the Rocky Mountains. December 30, 1853, the area of New Mexico Territory was increased by the Gadsden purchase. May 30, 1854, Nebraska Territory was created. It com- prised all of the region between the 40th and 49th parallels from the Missouri to the Rocky Mountains. May 30, 1854, Kansas Territory was created. It ex- tended from the southern boundary of Nebraska Territory to the 37th parallel, and from the Missouri to the Rocky Mountains. May II, 1858, Minnesota was admitted to statehood. February 14, 1859, Oregon was admitted to the Union. The remaining part of Oregon Territory was added to Washington Territory. January 29, 1861, Kansas was admitted as a state. February 28, 1861, Colorado Territory was created from portions of Utah, New Mexico, Kansas and Nebraska Ter- ritory. March 21, 1861, Dakota Territory was formed from part of Minnesota and Nebraska Territory. It extended from its present eastern boundary to the summit of the Rocky Mountains. March 2, 1 86 1, Nevada Territory was created from part of Utah Territory. February 24, 1863, Arizona Territory was formed from portions of New Mexico Territory. March 3, 1863, Idaho Territory was formed from por- tions of Washington, Dakota, and Nebraska Territory. Its original limits comprised the present States of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and part of Utah. 45 o OLR INTERNATIONAL POLICY. June 19, 1863, West Virginia was admitted to statehood. May 26, 1864, Montana Territory was created. October 31, 1864, Nevada was admitted to statehood. Its boundary was moved one degree of longitude further east. In 1866 the eastern boundary of Nevada was moved a second degree further east. March i, 1867, Nebraska was admitted to statehood. July 25, 1868, Wyoming Territory was created. February 1 7, 1 873, Congress, under the erroneous impres- sion that by a mistake in defining boundaries, a part of Dakota had been left detached, near the point where Idaho, Montana and Wyoming joined, passed an Act adding such area to Montana. August I, 1876, Colorado was admitted to the Union. November 2, 1889, North and South Dakota were ad- mitted to statehood. November 11, 1889, Washington became a state. July 3, 1890, Idaho was admitted to the Union. July II, 1890, Wyoming was added to the Union of states. January 4, 1896, Utah was admitted. Cession of the Province of Louisiana. — This province was granted by Louis XIV., September 14, 171 2, to An- thony Crozart for fifteen years. It was afterwards granted for twenty-five years to the "Western Company," or, as afterward called, "Company of the Indies," of which John Law was principal mover. The grant was surrendered to the Crown in 1730. The province was ceded by France to Spain, February 10, 1763. Formal possession was given, August 18, 1769. Spain re-ceded the province to France, October i, 1800, France ceded it to the United States by treaty, April 30, 1803. Its western boundary, as fmally adjusted by treaty with OUR INTERNATIONAL POLICY. 453 Spain, February 22, 1819, was as follows: Up the Sabine River, to and along the 94th meridian, to and along the Red River, and to and along the looth meridian, to and along the Arkansas river to its source, thence due north to and along the 42d parallel to the Pacific Ocean. Its northern boundary has conformed to the boundary established between the British possessions and the United States. Its eastern boundary was regarded as the Mississippi River, as far south as the 31st parallel, where different boundaries were claimed. Spain claimed, that by her cession to France in 1800, she ceded no territory east of the Mississippi River, except the Island of New Orleans ; and also claimed that her province of West Florida included the territory south of the 31st parallel, and between the Perdido and Mississippi Rivers, except the Island of New Orleans. The United States construed the cession of France to include this disputed territory. The Province of Louisiana, as claimed by the United States, included the area of the present states of Alabama and Mississippi, below the 31st parallel; all of Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri and Iowa ; that part of Minnesota west of the Mississippi River, and a line drawn from its source to the international boundary line; all of Dakota, Nebraska and Indian Country; all of Kansas, except a small south- western portion, bounded north by the Arkansas River, Avest of the lOoth meridian ; all of Colorado north of the Arkansas River, and east of the Rocky Mountains ; all of Wyoming east of the io6th meridian, and north of the 42d parallel, and all of Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon. When the American Colonies of England became free, they were war-worn, and the thought of resumption of hos- 26 454 OUR INTERNATIONAL POLICY, tilities with the British, for the sake of wild land, was dis- tressing. Besides there was a party then, as now, favorable to a select sort of country, a conveniendy compact territory, and especially a homogeneous people. It was feared a Republican form of government could not be maintained unless the people were much alike and well acquainted. There was, as now, a sense of alarm about foreigners com- ing across the Adantic and endowed with as many rights as those born on the soil, and it was held to be disturbing that we expanded so rapidly as not to allow the older parts of the country to be perfected before going further to fare better or worse. There was, indeed, opposition not merely to immigration from Europe, but to emigration that had a tendency to found new cities rather than improve old ones, and clear fresh fields rather than go on with old ones. There was, altogether, a strong public opinion against the United States becoming a Great Country, because it was too much trouble, and Republicanism was so far untried that it was extra-hazardous to attempt too much. Hence the Ohio Valley might have been sacrificed — indeed, was in danger for a time, because the area of the then west, now the heart of the country, was so astounding that the people would be so widely scattered, it could not be possible to look after them. It took some time to find out that the people could manage themselves very well, and that thinly settled regions were, as a rule, those in which the spirit of unconquerable liberty and popular independence was as intense and intrepid as it was invincible. It is apparent, when we look on the map of North America, that we did not capture all the continent, and as we glance at the British possessions, we perceive that the narrowness of the margins, by which we were enabled to cover that which we have, might have become too narrow for the broad base of the OUR INTERNATIONAL POLICY. 455 structure that is our country, and the mouth of the Mis- sissippi might have eluded us as the mouth of the St. Lawrence has done. The lesson of our experience in an- nexing territory " adding farm to farm " is never to omit the improvement of an opportunity to " enlarge the area of freedom " — our freedom. We never had occasion to regret the acquisition of land that we have annexed. In the Louisiana purchase we got more than twice as many square miles as we took with us from England when we organized ourselves to attend to our own affairs. The rapidity of our growth, the unbounded provision thus far abundant for people, and the volume of immigra- tion that poured riches, both of labor and capital, upon our shores, is displayed in a startling manner in the letter of Daniel Webster, Secretary of State, to Baron Hulsemann, in which the grand, old Secretary boasted that we had twenty- five millions of citizens, and that we should soon surpass the Austrian Empire in population ! Now we have three times the number Daniel Webster took pride in, and the foreigners who have landed here and made their homes with us and become Americanized by the mighty chemistry of the political atmosphere, joined to the potency of our soil and climate and institutions, so that the nativism that has occasionally been conspicuously ultra and active, providing instructive episodes, loses strength as the percentage of the native-born increases. It is the annexation of continental land that has made the United States of to-day possible. Without this policy of prophecy and materialization of ambition, as traced through the chapters of this " Book of the Episodes of American History," and that too closely related to our affairs to be ignored, we would not be in the front-line position we have 456 OUR INTERNATIONAL POLICY. attained among the nations, but cornered between the Alleghenies and the Atlantic, with Florida as Spanish as Cuba was; the mouth of the Mississippi and the vast valley itself the possession of some European power ; the slope to the Pacific Mexican or British, and Texas, the France of America, dominating the Gulf of Mexico, the American Mediterranean, an independent republic or an invaluable colony under the protection of some sovereign beyond the seas, our place must have been, at best, that of a very respectable second-class power. We would not have been bounded west and east by oceans, and north and south by the Greater Lakes, and the most excellently environed Gulf of the globe. The masterful position we hold was hardly within the range of our own vision until, forced into war with Spain, to relieve the greatest, richest and fairest of American islands from the corrupt, cruel, and barbarous oppression, most inhuman, perverse, and re- morseless, we sent a fleet from Hong Kong to add glory to our arms at Manila, and reinforced our pioneer ships from our shore of the Pacific, at the same time mus- tering squadrons in the ports of the peninsula and keys of Florida to blockade contested Cuba, the trap, baited with sugar, tobacco and customs-houses, in which the Spanish army was beleaguered. We have gone as far as we can on the continent, without unduly crowding our neighbors, whose friendliness we are profoundly interested in pre- serving and making more cordial, and fuller of sympathy than it has been. We have gained, partly in war and partly in peace, the land once belonging to Mexico that is most convenient and profitable to us and of least importance to Mexicans. Her bulk was in the way of our march of des- tiny, and it was no dishonor for her to part with a portion of her patrimony not vital to her nationality, and we bought OUR INTERNATIONAL POLICY. 457 a great deal of it, paying a fair price. We can hardly say that our gain was her loss, for while unquestionably we were great gainers, her loss was not considerable, did not abate the energy or break the spirit of her people. Indeed, we seem, through the adjustments of battles and treaties, to have found the natural boundaries of the two nations, and we should dwell side by side, sister republics, with mutual good will. It would be something more than unkindly or ungenerous, it would be unprincipled, for us to covet more land from Mexico. Some day soon we shall have occasion, as our railroad systems are already united, to pool, with Mexico, our common interests in a railroad that will be grander as an accomplishment of Americans of North and South and Central Americas than the Russian road through Siberia, connecting with a highway of steel northern Europe and Asia, from the Baldc to the Yellow Sea. We mean a road that, beginning in Alaska, shall pass through British Columbia and our Pacific States and Mexico, and the more Central American States — the Isthmus of Darien — and penetrate the Andes, and fork in the heart of South America, strike the two oceans at Val- paraiso and Montevideo. This road is the missing link in the union of the Ameri- can nations, and will prove of advantage to all in the rela- tions of commerce and political association. We cannot, with a sense of justice or a calculation of profit, count upon further Southern aggrandizement in continental land. We look to the cultivation of amicable understandings and a better appreciation of obligations that are coincident and reciprocal with other American republics. Looking north- ward, we find, that in spite of the establishment of our nationality, the accumulation of landed resources by the generalship and statesmanship of George Washington and 458 OUR INTERNATIONAL POLICY. George Rogers Clark; the commanding genius for accumu- lation by Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, and James K. Polk; the saving journey of the missionary from Oregon, who crossed the continent on one of the grandest missions any citizen has conceived and performed, the British Em- pire holds, in a firm grasp, a gigantic share of the continents, and we more and more highly estimate the value of those northern fields on which the sun makes up for long absence in winter with long shining in summer. The long, far- slanting, living sunlight, doing the work in weeks, that in lower latitudes requires the ripening rays of lingering months ; and we put also in the catalogue of possessions, as the earth grows smaller and is flattened faster towards the poles, not only the golden wheat-fields, but the forests that are the timber resources of ancient peoples, brought at last within reach by the marvels of modern trans- portation. The rivers, lakes and bays, peopled with incredible swarms of countless millions of food-fishes, the game that gives hunters the reputation of heroes, and the mines that are stored with almost all the minerals found essential to civilization, including gold that has made the Klondike a word that has the significance of California half a century ago, and guarantees the labor of mankind and the capital whose acUvity aids in industrial enterprise, against the scarcity of the metal that is most approved in money centres as the money that has the better qualifications. England's enormous American empire is our northern border land ; but the thought of it no longer oppresses enlightened Americans, and we have ceased to regard, as menacincr, the military and naval stations of Great Britain on the North Pacific, the north and south Atlantic and the Caribbean sea. England is our friend, if we care to take OVR INTERNATIONAL POLICY. 45 q up the sword and scepter of empire. She has asked our sympathy in the issue raised in China by the order of mili- tary possession in the slowly declining and crumbling Chinese empire, displayed by Russia, Germany and France. The British sentiment as to China is legitimately based upon commercial supremacy. American statesmanship will not fail to respond to the friendliness of Great Britain. It comes opportunely. Our politics will lack statesmanship if it misses the comprehension of the auspicious conditions that prevail. We could hardly find, if we had our choice among nations, neighbors better disposed than Canada and Mexico. England has respected our claim upon Hawaii, and has given the potency of her ponderous inertia in opposition to the intervention — by the powers that counte- nanced and promoted the recent crushing of Greece by Turkey — in the war between our country and Spain. Lord Salisbury characterizes the nations of the earth, with reference apparently to our relations with Spain, as the living and the dead. The progressive development and decay of peoples and powers goes on with the regularity of the processions of the seasons and the planets. There are those that live and prosper, and those that perish. Spain was great and has declined by and because of, her colonies, and if she has a future of better days, it will be because the system so fatal through centuries, for her children and herself, is no more. Her health will be found in home rule and industries, and the application within the peninsula of the labors of her people on their native soil. She may be wise enough, some day, to take pride in the republics whose language, literature and traditions are her own. That is her best hope. The Spain that was arrogant in colonization, cruel in conquest and fierce in bigotry, must be no more before there can happen the benign 460 OUR INTERNATIONAL POLICY. change of brighter temper and better times. We may, with confidence, anticipate that England will welcome us to Eastern Asia. With the Philippines for our possession, we would have sympathy with England in her contention for open ports in China ; and Japan will see in us, when we accept Hawaii, with these archipelagoes in the Pacific, the Aleutian, Hawaiian and the Philippines at our side, that we have become, as Lord Beaconsfield said England was, " a great Asiatic power." When William H. Seward and Charles Sumner became responsible for the public opinion of their country for the purchase of Alaska, they were advancing on the right line, and in the lofty spirit of John Adams, who refused to give up the Ohio country to Great Britain, and they should share in the honors, forever due, those who have added land to the republic. They invaded the Arctic Zone and found there wealth for the generations of Americans to come, rivalling the endowment of the Indies, and gifted, too, with a stern beauty, not fatal as that of softer airs and fairer skies, but swelling to majesty with the opulence that nature yields to the hardy tribes of the sea and the mountains, and mighty streams that flow like Alf, the sacred river that ran "through channels measureless by man." The American leaders of to-day will be equal to the oc casion of accepting the opportunity of the age for the en- largement of the house the fathers built. The wings that have been added exceed, by far, the original plans, but the architecture is the same. If we should find islands in the tropics of America — according to the attractions of our in- stitutions, energetic with liberty and radiant with glory, as they are, the taking of the goods the gods have provided would be in accord with the constitution and the higher laws that harmonize the universe, and the stately prece- OUR INTERNATIONAL POLICY. 461 cedents that are the monumental testimony of the states- manship that through the generations of American citizens has enlarged the domain of the republic, and expanded the area of the freedom that is the fruitfulness of orderly liberty. One of the groups of islands still belonging to Spain, is the Canaries, on the north-western coast of Africa, and it would be an excellent position for us to hold near the en- trance to the Mediterranean of the Old World. We have, in the Gulf of Mexico, our own central sea, and Cuba is the commanding island, intruding between Florida and Yu- catan, and whether the v.^aters of the Mississippi go to the ocean by the gulf stream or the Caribbean sea, they wash the shores of the beautiful island. If we add Cuba and Porto Rico to our annexed territories, we give Spain the one thing needful for her, the long-lost privilege of taking care of herself unembarrassed by colonies, that under her horrible system must be her enemies, and we make provis- ion for the future Americans, of islands in African and Asiatic waters, and all the continents and zones north of the equator will yield us tribute. The American people then will have the beauties of all the climates and fruits of every tree that blooms for man, and the oceans will be res- ervoirs stored with fishes and highways for our ships, the Arctic and tropical forests flourishing on our own soil will yield their treasures of timber for our handiwork. The mountains, from Hawaii to the Philippines, and from Cuba and Hawaii to Alaska, will be as warehouses for the min- erals for the coming time, which the drills shall reveal at depths hitherto unapproachable, and high explosives shall cleave the rocks that were once invulnerable, and reveal the amazing possession, the abounding globe contains for transformation by the science and labor of our race for ele- 462 OUR INTERNATIONAL POLICY. vation and advancement. This is the ample promise that the seed of the righteous shall not want. Already the railroads have opened new and immeasurable wheatfields that white bread shall be the food of mankind. Once it was the sublimity of boastfulness to say, " No pent up Utica contracts our powers. The whole boundless conti- nent is ours." We have not the whole continent under our feet, but the grandest breadth of goodland on earth, the property of our people. Imperial as is the domain, we have discovered that there are lines that limit us, and that if we have inherited the forethought of the fathers we must seek our share of the islands that are embraced by the seas, traversed now by swift steamers and made familiar, while there are wires spun thi'ough the mighty waters, from capital to capital. In the annexation of islands we are but conforming to the customs of the days in which we live. The whole world is wakeful to the voice of the millions calling for more land, for the enlightened nations, that the banners of civilization shall be borne forward triumphantly. The darkness that has brooded so long is chased away by the morning light, to which we must turn our faces uplifted to the exalted ideas that are the guiding stars of humanity. The deep interests of the living nations, that are the greater people organized, in their colonies, is not pheno- menal. It is evolved that the conquest of the barbarism, that still shadows so great a proportion of the earth, will be completed with the aid of the inventions that have more and more made man the master of nature and penetrated the mysteries of the regions that have so long awaited ex- ploration. Only the fallen empires now fail to seek colonies. The instinct of the expansion of nations is evidence of vitality. Russia is subjugating Siberia with a railroad and seeking open gates to all the seas. Ports below the iron OT'R INTERNATIONAL POLICY. 463 line of frost, on the Pacific ; on the Persian Gulf, that opens upon the eastern Indies ; in the Mediterranean ; in the ocean that reaches from her northern border to the coast, where the rocks of Norway loom above the waste of waves, where the narrowing- parallels of longitude define the contracting shape of our planet, and Asia, Europe and Africa are contracted upon a common centre. England has already surrounded the earth with her lands and her navy rides all the seas. Germany and France are eager for the absorption of Africa. China, Spain and Turkey are in decadence, and, as their fragments fall, they drift to the living nations and are vitalized. These are times of changes of transition. What have we, of the United States, to do, and what are we to be ? Shall we emulate the fathers whose principles declared in precept and by example are the sources of our greatness ? Shall we pause and accept the doom of the inert? Shall we be submissive to the theory that we shall grow no more ? If we do, that day we commence to decline. It is not true that there is, in our system of government, no place for perpetual territories ; that we must be all states. The proposition that we are states or nothing might stand if we were a confederacy. We are a nation. Not one of the colonizing nations has a system for the government of colonies equal, for that pur- pose, to our territorial form of rule and regulation. We may, as Ex-President Harrison says in his book, "This Country of Ours," give consideration to the quality as well as the quantity of the inhabitants of a territory. We may add that this is something we not only may, but must do. There is no reason assignable and satisfactory why we should not have, and hold forever, Hawaii, Cuba, Porto Rico, the Canaries, the Philippines, perpetually as territories, admit- ting them as states if ever, only when evidence of compe- 464 OUR INTERNATIONAL POLICY. tent Americanization would guarantee this course. Fore- most in entering into statehood under this condition would be Cuba. As for the islands coming to us they would be, to our young men, what India is to the young men of Great Britain, lands of adventure, of enterprise, of promise of the supreme happiness that inspires, prepares and broadens manhood, gives us a new mission to walk abroad through- out the earth and preach our gospel to every people. We are of the mighty nations. Destiny has assigned duties. Our place is in the history that is to be, as it is on the map of the world, that of the Dominant power in the Americas, and if there are islands that belong to, and are protected by us over the seas and far away, there is the proclamation that a republic can be, in the greatest meaning of the word, imperial, and in height, significance, beneficent, glorious and potential beyond the scope of monarchies. Rulers exceed- ing kings in prerogative, as government by the people has a strength exceeding monarchies for no dynasty, so founded, as that of the sovereignty of the majority, and no diviner right than the rights of man. CHAPTER XXIX. OUR COUNTRY, SPAIN AND THE FUTURE. The Philosophy and Logic of Our War with Spain and the Good Fruit Thereof — Causes of Spanish Degeneracy — The United States the Only True Republic — Spanish Losses a Guarantee of Her Future — The Logic of Our Expansion — The Future of Cuba — The Living and Dead Nations — Our Growth in Peace and Glory in War — Annexation and Immigration — We have, for Forty Years, been Drifting into War with Spain about Cuba. Whether the war between the United States and Spain lasts long or is soon closed, it will profoundly influence both nations. We may believe it will be for the common good, and eventually better the relations of all nations, with each other, and make for the advancement of the influences which help humanity. We do not doubt, whether the war is finished early or late, that it will end as it began, in American victory. It must be so for we have superior strength and the will to use it. We have in the United States and Spain, the Quick and the Dead of systems of government. This does not necessarily mean that the people of Spain are effete ; that they are lacking in courage or energy or natural capacity, but that they have been misgoverned into a chronic condition of decadence that can be remedied only by the surgery of war, carrying with it a wholesome revo- lution. The Spanish Government is an antique despotism that has, in modern times, been tempered by violent changes — whirlpools that carried the turbid waters around old familiar circles — in which anarchy posed as republicanism. In contrast stands the United States, the only true repub- lic, and because it is based in the broadest sense upon the people, its government of the people is stronger than any 467 468 OUR COUNTRY, SPAIN AND THE FUTURE. shape of monarchy. The people of Spain have wasted their substance abroad, because they had not the vitahty in their Peninsula to impart to continental colonies. Her ambition was great ; her opportunity the greatest the world has seen, but her potentiality was inadequate to the improve- ment of her fortune, and she has fallen. We have the better part of the continent. Our growth has been a story, not only of the rapid increase of those whose ancestors were among the foremost to come to our shores, but a record of annexation and immigration. The time has come when we shall not find the surf along the borders of our oceans, lakes and gulf, an impenetrable barrier to restrain the further development of our dominions, but we already have the part of the continent that is best suited to our people, and are on good terms with our neighbors. We look out upon the great deeps that are about us and behold, the richest and fairest of the islands of the seas are falling into our hands like ripe fruit ; and according to all prece- dents in our history we will be aided by all the lands we gain. Spain lost first her continental colonies. Her islands are now passing away. We, with the force of a continent reach out for the islands, and while the losses of Spain are her gain, the fact that we gather what she parts with will be to our advantage — this because of the power of our people and the stability of our Government. The strength of Spain will increase when she keeps her blood and her gold and silver at home. Our ability will augment by our investment in American islands and those that fall to us beyond the seas. The President is of conservative tendencies, but his Americanism is too predominant to allow him to follow the precedents of the great statesmen who, with all their great- ness, did not comprehend in its fulness our destiny and the SECRETARY OF WAR ALGER. 1 1 1 1 ■ Copyright. I'RE^IDLJST MclvlM.EV. OUR COUNTRY, SPAIN AND THE FUTURE. 471 duties belonging to it. And so, when the battle of Manila was fought, and the Philippine islands were released from bondage to Spain, no one appreciated more keenly, or understood more comprehensively the requirement, that we should care for the goods committed to us, than the President, who immediately ordered twenty thousand men to proceed to Manila, thirteen thousand miles away, to make secure our standing in the Philippines. That done, the United States becomes an Asiatic power. We have but to confirm our title to a conquest so far away that it is east or west, according to the standpoint we occupy in surveying the situation. On the Atlantic, the western Pacific is east. On our Pacific coast, the Asiatic shores and islands are west. We front on two oceans, and it is the logic of our expansion that we should put a girdle around the earth. The anger of Spain toward us has long been stimulated by the knowledge that, our attraction was so great, Cuba must some time be ours by gravitation. There has been something magnetic in it. It has been a magnetism that all men have felt. The destiny of Cuba was long manifest. The phrase "manifest destiny" made a deep mark more than a generation ago. Spain resented it the more bitterly because the current of events, carrying Cuba away from her, is as certain in its direction as that of the Gulf Stream. The passion of Spain has increased because she knew her helpless situation, yet she has desperately made a barbarous war upon her own children. It has been observed that in the letter of General Maximo Gomez, making proclamation of his gratitude toward the people and the President of the United States, he is particular, after ail his well-chosen words, to claim for Cuba an independent nationality. He explicitly and studiously refers to " the 27 472 OUR COUNTRY, SPAIN AND THE FUTURE. two nations." The old warrior is dreaming. It will not be in the heart or brain of the real people of Cuba to oppose the will of the American people. It will not be within their capacity, and is not any part of their purpose to obstruct the inevitable course of our progression. Those who would war against us for Cuban independence will be few and factional. The lone star of Cuba will take its place in our constellation as the lone star of Texas did. The Cuban people may long hold Gomez in kindly remembrance, not- withstanding the introduction of the torch into the war. The Cubans know that their cause was not helped by the San Domingo method of campaigning. Their greatest rev- erence, care and devotion will be found for the glory of the great republic. They will be proud to carry the flag and keep step to the music of the Union. They well know that order and liberty, peace and prosperity, are to be had and held only under the authoritative protection of the United States ; and they will not desire a change of rulers, from more or less bloody despots, simply to enter into the control of military masters. Cuba will be Americanized as Texas and California were. That is the happiness of her fate. It is the logic of every struggle she has made for liberty. The war with Spain, for Cuba, has been threaten- ing for decades. There may be certain persons claiming that they forced the war through schemes and incidents that they contrived or assisted to bring about, but this war of ours with Spain wa? in the air forty years ago. The possession of Cuba, by Spain, is unnatural, for the mother of the country has never cared for the child. The tropical children of the Spaniards have been treated as inferiors, and the idea that a native American is equal to a Spaniard is not only intolerable to the Spaniard — it is resented. This remark applies to all the colonies of Spain. OUR COUNTRY, SPAIN AND THE FUTURE. 473 The grievances of the Cubans are not exceptional — Venez- uela, Paraguay, Chili; Peru and Mexico suffered Spanish misrule as the Cubans have done, until the impositions be- came unbearable ; and their evolution into independence and unto liberty was through cruel persecutions and merci- less, treacherous, vindictive, persecuting wars. There has been no change of Spanish policy during the various changes of the government of Spain — little variation in methods, in the island, of the administrations, military and civil, of the representatives of the peninsula. Spain has not decHned because she has lost her colonies on the continent — she had squandered their resources selfishly, and, at the same time, was impoverished. She was not the poorer because they were freed by force of arms. She was more unjust and corrupt abroad than at home, and hence they fell away as she declined. She lost neither honor nor riches when her colonies ceased to submit to her' tyranny, which was of a degree so perverse, implacable and consuming as to be incapable of prosperity. There was no health in the sys- tem. Excess of greed was its own punishment. The ferocious profession of honor was a confession of discredit. If Spain, in the future, should show progress and retrieve her fallen fortunes, it will be through parting with her colo- nies. Many causes have been assigned for her ruined state. The primary one was her abuse of the colonial sys- tem, which corrupted the government, demoralized the army and navy and the entire civil service, discouraging the people. The colonies became schools of tyranny and official dis- honesty, ending in the loss of the continent, and Cuba remaining a firebrand to kindle war with the United States. The jealousy and resentment of Spain toward the United States, and the irritation of the United States at the mis- government of Cuba, which increased with the poverty of 474 <^UR COUNTRY, SPAIN AND THE FUTURE. the peninsula and the riches of the island, due to her fer- tility of soil and variety of production, increased until, when the war of 1895 broke out, it was evident that the dangrer of open hostilities between the two nations had become imminent, and presently it was almost certain that there was an unfriendly crisis, ripening into an irrepressible conflict. The philosopher in the Senate of the United States, as the country was accepting the situation, was Mr. Hoar, of Mas- sachusetts, and this utterance of the senator was the most striking expression of the more considerate sentiment of the people: " If there have been any hasty or unwise utterances of impatience in such a cause as that, and I think there have been, they have been honest, brave, humane utterances. But when I enter upon this war I want to enter upon it with a united American people — President and Senate and House, and Army and Navy, and Democrat and Republi- can, all joining hands and all marching one way. I want to enter upon it with the sanction of international law, with the sympathy of all humane and liberty-loving nations, with the approval of our own consciences, and with a certainty of the applauding judgment of history. " I confess I do not like to think of the genius of America, angry, snarling, shouting, screaming, kicking, clawing with her nails. I like rather to think of her in her august and serene beauty, inspired by a sentiment even toward her enemies, not of hate, but of love, perhaps a little pale in the cheek and a dangerous light in her eye, but with a smile on her lips as sure, determined, unerring, invincible as was the Archangel Michael when he struck down and trampled upon the Demon of Darkness." The President's message of April nth was, in the begin- ning, a summary history of the causes of the war then not OUR COUNTRY, SPAIN AND THE F>UTURE. 475 declared, but in sight. The language of this paper is trenchant and almost peremptory, concluding : " I ask the Congress to authorize and empower the Pres- ident to take measures to secure a full and final termination of hostilities between the Government of Spain and the people of Cuba, and to secure, in the island, the establish- ment of a stable government, capable of maintaining order and observing its international obligations, insuring peace and tranquillity and the security of its citizens as well as our own, and to use the military and naval forces of the United States as may be necessary for these purposes. " The issue is now with the Congress. It is a solemn responsibility. I have exhausted every effort to relieve the intolerable condition of affairs which is at our doors. Pre- pared to execute every obligation imposed upon me by the Constitution and the law, I await your action." The peculiar force of this call upon Congress is displayed when the early paragraphs in the message, reciting griev- ances are scanned as follows : "The present revolution is but the successor of other similar insurrections which have occurred in Cuba against the dominion of Spain, extending over a period of nearly half a century, each of which, during its progress, has sub- jected the United States to great effort and expense in enforcing its neutrality laws, caused enormous losses to American trade and commerce, caused irritation, annoy- ance, and disturbance among our citizens, and, by the exer- cise of cruel, barbarous and uncivilized practices of warfare, shocked the sensibilities and offended the humane sym- pathies of our people. "Since the present revolution began, in February, 1895, this country has seen the fertile domain at our threshold ravaged by fire and sword, in the course of a struggle une- 476 OUR COUNTRY, SPAIN AND THE FUTURE. qualed, in the history of the island and rarely paralleled as to the numbers of the combatants and the bitterness of the contest, by any revolution of modern times where a de- pendent people, striving to be free, have been opposed by the power of the sovereign state. " Our people have beheld a once prosperous community reduced to comparative want, its lucrative commerce virtu- ally paralyzed, its exceptional productiveness diminished, its fields laid waste, its mills in ruins, and its people perishing by tens of thousands from hunger and destitution. We have found ourselves constrained, in the observance of that strict neutrality which our laws enjoin, and which the law of nations commands, to police our own waters and watch our own seaports in prevention of any unlawful act in aid of the Cubans. " Our trade has suffered ; the capital invested by our citizens in Cuba has been largely lost, and the temper and forbearance of our people have been so sorely tried as to beget a perilous unrest among our own citizens which has inevitably found its expression, from time to time, in the National Legislature, so that issues wholly external to our own body politic engross attention and stand in the way of that close devotion to domestic advancement that becomes a self-contained commonwealth whose primal maxim has been the avoidance of all foreign entanglements." The President quoted his predecessors, Cleveland, Grant and Jackson, saying of Cleveland that he made an effort to bring about a peace through the mediation of this Govern- ment in any way that might tend to an honorable adjust- ment of the contest between Spain and her revolted colony, on the basis of some effective scheme of self-government for Cuba under the flag and sovereignty of Spain. It failed through the refusal of the Spanish Government then in OUR COUNTRY, SPAIN AND THE FUTURE. 477 power to consider any form of mediation, or, indeed, any plan of settlement which did not begin with the actual sub- mission of the insurgents to the mother country, and then only on such terms as Spain herself might see fit to grant. The war continued unabated. General Grant's " measured words" were quoted, uttered in 1875, when after seven years of sanguinary, destructive, and cruel hostilities In Cuba he reached the conclusion that the recognition of the independence of Cuba was Im- practicable and indefensible ; and that the recognition of belligerence was not warranted by the facts according to the tests of public law. " I am of opinion that other nations will be compelled to assume the responsibility which devolves upon them, and to seriously consider the only remaining measures possible — mediation and Intervention. Owing, perhaps, to the large expanse of water separating the island from the Pen- insula, . . . the contending parties appear to have, within themselves, no depository of common confidence, to suggest wisdom when passion and excitement have their sway, and to assume the part of peacemaker." Jackson was quoted — against the recognition, in 1836, of the independence of Texas : " Prudence seems to dictate that we should still stand aloof and maintain our present attitude, if not until Mexico itself or one of the great foreign powers shall recognize the independence of the new government, at least, until the lapse of time or the course of events shall have proven beyond cavil or dispute, the ability of the people of that country to maintain their separate sovereignty and to uphold the government constituted by them. Neither of the contending parties can justly complain oi this course. By pursuing it we are but carrying out the long-established 478 OUR COUNTRY, SPAIN AND THE FUTURE. policy of our Government, a policy which has secured to us respect and influence abroad, and inspired confidence at home." And yet Jackson finally influenced the recognition and annexation of Texas. The reference to the blowing up of the 'Maine' in the President's message on the eve of war must be presented here : "The present condition of affairs in Cuba is a constant menace to our peace, and entails upon this Government an enormous expense. With such a conflict waged for years in an island so near us, and with which our people have such trade and business relations — when the lives and liberty of our citizens are in constant danger and their property destroyed and themselves ruined — where our trading vessels are liable to seizure and are seized at our very door by war ships of a foreign nation, the expeditions of filibustering that we are powerless to prevent alto- gether, and the irritating questions and disagreements thus arising — all these and others that I need not mention, with the resulting strained relations, are a constant menace to our peace, and compel us to keep on a semi-war footing with a nation with which we are at peace. "These elements of danger and disorder, already pointed out, have been strikingly illustrated by a tragic event which has deeply and justly moved the American people. I have already transmitted to Congress the report of the naval court of inquiry on the destruction of the battleship 'Maine' in the harbor of Havana during the night of the 15th of February. The destruction of that noble vessel has filled the national heart with inexpressible horror. Two hundred and fifty-eight brave sailors and marines, and two officers of our Navy, reposing in the OUR COUNTRY, SPAIN AND THE FUTURE. 479 fancied security of a friendly harbor, have been hurled to death, grief and want brought to their homes, and sorrow- to the nation. " The naval court of inquiry, which, it is needless to say, commands the unqualified confidence of the Government, was unanimous in its conclusion that the destruction of the ' Maine ' was caused by an exterior explosion, that of a sub- marine mine. It did not assume to place the responsibility. That remains to be fixed. " In any event the destruction of the 'Maine,' by whatever exterior cause, is a patent and impressive proof of a state of things in Cuba that is intolerable. That condition is thus shown to be such that the Spanish Government can not assure safety and security to a vessel of the American Navy in the harbor of Havana on a mission of peace, and rightfully there." The steps by which the President kept pace with the movement of the situation were cautious, but firm. In the course of the Senate debate Senator Hoar read an ex- tract of the " London Times " containing this passage : "We cannot refuse our sympathy to the people of the United States in circumstances which would have made it difficult, even for our own countrymen, to preserve their boasted calm. We should have needed all our self-com- mand to combine dignity with equity in such a trying posi- tion. It is bare justice to say that however inexcusable the language of some of the newspapers of the United States may have been, the attitude of President McKinley is equally dignified and fair. " In this matter, whatever disagreements we may have had from time to time with our trans-Adantic kinsmen, our sympathies are on their side. We share their grief at the loss under such cruel conditions of a noble vessel of war 48o OUR COUNTRY, SPAIN AND THE FUTURE. and a gallant crew. We admire the patience and the re- serve of a democratic government in circumstances of pro- vocation, in the presence of public excitement which it would only have been too easy to fan into a flame. Senator Hoar of this, remarked : " I affirm, and I chal- lenge contradiction, that that sympathy and that expression jf respect has been won for us largely, if not wholly, by the diplomatic bearing and conduct of the President of the United States in this emergency." The President's message, transmitted to Congress April 25th, was as follows: " To the Senate and House of Represetttatives of the Lnited States of America ; " I transmit to the Congress, for its consideration and appropriate action, copies of the correspondence recently had with the representative of Spain in the United States, with the United States Minister at Madrid, and through the latter with the Government of Spain, showing the action taken under the joint reso- lution approved April 20, 1898, 'for the recognition of the independence of the people of Cuba, demanding that the Government of Spain relinquish its authority and government in the Island of Cuba, and to withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba and Cuban waters, and directing the President of the United States to use the land and naval forces of the United States to carry these resolutions into effect.' "Upon communicating to the Spanish Minister in. Washington the demand which it became the duty of the Executive to address to the Government of Spain in obedience to said resolution, the minister asked for his passports and withdrew. The United States Minister at Madrid was in turn notified by the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs that the withdrawal of the Spanish repre- sentative from the United States had terminated diplomatic relations between the two countries, and that all official communications between their respective representatives ceased therewith. " I commend to your special attention the note addressed to the United States Minister at Madrid by the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs on the 21st instant, whereby the foregoing notification was conveyed. It will be perceived therefrom that the Government of Spain, having cognizance of the joint resolu- tion of the United States Congress, and in view of the things which the Presi- dent is thereby required and authorized to do, responds by treating the reason- able demands of this Government as measures of hostihty, following with that instant and complete severance of relations by its action, which by the usage of nations accompanies an existent state of war between sovereign powers. OUR COUNTRY, SPAIN AND THE FUTURE. 481 '' The position of Spain being thus made known, and the demands of the United States being denied with a complete rupture of intercourse by the act of Spain, I have been constrained, in exercise of the power and authority conferred upon me by the joint resolution aforesaid, to proclaim under date of April 22, 1898, a blockade of certain ports of the north coast of Cuba, lying between Cardenas and Bahia Honda, and of the port of Cienfuegos on the south coast of Cuba; and further, in exercise of my constitutional powers and using the authority conferred upon me by the act of Congress approved April 22, 1898, to issue my proclamation dated April 23, 1898, calling forth volunteers in order to carry into effect the said resolution of April 20, 1898. Copies of these proclamations are hereto appended. " In view of the measure so taken, and with a view to the adoption of such other measures as may be necessary to enable me to carry out the expressed will of the Congress of the United States in the premises, I now recommend to your honorable body the adoption of a joint resolution declaring that a state of war exists between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Spain, and I urge speedy action thereon to the end that the definition of the interna- tional status of the United States as a belligerent-power may be made known, and the assertion of all its rights and the maintenance of all its duties in the conduct of a public war may be assured. "William McKinley. " Executive Mansion, Washington, April 2^, i8g8.'' Congress acted immediately upon this recommendation and the war was on. CHAPTER XXX. SPANISH DESPOTISM IN CUBA. The Sorrowful History of Cuba — The Spanish Colonial System was Founded in Personal Despotism — The Wrongs of the Cubans — The Justice and Triumph of their Cause and the Causes Which Led up to the War Between the United States and Spain. The sorrows of Cuba, as a colony of Spain, varied from those of other possessions of "the Peninsula" in being more protracted and developing more desperate and san- guinary differences. There is a curse upon the Spanish colonial system, and it was in the rapacious selfishness and remorseless ambition to absorb the earnings of others, that had been developed through centuries of indulgence. The fault seemed to be primal. It began in the bargain between Columbus and Ferdinand and Isabella. It will be remem- bered that Columbus drove a hard bargain with their ma- jesties. He had a high estimation of the value of his goods. The King and Queen were to be sovereigns in particular over the discoveries of Columbus, and he was to be an Admiral and have a vast scope of authority. While he was greedy he was also benevolent, and wanted to aid the cru- saders to rescue the Holy Sepulchre. The Spanish nation was left out. The King and Queen got America for a personal possession and Columbus was the principal per- sonage, and was to manage the hemisphere, or whatever it was, for their Majesties. The Viceroys and Captain-Gener- als were all disposed to be but a little lower than mon- archical angels, and there was wild jealousy at once toward Columbus, and conflicts of territorial jurisdiction and official dignity. Neither the people of Spain, nor of the colonies 482 SPANISH DESPOTISM IN CUBA. 483 had any rights, the Spanish sovereigns cared to respect, and Columbus soon became a sufferer from the excess of his authority, and the energy of the assertion of his under- standing of his achievements. It would have required superhuman gifts to have enabled him to disentangle himself from the embarrassments heaped upon him by his preroga- tives. He died In poverty, the first and most Illustrious victim of the Spanish system of governing the colonies that he gave Spain. Soon the amiable savages who were en- slaved and driven to despair by unaccustomed labors and cruelties, perished. It seemed perfectly natural for the Spaniards to enslave these people. There was neither scruple nor mercy. Cuba was not highly valued by its discoverers, with the exception of Columbus, because It was not rich In gold, and so the Island suffered centuries of comparative neglect. It had a wonderful soil, and wealth In mines and forests, and the delightful harbor of Havana, which became the centre and rallying place for the trade and travel between Spain and central and southern America. The original Cubans were almost annihilated in their helpless innocence, but the Spaniards were never able to take from the beautiful Island its original name, and we may believe this was a sign and prophecy of coming Indepen- dence. Columbus tried, on the island, four Spanish names in vain. He was enraptured with the beauty of Cuba and wrote of it In highly poetic style. The brilliancy of the fishes and the birds, the woods and waters, the mountains and the rivers, the flowers and the fruits, the clouds of parrots that darkened the sun, the bird songs, sweet as those of angels, inspired the pen of the old navigator, whose letters to his sovereign patrons were poems. The expeditions of Cortez, PIzarro, De Soto and others started from Havana, and there the treasure ships gath- 484 SPANISH DESPOTISM IN CUBA. ered to be convoyed to Spain, but though the city flour- ished, the growth of the island in wealth and population was not rapid. There was thoroughly established, however, the system of governing Cuba, not with a thought of the rights of the people, but for those who belonged on the other side of the Atlantic and claimed divine rights of monopoly. Cuba became a place of spoils to Spain, and while, for a time, shipbuilding was extensively carried on at Havana, that was discontinued, though there was an ample supply of incomparable timber. The land of Cuba is the most fertile known, and in spite of negligence and injustice, there was, in the indigo sky and the red and black soil, wealth the increase of which could not be altogether escaped. The prosperity of the French islands, which once far ex- ceeded Cuba in proportion of area, was destroyed by the barbarian revolutionists, and the fugitives transferred coffee culture and other industries from Hayti to Cuba, and she was not governed for herself, but for the Peninsula, under an absolutism that amounted to perpetual martial law. The Captain-Generals had the powers of the commanders of besieged cities, and the public offices were filled with swarms of Spaniards who harvested the public service and hastened home, making room for others with like principles and appetites. The natives of the island were the people who had no rights, and found the only way of conciliating the tyranny from which they suffered was special subserviency in devotion to Spain. Generation after generation the grievances of the islanders accumulated, and with them their animosity increased and became exasperation. With all the suffering the people of Cuba, however, remained loyal to the Mother Country during the struggles for liberty in Mexico and South America, and when the Spaniards were driven from their other American posses- SPANISH DESPOTISM IN CUBA. 485 sions, the Royalists took refuge in Cuba, where they assisted the Spanish government in preventing that island from taking the same course as her sister colonies in America. It was as though to avenge themselves for the many dis- asters in Central and South America that the Spanish roy- alists in Cuba were determined to crush out every thought of liberty or independence on the part of the oppressed, and it did not take many years before clouds of discontent were decidedly visible. The wave of revolution became stronger and stronger, and in each new outbreak the patri- ots were more numerous. No sooner had peace been declared after each revolution, than plans were considered for another revolt. During the revolution of 1869-1878, a boy was put in chains and kept at hard labor for alleged seditious writings. Later he was sent to Spain, where he succeeded in escaping shortly afterward. Continuing his studies he became a man of high intellectual attainments, and it was he, Jose Marti, who, at the end of February, 1895, inaugurated the revolution which was the primary cause of our going to war with Spain. Humanity and our geographical position demanded that we should interfere in a cause that has been a blot on history for almost a cen- tury. There has been no change in the laws and decrees through which the crown of Spain has governed its posses- sions in Cuba through Captain-generals substantially under martial law. It has been accepted as a fact, applicable to all the captain-generals, that it made very litde difference to the Cubans what manner of men they were. One cap- tain-general was about the same as another. General Martinez Campos failed because of his humanity, and Gen- eral Weyler failed on account of his inhumanity, according 486 SPANISH DESPOTISM IN CUBA. to the current stories. The difference was not so great, between the one policy and the other, to change the con- victions of interested people whose education was through experience. There was something, however, in the orders and the overtures made by Captain-General Blanco that made an impression, he was earnest in his desire to change the methods of the Spaniards in making war, from those of barbarism, to such as might be classed as belonging to civilization. There were phases indicative of sincerity in aspirations for the pacification of the island — at least there was something beside the accustomed revengefulness. General Blanco seemed to have an idea greatly enlarged upon the reality about the numbers and the influence of the autonomists. He had a solicitude beyond the common to enter into negotiations with the insurgents; to ascertain upon what terms, other than those of independence, the representative men of Cuba, in the struggle for liberty, would consent to put aside their arms. He was met with a spirit of desperate resistance. In some cases the reward of the peacemakers was assassination. There was a weak- ness in the policy of General Blanco, of which he must have been fully cognizant. It was that, according to the usual presentation of the cause of autonomy, Cuba would have to be responsible for the Spanish debt incurred in their struggles to subjugate the island. Clearly there was no possibility of pacification upon such a basis, for auton- omy would have been but another word for servitude, and the condition of Cuba more hopeless than it ever had been. Among the Madrid rumors cabled to this country and largely circulated, was one to the effect that General Blanco was empowered and desired to go further in attempting to win the Cubans to accept conditions that would end the war by concessions, such as had never been contemplated MARK HANNA. GENERAL CORHIN. SPANISH DESPOTISM IN CUBA. ^gp by any Spanish government, and never were proposed to those in charge of what may be termed the civil adminis- tration of the insurrection. It was said tliat rather than go on with the war, as there was nothing encouraging to the Spaniards in their mihtary operations, and all were agreed, as De Lome said, in his letter that caused his departure from diplomatic life, the first necessity of pacification upon any terms that could be considered by Spain, was " military success " — in the absence of this, the alternative seemed to be, that Spain, to avoid the utter exhaustion of her re- sources, would consent to the actual independence of the Cubans, their complete possession of the government of the island, in case there was reserved for the Crown of Spain a shadowy sovereignty somewhat like that the Sultan, as a matter of ceremony, holds over some of the Grecian islands, where he exercises no authority. It was assumed that it would be a part of this scheme that the Spanish flag should still be used, and that there might be a small indemnity paid Spain, perhaps two million dollars a year — about as much of the revenues of the island in a normal condition as during recent administra- tions (between the ten years' war and the present) were expended upon the island, while twenty-five millions of dol- lars were applied to the army and navy of Spain, the payment of war bonds, and in other ways for purposes beneficial to the peninsula alone. If there was anything in this plan of pacification, it did not take form before the people. It seemed to be so unreasonable as to be almost, if not altogether, unanimously rejected by the belligerents on both sides. The Cuban volunteers, who are the most radical and violent of the Spaniards, escaping military duty in Spain by serving in the militia of Cuban cities, and accepting all 28 490 SPANISH DESPOTISM IN CUBA. the good situations, disliked, intensely, all those things in the policy of General Blanco that were approved by the humanitarians, holding that the better way to heal the wounds of civil war was by processes, not remote from those known in Christendom, as associated with civiliza- tion. There was rioting in Havana ; volunteers were out; seven thousand regular Spanish troops were required to restore order. The American citizens in Havana were alarmed, and desired the presence of a United States man- of-war. Consul-General Lee recommended that one of our ships should be sent in a friendly capacity to Havana. The " Maine " was despatched, and, after a three weeks' stay, blown up from the outside. There has never, in history, been recorded a more dastardly, wholesale murder. The indignation of the American people was instantaneous and overwhelming. Captain Sigsbee, of the " Maine," however, recommended a suspension of public opinion, and the Pres- ident of the United States, upon the first testimony re- ceived, disbelieving in the possibility of the complicity of official Spaniards in this murderous business, gave out as his opinion that the loss of the " Maine " was due to an accident, and said he hoped that the Court of Inquiry into the loss of the " Maine " would establish the fact. The generous anticipation of the President was not justified. The finding of the court was that the " Maine " was blown up by enemies, and it was patent to all the people that a mine, capable of doing such frightful execution as appears in the wreck of our battleship, could not have been loaded and handled and fired without official complicity ; and this established fact revived the flame of wrath in the bosoms of Americans, and formed a forcible public feeling, which had steadily driven the nation into conditions threatening war. SPANISH DESPOTISM IN CUBA. 4^1 The passion that was excited in the country by the great assassination in Havana harbor has encountered no ob- stacle sufficient to stay its progress. The President's mes- sage, stating the finding of the Court of Inquiry, without recommendation, because the immediate identification of those concerned directly in the crime was not practicable, was held by a great proportion of the people to be insuffic- ient, though if its calm phrases are carefully studied it will be seen that they were very forcible in directing atten- tion to the vital points of the case and in condemning the guilty. There developed in the Congress and the coun- try a formidable impatience with all considerate proceed- ings, because they were necessarily identified with delays. The President did not seem to be sufficiently alert to satisfy the war spirit. It was expected ot him that in speaking of the " Maine " he should compete with unofficial commenta- tors in the use of the language of denunciation. There was a loud and fierce demand that the President should be more decisive in declaring the outlines of his policy, and more active in pushing it to conclusions. After he had prepared a message to accompany the consular reports from Cuba, in placing those papers before Congress, it became evident that it would be the part of prudence that the authors of those reports, and American citizens de- tained in Cuba, should be given the opportunity to leave the island before the message and documents from the con- sular offices should receive publicity. This required a few days' delay; whereupon there was a savage outburst of dissatisfaction, and the newspapers, capable of such things, were filled with odious suggestions. This sort of warfare, upon the administration, in connection with the fact that the country rapidly became informed of the great pro- priety and, indeed, necessity, of closing the consular Cuban 492 SPANISH DESPOTISM IN CUBA. offices, and calling the officers home, in order to insure the personal safety of the Consul-General and all in the ser- vice of the United States in Cuba, or known there to be citizens of our country in sympathy with its aspirations. General Lee and his associates having landed on our soil, the President lost no time in laying his message and the reports before Congress. The message discussed with freedom and firmness, and in considerable detail, the rea- sons for our strained relations with Spain, threatening im- mediate war, defining the policy of the administration to be, not the recognition of Cuban belligerency nor of Cuban independence, but intervention by the United States with the determination of enforcing pacification, and affording the people of Cuba an opportunity to establish a stable government competent to deal with international relations. This message was received with objections by those radi- cally favoring the recognition of Cuban independence, and accepting, as the representatives of the Cuban cause, those in New York, and in secret places in Cuba, who have been conspicuously published and widely advertised as official representatives of the Insurrection. There was at once excited a bitter controversy between the champions of independence and those who favor direct intervention. It seemed probable, as the rainy season was at hand, and also the period for the malignancy of the yellow fever to develop, and as Spain had stopped the war so far as she was concerned, for an indefinite period, " suspending hostilities," which means that she gave up, for the time, the only method by which she has ever attempted seriously the con- quest of the rebellious island, and as it was known that each day would increase the superiority of the Sea Power of the United States over that of Spain, and as there was no contingency probable — surely none in sight — in which it SPANISH DESPOTISM IN CUBA. 4^3 would be desirable that we should land troops in Cuba — taking all these things into intelligent estimation, it is plain that there was nothing to be gained by hasty action, and no reason why there should not be time taken for thorough preparation and considerate deliberation. There had ap- peared, in this connection, evidences of the remarkable European interest taken in the questions that had arisen between the United States and Spain, affecting their friendly relations, an anxious concern on the part of the "great powers" that peace should be preserved; and this influence is believed to have been responsible for the action of Spain in abandoning, for an indefinite time, the use of force, an act, the logic of which, is confession of the loss of Cuba. CHAPTER XXXI. THE CRISIS IN CUBAN AFFAIRS, Congress Declares War— Reasons for the Patience of the President — Cause of the Impatience of Congress in Going to War with Spain — Scenes and Speeches in the Senate and House — Development of Public Opinion — The Order of the Proceedings, the Declaration of War, and the Execu- tive Proclamations. As the rainy season and the yellow fever period were at hand in Cuba, and the famished being fed, so far as Ameri- can charity might go, the passionate outcry against delay meant something different from war as a well-considered and conducted business. It was the fate of the battle-ship Maine that raised the storm. The President's duty certainly was to exhaust his powers of diplomacy to make peace, and the few days permitted him for deliberation in the midst of excitement of the most intense character should not have been grudged him. His labor for pacifi- cation, though unsuccessful, were not without propitious results. Senator Hoar enumerated as among them the consideration of the public opinion of the country, recon- ciling all elements to the issue of arms, securing the respect- ful sympathy of the civilized powers, especially the good- will power of England, This was worth some delay. There was a great deal of fine construction of the language of the President's message that was accompanied by the con- sular reports. All important passages were searched with refinement of criticism, sharpened with keen animosity in some cases, and the most contradictory and impossible theories encountered each other. Senator Lodge said of the situaHon that there was first 494 ^SUANDS u - THE CRISIS IN CUBAN AFFAIRS. 497 the duty of unity of the administration and the people stand- ing together ; that the President had commendably ex- hausted his powers under the Constitution in pacific efforts, and when there was an end of diplomacy he turned the issue of an intolerable situation over to Congress, whose constitutional contact with foreign powers was the declaration of war ; and it was the exercise of that awful power that the President's message invoked. Impatient as many Congressmen had been at the loss of a day in striking at the oppressors of Cuba, and avenging the hor- rible crime against humanity and national insult in the harbor of Havana, it was not possible to get along without debate. The methods of the House allow the majority to make short work of discussion, but in the Senate the case was widely different. The American Senate is the least controllable and most deliberative legislative body in the world. The series of able speeches in the Senate, by turns fiery, scholastic, persuasive, passionate and pa- thetic, aided in forming correct public opinion, and satis- fying the conscience of the country that all sides of a great and most grave question were turned to the light, and all motives of action subjected to analysis. On the 13th of April the House, 334 to 19, resolved for immediate intervention as follows : "Whereas, The government of Spain, for three years past, has been waging war on the island of Cuba against a revolution by the inhabitants thereof, without making any substantial progress toward the suppression of said revolution, and has conducted the warfare in a manner contrary to the laws of nations by methods inhuman and uncivilized, causing the death, by starvation, of more than two hundred thousand non-combatants, the victims being, for the most part, helpless women and children ; inflicting intolerable injury to the commercial interests of the United States, involving the destruc- tion of the lives and property of many of our citizens, entailing the expenditure of millions of money in patrolling our coasts and policing the high seas in order to maintain a neutrahty ; and 498 THE CRISIS IN CUBAN AFFAIRS. " Whereas, This long series of losses, injuries, and burdens for which Spain is responsible, has culminated in the destruction of the United States battle-ship Maine, in the harbor of Havana, and in the death of 260 of our seamen, " Resolved, etc., That the President is hereby authorized and directed to intervene at once to stop the war in Cuba to the intent and purpose of securing permanent peace and order there, and establishing, by the free action of the people thereof, a stable and independent government of their own in the island of Cuba ; and the President is hereby authorized and empowered to use the land and naval forces of the United States to execute the purpose of the reso. lution." The vote against the resolution was cast by the following named members : Republicans — Representatives Boutelle, of Maine; Johnson, of Indiana; and Loud, of California. Democrats. — Representatives Adamson, of Georgia ; Bankhead, of Alabama; Brantley, of Georgia; Brewer, of Alabama; Clayton, of Alabama ; Cox, of Ten- nessee ; Elliott, of South Carolina; Griggs, of Georgia; Howard, of Georgia; Lewis ot Georgia; Lester, of Georgia; Maddox, of Georgia ; Strait, of South Carolina; Tate, of Georgia ; and Taylor, of Alabama. Populist. — Representative Simpson, of Kansas. The Democratic joint resolution defeated in the House, yeas 150, nays 191, was in these terms: " Resolved^ That the United States government hereby recognizes the inde- pendence of the Republic of Cuba. "Section 2. — That, moved thereto by many considerations of humanity, of interest and of provocation, among which are the deliberate mooring of our battle-ship, the Alaine, over a submarine mine and its destruction in the harbor of Havana, the President of the United States be and is hereby directed to em- ploy immediately the land and naval forces of the L^nited States in aiding the Republic of Cuba to maintain the independence hereby recognized. " Section j. — That the President of the United States is hereby authorized and directed to extend immediate relief to the starving people of Cuba." The Senate debate was on the following : " Whereas, The abhorrent conditions which have existed for more than three years in the Island of Cuba, so near our own borders, have shocked the moral sense of the people of the United States, have been a disgrace to Christian civilization, culminating, as they have, in the destruction of a United States battle-ship, with 266 of its officers and crew, while on a friendly visit in the harbor of Havana, and cannot longer be endured, as has been set forth by the President of the United States in his message to Congress of April 11, 1898, upon which the action of Congress was invited ; therefore, THE CRISIS IN CUBAN AFFAIRS. 499 " Resolved hy the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled — " First. — That the people of the Island of Cuba are, and of right ought to be, free and independent. " Second. — That it is the duty of the United States to demand, and the govern- ment of the United States does hereby demand, that the government of Spain at once relinquish its authority and government in the Island of Cuba and withdraw its land and naval forces from Cuba and Cuban waters. " Third. — That the President of the United States be, and he hereby is, di- rected and empowered to use the entire land and naval forces of the United States, and to call into the actual service of the United States the militia of the several States, to such extent as may be necessary to carry these resolutions into effect." This is the report of the majority of the Senate Com- mittee on Foreign Relations : Senators Turpie, Mills and Daniel, Democrats, and For- aker, Republican, favored the immediate recognition of the independence of Cuba, but supported otherwise the action of the majority. " It is established that the Maine was destroyed by the explosion of a sub- marine mine in position under her in a Spanish harbor, at a place where she had been moored to a buoy by the express direction and guidance of the Spanish authorities. " The duplicity, perfidy and cruelty of the Spanish character, as they always have been, are demonstrated still to continue by their manifestations during the present war in Cuba. All these circumstances considered cumulatively, together with other considerations, which will exactly accord with and add force to them, undenied and unexplained as they are by any authority, except- ing the baseless report of the Spanish Board of Inquiry, warrant the conclusion stated hereinbefore, that the destruction of the Maine was compassed either by the official act of the Spanish authorities (and the ascertainment of the par- ticular person is not material), or was made possible by a neghgence on their part so willing and gross as to be equivalent in culpability to positive criminal action. " Upon due consideration of all the relevant facts of the relation of this government with Spain, including the destruction of the Maine, and of the history of the rebellion, it is the opinion of your committee that the United States ought at once to recognize the independence of the people of Cuba, and also ought to intervene to the end that the war and its unexampled atrocities shall cease, and that such independence shall become a settled political fact at the earliest possible moment by the establishment — by the free action of the 500 THE CRISIS IN CUBAN AFFAIRS. people of Cuba, when such action can be had— of a government independent in fact and form." The Senate Committee's report is a strong document. In one day there was news of the mobilization of the army, the impressment of the American steamers St. Louis and St. Paul, and the series of events in America cul- minating in the action of the House on intervention and the debate in the Senate, when the President invited the Con- gress to take the case, the only capacity in foreign relations under the Constitution of Congress, being to declare war, was the moral equivalent of that portentous declaration. There were many express declarations of dissatisfaction in the debates in the Senate and House, with the conserva- tive attitude of the President. Mr. Harris, Senator from Kansas, said, April 5th : " Mr. President, all over this land there is the cry, ' Why do you wait ? ' and the flag snarls and flouts the wind, im- patient. " Oh, God, it can not be that we forget ! that we forget ! " Sir, I have seen war. If to die were to reach the summit of human calamity, if to weep and mourn for the loved and lost were to make up the sum of human woe, then nothing would be worse than war. But, sir, there is a crucifixion of the soul when honor dies ; there is a death of a nation ' when the jingle of the guinea heals the hurt that honor feels ; ' there is an existence, when patriotic pride is dead, ' that doth murder sleep,' and life becomes a horrid night- mare, and men shun their fellows, and the laugh of little children becomes a taunt and a mockery. True, there have been men who could exist and thrive and fatten with- out national honor or pride or patriotism, like worms in a muck heap, but that nation has been the scorned of all THE CRISIS IN CUBAN AFFAIRS. 501 time and has quickly died. God forbid that any such should ever be called Americans. " Sir, I shall never consent that our dead shall lie in Spanish soil and under the Spanish flag. Brave American sailors can know no rest there. When it becomes conse- crated by freedom, when that flag has trailed in the dust, when the Cuban Republic is raised as a monument to the men who went down in the Maine, then, and then only, will they sleep. " Do you say this is revenge, and that revenge is un- worthy of a great nation ? No, Mr. President, a righteous wrath and just resentment, the swift punishment of the assassin and the wrongdoer, are wholly different from revenge, and are the safeguards and protection of a nation among nations, and enable us to look the whole world in the face. What sight more glorious than a nation roused in such a cause as this ! " God hates a coward, and a nation timid, halting, and hesitating in its foreign policy is a sight despised of God and man." Senator Rawlins said : " For years our Government administration, our con- duct in respect to the Cuban question, our relations to the kingdom of Spain, have been so cowardly and pusillani- mous, so unworthy of any self-respecting people in this wide world, that the Spanish people are justified in holding us in contempt. Had it been that they respected and feared us, as they would fear and respect any other self- respecting government, our ship Maine would not have been treacherously destroyed and the bodies of our sailors would not have been mangled and lost. That crime must be charged to our indecision and cowardice." Mr. Bailey : 502 THE CRISIS IN CUBAN AFFAIRS. "The House was adjourned from Friday until to-day to give the President time and opportunity to prepare his message. The hour that such messages usually reach this House has passed, and every well-informed man on both sides of the House knows no message will come from the President to-day. Now, Mr. Speaker, it seems to me im- portant that the country shall understand what Congress is doing and intends to do. " It seems to me equally important that this House shall know what the executive department is doing and intends to do. We ought not to be asked day after day and week after week to provide for an emergency which gentlemen on that side believe has either passed or never existed. I am ready, and every gentleman on this side of the Cham- ber is ready, to sustain the Administration in every proper measure to prepare for war." Mr. Lentz : "We heard a gentleman on the other side of the House say, during this discussion, that the rainy sea- son is coming on in Cuba, and that we ought ' to be slow in going to war at this time ! ' Mr. Chairman, I have never heard anybody say that we ought not to go to war because we are afraid of rain. "This is a free country, and with the 447 Senators and Congressmen, representatives of a great people, we are better able to decide questions as" to the policy of this Government in view of the facts before us, and are better fitted to advise the President, than are those who go at midnight, behind closed doors, to point out the views of the plutocrats and submit them as the voice of the people. This is a Government yet * by the people and for the peo- ple,' and it will remain so. "I predict this, that these 266 American brothers, the martyrs of the Maine shall not forever rest unavenged in THE CRISIS IN CUBAN AFFAIRS. 503 the soil of a tyrant. Our American manhood — the youth of this country — will not rest until that matter has been ad- justed to their satisfaction, and to the honor of this country. They will be aroused by the language of poets and philo- sophers, and a popular sentiment will override the hesi- tating and faltering policy of the money power. " Lee Fairchild's words, published lately in the ' Washing- ton Times,' will put new life in the youth of this country. Young men will begin to feel and think in sympathy with the stricken hearts of the mothers, the widows, and the sisters of this land who have been bereft of loved ones by this horror in Havana harbor, when they hear his noble words : " We have a thousand guns; what did we make them for, If not in times hke these to speak the speech of war ? Let's fight, or quit our brag, and take our banter back ; Paint white our ships again, and paint our White House black.'' Senator Spoon er had regretted utterances in the Senate and he added : " I have regretted them because I felt they might embarrass the President in delicate and difficult negotiations with a peculiar people. I have regretted them because I knew that if they could by any possibility, result in a rupture of diplomatic intercourse and precipitate war, we would be found unready. I have deprecated them in the Senate for another reason, that under our form of government this body sustains a peculiar relation to the President in the matter of foreign relations. He has the right, in stress, to come into this Chamber, to ask us to close our doors to the world, and permit him to take this body into his confidence, and to invoke its advice. This has been done once in a crisis since the Government was founded. And, therefore, it has seemed to me that here, of all places, he should be free from criticism and the em- barrassment of either sensational or condemnatory speech. 504 THE CRISIS IN CUBAN AFFAIRS. " The President needs no defense from me. He has conducted the negotiations. I do not know what the cor- respondence is. I have the best of reason, however, to beheve that his failure to transmit it was due to reasons which would commend themselves to every thoughtful per- son in this country. " It is not easy to conceive a more difficult and burden- some duty than has under the Constitution rested upon him. He has been obliged to so conduct this negotiation as not only to satisfy his own great constituency, if possible, but with a view to commend this Government to the en- lightened sentiment of the governing powers of the world. He has traveled, of necessity, the path of diplomacy alone, and I can well imagine it has been a long and wearisome journey. He has felt the pressure of public opinion here, stirred to its depths. It is to the eternal glory of our peo- ple, however, that, notwithstanding horrors unspeakable, they have maintained an attitude of dignity and calm, awaiting with intense feeling, but with wonderful patience, the march of events. " The President has seen some old friends seem to fall away from him. He has heard the voice of criticism. Doubtless he has been stung by the tongue of slander. I I do not know, for I have heard no word from him. I do know that, as an American President should, he has gone along the pathway calm, patient, intrepid to the end. There is not to-day in any court of Europe, so far as I know, ex- cept the Spanish court, a statesman, or a great newspaper who, or which has not applauded his firmness, his discretion^ and the dignity of his demeanor in the midst of domestic excitement and Congressional impatience. This good opinion of our President is worth much to our people. " The President has been criticised for the tone of his REI'RESENTATIVE BOli HUT. THE CRISIS IN CUBAN AFFAIRS. 507 message In regard to the Maine. It has been said that it was cold and passionless. The Chief Executive of seventy million people, conducting a case almost Inevitably leading to war, must be passionless, must be calm. If he be not so in the surging tide of popular passion, what, then, is to become of a government by the people ? " I approved when that message was read, and I approve now. Its spirit, its tone, and its language. The President was not called upon to denounce the Spanish Government as guilty of participating in die explosion of the J/