PAPERS OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE. XXXV. PROCEEDINGS AT THE UNVEILING OF THE MONU- MENT AT COOCH'S BRIDGE, TUESDAY AFTERNOON, SEPTEMBER 3rd, 1901. ERECTED BY THE PATRI- OTIC SOCIETIES AND CITIZENS OF DELAWARE, MARKING THE SPOT WHERE THE STARS AND STRIPES WERE FIRST UNFURLED IN BATTLE, SEPTEMBER 3rd, 1777, Published by the Historical Society of Delaware. HISTORICAL SOCIETY„OF DELAWARE, WILMINGTON. 1902. i Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive in 2010 witii funding from Tine Library of Congress littp://www.archive.org/details/proceedingsatunvOOwilm PAPERS OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE. XXXV. PROCEEDINGS AT THE UNVEILING OF THE MONU- MENT AT COOCH'S BRIDGE, TUESDAY AFTERNOON, SEPTEMBER 3rd, 1901. ERECTED BY THE PATRI- OTIC SOCIETIES AND CITIZENS OF DELAWARE, MARKING THE SPOT WHERE THE STARS AND STRIPES WERE FIRST UNFURLED IN BATTLE, SEPTEMBER 3rd, 1777, Published by the Historical Society of Delaware. HISTORICAIv SOCIETY OF DELAWARE, WII,MINGTON. 1902. THE JOHN M. ROGERS PRESS, WILMINGTON, DEL. PROGRAM. 1. INVOCATION, The Rt. Rev. I^eighton Coleman, Ivlv. D., Bishop of Delaware. 2. Overture, "BOYS IN BIvUE," First Regiment Band. 3. HISTORICAI, ADDRESS, Henry C. Conrad, Esq., Librarian Historical Society of Delaware. 4. UNVEII.ING OF THE MONUMENT by Masters Howard De Haven Ross, Jr., and Francis Allyn Cooch, Jr. 5. Solo, "STAR SPANGEED BANNER," Miss Emma Eore, Accompanied by FIRST REGIMENT BAND. 6. PRESENTATION OF THE MONUMENT TO THE STATE OF DELAWARE by Hon. J. Wilkins Cooch. 7. ACCEPTANCE OF THE MONUMENT by His Excellency John Hunn, Governor of Delaware. 8. MARCH, "STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER," First Regiment Band. 9. ADDRESS, Hon. Walter S. Eogan of New York, President-General National Society, Sons of the American Revolution. 10. MARCH, "CAEVIN," First Regiment Band. 11. ADDRESS, Gen. James H. Wilson, U.S. A. 12. MARCH, "DIRECTORATE," First Regiment Band. 13. ADDRESS, Robert G. Houston, Esq. 14. MARCH, "FUETON," First Regiment Band. 15. POEM, William Townsend Smithers, Esq. 16. BENEDICTION, Rev. Thomas C. Potter. 17. FINAEE, "FANTAZIA," First Regiment Band. EXERCISES. Chief Jtistice Lore, President of the Historical Society of Delaware, Presiding. Chief Justice Lore: " The meeting will come to order, and we will ask and insist upon it that you will all have consideration enough for your neighbors to be quiet and not move about. We want everybody to hear. The exercises will be short, spicy, and very interesting. The first number on the program is an Invocation by the Right Rev. Leighton Coleman, Bishop of Delaware. You will all uncover while receiving the Invocation." INVOCATION. "O Almighty and everlasting God, who art the Creator and Ruler of all men, who fashioneth their hearts and consid- erest all their works, who alone hast perfect wisdom, strength, and holiness; hear us, we humbly beseech Thee, as we pray for Thine especial blessing this day upon our country and nation. Grant to us and to all the people of this land the spirit of ready obedience to Thy holy will and command- ments, that, walking devoutely in Thy fear, we may under Thy gracious protection, dwell continually in righteousness and peace. Bless the President of the United States, the Governor of this State, and all others in authority; endow- ing them with wisdom and integrity, and with a due sense of their accountibility to Thee. 6 PROCEEDINGS AT THE UNVEILING As we now commemorate the first unfolding in battle of our national flag, so we implore Thee to grant that it may never be unfurled save in the cause of truth and equit3^ When we look upon it, may its blue remind us of the truer blue of Thine own exalted sky, and we be led to seek the more earnestly that heavenly kingdom in which they who have served Thee faithfully here shall shine as the stars in the firmament, for ever and ever. Save the Republic and Commonwealth from evil and designing men, from selfishness and corruption in our social and political life, from all sin, and crime, and vice. Prosper every good cause and purpose, overturning every bad one to the honour of Thy holy name. Give to those who labour and to such as employ them the spirit of firmness and good- will. Further all efforts in behalf of sound learning and true religion. And so help us all, we pray Thee, by our industry and fidelity to transmit unimpaired to future generations the goodly heritage which we have received from our fathers, that all the nations of the earth may know assuredly that we acknowledge Thee as our Saviour and Mighty Deliverer, and our Supreme Ruler for evermore. All this we beg, and whatsoever else may be needful and convenient for us, through Jesus Christ our Lord. — Amen." Chief Justice Lore : ' 'The next number on the Program will be the Overture, "Boys in Blue," by the First Regi- ment Band." OF THE COOCH'S BRIDGE MEMORIAL. 7 Chief Justice Lore: "Tradition clothed the ground upon which we are gathered with special interest. It fixes this as the place where the Stars and Stripes were first unfurled in battle, September 3, 1777. The flag so un- furled, symbolized all the hopes of the infant nation, which was then founding the highest and best expression of human government, upon the responsible manhood unit; that is all power from the people. From that time the Stars and Stripes have been the ideal banner of freedom; the flag of hope for all people. Their significance and power lie in the principles and possibilities that they represent. They challenge the past, and invoke the future as the tests of their fruit and promise. We are here to-day, to unveil an enduring memorial of our love and devotion to that flag and all it represents. The thought of marking this spot emanated from one of Delaware's women, in a letter written by Mrs. EHzabeth Clarke Churchman, the Delaware State Regent of the Daughters of the American Revolution to Mr. Howard De Haven Ross, the Vice-President-General of the National Society, Sons of the American Revolution. Acting upon that suggestion, a public meeting was called and a committee appointed, under whose fostering care, aided by the gener- ous help of the patriotic societies and citizens of the State, that thought has grown into the granite reality now before us. So it comes, that our country's flag, moulded by Washington, fashioned by the hands of Betsy Ross, and here first raised in battle, has been chiseled in Delaware granite, to stand for all time upon this initial battle-field, as the token of our love and gratitude. 8 PROCEEDINGS AT THE UNVEILING Honored as your Chairman, it is my privilege to extend to all a hearty welcome and to ask your interest and participation in the exercises which will not be long. The speeches will be short, pithy and full of interest to you. I have letters of regret from President McKinley ; Vice-President Roosevelt; Secretary of War, Root; Secretary of the Navy, Long; the Commanding General of the United States Army, lyieutenant General Miles; Admiral Dewey, U. S. N.; U. S. Senator Fairbanks, and others. Follow- ing are the letters : PRESIDENT Mckinley. Canton, O., August 12, 1901. — Hon. Charles B. Lore, chairman, &c., Wilmington, Delaware. — My Dear Sir: The President has received your favor of the 6th instant and requests me to thank you for the cordial invitation which you have been good enough to extend to him to attend the ceremonies at Cooch's Bridge, Delaware, September 3d, next. It would afford the President a great deal of pleasure to be present upon this occasion, and he very much regrets that plans already made will preclude him from sending an acceptance. With assurance of the President's appreciation of your thoughtfulness and courtesy, believe me, Very truly yours, Gbjorge B. Cortklyou, Secretary to the President. VICE-PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT. Oyster Bay, L- L, August, 19, 1901. — Hon. Charles B. Lore, Chief Justice Supreme Court, Wilmington, Del. My Dear Judge Lore: I am just in receipt of your very OF THE COOCH'S BRIDGE MEMORIAL. g attractive invitation of the 6th inst. , on my return from the West. I should greatly like to be present on the occasion referred to; but regret to say that on September 2d I am engaged at the State Fair at Minneapolis, Minn. I heartily appreciate your courtesy in thinking of me. Very sincerely yours, Theodore Roosevelt. SECRETARY OF WAR, ROOT. Secretar}- Root regrets that on account of the pressure of public business, it will be impossible for him to accept the courteous invitation of the patriotic societies and citizens of Delaware, to be present September 3d, at Cooch's Bridge, at the unveiling of a monument to mark the spot where the Stars and Stripes were first unfurled in battle, September 3d, 1777- Washington, D. C, August 27th, 1901. SECRETARY OF THE NAVY, LONG. Hingham, Mass., Aug. 7, 1901. — My Dear Mr. Chief Justice: I have your kind letter and wish heartily I could accept the invitation it conveys to me to attend the meeting at Cooch's Bridge, Del., on September 3d, to unveil the memorial to the Stars and Stripes. I am, however, just starting to Maine for a much needed vacation and shall not return in time to avail myself of 5^our courtesy. With thanks for it, with pleasantest remem- brances of our Congressional services together, I am, Verj' truly yours, John D. Long. The Hon. Charles B. Lore. lo PROCEEDINGS AT THE UNVEILING GENERAL MILES, U. S. A. Headquarters of the Army, Washington, D. C, August 15th, 1901.— Hon. Charles B. Lore, Wilmington, Del. — Dear Sir: I have your letter of the 6th inst., inviting me to be present at Cooch's Bridge, Delaware, on the occasion of the unveiling by the patriotic societies and citizens of Dela- ware of a granite memorial to mark the spot where the Stars and Stripes were first unfurled in battle in the Revolutionary War, which is to take place on September 3d, next, and regret very much that owing to my unexpected absence in the West at that time, it is impossible for me to accept the kind invitation. Very truly yours. Nelson A. Miles, Lieutenant-General. ADMIRAL DEWEY, U. S. N. Office of the Admiral, 1747 Rhode Island Avenue, Washington, D. C, Aug. 7th, 1901.— Dear Sir: Just before leaving the city this morning on his vacation, Admiral Dewey received your letter of yesterday, asking him to be present at the unveiling of a granite memorial, at Cooch's Bridge, Del. , to mark the spot where the Stars and Stripes were first unfurled in battle, in the Revolutionary War, which is to take place on September 3d, next. The Admiral directed me to acknowledge this letter and to thank you for your courtesy, as well as to express his regret that his absence in the North will prevent him from accepting. Very respectfully, J. W. Crawford, Lieut. U. S. N., Secretary to the Admiral. . Hon. Charles B. Lore, Wilmington, Del. OF THE COOCH'S BRIDGE MEMORIAL. ii U. S. SENATOR FAIRBANKS. Indianapolis, Aug. 27th, 1901. — Dear Mr. Lore: I find that it will be absolutely impossible for me to be with you on the 3d of September. I wish you a most agreeable and successful occasion. Very sincerely yours, Charles W. Fairbanks. Hon. Charles B. Lore, Wilmington, Del. Chief Justice Lore: "We will now listen to an Historical Address by Henry C. Conrad, Esq., Librarian of the Historical Society of Delaware, who is an authority upon Delaware History." PROCEEDINGS A T THE UNVEILING HISTORICAL ADDRESS. Mr. Chairman, IvAdi:es and Gknti^emen: The ground upon which we stand to-day is consecrated ground; made so by the valor and heroism of our forefathers whose lives and sacred honor were pledged to freedom's cause a century and more ago, and whose blood was shed on this very spot in upholding the independence of the struggling American Colonies. When Lord Howe and his English squadron of 266 sail started from New York on the lytli of July, 1777, there was much conjecture on the part of the American authorities as to the destination of the expedition. It was presumed that the objective point was Philadelphia, but when two weeks later the fleet sailed by the mouth of the Delaware Bay, bound in a Southerly direction, the uncertainty was increased. Washington, and several of his closest advisers, thought that Howe was bound for Charleston, South Carolina, while others thought that Gen. Howe's designs were ultimately against New England, notwithstanding his eccentric movements. During this uncertainty General Nathaniel Greene wrote "This is a curious campaign; in the Spring we (the Southern army) had the enemj^ about our ears every hour; the Northern army could neither see nor hear any enemy, now they have got the enemy about their heads and we have lost ours, compelled to wander about the country like Arabs in search of them." "On August 22nd, thirty-six days after Lord Howe had sailed from New York, his fleet was reported high up the OF THE COOCH'S BRIDGE MEMORIAL. 13 Chesapeake Bay, and on the 25th, the fleet came to anchor and the British troops were landed on Elk Neck nearly opposite Court House Point. Howe's force consisted of 16,000 troops and 1,000 artillery, making a total of 17,000 men. The most carefully written description of this expedition, of which I know, is contained in the journal which has been preserved of Captain John Montresor, Chief of Engineers of Howe's Army. His journal for August 25th, and the two days following contains the following: "Sunday 25th, This day August 25th, 1777, landed at head of Elk. This morning at half-past nine the Van of the fleet, came to an anchor opposite Cecil Court House and Elk Ferry and in half an hour the Flat Bottomed Boats made good their landing at the Ferry House called Elk Ferry in the Province of Maryland, the rebels consisting only of four companies militia under a Colonel Rumsey fled without firing a shot. The troops hutted with Rails and Indian Corn stalks, no baggage or camp equipage admitted. Came on about ten this night a heavy storm of rain, lightning and thunder. The wind being Southerly brought up the Fleet a short time after the landing. The Army surprisingly healthy after so long a voyage and in such a climate — the return of the sick are about four to each Battalion, very little stock collected, and imperfect accounts of the situation of the enemy. Inhabitants in numbers and well dressed at Cecil Court House Point. Troops landed with sixty rounds per man. "26th, No motion, — no inhabitants having deserted their houses and drove off their stock. Orders this evening for the troops to march to-morrow morning at 3.00 o'clock. A very heavy storm all this night of thunder, lightning and 14 PROCEEDINGS AT THE UNVEILING rain at North East. The shoalness of the Elk convinced the Rebels that our fleet would never navigate it, but through the great abilities of our naval officers it was happily effected although the bottom was muddy and the ships on it were cutting channels through it for each other. "27th, The storm continuing most of the morning the order for marching was countermanded. The roads heavy and the horses were carrying the soldiery not sufficiently refreshed and great part of their ammunition damaged, made it upon the whole no delay. Our Galley up the Elk fired at a boat that had taken one of ours. No inhabitants as yet came in. A man-o-' war's boat and midshipmen taken by the Rebels, the men being on East shore for milk, etc. The Galley fired but could not recover them. This night cold. The Guards only had sixteen thousand cartridges damaged by the storm." On August 22nd, information reached the American Army of the arrival of the British Fleet in the Chesapeake. The American Army was at that time encamped in Neshaminy, in Warwick Township, Bucks County, about twenty miles north of Philadelphia. Orders were issued for the army to proceed at once to Chester. On the morning of the 23rd, the army moved down the old York Road, and that night they had reached Germantown where they encamped for the night. The next day the army marched through Philadelphia with General Washington at its head, he having given express orders that the men should be drawn out in long array, in order to impress the populace with its size and importance. That day the army advanced as far as Darby, and the next day continued its march through Chester and Naaman's Creek to Wilmington. On reaching Wilmington, OF THE COOCH'S BRIDGE MEMORIAL. 15 Washington took up his headquarters on Quaker Hill, in a house which for many years afterwards stood on the West side of West street, midway between Third and Fourth streets. The army encamped on the high ground lying north of the present Delaware Avenue, between Harrison and Clayton streets. Washington continued his headquarters at Wilmington until the 9th of September, the army in the meantime having taken post on the North side of White Clay Creek and on the East side of the Red Clay Creek in the immediate vicinity of Stanton and Kiamensi, with pickets out as far as Christiana Bridge. The following letters were sent by Washington while his headquarters were in Wilmington: "Wilmington, 6 p. m., August 25, 1777. Washington to President of Congress. Green's and Stephen's divisions are within a few miles of this place. I shall order them to march immediately here. I do not know what number of militia of this state is yet collected, but I am told they turn out with great alacrity. I propose to view the grounds towards the enemy in the morning. I am yet a stranger to to them." "Wilmington, 6 p. m., August 25, 1777. Washington to General Armstrong. I have just received information that the enemy began to land this morning about six miles below the head of Elk opposite to Cecil Court House. I desire you to send off every man of the militia under your command, that is properly armed, as quick as possible." "Wilmington, 27th of August. Washington to Presi- dent of Congress. I this morning returned from Head of Elk which I left last night. In respect to the enemy I have nothing new to communicate. They remain where they \ i6 PROCEEDINGS A T THE UNVEILING debarked first. I could not find out from inquiry what number is landed nor form an estimate from the distant view I had from their encampment. But few tents were to be seen from Iron Hill and Grey's Hill, which are the only eminences about Elk. ' ' "Wilmington, 29th of August. Washington to Presi- dent of Congress. On my return to this place last evening from White Clay Creek, I was honored with yours of the 27th. The enemy advanced a part of their army yesterday to Grey's Hill about two miles on this side of Elk; whether they intend to take post there or to cover while they remove what stores they found in the town, I cannot yet determine. ' ' "Wilmington, August 30. Washington to President of Congress. Since I had the honor of addressing you yester- day, nothing of importance has occurred, and the enemy remain as they were. I was reconnoitering the country and different roads all yesterday and am now setting out on the same business again. Sensible of the advantages of light troops I have formed a corps under the command of a Brigadier by draft- ing a hundred men from each brigade which is to be con- stantly near the enemy and to give them every possible annoyance." "Wilmington, 8 p. m., 3 of Sept., 1777. Washington to President of Congress. This morning the enemy came out with a considerable force and three pieces of artillery against our light advanced corps and after some pretty smart skirmishing obliged them to retreat being far superior in numbers, and without cannon. The loss on either side is not yet ascertained, ours, though not exactly known, is not OF THE COOCH'S BRIDGE MEMORIAL. 17 very considerable; theirs, we have reason to beHeve, was much greater as some of our parties composed of expert marksmen had opportunity of giving them several close, well directed fires, more particularly in one instance, when a body of riflemen formed a kind of ambuscade. They advanced about two miles this side of Iron Hill and then withdrew to that place, leaving a picket at Cooch's Mill about a mile in front. Our parties now lie at White Clay Creek, except the advanced pickets which are at Christiana Bridge. On Monday a large detachment of the enemy landed at Cecil Court House and this morning I had advice of their having advanced on the New Castle Road as far as Carson's tavern. Parties of horse were sent out to recon- noiter them which went three miles beyond the Red I^ion, but could neither see nor hear of them, whence I conjecture they filed off by a road to their left and fell in with their main body. The design of their movement this morning seems to have been to disperse our light troops, who had been troublesome to them, and to gain possession of Iron Hill; to estabhsh a post there most probably for covering their retreat in case of accidents." "Wilmington, September 7, 1777. Washington to Major General Heath. Since General Howe's debarkation in Elk River he has moved on about seven miles; his main body now lies at Iron Hill, and ours near a village called Newport. In this position the armies are from eight to ten miles apart. It is yet very uncertain what General Howe's plan of operation will be." Eight Miles from Wilmington, Sept. 9, 1777- Wash- ington to President of Congress. ' ' The enemy advanced yesterday with a seeming intention of attacking us upon our i8 PROCEEDINGS A T THE UNVEILING post near Newport. We waited for them the whole day; but they halted in the evening at a place called Milltown, about two miles from us. Upon reconnoitering their situa- tion, it appeared probable that they only meant to amuse us in front while their real intent was to march by our right, and, by suddenly passing the Brandywine and gaining the heights' upon the North side of that river get between us and Phila- delphia, and cut us off from that city. To prevent this, it was judged expedient to change our position immediately. The army accordingly marched at two o'clock this morning and will take post this evening upon high ground near Chadd's Ford." The following items from the Journal of Lieut. James McMichael of the Pennsylvania Line shows the movements of the American army after its arrival in Delaware: "August 26. At 4 A. M. We marched from our encampment to Brandywine Bridge, near Wilmington, when turning N. N. W., we proceeded a few miles and encamped near the Bast bank of the creek. Here I was ordered on Court Martial duty. Here we also learned, that the enemy had landed and were encamped at Iron Hill. "August 27. Received orders this evening to march next day to White Cla}^ Creek. August 28. We marched from our encampment at 4 A. M., and proceeded thro' Wilmington, Newport and Rising Sun (Cecil county, Maryland) encamped in White Clay Creek Hundred, where we learned the enemy were near Newark and had driven in the militia. Here we lay under arms, without tents or blankets, the wagons were left in the rear. A detachment of 150 men were sent out from Weedon's OF THE COOCH'S BRIDGE MEMORIAL. i9 brigade to observe the movements of the enemy. We expect a general attack to-morrow. "August 29. At 3 A. M., we marched from White Clay Creek proceeded N. E. a few miles up the Lancaster road, then turning marched to the heights of Newport, on Red Clay Creek, where we took post. Our scouting party returned with 14 regulars, prisoners. They gave us to understand that their army was not advancing, but that they intended shortly to attempt the conquest of Philadel- phia. Our encampment here was exceedingly beautiful, and being chiefly surrounded by Whig inhabitants, was to us very agreeable. "September 2. An express arrived at 6 a. m. with the news that the enemy were advancing. We struck tents and marched to an advantageous height at the intersection of the roads leading to Newport and Wilmington and remained under arms to 3 p. m. when we learned that the enemy had advanced to the heights near Christiana Bridge and halted. Orders were issued to cook our provisions and to be ready to march at a moments notice. "September 6. This morning I was sent out to recon- noiter. Proceeded to Newport, thence to Artillery Park, and afterwards reached our advanced detachment, where I was informed that in the late skirmish three of our regiment were killed and one wounded. At evening returned to camp. "September 7. Agreeably to general orders of the day, the officers' chests and heavy baggage were sent over Brandy- wine and everything prepared for the expected attack to- morrow. "September 8. At 3 a. m. the General was beat and 20 PROCEEDINGS A T THE UNVEILING all tents struck. All the regiments were paraded, the men properly formed with an officer at the head of every platoon, and after wheeling to the right, we remained under arms until 9 o'clock. Then the alarm guns were fired and the whole army drawn up in line of battle, on the east side of Red Clay Creek, with Gen. Green's division to the right. Here we remained for some time, when Gen. Weedon's brigade (of which my regiment was a part) was detached to the front to bring on the attack. We crossed the Creek and marched about a league to an eminence near Mr. Mecannon's meeting house, and there awaited the approach of the enemy, who were within a half a mile of us. They however, encamped, which occasioned us to remain under arms all night, the sentries keeping up a constant fire. One of our officers on picket, deserted his post and was immediately arrested. "September 9. At 4 a. m. we received marching orders and proceeded E. N. E. to the Crooked Billet, on the great road from Wilmington to Lancaster; thence thro' Kennett Township, Chester County, crossed the Brandywine and turning S. E. encamped in the township of Birmingham, being extremely fatigued for want of rest and severe marching." I have come across an interesting description of the location of the American army while it was encamped in Delaware, written by Daniel Byrnes of Doylestown, Pa., in 1842. Daniel Byrnes was a son of Caleb Byrnes, who about 1773 became one of the owners of the Red Clay Creek Mill near Stanton, and the story had evidently been handed down from father to son, the father having lived at Red Clay Creek Mill during the encampment. OF THE COOCH'S BRIDGE MEMORIAL. 21 "Soon after father and mother settled at this place there came some trying times. A few days previous to the Battle of Brandy wine, General Washington, with all his American army, were camped on the rising ground before our door and round to White Clay Creek Bridge and farther west- ward; the cannon were placed on this rise of ground for half a mile as thick as they could stand. General Washington's headquarters was at Wm. Marshall's about the center of his army (which is near the present Meeting House in Stanton.) The British army had landed below Elkton and was coming up the post road towards Christiana bridge, and was hourly expected to appear in the front of the American army, about a mile and a half distant from them. Uncle Daniel's home and mill were right on the road about three quarters of a mile south of the American army, what a situation his and father's family were in, at this juncture the battle was expected to commence every hour. The officers requested father to remove the family for they said the house would be shot down or be torn to pieces with the cannon balls. Many families removed their goods up some miles into the country. Uncle Daniel and our family remained, and I have heard my mother say that she intended when the battle began to take us children down into the cellar under a large arch which was under the chimney. When the British army arrived at Christiana bridge three miles south of us, they then left the road and went up north, intending to go around the American army six miles above. Information was soon given to General Washington of this and next morning by daylight the v/hole American army was gone; they took the road by the Brandy wine Springs and arrived at Chadd's Ford before the British where a battle took place and we will leave them." 22 PROCEEDINGS A T THE UNVEILING Another interesting episode that touches this period, I ran across some years ago in looking up the data for a biographical sketch of the Rev. Thomas Read, one of the early pastors at the Old Drawyer's Meeting House, near Odessa. It is as follows:— "On the 25th of August, 1777, the British army embarked at Elk Ferry. Gen. Washington was encamped near Stanton, about six miles below Wilming- ton. A smart skirmish at Cooch's Bridge between the out- posts, and within five miles of Washington's encampment, gave the first intimation of the dangerous proximity of the enemy. To give battle in such a position with our raw troops against disciplined veterans, would prove ruinous; to retreat by the high road, with a well appointed and regular army hanging on the rear, might prove more disastrous than a pitched battle. Every precaution therefore was made for departure, but how to retreat was the great question and demanded a speedy solution. The geographical information of the neighbors did not extend beyond the limits of the con- tiguous farms, and the roads to the nearest markets; and no information could be obtained. Between eleven and twelve o'clock at night a council of war was called, and while the greatest anxiety prevailed, Colonel Duff, a gallant officer then acting as one of Washington's staff, entered the room and exclaimed: "I know the man that can extricate us." ' ' Mount and bring without a moment's delay, ' ' was the order, and immediately the Colonel was on his way to execute it. After traveling five miles, he reached the house of Mr. Read at twelve o'clock at night roused him from his bed, and in ten minutes his horse was at the door and he in the saddle, and both under whip and spur for the camp. In half an hour they had gone over the whole distance, notwithstanding OF THE COOCH'S BRIDGE MEMORIAL. 23 an exceedingly bad road, and Mr. Read was introduced to Washington in his tent. He mapped out for the General, within a small space, the whole adjacent country, and all the cross and by-roads accurately marked, and by this means the General affected a safe retreat to the Brandywine. ' ' Historians have given but little attention to the engage- ment that took place at Cooch's Bridge, September 3d, 1777, due largely to the fact that the important engagement at Brandywine occured only a week later, and the participants in the engagement in this place either failed to record in detail the occurrences of the day or else such recorded occur- rences have been lost or mislaid and up to this time do not seem to have seen the light of day. Captain Montresor whom I have quoted before gives the following account in his journal: "September 3d. Weather fine but cool early. At day- break the whole under march, except two brigades with Major General Grant, took the lower road to Christine, by the way of Aikin's Tavern, in order to avoid Iron Hill. At this tavern we were to be joined by the troops under General Knyphausen but did not perceive them. About a mile beyond the country is close — the woods within shot of the road frequently in front and flank and in projecting points towards the road. Here the rebels began to attack us about 9 o'clock with a continued irregular fire for nearly two miles. The body of the rebels consisted of 1 20 men from each of the 6 brigades, making 720 men of what they call their regulars, together with i ,000 militia and Philadelphia Light Horse; but the 720 men who were principally engaged were opposed by the Chasseurs and i battallion of Light Infantry only; the 24 PROCEEDINGS AT THE UNVEILING other battallion of infantry, which was sent to surround the rebels, through some mistake was led so far on our right as to find an impassable swamp between them and the army, which prevented this little spirited affair becoming so decisive. The rebels left about twenty dead, among which was a captain of Lord Sterhng's Regiment. We had three men killed and twenty wounded, amongst which was Lieut. Haldane, Engineer, and three more officers. The rebel deserters since come in say they lost five Captains. This body of the enemy was commanded by General Maxwell. At 2 the whole encamped. Headquarters, Aikin's Tavern. Lord Cornwallis' to Cooch's Mill on the little Christiana, where the rebels had a post this morning which we drove them from. The guards on Iron Hill, Dunlop, the Hessian Grenadiers, together with the British and all the light troops on the opposite side of the creek about one mile. The middle of this day excessive hot. Accounts just after this skirmish was over, Lieut. -General Knyphausen's body had arrived at Aikin's Tavern. This spot is in the Welsh Tract we called Penn-Cadder. Lieut. -General Kny- phausen's encampment formed a kind of 2nd line to us; two or three shots exchanged in the night. Total of cattle taken and now brought in by Lieut. -Genl. Knyphausen amounts to 509 head of horned cattle; 1000 sheep and 100 horses, but not above forty of these was fit for draught." John Marshall, who at that time was in Washington's army and who afterwards became the distinguished Chief Justice of the United States, gives the following account of the battle of Cooch's Bridge in his Life of General Washington : "Morgan's regiment of riflemen, which had been found OF THE COOCH'S BRIDGE MEMORIAL. 25 particularly useful during the incursion into Jersey, had been detached to the Northern army, a corps of light infantry was formed of g officers, 8 sergeants, and 100 rank and file from each brigade the command of which was given to General Maxwell, who in the course of the last Winter had acquired some reputation as a partisan. This corps was advanced to Iron Hill, about three miles in front of White Clay Creek, and extending towards Aiken's Tavern. The cavalry, consisting of four regiments amounting to about 900 men, including persons of every description, were employed principallj^ on the lines in watching the enemy, gaining intelligence and picking up stragglers. The movement intended to be made by General Howe on the 3d of September was discovered from his previous arrangements; and it was recommended by the Commander-in-Chief to General Maxwell to post a choice body of men in the night, on an advantageous part of the road, in order to annoy him on the march. In the morning of the 3d, General Grant being left with 6 battalions at the head of Klk, to guard the baggage and preserve a com- munication with the shipping, two divisions under Lord Cornwallis and Genl. Knyphausen moved forward, and formed a junction about Pencader or Atkin's Tavern where they encamped with the right at Pencader, and the left extending across the Christiana towards Newark. In their way the column under lyord Cornwallis fell in with, and attacked Maxwell, who made a short resistance, and then retreated over White Clay Creek, with a loss of about forty killed and wounded. The loss sustained by the British, as stated in the ofiicial letter of Sir William Howe, was only three killed and nineteen wounded. The opinion of the 26 PROCEEDINGS AT THE UNVEILING Americans, corroborated by accounts from the country peo- ple, ascribe to their arms in this skirmish, much more effect." As the official dispatches from Washington show, which I have quoted above, the whole country between Wilming- ton and Klkton was thoroughly reconnoitered by Washing- ton and his faithful division commanders, among the latter being Genl. Nathaniel Green whose Biographer in speaking of the operations in this vicinity gives the following incidents : "Thus, hastening forward, Washington soon found him- self as near the enemy as he cared to bring the main bod}^ of his forces without a more accurate knowledge of their position. Then with Greene and Lafayette and their aides he went forward to reconnoiter. Grey's Hill and Iron Hill were the only spots in the neighborhood of Elkton, high enough to command an extensive view, and from these the American officers looked long and anxiously southeastward, where a few tents, with the British flag waving haughtily over them, were the onl}'^ signs of the invader that the eye could detect. How many were landed or how soon they would be prepared to push forward it was impossible to ascer- tain. Night came upon the little party as they turned their horses' heads homewards and with it a sudden tempest of wind and rain. Washington sought with his companions the shelter of a neighboring farm house. It was a gloomy even- ing, with the black storm without and the crowded little room within, clothes drenched with rain, and uppermost in every mind, but Washington's, the fear that some partisan of the enemy might secretly bring him down upon them as he had been brought down upon lyce not a twelfth month before. VIEWS AT COOCH'S BRIDGE. OF THE COOCH'S BRIDGE MEMORIAL. 27 But the night passed away without any alarm, though sleep- less for Greene, and at daybreak they were all in the saddle again, glad to feel their horses under them and see an open road before them; and then as he set spurs to his steed, Washington frankly avowed that he had made a lucky escape and done an imprudent thing. ' ' Thus have I given you in detail the particulars of the engagement that took place on this ground one hundred and twenty- four years ago to-day, as the same have come down to us in the record of the historian, and in the chronicles of the participants and of the neighborhood. Our mission to-day is two fold, first to commemorate the only battle fought on Delaware soil, and to celebrate the baptism of the first American flag as it was borne proudly forth in the forefront of a battle. True it is that at the extreme southeastern corner of the State there was a battle in the war of 18 12, when a wanton attack was made by the British upon the quaint old settlement at Ivcwes, but that was a naval engagement wherein The commander and all his men Shot a dog and killed a hen. But here by the banks of the placid head waters of the Christiana a veritable battle was fought, and while its importance has been overshadowed by the magnitude of the Battle of Brandywine, which followed so closely afterwards, yet here was a contest that deserves to be remembered and which we are justified in preserving for our children's children. Just here, where we are assembled, and to the westward, stretching to the South as far as Glasgow^ and to the northward nearly to Newark was posted the British army 28 PROCEEDINGS A T THE UNVEILING under the command of Sir William Howe, an astute and brilliant military commander. With him were Generals Cornwallis, Knyphausen and Grant, all trained and efficient military men. He had with him an army of 17,000 men well armed and equipped. They were all here, an army of 17,000. It was a martial array. Yonder on the highlands, west of Newport with its right wing resting on the White Clay Creek just west of Stanton, and its left near the village of Newport (the main army being on the east side of the Red Clay Creek, near the present Kiamensi Mill) the American army of 11,000 men was entrenched, under the command of that greatest of all commanders, our great and only Washington. With Washington was the greatest of the militar}^ chieftains that the Revolutionary war produced — Genl. Nathaniel Green was there, the plain but interpid Quaker who dared to take up arms even though threatened with discipline by the Friends meeting in which he claimed a birth right member- ship. He and Washington differed as to the location of the American encampment, but not seriously — Genl. Benjamin Lincoln was one of the division commanders; and Lord Stirling the head of another division, was one of the most trusted of Washington's Generals. Commanding one of the brigades was General Anthony Wayne, "Mad Anthony," bold and gallant, who made so much reputation in the storm- ing of Stony Point. Henry Knox, Peter Muhlenburg and William Maxwell were other brigade commanders. I have seen a copy of a letter written by Anthony Wayne while the army was encamped in Delaware, suggesting to the Commander-in-Chief that where it could be done, that no mode of warfare brought better results than for a detach- OF THE COOCH'S BRIDGE MEMORIAL. 29 ment of trained troops to be sent to attack and harrass the enemy's marching lines. Whether this letter from Wayne led to the course that was pursued here I do not know, but after the American Army was safely posted behind the Red Clay Creek, Washington directed General Wilham Maxwell to select a detachment of picked men from the different brigades and advance to the lines of the British army with express directions "to be constantly near the enemy and to give them every possible annoyance." The presumption is that they followed these instructions so fully, that Howe concluded if possible to get rid of them, and after three or four days of this kind of warfare, Maxwell's advanced corps found itself on the morning of September 3rd, confronted not only with the major part of Howe's army but the artillery of the enemy was also brought into requisition. Montresor, in his journal, says that Maxwell's light force kept up a continuous irregular fire for nearly two miles," showing how effectively they were keeping "close to the enemy and giving them every possible annoyance." It was an engagement of no mean proportions — Washington speaks of it as "pretty smart skirmishing." The British Army extended from Glasgow on the South to a point beyond the Welsh Tract Baptist Meeting on the North and along this entire line Maxwell's light force was actively harrassing the enemy and it was only after the cannon of the British began to do their deadly work that Maxwell deemed it policy to fall back. This movement of Maxwell, however, had the effect desired; it prevented the British Army from advancing; it impeded their progress; for after the encounter here September 3rd, what seems to have been the beginning of the march of the British to Philadelphia 30 PROCEEDINGS A T THE UNVEILING suddenly stopped, and the whole British Army was ordered to encamp, which it did in this immediate vicinity, resting here five days until September 8th, when the march began to the Northward through Newark. Washington had entrenched himself behind Red Clay Creek. "Cannon were placed on this rise of ground for half a mile, as thick as they could stand," says Byrnes, referring to the ridge bordering the Northerly side of White Clay Creek at Stanton. The evident design of this was to guard the Old King's Road toward Philadelphia, which runs from Christiana to Stanton and then to Newport. This was the direct route for Howe to go. Montresor tells us that Howe ordered his whole army to go by the lower road, from Aiken's Tavern (Glasgow) to Christiana Bridge, the seeming intent of Howe being at that time to take the most direct road to Philadelphia. The right wing of his army reached Christiana, but there Howe seems to have discovered how firmly Wash- ington's forces were entrenched, for he went no further in an easterly direction, but his whole force veered in a north- westerly direction, towards Hockessin, the different divisions using various routes for that purpose. Washington expected the decisive battle to be fought at Red Clay Creek for under date of September 9th, in his dispatch to the President of Congress, Washington says, ' 'The enemy advanced j^esterday with a seeming intention of attacking us upon our post near Newport. We waited for them the whole day. ' ' Michael, in his Journal, says, "The American army was drawn up in line of battle for several hours on Septem- ber 8th, momentarily expecting the arrival of the enemy. It was only after one wing of the enemy was dicovered at Milltown, about two miles from the American Encampment, OF THE COOCH'S BRIDGE MEMORIAL. 31 that the idea of a general engagement on Delaware soil was abandoned, and the order given by the Commander-in- Chief to strike tents and march up the Brandywine with the object in view of meeting the forces of Howe, and prevent- ing them from getting between the American army and Philadelphia. The two great armies came together at Chadd's Ford on September nth, and there after a battle that lasted during the entire day the American army was forced to fall back to Chester. General William Maxwell, the hero of the battle of Cooch's Bridge (long live his memory), has been in his grave for over a century. Born of sturdy Irish parentage he came with his parents when a lad and settled in our neighboring State of New Jersey. He was forty-four years of age when he made the sally on the British lines at this place. I had hoped to find that he had left behind him an account in detail of this engagement. Coming from him, his account of it would have been full of interest for us of to-day, but with the strange perversity of fate, Gen. Maxwell's house, near Phillipsburg, in New Jersey, took fire soon after the close of the Revolution, and all his valuable papers and cor- respondence were destroyed. We have only the fragments of history left, but from them we are able to testify to the efficiency he showed as a military commander, and to believe that he was a brave devoted man. The flag of the United States had its statutory begin- ning on June 14, 1777, when Congress adopted the following resolution: "RksoIvVKd, That the flag of the thirteen United States shall be 13 stripes, alternate red and white. That the union 32 PROCEEDINGS A T THE UNVEILING be 13 stars, white, in a blue field, representing a new con- stellation." On August 2d, following, a short skirmish or rally occurred at Fort Stanwix, New York, in which the Ameri- cans floated a rudely devised flag. But all historians agree that the flag floated on that occasion was merely an improvised one, and in no sense a complete and regular flag of the United States. The engagement that took place here on the 3d, of September, 1777, was the first, after the adoption of the flag where the American forces were drawn up in line of battle in front of the opposing army. The records tell us that when Washington marched his army through Philadel- phia, on his way to this place, that " the music was playing and the flags flying." Undoubtedly these flags had been made after the pattern set forth in the resolve of Congress of seven weeks before, there having been ample time for the making of the flags after the approved pattern, and the first thought would have been to furnish them, as speedily as possible, to the main army under Washington, as it marched southward to meet the invading foe. To my mind, it is indisputable, that across yonder to the eastward, beyond the quiet flowing waters of the Christiana, within sight of the spot upon which I stand, there was borne aloft by the American column, under the brave Maxwell, the flag of the thirteen United States with its thirteen stars and thirteen stripes and that there for the first time it appeared in the smoke and blood of battle. To commemorate that fact we unveil here to-day this imposing and befitting monument which you see before me. OF THE COOCH'S BRIDGE MEMORIAL. 33 We that are here in the golden sunshine of this September afternoon, are enjoying the blessed heritage vouchsafed to us by the valor and heroism of the Revolu- tionary patriots. Scenes like this should serve as an inspir- ation, and we should learn new lessons of patriotism from the sacrifice and devotion of our sires. If from the associa- tions of to-day there shall be born within us, a resolve that shall lead us to more exalted ideals, and to a better citizen- ship, then the blood that was shed in this place one hundred and twenty- four years ago, will not have been shed in vain for, unitedly, as loyal Delawareans, we will carry forward, in these opening days of the twentieth century, the glorious banner of freedom; serene, content, triumphant, in the hope that government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth." 34 PROCEEDINGS A T THE UNVEILING Chief Justic lyore: "The next number on the program is the unveiling of the Monument. It will be unveiled by Masters Howard DeHaven Ross, Jr. , the seventh descendant from a Revolutionary soldier, and by Francis Allyn Cooch, Jr., also the seventh descendant from a Revolutionary soldier, so that you see we have the Revolutionary soldier in the seventh degree. Will the band gather, and when it is unveiled favor us with one of their delightful selections. Now our little soldiers will unveil the Monument." Unvkiling of the; Monument BY Masters Howard DeHaven Ross, Jr., AND Francis Ai^lyn Cooch, Jr. 'Two babies' hands unveiled the stone, Where first unfurled in battle shone. Our flag of thirteen bars. Our flag of thirteen stars. At Cooch' s Bridge in Delaware, And lo! defeated there; For on that warm September Third, In Seventeen Seventy-Seven was heard, No word of cheer for the thirteen bars: No word of cheer for the thirteen stars. Defeat, defeat, defeat alone, Was all our dear flag knew; When first unfurled in battle shone. Its red and white and blue. OF THE COOCH'S BRIDGE MEMORIAL. . 35 Two babies of our glorious land, Two "little soldiers," heart and hand. To live for freedom's cause, In peace as well as wars; In life's broad battle field, To right alone to yield. 'Twas fit that baby hands should raise. The veil which hid the stone, whose praise Tells where our flag in infancy, First floated to the breezes free; Aspire, wee ones, to noble deeds. And keep your wee hearts true; In future action, future needs, Our country looks to you. ' ' — Miss M. Winchester Adams, Newark, N. J. [The young patriots, both lineal descendants of sturdy old colonists, tugged resolutely at the stout cords leading from the speakers' stand to the veiled monument, and as the covering was removed gradually, exposing the granite memorial to the full view for the first time, a cheer broke from the throng and the band struck up "Star Spangled Banner." A moment later, a handsome wreath of roses and cosmos, decorated with blue and gold ribbon, presented by the Daughters of the Revolution, was capped on the monument by Master Megear of Smyrna, and another out- burst of applause went up.] Chief Justice I^ore: "The next number on the pro- gram is a solo by Miss Emma Lore, 'The Star Spangled Banner,' accompanied by First Regiment Band." j6 PROCEEDINGS A T THE UNVEILING Chief Justice Ivore: "The next number on the program is the presentation of the Monument to the State of Dela- ware by the Hon. J. Wilkins Cooch." PRESENTATION OF THE MONUMENT. " Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gknti^emkn: A year ago you visited this spot and selected a site to mark the place where our flag was first unfurled in battle. To-day we welcome 5^ou again and present to you the result of our work which has been done under the auspices, and through the liberality of our Patriotic Societies and Citizens. We are proud of the history of our little State; proud of the part our brave ancestors took in the struggle for liberty ; proud of the fact that she was the first to adopt the Consti- tution; and proud of the fact that on her soil, this flag of the thirteen struggling colonies with its thirteen stars and thirteen stripes, was first raised as the emblem of liberty. Our fore- fathers "builded better than they knew" and although they seemed endowed with a wisdom and a grasp of the capabil- ities of their infant country that is hard for us to understand, I do not think that in their wildest enthusiasm they ever imagined what a giant in growth and power their child would become in a century and a quarter, nor the respect and veneration their flag would inspire whenever and wherever its beautiful colors were thrown to the breeze; or how the down trodden of all nations would look to it as the children of Israel looked to the brazen serpent that through its healing powers they might have life and peace. OF THE COOCH'S BRIDGE MEMORIAL. j/ Our historian, Mr. Conrad has given you the reasons for the " faith that is in us" and to me has been assigned the pleasant duty of presenting this memorial to you through his Excellency the Governor, and to assure you that it is yours, and that you will be welcome to visit it at any and at all times. This solid stone of our own Brandywine granite repre- sents the State of Delaware; these cannon protecting each corner, the war power of the Government; and the strong cable chain with which it is enclosed, the Naval power. The whole presenting a monument so enduring that your children and children's children may gather around it to renew their devotion to the stars and stripes, and to give thanks unto God for the wisdom and courage of our ancestors in founding such a government, and for providing it with so beautiful a flag." j8 PROCEEDINGS A T THE UNVEILING Chief Justice Lore: "Now we will have the acceptance of the Monument by his Excellency John Hunn, Governor of Delaware." ACCEPTANCE OF THE MONUMENT. ' ' In the first place I wish to thank you for standing here in the rain. Notwithstanding the fact that I am a Quaker, I am more than half soldier myself. On behalf of the State of Delaware, and of the whole people, I accept this noble monument erected upon the his- toric spot where the Stars and Stripes, the beautiful banner of our great republic, were first unfurled in battle by soldiers of the war for American Independence. And on behalf of all the patriotic citizens of Delaware, I express their high appreciation of the zeal and lofty civic spirit which has inspired and animated those who have united to accomplish and perfect this most commendable and patriotic under- taking. The preservation of the memory of heroic and notable events in our history is a sure harbinger to the State of great events to come. Nothing so well determines and keeps alive the spirit of liberty among a liberty-loving people as the fostering of a universal pride in their past great achieve- ments. No one can deny to the people of Delaware the clear right to a proud remembrance in the past history of their commonwealth. In those early days of the republic, at its very dawn as it were, when the framers and builders of the present great structure of American nationality were laboring to establish it upon firm and imperishable founda- OF THE COOCH'S BRIDGE MEMORIAL. 39 tions, the people of Delaware bore their full share of the burden through many an illustrious representative. They were conspicuously represented in the Continental Congress where the great principles of American government were formulated and established, and under whose benign influ- ence we, as a nation, have risen to such commanding strength and acknowledged position among the nations of the world. From the men who represented us in Continental Con- gress we turn to our soldiers — the Blue Hen's Chickens — they were always at the front. On the battlefield at Brandy- wine, at Camden, The Cowpens, on Long Island, at Mon- mouth and finally at Yorktown, where the sun of British dominance went to its last setting on this continent. On the ocean and our inland waters, in many hard-fought battles against the hitherto undisputed mistress of the sea — in fact, in every stage of our National development, in every crisis of our National history, the people of this State have fur- nished men wise, eloquent and sagacious in council, brave and heroic in war. It is therefore right and seemly that we look back upon the past with a justifiable pride of those great National achievements in which our ancestors bore so distinguished a part. Notwithstanding these things, but rather because of them, there is a deep and significant lesson to us as citizens of this State, both in the occasion and the place on which we stand. It is hallowed ground. Cast back your minds for a moment to that day and hour when yon banner then unknown, now the emblem of overwhelming strength and our world-wide recognition, when those stripes with only 13 stars, first felt the stirring breeze of the Delaware air as the flag was unfurled in the hands of the revolutionary soldier marching over 40 PROCEEDINGS AT THE UNVEILING these very fields that lie about us. What think yov. was his hope and expectation ? What inspiration had he ? What think you animated and encouraged him through all the gloom and privation of his long and arduous struggle ? Was it not an unconquerable, irrepressible desire for liberty, freedom, happiness, for a government of his own, of the very people, of all the people, for release from the hardships and exactions of kings and tyrants, self-constituted rulers and governors; for the right to form and fashion with his neighbor the rules, regulations and laws that should govern his political, social and religious life ? This was undoubt- edly his great desire, and so well did he accomplish it that he has given the beneficent result of his labor to all who have come after him as a priceless heritage — one that demands the instant and ever constant watchfulness and loyal fidelity of every good citizen of this State, in fact of all the States, to see that it is preserved, not only for ourselves, but for those who may come after us. This can only be done by honest, loyal and high endeavor to maintain to the best of our ability the principles of good government through the agencies of honorable and capable representatives, and by studious emulation of those high examples furnished us so abundantly by the notable characters in the past history of our State. Now, just for a moment to speak again of the Delaware soldier — he has never faltered where duty called and honor led. It is a fact not generally known that there is no instance on record where Delaware troops broke their line on the field of battle or lost a flag to the enemy. There is at present no other State in the Union (admitted before 1861) with this record. We are proud of it — of our State and our people, and especially proud of those who made this occasion possible, and who by their work and manifest zeal are entitled to the credit. ' ' 4c MRS. ELIZABETH CLARKE CHURCHMAN, SECRETARY JOINT COMffllTTEE. OF THE COOCH'S BRIDGE MEMORIAL. 41 Chief Justice Lore: "The next number on the program is an address by the Hon. Walter S. Logan, of New York, who is the President- General of the National Society, Sons of the American Revolution." ADDRESS. "My mother taught me to go in when it rained. You said at the commencement to make our speeches short. You need not have told me that. For I am a husband, and my speeches have been short ever since I have been married. The majority of this Committee are ladies, that accounts for such success. The few gentlemen account for the misfor- tune of the rain. The affair at Cooch's Bridge was a skirmish which preceded the Battle of Brandy wine. Both the skirmish and the battles were defeats for the American troops. The first time that the Stars and Stripes floated o'er a battlefield, it was a field of disaster. It has been well said that Washington won the Inde- pendence of his country by a series of masterly defeats. That is a characteristic of our race. We have won on the fields of peace and of war alike, not by a series of successful manoeuvres or brilliant exploits, but by grim determination and sticking to it. Nineteen hundred years ago, Herman, the great Saxon, the first recorded military leader of our race, in the defiles of the German forest, won the battle which destroyed the entire Roman army under Varus, secured the perpetuation of our people and -made England and America possible, at 42 PROCEEDINGS AT THE UNVEILING the end of a war in which the only victory was won in the last — the final and decisive — battle. Like Washington, he went down to defeat a hundred times in order to win one time, but that one time was decisive. Philip II, who contests the honor with John of England of being the worst king that ever ruled, saw his Armada go to the bottom of the sea and all hope of enslaving our race disappear after a life time of successful warfare against peoples of our blood. Blenheim, where the charge of Marl- borough's cavalry changed in five minutes the domination of the earth from the Latin to the Saxon race, occurred after a warfare of a quarter of a century between Louis the XIV and England's great William of Orange, in which almost every preceding battle had been a victory for the Latin. The victories of Marston Moore and Naseby were culmina- tions of a series of defeats. The battle on the plains of Abraham in 1759, where one Summer morning, almost before the sun had risen, a continent was won for our blood, our institutions and our language, was a decisive victory which succeeded a long series of indecisive defeats. And so it was in our Revolution. Our triumph was won quite as much at Lexington and Bunker Hill, at Cooch's Bridge and Brandy- wine, at Long Island and Fort Washington, indisputable defeats, as at Saratoga and Yorktown, brilliant victories. The bath of blood which our flag received in defeat on this spot helped to carry it to a glorious triumph upon the fields of old Virgina, five years later. It has been the English speaking race all over the world that has won in peace far more than in war, but in peace as in war, its success has been due, not to bombast or to boom, but to the habit we have of hanging on. The world is OF THE COOCH'S BRIDGE MEMORIAL. /j coming to be ours sirapl}^ because we have the best staying qualities of all the races. The great Washington was not at his greatest in the hour of victory. It was in the hour of dire defeat, when hearts were broken and other men's courage gave way, that his great soul was stirred to its depths and his masterful leadership showed at its best. To m}^ mind, Washington appears at his greatest on that dark and direful night when he silently and stealthily took his defeated and demoralized army across the East River from Brooklyn to New York and saved the American cause. A Gates could win at Saratoga, for he had 13,000 men against 7,000; an Anthony Wayne could take Stony Point; a Harry I^ee could swoop down in success at Corlear's Hook ; another commander might perhaps have won at Trenton and at Princeton, and Washington shares the honors of Yorktown with Rochambeau and De Grasse, but on that night at Fulton Ferry he stood alone and all the hope that was left for the American cause was based on the uncon- querable spirit of the man who suffered more defeats perhaps than any other commander in history, but never gave up. We do well to honor, then, the men who fought at Cooch's Bridge and Brandy wine, as well as the men who fought at Saratoga and Yorktown, the men who bathed the flag in their life's blood here in defeat, as well as the men who carried it in other places to a glorious victory. In Prospect Park in the borough of Brooklyn — the most beautiful of all beautiful parks of our great city of New York — there stands a shaft reared by the Maryland Society of the Sons of the American Revolution in memor}^ of that Maryland regiment who threw themselves in the face of the 44 PROCEEDINGS AT THE UNVEILING victorious British army and lost 256 of their 400 men, but gained an hour for the American cause and saved the Amer- ican army. Somebody has described the hour they gained as the most important hour in history. I would add that the men who gained it are the noblest 400 that the world ever produced. Another 400 Ward McAllister has made somewhat famous. They play polo by Summer day at Newport and trip the fantastic toe by Winter night in New York, but how does their life of utter vanity and nothingness compare with the importance of the achievement and the heroism of the conduct of our 400 who went down to certain death that the seeds of a great and free nation might be fertilized with their blood. Ours is the real and true 400, worthy of all the honor that a grateful and patriotic people can do them. New York is prouder of nothing that it has than of the monument that the Maryland Sons have erected in Prospect Park. The noble State of Delaware has nothing of which it may be more proud than the monument which is to-day unveiled here at Cooch's Bridge. But we have been speaking of the issue that is past. I linger on the subject because I am proud of my race when I think of the heroism and the patriotism of the men who bathed that flag in their life's blood while yet the thread that sewed it together was fresh from Betsy Ross' spinning wheel. I am not content, however, to rest upon the achieve- ments of the past. I am not content to rap at the door of heaven with only the record of my ancestors to let me in. I am proud to be a son of the American Revolution, but I am not content to be only that. I am more proud in the hope OF THE COOCH'S BRIDGE MEMORIAL. 45 and expectation of being the father of patriots than I am in the knowledge that I am a son of patriots. I would rather my son be greater than I. Your Howard DeHaven Ross is just as good as his ancestors, and his son, Howard DeHaven Ross, Jr., will be even better than his father, because,— he has some of his mother's blood in him. I would rather that my descendants would boast of what I have done for my country than to boast myself of what my great grandfather did. The raison d'etre of our Society of the Sons of the American Revolution is not to honor the fathers so much as to inspire the sons; not to celebrate the deeds of olden times so much as to incite to deeds to-day. I am not one of those who believe that the need of patriotism and patriotic action and endeavor has passed. I believe we have greater problems confronting the men and the women of this generation than our ancestors had con- fronting them. I believe we have more need of patriots to-day than we have had at any time since the Stars and Stripes were first unfurled here at Cooch's Bridge. Our fathers fought political warfare for political liberty. They fought for the right to govern themselves and to work out their own destiny. We, the sons, to-day are engaged in a warfare for industrial liberty. We are fighting for the right of each man to earn his daily bread and to carry home every night the earnings of his day's labor. They fought with gun and sword; we are — when we are wise — fighting with other weapons, with speech and argument, with pen and tongue, but we are fighting just the same. Sometimes we foolishly throw aside the softer but more effective weapons, and then mob law rules. To-day two hundred thousand steel workers are arrayed against the United States Steel 46 PROCEEDINGS A T THE UNVEILING Corporation. This is but one of the multitude of strikes that are on all over the land, as a part of the contest of labor against capital, of men against money, the contest for the control of the industries of the land and the right to partici- pate in the blessings of modern civilization. The questions that we have to settle now are industrial and social questions, but they are far from being less import- ant than the political questions that troubled our ancestors, and the warfare that is now going on, though waged with dif- ferent weapons, is no less important to the welfare of the race and the happiness of the people of our land, than was the contest that was being waged then. On whom should the nation rely to settle these great questions that now confront it ; on whom should the nation rely to see that justice is done between employer and em- ployed, between the few with abundance and the many with little, between the few favored of fortune and the many struggling by the way ; to whom should the nation look now more than to the sons of those on whom she depended a hundred and twenty-five years ago? Sons of the American Revolution, the opportunity is yours, will you grasp it? I ask the question without doubt as to the answer, for patriot- ism is not dead in the land. I believe we have patriots to- day as earnest and devoted as those who gave up their lives at Cooch's Bridge and Brandy wine. I believe we have leaders to-day as great as Washington, and followers as brave and devoted as those who under Washington won the inde- pendence of a nation. I believe we shall settle the questions that are before us as wisely and decidedly as our fathers settled the questions that were before them, and that the sons of the fathers will take their place in history side by side with the fathers themselves. OF THE COOCWS BRIDGE MEMORIAL. 47 But we have before us now, as they had before them then, an ever-living issue. Back of the clang upon the battlefield and the discussions upon the platform, in the prints and in the legislative halls, the philosophic eye can see that the real questions then and the real questions now are the same. How shall we make this world a better world to live in and this life a happier life to live ? A great step forward was taken for our country when it won its independ- ence of Great Britain, but greater steps have been taken since and are being taken now. The world is growing better every day and the men and women in it are becoming better men and women and Hfe is becoming better worth living. I^et us do our part, so that when the historian shall collate the causes which led to the better times that are coming, not the least among these causes shall be named the patriotic action and effort of the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution. I was traveling one time in a Concord coach over the crests of the Rocky Mountains. It was a long journey. We pursued it by night and by day, but it was a jolly party of us and the time passed rapidly and pleasantly. The first night we whiled away the time with song and jest and story, until as we were pursuing our way in the darkness, one of the passengers pointed to a light in the distance. "What is it?" Someone answered "It is a forest on fire." Another said "Some setler's cabin is in flames," and still another that it that it was the Aurora BoreaHs. And while we were sitting and watching and discussing, some contending that it was one thing and some another, the question settled itself. The orb of day arose over the horizon. It was the first rays of the sun that we had seen. 48 PROCEEDINGS A T THE UNVEILING 'Mid the dim light which always surrounds the present, in the darkness through which we are ever traveling on life's journey, we can all of us see to-day a rift in the clouds, a light on the horizon, a glimpse into the future. Some men think that the future that they see is one thing, and some another. Some think they can define the outlines of the man on horseback, a stronger government, that shall put down by sheer force the turbulence of the hour. Some think that they can see anarchy, the absence of all govern- ment, a life with no restraint. Some think they can see socialism, a condition in which life is all government, and there is no chance for individual activity. The pessimist sees nothing but a darker cloud behind and more troubulous times to come. The optimist sees nothing but what is sweet and lovely and pleasant in the world that is to be; but we, sons of stern but liberty-loving fathers, are practical men. We are not disturbed by the wails of the pessimist or the dreams of the optimist. We are not led away by the wild vagaries of the anarchist or the socialist. We spurn as our fathers spurned, the very suggestion of despotism; we have no use for the man on horseback. What we see through the rift in the clouds is a life not essentially different from the life we are living now, only modern invention and im- proved processes of production, the wisdom and experience gained through the ages, will make it a life with less hard- ship and more happiness. What we see is neither despotism nor anarchy, neither iron rule nor lawlessness, neither force nor license, but a government, continuing as it begun, with its sharp edges rounded off by the attrition of experience, and taking more and more advantage of the teachings of the ages; a government not of the few for the benefit of the few, OF THE COOCH'S BRIDGE MEMORIAL. 49 nor of the many to the exclusion of the few, but of all the people for all the people. We see through our rift in the clouds the old flag that floated at Cooch's Bridge, with star upon star added as the years go by from all parts of the American Continent and from the Occident and the Orient it may be, but every star representing a sovereign State in which life shall be inviolate, property shall be safe and the people happy. We see also the people of all the earth gazing with upturned faces and longing eyes upon that flag which represents freedom, happiness and prosperity. We see a better as well as a greater United States, a nobler as well as a happier people. May God grant that what we see to-day in the dim light that comes over the horizon of the future, may be seen in living and bright reality as that future becomes the present. Foremost among those who will scale that opening rift and call men onward to the better future that is to come, will, I hope, be the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution. ' ' ^o PROCEEDINGS A T THE UNVEILING Chief Justice Lore: "The next number on the program is an address by the distinguished soldier of Delaware, whose name is a household word on all continents, General James H. Wilson, U. S. A." ADDRESS. "Mr. Prksidknt, I^adies and Gentlemkn: The history of the occasion which brings us together today upon this consecrated spot has been sufficiently explained by the eloquent speakers who have preceded me. As one who has followed the Flag both at home and abroad for over a third of a century, the more pleasing task has been assigned to me, of making a brief address, in which I shall endeavor to tell you what that flag stands for, what it has stood for, and what in God's Providence it shall stand for throughout all time. Every school boy knows that it was adopted by the Congress on the 14th day of June, 1777, in the second year of that revolution by which the United States secured their independence, and took their place among the free and sovereign nations of the world. Every school boy knows that its thirteen stars on a blue field, and its thirteen stripes of alternate red and white, as at first adopted, stood for the thirteen original colonies which banded themselves together to resist the tyranny of the mother country. Every school boy knows that the heraldic arrangement was suggested by the coat armor of the immortal Washington, whose English forbears had worthily worn it from time immemorial. From this day forth all patriotic Americans will know that it received its baptism of blood on land at the battle of Cooch's OF THE COOCH'S BRIDGE MEMORIAL. 51 Bridge. But it is only recently that it has come to be generally known that it was first borne in battle at sea by the invincible commodore John Paul Jones, in the splendid victory of the Bon Homme Richard over the forty- four gun frigate Serapis off Flamborough Head on the 23rd day of September, 1779. You will remember that it was in the height of that desperate battle, the most desperate perhaps ever fought between civilized combatants at sea, that the gallant British commander asked the American commodore through the wreck and smoke of battle if he had struck his colors, and received for answer the immortal words, "No. I have not begun fighting yet. " It is with supreme satis- faction that I call attention to the fact that the Richard, battered and riddled as she was, never lowered her colors, but carried them waving from her masthead, "defiant, unconquered and unstricken," to the bottom of the sea, there to float in triumph so long as their threads might hold together. This flag, made by the young ladies of Ports- mouth, New Hampshire from their silken dresses, it has been finely said by Jones himself, ' 'was the first edition of the stars and stripes that Europe ever saw; the first to be saluted by the guns of a European naval power, but far beyond that, and beyond anything (known in history) it was the first and the last flag that ever went down or ever will go down flying on the ship which conquered and captured the ship that sunk her." It is with supreme satisfaction that I again call your attention to the lofty words of Commodore Jones in the crisis of that great action, and bid you remember always that the unconquerable spirit which inspired them, has ever since that glorious day inspired the ofiicers and men of the American Navy. It S2 PROCEEDINGS A T THE UNVEILING was that spirit which gave victory to Hull with the Constitution; and to Bainbridge with the Constitution, Essex and Hornet; and to Porter with the Essex; and to MacDonough with his fleet on I^ake Champlain; and to Perry with his on I^ake Erie; and to Worden with the Monitor; and to Winslow with the Kearsarge; and to Dewey at Manila Bay; and to Sampson off Santiago. It is that spirit which has ever kept the American flag free from dis- grace and defeat on the high seas, and made it honored and respected wherever our national interests have required its presence. It is that spirit which has always maintained the morale, the discipline and the aggressive temper of the Navy, and which more than once has enabled it by a single action to change naval architecture and send a cold chill down the back of every maritime power in the world. I am sure you will pardon me if I call your attention also to the fact that throughout our history it has always been the Regular Navy, with a permanent corps of well instructed, well paid and well governed of&cers and men, drawn from the body of the people, and free from the vices of a temporary service. We have never had a volunteer naval force which took part, or could take part in great naval operations, and hence that service has always been remark- ably free from fatal blunders and costly mistakes. From the very nature of the naval service this must always be the case, and this is a fortunate circumstance for the honor of the Country and the Glory of the Flag. But let us now consider briefly what the flag stands for on land as well as on the sea, what it was to our forefathers, what it is to us, and what it is to the world at large. When it was adopted by the Continental Congress, a OF THE COOCH'S BRIDGE MEMORIAL. 53 Congress be it known, for the entire North American Conti- nent, there was no such thing as a free and sovereign repubUcan government in the world. The thirteen English colonies in America had declared themselves to be free and independent states, and aided by France and its king, were fighting to make good that declaration, but the result was still in doubt, still trembling in the balance. It was a struggle against arbitrary government, against taxation without representation, against the hereditary exercise and transmission of official power. It was a struggle for the right of self government, or as the immortal lyincoln phrased it nearly a hundred years later, for the establishment of a "government of the people, for the people, by the people," which "should not perish from the earth," and when the victory was won it was won potentially for all mankind as well as for us Americans. Thenceforth the people were sovereign everywhere, and every king in the world held his crown subject to the will and at the pleasure of his people. From that time civil government began to improve in every country under the sun. Though the improvement was but slow at first, in many cases almost imperceptible, the move- ment had begun, and nothing on earth could defeat or turn it from its purpose. And so the flag which stood at first for unity, for liberty and for independence among our venerated forefathers, now stands for progress, for civil and religious freedom, for the dearest hopes and aspirations of every state and all mankind. It stood then and it stands now for equal rights and for honest and impartial government, for the freeman with his unpurchased ballot in his hand ! It knows no party or faction within the wide limits of the Republic. It knows no race or color in citizenship. It knows no North, 54. PROCEEDINGS AT THE UNVEILING no South, no Bast, no West. Thank God it is at last the flag of all sections and all classes on land and sea, and floats in unapproachable majesty over all the states and territories alike. Above all it stands for the niight and majesty of the Great Republic, and for the continental policy, the Monroe Doctrine, which it has been well said "is the public law of the Western Hemisphere. ' ' As the last resort it stands for justice between citizen and citizen, between the states and territories, and between the government at large and its dependencies of every name and nature, and wherever found. And whether the flag follows the Constitution or the Constitution follows the flag, as has been so much discussed of late, one thing at least is certain, it is the Aegis and palladium of all who owe allegiance to it, or claim its pro- tection wherever they may be. Whether at home among the sovereign states, or abroad in the islands and depen- dencies beyond the seas, it is the blessed emblem and should always be the emblem and guaranty of equal civil rights and equal trade privileges, because these are essential to an improving citizenship and an increasing prosperity, without which there can be neither an advancing civilization nor a reassuring belief in the essential unity and brotherhood of man. These are not mere abstractions. They are the fundamental and eternal principles of American government, the very essence and life blood of American liberty and American progress. And we need have no fear that they will ever lose their force among the people, or that the people will allow their chosen servants to depart far from them in the management of their permanent and paramount interests. You may rely upon it so much is safe. But the OF THE COOCH'S BRIDGE MEMORIAL. 55 warning that "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty," is older than either the flag or the Constitution. It comes to us hallowed by the sacrifices and sufferings of those who fought on this historic field, and it enjoins us ever to see to it that the liberties they have achieved and transmitted to us, shall suffer no diminution either at our own hands or at the hands of the public servant or of the public enemy. The monument we dedicate here today derives its chief value because it is a token and a pledge that the principles for which our fathers laid down their lives are as dear to us as they were to them, that the spirit of liberty and justice, and of eternal right, is the spirit which still inspires our public acts. It is that spirit dwelling deep in our hearts which will keep us always worthy of our great inheritance, our free institutions, our incomparable Constitution of government, and above all our radiant flag, the "Star Spangled Banner," which prefigures and stands for the manifold and priceless blessings we enjoy, and if we are true to ourselves, shall enjoy forever. Flag of my Country I salute thee! Thou art indeed the — "Flag of the free hearts' home and hope By angel hands to valor given, Thy stars have lit the welkin dome. And all thy hues were born in Heaven. Forever float that standard sheet, Where breathes the foe but falls before us ? With Freedom's soil beneath our feet. And freedom's banner streaming o'er us." 5<5 PROCEEDINGS A T THE UNVEILING Chief Justice I^ore: "The next number on the program is an address by that distinguished representative of old Sussex, Robert G. Houston, Esq." ADDRESS. "Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gb;nti.e;mkn : When our honored Chief Justice extended me an invitation to take part in these unveiling ceremonies I felt in duty bound, as a member of the Delaware bar to hearken to the call of our respected leader; but when I was confronted by a program and the list of talented gentlemen who were to precede me with addresses on this occasion, I felt at loss how to address you. I knew that my learned friend from the City of Wil- mington, whose exhaustive researches and learned addresses upon historical matters relating to this State should have ere this crowned him State Historian, would exhaust that phase of the subject. I was satisfied that the honorable gentleman, who is proud to claim as his own these historical acres would acquaint us with all the local lore. I knew our eminent friend from the Empire State, whose reputation had preceded him, would come fully prepared to maintain that reputation. I knew that anything left unsaid would receive full disposition at the hands of my friend, General Wilson, who combines the prowess of sword, pen and tongue, and our governor, who has dared to break the silence which has heretofore surrounded our gubernatorial chair. It was a consolation to know that my time was limited to ten minutes. But as I have listened to the eloquent words OF THE COOCH'S BRIDGE MEMORIAL. 57 that have fallen from the lips of those gentlemen, I have been led in inevitable retrospection to a consideration of the men of the times contemporary with the event we this day celebrate. This monument we to-day unveil commemorates the flag, but the flag itself is an everlasting and indestructible monument to the men who made its creation and commemo- ration possible. It seems to me that the men of those days were cast in a sterner mould. No such galaxy of names appear upon the pages of the history of any other country. Their acts and deeds should inspire us to deeds of noble patriotism. The names of Rodney, Mclyane and Read should arouse the spark of patriotism in every Delaware heart. It was their noble devotion to duty, and their courage in the hour of our country's call which gave this State the place of honor in the thirteen States and gave us the first star in the constella- tion — the first star ascendant in the field of blue — the first symbol of purity in a page of truth. Have we kept it pure ? Do we emulate their virtues ? Do we approach the duties of citizenship with the same unselfish devotion to our country's good? Do we honor the flag, whose first unfurling we to-day commemorate, as we should? When we consider the horde of petty politicians who have gained power and use it for their own selfish purpose and aggrandizement; when we consider the boss who con- trols the great city of the Empire State for selfish political purposes; when we consider that our sister city — the City of Brotherly lyove — is in the hands of an organized machine which thrives upon dishonor; when we remember that our S8 PROCEEDINGS A T THE UNVEILING own State, is in danger of being upheld as an example of how low in the depths of political degradation a State may fall from its high estate; when we learn that the good citi- zens of your city and county think it necessary to organize themselves into a committee of reform to assist the Attorney General in investigating the affairs of your county govern- ment — when I think of these things I think it is time for us to take a lesson from these unveiling ceremonies, and drink deep from the Pierian springs from which our forefathers drew their inspiration. As we leave this historic spot with hearts softened by the ceremonies of this day let us remem- ber that this is our own dear native State. Let us cherish her traditions. May the voice of her sons be ever raised in the defence of her liberties. May the flag whose first unfurling in the battle for freedom, we to-day commemorate, be never furled in the battle for political truth and purity. ' ' OF THE COOCH'S BRIDGE MEMORIAL. jp Chief Justice Lore: "The next number on the program is a poem from the poet of Kent. I know you will be delighted. William Townsend Smithers, Esq." POEM. "Among the monuments that grace Th)^ realm, and mark some storied place, Make room, oh Liberty! For one plain stone, to tell the world Where first in battle was unfurled The banner of the free. That flag beneath whose graceful folds Bach man a crown and scepter holds — Each, king of this proud land; But 'neath its white and crimson bars, Its azure field of glittering stars, Is felt no tyrant's hand. They little knew, our honored sires, That kindled freedom's altar fires, This flag came at God's call; Nor dreamed they of a day to be When it should float on land and sea, High-throned over all. Come back, dear flag, with added stars. Come, torn with storms of other wars, Here was thy course begun; High waving here 'mid loudest cheers, And looking out across the years. Review thy victories won. 6o PROCEEDINGS A T THE UNVEILING Come, spirits of heroic dead, Who 'neath this banner fought and bled, That this soil might be free; Inspire us as we gather round The stone set in this holy ground — A shrine of liberty. God of our fathers, now let fall Thy benediction over all This land of ours, so fair; Be with us while we dedicate This sacred tablet to our State — Beloved Delaware." OF THE COOCH'S BRIDGE MEMORIAL. 6i Chief Justice Lore: "Although there is not much time surely we must not slight our Maryland friend, Hon. Edwin Warfield, President of the Maryland Society, Sons of the American Revolution, a man of imposing appearance, and great power. ' ' ADDRESS. "Mr. Chairman, IvAdie;s and Geintlemen: I must confess that I am completely overwhelmed by thus being called upon, without notice, for a speech. I came here to listen, not to talk. I have an idea, however, that a distin- guished gentleman present, the Honorable President of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, put your Chairman up to calling upon me without notice, as he is fond of practical jokes, and knew that he would thus embarrass me very greatly. I assure you that I am very glad to be here, and have enjoyed every moment of my time. It has been a pleasure for me to look into the faces of the good patriotic men of Delaware and to have this opportunity of seeing so many of her graceful and accomplished daughters. L,ike my friend, Mr. I^ogan, I have always taken a deep interest in the fair sex, and embrace every occasion I have to say that I owe all that I have achieved in life to one of the fair daughters of Maryland, my better half. It is too late for me to attempt to speak to you of the beauty of Maryland's women or of the deeds of her sons. Maryland will ever stand shoulder to shoulder with Dela- ware in upholding the Stars and Stripes. I have some Delaware blood in my veins and am proud of it. One of my ancestors, Col. Nicholas Ridgely, was a guardian of your great Rodney. He lived in your State in 62 PROCEEDINGS AT THE UNVEILING the early days and helped to shape her course as a colony. So you see I have a personal interest in you all. Your Governor has spoken of the bravery of Delaware' s soldiers and the fact that they had always upheld the repu- tation of the sons of Delaware for fidelity and courage. He recently reviewed the Fifth Maryland Regiment of Baltimore, and I am sure that he brought away with him impressions that Maryland also has good soldiers. The Maryland men of the old continental line never faltered. Led by the gallant Howard they took part in every hard -fought battle from Long Island to Yorktown. They were no doubt in this section with the army when the Battle of Cooch's Bridge was fought. They were always in the vanguard and bore them- selves gallantly. The pleasant incidents of this day in which the infant son of my friend, Mr. Howard DeHaven Ross, and the other two handsome boys took part in the unveiling of the monu- ment shall ever remain fresh in my mind, and I shall tell my children how well they performed their parts. I thank the Chairman for this opportunity of meeting you, and hope you will come to Maryland, especially on the 19th of October next, when we will dedicate in Baltimore the monument reared by the Maryland Society of the Sons of the American Revolution to commemorate the deeds of the sol- diers and patriots of Maryland who did so much to bring about the establishment of the independence of this great nation. Our latchstrings are always on the outside, and especi- ally for people from Delaware. ' ' Chief Justice Lore : ' ' May I not say for you Mr. War- field that we can even do better. Not only is the latchstring in Delaware on the outside, but her doors are always open. ' ' OF THE COOCH'S BRIDGE MEMORIAL. 63 Chief Justice lyore: "We have here a very beautifully engrossed set of Resolutions, on the part of the Delaware Society, Sons of the American Revolution, thanking Con- gressman Ball, for his efficient aid in helping to get the cannon for the monument. They will be presented to him at his home, since he is not here." RESOLUTIONS OF APPRECIATION BY THE DELAWARE SOCIETY. SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. " Whbrbjas Congressman L. H. Ball has very kindly endorsed the application of the President of the Delaware Society, Sons of the American Revolution to the Honorable, the Secretary of the Navy, for the loan of four 30-pounder Parrott guns from the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and four 20-ft. lengths of studded Navy cable chain from the Boston Navy Yard for the decoration of the Monument at Cooch's Bridge, Delaware, to mark the spot where the Stars and Stripes were first unfurled in battle, September 3d, 1777; and, Wheri;as, Congressman L,. H. Ball has likewise en- dorsed the application of the President of the Delaware Society, Sons of the American Revolution to the Honorable, the Secretary of War, for the donation of two 24 lb. howit- zers with carriages, located at Fort Jefferson, Florida, for the decoration of Washington Heights on the Brandy wine, Wilmington, or General Washington's Headquarters on "Quaker Hill," Wilmington, during the war of the Ameri- 64 PROCEEDINGS A T THE UNVEILING can Revolution previous to the Battle of the Brandy wine; therefore, be it Resolved, That the thanks of the Delaware Society, Sons of the American Revolution be and are hereby extended by the Board of Managers of said Society to Congressman ly. H. Ball for his very kind endorsement of the several applications of the President of this society to the United States Government, which endorsement was necessary for the securing of the cannon and chain; Resolved, That the hearty thanks of the Delaware Society, Sons of the American Revolution be and are hereby extended to Congressman L,. H. Ball for his manifest patri- otic interest in these historic events, which appeal alike to every native Delawarean and every true patriotic American; Resolved, That these Resolutions be entered on the records of the Delaware Society, Sons of the American Revo- lution, and that a framed copy of the same be engrossed and forwarded to Congressman L,. H. Ball in recognition of his valuable services to this Society. ' ' Signed and Delivered on the Third Day of September, Nineteen Hundred and One. HOWARD DeHAVEN ROSS, President. D. BRAINKRD FERRIS, Jr. Secretary. COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS. OF THE COOCH'S BRIDGE MEMORIAL. 65 Chief Justice lyore: "Before leaving, it is befitting that we close these Kxercises with a Benediction which will be pronounced by the Rev. Thomas C. Potter. I will again request that all uncover while receiving the Benediction." BENEDICTION. "The blessing of the God of the Covenant, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, our fathers' God, whom we adore as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be with you all. — Amkn." COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS. Chief Justice Charles B. lyORE, Howard De Haven Ross, J. Wilkins Cooch. 66 PROCEEDINGS A T THE UNVEILING JOINT COMMITTEE. Representing the Patriotic Societies and Citizens of the State of Delaware. CHi:eF Justice; Ch arises B. lyORE, Chairman. Howard De Havkn Ross, Vice- Chairman and Treasurer. Mrs. Elizabeth Ci^arke Churchman, Secretary. Miss Sophia Waples. Mrs. Elizabeth King Anderson. Mrs. Caroline Peterson Speakman. Mrs. Serena J. Hall. Mrs. George C. Hall. Mrs. William M. Drein. Mrs. George H. Raymond. Miss Esther A. Megear. Mrs. Clementina Lee McIlvaine. Mrs. E. Tatnall Warner. Mrs. Charles G. Rumford. Mrs. Charles H. Miller. Miss Anna T. Canby. Col. William A. EaMotte. Spotswood Garland, Esq. Martin Beadenkopf. Rev. Francis M. Munson, IvL,. D. Rev. Joseph Brown Turner. Rev. J. Harry Chesley. Chancellor John R. Nicholson. Hon. J. Wilkins Cooch. Capt. Henry Hobart Bellas, U. S. A. Harry H. Billany. George A. Elliott, Esq. Hon. Harry A. Richardson. Prof. George A. Harter. Prof. A. H. Berlin. Henry C. Conrad, Esq. OF THE COOCH'S BRIDGE MEMORIAL. 67 Subscribers To The Cooch's bridge monument Fund. Delaware Society, Sons of the American Revolution: $113.00 Howard De Haven Ross, President. Martin Badenkopf, Treasurer. Spotswood Garland, Esq. Col. William A. LaMotte. Caleb P. Johnson. Capt. Henry B. Nones, U. S. N. Capt. A. W. Foreman, U. S.V., Manilla, P. I. Jesse Allen Colby, Holly Oak. Dr. B. S. Anderson, Dover, Vice-Preside7it. Ivawrence B. Jones, Registrar. Rev. James I,. Vallandigham, Newark. Calvin C. Thomas. Alexander H. Lord, Baltimore, Md. John C. Harkness. National Society, Sons of the American Revolution: % 10.00 Hon. Walter S. Logan of New York, Presi- dent-General S. A. R., and President Empire State Society, S. A. R. Howard DeHaven Ross, Vice-President-Gen- eral S. A. R., and President Delaware So- ciety, S. A. R. Delaware Society, Daughters of the American Revo- lution: $55- 00 Caesar Rodney Chapter, D. A. R. , Wilmington. John Pettigrew Chapter, D. A. R., Milford. Col. Hazlett Chapter, D. A. R., Dover. Elizabeth Cook Chapter, D. A. R., Smyrna. 68 PROCEEDINGS A T THE UNVEILING Delaware Society, Children of the American Revolu- tion: - - - - $10.00 Howard De Haven Ross, Jr. $ 5-oo Delaware Society, Daughters of the Revolution: $50.00 Mrs. Caroline J. Raymond, State Regent Delaware Society D. R., Smyrna, Delaware. Mrs. Caroline J. Raymond, Regent George Read Chapter, D. R., Smyrna, Delaware. Delaware Junior Auxiliary, Sons and Daughters of the Revolution: $ 5- 00 Miss Esther A. Megear, State Director, Smyrna, Delaware. Society of Colonial Wars in Delaware, - $50.00 The Delaware Society of Colonial Dames of America, $50.00 Historical Society of Delaware, - - $50.00 Delaware State Society of the Cincinnati, - $20.00 Members of the Delaware Bar: - - $20.00 Chief Justice Charles B. I^ore. Francis N. Walker, Esq. lyilburne Chandler, Esq. Herbert H. Ward, Esq. Francis H. Hoffecker, Esq. George A. Elliott, Esq. David J. Reinhardt, Esq. Frank L<. Speakman, Esq. Samuel S. Adams, Jr., Esq. Winfield S. Quigley, Esq. Henry C. Conrad, Esq. Edward W. Cooch, Esq. William P. Kurtz, Esq. OF THE COOCH'S BRIDGE MEMORIAL. 69 Charles W. Smith, Esq. Peter ly. Cooper, Jr. , Esq. WilHam S. Hilles, Esq. John H. Rodney, Esq. J. Harvey Whiteman, Esq. Harry Emmons, Esq. Hugh C. Browne, Esq. The New Century Club of Newark, - - $10.00 Jr. O. U. A. M., of Delaware, - - $64.00 PERSONAL SUBSCRIPTIONS. $iog.oo Mrs. Helen C. Porter, Baltimore, Md. Col. Henry A. duPont, Winterthur. J. Wilkins Cooch, Cooch's Bridge. Thomas J. Craven, Salem, N. J. F. William Curtis, Newark. Miss Anna T. Canby, Wilmington. Mrs. Priscilla H. Richardson, Dover. Mrs. Mary B. Donnell, Newark. Hon. William F. Causey, Milford. Mrs. iVnnie Whitely lyindsey, Wilmington. Miss Sarah H. Balderston, Newark. Miss Georgianna T, Martin, Newark, Miss Hallie H. Martin, Newark. Rev. Thomas C. Potter, Glasgow. Dr. John H. Jamar, Elkton, Md. John W. Dayett, Cooch's Bridge. Dr. John J. Black, New Castle. George W. Williams, Newark. 70 PROCEEDINGS A T THE UNVEILING Dr. George A. Harter, Newark. Mrs. Alice H. Pennewill, Dover. Thomas L. Fleming, Dover. John Casson, Dover. William Saulsbury, Dover. H. I. Beers, Dover. Total Cash Subscriptions, $621.00 Cash Returns from Sale of Official Photographs, $21.25 Cash Rebate from Pennsylvania Rail- road on Freight, $20.79 $42.04 Total Receipts from all sources, $663.04 DONATIONS. Wright & Son Company, Newark, 2 bbl. Cement, @ $3-25, - $6.50 George A. Wolf, Publisher, 30 Official Photographs, @ $.20, $6.00 Cash Value of Donations, $12.50 OF THE COOCH'S BRIDGE MEMORIAL. 71 EXTRACT FROM AN ADDRESS BY J. WILKINS COOCH, Delivered at the Celebration held under the Auspices of the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution, at COOCH'S BRIDGE, SEPTEMBER 22, 1900: "Most writers agree that the first battle in which the flag was used was that of the Brandy wine, ignoring the preliminary fight at Cooch's Bridge. Now if it is an estab- lished fact that the flag was at that battle, I claim that it was first used at Cooch's Bridge, in Delaware, and in support of this theory, present the following: The Encyclopaedia of Delaware says of this fight : ' 'Lord Howe now determined to attack Philadelphia and sailed with a large fleet from New York to the head of Chesapeake Bay, when his army disembarked August 25, 1777. As soon as Washington received intelligence of the arrival of Howe's army in the Chesapeake, he marched his army through Philadelphia to encourage his friends and intimidate the disaffected by its numbers and martial appearance. He halted for a short time at Brandywine, and thence moved to Wilmington, and encamped on the hills around the city. Meantime Howe was marching his army to give him battle. With one division he marched on the 27th of August from the place of debarkation, to Elk, now called Elkton. On the 28th his vanguard occupied Gray's Hill, two miles east of it, while Knyphausen moved by Cecil Court House to 72 PROCEEDINGS AT THE UNVEILING within eight miles of the Christiana, and Grant was left with six battalions to guard the baggage, and keep open communi- cation with the fleet. Generals Cornwallis and Knyphausen united their divisions on the 3d of September at Pencader, being joined on the 8th by General Grant. During this passage of Howe's army through Delaware, they were con- stantly annoyed by the Delaware and Maryland militia under General Rodney, who kept up a continual skirmish with their guards and outposts. A sharp engagement took place at Cooch's Bridge between Cornwallis and General Maxwell's light corps, the latter retreating across the White Clay Creek." From the History of Delaware by Thos. J. Scharf , A. M. : "General Armstrong with the Pennsylvania militia from Wilmington, and General Rodney with the Delaware militia, and Generals Green and Weeden, reconnoitred the country between Wilmington and the head of Elk. Washington proceeded to the scene of operations, and also made a per- sonal reconnoisance before the enemy took up their line of march. On the 3d of September their lines extended from Glasgow, (then called Aikens, or Aikentown,) to Iron Hill. On that day a severe skirmish took place between them, and the Delaware and Maryland militia, near Cooch's Bridge. The Americans lost about 40 in killed and wounded, the British loss is unknown. After this engagement the British burned Cooch's Mills near Iron Hill, and committed many other acts of wanton destruction. Howe advanced from the head of Elk to Elkton, Mary- land, whence he began to move on September 3d, while Washington was still in Wilmington. Howe had 17,000 picked men, and Washington 11,000." OF THE COO CITS BRIDGE MEMORIAL. 73 That General Maxwell's force was a large aud important one, is shown by an extract from a letter from Washington to Brigadier General Rodney, dated Head- Quarters, Wil- mington, 31st August, 1777: ' 'As General Maxwell will want persons well acquainted with the country to remain with him, in the capacity of guides, you will leave him thirty or forty men fit for the busi- ness out of the battalions that are now advancing towards the enemy. These should be select men who have a thorough knowledge of the country, intelHgent and of known attach- ment and fidelity to the American cause. ' ' (This letter in full, is found in Scharf's History of Delaware, Vol. I, page 243)- B. J. lyossing in his History of the Flag, Cyclopaedia of United States History, Vol. I, page 492, says: "It is probable that the National Flag was first unfurled in battle on the banks of the Brandy wine, September 11, 1777." This seems to have been the opinion heretofore most gener- ally accepted by the best authorities. Col. Robert C. Hall, who is recognized as the historian of the U. S. Army, in Vol. Ill, page 465 of MiUtary Essays, delivered before the Commandery of the State of Illinois, Military Order of the Loyal lyCgion, says without hesita- tion that the stars and stripes were first upheld in battle at the Battle of Brandy wine. Through the kindness of G. D. Scull of Oxford, En- gland, the "Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biogra- phy" was furnished with the diary or journal of Captain John Montressor, kept during the Revolutionary war. Cap- tain Montressor was chief of engineers in Howe's army. He was with that army from the time it left New York in 74 PROCEEDINGS A T THE UNVEILING July, 1777, until it reached Philadelphia, September 26th of the same year, during the whole of the campaign. The following is an extract relating to the fight at Cooch's Bridge : "September 3d. Weather fine, but cool early. At daybreak the whole under march, except two brigades with Major General Grant, took the lower road to Christine, by way of Aiken's Tavern, in order to avoid Iron Hill. At this tavern we were to be joined by the troops under General Knyphausen, but did not perceive them. About a mile be- yond the country is close — the woods within shot of the road frequently in front and flank and in projecting points towards the road. Here the rebels began to attack us about 9 o'clock with a continued, irregular fire for nearly two miles. The body of the rebels consisted of 120 men from each of the 6 brigades, making 720 men of what they call their regulars, together with 1,000 militia and Philadelphia Ivight Horse; but the 720 men who were principally engaged were opposed by the Chasseurs and i battalion of lyight Infantry only; the other battalion of infantry, which was sent to surround the rebels, through some mistake was led so far to our right as to find an impassable swamp be- tween them and the army, which prevented this little spirited affair becoming so decisive. The rebels left about twenty dead, among which was a Captain of Lord Sterling's Regiment. We had three men killed and twenty wounded, amongst whom was I^ieut. Haldane, Engineer, and three more ofl&cers. The rebel deserters since come in say they lost five Captains. This body of the enemy was commanded by General Maxwell. At 2 the whole encamped. Head- quarters, Aiken's Tavern. L,ord Cornwallis to Cooch's Mill OF THE COOCH'S BRIDGE MEMORIAL. 75 on the little Christiana where the rebels had a post this morning which we drove them from." "September 4th. Pioneers employed in burying the rebels, more being found in the woods. Two of them, Captains Dallas and Cummings, lay just beyond the bridge at Cooch's Mill." To sum up our contention, we find that Washington marched through Philadelphia with 11,000 men where he had received the flags for his army, and passing through Wilmington, the main body encamped near Newport; that General Maxwell with a large force, so large that it required thirty to forty guides, was sent on to intercept the British army; that he met them under Cornwallis at Cooch's Bridge where a sharp engagement took place September 3d, eight days before the Battle of Brandy wine, where the same Gen- eral Maxwell led the fight. Certainly it is reasonable to believe that so important a division as Maxwell's had a flag, and that it must have been used for the first time in battle at Cooch's Bridge." EXTRACT FROM A LETTER OF MAJOR WILLIAM WAYNE OF WAYNKSBOROUGH, PA. President-General of the Society of the Cincinnati: "For 123 years, Brandy wine has rested in the belief that she had given to the flag its baptism in blood, but now it seems she must yield to the claim of Cooch's Bridge, and from the little data that I can lay my hands upon, more than likely it will make good its claim." 76 PROCEEDINGS AT THE UNVEILING EXTRACT FROM A LETTER OF COLONEL FRANCIS C. HOOTON OF WEST CHKSTKR, PA. One of the Authorities on the History of the Battle of Brandy wine: ' ' Our claim is that the Stars and Stripes were first carried in a general engagement at Birmingham. I have no doubt that the flag was carried in the skirmishes which took place between the British and Americans after the landing of the British at the head of Elk and that the flag was in evidence at Cooch's Bridge. General Hall states that there can be no question but that it was first carried in a real battle at Brandy wine." LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 011 801 942 8