Class Book. Na GopyrightN^. COPYRrCHT DEPOSrr V COMMODORE PERRY AT THE BATTLE ON LAKE ERIE. OUR COUNTRY BEING A STANDARD HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES AND ISLAND POSSESSIONS FROM THE Discovery of the American Continent to the Present Time CONTAINING ACCOUNTS OF THE DISCOVERIES AND EXPLORATIONS OF THE NORSEMEN, SPANIARDS, ENGLISH AND FRENCH; THE MOUND BUILDERS; THE AMERICAN INDIANS; THE SETTLEMENT OF THE NEW WORLD; THE FRENCH AND JNDIAN WARS; THE bTRUGGLE OF THE REVOLUTION Xhe Establishment of the A"^^"^^" {Republic THE SECOND WAR WITH ENGLAND; THE MEXICAN WAR; THE LONG PERIOD OF PEACE; THE HISTORY OF THE GREAT CIVIL WAR; THE CENTENNIAL OF AMERICAN INDE- PENDENCE, WITH VALUABLE STATISTICS FROM THE LATEST CENSUS; THE CUBAN AND VENEZUELAN QUESTIONS; THE POLITICAL ISSUES AND STRUGGLES; THE WAR WITH SPAIN AND ALL IMPORTANT EVENTS DOWN TO THE PRESENT TIME The Complete Story of the United States of America By henry davenport NORTHROP THE WELL-KNOWN HISTORIAN EMBELLISHED WITH NEARLY 500 SUPERB ENGRAVINGS National Publishing Company 239 TO 243 South American Street Philadelphia, Pa. THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, Two CoKifcs Received JUN. 18 1901 Copyright emthy CLASS CU XXc. N». COPY B. ENTERED ACCORDING TO ACT OF CONGRESS, IN THE VEAH 1901, BY D. Z. HOWELL IN THE OFFICE OF THE LIBRARIAN OF CONGRESS, AT WASHINGTON, D. C, O. 8. A, f *nf DEDICATION TO the memory of that bold mariner, who, four hundred years ago, discovered the Western Continent; and the brave colonists who sacrificed the pleasures and comforts of the old world to undergo the privations, and face the dangers of an unknown wilderness; To the memory of the Pilgrim Fathers who planted the seeds of freedom on American Soil; and the Revolutionary heroes who secured liberty for the most patriotic people, and laid the foundations of the greatest nation in all the annals of time; To those brave defenders and noble citizens who have preserved and fostered the growth of our model institutions, made possible our wonderful progress and fortified the bulwarks of our strength in this **Land of the Free and Home of the Brave, *' entitling our Great Country to sit upon the Throne among Nations as the Queen of Republics, This Volume is Patriotically DEDICATED RY THE AUTHC» t>' PREFACE. THERE is nothing more worthy of a man's study than the history of his country. In our own land, how- ever, the means of pursuing such a study are Hmited. Our great cities contain large and valuable public libraries, and the co-Uections of our historical societies are rich and very complete ; but these are accessible only to the communities in which they are located, and are practically useless to the majority of the American people. The great works of Bancroft and Hildreth cover but a portion of our history, and are removed from the reach of the masses by reason of their costliness. Besides these, the larger number of the works treating of American history are compendiums, or outlines intended for the use of schools, and are therefore unsatisfac- tory to the adult reader. The demand for a popular History of the United States which shall fill a place between these greater and smaller works has led the author to the preparation of this volume. He has endeavored to popularize the story of the nation, and at the same time to neglect noth- ing that could in the least contribute to a clear and comprehensive understanding of the subject. He has sought to trace the his- tory of the Republic from the discovery of the American continent to the present day, and has endeavored especially to fix the attention of the reader upon the various influ- ences which have aided in moulding our national character, and have produced our distinctive political and moral national traits He has endeavored to write from a. broad national standpoint, and to cultivate in the minds of his readers that feeling of national patriotism which must ever be the safeguard of our country. It is a fitting time to consider the story of the past, to learn the lessons which it teaches, and to ponder the warnings which it conveys for the future. Four hundred years ago America was an unknown wilderness. Less than three centuries ago it passed into the hands of England, and was thus secured for the language and the free influences of the all-conquering Anglo-Saxon race. It was a precious heritage which was thus secured for liberty ; a land stretching from the frozen regions of the north to the sunny skies of the tropics, from the stormy Atlantic to the calm Pacific ; a land embracing every variety of climate, and a soil capable of producing almost every product of the earth, from the stunted herbage of the frozen regions to the luxuriant fruits of the tropics. The earth is rich in mineral deposits, from the homely, but invaluable, veins of coal, to bedr of the most brilliant and precious minerals It pours out in streams, oil for burning, ga that may be used fresh from the natura springs, salt that requires but the heat of th< ■ sun for its perfection, and beds of pure soda that cover the earth like the dust in the high- ways. In short, all that is needed for the pres- ervation and comfort of animal and human life exists in this favored land in the greatest profusion. VI PREFACE. Such is the land designed by God for the home of liberty. The people to whom He has intrusted it have not abused His good- ness. In the short space of two centuries, the American people have grown from a small handful of hardy adventurers to a "mighty continental nation," increasing with a rapidity that is almost marvellous. They have built up their country on a scale of magnificence of which they are justly proud. They have covered it with powerful and free States, and splendid cities, connected by a network of railways, telegraphs, navigable rivers, and canals, which bind all the scat- tered parts into one solid whole. They have made a commerce and a system of manufac- tures before which the fabled wealth of Tyre sinks into insignificance. They have created a literature which commands the respect of the world ; they have illustrated their history with deeds of arms not less splendid than their more peaceful achievements, and have given to the world names in every walk of life that will never die. They have shown that liberty and power can go hand in hand ; they have made themselves a nation in which God is feared, and of which Christianity is the basis, in which ignorance and vice are des- pised, and in which the great lesson that lib- erty is possible only to an educated and virtuous people is being practical'y demon- strated. This is a grand history — a record of the highest achievement of humanity — the noblest, most thrilling, and glorious story ever penned on earth. Yet the fact remains that the great mass of the American people are but imperfectly acquainted with it. There is a real need that we should know better than we do what we have done. It is only by a thoughtful study of our past that we can safely provide for the perils of the future. We have triumphed over adversity, and we are now called upon to bear the test of suc- cess. He can be no good citizen who is ignorant of his country's history. In the preparation of this volume, no authority of importance has been overlooked; the author has carefully searched every source of information open to him ; and has availed himself of every fact that could throw new light upon, or impart additional interest to, the subject under consideration. In the narration of military events, he has preferred to give each campaign as a whole rather than to mingle several by presenting the events in chronological order. At the same time he has sought to preserve the inter-relation of events in one field of opera- tions to those in the others. The book is offered to the public in the sincere hope that it may induce its readers to take to heart the lessons which our history teaches, and to set a higher value upon the precious heritage of constitutional liberty which our fathers won for us with their blood, and handed down to us in trust for our chil- dren's children. CONTENTS. BOOK I. , Discovery of the Western Continent. CHAPTER I. Strange People in a Strange Land. PAGE Earliest Inhabitants of the United States — The Mound Builders — Remarkable Works Constructed by Them — Evidences of a Primitive Civilization — Indications of the Antiquity of this Period — A Re- markable Cherokee — Who Were the Mound Build- ers — Ancient Phoenicians — False Assumption — The American Indians — Divisions of the Country Among the Tribes — Names and Location of the Various Tribes — Organization and Government of the In- dians — Their Dress, Manners and Customs — Vil- lages — Indian Inventions — The War Dance — Le- gends of the Norsemen Respecting the Discovery of America 17 CHAPTER n. The Voyages of Columbus. Maritime Enterprise in the Fifteenth Century — The- ories Respecting the Earth's Surface — Christopher Columbus — His Early Life — His Theory of a West- ern Passage to India — His Struggles to Obtain the Means of Making a Voyage — Is Aided by Ferdi- nand and Isabella of Spain — His First Voyage — Discovery of America — Reception in Spain — His Second Voyage — Settlement of Hayti — Third Voy- age of Columbus — He Reaches the Mainland — Dis- covery of Gold in Hayti — Troubles in the Colony — Columbus Sent to Spain in Irons — Indignation of the Queen — Last Voyage of Columbus — His Ship- wreck — Returns to Spain — Refusal of Ferdinand to Comply with His Promises — Death of Columbus — Amerigo Vespucci — Origin of the Name America 32 CHAPTER HI. English and French Discoveries. Discovery of the North American Continent by John Cabot — Voyages of Sebastian Cabot — The English Fail to Follow Up these Discoveries —Efforts of the French to Explore America — Voyage and Discov- eries of Verrazzani — Cartier Explores the St. Law- rence — Reaches Montreal — Efforts to Found a Col- ony on the St. Lawrence — Failure — Roberval's Colony — Trading Voyages — Explorations of Cham- plain — Colonization of Nova Scotia — Founding of Quebec — Discovery of Lake Champlain — Arrival of the Jesuits in Canada — Death of Champlain ... 43 CHAPTER IV. The Spaniards in America. Settlement of the West Indies — Discovery of the Pa- cific Ocean — Voyage of Magellan — Discovery of Florida — Ponce de Leon's Search for the Fountain of Youth — Vasquez de Ayllon Kidnaps a Cargo of Indians — Effort of Pamphilo de Narvaez to Con- quer Florida — A Terrible March — The Voyage on the Gulf of Mexico — Fate of the Fleet — Escape of Cabeza de Vaca and His Comrades — Discovery of New Mexico — Ferdinand de Soto — Obtains Leave to Conquer Florida — Sails from Spain — .\rrival in Cuba — Departure for Florida — Landing at Tampa Bay — Events of the First Year — De Soto Enters Georgia — Descends the Alabama — Battle of Ma- villa — Destruction of Chickasaw — Sufferings of the Spaniards — Discovery of the Mississippi — The Spaniards Cross the Great River — De Soto in Ar- kansas — Reaches the Mississippi Again — Sickness and Death of De Soto — His Burial — Escape of His Followers to Mexico — The Huguenot Colony in Carolina — Its Failure — The French Settle in Florida — Wrath of Philip II. — Melendez Ordered to Exterminate the Huguenots — Foundation of St. Augustine — Massacre of the French at Fort Caro- lina — The Vengeance of De tjourges 5c CHAPTER V. The First English Colony. The English Claim to America — Voyages of Fra bisher — Exploits of Sir Francis Drake — Sir Humph rey Gilbert — Intends to found a Colony in America — Is lost at Sea — Sir Walter Raleigh obiains a Pat- ent of Colonization — Discoveries of Amidas and vii VI 11 CONTENTS. Barlow — Raleigh sends out a Colony to Virginia — Settlement on Roanoke Island— Its Failure — Arri- Tal of Grenville— Second Effort of Raleigh to Colo- nize Virginia — Roanoke Island again Settled — The " City of Raleigh " — Virginia Dare — Fate of the oolony — Death of Raleigh — Other Voyages of the English 63 BOOK II. Settlement of America. / CHAPTER VI. Captain John Smith and Pocahontas. Formation of the London Company — Conditions of its Charter — Departure of the first Colony — Quarrels during the Voyage — Arrival in the Chesapeake — Settlement of Jamestown — Formation of the Gov- ernment — Character of Captain John Smith — Ex- ploration of the James River — Newport and Smith visit Powhatan — Smith Admitted to the Govern- ment — Explores the Chickahominy — Is Captured and Sentenced to Death — Is Saved by Pocahontas — Gains the Friendship of Powhatan for the Colony ■ — Returns to Jamestown — His Decisive Measures — Return of Newport — Smith Explores the Chesa- peake Bay — The new Emigrants — Smith compels them to Labor — Smith is Wounded and compelled to return to England — Disasters to the Colony — Ar- rival of Sir Thomas Gates — Jamestown Abandoned — Arrival of Lord Delaware — The Return t6 James- town — A Change for the Better — New Settlements - — Sir Thomas Gates arrives with Reinforcements — Capture of Pocahontas by Captain Argall — She is Baptized — Marries John Rolfe — Sir Thomas Dale's Administration — Yeardley Governor — The first Leg- islative Assembly — Representative Government es- tablished in America — The Colonists obtain Wives — Changes in the Government 73 CHAPTER VII. Progress of the Virginia Colony. Introduction of Negro Slavery into Virginia — Efforts of the Assembly to Restrict Slavery — The Indians At- tempt the Destruction of the Colony — Terrible Suf- ferings of the Whiles — Aid from England — The Indian War Begun— King James Revokes the Char- ter of the London Company — Charles I. Desires a Monopoly of the Tobacco Trade — Action of the Assembly — Sir William Berkeley's First Adminis- tration — Severe Measures against Dissenters — Close of the Indian War — Death of Opcchancanough — Emigration of Royalists to Virginia — Virginia and and the Commonwealth — Treaty with England — The Assembly Asserts its Independence of the Gov- ernor — The Restoration — Berkeley Chosen Gover- nor by the Assembly — His Hypocrisy 8> CHAPTER VIII. Virginia After the Restoration. Characteristics of the Virginians — Causes of the Suc- cess of the Royalists — Growth of the Aristocratic Class — Berkeley decides against the People — The Aristocratic Assembly Claims the Right to sit Per- petually — Deprives the Common People of their Liberties — Revival of the Navigation Act by Charles II. — The King bestows Virginia as a Gift upon his Favorites — Protests of the Assembly — Growing Hos- tility of the Virginians to the Colonial Government — The Indian War — The Governor Refuses to allow the Colonists to Defend themselves — Nathaniel Ba- con — He Marches against the Indians — Rebellion of the People against Berkeley and the Assembly — The Convention — Repeal of the Obnoxious Laws — Berkeley's Duplicity — The People take up Arms — Flight of Berkeley — Destruction of Jamestown — Death of Bacon — Causes of the Failure of the Rebel- lion — Berkeley's Triumph — Execution of the Patriot Leaders — Berkeley's Course Condemned by the King — Death of Berkeley — The Unjust Laws Re- enacted — Lord Culpepper Governor — His Extor- tions — James II. and Virginia — Effects upon Vir- ginia of the Revolution of 1688 — William and Mary College Founded 98 CHAPTER IX. The Colonization of Maryland. Extent of the Territory of Virginia — Clayborn's Trad- ing-Posts established — Sir George Calvert, Lord Baltimore — Becomes interested in American coloni- zation — Obtains a Grant of Maryland — Terms of th« Charter — A Colony sent out — Arrival in the Chesapeake— St. Mary's Founded — Charter of the Colony — Friendly Relations established with the Indians — First Legislature of Maryland — Trouble with Clayborne— Rapid Growth of the Colony — Progress of Popular Liberty — Policy respecting the Treatment of the Indians — Clayborne's Rebellion — Law granting Religious toleration enacted — Condi- tion of Maryland under the Commonwealth — The People declared Supreme — Lord Baltimore re- covers his Proprietary Rights — Characteristics of the Colony — Rapid Increase in Population — Charles Calvert, Governor — Death of the s'^cond Lord CONTENTS. ix Baltimore — Roman Catholics disfranchised — Mary- land becomes a Royal Province — Triumph of the Protestants — Annapolis made the Seat of Govern- ment — Restoration of the Proprietary Government — Continued Prosperity of Maryland Ill CHAPTER X. The Pilgrim Fathers. Rise of the Puritans — Their Increase in England — They are Persecuted by the English Church and Government — Conduct of James I. — His Hatred of Puritanism — Puritans take Refuge in Holland — The Congregation of John Robinson — They Escape to Holland — The Pilgrims — their Sojourn at Leyden — They wish to Emigrate to Virginia — Failure of their Negotiations with the London Company — They form a Partnership in England — A Hard Bargain — Departure of the Pilgrims from Holland — Voyage of the " Mayflower " — Arrival in New England — The Agreement on board the " Mayflower" — Car- ver chosen Governor — Settlement of Plymouth — The first Winter in New England — Sufferings of the Pilgrims — Arrival of new Emigrants — Continued Suffering — Assignment of Lands — Friendly In- tercourse with Indians — Samoset and Squanto — Visit of Massasoit — A Threat of War — Bradford's Defiance — Weston's Men — A Narrow Escape — The Colonists Purchase the Interests of their English Partners — Lands Assigned in Fee Simple — The Colony Benefited by the Change — Government of Plymouth — Steady Growth of the Colony .... 121 CHAPTER XI. Settlement of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Settlement of New Hampshire — The English Puritans determine to form a new Colony in America — The Plymouth Council — A Colony sent out to Salem under Endicott — Colonization of Massachusetts Bay begun — A Charter obtained — Concessions of the King — Progress of the Salem Colony — The Charter and Government of the Colony removed to New England — Arrival of Governor Winthrop — Settlement of Boston — Sufferings of thd Colonists — Roger Williams — His Opinions give offence to the Authorities — The Success of the Bay Colony Estab- lished — Growth of Popular Liberty — The Ballot Box — Banishment of Roger Williams — He goes into the Wilderness — Founds Providence — Growth of Williams's Colony — C nued Growth of Massa- chusetts — Arrival of Sir Henry Vane — Is elected Governor — Mrs. Anne Hutchinson — The Antino- mian Controversy — Mrs. Hutchinson banished — Settlement of Rhode Island — Murder of Mrs. Hutchinson , . , , 138 CHAPTER Xn. Colonization of Connecticut. PAGB TLe Dutch claim the Connecticut Valley — They build a Fort at Hartford — Governor Winslow makes a Lodgment in Connecticut for the English — With- drawal of the Dutch — The First Efforts of the Eng- lish to Settle Connecticut — Emigration of Hooker and his Congregation — They Settle at Hartford — Winthrop builds a Fort at Saybrook — Hostility of the Indians — Visit of Roger Williams to Miantono- moh — A Brave Deed — The Pequod War — Capture of the Indian Fort — Destruction of the Pequod Tribe — Effect of this War upon the other Tribes — Connecticut Adopts a Constitution — Its Peculiar Features — Settlement of New Haven »)i; CHAPTER Xni. The Union of the New England Colonies. Feeling of the Colonies towards England — Hostility of the English Government to New England — Efforts to Introduce Episcopacy — Massachusetts Threatens Resistance — The Revolution in England — Estab- lishment of Free Schools in New England — Har- vard College — The Printing Press — The Long Par- liament Friendly to New England — The United Colonies of New England — Rhode Island obtains a Charter — Maine Annexed to Massachusetts — The Quakers are Persecuted — Efforts to Christianize the Indians — John Eliot, the Apostle to the Indians . . 1 57 CHAPTER XIV. New England After the Restoration. Arrival of the News of the Restoration of Charles II. — The Regicides in New England — They are Pro- tected — Revival of the Navigation Acts — Effect of this Measure upon the New England Colonies — Massachusetts delays the Proclamation of the King — Connecticut obtains a Charter — Union of New Haven with the Connecticut Colony — Rhode Island given a new Charter — Massachusetts settles her diffi- culties with the Crown — Changes in the Govern- ment — High-handed acts of the Royal Commission- ers — Troubles with the Indians — Injustice of the Whites — King Philip's War — A Forest Hero — An Incident in the Attack upon Hadley — Sufferings of the Colonies — Destruction of the Narragansetts — Death of Philip — Close of the War — England asserii her right to Tax the Colonies — Massachusetts buys Gorges' claims to Maine — New Hampshire made a separate Province — James II. Revokes the Charter of Massachusetts — Dudley and Randolph in New England— Andros appointed Governor-General — CONTENTS. His Tyranny — He demands the Charter of Connect- icut — It is carried away and Hidden — The Charter Oak— Fall of James II.— The people of Massachu- setts take up Arms — Andros arrested — Effects of the Revolution upon New England i66 CHAPTER XV. Witchcraft in Massachusetts. Reinlts of the Failure of Massachusetts to Resume her Charter — The New Charter — Loss of the Liberties of the Colony — Union of Plymouth with Massachu- setts Bay — Belief m Witchcraft — The History of Witchcraft in Massachusetts — The Case of the Good- win Children — Cotton Mather espouses the Cause of ♦be Witches — Samuel Parris — Pie Originates the Sa- lem Delusion — A Strange History — A Special Court Appointed for the Trial of the Witches — The Vic- tims — Execution of the Rev. George Burroughs — Cotton Mather's Part in the Tragedies — The Gen- eral Court takes Action in behalf of the People — End of the Persecution — Failure of Cotton Mather's Attempt to Save his Credit 182 CHAPTER XVI. The Settlement of New York. Voyages of Henry Hudson — He is Employed by the Dutch — Discovei-y of the Hudson River — Early Dutch Voyages — Adrian Block — Fate of Hudson — The Dutch build a Fort on Manhattan Island — Set- tlement of New Amsterdam — The Province named New Netherlands — Fort Nassau — Peter Minuits Governor — The Dutch Settlement of Delav\are — Wouter Van Twiller — Kieft Governor — His Unjust Treatment of the Indians — Massacre of the Indians at Hoboken — The Indian War — Stuyvesant Ap- pointed Governor — Disputes M'ith the English in Connecticut — The Swedes Settle Delaware — Stuy- vesant Captures the Swedish Forts — Growth of New Amsterdam — Disputes between the People and Gov- ernor — Growing Spirit of Popular Liberty — The People Appeal to the States General — Capture of New Netherlands by the English — The Name of the Province changed to New York — Results of the English Conquest — Progress of New Jersey — An- dros Governor of New York — He Fails to Establish his Authority over Connecticut — New York allowed an Assembly — Discontents of the People — Leisler's Rebellion — Execution of Leisler and Milbourne — Fletcher Governor — His Attempt to obtain Com- mand of the Connecticut Militia — Episcopacy Es- tablished in New York — The Freedom of the Press Sustained — New Jersey a Royal Province .... 193 CHAPTER XVn. Colonization of Pennsylvania. PAGr The Quakers — Their Origin and Doctrines — William Penn — Becomes a Quaker — Is Persecuted for his Religious Opinions — Becomes interested in Ameri- can Colonization — Purchases West Jersey from the Proprietor — Conceives the Idea of Founding a Free State in America — Purchases Pennsylvania from Charles II. — Conditions of his Charter — Sends out a Colony — Arrival of Penn in America — Philadel- phia Founded — Penn's Treaty with the Indians — Religious Toleration Guaranteed — Penn's Relations with his Colonists — Rapid Growth of Pennsylvania in Population and Prosperity — William Penn and James II. — Renewal of Penn's Troubles — William III. Declares Pennsylvania a Royal Province — Penn is Vindicated and Restored to his Proprietary Rights — His Return to Pennsylvania — Character of the Settlers of the Province — Penn Goes Back to England — Efforts to deprive him of his Possessions — His Death 2ij CHAPTER XVni. Settlement of the Carolinas. Gradual Settlement of North Carolina from Virginia — Charles II. grants Carolina to Clarendon and others — The " Grand Model " — An Ideal Aristocracy Proposed for Carolina — The Authority of the Pro- prietariaa Established in North Carolina — Con- tinued Settlement of that Region — Characteristics of the Early Settlers of North Carolina — The People Reject the Grand Model — Hostility of England to the Colonial Commerce — Insurrection in North Carolina — Slothel Governor — Settlement of South CaroRna — Charleston Founded — The Proprietary Constitutions Rejected by South Carolina — Rapid Growth of the Colony — Introduction of Slavery — Chracteristics of the Early Settlers of South Carolina — Efforts to Enforce the Navigation Acts — Resis- tance of the People — The Proprietaries Abandon their Constitutions — Archdale's Reforms — Religious Intolerance — Eatablishment of the Church of Eng- land in South Carolina — Action of the Crown — Continued Prosperity of South Carolina — Governor Moore Attacks St. Augustine — Failure of the Effort — The Spaniards are Repulsed in an Attempt to Capture Charleston — Indian War in North Caro- lina — The Tuscaroras Driven Northward — War with the Yemmassees — Destruction of their Power — Separation of the Carolinas 22? CONTENTS. CHAPTER XIX. Settlement of Georgia. PAGB General James Edward Oglethorpe — His Efforts to Reform Prison Discipline of England — Proposes to Found a .Co ony in America for the IV or and for Prisoners for Debt — A Charter Obtained from the King — Colonization of Georgia — Savannah Settled —First Years of the Colony — Labors of Oglethorpe !«— Arrival of New^ Emigrants — Augusta Founded — The Moravian Settlements — The Wesleys in Amer- ica — George Whitefield — War between England and Spain — Oglethorpe Invades Florida — Failure of the Attack upon St. Augustine — The Spaniards In- vade Georgia — Oglethorpe's Stratagem — Its Success —Battle of" Bloody Marsh " — Close of the War — Charges against Oglethorpe — His Vindication — His Return to Europe — Changes in the Colonial Government — Introduction of Slavery into Georgia — Prosperity of the Colony 241 CHAPTER XX. The French in the Valley of the Mississippi. Origin of the Hostility of the Iriquois to the French — Settlement of Canada — Plans of the French res- pecting the Indians — The Jesuits — Their Work in America — Success of their Missions — The Early Missionaries — Foundation of a College at Quebec — Efforts of the Jesuits to Convert the Iroquois— Father Jogues — Death of Ahasistari — Father Allouez — The Missions on the Upper Lakes — Father Marquette — His Exploration of the Upper Mississippi — Death of Marquette — La Salle — Efforts of France to Secure the Valley of the Missis- sippi — La Salle Descends the Mississippi to its Mouth — His Effort to Colonize the Lower Missis- sippi — The First Colony in Texas — Its Failure Death of La Salle — Lemoine d'lbberville — Settle- ment of Louisiana — Colony of Biloxi — Settlement Mobile — Crozat's Monopoly — Founding of New Orleans — Detroit Founded — Slow Growth of the French Colonies — Occupation of the Ohio Valley by the French — Wars with the Indians — Exter- mination of the Natchez Tribe — War with the Chickasaws 251 CHAPTER XXI. Conflicts Between the English and French. Relations Between the English and the Five Nations — The Hostility of the Latter to the French — King William's War — Destruction of Dover — The Jesuit Missionaries Incite the Indians to Attack the Eng- lish — Expedition against Quebec — Attack on Dus- tin's Farm — Peace of Ryswick — Hostility of the English to Roman CathoUcs — Queen Anne's War — Burning of Deerfield — Eunice Williams — Cruel- ties of the French — Effort of New England to Con- quer Acadia — Capture of Port Royal — Failure of the Expedition against Quebec — King George's War — Expedition against Louisburg — Its Composi- tion — Arrival of the Fleet at Cape Breton — Good Conduct of the Provincials — Capture of Louisburg — Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle — Unjust Treatment of the Colonies by England — Sentiment of the Ameri- cans towards England 263 BOOK III. The French and Indian ^A^a^. CHAPTER XXII. Outbreak of Hostilities. England Claims the Valley of the Ohio — Organiza- tion of the Ohio Company — The French Extend their Posts into the Ohio Country — Washington's Mission to the French at Fort Duquesne — His Jour- ney — Reception by the French — His Journey Home — A Perilous Undertaking — Organization of the Virginia Forces — Washington Made Second in Command — The French Drive the English from the Head of the Ohio — Fort Duquesne Built by Them — Washington Crosses the Mountains — The Fight at Great Meadows — Beginning of the French and In- dian War — Surrender of Fort Necessity to the French — Unjust Treatment of the Colonial Officers --Congress of the Colonies at New York — Frank- lin's Plan of a Union of the Colonies — Its Failure — ■ Reasons of the British Government for Rejecting It — England Assumes the Direction of the War — Ar- rival of General Braddock-^Plan of Campaign — Obstinacy of Braddock — He Passes the Mountains — Defeat of Braddock — Heroism of Washington — Retreat of Dunbar beyond the Mountains — Vigor- ous Action of Pennsylvania — Armstrong Defeats the Indians and Burns the Town of Kittanning . . . 2'/t CHAPTER XXIII. Sanguniary Struggles on the Frontier. Expedition against Acadia — Brutal Treatment of the Acadians — They Are Expelled from their Country — A Sad Story — Fate of the Acadians — Johnson at Lake George — March of Dieskau — Battle of Lake George — Failure of Shirley's Expedition — Arrival of the Earl of Loudon — Montcalm in Canada — Xll CONTENTS. Capture of Oswego by the French— Outrages of the Eail of Loudon upon New York and I'hiiadelphia — Expedition against Louisburg — How the Earl of Loudon Beat the French — Capture of Fort William Henry by Montcalm — Massacre of the Prisoners by the Indians — Efforts of Montcalm to Save Them — Ttie Royal Officers Attempt to Cover Their Failures by Outraging the Colonies , . . . 298 CHAPTER XXIV. End of the French and Indian War. Change for the Better — William Pitt Prime Minister — Vigorous Measures Adopted — Recall of the Earl of Loudon — Captin-e of Louisburg — Abercrombie on Lake George — Advances against Ticonderoga — Death of Lord Howe — Failure of the English At- tack upon Ticonderoga — Disgraceful Conduct of Abercrombie — His Retreat — Capture of Fort Fron- tenac — Advance of General Forbes — Grant's Defeat • — TheVirginians Again Save the Regulars— Capture of Fort Duquesne — Washington Retires from the Army — Ticonderoga and Crown Point Occupied by the English — Capture of Fort Niagara — The Expe- dition against Quebec — Failure of the First Opera- tions — Despondency of Wolfe — He Discovers a Landing-place — The Army Scales the Heights of Abraham— Montcalm's Surprise— Battle of the Plains of Abraham' — Death of Wolfe — Defeat of the French — Death of Montcalm — Surrender of Quebec — Capture of Montreal — Treaty of Paris — Canada Ceded to England — France Loses all Her American Possessions — The Cherokee War — Hostility of the Indians to the English — Pontiac's W^ar — Death of Poniiac — Bouquet Relieves Fort Duquesne — Results of the War 309 BOOK IV. The American Revolution. CHAPTER XXV. Causes of the Struggle for Independence. ^justice of Great Britain towards Her Colonies — The Navigation Acts — Effects of these Laws upon the Colonies — Great Britain Seeks to Destroy the Man- ufactures of America — Writs of Assistance — They Are Opposed — Home Manufactures Encouraged by the Americans — Ignorance of Englishmen Concern- ing America — Great Britain Claims the Right to Tax America — Resistance of the Colonists — Samuel Adams — The Parsons' Cause — Patrick Henry — England Persists in Her Determination to Tax Amer- ica — Passage of the Stamp Act — Resistance of the Colonists — Meeting of the First Colonial Congress — Its Action — William Pitt — Repeal of the Stamp Act — Franklin before the House of Commons- New Taxes Imposed upon America — Increased Re- sistance of the Colonies — Troops Quartered in Bos- ton — The " Massacre " — The Non-Importation As- sociation — Growth of Hostility to England — Burn- ing of the " Gaspe" — The Tax on Tea Retained by the King — Destruction of Tea at Boston — Wrath of the British Government — Boston Harbor Closed —Troops Quartered in Boston— The Colonists Come to the Assistance of Boston — Action of the Virginia Assembly — General Gage in Boston — The Regulat- ing Act — Its Failure — Gage Seizes the Massachu- setts Powder — Uprising of the Colony — Meeting of the Continental Congress — Its Action — Addresses to the King and People of England — The Earl of Chatham'slndorsement of Congress — The King Re- mains Stubborn 327 CHAPTER XXVI. Progress of the War. Gage fortifies Boston Neck — He Summons the Gen- eral Court — Recalls his Proclamation — The Provin- cial Congress of Massachusetts — It takes Measures for Defence — The Militia Organized — The Minute Men — Friends of America in England — Gage re- solves to seize the Stores at Concord — Midnight March of the British Troops — The Alarm given — vSkirmishes at Lexington and Concord — Retreat of the British — A Terrible March — Uprising of New England — Boston Invested — Dunmore seizes the Virginia Powder — Is made to pay for it — Uprising of the Middle and Southern Colonies — The Meck- lenburg Declaration of Independence — Capture of Ticonderoga and Crown Point — Meeting of the Sec- ond Cantinental Congress — Congress resolves to sus- tain Massachusetts — Renewed Efforts for Peace — Congress Assumes the General Government of the Colonies — A Federal Union Organized — Its Charac- ter — A Continental Army formed — George Wash- ington Appointed Commander-in-chief — General Officers Appointed — Condition of the Army before Boston — Inaction of Gage — Battle of Breed's Hill — A Glorious Defence — The Battle Equivalent to a Victory in its Effects upon the Country — Arrival of Washington at Cambridge — He takes Command of the Ai-my — He Reorganizes the Army — Difficulties of the Undertaking — The Invasion of Canada Re- solved upon — March of Montgomery and Arnold — Rapid Successes of Montgomery — He Captures CONTENTS. xin Montreal — March of Arnold through the Wilder- ness — Arrival before Quebec- -Forms a Junction with Montgomery — The Siege of Quebec — The Ice Forts — Failure of the Attack — Death of Montgom- ery — Retreat of the Americans from Canada — Lord Dunmore's War in Virginia — Destruction of Nor- folk — The Thirteen United Colonies — Burning of Falmouth — Naval Matters — Action of Great Britain —The War to be carried on — The Hessians . . . 354 CHAPTER XXYII. The Declaration of Independence. The Siege of Boston — Difficulties of the American Army — Activity of the Privateers — Clinton's Expe- tion — Colonel Knox arrives from Ticonderoga with Cannon — Seizure of Dorchester Heights by Wash- ington — The British Evacuate Boston — Royalist Plots in New York — Paper Money Issued by Con- gress — Gates sent to the North — The British Attack Charleston — Battle of Fort Moultrie — The Howes in New York Bay — Change in the Character of the W^ar — Growing Sentiment in Favor of Independence — — Virginia Proposes the Colonies Assert their Inde- pendence — Action of Congress — The Declaration of Independence — Articles of Confederation Adopted by Congress — Lord Howe's Efforts at Conciliation — \ddresses a Letter to Washington — Battle of Long /sland — Defeat of the Americans— Retreat from Long Island — Evacuation of New York by the Americans — Loss of Fort Washington — Washington Retreats through New Jersey — He Crosses the Del- aware — Darkest Period of the War — Washington's Determination to Continue the War — Lord Howe's Proclamation — Its Effect — Congress at Baltimore — Carleton invades New York — Defeats Arnold on Lake Champlain — Carleton Retires into Canada — Battle of Trenton — Happy Effects of the Victory -Congress confers Dictatiorial Powers upon Wash iHgton — Commissioners sent to France ..... 377 CHAPTER XXVIII. The Year 1777. lowe Attempts to Crush Washington — Battle 01 Princeton — The British Confined to the Seaboard — Recovery of New Jersey — The American Army in Winter Quarters at Morristown — Effects of the American Successes — Difficulty of Procuring Troops — ^Washington Refuses to Exchange Prisoners — His Course Approved by Congress — Measures of Con- gress — Naval Affairs — Tryon Burns Danbury — Gal- lantry of Arnold — -Troubles in the Northern Depart- ment — Congress Adopts a National Flag — "The Stars and Stripes" — Course of France towards the United States — France Decides to Assist the Amer icans — Lafayette — His Arrival in America — Capture of the British General Prescott — Howe Threatens Philadelphia — Washington Moves Southward — Battle of the Brandy wine — Washington Retreats to the Schuylkill — Wayne's Defeat at Paoli — Philadel- phia Exacuated by the Americans — It Is Occupied by the British — Battle of Germantown — The British Attack the Forts on the Delaware — They Are Aban- doned by the Americans — Burgoyrve's Army in Canada — Advance of Burgoyne into New York — Investment of Ticonderoga — It Is Abandoned by the Americans — The Retreat to Fort Edward — Burgoyne Reaches the Hudson — Murder of Miss McCrea — Siege of Fort Schuyler — Battle of Ben- nington — Critical Situation of Burgoyne — Gates in Command of the American Army — Battles of Beh- mus' Heights and Stillwater — Surrender ot Bur- goyne's Army — Clinton in the Highlands .... 405 CHAPTER XXIX. Aid From Abroad. Sufferings of the Army at Valley Forge — Appeals of Washington to Congress — The British in Philadel- phia — The Conway Cabal — Its Disgraceful Failure — Efforts to Improve the Army — Worthlessness of Continental Bills — General Lee Exchanged — Effect of Burgoyne's Surrender upon England — The King Is Forced to Agree to Measures of Conciliation — Action of France — Louis XVI. Recognizes the In- dependence of the United States — Alliance Between the United States and France — Failure of the Brit- ish Measures of Conciliation — Clinton Evacuates Philadelphia — Battle of Monmouth — General Lee Dismissed from the Army — Attack upon Newport — Its Failure — ^\Vithdrawal of the French Fleet to ihe West Indies — Outrages of the British on Long Island Sound — Massacre of Wyoming — the Winter of 1779-80 — The Army in Winter Quarters — Robert Morris — Condition of Congress — Georgia Subdued by the British — Prevost Attempts to Take Charleston — Siege of Savannah — Its Failure — Cap- ture of Stony Point — Capture of Paul us Hook — The Indians Punished — Naval Affairs — Exploits of John Paul Jones — Evacuation of Newport — Settle- ment of Kentucky — Conquest of the Illinois Country bv George Rogers Clarke — Settlement of Tennessee, a- 1 CHAPTER XXX. The Close of the War. Severity of the Winter of 1779-80 — Sufferings of the American Army — Clinton Sails for the Caroli- nas — Colonel Tarleton — Capture of Charleston—. Conquest of South Carolina — Gates in Command of the Southern Army — Batde of Camden — Exploits XIV CONTENTS. of Marion and Sumter — Advance of Cornwallis — Battle of King's Mountain — Gates Succeeded by General Greene — Knyphausen's Expeditions into New Jersey — Arrival of the French Fleet and Anny — Arnold's Treason — The Plot for the Be- > "rayal of West Point — Arrest of Major Andre — light of Arnold — Execution of Andre — Mutiny of ;ie Pennsylvania and New Jersey Troops — Meas- ares of Congress — Arnold Captures Richmond, Vir- ginia — Batile of the Cowpens — Masterly Retreat of General Greene — Cornwallis Baffled, — Battle of Guilford Court House — Cornwallis at Wilmington —Battle of Hobkirk's Hill— Siege of Ninety-Six— Execution of Colonel Hayne — Battle of Eutaw Springs — Washington Decides to Attack New York —The French Army on the Hudson — Financial Affairs — Resumption of Specie Payments — Message from the Count De Grasse — Cornwallis at York- town — The American Army Moves Southward- Siege of Yorktown — Surrender of Cornwallis — Ef- fect of the News in England — Indian Troubles- Efforts in England for Peace — Negotiations Opened . — Treaty of Paris — .End of the War^-The Army Disbanded — Washington Resigns His Commission 450 BOOK V. From the Close of the Revolution to the Civil War. CHAPTER XXXI. The Adoption of the Constitution — ^Washington's Administration. 'Insettled Condition of the Country — Failure of the Articles of Confederation — Desire for Reform — Meeting of the Federal Convention at Philadelphia — The Constitution of the United States — Adoption of a Decimal Currency — The Northwest Territory — Washington Elected President — His Journey to New York — Establishment of the New Government — The Fiist Cabinet — Financial Measures — Re- moval of the Capital Agreed Upon — The Govern- ment at Philadelphia — The First Census — The In- dians of the Northwest Conquered — Re-election of Washington — Division of Parties — The French Revolution — The United States Neutral — Citizen Genet — Efforts to Commit the United States to the French Alliance — Genet's Recall Demanded — The ' Whiskey Insurrection" — Jay's Treaty with Eng- land — Opposition to It — Negotiations with Algiers — Political Disputes — Hostility to Washington — His Farewell Address — Its Effect upon the Country — Election of John Adams to the Presidency — Admis- sion of Vermont, Kentucky and Tennessee — Retire- ■aent of Washington — His Administration . . . 481 CHAPTER XXXn. The Administrations of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. PAG Inauguration of John Adams — Aggressions of France upon the United States — The American Commis- sioners Insulted by the French Government — The Alien and Sedition Laws — The United States Pre- pare for War with France — France Signifies her Willingness to Treat — New Commissioners Ap- pointed — Settlement of the Dispute — Hostilities at Sea — Capture of the " Insurgente " and " Ven- geance" — Death of Washington — Removal of the Capital to Washington City — The Second Census — Inaugiuation of Thomas Jefferson — The President's Message — His First Measures — Admission of Ohio — Louisiana Purchased by the United States — War with the Barbary Powers — Burning of the " Phila- delphia " — Re-election of Mr. Jefferson — Aaron Burr Kills Alexander Hamilton in a Duel — Burr's Subse- quent Career — Fulton's Steamboat — Outrages of England and France upon American Commerce — • American Vessels Searched and American Seamen Impressed by Er^gland — Efforts to Settle these Questions — Affair of the " Chesapeake " and " Leop- ard" — The Embargo — Results of this Measure- Losses of the Eastern States — Election of James Madison to the Presidency — Repeal of the Embargo. 496 CHAPTER XXXIIT. The Administration of James Madison — The Seconii War with England. Inauguration of Mr. Madi.^on — Negotiations with Mr. Erskine — Tlieir Failure — Seizure of American Ves- sels in France — Sufferings of American Ship-owners — Great Britain Stations her Ships of War off Amer- can Ports — Affair of the " President " and " Little Belt" — Trouble with the Northwestern Indians — Tecumseh — Battle of Tippecanoe — Meeting of the Twelfth Congress — Measures for Defence — Admis- sion of Louisiana into the Union — Death of George Clinton — The British Ultimatum — ^War Declared Against Great Britain — Opposition to the War — The British Offer of Settlement Rejected — ^The War for "Free Trade and the Sailors' Rights"— Mr. Madi- son Re-elected — Campaign of 18 12 — Preparations for the Invasion of Canada General Hull Sin- renders Detroit to the British — Loss of the North- western Frontier — Failure of the Attack on Queens- town — Exploits of the Navy — Capture of the " Guer riere " by the " Constitution " — The Privateers- Russia Offers to Mediate between the United States and England — Financial Affairs— Harrison's Cam- paign — Massacre at the River Basin — Defence of Forts Meigs and Stephenson-Perry's Victory on Lak« CONTENTS. XV trie — Battle of the Thames — Death of Tecumseh — Recovery of the Northwest — Capture of York — British Attack on Sackett's Harbor Repulsed — ■ Removal of General Dearborn — Failure of the Cam- paign on the Lower Lakes — The Creek War — Jackson's Victories — Naval Affairs — The British Outrages in Chesapeake Bay — Negotiations for Peace — Capture of Fort Eric — Battles of Chippewa and ' Lundy's Lane — Siege of Fort Erie — Successes of the Americans — Advance of Prevost — Battle of Plattsburgh — Macdonough's Victory on Lake Cham- plain — Battle of Bladensburg — Capture of Wash- ington — Destruction of the Public Buildings by the British — Attack on Baltimore — Death of General Ross — " The Star- Spangled Bunner " — The British Attack on the New England Coast — Opposition of New England to the War — The Hartford Conven- tion — The British in Florida — General Jackson Expels Them — Jackson at New Orleans — Arrival of the British Expedition off the Coast — Vigorous Measures of Jackson — Battle of New Orleans — • Defeat of the British — Naval Affairs — The Treaty of Peace — The Barbary Powers Humbled — The Tariff— The Bank of the United States— Admis- sion of Indiana — James Monroe Elected President . 512 CHAPTER XXXIV. Administrations of James Monroe and John Quincy AUAMS. Inauguration of Mr. Monroe — His Tour through the Eastern States — Admission of Mississippi into the Union — Troubles with the Indians — General Jack- son's Vigorous Measures against tiie Spaniards in Florida — Purchase of Florida l>y the United States • — Illinois Becomes a State — The First Steamship — Maine Admitted into the Union — The Slavery Question — The Missouri Compromise — Admission of Missouri as a State — The Fourth Census — Re- election of Mr. Monroe — The Tariff — Protective Policy of the Government — Recognition of the Spanish Republics — The Monroe Doctrine — Visit of Lafayette to the United States — Retirement of Mr Monroe — John Quincy Adams Elected President — His Inauguration — Rapid Improvement of the Coun- try — Increase of Wealth and Prosperity — Internal Improvements — The Creek Lands in Georgia Ceded to the United States — Death of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams — The Anti-Masons — The Tariff of 1828 — Andrew Jackson Elected President . . . 548 CHAPTER XXXV. Administrations op Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren. Character of Andrew Jackson — Indian Policy of this Administration — The President Vetoes the Bill to Renew the Charter of the United States Bank — De- bate Between Hayne and Webster — Jackson's Quar- rel with Calhourn — Death of ex- President Monroe — The Cholera — Black Hawk's War — Re-election of President Jackson — The Tariff— Action of South Carolina — The Nullification Ordinance — Firmness of the President — The Matter Settled by Compro* mise — Patriotism of Henry Clay — The Removal of the Deposits — The Seminole War Begun — Great Fire in New York — Settlement of the French Claims — Arkansas Admitted into the Union — The National Debt Paid — Death of ex-President Madi- son — Martin Van Buren Elected President — Michi- gan Admitted into the Union — The Panic of 1837 — Causes of It — Suspension of Specie Payments — Great Distress throughout the Union — The Sub- Treasury — Repudiation of State Debts — The Can- adian Rebellion — The President's Course — The Seminole War Ended — The Anti-Slavery Party — Resolutions of Congress Respecting Slavery- William Henry Harrison Elected President — The Sixth Census 56* CHAPTER XXXVI. Administrations of William Henry Harrison an£ John Tyler. An Extra Session of Congress Summoned — Death of President Harrison — John Tykr Becomes President of the United States — Meeting of Congress — The Bankrupt Law — President Tyl<^r Vetoes the Bills to Revive the United States Bank — His Quarrel with his Party — The " Tyler Whigs " — The Tariff of 1842 — The Treaty of Washington — The United States Will Not Tolerate the E.-v.ercise of the Right of Search — Dorr's Rebellion — The Mormons — In- vention of the Electric Telegraph — Explosion on the " Princeton " — Efforts to Score the Annexation of Texas — Early History of Te>:as — The Texan War of Independence — Battle of San Jacinto — - Texan Independence Established — Texas Applies for Admission into the Union — Opposition to th« Measiu-e — Significance of the Vote at the Presiden- tial Election — James K. Polk Elected President — Texas Admitted into the Union — Icwa an4 Florida Become States 5I"f CHAPTER XXXVII. Administration of James K. Polk — The Wa* with Mexico. The Oregon Question — Position of President Polk Respecting It — The Question Settled — Treaty for Settlement of Claims against Mexico — Mexico Re- sents the Annexation of Texas — General Tayloi Ordered to Texas — He Advances to the Rio Grande XV) CONTENTS. —Battles of Falo Alto and Resaca de la Palma — The War with Mexico Begun — Invasion of Mexico — Occupation of Matamoras — Action of the United States GoTcrnment — Taylor Advances into the Interior — The Storming and Capture of Monterey —The Armistice — Retiu-n of Santa Anna to Mexico —President Polk Duped — Santa Anna Seizes the Mexican Government — General Wool Joins General Taylor — Troops Taken from Taylor's Army — Ad- ■—vance of the Mexicans — Battle of Buena Vista — Conquest of California by Fremont and Stockton — Occupation of Santa Fe — Nev/ Mexico Conquered ■ — Doniphan's March — Occupation of Chihuahua — SaiHng of Scott's Expedition — Reduction of Vera Cruz — Santa Anna Collects a New Army — Battle of of Cerro Gordo — Occupation of Puebla by Scott — Trouble with Mr. Trist — Vigorous Measures of Santa Anna — Scott Advances upon the City of Mexico — El Penon Turned — Battles of Contreras and Churubusco — Capture of Molino del Rey — • Storming of Chapultepec — Capture of the City of Mexico — Siege of Puebla Raised — Flight of Santa Anna — Treaty of Peace Negotiated — Close of the War — Acquisition of California and New Mexico — Discovery of Gold in California — Rapid Emigration to the Pacific — Death of John Quincy Adams — The Wilmot Proviso — Revival of the Slavery Question >— General Taylor Elected President 593 CHAPTER XXXVIII. Administrations of Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore. Character of General Taylor — Department of the Inte- rior — Death of ex-President Polk — The Slavery \gitation — Views of Clay and Webster — California asks admission into the Union — Message of President Taylor — The Omnibus Bill — Efforts of Henry Clay — A Memorable Debafe — Webaier's " Great Union Speech " — Death of John C. Calhoun — Death of President Taylor — Millard Fillmore becomes Pres- ident — Passage of the Compromise Measures of 1850 — Death of Henry Clay — Dissatisfaction with the Compromise — The Fugitive Slave Law Nul- lified, by the Northern States — The Nashville Con- vention — Organization of Utah Territory — The Seventh Census — The Expedition of Lopez against Cuba — The Search for Sir John Franklin — ^The Grinnell Expedition — Dr. Kane's Voyages — Inaug- uration of Cheap Postage — Laying the Corner • Btone of the new Capitol — Death of Daniel Webster —Arrival of Kossuth — The President Rejects the Tripartite Treaty — Franklin Pierce elected Pres- ident — Death of William R. King 626 CHAPTER XXXIX. The Administration of Franklin Pierce. PAGB Dispute with Mexico — The Gadsden Purchase — Sur- veys for a Pacific Railway — The Japan Expedition — Treaty with Japan — The Koszta Affair — The " Black Warrior " seized by the Cuban Officials — The "Ostend Confei"ence" — Dismissal of the British Minister — The Kansas-Nebraska Bill — History of the Bill — Its Passage by Congress — History of the Struggle in Kansas — Conflict between the Pro- Slavery and Free Soil Settlers — Lawrence Sacked — Civil War — The Presidential Campaign of 1856— James Buchanan elected President of the United States — Rapid Increase of the Republican Party . 6j CHAPTER XL. The Administration of James Buchanan. Inauguration of Mr. Buchanan — The Mormon Re- bellion — The Financial Crisis of 1 85 7 — Laying of the Atlantic Telegraphic Cable — Minnesota admit- ted into the Union — The San Juan Affair — Admis- sion of Oregon into the Union — The Kansas Ques- tion — The Lecompton Constitution — Its Defeat— The Wyandotte Constitution — Admission of Kansas into the Union — The John Brown Raid — Prompt Action of the Government — Brown and his CoOk- panions Surrendered to the State of Virginia — • Their Trial and Execution — Presidential Campaign of i860 — Rupture of the Democratic Party — Abra- ham Lincoln elected President of the United States — Secession of South Carolina — Reasons for this Act — Secession of the other Cotton States — Major An- derson Occupies Fort Sumter — ^Trying Position of the General Government — Course of Mr. Buchanan — The •' Star of the West " fired upon by the South Carolina Batteries — Organization of the Confeder. ate States of America — ^Jefferson Davis elected President of the Southern Republic — The Peace Congress — Its Failure 649 BOOK VI. The Civil War. CHAPTER XLI. The Administration of Abraham Lincolit Inauguration of President Lincoln — His History — Tho Confederate Commissioners at Washington — Attadc upon Fort Sumter by the Confederates — The Pre-j- ident calls for Troops — Response of the North and West — Secession of the Border States — Opening Events of the War in Virginia — Withdrawal of West Virginia — Admitted into the Union as a Separate itate — Meeting of Congress — The West Virginia CONTENTS. XVII Campaign^ -Battle of Bull Run — The War in Mis- Bouri — Kentucky Occupied — The Blockade — Cap- ture of Port Royal — The "Trent" Affair — Insur- rection in East Tennessee — State of Affairs at the Opening of the Year 1862 — Edwin M. Stanton made Secretary of War — Capture of Forts Henry and Don- elson — The Confederates fall back from Kentucky — Battle of Shiloh — Capture of Island No. 10 — Evac- uation of Corinth — Capture of Memphis — Bragg's Kentucky Campaign — His Retreat into Tennessee — Battles of luka and Corinth — Battle of Murfrees- boro', or Stone River — Grant's Campaign against Vicksburg — Its Failure — The War beyond the Mis- sissippi — Battle of Pea Ridge — Capture of Roanoke Island — Capture of New Orleans— Surrender of Fort Pulaski — The War in Virginia — Johnston's Retreat from Centreville — Battle between the " Monitor " and " Virginia " — The Move to the Peninsula — • Johnston Retreats to the Chickahominy — Battle of Seven Pines — Jackson's Successes in the Valley of Virginia — The Seven Days' Battles before Richmond — Battle of Cedar Mountain — Defeat of General Pope's Army — Lee Invades Maryland — Capture of Harper's Ferry — Battles of South Mountain and Antietam — Retreat of Lee into Virginia — McClellan Removed — Battle of Fredericksburg 666 CHAPTER XLII. The Administration of Abraham Lincoln — ^the Civil War — Concluded. The Emancipation Proclamation — Battle of Chancel- loi-sville — Death of Stonewall Jackson — Invasion of the North by Lee's Army — Battle of Gettysburg — Retreat of Lee into Virginia — Grant's Army crosses the Mississippi — Battle of Champion Hilis — Invest- ment of Vicksburg — Surrender of Vicksburg and Port Hudson — Battle of Chickamauga — Rosecrans shut up in Chattanooga — Grant in command of the Western Armies — Battles of Lookout Mountain and Mission Ridge — Defeat of Bragg's Army — The Cam- paign in East Tennessee — Retreat of Longstreet — Capture of Galveston — Attack on Charleston — Cap- ture of Fort Wagner — Charleston Bombarded — State of Affairs in the Spring of 1 864 — The Red River Expedition — Grant made Lieutenant-General — Advance of the Army of the Potomac — Battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania and Cold Harbor — Sheri- dan's Raid — Death of General J. E. B. Stuart — Bat- tle of New Market — Early sent into the Valley of Virginia — Butler's Army at Bermuda Hundreds — Grant crosses the James River — The Siege of Peters- burg begun — Early's Raid upon Washington — Sheri dan defeats Early at Winchester and Fisher's Hill — Battle of Cedar Creek— The final Defeat of Early's Army — Sherman's Advance to Atlanta — ^Johnston Removed — Defeat of Hood before Atlanta — Evacu- ation of Atlanta — Hood's Invasion of Tennessee — Battle of Franklin — Siege of Nashville — Hood Defeated at Nashville — His Retreat — Sherman's "March to the Sea" — Capture of Savannah — Battle of Mobile Bay — Attack on Fort Fisher — The Confederate Cruisers — Sinking of the "Ala- bama" by the "Kearsarge" — Re-election of Pres ident Lincoln — Admission of Nevada into the Union — The Hampton Roads Peace Conference — Capture of Fort Fisher — Occupation of Wilmington — Sher- man advances through South Carolina — Evacuation of Charleston — Battles of Averasboro' and Benton- ville —Sherman at Goldsboro' — Critical Situation of Lee's Army — Attack on Fort Steadman — Sheridan joins Grant — Advance of Grant's Army — Battle of Five Forks — Attack on Petersburg — Evacuation of Richmond and Petersburg — Retreat of Lee's Army — Richmond Occupied — Surrender of General Lee's Army — Rejoicings in the North — Assas- sination of President Lincoln — Death of Booth — Execution of the Conspirators — Johnston Sur- renders — Surrender of the other Confederate Forces — Capture of Jefferson Davis — Close of the War 7K CHAPTER XLIII. The Administration of Andrew Johnson. Tae New President — Return of the Army to Civil Life — The Public Debt — The Reconstruction Ques- tion — Action of the President — Pie declares the Southern States Readmitted into the Union — The Fifteenth Amendment — Meeting of Congress — The Presidert's Acts Annulled — Reconstruction Policy of Congress — The Fourteenth Amendment — The Freedman's Bureau and Civil Rights Bill — The Tenure of Office Act — Admission of Nebraska into the Union — The Southern States Organized as Mil. itary Districts — Admission of Southern States into the Union — The Fourteenth Amendment Ratified— President Johnson's Quarrel with Secretary Stantoii — Impeachment of the President — His Acquittal- Release of Jefferson Davis — Indian War — Tha P'rench in Mexico — Fall of the Mexican Empire — Laying of the Atlantic Telegraph — Purchase of Alaska — Naturlization Treaty with Germany-^ Treaty with China — Death of General Scott — Death of ex-President Buchanan — General Grant Elected President — The Fifteenth Amendment jjrj CHAPTER XLIV. The Administration of Ulysses S. Grant. Early Life of President Grant— Completion of the Pacific Railway — Death of ex-President Pierce-^ XVIU CONTENTS. The Fifteenth Amendment Ratified— The En- forcement Act— The Test Oath Abolished— The Constitutionality of the Legal-Tender Act Afl&rmed— The Income Tax Repealed — The Alabama Claims — Treaty of Washington — ^The Geneva Conference — Award in Favor of the United States — Burning of Chicago — The Civil Disabilities Removed from the South- ern People — Re-election of General Grant — Great Fire at Boston — The Modoc War — Murder of General Canby and the Peace Commissioners — Execution of the Modoc Chiefs— The Panic of 1873— Bill for the Re- sumption of Specie Payments — The Centen- nial Exhibition — The Sioux War — Death of General Custer — Presidential Election — The Electoral Commission — Count of the Vote — Hayes Declared Elected 801 CHAPTER XLV. The Administration of Rutherford B. Hayes. Inauguration of President Hayes — Sketch of the New President — Civil Service Reform — ^Troops in South Carolina — Two Legislatures in Ses- sion — Investigation by President Hayes — Prompt Action — Settlement of the Troubles in South Carolina and Louisiana — General Grant's Tour Around the World — Enthusiastic Reception by the Crowned Heads of Other Nations — Election of General Garfield as Presi- dent 841 CHAPTER XLVI. The Administration of James A. Garpiei.d. General Garfield Declared President — Inaugural Ceremonies — Sketch of the New President — The Star Route Cases — Assassination of Presi- dent Garfield — His Illness — Removal to Long Branch — Death of President Garfield — Inaugu- ration of President Arthur — Indictment of Guiteau for Murder — Trial and Execution of Garfield's Assassin — The Greely Arctic Ex- pedition — Reaching a Point Beyond the Eighty-first Parallel — Lieutenant Lockwood's Heroic Exploit — Celebration of the Landing of William Penn — Great Suspension Bridge between New York and Brooklyn 849 CHAPTER XL VII. The Administration of Grover Cleveland. Mr. Cleveland's Early Life — Governor of New York — Elected President — Inauguration Cere- monies — The New Cabinet — Death of General Grant — Honors to the Illustrious Dead- Death of General George B. McClellan — Pen- sion Granted to the Widow of President Grant — President Cleveland's Message — Bill Regulating the Presidential Succession — Labor Agitations — Riot at Chicago Instigated by "Ancrchists " — Statue of Liberty Enlighten- ing the World — President Cleveland's Mar- riage — Nomination of President Cleveland — Nomination of Benjamin Harrison — Harri- son's Election 864 CHAPTER XLVIII. The Administration of Benjamin Harrison. Inauguration of President Harrison —President Harrision 's Inaugural Address — Celebration of the Centennial Anniversary of Washington's Inauguration — The New Cabinet — Terrible Calamity at Johnstown — Admission of New States — President's Message to the Fifty-first Congress — Legislation of the First Session of the Fifty-first Congress — The New Tariff Law — Indian War in the Northwest — Death of Sitting Bull — Restriction of Imigration — Mob Law in New Orleans — Trouble in Chile — Political Conventions of 1892 — Labor Contest at Homestead — Defeat of the Silver Bill . . . 878 CHAPTER XLIX. Second Administration of Grover Cleveland Second Inauguration of President Cleveland — The New Cabinet — Extraordinary Session of Congress — Repeal of the Sherman Silver Law — New Tariff Bill — The President Refuses to Sign the Bill— Bland Seigniorage Bill— Utah Admitted as a State — Congress Investigate* the Relations of the United States to Hawaii 898 CHAPTER L. Cuba and Venezuela. Story of Cuban Insurrections— Great Revolution of 1848— Gallant Uprising of the People for Life and Liberty — Long and Bitter Struggle — Political Situation in Cuba 901 CHAPTER LI. Latest Events of American History. Presidential Election of 1896 — Struggle of Cuba for Independence — Blowing up of the Battle- ship Maine — Spanish-American War — Massa- cres of Americans in China — Great Galveston Calamity — Presidential Election of 1900 . . . 917 EMINENT AMERICANS. OUR NEW POSSESSIONS. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. Frontispikce. Mounds at Marrietta, Ohio 19 A Dead Town of the Moquis Indians 21 Indian Village in Winter 24 Navajo Boy 25 Pueblo Indian at Prayer 26 Civilized Indian Woman 27 Thorvald Wounded by the Red Men 30 Christopher Columbus 33 Columbus Watching for Land 37 Landing of Columbus 38 Reception of Columbus by Ferdinand and Isabella . 39 Norse Seaking 41 Sebastian Cabot 44 Samuel Champlain 47 Cabot on the Shores of Labrador 48 The Coast of Florida 51 Hernando Cortez 52 Fernando De Soto 55 The Spaniards Descending the Mississippi after the Death of De Soto 59 The Renowned Explorer, Sir Martin Frobisher . . 64 Sir Walter Raleigh 65 Frobisher and His Ships Passing Greenwich .... 66 Queen Elizabeth 67 Murder of White's Assistant 70 Captain John Smith 76 Pocahontas Interceding for the Life of Captain John Smith 78 Pocahontas 80 Building the First House in Jamestown 82 Types of North American Indians 85 Massacre of Settlers by Indians 90 Flight of the Indians afier the Ma.ssacre 92 Indian Weapons 94 King Charles II 99 Indians Making a Midnight Attack upon Settlers . . 103 Bacon Demands the Commission of Berkley .... 105 Cecil, Second Lord Baltimore 113 A Civilized Indian 115 Oliver Cromwell 116 William III 118 Chained Bible, Time of James I 123 , The Puritans in Conference with James I 124 The Pilgrims at Plymouth 126 The " Mayflower " at Plymouth Harbor 128 Governor Brewster's Chair 129 Landing of the Pilgrims 131 The First Church in New England 133 The Treaty between Plymouth Colony and Massasoit 135 John Endicott 139 John Winthrop 141 Roger Williams Seeking Refuge Among the Indians . 145 Landing of Roger Williams at Providence 147 John Hampden 151 A Group of Indians 153 Yale College 155 An American Free .School 159 John Eliot Preaching to the Indians 162 Indian Medicine Man 164 Indian Life in Their Native Forests 170 King Philip 172 The Burning of Brookfield by the Indians 173 Mrs. Rowlandson Captured by the Indians X75 Sir Edmund Andros 178 The Charter Oak 180 The Rev. Cotton Mather • • . . 183 Execution of the Rev. George Burroughs 189 Nova Zembla — From an Old Print 194 Mock Suns Seen by Early Explorers 195 Henry Hudson 196 Hudson Strait • 197 Mutiny on Hudson's Ship 198 First Settlement of New York 199 Peter Stuyvesant 203 Gustavus Adolphus 205 Queen Anne 212 William Penn 217 William Penn's Treaty with the Indians 220 Penn Treaty Monument 221 The Old Swedes' Church, Built in 164 1 222 Indian Amusements — Canoe Race between Squaws . a.'j The Coast of North Carolina 229 A Settler's Cabin 231 Birds'-Eye View of Charleston, South Carolina . . . 233 Scene on « Tributary of the St. John's River .... 235 xix XX LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. »AGE King George 1 239 General Oglethorpe 243 A Southern Plantation 244 John Wesley 245 George Whitefield 246 University and Normal School Buildings at Toronto in 1892 254 Falls of St. Anthony 261 Murder of La Salle 263 View of Montreal from Mount Royal 268 Return of the Daughter of Eunice Williams . . . . 272 Cruel Murder of Rasle 274 French Explorers Buying Leaden Plates 279 Scenes in the Allegheny Mountains 281 The Half King 285 Benjamin Franklin 289 Wills' Creek Meadows 291 Disastrous^Defeat of General Braddock 294 Burning of Kittaning by General Armstrong .... 296 Tha Palisades of the Hudson 302 Site of Fort William Henry on Lake George .... 305 Montcalm 306 Arrival of ludian Allies at the French Camp .... 307 William Pitt 310 Washington Planting the Flag on Fort Duquesne . . 315 Niagara Falls 317 General James Wolfe 318 Death of General Wolfe before Quebec 320 King George IK 321 Visit of Pontiac and the Indians to Major Gladwin . . 324 Scene near the Source of the Raritan River 329 Samuel Adams 332 Patrick Henry 333 Colonel Barre . . . • 33^ Hanging a Stamp Act Official in Effigy 337 Stamp Act Official Beaten by the People 339 British Troops in Boston 342 Throwing the Tea Overboard in Boston Harbor . . 347 John Hancock 340 Carpenter's Hall, Philadelphia • . . . . 351 The Minute Man _ ^KK The Battle of Lexington, April 19, 1775 356 Death of Isaac Davis ^cg Capture of Ticonderoga by Ethan Allen 360 Signers of the Mecklenburg Declaration 361 General Israel Putnam -ig^ General Burgoyne ^6c Battle of Bunker Hill . . • ^68 Death of Major Pitcairn 370 Bunker Hill Monument ^y2 General Richard Montgomery -i-ja General Henry Knox ^^g Medal Struck by Congress in Honor of the Recapture of Boston 5go PACK Continental Bills 381 Sergeant Jasper at Fort Moultrie 383 Independence Hall, Philadelphia 385 House in which the Declaration of Independence was Written, Philadelphia 386 Signing the Declaration of Independence 387 Old Bell of Independence Hall 388 Signatures of the Signers of the Declaration of Inde- pendence 390 General John Sullivan 393 The Declaration of Independence Read to the Army 396 General Charles Lee 398 Washington Crossing the Delaware 401 Washington Calls on Colonel Rahl 403 American Marksman in a Tree 406 Washington's Quarters at Morristown 408 General Philip Schuyler 411 Flag and Shield 412 Seal of the United States — Obverse 412 Seal of the United States — Reverse 412 The Marqui„ Je Lafayette 413 Arrest of General Prescott 415 Lafayette and Washington 417 General Burgoyne Addressing the Indians 420 Ruins of Fort Ticonderoga 421 Herkimer Mortally Wounded ■ .... 423 General John Stark 424 General Horatio Gates 426 An American Rifleman 431 Louis XVI 434 Sir Henry Clinton 435 Indian Scalp Dance 439 General Benjamin Lincoln 441 Gallant Charge of Count Pulaski • • • . 442 General Anthony Wayne 443 Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Lee 444 Paul Jones Seizing the Silver Plate of Lady Selkirk . 445 John Paul Jones 446 Medal Struck in Honor of Paul Jones — Obverse . . 447 Medal Struck in Honor of Paul Jones — Reverse . . 447 Daniel Boone 448 Lord Cornwallis 453 Total Rout of the Loyal Recruits 454 General Francis Marion 455 General Nathaniel Greene . . • 457 " Now Put Watts into them, Boys," 458 Benedict Arnold 46c Major Andr6 461 Escape of Benedict Arnold 463 General Daniel Morgan 466 Lord Rawden, afterwards Marquis of Hastings . . 468 Scene in the Highlands of the Hudson 471 View of Yorktown 473 Surrender of Lord Cornwallis 474 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. XXI PAGE Captain Huddy led from Prison lo be Hanged . . . 477 Washirgton's Headquarters at Newburg, New York . 479 The Room with Seven Doors and One Window . . +79 Oliver Ellsworth 482 Washington's Reception at Trenton 483 Rufus King 4^4 C. C. Pinckney 4^5 1 be Inauguration of Washington 486 George Washington 4^7 Indian Child in Cradle 488 Alexander Hamilton 489 Rufus Putman 49° John Jay 49^ Fisher Ames 49^ Scene in the Mammoth Cave, Kentucky 493 Washington's Home at Mount Vernon 494 John Adams 497 John Marshall 498 Washington's Grave, Mount Vernon 5°° Thomas Jefferson 5°^^ Aaron Burr 502 Robert R. Livingston 503 Napoleon 1 5°4 Captain (afterward Commodore) Bainbridge and the Dey of Algiers 505 Duel between Burr and Hamilton 5°^ Fulton's First Steamboat 5^7 William Pinkney 509 Officers of the "Chesapeake" Surrendering their Swords 510 James Madison 5^3 A Pioneer Hero's Fight with the Savages ..... 516 John Randolph ...517 Stephen Van Rensselaer 5^9 Massacre by Indians at Fort Dearborn 520 Capture of the " Guerriere" by the "Constitution" . 522 Commodore Hull 5^3 The " Wasp " Boarding the " Frolic " 524 Indians Torturing Prisoners 5^6 Commodore Perry 5^7 Perry's Victory on Lake Erie 528 Battle of the Thames — Death of Tecumsch .... 529 Captain (afterward Sir Philip) Broke 531 Fight between the " Chesapeake" and the "Shannon" 533 Sceneof the Battle of Lake Champlain 536 Commodore MacDonough 537 A New England Farmhouse 539 Joseph Story 54° The Plain of Chalmette — Scene of the Battle of New Orleans 54^ Pakenham Leading the Attack on New Orleans . . . 543 Commodore Decatur 544 Decatur and the Dey of Algiers 545 William C. C. Claiborne 546 James Monroe 549 Old Way of Picking Cotton 551 Henry Clay • . , . 553 Unique Cotton Harvester 555 John Quincy Adams 557 Steamboat Loading with Cotton 558 Statue of Jefferson at Washington 559 Daniel Webster 560 Andrew Jackson 562 Robert Y. Hayne 563 A Lumberman's Camp in the Woods of Maine . . . 564 John C. Calhourn 565 Edward Livingston 5^^ The United States Treasury at Washington, D. C. . • 567 Osceola, Chief of the Seminoles 5^6 Martin Van Buren 57 1 Canadian Trappers 574 The Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. . . 575 View of the National Capitol at Washington . . . . 577 William Henry Harrison 580 John Tyler 581 Fac-Simile, According to Joe Smith, of the Writing on the Original Plates of the " Book Mormon " . . 583 Murder of the Smiths 584 The Mormon Hand-cart Company Crossing the Plains 5»5 Mormon Tabernacle at Salt Lake, Utah 586 Professor Morse 587 A Village in Texas 588 Santa Anna 589 General Houston 590 General Post Office, Washington 59* James K. Polk 594 Columbia River, Oregon 595 Battle of Palo Alto 598 Major Ringgold Mortally Wounded 599 Charge of the Dragoons 600 General Winfield ScoU 601 Capture of a Battery at Monterey 603 Lieutenant Grant Going for Ammunition at Mon- terey 604 Mexican Cart and Oxen 607 Battle of Buena Vista 609 General View of the Yosemite Valley 6n The Great Cafion and Lower Falls, Yellowstone . . 613 East Side of Plaza — Sante Fe 614 Bombardment of Vera Cruz 616 Battle of Cerro Gordo 617 Storming of Chapultepec 62 1 General Scott Entering the City of Mexico 622 A Mexican Cathedral 623 Hydraulic Mining 624 Zachary Tayloi 627 The White House, Washington, D. C 62* XXI 1 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONb. Robert Toombs 629 Millard Fillmore 631 Portraits of Leading Mormons 632 Cuban Fillibusters on the March 633 Sir John F lin 635 Relics of Franklin's Polar Voyage 636 Dr. E. K. Kane and his Companions 637 Franklin Pierce 640 Stephen A Douglas 642 Salmon P. Chase 644 Scene on the Allegheny River 645 Charles Sumner 647 James Buchanan 650 The Mormon Temple, Salt Lake City, Utah .... 651 Mountain Meadow Massacre 652 Washington Irving 655 Edward Everett 658 Bridge Crossing the Susquehanna River at Harris- burg 660 Jefierson Davis 663 Inaugiu-ation of Jefferson Davis 664 Abraham Lincoln 666 William H. Seward 667 Arrival of President Lincoln at the Capitol ..... 668 Fort Prickens 669 Major Anderson 670 Fort Sumter in 1861 671 Forts Sumter and Moultrie 672 Fort Moultrie, Charleston Harbor 673 The Confederate Flag 674 The Sixth Massachusetts Regiment Passing through Baltimore 675 Fortifications in and around Washington 676 Portraits of Prominent Federal Generals 677 Map Showing the Shenandoah Valley 678 The Battle of Manassas, or Bull Run 680 Capitol at Richmond, Virginia 681 Portraits of Prominent Federal Generals 682 The " Nashville" Destroying a Federal " Merchant- man " 684 Lieutenant-General Polk 685 John M. Mason 686 John Slidell 686 The Arrest of Mason and Slidell on the British Steamer "Trent " 687 Grant's Headquarters near Fort Donelson 688 A View of the Country, Showing Fort Donelson in the Distance 689 Map Showing Pittsburg Landing and Corinth .... 690 Charge of the Federals at Corinth 691 Iron-clad Gunboat 602 Island No. 10 . 654 Burning Horses at Shiloh .... 695 Massacre of the Morrisites 696 PA«fl Portraits of Prominent Confederate Geserals .... 697 General Sherman at the Outbreak of the War . . . . 699 Burnside's Expedition Crossing Hatteras Bar .... 70a Portraits of the Principal Naval Commanders during the War 70J The "Merrlmac " Sinking the "Cumberland" .... 704 General George B. McClellan 706 View of the Chickahominy near Mechanicsville . . . 707 Map of Northern Virginia 708 Lieutenant-General T. J. Jackson 709 Portraits of Prominent Confederate Generals . . . . 7 1 1 Portraits of Prominent Federal Generals 714 Major-General Philip Kearney 715 McClellan at the Battle of Antietam 717 View of Antietara Battle Ground 718 Portraits of Some of the Generals of the Army of the Potomac 720 General John Sedgwick 721 General George G. Meade 722 Battle of Gettysburg 724 Positions during the First Day's Fight at Gettys- burg 727 Positions during the Second and Third Days' Fight at Gettysburg 727 Map Showing Vicksburg and Its Approaches .... 730 Vicksburg, Mississippi 731 Gunboats Running Past Vicksburg at Night .... 732 General John C. Pemberton 733 Grant's Headquarters near Vicksburg 734 Map of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga Cam- paigns • 735 Positions of the Armies at the Battle of Missionary Ridge 736 Grant's Headquarters at Chattanooga 737 Capture of Lookout Mountain 738 Missionary Ridge from the Cemetery at Chattanooga 739 The Attack on Fort vSumter by the Monitor Fleet . . 740 Portraits of Prominent Federal Generals 721 Fort De Russy 742 Bailey's Red River Dam 743 Grant Writing Dispatches before Crossing the Ripadan 744 General James Longstreet . 745 The Place where Sedgwick was Killed 746 General Fitzhugh Lee 747 Battle of Cold Harbor 748 Battle of Spottsylvania Court-house 749 General J. E. B. Stuart 75a General Winfield S.Hancock 751 Stuart's Cavalry Cutting Telegraph Wires 752 Pontoon Bridge at Deep Bottom •••753 General Philip II. Sheridan 754 Portraits of Federal Cavalry Commanders 7Si Sheridan's Cavalry Charge at Cedar Creek .... 756 LIST Ot ILLUSTRATIONS. XXlll Country between Chattanooga and Atlanta 757 General Joseph E. Johnston 75^ General James B. McPherson 761 General George H. Thomas 7^2 Portraits of Sherman and some of his Commanders . 763 fhe Country Traversed by Sherman in His March through Georgia 7^4 Map Snowing the City of Mobile and Its Defences . . 765 Commodore David G. Farragut 7^6 Cape Fear River and Approaches to Wilmington, N. C • 767 Boat of the "Deerhound " Rescuing Captain Semmes 768 Sinking of the " Alabama" by the " Kearsarge " . . 769 Raphael Semmes 770 Portraits of Prominent Federal Generals 771 Major-General J. M. Schofield 772 Portraits of Federal Cavalry Commanders 773 Interior of Fort Steadraan 774 Positions of the Annies near Petersburg, Va 775 General Robert E. Lee 776 The Last Cavalry Charge of the War 777 General John B. Gordon "jSo The McLean House 781 Surrender of General Lee 7^2 General Lee's Farewell to His Soldiers ...... 783 Assassination of President Lincoln 7^5 The Grave of President Lincoln "jSG Interview between Generals Sherman and Johns- ton 788 Andrew Johnson "jgi Ruins of Richmond after the War 792 Fort Warren, Boston Harbor 793 Lincoln Monument in Fairmount Park, Philadel- phia 795 Emperor Maximilian 798 Natives of Alaska Building Houses 799 Ulysses S. Grant 802 View on the Greene River at the Crossing of the Union Pacific Railroad, Wyoming 803 President Grant on his way to the Inauguration. . . 804 Humboldt Palisades, Pacific Railway 805 Cheyenne Indians Reconnoitering the First Train on the Pacific Railroad ' . 806 The Geneva Board of Arbitration Settling the Ala- bama Claims 807 The Burning of Chicago 808 ^Horace Greeley 809 President Grant Passing Through the Rotunda to take the Oath of Office 810 Mrs. U. S. Grant 811 The Lava Beds' — Scene of the Modoc War . . . . Si 2 Scene in the New York Stock Exchange During the Panic of 1873 814 Scene on the Colorado River 815 View in the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River . 818 Memorial Hall, Fairmount Park, Philadelphia . . . 820 View of the Main Building of the International Cen- tennial Exhibition 82a General J. R. Hawley 824 Intersection of Ninth and Chestnut Streets, PhiladeL phia 826 Obverseof Centennial Medal • • * . , 827 Reverse of Centennial Medal 827 Shoshone Falls, Idaho 828 General George Crook 829 Indians Surprised and Defeated 830 Horseshoe Bend on the Pennsylvania Railroad near Altoona 831 Canyon of the Lodore and Greene Rivers, Wyoming . 832 Samuel J. Tilden 833 Thomas A. Hendricks 834 Point P''easant, Ohio, the Birthplace of General Grant 835 Samuel J. Randall 836 The New Department of State, Washington, D. C . . 837 George F. Edmunds 838 Thomas F. Bayard 839 Rutherford B. Hayes 842 William A. Wheeler 843 Arrival of General Grant at San Francisco in the Steamer " City of Tokio " 844 William H. English 845 The " Jeannette " Crushed by the Ice 846 The Mirage — A Scene in the Arctic Regions .... 847 James A. Garfield 850 Mrs. Lucretia R. Garfield 85 1 James G. Blaine 852 The Assassination of James A. Garfield 853 Death-bed of James A. Garfield 854 The Catafalque at Cleveland, Ohio • • ^55 James A. Garfield Lying in State In the Rotunda of the Capitol at Washington 85*1 Chester A. Arthur 857 John A. Logan 858 John G. Carlisle 859 Sanderson's Hope, Upernavik, Baffin Bay 860 Arctic Region — Beechey Head 861 Scene in the Arctic Region — Among the Icebergs . . 862 The Brooklyn Suspension Bridge 863 Grover Cleveland S65 Chief Justice Waite Administering the Oath of Office to President Cleveland 866 Death of General Grant 867 Cottage in which Grant Died at Mount McGregor . . 868 G-eneral Grant's Temporary Tomb, Riverside Parts., New York 869 Mrs. Frances Folsora Cleveland 872 The New Post Office Building, Philadelphia .... Sjj XXIV LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. The New City Hall, Philadelphia 874 Steamship Docks on the Delaware River, Phila- delphia 875 Allen G. Thurman 876 Levi P. Morton 877 Benjamin Harrison 879 Bird's-eyeViewof New York City 880 The Post Oflace, New York 881 The Battery and Castle Garden, New York . . . 882 The Harbor of New York 883 The Break in South Forks Dam, Johnstown, Pa. 888 William McKinley 885 Charles F. Crisp 886 Sitting Bull in his War Dress Chief American Horse General Nelson A. Miles Captain Wallace Found After the Wounded Knee Fight Scene on the Yellowstone River , Manila Harbor— Scene of the Great Battle . . . Uniforms of U. S. Marines and Naval Officers . Street Scene in Manila — Philippine Islands . . Bombardment of San Juan, Porto Rico Lieut. R. P. Hobson Harbor and Fortifications of Santiago PAGB 887 961 964 966 968 Superb Phototype (Full-page) Engravings Illustrating the Story of the New ^A^orld. Christopher Columbus Landing of Columbus. Columbus before Ferdinand and Isabella. De Soto Discovering the Mississippi. General Pepperell at the Siege of Louisburg. George Washington. Putnam's Escape at Horseneck. Battle of Bennington. General Harrison and Tecumseh. Commodore Perry at the Battle of Lake Erie. General Scott at the Battle of Cerro Gordo. Bombardment of Island No. 10. Capture of New Orleans. Battle of Gettysburg. Columbus Sighting Land. The Landing of Roger Williams. Boston Massacre, 1770. Patrick Henry. Washington Reviewing the Army. Massacre at Fort Mimms. Decatur's Conflict with the " Algerine " at Tripoli. Capture of Roanoke Island. General William T. Sherman. Battle of Antietam. Battle of Chickamauga. General P. H. Sheridan. Battle of Lookout Mountain. General George G. Meade. Capture of Fort Donaldson, Tenn. Battle of Balls Bluff, Va. General Grant. U. S. Cruiser " Baltimore." U. S. Cruiser "Petrel." U. S. Cruiser "Philadelphia." U. S. Cruiser " Newark." U. S. Cruiser " Yorktown." U. S. Cruiser " San Francisco." U. S. Cruiser '"Columbia." U. S. Cruiser " Chicago." U. S. Battleship " Texas." U. S. Battleship "Oregon." U. S. Battleship " Maine." U. S. Battleship " Indiana." U. S. Battleship " Iowa." U. S. Monitor " Miantonomoh." U. S. Ram "Katahdin." U. S. Dynamite Cruiser " Vesuvius." U. S. Cruiser " Olympia." William McKinley. Captain Chas. D. Sigsbee. Destruction of the Battleship " Maine." Admiral George Dewey. Great American Victory at Manila. Admiral W. T. Sampson. Bombardment of San Juan, Porto Rico. General Nelson A. Miles. Lieut. R. P. Hobson. Landing of General Shafter in Cuba. Gallant Charge of General Wheeler's Cavalry. United States Forces Capturing the lutrenchments at Santiago. Commodore W. S. Schley. Captain Robley D. Evans. Working Rapid-fire Guns. BATTLE OF SANTIAGO-FURI 1. NASHVILLE 2. DETROIT 3. HELENA 11. COLUMBIA 12. MONTEREY 13. IOWA ^c THE AMERICAN NAVY SHIPS OF Tnc ^ « rASTINE 9. CHARLESTON SHIP _....... ' OLYMPIA^^J-CASTINE^^^^ ,9. OREGON foN 6. BROOKLYN 7 4. NEWARK 5. BENNINGTON ^g_ CINCINNA 14. WYANDOTTE 15. BAul 10. MINNEAPOLIS 20. KATAHDIN ATI BATTLE OF SANTlAGO-FURIQliS ASSAULT OF THE AMER.CA^5 ASSAULT OF THE AMtRICANt) Standard History of the United States BOOK I Jjiscovery of W)e \v esberr) Lor)t!ii)ei)b CHAPTER I Strange People in a Strange Land Earliest Inhabitants of the United States — The Mound Builders— Remarkable Works Constructed by Them— Evidences of a Primitive Civilization — Indications of the Antiquity of this Period — The American Indians — Division of the Country Among the Tri' is — Names and Location of the Various Tribes — Organization and Government of the Indians — Their Dress, Manners and Customs — Villages — Indian Inventions — The War Dance — Legends of the Norsemen Respecting the Discovery of America. E do not know who were the inhabitants, or what was the history of North America previous to its discovery and settlement by the Europeans. That it was at some remote period occupied by a more civilized and powerful race than the Indians, found by the first explorers, is very certain; but who they were, what was their history, or what the cause of their extinction, are among the profoundest mysteries of the past. Traces as distinct as those which mark the various physical changes which the continent has undergone, exist to show that these primi- tive inhabitants were both numerous and far advanced in civilization ; but this is all that we know concerning them. In various parts of the country, and espe- cially in the valley of the Mississippi, large mounds and other structures of earth and fttone, but chiefly of earth, remain to show the magnitude of the works constructed by these people, to whom the name " Mound Builders" is generally applied. Some of these earthworks embrace as much as fifteen or sixteen miles of embankment. As no domestic animals existed in this country at that period, these works must have been constructed by bringing the earth used in them by hand ; a fact which shows that the primitive population was a large one. The construction of the works proves that they had considerable engineering skill. The square, the circle, the ellipse, and the octagon are all used in these structures, being all combined in a single system of works in some places. The proportions are always perfect. The square is always a true square, and the circle a true circle. Many implements and ornaments of copper, silvers and precious stones — such as axes, chisels, knives, bracelets, beads, and pieces of thread and cloth, and well-shaped vases of pottery have been found in these mounds, and show I8 DISCOVERY OF THE WESTERN CON TINENT. the extent of the civilization of the " Mound Builders" and their knowledge of the arts. In the region of Lake Superior are found old copper mines worked by these ancient people. In one of these mines there was discovered an immense block of copper weighing nearly six tons. It had been left in the process of removal to the top of the mine, nearly thirty feet above, and was sup- ported on logs of wood which were partly petrified. The stone and copper tools used by the miners were discovered lying about as they had been left by their owners ages before. At the mouth of this mine are piles of earth thrown out in digging it, and out of these embankments trees are growing which are nearly four hundred years old. Who Were the "Mound Builders?" The following interesting account of the mounds and their builders is from the pen of Mr. J. H. Beadle, who has kindly given us permission to quote from his valuable work, entitled The Undeveloped West ; In his description, Mr. Beadle says: A people for whom we have no name, vaguely included under the general term of Mound Builders, have left evidences of exten- sive works in the vicinity of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers and their tributaries. These are of three kinds : mounds, square and circular inclosures, and raised embank- ments of various forms. Of mounds, the following are most important and best known : One at Grave Creek, West Virginia, 70 feet high and i,(X)0 feet in circumference at the base ; one near Miamisburg, Ohio, 68 feet high and 852 feet in circumference; the * great truncated pyramid at Cahokia, Illinois, 7(X) feet long, 500 wide, and 90 in height ; the immense square mound, with face of 188 feet, near Marietta, Ohio; and some hun- dreds of inferior mounds from 60 to 30 feet in height, in different .States, from Wisconsin to the mouth of the Mississippi. Unlike all the mounds in Mexico and Central and South America, those in our country have no trace of buildings on them. Why? Until I visited Arizona I had no answer. There the solution was easy. In those regions stone was abundant and timber was scarce; here the reverse was the case. Our predecessors built of wood, the others of stone; the works of the latter remain to this day, while wooden buildings would leave no trace after one or two centuries, if indeed they were not burnt by the savages as soon as abandoned. Immense Structures. Of the second class the best known are : the square fortification at Cedar Bank, Scioto River, Ohio, with face of 800 feet, inclosing a mound 245 feet long by 150 broad ; the works four miles north of Chilli- cothe, Ohio, a square and a circular fortifica- tion inclosing twenty acres each ; the graded way near Piketon, Ohio ; about a hundred mounds and inclosures in Ross County, Ohio; the pyramid at Seltzertown, Missis- sippi, 600 feet long and 40 feet high, and a vast number of mounds, inclosures, squares and pyramids on the upper lakes, and scat- tered through the Southern and Western States. Every State in this great region contains these ancient structures. By far the greatest division is in Central and South America ; and here we find our- selves at the point where our ancient civiliza- tion reached its height, among works which are the astonishment of explorers and per- plexity of scholars. Yucatan is a vast field for antiquarian research, dotted from one end to the other with the ruins of cities, temples and palaces. But in the great forest which covers the northern half of Guatemala, the southern half of Yucatan, and parts of other States, covering an area larger than Ohio, is RTRANGK PEOPLE IN A STRANGE LAND. to be found the key to our ancient history. Witiiin a kw years past cities have been dis- covered which must have contained a popu- lation of a quarter of a million, in an advanced condition of civilization ; and )-et, owing to 19 The 2. They were an agricultural people, barbarous state requires many times as large an area for the same number of people as the civilized state; and the savage condi- tion a much larger. The State of Ohio will th^ jealousy of the natives and the iiidiffer- support an agricultural population of many ence of modern scholars, next to nothing is known, and few scientific researches have been made upon this intensely interesting subject. In my limited space I confine this inquiry mostly to the remains in our own country. millions ; yet it never contained fifty thousand savages. It is easily proven that that portion of the United States east of the Mississippi never contained half a million Indians. It follows, also, that a very large portion of the country around their works MOUNDS AT MARIETTA, OHIO. From what we see in the Western and Southern States, the following conclusions are evident : I. The Mound Builders constituted a considerable population, under one govern- ment. No wandering and feeble tribes could have erected such works ; and the extent of ihe works, evidently many years in erection, as well as their completeness and scientific exactness, show the controlling energy of one directing central power, which alone can account for their uniform character. must have been cleared of timber and in cultivated fields. 3. They left our country a long time ago. Nature does not give a forest growth at once to abandoned fields ; a preparatory growth of shrubs and softer timber conn. first. But forest trees have been found upon the summit of their mounds, which show, by annual rings and other signs, at least six hundred years of growth. There could be no better proof of their great antiquity. Their works are never found upon the 20 DISCOVERY OF THE WESTERN CONTINENT. lowest terrace of the formation on the rivers ; though many signs indicate that they built some as nearly on a level with the streams as possible. Their "covered ways," leading down to water, now terminate on the second terrace above. It is demonstrable that of the various terraces — " second bottoms " — on our streams, the lowest was longest in form- ing. From these and many other signs, it is proved that the last of the Mound Builders left the Ohio valley at least a thousand years ago. How Long were They Here? 4. They occupied the country, at least the southern part of it, vi^here their popula- tion was densest a very long time. This is shown by the extent of their works, the evidences of their working the copper-mines of the Superior region, and many other proofs. The best judges estimate that nearly a thousand years elapsed from the time of their entrance till their departure from the Mississippi valley. 5. At the south they were at peace; but as they advanced northward, they came more and more into contact with the wild tribes, before whom they finally retired — again towards the south. These facts are clearly proved by the increase of fortifica- tions northward, and broad flat mounds, suitable only for buildings, southward. So much for pro®f ; and, connecting these with other proofs, the latest antiquarians are of the opinion that the Toltecs — the civilized race preceding the Aztecs — were our Mound Builders. This opinion is the only reason- able one that can be formed under all the circumstances. When we pass to the more southern ruins the proofs of great antiquity, large population and long occupation are vastly increased. Some of them have been alluded to. The great forest of Guatemala and Yucatan is nearly as large as Ohio and Indiana combined, and could easily have sustained a civilized population of ten mil- lions. The Aztecs, whom the Spaniards found, were the last of at least three civilized races, and much inferior to the Toltecs immediately preceding them. Their history indicates that they were merely one of the original races, who overthrew and mingled with the Toltecs, adopting part of their re- ligion and civilization. The Peruvian Incas, found by Pizarro, seemed to have been the second in the series of races. But civiliza- tion is not spontaneous ; it must have re- quired nearly a thousand years for the first of the three dynasties to have developed art and learning far enough to erect the build- ings we find. To that race before the Incas, the authors of the original civilization, De Bourbourg and others have given the name of Colhuas. What may Reasonably be Conjectured. Thus we have the series: a thousand years since the Mound Builders left our country ; a previous thousand years of set- tlement and occupation, and a thousand years for the precedent civilization to develop. Or, beginning in Mexico, etc. : a thousand years of Spaniard and Aztec ; a previous thousand years for Toltec migration and settlement, and a thousand years before that for the Colhuas to develop, flourish and decline. This carries us back to the time when the same course of events was inaugu- rated on the Eastern Continent. We know that it has required so long to produce all we see in Europe and Asia ; all reasoning, by analogy, goes to show that at least as long a time has been required to produce equally great evidences in America. Besides a host of surmises there have been at least nine theories promulgated, and strenulously defended, in regard to the origin of this civilization. UNITED STATES BATTLESHIP TEXAS UNITED SlAito TORPEDO BOAT GUSHING UNITED STATES MONITOR MIANTONOMOH UNITED STATES BATTLESHIP INDIANA STRANGE PEOPLE IN A STRANGE LAND. 2Y *.. The Jewish theory. Some sixty years ^incc Major Noah maintained that the " Lost Tribes " were the ancestors of the American indians and the builders of the ruins de- such a people as the Jews could, in a few centuries, lose all trace of their language, reh'gion, laws, form of government, art, science and general knowledge, and sink into A DEAD TOWN OF THE MOQUIS INDIANS. ^cribed; and a few others held that, if not the Ten Tribes, there was a Jewish Colony. Jt would certainly be an amazing thing if a tribe of barbarians. But when we add that their bodily shape must have completely changed, their skulls lengthened, the beard 22 DISCOVERY OF THE WESTERN CONTINENT. dropped from their faces, and their lan- guage undergone a reversion from a deriv- ative to a primitive type — a thing unknown in any human tongue— the supposition be- comes too monstrous even to be discussed, 2. The Malay theory is that a grjat Malay Empire, once existing in the island oC Malaysia, planted colonies here; but this is easily disproved. Works of the Phoenicians. 3. The Phoenician theory: that those ancient navigators planted colonies in Amer- ica. If correct, this would be certain of demonstration ; for they were pre-eminently a people of letters and monuments. The Phoenician alphabet is the parent of all the alphabets of Europe except the Turkish. They must have left some trace ot their lan- guage But none has been found. Nor can any similarity be traced in the ruins with the works of the Phoenicians. 4. 5,6. The Assyrian, Egyptian and Roman theories itW for the same reasons as the Phoenician. The works of none of these people have any marked resemblance to those found in America. A pyramid or temple here is no more like an Egyptian or Assyrian one than a Chinese pagoda is like an American church. 7. The Northmen in America have been cixditcd with these works. It is barely |)ussible ♦:he remains in the United States might be thus accounted for; but how about the far more extensive and elaborate works in Mexico, Central and South America? The cause ascribed is utterly inadequate for the effect. 8. The Chinese or Tartary theory is, that about the year i25oKublai Khan sent Tartar colonies to America; that amonsf them were some Nestorian Christians, which accounts for the crosses found. The time is utterly inadequate. Palenque and Copan were built and abandoned before the year 1250. 9. The Atlantean theory is, by far, the most brilliant and fascinating of all proposed, and appeals with subtle power to the imagi- nation. It is propounded by Brasseur de Bourbourg, who maintains that the Island of Atlantis, often mentioned by ancient poets, had a real existence ; that it extended nearly across the Atlantic, and was the cradle of civilization ; that it actually sank in the sea as the Greek poets tell us, and that the West India Islands are the only portions that remain above water. He conjectures that from this common centre civilization spread east and west, and supports this view by numerous traditions from both sides of the Atlantic. Of this theory we must regretfully say, " Not proven." A False Assumption. To dispose of so many theories to make way for my own opinion, is scarcely in keeping with the modesty I had proposed to myself; but, in my humble judgment, these theorists all start from one fatal assumption : that this civilization was necessarily an exotic. Why not a civilization native to America as well as to any other country ? I would sug- gest that a good basis might be laid by analogy with the course of civilization in Europe. There it began in the South, spread slowly by successive developments towards the North, where it was overwhelmed and driven back, as it were, by an irruption of barbarians ; it again revived in the South, and slowly extended to the North, where it is now advanced beyond the original. Similarly here the Colhuas originated civilization in the South ; their successors the Toltecs, carried it towards the North, about the line of Ohio, they encountered the irruption of northerij barbarians, and slowly retired towards the South ; there civilization ISTRANGE PEOPLE IN A STRANGE LAND. 23 agjain revived, and was steadily advancing towards the North when the Spaniards came and destroyed it. On each continent the lull cycle required a period of about three thousand years. On this basis I should place the Moquis antl other Pueblo races the last in a series of \ouv, the second the greatest, and a decline liiciicc to the last: Colhaus, Toltecs, Aztecs, Pueblos. In summing up, why are we reduced to the necessity of adopting any hypothesis of an Eastern origin .-* Is it unreasonable to believe that self-improve- ment began among savages in America, as it did three thousand years ago among savages in P^gypt and Greece? Does sound philos- ophy forbid the theory of a spontaneous civilization in America? We are, perhaps, too much in the habit of thinking that everything really good originated with our branch of the human race. To my mind, the evidences are many — though a profound American archaeologist might smile at the supposition — that this civilization was sid generis, native and not derived. A Remarkable Indian. We now know that in China a civiliza- tion developed spontaneously, totally unlike and receiving no aid from that of Europe. Two starting points proved, what is there to forbid the idea of a third ? This is as dis- tinct trom the European as is the Chinese ; it shows no signs of derivation, and facts indicate clearly that the native mind of Amer- ica is naturally equal to either of the others. Within the memory of man a Cherokee has invented a complete alphabet, one serving the purpose in his language better than ours does in the English. (Better because each letter represents invariably one and the same sound). This fact is worth a volume of con- jecture. It shows that the human mind was slowly working toward something better in America, the same as in Europe, the only difference being that, from reasons of race or climate, it there got an earlier start. Outgrowing Barbarism. And as to the northern barbarians who destroyed this civilization, why arc we drivem to inventing a plausible theory as to how, they crossed from Asia ? On the whole, I incline to flank all the difficulties of the main question thus : America, as shown by geo- logy, is the oldest of the continents, and it is quite reasonable, therefore, to suppose was early inhabited. This race had a native genius peculiarly its own, totally unlike that which developed in Asia the Chinese civili- zation, or that in Europe which created that of the Greek and Roman and the later nations. Like them, many hundreds of years passed in barbarism before even a start was apparent. But civilization did begin in Amer- ica, and was reviving from its first overthrow when the whites came. Mexico had advanced through the savage and barbarous to the half-civilized state ; the New England tribes had taken the first steps toward improvement, and the New York Indians had already a political organization, code of laws, national confederacy and sys- tem of representative council and govern- ment. Had the whites discovered America a thousand years later, they might have found on the Atlantic coast a completed native civilization as perfect as that of China to-day. The innate power of the Indian mind among the superior tribes is evident. The inferior ones would have perished as did inferior aboriginal races before Asiatic and ' European civilization. The foregoing theories, by Mr. Beadle, are doubtless the best solution to this problem. At the time of its discovery by the whites the Indians were the sole human occupants of the continent, which was covered with vast 24 DISCOVERY OF THE WESTERN CONTINENT. woods and plains abounding with game of every description. Though nominally divided into tribes and " nations," the Indians were really one great family in physical appearance, manners, cus- toms, religion, and in the observance of their social and political systems. The division and Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina as far south as Cape Fear, a large part of Kentucky and Tennessee, and nearly all of Ohio, Indi- ana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and Min- nesota. This nation was subdivided into the following tribes: the 0;:tawas, Chippewas, INDIAN VILLAGE IN WINTER. into tribes was the result of their difference in language. Each tribe had a dialect pecu- liar to itself and distinct from those of the others. The tribes were for the most part hostile to and were constantly engaged in war with each other. They were generally divided into eight nations, speaking eight radically distinct languages. These were: I. 77ie Algonquins, who inhabited the ter- ritory now comprised in the six New Eng- land States, the eastern part of New York Sacs and Foxes, Miamis, Potawatomies, Shawnees, Powhatans, Delawares, Mohegans, Narragansetts and Pequods. The Famous "Five Nations." II. Iroquois, who occupied almost all of that part of Canada south of the Ottawa, an- ' between lakes Ontario, Erie and Huron, tho greater part of New York, and the country lying along the south shore of Lake Erie, now included in the States of Ohio and Penn- sylvania. This territory, it will be seen, m^4» • ► ♦ "^ -•^m UNITED STATES. UNION JACK. U. S. REVEWXTE. ::l V. S. ADMIRAL. ENGLAND. IRELAND. OERMANY. PENNSYLVANIA STATE. GERMAN MEROHANT. k-^4^ FLAGS OF ALL NATIONS. t •-^^ ► # •<• ►^* GREBOB. (I VENEZUELA. ECUADOR. BRAZIIi. TURKEY. DENMARK. HANOVER. PERU. PARAGUAY. :: RUSSIA. »-^ FLAGS OF ALL NATIONS. Ul -•-► <^ ■♦►-• ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. PHILADELPHIA CITY. MEXICO. SANDWICH ISLANDS. ADSTBIA FLAGS OF ALL NATIONS. ■♦► STRANGE PEOPLE IN A STRANGE LAND. 25 bordered on the domains of their powerful and bitter enemies, the Algonquins. The nation was subdivided into the following tribes : the Senecas, Cayugas, Onondagas, Oneidas and Mohawks. These five were afterwards called by the English the " Five Nations." In 1722 they admitted the Tus- caroras into their confederation, and were afterwards called the " Six Nations." Tribes of the South. in. The Catawbas, who dwelt among the banks of the Yadkin and Catawba rivers, near the line which at present separates the States of North and South Carolina. IV. The Cherokees, whose lands were bounded on the east by the Broad river of the Carolinas, including all of north- ern Georgia. V. The Uchecs, who dwelt south of the Cherokees, along the Savannah, the Oconee, and the head-waters of the Chat- tahoochee. They spoke a harsh and smgular language, and are believed to have been the remnant of a once power- ful nation. VI. The Mobilian Nation^ who inhabi- ted all of Georgia and South Carolina not mentioned in the above statements, a part of Kentucky, Tennessee and Mis- sissippi and all of Florida and Alabama. Their territory was next in extent to that of the Algonquins, and extended along the Gulf of Mexico from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River. The nation was divided into three great confederations — the Creeks or Muscogees, the Choctaws and the Chickasaws — and was subdivided into a number of smaller tribes, the principal of which were the Seminoles and Yemasse^s, who were members of the Creek ConfeiU eration. VII. The Natchez, who dwelt in a small territorj/ east of tiie Mississippi, and along the banks of the Pearl River. They were almost surrounded by the tribes of the Mobilian language, yet remained until their extinction a separate nation, speaking a distinct lan- guage peculiar to themselves, and worship- ping the sun as their God. They are believed to have been the most civilized of all the savage tribes of North America. VIII. The Dacotahs or Sioux, whose terri- tory was bounded on the north by Lake Winnipeg, on the south by the Arkansas River, on the east by the Mississippi, and on NAVAJO BOY. the west by the Rocky Mountains. The nation was divided into the followingf branches : the Winnebagoes, living between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi ; the Southern Sioux, living between the Arkan- sas and the Platte ; and the Mandans and Crows, who lived north of them. The great plains, the Rocky Mountains and Pacific coast were held by the powerful tribes of the Pawnees, Comanches, Apaches, Utahs, Black Feet, Snakes, Nezperces, Flat- Heads, Navajos and California Indians. 26 DISCOVERY OF THE WESTERN CONTINENT. Each tribe was divided into classes or clans, which were distinguished by a mark tattooed on the breast. This mark was called the totem, and was generally the representation of an animal or bird. The Indians believed that all animals had protect- ing spirits, and each class was supposed to be protected by the spirit of the animal it chose for its totem. Over each class was a chief, and the head of the tribe was a chief >r sachem, who was usually a man, but some- PUEBLO INDIAN AT PRAYER. times a woman. The Indians had no writ- ten laws, but the customs and traditions of the tribe took the place of these. The reli- gious belief of the Indians was simple. They adored a Great Spirit — some tribes had many gods — and believed in a future state. The brave were admitted to the happy hunt- ing-grounds of the spirit-world, but cowards were excluded from them. The weapons of a warrior were buried with him that he might use them in his spirit home, and pursue the occupations of his earthly life. Their heaven lay far beyond the mountains of the setting sun. It was a land rich in game, and abounding in fertile meadows and sparkling streams. There the warrior, re- leased from the cares and hardships of life, passed the ages of eternity in the chase ; and there parting from friends, suffering, fatigue, hunger and thirst were unknown. The Indian heard voices o"* spirits in the wind, and saw them in the stars. The shades of his ancestors were constantly hovering over him, stimulating him to brave deeds, keep- ing fresh in his mind the duty of avenging them upon the enemies they had left behind, and of proving himself a true warrior. Grotesque Dress of the Savages. The dress of the savages consisted of the skins of animals, which were prepared by smoking them. After the settlement of the colonies they added a blanket to this dress. Their garments were decorated with skins and feathers, and on special occasions they painted their faces with various bright colors. In the warm weather they wore scarcely any clothing. Their houses or wigwams were formed of poles set firmly in the ground and bent toward each other at the top. These were covered with chestnut or birch bark. Some of the tribes had large houses, often thirty feet high and over two hundred feet long, which accommodated a number of families. Some of the Indian villages were laid off regularly and were permanent ; others were broken up with each migration of the tribe. All the Indians, however, pursued a roving life, passing from point to point in search of game and the means of subsist- ence. Some of the tribes lived by hunting only ; others added to this pursuit the culti- vation of maize or Indian corn, beans, hemp, tobacco and pumpkins. The food of the Indians was coarser and less nourishing than that of the Europeans, and they were consc- STRANGE PEOPLK IN A STRANGE EAND. ar quently inferior to tne latter in bodily- strength. They surpassed them in endur- ance, however, and could bear tests which the whites could not. They were swift run- ners, and could accomplish long distances in this way. It was a common thing for a ^ood runner to run seventy or eighty miR;s jr. a single day. They werr thoroughly proficient in the craft of the woodsir.cii\. Sounds and sights which had uo> meaning to the white man were eloquent to them; and they sur- passed the latter in keenness of hearing and of vision. They communicated with each other by signs or marks on rocks and trees. For money they used wampum beads ; and belts made of this wampum were used to record treaties and other important events. They had no intoxicating drinks before the arrival of the whites ; but used tobacco, which they smoked in pipes made of cla}'. They were expert marksmen with the bow until they learned the use of firearms from the whites, when they lost much of their ancient skill with this weapon. Canoes and Snow-shoes. "The most ingenious inventions of the In- dians," says Colonel Higginson, '* were the snow-shoe and the birch canoe. The snow- shoe was made of a maple-wood frame three or four feet long, curved and tapering, and filled in with a network of deer's hide. This network was fastened to the foot by thongs, only a light, elastic moccasin being worn. Thus the foot was supported on the surface of the snow ; and an Indian could travel forty miles a day upon snow-shoes, and could easily overtake the deer and moose whose pointed hoofs cut through the crust. The peculiar pattern varied with almost every tribe, as did also that of the birch canoe. This was made of the bark of the white birch, stretched over a very light frame of white cedar. The whole bark of a birch tree was stripped oft and put around the frame without being lorn. Ihe edges were sewed with tnongs cut from the roots of tb (J^ds-r, ar.d were then covered with pitcK made Irom the gum of trees. If torn, the canoe could be mended with pieces of bark, fastened in the same way. The largest o< these canoes was thirty feet long, and would carry ten or twelve Indians. They were very light and could be paddled with ease. They were . often very gracefully shaped, and drew very little water. " The Indians had great courage, self-con- trol, and patience. They were grave and CIVILIZED INDIAN WOMAN. dignified in their manners on important occa- sions ; in their councils they were courteous to one another, and discussed all important questions at great length. They were often kind and generous, and sometimes even for- giving ; but they generally held sternness to be a virtue, and forgiveness a weakness. They were especially cruel to captives, putting them to death with all manner of tortures, in which women took an active part. It was tlic custom among them for women to do most of the hard work, in order that the 28 DISCOVERY OF THE WESTERN CONTINENT. bodies of the men might be kept supple and active for the pursuits of the chase and war. Great Power of Endurance. " When employed on these pursuits, the Indian men seemed incapable of fatigue ; but in the camp or in travelling the women carried the burdens ; and when a hunter had carried a slain deer on his shoulders for a long distance, he would throw it down within sight of the village, that his squaw might go and bring it in. " Most of the Indian tribes lired in a state of constant warfare with one another. When there was a quarrel between tribes, and war seemed ready to break out, strange cere- monies were used. Some leading chief would paint his body black from head to foot, and would hide himself in the woods or in a cavern. There he would fast and pray, and call upon the Great Spirit; and would observe his dreams to see if they promised good or evil. If he could dream of a great war-eagle hovering before him it would be a sign of triumph. After a time he would come forth from the woods and return among his people. Then he would address them, summon them to war, and assure them that the Great Spirit was on their side. Then he would bid the warriors to a feast at his wig- wam. There they would find him no longer painted in black, but in bright and gaudy colors, called * war paint.' The guests would also be dressed in paint and feathers, and would seat themselves in a circle around the wigwam. Then wooden trenchers, contain- ing the flesh of dogs, would be placed before them, while the chief would sit quietly smok- ing his pipe, and would not yet break his long and wearisome fast. "After the, feast, the war-dance would fol- low, perhaps at night, amid the blaze of fires and lighted pine knots. A painted post would be driven into the ground, and the crowd would form a wide circle round it The war chief would leap into the open space, brandishing his hatchet, and would chant his own deeds and those of his fathers, acting out all that he described and striking at the post as if it were an enemy. Warrior after warrior would follow, till at last the whole band would be dancing, shouting, and brandishing their weapons, striking and stab- bing at the air, making hideous grimaces and filling the forest with their yells. Making the Attack. " Much of the night would pass in this way. In the morning the warriors would leave the camp in single file, still decorated with paint and feathers and ornaments ; and, as they entered the woods, the chief would fire his gun, and each in turn would do the same. Then they would halt near the vil- lage, would take off their ornaments and their finery, and would give all these to the women, who had followed them for this pur- pose Then the warriors would go silently and stealthily through the forest to the appointed place of attack. Much of their skill consisted in these silent approaches, and in surprises and stratagems, and long and patient watchings. They attached no shame to killing an unarmed enemy, or to private deceit and treachery, though to their public treaties they were always faithful. They were desperately brave, and yet they saw no dis- grace in running away when there was no chance of success." At the time of the discovery of America the Indians were rapidly disappearing. Their relentless wars and frequent pestilences were sweeping them away. Contact with the white race has hastened the work of destruc- tion. Many of the tribes exist now but in name, and those which remain are growing smaller in numbers with each generation ; and it would seem that the time is not far UNITED STATES BATTLESHIP IOWA UNITED STATES PROTECTED CRUISER COLUMBIA UNITED STATES ARMORED CRUISER BROOKLYN UNITED STATES ARMORED CRUISER NEW YORK STRANGE PEOPLE IN A STRANGE LAND. 29 distartt when the last trace left of the red man in America will be his memory. Old Traditions. Whether any white men ever trod the shores of America previous to the coming of Columbus is a disputed question. It would seem, however, that, several centuries previ- ous to his discovery, a Norwegian vessel from Iceland to Greenland was driven out of her course by storms to the coast of Labrador or Newfoundland. The national pride of the Icelanders and the Danes has led them to accept as literal history the traditions of their race concerning this voyage, and they have given it a definite date. According to them this voyage took place in A. D. 986, and was followed in looi by a voyage of Lief Erick- son, an Icelandic navigator, who is said to have discovered America, reaching Labrador first, and then sailing southward to Newport and New York harbors. This voyage is said to have led the way to the further exploration of the coast as far south as the capes of Virginia, and to the planting of colonies, which soon perished, in Newfound- land and Nova Scotia. That some Icelandic voyagers visited the American continent pre- vious to the expedition of Columbus is most likely ; but we cannot accept the definite and explicit statements of the writers in ques- tion; at least in the present state of our knowledge upon this subject. We must con- tent ourselves with the bare fact, without admitting all the details narrated. Among the strange, stirring and wonder- 'ful stories of early voyages there was none 'which excited such interest as that of Bjarni, a native of Iceland, who had cruised along the coast of an unknown world, and looked upon hills, woods and mountains, of whose existence no one had ever dreamed. It naturally occurred to the hardy sailors who d'^cussed the question, that they could do what Bjarni had done, and indeed far more, for he had not set foot on the shores he had seen at the west. The oldest son of Eric the Red was Lief — Lief the Lucky, he was afterward called. In the year 1000 he set sail from Herjulfness with a crew of thirty-five men, Bjarni being among them. Heading boldly out to sea, the sailors ploughed through the icy waters until land, supposed to be Newfoundland, was reached. They went ashore and examined it, but there was little to please the eye and they soon left. The next place visited was probably Nova Scotia, as it is now called. It was found to correspond with the account given by Bjarni. Two days further sail, before a favoring wind, carried the explorers so far south that when land was once more descried, it must have been New England. The main facts of the remarkable voyage of Lief the Northman have been proven beyond all dispute, but the accounts themselves are so confused in minor details that it can never be positively known where it was these navigators first landed. There is good rea- son, however, to believe it was on the coast of Rhode Island, and probably at some point on the Narragansett Bay. A Bold Navigator. The Northmen were astonished and de- lighted when they came to explore the woods to find luscious grapes in abundance. To the Northmen, the climate seemed wonder- fully mild. Lief gave the country the name of Vinland, and when he sailed northward, his vessel was loaded with grapes and valu- able timber, as proof of the fertility of the region he had visited. The Northmen were not men to rest con- tent with the voyage and discoveries made by Lief. Eric the Red had another son, a brave and skillful navigator named Thorvald, who was eager to visit the new country. STRANGE PEOPLE IN A STRANGE LAND. 3i Lief gave him much help and in 1003 ^^ ^^^ sail with a crew of thirty men. Good fortune attended them, and they found the rough houses left by Lief still strong and secure. The men spent the winter in hunting and fishing, but, so far as is known, never saw the face of any native of the New World. When spring came, part of the company went on an exploring tour along the coast of Rhode Island, Connecticut and Long Island. There is good reason to believe they entered the harbor of New York, but not a living person beside themselves was to be seen, and where stands to-day the most populous city in the New World, there was not so much as an Indian wigwam. The records show that in the spring of 1004, Thorvald entered on a more extended voyage of exploration. He sailed slowly northward along the coast of Cape Cod, and was driven ashore by a tempest. It took the crew a long time to repair damages, but when everything was ready, they resumed dieir voyage, keeping close, no doubt, along the south shore of the Massachusetts Bay. Being favorably impressed with the appear- ance of a certain spot, they dropped anchor and went ashore. When they had done so, they saw for the first time some of the natives of the new country. Under a couple of rude tents they dis- coved nine quietly lolling on the ground with no suspicion of the presence of the strangers who had landed near them. Who would think that the Northmen could offer harm to the poor savages ? There was not the slightest excuse for the dreadful cruelty of the white men, and yet, no sooner did they see the natives, than they resolved to kill them all Creeping silently forward, they made a sudden ru.sh, and w^ith the'r heavy swords killed all but one. Having completed the massacre, the triumphant Northmen lay down under the trees to sleep ; but they had hardly closed their eyes when the woods resounded with shouts and yells, and the natives rushed upon them from every side. The single survivor of the slaughter had made haste to tell what had been done by the visitors, who were now compelled to flee to their ship, fighting as they went. Under the shelter of the vessel, however, they were able to beat back the natives, only one of the Northmen receiving a wound : he was Thorvald, who had been pierced so deeply by an arrow that he was pa.st help. He died and was buried near the shore, the grave covered with*stones and a cross placed both at the head and foot. Then the survivors sailed back to Vinland and told their countrymen the sad tidings. The next spring the whole colony returned to Green- land. Thus ends all authentic history of the dis- covery and settlement of America by the Northmen. Having found one of the great continents of the world, it may be said they lost it, and, during nearly five centuries afterward there is no positive proof that it was known to Europeans. CHAPTER II The Voyages of Columbus ^riaritime Enterprise in the Fifteenth Century — Theories Respecting the Earth's Surface — Christophe? Columbus — His Early Life — His Theory of a Western Passage to India — His Struggles to Obtain the Means of Making a Voyage — Is Aided by Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain — His First Voyage — Dis- covery of America — Reception in Spain — His Second Voyage — Settlement of Hayti — Third Voyage of Columbus — He Reaches the IMainland — Discovery of Gold in Hayti — Troubles in the Colony — Columbus Sent to Spain in Irons — Indignation of the Queen — Last Voyage of Columbus — His Shipwreck — Returns to Spain — Refusal of Ferdinand to Comply with his Promises — Death of Columbus — Amerigo Ves lucci — Origin of the Name America. HE fifteenth century witnessed a remarkable awakening of human thought and enter- prise, one of the most im- portant features of which was the activity in maritime under- takings which led to the discovery of lands until then unknown to the civilized world. The invention, and the application to navigation, of the mariner's compass, had enabled the seamen of Europe to undertake long and distant voyages. The Portuguese took the lead in the maritime enterprises of this period, the chief object of which was to find a route by water from Europe to the Indies. The equator had been passed; Bartholomew Diaz had even doubled the Cape of Storms, and had established the course of the eastern coast of Africa; and it was hoped by some of the most daring thinkers that the ports of India could be reached by sailing around this cape. Others, still bolder, believed that although the earth was a sphere, it was much smaller than it is, and that the central portion of its surface was occupied by a vast ocean which washed the shores of what they regarded as its solitary continent, on either side, and that by sailing due west from Eu- 32 rope, the shores of India, China or Ji :)an could be be reached. Among those who 1 .Id this opinion was Christopher Columbus, i Te was a native of Genoa, in Italy, was boi ^ about the year 1435, and was the son of . weaver of cloth. His ancestors had been sailors, for which calling he, at an early age, evinced a preference. He received a com- mon school education, and afterwards went to the University of Pavia, where he studied geometry, astronomy, geography and navi- gation. He stayed at Pavia but a short time, only long enough to gain a decided relish for mathematical studies. At the early age of fourteen he went on a voyage with a relative, and followed the calling of a sailor until he had completed his thirtieth year. During this period he had married, and by this marriage he had become possessed of the papers of the former hus- band of his wife, who had been a distinguished Portuguese navigator. He had learned but little at school, but he had been a close stu- dent all his life, and had stored his mind with a valuable fund of information. This habit of study he never abandoned, and his extensive knowledge, added to his years of practical experience, made him one of the most learned navigators of his day. In 1470, being then about thirty years old, Columbus THE VOYAGES OF COLUMBUS. 33 took up his residence in Portugal, which was then the centre of maritime enterprise in Europe. Here his spirit of discovery was quickened, and he became convinced that ihere were continents still unknown. He continued to make voyages to the then known parts of the world, and while on fortified by his experience, induced him t sailing in that direction. This land he believed to be the eastern shores of Asia He was confirmed in his belief by his corre? pondence with the learned Italian Toscaneli CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. shore engaged in the work of making and selling maps and charts. The papers given him by his wife were now of the greatest service to him. He entered eagerly into the speculations of the day concerning the short- est passage to the Indies, and his studies. 3 who sent him a map of his own projectio: in which the eastern coast of Asia was laia down opposite the western coast of Europe, with only the broad Atlantic between them. Other things also confirmed him in what had now become the profoundest conviction of 34 iDISCOVERY OF THE WESTERN CONTINENT. fiis life. Sailors who had been to the Canary- Islands told him they had seen land far to the westward of those islands. A piece of wood strangely carved had been thrown by the waves upon the Portuguese coast after a long 'Westerly gale, and had been seen by the 'brother-in-law of Columbus. ^ ,' Seven Years of Disappointment. An old pilot related to him the finding 5f a carved paddle at sea, a thousand miles to the westward of Europe. Pine trees had been cast ashore at Madeira, and at the Azores he learned that the bodies of two men, whose features and dress showed that they belonged to no nation of Europe, had been thrown on the land by the waves. Having settled it in his own mind that there was land to the westward, Columbus was eager to go in search of it. He was not possessed of suffi- cient means to accomplish this at his own expense, and began his efforts to interest some European state in the enterprise. His first application was addressed to his native country, the Republic of Genoa. He met with a refusal, and then turned to Venice, with a like result. His next effort was to enlist the Portuguese king, John II., in his scheme. Here he was subjected to delays and vexations innumerable, and once the Portuguese sovereign attempted to make a dishonorable use of the information given by Columbus in support of his theory. Disgusted with the conduct of this sover- eign, Columbus, after years of waiting, aban- doned the hope of obtaining his assistance, and applied to Henry VII. of England, from whom he received a decided refusal. Quitting Lisbon in 1484, Columbus went to Spain, intending to lay his plans before Fer- dinand and Isabella, the sovereigns of that country. He could scarcely have chosen a more unpropitious time. The Spanish nation was engaged in the Moorish war, which had exhausted the treasury, and which absorbed the attention of the sovereigns to the exclu- sion of every other matter. He spent seven years in endeavoring to interest the govern- ment in his plans. " During this time Columbus appears to have remained in attend- ance on the court, bearing arms occasionally in the campaigns, and experiencing from the sovereigns an unusual degree of deference and personal attention." At last, wearied with the long delay to which he had been subjected, he pressed the court for an answer, and was told by the sovereigns that, " although they were too much occupied at present to embark in his undertaking, yet, at the conclusion of the war, they should find time to treat with him." He accepted this answer as a refusal, and prepared to go to France to ask the assistance of the king of that country, from whom he had received a friendly letter. Travelling on foot, he stopped at the monas- tery of Santa Maria de Rabida, near Palos, to visit the Prior Juan Perez de Marchena, who had befriended him when he first came to Spain. The prior, learning his intention to quit Spain, persuaded him to remain until one more effort could be made to enlist the government in his plans. Leaving Columbus at the convent, Juan Perez, who had formerly been the queen's confessor, mounted his mule and set off for the Spanish camp befora Granada. He was readily granted an inter- view by Queen Isabella, and he urged the suit of Columbus with all the force of elo- quence and reasoning of which he was master. Columbus at the Royal Court. His appeal was supported by several eminent persons whom Columbus, during his residence at the court, had interested in his project, and these represented to the queen the impolicy of allowing Columbus to secure the aid of a foreign power which THE VOYAGES OF COLUMBUS. 35 would reap the benefits of his discoveries, if he were successful. The result was that the sovereigns consented to reopen the negotia- tion, and Columbus was invited to return to the court, and was furnished with a sum of money to enable him to do so. Columbus promptly complied with the royal mandate, and reached the camp in time to witness the surrender of Granada. Amidst the rejoic- ings which attended this event he was admit- ted to an audience with the king and queen, and submitted to them the arguments upon which he based his theory. Isabella was favorably disposed toward the undertaking, but Ferdinand looked coldly upon it. Co- lumbus demanded, as the reward of his suc- cess, the title and authority of admiral and viceroy over all -lands discovered by him, with one-tenth of the profits, and that this dignity should be hereditary in his family. The archbishop of Granada advised the king to reject the demands of Columbus, which, he said, " savored of the highest degree of arrogance, and would be unbecoming in their highnesses to grant to a needy foreign tt.dventurer." Columbus firmly refused to abate his pretensions, and abruptly left the court, " resolved rather to forego his splendid anti- cipations of discovery, at the very moment when the career so long sought was thrown open to him, than surrender one of the hon- orable distinctions due to his services." His friends, however, remonstrated with the queen, and reminded her that if his claims were high, they were at least contingent on success. By representing to her the certainty of his being employed by some other poten- jtate, and his peculiar qualifications for success, and by reminding her of her past generous support of great and daring enterprises, they roused her to listen to the impulses of her own noble heart. " I will assume the under- taking," she exclaimed, " for my own crown of Castile, and am ready to pawn my jewels to defray the expenses of it, if the funds ol the treasury shall be found inadequate." Louis de St. Angel, the receiver who had been chiefly instrumental in bringing about this decision of the queen, offered to ad- vance the necessary funds from the reve-" nues of Aragon. That kingdom, however, was indemnified against loss, and all the charges and profits of the expedition were reserved exclusively for Castile. A messen- ger was despatched in haste after Columbus. He overtook him a few leagues from Granada, and delivered the royal order to return. Three Ships of Renown. On the seventeenth of April, 1492, a formal agreement was signed between Columbus and the Spanish sovereigns. Fer- dinand and Isabella, " as lords of the ocean- seas, constituted Christopher Columbus their admiral, viceroy and governor-general of all such islands and continents as he should discover in the Western Ocean, with the privilege of nominating three candidates, for the selection of oiie by the crown, for the government of each of these territories. He was to be vested with the exclusive right of jurisdiction over all commercial trans- actions within his admiralty. He was to be entitled to one-tenth of all the products and profits within the limits of his discoveries, and an additional eighth, provided he should contribute one-eighth part of the expense. By a subsequent ordinance, the official digni- ties above enumerated were settled on him and his heirs forever, with the privilege of prefixing the title of Don to their names, which had not then degenerated Into an appellation of mere courtesy." A fleet of three vessels was assembled in the little harbor of Palos in Andalusia. 56 DISCOVERY OF THE WESTERN CONTINENT. Two of these were furnished by the govern- ment, and one by Columbus, aided by his friend, the Prior of La Rabida, and the Pin- zons, " a family in Palos, long distinguished for iis enterprise among the mariners of that active community." The admiral had some difficulty in equipping his vessels, for his voyage was regarded by the sailors of the country as rash and perilous in the extreme. At length, however, a sufficient crew was obtained. One hundred and twenty per- sons were enlisted in the expedition. The three vessels were all small. The Santa Maria, the largest, was ninety feet long, was decked all over, had four masts, and carried a crew of sixty-six seamen. The Pinta and Nina were smaller, and were without decks. All the vessels were provisioned for a year. The admiral was instructed to keep clear of the African coast, and other maritime posses- sions of Porttugal. The Fleet Sails. At length all things were in readiness, and, Columbus and his whole crew having confessed themselves and received the sacra- ment, the fleet sailed from Palos on the morning of Friday, the third of August, 1492. A month later the Canary Islands were reached. A brief delay was made there to refit, and then the vessels turned their prows to the westward, and sailed out into the unknown seas. As the night came on the sailors, imagining they had seen the land for the last time, gave way to tears. Columbus soothed their fears, and held his course. At length he fell in with the trade- winds, which wafted him steadily towards the west The sailors were greatly alarmed at this, and declared, that if the wind did not change it would be impossible for them to teach home again. The variation of the compass also alarmed them, and their mur- murs increased to almost open mutiny. It required all the firmness of the admiral to restrain them, and to keep them from aban- doning the enterprise and returning to Europe. Ten weeks of anxiety and disappoint- ment had passed since the departure of the fleet from Palos; but still no land was seen, There were unmistakable signs that land was near, such as the flight of land bird- ' around the ship, the finding of a bush floating on the waters with fresh berries upon it, and the frequent discovery of land weeds upon the waves. Often the lookout would startle the fleet by the cry of land, but as often the sup» posed shore would prove to be only a bank of clouds low down upon the western horizon, Still the ships held their westward course, and at length the sailors' broke into open mutiny, and demanded that the fleet should return home. They were even ready to throw the admiral overboard if he refused to grant their demands. The Torch that Lighted up a New Continent, Columbus alone had been calm and hope- ful throughout the voyage. He was resolved to succeed or perish in the attempt to find the land. The success of the mutiny would have destroyed all his hopes, and as the events of each succeeding day strength- ened him in his conviction that they were rapidly approaching land, he condescended to plead with his men, and obtained from them a promise to obey him for a few days longer. The next night the land breeze, laden with the rich perfumes of tropical flowers, con- vinced the weary crews that the admiral was right, and that the long wished-for shore was indeed near. The ships were ordered tc lie to for the night lest they should go ashore in the darkness. No one slept on board that night. About ten o'clock, Columbus saw a light moving along the shore, as if it were a THE VOYAGES OF COLUMBUS. 37 torch carried in a man's hand. He called Martin Alonzo Pinzon, one of his captains, and pointed it out to him. Pinzon confirmed the admiral's opinion, and all waited in the most in- tense eager- ness for the approach of the morning With the first light, on the morning of Friday, the twelfth of Oc- tober, 1492, a fjun from one of the vessels announced that land was indeed in sight, and the rising sun re- vealed to the delighted sea- men a large island, luxu- riant in foliage and of very beautiful ap- pearance, ly- ing about six miles away, with crowds of natives run- ning along the beach. As the great admiral stood with folded arms, and heaving breast, gazing upon the world which his genius had discovered, the penitent sailors crowded about him, and, kissing his garments, im- plored his pardon for their rebellious conduct. COLUMBUS DISCOVERING LAND. Orders to land were promptly issued, and the fleet stood in and anchored near the shore. The boats were manned, and the admiral, clad in rich scarlet, and bearing the royal ban- ner of Spain and accom- panied by his captains, each of whom bore a green ban- ner inscribed with a cross, went ashore. As he set foot on the land, Colu mbu s knelt rever- ently, and kissed the ground, and then rising and drawing his sword, toek posses- sion of the island in the name of Fer- dinand and Isabella, king and queen of Spain. The island was one oftheBahama group, and was called by the natives Guanahani. Columbus named it San Sal- vador. He explored the island, and then sailing on discovered Cuba, Hayti, and other West India islands. He believed these islands to lie off the coast of Asia and to 38 DISCOVERY OF THE WESTERN CONTINENT. form a part of the Indies. For this reason he called the natives Indians, a name which they have since borne. Having built a gar- rison, a small fort in Hayti, Columbus took on board seven of the natives, and laid in a stock of fruits, plants and a number of ani- mals as specimens of the products of the country, and set sail on his return to Spain. The voyage was a very tempestuous one. He arrived at Palos on the fifteenth of March, TAr^-i^ His arrival was greeted with enthusi- From Palos he set out for the court covered Jamaica, and many of the Caribbee Islands. In 1498 Columbus made a third voyage, and in this expedition he discovered the mainland of the American Contment near the mouth of the Orinoco, and explored the coast of the provinces, since called Para and Cumana. He was not aware of the true nat-ire of his discovery, but supposed that the South American coast was a part of a large island belonging to Cathay or Farther India. In the meantime, gold had been discov- LANDING OF of Barcelona. Every step of the journey was a triumphal progress. He was received with tlie most distinguished honors by the sovereigns, and the whole court joined in a Te Dciun of thankfulness for the success of his voyage. A second expedition, consisting of seven- teen ships and fifteen hundred men, was now fitted out, and sailed from Cadiz under the command of Columbus on the twenty-fifth of September, 1493. On this voyage he dis- COLUMBUS. ered in Hayti, and crowds of adventurers were drawn hither from Spain. They in- flicted great hardships upon the natives, and when Columbus arrived he found the affairs of the colony in a most deploi able state. The sovereigns at lengtl' sent over a commissioner named Boba- dilla to investigate the affairs of the co-* lony. He was a narrow-minded, inconi-' petent man, and instead of investigating the charges against the admiral, arrested him. RECEPTION OF COLUMBUS BY FERDINAND AND ISABELLA. 40 DISCOVERY OF THE WESTERN CONTINENT. and sent him back to Spain in irons. When the officers of the ship which bore him back home wished to remove his fetters, he refused to allow them to do so, saying, " I will wear them as a memento of the gratitude of princes." The news of this outrage filled the people of Spain with honest indignation. '* All seemed to feel it as a national dis- honor," says Prescott, " that such indignities should be heaped upon the man, who, what- ever might be his indiscretions, had done so much for Spain, and for the civilized world." The Fetters Stricken Off. Queen Isabella at once ordered his fetters to be struck off, and he was s'jmmoned to court, reinstated in all his honors, and treated with che highest consideration. Isabella gained from the king a promise to aid her in doing justice to the admiral, and in punish- ing his enemies ; but Ferdinand, who could never bear to do a generous or noble act, evaded his promise, and the admiral failed to receive his just recompense. In 1504 Columbus sailed on his fourth voyage ; his object this time being to find a passage from the Atlantic co the Pacific Ocean, by which he might reach India. He explored the Gulf of Honduras, and saw the continent of North America, but was com- pelled by the mutiny of his crew and by severe storms to abandon his attempt and return to the northward. He was ship- wrecked on the coast of Jamaica, where he remained more than a year. Returning to Spain in November, 1505, he found his best friend. Queen Isabella, on her death-bed, ^ The enemies whom his great success had raised I'.p for him were numerous and power- ful, while he was now old and broken in health. He vainly sought from Ferdinand a faithful execution of the original compact between them; but though he received fair Words and promises in abundance from the king, Ferdinand steadiiy reiused to compiy with the just demands of the admiral. The Great Navigator's Death. At last, worn out with care and disap» pointments, Columbus died at Valladolid, on the twentieth of May, 1506, being about seventy years old. He was buried with great pomp in the Convent of St Francis, at Valla- dolid. In 1 5 1 3 his remains were removed to the monastery of Las Cuevas, at Seville, and Ferdinand caused this inscription, which cost him nothing and expressed his excuse for his conduct towards the dead man, to be placed upon his tomb : ** To Castile and Leon Columbus gave a New World!" In 1536 the body of the great admiral was conveyed with appropriate honors to St. Domingo Upon the cession of that island to France w 1795, the body was removed to Cuba, and buried in the Cathedral of Havana. Notyet have the ashes of the Discoverer of America found their true resting place. That place Is under the great dome of the Capitol of the Republic, for whose existence he prepared the way. Though Columbus reached the continent of South America on his third voyage, he was not the first European who beheld the mainland of the western world. In the winter of 1497-98, Amerigo Vespucci, or Americus Vespucius, a Florentine navigator, made a voyage to the West Indies and the South American coast, thus reaching the mainland of the continent nearly a year before Columbus. Returning to Europe he published an account of his discoveries. This was the first account of the new world published in Europe, and some years later a German geographer gave to the continent the name of " Amend Terra" or the land discovered by Americus. From this time the name America was applied to the west-, em continent. ft' I— ' UJ CO I—; W W s > o o m c o IE THE VOYAGES OF COLUMBUS. 41 Columbus was a man of great and invent- ive genius. The operations of his mind were energetic but irregular; bursting forth at times with that irresistible force which characterizes intellects of such an order, His mind had grasped all kinds of knowl- edge connected with his pursuits; and aiough his information may appear limited at the present day, and some of his errors palpable, it is because that knowledge, in his peculiar department of science, was but scantily developed in his time. His own discoveries enlightened the ignorance of that age ; guided conjecture to certainty ; and dispelled numerous errors with which he himself had been obliged to struggle. Character of Columbus. His ambition was lofty and noble. He was full of high thoughts, and anxious to distmguish himself by great achievements. It has been said that a mercenary feeling mingled with his views, and that his stipula- tions with the Spanish court were selfish and avaricious. The charge is inconsiderate and tjnjust. He aimed at dignity and wealth in the ^ame lofty spirit in which he sought renown ; but they were to arise from the territories he should discover, and be com- mensurate in importance. No condition could be more just. He asked nothing of the sovereigns but a command of the countries he hoped to give them, and a share of the profits to support the dignity of his command. If there should be no country discovered, his stipulated viceroyalty would be of no avail ; and if no revenues should be produced, his labor and peril would produce no gam. If his com- mand and revenues ultimately proved mag- nificent, it was from the magnificence of the regions he had attached to the Castilian crown. What monarch would not rejoice to gain empire on such conditions ? But he did not merely risk a loss of labor and a disappointment of ambition in the enterprise ; on his motives being questioned, he voluntarily undertook, and, with the assist- ance of his coadjutors, actually defrayed one-eighth of the whole charge of the first expedition. This shows that his faith in the new enterprise was unbounded, and he was willing to stake everything on its success. A peculiar trait in his rich and variec? character was that ardent and enthusiastic imagination which threw a magnificence over A NORSE SEA-KING. his whole course of thought. Herrera inti- mates that he had a talent for poetry, and som^e slight traces of it are on record, in the book of prophecies which he presented to the Catholic sovereigns. But his poetical temperament is discernible throughout all his writings, and in all his actions. It spread a golden and glorious world around him. and tinged every thing with its own gorgeous colors. It betrayed him into visionary spec- ulations, which subjected him to the sneers 42 DISCOVERY OF THE WESTERN CONTINENT. and cavillings of men of cooler and safer, but more grovelling minds. Such were the conjectures formed on the ioast of Paria about the form of the earth and the situation of the terrestrial paradise ; about the mines of Ophir in Hispaniola, and of the Aurea Chersonesus in Veragua ; and such was the heroic scheme of a crusade for the recovery of the holy sepulchre. It min- gled with his religion, and filled his mind with solemn and visionary meditations on mystic passages of the scriptures, and the shadowy portents of the prophecies. It ex- alted his office in his eyes, and made him conceive himself an agent sent forth upon a sublime and awful mission, subject to im- pulses and supernatural intimations from the deity ; such as the voice which he imagined spoke to him in comfort, amidst the troubles of Hispaniola, and in the silence of the night on the disastrous coast of Veragua. A Man in Advance of His Time. He was decidedly a visionary, but a vision- ary of an uncommon and successful kind. The manner in which his ardent, imaginative and mercurial nature were controlled by a powerful judgment, and directed by an acute sagacity, is the most extraordinary feature in his character. Thus governed, his imagina- tion, instead of exhausting itself in idle flights, lent aid to his judgment, and enabled him to form conclusions, at which common minds could never have arrived, nay, which they could not perceive when pointed out. To his intellectual vision it was given to read in the signs of the times, and to trace in the conjectures and reveries of past ages, the indications of an unknown world ; as sooth- sayers were said to read predictions in the stars, and to foretell events from the visions )jthe night. " His soul," observes a Spanish I writer, " was superior to the age in which he lived. For him was reserved the great en- terprise of traversing a sea which had given rise to so many fables, and of deciphering the mystery of his time." With all the visionary fervor of his imag' nation, its fondest dreams fell short of the reality. He died in ignorance of the rea- grandeur of his discovery. Until his iast breath, he entertained the idea that he had merely opened a new way to the old resor*"" of opulent commerce, and had discovered some of the wild regions of the east. He supposed Hispaniola to be the ancient Ophir, which had been visited by the ships of Solo- mon, and that Cuba and Terra Firma were but remote parts of Asia. What visions of glory would have broken upon his mind, could he have known that he had indeed dis- covered a new continent, equal to the whole of the old world in magnitude, and separated by two vast oceans from all the earth hither- to known by civilized man ! And how would his magnanimous spirit have been consoled amidst the af^ictions of age and the cares of penury, the neglect of a fickle public, and the injustice of an ungrateful king, could heha\c anticipated the splendid empires which were to spread over the beautiful world he had discovered, and the nations, and tongues, and languages which were to fill its lands with his renown, and to revere and bless his name to the latest posterity ! It may be questioned whether any old Norse Sea-King, who braved the storms and billows of the North Atlantic, ever exhibited a purpose more resolute, a courage more daring, or a self-sacrifice more complete than characterized Columbus. Our illustration Oi the royal Norseman shows him to have been a man born to command and achieve ; the hero of 1492 was no less illustrious. CHAPTER III English and French Discoveries discovery of the North American Continent by John Cabot — Voyages of Sebastian Cabot — The English fail to follow up these Discoveries — Efforts of the P>ench to Explore America — Voyage and Discoveries of Verrazzani — Cartier Explores the St. Lawrenne — Reaches Montreal — Efforts to Found a Colony on the St. Lawrence — Failure — Roberval'i Colony — Trading Voyages — Explorations of Champlain — Colonization of Nova Scotia — Founding of Quebec — Dis- covery of Lake Champlain — Arrival of the Jesuits in Canada — Death of Champlain. N the meantime tht success of the first voyage of Columbus had stimulated other nationf to similar exertions. The Eng- lish court had experienced a feeling of keen regret that the petition of Columbus had been refused, and when John Cabot, a native of Venice, then residing at i5ristol, applied for leave to undertake a voy- age of exploration his request was readily granted. On the fifth of March, 1496, a patent or commission was granted to him and his three sons by Henry VII., authorizing either of them, their heirs or their agents, to under- take with a fleet of five ships, at their own expense, a voyage of discovery in the east- ern, western or northern seas. Though they were to make the attempt at their own cost, they were to take possession of the countries they should discover for the king of Eng- land. They were to have the exclusive pri- 'ilege of trading to these countries, but were jound to return to the port of Bristol, and to pay to the king one-fifth of the profits of their trade. Early in 1497 Cabot sailed from Bristol, accompanied by his son, Sebastian. The object of his voyage was not only the dis- covery of new landsj but the finding of a northwest passage to Asia. He sailed due west, and on the twenty-fourth of June, 1497, reached the coast of Labrador. He thus discovered the mainland of the North Amer- ican continent, fully fourteen months before Columbus reached the coast of South America, and nearly a year before Amerigo Vespucci made his discovery. He explored the coast to the southward for over a thou- sand miles, made frequent landings, and took possession of the country in the name of the English king. Returning home, he was received with many marks of honor by Henry VII., and was called the " Great Admiral " by the people. Towards the close of the year 1497, the Cabots undertook a new voyage, and the king, pleased with the success of the first venture, became a partner in the enterprise, and assumed a portion of the expense. The object of this voyage was to trade with the natives, and to ascertain if the country was suited to colonization. The expedition sailed from Bristol in May, 1498, and was com- manded by Sebastian Cabot, who reached the Labrador coast about four hundred miles north of the point discovered by his father. He found the country cold and barren though it was but the beginning of the sum- mer, and sailed southward. " The coast to 43 DISCOVERY OF THE WESTERN CONTINENT 44 which he was now borne was unobstructed by frost. He saw there stags larger than those of England, and bears that plunged into the water to take fish with their claws. The fish swarmed innumerably in such shoals ^^ey seemed to affect even the speed of his " Continuing his voyage, according to the line of the shore, he found the natives of those regions clad in skins of beasts, but they were not without the faculty of reason, and in many places were acquainted with the use of copper. In the early part of Hip . ^^<^^\\^S.\^V.,..vs , .^^^' :# V- -^^. ■^ ■'t iA ■'I 1^ SEBASTIAN CABOT. f vessels, so that he gave to the country the name of Bacallaos, which still linger, on the east side of Newfoundland, and has passed into the language of the Germans and the Italians, as well as the Portuguese and %)anish, to designate the cod. voyage he had been so far to the north that in the month of July the light of day was almost continuous ; before he turned home- wards, in the late autumn, he believed he had attained the latitude of the Straits ot Gibraltar and the longitude of Cuba.'** Or * Bancroft. I ENGLISH AND FRENCH iDiSCOVERlES. 45 his homeward voyage he noticed the Gulf Stream. This was the last voyage from England made by Sebastian Cabot. On the death of Henry VII., he took service with Ferdinand of Spain, and under him and his grandson, Charles V., he made many voyages, and was for nearly sixty years the foremost man in Europe in maritime enterprises. A Renowned Explorer. He explored the eastern coast of South America, and in his efforts to find the north- west passage sailed within twenty degrees of the North Pole, and explored the eastern coast of North America from Hudson's Straits to Albemarle Sound, He was in many things one of the most remarkable men of his day, and besides his own discoveries contributed generously by his advice and encouragement to those of others. "He gave England a continent, and no one knows his burial place." The English made no effort to take advan- tage of the discoveries of the Cabots. They sent a few vessels every year to fish on the banks of Newfoundland, but pursued even this industry without vigor. The other nations were more energetic, and showed a keener appreciation of the value of the new lands. The French were especially active in this respect. Their vessels engaged in the fisheries far outnumbered those of the Eng- lish, and many plans were proposed in France for the colonization of those regions. In 1523 Francis I. employed a Florentine named John Verrazzani, an experienced navigator, to undertake the discovery of a northwest passage to India. Verrazzani sailed on the seventeenth of January, 1524, and, after a stormy voyage of fifty days, reached the American coast in the latitude of VVilmine- ton. North Carolina. Failing to find a good harbor, he sailed southward for 150 miles, and then turned northward, examining the coast as he proceeded on his journey. An Earthly Paradise. Verrazzani was surprised and delighted by the appearance of the new country and it?. inhabitants. The latter welcomed with hos \ pitality the strangers whom they had not yet learned to fear, and the Europeans, on their part, regarded with wonder the "russet"- colored natives in their dress of skins orna- mented with feathers. Judging from the accounts which they carried to Europe, the voyagers regarded the country as a sort of terrestrial paradise. " Their imagination could not conceive of more delightful fields and forests ; the groves spreading perfumes far from the shore, gave promise of the spices of the East; and the color of the earth argued an abundance of gold." The harbors of New York and Newport were carefully explored, and in the latter the voyagers remained fifteen days. They then proceeded along the New England coast to Nova Scotia, and still farther to the north. They found the natives here less friendly than those farther south. A Portu- guese commander, Caspar Cortereal, had visited their coast a few years before, and had carried away some of their number and sold them into slavery. Returning to France, Verrazzani published an account of his voyage. This narrative forms the earliest original description now in existence of the American coast, and added very much to the knowledge of the Euro- peans concerning this country. France at a subsequentperiod based, upon Verrazzani's discoveries, her claim to the whole coast o; America from Newfoundland to South Car- olina. The French, however, were not des- tined to obtain a foothold in the new world. The struggle in which Francis I. was engaged with the Emperor Charles V. pre- 46 DISCOVERY OF THE WESTERN CONTINENT. vented him from taking advantage of these discoveries, and nothing was done with regard to them by the French until ten years later, when Chabot, Admiral of France, induced King Francis to make another effort to explore and colonize America. An expedi- tion was fitted out, placed under the com- mand of James Cartier, a mariner of St, Malo, and despatched in April, 1534, for the pur- pose of exploring the American coast with a view to colonizing it. A quick voyage of twenty days carried Cartier to Newfound- land. Having passed through the straits of Belleisle, he crossed the gulf and entered a bay which he named Des Chaleurs, from the extreme heats he experienced there. France Sends Out a Colony. He proceeded along the coast as far as the small inict called Gaspe, where he landed and took formal possession of the country in the name of the king of France. Leaving Gaspe Bay Cartier discovered the great river of Canada and sailed up the stream until he could see the land on either side. His explorations consumed the months of May, June and July. Being unprepared to pass the winter in America, the fleet sailed for Europe. The reports of Cartier concerning America aroused the deepest interest in France, and it was determined by the government to pro- ceed at once to the founding of a colony in the new world. A fleet of three well-equipped ships was fitted out, and volunteers from some of the noblest families in France were not lacking. The whole company repaired to the cathedral, where they received the bishop's blessing, and on the nineteenth of May, 1535, the expedition sailed from St. Malo. The voyage was long and stormy, but Newfoundland was reached at length. Passing through the straits of Belleisle, they entered the gulf lying west of Newfoundland on the tenth of August, the festival of St. Lawrence the Martyr, and gave to the gulf the name of that saint, which was subsequently applied to the great river emptying into it A Beautiful Country. The voyagers ascended the stream to the island since called Orleans. There the fleet anchored, while Cartier proceeded farther up the river to the chief Indian settlement on the island of Hochelega. It was the delightful season of September, and the country was beautiful and inviting. Cartier ascended a hill at the foot of which the Indian settle- ment lay, and gazed with admiration at the magnificent region which spread out before him. He named the hill Mont Real, or Royal Mount, a name which is now borne by the island and by the great city which marks the site of Indian village. The balminess of the autumn induced Cartier to hope that the climate would prove as mild as that of France ; but a rigorous winter, which was rendered horrible by the prevalence of scurvy among the ships' crews, disheartened the whole expedition. The winter was spent at the Isle of Orleans, and in the early spring Cartier erected a cross on the shore, to which was affixed a shield inscribed with the arms of France and a legend declaring Francis I. the true and rightful king of the country. The fleet then sailed for France, and arrived at St. Malo on the sixth of July, 1536. Cartier published a truthful account of his voyage, setting forth the severity of the Canadian climate and the absence of mines of precious metals. His report checked for the time the enthu- siasm with which the French had regarded America, and for four years the plan of col- onizing the new country was laid aside, and all attempts were abandoned until a more favorable opportunity should present itself. Some ardent spirits, however, still believed in the possibility of planting successful col- _^ies in the new world and bringing that ENGLISH AND FRENCH DISCOVERIES. 47 vast region under the dominion of France. Among these was Francis de la Roque, lord of Roberval, a nobleman of Picardy. He was appointed, by King Francis, Viceroy of the territories on or near the gulf and river of St. Lawrence, to which the high-sounding name of Norimbega was given, and was 'iempowered to colonize it. The assistance of Cartier was necessary to such an undertak- ing, and he had the additional advantage of possessing the entire confidence of his royal master the king. Roberval was forced to employ him, and Cartier was given author- ity by the king to search the prisons and take from them such persons as he needed for the expedition, Roberval and Cartier, however, .... * failed to agree, and their dissensions •■-, defeated the object of the under- taking. Cartier sailed from St. Malo in May, 1541, and ascended the St. Lawrence to a point near the pres- ent city of Quebec, where he built a fort. The winter was passed in idleness and discord, and in the spring of 1542 Cartier abandoned the attempt, and sailed away for France with his ships just as Rob- erval arrived with a large reinforce- ment, prepared to render aid. Roberval was unable to accom- plish more than Cartier. His new subjects had been largely drawn from the prisons, and they gave him con- siderable trouble, if we may judge from the efforts resorted to to keep them quiet. One of them was hanged for theft during the winter, several were put in irons, and a num- ber of men and women were whipped. After remaining in Canada for a year, Roberval became disheartened, and re-embarked his subjects and returned to France. Thus ended the attempt to colonize Canada. Nearly thirty years passed away, during wliich the French made no effort to secure to themselves the region of the St. Law- rence. Their fishermen, however, continuec to frequent the American waters. By the close of the sixteenth century one hundred and fifty vessels were engaged in the fisheries of Newfoundland, and voyages for the pur- pose of trading with the Indians had become common. In 1598 the Marquis de la Roche Z^OAIjfiT ■ SAMUEL CHAMPLAIN. a nobleman of Brittany, attempted to plant a colony on the Isle of Sable. The colonists consisted of criminals from the prisons of France, and the effort proved a failure, as might have been expected from the outset In 1600, Chauvin obtained a patent from the crown, conferring upon him a monopoly of the fur trade, and Pontgrave, a merchant of St. Malo, became his partner in the enter, prise. Two successful voyages were made 4S DISCOVERY OF THE WESTERN CONTINENT. to Canada, and Chauvin intended founding a colony there. His death, in 1602, prevented the execution of this plan. In 1603, a company of merchants of Rouen was organized, and Samuel Champlain, an able and experienced officer of the French aavy, was placed in charge of an expedition, CABOT ON THE SHORES OF LABRADOR. and sent to Canada to explore the country. He was in every way qualified for the task committed to him, and after making a thor- ough and systematic examination of the region of the St. Lawrence, and fixing upon Quebec as the proper site for a fort, returned to France, and laid before his employers his report, which is still valuable for its accurate description of the country and the manners of the natives. Soon after Champlain's return to trance,' a patent was issued to Des Monts, conferring upon him the sole right to colonize the vas' _^ region lying between the fortiet. ? ^ and forty-sixth parallels of latitude. "^ As this territory embraced the St. Lawrence region, the Rouen com- pany were unable for the present to accomplish anything. Des Monts proceeded with his preparations, and in March, 1604, an expedition, consisting of two ships, was sent out to Acadie or Nova Scotia. The summer was passed in trading with the Indians and exploring the coast, and in the autumn the col- onists made a settlement on the island of St. Croix, at the mouth of the river of the same name. In the spring of 1605, they aban- ' doned this settlement and removed to Port Royal, now known as An« napolis. Efforts were made to find a more southern location in the latter part of 1605 and 1606, but the ex- peditions sent out for this purpose were driven back by storms or wrecked among the shoals of Cape Cod, and the colonists decided to remain at Port Royal. Thus the permanency of the colony was estab- lished. Some years later a number of Jesuit missionaries were sent out to Port Royal, These labored dili - gently among the tribes between the Penob- scot and the Kennebec, and not only spread the Christian faith among them, but won for the French the constant affection of the savages. During all her contests with the English in America, these tribes rer^ained THE VOYAGES OF COLUMBUS. 49 the faithful ana unwavering allies of France. In 1613 a French colony was planted on the eastern shore of Mount Desert. The settle- ment was named St. Sauveur, and became another centre of missionary enterprise among the savages of Maine. In the meantime the French merchants had succeeded in obtaining a revocation of ^he impolitic monopoly of Dcs Monts. A company of merchants of St. Malo and Dieppe was formed, and an expedition was sent out to Canada under Champlain, who '* aimed not at the profits of trade, but at the glory of founding a state." On the third of July, 1608, the city of Quebec was begun by the erection of one or two 'ottages. :j In 1609, Champlain, with but two Euro- peans, joined a party of Hurons from Mon- treal, and Algonquins from Quebec, in an expedition against the Five Nations. He ascended the Sorel, explored the lake which is now called by his name, and exam ined a considerable part of northern NewJ York. The religious disputes of France spread to the colony, and Champlain was obliged to use all his energy and authority to overcome the evils which these inflicted upon the infant settleinent. He succeeded in overcoming them, and by his energy and perseverance the fortunes of Quebec were placed beyond the reach of failure. Cham- plain died in 1635, and was buried in " New France," of which he is called " the father." CHAPTER IV The Spaniards in Anrierica settlement of the West Indies — Discovery of the Pacific" Ocean — Voyage of Magellan — Discovery of fTorida — Ponoe de Leon's Search for the Fountain of Youth — Vasquez de Ayllon Kidnaps a Cargo of Indians— Btiort ot F'amphilo de Narvaez to Conquer Florida — A Terrible March — The Voyage on the Gulf of Mexico — Fate of tne l*'leet — Escape "t Cabeza de Vaca and his Comrades — Discovery of New Mexico — Fernando de Soto — Obtains Jeave to Conquer Florida — Sails from Spain — Arrival in Cuba — Departure for Florida — Landing at Tampa Bay — Events of the First Year— De Soto enters Georgia — Decends the Alabama — Battle of Mavilla — Destruction of Chickasaw — Sufferings of the Spaniards, —Discovery of the Mississippi — The Spaniards Cross the Great River — De Soto in Arkansas — Reaches the Mississippi again — .Sickness and Death of De Soto — His Burial — Escape of his Followers to Mexico — The Huguenot Colony in Carolina — Its Failure — The French Settle in Florida — Wrath of Philip II. — Melendez ordered to Exterminate the Huguenots — Foundation of St. Augustine — Massacre of the French at Fort Carolina — The Vengeance of De Gourges, WHILE the French were seek- ing to obtain a footing in the north, the Spaniards were busy in the south. In the iirst years of the sixteenth century the more important of the West India Islands were subdued and colonized, and from these, expeditions were from time to time ": out to explore the shores of the ./ulf of Mexico. The southern part of the peninsula of Yucatan was explored, and a colony was established on the Isthmus of Darien. One of the governors of this colony was Vasco Nunez de Balboa. In 15 13, while searching the Isthmus for gold, he discovered the Pacific Ocean, and took possession of it in the name of the king of Spain. In 1520, a Portuguese navigator named Magellan, employed by the king of Spain, passed through the straits north of Cape Horn, which bear his name, and entered the Western ocean, which he named the Pacific, because it was so calm and free from storms. He died on the voyage, but his ship reached the coast of Asia, and returned thence to Spain by the Cape of Good Hope, thus so making the first voyage around the world, and establishing its spherical form beyond dispute. In 1 5 13, Juan Ponce de Leon, who had been a companion of Columbus on his sec- ond voyage, and had been governor of Porto Rico, fitted out three ships at his own expense to make a voyage of discovery. He had heard the reports which were then com monly believed by his countrymen, that somewhere in the new world was a fountain flowing in the midst of a country sparkling with gold and gems, whose waters would give perpetual youtli to the man who should drink of and bathe in them. Ponce de Leon was an old man, and he longed to taste again the pleasures and the dreams of youth. He gave a willing ear to the stories of this wonderful fountain, and in March, 15 13, set sail from Porto Rico in search of it. He sailed among the Bahamas, but failed to find it, and on Easter Sunday, which the Spaniards call Pasaia Florida, land was discovered. It was supposed to be an island, but was in reality the long south- ern peninsula of the United States. Ponce THE SPANIARDS IN AMERICA. 51 de Leon gave it the name of Florida — which it has since borne — partly in honor of the >ay, and partly because of the beauty of its flowers and foliage. The weather was very bad, and it was some days before he could go ashore. He landed near the site of St. Augustine, and took possession of the coun- try for Spain on the eighth of April, 15 13. He remained many weeks on the coast, exploring it, and sailing southward, doubled Cape Florida, and cruised among the Tor- tugas. He failed to _^ . find the fountain of youth and returned in despair to Porto Rico. The king of Spain rewarded his discov- ery by appointing him governor of Florida, on condition that he should colonize the country. A few years later he attempted to plant a colony in Florida, but was attacked by the Indians, who were very hostile, and driv- en to his ships with the loss of a number of his men. Ponce de Leon himself received a painful wound, and returned to Cuba to die. He had staked his life upon the search for perpetual youth ; he found only a grave. Between the years 15 18 and 1521, the expeditions of Hernando Cortez against Mexico, and of Francesco Pizarro against Peru, were despatched from Cuba. They resulted in the conquest of those countries and their colonization by Spain. These expe- ditions, however, form no part of this narra- tive, and we cannot dwell upon them. The native population of the West Indies died out rapidly under the cruel rule of the Spaniards, and it soon became necessary to look elsewhere for a supply of laborers for the plantations and the mines. In 1520, Lucas Vasqucz de Ayllon, at the head of a company of seven Spaniards, fitted out a fleet of two slave-ships from St. Domingo or His- paniola, for the deliberate purpose of seizing the natives of the mainland and selling them as slaves. The vessels went first to the THE COAST OF FLORIDA. Bahamas, from which they sailed to the North American coast, reaching it at or near St. Helena sound, in the present State of South Carolina. The Indians had not yet learned to fear the whites, and were utterly unsus- picious of the fate which awaited them. They were timid at first, but this feeling was soon overcome by the distribution of presents among them. Their confidence being won, they received the Spaniards with kindness, and at their request visited the ships. 5^ DISCOVERY OF THE WESTERN CONTINENT. When the decks of the vessels were cov- ered with the unsuspecting natives Vasquez made sail, and standing out to sea steered for the West Indies, regardless of the entreaties of the natives who were thus torn from their friends and relatives on the shore. A retrib- utive justice speedily avenged this crime. A violent storm arose and one of the ships foundered with all on board. A pestilence broke out in the remaining vessel, and swept .■Nvay many of the captives. Returning to HERNANDO CORTEZ. Spain, Vasquez boasted of his infamous deed, and even claimed a reward for it at the hands of the Emperor Charles V., who acknow- ledged his claim, and appointed him governor of Chicora, as South Carolina was called, with authority to conquer that country. Vasquez spent his entire fortune in fitting out an expe- dition, and reached the coast of Chicora in 1525. There he met with nothing but misfortune. His largest ship was stranded in the Com- bahee River, then called by the whites the River Jordan, and so many of his men were killed by the Indians that he was obliged to abandon the undertaking. He returned to Europe to die of grief and mortification for his failure. " It may be," says Bancroft, "that ships sailing under his authority made the discovery of the Chesapeake and named it the Bay of St. Mary ; and perhaps even en- tered the Bay of Delaware, which in Spanish geography was called Saint Christopher's Adventurers Seeking Fortune. In 1526, Pamphilo de Narvaez obtained from the Emperor Charles V. authority to explore and conquer all the country be- tween the Atlantic and the River of Palms. He was very wealthy, and spent his entire estate in preparation for the expedition. There was no lack of volunteers, and many younger sons of nobles joined him, hoping to find fame and fortune in the new world. Among the adventurers was Cabeza de Vaca the historian of the expedition, who held the second place in it as treasurer. Narvaez sailed from the Guadalquivir in June, 1527, touched at St. Domingo, and passed the winter in Cuba. In the spring of 1528, he was driven by a strong south wind to the American coast, and on the fourteenth of April his fleet cast anchor in Tampa Bay. A week later he landed and took possession of the peninsula of Florida in the name of Spain. The natives showed unmistakable signs of hostility, but they exhibited to the governor samples of gold, which he believed, from their signs, came from the north. In spite of the earnest advice of Cabeza de Vaca, he determined to go in search of the precious metal. He directed his ships to meet him at a harbor with which his pilot pretended to be acquainted, and then, at the head of three hundred men, forty of whom were mounted, THE SPANIARDS IN AMERICA. 53 «et off into the interior of the country, ^o one knew whither he was going, but all be- lieved that each step led them nearer to the land of gold. The beauty of the forest, the richness of its vegetation, and the size of its gigantic live- )purs and bridles into saws, axes and nails. During this period they suffered greatly ;rom the lack of clothing, for it was the winter season. They obtained provisions by plundering the granaries of the neighboring tribes, and thus dooming many of the sav- ages to death by starvation. On the first of July, 1543, they embarked in their vessels, their number being now reduced to about two hundred and fifty, and began the descent of the river. Their progress was harassed at every mile by the Indians, who coverpd the stream with their canoes and kept up an almost constant assault upon the fleet. On the eighteenth of July, the vessels entered the Gulf of Mexico, and by the tenth of Septem ber the Mexican coast was reached. Th vessels succeeded in gaining the Spanish £ tlement of Panuco, where the survivors we^^ hospitably received by their countrymen. Ribault's Expedition. The failure of Narvaez and De Soto pre- vented the Spaniards from making any further attempt for many years to colonize the Florida coast. The next effort to found a settlement in that region was by the French. The religious wars which had distracted France for so many years made the great Huguenot leader, CoHgny, Admiral of France, anxious to provide in the new world a refuge to which his persecuted brethren of the faith might fly in times of danger, and be free to worship God after the dictates of their own conscience. He succeeded in obtaining authority for this undertaking from Charles IX., and in 1 562 an expedition was despatched to America under the command of Jean Ribault, a Protestant. Ribault was instructed to avoid the more rigorous climate of Cana- da, and to select a southern location for the colony. Land was made in May, 1562, in the vicinity of St. Augustine, Florida, and the fleet anchored in Port Royal Harbor. Ribault was delighted with the noble har- bor, which he believed to be the outlet of a large river, and with the beauty and richness of the country. A fort was built on an island in the harbor, and called Carolina, which name was also applied to the country in honor of Charles IX. of France. A force THE SPANIARDS IN AMERICA. 59 of twenty-five men was left to garrison the fort, and Ribault returned to France to report his success and bring out reinforcements for the colony. He reached France in the midst of the civil war, which prevented any attention being paid to the colony. The garrison of Fort Carolina waited in vain for the promised reinforcements and supplies, and at last, becoming disheartened, built a In 1564 there was a lull in the struggle between the contending parties in France, and Coligny took advantage of it to renew his efforts to colonize America. Three ships were furnished by the king, and were placed in command of Laudonniere,who had accom- panied Ribault in the first expedition. Emi- grants volunteered readily, and the requirea' number was soon completed. In order to THE SPANIARDS DESCENDING THE MISSISSIPPI AFTER THE DEATH OF DE SOTO. brigantine and set sail for their own country. Their provisions soon gave out, and they began to suffer the horrors of famine. When they were nearly exhausted, they were res- cued by an English vessel, which set the most feeble upon the coast of France, but carried the remainder to England. In both countries the colonists spread their accounts of the beauty and fertility of Carolina, obtain reliable information concerning- the country, Coligny sent out with the expedi- tion a skillful painter, James le Moyne, called Des Morgues, with orders to make accurate colored sketches of the region. The fleet sailed on the twenty-second of April, 1564, and on the twenty-second of June reached the coast of Florida. Avoiding Port Royal, the site of the first colony, the colonists chose a location in Florida, on the banks of the 6o DISCOVERY OF Tri^ vVESTERN CONTINENT. St. John's then Ccilled the River May. A tort was built, and called, like the first, Caro- lina. The colony was begun with prayers and •'ongs of thanksgiving, but the bulk of the .olonists were by no means religious men. Their true character soon began to appear. They wasted the supplies they had brought 'vith them, as well as those they succeeded m extorting from the Indians, whom they alienated by their cruelties. Mutinies were frequent. The majority of the men had joined the enterprise in the hope of acquiring sudden wealth, and, finding their hopes vain, resolved to abandon the colony. They com- pelled Laudonniere to sign an order allowing them to embark for New Spain, fmder the pretext of wishing to avoid a famine, and at once equipped two vessels and began a career of piracy against the Spaniards. Their ves- sels were soon captured, and the pirates were sold as slaves. A few escaped in a boat and took refuge at Fort Carclina. Laudonniere caused them to be hanged ; but their out- rages had already drawn upon the colony the bitter hostility of the Spaniards. Beginning of the Slave-Traffic. Famine now began to be felt by the lit- tle settlement, and as month after month passed by the sufferings of the colonists in- creased. The natives, who were at first friendly, had been rendered hostile by the cruel treatment they had received from the French, and no provisions could be obtained Vom them. On the third of August, 1565, oir John Hawkins, an English commander, arrived with several ships from the West Indies, where he had just sold a cargo of negro slaves whom he had kidnapped in their native Africa. He is said to have been the first Englishman who engaged in this infamous traffic. He proved himself a generous friend to the suffering colonists, however, and supplied them with provisions and gave them one of his own ships. They had suffered too much to be content with this, and were resolved to adandon the settle- ment. They were on the point of embark- ing in the ship furnished them by Sir John, when a fleet of several vessels was discovered standing into the river. It was the squadron of Ribault, with reinforcements and all the supplies necessary for founding a permanent settlement. The despair of the colonists was changed to rejoicing, and all were now will- ing to remain in the colony. Thrilling Events in Florida. When the news of the planting of the French colony in Florida reached Philip II. of Spain, he was greatly incensed. Florida was a part of his dominions, and he not only resented the intrusion of the French, but could not tolerate the idea of allowing a Protestant colony to enjoy its settlement in peace. He determined at once to exterminate the heretics, and for this purpose employed Pedro Melendez de Aviles, an officer who had rendered himself notorious for his cruelty when engaged against the pirates and in the wars of Spanish America. His son and heir having been shipwrecked among the Ber- mudas, Melendez desired to return to Amxcrica to search for him. Philip, who knew his desperate character, suggested to him the conquest of Florida, and an agreement was entered into between the king and Melendez, by which the latter was to invade and conquer Florida within three years, and establish in that region a colony of not less than five hundred persons, of whom one hundred should be married men, twelve priests of the Catholic Church and four members of the order of the Jesuits. Melendez also agreed to transport to Florida all kinds of domestic animals, and five Vrjn- dred negro slaves. All this was to be done I THE SPANIARDS IN AMERICA. Oi by Melendez at his own cost, and he was secured by the kin^ in the government of the province for life with the privilej^e of naming his successor, and was granted large estates in the province and a comfortable salary. Though the destruction of the French colony was not named in the agreement, Philip and Melendez understood each other on that point. The cry was at once raised in Spain that the heretics must be extermin- ated, and Melandez had no trouble in obtain- ing recruits. Twenty-five hundred persons gathered under his orders, " soldiers, sailors, priests, Jesuits, married men with their fami- lies, laborers and mechanics, and. with the exception of three hundred soldiers, all at the cost of Melendez." Escape of the French Fleet. The expedition sailed in June, 1565, but the vessels were parted by a storm, and Mel- endez reached Porto Rico in August with but a third of his force. Unwilling to lose time, however, he sailed at once to the main- land, and arrived off the coast of Florida on the twenty-eighth of August. On the second of September, he discovered a fine harbor and river, and selected this place as the site of his colony. He named the river and bay in honor of St. Augustine, on whose festival he had arrived off the Florida coast. Ascer- taining from the Indians the position of the French, he sailed to the northward, and on the fourth of September arrived off Fort Carolina, where a portion of Ribault's fleet lay anchored in the roadstead. The French commander demanded his name and the object of his visit. He was answered : " I am Melendez of Spain, sent with strict orders from my king to gibbet and behead all the Protestants in these regions. The French- man who is a Catholic I will spare ; every heretic shall dvC." The French fleet being unprepared for battle, cut its cables and stood out to sea. Melendez gave chase, but failed to overtake it Returning to the har- bor of St. Augustine, he went on shore on the eighth of September, and took possession of the country in the name of Phillip II. of Spain, who was proclaimed monarch of all North America. A solemn mass was said and the foundations of the town of St. Augus tine were laid. Thus was established the first permanent town within the limits of the United States. This task accomplished, Melendez prepared to attack Fort Carolina by land. Ribault had returned with his ships to Fort Carolina after escaping from the Spa* iards. A council of war was held, and it wai^ debated among the French whether they should strengthen their works and await the approach of the enemy, or proceed to St. Augustine and attack them with the fleet. Ribault supposed that Melendez would attack the fort by sea, and favored the latter plan, but his officers opposed his design. Disre- garding their advice, Ribault put to sea, but had scarcely cleared the harbor when a violent storm wrecked his entire fleet on the Florida coast. Nearly all the men reached the shore unharmed, about one hundred and fifty miles south of Fort Carolina. Terrible Massacre. The wreck of the French fleet was known to Melendez, and he resolved to strike a blow a once at the fort, which he knew to be, in a defenceless state. Leading his men through the forests and swamps, which lay between the two settlements, he surprised and captured the fort on the twenty-first of September. Every soul within the walls ' including the aged, the women and children, was put to death. A few escaped to the woods before the capture of the fort, among whom were Laudonniere, Challus and Le Moyne. Their condition was pitiable. They 62 DISCOVERY OF THE WESTERN CONTINENT. could expect no mercy from the Spaniards, and death awaited them in the forest. A few gave themselves up to the Spaniards, and were at once murdered ; the remainder suc- ceeded in gaining the sea-shore, where they were rescued by two French vessels which had remained in the harbor and escaped the storm. These immediately sailed for France. The number of persons massacred by the 'paniards at Fort Carolina amounted to iiearly two hundred. When the victims were all dead, mass was said, a cross raised, and a site selected for a church. Then Melendez set out to find the survivors of the shipwrecked fleet. They were discovered in a helpless condition, worn out with fatigue, hunger and thirst. Melendez promised to treat them with kindness if they would sur- render to him, and trusting to his plighted word, they placed themselves in his hands. They were at once seized and bound, and marched towards St. Augustine. As they approached the settlement a signal was given, and the Spaniards fell upon them and mas- sacred all but a few Catholics and some mechanics, who were reserved as slaves. French writers place the number of those who perished in the two massacres at nine hundred. The Spaniards gave a smaller numbe/. On the scene of his barbarity, Melendez set up this inscription : " I do not this as unto Frenchmen, but as unto Lu- therans." In 1 566 Melendez attempted to plant a col- ony on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, but the vessel despatched for this purpose met such contrary winds that the crew abandoned Mie effort to reach the bay, and sailed for ; >pain. Melendez, the next year, returned to Spain, having spent his fortune in establish- ing the colony of St. Augustine, from which he had derived no benefit. The massacre of the French and thft destruction of the colony at Fort Carolina excited not even a remonstrance from the French court, which was blinded to its true interests by its religious bigotry. The Hu- guenots and the better part of the nation felt keenly the wrong the country had suffered, and Dominic de Gourges, a gallant gentle- man of Gascony, determined to avenge it. Selling his ancestral estate, he equipped three vessels, and with one hundred and fifty men sailed for Florida, in August, 1567. He surprised and captured a Spanish fort near the site of Fort Carolina, and took the garri- son prisoners. He spent the winter here, and finding himself too weak to maintain his position, sailed for France in May, 1568. Before doing so, however, he hanged his prisoners, and set up over them the inscription : " I do not this as unto Spaniards or mariners, but as unto traitors, robbers and murderers." His expedition was disavowed by the French government, and he was obliged to conceal himself to escape arrest after his return to France. France now abandoned her efforts to col- onize the southern part of North America, and relinquished her pretensions to Florida. Spain, on the other hand, gave more attention to this region, and emigrants from her domin- ions were encouraged to settle, and new colonies were formed within its limits. In the West Indies, and in Mexico, Central and South America, Spain, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, was supreme* CHAPTER V The First English Col ony .iie EngHsQ Claim to America — Voyages of Frobisher— Exploits of Sir Francis Drake — Sir Humphrey Gilbert — In' tends to Found a Colony in America — Is Lost at Sea — Sir Walter Raleigh Obtains a Patent of Colonization — Dis- coveries of Amidas and Barlow — Raleigh Sends Out a Colony to Virginia — Settlement on Roanoke Island — Its Failure — ^Arrival of Grenville — Second Effort of Raleigh to Colonize Virginia — Roanoke Island Again Settled — The "CUjr of Raleigh"^ — ^Vii^nia Dare — Fate of the Colony— Death of Raleigh — Other Voyages of the English. THOUGH England had made no effort to colonize America during the long period we have been con- sidering, she never abandoned her claims to that region, claims which were based upon the discoveries and explorations of John and Sebastian Cabot. The voy- ages of her fishermen to Newfoundland kept the country fresh in the minds of the sea- faring Englishmen, and from time to time voyages were made to the American coast for the purpose of trading with the savages. Under Elizabeth, who pursued the wise pol- icy of fostering her navy, a race of hardy and daring sailors grew up in England, and car- ried the flag of their country into every sea. In this reign Martin Frobisher with two small ships made a voyage to the frozen regions of Labrador in search of the north- west passage. He failed to find it, but pene- trated farther north than any European had yetgone,A. D. 1576. His second voyage was made the next year, and was undertaken in ^the hope of finding gold, as one of the stones he had brought home on his first cruise had been pronounced by the refiners of London to contain the precious metal. The fleet did not advance as far north as Frobisher had done on his first attempt, as a ^3 large mass of yellow earth was found which was believed to contain gold. The ship? were loaded with this, and all sail was made for home, only to find on reaching England that their cargo was but a heap of worthless dirt. A third voyage with fifteen ships was attempted in 1578, but no gold was found, and the extreme northern latitudes were ascertained to be too bleak for colonization. Between the years 1577 and 1580 Sir Francis Drake sailed to the Pacific, and by levying exactions upon the Spanish settle- ments on the western coast of America acquired an immense treasure. As Bancroft well observes, this part of Drake's career "was but a splendid piracy against a nation with which his sovereign and his country professed to be at peace." Having acquired this enormous wealth Drake applied himself to the more useful task of discovery. Cross- ing the equator he sailed northward, as far as the southern part of Oregon, in the hope of finding a northern passage between the oceans. The cold seemed very great to voy- agers just from the tropics, and he abandoned his attempt and returned southward to a harbor on the coast of Mexico. Here he refitted his ship, and then returned to Eng- land through the seas of Asia, having DISCOVERY OF THE WESTERN CONTINENT. 04 circumnavigated the globe, a feat which had been accomplished only by the ship of Magellan. It was not the splendid but demoralizing achievements of Drake which led the way to lieved that a lucrative trade might be opened v/ith the new world by the planting of a col- ony within its limits. He obtained authority from Queen Elizabeth to establish such a colony in the vicinity of the fisheries. THE RENOWNED EXPLORER, SIR MARTIN FROBISHER. the establishment of the English power in America. That was the work of the hum- ble fishermen who sailed on their yearly foyages to the banks of Newfoundland. The progress of this valuable industry was closely watched by Sir Humphrey Gilbert, who be- In 1578 he sailed to America on a V03! age of discovery, and in August of that yea; landed at St. Johns, Newfoundland, and took formal possession of the country for England. He then sailed to the southward, exploring the coast, but lost his largest ship with all THE FIRST ENGLISH COLONY. 55 s^ board. This made it necessary for him to return home, as the two vessels which re- mained to him were too small to attempt a protracted voyage. One of them, called the " Squirrel," was a mere boat of ten tons. Unwilling to expose his men to a danger which he would not face, Sir Humphrey took passage in the " Squirrel " instead of in the larger and safer vessel. Terrific Storm, On the homeward voyage the ships en- countered a terrific storm. In the midst of the gale the people on the " Hind," the larger ship, saw Sir Humphrey sitting at the stern of his little vessel, which was laboring pain- fully in the heavy seas. He was calmly reading a book, perhaps that sublimes t of books, from which he had drawn the j,ure principles that guided his whole life. As the " Hind " passed him he called out to those on board of her, " We are as near to heaven by sea aj by land." That night the lights of tLe " Squirrel " suddenly disap- peared, and the good Sir Humphrey was seen no more. The " Hind" continued her voyage, and reached Falmouth in safety Sir Walter Raleigh, Gilbert's half brother, had been interested in this expedition, but its ill success did not dishearten him. He was one of the noblest spirits of his age, and has laid the world under heavy obligations to him by his many noble services in the cause of humanity. He had served in the army of the Huguenots of France under Coligni, and had heard from the voyagers gent out by that leader of the richness and beauty of Carolina. Undaunted by the »ad f-ite of Sir Hum- phrey Gilbert, Raleigh determined to plant a colony in the region from which the Huguenots had been driven. He had no difficulty in obtaining from the queen a pat- ent as liberal as that which had been granted 5 Sir Humphrey Gilbert. He was given ample powers over the region he proposed to col- onize, as its feudal lord, and was bound to maintain the authority of the queen and church of England in his possessions. An Inviting Country. He fitted out two vessels, commanded re- spectively by Philip Amidas and Arthur Bar low, and sent them to explore the region granted to him, and to obtain accurate infor- mation concerning it. They reached the coast of North Carolina at Ocracock Tnlet, and took formal possession of the country. They partially explored Albemarle and Pam» lico Sounds, together with the neighboring SIR WALTER RALEIGH. coast and islands. It was the month of July, / and the climate was delightful, the sea was calm, the atmosphere clear, and the heat was tempered by the delicious sea-breeze. The woods abounded with birds and echoed with their carols, and wild grapes were found in the greatest profusion. 66 DISCOVERY OF THE WESTERN CONTINENT. The explorers were enchanted with this dehghtful region, and returning to England published glowing accounts of it. They took with them two Indians, named Wan- chese and Manteo, the latter of whom after- wards did good service to the colonists as an interpreter. Queen Elizabeth deemed her reign honored by the discoveries of Amidas mand of the fleet, and Ralph Lane, who was also a man of considerable distinction, was made governor of the colony. The fleet sailed from Plymouth on the ninth of April, 1585, and after a long and trying voyage reached Ocracock Inlet in June. Passing through the inlet, a settle- ment was established on Roanoke Island FROBISHER AND HIS SHIPS PASSING GREENWICH. and Barlow, and gave to the new region the name of Virginia in honor of England's vir- gin queen. Raleigh at once set to work to organize a colony. Emigrants volunteered readily, and in a short time a fleet of seven vessels, con- taining one hundred and eight persons, apart from the crews, was in readiness. Sir Rich- ard Grenville, a friend of Raleigh, and a man of tried skill and bravery, was given the c^tn- lying between Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds. Expeditions were sent out to explore the surrounding country, and in one of these a silver cup was stolen by an Indian, and its restoration was delayed. With thoughtless cruelty Grenville punished this faur by the destruction of the village to which the culprit belonged, and also of all the standing corn. This inconsiderate revenge made the Indians the enemies of the whites, and brought great HK FIRST . ENGLISH COLONY. future suffering upon the colony. A litfle later, having seen the colonists successfuL), est.iblished on Roanoke Island, Grenville returned to England with the fleet, captur- 67 the inhabitants. Many of the plants were strange to thcni. Air.ong these were the Indian corn, tobacco and the sweet potato. Hariot, "the inventor of the system of notp QUEEN ELIZABETH. ing a rich Spanish prize on the voyage home. Left to themselves the colonists began to explore the country, and to observe the productions of the soil, and the character of tion in modern algebra, the historian of the expedition," observed these plants and their culture with great minuteness, andbecamea firm believer in the healing virtues of tobarx^o. He has left an interesting- account 6S DISCOVERY OF THE WESTERN CONTINENT. of the natives of the country and their man- ners and customs. The Indians, alarmed by the superiority of the whites, began to plot their destruction, as they believed their entire country would be overrun by the new comers. Lane on his part became suspicious of the savages, and this feeling of mutual distrust had the most unhappy consequences. Being informed by the savages that there was a splendid city, whose walls glittered with gold and pearls, on the upper waters of the Roanoke, Gov- ernor Lane made a boat voyage up that stream, but failed to find anything. He returned to the colony just in time to discon- cert the plan of the savages for attacking the whites during the absence of the exp^'ring party. Inhuman Butchery. Lane now determined to outrival the savages in perfidy. He visited Wingina, one of the most active of the neighboring chiefs, and professing to come as a friend, was received with confidence by the Indians. At a given signal from the governor the whites fell upon the chief and his warriors, and put them to death. Lane proved himself utterly unfit to govern such a colony, and his people soon lost confidence in him. Their discon- tent was increased by the failure of their provisions, and they began to entertain the idea of abandoning the colony and returning home. On the eighth of June, 1586, Sir Francis Drake, with a fleet of twenty-three ships, anchored in the roadstead off Roanoke Island. He had been cruising in the West Indies, and had called on his homeward voyage to visit the plantation of his friend Raleigh. He at once set to work to remedy the wants of the colony, and supplied the settlers with such things as they needed. They were thoroughly disheartened, how- ever, with their year's experience, and begged Drake so earnestly to take them back to England that he received them on board his ships and put to sea. Thus the first effort of the English to settle America resulted in failure. Drake's fleet had scarcely disappeared when a ship loaded with supplies, which had been des- patched by Raleigh, reached the island. Finding the place deserted, the commander returned to England. A fortnight later, Grenville arrived with three ships. Finding the colonists had gone, he too returned to England, leaving fifteen men to hold the island. Another Colony and Its Fate. Raleigh was greatly disappointed by the failure of his colony, but he did not despair of success; for notwithstanding the gloomy stories of Lane and his followers, the con- clusive testimony of Hariot convinced him that the country could be* made to yield a rich return for the trouble and expense of its settlement ; and he set to work to form another colon}-. With the hope of giving the settlers a permanent interest in the plan- tation, he selected emigrants with wives and families, who should regard the new world as their future home, and endeavor to found a permanent State in that region. Every- thing was provided" which could contribute to the success of the colony, and agricult- ural implements were furnished for the proper cultivation of the soil. All the expense of the undertaking was borne by Raleigh, for though Queen Elizabeth greatly favored the venture, she declined to con» tribute anything toward it. John White was appointed governor of the colony. A fleet of transport vessels was equipped, also at Raleigh's expense, and on the twenty- sixth of April, 1587, the expedition sailed from England. The coast of North Caro- lina was reached in July. THE FTK3T ENGLISH COLONY. 6q The approach to Roanoke Island was both difficult and dangerous, and Raleigh ordered the new settlers to select a site for their col- ony on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. The expedition proceeded first, however, to Roanoke Island to search for the men left there by Grenville. They could not be found. The island was deserted, the fort was in ruins, and the human bones which lay scattered over the field told plainly that the unfortunate garrison left by Grenville had been murdered by the Indians. Governor White was now anxious to sail to the Chesa- peake, but Fernando, the commander of the fleet, refused to proceed any farther, as he wished to go to the West Indies for purposes of trade. The instructions of Raleigh were thus disregarded, and the colonists were com- pelled to go ashore on Roanoke Island. Dangers of the First Settlers. The old settlement of Governor Lane was rebuilt, and another effort was made to estab- lish the *' City of Raleigh." The Indians were bitterly hostile to the settlers, and a friendly tribe was offended by an unfortunate attack upon them, made upon the supposi- tion that they were hostile Indians. The settlers becoming alarmed, implored the gov- ernor to return to England and exert him- self to hasten the sending out of reinforce- ments and supplies to them. He was un- willing to do this, as he deemed it his duty to remain among them, but at length yielded to their unanimous appeal. Just before his departure his daughter, Mrs, Dare, the wife of one of his lieutenants, gave birth to a daughter, the first child born of English parents within the limits of the United States, and the little one was named Virginia from the place of its birth. White sailed for England in August, 1 587. He found the mother country greatly excited over the threatened invasion of the Spaniards. Raleigh, who was energetically engaged in the efforts for the defence of the country, did not neglect his colony. He fitted out Iwc ships with the needed supplies, and dis- patched them under White's orders in April, 1 5 88. The commanders, instead of proceed- ing direct to the colony, undertook to make prizes. No Traces of the Colony. At last one of them fell in with a man-of- war from Rochelle, and after a sharp fight was plundered of her stores. Both ships were obliged to return to England, to the anger and disgust of Raleigh. The approach of the Invincible Armada and the exertions demanded of the nation for »ts defeat, made it impossible for anything more to be done for the colonists at Roanoke until after the Spanish fleet had been destroyed. Even then Raleigh, who had spent over forty thou- sand pounds without return, was unable to send aid at once to the colony, and a year elapsed before a vessel could be sent out un- der White. In 1590, the governor reached Roanoke, but no trace of the colony could be found. The settlers had either died, be&o massacred, or taken prisoners. " The conjecture has been hazarded," s?tV3 Bancroft, " that the deserted colony, negl With the failure of the settlement at Roanoke Raleigh relinquished his hc^pe of colonizing Virginia. He had expended nearly his entire fortune in the undertaking, and the remainder of his life was passed un- der the cloud of undeserved misfortune. His career as a statesman was honorable to him- self and to his country, and he proved him- self in all his acts a loyal subject and a de- voted patriot. His zeal in behalf of knowl- edge made him a generous friend of the learned, and he merits the gratitude of the American people, not only for his efforts to colonize our shores with his countrymen, but for the liberality with which he spread a knowledge of America throughout Eng- land by his publication of the reports of Harlot and Hakluyt. He opened the way for the dominion of the English in the new world, and his memory is preserved in the name of the capital city of the great State which he sought to make the seat of an Eng- lish empire. Accused of High Treason. Upon the accession of James L, Raleigh, broken in health and fortune, but still the most illustrious Englishman of his day, was arraigned on a charge of high treason, of which not even his enemies believed him guilty, and was sentenced to the Tower, as the king did not yet dare to order his execu- tion. During this period Sir Walter beguiled the weariness of his imprisonment by com- posing his " History of the World." He re- mained a prisoner for thirteen years, and was then released on condition of making a voy- age to Guiana in search of gold. His failure to accomplish the object of the voyage sealed his doom, and on his return to England he was beheaded, not upon any fresh charge, but on his old sentence. His real fault was that he was too true an Englishman to sus- tain the sacrifice of the national honor by King James to the demands of Spain, and he was generally regarded by the nation as the victim of the king's cowardice. He met his fate with the calm bravery which had marked his whole life. Kidnapping Indians. Until now the voyage from England to America had been made by way of the Canary Islands and the West Indies. In 1602, Bartholomew Gosnold conceived the idea of proceeding direct from England to Virginia, as the whole region north of Flor- ida was called by the English. Sailing directly across the Atlantic he reached Cape Elizabeth, on the coast of Maine, after a voy- age of seven weeks. Proceeding southward along the coast he reached Cape Cod, to which he gave the name on the fifteenth of May, and went ashore there. He was thus the first Englishman to set foot in New Eng- land. He continued his voyage along the coast and entered Buzzard's Bay. To the westernmost of the islands of this stately sound he gave the name of Eliza- beth — a name which has since been applied to the entire group. Loading his ship with sassafras root, which was then highly esteemed for its medicinal virtues, Gosnold sailed for England, and arrived home safely after a voyage of less than four weeks. He gave the most favorable accounts of the region he had visited, and other adventurers were induced by his reports to undertake voyages for the purpose of trading with the natives. Among these was George Way- mouth, who reached and explored the coast of Maine in 1605. On his return voyage Waymouth kidnapped five Indians and car- ried them to England, "to be instructed in English, and to serve as guides in some future expedition." The voyages of Gosnold and Waymouth to the coast of New England were followed 72 DISCOVERY OF THE WESTERN CONTINENT. by those of numerous other English adven- turers. In 1614, Captain John Smith, who had already distinguished himself by his services in Virginia, made a voyage to Amer- ica with two ships, furnished at the expense of himself and four merchants of London. The voyage was for the purpose of trading with the natives, and was very successful. Smith took advantage of the opportunity to explore the coast from Penobscot to Cape Cod. He prepared a map of the coast, and named the country New England — a title which was confirmed by the Prince of Wales, afterwards Charles I. After Smith's return to England, Hunt the commander of the other vessel, suc- ceeded in inducing twenty of the natives, with their chief, Squanto, to visit his ship, and as soon as they were on board put to sea. He sold the savages as slaves in Spain. A few of them, Squanto among the number, were purchased by some kind-hearted monks, who instructed them in the Christian faith in order to send them back to their own people as missionaries of the cross. Squanto escaped to England in 1619, and there learned the language, and was afterward an interpreter between the English settlers and his peoplff BOOK 11 Settlement of America CHAPTER VI Captain John Smith and Pocahontas Fonnatioa of the Londoo Company — Conditions of its Charter — Departure of the First Colony — Quarrels During tbf. Voyage — ^Arrival in the Chesapeake — Settlement of Jamestown — Formation of the Government — Character of Cap- tain John Smith — Exploration of the James River — Newport and Smith Visit Powhatan — Smith Admitted to thfe Government — Explores the Chlckahominy— Is Captured and Sentenced to Death — Is Saved by Pocahontas — Gains thfe Friendship of Powhatan for the Colony— Returns to Jamestown — His Decisive Measures^Retum of Newport — Smitij Explores the Chesapeake Bay— The New Emigrants — Smllh Compels Them to Labor — Smith is Wounded and Com- pelled to Return to England — Disasters to the Colony — Arrival of Sir Thomas Gates — Jamestown Abandoned — -Ar* rival of Lord Delaware — The Return to Jamestown — A Change for the Better — New Settlements — Sir Thomas Gates Arrives With Reinforcements — Capture of Pocahontas by Captain Argall — She is Baptized — Marries John Rolfe-oSir Thomas Dale's Administration — Yeardley Governor- — The First Legislative Assembly— Representative Government Established in America — The Colonists Obtain Wives — Changes in the Government THE favorable reports which had been brought back to England by the voyagers to the new world had pre- vented the interest of Englishmen fn America from entirely dying out, and some ardent spirits still believed it possible to make that continent the seat of a pros- perous dominion dependent upon England. The former assistants of Raleigh, in particu- lar, held to the convictions which their chief had entertained to the day of his death. The selfish and timid policy of King James hav- ing made it impossible for men to acquire distinction by naval exploits, as in the days of Elizabeth, the more adventurous classes lent a willing ear to the plans for colonizing America, which were discussed in various parts of the kingdom. Bartholomew Gos- nold, who had explored the New England coast, was especially active in seeking to induce capitalists to send out a colony to it. His glowing accounts of the New World awakened a good deal of enthu- siasm, and men who had money to invest, and v/ere somewhat inclined to indulge in speculation, were ready to aid any scheme that promised to be lucrative and advan- tageous to themselves. Sir Ferdinand Gorges, a wealthy gentle* man and Governor of Plymouth, had been greatly interested in America by the accounts of Waymouth, who had given him two of the Indians he had brought to England. These succeeded in interesting others in their plans, and the result was that early in the reign of King James two companies were formed in England for the colonization of America. One of these was the " London Company," composed chiefly of noblemen and merchants residing in London. The other was the " Plymouth Company," com- posed of " knights, gentlemen and mer* chants," residing in the west of England. King James divided Virginia into two parts. To the London Company he granted " South Virginia," extending from Cape Fear, ifi 73 74 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. North Carolina, to the Potomac. To the Plymouth Company he gave " North Vir- ginia," stretching from the Hudson to New- foundland. The region between the Potomac and the Hudson he left as a broad belt of neutral land to keep the companies from en- croaching upon each other's domains. Either was at liberty to form settlements in this region within fifty miles of its own border. The London Company was the first to settle the country assigned it. A liberal charter was granted the company : the lands in the new world were to be held by it on the simple conditions of homage and the pay- ment to the crown of one-fifth of the gold and silver and one-fifteenth of the copper that should be discovered. A general coun- cil, residing in England, was to have author- ity over the whole province, and the mem- bers of this council were to be appointed and removed by the king at his good pleasure. Each separate colony was to be under the control of a colonial council residing within its own limits, and the king retained the right to direct the appointment or removal of the members of these councils at his pleasure, Laws of the London Company, The king also reserved the supreme legis- lative authority over the colonies, and framed for their government a code of laws — " an exercise of royal legislation which has been pronounced in itself illegal." The colonists were placed by this code under the rule of the superior and local councils we: have named, in the choice of which they had no voice. The religion of the Church of Eng- land was established as that of the colony, and conformity to it was secured by severe penalties. Death was the punishment for murder, manslaughter, adultery, dangerous seditions and tumults. In all cases not affecting life and limb offenders might be tried by a magistrate, but for capital offences trial by jury was secured. In the former cases the punishment of the offender was at the discretion of the president and council. The Indians were to be treated with kind- ness, and efforts were to be made for theii conversion to Christianity. For five years at least the affairs of the colonists were to be conducted in a joint stock. The right ia impose future legislation upon the province was reserved by the king. The Settlers Oppressed. Such was the form of government first pre- scribed for Virginia by England, in which, as Bancroft truly says, there was " not an ele- ment of popular liberty." " To the emi- grants themselves it conceded not one elect- ive franchise, not one of the rights of self- government. They were to be subjected to the ordinances of a commercial corporation, of which they could not be members; to the dominion of a domestic council, in ap- pointing which they had no voice ; to the control of a superior council in England, which had no sympathy with their rights; and finally, to the arbitrary legislation of the sovereign." Under this charter the London Company prepared to send out a colony to Virginia. It was to be a commercial settlement, and the emigrants were composed altogether of men. One hundred and five persons, exclu- sive of the crews of the vessels, joined the expedition. Of these not twenty were farm- ers or mechanics. The remainder were " gentlemen," or men who had ruined them- selves at home by idleness and dissipation. A fleet of three small ships, under command of Captain Newport, was assembled, and on the nineteenth of December, 1606, sailed for America. The emigrants sailed without having per« fected any organization. The king had fool- ishly placed the names of those who were to CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AND POCAHONTAS. 75 constitute the government in a sealed box, which the adventurers were ordered not to open until they had selected a site for their settlement and were ready to form a govern- ment. This was most unfortunate, for during the long voyage dissensions arose, and there */vas no one in the expedition who could control the unruly spirits. These quarrels grew more intense with the lapse of time, and when the shores of Virginia were reached the seeds of many of the evils from which the colony afterwards suffered severely had been thoroughly sown. There were among the number several who were well qualified to direct the affairs of the expedition, but they were without the proper authority to do so, and there was no such thing as voluntary submission to be seen among the adventurers. The merits of the deserving merely excited tlie jealousy of their companions, and the great master spirit of the enterprise found from the first his disinterested efforts for the good of the expedition met by a jealous opposition. Point Comfort Named. Newport was not acquainted with the direct route, and made the old passage by way of the Canaries and the West Indies. He thus consumed the whole of the winter, and while searching for the island of Roanoke, the scene of Raleigh's colony, his fleet was driven northward by a severe storm, and forced to take refuge in the Chesapeake Bay on the twenty-sixth of April, 1607. He named the headlands of this bay Cape Henry and Cape Charles, in honor of the two sons of James I., and because of the comfortable anchorage which he obtained in the splendid roadstead which enters the bay opposite its mouth, he gave to the northern point the name of Point Comfort, which it has since borne. Passing this, a noble river was dis- covered coming from the westward^ and was named the James, in honor of the English king. The country was explored with energy, and though one small tribe of Indians was found to be hostile, a treaty of peace and friendship was made with another at Hamp' ton. The fleet ascended the river and ex- plored it for fifty miles. A pleasant penin- sula, on the left bank of the stream was selected as the site of the colony, and on the thirteenth of May, 1607, the settlement was definitely begun, and was named Jamestown, in honor of the king. Smith's Daring Deeds. The leading spirit of the enterprise was John Smith, one of the truest heroes of his- tory, who has been deservedly called " the father of Virginia." He was still a young man, being but thirty years of age, but he was old in experience and knightly deeds. While yet a youth he had served in Holland in the ranks of the army of freedom, and had travelled through France, Egypt and Italy. Burning to distinguish himself, he had re- paired to Hungary, and had won a brilliant reputation by his exploits in the ranks of the Christian army engaged in the defence of that country against the Mohammedans. He repeatedly defeated the chosen champions of the Turks in single combat, but being at length captured was sent to Constantinople and sold as a slave. The wife of his master, pitying his misfortunes, sent him to a rela- tive in the Crimea, with a request to treat him with kindness, but contrary to her wishes he was subjected to the greatest harshness. Rendered desperate by this experience, he rose against his task-master, slew him, and seizing his horse escaped to the border of the Russian territory, where he was kindly received. He wandered across the country to Transylvania, and rejoined his old com- panions in arms. Then, filled with a longing 76 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. to see his "own sweet country" once more, he returned to England. He arrived just as the plans for the colonization of Virginia were being matured. He readily engaged in the expedition organized by the London Company, and exerted himself in a marked degree to make it a success. He was in all respects the most capable man in the whole colony, for his natural abilities were fully equal to his experience. He had studied human nature under many forms in CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. many lands, and in adversity and danger had learned patience and fortitude. His calm, cool tourage,his resolute will, and his intuitive per- ception of the necessities of a new settlement, were destined to make him the main stay of the colony of Virginia, but as yet these high quali- ties had only excited the malicious envy of his associates, and the efforts he had made to heal the dissensions which had broken out during the voyage had made him many enemies. When ihe box containing the names ol those who were to constitute the colonial government was opened, it was found that the king had appointed John Smith one of the council. Smith was at this time in con- finement, having been arrested on the voy- age upon the frivolous charges of sedition and treason against the crown, and his enemies, notwithstanding the royal appointment, ex- cluded him from the council. Edward Wingfield, " a grovelling merchant of the west of England," was chosen president of the council and governor of the colony. The services of Smith could not be dispensed with, however, and he was released from his confinement, and sent with Newport and twenty others to explore the river. They ascended the James to the falls, where the city of Richmond now stands, and visited Powhatan, the principal chief of the Indian nation holding the country into which they had come. He was then dwelling at his favorite seat on the left bank of the river, a few miles below the falls. Powhatan received them kindly, and silenced the remonstrances of his people by saying: "They hurt you not; they only want a little land." The chief was a man of powerful sta- ture, " tall, sour and athletic." He was sixty years of age, and had under him a population of six or eight thousand souls, two thousand being warriors. Having carefully observed the river. Smith and Newport returned to Jamestown. Their presence there was needed, for Wingfield had proved himself utterly unfit to govern the colony. He would not allow the colonists to build either houses for them- selves or a fortification for the common de- fence against the savages. While they were in this helpless condition, they were suddenly CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AND POCAHONTAS. 77 attacked by a force of four hundred Indians, and were saved from destruction only by the iire of the shipping, which filled the savages with terror and put them to flight. It is believed that the cause of Wingfield's singular conduct was his jealousy of Smith ivhose talents he feared would attract the support of the settlers. Tried and Acquitted, The fort was now built without delay, cannon were mounted, and the men trained in the exercise of arms. When the ships were in readiness to sail to England, it was intimated to Smith that he would consult his own interests by returning in them, but he refused to do so, and boldly demanded a trial upon the charges which had been pre- ferred against him. The council did not dare to refuse him this trial, and the result was his triumphant acquittal. More than this, he succeeded so well in exposing the malice of his enemies that the president, as the originator of the charges against him, was compelled to pay him two hundred pounds damages, which sum Smith gener- ously applied to the needs of the colony. His seat in the council could no longer be denied him, and he took his place at the board to the great gain of the colony. Newport sailed for England about the middle of June, leaving the settlement in a most pitiable condition. The provisions sent out from England had been spoiled on the voyage, and the colonists were too indo- lent to cultivate the land, or to seek to obtain supplies from the Indians. Sickness broke out among them, owing to the malarious character of their location, and by the begin- ning of the winter more than half their num- ber had died. Among these was Bartholo- mew Gosnold, the originator of the London Company, who had come out to Virginia to risk his life in the effort to settle t^ country. He was a man of rare merits, and, together with Mr. Hunt, " the preacher," who was also one of the projectors of the company, had contributed successfully to the preserva- tion of harmony in the colony. In the midst of these sufferings it was found that Wingfield was preparing to load the pinnace with the remainder of the stores and escape to the West Indies. He was deposed by the council, who appointed John Ratcliffe in his place. The new president was not m uch better than his predecessor. He was incapable of discharg- ing the duties of his office, and was perfectly satisfied that Smith should direct the afiairs of the settlement for him. From this time Smith was the actual head of the govern- ment. Food was the prime necessity of the colony, and as it was now too late to raise it, Smith exerted himself to obtain it from the Indians. He purchased a supply, and towards the close of the autumn the wild fowl which frequent the region furnished an additional means of subsistence. Danger of Famine. The danger of a famine thus removed. Smith proceeded to explore the country. In one of these expeditions he ascended the i'hickahominy as far as he could penetrate in his boat, and then leaving it in charge of two men, struck into the interior with an Indian guide. His men disobeyed his in- structions, and were surprised and put to' death by the Indians. Smith himself was taken prisoner, and deeply impressed his captors by his cool courage and self-posses- sion. Instead of begging for his life, he set to work to convince them of his superiority over them, and succeeded so well that they regarded him with a sort of awe. He aston- ished them by showing them his pocket com- pass and explaining to them its uses, and excited their admiration by writing a letter 78 POCAHONTAS INTERCEDING J^<^ THE LIFK OF CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH. CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH AND POCAHONTAS. ;9 hjs friends at Jamestown informing them of his situation, and of the danger to which they were exposed from a contemplated attack of the Indians. One of the savages bore the letter to its destination. A Grand Reception, Smith had been captured by Opechan- canough.a powerful chieftain of the Pamun- key Indians : but as the curiosity of the neighboring tribes was greatly aroused by his presence, he was led in triumph from the Chickahominy to the villages on the Rappa- hannock and the Potomac, and then taken through other towns to the residence of Opechancanough, on the Pamunkey. Here the medicine men of the tribe held a three days* incantation over him to ascertain his character and design. All this while his de- meanor was calm and fearless, as if he enter- tained no apprehension for his safety. He was regarded by the savages as a superior being, and was treated with kindness, though kept a close prisoner. 1 His fate was referred to Powhatan for de- cision, as the other tribes feared to bring the blood of such an extraordinary being upon their heads. Powhatan was then residing at Werowocomoco, which lay on the north side of Fork River, in what is now Gloucester County, Virginia. He received the captive in great state, surrounded by his warriors. " Hfe wore," says Smith, " such a grave and najestical countenance as drove me into admiration to see." Brought into the presence of Powhatan, Smith was received with a shout from the assembled warriors. A handsome young squaw brought him water to wash his hands, and another gave him a bunch of feathers to dry them. Food was then set before him, and while he applied himself to the repast a consultation was held by the savages as to his fate. Smith watched the proceedings closely, and wa*? aware from the gestures of the council that his death had been determined upon. Two great stones vere then brought into the assembly and laid before the king. The captive was seized and dragged to the stones, forced down, and his head laid upon them. Two brawny savages stood by to beat out his brains w 1th their clubs. During these proceedings Pocahontas, a child often or twelve years, " dearly loved daughter " of Powhatan, touched with pity for the unfortu- nate stranger, had been earnestly pleading with her father to spare his life. Failing in this, she sprang forward at the moment the executioners were about to despatch their victim, and throwing herself by his side, clasped her arms about his neck and laid her head upon his to protect him from the im- pending stroke. This remarkable action in a child so young moved the savages with profound astonishment. They regarded it as a manifestation of the will of Heaven in favor of the captive, and it was determined to spare his life and seek his friendship. "^he Captive Released. Smith was released from his bonds, and was given to Pocahontas to make beads and bells for her, and to weave for her ornamencs of copper. The friendship which the inno- cent child of the forest conceived for him grew stronger every day, and ceased only with her life. Powhatan took him into his favor, and endeavored to induce him to abandon the English and cast his lot with him. He ever* sought to obtain his aid in an attack upon the colony. Smith declined these offers, and by his decision of character succeeded in averting the hostility of the savages from his friends at Jamestown, anc* in winning their good-will for the English. In a short while the Indians allowed him to return to Jamestown, upon his promise to send to King Powhatan two cannon sjad ? So SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. grindstone. Upon arriving at Jamestown he showed the Indians who had accompanied him two of the largest cannon, and asked them to lift them. This was impossible ; nor could they succeed any better with the grindstone. Smith then discharged the cannon in their presence, which so frightened them that they refused to have anything to do with them. Having evaded his promise in this manner, Smith bestowed more suit- able presents upon his guides, and sent them POCAHONTAS. home with gifts for Powhatan and Poca- hontas. The savage king was doubtless Well satisfied to let the " great guns " alone ifter hearing the report of his messengers concerning them, and was greatly pleased with the gifts sent him. Pocahontas Brings Food. Smith found the colony at Jamestown re- duced to forty men and affairs in great con- fusion. His companions had believed that he had fallen a victim to the hostility of the Indians, and he was greeted with delight, as the need of his firm hand had been sadly felt. He found that a party of malcontents were preparing to run away from the colony with the pinnace, and he at once rallied his supporters and trained the guns of the fort upon the little vessel, and avowed his de- termination to fire upon the mutineers U they soMght to depart. His firmness put an end to this danger, and the friendly relations which he had managed to establish with the Indians now enabled him to buy from the savages the food necessary to sustain the colonists through the winter. In many ways his captivity proved a great blessing to the settlement. He had not only explored the country between the James and Potomac, and gained considerable knowledge of the language and customs of the natives, but had disposed the Indian tribes subject to Powhatan to regard the colony with friendship at the most criti- cal period of its existence. Had the savages been hostile during this winter the James- town colony must have perished of starva- tion ; but now, every few days throughout this season, Pocahontas came to the fort ac- companied by a number of her countrymen bearing baskets of corn for the whites. Exploring Chesapeake Bay. In the spring of 1608, Newport arrived from England, bringing with him a reinforce- ment of one hundred and twenty emigrants, The newcomers were joyfully welcomed by the colonists but they proved of no real ad- vantage to the settlement. They were either idlers or goldsmiths who had come out to America in the hope of finding gold. The refiners of the party believed they had founa the precious metal in a heap of glittering earth, of which there was an abundance near Jamestown, and in spite of the remonstrances of Smith, would do nothing but dig gold. Newport, who shared the delusioHj loaded 1 CAPtAhN: JOHN SMITH AND POCAHONTAS Si his ships with the worthless earth and sailed for England after a sojourn in the colony of fourteen weeks. While these fruitless labors were in pro- gress. Smith, thoroughly disgusted with the folly of the emigrants, undertook the explora- tion of the Chesapeake Bay. He spent the summer of 1608 in visiting the shores of the bay and ascending its tributaries in an open boat, accompanied by a few men. He ex- plored the Chesapeake to the Susquehanna, ascended the Potomac to the falls, and explored the Patapsco. This voyage em- braced a total distance of nearly three thou- sand miles, and resulted not only in the gain- ing of accurate information respecting the country bordering the Chesapeake, but also in establishing friendly relations with the tribes along its shores, and preparing the way for future friendly intercourse with them. The energetic explorer prepared a map of the Chesapeake and its tributaries, and sent it to his employers in England, by whom it was published. It is yet in existence, and its accuracy and minuteness have often elic- ited the praise of subsequent topographers. Idlers Must Not Eat. Smith returned to Jamestown on the seventli of September^ and three da>s later was made president of the council. The good effects of his administration were soon felt. In the autumn, however, another rein- forcement of idle and useless men arrived. Smith, indignant at the continual arrival of such worthless persons, wrote to the com- pany : " When you send again, I entreat you rather send but thirty carpenters, husband- men, gardeners, fishermen, blacksmiths, ma- sons, and diggers up of trees' roots, well pro- vided, than a thousand of such as we have." Upon the return of the fleet to England the governor exerted his authority to compel the idlers •t) go to work. It was ordered that six hours in each day should be spent in useful labor by each person, and that " he who would not work might not eat." In a short while the settlement began to assume the appearance of a regular habitation ; but still so little land had been cultivated— only about thirty or forty acres in all — that during the winter of 1608—9, the settlers were com- pelled to depend upon the Indians for food. Yet the prudent management of Smith kept the colony in good health. Infamous Laws. In the spring of 1609, great changes were made in the London Company, and a more earnest interest was manifested in the colony by all classes of the English people. Sub- scriptions were made to the stock of the company by many noblemen as well as mer- chants, and a new charter was obtained. By this charter the stockholders had the power to appoint the supreme council in England, and to this council were confided the powers of legislation and government, which were relinquished by the king. The council ap- pointed the governor of the colony, who was to rule the settlement with absolute au- thority according to the instructions of the council. He was made master of the lives and liberties of the settlers by being author- ized to declare martial law whenever in his judgment the necessity for that measure should a-ise, and was made the sole execu- tive officer in its administration. , Thus the emigrants were deprived of every civil right, and were placed at the mercy of a governor appointed by a corpo- ration whose only object was to make money. The company, however, defeated this object by the manner in which it se- lected emigrants. Instead of sending out honest and industrious laborers who were capable of building up a state, they sent only idlers and vagabonds, men who were 8d SETTLEMENT OP AMERICA. neither willing nor fit to work. The com- mon stock feature was maintained, and thus the greatest obstacle to industry that could be devised was placed in the way of the success of the colony. Still there were many who were willing to seek the new BUILDING THE FIRST HOUSE IN JAMESTOWN. world even under these conditions, and many others whose friends desired to get them out of the country. •^'^ The company was soon able to ecjuip a fleet of nine vessels containing^ mons than five hundred emigrants, and a stock of do- mestic animals and fowls was included in the outfit of the expedition. Lord Delaware, a nobleman, whose character commanded the confidence of his countrymen, was made governor of the colony for life. As he was not able to sail with the expedition, he dele- gated his authority during his absence to Newport, who was admiral of the fleet, Sif Thomas Gates, and Sir George Somers, who were to govern the col- ony until his arrival. The fleet sailed in the spring of 1609, but when off the American coast was overtaken by a se- vere storm, and two ves- sels — on one of which the admiral and the commissioners had sailed — were wrecked on one of the Bermuda islands. Seven ships reached Virginia, and brought the worst lot of ena- grants that had yet beaa sent out to the colonj; Smith was still acting president, and as tb* commissioners had not arrived, was determined tohold his position until . relieved by his lawful successors. The ne^v emigrants at first refused to recognize his author- ity, but he compe'')led them to submit, and in order to lessen the evil of their presence, divided them into bodies sufficiently numer- ous for safety, and sent them to make settle- ments in other parts of Virginia. These settlements proved so many failures, and, unfortunately for the colony. Smith was so severely wounded by an accidental explosion of gunpowder, in the autumn of 1609, thaft CAPT-AIN JOHN SMITH AND POCAHONTAS. 83 he was obliged to relinquish the government and return to England for surgical treatment. He delegated his authority to George Percy, and sailed for England, never to return to Virginia again. It was to him alone that the success of the colony was due, but he received in return nothing but ingratitude. Pocahontas Saves the Colony. The departure of Smith was followed by the most disastrous consequences. There was no longer an acknowledged government >n Virginia, and the settlers gave themselves up to the most reckless idleness. Their pro- visions were quickly consumed, and the In- dians refused to furnish them with anymore. The friendship of the savages had been due to their personal regard for Smith, who had compelled the colonists to respect their rights and to refrain from maltreating them. Now that Smith was no longer at the head of affairs, the Indians regarded the settlers with the contempt they fully merited, and hostili- ties soon began. Stragglers from the town were cut off, and parties who went out to seek food among the savages were deliber- ately murdered. On one occasion a plan was laid to surprise the town and massacre the colonists. The danger was averted by Pocahontas, who stole from her father's camp, through night and storm, to give warning to the settlers. Fail- ing in this effort the Indians resolved to starve the colony, and soon the whites began to experience the sufferings of a famine. Thirty of them seized one of the ships, escaped to sea, and began a course of piracy. In six months the four hundred and ninety persons left by Smith in the colony at his departure had dwindled down to sixty ; and this wretched remnant would have perished speedily had not aid reached them. ^ On the twenty-fourth of May, 16 10, Sir dition who had been wrecked on the Ber- mudas reached Jamestown after a stay of nine months on those islands, during which time they had built two vessels from the wreck of their ship and the wood found on the island. In these they managed to reach Virginia, expecting to find the colony in a prosperous condition. They found instead the sixty men already mentioned, so feeble and full of despair as to be helpless. In the general despondency it was determined to abandon the colony, sail to Newfoundland, and join the fishing vessels which came an- nually from England to that island. A Welcome Arrival. Some of the emigrants wished to burn the town, but this was prevented by the resolute conduct of Sir Thomas Gates. On the seventh of June the settlers embarked, and that night dropped down the James with the tide. The next morning they were aston- ished to meet a fleet of vessels entering the river. It was Lord Delaware, who had arrived with fresh emigrants and supplies. The fugitives hailed the arrival of the gover- nor with delight, and put about and ascended the stream with him. A fair wind enabled them to reach Jamestown the same night. On the tenth of June, 1610, the founda- tions of the colony were solemnly relaid with prayer and supplication to Almighty God for success in the effort to establish a state. The authority of Lord Delaware silenced all dissensions, and his equitable but firm administration soon placed the settle- ment on a more successful basis than it had yet occupied. The labors of each day were opened with prayer in the little church, after which, from six in the morning till ten, and from two in the afternoon until four, all engaged in the tasks demanded of them. The good effects of the new system were soon Thomas Gates and the members of the expe- ' manifest in the increased comfort and «4 SEttLEMEiSiT OF AMERICA. prosperity of the colony. In about a year the health of Lord Delaware gave way, and he delegated his authority to George Percy, whom Smith had chosen as his successor, and returned to England. Fortunately for the colony, the company, before the arrival of Lord Delaware in Eng- land, had sent out Sir Thomas Dale with supplies. He reached Jamestown in May, l6ll, and finding Lord Delaware gone, assumed the government. He brought with him a code of laws, prepared and sent out by Sir Thomas Smith, the treasurer of the com- pany, without the order or sanction of the council, and which established martial law as the rule of the colony. Though he ruled with such a stern hand, Dale rendei?ed good service to Virginia by recommending to the company to maintain the settlement at all hazards as certain of yielding them a rich reward in the end. The New Settlers. This energetic appeal so greatly encour- aged the council, which had been consider- ably disheartened by Lord Delaware's return, that in the summer of 1611 Sir Thomas Gates was sent out to Virginia with six ships and three hundred emigrants. He carried also a stock of cattle and abundant supplies. The emigrants sent out with him were of a better character and more industrious than any that had yet left England for Virginia. Gates assumed the government, and matters began to prosper again. The colony now numbered seven hundred persons, and was us and the most loyal county of Virginia. He summoned a convention of the inhabitants, and renewed his efforts against Bacon. The people of Gloucester, justly regarding Bacon as. the defender of the colony, opposed the gov- ernor's proposals, but he persisted in spite of rheir advice, and again proclaimed Bacon a This inexcusable pursuit of a man who had rendered nothing but good service to the colony aroused the indignation of the troops. " It vexes me tc the heart," said Bacon, " that while I am hunting the wolves and tigers that destroy our lambs I shoul : myself be pursued as a savage. Shall per sons wholly devoted to their king and country — men hazarding their lives against the public enemy — deserve the appellation of rebels and traitors? The whole country is witness to our peaceable behavior. But those in authority, how have they obtained their estates ? Have they not devoured the common treasury ? What arts, what sciences, wh-at schools of learning, have they pro- moted ? I appeal to the king and Parlia- ment, where the cause of the people will be heard impartially." Bacon appealed to the people of Virginia to anite for the defence of their liberties against th^ tyranny of the governor. They responded 10 this call with enthusiasm, and a convention of the most eminent men in the colonv assembled at Middle Plantations, now Williamsburg, on the third of August, 1676. It was resolved by the convention to sustain Bacon with the whole power of the colony in the campaign against the Indians. If the governor persisted in his attempt to hunt him as a traitor, the members of the convention pledged themselves to defend Bacon with arms, even against the royal troops, until an appeal could be made to the king in person. The people of Virginia were fully resolved to protect themselves against the tyranny of Berkeley, and Bacon, strengthened by theii indorsement of his course, finished his cam' paign against the Indians. Governor Berke- ley withdrew across the bay to the eastern shore, and there collected a force of sailors belonging to some English vessels and a band of worthless Indians. With this force '* men of a base and cowardly dispositioa VIRGINIA AFTER THE RESTORATION. 107 allured by the passion for plunder," he pre- pared to return to Jamestown. The people decided to regard the retreat of the governor as an abdication on his part of his office. The ten years for which he had been appointed had expired, and the colonial records afforded a precedent for his removal. Bacon and four others, who had been members of the council, issued writs for the election of a representative conven- tion to which the management of the affairs of the colony was to be committed. With the exception of a few royalists the whole people of Virginia indorsed the move- ment ; the women were enthusiastic, and urged their husbands to risk everything, even life, in defence of their liberties. Early in September Sir William Berkeley reached Jamestown with the rabble which he called his army. He took possession of the town without resistance, and was joined by a number of royalists. He offered freedom to theslavesof the Virginians who were opposed to him on the condition of their joining his ranks. Bacon and his party were again pro^ claimed traitors and rebels. The People Fly to Arms. The people at once flew to arms, and Bacon soon found himself at the head of the little army that had been so successful against the Indians. Without delay they marched to Jamestown. The resistance attempted by Berkeley's cowardly followers was feeble, and the whole force, including their leader, retreated to their ships, and dropped down the river by night. The next morning the army of the people entered Jamestown. It was /umored that a party of royalists was marching from the northern counties to the support of Berkeley, and a council was held to decide upon the fate of the capital. It was agreed that it should be burned to pre- vent it from being used as a stronghold for their enemies. The torch was applied ; Drummond and Lawrence, leaders of the popular party, set fire to their dwellings with their own hands ; and in a few hours only a heap of smouldering ruins marked the site ol the first capital of Virginia. Its destruction left the colony without a single town withir its limits. From the ruins of Jamestown Bacon marched promptly to meet the royalist force advancing from the Rappahannock region. The latter in a body joined the army of the people, and even the county of Gloucester, the stronghold of royalty, gave its adhesion to the patriotic movement. With the excep- tion of the eastern shore the entire colony was united in support o^the cause of popula/ liberty. Untimely Death of Bacon. Unhappily, at this critical juncture. Bacon was seized with a fatal fever, of which he died on the first of October, 1676. His followers grieved for him with passionate sorrow, and with good cause. It has been the good fortune of Virginia to give many great names to the cause of liberty, but in all the immortal roll there are none who sur- passed Nathaniel Bacon in pure and disin- terested patriotism. Others were permitted to accomplish more, but none cherished loftier aims or desired more earnestly the good of their fellow-citizens. The death of Bacon left the popular party without a head ; and now began to be seen for the first time in Virginia the evils which the neglect of education must produce in a community. The Virginians were not lack- ing in courage, determination, or devotion to their liberties, and their cause was one cal- culated to succeed without leaders. In an educated community there would have been no lack of union or perseverance because of the death of one man, and the people would io8 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. have found the means to continue their struggle until successful. In the uneducated Virginian community of 1676 the presence of a bold, capable, and resolute leader was a necessity, and his sudden removal left the , popular party helpless. The grand struggle degenerated into a series of petty insurrec- tions ; the royalists took heart, and Robert Beverley, their most competent leader, was able to destroy in detail the resistance of the patriots and to restore the supremacy of Berkeley. A Woman's Self- Sacrifice. The governor now proceeded to take a summary vengeance upon the patriots, and more than twenty of the best men of the colony gave their lives on the scaffold for the liberties of their country. The first of these martyrs for freedom — the first Ameri- can to die for the right of the people to govern themselves — was Thomas Hansford, a Vir- ginian born, and a noble specimen of the chivalrous sons of the Old Dominion. The wife of Edmund Cheesman, upon the capture of her husband, flung herself at the governor's feet, and declaring that her ex- hortations had induced her hu.sband to join Bacon, begged to be allowed to die in his place. The brutal Berkeley repelled the heroic woman with a gross insult. When Drummond was taken and brought before him the governor received him with mock courtesy, " I am more glad to see you," he said, " than any man in Virginia; you shall -be hanged in half an hour." The royalist assembly, horrified at the cruelty of the gov- ernor, appealed to him to " spill no more blood." The property of the victims was confiscated, and their helpless families were turned out upon the charities of the people for whom the martyrs had died. Not con- tent with these cruelties Berkeley attempted to silence the people, and prevent them from either censuring him or vindicating the memory of their dead heroes. Whoever should speak ill of Berkeley or his friends was to be whipped. At last the end came, and Berkeley re- turned to England. His departure was celebrated with rejoicings throughout the colony; bells were rung, guns were fired, and bonfires blazed. Berkeley hoped to be able to justify his conduct in England, but upon his arnval in that country he found his course sternly condemned by the voice of public opinion. Even Charles II. censured him with all the energy that soulless monarch was master of " The old fool," said the king, " has taken away more lives in that naked land than I for the murder of my father." His disappointment and mortifica- tion were too much for the proud man, and he died soon after his arrival in England. Revival of Abuses. The failure of Bacon's rebellion brought many serious misfortunes to Virginia. The insurrection was made the excuse by the king for refusing a liberal charter, and the colony was made dependent for its rights and privileges entirely upon the royal will. The assembly was composed almost ex- clusively of royalists, and at once proceeded to undo the work of the popular party. All the laws of Bacon's assembly were repealed; the right of suffrage was restricted to free- holders, and the iniquitous taxes were re- imposed. All the abuses that had led to the rebellion were revived. In 1677 Lord Culpepper, one of the favor- ites to whom Charles II. had granted Vir- ginia, was appointed governor of the colony for life. The new governor regarded his office as a sinecure, and while receiving its emoluments desired to remain in England to enjoy them. In 1680, however, the king compelled him to repair to his government Virginia after the restoraik^N. 109 1 Jierson. He brought with him authority irom the sovereign to settle all past griev- ances, but he used this power for his own profit. He extorted money from all parties, and when he had acquired a considerable sum returned to England, having spent less than a year in Virginia. He left the colony in the greatest distress. The Virginians, robbed of the profits of their labors for the enrichment of their rulers, were reduced to despair. Riots took place in various places, and the whole colony was on the verge of insurrection. A Plunderer. Rumors of these disturbances having reached England the king ordered Culpepper to return and reduce the colony to obedience. He did so, and caused several influential men to be hanged as traitors, and used the power intrusted to him to wrest from the council the last remnant of its authority to control his outrages upon the people. This accom- plished, he proceeded to force the settlers of the Northern Neck to surrender their planta- tions to him, or pay him the sums he de- manded for the privilege of retaining them. He found his residence among a people he had come to plunder very disagreeable, and in the course of a few months returned to England amid the bitter curses of the Vir- ginians. The council reported the distress of the province to the king, and appealed to him to recall the grant to Culpepper and Arlington. Arlington surrendered his rights to Culpepper, whose patent was rendered void by a process of law, and in July, 1684, Virginia became once more a royal province. Lord Howard, of Effingham, was appointed to succeed Culpepper, but he was a poorer and more grasping man than his predecessor, and the change afforded no relief to Virginia. In 1685 James II. came to the throne of England, and in the same year occurred the insurrection in England known as Mon- mouth's rebellion. A number of prisoners were taken in this struggle by the royal forces, and many of these were sent out to the colonies of Virginia and Maryland to be sold as servants for a term of ten years. Many of them were men of education and family. The general assembly of Virginia refused to sanction this infamous measure, and, in spite of the prohibition of King James, passed a law declaring all such per- sons free. Indeed at this time the practice of selling white servants in America had be- come so profitable that quite a thriving business was carried on between the west of England and Virginia and Maryland. Not only persons condemned for crime, but innocent people were kidnapped and sold in the colonies for a term of years for money. " At Bristol," says Bancroft, " the mayor and justices would intimidate small rogues and pilferers, who, under the terror of being hanged, prayed for transportation as the only avenue to safety, and were then divided among the members of the court. The trade was exceedingly profitable — far more so than the slave trade— ^and had been conducted for years." Uprising for Freedom. One of the last acts of Charles II. with reference to Virginia was to forbid the set- ting up of a printing press within the limits of the colony ; James II. continued this pro- hibition. Effingham endeavored to take from the colony the few privileges left to it. \ The result was that the party of freedom increased rapidly. Many of the aristocratic party seeing that the king and the governor menaced every right and privilege they pos- sessed went over to the popular side. The assembly began to assert the popular demand for self-government, and became so unman- ageable that in November, 1686. it was dis- solved by royal proclamation. no SETTLEMENT A new assembly was convened, which met in April, 1688, a few months before the British revolution. The governor and coun- cil found this body more indisposed to submit to the aggressions of the crown than its pre- decessor had been. The people sustained their delegates, and a new insurrection was threatened. Efifingham was in the midst of a hostile population, without troops to enforce his will, and was obliged to conduct himself with moderation. The royal authority was never stronger in Virginia than during this reign, but it was found impossible to establish it upon the ruins of the liberties of the colony. The result of all the long years of oppression we have been considering was simply to confirm the Virginians in their attachment to their liberties, and in their determination to maintain them at any cost. Virginia remained to the end an aristocratic colony, but it was none the less " a land of liberty." Founding a College. , The revolution of 1688 in England did not change affairs in Virginia materially as regarded the forms of the colonial govern- ment. The liberties of the colony were established by law too securely to be any longer at the mercy of an individual, but the power of the governor was still very great. Every department of the colonial administra- tion, the finances, and even the management of the church, was made subject to his con- trol. He had the power to dissolve the assembly at pleasure, and was sure to exer- cise it if that body manifested too great a spirit of independence. He also appointed ^he clerk of the assembly, who was for this OF AMERICA. reason a check upon its freedom of debate. The only means of resistance to the meas- ures of the government which the assembly retained was to refuse to vote supplies in excess of the permanent revenue. This right was sometimes exercised, and the governoi was prevented from carrying out unpopular measures by the lack of the necessary funds. Soon after the accession of William and Mary to the throne an effort was made to establish a college in Virginia, although the printing press was still forbidden. Donations were made by a number of persons in England, and the king bestowed several liberal grants upon the proposed institution. The measure was carried through to success by the energy of the Rev. James Blair, who was sent out by the Bishop of London as commissary, " to supply the oiifice and juris- diction of the bishop in the outplaces of the diocese." The college was established in 1691, and was named William and Mary, in honor of the king and queen. Mr. Blair was its first president, and held that office for fifty years. The ministry did not approve the action of the king in granting even the very moderate '* endowments which he bestowed upon the \ college. They regarded Virginia merely as a place in which to raise tobacco for the English market, and cared nothing for the interests of the people. They treated the colony with injustice and neglect in every- thing. The planters could sell their tobacco only to an English purchaser, who regulated the price to suit himself, and supplied the planters in return with the wares they needed at his own prices. CHAPTER IX The Colonization of Maryland 'Extent of the Territory of Virginia — Clayborne's Trading Posts Established — Sir George Calvert, Lord Baltimore-»xlei comes Interested in American Colonization — Obtains a Grant of Maryland — Terms of the Charter — A Colony St>r' Out — Arrival in the Chesapeake — St. Mary's Founded — Character of the Colony — Friendly Relations Established witl the Indians — First Legislature of Maryland — Troul)le with Clayborne — Rapid Growth of the Colony — Progress ol Popular Liberty — Policy Respecting the Treatment of the Indians — Clayborne's Rebellion — Law Granting Religiouj Toleration Enacted — Condition of Maryland Under the Commonwealth — The People Declared Supreme— Lord Baltimore Recovers His Proprietary Rights — Characicrisiics of the Colony — Rapid Increase in Population — Charles Calvert, Governor — Death of the Second Lord Baltimore — Roman Catholics Disfranchised — Maryland Becomes a Royal Province — Triumph of the Protestants — Annapolis Made the Seat of Government — Restoration of the Propnetary Government — Continued Prosperity of Maryland. THE second charter of Virginia granted to that province the coimtry north of the Potomac as far as the headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay. This grant included the territory of the present State of Maryland. The discoveries of Captain John Smith had brought the region along the head of the bay into notice, and other explorers had confirmed his state- ments as to its value. A very profitable trade was established with the Indians of this section, and, in order to develop its advantages, William Clayborne, a man of great resolution and of no fnean abilities, a surveyor by profession, was employed by the Governor of Virginia to explore the region of the upper Chesapeake. His report was so favorable that a company was formed in England for the purpose of trading with the Indians. Under authority from this company, Clayborne obtained a license from the colonial government of Virginia, and established two trading stations on the bay ; one on Kent Island, opposite the present city of Annapolis, and one at tlie mouth of the Susquehanna. The?, posts were established in the spring of 163 1. In the meantime efforts were being made in England to secure the settlement of the same region. Sir George Calvert, a man ol noble character, liberal education and great political experience, had become at an early day deeply interested in the question oi colonizing America. Having embraced the Roman Catholic faith, he relinquished his office of Secretary of State, and made a pub- lic acknowledgment of his conversion. His noble character commanded the confidence of King James, and he was retained as a mem- ber of the Privy Council, and was made Lord Baltimore in the Irish peerage. He was anxious to found a colony in America, which might serve as a place of refuge for persons of the Catholic faith, and obtained a patent for the southern part of Newfoundland. That region was toe bleak and rugged to admit of the success cf the enie^prise, and the attempt to settle it was soon abandoned. Lord Baltimore next contemplated a set- tlement in some portion of Virginia, and in October, 1629, visited that colony with a viev/ to makinf; arrangements for his planta- tion. The laws of Virginia against Roman Catholics were /try severe, and immediately upon the arrival of so distinguished a Cath- olic the assembly ordered the oaths of allegiance and supremacy to be tendered him. Lord Baltimore proposed a form III M2 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. which he was willing to subscribe, but the colonial government insisted upon that which had been ordered by the English Par- liament, and which was of such a character that no Catholic could accept [it. There was nothing left for Calvert but to withdraw from Virginia, and his reception there con- vinced him that that province was not the place for the plantation he wished to estab- lish. Large Grant to Lord Baltimore. The region north of the Potomac was still uninhabited, and seemed to promise advan- tages equal to Virginia. Calvert applied to Charles I. for a patent for this region, and was given a territory corresponding very nearly to the present State of Maryland in extent. The king granted him a liberal charter, which, while it provided for his interests as proprietor, secured the liberties of the colonists. In this it was simply the expression of the wishes of Lord Baltimore, who desired to establish a settlement of freemen. The country embraced in the grant was given to Lord Baltimore, his heirs and assigns, in absolute possession. They were required to pay an annual tribute to the crown of two Indian arrows and one- fifth of all the gold and silver which might be found. The colonists were to have jl voice in making their own laws, and they were to be entitled to all the rights and privileges of Englishmen. No taxes were to be imposed upon them without their consent, nor was the authority of the proprietor to extend to their lives or property. It was enjoined that the exercise of the faith and worship of the established Church of England should be protected in the colony, but no uniform standard of faith or worship was imposed by the charter. The new province was carefully separated from Virginia and made independ- ent of it. The colony was left free from the supervision of the crown, and the propri- etor was not obliged to obtain the royal assent to the appointments or legislation of his province. The king also renounced for himself, his heirs and his successors, the right to tax the colony, thus leaving it entirely free from English taxation. These were vast powers to intrust to one man ; but they were placed in safe hands. The first Lord Baltimore was a man who hated tyranny of all kinds, and who had carefully observed the effects of intolerance and arbitrary rule upon the efforts that had already been made to establish successful colonies in America. He designed his col- ony as an asylum in which men of all creeds could meet upon a common basis of a faith in Jesus Christ, and his conviction that relig- ious freedom is necessary to the success of a state confirmed in him his attachment to the principles of civil liberty. Practical Charity. He invited both Protestants and Catholics to join him in his enterprise, and adopted a form of government, based upon popular representation, well calculated to secure them in the possession of all their privileges. In honor of the queen of Charles I., he named the region granted to him Maryland. Before the patent was issued. Lord Baltimore died on the fifteenth of April, 1632, leaving h son, Cecil, heir to his designs as well as t his title. The charter granted to his fatha was issued to him, and he proceeded at once to collect a co' 3ny for the settle. ;nt of Maryland. Lord Baltimore delegated the task ot con- ducting the emigrants to Maryland to his brother, Leonard Calvert. On Friday, No- vember 22, 1632, a company of two hun- dred, chiefly Roman Catholics of good birth, with their families and servants, sailed from The colonization of :\rARVLAXD. 113 England in the " Ark " and the " Dove," the former a ship of large burthen, the latter a small pinnace. The voj-age was made by vvay of the West Indies, and the Chesapeake was not reached until the twenty-fourth of February, 1634. The ships anchored off Old Point Comfort, and were visited by Sir John Harvey, Governor of Vir- ginia, who had been commanded by the king to welcome the new colony with kindness. Resting in Hampton roads for a few days the emigrants ascended the bay and entered the stately Potomac. Deeming it unsafe to plant his first settle- ment high up the river, Calvert chose a site on a small tributary of the Potomac, not far from its mouth. This stream, now known as the St. Mary's, he named the St. George's. An Indian village, called Yoacomoco, was selected as the site of the colony. The place was being deserted by the natives, who had suffered severely from the superior power of the Susequehannahs, and were removing farther into the interior for greater security. They readily sold their town and the surround- ing lands to the English.and made with them a treaty of peace and friendship ; and on the twenty- seventh of March, 1634, the col- onists landed and laid the founda- tions of the town of St. Mary's. A few days later, Sir John Harvey arrived from Virginia on a friendly visit. His orders from the king were to treat the settlers with friendship, and to aid them as far as lay in his power. About the same time the native chiefs came in to visit the colony, and were so well received that they established friendly relations witli the settlers. The Indian women taught their English .sisters how to make bread from the meal of the Indian corn, and the warriors instructed the Eng- lishmen in the simple arts of the chase. The colonists obtained provisions and cattle fora while from Virginia; but, as they went to CECIL, SECOND LORD BALTIMORE. work at once and with energy to cultivate their land, the first year's harvest gave them an abundance of supplies. The proprietor sent out from England such things as were necessary to the success and comfort of the colony, treating the new settlement with a wise liberality. Thus were ii4 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. the foundations of Maryland laid amid peace and prosperity. The colony was successful from the first. Roman Catholic settlers fol- lowed the first emigrants in considerable numbers, and even Protestants sought the shores of Maryland, which the liberality of Lord Baltimore had made a refuge to them from the persecutions of their own brethren. New settlements were formed, and within six months the colony " had advanced more than Virginia had done in as many years." Piracy and Murder. In February, 1635, the first legislative assembly of Maryland met. Legislation had become necessary by this time. Clay- borne, who had established trading posts in the upper Chesapeake, had met the first set- tlers under Leonard Calvert at their anchor- age at Old Point Comfort, and had endeav- ored to dissuade them from settling along the bay by exaggerating the dangers to be apprehended from the hostility of the In- dians. Failing in this effort, he became the evil genius of Maryland, as the grant to Lord Baltimore made void his license to trade with the Indians along the bay. He re- fused to acknowledge the authority of the proprietor of Maryland, and attempted to retain his trading post by force of arms. Within a year or two after the settlement of the colony, a bloody skirmish occurred in one of the rivers of the eastern shore, in which Clayborne's men were defeated. In 1638, Leonard Calvert took forcible posses- sion of Kent Island, and hanged one or two of Clayborne's people on a charge of piracy and murder. Clayborne was in England at the time prosecuting his claims before the king. Governor Harvey of Virginia had given the weight of his influence in this contest to the cause of Lord Baltimore, but the people of Virginia, who resented the grant of Maryland as an invasion of their rights, sympathized with Clayborne, and caused Harvey to be impeached and sent to England for trial. The English courts de- cided that Clayborne's license was not valid against the charter granted to Lord Balti more, and Harvey was sent back to Virginia as governor in April, 1639. In the meantime the colony continued to grow and prosper. The assembly, while acknowledging the allegiance of the people of Maryland to the king, and making ample provisions for the rights of Lord Baltimore as proprietor, took care to secure the liberties of the people, and claimed for itself the exercise in the province of all the powers belonging to the British K juse of Commons. Representative government was definitely established, and the colonists were secured in all the liberties granted to the people of England by the common law of that country. Tobacco became, as in Vir- ginia, the staple of the colony. Maryland Contented. In 1642, in gratitude for the great ex- pense which Lord Baltimore had volun- tarily incurred for them, the people of Maryland granted him " such a subsidy as the young and poor estate of the colony could bear." As far as the people themselves were concerned, the condition of Maryland was one of marked happiness and content- ment. Harmony prevailed between all classes of the people and the government ; the settlers were blessed with complete toler- ation in religion; emigration was rapidly increasing, and the commerce of the colony was growing in extent and value Maryland had its troubles, however. The Indians, alarmed by its rapid growth, began in 1642 a series of aggressions which led to a frontier war. This struggle continued for some time, but was productive of no decisive results, and in 1644 peace v/as restored. The THE COLONIZATION OF AIARVLAND. 115 Indians promised submission, and the whites, on their part, agreed to treat them with friendship and justice. Laws were enacted compelling the settlers to refrain from in- justice toward the savages, and humanity to the red man was made the 'oolicy of the colony. The kidnapping of dn Indian was punish- able with death, and the sale of arms to the savages was constituted a felony. Efforts were also made to convert the natives to Christianity. Four missions were established among them by the priests of the Catholic church, and the effects of their devoted la- bors were soon manifest. A chief, named Tayac, and his wife were baptized, he tak- ing the name of Charles and she that of Mary. About one hundred and thirty other converts were afterwards added to the Chris- tian fold among the Indians, and many of these sent their children to receive instruction at the hands of the priests. Though the ef- fort to Christianize the savages failed, as it has ever done, the good effects of these en- deavors were not lost, as the friendship for the whites aroused by them continued to influence these tribes in their policy toward the colony. Clayborne's Rebellion. Clayborne, who had certainly cause for thinking himself wronged in being deprived of his property without just compensa'tion, returned to Maryland to revenge himself upon the colonists. The civil war in Eng- land furnished him with an admirable oppor- tunity for his attempt. He was able to se- cure a number of followers in Maryland, and in 1644 began an insurrection. The next year the governor was driven out of the col- ony and obliged to take refuge in Virginia, and Clayborne was triumphant. For more than a year the rebels held possession of the government, and this whole time was a period of disorder and misrule, during which the greater part of the colonial records were lost or stolen. At the end of this lime, the better classes of the people of Maryland drove out the rebels, and recalled the pro- prietary government. A general amnesty was proclaimed to all offenders, and peace was restored to the colony. The year 1649 was marked in England by the execution of Charles I., and the complete A CIVILIZED INDIAN. establishment of the authority of the Parlia- ment. It seemed to the people of Maryland that this triumph of the popular party was to usher in a new war upon the Roman Catholic faith, which was professed by a large major- ity of the colonists. Dreading a war of religion as the greatest of evils, they deter- mined to secure the colony from it, by pla- cing the freedom of conscience within their limits upon as secure a basis as possible. In doing this they gave expression to the popular will, and aimed to secure their future welfare. On the twenty first of April, 1649, the assembly of Maryland adopted the following il6 ftct: ** And, whereas, the enforcing of con- science in matters of religion hath frequently fallen out to be of dangerous consequence in those commonwealths where it has been practiced, and for the more quiet and peace- SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. Christ, shall be anyways troubled, molested or discountenanced for his or her religion, oi in the free exercise thereof, or be compelled to the belief or practice of any other religion against their consent" OLIVER CROMWELL. able government of this province, and the better to preserve mutual love and amity among the inhabitants, no person within this province, professing to beli'^ve in Jesus This statute, noble as it was, applied on'y to Christians. It was provided that *' What- soever person shall blaspheme God, or shall deny or reproach the Holy Trinity, or any THE COLONIZATION OP^ MARYLAND. "7 of the three persons thereof, shall be pun- ished with death." Maryland had taken a great stride in advance in making her soil a sanctuary for Christians of all beliefs, but she had not yet accorded to her people a tolera- tion equal to that of Rhode Island, which colony, in 1647, granted liberty to all opinions, infidel as well as Christian. Cromwell's Blunt Order. During the existence of the common- wealth, the colony was troubled with an unsettled government. It submitted to the authority of Cromwell, and the Puritans, regardless of the example of their brethren of the Catholic faith, attempted by an act of assembly, in 1654, to disfranchise the whole Roman Catholic population on the ground of their religious belief Cromwell disap- proved this action, and bluntly ordered his commissioners " not to busy themselves about religion, but to settle the civil govern- ment." In 1660, without waiting to hear the issue of matters in England, the assembly repudiated the authority of both the com- monwealth and the proprietor, and asserted the sovereignty of the people as the supreme authority in Maryland. Upon the restoration of Charles II., Lord Baltimore made his peace with the king for having yielded to the power of Cromwell, and received back all the rights he had enjoyed in Maryland. He at once proceeded to re-establish his authority in the provir je, but being a man of humanity and of liberal views, he made a generous use of his power. A general pardon was granter" <-o all offenders against him, his rule w.. once more submitted to, and for thirty years the colony was at peace. " Like Virginia, Maryland was a colony of planters ; its staple was tobacco, and its prosperity was equally checked by the pressure of the navigation acts. Like Virginia, it possessed no considerable village ; its inhabitants w^ere scattered among the woods and along the rivers ; each plantation was a little world within itself, and legislation vainly attempted the creation of towns by statute. Like Virginia, its laborers were in part indentured .servants, whose term of service was limited by persevering legislation; in part negro slaves, who were employed in the colony from an early period, and whose importation was favored both by English cupidity and provincial statutes.'* " As in Virginia, the appointing power to nearly every office in the counties as well as in the province was not with the people ; and the judiciary was placed beyond their control As in Virginia, the party of the proprietary, which possessed the government, was animated by a jealous regard for preroga- tive, and by the royalist principles, which derive the sanction of authority from the will of Heaven. As in Virginia, the taxes levied by the county officers were not conceded by the dirert vote of the people, and were, therefore, burdensome alike from their excessive amount and the manner of their levy. But though the administration of Maryland did not favor the increasing spirit of popular liberty, it was marked by con ciliation and humanity. To foster industry, to promote union, to cherish religious peace, ****** these were the honest pur- poses of Lord Baltimore during his long supremacy." * Arrival of Immigrants. Yet the colony continued to prosper. Emigrants came to it from almost every country of western Europe, and even from Sweden and Finland. The only persons who had cause for complaint in Maryland were the Quakers, who were treated with * History of the United States. By George Bancroft, toL ii., p. 235. ti8 SETii^iiiVlENT OF AMERICA. considerable harshness for their refusal to perform military duty ; but no effort was made to interfere with the exercise of their religion. In 1662, Charles Calvert, the son and heir of Lord Baltimore, came to reside in the thousand dollars. By numerous acts of compromise between Lord Baltimore and the assembly the question of taxation was ad- justed upon a satisfactory basis. The people assumed the expense of the provincial gov- ernment, and agreed to the imposition of an WILLIAM III. colony. Money was coined at a colonial mint, a tonnage duty was imposed upon all vessels trading with the colony, and a state house was built in 1674, at a cost of forty thousand pounds of tobacco, or about five export duty of two shillings per hogshead upon all the tobacco sent out of the colony. One-half of this duty was appropriated to the support of the government, and the re- m.-^inder was assigned unconditionally to the THE COLONIZATION OF MARYLAND. T19 tises of Lord Baltimore, as " an act of grati- tude " for his care of the colony. On the thirtieth of November, 1675, Cecil Calvert, second Lord Baltimore, died. He had been for fourteen years the earnest and devoted friend, as well as the generous lord of the province, and had lived long enough to enjoy the gratitude with which the colony sougnt to repay his judicious care. His memory is perpetuated by the chief city of Maryland, which bears his name, and which is already the largest city on the Atlantic oast, south of the Susequehanna, and the ecventh in population in the United States. Charles Calvert, who had been for fourteen years governor of Maryland, succeeded to his father's titles and possessions, and in 1676 returned to England. Previous to his de- parture from Maryland he gave his sanction to the colonial code of laws, which had been thoroughly revised. One of these laws pro- hibited the " importation of convicted per- sons" into the colony without regard te the will of the king or Parliament of England. Roman Catholics Disfranchised. Notwithstanding the mild and equitable government of the third Lord Baltimore, the spirit of popular liberty was becoming too strong in the colony for the rule of the proprietor to be cheerfully acquiesced in much longer. The rebellion of Bacon in Virginia affected the Maryland colony pro- foundly, and when Lord Baltimore returned to the province in 1681, he found a large part of the people hostile to him. An at- tempt at insurrection was suppressed, but the seeds of trouble were too deeply sown not to spring up again. The increase of the population had left {he Roman Catholics in a small minority, so that Maryland was now to all intents and purposes a Protestant colony. During the iatter part of the reign of Charles H. the Protestants, regardless of the wise policy of toleration which had hitherto marked the history of the province, endeavored to secure the establishment by law of the Church of England in Maryland. Lord Baltimore steadfastly resisted this unwise course, nnd maintained the freedom of conscience as the right of the people. He thus added to the existing opposition to his proprietary rule the hostility of the Protestant bigots. A little later, the English ministry struck the first blow at his proprietary rights and at the religious freedom of Maryland by ordering that all the offices of the colonial govern- ment should be bestowed upon Protestants alone. " Roman Catholics were disfranchised in the province which they had planted.*' An Insurrection. Lord Baltimore hoped that the succession of James H., a Catholic sovereign, would restore him the rights of which he had been deprived in his province ; but he was soon undeceived, for the king, who intended to bring all the American colonies directly under the control of the crown, would make no exception in favor of Mar}land, and measures were put in force for the abolition of the proprietary government. The revolu- tion which placed William and Mary on the throne prevented the execution of these plans. The troubles of Lord Baltimore were in- creased by the failure of the deputy-governor, whom he had left in Maryland, to acknowl- edge William and Mary promptly. In August, 1689, occurred an insurrection led by " The association in arms for the defence of the Protestant religion." The deputy- governor was driven from office, the pro- prietary government was overturned, and William and Mary were proclaimed sov- ereigns of Maryland. The party in power appealed to the king to annul the proprietary I20 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. charter, and governed the colony by means of a convention until the royal pleasure should be known. Lord Baltimore endeav- ored to defend his rights in spite of his struggles, William III., in June, 1691, annulled the charter of Maryland, and by the exercise of his own power constituted that colony a royal province. I In 1692, the king appointed Sir Lionel Copley Governor of Maryland. Upon his arrival in the colony he dissolved the con- vention and assumed the government. He at once summoned an assembly, which, recognizing William and Mary as the lawful sovereigns of Maryland, established the Church of England as the religion of the colony, and imposed taxes for its support. The capital was removed from St, Mary's to Annapolis, both because the old seat of gov- ernment had become inconvenient and because it was desired to remove the govern- ment to the centre of Protestant influence. The disfranchisement of the Catholics ad- vanced step by step. At first the dissenters from the established church were granted toleration and protection, but in 1704 the triumph of bigotry was complete. All the dissenting bodies were tolerated, but Roman Catholics were forbidden the exercise of their faith. Mass was not allowed to be said in public, nor was any bishop or clergyman of the Roman Catholic church to be permitted to seek to make converts for his faith. Other severe measures were enacted, and in the land which Catholics had settled, the members of that communion alone were de- nied the rights which in the day of their power they had offered to others. Nor did the royalist assembly manifest any care for the true interests of the province. Education was neglected; the establishment of printing was prohibited : and the domestic manufac- tures which the necessities of the colony had brought into existence were discouraged. In 17 10 the population numbered over 30,000, free and slave. In 17 1 5 Benedict Charles Calvert, the fourth Lord Baltimore, succeeded in obtain- ing the restoration of his rights in Maryland, and the province passed into his hands. The people had been so disgusted with the rule of the royal governors that no opposition was made to this change. The new Lord Baltimore, unlike the rest of his family, was a Protestant, which was the cause of his restoration to his hereditary rights. After his restoration the colony increased with still greater rapidity. The establishment of a post route in 1695, between the Potomac and Philadelphia, had brought it into com- munication with the Northern colonies. In 1729 the town of Baltimore was founded. Frederick City was settled in 1745, and in 175 1 was followed by Georgetown, now in the District of Columbia. In 1756 the pop- ulation of the colony had increased to 154,188 souls, of whom over 40,000 were negroes. The increase in material prosperity was equally marked. By the last- mentioned year the annual export of tobacco was 30,000 hogsheads, and, in spite of the efforts of the home government to prevent it, there were eight furnaces and nine forges for smelting copper in operation in the province. CHAPTER X The Pilgrim Fathers tise ■>{ the Puritans — Their Increase in England — ^They Are Persecuted by the English Church and Government-^ Conduct of James I. — His Hatred of Puritanism — Puritans Take Refuge in Holland — The Congregation of Job* Robinson — They Escape to Holland — The Pilgrims — Their Sojourn at Leyden — They Wish to Emigrate to Virginia — Failure of Their Negotiations with the London Company — They Form a Partnership in England — A Hard Bargain — Departure of the Pilgrims from Holland — Voyage of the "Mayflower" — Arrival in New England — The Agreement on Boavd the " Mayflower" — Carver Chosen Governor — Settlement of Plymouth — The First Winter in New England —Sufferings of the Pilgrims — Arrival of New Emigrants — Continued Suffering — Assignment of Lands — Friendly In- tercourse with Indians — Samoset and Squanto — Visit of Massasoit — A Threat of War — Bradford's Defiance — West- on's Men — A Narrow Escape — The Colonists Purchase the Interests of Their English Partners — Lands Assigned in Fee Simple — The Colony Benefited by the Change — Government of Plymouth — Steady Growth of the Colony. THE persecutions with which Queen Mary afflicted the reformers of England in her bloody effort to re- store the Roman Catholic faith in that country caused many of the most emi- nent men of the English church to seek safety on the continent of Europe. Upon the accession of Elizabeth the Church of England became once more the religion of the state, and the reformers were free to re- turn to their own country. They came back with broader and more liberal views than they had carried away with them, and there sprang up in the English church a party which demanded a purer and more spiritual form of worship than that of the church. These persons were called in derision Pun- fans. They adopted the name without hesi- tation, and soon made it an honorable dis- tinction. The queen, however, was determined to compel her subjects to conform to the estab- lished church, and was especially resolved to make them acknowledge her supremacy over the church. To the Puritan the worship of the Church of England was only less sinful than that of Rom.e, and to acknowledge the queen as the head of the church was to com- mit blasphemy. He claimed that the queen had no control over him in matters of relig- ion, and that it was his right to worship God in his own way, without interference. The Puritans gradually came to embrace in their number some of the best men in the Eng- lish church. These sincerely deprecated a separation from the church, and earnestly desired to carry the reformation to the extent of remedying the abuses of which they complained, and to remain in communioi with the church. One of the reforms which they wished to inaugurate was the abolition of Episcopacy. Failing in their efforts, they desired to be let alone to form their own or- ganizations and to worship God according to their own ideas, without the pale of the Church of England. The queen and the bishops were not con- tent to allow them this freedom. England had not yet learned the lesson of toleration, and severe measures were inaugurated to compel the dissenters to conform to the established church. All persons in the kingdom were required to conform to the ceremonies of the church. A refusal to do so was punished with banishment. Should any person so banished return to the king- dom without permission he was to be put to death. Accused persons were obliged to 131 122 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. mswer upon oath all questions concerning themselves and their acquaintance, respect- ing their attendance upon public worship. Ministers refusing to conform to the estab- lished usage were deprived of their parishes; and if they persisted in preaching to their t:ongregations, or if the congregations were detected in listening to their deposed pastors, the offenders were fined or subjected to some severe punishment. Absence from the ser- vices of ihe church for a certain length of lime wa5 also punished. The persecution thus ina'igurated drove many of the noncon- formists, as they were termed, into exile from Enjb^iu They fled to Holland and Swit- CHAINED BIBLE, TIME OF JAMES I. zerland, where alone they found "freedom to worship God." In spite of the severe meas- ures and determined efforts of Elizabeth, the Puritans increased steadily in numbers and importance in England. Persecution only served to multiply them. They were hopeful that James I. would prove a more lenient sovereign to them than Elizabeth had been, and they had good ground for this hope. The real character of James was unknown in England, and while King of Scotland he had shown great favor to the Presbyterians of that kingdom, whom it was his interest to conciliate. He had once publicly thanked God " that he was king of such a kirk — the purest kirk in all the world. As for the Kirk of England," he added, " its service is an evil-said mass." This most contemptible of monarchs had scarcely become King of England when he uttered the famous maxim, " No bishop, no king ! " Interest had made him the foe of Episcopacy in Scotland ; the same motive made him its champion in England. A Royai Demagogue, Upon his entrance into his new kingdom, the Puritans met him with an humble peti- tion for a redress of their grievances. James quickly saw that the majority of the E^nglish people favored a support of the church as it was, and had no sympathy with the Puri- tans, and he at once constituted himself the enemy of the petitioners. Still, in order to cover his desertion of the party to which he had belonged in Scotland, he appointed a conference at Hampton Court. The conference was held in January, 1604, and the king, silencing all real debate, made the meeting merely the occasion of display- ing what he regarded as his talents for theo- logical controversy, and for announcing the decision he had resolved upon from the first. He demanded entire obedience to the church in matters of faith and worship. "I will have none of that liberty as to ceremonies," he declared. " I will have one doctrine, one discipline, one religion in substance and in ceremony. Never speak more as to how far you are bound to obey." THE PILGRIM FATHERS. 125 The Puritans then demanded permission X) hold occasional ceremonies of their own, •vith the right of free discussions in them ; but James, who could never tolerate the ex- pression of any opinion adverse to his own, replied : " You are aiming at a Scot's presby- tery, which agrees with monarchy as well as God and the devil. Then Jack and Tom ?nd Will and Dick shall meet, and at their pleasure censure me and my council and all our proceedings. Then Will shall stand up and say, It must be thus. Then Dick shall reply and say, Nay, marry, but we will have it thus. And, therefore, here I must once more reiterate my former speech, and say, The king forbids." Then turning to the bishops, he added : " I will make them con- form, or I will harry them out of the land, or else worse ; only hang them ; that's all." Champions of Popular Liberty. The king kept his word. The severe laws against the nonconformists were enforced that year with such energy that three hun- dred Puritan ministers are said to have been silenced, imprisoned or exiled. The church party proceeded in the next few years to still more rigorous measures, and were willing even to place the liberties of the nation at the mercy of the crown in order to compel the submission of the Puritans. The intro- duction of foreign publications into the king- dom was greatly restricted, and the press was placed under a severe censorship. The Puritans were thus forced to become the champions of popular liberty against the tyranny of the crown and the ecclesiastical party. There was a congregation of Puritans in the north of England, composed of people of Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire, with some from Yorkshire. The pastor was John Robinson, " a man not easily to be parallel- ed," who possessed in an unusual degree the love and confidence of his people. They were greatly harassed by the agents of the king and the bishops, and were subjected to such serious annoyances that it was with dil ficulty that they could hold their meetings Finding it impossible to live in peace a', home without doing violence to their con* sciences, they determined to leave Englanc and seek refuge from persecution in Holland. That country was friendly to the English, and the Dutch had learned from their own sufferings to respect the rights of conscience in others. It was not an easy matter to leave Eng- land, however, for it was held by the govern- ment to be almost a crime to attempt to escape from persecution. A vessel was hired to convey the refugees to Holland ; but the royal officers were informed of the intended voyage, and seized the whole com- pany as they were about to embark. Their persons were searched, their small posses- sions seized, and the whole church — men, women, and children — thrown into prison. In a short while all but seven were released. These were brought to trial, but it was found impossible to prove any crime against them, and they also were discharged. A Boat Stranded. This action of the government, so far from intimidating the sufferers, but increased their resolve to leave England, and in the spring of 1608 the effort was renewed. A Dutch captain consented to convey them to Hol- land, and it was agreed that the refugees should assemble upon a lonely heath i". Lincolnshire, near the mouth of the Humbei and be taken on board by the Dutch skipper. The men of the party went to the rendezvous by land, and got safely on board the ship ; but the boat conveying the women and children was stranded and captured by i party of horsemen sent in pursuit. THE PURITANS JN CONFERENCE WITH TAMES I. THE PILGRIM FATHERS. 125 The Dutch skipper, fearful of becoming in- volved in trouble with the English author- ities, at once put to sea, and the exiles were separated from their families, who were left helpless in the hands of their oppressors. The women and children were treated with great harshness by their captors, and were taken before the magistrates, who found it impossible to punish them for an attempt to follow the fortunes of their husbands and fathers. They were at loss to know what to do with the prisoners, who no longer had homes in England, and at last released them unconditionally, and permitted them to rejoin their natural protectors in Holland. The Pilgrims Discontented. The exiles reached Amsterdam in the spring of 1 608. They were well pleased to be safe in this peaceful refuge, but they did not deceire themselves with the hope that it could ever be a home to them. " They knew they were Pilgrims, and looked not much on those things, but lifted up their eyes to Heaven, their dearest country, and quieted their spirits." They found it hard to earn a support in Amsterdam, and in 1 609 removed to Leyden, where, by their industry and frugality, they managed to live in com- parative comfort. Their piety and exemplary conduct won for them the respect of tlie Dutch, who would have openly shown them marked favor but for their fear of offending the king of England. The magistrates of Leyden bore ready witness to their purity of life. " Never," said they, " did we have any suit or accusation against any of them.'" In the course of time the Pilgrims were joined by a number of their brethren from England They were nearly all accustomed to agricultural pursuits, and in Holland they were obliged to earn their bread by mechan- ical labors. It was with difficulty that they could do this, and they never formed any attachment to the place of their exile. They preserved, through all their trials, their affec- tion for their native land, and cherished the hope that they might continue Englishmen to the close of their lives. They viewed with alarm the prospect of raising their children in Holland, where they would necessarily be thrown in constant contact with, and be in- fluenced by, the manners and customs of the country. Above all they dreaded the effect upon their children of the dissolute example of the disbanded soldiers and sailors whr filled the country. These and other th .igs made them unwilling to look upon Holland as their permanent home. But whither should they go in case of their departure from Hol- land? Their own country was closed against them, and the nations of continental Europe could offer them no asylum. As their conviction, that it was their duty to seek some other home, deepened, their thoughts became more irresistibly directed towards the new world. In the vast soli- tudes of the American continent, and there alone, they could establish a home in which they could worship God without fear or molestation, and rear their children in the ways that seemed to them good. Thither would they go. Seeking a New Home. They were anxious to make their venture under the protection of England, and de- clined the offers made them by the Dutch, who wished them to establish their colony as a dependency of Holland. They had heard of the excellent climate and fertile soil of Virginia, and it seemed best to them to choose that promising region as the scene of their experiment. It was necessary to obtain the consent of the London Company to their settlement, as Virginia had been granted to that body by the king of England ; and in TliK PILGRIMS AT PLYMOUTH I THE PILGRIM FATHERS. 12; '617 two of the leading members of the longregation — John Carver and Robert Cushman — went to England to lay their ap- plication before the company. They were kindly received by Sir Edwin Sandys, the secretary of the company. They aid before the directors the request for per- mission to form a settlement in Virginia, with ".vhich they had been charged by their breth- ren. The application was signed by the greater part of the congregation, and con- tained a statement of their principles, and their reasons for desiring to emigrate to America. " We verily believe that God is with us," said the petitioners, " and will pros- per us in our endeavors; we are weaned from our mother country, and have learned patience in a hard and strange land. We are industrious and frugal ; we are bound together by a sacred bond of the Lord, whereof we make great conscience, holding ourselves to each other's good. We do not wish ourselves home again ; we have nothing to hope from England or Holland ; we are men who will not be easily discouraged." Efforts to Reach America. The appeal of the Pilgrims was received with such favor by the London Company that Carver and Cushman ventured to peti- tion the king to grar.t them liberty to exer- si'se their rel'ijion uniJiclesled in the wilds of America. The most that James would con- r,ent to grant them, however, was a half promise to pay no attention to them in their new home. The London Company agreed to grant them permission to settle in Vir- ginia, but the dissensions of that body pre- vented anything from being done in f-h^-- behalf. The Pilgrims v/ere too poor to defray the ,cost of their emigration, and they set to work to find persons of means willing to assist Khem. At length they were successful, and \ a company was formed consisting of them selves and several merchants of London The latter were to advance the funds ncces* sary for the enterprise, while the former were to contribute their entire services for a period of seven years as their share of the stock o( the company. At the end of seven years the profits of the enterprise were to be divided according to the amount of each one's investment ; and it was agreed that a contribution of ten pounds in money by a merchant should be entitled to as great a share of the profits as seven years of labor on the part of the emigrant. Departure for the New World, These were hard terms for the Pilgrims, but they were the best they could obtain, and they were accepted, as the exiles were will- ing to suffer any sacrifice in order to be able to found a community of their own in which they could bring up their children in the fear of God. The main thing with them was to reach the shores of America. Once there these men who had learned the lessons ol self-denial and endurance did not doubt their ability to succeed even in the face of the heavy disadvantages they were obliged to assume. With the funds thus obtained the Pilgrims began to prepare for their departure. A ship of sixty tons, called the " Speedwell," was purchased, and another, of one hundred and eighty tons, called the " Mayflower," was chartered. These, however, could trans- port but a part of the congregation, and it was resolved to send out at first only " such of the youngest and strongest as freely offered themselves." The pastor, Robinson, and the aged and infirm were to remain at Leyden until their brethren could send for them, and the colony was placed under ttei guidance of William Brewster, the governiIT^ '^Ider. who v^as an able teacher and muc t2§ SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. respected and beloved for his noble char- acter. When all was in readiness, a day of fasting and prayer was held, in order that at the very beginning of their enterprise the Pilgrims might invoke the guidance and protection of God, " Let us seek of God," they said, " a THE "MAYFLOWER IN PLYMOUTH HARBOR. right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all of our substance." The venerable pastor made this solemn season the occasion of delivering a tender farewell to the mem- bers of his charge who were about to depart, and of appealing to them to be true to the principles of their religion in their new home. '* I charge you before God and his blessed angels," he said, in tones of deep emotion, " that you follow me no further than you have seen me follow the Lord Jesus Christ, If God reveal anything to you, be ready to re- ceive it ; for I am verily persuaded that the Lord has more truth yet to break out of his- holy word. I beseech you, remember that it is an article of your church covenant, that you be ready to re- ceive whatever truth shall be made known to you from the writ- ten word of God. Take heed what ye receive as truth ; examine it, consider it, and com- pare it wich other scriptures of truth be- fore you receive it; the Christian world has not yet come to the perfection, of knowledge." From Ley den i number of the breth- ren accompanied the emigrants to Delft Haven, from which port they were to sail. The night before their departure, they all as- sembled in prayer and religious exercises, which were continued when they prepared to ship. Arrived at the until the dawn, go on board the shore, they knelt again, and the pastor, Robinson, led them in prayer — the emigrants listening to his voice for the last time on earth. "And so," says Edward Winslow, " lifting up our hands to each other, and THE PILGRIM FATHERS. our liearts to the Lord our God, we de- parted." Southampton was soon reached, and the voyagers were transferred to the *' May- flower "and the " Speedwell." On the fifth of August, 1620, those vessels sailed from Southampton for America. Soon after get- ting to sea, it was discovered that the " Speedwell " was in need of repairs, and that they must return to England. They put about and reached the port of Dartmouth, where the smaller vessel was repaired. Eight days were consumed in this undertak- ing, and the voyage was resumed. One Ship Abandoned. They were scarcely out of sight of land when the commander of the " Speedwell/'* alarmed by the dangers of the voyage, de- clared that his ship was not strong enough to cross the ocean. The vessels at once put back to Plymouth, where the smaller ship was discharged. At the same time those who had grown faint-hearted were permitted to withdraw from the expedition. The re- mainder of the company, to the number of one hundred and one, sailed from Plymouth in the " Mayflower," on the sixth of Septem- ber, 1620. Some of these were women well advanced in pregnancy, and some were children. Their little vessel was but a frail barque compared with the ships that now navigate the sea ; but a band of braver and more resolute souls never trusted themselves to the mercies of the stormy Atlantic. The leading man in the little band of Pilgrims was the ruling elder, William Brew- ster, who was to be their preacher until the arrival of a regularly chosen pastor. He was a man of fine education, refined and scholarly tastes, and of pure and lofty Chris- tian character. " He laid his hand," says Elliott, "to the daily tasks of life, as well as spent his soul in trying to benefit his fel'-'ws — so bringing himself as near as possible . the early Christian practices ; he was worthy of being the first minister of New England." He was well advanced in life, and was looked up to with affectionate regard by hisi associates. I Another was John Carver, also a man of years and ripe experience, who had sacrificed his fortune to the cause, and whose dignified and benevolent character won him the honor of being chosen the first chief magistrate erf the colony. GOVERNOR BREWSTER S CHAIR. Prominent among the leaders was William Bradford, He was only thirty-two, but was a man of earnest and resolute character, firm and true, "a man of nerve and public spirit." He had begun life as a farmer's boy in Eng- land, and in Holland had supported himself by practising the art of dyeing; but, in spite of his constant labors, he had educated him- self and had managed to accumulate books of his own. He systematically devoted a large SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. jf his time to study, and thus carefully iined his great natural abilities. Edward Winslow, a man of sweet and amiable disposition, was twenty-six years old. He was a gentleman by birth, and had been well educated, and had acquired consider- able information and experience by travel. Miles Standish had attained the manly age of thirty-six, and was a veteran soldier. He had seen service in the wars of the con- tinent of Europe, and had gained an honor- able distinction in them. He was not a member of the church, but was strongly at- tached to its institutions. % " With the people of God he had chosen to suffer affliction ; In return for his zeal, they made him Captain of Plymouth ; He was a man of honor, of noble and generous na- ture ; Though he was rough, he was kindly .... Somewhat hasty and hot .... and headstrong, Stern as a soldier might be, but hearty and placable always, Not to be laughed at and scorned, because he was Jitlle of stature ; F*or he was great of heart, magnanimous, courtly, courageous." Tempestuous Voyage. The voyage of the " Mayflower " was long and stormy. The Pilgrims had selected the country near the mouth of the Hudson as the best region for their settlement, but a severe storm drove them northward to the coast of New England. Sixty-three days were con- sumed in the passage, during which, one of their number had died, and at length land was made, and two days later, the " May- flower " cast anchor in the harbor of Cape Cod. The Pilgrims had come to America at tlAeir own risk and without the sanction of, oi' a charter from, the king or any lawful organization in England. They were thrown upon their own resources, and could look to no quarter for protection or support. Appre- ciating the necessity of an organized govern- ment, their first acts after anchoring in Cape Cod bay were to organize themselves into a body politic and to form a government. The First Compact. The following compact was drawn up m the cabin of the " Mayflower," and was signed by all the men of the colony, to the number of forty-one : " In the name of God, amen ; we whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread sovereign King James, having undertaken, for the glory of God and advancement of the Christian faith, and honor of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the north- ern parts of Virginia, do, by these presents, solemnly and mutually, in the presence oi God and of one another, covenant and com- bine ourselves together, in a civil body politic, for our better ordering and preserva- tion, and furtherance of the ends aforesaid j and by virtue hereof, to enact, constitute and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most convenient for the general good of the colony, unto which we promise all due submission and obedience." This was the first constitution of New England, democratic in form, and resting upon the consent of the governed. It at once established the new commonwealth upon the basis of constitutional liberty, and ■secured to the people "just and equal laws " for the " general good." In virtue of the compact, John Carver was chosen governor of the colony for the ensuing year. The prospect which presented itself to the Pilgrims upon their arrival at Cape Cod might well have daunted even their resolute souls. It was the opening of the winter, and they had come to a barren and rugged coast THE PILGRIM F/Yi'HERS. 131 The climate was severe, and the land was a wilderness. The English colony in Virginia >vas five hundred miles distant, and to the north of them the nearest white settlement was the French colony at Port Royal. The *' Mayflower" was only chartered to convey them to America, and must return to Eng- land as soon as they had chosen a site and established a settlement. Yet no one fal- tered. The new land was reached, the diffi- culties and dangers were such as could be overcome by patience and fortitude, and the Pilgrims without hesitation addressed them- selves to the task before them. Planting the Colony. The first thing to be done was to explore the coast and choose a site for the colony, for it was important to begin their settlement before the severity of the winter should ren- der such an effort impossible. The shallop was gotten out, but unfortunately it was found to need repairs. The ship's carpenter worked so slowly that nearly three weeks were spent in this task. This delay was p great misfortune at this advanced season of the year, and, some of the party becoming impatient, it was resolved to go ashore in the ship's boat and explore the country by land. A party of sixteen men was detailed for this purpose, and placed under the command of Captain Miles Standish. William Bradford, Stephen Hopkins and Edward Tilly were included in the party as a council of war. The explorers were given numerous instruc- tions, and were rather permitted than ordered to go upon their journey, which was regarded as perilous, and the time of their absence was limited to two days. Upon reaching the shore they followed it for about a mile, when they discovered sev- eral Indians watching them from a distance. The savages fled as soon as they saw they were observed, and the whites followed in pursuit. They struck the trail of the retreat- ing Indians, and followed it until nightfall, but being encumbered by the weight of their armor and impeded by the tangled thickets through which they had to pass, they were unable to overtake the Indians. Tho. explorers bivouacked that night by a deal LANDING OF THE PIL5RIMS. spring, whose waters refreshed them after their fatiguing march. They made few dis- coveries, but the expedition was not entirely unprofitable. An Indian Graveyard. In one place they found a deer-trap, made by bending a young tree to the earth, with a noose underground covered with acorns. Mr. Bradford was caught by the foot in this snare, whicl> occasioned m'"'h merriment. 132 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. An Indian graveyard was discovered in another place, and in one of the graves there was an earthen pot, a mortar, a bow and some arrows, and other rude implements. These were carefully replaced by the whites, who respected the resting-place of the dead. ■The most important discovery was the find- ing of a cellar or pit carefully lined with baric, and covered over with a heap of sand, and containing about four bushels of seed corn in ears. As much of this as the men could carry was secured, and it was deter- mined to pay the owners of the corn fo*''tas 60on as they could be found. Searching the Neighborhood. The shallop being finished at length, a party, consisting of Carver, Bradford, Wins- low, Standish and others, with eight or ten seamen, was .sent out on a second expedition on the sixth of December. The weather was very cold, and their clothing, drenched with spray, froze as stiff as iron armor. They reached the bottom of Cape Cod bay that day, and landed, instructing the people in the shallop to follow them along the shore. The next day they divided, and searched the neighborhood. They found a number of Indian graves, and some deserted wigwams, but saw no signs of the inhabitants of the country. That night they encamped near Namtasket, or Great Meadow Creek. On the morning of the eighth of December, just as they had finished their prayers, the explorers were startled by a wair-whoop and a flight of Hrrows. The Indians, who were of the tribe of the Nausites, were put to flight by the dis- charge of a few guns. Some of their people had been kidnapped by the English a few years before, and hence they regarded the new-comers as bent on the same errand. The day was spent in searching for a safe harbor for the ship, and at nightfall a violent storm of rain and snow drove them through the breakers into a small cove sheltert from the gale by a hill. They were so wet and chilled that they landed at once, and. regardless of the danger of drawing the sav- ages upon them, built a fire with great diffi- culty, in order to keep from perishing Avith ' the cold. When the morning dawned they found that they were on an island at the entrance to a harbor. The day was spent in rest and preparations. The next day, December loth, was the Sabbath, and, notwithstanding the need of prompt action, they spent it in rest and religious exercises. The next day, Decem- ber II, 1620, old style, or December 22d, according to our present system, the explor- ing party of the Pilgrims landed at the head of the harbor they had discovered. The rock upon which their footsteps were first planted is still preserved by their descendants. The place was explored and chosen as the site of the settlement, and was named Plymouth, m memory of the last English town from which the Pilgrims had sailed. \ Anchored at Plymouth. The adventurers hastened back to the ship, which stood across the bay, and four days later cast anchor in Plymouth harbor. No time was to be lost ; the " Mayflower " must soon return to England, and the emigrants must have some shelter over their heads be- fore her departure. To save time each man was allowed to build his own house. This was a most arduous task. Many of the men were almost broken down by their ex- posure to the cold, and some had already contracted the fatal diseases which were to carry them to the grave before the close of the winter. Still they persevered, working bravely when the absence of rain and snow would permit them to do so. As the winter deepened, th«f sickness and mortality of the colony increased. At one THE PILGRIM FATHERS. 133 time there Wv-/e but seven well men in the company. More than forty of the settlers died during the winter. John Carver, the good governor of the colony, buried his son, and himself soon succumbed to the hardships from which he had never shrunk, though never able to endure them. He was followed ijy his heart-broken widow. The wives of Bradford and Winslow, and Rose Standish, the sweet young bride of "the Captain of Plymouth" were also among the victims. They were all buried on the shore near the rock on which they God from the lips of their pastor, the good Elder Brewster. In the spring the ground was prepared for cultivation, but until the harvest was grown the colonists lived by fishing and hunting. No Wish to Leave the Wilderness. In March, 1621, the " Mayflower " sailed for England. Not one of the Pilgrims wished to return in her. They had their trials, and these were sore and heavy, but they had also made a home and a govern- and lost graves should on had landed their tell the Indians of the sufferings and weak- ness of the settlement, their resting-place was levelled and sown with grass. William Brad- ford was chosen gov- ernor in the place of Carver, and the work went on with firm- ness and without re- pining. At last the long win- ter drew to a close, and the balmy spring came to cheer the settlers with its bright skies and warm breezes. The sick began to recover, and the building ofthesettlement was completed. In course of time a large shed was erected for the public stores, and a small hospital for the sick. A church was also built. It was made stronger than the other buildings, as it was to serve as a fortress as well as a place of worship, and four cannon were mounted on top of it for defence against the savages. Here they assembled on the Sabbath for religious worship, and to hear the word of THE FIRST CHURCH NEW ENGLAND. ment for themselves, where they could enjoy the benefits and protection of their own laws, and worship God in safety and in peace. They did not doubt that they would some day triumph over their difficulties, and that God would in His own good time crown their labors and their patience with success. In the autumn of 162 1, a reinforcement of new emigrants arrived. They brought no provisions, and were dependent upon the scanty stock of the colony, and the increased 134 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. demand upon this soon brought the settlers face to face with the danger of famine. For six months no one received more than half allowance, and this was frequently reduced. **I have seen men," says Winslow, " stagger by reason of faintness for want of food." On one occasion the whole company would have perished but for the kindness of some fishermen, who relieved their wants. Every Man for Himself. This scarcity of provisions continued for several years, and it was not until the end of the fourth year of the settlement that the colonists had anything like a proper supply of food. In that year neat cattle were intro- duced into Plymouth. None of the colonies were called upon to endure such privations as were suffered by the Pilgrims. Yet they bore them with unshaken fortitude, still trusting that God would give them a pleas- anter lot in the end. The conditions of the contract with the English merchants had required the labor of the colonists to be thrown into the common stock. This was found to be an unprofitable arrangement, and in 1623 it was agreed that each settler should plant for himself, and each family was assigned a parcel of land in pro- portion to its numbers, to cultivate, but " not for an inheritance." This arrangement gave great satisfaction and the colonists went to work with such a will that after this season there was no scarcity of food. In the spring of 1 624 each colonist was given a little land in fee. The very existence of the colony de- manded this departure from the hard bargain with the English merchants, and the result justified the measure. Abundant harvests rewarded the labors of the settlers, and corn soon became so plentiful that the colonists were able to supply the savages with it. These, preferring the chase to the labor of the field, brought in game and skins to Plymouth and received corn in return. In the meantime a friendly intercourse had sprung up between the settlers and the Indians. In the first year of the settlement the red men were seen holering upon the outskirts of the village, but tney fled upon the approach of the whites. Distant columns of smoke, rising beyond the woods, told that the savages were close at hand, and it was deemed best to organize the settlers into a military company, the command of which was given to Miles Standish. One day, in March, 162 1, the whole village was startled by the appearance of an Indian, who boldly entered the settlement, and greeted the whites with the friendly words, " Welcome, English- men ! Welcome, Englishmen ! " A Romantic History. He was kindly received, and it was found that he was Samoset, and had learned a little English of the fishermen at Penobscot. He belonged to the Wampanoags, a tribe oc- cupying the country north of Narragansett Bay and between the rivers of Providence and Taunton. He told them that they might possess the latids they had taken in peace, as the tribe to which they had belonged had been swept away by a pestilence the year be- fore the arrival of the Pilgrims. He re- mained one night with the settlers, who gave him a knife, a ring, and a bracelet, and then went back to his people, promising to return soon and bring other Indians to trade with them, in a few days he came back, bring- ing with him Squanto, the Indian who had been kidnapped by Hunt and sold in Spain. From that country Squanto had escaped to England, where he had learned the lan- euaee. He had manaq-ed to return to his own country, and now appeared to act ?- interpreter to the English in their inter course with his people. They announced THE PILGRIM FATHERS. 135 that Massasoit, the sachem of the Wampa- noags, desired to visit the colony, The chieftain was received with all the ceremony the little settlement could afford. Squanto acted as interpreter, and a treaty of friendship was arranged between Massasoit on behalf of his people and the English. Friendly Agreement. The parties to the agreement promised to treat each other with kindness and justice, to deliver up offenders, and to assist each other when attacked by their enemies. This treaty was faithfully observ- ed by both parties for fifty years. The Pil- grims expressed their willingness to pay for the baskets of corn that had been taken by their first explor- ing party, and this they did six months later, when the right- ful owners presented themselves. A trade with the Indians was established and furs were brought into Plymouth by them and sold for articles of European manu- facture. Squanto was the faithful friend of the col- ony to the end of his life, and was regarded by the Pilgrims as " a special instrument sent of God for their good beyond their expecta- tion." He taught them the Indian method of planting corn and putting fish with it to fer- tilize the ground, and where to find and how to catch fish and game. He showed them his friendship in many ways, and was during his lifetime the interpreter of the colony. The Pilgrims on their part were not ungrate- ful to him. On one occasion it was rumored in Ply- mouth that Squanto had been seized by the Narragansetts, and had been put to death. A party of ten men at once marched into the forest, and surprised the hut where the chie^ of the Narragansetts was. Although the tribe could bring five thousand vvar- riors into the field, the chief was overawed by the determined action of the English, whose firearms gave them a great superi- ority, and Squanto was released unharmed. On his death-bed Squanto, who had been THE TREATY BETWEEN PLYMOUTH COLONY AND MASSASOIT. carefully nursed by his white friends, asked the governor to pray that he might go to "the Englishman's God in Heaven." His death was regarded as a serious misfortune to the colony. The Great Chief Massasoit. Massasoit, whose tribe had been greatly reduced by pestilence, desired the alliance 0/ the English as a protection against the Nar- ragansetts, who had escaped the scourge, and whose chiefj Canonicus, was hostile to him. ^6^ SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. The Narragansetts lived upon the shores of the beautiful bay to which they have given their name, and were a powerful and warlike race. Canonicus regarded the English with hostility, and in 1622 sent them as a defiance a bundle of arrows wrapped in the skin of a rattlesnake. Governor Bradford received the challenge from the hands of the chieftain's messenger, and stuffing the skin with powder and ball re- turned it to him, and sternly bade him bear it back to his master. The Indians regarded the mysterious contents of the skin with ter- ror and dread, and passed it from tribe to tribe. None dared either keep or destroy it, as it was regarded as possessed of some mys- terious but powerful influence for harm. It was finally returned to the colony, and in a short while Canonicus, who had been cowed by the spirited answerof Bradford, offered to make a treaty of peace and alliance with the colony. The Pilgrims endeavored to treat the Indians with justice. Severe penalties were denounced against those who should deprive the savages of their property without paying for it, or should treat them with violence. Yet the colonists were to have trouble with the red men, and that through no fault of their own. It happened on this wise. A Timely W^arning. Among the merchants of London who had invested money in the planting of the Ply- mouth colony was Thomas Weston. Envi- ous of the advance made by the colony in the fur trade, he desired to secure all the profits of that traffic by establishing a trading- post of his own. He obtained a patent for a small tract on Boston harbor, near Wey- mouth, and settled there a colony of sixty men, the greater number of whom were in- ientured servants. These men, disregarding Jic warnings of the people of Plymouth, gave themselves up to a dissolute life, and drew upon themselves the wrath of the Indians by maltreating them, and stealing their corn. The Indians, unable to distinguish between the guilty and the innocent, resolved to avenge the misconduct of Weston's men by a massacre of every white settler in the coun-. try. Before the plot could be put in execution Massasoit fell sick. Winslow visited him, and found his lodge full of medicine-men and jugglers, who were killing him with the noise they made to drive away the disease. The kind-hearted Englishman turned the Indian doctors out of the lodge, and by giv- ing Massasoit rest, and administering such remedies as his case required, restored him to health. The grateful chief revealed the plot of his people for the extermination of the English. The Plymouth settlers were greatly alarmed, and measures were promptly taken to avert the danger. Nine ^Vhite Braves, Standish, with eight armed men, was sent to the assistance of the settlement at Wey- mouth. They arrived in time to prevent the attack. The Indians, who had begun to collect for the massacre, were surprised and defeated in a brief engagement, and the chief, who was the leader of the conspiracy, was slain, with a number of his men. This gallant exploit established the supremacy of the English in New England, and many of the native tribes sought their friendship and alliance. The Weymouth men were unwill- ing to continue their colony after their nar- row escape. Some went to Plymouth where they became a source of trouble, and others returned to England. The spring of 1623 saw the last of this settlement. In the autumn of 1623 the best harvest was gathered in that had yet blessed the labors of the Pilgrims. It was an abundant THE PILGRIM FATHERS. 137 yield, and put an end to all fears of a re- newal of the danger of famine. When the labors of the harvest were over Governor Bradford sent out men to collect game, in order that the people might enjoy a thanks- giving feast. On the appointed day the people " met together and thanked God with aii their hearts for the good world and the good things in it." Thus was established the custom of an annual thanksgiving to God for the blessings of the year, which though at first a celebration peculiar to New England has at length become a national festival. Each Settler a Land Owner. The colonists themselves were satisfied with the progress they had made, but their merchant partners in England were greatly displeased with the smallness of the profits they had received from their investments, and in many ways made the colony feel their dissatisfaction. Robinson and his congrega- tion at Leyden were anxious to join their friends in America, but the merchant partners refused to send them across the Atlantic, and not content with this endeavored to force upon the Plymouth people a pastor friendly to the Church of England. They soon got rid of this individual, however, whose con- duct quickly enabled them to expel him from Plymouth as an evil liver. The merchants also sent a vessel to New England to oppose the colonists in the fur trade ; and demanded ■exorbitant prices for the goods they sold the settlers, charging them the enormous profit of seventy per cent. It was not possible, however, to destroy the results of the industry and self-denial of the Pilgrims. Seeing that their association with their English partners would continue to operate merely as a drag upon the advance of the colony, they managed in 1627, at con- siderable sacrifice, to purchase the entire interest of their partners. The stock and the land of the colony were then divided equitably among the settlers, and the share of each man became his own private prop- erty. Each settler was thus made the owner of a piece of land which it was to his in- terest to improve to the highest degree pos- sible. Freed from the burdens under which it had labored for so long, the colony began to increase in prosperity and in population. The government of the Pilgrims was sim- ple, but effective. They had no charter, and were from the first driven upon their own resources. They had a governor who was chosen by the votes of all the settlers. In 1624 a council of five was given him, and in 1633 this number was increased to seven. The council assisted the governor in the ex- ercise of his duties, and imposed a check upon his authority, as in its meetings he had merely a double vote. The whole number of male settlers for eighteen years constituted the legislative body. They met at stated times, and enacted such laws as were neces- sary for the welfare of the colony. The people were frequently convened by the gov- ernor, in the earlier years of the settlement, to aid him with their advice upon difficult questions brought before them. When the colony increased in population, and a number of towns were included within its limits, each town sent representatives to a general court at Plymouth. If the colony grew slowly, it grew steadily, and at length the Pilgrims had their reward in seeing their little settlement expand into a flourishing province, in which the principles of civil freedom were cherished, religion honored, and industry' and economy made the basis of the wealth oi the little state CHAPTER XI Settlement of Massachusetts and Rhode Island ^ttlement of Nevr Hampshire— The English Puritans Determine to Form a New Colony in America — ^The PlymouA Council — A Colony Sent Out to Salem under Endicott — Colonization of Massachusetts Bay Begun — A Charter Obtained — Concessions of the King — Progress of the Salem Colony — The Charter and Government of the Colony Removed to New England — Arrival of Governor Winthrop — Settlement of Boston— Sufferings of the Colonists — Roger "Williams — His Opinions Give Offence to the Authorities — ^The Success of the Bay Colony Established — Growth of Popular Liberty — The Ballot Box — Banishment of Roger Williams — He Goes into the Wilderness — Founds Providence- Growth of Williams' Colony — Continued Growth of Massachusetts — Arrival of Sir Henry Vane — Is Elected Governor Mrs. Anne Hutchinson — The Antinomian Controversy — Mrs. Hutchinson Banished — Settlement of Rhode Island- Murder of Mrs. Hutchinson. THE success of the Pilgrims in es- tablishing the Plymouth colony aroused a feeling of deep interest in England, and some of those who had watched the* effort were encouraged to attempt ventures of their own. Sir Ferdi- nand Gorges, who had taken a deep interest in the schemes to settle the new world, and John Mason, the secretary of the council of Plymouth, obtained a patent for the region called Laconia, which comprised the whole country between the sea, the St. Lawrence, the Merrimar and the Kennebec, and now embraced partly in Maine and partly in New Hampshire. A company of English mer- chants was formed, and in 1623 permanent colonies were established at Portsmouth, Dover and one or two other places near the mouth of the Piscataqua. These were small, feeble settlements, and were more trading- posts than towns. For many years their growth was slow, and it was not until other parts of New England were well peopled and advanced far beyond their early trials that they began to show signs of prosperity. In 1653, thirty years after its settlement, Portsmouth con- tained only *' between fifty and sixty families." The settlers of these towns were not all 1J8 Puritans, and their colonies had not the re- ligious character of those of the rest of New England. In 1641, they were annexed at their own request to the province of Massa- chusetts, the general court having agreed not to require the freemen and deputies to be church members. In the meantime the news of the successful planting of Plymouth was producing other and more important results in England. The persecutions of the Non-conformists, which marked the entire reign of James I., were continued through that of his son and successor, Charles I. The Puritans, sorely distressed by the tyranny to which they were subjected, listened with eagerness to the ac- counts of America which were sent over by the members of the Plymouth colony, and published from time to time in England. The descriptions of the Pilgrims were not exaggerated. They did not promise either fame or sudden wealth to settlers in their province, but clearly set forth the cares and labors which were to be the price of success in America. They dwelt with especial emphasis, how- ever, upon that which was in their eyes the chief reward of all their toil and suffering — the ability to exercise their religion without SETTLEMENT OF MASSACHUSETTS AND RHODE ISLAND. 13c, restraint. Their brethren in England heard their accounts with a longing to be with them to enjoy the freedom with which they were blessed, and it was not long before a number of English Non-conformists began to concert measures for making New Eng- land a place of refuge for the persecuted members of their faith. The leading spirit in these enterprises was the Rev. Mr. White, a minister of Dorsetshire, a Puritan, but not a Separatist. Re- garding the vicinity of the present town of Salem as the most suitable place for colonization, he exerted himself with energy to se- cure it for his brethren. In the meantime the Plymouth Company had ceased to exist, and its place had been taken by the council of Plymouth. That body cared for New England only as a source of profit, and sold the ter- ritory of that region to a number of purchasers, assigning the same district to different people, and thus paving the way for vexa- tious litigation. In 1628, it sold to a company of gentlemen of Dorchester, which White's energy had succeeded in bringing into existence, a district extending from three miles south of Massachusetts Bay to three miles north of the Merrimac River. As was usual in all grants of the day, the Pacific was made the western boundary of this region. This company was at once prepared to sei^d out a colony, and in the early summer of that year one hundred persons under John Endicott,as governor, were despatched to New England. Endicott took his family with him, and in September, 1628, reached New England, and established the settlement of Salem, the site of which was already occ ■ pied by a few men whom White had placec there to hold it. Endicott, who was a mar JOHN ENDICOTT, of undaunted courage and acknowledged in- tegrity of character, soon established his authority over the few settlements that had sprung up along the shores of the bay. At this time the site of Charlestown was occupied by an Englishman named Thomas Walford, a blacksmith, who had fortified his cabin with a palisade. The only dweller on the 140 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. tri-mountain peninsula of Shawmut was the Rev. William Blackstone, a clergyman of the Church of England; the island now known as East Boston was occupied by Samuel Maverick. At Nantasket and a few places farther south some Englishmen had located themselves, and lived by fishing and trading ,in skins : and on the site of Quincy was the wreck of a colony which had nearly perished in consequence of its evils ways. These, with the settlement at Salem, constituted the colony of Massachusetts Bay. Arrivals at Salem. Soon after the departure of Endicott's colony from England, the company, acting upon the advice of their counsel, obtained from the king a confimation of their grant. In March, 1629, the king granted to the colony of Massachusetts Bay a charter under which it conducted its affairs for more than fifty years. By the terms of this charter the governor was to be elected by the free- men for the term of one year, provision was made for the assembling at stated times of a general court, which was to have the power to make all the needed laws for the colony, and it was not necessary that these laws should receive the royal signature in order to be valid. This was conceding practical inde- pendence to the colony. In the spring of 1629, a second company of emigrants sailed from England for Massa- chusetts. They were, like the first, all Puri- tans, and took with them, as their minister, the Rev, Francis Higginson, formerly of Jesus College, Cambridge, a man of learn- ing and deep piety. The colonists were instructed to do no violence to the Indians. " If any of the salvages," so read the com- pany's orders, " pretend right of inheritance to all or any part of the lands granted in our patent, endeavor to purchase their tytle, that we may avoid the least scruple of intrusion." Six shipwrights were sent over for the use of the colony, an experienced engineer to lay out a fortified town, and a master gun- ner, who was to teach the men of the colony the use of arms and military exercises. Cattle and horses and goats were sent out also. The voyage was prosperous, and the new settlers reached Salem about the last of June. They found the settlement in a feeble con- dition, and greatly in need of their assistance. The old and the new colonists numbered about three hundred. The majority of these remained at Salem, and the rest were sent by Endicott to establish a colony at Charles- town, in order to secure that place from occupation by the partisans of Sir Ferdi- nand Gorges, who claimed the region. The emigrants were scrupulous to acquire from the Indians the right to the lands they occu- pied. The twelfth of July was observed as a day of fasting and prayer '' for the choice of a pastor and teacher at Salem." No one advanced any claim founded on his ordination in England ; personal fitness was the only qualification recognized by the Puritans. Samuel Skelton was chosen pastor, and Francis Higginson teacher. The Brownes Cast Out. Three or four of the gravest members of the church laid their hands upon the heads of these men, with prayer, and solemn- ly appointed them to their respective offices. " Thus the church, like that of Plymouth, was self-constituted, on the principle of the independence of each religious community. It did not ask the assent of the king, or recognize him as its head ; its officers were set apart and ordained among themselves; it used no liturgy ; it rejected unnecessary ceremonies, and reduced the simplicity of Calvin to a still plainer standard. The motives which controlled its decisions were SETTLEMENT OF MASSACHUSETTS AND RHODE ISLAND. 141 so deeply seated that its practices were repeated spontaneously by Puritan New England." An opposition to the organiza- tion of the church was attempted by a party led by John and Samuel Browne, men of ability; but this was treated as a mutiny and put down, and the Brownes were sent back to England. The charter of Massachusetts, though it made liberal concessions to the colony, contained no provision for the rights of the people, who were left at the mercy of the company. For the proper government of the colony, it was necessary to re- move the charter to Massachusetts, and such a removal was advisable on another ground. The charter contained no guar- antee for the reglious freedom of the co lony, and the king might at any moment seek to interfere with this, the most pre- cious right of the Puritans. The only way to escape the evils which the com- pany had reason to dread was for the governing council to change its place of meeting from England to Massachu- setts, which the provisions of the charter gave it authority to do. An Independent Colony. On the twenty -sixth of August, 1629, John Winthrop, Isaac Johnson, Thomas Dudley, Richard Saltonstall and eight others, men of fortune and education, met at Cambridge and bound them- selves by a solemn agreement to settle in New England if the whole government of the colony, together with the patent, should be legally transferred to that region before the end of September. On the twenty- ninth of the month, the court took the de- cisive step and ordered that " the govern- ment and patent should be settled in New England." This was a bold step, but its legality was not contested by any one, and it made the government of the colony independ- ent of control by any power in England. The ofificers of the colony were to be a governor and eighteen assistants. On the twentieth of October, a meeting of the court was held to choose them, and John Winthrop was elected governor for one year. It was a. fortunate selection, for Winthrop proved himself for many years the very mainstay of the colony, sustaining his companions by his calm courage, and setting them a noble ex- JOHN WINTHROP. ample in his patience, his quiet heroism and^ his devotion to the welfare of others. He seemed to find his greatest pleasure in doing good, and his liberality acted as a check upon the bigotry of his associates and kept w them in paths of greater moderation. ^ Efforts were made to send over new settlers to Massachusetts, and about a thousand emigrants, with cattle, horses and goats, were transD<-»»ted thither in the season of 1630. 142 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. Early in Apri/, Governor Winthrop and about seven hundred emigrants sailed from England in a fleet of eleven ships. Many of them were " men of high endowments and large fortune; scholars, well versed in the learning of the times ; clergymen who ranked among the best educated and most pious in ihe realm." Death Among the Settlers. They reached Salem on the twelfth of June, after a voyage of sixty-one days, and were gladly welcomed by the settlers, whom they found in great distress from sickness and a scarcity of provisions. About eighty had died during the winter, and many were sick. There was scarcely a fortnight's sup- ply of food in the settlement, and it was nec- essary to send one of the ships back to Eng- land at once for a supply of provisions. Salem did not please the new-comers, and settlements were made at Lynn, Charles- town, Newtown, Dorchester, Roxbury, Mai- den and Watertown. The governor and a large part of the emigrants settled first at Charlestown,but at length, in order to obtain better water, crossed over and occupied the little tri-mountain peninsula of Shawmut. To this settlement was given the name of Boston, in honor of the town in Lincolnshire in England, which had been the home of the Rev. John Wilson, who became the pastor of the first church of Boston. The location was central to the whole province, and Bos- ton became the seat of government. When the year for which the first colonial officers had been chosen expired a new election was held, and Governor Winthrop and all the old officials were re-elected. Terrible Sufferings. The colonists now began to feel the effects of their new life. The change of climate was very trying to them, and many of them fell victims to its rigors, and to the hardships of their position. A large number of them had been brought up in ease and refinement, and were unaccustomed to privation or exposure. They sank beneath the severe trials to which they were subjected. By December, 1630, at least two hundred had died. Among these were the Lady Arbella Johnson and her husband, among the most liberal and de- voted supporters of the colony, and a son ot Governor Winthrop, who left a widow and children in England, Others became dis- heartened, and more than a hundred returned to England, where they endeavored to ex- cuse their desertion of their companions by grossly exaggerated accounts of the hard- ships of the colony. Patient Endurance. Yet among the colonists themselves there was no repining. They exhibited in their deep distress a fortitude and heroism worthy of thefr lofty character. " Honor is due," says Bancroft, " not less to those who per- ished than to those who survived ; to the martyrs the hour of death was the hour ot triumph ; such as is never witnessed in more tranquil seasons. ***** Even children caught the spirit of the place ; awaited the impending change in the tranquil confidence of faith, and went to the grave full of immor- tality. The survivors bore all things meekly, ' remembering the end of their coming hither.'" Winthrop wrote to his wife, who had been detained in England by sickness: " We enjoy here God and Jesus Christ, and is not this enough ? I thank God I like so well to be here, as I do not repent my com- ing. I would not have altered my course though I had foreseen all these afflictions. I never had more content of mind." Another danger which threatened the colony arose from the scarcity of provisions, but this was removed on the fifth of February, 16^1, by the timely arrival of the "Lyon" from England, laden with provisions. This relief was greeted with public thanksgivings SETTLEMENT OF MASSACHUSETTS AND RHODE ISLAND. 143 in all the settlements. The " Lyon," how- ever, brought only twenty passengers, and in 1 63 1 only ninety persons came out from England. The number of arrivals in 1632 was only two hundred and fifty. Thus the colony grew very slowly. By the dose of .he latter year the total population of Massa- chusetts was only a little over one thousand souls. Sketch of Roger Williams. Among the passengers of the "Lyon" was a young minister, described in the old records as " lovely in his carriage, godly and zealous, having precious gifts," Roger Williams by name. He had been a favorite pupil of the great Sir Edward Coke, and had learned from him precious lessons of liberty and toleration. He had been carefully edu- cated at Pembroke College, in the University of Cambridge, and had entered the ministry. His opposition to the laws requiring con- formity to the established church had drawn upon him the wrath of Archbishop Laud, and he had been driven out of England. The great doctrine which he had em- braced as the result of his studies and ex- perience was the freedom of conscience from secular control. " The civil magistrate should restrain crime, but never control opinion; should punish guilt, but never violate inward freedom." He would place all forms of religion upon an equality, and would refuse to the government the power to com- pel conformity to, or attendance upon, any of them, leaving such matters to the con- science of the individual. He also favored the abolition of tithes, and the enforced con- tribution to the support of the church. Such views were far in advance of the age, and when Williams landed in Boston he found himself unable to join the church in that place, because of its adoption of prin- ciples the opposite of his own. Upon his arrival the church had intended engaging him to fill Mr. Wilson's place, while that minister returned to England to bring over his wife, but upon learning his views the idea was abandoned. A little later the church in Salem, which had been deprived of its teacher by the death of the Rev. Francis Higginson, called Williams to be his successor. Williams accepted the call ; but Governor Winthrop and the assistants warned the people of Salem to beware how they placed in so important a position a man already at such variance with the established order of things. The warning had the de- sired effect upon the people of Salem, who withdrew their invitation. Williams then went to Plymouth, where he lived for two years in peace. An Oath of Fidelity. But though unwilling to accord to Williams the liberty he desired, the colonial govern- ment was careful to take every precaution against the anticipated efforts of the Church of England to extend its authority over Massachusetts. A general court held in May, 163 1, ordered an oath of fidelity to be tendered to the freemen of the colony, which bound them " to be obedient and conform- able to the laws and constitutions of this commonwealth, to advance its peace, and not to suffer any attempt at making any change or alteration of the government con- trary to its laws." The same general court took a still more decided stand by the adoption of a law which limited the citizen- ship of the colony to " such as are members of some of the churches within the limits of the same." This was practically making the state a theocracy. Yet the people were not prepared to sur- render their political rights, even when alarmed by the danger which seeme-i to 144 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. threaten their religious establishment. Until now the assistants could hold office for life and they also possessed the power of elect- ing the governor. They were thus inde- pendent of* the people. The right of the freemen to choose their magistrates was now distinctly asserted, and in May, 1632, was conceded. The governor and assistants were to be elected annually, and by the votes of the freemen; none but church members being entitled to the privileges of freemen. Another important change was brought about at the same time by the hostility of the people to levying of taxes by the board of assistants. Each town was ordered to send two of its best men to represent it at a general court " to concert a plan for a public treasury." Friendly Mohegan Chief. The colonists had faithfully obeyed their instructions to treat the Indians with fair- ness, and to seek to cultivate their friend- ship. Many of the native tribes sought their alliance, and the sachem of the Mohegans came from the banks of the Connecticut to -make a treaty with the colony, and to urge the English to settle in his country, which he described as exceedingly fertile and inviting. In the autumn of 1632 a pleasant intercourse was opened with the Plymouth colony ; and in the same year a trade in corn was begun with Virginia, and commercial relations were established with the Dutch, who had settled along the Hudson River. The colony of Massachusetts Bay was slowly entering upon a more prosperous period. Emigrants now began to come over in greater numbers, and among them were John Haynes, " the acute and subtile Cotton," and Thomas Hooker, who have been called the "Light of the Western Churches." The freemen by the middle of the year 1634 numbered between three and four hundred, and these were bent upon establishing th«i political power in the state. Great advances were made in the direction of representative government, and the ballot-box was intro- duced in elections, which had been formerly conducted by an erection of hands. As a guard against arbitrary taxation by magi^ trates it was enacted that none but t e, properly chosen representatives ofthepeopi! might dispose of lands, or raise money. A Long Controversy. In the spring of 1635 the people went a step further, and demanded a written con- stitution for the purpose of still more per- fectly securing their liberties. This demand opened a controversy which continued for ten years. The general court was com- posed of assistants and deputies. The first were elected by the people of the whole colony ; the latter by the towns. The two bodies acted together in meetings of the assembly, but the assistants claimed th& exclusive privilege of meeting and exercising a separate negative upon the proceedings oi the court. This claim was energetically denied by the deputies, who were sustained by the body of the people; while the magistrates and the ministers upheld the pretensions of the assistants. In 1644 the matter was compromised by the division of the general court into two branches, each of which was given a negative upon the proceedings of the other. All parties were agreed, however, in the work of connecting the religion and the government of the colony so closely that they should mutually sustain each other against the attacks of the Church of England. While these measures were in course of adjustment other matters were engaging the attention of the colony. After Roger Will- iams had been a little more than two years in Plvmouth, he was called again to Salem, lO ROGER WILLIAMS SEEKING RKpuGE AMONG THE INDIANS. 145 14^ SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. and accepted the invitation. This gave offence to many persons, and in January, 1634, complaints were made against Williams because of a paper he had written while at Plymouth, denying that the king had any ))Owerto grant lands in America to his sub- jects, since the lands were the property of the Indians. In this Williams was wrong, as the settlers in New England had been care- ful to obtain the consent of the natives to their occupation of the lands they had pos- sessed. He made a proper explanation of his paper, when he understood the true state of the case, and consented that it should be burned. Williams will not Retract. Still the jealousy and dislike of the Puri- tans was aroused by the radical opposition of Williams to their system, although he conducted himself with a forbearance and amiableness that should have won him the love of those with whom he was thrown. Williams strongly con demned the law enforc- ing the attendance of the people upon reli- gious services, declaring that a man had a right to stay away if he wished to do so. He also censured the practice of selecting the colonial officials exclusively from the mem- bers of the church, and said that a physician or a pilot might with equal propriety be chosen because of his piety, his skill in theology, or his standing in the church. These and other similar views were drawn from him in a series of controversies, held with him by a committee of ministers, for the purpose of inducing him to retract hh iradifal sentiments. He remained firm in [them, however, and his opponents declared that his principles were calculated not only to destroy religion, but also to subvert all forms of civil government. It was resolved to banish him from the colony, and as the people of Salem warmly supported Williams, they were admonished by the court, and a tract of land, which was rightfully theirs, was withheld from them as a punishment. Williams and the church at Salem appealed to the people against the in- justice of the magistrates, and asked the other churches of the colony to " admonish the magistrates of their injustice." This was regarded as treason by the colonial govern- ment, and at the next general court Salem was disfranchised until the town should make ample apology for its offence. Will- iams was summoned before the general court in October, 1635, and maintained his opinions with firmness, though with mod- eration. He was sentenced to banishment from the colony, not, as it was declared, because of his religious views, but because the magistrates averred his principles, if carried out, would destroy all civil govern- ment. A Fugitive in the Wilderness. The season was so far advanced that it would have been barbarous to drive any one out of the colony at that time, and Williams obtained leave to remain in the province until the spring, when he intended forming a settlement on Narragansett Bay. The affection of his people at Salem, which had seemed to grow cold when the town began to feel the weight of the punishment inflicted by the general court, now revived, and they thronged to his house in great numbers to hear him, and his opinions spread rapidly. The magistrates were alarmed, and it was resolved to send him at once to England in a ship that was just about to sail from Boston. He was ordered to come to Boston and embark there, but refused to obey the summons. A boat's crew was then sent to arrest him and bring him to Boston by force; but when the officers reached Salem he had disappeared. SETTLEMENT OF MASSACHUSETTS AND RHODE ISLAND. 14; Three days before their arrival Roger WilHams had left Salem, a wanderer for con- science sake. It was the depth of winter, the snow lay thickly over the country, and the weather was cold and inclement. For fourteen weeks, he says, he " was sorely tost in a bitter season, not knowing what bread or bed did mean." Banished from the set- ^tlements of his own race the exile went out into the wilderness, and sought the country of the Indians, whose friendship he had won during his stay in the colony. He had ac- quired their language during his residence at Plymouth, and could speak it fluently. He went from lodge to lodge, kindly wel- comed by the sav- ages, and lodging sometimes in a hol- low tree, until he reached Mount Hope, the residence of Mas- sasoit, who was his friend. Canonicus, the great chieftain of the Narragansetts, loved him with a strong af- fection, which ceased only with his life; and in the country of these friendly chiefs Williams passed the winter in peace and safety. He never ceased to be grateful for their aid in his distress, and during his whole life he was the especial friend and champion of the Indians in New England, It was the intention of Williams to settle at Seekonk, on the Pawtucket River ; but that place was found to be within the limits of the Plymouth colony. Governor Winslow wrote to Williams advising him to remove to the region of Narragansett Bay, which was beyond the jurisdiction of the English, and would render any misunderstanding be* tween the Plymouth and Bay colonies on his account impossible " I took his prudent motion," says Williams, " as a voice from God." Providence Founded. Being joined by five companions, Williams embarked in a canoe in June, 1635, and pass- ing over to the west arm of Narragansett Bay, landed at an attractive spot, where he found a spring of pure water. He chose the place as the site of a new settlement, and in gratitude for his deliverance from the many LANDING OF ROGER WILLIAMS AT PROVIDENCE. dangers through which he had passed, named it Providence. He sought to purchase enough land for a settlement, but Canonicus refused to sell the land, and gave it to his friend " to enjoy forever." This grant was made to Williams alone, and constituted him absolute owner of the lands included in it. He might have sold them to settlers on terms advantageous to himself; but he declined to do so. In the next two years he was joined by » number ef his old followers from Massachu- 14^ SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. setts, and by others who fled to his asylum. He gave a share of land to all who came to settle, and admitted them to an equality with himself in the political administration of the colony. The government was administered by the whole people. The voice of the majority decided all public measures ; but in matters of conscience every man was left an- swerable to God alone. All forms of relig- ious belief were tolerated and protected. Even infidelity was safe here from punish- ment by the civil or ecclesiastical power. Praiseworthy Charity. Williams was anxious to establish .Triendly relations with the Massachusetts cole y • for though he felt keenly the injustice of his per- secutors, he cherished no bitterness or resent- ment towards them. He condemned only what he considered the delusions of the magistrates of Massachusetts, but never at- tacked his persecutors. "1 did ever from my soul," he wrote with simple magnanimity, " honor and love them, even when their judg- ment led them to afflict me." Winslow, touched with his true Christian forbearance, came from Plymouth to visit him, and left with his wife some money for their support; and some of the leaders of the Bay colony began to bear tardy witness to his virtues. The settlement at Providence continued to grow slowly, and was blessed with peace and an increasing prosperity. Massachusetts in the meantime continued to receive numerous additions to her popula- tion by emigration from England. In the autumn of 1635, twelve families left Boston, and journeying into the interior, founded the town of Concord. They had a hard struggle to establish their little settlement, but per- severed, and at length their labors were crowned with success. Three thousand people came over to Massachusetts this year. Among them were Hugh Peters, a man of great eloquence and ability and a devoted republican, who had been pastor to a church of exiles at Rotterdam, and Henry Vane the younger, "a man of the purest mind; a statesman ot spotless integrity ; whose name the progress of intelligence and liberty will erase from the rubic of fanatics and traitors, and insert high among the aspirants after truth and the martyrs for liberty." * * In the following spring (1636) Vane was elected governor of the colony. The people were dazzled by his high birth and pleasing qualities, and committed an error in choos- ing him, for neither his age nor his experi- ence fitted him for the distinguished position conferred upon him. The arrival of Vane seemed to promise an emigration of a num- ber of the English nobility, and an effort was made by several of them in England to pro- cure the division of the general court into two branches, and the establishment of an hereditary nobility in the colony which should possess a right to seats in the upper branch of the court. The magistrates of the colony were anxious to conciliate these val- uable friends, but they firmly refused to establish hereditary nobility in their new state. Trouble in the Church. Religious discussions formed a large part of the life of the colony. Meetings were held by the men, and passages of Scripture were discussed, and the sermons of the min- isters made the subject of searching criticism. The women might attend these meetings, but were not allowed to take part in the discus- sions. Mrs. Anne Hutchinson, a woman of talent and eloquence, claimed for her sex the right to participate equally with the men in these meetings ; but as this was not possible she began to hold meetings for the benefit 01 the women at her own house. At these. * Bancroft, SETTLEMENT OF MASSACHUSETTS AND RHODE ISLAND. 149 religious doctrines were discussed and advo- cated, which were at variance with the prin- ciples of the magistrates. Mrs. Hutchinson and her followers held that the authority of private judgment was superior to that of the church, and con- demned the efforts of the colony to enforce conformity to the established system as viola- tive of the inherent rights of Christians. She was encouraged by John Wheelwright, a silenced minister, who had married her sister, and by Governor Vane, and her opinions were adopted by a large number of the people, and by members of the general court and some of the magistrates. The ministers saw their authority menaced by the new belief, and made common cause against Mrs. Hutchinson and her protector. Governor Vane. The colony was divided into two parties, and the religious question became a matter of great political import- ance. Under the established system the ministers formed almost a distinct estate of the government, and political privileges were entirely dependent upon theological conformity. Feeling sure that they would not receive justice at the hands of their opponents, the friends of Mrs. Hutchinson declared their intention to appeal to the king. This aroused a storm of indignation in the colony, and " it was accounted perjury and treason to speak of appeals to the king." This threat changed the whole character of the question, and was fatal to the party which made it. The Puritans had come to Massachusetts to escape the interference of the crown with their religious belief, and to appeal to the king in this case would be simply to place the liber- ties of the colony at his mercy. When the elections were held, in the spring of 1637, Governor Winthrop and the old magistrates were chosen by a large majority. Vane soon after returned to England. The church party being now in power resolved to silence Mrs. Hutchinson. She was admonished to cease her teachings, and upon her refusal to obey this order, she and her followers were exiled from the colony. Wheelwright and a number of his friends went to New Hampshire, and founded the* town of Exeter, at the head of tide-water on the Piscataqua. Mrs. Hutchinson and the majority of her followers removed, in the spring of 1638, to the southward, intending to settle on Long Island or on the Delaware. Roger Williams induced them to remaitt near his plantation, and obtained for them from Miantonomoh, the chief of the Narra- gansett tribe, the gift of the beautiful island in the lower part of Narragansett Bay, which they called the island of Rhodes, or Rhode Island. Sad Fate of Mrs. Hutchinson. The number of settlers was scarcely more than, twenty, but they proceeded to form a government upon a plan agreeable to the principles they professed. It was a pure democracy, founded upon the universal consent of the people, who signed a sociai compact pledging themselves to obey the laws made by the majority, and to respect the rights of conscience. William Codding- ton, who had been a magistrate in the Bay colony, was elected judge or ruler, and three elders were chosen as his assistants. The settlement grew rapidly, and by 1641 the population had become so numerous as to require a written constitution. Mrs. Hutchinson remained in Rhode Island for several years ; but fearing that the hostility of the magistrates of Massa- chusetts would reach her even there, removed beyond New Haven into the territory of the Dutch, where, in 1643, she and all her family who were with her, except one child, who was taken prisoner, were murdered by the Indians. CHAPTER Xn Colonization of Connecticut fbe Dutch Claim the Ojnnecticut Valley — ^They Build a Fort at Hartford — Governor Winslow Makes a Lodgment h Connecticut for the English — Withdrawal of the Dutch— The First Efforts of the English to Settle Connecticut— Emi- gration of Hooker and His Congregation — ^They Settle at Hartford — Winthrop Builds a Fort at Saybrooke — Hostility ol the Indians — ^Visit ot Roger Williams to Miantonomoh — A Brave Deed — The Pequod War — Capture of the Indiaa Fort — Destruction of the Pequod Tribe — Effect of This War Upon the Other Tribes — Connecticut Adopts a Constitu* tion — Its Pecuhar Fer.tures — Settlement of New Haven. THE fertile region of the Connecticut had attracted the attention of the English at an early day ; but before they could make any effort to occupy it the Dutch sent an exploring party from Manhattan Island, in 1614, and exam- ined the river and the country through which it flowed. They built and fortified a trading-post on the site of the present city of Hartford, but soon excited the ill-will of the Indians by their cruel treatment of them. The Dutch found themselves unable to occupy the country, and, being unwilling to lose it, endeavored, but without success, to induce the Pilgrims to remove from Plymouth to the Connecticut, and settle in that region under their protection. In 1630 the council of Pl)*mouth granted the Connecticut region to the Earl of War- wick, who, in 1 63 1, assigned his claim to Lords Say and Brooke, John Hampden, and others. As soon as this grant was known to the Dutch they sent a party to the site of Hartford and re-established their trading- post, and began a profitable trade with the Indians. They mounted two cannon on their fort for the purpose of preventing the English from ascending the river. Towards the latter part of the year 1 63 3, Governor Winslow, of Plymouth, in order to secure a foothold for the English in this valuable region, sent Captain William Holmes to the 150 Connecticut with a sloop and a number ol men to make a settlement. Upon ascending the river to the site of Hartford, Holmes found his progress barred by the Dutch fort, the commander of which threatened to fire upon him if he attempted to continue his voyage. Undaunted by this threat, Holmes passed by the fort without harm, and ascended the stream to Windsor, where he erected a fortified post. In 1634, the Dutch made an unsuccessful attempt to drive him away. Failing in this, and seeing that it was the deliberate purpose of the English to occupy the Connecticut valley, the Dutch relinquished all claim to that region, and a boundary line was arranged between theii possessions and those of the English, cor- responding very nearly to that between the states of Connecticut and New \ork. In 163 j, the Pilgrims determined to make settlements in this inviting region, and late in the fall of that year a company of sixty persons, men, women and children, set out from Plymouth by land, sending a sloop laden with provisions and their household goods around by sea, with orders to join them upon the Connecticut River. They began their journey too late in the season, and their sufferings were very great in con^ sequence. Upon reaching the river theyi found the ground covered with snow, sxn: their sloop was delayed by storms and ice, COLONIZATION OF CONNECTICUT. 151 Their cattle died from cold and exposure, and but for a little corn which they obtained from the Indians, and such acorns as they could gather, the whole company must have starved to death. Many of them abandoned their new home and returned by land to the settlements on the coast. The Puritans were resolved to continue the effort to settle Connecticut, and in the spring of 1636 several com- panies emigrated to that re- gion. The principal party set out in June, led by the Rev. Thomas Hooker. It comprised about one hundred persons, and consisted prin- cipally of Hooker's congrega- tion, who followed their pastor with enthusiasm. They drove before them a considerable number of cattle, which fur- nished them with milk on the march. The emigrants were largely made up of persons of refine- ment and culture, and com- prised many of the oldest and most valued citizens of the Bay colony. They were at- tracted to the valley of the Connecticut by the superior advantages which it offered for the prosecution of the fur trade, and by the great fertil- ity of its soil. They had no guide but a compass, and their route lay through an unbroken wilderness. The journey was long and fatiguing. The emigrants accom- plished scarcely more than ten miles a day, carrying their sick on litters, and making the forests ring with their holy hymns. At length the site of Hartford, where it was pro- posed to establish the settlement, was reached by the first of July. The greater number remained there; some went higher up the river and founded Springfield, and the rest went to Wcthersfield, where there was already a small settlement. In the same year the younger John Win- throp arrived from England, with orders fro 11 Lords Say and Brooke to establish a fort vj the mouth of the Connecticut River. Thi- JOHN HAMPDEN. he accomplished, naming the new settlement Saybrooke, in honor of the proprietors. The settlements in Connecticut grew rapidly, the excellent soil and pleasant climate attract- ing many emigrants to them. The existence of these settlements was precarious, however. The region in which 152 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. they ha,^ been planted was the country of the Pequod-j, who inhabited it in large numiDers. They were the most powerful and warlike tribe in New England, and could bring nearly two thousand warriors into the field. They occupied the southwestern part of Connect- icut, and their territory extended almost to the Hudson on the west, where it joined that of the Mohegans. On the east their territory bordered that of the Narragansetts. Both of these tribes were the enemies of the Pequods and the friends of the English. This friend- ship was resented by the Pequods, who were already jealous of the English because of their occupation of the lands along the Connecticut. The tribe bore a bad name, and had already manifested their hostility by murdering, a few years before, a Virginia trader named Stone, together with the crew of his vessel^, who urere engaged in a trading expedition on the Connecticut River. Blood Shed on Both Sides. Somewhat later Captain Oldham and his crew, while exploring the river, were also murdered by Indians living on Block Island. The Pequods justified the murder of Stone by alleging that he had attacked them. Wishing to make a treaty with the English, they sent their chiefs to Boston for that pur- pose, and promised — as the magistrates understood them — -to deliver up the two men who had killed Stone. Captain John Endicott was sent with a vessel, in 1636, to punish the ^lock Island Indians for the murder of Old- ham, and was ordered to call on his return at the Pequod town, and demand the surrender of the murderers of Stone. The Pequods declined to surrender these men, but offered to ransom them. This was in accordance with their customs. But Endicott refused to accept any compensation for the crime that had been committed, and to punish the Indians destroyed their corn and burned two of their villages. This made open hostilities inevitable. The Pequods began to hang around the Connecticut settlements end cut off stragglers from them. By the close of the wmter more than thirty persons had fallen victims to their vengeance. A Dangerous Mission. The settlements in the Connecticut valley were now greatly alarmed. They could not muster over two hundred fighting men, and the Indians in their immediate vicinity could bring into the field at least seven hundred warriors. War was certain, and it was not known at what moment the savages would attack the settlements in overwhelming force. Connecticut called upon Massachu- setts for aid, but only twenty men under Captain Underbill, were sent to their aid. The energies and attention of the Bay colony were engrossed by the Hutchinson quarrel. The Pequods, notwithstanding their im- mense numerical superiority, were unwilling to make war upon the English without the support of another tribe. They accordingly sent envoys to Miantonomoh, the chief of the Narragansetts, to endeavor to engage that tribe in the effort against the whites. Such a union would have menaced all New England, and as soon as the news of the negotiation reached Boston the government of the Bay colony prepared to prevent the alliance. Governor Vane at once wrote to Roger Williams, the friend of Miantonomoh, urging him to seek that chieftain and prevent him from joining the Pequods. It was a dangerous mission, and certamly a great service for the magistrates of Massa* chusetts to ask of the man whom they had driven into exile. They did not ask in vain, however. All of Williams' generous nature was aroused by the danger which threatened his brethren, and he embarked in a frail COLONIZATION OF CONNECTICUT. 153 Knowing canoe, and braving the danger of a severe gale, sought the quarters of Miantonomoh. He found the Pequod chiefs already there, and the Narragansetts v/avering. the errandx)n which he had come, the hostile chieftains were ready at any moment to des- patch him, and had Miantonomoh shown the least fa- vor to the project, Williams would have paid for his boldness with his life. He spent three days and nights in the company of the savages, and suc- ceeded in inducing Miantonomoh not only to refuse to join the war against the English, but to promise the colo- nists his assistance against the Pe- quods. In the meantime he sent a messenger to Bos- ton to inform the governor of the de- signs of the In- dians. The Pequods, left to continue the struggle alone, flat- tered themselves that their superi- ority in numbers would give them the vic- tory, and continued their aggressions upon the Connecticut settlements to such an extent that in May, 1637, the general court of that province resolved to begin the war at once. A force of eighty men, including those sent from Massachusetts, was assembled at Hart- ford, and the command was conferred by A GROUP OF INDIANS. Hooker upon Captain John Mason. The night previous to their departure was spent in prayer, and on the twentieth of May the little force embarked in boats and descended IS4 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. the river to the sound, and passed around to Narragansett Bay, intending to approach the "^^>^uod town from that quarter. As the boats sailed by the mouth of the Thames, the savages supposed the Enghsh were abandoning the Connecticut valley. The day after the arrival of the English in Narragansett Bay was the Sabbath, and was scrupulously observed. On the following day they repaired to the quarters of Canonicus, the old chief and principal ruler of the Narragansett tribe, and asked his assistance against the Pequods. Mian- tonomoh, the nephew and prospective suc- cessor of Canonicus, hesitated to join in the doubtful enterprise, but two hundred war- riors agreed to accompany the English, who could not, however, count upon the fidelity of these reinforcements. Seventy Mohe- gans, under Uncas, their chief, also joined Mason. With this force the English com- mander marched across the country toward the Pequod towns on the Thames, and halted on the night of the twenty-fifth of May within hearing of them. A Sudden Attack. In the meantime the Pequods, convinced that the English had fled from the Connecti- cut region, and never dreading an attack in their fort, which they considered impreg- nable, had given themselves up to rejoicing. The night, passed by the English in waiting the signal for the attack, was spent by the Pequods in revelry and songs, which could be plainly heard in the English camp. Two hours before dawn, on the morning of the twenty-sixth of May, the order was given to the little band under Mason to advance. They knew they would have to decide the battle by their own efibrts, and v/ere by no means certain that their Indian allies would not turn against them. The Pequods were posted in two strong forts made of palisades driven into ^f* ground and strengthened with rush-work, an excel- lent defence against a foe of their own race, but worthless when assailed by Europeans. The principal fort stood on the summit of a considerable hill, and was regarded by Sassa- cus, the Pequod chief, as impregnable. The tramp of the advancing force aroused a dog, whose fierce bark awoke the Indian sentinel. The keen eye of the savage detected the enemy in the gloom of the morning, and he rushed into the fort, shouting, " The English ! The English ! " The next moment the English were through the palisades. On all sides they beheld the Indians pouring out of their lodges to take part in the hand-to-hand fight. The odds were too great. " We must burn them," cried Mason, and, suiting the action to the word, he applied a torch to a wigwam constructed of dry reeds. The flames sprang up instantly, and spread with the rapidity of lightning. The Indians vainly endeavored to extinguish the fire, and the English, with- drawing to a greater distance, began to pick off the savages, who were doubly exposed by the light of the blazing fort. Wherever a Pequod appeared, he was shot down. The Narragansetts and Mohegans now joined in the conflict, and the victory was complete. More than six hundred Pequods, men, women and children, perished, the majority of them in the flames. The English lost only two men ; and the battle was over in an hour. Indians in a Rage. As the sun rose, a body of three hundred Pequod warriors were seen advancing from their second fort. They came expecting to rejoice with their comrades in the destruc- tion of the English. When they beheld the ruined fort and the remains of its defenders, they screamed, stamped on the ground and tore their hair with rage and despair. Mason held them in check with twenty men, while COLONIZATION OF CONNECTICUT 155 the rest of the English embarked in their boats, which had come round from Narra- gansett Bay, and hastened home to protect the settlements against a sudden attack. Mason, with the party mentioned, marched across the country to the fort at Saybrooke, where he was received with the honors due to his successful exploit. In a few days a body of one hundred men arrived from Massachusetts, under Captain Stoughton, and the cam- paign against the Pe- quods was resumed. Their pride was crushed, and they made but a feeble resistance. They fled to the west, closely pursued by the English, who destroyed their cornfields, burned their villages and put their women and children to death without mercy. They made a last des- perate effort at resist- ance in the fastnesses of a swamp, but were de- feated with great slaugh- ter. Sassacus, their chiefs with a few of his men took refuge with the Mohawks, where he was soon after put to death by one of his own people. The remainder of the tribe, about two hundred in number, surrendered to the English, and were reduced to slavery. Some were given to their enemies, the Narragansetts and Mo- hegans ; others were sent to the West Indies and sold as slaves. The Pequod nation was utterly destroyed. The thoroughness and remorselessness of the work struck terror to the neighboring tribes. If the Pequods, the most powerful of all their race, had been exterminated by a mere handful of Englishmen, what could they expect in a contest with them but a similar fate ? For forty years the horror of this dreadful deed remained fresh in the savage mind, and protected the young settlements more effectually than the most vigilant watchfulness on the part of the whites could have done. Relieved from the fear of the Indians, the YALE COLLEGE. people of Connecticut prepared to establish a civil government for the colony, and in Jan- uary, 1639, 3- constitution was adopted. It was more liberal, and therefor^ more lasting, than that framed by any of the other colo- nies. It provided for the government of the colony by a governor, a legislature and the i usual magistrates of an English province, [ who were to be chosen annually by ballot. Every settler who should take the oath of 156 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. allegiance to the commonwealth was to have the right of suffrage. The members of the legislature were apportioned among the towns according to the population. The colony was held to be supreme within its own limits, and no recognition was made of the sovereignty of the king or Parliament. When Connecticut took her place among the states of the American Union, at the opening of the war of the Revolution, her constitution needed no change to adapt her to her new position. It remained in forr*^ for one hun- dred and fifty years. The Celebrated John Davenport. In the year of the Pequod war (1637), John Davenport, a celebrated clergyman of London, and Theophilus Eaton, a merchant of wealth, and a number of their associates, who had been exiled from England for their religious opinions, reached Boston. They were warmly welcomed, and were urged to stay in the Bay colony, but the theological disputes were so high there that they pre- ferred to go into the wilderness and found a settlement where they could be at peace Eaton with a few men was sent to explore the region west of the Connecticut, which had been discovered by the pursuers of the Pequods. He examined the coast of Long Island Sound, and spent the winter at a place which he selected as a settlement. In April, 1638, Davenport and the rest of the company sailed from Boston and established a settle- ment on the spot chosen by Eaton. The settlers obtained a title to their lands from the natives, and agreed in return to protect them against the Mohawks. They named their settlement New Haven. In 1639 a form of government was adopted, and Eaton was elected governor. He was annually chosen to this position until his death, twenty years later. The colonists pledged themselves " to be governed in all things by the rules which the Scriptures held forth to them." The right of suffrage was restricted to church members. " Thus New Haven made the Bible its statute book, and the elect its freemen." In the next ten years settlements spread along the sound and ex- tended to the opposite shores of Long Island. The colony was distinct from and independ- ent of the Connecticut colony, with which friendly relations were soon established. CHAPTER XIII The Union of the New England Colonies FtelJng of the Colonies Towards England— Hostility of the English Government to New England— Efforts to Inbrft duce Episcopacy — Massachusetts Threatens Resistance — The Revolution in England — Establishment of Free Schools in New England — Harvard College — The Printing Press — The Long Parliament Friendly to New England — The United Colonies of New England — Rhode Island Obtains a Charter — Maine Annexed to Massachusetts — ^The Quakers are Persecuted — Efforts to Christianize the Indians — John Eliot, the Apostle to the Indians. THE sentiments with which the people of the New England colonies regarded the mother country may- be briefly stated. They were proud of the name of Englishmen, and took a deep interest in the welfare of their old home. They regarded the British constitution as the supreme law of their new states, and claimed to be true and loyal subjects of the King of England. Nevertheless, they looked upon the success of their colonies as their own work, accomplished by their own patience and heroism, and they were fully aware that they owed nothing to the mother country. They had been driven forth from her shores by persecution, and left in neglect to struggle up to the successful position they now occu- pied. They owed nothing to England ; in their deepest distress they had never asked aid of her, and they were willing to undergo any hardship rather than do so. They had made laws and established institutions under which they had surmounted their early trials, and they regarded their paramount allegiance as due to their respective provinces. They acknowledged the right of no power beyond the Atlantic to interfere with or change their work. They would acknowledge their alle- giance to the king as long as he respected the system they had built up at such great cost, and without assistance from him, but would resist any effort from him, or any one else, to interfere with it. They had made New Eng- land what she was, and they meant to retain the possession and control of their new home at any cost. They had made themselves a free people, and they meant to preserve their liberties as a precious heritage for their children. This was the general sentiment of New Encfland. There were some discontented persons, however, in the midst of these deter- mined people. They had found the stern discipline of the Massachusetts colony too oppressive, and some had been severely pun- ished by the fiery Endicott. Upon returning to England they endeavored to induce the king to exert his power and remedy what they termed the distraction and disorder of the province of Massachusetts. Their com- plaints were echoed by a strong party in England. Burdett wrote to Archbishop Laud that " The colonists aimed not at a new dis- cipline, but at sovereignty ; that it was accounted treason in their general co'\rt to speak of appeals to the king ; " in m ticii assertion he was right. ^' *i The English archbishop began to rega. _ the departure of so many " faithful and free born Englishmen and good Christians " to join a new communion as a serious matter ' and impediments were thrown in the way oi ' emigration. In February, 1634, a requisi- tion was addressed to the colony of Massa- chusetts ordering the colonial officials to produce the patent of the company in 1 57 158 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. England. The colony took no notice of this demand. A little later the king appointed the Archbishop of Canterbury and some others a special commission, with full power over the American colonies. They were authorized to make such changes in church and state as they deemed necessary; to enforce them with heavy penalties ; and even to revoke all charters that contained privi- leges inconsistent with the royal prerogative. Massachusetts Indignant. The news of the appointment of this com- mission reached Boston in September, 1634, and it was also rumored that a governor- general for the colonies had been appointed, and had sailed from England. All Massa- chusetts burned with indignation, and the colony resolved to resist the attempt upon its liberties. It was very poor, but in a short space of time the large sum of six hundred pounds was raised for the public defence, and fortifications were begun and pushed forward with energy. In January, 1635, the ministers were assembled at Boston and their opinion was asked upon the question whether the colony should receive a governor-general. They answered boldly : " We ought to defend our lawful possessions if we are able ; if not, to avoid and protract." In April, 1638, the privy council demanded the surrender of the charter of Massachu- setts, threatening in case of refusal that the king would take the management of the colony into his own hands. The colonial authorities were firmly resolved to give the king no pretext for interference with their affairs, and instead of complying with the order of the privy council, they addressed a remonstrance to that body against the surrender required of them, thus seeking to gain time. They were fully determined not to give up their charter ; but before their remonstrance could reach Eng- land the troubles which encompassed Charles at home made it impossible for him to carry out his designs against Massachusetts. The breaking out of the civil war in Eng' land put a stop to the emigration to New England. At the opening of the year 1 640 the population of New England numbered twenty ' thousand. Some fifty towns and between thirty and forty churches had been built, and the most desponding could no longer doubt the ultimate success and prosperity of the country. The wretched cabins of the first settlers were rapidly giving way to fair and comfortable houses, and the colonists were beginning to gather about them many of the comforts and much of the refinement they had been accustomed to in England. The Puritans. Nor were the Puritans mindful of material success only. Many of them were persons of education, and they were anxious that their children should have the opportunity of enjoying the blessings of knowledge in their new homes. In 1636 the general court made provision for the establishment at New- town of a high school. The name of the town was changed to Cambridge as a token that the people meant that it should yet be the seat of a university. In 1637 the school was Ibrmally opened. The next year the Rev. John Harvard, of Charlestown, bequeathed to the infant insti- tution his library and the half of his fortune, and in gratitude for this assistance the school took the name of "Harvard College." In 1647 the general court ordered that in every town or district of fifty families there should be a common school ; and that in every town or district of one hundred families there should be a grammar school, conducted by teachers competent to prepare young men for college. This system rapidly found its way into the other New England colonies, with the excep' Uon of Rhode Island. t^E UNION OF THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES. 159 Thus was founded the American system of common schools. Until now education had been the task of the church, or had been confided to private individuals; but now, for the first time in the history of the world, the state took the task of educating its young citizens into its own hands, and established the schools in which it was to be conducted. Henceforth knowledge was to be restricted to no favored class ; education was made free more for posterity than this, they would still deserve to be held in grateful remembrance as the founders of our public schools. Gen- erations yet unborn shall rise up to call them blessed, and to acknowledge the truth ot their conviction that ignorant men cannot make good citizens. In 1639 a printing press, presented to the colony by some friends in Holland, was set up in Massachusetts. Stephen Daye was the AN AMERICAN FREE SCHOOL. to every child, and every parent being taxed for the support of the public schools was made to feel interested in their proper con- duct. From the little beginning thus made a vast and noble system has been developed, the beneficial results of which must be felt to the latest period of our national existence. Had the fathers of New England done nothing printer, and in that year printed an almanac calculated for New England, and in 1640 a metrical version of the Psalms, made ** by Thomas Welde and John Eliot, ministers ol Roxbury, assisted by Richard Mather, min- ister of Dorchester." It was the first book printed in the English language in America, and continued to be used for a long time in the worship of the New England churches. i6o SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. Many of the settlers went back to England at the outset of the civil war to take part in the struggle, among whom were Governor Henry Vane and Hugh Peters, and very few emigrants arrived in New England during the existence of the commonwealth. Yet the colonies continued to prosper. Ship- building, which had been introduced by the first settlers of Salem, was carried on with activity, and vessels of four hundred tons were constructed. A little later the manu- facture of woollen and linen cloth was begun by order of the general court. The colonial churches were invited to send their representatives to the assembly of divines at Westminster, but they wisely neglected to do so, judging it better to remain in their obscurity than to give the English people a pretext for future interference by joining in their affairs. Religious Liberty. The Long Parliament was friendly to New England, and granted to the colonies an exemption from all duties upon their com- merce " until the House of Commons should take order to the contrary." Massachusetts took advantage of the security afforded by the friendship of the Long Parliament to establish a written constitution, or " body of liberties," which placed the rights and privi- leges of her people upon a more stable basis. It contained some of the severest laws of the Mosaic code, such as those against witch- craft, blasphemy, and sins against nature, but secured the freedom of the citizen, the right of representative government, and the indepen- dence of the state and the municipality. The rights ofproperty, the freedom of inheritance, and the independence of each church from control by the others were also placed beyond dispute. " This constitution," says Bancroft, ** for its liberality and comprehensiveness, may vie v/ith any similar record from the days of Magna Charta." in April, 1642, the towns on the Piscata- qua, now embraced within the limits of the state of New Hampshire, were annexed at their own request to Massachusetts. As the people of this region were not Puritans, and many of them were attached to the forms and faith of the Church of England, the gen- eral court in September adopted a measure providing that neither the freemen nor the deputies of New Hampshire should be required to be church members. This act of justice removed all danger of political dis- cord. In the same year Massachusetts made a less creditable and an unsuccessful effort to annex Rhode Island to her dominion? The United Colonies. Though relieved of the interference of the mother country, the dangers of New Eng- land were not yet at an end. The Indians were still powerful upon their narrow border, the French were beginning to threaten them from the direction of Canada, and the Dutch from the Hudson. The colonies had so many interests in common that it was of vital im- portance that they should act in concert for their defence. After several ineffectual attempts, a league was formed in 1643 between the colonies of Massachusetts, Ply- mouth, Connecticut, and New Haven, under the title of " T]ie United Colonies of New England.'" Each colony was to retain its freedom in the management of its own affairs ; the authority of the union, which was intrusted to a commission of two members from each province, being limited to objects which Concerned the general welfare of the colonies. Provision was made for the pres- ervation of the purity of the gospel, the com- missioners were required to be church mem- bers, and the expenses of the confederacy were to be assessed upon the colonies according to population. This union lasted for forty years. THE UNION OF THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES. i6i rhe colony of Rhode Island desired to be admitted into the union, but its petition was refused, as it would not acknowledge the Jurisdiction of Plymouth. The people of the two settlements on Narragansett Bay, dread- ing an attempt to absorb them into some of the other colonies, now determined to apply \o Parliament for an independent charter. Roger Williams was despatched to England for that purpose in 1643, and reached that •country soon after the death of Hampden. The fame of his labors among the Indians •secured for him a cordial welcome. The Charter Confirnr.ed Assisted by Sir Henry Vane, a charter was obtained in March, 1644, organizing the settlements on Narragansett Bay as an inde- pendent colony under the name of "The Providence Plantations," *' with full power and authority to rule themselves." The ex- ecutive council of state in England, in 165 1, made some grants to Coddington which would have dismembered the little state, and Williams was obliged to make a second voy- age to England to have these grants vacated. He succeeded in his efforts, and the charter was confirmed. He received in this, as in his former mission, the cordial co-operation of Sir Henry Vane, whose name should be -ever dear to the people of Rhode Island, since but for him her territory would have been divided among the neighboring col- onies. In the interval between his first and second voyages Roger Williams became a Baptist, and founded the first church of that denomination in America. The country between the Piscataqua and ihe Kennebec was assigned to Sir Ferdinand Gorges, who, in 1639, was confirmed in his f>ossession by a formal charter from Charles I., who called the territory the Province of Maine. In 1640, Gorges sent his son Thomas to Maine as his representative. Thomas Gorg took up his residence at the settlement r Agamenticus, now the town of York, and in 1642 changed the name of the lace to Gorgeana. Maine Comes Into the Union. Since the settlement of the colony the French had claimed the region between the St. Croix and the Penobscot, which they had settled under the name of Acadia, as has been stated elsewhere. After the death of Sir Ferdinand Gorges Maine was divided among his heirs. These cut. it up into four weak communities, whose helplessness laid them open to the encroachments of the French in Canada. Apprehensive of the results of this, Massachusetts, to whom many of the inhabitants of the province had appealed to take such a course, in 1 65 1 claimed the province of Maine as a part of the territory which had been granted to the colony by the original charter of Massa- chusetts. Commissioners were sent to establish the authority of the Bay colony over the prov- ince, but the magistrates of Maine resisted them, and appealed to the English govern- ment for protection. The people of Maine were the adherents of the king and the estab- lished church, and England was now ruled by the Puritans ; consequently Massachusetts won her cause, and Maine was declared a part of that province. Massachusetts made a generous use of her power, and allowed the towns of Maine very much the same govern- ment and privileges they now enjoy, and in religious matters treated them with the same leniency she had shown to New Hampshire, In 1646,3 dispute in the Bay colony in- duced one of the parties to it to appeal to Parliament to sustain his claims, and an order was sent out to Boston in his behalf" couched in terms which involved the right of Parlia- ment to reverse the decisions and control the l62 JOHN ELIOT PREACHING TO THE INDIANS. THE UNION OF THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES. 163 government of Massachusetts." In plainer terms. Parliament claimed the right to revoke the chartet of the colony, as the king had done at the outset of the civil war. The danger was great, and Massachusetts met it fvith firmness. The general court met on the fourth of November, and sat with closed doors to discuss the claim of the English government. It was resolved " that Massa- chusetts owed to England the same allegi- ance as the free Hanse towns had rendered to the empire ; as Normandy, when its dukes were kings of England, paid to the monarchs of France.'' Parliament Must Keep Hands Off. The court also refused to iccept a new charter from Parliament, as that action might imply a surrender of the original instrument, or to allow Parliament to control in any way the independence of the colony. Great as this claim was, it was admitted by the Eng- lish Parliament, in which the rights of the colony were stoutly maintained by Sir Henry Vane and others ; and in reply to a respectful address of the general court setting forth the views of that body, a committee of Parlia- ment declared : " We encourage no appeals from your justice. We leave you with all the freedom and latitude that may, m any respect, be duly claimed by you." Later on, upon the establishment of the common- wealth, Parliament invited the people of Massachusetts to receive a new patent from that body ; but the colonial authorities wisely declined to do this, or to allow the home government any hold upon the administra- tion of the affairs of the province. Iir. 165 1, Cromwell, who had subdued Ireland, offered that island to the Puritans of New England as a new home; but they declined to leave America. Cromwell proved himself in many ways a judicious friend of New England, and the people of that country treasured his memory with the gratitude and respect it so richly deserved. Though sc successful in asserting her own liberties, Massachusetts had not yet learned the lesson of religious tolerance. When the Baptists began to appear in the colony, severe measures were inaugurated to crush them, and one of their number — Holmes — a resident of Lynn, was whipped unmercifully. Still greater were the severities practised towards the Quakers. This sect had grown out of the Protestant Reformation, and con- stituted at this day the most advanced thi'.ikers upon religious matters to be found in England. They claimed a perfect freedom in matters of faith and worship, and regarded all laws for enforcing religious systems as works of the devil. They were persons of pure lives, and even their most inveterate enemies could not charge them with wrong- doing. Previous to their appearance ir; Massachusetts exaggerated reports reached the colony concerning them. They were represented as making war upon all forms of religion and government. Intolerance Toward Quakers. The first of this creed who came to New- Erjgland were Mary Fisher and Ann Austin, ./ho reached Boston in July, 1656. In the absence of a special law against Quakers, they v.ere arrested under the provisions of the general statute against heresy; their trunks were searched and their books burned by the hangman. Their persons were exam- ined for marks of witchcraft, but nothing could be found against them, and after being kept close prisoners for five weeks, they were sent back to England. During the year eight others were also sent back to England. Laws which were a dis- grace to an enlightened community were now passed prohibiting the Quakers from entering the colony. Such as came were 164 SETTLEMENT OF AiMERICA. imprisoned, cruelly whipped, and sent away. In 1657 a woman was whipped with twenty stripes for this oiTence. In 1658 a law was enacted that if any Quaker should return after being banished, his or her offence should be punished with death. It was hoped that this barbarous measure would rid the colony of their presence ; but they came in still greater numbers, to reprove the magis- rates for their persecuting spirit, and to call INDIAN MEDICINE-MAN. them to repentance. In 1659 Marmaduke Stephenson, William Robinson, Mary Dyar and William Leddro were hanged on Boston Common for returning to the colony after ^eing banished. I These cruelties were regarded with great discontent by the people of the colony, whose humanity was shocked by the barbarity of the magistrates. Their opposition grew stronger every day, and at last it became evi- dent to the magistrates themselves that their severities were of no avail. When William Leddro was being sentenced to death, the magistrates were startled by the entrance into the court-room of Wenlock Christison, a Quaker who had been banished and forbid- den to return on pain of death. Christison was arrested, but the complaints of the people became so loud that the magistrates were obliged to pause in their bloody work. Christison and twenty-seven of his com- panions were released from custody, the persecution of the Quakers was discon- tinued, and the general court, in obedi- ence to the will of the people, repealed the barbarous laws against that sect. The Apostle to the Indians. In pleasing contrast with these sever- ities were the efforts of the Puritans to spread a knowledge of the gospel among the savages. Chief among those engaged in the good work was John Eliot, the min- ister of Roxbury, whose labors won him the name of " the apostle Eliot." He went among the red men in the forests, and ac- quired a knowledge of their language that he might preach to them in their own tongue. When he had become suffi- ciently proficient in it, he translated the Bible into the Indian language. This translation was printed at Cambridge, and a part of the type was set by an Indian compositor. He spent many years in the preparation of his Bible, and made a good use of it during his life ; but it is now valu- able only as a literary curiosity and as the evidence of the devotion of the translator to\ his noble work. The destruction of the race for which it was intended has made it a sealed book. Eliot gathered his savage converts into a settlement at Natick, and taught the men the art of agriculture and the women to spin and to weave cloth. He had to encounter the THE UNION OF THE NEW ENGLAND COLONIES. 165 opposition of the chiefs ^r.d medicine men or priests, who resent*id his efforts to win their people from the worship and habits of their ancestors, bnt he persevered. He Was greatly beloved by his disciples, and continued his labors among them far into old age, and to a limited extent to the day of "lis death, whicli took plate when he ^lad attained the ripe age of eighty six years. " My memory, my utter- ance fails me," he said near the close of his life; " but I thank God my charity holds out still." When Walton, a brother minister, visited him on his death-bed, he greeted him with the words ; " Brother, you are welcome ; but retire to your study and pray that I may be gone." His last words on earth were the triumphal shout with which he e<\tered upon his reward : " Welcome joy ! " Many of the Quakers, after the persecu- tion against them was over, joined Eliot in his labors. He had other fellow-workers. >* The two Mayhews, father and son, Cotton, and Brainerd thought it a privilege to labor for the souls of the poor savages. Native preachers were ordained, and at last there were thirty churches of "praying Indiins" under such preachers. CHAPTER XIV New England after the Restoration ttfrtval of the News of the Restoration of Charles II. — The Regicides in New England — They are Protected— Revirrt of the Navigation Acts— Effect of this Measure upon the New England Colonies — Massachusetts Delays the Proclama tion of the King — Connecticut Obtains a Charter — Union of New Haven with the Connecticut Colony — Rhode Island Given a New Charter — Massachusetts Settles her Difficulties with the Crown — Changes in the Government — High- landed Actsol the Royal Commissioners — ^Troubles with the Indians — Injustice of the Whites — King Philip's War — A forest Hero— An Incident in the Attack upon Hadley — Sufferings of the Colonies— Destruction of the Narragan setts— » Death of Philip — Close of the War — England Asserts her Right to Tax the Colonies— Massachusetts buys Gorges' clainM to Maine — New Hampshire Made a Separate Province — James II. Revokes the Charter of Massachusetts — Dudley and Randolph in New England — Andros Appointed Governor-General — His Tyranny — He Demands the Charter of Con- necticut — It is Carried Awa^ and Hidden~^The Charter Oak — Fall of James II.— The People of Massachusetts tak« up Arms— Andros Arrested— Effects ot tbs Kevolution upon New England. THE news of the restoration oc Charles II. to the English throne was brought to Boston by Edward Whalley and VViUiam Goffe, two of the judges of Charles I. They came to seek refuge from the vengeance of the king, having offended him beyond forgiveness by their share in the death of his father. They remained about a year in Massachusetts, protected by the people, and preaching to them. A few months after their arriva', warrants for their arrest and transportation to England for trial arrived from the king, and to escape this danger they took refuge in Kew Haven. The royal officers instituted a diligent search for them, and they were obliged to change their place of concealment frequently. Great rewards were offered for their betrayal, and even the Indians were urged to search the woods for their hiding-places. The peo- ple whom they trusted protected them, and aided them to escape the royal officers until the vigor of the search was exhausted. They then conducted them to a secure refuge in the vicinity of Hadley, where they remained in seclusior ^ iJ peace until the close of their lives. i66 News was constantly arriving in the colo- nies of the execution of the men who had been the friends of America in the Parlia- ment, and a general sadness was cast over the settlements by the tidings of the death of Hugh Peters and the noble Sir Henry Vane. From the first the people of New England saw plainly that they had little reason to expect justice at the hands of the royal gov- ernment, and there was little rejoicing in that region at the *'eturn of the king to " his own again." One of Charles's first acts was to revive in a more odious form the navigation act of the Long Parliament. We have spoken of the effect of this measure upon the colonies of Virginia and Maryland. This act closed the harbors of America against the vessels ot every European nation save England, and forbade the exportation of certain American productions to any country but England o> her possessions. This was a very serious blow to New England, and was intended as such. The colonies of that region had already built up a growing commerce, and this, together with their activity in ship- building, excited the envy and the hostility of the British merchants, who hoped, by NEW ENGLAND AFTER THE RESTORATION. 167 hidxicmg the king to place these restrictions j upon the colonies, to compel the Americans to depend upon them for tlie supply of all their wants. Later on, America was forbidden not only to manufacture any articles which might compete with Eng}ish manufactures in foreign markets, but to sup'ply her own wants with her own manufactures. At the same time Parliament endeavored to destroy the trade that had grown up between New England and the southern colonies by imposing upon the articles exported from one colony to another a duty equal to that imposed upon the consumption of these articles in England. Foul Injustice. Thus did Great Britain lay the foundation of that system of commercial injustice toward her colonies which eventually deprived her of them, and which her greatest writer on political economy declared to be " a manifest violation of the rights of mankind." The policy thus established in the reign of Charles U. was never departed from. Each succeed- ing administration remained true to the prin- ciples of the navigation act, and consistently declined to admit the claim of the colonies to just and honorable treatment at the hands of the mother country. Charles IL was promptly proclaimed in the colonies of Plymouth, Connecticut, New Haven and Rhode Island, and those provinces were administered in his name. Massachu- setts, distrusting his purposes towards her, held back, and waited until he should show his intentions more plainly, Connecticut had purchased the claims of the assigns of the Earl of Warwick to the region occupied by her, and had bought the territory of the Mohegans from Uncas, their •sachem. The colony sent the younger Win- 'throp to England in 166 1 to obtain a charter #om the kinff. The noble character of Gov- ernor Winthrop was well known in England^ and impressed even the profligate Charles. His reception was cordial and his mission entirely fuccessful. In 1662, the king granted to the colony a charter incorporating Hart- ford and New Haven in one province under the name of Connecticut, and extending iXM limits from Long Island Sound westward to the Pacific Ocean, thus bestowing upon the colony those rich western lands which were subsequently made the basis of the magnifi- cent school fund of Connecticut The charter was substantially the same in its provisions as the constitution adopted by the Hartford colony. By it the king conferred upon the colonists the right to elect their owa officers and to make and administer their own laws without interference from England in any event whatever. Connecticut was made independent in all but name, and the charter continued in force as the constitution of the state after the period of independence until 1818. Good Fortune of Connecticut. The colony oi' New Haven was much opposed to the union with Connecticut, and it required ail Governor Winthrop's efforts to induce the people of that colony to accept it. The matter was adjusted in 1665, when the union was finally accomplished. The labors of Governor Winthrop were rewarded by his annual election as governor of Con- necticut for fourteen years. Connecticut was a fortunate colony. Its government was ably and honestly administered ; no persecutions marred its peace, and its course was uniformly prosperous and happy. It was always one of the most peaceful and orderly colonies of New England, and for a century its popula* tion doubled once in twenty years, notwith- standing frequent emigrations of its people to other parts of the country. The colony at an early day made a liberal provision for 1 68 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. education, and in 1700 Yale College was founded. It was originally located at Say- brooke, but in 17 18 was removed to New Haven. Rhode Island was equally fortunate. Through its resident agent at London, John Clarke, it made application to the king for a new charter, and after some delay, caused by the difficulty of arranging satisfactorily the limits of the province, a charter was granted in 1663, formerly establishing the colony of " Rhode Island and Providence Plantations " This charter continued to be the sole constitution of Rhode Island until the year 1842. By its provisions the govern- ment of the colony was to consist of a gov- ernor, deputy-governor, ten assistants, and representatives from the towns. Equal Rights to All. The laws were to be agreeable to those of England, but no oath of allegiance was required of the colony, and in matters of religion the charter declared that *' no person within the said colony, at any time hereafter, shall be anywise molested, punished, dis- quieted, or called in any question for any difference in opinion in matters of religion ; every person may at all times freely and fully enjoy his own judgment and conscience in matters of religious concernments.'* Free- dom of conscience was not restricted to Christians ; it was extended by the charter to infidels and pagans as well. This charter made the little colony secure against the attempts of Massachusetts to absorb her, and its reception by the people was joyful and enthusiastic. At this period the population of Rhode Island was about twenty-five hundred. It increased rapidly and steadily ; the excellent harbors of the province encouraged com- merce, and the little state soon began to rival her larger associates in prosperity. Massachusetts was from the first regardecf with disfavor by the royal government. It delayed its acknowledgment of Charles IL for over a year, and the king was not pro- claimed at Boston until the seventh of August, 1661. Even then the general court forbade all manifestations of jay. These signs of the independent spirit of the people had been observed in England, and the cci ony had been watched by the government with anything but favor. The en'^mies of the young state hurried their complaints be- fore the king, and Massachusets at length found it to her interest to send commission- ers to London, as, indeed, the express orders of the king required her to do. Among the- agents sent over were John Norton and Simon Bradstreet, men of ability and mod- eration, who commanded the confidence of all classes of the colonists. Their instruc- tions were to assure the king of the loyalty of Massachusetts, to engage his favor fos the colony ; but to agree to " nothing preju dicial to their present standing according tcr their patent, and to endeavor the establish* ment of the rights and privileges thett enjoyed." Two Pa ies in f 'Massachusetts. The commissioners reached London in January, 1662, and were graciously received hy the king, who confirmed the charter, and granted a complete amnesty for all past offences against his majesty. He required, however, that all laws derogatory to his- authority should be repealed ; that the col- onists should take the oath of allegiance ta him ; that justice should be administered in his name : that the right of suffrage should be thrown open to all freeholders of com- petent estates ; and that all who wished to da so should be free to use " the book of com- mon prayer, and perform their devotion itt the manner established in England." NEW ENGLAND AFTER THE RESTORATION. 169* TViese were better terms than the commis- sioners had reason to expect, and were not in themselves objectionable, as Massachu- setts was growing beyond its early preju- dices; but the acceptance of them would have implied an acknowledgment by the colony of the king's right to change its fun- damental law, and to interfere with its affairs at pleasure. Massachusetts was at once divided into two parties, the larger of which maintained the independence of the colony of royal control ; the smaller party supported the claims of the king. Under other circum- stances no opposition would have been made to the toleration of the practices of the Church of England in the colony; but now that it seemed that episcopacy was to be in- troduced as the ally of the royal power, the people of Massachusetts resolved to prevent it from obtaining a foothold in their midst. The general court resolved to maintain their political independence, and their religious establishment as well. As a measure of pre- caution, the charter was secretly intrusted for safe-keeping to a committee of four, ap- pointed by the general court; and it was ordered that only small bodies of officers and men should be allowed to land from ships, and should be required to yield a strict obedience to the laws of the province while on shore. Contempt for Puritan Customs. These last measures were adopted bee ^use of the appointment by the king of comm.is- sioners to regulate the afifairs of New Eng- land. The commissioners reached Boston in July, 1664, escorted by the fleet sent out from England for the reduction of New Amsterdam. They were ordered to investi- gate the manner in which the charters of the New England colonies had been exercised, and had " full authority to provide for the peace of the country, according to the royal instructions, and their own discretion " — a power which Massachusetts was justified in regarding as dangerous to her liberties. The People Redress their "Wrongs. The commissioners cared very little foi» the prejudices of the people of Massachu- , setts, and from the first proceeded to outrage their feelings. They introduced the service? of the Church of England into Boston to the great disgust of the people. The Puritans had always observed the old Jewish custom of beginning their Sabbath at sunset. The commissioners contemptuously disregarded this custom, and spent Saturday evening in merry-making. They soon gave cause for more serious alarm by exercising the powers with which they had been intrusted, and pro- ceeding to redress the grievances of the people. All persons who hrid complaints against Massachusetts were called upon to lay them before the commissioners, and- Rhode Island and the Narragansett chiefs promptly availed themselves of the invita- tion. The general court now cut the matter short by a decisive step, and sternly ordered the commissioners to discontinue their pro- ceedings, as contrary to the charter. The commissioners obeyed the order, and though the firmness of the colony aroused the indig- nation of the king, he was not able to shake the determination of a free people. Nor was this the only opposition shown by New England to the injustice of the mother country. The navigation acts were generally disregarded; they could not be enforced; and Boston and the other New England ports continued to enjoy their grow- ing commerce as freely as before the passage of these infamous acts. Vessels from all the other colonies, and from France, Spain, Hol- land and Italy, as well as from England, were to be seen at all seasons in the port nf Boston. •I/O SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. Massachusetts owned the greater number of vessels built and operated in America, and was the principal carrier for the other colonies. Its ships sailed .to the most dis- tant lands beyond the sea, and the commerce of the colony was rapidly becoming a source of great wealth. So marked indeed was the prosperity of New England, that upon the receipt of the news of the great fire in Lon- -don the colonists were able to send large jsums to the assistance of the sufferers. The 14,000; Massachusetts, about 22,000; Maine, about 4,000; New Hampshire, about 4,000; Rhode Island, about 4,000. The settlements lay principally along the coast, Irom New Haven to the northeastern border of Maine. Little progress had been made towards pene trating the interior. Haverhill, Deerfield, Northfielc and Westfield were towns on the remote frontier. This rapid growth alarmed the Indians, who had already begun to regard the white' INDIAN LIFE IN THEIR NATIVE FORESTS. Os-ople of New England were industrious ind frugal. Villages multiplied rapidly, and wherever a village sprang up a common school accompanied it. The villages began to assume a more tasteful and pleasing ap- pearance, and men gave more care to the adornment and beautifying of their homes. The population of New England in 1675 has been estimated at about 55,000 souls, divided among the colonies as follows : Plymouth, about 7,000 ; Connecticut, about as enemies bent on their destruction. Though there had been peace for forty years in New England, the savages saw that the policy pursued by the settlers was meant to force them back from the lands of their fathers. The whites had gradually absorbed the best lands in New England, and the red men had been as gradually crowded down upon the narrow necks and bays of the southern shores of the Plymouth and Rhode Island colonies. This had been done in pursuance NEW ENGLAND AFTER THE RESTORATION. 171 of a settled policy, as the savages could be more carefully watched, and more easily managed in these localities than if left to roam at will over the country. The Indians on their part sullenly resented the course of the whites, and they had cause for complaint, they were ignorant of the art of cultivating the soil, and unwilling to practice it, and in their restricted limits it was difficult for them to obtain the means of supporting life. The game had been almost entirely driven from the forests, and the savages were forced to depend upon fish for their food ; and these were obtained in scanty and uncertain quan- tities. Thus the very success of New Eng- land was about to bring upon it the mc'=t serious misfortunes it had yet sustaine-^ The Chief Entrapped. Massasoit, who had been the early friend ©f the English, left two sons at his death, Wamsuttaand Metacom, who had long been reckoned among the friends of the Plymouth colony. They were frequent visitors at Plymouth, and had received from the English the names of Alexander and Philip. At the death of Massasoit, Wamsutta, or Alexander, became chief of the Wampanoags. He and his brother Philip were men of more than ordinary abilities, and felt deeply the wrongs which were beginning to fall thickly upon their race. Uncas, the chief of the Mohe- gans, the determined enemy of Wamsutta, exerted himself, with success, to fill the minds of the English with suspicions of the intentions of the Wampanoag chieftain, and it was resolvcc^ '■■^ arrest him and bring him to Plymouth. Winslow was sent at the head of an armed force, and succeeded in surprising the chief in his hunting-lodge, together with eighty of his followers. The proud spirit of Wamsutta chafed with such fury at the indignity thus ^t upon him that he was seized with a dan- gerous fever, and the English were obliged to permit him to return home. " He died oa his way," says Elliott. " He was carried home on the shoulders of men, and borne to his silent grave near Mount Hope, in the evening of the day, and in the prime of his life, between lines of sad, quick-minded Indians, who well believed him the victim ol injustice and ingratitude ; for his father had been the ally, not the subject, of England, and so was he, and the like indignity had not before been put upon any sachem." By the death of his brother, Metacom, or Philip, became chief of the Wampanoags. He kept his own council, but the whites soon had cause to believe that he meditated a des- perate vengeance upon them for the death of Wamsutta and the wrongs of his race. To make the sense of injury deeper in his mind, the Plymouth authorities treated him with great harshness and compelled him to give up his arms. A " praying Indian " who lived among his people informed the colonists that the chief meditated harm against them, and his dead body was soon after found. Three of Philip's men were suspected of the murder. They were arrested, tried at Ply- mouth, and found guilty by a jury composed of whites and Indians, and were put to death. This was early in 1675. Cry for Revenge. The execution of these men awoke a wild thirst for revenge among the tribe to which they belonged, and the young warriors clam- ored loudly for war against the English. Philip, whose vigorous mind enabled him to judge more clearly of the issue of such a struggle, entered into the contest with reluct- ance, for he saw that it must end in the destruction of his race. He was powerless to resist the universal sentiment of his people, and like a true hero resolved to make the best of the situation in which he was placed. 172 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. and to share the fate of his nation. The Indians were tolerably Avell provided with fire-arms, for, in spite of the severe punish- ments denounced against the sale of weapons to the savages, the colonists had not been proof against the temptations of gain held out to them by this traffic. Their chief dependence, however, was upon their primitive weapons. The English, on the other hand, were well armed, and were provided with forts and towns which fur- nished them with secure places of refuge. KING PHILIP. They might have averted the war by concil- iating the savages^ but they persisted in their unjust treatment of them, regarding them as " bloody heathen,"' who it was their duty to drive back into the wilderness. Philip was able to bring seven hundred desperate warriors into the field. They had no hope of success, and they fought only for vengeance. They knew every nook and hiding-place of the forest, and in these nat- ural defences could hope to continue the struggle as long as the leaves remamed on the trees to conceal their lurking-places from the white man's search. War Breaks Out. Immediately after the execution of the three Indians at Plymouth, Philip's men had begun to rob exposed houses and carry off cattle, but the war did not actually begins until the twenty-fourth of June, 1675, the day^ of fasting and prayer appointed by the gov- ernment as a preparation for the struggle.. On that day the people of Swanzey, in Ply- mouth colony, while returning home from- church, were attacked by the Wampanoags,. and eight or nine were killed. Philip burst into tears when the news of this attack was brought to him, but he threw himself with energy into the hopeless struggle, now that it had come. Reinforcements were sent from Massachu- setts to the aid of the Plymouth colony, and on the twenty-ninth of June the united forces made an attack upon the Wampanoags, killed six or seven of their men and drove them to- a swamp in which they took refuge. The English surrounded this swamp, determined to starve the Indians into submission, but Philip and his warriors escaped and took refuge among the Nipmucks, a small tribe" occupying what is now Worcester county, Massachusetts. The English then marched into the territory of the Narragansetts and compelled them to agree to remain neutral, and to deliver up the fugitive Indians who should take refuge among them. This accomplished, the colonists hoped they had put an end to the war. Philip succeeded in inducing the Nipmucks to join him in the struggle, and his warriors began to hang around the English settle^ ments. The whites were murdered wherever they ventured to expose themselves, and a feeling of general terror spread through th€^ i NEW ENGLAND AFTER THE RESTORATION. ^71 colonies. No one knew the extent of the hostility of the savage tribes, or how many allies Philip had gained ; nor was it certain when or where the next great blow of the savages would be struck. Strange Stories. Some of the colonists began to give way to superstitious fears. It waJ asserted that an Indian bow, a sign of impending evil, had been seen clearly defined against the heavens, and ^^ ^^ that at the eclipse which occurred at this time the moon bore the figure of an Indian scalp on its face. The northern heavens glowed with auroral lights of unusual brilliancy; troops g of phantom horsemen were heard to dash through the air; the sighing of the night wind was like the sound of whistling bullets; and the howling of the wolves was fiercer and more con- stant than usual. These things, the superstitious declared, were warnings that the colonies were about to be severely pun- ished for their sins, among ♦i^hich they named profane swearing, the neglect of bringing up their children in more rigid observances, the licensing of ale houses, and the wearing of long hair by the men, and of gay apparel by the women. The more extreme even declared that they were about to be "judged " for not exterminating the Quakers. In the meantime, Philip, with a party of Nipmucks and his own people, carried the «rar into the valley of the Connecticut, and spread death along the line of settlements from Springfield to Northficld, then the most remote inland town. With the hope of with- drawing the Nipmucks, who could mustei fifteen hundred warriors, from the confed- eracy. Captain Hutchinson, with twenty men, was sent to treat with them. His party was ambushed and murdered at Brookfield early in August. The Indians then attacked THE BURNING OF BROOKFIELD BY THE INDIANS. Brookfield, and burned the village with the exception of one strong house to which the colonists retreated. After a siege of two days, during which they kept up a constant fire upon the build- ing, they attempted to burn the house, but were prevented by a shower of rain which »74 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. extinguished the flames. At the same moment a reinforcement of fifty men arrived to the aid of the whites, and the savages were driven off with the loss of several of Iheir number. Philip succeeded in drawing to his support nearly all the tribes of New England, and it was resolved by the savages io make a general effort for the destruction of the whites. A concerted attack was to be made upon a large number of settlements at the same day and hour, and the Sabbath was chosen as the day most favorable for the movement. King Philip a Refugee. Deerfield in Massachusetts and Hadley in Connecticut were among the places attacked. The former was burned. Hadley was as- sailed while the congregation were worship- ing in the church, and the whites were hard pressed by their antagonists. Suddenly in the midst of the battle there appeared a tall and venerable man with a flowing beard, and clad in a strange dress. With sword in hand he rallied the settlers, and led them to a new effort, in which the savages were beaten back and put to flight. When the battle was over, the stranger could not be found, and the wondering people declared that he was an angel sent by God for their deliverance. It was Gofife, the regicide, who had suddenly lett his place of concealment to aid his coun- trymen in their struggle with the savages. He had been lying in concealment at the house of Russell, the minister of Hadley, and returned to his place of refuge when the danger was over. On the whole, the Indians, though they succeeded in causing great suffering to the colonies, were unsuccessful in their efforts during the summer and autumn of 1675. In October, Philip returned to his old home, but, finding Mount Hope in ruins, took shel- ter among the Narra^ansetts, who protected him notwithstanding their promise to deliver up all fugitives to the English. The colonial authorities seeing that the tribe had no inten- tion of fulfilling their promise, and being fearful that Philip would succeed in winning them over to his side, resolved to anticipate the danger and treat them as enemies. A force was collected and sent into the Narragansett country in December, 1675, This tribe, numbering about three thousand souls, had erected a strong fort of palisades, in the midst of a swamp near the present town of Kingston, Rhode Island. It was almost inaccessible, and had but a single entrance, defended by a morass, which could be passed only by means of a fallen tree» The English were led to the fort by an Indian traitor, and attacked it on the nine- teenth of December. After a severe fight of two hours they succeeded in forcing an en- trance into the fort. The wigwams were then fired, and the Avhole place was soon in flames. The defeat of the savages was complete, but it was purchased by the loss of six captains and two hundred and fifty men, killed and wounded, on the part of the English. Fury of the Savages. \bout one thousand of the Narraganscics were slain, their provisions were destroyed and numbers were made prisoners. Thos^ who escaped wandered through the frozen woods without shelter, and for food were compelled to dig for nuts and acorns under the snow. Many died during the winter. Canonchet, the Narragansett chief, was among the survivors. " We will fight to the last man rather than become servants to the English," said the undaunted chieftaia He was taken prisoner in April, i6y6, near Blackstone, and was offered his life if he would induce the Indians to make peace. He refused the offer with scorn, and, whee MRS. ROWLANDSON CAPTURED BY THE INDIANS. 175 i;6 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. sentenced to death, answered proudly : " I like it well ; I shall die before I speak any- thing unworthy of myself." In the spring of 1676, Philip, who had been to the west to endeavor to induce the Mohawks to join the war against the Eng- lish, returned to place himself at the head of his countrymen in New England, The work .Df murdering and burning was resumed with renewed fury. The Indians seemed to be everywhere and innumerable, and the whites could find safety only in their forts. The surviving Narragansetts scourged the Rhode Island and Plymouth colonies with fire and axe, and even the aged Roger Williams was obliged to take up arms for the defence of his home, Lancaster, Medford, Weymouth, ■Groton, Springfield, Sudbury and Marl- borough, in Massachusetts, and Providence and Warwick, in Rhode Island, were de- stroyed either wholly or in part, and numer- ous other settlements were attacked and made ■^o suffer more or less severely. Mother and Child Wounded. Among the prisoners carried away by the savages was Mrs. Rowlandson, wife of the resident minister, and her little girl six years old. A single bullet fired during the attack wounded both mother and child. With that devotion which is part of the nature of a mother, she carried and nursed the little one for nine days, when it died in her arms. The parent endured many hardships, and was a captive among the Indians for three months, when she was ransomed for twenty pounds. As the season advanced the cause of the Indians became more hopeless, and they began to quarrel among themselves. In June the Nipmucks submitted, and the tribes on the Connecticut refused to shelter Philip any longer. He then appealed to the Mohawks to take up the hatchet, but seeing that his cause was hopeless, they refused to join him. In proud despair Philip went back to Mount Hope to die. One of his people urged him to make peace with the whites, and was struck dead by the chief for daring to mention such a humiliation. "I Am Ready to Die!" It became known that Philip had returned to his old home, and Captain Church marched against him, dispersed his followers^ and took the chiefs wife and little son pris- oners. Philip, who had borne the reverses and the reproaches of his nation with the firmness of a hero, was conquered by this misfortune. " My heart breaks," he cried, despairingly, " I am ready to die! " He was soon attacked by Church in his place of concealment, and in attempting to escape was shot by an Indian who was serving in the ranks of his enemies. Philip's little son was sold as a slave in Bermuda, and the grandson of Massasoit, who had welcomed and befriended the English, was condemned to pass his days in bondage in a foreign clime. The death of Philip was soon followed by the close of hostilities. The power of the Indians was completely broken. Of the Narragansetts scarcely one hundred men were left alive, and the other tribes had suf- fered severely. The Mohegans had remained faithful to the English, and Connecticut had been happily spared the sufferings experi- enced by the other colonies, which were very severe. Twelve or thirteen towns were destroyed, and many others were seriously crippled. Six hundred houses were burned, and the pecuniary losses amounted to the then enormous sum of half a million of dollars. Over six hundred men, chiefly young men, fell in the war, and there was scarcely a family which did not mourn some loved one who had given his life for the country. NEW ENGLAND AFTER THE RESTORATION. ^77 /.. all their distress the colonies received ao aid from England. The mother country left them to fight out their struggle of life ■and death alone. The English people and ;government were indifferent to their fate. One generous Non-conformist church in Dublin sent a contribution of five hundred pounds to the sufferers. This relief was gratefully acknowledged; but to the credit ■of New England it should be remembered that her colonies never asked assistance from England. The king was very careful, 'however, to exact every penny he could wring from the colonies, and towards the close of the Indian war established a royal custom-house at Boston for the collection of duties. Duties were imposed upon the com- inerce of the colonies, and the royal govern- inent endeavored to enforce their payment i)y threatening to refuse the New England «hips the protection which enabled them to escape the outrages of the African pirates of the Mediterranean. The province of Maine had been restored i)y Charles II. to the heirs of Sir Ferdinand Corges, and in 1677 Massachusetts pur- chased their claims for the sum of twelve hundred and fifty pounds, and thus confirmed ^ler possession of the region between the Piscataqua and the Kennebec. The region t)etween the Kennebec and the Penobscot -was held by the Duke of York, and that from the Penobscot to the St. Croix was occupied hy the French. In July, 1679, King Charles detached New Hampshire from Massachusetts, and organ- ized it as a royal province; the first ever ^ erected in New England. The province at once asserted its rights, and a controversy was begun with the crown, which was con- tinued for several years. The people resisted ihe effort to force upon them the observances •of the English church, and the collection of taxes assessed by the royal official.s, and Cranfield, the royal governor, finding it impossible to continue his arbitrary rule, wrote to the British government, " J shall esteem it the greatest happiness in the world to remove from these unreasonable people. They cavil at the royal commission, and not at my person. No one will be accepted by them who puts the king's commands :al execution." Conflict With the King. In the last years of his reign Charles IL made a determined effort to destroy the charter of Massachusetts. Commissioners were sent by the colony to England to endeavor to defend its rights, but the royal government was resolved upon its course, and the people of Massachusetts were equally determined not to consent to the surrender of their liberties. At length, in 1684, the general court having in the name of the people distinctly refused to make a surrender of the charter to the king, the English courts declared the charter forfeited. A copy of the judgment was sent to Boston,! and was received there on the second of July, 1685. The colony was full of appre- hension. The charter under which it had grown and prospered, and which secured its liberties to it without the interference of the crown, had been stricken down by the sub- servient courts of the mother country, and there was now no defence between the liber- ties of Massachusetts and the arbitrary will, of the king, who had given the colony good cause to fear his hostility. James II. came to the English throne in 1685. He was even more hostile to New England than his brother Charles. He was a bigoted Roman Catholic, and was resolved to introduce that faith, not only into Eng- land, but also into the colonies. He attempted to accomplish this by proclaiming an indul- gence or toleration of all creeds. As he 178 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. dared not proceed openly to violate his cor- onation oath, he hoped by this underhanded scheme to place his own reh'gion upon such a footing in England that he would soon be in a positioii to compel its adoption by his •ubjects. He had greatly mistaken the temper of both England and America. Joseph Dudley, who had been sent to England as one of the agents of Massachu- SIR EDMUND ANDROS. setts in the last controversy between the colony and King Charles, now found it to his interest to become as ardent a defender as he had formerly been an opponent of the royal prerogative, and James finding him a willing abettor of his designs, appointed him president of Massachusetts until a royal governor should arrive, for the king was resolved to take away the charters of all the colonies and make them royal provinces,. At the same time, being determined to curtail the liberty of the press, the king appointed: Edward Randolph its censor. Dudley was regarded by the people as the betrayer of the liberties of his country, and both he and Randolph were cordially despised by them. The king In appointing Dudley made no provision for an assembly or general court, as he meant to- govern the colonies without reference to the people. He- regarded the American pro- vinces as so many possessions- of the crown, possessed of no- rights, and entitled to no privi- leges save what he chose to- allow them. In pursuance of this plan, Sir Edmund Andros, whom the king had appointed governor of New^ York, was made governor-gen- eral of all New England. He reached Boston In December^ 1686. Dudley was made chief justice, and Randolph colonial secretary. The governor-general was empowered by the king to- appoint his own council, impose such taxes as he should think fit, command the militia of the colonies, enforce the naviga- tion acts, prohibit printing,, and establish episcopacy in New England ; and in order- to enable him to enforce his will, two companies of soldiers were sent over with him and quartered in Boston. Thus were the liberties of New England placed at the- mercy of a tyrant, and thus was inaugu« rated a despotism the most galling that was ever Imposed upon men of English descent. NEW ENGLAND AFTER THE RESTORATION. 179 Andros promptly put in force a series of the most arbitrary measures. The public schools, which had been fostered with such care by ihe colonial governments, were allowed to fall into decay. The support which had been granted to the churches was withdrawn. The people were forbidden to assemble for the discussion of any public matter, though they were allowed the poor privilege of electing their town officers. The form of oath in use in New England was an appeal to Heaven with uplifted hand. The governor now ordered the substitution of a form which required the person to place his hand on the Bible. This was particularly repugnant to the Puritans, who regarded it as a " Popish practice." Probate fees were increased twenty-fold. The holders of lands were told that their titles were invalid because obtained under a charter which had been declared forfeited. Tyrannical Proceedings. No person was allowed to leave the colony without a pass signed by the governor. The Puritan magistrates and ministers were refused authority to unite persons in mar- riagc\ The clergyman of the Church of England, stationed at Boston, was the only person in New England who could perform a legal marriage. Episcopacy was formally established, and the people were required to build a church for its uses. At the com- mand of the king, a tax of a penny in the pound, and a poll-tax of twenty pence, was imposed upon every person in the colony. Some of the towns had the boldness to refuse to pay this tax, and John Wise, the minister of Ipswich, advised his fellow- townsmen to resist it. He and a number of others were arrested and fined. When they pleaded their privileges under the laws of England, they were told by one of the coun- cil: "You have no privilege left you but not to be sold as slaves." ** Do you think,'* asked one of the judges, " that the laws of England follow you to the ends ol the earth ? " The iniquitous exactions of Andros and his associates threatened the country with ruin. When the magistrates mentioned this^ they were told, " It is not for his majesty's interest you should thrive." " The governoi 4 invaded liberty and property after such a manner," wrote Increase Mather, " as no maa could say anything was his own." The Old " Charter Oak." The other colonies came in for their share of bad treatment. Soon after he reached Boston, Andros demanded of the authorities of Rhode Island the surrender of their char- ter. Governor Clarke declined to comply with this demand, and Andros went to Providence, broke the seal of the colony, and declared its government dissolved. He appointed a com- mission irresponsible to the people for the government of Rhode Island, and then had the effrontery to declare that the people of that colony were satisfied with what he had done. In October, Andros went to Connecticut with an armed guard to take possession of the government of that colony. He reached Hartford on the thirty-first of the month, and found the legislature in session, an:! de- manded ot that body the surrender 01 the charter. The discussion was prolonged until evening, and then candles were brought, and the charter was placed on the table. Sud- denly the lights were extinguished, and when they were relighted the charter could not be found. It had been secured by Joseph Wadsworth of Hartford, and carried to the southern part of the city, where it was con- cealed in a hollow oak tree, which was after* wards known as the " Charter Oak." Andros, furious at the disappearance of the charter, was not to be balked of his purpose i8o SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. of seizing the colonial government, and taking the record book of the assembly, he wrote the word "Finis" at the end of the last day's proceed! nos. He then declared the colonial government at an end, and proceeded to administer the affairs of the province in the spirit in which he had governed Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The people of New England had borne these outrages with a patience which no one had expected of them. They were a law- abiding people, and wished to exhaust all legal means of redress before proceeding to extreme measures for their protection * but THE CHARTER OAK. the party in favor of driving Andros and his fellow-plunderers out of the country was rapidly growing stronger, and it was not certain how much longer the policy of for- bearance would be continued. Increase Mather was appointed to go to England and endeavor to procure a redress of the grievances of the colonies. It was a danger- ous mission, for the king was in full sympa- thy with the men whom he had placed over the liberties of New England. It was also difficult to leave America without the knowl- edge of Andros and his colleagues, but Mather succeeded in escaping their vigilance, and was on his way to the old world when relief arrived from a most unexpected quarter. The efforts of James to bring about the re-establishment of the Roman Catholic religion in England roused the whole Eng- lish nation against him, and in 1689 the nation invited William, Prince of Orange^, the husband of James' eldest daughter, Mary, to come over to England and assume the throne. James, left without any adher- ents, fled to France, and William and Mary were securely seated upon the throne. The news of the landing of William in England and the flight of King James reached Boston on the fourth of April, 1689. The messenger was at once imprisoned by Andros, but his tidings soon became known to the citizens. On the morning of the eight- eenth the people of Boston took up arms, and having secured the person of the com- mander of the royal frigate in the harbor, seized the royalist sheriff Sent to England for Trial. The militia were assembled, and Andros and his companions were obliged to take refuge in the fort. Simon Bradstreet, the governor who had held office at the time of the abrogation of the charter, was called upon by the people to resume his post, and the old magistrates were reinstated and organized as a council of safety. Andros and his creatures attempted to escape to the frigate, but were prevented and were com- pelled to surrender. The next day rein- forcements came pouring into Boston from the other settlements, and the fort was taken and the frigate mastered. Town meetings were now held throughout the colony, and it was voted to resume the former charter. The people were almost unanimous in favor of this course, but the counsels of a nvore timid minority prevailed, and the council, which had appointed itself to the control ot NEW ENGLAND AFTER THE RESTORATION. i8i ftfifairs, decided to solicit a new charter from William and Mary. A general court was convened on the twenty-second of May. The people of the colony were anxious that Andros, Dudley and Randolph should receive prompt punishment for their offences, but the authorities wisely determined to send them to England for trial. Plymouth, upon receipt of the news from Boston, seized the agent of Andros, impris- oned him, and re-established the government which Andros had overthrown, under the constitution signed on board the ** May- flower." There were none of the old Pil- grim fathers living to witness this event, but their children were none the less determined to maintain unimpaired the liberties they had inherited from them. The Charter Safe. Rhode Island promptly resumed her charter and reinstated the officers whom Andros had displaced. Connecticut, upon hearing of the downfall of the governor- general, brought out her charter from its biding place, and restored the old officers to their positions. Thus the work of James II. was over- thrown, and the destinies of New England were once more in the hands of her own people. The generation that had settled New England had nearly all been gathered to their rest, and their children were in some respects different from the fathers. They had learned lessons of toleration, and had acquired many of the refining graces that the elder Puritans regarded as mere vanity. They retained, however, the earnest and Rofty virtues which had made the first gen- eration superior to hardships and trials of all kinds, and v/hich had enabled them in the face of every discouragement to lay the foundations of the great commonwealths which to-day cherish their memories as their most precious legacies. The fathers of New England richly merited the honor which succeeding generations have delighted to bestow upon their memories. However they may have erred, they were men who earnestly sought to do right in all things, and who did their duty fearlessly according to the light before them. In the first generation we ha\e noticed an extraordinary degree of influence exerted by the ministers. This was due to no desire of the Puritans to connect ohurch and state, but Wdd owing to the fact that the ministers represented the best educated and most in- tellectual class of that day, and the people regarded them as the best qualified guides in the community. As New England ad- vanced in prosperity her schools and coU leges were able to turn out numbers of edu» cated men, who embraced the other learned professions, and divided the influence with the ministers. New England always chose its leaders from among its most intelligent men, and its people always yielded a willing homage to the claims of intellect At the downfall of Andros there were about two hundred thousand white inhabi- tants in the English colonies of North America. Of these, Massachusetts, includ* ing Plymouth and Maine, had about forty- four thousand; New Hampshire and Rhode Island about six thousand each ; Connecticut about twenty thousand ; making the total population of New England about seventy- six thousand. CHAPTER XV Witchcraft in Massachusetts Pewits of the ftShn of Massachusetts to Resume her Charter— The New Charter— Loss of the Libertfw of tf»e Colony —Union of Plymouth with Massachusetts Bay — Belief in Witchcraft — ^The History of Witchcraft in Massachusetts— The Case of the Goodwin Children — Cotton Mather Espouses the Cause of the Witches — Samuel Parris — He Orig; nates the Salem Delusion — ^A Strange History — A Specid Court Appointed for the Trial of the Witches — ^The Victim? —Execution of the Rev. George Burroughs — Cotton Mather's Part in the Tragedies — ^The General Court takes Action in Behalf of the People — End of the Persecution — Failure of Cotton Mather's Attempt to Save his Credit. THE decision of the magistrates of Massachusetts to disregard the wishes of a majority of the people of the colony, who desired an imme- diate restoration of the government under the old charter, and to wait for a new charter from William and Mary, gave great offence to the popular party. Had the wish of this party been complied with, Massachusetts might have recovered every liberty and priv- ilege of which she had been deprived by King James. Increase Mather distinctly declares that •' had they at that time entered upon the full exercise of their charter government, as their undoubted right, wise men in England were of opinion that they might have gone on without disturbance." The self-constituted government hesitated, however, and the op- portunity was lost. When the convention of the people ssjet, in May, 1689, they refused to acknowledge the council that had taken charge of affairs upon the downfall of Andros, and demanded that the governor, deputy governor and assist- ants elected in 1686 should be restored to office. The council refused to comply with this demand, and the matter was referred to the people, who sustained their representa- tives. A compromise was effected, and the council agreed to permit the officers of 1686 to resume their places until instructions could be received from England. Agents were sent to England to solicit a restoration of the charter, and their appeal was supported by the English Presbyterians with great unani- mity. Even the Archbishop of Canterbury urged the king *' not to take away from the people of New England any of the privileges which Charles I. had granted them.'* In spite of the pressure exerted upon him in behalf of the colony, King William granted to Massachusetts a charter which placed the liberties of the province so entirely at the mercy of the crown that the colonial agent refused to accept it. There was no help for it, however, and the charter became the fundamental law of Massachusetts, Under the old charter the governor of Mas- sachusetts had been elected annually by the votes of the freemen; he was now to be appointed by the king and to serve during the royal pleasure. He was given power to summon the general court, and to adjoura or dissolve that body. The election of magistrates of all kinds,' which had been confided to the people by the old charter, was taken from them, and henceforth these officials were to be appointed by the governor with the consent of the council. The old charter had made the decision of the colonial courts final ; the new permitted appeals from these tribunals to the privy council in England. The old charter had given to the general court iutt WITCHCRAFT IN MASSACHUSETTS. Hi (powers of legislation; the new confeired upon the governor the right to veto any of its measures, and reserved to the crown the power of cancelling any act of colonial legislation within three years after its pass- age. The council was at first appointed oy the king, but was subsequently elected by the joint ballot of the two branches of the gen- eral court. To compensate the people for the loss of their political power the king greatly enlarged the limits of the colony. Massachusetts and Ply- mouth were united in rone province, the name of the former being given to the whole. The Eli- €abeth Islands were also added to the province, and its northern bound- ary was extended to the St. Lawrence. Toleration was granted to every religious sect except the Roman Catholics. New Hampshire was separ- ated from the jurisdic- tion of Massachusetts and made a separate province ; but Maine and the vast wilderness beyond it were confirmed to the Bay colony. The charter bore the date of October 7, 1 69 1. Upon the nomination of Increase Mather, one of the colonial agents, Sir William Phipps, a native of New England, a well-meaning but incompetent man, who was in religious matters strongly inclined to superstition, was appointed governor of Massachusetts, Will- iam Stoughton, *' a man of cold affections, proud, self-willed, and covetous of distinction** — a man universally hated by the people- was appointed deputy governor to pleasfl Cotton Mather. The members of the council THE REV. COTTON MATHER. j were chosen entirely for their devotion " tl* the interests of the churches. " While these matters were in progress of settlement, there occurred in Massachusetts one of the most singular delusions recorded I84 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. in history, and which was in some respects the last expiring effort of ecclesiastical am- bition to control the political affairs of the colony. The clergy had always sought in New England, as in other lands, to fight their political enemies with spiritual weapons. Vhey now carried this to an extreme which taught the people of New England a lesson that was not soon forgotten. Witches and Witchcraft. The belief in witchcraft has not been con- fined to any single nation, and at this time was common to America and Europe. " The people did not rally to the error; they accepted the superstition only because it had not yet been disengaged from religion," It was believed that as Christians were united with God by a solemn covenant, so were witches leagued with the devil by a tie which, once formed, they could not dissolve. Those who thus placed themselves in the arch- fiend*9 power were used by him as instru- ments to torment their fellow-men. They were given power to annoy them by pinch- ing them, thrusting invisible pins into them, pulling their hair, afflicting them with disease, killing their cattle and chickens with myste- rious ailments, upsetting their wagons and carts; .^nd by practising upon them many other puerile and ludicrous tricks. The witches generally exerted their arts upon those whom they hated, but it was a matter of doubt how many persons were included in their dislikes. One of the most popular superstitions was that of the " Witches' sacrament," a gathering at which the devil, in the form of " a small black man," presided, and required his followers to renounce their Christian baptism and to sign their names in his book. They were then re-baptised by the devil, and the meet- ing was closed with horrid rites which varied in different narratives according to the im- agination of the relators. The belief in the existence of witchcraft was held by some of the leading minds of this period. Sir Matthew Hale, Lord Chief Justice of England, was firmly convinced of the truth of the doctrine, and it was advo- cated by many of the clergy of England. In New England the clergy held it to be heresy to deny the existence of witches^ which, they claimed was clearly taught in- the Scriptures. It was evidently to their interest f-o maintain this belief, as it made them the chief authorities in such cases, anJ furnished them with a powerful weapon- against their adversaries. Devils and Wizards. By the early settlers of New England ther Indians were supposed to be worshipers of the devil, and their medicine-men to be wizards. Governor Hutchinson, in his " History of Massachusetts," thus sums up the cases of supposed witchcraft that had occurred in the colony previous to the time or which we are now writing : " The first suspicion of witchcraft among the English was about the year 1645, at Springfield, upon Connecticut River ; several persons were supposed to be under an evil hand, and among the rest two of the min- ister's children. Great pains were taken to prove the facts upon several of the persons charged with the crime, but either the nature of the evidence was not satisfactory, or the fraud was suspected, and so no person was convicted until the year 1650, when a poor wretch, Mary Oliver, probably weary of her life from the general reputation of being a witch, after long examination, was brought to confession of her guilt, but I do not find that she was executed. " Whilst this inquiry was making, Mar- garet Jones was executed at Charlestown ; and Mr. Hale mentions a woman at Dor- chester, and another at Cambridge about th* WITCHCRAFT IN MASSACHUSETTS. l«5 same time, who all at their death asserted their innocence. Soon after, Hugh Parsons was tried at Springfield, and escaped death. In 1655 Mrs. Hibbins, the assistant's widow, was hanged at Boston. " In 1662, at Hartford, in Connecticut, one Ann Cole, a young woman who lived next door to a Dutch family, and no doubt had learned something of the language, was supposed to be possessed with demons, who sometimes spoke Dutch and sometimes English, and sometimes a language which nobody understood, and who held a con- ference with one another. Several ministers who were present took down the conference in writing and the names of several per- sons, mentioned in the course of the con- ference, as actors or bearing parts in it , par- ticularly a woman, then in prison upon suspicion of witchcraft, one Greensmith, who upon examination, confessed and appeared to be surprised at the discovery. She owned that she and the others named had been familiar with a demon, who had carnal knowledge of her, and although she had not made a formal covenant, yet she had promised to be ready at his call, and was to have had a high frolic at Christmas, when the agreement was to have been signed. Upon this confession she was executed, and two more of the company were condemned. In 1669 Susanna Martin, of Salisbury, was bound over to the court upon suspicion of witchcraft, but escaped at that time. A Fortunate Escape. " In 167 1 Elizabeth Knap, another ven- triloqua, alarmed the people of Groton in much the same manner as Ann Cole had done those of Hartford ; but her demon was not so cunning, for, instead of confining him- self to old women, he railed at the good minister of the town and other people of good character, and the people could not then be prevailed on to believe him, but believed the girl when she confessed that she had been deluded, and that the devil had tormented her in the shape of good persons ; so she escaped the punishment due to her fraud and imposture. " In 1673 Eunice Cole, of Hampton, was tried, and the jury found her not legally guilty, but that there were strong grounds- to suspect her of familiarity with the deviL An Invisible Hand. " In 1679 William Morse's house, at New- bury, was troubled with the throwing of bricks, stones, etc., and a boy of the family was supposed to be bewitched, who accused one of the neighbors; and in 1682 the house of George Walton, a Quaker, at Portsmouth, and another at Salmon Falls (in New Hamp- shire), were attacked after the same manner. " In 1683 the demons removed to Con- necticut River again, where one Desborough's house was molested by an invisible hand, and a fire kindled, nobody knew how, which burnt up a great part of his estate ; and in 1684 Philip Smith, a judge of the court, a military ofificer and a representative of the town of Hadley, upon the same river (a hypochondriac person), fancied himself under an evil hand, and suspected a woman, one of his neighbors, and languished and pined away, and was generally supposed to be be- witched to death. While he lay ill, a num- ber of brisk lads tried an experiment upon the old woman. Having dragged her out of her house, they hung her up until she was near dead, let her down, rolled her some time in the snow, and at last buried her in it and left her there, but it happened that she survived and the melancholy man died." These cases, which were not generally regarded in the enlightened spirit of the writer we have quoted, served to confirm the common belief in witchcraft. Increase Mather published a work in 1684 containing i$6 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. an account of the cases which had already occurred in the colony, and giving detailed descriptions of the manner in which the afflicted persons had exhibited their " devdl- try." The publication of this work seemed to revive the trouble, and in a more aggra- vated form, for it is a singular fact that the general discussion of delusions of this kLic rarely fails to produce an increase of the ei"*l. A Child Bewitched. In 1688 a case occurred which excited general interest, and was the beginning of one of the saddest periods in the history of New England. The daughter of John Goodwin, a child of thirteen years, accused the daughter of an Irish laundress of stealing some linen. The mother of the laundress, a friendless emigrant, succeeded in disproving the charge, and abused the girl soundly for making a false accusation. Soon after this, the accuser was seized with a fit, and pre- tended to be bewitched in order to be revenged upon the poor Irish woman. Her younger sister and two of her brothers fol- lowed her example. They pretended to be dumb, then deaf, then blind, and then all three at once. " They were struck dead at the sight of the * Assembly's Catechism,' " says Governor Hutchinson, dryly, *' ' Cot- ton's Milk for Babes,' and some other g-ood books, but could read in Oxford jests, Popish and Quaker books, and the Common Prayer 7A^ithout any difficulty." Nevertheless their appetite was good, and they slept soundly at night. The youngest of these little im- postors was less than five years old. It was at once given out that the Goodwin children were bewitched, and no one suspected or hinted at the fraud. They would bark like dogs and mew like cats, and a ph}'sician who was called in to treat them solemnly declared that they were possessed by devils, as he discovered many of the symptoms laid down in Increase Mather's book. A conference of the four ministers of Boston, and one from Charlestown, was held at Goodwin's house, where they observed a day of fasting and prayer. As a result of their efforts, the youngest child, a boy of less than five years, was delivered of his evil spirit. The ministers now had no doubt that the children had been bewitched, and as the little ones accused the Irish woman of their misfortune, she was arrested, tried fo*" witchcraft, convicted and hanged, notwith- standing that many persons thought the poor creature a lunatic. Among the ministers who had investigated this case and had procured the execution o» the woman was Cotton Mather, the son of Increase Mather, then president of Harvard College. He was a young man who had but recently entered the ministry, and was regarded as one of the most learned and gifted preachers in the colony. He was withal a man of overweening vanity and full of ambition. He could not bear contradic- tion, and was devoted to the maintenance of the political power of the clergy. He was superstitious by nature, and was firmly con- vinced of the reality of witchcraft. He had become deeply interested in the case of the Goodwin children, and in order to study it more deeply took the eldest girl to his house, where he could observe and experi- ment upon her devil at his leisure. She was a cunning creature, and soon found that it was to her interest to humor the young pas- tor in his views, and she played upon his weakness with a shrewdness and skill which were remarkable in one so young, and exhibit the credulity of the investigator in a most pitiable light. *' All Devils are Not Alike/* Mather carried on his experiments with a diligence which would have seemed ludi- crous had its object been less baneful to the WITCHCRAFT IN MASSACHUSETTS. 187 community. He read the Bible, and prayed aloud in the presence of the girl, who would pretend to be thrown into a fit by the pious exercise. At the same time she read the Book of Common Prayer, or Quaker or Popish treatises, w^ithout any interruption from her familiar spirits. The minister then tpsted the proficiency of the devil in lan- guages, by reading aloud passages of the Bible in Hebrew, Greek and Latin, which the girl professed to understand. When he tried her with an Indian dialect, however, she could not comprehend him. By other exper- iments, designed to ascertain if the spirits could read the thoughts of others, Mather came to the sage conclusion that " ali devils are not alike sagacious." The girl flattered his vanity, and lulled his suspicion of fraud by telling him that his own pe"son was especially protected against the e j1 spirits by the power of God, and that the devils did not dare to enter his study. Pious Belief in Witchcraft. The vanity of Cotton Mather was elated to the highest pitch by what he deemed his successful experiments, and he wrote a book upon witchcraft, in which he endeavored to prove the truth of his theories, and declared that he should esteem it a personal insult if any one should hereafter venture to deny the existence of witchcraft. His book was reprinted in London, with a preface by Richard Baxter, the well-known author of ** The Saints' Rest," warmly indorsing it. It was very generally read in New England, and had a most pernicious effect upon the people by inducing them to give credit to the stories of the writer rather than to listen to the promptings of their own good sense. Still there were some in Boston who had the boldness to differ with Mather, and these the indignant divine denounced as "sad- ducees." Mather supported his views by his sermons. "There are multitudes of sad- ducces in our day," he declared. "A devil in the apprehension of these mighty acute philosophers is no more than a quality or a distemper. Men counted it wisdom to credit nothing but what they say and feel. They never saw any witches ; therefore there are none." The ministers of Boston and Charlestown gave their young colleague their hearty support, and declared that those who doubted the existence of witchcraft were guilty of atheism, and indorsed Mather's book as proving clearly that " there is both a God and a devil, and witchcraft." Thus did the clergy of Massachusetts set themselves to the task of forcing their owm narrow views upon the people. It was a needed lesson. New England had passed the time when clerical rule in political affairs could be pro- ductive of good, and was now to be taught the danger of permitting it to extend beyond this period. At- this juncture Mather's power was gready strengthened by the appointment of his friend and parishioner. Sir William Phipps, as governor of the province, and the nomination of his father-in-law and many of his intimate friends to the council. The ambitious Stoughton, the deputy governor, was also subject to his influence. Here was a fine opportunity to endeavor to establish the power of the clergy upon the old founda- tions, which were being destroyed by the growing intelligence and independence of the people. Many of the ministers, under the lead of Cotton Mather, had committed themselves to the doctrine of witchcraft, and the people must accept it upon their simple assertion. No inquiry must be allowed into the matter, the opinions of the ministers must be adopted by the laity. And so Mather and his followers resorted to the usual weapons of superstition to accomplish the success of their plans. i88 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. In 1692, a new case of witchcraft occurred in Salem village, now the town of Danvers, The minister of this place was Samuel Parris, between whom and a number of his people there had for some time existed dissensions of such a bitter nature that the attention of the general court had been directed to them. In February, 1692, the daughter and niece of Parris, the former a child of nine years, and the latter of less than twelve, gave signs of being bewitched. Parris at once recognized the opportunity which was thus offered him for vengeance upon his enemies, and delib- erately availed himself of it. He demanded of the children the names of the persons whc> had bewitched them, and then proceeded to accuse those whom he succeeded in inducing the girls to denounce. The first victim was Rebecca Nurse. She was known in the community as a woman of exemplary Chris- tian character ; but she was one of the most resolute opponents of Parris. Upon his accusation she was arrested and imprisoned. The next Sunday Parris preached a sermon from the text, " Have I not chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil." As his remarks were directed against Mistress Nurse, Sarah Cloyce, her sister, at once left the church. A Hundred in Prison. This in itself was a serious offence in those days, and Parris took advantage of it to accuse the offender of witchcraft, and she was sent to join her sister in prison. Mather, who deemed his credit at stake, lent his active aid to the persecution of these unfortunate people, and had the vanity to declare that he regarded the efforts of" the evil angels upon the country as a particular defiance unto himself" Parris scattered his accusations right and left, becoming both informer and witness against those whom he meant to destroy for their opposition to him. In a few weeks nearly one hundred per- sons were in prison upon the charge of witchcraft. Abigail Williams, Parris's niece,. aided her uncle with her tales, which the least examination would have shown to be absurd. George Burroughs, one of the min- isters of Salem, had long been regarded by Parris as a rival, and he now openly expressed his disbelief in witchcraft, and his disapproval of the measures against those charged with that offence. This boldness sealed his doom. He was accused by* Parris and committed to prison " with the rest of the witches." "The gallows was to be set up, not for those who professed them- selves witches, but for those who rebuked the delusion." Hanging a Witch. Governor Bradstreet, who had been chosen by the people, was unwilling to proceed to extreme measures against the accused, as he had no faith in the evidence against them. The arrival of the royal governor and the new charter in Boston in May, 1692, placed Cotton Mather and his fellow-persecutors in a position to carry out their bloody designs. The general court alone had authority to appoint special courts, but Governor Phipps did not hesitate to appoint one himself for the trial of the accused persons at Salem^ and this illegal tribunal, with Stoughton as its chief judge, met at Salem on the second of June. In this court Parris acted as pros- ecutor, keeping back some witnesses, and pushing others forward as suited his plans. The first victim of the court was Bridget Bishop, "a poor, friendless old woman.''-^^ Parris, who had examined her at the time of her commitment, was the principal witness against her. Deliverance Hobbs being also accused, a natural infirmity of her body was taken as a proof of her guilt, and she was hanged, protesting her innocence. Rebecca Nurse was at first acquitted of the WITCHCRAFT IN MASSACHUSETTS. 189 •Hiaigcs against her, but the court refused to receive the verdict of the jury, and Parris was determined that the woman against whom he had preached and prayed should act escape him, and the jury were induced to convict her, and she was hanged. John tion. He was immediately denounced, tried and hanged. When George Burroughs, the minister, was placed on trial, the witnesses produced against him pretended to be dumb. " Who hinders these witnesses from giving their testi- EXECUTION OF THE REV. GEORGE BURROUGHS. Willard, who had been compelled by his duty as a constable to arrest the accused, now refused to serve in this capacity any longer, as he had become convinced of the hypocrisy of the instigators of the persecu- monies?" asked Stoughton, the chief judge. 'T suppose the devil," replied Burroughs, con- temptuously. " How comes the devil," cried Stoughton, exultingly, " so loath to have any testimony borne against you ? " The words 190 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. of the prisoner were regarded as a confes- sion, and his remarkable bodily strength was made an evidence of his guilt. He was con- victed and sentenced to be hanged. He was executed on the nineteenth of August with four others. As he ascended the scaffold, Burroughs made an appeal to the people assembled to witness the execution, and effectually vindicated himself from the absurd charges against him, and repeated the Lord's prayer, which was regarded as a test of inno- cence. The spectators seemed about to interfere in favor of the victim. An Innocent Man Hanged. Cotton Mather, who was present on horse- back, now exerted himself to complete the judicial murder. He harangued the people, insisted on the guilt of Burroughs, remind- ing them that the devil could sometimes assume the form of an angel of light, and even descended to the falsehood of declaring that Burroughs was no true minister, as his ordination was not valid. His appeal was successful and the execution was completed. Giles Cory, an old man over eighty years of age, seeing that no denial of guilt availed anything, refused to plead, and was pressed to death, in accordance with an old English law, long obsolete, which was revived to meet his case. Samuel Wardwell confessed his guilt, and escaped the gallows. Ov^er- come with shame for his cowardice, he retracted his confession, and was hanged for denying witchcraft. A reign of terror pre- vailed in Salem ; the prisons were full ; and no one could feel sure how long he would escape accusation and arrest. Many persons confessed their guilt to save their lives. Children accused their parents, parents their children, and husbands and wives each other of the most impossible offences, in the hope of escaping the persecution themselves. Hale, the minister of Beverley, was a zealous advocate of the persecution until the bittci' cup was presented to his own lips by the accusation of his wife. Many persons were obliged to fly the colony, and the magistrates^, conscious that they were exceeding their powers, did not demand their surrender. Crime Added to Crime. We have mentioned only some of the- principal cases to show the character of the- persecution, as our limits forbid the relation of all. The total number hanged was twenty; fifty-five were tortured or terrified into confessions of guilt. The accusations were at first lodged against persons of humble station, but at length reached the higher classes. Governor Phipps' wife and two sons of Governor Bradford are said to have been among the accused. " Insanity," says Judge Story, " could hardly devise more refinements in barbarity, or profligacy execute them with more malignant coolness.'' Every principle of English justice was vio- lated to secure the condemnation of the accused, and people were encouraged by the magistrates to accuse others as a means of securing the favor of the authorities. These terrible deeds were not the work of the people of Massachusetts, and under a popular government would have been im- possible ; for though the belief in witchcraft was general, the sentiment of the people was against the barbarity of the court. The Salem tragedies were the work of a few men, not one of whom was responsible in any way to the people. " Of the magistrates at that time, not one held office by the suf- frage of the people ; the tribunal, essentially despotic in its origin, as in its character, had no sanction but an extraordinary and an illegal commission ; and Stoughton, the chief judge, a partisan of Andros, had been re- jected by the people of Massachusetts. The responsibility of the tragedy, far from attach- WITCHCRAFT IN MASSACHUSETTS. 191 !ng to the people of the colony, rests with the very few, hardly five or six, in whose hands the transition state of the government left for a season unlimited influence. Into the in- terior of the colony the delusion did not epread at all." * Publi<; Indignation. Stoughton's court, having hanged twenty of its victims, adjourned about the last of September, 1692, until November, and on the eighteenth of October the general court met. The indignation of the people had been gathering force, and men were determined tc- put a stop to the judicial murders and tor- tures which had disgraced them so long. Remonstrances were at once presented to the assembly against "the doings of the witch tribunals," the people of Andover leading the way in this effort. The assembly abolished the special court, and established a tribunal by public law. It was ordered that this court should not meet until the fol- lowing January, The governor attempted to undo the work of the assembly by ap- pointing Stoughton chief judge of the new court When that tribunal met at Salem in Jan- uary, 1693, it was evident that the public mind had undergone a marked change. The influence of the leaders of the delusion was at an end. The grand jury rejected the ma- jority of the presentments offered to it, and when those who were indicted were put on frial, the jury brought in verdicts of acquittal in all but three cases. The governor, now alive to the force of public sentiment, re- prieved all who were under sentence to the great disgust of Stoughton, who left the bench in a rage when informed of this action. The persecutors, anxious to cover their defeat by the execution of one more victim, employed all their arts to procure * Bancroft's History of the United States, vol. iii., p. S6 the conviction of a woman of Cha/.cstown, who was commonly believed to be a witch. They supported their charge by more im- portant evidence than had been presented in •iiy case at Salem, but the jury at once returned a verdict of " not guilty." Cotton Mather was intensely mortified by the failure of his efforts to force the people into a general acceptance of his views. He got up a case of witchcraft in Boston, but was careful to caution his possessed people to refrain from accusing any one of bewitching them. Robert Calef, an unlettered man, but one whose common sense could not be led astray by Mather, prompdy exposed the im- posture in a pamphlet, which effectually destroyed Mather's influence for harm. Mather, unable to reply to him, denounced him as an enemy of religion, and complained that Calef 's book was " a libel upon the whole government and ministry of the land,"^ forgetting that only seven or eight ministers, and no magistrate commanding the confi- dence of the people, had any share in the tragedies. Calef continued his writings, however, undismayed by the indignation of his adversary, and his book was finally pub- lished in England, where it attracted con- siderable attention. The Danger Past. The danger was now over. It was no longer possible to procure a conviction for witchcraft. The indignant people of Salem village at once drove the wretched Parris and his family from the place. Noyes, the minister of Salem, who had been active in the persecutions, was compelled to ask the forgiveness of the people, after a public con- fession of his error. The devotion of the rest of his life to works of charity won him the pardon he sought. Sewall, one of the judges, struck with horror at the part he had played in the persecution, -nade an open and 192 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. frank confession of his error, and implored the forgiveness of his fellow-citizens. His sincerity was so evident that he soon regained the favor he had lost Stoughton passed the remainder of his life in proud and haughty- disregard of the opinion of his fellow-men, scorning to make any acknowledgment of error, and evincing no remorse for his cruel- ties. Cotton Mather Duped. As for the prime mover of the delusion, the Rev. Cotton Mather, nothing could induce him to admit that he could by any possibility have been in error ; not even the recollection of the sorrow he had brought upon some of the best people in the colony could shake his impenetrable self-conceit or humble him. When it was plain to him that he was the object of the indignation of all good men in New England, he had the hardihood to endeavor to persuade them that after all he iiad not been specially active in the sad affair. " Was Cotton Mather honestly credu- lous ? " asks Bancroft. " Ever ready to dupe himself, he limited his credulity only by the probable credulity of others. He changes. or omits to repeat, his statements, without acknowledging error, and with a clear inten- tion of conveying false impressions. He is an example how far selfishness, under the form of vanity and ambition, can blind the higher faculties, stupefy the judgment, and dupe consciousness itself His self-right- eousness was complete till he was resisted.** And yet this man was not to die without rendering to the country a genuine service. In 1 72 1, having become satisfied that inocu- lation was a sure preventive of small-pox, he advocated the introduction of it into the colony. He was opposed by the whole body of the clergy, who declared that it was an attempt to defeat the plans of the Almighty, who " sent the small-pox as a punishment to.* sins, and whose vengeance would thus be onl\r provoked the more.'* The people of the colony were also bitterly opposed to inoculation, and threatened to hang Mather if he did not cease his advocacy of it. His life was at one time in serious danger, but he persevered, and at length had the satisfaction of seeing the practice of inoculation gener- ally adopted by the people who had so hotly opposed it. CHAPTER XVI The Settlement of New York t^yages of Henry Hudson — He is Employed by the Dutch — Discovery of the Hudson River — Early Dutch Voya^f*- Adrian Block — Fate of Hudson — The Dutch Build a Fort on Manhattan Island— Settlemeut of Nev/ Amsterdam - '5'he Province Named Nevir Netherlands- --Fort Nassau — Peter Minuits Governor — The Dutch Settlement of Deb *are — WouterVan Twiller — Kieft Governor — His Unjust Treatment of the Indians — Massacre of the Indian? ef. Hoboken — The Indian War — Stuyvesant Appointed Governor — Disputes with the English in Connecticut — Th<. Swedes Settle Delaware— Stuyvesant Captures the Swedish Ports — Growth of New Amsterdam — Disputes Between the People and Governor — Growing Spirit of Popular Liberty — The People Appeal to the States General — Capture oi New Netherlands by the English — The Name of the Province Changed to New York — Results of the EngMsh Con- ouest— Progress of New Jersey — Andros Governor of New York — He Fails to Establish His Authority O'-et Connecticut — New York Allowed an Assembly — Discontents of the People — l.eisler's Rebellion — Execudon of Leisler and Milboume — Fletcher Governor — Hb, Attempt to Obtain Command of the Connecticut Militia— Episcopacy Established in New York— The Freedom of the Press Sustained — New Jersey a Royal Province. WHEN the hope of finding a northwest passage to India began to die out, a company of " certain worshipful mer- chants " of London employed Henry Hud- son, an Englishman and an exp nenced lavigator, to go in search of a uorth^ast passage to India, around the Arctic shores af Europe, between Lapland and Nova Zembla and frozen Spitzbergen. These ivorthy gentlemen were convinced that since :he effort to find a north7£'^^/ passage had ailed, nothing remained but to search for a lortheasi passage, and they were sure that if luman skill or energy could find it, Hudson ,vould succeed in his mission. They were lot mistaken in their man, for in two suc- cessive voyages he did all that mortal could do to penetrate the ice-fields beyond the North Cape, but without success. An impassable barrier of ice held him back, and he was forced to return to London CO confess his failure. With unconquerable tiope, he suggested new means of overcoming the difficulties; but while his employers praised his zeal and skill, they declined to go :o further expense in an undertaking which '3 p'-omised so little, and the " bold Englishman, the expert pilot and the famous navigator** found h'mself out of employment. Every effort to secure aid in England failed him, and, thoroughly disheartened, he passed o\'er to Holland, whither his fame had preceded hin^-. The Dutch, who were more enterprising and more hopeful than his own countrymen, lent a ready ear to his statement of his plans, and the Dutch East India Comj)any at once employed him and placed him in command of a yacht of ninety tons, called the " Half Moon," manned by a picked crew. On the twenty-fifth of March, 1609, Hudson set sail in this vessel from Amster- dam and steered directly for the coast oi Nova Zembla. He succeeded in reaching the meridian of Spitzbergen, but here the ice, the fogs and the fierce tempests of the north drove him back, and turning to the W(;st ward, he sailed past the capes of Greenland, and on the second of July was on the banks of Newfoundland. He passed down tht coast as far as Charleston Harbor, vainly hoping to find the northw^.?/ passage, anf* then in despair turned to the northward,, dis covering Delaware Bay on hiT voyage. 193 104 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. On the third of September he arrived off a large bay to the north of the Delaware, and passing into it, dropped anchor " at two cables' length from the shore," within Sandy Hook. Devoting some days to rest, and to the exploration of the bay, he passed through The Narrows on the eleventh of September, and then the broad and beautiful ** inner bay" burst upon him in all its the natives who came out to the "Half Moon*' in their canoes, that the river came from far beyond the mountains, convinced him that the stream flowed from ocean to ocean, an ,. that by sailing on he would at length reach India — the golden land of his dreams. Thus encouraged, he pursued his way up the river, gazing with wondering delight upon its glorious scenery, and listening wit): NOVA ZEMBLA FROM AN OLD PRINT. splendor, and from the deck of his ship he watched the swift current of the mighty river rolling from the north to the sea. He was full of hope now, and the next day con- tinued his progress up the river, and at nightfall cast anchor at Yonkers. During the night the current of the river turned his ship around, placing hei head down stream; and this fact, coupled with the assurances of gradually fading hope to the stories of the natives who flocked to the water to greet him. The stream narrowed, and the watef grew fresh, and long before he anchored below Albany, Hudson had abandoned the belief that he was in the northwest passage. From the anchorage a boat's crew continued the voyage to the mouth of the Mohawk. Hudson was satisfied that he had made a THE SETTLEMENT OF Nl£W YORK. t9: gfCat discovery — one that was worth fully as much a-> fliidn^^ the new route to India. He was in a region upon which the white man's eye had never rested before, and which offered the richest returns to the commercial ventures. He hastened back to New York ,Ray, took possession of the country in the name of Holland, and then set sail for Europe. He put into Dartmouth, in Ent^- land, on his way back, where he told the The discovery of Hudson was particularly acceptable to the Dutch, for the new country was rich in fur-bearing animals, and Russia offered a ready market for all tiie furs that could be sent there. The East India Loii* pany, therefore, refitted the " Half Moon " after her return to Holland, and despatched her to the region discovered by Hudson on a fur trading expedition, which was highly successful. Private persons also emh^j^ed MOCK SUNS, SEEN BY EARLY EXPLORERS. lioiy of his discovery. King James I. pre- vented his continuing his voyage, hoping to deprive the Dutch of its fruits ; but Hudson took care to send his log-book and all the chip's papers over to HolIand,and thus placed his employers in full possession of the know- ledge he had gained. The English at length 'cleased the " Half Moon," and she continued her voyage to the Texel, but without her ( onimander. in similar enterprises, and within two yektz. a prosperous and important fur trade wat established between Holland and the country along the Mauritius, as the great river dis- covered by Hudson had been named, in honor of the Stadtholder of Holland. Nc government took any notice of the trade for a while and all persons were free to engage f n it Among the adventurers employed in this trade was one Adrian Block, noted as one ol jg6 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. the boldest navigators of his time. He made a voyage to Manhattan Island in 1614, then the site of a Dutch trading-post, and secured a cargo of skins, with which he was about to return to Holland, when a fire con- sumed both his vessel and her cargo, and obliged him to pass the winter with his crew on the island. They built them log huts on the site of the present Beaver Street — the first houses erected on the island — and dur- ing the winter constructed a yacht of sixteen HENRY HUDSON. tons, which Block called the " Onrust " — the " Restless." In this yacht Block made several voyages of discovery, and explored the coasts of Long Island Sound, and gave his name to the sm?" island near the eastern end of the sound. He soon after went back to Europe. In the meantime Hudson had not been permitted by the English king to take service again with the Dutch, and after apprising his employers in Holland of his discoveries, he was engaged by an English company to make further explorations in their behalf He sailed to the north of his former route, reached the coast of Labrador, and passing through the straits, entered the bay which bears his name. He spent the remainder of the season in exploring its coasts, and re- solved to winter there, hoping to push his discoveries still further northward in the spring. In the spring of 161 1 he found it impossible to continue his voyage, as his provisions had begun to run low, and with tears turned his vessel's prow homeward. His men now broke out into mutiny, and seizing Hudson and his son and four others, who were sick, they placed them in the shallop and set them adrift. And so the great navi- gator, whose memory is perpetuated by one of the noblest of the rivers of America, and whose genius gave the region through which it flows to civili- zation, perished amid the northern seas. " The gloomy waste of waters which bears his name is his tomb and his monument." Forts Along the Hudson. In 1614 the Dutch built a fort on the lower end of Manhattan Island, and in the next few years established forts or trading houses along the river as far as Fort Orange, on the site of Albany. These were merely trading-posts, no effort being yet made to occupy the country with a permanent col- ony. In 162 1 the Dutch West India Com- pany was organized for the purpose of trad- ing with America, and took possession of the country along the Hudson, intending to hold it merely as temporary occupants. The States General of Holland granted them the monopoly of trade from Cape May to Nova Scotia, and named the whole region New Netherland. The Dutch thus extended their THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK. 197 claims into regions already claimed by the Englisli and French, and prepared the way for future quarrels and complica- tions. The English, now awake to the import- ance of Hudson's discoveries, warned the Dutch government to refrain from making .further settlements on " Hudson's River,'* as they called the Mauritius; but the latter, relying upon the justice of their claim, paid no attention to these warnings, and in the spring of 1623 the Dutch West India Com- pany sent over thirty families of Walloons, or one hundred and ten persons in all, to found a permanent colony. These Walloons were Protestants from the frontier between France and Flanders, and had fled to Amster- dam to escape re- ligious persecution in their own coun- try. They were sound, healthy, vigorous and pious people, and could be relied upon to make homes in the new world. The majority of them settled aru ind the fort on the lower end of Manhattan Island, and the colony was named New Amsterdam. The remainder established themselves on Long Island, about where the Brooklyn navy yard now stands, and there Sarah de Rapelje, the first white child born in the province of New Netherlands, saw the light. Eighteen fami- lies ascended the river and settled around Fort Orange. In the same year (1623) a party under command of Cornelis Jacobsen May, who gave his name to the southern cape of New Jersey, ascended the Delaware, then called the South River, and built Fort Nas- sau, on the east side of the river, a few miles below the present city of Cam- den. This was done in order to estab lish the claim of the Dutch to this re- gion. In 1626 the West India Company sent out to New Amsterdam the first regular governor of the province, Peter Minuits by name. He brought with him a koopman, or general commissary, who was also the secretary of the province, and a schout, or sheriff, to assist him in his government. The only laws prescribed for the colony were the HUD.SON STRAIT. instructions of the West India Company. The colonists, on their part, were to regard the orders of the governor as their law. He was authorized to punish minor offences at his discretion, but cases requiring severe or capital punishment were to be sent to Hol- land for trial. Minuits set to work with great vigor to lay the foundations of the colony. He called a council of the Indian chiefs, and purchased the island of Manhat- tan from them for presents valued at about twenty-four dollars in American money. He thus secured an equitable title to the island iyb MUTINY ON HUDSON'S SHIP. THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW YuRK. 'Q9 ind won the friendship of the Indians. To encourage emigration, the company granted to each emigrant as much land as he could properly cultivate, and it was ordered that sny member of the company who in four years should induce fifty persons to settle anywhere within the limits of New Netherland, the bland of Manhattan alone excepted, should be termed "Patroon," or " Lord of the Manor," and should be en- titled to purchase a tract of land sixteen miles in length by eight in width for the support of this dignity. A number of persons availed themselves of this privilege and secured from the In- dians by purchase the best lands and the most valuable trading places in the prov- ince. Those who were in- ferior to them in wealth were of necessity compelle i to become the tenants o' the patroons, and thus a check was placed upon the improvement of the colony. In order to compel the col- onists to purchase their supplies from Holland, the company forbade them to manufacture even the sim- plest fabrics for clothing, on pain of banishment. Ti^e patroons were enjoined to provide a minister and a schoolmaster for their tena.jts, but no pro- vision was made for them by the company, which was careful, however, to offer to fur- nish the patroons with African slaves if theif use should be found desirable. In 1629 Samuel Godyu and Samuel Blom- maert purchased from the Indians the region between Cape Henlopen and the mouth ot the Delaware River, and in 1631 a col- ony of thirty souls was planted on Lewes Creek, in the present state of Delaware. " That Delaware exists as a separate com monwealth is due to this colony. Accord ing to English rule, occupancy was ncces FIRST SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK. sary to complete a title to the wildernesa, and the Dutch now occupied Delaware."* Less than a year later De Vries came over from Holland with a reinforcement, and found only the ruins of the settlement, the peoj)le of which had Keen massacred by t'^i Indians, ?oo SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. Under the vigorous administration of Minuits, New Netherland prospered; houses were built, farms laid off; the population "was brgely increased by new arrivals from Europe. During this period New Amster- '?am fairly entered upon its career as one of he most important places in America. It vas a happy settlement as well ; the rights of the people were respected, and they were practically as free as they had been in Hol- land. Troubles with the Indians marked the close of Minuit's administration. The latter were provoked by the murder of some of their number by the whites, and by the aid rendered by the commander at Fort Orange to the Mohega.is in one of their forays upon the Mohawks. Alarmed by the hostility of the savages, many of the families at Fort Orange, and from the region between the Hudson and the Delaware, abandoned their settlements and came to New Amsterdam for safety, thus adding to the population of that town. Minuits was recalled in 1632 and left the province in a prosperous condition. During the last year of his government New Amsterdam sent over ^60,000 worth of furs to Holland. The Renowned Van Twiller. Minuits was succeeded by Wouter Van Twiller, a clerk in the company's warehouse at Amsterdam, who owed his appointment to his being the husband of the niece of Killian Van Rensselaer, the patroon of Alba- ny. Irving has thus sketched this redoubt- able governor : " He was exactly five feet six inches in height, and six feet five inches in circumference. His head was a perfect sphere, and of such stupendous dimensions •ihat dame Nature, with all her sex's ingenu- ity, would have been puzzled to construct a neck capable of supporting it ; wherefore she wisely declined the attempt, and settled it firmly on top of his back-bone just betwc sn the shoulders. His body was oblong and particularly capacious at bottom, which was wisf^ly ordered by Providence, seeing that he was a man of sedentary habits and very averse to the idle labor of walking. *«A Beer Barrel on Skids," " His legs were very short, but sturdy In proportion to the weight they had to sustain ; so that, when erect, he had not a little the appearance of a beer barrel on skids. His face — that infallible index of the mind — ^pre- sented a vast expanse, unfurrowed by any of those lines and angles which disfigure the human countenance with what is termed expression. Two small gray eyes twinkled feebly in the midst, like two stars of lesser magnitude in a hazy firmament ; and his full- fed cheeks, which seemed to have taken toll of everything that went into his mouth, were curiously mottled and streaked with dusky red, like a Spitzenberg apple. His habits were as regular as his person. He daily took his four stated meals, appropriating exactly an hour to each ; he smoked and doubted eight hours, and he slept the remaining twel\e of the four-and-twenty." Van Twiller ruled the province seven years, and, in spite of his stupidity, it prospered. In 1633, Adam Roelantsen, the first school- master, arrived — for the fruitful Walloons had opened the way by this time for his labors — and in the same year a wooden church was built in th'j present Bridge Street, and placed in charge of the famous Dominie EverardusBogardus. In i635,the fort, which marked the site of the present Bowling Green,andwhich had been begun in 1614, was finished, and in the same year the first English settlers at New Amsterdam came into the town. The English in New England also began to give the Dutch trouble during this admin- THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK. 201 istration, and even sent a ship into " Hud- son's River " to trade with the Indians. In- fluenced by De Vries,the commander of the fort, the governor sent an expedition up the river after the audacious English vessel, seized her, brought her back to New York, ind sent her to sea with a warning not to sepeat her attempt. The disputes between the English and the Dutch about the Con- necticut settlements also began to make trouble for New Amsterdam. Van Twiller possessed no influence in the colony, was !aughed at and snubbed on every side, and was at length recalled by the company in 1638- The only memorial of Van Twiller U ft to us is the Isle of Nuts, which lies in the bay between New York and Brooklyn, and which he purchased as his private domain. It is still called the " Governor's Island." Van Twiller was succeeded by William Kieft, a man of greater abilities, but unscru- pulous and avaricious. He had become a bankrupt in Holland, and hoped to find in America the means of restoring his fortunes. His administration of the province was full of troubles, the greater part of which were due to his recklessness and rapacity. Mohawk Braves. The colonists were forbidden to sell fire- arms to the Indians, but some of the traders along the Hudson had violated this order, and it was estimated that the Mohawks had at least four hundred warriors armed with muskets. They were willing to pay large prices for the guns, as these weapons enabled them to meet on equal terms their enemies, the Canada Indians, who had been armed by the French. During Van Twiller's admin- istration the colony had been on good terms with the Mohegans and other tribes of the Algonquin race, who were generally known as the river Indians. Kieft, soon after his ;^rrivalj demanded of them the payment of a tribute, which he pretended he had beer ordered by the company to levy upon them They refused his demand with contempt, ari! I from this time the friendship which they had entertained for the Dutch began to disappear. A year or two later the Raritans, a tribf* living on the rivcrof that name, were accuser of stealing some hogs from the colony. 1 h^ animals had been taken by some Dutch traders ; but Kieft, instead of investigatln;^' the matter, sent a party of soldiers amcig the Raritans and destroyed their corn and killed several of their number. The savages determined upon revenge, and with their usual unreasoning fury attacked the settle- ment which De Vries — who was always a friend of the Indians — had founded on Staten Island, and killed four men. The people of the colony now urged the governor to con- ciliate the savages by kind treatment, but hd refused to do so. An Avenger of Blood. Another cause of trouble soon arose. Twenty years before a Dutch trader had killed an Indian chief in the presence of a little nephew of the warrior. That child, now grown to manhood, came into the colony in 1641, and avenged his uncle by killing an innocent settler. Kieft ordered the Indians to surrender the young man that he might be punished for his crime ; but the savages refused to give him up, but offered to ransom him. Kieft refused their proposition, and the matter remained an open source 0/ trouble. With the hope of finding a remedy for th«J Indian difficulty, the people obtained from the governor, in 1642, permission to hold 9 meeting of the heads of families at "Ne^k Amsterdam. These appointed twelve of theix numberto investigate the affairs of the colony. This was the first representative assembly oi New Netherland, and its career was shoft 202 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. Venturing to pass beyond the Indian ques- tion, and to criticise the administration of the governor in other matters, it was dissolved. Near the end of the year 1642 the Mohawks sent a band of warriors armed with muskets to demand tribute of the river tribes. These, "too weak to contend with their enemies, fled to the Dutch for protection. Kieft was at this time angry with the Indians for refusing to surrender to him one of their number who had killed a Dutchman who had made him drunk and then ill treated him, and he resolved to take a signal vengeance upon them, and exterminate them. De Vries, to whom he communicated his plan, remon- strated with him in the hope of inducing him to abandon it. "If you murder these poor creatures who have put themselves under your protection, you will involve the whole colony in ruin, and their blood, and the blood of your own people, will be required at your hands," said De Vries. Nothing, however, could move the governor from his purpose. Attack Upon the Savages. The Indians who had sought the protec- tion of the Dutch were encamped with the Hackensack tribe just above Hoboken, On the night of the twenty-fifth of February, the garrison of the fort at New Amsterdam, rein- forced by the crews of some Dutch privateers in the river, crossed the Hudson and attacked the unsuspecting savages. Nearly a hundred were killed, and when the morning came many of the poor wretches were seen crowd- ing along the shore of the river in the vain attempt to cross over to their supposed friends at New Amsterdam. They were forced into the stream and drowned. A company of Indians, trusting to the friendship of the Dutch, had encamped on Manhattan Island, near the fort. They were put to death almost to a man. The massacre was regarded by the colo- nists with horror and detestation, and they took no part in the joy with which the gov- ernor greeted the troops on their return from their bloody work. He was not allowed tc rejoice long, however. When it becam known among the Algonquins that the brethren had been murdered, not by the Mo- hawks, but by the Dutch, every tribe took up the hatchet to avenge them, and a general warfare began along the entire line of the Dutch settlements. Several villages were destroyed, and a number of settlers were mur- dered or carried into captivity. The colony was threatened with ruin, and Kieft was obliged to open negotiations for peace. It was in this war that Mrs, Anne Hutchinson and her family, who had taken refuge in the territory of the Dutch, were murdered by the savages. Treaty of Peace Negotiated. On the fifth of March, 1643, a conference was held at Rockaway, between sixteen Indian chiefs and De Vries and two other envoys from the colony. One of the principal sachems arose, holding in his hands a bundle of small sticks. " When you first arrived on our shores," said the Indian, addressing the whites, " you were destitute of food. We gave you our beans and our corn ; we fed you with oysters and fish ; and now, for our recom- pense, you murder our people." He then laid down one of the little sticks and pro- ceeded : " The traders whom your first ships left on our shores to traffic till their return,. were cherished by us as the apple of our eye We gave them our daughters for their wives Among those whom you have murdered were children of your own blood." " I know all," said De Vries, interrupting his recital of wrongs. He then invited the chiefs to go with him to the fort. They accompanied him to New Amsterdam, where THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK. 203 presents were exchanged and a treaty of peace negotiated. The younger warriors were not satisfied. Kicft's presents were niggardly. They were not regarded by the savages as a sufiticient compensation for the wrongs they had suffered, and the war was renewed. The leader of the Dutch in this cam- paign was Captain John Underhill, who had served in the Pequod war in New England, and had removed to New Amsterdam in conse- quence of having been made to do penance in public at Boston in 1640. The war con- tinued for two years, and though the col- ony suffered severely, the Dutch were able to inflict such heavy losses upon the sav- ages that the latter were at length as anxious for peace as the whites. Sixteen hundred of the In- dians had fallen, but the colony had been brought to the verge of ruin, and the popu- lation of New Ams- terdam was reduced to one hundred souls. On the thirtieth of August, 1645, the chiefs of the Algonquins and a deputation from their old enemies, the Mohawks, who came as mediators, met the whites on the spot now known as the Battery, and concluded a peace. Tie close of the war wa-; hailed with re- joici gs throughout the ccIop/. Kieft was regarded with universal hatred as the author of the terrible sufferings of the struggle, and his barbarous conduct was censured and disavowed by the company, and he wis recalled. Hated throughout the colony, hg at length determined to return to Eurc-^ ■ PETER STU YVES ANT. Freighting a vessel with his ill-gotten gains, he sailed from Manhattan in 1647. As he neared the shores of the old world his ship was wrecked on the coast of Wales, and all on board perished. Kieft, in the vain hope of conciliating the people, appointed, immediately after tho 204 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. close of the war, a new municipal council of eight members. The first act of this council was to demand of the States General of Hol- land the removal of Kieft. Their demand was complied with, as we have seen, and in 1647 Peter Stuyvesant was made governor of New Netherlands, and reached New Am- sterdam in the same year. "Vain as a Peacock.* Stuyvesant was essentially a strong man. A soldier by education and of long experi- ence, he was accustomed to regard rigid discipline as the one thing needful in every relation of life, and he was not slow to intro- duce that system into his government of New Amsterdam. He had served gallantly in the wars against the Portuguese, and had lost a leg in one of his numerous encounters with them. He was as vain as a peacock, as fond of display as a child, and thoroughly imbued with the most aristocratic ideas — qualities not exactly the best for a governor of New Amsterdam. Yet he was, with all his faults, an honest man, he had deeply at heart the interests of the colony, and his ad- ministration was mainly a prosperous one. He energetically opposed from the first all manifestations in favor of popular govern- ment. His will was to be the law of the province. ** If any one," said he, " during my administration shall appeal, I will make him a foot shorter, and send the pieces to Holland, and let him appeal in that way." He went to work with vigor to reform mat- ters in the colony, extending his efforts to even the morals and domestic affairs of the people. He soon brought about a reign of , material prosperity greater than had ever been known before, and exerted himself to check the encroachments of the English on the east, and the Swedes on the south. He inaugurated a policy of l ounded. Charged v/ith Treason. Sloughter reached New York on the nine- teenth of March, 1691. Leisler at once sent messengers to receive his orders, but the mes- sengers were detained. The next morning Leisler addressed a letter to Sloughter, ask- ing to whom he should deliver up the fort. Sloughter returned no answer to this letter, but ordered Ingoldsby to " arrest Leir ler and the persons called his council." Leisler, Milbourne, and six others were arrested and immediately arraigned before a tribunal composed of their inveterate enemies, on a charge of treason. This was a frivolous pretence, for it was well known that Leisler, who was an enthusiastic admirer of King William, had never dreamed of denying his authority ; but it was as good a charge as any other, as the fate of the prisoners was decided from the first. The prisoners denied the authority of the court, and refusing to plead before it, appealed to the king. The presiding officer of the court was the chief justice of New York, the infamous Joseph Dudley, who had been driven out of New England by the people whose liberties he had outraged. The prisoners, in spite of their appeal, were condemned to death. Sloughter was unwilling to disregard their appeal as entirely as the court had done, and wished to leave the matter to the king ; but the enemies of Leisler were resolved upon his death. Taking advantage of the known weakness of the governor, they made him drunk at a dinner party, and in this state induced him to sign the death warrant ofthe prisoners. The next morning at daybreak (May i6th) Leisler and Milbourne were hur- ried from their weeping families to the ga' lows, to be executed for treason. Judicial Murder. In spite of a pouring rain, the people who had gotten news of the tragedy crowded around the place of execution to cheer their martyrs in their last moments. " Weep not for us, who are departing to our God," said Leisler to the multitude. Milbourne sa\\ standing among the crowd one of the mei who had been prominent in their con- demnation, and cried out to him : " Robert Livingston, I will implead thee for this at the bar of God." Then turning to the peo- ple, he said : " I die for the king and queen, and for the Protestant religion, in which I was born and bred. Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit." The judicial murder was then completed, and New York's first martyrs laid down their lives in behalf of the rights of the people. The popular party was now more than ever embittered against the aristocratic class, and the principles which Leisler and Milbourne upheld were more than ever insisted upon. Their friends, " who were distinguished always by their zeal for popular power, for toleration, for opposition to the doctrine of legitimacy," continued the struggle, and at length succeeded in making their principles the law of the colony. The royalist assembly, while denying to the people an equality with themselves in political matters, were yet indisposed to sur- render to the crown the independence ofthe colony, and, with their successors, insisted upon the right of self-governmtrnt, and the 212 settlemp:nt of amkrica. regulation of taxation by the assembly, with such firmness that in 1705 Queen Anne yielded so far as to permit the assembly to appoint " its own treasurer to take charge of extraordinary supplies." arts to prevent this act of justice. As for Governor Sloughter, who was at the best but a poor weak adventurer, he died of the effects of his dissipation 5ix months after the execu- tion of his victims. QUEEN The memory of Leisler and Milbourne was vindicated after their death. The son of the former made the appeal to the king which had been denied his father, and Parliament at length reversed the attainder under the charge of treason, an 1 restored their estates to their families. Dudley exerted all his ANNE. In 1692 Benjamin Fletcher was appointed to succeed Sloughter. He was an officer of the royal army, and was as passionate and avaricious as he was incompetent in other respects. He was a firm ally of the aristo- cratic party, and a bitter foe to popular lib- erty. In 1693, i-" order to assist New York THE SETTLEMENT OF NEW YORK. ai's against the attacks of the French in Canada, all the colonies were required to contribute their quota of troops to her defence. An effort was also made to place the militia of New Jersey and Connecticut under the orders of the governor of New York. The authorities of Connecticut, however, were resolved not to relinquish the control of their militia, which would have been to sacrifice their rights secured by the charter. In order to enforce his authority, Gov- ernor Fletcher repaired to Hartford, Avhere the assembly of Connecticut was in session. At the time of his arrival a company of militia was engaged in training in the town. Governor Fletcher rode up to this force ; but its commander, Captain Wadsworth, paid no attention to h'm, and did not even acknowl- edge his presence. Fletcher, who had boasted that he would not stir from the colony until he was obeyed, ordered his secretary to read his commission in the hearing of the troops. *• Silence I Music! Music!" As the secretary commenced to read, Wadsworth ordered the drums to be beaten, and the secretary's voice was drowned. "Silence!" cried Fletcher; "begin again with the commission." " Music ! music ! " ordered Wadsworth, the same man who had hid the charter from Governor Andros. The drummers began again, and the governor, in a rage, ordered them to cease their music. Wadsworth sharply commanded the bewil- dered musicians to go on with their drum- ming, and then turning upon Fletcher, said to him fiercely : " If I am interrupted again, I will make daylight shine through you.'* The voice and manner of the man con- vinced the governor that he was in earnest, and he went back to New York, satisfied of the impossibility of bringing the Connecticut militia under his orders. New York was the most northern colony in which the authority of the Church oi England was established. A number of its people v/ere members of that communion, and in the colonial government the influence of that church was predominant. The vast majority of the people, however, were hostile to it, and it was not until 1695 that Governor Fletcher w£is able to obtain for it anything like favor from the assembly. The repre- sentatives of the people were fearful that if It obtained a firm footing among them, the British government might bestow upon it a power which vvould be dangerous to the other denominations. Naturally it enjoyed the favor of the home government, and engrossed all the provision made by England for religious matters in the colony. Struggle for Liberty. Lord Cornbury, the royal governor, at- tempted in 1705 to silence a Presbyterian minister for preaching without a license from the governor ; but a jury, composed of Episcopalians, acquitted the prisoner. The same governor connived at the seizure by the Episcopalians of a church in Jamaica, which had been built by the whole town ; but the colonial court restored it to its rightful owners. The spirit of popular lib- erty and toleration was growing rapidly in New York, and its colonial history is the story of a constant struggle between the people and the royal governors for the asser- tion and maintenanceof their rights. Nearly all the governors regarded their position as but a means of enriching themselves, and systematically defrauded botli the king and the colony. By 1732 the population of New York City numbered a little less than nine thousand souls. In that year a case of the deepest interest occurred in that city. John Peter Zenger had established a newspaper called 214 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. the Weekly Journal, which ventured to cen- sure the arbitrary action of the governor and assembly in levying illegal taxes upon the colony. This was a bold step, for until now no newspaper had dared to criticise the action of the government. Cosby, the gov- ernor of New York, resolving to make an example of the offender, arrested Zenger on the charge of libel and caused his paper to be publicly burned. Zenger employed two lawyers to defend him, and these increased the anger of the government by denying the competency of the court, inasmuch ^s the appointment of the chief justice, Delancy, had been made by Cosby without the con- sent of the council, and was therefore illegal. The court at once struck their names from its list of attorneys, and this arbitrary action so intimidated the remaining members of the bar that Zenger found it impossible to procure counsel Famous •' Quaker Lawyer. In this helpless condition he was put on »S S.'i'- INDIAN AMUSEMENTS CANOE-RACE BETWEi:.N SQUAWS. Ithem to settle m the happy colony. Phila- 'delphia especially grew with rapidity, and already gave promise of becoming the prin- cipal city of colonial America, Schools were opened and liberally encouraged, for ignorance had no advocates in this thrifty community. The printing press was also set up and put to work. In August, 1684, Penn, having successfully established his colony, took leave of his people and returned to England. During Penn's absence in England rhe people of Delaware began to be restless. They presented to the proprietary a list of grievances, and were granted by Penn a sep- arate government. The fall of James II., who continued the friend of William Penn, though so widely opposed to him in religion, was the beginning of trouble for the proprietor of Pennsylvania. Penn did not relinquish his friendship for the dethroned king, and his enemies made this 224 Sl^l ILEMKiNl OF AMERJCA. constancy, which in no way interfered with his loyalty to William and Mary, the means of injuring him in the estimation of the new king. William was induced to believe the charges of disloyalty which were brought against Penn, and deprived him of his patent and proprietorship of Pennsylvania. Penn was also imprisoned several times for dis- loyalty. Absurd Teachings. During this period the colony was much annoyed by a disturbance led by one George Keith, who pushed the Quaker doctrine of non-resistance to the verge of absurdity. He argued that no Quaker could with consist- ency take part in public affairs as a magis- trate or legislator. As the liberties of the colony were the work of Quakers the infer- ence was plain. If Keith Avas right, then Pennsylvania had no lawful government, and must apply to the king for one. Keith pro- duced such trouble in the colony that even the tolerant Quakers were at length obliged to lay hands on him. He was tried and fined for using seditious language ; but lest their action should seem to be a punish- ment of opinion the Quaker magistrates remitted the fine. He subsequently became a clergyman of the English church. This disturbance gave the king a pretext for declaring Pennsylvania a royal province, and in April, 1693, Benjamin Fletcher was appointed by William and Mary governor of Pennsylvania, to which province Delaware was reunited. The people, indignant at this invasion of their rights, attempted no resist- ance, but refused to recognize the royalist governor. *" Some of the magistrates resigned their offices upon his arrival. Upon the meeting (jf the assembly the hostility to Pletcher increased. The members of the assembly declared the laws they had made under the charter granted to Penn to be valid, and refused to have new ones, or recognize any other authority. A charter granted by King Charles was, they maintained, as valid as one granted by King William, and they refused to re-enact their old laws, as such a course wouLlI be to brand them as illegal. Pletcher de- manded that the assembly should appropriate a sum for the defence of New York against the Indians. His demand was flatly refused. The assembly was willing, however, to make an appropriation for the relief of the people of New York who had suffered by this war, but only upon condition that this sum should be disbursed by officers of its own appoint- ment. Fletcher refused to consent to this condition, as he regarded it as an infringe- ment of the king's prerogative, and the assembly was dissolved, A. D. 1694. Penn's Misfortunes. In the meantime Penn had been restored to his proprietary rights. The king ex- pressed himself satisfied of his innocence, which was established before the council, and in August, 1694, the patent for his restoration was formally issued. Penn was anxious to return to Pennsylvania, but was detained in England by his inability to raise the funds necessary for the voyage. He had spent a large part of his fortune in planting the colony, and the persecutions and annoy- ances to which he had been subjected in England had caused him great loss. Nor was this his only trouble. His wife and eldest son had died during his trials, anvl some whcm he had imagined his friends in his prosperity had in his adversity shown themselves his enemies. He retained his serenity of mind, however, and persevered in the good work to which he had devoted his life. Being unable to go to Pennsylvania he sent his nephew, Markham, as his deputy. Markham summoned an assembly, and this body, alarmed at the iccent changes in COLONIZATIOM OF PENNSYLVANIA. 22X their charter, which had threatened to deprive them of their pohtical rights, en- deavored to provide against a recurrence of the danger by assuming the power of fram- ing a constitution for themselves. The assem- bly of 1696 made still further changes, and placed the control of the colonial govern- ment entirely in the hands of the people by giving them the election of all the officials of the provipr.e. Old Charter Discarded. Penn returned to Pennsylvania in Novem- ber, 1699, and sanctioned the action of the people. One of the members of the council proposed that they should make a constitu- tion that should be "firm and lasting" to them and to their descendants. " Keep what is good in the charter and frame of govern- ment," said Penn ; " and lay aside what is burdensome, and add what may best suit the common good." It was agreed by all par- ties that it would be best to surrender the old charter and frame a new constitution. This was attended with considerable diffi- culty, as Delaware dreaded the loss of its independence. It was conciliated by being given its own legislature, but was under the administration of the governor of Pennsyl- vania. The two colonies were never again united. The constitution secured to the people all the political privileges they claimed. Penn, whose sole desire was for the welfare of th^ colony, held back nothing for himself. Among the earliest emigrants to Pennsyl- vania were many Germans, who had been converted to the Quaker doctrines by Will- iam Penn during his missionary labors on the continent of Europe. They settled at Germantown, to which they gave its name. Towards the close of the seventeenth century the severe wars in Europe drove out large numbers of Germans from the Rhine valley. IS They sought refuge in England at first, and from that country passed over to Pennsyl- vania. They were chiefly Lutherans, and members of the German Reformed church. They settled chiefly in the southern part of Pennsylvania, and clung together instead of separating, thus giving to this part of the state the peculiar characteristics which dis- tinguish it to the present day. They held aloof from the English, and allowed the German language alone to be taught to their children. They attracted other settlers from their native country, and the region occupied by them was soon thickly settled, and was noted as one of the best cultivated sections of the province. Industrious Settlers. About the beginning of the eighteenth century a large emigration from the north of Ireland and from Scotland began to set in, and continued for some years. These people were nearly all Presbyterians and located themselves chiefly in the eastern and central sections of the province. They were an energetic, industrious and intelligent com- munity, and set to work with a will to improve their new home. They advanced the frontier of Pennsylvania steadily west' ward by their new plantations, and proved themselves among the most desirable settlers that had yet come into the province. William Penn had come to Pennsylvania with the intention of passing the remainder of his life there; but rumors now began to reach the colony that it was the intention of the crown to deprive Pennsylv^ania of its charter and make it a royal province. These reports made it necessary for Penn to return to England, a step to which nothing but the importance of being near the home govern- ment to defend the liberties of his people could have forced him. He had done his work in America well, and could go back to 226 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. his native land with the satisfaction that he had successfully laid the foundations of a great and rapidly-growing state, and had placed the liberties of its people upon such a secure basis that they would endure for all time. He had founded a democracy, and ' had proved by the most generous surrender of his truly regal powers that his chief aim in life was the good of his fellow-men. After making such arrangements as he deemed best for the welfare of his " young countrie," he went back to England in 1701. Penn's Honorable Poverty. There were not wanting efforts after his arrival in England to deprive him of his proprietary rights and to convert Pennsyl- vania into a royal province; but the deep reverence with which the English people had now come to regard the virtues of Will- iam Penn prevented the consummation of these designs, and saved the people of Penn- sylvania from the rule of royal governors, such as plundered the sister province of New York. The cro\m could never be persuaded to rob the man whose pure life was an honor to the nation. In his last years Penn was so poor that he was for a while an inmate of a debtors' prison. He had bought the pfov- ince of Pennsylvania from Charles H., and had confirmed his claim by purchasing the lands from the Indians, so that he was abso- lute owner of the unoccupied lands of the colony. He thus had it in his power to relieve his distress by selling his claims, but in his deepest poverty he refused to part with Pennsylvania, except upon terms which would secure to his people the full and per- fect enjoyment of the liberties he had guar- anteed them. He died in 171 8, peacefully and amid the sympathy of his countrymen in England, and the sorrow of those whom he had befriended in his beloved Pennsyl- vania. By his pure life he won for the peo- ple of his faith the respect of all candid men, and by his fidelity to the principles he pro- fessed he became the benefactor of millions who will ever count it a privilege to honor his name. Penn left three sons, who were all minors at the time of his death. They succeeded to his rights as proprietary of Pennsylvania, and the government of the colony was ad- ministered for them by deputies until the Revolution, when their claims were pur- chased by the state. CHAPTER XVIlr Settlement of the Carolinas .. adual Settlement of North Carolina from Virginia — Charles II. Grants Carolina to Clarendon and Others— The •• Grarr Model " — An Ideal Aristocracy Proposed for Carolina — The Authority of the Proprietaries Established m North Can, Hna — Continued Settlement of that Region — Characteristics of the Early Settlers of North Carolina — The People Rejec the Grand Model — Hostility of England to the Colonial Commerce — Insurrection in North Carolina — Slothel Governcw — Settlement of South Carolina — Charleston Founded — The Proprietary Constitutions Rejected by South Carolina^- Rapid Growth of the Colony — Introduction of Slavery — Characteristics of the Early Settlers of South Carolina — EfTortii to Enforce the Navigation Acts — Resistance of the People — The Proprietaries Abandon their Constitutions — Archdale*1 Reforms — Religious Intolerance — Establishment of the Church of England in South Carolina — Action of the Crown - Continued Prosperity of South Carolina— Governor Moore Attacks St. Augustine — Failure of the Effort — ^The Spanla da are Repulsed in an Attempt to Capture Chirleston- Indian War in North Carolina — The Tuscaroras Driven Northwarf •~War with the Yemmassees — Destruction of their Power — Separation of the Carolinas. WE have related the efforts of the French to colonize the shores of the beautiful region which they named Carolina, and the failure of Raleigh's attempt to found a city upon Roanoke Island. We have now to consider the successful planting of this same region with English settlements. After the settlement of Virginia the atten- tion of the English was frequently drawn to the fertile region south of the James, and as their plantations spread in that direction ad- venturous explorers went into this region, and returned with reports of its great beauty and fertility. When the severe measures of the Virginia colony for enforcing conformity to the established church were put in opera- tion, many dissenters withdrew from the imits of the colony and settled in what are now the northeastern counties of North Carolina. Among these were a company of Presbyterians, who settled upon the Chowan. Others followed them, and by the year 1663 these counties contained a prosperous and growing community of English-speaking people. " '** In 1663, Charles II., who always displayed the most remarkable liberality in his gifts of American lands, granted to eight of his favorites the vast region extending from the present southern boundary of Virginia to the St. John's River in Florida, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Those upon whom this rich gift was bestowed vrere the Earl oi Clarendon, the prime minister, Lord Ashl^ Cooper, who was afterwards Earl of Shaftes- bury, the Duke of Albemarle, Lord Craven. Sir John Colleton, Lord John Berkeley, his brother. Sir William Berkeley, the governor of Virginia, and Sir George Cartaret. They were given absolute power over their terri- tory, the king reserving only a claim upon their allegiance. The country had been called Carolina by the first French settlers in honor of Charles IX. of France ; the old name was retained in honor of Charles II. of England. The proprietors had but one object in view: to enrich themselves ; but they claimed to be influenced by a " pious zeal for the propaga- tion of the gospel." They at once set to work to prepare a code of laws for the govern- ment of their province. This task was com- mitted to Ashley Cooper, Earl of Shaftesbury,, and the great philosopher, John Locke, then an almost unknown man< These producec^ 227 H9 SfiTTLEMENt vOF AMERICA. a code known as "The Grand Model," or ** Fundamental Constitutions." This was % system which might have been successful if the people for whom it was intended had been some European community of the Middle Ages, but it was utterly unsuited to a colony in the woods of America, composed of men whose personal independence and sturdy love of freedom were the indispensable conditions of the success of thei^ enterprise. By the terms of the ' Grand Model '* an order of nobility was created, into whose hands the sole right to rule was committed. Earls, barons, and squires were made the natural heads of the various classes of society, and the common people were attached to the soil as tenants. A Mockery of Freedom. A simple tenant could never rise above his humble position, and was denied the right of suffrage ; only those who possessed fifty acres of land were allowed this right, or were entitled to the name of freemen. The freemen were allowed an assembly, but that body was placed entirely under the control of the nobility. Religious freedom was promised to all persons, but the constitution expressly declared that the only orthodox establishment was the Church of England. Trial by jury was guaranteed, but with the destructive provision that a majority should decide the verdict of the jury. It was very clear that this magnificent constitution would not suit the settlers i\ the log cabins of North Carolina, but the proprie- tors, ignorant of the people they had to deal with, proceeded to organize their govern- ment in England by electing the Duke of Albemarle to the rank of Palatine, as the head of their system was termed. Sir Wil- liam Berkeley, then governor of Virginia, was ordered to establish the authority of the pro- prietors over the settlers on Albemarle SoumI j This he did, and appointed William Drum mond, a Scotchman and one of the settlers, governor. This was the same Drummond who afterwards took part in Bacon's rebellion in Virginia, and was hanged by Berkeley, as has been related. A simple form of govern- ment was established, and the people oi North Carolina were left in peace until il should be time to collect the quit-rents which the proprietors claimed as due for their occu • patlon of their lands. In 1661, a few years previous to this action of Berkeley, a company from New England had made a settlement on the Cape Fear River. The colony did not prosper, how- ever, though liberal inducements were held ou! to it, and many of the emigrants returned home. In 1664 a colony from the Barbadoes joined the settlers on the Cape Fear. The new-comers had been sent out by a company at the Barbadoes, who pur- chased from the Indlansa tract of land thirty- two miles square on the Cape Fear, and asked of the proprietors of Carolina a confir- mation of their purchase and a separate char- ter of government. A liberal charter was granted them, the country was named Clar- endon, and Sir John Yeamans, a resident of Barbadoes, was appointed governor. He was instructed to " make things easy to the people of New England ; from thence the greatest supplies are expected." Lumber Trade. In 1665 he led a company of emigrants from Barbadoes, and formed a settlement on the Cape Fear. The eflTort to found a town was unsuccessful, and the emigrants found great diflficulty in contending against the natural barrenness and poverty of the region in which they had located. They devoted themselves to the cutting and export of lum ber, and established a trade in boards, staves atiiJ shmgles to the West Indies, which is SETTLEMENT OF THE CAROLINAS. 229 still carried on by their descendants. This trade was found to be profitable, and emi- gration increased. In 1666 the colony is said to have had a population of eight hundred souls. In the meantime the settlements on Albe- marle Sound and the Chowan had prospered, and had increased steadily in population, under the simple government established over them. This government consisted of a council of six persons named by the proprie- taries and six chosen by the assembly, and an assembly consist- ing of the governor, the council and twelve representatives chos- en by the freeholders of the colony. The proprietaries had con- firmed the colonists in the possession of their lands, and had solemnly promised them religious tolera- tion and exemption from taxation except by the colonial legis- lature. In 1669 the assembly, feeling se- cure in these guaran- tees, enacted a series of laws for the govern- ment of the colony, which remained in force in North Carolina until near the close of the next century. It was enacted that no emigrant should be sued for a debt contracted before his settle- ment in the colony until he had been a resident of the province for five years. Marriage was made a civil contract, and for its validity required simply the consent of the contracting parties before a magistrate in the presence of witnesses. No emigrant could be taxed during his first year's resi- dence in the colony. New settlers were invited by the offer of large bounties in lands, but no title to these lands could be obtained until after a two years' residence in the colony. The governor's salary and the other expenses of the province were secured by the imposition of a fee of thirty pounds of tobacco in every lawsuit. The members of the assembly served without compensa- tion, seeking no emoluments from office. THE COAST OF NORTH CAROLINA. In 1670 the constitution of Shaftesbuiy and Locke was sent over by the proprie- taries, and the governor was ordered to establish it in the colony. It met with a determined resistance from both legislature and people, who could never be induced to submit to it. The people upon whom the proprietaries endeavored to enforce their " Grand Model '* were in many respects the most singular 230 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. community in America. Many of them had fled from injustice and persecution in other colonies, and in the solitude of the forests of North Carolina had become possessed of an independence which scorned any control but that of the government established by their own consent. The plantations were chiefly along the rivers and the shores of Albe- marle Sound; there were no roads but the paths marked through the forests by the blazing of the trees ; the inhabitants visited each other and travelled through the country in their boats, scarcely any, even among the women and children, being unacquainted with the use of the oar. A Happy Community. The people were attached to their beauti- ful " summer land," and to the freedom which they enjoyed in it. They had little use for laws, for they were mainly a simple- hearted and virtuous race, who, by pursuing the paths of right, gave no cause for restraint. They had no court-house until 1722. Their first church was not built until 1705, and the freedom of conscience which they enjoyed was perfect. Yet they were a God-fearing people, and George Fox, who visited them in 1672, testifies to their readiness to hear the word of God and to their homely virtues. They were cut off from the world, careless of the struggles which rocked Europe to its foundations, and anxious only to live in the peaceful enjoyment of the good things God had given them, and to rear their children in the ways which they deemed conformable to His will. There were no towns in the colony, and in power and importance North Carolina could not compare with any of her more northern sisters; but there were no com- munities in which the people were happier or more contented than in this one. When the cruelties of Berkeley drove many of the Virginians from their province, they fled to North Carolina, and were kindly received by the people, who treated Berke- ley's demands to surrender the refugees for punishment with contempt. "Are there any who doubt man's capacity for self-govern- ment, let them study the early history of North Carolina; its inhabitants were restless and turbulent in their imperfect submission to a government imposed on them from abroad; the administration of the colony was firm, humane and tranquil when they were left to take care of themselves. Any government but one of their own institution was oppressive." * These were the people for whom the " Grand Model " was designed, and who successfully resisted its imposition. The proprietaries had withdrawn the government they had first established, at the time when the constitutions of Shaftesbury and Locke were offered to the colony, and the refusal of these constitutions by the colonists left North Carolina without any regularly estab- lished system of government. In this state of affairs Stevens, the governor, continued to administer the old system until a settlement of the matter in dispute could be had. He died in 1674, and the assembly elected Cart- wright, their speaker, as his successor, by whom the government was administered for two years. Another Appeal to England. Eastchurch, the new speaker, was sent to England to explain the grievances of the colony to the proprietaries and to endeavor to secure the withdrawal of the obnoxious constitution. Without withdrawing their favorite system,. the proprietaries, who were disposed to conciliate the colony, thought best to leave matters in their present condi- tion and appointed Eastchurch governor * Bancroft's History' of the United States, vol. ii., p. 1.58. SETTLEMENT OF THE CAROLINAS. 231 They did away with much of the good effect of this measure by coupling this appointment with that of Miller as collector of customs. He had been driven out of the colony by the people some time before, and he was now sent to compel the payment of the revenues claimed by the proprietaries, and to enforce the navigation acts in North Carolina. England's Iniquitous Policy. The enforcement of the navigation acts meant simply the certain crippling and the probable ruin of the industry of North Caro- lina. The commerce of the colony was small and was already struggling against natural difficulties. The whole province contained a little less than four thousand inhabitants, and its exports consisted of about eight hundred hogsheads of tobacco, a small quantity of Indian corn and a few cattle. These were shipped in a few small vessels which came for them from New England, and brought in return the few articles of foreign manufacture which the planters could afford to purchase. Yet this humble trade was made the object of ^he envy of the English merchants, and it was resolved by a vigorous enforcement of the navigation acts to cut the North Carolinians off from the use of the New England markets and to compel them to send their products to England for sale. Never was the iniquitous policy of England toward her colonies more strikingly and per- fectly illustrated than in her treatment of North Carolina at this period. The effort to enforce the navigation act was met by a deliberately planned and exe- cuted insurrection of the people, who pub- lished to the world a declaration of the causes which had impelled them to this action, and which were chiefly the loss of their liberties b)' the changes in the govern- ment, the imposition of excessive taxes, and the interruption of their comrnerce by the burdens laid upon it by the navigation acts. The leader of the movement was John Culpepper. One of the members of the council joined the insurrection ; but the rest, with Miller, who, in addition to his office of collector, had been acting as gov- ernor in the absence of Eastchurch, were arrested and imprisoned. When Eastchurch arrived the colonists refused either to A settler's cabin. acknowledge his authority or to allow him to enter the colony. In the meantime they arranged matters upon the old popular sys- tem, and sent Culpepper and another of their number to England to negotiate a settlement with the proprietaries. Miller escaped from confinement and re- paired to England to oppose the efforts of Culpepper. By cunningly making himself 232 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. the champion of the navigation acts, Miller succeeded in arousing a strong sentiment against Culpepper, who was arrested on a charge of resisting the collection of the rev- enue and embezzling the public funds. In support of this arbitrary act the government pleaded an old statute of Henry VIII., by which a colonist could be arraigned in Eng- land for an offence committed in a colony. Culpepper demanded to be tried in North Car- olina, upon the scene of his alleged crime ; but this was refused him, and he was put on trial in England. The Earl of Shaftesbury, shrewdly perceiving that such a course was repugnant to the real sentiment of the English people, and that it offered him an opportunity to increase his popularity, undertook the de- fence of Culpepper, and procured his acquittal. Captured by Pirates. The proprietaries now appointed as gov- ernor one of their number, Seth Slothel, who had purchased the rights of Lord Clarendon. Slothel on his voyage out was captured by the Algerine pirates, and during his absence the government of North Carolina was admin- istered by governors appointed by the in- surgents, who seem to have acted with the consent, or at least without the opposition of the proprietaries, who were much at a loss to know how to enforce their authority in the province. They instructed the colonists to " settle order among themselves," and appear to have left them very much to their own devices. The government was well and fairly administered, and order was main- tained ; an act of amnesty was published ; and when Slothel reached the colony, in 1683, after his release from his captivity, he found it peaceful and orderly. The administration of Slothel was un- fortunate for the province. He could enforce neither the constitutions of the proprietaries nor the navigation acts, as he was expected to do ; so he devoted his energies to the task of enriching himself, which he accomp- lished by robbing the colonists and defraud- ing his proprietary associates in England. In 1688 the colonists, greatly exasperated by his exactions, to which they had submitted for about five years, drove him out of the prov- ince by condemning him to an exile of a year, and forever disqualifying him from holding the office of governor. This was their boldest act yet and was an open defi- ance of the proprietaries. Charleston Founded. In the meantime the southern portion of Carolina had been brought under English rule. In 1670 a company of emigrants was sent out by the proprietaries, under the direction of William Sayle and Joseph West, the latter of whom was the commercial agent of the proprietaries. They went by way of Barbadoes and landed at Port Royal, where the ruins of Fort Carolina, which had been erected by the French, were still to be seen. After a short delay here, they removed to a more favorable location farther northward, between two rivers, which they named the Ashley and Cooper, in honor of the Earl of Shaftesbury, one of the proprietaries. In 1680 this settlement was abandoned for a better situation nearer the harbor. This last settlement was the foundation of the city of Charleston. The first plantation on the Ashley River was afterwards known as Old Charleston. At present not even a log cabin remains to mark the site. The emigrants to South Carolina had been furnished with a copy of the constitu- tions of Shaftesbury and Locke, but they were as averse to the acceptance of them as were the people of North Carolina, for they perceived that such a system as that devised by the proprietaries could not be put in SETTLEMENT OF THE CAROLINAS. 23i operation in America. Immediately upon their arrival they proceeded to establish a form of government suited to their needs. It consisted of a governor, a council com- posed of five members appointed by the proprietaries and five by the assembly, and an assembly of twenty delegates chosen by ♦:he people. Thus was representative gov- 2rnment established as the basis of the political life of the province, and throughout all her subsequent history it was cherished by South Caro- lina as her most precious posses- sion. The colony grew rapidly in population ; the delightful cli- mate, the rich soil and the li- beral offers of lands by the proprietaries at- tracting settlers in considerable numbers. In 167 1 Sir John Yea- mans brought over African slaves from Bar- badoes, thus in- troducing negro slavery into the colony at the very outset of its existence. This species of labor being found well suited to the necessi- ties of the province, was generally adopted in the remaining years of the century, and became the basis of the industry of South Carolina, which was from the first a purely agricultural state. The negroes multiplied rapidly by natural increase and by fresh importations; "so j-apidly," says Bancroft, " that in a few years, we are told, the blacks were to the whites in the proportion of twenty-two to twelve, a proportion that had no parallel north of the West Indies." The white population also increased rapidly. The dissenters, as all the Protestant sectu who differed from the Church of England were called, came over to the colony in large numbers, hoping to find there the toleration they were denied at home. They consisted of Dutch and German Protestants, and Presbyterians from the north of Ireland and from Scotland. The last were generally BIRDS-EYE VIEW OF CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA. people of culture and gave to the colony many clergymen, physicians, lawyers and schoolmasters. Churchmen from England also emigrated in considerable numbers, as the" Grand Model " established their church as the orthodox faith of the province. Dutch emigrants came also from New York to escape the outrages of the English governors of that province. Last of all were the Huguenots, who were induced to settle in South Carolina by Charles II., who was sincerely anxious to give them 234 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. a refuge from their persecutions in Europe, and who wished them to estabhsh in CaroHna the culture of the vine, the ohve and the siik-worni. The revocation of the Edict of Nantes drove thousands of the Huguenots from France. Large numbers of them joined their brethren in South CaroHna. They were almost invariably persons of education and refinement. In France they had consti- tuted the most useful and intelligent part of the population. They had almost monopo- lized the mechanical skill and mercantile enterprise of their native land, and their loss was severely felt by it for many genera- tions. In South Carolina they soon became suffi- ciently numerous to constitute an important part of the population, and their influence was felt in a marked degree and for the good of the colony. They brought with them the virtues which had won them the respect and confidence of the people of Europe, and the industry which could not fail to place them among the most prosperous citizens of the new state. They mingled freely and inter- married with the other classes of the people of the province, and thus became the ances- tors of a splendid race who did honor to their country and upheld her cause with their valor in her hour of trial in the next century. A Settlement Ruined. The early years of South Carolina were marked by a constant struggle between the colonists and the proprietaries. The latter vainly attempted to introduce the " Grand Model " as the law of the province, and the former steadily resisted it. A little later the proprietaries offered to make some modifica- tions in their constitutions, but these conces- sions were rejected also. The governor. Sir John Yeamans, regarded his office solely as d means of repairing his fortunes at the expense of both proprietaries and colonists, and was dismissed by his employers. West, who was a man of ability and liberality, was appointed his successor, and under him the colony prospered, but as he was too friendly to the people, he v/as removed also. In 1684 a small colony under Lord Card- ross, a Presbyterian, settled at Port Royal. These settlers had fled to America to escape persecution in England, but their effort to find an abiding place in the new world was not des- tined to be successful. Lord Cardross return- ed to Europe in ayearor two, and in 1686 the Spaniards from St. Augustine, who claimed the region as a dependency of their own, invaded the little settlement and laid it waste. Of the ten families which had con- stituted the colony, some returned to Scot- land, while the remainder disappeared among the colonists in the vicinity of the Cooper and Ashley rivers. Stubborn Resistance. In 1685, the proprietaries ordered the colo" nial authorities to enforce the navigation acts in the ports of the province. A rigid execu- tion of this order would have been as fatal to the feeble commerce of South Carolina as to that of the settlements in the northern part of the province, and it was resisted by the colonists as a violation of their natural rights and of the promises made to them at the time of their emigration. In order to establish their authority more firmly the proprietaries appointed James Colleton governor, with the rank of landgrave. He was brother of one of the proprietaries, and it was supposed that this fact and his aristocratic rank would give him a moral ppower which his predecessors had not pos- sessed. The new governor attempted to enforce the constitutions, but was met with a determined resistance, and when he under- took to collect the rents claimed by the ■^•>;> i3<5 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. proprietaries, and the taxes he h^d been ordered to levy, the assembly seized the records of the province, imprisoned the colonial secretary, and defied the governor to execute his orders. In 1690, they went 5till further, and having proclaimed Wil- tiatn and Mary, disfranchised Colleton and Danished him from South Carolina. Disputes now ran high in the colony, chiefly in regard to rents and land tenures. The " cavaliers and ill-livers," as the party devoted to the interests of the pro- prietaries was termed, endeavored to compel the remainder of the settlers — ^the Presbyterians, Quakers and Huguenots, the last of whom had recently been ad- mitted to all the privileges of citizenship — to submit to their high-handed measures. They hoped among other things to secure the supremacy of the Church of England in thv" colony, notwithstanding the fact that a majoi :ty of the people were dissenters. The troubles went on increasing, and at length the proprietors, in the hope of putting an end to them, consented to abandon their effort to force upon the Carolinas the legisla- tion of Shaftesbury and Locke. In April, 1693, they abolished the fundamental consti- , tutions by a formal vote, and decided 10 allow the government of the province to be conducted according to the terms of the charter. A Wise Governor. Thomas Smith was appointed governor, but in spite of his many virtues he was unac- ceptable to the people, and the proprietaries determined to send out to Carolina one of tljeir own number with full powers to inves- tigate and remedy the grievances of the colony. John Archdale, **an honest member of the Society of Friends," was chosen, and it once repaired to Carolina. He was a man of great moderation, and was well suited to the task before him. He succeeded in har- monizing the hostile factions which divided the province, and in the formation of the council selected two men of the moderate party to one high churchman, an arrange- ment which fairly represented the actual state of parties, and gave satisfaction to the mas of the people. He remitted the quit-rents foi three and four years, and arranged the price of lands and the system of conveyances upon an equitable basis, and gave the colonists thr privilege of paying their dues to the proprt- etaries either in money or in produce. Hr established peaceful relations with th^ Indians, and put an end to the infamous practice of kidnapping them, which had prevailed since the establishment of tht colony. The savages in the Cape Fea* region had suffered especially from this, and now showed their gratitude by treating with kindness the sailors who were cast away on their coast. Friendly relations were also begun with the Spaniards at St. Augustine. Several Yemmassee Indians, who had been con verted by the missionaries, having beei* raptured and exposed for sale in Carolina, ft ere ransomed by Archdale, who sent them to the governor of St. Augustine. The Spaniards gratefully acknowledged this kindness, and returned it by foi*warding to South Carolina the crew of an English vessel which had gone ashore on the coast of Florida. The colonial government was organized by Arch- dale, on a plan similar to that of Maryland. The council was appointed by the proprie- taries, and the assembly elected by the peo- ple ; and the militia were charged with the defence of the colony. Archdale's adminis ■ tration was so satisfactory to all parties that upon his withdrawal from the province the assembly declared that he had, " by his wis- dom, patience and labor, laid a firm founda tion for a most glorious superstructure." SETTLEMENT OF THE CAROLINAS. '^17 Archdale went back to England in 1697, and the proprietaries, failing to profit by the lesson of his success, attempted to introduce a measure which would give the political power of the colony exclusively into the hands of the landowners. This measure was resolutely rejected by the colonial assembly. The majority of the people of the colony were, as has been stated, dissenters, Presby- terians, Quakers and Huguenots. They had consented, in order to pacify the high church party, that one minister of the Church of England should be maintained at the pub- lic expense, but the churchmen were re- solved to force their system upon them. The Assembly's Intolerance, In 1704 the churchmen had a majority of one in the assembly; the governor was favor- able to them, and the council was no longer arranged upon the just plan of Archdale. The assembly, in violation of the plainest principles of justice, disfranchised the dis- senters, and established the Church of Eng- land as the religion of the colony. This action was approved by the council and gov- ernor, and was sustained by the proprietaries in spite of the earnest opposition of Arch- dale. The disfranchised people appealed for justice to the queen and the House of Lords. The committee of the lords declared that the proprietaries had forfeited their charter, and advised its recall, and the house pronounced the intolerant acts null and void, which de- cision was proclaimed by the queen in June, 1706. In November of the same year the colonial legislature repealed its acts, and restored to the dissenters their political rights, but the laws establishing the Church of England as the religion of the province remained unrepealed until the Revolution. The disputes in the colony went on, but in spite of them South Carolina continued to prosper, and its population increased rapidly. During Archdale's residence in the colony the captain of a ship from Madagascar gave him some rice, which he distributed among the planters for the purpose of ascertaining whether it could be cultivated in the mari- time regions of the province, which were unsuited to the culture of wheat. The experi- ment was entirely successful, and the colony at once embarked in the culture of rice, which has ever since been one of its principal indus- tries. Carolina rice soon took rank as the best grown in any country. The fur trade was also carried on with great activity, and the manufacture of tar and the export of lum- ber also became prominent sources of wealth. It was believed that the colony could suc- cessfully manufacture a large part of the woollen fabrics necessary to the supply of its wants, and the attempt was made. It was struck down by the British government in pursuance of its plan to compel the colonies to depend upon England for all their supplies. Parliament forbade the several colonies to export woollen goods to any other province or to any foreign port. They were to ship their products to England alone, and to receive their supplies from her only. Eng- lish merchants were to be privileged to set a price to suit their own interests upon the products of the colonies and also upon the articles of European manufacture sold them in return. The effect of this iniquitous law upon Carolina was to drive her back into agricultural pursuits, and thus to increase the demand for slaves, which was promptly sup: plied by British traders. A Reckless Adventurer. In 1702, England was at war with France and Spain, and James Moore was governor of Carolina, He was a needy adventurer, who endeavored to fill his purse by kidnap- ping Indians and selling them as slaves. This being too slow a process, he determined to 238 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. plunder the Spanish settlement of St. Augus- tine. He attacked that place with a force of whites and Indians. The town was readily- taken, but he could make no impression upon the citadel, and despatched a vessel to Jamaica for cannon to reduce the fort. The garrison in the meantime sent an Indian runner to Mobile with news of their situa- tion, and word was sent from Mobile to Havana. In a short while two Spanish ships of war arrived at St. Augustine to the relief of the garrison, and Moore was obliged to raise the siege. He abandoned his stores and retreated overland to Charleston. The only result of his expedition was the accumula- tion of a debt which the colony was obliged to carry for many years. Brutal Butchery. Moore's next effort was directed against the Appalachee Indians of Florida. These had been converted to the Roman Catholic faith by the Spanish missionaries, and had begun to adopt habits of civilization ; they lived in villages, and supported themselves by cultivating the soil. They were also very friendly to the French, who had settled Louisiana. Moore professed to be very ap- prehensive of the effects of the Spanish and French influence upon the Appalachees, and declared his intention to cripple them before they could do any harm to the English set- tlements. His real motive was the hope of plunder. The only crime of the poor sav- ages was their adoption of the Roman faith. In 1705, with a force of about fifty white men and one thousand Seminole warriors, Moore invaded the settlements of the Appa- lachees, destroyed them, killed many of the natives, and made prisoners of large num- bers, who were removed to the region of the Altamaha. The churches were plundered and destroyed, and the country of the Appa- lachees was given to the Seminoles as a reward for their services. They at onCS occupied it, and thus became a barrier be- tween their English friends and the Spanish settlements. In 1706, the Spaniards and French sent a combined fleet to Charleston to avenge the attacks upon St. Augustine and the Appa- lachees. The attack of the fleet was repulsed by the people, who were led by William Rhet and Sir Nathaniel Johnson, and the assailants were forced to withdraw with the loss of one ship belonging to the French and upwards of three hundred men. North Carolina continued to prosper. Her people were happy and contented under their simple system of government, which was described by Spotswood as " scarce any gov- ernment at all." In 1704, the p»-oprietaries attempted to establish the Church of England in this part of the province, the people of which were nearly all Presbyterians, Quakers and Lutherans. It was ordered that all who refused to submit tq the laws for the estab- lishment and support of the English church should be disfranchised. Open Rebellion. The people opposed a general and deter- mined resistance to this measure, and at the end of a year there was but one clergyman of the English church within the limits of the colony. The resistance finally culmin- ated in open rebellion. The colony was divided into two parties, one of which sus- tained the authority of the proprietors, the other the rights of the people. Each party had its governor and assembly, and for six years the colony remained in a state of anarchy. The Quakers were the leading spirits of the popular party and maintained their rights with a steadfastness characteristic of their race. Thus far North Carolina had escaped a war with the Indians, The Tuscaroras, who SETTLEMENT OF THE CAROLINAS. ^39 occupied the central and northwestern por- tions of the present state, had emigrated at some remote period from the north, and they now viewed with jealousy and distrust the encroachments of the whites upon their lands. About 171 1 the proprietaries assigned large tracts in the country of this tribe to a company of Germans from the region of the Neckar and the Rhine, who had fled to America to escape religious persecution. A company of these exiles had come out under the direction of De Graffenreid, and in Sep- tember, 1711, De Graffenreid accompanied Lawson, the surveyor-general of the prov- ince, in an expedition up the Neuse for the purpose of locating these lands and o ascertaining how far the river was navigable. They were captured by a party of sixty s Indians and hurried to a distant village of the Tuscaroras. Lawson was regarded with*^ bitter hostility by the Indians, who looked upon him as responsible above all others foi the loss of their lands, as he had been com- pelled by his duties to locate the grants of^ the proprietaries, and he was put to death ^ with cruel torments. Condemned to Death. De Graffenreid was also condemned to die, but he told the savages that he had been but a short time in the country, and that he was the " chief of a different tribe from the English," and promised that he would take no more of their land. The Indians kept him a prisoner for five weeks, and then permitted him to return to his friends. During this time the Tuscaroras and Corees, whom they had drawn into an alliance with them, attacked the settlements of the whites on the Roanoke and Pamlico Sound, and for three days spread death and devastation all along the frontier of the col- ony. A large number of the unoffending settlers were slain and many homesteads were destroyed. The people of North Carolina appealed to Virginia and South Carolina for assistance. South Carolina sent a small body of troops and a force of friendly Indians; and Gov- ernor Spotswood, of Virginia, unable to send assistance, engaged one tribe of the Tusca- roras in a treaty of peace. The people of North Carolina, divided by their internal dissensions, took scarcely any part in the struggle. The South Carolina forces attacked KING GEORGE I. the Tuscaroras in their fort and compelled them to make peace. The troops, however, on their return home, violated the treaty by seizing some of the Indians for the purpose of selling them as slaves. The war broke out again and was prosecuted with vigor for about a year, and resulted in the expulsion of the Tuscaroras from North Carolina. The Yemmassees had for some time been hostile to the Spaniards, as they resented the efforts of the priests to convert them ^4<> SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. to Christianity. They had acted as the allies of the English in the war with the Tuscaroras, but after the close of that struggle the unscrupulous traders, who re- garded them as "a tame and peaceable people," had treated them so badly, and plundered them so systematically, that they were driven into hostility to the English. They thereupon renewed their friendship with the Spaniards, and induced the Cataw- bas, the Creeks and Cherokees, who had also been friendly to the English, to join them against their former allies. Indian Depredations. In 17 1 5 the savages, suddenly, and with- out warning, attacked the settlements on the frontier. The alarm was sent to Port Royal and Charleston, and the assailed people fled towards the settlements along the coast. The Indians continued their depredations, and the colony prepared as rapidly as pos- sible to resist them. Aid was sent from North Carolina, whose government had now been placed on a more stable footing. Gov- ernor Craven took the field without delay, with such troops as he cciild raise, and a long and bloody struggle ensued. The power of the savages was broken, however. The Yemmassees were compelled to take refuge in Florida, where they were provided for by the Spaniards, and the other tribes were driven farther westward. The contests between the proprietaries and the colonists now came to an end. The proprietaries had made no effort to help the colonists during their struggle with the In- dians, and the latter determined to have no more to do with their former lords. The dispute was carried before Parliament, which body declared that the proprietaries had for- feited their charter. In 1720 King George 1. appointed Francis Nicholson provisional governor of Carolina. In 1729 the contro- versy was ended by the purchase of the pro- prietaries' interests by the crown for the sum of one hundred and ten thousand dollars. Carolina thus became a royal province, and was divided by the king into two separate states, known respectively as North and South Carolina, to each of which a royal governor was appointed. CHAPTER XIX Settlement of Georgia General James Edward Oglethorpe — His Efforts to Reform Prison Discipline of England — Proposes to Found a Colony in America for the Poor and for Prisoners for Debt — A Charter Obtained from the King — Coloniza tion of Georgia — Savannah Settled — First Years of the Colony — Labors of Oglethorpe — Arrival of New Emigrants — Augusta I-'ounded — The Moravian vSettlements — The Wesleys in America — George Whitefield — War Between England and Spain — Oglethorpe Invades Florida — Failure of the Attack upon St. Augiis- tine — The Spaniards Invade Georgia — Oglethorpe's Stratagem — Its Success — Battle of " Bloody Marsh " — Close of the War — Charges Against Oglethorpe — His Vindication — His Return to Europe — Changes in the Colonial Government — Introduction of Slavery into Georgia — Prosperity of the Colony. THE severe laws in force in England in the last century against debtors aroused the opposition of many philanthropists, who strove to pro- cure their abolition or amelioration. Among these was General James Edward Oglethorpe, an officer of the English army and a member of Parliament. He was a man of fortune, and of generous nature, and devoted himself with energy to reform not only the laws against debtors but the entire prison disci- pline of England. There were at this time upwards of four thousand men in prison for debt. Their condition was most pitiful. They had no hope of relief save through the mercy of the creditors who had consigned them to their prisons, and were treated with a severity due only to criminals. It seemed an outrage to the generous Oglethorpe to visit such heavy punishments upon persons whose only crimes were their misfortunes, and he endeavored to have the laws authorizing imprisonment for debt re- pealed, and failing in this conceived the plan of establishing in America a place of refuge to which the poor and unfortunate might resort, and earn a support by their own industry. He succeeded in interesting others in his benevolent scheme, and in 1732 a petition, signed by a number of men of rank 16 and influence, was presented to George II., praying him to grant to the petitioners a tract of unoccupied land in America for the purpose of founding such an asylum as that proposed by Oglethorpe. The king re- sponded favorably to this appeal, and granted to Oglethorpe and twenty other persons the region between the Savannah and the Alta- maha rivers. This region was to be held " in trust for the poor," for a period of twenty-one years, by the trustees named in the charter, and was to constitute a home for unfortunate debtors and Protestants from the continent of Europe, who might wish to seek safety there from persecution. The territory thus assigned formed a part of South Carolina, but was formally separated from it and named Georgia, in honor of the king. The " free exercise of religion " was secured to all sects "except Papists." No grant of lanr/ to any single settler was to exceed five hun- dred acres, a condition which it was hoped would prevent the rich from securing the best lands, and give to the poor an oppor- tunity to become landowners. It was be- lieved that the climate and soil of the new province were specially adapted to the rais- ing of silk-worms and the cultivation of the vme. 241 i42 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. The scheme of Oglethorpe enhsted the sympathies of all classes of the English peo- ple. Liberal donations were made in its be- half, and its benevolent projector exerted himself with energy to secure a colony with which to lay the the foundations of the new state. It was determined to take none but the poorest and most helpless, and Ogle- thorpe himself decided to accompany them and give his personal care to the planting of the colony. Settlement of Savannah. One hundred and fifty persons, comprising thirty-five families, were embarked, and they sailed from England in November, 1732. They reached Charleston in fifty-seven days, and were formally welcomed by the assembly of South Carolina and presented with a sup- ply of cattle and rice. From Charleston the company sailed to Port Royal, while Ogle- thorpe hastened to explore the Savannah and select a cite for the settlement. He chose a location at Yamacraw Bluff, on the right bank of the river, about twenty miles from its mouth. He purchased the lands from the Yamacraw Indians, and the foundations of a town were laid. The place was named Sa\'annah, from the river on which it stood. Oglethorpe has- tened forward the clearing of the land and the building of houses, but for nearly a year contented himself with a tent which was erected under four wide-spreading pines. " The streets were laid out with the greatest regularity ; in each quarter a public square was reserved ; the houses were planned and constructed on one model — each a frame of sawed timber, twenty-four feet by sixteen, floored with rough deals, the sides with feathered-edge boards, unplained, and the roof shingled." A garden was laid off by the river-side, to be the nursery of European ^ruits and other productions. Friendly relations were cultivated with the Indians. The chief of the Yamacraws came in bringing a buffalo skin, on the inner side of which was painted the head and feathers of an eagle. " Here is a little present," said Tomo-chichi, as the chief was named. "The feathers of the eagle are soft and signify love ; the buffalo skin is warm, and is the emblem of protection ; therefore love and protect our little families." The Muscogees, Creeks, Cherokees and Oconees also sent their chiefs to Savannah to make an alliance with the English. The savages were well pleased with the noble and commanding appearance of Oglethorpe and his frank and kind manner of dealing with them, and trusted implicitly in the promises he made them. The distant Choctaws also sent messengers to open friendly relations with the new settlers, and a profitable trade was established with the tribes as far west as the Mississippi. Grand Old German Hymns. Thus far the colony of Georgia was a success, and the friends of the movement in England were not slow to make public the accounts which came to them of its delightful climate and fertile soil, and all who were oppressed or in need were invited to seek the protection and advantages which the new land offered. The fame of the colony attracted the attention of a number of German Prot- estants in and around Salzburg, who were undergoing a severe persecution for the sake of their religion. Their sufferings enlisted the sympathy of the people of England, and the " Society for the Propagation of the Gospel " invited them to emigrate to Georgia and secured for them the means of doing so. The Germans readily accepted the offer, and rejoiced greatly that they were thus afforded an opportunity of spreading the gospel among the Indians. Nearly one hundred persons SETTLEMENT OF GEORfHA. H3 set out from Salzburj^, taking with them their wives and little ones in wagons, and journey OS across the county to Frankfort- on-the-Main. They carried with them their Bibles and books of devotion, and as they journeyed h'ghtened their fatigues with those grand old •German hymns which they were to make as precious in the new world as they were to the people of God in the old. From Frank- fort they proceeded to the Rhine and floated down that stream to Rotterdam, where, being joined by two clergymen — Bolzius and Gronau — they saiied to England. They were warmly received by a com- mittee of the trustees of the colony and forwarded to Georgia. A stormy passage of fifty-seven days brought them to Charleston, in March, 1734, where they were met by Ogle- thorpe, who led them to their destina- tion. They were assigned a location on ' the Savannah, a short distance above the town of Savannah, where they began without delay to lay off a town, which they named Ebenezer, in gratitude to God for his guidance of them into a land of plenty and of rest from persecution. Others of their countrymen joined them from time to time, and their settlement grew rapidly and became noted as one of the most orderly, thrifty and moral communities in the new world. In 1734 the town of Augusta was laid out at the head of boat navigation on the Sa- vannah, and soon became an important trad- ing-post. Emigrants came over from England in large numbers, and Oglethorpe had the satisfaction of seeing his colony fairly started upon the road to prosperity. He was justly proud of the success of the colony, for it was mainly due to his disinterested efforts. Governor Johnson, of South Carolina, who had watched the labors of OMethorpe with the deepest interest, wrote : " His under- taking will succeed, for he nobly devotes all his powers to serve the poor and rescue them from their wrechedness." The pastor of Ebenezer bore equally emphatic testimony to his devotion. " He has taken care of us to the best of his ability," said the pastor. " God has so blessed his presence and his regulations in the land that others would not in many years have accomplished what he has brought about in one." GENERAL OGLETHORPE. In April, 1734, Oglethorpe, whose pres- ence was required in Europe, sailed from Sav^annah, taking with him several Indians, and enough of the raw silk which had been produced in the colony to make a dress for the queen. Georgia was left to manage its own affairs during the absence of its founder. As the colonists regarded the use of ardent spirits as the sure cause of the debt and misery from which they had fled, they 244 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. prohibited their introduction into the colony ; but it was found impossible to enforce this law. The importation of negro slaves was also forbidden. The colony was a refuge for the distressed and oppressed of all nations, and it seemed a violation of the spirit in which it was founded to hold men in bond- age. *' Slavery," said Oglethorpe, " is against the gospel as well as the fundamental law of England. We refused, as trustees, to make a law permitting such a horrid crime." with the intention of becoming missionarie?- of the gospel among the savage tribes, and under their leader, Spangenberg, formed a new settlement on the Ogeechee, south of the Savannah. They claimed and received a grant of fifty acres of land for each of their number, in accordance with a law which had been passed for the encourage- ment of emigration. In the same year a company of Scotch Highlanders, under their minister, John McLeod, arrived and founded A SOUTHERN PLANTATION. The visit of Oglethorpe to England was productive of great benefit to Georgia. Par- liament was induced to grant it assistance, and the king became deeply interested in the province which had been called by his name. Emigrants from England continued to seek its hospitable shores, and the trustees induced a band of Moravians, or United Brethren, to emigrate to the colony. They caine in I735» the town of Darien, on the Altamaha. In 1736 Oglethorpe himself returned, bringing with him three hundred emigrants. Among the new-comers were two broth- ers, men of eminent piety, who were destined to exercise a powerful influence upon the world. They were John and Charles Wes- ley, sons of 3 'clergyman of the Church of England, anu themselves ministers of that SETTLEMENT OF GEORGIA. communion. Charles Wesley had been selected by Oglethorpe as his secretary, and John Wesley came with the hope of becom- ing the means of converting the Indians to Christianity. He did not succeed in realiz- ing his noble ambition, but we cannot doubt i.hat his experience in 'America fo rmed a very important part of the training by which God was pre- paring him for the great work he meant to intrust to him at a later day. The preaching of Wesley had a marked effect upon the col- ony. Crowds flocked to hear him, neglect- ing their usual amuse- ments in their eager- ness to listen to him. His austerity of life, however, involved hiin in troubles with the people, and his popularity at length disappeared. His brother Charles was too tenderly moulded for so rough a life as that of the infant col- ony, and his health jsank under it. The brothers remained in Georgia only two years, and then went back to their labors in Europe, never to return to America. Soon after the departure of the Wesleys came to the colony George Whitefield, their friend and associate, the " golden-mouthed " preacher of the century. In his own land he 345 had begun to preach the message of his Mas- ter when but a mere youth, and had pro- claimed it to the inmates of the prisons and to the poor in the fields, and now he had come to bring the gospel to the people of the new world. He visited the Lutherans at JOHN WESLEY, Ebenezer, and was deeply impressed with thi care with which they protected the orphan and helpless children of their community.' He determined to establish an institution similar to the orphan house at Halle, io 24^ SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. Germany, and by his personal exertions suc- ceeded in raising in England and America the funds necessary for the success of his enterprise. He thereupon established near Savannah the first orphan asylum in America. He GEORGE WHITEFIELD. watched It with unceasing care during his life, but after his death it languished and was at length discontinued. Whitefield did not confine his labors to Georgia. He visited "^ery colony in America, and finally died and was buried in New England. The memory of his wonderful eloquence is still retained in this country by the children of those who listened to him. Immediately upon his return to Georgia, Oglethorpe proceeded to visit the Lutheran settlement at Ebenezer^ to encourage the people and lay out their town. The Germans repaid nis care by their industry, and in a few years their total annual product of raw silk amounted to ten thousand pounds. The culture of indigo was also carried on by them with marked success. Oglethorpe, having visited the Scotch set- tlement at Darien, now resolved to come to a definite understanding with the Spaniards at St. Augustine respect- ing the southern border of Georgia, and to sus- tain the pretensions of Great Britain to the country as far south as the St. John's. Proceed- ing with a detachment of Highlanders to Cumber- land Island, he marked out the location for a fort, to be called St. Andrew's, and on the southern end of Amelia Island, at the mouth of the St. John's, built Fort St. George. The Spaniards on their part claimed the whole coast as far north as St. Helena's Sound, and Oglethorpe, a little later, decided to abandon Fort St. George, but strengthened Fort St. settlemp:nt of Georgia. 247 Andrew, as it defended the entrance to the St. Mary's, which stream was finally settled upon as the boundary between Georgia and Florida. Oglethorpe was commissioned a brigadier-general by the king, and was charged with the defence of Georgia and South Carolina. He repaired to England and raised a regiment of troops, with which he returned to Georgia in 1738. Spain and England were rapidly drifting into war. The system of restrictions by which the European governments sought to retain the exclusive possession of the com- merce of their respective colonies was always a fruitful source of trouble. It now operated to bring England and Spain to open hostili- ties. The Spanish colonies were forbidden by law to trade with any port but that of Cadiz. The merchants of this place, being given a monopoly of the colonial commerce, were enabled to fix their prices without fear of competition, and thus earned large fortunes. Grasping Smugglers. The trade of the Spanish-American col- onies, however, was too tempting not to pro- duce rivals to the merchants of Cadiz. The English, who had watched its growth with eager eyes, determined to gain a share of it. By the terms of a treaty between the two nations, an English vessel was allowed to visit Portobello, in the West Indies, once a year, and dispose of its cargo. This vessel was followed by smaller ones, which in the night replaced with their cargoes the bales of goods that had been discharged during the day. An active smuggling trade sprang up between the English and Spanish-American ports, and English vessels repeatedly sought these ports, under the pretence of distress, and sold their goods. These enterprises were carried to such an extent that the Spanish merchants were unable to compete with the English smugglers in the colonial markets, and the tonnage of the port of Cadiz fell from fifteen thousand to two thou- sand tons. The Spaniards visited with severe punish- ments all who were detected in engaging in this illicit traffic. Some of the offenders were imprisoned, and others were deprived of their ears. The English people resented the pun- ishment of these traders as an infringement of the freedom of trade, and regarded the smugglers who had suffered at the hands of Spanish justice as martyrs. The popular sentiment was therefore in favor of a war with Spain, and the English government, which had all along connived at this illicit trade, which was rapidly crippling a rival power, shared the national feeling. Grievances of the Settlers. The English colonists, who had watched the growth of the trouble between the two European countries, had grievances of their own. South Carolina was a sufferer by the loss of numerous runaway negro slaves, who escaped to the Spaniards at St. Augustine. The return of these fugitives was demanded, and was refused, not because the Spaniards were opposed to slavery, but because they were always ready to injure the English col- onies by any means in their power. More- over, the Spanish authorities of Florida had ordered the English to withdraw from Georgia, and it was not certain that they would refrain from seeking to enforce this order. Oglethorpe had become convinced that war was inevitable, and in order to be prepared for it had visited Europe and raised a regiment of six hundred men, as has been related. / War was declared against Spain by Eng- land in October, 1739. Admiral Vernon was sent against Portobello with his fleet, and captured that town and its fortifications, and gained some other successes over the 248 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. Spaniards in Central America. In 1740, the American colonies were ordered by the British government to contribute each its quota to a grand expedition against the Spanish possessions in the West Indies. Each colony made its contribution promptly, and Pennsylvania, in the place of troops, voted a sum of money. Fleet of a Hundred Vessels. The expedition reached Jamaica in Janu- ary, 1741, but instead of proceeding at once to attack Havana, which was only three days distant, and the conquest of which would have made England supreme in the West Indies, the fleet was detained for over a month at Jamaica by the dissensions be- tween Wentworth, the incompetent com- mander of the land forces, and Vernon, the admiral of the fleet. The expedition num- bered over one hundred vessels, of which twenty-nine were ships of the line, and was manned with fifteen thousand sailors and twelve thousand troops, and supplied with every requisite for a successful siege. Havana might have been taken, and England have gained a hold upon the southern waters of America which could never have been wrested from her. Instead of undertaking this important measure, the expedition attacked Cartha- gena, the strongest fortress in Spanish America. The Spaniards defended it with obstinancy and held the English in check until the besieging force, decimated by the ravages of the climate, was compelled to withdraw. The war continued through the next year, but England gained no advan- tage in the West Indies which could at all compensate her for her losses in the struggle. In the autumn of 1739, upon the breaking out of the war, Oglethorpe was ordered to invade Florida, and attack St. Aug^ustine. He hastened to Charleston and urged upon the authorities of South Carolina, which formed a part of his military command, the necessity of acting with promptness and de- cision. He was granted supplies and a force of four hundred men, which, added to his own regiment, gave him a force of one thousand white troops. He was also fur- nished with a body of Indian warriors by the friendly tribes, and with his little army in- vaded Florida in the spring of 1 741, and laid siege to St. Augustine. He found the gar- rison more numerous and the fortifications stronger than he had been led to believe. The Indians soon became disheartened and began to desert, and the troops from South Carolina, " enfeebled by the heat, dispirited by sickness and fatigued by fruitless eflbrts, marched away in large bodies." Spanish Settlers Protected. The small naval force also became dissat- isfied, and Oglethorpe, left with only his own regiment, was obliged to withdraw into Georgia after a siege of five weeks. During this campaign Oglethorpe made a few pris- oners, whom he treated with kindness. He prevented the Indians from maltreating the Spanish settlers, and, throughout the inva- sion, " endured more fatigues than any of his soldiers; and in spite of ill-health, he was at the head in every important action." The invasion of Florida was a misfortune for Georgia in every way. Not only were some of the inhabitants lost to the colony by death, and the industry of the province greatly interfered with by the calling off of the troops from their ordinary avocations, but a serious misfortune was sustained in the withdrawal of the Moravians from the prov- ince. Uncompromisingly opposed to war, they withdrew from Georgia in a body and settled in Pennsylvania, where they founded the towns of Bethlehem and Nazareth, SETTLEMENT OF GEORGIA. 249 In the last year of the war, 1742, the Spaniards resolved to avenge the attack upon Florida by driving the English out of Georgia. A strong fleet with a considerable land force was sent from Cuba to St. Augus- tine, from which it proceeded to the mouth of the St. Mary's. Oglethorpe had con- structed a strong work called Fort William, on the southern end of Cumberland Island, for the defence of this river. With no aid from Carolina, and with less than a thousand men, Oglethorpe was left to defend this position as well as he could. He posted his main force at Frederica, a small village on St. Simon's Island. The Spanish fleet attacked Fort William in June and succeeded in passing it and entering the harbor of St. Simon's. The troops were landed and ar- rangements were made for a combined attack upon Frederica. Entrapped and Defeated. Oglethorpe now resolved to anticipate the attack of the enemy by a night assault upon *heir position, but as his forces were approach- ing the Spanish camp, under cover of dark- ness, one of his soldiers, a Frenchman, betrayed the movement by firing his gun, and escaping into the enemy's lines, where he gave the alarm. Oglethorpe, by a happy stratagem, now induced the enemy to with- draw, and drew upon the deserter the pun- ishment he merited. He bribed a Spanish prisoner to carry a letter to the deserter, in which he addressed the Frenchman as a spy of the English, and urged him to use every effort to detain the Spaniards before Fred- erica for several days longer, until a fleet of six English ships of war, which had sailed 'from Charleston, could reach and destroy St. Augustine. The letter was delivered by the released prisoner to the Spanish com- mander, as Oglethorpe had known would be the case, and the deserter was placed in con- 6nement- Fortunately, at this moment, some vessels from South Carolina, laden with supplies for Oglethorpe, appeared in the offing. These the Spanish commander was confident were the ships on their way to attack St. Augus- tine. He determined to strike a vigorous blow at Frederica before sailing to the relief of his countrymen in Florida. On his march towards the English position he was ambus- caded and defeated, with great loss, at a place since called " Bloody Marsh." The next night he embarked his forces and sailec/ for St. Augustine to defend it from the attacl< which had no existence save in the fertilt brain of Oglethorpe, whose stratagem was thus entirely successful. On their withdrawal the Spaniards renewed their attempt to cap- ture Fort William, but without success. The firmness and vigor of Oglethorpe had saved Georgia and Carolina from the ruin which the Spaniards, who had no intention of occupying the country, had designed for them. Oglethorpe Acquitted. k Yet the founder and brave defender o\ Georgia was not to escape the experience of those Avho seek with disinterested zeal to serve their fellow-men. The disaffected settlers sent an agent to England to lodge complaints against him with the government. In July, 1743, having made sure of the tran- quility and safety of the colony, Oglethorpe sailed for England to meet his accuser, and upon arriving in his native country demanded an investigation of his conduct in the land for which he had sacrificed so much. The result of the inquiry was the trium- phant acquittal of Oglethorpe and the pun- ishment of his accuser for making false charges. Oglethorpe was promoted to the grade of major-general in the English army. He did not return to Georgia again, but he had the satisfaction of knowing that during 250 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. his ten years of sacrifice and toil in America he had successfully laid the foundations of a vigorous state and had placed it far beyond the possibility of failure, and that his name was honored and loved by the people for whom he had given his best efforts without any personal reward. He died at the age of ninety years. After the departure of Ogle- thorpe many improvements were made in the government of Georgia, which was changed from a military rule to a civil establishment. The forms and customs of the English law were introduced and the usual magistrates appointed. Human Cargoes from Africa. Slavery had been forbidden by the trus- tees, but the majority of the people were dissatisfied with this prohibition. The Ger- mans and the Scotch were opposed to the introduction of slave labor, but the greater number of the English, many of whom had been reduced to poverty by their idleness and wastefulness, were of the opinion that the agricultural wealth of the colony could not be properly developed by white labor alone. " They were unwilling to labor, but were clamorous for privileges to which they had no right." They declared that the use of strong liquors was rendered absolutely necessary by the climate and demanded the repeal of the laws against their introduction. Negro slaves were hired from the Carolina planters at first for a few years, and finally for a term of one hundred years, which was a practical establishment of slavery in the colony. Within seven years after Oglethorpe's departure slave-ships from Africa brought their cargoes direct to Savannah and sold them there. The scruples of the Germans were at length overcome, and they were induced to believe that negroes might be led into the Christian fold by their proper treat- ment by Christian masters, and that in this way their change of country might result in benefit to them. '* If you take slaves in faith," wrote their friends from Germany, " and with the intent of conducting them to Christ, the action will not be a sin, but may prove a benediction." Even the pious White- field took this view of the subject and urged the trustees to grant permission to the colo- nists to hold slaves, as indispensable to the prosperity of Georgia. The trustees were so strongly urged to this step by all classes of the colony, and so overrun with complaints, that the twenty-one years of their guardianship having expired, they were glad to surrender their trust, which they did in 1752, and Georgia became a royal province. Privileges similar to those granted the other colonies were allowed it. The king appointed the governor and some of the other higher officials, and the assembly dis- charged the duties, and enjoyed the rights appertaining to similar bodies in the other provinces. Georgia was always a favored colony. Among the most important privileges be- stowed upon it was the right to import and hold negro slaves, which was conferred upon it by Parliament after a careful examination into the matter. After this the colony grew rapidly, and cotton and rice were largely cultivated. In 1752, at the time of the re- linquishment of the colony to the crown, Georgia contained a population less than twenty-five hundred whites and about four hundred negroes. In 1775, at the outbreak of the Revolution, the popu. lation numbered about seventy-five thousand souls, and its exports were valued at over half a million of dollars. CHAPTER XX The French in the Valley of the Mississippi ■>jigin of the Hostility of the Iroquois to the French—Settlement of Canada— Plans of the French Respecting theln««i; — The Jesuits — Their Work in America — Success of their Missions — The Early Missionaries— Foundation of a CoVr^i at Quebec — Efforts of the Jesuits to Convert the Iroquois — Father Jogues — Death of Ahasistari — Father AUouez — Ta; Missions on the Upper Lakes — Father Marquette — His Exploration of the Upper Mississippi — Death of Marquette - - La Salle — Efforts of France to Secure the Valley of the Mississippi — La Salle Descends the Mississippi to its Moutlj —His Effort to Colonize the Lower Mississippi — The First Colony in Texas — Its Failure — Death of La Salle • Lemoine d'Ibherville — Settlement of Louisiana — Colony of Biloxi— Settlement of Mobile — Crozat's Monopo^;-- Founding of New Orleans — Detroit Founded — Slow Growth of the French Colonies — Occupation of the Ohio Valit,! by the French — Wars with the Indians — Extermination of the Natchez Tribe — War with the Chickasaws= WE have already spoken of the explorations of Samuel Cham- plain in Canada and in the northern part of New York. It is necessary now, in order to obtain a proper comprehension of the period at which we have arrived, to go back to the time of his discoveries and trace the efforts of France to extend her dominion over the great valley of the Mississippi. We have seen Cham- plain in one of his last expeditions accom- |..»anyiiTg a war party of the Hurons and Al- gonquiins against their inveterate enemies, the Iroquois or Five Nations. By his aid the former were enabled to defeat the Iro- quois, and that great confederacy thus be- came the bitter and uncompromising enemies of the French nation. They cherished this hostility to the latest period of the dominion of France in Canada, and no effort of the French governors was ever able to over- come it. The efforts of Champlain established the Settlement of Canada upon a sure basis of success, and after his death settlers came over to Canada from France in considerable numbers. Quebec becamean important place, and other settlements were founded. It was apparent from the first that the French coIo= oies must occupy a very different footing from those of England. The soil and the climate were both unfavorable to agriculture, and the French settlements were of necessity organized chiefly as trading-posts. The trade in furs was immensely valuable, and the French sought to secure the exclusive possession of it. To this end it was indis- pensable to secure the friendship of the In dians, especially of those tribes inhabiting the country to the north and west of th^ great lakes. In 1634, three years before the death o? Champlain, Louis XIII. granted a chartei to a company of French nobles and mer- chants, bestowing upon them the entirs region embracec? in the valley of the St« Lawrence, then known as New France. Richelieu and Champlain, who were mem- bers of this company, were wise enough to understand that their countrymen were not suited to the task of colonization, and thcU if France was to found an empire in the new world, it must be by civilizing and Chris tianizing the Indians and bringing therii? under the rule of her king, and not by seek- ing to people Canada with Frenchmen, From this time it became the policy of France to bring the savages under her sway. The efforts of the settlers in Canada werj mainly devoted to trading with the Indiaii.^ 2Sl , 252 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. and no attempt was made to found an agri- cultural state. Champlain had conceived a sincere desire for the conversion of the savages to Chris- tianity, and had employed several priests of the order of St. Francis as his companions, and these had gained sufficient success among the savages to give ground for the hope that the red men might yet be brought into the fold of Christ. Father Le Caron, one of this order, had penetrated far up the St. Law- rence, had explored the southern coast of Lake Ontario, and had even entered Lake Huron. He brought back tidings of thou- sands of the sons of the forest living in darkness and superstition, ignorant of the gospel, and dying " in the bondage of their sins." In France a sudden enthusiasm was awakened in behalf of the savages, and at court zeal for the conversion of the Indians became the sure road to distinction. Much of this was the result of genuine disinterested regard for the welfare of the red men, but much also was due to the conviction that by such a course the power of France would be most surely established in Canada. Work of the Jesuits. The missions were placed entirely in the hands of the Jesuits, an order well suited to the task demanded of it. It had been estab- lished by its founder for the express design of defeating the influences and the work of the Reformation, and its members were chosen with especial regard to their fitness for the duties required of them. They were to meet and refute the arguments by which the Reformers justified their withdrawal from the Roman church, to beat back the advanc- ing wave of Protestantism, and bring all Christendom once more in humble submis- sion to the feet of the Roman pontiff. The Reformers had made a most successful use of education in winning men from Rome , the Jesuits would take their own weapons against the Protestants. They would no longer command absolute and unquestioning submission to their church ; but would edu- cate the people to accept the faith of Rome as the result of study and investigation ; and in order that study and investigation should^ lead to this desired result, the control of these processes should be placed exclusively in the hands of the members of the Jesuit order, who should direct them as they deemed best. Such a task required a band of de- voted men, carefully trained for their special work ; and such an order the Jesuits became. Surrendering his conscience and will to the direction of his superiors, and sinking his personality in that of his order, the Jesuit became a mere intellectual machine in the hands of his superior. A Solemn Oath. Bound by a most solemn oath to obey without inquiry or hesitation the commands of the Pope, or the superiors of the order, the Jesuit holds himself in readiness to execute instantly, and to the best of his ability, any task imposed upon him. Neither fatigue, danger, hunger nor suffering was to stand in his way of perfect and unhesitating obedi- ence. No distance was to be considered an obstacle, and no lack of ordinary facilities of travel was to prevent him from attempting to reach the fields in which he was ordered to labor. The merit of obedience in his eyes atoned for every other short-coming ; devo- tion to the church, the glory of making proselytes, made even suffering pleasure and death a triumph, if met in the discharge of duty. Such an order was in every way qualified for the work of Christianizing the savages, and America offered the noblest field to which its energies had yet been invited. There, cut off from the ambitious schemes THE FRENCH IN THE VALLEY OF THE MISSISSLPPI. 253 Attd corrupt influences which had enlisted their powers in Europe, the Jesuits could achieve and did achieve their noblest and most useful triumphs. There, their influ- ence was for good alone, and their labors stand in striking contrast with those which won for the order the universal execration of Europe. Not only did they win the honor of gaining many converts to the Christian faith, but they were the means of extending the dominion of their country far beyond the boundaries of Canada, and of bringing the great valley of the Mississippi under the authority of France. Marriage of Whites and Indians. By the year 1536 there were thirteen Jesuit missionaries in Canada laboring among the Indians. Not content with re- maining around the posts, they pushed out beyond the frontier settlements into the boundless forest, making new converts and important discoveries. Each convert was regarded as a subject of France, and the equal of the whites, and the kindliest rela- tions were established between the French and the nativ^es. Many of the traders took them Indian wives, and from these marriages sprang the class of half-breeds afterwards so numerous in Canada. The limits of Canada were too narrow for the ambition of the Jesuits ; they burned to carry Christianity to the tribes in the more distant regions beyond the lakes. In the autumn of 1634 Fathers Brabeuf and Daniel accompanied a party of Hurons, who had come to Quebec on a trading expedition, to their home on the shores of the lake which bears their name. It was a long and difficult journey of nine hundred miles, and it taxed the endurance of the missionaries to the ut- most, but they persevered, and finally gained a resting-place at the Huron villages on Georgian Bay and Lake Simcoe There they erected a rude chapel in a little grove, and celebrated the mysteries of their religion in the midst of the wondering red men, who looked on with awe and not without interest. New Missions. Six missions were soon established among the Indian villages in this part of the lake, and converts began to reward the labors of the devoted priests. Father Brabeuf had not an idle moment. The first four hours of the day were passed in prayer and in the flagel- lation of his body ; he wore a shirt of hair, and his fasts were frequent and severe. The remainder of the day was given to catechis- ing and teaching the Indians. As he passed along the streets of the village he would ring his little bell, and in this way summon the warriors to converse with him upon the mysteries of the Christian faith. He spent fifteen years in his labors among the Indians, and hundreds of converts were by means of him gained to Christ among the dusky chil- dren of the forest. The great Huron chief, Ahasistari, was among the converts of Father Brabeuf, " Before you came to this country," he said to the missionary, " when I have incurred the greatest perils and have alone escaped, I hax'^ said to myself, ' Some powerful Spirit has the guardianship of my days.' " That Spirit he now declared was Jesus Christ, and as he had before adored him in ignorance, he now became his acknowledged servant. Being, satisfied of his sincerity. Father Brabeuf baptized him, and the chief, in the enthusi- asm of his new belief, exclaimed, " Let us strive to make the whole world embrace the faith in Jesus." The report of the successful efforts of the missionaries gave great satisfaction in France, and the king and queen and the nobles made liberal donations in support of the missions and for the assistance of the converts. A 254 UiN iVEKSlTY AND NORMAL SCHOOL BUILDINGS AT TORONTO, IN 1 892. THE FRP:NCH in the valley of the MISSISSIPPL 25S ;oIlege for the education of missionaries was founded at Quebec in 1635. This svas the first institution of learning established in America, and preceded the founding of Har- vard College by two years. Madame de la Peltrie, a wealthy young widow of Alencon, with the aid of three nuns, established in 1639 the Ursuline Convent for the education of Indian girls. The three nuns came out from France to take charge of it, and were received with enthusiasm, especially by the Indians. Montreal being regarded as a more suit- able place, the institution was removed to that island and permanently established there. The Powerful Mohawks. The labors of the missionaries had thus far been confined to the Huron and Algon- quin tribes, whom they found very willing to listen to them, and among whom they counted their converts by thousands. They had encountered but little hostility from them, and the dangers of the enterprise were merely those inseparable from the unsettled condition of the country. They were anxious to extend their efforts to the fiercer and more powerful Iroquois, as the conver- sion of the tribes of this confederacy would not only swell the number of their converts, but would extend the influence of France to the very borders of the English settlements on the Atlantic coast. The Iroquois, or Five Nations, consisted, as has been said, of the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida and Mohawk tribes. They occupied almost all that part of Canada south of the Ottawa, and between Lakes Ontario, Erie and Huron, the greater part of New York and the country lying along the south shore of Lake Erie, now included in the states of Ohio and Pennsylvania. They were generally called by the English the Mohawks. They w^«"e the most intelligent, as well as the most powerful, of the tribes with whom the French missionaries came in contact. Their traditions related that their confed- eracy had been formed in accordance with the instructions of Hiawatha, the greatest and uasest of their chiefs, who had been blessed by the Great Spirit with more than human beauty and wisdom and courage. He had made his people great, united and prosperous ; had then taken a solemn leave of them, and had sailed out into the distant sunset in a snow-white canoe, amid the sweetest music from the spirit land. They were regarded with dread by the sur- rounding tribes, many of which were tribu- tary to them. Their influence extended eastward as far as New England, and west- ward as far as the countries of the Illinois and the Miamis. They regarded the Hurons as their hereditary enemies, and the French, as allies of the Hurons, now shared this hos- tility. The savages long remembered, and never forgave, the alliance of Champlain with the Hurons and Algonquins, to which reference has been made. Enmity of the Red Men. The Jesuit missionaries vainly endeavored to add the tribes of the Five Nations to their converts. The latter, regarding the French as enemies, could never be made to look upon the missionaries of that race as friends, and considered the efforts of the good fathers in their behalf as a species of incantation designed for their destruction. They closed the region south of Lake Ontario to the French traders and priests and kept a vigilant watch over the passes of the St. Lawrence for the purpose of breaking up the trade of the French at Montreal with the tribes on the lakes. The only route by which the lakes could be reached in safety was by the Ottawa and 256 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. through the wilderness beyond. Yet occa- sionally a trading party would slip through the blockade established by the Iroquois, and, descending the lakes and the St. Law- rence, reach Montreal and Quebec in safety. These expeditions constituted the only means by which the Jesuit missionaries in the remote regions could communicate with their principal establishment at Montreal. In the summer of 1642, Father Jogues, who had labored with great success in the country now embraced in the state of Michi- gan, left the Sault Sainte Marie under the escort of the great Huron war chief Ahasis- tari and a number of his braves, and, descend- ing the Ottawa and the St. Lawrence, reached Montreal and Quebec in safety. On the first of August he set out on his return, ac- companied by a larger fleet of Huron canoes. Before the mouth of the Ottawa was reached the party was attacked by a band of Mo- hawks, and the canoes were so much dam- aged that the occupants were forced to make for the opposite shore. The greater number escaped, but a few, among whom were Father Jogues and Father Goupil, a fellow-priest, were taken prisoners. Died at the Stake. Ahasistari had succeeded in reaching a place of safety, and from his concealment saw the missionaries prisoners in the hands of their enemies. He knew the fate that awaited them, and resolved to share it with them. Father Jogues might have escaped, but as there were among the prisoners several con- verts who had not yet received baptism, he decided to remain with them in the hope of being able to administer the sacred rite to them before their execution. Ahasistari strode through the midst of the astonished Mohawks to the side of the priest. " My brother," said the chief, " I made oath to thee that I would share thy fortune, whether death or life; here am I to keep my vow," He received absolution from the hands of his teacher, and died at the stake with the firm- ness of a Christian and a hero. Jogues and Goupil were carried to the Mohawk, and in each village through which they were led j were compelled to run the gauntlet. On an ear of corn which was thrown to them for food a few drops of the dew had remained, and with these Father Jogues baptized two of his converts. Peace with the Five Nations. Goupil was not so fortunate. He was seen in the act of making the sign of the cross over an Indian child, and was struck dead by a blow from the toma- hawk of the child's father, who sup- posed he was working a spell for the little one's harm. Father Jogues had expected the same fate, but he was spared, and even allowed to erect a large cross near the villagt at which he was detained, and to worship before it at pleasure. He escaped at length and reached Albany, where he was kindly received by the Dutch, who enabled him to return to France, from which country he sailed again for Canada. He went boldly into the Mohawk country and began again the efforts which he had made during his captivity to convert his enemies to the true faith, but his labors were soon cut short by his murder by a Mohawk warrior. Other missionaries sought the country of these tribes, but only to meet torture and death at their hands. In 1645, the Frencn, who desired to secure their possessions, made a treaty of peace with the Five Nations. The latter professed to forget and bury the wrongs of the past, and agreed to be the true friends of the French. The Algonquins joined in the peace, but neither tribe was sincere in its professions of friendship. THE FRENCH IN THE VALLEY OF THE MISSISSIPPL 257 The Abenakis of Maine, who had heard of the good deeds of the Jesuit fathers, sent messengers to Montreal asking that mission- aries might be sent to dwell among them. Their appeal was favorably considered, and Father Dreuilcttes made his way across the wilderness to the head of the Kennebec, and descended that stream to a point within a few miles of its mouth, where he established his mission. Large numbers of the savages came to him for religious instruction, and he found them ready to embrace the truths he taught them. He entered heartily into all the modes of Indian life, hunting and fishing with them, and winning their confidence and affection. After remaining with them about a year he returned to Quebec, escorted by a band of his converts. He gave such favora- ble accounts of the disposition of the Maine Indians that a permanent mission was estab- lished among them. Uncivilized ^Vild Men. By the close of the year 1646 the French had established a line of missions extending across the continent from Lake Superior to Nova Scotia, and between sixty and seventy missionaries were actively engaged in in- structing and preaching to the savages. How far the labors of these devoted men were actually successful will never be known, as their work was of a character which can- not be submitted to any human test. They did not succeed, however, in changing either the character or the habits of their converts. ihey were still wild men, who scorned to engage in the labor of cultivating their lands, and lived by hunting and fishing. They learned to engage in the religious services of the missionaries, to chant matins and ves- pers, but they made no approach to civiliza- tion. When, in after years, the zeal of the whites for their conversion became less act- ive, and the missionaries less numerous, they fell back into their old ways. '7 In 1648 the peace between the Mohawks and the Hurons was broken, and the war blazed up again fiercer than ever. Bands of Mohawk warriors invaded the territory of the Hurons, and both the savage and the|' missionary fell victims to their fury. Onfc the morning of the fourth of July the village of St. Joseph, on Lake Simcoe, was attacked by a war party of the Mohawks. Pierced With Arrows. The Huron braves were absent on a hunt- ing expedition, and only the old men and the women and children of the tribe were left in the village. This was the village founded by the missionaries Brabeuf and Daniel, the latter of whom, now an old man, was still dwelling with his converts. At the opening of the attack the good priest has- tened to baptize such as he could, and to give absolution to all whom he could reach. Then, as the Mohawks forced the stockade which protected the village and swarmed in among the wigwams, he advanced calmly from the chapel to meet them, and fell pierced with numerous arrows. During the next year the Jesuit missions in Upper Canada were broken up. At the capture of the village Father Brabeuf and his companion, Gabriel Lallemand, were made prisoners, and were subsequently put to death with the crudest tortures. They bore their sufferings with a firmness which astonished their persecutors. The Hurons were scattered and their country was added to the dominion of the Five Nations. Many of the captive Hurons were adopted into the conquering tribes. A large number of these had embraced Christianity — so many, indeed, that the Jesuits, who had been in nowis( 1 discouraged by the terrible scenes which hac' marked the war, began to cherish the hope that the presence of these converts would induce the Iroquois to receive a missionary 258 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. among them. It was decided to make the attempt among the Onondagas, and Oswego, which was their principal village, was chosen as the site of the missioa. Useless Efforts. The Iroquois made no effort to disturb the nissionaries, and priests were sent among tlie other tribes of the confederacy. Encour- aged by this reception, the French undertook to secure a firm footing in this inviting region by establishing a colony at the mouth of the Oswego, and fifty persons were des- patched to that point to begin a settlement there. This aroused the alarm of the Indians, who compelled the colonists to withdraw and forced the missionaries to de- part with them. This was the last effort of the French to obtain possession of New York, The Five Nations were not to be reconciled with them on any terms, and their hostility made it useless to attempt the col- onization of that fertile region. Defeated in their hope of obtaining a footing in the country of the Five Nations, the Jesuit fathers turned their attention more energetically to the vast region beyond the lakes. In 1654 two young fur-traders had penetrated into the country beyond Lake Superior, and after an absence of two years had returned to Quebec, bringing with them accounts of the powerful and numerous tribes occupying that region. They brought iwith them a number of Indians, who urged the French to open commercial relations with and send missionaries among these tribes. Their request was promptly granted, md missionaries were soon on the ground. Jne of these, the aged Father Mesnard, while journeying through the forests, wan- dered off from his attendants and was never seen again. His cassock and breviary were found by the Sioux, and were long retained by them as a protection against evil. In 1665 Father Claude Allouez ascended the Ottawa and crossed the wilderness to the Sault Ste-Marie, on a mission to the tribes of the far west. In October he reached the principal town of the Chippewas at the head of Lake Superior. He found the tribe in great excitement ; the young warriors were eager to engage in a war against the formid- able Sioux, and the old men were seeking to restrain them. A grand council was in progress, which was attended by the chiefs of ten or twelve of the neighboring tribes for the purpose of preserving peace *i possible. Father Allouez was admitted to this assembly and exhorted the warriors to abandon their hostile intentions, and urged them to join the French in an alliance against the Five Nations. His appeal was successful ; the war against the Sioux was abandoned, and the savages came in from all parts of the surrounding country to listen to the words of the mis- sionary. A chapel was built on the shore of the lake and the mission of the Holy Spirit was founded. The fame of the missionary spread far to the west and north, and the tribes dwelling north of Lake Superior, the Pottawatomies from Lake Michigan, who worshiped the sun, and the Sioux and the Illinois from the distant prairies of the west, came to the mission to hear the teachings of the missionary. They told him of their country, an unbroken expanse of level land, without trees, but covered with long rich grass, upon which grazed innumerable herds of buffalo and deer; of the rice which grew wild in their distant homes ; of the rich yield of maize which their fields produced ; of the copper mines of which they but dimly comprehended the value ; and of the great river which flowed through their country from the far north to the unknown regions of the south, and which Allouez understood them to call the " Messipi." THE FRENCH IN THE VALLEY OF THE MISSISSIPPL 559 After remaining at his mission for two years, Alloiicz returned to Quebec to ask for other laborers in the great field around him, and to urge the French to establish per- manent settlements of emigrants or traders in the Lake Superior country. He remained 3it Quebec two days, was given an assistant, and at once returned to his post, where he continued his labors for many years. " Dur- ing his long sojourn he lighted the torch of faith for more than twenty different nations." In 1668 the French West India Company, under whose auspices the settlement of Canada had been conducted, relinquished their monopoly of the fur trade, and a great improvement in the condition and prospects of Canada ensued. In the same year Fathers Claude Dablon and James Marquette estab- lished the mission of Ste-Marie at the rapids through which the waters of Lake Superior rush into those of Huron. " For the suc- ceeding years," says Bancroft, " the illus- trious triumvirate, Alloiiez, Dablon and Marquette, were employed in confirming the influence of France in the vast regions that extend from Green Bay to the head of Lake Superior, mingling happiness with suffering, and winning enduring glory by their fearless perseverance. " Wonderful Scene. In 1669, Father Alloiiez went to establish ^ mission at Green Bay, and Father Mar- quette took his place at the mission of the Holy Spirit. Marquette had heard so much of the Mississippi that he resolved to under- take the discovery of the upper waters of that stream. He employed a young Illinois warrior as his companion, and from him learned the dialect of that tribe. In 1673, accompanied by a fellow-priest named Joliet, five French boatmen, and some Indian guides and interpreters, bearing their canoes on their backs, Marquette set out from his mission. and crossing the narrow portage which divides the Fox River from the Wi*consin. reached the headwaters of the latter stream. There the guides left them, wondering at their rashness in seeking to venture into a region which the simple imagination of the savages filled with vague terrors. The adventurers floated down the Wisconsin, and in seven days entered the Mississippi, " with a joy that could not be expressed." Raising the sails of their canoes they glided down the mighty father of waters, gazing with wonder upon the magnificent forests which lined its shores, and which swarmed with game, and admiring the boundless prairie* which stretched away from either bank to th" horizon. The Pipe of Peace. One hundred and eighty miles below th» mouth of the Wisconsin the voyagers for the first time discovered signs of human beings. They landed, and found an Indian village i few miles distant from the river. They wera kindly received by the inhabitants, who spoke the language of the Indians who had come with Marquette, and a week was passed at this hospitable village. The villagers told the travellers that the lower river extended far to the south, where the heat was deadly, and that in those latitudes the stream abounded with monsters which destroyed both men and canoes. At the departure of the whites the chief of the tribe hung around Marquette's neck the peace-pipe, and ex- plained to him that it v/ould prove a safe guard to him among the tribes into whose territory his journey would lead him. Continuing their voyage the explorer? reached the mouth of the Missouri, and noticed the strong, muddy stream which it poured into the Mississippi. " When I return," said Marquette, " I will ascend that river and p«ss beyond its headwaters, and i66 SETTLEMENi OF AMERICA. proclaim the gospel." One hundred and twenty miles farther south they passed the mouth of the Ohio, of which river they had heard from the Illinois at the village they had visited. As they proceeded farther south the heat became more intense, for it was the month of July. They met with Indians, whose hostility was disarmed by the peace- pipe which Marquette bore. Some of these Indians were armed with axes of European manufacture, which they had obtained either from the Spaniards in the far south, or from the English in Virginia. The voyage was continued to the mouth of the Arkansas. Marquette was now satisfied that the great river flowed into the Gulf of Mexico, and as he was fearful of falling into the hands of the Spaniards in that region, he decided to bring his voyage to an end, and return to the lakes. The Dying Missionary. The task of ascending the river was accom- plished with great difficulty, and at length the mouth of the Illinois was reached. As they supposed this stream would lead them to the lakes the voyagers ascended it to its headwaters, and then crossed the country to the site of Chicago, from which they con- tinued the voyage by way of Lake Michigan to Green Bay. Marquette despatched Joliet to Quebec to report the results of the voyage, but himself remained at Green Bay. It was his purpose to preach the gospel among the Illinois, who had begged him during his voyage to come back to them. He was detained at Green Bay for some time by feeble health, but in 1675 went back to the Illinois, and began his labors among them. Feeling that his end was near he undertook to return to the mis- sion of St. Mary's, but fell ill on the way. He gave absolution to all his companions, and retired to pray. An hour afterwards, uneasy at his absence, his people went td seek him, and found him kneeling, but pray- ing no longer, for his spirit had gone to receive its reward. He was buried on the banks of the river that bears his name, and his memory was long c)ierished with affec- tion by the Indians. The work of exploration which Marquett^ had begun was taken up by a bolder and firmer hand. Robert Cavalier de la Salle, a man of good family, had been educated for the service of the Jesuits, but had abandoned his design of entering that order after com- pleting his education. In 1667 he had emi- grated to Canada to seek his fortune, and had established himself as a fur-trader on Lake Ontario. Encouraged by the governor of Canada he had explored Lake Ontario, and had ascended to Lake Erie. When the French governor a few years later built Fort Frontenac to guard the outlet of Lake Ontario, La Salle was granted an extensive domain, including Fort Frontenac, now the town of Kingston, on condition that he would maintain the fort. He thus obtained the monopoly of the fur-trade with the Five Nations. Here he was residing at the tim' of the death of Marquette. On the Road to Fortune. The news of Marquette's discoveries filled him with the deepest interest, and he was eager to continue the exploration of the river at the point at which Marquette had discontinued it, and to trace it to its mouth. He was already on the road to fortune, but the prospect of winning greater fame was too tempting to be resisted, and, leaving his pos- sessions on Lake Ontario, he sailed for France and laid before Colbert, the minister, the schemes he had for the exploration and colonization of the valley of the Mississippi. He obtained a grant of valuable privileges and received permission to attempt the task THE FRENCH IN THE VALLEY OF THE MISSISSIPPL 261 of adding that vast region to the dominions of France. He returned to Fort Frontenac in the autumn of 1678, bringing with him as his lieutenant an Italian veteran named Tonti and a number of mechanics and seamen, to- gether with the materials for rigging a ship. *, Before the winter had set in he ascended Lake Ontario to the Niagara River, where he built a trading-post. Then passing around the falls he constructed a vessel of sixty tons at the foot of Lake Erie. To'>ti and Father Hennepin, a Franciscan, went among the Senecas during the construction of the ship and estab- lished friendly relations with them, and La Salle exerted himself to pro cure furs with which to freight his vessel. The vessel completed, he as- cended Lake Erie, passed through the straits into Lakes Huron and Michi- gan, and entered Green Bay. Then loading his vessel with a cargo of valuable furs, he sent her to the Niagara, with orders to return with supplies as soon as pos- sible. During her absence La Salle and his com- panions ascended Lake Michigan in canoes as far as the mouth of the St. Joseph's, where they built a fort. Then crossing over to the valley of the Illinois, he built a fort on a bluff near the site of Peoria, and awaited the re- turn of the " Griffin." The vessel had been wrecked on the voyage to Niagara, and when it became evident that she would not return, La Salle named his fort Crevecoeur (" Heart- break.") Supplies were necessary to the exploration of the Mississippi, and La Salle being deter- mined to obtain them, took with him three companions and crossed the wilderness to Fort Frontenac, which he reached in the spring of 1680. During his absence, Father Hennepin, by his orders, explored the Upper Mississippi as far as the falls, which he named in honor of St. Anthony, the patron saint of the expedition. In the summer of 1680 La Salle returned to the Illinois, but various FALLS OF ST. ANTHONY. causes intervening to delay him, he was not able to undertake his exploration of the Mississippi until 1682. In that year he built a barge on the upper Illinois, and embarking with his companions, floated down that stream to the Mississippi, which he descended to the Gulf of Mexico. He named the country along the banks of the river Louis- iana, in honor of Louis XIV., King of France, Then ascending the Mississippi, he returned 262 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. by the Lakes to Quebec, and in 1683 sailed for France to enlist the government and peo- ple in his project for colonizing the country along the lower Missfssippi. An Unfortunate Wreck. ' His design was encouraged by the king, and emigrants were readily found. In 1684, he sailed from France with four ships and two hundred and eighty per- sons to plant a colony at the mouth of the Mississippi. Unhappily the command- er of the fleet was not in sympathy with La Salle, and being jealous of his authority, man- ifested a degree of stubbornness which was fatal to the expedition. One hundred of the colonists were soldiers ; of the rest, some were volunteers, some mechanics, some women, and some priests. After a long voy- age they entered the Gulf of Mexico in Jan- uary, 1685. They sailed past the mouth of the Mississippi, and when La Salle perceived his errgr, Beaujeu, the commander of the fleet, refused to return, but continued his western course until the bay of Matagorda was reached. There La Salle, weary of his disputes with Beaujeu, resolved to land, hoping that he might yet find the mouth of the Mississippi. A careless pilot, in attempt- ing to get the store-ship into the harbor, wrecked her, and all the supplies which Louis XIV. had provided with a lavish hand were lost. The colony, which was named Fort St. Louis, was from the first doomed to misfor- tune, and in a little more than two years was reduced by disease and suffering to thirty- six persons. In January, 1687, La Salle, leaving twenty men at Fort St. Louis, set out with sixteen men to march across the conti- nent to Canada to obtain aid for the settle- ment. His remarkable courage and deter- mination would doubtless have accomplished this feat, but on the way he was murdered by two of his men, who regarded him as the author of their sufferings. Of the rest of his companions, five who kept together reached a small French post near the mouth of the Arkansas, after a journey of six months. The twenty men left at Fort St. Louis were never heard of again. The effort to colonize, Texas completely failed, and all that was accomplished by La Salle's enterprise was the establishment of the claim of France to this region. Searching for La Salle. To La Salle is due the credit of having been the first to comprehend the importance of securing to France the great region watered by the Mississippi and its tributaries, and it was through his efforts that the atten- tion of France was seriously directed to its colonization. His remarkable qualities must always command the admiration and his sad fate elicit the sympathy of all generous hearts. While La Salle was vainly striving to ac- complish some good result with the Texas colony, his friend and lieutenant, Tonti, in obedience to his instructions, started from the Illinois and descended the Mississippi almost to its mouth, hoping to meet him. At length, despairing of seeing him, Tonti engraved a cross and the arms of France upon a tree on the banks of the river, and returned to the Illinois. In 1699, twelve years after the death of La Salle, another and this time a successful effort was made to secure Louisiana to France. Lemoine d'Ibberville, a native of Canada and a man of ability and courage, resolved to, plant a colony near the mouth of the Missis- sippi. With four vessels and two hundred emigrants, some of whom were women and children, he sailed from Canada for the mouf b of the Mississippi. He landed at the moulii of the river Pascagoula, and with two barges MVRPE^ OF J.A SAJ.Le. 264 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. manned by forty-eight men searched the coast for the mouth of the Mississippi. He found it and ascended as high as the mouth of the Red River. Here he was met by the Indians, who, to his astonishment, gave him a letter which had been placed in their charge fourteen years before. It was from Tonti, and was addressed to La Salle. He had given it to the Indians, and had charged them to deliver it to the first Frenchman they met. Shiftless Colonists. D'Ibberville returned to the gulf by way of Lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain, which he named after two of the ministers of Louis XIV. Deeming the shores of the Mississippi too marshy for colonization, D'Ibberville formed a settlement at Biloxi, at the mouth of the Pascagoula, within the limits of the present state of Mississippi, and soon afterwards sailed for France to obtain rein- forcements and supplies, leaving one of his brothers, Sauville by name, as governor, and he other, Bienville, to explore the Missis- sippi and the country along its banks. Early in 1700 D'Ibberville returned from France, and about the same time Tonti, La Salle's former lieutenant, now an aged man, arrived from the country of the Illinois. Acting upon Tonti's advice, D'Ibberville ascended the Mississippi for four hundred miles, and on the site of the present city of Natchez built a fort which he named Rosalie, in honor of the Duchess of Pontchartrain. Neither the settlement at Biloxi nor Rosalie prospered, however. The colonists were a shiftless set, and instead of seeking to culti- vate the soil and establish homes for them- selves, went farther west to seek for gold. In 1702 D'Ibberville removed the colony from Biloxi to Mobile, which was founded in that year, and became the capital of Louis- iana and the centre of the French influence in the south. This settlement languished^ however, and in ten years only two hundred emigrants were added to its population. It was forced to depend upon the French colonies in the West Indies for subsistence. New Orleans Founded. In 1 7 14 the French government, becoming convinced that it was necessary to make a more vigorous effort to colonize Louisiana if it meant to hold that country, granted a monopoly of trade to Arthur Crozat, who agreed to send over every year two ships laden with emigrants "and supplies, and also a cargo of African slaves. The king, on his part, agreed to furnish the sum of ten thou- sand dollars annually for the protection of the colony. In the same year a trading- house was established at Natchitoches on the Red River, and another on the Alabama, near the present site of Montgomery. Fort Rosalie was made the centre of an important trade, and matters bep^an to wear a new aspect in Louisiana. In 17 1 8 Bienville, who had become satis- fied of the propriety of removing the seat of government from Mobile to the more produc- tive region of the lower Mississippi, put the convicts to work to clear up the thicket of cane which covered the site on which he meant to locate his new city, and upon the ground thus prepared erected a few huts, the germ of the great city of New Orleans. It grew more rapidly than any of the settlements in Louisiana. In 1722 it contained about one hundred log huts, and a population of seven hundred. In 1723 the seat of govern- ment was removed from Mobile to New Orleans; and 1727 the construction of the levee was begun. While these efforts were in progress in the lower Mississippi, the French were even more active in the west. Detroit was founded in 1701, and the villages of Kaskaskin and THE FRENCH IN rHE VALLEY OF THE MISSISSIPPI 265 Cabokia were formed around the stations of the missionaries on the east bank of the Mis- sissippi, above the mouth of the Ohio. The French population in America grew very slowly, however. In 1690 the population of Canada was only twelve hundred ; that, of Acadia, or Nova Scotia, less than one thou- sand ; and that of Loui&iana less than five hundred. France had formed a deliberate and mag- nificent plan with respect to her American possessions. She meant to build up a mighty empire in the valley of the Mississippi, extending from the great lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, and touching Canada. Her efforts to accomplish this were lavish and persistent, but the unhealthiness of the climate, and the almost constant wars with the Natchez and Chickasaw Indians disheartened the settlers, ;ind the French population grew so slowly that it could not accomplish the destiny .demanded of it by the government at home. !As late as 1740 Louisiana contained only about five thousand whites and less than two thousand five hundred negroes. The slow increase of the population made it necessary to hold the country by a series of military posts. By the year 1750 more than sixty of these posts had been built between Lake Ontario and the Gulf of Mexico, by way of Green Bay, the Illinois, the Wabash, and the Maumee rivers, and along the Mississippi to New Orleans. French Claims in America. The most important of these forts were held by garrisons of regular troops, who were relieved once in six years. They accomplished this in the face of the constant hostility of their old enemies, the tribes of the Five Nations, and the Natchez and Chickasaws. In 1748 the French extended their claim to the country south of Lake Erie, as far east as the mountains, which they explored, and took formal possesision of by burying at the most important points leaden plates engraved with the arms of France. According to the ideas of the times, their claim was a valid one. In the meantime the settlements of Louis-^ iana had been obliged to struggle against the constant hostility of tlie Natchez Indians, who occupied the country around the present city which bears their name. They were not very numerous, but were more intelligent and civilized than the tribes among whom they dwelt. They worshiped the sun, from which deity their principal chief claimed to be descended. They watched the growing power of the French with alarm, and at length resolved to put a stop to the progress of the whites by a general massacre. Seven Hundred Murders. On the twenty-eighth of November, 1729, they fell upon the settlement at Fort Rosalie and massacred the garrison and settlers, seven hundred in number. They were nol long permitted to exult over their success. When the news of the massacre reached New Orleans, Bienville resolved to retaliate severely upon the aggressors. He applied to the Choctaws, the hereditary enemies oi the Natchez, for assistance, and was furnished by them with sixteen hundred warriors. With these and his own troops Bienville besieged the Natchez in their fort; but they escaped under the cover of the night and fled west of the Mississippi. They were followed by the French and forced to surrender, after which they were taken to New Or- leans and sent to St. Domingo, where they were sold as slaves. The Great Sun was among the captives, and the tribe of the Natchez was completely destroyed. It was well known to the French that the Chickasaws,a powerful tribe dwelling between the territory of the Natchez and the Ohio op 266 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. the north, and as far as the country of the Cherokees on the east, had incited the Natchez against them, Bienville therefore resolved to turn his arms against them. They had also given great trouble to the French by attacking and plundering their trading-boats descending the Mississippi from the posts on the Illinois. Bienville con- certed measures for a combined attack upon the Chickasaws with D'Artaguette, governor of the Illinois country, and two expeditions were despatched against the Indians. Bienville, with a strong force of French troops and twelve hundred Choctaw warriors, sailed in boats from New Orleans to Mobile and ascended the Tombigbee five hundred miles, to the place now known as Cotton Gin point. He landed here and marched twenty-five miles overland to the principal fort of the Chickasaws, which he at once attacked. He was repulsed with the loss cf one hundred men, and was so discouraged that he returned to New Orleans. D'Arta- guette entered the Chickasaw country with fifty Frenchmen and one thousand Indians. He was defeated and taken prisoner, and was burned at the stake in May, 1735. In 1740 another effort was made by the French to crush the Chickasaws, but was equally un- successful. CHAPTER XXI. Conflicts Between the English and French. Relations Between the English and the Five Nations— The Hostility of the Latter to the French— King William's Wa — Destruction of Dover— The Jesuit Missionaries Incite the Indians to Attack the English — Expedition Against Que , bee — Attack on Dustin's Farm — Peace of Ryswick — Hostility of the English to Roman Catholics — Queen Anne'i War — Burning of Deerfield — Eunice Williams — Cruelties to the French — Effort of Nevif England to Conquer Acadia — Capture of Port Royal — Failure of the Expedition Against Quebec — King George's War — Expedition Against Louis- burg — Its Composition — Arrival of the Fleet at Cape Breton — Good Conduct of the Provincials — Capture of Louis- burg — Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle — Unjust Treatment of the Colonies by England — Sentiment of the Americans Towards England. THE territory of the Five Nations lay between the English and French colonies. The friendship which these tribes had borne to the Dutch was transferred to the English upon the con- quest of New Netherlands by the latter, and they remained the faithful and devoted allies of Great Britain until after the Revolution. Though they remained at peace with the French for some years after the treaty, which has been mentioned in the preceding chap- ter, they regarded a renewal of hostilities with them as certain, and were on the whole anxious to resume the struggle at the earliest moment. James II., eager to establish the P.oman Catholic religion in America, instructed the governor of New York to cultivate friendly relations with the French, and to exert all his influence to induce the Five Nations to receive Jesuit missionaries. The governor, however, saw that the French were rapidly monopolizing the fur trade, and he encour- aged the Five Nations to regard them with suspicion and dislike. The French by their own bad treatment of the Mohawks put an end to the hope of a lasting peace with them. Upon the escape of James II. to France, Louis XIV. warmly espoused the cause of ?he dethroned king, which he declared was the cause of legitimate monarchy as opposed to the right of the people to self-government ; and the war which was thus begun in Europe spread to the possessions of the rival powers in America. The objects of the two parties in America were very different. That of the people of New England, who were princi- pally interested in the struggle, was to secure their northern frontier against invasion from Canada, and to get possession of the fisheries. The French, on the other hand, wished to obtain entire control of the valley of the Mississippi, which would make them sole masters of the fur trade, and to extend their power over the valley of the St. Lawrence, and thus obtain control of the fisheries also. To accomplish their first object the friend- ship of the Indian tribes in the valley of the Mississippi was indispensable, and they exerted every means of which they were possessed to gain it. They renewed their efforts to win over the Five Nations, but without success. The war between these tribes and the French was soon renewed, as has been related, and on the twenty-fifth of August, 1689, a band of fifteen hundred Mo- hawk warriors surprised and captured Mon- treal, and put two hundred of the inhabitants to death with horrible cruelty. An equal number of whites were made prisoners. 267 , 268 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. In the same year Count Frontenac was appointed governor of Canada for the second time. He came resolved to break the power of the English, and reached Canada just in time to hear of the capture of Montreal. He at once set to work to incite the Indians to a series of incursions against the English set- tlements which should thoroughly establish his influence over the savage warriors, who would obey none but a successful chief, and at the same time strike terror to the enemies of France. VIEW OF MONTREAL FROM MOUNT ROYAL. ihe first blow was struck at Dover, in New Hampshire. The commander of the garrison at this place was Major Richard Waldron. Thirteen years before, during King Philip's war, two hundred eastern Indians came to Dover to treat of peace. Waldron treacherously seized them and sent them to Boston, where some of them were •hanged; and the remainder sold into slavery^ The savages had neither forgotten nor for- given the wrongs of their brothers, and now they resolved to meet the whites with their cwn v/eapons of deceit and treachery. On the evening of the twenty-seventh of June, 1689, two Indian squaws came to Dover and asked for a night's lodging. Waldron, now an old man of eighty, was unsuspicious of harm. Their request was granted and the squaws were lodged in his house. In the dead of the night the women arose, unbarred the gates and admitted the warriors, who had lain in ambush near the town. Waldron's house was first entered, the first duty of the savages being to discharge their debt of vengeance by a cold-blooded murder. The brave old man ^jized his sword and defended himself un- til he was felled to the floor by a blow which stunned him. He was then seated in a chair and placed on a table, and the savages sa- luted him with jeers. " Who will judge In- dians now?" they asked. "Who will hang our brothers ? Will the pale-face Waldron give us life for life?" As they spoke they gashed him across the breast with their knives, inflicting wounds equal in number to their friends whom he had be- trayed. The old man bore his tortures firmly until he died ; the Indians then set fire to the house and burned the rest of the settlement. Nearly half the inhabitants were murdered and the remainder were carried into captivity. The other frontier towns suffered severely from Maine to New York. A band of French and Indians, in February, 1690, toiled across the wilderness from Montreal to central New York on snow-shoes an(J CONFLICTS BETWEEN THE ENGLISH AND FRENCH. 269 surprised Schenectady. The place was burned, the majority of the settlers were killed, and many women and children were carried into captivity. A few escaped through the snow to Albany. Deerfield and Haverhill in Massachusetts, Salmon Falls in New Hampshire, and Casco in Maine met a similar fate. The French had resolved to make the war one of extermination, and neither they n^T their savage allies showed any mercy to the English in their hour of triumph. FailuF'? to Capture Montreal. The savap^e? were incited to their bloody task by the Jesuit missionaries. The first race of missionaries, whose good deeds we have chronicled in the last chapter, had died out, and their successors could conceive of no higher standard of duty than the exter- mination of the English heretics. They roused the fury of their dusky converts against the English as the enemies of the Roman religion, and then confessing and absolving the savage warriors, sent them forth to murder and destroy, with the solemn assurance that such acts on their part would win them the favor of their Father in Heaven. When peace was made two Jesuit priests, Thury and Bigot, induced the Eastern Indians to break the treaty and renew the war, and even took pride in acknowledging themselves the instigators of the atrocities of the savages. These things were well under- stood among the English, and they came to regard the Jesuit missionaries as the enemies of mankind. In May, 1690, a congress of delegates from Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York was held at New York for the purpose of concerting a plan for an invasion of Can- ada. It was resolved to send an army against Montreal by way of Lake Champlain, while Massachusetts should despatch a fleet to attack Quebec. The first expedition, com- posed of the troops of New York and Con- necticut, advanced to Lake Champlain, attended by a strong force of Mohawk allies. Frontenac promptly assembled his French and Indians for the defence of Montreal, and succeeded in inflicting a sharp defeat upon the Mohawks, under Colonel Philip Schuyler, who led the advance of the English army. The Mohawks were unable to regain their lost ground and the provincial troops were delayed by the dissensions of their leaders until the provisions ran short and the small- pox broke out among the men. It then became necessary to abandon the attempt. Death and Desolation. In the meantime Massachusetts equipped a fleet of thirty-two vessels and two thou- sand men and despatched it to the St. Law- rence under the command of the governor. Sir William Phipps, whose incompetency produced the failure of the expedition. Frontenac was promptly informed of the departure of the fleet by an Indian runner from the Piscataqua, who reached Montreal in twelve days. Frontenac at once set out for Quebec and arrived there three days in advance of the English fleet, which was obliged to feel its way cautiously up the St. Lawrence. When the hostile vessels arrived off the city, Quebec was prepared to offer a determined resistance. After a few harmless demonstrations, Sir William Phipps withdrew and returned to Boston, to the great disap- pointment of the colony. A large debt had been incurred in this enterprise and a num- ber of valuable lives had been lost, but notli- ing had been gained. The Eastern Indians continued their ag- gressions, but were severely punished b). Captain Samuel Church, who had served with distinction in King Philip's war. On one occasion he was so exasperated by the 270 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. cruelties of the savages that he put a number of his prisoners, including some women and children, to death. The savages mercilessly- avenged the murder of their friends and car- ried death and desolation along the borders )i New England. Nearly every settlement in Maine was destroyed by them or aban- doned by the inhabitants, who fled to the other colonies for protection. The Indians prowled around the frontier posts. They had been well armed by the French, and shot down the men without mercy. The women and children were generally spared and carried to Canada, where they were sold to the French as slaves. In 1693 peace was made with the Abenakis, or Eastern Indians, but within a year the Jesuits had succeeded in inducing the savages to resume hostilities. A Daring Escape. A party of Indians attacked the house of a farmer named Dustin, residing near Haver- hill. He was at work in the field when the shouts of the savages warned him of the danger of his wife and children. Throwing himself on his horse, he hastened to their rescue, and on the way met his children fly- ing for safety pursued by the savages. He threw himself in front of the little ones, and by a few well-aimed shots kept the pursuers back until the children reached a place of safety. Hannah Dustin, her youngest child — only a few days old — her nurse, and a boy from Worcester, unable to fly, were made prisoners by the Indians. The little one was killed, and the two women and the boy were carried away by the savages to their village, situated on an island in the Merrimac, just ibove Concord. Hannah Dustin resolved to escape, and communicated her plan to her companions. Each secured a tomahawk, and at night be- gan the destruction of their captors, twelve in number. Ten Indians were killed and one squaw was wounded. The twelfth, a child, was purposely spared. Then collecting the gun and tomahawk of the murderer of her infant, and a bag full of scalps, the heroic women secured a canoe, and embarking in it ^ with her companions, floated down the Mer- rimac and soon reached Haverhill, wher< they were received with astonishment anc^ delight by their friends. This struggle, which is known in Ameri- can history as " King William's War," was brought to a close in September, i697,by tht Peace of Ryswick. It had lasted seven years, and had caused severe suffering to the northern colonies, without yielding them any compensating advantages. The Five Nations were also severe suffer- ers. Failing to win them from their alliance with the English, Frontenac several times invaded their country with an army of French troops and Indians, and ravaged it with great cruelty. Frontenac led these expeditions in person, though he was seventy-four years old. The people of New York, regarding the Jesuits as the true authors of the miseries endured by the English and their allies, en- acted a law in 1 700, that every Romish priest who voluntarily came into the province should be Ranged. Butchery at Deerfield. Five years after the Peace of Ryswick, the War erf" the Spanish Succession, or, as it is known in American history, " Queen Anne's War," began in Europe. It soon extended to America, and embroiled the English and French in this country. The English settle- ments on the western frontier of New Eng- land were almost annihilated by the Indians, and the French were unusually active. The people of Deerfield were warned by the friendly Mohawks that the French and Indians were meditating an attack upon their CONFLICTS BETWEEN tU^ ENGLISH AND FRENCH. 271 settlements and through the winter or" 1703-4 a vigilant watch was kept by night and day. The winter was very severe ; the snow lay four feet deep, and the clear, cold atmosphere made it almost* as hard as ice. Profiting by •his, a war party of about two hundred , 'Vench and one hundred and forty-two In- dians, under the command of Hertel de Rou- ville, set out from Canada, and by the aid of snow-shoes crossed the country on the snow and reached the vicinity of Deerfield on the last night of February, 1704. Towards day- break on the first of March the sentinels, supposing that all was safe, left their posts at Deerfield, and the enemy at once silently mounted on the snow-drifts to the top of the palisades and entered the enclosure, which had an area of twenty acres. A general massacre followed. The town was destroyed, forty persons were killed, and one hundred and twelve were carried away into Canada. Fate of Eunice Williams. Among the captives were the minister Williams, his wife Eunice, and their five chil- dren. The sufferings of the prisoners on the march to Canada were fearful. Two men starved to death. The infant, whose cries disturbed the captors, was tossed out into the snow to die ; and the mother who faltered from fatigue or anguish was despatched by a blow from the tomahawk. Eunice Williams had brought her Bible along with her, and in the brief intervals afforded by the halts of the savages for rest, drew from its sacred pages the consolations she so sorely needed. Her strength soon failed, as she had but recently -ecovered from her confinement. Her hus- 'id sought to cheer her by pointing her to ^r house not made with hands," and she )-.ured him that she was satisfied to endure any suffering, counting it gain for Christ's sake. Perceiving that her end was near, she commended her children to God and to their father's care, and was immediately killed by the savages, as she could go no farther. The Williams family were taken to Can- ada, and a few years later were ransomed, with the exception of the youngest daughter, with whom the savages refused to part. She was adopted into a village of Christian In- dians near Montreal, and became a convert to the Roman Catholic faith, and subse- quently married a Mohawk chief Years afterwards she appeared at Deerfield clad in the dress of her tribe. She had come to visit her relatives ; but no entreaties could induce her to remain with them, and she went back to her adopted people and to her children. Slaughter of the Helpless. The war was conducted with brutal ferocity by the French. Hertel de Rouville gained eternal infamy by his butcheries of helpless women and children. Vaudreuil, the gov- ernor of Canada, urged on his forces to deed* of fresh atrocity, but at length the savages became disgusted with their bloody work and refused to murder any more English. The French succeeded, however, in inducing some of them to continue their assistance, and in 1708 Haverhill was surprised by the French and Indians under Rouville, and its inhabitants massacred with the most fiendish cruelty. None of them escaped death or captivity. Filled with horror and indignation. Colonel Peter Schuyler, of New York, wrote to the Marquis de Vaudreuil : " I hold it my duty towards God and my neighbor, to prevent, if possible, these barbarous and heathen cruel- ties. My heart swells with indignation when I think chat a war between Christian princes, bound to the exactest laws of honor and gen erosity, which their noble ancestors have illustrated by brilliant examples, is degene- rating mto a savage and boundless butchery. 2Jr2 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. These are not the methods for terminating the war." "Such fruitless cruelties," says Bancroft, " inspired our fathers with a deep hatred of the French missionaries ; they compelled the employment of a large part of the inhabitants as soldiers, so that there was one year during this war when even a fifth part of all who were capable of bearing arms were in active service. They gave birth also to a willing- ness to exterminate the natives. The Indians RETURN OF THE DAUGHTER OF EUNICE WILLIAMS vanished when their homes were invaded ; they could not be reduced by usual methods of warfare ; hence a bounty was offered for every Indian scalp ; to regular forces under pay the grant was ten pounds — to volunteers in actual service, twice that sum ; but if men would, of themselves, without pay, make up parties and patrol the forests in search of Indians, as of old the woods were scoured for wild beasts, the chase was invigorated by the promised ' encourgement of fifty pouna. per scalp. ' " In 1707 Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island made a combined attempt to conquer Acadia. A fleet was despatched against Port Royal, but without success. In 17 10 a second expedition was sent from Boston against Port Royal, aided this tin.e by an English fleet. Port Royal was taken. *» the French were driven out of the greater part of Acadia, and that province was an- nexed to the English do- minions and called Nova Scotia. The name of Port Royal was changed to An- napolis, in honor of the Queen of England. Encouraged by this suc- cess, the English Govern- ment the next year at- tempted the conquest of Canada by two expeditions, one by land and the other by sea. A powerful fleet and a strong army was des- patched from England to co-operate with the colo* nists. The effort was un- successful. The fleet, which was badly handled by the admiral in attempting to ascend the St. Lawrence, was wrecked with the loss of eight vessels and eight eighty-four men, and was The failure of hundred and obliged to return to Boston. the fleet to accomplish anything compelled the abandonment of the land expedition against Montreal. In 171 3 the war was brought to an end by the treaty of Utrecht, by which Acadia was ceded permanently to Great Britain and became a province of the English crown. The third Indian war broke out in 1723 CONFLICTS BETWEEN THE ENGLISH AND FRENCH. 273 in the northern colonies, and spread from the disputed border on the east to Maine and New Hampshire, where the scenes which we have so often described were enacted over again. The crack of the rifle, the war-whoop of the Indian, the crash of the tomahawk, and the smoke of the cabin played their dreadful part, as they had done so many times before, and have done so often since. Father Sebastien Rasle had dwelt among Indians for nearly forty years, living so thor- oughly their life, while he preached and ministered to them, that his influence was un- bounded. He possessed great learning, and, being a French Jesuit, sympathized so strongly with the views of the governor of Canada that he was worth a whole regiment of troops. The Indian settlement at Norridgewock, where it may be said this French chief was sole ruler, was highly prosperous. Two attempts were made to break it by capturing Rasle, but he escaped each time. Peace at Last. In August, 1724, however, it was attacked by a force of two hundred men, when most of the warriors were gone from home. Those who escaped fled to the woods, and Father Rasle was killed while trying to divert attention from the flying fugitives. When the assailants departed and the Indians re- turned, they found the dead body of Rasle, scalped, hacked and mutilated. They gave it tender burial under the altar of the pil- laged chapel, and uttered many a wild vow of vengeance on those who had robbed them of their beloved leader. In the hope of checking the shocking brutalities, the provinces sent representatives to Governor Vaudreuil at Montreal. He treated them with much courtesy, but it took a long time to bring him to terms. He finally promised to advise the Indians to stop hostilities. The eastern tribe learned shortly after that preparations were on foot to press them more than ever, and they con sented to make peace, which, with now and then a slight interruption, continued down to the French and Indian war. In 1744 the disputes in Europe concerninj. the succession of the Austrian throne cul- minated in a war, which is known in Euro- pean history as the War of the Austrian Succession, and in America as King George's war. As usual, England and France were arrayed on opposite sides, and their colonies in America soon became involved in hostili- ties. The French were the first to receive information from Europe of the existence of war, and began the struggle by attacking and capturing the English fort at Canso and carrying the garrison prisoners to Louisburg, Louisburg, the principal port of the island of Cape Breton, was at this time the strongest fortress in America, and from its secure har- bor the French were constantly despatching privateers against the merchant vessels and fishermen of New England. These depre- dations caused such serious loss to the eastern colonies that at length Governor Shirley proposed to the general court of Massachusetts to undertake the capture of Louisburg as the only means of putting a stop to them, and this measure was laid by the general court before the other colonies. Another Appeal to Arms. It was understood that no aid was to be expected from the mother country, which was too busily engaged in conducting the war in Europe, and that the colonies would be obliged to depend entirely upon their own resources for their success. Neverthe- less, the measure was popular, and the enthu- siasm of the colonists was aroused to the highest point. Nearly all the northern col- onies had suffered severely at the hands of 27/, CRUEL MURDER OF RASLE. CONFLICTS BETWEEN THE ENGLISH AND FRENCH. 275 the French and Indians, and in every ship- ping port were to be found scores of men who had been robbed and otherwise mal- treated by the French privateers. Pennsyl- vania and New Jersey, under the influence of the Quaker dislike of war, declined to send troops, but furnished a fair supply of money to defray their share of the expenses of the expedition ; New York made a con- tribution of money and of a number of pieces of artillery; Connecticut gave five hundred men, and New Hampshire and Rhode Island each contributed a regimen^ Moving Against the Enemy. Massachusetts, being the most interested in the success of the expedition by reason of being the largest owner of shipping, under- took the principal part of the expense and agreed to furnish a majority of the troops and the vessels. There was no difficulty in procuring volunteers, but those who offered themselves were civilians, ignorant of military discipline, and utterly unprepared to attempt the reduction of such a fortress as that , against which the expedition was directed. These disadvantages, however, were lost sight of in the enthusiasm aroused by the hope of destroying the ability of the French to prey upon the commerce of the colonies. Sir William Pepperell,a wealthy merchant of Maine, was elected commander of the ex- pedition, which rendezvoused at Boston in the early spring of 1745. One hundred vessels and a force of over three thousand men were assem.bled, and about the first of April sailed for Canso, which was reached on the seventh. The ice was drifting in such quantities that the fleet could not enter the harbor of Louisburg, and was obliged to remain at Canso for more than two weeks. Admiral Warren, commanding the West India squadron, had been invited to join the expedition, but in the absence of instructions from England had declined to do so. Al most immediately afterwards he received orders from home to render Massachusetts every aid in his power, and at once joined the New England fleet at Canso with four ships of war and a detachment of regular troops. At length, the ice having moved south- ward, the New England fleet entered the harbor of Louisburg on the thirtieth of April. The fortress was built on a neck of land on the south side of the harbor, and its walls were from twenty to thirty feet high and forty feet thick at the base, and were surrounded with a ditch eighty feet in width. Outlying forts protected the main work, and there was not a foot of the walls that was not swept by the fire of the artillery. Nearly two hundred and fifty cannon of all sizes constituted the armament of the fortress, and the principal outwork, the " royal battery," was deemed capable of withstanding an attack of five thousand men. The garrison numbered six- teen hundred men. To attack this fortress the New England troops brought with them eighteen cannon and three mortars. The French Driven to the Woods. As the fleet drew near the town the French marched down to the beach to op- pose the landing of the troops. Immediately the whale-boats of the ships were lowered and manned, and at a signal from the flag- ship darted for the shore with a speed which astonished and struck terror to the French^ who were quickly driven to the woods. The landing was secured, and the next day a de- tachment of four hundred men marched by the town, giving it three cheers as they passed, and took position near the northeast harbor, completely cutting off the fortress from communication with the country in its rear. This completed the investment, as the fleet closed the harbor, and prevented the approach o^ relief by sea. 2^6 SETTLEMENT OF AMERICA. That night the troops in the royal battery- spiked the guns of that work, abandoned it, and retreated into the town. It was imme- diately occupied by the New Englanders, who drilled the spikes out of the vent-holes of the guns, and turned them against the town. Batteries were erected by the colonial troops, and their fire opened upon Louis- burg. The volunteers proved admirable soldiers, exciting the surprise of the English naval officers by the readiness and facility with which they discharged the various duties required of them. Numbers of them were mechanics by profession, and their skill was of the greatest service in this emergency. A New Hampshire colonel, who was a carpenter, constructed sledges with which to drag the artillery across a morass to the positions assigned the batteries. The weather was mild and singularly dry, and the men were healthy. " All day long the men, if not on duty, were busy with amuse- ments — firing at marks, fishing, fowling, wrestling, racing or running after balls shot from the enemy'^ guns." An Important Capture. In the meantime the ships of Admiral Warren blockaded the harbor, and not only prevented French vessels from entering the port, but succeeded in decoying into the midst of the English fleet the French frigate " Vigilante," of sixty guns, which was cap- tured after a sharp engagement of several hours. She was loaded with stores for the fortress, and these fell into the hands of the victors. The French commander, who had shown but little energy during the siege, was now so thoroughly disheartened that on the sev- enteenth of June, just seven weeks after the commencement of the investment, he surren- dered the town and fortifications. As the colonial troops entered the place to take pos- session of it they were astonished at the strength of the works. " God has gone out of the way of His common providence, in a remarkable and miraculous manner," they said, " to incline the hearts of the French to give up, and deliver this strong city into our hands." The capture of Louisburg by the undisciplined volunteers of America was the greatest success achieved by England during the war. The colonists were justly proud of it. Bells were rung and bonfires lighted in all the colonies, and the people rejoiced greatly at the success of their brethren and friends. England, with characteristic selfish- ness, claimed the glory exclusively for the squadron of Admiral Warren, Humiliating Treaty. France was greatly alarmed at the capture of Louisburg, which seriously threatened her dominion in America, and measures were at once begun for its recovery, and for the de- struction of the English colonies. In 1746, a large fleet was despatched to America under the Duke dAnville, but many of the vessels were lost at sea, and the fleet was greatly weakened by pestilence. In the midst of these misfortunes the Duke d'An- ville suddenly died, and his successor lost his mind, and committed suicide. The expedi- tion made no serious demonstration against the English, and resulted in total failure. In 1747, another fleet was sent out from France for the same purpose, but was captured after a severe fight by an English fleet under Admirals Anson and Warren. 7J In spite of these successes, however, the frontiers of the northern colonies sufferer'j considerably, and the English government? resolved to attempt once more the conquest of Canada. All the colonies were required to furnish men or money to this enterprise, and eight thousand men were enlisted. The British government delayed, however, and CONFLICTS BETWEEN THE ENGLISH AND FRENCH. 277 finally abandoned the enterprise. On the eighteenth of October, 1748, the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle closed the war. The treaty required that all places taken by either party during the war should be restored, and Louisburg was delivered up to the French, to the great disgust of the New England colonies, who saw all the results of their sacrifices thrown away, and their com- merce and fisheries once more placed at the mercy of the French. England had never regarded the interests of her colonies as worth considering, however, and it was not to be expected that she should manifest any concern for them now. Dangerous Neighbors, It was commonly believed in America, and with good reason, that the king did not desire that New England should enjoy the security necessary to her prosperity. His majesty was beginning to be jealous of his American subjects, who had, as Admiral Warren ex- pressed it, " the highest notion of the rights and liberties of an Englishman," and he was resolved to keep them so weak that they should not forget their dependence upon him. Peter Kalm, a Swedish traveller, who visited New York in 1748, thus records the prevailing sentiment in America at this period : " The English colonies in this part of the world have increased so much in wealth and population that they will vie with European England. But to maintain the commerce and the power of the metropo- lis they are forbid to establish new manufac- tures, which might compete with the English ; they may dig for gold and silver only on con- dition of shipping them immediately to Eng- land ; they have, with the exception of a few fixed places, no liberty to trade to any ports not belonging to the English dominions, and foreigners are not allowed the least com- merce with these American colonies. And there are many similar restrictions. " These oppressions have made the inhab- itants of the English colonies less tender to their motherland. This coldness is increased by the many foreigners who are settled among them ; for Dutch, Germans and French are here blended with England, and have no special love for old England. Besides, some people are always discontented and love change ; and exceeding freedom and pros- perity nurse an untamable spirit. I have been told, not only by native Americans, but by English emigrants, publicly, that within thirty or fifty years the English colo- nies in North America may constitute a separate state entirely independent of Eng- land. But as this whole country is towards the sea unguarded, and on the frontier is kept uneasy by the French, these dangerous neighbors are the reason why the love of these colonies for their metropolis does not utterly decline. The English government has, therefore, reason to regard the French in North America as the chief power that urges their colonies to submission." During the last year of the war an incident occurred at Boston which might have opened the eyes of the ministry to the growing de- termination of the Americans to resist any interference with their liberties. Desertions from the English ships-of-war in Boston har- bor had become so frequent that Sir Charles Knowles, the commanding officer, sent his boats up to Boston one morning and seized a number of seamen in the vessels at the wharves, and a number of mechanics and laborers engaged in work on shore. The people of Boston indignantly demanded of the governor the release of the impressed men. As his excellency declined to inter- fere in the matter, the people seized the com- manders and officers of the ships who hap- pened to be in the town, and kept them pris- oners until they agreed to release the men they had unlawfully seized. BOOK III The French and Indian War CHAPTER XXII Outbreak of Hostilities England Claims the Valley of the Ohio — Organization of the Ohio Company — The French Extend Their Posts Into the Ohio Country — Washington's Mission to the French at Fort Duquesne — His Journey — Reception by the French — His Journey Home — A Perilous Undertaking — Organization of the Virginia Forces — Washington Made Second in Com- mand — The French Drive the English from the Head of the Ohio — Fort Duquesne Built by Them — Washington Crosses the Mountains — The Fight at Great Meadows — Beginning of the French and Indian War — Surrender of Fort Necessity to the French — Unjust Treatment of the Colonial Officers — Congress of the Colonies at New York — Frank- lin's Plan of a Union of the Colonies — Its Failure — Reasons ot the British Government for Rejecting It — England Assumes the Direction of the War — Arrival of General Braddock — Plan of Campaign — Obstinacy of Braddock — He Passes the Mountains — Defeat of Braddock — Heroism of Washington — Retreat of Dunbar Beyond the Mountains — Vigorous Action of Pennsylvania — Armstrong Defeats the Indians and Burns the Town of Kittanning. THE wars between the English and French in America which we have just considered were but a prelude to the great struggle which was to decide which of these powers should con- trol the destinies of the new world. The English, as we have seen, were growing stronger and more numerous along the At- lantic coast, and were directing their new settlements farther into the interior with each succeeding year. The French held Canada and the valley of the Mississippi, but their tenure was that of a military occu- pation rather than a colonizatic::. Between the possessions of these hostile nations lay the valley of the Ohio, a beauti- ful and fertile region, claimed by both, but occupied as yet by neither. The French had explored the country, and had caused leaden plates engraved with the arms of France to be deposited at its principal points to attest their claim ; and had opened friendly rela- tions with the Indians. 278 The region had been frequently visited by the traders, who brought back reports of its remarkable beauty and fertility and of its excellent climate. The British government regarded this region as a portion of Virginia, and one of the chief desires of the Earl of Halifax, the prime minister of England, was to secure the Ohio valley by planting an English colony in it. A company was or- ganized in Virginia and Maryland for this purpose and for the purpose of trading with the Indians, and was warmly supported by- the Earl of Halifax. It was named the Ohio Company, and at length succeeded in obtain- ing a favorable charter from the king, who, in March, 1749, ordered the governor of Virginia to assign to the Ohio Company five hundred thousand acres of land lying be- tween the Monongahela and Kanawha rivers, and along the Ohio The company were required to despatch, within seven years at least, one hundred fam- ilies to the territory granted them, to locate OUTBREAK OF HOSTILITIES. 279 without delay at least two-fifths of the lands they desired to occupy, and to build and gar- rison a fort at their own cost. They were granted an exemption from quit-rents and other dues for ten years, and this freedom needed for their traffic with the Indians, the Ohio Company built a trading-post at Wills' Creek, within the limits of Maryland, on the site of the present city of Cumberland. Here one of the easiest of the passes over the FRENCH EXPLORERS BURYING LEADEN PLATES. from taxation was extended by the company to all who would settle in their domain. A number of Indian traders had located themselves west of the Alleghanies, and in order to supply these with the articles Alleghanies began, and by means of it the traders could easily transport their goods to the Indian country west of the mountains an return with the furs their traffic enabled then, to collect. 280 THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. Being anxious to explore the countrywest of the mountains, the company employed Christopher Gist, one of the most experi- enced Indian traders, and instructed him " to examine the western country as far as the falls of the Ohio, to look for a large tract of good level land to mark the passes in the mountains, to trace the courses of the rivers, to count the falls, to observe the strength and numbers of the Indian nations." A Land of Beauty. Gist set out on his perilous mission on the last day of October, 1750, and crossing the mountains reached the Delaware towns on the Alleghany River, from which he passed down to Logstown, a short distance below the head of the Ohio, " You are come to settle the Indians' lands ; you shall never go home safe," said the jealous people ; but in spite of their threats they suffered him to proceed without molestation. He traversed the country to the Muskingum and the Scioto, and then crossing the Ohio explored the Kentucky to its source, and returned to Wills' Creek in safety. He reported that the region he had traversed merited all the praise that had been bestowed upon it ; that it pos- sessed a pleasant and healthy climate, and was a land of great beauty. The soil was fertile and the streams abundant and excel- lent. The land was covered with a rich growth of the most valuable and beautiful trees, and abounded in small level districts and meadows covered with long grass and white clover, on which the elk, the deer, and the buffalo grazed in herds. Wild turkeys and other game abounded, and the country offered every attraction to settlers who were willing to improve it. I Gist also reported that the agents of the I French were actively engaged in seeking to induce the western tribes to make war upon the English and prevent them from obtain- ing a footing west of the mountains. The purposes of the English were well known to the French, who viewed them with alarm, as the successful occupation of the Ohio valley by the English would cut off the communi- cation established by the French between Canada and the Mississippi. This the French were resolved to prevent at any cost. The Indians regarded both of the white nations as intruders in their country. They were willing to trade with both, but were averse to giving up their lands to either. " If the French," said they, " take possession of the north side of the Ohio, and the English of the south, where is the Indian's land ? " A Line of Forts. Tiie possession of the Ohio valley was thus of the highest importance to the French. Their fortified post of Fort Front- enac gave them the command of Lake On- tario, which they further secured by con- structing armed vessels for the navigation of the lake. They retained their hold upon Lake Erie by strengthening Fort Niagara, which La Salle had built at the foot of that lake. They entered into treaties with the Shawnees, the Delavvares and other powerful tribes between the lake and the Ohio, and steadily pushed their way eastward towards the mountains. They began their advance into the valley of the Ohio by building a fort at Presque Isle, now the city cf Erie, in Pennsylvania, another on French Creek, on the site of the present town of Waterford, and a third on the site of the present town of Franklin, at the confluence of French Creek with the Alleghany. These rapid advances eastward alarmed the English government, which instructed the governor of Virginia to address a remon- strance to the French authorities and to warn them of the consequences which must result from their intrusion into the territorj- '*f}sl'll^'"-V' SCENE IN THE ALLEGHENY MOUNTAINS. 281 282 THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. of the English, To do this it was necessary for the governor to despatch his communica- tion to the nearest French post by the hands of some messenger of sufficient resolution to overcome .the natural dangers of such an undertaking, and of sufficient intelligence to gain information respecting the designs and strength of the French ; and Governor Din- widdle was somewhat at loss to find such a person. Fortunately the man needed was at hand, and the attention of the governor being called to him, his excellency decided to intrust him with the delicate and danger- ous mission. The Coming Hero. The person selected for this task was a young man in the twenty-second year of his age, George Washington 5y name. He was a native of Westmoreland County, Virginia, where he was born on the twenty-second of February, 1732. He was a great-grandson of the Colonel John Washington, whom we have noticed as the leader of an expedition against the Indians in the time of Sir William Berkeley. His father, Augustine Washington, was a wealthy planter, but his death, when George was eleven years old, deprived his son of his care, and also of the means of acquiring an education. He soon acquired all the learning that it was possible to gain at a country school, from which he passed to an academy of somewhat higher grade, where he devoted himself principally to the study of mathematics. His half- brother, Lawrence, who was fourteen years older than himself, had received a careful education and directed the studies of his younger brother, to whom he was devotedly attached. Though deprived of the care of his father at such an early age, it was the good fortune of George Washington to possess in his mother a guide well qualified to fill the place of both parents to her fatherless child- ren. She was a woman of rare good sense, of great decision of character, and one whose life was guided by the most earnest Chris- tian principle. Her tenderness and sweet womanly qualities won the devoted love of her children, and her firmness enforced their obedience. From her George inherited a quick and ardent temper, and from her he learned the lesson of self-conti ol which en- abled him to p-overn it. Washington's Bqyhood. As a boy, Washington was noted for his truthfulness, his courage and his generosity. He was both liked and respected by his schoolmates, and such was their confidence in his fairness and good judgment that he was usually chosen the arbiter of their boy- ish disputes. He joined heartily in their sports and was noted for his skill in athletic exercises. He was a fearless rider and a f^ood hunter, and by his fondness for manly sports developed his naturally vigorous body to a high degree of strength. He was cheer- ful and genial in temper, though reserved and grave m manser. He early acquired habits of industry and order, and there are still existing many evidences of the careful and systematic manner in which he discharged every duty assigned him at this early age. At the age of fourteen it was decided that he should enter the navy, and his brother Lawrence, who had served with credit in that branch of the royal service, had no difficulty in obtaining for him a midshipman's war- rant. The ship he was to join lay in the Po- tomac, and his trunk was sent on board ; bu at the last moment his mother, dreading the effect of the temptations of a seaman's life upon a boy so young, appealed to him by his affection for her to remain with her Washington was sorely disappointed, but he yielded cheerfully to his mother's wish. OUTBREAK OF HOSTILITIES. 283 The marriage of his brother Lawrence gave to the young man a second home at Mount Vernon, where he passed a large part of his time. Here he was brought into con- stant contact with the most cultivated and refined society of Virginia, an association which had a happy influence upon the forma- tion of his character. There also he formed the acquaintance and won the friendship of Lord Fairfax, the grandson of Lord Culpep- per, and the inheritor of Culpepper's vast estates in Virginia, which comprised about one-seventh of the area of the state of Vir ginia as it existed prior to the separation of West Virginia in 1861. Lord Fairfax con- ceived a great fondness for the young man, and took a deep interest in his future welfare. Industry and Diligence. Washington, upon leaving school, had chosen the profession of a surveyor as his future avocation, and soon after his first meeting with Lord Fairfax was employed by that nobleman to survey the lands belonging to him, many of which had been occupied by settlers without right or title. It was an arduous and responsible task, and Washing- ton, who was just entering his seventeenth year, seemed almost too young for it; but " Lord Thomas " had satisfied himself of his young friend's capability for it, and the result justified the opinion he had formed. His work was done with care and accuracy, and his measurements were so exact that they are still relied upon. His life as a surveyor was in many respects a hard one, but he enjoyed it. It gave new vigor to his naturally robust constitution and his splendid figure, and while yet a youth he acquired the appearance and habits of mature manhood. He also learned forest lite in all its various phases, and by his constant intercourse with the hunters and Indians, gained a knowledge of the character and habits of these wild men which in after years was of infinite value to him. During his surveying expeditions Wash- ington was a frequent visitor at Greenway Court, the seat of Lord Fairfax, where, in addition to the other attractions, there was a well-selected library, of which the young man regularly availed himself His reading was of a serious and useful nature ; " Addi- son's Spectator " and the " History of Eng- land " were among his favorite works. Though the heir to a considerable estate. Washington supported himself during this period by his earnings as a surveyor. " His father had bequeathed to the eldest son, Lawrence, the estate afterwards called Mount Vernon. To Augustine, the second son, he had given the old homstead in Westmoreland County. And George, at the age of twenty- one years, was to inherit the house and lands in Suffolk County. As yet, however, he derived no benefit from this landed propert\'. But his industry and diligence in his labor- ious occupation supplied him with abundant pecuniary means. His habits of life were simple and economical; he indulged in no gay and expensive pleasures." Military Education. In 175 1, in order to prepare for any emergency to which the hostility of the French and Indians might give rise, the col- ony of Virginia was divided into military districts, each of which was placed in charge of an adjutant and inspector, with the rank of major, whose duty it was to keep the militia in readiness for instant service. Washington had at an early day evinced a great fondness for military exercises, and as a boy had often drilled his school-fellows in the simplest manoeuvres of the troops. As he advanced towards manhood, his brother Lawrence, Adjutant Muse, of West- moreland, and Jacob Vanbraam, a fencing- master, and others, had gixen him numerous 284 THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. lessons in the art of war. Though but nine- teen years old, he was regarded by his acquaintance as one of the best-informed persons upon military matters in the colony, and at the general desire of those who knew him he was commissioned a major in the colonial forces, and placed in command of one of the military districts. He discharged his duties with ability and zeal, and gave such satisfaction that when Governor Din- widdle, in 1752, divided the province into four military districts, Major Washington was placed in command of the northern dis- trict. " The counties comprehended in this division he promptly and statedly traversed, and he soon effected the thorough discipline of their militia for warlike operations." He was discharging the duties of this position when selected by the governor of Virginia to bear his message to the commander of the French forces on the Ohio. Governor Dinwiddle intrusted to his young envoy a letter addressed to the commander of the French forces on the Ohio, in which he demanded of him his reasons for invading the territory of England while Great Britain and France were at peace with each other. Washington was instructed to observe care- fully the numbers and positions of the French, the strength of their forts, the na- ture of their communications with Canada and with their various posts, and to endeavor to ascertain the real designs of the French in occupying the Ohio valley, and the proba- bilities of their being vigorously supported from Canada. Perilous Journey. " Ye're a braw lad," said the governor, as he delivered his instructions to the young major, " and gin you play your cards weel, my boy, ye shall hae nae cause to rue your bargain." Washington received his instructions on the thirtieth of October, 1753, and on the same day set out for Winchester, then si frontier post, from which he proceeded to Wills' Creek, where he was to cross the mountains. Having secured the services of Christopher Gist as guide, and of two inter- preters and four others, Washington set out on his journey about the middle of Novem-, ber. They crossed the mountains and jour- ' neyed through an unbroken country, with no paths save the Indian trails to serve as guides, across rugged ravines, over steep hills, and across streams swollen with the recent rains, until in nine days they reached the point where the Alleghany and Monon- gahela unite and form the Ohio. Washing- ton carefully examined the place and was greatly impressed with the advantages offered for the k)cation of a fort by the point of land at the jimction of the two rivers. The judg- ment expressed by him at the time was sub- sequently confirmed by the choice of this spot by the French for one of their most important posts — Fort Duquesne. Interview With " Half-King." Washington had been ordered by the gov- ernor to proceed direct to Logstown, where he was to hold an interview with the Dela- ware chief known as the Half King, to acquaint the Indians with the nature of his mission and ascertain their disposition to- wards the English. While he was at this place he met several French deserters from the posts on the lower Ohio, who told him the location, number and strength of the French posts between Quebec and New Orleans by way of the Wabash and the Maumee, and informed him of the intention of the French to occupy the Ohio from its head to its mouth with a similar chain of forts. The Half King confirmed the story of thc| deserters. He had heard that the French were coming with a strong force to drive the OUTBREAK OF HOSTILITIES. 285 English out of the land. A " grand talk " was held with the chiefs in council by Wash- ington, and they answered him, by the Half King, that what he had said was true ; they were brothers, and would guard him on his way to the nearest French post. They wished neither the English nor the French to settle in their country ; but as the French were the first intruders, they were willing to aid the English in their efforts to expel them. They agreed to break off friendly relations with the French ; but Washington, who knew the Indian character well, was not altogether satisfied with their promises. On the thirtieth of November he set out from Logstown with his companions, at- tended by the Half King and three other Indians, and on the fourth arrived at the French post at Venango. The officer in command of this fort had no authority to receive his letter and referred him to the Chevalier St. Pierre, the commander of the next post. They treated the English with courtesy and invited Washington to sup with them. When the wine was passed around they drank deeply and soon lost their discretion. Loud Boasting. The sober and vigilant Washington noted their words with great attention and recorded them in his diary, " They told me," he writes, " that it was their absolute design to take possession of the Ohio, and, by G — d, they would do it; for, that although they were sensible the English could raise two men for their one, they knew their motions were too slow and dilatory to prevent any undertaking of theirs. They pretend to have an undoubted right to the river, from a discovery made by one La Salle sixty years ago ; and the rise of this expedition is to prevent our settling on the river or waters of it, as they heard of some families moving out in order thereto." The French officers then informed Washington of their strength south of the lakes, and of the number and location of their posts between Montreal and Venango. The French exerted every stratagem to detach the Indians from Washington's party, 1 and they met with enough success to justify Washington's distrust of them. All had come to deliver up the French speech-belts, or, in other words, to break off friendly rela- tions with the French. The Delaware chiefs wavered and failed to fulfill their promise-- THE HALF KING. " but the Half King clung to Washington like a brother, and delivered up his belt as he had promised." The party left Venango on the seventh of December, and reached Fort Le Boeuf, the next post, on the eleventh. It was a strong work, defended by cannon, and near by Washington saw a number of canoes and boats, and the materials for building others . sure indications that an expedition down the river was about to be attempted. He ob- tained an interview with St. Pierre, the com- mander, an officer of experience and integri- ty, greatly beloved as well as feared by the Indians. He received the young envoy with 2^6 THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. courtesy, but refused to discuss questions of right with him. " I am here," he said, " by the orders of my general, to which I shall conform with exactness and resolu- tion." On the fourteenth, St. Pierre delivered to vV.ishington his answer to the letter of Gov- ernor Dinwiddle, and next day the party set out on its return. They descended French Creek in canoes, at no little risk, as the stream was full of ice. At Venango, which was reached on the twenty-second, they found their horses, which were so feeble that it was doubtful whether they would be able to make the journey home. " I put myself in an Indian walking-dress," says Washington, " and continued with them three days, until I found there was no possi- bility of their getting home in any reason- able time. The horses became less able to travel eveiy day ; the cold increased very fast, and the roads were becoming much worse by a deep snow continually freezing ; therefore, as I was uneasy to get back to make report of my proceedings to his honor the governor, I determined to prc^'cute my journey the nearest way through the woods on foot." A Shot that Missed. Taking Gist as his only companion, and directing their way by the compass. ,Vash- ington set out on the twenty-sixth, by the nearest way across the country, for the head of the Ohio. The next day an Indian who had lain in wait for them fired at Washington at a distance of only fifteen steps, but missed him, and was made a prisoner by him. Gist was anxious to kill the savage on the spot, but Washington would not allow this, and they kept the fellow until dark, and then released him. They travelled all night and all the next day in order to make sure of escaping from the enemies they felt certain their freed captive would set upon their trail. At dark on the twenty-eighth they reached the Alleghany, and spent the night on the banks of that stream. The next morning they set to work with one poor hatchet to construct a raft, on which to pass the river, which was full of floating ice. They com- pleted their raft about sunset and launched it upon the stream. It was caught in the floating ice, and Washington was hurled off into the water and nearly drowned. Unable to reach the opposite shore, they made for an island in mid-stream and passed the night there. The cold v/as intense, and Gist had all his fingers and several of his toes frozen. The next morning the river was a solid mass of ice, hard enough to bear their weight. They at once crossed to the opposite bank and continued their journey, and on the sixteenth of January, 1754, were at Williams- burg, where Washington delivered to the governor of Virginia the reply of the French commander, and reported the results of his journey. Eager for New Territory. The French commander returned a cour- teous but evasive answer to Governor Din- widdle's communication, and referred him for a definite settlement of the matter to the Marquis Duquesne, the governor of Canada. It was clear from the tone of his letter that he meant to hold on to the territory he had occupied, and the governor of Virginia was satisfied from Major Washington's report of his observations that St. Pierre was about to extend the line of French posts down the Ohio. The authorities of Virginia resolved to anticipate him, and in the spring of 1754 the Ohio Company Lent a force of about forty men to build a fort at the head of the Ohio, on the site to which Washington had called attention. In the meantime, measures were set on foot in Virginia for the protection of the OUTBREAK OF HOStlLlTTJES. 2^7 frontiers. A i ^giment of troops was ordered to be raised, and it was the general wish that Major Washington should be appointed to the command. He declined the commission when tendered him, on the ground of his youth and inexperience, and was made lieu- tenant-colonel, the command of the regiment being conferred upon Colonel Joshua Fry. Washington was ordered to repair to the west to take charge of the defence of the frontiers, and in April, 1754, reached Wills' Creek with three companies of his regiment. Washington Pushes Forward. Just at this moment news arrived that the party sent to build a fort at the head of the Ohio had been driven away by the French. A force of one thousand men, with artillery, under Captain Coutrecoeur, had descended the Alleghany and had surrounded the Eng- lish. One hour was given them to surren- der, and being utterly unable to offer any resistance, they capitulated upon condition of being allowed to retire to Virginia. Imme- diately upon the withdrawal of the English, the French forces occupied the unfinished work, completed it, and named it Fort Du- quesne. This was a more important act than either party believed it at the time. It was the beginning of the final struggle by which the power of France in America was broken. In the history of Europe this struggle is known as the " Seven Years' War;" in our own history as the " French and Indian War." Hostilities were now inevitable, and Wash- ington, who was on his march to the Ohio when the news of the aggression of the >^i"ench was received, resolved to push for- ward without delay. Colonel Fry had fallen sick, and the direction of affairs on the bor- der had passed entirely into the hands of the young lieutenant-colonel. He intended to proceed to the junction of Red Stone Creek and the Monongahcla, the site occupied by the present town of Brownsville, to erect a fort there and hold it until he could be rein- forced. His force was poorly provided with clothing and tents, and was deficient in mili tary supplies of all kinds. The country to be traversed was a wild, unbroken region, without roads or bridges, and through it the artillery and wagons were to be transported. The little force moved slowly and with diffi- culty, and Washington pushed on in ad- vance with a small detachment, intending to secure the position on the Monongahela and await the arrival of the main body, when the whole force could descend the river in flat- boats to Fort Duquesne. On the twentieth of May he reached the Youghiogheny and there received a message from his ally, the Half King, telling him that the French were in heavy force at Fort Duquesne. This report was confirmed at the Little Meadows by the traders, and by another message from the Half King on the twenty-fifth of May, warning Washington that a force of French and Indians had left Fort Duquesne on a secret expedition. Washington was sure that this expedition was destined to attack him, and advanced to the Great Meadows and took position there. The First Blood Shed. On the morning of the twenty-seventh Gist arrived and reported that he had seen the trail of the French within five miles of the Great Meadows. In the evening of the same day a runner came in from the Half King, and with a message that the French were close at hand. Taking with him forty men, Washington set off for the Half King's camp, and by a difficult night march through a tangled forest, in the midst of a driving rain, reached it about daylight. The runners of the Half King found the French encamped in a deep glen not far distant, and it was 288 THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. decided to attack them at once. The Half King and his warriors placed themselves under Washington's orders, and the march was resumed towards the French camp. The French were surprised, and an action of about a quarter of an hour ensued. The French lost ten men killed, among whom was their commander, Jumonville, and twenty-one prisoners. This was the first blood shed on the American continent in the long struggle which won America for the free institutions of the Anglo-Saxon race. Washington was very anxious to follow up the advantage he had gained, and had already appealed to the governors of Mary- land and Pennsylvania for assistance, but no aid reached him. Unable to advance in the face of the rapidly increasing forces of the French, he threw up a stockade fort at Great Meadows, which he named Fort Necessity, from the fact that the provisions of the troops were so nearly exhausted that the danger of & famine was imminent. A Dutchman's Blunder. On the third of July six hundred French and one hundred Indians suddenly appeared before the fort and occupied the hills sur- rounding it. The attacking party were able to shelter themselves behind trees and could command the fort from their safe position, while the English were greatly exposed, and it was evident to the most inexperienced that the fort was untenable. Nevertheless, the work was held for nine hours under a heavy fire, and amid the discomforts of a severe rain-storm. At length De Villiers, the French commander, fearing that his am- munition would be exhausted, proposed a parley and offered terms to Washington. The English had lost thirty killed, and the •French but three. The terms of capitulation proposed by De Villiers were interpreted to Washington, who did not understand French, and m consequence of the interpretatiofj, which was made by " a Dutchman little acquainted with the English tongue," Wash- ington and his officers " were betrayed into a pledge which they would never have con- sented to give, and an act of moral suicide which they could never have deliberately committed. j " They understood from Vanbraam's inter- pretation, that no fort was to be built beyond the mountains on lands belonging to the King of France ; but the terms of the articles are, ' neither in this place or beyond the mountains.'" The Virginians were allowed to march out of the fort with the honors of war, retaining their arms and all their stores, but leaving their artillery. This they did on the next morning, July fourth, 1754. The march across the mountains was rendered painful by the lack of provisions, and after much suffering the troops arrived at Fort Cumberland in Maryland. Although the expedition had been unsuccessful, the con-j) duct of Washington had been marked by so much prudence and good judgment that he received the thanks of the general assembly of Virginia. Washington's Cutting Reply. Governor Dinwiddle had already thrown many obstacles in the way of the defence of the colony, and he now refused to reward the provincial officers with the promotions they had so well earned. In order to avoid this he dissolved the Virginia regiment, and re- organized it into independent companies, no officer of which was to have a higher rank than that of captain. It was also ordered that officers holding commissions from the king should take precedence of those holding commissions from the colonial gov- ernment. Washington, feeling that he could no longer remain in the service with self-respect, OUTBREAK OF HOSTILITIES. 289 resigned his commission and withdrew to Mount Vernon. Soon afterwards Governor Sharpe, of Maryland, having been appointed by the king commander-in-chief of the forces of the southern colonies, proposed to Wash- ington, through a friend, to return to the army and accept the rank of colonel, but with the actual authority of captain. Washington declined the offer with characteristic dignity. " If you think me," he wrote, " capable of holding a commission that has neither rank nor emolument annexed to it, you must maintain a very contemptible opinion of my weakness, and believe me more empty than the commission itself." In the meantime, although peace still remained nominally unbroken between Eng- land and France, each nation was perfectly convinced of the certainty of a conflict in America, and each began to prepare for it. France sent large reinforcements to Canada, and the English went on rapidly with their plans for the conquest of that country. The British government was very anxious that the colonies should bear the brunt of the struggle, though it was fully determined to send a royal army to their assistance, and urged upon them to unite in some plan for iheir common defence. Alliance with the Six Nations. For the purpose of carrying out the wishes of the home government, a convention of delegates from seven of the colonies assem- bled at Albany, New York, on the nineteenth ofjune, 1754. " The Virginia government was represented by the presiding officer, Delan- cey, the lieutenant-governor of New York; " but New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York and Mary- land were represented by their own delegates. The first object of this convention was to secure the friendship of the powerful con- federacy of the Six Nations, on the northern 19 border, and this was successfully accom- plished. The leading man of this convention was Benjamin Franklin. He was a native of Bos- ton, and the son of a tallow chandler. While still a youth he had removed to Philadelphia, and by the force of his own genius had risen from poverty and obscurity to great prom- inence among the public men of Pennsylva- nia, and the literary and scientific men of his day. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. He had chosen the avocation of a printer ; and by his industry, energy and integrity had accumulated property enough to make him independent. He was among the most active men in America in promoting the advance- ment of literary, scientific and benevolent institutions, and had already won a world- wide reputation by his discoveries in science, and especially by his investigations in elec- tricity and lightning. He was not inexperi- enced in public affairs. He had served as 2 go THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. clerk to the general assembly of Pennsylva- nia, as postmaster of Philadelphia, as a mem- ber of the provincial assembly of Pennsylv^ania, and in 1753 had been appointed by the king postmaster-general of the American colonies. In each of these positions he had served with distinction, and now, at the ripe age of forty- eight, he had come to take part in the most important convention ever held in America. Franklin had long been of the opinion that the true interests of the colonies required their union in all measures relating to their common welfare. Believing that the force of circumstances would soon drive them into such a union, he sought to accomplish that end through the medium of this convention. Accordingly he presented to the convention a plan for the union of all the American colonies, which union he intended should be perpetual. Proposed Confederacy. He proposed that while each colony should retain the separate and independent control of its own affairs, all should unite in a per- petual union for the management of their general affairs. This confederacy was to be controlled by a general government, to consist of a governor-general and a council. The seat of the federal government was to be Philadelphia,which city he regarded as central to all the colonies. The governor-general was to be appointed and paid by the king, and was to have the power of vetoing all laws which should .seem to him objectionable. The members of the council were to be elected triennially by the colonial legisla- tures, and were to be apportioned among the colonies according to their respective popula- tion. " The governor-general was to nominate military officers, subject to the advice of the council, which, in turn, was to nominate all civil officers. No money was to be issued but by their joint order. Each colony was to retain its domestic constitution ; the federal governin-nt was to regulate all rela- tions of peace or war with the Indians, affairs of trade, and purchases of lands not within the bounds of particular colonies; to estab- lish, organize and temporarily to govern new settlements ; to raise soldiers, and equip ves sels of force on the seas, rivers or lakes; to make laws, and levy just and equal taxes. The grand council were to meet once a year to choose their own speaker, and neither to be dissolved nor prorogued, nor continue sitting longer than six weeks at any one time, but by their own consent." The Union Opposed. This plan met with considerable opposi- tion, was thoroughly discussed, and was finally adopted by the convention. It was not altogether acceptable to the colonies, each of which dreaded that the establishment of a central government would result in the destruction of the liberties of the individual provinces. Connecticut promptly rejected it, New York received it with coldness, and Massachusetts showed a more active opposi- tion to it. Upon its reception in England it was at once thrown aside by the royal gov- ernment. The Union proposed by the plan was too perfect and would make America practically independent of Great Britain, and so the board of trade did not even bring it before the notice of the king, Franklin regarded the failure of his plan of union wMth great regret. In after years he wrote : " The colonies so united would have been sufficiently strong to defend themselves. There would then have been no need of troops from England ; of course the subse- quent pretext for taxing America, and the bloody contest it occasioned, would have been avoided. But such mistakes are not new ; history is full of the errors of states and princes," OUTBREAK OF HOSTILITll'.S. 291 The plan for the union of the colonies having failed, the British <^overnment re- solved to take into its own hands the task of carrying on the war, with such assistance as the colonies might be willing to afford. A million of pounds was voted for the defence ■of the British possessions in America, and four strong fleets were sent to sea, together with numerous privateers, which nearly de- stroyed the French West Indian trade. In 1755, Major General Edward Braddock was ap- pointed comman- der-in-chief of the English forces in America. He had served under the Duke of Cumber- land, in his expe- dition into Scot- land against the Pretender Charles Edward, in 1746. and was regarded as one of the most promising officers in his majesty's service. Braddock sailed from Cork, in Ireland, early in January, 1755, and on the twentieth of February arrived at Alexandria, in Virginia. He was soon followed by two regiments of infantry, consisting of five hundred men each, the largest force of regulars Great Britain had ever assembled in America. A conference of the colonial governors with the new commander-in-chief was held at Alexandria, and a plan of campaign was decided upon. Four expeditions were to be despatched against the French. The first, under Braddock in person, was to advance upon Fort Duquesnc; the second, under Governor Shirley of Massachusetts, was to attempt the capture of Fort Niagara; the third, under William John, the Indian agent among the Mohawks, and a man of great influence over them, was to be directed against Crown Point ; and the fourth was to capture the French posts near the head of the Bay of Fundy, and expel the French from Acadia. WILLS CREEK NARROWS, MD It was now evident that the war was about to commence in good earnest, and the colo- nies exerted themselves to support the efforts of the mother country to the extent of their ability. General Braddock was thoroughly pro- ficient in the theory of his profession, but his experience of actual warfare had been limited to a single campaign, and that a brief one. He possessed the entire confidence of his superiors in England, and his faith in 292 THK FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. himself was boundless. He believed that the regulars of the British army were capable of accomplishing any task assigned them, and entertained a thorough contempt for the pro- vincial troops that were to form a part of his command. Soon after his arrival in Virginia he offered Washington a position on his staff as aid-de-camp, with the rank of colonel, which was promptly accepted. Had General Braddock been a different man the presence of Washington in his mili- tary family might have been of the greatest service to him, for the experience of the young colonel would have made him an in- valuable counselor. Braddock was in a strange country, and was charged with the conduct of a campaign in which the ordinary rules of warfare as practiced in Europe could not be adhered to. He knew nothing of the difficulties of marching his army through a tangled wilderness and over a mountain range of the first magnitude. Unfortunately for him, he was not aware of his ignorance, and would neither ask for nor listen to advice or information upon the subject. Franklin's Opinion of Braddock. " He was, I think, a brave man," says Franklin, " and might probably have made a figure as a good officer in some European war. But he had too much self-confidence, too high an opinion of the validity of regular troops, and too mean a one of both Ameri- cans and Indians." During one of his inter- views with him Franklin undertook to im- press upon him the necessity of guarding against the danger of Indian ambuscades. " He smiled at my ignorance," says Frank- lin, " and replied : ' These savages may in- deed be a formidable enemy to your raw American militia ; but upon the king's regular and disciplined troops, sir, it is impossible they should make any impres- sion.' " The army assembled at Wills' Creek, to which place General Braddock repaired in his coach. The bad roads had put him in a passion, and had broken his coach, and he was in no mood upon his arrival to pursue a sensible course. He was advised to employ Indians as scouts on the march, or to use them to protect a force of Pennsylvanians who were making a road over the mountains for the passage of the army, but he refused to do either. Washington urged him to aban- don his wagon-train, to use pack-horses in place of these vehicles, and to move with as little baggage as possible. Braddock ridiculed this suggestion. Neither he nor any of his officers would consent to be separated from their cumbrous baggage, or to dispense with any of the luxuries they had been used to. Famous " Captain Jack." A month was lost at Wills' Creek, and in June the army began its march. It was greatly impeded by the difficulty of drag- ging the wagons and artillery over roads filled with the stumps of trees and with rocks. Such little progress was made that Braddock, greatly disheartened, privately asked Washington to advise him what to do. As it was known that the garrison at Fort Duquesne was small, Washington advised him to hasten forward with a division of the army, in light marching order, and seize the fort before reinforcements could arrive from Canada. Braddock accordingly detached a division of twelve hundred men and ten pieces of cannon, with a train of pack-horses to carry the baggage, and pushed on in advance with them, leaving Colonel Dunbar to bring up the main division as promptly as possible. A famous hunter and Indian fighter named Captain Jack, who was regarded as the most experienced man in savage warfare in the OUTBREAK 0F HOSTILITIES. 293 colonies, now offered his services and those of his men to Braddock to act as scouts, Braddock received him with frigid courtesy, and refused his offer, saying that he " had experienced troops upon whom he could rely for all purposes." Braddock's Blunder. Instead of pushing on with energy with his advance division, Braddock moved very slowly, gaining but a little more than three miles a day. *' They halt," wrote Washing- ton, " to level every mole hill and to erect a bridge over every brook." On the eighth of July the army reached the east bank of the Monongahela, about fifteen miles above Fort Duquesne, having taken about double the necessary time in the march from Wills' Creek. On the same day Washington, who had been ill for some days, and was still un- well, rejoined Braddock. Early on the morning of the ninth of July the march was resumed. The Monongahela was forded a short distance below the mouth of the Youghiogheny, and the advance con- tinued along the southern bank of that river. About noon the Monongahela was forded again, and the army was planted upon the strip of land betAveen the rivers which form the Ohio. Washington was well convinced that the French and Indians were informed of the movements of the army and would seek to interfere with it before its arrival before the fort, which was only ten miles distant, and urged Braddock to throw in advance the Virginia Rangers, three hundred strong, as they were experienced Indian fighters. Braddock angrily rebuked his aide, and as if to make the rebuke more pointed, ordered the Virginia troops and other provincials to take position in the rear of the regulars. The general was fully convinced of the ability of his trained troops to take care of them- selves. They made a gallant show as they marched along with their gay uniforms, their burnished arms and flying colors, and their drums beating a lively march. Wash- ington could not repress his admiration at the brilliant sight, nor his anxiety for the result. In the meantime the French at Fort Du- quesne had been informed by their scouts of Braddock's movements, and had resolved to ambuscade him on his march. Early on the morning of the ninth a force of about two hundred and thirty French and Canadians and six hundred and thirty-seven Indians, under De Beaujeu, the commandant at Fort Duquesne, was despatched with orders to occupy a designated spot and attack the enemy upon their approach. Before reach- ing it, about two o'clock in the afternoon, they encountered the advanced force of the English army, under Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Gage, and at once attacked them with spirit. Galling Fire. The English army at this moment was moving along a narrow road, about twelve feet in width, with scarcely a scout thrown out in advance or upon the flanks. The engineer who was locating the road was the first to discover the enemy, and called out : " French and Indians ! " Instantly a heavy fire was opened upon Gage's force, and his indecision allowed the French and Indian? to seize a commanding ridge, from which they maintained their attack with spirit. There, concealed among the trees, they were almost invisible to the English, who were fully exposed to their fire, as they occupied a broad ravine, covered with low shrubs, im- mediately below the eminence held by the French. The regulars were quickly thrown into confusion by the heavy fire and the fierce yells of the Indians, who could nowhere b*? 294 THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. seen, and their losses were so severe and sudden that they became panic-stricken. They were ordered to charge up the hill and drive the French from their cover, but re- fused to move, and in their terror fired at random into the woods. In the meantime the Indians were rapidly spreading along the sides of the ravine and continuing their fire from their cover among the trees with fear- ful accuracy. that not one of his commands was obeyed^ and his defeat was complete. The only semblance of resistance main- tained by the English was by the Virginia Rangers, whom Braddock had insulted at the beginning of the day's march. Immedi- ately upon the commencement of the battle, they had adopted the tactics of the Indians, and had thrown themselves behind trees, from which shelter they were rapidly picking DISASTROUS DEFEAT OF GENERAL BRADDOCK. The advance of the English was driven back, and it crowded upon the second divi- sion in utter disorder. A reinforcement of eight hundred men, under Colonel Burton, arrived at this moment, but only to add to the confusion. The French pushed their lines forward now and increased the disorder of the English, who had by this time lost nearly all their officers. Braddock now came up and gallantly exerted himself to restore order, but " the king's regulars and discip- lined troops " were so utterly demoralized off" the Indians. Washington entreated Braddock to allow the regulars to follow the example of the Virginians, but he refused, and stubbornly endeavored to form them in platoons under the fatal fire that was being, poured upon them by their hidden assailants.' Thus through his obstinacy many useful lives were needlessly thrown away before he would admit his defeat. The officers did not share the panic of the men, but behaved with the greatest gallantry. They were the especial marks of the Indian OUTBREAK OF H0STILITIP:S. 295 sharpshooters, and many of them were killed or wounded. Two of Braddock's aides were seriously wounded, and their duties devolved upon Washington in addition to his own. He passed repeatedly over the field, carr\'ing the orders of the commander and encourag- ing the men. When sent to bring up the artillery, he found it surrounded by Indians, its commander, Sir Peter Halket, killed, and the men standing helpless from fear. Spring- ing from his horse, he appealed to the men to save the guns, pointed a field-piece and discharged it at the savages, and entreated the gunners to rally. He could accomplish nothing by either his words or example. The men deserted the guns and fled. In a letter to his brother, Washington wrote : " I had foui" bullets through my coat, two horses shot under me, yet escaped unhurt, though death was levelling my companions on every side around me." * Braddock had five horses shot under him, and at length himself received a mortal wound. As he fell, Captain Stewart, of the Virginia troops, caught him in his arms. He was borne from the field, though he begged to be left to die on the scene of his defeat. His fall was fortunate for the army, which it saved from destruction. A Fatal Rout. The order was given to fall back, and the " regulars fled like sheep before the hounds." The French and Indians pressed forward in pursuit, and all would have been lost had not the Virginia Rangers themselves been in the rear, and covered the flight of the regu- lars with a determination which checked the pursuers. The artillery, wagons, and all the camp train was abandoned, and the savages, stopping to plunder these, allowed the fugi' tives to recross the river in safety. Having seen the general as comfortable as circumstances would permit, Washington rode all that night and the next day to Dun- bar's camp to procure wagons for the wounded and .soldiers to guard them. With these he hastened back to the fugi-< tives. The Engl sh General's Death. Braddock, unable to ride or to endure the jolting of a wagon, was carried in a litter as far as the Great Meadows. He seemed to be heart-broken and rarely spoke. Occa- sionally he would say, as if speaking to him- self, with a deep sigh, " Who would have thought it ? " It is said that he warmly thanked Captain Stewart for his care and kindness, and apologized to Washington for the manner in which he had received his advice. He had no wish to live, and he died at Fort Necessity on the night of the thir- teenth of July. He was buried the next morning before daybreak as secretly as pos- sible for fear that the savages might find and violate his grave. Close by the national road, about a mile west of Fort Necessity, a pile of stones still marks his resting- place. The losses of the English in the battle were terrible. Out of eighty-six officers, twenty-six were killed and thirty-six wounded. Upward of seven hundred of the regulars were killed and wounded. The Virginia Rangers had suffered terrible losses, for they had not only borne the brunt of the battle, but had lost many of their number by the random fire of the frightened regulars. Dunbar, who succeeded Braddock in the com- mand, still had fifteen hundred effective men * Washington attributed his wonderful escape from even a wound to the overruling providence of God. The Indians regarded the matter in the same light. About fifteen years after the battle, while examining some lands near the mouth of the Great Kanawha River, Washington was visited by an old chief. The chief told him "he was present at the 296 THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. left to him ; but he was too badly frightened to attempt to retrieve the disaster, which a com- petent officer might have done with such a force. He broke up his camp, destroyed his stores, and retreated beyond the mountains. Disregarding the entreaties of the colonists not to leave the frontiers exposed to the savagqs, he continued his retreat to Phila- delphia, and went into winter quarters there, to get ready for future operations. BURNING OF KITTANNING BY GENERAL ARMSTRONG The effect of these reverses upon the colonists was most marked. When they understood that Braddock's splendid force of disciplined regulars had been routed by a mere handful of French and Indians, their respect for the invincibility of British troops was destroyed ; and their confidence in their own prowess was greatly increased by the proud reflection that the only thing that had been done to save the army of Braddock from total destruction had been accomp- lished by the provincials. Washington's conduct was a subject of praise in all the colonies and brought his name conspicuously before the whole people of America. In a sermon preached a few months after Brad- dock's defeat, the Rev. Samuel Davies, a learned clergyman, spoke of him as " that heroic youth. Colonel Wash- ington, whom I cannot but hope Providence has hitherto preserved in so signal a man- ner for some important service to his country." The retreat of Dunbar left the frontiers of Virginia and Pennsylvania at the mercy of the savages, who maintained a desultory but destructive warfare along the entire bor- der. The defence of this ex- posed region was intrusted to Colonel Washington ; but he had so few men as to make his undertaking a hopeless one. The frontier settlements of Virginia were destroyed ; the beautiful valley of the Shenandoah was ravaged with merciless fury, and the more protected regions were kept in a state of constant uneasiness and alarm. Governor Dinwiddie was repeatedly appealed to to furnish more men, but refused, and endea- vored to excuse his delinquency by saying : " We dare not part with any of our white men to any distance, as we must have a watchful eye over our negro slaves." battle, and among the Indian allies of the French ; that he singled him out and repeatedly fired his rifle at him ; that he also ordered his young warriors to make him their only mark ; but that on finding all their bullets turned aside by some invisible and inscrutable interposition, he was convinced that the hero at whom he had so often and so truly aimed must be, for some wise purpose, specially protected by the Great Spirit. He now came, therefore, to testify his veneration,'' OUTBREAK OF HOSTILITIES. 297 Pennsylvania met the troubles with greater vigor and resolution. About thirty miles above Fort Duquesne, on the Alleghany River, was the Indian village of Kittanning, the home of a noted chief named Captain Jacobs. Together with the Delaware chief Shingis, he had, at the instigation of the , French, kept up a continual warfare upon the frontier settlements. A military force for the defence of the frontier was raised by the colony and placed under the command of Benjamin Franklin as colonel. He soon resigned, and was succeeded by Colonel John Armstrong, a man better suited to the posi- tion, and who subsequently became a major general in the war of the Revolution. Armstrong resolved to destroy Kittanning and the tribe inhabiting it as the best means of putting a stop to their outrages, and called for volunteers for the enterprise. Three hundred men responded. Toward the last of September, 1756, they crossed the moun- tains on horseback, and in a few days reached the vicinity of Kittanning. Dismounting and leaving their horses in charge of a guard, they silently surrounded the village. The Indians spent the night in carousing within hearing of the whites, and retired to rest at a very late hour. Just before daybreak the whites attacked the village and set it on fire. It was completely destroyed, and Jacobs and all but a handful of his men were slain. The few survivors fled farther west, and the Pennsylvania frontier was re- lieved of the sufferings it had so long endured. CHAPTER XXIII Sanguinary Struggles on the Frontier Expedition Against Acadia — Brutal Treatment of the Acadians — They Are Expelled from Their Country — A Sad Story- Fate of the Acadians — Johnson at Lake George — March of Dieskau — Battle of Lake George — Failure of Shirley's Expedition Arrival of the Earl of Loudon — Montcalm in Canada — Capture of Oswego by the French — Outrages of the Earl of Loudon Upon New York and Philadelphia— Expedition Against Louisburg — How the Earl of Loudon Beat the French Capture of Fort William Henrj' by Montcalm — Massacre of the Prisoners by the Indians — Efforts of Montcalm to Save Them — The Royal Officers Attempt to Cover Their Failures by Outraging the Colonies. WHILE the events we have re- lated were transpiring in the Ohio valley other expeditions were despatched against the French. One of these was directed against that part of Acadia, or Nova Scotia, which still remained in the hands of the French. It lay at the head of the Bay of Fundy, and was defended by two French forts. This region was the oldest French colony in North America, having been settled sixteen years before the landing of the Pilgrims, but was regarded by the English as within their jurisdiction. In May, 1755, an expedition of three thou- sand New England troops was despatched from Boston, under Colonel John Winslow, to attack these forts and establish the Eng- lish authority over the French settlements. Upon reaching the Bay of Fundy Winslow was joined by three hundred English regulars under Colonel Monckton, Avho assumed the command. The forts were taken with com- paratively little effort, and the authority of England was extended over the whole of Nova Scotia. The Acadians agreed to acknowledge the authority of their new masters, and to observe a strict neutrality between France and England in the war; and the English on their part promised not to require of them the usual oaths of allegi- ance, to excuse them from bearing arms 298 against France, and to protect them in the exercise of the Catholic religion. The Acadians nun^bered about seventeen thousand souls. They were a simple and harmless people, and were enjoying in a marked degree the blessings of industry and thrift. They had begun their settlements by depending upon the fur trade and the fish- eries for their support, but had abandoned these pursuits for that of agriculture, which was already yielding them rich rewards for their skill and labor. They were proud of their farms, and took but little interest in public affairs, scarcely knowing what was transpiring in the world around them. It is hard to imagine a more peaceful or a happier community than this one at the time they passed under the baleful rule of England. Crime was unknown among them, and they seldom carried their disputes before the Eng- lish magistrates, but settled them by the arbitration of their old men. They en- couraged early marriages as the best means of preserving the morality of their people ; and when a young man married, his neigh- bors turned out in force and built him a house, and for the first year of his marriage aided him to establish himself firmly, while the bride's relatives helped her to furnish the home thus prepared. Thus the people were taught to regard and practice neighborly kindness as one of the SANGUINARY STRUGGLES ON THE FRONTIER. 299 cardinal Christian virtues. They were de- voted Cathohcs, and practiced their religion without bigotry. They were attached to the rule of France by language and religion, and would have been glad to see her authority re-established over them ; but they submitted peacefully to the rule of the English and faithfully observed the terms of their sur- render. Unfortunately for the Acadians their pos- sessions soon began to e.xcite the envy of the English. Lawrence, the governor of Nova Scotia, expressed this feeling in his letter to Lord Halifax, the English premier " They possess the best and largest tract of land in this province," he wrote ; " if they refuse the oaths, it would be much better that they were away." The English authorities had prepared a cunningly devised scheme for dis- possessing these simplepeople of their homes, and they now proceeded to put it in execu- tion. The usual oaths of allegiance had not been tendered to the Acadians upon their surrender, as it was known that as French- men and Catholics they could not take them, as they required them to bear arms against their own brethren in Canada, and to make war upon their religion. Cruel Treatment. It was resolved now to offer the oaths to them, and thus either drive them into rebel- lion or force them to abandon their homes. When this intention was known, the priests urged them to refuse the oaths. " Better ^surrender your meadows to the sea," they ^'declared, " and your houses to the flames, than, at the peril of your souls, take the oath of allegiance to the British government." As for the Acadians themselves, " they, from their very simplicity and anxious sincerity, were uncertain in their resolves ; now gath- ering courage to flee beyond the isthmus, for ether homes in New France, and now yearn- ing for their own houses and fields, their herds and pastures." The officers sent by the English authori- ties to enforce their demands conducted themselves with a haughtiness and cruelty which added greatly to the sorrows of the > Acadians. Their titles to their lands were declared null and void, and all their papers and title-deeds were taken from them. Their property was taken for the public service without compensation, and if they failed to furnish wood at the times required, the Eng- lish soldiers " might take their houses for fuel." Their guns were seized, and they were deprived of their boats on the pretext that they might be used to communicate with the French in Canada. At last, wearied out with these oppressions, the Acadians offered to swear allegiance to Great Britain. This, however, formed no part of the plan of their persecutors, and they were answered that by a British statute persons who had been once offered the oaths, and who had refused them, could not be permitted to take them, but must be treated as Popish recu- sants. This brought matters to a crisis, and the English now resolved to strike the decisive blow. A proclamation was issued, requiring " the old men, and young men, as well as all lads over ten years of age," to assemble on the fifth of September, 1755, at a certain hour, at designated places in their respective districts, to hear the " wishes of the king." In the greater number of places the order was obeyed. What happened at the village of Grand Pre, the principal settlement, will show the course pursued by the English in all the districts. Four hundred and eighteen of the men of the place assembled. They were unarmed, and were marched into the church, which was securely guarded. Winslow, the New England commander, then addressed them as follows ; " You are 300 THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. convened together to manifest to you his majesty's final resolution to the French in- habitants of this his province. Your lands and tenements, cattle of all kinds, and live stock of all sorts, are forfeited to the crown, and you yourselves are to be removed from this his province. I am, through his majes- ty's goodness, directed to allow you liberty to carry off your money and household goods, as many as you can, without discom- moding the vessels you go in." He then declared them, together with their wives and children, a total of nineteen hundred and twenty-three souls, the king's prisoners. English Barbarity. The announcement took the unfortunate men by surprise, and filled them with the deepest indignation ; but they were unarmed and unable to resist. They were held close prisoners in the church, and their homes, I which they had left in the morning full of hope, were to see them no more. They were kept without food for themselves or their children that day, and were poorly fed during the remainder of their captivity. They were held in confinement until the tenth of September, when it was announced that the vessels were in readiness to carry them away. They were not to be allowed to join their brethren in Canada lest they should serve as a reinforcement to the French in that province, but were to be scattered as paupers through the English colonies, among people of another race and a different faith. On the morning of the tenth the captives were drawn up six deep. The English, in- tending to make their trial as bitter and as painful as possible, had resolved upon the barbarous measure of separating the families of their victims. The young men and boys were driven at the point of the bayonet from the church to the ship and compelled to embark. They passed amid the rows of their mothers and sisters, who, kneeling, prayed Heaven to bless and keep them. Then the fathers and husbands were forced by the bayonet on board of another ship, and as the , vessels were now full, the women and child- ren were left behind until more ships could come for them. They were kept for weeks near the sea, suffering greatly from lack of proper shelter and food, and it was December before the last of them were removed. Those who tried to escape were ruthlessly shot down by the sentinels. " Our soldiers hate them," wrote an English officer, " and if they can but find a pretext to kill them, they will." In some of the settlements the designs of the English were suspected and the procla- mation was not heeded. Some of the people fled to Canada ; others sought shelter with the Indians, who received them with kind- ness ; others still fled to the woods, hoping to hide there till the storm was over. The English at once proceeded to lay waste their homes ; the country was made desolate in order that the fugitives might be compelled through starvation to surrender themselves. Families Scattered. Seven thousand Acadians were torn from their homes and scattered among the Eng- ■ lish colonies on the Atlantic coast, from New Hampshire to Georgia. Families were ut- terly broken up, never to be reunited. The colonial newspapers for many years were filled with mournful advertisements, inquir- ing for a lo.st husband or wife; parents sought their missing children, and children their parents in this way. But of all these inquiries few were answered. The exiles were doomed to a parting worse than death, and their captors had done their work so well that human ingenuity could not undo it. Some of those who had been carried to Georgia attempted to return to their homcji. SANGUINARY STRUGGLKS ON THK FRONTIKR. 301 They escaped to sea in i:)oat.s, and coasted from point to point northward until tliey reached New England, when they were sternly ordered back. Their homes were their own no longer. More than three thousand Acadians fled to Canada, and of these about fifteen hundred settled south of the Ristigouche. Upon the surrender of Canada they were again sub- jected to the persecutions of the English. " Once those who dwelt in Pennsylvania presented a humble petition to the Earl of Loudon, then the British commander-in- chief in America, and the cold-hearted peer, offended that the prayer was made in French, seized their five principal men, who in their own land had been persons of dignity and substance, and shipped them to England, with the request that they might be kept from ever again becoming troublesome by being consigned to service as common sailors on board ships of war. Unparalleled Oppression. " No doubt existed of the king's approba- tion. The lords of trade, more merciless than the savages and than the wilderness in winter, wished very much that every one of the Acadians should be driven out; and when it seemed that the work was done, congratulated the king that ' the zealous endeavors of Lawrence had been crowned with an entire success.' I know not if the annals of the human race keep the record of sorrows so wantonly inflicted, so bitter and so perennial, as fell upon the French inhab- itants of Acadia. * We have been true,' they said of themselves, 'to our religion, and true to ourselves; yet nature appears to con- sider us only as the objects of public ven- geance.' The hand of the English official seemed under a spell with regard to them ; and was never uplifted but to curse them." * ** Bancroft's Histo>y of the United States, vol. iv., p.j2o6. While these sorrows were being heaped upon the helpless Acadians by England, the provincial forces were serving the cause else- where with more credit to their manhood. As has been stated, the expedition against the French fort at Crown Point, on Lake Champlain, had been intrusted to General William Johnson. His army consisted prin- cipally of troops from Massachusetts and Connecticut. They were joined at Albany by a regiment from New Hampshire. The troops rendezvoused at the head of boat navigation, on the Hudson, in July, 1755, under the command of General Lyman. They numbered about six thousand men. A fort was built and named by the troops, in honor of their commander, Fort Lyman. Johnson's Expedition. In August Johnson arrived with the stores and artillery, and assumed the command of the expedition. He ungenerously changed the name of the fort to Fort Edward. Leav- ing a strong force to garrison it, he moved with five thousand men to the head of Lake George, fi-om which he intended to descend the lake in boats. The French had been informed of John- son's movements by their scouts. Baron Dieskau, the governor of Canada, placed the entire arms-bearing population of the Mon- treal district in the field and resolved to prevent Johnson from reaching Crown Point by attackmg him in his own country. With a force of two hundred French regulars and about one thousand two hundred Indians, he set out across the country to attack Fort Edward. Upon arriving in the vicinity of the fort the Indians learned that it was de- fended by artillery, of which they were greatly afraid, and refused to attack it. Dies- kau was, therefore, compelled to change his plan, and resolved to strike a blow at John- son's camp, which he was informed was without cannon. 302 THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. In the meantime tlie scouts of the English had detected the movement against Fort Edward. Ignorant of the change in Dies- kau's plans Johnson sent a force of one thousand men, under Colonel Ephraim Will- iams of Massachusetts, and two hundred Mohawks, under their famous chief Hen- drick, to the relief of the fort. Their march was reported to the French, who placed THE PALISADES OF THE HUDSON. themselves in ambush along the road they were pursuing, and attacked them as soon as they had fairly entered the defile. The Eng- lish were at once thrown into confusion. Hendrick was shot down at the first fire, and Williams fell a few moments later. The English and Mohawks then began a rapid retreat to their camp, closely pursued by their assailants. The sound of the firing- was soon heard in Johnson's camp, and as it drew nearer it became apparent that the detachment was retreating. The troops were gotten under arms, and the trees in front of the camp were hurriedly felled to form a rude breastwork. A (ew cannon had just arrived from the Hudson, and these were placed to command the road by which the French were ap- proaching. These arrangements were just completed when the fugitives of Williams' command appeared in full retreat, with the French and Indians but a few hundred yards behind them. Dieskau urged his men for- ward with the greatest energy, intending to force his way into the English camp along with the fugitives. The artillery was care- fully trained upon the road by which he was advancing, and the moment the fugitives were past the guns they opened with a ter- rific fire of grape, which caused the Canadians and Indians to break in confusion, and take to the woods for shelter. Stolen Honors. The regulars held their ground, and main- tained a determined contest of five hours, in which they were nearly all slain. The In- dians and Canadians did little execution, as they stood in dread of the artillery. At length Dieskau, seeing that his effort had failed, drew off his men, and retreated. He was pursued for some distance by the Eng- lish. Towards evening he was suddenly at- tacked by the New Hampshire regiment, which was marching from Fort Edward to Johnson's assistance. The French were seized with a panic at this new attack, and abandoning their brave commander fled for their lives. Dieskau, who had been severely wounded several times, was taken prisoner. He was kindly treated, and was subsequently sent to England, where he died. ' General Johnson was slightly wounded at the commencement of the battle, and with- SANGUINARY STRUGGLICS ON THE FRONTIER. 303 ckew froni the fieid, leaving the coiniTiaiid to General Lyman, ti) whom the victory was really due. Notwithstatuling this Johnson did not even mention Lyman's name in his report of the battle, but claimed all the honor for himself Me was rewarded by the king with a baronetcy, and the gift of twenty-five thousand dollars. General Lyman was not even thanked for his services. Great Military Preparations. Johnson made no effort to improve his victory. The expedition against Crown Point, which might now have been under- taken with a better prospect of success, was abandoned, and Johnson contented himself with building a useless log fort at the head of Lake George, which he named Fort Will- iam Henry. Late in the fall he placed a garrison in this fort, and then returned to Albany, where he disbanded his army. The expedition under Governor Shirley, against Fort Niagara, was equally unsuccess- ful. By the month of August Shirley had advanced no farther than Oswego. Here he received the news of Braddock's defeat, which so disheartened him that, after building and garrisoning two forts at Oswego, he returned to Albany. By the death of Braddock Shir- ley succeeded to the chief command of all the royal forces in America. In December, 1755, Shirley held a con- ference with the colonial governors, at New York, to decide upon the campaign for the next year. It was agreed that three expedi- tions should be undertaken in 1756: one against Niagara; a second against Fort Du- quesne, and a third against Crown Point. In the meantime Lord Loudon was appointed by the king commander-in-chief of the forces in America. He sent over General Aber- crombie as his lieutenant. Abercrombie ar- rived in June with several regiments of British regulars. He relieved General Shir- ley from command, but nothing was to be done until the arrival of the commander-in- chief, who did not reach America until July. Lord Loudon was a more pompous and a slower man than Bjaddock, and more incom- petent. A force of seven thousand men was assembled at Albany for the expedition against Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and Loudon at once repaired thither, and as- sumed the command. The colonists were confident that something of importance would now be accomplished ; but they were destined to disappointment. The com- mander-in-chief and his subordinates spent their time in settling the relative rank of the royal and provincial officers. Notwithstanding the fact that all that had been accomplished during the war had been gained by the colonial forces, there was an iniquitous regulation which gave the pre- cedence to the lowest officer holding a royal commission over one holding a higher rank from any of the colonies. This led to many disputes, and the colonists saw themselves robbed of the honors they had so fairly won. This was only one of the many wrongs by which Great Britain succeeded in alienating the people of America from their attachment to her. Successes of Montcalm. In the meantime Dieskau had been suc- ceeded as governor of Canada by the Marquis de Montcalm, the ablest of the rulers of New France. He was a man of genuine ability and of indomitable energy. He reached Quebec in 1756, and at once set out for Ticonderoga, which he placed in a state of defence. Perceiving the exposed condition of the English forts at Oswego he resolved to capture them. Collecting a force of five thousand Frenchmen, Canadians and Indians, he crossed the lake from Frontenac, and reached Oswego on the fifth of August 304 THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. He soon drove the English out of Fort Oswego ; but Fort Ontario, the second work, opposed a more vigorous resistance to him. The garrison held out until their com- mander, Colonel Mercer, was killed, and they had lost all hope of receiving aid from Albany, when they capitulated. An immense amount of military stores, one hundred and thirty-five pieces of cannon, and all the boats and vessels Shirley had prepared for the ex- pedition against Niagara fell into the hands of Montcalm. The Iroquois had viewed the erection of the forts at Oswego by the Eng- lish with great jealousy, and in order to con- ciliate them Montcalm wisely destroyed the works, and withdrew into Canada. Master of Twenty Legions. Loudon had detached a force under Colonel Webb to the assistance of the Oswego forts, but it was sent so late that it was met on the way by the news of the cap- ture of the forts. Colonel Webb, in dismay, fell back rapidly, and obstructed the road to Albany. Having failed to accomplish anything against the enemy Lord Loudon now under- took to subjugate the colonies of New York and Pennsylvania. He was firmly convinced that the colonists needed to be taught sub- mission to the will of the royal commander, and as he had been made a sort of viceroy of all the colonies, he thought the present a fitting occasion to teach them this lesson. He demanded of the cities of Albany, New York and Philadelphia free quarters for his troops during the winter. The mayor of New York refused the demand " as contrary to the laws of England and the liberties of America." " G — d d — n my blood," said the viceroy to the mayor ; "if you do not billet my officers upon free quarters this day, I'll order here all the troops in North America under my command, and billet them myself upon the cit)\" There was no reasoning with " the master of twenty legions," and the magistrates were obliged to get up a subscription for the free support, during the winter, of an army that/' had passed a whole campaign without com- •' ing in sight of the enemy. In Philadelphia the matter was settled very much in the same way. Albany was also obliged to sub- mit, but the magistrates took occasion to tell the royal officers that they did not want their services, as they could defend their frontiers themselves. " The frontier was left open to the French ; this quartering troops in the principal towns, at the expense of the inhabitants, by the illegal authority of a military chief, was the great result of the campaign." It was becoming clear to the colonists that their safety from the depreda- tions of the French and savages was not to be gained by the royal troops, but by their own efforts. Mock Battles and Sieges. A congress of governors was held at Boston in January, 1757, and it was resolved that there should be but one expedition this year, and that this should be sent under the Earl of Loudon against Louisburg. The frontier posts, especially Forts Edward and William Henry, were to be defended, and Washington, with the Virginia troops, was to guard the border of that colony against the expeditions of the French from Fort Du- quesne. The last was a difficult and almost impossible duty, for the French from Fort Duquesne could choose their point of attack anywhere on the long and exposed frontier, while the force under Washington was utterly inadequate to the task of watching t'le entire line. Leaving Bouquet to guard the frontier of Carolina against the Cherokees, and Webb to SAKGUlNARY STRDGGLiiS OM tITE I/RONTIK 305 iioid the country between Lake George and the Hudson, Lord Loudon, on the twentieth of June, 1757, sailed from New York with six thousand regulars to attack Louisburg. He proceeded to Halifax, where he was joined by a fleet of eleven ships of war and four thousand troops, bringing his whole force to ten thousand regulars and six- teen ships of the line and a number of frigates. The campaign of this redoubtable warrior is thus des- cribed by Bancroft: " He landed (at Ha- lifax), levelled the uneven ground for a parade, planted a vegetable garden as a precaution against the scurvy, exercised the men in mock battles and sieges and storm- ings of fortresses, and when August came, and the spirit of the army was broken, and Hay, a major-general, ex- pressed contempt so loudly as to be arrested, the troops were embarked, as if for Louisburg. But ere the ships sailed, the reconnoitring vessels came with the news that the French at Cape Breton had one more ship than the English, and the plan of campaign was changed. Part of the soldiers landed again at Halifax, and the Earl of Loudon, leaving his garden to the weeds, and his place of arms to briars, sailed for New York. 20 The ..larquis of Montcalm was a very different man from the Earl of Loudon. As a man he was superior to him in every way; as a commander he was active, quick and resolute ; while Loudon was incompetent, slow and pompous. Montcalm had stationed himself at Ticonderoga, in order to be able to watch the English, and he resolved to take advantage of Lord Loudon's absence to attack Fort William Henry, at the head of SITE OF FORT WILLIAM HENRY ON LAKE GEORGE. Lake George. In the first place, previous to starting on this enterprise, he made his court to the Oneidas, the Senecas and other sav- age tribes, and gained them over to his interests. These native warriors crossed the waters of Lake Champlain in two hundred canoes with pennons flying, and all the pomp of savage warfare. Assembling beneath the 3o6 THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. battlements of Ticonderoga, in the midst of woods and mountains, they sang the war- song, danced the war-dance, and listened to the eloquence of their orators. On the sec- ond of August Montcalm appeared before the fort with a force of about six thousand French and Canadians and seventeen hun- dred Indians, and laid siege to it. The MONTCALM. garrison consisted of about three thousand men, under Colonel Monroe, a gallant offi- cer. Montcalm summoned him to surrender the fort, but Monroe returned an indignant refusal to this demand, and sent to General Webbe, at Fort Edward, fifteen miles dis- tant, to ask for assistance. Webbe might easily have saved the fort, as he had four thousand men under his command, but he made no effort, to do so. Colonel Putnam, afterwards famous in the Revolution, eagerly sought and at last re- ceived permission to march with his regi- ment to Monroe's assistance, but he had proceeded only a few miles when Webbe commanded him to return to Fort Edward. In the place of assistance, the timid Webbe then sent to Mon- roe a letter greatly exaggerating the force of the French and ad- vising him to surrender. This letter was intercepted by Mont- calm, who was on the point of raising the siege, and he for- warded it to Monroe, with a renewed demand for his sur- render. The brave veteran held out, however, until nearly all his guns were disabled and his am- munition nearly exhausted. He then hung out a flag of truce, and Montcalm, who was too true a hero not to appreciate valor in a foe, granted him liberal terms. The garrison ^^•ere allowed to march out \\ ith the honors of war upon giving their parole not to serve against France for eight- een months. They were to re- tain their private property and were to liberate all their pris- oners. On the ninth of August the fort was surrendered to the French. Montcalm had kept the savages from liquor, in order to be able to restrain them in the hour of victory. They now sought and obtained rum from the English, and spent the night in dancing and singing. The next morning, as the English marched out of their camp, the Indians fell upon them and began to plunder them. From robbery the 308 THf: FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. excited savages soon passed to murder, and many of the English were killed and others made prisoners. The French officers threw themselves into the melee and exerted themselves gallantly to control the Indians. Many of them were wounded in these efforts. Montcalm in an agony implored the Indians to respect the treaty. " Kill me," he cried, as he struggled to restrain the savages, " but spare the English, who are under my protec- tion." He called to the English soldiers to defend themselves. The retreat to Fort Edward became a disorderly fight. Only about six hundred men reached there in a body. More than four hundred had sought shelter in the French camp, and were sent by Montcalm to their friends under the pro- tection of a strong escort. He also sent one of his officers to ransom those who had been taken prisoners by the Indians. The vast stores accumulated at Fort William Henry were carried away by the French, and the work itself demolished. Triumph of the French. The loss of Fort William Henry greatly frightened General Webbe at Fort Edward. In spite of his force of six thousand men, and the withdrawal of the French to Lake Cham- plain, he seriously contemplated a retreat to beyond Albany. Lord Loudon, who had arrived at New York, was equally impressed with the danger, and proposed to take posi- tion with his army on Long Island, for the defence of the continent. The campaign was over, and the French were everywhere triumphant. With the ex- ception of Acadia, they held all the country they had occupied at the beginning of the war. The English had lost the forts at Oswego and William Henry, and immense quantities of supplies. They had been en- tirely expelled from the valleys of the Ohio and the St. Lawrence, and the hostile parties of the Indians were enabled to extend llicir ravages far into the interior of the colonies. America was thoroughly disgusted with the incompetency and cowardice of the royal commanders. The old spell of British invin- cibility was broken, and the colonists were rapidly losing their respect for the troops sent over from England to protect them. Men were coming to the conclusion that their connection with Great Britain was sim- ply a curse to the colonies. They regarded the conduct of the war thus far by the royal officials as simply " a mixture of ignorance and cowardice," and were satisfied that they were amply able to defend themselves against the French and Indians without any assist- ance whatever from England. Attempts to Force Submission. The royal officials sought to cover their failures by complaints against the Ameri- cans. The hearty disgust and contempt with which the colonists regarded their pusillanimous conduct was reported by them to the home goverment as evidence of a mutinous spirit on the part of the Americans. Throughout the colonies they pursued one uniform system of seeking to force the prov- inces into submission to their own illegal acts, and to compel them to an acknowledg- ment of the arbitrary power of the crown. " Everywhere," says Bancroft, " the royal officers actively asserted the authoiity of the king and the British nation over America. Did the increase of population lead the leg- islature to enlarge the representative body? The right to do so was denied, and represen- tation was held to be a privilege conceded by the king as a boon, and limited by his will. Did the British commander believe that the French colonies through the neutral islands derived provisions from the continent ? By his own authority he proclaimed an embargo in every American port." CHAPTER XXIV End of the French and Indian War H Change for the Better — William Pitt, Prime Minister — ^Vigorous Measures Adopted — Recall of the Earl of Loudon . Capture of Louisburg — Abercrombie on Lake George — Advances Against Ticonderoga — Death of Lord Howe — / Failure of the English Attack Upon Ticonderoga — Disgraceful Conduct of Abercrombie — His Retreat — Capture of Fort Frontenac — Advance of General Forbes — Grant's Defeat — The Virginians Again Save the Regulars — Capture of Fort Duquesne — Washington Retires from the Army — Ticonderoga and Crown Point Occupied by the English- Capture of Fort Niagara — ^The Expedition Against Quebec — Failure of the First Operations — Despondency of W^olfe — He Discovers a Landing Place — The Anny Scales the Heights of Abraham — Montcalm's Surprise — Battle of the Plains of Abraham — Death of Wolfe — Defeat of the French — Death of Montcalm — Surrender of Quebec — Capture of Montreal — Treaty of Paris — Canada Ceded to England — France Loses All Her American Possessions— The Cherokee War — Hostility of the Indians to the English — Pontitc's War — Death of Pontiac — Bouquet Relieves | Fort Duquesne — Results of the War. i THE gross mismanagement of affairs in America aroused a storm of in- dignation in England, and King George was obliged to yield to the popular sentiment and change his ministers. At the head of the new ministry he placed William Pitt, the leader of the popular party, who was destined to become one of the greatest of English statesmen. His great talents had raised him from the insignificant position of ensign in the guards tc the lead- ership of the government of Great Britain, and were now to be the means of retrieving the disasters of his country and regaining for her her lost power and prestige. A truly great man, Pitt knew how to ad- mire and sympathize with merit in others, and was not blinded by the glitter of rank, nor hampered by an aristocratic faith in the divinity of royalty. He appreciated and sympathized with the Americans more per- fectly than any of his predecessors in office, and began his career with the wise determi- nation to encourage and develop their patri- otism by a generous and systematic assist- ance of their efforts. He caused the government of Great Britain to assume the expenses of the war, and announced that the sums expended by the colonies for the public defence, since the commencement of hostili- ties, would be refunded, and that henceforth the British government would provide the funds for the prosecution of the war. The colonies were each required to furnish troops, but Pitt " stipulated that the colonial troops raised for this purpose should be sup- plied with arms, ammunition, tents and provi- sions in the same manner as the regular troops and at the king's expense ; so that the only charge to the colonies would be that of levy- ing, clothing, and paying the men. The governors were also authorized to issue com- missions to provincial officers, from colonels downwards, and these officers were to hold rank in the united army according to their commissions. Had this liberal and just sys- tem been adopted at the outset, it would have put a very different face upon the affairs of the colonies."* These energetic and just measures were promptly responded to by the colonies, which placed a force of twenty- eight thousand men in the field. To these Pitt added twenty-two thousand British reg- ulars, making a total of fifty thousand men. * Sparks' Writinp of IVaskington, vol. ii., p. 289 — Av«. 3^ 310 THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. the largest army that had ever been assem- bled in America, and exceeding in number the entire male population of Canada. The Earl of Loudon was recalled, and in- stead of a single supreme command three separate expeditions were organized under different officers. An expedition against WILLIAM PITT. Louisburg was placed under the orders of Lctfd Jeffrey Amherst, an able and upright soldier, assisted by Brigadier General James Wolfe; who, though only thirty-one years old, had spent eighteen years in the army, and had served at Dettingen, Fontenoyand Lafifeldt. He was considered one of the ablest commanders in the English service, and was universally beloved. To General Forbes the task of conquering the Ohio val- ley was assigned ; and the expedition against Ticonderoga and Crown Point was intrusted, to General Abercrombie. Pitt had little faith , in Abercrombie, who' had been Lord Loudon's most trusted lieutenant; but retained him to please Lord Bute, and associated with him, as his second in command, the young and gifted Lord George Howe, in the hope that Howe's genius would redeem Abercrombie's faults, and lead him to victory. The expedition against Louisburg consisted of a fleet of twenty ships of the line and eighteen frigates, under Admiral Boscawen, and an army of fourteen thousand men, under General Am- her.st. The fleet reached Cabarus Bay on the se- cond of June, 1758. The fortifications of Louis- burg were somewhat di- lapidated, but were held by a garrison of thirty^ two hundred men, com- manded by Chevalier Drucour, an officer of experience and determination. These frigates' were sunk across the mouth of the harbor to close it against the English, and within the basin lay five ships of the line, one fifty-gun ship and two frigates, which took part in the defence of the place, END OF THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 3U The surf was so heavy that Amherst was unable to land his troops until the eighth. The first division was led by Wolfe, under the cover of the fire of the fleet. He forbade a gun to be fired from his command, and, upon nearing the shore, leaped into the water, followed by his men, and in the face of a sharp resistance, drove the French from their outposts into the town. The place was now regularly invested, and, after a bombard- ment of fifly days, during which the shipping in the harbor was destroyed, the town and fortifications were surrendered to the English on the twenty-seventh of July. With Louis- burg the French gave up the islands of Cape Breton and Prince Edward. Five thousand prisoners and an immense quantity of mili- tary supplies were secured by the English. Halifax being alreadv the chief naval sta- tion of the English in these waters, Louis- burg was abandoned. Amherst, Wolfe and Boscawen were honored by the English gov- ernment for their victory. The season was too far advanced after the capture of Louis- burg to admit of the commencement of operations against Quebec, and Amherst was suddenly called away from the coast to take charge of the army on Lake George. Down Lake George. Abercrombie had assembled a force of seven thousand English regulars and nine thousand Americans at the head of Lake George. Among the American troops were Stark and Putnam, afterwards famous in the war for independence, the former serving as a captain in the New Hampshire regiment, the latter as a major of Connecticut troops. Abercrombie was commander-in-chief, but the troops had little confidence in him. They were devoted to Lord Howe, who was the real leader of the expedition. On the fifth of July the army broke up its camp, and embarking in ten hundred and thirty-five boats, with the artillery on rafts, descended the lake to its lower end, from which they were to advance overland upon Fort Carillon, which the French had erected on the pro- montory of Ticonderoga. The next morning Lord Howe pushed forward with the ad-j vanced guard, and encountered a scouting^ party of the French. A sharp conflict en- sued. The French were easily driven back, but Lord Howe was killed almost at the first fire. His death cast a gloom over the army, which promised ill for the success of the undertaking. Gallant Attack. Abercrombie continued to advance, and on the morning of the ninth sent Clerk, his chief engineer, to reconnoitre the French position at Ticonderoga. Clerk reported that the French works were feeble, and im- perfectly armed. Stark, of New Hampshire, and some of the English officers saw that they were both strong and well provided with artillery. They so reported to Aber- crombie, but he accepted the statement of his engineer, and, witho'it waiting for his artil- lery, ordered an assault upon the French lines that very day. The Marquis of Montcalm was command- ing in person at Ticonderoga, and had dis- posed his small force of thirty-six hundred and fifty men in a line of breastworks thrown up about half a mile beyond the fort, and extending across the promontory on which that work stood. The death of Lord Howe had deprived the English of their only leader capable of contending against this accom- plished commander, and the incompetency of Abercrombie was to render easy what might have been, under other circumstances, a most difficult undertaking. Abercrombie could have brought up his artillery by the next day, but he was un- willing to wait for it, as he anticipated an 312 THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. easy victory. He stationed himself in a place of safety about two miles from the field, and ordered his troops to assail the French in- trenchments with the bayonet. The attack was made in gallant style, and was continued with energy during the afternoon. The English performed prodigies of valor, but were not able to overcome the strength of the French works, or the activity with which the defenders maintained their position. Un- like the English commander, Montcalm was everywhere along his line, cheering his men with his presence and example, and distribut- ing refreshments to them with his own hands. Without a commander who dared place himself under fire, with no one on the spot to direct their movements, the valor of the English was thrown away. A volley from an advanced party of their own men com- pleted their confusion, and they broke help- lessly and fell back in disorder towards Lake George. Abercrombie made no effort to rally them ; he was too badly frightened for that; and led the army towards the landing- place, on Lake George, with such haste that but for the energetic action of Colonel Brad- street the troops would have rushed pell-mell into the boats, without any semblance of order, and with a still greater loss of life. The English Retreat. The English lost nearly two thousand men in the attack upon the French works, but they still had left a force of more than four times the strength of the French, and their artillery had not been engaged. With this force they might have taken Ticonderoga, but Abercrombie was too much terrified to attempt anything of the kind. On the morn- ing of the ninth he embarked his troops and hastened to the head of Lake George. Montcalm was astounded at his retreat, but as he had too small a force, and his men were exhausted, he mad? no effort at pur- suit. Arrived at the head of Lake George, the frightened Abercrombie sent the artillery and ammunition back to Albany for safety, and occupied his army with the erection of Fort George, near the ruins of Fort William Henry. The news of this disaster caused General Amherst to hasten with four regi- ments and a battalion from Louisburg to! Lake George. He reached the camp of Abercrombie on the fifth of October. In November orders arrived from England ap- pointing Amherst commander-in-chief of the royal forces in America, and recalling Aber- crombie, who returned to England to attempt to excuse his cowardice by villifying Amer- ica and the Americans. He could not de- ceive Pitt, however, whose indignation at his pusillanimous conduct was only restrained by the influence of Lord Bute in the royal councils. Sudden Flight. After Abercrombie's retreat. Colonel Brad- street, of New York, at his earnest solicita- tion, obtained leave from the council of war to undertake an expedition against Fort Frontenac, which, being situated at the foot of Lake Ontario, commanded both the lake and the St. Lawrence. Its possession was of the highest importance to the French, as it was their main depot for the supply of the posts on the upper lakes and the Ohio with military stores. Collecting a force of twenty- seven hundred men, all Americans, consist- ing chiefly of troops from New York and Massachusetts, Bradstreet hastened to Os- wego before his movements were known to the enemy. From Oswego he crossed the lake in open boats, and landed on the Can- ada side within a mile of Fort Frontenac. His sudden arrival struck terror to the garrison, and the greater part secured their safety by an instantaneous flight. The next day the fort surrendered. The victors cap- END OF THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 313 tured with it a vast quantity of military stores destined for the forts in the interior, and a fleet of nine armed vessels, with which the French controlled the lake. Two of the , vessels were laden with a part of the stores land sent to Oswego, and the remainder of I the vessels and stores, together with the fort, were destroyed. The English then re- crossed the lake to Oswego. The capture of Fort Frontenac was an event of great im- portance, as it led, as we shall see further on, to the abandonment by the French of their posts in the valley of the Ohio. For the reduction of Fort Duquejne a force of seven thousand men was assembled under General Forbes. Of these, five thou- sand were from Pennsylvania and Virginia, the troops from the latter colony being under the command of Colonel Washington. The Pennsylvania troops assembled at Raystown, on the Juniata, and the Virginians at Fort Cumberland Washington urged upon Forbes the advantages of adopting the old road cut by Braddock's army in his advance to the Ohio, but Forbes, at the suggestion of some land-speculators, decided to construct a new and a better road farther to the north. As regarded the future settlement of the west this was an excellent plan, but as far as it concerned the immediate object of the campaign it was a mistake, as it involved a large expenditure of labor and a great waste of time. While this road was being constructed General Bouquet, with the advanced guard, crossed Laurel Hill and established a post at Loyal Hanna. The new road progressed tery slowly, only forty-five miles being con- tructed in six weeks. Bouquet had with him a force of about two thousand men, chiefly Highlanders and Virginians. Learn- ing from his scouts that Fort Duquesne was held by a garrison of only eight hundred men, of whom three hundred were Indians, Bouquet, without orders from General Forbes, resolved to attempt the capture of the fort by a sudden blow. He detached a force of eight hundred Highlanders and a company of Virginians, under Major Grant, to reconnoitre Fort Duquesne. The French were fully informed of all of Grant's movements, but they allowed him to approach unmolested, intending to disarm his vigilance and then attack him. Grant affected the usual contempt /or the provincial troops, and upon arriving before the fort, placed Major Lewis with the Vir- ginians to guard the baggage, and sent his regulars forward to reconnoitre and make a sketch of the work. He was greatly en- couraged by the fact that the French allowed him to approach without firing a gun at him, and in his self-complacency marched right into an ambuscade which the enemy had prepared for him. The Regulars' Narrow Escape. The French commander had posted thv, Indians along the sides of the defile by which Grant was advancing, and at a given signal the garrison made a sudden sally from the fort against the Highlanders, while the In- dians opened a heavy fire upon them from their place of concealment. The regulars were quickly thrown into confusion, and their officers were found incapable of con- ducting such a mode of warfare. Attracted by the firing, Major Lewis, with a company of Virginians, hastened to the scene of the encounter, and by engaging the enemy hand to-hand enabled the regulars to save them- selves from a general massacre. The de- tachment was routed with heavy loss, and both Grant and Lewis were taken prisoners. The fugitives retreated to the point where the baggage had been left. It w^as guarded by Captain Bullit. whom Lewis had left there with one company of Virginians, 314 THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. By the gallant and skillful resistance of this little force the French and Indians were checked, and finally driven back in confusion. The English then continued their retreat with all speed to Loyal Hanna. Again the provincials had saved the regulars from total destruction. General Forbes had the mag- nanimity to acknowledge and compliment the Virginians for their services, and Cap- tain Bullit was promoted to the rank of major. General Forbes was greatly disheartened by the news of Grant's disaster. A council of war was called to deliberate upon the future operations of the army, and decided that as it was now November, and they were still fifty miles from Fort Duquesne, with an unbroken forest between them and the fort, nothing more could be accomplished until the spring. The enterprise was on the point of being abandoned when fortunately three prisoners were brought in, from whom Wash- ington drew the information that the garri- 'son of Fort Duquesne was reduced to a very small force, that the Indians had all deserted the French, and that the expected reinforce- ments and supplies from Canada had not arrived. It was evident that a well-executed effort would result in the .apture of the fort. The Fort Abandoned. This information decided General Forbes to continue the expedition. A force of twenty-five hundred picked troops was placed under Washington's command, and he was ordered to push forward as rapidly as possible, and prepare the road for the ad- vance of the main army. Washington was ably seconded in his movements by the en- ergetic Armstrong, and the march was pressed with such vigor that in ten days the army arrived in the vicinity of Fort Duquesne, The French now saw that the fall of the fort was inevitable. They had but five hun- dred men, and Bradstreet's capture of Fort Frontenac had cut them off from the rein- forcements and supplies they had expected from Canada. Unwilling to stand a siege the result of which was certain, they aban doned the fort on the night of the twenty- fourth of November, and embarking in flat boats, floated down the Ohio to join their countrymen in the valley of the Mississippi. On the morning of the twenty-fifth, Wash- ington, with his gallant band, entered the fort and planted the British flag on the ram- parts just abandoned by the French. At the universal desire of the army, Forbes named the place Fort Pitt, which has since been changed to Pittsburgh. The splendid city which occupies the site is the proudest monument that has been built to the memory of the " Great Commoner." Two regiments, composed of Pennsyl- vanians, Virginians and Marylanders, under Mercer, were left to garrison Fort Pitt, which was restored to its former strength. General Forbes then returned east of the mountains, and Washington resigned his commission and retired to private life. The object of the campaign was accomplished, and he could now enjoy the rest to which five years of constant service had entitled him. The capture of Fort Duquesne was the most important event of the war. It put an end to the French occupation of the valley of the Ohio and settled the claim of Great Britain to that valuable region. The Indians, having no longer the support and encour- agement which they had derived from the French at this post, ceased their hostile - efforts, and during the remainder of the war the frontiers of Virginia and Pennsylvania were at peace. The capture of the fort was followed by a large emigration west of the mountains, which, beginning the next spring; WASHINGTON PLANTING THE FLAG ON FORT DUQUESNE. ^>J 3i6 THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. soon placed a large and energetic population of Englishmen and their families in the val- ley of the Ohio, The Indians, disheartened by the defeat of the French, began to form treaties of peace or neutrality with the Eng- ♦Jish. Washington's Valor. Washington's services in this campaign were acknowledged with pride throughout the colonies, but the British government took no notice of them. Not even Pitt, with all his appreciation of America, thought it worth while to offer him any promotion or reward, as had been done in the case of other meritorious provincial commanders. Soon after his withdrawal from the army he took his seat in the house of burgesses, to which he had been elected. That body ordered its .speaker to publicly thank Colonel Washington in the name of the house and of the people of Virginia for his services to his country. The speaker discharged this duty with ease and dignity, but when Washington attempted to reply he blushed and stam- mered and was unable to speak a word. The speaker relieved his confusion by coming to his assistance with the kind remark : " Sit down, Mr. Washington ; your modesty equals your valor, and that surpasses the power of any language I possess." The English cause was now more success- ful than it had ever been, and Canada was exhausted by the efforts she had put forth for her defence. This was clear to Mont- calm, who had no hope of holding New France against the attacks of Great Britain, and it was also clear to the far-seeing mind of Pitt. The British minister, therefore, re- solved that the next campaign should be decisive of the war. He promptly reim- bursed the colonies for the expenses incurred by them during the past year, and found no difficulty in enlisting them heartily in his schemes. Three expeditions were ordered for the year 1759. Amherst was to advance by way of Lake Champlain, and after capturing Ticonderoga and Crown Point, was to lay siege to Montreal ; Wolfe was to ascend the St. Lawrence and attack Quebec, and was to be joined by Amherst if the latter should be successful in his efforts against Montreal ; and General Prideaux was to proceed by way of Oswego to capture Fort Niagara, and then descend Lake Ontario and join Amherst at Montreal. Amherst moved promptly against Ticon- deroga, which post was abandoned by the French upon his approach. Crown Point fell into his hands in the same manner, but here the advance of the English was stayed. No boats had been provided to transport the army down Lake Champlain, and Amherst was forced to halt until these could be pro- cured. He was thus able to invest Mon- treal, or to co-operate with Wolfe in the movement against Quebec. The American Gibraltar. General Prideaux began his march to Os- wego about the same time, and proceeding from Oswego, laid siege to Fort Niagara. He was killed by the bursting of a gun soon after the commencement of the siege, and the command devolved upon Sir William Johnson, who pressed the attack with vigor. On the twenty-third of July, 1758, the fort capitulated ; but Johnson was obliged to abandon the attempt to descend the St. Law- rence to Wolfe's assistance from a lack of boats and provisions. The expedition against Quebec assembled in June, 1758, at Louisburg, under the com- mand of General Wolfe. It consisted of eight thousand troops and a fleet of twenty- two ships of the line, besides frigates and some smaller vessels. On the twenty-sixth of June the Isle of Orleans was reached, ancj EKD OF THE FRENCH AlSfD iNDlAM WAP 'i>^1 the troops were imme- diately landed, A short distance up the river Quebec rose defiantly, its seemingly impregna- ble citadel of St. Louis crowning the lofty hills that rose from the river's brink. For the defence of the place Montcalm had six greatly reduced bat- talions of regulars and a force of Canadian militia. A few Indians remained faithful to him ; but the majority of the tribes, doubtful of the issue of the contest, preferred to remain neutral. The French commander, see- ing the inferiority of his force to that of the Eng- lish, put his trust chiefly in the natural strength of his position, which he believed would enable him to hold it even with his small force. The situation of Que- bec was peculiar. It lay on a peninsula, between the river St. Charles on the north and the St. Lawrence on the south and east. On these sides it was perfectly protected by the river, leaving the west side alone exposed. The lower town was situated on the beach, while the upper stood on the cliffs two hundred feet above the water, and above this still rose the castle of St. Louis. Above the city the high pro- montory on which the upper town was built NIAGARA FALLS. stretched away for several miles in an elevated plain, and from the river to this plain the rocks rose almost perpendicularly. Every landing-place was carefully guard- .ed, and the whole range of cliffs seemed 5^ fUE l^RKNCH AND INDIAN WAU. bristling with cannon. The French com- mander did not beheve it possible for an army to scale these cliffs. Montcalm located his camp below the city, between the St. Charles and the Montmorenci rivers, and covered the river front of his position with many floating batteries and ships of war, which presented a formidable appearance. GENERAL JAMES WOLFE. The naval superiority of the English at once gave them the command of the river. The French were driven from Point Levi, opposite the city, and upon it Wolfe erected batteries, from which he bombarded the lower town and soon laid it in ashes. The upper town and the citadel were beyond the range of his guns, and could not be injured by this fire. Wolfe now decided to storm the French camp on the opposite side of the St. Law- rence, and in the month of July attacked them from the direction of the Montmorenci, but owing to the haste of the first division, which advanced to the assault before it could be properly supported by the second, the attack was repulsed with a loss of five hun dred men. This repulse greatly dis heartened the English commander, whose sensitive spirit suffered keenly under the dread that his enterprise was doomed to failure. He obtained news of the capture of Fort Niagara and the occupation of Ticonder- oga and Crown Point, and eagerly wjtched for the approach of the promised assistance from Amherst. It never came, and Wolfe saw that he must take Quebec by his own efforts or not at all. He attempted several diversions above the city in the hope of drawing Montcalm from his intrenchments into the open field, but the latter merely sent De Bougainville with fifteen hundred men to watch the shore above Quebec and prevent a landing. Wolfe fell into a fever, caused by his anxiety, and his despatches to his government created the gravest uneasiness in England for the suc- cess of his enterprise. Though ill, Wolfe examined the river with eagle eyes to detect some place at which a landing could be attempted. His energy was rewarded by his discovery of the cove which now bears his name. From the shore at the head of this cove a steep and difficult pathway, along which two men could scarcely march abreast, wound up to the summit of the heights and was guarded by a small force of Canadians. Wolfe at once resolved to effect a landing here and ascend KND OF THE FRENCtt AND INDIAN WAR. 319 [he heights by this path. The greatest >ecrecy was necessary to the success of the undertaking, and in order to deceive the French as to his real design, Captain Cook, afterwards famous as a great navigator, was sent to take soundings and place buoys opposite Montcalm's camp, as if that were to be the real point of attack. The morning of the thirteenth of September was chosen for the movement, and the day and night of the twelfth were spent in preparations for it. "To Conquer or Die." At one o'clock on the morning of the thir- teenth a force of about five thousand men under Wolfe, with Monckton and Murray, set off in boats from the fleet, which had ascended the river several days before, and dropped down to the point designated for the land- ing. Each officer was thoroughly informed of the duties required of him, and each shared the resolution of the gallant young commander, to conquer or die. As the boats floated down the stream, in the clear, cool starlight, Wolfe spoke to his officers of the poet Gray, and of his " Elegy in a Country Church)'ard." " I would prefer," said he, " being the author of that poem to the glory of beating the French to-morrow." Then in a musing voice he repeated the ines : "The boast of heraldy, the pomp of power, And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave, Await alike the inexorable hour; , The paths of glory lead but to the grave." In a short while the landing-place was ' reached, and the fleet, following silently, ,took position to cover the landing if neces- sary. Wolfe and his immediate command leaped ashore and secured the pathway. The light infantry, who were carried by the tide a little below the path, clambered up the side of the heights, sustaining themselves by clinging to the roots and shrubs which lined the precipitous face of the hill. They reached the summit and drove off the picket- guard after a slight skirmish. The rest of the troops ascended in safety by the path- way, and a battery of two guns was aban- doned on the left to Colonel Howe. Having gained the heights, Wolfe moved forward rapidly to clear the forest, and by daybreak his army was drawn up on the Heights of Abraham, in the rear of the city. Montcalm was speedily informed of the presence of the English. " It can be but a small party come to burn 3 few houses and retire," he answered incredulously. A brief examination satisfied him of his danger, and he exclaimed in amazement : " Then they have at last got to the weak side of this miserable garrison. We must give battle and crush them before mid-day." He at once despatched a messenger for De Bou- gainville, who was fifteen miles up the river, and marched from his camp opposite the city to the Heights of Abraham to drive the English from them. The opposing forces were about equal in numbers, though the English troops were superior to their adver- saries in steadiness and determination. Death of a Hero. The battle began about ten o'clock and was stubbornly contested. It was at length decided in favor of the English. Wolfe, though wounded sev^eral times, continued to c'irect his army until, as he was leading them to the final charge, he received a musket ball in the breast. He tottered and called to an officer near him : " Support me ; let not my brave fellows see me drop." He was borne tenderly to the rear, and water was brought him to quench his thirst. At this moment the officer upon whom he was leaning cried out : " They run! they run ! " "Who run?" asked the , dying hero, eagerly. " The French," said 320 THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. the officer, " give way everywhere." " What ?" said Wolfe, summoning up his remaining strength, " do they run already ? Go, one of you, to Colonel Burton ; bid him march Webb's regiment with all speed to Charles River to cut off the fugitives." Then, a smile of contentment overspreading his pale features, he murmured : " Now, God be praised, I die happy,'' and expired. He had De Bougainville arrived wich his divisioily but Townshend declined to renew the en- gagement. Montcalm had borne himself heroically during the battle, and had done all that a brave and skillful commander could do to win the victory. As he was endeavoring to rally his troops at their final repulse, he was wounded for the second time, and was car^ DEATH OF GENERAL WOLFE BEFORE QUEBEC. done his whole duty, and with his life had purchased an empire for his country. ' Monckton, the second in rank, having been wounded, the command devolved upon General Townshend, a brave officer, but incapable of following up such a success with vigor. He recalled the troops from the pursuit and contented himself with the pos- session of the battle-field. At this moment ried into the city. The surgeon informed him that his wound was mortal. " So much the better," he answered cheerfully ; " I shall not live to see the surrender of Quebec." De Ramsay, the commandant of the post asked his advice about the defence of the city. " To your keeping," answered Mont- calm, " I commend the honor of France. I will neither give orders nor interfere any 'il't^D OF THE FRKNCII AXD INDIAN WAR. 3^1 Turther. I have business of greater moment to attend to. My time is short. I shall pass the night with God, and prepare myself for death." He then wrote a letter to the English com- mander, commending the French prisoners to his generosity, and at five o'clock on the morn- ine of the fourteenth his spirit passed away. Suc- ceeding generations have paid to his memory the honors it deserves, and on the spot where the fate of Quebec was de- cided the people of Ca- nada have erected, to commemorate the hero- ism of the conqueror and the conquered, a noble monument inscribed with the names of Wolfe and Montcalm. The French lost five hundred killed and one thousand prisoners,while the loss of the English was six hundred in killed and wounded. Five days afterward, on the eight- eenth of September, the city and garrison of Que- bec surrendered to Gen- eral Townshend. The capture of this great stronghold was hailed ivith rejoicings in both America and England. Congratulations were showered upon Pitt, who modestly put them aside with the reverent remark : " I will a-rm to serve my country ; but the more a man is versed in business, the more he finds the hand of Providence everywhere." 21 In April, 1760, De Levi, the French com- mander at Montreal, attacked Quebec with a force often thousand men, hoping to reduce it before the arrival of reinforcements from England. Murray, the English commander, s marched out with three thousand men to KING GEORGE III. attack him, and in a severe battle on the twenty-sixth of April was defeated and driven back to the city with a loss of one thousand men. The French then laid siege to Quebec, but on the ninth of May an 322 THE FRENCH AND INJ31AN WAR. English fleet arrived to its relief, and De Levi was obliged to withdraw to Montreal. In September, Montreal itself was invested by a powerful force under General Amherst. Seeing that there was no hope of resistance, the French commander surrendered the town on the eighth of September, 1760. With this capture Canada passed entirely into the hands of the English. Detroit and the other posts on the lakes were soon given up by the French, and the dominion of France in America was confined to the valley of the Mississippi. There were no further hostili- ties between the English and French. Important Treaty. The French and Indian war was closed by the treaty of Paris, on the tenth of February, 1763. By this treaty Great Britain obtained all the French territory east of the Missis- sippi, with the exception of the island of New Orleans, the northern boundary of which was the rivers Iberville and Amite, and Lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain. Florida was ceded to England by Spain in exchange for Havana. France ceded to Spain the island of New Orleans and all Louisiana west of the Mississippi. Thus Great Britain was mistress of the whole of the vast region east of the Mississippi, with the exception of the island of New Orleans, from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexi- co. The region west of the Mississippi was claimed by Spain. In all the vast continent of America F''ance retained not one foot of ground. '* k In the meantime the Indians of the south- 'west had become involved in war with the whites. The Cherokees, who had always been friendly to the English, had done good service during the early part of the war by protecting the frontiers of Virginia, and had served also in Forbes' expedition against Fort Duquesne. They received for their services no reward or pay from any source, and as they were setting out for their homes neither General Forbes nor the colonial'au- thorities supplied them with either food or money. To avoid starvation on their march they were compelled to plunder the barns of| some of the settlers, and this led to a conflict| which rapidly spread into a border war. The Cherokees Driven to Arms. Lyttleton, the governor of South Carolina, exerted himself to prevent the restoration of peace, and with success, as he desired the credit of exterminating the Cherokees. He was opposed by the legislature and people of the colony, but in 1759 he sent a force into their country, which committed such ravages that the Cherokees, driven to despair, re- solved upon a war of extermination. They made a league with the Muscogees, and sent to the French in Louisiana for military stores. The Carolinians asked aid of General Am- herst, who sent them a force of twelve hun- dred men, principally highlanders, under General Montgomery. Reinforced by a body of Carolinians, Montgomery invaded the Cherokee country in 1760, and laid it waste. Tliis tribe had made great advances in civil- iziition, and had settled in villages, and en- gaged in the cultivation of their lands. Their homes were made desolate, and they were driven to the mountains. Montgomery then . rejoined Amherst, in the north, in obedience I to orders ; but the Indians for many years maintained a desultory warfare along the southwestern border. The surrender of Canada to the English was viewed with the greatest disfavor by the Indians of the north and west, who were attached to the French, and were unwilling to submit to the rule of the English. Im- mediately after the surrender the English occupied all the French posts along the 1 lakes, and in the Ohio valley, with small END OF THE FRKNCM AND INDIAN WAR. Pi pnrrlsons. The contrast between these and the French, who had formerly held these forts, soon impressed itself forcibly upon the minds of the savages. The French had been friendly and kind to the Indians, and I.ad sought to convert them to Christianity; /theEnghsh were haughty and domineering, and insulted their priests, and denounced their religion. •• King Pontiac." The French had prohibited the sale of rum to the Indians ; the English introduced it, and finding it profitable continued it, with a recklessness of consequences which did not escape the keen observation of the savages. The demoralization of the red men was rapid, and drunkenness and its attendant vices wrought sad changes in them. The tribes were bitterly hostile to the men who were ruining their people, and all were alarmed by the rapidity with which emigration had been pouring over the mountains since the capture of Fort Duquesne. They saw that they were about to be driven from their homes, and forced westward, before the advancing tide of the whites. The most determined opponent of the English rule was Pontiac, a chief of the Ottawas. He was a Catawba by birth, had been brought from his native country as a prisoner, and had been adopted into the Ot- tawa tribe, whose chief he had become by his bravery and skill. He was the idol of his own people, and his influence over the neigh- boring tribes was boundless. He was styled "the king and lord of all the country of the northwest," and bitterly resented the English occupation of his dominions. The first Eng- lish officer who came to take possession of ,the French forts was received by him with the stern demand, " How dare you come to visit my country without my leave ?" This " forest hero " now resolved to unite all the tribes of the northwest in a last de- termined effort to drive out the English, and regain the independence of the re 1 man. The plan of operations which he adopted was most comprehensive, and was the most remarkable exhibition of genuine leadership ever given by an Indian. He began negotia- tions with the neighboring tribes, and in< duced the Delawares, Shawnees, the Senecas, Miamis, and many of the smaller tribes, oc-' cupying the great region of the upper lakes, the valley of the Ohio, and a portion of the Mississippi valley, to join his people in their effort against the English. He sent a prophet to all the tribes to declare to them that the Great Spirit had revealed to him "that if the English were permitted to dwell in their midst, then the white man's diseases and poisons would utterly destroy them." The conspiracy was pressed forward with energy, and though it was more than a year in forming, it was kept a profound secret. The Plot Revealed. • The principal post on the upper lakes was Detroit. It 'vas surrounded by a numerous French population engaged in agriculture and trading. It was the centre of the trade of this region, and its possession was of the highest importance to the English. Pontiac was anxious to obtain possession of this fort and sent word to Major Gladwin, the commandant, that he was coming on a cer- tain day, with his warriors, to have a talk with him. The chief was resolved to make this visit the occasion of seizing the fort and massacring the garrison, and he and his warriors selected for the attempt cut down , their rifles to a length which enabled them ' to conceal them under their blankets, in order to enter the fort with their arms. The plot was revealed to Gladwin by an Indian girl, whose affections had been won by one of the English officers, and when Pontiac and his warriors repaired to the fort ^ 324 1 £ND of the FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 3^5 for their "talk" Gladwin mide him aware that his conspiracy was discovered, and very unwisely permitted him to leave the fort in safety. Pontiac now threw off the mask of friendship and boldly attacked Detroit. Wholesale Slaughter. ^ This was the signal for a general war. In about three weeks' time the savages sur- prised and captured every fort west of Ni- agara, with the exception of Detroit and Pittsburgh. The garrisons were, with a few exceptions, put to death. Over one hundred traders were killed and scalped in the woods, and more than five hundred families were driven, with the loss of many of their numbers, from their settlements on the fron- tier. Pontiac endeavored, without success, to capture Detroit, and a large force of the warriors of several of the tribes laid siege to Pittsburgh, the most important post in the valley of the Ohio. The ravages of the Indians were extended over the wide terri- tory between the Ohio and the Mississippi, and the settlements in that region were for the time completely broken up. General Bouquet, with a force ol five hundred men, consisting chiefly of Scotch Highlanders, was sent from eastern Penn- sylvania to the relief of Fort Ligonier, which was located at the western base of the mountains, near Pittsburgh. Their march lay through a region which had been deso- lated by the Indians, and they were obliged to depend upon the stores they carried with them. Upon reaching Fort Ligonier, Bou- quet found the communication with Pitts- burgh cut off, and could learn nothing of the fate of the fort or garrison, i Leaving his cattle and wagons at Ligo- nier, he pushed forward with his men in light marching order, determined to ascer- tain if Pittsburgh still held out. He had to fight his way through the Indians, who turned aside from the siege of the fort and ambushed the Highlanders at nearly every step. They were overwhelmingly defeated by the gallant Highlanders, for Bouquet was now a veteran Indian fighter, and had learned to fight the savages with their own tactics. Their rout was complete, and Bouquet reach- ed Pittsburgh in safety, to the great joy of the garrison. Victory Over the Indians. Bouquet's victory was decisive. The li. dians were utterly disheartened and fled westward ; and from that day the Ohio val- ley was freed from their violence. The tide of emigration once more began to fiow over the mountains, and this time it was to know no cessation. The tribes concerned in Pon- tiac's conspiracy lost hope, and were over- awed by the preparations of the English for their destruction, end began to withdraw from the confederacy and make peace with the whites. Pontiac soon found himself de- serted by all his followers, even by his own people ; but his proud spirit would not brook the thought of submission. He would make no treaty; he was the mortal foe of the English, and would never acknowledge their rule. Leaving his home and his people, he set out for the country of the Illinois, for purpose of stirring up the more distant tribes to war. A proclamation from Lord Amherst offered a reward for his murder, and he soon fell, the victim of the hired assassin. The long war was over. It had brought both loss and gain to the colonies. It had involved them in an expenditure of sixteen million dollars, of which sum. but five million dollars had been refunded by the English government. Thus the debts of the colonies were greatly increased. Thirty thousand men had been killed, or had died from wounds or disease during the war, and the sufferings of the settlers along the extende4 326 THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. and exposed frontiers had been almost incal- culable. On the other hand, the war had greatly increased the business of the colonies, es- pecially in those of the north. Large sums had been spent in America by Great Britain for the support of her armies and fleets, and many fortunes were built up by enterprising men during this period. Above all the Americans had been taught their own strength, and the value of united action. They had often proved their superiority to the regular troops of the English army, and had learned valuable lessons in the art of war. In the long struggle Washington, Gates, Morgan, Montgomery, Stark, Putnam and others were trained for the great work which was to be required of them in future years. The colonies were bound together by a common grievance, arising out of the haughty contempt with which the royal commanders treated the provincial troops, and sacrificed their interests to those of the regulars. The lesson that the colonies could do without the assistance of Eni^^land, and that their true interests demanded a separation from her, was deeply implanted in the minds of many of the leading men. Another gain for the colonies was a posi- tive increase in their liberties resulting fror4 the war. The necessity of securing the cor dial co-operation of the Americans during the struggle caused the royal governors to cease their efforts to enforce arbitrary laws, during the existence of hostilities, as the en- forcement of such measures would have alienated the colonists, and have prevented them from raising the needed supplies of men and money. The colonial assemblies were careful to take advantage of this state of affairs. They made their grants of sup- plies with great caution, and retained in their own hands all the disbursements of the pub- lic funds. They thus accustomed the people to the practices of free government, and taught them their rights in the matter, so that when the war closed the royal governors found that they were no longer able to prac- tice their accustomed tyranny. BOO^ IV The American Revolution CHAPTER XXV Causes of the Struggle for Independence 'ttjasace of Great Britain Towards Her Colonies — Tlie Navigation Acts — Effects of These Laws Upon the Colonies -» Ureat Britain Seeks to Destroy the Manufactures of America — Writs of Assistance — Fhey Are Opposed — Home Manufactures Encouraged by the Americans-'Ignorance of Englishmen Concerning America — Great Britain Claims th« Right to Tax America — Resistance of ihe Colonists— Samuel Adams — The Parsons' Cause — Patrick Henry — England Persists in Her Determination to Tax A^merica — Passage of the Stamp Act — Resistance of the Colonies — Meeting of the First Colonial Congress — Its Action — William Pitt — Repeal of the Stamp Act — Franklin Before the House of Commons — New Taxes Imposed Upon America — Increased Resistance of the Colonies — Troops Quartered in Boston — The " Massacre" — The Non-Importation Associations — Growth of Hostility to England — Burning of ih j " Gasp6 " — The Tax on Tea Retained by the King — Destruction of Tea at Boston — Wrath of the British Govern- ment — Boston Harbor Closed — Troops Quartered in Boston — The Colonies Come to the Assistance of Boston- Action of t\e Virginia Assembly — General Gage in Boston — The Regulating Act-— Its Failure — Gage Seizes the Massachusetts Powder — Uprising of the Colony — Meeting of the Continental Congress — Its Action — Addresses to %e King and People of England — The Earl of Chatham's Indorsement of Congress— The King Remains Stubborn. THE treaty of Paris placed England in ' control of the North American con- tinent east of the Mississippi, and the English government was of the opinion that this possession brought with it the right to treat America as it pleased, with- out regard to the rights or liberties of her people. We have already considered some of the many acts of injustice by which Great Britain drove the colonies into rebellion against her. We have now to relate those bearing more immediately on the separation. The navigation acts of 1660 and 1663 were passed, as we have seen, for the purpose of crippling the commerce of the colonies, and confirming their dependence upon England. They were severely felt throughout all the col- onies, and especially in New England, which was largely dependent upon its commerce. These acts were the beginning of a policy deliberately adopted by England, and per- Hsted in by her for more than a centuiy, for the purpose of enriching her mercantile class by depriving the colonists of the just rewards of their labors. The Americans were re- garded by the mother country as inferiors, and as dependents, who had been planted by her in " settlements established in distant parts of the world for the benefit of trade." The natural right of all men to acquire property and wealth by the exercise of their industry was denied to them ; they were to labor only that the British merchant might grow rich at their expense. Every species of industry in America, save the mere culti- vation of the soil, was to be heavily taxed that it might be crushed out of existence. The Americans were to be obliged to ship their products to England for sale, and to be compelled to purchase in her markets the supplies they needed. No foreign countryj might trade directly with the colonies. Such articles of foreign production as were needed must be shipped to England, and then 327 ^28 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. transferred to British vessels for transporta- tion to the colonies, in order that they might yield a profit to the English ship-owner. The only direct trade which was allowed, and was not taxed, was the infamous traffic in negro slaves, against which every colony protested, and which Great Britain compelled them to accept. Even the trees in the " free woods," suitable for masts, were claimed by the king, and marked by his " surveyor-general of woods." It was a criminal offence to cut one of them after being so marked. Restrictions upon Trade. In spite of these outrages the colonies persisted in their efforts to establish manu- factures and a commerce of their own. As early as 1643 iron works were established in Massachusetts, and in 1721 the New England colonies contained six furnaces and nineteen forges. Pennsylvania was still more largely engaged in the manufacture of this metal, and exported large quantities of it to other colonies. By the year 1756 there were eight furnacas and nine forges, for smelting copper, in oper- ation in Maryland. In 1721 the British iron- masters endeavored to induce Parliament to put a stop to the production of iron in America, but without success. In 1750 they were more successful. In that year an act of Parliament forbade, under heavy penalties, the exportation of pig-iron from America to England, and the manufacture by the Ameri- cans of bar-iron or steel for their own use. All the iron works in the colonies were ordered to be closed, and any that might afterwards be erected were to be destroyed as "' nuisances." Some of the colonies had engaged in the manufacture of woolen goods, and the mak- ing of hats had become a very large and profitable business. In 1732 Parliament for- bade the transportation of woolen goods of American manufacture from one colony to another, and the same restriction was placed upon the trade in hats. As an excuse for this outrage it was argued that as the Ameri- cans had an unlimited supply of beaver and other furs open to them, they would soon be able to supply all Europe, as well as them- selves, with hats. England was unwilling that America should manufacture a single article which she could supply, and in order to cripple the industry of the colonies still further it was enacted by Parliament that no manufacturer should employ more than two apprentices. In 1733 the famous " Molasses Act " was passed, imposing a duty on sugar, molasses, or rum, imported into any of the British possessions from any foreign colony. The object of this act was to benefit the British West India possessions by compell- ing the North American colonies to trade with them. Thrilling Speech of James Otis. In order to enforce the various restrictions upon the trade of the colonies Great Britain established in America a large force of cus- toms officers, who were given unlawful powers for this purpose. Parliament enacted that any sheriff or officer of the customs, who siispccted i\ra.t merchandise imported into the colony in which he was stationed had not paid the duty required by law, might apply to the colonial courts for a search warrant, or " writ of assistance," and enter a store or private dwelling and search for the goods he suspected of being unlawfully imported. These writs were first used in Massachu- setts in 1 76 1, and aroused a storm of indig nation from the people, who felt that their most sacred rights were being violated by them. They Avere resisted, and the case was carried before the courts in order to test their validity. James Otis, the attorney for the crown^ resigned his office rather than argue :=;rENE NEAR THE SOURCE OF THE RARITAN RIVER. 329 330 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. in behalf of them, and with great eloquence pleaded the cause of the people. His speech created a profound impression throughout the colonies, and aroused a determination in the hearts of his fellow-citizens to oppose the other enactments of Parliament which they felt to be unjust. This trial was fatal to the writs, which \ ;ere scarcely ever used after- wards. " Then and there," says John Adams, "was the first opposition to arbi- trary acts of Great Britain. Then and there American Independence was born." Taxing the Colonies. i The spirit of opposition soon manifested itself in the New England colonies. The manufactures, trade and fisheries of that sec- tion were almost ruined, and the people had no choice but to defend themselves. Asso- ciations were formed in all the colonies pledging themselves not to purchase of Eng- . lish manufacturers anything but the absolute ^ necessities of life. Families began to make "^ their own linen and woolen cloths, and to ' preserve sheep for their wool. Homespun garments became the dress of the patriot party, and foreign cloths were almost driven out of use. It was resolved to encourage home manufactures in every possible way and associations were formed for this pur- pose. These measures became very pop- " ular, and were adopted by the other colonies ' in rapid succession. England was blind to these signs of alien- ation and danger, and such of her public men as saw them regarded them as of no importance. It was resolved to go still further, and levy direct taxes upon the col- onies. In 1763 such a proposition was brought forward by the ministers. It was . claimed by them that as the debt of England had been largely increased by the French war, which had been fought in their defence, it was but right that they should help to de- fray the expense by paying a tax to the English government. In the meantime the colonies had warmly discussed the intentions of Great Britain re- specting them, and all strenuously denied the right of the mother country to ta.x them without granting them some form of repre- sentation in her government. They claimed the right to have a voice in the disposal ot their property, and they regarded the design of Parliament as but a new proof of the indis- position of the mother country to treat them with justice. The feeling of the Americans towards England at this period has been aptly de- scribed as " distrust and suspicion, strangely mixed up with filial reverence — an instinctive sense of injury, instantly met by the in- stinctive suggestion that there must be some constitutional reason for doing it, or it would not be done." In spite of the injuries they had received at her hands, the Americans were warmly attached to England. They gloried in her triumphs, were proud to trace their descent from her, and claimed a share in her great history and grand achievements. Had England been wise she might have strength- ened this attachment to such an extent that the ties which bound the two countries could never have been sundered. But England was not only careless of the rights of Amer- icans, she was grossly ignorant of their country and of their character. Ignorant Rulers. " Few Englishmen had accurate ideas of the nature, the extent, or even the position of the colonies. And when the Duke of/ Newcastle hurried to the king with the in- formation that Cape Breton was an island, he did what perhaps half his colleagues in the ^ ministry, and more than half his colleagues in Parliament, would have done in his place. They knew that the colonies were of vast CAUSES OF THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE. 331 extent ; that they lay far away beyond the sea ; that they produced many things which Engh'shmen wanted to buy, and consumed many things which Englishmen wanted to sell ; that English soldiers had met Eng- land's hereditary enemies, the French, in their forests ; that English sailors had beaten French sailors on their coasts. But they did not know that the most flourishing of these colonies had been planted by men who, prizing freedom above all other blessings, had planted them in order to secure for themselves and their children a home in which they could worship God according to their own idea of worship, and put forth the strength of their minds and of their bodies, according to their own conception of what was best for them here and hereafter."* The few Americans who visited Great Britain found themselves looked upon as aliens and inferiors ; their affection for the land of their fathers was met with contempt, and they were ridiculed as barbarians. The English colonial officials made this feeling apparent to those Americans who remained at home. Everywhere the colonists saw themselves treated with injustice. The hard- earned glories of their troops in the colonial wars were denied them and claimed for the English regulars, and there was scarcely a provincial who had borne arms but had some petty insult or injury, at the hands of the royal authorities, to complain of Looking back over their history, the Americans could not remember a time when they had not been treated with injustice by Great Britain. They owed that country nothing for the planting of the colonies ; that was the work of their ancestors, who had been forced to fly from England to escape wrong and injury. They had been left to * Historical View of the American Revolution, By G. W. Greene, p. i|. conquer their early difficulties without aid, and with scanty sympathy from England, who had taken no notice of them until they were sufficiently prosperous to be profitable to her. Injustice of the Mother Country. Then she had rarely laid her hand upon them but to wrong them. She had pur- sued such a uniformly unjust policy towards them that their affection for her was rapidly giving way to a general desire to separate from her. They owed her nothing; they were resolved to maintain their liberties against her. Some of the leading men of the colony had already begun to dream of the future greatness of America, and had become convinced that the true interests of their country required a separation from England. In spite of this feeling England persisted in her course of folly. In March, 1764, the House of Commons resolved, " that Parlia- ment had a right to tax America." The next month (April) witnessed the enforce- ment of this claim in the passage of an act of Parliament levying duties upon certain articles imported into America. By the same act iron and lumber were added to the " enumerated articles " which could be ex- ported only to England. The preamble to this measure declared that its purpose was to raise " a revenue for the expenses of defend- ing, protecting and securing his majesty's dominions in America." The colonists protested against this act as a violation of their liberties, and declared that they had borne their full shai'e of the expense of the wars for their defence, that they were now able to protect themselves without assistance from the king, and added the significant warning that " taxation with- out representation was tyranny." No one yet thought of armed resistance ; the colo- nists were resolved to exhaust ever^ peaceful 332 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. means of redress before proceeding to extreme measures. As yet the desire for separation was confined to a few far-seeing men. Prominent among these Avas Samuel Adams, of Boston, a man in whom the loftiest virtues of the old Puritans were min- SAMUEL ADAMS. gled with the graces of more modern time.^. Modest and unassuming in manner, a man of incorruptible integrity and sincere piety, he was insensible to fear in the discharge of his duty. He was a deep student of constitu- tional law, and was gifted widi an eloquence which could move multitudes, His dear vision had already discerned the dangers which threatened his country, and had dis- covered the only path by which she could emerge from them in safety. His plan was simple : resistance, peaceable at first ; forci- ble if necessary. Under his guidance the people of Boston met and protested against the new plan of taxation, and instructed their repre- sentatives in the general court to oppose it. " We claim British rights, not by charter only," said the Boston resolves; "we are born to them. If Ave are taxed without our con- sent, our property is taken without our consent, and then we are no more free- men, but slaves." The gen- eral court of Massachusetts declared " that the imposi- tion of duties and taxes by the Parliament of Great Britain upon a people not repres'=>;i*^ed in the House oi Commons is absolutely irreconcilable with their rights." A committee was appointed to correspond with the other colonies, with a view to bringing about a concerted action for the redress of griev- ances. In Virginia, New York, Connecticut and the Carolinas equally vigorous measures were taken. In Virginia the first indication of the in- tention of thd people to resist the arbitrary measures of the crown was given in a matter insignificant in itself, but clearly involving the great principle at issue. In that colony tobacco was the lawful currency, and the CAUSES 01; THE STRUGGLE FOR INDKl'l-.NDENCE. 31^ failure of a crop, or a rise in the price of to- bacco, made such payments often very bur- densome. In the winter of 1763 the legisla- ture passed a law authorizing the people of the colony to pay their taxes and other public dues in money, at the rate of twopence a pound for the tobacco due. The clergymen of the established church had each a salary fixed by law at a certain number of pounds of tobacco, and as this measure involved them in a loss they refused to acquiesce in it and induced Sherlock, the bishop of London, to persuade the king to refuse the law his signature. " The rights of the clergy and the authority of the king must stand or fall together," was the sound argument of the bishop. Failing of- the royal signature the law was inoperative. The matter was soon brought to an issue in Virginia. The Rev. Mr. Maury, one of the clergymen affected by the law, brought a '^uit to recover damages, or the difference between twopence per pound and the current market price of tobacco, which was much higher. This was popularly known as the " Parsons' Cause." It was a clearly joined issue between the right of the people to iiake their own laws on the one side, and tliekio'^'s prerogative on the other. The Man for the Hour. The "parsons " secured the best xalent in the colony for the prosecution of their claims ; the cause of the " people" was confided to a young man of twenty-seven, whose youth was supplemented by the additional disad- vantages of being poor and unknown. He was Patrick Henry, the son of a plain far- mer, and a native of the county of Hanover. He had received but little education, as his r.ilh r\s straitened circumstances had com oelled hi n to put his son to the task of earning his bread at the early age of fiteen years. He entered a country store, and the next year went into business with his elder brother, William, who, being too indolent to attend to business, left the store to the man- agement, or rather the mismanagement of Patrick. The young man was brimming over //itli good nature, and could never find it in hi •. heart to refuse any one credit, and was too kind-hearted to press unwilling debtors to payment. He let the store " manage itself," and amused himself by studying the charac- ter of his customers, and with h.s lute and violin. He was also a great reader, and read PATRICK HENRY. every work he could buy or borrow. The store survived about a year, and the next two or inree years were passed by Patrick in settling its affairs. At the age of eighteen he married, and began life as a farmer. He soon grew tired of this pursuit, and selling his farm once more engaged in mercantile life. It was nwL suited to him, nor he to it. He passed his days in reading, this time gi\ing h.s attention to works of history and philosophy. Livy was his favorite, and he read it through at least once a year for many years. 334 THK AMERICAN REVOLUTION. His second mercantile enterprise ended in bankruptcy in a few years, and in extreme want he determined to try the law. He ob- tained a license to practice after a six weeks' course of study, and entered upon his new career utterly ignorant of its duties. It is said that he could not then draw up the simplest legal paper without assistance. He was then twenty-four years old, but it was not until he had reached the age of twenty- seven that he obtained a case worthy of his powers , for he had genius, and it only re- quired the proper circumstances to draw it out. He had passed days in communion with nature in his frequent hunting and fish- ing excursions, and had drunk deeply of the wisdom she imparts to her votaries. He had studied men with the eye of a master, and he had at last fallen into the position from which he could rise to his true place among the leading spirits of the age. In the case with which he was now intrusted, a decision of the court on a demurrer, in favor of the claims of the clergy, had left nothing unde- termined but the amount of damages in the cause which was pending. Argument for Damages. " The array before Mr. Henry's eyes," says his biographer, William Wirt, " was now most fearful. On the bench sat more than twenty clergymen, the most learned men in the colony, and the most capable, as well as the severest critics before whom it was possible for him to Have made his debut. The court house was crowded with an over- whelming multitude, and surrounded with an immense and anxious throng, who, not finding room to enter, were endeavoring to listen without, in the deepest attention. But there was something still more awfully dis- concerting than all this for in the chair of the presiding magistrate sat no other person than his own father. Mr. Lyons opened the cause very briefly : in the way of arguttietit he did nothing more than explain to the jury that the decision upon the demurrer had put the act of 1750 entirely out of the way, and left the law of 1748 as the only .standard of their damages ; he then concluded with a highly wrought eulogium on the benevo- lence of the clergy." When it came Patrick Henry's turn to speak, he rose awkwardly, amid a profound silence. No one had ever heard him speak, and all were anxious to see how he would acquit himself. He clutched nervously at his papers, and faltered out his opening sen- tences with a degree of confusion which threatened every moment to put an end to his effort. The people watched their cham- pion in sorrow and indignation ; the clergy exchanged glances of triumph, and eyed the speaker with contempt; while his father, overcome with shame, seemed ready to drop from his chair. But suddenly there came a change over the young advocate. Warming with his subject, he threw off his embarrass- ment and awkwardness, and stood erect and confident His look of timidity gave place to one of command; his countenance glowed with the fire of genius, and startled the gazers by the aspect of majesty which it assumed for the first time. '•He Has Spoken Treason." His tones grew clear and bold, his action graceful and commanding, and the astounded jury and audience were given a display of eloquence such as was without a parallel in the history of the colony. Henry knew that the case was against him, but he pleaded the natural right of Virginia to make her own laws independently of the king and Parlia- ment. He proved the justness of the law; he drew a striking picture of the character of a good king, who should be the father of his oeople, but wh*" "^ecom^s their tyrant and CAUSES OF THE STRUGGLE FOR INDEPENDENCE. 335 Oppressor, and forfeits his claim to obedience when he annuls just and good laws. The opposing counsel cried out at this bold declaration, " He has spoken treason," but was silenced by the excited throng. , "They say," says Mr. Wirt, "that the people, whose countenances had fallen as he arose, had heard but a very few sentences beiore they began to look up ; then to look at each other in sur- prise, as if doubting the evidence of their own senses ; then, at- tracted by some ges- ture, struck by some majestic attitude, fas- cinated by the spell of his eye, the charm of his emphasis, and the varied and com- manding expression of his countenance, they could look away no more. In less than twenty minutes they might be seen in every part of the house, on every bench, in every window, stooping for- vvard from their stands, in death-like silence; their features fixed in amazement and awe, all their senses listening and riveted upon the speaker, as if to catch the last strain of some heavenly visitant. " The mockery of the clergy was soon turned into alarm, their triumph into con- fusion and despair, and at one burst of his rapid and overwhelming invective, they fled from the bench in precipitation and terror. As for the father, such was his surprise, such his amazement, such his rapture, that, forget- ting where he was, and the character which he was filling, tears of ecstacy streamed down his cheeks without the power or inclination to repress them." COLONEL BARRE. The jury brought in a verdict oi one penny damages for the " parsons," anr« the court overruled the motion of their counsel for a new trial. Henry from that moment took his place among the leaders of the patriot party in Virginia. He had struck a 3i6 TME AiMEktcAN kEVourriON. chord which responded in every American heart ; he had denied the right of the king to make laws for the colonies. The remonstrance of Massachusetts was followed by similar appeals from Connecti- cut, New York, Rhode Island and Virginia. The petition of New York was couched in such strong terms that no member of Par- liament could be found bold enough to pre- sent it. These remonstrances were unheeded by Parliament, which pronounced them "ab- surd" and " insolent." That body persisted in its determination to tax the colonies, and Grenville, the prime minister, warned the Americans that in a contest with Great Britain they could expect nothing but defeat. He announced the intention of the English government to levy the taxes, and graciously added that if the colonies preferred any spe- cial form of taxation, their wishes would be met as far as possible. In March, 1765, the measure known as the " Stamp Act" passed the House of Commons by a vote of five to one, and was adopted almost unanimously by the House of Lords. An Insane King. It met with a warm opposition iti the Commons from the friends of America, pro- minent among whom was Colonel Barre, who had served with Wolfe in America, and had learned to appreciate the American character. The measure received the royal signature at once. The poor king would have signed anything he was bidden — Jie was insane. The act imposed a duty on all paper, vellum and parchment used in the colonies, and required that all writings of a legal or business nature should be made on " stamped paper ; " otherwise they were de- clared null and void. In order to enforce the " Stamp Act," Parliament, two months later, passed " the Quartering Act." It authorized the minis- ters to send as many troops as they should see fit to America, to e iforce submission to the acts of Parliament. Wherever these troops should be stationed, it should be the duty of the people, at their own expense, to furnish them with quarters, fuel, bedding, cider or rum, candles, soap " and other necessaries." Exciting Scene. The news of the passage of these actspr' duced the most intense excitement in Amer- ica. The general assembly of Virginia was in session when the news was received in May. The royalist leaders were amazed at the folly of the ministry, but deemed it best to take no action in the matter. Patrick Henry, now a member of the assembly, rose in his place and offered a series of resolu- tions, declaring that the people of Virginia were bound to pay only such taxes as should be levied by their own assembly, and that all who maintained the contrary should be regarded as enemies of the liberties of the colony. These resolutions provoked an exciting debate, in which Henry, in a magnificent oration, exposed the tyranny of the British government, and stirred the hearts of the burgesses with a determination to resist. " Caesar had his Brutus," exclaimed the ora- tor in one of his loftiest flights, " Charles the First his Cromwell, and George the Third — ." The assembly was in an uproar. " Treason ! treason ! " shouted the speaker. A few joined in the cry, but the majority waited in breathless suspense the comple- tion of the sentence of Henry, who, fixing his eye upon the speaker, added in a tone which was peculiar to himself, " may profit by their example. If that be treason, make the most of it." The resolutioris were adopted by a large majority. The next day, during Henry's absence, the timid assembly rescinded some of the CAUSES OF TIII^ STRL'(;(;fJ': FOR ]\Di:i'l{Nl)I":\CK. 33f resolves and modified the others. The assembly, for thus daring to exercise its right of expressing its opinion, was at once dis- solved by the governor, but too late to pre- vent its action from producing its effect. Copies of the resolutions of Henry were forwarded to Philadelphia, where they were printed and circulated through the colonies. the colonies to send delegates to a congress to be held at New York in October. In the meantime associations were organized in all the colonies as far south as Maryland, called "Sons of Liberty," for the purpose of stopping the use of stamps. The people were resolved to take the matter in their own hands. HANGING A STAMP ACT OFFICIAL IN EFFIGY. They aroused ihe drooping spirits of the people, and it was resolved everywhere that the stamps should not be used in America. The general court of Massachusetts or- dered that the courts should not require the use of stamps in conducting their business ; and in June, before the Virginia resolutions reached Boston, issued a circular inviting all 22 In Boston the mob attacked the house of Oliver, the secretary of the colony, who had been appointed to distribute the stamps, and compelled him to resign. They also attacked the houses of some of the most prominent supporters of the ministry, but the patriots sincerely deplored and condemned these violent proceedings. At Wethersfield, 35S THE AMkRrCA^J REVOLUTION. Connecticut, five hundred fanners seized Jared Ingersol, the stamp officer for that colony, compelled him to resign, and then to remove his hat and give " three cheers for liberty, property, and no stamps." Similar scenes were enacted in the other colonies. Rights and Grievances. On the seventh of October, 1765, the First Colonial Congress met at New York. It was composed of delegates from the col- onies of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Con- necticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, South Carolina, New York and New Jersey. New Hampshire, though not represented by a delegate, gave her support to its measures, and Georgia formally signified her accept- ance of the work of this body. Timothy Ruggles, of Massachusetts, was chosen president. The session extended over three weeks, and resulted in the adoption of a " Declaration of the Rights and Grievances of the Colonies ; " a petition to the king ; and a memorial to both Houses of Par- liament. In the Declaration of Rights the Congress took the ground that it was a violation of their rights to tax them without granting them a representation in the Parliament of Great Britain, and that as such representa- tion was impossible because of the distance between the two countries, no taxes could be legally imposed upon the colonies but by their own assemblies. The measures of the Congress were, as soon as possible, indorsed by all the colonial assemblies, and thus the colonies were drawn into that union which, in their own language, became " a bundle of I sticks, which could neither be bent nor broken." At length the first of November arrived, the day on which the Stamp Act was to go into operation. Not a man could be found to execute the law, all the stamp officers hav- ing resigned through fear of popular vio- lence. Governor Colden, of New York, de- clared he was resolved to have the stamps distributed, but the people of the city warned him that he would do so at his peril, and burned him in Q^gy. Colden became alarmed at these demonstrations, and on the fifth of November delivered the stamps to the mayor and council of New York. A Day of Mourning. In all the colonies the first of November was observed as a day of mourning. Bells were tolled, flags hung at half-mast, and business suspended. The merchants of New York, Boston and Philadelphia united in an agreement to import no more goods from England, to countermand the orders already sent out, and to receive no goods on commission until the Stamp Act should be repealed. Their action was promptly sustained by the people, who pledged themselves to buy no articles of English manufacture, and to encourage home productions. Circulars were sent throughout the colonies urging the people to unite in such action, and were heartily responded to. Business went on without the use of stamps, and the courts ignored them in their proceedings. The news of these proceedings should have warned the English ministers of their folly ; it only made them more determined to persist in it. They resolved not to repeal the Stamp Act. To comply with the request of the colonists, now that they had resisted the law, would, they declared, be simply a surrender to rebellion. " Sooner than make our colonies our allies," said one of their number, " I would wish to see them re- turned to their primitive deserts." The friends of America, led by the aged and infirm William Pitt, made a determined ef- fort to procure the repeal of the Stamp Act, CAUSES Ol' THE STRUGGLE FUR INDKFEN'UKNCE. 339 and mcy were now supported by all the in- fluence of the English merchants, who found their trade rapidly falling off in consequence of the non-intercourse resolves adopted by the Americans. Swathed in flannels, Pitt proceeded to the House of Commons, and in a speech of great .vigor urged the House to repeal the obnox- 'ious and unconstitutional measure. In reply ; to Grenville, the prime minister, who accused him of exciting sedition in America, he said, " Sir, I have been charged with giving birth to sedition in America. Sorry I am to have the liberty of speech in this House imputed as a crime. But the imputa- tion will not deter me ; it is a liberty I mean to exercise. The gentleman tells us that America is obstinate ; that America is almost in rebellion. I rejoice that America has resisted." The House started at these words, but Pitt con- tinued firmly, " If they had submitted, they would have voluntarily become slaves. They have been driven to madness by injustice. My opinion is that the Stamp Act should be repealed, abso- lutely, totally, immediately." Edmund Burke, then a rising young man, eloquently sustained the appeal of the great commoner. The Commons had already begun to waver, but before yielding entirely they wished to ascertain from competent witnesses the exact temper and disposition of the Americans. For this purpose, Benjamin Franklin, who was residing in London at the time as the agent of several of the colo- nies, was summoned before the bar of the House to give the desired information. He appeared, in answer to the summons, on the thirteenth of February, 1766. He was questioned by Lord Grenville and Charles Townshend, and by several friends of the ministry, and delivered his answers with, firmness and clearness. He told them that' the colonists could not pay for the stamps, as there was not enough gold and silver in the colonies for that purpose ; that they had STAMP ACT OFFICIAL BEATEN BY THE PEOPLE. incurred more than their share of the ex- pense of the last war, for which Great Britain had in no way reimbursed them ; that they were still burdened with heavy debts contracted in consequence of this war ; that they were well disposed towards Great Britain before 1763, and considered Parlia- ment as "the great bulwark and security of their liberties and privileges ; but that now their temper was much altered, and their 34" ITHE American revolution. respect for it lessened ; and if the act is not repealed, the consequence would be a total loss of the respect and affection they bore to this country, and of all the commerce that depended on that respect and affection." Franklin Startles Parliament. He startled the House by declaring that in a few years America would be amply able to supply herself with all the necessities of life then furnished her by Great Britain. " I do not know," said he, "a single article im- ported into the northern colonies but what they can either do without or make them- selves. The people will spin and work for themselves, in their own houses. In three years there may be wool and manufactures enough." " If the legislature," he was asked, " should think fit to ascertain its right to lay taxes, by any act laying a small tax, contrary to their opinion, would they sub- mit to pay the tax ? " "An internal tax," he replied, " how small soever, laid by the legislature here, on the people there, will never be submitted to. They will oppose it to the last. The people will pay no internal tax by Parliament." " May they not," asked a friend of Grenville, " by the same interpretation of their common rights, as Englishmen, as declared by Magna Charta and the Petition of Right, object to the Par- liament's right of extetnal taxation?"* "They never have hitherto," answered Franklin, promptly. " Many arguments have been lately used here to show them that there is no difference, and that if you have no right to tax them internally, you have none to tax them externally, or make any other law to bind them. At pres- ent they do not reason so ; but in time they may be convinced by these arguments." *The levying ^LTi^^^^^7. «-^' DEATH OF ISAAC DAVIS. and thickets, and was bordered by the stone walls which enclosed the farms. At every step the militia and minute men hung upon the enemy, and kept up an irregular but fatal fire upon them from behind trees, fences and houses. Flanking parties were thrown out to clear the way, but without success. The number of the Americans increased at every ste;?- ^^ch town took up enemies of the fugitive regulars were increasing every moment. Smith hurried his command through Lex- ington at a rapid rate, and a short distance beyond the town met Lord Percy advancing to his assistance with twelve hundred infantry and two pieces of artillery. Perc\" formed his men into a square, enclosing the fugitives, who dropped helplessly on the PROGRESS OF THE WAR. 359 ground, "their tongues hanging out of their mouths like those of dogs after a chase,'' and with his cannon kept the Americans at bay. He could not think of holding his position, however, and after a halt of half an hour resumed the retreat, first setting fire to some houses in Lexington. , The fighting now became more energetic than ever. From either side, from in front and the rear, the Americans kept up a constant fire upon the British, who revenged them- selves by murdering some helpless people along the road and burning houses. Below West Cambridge the British broke into a run, and at length, about sunset, succeeded in escaping across Charlestown Neck, where they were safe under the fire of their ship- ping. Had the militia from Marblehead and Salem, who were on the march, been more alert, the entire British force would have been captured, as they were in no condition to resist a determined attack in front. The loss of the Americans during the day was forty-nine killed, thirty-four wounded and five missing. The British lost in killed, wounded and missing two hundred and seventy-three men, or more than fell in Wolfe's army in the battle of the Heights of Abraham. Many of the officers, including Colonel Smith, were wounded. The News Spreads Like Wildfire. The news of the conflicts at Lexington and Concord spread rapidly through New Eng- land, and was sent by express messengers to New York and the colonies farther south. In New England it produced a general upris- ing of the people, and in ten days Boston was blockaded by an irregular army of twenty thousand provincial troops, whose encamp- ments extended from Roxbury to the Mystic River, above Charlestown, a distance of ten miles. John Stark, who had served with gallantry in the old French war. was on his way to Boston in ten minutes after he wa.*: informed of the fighting. Israel Putnam, a veteran soldier, and as true a hero as ever lived, was ploughing in his field when the courier rode by with the tidings of the battle. He left his plough, sprang on his horse, and after rousing hi? neighbors rode from his home, in Connect! cut, to Cambridge, without even stopping to change his clothes. The Massachusetts Con- gress took energetic measures for the sup- port of the army before Boston, and in a few days this force began to assume a more regu- lar character. Arms and Ammunition Seized. Matters had also reached a crisis in Vir- ginia. On the night of the twentieth of April Lord Dunmore seized the powder in the magazine at Williamsburg, and sent it, under guard of a party of marines, on board an armed schooner in the James river. The inhabitants, on the morning of the twenty- first, took arms to compel the restoration of the powder, but were persuaded to refrain from violence. In a few days the news from Lexington and Concord was received, and it was the general belief that Dunmore's course was only a part of a general plan to disarm the colonies. On the second of May Patrick Henry summoned the independent companies ot Hanover to meet him at a certain place, and led them towards Williamsburg, determined to compel the governor to restore the powder or pay its full value in money. On the march they were met by a messenger from Dunmore, who paid them the full value of the powder in money. This money was soon after for- warded to Congress. The companies thei? disbanded and returned home. Dunmore, thoroughly frightened, fled with his family on board a man-of-war, and declared " Pat- rick Henry and his associates to be in rebel- 36o THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. lion." Afraid to meet the Virginians in an open fight, he threatened to arm their slaves against them, and inaugurated a general massacre. The middle and southern colonies were jprompt to follow the example of New Eng- land. The people of New York seized the provisions intended for the king's troops at Boston, shut up the custom-house, and for- bade any vessels to leave the harbor for ports or colonies acknowledging the authority of Great Britain. The arms and ammunition belonging to the city were seized by the CAPTURE OF TICONDEROGA BY ETHAN ALLEN. volunteers, and measures were set on foot for a general resistance to the authority of the king. New Jersey was equally determined, and in Pennsylvania enthusiastic meetings of citizens resolved "to associate for the pur- pose of defending, with arms, their lives, their property, and liberty." Military companies were formed and trained in the exercise of arms. The people of Mary- land compelled their royalist governor to surrender to them all the arms and ammuni- tion of the province. The militia officers of South Carolina at once resigned their com- missions from the governor, and regiments of militia for the defence of the colony were raised and drilled. At Charleston the royal arsenal was seized, and its contents distributed among the people. Georgia also placed her- self in the ranks of her patriot sisters, and seizing the ammunition and arms within her limits prepared for resistance. North Carolina took a more decisive stand than any of the colonies. The spirit of resist- ance ran high within her borders. A con- vention of the people of Mecklenburg county was held at Charlotte on the twenty-ninth of May, and adopted a series of resolu- tions declaring themselves inde- pendent of the control of Great Britain, and re- nouncing all alle- giance to her. This was the f a m o u s "Mecklenburg De- claration of Inde. pendence." The whole country, from New Hamp- shire to Georgia,, was united in its determination t o resist the injustice of Great Britain with arms. Massachusetts had struck the first blow, but every colony was now prepared and determined to bear its part in the great struggle for freedom. The Massachusetts Committee of Safety were anxious to secure the important posts of Ticonderoga and Crown Point on Lake Champlain. The possession of these posts would not only enable the Americans to command the entrance to Canada, but would give them the large quantities of military supplies stored in these forts. The project GENERAL GEORGE WASHINGTON PROGRESS OF THE WAR. 301 piras enteied into with great energy by Bene- dict Arnold then commanding a company before Boston, and by Ethan Allen, of Ver- mont. Allen was the leader of the Green Mountain Boys, a military organization in Vermont, which had been formed to resist the authority of New York, which claimed Vermont as a part of its territory. The people of Vermont, however, preferred the authority of New cy^^^^''^^ ^^ Hampshire to that of New York. P , , — ,^ * The dispute had become quite animated when the outbreak of the Revolution drevvr the attention of all parties to more stirring events. Arnold, upon hearing that Allen was preparing to seize the forts, set out at once for Vermont, and over- took the Green Mountain Boys near the head of Lake Champlain. Pro- ducing a colonel's commission he ordered Allen to surrender the com- mand to him, but the latter refused, and was sustained by his men, and Arnold at length agreed to serve as a vclunteer. Securing a few boats Allen cros- sed the lake with his little force, about two hundred and seventy in number, and at daybreak, on the morning of May 10, surprised Fort Ticonderoga, and made prisoners of the garrison before they v/ere fairly awake. Not a blow was struck. The astounded commander of the fort asked Allen by whose authority he acted. " In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress," was the instant reply, delivered in stentorian tones. The commandant instantly submitted. On the twelfth of May Seth Warner, Allen's lieutenant, surprised Crown Point, and secured the fort. Arnold secured a number of boats and, descending the lake, captured St. John's, in the 'Sorel." Sixty pri'ioners were taken in this expedition, and besides two of the most important military posts in America the patriots secured two hundred cannon, and a large supply of ammuni- tion. On the tenth of May, the day of the cap ture of Ticonderoga, the second Continental C^'. 7J^. ^'^-L>, SIGNERS OF THE MECKLENBURG DECLARATION. Congress met at Philadelphia. This time they assembled in the State House, a place more suited to the dignity of such a body,' and calculated to give more publicity to their proceedings. No change was at first made in the officers of the preceding session, but in a few days Peyton Randolph resigned his position to return home to attend the Vir- ginia legislatu "e which had been summoned ^62 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. by the governor. Thomas Jefferson was appointed to fill his position as a delegate. John Hancock of Massachusetts, who had been specially exempted by the king from all offers of amnesty, was chosen presidenL of the Congress. Three new members of note now entered the Congress. They were Ben- jamin Franklin, a delegate from Pennsyl- vania, and George Clinton and Robert R. Livingston, delegates from New York. Franklin had just returned from England, where he had resided for several years as the agent for some of the colonies. He had been in constant official contact with the lead- ing men of Great Britain and was thoroughly informed as to the policy of the British gov- ernment respecting America. He was, there- fore, a most valuable acquisition to the Con- gress. Justice Demanded of Great Britain. The circumstances under which this Con- gress assembled were very different from those which had attended the meeting of its predecessor. Then there was hope that the remonstrances of the colonies would open the eyes of the British government to the folly of its course ; but those remonstances had been received with fresh outrages, their petitions liad " been spurned with contempt from the foot of the throne," and the British army had begun the war at Lexington and Concord. Massachusetts, driven beyond the point of forbearance, had taken up arms, and had besieged the royal troops in Boston. A state of war actually existed and Congress must either sustain Massachusetts, and so involve every colony in the struggle, or leave her to meet the power of Great Britain unaided. The whole country was in favor of stand- ing by Massachusetts, and the delegates in Congress reflected its feeling. It was, there- fore, resolved by Congress to place all the colonies in a state of defence, and to prepare for a vigorous prosecution of the war should it be found impossible to avert it. At the same time, as a last means of preserving peace, a new petition was addressed to the king stating the grievances of the colonies and asking for justice at his majesty's hands. Addresses were also issued to the people of Great Britain, Ireland and Jamaica. To the people of Great Britain they declared, after relating their wrongs, ind their failure to obtain redress : " We are reduced to the alternative of choosing an unconditional sub- mission to the tryanny of irritated ministers, or resistance by force. The latter is our choice. We have counted the cost of this contest, and we find nothing so dreadful as voluntary slavery." In the petition to the king Congress denied that it was the inten- tion of the colonies to cast off their allegi- ance ; but asserted their intention to main- tain their rights. When this petition was presented to the king in September, he refused to take any notice of it. The Federal Union. In view of the altered position of affairs Massachusetts consulted the Congress as to the propriety of establishing a regular sys- tem of government, and was advised to make such regulations for that purpose as were necessary, and to continue them as a temporary expedient until it should be known whether the king would allow the colony to resume the government guaran- teed to it by its charter. In order to avoid the trouble which would ensue from an inter- ruption of the regular postal communication between the colonies. Congress assumed the power of organizing a general system of mails for the whole country, and appointed! Dr. Franklin postmaster-general. '' From these acts Congress advanced to others still more important, A " Fed^r^l PROGRESS OF THE WAR. 363 Union " of the colonies was organized, in which each colony retained the exclusive control of its internal affairs, but delegated to Congress authority to direct all matters pertaining to the general welfare of the col- onies, such as the power to declare war^ make peace, and negotiate treaties of alliance and friendship with foreign countries. In the exercise of these powers Congress assumed the general government of America. A day of fasting and prayer to God, for his assist- ance in the struggle for freedom, was enjoined upon all the colonies. All persons were for- bidden to furnish provisions under any cir- cumstances. Who shall Command the Army ? Measures were adopted for the organiza- tion and enlistment of an army, and for the purpose of erecting fortifications at suitable points, and procuring arms and ammunition. In order to raise the funds needed for carry- ing out these objects " Bills of Credit," to the amount of two millions of dollars, were issued, and for their redemption Congress pledged the faith of the " United Colonies." The provincial congress of Massachusetts requested the Congress at Philadelphia to adopt the New England forces before Boston as the "Continental Army," and this request was at once complied with. As General Ward, the commander of these troops, held his commission from Massachusetts, it was necessary for Congress to appoint a com- mander-in-chief commissioned by itself. With respect to this appointment the mem- bers were divided. Some thought that as the troops were all New England men, the commander should be chosen from the same section. Others favored the appointment of a commander who would inspire the confi- dence of, and be acceptable to, the entire country. The name of General Ward was suggested by the first party; but a majority of the delegates favored the appointment of Colonel Washington, who was a member ol Congress, and chairman of the committee on military affairs, in which capacity he had proposed the plan for the organization of the army, and had suggested the most important measures for defence. He had profoundly impressed the delegates with his great anc commanding character, his military ability, and his wisdom as a statesman. Washington Appointed. Patrick Henry, on his return home from the first Congress, had been asked who was the greatest man in that body. His reply expressed the views of h\s colleagues respect- ing Washington. " If you speak of elo- quence," he said, " Mr. Rutledge, of South Carolina, is, by far, the greatest orator ; but if you speak of solid information and sound judgment Colonel Washington is unques- tionably the greatest man on that floor." Dr. Warren wrote from Massachusetts to Samuel Adams, in Congress, about this time, that the appointment of Colonel Washing- ton as commander-in-chief would give great satisfaction to many leading men in Massa- chusetts. John Adams was anxious for the appointment, and having satisfied himself o^ the wishes of the greater part of the delegates, ventured openly to allude to Washington as the proper person for the position, and spoke of him as a gentleman whose " skill and experience as an officer, whose independent fortune, great talents, and excellent universal character, would command the approbation of all America, and unite the cordial exer- tions of the colonies better than any othej person in the Union." On the 14th of June M. Johnson, o^. Maryland, formally nominated Washington to the of^ce of commander-in-chief) and hf was unanimously chosen by ballot. The next day his election was communicated to 364 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. him by the President of Congress. Washing- ton rose in his place, thanked the House for the unexpected honor conferred upon him, assured them of his devotion to the cause, and announced his acceptance of the great trust confided to him. He declared his intention to refuse the pay affixed to the office, which had been placed at five hundred dollars a month, and added : " I will keep an exact account of my expenses. These, I doubt not, they will discharge, and that is all Gates. GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM. I desire." Congress, on its part, pledged its hearty support to the new commander, and resolved " to maintain and assist, and adhere to him with their lives and fortunes in the ,defence of American liberty." Washington lost no time in proceeding to assume the command conferred upon him. After a few days spent in preparation in Philadelphia he left that city on the twenty- first of June for the headquarters of the army, accompanied by Generals Lee and Schuyler. A few days after the election of the com- mander-in-chief Congress appointed four major-generals, one adjutant-general, with the rank of brigadier, and eight brigadier- generals for the subordinate commands in the American army. Major-Generals. The major-generals were Artemas Ward, Charles Lee, Philip Schuyler and Israel Put- nam. The adjutant-general was Horatio The brigadiers were Seth Pomeroy, Richard Montgomery,David Woos- ter, William Heath, Joseph Spencer, John Thomas, John Sullivan and Nathaniel Greene. In the meantime the blockade of Boston had been continued by the provincial army under General Ward. These forces numbered about fifteen thousand men, and had come from their respective towns in independent companies, and were without any regular or- ganization. They had no uniform, but the majority wore their ordinary home-spun working clothes ; they were deficient in arms ; a few had muskets, but the majority had rifles and fowling-pieces. The artillery consisted of nine pieces of cannon, and was commanded by Colonel Gridley, who had directed the artil- lery at the siege of Louisburg. The Massa- chusetts troops were commanded by Gen- eral Ward ; those from New Hampshire by Colonel Stark ; the Connecticut troops by Putnam ; and the regiment from Rhode Island by Nathaniel Greene, a young black- smith. Save for the solemnity of the cause, and the earnestness and determination which animated the whole force, there was little to save this quaint assemblage from the ridicule which the royal officers heaped upon it. It PROGRESS OF THE WAR. 365 did to ordinary view seem the height of folly to oppose such an ill-provided and unorganized mass to the splendidly equipped veterans who served King George. Yet this force " with calico frocks and fowling-pieces" hemmed in within the nar- row limits of Boston the splendid army of ten thousand men, commanded by such generals as Howe, Burgoyne and Sir Henry Clinton, which Gage had concen- trated in Boston, Bur- goyne could not repress his astonish- ment upon reaching Boston. "What!" he exclaimed, "ten thou- sand peasants keep five thousand king's troops shut up! Well, let us get in and we'll soon find elbow room." In spite of his immense superiority, however, Gage did not venture to attack the Ameri- can lines. He con- tented himself with issuing a proclama- tion declaring the province under mar- itial law, and offering a free pardon to all rebels who should return to their allegi- ance, with the exception of Samuel Adams and John Hancock. These rebels were cut off from all hope of the king's mercy, and were given to understand that they could expect nothing but the most sum- mary punishment. General Gage now determined to extend his lines and to occupy Dorchester Heights, overlooking South Boston, and Bunker Hill, an eminence rising beyond Charlestown, on the north of Boston. The execution of this design was fixed for the eighteenth of June^, GENERAL BURGOYNE. and in the meantime Gage's intention became known in the American camp. To prevent it, it was resolved, at the instance of the Massachusetts Committee of Safety, to seize and fortify these eminences, beginning with Bunker Hill. The more prudent opposed 366 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. this undertaking as too rash; it was certain to bring on a general engagement of the opposing forces, and the Americans were too poorly provided with arms and ammunition to hope for success. Others insisted that no time should be lost in securing the Heights. A Daring Enterprise. Putnam was confident they could be held with proper intrenchments, and that thus pro- tected the troops could be relied upon to hold their position. The great scarcity of ammunition rendered the undertaking one of peculiar daring and it was necessary to select for the command an officer whose firm- ness and discretion could be depended upon. The choice fell upon Colonel William Pres- cott, of Massachusetts, and a brigade was placed under his orders. Soon after the sunset on the sixteenth of June a force of about eleven hundred men, armed principally with fowling-pieces, and carrying their scanty stock of powder and ball in their old-fashioned powder horns and pouches, assembled on Cambridge Com- mon. Langdon, the President of Harvard College, one of the chaplains of the army, offered up an impressive prayer, and then the order was given to march, and the col- umn moved off in the darkness. No one knew the object of the expedition, but the presence of several wagons loaded with intrenching tools, made it evident that the movement was one of importance. Charles- town Neck was strongly guarded, but the detachment passed it in safety and reached the summit of Bunker Hill without being fobserved. The Committee of Safety had suggested that Bunker Hill should be secured, but Prescott's orders from General Ward were to fortify Breed's Hill, a lower eminence but nearer to Boston, and commanding the har- bor more perfectly. It was a more exposed position than the other, but Prescott decided to obey his orders. Colonel Gridley, who was an experienced engineer, marked out a redoubt about eight rods square, and in the clear June starlight the men set to work with a will to construct the fortification before the morning should reveal them to the British. It was midnight when the men began their labors. A strong guard was thrown out along the shore of the harbor to prevent a surprise, and the men could distinctly hear the call of the senti- nels on the men-of-war in the harbor. During the night Putnam came over to the hill to encourage the Connecticut troops. Heavy Guns Open Fire. The early morning light revealed to the astonished royalists the half-finished redoubt on Breed's Hill and the Americans still bus- ily at work upon it. The sloop-of-war " Lively," lying off the present navy yard, without waiting for orders, opened a steady fire upon the redoubt, and her example was soon followed by the other war vessels and the floating batteries in the harbon A battery of heavy guns was posted on Copp's Hill in Boston, and opened on the redoubt. This fire was well calculated to demoralize: a raw force such as that within the redoubt, but it produced no effect upon the Ameri- cans, who went on with their task quietly and with energy. Gridley soon withdrew from the hill, and Prescott, thus deserted, and without an engineer, prepared to extend his line to the best of his ability. He pro- longed it from the east side of the redoubt northward for about twenty rods towards the bottom of the hill ; but the men were pre- vented from completing it by the heavy fire of the British artillery. One man ventured beyond the redoubt early in the day, and was killed by a shell. Prescott ordered him to be instantly buried, lest the sight of hn PROGRESS OF THE WAR. 367 body might dishearten the men. To inspire the troops with confidence, Prescott sprang upon the parapet and walked slowly up and down the work examining it and issuing his orders. Boston Aroused by the Cannonading. In the meantime the firing had aroused the people of Boston, who crowded the house-tops, and every available point from which a view of the action could be obtained. General Gage reconnoitred the American position from Boston, through his glass, and observed Prescott, who was standing on the redoubt inspecting the work. " Who is that officer in command?" he asked of Councillor Willard,who was by his side. "Will he fight?" Willard had recognized Prescott, who was his brother-in-law, and replied : '' He is an old soldier, and will fight to the last drop of his blood." Gage thereupon determined to dis- lodge the Americans from their position without loss of time, and summoned a coun- cil of his officers at his headquarters, in which it was decided to cross Charles River, effect a landing at Moulton's Point, and attack the works in front. Generals Clinton and Grant advocated an attack from the direction of Charlestown Neck, which would have resulted in the capture of the whole American force ; but Gage refused to place his attacking column between the American army at Cambridge and the detachment on the hill. The bustle in Boston as the British pre- pared for the attack could be distinctly seen by the Americans, and urgent messages were sent to General Ward for reinforcements and provisions. Putnam hurried to Ward's head- quarters to urge this demand; but Ward, who was greatly oppressed by the scarcity of powder in the camp, hesitated to weaken ihe main body, and it was not until eleven o'clock on the morning of the seventeenth of June that he gave orders for the regi- ments of Stark and Reed to advance to Pre- scott's assistance. The arrival of these troops greatly cheered the little band under Prescott, who had been working all night, and were greatly in need of food. In the meantime Prescott had posted the Connecticut troops behind a rustic breast- work which he had constructed on the north of the redoubt. A stone fence ran down the side of the hill towards a swamp in this direction. Behind this the Ameri- cans placed a post and rail fence which they had torn up, and filled the interval between them with new-mown hay, thus forming a rude shelter. A part of the reinforcements joined Knowlton at this breastwork, and the remainder halted on Bunker Hill to enable Putnam to hold that point, the posses- sion of which he considered essential to the safety of the force on Breed's Hill. About two o'clock General Warren arrived. He held the commission of a major-general, and both Prescott and Putnam offered to relin- quish the command to him, but he refused it, saying he had come to serve as a volun- teer, and took his place in the ranks at the redoubt. Reinforcements for the British. At noon twenty- eight barges filled with regulars, under the command of Generals Howe and Pigott, left Boston, and crossing the harbor, landed at Moulton's Point, under the cover of a heavy fire from the shipping. General Howe now discovered that the American position was stronger than he h£.d supposed, and sent over to General Gage for reinforcements. While awniting their arrival he refreshed his men with provisions and grog. His reinforcements having arrived, General Howe found himself at the head of over two thousand veteran troops^ splendidly equipped in every respect. Opposed to him 368 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. were about fifteen hundred imperfectly armed Americans. Gage had threatened that if Charlestown Heights were occupied by the provincials he would burn the town of Charlestown. He now proceeded to execute his barbarous threat, and fired the town by mear** of shells from the battery on Copp's Hill hoping that the flames and smoke to storm the redoubt, while the other was led by General Howe in person against the rail fence, for the purpose of turning the American left flank and cutting off the retreat of the force in the redoubt. Prescott passed along his line as he saw the advance of the enemy, and encouraged his men with his cheering words. " The red coats," he BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL. would screen the approach of his attacking party under General Howe. A change of wind prevented this, however, and carried the smoke in the opposite direction. About half-past two o'clock on the after- noon of the seventeenth of June General Howe gave the order to advance. One division, under General Pigott, was ordered said, " will never reach the redoubt if you will but withhold your fire till I give the order, and be careful not to shoot over their heads." Putnam had come down to the rail fence to encourage the men posted there, and as he saw the advance of the enemy, called out to the troops: "Wait till you see the white of their eyes; aim PROGRESS OF THE WAR. 309 at their waistband ; pick off the handsome coats." The British advanced in splendid style up the side of the hill, firing rapidly as they moved on. The Americans awaited their advance in a deep silence. As Pigott's division came within forty yards of the redoubt, the defenders levelled their guns and took a steady aim. A minute or two later Prescott jave the command, " Fire !" A sheet of flame broke from the rampart and tore great gaps in the English line, which reeled and staggered back down the hill. The officers exerted themselves gallantly to rally the men, and once more the line advanced. This time the Americans suffered them to come nearer, and again drove them back with a fatal fire before which whole ranks went down. They broke in such confusion that Pigott himself ordered a retreat. The division under General Howe was equally unfortu- nate. It was suffered to advance within thirty yards of the rail fence, and was then driven back by a fire which broke it in con- fusion. The British retired to the shore from which they had started. The Whole Line Driven Back. Greatly astonished, but not disheartened by his repulse. General Howe reformed his line, and after an interval of fifteen minutes moved off again against the works, his plan being the same as that of the first assault. This time the Americans reserved their fire as before, and once more sent the whole British line reeling and broken down the hill. Officers on the English side who had been in many engagements subsequently declared that they had never seen such firing in any battle in which they had been engaged. A deafen- ing cheer from the patriot line greeted the repulse of the enemy. "If we can drive them hack once more," cried Prescott, " they can- not rally again." A shout from the redoubt 24 answered him. " We are ready for the red coats again ! " General Clinton had witnessed the repulse of the regulars from his position on Copp's Hill, and was filled with astonishment and indignation at the sight. Without waitin for orders he crossed over to Charlestowi wich reinforcements, and offered his services to General Howe as a volunteer. Many of the English officers were opposed to another attack ; but as it was learned that the ammu- nition of the Americans was very low, Howe resolved to storm the works with the bayonet, and this time to break through the open space between the redoubt and the rail fence breastwork. His men were ordered to lay aside their knapsacks, and many of them threw off their coats also. A raking fire of artillery drove the Americans from the breastwork extending from the redoubt into that work for shelter, and the order was given to the regulars to advance with fixed bayonets. Hand-to-hand Struggle. The Americans were nearly out of ammu- nition, and in the whole command there were not fifty men with bayonets to their guns. They met the advance of the enemy with a sharp fire, but their powder having given out, were not able to check them. Pressing on the British assailed the redoubt on three sides with the bayonet. A desperate hand- to-hand struggle followed ; the Americans fighting with clubbed guns and with stones. It was impossible to hold the work, how- ever, and Prescott gave the order to retreat The men fell back in good order. The aged General Pomeroy, who was serving as a volunteer in the ranks, clubbed his gun and retreated with his face to the regulars, keep- ing them at bay by his determined action. The detachment at the rail fence, under Knowlton, Stark and Reed, held their posi- tion until their comrades had withdrawn DEATH OF MAJOR PITCAIRN PROGRESS OF THE WAR. 3;t from the redoubt, and then retreated in good order down the hill, thus preventing the enemy from cutting off the retreat of Pres- cott's party. One of the last to leave the redoubt was General Warren, who had borne himself with great gallantry in the engagement. He had scarcely left the \trenches when he fell shot through the head, thus consecrating the spot with his blood, and leaving to his country a noble memory which she has ever held in grateful honor. Putman had gone to tfie rear before the final attack of the enemy to collect men for a reinforcement. On his return he met the retreating provincials passing over Bunker Hill. Without orders from any one, he rallied such as would obey him, and for the first time during the day assumed the com- mand. With these forces, and a detachment which arrived too late to take part in the battle, he withdrew to Prospect Hill, where he began to fortify his position. The British made no effort to pursue him, but contented themselves with occupying Breed's and Bun- ker Hills. Heavy Losses on Both Sides. In this battle the Americans lost four hundred and fifty men, killed, wounded and prisoners. The British, out of a force of less than three thousand, lost one thousand and fifty-four, including eighty-three oflficers, thirteen of whom were killed. Among the killed was Major Pitcairn, who had ordered his men to fire on the patriots at Lexington. The victory was dearly bought by the British. In its moral effects the battle was worth as much to the Americans as a success. It taught them that undisciplined provincials could hold their ground against the king's regulars, and inspired them with a confidence in their own ability to maintain the struggle. They had held their ground against twice their number, and were driven from it only when their ammunition failed. General Gage was deeply impressed with this lesson, and made no attempt to assume the offensive When the news of the battle reached Eng- land the ministers were greatly dissatisfied with their victory. Gage was recalled, and General Howe was appointed his successor. Preparations for the Conflict. Washington, who had started on his jour- ney to New England before the arrival of the news of the battle, was met on the way by the courier who bore the tidings to Congress. He hastened his journey, and reached Cam- bridge on the second of July. The next day he formally assumed the command of the army. He was received with enthusiasm which was most gratifying to him, and at once set to work to place the army in a proper condition for the service required ol it. He was fully aware of the magnitude ol the task he had undertaken, and his letters written at the time indicate a deep reliance upon God for assistance in discharging it. The army numbered about fourteen thous- and men, and was without organization, with- out uniforms, poorly armed, and imperfectly clothed. It must be disciplined, supplied with arms and clothing, and with ammuni- tion. At the same time the enemy in Bos- ton must be watched and kept in check. To make the army effective its force must be raised to twenty or twenty-five thousand men, and the petty jealousies which divided it must be removed. It was resolved to maintain the present position of the army before Boston, and to capture or drive out the British force in that city. Washington established his head- quarters at Cambridge, which was his centre, and was under the immediate command of General Putnam. The right wing, under Genera) Ward held Roxbury, and the left^ 372 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. under General Charles Lee, was at Prospect Hill. About this time the army was joined by a force of riflemen from Virginia, Mary- land, and Pennsylvania, under Daniel Mor- gan, who was destined to achieve distinction during the war. He was rough and unedu- cated, but was one of the truest sons of America, He was never found wanting in any position in which he was placed, and was a man upon whose devotion and integ- BUNKER HILL MONUMENT. rity absolute reliance could be placed by his commanders. The winter was passed in the organization of the army. The want of ammunition pre- vented Washington from assuming the offen- sive, though he greatly desired to do so. It was necessary to observe the greatest care to prevent this state of affairs from becoming known to the British, and at the same time every effort was made to supply the defi- ciency. These efforts were partially success- ful. It was proposed to attack Canada soon after the capture of the forts at Ticonderoga and Crown Point. This proposal met with little favor in Congress until it was known that the British were assembling a force of regulars and enlisting the Indians in Canada for the invasion of New York. Then, as a measure of self-defence, the proposed invasion of that country was sanctioned, and prepara- i tions for it were actively begun. Two expe- ditions were deter- mined upon ; one by way of Lake Champlain, the other across the wilderness, by way of the Kennebec and Chaudiere Riv- ers. The first was intrusted to Gener- al Philip Schuyler, who had been ap- pointed by Wash- ington to the com- mand in New York, and the latter to Col- onel Arnold, who was in the camp at Cambridge, eager for some opportu- nity to distinguish himself. A force of New York and New England troops was assembled on Lake Champlain under Schuyler, who was ably seconded by Brigadier General Richard Montgomery, who had served under Wolfe in the old French war. Schuyler moved down the lake to the ^ Isle aux Noix, in the Sorel River, and occu- pied that island. In September he made an attempt to capture St. John's, but finding it much stronger than he had supposed, re- sumed his former position. Falling seriously ill soon after, he was obliged to withdraw to PROGRESS OF THE WAR. Z7^ Albany, and relinquished the command to Montgomery. Reaching Albany, he suc- ceeded in securing supplies, ammunition and reinforcements, and sent them to Mont- gomery. An Important Success. That energetic officer at once assumed the offensive, and captured St. John's, on the Sorel River, on the third of November, after a spirited resistance, and in spite of the efforts of Sir Guy Carleton to relieve it. On the thirteenth of November Montgomery arrived before Montreal, which surrendered upon his first summons. This capture enabled the American commander to supply his men with woolen clothes, of which they were very much in need. Although it was the begin- ning of the winter, and his force was reduced to three hundred men, poorly clad and lack- ing almost every kind of supplies, Montgom- ery set out without delay to join Arnold before Quebec. Arnold had left the camp at Cambridge in September with a force of eleven hundred men, including three companies of riflemen under Morgan. He was to ascend the Kennebec and march across the wilderness to Quebec, where he was to unite his force with the army from New York. The march across the unbroken wilderness of Maine and Canada is one of the most memorable in history. It consumed two months of time, and was marked by intense suffering and unceasing and severe labor. The troops had to cut their way through an unbroken wilderness ford icy streams, climb mountains and brave the rigors of the Canadian winter. Their provisions gave out, and thry were reduced to the necessity of eating their dogs and chewing their moccasins. At length, on the ninth of November, Arnold, with about six hundred and fifty effective men, reached the St. Lawrence, at Point Levi. Could he have crossed over to Quebec at once, that city must have fallen into his hands; but he was unable to do so, as he had no boats ; and in a few days Sir Guy Carleton arrived from Montreal, which he had abandoned to Montgomery, and put the city in a state of defence. Eluding the two armed vessels which held the river, Arnold crossed his command to the opposite side of the St. Lawrence, and climbing the cliffs by the path which Wolfe had ascended, occupied the Heights of Abra- ham, and endeavored to draw the garrison out of their works to meet him. They declined his challenge, and finding it impos- sible to besiege the city without artillery, he moved to a point twenty miles up the river, where he met Montgomery, from whom he obtained clothing for his men, who had lost nearly all their clothes in their march through the wilderness. A Difficult March. Montgomery now assumed the command of the united forces, which numbered less than a thousand men, and on the fifth of December laid siege to Quebec. Having no materials for the proper construction of a battery, a novel expedient was adopted. Gabions were filled with ice and snow, over which water was poured. The cold soon froze this to a solid mass ; but, as the ice was brittle, it afforded no protection against the fire of the enemy's guns. The Americans soon found their artillery too light to make any impression upon the walls of the city, and, as a last resort, it was determined to attempt the capture of the place by an assault, which was ordered for the thirty-first of December. The attack was made with spirit, but was unsuccessful, Montgomery was shot down while leading the attack on the lower town, and his column was driven back. Arnold was severely 3>4 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. wouuded in the assault upon the upper town, and the command passed to Morgan, the next in rank. Morgan succeeded in carry- ing the two batteries which defended the entrance to Quebec, and in forcing his way into the town ; but, being overpowered by numbers, was compelled to surrender. He and his men were treated with especial kind- ness by Sir Guy Carleton in recognition of their bravery. The attack having proved a feilnre, Arnold, whose force had been reduced GENERAL RICHARD MONTGOMERY. ti> five hundred men, fell back to a position about three miles above Quebec, and held it all winter, hoping to receive such reinforce- ments as would enable him to take Quebec. In April, 1776, General Wooster joined Arnold with reinforcements, and, assuming the command, made another unsuccessful effort to capture Quebec. Wooster was soon recalled, and was succeeded by General Thomas. Sir Guy Carleton, governor of Canada, was heavily reinforced, and Thomas was obliged to abandon the attempt on Quebec and retreat. His movement was so hasty that he left his baggage, artillery and sick in Carleton's hands. The British com- mander, with a humanity rare among his countrymen during this struggle, treated the sick prisoners with great kindness. Thomas fell back as far as the Sorel, where he died of the small-pox, which was making great ravages among the troops. Sir Guy Carle- ton continued to advance, and defeated a portion of the army under General Thomp- son at Three Rivers. Thompson and a number of his officers and men were made prisoners. The remainder secured their retreat and joined General Sullivan on the Sorel. The wreck of the army now fell back from Canada to Crown Point in a most miserable and dis- heartened condition. Thus ended the inva- sion of Canada, the most disastrous expedi- tion attempted by the Americans during the war ; yet still one the failures of which were greatly offset by the heroic daring of the troops engaged. Carleton was able to occupy the entrances to Canada with a strong force. and to make any future attempt at invasion impossible, Norfolk Bombarded. While these events were transpiring in Canada, Virginia was also the scene of war. Towards the close of the year 1775 Lord Dunmore, the royalist governor of Virginia, who had taken refuge on board a man-of- war, issued a proclamation offering freedom to the negro slaves and indentured white ser- vants of the patriots who would join him in the servile war he meant to inaugurate. With a force collected in this manner, he landed at Norfolk and took possession of the town. Fugitive slaves joined him in f 1 siderable numbers, and it seemed likely tlui, he would be able to carry out his threat and PROGRESS OF THE WAR. 375 scourge Virginia and North Carolina with a warfare of massacre and servile violence. Several regiments were raised in Virginia to drive him out of the province. The second of these, under Colonel Woodford, seized the narrow peninsula which connects Norfolk with the mainland, and on the ninth of December was attacked by Dunmore's forces, which were summarily defeated. In revenge, Dunmore returned in January, 1776, and bombarded and burned Norfolk, then the largest and richest town and the principal shipping port of Virginia. On the fifth of September, 1775, the Con- tinental Congress resumed its sessions. Delegates from Georgia appeared and were admitted to seats in the Congress, and the colonies assumed the style of the Thirteen United Colonies. Matters were not very encouraging when Congress met. The army was in need of everything that could con- tribute to its efficiency, and the New England coast was harassed with the armed vessels of Great Britain, which laid its towns under exaction, or subjected them to bombard- ment, and committed other gross outrages upon the inhabitants. On the eighteenth of October the town of Falmouth, now Port- land, in Maine, was burned by Lieutenant Mo watt of the British navy. The other towns, warned by the fate of Falmouth, pro- ceeded to fortify themselves, and escaped with nothing worse than an occasional engagement with some royal cruiser. Naval matters very largely occupied the attention of the whole country at this period. The only way in which the needed supplies could be obtained was by purchase abroad or the capture of the enemy's ships. Maryland, Virginia and South Carolina promptly estab- lished naval boards for the purpose of fitting out cruisers for this service ; and among the first acts of Washington, after assuming the command of the army, was to send out armed vessels to the St. Lawrence and the New England waters to seize the supply ships of the English on their way to Canada and Boston. A number of vessels were captured by these cruisers, and a considera* ble quantity of arms, ammunition and other stores thus accumulated. Securing War Supplies. Congress appointed a secret committee to import powder from the West Indies, and to erect mills in the interior for its manufac- ture ; and foundries for casting cannon. Licenses were issued to privateers, and a naval committee was appointed to superin- tend the formation of a marine force for the defence of the harbors, and was charged with the building of thirteen frigates. In Decem- ber a secret committee was appointed to open and conduct a correspondence with foreign nations, or with friends of the cause in Europe. Parliament, in the meantime, had not been idle, but had enacted stringent measures for the prosecution of the war and the punish- ment of the colonists. The measures adopted by the British government were cruel and barbarous. The Americans were to be treated as criminals and as deserving of death. They were made subject to the pains and penalties of treason if captured, and could in no case expect the treatment of prisoners of war. The crews of all vessels captured in trading to the colonies were con- demned beforehand to serve in the marine corps of the royal navy. It was decided to increase the British army in America to forty thousand men. Twenty-five thousand of these troops were to be raised, and the effort to enlist men was begun in England, but without success. Recruits could not be found in sufficient numbers to repay the effort. The ministry could not hope foi better success in Ireland, as they had been 37^ THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. warned by General Howe that the Irish were strong sympathizers with the Americans and could not be relied upon to fight against them. In this emergency the government resolved to employ German troops for the subjuga- tion of America, and negotiations were opened with Brunswick and Hesse Cassel, two petty German States. The result was that Great Britain hired seventeen thousand troops from these states for the conquest of the English-speaking people of America. These mercenaries were generally known as Hes- sians, and became the objects of the bitter hatred of the Americans — a hatred which ' they fully earned by their subsequent cruel- ties towards the colonists. These measures were not adopted by the British government without opposition. There was a determined minority in Eng- land, consisting of such men as Burke, Barre and the Duke of Grafton, who manfully sought to obtain justice for the colonies up to the last moment at which a settlement was possible. The corporation of London and the mercantile interests of the country generally were opposed to the measures of the government, and sought to procure a just and peaceful settlement; but all ef- forts were in vain. The king and the ministry were resolved upon the subjuga- tion of America ; nothing else would satisfy them. CHAPTER XXVII. The Declaration of Independence ^.Tie Siege of Boeton — Difficulties of the American Anny — Activity of the Privateers — Clinton's Expedition — Colonel Knox Arrives from Ticonderoga with Cannon — Seizure of Dorchester Heights by Washington — The British Evacuate Boston — Royalist Plots in New York — Paper Money Issued by Congress — Gates Sent to the North — The British Attack Charleston — Battle of Fort Moultrie — The Howes in New York Bay — Change in the Character of the War — Growing Sentiment in Favor of Independence — Virginia Proposes that the Colonies Assert their Independence — Action of Congress — The Declaration of Independence — Articles of Confederation Adopted by Congress — Lord Howe's Efforts at Conciliation — Addresses a Letter to Washington — Battle of Long Island — Defeat of the Americans —Retreat from Long Island — Evacuation of New York by the Americans — Loss of Fort Washington — Washington Retreats Through New Jersey — He Crosses the Delaware — Darkest Period of the War — Washington's Determination to Corrtinue the War — Lord Howe's Proclamation — Its Effect — Congress at Baltimore — Carleton Invades New York — Defeats Arnold on Lake Champlain — Carleton Retires into Canada — Battle of Trenton — Happy Effects of the Victory — Congress Confers Dictatorial Powers upon Washington — Commissioners Sent to France. THE winter of 1775-76 was passed by the army before Boston in inaction. There was not ammunition enough in the camp to enable Washington to attack Boston, and the British were well content to remain within their lines without seeking to raise the siege. Washington exerted himself to the utmost to obtain artil- lery and powder. Henry Knox, a bookseller of Boston, who had entered the military ser- vice of the colonies, had attracted the attention of the commander-in-chief by his skill in the use of artillery and in planning the works erected for the defence of the camp. Knox now proposed to go to Ticonderoga and bring away from that place and from Crown Point all the artillery and powder that could be spared, and his plan was at once approved by Washington, who urged Congress to com- mission him a colonel of artillery. At the same time he wrote to Schuyler, the commander in New York, to give Knox every assistance in his power in his effort to bring the artillery from Lake Champlain to Boston. Great difficulties were experienced during the winter in inducing the troops to renew their enlistments. It required all the ingenu- ity and tact of which Washington was maste, to remove the prejudices and jealousies which had grown up in the camp since the com- mencement of the blockade of Boston, and which threatened to disband the army. He succeeded in a greater degree than he had expected. At the opening of the year 1776 he had about ten thousand men in camp, many of whom were raw troops newly enlisted and without arms. Still they were a more harmonious and contented force than the first army. Towards the close of 1775 the priva- teers made extensive captures from the British. Captain Manly, of the schooner " Lee," captured a British brig off Cape Ann, laden with arms, artillery and military stores for the British army at Boston. These were sent at once to Washington, and proved of the greatest service. Among the captures was an immense mortar, which Putnam named the " Congress," and placed in position aJ Lechmere Point, on the north of Boston. Matters were gloomy indeed. The people were very anxious that Boston should be attacked, but such a course was impossible. As late as the tenth of February, 1776, Washington wrote : " Without men, without 177 378 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. arms, without ammunition, little is to be done." To increase the discouragement of the patriots news came of the defeat of the attempt to conquer Canada. The British were collecting a fleet for a demonstration against some point on the Atlantic coast, and as it was not certain where the blow would fall, a feeling of general uneasiness prevailed along the entire seaboard. This expedition sailed from Boston, under Sir Henry Clinton, about the first of Febru- ary. Washington, who had for some time GENERAL HENRY KNOX. suspected that it was designed to capture New York, had already sent General Charles Lee to raise troops to occupy that important city and hold it against the British. Lee executed his task with energy, and on the fourth of February entered New York and encamped in the suburbs, in what is now the City Hall Park. Governor Tryon, who had taken refuge on board a man-of-war, threatened to bombard the city if the Ameri- can forces should enter it ; but Lee informed him that tKe first shot fired at New York would be the signal for the execution of the leading friends of the royal cause in that city This decisive answer induced Tryon to delay his barbarous purpose. That afternoon Sir Henry Clinton, with his fleet, entered the harbor. Finding that he had come too late to secure the city, Clinton declared that he had merely called at the harbor to pay a visit to his friend Tryon, and in a few days he sailed away for North Carolina, where the royalist Governor Martin, who, like Tryon, had taken refuge on board a man-of-war, had been endeavoring to stir up an insurrection of the Tories, as the royalists were called. The command of this movement was to be assumed by Clinton. Martin also expected a fleet under Sir Peter Parker from Ireland. Decisive Defeat of the Tories. To gain time, and stir up the Tories to prompt action, he commissioned two retired officers of the British army, Scotchmen, named McDonald and McLeod, who had recently settled in North Carolina, to raise troops among the friends of the king in the interior. They succeeded in raising about fifteen hundred men, and set off for the coast to join Martin. The patriots at once rallied in considerable force to oppose their march, and intercepted them at Moore's Creek Bridge, near Wilmington. On the twenty- fifth of February a sharp engagement was fought here, which resulted in the defeat of the Tories. McLeod was killed and McDonald was taken prisoner. Eighteen hundred stand of arms, one hundred and fifty swords, two medicine-chests, and the sum of fifteen thousand pounds sterling in gold fell into the hands of the victors, and went far toward supplying their deficiencies. The contem- plated rising of the Tories was put down in the interior counties, and Martin find ing his hopes of raising troops in North Carolina destroyed, withdrew with Clinton THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 379 ^o the Cape Fear to await the arrival of the fleet of Sir Peter Parker. In the meantime a Union flag had been provided for the army before Boston^ and was formally displayed for the first time in the American camp on the first of January, 1776. It retained the English cross in the upper left-hand corner, in token of the rela- tions still existing between the colonies and England, and bore on its broad field thirteen stripes of alternate red and white, represent- ing the thirteen colonies united for the defence of their liberties. Towards the close of February the stock of powder was consider- ably increased, and a little later Colonel Knox arrived from Ticonderoga with the cannon and ammunition from that post. He had transported them on sledges across the long stretch of country between Lake Champlain and Boston, and had overcome difficulties in the accomplishment of this task which seemed at first insurmountable. The arrival of these guns gave Washington a fair supply of heavy ordnance and put an end to the long delay which had prevailed in the American camp. The regular army had been increased to fourteen thousand men, and had been reinforced by six thousand militia from Massachusetts. Ready for Decisive Action. All now was bustle and activity. The newly arrived cannon were mouuted to com- mand the city, and Washington was at length able to attempt the long-desired demonstra- tion against the enemy in Boston. As early as December, 1775, Congress had urged him to undertake the capture of Boston, and had authorized him to destroy the city if he could expel the British in no other way, and John Hancock, who was a large property-owner, regardless of the fate of his possessions, had written to him : " Do it, and may God crown your attempt with success." All through the winter Washington had been held back from such an attempt by the advice of his council of war, which hesitated to assume the offensive with an insufficient supply of ammunition and artillery. Putnam had suc- ceeded in fortifying the neighboring heights on the mainland, but had been obliged to do much of this work at night to avoid the fire of the enemy's shipping. The last obstacle to decisive action was now removed. Washington resolved to seize the eminence on the south of Boston, known as Dorchester Heights. It commanded the town from that quarter and also the shipping in the harbor. Its possession by the Americans would force Sir William Howe either to evacuate the city or risk a general engagement for its recovery. Heavy Fire of Shot and Shell. On the evening of the second of March a heavy fire was opened upon the British lines by the American batteries and also upon Boston. A number of houses were set on fire, and the attention of the British was fully occupied in extinguishing the flames. The bombardment was renewed the next night. At dark on the evening of the fourth of March the Americans renewed their fire with redoubled vigor, and were replied to with spirit by the British, and during the whole night the roar of cannon went on, covering the movements of the Americans from ob- servation by the enemy. The force assigned for the seizure of Dorchester Heights was placed under the command of General Thomas, and in case the movement should be discovered, and the enemy should seek to dis- lodge this detachment from the Heights, General Putnam was ordered to cross Charles River with a column of four thousand picked troops and attack the city from that quarter. Under the cover of the heavy cannonade the column of General Thomas passed the 38o THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. narrow isthmus in safety, and reached the Heights by eight o'clock undiscovered by the enemy. They at once set to work, though the ground was frozen to a depth of more than eighteen inches, and by morning had thrown up a series of earthworks which entirely commanded both the city and the harbor. General Howe was greatly aston- ished as he examined these works through his glass when the mists of the morning cleared away. " The rebels," he said, " have done more work in a night than m.y whole army would have done in a month." The British MEDAL STRUCK BY CONGRESS IN HONOR OF THE RECAPTURE OF BOSTON adrtvrfal declared that his ships could not remain in the harbor, as the possession of the Heights by the Americans placed the fleet entirely at their mercy. It was evident to all th^ British commanders that the Heights must be recovered or the city abandoned and General Howe determined to storm the American works that night, and made prep- arations for an attack. This movement was prevented by a severe storm, which put a stop to the cooperation of the fleet, and when the storm had died away the works had been so greatly strengthened as to render an assault hopeless. A council of war was held, and it was resolved to abandon the town. As such a step required some time, Howe secured the safety of his army by declaring that he would burn the town if his troops were fired on during their embarkation. A deputation of the citizens proceeded to the American camp and informed General Washington of Howe's determination, and in order to save the city from further suffering the British were allowed to depart in peace. They consumed eleven days in their embarkation. They embarked about fifteen hundred Tories with them, and after plundering a num- ber of stores and private houses, and robbing the inhabitants of a consid- erable supply of pro- visions, they embarked on the seventeenth of March, and dropping down the bay anchored at Nantasket Roads. They had scarcely left the city when the Ameri- can army, under Wash- ington, marched in and occupied the place. The long siege often months was at an end, and Bos^ ton was again free. The patriot army was received with enthusiasm, and matters soon began to resume their accustomed condition. By the capture of Boston the Americans obtained possession of two hundred and fifty pieces of artillery, four mortars, and a con- siderable quantity of ammunition, provisions and clothing, which the British could not carry away. After the departure of the British fleet from Nantasket Roads several transports with troops, not aware of the evacuation, entered the harbor, and were captured. Several storeships, laden with military supplies of all kinds, also arrived THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 381 from England, and were captured in the same way. These captures were of the highest importance to the patriots. Their supply of ammunition was in this way increased more than sevenfold. The capture of Boston was justly esteemed the most important success of the war. It freed New England from the presence of the English, and enabled her to contribute men and money to the defence of the middle colonies. On motion of John Adams, Con- gress adopted a unanimous vote of thanks to defence. He soon discovered that the Tories in the city were in constant communication with Governor Tryon and the British ships in the harbor. Severe measures were at once adopted to stop this intercourse. A con- spiracy for the recovery of the city by Tryon was discovered, and his agents were found tampering with the American soldiers. One Thomas Hickey, a deserter from the British army, was hanged " for mutiny, sedition and treachery," and this vigorous measure at once put a stop to the plots of the Tories. CONTINENTAL BILLS. Washington and the army, and ordered a gold medal to be struck in commemoration of the deliverance of Boston. The British fleet remained in Nantasket roads for several days after the evacuation of Boston, and then bore away for Halifax. Washington was fearful that its destination was New York, and leaving General Ward with five regiments to hold Boston, hastened southward with the maih body of the army. He reached New York on the thirteenth of April, and set to work with vigor to put the city and its approaches in a state of Congress, in February, 1776, found itself obliged to issue four millions of dollars ot additional paper money in order to meet the' expenses of the war, which were heavier than had been supposed. For the proper manage- ment of the finances, an auditor-general and assistants were appointed to act under the financial committee of Congress, and it was not long before this branch of the public service assumed the form of a treasury department. In April a war office was established by Congress under the super- vision of a committee of its members. John 382 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. Adams was made chairman of this committee, and resigned his post of chief-justice of Massachusetts to accept it. The retreat of Sullivan from Canada now became known, and the conduct of that 'officer was approved by Congress, which Ipassed a vote of thanks to him. At the same time it appointed Major-General Horatio Gates to the command of the army in his place. Gates was an Englishman by birth, and had joined the colonial movement in the hope of winning honors and fame by his services. He had served in the British army during the colonial period, but had failed to receive the rewards he deemed himself entitled to, and had resigned his commission in disgust, and had come to America to reside a few years before the rupture with England. His experience and skill made him a valuable acquisition to the American army, but his ambition and jealousy were destined to cause it considerable trouble. Gates at once claimed that his command embraced not only the troops on Lake Champlain, but also the whole northern army under Schuyler. The matter was referred to Congress, and it was decided that Gates was independent of the control of Schuyler only while in Canada. Elsewhere he was subject to Schuyler's com- mand. Expedition Against Charleston. In the meantime Congress had sent Gen- eral Charles Lee to the south to take com- mand of the troops assembling to oppose Sir Henry Clinton, who was waiting off the mouth of the Cape Fear river for the arrival of the fleet of Sir Peter Parker from Ireland. This fleet joined Clinton in May, and a little later Congress learned by means of inter- cepted letters that Charleston, in South Carolina, was the object of attack. The command of the strong military force which the fleet brought was to be held by Sir Henry Clinton, to whom the general direction ol the expedition was intrusted. Lee hastened at once to Charleston. He found there a force of about six thousand men, from the Carolinas and Virginia ; but the city was not defended by a single fortifi- cation. Had Clinton assailed it at once, it must have fallen into his hands, as he arrived in the harbor on the fourth of June, the very day that Lee reached the city ; but he delayed his attack until he could fortify his own position, and so gave Lee time to erect works for the defence of the city. Fort Moultrie Bombarded. Ihe key to the American position was Fort Moultrie, a small work built of palmetto logs, and situated on the southwest point of Sullivan's Island. It was commanded by Colonel William Moultrie, whose name it bore. In front of it lay the British fleet under Sir Peter Parker. Sir Henry Clinton had taken position with two thousand men on Long Island, which was separated from Sul- livan's Island by only a narrow creek, and was building batteries to cover his passage of the creek. His plan was to allow the fleet to breach the walls of Fort Moultrie and then to cross his troops to Sullivan's Island under the cover of his batteries, and carry the fort by storm. Lee, who was ignorant of the capacity of the soft, spongy palmetto wood for resisting the force of cannon shot, regarded the effort to hold Fort Moultrie as madness. He stationed a force under Colonel Thomp- son on Sullivan's Island opposite Clinton to dispute his passage of the creek, and took position on the mainland with the rest of his force where he could support either Moultrie or Thompson, as might be necessary. On the twenty-eighth of June the enemy's fleet opened fire on Fort Moultrie, which replied with spirit, and for ten hours the can- nonade wa^ maintained with great vigor by THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 383 both sides. The enemy's balls buried them- selves in the soft, spongy wood of the pal- metto logs, and thus did little injury to the fort; but the well-directed fire of the Ameri- can guns inflicted great damage upon the fleet. The British were finally compelled to withdraw with heavy loss, and abandoned and set fire to one of their ships. During the engagement the flag of the fort was shot away, and fell out- side of the walls. Ser- geant Jasper, of the South Carolina forces, at once sprang over the wall and amidst a heavy fire secured the flag, tied it to a pole, and set it up again on the ramparts. This done, he rejoined his comrades at the guns. A few days later Gov- ernor Rutledge pre- sented Jasper with his own sword and offered him a lieutenant's com- mission. Jasper accepted the sword, but declined the commission on the ''' ground that he could neither read nor write. Clinton made repeated efforts to cross the creek and storm the fort during the battle, but was as often driven back by the batteries under Thompson, fleet having withdrawn, he embarked his men, and soon after sailed for New York to join the troops assembling near that city- Washington was correct in supposing that New York was the true destination of Sir William Howe after leaving the Nantasket Roads. That commander sailed first to Hali- SERGEANT JASPER AT FORT MOULTRIE. At length, the fax, where he landed the civilians and other useless incumbrances he had been obliged to carry away from Boston. Then, refitting his command, he awaited the arrival of his brother. Admiral Lord Howe, who was on 384 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. his way from England with reinforcements. In the latter part of June he sailed from Halifax for New York, and arrived within Sandy Hook on the twenty-eighth of June, the very day of the attack on Fort Moultrie, He landed his forces on Staten Island, where he was received with enthusiasm by the Tories. A little later he was joined by Sir Henry Clinton from Charleston, and about the mid- dle of July Lord Howe arrived with rein- forcements, a large part of whom were Hessians, hired, as we have stated, by the King of England from the Duke of Hesse Cassel, in Germany. Their arrival raised the strength of the British army in New York Bay to thirty thousand men. Their attack upon the city was merely a question of time, ind under the most favorable circumstances it was scarcely to be hoped that Washington would succeed in maintaining his hold upon New York. In the meantime an event of the highest importance had changed the whole character of the war as regarded the Ameri- cans. England Will Not Relent. The colonists had taken up arms to resist the aggressions of the King and Government of Great Britain upon their liberties and to compel the mother country to respect the rights guaranteed to them by their charters and by the British Constitution. Thus far the war had been waged for these ends. At the outset of the struggle a few far-seeing persons, such as Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry, had been convinced that an appeal to arms would render the final separation of the colonies from England inevitable, and that such an issue was but the fulfilment of the destiny of their country, and as such to be desired. The great majority of the people, however, neither thought of nor wished for independ- ence. They would have been satisfied tc secure their liberties and privileges as English subjects, and would gladly have continued loyal to the king. The events of the war had made it plain to the most skeptical that England did not intend to do justice to her colonies. Neither the king, the ministry, nor Parliament were disposed to swerve from their purpose of reducing America to absolute submission to their will. They were determined that the colonists should bear every burden of British citizenship, and enjoy none of its privileges save what they should see fit to allow them. Americans were not to enjoy either liberty or property as lawful rights. The Feeling Toward Great Britain. This determination was so clear that none could mistake it. Since the commencement of the struggle public opinion in America had undergone a great change, and the party in favor of a total and final separation from the mother country had increased so rapidly that it now embraced the great major- ity of the American people. Now that they had become convinced that they could main- tain their liberties only by a total and unqual- ified separation from Great Britain, they did not hesitate to choose that course. Their choice was made without regret. At the commencement of the war a very genuine attachment bound the people of the colonies to England ; but the course of the royal government and the severities of the British commanders in the Northern colonies, and the outrages of the royal governors in the South, had entirely alienated the people from their love for England. Still there were many Tories, or friends of the king, in America, and they were active and bitter in their opposition to the patriots. From the first the Americans regarded the Tories with a feeling of hatred which increased as the struggle went on, and this feeling was tHE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. soon extentlcd to all who fought under the royal flag or sought to uphold its cause. Not only had the people been gradually coming to view independence as desirable and indispensable ; the exercise by Congress of the functions of a supreme government had accustomed them to it, and had shown them their capacity for conducting a gen- eral government for the whole country. Early in March, 1776, Congress granted let- ters of marque and re- prisal against British commerce, and some- what later sent Silas Deane as its commis- sioner to France to seek assistance from that country. In May it had formally recom- mended the colonies to disregard the royal governments and adopt systems suited to their needs, and in harmony with the changed state of affairs. To all men it was evi- dent that a formal re- nunciation of allegi- ance to Great Britain and the assertion of their independence by the colonies was mere- ly a question of time. It was, therefore, a surprise to no one when the first definite action looking towards inde- pendence Mas taken. On the fifteenth of May, 1776, the general assembl}' of Virginia instructed the delegates of that colony in , Congress to offer a resolution in iavor of the separation of the colonies from England, and the formal declaration of their independence. On the thirtieth of May Massachusetts instructed her delegates to support this reso- INDEPEN DENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA. lution. On the seventh of June Richard I Icnry Lee, of Virginia, offered a resolution in Congress, "that the united colonies are, and ought to be, free and independent States, and that their political connection 386 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. with Great Britain is, and ought to be, dis- solved." The resolution was seconded by John Adams, of Massachusetts, and was debated with great earnestness. It was adopted by . a bare majority of one — seven colonies voting for it, and six against it. In accordance with the resolution, a committee was appointed to draw up a declaration of independence, and, in order that the delegates might have an opportunity to ascertain the wishes of their constituents, the consideration of the subject ""as postponed until the first of July. Two HOUSE IN WHICH THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE WAS other committees were also appointed. One of these was charged with the preparation of a plan for uniting the colonies in a single government ; the other was to report a plan for securing alliances with foreign nations. The committee charged with the preparation of a declaration of independence consisted of Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston. *' On the twenty-eighth of June the com- mittee reported the declaration to Congress. It was written by Thomas Jefferson, and» with a few verbal alterations. Was adopttd by the committee as it came from his hand. It reviewed in a clear and comprehensive manner the cause which had impelled the colonies to take up arms for the defence ol their liberties, and which now induced them to sever the ties that bound them to Great Britain. The declaration concluded in these mem orable words : " We, therefore, the repre- sentatives of the United States of 'America., in general Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of all the world for the rectitude of our inten- tions, do, in the name and by the authority of the" good people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare that these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states ; that they arc absolved from all alle^ giance to the British crown, and that all poli- tical connection between tliein and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, dissolved; WRITTEN, PHILADELPHIA. 1.1. c j and that, as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace contract alliances, establish commerce and to do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this decla- ration, with a firm reliance on the protection of a Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor." The declaration was debated in Congress, and a few passages, which it was feared might offend the friends of the colonies in Great Britain, were stricken out. The vote SIGNING THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 387 j88 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. was then taken by colonies, and chough some of the delegates voted against it, the declaration received the votes of all the colo- nies with the exception of New York, which accepted it a few days later. On the fourth day of July, 1776, the Declaration of Inde- pendence was formally adopted by Congress, and was ordered to be published to the world, and to be read at the head of the regiments of the army. Congress was in session in the hall of the state house in Philadelphia. In the spire of dii.s venerable building hung a bell, inscribed OLD BELL OF INDEPENDENCE HALL. with the words of Scripture : " Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." On the morning of the fourth of July vast crowds assembled around the building, as it was known that Congress would on that day take definite action upon the declaration. The bell-ringer stationed himself in the tower, ready to proclaim the good news the moment it should be announced to him, and had posted his little son at the door of the hall to a\t^ait the signal of the door-keeper. When the announcement of the vote wa? made, the door-keeper gave the signal and the boy ran quickly to the tower. The old man heard him , coming, and clutched the bell-rope with a firm grasp. The next instant the glad cry of the boy's voice was hearc^ " Ring ! ring ! " he cried, and then the deep* sonorous tones of the bell went rolling out of the tower, and were answered with a mighty shout from the assembled throng without. The declaration was received by all the states and by the army with enthusiasm. Thus the thirteen united colonies became the thir- teen United States. It should not be for- gotten that the declaration did not make the colonies independent states, or states in any sense. It was simply their announcement to the world that they had, each for itself, by the exercise of its own sovereign power, assumed the independence which rightfully belonged to it. The Declaration of Independence put an end to all the hopes that had been cherished of an accommodation with Great Britain, and caused those who were still wavering to embrace the cause of their country. It relieved Congress of the disadvantage under which it had hitherto acted, and enabled it to pursue a more vigorous and decisive policy in the prosecution of the war. There was no retreat now ; nothing remained but to continue the struggle until Great Britain should be compelled to acknowledge the independence of the states, or they should be reduced to the condition of conquered provinces. On the twelfth of July the committee appointed to prepare a plan for the union of the states reported one, which is thus summed up: " 1st. The style of the confederacy was to be ' The United States of America.' " 2d. Each state retained its sovereignty, freedom and independence and every power THE DECLARATION OF riNDEPEl^DENCE. 389 and right which is not expressly delegated to the United States. " 3d. The object ot the confederation was for their mutual defence, the security of their liberties, and their mutual and general welfare, binding themselves to assist each other against all force offered to or attacks made upon them, or any of them, on account of religion, sovereignty, trade, or any other pretence whatever. " 4th. In determining all questions in Congress each State was to have one vote. " 5th. Each State was to maintain its own delegates. " 6th. The free inhabitants of each State, paupers, vagabonds and fugitives from jus- tice excepted, were to be entitled to all privileges and immunities of free citizens in the several States. " 7th. All fugitives from justice from one State into another were to be delivered up on demand. " 8th. Full faith and credit were to be given to the records of each State in all the others. " 9th. Congress was to grant no title of nobility. " loth. No person holding any office was to receive a present from a foreign power. "nth. No State was to form any agree- ment or alliance with a foreign power with- out the consent of the States in Congress assembled. " 1 2th. No two or more States were to form any alliance between themselves with- out the like consent of the States in Congress assembled. " 13th. No State, without the like consent of Congress, was to keep war ships or an army in time of peace ; but each was to keep a well-organized and disciplined militia, with munitions of war. " 14th. No State was to lay any duty upon foreign imports which would interfere with any treaty made by Congress, " 15th. No State was to issue letters of marque, or to engage in war, without the consent of the Congress, unless actually invaded or menaced with invasion. *' 16th. When Federal land forces were raised, each State was to raise the quota required by Congress, arm and equip them at the expense o-f all the States, and to appoint all officers of and under the rank of colonel. " 17th. Each State was to levy and raise the quota of tax required by Congress for Federal purposes. " 1 8th. The faith of all the States was pledged to pay all the bills of credit emitted, or money borrowed on their joint account, by the Congress. " 19th. It was agreed and covenanted that Canada might accede to the union so formed if she chose to do so. " 20th (and lastly). Each State was to abide by the determination of all the States in Congress assembled, on all questions which, by the confederation, were submitted to them. The Articles of Confederation were to be inviolably observed by every State, and the Union was to be perpetual. No article of the confederation was to be altered without the consent of every State. " The delegations of power by each of the States to all the States, in general Congress assembled, upon a like analysis, may be stated as follows : " 1st. The sole and exclusive power t(s. determine on war and peace, except in case a State should be invaded or menaced with invasion. " 2d. To send and receive ambassadors. " 3d. To make treaties, with a proviso, etc, "4th. To establish rules for captures. " 5 th. To grant letters of marque and re- prisal. " 6th. To appoint courts for trial of piracie' and other crimes specified. j90 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. ' ; th. To decide questions of dispute between two or more States in a prescribed manner. *' 8th. The sole and exclusive power to QJ o^^y^ ^ ^^^ ^' " loth. To regulate trade with the Indian tribes. " I ith. To establish post offices. ^^,^^^/? % /^4r2au^ Je. '^riZ/ltm^o-?! lu/Zd , '^^'^^^Cs^ C^^..^*^^^^^*^^ ^" 1^33?^-^-^—'^^' cc^^r^-^^t.^ , '^ay' f^^ A^^^^^^ ^^ SIGNATURES OF THE SIGNERS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. coin money and regulate the value. I " 12th. To appoint all officers of the militia "9th. To fix a standard of weights and land forces, Avhen called out by Congress, rpeasures, j except regimental. THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 391 " 1 3th. To appoint all officers of the Fede- ral naval forces. " 14th. To make rules and regulations for the government of land and naval forces. " 15th. To appropriate and apply public money for public expenses, the common defence and general welfare. " i6th. To borrow money and emit bills of credit. " 17th. To build and equip a navy. " 1 8th. To agree upon the number of land forces and make requisitions upon the States for their quotas in proportion to the value of all land within each State. " The foregoing powers were delegated with this limitation : The war power, the treaty power, the power to coin money, the power to regulate the value thereof, the power of fixing the quotas of money to be raised by the States, the power to emit bills of credit, the power to borrow money, the power to appropriate money, the power to regulate the number of land and naval forces, and the power to appoint a comraander-in-chief of the army as well as the navy, were never to be exercised unless nine of the States were assenting to the same. " These articles form the original basis and first Constitution of the existing Federal Union of the United States of America." * The States Come Into Line. These Articles of Confederation were adopted, after discussion, by Congress, vot- ing by States, and were then submitted to the several States for ratification by them. In the meantime Congress continued to exer- cise the powers conferred by them. By the early part of 1777 all the States save Mary- land had ratified and adopted the articles. That State did not give her full assent to them until 1781. *Hon. Alexander H. Stephens. Lord Howe arrived in New York Ray about the middle of July, as has been stated. He was vested with full powers by the king to settle the quarrel between America and P2ngland if the Americans would agree to submit unconditionally to the king. Failing* to accomplish a settlement, he and .hi< brother. Sir William Howe, were charged' with the supreme conduct of the war. Lord Howe was a man of amiable disposition, and really desired peace ; but as he was fully convinced of the justice of the royal preten- sions, he could not understand or appreciate the claims or grievances of the Americans. Moreover, he had come too late. The Ameri- can people meant that their separation from Great Britain should be final. Lord Howe was greatly deceived upon his arrival as to the actual state of feeling in America. He was received with loyal addres.ses by the Tories of Long and Staten Islands and the New Jersey shore, and was assured by Gov- ernor Tryon that the country was full of friends of the king who might be induced to join him if properly supported. Washington Insulted. Lord Howe, therefore, resolved to attempt a peaceful settlement before proceeding to hostilities, and issued a circular addressed to the people of America, offering them the royal pardon if they would cease their rebel- lion, lay down their arms and trust to the clemency of the king. Congress gave to this circular the widest publicity by causing it to be published in every newspaper in the Union, in order that the people might see that the only settlement that would be accepted by England was their voluntary and absolute submission to her arbitrary will. " They must fight or be slaves." About thesame time Lord Howe addressed a letter to the American commander-in-chief, styling him George Washington, Esquir?. 392 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. No notice of this communication was taken by Washington, and Howe sent him another letter addressed to George Washington, etc., etc. Washington, rightly considering that the omission of his official title was an insult to his country, refused to receive the letter. Adjutant-General Patterson, of Lord Howe's staff, who bore the communication, expressed his regret that the letter could not be opened. Lord Howe, he said, came vested with great power, and was sincerely anxious for peace. Washington, who had received him with kindly courtesy, replied that he was aware that Lord Howe was intrusted with the power to grant pardons, but that as the Americans were engaged in the defence of their rights, and had committed no crime, they had no need of pardon, and his lordship's good inten- tions could not be of service to them. It was now plain to Lord Howe that he had been deceived by Tryon and his friends, and that nothing could be accomplished save by force of arms. His circular had produced no effect, and he could detect no sign of wavering on the part of the Americans. Measures for Defence. It had been evident for some time that the next effort of the British would be to get possession of the city of New York. Their fleet already held the harbor, and should they succeed in securing the Hudson they would be able to establish a direct commu- nication with Canada, and to isolate New England and New York from the Middle States and the South. Reinforcements were sent to Washington from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and Delaware. These gave the American commander a force of about twenty-five thousand men ; but scarcely seventeen thousand were fit for duty; the remainder being disabled by sickness. Washington erected two forts on Man- hattan island, one just above Kin^sbridge, named Fort Washington, and the other just below it, named Fort Independence. Kings- bridge furnished the only communication between the island of Manhattan and the mainland, and these forts were erected for its defence, as well as to hold the enemy'y vessels in check should they attempt to ascend the Hudson. On the New Jersey side of the river, opposite Fort Washington, a third work was erected, and named Fort Lee. Other forts were built higher up the Hudson to hold the river against the enemy and maintain the communication between the Northern and Southern States. One of these, called Fort Montgomery, was located at the entrance to the Highlands, opposite the promontory of Anthony's Nose ; another was built six miles higher up the river, and was known as Fort Constitution. Battle on Long Island. For the defence of the heights of Brooklyn, which commanded the city of New York, Washington caused a line of works to be erected on a range of hills a short distance south of Brooklyn, and established there an intrenched camp. General Nathaniel Greene was placed in command of this position, and exerted himself with vigor to strengthen it. When he had matured his plans he was sud- denly taken ill, and was obliged to relinquish the commend to General Sullivan, The British fleet lay in Gravesend Bay, just without the Narrows, and Washington was for a while uncertain whether they would make their first attempt against the force on Long Island, or attack the city of New York It soon became evident that the capture of the lines on Long Island would be their first care, and Sullivan was reinforced with six battalions, all that could be spared form New York, and on the twenty-fourth of August General Putnam was placed in command oi the forces on Long Islandi THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 393 On the night of the twenty-sixth of August the British crossed over from Staten Island to Long Island, and prepared to give battle. Their plan was to engage the attention of the Americans by a direct attack with two divisions, while Sir Henry Clinton, with a ihird division, was to turn the left flank of the Americans and gain their rear. They hoped, if these movements were successful, to surround ai\d capture the entire force under Putnam. Clinton began his march about nine o'clock on the night of the twenty-sixth, guided by a Long Island Tory. About daylight on the morning of the twenty-seventh of Au- gust, the enemy made their attack upon the front of the American posi- tion, and engaged their attention in this direction, while Clinton, by a rapid march, gained their rear. For a while the Americans fought well, but finding themselves almost surrounded, and in danger of being captured, they abandoned the field and retreated within the intrench- ments at Brooklyn. The Hessian troops behaved with great barbarity during the engagement, and a num- ber of the Americans were cruelly and wantonly bayoneted by them. A part of the engagement was fought in the beautiful region now occupied by Greenwood cemetery. Washington hastened to Brooklyn as soon 'as informed of the battle, and arrived just in time to witness the defeat of his troops. He was powerless to repair the disaster, and could only look on in helpless agony. "My God!" he exclaimed, with tears: "What brave fellows I must lo.se this day ! " The American loss was very severe in this battle. Out of a force of fiv^e thou- sand men engaged they lost two thousand men, a large number of whom were pri- soners. The British had sixteen thousand men engaged, and lost four hundred. Had they followed up their victory by an imme- diate assault upon the American intrench- mcnts they must have carried them; but General Howe believed that Washington hatl a much stronger force for their defence than was the case, and encamped in front of the intrenchments, intending to begin GENERAL JOHN SULLIVAN. operations against them the next day. The twenty-eighth, however, was a day oi drenching rain, and the enemy were unable to do more than break ground for a battery. On the twenty-ninth a dense fog hung over the island ; but it lifted for a moment, and enabled the Americans tc 'Jetect an unusual commotion among the British shipping. It seemed plain that the enemy were pre- paring to enter the East River with theit 394 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. fleet, and so separate the force on Long Island from that in New York. Washing- ton at once summoned a council of war, and it was decided to retreat from Long Island - without delay. It was a hazardous attempt, for the army under General Howe was so close to the American lines that the conver- sations of the men could be heard, and the British fleet might at any moment seize the East River. To withdraw a force of nine thousand men across a wide, deep river, in the face of such an army and fleet, was a task which required the greatest skill. It was successfully accomplished, however. Every boat in and around New York and Brooklyn was impressed, and though the orders for the retreat were not issued until noon on the twenty-ninth, everything was in -■ readiness for the retreat by eight o'clock that ev^ening. At midnight the troops took up their silent march from the intrenched , line to the ferry, where the boats, manned , by Glover's regiment, which was composed "* of fishermen from Marblehead, awaited them. ' By eight o'clock the next morning the entire army, with all its cattle, horses and wagons, was safe upon the New York side of <:^e river, and beyond the reach of the enemy. .' Important Conference. Howe was greatly mortified at the escape ~ of the American army, for he had regarded it as a sure prize, and prepared, with the aid of his ships, to seize the upper part of Man- hattan Island, and confine the Americans to the city of New York, where their surrender would be inevitable. Before proceeding to the execution of this plan he resolved to make anothereffort toinduce the Americansto aban- don their cause, as he rightly believed their ; defeat on Long Island would be followed by a season of great depression. A few days after the retreat he released General Sullivan, who had been taken prisoner in the battle, on parole, and sent a letter by him to Congress, asking that body to send an informal com- mittee, whom he would receive as private gentlemen, to confer with him on some meas- ure of reconciliation. Interview with Lord Howe. Congress, willing to hear what he had to propose, sent Dr. Franklin, John Adams and Edward Rutledge to confer with him. They met Lord Howe at a house on Staten Island, opposite Amboy. Tne only terms his lordship had to propose were the uncon- ditional submission of the Americans to the royal mercy. He was informed that the Americans would consent to treat . with Great Britain only as " a free and independ- ent nation," and that it was useless to propose any other basis for a settlement. Lord Howe thereupon expressed his regret that he should be obliged to distress the Ameri- cans. Dr. Franklin thanked him for his good feeling, and remarked : " The Ameri- cans will endeavor to lessen the pain you may feel by taking good care of themselves." The report of the interview was made pub- lic by Congress, and had a happy effect. It convinced all classes that England had no i terms to offer them but such as embraced a ; shameful surrender of their liberties. Fearful that Howe would seek to shut him up in New York, Washington left a force within the city to hold it, and encamped with the main body of his army on Harlem Heights, at the northern end of the fsland, from which he could secure his retreat into Westchester County. The army was reduced to less than twenty thousand men, and was disheartened by the defeat on Long Island. It was seriously debated whether New York should be defended or not ; and it was pro- posed to burn the city to the ground, in order to prevent the enemy from securing I comfortable winter-quarters in it, Congress ] THE DECLARAIION OF INDEPENDENCE. 395 ordered that the city should not be de- stroyed, but it was evident that it could not be held. Washington was anxious to learn the intentions of the enemy, who still remained on Long Island, and Captain Nathan Hale, a talented young officer of the Connecticut line, volunteered to enter their lines and pro- cure the desired information. He proceeded to the British camp, obtained the information wanted, and was returning in safety when he was arrested by a party of the enemy, among whom was a Tory relative, who re- cognised him. He was taken to Howe's headquarters, and the next morning, Sep- tember 22d, without any form of trial, Avas hanged as a spy. He met his death with firmness, saying : " I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country." "Old Put " Saves His Command. in the meantime the British had seized the islands at the mouth of the Harlem River^ and had erected a battery on one of them. On the fifteenth of September they crossed in force to Manhattan Island, at Kipp's Bay, about three miles above the city. They easily drove back the force sta- tioned there to resist their landing, and secured their position. Washington at once sent General Heath to hold the enemy in check, and ordered Putnam to evacuate the city of New York, and retire to Harlem Heights, without the loss of a moment. Putnam obeyed his orders promptly, and retreated from the city along the line of the Bloomingdale Road, now the upper part of Broadway. His march was retarded by a crowd of women and children fleeing from the city, and was exposed to the fire of the enemy's ships in the Hudson. By great exertions he managed to save his command, but was obliged to leave his heavy artillery and three hundred men in the hands of the enemy. The British at once took posses- sion of New York, and threw up a line of intrenchments above the city, from the Hud- son, at Bloomingdale, to the East River, at Kipp's Bay. The Americans now held the upper part of the island, and erected a double line of earthworks from river to river, about four miles below Kingsbridge. On the sixteenth of September the enemy made an attack upon the American advanced posts, but were handsomely repulsed by the Virginia and Connecticut troops. Major Leitch, the commander of the Virginians, and Colonel Knowlton, the commander of the Connecticut regiment, and one of the captains at Bunker Hill, were killed. In spite of these losses the spirit of the troops, which had been much depressed by the recent disasters, were greatly cheered. A lull of several weeks followed, during which the Americans suffered greatly from sickness. They were without proper hospi- tal accommodations, " and they lay about in almost every barn, stable, shed, and even under the fences and bushes." Washington's Skillful Tactics. Howe now began to move his army to- wards Long Island Sound, for the purpose of marching across the mainland to the Hudson and cutting off the retreat of Washington from Manhattan Island, and at the same time sent his fleet up the Hudson. His intention was understood by Washington, who left three thousand men to defend Fort Washington, and with the main body of his army fell back to the line of the Bronx, near the village of White Plains. Here he was attacked on the twenty-eighth of October by General Howe, who Avas advancing from the direction of New Rochelle, and who was still hopeful of gaining the American rear. A spirited en- counter ensued, in which each party lost about four hundred men ; and the British THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE READ TO THE ARMY THE DECLARATION OF moEPENDENCE. IDi intrenched themselves in front of the Ameri- can position. Apprehensive of an eiTort on the part of the enemy to storm his line, Washington caused the troops to spend the night in strengthen- ing the rude works which covered it. They labored with such diligence that the next morning the British commander decided that the line was too strong to be attacked, and determined to wait for reinforcements. That night Washington silently abandoned his lines at White Plains, and withdrew to the heights of North Castle, five miles dis- tant. Howe, unwillingtof )llow him f irther, marched to Dobb's Ferry, on the Hudson, and encamped. British Successes. This movement of the British commander caused Washington to fear that he meant to cross over into New Jersey. He accordingly made a new disposition of his forces to meet any emergency. General Charles Lee, who had recently returned from the South, was left at North Castle with a portion of the army to watch Howe; Heath, with another portion, was ordered to occupy Peekskill to defend the passes of the Highlands ; and Putnam was stationed, with a third detach- ment, on the west side of the Hudson to hold that region. With the remainder of his troops Wash- ington crossed the Hudson and joined Gen- eral Greene at Fort Lee, arriving there on the thirteenth of November. A force of three thousand Pennsylvania troops had been left to hold Fort Washington, on Manhattan Island. Washington was in favor of with- drawing them at once, but left the matter to the decision of General Greene, and Colonel Magaw, the commander of the fort, who determined to hold it. The result proved their error. Fort Washington was attacked on the sixteenth of November by a force of five thousand Hessians and some English troops, under General Knyphausen, and was taken by storm. The enemy lost nearly one thousand men and took over two thousand prisoners. Washington witnessed the cap- ture from Fort Lee without the abilit}- to aid the garrison. Fort Washington having fallen, P""ort Lee was no longer of service, and the commander- in-chief resolved to abandon it before it was too late. The removal of the stores was at once begun, but before it could be completed Lord Cornwallis, with a force of six thousand men, crossed the Hudson below Dobb's Ferry, and by a rapid march across the coun- try endeavored to confine the Americans to the strip of land between the Hudson and the Hackensack. An immediate retreat from Fort Lee became necessary in order to secure the bridge over the Hackensack. All the heavy cannon at Fort Lee, a considerable quantity of provisions and military stores, and three hundred tents were abandoned, and fell into the hands of the British. The pas- sage of the Hackensack was secured, and the army began its memorable retreat across New Jersey, closely followed by the enemy under Cornwallis. Dark Days for the American Cause. From the Hackensack Washington fell back behind the Passaic at Newark. As his rear-guard passed out of the town the advance of Cornwallis entered Newark. The Raritan was crossed at New Biunswick, and Washington left a force of twelve hundred men at Princeton, under Lord Stirling, and pushed on to Trenton to secure tiie passage of the Delaware. The British hung closely upon him during the whole retreat, the opposing forces being often within cannon-shot of each other. On the eighth of December, with scarcely three thousand men, Washington crossed the 39^ THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. Dv-lawaiv at Trenton, and went into camp in Pennsylvania. The enemy reached the river soon after, but, as all the boats had been secured by the Americans, were unable to cross over. Lord Cornwallis was very anxious to procure boats, cross the river and push on to Philadelphia, but Howe decided to wait until the river should be frozen, and to pass it on the ice. In the meantime the Hessians were stationed in Trenton, and guarded the river for some distance above and below the town. GENERAL CHARLES LEE. The American war had now entered its darkest period for the Americans. New York was lost to them, they had been driven from New Jersey, and their army seemed melting away. During the painful retreat across New Jersey, Washington had exerted himself to the utmost to call in the other detachments of his army. General Schuyler was directed to send him the Pennsylvania and New Jersey troops in his command ; but the enlistments of these troops were rapidly expiring, and they could not be induced to renew them. General Charles Lee wa« ordered to cross the Hudson and join the commander-in-chief with all speed, but he moved with a slowness and carelessness that were criminal. He remained about a fort- night on the east side of the Hudson, and then began his march with such slowness that he did not reach Morristown until the eighth of December. On the thirteenth, vvhile lying carelessly apart from his troops, at a small inn at Bask- ingridge, he was captured by a troop of British cavalry. The command passed to General Sul- livan, and in a few days he had united his forces with those of the commander-in-chief General Lee had an abiding confidence iu his own ability, and was reluctant ■"o lose his independent command oy joining Washington. His natural self-conceit had been greatly increased by his success at the South, and he was firmly conv'-^ced that he alone was capable of guiding the American cause through the difficulties which encompassed it. Influ- enced by this feeling, he disre* ^f"^ ~ garded the authority of the com- mander-in-chief, and subjected him to great inconvenience. He was not untrue to the cause he had em- braced, but his patriotism was of a different type from that which animated Washington. The enlistments of a large part of the troops expired on the first of December, and nothing could induce them to remain in the army. Whole regiments abandoned the service, and the handful of reinforcements which was obtained from Philadelphia fell far short of supplying their place. The people were -disheartened, and it seemed THK DECLARATION I hat the cause was hopeless. A force of six militia regiments in Massachusetts and Con- necticut was on the point of marching to Washington's assistance, when the fleet of Sir Peter Parker entered Newport Harbor and landed a force on the island of Rhode Island, which took possession of Newport. In view of this invasion, it was deemed best to retain the New England militia at home. Taking the Oath of Allegiance. Washington was fully alive to the danger which threatened the cause ; but he was calm and cheerful. During the retreat through New Jersey he said to Colonel Reed : *' Should wo retreat to the back parts of Pennsylvania, will the Pennsylvanians sup- port us ? " " If the lower counties are sub- dued and give up," said the colonel, " the back counties will do the same." Washing- ton passed his hand over his throat, and said, with a smile : " My neck does not feel as though it was made for a halter. We must retire to Augusta County, in Virginia. Numbers will be obliged to repair to us for safety; and we must try what we can do in carrying on a predatory war ; and if over- powered, we must cross the Allegheny Mountains." At this juncture of affairs Lord and Gen- eral Howe issued a proclamation, by virtue of their authority as commissioners appointed by the crown for the settlement of the war, in which all persons in America in arms against his majesty's government were ordered to disperse and return to their homes, and all civil officers were commanded to discontinue their treasonable practices, and relinquish their usurped authority. A full and free pardon was offered to every one who would, within sixty days, appear before certain designated officials, claim the pardon offered, and take an oath pledging him to obey the laws and submit to the authority of the king. OF iNDfePEN^DENCi'!. ^90 Large numbers of persons, most of whom were possessed of property which they desired to save, at once came forward, made their submission and took the required oath. .Some of these were men who had borne a prominent part in the patriot move- ment ; among them were two delegates from Pennsylvania to the Continental Congress, and the president of the New Jersey con- vention, which had ratified the Declaration of Independence. Within ten days after the proclamation was issued, between two and three thousand persons submitted and swore allegiance to the king. In Philadelphia great excitement prevailed, and General Putnam, who was in command there, feeling that there was danger that the royalists in the city might succeed in obtaining control of it, advised that, until matters w^ere placed on a more certain footing. Congress should hold its sessions at some safer place. Accord- ingly it adjourned on the twelfth of Decern ber to meet in Baltimore. A Gallant Fleet. The only quarter in which the Americans had been able io oppose anything of a suc- cessful resistance to the British was the region of Lake Champlain. We have related the retreat of Sullivan and Arnold from Canada, and the appointment of Gates to the command of their forces. The army halted at Forts Ticonderoga and Crown Point, which it strengthened, and awaited the development of the plans of Sir Guy Carle- ton, the British commander in Canada. That officer had determined to secure the control of Lakes Champlain and George, and then to push on to the Hudson, open communication with the Howes at New York, and spend the winter at Albany. He would thus entirely sever the communica- tion between New England and New York, and the Middle and Southern States. Sullivan 166 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. had wisely destroyed all the boats on Lake Champlain which he did not need for his own purposes, and as there was no road along the shore by which he could advance, Carleton was obliged to construct a fleet before he could attempt to ascend the lake. He exerted himself with such energy that in three months he had a fleet ot five large and fwenty small vessels and a number of armed boats assembled at the foot of the lake. Gates was informed of Carleton's design, and ordered Arnold, who was possessed of some nautical knowledge, to construct a flotilla and take command of it for the pur- pose of contesting Carleton's effort to ascend the lake. Arnold set to work with enthu- siasm, and soon had a force of vessels afloat about half as strong as that of the enemy. He chose a favorable position and awaited Carleton's approach. A sharp encounter occurred between the opposing forces early in October near Valcour Island, but was indecisive, and at nightfall Carleton took possession to cut off Arnold's retreat. The night was dark and cloudy, and taking advantage of it, Arnold passed the enemy and sailed for Crown Point. His vessels were in bad condition, hov\'ever, and two were sunk on ihe voyage. Only six suc- ceeded in coming within sight of Crown Point, near which they were overtaken by Carleton on the sixth of October. The Flag-ship Riddled. Arnold made a gallant fight with his remaining vessels. One was taken with her crew, and Arnold's flag-ship, the " Congress," was cut to pieces, and half of her crew were slain. Resolved not to surrender, Arnold ordered the vessels to be run aground, and set them on fire. He and his men then waded ashore, and by a sharp fire from their rifles kept the enemy from the burning gal- leys until they were entirely consumed. The Americans then hastened to Crown Point where they set fire to the fort and the stores, and continued their retreat to Ticonderoga. Gates greatly strengthened the defences of this post, and when Carleton arrived before it, he found it too strong to be attacked. He therefore abandoned his attem.pt to reach the Hudson, and returned to Canada. A few weeks later, feeling that the lake country was safe for the winter, Gates, in obedience to orders from Washington, sent him part of his force, and shortly afterwards marched with the remainder of his troops to the assistance of the commander-in-chief. New Military Movements. Including these troops, Washington's force now numbered about six thousand men fit for duty. The enlistments of many of them would expire on the last day of December, and it was of the highest import- ance that something should be done to re- vive the confidence of the country before these men should be lost to the army. The circumstances in which Washington was placed required a blow to be struck in some quarter. A victory would be productive of the most important moral results ; a defeat could do no more than ruin the cause, and a policy of inaction was sure to accomplish that. An opportunity at once presented itself The British had ceased their pursuit, and though they held New Jersey in strong force, had scattered their detachments through the state. General Howe was in New York, and Lord Cornwallis was at the same place, and was about to sail for Eng land. Both commanders believed the Ame- rican army to be too seriously crippled to assume the offensive during the winter. The Hessians, who constituted the advance-guard of the royal forces, were stationed along the Delaware. Colonel Donop had his head- quarters at Burlington, and Colonel Rahl 401 i02 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. was at Trenton with a force of fifteen hun- dred men. Rahl was a brave and competent officer, but he entertained such a thorough contempt for the Americans that he neglected to protect his position by earthworks or other defences. The Hessians kept the country in terror ; they were inveterate thieves, and plundered both patriot and royalist without mercy. They had earned the decD and abiding hatred of the Ameri- can soldiers by bayoneting the wounded in the battles in which they had been engaged. Midnight Marches. Washington now determined to re-crc's the Delaware and attack the Hessians at different points. A force of twenty-four hundred picked troops under his own com- mand was to cross the river a few miles above Trenton and attack the enemy at that place; and the same time another detach- ment under Reed and Cadwallader were to cross over from Bristol and drive the Hes- sians under Colonel Donop out of Burling- ton. These attacks were to be simultaneous, and w^ere ordered to be made at five o'clock on the morning of the twenty-sixth of De- cember. The division of Washington was accom- panied by a train of twenty-four field-pieces under Colonel Knox. The river was high and full of floating ice, and the weather was cold and stormy. A detachment of boats had been collected for the service, and was manned by Colonel Glover's regiment of Marblehead fishermen, who had ferried the army over the East River in the retreat from Long Island. The march was begun just after dark on Christmas night, and Wash- ington hoped to reach the New Jersey shore by midnight ; but the passage of the river was difficult and tedious by reason of the floating ice and the high wind which re- peatedly swept the boats out of their course; and it was four o'clock before the artillery was landed. The march was at once re- sumed. Washington, with the main body, moved by a wide circuit to gain the north of the town, while a detachment under Sul- livan was ordered to advance by the river road and attack the enemy from the west and south sides. A blinding storm of hail und snow delayed the advance of the troops, but also concealed their movements from the enemy ; and it was eight o'clock before Trenton was reached. The attack was at once begun, and was pressed with vigor. The Hessians were completely taken by suprise ; they flew to arms promptly, but by this time the Ameri- cans had gained the main street, and were sweeping it with a battery of six pieces. Colonel Rahl was mortally wounded w^hile leading his grenadiers to the charge, and his men, seized with a panic, endeavored to re- treat. Finding that they were surrounded, about one thousand of them threw down their arms and surrendered. The remainder succeeded in escaping and joining Colonel Donop at Burlington. The magnanimity of Washington was shown on this occasion by his paying a friendly visit to Colonel Rahl, who was lying at Trenton on his dying bed. Washington expressed his sympathy for the wounded officer, who, upon his death, is believed to have been buried in the graveyard of the First Presbyterian Church, where his sup- posed remains were found ^fty years later. The Victory at Trenton. The Americans lost two men killed, and two were frozen to death on the march Several were wounded. They took one thousand prisoners with their arms. Thirty^ two of the captives were officers. Washington now learned that the ice was so thick in front of Bristol that Reed and THE DECLARATION OF IXDEI'EXDENCK. 403 Cadwalkidcr Jiad not been able to get their cannon over the river, and had not attacked die enemy at Burlincrton. He therefore deemed it best to withdraw into Pennsylva- nia, as Donop's force was still intact at Bur- lington, and the enemy had another column detachments along the river, and had retreat- ed in haste to New Brunswick and Princeton. The news of the victory at Trenton was received with delight in all parts of the country, and men began to take hope. Sev- eral regiments, whose terms of enlistment' WASHINGTON CALLS ON COLONEL RAHL at Princeton, a few miles distant. On the evening of the twenty-sixth he returned to his camp beyond the Delaware. The next day he learned from Reed and Cadwallader, who had crossed the Delaware on the twen- ty-seventh, that Donop had called in all his expired on the last day of December, were induced to remain six weeks longer. Wash- ington resolved to make an effort to recover New Jersey, and men of influence were sent to rouse the militia of that State to take up arms for the defence of their homes 404 THE AMERICAN REVOLUIION. Altogetiier matters assumed a more promis- ing aspect than they had worn at any period of the war. On the thirtieth of December Washington recrossed the Delaware and took position at Trenton. Honors Conferred on Washington. About the same time Congress bestowed upon Washington the highest proof of their confidence in his wisdom and integrity that a free people can ever confer upon a leader. On the twenty-seventh of December Congress conferred upon General Washington, by a formal resolution, unlimited military power for six months. The committee, in their let- ter informing him of this act, wrote ; " Happy is it for this country that the general of their forces can safely be entrusted with the most unlimited power, and neither personal secu- rity, liberty, nor property be in the least endangered thereby." The confidence of the country was not misplaced. Never was dic- tatorial power used more wisely or unselfish- ly, and never did its exercise produce more beneficial results. It was resolved by Congress to secure assistance from abroad, and on the thirtieth of December Benjamin Franklin, Silas Deane and Arthur Lee — the last of whom wan appointed in place of Mr. Jefferson who could not go — were sent as commissioners to France to secure the assistance of the government of that country. France was not yet prepared to go to war with England, and the commissioners could do no more than secure aid in money, which was expend- ed in the purchase of supplies and military stores, which were shipped to the United States. It was arranged that this money should be repaid by Congress in the produce of the country, especially in tobacco, which was to be shipped to France through a mer- cantile house. The assistance thus obtained was of the greatest service to the Americans. CHAPTER XXVTTl The Year 1777 ^ Howe Attempts to Crush Washington — Battle of Princeton — The British Confined to the Seaboard — Recovery of New Jersey — The American Army ki Winter Quarters at Morristown — Effects of the American Successes — Difficulty of Procuring Troops — Washington Refuses to Exchange Prisoners — His Course Approved by Congress — Measures of Congress — Naval Affairs — Tryon Burns Danbury — Gallantry of Arnold — Troubles in the Northern Department- Congress Adopts a National Flag — " The Stars and Stripes " — Course of France towards the United States — France Decides to Assist the Americans — Lafayette — His Arrival in America — Capture of the British General Prescott — Howe Threatens Philadelphia — Washington moves Southward — Battle of the Brandy wine — Washington Retreats to the Schuylkill — ^Wayne's Defeat at Paoli — Philadelphia Evacuated by the Americans — It is Occupied by the British — Battle of Germantown — The British Attack the Forts on the Delaware — They are Abandoned by the Americans Burgoyne's Army in Canada — Advance of Burgoyne into New York — Investment of Ticonderoga — It is Abandoned by the Americans— The Retreat to Fort Edward— Burgoyne reaches the Hudson — Murder of Miss McCrea — Siege of Fort Schuyler — Batde of Bennington — Critical Sitaution of Burgoyne — Gates in Command of the American Army— ■ Battle of Behmus' Heights and Stillwater — Surrender of Burgoyne's Army — Clinton in the Highlands. GREAT was the atonishment of General Howe when he learned of the battle at Trenton. He could scarcely believe that a hand- ful of militia had captured a strong force of veteran troops led by such a commander as Colonel Rani. He at once took prompt measures to repair the disaster. Lord Corn- wallis, who was on the eve of sailing to Eng- land, was ordered to resume his command in New Jersey, and a force of seven thousand men was rapidly collected and placed under his orders. These troops rendezvoused at Princeton. Washington was informed of these move- ments, and ordered Generals Mifflin and Cadwallader to join him without delay. They reached Trenton the first of January, with thirty-five hundred men. This Increased the American force to about five thousand men fit for duty. Upon the approach of Cornwallis' army, Washington took position behind the Assunpink, and prepared to dis- pute the passage of that stream. The fords and bridge over the creek were carefully guarded, and were swept by the fire of the artillery placed to command them. A force under General Greene and Colonel Hand was thrown forward to hold the enemy in check, and so retarded their movements that the British army did not arrive before Trenton until four o'clock in the afternoon of January 2, 1777. Cornwallis made several deter- mined efforts to force a passage of the creek, but was each time driven back by the well- directed fire of the provincials. Thinking that he could accomplish more the next day, the British commander drew off his men, resolving to renew the attack in the morning when, he boasted, he would " bag the fox." Both armies encamped for the night in sight of each other, reddening the sky with the glow of their camp-fires. The situation of the American army was now critical in the extreme. A retreat into Pennsylvania was impossible, as the Dela- ware was full of floating ice, and could not be passed in the face of such an army as that of Cornwallis. The issue of the next day's conflict was, to say the least, doubtful, for the army of Cornwallis was composed mainly of veteran troops, and he was himself a leader 405 !o6 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. of genuine ability. In this emergency Wash- ington determined upon one of the most brilliant and well-conceived operations of the war. It was known to him that the British AMERICAN MARKSMAN IN A TREE. had their main depot of supplies at New from Princeton Brunswick, and he supposed from the pres- ence of so many troops with Cornwall is that this depot had been left unguarded. He therefore resolved to break up his camp, and march by an unfrequented road around the left flank of the enemy to Princeton, capture the force stationed there, and then hasten to New Brunswick and secure the stores at that place. Sending his heavy baggage and stores down the river to Burlington. Washington silently withdrew his army from its position at midnight, leaving the camp-fires burning to deceive the enemy, and a small force to watch the British and destroy the bridges after the army had passed on. A forced march brought the Americans within three miles of Princeton by daybreak, on the morning of the third of January. The army was divided into two divisions, one under Washington and the other under General Mer- cer, which approached the town by different routes. Three British regiments on their way to Trenton had passed the previous night at Princeton, and had re- sumed their march at dawn. The first of these, under Colonel Mawhood, was encountered by the division of General Mer- cer, about two miles As Mawhood supposed Mercer's force to be a party retreating from Trenton, he at once resolved to attack it. His attack was successful. The Americans were driven back, and General Mercer was THE YEAR 1777. 407 wounded, bayoneted, and left on the field apparently dead. Mercer's troops fell back in confusion, and a body of Pennsylvania militia, which had been sent by Washington to their assistance, was held in check by the fire of the British artillery. At this moment, Washington, who had been rendered anxious by the obstinate and continued firing, arrived on the field. A glance showed him the broken and shattered regiments of Mercer falling back in confusion, and the Pennsylvania militia wavering under the heavy cannonade directed against them. Not a moment was to be lost, and putting spurs to his horse, he dashed forward in the face of the fire of Mawhood's artillery, and waving his hat, called upon the troops to rally and follow him. The effect was elec- trical ; the fugitives rallied with a loud cheer and reformed their line, and at the same moment a Virginia regiment, which had just arrived, dashed out of a neighboring wood and opened a heavy fire upon the enemy. A little later the American artillery came up, and opened a shower of grape upon the British. Mawhood was driven back, and with great difficulty succeeded in regaining the main road, along which he retreated with all speed to Trenton. General Mercer Mortally Wounded. The second British regiment, advancing from Princeton to Mawhood's assistance was attacked by St. Clair's brigade, and was speedily driven across the country towards New Brunswick. The third regiment, seeing the fate of their comrades, became panic- stricken. A portion fled towards New Brunswick, and the remainder took refuge in the college building at Princeton. They surrendered after a few shots from the Ame- rican artillery. The Americans lost but a few men in this battle ; but General Mercer, a brave and efficient commander, was mortally wounded, and died a few days after the engagement. The British lost about one hundred killed and three hundred prisoners. Eager to secure the stores at New Bruns- wick, Washington pushed on with speed in that direction, but after passing a few miles beyond Princeton decided to abandon the attempt. He was sure that Cornwallis would pursue him as soon as his retreat from Tren- ton was discovered, and his men were too much exhausted to reach New Brunswick before the arrival of the enemy. They had been without rest for a night and a day, and some of them were barefooted. His gen- erals sustained him in the opinion that it was injudicious to continue the movement against New Brunswick, and he reluctantly abandoned it, and withdrew in the direction of Morristown. New Jersey Saved from the Enemy. When Cornwallis discovered the with- drawal of the Americans on the mornine of the third of January, he was greatly per- plexed to know in what direction they had gone. In a little while the sound of the cannonade at Princeton revealed to him the route taken by them, and he at once under- stood the design of Washington. He must save his stores at any risk, and he broke up his camp and set out for Princeton and New Brunswick. The Americans had obstructed the Princeton road and had broken down the bridge over Stony Creek, a few miles from the town. Without waiting to rebuild the bridge, the British commander forced his men through o the icy waters, which were breast high, and hastened through Princeton with all speed. Believing that Washington had hurried on to New Brunswick, Cornwallis marched direct to that place, and did not notice the deflection of the American army from the 4o8 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. main route. Reaching New Brunswick, he made arrangements to defend the town, which he supposed would be attacked. In the meantime the American army retreated to a strong position at Morristown, where the troops erected huts in which to pass the Avinter. Finding that the enemy did not attack him, Washington ventured to extend his line. His right was at Princeton, try beyond their lines, and rarely ventured without their camps. By the beginning of spring Cornwallis had abandoned every post in New Jersey save New Brunswick and Perth Amboy. From these points he could communicate with and draw his supplies from New York by water. Thus was New Jersey almost entirely redeemed from the enemy. The WASHINGTON'S QUARTERS AT MORRISTOWN. under General Putnam, and his left, under General Heath, was in the Highlands. His own headquarters were at Morristown. For six months neither party attempted any movement of importance. Wasliington was not idle, however. Though he had but the ^skeleton of an army at Morristown, he dis- l)layed such activity in cutting off the forag- ing parties of the British that they were unable to draw any supplies from the coun- I militia of the state recovered from their former despondency and warmly seconded the efforts of Washington against the British. Confidence was returning to the country ; and though men felt that the struggle might yet be long and arduous, it was not as hope- less as they had feared. Washington passed the winter in endeav- oring to reorganize the armv and fit it for THE YEAR 1777. 409 the work required of it in the spring. The policy of short enlistments adopted by Con- gress was the source of very great trouble, and the expiration of the enlistments of a large part of the army during this winter caused the commander-in-chief the greatest 'anxiety. He repeatedly condemned this policy, and endeavored to procure the sub- stitution of a Ioniser term. Great efforts were made to procure recruits, but they came in very slowly. In order to check the ravages of the small-pox in the camp, the recruits Avere inoculated immediately upon their arrival. Efforts were now made to bring about an exchange of prisoners. The British objected to an exchange of man for man, on the ground that the Americans w ere rebels, and such an exchange would be an acknowledg- ment of their belligerent rights. Somewhat later General Howe, who had about five thousand prisoners in New York, renewed the negotiation. The British had treated the captured Americans with great severity and had confined them in warehouses in New York, and in foul hulks anchored in the bay. They were improperly fed, and were allowed to remain almost naked. Tl:eir sufferings were fearful, and they were reduced and emaciated in strength and body, until they were truly said to resemble " walk- ing corpses." British cruelty never exhibited itself in a more inhuman form than in the treatment of these unfortunate captives by the royal officials. More than ten thousand of them died in New York, during the war, from the effects of this treatment. When General Howe's proposal to ex- ^'change these men for the Hessians taken by the Americans was received, it was declined by Washington. The Hessians had been well fed and well treated by the Americans, and were hale and hearty, and Washington was unwi!lin the necessity of providing for the troops. It was clearly understood that a failure to sustain the army would result in the defeat of the cause. Urgent appeals were made by Congress to all the States, especially to those of New England, to sup- ply the wants of the army, and Congress endeavored to negotiate a loan abroad. Direct taxation was resorted to to provide money at once. The British in Virginia. The year 1781 opened with a military ex- pedition under the command of the traitor Arnold, now a brigadier-general in the British service. Early in January he was sent by Sir Henry Clinton, with sixteen hundred British and Tories, from New York to the Che-sapeake to ravage the shores of Virginia, After plundering the plantations along the lower bay and the James, Arnold ascended the river, and landing his troops marched to Richmond. Thomas Jefferson, tnen Governor of Virginia, called out the militia, but only a handful responded. Arnold occupied Richmond, burned the public buildings and some private dwellings, and then re-embarked and dropped down the the river to Portsmouth. Washington was anxious to capture him, and sent Lafayette with a force of twelve hundred men south- ward by land to prevent Arnold from escaping overland to join Cornwallis in the Carolinas, and at the same time the French fleet sailed from Newport for the Chesapeake to prevent the escape of the traitor by water. The British Admiral Arbuthnot followed the French fleet and brought it to an en- gagement off the mouth of the Chesapeake. The Fiench were worsted and obliged to return to Newport, and Admiral Arbuthnot entered the bay and reinforced Arnold with two thousand British troops under General Philips, who assumed tl^^ command at Ports- 30 mouth and fortified his position there. From his camp he sent out detachments to ravage the country in all directions. Lafayette, in the meantime, upon hearing of the failure of the plan, halted at Annapolis, in Maryland. Arnold, upon being superseded by Philips, returned to New York. Battle of the " Cowpens." Early in January Cornwallis, who was at Winnsborough, South Carolina, sent Colonel Tarleton, with a force of one thousand cavalry and light infantry, to cut off Mor- gan's division from the column under Gen- eral Greene. Morgan was between the Broad and Catawba Rivers at the time, and upon hearing of Tarleton's approach began to retreat towards the Catawba. Tarleton pushed on with such speed that Morgan saw he must be overtaken. He accordingly halted and took position at the " Cowpens," about thirty miles west of King's Mountain, and rested his men. Tarleton arrived in front of this position on the seventeenth of January and made an impetuous attack upon the Americans. At first he drove the mili- tia before him, but Morgan keeping his Continentals well in hand, suddenly wheeled upon him and drove him from the field. The two forces were about equal. Morgan lost but eighty men, while the loss of the British was over six hundred. Tarleton escaped from the field with only a few of his cavalry. Cornwallis moved forward as soon as he learned of Tarleton's defeat. He supposed that Morgan would be encumbered with his wounded and prisoners, and would be slow in leaving the scene of his victory, and he hoped by a rapid march to come up with him, crush him, and rescue the prisoners before he could join General Greene. Mor- gan was much too wary to be caught in ^ such a trap. He felt sure Cornwallis would 466 THE AMERICAN kEVOLUTION. seek to avenge Tarleton's defeat, and leaving his wounded under a flag of truce, he re- sumed his retreat with all speed immediately after the batde, and hurrying towards the Catawba, crossed that river. Two hours after he had passed it the advance of Cornwallis' army reached the bank o^ the river, but owing to a sudden rise in the stream were unable to cross it. The British v/ere detained in this manner for two days, during which Morgan rested his GENERAL DANIEL MORGAN. men and sent off his prisoners to a place of safety. Two days after the passage of the Catawba Morgan was joined by the troops under General Greene, who had heard of the vic- tory of the Cowpens, and was advancing to the assistance of his lieutenant. Greene was not yet strong enough to meet the British, and he continued the retreat toward the Yadkin. He moved slowly, and his rear guard was Still engaged in the passage of the Yadkin when the advance guard of Corn- wallis reached that stream, on the third o\ February. Cornwallis had burned all his heavy baggage, and had reduced his army to the strictest light marching order, in the hope of being able to intercept Greene. A skirmish ensued on the banks of the Yadkin, and night coming on the British commander deferred the passage of the stream until the next day. During the night a heavy rain swelled the river so high that it could net be forded, and the Americans had secured all the boats on the other side. Greene, profiting by this delay, hurried on to cross the Dan into Virginia, where he could receive reinforcements and sup- plies. Morgan was left to cover the retreat of the army, but falling ill was obliged to relinquish the command of the rear guard to Colonel Otho H. Williams. Cornwallis passed the Yadkin as soon "^' as possible and strained every nerve to ^ prevent Greene from crossing the Dan. He supposed the Americans would not be able to cross at the lower ferries, but would be obliged to pass the river higher up, where it could be forded. He there- fore urged his army to its utmost exer- tions to secure these fords before the arrival of the Americans. Perceiving Cornwallis' error. Colonel Williams re- treated towards the upper fords and so confirmed the British commander in his delusion. Having led the British sufficiently out of the way, Williams wheeled about, and by a rapid march of forty miles in twenty-four hours down the river, rejoined Greene, who had moved with all speed to the lower ferries, where, in anticipation of his retreat, he had collected a supply of boats. The Dan was passed on the fifteenth of February, and the American army was safe from its pursuers. An hour or two later Cornwallis, who had discovered his mistake and had marched THE CLOSE OF THE WAR. 467 vith speed from the upper fords, appeared oil the opposite bank of the river, only to see his adversary safely beyond his reach. The river was too deep to be forded, and Greene had all the boats in his possession. Corn- wallis was deeply mortified at his failure to intercept Greene. He had pursued him for over two hundred miles, and had made great sacrifices to come up with him, but the American commander had managed to elude him and had successfully carried out one of the most brilliant retreats in history. The Americans regarded their escape as provi- dential, and not without cause. Their way across the Carolinas might be tracked by the blood from their feet ; and twice, when the enemy had come within gunshot of them, the rising of the waters of the Catawba and the Yadkin, which they had passed in safety, had held back the British and enabled them to escape. After resting his men for a few days on the banks of the Dan, Corn- wallis fell back to Hillsborough. Greene Compelled to Retreat. Having received reinforcements, General Greene recrossed the Dan, about the last of February, and advanced into the Carolinas to watch Cornwallis and encourage the patriots of that region. Cornwallis, being short of supplies, moved slowly southward. Greene followed him cautiously, too weak to risk a battle, but ready to take advantage of thq, first error on the part of his adversary. His movements were conducted with the utmost circumspection, and in order to guard against a surprise he never remained in the same place more than one day, and /kept secret until the last moment the places he selected for his encampments. In the imeantime he was gradually receiving rein- forcements from Virginia and Maryland, until his army numbered four thousand men. Feeling himself strong enough to attack the enemy, Greene left his baggage at a point of safety and advanced to Guilford Court-house, seventeen miles distant, with the intention of bringing Cornwallis to a decisive en^afiement. Here he was attacked' by Cornwallis on the fifteenth of March, and after one of the hardest-fought battles of the war was compelled to retreat. Greene with- drew in good order, and Cornwallis, though victorious on the field, was so sorely crippled that he was unable to make any pursuit, and was obliged to fall back to Wilmington, near the mouth of Cape Fear P>.iver. By the time he reached that place his army had been so much weakened by desertions and losses in' battle that it amounted to but four- teen hundred men. Operations in South Carolina. Greene had lost a thousand militia by desertion during his retreat, but was soon enabled to supply their places. He then moved into South Carolina for the purpose of attacking the British force under Lord Rawdon, which was posted at Camden. He advanced to Hobkirk's Hill, about two miles from Camden, where he was attacked on the twenty-fifth of April by Lord Rawdon. After a sharp engagement Greene was de^ feated and obliged to retreat. He withdrew his army in good order, having inflicted upon his adversary a loss about equal to his own. Rawdon was unable to derive any advantage from his victory, as he could not bring Greene to another general engagement. The activity of the American partisan corps in his rear alarmed him for the safety of his communications with Charleston, and he abandoned Camden and fell back to Monk's Corner. In the meantime Lee, Marion, Pickens, and the other partisan leaders had broken up the fortified posts of the British with 468 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. such success that by the month of June, 1 78 1, only three positions of importance remained to the British in So'ith Carolina Charleston, Nelson's Ferry and Fort Ninety- six, near the Saluda. The last-named posi- LORD RAWDON, AFTERWARD MARQUIS OF HASTINGS. lion was of the greatest importance, and was held by a force of Carolina Tories. Lee and Pickens w^re sent against Augusta, Georgia, and captured it after a close invest- ment of seven days. General Greene him- self marched against Ninety-six and laid siege to it. Being informed that Lord Raw don was marching to relieve it, he deter- mined to carry the fort by assault before Rawdon could arrive. The assault was made on the eighteenth of June, but was repulsed with severe loss. Greene theni raised the siege and retreated across the Saluda. Early in July the excessive heat put an end to active opera- tions on the part of the two armies. Greene withdrew to the high hills of the Santee, and the British went into camp on the Congaree. A bitter partisan war- fare now sprung up between the patriots and the tories, and continued during the summer. Houses were pillaged and burned, farms were laid waste and no quarter was given by either party. Even women and children were included in these dreadful mas- sacres. Lord Rawdon now resolved to add to the horrors of this war- fare by executing as traitors those who had given their parole not to engage in the war or had received a protection, if they should be taken in arms. Among the prisoners taken by the British at the capture of Charleston, was Colonel Isaac Hayne, a distinguished citizen of that place. His wife THE CLOSE OF THE WAR. 469 was dying and his children were helpless, and he gave his parole to remain neutral, in order to be able to take care of them, and was promised protection. At a later period, the British commander being in need of rein- forcements, Hayne was ordered to take up arms against his country in behalf of the king. He regarded himself as relieved from ihis parole by this command, and soon after escaped from Charleston and raised a partisan corps, at the head of which he was captured. He was condemned to die as a traitor ; and though the inhabitants of Charleston, both patriot and royalist, petitioned for his pardon, it was refused, and he was hanged, by order of Lord Rawdon, on the 5 th of August. Life for Life. His execution was regarded by the Amer- icans as cruel and unjust, and as contrary to military law. General Greene felt himself obliged to retaliate by executing as deserters all those prisoners who had formerly served in his own army, and so bitter was the feeling of the American troops that they could scarcely be prevented from shooting the British officers who fell into their hands. Lord Rawdon now sailed for England, and left the command of his army to Colonel Stewart, an officer of ability and experience. At the close of the summer General Greene, whose army had been increased by the com- mands of Marion and Pickens to twenty- five hundred men, resumed the offensive. He attacked the British at Eutaw Springs on the eighth of September, and after a severely con- tested battle the left wing of the British was . routed. In the moment of victory the Amer- ican army stopped to plunder the enemy's camp, and the British, taking advantage of the del xy, rallied and made a stand in a large stone Imvusc, from which they could not be driven. Greene was forced to draw off his troops a«»d leave the field to the British, who lost seven hundred men in the engagement. The American loss was fi/e hundred men. Both sides claimed the victory; but the ad- vantage certainly was not with the Bricish, who lost more than a third of their men. Colonel Stewart, in view of this loss, fell back to the vicinity of Charleston. Greene followed him as far as Monk's Corner, and then returned to the hills of the Santee. The American commander had abundant reason to be satisfied with the result of his opera- tions in South Carolina. He had rescued the greater part of the State from the British, and had confined them to the region between the Santee and the lower Savannah. He had repeatedly engaged the enemy with the most inadequate means and under the most unfa- vorable circumstances, and had never failed, even though defeated, to accomplish the object for which he fought. He had baffled the British commanders over again, and, like William of Orange, had managed to derive greater advantages from his reverses than his adversaries w^ere able to draw from their victories. Plan to Recapture New York. Washington was well pleased with the achievements, in the South, of his most trusted lieutenant. He \vas very anxious to attempt something decisive with his own army, if he could secure the aid of a French army and fleet. Two enterprises offered themselves to him — an attack upon New York, which had been greatly weakened by detachments sent from its garrison to the sou:h, and an expedition against Cornwallis. That commander had left Wilmington on the- twentieth of April, and had advanced, without encountering any serious resistance, to Petersburg, Virginia. He arrived there on the twentieth of May, and was joined by the troops under General Philips, who had been plundering the countrj^ along the James river. 4;o THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. While Washington was hesitating which would be the best course to pursue, a French frigate arrived at Newport, with the Count de Barras on board, who had come to take command of the fleet at Newport. He brought the good news that a fleet of twenty ships-of-the-line, under the Count de Grasse, having on board a considerable force of troops, had sailed for America, and might be expected to arrive in the course of a few months. Washington held a conference with the Count de Rochambeau, at Weathersfield, Connecticut, and it was resolved to attack New York. The French army was to march from Newport and form a junction with the Americans on the Hudson. A frigate was "despatched to the West Indies to inform the Count de Grasse of this arrangement, and to ask his co-operation in the proposed attack. Cornwallis Strongly Intrenched. Sir Henry Clinton, who suspected the designs of Washington, now ordered Lord Cornwallis, who had' crosssed the James river, and was at Williamsburg, to send him a reinforcement of troops. Cornwallis pre- pared to comply with this order, and for that purpose marched towards Portsmouth, followed cautiously by Lafayette and Steu- ben, who had with them about four thousand American troops. On the march a slight engagement occurred, near Westover, be- tween Lafayette and Cornwallis, in which the Americans narrowly escaped a defeat. The British army crossed to the south side of the James, and a detachment was embarked for New York. At this moment a second order was received from Sir Henry Clinton, who had received a reinforcement of Hessians from England, directing Cornwallis to retain all his force, choose some central position in Virginia, fortify himself in it, and await the development of the American plans. Corn- wallis should have taken position at Ports* mouth, from which place his line of retreat to the South would have remained intact. In an evil hour for himself he recrossed the James, and crossing the peninsula between that river and the York, took position at the towns of Gloucester and Yorktown, opposite each other, on the York River. He had with him an army of eight thousand effective troops, and proceeded to fortify his position with strong intrenchments. A number of vessels of war were anchored between Yorktown and Gloucester to main- tain the communication between those points and to assist in the defence of the place. During all this time the financial affairs of the republic were growing worse and more hopeless. The continental currency had become utterly worthless, one dollar in paper being worth only one cent in coin at the opening of the year 1781. In the .spring of that year Congress sought to put an end to its financial troubles by taking the control of the finances from a board which had hitherto managed them, and intrusting them to Robert Morris, whose services in behalf of the cause have been mentioned before. Return to Specie Payments. Morris was an experienced financier, and had opposed with all his energy the system of making continental money a legal tender. He now made a return to specie payments the condition of his acceptance of the trust imposed upon him by Congress. On the twenty-second of May, 1781, Congress most unwillingly resolved : " That the whole debts already due by the United States be liqui- dated as soon as may be to their specie value, and funded, if agreeable to the creditors, as a loan upon interest ; that the States be severally informed that the calcu- lations of the present campaign are made in solid coin, and, therefore, that the requisition* THE CLOSE OF THE WAR. 471 from them respectively being grounded on those calculations, must be complied with in such manner as effectually to answer the the purpose designed ; that experience having evinced the inefficacy of all attempts to support the credit of paper money by compulsory acts, it is recommended to such States where laws making paper bills a tender yet exist to repeal the same." On the thirty-first of May continental bills, being no longer a legal tender, ceased to cir- culate. Henceforth all ., transactions were to be in hard money. The result amply vin- dicated Morris' views. He induced Congress to establish the Bank of the United States at Philadelphia, with a capital of two millions of dollars and a char- ter for ten years. This bank was allowed the privilege of issuing its own notes, which it was required to re- deem in specie upon presentation. This re- quirement gained for the bank the confi- dence of the people, and capitalists availed themselves of it for the investment of their money. Morris used the bank freely in his public operations, and at the same time used it so wisely that he was able to secure all the aid it was capable of bestowing without subject- ing it to too severe a strain. He raised the credit of the government higher than it had ever stood before, and was able to do much towards paying the soldiers and supplying them with food and clothing. As often as the public funds failed he pledged his own credit to supply the deficiency. No man did more to contribute to the success of the cause than Robert Mcnic, and no man received more ingratitude from the govern- ment and people of the Union than he. In July. Washington was joined in the Highlands by the French army under Count de Rochambeau, and preparations were' made to attack New York. An intercepted letter informed Sir Henry Cli^pn of this design, and he exerted himself to put the ^jMSm-SUXD^ SCENE IN THE HIGHLANDS OF THE HUDSON. city in a state of defence. In the midst of his preparations Washington received a letter from the Count de Grasse, stating that he would sail for the Chesapeake instead of Newport. This decision of the French admiral compelled an entire change of plan on the part of the Americans. As De Grasse would not co-operate with them, they must abandon the attack upon New York, and attempt the capture of Cornwallis at Yorktown. No time was to be lost ir 472 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. making the attempt, for it was now the month of August. By a series of skilful movements Sir Henry Clinton was induced to believe that an attack upon New York would soon be made, and at the same time the American army was marched rapidly across New Jersey, followed by the French. Lafayette, who was in Virginia, was ordered to prevent at all hazards a retreat of Corn- wallis' arn^ to North Carolina, and was directed to ask assistance of General Greene if necessary. Cornwallis Entrapped. The plan of Washington was to blockade Cornwallis in the York river by means of the French fleet, and at the same time to besiege him in Yorktown with the army. The troops were somewhat unwilling to undertake a southern campaign in August, but their good humor was restored at Phila- delphia, where they received a part of their pay in specie, and a supply of clothing, arms and ammunition, which had just arrived from France. From Philadelphia the combined armies proceeded to Elkton, at head of the the Chesapeake, where they found trans- ports, sent by the French admiral and by Lafayette, to convey them to the James river. The first intimation Sir Henry Clinton had of a change in the American plans was the sudden sailing of the French fleet from New- port on the twenty-eight of August. Sup- posing that De Barras's object was to unite with another fleet in the Chesapeake, Clinton sent Admiral Graves to prevent the junction. Upon reaching the capes the British admiral was astonished to find the fleet of the Count de Grasse, consisting of twenty ships-of-the 'line, anchored within the bay. De Grasse at once put to sea as if to engage the enemy, but in reality to draw them off and allow De Barras to enter the Chesapeake. For five days he amused the English by constant skirniiijhing. De Barras at length appeareo and passed within the capes, and De Grasse at once followed him. Admiral Graves was unwilling to attack this combined force and returned to New York. The movement of the American arrny to the south was known to Clinton, but he sup- posed it was only a manoeuvre to draw him off of Manhattan Island into the open coun- try. When the Americans were beyond the Delaware and the French fleets had effected their junction in the Chesapeake, he recog- nized his mistake and saw that the object of Washington was the capture of Cornwallis. It was too late to prevent it ; but in the hope of compelling Washington to send back a part of his force to defend New England, Clinton sent the traitor Arnold with -a. large body of troops to attack New Londo^ Vi Connecticut. On the sixth of September Arnold captured that town and burned the shipping and a large part of the town. A Horrible Massacre. He then took Fort Griswold, on the oppo- site side of the Thames, by storm, and basely massacred Colonel Indyard, the commander, and sixty of the garrison after the surrender of the fort. The militia of the State were summoned to take up arms for its defence, and responded in such numbers that Arnold became alarmed for his safety and returned to New York. The object of his expedition failed most signally. Washington left New England to defend herself, and continued his movement against Cornwallis. Cornwallis was very slow to realize his danger. He believed the small force under Lafayette the only command opposed to him, and on the tenth ofSeptember wrote to Clinton that he could spare him twelve hundred men for the defence of New York. He did not perceive his error until the French fleet had .X THE CLOSE OF THE WAR. 473 anchored in the Chesapeake and cut off his escape by water. He then attempted to retreat to North CaroHna, as Washington had foreseen, but Lafayette, who had been reinforced by three thousand French troops under the Marquis de St. Simon, from the 'fleet of De Grasse, was too active for him, and finding his retreat impossible, CornwaUis the British, and on the ninth of October the cannonade was begun. It was continued for four days, and the British outworks were greatly damaged, and several of their vessels in the river were burned by means of red- hot shot thrown into them by the French vessels. On the fourteenth two of the ad- vanced redoubts of the enemy were stormed VIEW OF YORKTOWN. sent urgent appeals to Clinton for assistance, and strengthened his fortifications. ^ In the meantime the American and French armies descended the Chesapeake, and took position before Yorktown, while the French fleet closed the mouth of York river. The siege was begun on the twenty-eight of Sep- tember. Sixteen thousand men were pre- sent under Washington's orders. Works were erected completely enclosing those of and taken, one by the Americans, the other by the French. From the positions thus gained a very destructive fire was maintained upon the English lines, which were broken in many places, while many of their guns were dismounted and rendered useless. On the fifteenth CornwaUis found himself al- most out of ammunition, and unable to maintain his position but for a few days lonp'er. 474 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. In this strait the British commander re- solved upon the desperate alternative of cross- ing the York to Gloucester, abandoning his sick and wounded and baggage, and endeavor- ing to force his way northward by extraor- dinary marches to New York. It was a hopeless undertaking, but Cornwallis resolved to make the trial. On the night of the six- leenth of October he crossed a part of his srmy from Yorktown to Gloucester, but a sudden storm delayed the passage of the He sent to Washington an offer to surren- der, and the terms were soon arranged. On the nineteenth of October Cornwallis sur« rendered his army of seven thousand met. as prisoners of war to Washington, as com mander of the allied army, and his shipping seamen and naval stores to the Count de Grasse, as the representative of the king ol France. Washington despatched one of his aids to Philadelphia to communicate the good news SURRENDER OF LORD CORNWALLIS. river by the second divisio..'' until after day- light, when it was useless to make the attempt. The first division was with difficulty brought back to Yorktown, as the boats were exposed to the fire of the American batteries while crossing the river. Nothing was left to Cornwallis now but a capitulation, as his works were in no condition to with- stand an assault, and simple humanity to his men demanded that the contest should cease. to Congress. The officer pushed forward with all speed, and reached Philadelphia at midnight, and delivered his message. Soon the peals of the State-house bell roused the citizens, and the watchmen took up the cry, " Cornwallis is taken ! Cornwallis is taken!" The people poured out into the streets in throngs, and no one slept in Philadelphia that night. The next day Congress proceeded in a body to a church and gave thanks for the great victory. A national thanksgiving THE CLOSE OF THE WAR. 475 was ordered, and throughout the whole land rejoicings went up to God for the success which all men felt was decisive of the war. On the nineteenth of October, the day of the surrender of Cornwallis, Sir Henry Clin- ton sailed from New York to his assistance with a force of seven thousand men. Off the capes he learned of the surrender of the British army at Yorktown, and as his fleet was not strong enough to meet that of the French he returned at once to New York. "It is All Over." The news of the surrender of Cornwallis was received in England with astonishment and mortification. It was the second time England had lost an entire army by capture, and her efforts to subdue the United States were no nearer success than they had been at the opening of the w^ar. The English people had never regarded the attempt to conquer America with favor, and they now became more open and energetic in their demands for peace. " Lord North, the prime minister," says an English writer, " received the intelligence of the capture of Cornwallis as he would have done a cannon ball in his breast; he paced the room, and throwing his arms wildly about, kept exclaiming, ' O God ! it is all over ! it is all over !' " The king and the aristocracy, however, had no thought of yielding yet to the popular pressure, and were resolved to carry on the war. After the surrender at Yorktown, Wash- ington urged the Count de Grasse to coop- erate with General Greene in an attack upon Charleston. The French admiral declined to comply with his request, alleging the necessity of his immediate return to the West Indies. The French troops were quar- tered for the winter at Williamsburg, Vir- ginia, and the American army returned northward and resumed its old position on the Hudson. Washington, though con- vinced that peace was close at hand, did not relax his vigilance, and urged upon Congress the necessity of preparing for a vigorous campaign the next year ; but so thoroughly was Congress carried away by the prospect of peace that his recommendations were unheeded. In the south the British and Tories were so disheartened by the surrender of Corn- wallis that they ceased active operations and evacuated all their posts but Savannah and Charleston. General Greene at once dis- posed his army in such a manner as to con- fine them closely to Charleston. In the Northern States the only place held by the British was New York. Indian and Tory Outrages. Though active operations had ceased on the part of the two armies, a cruel and destructive warfare was continued by the Indian allies of the British against the border settlements of Pennsylvania and Virginia, and a similar warfare was maintained by thej Tories and Indians along the frontier of New York. These outrages involved the Christ- ian Delaware Indians in the punishment of the guilty savages. The Delawares had become converted to Christianity under the influence of the Moravian missionaries, and had removed from the Susquehanna to the Muskingum. They were suspected by the Americans of the crimes of their heathen brethren, and in the spring and summer of 1782 their towns were destroyed and numbers of them were slain. The war was carried into the country of the W^yandottes by the whites, but with less success. On the sixth of June a force of Pennsylvanians under Colonel Crawford was defeated by the Wyandottes. In the same summer a band of northern Indians led by Simon Girty, a Tory of infamous 476 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. character, invaded Kentucky. They were met by the Kentuckians under Boone, Todd, and other leaders. A severe battle was fought at the Big Blue Lick, and the Ken- tuckians were defeated with the loss of nearly one-half their force. Story of Captain Huddy. Some of the staunchest patriots and some of the most ferocious Tories resided in Mon- mouth county. New Jersey. The patriots built a block-house of logs at Dover, which was a strongly fortified building. The only method of ingress or egress was by the use of a scaling ladder. Captain John Huddy was commander of this post, and was one of the bravest men who fought for the Amer- ican cause. His house was once surrounded by his foes, but esccping he jumped into the waters of the bay, and as he swam he shouted, "I am Huddy!" His escape on this occasion was remarkable. On March 20, 1782, a party of forty Tories and eighty seamen, all fully armed, left New York in whaleboats for the pur- pose of capturing Captain John Huddy. Their coming was announced by scouts, and preparations were made to receive them. The battle was one of the fiercest of the war. The powder in the fortress at length gave out, and Huddy, with sixteen men, four of whom were wounded, was taken prisoner. Huddy was a prisoner of war, and was entitled to treatment as such, but his enemies conspired to put him to death. He was executed on the morning of April 12, and his last words were, " I shall die innocent, and in a good cause." ' Captain Lippincott, who ordered Huddy 's execution, cursed his men because they were unwilling to take the life of so brave a foe, and with his own hand helped to pull the rope. Returning to New York he reported to the board of loyalists that he had " ex- changed " Captain Huddy for Philip White. The pastor of the Presbyterian church at Freehold preached the funeral sermon from the front porch of the old Freehold hotel, and the body was buried with the honors of war. The desire of the English people for the close of the war had grown too strong to be resisted, and the king and his ministers were at length forced to yield. The impossi- bility of conquering America had become so apparent to the continental nations that in the spring of 1782 the Dutch republic recognized thie independence of the United States, and received John Adams as envoy from that government. The king of Eng- land maintained his obstinate opposition to the wishes of his people to the last moment. On the twenty-second of February, 1782, a resolution was introduced into the House of Commons to put an end to the American war and was supported by the leaders of the Whig party. It was defeated by a majority of one, but on the twenty-seventh of February a similar resolution was introduced and was carried by a majority of nineteen. England Gives Up the Struggle. On the twentieth of March Lord North and his colleagues were forced to relinquish their offices, and a new ministry was formed under the Marquis of Rockingham. Sir Henry Clinton was removed from his com- mand in America, and was succeeded by Sir Guy Carleton, whose humane conduct of the war while governor of Canada we have related. Carleton arrived in New York in May, 1782, with full powers to open nego- tiations for peace. He at once put a stop to the savage warfare of the Tories and Indians on the borders of western New York, and opened a correspondence with Washington proposing a cessation of hostilities until a definite treaty of peace could be arranged. CAPTAIN HUDDY LED ^^^y** P^.^LSON TO BE HANGED 47^ THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. Five commissioners were appointed by Congress to conclude a peace with Great Britain. They were John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, Henry Laurens, who had just been released from the tower of London, where he had been kept a prisoner jfor about a year, and Thomas Jefferson. Mr. Jefferson was unable to leave America. Five commissioners were appointed by Great Britain to treat with " certain colonies " named in their instructions. A Treaty Formed. The commissioners from the two countries met at Paris, but the American commis- sioners refused to open negotiations except in the name of the " United States of America." This right was acknowledged by Great Britain, and on the thirtieth of November, 1782, a preliminary treaty was signed, which was ratified by- Congress in April, 1783. This treaty could not be final because by the terms of the alliance between the United States and France neither party could make a separate treaty of peace with England. In January, 1783, France and Great Britain agreed upon terms of peace, and on the third of September, 1783, a final treaty of peace was signed by all the nations who had engaged in the war — by the United States, France, Spain and Holland on the one side, and Great Britain on the other. Great Britain acknowledged the independ- ence of the States of the Union in the fol- lowing words : " His Britannic Majesty acknowledges the said United States, viz. : New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecti- cut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Caro- lina, South Carolina and Georgia, to be free, sovereign and independent States ; that he treats with them as such; and for himself, his heirs and successors, relinquishes all claim to the government, proprietary and ter^ ritorial rights of the same, and every part thereof." It should be observed that the treaty acknowledged the independence and sovereignty of each of the thirteen States, and not of the United States as a single nation. The independence of the States had already been recognized by several of the European powers : by Sweden, on the fifth of February, 1783; by Denmark, on the twenty-fifth of February, 178^; by Spain, on the twenty-fourth of March ; and by Russia in July, 1783. Treaties of friendship and commerce were entered into betve^a the United States and these powers. Washington and His Army. During the year 1782 the greater part oC the American army was encamped at New- burg, on the Hudson. Washington mad* his headquarters in an old stone house, which was well adapted for defence and con- cealment, one of the rooms having seven doors leading to other parts of the house, and but one window. The troops were unpaid and were neglected by Congress and by the various States. Washington warned the government of the danger of further neglect of the army, but his warning was unheeded, and in March the patience of the army was so far exhausted that it was seriously proposed to march to Philadelphia and compel Congress to do justice to the troops. Washington appealed to the officers to remain patient a little longer, and pledged himself to use his influence with Congress to fulfill its neglected promises to the army. His appeal quieted the trouble for a time. Congress shortly after agreed to advance full pay to the soldiers for four months, and to pay in one gross sum the full pay of the officers for five years. The condition of the country was a sub' ]ect of the gravest apprehension. It wa« WASHINGTON S HEAD-QUARTERS AT NEWBURGH, NEAV YORK. THE ROOM WITH SEVEIJ DOORS AND ONE wr'Dt'W. 479 480 THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. plain that the articles of confederation were not capable of continuing the Union much longer, and many persons believed that the only hope of preserving a regular govern- ment, and a permanent union to the country, lay in the establishment of a monarchy. In May, 1782, Colonel Nicola, of the Pennsyl- vania line, at the instance of a number of Dfficers, wrote a letter to Washington, pro- posing the creation of a monarchy, and offer- ing him the crown. Washington indignantly refused to entertain the proposition, and severely rebuked the writer of the letter. Peace at Last. In the spring of 1783 the news of the signing of the preliminary treaty of peace was received in America, and was officially communicated to the nation in a proclama- -ion by Congress. On the nineteenth of April, 1783, just eight years from the com- mencement of the war at Lexington, the close of hostilities was proclaimed, in general orders, to the army at Newburg. A general exchange of prisoners followed, and large numbers of Tories were obliged to leave the country, as they feared to remain after the protection of the British forces was vath- drawn. They emigrated chiefly to Canada, Nova Scotia, and the West Indies. The final treaty having been signed, the army was dis- banded on the third of November, and the troops, with the exception of a small force, returned to their homes to enjoy their well- earned honors and the thanks of their grate- ful countrymen. On the twenty-fifth of November the British evacuated New York, which was at once occupied by a small force of Americans, under General Knox. In December Charleston was also evacuated by the British. On the second of December Washington issued a farewell address to the army, and on the fourth of that month took leave of the officers at New York. He then proceeded to Annapolis, where Congress was in ses- sion, and on the twenty-third of December, under circumstances of great solemnity, re- signed his commission to that body, and after receiving the thanks of Congress for the able and faithful manner in which he had dis charged the task intrusted to him, retired to his home at Mount Vernon, which he had not visited for eight years, except for a few hours, while on his way to attack Cornwallis at Yorktown. BOOK V From the Close of the Revolution to the Civil War CHAPTER XXXI The Adoption of the Constitution — Washington's Administration CJnsettled Gjndition of the Country — Failure Lf the Articles of Confederation — Desire for Reform — Meeting of the Federal Convention at Philadelphia — The Constitution of the United States — Adoption of a Decimal Currency — The North- west Territory — Washington Elected President — His Journey to New York — Establishment of the New Government — The First Cabinet — Financial Measures — Removal of the Capital Agreed Upon — The Government at Philadelphia — The First Census — The Indians of the Northwest Conquered — Re-election of Washington — Division of Parlies — The French Revolution — The United States Neutral — Citizen Genet — Efforts to Commit the United States to the French Alliance — Genet's Recall Demanded — The " Whiskey Insurrection " — Jay's Treaty with England — Opposition to It — Negotiations with Algiers — Political Disputes — Hostility to Washington — His Farewell Address — Its Effect Upon the Country — Election of John Adams to the Presidency — Admission of Vermont, Kentucky and Tennessee — Retirement ^f Washington — Results of His Administration. THE long war was over and inde- pendence had been achieved ; but the condition of the country was such as to excite the gravest ap- prehensions. The country was exhausted by the sacrifices and burdens of the war, and its debts amounted to the enormous sum of one hundred and seventy millions of dollars, a sum vastly out of proportion to its resources. Two-thirds of these debts had been contracted by Congress ; the re- mainder by the States. The articles of con- federation were found inadequate to the task of enforcing the authority of the general government, and the States treated the orders of Congress with neglect. Commerce was sadly deranged for the want of a uniform system. The States entered into competition with each other for the trade of foreign nations, and articles which were required to pay 31 hcctvy duties in some of the States were admitted free of duty in others. Many of the States were unable to enforce the collec- tion of taxes within their own limits. The British merchants at the close of the war flooded the American markets with their manufactures at reduced prices. The result was that the domestic manufactures of the States were ruined ; the coimtry was drained of its specie, and the merchants and people of the Union were involved in heavy debts. A general poverty ensued in the Eastern States, which gave rise to much discontent. In Massachusetts, in Dec«^mber, 1786, a body of a thousand men, under Daniel Shays, assembled at Worcster and com- pelled the Supreme Court to adjourn in order to prevent it from issuing writs for the collection of debts. The militia was called out and " Shay's Rebellion " was put down ; but it was evident that the sympathies oi 48 1 482 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. the people were largely with the insurgents. These troubles brought home to the whole country the necessity of a more perfect system of government, and measures were begun for bringing about the changes needed. In September, 1783, delegates from five of ihe States met at Annapolis to deliberate upon a plan for the improvement of com- merce and the revenue. They recommended the assembling of a convention to revise the articles of confederation ; and, accordingly, 0^ mcA^^Y^i^ delegates from all the States met for this purpose at Philadelphia in May, 1787. Among the more prominent of these may be named Samuel Johnson, Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth, of Connecticut ; Dun- ning Bedford and George Read, of Delaware; William Few, George Walton and Abraham Baldwin, of Georgia; Daniel Carroll, James McHenry and Luther Martin, of Maryland; Nathaniel Gorham, Caleb Strong, Elbridge Gerry and Rufus King, of Massachusetts ; John Langdon and Nicholas Gilman, of New Hampshire ; Jonathan Dayton, William Livingston and William Patterson, of New Jersey ; John Lansing, Robert Yates and Alexander Hamilton, of New York ; Alex- ander Martin, Richard D. Spaight and Wil- liam R. Davie, of North Carolina ; Robert Morris, Gouverneur Morris, James Wilsoii and Benjamin Franklin, of Pennsylvania; John Rutledge, Pierce Butler, Charles Pinckney and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, of South Carolina; Edmund Randolph, George Mason, James Madison and George Washington, of Virginia. Patrick Henry was opposed to the general objects of the convention, and therefore declined any par- ticipation in its action. Mr. Jefferson was Minister to France, and not in the country at the time. Birth of the Constitution. George Washington, who was one of the delegates from Virginia, was unanimously chosen president of the convention. The sessions of this body lasted four months, and the convention, instead of revising the arti- cles of confederation, adopted an entirely new constitution. Each article of this con- stitution was discussed with care and minute- ness, and with great feeling. The sessions of the convention were held with closed doors ; but its proceedings were so far from harmonious that there were several occa- sions when it seemed likely the convention would break up in confusion, and leave its work unfinished. At length, however, through the patriotism and forbearance of its members, the convention brought its work to a close, and presented the constitu- tion to Congress. It was submitted by that body to the several States for their approval. The State governments summoned con- ventions of their respective people, and sub- mitted the constitution to them for their acceptance or rejection. By the end of 1788 WASHING' N'S DECEPTION AT TRENTON 484 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. that in apportioning their representation in it was ratified by eleven States, North Carolina did not ratify it until November, 1789; and Rhode Island held aloof from the Union until May, 1790. The right of these States to reject the constitution, and to continue their separate existence as inde- pendent States, was not questioned by any one. The new constitution was not entirely satisfactory to any party, and represented the sacrifices made by all to achieve the great end of a central government, strong enough to carry out the objects of the Union. It was a document of compromises, three of which were of especial importance. The first was a concession to the smaller States, which had feared the loss of their independence ; they were placed on the same footing as the larger States by being given an equal representation in the Senate. The second was a concession to the slave- holding States of the south, and guaranteed Congress three-fifths of the slaves were to be included with the white population. The third was a concession to Georgia and South Carolina, and granted them permission to continue the African slave-trade until 1808. The delegates from those States refused to sign the constitution except upon this con- dition. Decimal Currency. In the meantime Congress had taken a step of the highest importance in adopting the plan, presented by Mr. Jefferson, for a decimal currency. Until now the use of the English currency had been general in all the States. In August, 1786, our present sys- tem of dollars and cents was adopted by Congress, and a mint was established some- what later. The government was so poor, however, that it could only coin a small quantity of copper cents. The sessions of Congress were held at New York. In the session of 1787 a meas- ure was adopted, which had the most im- portant influence upon the subsequent his- tory of the country. The treaty of Paris fixed the Mississippi river as the western boundary of the United States. This river consequently became the western limit of Virginia, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. In 1784 Virginia ceded to the general gov- ernment of the United States her claim to the vast region owned by her beyond the Ohio. Massachusetts and Connecticut soon followed her example, and New York also ceded her western territory to the govern- ment. In July, 1787, Congress organized this vast region as the territory of the northwest. It was provided that slavery should never be permitted to exist in this territory, or in any of the States which might afterwards be formed out of it. This wise provision, which WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION. 485 was the basis of the wonderful prosperity of this great region, was due to the foresight ot Thomas Jefferson. The northwest being secured to freedom, emigration soon set in, and it began its great career of prosperity which has since known no slackening. Washington Elected President. It was provided by the constitution that when it should have been ratified by two- thirds of the States, it should go into opera- tion on the fourth of March, 1789. Eleven of the States having ratified the constitution, elections were held for President and Vice- President of the United States, and for mem- bers of Congress. New York was named as the seat of the new government. The fourth of March, 1789, was ushered in with a public demonstration at New York; but a sufficient number of members of Congress to form a quorum for the transaction of busi- ness did not arrive until the thirtieth of March. On the sixth of April the electoral votes were counted, and it was found that George Washington had been unanimously chosen first President of the United States, and John Adams Vice-President. Charles Thompson, the oldest secretary of Congress, was sent to Mount Vernon to notify Washington of his election, and a mes- senger was despatched to Boston on a similar errand to Mr. Adams. Washington promptly signified his acceptance of the office, and, two days later, started for New York. It was his desire to travel as quietly and unos- tentatiously as possible, but the people of the States through which he passed would not permit him to do so. His journey was a constant ovation. Crowds greeted him at every town with the most enthusiastic demon- strations of affection and confidence ; trium- phal arches were erected ; his way was strewn with flowers by young girls ; and maidens and mothers greeted him with songs com- posed in his honor. In consequence of these demonstrations his progress was so much retarded that he did not reach New York until the latter part of April. On the thirtieth of April Washington appeared on the balcony of Federal Hall, New York, on the site of which the United States Treasury now stands, and took the oath of office in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, and a large crowd of citizens assembled in the streets below. He then repaired to the Senate chamber, and there delivered an address to both houses of Congress. The organization of the government being now complete, Congress proceeded to arrange the executive department by the creation of the depart- ments of state, the treasury and war. Presi- dent Washington appointed Thomas Jeffer- son, secretary of state, Alexander Hamilton, secretary of the treasury, and General Henry Knox, secretary of war. John Jay was mad^ 486 THE INAUGURATION OF WASHINGTOI^, WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION. 487 chief justice of the United States, and Edmond Randolph, attorney-general. The new government found itself face to face with many difficulties, the principal of which was the payment of the national debt. This debt was in the form of notes of the government, or promises to pay for value received. These notes had been issued by the States as well as by Congress during the revolution, and had been given in payment for services rendered the general and State governments, and for supplies. In Janu- ary, 1790, Alexander Hamilton proposed to pay all these debts in full, and that the general government should assume the war debts of States. This plan met with considerable oppo- sition at first, but was at length adopted. It was also arranged that the revenue of the country should be divided as follows: As the control of commerce had passed into the hands of Congress the revem e derived from the duties levied upon im ported merchandise was to be applied to the uses of the general government. The proceeds of the direct taxes upon rea. estate and other property, which coula be levied only by the respective States, were to be used for the expenses of those States. It had been for some time considered desirable to remove the seat of federal government to some point more central than New York, and which could be brought under the supreme control of Congress. In 1790 it was resolved that the seat of govern- ment be fixed at Philadelphia for ten years, and at the end of that time be removed to a new city to be built on the banks of the Potomac. A federal district, ten miles square, was ob- tained by cession from Virginia and Mary- land, and was placed under the sole control of the United States. The foundations of a new city, named Washington, in honor of the " Father of his country," were laid on the left bank of the Potomac, a short dis- tance below the falls of that river, and build- ings for the accommodation of the general government were begun and pushed forward as rapidly as possible. The general government was removed to Philadelphia in 1791, and in December of that year the second Congress began i' sessions in that city. The principal measu of this session was the establishment of thu GEORGE- WASHINGTON. Bank of the United States, in accordance with the recommendations of Alexander Hamilton. The bank was chartered for twenty years, and its capital was ten millions of dollars, of which the government took two millions and private individuals the re- mainder. The measure was carried in the face of considerable opposition in Congress, but was very beneficial to the government, as well as to the general business of the country. The notes of the bank -vere 488 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. payable in gold and silver upon presentation at its counters. Commerce now began to show signs of a great revival from the stagnation and loss caused by the war. The duties levied upon foreign goods gave to domestic manufac- turers an opportunity to place themselves upon a firmer foundation. Very great im- provements were made in the character of American manufactures. In New England INDIAN CHILD IN CRADLE. the weaving of cotton and woolen goods was be^un, in a feeble way it is true, but the foundation was laid of that great industry which has since been a constant and grow- ing source of wealth to that section. In 1790 the first census of the United States was taken, and showed the population to be 3,929,827 souls. The Indians of the northwest had been very troublesome for some time. The British agents in that region incited them to hostility against the United States, and urged them to claim the Ohio as their southern and eastern boundary. They com- mitted innumerable outrages along this river and almost put a stop to the trade upon its waters by attacking and plundering the flat-; boats of the emigrants and traders which were constantly descending the river. The general government resolved to put a stop to their outrages, and General Harmer was sent against them in 1790, but was defeated with great loss. " Little Turtle " Defeats St. Clair. In 1 79 1 General St. Clair, the governor of the northwest territory, was placed in command of an expedition against the savages. He set out from Fort Washing- ton, now Cincinnati, about the middle of September, with a force of two thousand men, but near the headwaters of the Wabash was surprised and defeated by an Indian force under Little Turtle, a famous chief of the MiamJs. The wreck of his army fled to Fort Washington, and the frontier was once more defenceless. President Washington now placed General Anthony Wayne in command of the forces destined to operate against the Indians. With his usual energy Wayne assembled his army at Fort Washington, and in the sum- mer of 1 794 marched into the Indian country, laid it waste and defeated the Indian tribes in the battle of the Maumee on the twentieth of August. In the summer of 1795 the Indians, cowed by their defeat and alarmed by the withdrawal of the British from the frontier posts, met General Wayne at his camp on the Miami and entered into a treaty with the United States by which they ceded all the eastern and southern part of Ohio to the whites and withdrew farther westward. WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION. 489 In the elections of 1792 Washington and Adams were chosen President and Vice- President of the United States for a second term of four years. The disputes which had been begun by the adoption of the constitu- tion had been continued during the first term of Washington's presidency, and had given rise to two political parties — the Federalists, or those who favor a strong national government, and who supported the administration, and the Anti-Federalists, who opposed the policy of the administration. Among the leaders of the Federalist party were Washington, Adams, Hamilton and Jay ; among the Anti-Federalist leaders were Jefferson, Madison and Monroe. Reign of Terror in France. The differences between Jefferson and Hamilton increased with time, and soon as- sumed the character of a personal hostility, a circumstance which was productive of great trouble to the president, since it prevented his cabinet from acting harmoniously. As the quarrel deepened, the Anti-Federalist party repudiated that title, and took the name of Republican^ as it better expressed their principles. The political questions entered largely into the second election, and pre- vented Mr. Adams from receiving the unani- mous vote which was given to Washington. Shortly after the commencement of Wash- ington's first term of office, the French revo- lution broke out, and drew upon France the attention of the whole world. The events of this great struggle were watched with the deepest interest in America, for the nation cherished the warmest sentiments of grati- tude to France for her aid in the revolution. The Republican party urgently favored an alliance with the French republic, but Washington and the greater part of his cabinet were resolved to maintain a strict neutrality as to all European quarrels. The excesses of the revolutionists shocked the public sentiment of America, and the events of the reign of terror cooled the zeal of many of the most ardent friends of the French republic. Still party feeling ran high upon the subject, and the disputes were yet very bitter when Mr, Edmond Charles Genet, or " Citizen Genet," as he was gen- erally styled, arrived in the United States, in 1793, as minister from the French republic. He brought the news that France had de- clared war with Great Britain. He v.;i'c»vcU ALEXANDER HAMILTON. received by the Republicans, who were anxious that the United States should become the ally of France, and thus engage in anew war with Great Britain. Washington and his cabinet were unmoved by this clamor, and a proclamation was issued declaring the neutrality of the United States in the war between Great Britain and France, and warning the American people to refrain from the commission of acts inconsistent with this neutrality. The firmness of the President in resisting the demand for au 490 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. alliance with France saved the country from innumerable losses, perhaps from the des- truction of the work of the revolution. Genet, encouraged by the sympathy of the Republican party, was determined to embroil the United States with Great Britain to such an extent that they would be compelled to make common cause with France. He therefore began to fit out privateers from American ports against the commerce of England. He was warned by the govern- ment that he w^s transcending his privileges as a r.iinister of a friendly power, but paid no attention to this rebuke. The Republican party now took a more active stand in favor of the French alliance, and its more ultra members assumed the name of Democrats, and others styled themselves Democratic Republicans. The determination of Presi- dent Washington not to interfere in the quarrels of Europe was vehemently assailed, and the newspaper? of this party went so far as to denounce the President and his sup- porters as the enemies of France, and the friends and secret supporters of their old op- pressor, the king of England. Genet was greatly deceived by these clamors, which he mistook for the sentiment of the American people. He took a step fur- ther, and authorized the French consuls i the American ports to receive and sell vei sels captured by French cruisers from the English, with whom the United States were at peace. He also contemplated raising a force in Georgia and the Carolinas for the purpose of seizing Florida, and another in Kentucky for the conquest of Louisiana, both of which regions were then held by Spain, a power friendly to the United States. The patience of the President having been exhausted by Genet's insolent conduct, W^ashington requested the French govern- ment to recall him, which it did in 1794, much to the astonishment of citizen Genet. M. Fauchet was appointed in his place. GtJijt did not return home, but became a citizen of the United States. Whiskey Tax Unpopular. The impunity with which Genet had braved the federal government gave rise to fears that it was not strong enough to enforce its authority. Advantage was taken of this feel- ing in an unexpected quarter. The fertile region of Western Pennsylvania, watered by by the Monongahela and its tributaries, had been settled by a hardy population, chiefly of Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, who had with great labor and amid constant exposure to the attacks of the Indians, redeemed the land from the wilderness, and covered it with thriving farms and orchards. Grain and apples and peaches were their staple products ; the grain was distilled into whiskey, and the fruits were made into brandies, WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION. 491 One of Hamilton's favorite measures for the raising of a revenue was the imposition of an excise or duty upon whiskey. This tax was generally unpopular throughout the country, but especially so in the four western counties of Pennsylvania. The settlers of this region organized themselves in secret societies for the purpose of resisting this tax, and at length, in 1792, rose in rebellion against the government, refused to pay the tax, and drove off the excise officers. The best men in this section were engaged in the rebellion, and it was openly proposed to separate from Pennsylvania and form a new State. Nearly seven thousand armed men assembled, and declared their intention to resist the authority of the State and federal governments. England 'imcatens Our Commerce. Matters remained in this condition for about two years, and at length Washington, finding it necessary to employ force for the suppression of the revolt, sent a strong body of troops to compel the rebels to submit. Upon the appearance of the troops, the leaders of the movement fled, and the " Whiskey Insurrection " suddenly came to an end. This vigorous action of the federal govern- ment greatly added to its strength. The fidelity with which Washington sought to discharge his duty towards England, as a neutral, was but little appreciated by the government of that country, which con- ducted itself towards the United States in a manner that seemed likely to result in an. other war. By the treaty of Paris England had agreed to surrender the frontier posts held by her forces within the limits of the United States. These were still retained, and were made by the British agents so many centres for stirring up the Indians to acts of hostility against the Americans. Orders were issued to the British naval officers to seize and detain all vessels laden with French goods, or with provisions for any of the French colonies. As the Ameri- can ships were largely engaged in trade with France and her colonies, this order threat- ened the commerce of the States with ruin. The feeling of indignation against Eng- land, caused by these outrages, was increasing throughout the Union, and the country was rapidly drifting into a war with that king- dom. The interests of the United States ,M^Jc demanded peace with all the world, as the country was yet too weak and unsettled to endure another war with safety. This neces- sity was recognized by Washington and his advisers, and the constant aim of the Presi- dent was to avoid, as far as possible, all com- plications which might lead to war. The conduct of Great Britain could not be passed by, and if a settlement of the matter, con- sistent with the honor and interests of the republic could not be arranged, war was in- evitable. 492 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. Anxious to exhaust all peaceful means of settlement, President,Washington sent John Jay, the chief justice, to England to enter into negotiations with the British govern- ment for the settlement of all matters in dis- pute between the two countries. Mr. Jay was eminently qualified for the task, both by his remarkable abilities and his great and honorable services to the country since the outbreak of the revolution. He was received in England with great respect, and in the course of a few months concluded a treaty, which was submitted to the Senate of the United States for ratification. By the terms of this treaty Great Britain agreed to give up the western posts within two years, to grant to American vessels the privilege of trading with the West Indies upon certain condi- tions, and to admit American ships free of restrictions to the ports of Great Britain and tiie English East Indian possessions. On the other hand provision was made by the United States for the collection of debts due British merchants by American citizens. This treaty did not please any party entirely, not even Mr. Jay himself; but it was the best that could be obtained from Great Britain at the time, and as such was accepted by the administration, which threw all its influence in favor of its adoption. It met with very great opposition in the Senate and subjected the president to a great deal of adverse criticism throughout the country. One of the powerful advocates of the treaty was Fisher Ames, of Massachusetts, who did much by his resistless eloquence to insure the adoption of the measure, After a fortnight's debate in secret session the Senate advised the ratification of the treaty. The Treaty Secures Peace. The acceptance of this treaty, imperfect and unsatisfactory as it was, secured peace to the United States for a number of years at this most critical period of its history. In 1795 treaties were also negotiated with Spain, by vdiich the boundaries between the United States and Louisiana and Florida were definitely settled. The navigation of the Mississippi was made free to both parties, and the Americans were granted the privi- lege of making New Orleans, for three years, the place of deposit for their trade. The commerce of the United States, which was increasing rapidly, was confined chiefly to the New England States. A lucra- tive trade with the countries of Europe bordering the Mediterranean had grown up, but was greatly interfered with by the Algerine pirates, who sallied out from their harbors on the African coast and captured many of the vessels engaged in this trade and sold the crews into slavery. The European powers had purchased exemption from these outrages by paying an annual tribute to the Dey of Algiers. The United WASHING! OX'S ADMINISTRATION 403 States for the present thought it best to follow the universal custom, and ransomed the captive American sailors by the payment of nearly a million of dollars. At the san:e time the more sensible policy of establishing a navy for the protection of American com- merce was resolved upon, and in 1795 a bill was passed by Congress for the construction of six first-class frigates. This was the be- ginning of the United States navy. Mr. Jefferson had retired from the cabinet at the close of 1793, and after his with- drawal party quarrels ran higher than ever. The motives and con- duct of the President were denounced with great bitterness by his opponents, and he was subjected to consider able annoyance b\' these attacks. He continued with firm ness the course h' had marked out foi himself, trusting to time and the good sense of his country- men for his vindica tion. In September, 1796, he issued a fare- well address to the people of the United States, in which he announced his purpose to retire from public life at the close of his second term, and delivered to his countrymen such counsels and admonitions as he deemed suited to their future guidance. It was the warn- ing of a father to his children engaged in a difficult and all-important undertak- ing. ' It had a most happy effect. It brought up the memory of the great and unselfish r services of Washington, and enabled his countrymen to see him in his true light. The gratitude of the nation, which had been long obscured by party passions, burst forth in a mighty streim, and from every quarter came evidences of the affection and venera- tion of the American people for their great leader. Congress adopted a reply to the farewell address, expressing the highest con- fidence in the wisdom and integrity of Washington, WW winter of SCENE IN THE MAMMOTH CAVE, KENTUCKY. 1796-97 nearly all the State legislatures adopted similar resolutions. At the elections held in the fall of 1796 the Federalists put forward John Adams as their candidate, while the Republicans sup- ported Thomas Jefferson. The contest was* very bitter, and resulted in the election of Mr. Adams. Mr. Jefferson, receiving the next highest number of votes, was declared Vice President, in accordance with the law as it then stood. 494 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. During the administration of President Washington three new States were admitted into the Union, making the whole number of States sixteen. They were Vermont, which was admitted on the fourth of March, 1791, making the first new State under the constitution ; Kentucky, which was admitted of the presidency the government was new and untried, and its best friends doubted its ability to exist long; the finances were in confusion and the country was burdened with debt; the disputes with Great Britain threatened to involve the country in a new war; and the -authority of the general gov- WASHINGTON S HOME AT MOUNT VERNON. in 1792 ; and Tennessee, admitted on the first of June, 1796. At the close of his term of office, Wash- ington withdrew to his home at Mount Ver- non, to enjoy the repose he had so well earned, and which was so grateful to him. His administration had been eminently suc- cessful. When he entered upon the duties ernment was uncertain and scarcely recog- nized. When he left office the state of affairs was changed. The government had been severely tested and had been found equal to any demand made upon it ; the finances had been placed upon a safe and healthy footing, and the debt of the country had WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION. been adjusted to the satisfaction of all parties concerned in it. The disputes with England had been arranged, and the country, no longer threatened with war, was free to devote its energies to its improvement. Industry and commerce were growing rap- idly. The exports from the United States had risen from nineteen millions to over fifty- •X millions of dollars, and the imports had 495 increased in nearly the same proportion. The rule of non-interference in European quarrels, and of cultivating friendly relations with all the world, had become the settled policy of the republic, and its wisdom had been amply vindicated. The progress of the republic during the eight years of Wash- ington's administration was indeed gratify- ing, and gave promise of a brilliant future. CHAPTER XXXII The Administrations of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson a'nauguration of John Adams — Aggressions of France Upon the United States — The American Commissioners Insukec by the French Government — The Alien and Sedition Laws — The United States Prepare for War with France —France Signifies Her Willingness to Treat — New Commissioners Appointed — Settlement of the Dispute — Hostilities at Sea — Capture of the " Insurgente " and "Vengeance" — Death of Washington — Removal of the Capitol to Washington City — The Second Census — Inauguration of Thomas Jefferson — The President's Message— His First Measures — Ad mission of Ohio — Louisiana Purchased by the United States — War with the Barbary Powers— Burning of the " Phila- delphia" — Re-election of Mr. Jefferson — Aaron Burr Kills Alexander Hamilton in a Duel — Burr's Subsequent Career — Fulton's Steamboat — Outrages of England and France Upon Ati^erican Commerce — American Vessels Searched and American Seamen Impressed Toy England — Efibrts to Settle These Questions — Affair of the " Chesa- peake" and "Leopard" — The Embargo — Results of This Measure — Losses of the Eastern States — Election of Jamr'^ Madison to the Presidency — Repeal of the Embargo — Retirement of Mr. Jefferson. N the fourth of March, 1797, John Adams was inaugurated Presi- dent of the United States, and Thomas Jefferson took the oath of office as Vice President. Mr, Adams was in the sixty-second year of his age, and in the full vigor of health and intellect. He made no changes in the cabinet left by President Washington, and the policy of his adminis- tration corresponded throughout with that of his great predecessor. He came into office at a time when this policy was to be subjected to the severest test, and was to be triumph- antly vindicated by the trial. Mr. Adams began his official career with the declaration of his "determination to maintain peace and inviolate faith with all nations, and neutrality and impartiality with the belligerent powers of Europe." The relations of the United States with France had been of an unfriendly nature for some time. Jay's treaty had greatly offended the French government, and the insolent conduct of M. Adet, the French minister to the United States, had led to a suspension of diplomatic intercourse between the two 496 republics. The French Directory now pro- ceeded to nuanifest its disregard of the rights of America by ordering the seizure of all American vessels in its ports laden with English manufactured goods. At the same time the American minister to France, Charles C^ Pinckney, was treated with such studied insult that he demanded his pass- ports and withdrew to Holland. Privateers were sent out from French ports, which cap- tured American merchantmen and treated their crews as prisoners of war. France also exerted her influence with Spain and Holland to induce them to treat the United States with hostility because of the alleged partiality of Jay's treaty with Great Britain. All this while there was a considerable party in the United States which was anxious for the conclusion of an alliance with France, and which either could not, or would not, see the deliberate purpose of that country to treat v, itb .he American republic only as a dependent. In May, 1797, President Adams called a special session of Congress and laid before it a statement of the relations with France. ADMINISTRATIONS OF ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. 497 The announcement of the insults received by the American minister at the hands of the Directory, and the increased aggressions upon American commerce, aroused a feeling of deep indignation throughout the country, and drew upon the partisans of France in America a considerable amount of deserved odium. In the hope that a peaceful and honorable settlement might yet be had, John Marshall and Eldridge Gerry, the former a federalist and the latter a republican, were appointed special commissioners, and were ordered to proceed to Paris and unite with Mr. Pinckney in the negotiation of a treaty which should not conflict with those existing with other nations, and which should place beyond question the right of the United States to maintain their neutrality. *' Not One Cent for Tribute. Marshall and Gerry joined Pinckney in Paris in October, 1798, and made their busi- ness known to the French minister of foreign affairs, the famous Talleyrand. He at first refused to receive the American envoys in an official capacity, and afterwards employed unknown agents to communicate with them, in order that he might be free to disavow any engagement entered into with them. It soon transpired that the object of these secret in- terviews was to extort money from the com- missioners. They wtre given to understand that if they would pay Talleyrand a certain sum of money for the use of himself and his friends, and would pledge the United States to make a loan to France, negotiations would be begun without cfelay. The answer of the American commission- ers was well expressed in the indignant words of Pinckney : " Millions for defence, not one cent for tribute." Marshall and Pinckney were ordered to quit France at once, but Mr. Gerry was invited to remain and negotiate a 32 treaty. He was nevertheless unable to accom- plish anything. The correspondence between the commissioners and Talleyrand's agents WIS published in ths United States, and arousetl such a storm of indignation that the French party disappeared. It never dared tc make its appearance again. ^-^^^^^^ JOHN ADAMS. About thirty thousand French exiles were residing in the United States at this time, and it was believed by the government that some of these had acted as spies for the Directory. It was known that many had abused the hospitality extended to them by seeking to induce the people of the south and west to join them in an effort to wrest Louisiana and Florida from Spain, and by endeavoring to strengthen the opposition to the efforts of the government to discharge its duty of neutrality towards the European powers. In the spring of 1798, in order to remedy thi« trouble. Congress passed the measures 498 FROM THE REVOLtfTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. known as the "alien and sedition acts," by the first of which the President was em- powered to order out of the country " any foreigner whom he might beheve to be dan- gerous to the peace and safety of the United iStates." By the sedition act it was made a crime, with a very heavy penalty, for any one to " to write, utter, or publish " any " false, scandalous, and malicious writing " against "either House of the Congress of the United States or the President of the United States, JOHN MARSHALL. with intent to defame, or to bring them, or either of them, into contempt and disrepute." These acts met with great opposition through- out the country, and the latter especially was regarded as an effort on the part of the jgovernment to destroy the freedom of the 'press. The alien act was not executed, but a large number of foreigners left the country soon after its passage. Several persons were pro- secuted under the sedition act for their severe criticisms of the government, and the result was invariably to increase the ranks of the Republican party, which steadfastly opposed the laws as unconstitutional and violative of the freedom of the people of the Union: In the summer of 1798 Mr. Marshall returned from France, and his report con- firmed the statements that had been made respecting the hostile intentions of the gov- ernment of that country. The President submitted to Congress a statement of the disputes between the two republics, and Congress, recognizing the danger of war, began to prepare for it. It was resolved f;o create a navy, and the three frigates just com- pleted were fitted for sea. A State of Defence. The President was authorized to nave built, or to purchase or hire twelve ships of war of twenty guns each. An army was ordered to be raised, and the prominent points on the coast were to be placed in a state of defence. Washington was made commander-in-chief of the army, with the rank of Lieutenant-General. He accepted the position, and applied himself with energy to the task of preparing the country for defence. He gave a hearty support to the measures of the President, and used his great mfluence to secure for them a similar approval on the part of the people. In the winter of 1798-99 Congress appropriated a million of dollars to defray the expense of the military preparations, and authorized the construc- tion of six ships of war of seventy-four guns each, and six sloops of war of eighteen guns each. The energy and enthusiasm with which the A^m.ericans prepared for war opened the eyes of Talleyrand. He had not supposed they would fight, and now that he found they would, he was not willing to add to the difficulties of France by engaging in a new ADMINISTRATIONS OF ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. ^\ ar. He therefore signified in an informal manner to Mr. Van Murray, the United States minister in Holland, that the French government was willing to renew diplomatic intercourse with the United States. Mr. Adams, upon being informed of this, resolved to make one more effort to secure a peaceful {settlement of the quarrel. A Council of Peace. He sent Oliver Ellsworth, Chief Justice of the United States; William R. Davie and William Van Murray, minister to Holland, as commissioners to treat with the French republic for a settlement of all difficulties between the two countries. In taking this step he greatly ofifiended many of the leaders of his party, who insisted that overtures for peace should come from France. The most rational and probable solution of Mr. Adams' course, in the absence of direct proof, says the Hon. A. H. Stephens, " is that he acted under the urgent private advice of Washing- ton. Be that as it may, it proved to be one of the wisest and most beneficent deeds of his life." The commissioners were ordered by the president not to enter France unless they were assured they would be received in a " manner befitting the commissioners of an independent nation." Upon reaching Paris the commissioners found that a great change had taken place in the affairs of France. A revolution had unseated the Directory, and Napoleon Bona- parte was at the head of the government as first consul. Commissioners were appointed to meet the American envoys, and negotia- tions were begun and carried forward with such success that on the thirtieth of Novem- ber, 1800, a treaty of peace was signed between the United States and France. In the meantime, though war was not actually declared, hostilities had begun. More than three hundred merchant vessels 49^ were licensed to carry arms for their defence. On the ninth of February, 1799, ^^^ Ameri- can frigate " Constellation " captured the French frigate " L'Insurgente," of about equal force, after a severe engagement of an hour and a quarter, inflictmg upon her a severe loss in killed and wounded. Somewhat later the "Constellation " encountered the French frigate "La Vengeance," of superior force, and in an engagement of about fiv^e hours' duration silenced her fire and inflicted upon her a loss of one hundred and fifty-six men in killed and wounded. The French vessel succeeded in making her escape. These successes were very gratifying to the Ameri- cans, as they showed what their navy could accomplish if given a fair trial. The news of the conclusion of peaee put a stop to hostilities. The army was disbanded, but the navy was kept afloat and the coast defences were maintained. Before the arrival of the new treaty the country was called upon to mourn the loss of its most illustrious citizen, George Wash- ington. He took cold while riding over his estate at Mount Vernon, and was seized with a violent sore throat, from the effects ol which he died on the fourteenth of Decern ber, 1799, in the sixty-eighth year of hi^ age. He was buried in his family vault at Mount Vernon, where his ashes still lie. Honors to the Dead Patriot . The highest honors were paid to his memory by Congress and by the various State governments, and in all parts of the Union a universal mourning was held for the Father of his Country. Not less sincere were the tributes paid in foreign lands to the memory of the illustrious dead. Upon the receipt of the sad news the flags of the Channel fleet of Great Britain were placed at half-mast by order of the Admiral Lord Bridport. Napoleon, then first consul of 500 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. France, caused the standards of the French army to be draped in mourning for ten days and announced the news to the army in the orders of the day. The proudest tribute of all to the grandeur and purity of the charac- ter of Washington is the unceasing and ever bcreasing love and veneration with which session of Congress was opened in the un- finished capitol of Washington. The elections for President and Vice- President were held in the autumn of 1800. Mr. Adams was the Federalist candidate for the Presidency, and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney the candidate of that party fo» S^sTS^ Washington's grave, mount vernon. iis memory is cherished by his country- men. During the summer of the year 1800 the seat of the general government was removed from Philadelphia to the new federal city of Washington, in the District of Columbia. On the twenty-second of November the Vice-President. The Republican or Demo- cratic party nominated Thomas Jefferson for the Presidency, and Colonel Aaron Burr, of New York, for the Vice-Presidency. The alien and sedition laws had rendered the Federalist party so unpopular that the electors chosen at the polls failed to make a ADMINISTRATIONS OF ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. 501 choice, and the election was thrown upon the House of Representatives, according to the terms of the Constitution. On the seventeenth of February, 1801, after thirty-six ballots, the House elected Thomas Jefferson President, and Aaron Burr Vice-President, of the capitol, in the city of Washington, on the fourth of March, 1801. He was in his fifty^ eighth year, and had long been regarded as one of the most illustrious men in America. He was the author of the Declaration of In- dependence, had represented the country as THOMAS JEFFERSON. United States, for a term of four years, from and after the fourth of March, 1801. The second census of the United States, taken in 1800, showed the population of the country to be 5,319,762 souls. Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States, was inaugurated at the new minister to France, had served in the cabinet of General Washington as Secretary of State, and had filled the high office of Vice-Presi- dent during the administration of Mr. Adams. He was thefounder of the Democratic party, and was regarded by it with an enthusiastic devotion which could see no flaw in his 502 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. character. By the Federalists he was de- nounced with intense bitterness as a Jacobin, and an enemy of organized government. He was unquestionably a believer in the largest freedom possible to man, but he was too deeply versed in the lessons of statesman- ship, and was too pure a patriot to entertain for a moment the levelling principles with which his enemies charged him. Under him the government of the republic suffered no diminution of strength, but his administration was a gain to the country. Mr. Jefferson began his administration by seeking to undo as far as possible the evil AARON BURR. effects of the sedition act of 1798. A number of persons were in prison in consequence of sentences under this act at the time of his inauguration. These were at once pardoned by the President and released from prison. At the meeting of the seventh Congress, in December, 180 1, President Jefferson, in pur- suance of an announcement made some time before, inaugurated the custom which has since prevailed of sending a written message to each House of Congress, giving his views on public affairs and the situation of the country. Previous to this the President had always met the two houses upon their assem- bling, and had addreseed them in person. A strong Democratic majority controlled this Congress, and gave a hearty support to the President. The obnoxious measures of the last admin- tration, such as the internal taxes, the taxes on stills, distilled spirits, refined sugars, car- riages, stamped paper, etc., were repealed. In accordance with a suggestion of the Presi- dent a period of naturalization was reduced from fourteen to five years. Measures were also set on foot for the redemption of the public debt, and it was provided that seven millions three hundred thousand dollars should be annually appropriated as a sinking fund for that purpose. Another act, of which the wisdom was not so apparent, was passed for the reduction of the army. Rapid Settlement of Ohio. During the interval which had elapsed since the orginzation of the Territory of the North- west, emigrants had been pouring into liie southern and eastern part of it with gi\at rapidity. In one year twenty thousand new settlers were added to the population of the Territory of Ohio. The population had now become so large that the eastern part of the northwest Territory applied for admission into the Union as a separate State. Its request was granted, and on the nineteenth of February it was admitted into the Union, as the State of Ohio, with a population of seventy thousand. In 1 80 1 France by a secret treaty received back from Spain the Territory of Louisiana. The French did not occupy the country, but left it under Spanish rule. In 1803 the Spanish governor of New Orleans, in viola- tion of the treaty of 1795, closed the port of New Orleans to American commerce. This act aroused the most intense indignation' among the people along the tributaries of the Mississippi, who were thus cut of from ADMINISTRATIONS OF ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. 503 the sea, and it was with difficulty that they could be restrained from an attempt to take possession of Louisiana. Mr. Jefferson had long been anxious to obtain for the United States the country bordering the lower Mississippi, as he was convinced that the power holding the mouth of that river must of necessity control the great valley through which it flows. Accord- ingly, Robert R. Livingston, the American minister at Paris, was ordered to open nego- tiations with the French government for the purchase of Louisiana. Purchase of Ljuisiana. He found this an easier task than he had expected, for Napoleon, who was on the eve of a great European war, was much in need of money, and was by no means anxious to add to his troubles by being obliged to defend Louisiana. A bargain was soon con- cluded by which the United Slates became the possessors of the whole region of Louisiana, from the Mississippi to th i Pacific, embracing over a million of square miles. The United States paid to France the sum of ^15,000,000 for this immense region, and guaranteed to the then inhabitants all the rights of American citizens. " This acces- sion of territory," said Napoleon, upon the completion of the purchase, " strengthens forever the power of the United States, and I have just given to England a maritime rival that will sooner or later humble her pride." This purchase was of the highest import- ance. It about doubled the area of the United States, and placed the whole valley of the Mississippi within the territory of the republic. It was naturally a most popular act, and was approved by the entire nation, with the exception of a small number of the old Federalist leaders. Congress divided this great region into two territories — the Territory of Orleans, corresponding to the present State of Louisiana, and the District of Louisiana, comprising the remainder of the purchase. Mention has been made of the payment of tribute to the dey of Algiers by the United States during the administration of Wash- ington. Previous to 1801 the United States expended nearly two million dollars in pur- chasing exemption from capture for its mer- chant vessels in the Mediterranean. These payments were made to all the Barbary powers, Tunis, Tripoli, Algiers and MoraefcC* The tribute for 1800 was taken to Algiers by Captain William Bainbridge, in the fiigate " George Washington." Nothing could be more distasteful to the gallant Bainbridge, but he had to obey orders. While, thus engaged, the dey of Algiers told him t.) take the tribute of the dey to the Sultan a\. Con- stantinople, and to haul down his own flag 504 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. and run up that of Algiers. This Bainbridge castle guns in the harbor held Bainbridge at refused, whereupon the dey insolently said, | their mercy, he took the advice of the Araer NAPOlEON I. You are my slaves ; for if you are not, [ ican consul and obeyed the orders of his why do you pay me tribute ? I have the right to order you as I please." As the master, the dey, but the captain expressed the hope that he might deliver the next ADMINISTRATIONS OF ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. 505 tribute from the throats of his cannon. As the American republic lay at the other side of the Atlantic, and its ships of war were not often seen in the Mediterranean, the African pirates did not trouble themselves to comply with their agreements, and continued theif outrages upon Amer- ican ships in spite of the tribute paid thenli In 1801 the bey of Tripoli, dissatisfied with the tribute paid him, declared war against the United States, and a number of American war ves- sels were sent to the Mediterranean to pro- tect the commerce of their country in that sea. In 1803 Com- modore Preble was sent to the Mediter- ranean with a fleet. The frigate "Philadel- phia " was stationed to blockade Tripoli, while Preble, with the remainder of the ves- sels, sought to punish the emperor of Mo- rocco by an attack on Tangiers. While thus engaged the " Phila- delphia " ran ashore in chasing an Algerine cruiser. In this help- less condition she was surrounded by Tripo- litan gunboats and captured after a fight which lasted the entire day. Captain Bain- bridge, h<.T commander, and three hundred of hei' cievv were made prisoners. The offi- cers were held for ransom, but the seamen were reduced to slavery. On the fifth of February, 1804, Lieutenant Stephen Decatur, with a picked crew of seventy-six men, entered the harbor of Tripoli 1 CAPTAIN (afterward COMMODORE) BAINBRIDGE AND THE DEY OF ALGIERS. in a small schooner named the " Intrepid," Placing his vessel alongside of the " Phila- delphia " by night, he boarded the frigate as she lay under the guns of the castle and the 5o6 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. Tripolitan fleet, drove the Turkish crew into the sea, set fire to the frigate in every part, and retreated from the harbor without the loss of a man. During the year 1804 the American fleet repeatedly bombarded Tripoli, and did con- siderable damage to it. The war went on until the summer of 1805, when the bey of In the fall of 1804 Mr. Jefferson was elected president for a second term, but this time Colonel Burr was dropped by his party, who nominated and elected George Clinton, of New York, vice-president in his place. Burr had at last experienced the reward of his insincerity : both parties had come to distrust him. After his defeat for the vice • DUEL BETWEEN BURR AND HAMILTON. Tripoli asked for peace, and a treaty was made by which the Tripolitan pirates sur- rendered their captives on payment of a ransom, and agreed to refrain from aggres- sions upon the commerce of the United States in future without payment of further tribute. For some years the American ves- sels were safe from the outrages of the Barbary pirates. presidency he had been nominated by his party as their candidate for governor of New York. He was warmly opposed by Alex- ander Hamilton, who was mainly instru- mental in bringing about his deteat. Burr never forgave Hamilton for his course in this election, and took advantage of the first opportunity to challenge him to a duel. They met at Weehawken, on the banks of ADMINISTRATIONS OF ADAMS AND JKFFERSON. 507 the Hudson, opposite New York, on the eleventh of July, 1804. Hamilton, who had accepted the challenge in opposition to his better judgment, and who had expressed his intention not to fire at Burr, was mortally wounded, and died within twenty-four hours. In him perished one of the brightest intellects and most ear- nest patriots of the republic. His loss was remaining years were passed in restless intrigue. In 1805 he went west, and there undertook the organization of a military movement of some sort, which from the secrecy with which it was conducted, was generally regarded as treasonable and in- tended for his own aggrandizement. In 1806 he was arrested by the United States, and after a prolonged trial, during which he FULTON S FIRST STEAMBOAT. regarded as second only to that of Wash- ington, and the sad news of his death was received in all parts of the country with profound and unaffected sorrow. A feeling of deep and general indignation was aroused against Burr, who found it expedient to withdraw from New York and retire to Georgia until the excitement had subsided. The murder of Hamilton, for it was nothing else, closed Burr's political career. His defended himself with great ability, he was acquitted of the charge of treason. His sub- sequent career was obscure, and he died in 1836, friendless and alone. He was a man of great ability ; but he failed to put his great talents to an honest use. In the year 1807 a great change was made in the system of navigation by Robert Ful- ton, a native of Pennsylvania, who built and successfully navigated the first steamboat. Vu8 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. He named it the " Clermont," and made the «'nyage from New York to Albany, a dis- tarjce of about one hundred and fifty miles, in thirty-six hours. From this time steam navigation rapidly superseded the old sys- tem of sailing vessels in the waters of the United states and exercised a powerful in- luence in the development of the wealth and prosperity of the country. Since the beginning of the century France and England had been at war with each other, and their quarrels had drawn the whole European world into the struggle. The administration of Mr. Jefferson had continued the neutrality of its predecessors, but in a fit of mistaken economy it exhibited the greatest hostility to the navy, which had been reduced to the most inefficient state possible. The commerce of the Union had grown with remarkable rapidity, and the reed of a navy for its protection was now greater than ever. The administration could not be brought to recognize this fact, however, and it regarded the navy as of no other use than to enforce the revenue laws in its home waters. Seizure of American Vessels. The general character of the European war had thrown the commerce of the old world into the hands of the few nations which were not engaged in the struggle. The United States obtained the largest share of this trade, but were not left long to enjoy it in peace. The efforts of Great Britain and France to injure each other had caused them to extend their attacks to neutral nations. The British government, by its " orders in council," declared all vessels engaged in conveying West India produce from the United States to Europe legal prizes.- This measure was intended to cripple France, and at the same time to injure the United States, which had become too suc- cessful a commercial rival to England. A number of American vessels were seized and condemned upon this pretext. Great indig- nation was expressed throughout the United States, but the government did nothing to remedy the trouble. In May, 1806, Great Britain declared the European coast, from Brest to the mouth of the river Elbe, in a state of blockade, thus forbidding neutral vessels to trade with any port within these prescribed limits on pain of capture and con- fiscation. This high-handed measure was a direct blow to the United States. Mutterings of War. It was met on the part of France by an act equally unjustifiable. Napoleon issued his famous " Berlin decree," by which he declared the whole coast of Great Britain in a state of blockade, and forbade the intro- duction of English goods into France, and the admission into French ports of any neutral vessel that should first touch at an English port. In answer to this decree Great Britain forbade all trade with France by neutral nations. Napoleon thereupon issued his " Milan decree," confiscating not only the vessels and cargoes that should violate the " Berlin decree," but also such as submit to be searched by the English. Thus the commerce of the world was placed at the mercy of these two nations. The United States were the chief sufferers by these arbi- trary measures. Their ships were captured by both British and French cruisers, and their remonstrances produced no cessation of the outrages. It was not possible to do anything for the protection of the commerce of the country, as the mistaken policy of the administration had deprived it of ah efficient navy. The whole Atlantic seaboard demanded a change in this respect, and petitions poured in upon Congress asking for the construction of more ADMINISTRATIONS OF ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. 509 vessels of war and for protection from the aggressions of the European powers. The only result of these petitions was a recom- mendation from the president to Congress to build more gunboats. It was not possi- ble to go to war with both England and France, and the American government was left to make a choice as to which power it would undertake to settle the question with. The popular feeling was stronger against England, which, being the most active power at sea, was the principal ag- gressor, and the events to be related finally turned the scale against England. Remonstrance Against British Outraged. The British government maintained the doctrine that no subject could expatriate himself or become a citizen of another coun- try. This was the opposite of the view held by the United States, which welcomed emi- grants from other countries, bestowed upon them the rights of citizenship, and in their new character of adopted citizens protected them. The commanders of the British men- of-war were accustomed to stop American vessels on the high seas and search them for deserters. Under this head they included all persons born within the dominions of Great Britain, whether naturalized American citizens or not. When found on American vessels these persons were removed by force and compelled to serve on board English ships of war. The British officers did not confine these impressments to " deserters," but seized and forced into their service great numbers of native-born Americans, who were thus torn from their homes and con- signed to a slavery which was bitter and cruel to them. The government of the United States addressed urgent remonstrances to that of Great Britain against these outrages, and finally, in the spring of 1806, sent William Pinckney as joint commissioner with James Monroe, then minister to England, for the purpose of negotiating a treaty which should put a stop to the acts complained of The commissioners appointed by Great Britain expressed the desire of their country not to impress American seaman, and their willing- ness to redress as promptly as possible any mistake of the kind. They declined to relinquish the right to search for deserters, as it would be ruinous to the English navy. The truth is Great Britain treated her sea- men with such cruelty that they would have deserted by the thousand had they been assured of protection from arrest. The British commissioners declared tho' while their country would not relinquish tli ' right of search and impressment, strict orders, would be issued to their naval commanders to use the right with caution and moder- ation. The British government itself was sincerely desirous ot conciliating the United 510 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. States, but its naval commanders, tempted by the weakness of the American navy, paid no attention to its orders and conducted themselves with haughty insolence towards American vessels, seizing and searching them, and forcing men from their decks with the same activity as before, and rarely miss- ing an occasion to insult the flag of the upon an act which threw the relations be- tween the two countries into a more hope- less state than ever. The United States frigate " Chesapeake," 38, under the com- mand of Commodore Barron, was about to sail for a European station. Strict orders were issued to her officers not to enlist any British subject, knowing him to be such ; but OFFICERS OF THE CHESAPEAKE SURRENDERING THEIR SWORDS. republic. Meanwhile the commissioners concluded a treaty for ten years between the United States and Great Britain. It was on the whole more advantageous than Jay's treaty, but the president was not satisfied vvith it, and assumed the responsibility of rejecting it, in the spring of 1807, without submitting it to the Senate. A British naval commander now ventured it was said that four of her crew were desert- ers from the British frigate " Melampus." Several British war vessels were lying in the Chesapeake Bay, and one of these, the " Leopard," a fifty-gun frigate, put to sea a kw hours before the " Chesapeake " sailed. The latter vessel sailed before she was fully ready for sea, and the work of getting the ship in order was still in progress, when she ADMINISTRATIONS OF ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. Mt was hailed off the capes by the " Leopard," under the pretence of sending despatches to Europe. A lieutenant of the British frigate came on board and demanded the surrender of the four men we have mentioned. Commodore Barron refused the demand on the ground tluit there ivere no such men on board. The lieutenant then returned to his ship, and the " Leopard " opened fire upon the " Chesa- peake," and killed three of her men and wounded eighteen others. The " Chesa- peake" was utterly unprepared for resist- ance, and Barron struck his colors after a single gun had been fired. The four men were taken from the " Chesapeake," the " Leopard " sailed for Halifax, and the Amer- ican frigate returned to Norfolk. The Embargo Act. The news of this outrage excited the pro- foundest indignation throughout the coun- try. On the second of July, 1807, the presi dent issued a proclamation ordering all British vessels of war to depart from Ameri- can waters, and the people were warned against holding any intercourse with them. A special session of Congress was called, and the American minister at London was ordered to demand satisfaction for the out- rage. The British government had received infor- mation of the affair before the arrival of the American demand. The action of the com- manded of the " Leopard " was disavowed, and a special messenger was sent to the United States to arrange the matter. Great Britain disclaimed the right to search vessels of war, and the excitement was quieted for a time. In Deceember, 1806, as the outrages upon American commerce were continued. Con- gress, at the recommendation of the presi- dent, passed the " Embargo Act," by which all merchant vessels of the United States were prevented from leaving the ports of this country. This measure entirely put an end to the intercourse between the United States and the European nations, James Madison Elected President. In the election of 1808 Mr. Jefferson fol- lowing the example of Washington, declined to be a candidate for a third term, and the Democratic or administration party support- ed James Madison for the Presidency, and George Clinton for the Vice-Presidency. They were elected by large majorities ; but the effect of the embargo was seen in the? casting of the electoral votes of the five New England States against the administration. The disaffection of the New England States induced Mr. Jeffers-on, just before the expira- tion of his term of office, to recommend to Congress the repeal of the embargo act. His opinion was unchanged as to the propriety of the embargo, but he recommended its repeal as a measure of peace and concilia- tion. The law was repealed on the first of March, 1809, and in the same month Con- gress passed an act prohibiting trade with France and England. At thvi close of his term of ofifice Mr. Jefferson withdrew from public life, and retired to his home at Montecello, in Virginia. The wisdom and success of the general policy of his administration had far outweighed his mistakes, and he retired from ofifice with undiminished popularity, and with the res- pect and confidence of the nation. Indeed his popularity was greater at the close of his administration than at the beginning — a rare and gratifying reward to a public servant. His great services in the revolution, his draft of the Declaration of Independence, his acquisition of Louisiana, and the purity and grandeur of his character, placed him, in the public estimation, next to Washington. CHAPTER XXXIII I'he Administration of James Madison — The Second War with England 'jaauguration of Mr. Madison — Negotiations with Mr. Erskine — Their Failure — Seizure of American Vessels in France • Sufferings of American Ship-Owners — Great Britain Stations Her Ships of War Off American Ports — Affair of tlie " President " and " Little Belt " — Trouble with the Northwestern Indians — Tecumseh — Battle of Tippecanoe — Meet- ing of the Twelfth Congress — Measures for Defence — Admission of Louisiana Into the Union — Death of George Clinton — The British Ultimatum — War Declared Against Great Britain — Opposition to the War — The British Offer of Settlement Rejected — The War for " Free Trade and the Sailors' Rights " — Mr. Madison Re-elected — Campaign of 1812 — Preparations for the Invasion of Canada— General Hull Surrenders Detroit to the British — Loss or the North- western Frontier — Failure of the Attack on Queenstown — Exploits of the Navy — Capture of the " Guerriere " by the "Constitution" — The Privateers — Russia Offers to Mediate Between the United States and England — Financial Affairs — Harrison's Campaign — Massacre at the River Raisin — Defence of Forts Meigs and Stephenson — Perry's Vic- tory on Lake Erie — Battle of the Thames — Death of Tecumseh — Recovery of the Northwest — Capture of York — British Attack on Sackett's Harbor Repulsed — Removal of General Dearborn — Failure of the Campaign on the Lower Lakes — The Creek War — Jackson's Victories — Naval Affairs — The British Outrages in Chesapeake Bay — Negoti- ations for Peace — Capture of Fort Erie — Battles of Chippewa and Lundy's Lane — Siege of Fort Erie — Successes of the Americans — Advance of Prevost — Battle of Plattsburg — Macdonough's Victory on Lake Champlain — Battle of Bladensburg — Capture of Washington — Destruction of the Public Buildings by the British — Attack on Baltimore — Death of General Ross — "The Star Spangled Banner" — The British Attack on the New England Coast — Oppo- sition of New England to the War — The Hartford Convention — The British in Florida — General Jackson Expels Them — Jackson at New Orleans — ^Arrival of the British Expedition Oft the Coast — Vigorous Measures of Jackson — Battle of New Orleans — Defeat of the British — Naval Affairs — The Treaty of Peace — The Barbary Powers Humbled— The Tariff — The Bank of the United States — Admission of Indiana — James Monroe Elected President. JAMES MADISON, the fourth presi- dent of the United States, was inaug- urated z'l Washington on the fourth of March, 1809. He was in the fifty- eighth year of his age, and had long been one of the most prominent men in the Union. He had borne a distinguished part in the convention of 1787, and was the author of the Virginia resolutions of 1786, which brought about the assembling of this convention. He had entered the convention as one of the most prominent leaders of the national party, which favored the consolida- tion of the States into one distinct and supreme nation, and had acted with Ran- dolph, Hamilton, Wilson, Morris, and King, in seeking to bring about such a result. When it was found impossible to carry out 512 _ this plan Mr. Madison gave his cordial sup- port to the system which was finally adopted by the convention ; and while the constitu- tion was under discussion by the States, he united with Hamilton and Jay in earnestly recommending the adoption of the constitu- tion by the States, in a series of able articles, to which the general title of the " Federalist " was given. ' After the organization of the government Mr. Madison was a member of the House of Representatives, and was regarded as one o'' the leaders of the Federalist party, and gave to Hamilton his cordial support in the finance measures of that niinister. Towards the close of Washington's administration, however, Mr. Madison's political views underwent a great change. He was a near S»3 while sustaining the general foreign policy of Mr. Jefferson, but was in favor of the non- intercourse act, which forbade the country to trade with England and France. This act contained a clause which provided that ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES MADISON neighbor and warm friend of Mr. Jefferson, and was greatly influenced by the opinions and the strong personal character of that great statesman. As the political contro- versies of the times deepened he became more and more inclined to- wards the Republican or " Strict Construc- tion " party, and in Mr. Adams* adminis- tration took his posi- tion as one of the leaders of that party. At the time of his election to the Presi- dency, Mr. Jefferson having withdrawn from public life, Mr. Madison was the re- cognized leader of the Democratic party, as the Republican party had come to be called. In 1799 his famous report upon the Vir- ginia resolutions of 1798 stamped him as one of the first states- men in America, and this report has always been regarded by suc- ceeding generations as the most masterly exposition of the true principles of the con- stitution ever penned. During the whole oi Mr. Jefferson's admi- nistration Mr. Madison served as secretary of state, and not only added to his great fame by his eminent services in that capacity, but prepared himself for the difficult duties of the presidency. Mr. Madison had opposed the embargo, 33 JAMES MADISON. it should cease to apply to either or both of them as soon as they should repeal their " decrees," or " orders in council," affecting the commerce of the United States. Mr. Erskine, the British minister to the United States, a man of noble and generous 514 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. character, was anxious that the differences between the two countries should be settled amicably, and he entered heartily into nego- tiations with the American government for this purpose. In accordance with the in- structions he had received from England, he believed himself authorized to inform the American government that the " orders in council " of Great Britain would be revoked by that government, as far as they applied to the commerce of the United States, and to offer " a suitable provision for the widows and orphans of those who were killed on board the * Chesapeake.' " Upon these assurances the President, on the nineteenth of April, 1810, issued a proclamation sus- pending the non-intercourse act, as to Eng- land, after the tenth of June following. Seizure of American Ships. The news was received with joy all over the country, and in the course of a few weeks over one thousand vessels sailed from the United States, laden with American pro- ducts, for foreign ports. They had hardly gotten to sea when the President was in- formed by the British government that Mr. Erskine had exceeded his powers in promis- ing the withdrawal of the " orders in coun- cil." The President immediately issued a second proclamation, withdrawing his first, and matters resumed their old footing. Mr. Erskine was recalled, and a Mr. Jackson was appointed in his place. The failure of the negotiations with Erskine had greatly morti- fied not only the President and his cabinet, but the whole nation, and Mr. Jackson was coldly received. That gentleman adopted a tone and style in his correspondence with the secretary of state, which were so offensive that the President refused to hold communi- cation with him, and demanded his recall. All the diplomatic intercourse between the two countries thus came to an end. The outrages upon American commerce continued. Danish privateers almost drove the American merchantmen from the Baltic. The American ship-owners asked permission, to arm their vessels for their own defence, as the government had not a navy sufficient to protect them ; but their petition was refused by Congress, on the ground that such a state of affairs would be equivalent to war. The sentiment of the people of the country was rapidly settling in favor of war, and they could see little difference between the exist- ing state of affairs and open hostilities. France was equally guilty with Great Britain. In the spring of 18 10 Napoleon issued a decree by which any American vessel enter- ing any port of France, or of any country under French control, was made liable to seizure and confiscation. The decree was held back for six weeks after its date, with the deliberate design of involving as many American ships as possible in the ruin intended for them. The first intimation given to the United States of its existence was the seizure of one hundred and thirty-two Amer- ican ships in the French ports. They were shortly afterwards sold with their cagoes, and added the sum of eight millions of dol- lars to the French treasury. The government of the United States remonstrated against this high-handed outrage, but to no purpose, until Napoleon's want of money induced him to adopt a more honest course. Great Britain's Unlawful Acts. About the middle of the year 18 10 the American minister at Paris was informed that the Berlin and Milan decrees were re- voked, and would cease to have effect aftef the first of November of that year. In accord- ance with this information the President, on the first of November, 1810, issued a procla- mation suspending the non-intercourse act with respect to France, and announcing that AbMiNIStRATION OF JAMES MADISON. ^§ the provisions of the act would be continued with respect to Great Britain unless her '^orders in council" should be revoked within three months from that date. The President also called the attention of the British government to the repeal of the French decrees, and as the " orders in council " were based upon these decrees, urged their repeal. Great Britain replied that the evidence of the revocation of the Berlin and Milan decrees was insufficient, and that the non-intercourse acts of Congress and the President's proclamation were partial and unjust. This ""answer was regarded in the United States as evidence of Great Britain's deliberate intention to continue her outrages upon this country, and very greatly increased the popular desire for war. England persisted in her determination to enforce her " orders in council," and even went to the inexcusable length of stationing her war vessels off the principal harbors of the United States for the purpose of intercepting our merchant- mer^ and injuring our commerce. British Sloop Disabled. While matters were in this unsettled con- dition, the American frigate " President," on the evening of the sixteenth of May, i8ii, encountered a strange vessel off the mouth of the Delaware. As the dusk of the evening was too deep for Commodore Rodgers to distinguish the stranger's nationality, he hailed her, and was insolently answered by a gun from her. He replied with a broad- side, and after an action of twenty minutes the stranger was disabled. Rodgers then hailed again, and was answered that the dis- abled vessel was the British sloop of war " Little Belt." She was greatly damaged, and had thirty-two of her crew killed and wound- ed. The " President" was scarcely injured, and had but one man slightly wounded. A different statement of the affair was ren- dered to his government by each of the com- manding officers, and was accepted by each government. In this conflict of testimony, the matter was suffered to pass by. The news of the prompt chastisement of the insolence of the British commander was received with delight in the United States, and the affair was generally regarded as, in some measure, an atonement for the disgrace of the sur- render of the " Chesapeake " to the " Leopard." Furious Attack by the Savages. The Indians of the northwest were becom- ing very troublesome, and their aggressions were attributed to the instigation of the British in Canada. Tecumseh, a Shawnee chief of unusual abilities, attempted to unite the Indians of the continent in a grand effort against the Americans, and for this purpose passed from tribe to ♦^-'be, from the great lakes to the Gulf. of Mexico, and urged them to take up the hatchet. He was assisted by his twin brother, Elskwatawa, generally called " the Prophet," who appealed to the superstitious fears of the savages by his jugglery. The federal government determined to strike a blow at the savages before their plans for union could be brought to a suc- cessful issue. In the autumn of 1 8 1 1 , Major- General William Henry Harrison, then gov- ernor of Indiana Territory, was sent to operate against the tribes on the Wabash. He took with him a body of Kentucky and Indiana militia, and one regiment of regular troops. On the sixth of November he arrived at the junction of the Tippecanoe and Wabash rivers near the town of the Prophet, the brother of Tecumseh. The Prophet sent several of the principal Indian chiefs to meet Harrison with offers ol submission. They informed him that the Prophet would come into camp the next iiiS FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. day, and make a treaty with him. Harrison suspected that the purpose of the Indians was simply to gain time, and that they would probably seek to surprise him during the night, and accordingly caused his men to bivouac on their arms that night. His pre- cautions were well taken. About four o'clock on the morning of November seventh the savages made a furious attack on the Ameri- can camp. They were promptly received, In view of the threatening condiL^n o! affairs the President, by his proclamation, convened the twelfth Congress in session a month earlier than usual, and that body met on the fourth of November, i8ii. It was remarkable, as was also its successor, the thirteenth Congress, for the number of its members who afterwards took their places among the great men of the republic. The public men of the revolutionary period were A PIONEER hero's FIGHT V^^ITH THE SAVAGES. and after a severe conflict of several hours were put to flight. Tecumseh was not pres- ent in this engagement. General Harrison followed up his victory by destroying the Prophet's town, and building some forts for the protection of the country. The battle of Tippecanoe quieted the Indians of the northwest for a while, but greatly increased the desire of the people of that region for war with England. •, dropping out of political life, and new men, with new ideas, were taking their places in the councils of the nation. Among the new members of Congress were Henry Clay, a native of Virginia, but a representative from Kentucky ; John C. Cal- houn, of South Carolina ; John Randolph, of Virginia; Felix Grundy, of Tennessee; Josiah Quincy, of Massachusetts, and Lang- don Cheeves and William Lowndes, of South ^ —^ ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES MADISON. 517 Carolina. There was a large administration majority in both Houses, and the prevailing sentiment of Congress was in favor of war with England. In this respect Congress fairly reflected the feeling of the country. Under the influence of this feeling, Con- egress during this session voted to increase the regular army to thirty-five thousand men, and authorized the President to accept the services of fifty thousand volunteers, and to call out the militia whenever occasion might require. The vessels of the navy were ordered to be fitted for sea, and new ships were to be constructed. There was need for these measures, as the army at the time consisted of but three thousand men, and the navy of less than twenty frigates and sloops of war in commission, and about one hundred and fifty gunboats for harbor defence. The third census, taken in 18 10, showed the population of the country to be 7,239,903. "War Declared Against Great Britain. During this winter the government de- tected and laid before Congress an effort of Great Britain to produce disaffection in the New England States, with a view to secure their withdrawal from the Union. The agent of this plot was one John Henry. The committee appointed by Congress to investigate the matter reported that " the transaction disclosed by the President's mes- sage presents to the mind of the committee conclusive evidence that the British govern- ment, at a period of peace, and during the most friendly professions, have been delib- erately and perfidiously pursuing measures to divide these States and to involve our citizens in all the guilt of treason and the horrors of civil war." Amid these troubles the State of Louisiana was admitted into the Union on the eighth of April, 1812. Shortly afterwards the por- tion of the Louisi?ina purchase lying outside of the limits of the State of Louisiana was organized into the Territory of Missouri. On the twentieth of April, 1805. George Clinton, the Vice-President of the United States, died at Washington, at the age of seventy-three. His place was filled by William H. Crawford, of Georgia, the presi- dent /rt? tempore of the Senate. On the thirtieth of May, 18 12, the British minister at Washington delivered to the government of the United States the final reply of his government to the demands of this country in the questions at issue between them. This ultimatum was submitted to Congress by the President on the first of June, accompanied by a message in which he recapitulated the wrongs inflicted by Great Britain upon this country, her violations of the rights of neutrals, her impressment of American seamen, her seizures of American ships and her refusal to enter into any equit- able arrangement for the settlement of these questions. The determination of Great 518 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. Britain to drive American commerce from the seas was evident, and the question was submitted to Congress whether the United States should continue to submit to these outrages or should resort to war to protect their rights. After a debate of several days an act declaring war against Great Britain was passed by Congress and was approved by the President on the eighteenth of June, 1812. On the nineteenth the President issued a proclamation declaring that war existed b^ween the United States and Great Britain and her dependencies. Congress authorized the President to enlist twenty-five thousand men for the regular army, to raise a force of fifty thousand volunteers, and to call out one hundred thousand militia for garrison duty. General Henry Dearborn, of Massachusetts, was appointed to the chief command of the army. Opposition to the War. The war measures of Congress were not passed without considerable opposition. A large party, composed of some of the ablest and best men in that party, was opposed to the war, and resented the eiTort to go to war with England alone. They claimed that France had given as good cause for war, but that nothing was said of punishing her. This was true, but this party lost sight of the fact that the United States could not go to war with both powers, and were compelled to direct their efforts against the principal offender, which was clearly England. The war was regarded as an administra- tion measure, and though it was sustained by a large majority of the American people, there was still a strong and respectable party especially in the New England States, which opposed it, and which claimed that all peaceful means of settlement had not yet been exhausted. John Randolph, of Vir- ginia, opposed the declaration of war in a speech in the House of Representatives re- markable for its boldness and vigor, and declared that he had no hesitation in saying that he should prefer a contest with France to one with England. Soon after the declaration of war England made an effort to settle the controversy with the United States by negotiation. In Sep- tember, 1 81 2, Admiral Warren, command- ing the British fleet at Halifax, addressed a letter to Mr. Monroe, the secretary of state, informing him that he was authorized by his government to enter into negotiations for a cessation of hostilities upon a basis of revo- cation of the "orders in council." The Cause of Hostilities. Mr. Monroe replied that the President was willing to enter into an armistice provided Admiral Warren had power and was willing to include in the negotiations measures for the discontinuance of the practices of seizing and searching American vessels and impress- ing American sailors from their decks, as experience had shown that no peace be- tween the two countries could be lasting which did not include a settlement of these questions. As Admiral Warren had no authority to enter into these questions, the President declined to proceed further, and the effort at negotiations came to an end. It has been held by many that the rejection by the President of the British overture was a grave error. John Randolph thought that all the ques- tions at issue, save the right of a British sub- ject to expatriate himself and receive Amer- ican protection, could be settled by negoti- ation. That point he did not believe Eng- land would ever concede. His opinion was to some extent vindicated by the uncondi- tional revocation of the French decrees, and the immediate repeal of the British " orders ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES MADISON. 519 in council " upon the receipt of the news of this revocation. These measures were repealed within a month after the declaration of war by the United States. The only cause of the war remaining unsettled was the im- pressment question. The war thus became a struggle for the personal freedom of Amer- ican sailors ; and in a better cause no nation ever drew the sword. Plan of Carrying On the War. The weakness of the American navy made it impossible for this country to attempt any distant enterprise against Great Britain, and it was not believed by even the most enthu- siastic Americans that we could contend with her upon terms of equality at sea. The only means by which she could be crippled by this country was by the invasion and conquest of Canada, and to this end the efforts of the United States were directed during the war. It was also believed that the commerce of England could be seriously injured by the efforts of American privateers, and from the commencement of hostilities great activity was displayed in getting vessels of this class to sea. In the autumn of 18 12 Mr. Madison was reelected to the presidency by a large ma- jority. Elbridge Gerry, of Connecticut, was chosen Vice-President. Mr. Madison entered upon his second term on the fourth of March, 18 1 3, some months after the war had begun. At the outset of the war the American forces 'vere stationed along the Canadian frontier as follows : General Dearborn, the commander-in-chief, held the right, or east- ern part of the line ; the centre was com- manded by General Stephen Van Rens- selaer; and the left was held by General William Hull, then governor of Michigan Territory. The forces under these com- manders were to cooperate with each other in their movements^ and wer^ to converge upon Montreal as the objective point of the campaign. Early in July General Hull, who had seen service in the war of the revolution, col- lected a force of about two thousand men at Detroit. His position was very mucli exposed, Detroit being at that time sep-^ arated from the other settlements by about two hundred miles of unbroken forest. He urged upon the government to increase his force to three thousand men, and to secure the command of Lake Erie before the British STEPHEN VAN RENSSELAER. should obtain possession of it. His requests could not be complied with, and he was obliged to depend upon the force at Detroit. Immediately upon the declaration of war the British commanders in Canada displayed great activity, seizing the most important points along the frontier. In less than r month Fort Mackinaw and other points were in their possession, and Hull's position at Detroit was surrounded and his communi- cations with the States cut off. Hull there- upon fortified his position, and endeavored, but without success, to open communication 520 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. with the country in his rear. In the mean- time a strong British force assembled at Fort Maiden, in Canada, opposite Detroit, under the command of General Brock, the governor of Upper Canada ; and the British agents set to work to arouse the Indians of the northwest against the Americans. In these efforts they were successful. lines they were astounded to see a whil Aig flying from them. An officer rode up to inquire the cause. The flag was the signal for a parley. Negotiations were begun, and later in the day Detroit, with its garrison and stores, and the whole of Michigan ter- ritory, was surrendered to the British by General Hull. The American troops were fiOQPEinSx: MASSACRE BY INDIANS AT FORT DEARBORN. Brock erected batteries on the Canadian side of the river, in a position to command Detroit, and demanded of Hull the surrender of that place. The demand being refused. Brock crossed his forces to the American shore, about three miles below the position occupied by General Hull, on the sixteenth of August, and advanced to attack him. As \.hQ British army drew near the American overcome with astonishment and mortifica- tion at this shameful surrender; for the force of the enemy, to whom they were betrayed by their commander, consisted of but seven hundred British and Canadians, and six hundred Indians. ■< By the surrender of Detroit the whole northwestern frontier was exposed to the British and their Indian cillies, Gresit Britain^ ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES MADISON. 521 unmindful of the shame she had incurred by her en^ployment of the savages during the revolution, did not hesitate once more to devote the American frontier to the horrors of a savage war. The west was greatly alarmed, and ten thousand volunteers offered /their services to the government for the , defence of the frontier. They were accepted, and were placed under the command of Gen- eral Harrison, who was appointed to succeed Hull. General Hull Guilty of Cowardice. Two years later, after being exchanged, General Hull was brought to trial by a court- martial for the surrender of Detroit and his army. He was found guilty of cowardice and neglect of duty, and was sentenced to be shot. He was pardoned by the President in consideration of his services during the revolution. When Detroit surrendered, Fort Dearborn stood on the site of the city of Chicago, and was occupied by Captain Nathan Heald and fifty regulars. Receiving orders from Gen- Hull to evacuate the fort and join him at Detroit, he attempted to obey, though warned by several scouts and friendly Indians that it was certain death to make the attempt. Afraid of treachery on the part of the large number of Indians around the fort, Captain Heald destroyed during the night the gun- powder, firearms and liquor which he had promised them. The exasperated savages waited till he was well on his way with the fifty soldiers and several families, and then attacked him. The women fought as bravely as the men. Twenty-six of the regular troops, all the militia, and a number of the men and women were killed. One of the savages leaped into a wagon containing twelve little ones and tomahawked them all. The next day Fort Dearborn was burned to ^he ground, This was a sorry beginning for the war, and was followed by another disaster. Gen- eral Van Rensselaer, the commander of the centre of the American line, had collected a force, principally New York militia, at Lewis- ton, on the Niagara river. At Queenstown, on the opposite side of the river, General Brock had stationed himself with a British force. On the thirteenth of October General Van Rensselaer crossed a force, under Col- onel Van Rensselaer, and attacked the British fort and captured it. General Brock now arrived with a force of six hundred men, and endeavored to regain the fort, but was defeated and killed. General Van Rensselaer hastened back to the American side to bring over more troops, but his men refused to obey his orders, alleging that they could not be ordered out of their own State without their consent. The British were heavily reinforced, and the Americans were attacked and defeated ; all who had crossed to the Canada side being killed or captured. Brilliant Successes of the Navy. Among the prisoners was Lieutenant- Colonel Winfield Scott, afterwards com- mander-in-chief of the American army, then a young man, who had crossed over as a volunteer to aid the force on the Canada side. Utterly disgusted with the conduct of his troops, General Van Rensselaer resigned his command after the battle of Queenstown. General Smyth, of Virginia, was appointed to succeed him. He made one or two efiforts to enter Canada, but being each time pre- vented by his council of war, resigned his command. Thus closed the year 18 12, and the first campaign of the war. Its results were dis- astrous and disheartening. The attempts to invade Canada had ended with the surrender of Detroit and the defeat at Queenstown. A large ^^art of the f'-o'^tier 'vas lost, and ov^r 522 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. twenty-five hundred men had been captured by the enemy. These failures had aroused the discontent of a considerable portion of the people of the Union, and the opposition of the New England States to the war was greatly increased. Matters would have seemed hopeless had not the navy, which had been the most neglected branch of the they would certainly be captured by the British cruisers. The officers of the navy were indignant at these insinuations, and as soon as the news of the declaration of war was received at New York, several of the vessels of war in that port put to sea at once to avoid the orders which their com- manders feared were on the way to detain CAPTURF. OF THE " GUERRIERE " BY THE "CONSTITUTION. public service, redeemed the national honor by a series of brilliant successes. It was the intention of the government at the outset of the war to retain the vessels of the navy in the ports of the country to assist in the defence of *;he harbors of the United States. The fear was openly expressed that if the^e ire^sels should venture to put to sea them in port, and also for the purpose of making a dash at the Jamaica fleet, which was on its way to England. They followed ^ this fleet to the entrance to the British chan- nel, but without overtaking it. A British squadron sailed from Halifax to cruise off the port of New York. The Amer- ican frigate "Constitution," Captain Hull, ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES MADISON. 523 while endeavoring to enter New York har- bor, fell in with this squadron, and was chased by it for four days. Her escape was due entirely to the superior skill of her officers and the energy of her crew. The chase was one of the most remarkable in history, and the escape of the American frigate won great rredit for Captain Hull. Failing to reach New York, Hull sailed for Boston, and reached that port in safety. Remaining there a few days, he put to sea again, just in time to avoid orders from Washington to remain in port. In July the American frigate " Essex" captured a transport filled with British soldiers, and a few days later encountered the British sloop of war " Alert," which mistook her for a mer- chantman. The " Essex " suf- fered her to approach, and then opened a rapid fire upon her, which soon disabled her, and forced her to surrender. The " Constitution " sailed from Boston to the northeast. On the nineteenth of August, while cruising off the mouth of the St. Lawrence, she fell in with the British frigate " Gucrriere," Captain Dacres, one of the ves- sels that had chased her during the previous month. The "Guerriere" immediately stood towards her, and both vessels prepared for action. The English commander opened his fire at long range, but Captain Hull refused to reply until he had gotten his ship into a favorable position, and for an hour and a half he manoeuvred in silence, under a heavy fire from the British frigate. At length, having got within pistol shot of her adversary, the " Constitution " opened a terrib^^ fire upon her, and poured in her broadsides with such effect that the " Guer- riere " struck her colors in thirty minutes. The " Guerriere" lost seventy-nine men killed and wounded, while the loss of the " Constitution " was but seven men. The '' Guerriere " was so much injured in the fight; that she could not be carried into port, andi Hull had her burned. ^ The " Constitution " then returned to Bos- ton with her prisoners, and was received with an ovation. It was the first time in half a COMMODORE HULL. century that a British frigate had struck her flag in a fair fight, and the victory was hailed with delight in all parts of the country. On the eicrhteenth of October the Ameri- O can sloop-of-war " Wasp," eighteen. Captain Jones, met the British brig " Frolic," twenty- two, convoying six merchantmen. In order to give her convoy a chance to escape, the " Frolic " shortened sail and awaited the approach of the "Wasp." The "Wasp" poured a raking fire into her antagonist and 524 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. then boarded her. The boarders found the deck of the " Frolic" covered with the dead. Only one man remained unhurt, and he stood gallantly at his post at the wheel. Before the prize could be secured the . British frigate " Poictiers, " 74, hove in ) sight and captured both vessels. The " Wasp " lost eight men in the engagement ; i the " Frolic" eighty. ' On the twenty-fifth of October the fri- gate '' United States," 44, Captain Decatur, Captain Bainbridge, captured the British frigate "Java," 38, off the coast of Brazil, after an action of three hours. The " Java " was reduced to a wreck, and as he was not able to get her into a friendly port. Captain Bainbridge caused her to be burned. The "Java" lost one hundred and sixty-one men out of a crew of four hundred ; the " Constitution " lost thirty-four in killed and wounded. Among the wounded was Cap- tain Bainbridge. THE "WASP' BOARDING THE 'FROLIC. encountered the British frigate " Mace- donian," 49, off the Azores, and after a running fight of an hour and a half forced her to strike her colors. The "United 'States" lost seven killed and five wounded ; /the " Macedonian," thirty-six killed and sixty-eighty wounded out of a crew of three hundred men. Decatur succeeded in bring- ing his prize into New York. On the twenty-ninth of December the ** Constitution," now under the command of These victories aroused the greatest en- thusiasm in the United States. The grea^ disparity in the losses sustained by th& respective combatants made it evident to both nations that the American ships had been better handled in every engagement. The British endeavored to account for the American successes by declaring that the United States vessels were seventy-fours in disguise, or that they carried heavier guns than their adversaries ; but the thinking mer» Administration ok james Madison. I25 of both countries saw that they had been won by the superior skill of the American officers, and that they were the plain an- nouncement of the fact that England had found a rival capable of contesting her supremacy on the ocean. British Commerce Damaged. The American privateers inflicted great damage upon the commerce of Great Britain. During the year 18 12 these vessels captured about five hundred British merchantmen and made prisoners of three thousand British seamen. The cargoes of the captured vessels amounted to an enormous sum. On the eighth of March, 18 13, tHe Rus- sian minister at Washington communicaied to President Madison an offer from the Em- peror Alexander of his mediation between the United States and Great Britain for the purpose of bringing about a peace between them. The President at once accepted the Russian offer, and sent Albert Gallatin and James A. Bayard to St. Petersburg to join John Quincy Adams, then Minister to Russia, as ministers to negotiate a treaty. The British government declined the Rus- sian mediation and the matter was drop- ped. The thirteenth Congress met on the twenty-fourth of May, 1813, and entered upon the task of providing the means of carrying on the war. The principal measure resorted to was the imposition of direct taxes and internal duties. The financial situation of the government was disheartening. The expenses of the war had greatly exceeded the estimates, and a heavy deficit had to be provided for. To meet the necessities of the occasion new loans were authorized, but they were generally paid in the depreciated treasury notes which had been issued ac- cording to act of Congress, and did not yield much to the government. The business of the country was in a state of confusion. All the banks, save a few in New England, had suspended specie pay- ments, and the war spirit was dying out in many parts of the Union, New England had entered into the war with great reluc-. tance and was a heavy loser by it. Her opposition to it was increasing daily. Discontent and Disagreement. The government opened the campaign of 1 8 1 3 with the determination to make another effort to conquer Canada, The army of the west, under General Harrison, was stationed at the upper end of Lake Erie ; that of the centre, under General Dearborn, the com- mander-in-chief, was posted along the Niagara river ; and that of the east, under General Wade Hampton, was at Lake Champlain. Simultaneous movements were to be made from these points against the British in Canada. To oppose these forces the British stationed their armies along their frontier as follows : General Proctor was stationed with a considerable force near Detroit; General Sheaf with another force covered Montreal and the approaches from the United States by way of Lake Champlain and the Sorel river; and Sir George Prevost, the com- mander-in-chief, held the line of the Niagara river. General Harrison was charged with the duty of recovering the territory lost by General Hull. Volunteers flocked to him from all parts of the west, and especially from Kentucky. A part of his force, under General Winchester, held a fort on the Maumee. In January, 18 13, the British made a demonstration against Frenchtown, on the river Raisin, and Winchester sent a detachment to its relief, which compelled the British to retreat. A little later Win- chester followed with the rest of his troops and took position in the open country. His ^26 Pk6M THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAL whole force amounted to scarcely one thou- sand men. ^ Hearing of Winchester's exposed posi- tion, General Proctor marched from Fort Maiden, opposite Detroit, with fifteen hun- dred British and Indians, and, crossing the lake on the ice, attacked Winchester on the twenty-second of January, and after a des- perate encounter forced him to surrender; Proctor promised Winchester that his men save his reputation by protecting his prison- ers, and his inhuman conduct in leaving them to the fury of the savages, in violation of his pledge, met, as it deserved, the un- qualified denunciation of every honorable man. It roused a fierce spirit of revenge througout the west, Harrison was on his march to Winches- ter's assistance when he learned of his surrender. He halted at the rapids of INDIANS TORTURING PRISONERS. should be treated as prisoners of war, but in violation of his pledge set out at once on his retreat to Maiden, leaving the wounded Americans behind. The Indians of Proc- tor's command fell upon the helpless wounded men, massacred the majority of them, and carried the remainder to Detroit. Some of these they offered to release on pay- ment of heavy ransoms; the others they held for torture. Proctor made no effort to Maumee, and built a fort which he named Fort Meigs, in honor of the governor of Ohio. Proctor advanced in the spring to attack this fort, and on the first of May opened his batteries upon it. A force of twelve hundred Kentuckians, under Gen- eral Green Clay, of Kentucky, advanced to the relief of the fort, and the British and Indians were obliged to raise the siege and retreat. Administration of jamks madisoN. ^2; General Clay was placed in command of Fort Meigs. In July Proctor again advanced and made siege to it, but was unable to cap- ture it. Hearing that Fort Stephenson, on the Sandusky, had a small garrison. Proctor withdrew from Fort Meigs and attacked Fort Stephenson. This fort had a garrison of one hundred and sixty men, and was commanded by Major George Croghan,ayoung man in his twenty-second year. He was summoned to surrender, but answered that he should hold the fort to the last man. On the second of August Proctor made a determined assault upon the fort, and his regulars gained the ditch, into which they crowded preparatory to attempting to scale the parapet. At this moment the only cannon in the fort, which had been doubly charged with musket-balls, opened upon them from a masked port-hole. The British were cut down by the score, and retreated in confusion. That night, fearing that Harrison would come to Croghan's relief, Proctor abandoned the siege, and re- treated towards Maiden. Battle of Lake Erie. It was clear that nothing of importance could be accomplished in this quarter as long as the British held Lake Erie. Oliver Hazard Perry, a young lieutenant of the United States navy, volunteered to win back the lake from the enemy, who held it with a small squadron under Captain Barclay. By extraordinary exertions Perry built and equipped a fleet at Presque Isle, now Erie. It consisted of nine vessels of various sizes, from one tvhich carried twenty-five guns down to one which carried one gun. Its total armament amounted to fifty-five guns. It was manned by a small force of sailors from the east, and by a large number ot volunteers from General Harrison's army. As soon as his fleet was in proper condition Perry stood out into the lake to seek the enemy. The British squadron consi.'^^.jd ol six vessels, carrying sixty-three guns. Each fleet carried about five hundred men. The two squadrons soon encountered each other, and on the tenth of September a severe battle was fought between them at the western end of the lake. Perry at the open- ing of the fight displayed a flag from his vessel bearing the words of the brave Law- rence, " Don't give up the ship." It was greeted with cheers from the men. During the battle the American flag-ship, the " Law- COMMODoRE PERRY. rence," was disabled, and Perry passed in an open boat, under a heavy fire, to the " Nia- gara," the next largest ship, and tranferred his flag to her. The result Avas that the British fleet was defeated and forced to sur- render. Perry announced his victory to General Harrison in the following character- istic message : " We have met the enemy and they are ours. Two ships, one brig, a a schooner, and a sloop." This victory was of the highest importance to the Americans. It gave them the com- nand of Lake Erie, and opened the way to §28 FROM THE REVOLUTION tO fME ClVlL WAR Maiden. Proctor abari* doned those places and retreated with his own forces and Tecumseh and his Indians into Canada. At Detroit Harrison was joined by thirty-five hundred mountedKentuckians, under the aged Gov- ernor Shelby, one of the heroes of King's Mountain, and Col- onel Richard M.John- son. He at once en- tered Canada in pur- suit of Proctor, and by a forced march of sixty miles came up with him on the banks of the Thames, on the fifth of October. A short but desperate battle ensued, in which Tecumseh was killed and his Indians put to flight. The British were routed, and Proc- tor saved himself only by the speed of his horse. By these auccesses the Americans won back Michigan Terri- tory, and for the pres- sent gave peace and security to the north- western frontier. The Kentuckians returned home, and Colonel Lewis Cass, who was perry's victory on lake ERIE. ^ soon after appointed Canada. Harrison hastened to profit by it, governor o. Michigan, was left to garrison and advanced rapidly towards Detroit and J Detroit with his brigade. With fifteen ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES MADISON. 529 hundred regulars Harrison embarked on Lake Erie and sailed for Buffalo to assist in the invasion of Canada from that quar- ter A small fleet of armed vessels was main- tained in Lake Ontario by each of the com- batants. The American fleet was commanded by Commodore Chauncey. In April General Dearborn embarked a force of seventeen hundred picked men in these vessels and stores fell into the hands of the captors. They were transferred to Sackett's Harbor. As it was not part of the plan of General Dearborn to hold York, the place was eva- cuated. Just before the withdrawal of the Americans a small building, known as th^ Parliament House, was burned. The British attributed this act to the Americans, who disclaimed it. The American officers believed that the house was set on fire hyi BATTLE OF THE THAMES — DEATH OF TECUMSEH. sailed across Lake Ontario to attack York, now Toronto, the capital of Upper Canada. The Americans landed a short distance below the town, and advanced upon it. On the the twenty-seventh of April the place was carried by assault. The British fired the magazine of one of the works from which they were driven, and General Pike, the commander of the storming party, and one or two hundred of his troops were killed by the explosion. A large amount of military 34 the disaffected Canadians, who had threap ened to burn it. The burning of this build- ing was made by the British the pretext for the destruction of the capitol and other public buildings at Washington, the next year. From York General Dearborn sailed to the Niagara to attack Fort George. The commander of this work, on the approach of the Americans, blew up his magazines and retreated to Burlington Heights, near the 530 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVH. WAR. western end of the lake. Dearborn followed them in pursuit, but was attacked and driven back by the British on the night of the sixth of June. Two American generals, V/inder and Chanler, were made prisoners in this engagement. Dearborn fell back in haste to Fort George. In the meantime General Prevost, having learned of Dearborn's absence from Sackett's Harbor, attacked that place, on the twenty- ninth of May, with one thousand men. He was repulsed with such vigor by the gar- rison, under General Brown, that he retreated to his ships, leaving his wounded behind. Failure of a Canadian Expedition. Soon after this General Dearborn suffered another reverse at Fort George, and allowed a detachment of six hundred men of his army to be cut off by the British. In con- sequence of these failures General Dearborn was removed by the President, who appointed General Wilkinson, the commander of the troops at New Orleans, as his successor. It was proposed that General Wilkinson should enter Canada with his troops and advance upon Montreal, and that General Hampton, commanding the forces on Lake Champlain, should join him on the St. Law- rence. Wilkinson and Hampton were not on friendly terms, and neither of them were possessed of sufficient patriotism to overlook their personal differences for the good of their country. Wilkinson advanced as far as the rapids of the St. Lawrence, and sent a body of troops, under General Brown, to cover the descent of the rapids by the army. An engagement occurred at Chrysler's Farm, on the eleventh of November ; the British were driven back ; bnt the Americans lost more than three hundred men. Wilk- inson now sent word to Hampton ti move forward to his support, but the latter answered that he had abandoned the expe- dition, and was going into winter quarters Under these circumstances Wilkinson fell back to French Mills, about nine miles from St. Regis, where he went into winter quar- ters. Hampton prepared to pass the wintei at Plattsburg on Lake Champlain. Thus the expedition was ruined by the quarrels of itk commanders. British Depredations. In December the Americans abandoned Fort George, and retreated across the Niagara river. Before doing so General McClure, the commanding officer, burned the village of Newark, in order to prevent the enemy from using it as quarters for their troops during the winter. There was no necessity and no excuse for the destruction of this village, and it was speedily avenged by the enemy. About the middle of Decem- ber the British crossed the Niagara river, surprised' Fort Niagara, and put the garrison to the sword. In retaliation for the burning of Newark they burned every town and house that could be reached on the Amer- ican side of the river, including Lewistown, Youngstown, Manchester, Black Rock, and Buffalo. The war was not confined to the northern frontier. In the spring of 1813 Tecumseh had visited the Creek tribes in the southwest and aroused their war spirit. In August seven hundred Creeks attacked and captured Fort Mims, on the west bank of the Alabama river, near the mouth of the Tombigbee. Between three and four hundred settlers, who had taken refuge in the fort, were mas- sacred. The south was soon aroused by the nev;s of this massacre, and in a short while a forct of seven thousand volunteers was marching into the Indian country in four divisions. One division, under General Andrew Jack- son, of Tennessee, moved southward from ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES MADISON. 531 Nashville; another from East Tennessee, under General Cocke ; a third from Georgia, under General Floyd, and a fourth from Mis- sissippi Territory. In addition to these forces the lower Creeks took up arms against their brethren, and the Cherokees and Choc- taws joined the Amer- ricans. The principal villages of the hostile Creeks lay on and near the Coosa and Talla- poosa Rivers, and their hunting-grounds ex- tended much farther north. The Tennessee for- ces, under General Jackson, were the first to enter the Indian country, and a num- ber of unimportant encounters occurred. On the third of Nov- ember the Indians were defeated in a bloody battle at Tal- lasehatche, and on the eighth of the same month at Talladega. These were hard-won victories for the Amer- icans, and terrible blows to the savages. On the twenty-ninth of November the Georgia volunteers under General Floyd, attacked the Creek town of Autossee, and killed two hundred warriors. The Creeks were badly armed, but their spirit was unbroken by their reverses. Early in the year 1814 they assumed the offensive, and on the twenty-second of January attacked General Jackson at Emucfau. Jackson suc- ceeded in repulsing them, but in spite of his victory deemed it best to fall back to Fort Strother. On the twenty-fifth the Indians again attacked him and were again defeated. Soon after this Jackson, being largely rein- CAPTAIN (afterward SIR PHILIP) BROKE. forced, advanced into the Indian countf} with an army of four thousand Tennes- seeans. At the Horse-Shoe Bend of the Tallaposa the Creeks had their principal settlement, an intrenched camp, in which they had collected 552 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. their women and children, under the pro- tection of one thousand warriors. They were attacked here on the twenty-seventh of March, 1814, by Jackson's army, and their camp was carried, after a desperate fight, in which six hundred warriors were killed and two hundred and fifty women and children were made prisoners. This terrible blow put an end to the resistance of the Creeks. They sought peace, and were compelled to purchase it by the surrender of more than two-thirds of their hunting-grounds. Hot Naval Engagements. The year 1 8 1 3 was eventful and important in the naval history of the republic, and once more the navy sustained the spirits of the country, which had been cast down by the failure of the army. On the twenty-fifth of February the American sloop-of-war " Hornet," Captain Lawrence, captured the British brig " Peacock," off the mouth of Demerara River, after an action of fifteen minutes. The "Peacock" was so terribly cut up by her adversary's fire that she sank in a few minutes after she struck her flag. Captain Lewrence returned to the United States and was promoted to the command of the frigate " Chesapeake, which was lying in Boston harbor preparing for sea. While there Lawrence was challenged by Captain Broke, of the British frigate " Shan- non," which was cruising off Boston harbor. Although his ship was badly manned and his crew undisciplined, Lawrence accepted the challenge and put to sea on the first of June to meet the " Shannon." The action was begun about thirty miles east of Boston Light and lasted but fifteen minutes. The "Shannon" was in every way superior to the " Chesapeake," and the latter ship was forced to strike her flag, with a loss of one hundred and forty-six of her crew. Captain Lawrence was mortally woanded. As he was being carried below his last words were " Don't give up the ship ! " — words which have since become the watchword of the service of which he was one of the brightest ornaments. Two Commanders Fall. The rejoicings in England over the cap* ture of the " Chesapeake " were very great. Although not gratifying to the Americans, yet the little navy of the Union gained ?:?w courage, for its splendid services had won the respect of the " mistress of the seas." In the summer of 18 13 the "United States," " Macedonian " and " Hornet." while attempting to get to sea from New York through Long Island sound, were driven into the harbor of New London, and blockaded there by a British squadron. In August the American sloop of war "Argus" was cap- tured while cruising in the English channel by the " Pelican." In September the Ameri- can brig " Enterprise," twelve guns. Captain Burrows, captured the British brig " Boxer," Captain Blythe, off the coast of Maine. Both commanders fell in the engagement, and were buried with equal honors. During the summer of 1813 the B'-'^ish fleet of Sir George Cockburn entered the Chesapeake repeatedly and ravaged its shores. All the shipping that could be reached by the enemy was destroyed, and the towns of Frenchtown, Georgetown, Havre de Grace and Fredericktown were plundered and burned. An attack was made on Norfolk, but was repulsed with heavy loss. Cockburn then plundered the town of Hampton, and sailed to the southward. The barbarities committed by this fleet along the Chesapeake and its tributaries were horrible. Neither age nor sex were spared by the British sailors and marines, and women were ravished, and old men and little children murdered, with the knowledge id S W n I H I 53i 534 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. of the admiral, who made no effort to stop the outrages. Duringthe winter of 1 813-14 a communi- cation was received from the British govern- ment, stating that although Great Britain Viad declined the Russian mediation, she was willing to enter into direct negotiations with the United States, either at London or Got- tenburg, in Sweden. The President at once accepted the English offer, and Henry Clay and Jonathan Russell were added to the commissioners already in Europe. Gotten- ourg was at first selected as the place of meeting, which was afterwards changed to "Ghent. Great Britain Ready for PeacCc At this time the opposition to the war was /ery great in many parts of the Union. The Mew England States continued bitterly hos- tile to it, and the legislature of Massachusetts, m a remonstrance addressed to Conpfress, denounced the war as unreasonable, and urged the conclusion of a peace. Congress itself was more divided upon the support of the war than it had ever been. It contained many new men, some of them destined to play prominent parts in the future history of the country. Pre-eminent among those was Daniel Webster, of New Hampshire, who from the first took a high position as one of the most gifted men in Congress. Hostilities were resumed by the Americans on the Niagara frontier with the beginning of the spring of 18 14. Early in May General Brown, whose force had been increased to five thousand men, crossed the Niagara. Fort Erie surrendered to him without a blow on the third of July. On the fourth General Scott, with the advanced guard of the army, moved towards the British, who had taken position, under General Riall, at Chippewa, fifteen miles distant. Scott was joined by General Brown, with the rest of the at my, on the night of the fourth, and the next day a severe engagement occurred, in which the British were defeated, with the loss of five hundred men. The loss of the Americans was three hundred. Victory at Lundy's Lane, After his defeat at Chippewa General Riall fell back to Burlington Heights, and the Americans advanced to Queenstown, but soon after withdrew to Chippewa. Being strongly reinforced by a body of troops, under General Drummond, Riall advanced from Burlington Heights to attack the Amer- icans, followed by General Drummond's command ; and at the same time General Brown, who had heard of Drummond's arri- val, set out from Chippewa to attack the British. The advanced forces of the Amer- icans were commanded by General Scott. The two armies unexpectedly met at Bridge- water, or Lundy's Lane, immediately opposite Niagara Falls, at sunset, on the twenty-fifth of July. The British occupied a strong position, and notwithstanding the lateness of the hour, Scott resolved to attack them. The main body of the Americans, under General Brown, soon arrived, and the battle became general. The British had posted a battery on a hill which commanded the field, and were doing great execution in the Amer- ican ranks. It was captured by the regiment of Colonel James Miller, and General Drum- mond, who had arrived on the field and had taken command in place of General Riall, who had been wounded and captured by the Americans, advanced to recover it. Drummond made three determined efforts to retake the battery, but was driven back each time. It was now midnight, and about eight hundred men had fallen on each side. The Americans had exhausted their ammu- nition and were dependent now upon the cartridges they obtained from the boxes o.f ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES MADISON. 535 the fallen British. Finding all their efforts vain the British sullenly withdrew and left the field to the Americans. The latter were so exhausted by their hard march of fifteen miles and five hours of constant fighting that they made no effort at pursuit, and soon withdrew from the hill to their camp. As they had no means of hauling off the cap- tured guns they were obliged to leave them on the field. General's Brown and Scott were both wounded during the battle,, as were nearly all of the field officers. Repulse at Fort Erie. The victory of Lundy's Lane was particu- larly gratifying to the Americans. It was won, not over Canadian militia, but over veteran troops who had served under Wel- lington in the wars with Napoleon. It broke the long series of defeats sustained by the Americans since the opening of the war, and showed what could be accomplished by American soldiers under competent and determined commanders and in anything like a fair fight. General Browne withdrew to Fort Erie after the battle, and being disabled by his wounds, relinquished the command to Gen- eral Gaines. General Drummond moved forward and on the fourth of August laid siege to Fort Erie. On the fifteenth he attempted to carry the fort by an assault at midnight, but was repulsed with a loss of one thousand men. In spite of this reverse he pressed the siege with vigor, and in the meantime General Brown recovered from his wounds and resumed the command of the fort. On the seventeenth of September the Americans made a sortie against the batteries of the Brittish, which were two miles in advance of their camp. By a sudden dash from the fort they stormed and carried the batteries, spiked the guns, set fire to the magazines, inflicted a loss of six hundred in killed and wounded upon the enemy, and retreated into the fort, carrying with them four hundred prisoners. The American loss in this brilliant sally was three hundred men. Drummond immediately raised the siege and retreated across the Chippewa. Around Lake Champlain. In October a reinforcement of four thou- 1 sand men arrived from Lake Champlain under General Izard, who assumed the com. mand of the American Army on the Niagara, Ke was one of the old-style commanders, and at once proceeded to neutralize the gallant achievements of Brown and Scott. He did nothing until November, when, fear- ing that Drummond would be reinforced, he blew up Fort Erie and retreated across the Niagara, leaving the entire Canadian shore in the possession of the British. General Izard had succeeded General Hampton in command of the army on Lake Champlain. Upon his withdrawal to the Niagara, General Macomb took command of the troops that remained on Lake Champlain, and held Plattsburg with a force of about ^ three thousand men. Hearing that General Prevost was advancing to attack him, Macomb called on the militia of New York and Vermont to come to his aid, and about three thousand of them joined him, bringing his force to six thousand men. General Prevost having been reinforced from Eng- land, advanced against Plattsburg with a force of twelve thousand veteran troops, for the purpose of invading the State of New York. Upon the approach of this force Macomb fell back behind the Saranac, a deep and* rapid stream which empties into the lake at Plattsburg, and the small American squadron, under Commodore Macdonough, was moored across the entrance of Plattsburg bay. This squadron carried eighty-six guns, and was S36 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. manned by eight hundred and fifty-six men. The British army was accompanied by a squadron superior in strength to that of the Americans, and upon which they depended for the control of Lake Champlain. It was commanded by Captain Downie, mounted ininety-five guns, was manned by one thou- sand men, and had plenty of ammunition. SCENE OF THE BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. Macdonough called the crew of his flag-ship around him, and kneeling on the quarter- deck of his vessel, prayed God to crown the American arms with victory that day. After a severe engagement of two hours and a quarter, the British fleet was defeated and forced to surrender, with the exception of a few gunboats, which escaped. While this ,_^ battle was going on, "'M.^^^s^, Prevost tried repeat- ^^^'^^^r edly to cross the Sara- nac, but was each time driven back with heavy loss. During the night the British army re- treated in disorder, abandoning their sick and wounded and a large quantity of mili- tary stores, having lost twenty-five hundred men in the engage- ment. The country had ample cause to regrel the weakness of its navy during this war. The exploits of those vessels which had managed to get to sea had shown what could be accomplished by this branch of the public service, and Prevost arrived before Plattsburg on the seventh of September, and proceeded to erect batteries to cover his passage of the Saranac. On the eleventh of September he made a combined attack by land and water upon the American position. The British squadron , advanced to force an entrance into Platts- burg bay, and the British army at the same time attempted to force a passage of the Saranac. As the enemy's fleet advanced, our deficiency in this respect enabled the enemy to blockade the ports of the Union, and to use the Chesapeake bay with as much freedom as if it were one of their own harbors. In the summer of 5814 a fleet of sixty British ships under Admirals Cockburn and Cochrane, having on board a land-force of five thousand men under General Ross, assembled in the Chesa- peake. DECATUR'S CONFLICT WITH THE ALGERIN E AT TRIPOLI ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES MADISON. 537 Admiral Cochrane endeavored to induce the slaves of Virginia and Maryland to desert their masters, and offered them free transportation to the West Indies and Canada. As it was not known at what ',oint General Ross would land his troops, General Winder of Maryland was ordered to collect a force of fifteen thousand militia from the neighboring States. He proposed to occupy a central position from which he could cover Washington City, Annapolis, and Baltimore, and was anxious to call out the militia at once ; but General Armstrong, the secretary of war, decided that it would be time enough to call out the militia when the British had revealed their designs more plainly. He did not believe the British had any idea of advancing upon Washington, and thought Baltimore could defend itself Mr. Madison submitted to the decision of . the secretary of war, and the national capita) was left defenceless. Attack on Washington. In the meantime, the British commanders, learning the exposed condition of the city of Washington, determined to attack it. They divided their fleet for this purpose, one por- tion ascending the Potomac, and another the Patuxent. The latter division conveyed the troops of General Ross, and landed them at Benedict, on the Patuxent, about fifty miles from Washington. General Ross at once set out for Washington, advancing slowly and meeting with no resistance. As he had no horses, his troops were obliged to drag their three or four cannon by hand, and the British made but about ten miles a day. A * Ifew determined troops might have driven them back, ana the roads might at least have been obstructed and the progress ot the enemy impeded. General Winder gathered a small force of miUtia, and took position at Bladensburg, on the east branch of the Potomac, about three miles from Washington. He was joined here by Commodore Barney with five hundred sailors and marines from the gunboat flotilla in the Patuxent, which Barney, unable to offer any resistance, had burned upon the approach of the British fleet. On the twenty* fourth of August the British reached Blad- ensburg, and attacked the force under Gen- eral Winder. The militia fled at the first fire, but Barney and his sailors and marines stood their ground, and served their guns COMMODORE MACDONOUGH. With vigor until their position was turned on both flanks by the superior force of the enemy, when they retreated, leaving their guns and wounded in the hands ot the vic- tors. The so-called battle of Bladensburg was little more than a skirmish. General Ross halted to resi his men, who were worn out with the heat, and towards sunset resumed his march, and entered Wash- ington a little before dark. The government had abandoned the city some hours before, and had removed the greater part of its paper N and archives, and such public property 538 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. as could be carried away, and only a few frightened citizens remained in the town. Admiral Cochrane had some time before announced that the British forces were ordered " to destroy and lay waste all towns and districts of the United States found accessible to the attacks of British arma- ments," and the army of General Ross now proceeded to carry out these infamous in- structions. They burned the capitol, and with it the library of Congress, the buildings occupied by the treasury and state depart- ments, and plundered the President's mansion and set it on fire. A number of stores and private dwellings were also pillaged and set on fire. The navy yard, with all its contents and several vessels on the stocks, was entirely destroyed. Capture of American Vessels. The British afterwards attempted to excuse their shameful conduct in Washington by allesiner that it was in retaliation for the burn- ing of the parliament house at York in vCanada, an act which had been disclaimed by the Americans, and which the British had not been able to prove was their work. General Ross occupied Washington during the night of the twenty-fourth, and until dark on the twenty-fifth. Then, fearing lest the Americans would assemble in such force as to intercept him, he retreated stealthily from Washington on the night of the twenty- fifth, and on the twenty-ninth reached Bene- dict and re-embarked his troops. The Eng- lish vessels sent up the Potomac succeeded in passing Fort Washington, which made little or no effort to stop them, and on the twenth-eighth anchored off Alexandria. Twenty-one vessels were captured, and the town saved itself from bombardment by pay- ing a ransom of sixteen thousand barrels of flour and one thousand hogsheads of to- bacco. After resting his men. General Ross ascended the Chesapeake to the Patapsco, for the purpose of attacking Baltimore, which was defended by Fort McHenry at the mouth of the harbor, and a force of Maryland militia and some volunteers from Pennsylvania. A force of eight thousand men was landed at the mouth of the Patapsco, under General Ross, and on the twelfth of September ad- vanced towards the city, while the fleet ascended the river to capture Fort McHenry and force its way into the harbor. A small party of Americans contested the advance of the British army, and a skirmish ensued in which General Ross was killed. Gallant Defence of Fort McHenry. A sharp encounter followed, each side losing about two hundred and fifty men. The American militia retired in good order, and on the morning of the thirteenth the British resumed their march towards Balti- more. The Americans were discovered in considerable force, occupying a line of in- trenchments defended by artillery, and com- manded by General Samuel Smith, an officer of the revolution. The British commander now deemed it best to await the result of the engagement between the fleet and Fort McHenry, which was in progress at the time. The British fleet maintained a heavy fire upon the fort, which replied with vigor, and soon made it apparent to the enemy that they could not silence it or pass it. The attack on the fort proving a failure, the British withdrew to North Point on the night ot the thirteenth and reembarked on their ships. During this cannonade Francis S. Key, of- Baltimore, who had visited the British fleet to obtain the release of certain prisoners, and who was detained by the admiral during the bombardment, wrote the famous song of "The Star-Spangled Banner," which has ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES MADISON. 539 since become the national song of Amer- ica. The Chesapeake was not the only part of the coast that suffered from the ravages of fhe British. The shores of Maine were ravaged with great barbarity. Stonington, Connecticut, was subjected to a four days' bombardment by a British fleet, but the militia repulsed every attempt of the enemy to land. The foreign commerce of the coun- try wa5i completely destroyed. The superior naval strength of the British enabled them to blockade the Atlantic ports so thoroughly that the gov- ernment ordered the lights along the coasts to be des- troyed, as they only served as guides to British cruisers. The opposition of the New England States to the war, which had caused them such severe loss, increased daily, and at length the legislature of Massachusetts recommended a convention of delegates from the seaboard States to devise amendments to the Constitu- tion for the purpose of secur- ing them from a recurrence of such evils as they were suffering from. The conven- tion met at Hartford, Con- necticut, on the fourteenth of December, 1814, and was delegates from the New very moderate in its tone. It proposed to amend the Constitution by making the rep- resentation in the lower House of Congress equal by basing it upon the free population only by forbidding embargo and non-inter- course laws ; and by making the President ineligible for a second term. One of the strong opponents of the embargo was the composed of England States. The convention was bitterly opposed by the advocates of the war, who charged it with the intention to make a separate peace with Great Britain, which would have been a practical secession from the Union. The convention continued in session for twenty days, and adopted an address to the country A NEW ENGLAND FARM HOUSE. eminent jurist and scholar, Joseph Story, whose influence was widely felt at this time. The convention was for many years exposed to the bitterest denunciation of the great mass of the American people. One of the results of the opposition to the war was the complete destruction of the old Federalist party which had opposed the war. 540 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. Previous to the assembling of the conven- tion the President, in hope of relieving the embarrassments occasioned by the opposi- tion of New England to the war, advised the repeal of the embargo and non-intercourse acts, and the abandonment of the entire re- strictive system. His recommendations ¥/ere carried out by Congress. In the meantime stirring events were transpiring in the south. At this time Ti'lorida was a possession of Spain, which ( August the President issued his proclamat t admitting Missouri into the Union.* The slavery question was quieted for a time by the admission of Missouri, but it was not settled. We shall encounter it again and again in the remaining chapters of this work. In 1820 the fourth census of the United States placed the population of the republic at 9,638,191 souls. In the fall of 1820 Mr. Monroe and Gov- ernor Tompkins wee re-elected President and Vice-President of the United States. Mr. * " A general idea prevails very extensively that Missouri was admitted as a slave State in 1820, under an agree- ment with the Restrictionists, or Centralists, proposed by Mr. Clay, that she should be so admitted upon condition that , negro slavery should be forever prohibited in the public domain north of 36 degrees 30 minutes north latitude. No greater error in any important historical event ever existed. The truth is, Mr. Clay was not the author of the territorial line of 36 degrees 30 minutes, incorporated in the act of 1820, nor was Missouri admitted under the provisions of that act. On the contrary, she was admitted on the tenth of August, 1 821, by presidential proclamation, upon the ' Funda- mental Condidons,' in substance, that the State government, in all its departments, should be subject to the constitution of the United States, as all the State governments were, and are." — A Compendiut?i of the History of the United Statet, By Hon. Alexander H. Stephens, p. 329. ADMINISTRATIONS OF MONROE AND J. Q. ADAMS. 555 Monroe received at the polls a majority of the votes of every State in the Union, and every electoral vote but one, which was one in the college of New Hampshire, and was cast for John Quincy Adams. Mr. Monroe entered upon his second term on the fourth of March, 1821. Next in importance to the slavery ques- world, and compelled the States to depend upon their own exertions for the supply of their wants. During this period numerous manufacturing enterprises had sprung up, especially in New England, where capital was idle and labor abundant. At the close of the war the country wa>^ flooded with European goods, which vveic r UNIQUE COTTON HARVESTER. tion was that of the tariff, or the imposition of a protective duty in favor of home manu- factures. In his inaugural address the Presi- dent had recommended the imposition of such a system of duties. During the war the non-intercourse laws of Congress, and the rigid blockade maintained by the British fleet, entirely cut the United States off from commercial intercourse with the rest of the sold at reduced prices for the especial pur- pose of ruining American manufactures. In their weak and helpless condition the Ameri- can enterprises could not endure this com- petition, and the tariff was proposed as the only means of saving them from ruin. The first measure of this kind was passed by Congress in 18 16, and was opposed by the New England States, which were then largely 556 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. engaged in commerce, and was supported by the south. In 1 820 the tariff was revised. The New England States, which had directed the chief efforts to manufactures since 18 16, had felt the beneficial effects of protective duties, and now became the warm supporters of the tariff. The south being an agricultural section had found that its interests demanded nee trade, had changed its position and , resolutely opposed the tariff. In spite of the opposition to the measure, however, the duties were increased in the tariff of 1820. Mexico and South America, For some years past Mexico and the States of South America formerly held by Spain as provinces had been struggling to achieve their independence of the mother country, Henry Clay had exerted himself with enthusiasm to obtain from Congress a recognition of their independence, but such a step had been considered premature. In March, 1822, however, his efforts were crowned with.success, and a bill was passed by Congress in accordance with the recom- mendation of the President, recognizing the independence of Mexico and the South American republics, and providing for the establishment of diplomatic relations with them. The next year President Monroe declared in a message to Congress that, " as a princi- ple, the American continents, by the free and independent position they have assumed and maintained, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European power." This claim that America belongs to republicanism, and is not to be the scene of European schemes for territorial aggrandizement, has since been known as the " Monroe doctrine," and been regarded as one of the cardinal points of the policy of tile government of the United States. The last year of Mr. Monroe's administra- tion was marked by an advent of the deepest interest to the whole country. In 1824 the venerable Marquis de Lafayette came to the United States at the express invitation of Congress to visit the nation whose freedom he had helped to achieve. He reached New York on the thirteenth of August, and was received with enthusiasm. He travelled through all the States, and was everywhere received with demonstrations of respect and affection, and he was given abundant evi- dence in all parts of the country that the nation cherished with love and pride the memory of the generous stranger who came to its aid in its darkest hour of trial. Re- turning to Washington during the session of Congress, Lafayette spent several weeks there. Congress, as a token of the gratitude of the nation for his services, voted him a a township of land and the sum of two hun' dred thousand dollars. The frigate " Brandy- wine," just finished, was appointed to convey him back to France, a delicate compliment, as the vessel was named after the stream on whose banks Lafayette fought his first battle and was wounded in the cause of American independence. At the time of his visit to the United States Lafayette was nearly seventy years old. Election of John Quincy Adams. In the fall of 1824 the Presidential election was held amid great political excitement The " era of good feeling " was at an end, and party spirit ran high. There were fouf candidates in the field, Mr. Monroe having declined a third term : Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, William H. Crawford and Henry Clay. None of these received a popular majority and the election was thrown into the House of Representatives in Congress, and resulted in the choice of John Quincy Adams, of ADMINISTRATIONS OF MONROE AND J. Q. ADAMS. 557 Massachusetts, as President of the United States. John C. Calhoun, of South Caroh'na, had been chosen Vice-President by the popular vote. On the fourth of March, 1825, John Quincy Adams was inaugurated President of the United States. He was the son of John Adams, the second President of the republic, and was in his fifty-eighth year. He was a man of great natural ability, of strong personal character, and of unbending integrity. He had been carefully educated, and was one of the most learned men in the Union. Apart from his general education he had received a special training in statesmanship. He had served as minister to the Nether- lands, and in the same capacity at the courts of Portugal, Prussia, Russia and England, where he had maintained a high reputation. He had represented the State of Massachusetts in the Federal Senate, and had been secretary of state in the cabinet of Mr. Monroe during the last administration. He was therefore thoroughly qualified for the duties of the high office upon which he now entered. "King Cotton." He called to his cabinet men of marked ability, at the head of which was Henry Clay, who became secretary ot state. The administration of Mr. Adams was one of re- markable prosperity. The country was growing wealthier by the rapid increase of its agriculture, manufactures and commerce, and abroad it commanded the respect of the world. Still party spirit raged with great violence during the whole of this period. The invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney, in 1793, by which the seed was separated from the cotton, had so cheapened the cost of producing that great staple, that it had become the principal article of export from the United States, and a source of great and growing wealth to the whole country. Several important undertakings were prosecuted with vigor, or were completed during Mr. Adams' term of office. The National Road, a splendidly constructed highway, built by the general government, from Cumberland, Maryland, across the mountains, was completed to Wheeling, on the Ohio, in 1820, and was carried beyond that stream during Mr. Adams' administra- JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. tion, the design being to extend it to the Mississippi. It furnished a broad and well- built thoroughfare between the seaboard and the west, and exerted a marked influence upon the internal trade of the country. The road from Cumberland to Wheeling cost ;^ 1,700,000. The Erie canal, extending from Buffalo on Lake Erie to the Hudson at Albany, was projected by De Witt Clinton. The plan was at first pronounced impracticable, but Clinton succeeded in inducing the State of 55^ FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. New York to undertake the scheme, and in 1825 the great work was completed and the waters of the lakes and the Hudson were united. The completion of this canal secured to the city of New York the control of the western trade, and added to its wealth and 'importance in a marked degree. Mauch Chunk railway, from the coal mines to the Lehigh river, in Pennsylvania, in 1827. These were merely local works, and of but little importance, except in so far as they helped to demonstrate to the public mind the possibility and the usefulness of such enter- prises upon a larger scale. STEAMBOAT LOADING WITH COTTON. Steam had been for some years in use as the motive power in the navigation of the rivers of the Union, and it now began to be applied to purposes of land transportation. The first railroad in this country was a mere tramway, for the transportation of granite irom the quarries at Quincy to the Neponsett river, in Massachusetts, and was constructed in the year 1826. This was followed by the Charters lor roads of more importance were soon obtained in several of the States. In 1828 work was begun on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, and in 1829 on the South Carolina railroad, In the year 1827 there were three miles of railroad in operation in the United States. In 1875 the number of miles in operation is a little over seventy thousand. ADMINISTRATIONS OF MONROK AND J. Q. ADAMS. 559 For some time previous to the entrance of Mr. Adams upon office, Georgia had been involved in a dispute with the general gov- ernment and with the Creek Indians con- cerning the lands of the latter, which the United States had agreed to purchase for the benefit of Georgia. Twenty-five years passed after the promise was made, and the lands re- mained unpurchased be- cause the Indians would not sell them. A treaty was finally made in 1825 by which some of the chiefs ceded to the gen- eral governnaent the lands in question. The majority of the Indians declared the chiefs had no authority to enter into this treaty, and called upon the United States to repudi- ate it. It was cancelled by the general govern- ment, but the State of Georgia determined to enforce it. The general government took the side of the Indians, and for a while it seemed that an open conflict would ensue between the State and federal authorities. The matter was settled by the Creeks consent- ing to sell their lands and to accept new homes in the west. The Indian lands were purchased by the United States, and the Creeks emigrated beyond the Missis- sippi. On the fourth of July, 1826, died, within a few hours of each other, two ex-presidents of the republic — John Adams and Thomas Jef- ferson — the latter the author of the Declara- tion of Independence, and the former its most efficient supporter. Mr. Adams died at his home at Quincy, Massachusetts, at the ripe old age of ninety years ; Mr. Jefferson, at STATUE OF JEFFERSON AT WASHINGTON. Monticello, his beautiful Virginian home, at the age of eighty-two. Both had filled the highest stations in the republic, and both had lived to see the country they loved take rank among the first nations of the globe. They died on the fiftieth anniversary of American independence. 560 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. In the year 1826 a new party made its appearance in our politics. A man named William Morgan, residing in the western part of New York, published a book purport- ing to reveal the secrets of the order of Free- masons. He suddenly disappeared, and it was charged that he had been seized and murdered by the Freemasons in revenge for his exposures. The affair caused great ex- citement in the Northern and some of the Western States, and gave rise to a political DANIEL WEBSTER. party known as the Anti-Masons, whose avowed object was the exclusion of Masons from office. It acquired considerable strength in some of the States, but in a few years died out. The tariff question now engaged the atten- tion of the country once more. The manu- facturing interests were still struggling against foreign competition, and it was the opinion of the Eastern and Middle States that the gen- eral government should protect them by the imposition of high duties upon product?; ol foreign countries imported into the Union. The south was almost a unit in its opposition to a high tariff. Being, as we have said, an agricultural section, its interests demanded a free market, and it wished to avail itself oi the privilege of purchasing where it could buy cheapest. The south and the west were the markets of the east, and the interests of that section demanded the exclusion of for- eign competition in supplying these markets. In July, 1827, a convention of manu- facturers was held at Harrisburg, Penn- sylvania, and a memorial was adopted praying Congress to increase the duties on foreign goods to an extent which would protect American industry. When Congress met in December, 1827, the protective policy was the most important topic of the day. It was warmly dis- cussed in Congress and throughout the country. The interests of New England A'ere championed by the matchless elo* quence of Daniel Webster, who clai;]ied that as the adoption of the protective policy by the government had forced New England to turn her energies to manufacturers, the government was bound to protect her against competi- tion. After a very able and exhaustive dis^ cussion, the tariff bill was passed by the House on the fifteenth of April, 1828, and was approved by the President a little later. It was termed by its opponents the " Bill of Abominations." In the midst of this excitement the Presi- dential election occurred. Mr. Adams wa.- T a candidate for re-election, but was over- whelmingly defeated by Andrew Jackson, ol Tennessee. John C. Calhoun was chosen Vice-President. The election of Jackson was regarded as a popular condemnation of the protective policy of the government. CHAPTER XXXV The Administrations of Andrew Jackson ana Martin Van Buren Character of Andrew Jackson — Indian Policy of this Administration — The President Vetoes the Bill to Renew the Char- ter of the United States Bank — Debate Between Hayne and Webster — ^Jackson's Quarrel With Calhoun — Death of ex-President Monroe — The Cholera — Black Hawk's War — Re-election of President Jackson — The Tariff — Action of "South Carolina — The Nullification Ordinance — Firmness of the President — The Matter Settled by Compromise — Pa- triotism of Henry Clay — The Removal of the Deposits — The Seminole War Begun — Great Fire at New York-:-Settle- ment of the French Claims — Arkansas Admitted Into the Union — The National Debt Paid — Death of ex-President Madison — Martin Van Buren Elected President — Michigan Admitted Into the Union — The Panic of 1837 — Causes of It — Suspension of Specie Payments — Great Distress Throughout the Union — The Sub- Treasury — Repudiation of State Debts — The Canadian Rebellion — The President's Course — The Seminole War Ended — The Anti-Slavery Party- Resolutions of Congress Respecting Slavery — ^William Henry Harrison Elected President — The Sixth Census. ANDREW JACKSON, the seventh President of the United States, was inaugurated at Washington, on the fourth of March, 1829. President Jackson was in many respects one of the most remarkable men of his day. He was of Scotch-Irish descent, and was born in North Carohna during the contro- versy between the colonies and Great Britain, which preceded the revolution. He was left fatherless at an early age, and his youth was passed amid the stirring scenes of the war for independence. At the age of thirteen he began his career by taking part in the fight at Hanging Rock, under General Sumter. The home of the Jacksons was broken up and pillaged by the Tories, and the mother and her two sons became wan- derers. The sons were shortly after made prisoners by the Tories, and the day after his capture Andrew Jackson was ordered by a British officer to clean his boots. He indignantly refused, and the officer struck him with the flat of his sword. The boys were at length exchanged through the exer- tions of their mother. Both had contracted the small-pox during their captivity, and the elder son soon died of his disease. a6 .^. Not long afterwards Mrs. Jackson, with some other ladies, went to Charleston to minister to the wants of the American pri- soners of war confined there by the British. A fever was raging among these unfortunates at the time, and Mrs. Jackson was soon num- bered among its victims. Thus, at the age of fifteen, Andrew Jackson was left alone in the world without a relative. Though young in years, he had been greatly matured in character by his trials. Even at this early age he was generous to a fault to his friends, and immovable in his resolutions when once formed. A few years later he removed to Tennes- see, then a Territory, and upon the admis- sion of the State into the Union was elected as her first representative in Congress. His services during the war of 18 12-15 have been related. His brilliant victory over the British at New Orleans made him one of the most noted men of the day, and his prompt and decisive measures against the Spaniards in Florida during Mr. Monroe's administration greatly added to his reputation. During the administration of John Adams General Jackson occupied a seat in the United States Senate, and gave a cordial support t« S6i 562 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. the principles of Mr. Jefferson. Resigning his seat in the Senate before the close of his term, he was elected one of the judges of the Supreme Court of Tennessee. The election of General Jackson to the ANDREW JACKSON. Presidency was regarded with some anxiety, for though his merits as a soldier were con- ceded, it was feared by many that his known imperiousness of will and his inflexibility of purpose would seriously disqualify him for the delicate duties of the Presidency. Nature had made him a ruler, however, and his adminis* tration was marked by the fearless energy that characterized every act of his life, and was on the whole successful and satisfactory to the great majority of his countrymen. General Jackson began his administra- tion by appointing a new cabinet, at the head of which he placed Martin Van Buren, of New York^ as secretary of state. Until now the Post- master-General had not been regarded as a cabinet officer. Gen- eral Jackson now in- vited that officer to a seat in his cabinet and a share in its delibera- tions, and his course has since been pur- sued by each and all of his successors. The first important act of the new Presi- dent was to recom- mend to Congress the removal of all the In- dian tribes remaining east of the Mississippi to new homes west of that stream. Such a measure, he con- tended, would give to them a broader range, and one more suited to their wants, and would relieve the States east of the Mississippi from all further apprehension of Indian wars. This removal involved considerable loss and hard- ship to the Creeks in Georgia, who had made an encouraging advance in civilization A ADMINISTRATIONS OF JACKSON AND VAN BUREN. 563 bill was passed by the Twenty-first Congress in May, 1830, for the purpose of carrying this policy into effect ; but the removal of the Indians was not completed for some years afterwards. In his first annual message to Congress, in 1829, the President took strong ground against the renewal of the charter of the Bank of the United States, which was about to expire. This was a bold step, as the bank was the most powerful institution in the United States, and had warm friends in every part of the country. The stockholders of the bank applied to the Twenty-second Con- gress during its first session, which began in December, 1 831, for a renewal of their char- ter, and in the late spring of 1832 a bill renewing this charter was passed by both Houses of Congress. The President refused to sign the bill, and returned it to Congress with his objections. He held that Congress had no constitutional power to charter such a bank, and regarded it as inexpedient to continue its existence. An effort was made by the friends of the bill to pass it over the President's veto, but it failed to obtain the necessary two-thirds vote, and consequently did not become a law. The bank was there- fore obliged to suspend its operations at the expiration of its charter in 1836. A Historic Debate. In 1830 Senator Foot, of Connecticut, sub- mitted a resolution of inquiry to the Senate concerning the disposal of the public lands. The debate upon the resolution extended far beyond the subject embraced in that docu- .ment, and in the course of it Senator Robert Y. Hayne, of South Carolina, a brilliant orator, declared that any State had the right, in the exercise of its sovereign power, to declare null and void any act of Congress which it should consider unconstitutional. This was a plain statement of the doctrine that the Union was si'mpl}' a compact between the States, from which any of the States could secede at pleasure, and it was the first time such a sentiment had been expressed on the floor of Congress. Mr. Webster, of Massa- chusetts, replied to Mr. Hayne, in an oration of superb eloquence. He denied the doc trine that the Union was a compact of sover eign, independent States, from which any one of them could withdraw at pleasure ; and argued that the constitution was the work o the people themselves, not as separate States ROBERT Y. HAYNE. but as members of a great nation, and was designed to make the Union perpetual ; that the controversies between the States and the general government were to be decided by the supreme court, the tribunal created for that purpose by the constitution, and not by the States themselves ; and that any attempt on the part of the people of a State to with- draw from the Union was treason. The debate added greatly to the fame of both senators, and the sentiments of Mr. Webster were unanimously re-echoed by the 564 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. north, and by a large majority at the south. The effect of the debate was to direct the attention of the people to a study of the principles of the constitution. Different dews were maintained. The Northern and Western States regarded the Union as indis- soluble, while the Southern States held that 't was a compact of sovereign States, and A lumberman's camp in the woods of MAINE. that any State could withdraw from the Union for just cause. During the session of the Twenty-first Congress a breach occurred between Presi- dent Jackson and Mr. Calhoun, the vice- president. The former was told for the first time that Mr. Calhoun, while a member of Mr. Monroe's cabinet, had endeavored to prevent the government from sustaining him in his invasion of Florida in 1818. General Jackson deeply resented this, and the breach between himself and Mr. Calhoun widened daily. Shortly afterwards Mr. Calhoun re- signed the vice-presidency, and was elected to the Senate by the legislature of South Carolina in 1831. In the same year Mr. Clay was elected to the Senate from Ken- tucky, and Ad ward Livingston was rrn Je secretary of state. On the fourth of July, 1 83 1, ex-Presi- dent Monroe died in New York, in the se- venty-fourth year of his ' ge. In June, 1832, the Asiatic cholera made its first appearance in the United States, and swept with fearful ra- pidity over the whole country. Thousands of persons of all ages and conditions died of it within a few months, and a feeling of general terror per- vaded the country. Its principal ravages occurred in the North- ern States and in the valley of the Missis- sippi. In the spring of 1832 the Sacs and Foxes, and some other tribes of Indians, inhabiting the region now known as Wisconsin, made incursions against the frontier settlements of Illinois. General Atkinson was sent by the o-eneral government with a force of troops to crush them, and, with the assistance of the militia, after a series of skirmishes, drove them beyond the Mississippi. Black Hawk, ADMINISTRATIONS OF JACKSON AND VAN BUREN. 565 a chief of the Sac nation, and the leader of the movement, was taken prisoner. He was kindly treated, and to impress him with the folly of attacking a great nation, he was taken to Washington, and then to the prin- cipal eastern cities, that he might see for \ .iaiself the power of the whites. Jackson Re-elected. Early in 1831 General Jackson was nomi- nated for re-election to the Presidency by the legislature of Pennsylvania. The Presi- dential election took place in the fall of 1832. General Jackson was supported by the Democratic party, and Mr. Clay by the Whigs, for the Presidency. The contest was marked by intense bitterness, for Jack- son's veto of the charter of the Bank of the United States, his other vetoes of public improvement bills, and his attitude in the " Nullification " controversy between the United States and South Carolina had created a powerful opposition to him in all parts of the country. In spite of this op position he was re-elected by a triumphant majority, and Martin Van Buren, of New York, the Democratic nominee, was chosen vice-president. In the meantime serious trouble had arisen between the general government and the State of South Carolina. During the year 1832 the tariff was revised by Congress, and that body, instead of diminishing the duties, increased many of them. This action gave great offence to the Southern States, which regarded the denial of free trade as a great wrong to them. They were willing to submit to a tariff sufficient for a revenue, but were utterly opposed to a protective tariff for the reasons we have already stated. The States of Virginia, Georgia and South Caro- lina were the most energetic in their opposi- tion to the measure, but the first fwo, upon U-s passage, submitted to it, hoping to carry out their w'shes by constitutional means at some future time. The State of South Carolina, holding the views advocated by Mr. Hayne in the Senate, in his debate with Mr. Webster, resolved to " nullify " the law within its own limits. A convention of the people of the State was held, which adopted a measure known as the " Nullification Ordinance." This ordinance declared that the tariff act of 1832, being based upon the principle of pro- JOHN C. CALHOUN. tection, and not upon the principle of raising revenue, was unconstitutional, and was there- fore null and void. Provision was made by another clause for testing the constitutionality of the law before the courts of the State. The State assumed the right to forbid the collection of the duties imposed by the tariff within its limits ; and if the general govern- ment should resist the course of the State by force, the State of South Carolina was declared to be no longer a member of the 566 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. Union. This ordinance was to take effect on the twelfth of February, 1833, unless in the meantime the general government should abandon its policy of protection and return to a tariff for revenue only. Matters had reached this state when the Presidential election occurred in the fall of 1832. The country at large was utterly opposed to the course of South Carolina, and denied its right to nullify a law of Con- gress or to withdraw from the Union in support of this right. Intense excitement EDWARD LIVINGSTON prevailed, and the course of the President was watched with the gravest anxiety. He was known to be opposed to the protective policy ; but it was generally believed that he was firm in his intention to enforce the laws, however he might disapprove of them. Congress met in December, 1832, and in his annual message President Jackson urged upon that body a reduction of the tariff. The message gave great satisfaction to the opponents of the tariff. A few days later the President issued a proclamation against nullification, moderate in language, but firm in tone. He expressed his opinion that the course of South Carolina was unlawful and wrong, and intimated that he would exert the power intrusted to him to compel obedi- ence to the constitution and laws of the Union. He appealed to the people of SoutliJ Carolina not to persist in the enforcement of their ordinance, as such a course on their part must inevitably bring them in collision with the forces of the federal government ; and told them plainly that any citizen of any of the States who should take up arms against the United States in such a conflict would be guilty of treason against the United States. Referring to the action of the convention, he said : " This ordinance is founded, not on the indefeasible right of resisting acts which are plainly unconstitutional, and too oppres- sive to be endured ; but on the strange posi- tion that any one State may not only declare an act of Congress void, but prohibit its execution ; that they may do this consist- ently with the constitution ; that the true construction of the instrument permits a State to retain its place in the Union, and yet be bound by no other of its laws than those it may choose to consider as constitu- tional." Trouble in South Carolina. The leaders of the South Carolina move- ment were Governor Hayne and John C. Calhoun, then a senator of the United States from South Carolina. Governor Hayne re- plied to the President with a counter procla- mation, in which he warned the people of the State against "the dangerous and perni- cious doctrines " of the President's procla- mation, and called upon them to disregard " those vain menaces " of military force, and " to be fully prepared to sustain the dignity and protect the liberties of the State, if need ADMINISTRATIONS OF JACKSON AND VAN BUREN. 567 be, with their lives and fortunes." The State prepared to maintain its position by force. Troops were organized and arms and mihtary stores were collected. The President, on his part, took measures promptly to enforce the law. He ordered a large body of troops to assemble at Charles- ton under General Scott, and a ship of war was sent to that port to assist the federal officers in collecting the duties on imports. Civil war seemed for a time inevitable. The ginia sent Benjamin Watkins Leigh, a dis- tinguished citizen, as commissioner to South Carolina, to urge her to suspend the execu- tion of her ordinance until March 4th, as there was a probability that a peaceful set- tlement of the difficulty would be arranged before that time. South Carolina consenteo to be guided by this appeal. Henry Clay, with his usual patriotic sel^ sacrifice, now came forward in the Senate with a compromise which he hoped would THE UNITED STATES TREASURY AT WASHINGTON, D. C. President was firmly resolved to compel the submission of South Carolina and to cause the arrest of Mr. Calhoun and the other leading nullifiers and bring them to trial for treason. The issue of such a conflict could not be doubtful. Fortunately a peaceful settlement of the trouble was effected. Mr. Verplanck, of New York, a supporter of the administra- tion, introduced a bill into Congress for a reduction of the tarifir, and the State of Vir- put an end to the trouble. He was an ardent advocate of the protective system, but he was prepared to sacrifice it to the welfare of the country. He introduced a bill providing for the gradual reduction in ten years of all duties then above the revenue standard. " One-tenth of one-half of all the duties for protection above that standard was to be taken off annually for ten years, at the end of which period the whole of the other half was to be taken off, and thereafter all duties 568 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. were to be levied mainly with a view to revenue and not for protection." This measure with some modifications was adopted by both Houses of Congress, and was approved by the President on the second of March, 1833. The people of South Caro- lina rescinded their " Nullification Ordi- nance," and the trouble was brought to an end.* It was generally believed that the Union had escaped from a grave peril. The firm- ness of the President received the approval of the nation, except in South Carolina. The action of that State was generally condemned', and the result was looked upon as a decided triumph of the national authority. Renewed Excitement. On the fourth of March, 1833, General Jackson entered upon his second term of office. The troubles which had disquieted the country had been satisfactorily settled, and the President took advantage of the peaceful condition of afl^airs to visit New York and the New England States. He was received everywhere with enthusiasm. Upon his return to the capital the Presi- dent took a step which plunged the country into great excitement once more. The charter of the Bank of the United States made that institution the legal depository of the funds of the United States. The secre- tary of the treasury, with the sanction of Congress, alone had authority to remove them. The President was of the opinion that the public funds were not safe in the keeping of the bank, and announced his in- tention to remove them from the Bank of the United States and deposit them with certain State banks. The majority of the cabinet were opposed to the measure, and the secretary of the treasury, William J. Duane, when ordered by the President to withdraw the funds, refused to obey him as he considered the President's course " un- necessary, unwise, arbitrary and unjust." He was at once removed from his position by President Jackson, who appointed Roger B. Taney, of Maryland, in his place. Mr. Taney issued an order to the collectors, for- bidding them to deposit the public moneys paid to them in the Bank of the United States. As for the funds already in the pos- session of the bank it was decided to with- draw them as they were needed for the pay- ment of the current expenses of the govern- ment. This measure was productive of great financial distress throughout the Union, which continued for some time. President Jackson Censurea. The President's course also produced open war between himself and the Senate, in which body he was opposed by Clay, Cal- houn and Webster, its foremost members. He was defended by Benton, of Missouri, and Forsyth, of Georgia, but in spite of their efforts a resolution declaring the President's course unconstitutional and severely censur- ing him for it was adopted by the Senate. The President remained firm, however. He. submitted an able protest against the action of the Senate, and by the help of the House of Representatives defeated the bank on every point. The Senate subsequently recognized the propriety of the President's * " Mr. Clay, on this occasion," says Hon. Alexander H. Stephens, " had to break with his old political friends, while he was offering up the darling system of his heart upon the altar of his country. Whatever else may be said of him, no one can deny that Henry Clay was a patriot — every inch of him — a patriot of the highest standard. It was said that when he was importuned not to take the course he had resolved upon, for the reason amongst others that it would lessen his chances for the presidency, his reply was, • I would rather be right than be president.' This showed the material he was made of. It was worthy a Marcellus or Cato." — The War Between the States, vol. i.,p. 438. ADMINISTRATIONS OF JACKSON AND VAN BUREN. 569 action, and of its own motion expunged the ship of their great chief. Osceola opposed a resolution of censure from its journal. determined resistance to the efl^Drts of the In pursuance of its policy towards the In- general government. Major Da de, with one OSCEOLA. CHIEF OF THE SEM INGLES. dians, the government attempted in 1835 to remove the Seminoles from Florida beyond the Mississippi. They were unwilling to relinquish their lands ; and under the leader- hundred and seventeen men, was sent from Tampa Bay to the assistance of General Clinch at Fort Drane, which was threatened by the Indians. He was attacked on the 570 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. twenty-eighth of December, 1835, while on the march, and he and all but four of his men were massacred. On the same day another blow was struck at Fort King, many miles away from the scene of this massacre. Mr. Thompson, the Indian commissioner, and a party of his friends, while dining out- side of the walls of the fort, were attacked by a band of Seminoles led by Osceola in person, and killed and scalped. General Clinch at once took the field against the savages, and on the thirty-first of December defeated them at Withlacooche, ninety miles north of Tampa Bay. In February, 1836, General Gaines won an important v'ctory over the savages near the same place. The Seminole War. The Creeks joined the Seminoles in May, 1836, and the war spread into Georgia. The former were soon crushed by the United States troops, and were sent west of the Mississippi. The Seminoles continued the war, and as often as they were defeated in the open field would take refuge in the swamps and everglades, where it was diffi- cult for the whites to follow them, and from which they maintained a constant and effect- ive warfare upon their enemies. Osceola was always ready to make a treaty, and never hesitated to break it. At last he was con- quered by his own weapon of deceit. In October, 1837, he came into the American camp under a flag of truce. He was at once seized, with all his followers, by General Jessup, the American commander. Osceola was sent as a prisoner to Fort Moultrie, in South Carolina, where he died of a fever. The war went on for several years longer. The winter of 1834-5 was one of the coldest ever known in America. The Chesa- peake Bay was frozen from its head to the Capes, and on the eighth of February, 1835, the mercury stood at eight degrees below zero as far south as Charleston. On the fourth of January the mercury congealed at Lebanon, New York. On the night of De- cember 16, 1835, a fire broke out in the city of New York, and in fourteen hours con-' sumed the greater part of the business por- tion of the city, and destroyed over seven- teen million dollars worth of property. Dispute with France Settled. In the last years of his administration Pres- ident Jackson brought to a successful close a vexatious dispute with France, which had long been a source of annoyance to the coun- try. American merchants held claims to the amount of five million dollars against France* for the " unlawful seizures, captures, and destruction of vessels and cargoes" during the wars of Napoleon. The government of Louis Philippe acknowledged the justice of these claims, and in 1831 a treaty was nego- tiated between the United States and France for their payment. The Chamber of Deputies refused three times during as many years to appropriate the money for the payment of these claims, and in 1834 President Jackson ordered the United States minister at Paris to demand his passports, and advised Congress to make reprisals on French vessels. This vigorous course brought France to her senses, and at this juncture Great Britain offered her media- tion for the settlement of the difficulty. The Chamber of Deputies appropriated the neces- sary sum, and the American claims were paid and the matter settled to the satisfaction of all parties. Claims for similar seizures were brought against Spain, Naples, and Denmark, and were satisfactorily settled through the firm- ness of the President. Treaties of friendship and commerce were negotiated with Russia and Turkey. ADMINISTRATIONS OF JACKSON AND VAN BURP:N. 571 On the fifteenth of June, 1836, Arkansas was admitted into the Union as a State. One of the most important acts of General Jackson's administration was the payment of the national debt. He not only left the nation free from debt, but handed over to his successor a sur- plus of forty millions of dollars in the na- tional treasury. On the twenty- eighth of June, 1836, ex-President James Madison died at Montpelier, his home, in Virginia, in the eighty-sixth year of his age. The Presidential election was held in the fall of 1836. Gen- eral Jackson having declined to be a can- didate for a third term, the Democratic party supported Martin Van Buren for President and Richard M. John- son, of Kentucky, for Vice-President. Mr. Van Buren was elected by a large majority; but the electors hav- ing failed to make a choice of a candidate for Vice-President, that task devolved upon the Senate, which elected Colonel Richard M. Johnson by a majority of seventeen votes. On the twenty-sixth of January, 1837, Michigan was admitted into the Union as a State, making the twenty-sixth member of States had been doubled in number, and the Union was strong at home, and respected abroad. At the close of his term General Jackson retired from public life, and passed the remainder of his days at his beautiful home, the Confederacy. The original thirteen MARTIN VAN BUREN. near Nashville, in Tennessee, which he had named the " Hermitage." He had conducted one of the most remarkable administrations in our history, and one of the most success- ful, and had shown himself to be an earnest, incorruptible, and self-sacrificing patriot, and 572 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. a man of unbending honesty and of extra- ordinary energy and inflexibility of purpose. Martin Van Buren, the new President, entered upon the duties of his office on the fourth of March, 1837. He was in his fifty- fifth year, and had occupied many distin- guished positions in public life. He had represented the State of New York in the Senate of the United States, and had been governor of that State. He had been min- ister to England, had been made secretary of state at the commencement of General Jack- son's first term, and had been elected Vice- President of the United States at the period o^ j ickson's re-election. Wild Speculation. The extraordinary prosperity which had prevailed throughout the nation during the last year of Jackson's term came to a sudden end almost immediately after the inaugura- tion of Mr. Van Buren. For some time past a reckless spirit of speculation had engrossed the nation, and had led to excessive banking and the issuing of paper money to an extent far beyond the necessities of the country. The State banks, with which the public funds had been deposited by President Jackson, supposed they would be able to control these funds for an indefinite period, as the revenue of the government was largely in excess of its expenses ; and they made loans freely, and upon not the best securities, in all cases. Few of the new banks which sprang into existence had enough gold and silver in their vaults to redeem the notes with which they flooded the country. Fictitious values pre- vailed in every department of trade, and the banks vied with each other in affording the means for the wildest speculations. In the midst of this excitement two acts of the general government brought matters to a crisis. The speculation mania had extended to the public lands, and in order to restrain it within manageable bounds President Jack- son caused the secretary of the treasury to issue an order to the collectors at the local offices to receive only gold and silver in pay- ments for land. This order was generally known as the " Specie Circular." In the summer of 1836 a law was passed by Con- gress requiring the President to distribute among the States the funds on deposit in the banks. This was an unexpected measure to the banks, and forced them to call in their loans to meet the withdrawal of the govern- ment funds. The operations of the " Specie Circular" at the same time sent large quan- tities of their notes back to them to be redeemed in coin. This complication of difficulties brought them at once to the end of their resources, and they were rendered powerless to extend their usual facilities to their customers. The result was that the business of the country was thrown into a state of hopeless confusion^ and by the spring of 1837 the failures in New York alone amounted to one hundred million dollars. All parts of the country were affected by the financial troubles, and in New Orleans the failures amounted to twenty-seven million dollars. Suspension of Specie Payments. Petitions were addressed to the President from all parts of the Union, praying him to take some steps to relieve the general distress, and in May a deputation of merchants and bankers from New York waited upon Presi- dent Van Buren, and urged him to postpone the immediate collection of duties for which merchants had given bonds, to withdraw the treasury orders requiring sums due the United States to be paid in gold and silver, and to convene Congress in extra session for the purpose of devising measures of relief The President complied with their request to suspend the collection of duties for which ADMINISTRATIONS OF JACKSON AND VAN BUREN. 573 bonds had been given, but declined to take the other steps asked of him. Within a few days after his answer was known the banks of New York suspended specie payments, and their example was followed by the rest of the banks throughout the Union. The Country in Distress. The distress of the country was very great. Hundreds of thousands of laborers were thrown out of employment, and busi- ness of all kinds was at a standstill. The government, which a few months before had been out of debt and in possession of a sur- plus of forty millions, now found itself unable to provide funds for its ordinary ex- penses. The President was compelled to summon an extra session of Congress, which met on the fourth of September, 1837. The President in his message attributed the em- barrassed condition of the country to the excessive issues of bank notes, the great fire in New York in 1835, and the reckless speculations of the people for several years past. He suggested no special legislation for the relief of these troubles, as he regarded such a course as beyond the constitutional authority of the general government. Indeed, the government could do but little to restore public confidence ; that was the task of the people themselves, and it was not accomplished for several years. To meet the necessities of the government and pro- vide a legal currency Congress, at the re- commendation of the President, issued treasury notes to the amount of ten millions of dollars. Another recommendation of the President did not give such general satisfac- tion. The President advised the creation of an independent treasury for the public funds, as a means of avoiding the risks assumed by the government in depositing its funds in the banks. These treasuries were to be located at certain central points, and the sub- treasurers were to be appointed by the Presi- dent, and were to give bonds for the proper fulfilment of their duties. The President believed that the adoption of this measure would withdraw large sums of money from active circulation and so put a stop to specu- lation. The bill for the creation of the inde- pendent treasury was warmly opposed in and out of Congress, as it was feared by many that the withdrawal of so much gold and silver from circulation would seriously injure the business of tjie country. Mr. Calhoun supported the measure with all his great abilities, and Mr. Clay and Mr. Web- ster opposed it. The measure failed at the extra session, but became a law in 1840. In 1 84 1 it was repealed, and in 1846 it was re- enacted. It is still in force, and its wisdom and usefulness are now generally admitted. Great Increase of Debt. The spirit of speculation had extended to the State governments as well as to private individuals, and State bonds had been issued to the amount of one hundred million dol- lars. The pretext for this excessive increase of debt was the necessity of raising funds to carry out their system of internal improve- ments. The panic involved the States in its effects, and eight of them found themselves unable in 1838 to pay the interest on their bonds. In course of time they made good their obligations, but the State of Mississippi and the Territory of Florida not only refused to pay the interest on their bonds, but repu- diated their debts. The sale of their bonds had been made principally in Europe, and their repudiation of their debts aroused great indignation on the other side of the Atlantic, and brought disgrace upon the whole nation. The effects of this were seen a k\v years later, when the United States sought to negotiate a national loan in Europe. Not a FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR, or a dollar obtained 574 bond could be sold there. In 1837 a movement was made by the people of Canada to throw off their connec- tion with Great Britain and to establish their independence. It aroused the sympathies of a large number of the people of the United States, and in northern New York associa- tions called " Hunters' Lodges " were formed for the purpose of aiding the Canadian of Schlosser on the American shore to the island. The British authorities in Canada determined to destroy the boat. One dark night in December, 1837, a detachment from Canada was sent to Navy Island for this purpose. Not finding the " Caroline " they went over to Schlosser, where she was moored at her dock. The boat was captured after a short struggle, in which one American was CANADIAN TRAPPERS. patriots. The President of the United States and the Governor of New York endeavored to suppress these illegal associations, but without success. A body of seven hundred Canadians and American sympathizers took possession of Navy Island in the Niagara River. The island is a part of Canada, and lies near the shore of that country. The force on the island employed the steamboat " Caroline " to convey men and provisions from the town killed, and was carried out into the stream and set on fire. She drifted down to the falls and plunged over them in a blaze. The British minister at Washington at once de- clared the responsibility of his government for the capture of the boat, and justified it on the ground of self-defence. In the meantime the President had sent General Wool with a strong force to the Canadian border with orders to prevent any expedition from leaving this country to aid ADMINISTRATIONS OF JACKSON AND VAN BUREN. 575 the Canadians. He compelled the force on Navy Island to surrender, but the border war continued until the close of 1838, when it was put down. On the first of September of this year (1838) the United States, by their agent, received the liberal donation which was be- cjueathed to them in trust for the " general diffusion of knowledge among men," by James Smithson,an Englishman, which con- stitutes the endowment of the Institute in Washington city that bears his name. The amount of the legacy received, in American coin, was $S7S)^^9- In 1840 the question of the " Carolina " re- vived. Alexander Mc- Leod, a British subject residing in Canada, boasted that he had been engaged in the capture of the " Caroline," and had killed the American who fell in the conflict. Shortly afterwards he visited the New York side of the river and was at once arrested upon a charge of murder by the authorities of that State. The British government demanded his unconditional release on the ground that he had simply obeyed the orders of his government, which was alone respon- sible for his act. The general government of the United States also demanded the surrender of McLeod to the Federal authorities. The 'State of New York, however, held that the offence with which McLeod was charged had been committed on her soil, and brought the prisoner to trial. As he succeeded in prov- ing that he was not engaged in or present at the attack, he was acquitted. This conflict between the Federal and State authority led to the passage by Congress of a law requir- ing similar offences to be tried before the United States courts. In the midst of the Canadian controversy a quarrel sprang up between the State of Maine and the British provinces of New Brunswick, concerning the northeast bound- ary of the United States. Both parties pre- pared for a conflict, but the President sent THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, WASHINGTON, D. C. General Scott to the scene of danger, and he, by his moderation and firmness, suc- ceeded in maintaining peace until the matter could be settled by treaty. The war with the Seminole Indians in Florida continued through the whole of this administration. The capture and death of Osceola, which we have related, though a severe blow to his followers, did not dis- hearten them. On the twenty-fifth of December, 1838, Colonel Zachary Taylor 576 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. inflicted a severe defeat upon the Indians at Lake Okeechobee. The war was at length brought to an end in 1842, but not until it had lasted seven years and had cost many valuable lives and the enormous sum of nearly forty million dollars. The Seminoles were subdued and were removed from Florida to new homes beyond the Mississipi. The Missouri Compromise did not quiet the agitation of the slavery question. It gave to the country only a momentary respite. The Anti-slavery or Abolition party had now become one of the recognized politi- cal organizations of the country. Its avowed object was the abolition of slavery in every State in which it existed. It was argued in opposition to their principles that the consti- tution recognized and protected slavery in the States in which it existed; but they met this assertion by the bold declaration that they would continue their agitation until they had destroyed either slavery or the Union. They did not wish to live under a constitution which protected slavery, and which one of their principal leaders de- nounced as '■ a covenant with death and an agreement with hell." The body embraced the extreme Anti-slavery men of the north. Opposition to the Abolitionists. Among its adversaries were some of the sincerest opponents of slavery, who hoped to accomplish their ends by constitutional means and by the influences of a better and more enlightened public opinion, and who deprecated and opposed the violence of the extreme Abolitionists. The leader of the ultra party in Congress was John Quincy Adams, who had been returned to the House of Represencatives from Massachusetts in 1 83 1. Memorials were presented to Con- gress praying the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, and gave rise to excit- ing debates in that body, which affected the whole country profoundly, and did much to widen the breach between the Northern and Southern States. This agitation continued through the whole of Mr. Van Buren's term of office. Congress Must Not Interfere. Early in the session of 1838-39, Mr. Ath- erton, of New Hampshire, offered a series of resolutions expressing the relations of the general government towards the States, and declaring the inability of Congress to inter- fere with slavery in those States in which it already existed, or in the District of Colum- bia, or the Territories. These resolutions were adopted by the House by decisive majorities, and were regarded by Mr. Clay and by the leading public men of the country as effectually disposing of the troublesome question as far as the general government was concerned. The resolutions were as follows : " Resolved, That this government is a govern- ment of limited powers, and that by the constitution of the United States Congress has no jurisdiction whatever over the institution of slavery in th-, sev- eral States of the confederacy." The vote upon this resolution stood : 196 for it, and 6 against it. The second resolution was in these words : " Resolved, That petitions for the abolition ot slavery in the District of Columbia and the Terri- tories of the United States, and against the removal of slaves from one State to another, are apart of a plan of operations set on foot to affect the institu- tion of slavery in the Southern States, and thus indi- rectly to destroy that institution within their limits.*' On this resolution the vote stood : 136 for it, and 65 against it. The third resolution was in these words : " Resolved, That Congress has no right to do that indirectly which it cannot do directly ; and that the agitation of the subject of slavery in the District of Columbia, or the Territories, as a means, and with a view, of disturbing or overthrowing that institution in the several States, is against the true spirit and 57« FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. meaning of the constitution, an infringement of the rights of the States affected, and a breach of the public faith upon which they entered into the con- federacy." The vote on this resolution was : 164 in favor of it, and 40 against it. I The fourth of this series was in these words : " Resolved, The constitution rests on the broad principle of equality among the members of this confederacy, and that Congress, in the exercise of its acknowledged powers, has no right to discrimi- nate between the institutions of one portion of the States and another, with a view of abolishing the one and promoting the other." The vote on this resolution was: 174 in favor of it, and 24 against it. Resolution Against Slavery Agitation. The fifth and last of Mr. Atherton's reso- lutions was in these words : " Resolved, That all attempts on the part of Congress to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, or the Territories, or to prohibit the removal of slaves from State to State, or to discriminate between the insti- tutions of one portion of the confederacy and another, with the view aforesaid, are in violation of the con- stitution, destructive of the fundamental principle on which the union of these States rests, and beyond the jurisdiction of Congress ; and that every peti- tion, memorial, resolution, proposition, or paper, touch' 'I <^ or relating in any way, or to any extent whatever to slavery, as aforesaid, or the abolVrfoft thereof, shall on the presentation thereof, without any further action thereon, be laid upon the table, without being debated, printed, or referred." The vote on the first branch of this reso- lution was, 146 in favor, and 52 against it; on the second branch of the resolution the vote stood, 126 for it, and 78 against it. As we shall see, this declaration of Con- gress was far from quieting the agitation upon this troublesome question. The slavery conflict had in reality just begun. In the fall of 1840 the Presidential election was held. Mr, Van Buren and Vice-Presi- dent Johnson were nominated for re-election by the Democratic party, and the Whigs supported General William Henry Harrison, of Ohio, for President, and John Tyler, of Virginia, for Vice-President. The financial distress of the country had been but slightly relieved, and was generally attributed by the people to the interference of the government with the currency. This feeling made the Democratic nominees exceedingly unpop- ular, and the political campaign, which was one of the most exciting ever conducted in this country, resulted in the election ot Har- rison and Tyler by overwhelming majorities. In 1840 the sixth census showed the popu- lation of the United States to be 17,069,453. CHAPTER XXXVI The Administrations of William Henry Harrison ana John Tyler An Extr. jession of Congress Summoned — Death of President Harrison — ^John Tyler becomes President of the Uniteu States — Meeting of Congress — The Bankrupt I^aw — President Tyler Vetoes the Bills to Revive the United States Bank— Plis Quarrel with His Party— The « Tyler Whigs"— The Tariff of 1842— The Treaty of Washington— The United States will not Tolerate the Exercise of the Right of Search — Dorr's Rebellion — The Mormons — Invention of the Electric Telegraph — Explosion on the " Princeton " — Efforts to Secure the Annexation of Texas — Early History ot Texas — The Texan War of Independence — Battle of San Jacinto — Texan Independence Established — Texas Ap- plies for Admission into the Union — Opposition to the Measure — Significance of the Vote at the Presidential Election — James K. Polk Elected President — Texas Admitted into the Union— >Iowa and Florida become States. ON THE fourth of March, 1841, Wilham Henry Harrison was inaugurated President of the United States at Washington in the presence of an immense concourse of citizens from all parts of the Union. He was in his sixty-ninth year, and had spent forty years of his life in the public service. His services during the Indian hostilities which preceded the war of 1812-15, and his exploits during that war, have been related. He had served as governor of Indiana Ter- ritory, and had been both a member of Con- gress and a senator of the United States. He was a man of pure life and earnest character, and the certainty of a change of policy in the measures of the federal govern- ment had caused the people of the country to look forward to his administration with hope and confidence. He began by calling to seats in his cabinet men of prominence and ability. At the head of the cabinet he placed Daniel Webster, as secretary of state. The President issued a proclamation con- vening Congress in special session on the thirty-first of May, 1841. He was not destined to fulfil the hopes of his friends, hovv^ever. He was suddenly seized with pneumonia, and died on the fourth of April, 1 84 1 — just one month after his inaugura- tion. It w^as the first time that a president of the United States had died in ofifice, and a gloom was cast over the nation by the sad event. The mourning of the people was sincere, for in General Harrison the nation lost a faith- ful, upright and able citizen. He had spent forty years in prominent public positions, and had discharged every duty confided to him with ability and integrity, and went to his grave a poor man. " Brave old Cincinnatus ! he left but his plow." Upon the assembling of Congress, that body, "out of consideration of his expenses in removing to the seat of government, and the limited means he had left behind," appro- priated the equivalent of one year's presi- dential salary — twenty-five thousand dollars — to Mrs. Harrison. According to the terms of the constitution, upon the death of General Harrison, the office of president of the United States devolved upon the vice-president, John Tyler, of Vir- ginia. Mr. Tyler was not in the city of Washington at the time of the death of his oredecessor, but repaired to that city without 579 580 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. loss of time, upon being notified of the need of his presence, and on the sixth of April took the oath of office before Judge Cranch, chief justice of the District of Columbia. Mr. Tyler was in his fifty-second year, and had served as governor of Virginia, and as representative and senator in Congress from that State. On the ninth of April President Tyler issued an address to the people of the United States, in which there was no indica- tion of a departure from the policy announced in the inaugural of General Harrison. He WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. retained the cabinet ministers of his prede- cessor in their respective positions. On the thirty-first of May the Twenty- seventh Congress convened in extra session. It was known as the " Whig Congress," as a large majority of its members were of that party. Had this party remained united they could have controlled the action of Congress to suit themselves, but as we shall see, the policy of the executive soon divided them. The first act of this Congress was to repeal the sub-treasury bill which had been passed in 1840. The effects of the commercial crisis had involved thousands of merchants in hopeless bankruptcy, and under the old laws they had no means of recovering their lost position, as they were crushed down by their debts Neither their creditors nor the country at large derived any benefit from this state of affairs, and Congress at once passed a general bankrupt law for the relief of persons thus situated. It was highly beneficial to the country, and was repealed in 1843, when the necessity for it had ceased to exist. Important Veto by President Tyler. Efforts were made to revive the Bank of the United States, and a bill was passed establishing an institution known as the " Fiscal Bank of the United States." Mr. Tyler, who was a member of the strict con- structionist school, now found himself at variance with a majority of his party in both Houses of Congress. As he did not believe that Congress could constitutionally charter such an institution, he vetoed this bill. The advocates of the measure could not com- mand the requisite two-thirds majority for the passage of the bill over the president's veto, and his action was sustained. Another bill was passed by Congress of a similar character, establishing " The Fiscal Corpora- tion of the United States," but this also was vetoed by the president for the same reasons. His veto was sustained by Congress in this instance also. The vetoes of these measures were generally approved by the strict con- structionists throughout the Union, without regard to party ; but they were bitterly de- nounced by the majority of the Whigs, who charged the president with having violated the implied pledges upon which he was elected, and with having betrayed his party. The Whigs were for the time forgetful of the fact that at the time of his nomination to the vice-presidency Mr. Tyler was known ADMINISTRATIONS OF HARRISON AND TYLER. 581 to be opposed to the Bank of the United States. The members of the cabinet, with tne single exception of the secretary of state, resigned their positions in consequence of Mr. Tyler's course, Mr. Webster retained his position in order to complete the important negotiations he was at the time conducting with England. The places of the other members of the cabi- net were filled by the President with pro- minent members of the strict construc- tionist school of the Whig party, who sus- tained the President. The second session of the Twenty-seventh Congress met in De- cember, 1841, and con- tinued its sittings until August, 1842. It was noted as the longest session ever held up to this time. It found the Whig party divid- ed, and the opposing factions bitterly hostile to each other. The majority, led by Mr. Clay, opposed the administration. The minority, because of their support of the President, received the name of " Tyler Whigs." The principal question agitated during this session was the tariff. Accord- ing to the compromise act of 1833^ the duties this year were to be regulated accord- vig to a revenue standard. The majority in Congress, however, paid no regard to the pledge given in this com- promise, and a new tariff bill was passed by both Houses of Congress, regulating the duties on a strongly protective basis, and with the avowed object of reviving the pro- tective policy. It was vetoed by the Presi- JOHN TYLER. dent. Another measure of a similar though slightly modified character was passed, and this was vetoed also. Congress then passed the tariff of 1842, in which the principles of the compromise of 1833 were altogether set aside, and the '-'uties made strictly protectiv*. 582 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. It required a sharp struggle in Congress to secure the passage of this bill, which received the executive signature on the thirtieth of August. Settlement of Disputes. In the meantime Mr. Webster succeeded in bringing the negotiations with Great Bri- tain to a successful close. These negotia- tions had grown out of the revolutionary disturbances in Canada, and the controversy respecting the northeast boundary of the United States? during the administration of Mr. Van Buren, which we have related. The boundary question was of older origin than the former controversy, and had been pending between the United States and Eng- land for fifty years. Mr. Webster, imme- diately upon his entrance upon the office of secretary of state, had, with the approval of the President, signified the desire of this country to terminate the controversy, and Lord Ashburton had been sent by the British government as special minister to the United States, with full power to settle all the con- troversies between the two countries. The treaty of Washington was concluded in 1842, and was accepted by both countries as a settlement of the questions at issue between them. By the terms of this treaty the northeastern boundary was arranged as it exists at present ; the United States obtained the free naviga- tion of the St. John's river to the sea ; and gained possession of the important military position of Rouse's Point, at the outlet of Lake Champlain. The two countries mutually agreed to surrender upon proper demand all fugitives from justice escaping from the territory of one into that of the other ; and to maintain a certain number of ships of war on the African coast to aid in suppressing the slave trade. When the treaty was completed two sub- jects presented themselves to the negotiators. One of these was the right claimed by Great Britain for her cruisers to stop and if neces- sary to search merchant vessels belonging to other nations on the high seas ; the other was the impressment of seamen from Amer- ican merchant vessels by British cruisers. Mr. Webster, in a paper of great ability, ad- dressed to the American minister at London, but intended for the British foreign minister, denied the right of search, and sustained his position by arguments that were simply irre- futable. In a letter tj Lord Ashburton Mr. Web- ster refused to consider the impressment question, as the United States could in no case admit such a claim on the part of Great Britain, and declared that every case of im- pressment would be considered an act of hostility and would be repelled as such. He declared as the unalterable policy of this country the doctrine that " Every merchant vessel on the high seas is rightfully con- sidered as a part of the territory to which it belongs ; " that " in every regularly docu- mented American merchant vessel the vjrew who navigate it will find their protection in the flag which is over them ; " and that " the American government, then, is prepared to say that the practice of impressing seamen from American vessels cannot hereafter be allowed to take place." The tone of the secretary of state, though firm, was courteous and conciliatory, and the negotiations were conducted in the same spirit of conciliation by the British mirs'.ster. Insurrection in Rhode Island. With this treaty the United States for- mally took their position as one of the great powers of the world. The negotiations being completed, Mr. Webster resigned his place in the cabinet in May, 1843, ^"<^ "^^'^^ suc- ceeded by Abel P. Upshur, of Virginia. ADMINISTRATIONS OF HARRISON AND TYLER. 583 In 1842 an insurrection broke out in the State of Rhode Island, which required the intervention of the United States for its sup- pression. It is known as the Dorr rebellion. The old charter of the colony, granted by- Charles II., in 1663, had up to this time served as the constitution of the State. It was found to be unsuited to the requirements of the people in their more prosperous condi- tion, and an effort was made to change it. Two parties were formed, one in favor of the proposed changes, the other opposed to them. Each party nominated its candidate for the office of governor and elected him. The " suffrage party," which favored the changes, elected Thomas W. Dorr governor, took up arms, and attacked the State arsenal for the purpose of arming their followers. They were repulsed by the State militia assisted by the United States troops. Dorr was arrested, tried for treason, and sentenced to imprison- ment for life. He was released in 1845. The opponents of the " suffrage party " deemed it best to yield to the popular wish, however, and in November, 1842, a new constitution, embracing the desired changes, was adopted by the legislature. Mormons Found a Cty. About the same time a series of disturb- ances occurred in the State of Illinois, which were but the forerunners of a more serious embarrassment to the general government at d later period. A new religious sect had sprung up some years before in the western part of New York. They called themselves Mormons, and were founded by a remarkable man named Joseph Smith, who professed to have received a new revelation from God, written on plates of gold. Among the arti- cles of the Mormon faith is one which teaches the doctrine of a plurality of wives. Feeling that the east was not favorable to their growth, the Mormons at an early day ^*N removed to the west. They settled at first in Missouri, but so exasperated the people ft is? of that State by their conduct, that they wei soon driven out of Missouri. ADMINISTRATIONS OF HARRISON AND TYLER. 585 Crossing the Mississippi, they settled in Illinois, and founded a city which they called Nauvoo, and built a temple. Their numbers increased rapidly from emigration from nearly every country in Europe. The new- comers were mainly persons of low position and without education. Conscious of their strength they raised troops, and set the authority of the State of Illinois at defiance. The State endeavored to reduce them to obedience, and their conduct, as in Missouri, westward, and after a long and painful jour- ney across the plains, reached the valley of Salt Lake, and established a settlement there. Out of this settlement grew the Ter- ritory of Utah. In 1844 occurred one of the most im- portant events in the history of the world. In 1832 Samuel F. B. Morse, a native of Massachusetts, invented the electric tele- graph. He spent some years in perfecting his invention, and in 1 838 applied to Congress THE MORMON HAND-CART COMPANY CROSSING THE PLAINS. turned the people against them. Several conflicts ensued between the Mormons and the authorities. In one of these Joe Smith, the prophet, and his brother were seized and put in jail, and while lying there were murdered by the mob in July, 1844. This brought matters to a crisis, and the people of Illinois determined to drive the Mormons across the Mississippi. Nauvoo was attacked in 1845, and the Mormons were compelled to leave the State, In 1 846 they bent their steps for a small appropriation to assist him in building a line of wire to demonstrate the usefulness of his discovery. He was obliged to wait five years for a favorable answer, and it was not until he had given up all hope of receiving aid from Congress that that body, on the last day of the session of 1843, appro- priated the sum of thirty thousand dollars to construct a telegraph line between Washing- ton City and Baltimore, a distance of forty miles. The line was completed in 1 844, and 586 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. was successfully operated by Professor Morse. This was the first line established in the world. In the number of years which have elapsed since then the use of the telegraph has become general throughout the civilized world, and in the United States alone hun- dreds of thousands of miles of telegraph lines are in operation at the present time. On the twenty-eighth of February, 1844, the President, accompanied by the members spectators. This sad event was greatly lamented throughout the country. Judge Upshur was succeeded as secretary of state by John C. Calhoun, then a senator from South Carolina. The last years of Mr. Tyler's administra- tion were devoted to the effort to secure the annexation of the republic of Texas to the United States. The territory embraced within the limits of Texas constituted a part MORMON TABERNACLE AT SALT LAKE, UTAH. of his cabinet and a number of distinguished citizens, officers of the army and navy, and ladies, went on board the new steam frigate '' Princeton," lying in the Potomac, to wit- ness the experimental firings of a new cannon of unusual size on board that ship, to which the name of " The Peacemaker " had been given. At one of the discharges the gun exploded, causing the instant death of Messrs. Upshur and Gilmer, the secretaries of state and of the navy, and several other of the Spanish-American possessions, and was generally regarded as a part of Mexico. During the last eentury a number of forts had been erected in Texas by the Spaniards as a means of holding the province against the French, and each fort was made a mis- sionary station, from which efforts were made to convert the Indians, but withou- success. The United States were, in the early part of the present century, inclined to regard Texas as rightfully a part of the ADMINISTRATIONS OF HARRISON AND TYLER. 587 Louisiana purchase, but this claim was waived when Florida was purchased. Early in the present century pioneers from the United States began to find their way to Texas which was then a wild country, in- habited only by roving Indians and the gar- risons of the few Spanish forts within its limits. One of these emigrants, Moses Austin, of Durham, Connecticut, conceived the plan of colonizing Texas with settlers from the United States. For this purpose he obtained from the Spanish government, in 1820, the grant of an extensive tract of land ; but before he could put his plans in execution he died. His son, Stephen F. Austin, inherited the rights of his father under this grant, and went to Texas with a number of emigrants from this country, and explored that region for the purpose of locating his grant. He selected as the most desirable site for his colony the country between the Brazos and Colorado rivers, and founded a city, which he named Austin, in honor of the originator of the colony, to whom Texas owes its existence as an American commonwealth. Having seen the settlers established in their new homes, Mr. Austin returned to the United States to collect other emigrants for his colony. During his absence Mexico and the other Spanish provinces rose in revolt against Spain, and succeeded in establishing their in- dependence. Texas, being regarded as a part of the Mexican territory, shared the fortunes of that country. Upon his return to Texas, Austin, m consideration of the altered state of affairs, went to the city of Mexico and obtained from the Mexican government a confirma- tion of the grant made to his father. Such a confirmation was necessary in order to enable him to give the settlers valid titles to the lands of his colony. Mexico at first exercised but a nominal authority over the new settlements, and the colonists were allowed to live under their own laws, subject to the rules drawn up by Austin. In order to encourage settlements in Texas, the Mexi- can Congress on the second of May, 1824, enacted the following law, declaring, " That Texas is to be annexed to the Mexican prov ince of Cohahuila, until it is of sufficient importance to form a separate State, when it is to become an independent State of the Mexican republic, equal to the other States of which the same is composed, free, sover- r-ROFESSOR MORSE. eign, and independent in whatever exclu- sively relates to its internal government and administration." Encouraged by this decree, large num bers of Americans emigrated to Texas, and to these were added emigrants from all the countries of Europe. The population grew rapidly, new towns sprang up, and Austin's colony prospered in a marked degree, until 1830, when Bustamente having madehimseH by violence and intrigue president of the so-called Mexican republic, prohibited the 588 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. emigration of foreigners to the Mexican territory, and issued a number of decrees very oppressive to the people, and in viola- tion of the constitution of 1824. In order to enforce these measures in Texas, he occu- pied that province with his troops, and placed Texas under military rule. The Texans resented this interference with their rights, and finally compelled the Mexican troops to withdraw from the province. In 1832 A VILLAGE IN TEXAS. another revolution in Mexico drove Busta- mente from power, and placed Santa Anna at the head of affairs as president or dictator. Texas took no part in the disturbances of Mexico, but after the accession of Santa Anna to power, formed a constitution, and applied for admission into the Mexican republic as a State, in accordance with the constitution of 1824, and the act of the Mexican Congress which we have quoted. Stephen F. Austin was sent to the city of Mexico to present the petition of Texas for this purpose. He was refused an answer to this petition for over a year, and at last wrote to the authorities of Texas, advising them to organize a State government with- out waiting for the action of the Mexican Congress. For this recommendation, which the Mexi- can government regarded as treasonable, Santa Anna caused the arrest of Austin, and kept him in prison for over a year. Texas now began to manifest the most determined opposition to the usurpation of Santa Anna, and measures were taken to maintain the rights of the province under the constitution of 1824. Troops were organized, and prepara- tions made to resist the force which it was certain Mexico would send against them. Santa Anna did not allow them to remain long in sus- pense, but at once despatched a force under General Cos, to disarm the Texans. On the second of October, 1835, Cos attacked the town of Gon- zalez, which was held by a Texan force, but was repulsed with heavy loss. A week later, on the ninth of October, the Texans captured the town of Goliad, and a little later gained possession of the mission house of the Alamo. Both places were garrisoned, and the Texan army, which was under the com- mand of Austin, in the course of a few months succeeded in driving the Mexicans out of Texas. On the twelfth of November, 1835, a con- vention of the people of Texas met at the ADMINISTRATIONS OF HARRISON AND TYLER. 589 city of Austin, and organized a regular State government. Prominent among the members was General Sam Houston, a settler from the United States. Soon after the meeting of the convention General Austin resigned the com- mand of the army, and was sent to the United States as the commissioner of that State to this government, and was succeeded as commander-in-chief by General Sam Houston. Henry Smith was elected gov- ernor of Texas by the people. Orders to Shoot Prisoners, As soon as Santa Anna learned that his troops had been driven out of Texas, and that the Texans had set up a State govern- ment, he set out for that country with an army of seventy-five hundred men. He issued orders to his troops to shoot every prisoner taken, and intended to make the struggle a war of extermination. He arrived before the Alamo late in February, 1836, This fort was very strong, and was held by a force of one hundred and forty Texans under Colonel Travis. It was besieged by the whole Mexican army, and was subjected to a bombardment of eleven days. At last, on the sixth of March, the garrison being worn out with fatigue, the fort was carried by assault, and the whole garrison was put to the sword. Among the heroes who fell at the Texan Thermopylae was the eccentric but chivalrous Colonel Davy Crockett, of Tennessee, who had generously come to aid the Texans in their struggle for liberty. The capture of the Alamo cost the Mexicans a loss of sixteen hundred men, or over eleven men for every one of its defenders. On the 17th of March, 1836, the conven- tion adopted a constitution for an independ- ent republic, and formally proclaimed the independence of Texas. David G. Burnett was elected president of the republic. The fort at Goliad was held by a force of three hundred and thirty Texans, under Colonel Fanning, a native of Georgia. On the twenty-seventh of March it was attacked by the Mexican army. The garrison main- tained a gallant defence, but their resources being exhausted, and the Mexicans being reinforced during the night. Fanning decided to surrender his force, if he could obtain honorable terms. He proposed to Santa SANTA ANNA Anna to lay down his arms and surrenaer the post on condition that he and his men should be allowed and assisted to return to the United States. The proposition was accepted by Santa Anna, and the terms of the surrender were formally drawn up and were signed by each commander. As soon as the surrender was made, however, and the arms of the Texans were delivered, Santa ^go FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. Anna, in base violation of his pledge, caused Fanning and the survivors of the garrison, to the number of three hundred men, to be put to death. The massacres of the Alamo and Goliad, and the steady advance of the Mexican army under Santa Anna caused a feeling of pro- found alarm throughout the new republic. The government was removed temporarily to Galveston, and General Houston retreated GENERAL HOUSTON. behind the San Jacinto. Santa Anna pur- sued the Texan forces, and at length came up with them on the banks of that stream. Houston had but seven hundred and fifty men with him, and these were imperfectly armed and without discipline. With this force he surprised the Mexican camp, on the twenty-first of April, and routed the Mexican army, inflicting upon it a loss of over six hundred killed, and taking more than eight hundred prisoners. Santa Anna himself was among the prisoners. Houston at once entered into negotiations with him for the withdrawal of the Mexican forces from Texas. This was done at once, and the independence of Texas was achieved. Santa Anna also recognized the independ- ence of the new republic, but the Mexican Congress refused to confirm this act. Houston was now the idol of the Texan people as the deliverer of their country from the hated Mexicans. At the next gen- eral election he was chosen President of the republic, and was inaugurated on the twenty-second of October, 1 836. General Mirabeau B. Lamar was the third Presi- dent of the republic of Texas, and entered upon his office in 1838. He was suc- ceeded in 1844 by Anson Jones, the fourth President. The territory of the republic was sufficiently large to make five States the size of New York, and its climate and soil were among the most delightful and fertile in the world. It contained a population of about two hundred thousand, and was increasing rapidly in inhabitants and in prosperity. On the third of March, 1837, the inde- pendence of the republic of Texas was acknowledged by the United States, and in 1839 by France and England. Being young and feeble, and being settled al- most entirely by Americans, the people of Texas at an early day came to the conclusion that their best interests required them to seek a union with the United States, and as early as August, 1837, a proposition was submitted to Mr. Van Buren looking to such a union. It was declined by him, but the question was taken up by the press and people of the Union, and was discussed with the greatest interest and activity. The south was unanimously in favor of the annexation of Texas, as it was a region in which slave labo«- would be particularly ADMINISTRATIONS OF HARRISON ANt) TYLER. 591 profitable ; and a strong party in the north opposed the annexation for the reason that it would inevitably extend the area of slavery. An additional argument against annexation was that it would involve a war with Mexico, which had never acknowledged the inde- pendence of Texas. In April, i84ii., Texas formally applied for admission into the United States, and a ing issues of the campaign. Its candidates were James K. Polk, of Tennessee, and George M. Dallas, of Pennsylvania. The Whig party supported Henry Clay, of Ken- tucky, and Theodore Frelinghuysen, of New Jersey, and opposed the annexation ol Texas. During this campaign, which was one cA unusual excitement, the Anti-slavery party GENERAL POST OFFICE WASHINGTON. treaty for that purpose was negotiated with her by the government of this country. It ^was rejected by the Senate. I In the fall of 1844 the Presidential election took place. The leading political question of the day was the annexation of Texas. It was advocated by the administration of President Tyler and by the Democratic party. This party also made the claim of the United States to Oregon one of the lead- made its appearance for the first time as a distinct political organization, and nominated James G. Birney as its candidate for the Presidency. The result of the campaign was a decisive victory for the Democrats. This success was generally regarded as an emphatic expression of the popular will respecting the Texas and Oregon questions. Mr. Birney did not receive a single electoral 592 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. vote, and of the popular vote only sixty-four thousand six hundred and fifty-three ballots were cast for him. When Congress met in December, 1844, the efforts for the annexation of Texas were renewed. A proposition was made to receive Texas into the Union by a joint resolution of Congress, A bill for this purpose passed the House of Representatives, but the Senate added an amendment appointing commis- sioners to negotiate with Mexico for the annexation of Texas, which she still claimed as a part of her territory. The President was authorized by a clause in these resolu- tions to adopt either the House or the Senate plan of annexation, and on the second of March, 1845, the resolutions were adopted. Senator Benton, of Missouri, the author of the Senate plan, was of the opinion that the matter would be left to Mr. Polk, the Presi- dent-elect, to be conducted by him ; and that gentleman had expressed his intention to carry out the Senate plan, as he hoped an amicable arrangement could be made with fMexico. Mr. Tyler, however, determined not to leave the annexation of Texas to his successor, and at once adopted the plan proposed in the House resolutions, and on the night of Sunday, March 3d, a messenger was despatched with all speed to Texas to lay the proposition before the authorities of that State. It was accepted by them, and on the fourth of July, 1845, Texas became one of the United States. The area thus added to the territory of the Union comprised two hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred and four square miles. It was provided by the act of admission that four additional States might be formed out of the territory of Texas, when the population should increase to an extent which should make such a step desir- able. Those States lying north of the Mis- souri Compromise line — 36° 30' north lati- tude — were to be free States ; those south of that line were to be free or slaveholding, " as the people of each State asking admission may desire." To Texas was reserved the right to refuse to allow the division of her territory. On the third of March, 1845, the President approved an act of Congress admitting the Territories of Iowa and Florida into the Union as States. No President has ever been more unpop' ular during his administration than Mr. Tyler. His administration speaks for itself however, and bears out the truth of his mem« orable words : " I appeal from the vitupen ation of the present day to the pen of impar> tial history, in the full confidence that neither my motives nor my acts will bear the inter- pretation which has, for sinister purposer. been placed upon them." CHAPTER XXXVII The Administration of James K. Polk — The War With Mexico. The Oregon Question — Position of President Polk respecting it — The Question Settled — Treaty for Settlement of Claim against Mexico — Mexico Resents the Annexation of Texas — General Taylor Ordered to Texas — He Advances to thai Rio Grande — Battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma — The War with Mexico Begun — Invasion of Mexico — ' Occupation of Matamoras — Action of the United States Government — Taylor Advances into the Interior — ^The Storm- ing and Capture of Monterey — The Armistice — Return of Santa Anna to Mexico — President Polk Duped — SaDt# Anna Seizes the Mexican Government — General Wool Joins General Taylor — Troops Taken from Taylor's Army- Advance of the Mexicans— Battle of Buena Vista — Conquest of California by Fremont and Stockton — Occupation o» Santa Fe — New Mexico Conquered — Doniphan's March — Occupatio' ot Chihuahua — Sailing of Scott's Expedition — Reduction of Vera Cruz— Santa Anna Collects a New Array— Battle of Cerro Gordo— Occupation of Puebla by Scott— Trouble with Mr. Trist— Vigorous Measures of Santa Anna — Scott Aavances upon the City of Mexico — Q Penon Turned — Battles of Contreras and Churubusco — Capture of Molino del Rey — Storming of Chapultepcc— Capture of the City of Mexico— Siege of Puebla Raised— Flight of Santa Anna— Treaty of Peace Negotiated — Gos« of the War — Acquisition of California and New Mexico— Discovery of Gold in California — Rapid Emigration to tht Pacific— Death of John Quincy Adams— The Wilmot Pvoviso — Revival of the Slavery Question— General Tayk* Elected President. THE inauguration of James K. Polk, as President of the United States, took place on the fourth of March, 1845. He had served the country as governor of the State of Tennessee, and for fourteen years had been a member of the House of Representatives in Congress from that State, and had been several times chosen speaker of that body. His cabinet was selected from the first men of his party. James Buchanan was secretary of state ; Robert J. Walker was secretary of the treas- ury; William L. Marcy, secretary of war, and George Bancroft, the historian, secretary of the navy. Two important questions presented them- selves to the new administration for settle- ment: the troubles with Mexico growing out of the annexation of Texas, and the arrange- ment of the northwestern boundary of the United States. The question of the northwestern bound- try had been left unsettled by the treaty of 38 Washington in 1842. Great Britain was anxious to arrange the matter, and late in the year 1842 Mr. Fox, the British minister at Washington, proposed to Mr. Webster, then secretary of state, to open negotiations. The British proposition was accepted, but nothing further was done until February, 1844, when Sir Richard Packenham, the British minister at Washington, proposed to take up the question of the Oregon boundary and settle it. Mr. Upshur, the secretary of state, accepted the offer, but was killed a few days later by the explosion on board the " Prince- ton." Six months later. Sir Richard Pack- enham renewed the proposal to Mr. Calhoun, who had become secretary of state, and nego* tiations were entered upon in earnest. The territory of Oregon lay between the forty-second and fifty-fourth parallels of north latitude, and extended from the Rocky moun- v tains on the east to the Pacific ocean on the west. This region was originally claimed by Spain, by whose subjects it was first 593 594 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. discovered. At the cession of Florida, Spain ceded to the United States all her territory- north of the forty-second parallel of north latitude, from the headwaters of the Arkai- sas to the Pacific. Mexico, upon achieving her independence, had acknowledged by a treaty with the United States the validity of this boundary. The line of fifty-four degrees forty minutes north latitude was established by treaty between the United States, Great Britain and Russia as the southern boundary of the Russian possessions in America. JAMES K. POLK. The United States claimed the entire re- gion of Oregon in virtue of the cession of Spain in the Florida treaty ; the discoveries of Captain Gray of Boston, who circumnavi- gated the globe, and in 1792 discovered to a certain extent and explored the Columbia river ; the explorations of Lewis and Clarke in 1805 and 1806 of the southern main branch of the Columbia, and of the river itself from the mouth of that branch to the sea ; and the settlement of Astoria, planted at the mouth of the Columbia in 181 1 by John Jacob A^^^^r of New York. Oregon was also claimed by England, who also rested her pretensions on discovery, and on the set- tlement made by the Northwest Company on Eraser's river in 1806, and on another near the head waters of the north branch of the Columbia. " All of Oregon, or None." In 18 18 the United States and Great Britain had agreed upon the forty-ninth degree of north latitude, as the boundary between the United States and British Amer- ica from the Lake of the Woods to the sum- mit of the Rocky mountains. Mr, Calhoun now opened the negotiations by proposing to continue this line to the Pacific, The British minister would not consent to this, but proposed to extend the forty-ninth paral- lel from the mountains to the north branch of the Columbia, and then to make the boun- dary follow that stream from this point of intersection to the sea. Mr. Calhoun at once declined to accept this boundary, and the further consideration of the subject was post- poned until Packenham could receive addi- tional instructions from his government. During the Presidential campaign of 1844 the Democratic party adopted as its watch- word, " all of Oregon or none," and the ex- citement upon the question ran high. The election of Mr. Polk showed that the Ameri- can people were resolved to insist upon their claim to Oregon, and when the new President in his inaugural address took the bold ground that the American title to " Oregon terri- tory " " was dear and indisputable," and declared his intention to maintain it at the cost of war with England, the matter assumed a serious aspect, and for a while it seemed that party passion would involve the two countries in hostilities. President Polk, upon a calmer consideration of the subject, caused the secretary of state to reopen the negotia- tions by proposing to Great Britain the forty ADMINISTRATION i»inth parallel of latitude as a boundary. The British minister declined the proposition, and the matter was dropped. According to the treaties of 1818 and xd28, the joint occupation of Oregon could be terminated by either party by giving the other twelve months' notice. The President now proposed to give the required notice, which was done by a resolution of Congress. OF JAMES K. POLK. ^95 British ministry decided at length to reopen negotiations, and Sir Richard Packenham shortly after communicated to Mr. Buchanan the willingness of his government to accept the forty-ninth parallel as a boundary. The time at which thejoint occupation would terminate was rapidly drawing to a close, and the President was anxious to settle the mat- ter, but at the same time was not willing to A BASIN ON THE COLUMBIA RIVER, OREGON— AND MOUNTAIN-PEAK IN THE DISTANCE. This put an end to the old arrangement, and compelled the two countries to make a new settlement of the difficulty ; and this was the object of the President in terminating the int occupation. The subject was brought to the notice of the British Parliament by Sir Robert Peel who expressed his regret that the last offer of the United States had been declined. The assume the responsibility of accepting a boundary which fell so far short of the popular expectations. At the suggestion of Senator Benton, of Missouri, he asked the advice of the Senate as to the propriety of accepting the British offer, and pledged him- self to be guided by its decision. The Senate advised him to accept it, and when the treaty was sent to it. ratified it after a warm debate 596 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. Thus the matter extending over two days. was brought to a close. By the treaty, which was concluded in 1846, the forty-ninth parallel of north lati- tude was made the boundary between the United States and the British possessions, from the summit of the Rocky Mountains to the middle of the channel between Van- couver's Island and the mainland, and thence southerly through the middle of the Straits of San Juan de Fuca to the Pacific. The navigation of the Columbia river and its main northern branch was made free to both parties. Trouble with Mexico. In the meantime the Mexican difficulty had been found much harder of settlement. Mexico had never acknowledged the inde- pendence of Texas, and since the defeat at San Jacinto had repeatedly threatened to restore her authority over the Texans by force of arms. She warmly resented the annexa- tion of Texas by the United States, and a few days after that event was completed, General Almonte, the Mexican minister at Washing- ton, entered a formal protest against the course of the United States, demanded his passports and left the country. Some years before this a number of American ships trading with Mexican ports had been seized and plundered by the Mex- ican authorities, who also confiscated the property of a number of American residents in that country. The sufferers by these outrages appealed for redress to the govern- ment of the United States, which had repeat- edly tried to negotiate with Mexico for the collection of these claims, which amounted to six millions of dollars. Mexico made several promises of settlement, but failed to comply with them. In 1840, however, anew treaty was made between that country and the United States, and Mexico pledged her- self to pay the American claims in twenty annual instalments of three hundred thousand dollars each. Three of these instalments had been paid at the time of the annexation of Texas ; but Mexico now refused to make any further payment. Troops Sent to Texas. Mexico claimed that the limits of Texas properly ended at the Neuces river, while the Texans insisted that their boundary was the Rio Grande. Thus the region between these two rivers became a debatable land, claimed by both parties, and a source ol great and immediate danger. It was evident that Mexico was about to occupy this region with her troops, and the legislature of Texas, alarmed by the threatening attitude of that country, called upon the United States gov- ernment to protect its territory. The Presi. dent at once sent General Zachary Tayloi with a force of fifteen hundred regular troops, called the "army of occupation," to "take position in the country between the Neuce? and the Rio Grande, and to repel any irvr sion of the Texan territory." General Taylor accordingly took position at Corpus Christi, at the mouth of the Neuces, in September, 1845, and remained there until the spring of 1846. At the same time a squadron of war vessels under Com- modore Conner was despatched to the Gulf to cooperate with General Taylor. Both of these officers " were ordered to commit no act of hostility against Mexico unless she declared war, or was herself the aggressor by striking the first blow." At the commencement of the dispute between the two countries, Herrera was President of Mexico. Although diplomatic communications had ceased between the United States and Mexico, he was anxious to settle the quarrel by negotiation, but at the Presidential election held about this time ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES K. POLK. 597 Herrera was defeated, and Paredes, who was bitterly hostile to the United States, was chosen President of the Mexican republic. Paredes openly avowed his determination to drive the Americans beyond the Neuces. In February, 1846, General Taylor was ordered hy President Polk to advance from the Neuces to a point on the Rio Grande, opposite the Mexican town of Matamoras, and establish there a fortified post, in order to check the Mexican forces which were assembling there in large numbers for the purpose of invading Texas. Taylor at once set out, and leaving the greater part of his stores at Point Isabel, on the Gulf, advanced to the Rio Grande, and built a fort and established a camp opposite and within cannon shot of Matamoras. General Am- pudia, commanding the Mexican forces at Matamoras, immediately notified General Taylor that this was an act of war upon Mexican soil, and demanded that he should " break up his camp and retire beyond the Neuces " within twenty-four hours. First Blood Shed. Taylor replied that he was acting in accordance with the orders of his govern- ment, which was alone responsible for his conduct, and that he should maintain the position he had chosen. He pushed forward the work on his fortifications with energy, and kept a close watch upon the Mexicans. Neither commander was willing to take the responsibility of beginning the war, and Am- pudia, notwithstanding his threat, remained inactive. His course did not satisfy his gov- ment, and he was removed and General Arista appointed in his place. Arista at once began hostilities by interposing detach- ments of his army between Taylor's force and his depot of supplies at Point Isabel. On the twenty-sixth of April Taylor sent a party of sixty dragoons under Captain Thornton to reconnoitre the Mexican lines. The dragoons were surprised with a loss of sixteen killed. The remainder were made prisoners, and Thornton alone escaped. This was the first blood shed in the war with Mexico, the beginning of the struggle. Gallant Major Brown. A day or two later, being informed by Captain Walker, who, with his Texan Rangers was guarding the line of communi- cation with Point Isabel, that the Mexicans were threatening the latter place in heavy force. General Taylor left Major Brown with three hundred men to hold the fort, and marched to Point Isabel to relieve that place. He agreed with Major Brown that if the fort should be attacked or hard pressed, the latter should notify him of his danger by firing heavy signal guns at certain intervals. He reached Point Isabel, twenty miles dis- tant, on the second of May without meeting any opposition on the march. General Arista, attributing Taylor's with* drawal to fear, determined to capture the fortification on the opposite side of the river. On the third of May he opened fire upon it from a heavy battery at Matamoras, and sent a large force across the Rio Grande, which took position in the rear of the fort and intrenched themselves there. In the face of this double attack the little garrison defended themselves bravely, but at length Major Brown fell mortally wounded. The command devolved upon Captain Hawkins, who now felt himself justified in warning Taylor of his danger, and began to fire the signal guns agreed upon. Taylor was joined at Point Isabel by a small detachment, and his force was increased to twenty-three hundred men. He listened anxiously for the booming of the signal guns from the fort on the Rio Grande, and at length they were heard. He knew that the 598 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. need of assistance must be great, as the little band in the fort had held out so long with- out calling for help, and he at once set out to join them. He left Point Isabel on the seventh of May, taking with him a heavy supply train. The steady firing of the sig- nal guns from Fort Brown (for so the work was afterwards named in honor of its gallant commander) urged the army to its greatest exertions. Ringgold's light battery on the right, Dun- can's battery on the left, and a battery of eighteen-pounders in the centre. The artillery was thrown well in front of the infantry, and the order was given to advance. The Mexicans at once opened fire with their batteries, but the distance was too great to accomplish anything. The American bat- teries did not reply until they had gotten within easy range, when they opened a fire BATTLE OF PALO ALTO. On the eighth of May the Mexican army, six thousand strong, was discovered holding a strong position in front of a chaparral, near the small stream called the Palo Alto, in- tending to dispute the advanceof the Ameri- cans. Taylor promptly made his disposi- tions to attack them. His troops were ordered to drink from the little stream and to fill their canteens. The train was closed up, and the line was formed with Major the accuracy and rapidity of which astonished the Mexicans. Their lines were broken and they fell back, and the Americans advanced steadily through the chaparral, which had been set on fire by the discharge of cannon, until a new position within close range was reached. Paying no attention to the Mexican artillery, the American guns directed their fire upon the enemy's infantry and cavalry, and broke ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES K. POLK. them again and again. The battle lasted five hours and ceased at nightfall. It was fought entirely by the artillery of the two armies, and was won by the superior hand- ling and precision of the American guns. The loss of the Mexicans was four hun- dred killed and wounded ; that of the Americans nine killed and forty-four wounded. Early in the battle Major Ring- gold was mortally wounded and died a little 599 than occupying a much stronger position they had held at Palo Alto. Their line was formed behind f ravine, called Resaca de la Palma, or the Dry River of Palms. Their flanks were protected by the thick chaparral, and their artillery was thrown forward beyond the ravine and protected by an intrenchment, and swept the road by which the Americans must advance. During the night fresh troops had joined the Mexican army, and had MAJOR RINGGOLD MORTALLY WOUNDED. later. He was regarded as one of the most gifted officers of the army, and to him was chiefly due the precision and rapidity of movement acquired by the " flying artil- lery" of the American army, which were so successfully tested during this war. The American army encamped on the battle-field, and the next morning, May 9th, as the Mexicans had retreated, leaving their dead unburied, resumed its advance. In the afterrioon the Mexicans were discovered increased their force to seven thousand men. Taylor formed his line with his artillery in the centre. The artillery was ordered to advance along the road commanded by the Mexican battery, and the infantry were directed to move as rapidly as possible through the chaparral, and drive out the Mexican sharpshooters. The infantry execut- ed this order in handsome style, but the chaparral was so dense that each man was 6oo FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. obliged to act for himself as he forced his way throught it. The Mexican battery was handled with great skill and coolness, and held the centre in check until some time after the infantry had forced their way close to the edge of the ravine. At this juncture Captain May was ordered to charge the Mexican guns, and started down the road at a trot. As he reached the position of the American artillery, Lieutenant guns. Leaving the battery to the American infantry which now hurried forward to secure it, the dragoons charged the Mexican centre and broke it. The whole American line then advanced rapidly ; the Mexicans gave way, and were soon flying in utter confusion towards the Rio Grande, which they crossed ^ in such haste that many of them were drowned in the attempt to reach the Mexican shore. CHARGE OF THE DRAGOONS. Ridgely suggested that May should halt and allow him to draw the Mexican fire. Ridgely opened a rapid fire on the Mexican guns, which answered immediately. At the same moment May dashed at the Mexican battery with his dragoons, and reached it before the cannoneers could reload their pieces. They were sabred at their guns, and the battery was carried. Captain May himself made a prisoner of General La Vega, as the latter was in the act of discharging one of the General Arista, the Mexican commander, fled alone from the field, leaving all his pri- vate and official papers behind him. The Americans lost one hundred and twenty-two men killed and wounded ; the Mexicans twelve hundred. All the Mexican artillery, two thousand stand of arms, and six hundred mules were captured by the Americans. General Taylor advanced from the battle- field to Fort Brown, the garrison of which had heard the distant roar of the battle, and ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES K. POLK. 601 had seen the flight of the Mexicans across the Rio Grande. The defeat of the Mexicans at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma had greatly disheart- ened them. They not only abandoned their intention to invade Texas, but gave up all hope of holding the Rio Grande frontier. On the night of the seventeenth of May their army evacuated yiatamoras, and retreated upon Monterey. On the eighteenth the American army crossed the Rio Grande, and occupied Matamoras. General Taylor scrupulously respected the municipal laws of the town, and protected the citizens in the exercise of their civil and religious privileges. All supplies needed by the troops were purchased at a liberal price, and no plundering or disorder was allowed or attempted. In the meantime the news of the attack upon the dragoons under Captain Thorn- ton had reached the United States, and with it the rumor that the American army was confronted on the Texan side of the Rio Grande by a vastly superior force of Mexicans, and that its destruc- tion was almost certain. The President sent a special message to Congress on the eleventh of May, in which he informed that body that " war existed by the act of Mexico," and called upon Congress to recognize the state of war, and to provide for its support by appropriating the necessary funds, and to authorize him to call for vol- unteers. Under the impression that the perilous situation of Taylor's army made instant action necessary, Congress appropriated ten millions of dollars for the prosecution of the war, and authorized the President to accept the services of fift) thousand volunteers. One-half of this force was to be mustered Into the service ; the remainder held as a re- serve. The President's call was responded to widi enthusiasm all over the land, and in the course of a few weeks two hundred thousand volunteers offered their services. General Wool was ordered to muster the volunteers accepted by the President into the service. Preparations were made by the American government to prosecute the war with vigor At the suggestion of General Scott a com- prehensive plan of operations was adopted. Two separate expeditions were to be organ- GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT. ized. One, called the " Army of the West," was to assemble at Fort Leavenworth, on the Missouri, to cross the plains and the Rocky mountains, and to invade and con- quer the northern provinces of Mexico. A powerful fleet was to be sent around Cape Horn to attack the Mexican ports on the Pacific and cooperate with the Army of the West. A second force, called the "Army of the Centre," was to advance from Texas to the city of Mexico, and, if it was thought best, was to cooperate with the " Army of 602 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. Occupation " under General Taylor. As we shall see, the plan was afterwards modified, and the advance upon the Mexican capital was made from Vera Cruz on the Gulf of Mexico. Towards the last of May the news of the brilliant victories on the Rio Grande was re- ceived at V/ashington, and was hailed with rejoicings throughout the Union. On the thirtieth of May Congress conferred upon General Taylor the rank of major-general by jrevet as a reward for his victories. On the twenty-third of May the Mexican Congress formally declared war against the •"Jnited States, and the call of the Mexican government for volunteers tor the defence of that country was responded to with enthu- siasm. Thanks to the energy of General Wool, twelve thousand volunteers were mustered into the service of the United States in six weeks. Nine thousand of these were sent forward rapidly to reinforce General Taylor, and with the remainder Wool marched to San Antonio, in Texas, to await further orders, and be ready for action. Strong Intrenchments. General Taylor had been delayed at Mata- moras for three months by the weakness of his force; but, as soon as reinforcements reached him, he prepared to advance into the interior. His first movement was directed against the city of Monterey, the capital of the State of New Leon, where the Mexicans had collected an army. His army numbered about nine thousand men of all arms, and of these a little over twenty-three hundred men were detached for garrisons, leaving an active force of six thousand six hundred and seventy men. On the twentieth of August General Worth's division marched from Matamoras, and a fortnight later General Taylor set out from the Rio Grande with the main army. On the ninth of September the American forces encamped within three miles of Mon- terey. Monterey is an old Spanish city, nearly three hundred years old. It lies in a beauti- ful valley, and is about two miles in length, by one mile in breadth. The mountains approach close to it, and protect it on all sides but two. On one of these sides it is approached from the northeast by the road from Matamoras, and on the other by a rocky gorge through which runs the road connect- ing the city with Saltillo. The city has three large plazas or public squares, and is built like the towns of old Spain, with narrow streets, and houses of stone one story in height, with strong walls of masonry rising about three feet above the flat roofs. The city itself is enclosed with strong walls, in- tended for artillery. Battle of Monterey. Every means of defence had been ex- hausted by the Mexicans. Forty-two heavy cannon were mounted on the city walls, the streets were barricaded, and the flat roofs and stone walls of the houses were arranged for infantry. Each house was a separate for- tress. A strongly fortified building of heavy stone, called the Bishop's palace, stood on the side of a hill without the city walls, and on the opposite side of the city were redoubts held by infantry and artillery. The com- mand of Monterey and its defences was held by General Ampudia, and the garrison con- sisted often thousand veteran troops. Ten days were passed by the American army in reconnoitering the town, its peculiar situation rendering such movements very diflficult. On the afternoon of the twentieth of September General Worth was ordered to turn the hill on which stood the Bishop's palace, gain the Saltillo road, and carry the works in that direction. This movement was ADMINISTRATION successfully accomplished ; but in order to gain the desired position Worth was obliged to cut a new road across the mountain. His troops bivouacked for the night just out of range of the enemy's guns. During the night the Americans built a battery to com- mand the Mexican citadel. On the morning of the twenty-first of Sep- tember the American artillery opened fire on Monterey, and the infantry advanced to carry OF JAMES K. POLK. 603 During the night of the twenty-first the Mexicans evacuated the lower part of the city, but kept their hold upon the citadel and the upper town, from which they maintained a vigorous fire upon the American positions. At daybreak, on the twenty-second. Worth's division, advancing in the midst of a fog and' rain, carried the crest commanding the Bishop's palace, and by noon had captured the palace itself. The guns of the captured CAPTURE OF A BATTERY AT MONTEREY. the Mexican works. The brigade of General Quitman carried a strong work in the lower part of the town, and at the same time General Butler, with a part of his division, forced his way into the town on the right. While these operations were in progress General Worth's division seized the Saltillo road, and secured the enemy's line of retreat. Several fortified positions along the heights |Were also carried, and their guns turned upon the Bishop's palace works were now directed upon the enemy in the city below. The enemy had fortified the city so thor- oughly that the Americans were not only forced to carry the various barricades in suc- cession, but were compelled to break through the walls of the fortified houses, and advance from house to house in this way. One or two field pieces were drawn up to the flat roofs, and the Mexicans were driven from point to point during the twenty-second and 6o4 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. twenty-third, until they were confined to the citadel and plaza. On the night of the twenty-third General Ainpudia opened nego- tiations, and on the morning of the twenty- fourth surrendered the town and garrison to General Taylor. The Mexican soldiers were allowed to march out with the honors of war. General Taylor was induced to grant this concession by his generous desire to spare the people of the city the sufferings days' rations — Taylor agreed to a cessation of hostilities for eight weeks, subject to the consent of his government. The Mexican army withdrew from Monterey, and am American garrison, under General Worth, as governor, occupied the city. The main body of Taylor's army then went into camp at Walnut Springs, three miles distant from Monterey. The Americans lost four hundred and eighty-eif,iit men, killed and wounded. LIEUTENANT GRANT GOING FOR AMMUNITION AT MONTEREY. which would have been caused by a pro- longed defence. The Mexican commander represented to General Taylor that the Mexican government was sincerely anxious for peace, and that it would respond favorably to any fair propo- sitions upon this subject that might be laid before it. In order to afford an opportunity for such an arrangement of the war, and influ- enced by the scarcity of provisions — the American army having at the time but ten in the storming of Monterey. The Mexican loss was much greater. General Grant, then an unknown young lieu- tenant, was in the battle of Monterey, and distinguished himself on account of " gallant and meritorious services." Several times during the battle he demonstrated his supe- rior judgment and courage, not more in the fierce charge than in volunteering to make a dangerous ride under fire, in search of ammu- nition. ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES K. POLK. 605 ■n the meantime the government of the United States had been led into a terrible blunder by its desire to bring the war to a speedy close. Santa Anna, who had been driven out of Mexico by one of the numerous revolutions in that country, was living in exile at Havana. He declared that if he were fallowed to return to Mexico he would use his influence in favor of peace, and would secure a treaty for the accomplishment of that end. He was sure he could carry out this scheme, and only needed to be sustained by the United States government with the sum of three or four millions of dollars to enable him to get control of the Mexican govern- ment. President Polk was completely duped by the " illustrious exile," and not only urged Congress to appropriate the sum of two millions of dollars to assist Santa Anna, but issued an order to Commodore Conner, com- manding the American fleet in the Gulf, to permit Santa Anna to pass through his lines and return to Mexico. Santa Anna at once availed himself of this order, and landing at Vera Cruz hastened into the interior. Manifesto by Santa Anna. Once in Mexico, Santa Anna thought no more of his promises to President Polk, He set to work to gain possession of the gov- ernment, but not with a view to making peace. He issued a manifesto, in which he called on his countrymen to rally under his banner for the defence of their homes and country. He assured them of his undying hatred of the " perfidious Yankees," pointed to the reverses of the government of Paredes, and declared that he alone could save the country. His appeals w^ere successful. The ■Mexican people rose at his call, deposed Paredes, and elected Santa Anna President. The repeated defeats of their armies were forgotten in the new enthusiasm which Santa Anna's presence and proclamations aroused, and in the course of a few months that leader found himself at the head of a well-equipped army of twenty thousand men, which was being steadily increased by the arrival of fresh recruits. Justice to the Enemy. In the meantime General Wool, with a reinforcement of three thousand troops, had marched from San Antonio to join General Taylor. He had reached Monclova, about seventy miles from Monterey, when l*e heard of the capture of the latter place by Taylor. His route had lain across an uninhabited and desert region, in which the troops suf- fered greatly for want of water. He was directed by General Taylor to take position in a fertile district in the province of Durango, where he could obtain supplies for his own command as well as for the army at Monterey. General Wool concili- ated the people of the region occupied by him by protecting them in their liberties and property, and paying fair prices for all the supplies furnished by them. The Mexicans v/ere far better treated by the conquering army than they had been by their own rulers. In accordance with orders received from Washington General Taylor put an end to the armistice on the thirteenth of November. On the fifteenth General Worth, wuth seven hundred men, occupied Saltillo, the capital of the State of Coahuila. Leaving a garrison in Monterey, under General Butler, Taylor moved towards the coast to attack Tampico. Upon reaching Victoria, the capital of the State of Tamaulipas, he learned that Tampico had surrendered to the United States squad- ron, under Commodore Conner, on the four- teenth of November. Victoria was occupied on the twenty-ninth of December. The troops under General Wool were now ordered to join General Worth at Saltillo, 6o6 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. and General Taylor prepared to resume his forward movement into the heart of Mexico. At this juncture his offensive operations were suddenly brought to a close. ; Massing the Forces. The plan of the invasion adopted by the ^government of the United States had been so far modified that the " Army of the Centre," under General Win field Scott, was ordered to capture Vera Cruz, the principal Mexican port on the Gulf, and advance upon the city of Mexico from that point. Troops in suffi- cient numbers could not be drawn from the United States, and General Scott, as com- mander-in-chief, decided to draw the desired number of men from Taylor's army. The order for the withdrawal of these troops reached General Taylor just as he was about to resume active operations. Taylor was keenly dis- appointed at being thus condemned to inactivity, but like the true soldier that he v~;"ls, at once obeyed the orders sent him. * Generals Worth and Quitman, with their divisions, and the greater portion of the volunteers who had come out with General Wool, were at once despatched to the Gulf coast to join the expedition against Vera Cruz. The withdrawal of these troops left General Taylor with a very small force. During the month of January and the early part of February, 1847, reinforcements from the United States increased his army to about six thousand men. A portion of these was placed in garrison at Monterey and Sal- tillo, leaving General Taylor about forty- seven hundred effective troops, of whom but six hundred were regulars. Early in January, 1847, General Scott sent Lieutenant Richey with an escort of cavalry to convey a despatch to General Taylor. Lieutenant Richey was killed by the Mex- icans on the way, and his despatches were forwarded to Santa Anna, who learned from them the American plan for the invasion of Mexico. He at once resolved upon his own course. Relying upon the strength of Vera Cruz to hold Scott's army in check, he de- termined to attack General Taylor at once, and crush him. By the most energetic and despotic measures he silenced the opposition which prevailed in the city of Mexico, and obtained both men and money for his attempt. On the twenty-sixth of January he began his march upon Saltillo with twenty-three thou- sand well-armed and equipped men, and twenty pieces of artillery. Rapid Marches. The Mexican army had reached San Louis Potosi, about sixty miles south of Saltillo, when General Wool, commanding at the latter place, learned of their approach. He at once notified General Taylor, who ad- vanced with his whole effective force from Monterey to Saltillo. As the enemy con- tinued to approach, Taylor left his stores at Saltillo, and moved rapidly to Agua Nueva,' eighteen miles beyond Saltillo, on the road to San Louis Potosi. His design was to secure the southern end of the pass through the Sierra Nevada, With this pass in possession of the Americans the Mexican army would be com- pelled to fight at once, as the country in their rear was incapable of supplying them with provisions. The reports of the reconnoitering parties made it evident that the Mexican force was vastly superior to that of the Americans, and General Taylor also learned that a strong body of Mexican cavalry, under General Minon, was some distance to the left of his position, which could be turned. A daring reconnoissance was made by Major M'CuUoch, of the Texan Rangers. He entered the Mexican camp, passed through it, and obtained accurate information of theii numbers, and regained his own lines in safety. ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES K. POLK. 60; Upon receipt of M'CuIloch's intelligence, and the report of the effort of the Mexican cavalry to turn his left, General Taylor fell back from Agua Nueva to a new position, eleven miles higher up the valley on the '.wenty-first of February. The withdrawal of the American army vas made in good time. Santa Anna had sent Minon with the cavalry to gain the rear of Taylor's army, and at the same time en- ^deavored, by a forced march of fifty miles, to surprise General Taylor at Agua Nueva. Upon ar- riving in front of that place he found to his astonish- ment and disappointment that Taylor had abandoned his position. Interpreting this movement as a flight, the Mexican commander pushed on in pursuit of his adversary, and came up with him on the morning of the twenty-'' :ond of February. The position chosen by General Taylor was at the north end of the valley known as Las Angosturas, or the Narrows, and near the hacienda or plantation known as Buena Vista, from which latter place the battle took its name. It was one of great strength. Its flanks were protected by the mountains which arose abruptly from the defile, and the ground in front was broken by numerous ravines and gullies. The American forces were disposed so as to secure every advantage afforded by the nature of the ground and the road through the pass — the key to the whole position — was swept by the fire of the artillery. The troops were in high spirits. It was Washington's birthday, and this incident was generally commented upon as a good omen. About noon a Mexican officer brought a note to General Taylor, in which Santa Anna demanded the surrender of the Ameri- can army. This demand was refused, and skirmishing at once began. During the afternoon Santa Anna sent a force under General Ampudia to ascend the mountains and turn the American left. This brought on severe skirmishing in this quarter, but nothing definite was accomplished during .^."hWf^^ MEXICAN CART AND OXEN. the afternoon. Late in the afternoon the Mexican cavalry under General Minon, which had passed the mountains, appeared in the plains north of Saltillo. Minon was ordered to halt in the position he had gained and await the result of the battle of the next day at Buena Vista. His appearance caused great anxiety to General Taylor, who hastened to Saltillo with reinforcements after nightfall, as he feared Minon would seek to capture that place. 6o8 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. During the night of the twenty-second Santa Anna reinforced the column under Ampudia, and opened the battle at daybreak on the twenty-third of February, by endeav- o'-ing to turn the American left. A little later he opened fire from his artillery, and moved forward three powerful columns of attack against the American centre. The movement of the column of Ampudia was successful, the left of the American line was completely turned, but the attack upon the centre was repulsed by the splendid fire of the American batteries. A Blast of Deadly Fire. At this moment General Taylor arri/ed upon the field from Saltillo, bringing with him May's dragoons, several companies of Mississippi riflemen, and a portion of the Arkansas cavalry, embracing every man that could be spared from Saltillo. He had come at a critical moment, for the turning of his left flank by Ampudia had neutralized the natural advantage of the position. Many of the troops were in full retreat upon Buena Vista, and nothing but the courage and con- stancy of those who yet remained firm could save the day. By great exertions Colonel Jefferson Davis rallied the greater part of his own regiment — the Mississippi rifles — and a part of the Second Indiana, and by a rapid advance drove back a strong Mexican col- umn in his front. He had scarcely accom- plished this when he was assailed by a body of one thousand .sjjlendid Mexican lancers. Davis quickly formed his own men and the Second and Third Indiana in the shape of the letter V, with the opening towards the enemy, and posted Sherman's battery on his left. The line thus formed awaited in silence the approach of the Mexican cavalry, which came on at a gallop. As they drew near the opening of this terrible V the Mexicans, who had expected the Americans to fire, when they intended to dash in upon them before the men could reload, were astonished at the silence with which they were received, and slackened their pace until they came to a walk within eighty yards of the opening of the angle. In an instant Davis gave the command, and his men took deliberate aim. Then a volley flashed from the rifles and swept away the head of the Mexican column. The next moment Sherman's guns opened upon the cavalry with grape and canister. Under this combined fire horses and lancers fell in great numbers, forming a barricade over which the enemy could not pass, and the Mexicans, seized with a oanic, wheeled about and fled in confusion. While this attack was in progress the Mexicans sent a body of cavalry under Tor- rejon to seize the plantation of Buena Vista. Torrejon made his attack with vigor, but was driven back by the Kentucky and Ar- kansas volunteers, assisted by Colonel Mays dragoons. Colonel Yell, of the Arkansas regiment, was killed and Torrejon was wounded in this part of the engagement. Splendid Valor of the Americans. During all this while a steady cannonade had been in progress along the centre of the American line. The Mexicans endeavored to silence the American batteries, but with- out success. Santa Anna now sent a strong force to pass around the American left and gain the rear of Taylor's line, and this force was joined by a part of Torrejon's command, which was retreating from Buena Vista. The movement was detected by Colonel May, who met it with his cavalry and several companies of Illinois and Indiana volunteers. General Taylor sent to his assistance all the cavalry he could spare and Bragg's battery. ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES K. ^OLK. 609 The retreat of the Mexicans, who had I the panic which had set in among them. It passed beyond the American left, was cut | seemed that the whole Mexican column, BATTLE OF LUENA VISTA. off, and they were driven in confusion to the base of the mountain, while Bragg's guns snowered canister upon them and increased 39 numbering five thousand men. must sur- render or be exterminated. In this emer- g"ency the Mexican commander raised the 6io FROM THE REVOLUTION TO tHE CIVIL WAR. white flag and asked for a parley, professing to have a message from Santa Anna to General Taylor, and the American guns ceased firing. Before the trick was dis- covered the Mexican right escaped under the cover of the flag of truce by passing along the base of the mountain to a point from which they rejoined their main army. Bragg' s Flying Artillery. Santa Anna now brought up his reserves, and late in the afternoon made a determined attack upon the American right, which had been greatly weakened to assist the troops engaged in repelling the attack on the left. The Mexican column, twelve thousand strong, easily drove back the few scattered volunteers that disputed their advance, and captured O'Brien's battery, which was with- out infantry support, but not until every man had been killed or wounded. Washington's guns now opened upon the enemy, and suc- ceeded in holding their cavalry in check for a moment. The Mexican infantry pushed on, firing as they advanced, and it was evident that the crisis of the , battle was at hand. The battle had been going on for eight hours, and the American troops were greatly exhausted by the unusual exertions they had been subjected to ; while the Mexican col- umn, consisting mainly of their reserves, was fresh, and four times as strong as the whole (American army. Keenly alive to his dan- ger, Taylor exerted himself in every possible v/ay to bring up his scattered regiments in time to save the position. The flying artil- lery of Captain Bragg was the first to reach the field. There was not an infantry soldier near to support him, and the salvation of the army depended upon Bragg's efforts. He unlimbered his guns within a few yards of the rapidly advancing Mexicans, and poured in discharge after discharge with a rapidity which seemed wonderful. The Mexican advance was checked, and Sherman now came up and opened fire from his guns upon them. Washington's battery a little later joined in the fire. The Mississippi and In- diana volunteers now reached the field, and made a spirited attack upon the enemy's right flank. Under this terrible fire the Mexicans wavered for a few moments, and then broke in confusion and fled from the field. The Mexicans made no further attack dur- ing the day, and that night Santa Anna, abandoning his wounded, and leaving Ins dead unburied, retreated rapidly towards Agua Nueva. The American loss in the battle of Buena Vista was two hundred and sixty-seven killed and four hundred and fifty- six wounded. That of the Mexicans was over two thousand killed and wounded, in- cluding many officers of high rank. Taylor followed the Mexican army on the twenty- fourth, as far as Agua Nueva, and collecting their wounded, removed them to Saltillo, where they were attended by the American surgeons. Honors to General Taylor. The victory of Buena Vista was decisive of the war. It saved the valley of the Rio Grande from invasion by a victorious Mexi- can army, and enabled the expedition of J General Scott against Vera Cruz to proceed ' without delay to the accomplishment of its objects. It also greatly disheartened the I Mexican people, and during the remainder |j of the year Taylor's army had nothing to do but to hold the country it occupied. General Taylor remained at Agua Nueva until he was satisfied that no further trouble was to be apprehended from the Mexican army, and then returned by easy stages to his camp at Walnut Springs, near Monterey, which he reached by the last of March. In Administration of james k. polk. 6n the sii er of 1847, leaving General Wool in comii.uKl of the army, General Taylor returned to the United States, where he was received with distinguished honor. While these events were going on in Mexico Captain John C. Fremont, of the United States army, had been engaged in prosecuting the discoveries in the Rocky mountain region, which he had begun in that Territory, and to conciliate the good- will of the inhabitants toward the United States. Fremont had but sixty men with him, but he at once moved into the valley of the Sacramento. The Mexican inhabitants were seriously considering at this time whether they shoi'^d massacre the American settlers, or whether, in the event of a war between Mexico and GENERAL VIEW OF THE YOSEMITE VALLEY. . S843, in which year he had explored the val- ley known as the Great Basin, the region of the Great Salt Lake, and the valleys of the Sacramento and San Joaquin, on the Pacific coast. In May, 1845, Fremont set out on his third expedition, and passed the winter in the valley of the San Joaquin, then Mexican terri- tory. In May, 1846, he received orders from Washington to move into California and tounteract any foreign scheme for securing the United States, they should place Cali- fornia under the protection of Great Britaino Fremont was informed of these plots, and, though no war existed as yet between the two republics, he also learned that the Mex- ican General De Castro w\as advancing to drive him out of California. The American settlers flocked to Fremont's camp, with their arms and horses, and he soon found himself at the head of a considerable force. 6l2 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. He was thus enabled to repulse De Castro's attack, and, after a few conflicts, to drive him from Upper California. By July, 1846, the Mexican authority was entirely overthrown in upper California, and the flag of independ- ence was raised by the settlers. Pursued by a British Squadron. The American squadron in the Pacific was commanded by Commodore Sloat, who was ordered by the secretary of the navy to seize the port of San Francisco as soon as he was reliably informed of the existence of war between the two countries, and to occupy or blockade such other Mexican ports as his force would permit. In the early summer of 1846 the American squadron was lying at Mazatlan. A British squadron under Admiral Seymour also lay in the harbor, and the American commodore became convinced that the British admiral was watching him for the purpose of interfering with his designs upon California. He therefore resolved to get rid of him and put to sea and sailed to the westward, as if making for the Sandwich islands. The British fleet followed him promptly, but in the night the commodore tacked and sailed up the coast to Monterey, while the British continued their course to the islands. Sloat was coldly received at Monterey by the authorities. Hearing of the action of Fre- mont and the American settlers, the com- modore a few days later took possession of the town, and sent a courier to Fremont, who at once joined him with his mounted men. California was now taken possession of in the name of the United States. About the middle of July Commodore Stockton arrived in the harbor, and suc- ceeded Commodore Sloat, who returned home, in the command of the squadron. The next day Admiral Seymour arrived at Monterey. He saw he was too late, and quietly submitted to what he could not pre vent, though he was greatly astonished to find the town in possession of the American forces. On the seventeenth of August Fre- mont and Stockton occupied Los Angeles, the capital of Upper California. In June, 1846, General Kearney, with the " Army of the West," numbering eighteen hundred men, marched from Fort Leaven- worth, on the Missouri, across the plains to Santa Fe, the capital of the Mexican prov- ince of New Mexico. After a march of nearly one thousand miles, he occupied Santa Fe on the eighteenth of August. Leaving a garrison at Santa Fe, Kearney pushed on towards California, intending *":> conquer that province also ; but upon reach- ing the Gila river, he was met by the famous hunter, Kit Carson, who informed him of the conquest of California by Fremont and Stockton. Kearney thereupon sent two companies of dragoons under Major Sumner back to Santa Fe, and with the remainder continued his march to the Pacific coast. Revolt in New Mexico. Upon leaving Santa Fe, Kearney had instructed Colonel Doniphan to invade the country of the Navajoe Indians and compel them to make peace with the Americans. Doniphan set out in November, 1846, and crossing the mountains, succeeded in mak- ing a treaty with the Navajoes, by which they agreed to refrain from hostilities against the people of New Mexico. He then marched to the southeast to meet I General Wool at Chihuahua. - ' The inhabitants of New Mexico, encouraged^ by the absence of Doniphan v/ith so large a force, rose in revolt against the American forces, and murdered the American governor of the territory and several other officials on the fourteenth of January, 1847. Colonel Sterling Price, commanding the troops at ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES K. POLK. 613 Santa Fe, at once marched against the insur- gents, defeated them in two engagements, though they greatly outnumbered his force, and suppressed the rebellion. The insur- gents obtained peace only by surrendering their leaders, several of whom were hanged by the Americans. Colonel Doniphan, in the meantime, had continued his march. His route lay through a barren region destitute of water or grass, the twenty-eighth he occupied El Paso, and there waited until his artillery could join him from Santa Fe. It arrived in the course of a month, and on the eighth of February he resumed his march to Ciiihuahua. On the twenty-eighth he encountered and defeated a Mexican force of over ffteen hun- dred men with ten pieces of artillery, at -a pass of the Sacramento river, a tributary of th'=^ Rio Grande. The Mexicans lost over three h.'*n- THE GREAT CANON AND LOWER FALLS, YELLOWSTONE. called the Jornado del Muerto — " The Jour- ney of Death." He pressed forward with firmness through this terrible region, his men and animals suffering greatly on the march, and in the latter part of December entered the valley of the Rio Grande. With a force of eight hundred and fifty-six men he defeated over twelve hundred Mexicans atBrazito, on the twenty-sixth of December, 1846, and inflicted upon them a loss of nearly two hun- dred men, losing only seven men himself. On dred killed and a number wounded. The Americans lost two killed and several wounded. The Mexicans were completely routed, and left their artillery and all their train in the hands of the Americans. On the first of March, 1 847, Doniphan entered Chihuahua, and raising the American flag on the citadel, took possession of the province in the name of the United States. Chihuahua was one of the largest cities in Mexico, and contained nearly thirty thousand 6i4 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. inhabitants. Doniphan's force was less than one thousand men. He had expected to find General Wool here, and failing to meet him was in utter ignorance of the posi- tions of the American forces. His own position, in the midst of a hostile population, was perilous indeed, but by his firm and just measures he conciliated the inhabitants. He remained at Chihuahua for six weeks, vainly- expecting the arrival of General Wool, and on the twenty-seventh oi April evacuated EAST SIDE OF PLAZA — SANTA that place, and set out for Saltillo, three hundred and fifty miles distant. He reached that place on the twenty-second of May. Remaining there but three days, he continued his march to Monterey, from which he pro- ceeded to Matamoras. The enlistments of his men being over, they were transported to New Orleans, and there mustered out of the service. Thus ended the most remarkable expedi- tion on record. In less than one year a :orps of volunteers, unused to t^a hardships of war, had marched over snow-covered mountains and across burning deserts, a dis- tance of over five thousand miles, over three thousand of which lay through an unknown and hostile country, abounding in enemies who might have crushed them at any moment had they rallied in sufficient force. In the meantime there had been new troubles in California. In August, 1847, Commodore Stockton appointed Captain Fremont military commandant of California, and soon after sailed from San Francisco to Monterey, from which place he con- tinued his voyage to San Diego. Soon after the de- parture of the fleet Fremont learned of a conspiracy to overthrow his government. By a forced march of one hundred and fifty miles he surprised and captured the insurgent leader, Don J. Pico. A court-martial sen- tenced him to death, but Fremont wisely spared his life, and Pico, in gratitude for this clemency, gave him his powerful aid in his efforts to tranquilize the country. General Kearney had con- tinued his march from New Mexico, encount- ering great difficulties along the route, and suf- fering considerably from the repeated attacks of superior parties of the enemy. In Decem- ber, 1847, he reached San Pasqual, where he was obliged to halt. His situation was des- perate indeed ; his provisions were exhausted; his horses had died on the march ; his mules were disabled ; a large number of his men were sick ; and his camp was surrounded by the enemy, who held every road by which he could escape. In this situation three ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES K. POLK. 615 men — Kit Carson, Lieutenant Beales of the navy, and an Indian, whose name is unfor- tunately unknown — vohmteered to make their way through the enemy's lines to San Diego, thirty miles distant, and inform Com- modore Stockton of Kearney's need of assistance. They succeeded in reaching San Diego, and the commodore promptly sent reinforcements to Kearney, which ena- bled him to drive off the enemy and reach San Diego in safety. General Scott's Expedition. Commodore Stockton now directed his attention to suppressing the insurrection of the Mexican inhabitants of California, who had gotten possession of Los Angeles. Driven to extremities, they surrendered the town on the condition that the Americans should respect the rights and property of the citizens. Commodore Stockton having been re- lieved of his civil functions by orders from Washington, General Kearney claimed the governorship of the territory by virtue of his rank. Fremont refused to recognize his authority, and was brought to trial before a court-martial, which tound him guilty of disobedience of orders and mutiny, and sen- tenced him to be dismissed from the service. The sentence was remitted by the President on account of Fremont's meritorious and valuable services, but Fremont refused to accept the cleuiency of the President and thus admit the justice of the sentence of the court, and resigned his commission. General Kearney remained in California as governor of that territory. The expedition under General Scott sailed trom New Orleans late in November, 1846, and rendezvoused at the island of Lobos, about one hundred and twenty-five miles north of Vera Cruz. The plan of operations for this army was very simple — to capture Vera Cruz and march to the city of Mexico by the most direct route. At length every- thing being in readiness, the expedition sailed from Lobos Island, and on the morn- ing of the ninth of March, 1847, the army, thirteen thousand strong, landed without opposition at a point selected by Genera!.' Scott and Commodore Conner a few days before. The city and vicinity had been thoroughly reconnoitred, and the troops were at once marched to the positions assigned them by the commander-in-chief. Vera Cruz is the principal seaport of Mexico, and contained at the time of the siege about fifteen thousand inhabitants. It was strongly fortified on the land side, and towards the Gulf was defended by the Castle of San Juan de Ulloa, the strongest fortress in America, with the exception of Quebec. Attack Upon Vera Cruz. On the tenth of March the investment ot the city was begun by General Worth, and the Americcin lines were definitely estab- lished around the city for a distance of six miles. During the day, and for several days thereafter, bodies of Mexicans attempted to harass the besiegers, and a steady fire was maintained upon them by the guns of the castle and the city as they worked at their batteries. The American works being com- pleted, and their guns in position. General Scott summoned the city of Vera Cruz to surrender, stipulating that no batteries should be placed in the city to attack the castle unless the city should be fired upon by that work. The demand was refused by General Mor» ales, who commanded both the city and the castle, and at 4 o'clock on the afternoon of the twenty-second of March, the American batteries opened fire upon the town. The bombardment was continued for five days, and the fleet joined in the attack upon the 6i6 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. castle. The city suffered terribly ; a number of the inhabitants were killed, and many buildings were set on fire by the shells. On the twenty-seventh the city and castle surrendered, and were promptly occupied by the Americans. Over five thousand prison- ers and five hundred pieces of artillery fell into the hands of the victors. The garrison BOMBARDMENT OF VERA CRUZ. were required to march out, lay down their arms, and were then dismissed upon their parole. The inhabitants were protected in their civil and religious rights. The sur- render was completed on the morning of the twenty-ninth. Having secured the city and the castle, Genera! Scott placed a strong garrison in each, and appointed General Worth governor of Vera Cruz. He then prepared to march upon the city of Mexico, and on the eighth of April the advance division, under General Twiggs, set out from Vera Cruz towards Jalapa. Deducting the force left to garrison Vera Cruz, Scott's whole army amounted to but eighty-five hundred men. Santa Anna had not found the consequen- ces to himself of the battle of Buena Vista as bad as he had expected. He had succeeded in pursuading his country- men that he had not been defeated in that battle, but had simply retreated for want of provisions, and they had agreed to give him an- other trial. He had pledged himself to pre- vent the advance of the Americans to the capital, in the event of the fall of Vera Cruz, and with the aid of those of his countrymen who were willing to support him had quelled an insurrec- tion at the capital, and had strengthened his power to a greater de- gree than ever. With a force of twelve thou- sand men he had taken position at Cerro Gordo, a mountain pass at the eastern edge of the Cordilleras, to hold the American army in check, and had fortified his position with great skill and care. General Twiggs lialted before the Mexican position to await the arrival of General Scott, who soon joined him with the main army. The Mexican lines were carefully reconnoi- tered, and on the eighteenth of April Genf "^^^^^mmmm^ I a: O z z CO ^ n o < _i < z Ul CO CO < 1- > 3 ul ul < n DC OC < < the Indian tribes, and the issuing of patents to inventors. A few months after the opening of Pre- sident Taylor's administration, ex-President Polk died at his home in Nashville, Tennessee, on the fifteenth of June, 1849, in the fifty- fourth year of his age. Since the announcement of the Wilmot Proviso, the agitation of the slavery question had been incessant, and had increased instead of diminishing with each succeeding year. It was one of the chief topics of discussion in the newspaper press of the country, and entered largely into every political contro- versy, however local or insignificant in its nature. The opponents of slavery regarded the annexation of Texas and the Mexican ADMINISTRATIONS OF TAYLOk AND FILLMORE. 627 ivar as efforts to extend that institution, and were resolved to put an end to its existence At any cost. The advocates of slavery claimed that the Southern States had an equal right to the common property of the States, and were entitled to protec- tion for their slaves in any of the Territories then owned by the States or that might af- terwards be acquired by them. The Missouri Com promise forbade the ex- istence of slavery north of the line of 36° 30' north latitude, and left the inhabitants south of that line free to decide upon their own institu- tions. The Anti-slavery party was resolved that slavery should be ex- cluded from the territory acquired from Mexico, and in the Wilmot Pro- viso struck their first blow for the accomplish- ment of this purpose. We have seen that they succeded in prohibiting slavery, by a special act of Congress, in Oregon, although the terms of the Missouri Compro- mise would have ex- cluded the institution from that Territory. Their object was fully understood by the southern people, and was bitterly resented by them. The agitation ofthe subject aroused a storm of passion throughout the country, and produced a very bitter feeling between the Northern and Southern St?*e«. In his [ last message to Congress, President Polk had recommended that the line of 36° 30' north latitude be extended to the Pacific, and thus leave it to the people south of that line to decide whether they would have slavery or ZACHARY TAYLOR. not. This proposition was acceptable to the South ; but it was rejected by the Anti-slavery party. The Missouri Compromise line had been limited to the Louisiana purchase, which was entirely slaveholding, and had nade more than one-half of it free- To 628 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. extend the line to the Pacific would be to give the South a chance to establish slavery in territory which was free at the time of its acquisition by the United States. The North Would not listen to such a proposition. During the last session of Congress in Mr. Polk's administration, an effort had been made to establish territorial governments for Utah and New Mexico, but had failed in the supreme law of the land, it was superioi to any territorial law or act of Congress abol- ishing slavery; and that the constitution clearly and unequivocally established and protected slavery in the Territories. Mr. Webster, speaking for the north, de- clared that the constitution was designed for the government of the States, and not for the Territories. Congress, he said, had the right THE WHITE HUUSE, WASHINGTON, D. C. consequence of the inability of Congress to agree upon the question of slavery in these Territories. In the debate in the Senate upon these measures, Mr. Calhoun and Mr. Webster took an active part, and each presented in a masterly manner the views of the section he represented upon this great question. Mr. Cal- houn, speaking for the south, argued that the constitution recognized slavery ; that as it was to govern the Territories independently or the constitution, and he maintained that it often exercised this right contrary to the constitution, as it did things in the Territories which it could not do in the States. He added : ** When new territory has been ac- quired it has always been subject to the laws of Congress — to such laws as Congres:: thought proper to pass for its immediate ADMINISTRATIONS OF TAYLOR AND FILLMORE. 629 ^vernment and preparatory state in which it was to remain until it was ready to come into the Union as one of the family of States." He quoted in support of his position the clause of the constitution which declares that the " constitution and the laws of the lUnitcd States which shall be made in pur- .suance thereof, .... shall be the supreme law of the land." Congress having failed to make any pro- vision for territorial governments for Utah and New Mexico, those Territories were left in a condition of anarchy. One of the first duties devolving upon the new administration was the alleviation of this evil until it could be definitely settled by Congress. President Taylor instructed the federal officers in those Territories to encourage the people to organize temporary governments for them- selves. A New Accession to the Union. California in the meantime had grown witli such rapidity, and had experienced so much trouble from its sudden increase of popula- tion and the lack of a definite government, that its leading citizens determined to seek admission into the Union. In the autumn of 1849 a convention of the people was held, a constitution formed, and a State govern- ment organized. The action of the conven- tion was promptly ratified by the people. Upon the assembling of the Thirty-first Con- gress in the winter of 1849, California applied for admission into the Union as a State, with a constitution forbidding slavery within her limits. The organization of the Thirty-first Con- gress was delayed for three weeks. Parties were about evenly divided, and sixty ballots were taken before a speaker could be chosen. One of the leaders on the Democratic side was Robert Toombs, of Georgia. The choice at last fell upon Howell Cobb, of Georgia, who was elected by a plurality. Partisan bitterness ran high during this struggle. Upon the organization of the House, Presi- dent Taylor sent in his first and only mes- sage. He recognized the danger with which the sectional controversy threatened the country, expressed his views of the situation in moderate terms, and intimated that he should faithfully discharge his duties to the whole country. He recommended the admis- sion of California with the constitution she had chosen ; and advised that Utah and New ROBERT TOOMBS. Mexico should be organized as Territories^ with liberty to decide the question of slavery for themselves when they were ready to enter the Union as States. A dispute having arisen between Texas and New Mexico concerning the proper boundary between them, the Pre- sident recommended that it should be settled by the courts of the United States. The other questions which demanded im- mediate settlement were slavery in the Dis- trict of Columbia, and the demand of the Southern States for a more faithful execution 630 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. of the provision of the constitution which required the arrest and return of fugitive slaves. The South opposed the admission of Cali- fornia with a free constitution, and the North demanded the abolition of the slave trade in the District of Columbia, and the Northern States were unwilling to allow their officers to execute the Fugitive Slave Law within their limits. The excitement became intense, and threats to dissolve the Union of the States were fieely indulged in by the extrem- ists of both the North and the South. Opposing Views in the Senate. On the twenty-ninth of January, 1850, Henry Clay introduced into the Senate a series of resolutions designed to settle all the points in dispute by a general compromise. The resolutions were referred to a commitee of thirteen, of which Mr. Clay was made chairman. In due time the committee re- ported a bill known as the " Omnibus Bill " from its embracing in one measure all Mr. Clay's propositions. It provided for the admis- sion of California as a free State ; the organi- sation of the Territories of Utah and New Mexico, without reference to slavery; the adjustment of the boundary between Texas and New Mexico by paying to the former ten millions of dollars ; the abolition of the slave trade in the District of Columbia ; and the enactment by Congress of a more string- ent and effective law for the rendition of fugitive slaves. The Omnibus bill was warmly opposed in Congress and in the country at large. The debate in the Senate brought out the views of the leading statesmen of the country. Senator Jefferson Davis declared the bill in no sense a compromise, because it was un- equal in its provisions. The South, he de- clared, gained nothing by the measure, as the constitution already required the rendi- tion of fugitive slaves. He proposed, there* fore, that the Missouri Compromise line should be extended to the Pacific, " with the specific recognition of the right to hold slaves in the territory below that line." Mr. Clay replied to this that " no earthly power could induce him to vote for a specific 1 measure for the introduction of slavery where it had not existed, either north of south of that line. I am unwilling that the posterity of the present inhabitants of Cali- fornia and of New Mexico should reproach us for doing just what we reproach Great Britain for doing to us. If the citizens of those Territories come here with constitu- tions establishing slavety, I am for admitting them into the Union ; but then it will be their own work and not ours, and their pos- terity will have to reproach them and net us." \A^ebster's Union Speech. Mr. Calhouii was too ill to take part in the debate in person, but he prepared a speech of great ability, which was read for him in the Senate by Senator Mason of Vir- ginia. He declared that the Union could be preserved only by maintaining an equal num- ber of free and slave States, in order that the representation of the two sections of the country might be equal in the Senate. Mr. Webster also took part in the debate, and on this occasion delivered what is known as his " great Union speech of the seventh of March," which occupied three days in its delivery. He expressed substantially the same views as those advocated by Mr. Clay. He opposed restriction of slavery in the Ter- ritories, and declared he would vote against the Wilmot Proviso. His speech created a profound sensation throughout the country, and did much to secure the final acceptance of the compromise measures. In the midst of this discussion John C. Calhoun died, on the thirty-first of March, ADMINISTRATIONS OF TAYLOR AND FILLMORE. 631 1850. He had entered Congress in 181 1, and had been in public life from that time until the day of his death. He had filled many high offices, both State and national, and had discharged the duties of each and all with disinterested fidelity and admitted ability. He was one of the first statesmen this country has ever pro- duced, and was the ac- knowledged leader of the South in the sectional controversy with the North, His character was above reproach, and he was a sincere and dis- interested patriot. His death was generally la- mented throughout the country, and his political adversaries joined heart- ily in the tributes of the nation to his many vir- tues and great abilities. A few months later President Taylor was suddenly stricken c-own with a fever, whicl: xi a few days terminated fatally. He died on the ninth of July, 1850, amid the grief of the whole country, which felt that it had lost a faithful and upright chief magistrate. Though the successful candidate of one poli- tical party, his administration had received the earnest support of the best men of the country without regard to party, and his death was a national calamity. He had held office only sixteen months, but had shown himself equal to his difficult and delicate position. He was sixty-six years old at the time of his death. By the terms of the constitution the office of President devolved upon Millard Fillmore, Vice-President of the United States. On MILLARD FILLMORE. the tenth of July he took the oath of office before Chief Justice Cranch of the District of Columbia, and at once entered upon the duties of his new position, Mr. Fillmore was a native of New York, and was born in that State in the year 1800 632 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. He had served his State in Congress, and as governor, and was personally one of the most popular of the Presidents. The cabinet of General Taylor resigned their offices imme- PORTRAITS OF LEADING MORMONS. diately after his death, and the new President (filled their places by appointing a new cabi- net with Daniel Webster at its head as secre- tary of siatc. Mr. Fillmore was in active sym- pathy with Mr. Clay in his efforts to secure the passage of the compromise measures, as he deemed them the best adjustment of the trouble possible under the circumstances. The compromise measures were warmly debated in Con- gress, the sessions of which ex- tended through the summer into the latter part of September. The bill was then taken up and passed, article by article, by the House of Representatives, it hav- ing previously passed the Senate. The bill at once received the ex- ecutive approval, and became a law. The clause admitting Calilor- nia into the Union as a State was adopted on the ninth of September, 1850. The course of Mr. Clay in securing the passage of the com- promise measures of 1850 was justly regarded as the crowning glory of his life. It won for him the love and confidence of the whole country without regard to party, and the man who " had rather be right than be Presi- dent" had the proud satisfaction of seeing all the faults and mis takes of his earlier years for- gotten in the confidence and gra- titude with which his country- men regarded him. He ceased now to take an active part in the questions of the day, for it was fitting that his life should close with this great service to nis country. His health failed ra- pidly, but he continued to hold his seat in the Senate until the twenty-ninth of June, 1852, when he died at the age of seventy-five years. Honors were showered upon his memory in ADMINISTRATIONS OF TAYLOR AND FILLMORE. 633 all parts of the Union, and he was laid to his rest amid a nation's unaffected inourninfr. measures failed to give satisfaction. The Fu.[,ntive Slave Law was bitterly denounced CUBAN FILLIBUSTERS ON THE MARCH. There were still many extremists both North and South, to whom the <:ompromise by the Anti-slavery party in the North. As the Supreme Court of the United States had 634 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. decided that the justices of the peace in the respective States could not be called upon to execute the law for the rendition of fugi- tive slaves, a clause was inserted in the Fugi- tive Slave Law of 1850, providing for the appointment of United States commission- ers, before whom such cases could be tried. The Fugitive Slave Law. The Northern States successively enacted laws for the nullification of the provisions of this law. All their jails and other State buildings were refused to the federal officers for the securing of fugitive slaves, and all State, county, and city officers were forbid- den to arrest or assist in arresting or detain- ing any fugitive slave. In many of the States severe punishmenis were denounced against masters coming within their limits to claim their slaves, and such fugitives entering these States were declared free. These laws were denounced by the slave- holding States as violative of the constitu- tion of the United States, and gave rise to great bitterness of feeling toward the North^ It was maintained that these laws were direct evidence of the intention of the northern people to rob the ^outh of its property in negro slaves. The extremists of the South were equally dissatisfied with the compromise. They declared that the South had sacrificed everything and gained nothing by it, and boldly avowed their intention to bring about the secession of the Southern States from the Union. In the summer of 1850 a south- ern convention was held at Nashville, Ten- nessee. Its real end was the dissolution of the Union, and for that purpose it urged the Southern States to appoint delegates to a " Southern Congress." The legislatures of South Carolina and Mississippi alone responded to this invitation, but the great mass of the southern people turned a deaf ear to the appeals of the disunionists, and the convention failed to accomplish its object. In the inauguration of a territorial govern- ment for Utah, the Mormons, whose settle- ment in that Territory while it was yet a possession of Mexico we have relatedj endeavored to frame their own government, and gave to ihe Territory the name of Des- eret, which they declared was a word of their peculiar language meaning " The Land of the Honey Bee." President Fillmore set aside this name and carried out the act of Congress by which the Territory received its present name. Brigham Young, the Mormon leader or prophet, was appointed governor of the Territory. In 1850 the seventh census showed the population of the IJnited States to be 23,- 191,876 souls. Capture 01 General Lopez. In the early part of President Taylor's administration. General Lopez, a Spaniard, began to enlist men in the United States ostensibly for the purpose of aiding the people of the island of Cuba to throw off their allegiance to Spain and establish their independence, but really for the purpose of driving out the Spaniards and securing the annexation of Cuba to the United States. He succeeded in inducing a number of adventurous persons to join him. President Taylor, upon learning of the movement, issued a proclamation forbidding citizens of the United States to engage in it. In spite of this warning, Lopez collected a , force of six hundred men, and eluding tht . vigilance of the United States officers, sailed for Cuba. He landed at Cardenas, but received so little encouragement that the party sailed for Key West. In 1851, Lopez again entered Cuba, this time at the head of four hundred and fifty men. His party was ADMINISTRATIONS OF TAYLOR AND FILLMORE. 633 captured almost immediately, and he and a number of his men were put to death by the Spanish authorities at Havana. In May, 1850, an expedition of a different character sailed from the United States. The fate of Sir John Franklin, who sailed from England in 1845, in search of the northwest passage, had long enlisted the sym- pathies of humane and gen- erous souls. It was thought that the daring navigator might be confined to the Arctic regions by the loss of his ships, and that a well-executed search might either result in the dis- covery and relief of Frank- lin or settle the question as to his fate. Mr. Henry Grinnell, a wealthy mer- chant of New York, fitted out an expedition at his own expense, and placing it under the command of Lieutenant De Haven, of the United States navy, despatched it to the Arctic regions to search for '^♦-ank- lin and his men, '"n May, 1850. De Haven was ac- companied by Dr, E. K. Kane, in the capacity of surgeon and naturalist. , After a year's absence the vessels returned, the search having been unsuccessful. The general government despatched another expedition in 1 8 5 1 , on the same errand, and placed it under command of Dr. Kane. This expedition was absent four years, and the government, becoming appre- hensive of its fate, sent two vessels to search for Kane and his companions. They were found at the isle of Disco, in Greenland, having been forced to abandon their vessel in the ice. Nothing was learned by Dr. Kane concerning the fate of Sir John Franklin ; but the expedition resulted in the discovery of the open Polar sea. Nothing SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. definite was learned of the fate of Sir John Franklin until 1859, when the steamer " Fox," despatched by Lady Franklin, made the melancholy discovery that Sir John Franklin died on the eleventh of June, 1847, and in 1848 the " Erebus " and " Terror " 636 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. were abandoned in the ice. The survi- vors of these disasters, one hundred and five in number, died one by one from cold and exhaustion on King William's Island. In the early part of 185 i Congress reduced the postage on prepaid letters to three cents .0 all parts of the United States, prepayment being made by means of stamps provided by under great disadvantages. His htdlth had been failing for some time past, and his weakness was so great that he could speak only with difficulty. This oration was one of the last public acts of the great statesman. On the twenty-fourth of October, 1852, he died at his home at Marshfield, Massachusetts, aged seventy years, and in him perished the first statesman RELICS OF franklin's POLAR VOYAGE. the government. The result was a rapid and immense increase of the postal revenue of the country. On the fourth of July, 185 i, the corner- stone of the extension of the capitol at Washington was laid by President Fillmore with appropriate ceremonies. The orator of the day was Daniel Webster. His address was one of his oest efforts, but was delivered of America. He was large and stout in frame, of swarthy complexion, and slow and heavy in movement — a man of noble and commanding appearance. His intellect was cast in the same gigantic mould as his body. His language was simple and chaste, and his arguments irresistible. His patriotism knew no sectional limits. " I am as ready," he once said, "to fight and to fall for the ADMINISTRATIONS OF TAYLOR AND FILMORE. 637 eortstitutional rights of Virginia a.-? t «m for those of Massachusetts." Alexander H. Stephens has said of hfrn : " He was too great a man and had too great an intellect not to see the truth when it was presented, and he was too honest and too patriotic a man not to proclaim the truth when he saw it, even to an unwilling people. ordeal, and that he passed it with unflinch- ing firmness is one of the grandest features in the general grandeur of his character. Even his detractors have been constrained to render him unwilling homage in this re- spect." * His memory was honored by appro- priate demonstrations in all parts of the country, and it is said that the popular In this quality of moral greatness I often thought Mr. Webster had the advantage of his great contemporaries, Messrs. Clay and Calhoun. Not that I would be understood as Baying that they were not men of great moral courage, for both of them showed this high quality in many instances, but they never gave the world such striking exhibitions of it as he did Webster often passed this DR. E. K. KANE AND HIS COMPANIONS. tributes on this occasion were equalled only by those of the nation at the death of Washington. In December, 185 1, Louis Kossuth, the chief of the Hungarian insurrection of 1848, visited the United States. His avowed object was to promote the cause of his * The War Between the States, vol. i., pp. 405,40^ ^3S FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. countrymen, and he made frequent addresses in various parts of the Union, which 'vere Hstened to by vast multitudes who were charmed with his eloquence. He visited Washington, and was granted a public recep- tion by Congress. The Austrian minister at Washington, the Chevalier Hulseman, pro- tested against this reception, and his protest being unheeded, he withdrew from Washing- ton for a while. Protection for Cuba. The attempt of Lopez upon Cuba had greatly alarmed Spain for the safety of that island. England and France, sympathizing with her, and anxious to render the acquisi- tion of Cuba by the United States impossible, proposed to the American government to join them in a " tripartite treaty," in which each should disclaim any intention to seize that island, and should guarantee Spain in her possession of it. In December, 1852, Edward Everett, who had succeeded Mr. Webster as secretary of state, by direction of the President, replied to the proposition of England and France, declining to accept it. "The President," he said, " does not covet the acquisition of Cuba for the United States," but " could not see with indifference that island fall into the possession of any Euro- pean government than Spain." He stated that the situation of the island rendered it peculiarly interesting to this country by reason of its proximity to our coast, and its Mexico and the mouth of the Mississippi. The European powers were thus given to understand that the United States would not tolerate their intetference in a question purely American. The year 1852 was marked by intense ex citement consequent on the political cam- paign which terminated in the fall in the Presidential election. The Democratic party made a strong and successful effort to recover its lost power, and nominated Franklin Pierce, of New Hampshire, for President, and William R. King, of Alabama, for Vice- President. The Whig party nominated Gen- eral Winfield Scott for President, and Wil- liam A. Graham, of North Carolina, for Vice- President. The Anti-slavery party put in nomination John P. Hale, of New Hamp- shire, and George W. Julian, of Indiana. The election resulted in the choice of the candidates of the Democratic party by an overwhelming majority. The Anti-slavery party on this occasion polled but 155,825 votes, or a little more than half of the strength it had shown at the previous election. Mr. King, the Vice-President-elect, did not long survive his triumph. His health had been delicate for many years, and he was obliged to pass the winter succeeding the election in Cuba. Being unable to return home, he took the oath of office before the American consul, at Havana, on the fourth of March, 1853. He then returned to the United States, and died at his home in Ala- commanding the -ipproach to the Gulf of 1 bama on the eighteenth of April, 1853. CHAPTER XXXIX The Administration of Franklin hierce. c-pute with Mexico — The Gadsden Purchase — Surveys for a Pacific Railway — The Japan Expedition — Treaty witl japan- -The Koszta Aftair — The " Black Warrior " Seized by the Cuban Officials — The "Ostend Conference " — Di* missiil of the Britisn Minister — The Kansas- Nebraska Bill — History of the Bill — Its Passage by Congress — History of ihe Struq:gle in Kansas — Conflict Between the Pro-Slavery and Free-Soil Settlers — Lawrence Sacked — Civil War — Tlie I'residential Campaign of 1856 — James Buchanan Elected President of the United States — Rapid Increase of the Rejiublican Party. RESIDENT PIERCE took the oath of office at the capitol at Washington on the fourth of March, 1853, in the presence of an immense throng. He was in his forty- ainth year, and had won an enviable name by his previous services to the country. He was a native of New Hampshire, and had represented that State for four years in the lower House of Congress, and for nearly a full term in the Senate of the United States. He had also served with distinction during the Mexican war as brigadier-gen- eral. He placed William L. Marcy, of New York, at the liead of his cabinet as secretary of state. The first question ot importance the new President was called upon to settle grew out of a dispute with Mexico concerning the boundary between that country and the Territory of New Mexico. At the time of the treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo the maps were so imperfect that the boundary Ime had not been drawn with sufficient exact- ness. Both countries claimed the Mesilla valley, which was said to be very fertile, but which was more important to the United States as affording what was generally regarded as the most practicable route to California. Santa Anna was now President of the Mexican republic again, and sent a force of Mexican troops to occupy the region in dis- pute. The matter was settled by negotia tion, however, and the United States obtained the Mesilla valley and the free navigation of the Gulf of California and of the Colorado to the American frontier. For these concessions the federal government paid Mexico the sum of ten millions of dol- lars. The district thus acquired was known as the " Gadsden Purchase," and was subse quently erected into the Territory of Ari- zona. The necessity of more rapid and certait communication with California had brougti, the nation to regard a railway between the Mississippi and the Pacific as a necessity', and as such an undertaking was considered beyond the resources of a private corpora- tion, it was believed that it should be built by the general government, or at least that the general government should bear a part of the expense. The year 1853 witnessed the first steps towards the construction of this great work. Two expeditions were de- spatched under the orders of the war depart- ment to explore the best routes for a Pacific railway. The acquisition of California brought the United States into new relations with the nations of the eastern world, as it secured for them a base upon the Pacific from which a direct trade could be conducted with China 639 •^40 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. ind Japan. The empire of Japan, however, A^as closed to foreigners, and it was very de- sirable to open commercial relations with it. Towards the close of Mr. Fillmore's term of office, Commodore Perry, a brother of the hero of Lake Erie, was despatched to China with a fleet of seven war steamers to nego- tiate a treaty with the Japanese government. He arrived in the bay of Jeddo in the sum- Tier of 1853. The natives were greatly astonished at the appearance of his steamers, he first that had ever been seen in those FRANKLIN PIERCE. waters, and at his boldness in venturing into their harbors. The Japanese officials ordered him to depart, but he refused, and insisted on seeing the emperor, and making known to him the object of his friendly visit. They at length decided to lay the matter before the emperor, who consented to grant an interview to the commodore, and named the fourteenth of July for that purpose. On the day appointed the commodore landed, accompanied by a strong body of marines. He was received with great ceremony by the Japanese, and delivered the^ President's let- ter, to which an answer was promised. The answer of the emperor was submitted to him several months later, and was favorable. A treaty was concluded between the United States and Japan, by which the former were allowed to trade in two specified ports — 'j Simodi and Hokadadi. American citizen^, were permitted to reside at these ports, and consuls were accepted for them. Thus the United States had the honor of being the first to open the rich markets of the island empire to the commerce of the civilized world. Since then the relations between the two countries have steadily grown more cor- dial, and Japan has shown a remarkable rapidity and facility for adopting the civiliza- tion of the west. In July, 1853, occurred an event which did much to increase the respect for our navy among the powers of the world. Martin Koszta, a Hungarian, who had taken the preliminary steps to be naturalized in the United States, happening to be in Smyrna, in Asia Minor, on business, was seized as a rebel and a refugee by order of the Austrian consul-general, and taken on board an Aus^ trian brig. The United States sloop-of-wat " St. Louis," Captain Ingraham, was lying in the harbor at the time, and Ingraham was appealed to for protection for Koszta. Ingraham Threatens to Fire. He at once demanded his release as an American citizen. The demand was refused by the authorities, and Ingraham at once called his crew to quarters and threatened to fire upon the Austrian ship if Koszta was not immediately released. The Austrians at once surrendered their prisoner, and ha was placed in custody of the French consul to await the action of the government of the. United States. The matter was settled by negotiation between this country and Austria, and Koszta was released. Austria addressed ADMINISTRATION OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 641 to the government at Washington a remon- strance against the conduct of Captain Ingra- ham, but his course was warmly applauded by his countrymen and by disinterested per- sons in Europe. In February, 1854, the American merchant steamer " Black Warrior " was seized by the Spanish authorities at Havana, on the pre- text that she had evaded or violated some uncertain revenue law, and the ship and her cargo were declared confiscated. This ?^ tion of the Havana officials was regarded in the United States as unjust, and aroused a great deal of feeling against the Spaniards, and gave a sudden impetus to the national senti- ment in favor of the acquisition of Cuba. The affair of the " Black Warrior" was satis- factorily settled by the Spanish government. "^Vhile the feeling aroused by the affair was at its height a conference of some of the American ministers in Europe, including Mr. Buchanan, minister to England, Mr. Mason, minister to France, and Mr. Soul6, minister to Spain, and some others, was held at Ostend, in Belgium, and a circular was adopted recommending the acquisition of Cuba by the United States. This measure attracted much attention, and elicited con- siderable European criticism of the alleged ambitious designs of the United States. Mr. Soule, on his return to Madrid, was stopped at Calais by order of the emperor of the French, who had personal reasons for dis- liking him. The emperor, however, recon- sidered his action, and allowed Soule to pass through France to the Spanish frontier. British Minister Dismissed. In 1855 Great Britain, France, Sardinia and Turkey, being engaged in a war with Russia, the agents of the British government undertook to enlist recruits for their army within the limits of the United States in de- fiance of the neutrality laws of this country. 41 The matter being brought to the attention of the United States government, it was found that the British minister at Washing- ton and the British consuls in some of the principal cities of the Union had encouraged, if they had not authorized, these enlistments i The government of the United States there- upon called the attention of Great Britain to the conduct of her minister, and requested her to recall him. The queen declined to comply with this request, and the minister and the consuls v/ere promptly dismissed by the President. The matter caused consider- able irritation in England for a while, but the good sense of the English people at length perceived the propriety of the course of the American government, and cordial relations were re-established between the two countries. Territory of Nebraska. The most important measure of Mr. Pierce's administration was the bill to organize the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska. The region embraced in these Territories formed a part of the Louisiana purchase, and extended from the borders of Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota to the sum- mit of the Rocky mountains, and from the parallel of 36° 30^ north latitude to the border of British America. The whole region by the terms of the Missouri Com- promise had been secured to free labor by the exclusion of slavery. Until the year 1850 this vast area was called by the general and somewhat indefi- nite name of the " Platte Country," from the Platte river, which flows through it. Little was known concerning it save that it was a region of great fertility. It was mainly occupied by the reservations of the Indian tribes, which had been removed from the other States to make way for the whites. Across it swept the grand trails of the over. 642 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. land route to Utah and the Pacific. The people of the New England States were very- anxious that the Indian reservations which covered the eastern part should be bought up by the general government and the coun- try thrown open to emigration. Petitions to this effect were presented to the Thirty- second Congress, but no action was taken upon them until December, 1 85 2, when Mr. Hall, of Missouri, introduced a bill into the House to organize the " Territory of Platte." STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS. It was referred to the Committee on Ter- ritories, which in February, 1853, reported a bill organizing the " Territory of Nebraska." The bill was opposed in the House of Rep- resentatives by the full strength of the South, and in the Senate the only southern sena- tors who voted for it were those from Mis- souri, The Missouri Compromise, as has been stated, secured the entire Nebraska region to free labor; but notwithstanding this the southern members of Congress were resolved to oppose the organization of a new free Territory, and to endeavor to obtain a footing for slavery, in at least a part of it. The matter was revived in the Senate on the sixteenth of January, 1854, by Senator Dixon, of Kentucky, who gave notice that whenever the Nebraska bill should be called up he would move the following amend- ment : " That so much of the eighth section of an act approved March 6, 1820, entitled ' An act to authorize the people of the Mis- souri Territory to form a constitution and State government, for the admission of such State into the Union on an equal footing with the original States, and to prohibit slavery in certain Territories,' as declares ' That, in all the territory ceded by France to the United States, under the name of Louisiana, which lies north of 36° 3o' north latitude, slavery and involuntary servitude, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall be for ever prohibited,' shall not be so construed as to apply to the Territory contemplated by this act, or to any other Territory of the United States ; but that the citizens of the several States or Territories shall be at liberty to take and hold their slaves within any of the Terri- tories or States to be formed therefrom, ats if the said act, entitled as aforesaid, had never been passed.'* More Slavery Agitation. The announcement of this amendment startled the country as much as the Wilmot Proviso had done years before, and produced much angry excitement. It was a clear repudiation of the Missouri Compromise, which it did not even seek to repeal. Senator Douglas, of Illinois, chairman of the Committee on Territories, on the twenty- third of January, 1 854, reported a bill which provided for the organization of the Platte country into /zf southern portion, which lay directly west of Missouri, stretching to the Rock Mountains on the west, and extending from the thirty- seventh to the fortieth parallel of north lati- tude, was to be organized into a distinct Territory, to be called Kansas. The remain- der was to be called Nebraska, having the line of 43° 30' for its northern boundary- Senator Douglas, in an evil hour for the country, incorporated in the bill the main features of Mr. Dixon's amendment. The bill contained the following provisions : " Section 21. A}id be it further enacted, That, in order to avoid misconstruction, it is hereby declared to be the true intent and meaning of this act, so far as the question of slavery is concerned, to carry into practical operation the following propositions and principles, established by the compromise measures of 1850, to wit: ''First. — That all questions pertaining to slavery in the Territories, and in the new States to be formed therefrom, are to be left to the decision of the people residing therein, through their appropriate representatives. " Second. — That all cases involving title to slaves, and questions of personal freedom, are referred to the adjudication of the local tribunals, with the right of appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States. " Third. — That the provisions of the consti- tution and laws of the United States, in respect to fugitives from service, are to be carried into faithful execution in all the ' organized Territories,' the same as in the States." A Blow at the Missouri Compromise. The section of the bill which prescribed the qualifications and mode of election of a delegate from each of the Territories was as follows: "The constitution, and all laws of the United States which are not locally inap- plicable, shall have thr^ iame force and effect within the said Territory as elsewhere ir the United States, except the section of the act preparatory to the admission of Missouri into the Union, approved March 6, i820t which was superseded by the priiciples of the leg- islation of 1850, commonly called the com- promise measures, and is declared inoper ative." Mr. Dixon declared that the bill, as reported by Senator Douglas, met with his hearty approval, and that he would support it with ail his ability. The debate on the bill began in the Senate on the twenty-fourth of January, and continued through several weeks. It was conducted with great ability on both sides, and engaged the earnest atten- tion of the whole country. The Free Soil senators unanimously opposed the bill, which they denounced as a violation of the Missouri Compromise, by which the faith of the nation was pledged to the settlement then effected. The southern senators supported it with equal unanimity, as they held that the Missouri Compromise had been super* seded by the compromise of 1850. Motion to Strike Out. On the sixth of February Mr. Chase, of Ohio, moved to strike out so much of the bill as declared the Missouri Compromise ''superseded" by the compromise of 1850, but the motion was defeated. Whereupon Mr. Douglas, on the fifteenth of February, moved to strike out the clause objected to by Mr. Chase, and insert the following : " Which being inconsistent with the prin- ciple of non-intervention by Congress with slavery in the States and Territories, as recognized by the legislation of 1850 (com- monly called the compromise measures), is hereby declared inoperative and void ; it being the true intent and meaning of this act not to legislate slavery into any Territory or State, nor to exclude it therefrom, but to 644 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. leave the people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the constitu- tion of the United States." Mr. Douglas' amendment was at once adopted, and seemed fair enough on its face. Mr, Chase exposed the hollowness of it by proposing to add to it the following clause, which was promptly voted down : " Under which the people of the Territories, through their appropriate representatives, may, if they SALMON p. CHASE. sec fit, prohibit the existence of slavery therein." The bill was adopted by the Senate by a vote of thirty-seven yeas to fourteen nays, and by the House by a vote of one hundred and thirteen yeas to one hundred nays, and on the thirty-first of May, 1854, received the approval of the President and became a law. The whole country engaged warmly in the discussion aroused by the re-opening of the question of slavery in the Territories. The North resented the repeal of the Missouri Compromise and in the South a large and respectable party sincerely regretted the re- peal of that settlement. By the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill the Thirty-third Congress assumed a grave responsibility, and opened the door to a bloody and bitter con- flict in the Territories between slavery and free labor. The events now to be related were the logical consequences of the repeal of the Missouri Compromise. A few months befc re the final vote upon the Kansas-Nebraska b'U the gen- eral government succeeded in purchas- ing the Indian reservations in those Ter- ritories, and removed the Indian tribes to new homes farther west. This action at once threw Kansas and Nebraska open to white settlers, and measures were set on foot in the New England States to encourage emigration thither. Kansas 6eing a more fertile country than Nebraska naturally attracted the greater number of settlers. Before anything could be done by the Free Soil men, the people living on the border of Missouri passed over into Kansas, and selecting the best lands, put their mark upon them, hoping in this way to establish a pre-emption claim to them. Their object was to organize and hold the Territory in the interest of slavery, but very few of them removed to Kansas, or had any wish to do so. In the meantime societies had been formed in the New England States for the promo- tion of emigration to Kansas. As the Pro- slavery settlers had come into the Territory so slowly, and in such small numbers, it seemed certain that the northern people could secure Kansas to free labor by sending out settlers to occupy the Territory in good faith. The Pro-slavery party in Missouri determined to prevent this. In July, 1 854, a meeting was ADMINISTRATION OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 645 held at Westport in that State, at which it w^s resolved that the persons taking part in tiie meeting would, " whenever called upon by any of the citizens of Kansas Territory, hold ' themselves ' in readiness together to resist and remove any and ill emigrants who go there under the auspices of the Northern Emigrant Aid Societies." The first party sc.it out by the New England Aid Societies reached a point on the Kaw river, in Kan- sas, about the middle of July. There they pitched their tents and began the building of a town, which they named Lawrence, in honor of Amos A. Law- rence, of Boston. By the last of the month they were joined by seventy more emigrants and the work of founding their town was pushed forward with en- ergy. There was not a drone in the little commun- ity. They were all honest, intelligent, God-fearing men and women, and they meant to succeed in the undertak- ing they had begun. They were in legal and peaceable possession of their settle- ment, and thus far had mo- lested or wronged no one. They were not to live in peace, however. Before they had finished building their houses, they were startled by the announcement that two hundred and fifty armed Missourians had encamped within a short distance of them for the purpose of driving them out of the Terri- tory. The next morning the Missourians sent them a formal notice that " the Aboli- tionists must leave the Territory, never more to return to it." They declared their desire to avoid bloodshed ; but notified the settlers SCENE ON THE ALLEGHENY RIVER. that they must be ready to leave the Terri- tory, with all their effects, at one o'clock that day. This the settlers refused to do, and prepared to defend their homes. The messengers of the Missourians found them 646 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. drilling behind their tents and reported this fact to their leaders. The firm but quiet attitude of the people of Lawrence had a happy effect. The Mis- sourians made no effort to carry out their threat, but broke up their camp that night, and withdrew across the border, leaving the settlers in peace. Meanwhile the town of Lawrence grew and prospered, and the New England Societies continuing to send other emigrants into the Territory, other towns were founded. Settlers from the Southern States came into the Territory very slowly. The general government threw its influ- ence as far as possible in favor of the Pro- slavery party, in the organization of the Territory, by appointing a majority of the territorial officers from the slaveholding .States. A. H. Reeder was appointed governor by President Pierce. He endeavored to jxecute the laws faithfully, and ordered an election for members of a territorial legisla- ture, to be held on the thirtieth of March, 1855. On that day large numbers of armed Missourians crossed the border, and, taking possession of the polling-places in Kansas, succeeded in returning a Pro-slavery legisla- ture. Oppressive Laws. Six districts at once forwarded protests to the governor against the elections, showing beyond all reasonable doubt that they had been controlled by citizens of Missouri. The governor, who was anxious to do justice to all parties, ordered a new election in these districts, each of which, with the exception of Lecompton, returned a Free Soil delegate. The new delegates, however, were refused their seats upon the assembling of the legis- lature, and the successful candidates at the original election were admitted. The governor had summoned the legisla- ture to meet at Pawnee City, on the Kansas river, a town nearly one hundred miles dis- tant from the border, and supposed to be fat enough away to be free from intimidation by the Missourians ; but the legislature, immedi- ately upon assembling, adjourned to Shawnee Mission, on the Missouri border. The reso- lution for this purpose was vetoed by the governor, but was passed over his veto, and was at once carried into effect. Upon reassembling at Shawnee Mission, the Legis- lature proceeded to adopt the laws of Mis- souri as the laws of Kansas, and to frame a series of statutes designedly cruel and oppres- sive. These laws were vetoed by Governor Reeder, who was removed by the President. Wilson Shannon, of Ohio, was then appoint- ed governor of Kansas. Bold Acts of Pro-Slavery Men. In the meantime the Free Soil settlers had increased so rapidly that they at length largely outnumbered the Pro-slavery settlers. They now felt themselves strong enough to resist the outrages of the Missourians, and accordingly, on the fifth of September, 1855, held a convention, in which they distinctly repudiated the government that had been forced upon them by men who were not residents of the Territory. They announced their intention not to take part in the election of a delegate to Congress, which the territo- rial authorities had ordered to be held on the first of October, and called upon the actual residents of the Territory to send delegates to a convention to meet at Topeka on the nineteenth of September. This convention organized an executive committee for the Territory, and ordered an election to be held for the purpose of choosing a delegate to Congress. Governor Reeder was nominated and elected to Congress. On the twenty- third of October the convention adopted a Free State constitution, and forwarded it to , Congress with a petition for the admission o' I Kansas into the Union as a State, ADMINISTRATION OF FRANKLIN PIERCE. 647 The struggle for the possession of the Territory now passed out of the area of politics. As we have said, the repeal of the Missouri Compromise opened the way for, and was the direct cause of, the conflict between the Free and Pro-slavery settlers of Kansas. The outrages of the Pro-slavery men had forced the Free-Soilers into an atti- tude of direct and uncompromising resist- ance ; and after the action of the latter, at Topeka, the struggle which had hitherto been comparatively bloodless changed its character and became an open and sangui- nary war between the two parties. In this struggle the Pro-slavery men were the aggressors. Bands of young men, armed and regularly organized into companies and regiments, came into the Territory from South Carolina, Georgia and the extreme Southern States, with the avowed design of making Kansas a slaveholding State at all hazards. On the morning of May 21st, 1856, under the pretext of aiding the United States marshal to serve certain processes upon citizens of Lawrence, they captured that town, sacked it, burned several houses and inflicted a loss upon it amounting to $150,000. From this time the war went on m a series of desultory but bloody encoun- ters, some of which assumed the propor- tions of battles. During this month an event occurred which aroused universal indignation throughout the Northern States. Senator Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts, made an eloquent speech in the Senate at Wash- ington on the Kansas question, some parts of which excited the anger of Preston S. Brooks, a southern member of Congress. On the twenty-second of May Brooks assaulted Mr. Sumner while he was sitting in the Senate chamber, and beat him on the head with a cane until he became insensible. Mr. Sumner was disabled for the public ser- vice for several years, but afterward was re-elected almost unanimously and resumed his seat. This cowardly assault was uni- versally condemned. In the summer of 1856 Governor Shan- non, of Kansas, was removed, and John W. Geary, of Pennsylvania, was appointed in his place. He exerted himself honestly to restore peace and execute the laws, and ordered " all bodies of men combined, armed and equipped with munitions 0/ •*'ar, with- CHARLES SUMNER. out authority of the government, insi-antly to disband and quit the Territory." lo obedience to this order the Free Soil ""-om' panics nearly all disbanded, but the Vro- slavery party paid scarcely any attention to it. They concentrated a force of two thou- sand men and advanced upon Lawrencf^ to attack it. Governor Geary at once pla-ted himself at the head of the United Stp-tea dragoons stationed in the Territory, and by a rapid march threw himself with th«se 648 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. troops between the town of Lawrence and the hostile force and prevented another con- flict. Matters had reached this stage when the Presidential campaign opened in 1856. The struggle in the Territories had greatly weak- ened the Democratic party, and had given rise to a new party which called itself Republican, and which was based upon an avowed hostility to the extension of slavery. A third party, called the American, or Know Nothing, also took part in the campaign, and was based upon the doctrine that the political offices of the country should be held only by persons of American birth. The Democratic party nominated James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, for the Presi- dency, and John C. Breckenridge, of Ken- tucky, for the Vice-Presidency. The Repub- lican nominee for the Presidency was John C. Fremont, of California; for the Vice- Presidency William L. Dayton, of New Jersey. The American party supported Millard Fillmore, of New York, for the Presidency, and Andrew J. Donelson, of Tennessee, for the Vice-Presidency. The Whig party had been broken to pieces by its defeat in 1852, and had now entirely dis- appeared. The canvass was unusually excited. Slavery was the principal question in dis- pute. Party ties had little influence upon men. The sentiment of the nation at large had been outraged by the repeal of the Mis- souri Compromise, and thousands of Demo- crats, desiring to rebuke their party for its course in bringing about this repeal, united with the Republican party, which declared as its leading principle that it was " both the right and the duty of Congress to prohibit in the Territories those twin relics of barbar- ism — polygamy and slavery." The elections resulted in the triumph of James Buchanan, the candidate of the Dem- ocratic party. Mr. Buchanan received 174 electoral votes to 1 14 cast for Fremont. Though a majority of the American people sustained the action of the Democratic party, the significant fact remained that 1,341,264 of the voters of the country had recorded their condemnation of it by casting theix votes for Fremont and Dayton. CHAPTER XL The Administration of James Buchanan. Tnauguration of Mr. Buchanan — The Mormon Rebellion — The Financial Crisis of 1S57 — Laying of the Atlantic Tele graphic Cable — Minnesota Admitted Into the Union — The San Juan Affair — Admission of Oregon Into the Union— The Kansas Question — The Lecompton Constitution — Its Defeat — The Wyandotte Constitution — Admission of Kan sas Into the Union — The John Brown Raid — Prompt Action of the Government — Brown and His Companions Sur rendered to the State of Virginia — Their Trial and Execution — Presidential Campaign of 1S60 — Rupture of the Dem^. cratic Party — Abraham Lincoln Elected President of the United States — Secession of South Carolina — Reasons fof this Act — Secession of the Other Cotton States — Major Anderson Occupies Fort Sumter — Trying Position of the Gen- eral Government — Course of Mr. Buchanan— The " Star of the West " Fired Upon by the South Carolina Batteries- Organization of the Confederate States of America — ^Jefferson Davis Elected President of the Southern Republic — The Peace Congress — Its Failure. JAMES BUCHANAN, the fifteenth President of the United States, was inaugurated at Washington on the fourth of March, 1857. He was in his sixty-sixth year, and was a statesman of great accomplishments and ripe experience. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1791, and was by profession a lawyer. He had served his State in Congress as a representative and a senator, had been minister to Russia under President Jackson, and had been a member of the cabinet of President Polk as secretary of state. During the four years previous to his election to the Presidency he had resided abroad as the minister of the United States to Great Britain, and in that capacity had greatly added to his reputation as a states- man. He avowed the object of his administra- tion to be " to destroy any sectional party, whether North or South, and to restore, if possible, that national fraternal feeling between the difierent States that had existed during the early days of the republic." The intense sectional feeling which the discussion of the slavery question had aroused had alarmed patriotic men in all parts of the Union, and it Vv^as earnestly hoped that Mr. i^uchanan's administration would be able to effect a peaceful settlement of the quarrel. Mr, Buchanan selected his cabinet from the leading men of the Democratic party, and placed at its head as secretary of state Lewis Cass, of Michigan. We have in a previous portion of this work noticed the rise and growth of the Mormon sect, and their settlement in the region of the Great Salt lake, then a part of the Mexican republic. They were not at all pleased with their transfer to the United States by the cession of the territory occupied by them by the treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo. Their object in emigrating to Utah had been to place themselves beyond the limits of the United States, where they could enjoy with- out molestation their religious practices, and maintain among themsch-es the institution of polygamy, to which they were attached as the foundation of their faith. They were not disturbed by the Mexican government, which was indeed scarcely aware of their existence, and thus unnoticed devoted their energies to building up the country they had occupied. Their missionaries were sent into the va- rious countries of Europe, and converts were made with extraordinary success and rapid- ity. They built up a thriving town on the 649 6$o FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. borders of the great lake, to which they gave the name of Salt Lake City, and founded other towns in various parts of the Territory. By the year 1850 the population of the Ter- ritory had increased to 11,380. Being on the highway to California, the greater part JAMES BUCHANAN. of the overland traffic and travel to the Pacific passed through Salt Lake City, and was a source of considerable profit to the Mormons. In 1850 the Territory of Utah was organ- iged, 4nd Brigham Young, who had suc- ceeded Joe Smith as the prophet or leader of the Mormons, was appointed by President Fillmore governor of the Territory'. His appointment was renewed by President Pierce, and the Mormons were left during these two administrations to manage their affairs very much in their own way. Rely- ing upon the immense distance which sepa- rated them from the States, they paid but little regard to the au- thority of the United States, and finally ven- tured openly to resist the officers of the gen- eral government, and expelled the federal judge from the Ter- ritory. President Buchanan thereupon removed Brigham Young from his office of governor, and appointed a Mr. Cumming his succes- sor. The Mormons having declared that the new governor should not enter the Territory, General Harney was ordered to accompany him with a large body oi troops and compel the submission of the peo- ple of Utah to the au- thority of the federal government. Under the leadership of Brigham Young the Mormons took up arms and prepared to dispute the entrance of the troops into the Territory. They declared that their settk- (.. ment ^nd civilization of Utah had given thew ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 651 the sole right to the Territory, and that they owed no allegiance to the United States. Their resistance was so formidable that the force under General Harney was largely increased, and the command was conferred upon Brigadier- - General Albert Sid- ney Johnston, who was considered the most efficient offi- ccr in the service. General Johnston ^ joined his troops ^ at Fort Bridger, ^ about one hundred ^^ miles from Salt ^ Lake City, in Sep- 1 tember, 1857. The Mormons in heavy force occupied the passes leading to the valley of the Great Salt lake. The season was so far advanced at the time of his arrival that General Johns- ton concluded to pass the winter at Fort Bridger. The Mormons were very active during the winter in cut- ting off the trains of the federal troops. It was General Johnston's inten- tion to move upon Salt Lake City im- mediately upon the opening of the spring, but before that season arrived the matter was settled through the efforts of a Mr. Kane, of Philadelphia. He was sent out to Salt Lake City by the government, and succeeded in inducing the Mormons to lay down their arms and submit. Governor Gumming and the fed- eral officers then entered Salt Lake City and assumed the offices to which they had been appointed, and a force of federal troops was THE MORMON TEMPLE, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH. encamped near the city to render them such assistance as should be found necessary. Preside:.^ Buchanan then issued a proclama- tion granting a free pardon "to all, for the seditions and treasons by them committed." 652 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. Subsequently it transpired that a horrible atrocity of the most cruel and bloody descrip- tion had been committed. On the eighteenth of September, 1857, one hundred and thirty- six emigrants, who were said to have offended the Mormons, were massacred in cold blood at Mountain Meadow, Utah. Many years later Bishop Lee, of the Mormon Church, was accused of having ordered this wholesale murder. Brigham Young was exonerated in 1875. Bishop Lee was convicted, sen- New York on the thirteenth of October, and by those of Boston on the fourteenth. The failures in the United States for the year ending December 6, 1857, are said to have reached the enormous aggregate of ^291,750,000. The Western States suffered in a marked degree from the effects of this " crisis ;" but the South was comparatively unharmed by it. Various causes were assigned for the panic, the principal of which were the large speculations in western lands and a heavy fall in the value MOUNTAIN MEADOW MASSACRE. tenced to death, and shot March 23, 1877, nearly twenty years after the dastardly crime was committed. In the fall of 1857 the general business of Ihe country was thrown into confusion by a sudden financial panic, which seriously embarrassed all commercial and industrial enterprises and caused general distress. On the twenty-sixth of September the banks of Philadelphia suspended specie payments ; and their example was followed by the banks of of railway stocks. The New York banks re- sumed specie payments on the twellth of December, 1857; the Boston banks on the fourteenth of December of that year; and those of Philadelphia in April, 1858. Specie payments were gradually resumed in other parts of the country, but the depression of business continued until during the course of the year 1859. In 1858 occurred an event second only in importance to the invention of the ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 653 efecfric telegraph. For some years it had been believed possible to connect the shores of Europe with those of America by means of a submarine telegraphic cable across the Atlantic. In 1857 an unsuc- cessful effort was made b}' a company of American and English capitalists to accom- plish this object. The attempt was renewed in 1858. Two war steamers were furnished for the work of laying the cable — the " Niagara " by the United States, and the " Agamemnon " by Great Britain. The two vessels met in mid ocean, and sailed each to its own country, paying out the cable as they pro- ceeded on their way. On the fifth of August, 1858, the " Niagara" entered Trinity bay, in Newfoundland, and made fast her end of the cable to the shore, and on the same day the " Agamemnon " reached Valentia bay, in Ireland, having successfully accomplished her part of the work. The First Ocean Cable. The great work was thus ended, and on the sixteenth of August a message was received through the wires from the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, addressed to the Presi- dent of the United States, who at once returned a suitable reply. Other messages were exchanged between the two continents, and the practicability of the scheme was fully demonstrated. On the first of September the laying of the cable was celebrated with impos- ing ceremonies in New York, and rejoicings were held in other cities. The hopes aroused by the successful accomplishment of the great enterprise were soon disappointed, for after a short time the wires ceased to work, and no effort could re-establish the communication be- tween the two ends of the line. The feasi- bility of the undertaking had been practi- cally demonstrated, however, and the deter- mined men who had carried it through to success were convinced that a new effort v/ould be attended with more satisfactory results. On the eleventh of May, 1858, the Territory of Minnesota was admitted into the Union as a State. In the autumn of 1859 a dispute arose between the United States and Great Ikitain as to the ownership of the large island orf" San Juan, lying in the strait which separates Vancouver's island from the territory of the United States. General Harney, commanding the American troops in the northwest, took possession of the island. Governor Douglas, of British Columbia, protested against this occupation, and for a while there was danger that the two parties would come to blows. The general government despatched General Scott to the scene of the controversy, and he succeeded in bringing about an adjustment of the quarrel. On the fourteenth of February, 1859, Oregon was admitted into the Union as a State, the Territory of Washington being separated from it. A New Governor for Kansas. During the whole of Mr. Buchanan's ad- ministration the question of slavery in the Territories continued to engross the atten- tion of the people. The struggle in Kansas went on with increased bitterness. In the summer of 1857 an election was ordered by the legislature of Kansas for delegates to a convention for the purpose of framing a con- stitution, and care was taken to arrange the matter so that a majority of Pro-slavery dele- gates should be chosen. For this reason, and others of equal force, the Free Soil men refused to take any part in the election, which ' consequently resulted in the choice of a Pro- slavery convention. The Free Soil party thereupon issued an address to the people of the United States, relating the wrongs they had suffered and were still enduring. 654 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. Governor Geary now resigned his position and President Buchanan appointed, as gov- ernor of Kansas, Robert J. Walker, a man of great eminence and ability, who was in sen- timent opposed to slavery. Mr. Walker sin- cerely desired to effect a settlement of the quarrel, and succeeded in inducing the Free Soil party to vote at the coming election for members of the territorial legislature and a delegate to Congress. They did so, and a fair election was held, which resulted in the choice of the Free Soil candidates by over- whelming majorities. Intense Feeling in Congress. In the autumn of 1857 the convention elected, as we have seen, assembled at Le- compton, and framed a State constitution. This instrument contained a clause adopting slavery, and the convention submitted this clause only to the people of the Territory for ratification or rejection at the polls. The remainder of the constitution was withheld from the popular vote. The convention also ordered that all whose votes were challenged at the polls should be required " to take an oath to support the constitution if adopted," before being allowed to deposit their ballot. The Free State men refused to take part in the vote on the ratification of this constitu- tion, and consequently all the votes cast were in favor of it. It was declared adopted, and was sent to Congress for the approval of that body. The discussion of the Lecompton consti- tution in Congress was marked by great bit- terness. It was supported by the Democratic party and the administration, and was opposed with determination by the Republicans. The latter took the strong ground that the Le- compton constitution was not the work of the people of Kansas, but of a mere faction, and was distasteful to the majority of the citizens of that Territory, who were opposed to slavery. Finally, on the thirtieth of April, 1858,3 bill was passed to submit the Lecompton constitution to the people of Kansas. This bill declared that if they ratified the consti- tution, they should be given certain public lands for State purposes ; but that if they failed to ratify it, Kansas should not be per- mitted to enter the Union until it had a population of ninety-three thousand. With these strange conditions, the constitution was submitted to the people of Kansas on the second of August, 1858, and was rejected by them by a vote of eleven thousand three hundred against it, to seventeen hundred and eighty-eight votes in its favor. In January, 1859, the civil strife having subsided in the Territory, and the Free Soil men having a majority in the legislature, a convention was summoned at Wyandotte. It met in July, and adopted a free State con- stitution, which was submitted to the people and ratified by a large majority. The " Wyandotte Constitution" was then laid before Congress, and a bill admitting Kansas into the Union as a State was passed by the lower House early in i860. Kansas Admitted Into the Union. The Senate, however, failed to act upon the bill. At the next session the measure was revived, and on the thirtieth of January, 1 86 1, the opposition of the South havijig ceased by reason of the withdrawal of a large number of the southern representatives and senators from Congress, Kansas was admitted into the Union as a free State. Two notable events of this year should not escape special mention. They are, however, of a very different character. One was the death of the great American writer and author, Washington Irving, who may be considered as the father of American liter ature. He was bred a lawyer, but his tastes and aptitudes led him into other fields for the ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 655 acquisition of both fame and wealth. He commenced writing for the press at the early age of nineteen. His first sketches were under the twin de plume of Jonathan Oldstyle; then came his "Knickerbocker's History of New York;" but it was the ^ Sketch Book " which " laid the foundation yf the fortune, and the permanent fame of Irving ; the legends of Sleepy Hollow ' and ' Rip Van Winkle ' at once took rank as modern classics, while the pictures of Eng- lish life and customs were so genial, artistic, and withal so faithful, that they fairly took the reading world by storm." This work was brought out in England in good style by the publisher, Murray, in 1820, upon the recommendation of Sir Walter Scott. A writer in " Johnson's Cyclopaedia " says, that after this publication, " a new phe- nomenon had appeared in the world of let- ters — the first American author had gained an honorable name in Albemarle street and Paternoster Row. Henceforth the path of Irving was smooth, and his subsequent writ- ings appeared with rapidity." This great author was born in New York City, on the third of April, 1783, and died at his resi- dence, Sunnyside, Tarrytown, on the Hud- son, on the twenty-eighth of November, 1859, in the seventy-seventh year of his age. The house in which he lived is a quaint old edifice. It has become one of the shrines of American pilgrimage. The other notable event of this year which made a deep impression on the popular mind, North and South, and which was attended with political results of the great- est importance, v/as the raid of John Brown upon Harper's Ferry. •• On the night of the sixteenth of October, 1859, John Brown, who had acquired a con- siderable notoriety as the leader of a Free Soil company during the war in Kansas, entered the State of Virginia, at Harper's Ferry, with a party of twenty-one compan- ions, and seized the United States arsenal at that place. He then sent out parties to arrest the leading citizens of the vicinity, as hostages, and to induce the negro slaves to join him, his avowed object being to put an end to slavery in Virginia by exciting an insurrection of the slaves. Several citizens were kidnapped by these parties, but the slaves refused to join Brown, or to take any part in the insurrection. At daylight on the WASHINGTON IRVING. seventeenth of October the alarm was given, and during the morning the militia of the surrounding country was ordered under arms to put down the outbreak. Brown's force was unknown, and was greatly exag- gerated. The news of the seizure of the arsenal was telegraphed to Washington, and the govern- ment decided to recover it at once and con- fine the trouble to the spot on which it had originated. General Scott was absent from the capital at the time, and the President ahd 656 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. secretary of war summoned Colonel Robert E. Lee, a distinguished officer of the army, to consult with them as to the best course to pursue. The interview resulted in the despatching of a battalion of marines to Harper's Ferry, under the command of Colonel Lee. Orders were telegraphed to that point to suspend all operations there until Colonel Lee's arrival. He reached Harper's Ferry on the night of the seven- teenth. In the meantime, upon the appearance of the militia, Brown and his companions re- treated to the fire-engine house in the arsenal yard. This was a strong stone building, and they barricaded the doors, and during the day maintained a desultory fire upon the town. They had taken Colonel Washington, Mr. Dangerfield, and the other citizens kid- napped by them, into the engine-house with them, where they held them, in the' hope that the presence of these gentlemen would pre- vent the troops from firing upon them. Capture of the Insurrectionists. As soon as Colonel Lee arrived at Har- per's Ferry, he proceeded to surround the engine-house with the marines to prevent the escape of Brown and his men, and deferred his attack upon them until the next morning, lest in a night assault some of the captive citizens might be injured. At daylight on the eighteenth, wishing, if possible, to accom- plish the object in view without bloodshed, Colonel Lee sent his aid, Lieutenant J. E. B. Stuart, to demand the surrender of the insur- gents, promising to protect them from vio- lence at the hands of the citizens, and to hold them subject to the orders of the President. Brown refused the terms offered, and demanded to be permitted to march out with his men and prisoners, with the arms of the former, to be allowed to proceed, without being followed, to a point at a certain distance from Harper's Ferry, where he would free his prisoners. He was then willing that the troops should pursue him, and to fight if he could not escape. This proposition was inadmissible, but as a last resort. Colonel Lee directed Lieutenant Stuart to remonstrate with the insurgents upon the folly of their course. This duty Stuart performed, re- maining before the engine-house until his personal danger compelled him to withdraw. Finding that nothing but force would avail, Colonel Lee gave the order for the assault, and the marines made a dash at the engine- house, broke in the doors, and captured its inmates. Several of the insurgents were killed and wounded, Brown himself being desperately hurt. The marines lost one man killed and one wounded. Fortunately none of the citizens captured by Brown were injured. Execution of John Brown. Colonel Lee took care to protect his prisoners, and there is little doubt that but for his precautions in their behalf they would have been shot down by the excited civil- ians. He telegraphed to Washington for in- structions, and was directed to deliver the prisoners to Mr. Ould, the attorney for the District of Columbia, who was ordered by the government to take charge of them and bring them to trial. As soon as Mr. Ould arrived Colonel Lee turned over the prisoners to him, and being satisfied that the danger was over, went back to Washington. As Brown and his companions had com-> mitted their chief crime against the United States, by seizing the federal arsenal and re- sisting the troops sent to reduce them to submission, it seemed proper that they should be tried for their offences by the general gov- ernment. The attempt to incite an insurrec- tion of the slaves, however, was a crime against the laws of the State of Virginia, and ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 657 the governor of that State demanded of the federal authorities the surrender of Brown and his fellow prisoners for trial by the State courts. The demand was complied with, and the prisoners were arraigned in the court of the county of Jefferson, the county in which their offence was committed. They were given a fair trial, and were defended by able counsel from the free States, who came to Charlestown for that purpose. Brown frankly confessed that his object was to produce an insurrection among the slaves, and then carry them off to the free States. The prisoners were found guilty of treason, murder, and an attempt to incite insurrection, and were sen- tenced to be hanged. Brown was executed at Charlestown on the second of December, 1 859, and six of his companions met the same fate a few weeks later. Proofs of a Conspiracy. During his trial Brown steadily denied that he had been aided or encouraged by any persons in the North. His denial was gen- erally doubted at the time, and it is now known that he was assisted with money and advice by some of the most respectable leaders of the extreme Anti-slavery party, and that several persons high in position knew of the designs of Brown, but failed to warn either the general government or the State of Virginia of the intended attack.* The execution of Brown and his compan- ions drew upon the South a storm of furious denunciation from the Anti-slavery men. Brown was regarded as a martyr to the cause of freedom, and the day of his execution was observed in many of the towns of the Northern States by the tolling of bells. prayer in the churches, the firing of minute- guns, and other public demonstrations of sor- row and respect. The conservative class in the North, however, and in this number were included some of the firmest opponents ot slavery, sincerely deplored Brown's course, and acknowledged his punishment as merited. " The Irrepressible Conflict." Brown was a man of many good qualities, but the undertaking in which he met his fate was criminal in the extreme. Not even the intention of rescuing the slaves of Virginia from their bondage can excuse him for seek- ing to excite a servile war, in which murder and violence would have been inevitable, and in which the aged and the helpless, the defenceless women and children, would have been the chief sufferers. The effect of Brown's attempt upon the southern people was most unfortunate. They regarded it as unanswerable evidence of the intention of the people of the North to make war upon them under the cover of the Union. Regarding this view of the case as true, they came to listen with more favor to the arguments of the extreme class which openly favored a dissolution of the Union, and which asserted that the only safety of the South lay in pursuing such a course. The John Brown raid was the most power- ful argument that had ever been placed in the hands of the disunionists, and in the alarm and excitement produced by that event the southern people lost sight of the fact that the great mass of the northern people sincerely deplored and condemned the action of Brown and his supporters. The voice of reason was drowned in the storm of passionate excitement which swept * Mr. F. B. Sanborn, one of Brown's confederates, in a series of papers published in The Atlantic Monthly (vol. XXXV.) gives the details of this conspiracy, together with many interesting incidents connected with it, which sus* tain the view of the case presented above, 42 658 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. over the land, and the extremists on both sides were able to prosecute their unpatriotic work to great advantage. While the excitement was at its height the Presidential campaign opened in the Spring .of 1 860. The slavery question was the chief 'issue in this struggle. The convention of the Democratic party met at Charleston, in April, but being unable to effect an organi- EDWARD EVERETT. zation adjourned to Baltimore, and reassem- bled in that cily in June. The extreme south- ern delegates were resolved that the conven- \tion should be committed to the protection of slavery in the Territories by Congress, and failing to control it withdrew from it in a body, and organized a separate convention, which they declared represented the Demo- cratic party, but which, in reality, as the vote subsequently proved, represented but a minority of that party. The new conven- tion was joined by a number of delegates from the Northern and Western States. The convention, after the withdrawal of these delegates, nominated for the Presi- dency Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, and for the Vice-Presidency Herschell V. John- son, of Georgia. It then proceeded to adopt the platform put forward by the entire party four years before at Cincinnati, upon the nomination of Mr. Buchanan, with this additional declaration *' That as differences of opinion exist in the Democratic party as to the nature and extent of the powers Df a territorial legislature, and as to the powers and duties of Congress under the constitution of the United States over the institution of slavery within the Territories . . . the party will abide by the decisions ol the Supreme Court of the United ;^0| States on the questions of constitu- •il tional law." i The " Seceders' Convention," as it was commonly called, also adopted the Cincinnati platform, and pledged themselves to non-interference by Congress with slavery in the Terri- tories or the District of Columbia. This party held to the doctrine that the constitution recognized slavery as existing in the Territories, and sanctioned and protected it there, and that neither Congress nor the peo- ple of the Territories could frame any law against slavery until the admission of such Territories into the Union as States. The regular convention held that Congress had no right to interfere with slavery in the Ter- ritories, to legislate either for or against it; that the regulation of that question belonged entirely to the people of the respective Ter- ritories acting through their Legislatures, ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 659 This doctrine was popularly known as "Squat- ter Sovereignty," and was credited to Mr. Douglas. The " Seceders' Convention " put forward as its candidate for the Presidency John C. Breckenridge, of Kentucky, and for the Vice-Presidency Joseph Lane, of Oregon. Republican Nominations. The Republican party took issue with both wings of the Democratic party. Its conven- tion was held at Chicago, Illinois, and its can- didates were, for President Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, and for Vice-President Hannibal Hamlin, of Maine. The platform of principles adopted by the Chicago Convention declared that " the maintenance of the principles pro- mulgated in the Declaration of Independence and embodied in the Federal Constitution is essential to the preservation of our republican institutions. , . . That all men are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Crea- tor with certain inalienable rights. . . . That the Federal Constitution, the rights of the States and the union of the States must and shall be preserved." The platform also declared that the rights of the States should be maintained inviolate, " especially the right of each State to order and control its own domestic institutions according to its own judgment exclusively." It asserted "that the normal condition of all the territory of the United States is that of freedom," and denied the right or " authority of Congress, of a Territorial Legislature, or of individuals, to give legal existence to slavery in any Territory of the United States." A fourth party, known as the "Constitu- tional Union Party," proclaimed as its plat- form the following vague sentence : "The con- stitution of the country, the union of the States and the enforcement of the laws." The convention of this party met at Baltimore, and nominated for the Presidency John Bell, of Tennessee, and for the Vice-Presidency Edward Everett, of Massachusetts. The contest between these parties was bit- ter beyond all precedent. When the elec- tion took place in November, the result was as follows : Popular vote for Lincoln. 1,866,452 Douglas, 1.375,157 " " Breckenridge, ^47,95 3 Bell, 590,631 The electoral vote stood as follows '. Fcr Lincoln, 180; for Breckenridge, 72; in-- Bell, 39; tor Douglas, 12. Election of Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln was thus elected by a pluralit) of the popular vote, which secured for him the electoral votes of eighteen States. These States were entirely north of the sectional line, and he received not a single electoral vote from a Southern State. The States, which cast their electoral votes for Brecken- ridge, Bell and Douglas, were entirely slave- holding. The division thus made was alarm- ing. It was the first time in the history of the Republic that a President had been elected by the votes of a single section of the Union. The state in which the Presidential election left the country, was alarming. The excite- ment was higher than it had been before the struggle at the polls. The Gulf States had declared at an early period of the political campaign that they would withdraw from the Union in the event of the election of a Re- publican President. The people of the South generally regarded the result of the election as an evidence of the determination of the Northern States to use the power of the fed- eral government to destroy the institution of slavery. The disunion leaders exerted them- selves to deepen this conviction, and to arouse the fears of the South. 66o FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. On the other hand, the Republican leaders took little pains to allay the excitement by- declaring their intentions to execute faith- fully the constitution and laws of the Union. Their declarations of fidelity to the Union were abundant, and were generally accom- panied by equally plain assertions of their country's history as he had never been needed before ; but, alas 1 statesmanship of any kind was painfully wanting. As soon as the election of Mr. Lincoln was definitely ascertained, the legislature of South Carolina summoned a sovereign con« vention of the people of that State, which liKlDJE CROSSING THE SUSQUEHANNA RIVER AT HARRISBURG. determination to oppose by force the with- drawal of the Southern States — declarations which were ill-suited to calm the fears of the South, or to encourage the party in that sec- tion, which desired a perpetuation of the Union. A statesman of the Henry Clay school was needed at this crisis of our met on the seventeenth of December, i860 This convention adopted an ordinance of secession on the twentieth of December, and declared the State no longer a mem- ber of the Union. The reasons assigned for this action were thus stated by the conven- tion : ADMINISTRATION OF " An increasing hostility on the part of the non-slaveholding States to the institution of slavery has led to a disregard of their obli- gations, and the laws of the general govern- ment have ceased to effect the objects of the constitution. The States of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Con- necticut, Rhode Island, New York, Penn- sylvania, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wis- consin, and Iowa, have enacted laws which either nullify the acts of Congress or render useless any attempt to execute them. Strong Affirmations. " In many of these States the fugitive is discharged from the service or labor claimed, and in none of them has the State govern- ment complied with the stipulations made in the constitution, . . . Thus the consti- tutional compact has been deliberately broken and disregarded by these non-slaveholding States, and the consequence follows that South Carolina is released from her obli- gation. " We affirm that these ends for which this government was instituted have been defeated, and the government itself has been made destructive of them by the action of non- slaveholding States, Those States have assumed the right of deciding upon the pro- priety of our domestic institutions ; and have denied the rights of property established in fifteen of the States and recognized by the constitution ; they have denounced as sinful the institution of slavery ; they have per- mitted the open establishment among them of societies whose avowed object is to disturb the peace and to eloigne the property of citizens of other States. They have encour- aged and assisted thousands of our slaves to leave their homes ; and those who remain have been incited by emissaries, books, and pictures to servile insurrection. JAMES BUCHANAN. 661 " For twenty-five years this agitation has been steadily increasing, until it has now secured to its aid the power of the common government. Observing the forms of the constitution, a sectional party has found within that article establishing the executive department the means of subverting the con- stitution itself. A geographical line has been drawn across the Union, and all the States north of that line have united in the election of a man to the high office of Presi- dent of the United States whose opinions and purposes are hostile to slavery. Charges Against Certain States. " He is to be intrusted with the admin- istration of the common government because he has declared that that ' government cannot endure permanently half slave, half free,* and that the public mind must rest in the belief that slavery is in tne course of ultimate extinction, " This sectional combination for the sub- version of the constitution has been aided in some of the States by elevating to citizen- ship persons who, by the supreme law of the land, are incapable of becoming citizens; and their votes have been used to inaugurate a new policy, hostile to the South, and destruc- tive of its peace and safety. " On the fourth of March next this party will take possession of the government. It has announced that the South shall be excluded from the common territory; that the judicial tribunals shall be made sectional, and that a war must be waged against slavery until it shall cease throughout the United States. " The guarantees of the constitution will then no longer exist ; the equal rights of the States will be lost. The slaveholding States will no longer have the power of self-govern- ment or self-protection, and the federal government will become their enemy." 662 FROM THE REVOLUTION TO THE CIVIL WAR. These reasons were substantially the same as those avowed by the other Southern States in support of their action, and therefore we have quoted them at length. The example of South Carolina was fol- lowed by the other States of the far South, which summoned conventions and adopted ordinances of secession. Mississippi with- drew from the Union on the ninth of January, 1861 ; Florida on the tenth of January; Alabama on the eleventh of January ; Geor- gia on the nineteenth of January ; Louisiana on the twenty-sixth of January, and Texas on the first of February. The forts, arsenals and other public property of the United States within the limits of these States were seized by the authorities of the States in which they were situated, and were held by their troops, with the exception of Forts Moultrie and Sumter, in Charleston harbor, and Fort Pick- ens, at Pensacola. Critical State of Affairs. Fort Moultrie was occupied by Major Robert Anderson, of the United States army, with a garrison of eighty men. Becoming alarmed at the rapid concentration of troops ;n Charleston, Major Anderson evacuated the fort on the night of December 25, i860, and threw himself with his command into Fort Sumter, which was built in the bay at some distance from either shore. The State troops at once occupied Fort Moultrie, and began to erect batteries of heavy guns at different points along the harbor for the reduction of Fort Sumter. Fort Pickens was held by a garrison under Lieutenant Slemmer. The State of Florida occupied the nav^f yard at Pensacola and the other forts in that harbor with her troops. The property of the general government seized by the seceded States amounted to over twenty millions of dollars in value. The position of the general government was one of great difficulty. The President was called upon either to recognize the law- fulness of the acts of the seceded States, and thus to join in the work of dissolving the Union, or to maintain the authority of the federal government, and compel the submis- sion of the Southern States to the constitu- tion and laws of the land. The govern- ment was almost powerless to enforce its authority. The army, but sixteen thou- sand strong, was stationed upon the re- mote frontier, and the available vessels of the navy were nearly all absent on foreign service. Many of the most prominent federal officials, including several of the cabinet ministers, were in open sympathy with the seceded States. The President's position was unquestionably embarrassing, but he made no use of the means at his command. General Scott, the veteran commander of the army, believed that prompt action on the part of the . general government would confine the evil to the six cotton States, and urged the Presi- dent to act with vigor. Mr. Buchanan was sorely perplexed, and seemed chiefly anxious to postpone all defi- nite action until the inauguration of his suc- cessor. He was in favor of conceding every- thing but separate independence to the South, failing to perceive that the leaders of the secession movement would accept nothing but separation ; and by his timidity lost the advantages which the government would have gained by a bold, firm course. Attempt to Aid Major Anderson. As Major Anderson was short of supplies and needed reinforcements, the steamship " Star of the West " was despatched by the government to Charleston with provisions and a detachment of two hundred and fifty men to his assistance. She reached Charles- ton on the ninth of January, 1861, and ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 603 attempted to enter the harbor, but was fired upon by the South Carolina batteries, and turned back. The President was urged by the friends of the South to order Major Anderson to evac- uate Fort Sumter and return to Fort Moul- trie, but refused to do so. South Carolina then offered to purchase Fort Sumter from the general government, for its full value, but the President refused to make the sale. Immediately upon their withdrawal from the Union the six seceded States began to concert measures for their common protec- tion. Delegates were elected to a convention which met at Montgomery, Alabama, on the fourth of February, 186 1, to devise a plan for this purpose. The convention at once pro- ceeded to organize a new republic, for which they adopted the name of Tlie Confederate States of America. On the eighth of Febru- ary, a provisional constitution having been adopted, the convention elected Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, President, and Alexan- der H. Stephens, of Georgia, Vice-president of the Confederate States. The action of the convention was sustained by all the States comprising the new confederacy, and the provisional government at once entered upon its duties. Mr. Davis was inaugurated Presi- dent of the Confederate States at Montgom- ery, Alabama, February 18, 1861. Sketch of Jefferson Davis. Jefferson Davis was a native of Kentucky, and was born on the third of June, 1808. His father had removed to Mississippi during his early childhood, and he had grown up to manhood in that State. He was educated at the West Point Military Academy, from which he was graduated in 1828, and passed the next seven years of his life in the army. He served with distinction during the Black Hawk war and against the Indian tribes on the frontier. Entering into politics after his withdrawal from the army, he was soon sent to represent his State in Congress, in which body he served until the commencement of the Mexican war. During that struggle he commanded the Mississippi Rifles, and dis- tinguished himself greatly in the battles of General Taylor's army, and especially at Buena Vista. Upon his return home he was chosen to represent Mississippi in the Senate of the United States. Upon the inauguration of JEFFERSON DAVIS. President Pierce, he accepted a seat in the cabinet as secretary of war. Returning to the Senate after the close of Mr. Pierce's administration, he remained in that body until the secession of Mississippi, when he resigned his seat and returned home. He was now in his fifty-third year, and was regarded as one of the most brilliant public men in America. His election was generally looked upon in the South as a concession to the more conservative portion of the south- ern people, for he had not been considered INAUGURATION OF JEFFERSON DAVIS. ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES BUCHANAN. 665 as one ot the original or most ultra secession leaders. The conservative elements of both sections made great efforts to bring about a recon- ciliation. The State of Virginia called upon all the States to send delegates to an informal peace congress to meet in Washington. This body assembled in February. Twenty States were represented in it — thirteen northern and seven southern — and the venerable ex- President Tyler was chosen to preside over its deliberations. Various plans of settle- ment were proposed, and a committee, con- sisting of one member from each State, was appointed to prepare a plan upon which the congress could unite. In due time it made its report to the congress, and after a careful and elaborate discussion the resolutions were adopted, and were ordered to be laid before the rival governments. The congress then adjourned. The plan proposed by this body pleased neither side. The Southern States were not satisfied with the guarantees it offered for the protection of their rights in the matter of slavery ; and the Northern States were unwilling to sanction a more rigid enforcement of the constitu- tional provision for the rendition of fugitive slaves. The effort to close the breach be- tween the States only served to widen it. Matters were in this unhappy and excited condition when the administration of Mr. Buchanan came to a close. After the inau- guration of his successor, he retired to his home at Wheatland, near Lancaster, Penn- sylvania, where he died in June, 1868. BOOK VI The Civil War CHAPTER XLI The Administration of Abraham Lincoln laauguration of President Lincoln — His History — The Confederate Commissioners at Washington — Attack iipon Fort Sumter by the Confederates — The President Calls for Troops — Response of the North and West — Secession of the Border States — Opening Events of the War in Virginia — Withdrawal of West Virginia — Admitted into the Union as a Separate State — Meeting of Congress — The West Virginia Campaign — Battle of Bull Run — The War in Missouri — Kentucky Occupied — The Blockade — Capture of Port Royal — The "Trent" Affan- — Insurrection in East Tennessee — State of Affairs at the Opening of the Year 1862 — Edwin M. Stanton made Secretary of War — Capture of Forts Henry and Donelson — The Confederates Fall Back from Kentucky — Battle of Shiloh — Capture of Island No. 10 — Evacuation of Corinth — Capture of Memphis — Bragg's Kentucky Campaign — His Retreat into Tennessee — Battles of luka and Corinth — Battle of Murfreesboro', or Stone River — Grant's Campaign against Vicksburg — Its Failure — The War Beyond the Mississippi — Battle of Pea Ridge — Capture of Roanoke Island — Capture of New Orleans— Surrender of Fort Pulaski — The War in Virginia — Johnston's Retreat from Centreville — Battle between the " Monitor" and "Virginia" — The Move to the Peninsula — Johnston Retreats to the Chickahominy — Battle of Seven Pines — Jackson's Successes in the Valley of Virginia — The Seven Days' Battles Before Richmond — Battle of Cedar Mountain — Defeat of General Pope's Army — Lee Invades Maryland —Capture of Harper's Ferry — Battles of South Mountain and Antietam— Retreat of Lee into Virginia — McClellan Removed — Battle of Fredericksburg. ABRAHAM LINCOLN, the six- teenth President of the United States, was inaugurated at Wash- ington on the fourth of March, 1861. As it was feared that an attempt would be made to prevent the inauguration, the city- was held by a strong body of regular troops under General Scott, and the President-elect was escorted from his hotel to the Capitol by a military force. No effort was made to inter- fere with the ceremonies, and the inaugura- tion passed off quietly. The new President was in his fifty-third year, and was a native of Kentucky. When he was but eight years old his father removed to Indiana, and the boyhood of the future President was spent in hard labor upon the farm. Until he reached manhood he con- tinued to lead this life, and during this entire period attended school for only a year. At the age of twenty-one he removed to Illinois, 666 \BRAHAM LlNCOi-N, ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. ^r where he began life as a storekeeper. Being anxious to rise above his humble position, he determined to study law. He was too poor to buy the-necessary books, and so borrowed them from a neighboring lawyer, read them at night and returned them in the morning. His genial character, great good nature and love of humor won him the friendship of the people among whom he resided, and they elected him to the lower house of the Legis- lature of Illinois, He now abandoned his mercantile pursuits, and began the practice of the law, and was subsequently elected a representative to Con- gress from the Springfield District. He took an active part in the politics of his State, and in 1858 was the candidate of the Republican Party for United States Senator. In this capacity he engaged in a series of de- bates in various parts of the State with Sena- tor Douglas, the Democratic candidate for re-election to the same position. This de- bate was remarkable for its brilliancy and in- tellectual vigor, and brought him promi- nently before the whole country, and opened the way to his nomination for the Presi- dency. The Inaugural Address. In person he was tall and ungainly, and in manner he was rough and awkward, little versed in the refinements of society. He was a man, however, of great natural vigor of intellect, and was possessed of a fund of strong common sense, which enabled him to see at a glance through the shams by which he was surrounded, and to pursue his own aims with singleness of heart and directness of purpose. He had sprung from the ranks of the people, and he was never false to them. He was a simple, unaffected, kind-hearted man ; anxious to do his duty to the whole country ; domestic in his tastes and habits ; and incorruptible in every relation of life. He was fond of humor, and overflowed with it ; finding in his '* little stories " the only relaxation he ever sought from the heavy cares of the trying position upon which he was now entering. He selected his cabinet from the leading men of the Republican party, and placed William H. Seward, of New York, at its head as Secretary of State. Mr. Lincoln was sincerely anxious to avoid everything which might precipitate the civil strife ; but at the same time was deter- VVILLIAM H. SEWARD. mined to maintain the authority of the gen- eral government over the seceded States. In his inaugural address he declared his pur- pose to collect the public revenues at the ports of the seceded States, and to " hold, occupy and possess " the forts, arsenals and other public property seized by those States. At the time of his entrance upon the duties of his of^ce Fort Sumter and Fort Pickens were still held by the Federal forces. 668 THE CIVIL WAR. The Confederate government was con- vinced that war was inevitable ; and since its inauguration, had been preparing for the coming struggle. Nearly all the officers of the army and navy of the United States, who were natives of the seceded States, resigned their commissions in the old service, and were given similar positions in the army of the ARRIVAL OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN AT THE CAPITOL. Confederate States. The forces collected at Charleston and Pensacola were reinforced by troops from other States, and the command at the former place was conferred upon Gen- eral Pierre G. T. Beauregard, and at the latter upon General Braxton Bragg, both of whom had been distinguished officers of the old army. Just before the close of Mr. Buchanan's term of office, the Confederate government despatched John Forsyth, of Alabama, Mar- tin J. Crawford, of Georgia, and A, B. Roman, of Louisiana, to Washington as commission- ers to endeavor to effect a peaceable adjust- ment of the matters at issue between the two governments, and to treat for an equitable division of the public property of the United States. Mr. Buchanan refused to receive the commis- sioners in their official capacity, and after the inauguration of the new administration they ad- dressed a note to Mr. Seward, the new Secretary of State, set- ting forth the objects of their mission, and soliciting an official interview with the President. Mr. Seward declined to receive them in their official capacity, but answered them verbally through Mr. Justice John A. Campbell, of the Supreme Court of the United States, that he was in favor of a peaceful settlement of the diffi- culty, and that the troops would be withdrawn from Fort Sumter in less than ten days. Mr. Sew- ard's object appears to have been to deceive the commissioners, and lull their suspicions, in order to gain time for the preparations which had been determined upon for the relief of Fort Sumter. In the meantime, the govern- ment having resolved to rein- force and provision Fort Sumter at all hazards, every nerve was strained to carry out this design before it should become known to the Confederates. An expedition consisting of seven ships, carrying two hun- dred and eighty-five guns and twenty-four hundred men, was prepared at New York ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 669 and Norfolk. The southern commissioners, whose suspicions had been allayed by Mr. Seward's message, were alarmed by the ru- mors of these preparations, which they sus- pected were for the relief of Fort Sumter, They waited upon Judge Campbell to ask an explanation, and that gentleman, on the sev- enth of April, addressed a note to Mr. Sew- ard asking if the assurances he had given were well or ill founded. Mr. Seward replied as follows : " Faith as to Sumter fully kept ; wait and see." In the meantime the expedition had sailed from New York and Norfolk, and ^ was on its way to ^^ Charleston harbor. ^ On the eighth of April, 1861, Gov- ^ ernor Pickens, of South Carolina, was notified by the general govern- ment of its inten- tion to relieve Fort Sumter at all haz- ards, and of the sailing of the fleet for that purpose. Governor Pickens at once informed General Beauregard of this notification, and the news was telegraphed by him to the Confederate government at Montgomery. The Confederate Secretary of War there- upon ordered General Beauregard to demand the immediate surrender of Fort Sumter ; "and if this should be refused to proceed to reduce it." On the eleventh of April General Beauregard demanded of Major Anderson the surrender of the fort. The demand was refused in writing ; but Major Anderson added verbally to the mes- senger, " I will await the first shot, and if you do not batter us to pieces, we will be starved out in a few days," Beauregard telegraphed this remark with Anderson's reply to his government, and was answered, " Do not desire needlessly to bom- bard Fort Sumter. If Major Anderson will state the time at which, as indicated by him- self, he will evacuate, and agree that, in the meantime, he will not use his guns against us unless ours should be employed against Fort Sumter, you are authorized thus to avoid the effusion of blood. If this or its equivalent be refused, reduce the fort, as FORT PICKENS. your judgment decides most practicable." The Federal fleet was on its way to Charles- ton, and if the attack of the Confederates was to be made at all, no time was to be lost. General Beauregard, therefore, gave Major Anderson warning that he should open fire upon Fort Sumter at half-past four o'clock the next morning. At the designated hour on the morning of April 1 2th, the Confederate batteries opened fire upon Fort Sumter, which replied to them with spirit. The bombardment lasted over thirty-two hours, and the fort was greatly 6/0 THE CIVIL WAR. damaged, and many of the guns were dis- mounted. The fleet arrived off the harbor during the bombardment, but remained in the offing, and took no part in the engage- ment. Not a single life was lost in this memorable battle. Late in the afternoon Major Anderson agreed the firing ceased. The of the thirteenth; to capitulate, and MAJOR ANDERSON. Victors granted liberal terms to Anderson and his men, whose heroism had aroused their warmest admiration ; and on the morn- ing of Sunday, April 14th, the fort was sur- rendered to the Confederate forces, and Major Anderson and the garrison embarked in one of the vessels of the fleet, which at once sailed for New York. The attack upon Fort Sumter put an end to the last hope of peace, and aroused the most intense excitement in both sections of the country. On the fifteenth of April, Presi- dent Lincoln issued a proclamation calling upon the States to furnish seventy-five thousand troops for the suppression of the rebellion, and convening Congress in extra session on the Fourth of July. The Northern and Western States re- sponded with enthu- siasm to the President's call for troops, and at once began to forward their quotas to the points designated by the war department. ^_ The enthusiasm in the South was fully equal to that of the North. The Confederate government issued a call for volun- teers to repel the threat- ened invasion of the fed- eral forces, and it was responded to with ala- crity. Until now the States of Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennes- see, Kentucky, Arkansas and Missouri, generally known as the Border States, had remained in the Union, hoping to be able to effect a peaceable settlement of the quarrel. Their sympathies were with the Southern States, and it was gen- erally believed that in the event of war they would cast their lots with those States. Each of these States was included in the call of President Lincoln for troops. The governor.^ of most of them replied by refusing to furnish the quotas required of them, and by denouncing the President's demand as illegal. ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 671 Conventions of the people were held, and all but Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri withdrew from the Union. The secession of Virginia took place on the seventeenth of April ; that of Arkansas on the sixth of May ; that of North Carolina on the twentieth of May ; and that of Tennessee on the eighth ,of June. These States subsequently ratified the constitution of the Confederate States, and became members of the new republic. Kentucky and Missouri remained neutral. The passage of the act of secession by the Virginia convention was kept secret for a day or two in order to give the authorities of that State an oppor- tunity to seize the United States arsenal at Harper's Ferry, and the navy yard at Ports- mouth. The officer in command of the arsenal, upon hearing of the approach of a force of Virginia troops, destroyed a number of the mus- kets stored there, set fire to the buildings, and retreated into Pennsylvania. The Virginians extinguished the flames and secured a large quantity of arms and equipments and the valuable ma- chinery for the manufacture of arms. The commandant of the navy yard at Portsmouth, upon the approach of the Virginians, made ao attempt to defend his post, but spiked the cannon, burned or sunk the war vessels lying in the harbor, set fire to the buildings, and retreated with two war steamers. The navy yard was at once occupied by the Virginians, who secured nearly two thousand pieces of cannon, and an immense quantity of stores and munitions of all kinds. The governors of the seceded Border States issued calls for volunteers immediately upon the withdrawal of their States. Men came for- ward in such large numbers that arms could not be provided for all of them. The prominent points of danger in Virginia were occupied and fortified by the State troops ; but the control of the military af- fairs in all the Border States soon passed FORT SUMTER IN 1 86 1. into the hands of the Confederate govern- ment. As it was certain that the first operations of the war would take place upon the bor- ders of Virginia, the city of Richmond was made the capital of the Confederate States, and on the twenty-first of May the Confed- erate government was removed to that city. The western part of the State of Virginia refused to join the remainder of the State in its withdrawal from the Union. On the eleventh of June, 1861, the people of the 6:^2 THE CIVIL WAR. western counties met in convention at Wheel- ing, declared their independence of the old State, organized a State government, and proclaimed their intention to remain faithful to the Union. The action of this convention was sustained by the Federal government, and on the twenty-sixth of November, 1861, another convention met at Wheeling, and FORTS SUMTER AND MOULTRIE. In the meantime the Federal government set to work with energy to prepare for the struggle before it. The call of President Lincoln for troops had been answered by three hundred thousand volunteers. On the seventeenth of April, two days after the Pres- ident's proclamation, the Sixth Massachu-' setts regiment left Boston for Washington, In passing through Baltimore it was at- tacked by a crowd of citizens who sympa- thized with the South, and three soldiers were killed and eight wounded. Several citizens were killed and wounded. The reg- iment reached Wash- ington the same day. . In a short time the force at the capital was sufficient to put an end to all fears for its safety. Alexandria and the Virginia shore opposite V/ashington v/ere seized and for- tified. Baltimore was occupied by a force under General Butler, and the communica- tions of Washington with the North and West were made sure. On the nineteenth of adopted a constitution for the new State of West Virginia. This constitution was rati- fied by the people at the polls on the third of May, 1862, and application was made for I the admission of \Vest Virginia into the Union as a State, which was accomplished by act of Congress on the twentieth of June, 1863. April the President issued a proclamation declaring all the southern ports in a state of blockade ; and on the third of May he put forth another proclamation ordering the regu- lar army of the United States to be increased to sixty-four thousand seven hundred and forty-eight men, and the navy to eighteen thousand seamen. On the tenth of May he ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LfNCOLN. 6;3 issued a fourth proclamation, suspending the \vrit oi habeas corpus in certain localities, and authority to suspend this privilege was con- ferred upon the commanders of military de- /partments soon afterward. Under the instructions of the government these commanders now proceeded to arrest great numbers of persons in various parts of the country who were suspected of sympa- government paid no attention to this deci- sion, and held the prisoner in confinement. A little later the Legislature of Maryland, which was strongly Southern in its sympa- thies, was prevented from meeting by the sudden arrest and imprisonment ol a large number of its members by order of the secretary of war. On the fourth of Julv, 1861, Congres» FORT MOULTRIE, CHARLESTON HARBOR. thizing with the South. They were impris- oned at the military posts, and were denied trial by the civil courts; John Merryman, a citizen of Maryland, was one of the persons so arrested. His friends applied for redress to the Chief Justice of the United States, who held the suspension of the habeas corpus act by the President to be unconstitutional, and ordered the discharge of the prisoner. The 43 convened in extra session at Washington, in accordance with the President's proclama tion. This body proceeded to give to the government a prompt and effectual support. Resolutions were introduced to legalize the extraordinary acts of the President in setting aside the writ of habeas corpus, in ordering the arbitrary arrest and confinement of citi- zens, and in assuming certain other powers e;4 tHE CIVIL WAl^. which belonged to Congress. Congress refused to throw over these acts, however necessary, the sanction of the law; but in view of the necessity of prompt and vigorous action on the part of the President, excused his \ acts on the distinct ground of the " necessities j of war." Measures were adopted without delay for putting in the field an army of five hundred and twenty-five thousand men, and for equipping a powerful navy ; and the sum of five hundred millions of dollars was appro- priated for the prosecution of the war. During this session Congress also adopted a solemn resolution declaring " that this war is not prosecuted on our part in any spirit of \ ;i\ ^%i THE CONFEDERATE FLAG. oppression, nor for any purpose of conquest or subjugation, nor for the purpose of over- throwing or interfering with the rights or established institutions of those [the seceded] States ; but to defend and maintain the supremacy of the constitution and all laws made in pursuance thereof, and to preserve the Union with all the dignity, equality and rights of the several States unimpaired ; that as soon as these objects are accomplished the war ought to cease." ,* In the meantime the Confederates had collected troops at important points to resist the advance of the Federal troops intoVirginia. A force under Bris^adier-General Garnf^ti" was stationed in West Virginia to cover thfi approaches from that direction ; Harper's Ferry, which commanded the entrance into the valley of Virginia, was held by an army of seven thousand or eight thousand men^ under General Joseph E. Johnston ; a much larger force, under General Beauregard, took position near Manassas Junction, about thirty miles from Washington, and a column of several thousand men, under General John B. Magruder, was stationed at Yorktown, on the peninsula between the York and James rivers, to cover Richmond from the direction of Fortress Monroe at the mouth of Hamp- ton Roads, which was still held by the Federal troops. Norfolk was also held by a strong force. With the exception of that occupied by General Garnett's command, all these positions were carefully fortified. Bethel Church and Rich Mountain. The Union army at Fortress Monroe num- bered about twelve thousand men, and was commanded by General B. F. Butler. Early in June, Magruder moved a force of eighteen hundred men and several pieces of artillery from Yorktown, and took position at Bethel Church, about half way between Yorktown and Hampton. On the tenth of June he was attacked by a force of four thousand troops under General Pierce, of Massachusetts, but succeeded in repulsing the attack and main- taining his position. In the opposite quarter of the State, the Union forces were more successful. In order to prevent the Confederates from overrun- ning West Virginia, a strong body of Ohio and Indiana troops, under General George B. McClellan, was sent into that region. McClellan set to work at once to drive the Confederates out of West Virginia, and on the third of June a portion of his command, under General Kelly, defeated General Garnett at Philippi. McClellan now advanced AbMiNiSTRATlON OK ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 6;5 Against tlie itiain body of Garnett's forces. On the eleventh of July, he attacked the com- mand of Colonel Pegram at Rich Mountain, and defeated it. This defeat compelled Gen- eral Garnett to fall back towards the valley of Virginia. He was pursued by McClellan and overtaken at Carrick's ford, on the Cheat river. In the battle which ensued here, Gar- mander. Colonel Ellsworth, was killed by a citizen. Strong defences were erected on the Virginia shore between Washington and Alexandria, and the army was encamped within these lines. Two months were passed in organizing and disciplining this force, and in the meantime the people of the Northern and Western States became impatient of the' THE SIXTH MASSACHUSETTS REGIMENT PASSING THROUGH BALTIMORE. nett was killed, and the remnant of his com- mand was driven beyond the mountains. <« The United States had assembled a con- siderable army of volunteers and regulars at Washington under Major-General Irwin Mc- Dowell. On the twenty-fourth of May, Alex- andria, on the Virginia side of the Potomac, nine miles below Washington, was seized by a detachment from this army. Its corn- delay, and demanded an immediate advance upon the southern army and Richmond. Preparatory to his own advance. General McDowell sent General Patterson with twenty thousand men to cross the Potomac at Wil- liamsport, and prevent General Johnston from leavmg the valley and joining Beauregard at Manassas. Upon the arrival of Patterson on the upper Potomac, General Johnston 770 THE CIVIL WAR. considerable distance. Being unable to cross the James above Richmond on account of the high water, he moved around the north of Richmond, crossed the river at Deep Bottom and joined Grant before Petersburg on the twenty-sixth of March. He had utterly laid waste the country along his )route. The arrival of this splendid force of cavalry was of the greatest service to Grant, as we shall see. The situation of General Lee's army was GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE. growmg more critical every day. He had less than forty thousand troops. He was fully convinced of the necessity of abandon- ing Richmond and Petersburg, and was anx- ious to do so at once, and unite his army with that of General Johnston and occupy a new position in the interior of the South. In order to secure the withdrawal of his army, he determined to make a vigorous attack upon Grant's right, hoping to compel him, in order to help his right, to draw back his left I wing, which was in dangerous proximity to the road by which Lee wished to retreat. Could he succeed in this effort, he meant to evacuate his position at Petersburg and recire towards Danville, where he hoped to unite with General Johnston. On the twenty-fifth of March, he made a heavy attack upon Fort Steadman, on the right of Grant's line, and captured it. The Federal forces rallied, however, and drove the Confederates from the captured works' back to their oWn line, inflicting upon them a loss of three thousand men. Lee had now no alternative but to await the move- ments of General Grant, as he could not afford to make the sacrifice of men which a renewal of his efforts would require of him. General Grant lost no time in taking the field. By the last of March, his army, numbering about one hundred and seventy thousand men, including Sheridan's mag- nificent cavalry division, was in readiness to begin the campaign. On the twenty- ninth of March, the advance of the Federal army was begun. Leaving the bulk of his army before Petersburg, Grant sent a col- umn of twenty-five thousand men to turn the Confederate right and seize the South- side railroad, Lee's only means of com- munication with Johnston's army and the country in his rear. By the morning of the thirtieth, the Federal left had gotten fairly to the right of the Confederates. On the thirtieth, a heavy storm prevented a further advance, and Lee took advantaLje of the delay to reinforce his right wing with all the troops he could spare. On the thirty- first, he attempted to drive back the Federal left, but without success. While this battle was going on, Sheridan swung around the Confederate right and seized the important position of Five Forks. Lee then sent Pick- ett's and Johnston's divisions to recover this point, and they drove off the cavalry, and ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 177 occupied Five Forks at night-fall on the thirty-first. Being joined by the Fifth corps, Sheridan attacked the Confederates on the morning of the first of April, and defeated them after a determined encounter, taking over five thousand prisoners. As soon a.s Sheridan had secured Five Forks, Grant opened a heavy artillery fire upon the lines of Petersburg along his whole front, and continued the bombardment through the night. On the morning of the second of April he made a determined attack upon Lee's line and broke it at several points. Gen- eral Lee was now forced to assume a new and shorter line immediately around Petersburg. The Federal army made a vigorous effort to force its way into the city, but was unsuccessful. The fate of Petersburg was now decided. It was impossible to hold it longer. On the night of the second of April Gen- eral Lee withdrew his army from Richmond and Petersburg and re- treated in the direction of Amelia Court-house. His intention was to move tov/ards Danville and endeavor to join Johnston. His retreat was discovered on the morning of the third of April, and the Federal army, leaving a small force to occupy Petersburg, set off in pursuit, following the line of the Southside Railroad. On the morning of the third the withdrawal of the Confederates from the lines of Rich- mond was discovered by General Weitzel commanding the Federal forces on the north side of the James. He at once advanced and occupied the city of Richmond, a large part of which was in flames as he entered it," hav- ing been set on fire by the Confederates upon their evacuation of it. Thus fell the Confed- erate capital after four long years of bloody war for its possession. Upon reaching Amelia Court-house Gen- eral Lee found that the supplies he had ordered to be sent there from Danville were not to be had. The trains sent from Danville by his instructions had been ordered to K.ich- mond to remove the property of the Confed- erate government, and had not been allowed THE LAST CAVALRY CHARGE OF THE WAR. to unload their stores at Amelia Court-house. This was a terrible blow to Lee, who was now unable to furnish food to his troops, who had eaten nothing since the commencement of the retreat. Parties were sent into the sur- rounding country to obtain supplies, and this consumed the whole of the fourth and fifth of April, which Lee had hoped to spend in pushing on beyond his pursuers. The delay enabled Sheridan, with eighteen thousand mounted men, to seize the Confed- erate line of retreat at Jetersville. This 678 THE CIVIL WAR. with vigor to repair the disaster. The levy of five hundred thousand men ordered by MAP SHOWING THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY. Congress was raised promptly and without difficulty, so eager was the desire of the people to wipe out the d.^graco oi Bull Run. At his own request General Scott, whose bodily infirmities were so great as to render him unable to dis- charge the duties c/ his position, was re> lieved of the com- mand of the army. Major-General Geo. B. McClellan was given the chief com- mand of the armies of the Unien, and or- dered to take charge of the force assem- bling before Wash- ington, which was named the Army of the Potomac. He devoted himself with success to the task of organizing and dis- ciplining the recruits, which came pouring in during the fall and wiuer. The remainder of the year 1861 passed away quietly on the Potomac, with the single exception 0/ the battle of Lees- burg. Colonel Baker, with a force of two thousand men, was sent by General Stone to cross the Potomac at Edward's ferry, and drive back the Con- federate force under General Evans from its position near Leesburg. He made his attack on the twenty-first of October, but was ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 679 repulsed with the loss of eight hundred killed and wounded, being himself among the slain. The Confederate army held its position at Centreville through the fall and winter, and at one time its outposts were pushed forward within view of the city of Washington. / In the fall of 1861 an army of ten thou- sand men was sent by the Confederate gov- ernment into the valley of Virginia to pre- vent its occupation by the federal forces. The command of these troops was conferred upon General T. J. Jackson, whose conspicuous gallantry at Bull Run had won him the so- briquet of " Stonewall Jackson," by which he was afterwards known by both armies. He established his headquarters at Winchester. Prompt Action in Missouri. In the meantime the war had been going on in Western Virginia. After the transfer of General McClellan to Washington, the com- mand of the Union forces passed to Briga- dier-General Rosecranz, an able officer. He had several indecisive encounters with the ''commands of Generals Floyd and Wise, in the region of the Gauley and New rivers. General Robert E. Lee was sent by the Con- federate government to assume the chief command in the west. He attacked the brigade of General Reynolds at Cheat moun- tain on the fourteenth of September, but was repulsed and obliged to retreat. On the fourth of October, General Reynolds attacked a Confederate force under General Henry R. Jackson on the Greenbrier river, but was re- pulsed. The State of Missouri took no part in the secession movements of the spring of 1861. Her people were divided ; a large party sympathized with the South ; but still a larger party was determined that the State should remain in the Union. These parties soon came in conflict. The governor and leading officials of the State were in favor of seces- sion, and used all their influence to spring about the withdrawal of Missouri from the Union. A camp of the State militia was formed near St. Louis, and was called Camp Jackson in honor of the governor. It was known that the force assembled at this camp was intended to serve as a nucleus around which an army hostile to the federal govern- ment might assemble. By extraordinary exertions Colonel Frances P. Blair. Jr., a member of Congress from St. Louis, and Captain Nathaniel Lyon, commanding the troops at the Jefferson barracks, near St. Louis, succeeded in collecting a force of five regiments of Union volunteers. On the tenth of May, 1861, Lyon with these five regiments suddenly surrounded Camp Jackson, and compelled General Frost, the commanding officer, to surrender his whole force, camp and equipments. By this prompt action the State forces were prevented from carrying out their plan for seizing the United States arsenal at St. Louis, which contained sixty thousand stand of arms of the latest patterns, and a number of cannon, and a large quantity of ammunition. For this decisive action Captain Lyon was commis- sioned a brigadier-general by the President. Movements of General Lyon's Army. Satisfied that the desire of the southern party in Missouri to remain neutral was but a pretext to gain time to arm the State for a union with the Confederates, President Lin- coln determined to compel all the State forces not in the federal service to disband. An in- terview was held at St. Louis on the eleventh of June between Governor Jackson and Gen- ^ eral Lyon, now commanding the federal troops in Missouri. Governor Jackson de- manded that no United States forces should be quartered in or marched through Mis- souri. General Lyon refused to comply with this demandj and insisted that the State forces v3q GENERAL GEORGE H. THOMAS The Hero of Chickamauga ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOL'N. should be disbanded, pledging hfmserf to respect the rights and privileges of the State. At the close of the interview the Governor returned to Jefferson City, the capital of the State, and the next day, the twelfth, issued his proclamation calling 50,000 of the State L militia into active service for the purpose of driving the Federal troops from the State, and protecting the " lives, liberty and property of the citizens." General Lyon at once marched upon Jefferson City, and occupied it on the fifteenth, the Governor and his supporters having retired to the interior of the State. On the seventeenth Lyon proceeded to Booneville and defeated the State troops stationed there under General Price. The southwestern part of Missouri is rich in deposits of lead, and valuable mines of this mineral are worked there. The State authorities were anxious to hold this region, as it was of the highest importance to them to obtain the use of these mines to supply their army with lead. A column of Federal troops under General Sigel was sent by Gen- eral Lyon to intercept the retreat of the State troops. On the fifth of July, Sigel attacked the State troops under Governor Jackson at Carthage, but was repulsed. Battle of Wilson's Creek. The next day, July 6th, Governor Jackson was joined at Carthage by General Sterling Price, of the Missouri State Guard, and Gen- eral Ben McCulloch, of the Confederate army, with several thousand men. The command of the whole force was conferred upon Gen- eral McCulloch, who had been ordered by ' his government to advance into Missouri. The Southern army, according to General McCuUoch's statement, numbered 5,300 infantry, 6,000 mounted men and fifteen pieces of artillery. It advanced rapidly into the in- terior of the State, and on the ninth of August r^aghed "VVi^son's Creek, near Springfield, General Jlyon naa tafcen position there with a force somewhat smaller than that of the Confederates. On the morning of the tenth he attacked the Southern army. The battle lasted six hours, and was hotly con- tested. General Lyon was killed at the head of his troops while endeavoring to turn the left flank of the Confederates, and his army was forced back. His body was left in the hands of the Confederates, who treated it with becoming respect. Springfield was occupied by the Confeder- ates the day after the battle; but McCulloch and Price being unable to agree upon the plan of the campaign, they soon withdrew CAPITOL AT RICHMOND, VIRGINIA. to the Arkansas border. The Union army after the battle withdrew to RoUa, near the centre of the State. A few weeks later General Price with a force of over five thousand Confederates laid siege to Lexington, on the Missouri river, which was held by about three thousand men under Colonel Mulligan. After a gallant defence Mulligan was forced to surrender on the twentieth of September. Major-General John C. Fremont was now appointed by President Lincoln to take com- mand of the western army. He forced Price's command back into the southwestern part of the State, Arriving near Springfield, PORTRAITS OF PROMINENT FEDERAL GENERALS, --« AH MINISTRATION 09 ABRAHAM LD^COLN. &-3 Fremont prepared to bring the Confederates to a decisive engagement, but on the second of November was removed from his com- mand. He was succeeded by General Hunter, who abandoned the pursuit, and fell back to St. Louis. On the eighteenth of November Hunter was superseded by Major- General Halleck, who by a rapid advance drove Price once more towards the Arkansas border. This movement closed the campaign of 1861 in Missouri. The Union army had not only saved the State to the Union, but had con- fined the Confederates to the Arkansas border. Southern Party \n Kentucky. In the meantime Governor Jackson had summoned the legislature of Missouri to meet at Neosho. It assembled at that place in October, passed an ordinance of secession, and elected delegates and senators to the Con- federate Congress. Though this action was merely formal, and received the support of but a small part of the people of Missouri, it was recognized as valid by the Confederate government, and Missouri was proclaimed one of the Confederate States. The governor and State authorities of Kentucky attempted at the outset of the war to hold the position of armed neutrality between the parties to the contest ; but as in the case of Missouri, this effort failed. Neither the Federal government nor that of the Southern Confederacy could, in the nature of things, respect this neutrality. The Federal troops were poured into Ken- tucky, and the Confederates seized Columbus, on the Mississippi, Bowling Green, in the centre of the State, and other positions in the western part. The Southern party in Kentucky, within the protection of the Con- federate lines, organized a provisional govern- ment for the State, 5ent senators and repre- sentatives to the Congress at Richmond, which formally recognized Kentucky as one of the Confederate States. The force at Columbus was commanded by General Polk of the Confederate army. At Belmont, on the Missouri shore of the river, immediately opposite Columbus, a body of Confederate troops v/as stationed.' On the seventh of November, General U. S. Grant having descended the Mississippi from Cairo, attacked the force at Belmont with his command of three thousand men. After a sharp struggle he was '-'^pulsed, and forced to retreat to Cairo. On October nth, .;ie privateer "Nash- ville," which had been fitted out by the Con- federates to capture Federal vessels, escaped from Charleston harbor and began to com- mit depredations upon the commerce of the North. The bold operations of the " Nash- ville" and other privateers produced a reign of terror on the high seas. Naval and Military Expedition. At the outset of the war the Confederates occupied the principal ports of the South, and a number of prominent points on the Atlantic coast. These were fortified by them as well as the means at hand would permit. The general government resolved to capture these as rapidly as possible, as their reduction was necessary in order to render the blockade of the southern coast effectual. The first expe- dition was despatched from Fortress Monroe in August, 1 86 1, under Commodore String- ham aud General Butler, and was directed against the Confederate works at Hatteras Inlet, which commanded the entrance to Albemarle and Pamlico sounds. These works were captured on the twenty-ninth of August. The great extent of the coast to be block* aded by the navy made it necessary that a good harbor at some central point should be secured, where supplies could be stored for 684. ADMINISTRATION OF* ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 68! the fleet, and where vessels could refill with- out returning to the northern ports. Port Royal harbor, in South Carolina, was selected as the best place for this purpose. It was defended by Fort Walker on Hilton Head and Fort Beauregard on the opposite side of the harbor. A powerful naval and military expedition under Commodore Dupont and General Thomas W. Sherman attacked these vorks on the seventh of November, and reduced them after terrible bombardment by the fleet. Port Royal was at once occupied by the expedition, and during the war was the principal depot on the southern coast for the fleets and armies of the Union. It was not possible, however, to render the blockade effective. Great efforts were made to increase the number of vessels employed in this duty, but the Confederates succeeded in eluding the Union cruisers almost at plea- sure, and a steady communication was main- tained between the southern ports and Eng- land by way of the West Indies. A number of armed vessels in the service of the Con- federacy succeeded in getting to sea. By the close of the year they had inflicted severe damage upon the commerce of the Northern States, and had almost driven the foreign trade of the United States from the ocean. Affair of the "Trent." During the early part of the war the South- ern government was encouraged to hope that the governments of England and F'rance would recognize the independence of the Confederate States, and in the fall of 1 86 1, James M. Mason, of Virginia, and John Slidell, of Louisiana, were ordered to proceed to Europe, as commissioners from the Confederate States, to secure this recog- nition. They sailed from Charleston on the twelfth of October, and reached Cuba in safety. There they took passage for England on board the British mail-steamer " Trent." Hearing of this, Captain Wilkes, of the United States war-steamer " San Jacinto," overhauled the " Trent " upon the high seas boarded her, and seized the two commission- ers and their secretaries and sailed with them to Boston harbor, where they were im- prisoned in one of the forts. The "Trent" in the meantime proceeded on her voyage, and upon reaching England her commander informed the British govern- ment of the outrage that had been commit- ted upon its flag. The English government at once demanded of President Lincoln the immediate and unconditional release of the LIEUTENANT-GENERAL POLK. Confederate commissioners and satisfac- tion for the insult to its flag. It was under- stood that France was prepared to sustain England in her demands. The Federal gov- ernment disavowed the action of Captain Wilkes in seizing the commissioners, and those gentlemen were released and allowed to continue their voyage. They reached England in due time. Mr. Mason proceeded to London and Mr. Slidell to France. Neither the English nor the French govern* ments would receive the commissioners offic- ially. It was understood that the United States would regard the interference of either in the American quarrel as a cause of war, and neither power cared to join in the struggle. Tennessee seceded from the Union, as we have related, in the spring of l86i. The 6li6 THE CIVIL WAR. western and central portions of the State were unanimously in favor of joining the Southern States and gave a hearty support to the Confederacy during the war, but East Tennessee, inhabited by a race of hardy mountaineers, was devoted to the Union, and was unwiUing to leave it. In the autumn of .1861, the East Tennesseans took up arms against the Confederate Government, and began to destroy the railway bridges in that part of the State. This movement was full of danger to the Confederacy, as the principal line of commu- nication between Virginia and the Mississippi passed through East Tennessee. A consid- erable force of Confederate troops was sent JAMES M. MASON. into East Tennessee to hold the people in subjection and protect the railroads, but throughout the war, the hostility of the peo- ple of this region was a constant source of danger and weakness to the Confederates, When the year 1862 opened, the war had assumed colossal proportions. The military operations extended almost across the conti- nent, and engaged a number of powerful armies, and a formidable navy. The call of President Lincoln for troops had been cheer- fully responded to, and the opening of the year found the United States provided with a force of over half a million of men, splendidly armed and equipped, and supplied with every- thing necessary for the successful prosecution of the war. The North had profited by itS first reverses, and was resolved that its next effort, which v/as to be made at the opening of the season for active operations, should find it thoroughly prepared for the task it had undertaken. A cordial support was given to the meas«= ' ures of the government by the people. Its wants were supplied by means of a heavy loan which was readily negotiated with the capitalists of the Eastern States. From the moment that the despondency caused by the reverse at Bull Run had subsided sufficiently to enable the people of the loyal States to face the situation calmly, everyone saw that the work of preparation must all be done over JOHN SLIDELL. from the beginning, and it was done bravely and thoroughly. During the fall and winter the army was rapidly increased ; vessels were purchased and built for the navy. The Southern armies, on the other hand, had grown steadily weakei. The first suc- cesses of the Confederate troops had greatly demoralized the Southern people. Volun- teering soon ceased almost entirely. Even the heaviest bounties failed to bring recruits. There was a widespread delusion throughout the South that the war was practically ended. The measures of the Confederate Congress steadily thinned, instead of filling up the ranks of the Southern armies, and when the new year dawned there was grave reason to THE ARREST UE MAbUN AND iL^ELL ON THE BRITISH STEAMER " TRENT." ^87 m THE CiviL WAt. fear that the spring campaign would find the South without ail adequate army unless more vigorous measures were resorted to. It was exceedingly doubtful whether the troops already in the service would renew their en- listments, which expired in the spring of 1 862. , During the winter the Southern Congress adopted a law granting a furlough and a heavy bounty to every soldier who would re-enlist for the war. The furlough was to be granted during the winter ; the bounty to be paid at a later period. Many of those who went home on these furloughs did so with the intention of remaining there ; and the practi- grant's head-quarters near fort cal effect of the measure was to diminish the strength of the Confederate armies. At length the Confederate Congress was driven by the necessities of the situation to adopt a most stringent and sweeping measure. On the sixteenth of April, 1862, a conscription act was passed, giving to the President of the Confederacy the power to call into the mili- tary service the entire male population of the various States between the ages of eighteen and thirty- five years. In September, 1862, a second act was passed extending the con- script age to forty-five years. The measure was acquiesced in by the Southern people, but was never popular with them. It served the purpose for which it wil intended, however, and enabled the Confed- erate Government to collect a force of several hundred thousand men in the spring of 1862, and thus to fill up the ranks of its armies in the field, and to retain the regiments already in the service. When the spring opened, General Halleck, whose headquarters^ were at St. Louis, held Missouri against the Confederates with a powerful army. General Buell, with a con- siderable force, was stationed in Central Ken- tucky. In his front an inferior force of Con- federates, under General Albert Sidney John- ston, held Bowling Green and covered Nashville and the Tennessee and the Cumberland Rivers. They also held Colum- bus and other prominent points on the Mississippi. The Army of the Poto- mac, under General Mc- Clellan, lay along the Potomac, confronting the Confederate army of Northern Virginia,which held Centreville. A con- DONELSON. siderable force was col- lected at Fortress Monroe, and an army of about 10,000 Confederates, under Magruder, held a strongly fortified line, extending from Yorktown across the Peninsula to the James River. In addition to these forces, the Federal Government had collected a powerful flotilla of steamers and gunboats at Cairo, the junc- tion of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, to assist in the operations of the Western armies. The capture of New Orleans had been resolved upon, and a combined naval and military expedition under Commodore Farragut and General Butler was assembled for that purpose; and another expedition a: < I O > z < a cc Ui I CO < cr UJ 2 LU O I ^ UJ Ul cc o cc < o Ul o h. O Ul _i H I- < CO. ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAt^AM LINCOLN. 68t. was organized in the Chesapeake for the reduction of Roanoke Island and the forts on the North Carolina coast. Soon after the opening of the new year, Mr. Cameron, whose administration of the war department had failed to give satisfac- tion to the country, was removed by Presi- dent Lincoln, and sent to Russia as minister from the United States. The President on the thirteenth of January appointed Edwin M. Stanton, of Ohio, Secretary of War. The new secretary was confessedly one of the ablest men in America, and his accession to the control oi the war department infused newlifeintothe mil- itary preparations of the government. During the remain- der of the war he occupied this posi- tion, and it is not too much to say that his vigorous adminis- tration of his de- partment was one of the chief causes of the final success of the Union arms. Active operations were resumed earlier in the west than in the east. On the nineteenth of January, General George H. Thomas drove the Confederates under General Zol- licoffer from Mill Spring in Kentucky. The defeated force had held the right of the Con- federate line in Kentucky, the centre of which was at Bowling Greer, and the left at Columbus, and its reverse was a serious disaster to the" Confederates The department of Gen^'ral Halleck eni- brac^'d Kentucky vn> 4'>4fi»«on to the country 44 west of the Mississippi. In order to hold the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers, which afforded water communication far back into the country in the rear of their line, the Con- federates had built a work, known as Fort Henry, on the Tennessee, a little south of the Kentucky border, and another and a stronger work, known as Fort Donelson, on the Cumberland and a little below Nashville. At the solicitation of Brigadier-General U. S. Grant, commanding at Cairo, General lw^^ :J*:^y*•/^&•/"" A VIEW OF THE COUNTRY, SHOWING FORT DONELSON IN THE DISTANCE. Halleck determined to capture these forts, and so break the Confederate line, and com- pel their army to fall back from Kentucky. Fort Henry was to be first attacked. The fleet of gunboats under Commodore Foote and Grant's troops from Cairo were sent against Fort Henry, which was captured on the sixth of February after a severe bombard- ment by the gunboats which had ascended the Tennessee. The garrison escaped to Fort Donelson, twelve miles distant across the country. %0 THE CIVIL WAR. The loss of Fort Henry compelled the Confederates to evacuate all their positions MAP SHOWING PITTSBURG LANDING AND CORINTH. in Kentucky. General Beauregard fell back from Columbus to Corinth, Mississippi, and General Sidney Johnston slowly retired from Bowhng Green upon Nashville, followed by General Buell After the capture of Fort Henry the gunboats returned to Cairo, and, taking on board sup- plies and reinforce* ments for the army, ascended the Ohio and entered the Cumber- land, up which they passed to Fort Donel- son. Grant, in the meantime, marched across the country from Fort Henry to Fort Donelson,and in- vested the latter work. The roads were so dif- ficult that although the distance between the two forts was but twelve miles, Grant spent six days in marching it. This delay gave General Johnston an oppor- tunity to reinforce Fort Donelson. He halted at Nashville with his main army to await the result of Grant's attack on the fort. The gunboats did not joinGrant until the fourteenth of Febru- ary, and the invest- ment was not begun until their arrival. The f o 1 1 o w i n g graphic description of the capture of Fort Henry is from the pen of the historian, John Laird Wilson : 691 092 THE CIVIL WAR. "Immediately on receiving permission from Halleck to proceed with his proposed plan, Grant made arrangements for the attack on Fort Henry. He had at his disposal some seventeen thousand men. It was arranged that Commodore Foote, with a flotilla of seven gunboats, should move along the Ohio, steer up the Tennessee, and open the attack, while Grant, on the land side, should to move slowly and shell the woods. In order to discover whether there were any concealed batteries. "On the morning of the sixth it was under- stood that everything was in readiness for the attack, which was to be made simultaneously on land and water. A heavy thunder-storm had raged the previous night; and, as aeon- sequence, the roads were heavy and the IRON-CLAD GUNBOAT. render what assistance was necessary and cut off all retreat. On Monday, the second of February, Foote left Cairo, and on the morning of Tuesday he Avas a few miles below Fort Henry. Grant, in the meantime, with the divisions of McClernand and C. F. Smith, had embarked in transports Avhich were convoyed by tlu flotilla. These landed a few miles below the fort ; and Foote pro- ceeded up the river, having orders from Grant streaiTis so swollen that bridges had to be built for the passage of artillery. The land forces, thus encountering unlooked-for obsta- cles, were considerably delayed. Shortly after twelve o'clock Foote opened fire upon the fort. Beginning at a tliousand yards distance, he gradually r.sn lis vessels to within six hundred yards of tlu enem\-. The firing for a time was vigorously n turned; but Foote pressed forth with irr3 Government had recognized from the first the importance of regaining possession of the Mississippi, and, as we have seen, a large fleet of gunboats had been prepared on the upper waters of that stream to co-operate with the army in its efforts to capture the fortified posts along the river. All these efforts, how- ever, were useless as long as the Confederates retained possession of the lower river or of the important city of New Orleans, the com- mercial metropolis of the South. It was resolved at an early period of the struggle to wrest New Orleans from the Confederates, and a fleet of forty-five vessels of war and mortar-boats was assembled for this purpose, and placed under command of Commodore Farragut, an able and experienced officer. To the fleet was added a force of fifteen thousand troops, under General B. F. Butler. The expedition rendezvoused at Ship Island, near the mouth of the Mississippi, in the ^arly part of March. Tactics of Admiral Farragut. About twenty miles above the head of the passes of the Mississippi, and about seventy miles below New Orleans, the entrance to the river is defended by two strong works — Fort Jackson on the right bank of the stream, and Fort St. Philip on the left — both built before the war. The Confederates had further strengthened their position by stretching six heavy chains, supported on a series of dismasted schooners, across the river, from shore to shore, to prevent the passage of ships. Early in April the fleet sailed from Ship Island, leaving the troops there to await the result of its operations, and entering the Mississippi took position below the forts. On the eighteenth the bombardment of the forts was begun by the ships and the mortar-boats, and was continued with great rigor until the twenty-fourth. The results of this bombardment was most discouraging, and Farragut became convinced that the forts could not be reduced by the fire of the fleet. He therefore determined to pass thern with his vessels and so neutralize them. The chain and raft barricade across the river had been broken by a severe storm, and Farragut sent a party to enlarge the gap made in it, so as to admit the passage of the fleet. This task was accomplished with great gallantry. At three o'clock, on the morning of the twenty-fourth of April, the fleet got under headway and began to ascend the river, the commodore in his flag-ship, the " Hartford," leading the way. The fleet consisted of seventeen vessels, carrying two hundred and ninety-four guns. Desperate Naval Battle. As the vessels came abreast of the forts the Confederates opened a heavy fire upon them, to which they responded with vigor. The forts were passed in safety at lengthy and a short distance above them Farragut encountered the Confederate fleet, consisting of sixteen vessels, but eight of which were armed. Two of these were iron-clads, how- ever, A desperate battle ensued, which resulted in the total destruction of the south- ern fleet. When the sun rose on the morn- ing of the twenty-fourth the forts had been passed, and the resistance of the Confederate vessels had been overcome. There was nothing now between the Federal fleet and New Orleans, and Farragut, ascending the river slowly and cautiously, anchored in the stream, in front of the city, on the morning of the twenty-fifth. He at once demanded the capitulation of New Orleans, which had been evacuated by the Confederate troops on the previous day. and the city was surrendered to him by the municipal authorities. On the twenty-eighth Forts Jackson and St. Philip surrendered to ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 705 Captain Porter, the commander of the mor- tar fleet. New Orleans being taken, word was sent to General Butler, at Ship Island, to hasten forward with his troops to occupy it. He arrived on the first of May, and at once took possession of the city. Baton Rouge, the capital of Louisiana, was occupied by the Federal forces, and Farragut pushed on up the river, and, passing the Confederate bat- teries at Grand Gulf and Vicksburg, joined the fleet of Commodore Davis at Memphis. The capture of New Orleans was a terrible blow to the South. It de[)rived the Con- federacy of the largest and wealthiest city within its limits, and wrested from it the whole of the lower Mississippi. Fort Pulaski Surrende*"'. Another success was gained by the Union arms on the Southern coast. An expedition from Port Royal, under General Hunter, laid siege to Fort Pulaski, near the mouth of the Savannah River. This fort was constructed by the Federal government previous to the war, and constituted one of the principal defences of the city of Savannah. On the eleventh of April, after a bombardment of fifteen days, it surrendered to General Hunter. Its capture closed the Savannah River to the entrance of the class of vessels known as blockade runners, and deprived the South of the use of one of its principal ports. The events of this year in Virginia Avere of the highest importance. The Army of the Potomac, nearly two hundred thousand strong, was ready for active operations with the early spring. General McClellan was anxious to avail himself of the superior naval strength of the United States to transport his army to a point on the Chesapeake Bay, from which it could easily interpose between the Confederate army, under General John- ston, and Richmond. Suspecting such a design on the part of 45 McClellan, Johnston abandoned his position at Centreville, on the eighth of March, and fell back to the Rappahannock, and a little later moved back still farther to the line of the Rapidan. McClellan advanced to Cen- treville as soon as informed of Johnston's withdrawal, but was too late to interfere with the movements of the Confederate army. Exploits of the " Merrimac." Simultaneous with Johnston's withdrawal from Centreville occurred an incident which forms one of the most striking episodes of the war, and led to results of world-wide importance. Upon the evacuation of the Norfolk navy yard by the Federal forces, at the outset of the war, the splendid steam frigate " Merrimac " was scuttled and sunk This vessel was subsequently raised by the Confederates, and rebuilt by them. Her upper deck was removed, and she was covered with a slanting roof. Both the roof and her sides were heavily plated with iron, and a long-, stout bow was fitted to her to enable her to act as a ram. She was then armed with ten heavy guns, and named the " Vir- ginia." Thus prepared, she was the most powerful vessel afloat. As soon as the " Virginia" was ready fow service the Confederate authorities deter mined to test her efficiency by attempting tc destroy the Federal fleet to Hampton Roads On the eighth of March the " Virginia," ao companied by two small vessels, left Norfolk, and steamed down the Elizabeth River into Hampton Roads. Her appearance took th;; Federal fleet by surprise, and a heavy fire was concentrated upon her from the fleet and the batteries on shore at Newport News, at the mouth of the James Riven Shot and shell flew harmlessly from her iron sides, and, firing slowly as she advanced, she aimed straight for the sloop of war " Cumberland" — the most formidable vessel of her class in 7o6 THE CIVIL WAR. the navy — and sunk her with a blow of her iron prow. The frigate " Congress," lying near by, was chased into shoal water and compelled to surrender, after which she was set on fire. GENERAL GEORGE B. M CLELLAN The ram then endeavored to inflict a similar fate upon the frigate " Minnesota," but that vessel escaped into water too shallow for the iron-clad to venture into. At sunset the " Virginia " drew ofi, and returned to the Elizabeth River. She had destroyed two of the finest vessels in the Federal navy, and inflicted upon her adversaries a loss of two hundred and fifty officers and men. She was herself uninjured, and had but two men killed and eight wounded. The success of the " Virginia " struck terror to the fleet in Hampton Roads, and it was by no means certain that the vic- torious vessel would not the next day either attack Fort Monroe,, or pass by it and as- cend the Chesapeake, in which case both Washington and Bal- timore would be at her mercy. During the night, however, a most unlooked-for assist- ance arrived. The " Monitor," an iron- clad vessel of a new plan, invented by Cap- tain John Ericsson,, entered Hampton Roads on her trial trip from New York^ Upon learning the state of affairs her commander, Lieuten- int Worden, deter- mined to engage the "Virginia" the next day. On the morning of the ninth the "Vir ginia " again steamed out of the Elizabeth River into Hampton Roads. The " Monitor," though her inferior in size, and carrying but a single gun, at once moved forward to meet her. An engagement of several hours' duration ensued, in which both vessels were fought ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 707 with great gallantry ; and at the end of this time the " Virginia " drew off", and returned to Norfolk severely injured. The arrival of the " Monitor" was most fortunate. It saved the Federal fleet in Hampton Roads from total destruction, and prevented the " Vir- ginia " from extending her ravages to the ports of the Union. The battle between the " Monitor " and the " Virginia " will ever be famous as the first engagement between iron- clad vessels. It inaugurated a new era in naval warfare. In spite of the result of the battle, however, the presence of the *' Vir- ginia" at Norfolk deterred the Federal forces from risking an attack on that place, and prevented them from mak- ing any effort to ascend the James River with their fleet. In the meantime the army of Gen- eral McClellan had returned to its position near Alexandria, after the retreat of the Confederates to the Rapidan. General McClellan now proposed to move the bulk of his army to Fortress Monroe, and to advance from that point upon Rich- mond by way of the peninsula between the York and James Rivers. About seventy-five thousand men were left on the Potomac to cover Washington, view and the remainder, about one hundred and twenty thousand in number, were trans- ported by water to Fortress Monroe. This movement was accomplished by the second of April. Johnston's Successful Retreat. On the fourth the Army of the Potomac began its march towards the lines of York- town, which were held by about eleven thousand five hundred men, under General Magruder. The Confederate commander had passed the first year of the war in forti- fying his position, and had constructed a series of powerful works which enabled him, with his small force, to hold McClellan's whole army in check. On he fifth and sixth of April McClellan made repeated attempts to force the southern lines, and failing ux these decided to lay siege to them. The time thus gained by Magruder enabled General Johnston to move his army from tiie Rapidan to the peninsula. It was in positioa on the lines of Yorktown by the seventeenth of April, making the force oppose^ to McClellan about fifty-eight thousand strong. The Confederates did not expect to hold OF THE CHICKAHOMINV NEAR iMECH ANICSVILLE. their position on the peninsula, but from the first intended to move back nearer to Richmond, and occupy the line oftheChick- ahominy. When their preparations were completed they fell back from the lines of Yorktown, on the night of the third of May, just as McClellan was about to begin his bombardment of their position. The Federal army discovered the retreat on the morning of the fourth of May, and moved forward promptly in the hope of inter- cepting the Southern army. On the morning of the fifth the advanced forces attacked the 7o8 THE CIVIL WAR. rear-guard of Johnston's army at Williams- burcf. The Confederate commander held his MAP OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA. ground until his trains had gotten off in safety, and then resumed his retreat, and reached the Chickahominy about the tenth of May without further molestation from the Union forces. General McClellan, following leisurely, took posi- tion on the left bank of the Chickahominyj with the river between the two armies. In accordance with General McClellan's urgent request, Presi- dent Lincoln decided to order the force left- to cover Washington to join the Army of the Potomac, before Richmond, by the way of Fredericks- burg. With his force thus augmented the Union commander had no doubt of his ability to capture Richmond. Alive to this danger General Johnston directed General Jackson, who had been left to hold the valley of Vir- ginia,to manoeuvre his army so as to threaten Washington, a.id com- pel the Federal gov- ernment to retain the force intended for Mc- Clellan for the defence, of Washington. While awaiting the arrival of this force McClellan threw his left wing across the Chicka- hominy, and lodged it in a position nearer to Richmond. The Federal lines now extended ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 709 from Bottom's Bridge, on the Chickahominy, to Mechanicsville, north of that stream. The evacuation of the peninsula compelled the Confederates to abandon Norfolk also. They withdrew their troops from that city on the ninth of May, and sent them to rein- force General Johns- ton. On the tenth Nor- folk and Portsmouth were occupied by the Federal forces under General Wool. Before leaving the Confeder- ates had set fire to the navy yard, which was destroyed. The iron- clad steamer " Vir- ginia" was taken into the James River, and on the eleventh was abandoned and blown up. The loss of this steamer, which could have held the James against the whole Union fleet, left the river open to within eight miles of Rich- mond. The gunboats, in- cluding the " Aloni- tor," were sent up to try to force their way to Richmond, but on the fifteenth of May were driven back by a battery of heavy guns located on the heights at Drewry's bluff, eight miles below Richmond. They were badly injured by the plunging fire of the Confederates. The river was securely obstructed at this point to prevent a pas- .•lage of the batteries by the Federal fleet. Having been heavily reinforced, General Johnston determined to attack McClellan's exposed left wing, and on the thirty-first of May fell upon it at Seven Pines, and drove it back with heavy loss. General Johnston LIEUTENANT-GENERAL T. J. JACKSON. was severely wounded towards the close of the day, and was unable to carry out the plan upon which he had begun the battle. The next day there was heavy skir- mishing until about ten o'clock in the morn- ing, but nothing of a more serious nature was 7IO THE CIVIL WAR. attempted by either side. General McClel- lan, warned by the narrow escape of his left ■wing, now proceeded to fortify his position on the south bank of the Chickahominy. While these events were in progress on the Chickahominy, General Jackson carried out with brilliant success the movements assigned him in the valley of Virginia. His task required the exercise of the greatest skill and determination. He was to neu- tralize the forces of Fremont, Banks and McDowell, and prevent them from render- ing any assistance to McClellan. Jackson's aimy fell back from Winchester on the elev- enth of March, and retired as far as Mount Jackson. Then rapidly retracing its steps it attacked Banks' forces at Kernstown, near Winchester. Though repulsed in this engagement, it succeeded in alarming the Federal government for the safety of Wash- ington. Banks' command was therefore retained in the valley to watch Jackson, and the force under McDowell was not allowed to go to McClellan's assistance on the peninsula, lest by so doing it should uncover Washington. After the battle of Kernstown Jackson retired up the valley, and a season of comparative quietude ensued. The Federal government even believed that his troops had been sent to Richmond. Jackson's Brilliant Achievements. Fremont's army was ordered to move from western Virginia into the valley ; Banks was directed to march to Manassas and cover Washington ; while McDowell, with forty thousand men, was ordered to move from Fredericksburg, from which he was to march across the country and unite with McClel- lan's left wing, which was thrown out far to the north of Richmond to meet him. These orders were in process of execution when Jackson, who had been reinforced by a divis- ion under General Ewell, destroyed the whole Federal plan of campaign. Knowing that he could not possibly resist the combined forces of Fremont and Banks, Jackson determined to beat them in detail. Marching rapidly westward, he crossed the mountains, fell upon the advance guard of Fremont's army at McDowell, on the eighth of May, defeated it, and drove it back into western Virginia. Then retracing his steps with remarkable speed, he returned to the valley, and on the twenty-third of May attacked Banks' outlying force at Front Royal, and drove it in upon the main body at Strasburg. Banks at once broke up his camp and fell back down the valley, pursued by Jackson, who dealt him a terrible blow at Winchester on the twenty-fifth. By extraordinary exer- tions Banks succeeded in escaping across the Potomac, but left about three thousand prisoners, several pieces of artillery, nine thousand stand of arms, and the greater part of his stores in the hands of the Confederates. Richmond Saved from Capture. This bold advance greatly alarmed the government at Washington, and the Presi- dent ordered Fremont to move with speed into the valley, and directed General Mc- Dowell to suspend his movement to the assistance of McClellan, and send a force of twenty thousand men to gain Jackson's rear and prevent his return up the valley. Mc- Dowell sent the required force under General Shields, and Fremont hurried on to gain the upper valley in advance of Jackson. These movements entirely prevented McClellan from receiving the assistance of McDowell's corps, and saved Richmond from capture. Jackson was too good a general to be caught in a trap so skillfully laid for him. He retired up the valley with the greatest speed, and having interposed his army PORTRAITS OF PROMINENT CONFEDERATE GENERALS. 711 /I2 THE CIVIL WAR. between Fremont and Shields, turned upon the former, and with a part of his force attacked him at Cross Keys on the eighth of June, and checked his advance. Then re- uniting his forces he fell upon Shields at Port Republic on the ninth of June, and drove him back with heavy loss after one of the hardest fought battles of the war. Hav- ing thus put an end to the pursuit of his antagonists, Jackson withdrew to a safe posi- tion, from which he could hold them in check or go to the aid of the army defend- ing Richmond. The latter move being decided upon, he eluded the Federal forces in the valley, and marched rapidly to the Chickahominy. Be fore his absence from the valley was sus- pected, he had joined General Lee. His campaign in the valley is justly regarded as one of the most brilliant of the war. With less than twenty thousand men \ic had neu- tralized a force of sixty t'lousand Union troops, and prevented the execution of Mc- Clellan's carefully laid plans for the capture of Richmond. General Lee Takes Command. Upon the fall of General Johnston the command of the Confederate army before Richmond was conferred upon General Robert E. Lee, whom subsequent events proved to be the ablest of the Southern leaders. Troops were drawn from every pos- sible point to reinforce General Lee's army, and by the middle of June his forces, includ- ing Jackson's army, amounted to ninety thousand men. The Federal army was one hundred and fifteen thousand strong. Both armies were in fine condition. General Mc- Clellan, finding it impossible to obtain the assistance of McDowell's corps, and fearing for the safety of his communications with his base of supplies, which was at West Point, at the head of the York River, prepared to move his army to the south side of the Chickahominy, and establish a new and more secure base upon the James River. Before he could put this design in opera- tion he was attacked by General Lee, who,, on the twenty-fifth of June, fell upon the right of the Union line at Mechanicsville, and forced it back upon the centre at Cold Harbor. On the twenty-sixth the position at Cold Harbor was attacked and carried by the Confederates after a desperate struggle. With great difficulty McClellan secured his retreat to the south side of the Chickahom- iny, and destroyed the bridges in his rear. Having decided to retreat to the James River rather than attempt to retain his com- munication with West Point, McClellan destroyed his stores, and on the twenty- eighth began his retreat from the Chicka- hoaiiny by way of White Oak Swamp. As^ soon as his movement was discovered pur- suit was made by the Confederates, who attacked his rear guard under General Sum- ner at Savage Station late in the afternoon^ of the twenty-ninth. Sumner held his ground until the darkness put an end to the action,, and during the night of the twenty-ninth withdrew across White Oak Swamp, destroy- ing all the bridges after him. End of the " Seven Days' Battles." On the thirtieth General Lee made a last effort to prevent McClellan from reaching the James, and towards the close of the afternoon the bloody battle of Frazier's Farm was fought. It was continued until nine o'clock. The Federal force at Frazier's Farm held its ground until the remainder of McClellan's army had safely traversed White Oak Swamp. The object of the battle hav- ing been accomplished, McClellan resumed his retreat to the James River, and took posi- tion upon Malvern Hill, within a short dis- tance of that stream. Here he massed his EMU, W.T. SMElKilA-^. ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 7M- nrtillery, and the gunboats in the James River moved up to a point from which they could throw their shells into the Confederate lines. On the afternoon of the first of July the Confederates made a gallant attempt to carry Malvern Hill, but were repulised with severe loss. The next morning the Federal army withdrew to Harrison's Landing on the James River. Thus ended the " Seven Days' Battles," during which the Federal army lost about twenty thousand men in killed, wounded and prisoners, fifty-two pieces of artillery, thirty-five thousand stand of arms, and an enormous quantity of stores of all kinds. The Confederate loss was nineteen thousand five hundred and thirty-three killed, wounded and missing. The retreat of McClellan's army threw the North into the deepest despondency. On the second of July President Lincoln issued a call for three hundred thousand fresh troops. The necessities of the struggle, however, made this force insufficient, and on the fourth of August the President ordered that a draft of three hundred thousand militia should be made and placed in the service of the United States for a period of nine months unless sooner discharged. The States complied with the requisitions upon them, and in the brief period of three months the enormous mass of six hundred thousand fresh troops was raised, armed and placed in the field. Battle of Cedar Mountain. For the protection of Washington the Federal government now collected the com- mands of Banks, Fremont and McDowell in one army, and placed it under command of Major-General John Pope, whose capture of Island No. lo and other points in the west had given him a fair reputation. He assumed his new command with a profiision of boasts, and promised to succeed where McClellan had failed. According to General Pope 1 i,; capture of Richmond was the easiest under- talking in the world. His army towards the latter part of July advanced to the Rapidan. To watch this force General Lee, late in July, sent General Jackson's corps to the Rapidan. On the ninth of August Jackso-- attacked the advanced corps of Pope's army at Cedar Mountain, and defeated it. This, defeat suspended General Pope's forward^ movement. General McClellan now received orders from Washington to evacuate Harri- son's Landing and to reinforde General Pope with his- army. He at once put this order in execution. The withdrawal of his troops was detected by General Lee, who rapidly reinforced Jackson, and finally moved with his whole army to the Rapidan. Daring Flank Movement. About the same time Burnside's corps, which had been withdrawn from the southern coast, and was awaiting orders in Hampton Roads, was directed to move into the Potomac and reinforce Pope. General Pope had now under his command a force of over one hundred thousand men. The Confed- erate army, which was concentrated upon the Rapidan by the eighteenth of August, num- bered about seventy thousand men. Its strength was greatly overestimated by Gen- eral Pope, who deemed it most prudent to retire behind the Rappahannock, which he did on the eighteenth and nineteenth of August. His new position was well chosen. His right was at Rappahannock Station, and his left at Kelley's ford, some distance lower down the river. General Lee now resolved to attack Pope before he could be joined by McClellan's troops. He divided his army into two columns, and sent Jackson's corps by a cir- cuitous route, by way of Thoroughfare Gap, to gain the rear of the Federal arm}- This- 714 THE CIVIL WAR. daring flank march was accomplished by | trains loaded with supplies. Upon learning Jackson, and on the twenty-sixth of August | of this movement Pope at once fell back PORTRAITS OF PROMINENT FEDERAL GENERALS. he captured Manassas Junction, Pope's main i from the Rappahannock, intending to crush depot of supplies, with an enormous quantity the isolated corps of Jackson, and at the £)f stores of all kinds, and several railroad same time Lee set off rapidly by way ol ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. /^3 Thoroughfare Gap to join his endangered lieutenant. Pope's army had been reinforced by the corps of Porter and Heintzelman, and Rey- nolds' division of McClellan's army, and was at least one hundred and twenty thousand strong. He moved back rapidly to attack- Jackson, and encountered Ewell's division near Manassas Junction on the twenty- seventh. Powell held his ground, and at night rejoined Jackson, who moved swiftly from Manassas to a new position near the old Bull Run battle-field. This brought him fiearer to Lee, and secured his retreat in case •of a defeat. Ewell's resistance deceived ■General Pope, who had posted McDowell's and Porter's corps to hold the road from Thoroughfare Gap, by which Lee must advance to Jackson's assistance. Supposing that Jackson meant to make a stand at Manassas, Pope ordered these troops to move from the positions they had taken and to advance upon Manassas Junction. Manassas was reached at noon on the twenty- eighth, and then General Pope saw for the first time how he had been deceived by Jackson, and how he had blundered in leaving the road from Thoroughfare Gap open to Lee. His command was in a critical position, and he was so situated that he could not make the best use of the forces which were at his disposal Repulse of the Union Forces. r He endeavored to repair his error by at- tacking Jackson at once. He did attack that general in his new position late in the afternoon of the twenty-eighth, but was re- pulsed with severe loss. On the same after- noon General Lee with Longstreet's corps forced the passage of Thoroughfare Gap, and bivouacked that night in the open country beyond it. On the morning of the twenty- ninth he pushed forward with speed, and by noon his advanced division reached Jack- son's position. By four o'clock in the after- noon the Confederate army was reunited under the command of General Lee. About three o'clock in the afternoon General Pope determined to attack upon Lee's position, but was repulsed. On the thirtieth, having reunited all the corps of his army. General Pope determined to risk the fate of the campaign upon a de- cisive engagement. The Confederates held a large part of the old battlefield of Bull Run, and the conflict which ensued is usually MAJOR-GENERAL PHILIP KEARNEY. known as the second battle of Bull Run. It resulted in the defeat of General Pope, who was driven back to the heights of Centre- ville with heavy loss. On the thirty-first Jackson attacked the Federal rear-guard at Chantilly. A spirited encounter took place, and the Federal troops were slowly forced back, losing General Phil Kearney, one of the most accomplished officers in the service. General Pope now withdrew liis army within the lines of Washington. He had lost since the opening of the campaign over thirty thousand men, includ- ing eight generals killed, thirty pieces o; artillery, over twenty thousand stand ot 7l6 THE CIVIL WAR. arms, and an enormous quantity of stores. The Confederate loss was nine thousand one hundred and twelve, including five generals. The defeat of the Union army and the presence of the Confederates on the Poto- mac placed the city of Washington in great danger. The government acted with vigor and decision in this emergency. The losses of Pope's army were made up by reinforce- ments. General Pope was relieved of com- mand, and General McClellan was restored to the command of the army of the Potomac. He set to work with energy to reorganize the broken masses of Pope's army into an effective force. McClellan at South Mountain. General Lee now crossed the Potomac and invaded Maryland, hoping to be able not only to remove the war from the soil of Vir- ginia, but also to obtain large reinforcements from the southern sympathizers in Maryland. In this he was disappointed, as scarcely an)' one joined him. On the fifth of September he crossed the Potomac, and on the sixth occupied Frederick City. Harper's Ferry was held by a force of eleven thousand men under Colonel Mile.'--, and it was necessary to reduce this post in order to preserve the com- munications of the Confederate army with its own country. General Jackson was despatched with his corps to capture Harp- er's Ferry. He promptly carried the heights overlooking the town, and on the fifteenth of September the town and garrison surren- dered to him after a feeble resistance. General Lee in the meantime had taken position at South Mountain to await the issue of Jackson's attack upon Harper's Ferry. McClellan, advancing slowly from Washington, reached Frederick on the twelfth of September. There he found a copy of General Lee's confidential order to his corps commanders, which had been lost by some one. This document gave the Con- federate plan of operations, and enabled McClellan to act u'ith certainty in directing his own movements. Hastening forward he attacked General Lee at South Mountain on the fourteenth of September, and after a stubborn fight Lee fell back behind Antietsm Creek, and on the morning of the seven- teenth was joined there by the troops of Jackson, who had made a forced march from Harper's Ferry. The Confederate army numbered about forty thousand men, having been terribly reduced by the straggling of the men on the march through Virginia. The Federal army numbered over eighty tliousand men, and" was eager for a contest. The prolonged- resistance of Harper's Ferry, and the losses of his army by straggling, had defeated Lee's plan of campaign. He was now compelled to retire across the Potomac, and he halted on the Antietam only to secure the reunion of Jackson's corps with his army and a safe passage of the Potomac. Battle of Antietam. On the morningof the seventeenth of Sep- tember General McClellan attacked the Con- federate army in force, but it held its ground during the day, both armies at nightfall occu- pying about the same positions they had held in the morning. The Federal loss was twelve thousand four hundred and sixty-nine, includ- ing thirteen generals wounded, one mortally ; that of the Confederates eight thousand seven hundred and ninety, including three generals killed, five wounded. The eighteenth pass- ' quietly away, and that night Lee silen: withdrew from his position and retreateu across the Potomac. He retired up the valley to Winchester. The Federal army moved to the vicinity of Harper's Ferry, and' did not cross the Potomac until the i-econd' of November. 7i8 THE CIVIL WAR. Upon entering Virginia General McClellan moved towards the Rappahannock, with the design of interposing his army between Lee and Richmond. General Lee at once left the valley where he had been detained by the necessity of watching McClellan, and by a rapid march to Warrenton, placed his army between Richmond and McClellan. The Federal army continuing to advance, he fell back to Culpepper Court-house, and McClel- lan moved forward to the vicinity of Warren- VIEW OF ANTIETAM BATTLE GROUND. ton. On the seventh of November, when about to resume his advance, McClellan, whose conduct of the campaign had not pleased either President Lincoln or the people of the North, was removed from the com- mand of the Army of the Potomac, which was conferred upon General Ambrose E. Burnside. Burnside at once advanced to the banks of the Rappahannock opposite Fredericksburg, intending to pass the river at that place and move upon Richmond. Upon his arrival at Falmouth, opposite Fredericksburg, he found? the Confederate army strongly posted on the heights in the rear of the latter place, pre- pared to dispute his advance. He crossed the Rappahannock on the eleventh and twelfth of December, and on. the thirteenth attacked the Confederate posi- tion, which had been strongly entrenched He was repulsed with a loss of eleven thou- sand men, and compelled to retreat across the Rappahannock. This terrible reverse greatly disheart- ened the Arn:iy of the Potomac, and destroyed its faith in its commander; and so the year closed gloomily for the Union cause in, the east. In the fall of 1862 President Lincoln took the bold step of issu- ing a proclamation' announcing that if the seceded States did not return to their allegiance to the Union, he would declare all. the negro slaves within their limits free from the first of January next. This proclamation was issued' on the twenty-second of September, imme- diately after the battle of Antietam. The army and navy of the United States were to enforce the terms of this proclamation, and from the new year there was to be no more slavery within the limits of the Union. The proclamation was avowedly a war meas- ure, buc it was sustained by Congress by appropriate legislation during the ensuing winter CHAPTER XLII The Administration of Abraham Lincoln — The Civil War — Concluded. The Emancipation Proclamation — Battle of Chancellorsville — Death of Stonewall Jackson — Invasion of the North by Lee's Army — Battle of Gettysburg — Retreat of Lee into Virginia — Grant's Army Crosses the Mississippi — Battle of Champion Hills — Investment of Vicksburg — Surrender of Vicksburg and Port Hudson — Cattle of Chickamauga — Rosecrans Shut Up in Chattanooga — Grant in Command of the Western Armies — Battles of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge — Defeat of Bragg's Army — The Campaign in East Tennessee — Retreat of Longstreet — Capture of Galveston — Attack on Charleston — Capture of Fort Wagner — Charleston Bombarded — State of Affairs in the Spring of 1864 — The Red River Expedition — Grant Made Lieutenant-General — Advance of the Army of the Potomac — Battle of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania and Cold Harbor — Sheridan's Raid— Death of General J. E. B. Stuart — Battle of New Market — Early Sent into the Valley of Virginia — Butler's Army at Bermuda Hundreds — Grant Crosses the James River — The Siege of Petersburg Begun — Early's Raid upon Washington — Sheridan Defeats Early at Winchester and Fisher'sHill — Battle of Cedar Creek — The Final Defeat of Early's Army — Sherman's Advance to Atlanta — Johns- ton Removed — Defeat of Hood Before Atlanta — Evacuation of Atlanta — Hood's Invasion of Tennessee — Battle of Franklin — Siege of Nashville — Hood Defeated at Nashville — His Retreat— Sherman's " March to Sea " — Capture of Savannah — Battle of Mobile Bay — Attack on Fort Fisher — The Confederate Cruisers— Sinking of the " Alabama " by the" Kearsarge " — Re-election of President Lincoln — Admission of Nevada into the Union — The Hampton Roads Peace Conference — Capture of Fort Fisher — Occupation of Wilmington — Sherman Advances through South Carolina — Evacuation of Charleston — Battles of Averasboro' and Bentonville — Sherman at Goldsboro' — Critical Situation of Lee's Army — Attack on Fort Steadman — Sheridan Joins Grant — Advance of Grant's Army — Battle of Five Forks^ — Attack on Petersburg — Evacuation of Richmond and Petersburg — Retreat of Lee's Army — Richmond Occupied — Surrender of General Lee"s Army — Rejoicings in the North — Assassination of President Lincoln — Death of Booth- Execution of the Conspirators — Johnston Surrenders — Surrender of the Other Confederate Forces — Capture of Jeffer- son Davis — Close of the War. IN accordance with his proclamation of September 22, 1862, President Lincoln, on the first of January, 1863, issued his proclamation of emancipation, in which he declared all the slaves within the limits of the Confederate States free from that day. The plan of campaign adopted by the Federal government for 1863 was very much like that of the previous year. In the east the Army of the Potomac was to push for- ward towards Richmond ; and in the west the army of General Grant was to capture Vicksburg, and thus open the Mississippi, after which it was to march eastward, unite with the forces of General Rosecrans and occupy East Tennessee, thus cutting the communication between the Border and the Gulf States. In addition to these operations an expedition against Charleston, South Ca- rolina, was to be attempted. The Army of the Potomac was greatly disheartened by its defeat at Fredericksburg, and had lost confidence in General Burnside. That commander, at his own request, was removed from the command, and was suc- ceeded by General Joseph Hooker on the twenty-fifth of January. Hooker at once began the reorganization of his army, and soon brought it to a splendid state of eflfi- ciency. By the opening of the spring it numbered one hundred and twenty thousand men and four hundred pieces of artillery. General Lee had remained in his position back of Fredericksburg all winter, and his 719 f20 PORTRAITS t :30ME Q¥ THE GENERALS OF THE IRMY Oi THE POTOMAC I GEN. P. H. SHERIDAN ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 721 army '.iad been weakened by the withdrawal of General Longstreet's corps, twenty-four thousand strong, by the Confederate govern- ment, leaving him about fifty thousand men. General Hooker, upon learning of Lee's weakened condition, determined to attack him. He divided his army into two columns, One of these, consisting of the Second, Fifth, Eleventh, and Twelfth army corps, under his own command, was to cross the Rap- pahannock above Fredericksburg and turn the Confederate position. The other column, consisting of the First, Third, and Sixth corps, under General Sedg- wick, was to cross the river at Fred- ericksburg and attack the heights. Be- tween these forces it was believed that Lee's army would be crushed. On the twenty-seventh of April Hooker moved off with the first column, crossed the river on the twenty-eighth and twent}- ninth at Kelley's Ford, and on the thir- tieth took position at Chancellorsville, on the left and in the rear of Lee's forti- fied line. On the twenty-ninth General Sedgwick crossed his column about three miles below Fredericksburg, and during that day and the thirtieth made demon- strations as though he intended to assault the southern position in the rear of the town. oreneral Lee's situation was now cri- tical, and demanded the most extra- ordinary exertions of him. Leaving a small force to hold the heights in the rear of Fredericksburg, he moved with his main body towards Chancellorsville, where Hooker had intrenched himself with about eighty thousand men. His onl}' hope of safety lay in defeating this force before Sedgwick's column could arrive to its assist- ance. On the second of May he sent Jack- son's corps to turn the Federal right, and with the remainder of his force, deceived 46 Hooker into the belief that he meant to storm the intrenched position of the Federal army. Jackson performed his flank march with success, and on the afternoon of the second of May made a fierce attack upon the Federal right, and drove it in upon its centre. In this attack he received a mortal wound, of which he died on the tenth ol GENERAL JOHN SEDGWICK. The next day, the third, having reunited Jackson's corps with his main force, Lee attacked Hooker at Chancellorsville, and drove him back to the junction of the Rap- pahannock and Rapidan rivers. He was preparing to storm this new position when he learned that Sedgwick had defeated the force left to hold the heights of Fredericks- burg on the third of May, and was marching against him. His danger was now greater 722 THE CIVIL WAR. than ever. Leaving a part of his army to hold Hooker in check, he marched rapidly to meet Sedgwick. He encountered him at Salem Heights on the fourth of May, and compelled him to recross the Rappahannock GENERAL GEORGE G. MEADE ^t Banks' Ford. Then moving back towards Hooker's position Lee prepared to storm it. General Hooker, however, disheartened by Sedgwick's defeat, withdrew his army across the Rappahannock on the night of the fifth, and returned to his old position on the north side of that stream, having lost twelve thuu sand men and fourteen pieces of artillery in the battle of Chancellorsville. The Confederate loss was also heavy. Out of an army of about fifty thousand men, ten thou- sand two hundred and eighty-one were killed, , wounded and captured. The victory was dearly bought by the Confed- erates by the death of Stonewall Jackson, who- was worth fully fifty thousand men to their cause. At the moment of his success againf^ the Federal right, he wa shot down by his own men, who mistook his escort for a party of Federal cavalry. The success of the Confederates in Virginia was more than counter- balanced by their re- verses in the West and Southwest. The South- ern government, anxious to change the course of the war by a bold stroke, decided to fol- low up the victory at Chancellorsville by an invasion of the North by Lee's army. This army was reinforced heavily and by the last of May numbered seventy thou sand infantry and artillery, and ten thou- sand cavalry. General Hooker's army, on the other hand, had been reduced by deser- tions and expirations of enlistments, to about eighty thousand men, making the two forces about equal. ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 723 On the third of June, 1863, Lee began his forward movement, and marching through the valley of Virginia, captured Winchester, which was held by General Milroy's com- mand, on the fourt enth, taking four thou- sand prisoners and twenty-nine pieces of cannon. On the twenty-second of June the ■Potomac was crossed at Williamsport, and the Confederate army moved towards Hagers- town, Maryland. General Hooker had fol- lowed Lee from the Rappahannock, and had manoeuvred his army so as to interpose it between the Confederates and Washington. Invasion of the North. On the twenty-third the advanced corps of Lee's army, under General Evvell, occupied Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, and on the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth. General Hooker crossed the Potomac at Edward's Ferry, and marched to Frederick, Maryland. He was anxious to withdraw the garrison of Harper's Ferry, 'which had retired from that place to the Maryland heights, opposite the town, but the war department refused to allow him to do so. Hooker thereupon relin- quished the command of the army, and was succeeded by Major-General George G. Meade, the senior corps commander, and a soldier of genuine ability. General Lee now moved his army east of the mountains, and directed his advance towards Gettysburg. In ignorance of his adversary's design, Gen- eral Meade hastened forward to occupy the saine point. The invasion of Pennsylvania by the Con- federate army aroused the most intense ex- citement in the North. President Lincoln called out one hundred thousand militia to serve for six months, unless sooner dis- charged, and as far north as New York, preparations were made to receive the Con- federate army with a stubborn resistance should it succeed in penetrating so far. Every effort was made to raise troops and forward them to General Meade in time to be of service to him. On the morning of the first of July, the left wing of the army of the Potomac, under General Reynolds, and the advanced corps of Lee's army, under Generals A. P. Hill and Ewell, encountered each other at Gettysburg. General Reynolds was forced back and killed. General Hancock was at once sent by Gen- eral Meade to assume the command of the left wing, and upon his arrival he at once recognized the importance of the position at Gettysburg, and occupied it. He was promptly reinforced by General Meade, and by the afternoon of the second of July, the army of the Potomac was securely posted on the heights known as Cemetery Ridge. The Confederate army took position on the opposite hills known as Seminary Ridge. Between the two armies lay the battle-field on which the engagement of the first of July was fought. Heavy skirmishing prevailed throughout the day on the second, the advan- tage being with the Confederates. Great Battle at Gettysburg. On the third of July General Lee made a general attack upon the Federal position on Cemetery Ridge, which, very strong by nature, had been rendered impregnable by entrenchments. His attack was made with determination, and was a splendid exhi- bition of American courage, which won for his troops the generous admiration of their adversaries ; but it was unsuccessful. The grand charge of the Confederates was made in the afternoon, and was repulsed with ter- • rible slaughter. Still Lee's position was so strong, and the morale of his army so unim- paired, that General Meade deemed it best to remain satisfied with his victory, and not to risk its fruits by an attack upon the Con- federate lines. 724 THE CIVIL WAR. The stirring events on the third and last day of the b^ "ile are vividly described by John Laird Wilson, the eminent war corres- pondent and historian. Mr. Wilson's account is as follows : " As early as three o'clock on the morn- ing of the third, there were signs of activity attack by discharging his pistol. The battle at once became general. A fearful struggle ensued. A heavy artillery fire was opened at once on the enemy's position. But, as the ground was rugged and broken and also covered with trees, and as every advantage was taken of places of shelter and conceal- GENERAL PICKETT'S FAMOUS CHARGE AT GETTYSBURG .-n the enemy's from It was evident that an i ment. the. fight partook very much c' the attack was intended ; and Geary, having been informed by General Kane, who commanded his first brigade, of what was going on. character of sharpshooting on a grand scale. " As the battle progressed the contestants got intermingled, and it became more and resolved to seize whatever advantage might I more difficult to use the artillery. The Con- be gained by opening the battle himself. His 1 federates not only held their position, but men were aroused; and at twenty minutes ' charged again and again, in heavy masses, before four o'clock, he gave the signal for i on the National lines, only, however, to be ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 725 repulsed with tremendous loss. The slaugh- ter was terrible. The sun arose ; the day advanced ; the air became clouded with dust and smoke ; the heat became almost intoler- able ; but still the battle raged. At last there is a lull in the long-continued tempest. Then, suddenly, there is a fierce yell from thousands of throats ; and Ewell's men, hav- ing gathered up their strength for a final effort, are seen rushing forward with tremen- dous fury. They are allowed to come within easy musket range, when the men in blue, springing to their feet, pour in upon them a deliberate volley. It was the last charge on this part of the line. Discomfited and dis- couraged, torn and bleeding, their dead and wounded companions piled in heaps on the ground where they fell, the survivors drew back through the woods towards Rock Creek, fighting as they retired, with a courage which commanded the admiration of their foes. The Victors Exultant. " Shouts of victory now filled the air. ' Men,' says one who was present and shared in the triumph, ' cheered themselves hoarse, laughed, rolled themselves on the ground, and threw their caps high in the air, while others shook hands with comrades, and thanked God that the Star Corps had again triumphed.' Geary, not disposed to allow the Confederates to re-forru, as soon as this charge was repelled, made a vigorous coun- ter-charge ; and the enemy, yielding easily, the breastworks were reoccupied, and the right flank secured. Thus ended the fighting on the right. " Ewell had been completely baffled in his plan. He had flung away his opportunity the night before ; and to reclaim it he had now done his best, and failed. He could not find fault with his men ; for never, even under Jackson, had they fought more bravely. ' It cannot be denied,' says General Kane, who, with his glorious first brigade, of Geary's division, bore the burden of that morning's fight, ' that they fought most courageously.' But they were pitted against men of equal bravery, of equal determination with them- selves — men who were now on their own soil, and fighting for the sanctity of their own homes. s. " Never, perhaps, before, since the war com- menced, had the fighting been more deter- mined and severe than it was during those long, dreary morning hours. The ground,, after the battle, red with gore, and thickly covered with the bodies of the slain, gave evidence of the terrible character of the struggle. The grey and the blue uniforms were sometimes found in one common heap. Some poor fellows, after hours of suffering^ and having almost bled t'^ death, were found writhing in mortal agony. The wood in which the battle raged was ' torn and rent with shells and solid shot, and pierced with innumerable minie balls.' In the following- summer, the trees were leafless, as if the-^ mute but stalwart giants of the forest had- yielded up their lives with those who fell beneath their shade. An Ominous Silence. " It was now shortly after ten o'clock. The last sounds of battle had died away. There was silence over the whole battle field. It was evident, however, that preparations were being made inside the Confederate lines for another gigantic and possibly crowning- effort. The morning sky had been obscured by broken clouds. As the forenoon advan- ced, the clouds dispersed ; and a hot Jul> sun poured down his rays w-ith a tropical intensity. Pickett's division, of Longstreet's corps, which had not come up on the pre vious day, had now arrived on the field Stuart, also, after his long detour, had joine* 726 THE CIVIL WAR. Lee with his cavalry. It soon began to be manifest that the point of attack was to be the National left centre — the depressed part of the ridge immediately north of Little Round Top. By noon, the guns were got into position on the ridge occupied by Long- street and Hill. Meade had an abundant supply of the same instruments of war ; but owing to the peculiarity of the ground, he could only, out of the three hundred guns, make use of eighty, against those of the enemy. Loud Thunder of Guns. " About one o'clock, the report of a Whit- worth gun was heard. It was the signal for attack. Seminary Hill seemed as if swept with a tongue of flame. Then came the loud, thundering roar of artillery ; and one hundred and forty five guns, from their angry mouths, poured death and destruction on the National lines. The National commanders ordered their men to lie flat on the earth, and to take every advantage of objects of pro- tection. All this was done ; but, notwith- standing every precaution, the destruction of life and property was terrible. Solid shot, chain-shot, shrapnel, shells, fell with deadly effect inside the National lines. Men and horses were dreadfully cut up; caissons filled with ammunition were exploded; and gun- carriages and other pieces of war material were shattered to pieces. The shot and shell and canister fell thick and fast in and around General Meade's headquarters, killing men and horses, ripping up the roof and knocking away the pillars of the cottage. i " General Hunt, Meade's chief of artillery, v/as in no haste to reply. Waiting until the first hostile outbreak spent itself, he then ordered the batteries to open fire. Instantly, the whole ridge, from Cemetery Hill to the Round Tops, seemed ablaze. The din was terrific, the thundec of artillery rivalling, in fierce grandeur, the most magnificent displays of nature. For two hours this artillery duel lasted ; and, during that time, war was ex- hibited in its sublimer and more imposing aspects. " At the expiration of two hours, there was a lull in the cannonade. Hunt, dreading the possible exhaustion of his ammunitions and not willing to bring up loads of it from the rear, lest it should be exploded, had ordered a gradual slackening of the fire. The Confederates were deceived. It was Lee's belief that he had silenced all the enemy's guns, except a few which still kept firing from a clump of woods. Now came the more serious business of war. The fire of the Confederate guns also slackened; and the columns of attack were seen forming on the edge of the woods which crown the summit of Seminary Ridge. It was just three o'clock. When formed, the front was about a mile in extent ; and, as it emerged from the woods, and began to move steadily and firmly down the slope of Seminary Ridge, a thrill of admiration passed through the National ranks. It was a splendid sight, and well fitted to call forth admiration, even in the breast of an enemy. The fresh division of Pickett, composed mostly of veteran Vir- ginians, was singled out and appointed to lead the van. Pickett's men- were formed and arranged in double line of battle. The attacking force numbered about eighteen thousand men. Ammunition Exhausted. " The distance between the two lines of battle was about a mile. For the attacking party there was a hill to descend and a hill to climb, and a valley between. It was matter of observation that, as the columns advanced, the Confederate guns were silent. 'Why?' was the question put by the men Avho were rushing into the jaws of death. 'Why?* POSITIONS DURING THE FIRST L»AV S FlGai" AT GETTYSBURG. POSITIONS DURING THE SECOND AND THIRD DAYS AT GETTYSBURG. 727 728 said the men on the heights behind, ' Why ?' said the Nationals on the heights in front. The reason was not known till afterwards. It was not then known to Lee himself. His ammunition was already exhausted. The silence of the guns in their rear did not affect the firm and steady step of the advancing , columns. It did not encourage the Nationals to slacken their artillery fire. On came Longstreet's men, in face of the withering tempest of bullet and canister and shell which, at each successive step, decimated their front. On, on they came; and it was already a question in the National ranks whether their own thin line of defense could resist the fierce onset of those firm and com- pact battalions who seemed to fear no fire, to dread no foe. The Green Mountain Troops. " The Nationals, however, were not ill pre- pared for the attack. Doubleday was on the left, with Stannard's brigade of Vermont troops well advanced in a little grove on his own right, and at an angle with the main Ime. Hancock was more to the right with his two divisions of Gibbon and Hays in front. From the direction in which the assaulting columns were moving, it seemed for a time as if the first heavy blow would fall upon Doubleday. Such, however, was the severity of the artil- ] ,'ry fire from Little Round Top that they were forced to bend more to their own left. Still they moved on, their line of march now bringing them more directly in front of Han- cock's position. " Now came the opportunity for Stannard's brave Ve^monters. They were in no haste to waste their ammunition. The Confederate columns were allowed to come so well for- ward that their right flank was fully exposed. Then, at the signal given, the Vermont men pour forth a well-directed and most destruc- tive fire. Volley succeeds volley in rapid THE CIVIL WAR. succession ; and the now trembling lines,, already torn and tattered, are under the oblique fire of eight batteries in charge of Major McGilvray. Not a few of Pickett's men, unable to endure this terrific fire, were compelled to surrender. The main body, how- ever, presses on, and, inclining still more to his own left, Pickett is moving straight on the divisions of Gibbon and Hays. ' Hold your fire, boys ! they are not near enough yet,,'" was Gibbon's injunction as he moved calmly and composedly along the ranks. The rifled guns of the National artillery, having fired away all their canister, were now withdrawn to await the issue of the struggle between the opposing infantry. The hostile lines are now within two and three hundred yards of the National front. Gibbon and Hays simul- taneously open upon the advancing columns a most destructive fire. The response is swift and well directed, the Confederates using their muskets for the first time since they began to face this terrific storm of artil- lery and musketry. All at once the battle becomes general. Terror and Confusion. "The swing made by the advancing col- umns to their own left, after the terrific blow received by them from Stannard, had the effect of flinging Pettigrew, who commanded Heth's division, of Hill's corps, well towards Hays' right. Pettigrew's men were, for the most part, North Carolina troops, and were- comparatively raw and unused to battle. They had been deceived into the belief that they would meet only the Pennsylvania mili- tia. They were quickly undeceived. Hays'" men were admirably posted. His right was- well advanced ; and the nature of the ground' was such as to enable him to open a simul- taneous fire on Pettigrew's troops, not only with his right and front, but also with sev- eral lines in his rear. Woodruff's battery ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 729. was also in position; and the destructive effects of a very tempest of bullets were to be aggravated by showers of grape and canister. "All at once, this tremendous fire fell upon the already torn and decimated lines on Pickett's left; and they knew they were in the presence of the Army of the Potomac. There was no. more fight in them. Terror- stricken, Pettigrew's men broke in utter con- fusion, large numbers of them flinging down their arms, and accepting mercy at the hands of their antagonists. General Pettigrew him- self was wounded ; but, being able to retain command, he vainly strove to rally his men. Fifteen colors, and two thousand prisoners rewarded the skill and activity with which Hays met the threatened attack. " While disaster was thus befalling the Confederate columns on the right and left^ Pickett's brave Virginians were pressing forward vigorously towards Gibbon's front, and were about to fall with all their weight on Owen's brigade, now temporarily com- manded by General Webb. The Final Struggle. " In spite of the dreadful fire of artillery and musketry which was mowing down their ranks, Pickett's men rush bravely on. They are now close to the stone wall. The two National regiments in front, yield and fall back to the regiment in the rear. Webb and his officers are at hand ; the retreating regi- ments are quickly rallied and re-formed ; and the second line is held. But the Confederates have pushed themselves over the breast- works, and planted their battle flags on the wall. The struggle now becomes fierce and terrific in the extreme. It is a hand-to-hand conflict, man facing man, and fighting with the energy of despair. The clothes of the men are actually being burned by the powder of the exploding cartridges •, and the National cannoneers, refusing to retires ?i clubbed' and bayoneted at their guns. " Pickett, however, is now left entirdy alone. The forces which were intended to cover his left have been defeated, captured or driven from the field. Wilcox, whose duty it was- te come up and cover his right, has failed to advance. The right of his own division has been badly cut up and destroyed. Hancock, who this day revealed all the qualities of a great commander in actual conflict, now massed his men on the point which was in danger. Hall and Harrow, who had now no longer an enemy in their front, were brought over with their brigades to reinforce the centre. The Nineteenth Massachusetts, Col- onel Devereux, and Mallou's Forty-Second' New York, both of Gate's brigade, of Double- day's division, of the First corps, were moved' in the same direction. " Stannard, at the same time, moved for- ward two of his Vermont regiments to strike the enemy on the right flank. The situation, Hancock tells us, 'had now become very pecu- liar. The men of all the brigades had, in some measure, lost their regimental organiza- tion, but ■ndividually, they were firm. The ambition of in^nvidual commanders to cover the point penetrated by the enemy, the smoke of the battle and the intensity of the engage- ment caused this confusion. The point, how- ever, was covered. In regular formation, our line would have stood four ranks deep.' Pickett's men were now pressed on all sides. " The colors of the different National regi- ments were well advanced. Cheered by the words, and fired by the example of their officers, the men pressed bravely forward. It is the climax of the fight ; but the end is at hand. Pickett's men had done their best and their utmost — they had fought like true heroes ; but now, utterly overpowered, and reduced to the last stage of desperation, they I give up the fight. Flinging their arms from 710 THE CIVIL WAR. them, many of them raise their hands in token of surrender; others upon the MAP SHOWING VICKSBURG AND ITS APPROACHES ground to escape the desti active fire ; the ^remainder seek safety in precipitate flight. " In this last struggle, Gibbon's division took twelve colors and two thousand five hundred prisoners. So far, Hancock had captured twenty- seven battle flags and four thousand five hundred pris- oners. It was a magnificent trophy. The losses on both sides were very heavy. The face of the hill and the low ground was literally covered with the dead and wounded. In no previous battle had the officers suffered so severely. On the National side large numbers had been struck down, Generals Gibbon and Hancock being among the wounded. The Confederates left on the field fourteen of their field-officers, only one of that rank escaping unhurt; and, of the three brigade com- manders, of Pickett's division, Garnett was killed, Armitage fell within the National lines, fatally wounded, and Kemper was carried off the field, dan- gerously hurt." The victory was decisive. It put an end to the Confed- erate invasion. On the night of the fourth of July General Lee withdrew from Seminary Ridge and retreated to the Potomac, which he crossed on the thirteenth and four- teenth without serious opposi- tion from the Federal army. On the fifteenMi Lee moved back to Winchester. The Fed- eral loss at Gettysburg was twenty-three thousand, and that of the Con- federates about the same. ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. On the seventeenth and eighteenth of July fGeneral Meade crossed the Potomac below Harper's Ferry, and moving east of the Blue Ridge, endeavored to place his army between Lee and Richmond. The Confederate com- mander by rapid marches reached Culpepper Court-house in advance of him, however, and about the first of August occupied the line of the Rappahannock. The remainder of the year witnessed but one important oper- 731 the Federal arms. At the opening of the year the army of General Grant lay on the Mississippi above Vicksburg, assisted by the fleet of gunboats under Admiral Porter. The first three months of the year were passed by the Federal army in a series of movements along the Yazoo River, the result of which was to convince General Grant that Vicks- burg could not be taken from that quarter. He therefore determined upon a new and VICKSBURG, MISSISSIPPI. ation.by the armies in Virginia. In October 'General Lee made a sudden forward move- ment for the purpose of throwing his army between Meade and Washington, but the latter eluded him and reached Centreville in safety. Lee then withdrew to the Rapidan, and the army of the Potomac took position on the north side of that stream. Both armies passed the winter there. In the west and southwest success crow^ned more daring plan of operations. He 'ecided to march his army across the Louisiana shore from Milliken's bend, above Vicksburg, to New Carthage, below that city, and to run his gunboats and transports by the bat- teries. Should the boats succeed in passing, he meant to cross his command to the Missis- sippi shore, and attack Vicksburg from the rear. By investing the city, from the land ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. "33 side his flanks would rest upon and be cov- •eredby the Mississippi, and he could re-estab- lish communication between his riijht wing and his base of supplies at Milliken's Bend. The plan was daring in the highest degree, and required the greatest skill and resolution in its execution. In order to retain their hold upon the Mis- sissippi the Confederates had fortified Vicks- burg with great care; Port Hudson, about two hundred and forty miles lower down the river, had also been fortified, but not so strongly as Vicksburg. As long as the Con- federates held these points they were able to keep a considerable extent of the river open to themselves and closed to the Union gun- boats. Preparing for the Struggle. Thus they were enabled to cross in safety the enormous herds of beef cattle which they drew from the rich pastures of Texas for their armies east of the Mississippi. A strong force held the works at Port Hudson. Vicks-" burg was occupied by a large garrison, and was under the command of Lieutenant-Gen- eral John C. Pemberton, who, with an army of about thirty thousand men, independent of the garrison of Vicksburg, held the country in the rear of that city. Appreciating the importance of defeating the Federal army in this quarter, the Confederate Government, in the spring of 1863, sent General Joseph E. Johnston to take command of all the forces in Mississippi. It failed to supply him with a proper force of troops, and General Pem- berton treated his orders with open defiance. Grant having completed his preparations moved his army from Milliken's Bend to a point on the Louisiana shore opposite Grand Gulf. On the night of the sixteenth of April a division of gunboats and transports ran by the Vicksburg batteries, suffering severely from the heavy fire to which they were exposed for a distance of eight miles. On the night ot the twenty-second a second division passed the batteries with similar loss. Once below Vicksburg, however, the boats were safe. They then proceeded to Grant's position on the river below. On the twenty-ninth of April the gunboats attacked the batteries at Grand Gulf, but were repulsed. The troops were then marched to a point opposite Bruins- burg, Mississippi, and the gunboats and transports were run by the Grand Gulf bat- teries. On the first of May the Federal army was ferried across to the Mississippi shore, and at m GENERAL JOHN C. PEMBERTON. once began its march into the interior. Near Port Gibson a part of Pemberton's army was encountered and defeated on the same day. This success compelled the evacuation of Grand Gulf by the Confederates. Grant now boldly threw his army between Johnston's forces at Jackson and Pemberton's army, intending to hold the former in check, and drive the latter within the defences of Vicks- burg. On the fourteenth of May he attacked Johnston at Jackson, the capital of Missis- sippi, and forced him to retreat northward towards Canton. Then turning upon Pem- berton he attacked him at Champion Hills, or Baker's Creek, on the sixteenth, and 734 THE CIVIL WAR. inflicted a severe defeat upon him. Pem- berton withdrew towards the Big Black River, and the next day met a second defeat there. He now retreated within the defences of Vicksburg, which place was promptly invested by Grant's army. On the nineteenth of May Grant attempted to carry the Confederate position by assault, but was repulsed with heavy loss. The assault was repeated with a like result on the twenty-second. There remained then nothing but a regular siege. This was :^:g!^p^ GRANTS HEADQUARTERS NEAR VICKSBURC pressed with vigor, and the city was sub- jected to a terrible bombardment, which caused great suffering to the people. While the siege was carried on Johnston's army was held back, and prevented from under- taking any movement for the relief of Vicks- burg. At length, reduced to despair by the steady approach of the Union trenches, Pem- berton surrendered the city and his army to General Grant on the fourth of July. By this surrender thirty thousand prisoners, two hundred and fifty cannon, and sixty thousand stand of arms, together with a large quaTU*- tity of military stores, fell into the hands ol the Union forces. It was justly esteemec, the greatest victory of the war. While the siege of Vicksburg was in pro- gress, General Banks ascended the Mis- sissippi from New Orleans and laid siege to Port Hudson. Upon hearing of the fall of Vicksburg, the Confederate commander sur- rendered the post and his army of sixty-two- hundred and thirty-three men to General Banks, on the eighth of July. These victories wrested from the Confederates their last hold upon the Mississippi. They cre- ated the most intense rejoicing in the Northern and Western States, and a corresponding depres- sion in the South. Being simultaneous with the defeat of the Southern army at Gettysburg, they were regarded as deci- sive of the war: as indeed they were. PVom this- time we shall trace the declining fortunes of the Southern Confederacy and the gradual but steady re-establishment of the authority of the Union over che Southern States. After the battle of Murfreesboro', or Stor. River, the army of Genera. Rosecrans- remained quietly in winter quarters at Nash- ville and Murfreesboro'. Bragg's army passed the winter at Chattanooga. Towards, the last of June Rosecrans moved forward from Nashville, and advancing slowly threat- ened Bragg's communications with Rich- mond. The Confederate commander had no wish to emulate the example of Pemberton ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 735 at Vicksburg, and at once evacuated Chatta- nooga, on the eighth of September, and retired towards Dal- ton, Georgia. This movement, which was interpreted by Rose- crans as a retreat, was designed to secure the union with Bragg's army of Longstreet's corps, which had been detached from Lee's army and sent to join Bragg. This junc- tion was effected on the eighteenth, anc' other reinforcements arrived from Missis- sippi. Thus strength- ened Bragg suddenly wheeled upon > Rose- crans, and on the nine- teenth of September attacked himatChick- amauga. The battle was severe, but inde cisive, and was re- newed the next day. Towards noon, on the twentieth, Rose- crans having greatly weakened the other parts of his line to help the left, which was hard pressed, Longstreet made a fu- rious dash at the weak- ened part, and in an ir- resistible attack swept the Federal right and centre from the field. Rosecrans endeavored io stop the retreat, but was borne along in the dense crov/d of fugitives. Only the left wing, under the command of General George H. Thomas, remained firm. Had that given MAP OF THE CHICKAMAUGA AND CHATTANOOGA CAMPAIGNS. way the rout would have been complete, but all through the long afternoon, Thomas 736 THE CIVIL WAR. DiAGWAIVI I. POSITIONS OF THE ARMIES AT THE BATTLE OF MISSIONARY RIDGE. held on to his position with a grim resolution ! three thousand men which nothing could shake. After nightfall | his assistance, and he withdrew his corps in good order and re- tired upon . Chatta' nooga. The Union loss at Chickamauga was sixteen thousand men and fifty-one guns; Bragg's about eighteen thousand men. Bragg advanced at once upon the defeated army of Rosecrans. which had taken re*- fuge in Chattanooga, occupied the heights commanding the city, and seized the com- munications of the Federal army with Nashville. Thus close- ly besieged, the Union forces suffered consid- erably from a scarcity of provision ;. General Rosecrans was now removed from the command of the Army of the Cum- berland, and General Grant was appointed to the chief command of all the western ar- mies. He at once set to work to extricate the Army of the Cum berland, to the com- mand of which Gen- eral Thomas had suc- ceeded, from its peril- ous situation. Hooker was sent with twenty- from Meade's army to Sherman was ordered ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 737 to march with the force which had taken Vicksburg along the Hne of the railway from Memphis to Chattanooga. The arrival of these reinforcements soon changed the aspect of affairs. On the twenty-third of November the Army of the Cumberland made a vigorous sortie and drove the Confederates from the important position of Orchard Knob. On tlie twenty-fourth, Hooker stormed Lookout Mountain, the left of the Confederate line, and carried it after a hard fight. The invest- ment was now thoroughly broken, and the Confederates were confined to Missionary Ridge, which had formerly constituted the right of their line. On the twenty-fifth, this posi- tion was assaulted by the ■whole strength of the Federal army, and was carried after a stubborn fight. Bragg, beaten at all points, with heavy loss, retreated into Geor- gia, where he was soon after removed from his command and immedi- ately succeeded by Gen- eral Joseph E. Johnston. During the progress of this campaign General Burnside had moved from Kentucky with a force of about twenty-five thousand men, about the time that Rosecrans began his advance from Nashville in June. The strong position of Cumberland Gap was sur- rendered to him with scarcely an effort for its defence by the Confederates, and he moved into East Tennessee. Driving back the Confederate forces, which sought to stop his march, he occupied Knoxville. The object of his expedition was to afford a ral- lying point for the Union men of East Ten- nessee. After the battle of Chickamauga, and the investment of Chattanooga, President 47 Jefferson Davis visited Bragg's army, and being convinced that the capture of Rose- crans' force was inevitable, decided to with- draw General Longstreet's corps from Bragg, and to send it to drive Burnside out of East Tennessee. Longstreet's men were in no condition to undertake such a campaign, but under their energetic commander, succeeded in confining Burnside's army to the defences of Knoxville. The siege of that place w^as formed, and several assaults were made upon the Union works, but were each repulsed with heavy loss. Burnside's men were reduced almost to starvation, but held out with unshaken GRANTS HEADQUARTERS NEAR CHATTANOOGA. resolution. After the defeat of Bragrr at Mis sionary Ridge, Grant ordered Sherman to march with his corps to the relief of Knox- ville. Upon the approach of this force Long- street, on the fourth of December, raised the siege and retreated into Virginia. Beyond the Mississippi the war was car- ried on with varying success throughout the year 1863, but to the general advantage of the Federal forces. On the third of July the Confederates, under General Holmes, attacked Helena, Arkansas, but were re- pulsed. By the close of the year the Con- federate forces had been pressed back as far as the Red River. 738 THE CIVIL WAR. On the first of January, 1863, Galveston, Texas, which had surrendered to the Federal forces in the fall of 1862, was recaptured by the Confederates, under General Magruder. By the capture of this place, the Confederates obtained one more port from which they could maintain communications with and receive supplies from Europe. of land troops, under General'Gilmore, effected a lodgment on the south end of Morris* Island, and secured their position by intrench- merits. The Union parallels were pushed forward steadily towards Fort Wagner, at the north end of the island, and a final assault of that work was ordered. Before the order could CAPTURE OF LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN. In the spring ol 1863, a powerful naval I be executed, Fort Wagner was evacuated on expedition, under Admiral Dupont, was des- ' the night of the sixth of September. The patched against Charleston. On the seventh | Federal batteries on Morris' Island now of April, Dupont attempted to force his way maintained a heavy and constant fire upon into the harbor, but was driven back by the j Fort Sumter, and reduced it to a shapeless forts and batteries, and nine of his iron-clads I mass of rubbish on the land side. Yet, in were severely injured. Early in July, a force I this condition it was strone^er than at first. ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 739 the mass of rubbish offering a more effectual resistance to shot and shell than the walls. The long-range guns on Morris' Island threw shells into the city of Charleston, which was regularly bombarded from this time until its fall, in 1865. The capture of Fort Wagner enabled the Federal forces to close the har- bor of Charleston effectually against blockade runners. In spite of the victories of Chancellorsville and Chickamauga, and the invasion of the North, the close of the year found the South fairly on the downward road to final failure. Missouri was freed from the presence of the Confederate army, and the greater part of Arkansas was held ^^ ^..^ . by the Federal troops. The Mis- sissippi was lost to the South, and the immense supplies ^^^ from the trans-Mis- sissippi region were no longer available to the Confederate forces east of the great river. Tennes- see was occupied by the Federal forces, and the invasion of the North had ended in disaster. The resources of the South were gradually becoming exhausted, and the supply of men was falling off. The North, on the other hand, was increasing in determination. The war had opened new channels of industry, and these had more than repaid the losses of the first period of the struggle. The North was growing richer in spite of the war, while the South was growing poorer because of it. At the end of 1863 the Federal debt had reached the enormous total of ;^ 1,300,000,000, with the certainty of a heavy increase during the coming year. Still the people of the loyal States responded with heartiness to the heavy demands of the Federal government for men and money. Specie had long since disappeared from circulation, but a system of Treasury notes, which were made a legal tender, had replaced coin as a circulating medium. The new paper money was abun- dant, and the North gave few outward signs of distress. Everything spoke of prosperity. The contrast between the condition of the Union and the Confederacy was striking and most suggestive. Early in the spring of 1864 an expedition was sent into that part of Louisiana known as the Red River country. It consisted of a force of ten thousand troops, under Generrl MISSIONARY RIDGE FROM THE CEMETERY AT CHATTANOOGA. Smith, from Vicksburg, and a fleet of gun- boats, under Admiral Porter. On the four- teenth of March Fort de Russy was captured by the troops, and on the twenty-first Natch- itoches was occupied General Banks now arrived with a strong reinforcement of troops from New Orleans, and took command of the expedition. About the first of April he set out for Shreveport, at the head of navigation on the Red River, his army marching along the shore, and the gunboats ascending the stream. The Confederates gathered in heavy force, under the command of General Kirby Smith, to oppose his advance. On the eighth of April the Confederate army attacked Banks at Sabine Cross-Roads, 740 THE CIVIL WAR. near Mansfield, and inflicted a stinging defeat upon him. The Union forces were raUied at Pleasant Hill, where they were attacked by the Confederates on the ninth. The Confed- erates were repulsed, but Banks continued his retreat, and reached Alexandria on the zwenty-fifth of April. The expedition then returned to the Mississippi. Banks was The Red River expedition was thus a total failure, and was a source of great mortifica- tion, as well as serious loss, to the Federal government. Early in March General Grant was raised to the grade of Lieutenant-General, that rank having been revived by act of Congress to reward him for his great services during THE ATTACK ON FORT SUMTER BY THE MONITOR FLEET. relieved of the command at New Orleans, and was succeeded by General Canby. General Steele, commanding the Union forces in Arkanses, had moved from Little Rock, on the twenty-third of March, towards Shreveport, to co-operate with General Banks. He was attacked by the Confed- erates and driven back to Little Rock, which he reached on the second of May. the war. It had been held only by Wash- ington, General Scott having been given only the brevet rank. He was also appointed commander of all the armies of the United States. He decided to assume the immedi- ate direction of the campaign in Virginia, and established his headquarters with the Army of the Potomac. At the same time General W. T. Sherman was appointed to PORTRAITS OF PROMINENT FEDERAL GENERALS 742 THE CIVIL WAR. the command of the military division of the Mississippi, in \vhich were included the Armies of the Cumberland, of the Ohio, and of the Tennessee. The supreme control of the military oper- ations both east and west was vested in Gen- eral Grant — a great gain, inasmuch as the oper- ations in the two quarters of the Union could ^ now be made to assist each other. The plan of the campaign embraced a simultaneous advance of both armies ; the Army of the Potomac was charged with the task of defeat- ing Lee and capturing Richmond ; the west- ern army, under Sherman, was to force John- ston back into Georgia. FORT DE RUSSY. I he Army of the Potomac numbered one hundred and forty thousand men on the first of May, 1864; the Confederate army, under General Lee, about fifty thousand. General Meade retained the immediate command of the Army of the Potomac, but General Grant accompanied it, and directed its movements. On the morning of May 4th — just three days before Sherman moved from Chattanooga — the Federal army crossed the Rapidan, and, turning the right of Lee's position, entered the region known as the Wilderness, Gen- eral Lee determined to attack this force and prevent it from reaching the open country beyond the Wilderness. On the fifth of May he encountered the Army of the Potomac in the Wilderness, near the old battle-field of Chancellorsville. The attack was made by the Federal forces, which endeavored to drive off Lee's army, which blocked the route by which they were advancing. Lee held his ground during the day, and that night both armies bivouacked upon the field. The battle was renewed on the sixth, but Grant failed to force the Confederate position. The fighting during these two days was carried on in a thickly-wooded region, in which the artillery of the two armies could not be used to advan- tage. On the sixth the Confederates suf- fered a serious loss in the person of General Longstreet, who was severely wounded, and was incapacitated from continuing in ■ command. The losses in killed and wounded were very heavy on both sides, as the fight- ing was of a desperate character. Six Days' Fighting in Virginia. On the seventh General Grant moved his army around Lee's right, and marched rapidly to seize the strong position of Spottsylvania Court-house, which would have placed him between the Confederates and Richmond. Lee at once divined his purpose, and fell back rapidly to the heights around Spottsylvania Court-house, which he occupied on the eighth. Upon arriving before this position Grant found his enemy strongly entrenched in it, and at once re- solved to drive him from it. On the tenth of May he made a determined attack upon the Confederate line, but failed to carry it. On the morning of the eleventh, General Grant sent a characteristic dispatch to the Secretary of War. " We have now," he wrote, " ended the sixth day of very hard fiehtine. The result to this time is much in our favor. Our losses have been heavy, as well as those of the enemy. I think the ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 743 loss of the enemy must be greater. We have taken over five thousand prisoners in battle, while he has taken from us but few, except stragglers. I propose to fight it out on this line, if it takes all summer." The eleventh was Wednesday. The morning rose bright and clear. The two opposing armies lay in close proximity to each other. As the day advanced there was •some skirmishing ; but on neither side was any attempt made to provoke a general ■engagement. Both commanders, it was evi- dent, were preparing for battle; nor could •doubt remain in any mind that, whatever might be the result, another and even more fearful encounter at Spottsylvania was imminent. Grant was still bent on carrying out his policy of continuous ham- mering. His suc- cess, however, on the Tuesday, in his repeated attacks on the enemy's left and left centre, had not been encouraging. There was no rea- son to hope that another attack, made in the same direction, would be attended with any better results. It was resolved, there- fore, to strike a bold and effective blow on the enemy's right centre. At that point, and near the Landrum House, Lee's lines formed a salient. It was Grant's conviction that the point was vulnerable. Arrangements for the attack were made forthwith. Hancock, who was chosen to strike the blow, was ordered 'to leave his entrenchments in front of A. P. Hill, and, by moving to the left, to take position between the Sixth and Ninth corps. The movement was to have the sup- port of the entire army. Wright was to extend his left, and to concentrate on that wing. Warren was to make a diversionary movement on the Confederate left, in his own front, the object being to give the enemy sufficient employment in that direction, and so prevent the withdrawal of his troops for the relief of the menaced point. Burnside, for a similar reason, was to make a vig-orous assault on the extreme left. Rain fell heavily in the afternoon. When night came the rain-storm had not abated ; and, as the moon was in its first quarter, the night was dark and dismal. Soon after midnight, under cover of the darkness and the storm, Hancock moved out from his intrenchments, BAILEY S RED RIVER DAM. and, guided by the compass, passed in rear of Warren and Wright, and took position within 1,200 yards of the enemy's front, at the point to be attacked. Barlow's division, in two lines of masses, was placed on the left ; Birney's division, in two deployed lines, was placed on the right ; Mott's division, Hancock's Fourth, supported Birney, and Gibbon's division was held in reserve. Of the actual strength of the position about to be attacked, the Nationalists knew nothing. It might be weak and defenceless. It might be well fortified and proof against any attack. It mattered not. Hancock was ready, wait- ing for the first streak of early dawn to launch forth his brave battalions to victory ortct 6 iAth. 744 THE CIVIL WAR. It is now half-past four o'clock on the morning of Thursday, May twelfth. A heavy fog is resting on the entire surrounding country, and the feeble light of the rising sun struggles hard to penetrate the gloom. Hancock's divisions are already in motion. Steadily and silently they move towards the salient — Barlow over open ground, which extends up to the Confederate lines, Birney through the thickly wooded ground more to the right. Not a shot has yet been fired — not a word uttered. More than half of the intervening distance has already been crossed. GRANT WRITING DISPATCHES BEFORE CROSSING THE RAPIDAN Suddenly there is a loud-resounding cheer, which rings along the whole line. Spontan- eously the men take the double-quick. On they roll like a resistless wave. Nothing can now restrain their fierce impetuosity. They have reached the abatis, torn it up and tossed it aside. With wild cries, they rush bounding over the entrenchments, Barlow and Birney's men entering almost simultaneously. Inside the intrenchmects there is a terrible hand-to- hand struggle, the bayonet and the clubbed- musket being freely used. Nothing, how- ever, can save the doomed Confederates, Some four thousand men, including General Johnson, of Ewell's corps, and General George H. Stewart are surrounded and cap- tured ; and with them thirty pieces of artil- lery and as many colors. Meanwhile, the remainder of the Confederate force, stricken with terror and thrown into the wildest con- fusion, have fallen back, seeking safety in the rear. This attack of Hancock's was justly regarded as the most brilliant feat of arms yet accomplished in the campaign. Never was surprise more com- plete or more successful. The officers were taken at their breakfast. The captured generals were greatly mortified. An hour only had elapsed since the column of at- tack was formed. Along with the prisoners, which he sent to Grant, Han- cock sent a note hastily written in pencil, saying: "I have finished up John- son, and am now going into Early." This second task, as we shall soon see, he found to be less easy of accomplishment than the former. Early, like Johnson, commanded a divis- ion of Ewell's corps. At the point pene- trated, Lee's army, as we have seen, formed a salient. Hancock had, therefore, by his first success, thrust a wedge between the Confederate right and centre. It was his hope that he would be able to cut Lee's army in two ; and there can be no doubt that if sufficient provision had been made, promptly and in force, to follow up the advantage Hancock had won by his first brilliant assault, the desired end would have ■v J EM L. (D E®. ©. mE f\B^. ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 745 t'»ccn accompHshcd. As it was, Hancock's troops, flushed with success, and incapable of being restrained after the capture of the intrenchments, pressed on through the forest in the direction of Spottsylvania driving the flying enemy before them. / At the distance of Haifa mile, they were suddenly brought to a halt in theirtriumph- ant career. They had reached a fresh line of breast-works. Behind these works, Ewell had taken shelter ; and reinforcements had reached him from the corps of Anderson and Hill. The Na- tional advance was now effectually check- ed. It was not only impossible to make headway — it was im- possible to remain in the position in which they found them- selves. The tide of battle was now turned. Gathering themselves up for a supreme ef- fort, the Confederates, in overwhelming numbers and in mag- nificent array, rushed from thebreast-works, and, falling with crush- ing weight on Hancock's men, now slightly disordered by their fearless rush through the woods, drove them back to the line which they had captured in the early morning. Here, however, Hancock managed to rally his troops ; and, getting them into line on the right and left of the angle of the works, he stoutly resisted the fierce and repeated onsets of the enemy, and firmly held his position. His situation, however, was becom- ing every moment more critical. Lee was GENERAL JAMES LONGSTREET. resolved, if possible, to recover the lost line of works ; and, with this end in view, he was putting forth the most Herculean efforts, and bringing his entire strength to bear on the one point. It was now si.x o'clock — one hour and a half since the first onset. Hancock 746 THE CIVIL WAR. was still holding his position ; but relief was sorely needed. At this opportune moment, when most needed, relief came. Wright, who had been hurried forward with his Sixth corps, arrived on the ground, and took position on the right of the salient. Hancock, thus relieved, concentrated his troops on the left of the angle. A little later, about eight o'clock, and with a view to relieve the pressure on Hancock and Wright, Burnside and Warren ■were ordered to attack along their whole fronts. The battle now raged furiously at every point. No evidence was given that Lee had changed his purpose. The last line THE PLACE WHERE SEDGWICK WAS KILLED at the salient was still the object of his ambi- tion. On Hancock and Wright he dealt his heaviest and most terrific blows. Again and again, and in rapid succession, he rolled against them his heavy masses. He seemed resolved to dislodge them. Seeing this, and becoming convinced that Burnside and Warren were producing no impression on their respective fronts, Grant detached two divisions from the Fifth corps — those of Cutler and Griffin — and sent them to the aid of the Second and Sixth corps at the angle which was still regarded as the prize of battle, and where was the focus of the fight. Five times did Lee hurl his heavy columns against the National lines entrusted with the defense of this position. Five times, after severe hand-to-hand fighting, in which the slaughter on both sides was dreadful, were the attacking columns repulsed. It was not until after midnight that Lee with- drew his shattered and bleeding lines and re-formed them in his interior position. Hancock held the works he had captured in the morning. The battle had lasted twenty hours. The losses on either side were about lo,ooo men. Such was the great battle of Spottsylvania Court House. Although not a decisive vic- tory it was a positive gain to the National cause. Its moral effect was great. It was one of the bloodiest ai- ' ;.-S=vj_^_ battles of the war. The sight presented at the angle where the tide of battle surged and roared from earliest dawn till past midnight of that summer day, as described by eye-witnesses, was something shocking to wit- ness. The bodies of the dead and wounded were piled in heaps and mingled together in wild confusion. It was, as one has said, " an angle of death — one hideous Golgotha." The severity of the musketry fire was evidenced by the condition of the forest after the battle. The trees were not only pierced by the bullets, but literally cut down. At Washington, as a relic of this fight, there is preserved the trunk of an oak tree which was cut through and through by bullets. The trunk is about twenty inches in diameter. It was evident that the Confederates could not be dislodged from their position without a still heavier loss to the Union army, and ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 747 General Grant determined to draw them from the heights of Spottsylvania by another march to the right. On the twenty-first of May the Army of the Potomac moved from Spottsylvania to the banks of the North Anna River, and reached that stream on the twenty-third. Lee had marched rapidly by a shorter route, and his army was in position on the south side of the river when Grant reached the northern shore. Lee had chosen a posi- tion of very great strength in front of Hanover Junction, and had covered it with earthworks. On the twenty-fifth Grant crossed a large part of his force to the south side of the North Anna, and endeavored to force the Confederate line, but discover- ing its remarkable strength, withdrew his troops to the north shore, and on the twenty-sixth moved around Lee's right in the direction of the Chickahominy. Lee followed him promptly and took position at Cold Harbor, on the north side of the Chickahominy, and within nine miles of Richmond, occupying very much the same position held by McClel- lan's army in the battle of Cold Harbor, on the twenty-seventh of June, 1862. He covered his entire line with strong earthworks. On the first of June a sharp encounter occurred between the Federal right and the Confederate left wings, and on the morning of the third of June, Grant made a general assault upon the Confederate works. The attack was made with great gallantry, but was repulsed with a loss to the Federal army of thirteen thousand men. The losses of ithe Army of the Potomac since the passage of the Rapidan had reached the enormous total of over sixty thousand men. The Con- federate loss during the same period was about twenty thousand. Failing to force the Confederate line at Cold Harbor, General Grant drew off leisurely towards the James River at Wilcox's Landing, intending to cross that river and attack Richmond from the south side of the James. In the meantime, upon reaching Spottsyl- vania Court-house, General Grant had sent General Sheridan, with ten thousand cavalry, to destroy the railroads connecting Rich' GENERAL FiiZHUGH LEE. mond with Lee's army and the valley of Vir- ginia. Sheridan executed his orders with complete success, and went within seven miles of Richmond. On the tenth of May he reached Ashland. He was attacked there by the Confederate cavarly under General Stuart, and moved off towards Richmond. Stuart, marching by a shorter route, threw his cavalry between Sheridan and Richmond, and again encountered him at the Yellow 748 THE CIVIL WAR. Tavern, on the Brook turnpike, seven miles from the city. Stuart was mortally wounded, and Sheri- dan secured his retreat across the Chicka- hominy and down the peninsula. In General Stuart the Confederates lost their only great cavalry leader. Had Sheridan, instead of halting at Ashland, pushed straight on to Richmond, the Confederate capital must have fallen into his hands. On the twenty- fifth of June he rejoined General Grant. a force of about eighteen thousand men, under General Beauregard, and postecl them in a fortified line, extending from the James to the Appomattox, in front of the Richmond and Petersburg railroad. On the sixteenth of May, Butler's army, having advanced within a short distance of this line, was attacked by the Confederates and driven back to Bermuda Hundreds. The Confederates then formed their lines across the narrow peninsula, and kept Butler's force enclosed BATTLE OF COLD HARBOR. At the opening of the campaign. General Butler, with a force of about thirty thousand men, known as the Army of the James, was sent up the James River to attack the defen- ces of Richmond, on the south side of that river. He occupied City Point and Bermuda Hundreds on the fifth of May, and a few days later, advanced up the neck of land lying between the James and the Appomattox Rivers. To oppose him, the Confederates collected between their works and the two rivers until the crossing of the James River by the Army of the Potomac. The Federal plan of campaign also included the seizure of the valley of Virginia, and of the railway connecting Virginia with East Tennessee and Georgia. On the first of May, General Sigel, with an army of ten thousand men, advanced up the valley towards Staun- ton. On the fifteenth, he was defeated with considerable loss by the Confederates, under ADMINISTRATION OP^ ABRAHAM LINCOLN 749 General Brcckenridge, at New Market, and was driven back down the valley. General Hunter was appointed in Sigel's place, and succeeded in forcing his way to the vicinity of Lynchburg. Lee, becoming alarmed for the safety of that place, sent General Early, with twelve thousand men, to its assistance. advanced upon Petersburg. At the same time General Butler moved forward with the Army of the James against the southern works between the James and Appomattox. On the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth, Grant made repeated attempts to storm the Con- federate-works before Petersburg and south BATTLE OF SPOTTSYLVANIA COURT-HOUSE. Early, at once attacked Hunter, and forced him to retreat by a circuitous route into West Virginia. In the meantime, General Grant had reached the James River, where his army was reinforced to one hundred and fifty thousand men. On the fifteenth and sixteenth of June he crossed his troops near City Point, and of the James, but was repulsed with a total loss of nine thousand six hundred and sixty- five men. Being unable to carry the southern work; by storm, he began the siege of Petersburg. His right rested on the James above Ber- muda Hundreds, and from this point his line extended across the Appomattox, with his 750 THE CIVIL WAR. left thrown out towards the Weldon railroad. During the summer and fall he continued to extend his left until he had seized the Weldon road. From this point he sought to extend his left still further, and to seize the South GENERAL J. E. B. STUART. Side railroad, Lee's only remaining line of communication with the South and South- west. Frequent encounters occurred between the two armies during the summer and fall, a number of which attained the proportions of battles, but we have not space to relate them all. On the thirtieth of July a mine was sprung under one of the principal works of Lee's line, and the explosion was followed by an assault by Burnside's corps. The attack was repulsed with a loss of over five thou- sand men to the Union troops. During the early autumn General Grant extended his lines across the James river, and established a force on the north side of that river to lay siege to the de- fences of Richmond. The right of this force was extended as far as the Williamsburg road. This was the situation of the two armies at the close of the year. In the meantime Early had advanced into the valley of Vir- ginia after the defeat of Hunter. The retreat of that commander in- to West Virginia had left the Potomac un- guarded, and Wash- ington City exposed to attack. General Lee at once reinforced Early to fifteen thou- sand men, and ordered him to cross the Potomac and to threaten Washington, hoping by this bold movement to compel Grant to weaken his army for the protection of the capital, if not to raise the siege of Petersburg. Early moved rapidly, crossed the Potomac near Martinsburg on ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 751 the fifth of July, and on the seventh occupied Frederick City in Maryland. On the ninth he defeated a small force under General Lewis Wallace at Manocacy Bridge, and advanced upon Washington. The Nine- teenth army corps of the Federal arm.y was at Fortress Monroe, where it had just arrived from New Orleans, en 'route to join Grant's army. It was at once or- dered to Washington, which, until its arrival, was held by a small gar- rison, and Grant at the same time embarked the Sixth corps, and sent it with all speed around to the Potomac. These troops reached Washington before the arrival of Early, who appeared before the de- fences of that city on the eleventh of July. He found the works too strongly manned to be attacked by his force. After skirmishing for several days before them, he withdrew across the Potomac on the four- teenth, and retreated to the neighborhood of Winchester. Early's movement so alarmed the Federal gov- ernment for the safety of Washington that a force of forty thousand men, ten thousand of which were the splen- did cavalry of Sheridan, was stationed in the valley, and Major-General Sheridan was ap- pointed to the command of this army. Had Grant been able to retain these troops with his own army, it is safe to say that Lee would have been forced to abandon his position at Petersburg in the autumn of 1864. Their absence in the valley enabled the Con- federate leader to prolong his defence through the winter. As soon as he had gotten his forces well in hand, Sheridan advanced upon Early, and GENERAL WINFIELD S. HANXOCK on the nineteenth defeated him at Win- chester, and drove him back to Fisher's Hill, where on the twenty-second, he again defeated him and drove- him out of the valley, pursuing him as far as Staunton. By the orders of General Grant, General Sheri- dan now laid waste the entire valley of the 752 STUART'S CAVALRY CUTTING TELEGRAPH WIRES. GENERAL GEORGE A. CUSTER FAMOUS CAVALRY COMMANDER, ASSOCIATED WITH GENERAL SHERIDAN IN THE PURSUIT AND Capture of general lee-s army ; afterward celebrated indian fighter ; killed by the indians, june 25, 1876 ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 753 Shenandoah, destroying all the crops, mills, barns, and farming implements, and driving off the cattle with his army as he moved back. Early was reinforced after his retreat to the upper valley, and about the middle of October advanced down the valley towards the Federal position with a force of nine thousand men and forty pieces of. cannon. The Union army lay at Cedar Creek, and was under the temporary command of Gen- eral Wright during the absence of General Sheridan. On the nineteenth of Oc- tober Early attack- ed this force, and drove it back for several miles. In- stead of continuing the pursuit, his troops stopped to olunder the Federal camp,whichhad fal- len into their hands. General Wright rallied his men and reformed them in a new position, and at this moment General Sheridan arrived on the field. He had heard the firing at Winchester, ■" twenty miles away," and had ridden at full speed from that place to rejoin his army. He at once ordered it to advance upon Early, whose men, laden with the plunder of the captured camp, were driven back with terrible force and pursued up the valley for thirty miles. This success cleared the valley of the 'Confederate forces, for Early was not able after this to collect more than a handful of men, and Lee had no troops to spare him. Sheridan's brilliant victories cost him a total loss of seventeen thousand men. 48 A more extended account of G neral Sheridan's operations, by the historian, John Laird Wilson, will be of interest to the reader : "As Sheridan returned down the valley towards Cedar Creek, he was closely followed by the Confederate cavalry under Rosser, supported by the main body of Early's army. On October ninth, the head of Sheridan's infantry column having entered Strasburg by the east road, while the rear was still some miles further south, the enemy following the PONTOON BRIDGE AT DEEP BOTTOM. cavalry on the west road, had advanced so far as to get on the left flank of the infantry column. Custer and Merritt then turned and attacked with their cavalry, when a report having spread among Rosser's men that the National infantry were at the same time flanking them, they immediately gave way and broke into a stampede. The pursuit was continued seven miles. The loss of the enemy was not great, being only about three hundred men, including prisoners ; but he abandoned eleven guns, four caissons, and art ammunition train. 754 THE CIVIL WAR. "Things remained quiet for several days after this affair; but on the twelfth, the Con- federates again appeared in the neighborhood of Strasburg and opened an artillery fire on Emory's and Crook's corps. These troops were then partially withdrawn and Crook pushed out a reconnoissance, which brought whose corps was, in the meantime, intrusted to General Ricketts, Fisher's Hill had been abandoned as not affording any good defens- ible line on its southern slope, on which side Early would be likely to approach, and the army had now lain for several days in front of Strasburg, behind breast-works thrown up on rising and rolling ground, mostly along the east side of Cedar Creek — ( rook, with the Eighth )rps on the left, the Nine- enth corps in the centre,, ihe Sixth on the right. On llie right of the Sixth, a 1 ttle in the rear and in ;serve, were the two cav- Iry divisions of Custer id Merritt. The line was \l lur or five miles long, and ^f •llowin'T the course of the GENERAL PHIT.TP H. SHERIDAN. on a smart engagement of three hours' dura- tion. Night, however, closed upon the scene without any advantage and with little loss to either side. " On the fifteenth, Sheridan went to Wash- ington on important business, leaving the army under the command of General Wright, c 'eek, nearly north and South. " Crook's corps rested its left flank on the North Fork of Shenandoah and its right on the Winchester and Strasburg turnpike, the _ principal highway in that region. Behind Crook's left and at right angles to it, with a view to guard against any turning move- ment on that flank, lay a force about equivalent to a brigade, known as Kitch- ing's provisional division. North of the turnpike came the Nineteenth corps, Grover's division holding its left and resting on the turnpike, where it joined Thorburn's Division of Crook's command. The Sixth corps on the right, and the second cavalry division, were not strongly protected with works, as was all the rest of PORTRAITS OF FEDERAL CAVALRY COMMANDERS. 755 756 THE CIVIL WAR. the line, but were well posted on high ridges, and held firmly the Middle road, or that which runs next north of the turnpike. A small stream called Meadow Run, flows into the creek between the two roads mentioned. was picketed by Powell's cavalry division from Cedar Creek all the way to Front Royal. Weir's battery commanded the fords, supported by cavalry which were so posted as to prevent surprise from the direction cf Sheridan's cavalry charge at cedar creek. " In front the National position was consid- ered impregnable, except by surprise, and to turn it would be, it was believed, an under- taking of extreme temerity. To guard against surprise on the left, the North Fork the Luray Valley. Artillery was posted in front of the positions of Crook and Emory, so as to command the ford and the bridge over Cedar Creek, as well as the rising ground on the west side. The wagon trains and ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 757 reserve artillery lay in the rear on the turn- pike. On the seventeenth, the cavalry on the right, under Custer, was attacked by Con- federate cavalry and infantry, and a severe skirmish ensued, re- sulting in the repulse of the enemy. Next day a careful recon- noissance was made from the left towards Strasburg and Fish- er's Hill ; but no sign of movement on the part of the enemy was discovered. Dis- patches, hovvever.were captured ; and it was thus ascertained that reinforcements had been sent to Early, for the purpose of enabling him to attack and defeat Sheridan. " Early, in fact, had just received a rein- forcement of some twelve thousand men. His actual strength was thus increased to twenty-seven thou- sand. His army was still smaller than that of Sheridan. Encour- aged, however, by so large an accession of strength, Early pre- pared to put in execu- tion one of the mor.t audacious movements of the war. began to move against Sheridan's lines. His cavalry and light artillery were directed to COUNTRY BETWEEN CHATTANOOGA AND ATLANTA. " Before break of day on the nineteenth, be arranged his troops at Fisher's Hill and advance against the National right, so as to occupy the attention of Torbert and the 758 THE CIVIL WAR. Sixth corps. His infantry marched in five columns, of which Gordon's, Ramseur's, and Pegram's were ordered to place themselves by daybreak on the left rear of the whole National position, while Kershaw's and Wharton's were to endeavor to get, about the same time, close under the entrenched rising ground on which lay Crook's com- mand. To turn the National left, it was GENERAL JOSEPH E. JOHNSTON. necessary that Early's columns should descend into the gorge at the base of the Massanutten Mountain, ford the North Fork of the Shenandoah, and skirt Crook's en- campment for some distance, in some places within four hundred yards of his pickets. " It was a hazardous as well as audacious experiment ; but it was executed with won- derful skill, and, as the result proved, with comple<-e success. The movement was con- ducted quietly, and with great caution. The result was that before daybreak the Con- federate infantry, formed and ready for battle, lay within six hundred yards of the National camps. Gordon's column was diagonally in the rear of the Nineteenth corps ; on the left of Crook, facing Kitching's provisional division, was Ramseur supported by Pegram ; in front of Crook was Kershaw supported by Wharton. Undercover of the morning mist, Kershaw's colunm moved rapidly through Crook's picket line, and with tremendous fury rushed upon the entrenchments. The onslaught was fearful. The surprise was complete. "In a quarter of an hour Crook's gallant army of Western Virginia became a dis- organized mass of fugitives in rapid rout towards the position of the Nineteenth corps. Crook lost several batteries, some seven hundred men made prisoners, and about one hundred in killed and wounded. The Sixth corps was at the same time menaced; and its attention occupied by the enemy's cavalry and light artillery. It fell to the lot of the Nineteenth corps to resist unaided the shock of Gordon's col- umn, now advancing solidly massed up the slope of a broad, bare hill which com- manded Emory's camp. The Confederate forcC; including the divisions of Ramseur and Pegram, was as strong as Emory's, and was supported by another column coming up through the woods on the left, and along the turnpike m front. " The Nineteenth corps was thus not only taken in the rear, but outnumbered. Still it held out for about an hour; and then its left gave way, leaving a part of the artillery in the enemy's hands. The left and centre of the National army had now fallen into com- plete confusion ; and all the trains that could be got away were sent off in haste along the turnpike towards Winchester. The sun was ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 759 now high in the heavens, and the extent of the disaster was rendered visible. The Con- federates had succeeded in rolling up the left of the line, and in severing Powell's cavalry- division on the extreme left from the rest of the army; and they were now forcing back the entire centre, and occupying the entrench- ments of the Nineteenth corps as they had those of Crook's command. They had also captured eighteen pieces of artillery, thus not only lessening the National power for defense, but increasing their own power for attack. The captured cannon were turned with terrible effect on their late possessors. The Sixth corps was now ordered over from the right ; and these troops, executing quickly a change of front which brought them at right angles to their former line, were soon engaged in desperate battle. A Desperate Struggle. " The resistance made by the Sixth corps in covering the retreat afforded opportunity for re-enforcing the fugitives to some extent ; hut the Confederates increased their artillery and musketry fire to the utmost, and still pressed the National left flank, with the view, apparently, of getting full possession of the turnpike, that they might seize the trains and get between the National army and Winchester. The enemy pressed the left much more vigorously than the right. Merritt's and Custer's cavalry were trans- ferred from the right to the left ; and a severe contest took place in the thickly-wooded •country near Middletown, in which the left had been placed by its rapid retreat. " About nine o'clock Sheridan's army had got into line of battle again, and made des- perate efforts to check the enemy. Both sides used artillery ; but the Confederates had greatly the advantage in this arm, having not only their own batteries, but the cap- tured guns of their antagonists besides. The Sixth corps held its ground well j but Crook's corps on the left was forced back, and the whole line gradually gave way, the enemy again getting past the National left flank, and finally gaining the village of Mid- dletown, about three miles northeast of the position from which Sheridan's army had been driven. The principal aim of the National commanders now was to cover the trains and draw off the army with as little loss as possible to Newton, where they hoped to be able to re-form and offer an effective resistance. The battle had been completely lost. Camps, earth-works, some twenty-four guns and one thousand eight hundred pris- oners — all were left in the hands of the enemy. The routed Nationals were flying in all directions, large numbers of them making their way to Winchester. " Face the Other Way, Boys ! " " The National army fell back, as we havi seen, first towards Middletown, and after- wards in the direction of Newton. About a mile or so in the rear of Middletown,Wright succeeded in restoring something like order. Sheridan was still absent. He had been, as we have mentioned, on a visit to Washing- ton. On his return, he spent the night at Winchester. It v/as not until his army had been defeated that he was made aware of Early's attack. He was in his saddle in a minute. He had scarcely left Winchester when he beheld sad evidences of the disaster which had befallen his army. The road was covered with wagon trains and crowds of weary fugitives. " As he rode along on his splendid charger, the air was rent with cheers. The fugitives felt abashed and halted; and the wounded by the wayside feebly waved a joyful salute. He did not slacken his pace to rebuke or encourage. Waving his hat to the cheering crowds, his horse still at full 760 THE CIVIL WAR. gallop, he shouted, ' Face the other way, boys ! Face the other way ! We are going back to our camps. We are going to lick them out of their boots.' The words were electric. The tide of fugitives began to turn. As he neared the main body, the enthusiasm became unbounded. Officers and men tossed their hats and cheered to the echo. He repeated his fiery words, * Boys, if I had been here this would never have happened. We are going back. We'll have all these camps and cannon back again.' What Sheridan said he meant ; and the men believed him. He was in the field shortly after ten o'clock. General Early Repulsed. "There was a lull in the fight, which lasted several hours. Wright, as has been mentioned, had already restored order, and made dispositions, if not for attack, at least for effective resistance. Sheridan approved of the arrangements; and mid the most enthusiastic cheers, he rode along the lines, studying the ground and encouraging the men. About one o'clock Early made a charge, which was vigorously repulsed by Emory. About three o'clock Sheridan gave the order, 'The entire line will advance. The Nineteenth corps will move in con- nection with the Sixth. The right of the Nineteenth will swing to the left, so as to drive the enemy upon the pike.' "The order was promptly obeyed. The entire line moved forward — Getty's divis- ion leading the charge, Merritt's cav- alry covered the left flank ; and Custer's cavalry was thrown out on the right. As the Nationals advanced they were checked for a moment by a tremendous fire of artillery and musketry. The check, however, was but momentary ; for Emory swung around upon the foe, and by two gallant charges greatly disordered his lines. Almost at the same moment, the National cavalry fell upot\ Early's flank. The tide of battle had already turned. " The Confederates fought with bravery and determination ; but Sheridan's men now fighting in the presence of their favorite chief, were not to be resisted. The battle, in fact, was already won; and what was so recently a retreat, was now changed into a pursuit. It was a perfect rout. On his arri- val, Sheridan said, ' We'll have all those camps and cannon back again.' His word was made good. That night, the National infantry halted within their old camps ; but the cavalry pursued, hanging upon the flanks and rear of the retreating foe, until he was beyond Strasburg, and night fell upon the scene. Early halted for the night at Fisher's Hill, and in the morning resumed his retreat southward. In the pursuit, all the captured guns were recovered. The Nationals cap- tured not only their own guns, but twenty- three of those of the enemy, together with one thousand five hundred prisoners, and any quantity of horses, mules, ambulances^ wagons and stores of various kinds." Sharp Struggle at Resaca. The Western army under General Sherman was increased to one hundred thousand men, and was concentrated in and around Chatta- nooga about the last of April. Opposed to this force. General Joseph E. Johnston had collected an army of fifty thousand men at Dalton, Georgia. The objective point of Sherman was Atlanta, Georgia, the key to the railroad system of the South. On the seventh of May the Federal army began its advance. The position at Dalton being too strong to be assaulted, Sherman turned it by a flank movement upon Resaca, to which. place Johnston fell back. On the fourteenth and fifteenth of May Sherman endeavored to force the Confederate lines near ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 761 .esaca, but without success. He therefore -noved around Johnston's left again, and com- pelled him to fall back to Dallas. Severe fighting occurred on the twenty fifth at New Hope Church, but Johnston maintained his position. Heavy skirmishing ensued until the twenty-eighth, when Sherman hav- ing turned Allatoona Pass, Johnston oc- cupied a new position, embracing Pine, Lost and Kenesaw Moun- tains. Between the fifteenth of June and the second of July Sherman made several attempts to force this position, which was one of the strongest yet occupied by the Confederates, and fail ing to carry it, again moved to the left and turned it, Johnston at once fell back across the Chat- tahoochee and within the lines of Atlanta. He had prepared this city for a siege, and strongly fortified it. He had his army v/ell in hand, and he was determined as soon as the Federal army had passed the Chat- tahoochee to attack in its ruin, and at all events would be de- cisive of the campaign. At this juncture, however, he was removed from his command on the seventeenth of July by the Confeder- ate President, who was greatly dissatisfied with the results of the campaign, and who, MAJOR- Sherman and force him to a decisive en- counter. He hoped to defeat him, and had purposely avoided a general battle until now. Should he succeed in his attempt the defeat of the Federal army at such a ijreat distance from its base might result GENERAL JAMES B. m'PHERSON. it was generally believed, was influenced by his personal hostility to Johnston. General John B. Hood, a gallant soldier, but unfit for the great task imposed uporf him, was appointed to succeed General Johnston. In Johnston General Sherrnan •j62 THE CIVIL WAR. had recoo^nized an antagonist of the first rank, and had conducted the campaign accordingly. He regarded the appoint- ment of General Hood as greatly simplify- ing the task before him. The Federal army had already paid the heavy price of over thirty thousand men for its advance to Atlanta, while Johnston had lost less than eight thousand men. The conditions u^ere now to be reversed. u^i,Eivr.L. GEORGE H. THOMAS. On the seventeenth of July the Union army crossed the Chattahoochee, and advanced towards Atlanta. On the twen- tieth and twenty-second Hood attacked the Federa'l lines on Peach Tree Creek, but only to be beaten back with a loss of over eight thousand men, without inflicting any serious injury upon the Union army, which, how- ever, lost General McPherson, one of its ablest commanders. Sherman now drew in his lines closer to Atlanta, and by a skilful movement thrust his army between the two wings of Hood's forces, thus exposing them to the danger of being beaten in detail. This movement sealed the fate of Atlanta, which was evacuated by the Confederates on the thirty-first of August. On the second of September Sherman occupied the city. Hood retreated towards Macon. The loss of Atlanta was a serious blow to the South. It placed the Federal army in the heart of Georgia, and destroyed the principal source from which the Con- federate armies were supplied with mili- tary stores, which had been manufactured in great quantities at Atlanta. Rome, Georgia, which was captured by Sher- man's army during the campaign, was also largely engaged in the manufacture of arms and ammunition. General Sherman was now anxious to march his army through Georgia, and unite with the Union forces on the coast, but he was unable as yet to undertake this movement, as Hood, with an army of thirty-five thousand men lay in his front, and his communications with Chat- tanooga and Knoxviile were exposed to the raids of the Confederate cavalry. He now learned that the Confederate government had ordered General Hood to invade Tennessee for the purpose of drawing his army out of Georgia, and concluded to make no effort to prevent this movement. The task of watching Hood was confided to the Army of the Tennessee, under General George H. Thomas, who was.^ given a sufficient force to hold Tennessee, and Sherman set about preparing his army for his march to the sea. Thomas was heavily reinforced from the North. Hood began his forward movement towards the last of October, and on the thirty-first of PORTRAITS OF SHERMAN AND SOME OF HIS COMMANDERS. 763 764 THE CIVIL WAR. that month, crossed the Tennessee, near Florence. He remained on this river until THE COUNTRY TRAVERSED BY SHERMAN IN HIS MARCH THROUGH GEORGIA the middle of November, and on the nine- teenth, marched northward, forcing back the command of General Schofield, and effecting a passage of Duck River, on the twenty- ninth. Schofield fell back to Franklin^ eighteen miles south of Nashville. He was attacked on the thir-^', tieth, by the Confed- erates and forced back to Nashville, within the defences of which city, General Thomas had collected an army of about forty thou- sand men. Hood in- vested the city, and hastened forward his preparations to assault the Federal works. General Thomas, how- ever, anticipated him, and on the fifteenth of December, attacked the Confederate army and forced it back at all points. The next day, the sixteenth, the battle was renewed, and Hood was com- pletely routed. On the seventeenth the Union army set out in pursuit o^ Hood's broken col umns, and followed them for over fifty miles. But for the gallantry of a small rearguard, which pre- served its discipline and covered the re-» treat to the last, the Confederate army would have been scattered beyond ^U hope of reunion. Hood recrossed ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 765 the Tennessee with barely twenty thousand men out of the thirty-five thousand with which he had begun the campaign. He had lost half of his generals and nearly all of his artillery- He fell back to Tupelo, Mississippi, and on the twenty-third of Jan- uary, 1865, was, at his own request, relieved of his command. In the meantime Gen- eral Sherman, leaving Thomas to deal with Hood, had begun his march through the State of Georgia. Sat- isfied that the war was practically de- cided in the South- west, he proposed to march to the sea near Savannah, and thence through the Confed- eracy to the position of General Grant's army. This move- ment would compel the Confederates to mass their forces in his front, and would s against the government of the United States until properly exchanged. I will meet you, or des- ignate officers to meet any officers you may name for the same purpose, at any point agreeable to you, for the purpose jf arranging definitely, the terms upon which the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia will be received. " U. S. GRANT, Lietit.- General. -' General R. E. Lee." Lee was in a strongly intrenched position, a few miles to the north of the Appomattox. As soon as he indited his reply to Grant's first message he resumed his retreat under cover of the darkness ; and so quietly was it conducted that Humphreys was ignorant of the fact until morning, when he was prepared to renew the attack. Lee's skillful general- ship was again conspicuously revealed. Ever vigilant, ever fertile in resource, and evei active, he had again put miles between him- self and his pursuers. Lee's Hurried Retreat. The fact that Lee had retreated durmgthe night was at once made known to Grant, who immediately gave orders for the renewal of the pursuit. The Second and Sixth corps, under the '-"^mediate direction of Meade,.who •was accompanied by the General-in-chief, were pushed forward with all possible haste along the north bank of the Appomattox. Sheridan meanwhile had made excellent use both of his troopers and of his time. Lee was pressing along that gradually narrowing neck of land which lies between the head- waters of the Appomattox and the affluents of the James. It was of the utmost importance that Sheri- dan should be able to interpose his troops between Lee's army and Lynchburg. If he could close the outlet in the direction of that city it would be all over with Lee, pursued closely as he was by the Second and Sixth corps, under the direction of Meade and the General-in-chief. This was precisely what Sheridan was aiming at, and what, within a k\\ hours, he actually did accomplish. Hav- ing learned from one of his scouts early on the morning of the eighth that four trains of cars with supplies for Lee's army were at Appomattox Station, he at once notified Mer- ritt and Crook, and briskly pushed the whole command towards that point. Desperate Attempt tc Escape. Lee was not ignorant of the extreme peril of his situation; but he kept pressing eagerly forward, still clinging to the skirts of hope, and, in spite of almost irresistible evidence to the contrary, indulging the thought that he might yet find refuge among the ranges of the Blue Ridge, beyond Lynchburg. In these circumstances he received Grant's second let- ter, and replied as follows : " April 8th, 1865. "General: I received at a late hour your note of to-day. In mine of yesterday, I did not intend to propose the surrender of the Army of Northern Vir- ginia, but to ask the terms of your proposition. To be frank, I do not think the emergency has arisen to call for the surrender of t'lis army ; but as the res- toration of peace should be the sole object of all, I desire to know whether your proposals would tend to that end. I cannot, therefore, meet you with a view to surrender the Army of Northern Virginia; but so far as your proposition may affect the Confed- erate States forces under my command, and tend to the restoration of peace, I should be pleased to meet 78o THE CIVIL WAR. you at ten A. M., to-morrow, on the old stage-road to Richmond, between the picket-lines of the two armies. " R. E. LEE, General. " Lieut.-General U. S. Grant."' This note was received by Grant about midnight ; and he repHed next morning in the following terms : "April 8th, 1865. ■'General: Your note of yesterday is received. GENERAL JOHN B. GORDON. As I have no authority to treat on the subject of peace, the meeting proposed for ten a. m., to-day, could lead to no good. I will state, however, Gen- eral, that I am equally anxious for peace with your- self; and the whole North entertain the same feel- ing. The terms upon which peace can be had are well understood. By the South laying down their I irms they will hasten that most desirable event, s ave thousands of human lives, and hundreds of riPiillions of property not yet destroyed. Sincerely hi, iping that all our difficulties may be settled with- out the loss of another life, 1 subscribe myself, " U. S. GRANT, Lieutetiatit-GeneraL " General R. E. Lee." As soon as he had finished this letter Grant left Meade in charge of the Second and Sixth corps and hurried on to join Sheridan and Griffin. While the letter was on its way, and before the General-in-chief had joined the one or the other, further parley had become unnecessary. Sheridan had already settled the question. On the morning of the eighth, after a forced march of about thirty miles, his advance, under Custer, had reached Appomattox Station^ about four miles to the south of Appomat- tox Court House. Lee's vanguard had just arrived with four trains of cars, laden with, supplies. Custer Makes a Dash. Custer, with lightning-like rapidity^ dashed upon the rear of the trains, and cap- tured them. Supported by Devin, who had come up, he then rushed with fierce energy on the vanguard, and drove it back to Ap- pomattox Court House, near which was the main body of Lee's army. Twenty-five guns, a hospital train, a large number of ad- ditional wagons, with many prisoners, were captured by the National cavalry. Sheridan,, hurrying forward with the remainder of his command, flung himself across the line of Lee's retreat, with the determination of hold- ing his ground at any and every risk until the morning, when, he knew, he would be joined by Ord, and the Army of the James, and by Griffin with the Fifth corps. He knew also that by that time, Meade, with the Second and Sixth corps, would be well forward and able to fall with effect on the Confederate rear. Such was the situation of affairs on the night of the eighth. Lee was completely cut off from his own line of retreat. Brave and resolute to the last, and believing that he had nothing but cavalry in front of him, he ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 781 decided to make an attempt, at least, to cut through Sheridan's Hnes. Early on the morning of the ninth Lee was ready to carry out his purpose. II is heart, however, must have bled within him, when he looked around him, and beheld the wretched remnant of what was once the proud and invincible army of Northern Vir- ginia. It consisted of two thin lines — the one composed of what v.-as left of Hill's, now Gordon's command, the other of the wreck of Longstreet's corps. Between these Hnes were the debris of the wagon-train, and some thousands of miserable creatures who weie too weak to -^ carry arms. Lee gave orders to ^ Gordon to cut his way through, at all hazards. The charge was made with tremendous energy. Such, in truth, was the violence of the shock, and so persistent was the pressure, that Sheridan's men who had dismounted to resist the attack, were forced back. At this critical moment, Sher- idan, who had been to Appomat- tox Station for the purpose of hurrying forward Ord, arrived on the scene of action. Knowing well the purpose of the enemy, and keenly alive to the value of time, he directed his troopers to fall back gradually, but to continue to offjr a firm and steady resistance, so as to allow Ord, with his infantry, to come up and form his lines. This done, they were to move to the right and mount. Sheridan's orders were admirably executed. As soon as the cavalry moved towards their own right, the Confed- erates beheld to their amazement, the glit- tering arms and serried ranks of the in- fantry. The unlooked-for vision had all the effect of a stunning and unexpected blow. The Confederates immediately discontinued their pressure, and began to give way. The Na- tional infantry were now pressing upon the confused and bewildered multitude. Sheridan had ridden round to the Confederate left flank; his bugles had sounded the order to remount, and he was just about to fall with* all his weight on the already disordered mass, when a flag of truce was presented to Custer who led the advance. Sheridan rode to Appomattox Court House, where he was met by General Gordon and General Wilcox. Gordon asked for a suspension of hostilities, THE McLEAN HOUSE. and informed Sheridan that Grant and Lee were, even now, making arrangements for the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia. There was no more fighting between the two great rival armies — the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Northern Virginia. On the morning of the ninth, a heavy fog enveloped the entire country around Appo- mattox Court House. Long before that fog dispersed, Lee, clad in a new gray uniform, might have been seen at a camp-fire with Mahone and Longstreet. Care and an.xiety were written on each of their countenances. Longstreet, his arm in a sling, and a cigar in 782 his mou Gordon THE CIVIL WAR. th, sat on had been the trunk of a felled tree, sent on his mission. It was agreed there was SURRENDER OF GENERAL LEE. that if success were denied him no longer any chance of escape. Of Gordon's failure to penetrate the National lines, chey were soon made aware. Lee mounted his horse. "General Longstreet," he said, "I leave you in charge; I am going to hold a conference with Gen- eral Grant." He then rode off. On his way he received Grant's letter, before quoted. He replied immedi- ately : "April 9, 1865. "General: I received your note of this morning, on the picket-Hne.whither I had come to meet you, and ascertain definitely what terms were embrac- ed in your proposition of yesterday, with reference to the surrender of this- army. I now ask an in- terview, in accordance with the offer contained in your letter of yesterday for that purpose. " R. E. LEE, General. ' Lieut.-General U. S. Grant." To this Grant re- plied as follows : "April 9th, 1865. "General: Yournote of this date is but this moment (11.50 A. M.) re- ceived. In consequence of my having passed from theRichmondandLynch- burg road to theFarmville J and Lynchburg road, I am at this writing about four miles west of Walter's Church, and will ^ash forward to the front for the purpose of mee^ng you. Notice sent to me on this 784 THE CIVIL WAR. road, where you wish the interview to take place, will meet me. " U. S. GRANT, >Jeutenant-General. " General R. E. Lee." The scene and the main features of the interview have been preserved for i ; by an eye-witness. It took place at the house of Mr. Wilmer McLean — a square brick build- ing surrounded with roses, violets and daffo- dils. Grant — with his slouched hat, dark blue frock-coat unbuttoned and covered with mud, giay pantaloons tucked in his soiled boote, and a dark waistcoat, and with nothing to indicate his rank, except the double row of brass buttons and the three silver stars — walked up to the house, accompanied by Ord, Sheridan and their respective staffs. Lee had already arrived ; and his blooded iron-gray horse, in charge of an orderly, was nibbling at the grass. Grant and two aids entered the house; the others who accom- panied him, sat down on the porch. Lee was standing beside a table, wearing a bright bluish-gray uniform, a military hat, with a gold cord, buckskin gauntlets, high riding boots, and the splendid dress-sword which had been presented to him by the State of Virginia. Tall and erect, he had a fine soldierly bearing. It was noticed that his hair was long and gray. He was attended only by Colonel Marshall, his chief of staff. On Grant's entrance the two shook hands, sat down and proceeded to business. Grant Delivers His Terms. As Lee made no special request, Grant at once wrote out his terms : " Appomattox Court House, \ April 9, 1865. J "General: In accordance with the substance of my letter to you of the eighth instant, I propose to receive the surrender of the Army of Northern Vir- ginia on the following terms, to wit : Rolls of all the officers and men to be made in duplicate, one copy to be given to an officer designated by me. the other to be retained by such officers as you may designate. The officers to give their individual paroles not to take up arms against the Government of the United States until properly exchanged, and each company or regimental commander to sign a like parole for the men of his command. The arms, artillery and public property to be parked and stacked and turned over to the officers appointed by me to receive them. This will not embrace the side-arms of the officers, nor their private horses or baggage. This done, each officer and man will be allowed to return to his home, not to be disturbed by United States authority so long as they observe their paroles and the laws in force where they may reside. " U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant-Geiieral. "General R. E. Lee." The following is Lee's letter of acceptance ; " Headquarters Army of Northern Virginia, April 9, 1865. "General: I have received your letter of this date, containing the terms of the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia, as proposed by you. As they are substantially the same as those expressed in your letter of the eighth instant, they are accepted. I will proceed to designate the proper officers to carry the stipulations into effect. " R. E. LEE, General. " Lieut. -General U. S. Grant." The signatures had just been attached, when Lee, after a moment's reflection, said that he had forgotten one thing. Many of the cavalry and artillery horses belonged to the men who had charge of them. It was too late, however, to speak of that now. Grant replied, " I will instruct my paroling officers that all the enlisted men of your cavalry and artillery, who own horses, are to retain them, just as the officers do theirs. They will need them for their spring plough- ing, and other farm work," Lee seemed greatly pleased with Grant's prompt com- pliance with his only half- expressed wish. "General," he said earnestly, "there is nothing which you could have accomplished more for the good of the people or of the govern- ment." Grant's terms were in the last degree magnanimous and liberal. 786 THE CIVIL WAR. The news of the capture of Richmond and Petersburg and the surrender of Lee's army- was received in the North with the greatest rejoicing. Bells were rung, cannon fired, and illuminations flashed from every town and village, for it was understood that these great successes were decisive of the war. In the midst of these rejoicings occurred THE GRAVE OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN. a terrible tragedy which plunged the country into mourning. President Lincoln, whose re-election we have related, entered upon his second term on the fourth of March, 1865, amid the congratulations of the country. On the evening of the fourteenth of April he attended a performance at Ford's Theatre, in the city of Washington. During the midst of the performance the report of a pistol rang through the house, and the next moment a man leaped from the President's box upon the stage, and waving a pistol over his head^ shouted " Sic semper tyrannis'' (Thus always with tyrants), and disappeared behind the scenes. The cry was raised that the Presi- dent had been killed, and in the commotion which ensued the assassin escaped. The murderer had en- %'w-r -hi -..^ ^ tered the lobby of the theatre,and had fired from the door of the private box upon the unsuspic~ ious President, who was sitting- with his back to him. Mr. Lincoln fell heavily forward and never spoke again. He was conveyed to a house on the opposite side of the street, and the high- est skill was exert- ed to save him, but all in vain. He died on the morning of the fifteenth, sur- rounded by his fa- mily and the lead- ing men of the na' tion. Appropriate funeral services were held on the nineteenth, and the body of the martyred President ' was conveyed through the principal cities of the North and West to Springfield, Illinois, where it was buried. Along the entire route it was received with the evidences of the nation's grief. Cities were draped in mourning, and dense crowds poured out to greet the fun- eral cortege, and testify their love and sorrow ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 787 for the dead man. Even in the South, which had made the election of Abraham Lincoln the occasion of the dissolution of the Union, the unaffected and manly virtues of this simply great man had conquered the people, who had come to regard him as their best and truest friend. J His death was sincerely lamented there, and in the lamentation of the South, Abra- ham Lincoln had his proudest triumph. His death was a crushing misfortune to the whole country. He was the only man capable of carrying out a policy of generous concilia- tion towards the South, and he had resolved upon such a course. He was sincerely desirous to heal the wounds of the war as soon as possible, and was strong enough to put down all opposition to his policy. His untimely death, as well as the manner of it, threw back the settlement of our national troubles fully five years. The Assassin Escapes. As he leaped from the President's box to the stage, the assassin's foot caught in an American flag with which the box was draped, and he fell heavily, breaking his leg. He managed to escape, however. It was immediately ascertained that the assassin was John Wilkes Booth, a younger son of the famous actor Junius Brutus Booth. Almost at the same time that the President was shot, another assassin, one Payne, a/ias Powell, entered the residence of Secretary Seward. Proceeding to the chamber where the Secre- tary was confined to a sick bed, he attacked the two attendants of the invalid and his son, Frederick W. Seward, and injured them severely, and then attempted to cut Mr. Seward's throat. He succeeded in gashing the face of his intended victim, but fl'^A before further harm could be done. Booth, who was most probably insane, had drawn quite a number of persons into a con- spiracy, which had for its object the murder of the President and Vice-President, Secre- taries Seward and Stanton, and Chief Justice Chase. The plot failed through unexpected movements of some of the intended victims and the cowardice of some of the conspirators. Booth and a young man named Harold fled into lower Maryland, from which the/ crossed the Potomac into Virginia. Thej^ were pursued by the government detectives and a squadron of cavalry, and were tracked to a barn in Caroline County, Virginia, between Bowling Green and Port Royal. Booth Shot by Sergeant Corbett. Here they were surrounded on the twenty- sixth of April. Harold surrendered himself, but Booth, refusing to yield, was shot by Sergeant Boston Corbett, and died a few hours later, after suffering intensely. His: accomplices were arrested, and were brought to trial before a military commission at Washington. Payne or Powell, Atzerot, Harold, and Mrs. Surratt were condemned to death, and were hanged on the seventh o( July, 1865, for complicity in the plot. Dr. Mudd, O'Laughlin and Arnold were im^ prisoned in the Dry Tortugas for life, and Spangler for six years. What Booth expected to accomplish by his horrible deed yet remains a mystery. It is now generally believed that he was insane ; rendered so perhaps by his dissipated habits — and in this state of miiid had conceived the idea that Mr, Lincoln was a tyrant, and as such ought to be put to death. He had no accomplices in the South, and his bloody deed was regarded with horror by the southern people. We must now return to Sherman's army, which we left resting at Goldsboro', John- ston's army was in the vicinity of Raleigh, , and after the fall of Richmond was joined by Mr, Davis and the various officers of the Confederate government. On the tenth of 788 THE CIVIL WAR. April Sherman advanced from Goldsboro' towards Johnston's position, and steadily pressed the Confederate army back. On the thirteenth Sherman entered Raleigh. Being convinced that further resistance was hope- iless, and having learned of the surrender of General Lee's army, General Johnston now States of the Confederacy to their lost places in the Union, it was disapproved by the Federal government, and Sherman was ordered to resume hostilities. General John- ston was at once notified by General Sherman of this order, and on the twenty-sixth of^ April entered into an agreement with him by INTERVIEW BETWEEN GENERALS SHERMAN AND JOHNSTON. opened negotiations with General Sherman for the surrender of his army to the Federal commander. The result of these negotiations was an agreement signed by the two commanders on the eighteenth of April. As this agree- ment provided for the restoration of the which he surrendered to General ShermaA all the Confederate forces under his command, on terms similar to those granted to General Lee by General Grant. The example of Generals Lee and John- ston was followed by the other Confederate commanders throughout the South. The ADMINISTRATION OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 7S9 last to surrender was General E. Kirby Smith, in Texas, on the twenty-sixth of May. On the twenry-ninth of May Presi- dent Johnson issued a proclamation announc- ing the close of the war, and offering amnesty to all who had participated in it on the Con- federate side, with the exception of fourteen specified classes. Upon the surrender of Johnston's army, Mr. Davis and the members of his former cabinet endeavored to make their way to the coast of Florida, from which they hoped to be able to reach the West Indies. Some of them succeeded in doing so, but Mr. Davis was captured at Irwinsville, Georgia, on the tenth of May, and was sent as a prisoner to Fortress Monroe, where he was held in con^ finement until May, 1867. The civil war was over. It had cost the country one million men in the killed and crippled for life of the two armies. In money the North and South had expended proba- bly the enormous sum of ^5,000,000,000. The exact amount will never be known as the Confederate debt perished with the gov- ernment which created it. CHAPTER XLIII The Administration of Andrew Johnson rhe NcA jpi >iJlv(»it— Return of the Army to Civil Life — The Public Debt — The Reconstruction Question — Action of the President — He Declares the Southern States Readmitted into the Union — The Fifteenth Amendment — Meeting of Congress — The President's Acts Annulled — -Reconstruction Policy of Congress — The Fourteenth Amendment — The Freedman's Bureau and Civil Rights Bills — The Tenure of Ofifice Act — Adiriission of Nebraska into the Union — The Southern States Organized as Military Districts — Admission of Southern. States into the Union — The Fourteenth Amendment Ratified — President Johnson's Quarrel with Secretary Stanton — Impeachment of the President — His Acquital — Release of Je&rson Davis — Indian War — The French in Mexico — Fall of the Mexican Empire — Laying of the Atlantic TelegrapA — Purchase of Alaska — Naturalization Treaty with Germany — Treaty with China — Death of General Scott — Death oi ex-President Buchanan — General Grant Elected President — The Fifteenth Amendment, UPON the death of Mr. Lincoln, Andiew Johnson, the vice-Pres- ident, Dy the terms of the Consti- tution, became President of the United States. He took the oalh of office on the fifteenth of April, and at once entered upon the discharge of his duties. His first act was to retain all the members of the cabinet appointed by Mr. Lincoln. Mr. Johnson was a native of North Caro- lina, having been born in Raleigh on the twenty-ninth of December, 1808. At the age of ten he was bound as an apprentice to a tailor of that city. He was at this time unable to read or write. Some years later, being determined to acquire an education, he learned the alphabet from a fellow- workman, and a friend taught him spelling. He was soon able to read, and pursued his studies steadily, working ten or twelve hours a day at his trade, and studying two or three more. In 1826 he removed to Greenville, Tennes- see, carrying with him his mother, who was dependent upon him for support. Upon attaining manhood he married, and continued his studies under the direction of his wife, supporting his family in the mean time by his trade. He was subsequently chosen alderman of hio town, and with this election entered upon his political career. 7c,o Studing law he abandoned tailoring, and devoted himself to legal pursuits and politics. He was succesively chosen mayor, member of the legislature, presidential elector, and State senator. He was twice elected gover- nor of Tennessee, and three times a senator of the United States from that State. Upon the secession of Tennessee irom the Union he refused to relinquish his seat in the Senate, and remained faithful to the cause of the Union throughout the war, wining consider- able reputation during the struggle by nis services in behalf of the national cause. He was an earnest, honest-hearted man, who sincerely desired to do his duty to the country. His mistakes were due to his tem- perament, and proceeded from no desire to serve his own interests or those of any party. In his public life he was incorruptible. A man of ardent nature, strong convictions^ and indomitable will, it was not possible that he should avoid errors, or fail to stir up a warm and determined opposition to his policy. The first duty devolving upon the new administration was the disbanding of the army, which at the close of the war numbered over a million of men. It was prophesied by foreign nations, and feared by many per- sons at home, that the sudden return of such I a large body of men to the pursuits of civil ADMINISTRATION OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 79K Jfe would be attended with serious evils, but both the Union and the Confederate soldiers went back quietly and readily to their old avocations. Thus did these citizen-soldiers give to the world a splendid exhibition of the triumph of law and order in a free country, and a proof of the stability of our institutions. Two questions — both difficult and de- licate — presented themselves for settle- ment by the govern- ment. In June, 1865, the war debt amount- ed to ^2,700,000,000. The interest on this sum was ;^ 1 3 3 ,000,000, and was nearly all pay- able in gold. The gov- ernment was called upon to raise the latter amount to pay the interest on its bonds, and at the same time V) take measures to strengthen the confi- dence of the bond- holders in the security of their investments. The latter object was accomplished by a solemn resolution of the House of Repre- sentatives, adopted with but one dissent- ing voice on the fifth of December, 1865, pledging the faith of the nation to the payment of the public debt, "principal and interest." In order to provide for the immediate wants of the government Congress levied additional duties on imported articles, and imposed taxes upon manufactured articles, incomes, etc. These burdensome imposts were cheerfully submitted to by the people, and a revenue of over ;^300,ooo,ooo was raised, providing not only for the payment of the interest on the debt, and of the current ANDREW JOHNSON. expenses of the government, but also leaving a large surplus, which was applied to the reduction of the national debt. In the yeat 1866, " before all the extra troops called out by the war had been discharged, the debt had been diminished more than thirty-one yg2 THE CIVIL WAR. millions of dollars " — a striking proof of the ibility as well as the willingness of the nation :o discharge iLs financial obligations. Durine v/hich he claimed they had no powet to renounce. Now that they had submit- ted to the authority they had formerly endea- the remainder of Mr. Johnson's term this i vored to reject, he claimed that they were policy was faithfully adhered to under the [ entitled to immediate restoration to their old able guidance of Hugh McCulloch, secretary places in the Union, of the treasury. j In support of his position he quoted the RUINS UF RICHMOND AFTER THE WAR. The other question demanding immediate attention was the adjustment of the relations of the States of the South to the Union. The President held that they had never been out of the Union but had simply been in insur- rection, and had been brought back to the acknowledgment of their allegiance to the constitution and laws of the United States, solemn declaration of Congress in the sum- mer of 1 86 1, and the assurances of Mr. Lincoln's administration that the war was fought for the restoration of the Union, and not for purposes of conquest. In accordance v/ith these declarations, provisional govern- ments had been formed in some of the South- ern States and their representatives had been ADMINISTRATION OF ANDREW JOHNSON. '93 admited to Congress during the progress of the war. A considerable party in the North supported President Johnson in this position ; but the Republican party, now the dominant political organization of the United States, opposed his views with great determination. The Republicans insisted that the results of the war should be secured by stringent laws, and that the Southern States, before their admission into the Union, should be Preside. .t Johnson, however, proceeded alone and without delay to the work of restoring the Southern States to their places in the Union. On the twenty-ninth of May, 1865, he issued a proclamation appointing a provisional governor for the State of North Carolina, and providing for the assembling of a convention in that State for the purpose, of forming a new constitution, under which the State would be recognized by him as a FORT WARREN, BOSTON HARBOR. Coffipelkd to give guarantees for the perpet- uation of these results. The Republican |>arty, moreover, claimed that the work of reconstructing the Union properly belonged to the legislative branch of the government and not to the President. Had the President summoned Congress in extra session and sought the aid of that body in the task before him, a conciliatory policy might have been agreed upon, and the work of recon- struction have been completed without delay. member of the Federal Union, In th?:. mean- time North Carolina was, l^ept lender, military rule. A similar course was pursued by the President towards the States qf Virginia^ South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississipi, Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas. The people of the. tpn. Southern.; States held conventions in, accordance ved. 796 THE CIVIL WAR. and the Southern States were organized as military districts, and placed under absolute martial law. The writ of habeas corpus was suspended, and the civil law was made to give place to the will of a military com- mander. This was done with the avowed intention of compelling the Southern States to ratify the fourteenth amendment and seek admission into the Union upon the terms prescribed by Congress. Bitter Hostility in the South. The effect of the measures of Congress was to disfranchise the better class of the South- ern people, and to confer the unrestricted right of suffrage upon the negroes. The intelligence of the Southern States was denied any voice in their government, which was intrusted to the most ignorant and degraded part of their population. The measures of Congress were regarded with bitter hostility by the South, and there were very many of the more thoughtful Republicans of the North who seriously doubted the wisdom of this method of reconstruction. The mea- sures of Congress were vetoed by the Presi- dent, but were passed over his veto, March 2, 1867. Upon the organization of the military dis- tricts, the commanding generals, who, as a rule, exercised their power with moderation and forbearance, caused a registry of voters to be made, and ordered elections to be held for conventions to form State governments. The conventions so elected could not in any case be said to represent the white people of the South. After a bitter and protracted struggle, some of the conventions ratified 'the fourteenth amendment, and organized State governments. On the twenty-fourth of June, 1867, Congress passed a bill over the President's veto admiting the States of Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louis- iana, North Carolina, and South Carolina into the Union, Virginia, Mississippi, and Texas, having refused to ratify the amend- ment, were denied admission into the Union. The fourteenth amendment having beer adopted by the requisite number of States^ was formally declared a part of the constitu- tion on the twenty-eighth of July, 1868. Attempt to Impeach the President. In the meantime the quarrel brtv/oen the President and Congress came to a decisive issue. The extreme or radical wing of the Republican party, comprising the majority in Congress, was anxious to remove Mr. Johnson from his position. Conld it succeed in doing so, Benjamin Wade, of Ohio, the President of the Senate, would, by virtue o) his office, become President of the United States. As Mr. Wade was one of the ex- treme radical leaders, this would place the whole power o^ the government in the hands of that party. A quarrel be- tween the President and Mr. Stanton, the Secretary of War, furnished the occasion for this effort. On the twelfth of August, 1867, Secretary Stanton was removed from the war department by President Johnson, who ap- pointed General Grant Secretary of War ad interwi. Upon the meeting of Congress, in December, 1867, the President's course was denounced as a violation of the tenure of office act, and on the twelfth of January, 1868, the Senate refused to sanction the removal of Mr. Stanton. Mr. Stanton thereupon de- manded of General Grant the surrender of the war department, and the latter at once complied with the demand. On the twenty-first of February, President Johnson again removed Mr. Stanton, and appointed General Lorenzo Thomas, adjutant- general of the United States, Secretary of War ad interim. He held the tenure of office act to be unconstitutional, and an invasion of his lawful powers as chief magistrate of ADMINISTRATION OF ANDREW JOHNSON. 797 the Republic. This second removal of Mr. Stanton brought matters to a crisis, and on the twenty-fourth of February, 1868, the House of Representatives, by a strict party vote, ordered the President to be impeached of high crimes and misdemeanors.* The Senate, siting as a high court of impeach- ment, met on the fifth of March, 1868, under the presidency of Chief-Justice Chase. The impeachment was conducted by managers appointed by the House, and the President was defended by able counsel. On the twenty-sixth of May, the case being closejd, the vote was taken, with the following result : For conviction, thirty-four; for acquittal, nineteen. There not being the requisite two-thirds vote for conviction, the President was acquitted. Jefferson Davis Releasd on Bail. Jefferson Davis had been confined in For- tress Monroe since his capture by the Federal forces, in May, 1865. All the Confederate ■officials taken by the Union forces had been released within a year after their capture on giving their parole to answer any prosecution that might be brought against them by the Federal authorities. Mr. Davis was ex- cepted from this clemency, and remained in prison for two years. A prosecution for treason was instituted against him in the district court of Virginia, but he was not brought to trial. A number of prominent citizens of the North who had been so active in their support of the war that their motives could not be suspected, ex- erted themselves to procure his release on bail, and became his sureties. He was ac- cordingly released on bail on the thirteenth of May, 1867. During the following year the indictment against him was quashed by the government. During the latter part of the civil war a vexatious and bloody warfare with the Indians broke out on the frontier. It began in 1864, and extended through 1865 and 1 866, and until the fall of 1868 its ravages were spread along the frontier through Southern Colorado into the Indian Territory, causing severe suffering to the settlers of this region. By the winter of 1865-66 the war had assumed such formidable proportions that General Sheridan was sent with a con- siderable force against the savages. The vigorous measures of Sheridan, and General Custer's victory over the band of Black Kettle at Wacheta, brought the war to a close in the fall of 1868. * The charges against the President may be summed up as follows : i. Unlawfully ordering the removal of Mr. Stanton from the office of Secretary of War, in violation of the provisions of the tenure of office act. 2. The unlawful appointment of General Lorenzo Thomas as Secretary of War ad interim. 3. Conspiring with General Thomas and other persons to prevent Edwin M. Stanton, the lawfully appointed Secretary of War, from holding that office. 5. Conspiring with •General Thomas and other persons to hinder the operation of the tenure of office act; and in pusuance of this conspiracy attempting to prevent Mr. Stanton from acting as Secretary of War. 6. Conspiring with General Thomas and others to itake forcible possession of the property in the war department. 7. The President was charged with having called before him the commander of the troops in the department of Washington, and declaring to him that a law passed on the ihirtieth of June, 1867, directing that " all orders and instructions relating to military operations, issued by the President or Secretary of War, shall be issued through the general of the army, and in case of his inability, through the next in rai'k," ■was unconstitutional, and not binding upon the commander of the department of Washington, the design being to induce that commander to violate the law, and obey orders issued directly from the President. 8. That in a number of public speeches the President had attempted to set aside the authority of Congress, to bring it into disgrace, andl to excite the liatred and resentment of the people against Congress and the laws enacted by it. 9. That in August, \S>&^^ in a public speech in Washington, the President had declared that Congress was not a body authorized by the conslitution to exercise * Jegislative powers. Then followed a specification of alleged attempts on the part of the President to prevent the execution of the laws of Congress. The impeachment articles were eleven in number. The other two wev^ §irnplv repetitions o( 6ome of the above charges. 798 THE CIVIL WAR. While the civil war was at its height, France, England and Spain became involved in a quarrel with Mexico concerning the non- payment of certain claims due citizens of those countries by the Mexican republic, the fourth of March, 1862, and withdrew their forces. The French, however, continued the war, and after a hard struggle, during which the Mexicans fought gallantly for their country. EMPEROR MAXIMILIAN. and a joint expedition was despatched to Mexico in the fall of 1861. Discovering that France was seeking to use the expe- dition to destroy the independence of Mexico, England and Spain settled their claims with the republic by the convention of Solidad, on Mexico was conquered, and early in June- 1863, the French army entered the capital. The emperor of the French now proceeded to overthrow the republic, it being hi.< intention to replace it with an empire which should be dependent upon France. An ADMINISTRATION OF ANDRFAV JOHNSON. 799 France on the American election was held, and under the intimidation of the French, resulted in a majority in favor of the abolition of the republic and the erection of the empire. Through the same influence, the Mexicans chose Maximilian, archduke of Austria, emporer of Mexico, and in an evil hour for himself, that amiable and high-souled prince accepted the crown. The government of the United States had viewed the interference of France in Mexican affairs with marked displeasure, but being too much engaged in its efforts to bring the civil war to a successful close to undertake any new difficulty, simply entered its protest: against the action of France. The civil war having been brougiit to a close, however, it took a bolder stand, and demanded of the French emporer the withdrawal cf his troops from Mexico. The action of the gov- ernment was sustained by the great mass of the American people, and it was believed by many that a foreign war would be a sure and speedy way of bringing about the res- toration of the Union. The Emperor Napoleon hesitated for a while, but finally acceded to the American demand. The French troops were recalled at the close of the year 1866, and the Emperor Maximilian was left to face the Mexican people alone. They at once rose against him, defeated his forces and took him prisoner. On the nineteenth of June, 1867, he was shot by order of the Mexican government, in spite of the efforts of the United States to save him. Thus ended the hope of reviving the dominion of continent. The efforts of the gentlemen interested in the laying of a telegraphic cable across the Atlantic did not end with their failures in 1858. In 1865 the same company succeeded in laying a cable for about fourteen hundred miles from the Irish coast, when it suddenly parted and sank into the sea. The expe- dition then returned to England. Undis- mayed by this failure, Mr. Cyrus W. Fields of New York, to whose courage and deter- mination the final success of the scheme was ^^^^i2^-^^^2i^i:^;!^^^4^^^8 NATIVES OF ALASKA BUILDING HOUSES. due, succeeded in persuading capitalists to make one more effort, and in July, 1866, a cable was laid from Valentia Bay, in Ireland^ to Heart's Content, in Newfoundland, a dis- tance of eighteen hundred and sixty-four miles. It was found to work to the entire satisfaction of all parties, and the great enter- prise was now an accomplished fact. The fleet then sailed from Newfoundland to the spot where the cable of 1865 had parted in mid-ocean, and proceeded to grap- ple for it. It was recovered and raised from a depth of over two miles, and was then Soo THE CIVIL WAR. spHccQ to the coil on board the " Great Eastern," the ship employed in the under- taking. The huge steamer then put about, and completed the laying of the cable to Heart's Content, thus giving the company two working lines. The completion of the work was hailed with rejoicings in both America and Europe. Purchase of Russian America. On the twenty-ninth of March, 1 867, atreaty was concluded between the United States and Russia, by which the latter power sold to the United States for the sum of seven mil- lion two hundred thousand dollars, all of the region in the extreme northwestern part of the American continent known as Russian America. The treaty was ratified by the Senate on the ninth of April. The new territory added to the area of the United States a district of about five hundred and seventy-seven thousand three hundred and ninety square miles. In the same year a treaty was negotiated with China, through an embassy from that country, which visited the United States under the charge of Anson Burlingame, for- merly the American Minister to China. It was the first instance in which that exclusive nation had ever sought to negotiate a treaty of commerce and friendship with a foreign nation. Liberty of conscience to Americans residing in China, protection of their property and persons and important commercial privi- leges were secured by this treaty. In 1 866 the Fenians, a secret society, organ- ized for the purpose of delivering Ireland from British rule, invaded Canada in large numbers from Buffalo, New York, and St. Albans, Vermont. President Johnson at once issued his proclamation declaring the Fenian movement a violation of the neutrality of the United States, and sent General Meade with a sufficient force to the border to execute the laws. This decisive action put an end to the hopes of the Fenians of embroiling this coun- try in hostilities with Great Britain, and after some slight encounters with the British troops in Canada they abandoned the expedition. During President Johnson's administration, two distinguished public servants passed away. On the twenty-ninth of May, 1866, Lieutenant-General Winfield Scott, the vet- eran conqueror of Mexico, died at the age of eighty years. On the first of June, 1868, ex-President James Buchanan died at his home at Wheatland, near Lancaster, Penn- sylvania, in the seventy-eighth year of his age. In the fall of 1 868, the presidential election was held. The Republican party nominated General Ulysses S. Grant, the commanding- general of the army, for the presidency, and Schuyler Colfax, of Indiana, for the vice- presidency. The Democratic party nomin- ated Horatio Seymour, of New York, for the presidency, and Frank P. Blair, of Missouri, for the vice-presidency. The election resulted in the choice of General Grant by a popular vote of 2,985,031 to 2,648,830 votes cast for Mr. Seymour. In the electoral college. Grant received two hundred and seventeen votes and Seymour, seventy-seven. The States of Virginia, Mississippi and Texas were not allowed to take part in this election, being still out of the Union. In February, 1 869, the two houses of Con- gress adopted the fifteenth amendment to the constitution of the United States, and sub- mitted it to the various States for ratification by them. It was in the following words: " The right of the citizens of the; United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States, o any State, on account of race, color, or prey^^us Qondition of servi- tude." I CHAPTER XLIV. The Administration of Ulysses S. Grant. tarry Life of President Grant — Completion of the Pacific Railway — Death of ex-President Pierce — The Fifteenth Amendment Ratified — Prosperity of the Country — The Enforcement Act — The Test-oath Abolished — The Constitu- tionality of the Legal Tender Act Affirmed — Death of Admiral Farragut — Death of General .Lee — The Income Tax Repealed — The Alabama Claims — Treaty of Washington — The Geneva Conference — Award in favor of the United States — The San Juan Boundary Question settled — Efforts to annex St. Domingo — Burning of Chicago — Forest Fires — The Civil Disabilities removed from the Southern People — Re-election of General Grant — Death of Horace Greeley — Great fire at Boston — The Modoc War — ivlurder of General Canby and the Peace Commissioners — Execution of the Modoc- Chiefs — The Cuban Revolution — Capture of the " Virginius" — Execution of the Prisoners — Action of the Federal Government — The Panic of 1873 — ^^'11 foi" the Resumption of Specie Payments — The Centennial Exhibition — The Sioux War — Death of General Custer — Presidential Election — Controversy over it — The Electoral Commission^ The Count of the Vote — Hayes declared elected ULYSSES S. GRANT, the eigh- teenth president of the United States, was inaugurated at Wash- ington with imposing ceremonies, ■on the fourth of March, 1869. He was born ■Sit Mount Pleasant, Ohio, on the twenty- seventh of April, 1822. His father was a tanner, and wished him to follow his trade, but the boy had more ambitious hopes, and at the age of seventeen, a friend secured for him an appointment as a cadet at West Point, "where he was educated. Upon graduating, he entered the army. Two years later he Avas sent to Mexico, and served through the -war with that country with distinction. He was specially noticed by his commanders, and was promoted for gallant conduct. Soon after the close of the war he resigned liis commission, and remained in civil life and obscurity until the breaking out of the civil war, when he volunteered his services, and was commissioned by Governor Yates, col- onel of the twenty-first Illinois regiment. He was soon made a brigadier-general, and fought his first battle at Belmont. His sub- sequent career has already been related in these pages. He selected the members of 2iis cabinet more because of his personal 51 friendship for them, than for their weight and influence in the party that had elected him. Hamilton Fish, of New York, was made sec- retary of state. The most important event of the year 1869, was the opening of the Pacific rail- way from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean. The eastern division of this road is known as the- Union Pacific railway, and was begun at Omaha, Nebraska, in December, 1863, and carried westward. But little prog- ress was made in the work until 1865, when it was pushed rapidly forward. The western division, known as the Central Pacific rail- way, was begun at San Francisco, near about the same time, and carried eastward across the Sierra Nevada. The two roads unite at Ogden, near Salt Lake City, in Utah, and the union was accomplished on the tenth of May, 1869, on which day the last rail was laid. The Union Pacific railway, from Omaha to Ogden, is one thousand and thirty-two miles in length ; the Central Pacific, from Ogden to San Francisco, eight hundred and eighty-two miles ; making a total line of nineteen hundred and fourteen miles, and constituting by far the most important rail- way enterprise in the world. 801 802 ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. By the completion of this great road, to the construction of which the general gov- ernment contributed liberally in money and lands, Portland, Maine, and San Francisco, the extremes of the continent, are brought within a week's travel. The long and difficult journey across the plains has been dispensed with, and the traveler may now pass over this once terrible and dangerous route with speed and safety, enjoying all the while the highest comforts of the most advanced civil- ization. ULYSSES S. GRANT. The east and the west are no longer separ- ated, and the rapid development of the resources of the rich Pacific slope has more than repaid the enormous cost of the road. A direct trade with China and Japan has been opened, and the wealth of the Orient is beginning to pour into America through the portals of the Golden Gate. The shortest route to India — the dream of Columbus and the old mariners — has indeed been found. On the eighth of October, 1869, ex-Presi- dent Franklin Pierce died, at the age of sixty- five years. The fifteenth amendment, having been ratified by the necessary number of States, was formally proclaimed by Hamilton Fish, secretary of state, a part of the constitution of the United States, on the thirtieth of March, 1870. In the year 1870 the ninth census of the United States was taken, and showed the population of the country to be 38,558,371 souls. The country had now attained a marked degree of prosperity. Gold fell to one hundred and ten, and during the first two years of President Grant's administration, ^204,000,000 of the national debt were paid. The effects of the war \\ ere being rapidly overcome, and the bitter feelings engendered by the struggle were giving way to a more friendly intercourse between the North and the South. The manufacturing industries of the country had nearly doubled since i860, and the five yea:rs that had elapsed since the war had witnessed a marked improvement in the condition of the South, which was gradually adjusting her industry upon the basis of free labor, and entering upon new and profitable enterprises of manufacture and commerce. The work of reconstruction was concluded in the year 1870. On the eighth of October 1869, the State of Virginia ratified the four- j teenth and fifteenth amendments, and on the twenty-sixth of January, 1870, was read- mitted into the Union. On the eleventh of January, 1870, Mississippi ratified these amendments, and was readmitted into the Union on the seventeenth of February, 1870, Texas was the last to return to the Union, but came in during the year, having rati.^^.f^ the amendments to the constitution. The political troubles in the South, how- ever, did not end with the return of the States ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 803 to the Union. A o^reat deal of lawlessness pre- vailedin many of the Southern States, and con- siderable suffering was experienced by the negroes, whose sudden endowment with the rights and privileges of citizenship was re- sented by a lawless class of white men. The Federal goverment undertook to remedy these troubles rather than leave them to be dealt with by the States. ber issued a proclamation suspending the writ of habeas corpus in nine counties in South Carolina, in order that the law might be enforced without the interference of the Courts of the State. The evils which these severe measures were intended to remedy were unquestionably very great, but the enforcement bill was nevertheless a danger- ous departure from the principles of free VIEW ON THE GREENE RIVER AT THE CROSSING OF THE U. P. R. R., WYOMING. In the spring of 1871 Congress passed a measure known as the " Enforcement Act," or the "KukluxAct of 1871," which gave to the Federal officials absolute power over the liberties of the citizens of the States in -vhich these troubles occurred. The Presi- 'ent carried out the terms of the act with promptness, and on the seventeenth of Octo- government as understood in this country. A free people cannot too jealously guard their liberties. On the thirty-first of January, 1871, Con^ gress repealed the test oath law, which required all applicants for civil offices to swear that they had not participated in the secession movement. As few Southern men 8o4 ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. could take this oath, this law excluded the genuine inhabitants of the Southern States from ofhce under the general government, and threw the political power of those States into the hands of a class of adventurers, who had been drawn to the South since the war by the hope of obtaining office. The repeal PRESIDENT GRANT ON HIS WAY TO THE INAUGURATION of this law by Congress restored the control of the Southern States to the legitimate citizens and tax-payers thereof In 1870 the Supreme Court of the United States decided that the act of Congress making " greenbacks," or the notes of the Federal treasury, a legal tender, was uncon- stitutional as regarded the payment of debts contracted prior to the passage ol tnat act. As this decision had been given by a majority of but one justice, Mr. Hoar, the Attorney- General, moved to reconsider it. The case was heard again, and the decision of the court was reversed by a vote of five to four, on the eighteenth of January, 1871. Thus the constitutionality of the legal- tender act was affirmed. In 1870 died Admiral David G. Farragut, on the fourteenth of August, aged sixty-nine ; General George H. Thomas, " the Rock of Chickamauga," and the defender of Nashville, on the twenty-eighth of December, aged fifty-three, and General Robert E. Lee, the com- mander of the Confederate army of Northern Virginia during the civil war, on the twelfth of October^ aged sixty-three. On the twenty-sixth of January, 1 87 1, Congress repealed the income tax. It had been retained long after the necessity for it had passed away and had become odious to the na- tion, which had only submitted to it at first because of the urgency of the need for it. Immediately upon the opening of President Lincoln's second term of office, Mr. Charles Francis Adams, the American minister at the court, of St. James, was instructed to call' the attention of the British Govern- ment to the depredations committed upon American commerce by Confederate cruisers, built, equipped and manned in Eng- land, and to insist upon the responsibility of Great Britain for the losses thus incurred by American ship-owners. Mr. Adams dis- charged this duty in a communication addressed to the British Government, on the seventh of April, 1865. This led to a ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 805 correspondence which continued through the summer of that year. Great Britain refused to admit the validity of the American claim, or to submit the question to the arbitration of any foreign government. The " Alabama question " remained unset- tled for several years, and occasioned a con- siderable amount of ill-feeling between the two countries. Both governments regarded it as full of danger, but to Great Britain it was especially so, as in the event of a war between that country and any foreign power, the United States, fol- lowing the example of England, might and doubtless would allow cruisers to be sent out from their ports which would seriously crip pie, if they did not destroy, the British commerce. After Mr. Adams' return from England, his succes- sor, Reverdy Johnson, was directed by the President to reopen the matter. He nego- tiated a treaty with the Earl of Clarend^-n on behalf of the Bii- Alabama claims, but of all other questions at issue between the United States and Great Britain. The Alabama claims were referred by the treaty of Washington to a board of arbitra- tion composed of five commissioners selected from the neutral nations. This board met at Geneva, in Switzerland, on the fifteenth 0/ April, 1872, and the American and English representatives presented to it their respective cases, which had been prepared by the most learned counsel in both countries. On the HUMBOLDT PALISADES, PACIFIC RAILWAY. ish Government in 1869, but this arrange- ment was unsatisfactory to the Senate, which body refused to ratify it. Two years later the matter was revived, and in 1871 a joint high commission, com- posed of a number of distinguished public men, appointed by the American and British Governments, met at Washington, and arranged a settlement known as the treaty of Washington, which was ratified by both Governments. This treaty was ratified by the Senate on the twenty-fourth of May, and provided for the settlement not only of the twenty-seventh of June the board announced its decision. The claims of the United States were admitted, and the damages awarded to that Government were ;^ 16,250,000. These were paid in due time. In our account of the administration of Mr. Buchanan we have related the dispute between the United States and Great Britain concerning the possession of the Island of San Juan, growing out of the uncertainty as to the true course of the northwestern bound- ary of the Union. This had been an open question all through the civil war. By the 8o6 ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. thirty-fourth article of the treaty of Washing- ton the two countries agreed to refer this dispute to the friendly arbitration of the Emperor of Germany. Soon after the award of the Geneva conference was made the boundary question was decided by the Emper- or WiUiam in favor of the United States, into the possession of which the island of San Juan- accordingly passed. Thus were these delicate and dangerous questions satisfactor- Measures were introduced into Congress for the purpose of securing this union, but were warmly opposed. A commission of eminent gentlemen was appointed by the President to visit the island and examine into its condi- tion. They reported favorably, but after a^ warm debate in Congress the measures for the annexation of the Dominican republic were defeated by a decisive majority. On the night of Sunday, October 8, 1871, CHEYENNE INDIANS RECONNOITKRING THE FIRST TRAIN ON THE PACIFIC RAILROAD. ily adjusted bypeacetul methods, and not by the sword. In 1870 the republic of St. Domingo, com- prising a large part of the island of Hayti, applied for annexation to the United States. President Grant was very anxious to secure the annexation of this island, and to accom- plish It went to the very verge of his consti- tutional powers — going farther, indeed, than many of his friends believed he had the right. a fire broke out in the city of Chicago, and -i raged with tremendous violence for two daySp ■ laying the greater part of the city in asheSo It was the most destructive conflagration of modern times. The total area of the city burned over was two thousand one hundred and twenty-four acres, or very nearly three and one-third square miles. The number ot' buildings destroyed was seventeen thousand four hundred and fifty. About two hundred 6eS ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. and fifty persons died from various causes during the conflagration, and ninety-eight thousand persons were rendered homeless by it. The entire business quarter was destroyed. The actual loss will never be known. As far as it can be ascertained, it was about one hundred and ninety-six millions of dollars. Almost simultaneous with this disaster extensive forest fires swept over the woods of i sities of life was liberally extended to the sufferers in Chicago and the other afflicted communities. The telegraph flashed the news across the Atlantic, and in an almost incredibly short time liberal contributions in money came pouring in from England and continental Europe, and even from the far-off cities of India. On the twenty-ninth of May, 1872, Con- THE BURNING OF CHICAGO. Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan. Whole villages were destroyed by the flames, which traveled with such speed that it was often impossible for the fleetest horse to escape from them. Over fifteen hundred people perished in Wisconsin alone. These terrible calamities aroused the gen- erous sympathy of the rest of the country, and aid in money, clothing, and the neces- gress passed an act removing the disabilities imposed upon the Southern people by the third section of the fourteenth amendment ta the constitution. From this general exemption were excepted all persons who had been members of Congress, officers of the army or navy, heads of departments under the general government, or ministers to foreign countries, who had resigned their positions ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 805 and joined the secession movement. By this act at least one hundred and fifty thousand men of capacity and experience, whose services were greatly needed by the South, were restored to political life. In the fall of 1872 the presidential election occurred. The canvass was marked by the most intense partisan bitterness. The Repub- lican party renominated General Grant for the Presidency, and supported Henry Wilson for the Vice-Presidency. The mea- sures of the administration had arrayed a large number of Republicans againsf it. These now organized themselves as the Liberal Republican party, and nominated Horace Greeley of New York for the Presidency, and B. Gratz Brown of Missouri n^or the Vice-Presi- dency. The Democratic party made no nominations, and its convention endorsed the candidates of the Liberal Republican party. The election re- sulted in the triumph ot the Republican candidates by overwhelming majorities. The elections were scarcely over when the country was saddened by the death of Horace Greeley. He had been one of the founders of the Republican | party, and had been closely identified with the political history of the coun- try for over thirty years. He was the " Founder of the New York Tribune," and had done good service with his journal in behalf of the cause he believed to be founded in right. He was a man of simple and childlike character, utterly imafifected, and generous '^to a fault. In his manner and dress he was eccentric, but nature had made him a true gentleman at heart. His intellectual ability was conceded by all. His experience in public life and his natural disposition induced him to favor a policy of conciliation in the settlement of the reconstruction question, and, influenced by these convictions, he signed the bail-bond of Jefferson Davis and secured the release of the fallen leader of the South from his imprisonment. This act cost him a large part of his popu- larity in the North. He accepted the presi- dential nomination of the Liberal party in the belief that his election would aid in bringing about a better state of feeling between the North and the South. He was attacked by HORACE GREELEY. his political opponents with a bitterness which caused him much suffering, and many of his old friends deserted him and joined in the warfare upon him. Just before the close of the canvass, his wife, to whom he was ten- derly attached, died, and his grief for her and the excitement and sorrow caused him by the political contest, broke down his firmness and unsettled his mind. He was conveyed by his friends to a private asylum, where he died oa ;io ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. the twenty-ninth of November, 1872, in the sixy-second year of his age. The country could ill afford to spare him. On the ninth of November, 1872, a fire occurred in Boston, and burned uptll late on the tenth, sweeping? over an area of sixty-five Grant was inaugurated a second time, at Washington, with great pomp. Twelve thou- sand troops took part in the procession which escorted him to the capitol. Early in 1873, a troublesome war began with the Modoc Indian tribe, on the Pacific PRESIDENT GRANT PASSING THROUGH THE ROTUNDA TO TAKE THE OATH OF OFFICE. acres in the centre of the wholesale trade of the city, and destroying property to the amount of seventy-eight million dollars. As this fire was confined to the business quarter of the city, compartively few persons were deprived of their homes. On the fourth of March, 1873, President coast. These Indians had been removed by. the government from their old homes in Cal- ifornia to reservations in the northern part of Oregon. They at length became dissatisfied with their new location, which they declared was unable to afford them a support, and began a series of depredations upon the ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 8i settlements of the whites, which soon drew upon them the vengencc of the Federal gov- ernment. Troops were sent again::,i; them, but they retreated to their fastnesses in the lava beds, where they maintained a successful resistance for several months. The govern- ment at length reinforced the troops operating against them, and General Canby, command- ing the department of the Pacific, assumed the immediate command of the troops in the field. At the same time, a commission was appointed by the government to endeavor to settle the quarrel with the Indians peace- ably. This commission held several con- ferences with Captain Jack, the head chief of tlie Modocs, and the other Indian leaders, but accomplished nothing. At length the commissioners and General Canby agreed to meet the Indians in the lava beds, a short distance in advance of the lines of the troops. They went unarmed and without an escort. While the conference was in progress, the Indians suddenly rose upon the coinmis- sioners, and killed all but one, who managed to escape with severe wounds. General Canby was shot down at the same time, and died instantly. The Indians at once fled to their strong- ^^ holds amid the rocks. The troops, infu- '^~ riated by the murder of their commander, closed in upon them from all sides, and shut them in the lava beds. Their position was one which a handful of men might defend against an army, and they held it with a desperate determination. They were dis- lodged finally by the shells of the American guns, and such as were not killed were cap- tured. Captain Jack and his associates in the murder of General Canby and the com- missioners were tried by a court-martial and sentenced to death. They were hanged in the presence of their countrymen and of the troops on the third of October, 1873. For many years Cuba haa oeen growing dissatisfied with the rule of Spain. In 1868 a revolution broke out in that island, having for its object the expulsion of the Spaniards and the establishment of the independence of Cuba. The patriot army was able to win numerous successes over the Spanish troops, and for several years maintained its position against every effort to dislodge it. Very great sympathy was manifested for the Cuban patriots by the peoole of the LJnited MR'-. L (jKANT. States, and repeated efforts were made to induce the government of this country to recognize the independence of Cuba and assist the patriots, or at least to acknowledge their rights as belligerents. The govern ment, however, faithfully observed its »bH« gations as a neutral power, and forbade the organization or departure of all expeditions from this country for the assistance of the Cubans. The Cuban agents were prevented from shipping arms or military supplies to 8l2 ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S GRANT. theii forces, and several vessels intended to serve as cruisers against the Spanish com- merce were seized and detained by the Federal authorities. In spite of the precautions of the govern- ment, however, several expeditions did suc- ceed in getting to sea and reaching Cuba. One of these embarked on the steamer the next day. Captain Fry, the com- mander of the " Virginius," and the crew and passengers of the vessel were thrown into prison. After a mock trial, in which the simplest forms of decency were disregarded, Captain Fry and a number of the crew and passengers of the " Virginius," about thirty-five or fortv THE LAVA BEDS — SCENE OF THE MODOC WAR, "Virginius," in the fall of 1873. When off the coast of Jamaica the Spanish war steamer " Tornado " was sighted. She at once gave chase, and though the "Virginius" was on the high seas and was flying the American flag, overhauled her and took possession of her on the thirty-first of October. The "Tornado" then carried her prize into the port of Santiago de Cuba, which was reached in all, were shot by order of the iiiiUtary authorities. The other prisoners were held in a most cruel captivity to await the pleasure of the Spanish officials at Havana. The con- sul of the United States at Sanciago de Cuba made great exertions to save Fry and those condemned to die with him. He was treated with great indignity by the Spanish officials, and was not allowed to communicate with ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 813 Havana, from which point he could consult his government by telegraph. When the news of the seizure of the " Vir- ginius " at sea under the American flag reached the United States it aroused a storm of indignation. Meetings were held in all the principal cities, and the press unanimously sustained the popular demand that the gov- ernment should require satisfaction for the outrage upon its flag. The general senti- ment of the people was in favor of instant war, and it was openly declared that a better opportunity would never arise to drive the Spaniards out of Cuba and obtain possession of the island. Prompt Demands of the United States. The government acted with firmness and prudence. Several vessels of war were sent to Santiago de Cuba to prevent the execution of the surviving prisoners taken with the ** Virginius ;" the fleet in the West Indies was reinforced as rapidly as possible, and the navy was at once put on a war footing in order to be ready for any emergency. The President was urged to convene Congress in extra session, but he declined to do so, know- ing that that body would be most likely to yield to the popular demand for war, and he was anxious to settle the difficulty by peace- ful means if possible. General Sickels, the American minister at Madrid, was ordered to demand of the Spanish government the arrest and punish- ment of the officials implicated in the mas- sacre of Captain Fry and his associates, a suitable indemnity in money for the families of the murdered men, an apology to the United States for the outrage upon their flag, and the surrender of the " Virginius " to the naval authorities of the United States. These demands were at once submitted to Sefior Castellar, the President of the Spanish repub- lic. In the critical situation in which Spain was then placed by her internal dissensions, Castellar had no choice but to submit to the American demands. Orders were at once transmitted to Cuba to surrender the " Vir- ginius " and all the prisoners to the Ameri- can naval forces. The orders of the Spanish government^ were at first disregarded by the officials at Havana, who blustered a great deal, and declared their willingness to go to war with the United States. They were brought to their senses, however, by the warning of Captain General Jovellar, who told them that their refusal to obey the orders of the Madrid government would certainly involve them in a war with the United States, in which Spain would leave them to fight that power without aid from her. The Havana officials, there- fore, yielded an ungracious obedience to the orders of the home government. The survivors of the^ " Virginius " expe- dition, who were in a most pitiable condition in consequence of the cruelty with which they had been treated during their imprison- ment, were released, and delivered on board of an American man-of-war in the harbor of Havana. On the twelfth of December the " Virginius" which h?d been taken to Havana by her captors some time before, was towed from that harbor and delivered to an Ameri- can vessel sent to receive her. She was car- ried to Key West, from which port she was ordered to New York. On the voyage she foundered at sea in a gale off Cape Fear, on the twenty-sixth of December. At a later period the Spanish government paid the indemnity demanded by the United States. Financial Crisis. In the fall of 1 873 a severe commercial crisis, known as the " Railroad Panic," burst upon the country. It was caused by excessive speculation in railway stocks and the reckless construction of railways in portions of the 8i4 ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. country where hey were not yet needed and which could i.ot support them. The excite- ment began on the seventeenth of September, and on the eighteenth, nineteenth and twen- tieth several of the principal banking firms ot New York and Philadelphia suspended payment. The failure of these houses in- volved hundreds of other firms in all parts of the country in their ruin. The excitement measures to be taken for the relief of the business of the country. Various measuies were urged upon them. A strong appeal was made to the President to lend the whole or the greater part of the treasury reserve of forty-four million dollars of greenbacks to the banks to furnish the Wall street brokers with funds to settle their losses and resume busi- ness. He at once declined to take so grave SCENE IN THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE DURING THE PANIC OF I 873, became so intense that on the twentieth the New York Stock Exchange closed its doors and put a stop to all sales of stocks in order to prevent a general destruction of the values of all securities. The banks were obliged to resort to the most stringent measures to avoid being drawn into the common ruin. President Grant and the Secretary of the Treasury hastened to New York to consult the capitalists of that city as to the proper a step, and, thanks to his firmness, the cred't of the United States was not placed at the mercy of the reckless men who had caused the trouble. The government as a measure of relief con- sented to purchase a number of its bonds of a certain class at a fair price, and thus enable the holders who were in need of money to obtain it without sacrificing their securities. On th^ twenty-second the excitement in New ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 815 York and the Eastern cities began to subside. The trouble was not over, however. The stringency of the money market which fol- lowed the first excitement prevailed for fully a year, and affected all branches of the industry of the country, and caused severe suffering from loss of employment and lowering of wages to the working classes. The panic showed the extent to which railroad gambling had demoralized the busi- ness and the people of the country. It showed that some of the strongest and most trusted firms in the Union had lent themselves to the task of inducing people to invest their money in the secur- ities of enterprises the suc- cess of which was, to say the least, doubtful. It showed that the banks, the deposi- tories of the people's money, had to an alarming extent crippled themselves by neg- lecting their legitimate business and making ad- vances on securities which in the hour of trial proved worthless in many cases, uncertain in most. The money needed for the use of the legitimate business of the country had been placed at the mercy of the railroad gamblers and had been used by them. The funds of helpless and dependent persons, of widows and orphan children, had been used to pay fictitious dividends and advance schemes which had been stamped with the disapproval of the public. An amount of recklessness and demoral- ization was revealed in the management of the financial interests of the country that startled even the most hardened. The lesson was severe, but it was needed. The panic was followed by a better and more healthful state of affairs. The busrness of the country slowly settled down within proper channels. Recklessness was succeeded by prudence ; extravagance by economy in all quarters. The American people took their severe les* son to heart, and resolutely set to work to secure the good results that came to them from this harvest of misfortune. During the year 1874, sixty persons were SCENE ON THE COLORADO RIVER, murdered at different times in Texas by raider Indians from the Fort Sill reservation, where they were fed by the government and treated as friends. In addition to these atroc- ities, they also ran off with a large nu ber of horses and mules belonging to settlers on the frontier and to freighters. In July, the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, in turning over the savages to the military,, directed that " friendly Indians, not partici- pating in late outrages, coming into agencies.. 8i6 ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. will be protected. All professing to be loyal imust enter immediately and be enrolled, and each one capable of bearing arms must answer to daily roll-call. No additional Indians must be received amongst them with- out permission." The result of this announce- ment was the enrollment of one hundred and seventy-three Kiowas, present at the time of the receipt of the commissioner's dispatch, and who, the agent was positive, had not heen at war; one hundred and eight Apaches, likewise present ; and eighty-three Coman- ches, either there at the time or arriving by August third, the day appointed by Lieuten- ant-Colonel Davidson as the last upon which the enrollment could take place. Some time after August third, the follow- ing Comanche chiefs asked permission to come in : Big Red Food, Tobermanca, Assan- onica, Little Crow and Black Duck. Word was sent to Assanonica that he would be admitted on condition of yielding up his arms. The rest were forbidden to come, since it was well known that they had been engaged in several massacres. Big Red Food, however, defied the prohibition, and drawing near to the Wichita agency with his band, formed a point around which the dis- affected began to gather. The Kiowas Open Fire. On the twenty-first of August, Lieutenant- Colonel Davidson received word from the officer commanding at the agency that trouble was anticipated there. He at once marched with four companies of cavalry, and imme- diately upon his arrival effected the arrest of Red Food, chief of the Nocanees, and told him that he and his band must submit. He appeared to consent, but presently escaped from his guard. At the same time the troops were fired upon from the rear by Kiowas, many of whom had just been enrolled at Fort Sill as friendly. The troops were much perplexed in the endeavor to distinguish the amicable from the hostile Indians ; but by the aid of inter- preters this was accomplished; the inimical band was scattered and its lodges and prop- erty were destroyed. It had undoubtedly been their design to implicate those of their band who were disposed to peace, but their purpose was entirely frustrated, and the afifil- iated tribes belonging to the agency were set-' tied in their allegiance more firmly than ever. In April, 1875, an engagement occurred at the north fork of Sappa Creek. On the morning of the nineteenth of April Lieuten- ant Austin Henely, of Fort Wallace, Kansas, started to find the trail of a party of Indians reported to be at Punished Woman's Fork. With him were forty men of Company H, Sixth Cavalry, Lieutenant C. C. Hewitt, Sur- geon F. H. Atkins, and Mr. Homer Wheeler, post- trader of Fort Wallace, as guide. He also had fifteen days' rations, ten days' forage and two bi.^-mule teams. On the Trail. On the second day he directed that his wagons, with a guard under the command of Sergeant Kitchin, should proceed directly to Hackberry Creek while he scouted Twin Butte and Hackberry to find a trail. About noon Corporal Morris, commanding the ad- vance, discovered traces of twelve lodges. Lieutenant Henely at once collected his wagons, abandoned one of them, as well as half his forage, rations and camp equipage, notified the commanding officer at Fort Wal- lace of the fact, in order that they might be recovered, and started on the trail at the rate of nearly five miles an hour, reaching Smoky Hill River that night. A heavy rain during the night rendered it difficult to fol- low the tracks the next day. At the Kansas Pacific Railroad the trail v^as scattered and lost. ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 817 After considerable deliberation it was de- cided to take a northeast course to the North Beaver and follow it to its source, upon the supposition that the Indians would collect there and pass down for the purpose of hunt- ing. Shortly after daylight a party of hunt- ■ers was met, who informed Lieutenant Henely that the Indians he was in search of were on the north fork of Sappa Creek, and had Tobbed their camp during their absence the ■day before. Three of the hunters volunteered to guide the party to the Indian encamp- ment. In the gray dawn of the morning the squad arrived at the creek, about three-quarters of a mile above the camp, being attracted to the spot by the sight of a number of ponies graz- ing. Presently Mr. Wheeler came back, galloping with furious speed, swinging his hat and shouting in a loud voice. As the force came up with him the Indian camip was displayed to view. Plan of Attack. The plan for the attack had been arranged as follows : Sergeant Kitchin was detailed to kill the herders, round up the herd as near as possible to the main command and take charge of it with half of his men. Corporal Sharpies, with five men, was left with the "wagon and instructed to keep as near as pos- sible to Lieutenant Henely, the rest of the •command were to attack the savages. The north fork of Sappa Creek at this point is very crooked, is bordered by high and precipitous bluffs, and flows sluggishly through a marshy bottom, making it ex- tremely difficult to cross. As the men charged down the sides ten or twelve of the Indians ran rapidly up the bluff to a small herd of ponies ; others escaped down the creek to another herd ; while the remainder, the last to be awakened, probably seeing that flight was impossible, prepared for a des- 52 perate defence. By this time the men had reached the creek, which looked alarmingly deep and marshy. Lieutenant Henely, realizing that no time was to be lost in searching for a crossing, plunged in with his horse, followed by Mr. Wheeler. By extraordinary efforts their horses struggled through. A corporal who followed became mired ; but at length, by strenuous endeavors, all succeeded in cross- mg just as a number of dusky figures with long rifles confronted them, their heads ap- pearing over a bank made by the creek in highwater. The Battle-ground. This bank, with the portion of the creek and bluffs in the immediate vicinity, possessed the rather remarkable feature of a large num- ber of curious holes or pits, for what purpose constructed did not appear. Some of the Indians took refuge in these hollows ; others lined the bank, with their rifles resting on the crest. Lieutenant Henely rapidly formed his men in line and signalled to the savages to surrender, as did likewise Mr. Wheeler. One, who appeared to be a chief, made some rapid gesticulations which seemed to be motions for a parley ; but it was soon obvious that they were meant for Indians in the rear. The lieutenant now ordered his men to dismount and fight on foot, and as they did so the enemy fired, but in so excited a manner that no one was hurt. The troops, posted around in a skirmish-line, were com- manded to fire. If the reader will imagine the dress circle of a theatre lowered to within about five feet of the pit, the men to be deployed about the edge, and the Indians down among the orchestra-chairs, they will have some idea of the relative positions of the parties. The most exposed portion was near the centre of the arc. Here Sergeant Theodore Papier and Private Robert Theims, 8i8 ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. of Company H, Sixth Cavalry, were instantly killed while fighting with great valor. After some twenty mmutes of firing the VIEW IN THE GRAND CANYON OF THE COLORADO RIVER. Indians ceased to return the attack, and the lieutenant prepared to draw off his men in pursuit of those who had fled Scarcely Lad they mounted when two savages ran up to the two bodies in the endeavor to gain pos- session of them ; but three or four men charged them at a gal- I lop and rendered their j efforts useless. At 1 this moment an In~ ^ dian, gaudily dressed, jumped from a hole and.with peculiar side- long leaps, attempted to escape, but was shot down. Lieutenant Hently then posted A his men at the ends of g^ the crest and resumed the attack, the savages returning it from their pits, but withoutdoing any damage. The firing having ri ceased, it was inferred that all were killed,and the command moved in the direction of the ponies, driving off the Indian guard, and bringing in a herd of the animals. As they returned a solitary shot was fired from the holes, piercing the horse of one of the officers entirely through the body. Lieutenant Henely then determined to make a termination, ^^^,^^^ and ordered the men to advance on all sides, keeping up a steady- fire. The only response was a few shots from the pits, which did no damage. Nineteen dead warriors were counted, in ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 819 addition to eight squaws and children acci- dentally killed. From the war-bonnets and rich ornaments, two were judged to be chiefs, and one whose bonnet was sur- mounted by two horns was thought to be a medicine-man. The Indian camp was burned and the cap- tured stock, amounting to one hundred and thirty-four animals, driven off. On the re- turn march to Fort Wallace the command was overtaken by a terrible snow-storm and forced to encamp under a bank. It was im- possible to herd the captured stock, the en- tire attention of the men being required to save themselves and their horses from freez- ing to death. Having no tents and but one blanket each, the men passed a night of in- tense suffering. Some of them were frozen ; others, who had dug holes in the banks for shelter, had to be extricated in the morninr by their comrades. On the following da'^ the men disbanded into small squads to search for the captured stock, and succeeded in recapturing about one hundred head. In January, 1875, Congress passed an act providing for the resumption of specie pay- ments, and requiring that on and after Janu- ary I, 1879, the legal tender notes of the Government shall be redeemed in specie. In the meantime silver coin is to be substituted for the fractional paper currency. On the fourth of March, 1875, Congress authorized the Territory of Colorado to form a State Constitution. She was admii-i-ed as a State August i, 1876. Centennial Celebration. The political troubles in Louisiana and Arkansas assumed a most serious character during the year 1873, amounting to civil war in both States. The President, in view of the serious nature of the disturbances, inter- vened with force in each State, and compelled the rival parties to refrain from additional hostilities, and the quarrels were settled in the course of the year without further blood- shed. The year 1875 completed the period of one hundred years from the opening of the revolution, and the events of 1775 were cele- brated with appropriate commemorative cere- monies in .the places where they occurred. The centennial anniversary of the battles at Lexington and Concord was celebrated at those places on the nineteenth of April with great rejoicings. On the -seventeenth 01 June the centennial of Bunker Hill was cele- brated at Charlestown. Vast crowds were present from all parts of the country. One of the most gratifying features of the cele- bration was the presence and hearty partici- pation in the ceremonies of a large number of troops from the Southern States. Nearly all of these had served in the Confederate army, and their presence in the metropolis of New England was an emphatic proof that the Union has indeed been restored. The memory of the common glory won by the fathers of the republic has already done much to heal the wounds and- obliterate the scars of the civil war. May the good work go on. Imposing Ceremonies. As early as 1872 measures were set 01? foot for the proper observance of the one hundredth anniversary of the independence of the United States. It was resolved to commemorate the close of the first century of the republic by an International Exhibi- tion, to be held at Philadelphia in 1876, in which all the nations of the world were in- vited to participate. Preparations were at once set on foot for the great celebration. The European governments with great cordiality responded to the invitations ex- tended to them by the government of the United States, and on the tenth of May, 820 ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 1876, the International Centennial Exhibi- tion was opened with the most imposing ceremonies, in the presence of an immense concourse of citizens from all parts of the Union, and of the President of the United States and the Emperor of Brazil. The ex- hibition remained open from May lOth to November loth, 1876, and was visited by sev^eral million people from the various States of the Union, from Canada, South America and Europe. It was one of the grandest and most notable events of the cen- tury, and illustrated our country's progress. MEMORIAL HALL, FAIRMOUNT PARK, PHILADELPHIA. held at Philadelphia, in which city the De- claration of Independence was adopted. The arrangements for the proper observ- ance of the day were confided to the United States Centennial Commission, and extensive preparations were made to conduct them on a scale of splendor worthy of the glorious occasion. The city of Philadelphia and the State of Pennsylvania lent their cordial co- operation to the effort to have all things in readiness for the Fourth, and the work went forward with a heartiness and vigor that coulr* not fail of complete success. It was wisely re- solved by the Com- mission that as the Declaration of In- dependence was signed in Independ- ence Hall and pro- claimed to the peo- ple in Independence Square, the com- memorative cere- monies should be so conducted as to make the venerable building the grand central figure of all the demonstrations. The city authorities On the fourth day of July, 1876, the United States of America completed the one hun- dredth year of their existence as an inde- pendent nation. The day was celebrated with imposing ceremonies and with the most patriotic enthusiasm in all parts of the Union. The celebrations began on the night of the third of July, and were kept up until near midnight on the fourth. Each of the great cities of the Union vied with the others in the splendor and completeness of its rejoic- ings ; but the most interesting of all the celebrations was naturally that which was caused the building to be handsomely draped in the national colors, and enormous stands, covered with canvas awnings and orna- mented with flags and streamers, were erected in Independence Square for the accommodation of the singers and invited guests who were to take part in the rejoic- ings. A new bell of vast proportions — the gift of a patriotic and public-spirited citizen — was hung in the State House tower, ready to join its deep tones to the shouts of the multitude when the moment of rejoic- ing- should arrive. ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 821 Being anxious that the Centennial celebra- tion should do its share in cementing the reunion of the Northern and Southern States, the Commission began, at least a year before the occasion, the formation of a " Centen- nial Legion," consisting of a detachment of troops from each of the thirteen original States. The command of this splendid body of picked troops was conferred upon General , Ambrose E. Burnside, of Rhode Island, and General Henry Heth, of Virginia, was chosen Lieutenant-Colonel. Both were veterans of the late civil war. The Legion was readily made up, the best volunteer commands of the original States being eager to serve in it. For a week previous to the fourth of July crowds of people began to pour steadily into Philadelphia. Volunteer organizations from the various States were constantly arriving and were either encamped at various points in and around the Exhibition grounds or were quartered at the various hotels. Gay Decorations. The city was gayly decorated with flags and streamers, and the view down any of the principal streets was brilliant by reason of the clouds of bunting with which it was decorated. The principal buildings were almost hidden by the flags which adorned them, or were ornamented with patriotic inscriptions, and at various points on Chestnut street triumphal arches were erected. By the night of the thirdof July it was estimated that at least two hundred and fifty thousand strangers were assembled in Philadelphia, The Centennial ceremonies were begun on the morning of Saturday, the first of July. The leading writers of the Union had been invited to prepare memoirs of the great men of our revolutionary period, which were to be deposited among the archives of the State House, and all who were able to accept the invitation assembled in Independence Hall at eleven o'clock on the morning of July I, 1876, where they were joined by a number of invited guests. The ceremonies were opened by an address from Colonel Frank M. Etting, the Chairman of the Committee on the Restoration of Independence Hall, and a prayer by the Rev. William White Bronson. Whittier's Centennial Hymn was then sung by a chorus of fifty voices. The names of the authors were then called, to which each responded in person or by proxy, and laid his memoir on the table in the hall. The exercises were then brought to a close, and the company repaired to the stand in Inde- pendence Square, where a large crowd had assembled. Odes, Speeches and Orations. The ceremonies in the square were begun at half-past twelve o'clock with Helfrich's Centennial Triumphal March, performed by the Centennial Musical Association. Mr. John William Wallace, the president of the day, then delivered a short address, after* which Whittier's Centennial Hymn was sung' by a chorus of one hundred and fifty voices, and Mr. William V. McKean reviewed at some length the great historical event in commemoration of which the ceremonies were held. After the band had played " Goa Save America," the Hon. Leverett Saltonstall, of Massachusetts, delivered an address, which elicited warm applause. " The Voice of the Old Bell," a Centennial ode, was then sung, and Governor Henry Lippitt, of Rhode Island, made a short speech. The band followed with a number of patriotic airs, and Mr. Wallace announced the unavoidable absence of General John A. Dix, and intro- duced in his place Frederick De Peyster, President of the New York Historical Society, who made a kw remarks. After a Cen- tennial Ode, by S. C. Upham, had been sung 822 ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 823 by the chorus, the Hon. Benjamin Harris Brewster deUvered an eloquent address, at the close of which another Centennial Hymn, by William Fennimore, was sung. Senator Frank P. Stevens, of Maryland, then said a few words, after which the " Star Spangled Banner" was sung, and the exercises were brought to a close by a prayer from Bishop Stevens. All through Sunda}',the second, the crowds continued to pour into the city, and on Mon- day, third, the streets were almost impassable. Business was generally suspended from the first to the fifth of July. Brilliant Illuminations. The celebration ushering in the F^ourth of July was begun on the night of the third. A grand civic and torchlight procession paraded the streets, which were brilliantly illuminated along the whole line of march. The proces- sion began to move about half-past 8 o'clock at night, and consisted of deputations repre- sentative of the various trades of the city, the Centennial Commissioners from the various foreign countries talking part in the Exhibi- tion, the Governors of a number of the States of the Union, officers of the army and navy of the United States, civic and political asso- ciations and officers of foreign men-of-war visiting the city. Some of the deputations bore torches, and these added to the bril- liancy of the scene. All along the line fire- works were ascending into the air, and cheer after cheer went up from the dense masses of enthusiastic spectators which filled the side- walks. The illumination of the streets along the route of the procession was superb. Chest- nut and Broad streets flashed resplendently in lines of fire and colored lanterns. The dense masses which thronged these streets stood out boldly in the clear light of the illu- mination, and the long, slow-moving line of the procession flowed through them like a vast river. Crowds had collected around Independence Hall, filling the street before it and the square in the rear of it. An orchestra and chorus were stationed on the stands in the square t(r hail the opening of the Fourth with musia The movements of the procession were so' timed that the head of the column arrived in front of Independence Hall precisely at mid- night. Grand Military Parade. The crowd, which had been noisy but good natured, was husiied into silence as the hands of the clock in the tower approached the riiidnight hour, and one hundred thousand people waited in breathless eagerness the strokes which were to usher in the glorious day. As the minute-hand swept slowly past the hour there was a profound silence, and then came rolling out of the lofty steeple the deep, liquid tones of the new liberty bell, sounding wonderfully solemn and sweet as they floated down to the crowd below. Thir- teen peals were struck, and the first tone had hardly died away when there went up from the crowd such a shout as had never been heard in Philadelphia before. It was caught up and re-echoed all over the cit}', and at the same time the musicians and singers in the square broke into the grand strains of the " Star Spangled Banner." All the bells and steam whistles in the city joined in the sounds of rejoicing, and fireworks and firearms made the noise tenfold louder. When the " Star Spangled Banner" was ended the chorus in Independence Square sang the " Doxologv," in which the crowd joined heartily, and the band then played national airs. The festivities were kept up until after two o'clock, and it was not until the first streaks of the dawn began to tinge the sky that the streets of the city resumed their wonted appearance. »24 ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. The lull in the festivities was not of long duration. The day was at hand, and it threat- ened to be mercilessly hot, as indeed it was. As the sun arose in his full-orbed splendor, the thunder of cannon from the Navy Yard, from the heights of Fairmount Park, and from the Swedish, Brazilian, and American war vessels in the Delaware, and the clanging of bells from every steeple in the city, roused the few who had managed to snatch an hour or two of sleep after the fatigues of the night, GENERAL J. R. HAWLEY. and by six o'clock the streets were again thronged. In view of the extreme heat of the weather, the military parade had been ordered for an early hour of the day. The troops numbered about ten thousand men, rank and file, and the whole column was under the chief com- mand of General Hartranft, Governor of Penn- sylvania, and a gallant veteran of the civil war. The command was madf. up of troops, who during that bloody struggle had fought each other gallantly, and who had now come to testify their devotion to their common country, and to show to the world that in trusting its defence to its well-regulated mil- itia, the American republic is stronger than the most powerful monarchies of the old world. At half-past eight, the column began to move down Chestnut street towards Indepen- dence Hall, in front of which the troops were reviewed by General W. T. Sherman, the Commanding General of the armies of the United States; the Secretary of War; Prince Oscar of Sweden ; Lieutenant-General Saigo, of the Imperial army of Japan ; the officers of the Swedish men-of-war in the harbor; the governors of several of the States; and Gen- eral Hawley, the President of the Centennial Commission. As the troops passed along they were greeted with enthusiastic cheers by the crowds on the street. The Centennial Legion and the troops from the Southern States were the objects of an especially hearty demon stration. The route chosen was a short one, the extreme heat forbidding an extended parade, and by ten o'clock, the military cere monies were over. Huzzahs in Independence Square. As soon as the parade was ended the crowd turned into Independence Square, which was soon hlled The approaches to the building by way of Chestnut and Sansom streets were kept clear by the police, in order that those who were entitled to seats on the stand might reach their places. Four thousand persons were given seats on the stand, and a vast crowd filled the square. As the invited guests appeared and took their seats on the platform, the prominent personages were cheered by the crowd. The Emporer of Brazil received a welcome that was especially noticeable for its heartiness. It was hoped that the President of the United States would be present and preside ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 825 over the ceremonies ; but General Grant declined the invitation to do so, which it was at once his privilege and his duty to accept, and remained in Washington, preferring his selfish ease to a little patriotic exertion and exposure to the heat on this grandest of his country's festivals. His absence was gen- ' erally remarked and severely condemned by his countrymen. At a few minutes after ten o'clock, Gen- eral Hawley, the President of the United States Centennial Commission, appeared at the speaker's stand and signalled to the orchestra to begin. The opening piece, which was an overture entitled " The Great Republic," based on the national air, " Hail Columbia," and arranged for the occasion by Professor George F. Bristow, of New York, was rendered in fine style by the orchestra under the leadership of Mr. P. Gilmore. As the music ceased General Hawley again came forward and introduced as the presiding officer of the day the Hon. Thomas W. Ferry, Vice-President of the United States, who was received Vv^ith loud cheers. Great Enthusiasm Over the Declaration. After a few remarks appropriate to the occasion Vice President Ferry presented to the audience Right Reverend William Bacon Stevens, D. D., the Protestant Episcopal Bishop of Pennsylvania, whom he introduced as the ecclesiastical successor of the first chaplain of the Continental Congress. The bishop was in his canonical robes, with prayer book in hand. He delivered a solemn and impressive prayer, during the utterance of which the whole audience stood with un- covered heads, silent and attentive, unmind- ful of the blazing sun which poured down upon them. When the prayer was ended the " Hymn, * Welcome to All Nations,* words by Oliver Wendell Holmes, music, ' Keller's Hymn,' " was sung. The Vice-President then an- nounced that Richard Henry Lee, of Vir- ginia, a grandson of the patriot of the Revolution who offered the resolution in Congress that " these United Colonies are and of right ought to be free and independ- ent States," would read the Declaration of Independence from the original manuscript, which the President had entrusted to the Mayor of Philadelphia. The faded and crumbling manuscript, held together by a simple frame, was then exhibited to the crowd and was greeted with cheer after cheer. Richard Henry Lee, a soldierly-looking Vir- ginian, then came forward and read the Declaration ; but the enthusiasm of the crowd was too great to permit them to listen to it quietly. At the close of the reading the orchestra performed a musical composition entitled "A Greeting from Brazil," a hymn for the first Centennial of American Independence, composed by A. Carlos Gomez, of Brazil, at the request of His Majesty Dom Pedro 11^ Emperor of Brazil. It was received with cheers by the crowd, which were repeated for the Brazilian Emperor, whose hearty interest in the Centennial celebrations and the Exhibition had made him a favorite in Ph'^adelphia. The Hallelujah Chorus Mr. John Welsh, Chairman of the Centen- nial Board of Finance, then, at the sugges- tion of Vice-President Ferry, introduced Bayard Taylor, the poet of the day, who recited a noble ode, which was listened to with deep attention, the audience occasionally breaking out into applause. When the poem was ended, the chorus sang "Our National Banner," the words by Dexter Smith, of Massachusetts, the music by Sir JuJiu.^ Kt»M» diet, of England 826 INTERSECTION OF NINTH AND CHESTNUT STS., PHILADELPHIA. ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. As the music died away the Vice-Presi- dent introduced the Hon. William INI. Evarts, of New York, the orator of the day. Mr. Evarts was greeted with hearty cheers, after which he proceeded to dehver an eloquent and able address, reviewing the lessons of the past century, and dwelling upon the great work America had performed for the world. When Mr. Evarts retired from the speak- er's stand, General Hawley gave the signal to the leader of the orchestra, and the " Hal- lelujah Chorus," from " The Messiah," was sung ; after which the vast audience, at the request of the Vice-President, joined in the One Hundredth Psalm, with which the memorable ceremonies came to an end. At night the city was brilliantly illumin- ated, and a magnificent display of fireworks was given by the municipal authorities at old Fairmount. W^ar with the Sioux. The year 1876, however, was not destined to be entirely a period of peace. In 1867 the Government of the United States made a treaty with the Sioux Indians, by which the latter agreed to relinquish to the United States all the territory south of the Niobrara River, west of the one hundred and fourth meridian of longitude and north of the forty- sixth parallel of latitude. This treaty secured to the Sioux a large reservation in. the south- western part of Dakota, and they agreed to withdraw to this reservation by the first of January, 1876. A few years later gold was discovered in the Black Hills country, a very desirable region skuated in southwestern Dakota, and l\'ing within the Sioux reser- vation. The announcement of this discovery pro- duced crreat excitement amonsf the mining class. In the summer of 1874 an expedition under General Custer was sent by the War Department to explore the Black Hills region, parti}' for the purpose of ascertaining the character of the country, and partly to discover practicable military routes between Fort Lincoln, in the Department of Dakota, opposite the terminus of the Union Pacific Railway, and Fort Laramie, in the Depart- ment of the Platte. The report of this expe- OBVERSE OF CENTENNIAL MEDAL. REVERSE OF CENTENNIAL MEDAL, dition confirmed the stories of the discovery of gold, and immediate preparations were made by parties of miners to proceed to the favored lands for the purpose of working the gold mines. These expeditions being re- ported to the Government, measures were taken by the War Department to prevent "^28 ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. any intrusion into the Indian reservation. ' Notwithstanding this prohibition, private expeditions were fitted out and started for the Black Hills. Some of these were driven back by the Indians, with loss of life and property, but others succeeded in reaching the Black Hills. It was now evident that a systematic and determined effort would be made to settle the Black Hills, in spite of the opposition of to retire to the reservation to which the treaty of 1867 confined them, and now took advantage of the intrusions of the whites into their territory to gratify their long-cherished wish for war. They broke away from their reservation, and made repeated forays into Wyoming and Montana, laid the country waste, carried off the horses and cattle, and murdered such settlers as ventured to oppose them. SHOSHONEE FALLS, IDAHO. the army ; and the government decided to endeavor to purchase the region from the Sioux and throw it open to emigration Efforts were made during the year 1875 to induce the Sioux to sell their lands, but the weak and vacillating course pursued by the government simply disgusted the Indians, and they refused to make the desired ar- rangement. The Sioux had never been really willing This brought matters to a crisis, and early in 1876 the government resolved to drive the Sioux back upon their reservation. A force of regular troops, under Generals Terry and Crook, Avas sent into the difficult moun- tainous region of the Upper Yellowstone, and an active campaign was begun against the Indians. The force was too small, how- ever, for the work required of it. In spite of the smallness of its numbers. ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 829 the army on the frontier succeeded in forc- ing the savages, who were led Dy Sitting Bull, their most famous chief, and who num- bered several thousand fighting men, back to the Big Horn mountains. The Indians now took up a strong position in the mountains, and on the twenty-fifth of June, 1876, the Seventh Cavalry, under Generals Custer and Reno, were sent forward to ascertain the whereabouts of the enemy. They found the savages encamped on the left bank of the Little Horn River, and occupying a large village some three miles in length. General Custer, with his little command, at once made a gallant attack upon the Indian vil- lage, hoping that General Reno would be able to come up in time to support him. Renow^as unable to advance, however, Cus- ter's little band was soon surrounded by sev- eral thousand of the bravest Sioux warriors. The conflict which ensued was one of the most heroic in the annals of the American army, and one of the most disastrous. Cus- ter was slain, together with every man who accompanied him into the fight, but not until they had exacted a fearful price for their lives at the hands of the savages. The Indians Defeated. General Reno, in the meantime, had be- come engaged at the opposite end of the town, and was so hard pressed by the Indians that he was unable to go to Custer's assist- ance. He succeeded in drawing off his men and in retiring to the bluffs of the Little Horn, "where he held his position until the arrival of General Gibbon with reinforcements com- pelled the savages to retreat, and saved the remnant of the Seventh Cavalry from destruc- tion. The disaster of the Little Horn was the most terrible defeat ever inflicted upon the United States army by the savages, and was directly due to the criminal folly of the administration in sendingf a mere handful of troops to meet a strong body of the bravest Indian warriors on the continent. The disaster aroused such a storm of indig- nation throughout the country that the Gov- ernment hastily forwarded reinforcements to the frontier, and Generals Terry and Crook were able to conduct their campaign with more vigor. The Indians were beaten in a number of engagements, and on the twenty- fourth of November suffered a decisive defeat in a battle with the Fourth Cavalry, under Colonel McKenzie, at one of the passes of GENERAL GEORGE CROOK. the Big Horn Mountains. Negotiations were in progress during the summer and autumn for the removal of the Sioux to the Indian Territory, and by the beginning of the winter the greater part of the savages had surren- dered. A few bands under Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse continued in the field. They were not allowed to remain insecurity during the win- ter, and on the eighth of January, 1877, a decisive victory was won over the band oi Crazy Horse at Wolfe Mountains, in Mon- tana Territory, by General Miles, with a force S^o ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. of infantry and artillery. This victory led to the surrender of other bands of Indians, and "i;'"n #6ii:Ff INDIANS SURPRISED AND DEFEATED early in 1877 the operations against Sitting Bull obliged that chief to take refuge in the territory of British America. By the spring of 1877 tb'^ war had been practically brought t'^ a close. The question of the re- construction of the South- ern States was one of the legacies which President Grant received at the hands of his predecessor. It was fondly hoped by the coun- try at large that under the new administration " the work of reconstruction would be accomplished and the wounds of civil war healed." The utterances of President Grant upon en-, tering upon his new duties justified these expectations, as it was not believed that be cherished extreme views, or that he harbored vindict- ive feelings. " Nor is it probable," says a distinguished Northern writer,* " that those who relied upon the President's disposition to deal {airly and even liberally with the Southern States, were at all mistaken in that regard ; but his ignorance in civil affairs, which in some cases was conspicuous and mor-- tifying, seems very early to have thrown him into the hands of managing politi- cians, and these were mainly of the extreme type, who made up in bitterness what they lacked in breadth. The politicians from the South who were most about him were generally * Charles Francis Adams, Jr. ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 831 adventurers, who found the power of the government a convenient instrument for the furtherance of personal schemes, and who did not scruple to make use of their influence with the President to that end. Among these was one of the President's brothers-in-law, who amazed the country by his daring disregard of the rights of the judicial fairness? Republican leaders who were disposed to amnesty and a real oblivion for past offences, were elbowed out of place, and at last driven to the rear." The labors of reconstruction were nomi- nally completed in 1870. " Had the course of the managing men of the party in power been wise and conciliatory, had it been actu- -s^/ HORSESHOE BEND ON THE PENNSYLVANIA NEAR ALTOONA. State which he had chosen as the scene of his operations. The Northern politicians who surrounded the President were largely of a similar stripe Was it to be expected of such men that they would deal generously with a fallen foe, or was it within the compass of partisanship like theirs that their opponents should be treated with ated by high motives and statesmanlike views, and had the men who represented the party in the Southern States been men who were laboring for the good of their section, rather than for the advancement of their own personal interests, it is not to be doubted that the administration would have been able to i attach to itself the support of a majority of §32 ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. the Southern people. The colored people were naturally its friends. "The patronage of the administration was plish only the purposes for which offices are created. Moreover, the Southern people needed peace and quiet to recuperate their exhausted interests; it--' -s and while many hot-heads were sup- posed to be violent and troublesome, the best and most influential of them, of whom the late Vice-President of the Confederacy was an example, were disposed to accept with grati- tude such advances oftheir late enemies as promised to render peace pos- sible and perma- nent. But as, un- fortunately, all were not of this class, the persons who had the Presi- dent's ear, and who assumed to speak for the party in Congress, found it convenient for their purpose to present the impracticable and violent as the ^ proper representa- tives of Southern _| sentiment, and to speak of and deal with the Southern people as unrepent- CANYON OF THE LODORE AND GREENE RIVERS, WYOMING. ant rebels,who were large and it would have drawn a strong to be held down by the strong hand, support to the party had it been distributed " That the white people of the South were wisely and from an evident desire to accom- . alienated from the Republican party was not ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 833 surprising. It was almost a matter of course that the control of the Southern States should pass to the Democratic party, for it was quite impossible to retain all the freedmen in one party, while their late masters, the persons upon whom they now relied for employment, were mainly to be found in the other. The 'color line' was drawn when the narrow pol- icy of extreme partisans among the Repub- lican leaders arrayed against them Southern whites ; the drawing of it indeed left some white leaders among the freedmen, but it did not prevent a still greater number of the lat- ter following the political fortunes of those with whose material interests their own were so closely identified ; and the political ascen- dency of the Republican party in the South- ern States was lost permanently."* Trouble in Louisiana. This interference of the President m the affairs of a State was brought to a crisis in the winter of 1874-75, in the State of Louisi- ana. At the election for members of the Legislature, held during the fall of 1874, both the Republican and Conservative parties claimed the victory. Tlic Legislature met in New Orleans, on the fourth of January, 1875, and a struggle ensued for the control of the organization of the lower House. By their superior strategy the Democrats, or Conservatives, ^vers successful, and proceeded to organize the House and seat five members of their own party, who had contested as many Republican seats in the House. The Democratic triumph was of short duration, however, for in a few moments. General De Ti obrip.nd, o{ the United States army, entered the hall and announced that he had orders to remove the five members sworn in. The Democratic Speaker, and the five members themselves, protested against this interference on the part of the Federal troops, and declared that they would not leave their seats until forced from them. General De Trobriand immediately summoned a file of soldiers, and the five members were removed from their seats and expelled from the hall, the Democratic Speaker and members at once withdrew from the hall, and the House was organized by the Republicans. This strange and inexcusable spectacle of the interference of the Federal troops in the domestic affairs of a State had no parallel in American history. It aroused a feeling of^ * Charles Francis Adams, Jr. S3 SAMUEL J TILDEN. general indignation throughout the North and the President was sharply denounced; even by men of his own party, for his inter- ference with the organization of a State Legislature. Several Governors addressed special messages on the subject to the Legis- latures of their respective States, and legisla- lative resolutions were passed denouncing the course pursued by the Federal govern- ment. The indignation which thus expressed itself was greatly increased by a dispatch from General Sheridan, commanding at New 834 ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. Orleans, to the War Department, dated fifth of January, 1 875, advising the general govern- ment to declare the people of Louisiana banditti, and to turn them over to him and to his troops for punishment. This savage sug- gestion was deeply resented by the people of the whole country, who had by this time good cause to deplore any interference of the military in civil affairs. There is reason to believe that the public indignation was felt by even the President, for, in a message to Congress upon the sub- ject, he made this admission, while defending THOMAS A. HENDRICKS. the course of the administration : " I am well aware that any military interference by the officers or troops of the United States with the organization of a State Legislature or any of its proceedings, or with any civil department of the government, is repugnant to our ideas of government. I can conceive of no case not involving rebellion or insur- rection where such interference by authority of the general government ought to be per- mitted, or can be justified.'' In the summer of 1876 the various poiliti- cal parties of the Union met in their respective conventions to nominate candidates foi the Presidency and Vice-Presidency of the United States, which officers were to be chosen at the general election in November. The Republican Convention assembled at Cincinnati, Ohio, on the fourteenth of June, and resulted in the nomination of Governor Rutherford B. Hayes,of Ohio, for Presidesitof the L^nited States, and of William A. Wheeler, of New York, for Vice-President. The Democratic Convention was held at St. Louis on the twenty-seventh of June, and nomi- nated Governor Samuel J. Tilden, of New York, for the Presidency, and Governor Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indiana, for the Vice-Presidency. A third convention, repre- senting the Independent Greenback party^ met at Indianapolis, on the eighteenth of May, and nominated Peter Cooper, of New York, for President, and Samuel F. Cary, of Ohio, for Vice-President. Result of the Campaign. The campaign which followed these nomi- nations was one of intense bitterness, and was in many respects the most remarkable the country has ever witnessed. A most dis- creditable feature of it was the appearance of Mr. Chandler, the Secretary of the Interior, as the chief manager of the Republican party. It was the first time in the history of the country that a member of the President's Cabinet had ever held so questioiiable a position ; the first time that the patronage of the government had ever been used so openly in behalf of a political party. Under the leadership of Secretary Chandler, the manly and conciliatory letter of accept- ance of Governor Hayes was ignored, and a campaign of great bitterness was inaugur- ated. The election was held on the seventh 01 November. The popular vote was as follows ; ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 835 f For Samuel J. Tilden, 4,284,265 '•' Rutherford B. Hayes, 4,033,295 I " Peter Cooper, 8 1,737 ( Tilden thus received a popular majority of 250,970 votes over Hayes, and a majority of 169,233 votes over both Hayes and Cooper. I In the Electoral Colleges, one hundred and eighty-five votes were necessary to a choice. Carolina to Governor Hayes, Mr. Tilden had fairly carried both Florida and Louisiana, and was entitled to one hundred and ninety-six electoral votes. The revision of the vote in Florida and Louisiana had been confided, since the reorganization of those States, te^ Returning Boards. • It was evident from the first that each of POINT PLEASANT, OHIO, THE BIRTHPLACE OF PRESIDENT GRANT. Of this number. Governor Tilden received ! [One hundred and eighty-four, and Governor i Hayes one hundred and sixty-three undis- i puted votes. The votes of the States of Florida, Louisiana, Oregon and South Car- olina, twenty-two in number, were claimed by both parties for their respective candidates. It was declared by the Democrats that, even conceding the votes of Oregon and South these boards would return the vote of its respective State for the Kepublican candidate, and it was feared that this would be produc- tive of trouble, as the Democrats claimed a majority in these States. Immediately aftei i the election, therefore, President Grant'^ appointed a number of prominent Republi- cans to proceed to Florida and Louisiana to watch the counting of the votes of those. 8.36 ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. States; and a number of prominent Dem- ocrats repaired to Tallahassee and New Orleans for the same purpose. These gen- tlemen had no official character, and were without power to interfere in any way with the counting of the vote. It was loped, how- ever, that their presence as witnesses would act as a check upon the boards, and thus a fair count be secured. Both States were returned for Hayes. Investigations showed that the electoral vote of South Carolina had been fairly cast for Hayes, and it was generally conceded to SAMUEL J. RANDALL him by both parties. The Democratic Gov- ernor of Oregon attempted by a transparent fraud to give the electoral vote of that State to Tilden, and thus elect him ; but it came to be the general sentiment of the country that the electoral vote of Oregon should right- fully be cast for Hayes. This confined the real struggle to the votes 'of Florida and Louisiana. It was the general conviction of the country that both of those States had been fairly carried by the Demo- cratic party, and many earnest Republicans gave open expression to this belief. The action of the Return Boards, however, was still within the letter of the laws under which they had acted. The Republican party, there- fore, claimed that as such action was not con- trary to the laws of Florida and Louisiana it must stand ; that neither Congress nor any other body had power to go behind the cer- tificate of the electoral vote of a State, prop- erly signed and authenticated by the State officials ; and that when such certificates were presented to the two Houses of Congress, at the counting of the electoral votes of the States, they must be accepted without ques- tion, and the electoral votes of Florida and Louisiana be counted for Hayes. They declared that the States had power to make any laws they might see fit for the counting of their popular vote, and that for Congress to seek to interfere with such laws would be to illegally trespass upon the reserved lights of the States. They held, therefore, that as the; action of the Return Boards was within the letter of the laws of their respective States Florida and Louisiana must be counted foi Hayes. The Country Agitated. The Democrats, on the other hand, main- tained that the popular majority for Tilden in Florida and Louisiana was too evident to be doubted beinj ;^iniply overwhelming in the latter State -^nd .hat the Return Boards had overcome these majorities only by a fraudu- lent use of their powers in throwing out Democratic votes to an extent sufficient to give Florida and Louisiana to the Republi- cans. They declared, moreover, that, as the Louisiana Board had refused to appoint a Democratic member to the vacancy in that body, as required by the law under which they acted, their action was necessarily ille- gal. They held that, as both Florida and Louisiana had been wrongfully and fraudu- lently given to the Republicans by the Return o < o W o CO (—1 p o cd 'T '; .iV'if m. Q CO o CO : E*-v j^fr- ?¥-»■- 'i ^*j ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 837 Boards in defiance of the will of the people of those States as expressed at the polls, the electoral votes of both of those States should not be counted by Congress. Such action on the part of Congress would have resulted in a declaration by that body that there had been no popular choice of a President and Vice-President, and the elec- Boards; and the Republicans announced their decision to insist upon the counting of the votes of those States as certified by the State officials. Each party denounced the other with great bitterness ; the country was deeply agitated, and threats of armed resist- ance were freely indulged in by both parties. The crisis was the most alarming that had THE NEW DEPARTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON, D, C. tion of the President would have devolved upon the House of Representatives, and the choice of the Vice-President upon the Senate, in accordance with the provisions of the Con- stitution. The Democrats, therefore, declared that they would insist upon the rejection of the votes of Florida and Louisiana upon the ground of fraud on the part of the Return threatened the country since the outbreak of the civil war. A feeling of general uneasiness prevailed throughout the Union, which showed itself in the depression of business in all sections. Congress met on the fourth of December, 1876. The House of Representatives was organized by the Democratic majority by the 835 ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. election of Samuel J. Randall, of Pennsyl- vania, as Speaker. Immediately upon the organization of Congress the question of the manner of counting the electoral votes of the States came up in that body. The Repub- lican majority in the Senate claimed that, by the terms of the Constitution, the Vice-Pre- sident was compelled to open the certificates of the States in the presence of the two Houses of Congress, in joint conv^ention, and declare the result, the two Houses being present merely as witnesses of the GEORGE F. EDMUNDS. count by the Vice-President. With this view the Republicans in the lower House agreed. The Democrats in both Houses maintained that while the Constitution required the Vice- President to open the certificates and count the electoral votes, the two Houses of Con- gress were made the judges of the legality of those certificates, and that, in the case of the presentation of two certificates from the same State, the two Houses were the rightful judges of which was the proper one; and that, in the event of a failure of the two Houses to agree in such a decision, thevote of such State must be rejected. In support of this view, they brought for- ward the Twenty-second Joint Rule of Con- gress, adopted February sixth, 1865, by a Republican Congress, and under which the counting of the electoral vote in 1865, 1869 and 1873 had been conducted. In January, 1876, the Senate, still Republican, passed a concurrent resolution adopting the joint rules of the previous session of Congress, as the joint rules for that session, " excepting the Twenty-second Joint Rule." The House failed to act upon the resolutions. At the opening of the session in December, 1876, the President of the Senate ruled that there were no joint rules in operation. The Speaker of the House, on the other hand, ruled that the joint rules previously existing, still existed. Angry Speeches and Threats. Thus the issue between the two Houses was distinctly made. The House declared its intention of insisting upon the right secured to it by the Twenty-second Joint Rule of objecting to the vote of a State, and that it would withdraw from the joint convention if this right were denied it by the Senate. The Senate declared that, in case of such with- drawal by the House, the count would be continued by the Senate, and the result pro- claimed by the Vice-President. The House, on tne other hand, announced its intention of acting in such a case if there had been no choice by the electoral vote; it would at once proceed to elect the President as re- quired by the Constitution. Each House was firm in its resolution, and the breach between them widened daily 1 Angry speeches and threats were made by members of Congress, and the general alarm ana uneasiness deepened throughout the country. The, time appointed by the Con- stitution for counting the electoral vote was ADMINISTRATION OF ULYSSES S. GRANT. 839 rapidly drawing nigh, and it seemed likely that an era of anarchy was about to ensue. Each House would act for itself; two Presi- dents would be declared elected. There was no doubt that President Grant would sustain the choice of the Senate with the army. In such an event civil war was inevi- table. The danger was so great that patriotic men of both parties in Congress set to work to devise some means of settlement. It was plain that this could be accomplished only by a compromise. A conference committee was appointed by each House, which com- mittee, after a long deliberation, reported to the two Houses of Congress a bill providing for the appointment of a commission, to consist of fifteen members. Five of these were to be appointed by the Senate, and five by the House of Representatives. The re- maining five were to be chosen from the Justices of the Supreme Court. Four of the justices were designated by the bill ; the fifth was to be chosen by the justices named in the bill. The Joint Convention. The bill provided for the meetmg of the two Houses of Congress in joint convention on the first Thursday in February. The votes were to be opened by the Vice-Presi- dent, and counted by tellers appointed for the purpose. Each House was to have the right to object to the vote of a State, but in cases where only one certificate was pre- sented the objection must be sustained by the affirmative vote of both Houses. If not so sustained, the objection must fall and the vote be counted. Section II. of the bill pro- vided : "That, if more than one return, or paper purporting to be a return from a State, shall have been received by the President of the Senate, purporting to be the certificates of electoral votes given at the last preceding election for President and Vice-President in such State (unless they shall be duplicates of the same return), all such returns and papers shall be opened by him in the pre- sence of the two Houses when met as afore- said, and read by the tellers, and all sucU returns and papers shall thereupon be submit*! ted to the judgment and decision as to which is the true and lawful electoral vote of such State," of the commission appointed by the bill. The decision of the commission, with the THOMAS F. BAYARD. reasons therefor, was to be submitted to the two Houses of Congress. Should objection be made by five senators and five representa- tives to the report of the commission, the two Houses were to separate and discuss the said objections, the time allowed for debate being limited by the bill ; but unless both Houses should agree to sustain the objections, the decision of the commission should stand. This plan met with considerable favor from the conservative element of both Houses, but was strongly opposed by the more ultra of both parties. It was debated at length and 84c ADMINISTRATION OF ULYiSES S. GRANT. with great victor. It passed the Senate on the twenty-fifih of January, 1877, by a vote of forty-seven )eas and seventeen nays ; ten senators not voting. The vote in the House was taken the next day, and stood, yeas, one hundred and ninety-one; nays, eighty-six; fourteen representatives not voting. The vote in the Senate was divided as follows : Veas — Republicans, twenty-one; Democrats* forty-six. Naj^s — Republicans, sixteen; Dem- ocrats, one. In the House it stood : Yeas — Democrats, one hundred and fifty-nine : Republicans, thirty-two. Naj/s — Democrats, eighteen; Reoublicans, sixty-eight. The bill was immediately signed by President Grant, who had from the first given it his warm encouragement. Counting the Electoral Vote. The members of the commission were promptly appointed. They were as follows ; Justices Clifford, Strong, Miller, Field and Bradley, of the Supreme Court; Senators Edmunds, Morton, Frelinghuysen, Thurman and Bayard ; and Representativ^es Payne, Hunton, Abbott, Garfield and Hoar. The two Houses of Congress met in joint convention on the first of February, 1877, and began the counting of the electoral vote. When the vote of Florida was reached, three certificates were presented and were referred to the Electoral Commission. This body, upon hearing the arguments of the counsel of the Democratic and Republican parties decided that it had no power to go behind the action of the Return Board, and that the certificate of that body giving the vote of that State to Hayes, must be accepted by the two Houses of Congress. The vote by which this decision was reached stood eight all Republicans) in favor of it, and seven (all Democrats) against it. The party line appear- ing thus so sharply in the commission mor- tified and disgusted the whole country, which had looked to the commission for a decision that should be beyond question. A similar conclusion was come to in the case of Louisiana. Objections were made to the reception of the votes of Oregon and South Carolina. In the Oregon case the decision was unanimously m favor of counting the votes of the Hayes electors. In the South Carolina case the commission decided that the Democratic electors were not law- fully chosen ; but on the motion to give the State to Hayes, the vote stood eight yeas to seven nays. So South Carolina was counted for Hayes. Objection was made, on the ground of ineligibility, to certain electors from Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin, but the objections were not sustained by the iwo Houses. The final result was reached at ten minutes after four o'clock on the morning of the second of March, 1877. The counting of the votes of the States having been con- cluded, Mr. Allison, one of the tellers on the part of the Senate, announced the result of the footings ; whereupon the presiding officer of the two Houses declared Rutherford B„ Playes, of Ohio, the duly elected President, and William A. Wheelei, of New York, the duly elected Vice-President, for the term of four years, commencing on the fourth of March, 1877. Eh CQ !=> o o O >^ K CO g o CO 13 O Eh <^ PQ o ED CHAPTER XLV. The Administration of Rutherford B. Hayes. Inauguration of President Hayes — Sketch of the New President — Civil Service Reform — Troops in Soutli Carolina — Two Legislatures in Session — Investigation by President Hayes — Prompt Action— Settlement of the Troubles in South Carolina and Louisiana — General Grant's Tour Around the World — Enthusiastic Reception by the Crowned Heads of other Nations — Tenth Census of the United States — Election of General Garfield as President — Arctic Expedition of Lieutenant DeLong — Hardy Adventurers Two Winters in the Ice-Pack — Destruction of the "Jeannette " — Relief Expeditions — Death from Starvation. RUTHERFORD B. HAYES, the nineteenth President of the United States, was publicly inaugurated at Washington on Monday, March 5 , 1877. As the fourth of March fell on Sun- day, the President-elect simply took the oath of office on that day. The inaugural cere- monies were carried out on the fifth at the Capitol with the usual pomp and parade, and in the presence of an enormous multitude of citizens and visiting military organizations from all parts of the country. After the cus- tomary reception by the Senate, the new President was escorted la the eastern portico of the Capitol, where he delivered his inaug- ural address to the assembled multitude, after which the oath of office was publicly admin- istered to him by Chief Justice Waite. The new President was a native of Ohio, having been born at Delaware, in that State, on the fourth of October, 1822. Hegraduated at Kenyon College, Gambler, Ohio, and obtained his professional education at the Cambridge Law School. He began the prac- tice of the law at Cincinnati in 1856. He was I shortly afterwards made City Solicitor, which office he held until the beginning of the civil war in 1861. Soon after the opening of the war he enlisted in the Twenty-third Ohio Volunteers, with which regiment he served as major, lieutenant-colonel and colonel. He 'ed his regiment, which formed a part of Gen«^ral Reno's division, at the battle ol South Mountain, in September, 1862, and was severely wounded in the arm in that engagement. In the fall of 1862 he was made colonel of the regiment, and in 1864 was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general of volunteers " for gallant and meritorious services in the battles of Winchester, Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek," and was brevetted major-general " for gallant and distinguished services during the campaigns f 1 864 in West Virginia, and par- ticularly in the battles of Fisher's Hill and Cedar Cre^k." At the time of this last pro- motion he was in command of a division. He served until the close of the war, receiv- ing four wounds and having five horses shot under him during his military careen In the fall of 1864 he was elected to Congress, and was returned a second time in 1 866. In 1 867, before the expiration of his Congressional term, he was elected Governor of Ohio, and was re-elected to that office in 1869, being each time the candidate of the Republican party. In 1870 General Hayes was again elected to Congress, and in 1874 was nomi- nated for a third term as Governor of Ohio. His opponent was Governor William Allen, one of the most popular of the Democratic leaders of Ohio. General Hayes was elected by a handsome majority. He resigned this office in March, 1877, to enter upon his 841 ADMINISTRATION OF RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 842 new duties as President of the United States. President Hayes, in his letter accepting the nomination of his party for the Presi- dency, declared that if elected he would RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. earnestly and faithfully seek to do justice to the States of the South, and reform the civil service of the country by ridding it of cor- rupt men, and requiring a faithful discharge of duty at the hands of every public officer. Immediately upon his inauguration he set to work to make good his promises. He selected his Cabinet from among the ablest men in the country, making ability, and not partisan service, the test of the fitness of the persons selected. William M. Evarts, of New York, was made Secretary of State, and the existence of the Southern States as members of the Union was recognized by the appointment, as Post- master-General, of Mr. Key, of Tennessee, who had sustained the Democratic ticket in the canvass of 1876. Except to the extreme partisans who had done the country so much harm under the last administration, the appointments of the new President gave great satisfaction to the entire nation. Measures were promptly set on foot for the inauguration of a better civil service system. The most im- portant matter which presented itself to the new President for set- tlement was the con- dition of the States ofj Louisiana and South Carolina. In the fall of 1876 an election for Governor and other State officers was held in each of these States. The result at the polls appeared to be in favor of the Democratic or Conservative ADMINISTRATION OF RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 843 candidates. In each State the revision of the vote was controlled by Republicans, some of whom were candidates for re-elec- tion. The Returning Boards announced the triumph of the Republican tickets in Louis- iana and South Carolina. In South Carolina the Conservatives re- solved to inaugurate General Wade Hamp- ton, their candidate, as Governor. The Governor of the State was Mr. Daniel H. •Chamberlain, who had been the Republican candidate for re-election. Upon learning the intention of the De= tnocrats to inaugurate their Gov- •ernor, Mr. Chamberlain applied to President Grant for military aid. His application to President Grant was promptly responded to, and =• General Ruger, commanding the Department of the South, was or- dered to place the troops stationed in Columbia at Governor Chamber- lain's disposal. Having secured the aid of the troops, Governor Cham- berlain now proceeded to take the iirst step in his plan. On the night of the twenty-seventh of November the State House was occupied by a detachment of troops, which was posted so as to command all the approaches to the halls of the Legislature. The twenty-eighth of November, i876,was the day appointed for the meeting of the Legislature. The Democratic members met in caucus at ten o'clock in the morning, and proceeded in a body to the State House. Arriving there, they found the building occu- pied by the troops, and were compelled to submit their credentials to the officers of the guard, who admitted such as had papers -which he pronounced satisfactory. Passing through the troops the members of the Legis- lature reached the door of the hall of the Lower House, which they found guarded also by troops. The doorkeeper, backed by the military force, refused to admit certain of the delegates whose credentials he declared were null and void. The entire body of Demo cratic members then withdrew, after protest ing against the interference of the military Under the protection of the troops the Republicans organized the Legislature. The interference oT the troops aroused the most intense excitement in Columbia, and it WILLIAM A. WHEELER. was with difficulty that an outbreak was pre- vented, mainly through the influence of General Hampton. The Democrats, on the twenty -ninth of November, succeeded in gaining admission to the State House, where they organized the House of Representatives. After a struggle of a week with the Repub- licans, they withdrew to South Carolina Hall, and conducted the sessions of the Legisla- ture there, gaining members by degrees from Chamberlain's Legislature at the State House. 844 ADMINISTRATION OF RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. The Republican Legislature declared the election of Governor Chamberlain, and on the seventh of December he was sworn into office, under the protection of the Federal troops. The Conservative Legislature continued its sessions at South Carolina Hall, and on the fourteenth of December Governor Hampton tion of the taxes to enable him to ■:arry oft the government were cordially and promptly- responded to. The authority o^ Governor Chamberlain was not recognized beyond the limits of the State House in which the Federal troops were quartered ; the people refused to pay their taxes to his government,, and his governorship was a mere name. In ARRIVAL OF GENERAL GRANT AT SAN FRANCISCU L\ THE STEAMER " CTTV OF TOKIO. was publicly inaugurated amid the greatest enthusiasm. He at once set to work, with his associates, to administer the government of the State. He was recognized by the vast majority of the people of South Carolina, by many even who had voted against him. His authority was everywhere respected ; and his calls upon the people to advance a por- view of this state of affairs President Grant was repeatedly urged to withdraw the troops from the State buildings to their barracks, but persistently refused to do so. Such was the state of affairs in vSouth Car- olina at the inauguration of President Hayes. The new President, with characteristic cau- tion, proceeded to investigate the matter. < I— I o IP ADMINISTRATION OF RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 845 After a patient and thorough inquiiy he found that the Federal troops were quartered in the State House of South CaroHna in an unlawful manner ; that the Constitution gave to the Federal government no authority to interfere in the domestic concerns of a State, leaving the decision of disputed elections to the State courts for settlement ; and that no such state of lawlessness or insurrection as would justify Federal interference existed in South Carolina. In view of these facts, his duty in the case ■was plain. It was to restore the proper rela- tions between the Federal government and the State of South Carolina, and to put an end to the unlawful and unjustifiable interfer- ence with the affairs of that State. The mat- ter was laid before the Cabinet, and on the second of April, 1877, it was resolved to order the troops to withdraw from the State House to their barracks at Columbia. The order was at once issued, and was carried into effect on the sixth of April. The troops were withdrawn, and South Carolina was left ;to settle her own affairs. This step was fol- lowed by the speedy withdrawal of Governor Chamberlain from the contest. The Hamp- ton government was soon installed in the State House, and its authority was firmly established in all parts of the State, to the great joy of its people. The Trouble in Louisiana. The State buildings of Louisiana had been held by the Federal troops ever since the expulsion of the members of the Legislature by General De Trobriand, in 1873. At the election, in 1876, Mr. Stephen B. Packard was the Republican candidate for Governor, and Mr. H. T. Nicholls was the candidate of the Democratic party for the same office. The Republicans claimed that there was intimidation of Republican voters through- out the State, and the Returning Board declared that Mr. Packard had been chosen Governor. The substitution of Mr. Packard for Mr. Kellogg as Governor of Louisiana did not touch the evils from which the people of that State had been suffering for so many years. Their patience was exhausted, and they resolved to sustain the government which they claimed had been chosen. The Conser- vativ^e Legislature was accordingly organized, and on the eighth of January, 1877, Governor Nicholls was publicly inaugurated. On the same day Mr. Packard was sworn into office under the protection of the troops. WILLIAM H. ENGLISH, The Nicholls government got to work as soon as possible; its authority was recognized throughout the State by the courts and peo- ple; taxes were paid to it and it was indorsed and supported by a vast majority of the peo- ple of Louisiana. President Grant was urged to remove the troops from the State House and other buildings belonging to Louisiana, and was assured that the Packard govern- ment would fall to pieces for lack of support as soon as he should take the troops away. He refused to do so, however. President Hayes found Louisiana in this condition when he entered upon his duties as m u- X > M p. W X m u w H W < 846 ADMINISTRATION OF RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 847 Chief Magi^crate. He selected a commission consisting of four Republicans and one Dem- ocrat, and these gentlemen, at his request, proceeded to New Orleans to investigate and report to him the real state of affairs in Louis- iana. They made an investigation of the affairs of the State, and found Packard a gov- reported to the President on the nineteenth of April, and the next day he issued the order to withdraw the United States troops in New Orleans from the State buildings to their 'barracks. The troops were withdrawn at noon on the twenty-fourth of April, amid the rejoicings of the people. Governor Packard THE MIRAGE AS SEEN IN THE ARCTIC REGION. ernor m nam j only, while the authority of the Nicholls government extended through- out the State. They found also that the con- dition of affairs in Louisiana was not such as to justify the further interference of the Fed- eral government in the domestic concerns of the State. The conclusions of the commission were at once abandoned the contest. Tne members of his Legislature joined the Nicholls Legis- lature, and the affairs of the State were once more placed in her own hands. The action of the President in withdraw- ing the troops from South Carolina and Louisiana gave great satisfaction to the country at large. A small class of extreme S48 ADMINISTRATION OF RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. politicians were disposed to denounce it, but their partisan outcries were silenced by the general voice of approval which came from all parts of the Union. The nation was sick of civil war and partisan strife, and hailed the action of the President as the beginning of the long-hoped-for, long-delayed era of peace and good will. General Grant's Tour Around the W^orld. On May 17, 1878, ex-President Grant mailed from Philadelphia in the steamer Indiana for a tour around the world. He liad achieved the highest distinction in his native land, and was welcomed with every demonstration of respect by all the nations he visited. The rulers and nobility of Europe and Asia accorded him an enthusiastic recep- tion. On his return trip he arrived at San Francisco September 20, 1879, and was warmly greeted by his fellow-countrymen in every place where he made his appearance. His tour called out the friendly feeling of other countries toward America, and was not without political significance. In the year 1880 the tenth census of the United States was taken, and showed the population of the country to be 50,152- 559- In the summer of 1880 the various politi- cal parties of the country met in convention to nominate candidates for the Presidency and Vice-Presidency of the United States. The Republican Convention met at Chicago on the second of June, and nominnted James A. Garfield, of Ohio, for President, and Chester A. Arthur, of New York, for Vice-President. The Democratic Convention met at Cincin- nati, on the twenty-second of June, and nomi- nated Winfield Scott Hancock, of Pennsyl- vania, for President, and William H. English, of Indiana, for Vice-President. The Green- back Convention met at Chicago, on the ninth of June, and nominated Jamv,^ A. Weaver, of Iowa, for President, and B. J. Chambers, of Texas, for Vice-President. The election was held on the second of November, and resulted in the choice of General James A. Garfield, who received 214 electoral votes to 155 electoral votes cast for General Hancock. The popular vote was as follows : Garfield, 4,437,345 ; Hancock, 4.435,0^5 ; Weaver, 305,931- The year 1879 was memorable in Arctic exploration by the expedition of Lieutenant George W. DeLong, of the United States Navy. The expedition was projected by James Gordon Bennett, proprietor of the New York Herald, with the object of reach- ing the North Pole, if possible, by way of Behring Straits. Lieutenant DeLong sailed in the steamship " Jeannette" from San Fran- cisco, July 8, 1879. All of the crew were volunteers, selected with great care from many applicants. The outcome of the expedition was disas- trous, and it shared the unhappy fate which has attended many other heroic attempts to explore the polar world. After spending two winters in the ice-pack the hardy adventurers lost their ship and attempted to make their way southward in the hope of reaching a place of safety in the three boats belonging to the ship. The boats were separated during a strong gale ; the provisions were at length exhausted, and in the heroic effort to save their lives Lieutenant DeLong and the men in his boat perished of starvation. Several relief expe- ditions were sent out in search of the " Jean- nette," but these were too late to rescue all the party. The last records of DeLong were found, and also sufficient evidence of the hardships and perils through which he and his men had passed in their endeavor to escape from their perilous situation. CHAPTER XLVI The Administration of James A. Garfield. General Garfield Declared President — Inaugural Ceremonies — Sketch of the New President — Contest with the Stal- warts — The Star Route Cases — Assassination of President Garfield — His Illness — Removal to Long Branch — Death of President Garfield — Removal of the Remains to Washington and Cleveland — Interment at Cleveland — Inauguration of President Arthur — Indictment of Guiteau for Murder — Trial and Execution of Garfield's Assassin — Remarkable Scene upon the Scaffold — The Greeley Artie Expedition — Reaching a point beyond the Eighty-first Parallel^ Lieutenant Lockwood's Heroic Exploit — Return of the Exploring Party — Valuable Records — Three Relief Expedi- tions — Terrible Sufferings and Privations — A Crew Charged with Cannibalism — Celebration of the Landing of William Penn — Great Suspension Bridge between New York and Brooklyn — Dimensions of the Bridge and Cost. ON the second Wednesday in Feb- ruary, 1 88 1, the two Houses of Congress met in joint-session in the hall of the House of Re- presentatives, for the purpose of counting the electoral vote. The certificates of the electoral colleges of the various States hav- ing been opened and read, with the result mentioned above, the Vice-President an- nounced that James A. Garfield had been duly elected President of the United States, and Chester A. Arthur Vice-President, for the term of four years, from the fourth of March, 1881. The result of the election was cordially ac- cepted by the country, and the nation began to look forward to a new era of prosperity and happiness. On Friday, March 4, 1881, the inaugura- tion ceremonies took place upon a scale of unusual magnificence, and were participated in by numerous military and civic organiza- tions, and by thousands of citizens from all parts of the country. After the new Vice- President had taken the oath of office. Presi- dent-elect Garfield was formally received by the Senate, and escorted to the eastern portico of the capitol, where, in the presence of an immense multitude of citizens and soldiery, he delivered an able and eloquent inaugural 54 address, and took the oath of office at the hands of Chief-Justice Waite. The new President had been long and favorably known to his countrymen. He was in his fiftieth year, and in vigorous health. A man of commanding presence, he was dignified and courteous in his de- meanor, accessible to the humblest citizen, and deservedly popular with men of all parties. Born a poor boy, without influen- tial friends, he had by his own efforts secured a thorough collegiate education, and had carefully fitted himself for the arduous duties he was now called upon tc discharge. En- tering the army at the outbreak of the civil war, he had won a brilliant reputation as a soldier, and had been promoted to the rank of major-general of volunteers. Elected to Congress from Ohio, in 1862, he had entered the House of Representatives in December, 1863, and had seen almost eighteen years of constant service in that body, in which he had long ranked as one of the most brilliant and trusted leaders of the Republican party. Early in 1880 he had been chosen a United States Senator from Ohio, but had been prevented from taking his seat in the Senate by his election to the Presidency. Imme- diately after his inauguration he sent to the Senate for confirmation the names of the 849 850 ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES A. GARFIELD. members of his Cabinet. They were choseii from among the leading members of the conservative portion of the Republican party, arid were headed by James G. Blaine, of Maine, as Secretary of State. They were at once confirmed by the Senate, and the new administration embarked upon its short-lived career. Very soon after enten'ng upon his duties, President Garfield found that the E.^^^w^tive JAMES A. GARFIELD. chair was by no means a bed of roses. The Republican party soon divided into two sec- tions, one, known as the " Conservative," supporting the administration, and the other, known as the " Stalwarts," opposing it. A bitter partisan quarrel sprang up between these two wings of the party, and prolonged the Executive session of the Senate until late in June. The quarrel was the fiercest over the appointment of a new collector for the port of New York, and culminated in the resignation of their seats in the Senate by Senators Conkling and Piatt of New York,, on the sixteenth of May. The resignation of these gentlemen was based upon the ground that the President had nominated Judge Robertson to be col- lector of the port of New York, without con- sulting or yielding to the wishes of the senators from that State, the said senators in effect claiming the right to determine what appointments should or should not be made by the President in their State. The President, on his part, insisted upon his right to nominate to office any man whom he should deem worthy of the trust. The struggle was in reality a contest for the independence of the Executive in the matter of public appointments,, and President Garfield was warmly- supported by the great mass of the nation without regard to party. He,, therefore, pursued with unshaken firm- ness the policy he had determined upon. After the resignation of Sen- ators Conkling and Piatt, the nomina- tion of Judge Robertson was con- «N firmed by the Senate. As the time wore on. President Garfield gained steadily in the esteem of his countrymen. His purpose to give to the nation a fair and just administration of the government was every day more apparent, and his high and noble qualities became more conspicu- ous. Men began to feel that the Exec- utive chair was occupied by a President capable of conceiving a pure and noble stand- ard of duty, and possessed of the firmness and strength of will necessary to carry it into execution. The country was prosperous, and there was every reason to expect a con- tinuance of the general happiness. ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES A. GARFIELD. 851 Soon after the opening of President Gar- field's administration, the Postmaster-General discovered that certain contracts for carrying the mails on what are known as " The Star Routes," were fraudulent, and that the per- sons interested in them were defrauding the government of large sums of money. The President, Postmaster-General and At- torney-General, sustained by the other members of the Cabinet, without exception, thereupon re- solved to bring the guilty parties to justice. The latter being men of wealth and position, bitterly resented the course of the government, and violently denounced it. Never- theless the President caused mea- sures looking to the punishment of the accused parties to be begun, and only the unexpected adjournment of the grand jury and court prevented a formal indictment from being brought against them. Before other mea- sures could be taken, the atten- tion of the entire nation was occwpied by an event of grav^er importance. While these matters were still in progress. President Garfield began preparations for a brief pleasure trip to Long Branch, where Mrs. Garfield was recover- ing from a severe illness; in- tending from that point to visit New England, and be present at the com mencement exercises of his abiia viato', Williams' College, in Massachusetts. He was to be accompanied by a distinguished party, including several members of the Cabinet. On the morning of the second of July, the party proceeded to the Baltimore and Potomac depot, where they were to take the cars, in advance of the President, who arrived soon after in company with Secretary Blaine, who came simply to see hirn off and say good-bye. They left the President's car- riage together, and sauntered arm-in-arm through the depot towards the cars. In passing through the ladies' waiting- room, the President was fired at twice by a MRS. LUCRETIA R. GARFIELD. man named Charles J. Guiteau. The nrst shot inflicted a slight wound in the President's right arm, and the second a terrible wound in the right side of his back, between the hip and the kidney. The President fell heavily to the floor, and the assassin was secured as he was seeking to make his escape from the building and was conveyed to a >joiice 852 ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES A. GARFIELD. station, from which he was subsequently taken to prison. The President lay helpless upon the floor of the waiting-room, the blood flowing copiously from both his wounds. As soon as JAMES G. BLAINE. those near him recovered from the dismay into which the tragedy had thrown them, he was placed upon a mattrass, physicians were summoned and he was conveyed to an upper room in the depot. He bore his sufferings with great firmness, and from the first dis- played a cool courage that won the warm admiration of the country. The surgeons summoned were soon at hand, and found that the President's injuries were very critical. It was decided to , remove him to the Executive Man- sion, and he was carried down the stairs, placed in an army ambulance and driven rapid- ly to the White House. Arriving there he was con- veyed to his wife's chamber, overlook- ing the Potomac, and placed in bed. Two attempts were made by the sur- geons to find the ball — one at the depot, and one at the White House after his arrival there — but both were unsuccessful. Grave fears were entertained by the surgeons for the President's life, and Mrs. Garfield was summoned by tele- graph from Long Branch. She ar- ' rived during the evening. The news of the attempt upon the Presi- dent's life spread rapidly throughout the Union, and was everywhere received with horror and indignation. During the after- noon his condition became more alarming. ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES A. GARFIELD. 853 and bulletins were issued by the surgeons in charge at frequent intervals, giving the latest news of the state of the illustrious sufferer. These were telegraphed to all parts of the country, and were watched with eager impatience by vast crowds of citizens wherever they were posted. The sympathy of the whole nation went out warmly towards the wounded President and his afflicted family, and from the governments and nations of fulness that astonished his attendants, and encouraged them to hope for a favorable result. The afternoon of the second of July wore anxiously away, no signs of a reaction being manifested, but after the arrival of Mrs. Gar- field, in the evening, the President began to rally slightly. The night was passed in anxious suspense. On the morning of the third, the President was calm and cheerful^ THE ASSASSINATION OF Europe messages of inquiry and sympathy were constantly received through the Atlantic cable. During the entire period of the Presi- dent's illness the official bulletins were issued three times each day, and the nation was thus kept informed of his condition. The best medical and surgical skill of the* country was employed in the effort to save the President's life, and throughout the whole period of his illness he never lost his calm courage, but displayed a firmness and cheer- JAMES A. GARFIELD. though he fully realized the gravity ot his situation. He told Dr. Bliss, the surgeon in charge of his case, that he wished to know exacdy what his chances for life were ; that while he desired to live, he was prepared to die, and did not fear to learn the worst. Dr. Bliss replied that though his injuries were formidable, he had, in his judgment, a chance for his life. " Well, Doctor," ex- claimed the sufferer, with a cheerful smile, " we'll take that chance." 854 ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES A. CjARFIELD. The day passed away without any event of importance, and the anxious nation, as well as the President's attendants, drew some hope from the fact he continued " to hold his own." The popular anxiety and sympathy were strikingly manifested on the Fourth of July, the anniversary of the National Independ- ence, in the listless and careless manner in was kept all the while in a mor.. painful suspense. The surgeons in charge, however, recognized the true character of the wound from the first, and while they hoped for a recovery, could not conceal from themselves the fact that such a result would be almost, miraculous. The President's sufferings were very great' DEATH-BED OF JAMES A. GARFIELD. which the day was celebrated. The people were too much engrossed with their anxiety to take part in any demonstration of joy. The two months following the wounding of President Garfield dragged wearily away, the patient at times showing symptoms of marked improvement, and at others expe- riencing dangerous relapses. The nation alternated between hope and despair, and during this period, and were increased by the intense heat of the season and the unhealthy suroundings of the White House. Yet he bore them all with unshaken firmness and unalterable cheerfulnebs. Dr, Bliss, his chief surgeon, writes of him during this period ; — " The time which passed until the twenty-third of July, when the first rigor occurred, was chiefly remarkable for the ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES A. GARFIELD. 855 the President, accompanied by his family, his surgeons and attendants, was conveyed to Long Branch in a train specially prepared quiet, cool determination of the sufferer. Quite ready for, and evidently expectmg the worst, his demeanor was that of the man whose great intellect and wonderful will enabled him to give the most intelligent aid to the physician. Apparently indifferent as to result, so far as it should affect him alone, he still watched every symptom, even making inquiry after •each examination as to the temperature, pulse and respiration, and every measure of relief adopted, with evidently firm determination to live for others if pos- sible." Towards the last of August, the surgeons in attendance upon the President resolved to remove him from the White House to a more healthful locality. The removal was a risk, but not so great a risk as to permit him to remain in the malarious atmos- phere which surrounded the Executive Mansion, and which was rapidly destroying the little strength left him. It was decided to convey him to Long Branch, in the hope that the pure and itiracing air of the sea would enable him to regain some of his lost vitality. Accordingly, on the sixth of September. THE CATAFALQUE AT CLEVELAND, OHIO. for the purpose. The journey was made quickly and successfully, and after reaching Long Branch the President seemed to 'cUy. 856 ADMINISTRATION OF JAMES A. UARFIELD. For the first few days after his arrival at the seashore, his symptoms were so much better that renewed hope sprang up in the hearts of his countrymen. It was only for a brief period, however. On the sixteenth of Sep- tember there was a marked change for the worse, with unmistakable evidences of in- creasing weakness in mind and body. On passed away appeared more comfortable, and his attendants were hopeful of a quiet night for him. Towards nine o'clock in the evening he fell into a quiet sleep, from which he awak- ened, shortly after ten o'clock, in great pain. General Swaim, who was watching by him, alarmed by the President's symptoms, hastily JAMES A. GARFIELD LYING IN STATE IN THE ROTUNDA OF THE CAPITOL AT WASHINGTON. the seventeenth the President sank still lower, and in the forenoon was seized with a severe rigor. On the evening of the eighteenth another alarming rigor occurred, followed by other grave symptoms. From this time the President continued to grow worse. On the morning of the nineteenth he was attacked with another severe rigor, but after that had summoned the family and the surgeons. The President was unconscious when they arrived^ and continued to sink rapidly. Efforts were made to revive him with stimulants, but in vain, and at thirty-five minutes after ten o'clock, the brave struggle was brought to an end, and the soul of James A. Garfield passed into eternity. ADMINISTRATION OF CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 857 The sad news of the death of President Garfield was at once telegraphed to New York, and by eleven o'clock the whole coun- try was aware that its Chief Magistrate was dead. Bells were tolled in every city, town and village of the Union, and everywhere citizens draped their houses in mourning. Such a display of national sorrow had never been witnessed before. The news of the death of Presi- dent Garfield was at once trans- mitted by telegraph to Vice-Presi- dent Arthur by the members of the Cabinet present at Long Branch, and he was advised by them to take the oath of office as President with- out delay. Accordingly, Justices Brady and Donahoe of the Supreme Court of New York were at once summoned by the Vice-President, and at a little after two o'clock on the morning of the twentieth of September, he took the oath of office as President of the United States before them at his private residence in New York. On the twentieth of September, arrangements were made for remov- ing the body of the late President to Washington City, and on the same day an autopsy was held upon the body by the surgeons who had been in attendance upon the President, assisted by several others. The autopsy revealed the fact that the wound had been fatal from the first. On the morning of the twenty-first, funeral ceremonies were held in the cottage at Long Branch in which the President died, and at ten o'clock the remains were placed on board of a special train, and conveyed to Washington, and accompanied by the family and friends of the dead President, and by President Arthur and a number of distin- guished personages. Washington was reached at 4.35 in the afternoon, and the body was escorted by a detachment of mil- itary and Knights Templar to the Capitol, where it was laid in state until the twenty- third. During the twenty-second and twenty- third it was visited by over one hundred thousand persons. On the afternoon of the CHESTER A. ARTHUR. twenty-third, the public funeral services were held in the rotunda of the Capitol, after which the body was escorted to the Baltimore and Potomac depot, and conveyed to Cleveland, Ohio, by a special train. Cleveland was reached the next day, and the remains were laid in state in a structure especially prepared for them, until the morning of the twenty- sixth, when they were buried with the most imposing ceremonies in Lake View Cemetery S58 ADMINISTRATION OF CHESTER A. ARTHUR. in the suburbs of that city. Business was suspended and memorial services were held during the day in all parts of the United States. On the twenty-second of September, Pres- ident Arthur again took the oath of office, this time at the hands of the Chief-Justice of the United States, and was quietly inaugura- ted in the Vice-President's room, in the Cap- itol, delivering upon this occasion, a brief inaugural address. Soon after the attempt upon the life of President Garfield, a popular subscription was set on foot to provide a fund for the support JOHN A. LOGAN. of his family in the event of his death. The movement was successful, and over ^330,000 were raised, and invested in United States bondi for the benefit of the widow and chil- f^ren of the *' Martyred President." President Arthur entered quietly upon the auties of his administration, and his first acts were satisfactory to a majority of his country- men. As he had been the leader of " the Stalwart," section of the P^epublican party, it was felt by the members of the Cabinet of the late President that he should be free to choose his own advisers. Therefore, imme- diately upon his accession to the Executive chair, Mr. Blaine and his colleagues ten dered him their resignations. They wen requested, however, by the new President t( retain their offices until he could find suitabh successors to them. To this they agreed but before the year was out several import ant changes had been made in the Cabinet The principal of these were the substitutioi of Frederick T. Frelinghuysen, of New Jer sey, for Mr. Blaine, as Secretary of State and the appointment of Judge Charles J Folger to the Treasury Department indictment of Garfield's Assassin. • One of the first acts of the new adminis tration was to cause the indictment of Charle: J. Guiteau for the murder of President Gar •field. The grand jury of the District o Columbia met on the third of October, 1S81 and promptly found a true bill agains Guiteau, who was arraigned in the Crimina Court of the District on the fourteenth o October. After some delay the trial of th< assassin began on the fourteenth of Novem ber. The first three days were consumed ir selecting a jury, and then the trial began ir earnest. It ended on the twenty-fifth o January, 1882, in the conviction of Guiteai for the murder of the late President. The prisoner was defended by able counsel, anc was allowed many privileges never before granted to persons on trial for so grave ar offence. The plea upon which the defence was based was insanity, but the evidence entirely destroyed this assumption, and the verdict ol the jury was received throughout the country as just and proper. An effort was made by Guiteau's counsel to obtain a new trial for hini, but this was denied by the court, and on the fourth of February Guiteau was sen- tenced to be hanged en the thirtieth of June, 1882. The counsel for the prisoner still continued his efforts to secure a new trial. ADMINISTRATION OF CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 859 but. these being unsuccessful in each and every instance, his only resource was an appeal to the clemency of the Executive. The President declined, however, to interfere with the sentence. Execution of Guiteau. During the interval between his sentence and his execution, Guiteau was confined in the jail of the District of Columbia, at Wash- ington. His conduct during this interval was in keeping with that which had marked his trial — vain, egotistical, and blasphemous. To the last the prisoner was confident that President Arthur would interfere in his behalf, but the res uk proved this to be a vain hope. The execution took place in the District jail on the thirtieth of June, 1882, and was witnessed by about two hundred people, nearly all representatives of the press. Guiteau displayed more firmness than had been expected of him. He walked to the gallows without making the violent scene which had been anticipated by many, and ascended it with a firm step. Upon the scaffold, how- ever, he displayed considerable emotion, which he quickly subdued. His religious adviser, Rev. Dr. Hicks, offered a short prayer, and Guiteau read a selection from the Holy Scriptures. Then he read a prayer, strangely at vari- ance with his religious professions, in which he called down the curse of the Almighty upon all who had been engaged in his trial and execution, and upon the nation at large, and denounced President Arthur as a coward and an ingrate. Finally he chanted a poem which he had written during the morning. At the close of this singular recital the trap fell, precisely at forty-three minutes past twelve o'clock, and the great crime again.st the American people was avenged. Guiteau's neck was broken by the fall, and his death was painless. He died without a. struggle, and with scarce a tremor. At the opening of Congress in 1883, John G. Carlisle, of Kentucky, was chosen speaker of the House. In 1 88 1 an attempt was made to establish a signal station at a point north of the eighty- first parallel, and Lieutenant A. W. Greeley, of the United States Navy, was selected as the officer to take charge of the expedition. He received his instructions from the chief JOHN G. CARLISLE. signal officer, General Hazen. The steamer " Proteus," which was to convey the party to its destination sailed from St. John's, New- foundland, on the seventh of July, and imme- diately encountered rough weather. The adventurers pressed forward and, notwithstanding almost insurmountable ob« stacks succeeded in reaching a point beyond the eighty-first parallel, where they estab- lished a post and named it Fort Conger. After landing the party the " Proteus " had returned. 86o ADMINISTRATION OF CHESTER A ARTHUR. As is usual with all polar expeditions anxiety began to be felt for the safety of the party, and attempts were made in 1882 and 1883 to send relief. The colonists were not found, and at length, on account of their provisions being exhausted, they were reduced to terrible straits. The expedition of Greeley is especially memorable for having reached the highest the northern sky; the Arctic moon wore a strange appearance ; the air was sharp with penetrating frost ; and the long night of the Arctic winter was attended, with a loneliness impossible to describe. The brave company at length retreated from their post. Few pages in the history of polar exploration record such terrible hardships and sufferings as fell to the lot of SANDERSON S HOPE, UPERNAVIK, BAFFIN BAYc point ever gained la Arctic exploration. This achievement v^as due to Lieutenant Lockwood, who approached nearer the iNorth Pole than any other explorer either before or since. The records of the expedi- jtion are replete with valuable information ^concerning the meteorology of that latitude, and with descriptions of very remarkable natural phenomena. Brilliant auroras lighted the Greeley expedition. Three relief ships, the "Thetis," "Bear" and " Alert," were sent to Lady Franklin Bay. The survivors were at last found when they were in dire distress and must soon have perished from starvation, except for the timely relief which reached them. The officers of the expedition were charged with cannibalism and inhuman cruelty. One ADMINISTRATION OF CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 86i of their number who was accMsed of stealing rations was shot, and if half suppressed reports are to be credited, his body furnished food for his famishing comrades. All who were left of Greeley's command were found on the twenty-second of June, 1884, three years after the party started on its perilous voyage. The heroism of the brave explorers excited the admiration of the world, and uni- trating events in the early history of Penn- sylvania. It was estimated that upwards of four hundred thousand persons attended the celebration. One of the notable events of 1883, was the opening of the great Suspension Bridge over the East River, between New York City and Brooklyn. Work commenced January 3, 1870, and the bridge was opened to the ARCTIC REGION — BEECHEY HEAD. versa! interest was felt in the thrilling story of their sufferings. On the twenty-seventh of October, 1882, the two-hundredth anniversary of the landing of William Penn was celebrated at Phila- delphia. The exercises included public addresses, a military display, and an indus- trial parade. In addition to these there were various historic devices and tableaux, illus- public May 24, 1883. The total cost was ^15,500,000 The total length from New York to Brooklyn is 5,989 feet, and the length of the main span is 1,595^ feet. The height of the towers is 276^ feet. The height of the floor of the bridge at the cen- tre, above high water mark is 135 feet. The height of the floor of the bridge at the piers is 1 1 8 feet. SCENE IN THE ARCTIC REGIONS— AMONG THE ICEBERGS. ADMINISTRATION OF CHESTER A. ARTHUR. 863 The caisson for the New York pier was sunk 78 feet, and that for the Brooklyn pier 45 i^ feet below the bed of the river. Each cable is 15^ inches in diameter and is made up of 5,000 wires, each j4 '"ch in diam- In the campaign of 1884, James G. Blaine^ of Maine, and John A. Logan, of Illinois, were the nominees of the Republican party for the offices of President and Vice-Pres ident. Grover Cleveland, of New York, and THE BROOKLYN SUSPENSION BRIDGE. eter. The anchorages are 930 feet from the towers and weigh 120,000,000 pounds each. The cables are capable of sustaining 49,200 tons. The weight of the central spar; is 6,742 tons. Thomas A. Hendricks, of Indiana, were the nominees of the Democratic party. The campaign resulted in the election of Cleve* land and Hendricks, the vote in the Elec- toral College being 219 to 182. CHAPTER XLVII The Administration of Grover Cleveland. HAr. Cleveland's Early Life— Governor of New York— Elected President— Inauguration Ceremonies— Civil Service and Revenue Reform— The New Cabinet — Death of General Grant — Imposing Obsequies — Honors to the Illustrious Dead— Death of General George B. McClellan— Free Trade Conference at Chicago -Death of Vice-President Thomas B. Hendricks Pension Granted to the Widow of President Grant— President Cleveland's Message — Bill Regulating the Presidential Succession — Labor Agitations— Riot at Chicago Instigated by " Anarchists" — Statue of Liberty En- lightening the World — President Cleveland's Marriage — Soldiers' Pensions — Capital and Labor — Centennial Anni- versary of the Adoption of the Constitution — Nomination of President Cleveland — Nomination of Benjamin Harrison — Harrison's Election. THE twenty-second President of the j United States was Hon. Grover Cleveland. Mr. Cleveland was a native of New Jersey, and was born in Caldwell, Essex County, March i8, 1837. He came from sturdy New England stock, many of his ancestors having held honor- able positions in their respective localties. President Cleveland, after teaching two or three years, .studied law in Buffalo, was admitted to the bar, became sheriff of the county, mayor of the city, and, having received the nomination for governor of New York, was elected by a large majority. This was followed by his nomination in the Democratic Convention of 1884, and his election in the following November to the Presidency. Naturally the departure of the Republican administration and the return of the Demo- cratic party to power after twenty-four years of exile from the highest seats in the coun- cils of the Republic awakened a profound interest. As the fourth of March, 1885, approached, eyes were turned toward Wash- ington, and multitudes went up to the Capital as to a Mecca. Washington itself, accus- tomed to civic displays, exciting events and magnificent parades, was more than usually awakened, and an interest was exhibited in 864 the inauguration which overshadowed all other concerns. The representatives of the press throughout the country were there in full force to record the event and depict the scene in its imposing aspects. The ceremonies incident upon the inaugu- ration presented a pageant exceeding in civic and military display any such preceding occasion in the history of the government. There were in attendance more than one hundred thousand visitors, and the city in its profuse decorations was a bewildering maze of bright colors. Among the significant allegorical designs was a great floral ladder reaching to the roof of a business house on Pennsylvania Avenue, which bore upon its rungs the words, " Sheriff," " Mayor," "Gov- ernor," " President," thus graphically sym- bolizing the life-work of the President elect. The inaugural of President Cleveland began as follows: "In the presence of this vast assemblage of my countrytnen I am about to supplement and seal by the oath which I shall take the manifestation of the will of a great and free people. In the exercise of their power and right of self-government they have committed to one of their fellow-citizens a supreme and sacred trust, and he here consecrates himself to their service. ADMINISTRATION OF GROVER CLEVELAND. 865 " This impressive ceremony adds little to the solemn sense of responsibility with which I contemplate the duty^Ioweto all the people of the land. Nothing can relieve me from anxiety lest by any act of mine their in- terests may suffer, and nothing is needed to purpose by which he would be guided in the administration of the affairs of the government: *' In the discharge of my official duty I shall endeavor to be guided by a just and unstrained construction of the Constitution, a careful observance of the distinction between strengthen my resolution to engage every faculty and effort in the promotion of their welfare." Having stated his sense of the importance and sacredness of the trust confided in him, President Cleveland gave expression to the 36 the powers granted to the Federal govern- ment and those reserved to the States or to the people, and by a cautious appreciation of those functions which, by the Constitution and laws, have been especially assigned to the executive branch of the government." 866 ADMINISTRATION OF GROVER CLEVELAND. Upon the question of civil service reform President Cleveland expressed himself in accordance with the sentiments enunciated in the platform of his party, adopted at the con- vention of 1884: " The people demand reform in the administration of the government and the influence of those who promise and the vicious methods of those who expect such rewards. And thoSe who worthily seek public employment have the right to insist that merit and competency shall be recog- nized instead of party subserviency, or the surrender of hon-st political belief" CHIEF-JUSTICE WAITE ADMINISTERING THE OATH OF OFFICE TO PRESIDENT CLEVELAND. application of business principles to public affairs. As a means to this end civil service reform should be in good faith enforced. Our citizens have the right to protection from the incompetency of public employees who hold their places solely as the reward of partisan service, and from the corrupting Revenue reform was another topic referred to in President Cleveland's inaugural address.- Thus early in his administration he presented a matter which was very fully discussed in his subsequent messages to Congress, and became the subject of contention between the two great parties. ADMINISTRATION OF GROVER CLEVELAND. 2,67- "A due regard," he says, " for the interests and prosperity of all the people demand that our finances shall be established upon such a sound and sensible basis as shall secure the safety and confidence ofbusiness interests and make the wage of labor sure and steady, and that our system of re venue shall be so adjusted as to relieve the people from unnecessary taxation, having a due regard to the interests Interior; Augustus H. Garland, of Arkansas, Attorney-General ; William Crowninshield Endicott, of Massachusetts, Secretary of War; William F. Vilas, of Wisconsin, Post- master-General ; William Collins Whitney^ of New York, Secretary of the Navy. On the fourth of March, the day of Presi-> dent Cleveland's inauguration, ex-President Grant was placed on the retired Hst of the DEATH OF GENERAL GRANT. of capital invested and workingmen employed in American industries, and preventing the accumulation of a surplus in the treasury to tempt extravagance and waste." The new cabinet was composed as follows : Thomas Francis Bayard, of Delaware, Secre- tary of State ; Daniel Manning, of New York, Secretary of the Treasury ; Lucius Q. C. Lamar, of Mississippi, Secretary of the army. For some months previous to this there were ominous rumors respecting the state of his health. The great general who had led the Federal forces in the last part of the civil war, and who had gained a military- reputation second to that of no commander of modern times ; who had also been lifted to the highest position in the gift of a grate- ful people, and had served eight years in the 868 ADMINISTRATION OF GROVER CLEVELAND. White House as our chief executive, was reported to be in his last illness. The sympathy of the entire country was profoundly stirred by this announcement. Medical skill of the highest order was sum- moned ; daily bulletins of the condition of the illustrious patient were issued ; hope was expressed that his life might be spared for many years, a hope which soon proved to be ■unfounded ; and although his labors in the preparation of his " Memoirs " continued, it became evident that he was sustained more by will-power than by any increasing THE COTTAGE IN WHICH GRANT DIED AT MT. McGREGOR. strength, and that very soon he would be compelled to lay down his pen as he had already laid down his sword. In the summer of 1885 he was removed to Mount McGregor, in the northern part of the State of New York, in the hope that he would be invigorated by the mountain air. Disease, however, had progressed so far that his death became inevitable, and this occurred on the twenty-third of July, at 8 o'clock A. M. Demonstrations of sorrow attended his obsequies, A special train bore his remains from Mount McGregor to the city of New York, where the funeral services and the interment were to take place. On the sixth of August he was laid in state in the City Hall, and vast crowds of people came to take their last look. On August eighth the funeral took place, which was an extraordi- nary pageantry. It was attended by celeb- rities from all parts of the land. All that statesmen, members of Congress, Governors of States, Judges of Supreme Courts and per- sons in the highest walks of professional and mercantile life could do to give honor to the illustrious dead was rendered on this ocasion. The Grand Army, of which General Grant had been the leader, was fully represented. A procession num- bering from fifty to sixty thou- sand men followed the hearse from the City Hall to the mau- soleum erected on the banks of the Hudson, which was to con- tain the remains of the illustrious dead. The closing scenes of the life of General Grant were as im- pressive as his previous illness had been painful, and fitted to awaken public sympathy. Thus ' was laid in the tomb another of the renowned sons of the Re- public who had done much to add to her fame and brighten her glory. It was not long after this that another death occurred which added to the affliction caused by that of ex-President Grant. On the 29th of October General George B. McClellan died at his residence at Orange Mountain, N. J. General McClellan's name comes out conspicuously in the history of oiir country since i860. In the early part of the war he was commander of the Army of the- Potomac. Having been displaced, the part that he occupied in the war was not afterward prominent. He was widely known, however, in political life, and was invested m a p. w CO (^ Eh <: PO CO < < I— I Q l-H CD H Eh Eh smouldering and blazing for a wiiile the fires of insurrection were smothered only to break out eight years later in a genuine conspiracy of the Cubans under the leadership of Nar- ciso Lopez. This rebellion was quelled and Lopez fled. In 1850 he landed in Cuba with 600 men from the United States. He made a third attempt in 185 1, and together with most of his companions was captured and executed by the Spanish authorities. Insurgents Recognized. The Reformist party, which sprang up at this time, succeeded in getting an inquiry of the abuses at Madrid, with the result, how- ever, of increased taxation. In 1868 the Advance party in Cuba rose in the district of Bayamo, and on October 10, 1868, signed a declaration of independence at Manzanillo. Their first successes were so great that almost all the Spanish-American republics recognized the insurgents as belligerents. After a war of ten years, that was confined to the mountainous regions east of the town of Puerto Principe, the rebellion was put do.vn. To confine it to that locality the Spanish troops built a great fortified trench, known as La Trocha, across the entire width of the island, in the western portion of the State of Puerto Principe. It was here that Captain-General Campos drew up his forces last summer to prevent the eastward march of the insurgents, who were now heavily re- inforced. All during the summer of 1895 the insur- gent leaders were organizing their forces and receiving supplies of arms and ammunition. The people were flocking to the standard of revolt, and during October, 1895, Gomez and Maceo, with ease, penetrated the lines of the Spanish captain-general, crossing La Trocha, and causing the regular troops to fall back to a line just east of Remedios. The insur- gents still pushing on, this was followed by a retreat of Campos to Santa Clara, in the province of Santa Clara, still further west. Gomez and Maceo were now in supreme authority, for Marti died just as the com- mand started west. This blow to the insur- gent cause was more than offset by the character of the people among which they found themselves. Of all the provinces of Cuba, Santa Clara is the most outspoken and loyal to the cause of liberty. The ranks of Gomez and Maceo were increased by thou- sands of volunteers of an intelligence and physical strength superior even to those of Santiago. Horses were procured in abund- ance, and the bulk of the insurgent army was formed into a speedy and well-equipped cav- alry. They were armed with rifles, and car- ried with them an abundance of ammunition. Fully Armed. Each man also carried a machete, which is a long, heavily-weighted iron knife, used by the sugar planters to cut the cane, and by all travelers to open up paths through the heavy tropical underbrush. They are terrible weap- ons in the hands of the Cubans, and the Spanish troops fear them more than the rifles. The insurgents took no supply train with them. A stray pig or fowl supplied them with supper, while an ox meant dinner for a company. Thus prepared they turned their faces toward the setting sun and Ha- vana. All this while Campos, the Spanish gen- eral, was " concentrating," according to the official dispatches. In other words, he was drawing dead lines across the island at points where he announced that he would bring the insurgents to a pitched battle. Each suc- cessive dead-line was further west than the one preceding it. And each time the insur- gents slipped by the troops, leaving a harried country behind them. Railroads, bridges and roads were destroyed ; plantations burned and 9o8 CUBA AND VENEZUELA. store-houses empty. The troops, under the spur of necessity, followed as rapidly as pos- sible, leaving the insurgents in possession of the country to the east. In this way not only did the Cubans make this remarkable march westward, but they garrisoned it. In Santiago the insurgents kept the Spanish forces in the fortified cities, and in a short time two large expeditions successfully landed at that end of the island. One, armed with cannon, fired upon and crippled the Niieva Espana, of the Spanish navy, while such leaders as Rabi, Martinez and Aguirre were fighting as valiantly there as Gomez and Maceo in the province of Matanzas. Similar reports came from Puerto Principe and Santa Clara, showing that the insurgents had complete cr^ntrol of the interior of these provinces. But Campos claimed that it was his plan to get the insurgents between his forces and Havana and crush them as a nut is crushed in a nut-cracker. General Campos Repulsed Then came decisive attacks by the insur- gents. Campos was driven from pillar to post, changing his headquarters from Santa Clara tc Cienfuegos, from Cienfuegos to Pal- millas, from Palmillas to Colon, from Colon to Jovellanos, from Jovellanos to Limonare, from Limonare to Guanabana, and from Guanabana to Havana, where he was feted as a conqueror by the Spanish authorities, and where he received telegrams of congratula- tion from the Queen Regent of Spain and her Prime Minister. Just prior to this noisy welcome, namely on December 24, 1895, General Maximo Gomez, at the head of 12,000 men, by a feint, turned the flank of the Spanish commander at Colon, and passing the sleepy old seaport of Matanzas, marched straight on to a point only fifty miles from Havana, Campos with all his 80,000 pickea Spanisn troops, to the contrary notwithstanding. Christmas and New Year's passed and the insurgents were still there, marching and countermarching in three columns, holding Spain at bay, and waiting for additional supplies of ammunition and arms before pushing on. The grave question now was what the insurgents would do ? Havanna was in an agony of suspense and preparing for a siege. The loyalty of the citizens was questionable, as well as that of the Grande Civil, or local militia. Campos and all his troops seemed unable to cope w'th the situation. It was believed that should the insurgents push on and take Havana, the defeat of Spain and the liberty of Cuba would arrive. Advent of General "Weyler. The next move on the part of Spain waa to recall General Campos, his campaign in Cuba having proved a failure. He was replaced by General Weyler, whose tyran- nous policy and barbarous cruelties, when previously commanding the Spanish forces in the island, are well known. The steamer Alfonso XIII. arrived at Havana, February 10, 1896, having on board General Valeriano Weyler, the new Captain General of Cuba; Nicolau, Marquis of Tene- riffe ; and Generals Enrique, Barges, Ferde- rico Ochando, Miguel Melquiso, Marinues Ahumada, Luis Castelloi, Sanchez Bernal and Juan Arolas, the latter being the hero of Jolo, Philippine Islands. The entire city was brilliantly decorated in honor of the occasion and the bay was a splendid sight, all the warships and merchant craft present being decorated with bunting. The wharfs were crowded with people at an early hour and all the steamers and tug& were loaded with sightseers. The Chamber of Commerce, the Bourse, all the big com- mercial houses and government departments^ CUBA AND VENEZUELA. 909 the Canarian Association, General Weyler's countrymen and others, crowded upon the chartered steamers or about the landing- place. The troops and volunteers were turned out to a man, together with the fire depart- ment and police, and for a long time no such brilliant display had been witnessed in Havana. Among the high military officers present were Generals Suarez Valdez, Pando, Marin and Navarro, Admiral Yanas and staff, Colonel Castanedo, Major Moriano and many others. Enthusiastic Reception, General Weyler was welcomed by mc City Council on board the Alfonso XIII. He was presented with an address of wel- come and assurance of loyalty. At eleven o'clock the Captain General came ashore and was received by General Marin and staff. The streets were packed with people, who displayed the greatest enthusiasm. In fact, rarely has a distinguished person been received so warmly as was General Weyler when he landed. There is no doubt that considerable real enthusiasm was manifested, in addition to the greetings which would naturally be bestowed upon the representa- tive of Spain. The balconies in all the streets about the water front and in the vicinity of the Palace were full of ladies in holiday attire, and they showered flowers upon the new eommander as he passed. Besides, numerous floral offer- ings of the most beautiful description, princi- pally in the shape of crowns, were presented to the general, who expressed his thanks in each case in a few brief words. He seemed to be much pleased with his reception, and upon arriving at the Palace formally took over the duties of the captain-generalship, taking the oath of fealty over a crucifix and upon a Bible. General Marin administered the oath of ofiice and soon afterward he received the local military and civil authori- ties, the different corporations and the bishops and priests. The German warships which were in the harbor saluted the arrival of General Weyler, as did all the Spanish warships in port and the forts ashore. The Loyalists, of course, were out in the strongest force possible ; but it may be said that the entire popula- tion of Havana turned out, and hardly a representative of the shipping or business interests of the city failed to make the day 9 holiday. Cneers and Cannonading. After the reception of the local military and civil authorities, corporations and clergy was completed, General Weyler appeared upon the balcony of the palace and reviewed the troops. His appearance before the pub- lic was the signal for a long outburst of the most enthusiastic cheering, the firing of can- non and the sound of martial music, all the bands in the city being stationed at different points. In addition to the inhabitants of the city proper, thousands of people flocked into the city from all directions before daybreak. Accompanying General Weyler were Cap- tains Gelaber and Linares, who are known as " military editors." They were to have charge of the press censorship, and it was rumored that there would be considerably more difficulty experienced in this connection by the correspondents in the future. The press regulations had been considerably relaxed, and not much difficulty had been experienced in getting average matter upon the cable. But, it was thought, the new captain-general would be very severe with correspondents who sent false accounts of Cuban successes or in any way brought about the publication of false news. By this it was not meant that General Weyler intended to interfere with 9IO CUBA AND VENEZUELA. the proper liberty whicn the press can be allowed in war time. It really meant only that he would do everything possible to pre- vent the sending out of news undoubtedly false. A disinterested observer of the situation wrote as follows, under date of February lo, 1896: " So far as the general situation is con- cerned there is not much change. Indeed, no change of importance is expected for some days. General Weyler will first devote himself to a complete review of the opera- tions already undertaken, and he will then figure out the situation as it actually exists. For this purpose, almost immediately after taking the oath of fealty, he caused orders to be sent to all the commanders in the field to draw up promptly and forward to headquar- ters here complete returns of the condition of their commands, together with the state of railroads, telegraphs and public thorough- fares and the probable location and strength of the enemy in their neighborhood; Reasons for this Action. " This action upon the part of General Weyler is supplementary to the regular report and returns which were handed over to him by General Marin after the new cap- tain-general had been sworn in. While it is no reflection upon General Marin or the other Spanish commanders here or in other parts of Cuba, the captain-general took this step in order thoroughly to go over the ground himself, and possibly in view of the sensational reports which have been circu- lated by agents of the insurgents and others to the effect that large quantities of stores, arms and ammunition are missing from the different depots and have found their way into the hands of the insurgents. Between this and the tales of wholesale dishonesty circu- lated here and elsewhere there is quite a dif- ference, and nobooy here believes that there has been any treachery of importance." General Marin, who has been appointed captain-general of Porto Rico, is expected to leave for his new post to-morrow. "Weyler's Plans of Campaign. The exact plan of campaign of General Weyler is not known, but it is believed that it will be a very different one from that of Campos. He is likely to , call in all of the small detachments of troops, which have from the first had such a vyeakening effect upon the Spanish operations, and will try to drive the insurgents into a position from which they cannot escape without a pitched battle. General Weyler will also do every- thing possible to muster as strong a force of cavalry as he can. Considerable reinforce- ments of this branch of the service have already arrived here, and more are expected during the week. Some reports credit the insurgents with desiring to concentrate all their scattered detachments and columns into one body, and so bring the insurrection to a direct issue. But Spaniards here who are well posted on the situation say that there is no truth in the report that the insurgents will make any effort to risk a pitched battle. Captain- General Weyler clearly defined the policy he intended to pursue in the con- duct of the campaign for the suppression of the insurrection. Before he had been at Havana many hours he issued the following proclamation : " To the People of Cuba : Honored by Her Majesty, the Queen, and her govern- ment, with the command of this island, under the difficult circumstances now prevailing, I take charge of it with the determination that it shall never be given up by me, and that I shall keep it in the possession of Spain, will- ing as she is to carry out whatever sacrifice CUBA AND VENEZUELA. 911 shall be required to succeed, as she has been in the past. " I rely upon the gallantry and discipline of the army and navy, upon the patriotism, never to be subdued, of the volunteer corps, and more especially upon the support that I should be given by the loyal inhabitants, born here or in Spain. " It is not necessary to say that I shall be generous with the subdued and to all of those doing any service to the Spanish cause. But I will not lack in the decision and energy of my character t punish with all the rigor that the law enacti, those who in any way shall help the enerj!y, or shall calumniate the prestige of our name. " Putting aside at present any idea of pol- itics, my mission is the honorable one of finishing the war, and I only see in you the loyal Spaniards who are to assist me to defeat the insurgents. But Her Majesty's government is aware of what you are and of what you are worthy, and the status of peace that these provinces may obtain. It will grant you, when it is deemed suitable to do so, the reforms the government may think most proper, with the love of a mother to her children. " Inhabitants of Cuba, lend me your co- operation, and in that way you will defend your interests, which are those of the coun- try. " Long live Spanish Cuba ! " Your General and Governor, " Valeriano Wevler, " Marquese of Tenerife." To the Volunteers and Firemen. General Weyler also offered the following address : " Volunteers and Firemen : Being again at your head, I see in you the successors of the volunteers and firemen who fought with me in the previous war and, with their brav- ery, energy and patriotism, brought about, peace, defended the towns and cities, and contributed most powerfully to save Cuba for Spain. Remember these virtues brighten your spirits, and, relying on my whole atten- tion, my decisive support and my utmost confidence, lend me the same help and co- operation, and with the same ambition save the prestige of your name and the honor of our flag, which, forever victorious, should fly over this island. To the Soldiers. " Soldiers of the army, I greet you in the name of Her Majesty, the Queen, and of the government. Having the honor of being at your head, I trust that at my command you will continue to show the bravery in face of hardships proper for the Spanish soldier, and that you will confer new wreaths to add to those already attained under the command of my predecessors. Generals Mar- tinez Campos and Sabas Marin, " On my part, answering to the great sac- rifice made by the nation, and using the efforts of all arms and bodies in the work entrusted to each of the organic units, I will not omit anything to place you in the condi- tion for obtaining the victory and the return of peace to this island, which is what she longs for. " Sailors, I have again the satisfaction to be at your side, and I again trust that, as in Mindanao recently, you will lend me your powerful co-operation to bring peace to this island. Thus I expect surely that you will afford me a new chance to express my thanks and my enthusiasm to the Spanish navy," The following circular of General Weyler was addressed to the military officers : " I have addressed my previous proclama- tions at the moment of my landing to the loyal inhabitants, to the volunteers and fire-" men, and to the army and navy. gi2 CUBA AND VENEZUELA. " I may give you a slight idea of the inten- tions I have and the measures I shall follow as Governor-General-in-Chief, in accordance with the general desire of Spain, and with the decided aim of Her Majesty's govern- ment to furnish all the means required to control and crush this rebellion. The Question Argued. " Knowing this, and knowing my charac- ter, I may perhaps need to say no more to make you understand what is the conduct that I am to follow. But with the idea of avoiding all kinds of doubt, even keeping (as you are to keep) the circulars to be pub- lished, I deem it necessary to make some re- marks. " It is not unknown by you that the state in which the rebellion has come and the raid made by the principal leaders recently, which could not be stopped even by the active pur- suit of the columns, is due to the indiffer- ence, the fear or the disheartenment of the inhabitants. Since it cannot be doubted that some, seeing the burning of their property without opposition, and that others, who have been born in Spain, should sympathize with the insurgents, it is necessary at all hazards to better this state of things and to brighten the spirit of the inhabitants, making them aware that I am determined to lend all my assistance to the local inhabitants. So I am determined to have the law fall with all its weight upon all those in any way helping the enemy, or praising them, or in any way de- tracting from the prestige of Spain, of its army, or of its volunteers. It is necessary for those by our side to show their intentions with deeds, and their behavior should leave •no doubt, and should prove that they are Spanish. " Since the defence of the country demands the sacrifice of her children, it is necessary that the towns should look to their defence, and that no precautions in the way of scouts should be lacking to give news concerning the enemy, and whether it is in their neigh- borhood, and so that it may not happen that the enemy should be better informed than we. " The energy and vigor of the enemy will be strained to trace the course of our line, and in all cases you will arrest and place at my disposal to deliver to the courts those who in any way shall show their sympathy or £UDpo»L for the rebels. Enlistments Called For. "I'he public spirit being heatened, you must not forget to enlist the volunteers and guerillas in your district, this not preventing at the same time the organization, as oppor- tunity offers, of a guerilla band of twenty- five citizens for each battalion of the army. " I propose that you shall make the dis- positions you think most proper for the car- rying out of the plan I wish, but this shall not authorize you to determine anything not foreseen in the instructions, unless the urgency of some circumstances should de- mand it. " I expect that, confining yourself to these instructions, you will lend me your worthy support towards the carrying out of my plan for the good of the Spanish cause. "^^Weyler." The proclamation produced no perceptible change in the situation. The insurgents continued to land arms and ammunition secretly and to carry on their peculiar mode of warfare. No great battles were fought, and in the majority of the skirmishes, the Spanish troops were successful, it being apparently the policy of the rebels to worry and harass their enemy instead of coming to open conflict. Thus far it has been the his- tory of Cuban insurrection repeated — a work of devastation, a scattered warfare, an attempt CUBA AND VENEZUELA. 913 by Spanish troops to rout or capture the insurgents, yet without success. Spain has maintained a large army in Cuba which seems to be incapable of bringing order out of confusion. We come now to the trouble between Venezuela and England, with some state- ments showing the spirit and intent of what is known as the American Monroe Doctrine. The Venezuelan Question, For fifty-five years the location of the boundary line between British Guiana and Venezuela has been in dispute. Nine times the line has been surveyed by British engi- neers, and each time it was unsatisfactory to the South American Republic, and was not accepted. The two governments agreed that neither nation should occupy the ground claimed by both until the controversy should be settled, and the question has dragged along in a neglected way until recent events have opened the old wound afresh. Some time ago one Sergeant Behrens and two companions of the British constabulary on duty in Guiana, were discovered on the disputed strip of land, and through some clashing with the authority of the Venezuelan Government, were arrested and taken into custody as trespassers on Venezuelan soil. The English Government contended that the arrest had been made on British soil, and demanded redress for the action, as unlawful and an insult to British citizens. The Vene- zuelan Government protested that the arrest had occurred on its own soil, and therefore Behrens was amenable to the laws of the Republic. Thus the question was brought to a crisis. Venezuela offered to arbitrate the whole matter, but Great Britain insisted on the sur- render to itself of a large and important por- tion of the disputed territory, and would then submit to arbitration what was left. The evi- 58 dence thus far obtainable on the question of the boundaries was somewhat wrapped in the uncertainties of the terms of the original ces- sion to England of Guiana, which was acquired from Holland in 18 14, and the world cannot form an accurate idea of the merits of the controversy until a tribunal of arbitration has sifted them out. There are, however, certain features of England's position which give color to the suspicion generally entertained by the Amer- ican press, that that nation was afraid to trust its case to arbitration, and was bulldozing the weaker Government of the South American State out of a very large portion of its terri- tory. Most people believed that Great Bri- tain's scruples were none too fine to attempt this, and in the public mind, at least, the burden of proof in the dispute rested upon her. The property at issue includes the greater part of the country lying between the Orinoco and Esequibo Rivers, and is believed to contain valuable gold and silver deposits. Reply from the British Premier. The question between these Governments becomes of special interest to the people of the United States in view of the action that our representatives at Washington have taken. Some time ago Secretary of State Olney addressed a communication to the British Government reminding it that the United States expected it to observe the restrictions which the Monroe Doctrine placed upon the operations of European powers on American soil. Lord Salisbury replied that the matter was of so great moment as to require further consideration before answering. Judging from the widely varying com- ments of the press, it would seem that in the public mind the real meaning of that famous doctrine is as uncertain as is the knowledge of the true rights of the foreign countries to 914 CUBA AND VENEZUELA. whom the doctrine is now sought by some to be applied The principle of the Monroe Doctrine originated not with President Monroe, but — oddly enough, as it now seems — with a great English Premier. In the year 1815 the Governments of Russia, Austria and Prussia concluded a treaty known as the " Holy Alliance," by which they pledged mutual support in all military operations of every kind. After a few years the alliance was joined by France, and it then became known as the defender of the divine right of mon- archy, and the powerful combination used its armies to suppress popular movements for liberty in a number of countries, notably in Spain. Congress of Nations. The Alliance made such progress in the objects of its existence, that in 1823 steps were taken to call another congress of the Powers with the view of crushing the revo- tionary governments in Spanish America. At this point the Prime Minister of England, George Canning, saw in the new proposal a menace to his own country in that the growing commerce of England with the Spanish-American Republics would be di- verted if those countries returned to the condition of colonies of Spain or of any other Power. Mr. Canning then proposed to the United States Minister, Mr. Rush, that the two gov- ernments unite in a protest against the inter- ference of the allies with the affairs of the Spanish-American States, This was the origin and the first public proposal of the principle which has since become the most famous rule in the foreign policy of the United States. President Monroe and his Cabinet gave the subject anxious considera- tion. Thomas Jefferson, in commenting on the proposal, used this language : " Our first and fundamental maxim should be never to entangle ourselves in the broils of Europe ; our second, never to suffer Europe to inter- meddle with cis-Atlantic affairs. While Eu- rope is laboring to become the domicile of despotism, our endeavor should surely be to make our hemisphere that of freedom. One nation most of all could disturb us in this pursuit ; she now offers to lead, aid and ac- company us in it. By acceding to her propo- sition we detach her from the bands, bring her mighty weight into the scale of free gov- ernment, and emancipate a continent at one stroke." When Congress assembled in the month of December following Mr. Canning's proposal, President Monroe in his annual message de- fined in carefully chosen words the principles by which he proposed to be guided in the matter of the threatened interference of the allies. The statements touching on this for- eign policy are included in the following extract from his message, almost every phrase of which has become a classic in interna- tional history : Only Injuries Resented " Of events in that quarter of the globe (Europe) with which we have so much inter^ course, and from which we derive our origin, we have always been anxious and interested spectators. The citizens of the United States cherish sentiments the most friendly ir favor of the liberty and happiness of their fellow- men on that side of the Atlantic. In the wars of the European Powers in matters relating to themselves we have never taken any part, nor does it comport with our policy to do so. It is only when our rights are invaded or seriously menaced that we resent injuries or make preparation for our defence. " With the movements in this hemisphere, we are, of necessity, more immediately con- CUBA AND VENEZUELA. 915 nected, and by causes which must be obvious to all enlightened and impartial observers. The political system of the allied Powers is essentially different in this respect from that of America. This difference proceeds from that which exists in their respective govern- ments. And to the defence of our own, which has been achieved by the loss of so much blood and .treasure, and matured by the wisdom of their most enlightened citizens, and under which we have enjoyed unexam- pled felicity, this whole nation is devoted. Dangerous to Our Safety. " We owe it, therefore, to candor and to the amicable relations existing between the United States and those Powers to declare that »ve should consider any attempt on their part fo extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety. With the existing colonies or de- pendencies of any European Power, we have not interfered and shall not interfere. But with the governments who have declared their independence and maintained it, and whose independence we have, on great con- sideration and on just principles, acknowl- edged, we could not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing them, or con- trolling in any other manner their destiny, by any European Power, in any other light than as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposi- tion toward the United States. " Our policy in regard to Europe, which was adopted at an early stage of the wars which have so long agitated that quarter of the globe, nevertheless remains the same, which is, not to interfere in the internal con- cerns of any of its Powers , to consider the Government de facto as the legitimate Gov- ernment for us ; to cultivate friendly relations with it, and to preserve those relations by a frank, firm and manly policy, meeting, in all instances, the just claims of every Power, submitting to injuries from none. But in regard to these continents, circumstances are eminently and conspicuously different. " It is impossible that the allied Powers should extend their political system to any portion of either continent without endan- gering our peace and happiness ; nor can any one believe that our Southern brethren, if left to themselves, would adopt it of their own accord. It is equally impossible, therefore, that we should behold such interposition, in any form, with indifference. If we look to the comparative strength and resources of Spain end those new Governments, and their distance from each other, it must be obvious that she can never subdue them. It is still the true policy of the United States to leave the parties to themselves in the hope that other Powers will pursue the same course." Comments of the Press. The leading daily papers of New York waged a lively war of words over the proper application of the Monroe Doctrine, arising out of the varying interpretation of some ex- pressions used in this message. It must be admitted that President Monroe had reference solely to the overturning of republican forms of government, when he stated that any at- tempt on the part of European Powers to extend " their system " to any portion of this hemisphere would be considered as danger- ous to our peace and safety. ' The only loophole for controversy is the clause, " We could not view any interposition for the puspose of oppressing them (the Spanish-American republics) or controlling in any other manner their destiny, by any European Power." Does this clause forbid any "oppressing" of whatsoever kind? Or does it constitute an appendage to the pre- ceding clause and refer only to " oppress- ing " when coupled with the intention to ex- tend the monarchical " system " over the op- giO CUBA AND VENEZUELA. pressed, and thus establish colonial allegiance to the European Power who may be the aggressor? Some influential newspapers and one or more jurists of prominence extended to the word " oppressing," as used above, a mean- ing of almost unlimited scope. They con- strued it to cover almost any sort of unfair dealing by a European Power with an Amer- ican State. The second interpretation, on the other hand, was the one which has usu- ally guided our State Department, and re- ceived the support of Calhoun and Webster, as well as the published opinions of one or more college professors of international his- tory, Seward's Interpretation. This view was also clearly expressed by Secretary Seward in a note of instruction to our Minister to France at the time of the collision between that country and Mexico in 1862: "France has a right to make war against Mexico, and to determine for herself the cause. We have a right and interest to insist that France shall not improve the war she makes to raise up in Mexico an anti- republican or anti-American government, or to maintain such a government there. France has disclaimed such designs, and we, besides reposing faith in the assurances given in a frank, honorable manner, would, in any case, be bound to wait for, and not anticipate, a violation of them." If the first interpretation be the proper one, then the United States may have some right to insist on the submission to arbitra- tion of the question at issue between Great Britain and Venezuela. If, however, the second interpretation is correct — and the weight of authority is certainly in support of it — then there is as yet no violation of the principles of the Monroe Doctrine in the Venezuelan controversy, and the United States cannot invoke the same in justification of any interference in behalf of the South American republic. The tremendous sensation created all over the world by President Cleveland's message to Congress in December, 1895, on the con- troversy between Great Britain and Ven- ezuela quieted down, and the general belief among Government circles was that an ami- cable settlement would be reached by the two nations most intimately concerned, with- out the necessity of further action on the part of the United States. It was well known that the Foreign Office at London was trying to bring about this result. British sentiment seemed to incline more and more toward the propriety of mak- ing concessions, if necessary, to preserve peace with the United States, and very strong speeches were made in Parliament favoring arbitration of the entire dispute and recog- nizing the justice of the position of the United States. A Senate Resolution. The indications were that President Cleve- land's action would result in establishing the force of the Monroe Doctrine in its broadest application, and its efficacy as a rule of American international law would not be disputed in the future. The Monroe Doctrine has had some dis- cussion in the Senate, arising from a resolu- tion introduced by Senator Davis, of Minne- sota, which aimed to commit Congress to a definite positive declaration of the existence and enduring force of the doctrine in the widest meaning which American construc- tion has placed upon it. The resolution was vigorously opposed by a few of the Senators as an ill-timed agitation of the question, an unwise extension of the meaning of the doctrine. CHAPTER LI. Latest Events of American History. Presidential Election of 1896— Struggle of Cuba for Independence— Blowing up of the Battleship Maine— Spanish-American War— Massacres of Americans in China— Great Galveston Calamity- Presidential Election of 1900. IN the beginning of 1896 a remarkable interest was shown by the press and the people throughout the country in the pending Presidential campaign. There was a stir in the nation like that in the forest which precedes the coming storm. Radical differences of opinion existed upon the monetary question, and it was evident that these would find expression in the national conventions which were soon to be held. On the one hand, the majority of the Republi- can party were prepared to maintain the gold standard. As time advanced it became evi- dent that a large part of the Democratic party had adopted the cause of free silver, although President Cleveland, Secretary Carlisle, and many other influential party leaders were opposed to the free coinage of silver at the ratio of 1 6 to i. The wave of discussion rose higher and higher and the country was filled with clamor. Among all classes of citizens national questions were discussed, and the heat and fervor of the pending campaign were such as had not been witnessed since the days of the Civil War. The eleventh Republican National Con- vention met at St. Louis on June i6th, and nominated as the candidates of the Republi- can party Hon. Wm. McKinley, of Ohio, for President, and Hon. Garret A. Hobart, of New Jersey, for Vice-President. The Con- vention was an unusually harmonious one, choosing its platform without debate, except- ing for the protests of the advocates of a plank for the free coinage of silver, who were voted down by a large majority. Twenty-one silver advocates under the lead of Senator Teller, of Colorado, there- upon " bolted " from the Convention and severed their allegiance from the Republican party. The scene in the Convention was im- pressive when Senator Teller, under deep emotion, made a farewell address to the representatives of the party of which he had so long been a conspicuous member, and, followed by twenty of the delegates, left the hall. Both Mr. McKinley and Mr. Hobart were nominated en the first ballot long before the roll call of the States was finished, and the enthusiasm for McKinley was intense. For some time before the holding of the Conven- tion it was plain that Mr. McKinley would be the choice of the Republicans, the rising tide in his favor engulfing all opposition. He received the nomination amidst the acclama- tions of the vast majority of his party. The platform pledged renewed allegiance to the principle of protection ; declared in favor of the gold standard; demanded reci- procity ; reasserted the Monroe doctrine ; expressed sympathy for suffering Cuba ; de- manded that the immigration laws be rigidly enforced ; renewed the party's declarations in favor of civil service ; insisted upon the right of trial by jury for criminals, in opposition to lynchings, and recommended arbitration for the settlement of the differences which may arise between employers and employed en- gaged in interstate commerce. The nomi- nations and the platform were favorably received and were at once heartily ratified by 9i8 LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. public meetings and the formation of political clubs. The Democratic National Convention met at Chicago on July 8th, and nominated for President, Hon. Wm. J, Bryan, of Nebraska, and for Vice-President, Hon. Arthur Sewall, of Maine. The remarkable feature of the Convention was the strength of the supporters of free coinage of silver, who constituted over two-thirds of the delegates and repre- sented chiefly Southern and Western States. This turn in the Convention was quite unex- pected to many and suddenly revealed a strong sentiment in favor of free silver in many parts of the country. Mr. Bryan's nomination was largely due to a speech he made in the Convention which received the hearty applause of many of the delegates. The silver question thus became the prime issue of the national campaign, and large contingents from both the old parties aban- doned former political ties and enrolled themselves on the one side or the other of the monetary question. The populous East- ern States were the strongholds of the gold standard of currency, and scarcely a doubt was entertained that the movement looking towards free coinage of silver by the United States without waiting for an international agreement could not prevail. The success of the silver advocates in the Democratic convention, however, gave the cause of the white metal a great impetus, and roused the people of the nation to study the currency question with more earnestness and thought than they had ever done before. A cam- paign of education was carried on in which the arguments for and against free coinage of silver were widely circulated and discussed. The Democratic platform denounced the gold standard, opposed the issue of bonds in time of peace ; declared in favor of an in- come tax and tariff for revenue only ; recom- mended that the Federal government have more control over railroads]; denounced the arbitrary interference by Federal authorities in local affairs, and expressed opposition to a third term for President. The divided state of public sentiment on the silver question appeared strikingly in the convention of the Prohibition party, which was held in Pittsburg, May 2. A large number of delegates were present, represent- ing all parts of the country. The silver question was thrust into the deliberations of the convention, and created great excitement. Many of the delegates wanted Prohibition without any other issue; many others wanted Prohibition and free silver. The conven- tion was rent in twain ; the seceders met and formed a new party, and the outcome was a complete disruption of that very considera- ble body of citizens who considered legis- lation on the Temperance question the first duty of the nation. Hon. Joshua Levering, of Maryland, was nominated by the Prohibitionists for Presi- dent, and Hon. Hale Johnson, of Illinois, for Vice-President. The National party nomi- nated Hon. Joseph E. Bentley, of Nebraska, for President, and Hon. J. H. Southgate, of North Carolina, for Vice-President. Neither of these parties acted any conspicuous part in the campaign, as the financial question overshadowed all others, affecting, as it did, every individual in the nation. A number of influential Democrats ex- pressed a strong opposition to the action of the Democratic Convention at Chicago, and resolved that some movement should be inaugurated to save the party, if possible^ from being entirely captured by the advocates of free silver. The sound-money delegates in the convention, under the leadership of Senator Hill, of New York, entered a strong protest against the rule of the majority. This, however, was without avail, and during the latter part of the convention those who LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 919 favored the gold standard took no part in the proceedings. It was felt by many of the old-line Demo- crats that something should be done to pre- serve the party-name and its time-honored principles. A call was issued for a conven- tion to be held at Indianapolis, September 2. The delegates were among the most influen- tial and conservative of the Democratic party, and were thoroughly in earnest. A platform was adopted, denouncing free-silver coinage, and advocating the gold standard. Strong denunciations were hurled at the Populistic notions and ideas so prevalent in many of the States. The first paragraph of the plat- form was as follows : " This convention has assembled to up- hold the principles upon which depend the honor and welfare of the American people, in order that Democrats throughout the Union may unite their patriotic efforts to avert disaster to their country and ruin from their party. The Democratic party is pledged to equal and exact justice to all men of every creed and condition; to the largest freedom of the individual consistent with good government; to the preservation of the Federal Government in its Constitutional vigor, and to the support of the States in all their just rights; to economy in public ex- penditures, to the maintenance of the public credit and sound money, and it is opposed to paternalism and to all class legislation. The declarations of the Chicago Convention attack individual freedom, the right of private con- tract, the independence of the judiciary and the authority of the President to enforce Fed- eral laws." Hon. John M. Palmer, of Illinois, was nominated for President, and Hon. Simon B. Buckner, of Kentucky, for Vice-president. They made an active canvass throughout the country, but failed to unite the Democratic forces to any great extent, as it was conceded from the outset that there was no possibility of their election. The campaign throughout was one of un- exampled activity, the eminent leaders of all parties entering the contest with great spirit. All the influences and resources of the press and of men in public life were brought to bear upon the great issues involved which, it was admitted by all, affected the integrity of the nation, if not its very existence. In the election of No^'ember, Mr. McKin- ley received 7,101,401 of the popular vote; Mr. Bryan 6,470,656; Mr. Palmer, 132,056, and Mr. Levering 130,560. Of the Electoral College, Mr. McKinley received 271 votes, and Mr. Bryan 176. On the 4th of March, 1897, Mr. McKinley was inaugurated President with imposing ceremonies, and Mr. Hobart was inducted into the office of Vice-president. A multi- tude of people from all parts of the country assembled in Washington, and nothing oc- curred to mar the success of the inaugura- tion. Mr. McKinley entered upon the duties of his office with the best wishes, not only of his party, but of all classes of his fel- low-countrymen. His Cabinet was consti- tuted as follows: Secretary of State, John Sherman, of Ohio; Secretary of the Trea- sury, Lyman J. Gage, of Illinois ; Secretary of War, Russell A. Alger, of Michigan ; At- torney-General, Joseph McKenna, of Califor- nia; Postmaster-General, James A. Gary, of Maryland; Secretary of the Navy, John D. Long, of Massachusetts; Secretary of the Interior, Cornelius N. Bliss, of New York; Secretary of Agriculture, James Wilson, of Iowa. Mr. McKinley immediately called an extra session of Congress, which assembled on March 15th, for the express purpose of revis- ing the tariff, providing a revenue sufficient for the wants of the Government, and placing the finances of the nation upon a sound basis. Hon. Thomas B. Reed, of Maine, was re-elected Speaker of the House. 920 LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. The extraordinary session of Congress was called by President McKinley two days after he took the oath of office on the steps of the Capitol. It met in pursuance to his proclamation at noon on March 15. The special message transmitted by him to both Houses on the opening day was brief. It explained the deficiencies in the revenues, reviewed the bond issues of the last Adminis- tration, and urged Congress promptly to cor- rect the then existing condition by passing a tariff bill that would supply ample revenues for the support of the government and the liquidation of the public debt. No other subject of legislation was mentioned in the message, and the tariff bill was the all-absorb- ing feature of the session. The Republican members of the ways and means committee of the preceding House had been at work throughout the short session, which ended March 4, giving hearings and preparing the bill which was to be submitted at the extra session. Three days after the session opened the tariff bill was reported to the House by the ways and means committee, and thirteen days later, March 31, 1897, it passed the House. It went to the Senate, was referred to the committee on finance, and the Republican members of that committee spent a month and three days in its consideration and in preparing the amendments, which were sub- mitted to the Senate May 4. Its considera- tion was begun in the Senate May 7, and exactly two months later, July 7, it passed the Senate with 872 amendments. The bill then went to conference, where after a ten days' struggle, on July 17, a complete agree- ment was reached by which the Senate re- ceded from 118 amendments and the House from 511. The others, 243 in number, were compromised. The conference report was adopted by the House July 19 at the con- clusion of twelve hours of continuous debate. The report was taken up in the Senate July 20 and adopted Saturday July 24. The tariff bill was signed by the President the same day. In open session, after much debate, the Senate passed the Cuban belligerency resolu- tion, a bankruptcy bill, including both volun- tary and involuntary features, and the '* free- homes bill." But none of these important questions received consideration in the House. Late in July reports came of the discovery of rich gold deposits in the Yukon Valley, Alaska. Upwards of $1,000,000 worth of gold dust was brought by one steamer to Seattle, Wash., and many prospectors from all parts of the country set out for the new gold fields, while others were deterred from doing so by reports of the terrible hardships and dangers incurred by the miners. In August President McKinley promul- gated amendments to the civil service rules which elicited enthusiastic praise from civil service reformers. The order considered of most importance provides that "no re- moval shall be made from any position sub- ject to competitive examination except for just cause and upon written charges filed with the head of the department or other appoint- ing officer, and of which the accused shall have full notice and an opportunity to make defence." Through the Hon. Stewart L. Woodford, American Minister to Spain, our Cabinet at Washington addressed a note in September to the Spanish government concerning the war in Cuba, urging that the most strenuous efforts be made to bring it to an end and offering mediation between the contending parties. Spain's reply, which was received in November, was considered satisfactory and not likely to lead to any rupture between the two countries. LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 921 In February, 1898, an incident occurred which created universal comment. A letter was written by the Spanish Minister at Wash- ington, Senor De Lome, reflecting seriously upon President McKinley, in connection with the policy our administration was pursuing toward the government of Spain with regard to the insurrection in Cuba. This letter was written by De Lome to a friend, but failed in some way to reach its destination, and was made public. Public indignation was expressed at this perfidy of the Spanish Minister, and he was compelled to resign, being subsequently recalled by the government at Madrid. The struggle in Cuba for independence continued to be the one absording topic that occupied the attention of Congress. Gen- eral Weyler ordered all the inhabitants of Cuba who were suspected of sympathizing with the insurgents into the towns, where they were left to obtain the necessaries of life as best they could. This act, which was pronounced inhuman by the American peo- ple, resulted in the death of tens of thou- j sands of men, women and children by star- vation. Meanwhile, accurate reports of the appalling situation in Cuba were brought by j several members of Congress who visited the island with a view to ascertaining the exact facts. These reports so inflamed the Senate and House of Representatives that a number of resolutions were introduced demanding that belligerent rights should be granted to the Cubans, and further that the United States should intervene with force of arms to end the war in Cuba, and secure the independence of the island. These resolutions, which were referred to the committee on foreign relations, were indicative of the temper of Congress. A profound sensation was created by the destruction of the United States battleship " Maine " in the harbor of Havana. The " Maine " was lying in the harbor, having been sent to Cuba on a friendly visit. On the evening of February I5ih a terrific ex- I plosion took place on board the ship, by which 266 sailors and officers lost their lives and the vessel was wrecked. The cause of the explosion was not apparent. The wounded sailors of the " Maine " were unable to explain it. The explosion shook the whole city of Havana, and the windows were broken in many of the houses. The wounded sailors stated that the explosion took place while they were asleep, so that they could give no particulars as to the cause. The Government at Washington and the whole country were horrified at the destruc- tion of one of our largest cruisers and the loss of so many of our brave sailors. The excitement throughout the country was in- tense. The chief interest in the '' Maine " disaster now centered upon the cause of the explosion that so quickly sent her to the bottom of Havana harbor. A Naval Board of Inquiry, composed of Captain Sampson, of the " Iowa ; " Captain Chadwick, of the " New York ; " Captain Marix, of the "Vermont," and Lieutenant- Commander Potter, of the " New York," went to Havana, and proceeded promptly to investigate the causes of the explosion that destroyed the battleship. The further the inquiry into the causes that led to the " Maine " disaster proceeded, the more remote appeared the chances that any evidence would be discovered to show that the disaster was due to accident. Those divers who penetrated into the forward part of the wreck found that the whole forward end of the ship from a point just abaft the forward turret had been twisted fifteen or twenty degrees to starboard. That part of the vessel was a wilderness of debris and curled and twisted plates. 922 LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. For upwards of twenty days the country i Havana during the three weeks following her awaited in profound suspense the result of the inquiry of the Naval Board. During this time all sorts of conflicting rumors were afloat, but it was well understood that the government at Washington was pursuing a conservative course and would not plunge the country into war without the greatest provo- cation. At length the investigation by the Naval Board was completed and was trans- mitted to Congress, accompanied by a mes- sage from President McKinleyas follows: " To the Congress of the United States : " For some time prior to the visit of the ' Maine' to Havana harbor our consular repre- sentatives pointed out the advantages to flow from the visit of national ships to the Cuban waters in accustoming the people to the presence of our flag as a symbol of good will and our ships, in the fulfillment of the mis- sion of protection to American interests, even though no immediate need therefor might exist. "Accordingly on the 24th of January last, after conference with, the Spanish Minister, in which the renewal of visits of our war vessels to Spanish waters was discussed and accepted, and the peninsular authorities at Madrid and Havana were advised of the pur- pose of this government to resume friendly naval visits at Cuban ports, and that in that view the ' Maine ' would forthwith call at the port of Havana. This announcement was re- ceived by the Spanish Government with appreciation of the friendly character of the visit of the ' Maine ' and with notification of intention to return the courtesy by sending Spanish ships to the principal ports of the United States. Meanwhile, the ' Maine ' en- tered the port of Havana on the 25th of January, her arrival being marked with no special incident besides the exchange of customary salutes and ceremonial visits. " The ' Maine ' continued in the harbor of arrival. No appreciable excitement attended her stay ; on the contrary, a feeling of relief and confidence followed the resumption of the long interrupted friendly intercourse. So noticeable was this immediate effect of her visit that the Consul General strongly urged that the presence of our ships in Cuban waters should be kept up by retaining the ' Maine ' at Havana, or, in the event of her recall, by sending another vessel there to take her place. " At forty minutes past nine in the evening of the 15th of February the ' Maine ' was de- stroyed by an explosion, by which the entire forward part of the ship was utterly Vv^recked. In this catastrophe two officers and two hun- dred and sixty- four of her crew perished, those who were not killed outright by her explosion being penned between decks by the tangle of the wreckage and drowned by the immediate sinking of the hull. " Prompt assistance was rendered by the neighboring vessels anchored in the harbor, aid being especially given by the boats of the Spanish cruiser 'Alphonse XII.' and the Ward Line steamer ' City of Washington,' which lay not far distant. The wounded were generously cared for by the authorities of Havana, the hospitals being freely opened to them, while the earliest recovered bodies of the dead were interred by the municipality in the public cemetery in the city. Tributes of grief and sympathy were offered from all official quarters of the island. " The appalling calamity fell upon the people of our country with crushing force, and for a brief time an intense excitement prevailed, which in a community less just and self-controlled than ours might have led to hasty acts of blind resentment. This spirit, however, soon gave way to the calmer processes of reason and to the resolve to in- vestigate the facts and await material proof LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 923 before forming a judgment as to the cause, the responsibility, and, if the facts warranted, the remedy. This course necessarily recom- mended itself from the outset to the Execu- tive, for only in the light of a dispassionately ascertained certainty could it determine the nature and measure of its full duty in the matter. " The usual procedure was followed, as in all cases of casualty or disaster to national vessels of any maritime state. A Naval Court of Inquiry was at once organized, composed of officers well qualified by rank and practical experience to discharge the duty imposed upon them. Aided by a strong force of wreckers and divers, the Court pro- ceeded to make a thorough investigation on the snot, employing every available means for the impartial and exact determination of the causes of the explosion. Its operations have been conducted with the utmost delibe- ration and judgment, and while independ- ently pursued, no source of information was neglected, and the fullest opportunity was allowed for a simultaneous investigation by the Spanish authorities. ** The finding of the Court of Inquiry was reached after twenty-three days of contin- uous labor, on the 2ist of March, and having been approved on the 22d by the Com- mander-in-Chief of the United States naval force of the North Atlantic station, way transmitted to the Executive. " It is herewith laid before the Congress, together with the voluminous testimony taken before the Court. Its purport is in brief as follows : " When the * Maine ' arrived at Havana she was conducted by the regular govern- ment pilot to buoy No. 5, to which she was moored in from five and one-half to six fathoms of water. The state of discipline on board and the condition of her magazines, boilers, coal bunkers and storage compart- ments are passed in review, with the con- clusion that excellent order prevailed, and that no indication of any cause for an inter- nal explosion existed in any quarter. " At 8 o'clock in the evening of February 15 everything had been reported secure and all was quiet. At forty minutes past 9 o'clock the vessel was suddenly destroyed. There were two distinct explosions, with a brief interval between them. The first lifted the forward part of the ship very perceptibly- the second, which was more open, prolonged and of greater volume, is attributed by the Court to the partial explosion of two or more of the forward magazines. " The evidence of the divers establishes that the after part of the ship was practically intact and sank in that condition a very few minutes after the explosion. The forward part was completely demolished. Upon the evidence of a concurrent external cause the finding of the Court is as follows : " ' At frame 17 the outer shell of the ship^ from a point eleven and one-half feet from the middle line of the ship and six feet above the keel when in its normal position, has been forced up so as to be now about four feet above the surface of the water ; therefore about thirty-four feet above where it would be had the ship sunk uninjured. " The outside bottom plating is bent into a reversed V shape, the after wing of which, about fifteen feet broad and thirty-two feet in length (frame 17 to frame 25) is doubled back upon itself against the continuation of the same plating extending forward. At frame 18 the vertical keel is broken in two and the flat keel bent into an angle similar to the angle formed by the outside bottom plates. This break is now about six feet below the surface of the water and about thirty feet above its normal position. " In the opinion of the Court this effect could have been produced only by the explo- 924 LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. sion of a mine situated under the bottom of the ship, at about frame i8 and somewhat on the port side of the ship. "The conclusions of the Court are : That the loss of the ' Maine ' was not in any re- spect due to fault or negligence on the part of any of the officers or members of her crew " That the ship was destroyed by the ex- plosion of a submarine mine, which caused the partial explosion of two or more of her forward magazines ; and " That no evidence has been obtainable fixing the responsibility for the destruction of the * Maine ' upon any person or persons. " I have directed that the finding of the Court of Inquiry and the views of this gov- ernment thereon be communicated to the government of her Majesty, the Queen Re- gent, and I do not permit myself to doubt that the sense of justice of the Spanish nation will dictate a course of action sug- gested by honor and the friendly relations o^ the two governments. " It will be the duty of the Executive to advise the Congress of the result, and in the meantime deliberate consideration is invoked Signed " William McKinley. "Executive Mansion, March 28, 1898." The following is the full text of the report of the Court of Inquiry appointed to innvestigate the disaster to the " Maine " at Havana: "U. S. S. Iowa, 1st rate, Key West, Fla., Monday, March 21, 1898. — After full and mature consideration of all the testimony before it, the court finds as follows : " I. That the United States battleship 'Maine' arrived in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, on the twenty-fifth day of January, Eighteen Hundred and Ninety-eight, and was taken to Buoy No. 4, in from five and one- half to six fathoms of water, by the regular government pilot. The United States Consul General at Havana had notified the author- ities at that place the previous evening of the intended arrival of the ' Maine.' " 2. The state of discipline on board the * Maine ' was excellent, and all orders and regulations in regard to the care and safety of the ship were strictly carried out. All ammunition was stowed in accordance with prescribed instructions, and proper care was taken whenever ammunition was handled. Nothing was stowed in any one of the maga- zines or shell rooms which was not permitted to be stowed there. " The magazines and shell rooms were always locked after having been opened, and after the destruction of the ' Maine' the keys were found in their proper place in the cap- tain's cabin, everything having been reported secure that evening at 8 P. M. The tem- peratures of the magazine and shell room were taken daily and reported. The only magazine which had an undue amount of heat was the after lO-inch magazine, and that did not explode at the time the ' Maine ' was destroyed. " The torpedo warheads were all stowed in the after part of the ship under the ward room, and neither caused nor participated in the destruction of the ' Maine.' The dry gun cotton primers and detonators were stowed in the cabin aft, and remote from the scene of the explosion. " Waste was carefully looked after on board the ' Maine ' to obviate danger. Spe- cial orders in regard to this had been given by the commanding officer. Varnishes, dry- ers, alcohol and other combustibles of this nature were stowed on or above the main deck and could not have had anything to do with the destruction of the ' Maine.' The medical stores were stowed aft under the ward room and remote from the scene of the explosion. No dangerous stores of any kind LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 92: were stowed below in any of the other store rooms. " The coal bunkers were inspected daily. Of those bunkers adjacent to the forward magazines and shell rooms four were empty. One bunker had been in use that day and another was full of new river coal. This coal had been carefully inspected before receiving it on board. The bunker in which it was stowed was accessible on three sides at all times. " The fire alarms in the bunkers were in working order, and there had never been a case of spontaneous combustion of coal on board the ' Maine.' The two after boilers of the ship were in use at the time of the dis- aster, but for auxiliary purposes only, with a comparatively low pressure of steam and being tended by a reliable watch. These boilers could not have caused the explosion of the ship. The four forward boilers have since been found by the divers and are in a fair condition. " On the night of the destruction of the * Maine' everything had been reported secure for the night at 8 P. M. by reliable persons, through the proper authorities, to the com- manding officer. At the time the ' Maine ' was destroyed the ship was quiet, and, there- fore, least liable to accident caused by move- ments from those on board. "3. The destruction of the 'Maine' oc- curred at 9.40 P. M. on the 15 th day of February, 1898, in the harbor of Havana, Cuba, she being at the time moored to the same buoy to which she had been taken upon her arrival. " There were two explosions of a distinctly different character, with a very short but dis- tinct interval between them, and the forward part of the ship was lifted to a marked degree at the time of the first explosion. " The first explosion was more in the na- ture of a report, like that of a gun, while the second explosion was more open, prolonged and of greater volume. This second explo- sion was, in the opinion of the court, caused by the partial explosion of two or more of the forward magazines of the ' Maine.' " The evidence bearing upon this, being principally obtained from divers, did not en- able the court to form a definite conclusion as to the condition of the wreck, although it was established that the after part of the ship was practically intact and sank in that con- dition a very few minutes after the destruc- tion of the forward part. " 4. The following facts in regard to the for- ward part of the ship are, however, estab- lished by the testimony : That portion of the port side of the protective deck which ex- tends from about frame 30 to about frame 41 was blown up aft, and over to port, the main deck from about frame 30 to about frame 41 was blown up aft, and slightly over to star- board, folding the forward part of the middle superstructure over and on top of the after part. " This was, in the opinion of the court, caused by the partial explosion of two or more ofthe forward magazines of the ' Maine.' "5. At frame 17 the outer shell of the ship, from a point eleven and one-half feet from the middle line ofthe ship and six feet above the keel when in its normal position, has been forced up so as to be now about four feet above the surface ofthe water, therefore, about thirty-four feet above where it would be had the ship sunk uninjured. The outside bottom plating isbent into a reversed V-shape, the after wing of which, abo--t fifteen feet broad and thirty-two feet in length (from frame 17 to frame 25) is doubled back upon itself against the continuation of the same plating extending forward. "At frame 18 the vertical keel is broken in two and the flat keel bent into an angle similar to the angle formed by the outside 926 LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. bottom plating. This break is now about six feet below the surface of the water and about thirty feet above its normal position. " In the opinion of the court this effect could have been produced only by the explo- sion of a mine situated under the bottom of the ship at about frame 18, and somewhat on the port side of the ship. ' ' 6. The court finds that the loss of the ' Maine' on the occasion named was not in any respect due to fault or negligence on the part of the officers or men of the crew of said vessel. "7. In the opinion of the court the ' Maine' was destroyed by the explosion of a submarine mine, which caused the partial explosion of two of her forward magazines. " 8. The court has been unable to obtain evidence fixing the responsibility for the de- struction of the * Maine' upon any person or persons. " W. T. Sampson, " Captain U. S. N., President. "A. Marix, " Lieutenant Commander U. S. N., Judge Advocate. " Following the destruction of the battle- ship " Maine," which, as already noted, stirred the resentment of the entire country to a marked degree, negotiations were con- tinued by our government with Spain for the purpose of putting an end to the war in Cuba, which, it was admitted by all, had been attended with intolerable cruelties. Per- haps the exact number of those who perished by starvation, as a result of the Spanish policy in that island, will never be known; suffice it to say, that the land was in desola- tion ; starvation and death on every side aroused the indignation of the civilized world. Meanwhile there was a very restless feel- ing in Congress and definite action toward intervention between Spain and Cuba was delayed only by the expectation of a message from President McKinley that would deal vigorously with the whole question. The message was held back in order that the views of our government might, if possible, be accepted by Spain and the issues between the two countries settled by diplomacy. The President's Message was sent to Con- gress at noon, April nth, accompanied by the Consular reports. The Message opened with a detailed ac- count of the revolution and of its effect upon American interests. It called attention to the fact that President Cleveland's offer of mediation was rejected by Spain. A descrip- tion was then given of the " new and inhuman phase " added to the horrors of the strife by the concentration of the inhabitants in forti- fied places, which brought the narrative down to the opening of the present Adminis- tration, when 300,000 or more people had been herded in towns and villages, and half of them had died of starvation and the diseases incident thereto. The new Administration in Spain, while not admitting mediation, proposed reforms in the government of Cuba, and, while ne- gotiations were in progress, relief plans were proposed and accepted, under which nearly ;^200,000 in money and supplies reached the sufferers, and then the Spanish Government revoked the orders of General Weyler, per- mitted the reconcentrados to return to their homes, and appropriated ^600,000 for their relief. The President said that the war in Cuba was of such a nature that a final military victory for either side seemed impracticable. Realizing this, he submitted to the Spanish Government propositions for an armistice until October i for the negotiation of peace with the good offices of the President. He also asked for a revocation of the order for reconcentration. LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 927 Spain replied that the preparation of terms of peace would be referred to the Insular Parliament. The President then abandoned negotiations. The President then discussed, in the light of freely quoted State papers, the untried measures — recognition of the insurgents as belligerents, recognition of the independence of Cuba, neutral intervention to end the war by imposing a rational compromise between the contestants, and intervention in favor of one or the other party. He showed that we could not at this time, without departing from the settled policy of the Government, recognize the insurgents as belligerents or recognize the independence of Cuba. He used the destruction of the ''Maine" to illus- trate the elements of danger and disorder that prevailed in Cuba and called for inter- vention, and said of the Maine disaster: " In any event the destruction of the ' Maine,' by whatever exterior cause, is a patent and impressive proof of a state of things in Cuba that is intolerable. This con- dition is thus shown to be such that the Spanish Government cannot assure safety and security to a vessel of the American navy in the harbor of Havana on a mission of peace and rightfully there." An able argument in favor of intervention was followed by these conclusions and re- commendations : " The long trial has proved that the ob- ject for which Spain has waged the war can- not be attained. The fire of insurrection may flame or may smoulder with varying seasons, but it has not been and it is plain that it cannot be extinguished by present methods. The only hope of relief and re- pose from a condition which can no longer be endured is the enforced pacification of Cuba. In the name of humanity, in the name of civilization, in behalf of endangered American interests which give us the right and the duty to speak and to act, the war in Cuba must stop. " In view of these facts and of these con- siderations I ask the Congress to authorize and empower the President to take measures to secure a full and final termination of hos- tilities between the Government of Spain and the people of Cuba, and to secure in the island the establishment of a stable govern- ment capable of maintaining order and ob- serving its international obligations, ensuring peace and tranquillity and the security of its citizens as well as our own, and to use the military and naval forces of the United States as may be necessary for these pur- poses. " And in the interest of humanity and to aid in preserving the lives of the starving people of that island, I recommend that the distribution of food and supplies be con- tinued, and that an appropriation be made out of the public treasury to supplement the charity of our citizens. " The issue is now with the Congress. It is a solemn responsibility. I have ex- hausted every effort to relieve the intolerable condition of affairs which is at our doors. Prepared to execute every obligation im- posed upon me by the Constitution and the law, I await your action." The President submitted the armistice granted by Spain at the eleventh hour as a fact to be considered by Congress and said of it: " If this measure attains a successful re- sult, then our aspirations as a Christian, peace- loving people will be realized. If it fails, it will be only another justification for our con- templated action." There was no doubt whatever from the manifestations and utterances of Senators and Representatives on both sides that the Message had not met popular expectation. . The opinion had obtained that the President 928 LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. would disclaim against Spain in the most vigorous terms and that his recommenda- tions would be favorable to legislative action that would speedily lead to hostilities. Congress debated a week over the recom- mendations contained in the President's message, and on April i8th both Houses united in passing a series of resolutions call- ing for the intervention of the United States to compel Spain to withdraw her forces from Cuba, and thus permit the authorities at Washington to provide the Island with a free and independent government. The de- mand contained in the resolutions was sent to the Spanish Minister at Washington on April 20th, who at once called for his pass- ports and left for Canada. On the same date the ultimatum of our Government was sent to United States Min- ister Woodford, at Madrid, who was curtly handed his passports before he had an oppor- tunity of formally presenting the document. These transactions involved a virtual declara- tion of war, although Congress did not for- mally declare that war actually existed until April .?5th, dating the time back to the 21st. The North Atlantic Squadron was imme- diately ordered to blockade the Cuban ports, and on April 22d proceeded to carry out the order. On the same date the United States gunboat " Nashville " captured the Spanish merchantman " Buena Ventura" in the Gulf of Mexico. In this capture the first gun of the war was fired. The next day President McKinley promulgated a resolution calling for 125,000 volunteers. On the sam° date Morro Castle, commanding the harbor of Havana, fired on the United States flagship " New York," but without doing damage. Subsequent events comprised the capture of a number of Spanish vessels by Admiral Sampson's squadron. On April 26th Hon. John Sherman, Secre- tary of State, resigned, and Hon. Wm. R. Day, of Ohio, was appointed to be his suc- cessor. Movements were at once set on foot for mobilizing our army at Chickamauga, Tenn., and Tampa, Fla., for the purpose of invading Cuba and capturing Havana. Mean- while a powerful Spanish squadron had pro- ceeded to the Cape Verde Islands and was there awaiting orders. Mystery attended the movements of the fleet, and even after it sailed, its destination could only be surmised. Stirring news from our Asiatic fleet was soon received. On May 1st Admiral Dewey practically destroyed the Spanish squadron in the harbor of Manila, Philippine Islands, capturing nine vessels and inflicting a loss of 400 killed and 600 wounded. The sailing of the American fleet from Hong Kong on April 27 was promptly cabled to Manila, and despite all that the authorities could do to prevent, it was soon known throughout the island. Many of the better class of residents at once hurried aboard merchant vessels with their valuables and fled. Those left behind took no courage from the confident boastings of the Spanish army and naval officers, but gave way to panic from fear of what would happen when the native insurgents made an attack on the town. It was known to the Spanish authorities that the American fleet would be almost cei- tain to arrive on the evening of Saturday, April 30th. The Spanish fleet, which at first put tc sea to meet and destroy the " cowardly Yan- kees," was recalled Saturday afternoon and lined up at Cavite, where the arsenals, dry- docks and naval warships are defended by a long line of earthworks. These works had been greatly strength- ened, notably by the addition of several big modern guns. They were regarded as very formidable by old-fashioned Spanish military engineers, as were also the fort on Corregidor LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 929 Lsiand, the battery on Cabilla Island, and the works on the mainland points to the north ana south. These islands were all in readi- ness, and a chain of mines which guarded both channels was prepared to blow up each A.merican ship as it passed. Saturday night fell with the Spaniards on land and water quite ^ cheerful over the com- ing engagement. A short time after mid- night, the darkness being intense, one of the guns in Corregi- dor suddenly boomed out, and all the other guns about the en- trance to the bay took up the cry, and the anxious people in Ma- nila poured into the streets. They thought the battle had begun. In reality the Ameri- can fleet was already v^ C'^r^^ past the entrance and n^L^* * was on its way up the opposite side of the bay. It was a night of terror in Manila. The women and children fled ro the churches, and men rushed to and fro in the streets- Dismay seized upon the Spanish soldiers. They had not believed that the Americans :&uid ever get past the entrance to the bat- tel ies and past the mines. Long before dawn the panic became a frenzy because of reports that came from the interior of the island that nat»v^es were massing for a descent upon the city to pillage :,nd massacre. When day toroke *^h% tens of thousands watching on all 59 sides of the vast and beautiful harbor saw the enemy in line of battle about ten miles out, directly in front of Manila. There were nine vessels in all. The " Olympia," 5800 tons, a swift com- merce destroyer, carrying four terrible 8-inch guns and ten deadly 5-inch quick-firers. MANILA HARBOR— SCENE OF THE GREAT BATTLE The " Baltimore," scarcely less formidable than the " Olympia," with four eight-inch guns and six six-inch rapid-firers The *' Boston," smaller than the " Olympia' and " Baltimore," but still a real and powerful floating fort, with her two eight- inch guns and her six six-inch rapid-firers The " Raleigh," similar to the " Boston," with one six-inch and ten five-inch guns. 930 LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. The " Concord," with six six-inch guns. The gunboat " Petrel/' with five six-inch guns. To the rear of these the transport ships^ with coal, ammunition and accommodations for wounded. With a bright American flag floating gayly over each ship, the decks and all visible appointments neat and trim, the fleet seemed to be out for a holiday rather than awaiting an opening for the only real demonstration of an ironclad fleet in action that the world has had. The Spaniards could hardly be- lieve their own eyes. That this formidable apparition was in the very centre of their har- bor, almost within firing distance of the capi- tal city of their last remaining Eastern pos- sessions seemed incredible, impossible. They had not long to watch and speculate. The sun was hardly clear of the horizon before the American fleet began to steam in slow and stately fashion straight toward the city, near which were anchored three men-of- war from three different nations, French, German and English. The decks and rigging of each of these ships were thronged with eager officers and sailors, discipline seeming to have been forgotten in an intense desire to see what the Yankees would do — these Yan- kees who in three-quarters of a century have never sent a hostile fleet into any port of a European Power. On came the American fleet until it was within about three miles of Manila, and then a Spanish gun on the battery at the end of the Mole spoke ; but the shot fell short. Then from the Spanish fleet, steaming slowly up from Cavite, came several shots at the American fleet. The two duelists were now 'ace to face. To expert eyes the Spanish fleet seemed far inferior, yet to the people watching, and, apparently, to the Spanish officers and sail ors, the difference did not seem great. The Spanish ships were of older patternis, rather than smaller, and were far more numerous. There were : The " Reina Cristina," of 3090 tons, with six six-inch and two three-inch guns. The " Castilla, ' with four six-inch guns. The smaller cruisers " Velasco," " Don Juan de Austria " and " Don Antonio dc Ulloa," besides ten gunboats. Then there were the batteries on shore all along the low peninsula. To get the full effect of all of these guns the Spaniards formed so that the Americans would have to face not only all the guns afloat, but also all the guns on shore at Cavite, while from the rear the strong bat- teries of Manila could, perhaps, send aiding shots. When the American manceuverings brought their ships within range, at about 6.45, the real duel began. The Spanish fleet stood ready, flanked by the Cavite batteries on the south. The American fleet began to steam lan- guidly to and fro. Suddenly there were one or two sharp cracks, and then a succession of deafening roars, and then one long, reverber- ating roar, that boomed and bellowed from shore to shore. A huge cloud of smoke lay close upon the waters, and around it was a penumbra of thick haze. . Through this the American ships could be seen moving, now slowly, now more rapidly, flames shooting from their sides, and answer- ing flames leaping from the Spanish ships and land batteries, while now and then from the direction of Manila came hollow rumbles as the big guns there were discharged, more from eagerness to take part than from the hope of lending effective aid. It was impossible to see from shore the effect of many of the shots, but from the fact that the American ships were alternately advancing and retreating in the course of their manceuverings, the Spaniards on shore LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 931 got the impression that the Yankees were being beaten. When the ships were again seen, the " Reina Cristina" was wrapped in flames. On her decks sailors, Spaniards and natives, were rushing frantically about. The "Isle De Cuba" came near, and part of the " Reina Cristina's " crew — perhaps all that were still alive— and the Spanish Admiral At this juncture the " Don Juan de Aus- tria " became a centre of interest. She had been in the very front of battle and received, perhaps, more of the American shots than any other ship. Admiral Montojo, on the burning " Isla de Cuba," threw up his arms with a gesture of despair as a heavy roar came from the " Don Juan de Austria " and UNIFORMS OF UNFFED STATES went aboard her, but hardly were they aboard when she, too, burst into flames. Confusion now reigned throughout the Spanish fleet. On every vessel the decks were slippery WMth blood and the air filled with the shrieks and groans of the Spaniards. The native sailors rushed about in a frenzy of rage rather than terror. The Americans were seemingly calm and cool, and still in good order they pressed their advantage. In fact, they pushed on too closely, for now the fire from the Cavite batteries became effective. MARINES AND NA\AL OF^FICERS part of her deck flew up in the air, taking with it scores of dead, dying and mangled. A shot had penetrated one of her magazines. She was ruined and sinking, but her crew refused to leave her. Weeping, cursmg', praying and firing madly ^^.ad blindly they went down with her, and as the " Don Juan de Austria" went down the " Castilla" burst into flames. The remainder of the Spanish fleet now turned and fled down the long, narrow inlet behind Cavite. Several of the gun-boats 93^ LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. were run ashore, others fled up a small creek and were grounded there. The guns of Cavite kept on thundering, and the Ameri- cans, pressing their advantage no further, drew off As they steamed away toward their waiting transports the Spaniards went wild with joy. They thought that in spite of outward ap- This second engagement was short. The last Spanish ship was soon grounded or sunk. The American guns were now trained on Cavite, and one ship after another steamed along pouring in a deadl) fire. At 11.30 the batteries at Cavite ceased \o answer, and the American fleet with ringing cheers from its exhausted, but triumphant crews steamed STREET SCENE IN MANILA— PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. pearances the American fleet was crippled, and that as it would be unable to escape from the harbor it would fall into their hands. This was telegraphed up to Manila, and soon to Madrid, where it filled the Ministry with momentary delight; but before the Ministers at Madrid had read the false news, the Amer- ican fleet, with decks again cleared and with fresh supplies of ammunition, was steaming back toward Cavite. jubilantly back to the transport ships. And to the long list of splendid naval victories beginning with the Revolution was added the glorious victory of Manila. In honor of his distinguished service? Commodore Dewey was raised to the rank of Admiral, and Congress passed a series of resolutions thanking him and his men for services rendered their country. On May i ith Ensign Bagley, of the torpedble than that achieved by Dewey at Manila. Admiral Cervera's fleet, consisting of the armored cruisers " Cristobal Colon," " Almi- rante Oquendo," " Infanta Maria Teresa," and " Vizcaya,"' and two torpedo-boat de- stroyers, the " Furor " and the " Tluton," wiiich had been held in the harbor of San- tiago de Cuba for six weeks by the combined squadrons of Rear-Admiral Sampson and Commodore Schley, was sent to the bottom of the Caribbean Sea off the soutlurrn coast of Cuba. The Spanish admiral was made a prisoner of war on the auxiliary gunboat " Glouces- ter," and 1,000 to 1,500 other Spanish officer.^ and sailors, all who escaped the frightful car- nage caused by the shells from the American warships, were also made prisoners of war by the United States navy. The American victory was complete, and the American vessels were practically un- touched, and only one man was killed, though the ships were subjected to the heavy fire of the Spaniards all the time the battle lasted. Admiral Cervera made as gallant a dash for liberty and for the preservation of the ships as has ever occurred in the history of naval warfare. In the face of overwhelming odds, with nothing before him but inevitable destruction or surrender if he remained any longer in the trap in which the American fleet held him, he made a bold dash from the harbor at the time the Americans least ex- pected him to do. so, and, fighting every inch of his way, even when his ship was ablaze and sinking, he tried to escape the doom which was written on the muzzle of every American gun trained upon his vessels The Americans saw him the moment he left the harbor and commenced their work of destruction immediately. For an hour or two they followed the flying Spaniards to the westward along the shore line, sending shot after shot into their blazing hulls, tearing great holes in their steel sides and covering their decks with the blood of the killed and wounded. At no time did the Spaniards show any in- dication that they intended to do otherwise 944 LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. than fight to the last. They displayed no signals to surrender even when their ships commenced to sink and the great clouds of smoke pouring from their sides showed they were on fire. But they turned their heads toward the shore, less than a mile away, and ran them on the beach and rocks, where their destruction was soon completed. The officers and men on board then escaped to the shore as well as they could with the assistance of boats sent from the American men-of-war, and then threw them- selves upon the mercy of their captors, who not only extended to them the .gracious hand of American chivalry, but sent them a guard to protect them from the murderous bands of Cuban soldiers hiding in the bushes on the hillside, eager to rush down and attack the unarmed, defeated, but valorous foe. One after another of the Spanish ships be- came the victims of the awful rain of shells which the American battleships, cruisers and gun-boats poured upon them, and two hours after the first of the fleet had started out of Santiago harbor three cruisers and two tor- pedo-boat destroyers were lying on the shore ten to fifteen miles west of Morro Cas- tle, pounding to pieces, smoke and flame pouring from every part of them and cover- ing the entire coast line with a mist which could be seen for miles. Heavy explosions of ammunition occurred every few minutes, sending curls of dense white smoke a hundred feet in the air and causing a shower of broken iron and steel to fall in the water on every side. The bluffs on the coast line echoed with the roar of every explosion, and the Spanish vessels sank deeper and deeper into the sand or else the rocks ground their hulls to pieces as they rolled or pitched forward or sideways with every wave that washed upon them from the open sea. Admiral Cervera escaped to the snore in a boat sent by the " Gloucester " to the assist- ance of the " Infanta Maria Teresa," and as soon as he touched the beach he surrendered himself and his command to Lieutenant Morton and asked to be taken on board the " Gloucester," which was the only American vessel near him at the time, with several of his officers, including the captain of the flag- ship. The Spanish admiral, who was wounded in the arm, was taken to the " Gloucester," and was received at her gangway by her commander. Lieutenant Richard Wain- wright, who grasped the hand of the gray- bearded admiral and said to him : *' I congratulate you, sir, upon having made as gallant a fight as was ever witnessed on the sea." The only casualties in the American fleet were one man killed and two wounded on the " Brooklyn." A large number of the Spanish wounded were removed to the Amer- ican ships. An incident of special interest was the exchange of Lieutenant Hobson and his brave men for Spanish prisoners on July 7th Hobson and his band of heroes were escorted through the American lines by Captain Chad- wick, of the " New York," who was awaiting them. Every step of their journey was marked by the wildest demonstrations on the part of the American soldiers, who threw aside all semblance of order, scrambled out of the entrenchments, knocked over tent guys and other camp paraphernalia in their eagerness to see the returning heroes, and sent up cheer after cheer for the men who had passed safely through the jaws of death in their desire to serve their country. General Miles arrived at Santiago on the I2th of July and took command of the army. On the 14th of July General Toral surren- dered Santiago and his entire army, "umbej- ing ten or twelve thousand men, LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 945 We are able to furnish a reliable account lof the preliminaries that preceded the sur- render. It appears that on Monday, July lith, General Shafter did not again demand the unconditional surrender of Santiago, which General Toral had refused on Sun- day ; but he offered, as an alternative propo- sition, to accept the capitulation of the enemy and to transport the Spanish officers and troops to Spain, they to leave all their arms behind. He offered also to accept their parole. This proposition General Toral de- -clined. It was decided next morning to hold a personal interview with General Toral. Gene- ral Miles and his staff, accompanied by Gene- ral Shafter and his staff, rode out to the front shortly before eight o'clock under a flag of truce. A request for a personal interview with the Spanish commander-in-chief was made and acceded to, and about nine o'clock General Miles, General Shafter, General Wheeler, General Gilmour, Colonel Morse, Captain Wiley and Colonel Mestre rode up, passed over our entrenchments and went down into the valley beyond. They were met by General Toral and his chief of staff under a spreading mango tree, at the bottom of the valley, about half way between the lines. The interview that followed lasted almost an hour. The situation was placed frankly before General Toral, and he was offered the alter- native of being sent home with his garrison or being attacked by the combined Ameri- can forces. The only condition imposed was that he should not destro\- the existing forti- fications and should leave his arms behind. This latter condition the Spanish general,who does not speak English, explained through his interpreter, was impossible. He said the laws of Spain gave a general no discretion. JHe might abandon a place v/hen he found it 60 untenable, but he could not leave his arms behind without subjecting himself to the penalty of being court-martialled and shot. His government, he said, had granted him permission to evacuate Santiago. That was all. Further than that he was powerless to go. Without saying so in words. General Miles stated that the tenor of General Toral's re- marks all betrayed his realization that he could not hold out long. When General Shafter explained that our reinforcements were coming up, that he was completely surrounded, and that new batteries were being posted, General Toral simply shrugged his shoulders. "I am but a subordinate," said he, "and I obey my government. If it is necessary we can die at our posts." General Toral appeared to be a man sixty years old, with a strong, rugged face, and fine soldierly bearing. His brave words inspired a feeling of respect and admiration in the hearts of his adversaries. Neverthe- less, the Spanish General's anxiety to avoid further sacrifice of life in his command was manifest, and he did not hesitate to ask for time to communicate the situation to Madrid, although he dubiously shook his head when he spoke of the probable response. During the course of an interview General Toral said the bombardment of Sunday and Monday had done little damage. He ad- mitted the shells from the guns of the fleet had destroyed four houses, but he asserted that only half a dozen soldiers of the garri- son had been injured. He also volunteered the information when General Miles gallantly inquired after General Linares' condition that the latter would in all probability have his left arm amputated at the shoulder. General Miles at the interview did not at- tempt to assume the direction of the nego- tiations, but, as General of the United States Army, he vouched for the conditions General Shafcer offered. Upon the return of our com- 946 LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. manders to the American lines an important consultation was held at General Wheeler's headquarters. Generals Garcia and Castillo, with their staff, had ridden around from the extreme right to see General Miles. It was a notable group gathered under the protecting awning of General Wheeler's tent. General Miles, in blue fatigue uniform, with the double star on his shoulders, and his campaign hat encircled by a single strand of gold braid, sat on an empty ammunition box and formed the centre of the party. On the right of General Miles sat General Shafter, and on his left was General Garcia, in mud-spotted white uniform, with heavy riding boots and jingling spurs. The Cuban General wore a large, weather-worn Panama hat, and at his side was a silver mounted machete. General Garcia has a strong, swarthy face, with a deep bullet scar in his forehead. In a general way he is not unlike a Cuban edition of General Miles. General Wheeler, with grizzled beard, small of stature, and in a brown campaign uniform, faced the three officers mentioned, while about them sat the aides-de-camp of the four Generals. Assistant Naval Constructor Hob- son, the hero of the " Merrimac," who had come to headquarters with messages from Rear Admiral Sampson, was also present. The situation was discussed with the aid of a profusion of maps, and at the conclusion of the conference luncheon was served. It consisted of beans, hard tack and coffee. After this meal, General Miles, General Shaf- ter and General Garcia, with their staffs, rode off, to inspect the position on the right flank. They all agreed that General Toral was securely wedged in and that escape was impossible. After further communication with the Span- ish government General Toral, on July 14th, surrendered his entire command, including all the troops in Eastern Cuba, guns and ammunition. The surrender was hailed w:th joy throughout the United. States, and already there was talk of peace. The formal sanction by the Madrid gov- ernment of the terms of capitulation unrav- eled the tangled skeins of demands and counter-demands between the opposing com- manders which thr'^atened to end the nego- tiations and compel a return to arms. The agreement consisted of nine articles : The first declared thac all hostilities should cease pending the agreen?e/ic o' final capitu- lation. Second. That the capitulation includes all the Spanish forces and the surrender of all war material within the prescribed limits. Third. The transportation of the troops to Spain at the earliest possible moment, each force to be embarked at the nearest port. Fourth. That the Spanish officers shall retain their side arms and the enlisted men their personal property. Fifth. That after the final capitulation the Spanish forces shall assist in the removal of all obstructions to navigation in Santiago harbor. Sixth. That after the final capitulation, the commanding officers shall furnish a complete inventory of all arms and munitions of war, and a roster of all the soldiers in the district. Seventh. That the Spanish general shall be permitted to take the military archives and records with him. Eighth. That all guerrillas and Spanish irregulars shall be permitted to remain in Cuba if they so elect. Ninth. That the Spanish forces shall be permitted to march out with all the honors of war, depositing their arms to be disposed- of by the United States in the future, the American commissioners to recommend to their government that the arms of the sol- diers be returned to those "who so bravely defended them." LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 947 On the evening of July 17th the War De- partment at Washington posted the follow- ing despatch from General Shafter : " I have the honor to announce that the American flag has been this instant, 12 o'clock, noon, raised over the House of the Civil Government in the city of Santiago. An immense concourse of people was pre- sent, a squadron of cavalry and a regiment of infantry presenting arms and a band playing national airs. The light battery fired a sa- lute of twenty-one guns. ' " Perfect order is being maintained by the municipal government. The distress is very great, but there is little sickness in the town. Scarcely any yellow fever. A small gun- boat and about two hundred seamen, left by Cervera, have surrendered to me. Obstruc- tions are being removed from the mouth of the harbor. " Upon coming into the city I discovered a perfect entanglement of defences. Fighting as the Spaniards did the first day, it would have cost five thousand lives to have taken it. Battalions of Spanish troops have been de- positing arms since daylight in the armory over which I have guard. General Toral formally surrendered the plaza and all stores at 9 A. M." Amid impressive ceremonies the Spanish troops laid down their arms between the lines of the Spanish and American forces at nine o'clock in the morning of July 17th. General Shafter and the American division and brig- ade commanders and their staffs were escorted by a troop, of cavalry, and General Toral and his staff by one hundred picked men. Trum- peters on both sides saluted with flourishes. General Shafter returned to General Toral the latter's sword after it had been handed to the American commander. Our troops, lined up at the trenches, were eye-witnesses to the ceremony. General Shafter and his escort, accompanied by General Toral, rode through the city, taking formal possession. The city had been sacked, before they arrived, by the Spaniards, -General McKibben was ap- pointed temporary military governor. The ceremony of hoisting the Stars and Stripes was worth all the blood and treasure it cost. A vast concourse of 1 0,000 people witnessed the stirring and thrilling scene, that will live forever in the minds of all the Americans present. A finer stage-setting for a dramatic episode it would be difficult to imagine. The palace, a picturesque old dwell- ing, in the Moorish style of architecture, faces the Plaza de la Reina, the principal public square". Opposite rises the imposing Catholic Cathedral. On one side is a quaint, brilliantly painted building, with broad verandas — the club of San Carlos; on the olher a building of much the same description — the Cafe De La Venus. Across the plaza was drawn up the Ninth Infantry, headed by the Sixth Cavalry Band. In the street facing the palace stood a picked troop of the Second Cavalry, with drawn sabres, under command of Captain Brett. Massed oh the stone flagging, between the band and the line of horsemen, were the brigade commanders of General Shafter's di- vision, with their staffs. On the red tiled roof of the palace stood Captain McKittrick, Lieutenant Miley and Lieutenant Wheeler; immediately above them, upon the flagstaff, the illuminated Spanish arms and the legend " Vive Alfonso XIII." All about, pressing against the ve- randa rails, crowding the windows and doors and lining the roofs, were the people of the town, principally women and non-combatants. The chimes of the old cathedral rang out the hour of twelve; the infantry and cavalry pre- sented arms. Every American uncovered, and Captain McKittrick hoisted the Stars and Stripes. As the brilliant folds unfurled in a gentle 948 LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. breeze against a fleckless sky, the cavalry band broke into the strains of " The Star Spangled Banner," making the American pulse leap and the American heart thrill with joy. At the same instant the sound of the distant booming of Captain Capron's battery, firing a salute of twenty-one guns, drifted in. When the music ceased from all directions around our line came floating across the plaza the strains of the regimental bands and the muffled, hoarse cheers of our troops. The infantry came to " order arms " a moment later, after the flag was up, and the band played " Rally Round the Flag, Boys." In- stantly General McKibben called for three cheers for General Shafter, which were given with great enthusiasm, the band playing " Stars and Stripes Forever." Since 4 o'clock in the morning a stream of refugees had been pouring into the city, some naked, and all hungry. Many had ^-^llen by the wayside. The town of Santiago piesented a dismal sight. Most of the houses had been sacked and the stores had all been looted and nothing to eat could be had. In the streets of the city, at the intrenchments, at the breastworks and at every hundred feet or so of the barbed wire fences were the liv- ing skeletons of Spanish soldiers. Among the arrivals were the German, Japanese and Portuguese Consuls and their families, the British and French Consuls hav- ing arrived two days before. The United States military expedition under the command of Major General Nel- son A. Miles, commanding the Army of the United States, which left Guantanamo Bay during the evening of Thursday, July 21, was landed successfully at Guanica, July 25, after a skirmish with a detachment of the Span- ish troops and a crew of thirty belonging to the launch of the United States auxiliary gun- boat Gloucester. Four of the Spaniards were killed and no Americans were hurt. At noon on the 24th, General Miles called for a consultation, announcing that he was determined not to go by San Juan Cape, but by the Mona Passage instead, land there, surprise the Spaniards and deceive theii military authorities. The course was then changed and the Dixie was sent to warn General Brooke and the transports convey- ing our troops, which had been ordered to Cape San Juan. Early in the morning the Gloucester, in charge of Lieutenant Commander Wain- wright, steamed into Guanica harbor in order to reconnoitre the place. With the fleet waiting outside, the gallant little fighting yacht Gloucester braved the mines which were supposed to be in this harbor and found that there were five fathoms of water close in shore. Guanica Bay is a quiet place, surrounded by cultivated lands. In the rear are high mountains, and close to the beach nestles a village of about twenty-one houses. The Spaniards were taken completely by surprise. Almost the first they knew of the approach of the army of invasion was in the announcement contained in the firing of a gun from the Gloucester, demanding that the Spaniards haul down their flag, which was floating from the flagstaff in front of a block- house standing to the east of the village. The first couple of three-pounders were fired into the hills right and left of the bay, purposely avoiding the town, lest the pro- jectiles hurt women or children. The Glou- cester then hove to within about six hundred yards of the shore and lowered a launch, having on board a Colt rapid-fire gun and thirty men, under the command of Lieutenant Huse, which was sent ashore without en- countering opposition. Quartermaster Beck thereupon told Yeo- man Lacy to haul down the Spanish flag, which was done, and they then raised on the flasfstafl'the first United States flag- to float CAPTAIN CHARLES D SIGSBEE WILLIAM Mckinley PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STofeS < f CO u. o h z ki a < m O ADMIRAL W. T. SAMPSON LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 949 over Porto Rican soil. Suddenly about thirty Spaniards opened fire with Mauser rifles on the American party. Lieutenant Huse and his men responded with great gal- lantry, the Colt gun doing effective work. Almost immediately after the Spaniards fired on the Americans the Gloucester opened fire on the enemy with all her 3 and 6-pounders which could be brought to bear, shelling the town and also dropping shells into the hills to the west of Guanica, where a number of Spanish cavalry were to be seen hasten- ing toward the spot where the Americans had landed. Lieutenant Huse then threw up a little fort, which he named Fort Wainwright, and laid barbed wire in the street in front of it in order to repel the expected cavalry attack. The lieutenant also mounted the Colt gun and signaled for leinforcements, which were sent from the Gloucester. Presently a few of the Spanish cavalry joined those who were fighting in the street of Guanica, but the Colt fired to a purpose killing four of them. By that time the Glou- cester had the range of the town, and of the blockhouse, and all her guns were spitting fire, the doctor and the paymaster helping to serve the guns. Soon afterwards white-coated galloping cavalrymen were seen climbing the hills to the westward, and the foot soldiers were scurrying along the fences from the town. By 9.45, with the exception of a few guer- rilla shots, the town was won, and the enemy was driven out of its neighborhood. The Red Cross nurses on the "Lampasas " and a detachment of regulars were the first to land from the transports. After Lieutenant Huse had captured the place he* deployed his small force into the suburbs. But he was soon reinforced by the regulars, and then by other troops in quick succession. All the boats of the men-of-war and the transports were used in the work of landing the troops, each steam launch towing four or five boats loaded to the rails with soldiers. But everything progressed in an orderly manner, and according to the plans of General Miles. The latter went ashore about noon, after stopping to board the Gloucester and thank Lieutenant-Commander Wainwright for his gallant action. Report from General Miles. The War Department at Washington post- ed the following bulletin : "St. Thomas, July 26, 1898, 9.35 p.m. " Secretary of War, Washington : " Circumstances were such that I deemed it advisable to take the harbor of Guanica first, fifteen miles west of Ponce, which was suc- cessfully accomplished between daylight and 1 1 o'clock. Spaniards surprised. The Glou- cester, Commander Wainwright, first entered the harbor; met with slight resistance; fired a few shots. All the transports are now in the harbor, and infantry and artillery rapidly going ashore. This is a well-protected har- bor. Water sufficiently deep for all trans- ports and heavy vessels to anchor within two hundred yards of the shore. The Span- ish flag was lowered and the American flag raised at 1 1 o'clock to-day. Captain Hig- ginson, with his fleet, has rendered able and earnest assistance. Troops in good health and best of spirits. No casualties. " Miles, Major-General Commanding." Ponce, Guayama and other towns in Porto Rico were captured in quick succession by General Miles' army. The people every- where gave a hearty welcome to the Ameri- can troops, and there was great rejoicing at their escape from the authority of Spain. Coincident with the landing of our troops at Guanica the Spanish Government made a move to end the war and secure peace. The proposition was formally submitted to the 950 LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. President at 3 o'clock, July 26th, by the French Ambassador, M. Jules Cambon, who had received instructions from the foreign office at Paris to deliver to the United States Government the tender of peace formulated by the Spanish Cabinet. President McKin- ley and his advisers immediately took the proposition into consideration. In an engagement five miles beyond Gua- yama on August 8th, the Americans were caught in an ambuscade. It was just i o'clock in the afternoon when a horseman came galloping into Guayama shouting: "Send the dynamite guns at once! The Fourth Ohio is being annihilated!" In less than five minutes the alarm had spread throughout the town, and the streets were filled with soldiers hurrying to their quar- ters. The Spanish attack grew out of the fact that Colonel Coit, Major Dean and Lieuten- ant Wardman of General Brooke's staff, had started early in the morning to reconnoitre to the northward with the object of ascer- taining the truth of the report that the Span- iards had mined the bridges on the road to Cayey, whither General Brooke's command was bound. On account of the smallness of the reconnoitring party, the report that they had been attacked by the Spaniards caused consternation at the Guayama headquarters. A strong force was, however, at once hur- ried to the front. There were no horses to haul the dynamite guns, but the men buckled to and dragged them over the hills for five miles to the scene of action. Soon the dy- namite guns got into action. The first shell landed at one side of the blockhouse and exploded with a terrific roar. The Span- iards were simply thrown into a state of panic by the explosion of the shell and were seen fleeing from the hill at top speed in all directions except toward the Americans. They could hardly be derided for evincing such a pressing desire to get out or range. The shell tore a hole in the ground for a distance of fifty feet and the shock of the ex- plosion could be felt where the Americans stood. From the place in the road where the guns were fired the sight was a beautiful one. All up the hill the American soldiers, their brown hats silhouetted against the sky, kept volleying away at the enemy and chatting at the same time in a manner to shock regular troops. After the third shot from the dyna- mite guns the Spaniards were in full retreat. The Americans then retired to Guayama for the night. There was a two hours' fight before day- break at Cape San Juan August 9th. Eight hundred Spaniards attempted to retake the lighthouse, which was guarded by forty of our sailors, commanded by Lieutenant At- water. The Spaniards were driven back by shells from the "Amphitrite," "Cincinnati" and "Leyden." Refugees reported that one hun- dred Spaniards were killed. The Spanish advance began from Rio Grande, whither the Spaniards had retreated after the first landing of troops at Cape San Juan the week before. They marched through Luquillo and pulled down the American flag at Fajardo and re placed the Spanish flag. The terrified refugees warned the light- house force that the Spanish were coming. Sixty women and children were in an out- building of the lighthouse during the fight. The Spaniards opened with a machine gun at a distance of three hundred yards. The " Ley- den," Ensign Crosley commanding, rushed within one hundred yards of the shore and poured one-pounders into the Spaniards. Cap- tain Barclay, of the "Amphitrite," used six- pounders and the "Cincinnati " five inch guns. The ships landed two hundred and fifty men during the fight and reinforced the lighthouse. A machine gun, rifles and am- LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 951 munition were left by the retreiiting Span- iards. Ensign Crosley took the refugees off at daybreak and went to Ponce. Our flag was still on the lighthouse, but the forces were withdrawn. The Amphitrite guns covered the lighthouse, ready to annihilate it if our flag was hauled down. It is one of the most important lights on the island. The Department of State at Washington, on the afternoon of August 2d, issued a statement announcing officially the Presi- dent's terms of peace, which were handed to Ambassador Cambon. They were that Spanish sovereignty must be forever relin- quished in the Western Indies; that the United Stated should have a coaling station in the Ladrones, and that this country would occupy Manila's bay and harbor, as well as the city, pending the determination of the control, disposition and government of the Philippines. The statement was as follow^ : "In order to remove any misapprehension in regard to the negotiations as to peace be- tween the United States and Spain, it is deemed proper to say that the terms offered by the United States to Spain in the note tendered the French Ambassador on Sat- urday last are in substance as follows: "The President does not now put forward any claim for pecuniary indemnity, but re- quires the relinquishment of all claim of sov- ereignty over or title to the Island of Cuba, as well as the immediate evacuation by Spain of the Island ; the cession to the United States and immediate evacuation of Porto Rico and other Islands under Spanish sov- ereignty in the West Indies, and the like cession of an island in the Ladrones. " The United States will occupy and hold the city, bay and harbor of Manila, pending the conclusion of a treaty of peace which shall determine the control, disposition and government of the Philippines. "If these are accepted by Spain in their entirety, commissioners will be named by the United States to meet commissioners on the part of Spain for the purpose of concluding a treaty of peace on the basis above indicated." The announcement on August 7th, from Madrid, that the Spanish Ministry had^ formally decided to accept the proposition of the United States for a peace convention re- lieved the anxiety that was felt for a definite decision. No doubt was entertained that Spain would agree to the terms offered by President McKinley, nor was the faith of the President shaken in the ultimate outcome by reason of what the impatient public regarded as delay on the part of Spain in making answer. There were reasons why an immediate re- ply could not be made to the Americaii pro- position, and these reasons were understood and appreciated by the President and Secre- tary Day. Convinced that Spain would accept the terms, there was no disposi- tion on the part of the President to in- sist upon hasty action. It was felt that the reply would be made within a • reasonable time, and the good judgment and sagacity of the President were vindicated by the action of the Spanish Cabinet. On the evening of August 12, 1898, Presi- dent McKinley issued the following proclama- tion : " By the President of the United States of " America. — A Proclamation. " Whereas, By a protocol concluded and signed August 12, 1898, by William R. Day, Secretary of State of the United States, and His Excellency Jules Cambon, Ambassador Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the Republic of France at Wash- ington, respectively representing for this purpose the Government of the United States and the Govern- ment of Spain the United States and Spain have formally agreed upon the terms on which negotia- tions for the establishment of peace between the two countries shall be undertaken ; and ' Whereas, It is in said protocol agreed that upon its conclusion and signature hostilities between the 952 LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. two countries shall be suspended, and that notice to that effect shall be given as soon as possible by each government to the commanders of its military and naval forces : "Now, therefore, I, William McKinley, President of the United States, do, in accordance with the stipulations of the protocol, declare and proclaim, on the part of the United States, a suspension of hostilities, and do hereby command that orders be immediately given, through the proper channels, to the commanders of the military and naval forces of the United States to abstain from all acts inconsistent with this proclamation. " In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixec. " Done at the city of Washington, this 1 2th day of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight, and of the independence of the United States the one hundred and twenty- third. William McKinlev. " By the President, William R. Day, Secretary of State." The protocol, signed by Secretary Day on behalf of the United States and by Ambassa- dor Cambon on behalf of Spain, contained the following provisions : That Spain will relinquish all claim of sovereignty over and title to Cuba. That Porto Rico and other Spanish islands in the West Indies, and an island in the Ladrones to be selected by the United States, shall be ceded to the latter. That the United States will occupy and hold the city, bay and harbor of Manila pending the conci usion of the treaty of peace, which shall determine the control, disposi- tion and government of the Philippines. That Cuba, Porto Rico and other Spanish Islands in the West Indies shall be imme- diately evacuated, and that commissioners, to be appointed within ten days, shall, within thirty days from the signing of the protocol, meet at Havana and San Juan, respectively, to arrange and execute the details of the evacuation. That the United States and Spain will each appoint not more than five commissioners to negotiate and conclude a treaty of peace. The commissioners are to meet at Paris not later than the 1st of October. On the signing of the protocol, hostilities will be suspended and notice to that effect will be given as soon as possible by each government to the commanders of its mili- tary and naval forces. The closing chapter of events that led up to the signature of the protocol and the ces- sation of hostilities was full of interest. It was 4.23 o'clock, in the afternoon of August 12th, when the final signatures were attached to the protocol, and within the knowledge of all the officials present this was the first time that a protocol or treaty had been signed at the White House. The President took the han ^ of the Am- bassador and through him returned thanks to the sister republic of France for the exer- cise of her good offices in bringing about peace. He also thanked the Ambassador personally for the important part he had played in this matter, and the latter replied in suitable terms. As a further mark of his disposition, President McKinley called for the proclamation which he had caused to be drawn up suspending hostilities, and signed it in the presence of M. Cambon, who expressed his appreciation of the action. Messages were immediately sent to all army and navy commanders announcing that the war was ended and ordering them to cease hostilities. Before the message reached Manila, Ad- miral Dewey and General Merritt resolved to capture the city. The war ships bombarded the forts on August 13th, and the land forces at the same time made an attack. After a spirited resistance by the Spaniards they sur- rendered, knowing it was useless to longei resist. LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 953 Details of .the battle before Manila show that the American land and naval forces captured the city after several hours of fight- ing-. Thirteen thousand prisoners, twenty- two thousand rifles, a number of field guns and an immense quantity of ammunition fell into the hands of the victors. The fortifications and shore defences and part of the city itself were destroyed by American shot and shell dur- ing a terrific bombardment of two hours by eight ships of Admiral Dewey's fleet. The Americans killed lost their lives in storming the Spanish trenches, Avhen they swept everything before them like a whirlwind, and gave the Span- iards and Filipinos a splendid exhibition of Yankee valor. Three demands for the sur- render of the city were made by Admiral Dewey before Manila was attacked. The first was made on August 7th. In it the Spaniards were given forty-eight hours to lay down their arms. The Ger- man Consul immediately em- barked all German subjects on the German warships for protection. On the afternoon of August 9th the demand for surrender was again made. The Spaniards asked a delay to enable them to get instruc- tions from Madrid. This was refused. On the 13th the final demand was made. A message was sent to the Spanish commander at 8 o'clock. The Spaniards were given one hour in which to surrender. They immediately refused to do so. The Ameri- can squadron promptly cleared for action. They moved into a line between Malate and Old Manila, There were eight vessels in the squadron — the Olympia, the flagship; the Monterey, the Boston, Baltimore, Charles- ton, Petrel, Raleigh and Hugh McCulloch. The German and French vessels lay north of the Passig river. The greatest excitement pre- vailed among the vessels of the foreign fleet, which lay across the bay. The British and Jap- anese warships were nearest the American fleet. ADMIRAL GEORGE DEWEY. Al 9.30 o'clock the signal to open fire fluttered from the signal lines of the Olym- pia. The flags were scarcely set when there was a roar from the big guns of the flagship herself. Instantly all the other vessels opened, and a shower of steel missiles sped toward the doomed city. At the same time 954 LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. along the line of the American intrerxh- ments the field guns opened on the Spanish position, and the American infantry were massed in the intrenchments ready for the final assault. The din was terrific. The heavier guns of the warships roared at intervals, while the rapid-fires barked viciously and the guns of the secondary batteries spat and sputtered fast and furiously. Through the awful noise the great 13-inch guns of the big monitor GENERAL WESLEY M ERR ITT. Monterey could be heard distincdy like great thunderclaps, and the awe-inspiring shrieks of her immense shells could be readily distinguished from the tenor and alto notes of the smaller missiles. Great gaps were torn in the Spanish forti- fications as the shells struck and exploded, and buildings in the outskirts of the city could be seen to tumble or rise in the air as frhe shells passed through or exploded within them. In the midst of the bombardment the order to storm the Spanish trenches was given to the American soldiers. The Spanish lines extended a distance of ten miles around the city, and from two to four miles outside the walls. With a cheer the Americans sprang from their trenches and dashed for the Spanish earthworks. The First Colorado Volunteers were in the van. A deadly fire was poured in from the heights occupied by the Spaniards, and it was this that caused the Ameri- can losses. But the men never hesitated. They swept the enemy from the outer line of intrenchments to the second line of defence. This was at once at- tacked, and from there the Spaniards were driven into the walled city. Then the Spanish commander saw that fur- ther resistance was useless, and he sent up a white flag. The bombardment was at once stopped, and soon after- ward the American forces entered the city. General Merritt assumed command and temporarily restored the civil laws. The Spanish forces were well in- trenched. The American losses under the circumstances were considered small. The Colorado troops were the first to storm the trenches, and every man was a hero. The Commissioners appointed in be- half of the United States to arrange for the Spanish evacuation of Cuba were Rear-Ad- miral Sampson and Major-Generals Wade and Butler. The commissioners for Porto Rico were Rear-Admiral Schley and Major-Gen- erals Brooke and Gordon. ' The commis- sioners appointed by Spain were as follows: For Cuba : Major-General Gonzales Parrado, Rear-Admiral Pastor y Landero, Marquis Montoro. For Porto Rico : Major-Gen- LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY, 955 eral Ortega y Diaz, Commodore of First Rank Vallarino y Carrasco, Judge-Advocate Sanchez del Aguila y Leon. On August 24th it was announced tliat the following American Peace Commissioners to settle the future of the Philippine Islands had been selected by President McKinley : William R. Day, of Canton, Ohio, Secretary of State ; Cushman K. Davis, United States Senator from Minnesota, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee; William P. Frye, United States Senator from Maine, member of the Foreign Relations Committee. He has served ten years in the House of Representatives and fifteen in the Senate; succeeded James G. Blaine in the Senate ; Whitelaw Reid, of New York, for several years American Ambassador to the French Republic ; and George Gray, United States Senator from Delaware, who succeeded Thomas F. Bayard in the Senate in 1885. The sessions of the Peace Commission were to be held in Paris, commencing not later than October 1st and continuing until an agree- ment was reached. Terms of Peace with Spain. On the 28th of November, 1898, the Peace Commissioners appointed by the United States and Spanish Governments reached an agreement respecting the terms for establish- ing peace between the two nations. The Commissioners met in Paris on October ist and at once began their labors. Reports from time to time indicated that serious dis- agreements had developed, and it was even rumored that it would be impossible to reach an agreement that would satisfy both parties. The result, however, proved the contrary. The Spanish Commissioners were com- pelled to yield to the force of circumstances, to realize the hopelessness of further oppo- sition and to accept the inevitable. In other words, the title of the United States to the possession of a vast colonial territory was confirmed and ratified at the meeting of the Joint Commission in Paris on the above date. This territory includes. Porto Rico, the Island of Guam and the Philippine Archi- pelago, considered in its broadest geograph- ical sense — that is, comprising the Sulu Islands. At the same time the Spanish sovereignty over Cuba was also relinquished. Confined to the Main Question. The length of the proceedings alone would indicate that every concession was wrested with difficulty from the Spanish delegates, while the completeness of their surrender proves the moral strength of the American position. It seemed at one time that the sittings might be dragged out indefinitely. The American Commissioners, however, gradually and skillfully bound down their adversaries to the real issue. At length it became manifest that the moment had arrived when Spain must decide between accepting the essential conditions of the United States or the resumption of hostilities. The American Commissioners presented a long, detailed reply to all the Spanish objec- tions. The arguments advanced were shown to be inadmissible. The different points of law raised by Spain were discussed and disposed of, and the Americans finally pointed out that, as the negotiations had lasted nearly two months, it was impossible to prolong the unreasonably strained situation that at any moment might jeopardize the peace of the civilized world. They, therefore, in diplomatic but unmis- takable language, gave Spain the choice between an acceptance of their terms and a fresh appeal to arms. These terms were, first, the relinquishment of Spanish sovereignty in Cuba; second, the complete and unconditional cession to the United States of Porto Rico, the Island of 956 LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. Guam and the Philippines, between latitudes 5 degrees and 20 degrees north, and longi- tude 115 degrees and 130 degrees east. The ceding of all the Philippines cannot have been an afterthought upon the part of the Commissioners, for a careful collation of information from various sources proves that from the very beginning they included the Sulu Archipelago in the Philippine group, to which it belongs, both geographically and politically, as it has always been governed from Manila — a view amply borne out by the action of Germany and Great Britain some twenty years before. Upon the condition that these preliminaries should be accepted the United States Com- missioners expressed their willingness to discuss amicably the settlement of the vari- ous questions which the change of regime made it desirable to have regulated. Seeking a Cable Station. Among these were the purchase of an island in the Carolines, preferably Ualan, the most easterly of the group, for a cable station, the release of political prisoners and the establishment of religious freedom in the Caroline Islands. The necessity of an i&land, to be used as a naval station, between Hono- lulu and Guam, is made clear by a glance at the map. With reference to the second point, the release of political prisoners, the United States i:ould not humanely take any other attitude than one of commiseration and interest in those who have fallen into disgrace while struggling to throw off the rule of Spahi in either Cuba, Porto Rico or the Philippines. The Commissioners, therefore, deserve the hearty approbation of all for hav- ing included this matter among those it is desirable to have arranged in the peace >reaty. The establishment of genuine religious freedom in the Carolines is also a question intimately concerning the United States. These islands have offered a wide and fertile field for missionary work. The majority of the natives are Christians, and their conver- sion is, in a preponderating measure, the work of the American missionaries. There- fore, in endeavoring to secure a real, as opposed to a theoretical religious freedom, the United States Commissioners were only assuring to their countrymen peaceful enjoy- ment of the fruits of their labors in the cause of Christianity. Pledge of the " Open Door." The Commissioners further went on to discuss ihe treatment to be accorded to Spanish importations to the Philippines. After assuring the Spaniards that the policy of the United States was an " open door" in these islands, they offered to guarantee, during a certain period, identically the same commercial privileges to Spain as would be accorded to America, and, indeed, to Europe. This agreement would still be binding upon the United States, even though their policy in this respect might otherwise undergo modification. It appears that this term of years is suffi- ciently long to be worth Spain's considera- tion, while not so extended as to unduly bind the United States. The Commissioners, in fact, were actuated, on the one hand, by a desire not to pledge the government here td a definite policy for too lengthy a period, and, on the other hand, to avoid the accusa- tion of trifling with their adversaries by making a derisive offer of commercial ad- vantage. This, in substance, was the ultimatum given to the Spanish Commissioners, and subsequently Spain replied to it. While re- fusing to admit the arguments of the United States, and at the same time disputing the LIEUT. R r. H0B30N GENERAL NELSON A. MILES WORKING RAPID-FIRE GUNS IN THE GREAT NAVAL '3ATTLE OF SANTIAGO CAPTAIN ROBLEY D. EVANS LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 957 justice of their conclusions, the Spanish dele- gation yielded to the force of circumstances and accepted the inevitable, avowing their willingness to agree to these terms. There was a mutual agreement concern- ing the indemnity of ;^20,ooo,ooo offered by the United States, this being accepted by Spain as part and parcel of the agreement. The document presenting this acceptance of our terms by the Spanish Commission contained only 300 words. It opened with a reference to the final terms of the United States, and said that the Spanish Commis- sioners, after having taken cognizance of the terms proposed by the Americans, replied that their government had tried to give as equitable an answer as possible, but that they were not prepared to commit their gov- ernment to the acceptance of the principles embodied in the American argument. Spain rejected these principles, the note continued, *'as she always has rejected them." Won't Give Up Her Principles. Basing her attitude on the justice of her cause, the note then said she still adhered to those principles " which she has here- tofore invariably formulated." However, the note added, in her desire for peace she had gone so far as to propose certain compromises, which the Americans had always rejected. She had also at- tempted, it was further asserted, to have sub- mitted to arbitration some of the material points upon which the two governments dif- fered. These proposals for arbitration, it was added, the Americans had equally re- jected. These allegations in Spain's reply as to attempted arbitration referred to her pro- posal to arbitrate the construction of the third article of the protocol, and also to submit the Spanish colonial debt of Cuba and the Philippmes to arbitration. The last proposition was made in a written commu- nication. Subsequent to its presentation and in return for such arbitration, Spain of- fered to cede the territory in dispute. The Americans refused both propositions for ar- bitration. Spain's reply in substance continued by declaring that the United States had offered, as a kind of compensation to Spain, some- thing very inadequate to the sacrifices the latter country makes at this moment, and she feels, therefore, that the United States' proposals cannot be considered just and equitable. Prepared to Submit. Spain had, however, exhausted all the re- sources of diplomacy in an attempt to justify her attitude. Seeing that an acceptance of the proposal made to Spain was a necessary condition to a continuance of negotiations, and seeing that the resources of Spain were not such as to enable her to re-enter upon war, she was prepared, in her desire to avoid bloodshed and from considerations of hu- manity and patriotism, to submit to the con- ditions of the conquering nation. She was therefore ready to accept the proposals of the American Commission, as presented at the last sitting. The reading and the translation of the document occupied less than five minutes. At the conclusion of the translation the Commissioners empowered Senor Ojeda, Secretaiy of the Spanish Commission, and Secretary Moore, of the American Commis- sion, to draw up articles which were to embody the relinquishment of Cuba by Spain and the cession of Porto Rico and the Phil- ippines. The Commissioners left the Foreign Ofifice immediately after the secretaries had been directed to prepare the articles of the peace treaty. There was scarcely any conversation 958 LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. between the American and Spanish Commis- sioners after the adjournment. Among the Americans only the most grave consideration for their Spanish colleagues was apparent. The Spaniards seemed to be relieved at having arrived at the conclusion of a long controversy. Having embodied in the treaty articles all the protocol questions, the two Commissions entered upon friendly negotiations regarding the matters suggested in the American ulti- matum, matters subsidiary and incidental to the principal provisions, which must form part of the peace treaty as finally signed. Spain's Great Losses. Thus Spain honorably accepted the situa- tion, and while entering a protest against the demands of the United States, yielded to superior force and entered into a treaty upon the conditions imposed. Beyond the general rejoicing that the war was thus definitely and successfully ended, there was no disposition among Americans to exult over the fallen foe. The very completeness of Spain's defeat and her acknowledged helplessness appealed, if not to sympathy, at least to consideration, and strengthened the conviction everywhere of the inevitableness of the result. The time had come, in the course of his- tory, when Spain's government of her colonies had failed and they must of necessity pass under more enlightened control, for the sake of the people themselves and of the wide interests of humanity. Circumstances threw this necessary task upon the United States, and our ground for rejoicing is that we were equal to the opportunity. We can see now that to Spain's weakness as well as to our strength was due the quickness and com- pleteness of her overthrow in both her Western and her Eastern possessions, and that these have passed into our hands be- cause she was no longer fit to hold them and because in the natural evolution oi events their control has devolved upon ourselves. Thus the agreement at Paris is not merely the acquiescence of a defeated nation in the demands of its conquerors, but rather the recognition, upon both sides, of an historical event of vast importance which neither side nor both together could successfully avert and which their disagreement could no more than delay. Spain's great part in the devel- opment of a new world has long been played and the power she was unabl^ to hold has passed from her finally. That Spain may eventually be the stronger by the concentra- tion of her energies at home is quite con- ceivable. Whether this country shall become stronger by the wide extension of its energies in new fields must depend entirely upon the use we make of the opportunities and duties which have come to us in the history of the world. Hew Regarded by Senators. Upon the assembling of Congress at Wash- ington on the 5tji of December, measures were taken for ascertaining the sentiments of the Senators concerning the terms of the treaty, and it was discovered that, without doubt, the work of our Peace Commissioners at Paris would be endorsed and the treaty would be ratified by the Senate. It was thought by the majority of the Senators that our demands on Spain were quite reasonable under the circumstances. There were others, however, who voiced a certain public sentiment by affirming that we did not want the Philippine Islands at any price and would be better off without them. Meanwhile the Joint Commission at Paris continued its deliberations. Much of the discussion concerned details as to the guar- anteeing of the rights of Spanish citizens in the ceded colonies. The debate was occa- LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 959 sionally energetic, and the Spaniards often appeared to be dejected. The Spanish Commissioners received authority to bind Iheir government on certain matters, but there were important questions on which their instructions were unsatis- factory, and it was thought that many of the details involved in the change of sovereignty in the Spanish possessions would have to be left for settlement by the regular diplomatic processes when relations between the two governments are resumed. The history of the document which will certify the downfall of the oldest colonial power in the world and the advent of the newest was epitomized by Judge Day in a single sentence : "A peace treaty cai contain anything which the victors put into it.' ^Vhat the Spanish Commissioners Wanted. The Americans listened with their accus- tomed patience to the technicalities employed by the Spaniards with their customary shrewdness and persistency against every proposal making for the dismemberment of their empire. The burden of the Spanish arguments was that matters outside the bare cession and evacuation of the conquered territories, which the Americans proposed to cover by the treaty, were beyond the legitimate and customary scope of a peace treaty. Behind this bulwark Senor Montero Rios, president of the Spanish Commission, fortified himself, bombarding his opponents with a supply of arguments and precedents which inspired the feebly expressed admiration of the Amer- icans. Finally Judge Day summarized the American position in the foregoing memo- rable utterance. It was given and taken in good spirit, and from that moment the pro- ceedings were entirely friendly. The bargain for a coaling station in the Carolines was not cemented, and was thought likely to fail. The temper of the Americans in this matter was: We have made you a good offer for an island. You may take or leave it. The Spaniards seemed disposed to leave it. The Americans did not regard it as a prize which they could demand as one of the nat- ural fruits of the war, while the whole policy of the Spaniards was to confine the negotia- tions as narrowly as possible to the letter of the protocol signed in Washington, and to exclude all extraneous matters. The result of this policy may be the leaving of many details involved in the change of sovereignty over the various possessions to settlement by the regular diplomatic processes when nor- mal relations between the two governments have been resumed. Treaty of Peace with Spain. The Treaty of Peace between the United States and Spain was at first comprised in eight articles containing the essential fea- tures of the agreement. These were after- wards subdivided into seventeen articles as follows : The United States of /\iiierica and her Majesty the Queen Regent of Spain, in the name of her august son, Don Alfonso XIII., desiring to end the state of war now existing between the two countries, have for that pur- pose appointed as Plenipotentiaries : The President of the United States, Wil- liam R. Day, Cushman K. Davis, William P. Frye, George Gray and Whitelaw Reid^ citi- zens of the United States ; and her Majesty the Queen Regent of Spain, Don Eugenio Montero Rios, President of the Senate ; Don Buenaventura de Abarzuza, Senator of the Kingdom and ex-Minister of the Crown; Don Jose de Garnica, Deputy to the Cortes and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court; Don Wenceslao Ramirez de Villa-Uriutia, 96o LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Pleni- potentiary at Brussels, and Don Rafael Cerero, General Division. Who, having assembled in Paris, and hav- ing exchanged their full powers, which were in due and proper form, have, after discussion of the matters before them, agreed upon the following articles : Article I. Spain relinquishes all claim of sovereignty over and title to Cuba. And as the island is, upon its evacuation by Spain, to be occupied by the United States, the United States will, so long as such occu- pation shall last, assume and discharge the obligations that may under international law result from the fact of its occupation, for the protection of life and property. Article II. Spain cedes to the United States the island of Porto Rico and other islands now under Spanish sovereignty in the West Indies and the island of Guam in the Marianas or Lad'-ones. Article III. Spain cedes to the United States the archipelago known as the Philip- pine Islands, and comprehending the island lying within the following line : A line running from west to east along or near the twentieth parallel of north lati- tude, and through the middle of the navi- gable channel of Bachi, from the one hundred and eighteenth (ii8th) to the one hundred and twenty-seventh (127th) degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich, thence along the one hundred and twenty-seventh (127th) degree meridian of longitude east of Green- wich to the parallel of four degrees and forty- five minutes (4° 45') north latitude, thence along the parallel of four degrees and forty- five minutes (4° 45') north latitude to its in- tersection with the meridian of longitude one hundred and nineteen degrees and thirty-five minutes (119° 35') east of Greenwich, thence along the meridian of longitude one hundred and nineteen degrees and thirty-five minutes (119° 35') east of Greenwich, to the parallel of latitude seven degrees and forty minutes (7° 40') north, thence along the parallel of latitude seven degrees and forty minutes (7° 40') north to its intersection with the one hundred and sixteenth (ll6th) degree mer- idian of longitude east of Greenwich, thence by a direct line to the intersection of the tenth (lOth) degree parallel of north latitude with the one hundred and eighteenth ( 1 1 8th) degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich, and thence along the one hundred and eighteenth (iiSth) degree meridian of longitude east of Greenwich to the point of beginning. The United States will pay to Spain the sum of twenty million dollars ($20,000,000) within three months after the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty. Article IV. The United States will, for the term of ten years from the date of the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty, admit Spanish ships and merchandise to the ports of the Philippine Islands on the same terms as ships and merchandise of the United States. Article V. The United States will, upon the signature of the present treaty, send back to Spain, at its own cost, the Spanish sol- diers taken as prisoners of war on the capture of Manila by the American ^orces. The arms of the soldiers in questioi, shall be restored to them. Spain will, upon the exchange of the rati- fications of the present treaty, proceed to evacuate the Philippines, as well as the island of Guam, on terms similar to those agreed upon by the Commissioners appointed to arrange for the evacuation of Porto Rico and other islands in the West Indies under the Protocol of August 12, 1898, which is to continue in force till '*■= orovisions are completely executed. LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 961 The time within which the evacuation of the Philippine Islands and Guam shall be complete shall be fixed by the two Govern- ments. Stands of colors, uncaptured war vessels, small arms, guns of all calibres, with their carriages and accessories, powder, am- munition, live stock, and materials and sup- plies of all kinds, belonging to the land and naval forces of Spain in the Philippines and Guam, remain the property of Spain. Pieces of heavy ordnance, exclusive of field artillery in the fortifications and coast defences, shall remain in their emplacements for the term of six months, to be reckoned from the ex- change of ratifications of the treaty ; and the United States may, in the meantime, purchase such material from Spain, if a satis- factory agreement between the two Govern- ments on the subject shall be reached. Article VI. Spain will, upon the signa- ture of the present treaty, release all prisoners of war, and all persons detained or imprisoned for political offences, in connection with the insurrections in Cuba and the Philippines and the war with the United States. Reciprocally the United States will release all persons made prisoners of war by the American forces, and will undertake to ob- tain the release of all Spanish prisoners in the hands of the insurgents in Cuba and the Philippines. The Government of the United States will at its own cost return to Spain, and the Gov- ernment of Spain will at its own cost return to the United States, Cuba, Porto Ric^, and the Philippines, according to the situation of their respective homes, prisoners released or caused to be released by them, respectively, under this article. Article VII. The United States and Spain mutually relinquish all claims for in- demnity, national and individual, of every kind, of either Government, or of its citizens 61 or subjects, against the other Government, that may have arisen since the beginning of the late insurrection in Cuba, and prior to the exchange of ratifications of the present treaty, including all claims for indemnity for the cost of the war. The United States will adjudicate and set- tle the claims of its citizens against Spain relinquished in this article. Article VIII. In conformity with the pro- visions of Articles I, II and III of this treaty, Spain relinquishes in Cuba, and cedes in Porto Rico and other islands in the West Indies, in the island of Guam, and in the Philippine Archipelago, all the buildings, wharves, bar- racks, forts, structures, public highways and other immovable property which, in con- formity with law, belong to the public domain, and as such belong to the Crown of Spain. And it is hereby declared that the relin- quishment or cession, as the case may be, to which the preceding paragraph refers, can- not in any respect impair the property or rights which by law belong to the peaceful possession of property of all kinds, of prov- inces, municipalities, public or private estab- lishments, ecclesiastical or civic bodies, or any other associations having legal capacity to acquire and possess property in the aforesaid territories renounced or ceded, or of private individuals, of whatsoever nationality siK;h individuals may be. The aforesaid relinquishment or cession, as the case may be, includes all documents exclusively referring to the sovereignty relin- quished or ceded that may exist in the ar- chives of the Peninsula. Where any docu- ment in such archives only in part relates to said sovereignty, a copy of such part will be furnished whenever it shall be requested. Like rules shall be reciprocally observed in favor of Spain in respect of documents in the archives of the islands above referred to. 962 LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. In the aforesaid relinquishment or cession, as the case may be, are also included such rights as the Crown of Spain and its authori- ties possess in respect of the official archives and records, executive as well as judicial, in the islands above referred to, which relate to said islands or the rights and property of their inhabitants. Such archives and records shall be carefully preserved, and private per- sons shall without distinction have the right to require, in accordance with law, authenti- cated copies of the contracts, wills and other instruments forming part of notarial proto- cols or files, or which may be contained in the executive or judicial archives, be the lat- ter in Spain or in the islands aforesaid. Article IX. Spanish subjects, natives of the Peninsula, residing in the territory over which Spain by the present treaty relinquishes or cedes her sovereignty, may remain in such territory or may remove therefrom, retaining in either event all their rights of property, including the right to sell or dispose of such property or of its proceeds ; and they shall also have the right to carry on their industry, commerce and professions, being subject in respect thereof to such laws as are applica- ble to other foreigners. In case they remain in the territory they may preserve their alle- giance to the Crown of Spain by making, before a court of record, within a year from the date of the exchange of ratifications of this treaty, a declaration of their decision to preserve such allegiance; in default of which declaration they shall be held to have re- nounced it and to have adopted the nationality of the territory in which they may reside. The civil rights and political status of the native inhabitants of the territories hereby ceded to the United States shall be deter- mined by the Congress. Article X. The inhabitants of the terri- tories over which Spain relinquishes or cedes her sovereignty shall be secured in the Iree exercise of their religion. Article XL The Spaniards residing in the territories over which Spam by this treaty cedes or relinquishes her sovereignty shall be subject in matters civil as well as criminal ta the jurisdiction of the courts of the country wherein they reside, pursuant to the ordinary laws governing the same; and they shall have the right to appear before such courts and to pursue the same course as citizens ol the country to which the courts belong. Article XII. Judicial proceedings pend- ing at the time of the exchange of ratifica- tions of this treaty in the territories over which Spain relinquishes or cedes her sover- eignty shall be determined according to the following rules: 1. Judgments rendered either in civil suits between private individuals, or in criminal matters, before the date mentioned and with respect to which there is no recourse or right of review under the Spanish law, shall be deemed to be final, and shall be executed in due form by competent authority in the ter- ritory within which such judgments should be carried out. 2. Civil suits "between private individuals which may on the date mentioned be unde- termined shall be prosecuted to judgment before the court in which they may then be pending, or in the court that may be sub- stituted therefor. 3. Criminal actions pending on the date mentioned before the Supreme Court of Spain against citizens of the territory, which by this treaty ceases to be Spanish, shall continue under its jurisdiction until final judgment; but, such judgment having been rendered, the execution thereof shall be committed to the competent authority of the place in which the case arose. Article XIII. The rights of property LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 963 secured by copyrights and patents acquired by Spaniards in the Island de Cuba, and in Porto Rico, the Philippines and other ceded territories, at the time of the exchange of the ratification of this treaty, shall continue to be respected. Spanish scientific, literary and In faith whereof we, the respective Pletw- potentiaries, have signed this treaty and here- unto affixed our seals. Done in duplicate at Paris, the tenth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight. C^C^^Tun^ artistic works, not subversive of public ^jj ♦ ^ y\ jrder in the territories in question, shall / \i C//jt_ji^,Ci.y4.yt^^ U\ /Vy"^!-'^!/ continue to be admitted free of duty into J such territories for the period of ten years, to be reckoned from the date of the exchange of the ratification of this treaty. Article XIV. Spain shall have the power to establish consular offices in the ports and places of the territories, the sover- eignty over which has been either relin- quished or ceded by the present treaty. Article XV. Th*^ Government of each country will, for the term of ten years, accord to the merchant vessels of the other country the same treatment in respect of all port charges, including entrance and clear- ance dues, light dues and tonnage duties, as it ac- cords to its own merchant vessels, not engaged in the coastwise trade. This article may at any time be terminated on six months' notice given by either Gov- ernment to the other. Article XVI. It is understood that any obligations assumed in this treaty by the United States with respect to Cuba are limited to the time of its occupancy thereof; but it will, upon the termination of such occupancy, advise any Government established in the island to assume the same obligations. ^ Article XVII. The present treaty shall be ratified by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, and by Her Majesty the Queen Regent of Spain ; and the ratification shall be exchanged at Washington within six months from the date hereof, or earlier if possible. EUGENIC MONTERO RIOS. B. DE ABARAZUZA. J. DE GARNICA. W. R. DE VILLI-URRUTIA. RAFAEL CERERO. The treaty of peace was signed at 8.45 on the evening of December lOth, 1898. The treaty consisted of seventeen articles, it hav- ing been found advisable to subdivide some of the articles in the draft agreed upon at the last meeting. The commissioners of the two nations wrote their signatures on two copies of the treaty, one copy being for the archives. The document was prepared by Secretary Moore in behalf of the United States commission 964 LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. and by Senor Villaurutia for Spain, on ac- count of the illness of Secretary Ojeda, of the Spanish commission. Each copy contained the English and Span- ish texts of the treaty in parallel columns. The wording had been approved previously by the commissioners without a joint meet- ing, so there was no controversy on the sub- ject. There]was a great contest among the fami- lies and friends of the American Commis- sioners for the pens with which the signa- tures of the treaty were written Some of the Americans were provided with handsome pens purchased for the purpose. The Span- iards appeared to be unaffected by the sou- venir craze, and contented themselves with the ordinary quill pens. An Impressive Scene. Arthur Ferguson, the interpreter of the American Commission, requested Senor Montero Rios to give him his pen, saying : " Have you any desire to preserve the pen with which you will sign?" " Not the slightest," said the Spaniard, with a courtly bow. The signing of the treaty would have af- forded a subject for a great historical paint- ing. The group gathered about the table in the stately chamber of the French Foreign Office was impressive, while the fact that the sense of the importance of the issues which the act consummated was deeply felt by all the participants, gave an impressive and solemn tone to the scene. Around the great mahogany taOle sat the ten arbiters of the destinies of an old and a young nation. Ranged standing behind them were numerous attaches of the Amer- ican commission. The jets from the crystal chandeliers above the heads of those present magnified the green and scarlet upholstering, giving the whole room a brilliant appearance. There was a theatrical contrast between the black-clothed actors and the scenery. To the Americans it was a happy ending of the drama of war ; for the Spaniards it was plainly a bitter tragedy, none the less painful because long foreseen. They sat silently, as though almost crushed, and none could with- hold sympathy from Senor Montero Rios, the President of the Spanish Commission, who, coming from his bed, was bundled in a great overcoat, though 'ogs were burning in the fireplace near by. Details of Signing the Treaty. The spirits of the two bodies v/ere .symbol- ized by the clothes worn by the members of the commission, for the Americans were attired in evening dress for the dinner given to them after the meeting by the Due de Loubat, and the Spaniards wore black frock coats. When the seals were prepared to be af- fixed, attendants were sent to procure rib- bons of the French tri-color with which the documents were sealed, as a compliment to the French hosts of the commissions. The seal being impressed, the commis- sioners rose, and without formality each member shook the hands of all his antago- nists and exchanged assurances of sincere personal esteem. The signing was finished at 8.54. At that time the door of the chamber opened, and Senor Villaurutia appeared and exclaimed to a group of correspondents who were waiting in the corridor, " C'est fini." [It is finished,] The other members of the Spanish commis- sion followed Senor Villaurutia and hurried silently through the vestibule to their wait- ing carriages. The American commissioners strolled out chatting complacently, and as they descended the steps the '"^hts in the chamber were darkened Further details were soon learned as to the COPYRIGHT, 1898, BY GEO. G. ROCKWOOO, li. » COLONEL THEODORE ROOSEVELT Celebrated Commander of the Rough Riders MAJOR GENERAL W. R. SHAFTER Commander of Our Army in the Santiago Campaign GOPYRRIGHT, 1898, BV KURZ it AUiSO»- ADMIRAL DEWEY ON THE BRIDGE OF THE OLYMPIA DURING THE GREAT NAVAL BATTLE OF MANILA LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 965 wording of the treaty. The Americans are to pay for the repatriation of the Spanish troops irom all the colonies. The Spaniards are to return all prisoners held by them. They are to retain possession of all military stores and munitions of wat in the Philip- pines, and of such ships as have not been captured. Renewal of Commercial Relations. The commercial treaties between the two nations which the war ruptured are to be renewed at the convenience of the two nations. The United States Peace Commissioners appreciated the respite from the long strain of daily conferences and almost daily ses- sions, the intensity of which they hardly rea- lized until it was over. Warm personal friendships and mutual re- . gard had arisen between the two commis- sions as the result of their extended contro- versy, and several member? of both commis- sions exchanged calls. The American Commissioners unofficially informed the Spaniards that they would be glad to have the two commissions dine to- gether. The reply was that the Spariards would be most pleased, but feared it would be inadvisable, because it might be miscon- strued at Madrid, where aLeady much feeling existed against the Spanish Commissioners. Americans in Paris congratulated our Com- missioners upon the successful termination of their labors. They had taken a deep interest in the proceedings, feeling confident that the result would reflect honor upon our country. The treaty was placed in the hands of President McKinley, who immediately trans- mitted it to the Senate. As the time for voting upon it approached, public interest became intense. Not since the excitement immediately following the destruction of the battleship Maine were the people of Wash- ington so aroused as they were when the vote was to be taken. The Capitol halls and corridors were thronged from early morning with crowds who were intent upon witnessing the proceedings. The fact that our flag had been insulted and our soldiers and sailors at Manila subjected to wounds and death ac- centuated national interest in the pending treaty. Long before noon the public and private galleries of the Senate were filled and people streamed into the big marble building on Capitol Hill. But very few Senators were present before the gavel fell at noon. The Senators were in their various "committee rooms, discussing the situation, and working with the supposed doubtful Senators to in- duce them to place patriotism above party and vote for the treaty. The Treaty Ratified. The treaty of peace was ratified in' the executive session of the United States Sen- ate, February 6th, by a vote of 57 to 27, the supporters of the treaty mustering but a sin- gle vote more than the necessary two-thirds. There was no doubt whatever that the Span- ish Cortes would ratify the treaty and the war with Spain was therefore concluded. The long agitation in Congress and throughout the country concerning the peace treaty was over and the way was prepared for Congress to adopt such meas- ures as it might see fit for the future gov ernment of the Philippine Islands. The de- bate 'in the Senate had been very able and for some time the result was in doubt. Ef- forts were made to pass a resolution declar- ing that it was not the policy of the United States to acquire possession of the Islands and make them a part of the territory of the United States. The insurgent army of Aguinaldo, which had resolutely maintained its position near 966 LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. Manila after the town was surrendered by the Spaniards to the American soldiers and sailors, made a fierce attack on the American lines in the evening of February 4, 1899. Defeated in a desperate effort to break through the American lines and enter the city of Manila, the insurgent forces, after fourteen hours of continuous fighting, were driven from the villages of Santa Anna, Paco and Santa Mesa. They were compelled to retreat to a position quite a distance further out in the suburbs than the one they held before attacking the city. The losses of the insurgents were heavy, the American troops having gone into the engagement with great enthusiasm and de- termination. They made the streets of the city ring with their cheers when they were notified of the attack and were ordered to advance. Several of the vessels in Admiral Dewey's squadron participated in the fight, firing on the natives in Malate and Caloocan, and driving them inland from both of those places and inflicting heavy losses. How the Fight Began. , This engagement was brought about by the action of three native scouts, who, ad- vancing close to the Amencan lines near Santa Mesa, made a feint to go through. They retreated upon being challenged, but returned again in a short time. Once more they retreated. When they returned a third time and attempted to make their way past the outposts of the Nebraska troops a corpo- ral challenged them and then fired. One of the natives was killed and another wounded. This affair was followed at nine o'clock by a general attack on the American outposts. The insurgents advanced all along the line from Caloocan to Santa Mesa. Our troops ' lost no time in replying to the attack. Mem- j bers of the North Dakota, Nebraska and ! Montana regiments returned the insurgent fire with great vigor and succeeded in hold- ing the natives in check until the main body of the American troops arrived on the scene. There was a lull in the fighting after the first reply of our troops, but the firing was continued for five hours with much regu- larity. During the early hours of the morn- ing it became more brisk, and at daylight the American troops made a firm advance. Insurgents again Routed. In the daylight it was found that the in- surgents had massed themselves about Santa Mesa and Caloocan, and that they had a considerable force about Gagalangin. Our troops directed their movements primarily against the natives between the first named places, and ultimately drove them out of the two villages. Telling work was done at the same time against the insurgents about Gag- alangin, and when the fighting ceased our troops were in possession of Santa Anna, in which village the natives had congregated for weeks prior to the fight. While the American troops were doing such effective work in repelling the attack, news of the fight was received on board the vessels of the American squadron, and the monitor Monadnock, which was lying off Malate, joined with the gunboat Concord and the cruiser Charleston, lying off Mala- bon, in firing on the insurgents. Aguinaldo's forces were completely routed and were driven from six to ten miles beyond the positions they occupied when the battle began. On February lOth a force of 6,000 insurgents that had gathered at Caloocan was attacked by the Americans and de- feated with heavy loss. On February nth Iloilo was captured by General Miller and the force under his com- mand, aided by the warships Petrel and Bal- timore. No casualties resulted to our troops LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 967 On February 2ist the transport Newport arrived at Manila from Iloilo, having on board Senor Aranita, the President of the provisional governmentof Negros, and other representative natives of the island. They called upon the American authorities. These men visited General Miller at Iloilo and dis- cussed the situation with him. They then returned to Silay, the principal town in the aiorthern part of Negros, and hoisted the American flag. The flag was also raised at Bacoloo, the capital of the island, and was saluted with twenty-one guns. Afterward the men returned to Iloilo in order to embark for Manila to confer with General Otis. The people of Negros never sympathized with either the Tagal or Visayan insurgents, and obviously were desirous of settling down to peaceful occupations. The Island of Cebu. It was soon ascertained that the island of Cebu was ready to submit to the authority of the United States. Cebu is one of the most important of the Vasayas group of the Phil- ippines. It hoisted the American flag on Washington's birthday, February 22d. A battalion of the Twenty-third Infantry was sent by General Otis to uphold the authority of our government. On February 21st there was great excite- ment throughout the city of Manila. Three iires were started by the insurgents at Santa Cruz, Tondo and the Binondo Market. The latter fire worked its way toward the wharves. The natives cut the hose. One thousand na- tive houses and hundreds of business places were burned. The refugees thronged the streets with their rescued property. The houses fired were marked with red. An idea of the extent of the loss by fires in the suburbs of Manila may be obtained from the figures herewith given : — Sixty buildings of stone and 150 substantial wooden structures with iron roofs were destroyed. In addition 8,000 nipa houses of the natives were burned. The flying column under General Wheaton started the aggressive campaign against the insurgents on the morning of the 13th. The line consisted of three troops of the Fourth cavalry on the extreme right, and next in their order the Twenty-second infantry, the Oregon volunteers, and the Washington vol- unteers. The latter, who were on the extreme left, were opposite Guadaloupe on the river. General Wheaton's Flying Column. A lieutenant of Scott's battery fired the signal gun at five minutes of seven o'clock, and at once the Fourth cavalry, mounted, swung forward. Then all the infantry regi- ments, formed in three lines, left their trenches and moved on the enemy. It was a beauti- ful sight, this clock-like regularity of the advance. The cavalry met a heavy fire on the right. The men dismounted and drove the enemy out of their intrenchments. General Wheaton, commanding the United States flying column, attacked and defeated a force of 3,000 Filipinos at Pasig, in the afternoon of the 15th, inflicting a heavy loss upon them. The American loss was slight. The Americans captured many Filipinos. Many bodies of rebels killed in the engage- ment were seen floating down the river. The Washington volunteers captured and burned Pateros, meeting with a sharp fire from the enemy while crossing the river. The day's fighting was like that of the pre- ceding week, the insurgents occasionally making a stand, but eventually fleeing. General Wheaton's column advanced be- yond Pasig to the shore of Laguna de Bay, sweeping everything before it. The enemy made a running fight and suffered a severe loss. The rebels' avenue of communication north 968 lATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. and south was closed, the American cordon stretching over a mile fiom the river to the lake. The rebels were in force at Pateros and Taguig. At about eight o'clock the Twenty-second regular infantry advanced until it encountered a number of volleys. This fire was returned with interest. The strongly fortified village of Gaitai was cap- tured after a desperate fight by the Twentieth legular infantry. On Friday, March 17th, the Queen Regent signed the treaty of peace, which was for- warded to the French Ambassador at Wash- ington, M. Jules Cambon, for exchange with the one signed by President McKinley. The draft of the treaty was signed in Paris on December 10, 1898. The Commissioners appointed by the two Governments began their labors on the ist of October. Another Town Captured. Fighting continued near Manila, the object of the American troops being to rout the in- surgents, and by one blow end their rebellion. From detailed accounts it appears that at daybreak MacArthur dashed beyond Polo and to the north-east, and captured Meycau- ayan. This place is two miles beyond Polo. It was not taken without a fight. The insur- gents left detachments in all the trenches to delay the advance. Meycauayan is at the base of the rough hills and the jungle. The railroad over the conquered country to the rear was repaired and fresh tioops were rushed forward. ' Malabon was burned by the insurgents, and the 5000 rebels who constituted its garrison retreated to rejoin Aguinaldo's main column of insurgents at Malolos The town of Malinta, beyond the Tuliahan river, was taken by General Wheaton's division. The fighting was sharp all day, and the battlefield was carpeted with the insurgent dead. Our own losses were comparatively slight, though among our dead was Colonel Harry C. Egbert, a hero of two wars. The plan to cut off the 5000 insurgents in Malolos failed by reason of the roughness of the ground and the thickne.ss of the jungle, which prevented General MacArthur from getting far enough around to the north of Polo to shut the enemy in. We had to be content with a victory consisting of our hav- ing driven the enemy from his position. The victory in this light was a sweeping one. The insurgents, though beset with cavalry, infantry and artillery, volunteers and regulars, fought desperately in their trenches. Flight of the Filipinos. The advance to Malinta was made ove. the Nivaliches Rial. Hale's command in the flank movement of MacArthur's division surprised the insurgents in the northern trenches. The Filipinos fled along the rail- road, burning rice mills, tearing up the tracks and obstructing all they knew how. They finally took refuge in the church at Malinta, where they made a stand. The American troops were coming on the run, however, and Malinta was taken by assault, the rebels continuing to retreat toward Polo, destroy- ing as they went. As they fell back the in- surgents broke up into comparatively small bodies, so the day's fighting was really a series of small battles. General MacArthur's division advanced along the torn-up railroad toward Malabon Ahead of them could be seen the black smoke rising from the burning town. The insurgents realized that they could not hold Malabon, and alarmed at the narrow escape they had from being caught in it, as in a trap, they fled back toward Malolos as fast as they could go. The day's action was beautifully conaucted. When Wheaton's brigade was wading the river the insurgent bullets were churning LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 969 and spattering the water in their faces. Our soldiers dashed up the north bank dripping, and without stopping to shake the water from them, swept on over the ridge and into the rebel entrenchments. In the midst of it all came volley after volley from the left. And as suddenly as if it had been a battle on the stage, MacArthur's right wing appeared over the hill, cheering wildly. Their sudden appearance was too much for the insurgents. They threw down their rifles and ran. The American forces, in a great triangle, rushed after them, and the slaughter amortg the fleeing natives was terrific. It wao a magnificent picture of war, with the Fourth Cavalry galloping along the crest of the farthest hills shooting as they rode. Cannon, carbine and rifles were all belching forth death, and the smoke framed it all. As if Swept by a Cyclone. The American army advanced at 6 o'clock on the morning of the 29th, sweeping onward three miles before 10 o'clock, and driving the insurgents beyond Bocave, to the east of Bulacan and on the railroad leading to Malo- los. Our troops met with but slight resist- ance. The Filipinos fired volleys for the pur- pose of drawing the American fire and dis- closing the locality of our positions. Two men of the Pennsylvania regiment and one man belonging to the Dakota regiment were wounded. The Americans remained silent. The country between Marilao and Manila presented a picture of desolation. Smoke curled from hundreds of ash heaps, and the remains of trees and fences torn by shrapnel were to be seen everywhere. The general appearance of the country was as if it had been swept by a cyclone. The roads were strewn with furniture and clothing dropped in flight by the Filipinos. The only persons remaining behind were a few aged persons too infirm to escape. They camped beside i the ruins of their former homes and begged passers-by for any kind of assistance. The majority of them were living on the generos- ity of our soldiers, who gave them portions of their rations. The dogs of the Filipinos cowered in the bushes, still terrified and barking, while hundreds of pigs were to be seen busily searching for food. Bodies of dead Filipinos were stranded in the shallows of the river, or were resting in the jungle where they crawled to die, or were left in the wake of the hurriedly retreating army. These bodies gave forth a horrible odor, but there was no time to bury them. Fled in a Panic. The inhabitants who fled from Marilao and Meycauayan left in such a panic that on tables our soldiers found spread money and valuables, and in the rooms were trunks con- taining other property of value. This was the case in most of the houses deserted. They were not molested by our soldiers, but the Chinese who slipped in between the armies were looting when they could, and took pos- session of several houses, over which they raised Chinese flags, some of which were torn down. An old woman was found hid- den in a house at Meycauayan yesterday just dead, apparently from fright and hunger. Malolos, the insurgent capital, was cap- tured on the morning of March 31st by the American troops, after a hot fight. The final advance began before daylight. After eating a good breakfast the troops started from their former line in the following order, extending from left to right : Third United States Artillery ; Montana Volunteers; Kansas Volunteers; Tenth Penn- sylvania ; South Dakota Volunteers ; Ne- braska Volunteers ; Fourth United States Cavalry. Shortly before 3 o'clock the army began its cautious advance, meeting almost imme- 970 LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. diately with a heavy fire on the right. The troops advanced regardless of the rain of bullets, driving the insurgents from their trenches into the thickets. The army then advanced two miles and discovered an in- surgent outpost strongly intrenched. The natives came forward flying a white flag and asked for mercy. They assured our troops that they were unarmed, but when they re- turned to their trenches they immediately opened a sharp fire on our lines, which v/as soon silenced. Our Troops in Malolos. Major General MacArthur entered Malo- los, the seat of the so-called insurgent gov- ernment, at half-past nine in the morning, the rebels burning the city and simultaneously evacuating it. The service of our troops in the Philippines was such as to cause every American heart to swell with pride. There was not one act of cowardice nor a step of retreat, and good generalship was supported by a sol- diery whose courage, patience and fighting would make the honor page of any coun- try stand more gloriously forth in its his- tory. The campaign in the East had, however, peculiar qualities which commended those engaged in it to the hearts of their country- men. It was fought chiefly by the citizen soldiers, the regiments of the National Guard, not one of whom had until within a few m.onths seen a shot fired in battle, and they all conducted themselves with the precision o( regular troops and of veterans. The regiments furnished by their respec- tive States were volunteers, the boys from the plow, the clerks from the store, and offi- cers who had only until within less than a year looked upon soldiery as a military pic- nic, a playtime period for armory drills and d^tuces, a matter of uniform and flirtation. But back of this existed the real soldier's spirits, the fighting capacity which belonged to the Old Guard, the armies of Marlborough, Cromwell and Frederick the Great. Being called upon to exhibit it they responded with such splendid courage that the nation which sent them forth began to realize the poten tiality of the race and to know that it is a peo- ple of strength in war as in the other chan- nels through which it has attained gran- deur, and promoted the well-being of man- kind. The next event of importance in the Philip- pines after the downfall of Malolos was the capture of Santa Cruz, on Laguna de Bay, by General Lawton's forces on the morn- ing of April loth. This was done after a sharp engagement with the rebel defenders, who were commanded by Pac ^Yah, " Chinaman. Battle at Quingan. A furious battle was fought between the Americans and Filipinos on April 23d. The scene of the battle w^as Quingan, five miles northeast of Malolos. Major Bell, of the Fourth United States Cavalry, was ordered to make a reconnoissance in order to develop the strength of the insurgents. He took Lieutenant Rutherford and sixty-one men of the Fourth Cavalry. At daybreak this little body of Americans reached the insurgent position. Major Bell and Lieutenant Ruther- ford, with five men, went ahead of the rest of the reconnoitering party. The insurgents saw them, but withheld their fire, evidently expecting that the remainder of the company would soon come within range. Major Bell's orders from General Mac- Arthur explicitly instructed him to ascertain the strength of the enemy. The remainder of the cavalry was advanced. As soon as the little command came within range the insur- gents opened with a hot fire. One American LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 971 soldier was killed and five wounded by the first volley. Major Bell immediately sent for reinforce- ments. The cavalry held its ground bravely. The insurgents fought like demons. The Filipinos sent canoe loads of soldiers down the river. These landed on both the right and left sides of the American soldiers, sur- rounding them on three sides. They were forced back, but they fought hard for every inch of ground which they gave to the rebels. The Filipinos followed up their advantage. They had driven Major Bell and his men nearly three-quarters of a mile from Quingan, when Major Morford, with a battalion of the First Nebraska Volunteers, hastened up to the assistance of the retreating cavalrymen. Instead of the new troops changiog the tide of battle and causing the Filipinos to retreat, the insurgents held their ground and fought more savagely. The battle was fought in a fog, which enabled the enemy to keep close to the Americans without being seen. Shot in the Charge. Next two companies of the Iowa Regiment advanced to the fighting line, but later they were withdrawn, being on guard duty. The rest of the Nebraska Regiment next came up. General Hale arrived shortly afterward with the rest of the lowans. The Americans were ordered forward to take the positions which the insurgents were holding. Just as the forward movement began Col- onel Stotsenberg came dashing up and took his place at the head of his regiment. He had just returned to Malolos from Manila, where he had been visiting his wife. He heard of the battle, rushed to Quingan and reached his men in time to lead them in the storming of the insurgent trenches. Dur- ing this charge in the withering hail of bul- lets Colonel Stotsenberg, of the Nebraska Volunteers, was shot. An insurgent DuUet pierced his heart, and he dropped dead within a few yards of the trenches. Three guns from the Utah Artillery reached the fighting ground just as the Nebraskans were making their charge. Their advance, assisted by the shells from the artillery, broke the resistance of the insurgents, and after half an hour more of fighting they were driven from Quingan. The village was occupied by the Americans. A Brilliant Victory. The most brilliant exploit and the winning of the greatest American victory in the bat- tles around Manila occurred on the 27th. The taking of the bridge over the Rio Grande at Calumpit was a deed of astonishing daring. It was the most strongly defended position held by the insurgents. Located on the north shore of the Rio Grande, opposite Calumpit, it is the most valuable stragetic point m Luzon. The fact that it was guarded by the most trustworthy and best disciplined regiments of General Aguinaldo made the feat more noteworthy. Army officers said the daring displayed by the American troops was almost unparalleled in the annals of modern warfare. It was a notable day for the Twentieth Regiment of Kansas Volunteers, commanded by Colonel Funston. One hundred and twenty men belonging to that regiment crossed the river in the face of a deadly fire from 3,000 insurgent Mausers. This torrent of bullets was augmented by a fusillade of a Maxim gun, of which the insurgents had ob- tained possession. Colonel Funston, with only nine men, charged the trenches manned by thousands of insurgents, discharging their rifles as they ran up the embankm.ents. The American artillery on the south shore of the Rio Grande poured shot and shell into the Filipino 972 LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. atronghold. The rebels were stampeded. They went north, toward Bacolor. Despite the extraordinary risks and chances taken by the Americans our troops suffered very few casualties. Only one man was killed, and the wounded did not exceed a dozen. The insurgents lost heavily, fully twenty-five were killed during the mad charge of Colonel Funston's men on the trenches. The two batteries of artillery known at Manila as the " Mormons " became famous on account of their heroic exploits. Sturdy city men from Pennsylvania, plainsmen from Nebraska, Kansas and South Dakota, and miners and cowboys from Montana and Ida- ho, have all charged under the protection of the twelve guns of the Utah artillery, and the generals have taken pride in giving credit and promotion to its brave men. Officers of the Bat'cf y. There is special interest in the East, too, in the performances of this organization. Major Richard W. Young, the senior officer of the battalion, is a graduate of Columbia University Law School, a West Pointer, and spent many years on Governor's Island as Judge Advocate of the Department of the East under General Hancock. Major Grant, Commander of the Second battery, was a graduate of the Canadian School of Artillery, and spent many years of his life iu the East. Utah prepared in 1886 for the distinction that has now come to her by purchasing eight 3.2-inch modern field guns immedi- ately after she was admitted to the Union. At that time there was a large sura in the Treasury at Washington, the accumulation of many years' allowances for militia organi- zation. This, on the advice of Major Young, formerly an officer of the Fifth artillery, then a lawyer in Salt Lake City, was used in the purchase of the cannon, and when the war began he was entrusted with the organization of three batteries of volunteers. Two of these were taken on the transports Colon and China on the second military ex- pedition to Manila, embarking on June 15, 1898, and it was their fortune to be engaged in the first battle with the Spaniards. Four of the guns were posted to guard the ad- vanced post of the American troops in front of Malate. Barely eight hundred yards in front of them were the Spanish trenches and forts, and only the Tenth Pennsylvania was near to support them. Onslaught by the Insurgents. The handful of men at the guns had a memorable taste of war on the night of July 31st, when a tropical rain was flooding the trenches and shutting out everything from their sight. In the midst of the storm the Spaniards opened fire from their trenches, and soon a body of more than three thousand were charging on the guns and the Pennsyl- vanians. Captains Young and Grant and almost all the other officers of the batteries were with General Greene at Camp Dewey. The guns were in charge of Lieutenant Orrin M. Grow^ who was barely twenty-seven years old. Sup- ported by the Pennsylvanians, the men held to their position, pouring shrapnel in the di- rection of the Spanish lines, and at one time seeing the faces of their charging foes by the flash of their guns. Finally when their am- munitior was almost exhausted General Greene came up with infantry support, and Captains Young and Grant led the other eager men of the Utah batteries, who were pulling their guns through mud that reached the hubs of the carriages. Even the advance of the Americans proved a danger for the brave little band, however, for when the Californians saw the flash of the Utah guns in the darkness they opened fir^ LIEUTENANT-COLONEL JOHN JACOB ASTOR WHO RAISED AND EQUIPPED A BATTERY FOR OUR GOVERNMENT AT HIS OWN EXPENSE MAJOR-GENERAL J. R. BROOKE CAPTAIN CHARLES E. CLARKE COMMANDER OF THE BATTLF«HIP OREGON COMMODORE JOHN W. PHILIP COMMANDER OF THE BATTLESHIP TEXAS I CAPTAIN F. J. HIGGINSON COMMANDER OF BATTLESHIP MASSACHUSETTS CAPTAIN B. H. McCALLA COM%flANDER OF THE MARBLEHEAO LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 97: on the two score of men in the trenches and kept it up until they reaHzed they had been shooting at friends. In the capture of Manila the post of honor was given to the Utah batteries. They opened fire early in the morning on the Spanish fort at Malate, and covered the advance of Gen- eral Greene's division, which forced its way even to the walls of the old city. Special mention was made of the artillerymen and their officers in the report of the engagement. When the alarm sounded after the insurgent attack on the night of Februnry 4th the Utah guns, now increased to twelve by the capture of cannon from the Spaniards, were in the city. But to each had been given its station, and soon the boys were rattling through the streets, dragging their guns in the midst of bullets that came from every side. At day- light they were guarding the infantvy from the beach north of Manila to the Ya^ig river. In the Thick of the Fight. Two of the guns under Lieutenant W. C. Webb were directly in front of San Juan Bridge, over which had been fired the shot of the American sentry that brought the armies into conflict. So close were the can- non to the enemy that after the first fire the insurgents concentrated their attention on them, and two of the gunners were killed before the infantrymen could reach the rebel trenches. From one position to another along the whole front of the left wing the Utah batteries for three days covered the advance of the in- fantry. In the recapture of the Manila water works, on which depended the safety of the city, seven of the guns shelled the insur- gents from hill to hill. Churches, convents, monasteries and other buildings wherein Aguinaldo's men took refuge bear the marks of the accurate fire of the Westerners. On the right wing in this engagement Utah artillerymen acted on the water. Lieu- tenant Naylor commanding the gunboat Laguna de Bay, dubbed by the soldiers the " Mud Hen," which prepared the way for the advance up the Pasig River. Afterward Major Grant, who had received promotion in company with Major Young for gallantry in action, was put in command of the fleet of gunboats which guarded the Pasig River and swept around Laguna de Bay, disorganizing the insurgents and later covering the landing of Lawton's expedition on the lake shore. From Caloocan to Calumpit insurgent works show evidence of the work of the Utah gun- ners. They were in the advance line of MacArthur's troops, covering the advance with canister that shook the bravery of Aguinaldo's best troops. Nearly All Mormons. As a reward for his efficiency Major Young was ofifered a commission in the regular army. Durmg the early days of the occu- pation of Manila he was judge of the provost court, and his name was recommended to President McKinley for an appointment as lieutenant colonel in the Judge Advocate General's Department. Probably three-fourths of the men in the two batteries are Mormons. Many of them served their two or three years as missiona- ries for that Church and a Mormon chaplain was with the battalion. Major Young is a grandson of Brigham Young, and an elder and Mormon home missionary. Major Grant is a Gentile in Utah, in company with several of the brave officers in the battalion. There was no church feeling in the batteries, how- ever. Ambassador Cambon, as the diplomatic representative of the Spanish government in. Washington, called at the State Department on May 1st and received from Secretary Hay four warrants for ;$5 ,000,000 each, making 974 LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. $20,000,000, due to Spain under the treaty of Paris. There was little formality about the trans- fer of warrants. The Ambassador showed to Secretary Hay his authority from the Spanish government to receive the money, and after the warrants had been handed him he signed four copies of a receipt. He re- tained one copy and another was sent to Mr. Storer, the newly appointed American Min- ister to Spain. A third was sent to Ambas- sador Porter, at Paris, and the fourth was sent to the Treasury Department to be filed. This ended the details connected with the treaty of peace between our Government and Spain, and prepared the way for diplomatic relations to be resumed. The negotiations were conducted by Ambassador Cambon with excellent judgment and tact, and his work was highly commended. Our Troops Advance. General Lawton's force was engaged in hard fighting early in the morning of May 2d. He marched in a westerly direction on Balinag, where a large body of rebels was concentrated. General Hale started from Calumpit at daybreak with the Iowa and South Dakota regiments, and a squad of cavalry and two guns of the Utah battery in a northeasterly direction, to co-operate with the Macabebees, who asked the Americans to arm them in order that they might fight the Tagals. The Macabebees had already organized a company of Bolomen to guard the town. They brought Tagal prisoners to General MacArthur. Refugees reported that the Filipino army was deserting San Fernando and massing at Santo Tomas, where General Luna's head- quarters were located, and that strong en- trenchments were being constructed at the sides of the railway and on the swamp front, in the best positions possible. On May 5th, Major General MacArthur carried San Tomas, after encountering a strong resistance. In spite of the peaceful overtures of their commissioners, the Fih- pinos vigorously resisted the advance of General MacArthurs division from Apalit towards San Fernando, fighting desperately at long range after running from trench to trench when driven out by the American artillery. The movement commenced at half-past five in the morning. General Hale's brigade advanced along the road a few miles west of the railway line. General Wheaton, with Hotchkiss and Gatling guns, under the com- mand of Lieutenant Naylor, of the Utah Light Artillery, mounted on hand cars, pushed ahead. Stubborn Resistance. Both brigades met with resistance simul- taneously on approaching the river near San Tomas, which is about eight kilometers from Apalit. The centre span of the railroad bridge had dropped into the river, and the rebels had only left a small force to check General Wheaton, their main body lining the strong trenches in front of General Hale. Although the attacking force poured a very heavy artillery and musketry fire across the river, the enemy stubbornly resisted for over an hour, ultimately breaking when Major Young shelled their left flank, and then re- treating along the river bank under cover. . So soon as they discovered that the nature of the country would permit only a few skir- mishers on each side of the embankment, the rebels regained their courage and fought desperately for three-quarters of an hour, in the face of the American volleys and a rapid- fire fusillade, until flanked by the Montana Regiment. Then a general scramble ensued, most of the enemy boarding trains that were in readiness and the others taking the road LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 975 to San Fernando, after burning the villages of San Tomas and Minalin. About noon General Wheaton crossed the broken bridge, cleared the stragglers out of the villages and advanced towards San Fer- nando. General Hale effected a crossing simultaneously, after a slight delay necessary to repair a stone bridge. After a short rest the advance was continued, General Wheaton encountering the first series of entrenchments near San Fernando. The rebels now opened a hot fire. Colonel Funston, of the Twen- tieth Kansas, was wounded, one lieutenant was killed and four were wounded while lead- ing four companies of the Kansas Regiment to outflank the enemy. General Hale pushed along the road, flanking the trenches. The first Filipino municipal government sanctioned by the Americans was established at Balinag May 9th. General Lawton au- thorized the Filipinos at this village to select a native for Mayor, which was done. A municipal council, composed of Filipinos, was elected, and the Filipino government took control of the city. Influx of Filipinos. Thousands of Filipinos came through the insurgent lines, and moved southward into ^he territory under American control. Cen- tral Lawton welcomed them back, and gave them to understand that they were to be treated kindly and justly. Hundreds of na- tives received food supplies of rice and sugar from the insurgent stores. These stores were captured by General Lawton when he seized Balinag. The great number of these returning natives was regarded as a sure indication that Aguinaldo's power was weakening. There was a hard fight on the same date at San Ildefonso, A reconnoitering party, consisting of one company of Minnesota vol- unteers and two companies from the Oregon regiment, ran into a force of insurgents strongly entrenched at San Ildefonso. A system of heavy earthworks extended from an impenetrable swamp on the left along the ridge fronting the town. Flanking trenches had been thrown up, commanding every ap- proach to the village. The Americans were- within short range of the earthworks before they were aware of the presence of the Fili- pinos. A furious fusillade came from the insurgent stronghold. The Americans were forced to withdraw. Major Diggles, of the Minnesota regiment was shot through the head. Another Town Captured. On May 17th General Lawton's advance guard, under Colonel Summers, of the Ore- gon troops, took San Isidro, the insurgent capital, at 8.30 o'clock a.m. Colonel Sum- mers' command, consisting of the Twenty- second Infantry on the left, the Minnesota Regiment in the centre and the Oregon and North Dakota Regiments on the right, preceded by scouts and accompanied by Scott's Battery of Artillery, advanced from Baluarte at daylight. The troops first encountered the enemy two miles from San Isidro. The rebels re- tired when our artillery opened fire. Just outside the town a rebel force estimated to number 2,000 men was entrenched. It made a slight resistance, but evacuated its position when our troops turned its right flank. The enemy's loss was fifteen men killed and twenty wounded. Our troops also captured three prisoners and many rifles. On the American side one soldier of the Oregon Re- giment and one of the Minnesota Regiment were slightly wounded. After capturing the town. Colonel Summ.ers' troops continued the advance, pursuing the retreating rebels for several miles. On May 24th thirty Filipinos were killea 976 LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. and over sixty wounded in the battle between the American forces and the insurgents, one mile north of San Fernando. The Americans lost one man. Twelve of our troops were wounded. The insurgents made the attack. About 9 o'clock the Filipinos opened fire upon the outposts of General MacArthur's command. The American scouts fought bravely, and held the natives back until they were reinforced by troops from San Fernan- do. General MacArthur, at the head of two battalions of the Montana Regiment, and General Funston, leading two battalions of the Kansas Regiment ; two guns from the Utah Battery, one Hotchkiss and one Gat- ling gun, hurried to the assistance of out- posts. Obstinate Resistance. The insurgents were occupying the tren- ches which they had previously vacated at the fall of San Fernando. The Kansas troops deployed to the right, while the Montana soldiers went to the extreme left. The ar- tillery was left in the centre of the line. The Filipinos made an obstinate resistance. Fi- nally they attempted to retreat, but found themselves flanked by the Kansas troops. General Funston charged his men and drove the insurgents right over into the fire of the Montana volunteers. At length they escaped from this fearful fire, but they left their dead and wounded where they had dropped on the battlefield. Besides the killed and wounded ninety were made prisoners, while over 100 .stands of arms were captured, having been dropped by the natives in their wild flight from the Americans' fire. The opening of a new and vigorous cam- paign against the insurgents was inaugurated on June ist. The capture of Cainta on the 3rd was followed on the 4th by the occupa- tion 01 Antipole after a running fight between the forces of General Hall and the insurgents lasting nearly twenty -four hours, the rebels being forced to retreat by the gallant charges and well-directed fire of the American troops. The artillery played an important part in the battle, our guns shelling the jungle which concealed the rebels and inflicting heavy loss. In a Strong Position. The position of the American troops at night indicated that they would sweep the peninsula of Morong, the land projecting to the south into Laguna de Bay, where the in- surgents were supposed to have a large force, near the town of Morong, as well as the bat- tery on the western shore of the peninsula, which smashed the propeller of the gunboat Napidan. The original plan was to surround the /orces of General Pio del Pinar, so that he must retreat to the Morong peninsula, where capture would have been inevitable. This was not a complete success, because General Hall's column found the country full of hand- icaps to marching. There were several streams to be bridged or forded, and the troops frequently floundered through mo- rasses, waist deep in mud, an experience which, under the terrific sun, exhausted the Americans quite beyond endurance. Most of General Pio del Pinar's followers are sup- posed to have escaped northward, probably reaching Bosoboso, a stronghold in the mountains. Colonel Wholley, having successfully com- pleted his share of the movement, brought the Washington regiment to the river Pasig, where about midnight the men embarked upon cascoes and started for their destination, under the convoy of the gunboats. They encountered a repetition of the expe- rience undergone by almost every expedition on attempting to enter Laguna de Bay, as the boats went aground in the shallows at the mouth of the river and were detained there LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 977 several hours. Major General Lawton, in the meantime, was indefatigable, riding from one force to another and supervising the load- mg of the cascoes, without sleep for two nights. General Hall's column, which assembled at the water works or pumping station late on the 2nd, under cover of a moonless sky, con- sisted of the Second Oregon Volunteers, who marched to the point of rendezvous from the city barracks; a battalion of the Second Wyoming Regiment, four troops of the Fourth Cavalry — one mounted on the big American horses which so impressed the natives, the others unmounted — two battalions of the Fourth Infantry, one battalion of the Ninth Infantry, the first six companies of the First Colorado Regiment, and two mountain guns. The men rolled themselves in their blankets and lay upon the wet grass for a few hours under a drizzling rain. Driven from the Hills. At 4 o'clock on the morning of the 3ru, they began to cross the San Mateo river and about noon easily repulsed a large band of Filipinos about twelve miles east of Manila, between Mariquina and Antipolo. The Ore- gon regiment, the cavalry, the artillery and the Fourth Infantry accomplished this task, driving the insurgents from the hills, the other troops being held in reserve, but after- wards joining the main column in the pur- suit towards the sea. A running fight was in progress ull the afternoon. A Filipino outpost first attacked a few American scouts, whereupon the Fourth Cavalry formed a skirmish line and drove the insurgents into the hills. Then the Oregon regiment moved across a wet, soggy rice field, in extended order, toward the hills, where it was believed a large force of the enemy had concentrated. When the Oregonians were within about a mile of the 62 position, the Filipinos opened a heavy fire, the Americans replying and pressing forward more rapidly. After a few volleys the insurgents were seen scattering over the crest of the hills in every direction, and their panic was increased when the artillery opened upon them and the shells began to explode all around them, un- doubtedly causing great loss of life. The bombardment by the batteries and the mus- ketry was maintained for nearly half an hour, after which not a Filipino could be seen on the hills, and not a shot came from the posi- tion. The heat was intense and the troops suffered greatly, but they continued on the trail taken by the fleeing enemy in the hope of driving them toward the lake. Combining Forces. Colonel Wholley with two battalions of the First Washington Regiment, a battalion of the Twelfth Infantry, two guns of Scott's Battery and a party of scouts under Major Jeisenberger left San Pedro Macari on the 3rd, and after forcing the river Pasig advanced northeast upon Cainta, while General Hall approached the town from the opposite direction, the gunboats Napidan, Covadonga and Ceste co-operating in the river. This important movement was kept so secret that the public thought the plan was to send General Ovenshine's lines forward against the insurgents who were intrenched south of the city. The Signal Corps dis- played admirable enterprise in laying wires with the troops, but the native sympathizers cut them behind the army, even within the American lines General Hall's column in the movement upon the Morong peninsula completed a cir- cuit of twenty miles, over rough and moun- tainous country, having two engagements with the insurgents, one of them severe, keeping up an almost constant fire against 978 LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. scattered bands of rebels for nearly twenty- four hours from 4 o'clock on the morning of the 3rd, when the column left the pumping station. The Filipinos were driven in every direc- tion, and the country through which General Hall passed was pretty thoroughly cleared. At 10 o'clock in the morning of the 4th the column reached a point a few miles from Tay Tay, where General Hall was met by Gen- eral Lawton, who had already entered the town and found it deserted. General Hall's objective point was Antipolo, ten miles off, and there was desultory firing all along the line of march. The gunboats could be heard shelling the hills in advance of the column. The Second Battle. The column, after driving the rebels from the foothills near Mariachino, with a loss of but two or three slightly wounded, proceeded with all possible haste toward Laguna de Bay, the Fourth Cavalry in the lead, the Oregon Regiment next and the Fourth Infantry last. At 5 o'clock on the 3d, these three regiments fought their second battle .of the day, and it resulted like the first, in the complete rout of a large Filipino force located in the moun- tains and having every advantage of position. The progress of the column was consider- ably delayed while passing up the steep mountain grade by a small band of insur- gents, but these were effectually routed by the Fourth Cavalry, which was in advance, and the troops reached Antipolo in a few hours. Our lines were immediately thrown around on three sides of the town, and then the final advance was made. But it was found unnecessary to fire a shot. Not a rebel was visible and the town was entirely abandoned. Two hours later, after a conference between General Lawton and General Hall, the col- umn proceeded toward Morong to drive away any rebels found in that quarter. When the start was m.ade for Antipolo in the morning the Oregon Regiment and the Ninth Infantry were left behind as a rear guard, and there was considerable firing along their lines in clearing the enemy from the high hill between their position and the lake. Morong was captured at noon on June 5th by Colonel Wholley with the First Washing- ton Regiment and the army gunboats Napi- dan and Cavadonga. This regiment, which had been stationed at Pasig, moved north to- gether with two battalions of the Thirteenth Infantry, four battalions of the Ninth Infan- try, part of the Nebraska Volunteers and; Scott's guns of Dyer's Battery. This force^ under the command of Colonel Wholley, joined General Hall in the attack on Cainta. It later moved its position near to Tay Tay and waited there until General Hall struck Antipolo when it took Tay Tay without loss. No resistance was made to our advance by the enemy, but the journey was exceedingly hard, owing to the difficult road and the intense heat. South of Manila. At daybreak on June lOth, a force of 4,500 men, under Generals Lawton, Wheaton and Ovenshine, advanced from San Pedro Macati,. sweeping the country between the Bay of Manila and Bay Lake, south of Manila. By noon the country had been cleared almost to Paranaque. The Americans lost two officers killed and twenty-one soldiers wounded. The rebels resisted desperately at the stronger of their positions, and left fifty dead in the trenches. Many more wounded were left behind by the rebels in their retreat. The heat during the day was overpowering, aneen left behind. Throughout the action the conduct of the men was magnificent, though at times it seemed as if they could expect nothing ex- cept destruction. The officers remained cool, riding along the road and giving their orders with a calmness which added much to the confidence of the men. The enemy at the end of the engagement was driven in confu- sion off the field and was followed within two miles of Pedez des Marinas, when darkness put an end to the engagement. The American loss was four killed and twenty wounded. Ninety-three dead Fili- pinos were recovered from a part of the bat- tlefield, and many more doubtless were slain during the battle. Aguinaldo in Charge. At this juncture of affairs Aguinaldo took charge of the army formerly under command of General Luna, who, as reported, was as- sassinated by command of the insurgent leader. He massed the largest force yet brought together, about 8,000 men, bringing 2,000 from the Antipolo region. The enemy became very troublesome and constantly an- noyed our troops, who had to be on the alert to repel the attacks and were compelled to sleep on their arms. Aguinaldo seemed fully resolved to continue his warfare, and it was surprising how rapidly he brought forward his forces. On July 20th severe fighting took place at Bobong. Captain Byrne, of the Sixth Infan- try, with seventy men, surprised a force of 450 Babaylones, of whom 115, by actual count, were killed and many more were wounded. Only one of the enemy was cap- tured. The American loss was one man killed and one wounded. Fighting was mostly at close quarters with bayonets and clubbed guns. A large quantity of supplier and arms were captured. On July 26th an expedition comprising troops from San Pedro Macati, Pasig and Morong, under Brigadier-General R. H. Hall, captured Calamba, an important trading town on the south shore of Laguna de Bay. There- were two hours of fighting, during which four soldiers were killed and twelve wounded. An Important Town. Calamba is about thirty miles southeast of Manila. It is much further south than the United States troops had before penetrated on land. It is in the province of Laguna. It has a population of 11,476, and is twenty- seven miles from Santa Cruz, on the eastern shore of the bay. Later details of the fight at Calamba showed that it was a warm one. The insur- gents were unwilling to abandon the place, which is the key to the lake road. General Hall, hearing that General Malbar was pre- paring to make an attack, sent Major Weis- enberger with three companies of the Twenty- first Infantry, three troops of cavalry and one of Hamilton's guns to attack the insurgents. Ihis detachment found a force of 1,000 rebels behind hastily-made intrenchments. The rebels held their fire until the contingent of the Twenty-first Regiment was within 300 yards, when they fired a volley. The Amer- icans dropped in the high grass out of sight and returned the fire. Lieutenant Love, who was walking erect along the front of the men, was shot in the arm. An insurgent officer, equally brave, stood at the top of the trenches, directing the fire of the insurgents until he was kiHed, when the Filipinos fled. LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 983 During the fighting on the north side of the town a small body of insurgents attempted to enter on the south side, but a troop of cavalry repulsed them. The total American loss at Calamba was seven killed and twenty wounded. Sixteen dead insurgents were found. Military operations in the Philippines were nearly suspended during the rainy season, but on August 9, 1899, General MacArthur, with a force of 4,000 men, pushed northward five miles from San Fernando, meeting and defeating 6,000 insurgents, who left many dead and wounded on the field in their re- treat. The American loss in several sharp encounters was known to have been at least eight killed and twenty-six wounded. The objective point was Angeles, one of the rich- est towns north of Manila. Armored Cars. The movement on Angeles had been planned for some time, but was delayed by rains. Finally two days of sunshine dried the ground sufficiently to warrant the attempt, and the movement began. Armored cars, each with a 6-pounder and two Gatling revolving cannon on board, moved out on the railroad track in the centre of our lines. Their guns did sharp execution throughout the day. The Filip- inos were evidently surprised at the move- ment, having expected the American forces to move against Tico. They were well pro- tected by trenches, and followed their usual tactics of holding their positions until the American fire became too warm and then re- treating in disorder. On August 28th there was a great demon- stration at Pittsburg in honor of returning soldiers. Through cheering multitudes of people, who packed eight miles of sidewalks, occupied every window and observation point along the route, and alternated their cheers with tears, the Tenth Pennsylvania Volun- teers, the only volunteer regiment east of the Mississippi to see Philippine service, triumph- I antly marched through Pittsburg. Enthusiastic Reception. The occasion was made memorable by the presence of the President of the United States, Major-General Wesley Merritt, Gen- eral Francis V. Greene, United States Senator Boies Penrose, the Governor of the State, and other prominent persons who gathered to receive the farmer boys who made an hon- orable record in the Spanish and Philippine wars. The President delivered a speech, in which he welcomed home the members of the regiment, and made an emphatic declara- tion of his Philippine policy. Active military operations in the Philip- pines were almost entirely halted by the wet season, but an occasional brush with the enemy served to keep our troops on the alert and in fighting mood. The United States cruiser Charleston, the monitor Monterey and the gunboats Concord and Zafiro, with marines and bluejackets from the cruiser Baltimore, left Cavite on September i8th, and proceeded to Subig Bay to destroy an insurgent cannon there. Owing to the bad weather the operation was postponed until the 23d, when the war- ships bombarded the town of Olangapo and the intrenchments where the gun was situ- ated. The Monterey opened fire with her second- ary and main batteries at twenty-five minutes past seven o'clock, the Charleston and Con- cord joining in the firing immediately. At twenty-two minutes to eight the insurgent cannon answered, the first shot passing close to the Monterey's smokestack. The American bombardment became gen- eral. At half-past nine o'clock the Monterey advanced to a range of six hundred yards, using her main battery. Two hundred and 984 LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. fifty men were landed about eight hundred yards east of the cannon at eleven o'clock under a severe Mauser fire from the shore. The cannon was found to be a 6-inch Krupp gun that the insurgents had obtained from the Spaniards. Fifty pounds of gun-cotton were used in destroying it. The insurgents captured the -United States gunboat Urdaneta in the Orani River, on the northwest side of Manila Bay, on September 25th, where she was patrolling. New Secretary of V/ar. When President McKinley selected his Cabinet, he made Hon. Russell A, Alger, of Michigan, Secretary of War. Mr. Alger continued in office until July 22, 1899, when he resigned, and Hon. Elihu Root, of New York, was appointed his successor. Mr. Root entered upon the administration of his office in the most efficient manner, and very soon had additional forces on their way to the Philippines, with a view of suppressing as speedily as possible the insurrection in those islands. The greatest public demonstration in honor of any individual in the history of our coun- try took place in New York upon the return of Admiral Dewey from his great victory in the harbor of Manila. The Admiral arrived on the 26th of September, 1899, ^^^ was warmly greeted by city and state officials. As his flagship, the Olympia, came into the harbor, she was received with noisy demon- strations, and a multitude of people, on land and water, testified in every possible way, their admiration for Admiral Dewey. On the 29th, there was a naval parade that was participated in by the North Atlantic squadron, and a vast number of vessels all gaily decked. It was the most imposing naval spectacle ever witnessed on this conti- nent. Hundreds of thousands of interested spectators lined the shores, from the Battery to Grant's tomb on the Hudson, and cheered our battleships and other naval vessels. ^A^elcome to Dewey. On the 30th there was a land parade in which 30,000 soldiers and civilians partici- pated. Admiral Dewey was escorted first to the City Hall where he was presented by the Municipal Government with a loving cup in the presence of a vast throng of people. Thence he was escorted to Riverside Drive, and from there made his way through a vast concourse of applauding people to the arch erected in his honor at Twenty-fourth Street and Fifth Avenue, where he reviewed the parade. Many state governors, their escorts and a large number of city and state officials were in the parade, and all attempts to describe the enthusiasm of the populace would fail. It was a memorable day in the history of the United States, as it showed the patriotic feeling of the people and their admiration for the famous hero of the Spanish war. From New York the Admiral made his way to Washington, whe-e he again met with a most cordial reception, and on the 3d of October was presented with a sword that had been voted in his honor by Congress. An immense concourse of people surrounded the Capitol, on the steps of which the Ad- miral took his stand and was welcomed in an eloquent speech by Hon. John D. Long, Secretary of the Navy. President McKinley then presented the Admiral with the diamond sword. He made a brief and graceful reply thanking Congress and the American people for the distinguished consideration that had been shown him. Other receptions to the Admiral followed, all of which showed the appreciation of the public and gave evidence of the very high esteem in which he was held for his bravery, his adherence to duty and his gallant ex- ploit at Manila. LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 985 General Funston and the 20th Kansas Infantry, having done heroic service in the Phihppines, returned from the seat of war, and on November 2d their arrival home was signalized by an enthusiastic welcome. It was officially announced at Washing- ton, November 8th, that an agreement iiad been arrived at between Great Britain and Germany, by which the Samoan Islands would be left by the former to Germany and our own country The negotiations were conducted in a friendly spirit, and there was general satisfaction at the result on the part of our own government officials. Garret Augustus Hobart, Vice- President of the United States, died at half- past eight o'clock on the morning of November 21st, of or- ganic heart disease, at his home in Paterson, N. J. Mr. Hobart was the sixth Vice-President to die in office. The others were George Clinton, of New York, who died in 18 12, while Madison was President ; Elbridge Gerry, of Massachusetts, who died in 1 8 14, Madison still being Presi- dent ; William R. King, of Alabama, who died in 1853, while Pierce was President; Henry Wilson, of sachusetts, who died in 1875, having been elected with Grant, and Thomas A. Hendricks, who ci'ed in 1885, dur- ing Cleveland's first administration. Gerry, Wilson, and Hendricks all died in No- vember. Senator William P. Fiye, of Maine, was re-elected president pro tcm. pf the Senate, and presided over that body when it assem- bled on December 5th. Under the law enacted after Mr. Hendricks' death, the Sec- retary of State will succeed to the Presidency should the Chief Executive die or leave office. General Lawton, who had made a brilliant record in the Philippines by his great sa- gacity, courage, and generalship, was killed instantly on December i8th, while engaged in driving insurgents from the San Mateo sec- tion of country, northeast of Manila. General Lawton' s death was felt to be a crreat loss ^=^$?§^*^ HON. G.^RRET A. HOBART. Mas- to our army, and the whole country united in praise of his manly virtues and heroism. Lieutenant J. C. Gilmore and other Amer- icans from the gunboat "Yorktown," cap- tured by the Filipinos at Baler in April, were rescued by Colonel Hare's column in northern Luzon. Congress assembled on the 5 th of Decem- ber and received President McKinley's mes- sage. The topics treated that came closest home to the people were the currency and the trusts. The President declared in the stroncjest terms for the enactment of the 986 LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. gold standard and for breaking the " endless chain " by providing that greenbacks when once redeemed should assume the character of gold certificates, being paid out again onlr for the yellow metal. Citing the great prosperity of the country ■and the plentitude of gold, he argued that these conditions made this the most fitting time to insure continuance of the gold stand- ard and to be prepared to meet less favorable conditions when they recur. The President, however, suggested no plan of currency re- form to make the gold standard effective. National Banking System. After urging its adoption and that the Sec- retary of the Treasury be given power to uphold it — presumably by the sale of bonds when necessary — Mr. McKinley merely in- vited the attention of Congress as to " whether or not such reasonable modifications can be made in the National Banking act " as will render possible an increase in volume of the existing bank notes. Touching the trusts, Mr. McKinley forti- fied his own remarks with liberal excerpts from Presidential messages of Mr. Harrison and Mr. Cleveland. His own recommenda- tions were of a general character. " If the present law," he said, '" can be extended more certainly to control or check these mo- nopolies or trusts, it should be done without delay Whatever power Congress possesses over this most important subject should be promptly ascertained and asserted." The most practical of his recommendations on the subject dealt with the lack of uniformity of State laws on the subject, urging that they be made to harmonize, and that Congress may supplement the work so as to make a complete system of laws throughout the United States. The President was " satisfied that the judg- ment of the country favored the policy" of paying bounties on shipping, and the plan fathered in the last Congress by Senator Hanna and now to be introduced in substan- tially the same form appeared to have his approval. This would call for payments of about nine millions a month, and it was as- serted in the minority report that it would within twelve months involve contracts run- ning over the period of twenty years to an aggregate of 165 millions. On the Isthmian Canal the President said that the reasons he presented a year before for early action were even stronger now. He renewed his appeal for a commission to visit China and study its commercial possibilities and its resources. The message covered a wide range of topics, from the need of making good roads, lynchings, pensions, Indian affairs and armor plate, at home, to the unsatisfactory attitude of Turkey abroad. In passing he told of the preparations for the Paris Exposition of 1900 and of the magnificent manner in which American Industries would be represented. The President very tersely presented the reasons for setting before the world the re- sults of our artistic skill and inventive genius at the approaching great exposition. On Januar\^ 15th, 1900, the Senate Inter- oceanic Canal Committee agreed to report favorably the Hepburn bill for the construc- tion of the Nicaragua Canal by the United States, and the measure was pushed in both houses of Congress. Secretary Gage's estimates of the Government's expenses for 1901 showed an increase of more than ;^38,- 000,000 over the year's appropriation for 1899. The Currency bill, establishing the gold standard, was passed by the House of Representatives by a vote of 1 89 to 1 50, and was sent to the Senate. LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 987 The bill passed the Senate and re- ceived the signature of President McKin- ley, thus embodying the gold standard in our Federal laws. Early in 1900 the attention of our own country and of the European nations was turned toward China, and reports of the massacre of the native Christians of China, and of the foreign residents, were received with a thrill of horror. It was known that the bloodthirsty actors in this shock- ing tragedy were Boxers, the appalling de- tails of which were scarcely believed until evidence was forthcoming that could not be questioned. The Boxers. As to what the Boxer is, competent testimony comes from various sources. Edwin Wildnian, late vice-consul of the United States at Hong Kong, says : "They are divided into lodges, and have common signs and pass-words known only to themselves. They have certain methods of interrogating each other and recognize peculiar manners in placing cups and dishes at the table ; of wearing their gar- ments and saluting each other. They hold their meetings usually in secluded places in the dead of the night and draw blood from their bodies, mixing it with water and pledging each other to oaths of ven- geance against their enemies. The Boxers adopted a flag bearing the motto : ' Up with the Ching Dynasty and Down with the Foreigner.' " For almost a year Christendom had been shocked with stories of outrage upon mis- sionaries perpetrated by the Boxers, of the Society of the Righteous Fist, or of the Big Sword. Early in the spring of 1900 these stories increased in number, and in April and May, 1900, scarce a day passed without rumors from China of repeated atrocities. The Boxer movement spread rapidly until the powers were aroused by the beginning of the wholesale slaughter of Christians, native and foreign, j^nd the destruction of churches and missions of all denominations. Early in June Chinese mobs compelled all foreigners to seek refuge in the lega- tions, which were surrounded by armed Boxers. The threatening aspect of affairs in Pekin caused great anxiety among the European Powers and in the United States. The Chinese Emperor petitioned the Powers to aid him in quelling the Boxer uprising. It was announced that Prince Tuan, whose ambition to gain the Uirone was the cause of the insurrection, ha'^ been made Minister of Foreign Affairs. The Empress Dowager forbade foreign troops to enter Pekin. On June 15th the Japa- nese legation was burned and the Chan- cellor killed. The next day Pekin mobs attacked foreigners and besieged the lega- tions. Threatened. Massacre. For many days there was the utmost anxiety in our own country and in Europe concerning the representatives of the Euro- pean Powers and the United States Min- ister, who, with the attaches of their offi- ces, were shut up in the legations at Pekin, and were threatened with whole- sale massacre by the Boxers. The air was full of conflicting reports and definite in- telligence was anxiously awaited. The allied Powers strained every nerve to reach Pekin with a rescuing force, and either save the foreigners there imprisoned or learn their fate. General Chaffee was in command of the American troops, and under date of August 988 LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 15th, our government at Washington re- ceived from him the following cheering despatch : *'We entered Legation grounds at five o'clock last night with Fourteenth and light battery. Eight wounded during day's fighting. Otherwise all well. "Chaffee." The American and Russian flags were planted on the east wall of Pekin at 1 1 o'clock on the morning of August 14th. The Indian troops entered the British Legation at one o'clock and the Americans at three. There was a joyful reception from the wall. Furious Attack. The emaciated tenants could have lasted but little longer. They had only three days' rations. The Chinese had been attacking furiously for two days. Four thousand shell fell in the Legation during the siege. Sixty-five were killed and 160 wounded. The Japanese began the battle before daylight. The plan was to make a general attack on the 15th, and the troops were arriving at camp, five miles east, all night. They were completely exhausted, and slept in the corn fields in the rain. The Generals, however, alarmed at the sounds of a heavy attack on the Legations, pushed forward independently, the British, Americans and French on the left of the river and the Russians and Japanese on the right. Beginning at two o'clock in the morning, the Japanese diverted the brunt of the resistance to the northern city, their artillery engaging the Chinese heavily there. The Americans and British met with but little resistance until they entered the city, where there was street fighting. Reilly's Battery attempted to breach the inner wall. Tlie troops finally entered the foreign settlement through the canal. Com- pany E, Fourteenth United States Infant- ry, planted its flag on the outer wall, Musi- cian Titus scaling the wall with a rope, by means of which the others climbed to the top. Following the capture of Pekin efforts were made to restore peace and order in China. Germany took a firm stand in demanding the punishment of all officials and others who were in any way concerned in the murder of the German Ambassador, Baron Von Ketteler, who was inhumanly put to death on June i6th. A proposition from Emperor William II was submitted to the Powers, but this was rejected by the United States, the object of our government being to avoid all compli- cations in the settlement of the Chinese question. Germany modified her demands and an agreement was reached, under the terms of which the United States troops began to leave Pekin on October ist. The Great Galveston Calamity. On September 8th, 1900, the city of Galveston, Texas, was the scene of an appalling disaster. No calamity that ever visited this country was more destruc- tive of life and property than the hurricane which swept over the city. For several days the weather reports had indicated a coming storm of great severity, but the people of the fated city felt no serious alarm. Suddenly they were overwhelmed by the waters rushing from the Gulf> driven by the fury of the winds. ADMIRAL W. S. SCHLEY LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 989 It would be useless to attempt to convey any adequate idea of the heartrendering scenes that followed the invasion of the flood. The whole town was overwhelmed, and it is safe to say that there was not a building in the whole city which was not either destroyed or damaged. The first re- ports indicated the loss of several hundred lives. The number grew to a thousand. Then it grew to two thousand. Finally it was stated that five thousand persons lost their lives either by drowning or by in- juries received from falling buildings or floating debris. Still the horror grew, until the Governor of Texas expressed the opinion that at Galveston and other places on the coast, 12,000 persons lost their lives as the result of the hurricane. Terrible Destruction. Families were rent asunder, husbands and wives were separated ; in some in- stances whole families of half a dozen or more were swept away, and in other in- stances only one or two members of large families escaped. Many persons who had lived in comfort all their lives were reduced to poverty and want in a moment. Busi- ness men found their factories and stores had been swept away and they were com- pelled to begin life over again. Heart-rending details were furnished the public concerning the awful devastation and the terrible calamity which overtook thousands of families in the storm-stricken city. The whole country sprang to the aid of the suflferers. Train loads of provisions and clothing were hurried to the scene of the disaster, and hundreds of thousands of dollars were contributed, these acts of beneficence proving how deep and heart- felt was the sympathy for those suddenly plunged into want and sorrow. Nurses and doctors went from various cities in the North, South and West, and all that human skill and power could do to mitigate the sufferings of the victims was rendered by willing hands and hearts. Re-Election of President McKinley. After an exciting and hard-fought cam- paign the Republican party was successful in the presidential election. President Mc- Kinley being re-elected by an overwhelm- ing majority both of the electoral college and the popular vote. Hon. Theodore Roosevelt, of New York, was elected Vice- President. The nominees of the Democratic party were Hon. William Jennings Bryan, of Nebraska, and Hon. Adlai E. Stevenson, of Illinois. Several other parties placed candidates in nomination, but none re- ceived any vote in the electoral college, and the number of popular votes cast for them was comparatively insignificant. The most important issue of the cam- paign finally turned out to be the free coin- age of silver, as in the campaign of 1896. This was owing to the fact that the Demo- cratic party endorsed the Chicago platform of 1 896 and all the statements it contained. The Democrats endeavored to make the war in the Philippines one of the main issues. Another was the growth and pre- dominance of trusts, of which many had sprung up in a short period of time. The strength of the Republican party lay in the fact that the country was prosperous. President McKinley, feeling that the members of his Cabinet had done excellent service in their respective positions, in- vited them all to remain and aid Ir'^^i in conductinof his administration. 990 LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. The population of the United States in creased largely during the decade between 1890 and 1900. During the latter year the twelfth census was taken, and showed that the aggregate population of the Republic is 76,215,129. This was due both to the natural increase of population, and to the steady stream of immigration which has constantly flowed into our country ever since we became a free and independent people. Before the census was taken var- ious guesses and predictions were made concerning the population, many of which were quite wild and were not fulfilled. More conservative estimates placed the number at 75,000,000; this, it appeared from the returns, was too low an estin^ate. Census of 1900. One interesting part of the census re- turns related to cities with a population of 25,000 or more. Heading this list is New York with 3,437,202. The population in 1890 was 2,492,591. A large part of the increase was due to the annexation of sur- rounding territory during the decade. The next city in size is Chicago, with 1,698,575. The population in 1890 was 1,099,850. Chicago also profited by the annexation of local territory, thus swelling the aggregate of the city's inhabitants. Next in size comes Philadelphia with 1,293,697. The population in 1890 was 1,046,964. Following these we have St. Louis, Boston, Baltimore, Cleveland, Buf- falo, San Francisco, Cincinnati, Pittsburg and New Orleans, relative in size accord- ing to the order in which they are here named. As might be expected some of the cities showed a decrease in population during the decade. Nearly all of the cities, however, showed a large increase in population, and this is true of the East and the older parts of the country as it is of the West and newer sections. On December 3d, 1900, the final session of the Fifty-sixth Congress began in Wash- ington. The President's Message was read, and reports were received from the several departments of the government. The preliminary report of the Isthmian Canal Commission, which was sent to Con- gress, recommended the construction of a canal on the Nicaragua route. The Chinese Question. In his annual report to Congress Secre- tary Gage, of the Treasury, recommended that changes be made in the currency laws to make more mandatory the maintenance of the parity between gold and silver. The amended demands upon China, made on account of the destruction of life and property caused by the Boxer uprising, were signed by the foreign Ministers at Pekin. By this action i\.merican diplomacy won a notable triumph. Our Government took a moderate position when the question of reprisals was first discussed. The European Powers finally gave substantial approval to our policy and demands. Arguments in the cases to determine the constitutional status of Puerto Rico and the Philippines were begun in the United States Supreme Court, December 17th. Attorney General Griggs presented the government's contentions in the cases brought in the Supreme Court to settle the status of the new possessions, holding that the flag goes where the constitution doe^ not go. On December 19th former President Cleveland issued a statement advising Democrats to restore party harmony and return to old principles. LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY 991 With a superb military and civil demon- stration which drew a vast concourse of people to Washington, President McKinley was inaugurated the second time on March 4th, 1901. No pageant on so grand a scale ever before attended any inauguration. Hon. Theodore Roosevelt took the oath of oflSce as Vice-President. The Inaugural Address. In his inaugural address Mr McKinley spoke as follows : "When we assembled hereon March 4, 1897, there was great anxiety with regard to our currency and credit. None exists now. " Then our treasury receipts were inade- quate to meet the current obligations of the government. Now they are sufficient for all public needs and we have a surplus instead of a deficit. " Then I felt constrained to convene the Congress in extra£>rdinary session to devise revenues to pay the ordinary expenses of the government. Now I have the satis- faction to announce that the Congress just closed has reduced taxation in the sum of $41,000,000. " Then there was deep solicitude because of the long depression in our manufacturing, mining, agricultural and mercantile indus- tries and the consequent distress of our laboring population. Now every avenue of production is crowded with activity, labor is well employed and American pro- ducts find good markets at home and : abroad. " Our diversified productions, however, are increasing in such unprecedented vol- ume as to admonish us of the necessity of still further enlarging our foreign markets by broader commercial relations. For this purpose reciprocal trade arrangements with other nations should in liberal spirit be carefully cultivated and promoted. " The natural verdict of 1896 has for the most part been executed. Whatever re- mains unfulfilled is a continuing obligation resting with undiminished force upon the Executive and the Congress. But fortu- nate as our condition is, its permanence can only be assured by sound business methods and strict economy in national administra- tion and legislation. "We should not permit our great pros- perity to lead us to reckless ventures in business or profligacy in public expendi- tures. While the Congress determines the objects and the sum of appropriations, the officials of the executive departments are responsible for honest and faithful disburse- ment, and it should be their constant care^ to avoid waste and extravagance. On the Brink of War. " Honesty, capacity and industry are no- where more indispensable than in public employment. These should be funda- mental requisites to original appointment and the surest guarantees against removal. " Four years ago we stood on the brink of war without the people knowing it and without any preparation or effi3rt at prepa- ration for the impending peril. I did all that in honor could be done to avert the war, but without avail. It became inevita- ble ; and the Congress at its first regular session, without party division, provided money in anticipation of the crisis and in preparation to meet it. "It came. The result was signally favorable to American arms, and in the highest degree honorable to the govern- ment. It imposed upon us obligations which we cannot escape, and from which it would be dishonorable to seek to escaoe* c 92 LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. " We are now at peace with the world, and it is my fervent prayer that if differ- ences arise between us and other Powers they may be settled by peaceful arbitration and that hereafter we may be spared the horrors of war "The national purpose is indicated through a national election. It is the con- stitutional method of ascertaining the pub- lic will. When once it is registered it is a law to us all, and faithful observanc<^ should follow its decrees. " Strong hearts and helpful hands are needed, and, fortunately, we have them in every part of our beloved country. We 'are reunited. Sectionalism has disappeared. Division on public questions can no longer be traced to the war maps of 1861. " These old differences less and less dis- turb the judgment. Existing problems demand the thought and quicken the con- science of the country, and the responsi- bility for their presence, as well as for their righteous settlement, rests upon us all — no more upon me than upon you. Equal to Other Powers. " Surely after one hundred and twenty- five years of achievement for mankind we will not now surrender our equality with other Powers on matters fundamental and essential to nationality. " With no such purpose was the nation created. In no such spirit has it developed its full and independent sovereignty. We adhere to the principle of equality among ourselves, and by no act of ours will we assign to ourselves a subordinate rank in the family of nations. "My fellow citizens, the public events of the last four years have gone into history. They are too near to justify recital. Some of them were unforeseen ; many of them momentous and far-reaching in their con- sequences to ourselves and our relations with the rest of the world. "The part which the United States bore so honorably in the thrilling scenes in China, while new to American life, has been in harmony with its true spirit and best traditions, and in dealing with the re- sults its policy will be that of moderation and fairness. " We face at this moment a most impor- tant question — that of the future relations of the United States and Cuba. With our near neighbors we must remain close friends. The declaration of the purposes of this government in the resolution of April 20, 1898, must be made good. The Philippines. " The Congress having added the sanc- tion of its authority to the powers already possessed and exercised by the Executive under the constitution,* thereby leaving with the Executive the responsibility for the government of the Philippines, I shall continue the efforts already begun until order shall be restored throughout the islands, and as fast as conditions will per- mit will establish local governments in the formation of which the full co-operation of the people has been already invited, and when established will encourage the people to administer them. ' ' Our countrymen should not be de- ceived. We are not waging war against the inhabitants of the Philippine Islands. A portion of them are making war against the United States. By far the greater part of the inhabitants recognize American sov- ereignty and welcome it as a guaranty of order and security for life, property, liberty, freedom and conscience and the pursuit of happiness." LATEST EVENTS OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 993 On the 22nd of January, 1901, occurred the death of Victoria, Queen of Great Brit- ain and Ireland and Empress of India. She was born May 24, 18 19, and was the only child of Edward, Duke of Kent, a son of George III, and Maria Louisia Victoria of Saxe-Coburg, who was a sister of Leopold I, of Belgium. On the death of her uncle, William IV, she succeeded to the throne on the 20th of June, 1837, and was crowned June 28, 1838. In February, 1840, she was married to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg Gotha, with whom she lived happily and in whom she found a prudent counsellor. She was the mother of nine children, the eldest of whom came to the throne at her death as King Edward VII. The reign of Queen Victoria was the longest and most prosperous in English his- tory. She was endowed with many emi- nent virtues, was a woman of pure and blameless life, adorned the station she occu- pied rather than being elevated by it, and left behind her a memory that will long be revered by the millions of her subjects. Capture of Aguinaldo. On Thursday, March 28th, General Emilio Aguinaldo was captured. General Frederick Funston, having learned of Agui- naldo's whereabouts, took a detachment of American soldiers and natives, and in due time arrived at the village where Agui- naldo was concealed. The Tagalos went ahead to greet General Aguinaldo, and the column slowly followed, finally arriv- ing at Palanan. General Aguinaldo's household troops, fifty men in neat uniforms of blue and white and wearing straw hats, lined up to receive the newcomers. General Funston's men crossed the river in small boats, formed on the bank, and marched to the right and then «3 in front of the insurgent grenadiers. The Tagalogs entered the house where General Aguinaldo was. Suddenly the Spanish offi- cer, noticing that General Aguinaldo's aide was watching the Americans suspiciously, exclaimed : " Now, Macabebes, go for them !" The Macabebes opened fire, but their aim was rather ineffective, and only three in- surgents were killed. The rebels returned the fire. On hearing the firing, General Agui- naldo, who evidently thought his men were merely celebrating the arrival of reinforce- ments, ran to the window and shouted : — " Stop that foolishness ! Quit wasting am- munition ! " You Are a Prisoner. Kilario Placido, one of the Tagalog officers and a former insurgent major, who was wounded in the lung by the fire of the Kansas regiment at the battle of Caloocan, threw his arms around General Aguinaldo, exclaiming : " You are a prisoner of the Americans." Colonel Simeon Villia, the rebel chief of staff, Major Alambra and others attacked the men who were holding General Agui- naldo. Hilario Placido shot Colonel Villia in the shoulder. Major Alambra jumped out of the window and attempted to cross the river. It is supposed that he was drowned. Five other insurgent officers fought for a few minutes and then fled, making their escape. When the firing began General Funston assumed command and directed the attack on the house, person- ally assisting in the capture of General Aguinaldo. The capture of Aguinaldo was the last blow struck at the rebellion in the Philip- pines. He was the inspiration of the entire opposition to our government, and his cap- ture ended hostilities. EMINENT AMERICANS. COMPRISING jBiographies of Distinguished Statesmen, Inventors, Financiers, Eta THE foregoing history of the United States may appropriately close with a concise account of the most fa- mous of our celebrities. There are names that shine resplendent in the firma- ment of human achievement, and with tnem are associated triumphs and successes that can never perish from the annals of time. Not alone in the stormy period of the Revolution, or during the sanguinary struggle of the Civil War, do we gaze upon these illustrious ones. In more recent history there art those who challenge our admiration, and are an honor to our country. America is rich in her distinguished citizens, and in every walk of life, in every pursuit, we trace the footsteps of the giants who have given fame to the Republic, and whose noble deeds and achievements are among her proudest possessions. THOMAS A. EDISON. NO inventor since the world began has achieved greater distinction than Thomas A. Edison. He is noth- ing less than a phenomenon in the realm of science, more especially in that part of it which relates to electricity. His discoveries have been the wonder of the age, and have placed him in the front rank of inventors. We find him at the age of ten reading the histories of Gibbon and Hume, yet his biog- raphers assert that he went to school only two months in his boyhood. Like the vast majority of those men who have left a deep impression upon their time, he was born in poverty and obscurity, being conspicuously a self-made man. His education was under the direction of his mother, yet at best was but superficial. Mr. Edison was born at Alva, Ohio, Feb- ruary iith, 1847. As soon as he was old enough to become interested in any study, he showed great fondness for chemistry. This indicated the bent of hi's mind, and was a prophecy that the natural sciences would be his favorite pursuit. While he was em- ployed as a newsboy on a railway train, he determined to learn telegraphy. Here was the beginning of that remarkable career, and of those discoveries which, if they have not revolutionized the telegraph system, have certainly promoted its efficiency and per- fected its instruments. While residing at Adrian, Mich., he opened a shop for repair- ing telegraph instruments and making new machinery. Subsequently, at Indianapolis, he invented his automatic repeater, which was greatly in advance of any telegraph in- i 11 EMINENT AMERICANS. strument then in existence, except the origi- nal one invented by Professor Morse. Having lived a short time at Cincinnati, still devoting himself to electrical science, he removed to Boston, where he startled elec- tricians with his duplex telegraph. Many attempts had previously been made to invent such an instrument, yet without success, Mr. Edison was still a young man, but hav- ing snown pre-eminent abilities, he was made president of the New York Gold Indicator Company, and moved his shops to Newark, N. J. He did not, however, remain long in the latter place, but, determining to devote himself exclusively to the work of invention, he established himself permanently at Menlo Park, where he has an extensive laboratory and is occupied constantly, with a large corps of assistants, in his various researches. Mr. Edison's history is more than usually rich in incidents of an interesting character. When he was selling papers and candies on the trains of the Grand Trunk Railway, he was making a hobby of chemistry. At this time he was a mere boy. Not having any other facilities for experimenting, he con- structed an amateur laboratory in one corner of a baggage-car. When other boys would have been at play, he was amusing and in- structing himself in that corner. During his absence one day a bottle of phosphorus, by being upset, or in some way broken, set the car on fire. Grave doubts were entertained as to the propriety of having so dangerous a lad on board the train, and the baggage- master kicked his chemicals and apparatus out of the car, which did not, however, put an end to the boy's passion for chemistry. He improvised another laboratory in a differ- ent place, and continued his studies as before Mr. Edison was also at one time an ama- teur printer, and the publisher of a paper wiiich bore the rather high-sounding title of T/ie Grand Trunk Herald. It came about iir this way : on one of his trips to Chicago, the publisher of one of the daily papers in that city made him a present of a lot of worn-out type. Thinking that this could be used to< advantage, Edison established his journal, which was filled with items of news that were of special interest to the hands employed on the railroad. During the great battle at Shiloh, he persuaded the telegraph operators to send reports of the engagement to the different stations along the road. This crea- ted an immense demand for papers, and the young newsboy reaped a handsome profit by supplying them. About this time an incident occurred which has had an important influence on his life from that day to this. He proved him- self to be a young hero one day by saving the child of a telegraph operator from being killed by a train. The father sought to re- ward him in some way, and was informed that the best reward, and one that would be the most acceptable, would be to teach the res- cuer of his child the art of telegraphing. This being done, the lad provided himself with wires and batteries, and soon became quite an expert in the use of telegraphic in- struments. Naturally a mind so alert was constantly seeking out new inventions. He never saw an instrument without immediately asking himself whether it could not in some way be perfected. Very often his inventive genius would instantly discover something that had been entirely overlooked by the original in- ventor. Having pursued this plan all his life, his name has become identified with a vast number of inventions of various kinds — all this in addition to his own original dicov- eries. Having perfected himself as a telegraph operator, and being extremely expert, he readily secured a situation where he was ex- EMINENT AMERICANS. Ill pected to do night work, and was required to telegraph the word " Six " to the Superin- tendent, in order to let this man know he was at his post and wide-awake. It did not take him long to contrive a machine that did the work for him, and left him free without interruption to pursue his favorite study of chemistry. His clever trick was, however, discovered, and by reason of it he lost his situation. It happened, while Mr. Edison was resid- ing in New York, that one day the Western Union wire to Albany gave out, and no mes- sages could be transmitted. The electricians of the company were baffled, and were una- ble to discover the trouble. After experi- menting a number of days, as a last resort, they called in Mr. Edison. He obtained communication with Albany by way of Pitts- burg, Then he requested the best operator at the other end of the line to sit at the ma- chine, with whom he experimented for a couple of hours with currents of different in- tensity. He then told the officers of the company what the difficulty was, and exactly where it was located. This achievement gave him much reputation, and proved his pre-eminent ability as an electrician. One of Mr. Edison's famous inventions is the Phonograph. The manner of its dis- covery shows the readiness with A^hich he seizes upon every new fact, even every hint developed in the study of electrical science. He was at work upon an apparatus for record- ing a telegraphic message by making, with a needle, indentations on a piece of tin foil wrapped around the cylinder. The message would thus be punctured or indented on this tin foil, then by substituting another needle — blunt — for the sharp one, and turning the cylinder, there would be a vibration as the needle entered into and passed out of the indentation. In the course of the experiments he turned the cylinder very rapidly, and instead of a succession of " clicks " a musical sound was produced. He seized the idea, and the Edison Phono- graph is the result. The perfected Phonograph of to-day con- sists of a cylinder of wax, or other plastic material, which is revolved either by hand,, foot power or an electric motor. This cylin- der, called the phonogram, is used for record- ing the sound. This is done by a diaphragm such as is used in a telephone, into the centre of which is fastened a sharp needle, which rests upon and just touches the phonogram. When the words are spoken the diaphragm vibrates, moving this needle up and down, and a series of indentations are made in a spiral line on the phonogram, which is turn- ing around about eighty-five times a minute. To make the Phonograph speak, or repeat the words, another diaphragm, having a blunt, instead of a sharp needle, is placed at 'the starting point, and the phonogram is made to revolve. Of course, as the needles passes over the indentations it vibrates the- diaphragm, and the words are reproduced as in the Telephone. Thus we can get a faith- ful reproduction of instrumental music, songs, whistling, conversation, all sorts of sounds, and the phonograms can be packed into a mailing tube, anu sent all over the world to be used as often as desired. ^ This certainly is a most remarkable inven- tion. It shows what possibilities are con- nected with the science of electricity. If there are more wonders in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy, a large proportion of them find their home in Mr. Edison's laboratory. His inventive genius is always alert and active. No new phase of electricity ever presents itself without start- ing the inquiry in his mind as to how it can be made to serve some useful and practical end. He has been so successful in devising" strange things, such as were never before IV EMINENT AMERICANS. dreamed of, that he has been given the ap- propriate title of "Wizard." The idea of the Telephone has long been in existence. It was first practically applied in the construction of toys. One called the " Lover's String" was made in 1831, and is the simplest form of a Telephone. The dis- coveries and improvements of Mr. Edison have aided greatly in perfecting this instru- ment. The transmitter, constructed and im- proved by him and Blake, is combined with the Bell Telephone and makes the Telephone of general use. To such a state of perfection has the instrument been brought that over long distances, even between some of our great cities, communication can be success- fully carried on. Special mention must be made of Mr. Edison's invention for the multiplication, or printing of copies made by pen and ink and the typewriter. This is found very ser- viceable in large establishments that send- out circulars, etc. Its fundamental principle is the stylus or point, the writing implement of man since the art was first invented. It is the natural tool by which the hand can trace characters, and it is this stylus or point, used in the instrument, which has created for it such a decided and permanent popularity. The sheet of paper upon which the copy is to be printed is placed upon a blotter resting on the base-board beneath the stencil sheet, and the ink roller is passed over the stencil sheet, forcing the ink through perfora- tions, thus making the impression upon the paper. This operation is repeated until the required number o<" copies are obtained. It is a quick and simple process of reproducing letters and circulars in quantities large or small. One of the latest and most interesting inventions of Mr. Edison is the Kinetoscope, which is nothing more nor less than the reproduction of motion. The observer looks through a glass into a small cabinet and sees what appear to be living figures. They may be men or animals, and they are in action. Thus the movements of horses, children at play, men and women walking, exercises in gymnastics, etc., are faithfully reproduced. This, it must be admitted, is a marvelous triumph of inventive genius. It is not too much to say that Mr. Edi- son's ideas have entered largely into all the electrical discoveries of recent time. He, or his assistants, prompted by his original con- ceptions, have contributed largely to all the scientific journals of the country. His inven- tions consist of improvements in the electric light and the telephone. He is also the in- ventor of the phonograph, the quadruplex and sextuplex transmitter, the microphone, the megaphone, the kinetoscope, the mimeo- graph, the electric pen, etc. No one can foresee what discoveries are yet to be made in the science of electricity. The field is as wide as it is interesting. Already the marvels are on every side of us. Especially is the thought of electricians occu- pied with the endeavor to obtain a motive power that shall supersede steam. That this will be accomplished is certainly within the bounds of possibility; but whatever the future discoveries are to be, it is safe to pre- dict that Mr. Edison will be among the fore- most of those who achieve success in this department of science. In person Mr. Edison is rather tall, some- what stocky, with smooth face and a youth- ful expression. He is capable of a great amount of work and has been known to spend sixty hours consecutively in his laboratory without sleep. He bears the title of Count, which was conferred upon hirn in Italy, in honor of his brilliant dis- coveries. CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW. THERE are Americans who do not need to be placed in official posi- tion, who do not need to be Gov- ernors, Senators or Presidents, to exert a commanding influence and stand in the eye of the nation. They are capable of winning celebrity in more private walks. Some of our most distinguished citizens have never been placed to any considerable extent under political responsibility. There are those who appear to be naturally outside of office, if not altogether superior to it. Their worth lies entirely in themselves -'rrespective of position or surroundings. If one were asked to name the most emi- nent citizens of ourcountryChauncey Mitchell Depew would be mentioned as one of them. His fame has gone into all parts of the land, among men of business, politicians, leaders of thought, those who are especially inter- ested in moral reform — in fact, among all classes of our citizens Mr. Depew is known for his estimable qualities, his intellectual ability and his genial nature. He did, indeed, at one time hold office, but this was many years ago, and, while he has always been interested in politics, and has even been suggested as the candidate of his party for the Presidency, he does not appear to have sought distinctions of this description. Mr. Depew is a man of broad and liberal education. He was born in Peekskill, N. Y., April 23, 1834. Even in his boyhood he was a gifted declaimer, and gave prophecy then of his distinguished career as an orator. The old saying that "the boy is the father to the man" is illustrated in his case. He graduated from Yale College in 1856, having taken high rank during his course, especially in the department of rhetoric and oratory. Many were the contests he had in college, and many were the times that he emerged from them with complete success. His social disposition, his breezy manner, his happy knack of merry-making and his fund of anec- dote, rendered him a general favorite. In 1858 he began practicing law, consider- ing that this profession furnished the widest opportunities for such abilities as he could command. His public career as an orator was begun in T856 in the Fremont campaign. At this time he identified himself with the young Republican party, of which he has since been a prominent and enthusiastic member. He became widely known through- out the eastern part of New York for his pithy and eloquent stump-speeches, and very soon found himself in favor with the older leaders of the party. His youth, his self- possession, his fluency, his grasp of the subjects he treated, his unbounded enthu- siasm, drew immediate attention and marked a coming man. In 1 86 1 he was sent to the Legislature of New York, and two years later he was elected Secretary of State, declining a re- election two years subsequently. He found it necessary to devote his time somewhat exclusively to his ' profession, considering that this was his legitimate calling, and to pursue it would prove of lasting benefit to him in the end. In 1866 he was chosen attorney for the New York and Harlem Railroad, and, three years later, when the railroad was consolidated with the New York Central, he became general counsel of the company. He was elected second Vice- President of the Central Railroad in 1882, and the following year President of the " Vanderbilt roads." In person Mr. Depew is above the medium \ height, has prominent features and a clear, penetrating voice that can be heard by the largest audiences. V THOMAS B. REED. THE history of our country shows that in every great ciisis and emer- gency men have come forward who were equal to the occasion. An extraordinary demand has always developed extraordinary characters and has been fruit- ful in remarkable achievements. From the period of the Revolution down to the pre- sent time, statesmen who would compare favorably with those of any other nation, have appeared upon the scene of action. Those who established our national policy and guided the young republic through its early career, were not more conspicuous than those who, in later times, have shaped the events whose record is written upon the enduring pages of history. It is but just to say that our nation has been gifted with wise and able statesmen, nor do we need to go far back to discover their names. Stormy times always bring grand men to the front, the occasion affording opportunity for leaders of intellectual force, heroic cour- age and glowing patriotism. It has been no light task to guide American affairs during the period immediately following our great Civil War. The conflict of opinions has raged under the dome of the Capitol. This was only to be expected, for a nation like ours, covering so vast an extent of territory, the life of which is composed of interests so varied, and where there is always a strong local feeling, must find that there will be differences of opinion respecting many ques- tions of national policy. Few men have lately occupied more public attention than Thomas Brackett Reed, a man constructed on a broad plan, with abundance of material put into his original composition, and physically and intellectually the peer of the most conspicuous Americans who have gone before him. As a party leader, he has viii shown pre-eminent abilities, while at the same time he possesses the elements of personal popularity to a remarkable degree. He ap- pears to have gained his full growth, is not confined within narrow limits, and is so ample in thought, energy and deed, that he must be considered a grand outgrowth of American institutions. Mr. Reed was born in Maine, October 1 8th, 1839. After the usual common-school education, which the most of American boys are fortunate in being able to obtain, he con- tinued his studies and graduated at Bowdoin College in i860. The choice of his profes- sion was that of law, and he immediately began its study after leaving College. For a short time he was diverted from the practice of his profession, becoming acting paymaster in the Navy in 1864. Here, however, he remained only a year, and then resumed his profession. His comprehensive knowledge of current politics and his sound Republican principles made him widely known in his own locality, and he was honored with an election to the lower branch of the Maine Legislature in 1868. At the next election, he was made Senator and was transferred to the upper house. For two years he was attorney- general of the State, and city solicitor for Portland for a term of four years. During all this time his reputation was extending, i his marked qualities were showing them- selves, his strong individuality was attracting observation, and it became evident that he had abundant qualifications for a sphere of the widest political action. The next step in his career was his election to Congress, in 1876. He has since been continuously re-elected, a fact in itself afford- ing sufficient evidence of his great popularity and the unbounded confidence reposed in EMINENT AMERICANS. IX him by his constituents. It was soon ad- mitted in Washington that a man of extra- ordinary parts had taken his seat in the House of Representatives. He did not com- mit the error of expressing his views on every little subject, on every little occasion, but when the turning-points came and mat- ters of weighty import were to be decided, Mr. Reed stood in the centre of the arena, a valiant champion of his party faith, and an op- ponent with whom few dared to measure arms. Mr. Reed showed an intricate knowledge of parliamentary law and usages, having made the conduct of public business a special study. He was quick to detect any blunder or mistake in the deliberations and modes of procedure on the floor of the House. Naturally he became the leader of his party, having a clear and comprehensive conception of its principles, and being able to express his views with such force and eloquence as to command attention. He assumed his position at the front without effort, without courting favor, purely upon his own merits as a statesman of broad views, generous im- pulses, magnetic force and calm judgment. He became the central figure of the Re- publican party, and in the Fifty-first Con- gress was elected Speaker of the House. It soon became evident that a man of stern will and remarkable executive ability was in the chair. Business was to go on. The country expected legislation and was to have it. The subterfuges and delays for defeating measures of public importance were to be branded as infamous. The old-time usages and rules which blocked legislative machinery were to be dragged forth and slain, as Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal. Of course, there was a stir among the dry bones. It had never been so seen in Wash- ington before. A new man was at the helm, a new life and vigor were infused into the deliberations and actions of the House of Representatives. Men who had resorted to the most unscrupulous methods for defeating projects which they did not favor, were respectfully but firmly told to take a back seat. Rules were adopted for " counting a quorum," and permitting public business to be transacted, a very wise and indispensable proceeding, as would be said by any man of common sense. It was justly concluded that where something was expected to be done, it was the height of idiocy and obstinacy to allow a small minority to paralyze all action^ resulting in the doing of nothing. As might have been expected, a storm of criticism was awakened. In the midst of it all Mr. Reed stood like a rock, conscious that he was right and that the position he had taken was a public necessity. Americans do not like a weak man. They had found a strong one, and the entire approbation of his party sustained Mr. Reed and applauded his administration. He was unmoved by assaults, bitter criticisms, storms of vituperation. His enemies gave him the title of " Czar," berated what they called his tyranny, yet inwardly respected him and bowed before the majesty of his will. Time has justified fully the position Mr. Reed assumed, and the very rules which the minority opposed they were com- pelled to adopt when they became the majority. Mr. Reed's views upon great public ques- tions are so well known as to require little reference here. Suffice it to say, he is a thorough American, believes in a strong for- eign policy, is an advocate of reasonable pro- tection to American industries, and stands with his windows open to the light, ready for any and all measures that will promote the widest public welfare. In personal characteristics and force of character Mr. Reed is a typical American and seems abundantly able to bear the re- sponsibilities which have fallen to his lot as a public man. MELVILLE W. FULLER. LAWYERS of high reputation are found in all parts of our country, and here, more than in almost any other profession, it is difficult to draw distinctions and say that one is superior to another. Taken as a whole, the profession of law exhibits keen intellectual ability and marked oratorical power. Some members of the profession have been eminent as jurists, such as Chief Justice Marshall and Chief Justice Chase. Others have been eloquent pleaders, like Webster and Choate. Others have excelled in that intellectual acuteness which is especially re- quired in untangling the meshes of the law. It is true that very able jurists have been placed upon the bench of the Supreme Court. Yet these never have enjoyed a monopoly of ilegal talent. Others of equal ability might ihave been elevated to the same position, ful- filling its duties with equal efficiency. The subject of this sketch did not have a national reputation until he was nominated for Chief Justice by President Cleveland and promptly confirmed by the Senate. That such an honor is great is universally con- ceded ; it is one of the highest that can be conferred. It has been said that the Supreme Court is peculiarly the pride and glory of our •country. Although this was said by a mem- ber of the Court and appears to have a touch of self-praise about it, nevertheless it must be admitted to be true. Here is the tribunal -of last resort. Here questions are decided which pertain even to the Constitution and government of the country. Matters of the gravest import are constantly before the Court, vast interests hinging upon their de- cision. Beyond this tribunal there is no appeal. Its word is final and is not to be vdisputed. Its decisions pass into laws, into principles of action, and even become a part of our unwritten Constitution. History furnishes a record of many tribu- nals, some just, some unjust, some cruel, some merciful, some pure, and many corrupt, but in all the long story of civilization from an- cient Egypt down through the Greek and Roman Empires to the present day, there can be found no judicial organization more worthy of high honor and profound respect than the Supreme Court of the United States. Intimately interwoven as its proceedings have been with the national and individual life of our people, calmly deciding, as it has, matters of the gravest import, involving vast measures of wealth, political consequences unmeasurable in mere money, and questions on the turn of which hung millions of lives, no taint of suspicion ever sullied its honor, the serious charge has seldom made, even in the heat of sectional strife and bitterness, that its decision, or the decisions of its individual members, were guided by aught save the cold, passionless mandate of the law, clothed with the significance that each one attached to its utterance. It was characterized by an eminent jurist as '' The court which interprets the living voice of the Constitution." " In whatever has concerned the national welfare, this court has," he said, " always stood for the con- science of the people of the United States."' The character and eminence of its mem- bers must ever be a subject of deepest inter- est to all Americans, for it is readily conceiv- able that without a Marshall, a Waite, a Storey and a Chase, as Chief Justices, our national and political development might have proceeded upon lines far different from the ones which it has followed. The position held by the Supreme Court, the importance of the cases brought to its judgment and the far-reaching effects of its decisions, require jurists of the most profound ^ karaing, the widest experience, the utmost EMINENT AMERICANS. XI patience and candor, and personal characters above reproach. That Mr. Fuller meets these requirements to a most eminent degree, is universally admitted. He was born in Au- gusta, Maine, February ii, 1833, and twenty years later graduated from Bowdoin Col- lege, an institution which has been peculiarly favored in its distinguished graduates. Hav- ing studied law at Harvard College, Mr. Fuller entered upon the practice of his pro- fession in his native city in 1855. His mind seems to have had a leaning toward journalism, and he became the editor of the Augusta Age, while at the same time he became prominent in local politics, having been made president of the Common Council during his editorship. In 1856 he was elected City Attorney. But, like many young men born and reared in New England, he was seized with the Western fever, and de- termined to go West to find a wider field for his energies. He removed to Chicago, where, for thirty-two years, he conducted a highly successful law practice, having gained imme- diately a wide reputation for legal acumen, and for honorable methods in the manage- ment of his cases. At the same time, he did not divorce him- self from public affairs. He was a member of the Illinois Constitutional Convention in 1S62, and of the Illinois House of Represen- tativies in 1863. A strong Democrat, he served as a delegate to all the national Con- ventions from 1864 to 1880 inclusive, and was always prominent in the councils of his party, where his word had the greatest influ- ence. His successful career naturally pointed to a higher position of service than he had hitherto occupied. Not only the men of his -own party, but his fellow-citizens generally looked upon him as an able, honorable and upright man. When President Cleveland selected him to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Bench of the United States caused by the death of Chief Justice Waite, the choice was pronounced a wise one by those who knew Mr. Fuller best. Those who had not known him were some- what surprised at his selection, but subse- quent events have justified the wisdom of the choice. He was confirmed by the Senate July 20, 1888, and took the oath of office on the 8th of October following. In the social life of Washington, Mr. Fuller and his family are widely known, making it a point to entertain their friends and show attention to strangers. Their delightful hos- pitalities are widely extended and thoroughly enjoyed. A large family of daughters, bright and well educated, lend attraction to the home. These have been reared, not after the straight-laced fashion, but, while placed under judicious parental restraint, they have been allowed such freedom as develops individu- ality of character, and, to a considerable ex- tent, independence of action. They think for themselves, have opinions of their own, and are fully equal to all the social func- tions in which they are required to take part. Mr. Fuller has received the degree of LL.D. from Bowdoin College, and also from the Northwestern University. This is simply the recognition of those distinguished abilities which have placed him at the head of the highest judicial tribunal in the land. In person he is of medium height and build, and not at all remarkable for what we are in the habit of calling " presence." His hair is white and is worn long; his face smooth, with the exception of a somewhat heavy mustache. His features are clear cut, giving evidence of the scholar and the thinker. His decisions are marked by learning, pro- found insight into the merits of the case, and a simplicity and clearness of expression which render them capable of being compre- hended by the average mind. JOHN WANAMAKER. THE career of no business man in the United States has been more successful than that of John Wana- maker. From the poor boy to the foremost merchant of our time, is an amazing step. Others may be accounted self-made men, miracles we might call them of energy and achievement, but to no other does the term phenomenal apply with as much force as it does to the subject of this sketch. Not only is Mr. Wanamaker the greatest merchant in America, he is also one of our greatest men. By this we do not mean that he is brilliant from all points of view, that he is a profound scholar or a great orator, but in all the elements which go to form a true and noble manhood, a man successful in all his undertakings, and a private and public citizen of pre-eminent worth and influence, he may be considered unique. It has been quite customary for instruc- tors of the rising generation to point to Mr. Wanamaker as a shining example for young men. The young as well as the old learn best from object lessons. That Mr. Wana- maker should have been selected so fre- quently as a pattern for imitation is not surprising to those who know him best. Standing conspicuously as he does before the public, it is not to be wondered at that he should have his critics, perhaps even enemies. All positive characters do have them, and it is greatly to their credit that they do. What impresses one especially is, that Mr. Wanamaker has so many sides to his character, and shows so much of genius, not only in one direction, but in many. It is not too much to say that if he had been en- gaged in any other pursuit than the mercan- tile, he would instantly have come to the front. The secret of all this is simply in the man himself. Having the ability, it cannot help xii exhibiting itself under all circumstances. The man who is a natural-born leader is pretty sure to lead wherever you place him. He carries in his own strong will and iron arm successes beyond the reach of feebler men. Such an one does not need to have greatness thrust upon him ; he is great al- ready. The world always has estimated, and always will estimate, men by their successes. Judged by this inevitable standard, Mr. Wanamaker is a Saul among the Prophets. He was born in Philadelphia, July ii^ 1838 ; attended a country school until he was fourteen, and there obtained about the only education he ever received. His first place was that of messenger boy with the publish- ing house of Troutman & Hayes, at the ex- ceedingly modest salary of ;^ 1.2 5 a week. He lived over four miles from the store, and footed it morning and evening, eating at noon the plain lunch brought with him from home, put up for him by a loving mother's hands. Subsequently the family lived for a time in Kosciusko County, Indiana, but re- turned to Philadelphia in 1856, where young Wanamaker eventually obtained employment in Tower Hall, then the largest clotning house in that city. At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, when he was twenty-three years old, he married Miss Brown, and, having obtained a very small capital, he went into the clothing business in partnership with his brother-in- law. Here the qualities of the man began, to show themselves, and he became conspic- uous for that business shrewdness, push, and perseverance, enterprise, courage, and breadth of views which have distinguished him ever since. Of course, the business prospered and grew rapidly, until in time his clothing house became the largest in America. A second EMINENT AMERICANS. Xlll store was opened in the city, and afterwards several branch houses in other parts of the country. It is noticeable that from early manhood Mr. Wanamaker devoted himself enthusiastically to religious work, his activity in this respect keeping pace with that dis- played in his business. He established a mission school in what was then a poor, neglected part of the city, so infested with rough, criminal characters, that it was scarcely safe for a respectable citizen to walk through its streets after nightfall. This mission has grown to amazing pro- portions. It was the forerunner of the great Bethany Church and Sunday-schools, which have attracted attention, not merely in Phila- delphia, but in all parts of the country. It may as well be said here that in connection with Bethany, advantages have been offered to young persons in humble circumstances for the study of various secular branches, a knowledge of which is intended to prepare them for business life. Moreover, arrange- ments have been made for the founding of an institute which will cost from one to two million dollars, where at a nominal rate young persons of both sexes can pursue academical studies, and have ample opportu- nities for manual training. This is one of Mr. Wanamaker's crowning achievements. After the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, with the financial management of which he was prominently connected, he opened the great general store in Philadelphia which continues to be one of the wonders of the age. It occupies an entire square in one direction and half this space in another. The building was once a large freight depot, and when Mr. Wanamaker conceived the idea of opening a store of such gigantic dimen- sions it was freely prophesied that he would fail. Notwithstanding all reports to the con- trary, there has doubtless never been a time when Mr. Wanamaker was anywhere near the point of failing. Failure does not seem to be in the man. Mr. Wanamaker's methods of conducting business have shown his original genius. These have been quite different from those long pursued, being especially noticeable in the liberality shown to the public. They are made to feel quite at home in the great establishment, are treated with the utmost courtesy, and if, after making purchases, these are not satisfactory, they can be re- turned. The theory is, that to treat the public liberally pays. Quite naturally Mr. Wanamaker became prominent as a citizen and public man. He appeared to have no ambition for office, but for many years was fully occupied with the management of his vast concerns. His coun- sel and advice were, however, often sought, and it is probable that no preferment within the gift of his native city would have been denied him. But he was destined to hold a much higher position and one that would identify him witn the affairs of the nation at large. Having many times declined public office, in 1889 he accepted the portfolio of Postmaster-General in President Harrison's Cabinet, and introduced into the department the most approved business methods. His efficient administration did much toward perfecting and extending the postal service. Mr Wanamaker has long been distin- guished for his liberal contributions to benevolent work, and it is certain that more than one institution, endowed by his munifi- cence, will stand as a monument to his busi- ness capacity and liberal spirit. • He takes the view that a considerable part of his vast estate should be distributed dur- ing his lifetime under his own care and supervision. He is not willing merely to part with his money when compelled to by grim death, after the example of a great many. CHARLES FREDERICK CRISR M R. CRISP has been a well-known figure in Congress since the period of his first election. He had gained a wide celebrity in Geor- gia, had shown himself, in various ways, to be a man suited to leadership, and his eleva- tion to the House of Representatives was only to be expected, and was a worthy tribute to the man. He seems to have been by nature marked out for political life, and it will be generally admitted that in Washington he found his appropriate sphere. Mr. Crisp was born in Sheffield, England, January 20, 1845. His parents were Ameri- cans, temporarily residing in England, and returned to this country in 1846, when the subject of the sketch was about one year old. Thus, although Mr. Crisp is not a na- tive of the United States, he comes as near it as one possibly can, being distinctively Am- erican by parentage and education. The family having settled in Georgia, the boy was placed in the common schools, where he received his education. While quick to learn and exhibiting qualities of rhind much above the average, he also displayed marked traits which have been . prominent through all his subsequent career. He was indepen- dent, positive, aggressive, and self-reliant. He was not in the habit of allowing any of his rights to be invaded without showing quick resentment. In time, he became a leader among the young men by whom he was surrounded, and over whom he exerted great influence. Even at this period he seemed to combine in a remarkable degree wise foresight and judgment with impetuous force. He was evidently born to be a power in whatever sphere or circumstances placed him. He shared the spirit of the South which flamed out in secession, and in this he was only like xiv the great body of young men in the Southern States. It is a well-known fact that quite largely the Confederate Army was composed of this class. They were strong in their con- victions ; they were eager for action in the field ; they were willing to take risks and make sacrifices. They did not count their lives dear to them, and history shows that tens of thousands of them fell upon the battle-field, redd'^ning its sod with their warm blood. In 1 86 1 Mr. Crisp entered the Confederate army as a lieutenant. He saw a good deal of active service in the field, showed himself to be a good soldier, and won the approbation of his superiors. He was a prisoner of war from May, 1864, until June, 1865. After his release he studied law, and practiced first at Ellaville, and afterward at Americus, Ga., which latter place became his subsequent home. He quickly took high rank in his profession, and gained rapid prominence, being well thought of by older lawyers as- well as by the community in which he lived. In 1872 he was appointed solicitor-general of the South-western Judicial Court, and held that office until the middle of 1877, when he became judge of the Superior Court of the same circuit. He showed himself to be fully equipped for the exacting duties of hi? position, lending dignity to his office, and evincing that impartial spirit which properly belongs to the occupant of the judicial bench. He could have remained in this position if he had chosen, but whether satisfied with his successes or not, his fellow-citizens had already expressed their wishes to have him represent them at Washington. He resigned from the bench in September, 1882, to accept the Democratic nomination for Congress. He was permanent president of the Democratic Convention which assem- EMINENT AMERICANS. x\r bLa in Atlanta in April, 1883, to nominate a candidate for governor. Thus his steps all seemed to be in the natural order of things, one following the other in a kind of logical sequence. He was elected to the Forty- eighth Congress, and immediately took high rank among the members of the House, being prominent on. all occasions in the deliberations of his party, and regarded as one of the wisest and most efficient leaders. When the Democratic party came into power with Mr. Cleveland's second adminis- tration, Mr. Crisp was unanimously selected to assume the responsible duties of Speaker of the House, and was chosen to that position. His knowledge of parliamentary law, his ex- perience upon the floor of Congress, his character for impartial judgment, gained when connected with the courts of his adopted State, all marked him out as pos- sessing the necessary qualifications for the Speakership. During the sessions of the Fifty-second Congress he added greatly to his reputation, and it was generally conceded that he was a worthy successor of the able presiding officers who had gone before him. Even his political opponents agreed that his rulings and decisions showed at all times careful consideration, and were unbipsed by prejudice. In manner, Mr. Crisp is a type of the cul- tivated gentleman, urbane, cordial, courteous, and approachable upon all occasions. Pos- sessed of great independence and resolution, always looking at public questions from a practical point of view, firm in the mainte- nance of his opinions, and immovable as a rock when conscious that he is in the right, he affords a central point around which the sentiment of his party shapes itself. In de- bate, he is incisive, fluent, forcible, and ordi- narily shows a thorough study and complete grasp of his subject. He has proved himself to be a formidable antagonist, and many are the weapons of lesser men that have been broken upon his- shield, and have fallen harmless at his feet. At times his utterances are bold and almost defiant, yet his evident sincerity assures him a respectful hearing, while the honesty of his convictions is always plainly apparent.. Taking him all in all, he is a typical repre- sentative of the locality from which he comes and of the party whose ideas and principles he holds with tenacity and expounds with such marked ability. After the shifting fortunes of political par- ties had deprived Mr. Crisp of his position at the head of the House of Representatives, he resumed his place on the floor to represent, again the district that had repeatedly hon- ored him. He did not seem to lose interest in national legislation, but, although acting with the minority, and knowing beforehand that measures advocated by himself and friends were not certain to be passed, he did not relax his vigilance, or in any way dimin- ish his efforts in behalf of what he deemed essential to the public welfare. By common consent he was the leader of his party, and, being so regarded, he had the chief voice in its deliberations. His en- tire history as a public man had been so free from mistakes, and so contrary to the in- trigues of the mere self-seeking partisan, that he commanded the utmost respect and confi- dence. It was sufficient to know what wer^ his views on public questions in order to gather around him a strong and loyal band of supporters. Not that he has ever been in the habit of exercising a domineering spirit, or of show- ing any attempt to override the honest con- victions of other men. His appeal has always been to reason and common sense. Mr. Crisp's native qualities have been his success; at the same time they have been quickened by a broad culture and large experience. MARSHALL FIELD, GIVEN the man and the opportu- nity, and the combination is com- plete. The opportunity is the great West, even the world ; the man is Marshall Field. There is no special merit in being an Eastern boy or being born even in Massa- chusetts. Yet, in numerous instances, our Eastern boys, who are the flowering and the growth of a hard-headed, industrious, thrifty ancestry, have honored their parentage, have amassed fortunes and risen to enviable posi- tions in every walk of life. It is useless to say that nothing depends upon the kind of stuff of which a young man is made. No one can sharpen a stirk and make of it a razor. That enterprises should be conducted on a grand scale in Chicago and other parts of the West, is only to be expected. Man's plans appear to follow nature's, and nature's plans in America are broad and comprehensive. Our rivers are more than rivulets, our prairies are more than garden patches, our Northern lakes have a suggestion of the sea about them, and in keeping with this breadth and fulness is American enterprise. We are an ambitious, nervous, pushing, money-making people. The Eastern boy, in fact, every boy, has dreams of a fortune. Marshall Field was born in Conway, Mass., in 1835. His father was a farmer, and that, too, in a locality where it is no easy matter to make two blades of grass grow where one grew before. It was not needful that the father should make fortunes and successes for the son ; the son had fortunes and successes in himself He went to Chicago in 1856 and obtained employment in the wholesale dry- goods house of Cooley, Wadsworth & Co., afterward Cooley, Farwell & Co., and subse- quently the John V. Farwell Company. xvi In 1 860 he obtained an interest in the con- cern, but in 1865 Mr. Field and L. Z. Leiter withdrew from the house, and in connection with Potter Palmer organized the firm of Field, Palmer & Leiter. Mr. Palmer with- drew in 1867, and the firm became Field, Leiter & Co. Since the retirement of Mr. Leiter, in 1881, the house has been known by the name of Marshall Field & Co. To say that its business has been extended, not only throughout America, but into other parts of the world, until it is, perhaps, the most extensive of its kind of which we have any record, speaks volumes for the tact and enterprise, sound judgment and persevering energy of those who have had the manage- ment of it. While Mr. Field has been asso- ciated with men of ability and not capable of making many mistakes, his guiding thought and practical business talent have been dis- played throughout. This great mercantile establishment has branches in Paris, Manchester, Yokohama and other foreign centres, and carries on a business that amounts to many million dollars a year — just how many it would be difficult to say, for the reason that in every mercantile establishment the volume of business may vary according to times and circumstances. The amount of labor involved in starting, extending and conducting a business of such vast proportions can be known only to those by whom the burden has been borne. Let no one suppose for a moment that there has been any recklessness which rushes on without taking any thought of consequences. There has been a conservative management on the one hand, and a bold, energetic, for- ward movement on the other. There has been nothing whatever in the nature of wild speculation. There has been no jumping at chances, but in a straightforward, mathema- EMINENT AMERICANS. XVI 1 tical way, business has been pushed, and the results could almost be foreseen. This seems to have been the great cardinal principle on which Mr. Field has always acted. When financial depressions have come, and every morning's bulletin made startling announce- ments of failures, he has been able to meet the emergencies and conquer all threatening disaster. It is said that his rule is to never borrow, never give a note, never to speculate in stocks, and to buy for cash. He has never considered himself under any obl-giition to be influenced by the whims and caprices of the hour. When others have departed from sound business principles and have extended credits in order to quicken the pulses of trade, he has marked the line of danger and has pursued an opposite course. Moreover, he has always conducted his dealings with a view to gain the confidence of the public, guaranteeing the quality of the goods sold, and absolutely refusing to sell goods of inferior character. Confidence is one of the corner-stones of sound and suc- cessful business. The man who deals hon- estly and justly, who is willing to make his word good, and who will stand by every statement made, is the one who will draw custom and reap a corresponding benefit. Honesty is not only right, but it is the best policy. All policy aside, honesty should be the rule of action because it is right. In Mr. Field's long business career, he has, of course, encountered difficulties, and has sometimes been placed in trying posi- tions. He was a sufferer from the great fire in 1 87 1, which laid a large part of Chicago in ashes. Although well insured, so many of the insurance companies failed that his losses were immense. He turned away from the smouldering ruins ot his establishment, and with new energy and courage started afresh. On the corner of State and 20th Streets were some horse-car sheds that had ii been spared by the fire ; these were rented, business was re-established, and in the follow- ing year new stores were ready to be occu- pied. Other buildings have been erected since, as they were needed, equipped with all facili- ties and admirably adapted to their purpose. In 1873 came the great panic which affect- ed the business of the entire country. Few such periods of depression have ever been known, and many of the strongest concerns, some of which were almost becoming vener- able through their long careers of prosperity, were compelled to succumb. But Mr. Field's house owed nothing, had an excellent class of customers, who had paid their bills up to within two months of the time when the panic fell with such disastrous results, and it stood like a rock. Never has there been a time since it was founded when it could not promptly meet its obligations. The business continued to grow steadily until, in 1885, it was necessary to erect ano- ther building. This was constructed of granite and sandstone, and is one of the most substantial and conveniently arranged dry- goods establishments in the world. Building after building has been added to the retail store to meet the growing demands of the business. Mr. Field has never been infatuated with the idea of making money merely to hoard it up. His charities are large and without ostentation. He has been a public-spirited citizen, taking an interest in all that con- cerned the growth and welfare of Chicago. Many institutions have profited by his liberal bequests. He gave one million dollars to the Columbian Museum fund, has been a large contributor to the Chicago University, and in numberless private channels has shown his benevolent spirit. It is but simple truth to say that he is a noble specimen, not only of the merchant-prince, but of the highest type of man. JOHN SHERMANS OUR Civil War and the stirring times that followed it have developed some statesmen of distinguished ability, who will long be remembered and honored for the invaluable services they have rendered to the nation. There is always a large class of people prating about the " good old times," telling how superior the early statesmen were to those of more recent date, glorifying the founders of the Republic, and implying that with their death a large part of our national capacity for public affairs went out of existence, never to return. It is well to be patient with those who live in the shadow of bygone days, although we may be compelled to pity their simplicity. They show very little knowledge of current history, if they imagine that all the virtue and all the statesmanship belong to a past generation. With all due respect to the ability of that great class of heroes and patriots whose deeds have given lustre to our early American history, it must yet be re- membered that there are giants in these days, and that the next generation will outline their figures in grand proportions, as we do those of former times. The name of John Sherman has been closely associated with our national affairs for more than thirty years. During this long period few men have wrought more valiantly, have stood out more prominently in the eye of the nation, have marked their career with greater achievements or have committed fewer mistakes. An eminently wise and safe man he has been. Always strong in his party convictions, he has yet been something more than a politician. He was originally freighted with material sufficient to enable him to fill every position he has occupied, so that it has never been said of him that he xviii was unequal to the occasion. From early manhood he has given to the public an im- pression of massive strength, great intellectual insight, close familiarity with public affairs unswerving integrity, and an ability, espe- cially in the matter of finances, second to that of no other man in the nation. To write Mr. Sherman's history is to write his eulogy. He was born in Lancaster, Ohio, May lO, 1823. When he was but six years old his father died, leaving a large family in reduced circumstances, and he was subsequently adopted by a relative living at Mt. Vernon, Ohio. At the age of twelve a sister took charge of him and put him in a school at Lancaster, where he acquired an education. He studied law with his brother, C. T. Sherman, at Mansfield, where he afterward practiced for ten years, and where he was married, in 1848, to a daughter of James Stewart. He was looked upon as a rising man, and gained a d.stinction which was not confined to the limits of his profession. His neighbors and friends believed that he pos- sessed unusual qualifications for public life In 1855 he was elected to the 34th Con- gress in the interest of the Free Soil party, and was re-elected to the 35th and 36th Con- gresses. He became a power on the floor and in committees, and was recognized as the foremost man in the House, particularly in matters affecting finance. He was again elected to Congress in i860, but in the fol- lowing year was chosen to the United States Senate, where he at once became a leader. After the close of the Civil War he and Thaddeus Stevens prepared the bill for the reconstruction of the Southern States, which was passed by Congress in the winter of 1866-67. In March, 1877, Senator Sherman was EMINENT AMERICANS. XIX appointed by President Hayes, Secretary of the Treasury, a position which he retained until the close of Mr. Hayes' administration, in 1 88 1, when he re-entered the Senate, of which he has been a member ever since, having discharged his duties with such fidel- ity and efficiency as to insure his continual re-election. Few men have ever had such confidence placed in them, and few have ever done so little to disappoint it. Having made the subjects of Finance and Revenue a special study, he was looked upon as eminently ) fitted for his position in the Cabinet, and when he returned to the Senate and there found grave problems confronting the coun- try, he addressed himself earnestly to the task of solving them and putting the finances of the nation upon a sound basis. It was due to his management, while at the head of the Treasury, that the resumption of .specie payments was effected in 1879, without dis- turbance to the financial or commercial inter- ests of the country. Naturally he has been brought into close relations with capital, with banks and bankers, with moneyed men of e-very description, who have placed great reliance on his judgment and advice. He was a prominent candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 1880, and again in 1888, but if this was ever seri- ously his goal of ambition, he stopped short of gaining the prize. Lacking, probably, in some of those magnetic qualities which be- long to a great popular leader, he has never been able to command a following large enough to place him at the head of his party in a presidential campaign. His intellect is cold and keen, his manner is dignified and somewhat reserved; he means business, and that only, so constantly, that he has never drawn around him a sufficient number of influential men who were willing to make him their idol and stake everything upon his advancement Mr. Sherman would not be selected as a shining example of the brilliant statesman. He is not possessed of that peculiar magne- tism by which many other prominent men in the nation have been distinguished, but he is a fine type of those substantial, useful quali- ties by which the best results are always brought about. He has never aimed to startle the public by dash and enthusiasm. His mind is judicial, and as a jurist he would be preeminent. His ripe age, calm judgment, and devotion to his constituents on the one hand, and to his own political faith on the other, have drawn to him universal respect. His life is one that is well rounded and complete. Es- pecially has he shown himself familiar with our national finances, upon which he has long been an authority. , That his service in Washington has been as useful as it has been protracted, will be denied by no one. He was, until 1893, chairman of the Committee on Foreign Re- lations, and a member of the Committee on Finance, the Committee on Organization, Conduct and Expenditures of the Executive Departments, the Select Committee on the Quadro-Centennia, and the Committee on Rules. In person Mr. Sherman is very tall and somewhat spare. He has a nervous, ener- getic temperament, and is capable of great endurance and of a vast amount of work. Having risen from the poverty of boyhood to the commanding heights of personal power and influence, he affords a fine illus- tration of the ample success within the grasp of every young American possessed of abil- ity, industry and laudable ambition. He has left his imprint upon the recent history of our country, which cannot be written with- out frequent reference to the important measures conceived and fostered by his wise and eminent statesmanship. LEW WALLACE. M OST men who have distinguished themselves as authors have been authors only, devoting their en- tire time and energies to literary- pursuits. This may be said of Washington Irving, Henry W. Longfellow, Dr. J. G. Holland, and many others whose works have been widely known and read. Occasionally some brilliant genius like Nathaniel Haw- thorne has been compelled to combine busi- ness pursuits with literary labors in order to obtain the very necessary commodities of bread and butter. There is in our country a growing class of writers who aim to devote themselves exclusively to authorship, realiz- ing that in this way only the best work can be accomplished. It must be admitted, hov;evi, ', that some of our most popular fictions have been writ- ten amidst exacting labors, not at all con- nected with authorship; for example, Mrs. Stowe's famous story, which has been more 'extensively read than any other similar pro- auc*:ion, and which was penned amidst oner- ous household duties and the most absorbing caj"es. This, however, is no evidence against the truth of the statement, that here as else- where, to make the most of the pursuit requires that it should be followed tc the exclusion of all others. It seldom happens that any one individual shows particular aptitude for more than one calling. The merchant must be a merchant only, the teacher must be only a teacher, the clergy- man only a clergyman, the lawyer only a lawyer, the farmer a farmer only. In the person of General Lew Wallace we have the example of a man who has been successful in several directions and has ex- hibited an unusual combination of talents. He was born at Brookville, Franklin County, Indiana, in 1827. He was fortunate in hav- XX. ing good advantages for education in his boyhood, and always showed himself to be a diligent and painstaking scholar. He began the study of law, but upon the outbreak ot the Mexican War his patriotic ardor and spirit of adventure carried him into the army, where he became a lieutenant of Indiana volunteers. Returning from active service in the field, he practiced law at Covington and Crawfordsville in his native state. He lived a comparatively uneventful life until the outbreak of the Civil War, when he immediately came to the front, fired ap- parently with the old war spirit of earlier days. He was appointed adjutant-genera) of Indiana and became colonel of volunteers. At the capture of Fort Donelson, he com- manded a division, and was promoted major- general of volunteers in March, 1862. He took an active part in the battle of Shiloh, and in 1863 prevented the capture of Cmcin- nati by General Kirby Smith. His success at this time showed that he possessed mili- tary ability of no mean order. His troops were defeated by overwhelm- ing numbers at Monocacy, July 9, 1864. General Early was marching upon Wash- ington with 28,000 men, while Wallace had only 5,800; yet with this inferior force he detained Early for some days, and thus en- abled Grant's troops to reinforce Washing- ton before the Confederates could get there. Yet, by reason of incompetency, supposed or real, he was removed from his command by General Halleck, but was reinstated by Gen- eral Grant. He was mustered out of volun- teer service in 1865 ; returned to the practice of law at Crawfordsville, Indiana; was Gov- ernor of Utah from 1878 to 1 88 1, and served from 1 88 1 till 1885 as United States Minister to Turkey. He afterwards devoted himself tc the EMINENT AMERICANS. XXI practice of law and to literature at his home in Crawfordsviiie. From the stirring public life he had led hitherto, he settled down into quiet pursuits. No one would have been likely to predict that a man of his make-up would have any idea of devoting himself to authorship, but the old Scotch saying that, " What is in the heart must come oot o' the heart," is fully illustrated in his case. Mr. Wallace was born, not merely to be a soldier and diplomat, but also a writer of unusual merit. His conceptions are bold and original ; he has the gift of imagination and the happy faculty of combining characters and circum- stances in his works, in a way that awakens the interest of his readers, and, considering the large sale of his publications, he must be considered one of the most successful authors of the day. Mr. Wallace has issued two widely-read novels, namely, " The Fair God, A Story of the Conquest of Mexico," and " Ben Hur, A Tale of the Christ." The former was pub- I lished in 1873, the latter in 1880. The chief reputation of the author is built upon " Ben Hur," which furnishes graphic pictures of Jewish life and character, and weaves around the central figure of the story an air of cap- tivating romance. Many of the incidents are worked out with the most exacting atten- tion to details. The work begins in a style somewhat prosaic, yet gradually becomes more interesting as it progresses; and al- though it cannot be read so hurriedly as lighter works of fiction, once begun it is likely to be finished. Mr. Wallace is also the author of a " Life of Benjamin Harrison," published in 1888. Another work, entitled " The Boyhood of Christ," was issued during the same year. In 1893 he published "The Prince of India," yet it is true of him, as of other writers, that there is one work which constitutes the crowning achievement and the author cannot surpass himself The later works of Mr. Wallace have added little or notiiing to his fame. It will be noticed that his writings are not in the ordinary realm of fiction. He makes no attempt, as most novelists do, to portray the great master passion of the human heart. Yet he deals with all the emotions, weaves together the facts of history, depicts charac- ters of an unusual type, and for these reasons can lay claim to a large measure of origi- nality. There are multitudes of writers of light fiction, in fact, fiction so frothy and unsub stantial that it has only a momentary life,, and, it may be said-, ought not to have even that Like a flood it comes, and the one compensation is that it goes as fast as it comes. There is nothing in it of permanent endurance. It whiles away a passing hour of the " summer girl," and of that class of readers who have a mania for novels of the sensational order. Only now and then comes a work rf transcendent merit which makes it a thing of life. It will doubtless be conceded tnat Mr. Wallace's works are not of the former class. They are written so carefully and are of such a high order that they are likely to be known and read in after time. Mr. Wallace is courtly and affable, an agreeable friend and companion, showing the cultivated scholar and gentleman under the rugged exterior of the soldier, who has been accustomed to the rough life of the camp and the field. He has often appeared upon the platform as a lecturer and with considerable success. He affords a striking example of what may be accomplished by untiring indus- try and those natural endowments which, if not far above the average, can be made to take on strength and lustre by their diligent use. FRANCES E. WILLARD, IN every walk of life where it is possible for woman to display her talents, her success has been conspicuous. Our country has every reason to be proud of those members of the gentler sex who have commanded attention in authorship, some- times in business, especially in works of re- form, and whose influence has always been upon the side of good morals, higher educa- tion, and the development of the noblest womanhood. While our progress as a nation has been rapid and such as to draw the wondering attention of the world, it is not all due to soldiers or statesmen. Our history could not be correctly written without mention of those women who, in the walks of private life, and frequently in more public spheres, have made their influence felt and have been leaders of thought and public opinion. One of our most distinguished American women is the subject of this sketch. No one is more widely known or universally re- spected. She is possessed of talents of an unusual order, a warm and earnest spirit, untiring energy, the ability to influence others, and seems to be lacking in none of those qualities essential to successful achievement. Miss Willard is known throughout the country for her devotion to the cause of re- form, especially that branch of it embraced in Temperance work. She has attended meetings and conventions, and has lectured in every part of the land, and has always been received with the attention due to her position and character and the worthy ob- jects she seeks to promote." She is eloquent in the best sense of the term, very fluent in speech, possessed of unusual tact, and has been heard by multitudes who are in the xxii habit of affirming that they ** do not care to hear a woman: speak in public." It may be truthfully said that her career exhibits all those elements which go to make one independent, aggressive, and pro- gressive likewise. Throughout her life she has never thrust herself into notice, but has simply embraced the opportunities open to her, and has entered the field of usefulness widen she heard the call for service. She was born in Churchville, N. Y., September 28, 1839, and was educated at Milwaukee and the Northwestern Female College at Evans- ton, 111., from which she graduated in 1859. She became Professor of Natural Science there in 1862, and was principal of Genesee Wesleyan Seminary in 1866— '67. Considering that no person's education Is complete without those advantages furnished by travel and contact with the world, she spent two years abroad, and then returned to become Professor of ^Esthetics in North- western University and Dean of the Woman's College. This position she filled from 1871 to 1874, and there developed her system of self-government, which has attracted wide attention and has been adopted by other educators. She became convinced at this time that there was a work for her to do in connection with the cause of Temperance. In consequence of this decision she gave up all other engagements in 1874 to identify herself with the Woman's Christian Tem- perance Union. She was immediately made corresponding secretary, discharging the duties of this office until 1879, when she was elevated from the position of secretary to that of president. In 1876 she assisted D wight L. Moody in his evangelistic work and rendered efficient service. During these years she traveled EMINENT AMERICANS. xxm through the country, addressing legislatures and people's meetings in behalf of temper- ance and prohibition. She organized the Home Protection Movement, and sent an appeal from nearly two hundred thousand people to the Legislature of Illinois, asking for the Temperance ballot for women. She has always been of the opinion that the great reforms needed in America will never be brought about until women are permitted to vote, having a voice not merely in domestic affairs, but in public measures for the welfare of the community. Some of her hardest work has been done in the advocacy of this project. On the death of her brother, Oliver A. Willard, in 1879, she succeeded him as chief editor of the Chicago Evening Post, but re- signed soon afterward to devote all her time to the work which was dear to her heart, and in which she had exerted a wide and commanding influence. In 1886 she accepted the leadership of the White Cross movement in the societies founded by her- self, and obtained enactments in many states for the protection of women. In 1888 she was made president of the American branch of the International Council of Women and of the World's Christian Union. In 1892 she visited England, and received an enthusiastic welcome from the friends of reform in that country. She was at the head of the Women's Committee of Temperance Meetings at the World's Fair in 1 893. She is the editor-in-chief of the Union Signal, a journal of large circulation, and has issued nine volumes, containing addresses and other matter connected with those reform.<5 in which she has been so conspicuous a figure. Miss Willard bears her honors with be- coming modesty and grace. Although a positive character, she is never bold or ob- trusive, giving evidence constantly of the cultivated lady, the considerate adviser, and the warm-hearted, genial friend. In person she is a little above the medium height, has a clear-cut intellectual face, is always self- possessed and affable in manner. In Miss Willard's career we have a graphic illustration of the influence woman can exert upon all the great questions of the day. She and others rightly believe that the great fountain of a pure national life is the home. This must be carefully guarded, and the rising generation must be correctly taught. Sound morals must be inculcated, and the noblest aims held up to view. But what kind of a home can that be which is cursed by the power of drink ? What is to be done with this great evil that throws its withering blight over the whole land ? If women can be excused, even com- mended and applauded, for showing an in- terest in public questions, urging on all true reforms, it surely is in the present case, since by efforts to check and destroy the evil of intemperance much is done for the salvation and the uplifting of the home. We are mainly concerned with Miss Willard's crusade, which could not be carried on without bringing her into public notice and incurring the criticism that she is stepping out of the domestic sphere. Let her and all others step out, if thereby lasting good shall come to the country. She will be identified with Temperance work and other reforms as long as she lives, and the best and truest womanhood will owe her a debt of profound gratitude. She stands for what is noblest in her sex, and may be congratulated upon having escaped hostile criticism to so large an extent. The best wishes of her country-women are with her in her great labor of love. There are many sympathetic souls who pray that her life may long be spared, and her influence widely extended WILLIAM B. ALLISON. THE career o! this distinguished Sena- ator affords another striking proof of the power and influence belonging to the individual man. Money talks for some men, social influence for others, learn- ing and culture for others, and brains for others. The last-named element of success belongs especially to Mr. Allison. Combined with it is his sterling integrity and a charac- ter that has never been called in question. For a long time he has stood in.the halls of the United States Senate, taking an active part in all its deliberations and debateSo He is considered a statesman, eminently wise and safe. While it may be said that he has gained large experience in Congress, it may also be said that he brought his experience with him. He was a man of public affairs, prominent and widely known before going to Washington. It was but natural that, having gained a local celebrity, he should be transferred to the wider field. His native state is Ohio, where he was born at Perry, Wayne County, March 2, 1829. Like many others who have molded the affairs of the nation, he spent his early years upon a farm. While the pursuit of agricul- ture is honorable and, fortunately, is univer- sally considered so, it is proverbial that far- mers' boys rebel against the hard labor and monotonous life incident to a farm and .seek some other calling. These sons of farmers constitute some of the best timber we have in the nation. Their surroundings are not generally luxurious, they are trained to habits of industry, they usually obtain at least a good common-school education, and by the sheer force of intellec- tual ability and perseverance, they often rise " to positions of great honor and usefulness. It did not take long for Mr. Allison to out- grow the farm. He had an ambition which xxiv could not be gratified by any such pursuit He was educated at Allegheny College, Pa., and at the Western Reserve College, Ohio, after which he took up the study of law and practiced his profession in Ohio until 1857. He wished to locate farther west, where he could be identified with a growing town. He removed to Dubuque, Iowa, where he has since made his home. Being by nature a citizen of public spirit, interested in all that concerned the town of his adoption, he soon became widely known, and was not more widely known than he was respected. His gift of speech was such as to inspire confi- dence. Matters of grave responsibility were at once committed to his hands. Like many lawyers, he anticipated public life and politi- cal preferment. He was sent as a delegate to the Chicago convention that nominated Abraham Lincoln for the presidency in i860, and in the follow- ing year became a member of the staff of the governor of Iowa. When the war broke out he was among the first to offer his services to the government, being willing to let his pro- fession suffer in order to help maintain the cause of the Union. He rendered valuable service in raising troops and organizing vol- unteer regiments for the war. Those were stirring times, and the exigencies brought into prominence many men who might other- wise have remained in comparative obscurity. In 1862, Mr. Allison was elected to the 38th Congress as a Republican. He served in this capacity with such fidelity and dis- tinction that he was re-elected to the three succeeding Congresses. His re-election, his neighbors were accustomed to remark face- tiously, was chronic. He served continuously as a member of that body from December 7, 1863, until March 3, 1871. Often he was appointed on important committees, and being EMINENT AMERICANS. a willing worker, was soon known as one of ; the most industrious members of the House. At the same time, he kept in close touch with his constituents at home. They marked his achievements and were proud of his ad- i vancement in the estimation of the public, j He was always found at the post of duty, never shuffled or evaded any question of importance, was always willing to have his opinions known, and was always able to give a reason for the faith that was in him. . In 1873, he was elected by the Legislature of Iowa to the United States Senate to suc- ceed James Harlan, and since that time has been re-elected almost without opposition. Thus it will be seen that he has had one of the longest terms of service that has fallen to the lot of any public man. There are no sensational elements in his character. He does not glare like a meteor nor astonish Others by ill-considered and unexpected methods. Mr. Allison's character, attain- ments and public services have been such as to point to him for a presidential nomination. Accordingly, on several occasions, his name has been mentioned in the national Republi- can Conventions. While he has had a large following, and many prominent men in the Northwest and elsewhere have endorsed him, others have distanced him in the race. It is, however, a high distinction to be prominently named for a presidential nom- ination. Such an honor can never be con- ferred upon a weak, insignificant man. Mr. Allison is one who fully justifies the confi- dence of the public and whose elevation to the highest position in the nation would be fittingly bestowed. It is frequently the case that men of repu- tation diminish and appear to disadvantage as one gets near to them. They do not stand out in all the grand proportions pic- tured by "our imagination. " 'Tis distance lends enchantment to the view," and as they are looked at from afar they are apt to be invested with very heroic qualities. Then^ as we get a nearer view, the charm is dis pelled, and the delusion and disappointment become apparent. Very few men gain much by a close inspection. We are apt to place our public men on a pedestal, and look up to them with a kind of awe. Upon a nearer approach we find that they stand on the ground, and perhaps are not so very far above the common level. It has, however, been said of Mr. Allison, that the near view is the one most favorable. He bears acquaintance remarkably well, and while not showy or dazzling, there is much about him to be commended, and the service he has rendered as a national legislator forms the record of an honored page of our history. The personal appearance of Mr. Allison indicates strength of body and of mind. He is large and well formed. His face is not that of a scholar, but rather the man of affairs. He is a type of the sturdy, honest, practical man, who conveys at once the impression of good sense and the possession of a level head. In his speeches he does not circum- navigate his subject, but comes at it at once. He always speaks to the point. Having something to say and being able to say it, others are willing to listen and be instructed. He has the rare faculty of saying what he means and clothing his thoughts in such language that no double interpretation can be put upon his statements. The quaint old adage of calling a spade a spade applies in his case. As a type of the useful citizen, the able legislator, the genial and hearty friend, the man of culture, breadth and fullness, Mr. Allison is conspicuous. Such men at the head of public affairs give stability and con- fidence to the nation. Our country has been favored with many of this description, and among this galaxy of shining ones must b# placed the subject of this brief biography. RICHARD OLNEY. A POSITION in the Cabinet at Wash- ington requires abiJ^t)' of a high order. Especially is this true of the positions of Attorney-General and Secretary of State. An Attorney- General must add to profound legal knowledge a sound judgment, a wise discretion, and execu- tive ability equal to that of any manager of a large and exacting business. It is not enough that he should be merely a shrewd lawyer, a man skilled in the supposed tricks of the profession, nor is it expected that he should practice any of the unscrupulous arts that are so often charged upon the members of the bar. A Secretary of State is expected to be a statesman. He must understand the policy of the government, and know by a kind of instinct what position to take upon all critical questions. He must be a profound student of international law and be well acquainted with our relations to foreign governments. That Richard Olney meets these unusual demands in an eminent degree, is universally conceded. By natural ability and broad cul- ture, he is amply qualified for the positions he has held at Washington. He was but little known, except in his native State of Massachusetts, when called to the Cabinet during the second administra- tion of President Cleveland, although it must be said that his associates considered him one of the ablest lawyers of his time. He comes from one of the oldest New Eng- land families, and has back of him a sturdy stock and ancestry which have had so much to do in molding the nation and shaping its history. He was born in Oxford, Mass., in 1835, and at the comparatively early age of twenty ■ one graduated with high honors from Brown xxvi University, at Providence, R. I. In college he was distinguished for close application to his studies, rare scholarship and excellent literary ability. He was easily the peer of the brightest and most brilliant of his class. He seemed to be able to do easily what others could do only by the hardest labor. After his graduation he entered the Har- vard Law School, and in two years completed the course. Thus, at the age of twenty- three, he was prepared to enter upon his pro- fession. He was fortunate in being able to associate himself with Judge B. F. Thomas, a descendant of Isaiah Thomas, the pub- . lisher of the old Thomas Alma?iac, a publi- cation known everywhere in Massachusetts, and regarded with a feeling almost akin to veneration. He was also the founder of the well-known journal, The Worcester Spy. In 1 861 Mr. Olney married the daughter of Judge Thomas, thus uniting two distinguished families. Efforts have been made in Massachusetts to make Mr. Olney one of the judges on the Supreme Bench of the State, but on two occasions he has declined the honor, and also, for the most part, has separated himself from political life, His ambition appeared to lie in other directions, and many positions of honor would have been conferred upon him if he had been willing to accept them, t He did, however, in 1874, represent Roxbury in the State Legislature, proving himself to be a useful member of that body and thor- oughly acquainted with the duties of a repre- sentative. In 1876 he was a candidate for Attorney-General of the State on the Demo- cratic ticket, but was defeated with the other candidates of his party. He has been counsel for twobig western railroads, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa EMINENT AMERICAiXS. F6 and the Chicago, Budington and Quincy. This shows the estimate placed upon his legal ability. His work is always thorough, his arguments are logical and presented with admirable skill, he is quick to take advantage of the weak places in the case of his oppo- nent, he exhibits a complete mastery of law, and, withal, impresses others as a man of honor and high character. His political party has always placed great confidence in his judgment, and in all critical periods have sought his counsel and advice. It is said that during the first administra- tion of President Cleveland his name was favorably considered for the position of Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court ; but the President did not quite reacii the point of sending his name to the Senate for confirmation. That he would have been an able member, an ornament of that dignified body, is doubted by none who are acquainted with his qualifications and his admitted in- tegrity. Tn 1893 he was appointed by President Cleveland Attorney-General of the United States, where his strength of character, his eminent ability and profound knowledge of international law have made him conspicuous. Upon the death of Secretary Gresham, which occurred May 28, 1895, Mr. Olney was made Secretary of State. He has had the hand- hng of some very important matters con- nected with the foreign policy of our govern- ment, and has acquitted himself in such a •manner as to command the admiration of his fellow-countrymen. He believes in a vigorous policy, yet one that is always founded upon right principles. He never takes a position which he is unable to defend and maintain. He is a man of method, carrying on his work always in an orderly way, and showing marked attention to those details upon which success in any pursuit so largely depends. He is not accustomed to do things in any fitful or spasmodic manner, but on the con- trary always shows cool judgment and calm deliberation. There is an absence of impulse and recklessness of decision which helps to fit him for his official duties. Exhibiting these characteristics, he soon gained the confidence of public men in Wash- ington. What opportunities in public life may lie before him no one can predict ; nei- ther would d.ny oae be surprised if he were to have larger responsibilities placed upon him. A recent biography says : " Mr. Olney is a man of dignified bearing, one who appre- ciates the responsibilities of the position he occupies, and his reputation is that of a pro- found legal scnolar, whose judgment on questions of law is seldom at fault." Mr. Olney is a substantial, well-built man, capable of a great amount of labor ; he has a genial, pleasant face, but never gives one the impression that he is courting popularity. K;s manner is calm, yet his addresses are full of force, always engaging the attention of his hearers. There is a sharp expres- sion to his eyes and a forward thrust of the head which seems to indicate a disposition to see his way, and a determination to go straight through every matter that occupies his attention. Although not widely known when he went to Washington, he has become a man of national reputation. The best elements of manhood enter into his composition. He is a wise and safe counsellor, is possessed of marked individuality, and must be considered as one of the brightest ornaments of his pro- fession. His comparatively quiet yet suc- cessful career furnishes a good example to the rising generation of lawyers. It shows what can be done by ability well applied and by industry that never tires. JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY. ANEW generation of writers has come forward, with characteris- tics widely different from those of their predecessors in the field of literature. Their writings are more dis- tinctively American — perhaps it would be more appropriate to say — West- American. There is a breeziness about them — an off- hand dash — a disregard of conventionalities which we do not discover among such men j as Irving, Bryant, Longfellow and others, who may be said to have created our litera- ture and stamped it with their genius. Both fiction and poetry have taken on what may be called a new style. The aim to entertain, to present the humorous side of things, to make a quick, even though super- ficial impression, is very apparent. It would be unjust, however, to deny unusual merit to the new class of authors. They are splendidly endowed. To brilliant native talent many of them add great indus- try, a profound knowledge of human nature, and are able to discern what is demanded by the popular taste. They simply write as the time and the people require that they should. While the writer helps to form national character, it is also true that the national character helps to form him. Americans are almost omnivorous readers. They devour newspapers and periodicals by the million. There is a large and probably growing class who are cultivated in the broad sense of the term, who are students of science and philosophy, and who have a keen relish for thoughtful, substantial works, such as instruct the mind and promote scholar- ship, but the number of those who are patrons of light literature is so great that authors in this field multiply very rapidly, and may find sufficient encouragement to cause them to make authorship a pursuit. xxviii James Whitcomb Riley has been given the title of the " Hoosier Poet of America." This is partly owing to the State in which he was born and lives. He has been a con- tributor for some years to current literature, showing in his writings so much of pith and pungency, together with a healthful moral tone, that his productions have been widely read and enjoyed. He was born in Greenfield, Indiana, in 1852. In his boyhood he often accompanied his father, who was an attorney, as he went from place to place transacting his business, and thus early came into contact with the world, which has so much to do with the education and development of the young mind. At an early age he left home to fol- low the calling of a wandering sign-writer. For a time he was connected with a thea- trical troupe, and showed some aptitude for revising and adapting plays. He also began to show a talent ior song-writing and impro- vising lines on the spur of the moment, thus indicating that he had a ready wit, and not merely the kind which is studied up and manufactured for the occasion. Over the name of "Benjamin F. Johnson, of Boone," he began, about the year 1875, to contribute verses in the Hoosier dialect to the Indianapolis papers. These attracted considerable attention, suggesting an inter- esting field of literature, which he resolved, sooner or later, to occupy. It was evident that dialect poems were relished by the pub- lic, and as these were written upon subjects near at hand, and such as appealed to the popular heart, Mr. Riley found himself grow- ing in favor, and from that day has continued in active literary work. He is gifted in the art of imitation, which was shown by his writing a piece after the style of Edgar Allen Poe that was accepted EMINENT AMERICANS. XXIX by many critics as the work of that author, j Such a feat as this required something more \ than ordinary talent. Poe's writings have , an individuahty peculiarly their own, and to be a successful imitator of them, one must possess literary ability somewhat akin to that of the gifted author of "The Raven" and " The Bells." Mr, Riley finally accepted an engagement with the Indiatiapolis Journal, and has also been a constant contributor to various peri- odicals. In addition to many dialect pieces, he has published poems of a more serious character, proving that he possesses ability for the graver as well as the lighter strains of thought and feeling. He has issued a number of volumes, in- cluding " The Old Swimmin' Hole," " After- whiles," " Neighborly Poems," " Pipes o' Pan," " Green Fields and Running Brooks," '' Rhymes of Childhood," " The Flying Islands of the Night," and others. His works abound in pictures of Western life, and around the most commonplace objects he throws a peculiar charm. Like the ballads of Carlton, many of his songs deal with the farm, the old homestead, the old arm-chair, the boys who whistle and shout and play, and the old people whose eyes are already growing dim and whose forms are bending toward the grave. Thus it will be seen that much of his popularity is due to the subjects which he treats. These are always such as to afford a fine opportunity for sentiment and wholesome moral lessons. While his writ- ings are intended to engage the attention of the reader and furnish entertainment, they are nearly always pointed with a moral, and there is something worth storing in the memory. No one could form an accurate estimate of Mr. Riley's writings and leave out what may be called the human element that is always prominent. There is no attempt to reach the towering heights of the English poets of earlier times. No stately measures of verse appeal to the most cultivated mind and arouse the admiration always accorded to genius. There is, however, a genius less commanding and imposing. Mr. Riley de- scends into the common walks of life, and makes himself at home with ordinary peo- ple. His language is so simple, his meaning is so clearly comprehended, there is such an evident comprehension of everyday life, that not as a stranger, but as a friend, does he step into the home. Much of Mr. Riley's popularity is un- doubtedly due to the dialect noticeable every- where in his work. Often the same thought clothed in different phraseology would be comparatively tame, but by the dialect used it takes on a different complexion, and comes home to the reader with much greater force. Mr. Riley has often appeared as a public reader of his own works. He has met with a large degree of success, being able, gen- erally, to command large and interested audi- ences. It is not always that an author suc- ceeds in the endeavor to interpret his own writings before a critical audience. Dickens was able to do this, but there has never been more than one Dickens, and it will be long before the world will see his like again. Mr. Riley has been much sought after for the platform, and has succeeded in giving full meaning to those dialect pieces in the pro- duction of which he has exhibited so much of literary skill and ability. Whether his work will be lasting, or will ever add greatly to the fame of American literature, is a question which we do not need to discuss, and one upon which there might be a difference of opinion. His career, however, points him out as a man of mark, whose distinction has been justly gained, and who merits the suc- cess that has crowned his labor. REV. CHARLES H. PARKHURST, D.D. THE late Reverend Howard Crosby, D. D., was for many years Presi- dent of the Society for the Preven- tion of Crime, a large and influen- tial organization in the city of New York. Upon the death of Dr. Crosby, it was con- ceded that it would be difficult to find a person possessing the peculiar qualifications necessary for the position he had held with such distinguished ability and efficiency. Dr. Parkhurst had been favorably known as a member of the organization, was noted for intellectual ability and zeal in the work of reform, and the choice of the society placed him at its head. It became evident imn:;ediately that a man of great courage, political insight, enthusiasm in carrying out his objects, and able to com- mand the co-operation of the most influential men in New York, was now fully identified with the great reform movements contem- plated by the society. His strong person- ality was immediately felt. For several years he has been one of the most noted figures in New York, applauded by some, and execrated by others. Dr. Parkhurst was born in Framingham, Mass., April 17, 1842. He came from a vigorous stock, containing a pretty strong infusion of old Puritan element. Thought- ful and studious in his boyhood, he marked himself out for the career of a professional man, and having become an earnest and devout adherent of the Christian faith, his family and friends naturally set him aside for the work of the ministry. Accordingly he prepared for college and graduated from Amherst in 1866. He did not consider that his education would be complete if confined within narrow limits of thought, or favored with only meagre advan- tages. He studied theology at Halle, Ger- XXX many, in 1869, and at Leipsic in 1872 and 1873, during the intervals of which studies he was principal of the High School in Amherst, and professor of Williston Semi- nary at Easthampton, Mass. Thus it seems that he was in no excessive hurry to enter upon his life-work, being occupied with laying broad and deep foundations upon which to rear a superstructure of strength and commanding proportions. From 1874 to 1880, he was pastor of the Congregational Church at Lennox, Mass.,. where he became widely known for his emi- nent pulpit ability. His congregation, espe- cially during the summe;' months, contained many persons of culture, who enjoyed his keen, intellectual discourses and looked upon him as one of the rising men in the ministry. Upon the death of Rev. Dr. Adams, who had long been the pastor of the Madison Square Presbyterian Church, New York City, and who was a man of peculiar gifts, the church sought far and near for a suitable successor. Not being very successful in the attempt, attention was turned toward Dr. Parkhurst, who was chosen as pastor ia 1 880. Since this period he has occupied one of the most influential positions in New York. The church has been largely attended, the aggregation of wealth is great, the culture and refinement of the congregation are con> spicuous, merchants and professional men are found there in large numbers, and, added to large benevolent contributions, is the mis- sionary work, in which many of the mem- bers take a special personal interest. In 1893 Dr. Parkhurst became prominent through his efforts to make the Society for the Prevention of Crime true to its name. He saw no reason why a society, organized for a special purpose, confessedly a good on^ EMINENT AMERICANS. XXXI should not be active and accomplish some- thing for the welfare of the city. He had no fear of those petty criticisms aimed at minis- ters who take some interest in public affairs. Dr. Parkhurst considered that his profession had not only the right to promote all true reform, but, in fact, was bound to do it. Those who were disturbed in their nefarious business were the ones who were so anxious that he should keep to what they called his legitimate work. He felt that his position would be stronger and his influence more widely felt if he could speak of the gigantic evils in New York from personal observation. He wanted the facts that did not come by hearsay. Vague insinuations, statements that could easily be doubted and opinions based upon guesses were not the ammunition with which to load his guns, trained against the enemy. He wanted facts, and such only as came within the sphere of his personal knowledge. It cannot be doubted that Dr. Parkhurst went about his work in the right way. Con- vinced himself from his own observation, he was able to convince others. In company with judicious friends he stepped into the haunts of vice, some of them almost under the shadow of his own church, and others of palatial gorgeousness located in some of the most respectable and aristocratic quarters of the city. Each new step in the investigation convinced him of the enormity of the evils on every side and of the connivance of city officials in allowing them to exist. His blood was stirred, and he came forth like a prophet of old to denounce the wickedness that cursed the city. When he began his crusade he was fully armed and equipped with the facts he had gathered. Even with these a smaller man would have made little or no impression, but embodied in him were intellectual power, commanding force of speech, a position in the pulpit second to that of none, a mighty array of influential men and ample resources for the great struggle. The downfall of the corrupt political organization that ruled the city was assured. The rotten fabric trembled to its base under the strokes of the sturdy foe, who had decreed its overthrow. It is said that in college Dr. Parkhurst's professor of rhetoric criticized his style of writing very severely, but there are few public men who can put so much into a sin- gle sentence. His thoughts are at once bold and striking, and his style is pre-eniinently concise and original. He has contributed to various magazines and has published several volumes, including " The Forms of the Latin Verb, Illustrated by Sanskrit," " The Blind Man's Creed, and other Sermons," and " Pat- tern in the Mount, and other Sermons." In person Dr. Parkhurst is of medium size, compactly built and a fair specimen of muscular Christianity. His great courage, persistence and untiring energy have made him the most successful political leader of the day, and given him a wide and enviable fame. Nor has his influence been confined to New York City alone, but other cities throughout the country have patterned by the movement he has inaugurated, and have taKcn active steps for the investigation of municipal evils and misrule. He addressed large audiences in a number of towns, pre- senting the plan of reform of which he is the acknowledged chief exponent, and thus awakened public interest which resulted in organized effort. Dr. Parkhurst's career teaches especially the lesson of strong and persistent courage and endeavor in the face of opposition. The consciousness of being in the right "always arms a man with aggressive weapons, and keeps him firm and patient, even though robbed for the moment of success. CLAUS SPRECKELS. NOT as a scholar, orator or statesman, i> Claus Spreckels known, yet his name is familiar from the Atlantic to the Pacific. In the great chan- nels of trade and business a wonderful suc- cess has attended his efforts, and he has built up one of the largest fortunes in the world. It is, then, as a business man that he is to be considered, and as such his life affords valu- able lessons by which younger men of our generation may well profit.. Mr. Spreckels was born in Lamstedt, King- dom of Hanover, in July, 1828. His early life was spent in Germany, where his oppor- tunities for education were none of the best. Had he remained in his native land, it is not likely that he would have become a million- aire, for the chances would have been much fewer and the opportunities more limited. When twenty years old Mr. Spreckels came to America and went to Charleston, S. C, in pursuit of employment. He obtained a situation as clerk in a grocery store. He had no thought of remaining as a mere clerk, but had his eye upon the proprietorship of the place. In two years he owned the store and largely extended its trade. Going into the wholesale business, he became an im- porter, and was very soon known in com- mercial circles throughout the South. Wish- ing for a wider field of operations, he removed his. business to New York City in 1855, Having a brother who was engaged in the grocery trade in San Francisco, Mr. Spreckels left the East and M'ent to that city to reside. He soon bought out his brother and contin- ued the business. A year later he started what was known as the Albany Brewery. His shrewd business foresight was fully jus- tified by the results. The business sprang at once into prominence and promised a fortune for its founder. He soon disposed of his xxxii grocery business, devoted his time and ener- gies to the brewery, and so contmued until 1863. Mr. Spreckels had long had his mind fixed upon sugar refining, and the time had now come for him to realize his ambition in this respect. He sold out his interest in the brewery, and, with others, founded the Bay Sugar Refinery. Being a practical man. and wishing to gain a more thorough knowledge of the sugar business, he went to Europe to familiarize himself with the process of manu- facturing beet-root sugar. He meant to learn the process from the beginning, and with this in view he actually entered the great refinery at Magdeburg as a workman. Few men pro- bably would have been willing to come down to such a capacity after they had already acquired what was considered an ample for- tune, but it is the practical man whose knowl- edge of his pursuit is complete who always carries off the palm. Having gained an intimate knowledge of the Sugar Refining business, Mr. Spreckels returned to San Francisco and immediately built another and larger refinery. In 1867 he organized the great corporation of the California Sugar Refinery, of which he be- came the president and was the principal owner. The vast business carried on by this company is one of the marvels of the Pacific coast. It refines fifty million pounds of sugar every year. The whole country may be said to be a market for this immense product. The success of this great concern is almost entirely due to the enterprise and skillful management of its founder. Not merely the general oversight, but to a large extent the minor details, are coastantly under his eye. Mr. Spreckels possesses a nervous temper- ament, strong features, and has a prompt and incisive manner of doing business. TWELFTH CENSUS OF THE UNITED STATES. TAKEN IN 1900. POPULATION OF CITIES HAVING 2.1,000 INHABITANTS OR MORE IN 1900, ARRANGED ACCORDING TO POPULATION. Cities. Greater New York Chicago, 111. • . Philadelphia Pa. St. Lquis, Mo. . Boston, Mass. . . Baltimore, Md. Cleveland, Ohio Buffalo, N. Y. . . San Francisco, Cal Cincinnati, Ohio Pittsburg, Pa. . . New Orleans, La. Detroit, Mich. . Milwaukee, Wis. Washington, D. C Newark, N. J. . . Jersey City, N. J. Louisville, Ky. . Minneapolis, Minn Providence, R. L Indianapolis, Ind. Kansas City, Mo. St. Paul, Minn. . Rochester, N. Y. Denver, Colo. . . Toledo, Ohio. . . Allegheny, Pa. . Columbus, Ohio Worcester, Mass. Syracuse, N. Y. . New Haven, Conn Paterson, N. J. . Fall River, Mass. St. Joseph, Mo. . Population. 1900 1890 3,437,202 2,492,591 1,698, .575 1,099,8'0 1,293,697 1,046,964 575,238 451,770 560,892 448,477 508,957 431,439 381,768 261,3.53 3-52,387 255,664 342,782 298,997 325,902 296,908 321,616 238,617 287,104 242,039 285,704 205,876 285,315 20-1,468 278,718 230,-392 246,070 181,830 206,433 163,003 204,731 161,129 202,718 164,738 175,597 132,146 169,164 105,436 163,752 132,716 163,065 133,156 162,608 133,896 133,859 106,713 131,822 81,434 129,896 105,287 125,560 88,150 118,421 84,655 108,374 88,143 108,027 81,298 105,171 78,347 104,863 74,398 102,979 62,324 Increase. 1890 to 1900. Number. 944,611 .598,725 246,733 123,468 112,415 74,518 120,415 96,723 43,785 28,994 82,999 45,065 79,828 80,847 48,326 64,240 43,4.30 43,602 37,980 43,451 63,728 31,036 29,909 28,712 27,146 50,388 24,609 37,410 33,766 20,231 26,729 2d,824 30,465 50,655 Cities. Omaha, Nebr. . . Los Angeles, Cal. Memphis, Tenn. Scranton, Pa. . . Lowell, Mass. . . Albany, N. Y. . . Cambridge, Mass, Portland, Oreg. . Atlanta, Ga. . . Grand Rapids, M'ch Dayton, Ohio. . . Richmond, Va. . Nashville, Tenn. Seattle, Wash. . Hartford, Conn. . Reading, Pa. . . Wilmington, Del. Camden, N. J. . . Trenton, N. J. . . Bridgeport, Conn Lynn, Mass. . . . Oakland, Cal. . . Lawrence, Mass. New Bedford, Mass. Des Moines, Iowa. Springfield, Mass. Somerville, Mass. Troy, N. Y. . . . Hoboken, N. J. . Evansville, Ind. . Manchester, N. H Utica, N. Y. . . . Peoria, 111. . Charleston, S. C. Population. Increase. 1890 t3 1900 1900 102,555 102,479 102,320 102,026 94,969 94,151 91,886 90,426 89,872 87,565 85,333 85,050 80,865 80,671 79,850 78,961 76,.508 75,935 73,307 70,996 68,513 66,960 52,559 62,442 62,139 62,059 61,643 60,651 59,364 59,007 56,987 56,383 56,100 55,807 1890 140,452 50, .395 64,495 75,215 77,696 94,923 70,028 46,385 65,533 60,278 61,220 81,388 76,168 42,837 53,230 58,661 61,431 58,313 57,458 48,866 55,727 48,682 44,654 40,733 50,093 44,179 40,1.52 60,956 43,648 50,7-56 44,^26 44,007 41,024 54,955 NumTiear. *37 52 37 26 1 897 084 825 811 273 8.5S 041 330 287 113 662 697 831 620 300 077 G22- 849 IMi 786 278 905 709 046 8S0 491 *305 716 251 861 376 076 852 * Decrease. UNITED STATES CENSUS OF NINETEEN HUNDRED. Cities. Population. Increase. 1890 to 1900 Savannah, Ga. S't Lake City, Utah San Antonio, Tex Duluth, Minn. . . Erie, Pa. . . Elizabeth, N.J. . Wilkesbarre, Pa. Kansas City,.Kans Harrisburg, Pa. . Portland, Me. . . Yonkers, N. Y. . Norfolk, Va. . . . Waterbury, Conn. Holyoke, Mass. . Fort Wayne, Ind. Youngstown, Ohi Houston, Tex. . Covington, Ky. . Akron, Ohio . . Dallas, Tex. . . . Saginaw, Mich. . Lancaster, Pa. . Lincoln, Nebr. . . Brockton, Mass. Bingham pton, N.Y Augusta, Ga. . . Pawtucket, R. I. . Altoona, Pa. . . Wheeling, W, Va. Mobile, Ala. . . Birmingham, Ala. Little Rock, Ark. Springfield, Ohio. Galveston, Tex. . Tacoma, Wash. . Haverhill, Mass. Spokane, Wash. Terre Haute, Ind Dubuque, Iowa . Quincy, 111. . . South Bend, Ind. Salem, M.-iss. Johnstown, Pa. . Elmira, N. Y. . . Allentown, Pa. . Davenport, Iowa 1900 1890 54,244 53,531 53,321 52,969 52,733 52,130 51,721 51,418 50,167 50,145 47,931 46,624 45,859 45,712 45,115 44,885 44,633 42,938 42,728 42,638 42,345 41,459 40,169 40,063 39,647 39,441 39,231 38,973 38,878 38,469 38,415 38,307 38,253 37,789 37,714 37,175 36,848 36,673 36,297 36,252 35,999 35,956 35,936 35,672 35,416 35,254 43,189 44,843 37,673 33,115 40,634 37,764 37,718 38,316 39,385 36,425 32,033 34,871 28,646 35,637 35,393 33,220 27,557 37,371 27,601 38,067 46,322 32,011 55,154 27,294 35,005 33,300 27,633 30,337 34,522 31,076 26,178 25,874 31,895 29,084 36,006 27,412 19,922 30,217 30,311 31,494 21,819 30,801 21,805 30,893 25,228 26,872 Number. 11,055 8,688 15,648 19,854 12,099 14,366 14,003 13,102 10,782 •13,720 15,898 11,753 17,213 10,075 9,722 11,665 17,076 5,567 15,127 4,571 *3,977 9,448 *14,985 12,769 4,642 6,141 11,598 8,636 1,356 7,393 12,237 12,433 6,358 8,705 1,708 9,763 16,926 6,456 5,986 4,758 14,180 5,155 14,131 4,799 10,188 8,382 Increase. Population. 1890 to Cities. 1900 1900 1890 Number. McKeesport, Pa. . 34,227 20,741 13,486 Springfield, 111. . . 34,159 24,963 9,19e Chelsea, Mass. . . 34,072 27,909 6,163 Chester, Pa. ... 33,988 20,226 13,702 York, Pa 33,708 20,793 12,915 Maiden, Mass. . . 33,664 23,031 10,(333 Topeka, Kans. . . 33,608 31,007 2,601 Newton, Mass. . . 33,587 24,379 9,208 Sioux City, Iowa. 33,111 37,806 *4,695 Bayonne, N. J. . . 32,722 19,033 13,689 Knoxville, Tenn. . 32,637 22,535 10,102 Chattanooga, Tenn. 32,490 29,100 3,390 Schenectady, N. Y. 31,682 19,902 11,780 Fitchburg, Mass. . 31,531 22,037 9,494 Superior, Wis. . . 31,091 11,983 19,108 Rockford, 111. . . . 31,051 • 23,584 7,467 Taunton, Mass. . . 31,036 25,448 5,588 Canton, Ohio . . . 30,667 26,189 4,478 Butte, Mont. . . . 30,470 10,723 19,747 Montgomery, Ala. 30,346 21,883 8,463 Auburn, N. Y. . . 30,345 25,S58 4,487 East St. Louis, 111. 29,655 15,169 14,486 Joliet, 111 29,353 23,264 6,089 Sacramento, Cal. . 29,282 26,386 2,896 Racine, Wis. 29,102 21,014 8,088 La Crosse, Wis. . . 28,895 25,090 3,805 Williamsport Pa. . 28,757 27,132 1,625 Jacksonville, Fla. 28,429 17,201 11,228 Newcastle, Pa. . . 28,339 11,600 16,739 Newport, Ky. . . . 28,301 24,918 3,383 Oshkosh, Wis. 28,284 22,8.36 5,448 Woonsocket, R. I. 28,204 20 830 7,374 Pueblo, Colo. . . . 28,157 24,558 3,599 Atlantic City, N. J. 27,838 13,055 14,783 Passaic. N. J. . . • 27,777 13,028 14,749 Bay City, Mich. . . 27,628 27,839 *211 Fort Worth, Tex. . 26,688 • 23,076 3,612 Lexington, Ky. . . 26,369 21 ,567 4,802 Gloucester, Mass. . 26,121 24,651 1,470 South Omaha, Neb. 26,001 8,062 17,939 New Britain, Conn. 25,998 16,519 9,479 Council Bluffs, Iwa. 25,802 21,474 4,328 Cedar Rapids, Iwa. 25,656 18,020 7,636 Easton, Pa 25,238 14,481 10,757 Jackson, Mich. . . 25,180 20,798 4,382 * Decrease. POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES DURING THE LAST SEVENTY YEARS. States and Territories. Alabama Arizona..,.. Arkansas California Colorado Connecticu*:... Dakota Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky l/Ouisiana Maine Maryland Massach-asetts ... Michigan Minnesota Mississipp' Missour Montana Nebra5;ka Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey- New Mexico New York North Carolina.. North Dakota.... Ohio Oklahoma Oregon 1830 1840 1850 309.527 590.756 30,3881 97.574 297.675 *■ 76,748 39,834 34.730 516.823 309.978 "78,085 43.712 54.477 691,392 157,445 343.031 687.91Z 215.739 399.455 447,0401 610,40? 3I-C91 476,183 685,866 43.112 779,828 352,411 501,793 470.019 737,699 212,267 136,621 140,455 375,651 383,702 269,328 320,823 284,574 373,306 1,918,608 707,987 2,42S,*92I 753, 4ir 937,903 1,519,467 Pennsj'lvania.... Rhode Island.... South Carolina.. South Dakota... Tennessee ., Texas Utah. Vermont , Virginia Washington , West Virginia..., Wisconsin W3'oming Alaska Hawaii Indian Territory 1,348.233 97. 199 581,185 681,904 1,724,033 108,830 594,398 829,210 280,652 1,211,405 291,948 1,239,797 30,945 ;^7i,623 209,897 92,597 370,792 i860 964,201 9^532 51,687 87,445 906,1 851,470 988,416 192,214 982,405 517,762 583, 169 583,034 994,514 397,654 7,077 606,526 682,044 317,976 489,555 61,547 3,-^97,394 869,039 1,980,329 13,294 2,311,786 147,545 668,507 1,002,717 212,592 11,380 314,120 1,421,661 305,391 435,450 379.994 34,277 460,147 4,837 112,216 75,080 140,424 1,057,286 1-711,951 1,350,428 674,913 107, 206 1,155,684 708,002 628,279 687,049 1,231,066 749.113 172,023 791,305 1,182,012 28,841 6,857 326,073 672,035 93,516 3.880,735 992,622 1870 1880 1S90 990,992 I 9.658 484,471 560,247 39.864 537,454- I4,i8i| 125,015 131,700 187,748 1,184,109 14,999 2,539,891 1,680,637 1,194,020 364,399 1,321,011 726,915 626,915 780,894 T,457,.35i 1,184,059 439.706 827,922 1,721,295 20,595 122,993 42,491 318,300 906,096 91,874 4,382,759 1,071,361 2,339,511 52,465 2,906,215 174,620 703,708 1,109,801 604,215 40,273 315,098 1,596,318 11,594 775,881 Total 12,866,020 17,069,453 23,111,87631,443,221 38,558,371 50,155,78362,924,474176,215,129 2,665,260 ,262,505 40,440 802,525 864,694 194,327 622,700 135,17 146,608 i77,6r 269,493 ,542,180 32,610 ,077,871 ,978,301 ,624,615 996,096 ,648,690 939.946 648,936 934.943 ■783.085 ^636,93 780,773 ,131,597 ,168,380 59.T59 452,402 62,266 346,991 ,131,116 119,565 ,082,871 ,399,750 3,198,062 90,923 .5^1.951 217.353 705,606 1,258,520 SiS,579 86,786 330,551 1,225,163 23.955 ■ 442.014 1,054,670 9,118 174,76s ,282,819 276,531 995,577 542,359 591,749 143,963 332,286 512,565 75.116 618,457 315,497 20,789 1,513-017 59.620 1,128,179 1,208,130 419,198 746,258 168,493 230,392 391,422 1,837,353 84,385 3,826,351 2,192,404 1,911,896 1,427,096 1,858,635 1,118,587 66 T, 086 1,042,390 2,238,943 2,093,889 1,301,826 1,289,600 2,6:9,184 132.159 1,058,9x0 45-761 376,530 1,444,933 153,593 5,997,853 1,617,947 182,719 3.672,316 61,834 313,767 5,258,014 345,506 1,151,149 328,808 1,767,518 2,235,523 207,905 332,422 1,655,980 349.390 762,704 1,686,880 60,705 32,052 89,990 180,182 1900 1,828,697 122,931 1,311.564 1,485,053 539,700 908,355 184,735 278,718 528,542 2,216,331 161,772 4,821,550 2,516,462 2,231,853 1,470,495 2,147,174 1,381-625 694,466 1,190,050 2,805,346 2,420,982 1,751,394 1,551,270 3,106,665 243-329 1,068,539 42,335 411,588 1,883,669 195,310 7,268,012 1,893,810 319,146 4,157,545 398,245 413,536 6,302,115 428,556 1,340,316 401,570. 2,020,616 3,048,710 276,749 343,641 1,854,184 518,103 958,800 2,069,042 92,53r 63,441 154,001 391,960 Our New Possessions. THE area of Cuba is about equal to that of Pennsylvania, the length being 760 miles, and the width varying from 35 to 130 miles. The productive soil, mineral wealth and climatic conditions of the island entitle it to rank among the foremost communities of the world. The soil is a marvel of richness, and fertilizers are seldom used, unless in the case of tobacco, even though the same crops be grown on the same land for a hundred years, as has happened in some of the old sugar- cane fields. The mountains are of coral formation, while the lowlands of Eastern Cuba at least seem to be composed largely of fossils of sea matter from prehistoric times, and are extremely rich in lime and phos- phate, which accounts for the ipsxhaustible fertility of the soil. Products of Cuba. Although founded and settled more than fifty years before the United States, Cuba has still 13,000,000 acres of primeval forests; mahogany, cedar, logwood, redwood, ebony, lignum-vitae and caiguaran (which is more durable in the ground than iron or steel) are among the woods. If all the land suitable to the growth of sugar-cane were devoted to that industry, it is estimated that Cuba might supply the entire Western Hemisphere with sugar. The island has already produced in a single year for .export 1,000,000 tons, and its capabilities have only been in the experi- mental stage. The adaptability of the soil for tobacco culture has long been known. Cuba takes great pride in the quality of her coffet^ and until the war the plantations were flourishing. The land is not suited to the cultivation of cereals. The tobacco crop on an average, says the Consul General, is estimated at 560,000 bales (one bale is 1 10 pounds), 338,000 bales being exported, and the remainder used in cigar and cigarette manufacture in Havana. The cigars exported in 1896 numbered 185,914,- 000. Tobacco leaf exported in 1895, 30,466,- 000 pounds; in 1896, 16,823,000 pounds; the decrease being due to a decree of May, 1856, forbidding tobacco leaf exports except to Spain. About 80,000 of the inhabitants are ordinarily engaged in the cultivation of tobacco. Principal Cities. The several principal cities of Cuba are thus described, and the information will be especially interesting and instructive at this time, when they are under the control of the land and naval forces of the United States : Habana (Havana), the capital city of the province of that name and of the Island of Cuba, is situated on the west side of Havana Bay, on a peninsula of level land of limestone formation, and is on the narrowest part of the island. Its strategic position at the mouth of the Gulf of Mexico, has aptly given it the name of the Key of the Gulf, and a symbolic key is emblazoned in its coat of arms. The entrance' to the harbor, guarded on one .^ide by the Morro and the frowning heights of La Cabana Fort, and on the other by the Punta and Reina batteries, is narrow, but expands into a wide and deep harbor, where a thousand ships can safely rid?. OUR NEW POSSESSIONS. Havana is a strongly fortified place, sur- rounded by imposing fortifications, such as the Cabana, Morro Castle, Castillo del Prin- cipe, Fort Atares, Punta Reina Battery and Fort No. 4. The streets are generally nar- row in the older part of the city, but outside the walls are many wide avenues. The city also contains many notable build- ings, as the Cathedral, formerly a Jesuit con- vent, now the depository of the ashes of the immortal discoverer of America ; the palace of the government, fine private residences, public parks, and statues of Columbus, Fer- nando VII., Isabel III., etc. There are many churches and convents, a commemo- rative chapel fronts the palace, close to a large ceiba tree, under which Diego Velas- quez, the founder of the city, celebrated mass in 1 5 19. There are numerous cigar and cigarette factories, tanneries, manufactories of sweetmeats, rum, candles, gas, beer, car- riages, soap, perfumery, glycerine, etc. Climate and Population. The population of Havana, from reliable official estimate, is about 220,000. Its prin- cipal exports to the United States consist of tobacco, fruit, wax and honey, sugar and molasses. All kinds of breadstuffs, lumber, coal and machinery are imported from the United States. The climate is generally warm and humid, and marked by two clearly defined seasons — the wet and dry, the former ranging from June to December; Sep>^ember and October being considered the hurricane months. The trade winds blow generally with great regularity, and the heat of the day is cooled by evening breezes. Matanzas is beautifully situated on Matan- zas Bay, on the north coast of Cuba, sixty miles east of Havana. It is divided into three parts by rivers, the principal business part occupying the central portion, and ex- tending west one and one-half miles. The chief warehouses, distilleries, and sugar re- fineries are on the south of the river San Juan, easily accessible to railroads and lighters. The population is 49,384, and that of Matanzas province 271,000, according to the 1893 census. The principal industries are rum distilling, sugar-refining, and manu- facture of guava jelly. There are railroad car and machine shops. The climate is fine, and Matanzas is considered the healthiest city on the island. With proper drainage and sanitary arrangements, yellow fever and malaria would be almost unknown. The Oldest City. Santiago de Cuba, the second city in size on the island, is probably the oldest city of any size on this hemisphere, having been founded by Velasquez in 15 [4. It fronts on a beautiful bay six miles long and two miles wide, on the south-eastern coast of Cuba, 100 miles west of Cape Maysi, The popu- lation in 1895 was 59^614. The mean tem- perature in summer is 88 degrees; in winter, 82 degrees, It is regarded as very unhealthy, yellow fever being prevalent throughout the year and small-pox epidemic at certain times. These conditions are due to the lack of sani- tary and hygienic measures ; all refuse matter as well as dead dogs, cats, chickens, etc., be- ing thrown into the streets to decay and fill the air with disease germs. A railroad called the Sabanilla and Maroted, runs from the city to San Luis, twenty-five miles distant, with a branch to Alto Songo, twelve in length, It is largely owned and controlled by citi- zens of the United States. Santiago is the headquarters for three large mining plants owned by United States citizens, viz., the Jurugua, the Spanish Amer- ican, and the Sigua, together representing the investment of about $8,000,000 ; the last named are not in operation, Santiago is the capital of this province and oriental region. OUR NEW POSSESSIONS. Ill There are a number of tobacco factories, but the chief business is the exportation of raw materials and the importation of manufac- tured goods and provisions. Sugar, iron ore, manganese, mahogany, hides, wax, cedar and tobacco are exported to the United States. City and Harbor of Cienfuegos. Cienfuegos is on a peninsU'la in the Bay of lagua, six miles from the sea. The depth of water at the anchorage in the harbor is 27 feet, and at the different wharves from 14 to 16 feet. The commercial importance of the place was recognized as long ago as 1850, and has increased with the development of the sugar industry. This port is now the centre of the sugar trade for the south of the island. It is connected by rail with Havana and the principal points on the north of the island. The population in 1895 was 24,030. Sugar and tobacco are exported to the United States, and soap and ice are manu- factured. The climate from December 1st to May 1st is dry and moderately warm, the temper- ature ranging from 60 degrees to 78 degrees during the day and falling several degrees at night. At this season almost constant winds prevail from the north-east or north-west, accompanied by clouds of dust. For the rest of the year the temperature ranges from 75 degrees to 93 degrees, descending a few degrees at night. During this season there are frequent and heavy rainfalls and wind- storms. The yellow fever is then epidemic. But little attention is given by the municipal authorities to hygienic or to sanitary meas- ures. Water for household purposes is in- sufficiently supplied by two small plants, the principal source being the Jicotea river, 10 miles distant. The death rate is 42.82 to 1,000. Cardenas is a seaport on the north coast of Cuba, about 135 miles east of Havana. In 1893 it had 23,517 inhabitants. The tem- perature is pleasant during the winter, but from a£)Out the middle of May to the middle of October the weather is hot and sultry, the thermometer during the day being usually 94 degrees in the shade and falling some five degrees at night. Sanitary ■:onditions ar« bad. Yellow fever, typhus, typhoid and pert nicious fevers prevail throughout most of the year, being worse in the hot season. Cases of small pox also appear at times. Trinidad de Cuba is located on a slope of the mountain called La Vijia (Lookout), which has an elevation of about 900 feet above sea level. The port, Casilda, lies about one league to the south ; the harbor is almost landlocked, and has very little depth. Vessels drawing 10 feet 6 inches are liable to Tufi aground with the least deviation from the tortuous channel. About half a mile west of Trinidad is the River Guarabo, nav- igable for small boats only. Four miles east lies Masio Bay, which will accommodate deep-draft vessels. The population numbers about 18,000. Sugar and a little honey are exported. The climate is very healthy, the death rate being 21 to 26 per 1,000, though sanitary measures are almost unknown. The town is so situated that the heavier it rains the cleaner it becomes. The town and vicinity are considered the healthiest in Cuba. The Island of Porto Rico. The island of Porto Rico has an extent of about 3668 square miles, being 37 miles broad and 108 miles long. The population is placed at 813,937; one-half are white and the bal- ance negroes and Creoles, San Juan is situ ated on a long and narrow island, separated from the main island at one end by a shallow arm of the sea, over which is a bridge con- necting it with the mainland, which runs out at this point in a long sand spit, some nine miles in length, apparently to meet the OUR NEW POSSESSIONS. smaller island ; at the other end the island ends in a rugged bluff or promontory some hundred feet high and three-fourths of a mile distant from the main island. This promon- tory is crowned by Morro Castle, the princi- pal fortification of the town. At this end of the island is the entrance to the harbor, with a narrow channel and rocky bottom, so close under the headland that one can almost leap ashore from a passing vessel. The water here is some thirty feet deep. To a mariner unacquainted with the local- ity, or when a norther is blowing, this en- trance is one of difficulty and danger. After rounding the bluff, one finds a broad and beautiful bay, landlocked, and with a good depth of water which is being increased by dredging. It is by far the best harbor in Porto Rico, and probably as good a one as can be found in the West Indies. However, it has its drawbacks. Sailing vessels are frequently detained by the northerly winds during the winter months, and even steamers with a draft of over twenty feet are sometimes delayed ; but these occasions are rare. When they do occur, the "boca," or entrance to the harbor, is a mass of seething, foaming water, and presents an imposing spectacle. Good Specimen of a Walled Town. To see steamers of i6 or i8 feet draft enter in a severe norther is a sight to be remem- bered, as the great waves lift them up and seem about to hurl them forward to destruc- tion. At such times there is need of a staunch vessel, steady nerves, and . a captain well acquainted with the channel, as no pilot will venture out. The island upon which the city stands is shaped much like an arm and hand; it is about two and a half miles long and averages less than one-fourth of a mile in width. The greatest width is a little over half a mile in the portion representing the hand, which also contains the major part of the city. San Juan is a perfect specimen of a walled town, with, portcullis, moat, gates, and battlements. Built over two hundred and fifty years ago, it is still in good condition and repair. The walls are picturesque and represent a stupendous work and cost in themselves. Inside the walls, the city is laid off in regular squares, six parallel streets running in the direction of the length of the island and seven at right angles. The houses are closely and com- pactly built of brick, usually of two stories, stuccoed on the outside and painted in a variety of colors. The upper floors are occu- pied by the more respectable people, while the ground floors, almost without exception, are given up to negroes and the poorer classes. Life on the Ground Floor. The population within the walls is esti- mated at 20,000, and most of it lives on the ground floor. In one small room, with a flimsy partition, a whole family will reside. The ground floor of the whole town reeks with filth and conditions are most unsanitary. In a tropical country, where disease readily prevails, the consequences of such herding may be easily inferred. There is no running watei in the town. The entire population depends upon rain water, caught upon the flat roofs of the buildings and conducted to the cistern, which occupies the greater part of the inner court yard that is an essential part of Spanish houses the world over, but that here, on account of the crowded condi- tions, is very small. There is no sewerage, except for surface water and sinks, while vaults are in every house and occupy whatever remaining space there may be in the parts not taken up by the cisterns. The isk of contaminating the water is very great, and in dry seasons the supply is entirely exhausted. Epidemics are OUR NEW POSSESSIONS. frequent, and the town is alive with vermin, flies, cockroaches, mosquitoes and dogs. The streets are wider than in the older part of Havana, and will admit two. carriages abreast. The sidewalks are narrow, and in places will accommodate but one person. The pavements are of a composition manu- factured in England from slag, pleasant and even, and durable when no heavy strain is brought to bear upon them, but easily broken and unfit for heavy trafific. The streets are swept once a day by hand, and, strange to say, are kept very clean. The Sickliest Season. I^rom its topographical situation the town should be healthy, but it is not. The soil under the city is clay, mixed with lime, so hard as to be almost like rock. It is, conse- quently, impervious to water and furnishes a good natural drainage. The trade wind blows strong and fresh, and through the har- bor runs a stream of sea water at a speed of not less than three miles an hour. With these conditions no contagious diseases, if properly taken care of, could exist; without them the place would be a veritable plague spot. A study of the orographic features of the island shows that its mountain systems are developed most extensively in its south-cen- tral region and in its northeastern division. Taking it as a whole the island is approxi- mately roof-shaped, so that the rainfall is rapidly drained off. For drainage purposes there are forty-five considerable rivers and countless rivulets, seventeen of the rivers running to the north, sixteen to the south and nine to the east coast. And it is very noticeable that there is no extensive lake nestling in the highlands of the interior. Though there are no extended climatic observations covering the whole Porto Rican territory, the Spanish series of international observations at San Juan, published by the Weather Bureau, show the general conditions prevailing in that city and its vicinity. The most marked feature of the climate is that the summer's heat and rainfall keep up until late autumn. This constancy of tropical heat has a very relaxing effect upon the body, and is, therefore, injurious to the health of strangers, though the heat is mitigated by trade winds and stiff land and sea breezes. But in August and even later on the north coast the air is often intensely sultry, oppres- sive and almost calm, with little or no relief, so that Colonel Hinter pronounced this the sickliest time for foreigners. For this reason he advised residents of temperate climates not to visit Porto Rico until November, when the weather becomes exquisitely fine and set- '■led, continuing generally good during the Wv\ter and early spring. Heat, Rainfall, ^A^inds and Hurricanes. In this beautiful island, under new auspices, doubtless there will spring up eventually a number of inviting winter resorts and sanita- ria. For in the winter and early spring Porto Rico is less subject than even Cuba to chilling winds, blowing out from freezing anti-cyclones that move east off the A merican coast toward Bermuda. At San Juan the average temperature in August is nearly 8i degrees Fahrenheit; in September 80.5 degrees, and in October 79.3 degrees. The rainfall in the capital — which is a iair index of that along the northeast coast of the island generally — averages about 6.65 inches during August, 5.30 during Septem- ber, and 7.10 during October, But in some years September brings the heaviest rains. It is obvious that with such heavy rainfall the narrow roads leading from the east coast to San Juan and those skirting the north coast are liable in these months to be at Vlll OUR NEW POSSESSIONS. to accentuate the crush, and hundreds of civilians in their best dress. Nowadays there is a sprinkling of American navy and army officers, in quiet uniforms, and a good deal of attention they attract. And so it goes until the concert ends. The band, preceded by an escort of cavalry, marches away to a wonderfully quick quickstep, the lights fade and slowly the crowd disperses through the shadowy streets. Sights by Night. Not all San Juan, however, is to be seen in the grand plaza. Only fashionable and official life centralizes there. In other sec- tions of the city the evenings pass differently. Take a stroll from the brilliantly lighted plaza into the eastern part of town, near the barracks. There the whole lower strata will be found in the narrow, badly lighted streets, or in the plaza Cristobal Colon and the SRiailer breathing places of the densely popu- '_^^o! city. Here hand organs and dirty wandering minstrels, who perform semi-bar- baric music upon cracked guitars and raspy mandolins, accompanied by the " guero" — a native instrument made of a gourd — furnish the music. Venders of " dulce " squat beside their trays of sweetmeats, dolorously crying their wares. Non-commissioned officers and pri- vates mingle with the people and chat with the women. Everybody smokes cigarettes, even children hardly able to toddle. The shops and meaner cafes are open and crowded. Further on one can wander through streets more narrow and darker than alleys to where the massive gray battlements of the ancient city walls lift their sombre, jagged towers to greet the moon. Inquisitive sentinels, with rifles in hand, walk here to turn intruders back, but by exercising discretion glimpses may be ob- tained of tiny balconies ensconced in nooks and crannies high up in the wall and over- looking the sea and the twinkling city. Per- haps a peep may be had into the odd habita- tions within, with dusky senoritas gazing out through a curtain of flowers and vines. This is a different San Juan from that which prom- enades in the plaza, but not less interesting. The Philippine Islands. The war between Spain and the United States directed public attention to the Philip- pme Islands, and the victory of the United States naval squadron and land forces at Manila has emphasized the great resources of these islands. Under the circumstances, a general review of some of the industries of the islands will be interesting. In 1834, the port of Manila, the capital of the islands, was opened to resident foreign merchants, but before that date the Philip- pine Islands were little known in the foreign markets and commercial centres of Europe. So decided was the spirit of exclusivenesi and abhorrence of foreign intercourse that the Spaniards, in 1738, preferred a war with England to the fulfillment of a contract, for freer commerce, entered into under the treaty of Utrecht. Before 1834 a Mr. Butler applied for permission to reside in and open up a trade between Manila and foreign ports, but the application was promptly rejected, though subsequently the American firm of Russell & Sturgis, having the support of the Governor- General, made a similar application, which was successful, and since then many for- eigners have settled in the open ports of the Philippine Islands for business purposes.' Banks have been established and other agen- cies necessary to facilitate and promote trade are now a part of the business machinery oi the islands. During the reign of Isabella II. (1833- 1868) a Philippine coin was issued, and about the year 1868 gold coin sold for less OUR NEW POSSESSIONS. IX than the nominal value in silver, and as much as lo per cent, was paid to exchange an onza of gold {$i6) for silver. In 1878 gold and silver were worth their nominal relative value, and gold gradually disappeared from the islands, large quantities being exported to China. At the beginning of 1885 as much as 10 per cent, premium was paid for Philip- pine gold of the Isabella II. or any previous coinage, but at the present day gold is ob- tainable in limited quantities and about the same rate as sight drafts on Europe. Manufacturing in the Philippines. The monetary crisis, attributed by some to the depreciation of silver, was experienced in the islands, and the Spanish Government added to the embarrassment by coining half dollars and twenty-five cent pieces without the intrinsic value expressed. It was in con- sequence of such a false value that exchange fell lower, and in Spain the silver then coined was rejected by the Government officers and merchants, which still further impaired the interests of the islanders. The action of the Spanish Government was a retrograde move- ment. The coinage of a nation denoting its political condition, the deterioration of it in- dicates an age of decrepitude. The manufacturing industry of the islands is in its infancy, and the industrial arts have not been fostered. It may be said that cigars are about the only manufactured export staple, though occasionally some cordage, hides and a parcel of straw or finely split bamboo hats are shipped. In some of the provinces hats and straw mats are made, in others a rough cloth is woven from hemp fibre. These last are principally woven in the. province of Yloilo, where also is made a muslin of pure pine leaf fibre, and a fabric of mixed pine-leaf and hemp filament. The province of Hocos has a reputation for its woolen and dyed cotton fabrics, and that ot Batangas produces a special make of cotton stuffs. Pasig, on the river of that name, and Sulipan in Pampanga are locally known for their rough pottery. The centre of the white wood furniture and wood carving is Palte, the extreme east of Sagina de Bay. In Mariquina, near Manila, wooden clogs and native leather shoes are made, and the gold and silver workers are at Santa Cruz, a ward of Manila. In the more civilized provinces the native women produce pretty specimens of embroidery on European patterns, and on a small scale there are centres of manufac- ture of straw bags, alcohol, bamboo furni- ture, buffalo hide, leather, wax candles and soap. The first brewery was opened October 4^ 1890, in Manila, by Don Enrique Barretto^ The manufactures indicated are supported by native capital, and the traffic and con- sumption being mostly local, the addition tq the wealth of the islands is not large. Out- side of the open ports there is little scope for the natives to profitably pursue the in- dustrial arts, and whatever capacity they possess appears to be lost in the want of an opportunity under competent guidance. Agriculture Past and Present. There is one railroad running from Manila to Dagupin, about 220 miles, built by a Brit- ish company, called the Manila Railway Com- pany, Limited ; between Manila and Dagu- pin there are four railway stations. We have no statistics as to the earnings of the road, but the civilizing influence it exerts is quite evident, and shows that when the islands are properly governed, and modern industrial ap- pliances are utilized, the personnel of the na- tives as well as the resources are capable of great improvement and development. Agriculture has never flourished in the islands. Before competition in other colon- OUR NEW POSSESSIONS. les became so active there were fair remuner- ative returns from the cultivation of hemp and sugar — the main staple products ; labor was then cheaper, as were the beasts for till- ing the soil ; the necessities of the laboring classes were fewer, and though the aggregate production was not so large, the natives were in a sounder position than the same class are generally now. It would seem that in pass- ing from the primitive to a more civilized state one may look back with fond regret to the simple wants of the former as compared with those of the latter. One of the causes of agricultural failure in the islands is the same which results in fail- ure elsewhere. Some embark in agriculture with insufficient capital and end by becoming the slaves of the money lender, having them, selves to blame for want of foresight, but in, variably blaming the one who loaned them money which they needed, and cursing the lender for the high rate of interest which they agreed to pay. Business Done on Credit. Thus it is in the Philippine Islands as in other parts of the world, proving that every departure from sound economic Jaws entails losses if not financial ruin. It is not so cer- tain that the natives of the Philippines are readier to begin work on insufficient capital And pay high rates of interest than the natives of more civilized lands, but a marked charac- teristic of the islanders is their indifference to adequate provision for crop failures. It is es- timated that if all the Philippine planters had to liquidate within twelve months as many as 50 per cent, would be insolvent. The value of agricultural land is, of course, in proportion to its productive capacity and its nearness to the open court. In the pro- vince of Manila land is usually higher priced, Manila being the capital and the largest, commercially, of the open ports. In the province of Bulacan, which adjoins that of Manila, an acre that produces 20 tons ot cane would probably* sell for;^ii5, while in a province more remote from Manila, the average value of land, yielding 20 tons per acre, would not sell for more than ^75 per acre. The finest sugar-cane ^producing island is the island of Negos, in Visaya dis- trict, between 9° and 11° N. latitude. The area of the island is about equal to that of Porto Rico, but it has never been made to yield its full capacity. How Sugar-Cane is Cultivated. The sugar estates are small, and from those inland the sugar is transported to the open ports in buffalo carts. The system of planting is different from that prevailing in the West Indies. In the latter the planters set the canes out widely, leaving plenty of space for the development of the roots, and the ratoons serve from five to twenty years, while in the Philippines the setting of cane points is renewed each year, with few excep- tions, and the planting is comparatively .close. The system of labor in the northern and southern parts of the islands is different. The plantations in the north are worked on the co-operative principle. The estate is divided by the owner into tenements, each tenant being provided with a buffalo and agricultural implements to work and attend to the crop of cane as if it were his own property, and when cut and the sugar i: worked off, 'the tenant receives one-third, and sometimes as much as one-half of the output. The cane crushing and sugar making are at the expense of the tenant, but the land- owner furnishes the machinery and factory establishment and takes the risk of typhoons, inundations, droughts, locusts, etc. If the tenant has no means the landlord generally makes the necessary advances against the OUR NEW POSSESSIONS. XI estimated value of the tenant's share. In the southern part of the islands the plantations ^re worked on the daily wages system. The sugar produced is of different grades and the price is according to grade. The staple food of the islanders is rice, which is cultivated more or less largely in every province, and is the only branch of 'agriculture in which the lower classes of .atives take a visible pleasure and which they understand ; but much of the land formerly devoted to rice cultivation is now devoted to cultivating sugar-cane, which yields a more valuable return. Hemp is another staple industry. The hemp plant grows in many parts of the islands, and the leaves so closely resemble those of the banana that it is difficult to dis- tinguish between them, those of the hemp plant being of a darker hue and greener. The plant appears to thrive best on an in- clined plane, and though requiring a con- siderable amount of moisture, it will not thrive in swampy land, and must be shaded by other trees to attain any great height The average height of the tree is about ten feet, and being endogenous, the stem is en- closed in layers of half-round petioles. Preparing Hemp for Shipment. The hemp fibre is extracted from the peti- oles which, when cut down, are separated into strips, five or six inches wide, and drawn under a knife attached at one end by a hinge to a block of wood, whilst the other end is suspended to the extremity of a flexible hook. The bow tends to raise the knife, and a cord, attached to the same end of the knife and a treadle, is so arranged that by a move- ment of the foot the operator can bring the tnife to work on the hemp petiole with the pressure he chooses. The last is drawn through between the knife and the block, the operator twisting the fibre, at each pull. around a stick of wood, while the parenchy- matous pulp remains on the other side of the knife. The knife should be without teeth or indentations, but it often has a slightly-ser- rated edge. The fibre is then spread out to dry, and afterwards tightly packed in bales with iron and rattan hoops for shipment. Machinery has not been used with satis- factory results, and this is because the me- chanical apparatus should be so arranged as to reduce the tension of the fibre in a strip of bast by means of a cylinder, though experi- ments have been and are being made, and some are more or less satisfactory. The plant is grown from seed or suckers ; if seed, it requires about four years to arrive at cut- ting maturity, and if from suckers, not more than three are required. The stem should be cut for fibre drawing at the flowering ma- turity, and in no case should it be allowed to bear fruit, as the fibre is thereby weakened. As the fibre known as Manila hemp is a specialty of the islands, competition and over- production to the extent of annihilating pro- fits are remote. Cultivation of Coffee. The cultivation of coffee dates from the early part o^ the present century, and some of the original trees are still alive and bearing fruit, but after twenty-five years the tree does not bear profitably. The best coffee comes from Sugon Island, embracing the provinces of Batangas, La Laguna and Cavite. There is one crop gathered in the Philippine Islands. In the West Indies the beans are found dur- ing eight months of the twelve, and in Brazil there are three gatherings annually. The tobacco seed was introduced into the Philippines from Mexico by Spanish mission- aries soon after the possession of the islands by Spain, and, from the islands, into the south of China in the sixteenth or seven- teenth century. The Spanish Government Xll OUR NEW POSSESSIONS. for a long time enjoyed a monopoly of the tobacco trade, but the monopoly ceased in 1882, and the cultivation and trade were handed over to a private enterprise. The Manila cigar has a world-wide reputation, and under better cultivation the quality can be improved. In addition to the industrial products named, the soil and climate of the islands are favorable to the cultivation of Indian corn, cotton, chocolate and the bamboo, and all kinds of tropical fruit. It may be said that the Philippine Islands, under the rule of a just government and an intelligent system of cultivation, would become rich in mineral and agricultural products, and a valuable possession, strategically and otherwise. Admiral Dewey's Achievement. If the word failure was in Admiral Dewey's lexicon, it is only necessary to consider the position his naval squadron would have been in had the Manila engagement been indecis- ive, to conclusively show how important it is for the United States to own a base of opera- tions in Asiatic seas and lands. There was not .a port in the whole of Asia where Ad- miral Dewey could have gone to refit his squadron had he met with a reverse. He was excluded by neutrality proclamations from every port, save that of his own brave and loyal heart, which is better than all, but no naval commander was ever so completely isolated from his country as was Admiral Dewey when war was declared between Spain and the United States ; and such a condition of affairs should never be allowed to exist again. The policy of isolation, which has long been the policy of the United States, to every proper extent ought to be abandoned for a policy that will safeguard American interests everywhere against all contingencies, for the most liberal and enlightened nation in the world cannot escape the responsibilities mat attend liberality and enlightenment, and has no right to hide its light under a bushel. The rule of Spain in the Philippines is as oppress- ive as Spanish rule has been in Cuba, and both of these provinces should be freed from a despotism which has crushed the spirit and energy of the inhabitants. The sun, in his course, does not shine upon any lands of greater fertility than Cuba and the Philippine Islands, and upon none more capable of proportionately contributing to the necessities and comforts of mankind ; but under the government of Spain no pro- gress has been made, and honest industry is denied the right of just returns. With Hawaii as a part of the United States, Cuba and the Philippines liberated from serfdom, and the Nicaragua canal cut, the position of the United States would be commanding in both of the great oceans of the world, and enabled to foster commercial enterprises which, in all ages, have been promotive of free institu- tions. Other nations should not be allowed to monopolize commercial advantages which nature has placed nearest within our reach. Trade with Other Countries. The following synopsis of the report of Oscar F. Williams, the American Consul at Manila, on the trade relations of the United States and the Philippine Islands, will be interesting in this connection. He says that twenty-two consulates, representing the lead- ing commercial countries of the world, are established at Manila. He adds this sur- prising statement : " The volume of the ex- port trade coming under my official supervi- sion equals that of my twenty-one consular colleagues combined." He then shows in detail how tne trade of the Philippines with the United States ex- ceeds that of all other countries combined, and is growing at a rapid rate. As indicating OUR NEW POSSESSIONS. xiii the extent of this trade, he says : " To-day I have authenticated invoices for exports to the United States amounting to $188,606." He says the exports to this country average ;^ 1,000,000 a month. The report states that 216,000 bales of hemp were exported during the preceding three months. Of these, 138,782 went to the United States, and 77,218 to Great Britain and other countries. Mr. Williams shows from this that the United States had 64 per cent, of the trade from the Philippines as against 36 per cent, of Great Britain and other countries. He says that in 1897 the increase of shipments to the United States was 133,000 bales and the decrease of shipments to Great Britain 22,000 bales. He adds: "Of the increase of shipments from the Philippines, those to the United States were 54 per cent, greater than to all other countries combined." He also gives details of the large ship- ments of sugar, tobacco, hides, shells, indigo and coffee. In the item of sugar, which is second in importance, the shipments to the United States were 55 per cent, of the total to all points. Under a proper government the vast resources of the Philippines could be developed, and these tropical islands would become of great value and importance from a commercial point of view. What is needed is a stable and liberal government, a good system of education, and abundant capital for supporting industries. The Hawaiian Islands. A study of this new territory reveals some '*>teresting facts. The islands were discov- ered in 1720 by Captain Cook, an English navigator. For some abstruse reason, pro- bably because they were too far away to be of any service to any of her colonies, Eng- land never took possession of the islands. In feet, her course toward them has been one equivalent to the relinquishment of whatever rights she had to the islands. Since the islands were discovered attempts have been made to establish a government on them, once by an English body of colon- ists, and once by French colonists. Both, however, were abandoned in due course of time, neither the English nor French Gov- ernment thinking it wise or worth while to give official sanction to the same. After awhile a monarchy arose, but a revolution, in which the good offices of the United States troops were found necessary, put an end to it. It was this revolution which made Queen Lil abdicate the throne. Later on, the gov- ernment became a republic, and it comes into the United States as such. Number of Square Miles. The Hawaiian Islands are 15 in number, are a little over 2,500 miles from San Fran- cisco, and have a coast over 800 miles long. Altogether they comprise about 6,640 square miles. The shortest distance between any of the islands is five miles, while some of the islands are at least 25 miles apart. Five of the islands do not possess a single inhabi- tant. The chief island is Oahu, which con- tains 600 square miles, and has a population of 40,205. Upon this island is situated Honolulu, which is the seat of Government, or, in other words, the capital of the islands. The island is almost entirely given up to sugar plantations, in which at least 30,000 of its people are engaged. The Island of Neehau contains 97 square miles, and has a*population of only 14 fami- lies. Ownership of it is claimed by an Eng- lishman, who asserts that he bought it from the former king of the islands. It is given entirely to grazing, and from 30,000 to 40,000 sheep are raised on it annually. The Island of Keani contains 590 square miles, and has a population of 15,362. There is a party of \ XIV OUR NEW POSSESSIONS. German colonists, who claim that they own the island, which is entirely given up to sugar plantations. The island that is probably best known throughout the world is Molokai. It com- prises 270 square miles, and has a population of 2,307. It is a leper settlement, and over 1,200 of the residents are sufferers from lep- rosy. The island came into great notoriety several years ago through the death of the celebrated Father Damien, who, it will be remembered, contracted the dread disease while ministering to the spiritual and tem- poral needs of those who are afflicted with it. At the island of Maui, which contains 760 square miles, and which has a popula- tion of 17,726, are the immense sugar planta- tions of Glaus Spreckles, the California sugar king. The island of Lauai contains 105 people, who maintain themselves by grazing. Another large island is Hawaii, which con- sists of 4,210 square miles, and which has a population of 32,285. The chief product of the islands is sugar. Sugar forms 99 per cent, of the exports of the islands. In 1897 the sugar sent out from the islands amounted to the enormous total of 502,000,000 pounds. The population of the islands, according to the most accuiate statistics, is about 109,000 The Island of Guam. The Marianne or Ladrone Islands lie td the north of the western end of the Carolina band. They are physically associated with the Japanese Islands. This group has fifteen islands large enough to note. They aggre- gate about 440 square miles and have about 10,000 inhabitants. The largest is Guam, with 200 square miles and 7,000 inhabitants. This island was captured and the United States flag was hoisted over it by officers and marines from the United States cruiser "Charleston" on June 21st, 1898. The " Charleston " was on its way to join Admiral Dewey's squadron at Manila.