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HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNITED STATES 
 
 IN WORDS OF ONE SYLLABLE 
 
 MRS. HELEN W. PIERSON 
 
 AUTHOR OF HISTORIES OF FRANCE, ENGLAND AND GERMANY, IN WORDS OF ONE SYLLABI 
 
 COPIOUSLY ILLUSTRATED, 
 
 v: 
 
 AN ARMORED LOOK-OUT 
 
 NEW YORK 
 GEORGE ROUTLEDGE «& SONS 
 
 9 Lafayette Place 
 
 
 \ 
 
IN UNIFORM STYLE, 
 Words of One Syllable. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, 
 HISTORY OF FRANCE, 
 HISTORY OF GERMANY, 
 HISTORY OF UNITED STATES. 
 
 GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS, 
 
 9 Lafayette Place, New York 
 
 
 Copyright, 1883, 
 By Joseph L. Blamire. 
 
PREFATORY. 
 
 In this " History of the United States," 
 it has been the aim to use words of only one sylla- 
 ble. But it will be seen that, in a historical work, 
 names must be given of famous men, of great bat- 
 tles, and of some important measures. It is thought 
 that parents or teachers can soon familiarize young 
 people with these names, so that they will read them 
 as readily as the rest. Titles have been sometimes 
 omitted, and some names which deserve a place and 
 have it in larger histories, are not found here. All 
 such omissions have been made from the fear of 
 rendering the task of reading the book too difficult 
 for many, who, as they grow older, can add to the 
 list that fame has made illustrious, and take wider 
 views of the history of this land. 
 
 H. W. P. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 How THIS Land was Found, ....... 9 
 
 CHAPTER H. 
 The New World, . . . . . . . . .16 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 The Red Men, 26 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The War that Made us Free, ...... 46 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Three Great Fights, ........ 53 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 First in War — First in Peace, 61 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 The Rest of the War, .......<, 69 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 In Times of Peace, .82 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 New Men and New Laws, ....... 95 
 
8 Contents. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Some Great Men, ......... 107 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 A New War 120 
 
 CHAPTER XH. 
 
 The War of North and South, 126 
 
 CHAPTER XHI. 
 Loss and Gain, 134 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 Brave Boys in Blue and Gray, 144 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 Lines Drawn in, 154 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Moves in the West, 162 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 Grant Takes The Charge, 170 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 How the End Came, 176 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Peace Once More, 185 
 
History of the United States. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 HOW THIS LAND WAS FOUND. 
 
 For a long time, in past years, it was not known 
 that the world was round. If the men in those days 
 
 IN-DI-ANS HUNTING IN THE SNOW. 
 
 had been told that a ship could start from a port 
 and sail straight on for months and come round to 
 
lO 
 
 History of the United States. 
 
 the same place, it would have made them laugh as 
 at a good joke. They did not know the real shape 
 of the earth, but thought it was a flat plane. 
 
 In those days our land was the home of the In- 
 di-ans, or red men, as we call them, from their dark 
 skins. The red man does not live in a house, but 
 in a sort of tent or hut. The tribes of red men had 
 all this land for their own when Co-lum-bus was born. 
 The great woods, the green plains, the bright streams, 
 were all theirs. They made their wars in a strange 
 and fierce style, and wore at their belts locks of hair, 
 cut from the heads of those slain by their hands. 
 These locks, cut from the head with part of the skin, 
 they call a scalp. It was the pride of an In-di-an to 
 have scalps hung at his belt. No one had taught 
 him that this was wrong, and he did not have the 
 Word of God to show him the right way. 
 
 When Co-lum-bus was a mere boy he was fond of 
 the sea and ships. He would go and watch the 
 waves, and think about how ships were made, and 
 the best way to sail them. He was born in Gen-oa, 
 which is by the blue sea ; so when he was a small boy 
 he could watch the white sails come in. Such queer 
 ships they had there, with strange high prows ! As 
 time went on, and he grew of age, he made trips in 
 these ships, and was in sea-fights, and once or 
 twice he was in a wreck. So you see he had a 
 
12 History of the United States. 
 
 chance to grow strong and brave for the work he 
 had to do. 
 
 What he read in books taught him that the world 
 was round, and not flat, as was thought in those 
 times. So he knew that if he could sail west he 
 would come to a new land. He thought of this a 
 long time, and at last he grew more sure of it, but 
 he could get no one else to think as he did. He 
 spent ten years in this way. He was full of plans ; 
 but he could get no help and no gold. He was too 
 poor to do all with no aid from his friends. At last 
 he went to Spain. 
 
 There were a King and Queen there who were 
 kind to Co-lum-bus ; but at first they would not give 
 their gold to help him. They thought this was a 
 wild dream. At last, with a sad heart, he made up 
 his mind to turn his back on the court of Spain. 
 
 While on his way, a man came to him from 
 Queen Is-a-bel-la. She had sent him word that she 
 would help him ; "that she would pledge her own 
 gems to give him aid." But she did not have to 
 do this, as means were found when Co-lum-bus 
 went back to the court. His heart was made glad ; 
 for they gave him a small fleet of three ships, and 
 on the 3d of August, 1492, the sun rose on the 
 fleet as it went forth on its way to the new land. 
 All was strange to the new crew, and they had all 
 
How this Land was Fotmd. 15 
 
 sorts of queer thoughts and fears of the sea. They 
 had not been out of sight of land in all their lives ; 
 and when they saw the deep, dark sea on all sides, they 
 were full of fear that they would not see their homes 
 again. The trade wind which took them west so 
 fast, would keep them, they thought, from their land 
 when they had the wish to go back. At last they 
 grew so full of fear, they swore they would not go 
 on, and Co-lum-bus had hard work to make them. 
 But soon there were signs of land, and some land 
 birds flew by the ship ; and one of the crew found a 
 branch of a tree on the waves, which had some fresh 
 red fruit on it. 
 
 Oh, how glad they were ! Co-lum-bus felt so 
 sure that he was near land, he gave word for the 
 ships to lie by that night. No man thought of sleep. 
 They all kept watch on deck to see this strange 
 new coast for which they had borne so much. 
 
 In the night a cry of joy was heard. Co-lum- 
 bus had seen a light far off, and a shout of " Land ! 
 land ! " soon came from all sides. 
 
 When the sun rose they all saw a green strip of 
 shore some five miles long. The men fell at the 
 feet of Co-lum-bus and shed tears of joy. Then 
 they sang a hymn of praise to God, who had kept 
 them and brought them safe and sound to this new 
 place. They got out the small boats and put men 
 
14 History of the United States. 
 
 and arms In them, with flags, and a band to play a 
 march of joy, and the crews made their way to the 
 shore. Codum-bus, in a rich dress with his drawn 
 sword in his hand, sprang on the beach, and then 
 the crew came next. They set up a cross, and all 
 knelt at its foot and gave thanks for their safe trip. 
 Then Co-lum-bus set up the flag of Cas-tile and 
 Le-on, and took the new land for the crown of 
 Spain. 
 
 While they stood there with shouts of joy and 
 songs, some strange dark shapes stole up with soft 
 steps to their side. The crew thought these men 
 must have come from a new world, as they saw their 
 dark skins and the gay paint and plumes they wore. 
 Co-lum-bus gave them the name of In-di-ans, for he 
 thought the new coast was part of In-dia. He did 
 not know that he had found a new land. These 
 men with red skins were glad to kiss the feet of the 
 Span-iards, and change their gold chains and rude 
 rings for the beads and pins the crew gave to them. 
 
 Co-lum-bus spent some time in the new land he 
 had found, and then he set sail for home to take his 
 friends and the Queen the great news. A wild 
 storm came on the way home, and Co-lum-bus 
 thought that all was lost, so he wrote his tale on a 
 cake of wax and put the cake in a cask and threw 
 it in the sea; so that if he had gone down in the 
 
How this Land zvas Found. 15 
 
 storm, all that he had found would not be lost to the 
 world. 
 
 But God took care of Co-lum-bus and his crew. 
 They got back to their homes once more and had a 
 grand time. The King and Queen gave them a 
 new and fine fleet ; and in time they came back and 
 saw new points of land on which to build homes, 
 and they found, too. South A-mer-i-ca. 
 
 There were some in Spain who did not like Co- 
 lum-bus, for he had won gold and fame, wjiile they 
 had none. So they told false tales of him ; and when 
 his friend, Queen Is-a-bel-la, died, he was once 
 brought back from the land he had found in chains. 
 How sad that was ! — was it not ? At last he had to 
 die old and poor, and this land did not have his 
 name. It had no name for some time; but at last 
 an I-tal-ian, who made a few trips there, and wrote 
 of what he saw, gave his name to the new world. 
 His name was A-mer-i-cus Ves-pu-ci-us. That is a 
 hard name for you to say, but you can all say A-mer- 
 i-ca, and that is the name of our land. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE NEW WORLD. 
 
 When the news of this land of gold spread over 
 the world, Eng-land and France and Spain all sent 
 ships to see what they could find. They each 
 thought they would like to have a slice. The 
 Eng-lish thought they had some rights, as one of 
 their men, named Ca-bot, had, in truth, been the first 
 to touch this new shore. The next time he came, 
 he made his way down the coast to what we call 
 Vir-gin-ia, and set up a claim for Eng-land. 
 
 Then the King of France sent a man to plant 
 his flag here, and he gave the name of New France 
 to part of our coast. But though Eng-land and 
 France both set claim to the land, they did not 
 send men here to live for a long time. 
 
 At last Queen E-liz-a-beth gave one of the great 
 men at court, called Sir Wal-ter Ral-eigh, a claim 
 to a large tract of land in A-mer-i-ca. He came 
 with two ships, and found the red skins kind. They 
 brought him gifts, and he went back to tell of all 
 the strange things he had seen, and some came to 
 live on the new shores. But the red skins were 
 
The New World. 17 
 
 hard to live with, and the small group of white men 
 could get no food, and were near death, when a 
 brave man, named Sir Fran-cis Drake, came with 
 a ship and took them off to their homes. The next 
 band that came met a sad fate, for they all fell by 
 the hand of the red men. 
 
 There were some in Eng-land who had a great 
 wish to see this new world. They thought they 
 would like to live in a land with no King, and have 
 a church where they could pray to God in their own 
 way. They were called '' Pil-grims," for they went 
 from place to place and would sing psalms and pray, 
 and they were full of joy at the thought of their 
 new home. 
 
 Do you know the name of the ship they came 
 in ? It is a sweet name, and you must keep it in 
 your mind — The May-flow-er. They did not have 
 a smooth trip, and a storm blew them on to the 
 coast of Mass-a-chu-setts. It was bare and cold, but 
 it was nice to see land at all. There were all sorts 
 of fowl there, and they saw a whale ; but when they 
 went to shoot it the gun burst. They made their 
 way to a vale where there was a spring, and there 
 they took their first drink in the new land. 
 
 There was a rock called Plym-outh Rock, and 
 here they made their homes and built the first house. 
 It was in 1620, in a cold time of the year, that the 
 
History of the United States. 
 
 Seatum 
 
 FuLL Size. 
 
 IN-DI-AN FLINT 
 HEADED ARROW 
 
 May-flow-er brought her crew to Plym- 
 outh Rock. There was not much 
 food, and they had from the first a foe 
 whom they could not trust or make a 
 friend. These were a new race of men. 
 They had brown skins ; were tall and 
 straight, with long, coarse black hair. 
 They had no books, and got their food 
 in the hunt, or caught fish in the streams. 
 They made boats of birch bark — ^queer, 
 long things, with a point at each end. 
 They could make bows, and would pound 
 their corn with two stones for their bread. 
 They took the skins of beasts for their 
 clothes, for they knew how to dress them. 
 Each tribe had its head man, known as 
 a chief, and then' great joy was in war 
 When their foes took them, they would 
 not pray for their lives. They were 
 brave in their own way, and would show 
 no fear at the sight of the fire that was 
 to burn their flesh. 
 
 Their wives, the squaws, would dress 
 the food and do all the hard work at 
 home. They were the ones who dug 
 each small patch of ground and put in 
 the beans and corn. The men had a 
 
The New World. 
 
 19 
 
 scorn for work. They were made to fight, they 
 thought. They would say, "The Great Chief gave 
 the white man a plow and the red man a bow, 
 and sent them in the world to gain food, each in his 
 own way." 
 
 In this new land there was not a horse, cow, 
 sheep, cat, dog, or hen to be found. You would 
 not like such a place, would you } What did the 
 
 young people do for pets in those days ? No chicks 
 to feed, no puss with her soft, warm fur, for small 
 hands to stroke. 
 
 But the new homes were not left in peace. 
 The red men saw that their doom was near. They 
 felt that they would have to move on and on, to 
 give place to these men who knew so much ; who 
 read books and had schools, and taught their young 
 ones to pray. So they took the guns that they had 
 bought from the white men and went to war with 
 them. When they took them they would tie them 
 fast to stakes, burn them to death, and all the time 
 the flames were at work, these fierce red men would 
 
20 History of the United States. 
 
 dance a war dance of joy. They bought rum from 
 the white men, and it made them Hke brutes. 
 
 They knew that the white men had come to 
 take their land, and that was cause for their hate. 
 And so the white men, in their turn, felt no love 
 for the red skin, and thought they did well to push 
 him back more and more, and take all they could 
 from him. The white men were to blame, for they 
 first gave the vile rum to the red men, and that 
 made them wild. They would burn down the 
 white man's house at night, and kill his wife and 
 babes. Think how sad it must be to wake up in 
 the night and find the hot blaze of a fire in your 
 face, and the wild war-whoop of an In-di-an in your 
 ears. But you can lie down in your bed in peace, 
 for there is no one to harm you — you live in good 
 times. 
 
 But those who were so brave as to come and 
 live in this new land, had a hard life at first. 
 There were no snug farms as now, with fields of 
 green corn and wheat. At times the poor men 
 could not get much to eat, and one wrote home : 
 **The crumbs that fall from your meals would be 
 sweet to me. When I can get a cup of meal and 
 boil it with a pinch of salt, I give thanks as for a 
 great feast. The In-di-ans at times bring corn and 
 trade it for clothes or knives. One day they gave 
 
22 Histo7'y of the United States. 
 
 me a peck of corn for a small dog. It would be a 
 strange thing to see a piece of roast beef or veal 
 here." 
 
 It will not seem strange, then, that, in such hard 
 times, death came to these small bands and took 
 some away. But those who were left kept up 
 brave hearts, and would not go back to their old 
 homes ; and though all were so poor, there was not 
 a case of theft in four years. They grew to like the 
 land, and one said, ''A sup of New Eng-land air is 
 worth more than a draught of Old Eng-land ale." 
 
 For one of the first bands of men who came 
 here, made their homes in a place to which they 
 gave the name of New Eng-land, after their old 
 home. As time went on each place grew to be a 
 town, and soon had a church and a school of its 
 own. If we had gone in one of those towns on 
 the Lord's day, we would have seen some strange 
 sights. As the clocks struck nine, there would 
 come out a man who would beat a drum or blow a 
 conch shell, or ring a bell to call all the folks to 
 church. As we drew near to this church, we would 
 have seen that it was built of logs, with a small flag 
 to wave on it. There would be a fence of stakes 
 round it, and a man with a gun on guard near 
 it. Those who went in left all their guns in 
 his care. 
 
The New WorM. 23 
 
 If you look at this church you will see that it 
 has no glass panes like ours, but small and dull and 
 thick ones set in lead. It is the style now to like 
 that old thick glass, and to use it once more. You 
 might see on the front of this church, near the door, 
 the heads of wolves that had been slain in the hunt 
 in the past year. 
 
 In this church the old men sat on one side, and 
 the young men were not with them. They had 
 their own place. So, too, the boys did not sit by 
 the girls. Most of the boys sat on the stairs, and 
 there was a man there as a sort of o^uard to see that 
 they did not talk. He had a long rod or wand in 
 his hand, with a hare's foot on one end, and a 
 hare's tail on the other. He would let no one otq to 
 sleep. If he saw a girl nod, he would touch her on 
 the face with the soft brush of the hare's tail ; but 
 if it were a boy who was caught in a nap, he got a 
 sharp rap from the hare's foot. So you see in those 
 times one could not make such a snug nest in the 
 pew and take a long sleep as one does now ; and 
 they had to stay three or four hours in church. It 
 must have been hard for small folks not to nod at 
 times. 
 
 When they sung, it was out of a book by the 
 name of ''The Bay Psalm Book," and they did not 
 know more than ten tunes. In those days no one 
 
24 History of the United States. 
 
 could stay from church but for a good cause, or else 
 they had to pay a fine. And if a man staid from 
 church a month, he was put in the stocks, or in a 
 cage of wood, where all could see him and laugh 
 and jeer at him. 
 
 You do not know what stocks are in these times, 
 but if you had stood in a New Eng-land town then, 
 you would have seen a strange thing made of wood, 
 by the road near the church. This queer frame 
 of wood would hold a man fast so that he could not 
 move, and you may think a day in the stocks w^ould 
 be hard to bear, and would make one's bones ache. 
 
 A house in such a town, in those days, was all 
 built on the ground floor; so there were no stairs. 
 It was made of earth or logs, and had a steep roof 
 of thatch. The place for the fire was built of rough 
 stones. It was large enough to burn logs four feet 
 long, and had so much room in it that a man and 
 his wife and boys and girls could sit in it and look 
 up at the sky. 
 
 The dress in those days was not the same as it 
 is now. The men wore small clothes, which came 
 to the knee like a small boy's in these times, and 
 they had stiff ruffs round their necks and caps of rich 
 stuff on their heads. The young men wore fine 
 belts, and great high boots which were made with 
 a roll at the top. The girls wore silk hoods in the 
 
The New World. 25 
 
 streets, and stiff rich gowns, with long waists, and 
 lace caps on feast-days. But folks could not wear 
 gay clothes if the law did not think they had means 
 to spend for such fine things. 
 
 They had some queer laws in those days. 
 Those who had done wrong had to stand in the 
 stocks, which held them by the feet and neck, so 
 they could not get free, or they had to mount 
 stools in church. If a man had a wife who had 
 the name of a bad scold, a cleft stick was put on 
 her tongue, or she was made to take a cold dip in 
 a stream. I dare say you think those were hard 
 laws, and you are glad to live in these days. But 
 that was a race who had the fear of God in their 
 hearts ; their aim was to do just right and to rule 
 the land in the best way. 
 
 W^' 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE RED MEN AND THEIR WARS. 
 
 At first, before they had time to plant the fields, 
 the men could but hunt and fish for food ; but 
 as years went by, they had farms, and made glass 
 and things for trade ; they wove cloth of wool, and 
 some from a plant that grows in the south, of which 
 you may know the name. It is white and soft. 
 
 They had not much coin, and so they had to do 
 the best they could with skins and corn, or what 
 they could get for trade. The first mint to make 
 coin was set up in Mass-a-chu-setts in 1652. This 
 coin had a pine tree on one side, and the name of 
 the State. One side had a date and N. E. for New 
 Eng-land. All this coin was known as " pine-tree 
 coin." In time the land at Plym-outh Bay and 
 those near took one name, *' Mass-a-chu-setts." 
 
 In the meanwhile the small band who had made 
 homes in Vir-gin-ia had come to grief. They had 
 been men of good birth in their own land, and did 
 not know much of hard work. They had come in 
 search of wealth. Great tales had been told of the 
 gold here. It had been said one could pick up 
 
TJic Red Mc7i and their Wars. 
 
 27 
 
 great lumps of gold, as large as a hen's ^gg, in the 
 streams. They found that all this was not true, 
 and that a man had to work hard to live. They 
 grew sick, and death came in their midst to make 
 things more sad ; so that they lost more than half 
 of their small band. 
 
 JOHN SMITH. 
 
 One man, John 
 Smith by name, did 
 great things for them. 
 He had been brave 
 from his birth. He 
 had been in wars oft, 
 and once he built him 
 
28 History of the United States. 
 
 a lodge of boughs in a wood and took his books 
 with him, that he might learn the art of war. 
 Once he went to fight the Turks. He is said 
 to have been sold as a slave. It may be all these 
 tales are not true ; but it is true he taught his 
 own friends in Vir-gin-ia how to live. He got them 
 to build a fort and log huts for the cold times. He 
 made friends as far as he could of the In-di-ans, so 
 that he could get boat loads of food from them. 
 He said that '' he who would not work might not 
 eat ; " so no man could be a drone in the hive. 
 Each one must learn to swing the axe in the woods 
 or to hunt and to fish. 
 
 Once the In-di-ans took him and they told him 
 that he must die. Their great chief Pow-ha-tan had 
 said the word ; so his head was laid upon a stone, 
 and a huge war club held up to strike the blow. But 
 a young girl was seen to spring to his side, throw 
 her arms round his neck, and pray that he might 
 be set free. She was the pet of the tribe, for she 
 was the child of their chief; and so Cap-tain Smith 
 was set free. You may be sure he was full of 
 thanks to his kind young friend, and it is said she 
 might have been seen on her way to James-town 
 more than once, as time went on, with small stores 
 of corn for the white men. And when she grew up 
 a white man made her his wife. 
 
The Red Men and their Wars. 
 
 29 
 
 But at last a bad wound made Cap-tain Smith 
 go back to Eng-land, and things grew worse and 
 worse in Vir-gin-ia. Food was more and more 
 scarce, and a sad time came, which was long known 
 as "Starving Time." It was in 1609. At last 
 they all made up their minds to go back to their 
 old home. None shed a tear as 
 the sun rose on that day ; they had 
 known bad times in the new land, 
 and did not grieve to go. But as 
 their ship made its way down the 
 bay, they met Lord Del-a-ware, 
 with a great stock of food, and 
 new men to swell the ranks. So 
 they were glad to turn back and 
 try the place once more ; and in 
 the course of time they throve and 
 built and spread, and that part of 
 the land made a new State, which 
 we know as Vir-gin-ia. In that 
 State was first grown a weed which you have seen 
 men smoke and chew. 
 
 The folks in Mass-a-chu-setts went by the name 
 of " Pu-ri-tans." They had left their old home that 
 they might pray to God in their own way, and they 
 thought that their own way was the right one. 
 When men came in their midst who did not think 
 
 TO-BAC-CO PLANT. 
 
20 History of the United States 
 
 as they did, they were sent out of the place. There 
 was a class called Quak-ers, or Friends, who were 
 mild, and did all they could for peace ; but they 
 thought they had their rights as well as the rest, 
 and might serve God in their own way. They did 
 not take part in wars, and would not bear arms, 
 They would not hire a man to preach for them; 
 but when they met, each one spoke as he felt the 
 thought come in his heart. They kept the laws, 
 and did to all men as they would have them to do 
 to them. They said "thee and thou " for "you," and 
 "yea and nay" for "yes and no;" but this could 
 hurt no one, and it seems strange to us that they 
 were not let stay in the place. They had to fly for 
 their lives, and four were put to death. In these 
 days all men are free to serve God in their own way. 
 And in that time there was one man to raise 
 his voice for the poor Quak-ers, and all who were 
 like them. This man was Rog-er Will-iams. He 
 held that the State had no right to say what men 
 should think and feel. You may be sure those who 
 were high in place did not like to hear that ; so he 
 had to fly from his home one cold day, and for a time 
 he hid in the woods. But the In-di-ans gave hirr, 
 a home, and one chief made him a gift of a piece of 
 land, which he called " Prov-i-dence," as it was to 
 him like a o:ift from God. And so the State of 
 
The Red Men and their Wars. 
 
 31 
 
 Rhode Isl-and, where this town was built, was 
 known as a place where thought was free. The 
 Ouak-ers were glad to find a home in that State, 
 where they could dwell in peace. 
 
 IN-DI-ANS RID-ING. 
 
 In 1675, a war, known as King Phil-ip's war, 
 broke out in Mass-a-chu-setts. King Phil-ip was 
 an In-di-an chief who saw that the white man 
 would soon own all the land, and he knew that 
 
22 History of the United States. 
 
 meant death to his race. He made a plan to kill 
 all the white men. The first blow fell on the 
 Lord's day, as the folks were on their way home 
 from church. The men flew to arms, and did not 
 dare to lay them down when they were in the field 
 at work, or at their homes. When they went to 
 church they would stack them at the door. 
 
 King Phil-ip and his men made their camp in a 
 great swamp, where it was hard for the white men 
 to reach them. Here they laid up a store of food, 
 and had great tribes of red men. They would not 
 fight in the wide fields, but would skulk in nooks, 
 and rush out and hold all the land in fear, for the 
 foe would seem to be on all sides. At last they 
 were made to leave their strong hold, and could 
 find no place to hide. There was a fight, and the 
 In-di-ans fell thick and fast. Phil-ip ran, but one 
 of his own tribe, who had a grudge, shot him dead. 
 He had done all he could for his own folk, but fell 
 by the hand of one of them at last. 
 
 All this time the King of Eng-land was at the 
 head of this land as well, and the men he sent were 
 wont to rule things with a high hand. They would 
 not grant what our men thought to be their rights. 
 Dutch ships had come in to trade for furs with the 
 In-di-ans. Some of the crews stayed here and made 
 their homes in a place they called New Am-ster- 
 
34 
 
 Histo7'y of ike United States. 
 
 dam. It is now known by the name of New York. 
 These first Dutch men bought the land from the 
 In-di-ans, and It was to go to their heirs through 
 all time. 
 
 A band of Swedes made their home in Del-a- 
 ware. A Quak-er by the name of Will-iam Penn 
 
 IK-DI-AN PIPES. 
 
 bought a grant of land from the King. He thought 
 to make a home for all his sect, who had as hard 
 a time in Eng-land as they did here. He sent a 
 band of these men here, and the next year he came 
 too. He met the In-di-ans by a great elm tree. 
 He was a kind and good man, and would not take 
 
The Red Mc7i and their Wars. 
 
 35 
 
 their land from them. He bought it and made 
 them his friends. ** We will live in love with Wil- 
 liam Penn and his heirs," said they, "as long as 
 the sun and moon shall shine." And it is said that 
 to this day a red man is loathe to shed Ouak-er 
 blood. 
 
 In 1683, Penn bought 
 land from the Swedes and 
 laid out a town, to which he 
 gave the name of Phil-a- 
 del-phia. It stood in the 
 midst of a wood, and the 
 wild deer ran by the men 
 who came to take a look at 
 their new home. When 
 Penn came, he sent out a 
 call for all the men to meet 
 in one place, and there he 
 met with them, and they 
 laid out the code or kind 
 of laws they were to have. 
 This code was known as 
 ''The Great Law." No one could vote that did not 
 have faith in Christ; and all might pray to God in 
 their own way. So you see the Ouak-ers did not 
 wish to force men to think as they did. They felt 
 that was not right or just. 
 
36 
 
 History of the United States. 
 
 Penn did all he could for his sect, and was mild 
 and good to the red men. He said to them, ''We 
 meet on the broad path of good faith and good will. 
 I will deal with you in love. We are one flesh and 
 blood." 
 
 So our land grew, and State by State was laid 
 out, and towns were built, and all this time the 
 King of Eng-land was at the head of the whole. 
 There were more In-di-an wars; for the red men 
 gave the new folk no peace. They would come 
 down from the depths of the woods of Can-a-da on 
 their snow shoes, and drag men and their wives 
 
 IN-DI-AN SNOW SHOE. 
 
 from their beds and scalp them and set their homes 
 on fire. Many a child, too, had to fly with the rest 
 in the cold night, with bare feet and few clothes on, 
 to seek a place to hide from this fierce foe. 
 
 In 1754, a war broke out which we call the 
 ''French and In-di-an War." The Eng-lish had at 
 this time a great strip of land on our coast which 
 they held as their own. It was like a string to the 
 
The Red Men mid their Wars. yj 
 
 great bow of French land, which went from Que- 
 bec to New Or-leans. Both French and Eng-Hsh 
 laid claim to part of the land ; and those who had 
 the wish to live in peace could not but look on in 
 fear. 
 
 The French built three forts, and that made all 
 feel that they meant to hold the land. A young 
 man by the name of George Wash-ing-ton, was sent 
 to ask that they should pull down these forts. You 
 have heard of George Wash-ing-ton, I know. You 
 have been told that he was ''first in peace, first in 
 war, and first in the hearts of all." You have, I 
 am sure, heard the tale of the fruit tree that he cut, 
 and how he could not tell a lie to save him. He 
 was a boy then, and some one had made his heart 
 glad with the gift of a small axe. What should 
 a boy do with such a thing, if he could not cut with 
 it ? So George went round to try the sharp edge 
 of his axe, and, as bad luck would have it, he came 
 on a young fruit tree. It may be that the fruit was 
 of a rare kind, and so when it was found that the 
 bark of the tree had been cut in such a way that 
 one could hope for no more fruit, the cry rang out 
 on all sides, ''Who has done this deed ?" 
 
 Our small boy was not at peace in his own 
 mind. He did not know in what shape the wrath 
 mio^ht fall on him ; but he came forth in a brave 
 
3 8 History of the United States. 
 
 way and said, '' I did it, Father, I can not tell a lie. 
 I cut it." We are glad there has been one boy 
 who could not tell a lie, and we hope there are some 
 in our own times. 
 
 So this George Wash-ing-ton, then a young 
 man, was sent to the French man who was at the 
 head of the forts, to say that he must take them 
 down at once. He had a hard time to get there, 
 for it was cold, and the streams were big with 
 the rains. The snow fell and froze as it fell. His 
 horse gave out, and he had to go on foot. He had 
 one man with him, and they struck out in to the 
 woods. They had to cross a stream on a rude raft, 
 and they were caught in the ice. It bore them on 
 with great speed, and when Wash-ing-ton threw out 
 his pole to check the speed, he tell in the stream. 
 But he knew how to swim, and so he got to land. 
 When day came, it grew still more cold, and the 
 stream froze in such a way that he could walk on 
 it to the place where he would be. 
 
 The men at the French forts would not say that 
 they would give them up. In fact, they made boasts 
 that they could hold them in spite of all, and so the 
 war went on. The French would dart out and 
 seize Eng-lish ships, and then the Eng-lish would 
 march on the French, and do them all the harm 
 they could. Wash-ing-ton fought on the side of the 
 
The Red Afen and their Wars. 39 
 
 Eng-lish in this war. Once the In-di-ans laid in 
 wait for them in the wood, and as the men were on 
 the march with their flags and beat of drum, they 
 heard the fierce war whoop on all sides. The Brit- 
 ish troops did not know how to deal with such a 
 foe ; but our men sprang down and fought them in 
 their own way. 
 
 One chief made a vow that he would kill Wash- 
 ing-ton. Four balls were sent through his clothes. 
 Twice his horse was shot. Gen-er-al Brad-dock, 
 who was at the head of the Eng-lish troops, was 
 shot and borne from the field to die. There was a 
 great fright, and the men fled on all sides. Wash- 
 ing-ton did what he could to save them from the 
 foe, like a brave man. But the French went on 
 and built more forts, and our men were at their 
 wits' end to hold their own with foes on all sides. 
 
 There were six tribes of the red men who were 
 their friends, and I would tell you their names if 
 they were not too long and hard. 
 
 But you will find in the State of New York 
 lakes and streams which bear the same names. 
 We ought to bear them in mind, as they were of 
 great use in those times. So it was thought best 
 for all our men to meet in a town by the name of 
 Al-ba-ny, to fix on a way to keep these six tribes 
 our friends, and to join with them to fight the 
 
40 History of the United States. 
 
 French. Al-ba-ny was then a small town with few 
 in it; but it had a stone fort. Here our men met 
 the chiefs and had a talk with them. The chiefs 
 told our clan they were not so wise and brave as 
 the French, or they would build forts like them. 
 
 But there was one wise man in our midst, Ben- 
 ja-min Frank-lin. He had been a poor boy, so 
 poor that when he went in to the great town of 
 Fhil-a-del-phia, he had but a few cents. But he 
 knew how to print ; and more than that he was 
 fond of books, and so could learn all sorts of things. 
 He brought with him a small print on which was 
 shown a snake cut in parts. Each part had on it 
 the name of one of the States. He said they must 
 be made one or die, and that to be one was the way 
 to be great. But our men did not see their way 
 clear to do this yet. We know they made the 
 States one in time. 
 
 The death of Gen-er-al Brad-dock was a great 
 blow to their hopes. They saw that all the red- 
 coats, as we call the Eng-lish, were not brave ; but 
 could run as fast as the rest. Still they took some 
 forts, with long names, from the French in this war. 
 They made a move on them at Que-bec, with Gen- 
 er-al Wolfe at the head of our troops. 
 
 Quebec was one of the strong forts of the world. 
 At first Gen-er-al Wolfe lost at all points. But he 
 
\fy/^l_ 
 
42 History of the Un-itcd States. 
 
 found at last a way to go in boats. With no noise 
 they made their way to land, and up a steep hill, 
 and at dawn the French woke to see red-coats on 
 all sides. Their Gen-er-al Mont-calm led them 
 out ot the fort to fight. If he had not, he might 
 have w^on the day, for the fort was strong. But he 
 chose to fight in the wide field, and so we won. 
 
 At the time of the fight, Gen-er-al Wolfe, who 
 had been struck by a death shot, heard shouts of 
 joy, '' They fly — they fly ! " '' Who fly ! " came from 
 his white lips. ''The French." ''Then praise God, 
 I die at peace," he said, with his last breath. 
 
 Gen-er-al Mont-calm, too, on the French side, 
 had a wound, and was told he could not live. " I 
 am glad of it," he said, "for then I shall not live to 
 see my town yield to the foe." So you see they 
 were two brave men who fell that day. In five 
 days a peace was made with France ; for she gave 
 up most of the land to which she had laid claim. 
 
 But there were some of the red men who did 
 not want this peace with the Eng-lish. They had 
 seen the red-coats run away from them, and they 
 thought they might now strike a blow for their own 
 homes and land. The French made them think 
 they would help them. "The King of France has 
 but slept for a time," they said, "but he will soon 
 wake up, and then he will drive the foe from the 
 
The Red Men and their Wars. 
 
 43 
 
 homes of the red men, and give them back their 
 land." 
 
 There was one brave chief, Pon-ti-ac, who heard 
 
 IN-DT-AN CHIEF. 
 
 all this with a glad heart. ** I will live and die a 
 French man," he said, and he sent men to each 
 
44 History of the United States. 
 
 town to bear a belt with red or black beads on it, 
 and a knife with a red stain on it ; these meant 
 war. The knife was of the kind with which they 
 were wont to scalp the foe, and the red stain told 
 that deeds of blood were at hand. When this 
 
 UNDER SIDE OF HEAD. 
 
 STONE TOM-A-HAWK. 
 
 belt and knife were kept, Pon-ti-ac knew that the 
 chiefs there would join the war. Their first move 
 was on a fort at De-troit. 
 
 This was Pon-ti-ac's plan. He would go some 
 day to the fort with some men and ask leave to 
 come in and show them a war dance. While some 
 
The Red Men and their Wars. 45 
 
 were in the dance, a few would stroll through the 
 fort and see all that could be seen. Then they 
 would go once more as if for a call, with arms hid 
 in their clothes, and strike down the white men 
 when they did not look for it. The first part of 
 this plan went on all right ; but one of the squaws, 
 who was a friend to the head man of the fort, told 
 him what the red men meant to do. So when Pon- 
 ti-ac and his men went in the fort, each with his 
 gun hid in his clothes, they found ranks of men 
 with arms to meet them, and they were glad to get 
 out with their lives. 
 
 But Pon-ti-ac would not give up, for he made 
 more friends, and laid siege to De-troit in 1763. It 
 was a long siege for the red man, but it held out, 
 though food was scarce, and the men in it felt that 
 they must soon starve. Pon-ti-ac at last had to 
 make peace, and met his own death at the hands of 
 a red man, who was mad with drink ; and so the 
 French and In-di-an war came to an end. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE WAR THAT MADE US FREE. 
 
 For a time all were at peace ; but at last a war 
 broke out that took more time, and cost more men, 
 than all the wars of the past. You have heard of 
 it, it may be, by the name of the Rev-o-lu-tion. 
 
 There are some old men who fought in that war, 
 who are alive this day. You see the cause of this 
 war came out of what our men thought to be their 
 wrongs. They thought the rule of Eng-land too hard, 
 and that they should have their own men to rule them. 
 They would have gone on as they were, if they had 
 thought that Eng-land was just to them ; but she 
 put a tax on the things they had to use. She had 
 a large debt to pay, and so she thought it fair our 
 men should help to pay it ; and our men held that 
 they ought to have a voice as to what the tax should 
 be, and fix what they knew to be right. 
 
 Do you know what a tax means ? It meant, in 
 this case, that when our men bought a thing, they 
 had to pay a few cents more than its real price, and 
 these few cents were to go to Eng-land. Of course 
 these few cents from all sides grew to be a good 
 
TJie War that made ns Free. 47 
 
 sum, and was quite a help. Eng-land, at this time, 
 made a law which we know by the name of the 
 *' Stamp Act." This law, which gave to Eng-land 
 a tax on all deeds, was one great cause of the wrath 
 of our men. One man made a speech on it that 
 was put in print, and the boys in the schools spoke 
 it. In all the States men took the same view ; so 
 that the Stamp Act may be said to have lit the fire 
 which in time made such a blaze. 
 
 In all the States men stood up for what they 
 thought their rights, and they made up their mind 
 that they would not pay this tax on Eng-lish things, 
 but would learn to make them of their own. Men 
 and their wives took a vow that the fine clothes 
 from their old home should not tempt them, but 
 they would spin and weave, and wear what they 
 made, though it might be poor and coarse. One 
 brave dame wrote to her friends, '' I hope there are 
 none of us but would wrap up in the skins of sheep 
 and goats to keep us warm, if we must else pay a 
 tax which is not just on the goods of Eng-land." 
 
 The wrath at the Stamp Act grew more fierce 
 each day, and the men who were sent to put it in 
 force did not dare to do so. One was caught and 
 made to say that he would give the thing up. He 
 was made to fling up his hat and cry as they told 
 him, three times, in words which meant that they 
 
48 History of the United States. 
 
 were right and the King was wrong. No one was 
 found so bold as to put the Stamp Act in force ; 
 and the news went to the King and set him in a 
 great rage. Some of their own great men were on 
 our side, and were glad we did not yield. 
 
 At last the King gave up the Stamp Act, but 
 said he had a right to tax us as he chose. There 
 was great joy here at the news that the Stamp Act 
 was to be heard from no more. The bells were 
 rung, and flags were flung out on the breeze, and all 
 who were held for debt were made free. For a year 
 there was no more heard of a tax ; but then a new 
 act came. This tax was made on tea and glass, 
 and such things, which were in use all the time. 
 This woke new wrath, and troops had to come out 
 to keep the peace, which our men said they would 
 not bear. The boys from the schools felt the wrong, 
 and would call the ''red-coats" in scorn by that 
 name ; and the young men made a vow that they 
 would drive them from the town. 
 
 There were street fights each day ; and the men 
 were more and more set to have their rights. The 
 folk wore the rough clothes which they spun and 
 wove, and would not buy a yard of Eng-lish cloth. 
 Then they sought to find some plant that they 
 might use for tea, so that they would not have to 
 buy tea and pay the tax on it. They must have 
 
The War that made us Free, 49 
 
 had some queer drinks at that time. When the 
 King found they were so set in their way, he gave 
 up all but the tax on tea. Then he sent three large 
 ship loads of it here, in the hope that our folk would 
 want it so much when they saw it, that they would 
 be glad to pay the tax. 
 
 But our men had made up their minds that this 
 tea should not land. So when the tea ships came 
 in, a guard was set on them by our men as they lay 
 at the wharf, so that the tea should not be brought 
 to shore. A large crowd of men met in a Hall in 
 Bos-ton, to say what should be done with the tea ; 
 and at last they gave out, that if the tea were sent 
 back where it came from, all would be well. But 
 the head man, who was sent here to rule us by the 
 King, would not do this, and said so. When this 
 was told to the crowd, a war-whoop was heard at 
 the porch, and some men in the dress of In-di-ans 
 made a rush down to the wharf, and went on board 
 of the three tea ships, and cast all the chests of tea 
 in the bay. Then they went home in peace and did 
 no one harm. This was the '' Bos-ton Tea Par-ty," 
 and is so known at this day. 
 
 At New York and Bos-ton they did not try to 
 land the tea when they heard of this, but took it 
 back. At one time the tea was set on fire. All 
 this made our men more and more set on their own 
 
50 History of the United States. 
 
 way; and the King grew in a rage with them. He 
 made some strong laws, sent troops to Bos-ton, and 
 put in force a bill called a Port Bill, which would 
 not let a boat go in or out the port, save that it 
 brought food or wood. One of their own men stood 
 up and said this was a '' bill to make us slaves." 
 And the wood and food had to be brought in a new 
 route, and not straight in the bay. Not a stick of 
 wood or a pound of flour could be brought in a row 
 boat, or straight in from a near point ; it must all 
 go round to the place where the Eng-lish saw fit, 
 where they could stop it and see just what was 
 there. 
 
 Of course this was hard for the good folk of 
 Bos-ton, and they did not bear their wrongs in 
 peace. They had gifts sent them by land — of grain 
 and salt fish and sheep. From the South came 
 flour and rice, and some times gold for the poor. 
 So that the Port Bill made all feel to them like 
 friends, for all towns took up the cause of Bos-ton 
 as their own. 
 
 This was just what the wise men at the court of 
 King George had said would be the case. They 
 knew it would make our folk more strong to drive 
 them with hard laws to fight. And so it came to 
 pass, as the two great men, Burke and Fox, had 
 said, King George was set in his way, and would 
 
The War that made tis Free. 51 
 
 not change, but did his best to push the laws 
 through. The Bos-ton Port Bill was one of the 
 things that made the States one. For they had 
 but one mind on these harsh laws, and stood as 
 one man for the right. The day when this Port 
 Bill was first put in force, the Town Hall in one of 
 the towns was hung with black, as for a death ; 
 the Bill was on it, and the toll of bells was heard 
 all day. 
 
 If we could have stood in Bos-ton in those days, 
 we would have seen that there was not much work, 
 and no ships at the wharves but those of Eng-land. 
 There were guns in view, and men with red-coats 
 in the streets. There were tents on the green, and 
 clubs that met each night, to talk of this strange 
 turn in things, and what was best to do. They 
 did not want war, but saw no way to get out of it. 
 Great men spoke of it here and there, and each 
 speech was read at the clubs. 
 
 ''We must fight," grew to be the cry. But there 
 were some, of course, who felt sad at all this, who 
 thought it wrong not to do the will of the King in 
 all things. They said this land would come to 
 grief, for we were the ones who had the most to 
 lose by war. These men had the name of "To-ries," 
 and the rest did not look on them as friends, but 
 held them as foes. Some of these men went back 
 
52 
 
 History of the United States. 
 
 to their old homes, and came here in the troops of 
 the King to fight their old friends. Some did not go 
 and came round to new views, and took part in the 
 wars that came to pass in time. All knew that the 
 ranks of the King would be made of men who had 
 fought in wars, and were known to be brave ; while 
 on our side they would be raw men, who did not 
 know the art of war. But still our men were brave, 
 and they said, with strong hearts, "The strife may 
 be long, but the end is sure. We will fight for our 
 homes, for our lands, for the right. We will be 
 free ! " 
 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 THREE GREAT FIGHTS. 
 
 In each town, at this time, men thought but of 
 war, and how to train for it ; so that in case of need 
 each one could spring to arms at once. Guns were 
 put in a safe place, and stores of food were bought. 
 The Brit-ish in their turn kept watch on all, and 
 more troops were brought in. 
 
 Our men made a plan, that when it should be 
 known that a large force of the Brit-ish were to move 
 out of Bos-ton at night, a light should be hung out of 
 the North Church by way of a sign. One night the 
 watch by the Charles saw the light gleam high on 
 the church, and they knew some move was on hand. 
 At once all was stir and noise. Men rode here and 
 there to find out what it meant. One went in a 
 boat, and then took a fleet horse to seek out two of 
 the wise and great men, and see what was best to 
 do. The man who took this ride, and went from 
 house to house with a call to those who slept, was 
 Paul Re-vere. There is a song this day on that 
 ride. 
 
 You may be sure there was no more sleep in 
 
54 History of the United States. 
 
 a house that night. When he rode by — '' Do not 
 make so much noise," said one on guard. 
 
 ''Noise," said Paul Re-vere, "there will be 
 noise ere long ; the foe is on us ! " 
 
 All this time the Eng-lish troops had made a 
 swift, still march. They thought no one had seen 
 or known their move ; but all at once the bells in 
 each church rang out a wild peal. In each town 
 the church bell sent a call to each home. So it was 
 plain that all was known. Paul Re-vere and the 
 scouts had done the work well. The Brit-ish sent 
 back for more troops. They came, and they were 
 told to hold the bridge at Con-cord. But when 
 Ma-jor Pit-cairn, who was at the head of the Brit- 
 ish, came to Lex-ing-ton at dawn, he found a great 
 crowd of men with arms. 
 
 "What do ye here?" he said, in wrath, "go to 
 your homes ! Why don't ye lay down your arms ?" 
 But as they made no move to go, his troops sent 
 forth a fire on them, which they gave back with a 
 will. Eight of our men got their death wounds that 
 day, and this was the first blood shed in the war. 
 
 The Brit-ish then gave three cheers and set out 
 on a march to Con-cord. The people of that town 
 made haste to move their stores of food and arms 
 to a safe place in the woods. Their scouts took the 
 North bridge, and could see that the Brit-ish were 
 
Three Great Fights. 55 
 
 in the streets of the town ; that they had set the 
 court house on fire, and cut down the pole, and laid 
 waste the stores they found. So the men on the 
 bridge made up their minds they w^ould try to drive 
 this foe out. There were but few of them, but they 
 had strong hearts. 
 
 One of their head men said, " I have not a man 
 who fears to go." He was the first who was shot, 
 and fell dead. Still they went on and made a brave 
 fire, so that the Brit-ish set out to run. But they 
 could not go back as they came ; for by this time 
 our men for miles round, came in on all sides. 
 Some were in their shirt sleeves, they had come in 
 such haste ; but each one had a gun in his hand, 
 and took his place back of a tree or stone wall, 
 where he could get good aim. One of the Brit-ish 
 wrote home that the men came so fast, they would 
 seem to drop from the sky. 
 
 At each step the Brit-ish troops took, a shot 
 would come from some side, and a man would fall 
 dead. At last such a fear came on our foe, that 
 they broke into a run. They did not know what 
 to do. They had no more shot, and could not give 
 back the fire. One of them wrote, ''They had to 
 lie down for rest on the ground, and their tongues 
 hung out of their mouths like dogs spent by the 
 chase." All the way to Bos-ton they felt the 
 
56 History of the United States. 
 
 fire of our men, and they were glad to get back to 
 their great ships, the men of war, and rest where 
 they could be safe. They had lost three times more 
 men than the A-mer-i-cans. 
 
 There was a o^reat stir in the court of the Kine 
 when the news was brought that their troops had 
 run from a hand full of raw men, who had no skill 
 in the art of war. Poor Lord Per-cy, who had been 
 at the head of the Eng-lish, came in for hard names, 
 though he was a brave man. They were mad, and 
 had to give vent to their wrath on some one. In 
 A-mer-i-ca it was felt that this was the first blow 
 struck ; and Sam-u-el Ad-ams, when he heard the 
 news at Lex-ing-ton, said, "Oh, what a grand day 
 this is ! " for he knew this strife would not end till 
 all the States were free. 
 
 There were some hills near Bos-ton, and our 
 men knew that there was a plan to gain them, and 
 make a place for Eng-lish troops on them. You 
 see, if the foe had such high ground, they could have 
 a grand chance to fire down on those in the town. 
 So our men stole out by night and threw up earth 
 works, and took all the troops they could get from 
 all parts, and put them in charge there. In the 
 mean while they sent their wives and young ones 
 out of the town, so that none but Brit-ish troops 
 were left there. They made no noise in their 
 
Three Great Fights. 57 
 
 march that night ; no one heard them, and the 
 bells ni the church struck twelve ere they dug a 
 sod. But they were soon at work, and could hear 
 the guard on the man-of-war cry out each hour, 
 ^^ All's well." 
 
 When the day came, and the sun rose, the earth 
 works were seen from the ships, and at once they sent 
 out a fire on them. So in Bos-ton the troops woke 
 to see the true state of things, and were not slow to 
 do their best. But our men went on with their 
 work, spite of the shots. One of the foe had a 
 glass through which he could see each move of our 
 men round the works. ''Will they fight?" said he. 
 "To the last drop of their blood," said one who 
 stood near. 
 
 So they made up their minds to lose no time, 
 but to make a raid on the works that day. It was 
 a hot day in June. Part of our men stood by a rail 
 fence, on the edge of a hill, by the name of Bun-ker 
 Hill; part were back of the mounds which w^ere 
 but half made. Then the rail fence was made to 
 y, screen the men back of it, by a lot of new mown 
 hay, put in to fill up the gaps. 
 
 The Brit-ish troops went in boats, and took their 
 stand on the bank of the Charles. They had two 
 men to our one, and were full of skill in the use of 
 arms. Our men had come in from the farm or the 
 
58 
 
 History of the United States. 
 
 shop. They did not know what a drill meant ; but 
 their place was more safe back of the earth works, 
 while the troops of the foe were out in full sight 
 
 in the field. It is a 
 grand sight ; the long 
 lines, the red coats 
 and white pants of 
 the B r i t-i s h ; the 
 white cross belts, the 
 beat of drums, the 
 play of fifes. The 
 sky is clear and hot. 
 Great white clouds 
 sail on the blue. The 
 folks crowd on the 
 roof of each house 
 in the town. 
 
 So our men laid 
 in wait, as the troops 
 took up a slow march 
 on them. The Eng- 
 lish found the day 
 hot, and they had 
 their arms and food 
 to weigh them down. But they had no doubts, and 
 their march was sure. They would fire now and 
 then, and few shots fell on them. On they came, 
 
 JO-SEPH WAR-REN. 
 
Three Great Fig Jits. 
 
 59 
 
 till they got ten rods from the earth works. Then 
 the word rang out on our side, " Fire ! " When 
 the smoke was gone it was seen that the dead lay 
 on the ground here and there ; and those who were 
 left had set off to run. 
 
 A great shout went up from the forts ; a cheer 
 came back from those at the rail fence. They, too, 
 had held back their fire to the last, and 
 then three fourths of those who had 
 set out to chase them fell in the ranks, 
 and the rest ran. 
 Gen-er-al Put- nam 
 was one of our great 
 
 men m 
 
 thi 
 
 fight. 
 
 When the foe came 
 on, he had said to 
 his men, ''Aim 
 low ; wait till you 
 can see the whites 
 of their eyes," and 
 their aim was sure. 
 
 PLAN OF BUNK-ER HILL. 
 
 MON-U-MENT. 
 
 When they saw the Brit-ish troops in flight, they 
 thought they would give them chase ; but they had 
 no more shot, and so could not make good what 
 they had won. They fell back with sad hearts, one 
 by one, and lost more as they did so than they had 
 done in the fight. 
 
6o 
 
 History of the United States. 
 
 This was the fight of Bunk-er Hill, and though 
 the A-mer-i-cans did not win the day, they made 
 plain to all men that they had stout hearts, and 
 could deal a blow for their rights. In this fight 
 Gen-er-al War-ren lost his life. 
 
 FANEUIL HALL. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 FIRST IN WAR FIRST IN PEACE. 
 
 The first thing George Wash-ing-ton was heard 
 to ask when news came of this fight was, " Did our 
 men stand fire ? " And when he was told that they 
 did, he said, "Then the rights of our land are safe." 
 From this day our men took heart and were of good 
 cheer. The Brit-ish lost one in four of their men 
 in that fight ; and on our side we did not lose half 
 as much. In Eng-lancl men did not know what to 
 make of so great a loss to their troops from so small 
 a force as ours. 
 
 In this land there was a call for more troops, 
 and George Wash-ing-ton was put at their head. 
 He had shown that he was a brave and true man. 
 He came from Vir-gin-ia, his home, and met the 
 rest 'neath a great elm tree in Cam-bridge. This 
 tree is known as the "Wash-ing-ton Elm" to this 
 day. All felt a wish to see this brave man, who 
 had no small fame ; they came from all sides to 
 greet him, and saw a man more than six feet tall, 
 with a broad chest, large hands and feet, a fine face, 
 a clear eye, and the air of one born to rule. He 
 
62 History of the United States. 
 
 wore a blue coat, with buff small clothes, and a 
 black plume in his hat. 
 
 Wash-ing-ton saw, in his turn, a crowd of men 
 of all sorts and kinds, rude and rough in their looks, 
 and with odd kinds of arms, no two of which were 
 alike, in their hands. Some were in old coats, some 
 in their shirt sleeves. No state suits or gold bands 
 or fine plumes were there. And when Gen-er-al 
 Wash-ing-ton went round to the camp, he found 
 things were in a bad state. Some had straight lines 
 of tents, neat and nice, but most were in small huts 
 made of boards or stones or turf. The food was 
 rough and scarce, and the men had not the first 
 means for war; not as much as would load their 
 guns more than a few times. 
 
 It would not have been strange if Wash-ing-ton 
 had felt his heart sink at such a sight. But he 
 went to work in a brave way to do the best he 
 could. Some store ships of food fell, by good luck, 
 in the hands of our men, who had been sent out to 
 get what they could ; so that food was not so scarce. 
 But still they had no food for their guns, and could 
 not march on the foe. 
 
 The Brit-ish troops still held Bos-ton ; but could 
 not get food and wood for fires. The small-pox, 
 too, broke out in their midst. They had to pull 
 down an old house now and then and burn it to 
 
First in War — First in Peace. 63 
 
 keep warm ; and they sent crowds out of the town 
 to be fed. They put troops in each church, and 
 made a play house of the Town Hall. At times 
 they would send out play bills to Wash-ing-ton and 
 his men. They did not want them to know that 
 things were so hard with them. 
 
 Once in this hall they had a play on the times. 
 It was meant to show how they were shut in by the 
 foe, and of course to make fun at the same time. 
 In one part, a man in a dress like Wash-ing-ton, 
 with a great wig, and a long sword all rust, came 
 on the stage. By his side was a green lad, with an 
 old gun. This was done to cast a slur on our men. 
 But just then there was a cry, "The Yan-kees are 
 on Bunk-er Hill." At first this was thought to be 
 a part of the play; but when Gen-er-al Howe said, 
 in a loud voice, ''Men, to your posts!" there was 
 great fright. Men ran, their wives fell in a faint, 
 and all felt there was no fun in such a scare. In a 
 short time the Eng-lish left Bos-ton ; for they could 
 not be safe from the fire that came down on them 
 from all the hills round. 
 
 But they did not give up the fight. When the 
 King and his court heard of Bunk-er Hill, they 
 made up their minds they would rule this land, let 
 it cost what it would. So they cut off our trade as 
 far as they could, and they brought in all the men 
 
64 
 
 History of the United States. 
 
 they could find from all lands which would give 
 them help. So you may be sure they had a great 
 crowd to come on us and try to bend us to their 
 will. But our folk kept up a stout heart in the face 
 of all. They felt they had gone too far to go back. 
 There were some wise men who were known 
 
 as the '' Con-gress," who 
 had met in Phil-a-del- 
 phia. They gave it as 
 their mind that ''These 
 States are and of right 
 ought to be free ; " and 
 they stuck to this text. 
 The troops had to fight, 
 and it was the part of 
 Con-gress to raise the 
 men, the pay, and the 
 arms. It would seem 
 that they had the worst 
 part to do. To be sure, 
 
 e 
 
 e 
 
 heart. In the face of 
 
 such a foe, it must be 
 
 ^y^ ^ ^^^P.^:^ ^ ^ part to do. 1 o be sure 
 
 /^2--^a^^^^.^-^^^ ^^^^ ^'^y thought of th 
 ^ — 21^ P^s^j ^hey might tak 
 
 said, our men had done well. Doc-tor Frankdin 
 felt that way ; but there were some rich men who 
 thought it would be death to the States to make war. 
 
First in War — First in Peace. 
 
 65 
 
 So Con-gress met to see if it were best that they 
 should strike the blow at once that would make 
 them free. They had more than one talk on this, 
 and at first the time did not seem ripe. They were 
 to break all ties with Eng-land, to pay no more 
 tax, and to try to find help if they could, in their 
 fight to be free. Some great men wrote out the 
 plan, and you can still see it in the Hall in Phil-a- 
 del-phia. This sheet is called the " Dec-la-ra-tion 
 of In-de-pend-ence." It meant that they were 
 
 JOHN han-cock's res-i-dence, bos-ton. 
 
 bound to be free, and so they wrote it down. It 
 was made Ju-ly 4th, 1776, and that is why you 
 hear the noise of fire works and see signs of joy on 
 each Fourth of Ju-ly since that day. 
 
66 
 
 History of the United States. 
 
 When the men came to sign this Dec-la-ra-tion, 
 the one who wrote his name first, said, "We must 
 be one ; we must all pull the same way ; we must 
 hang side by side." "Or we shall hang with none 
 
 at our side," said 
 Frank-lin. But 
 no doubt there 
 were sad hearts 
 that day, though 
 these words did 
 raise a laugh. 
 
 They did not 
 change this dec- 
 la-ra-tion much 
 from the way 
 they wrote it 
 first. There was 
 one clause on 
 the slave trade 
 which the men 
 from the South 
 
 IN-DE-PEND-ENCE HALL. 
 
 did not like ; so 
 it was struck out. There were twelve States — though 
 they did not call them States in those days — that 
 gave their vote for it. New York would not vote 
 at all. The bell of the State House was to ring if 
 the "Dec-la-ra-tion" should pass. This bell had 
 
First in IVai^ — First in Peace. 67 
 
 been put up years since, and one might read on it, 
 though these are not just the words, " Let all the 
 land be free." So the old man who was wont to 
 ring this bell, put his boy at the door of the hall 
 where the men met. 
 
 When at last the Dec-la-ra-tion should pass, the 
 man who kept the door was to make a sign to the 
 boy. You may think how all hearts beat when this 
 boy ran out with a cry of ''Ring, ring;" and what 
 a peal of joy rang out from the bell ! Then the 
 Dec-la-ra-tion was read to each of the troops, and 
 there were loud cheers on cheers from all sides. 
 That night the form of George the Third, on horse- 
 back, which had been wrought in stone, and stood 
 in one of the squares, was laid low in the dust by 
 the crowd. 
 
 Yet for all this brave show, the men were sad at 
 heart. They knew how poor they were, and how 
 few, and the true state of the troops, and all that 
 could be brought to put them down. They set out 
 to make a flag of their own ; for they had all sorts 
 of flags at this time. One had a pine tree on a 
 white ground, and was known as the '' pine tree 
 flag." On this flag were words which meant, '' Call 
 to God for help." 
 
 When Wash-ing-ton came to take the head of 
 the troops, he had a new flag made with stripes of 
 
68 History of the United States. 
 
 red and white, as now ; but on one end was a red 
 and white cross, Hke that which marks the Brit-ish 
 flag. This flag went with our troops in Bos-ton, 
 when the Brit-ish took up their march out of that 
 place. But, by vote of Con-gress, a change was 
 made, and it was said that our flag must have red 
 and white stripes, and white stars on a blue ground 
 — a star and a stripe for each State. Now when 
 they make a new State, they put a new star on our 
 flag. Count them and see how strong we are. 
 
 The first man to hoist the new flag was Cap-tain 
 Paul Jones. He was at the head of a man-of-war, 
 and from that ship it was first flung out on the 
 breeze. This is the flag that now waves in town 
 and camp, and on our ships to all the ports of the 
 land. We have more stars now, but the stripes 
 stay the same. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE REST OF THE WAR. 
 
 Up to this time, most of the fights had been 
 round Bos-ton. But Wash-ing-ton now saw that 
 there would be a move made on New York ; so he 
 sent Gen-er-al Lee to help keep the town, and he 
 soon went there too. Some men came to their 
 aid from the South, and Lord Howe, with a great 
 mass of Eng-lish troops, were there to meet them. 
 Lord Howe had word from King George first to 
 speak of peace, but he did not know to whom he 
 should speak. He wrote a note to ''George Wash- 
 ing-ton ; " but our chief would not read it, as he 
 said his true name, as head of the troops, should 
 be on it. So Lord Howe wrote no more. He 
 saw that the hour to fight had come. 
 
 At first the A-mer-i-can troops came to grief, 
 and Wash-ing-ton and his men had to make their 
 way back for a time. The Brit-ish took heart from 
 this, and our men were sad. They were poor, and 
 had few clothes, and some had no shoes for that 
 long, hard march ; so that one could track their 
 steps by the blood on the ground. 
 
70 Histoiy of the United States. 
 
 Wash-ing-ton saw there was no time to lose, and 
 he must strike a swift blow. He knew there were 
 troops of Ger-mans at Tren-ton, and that they still 
 held to the ways of their land. Do you know the 
 name of that day when you have a tree with nice gifts 
 and lights hung on it ? It is the day when Christ was 
 born, and which we keep to this time for His sake. 
 Well, Wash-ing-ton knew these folk would cling to 
 the ways of their old homes. That they would keep 
 the feast and be off their guard. So on the eve of 
 that day he set out to march on them with his men. 
 A storm of sleet came up in the night, but they 
 went on, and when the dawn rose, these brave men, 
 who had come through the snow and ice, stood in 
 ranks for the fight. Some one wrote a note, and a 
 man ran all the way to Tren-ton to warn the Ger- 
 mans. But they were at cards. The Gen-er-al had 
 his cards in his hands, and it was his turn to play. 
 He must look at his cards first. 
 
 Yes, his life is at stake, but he does not know it. 
 In the dim gray of the dawn our men march in on 
 them. There is the sound of wheels and a shout. 
 Co-lon-el Kail hears the drums beat, and the cards 
 drop from his hands — too late ! He got his death 
 in that fight, and all his men were held and bound. 
 These things put our troops in heart once more, 
 and it was the wish of all to go on ; but they had a 
 
The Rest of the War. 71 
 
 hard, sad time through the days of storm and cold 
 at Val-Iey Forge. 
 
 If we could see that camp at Val-ley Forge, in 
 our mind's eye, we would know how much those 
 poor men had to bear in this war to make us free. 
 They had lost some by death, and more were ill. 
 They had so few clothes to put on when they slept, 
 that some sat up all night by the fires to keep warm. 
 At one time there were few who had shoes, and 
 the sick had to lie on the bare ground, for want of 
 straw. The head men had to wear old quilts or 
 bed spreads round in the camp, to keep them warm, 
 for want of the right kind of clothes. 
 
 The troops were not paid ; or the sort of pay 
 they got would not buy them food. Food was so 
 scarce that, at last, the pass word was, " No food — 
 no man." There were men in this camp who had 
 been at the court of kings ; who had fed on rich 
 food, and had wine to drink, and now they were 
 like to starve. 
 
 All this time Wash-ing-ton did his best to keep 
 up the heart of his troops. He did not tell Con- 
 gress how few and worn they were ; and there were 
 those who gave him blame that he did not do great 
 things with these few worn out men. All this time 
 the Brit-ish troops in Phil-a-del-phia had what they 
 chose of good fare, and led a gay life. Some of 
 
72 History of the United States. 
 
 them, with Gen-er-al Bur-goyne at their head, in 
 the mean time, had two or three fights with our 
 men, but found they did not gain much. At last 
 they were glad to go back. Just as they made a 
 move to do so, our men had the luck to hem them 
 in on all sides in one place and won the day. This 
 was at Sar-a-to-ga. This was good news to those 
 in Val-ley Forge. It brought cheer to them, and 
 they felt brave to go on. 
 
 In Eng-land men did not know what to make 
 of our luck. It made a stir in France, where we 
 had friends ; and some of their young men came 
 here to join our troops. We had some great French 
 men with us at that time. One whose name is still 
 held in love by all — the great La-fa-yette. 
 
 At this time France made a vow to us that she 
 would stand our friend, and give us aid. When 
 this was known in Eng-land, fears rose on all sides ; 
 for they knew how much help France could give, 
 and how strong it would make us. They sent men 
 over to talk to us of peace, but it was too late. The 
 A-mer-i-cans had no thought but to be free, and 
 they would take no less than that. But these men 
 still came, and thought they would see what bribes 
 could do. A large sum of gold was held out to 
 Gen-er-al Reed, if he would aid their cause. He 
 said, *' I am not worth so much ; but such as I am, 
 
74 History of the United States, 
 
 the King of Eng-land has not so much gold as 
 would buy me ! " 
 
 But the aid from France was less than they 
 thought it would be. Fleets were sent, but they 
 gave small help to the cause. And so the war 
 went on for three years more. At times our men 
 would make a good fight, and then there would be 
 dark days when the foe had things all his own way. 
 The Eng-lish had paid some tribes of In-di-ans to 
 fight on their side ; and once there was a sad scene, 
 where men and their wives and babes were put to 
 death by these fierce wild men. This was not war, 
 of course. We give it a much worse name. 
 
 Then there were sea-fights. In one of these, the 
 men on the ships fought three hours, and the ships 
 took fire more than once ; but at last the Brit-ish 
 gave up. In that ship the man who took the lead 
 on our side was Paul Jones. 
 
 There is a tale told of what the brave wife of 
 one of those men, to whom we give the name of 
 Friends, did for our cause at this time. Gen-er-al 
 Howe made his home in her house, a long low 
 brick one, at Tren-ton. He said to her one day, 
 '* I want to have some friends here to night, and I 
 would like to have the spare back room to meet 
 them in." 
 
 *' It shall be as thee says," said Friend Ruth. 
 
The Rest of the War. 75 
 
 *'See that all the folks in the house are in bed 
 at a good hour," said Gen-er-al Howe. 
 
 '' I will move that they go," said Friend Ruth. 
 
 So when the men came to see Gen-er-al Howe 
 that night, it was all still in the house. Friend 
 Ruth let them in. 
 
 '' You may go to bed and stay till I call," said 
 Gen-er-al Howe. 
 
 Ruth went to her room and lay down awhile ; 
 but did not take off her clothes. She must know 
 what these men meant to do. At last she took off 
 her shoes and went to the door of the room, and 
 put her ear to the key hole. This is what she 
 heard. Some one reads, '' Our troops will make a 
 move by stealth on the foe, and we will take them 
 ere they know we are on them ! " 
 
 There was no more sleep for Friend Ruth that 
 night. She lay in her bed till dawn ; but all her 
 aim was to think of a plan to help our troops, and 
 not to let them fall in the snare. At last she hit on 
 a plan to get out of the lines. She was in need of 
 some flour ; and to get flour, she must go to a grist 
 mill, for they did not sell it at stores in those days. 
 Gen-er-al Howe could not say he would not let her 
 get flour, as he ate at her house ; so he gave her a 
 pass. While they ground the grist for her at the 
 mill, she rode on as fast as she could, till she came 
 
^6 History of the United States. 
 
 to one of our guards. She said some words to him 
 in a low voice, and rode back, got her flour, and was 
 home in no time. 
 
 When Gen-er-al Howe came on our troops the 
 next day, he found them all drawn up in rank and 
 file in good trim to meet him. He thought it best 
 not to have a fight at all ; and it was a strange thing 
 to him how they could have known of his move. 
 
 Down in the South there were brave men at the 
 head of our troops. One was Ma-ri-on, who led his 
 men through the woods by paths that were known 
 to few. They gave him the name of the '' Swamp 
 Fox," and the Brit-ish cast slurs on him, and said 
 he would not come out for a fight in a bold way, 
 but took their posts at night, and when they were 
 off guard. But he gave them a proof of what he 
 could do, when he and Greene fought them and 
 won the day in a fair field. Greene made such a 
 name in this fight that he took rank next to Wash- 
 ing-ton from that time. 
 
 We have to tell a sad tale now of one of our 
 own men — a man, too, who had won fame in the 
 war. He had shown that he was brave ; but men 
 did not like him much, for he thought more of his 
 own gain than of his land, and he had the wish for 
 a high place, which he did not get. His name was 
 Ben-e-dict Ar-nold, and his bad act was, that he 
 
The Rest of the War. j^ 
 
 made a plan to sell his own land to the Eng-lish. 
 He wrote to the foe all he could of the moves our 
 troops were to make, and their state, but he did not 
 sign his own name. Once he had his camp at the 
 head of some men at West Point, and he made up 
 his mind to give this place, which was strong with 
 forts, to the Brit-ish. This he would have done, 
 and the whole land would have come to grief, but 
 for a chance that brought the vile plan to light. 
 
 One day a young man rides down the path by 
 the stream. There is a wood of oak near. On the 
 ground, by the trees, there are three young men. 
 They have a game of cards. They have been out 
 all night, and have sat down to rest. 
 
 They hear the sound of hoofs. 
 
 '' Some one on his way to. New York for trade," 
 says one. 
 
 His friend peers out. '' No ; his clothes are too 
 good for that," he says. 
 
 All three spring to their feet, and cry, ''.Halt!" 
 
 The man on the horse stops, and says, " I hope 
 you are on our side." 
 
 '' Which side is that ?" cry the men. 
 
 "The side of the King." 
 
 '' All right," they say ; for they wish to find out 
 more. 
 
 *' Thank God, I am once more with friends!" he 
 
78 
 
 History of the United States. 
 
 says, as he takes out his gold watch. *' I must get 
 on. I am in great haste." 
 
 ''We can not let you go," say 
 the men. 
 
 '' But I have a pass." 
 ''Whose?" 
 
 " Gen-er-al Ar-nold's." 
 "You must get off your horse." 
 " But, I tell you, you will get in 
 a scrape if you stop me. Read this 
 pass." 
 
 "No good. You said you were 
 Brit-ish ; we must search you." 
 " I have naught." 
 
 ** We will see. Take off your coat." 
 The coat is laid off, and the boots. Ah, what 
 is this? The hand of Ar-nold in this ; and "West 
 Point " the date. A shout went up, " He is a spy ! " 
 He was a young Eng-lish man by the name of 
 An-dre. He took his watch and purse, and said he 
 would give them all, if they would let him go free. 
 They would not, but took him to the near A-mer-i- 
 can Post to try him. Of course, what Ar-nold had 
 done all came out. He had known this would be 
 the case, for as soon as .the news was brought that 
 An-dre was in the hands of our men, he took leave 
 of his wife, gave a kiss to his boy, and sped on his 
 
 MA-JOR AN Dre. 
 
The Rest of the War. 79 
 
 way to an Eng-lish ship. He got to Eng-land, and 
 was paid a large sum of gold ; and they gave him a 
 fine place at the head of some troops ; but no man 
 would make a friend of him. The Eng-lish had 
 been glad to use him, but they would not take him 
 by the hand. 
 
 You may think what a life he had. His own 
 land had cast him out, but he came back to fight 
 her at the head of the foe. But the new land 
 where he had made his home had no real place for 
 him. Once in the great house in Eng-land, where 
 the wise men meet to talk of their laws, one rose to 
 make a speech. But when he saw Ar-nold in a 
 seat near him, he said, '' I will not speak while 
 that man is in the house." Long years after, when 
 one of the great men of France had it in his mind 
 to come to this land, he went to Ar-nold for some 
 notes to his friends. Ar-nold said, '' I was born in 
 A-mer-i-ca. I spent my youth there ; but Ah ! I 
 can call no man in A-mer-i-ca my friend." 
 
 In the mean time An-dre, the young Eng-lish 
 man, who had met Ar-nold, and got the plans 
 which were to give us up in to the hands of the foe, 
 was shown to be a spy. There was but one doom 
 for a spy. He must be hung. All felt for his fate. 
 He was young, and had a fine face, and the air of 
 good birth ; but his hour had come. Tears were 
 
8o History of the United States. 
 
 shed at his death ; though he was our foe. All 
 knew he was a brave man, who had not been slow 
 to risk his life in the cause of his land. He thought 
 he was right, and took all means to serve his own 
 ends. For Ar-nold, who would have sold his own, 
 there was but hate, and they gave him a name which 
 would serve to show what his crime had been to all 
 time — Ar-nold the Trai-tor ! 
 
 All this while the French had been our friends ; 
 but they had not met with a chance to show what 
 they could do, till a great fight came which made 
 an end of this war. This was at a place by the 
 name of York-town, in Vir-gin-ia. Wash-ing-ton 
 was there with his troops, and the French Gen- 
 er-al, who had a hard name, which you may learn 
 one of these days, was with him at the head of his 
 men. They took the best works of the Brit-ish, 
 and made such a brave stand, that Lord Corn-wal- 
 lis thought it would be wise to leave by night, with 
 all his troops. But a storm came, and they could 
 not get off, so they all had to give up to Wash- 
 ing-ton. 
 
 There was a grand scene that day, in the fall of 
 1 78 1, when Wash-ing-ton and his French friends 
 stood in two ranks, and their old foes took up a 
 slow march by them, and laid down their arms as 
 they went. Great was the joy in all the land when 
 
The Rest of the War. 8i 
 
 the news was known. Those who woke that night 
 in Phil-a-del-phia, heard the watch cry, " Past two 
 o'clock and Corn-wal-hs is ours ! " When the news 
 came to Con-gress, they sent out word for a day to 
 be set, in all the States, to give thanks to God, and 
 all who were held for debt, or for crime, or what 
 cause it might be, were set free, that they might 
 share the great joy. 
 
 Well might they all be glad, for this meant the 
 end of the war. It had cost them dear in orold as 
 well as lives ; but it had been worse for Eng-land 
 than for them. The sums she had spent were vast, 
 and one could not count the lives she had lost. 
 Add to this the fact that she had lost this great 
 land, which had once been all her own, and now 
 was made free. Our land now took a new name. 
 You can read it, I know, though it is not in short 
 words, "The U-nit-ed States of A-mer-i-ca." 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 IN TIMES OF PEACE. 
 
 When peace came, the men who had been in 
 camp went to their own homes. They were all 
 poor, and did not know what to do. There was no 
 
 gold in the land, but a 
 kind of cash which was 
 so bad that it took more 
 than you could count to 
 buy a pair of shoes. Gen- 
 er-al Wash-ing-ton found 
 his task more hard to 
 keep all in good cheer, 
 now there were no fights 
 on hand, than when they 
 were at war. There had 
 to be a tax on some things 
 to keep all right, and they 
 did not want to pay the 
 tax, or their debts at this 
 
 GEORGE WASH-ING-TON. ^J^^^^ Wash-iug-tOU fclt 
 
 that things were at loose ends, and he must make 
 them more strong. 
 
In Times of Peace. 83 
 
 Each State had a wish to be first ; and it would 
 seem that, with no foe to fight, they were on the 
 point of war with their own selves. There was need 
 of a strong: hand to rule the whole land. So men 
 were sent out of each State to meet in Phil-a-del- 
 phia and talk of the best plan. They had a long 
 talk, and at last wrote what we call the '' Con-sti-tu- 
 tion." Ten of the States gave it their vote at once ; 
 but three held back for a while. 
 
 There were grand times in our land when it 
 was known that the Con-sti-tu~tion was to be our 
 guide; that we were to be in truth, "The U-nit-ed 
 States of A-mer-i-ca," with one will, one aim, one 
 soul as it were, while time should last. 
 
 A great crowd came out in Phil-a-del-phia to 
 show their joy. Each trade had its men there, 
 with the tools of the trade in their hands. There 
 was a grand car, made in the shape of that bird 
 which we chose as the sign of our land. It was 
 drawn by six steeds, and in it sat those who were 
 to judge the folk in our great courts. They held a 
 staff, and on it was our ''Con-sti-tu-tion," in a frame, 
 and on the top of the staff a cap, which we might 
 call the cap of the free — a kind they were fond of in 
 France at that time. There were ten ships on the 
 river, gay with flags and gilt, to show forth the 
 ten States that had cast their vote in the right way. 
 
84 
 
 History of the United States. 
 
 George Wash-ing-ton was made the first Pres-i- 
 dent, and as he took his way to New York, which 
 was then the seat of rule, he met joy and kind words 
 on all the route. 
 
 At Tren-ton, where he had fought, there was an 
 arch thrown out on a bridge, where he must pass. 
 This was hung with wreaths, and young girls stood 
 with hands full of sweet buds and bloom, which 
 
 WASH-ING-TON MADE PRES-I-DENT. 
 
 they flung in his path, as they sung a song to greet 
 him, and thank him for all he had done. 
 
 As he drew near New York, a barge came out 
 to meet him. It had a crew all in white, and was 
 meant to show the States — a man for each State. 
 Then more boats came to join them, with our flag 
 
In Times of Peace. 85 
 
 on each. Wash-ing-ton was led in great state to 
 his new home. When the time came for him first 
 to meet with the folk and take the oath to be true 
 to the Con-sti-tu-tion, there was such a rush to 
 the place that some one said, " One might walk on 
 the heads of the crowd." When Wash-ing-ton 
 came out where all could see him, and the oath was 
 read to him, and he took it, a great cheer rent the 
 air, and a cry rang out, " Long live George Wash- 
 ing-ton, Pres-i-dent of the U-nit-ed States." There 
 was a flag flung out from that Hall, a peal of bells 
 rang, and a blast was sent out from the guns, to 
 show the joy and the love with which they took him 
 for their chief. This was on April 30, 1789. 
 
 War is bad for all folks ; for it is hard, when it 
 is past, for men to learn the arts of peace. Wash- 
 ing-ton found the whole land in debt. They did 
 not want a tax, and the red men were still their foes. 
 But in a few years he made a great change. The 
 In-di-ans were put down, and France and Spain 
 and Eng-land were brought to deal with us as 
 friends. It was a man by the name of John Jay, 
 who wrote out the terms with Eng-land, and so we 
 had peace for a time. 
 
 Just then there was a great fight in France, not 
 with a foe, but in their own midst. The men there 
 had seen how our land had won the day, and they 
 
86 Histoiy of the United States. 
 
 had a mincl to be free and have no King. They 
 did not go at it in the same way that we did ; but 
 shed much blood of their own folk, and cut off the 
 heads of their King and Queen, and did things 
 which made good men sad. But they said they 
 did it all to be free. There was a reign of fright 
 for a time. But at last, the mob could rule no 
 more, and they were glad to take a King. 
 
 Wash-ing-ton kept up great state, for those 
 times, in his own home, and when he drove out 
 he had a state coach, cream white in hue, and 
 drawn by six steeds on state days. He took but one 
 horse on the Lord's day, when he rode to church. 
 This coach was of the shape of a half sphere, and 
 had wreaths, and the forms of small fat boys with 
 wings, drawn on it in gay tints. He set days for all 
 to come and see him in his home. Those who 
 came would see Wash-inof-ton in front of the fire 
 place, and near him the band of great men who 
 gave him help with their wise words. He would 
 be seen in a coat of black, with a vest of white or 
 pearl, and buff gloves. His hair was made white 
 with a kind of dust they had in use in those days ; 
 and it was put in a sort of silk bag at the back of 
 his head. That was a queue. 
 
 He would have his hat in his hand, and he 
 wore a long sword. He did not shake hands with 
 
In Times of Peace. 87 
 
 his guests, but made them a bow, and had some 
 word for each. His wife, too, had times for her 
 friends to come ; and all must be in full dress — the 
 dames in low necks and short sleeves. On the 
 birth day of Wash-ing-ton, men would meet to dine 
 in all the large towns ; and those who made rhymes 
 would write odes to the great man. There were 
 some who did not like all this state and form and 
 show. They thought it was too much like the style 
 of kings in the old land, and they would have been 
 glad to have a new mode here. They did not wish 
 to see a Judge in a robe of red, or the man who 
 was to preach in the church in a wig, with gown 
 and bands. They were for plain dress and plain 
 ways. 
 
 You may see now bits of the stiff, rich silks of 
 those days, or it may be a quaint old gown, rich in 
 lace, which has been kept from that time. You 
 may see in your mind the dame who wore it, as she 
 waves her fan, sent from France, with the head of 
 Wash-ing-ton on it. The hair of this dame would 
 be drawn high on her head, and made white with 
 the dust of which I spoke, and put In great puffs. 
 The men whose trade it was to dress hair In 
 those days had such a crowd of folks to fix, that 
 they had to get up at four to do the work. I 
 have heard of great dames who sat up all night to 
 
88 History of the United States, 
 
 keep their hair in good style for some ball, or the 
 play. The men, too, thought quite as much of 
 dress as their wives, and in those days they did not 
 wear plain cloth suits as now. Then a man put on 
 a wig, and a white stiff stock, that held up his chin ; 
 a vest of white silk, it may be with rose-buds on it, 
 and all the rest of his clothes were rich. 
 
 It was the mode to have a snuff box in those 
 days ; it might be of gold, or some dear stuff, with 
 much work on it, and when one met a friend they 
 would be as sure to stop and take a pinch of snuff 
 as to lift the hat in our time. 
 
 They gave Balls in those days, which were quite 
 grand, but they did not dance in the same way as 
 now. They had all sorts of slow steps and bows. 
 There was a kind of stiff grace in their style, and 
 some would like it more now, than 
 the rush and whirl of our mode of 
 to-day. The dames were borne in a 
 sort of chair through the streets to 
 these Balls. 
 
 All this was the way of life with 
 the rich. The poor still wore the 
 clothes they spun and wove, and they 
 made their own lights, and struck fire with two 
 flints. They had not seen a match then, and did not 
 dream of gas, or of the strange new light which has 
 
 SPIN-NING WHEEL. 
 
Ill Times of Peace. 
 
 89 
 
 been found in our time. They went to bed with 
 the chicks, and rose when the cock crew. The towns 
 at the North ^ 
 
 throve the (MS'^'A 
 
 best. At 
 
 the South 
 
 towns were 
 
 few, and in 
 
 the far West 
 
 the foot of 
 
 man had not 
 
 yet found its 
 
 way. 
 
 Those 
 brave men 
 who had 
 first come to 
 this land, 
 had seen 
 here and 
 there in 
 the South 
 a strange 
 plant. It 
 had a sort 
 of bulb full 
 of a fine white down, and those who had seen it in 
 
 COT-TON PLANT. 
 
90 History of the United States. 
 
 hot lands knew it could be spun, and cloth made 
 from it. It was not hard to make it grow; but the 
 white fluff was so full of seeds that it took a whole 
 day to get a pound free from them. Wise men saw 
 in this plant a great fund of wealth for the States. 
 So they set to work to find a quick way to take the 
 seed out. 
 
 There was a man in the East who heard of this, 
 and set his brain to work. He was a young man 
 by the name of E-li Whit-ney ; and he had not seen 
 the plant when he took it in his head that he could 
 find a way to ''gin" it; for that is the name of the 
 work. He had to walk all the way to one of the 
 towns at the South, to get the seed, and as he had 
 no tools or wire, he had to make them. You may 
 think that was slow work, but he had a strong will, 
 and when he had made a rude ''gin," he bade his 
 friends come and see how it would do. All saw 
 that it would work well ; but some thieves broke in 
 his house at night and stole it. So there was a long 
 time that the man who made the "gin" got nought 
 for it. For those who stole it made gins like it and 
 sold them. These gins did the work well and fast, 
 and so there grew up a great trade for us in this 
 soft white fluff. 
 
 It is made in cloth for you to wear, and is 
 spread on your beds, and will take all sorts of 
 
Ill Times of Peace. gi 
 
 bright dyes. We sell it to all the world, and 
 wealth flows in on all sides. This would not have 
 been the case had not the young man, E-li Whit- 
 ney, made the "gin." 
 
 The death of one of the great men of the land 
 came to pass at this time. We have told you of 
 Ben-ja-min Frank-lin. He was born in Bos-ton, 
 and he was the son of a poor man. But he knew 
 how to print, and he set up a press in a room where 
 he could print each morn the news of the day. He 
 did not scorn to sell all sorts of wares as well, such 
 as rags, ink, soap, and such things. He had read 
 a great deal, and found out more than those round 
 him knew. You have seen the sharp light play in 
 the dark clouds in a storm. You know that it 
 strikes at times ; it may be a house or a barn or a 
 man, and that the one who is struck is apt to die. 
 
 Well, Frank-lin thought that this light could be 
 drawn down from the skies, and when he heard a 
 laugh at this, he set to work to prove it. He 
 sent his son out one day in a storm, with a kite in 
 his hand. As a low black cloud went by, they 
 saw the fierce light tear through it ; it would seem 
 that the light ran down the string of the kite. 
 Frank-lin had put a key on this string, and when 
 he made his friends touch that key, they drew 
 sparks from it. So they saw that he had found out 
 
92 History of the United States. 
 
 a great thing ; and from that has come the plan of 
 the rods that are now put on a house to keep it safe 
 in a storm. This gave him fame here and in the rest 
 of the world. He was sent to France and made 
 strong friends for us there. He is said to have 
 done more good works for his land than all the 
 rest of the men of his time. So it is not strange 
 that all felt sad when death took him from us. 
 
 The French, too, met in their great hall to 
 mourn his loss ; and one of their chiefs said, '' The 
 sage whom two worlds claim as their own is dead ; " 
 and they wore crape on their arms for three days, 
 for his sake. 
 
 While Wash-ing-ton had the rule of the land, 
 more new States came in. The first of these was 
 Ver-mont. This State was full of green hills and 
 strong brave men, who had cut down the trees and 
 made homes there. Once New York laid claim to 
 this land, but they could not drive these brave men 
 out. They thought they had a right to the soil, and 
 they sent a man, by name E-than Al-len, to talk 
 with the men of New York. He was met with 
 gibes and sneers, but he would not yield. He said 
 to them in words from the good Book, ''Our gods 
 are gods of the hills, so they are more strong than 
 yours." 
 
 So when the men from New York came to 
 
In Times of Peace. 9^ 
 
 drive out those who had made homes in the midst 
 of these hills, they found a stout foe. The Ver- 
 mont boys would take those who came and tie them 
 to trees and whip them with rods from the beech 
 trees. To this they gave the name of " the beech 
 seal;" and those from New York did not care to 
 have the "beech seal" put on them more than once. 
 They grew mad, of course, and they sent out bills 
 in which they set forth that they would give a good 
 price for the head of E-than Al-len. But in time 
 peace w^as made in these two States, when they had 
 fought side by side in the great war. And so Ver- 
 mont was brought in and took that name, which 
 means "Green Hills." 
 
 The next State that came in was Ken-tuck-y. 
 This land was next to Vir-gin-ia, and for a time 
 held to be a part of that State. The first man who 
 made his way through its wild woods and hills was 
 Dan-iel Boone, who had won a name for the way 
 he could go in to the nooks and glens and trap wild 
 beasts for their fur. He took a small band of men 
 with him, and they had no fear, but went far in 
 where man had not yet trod, to hunt or fish, or 
 make salt at the "Salt Licks" or springs. He built 
 forts and held them with his few friends for quite a 
 time, spite of the red men. But once they took him 
 and bound him, and thought they could make him 
 
^4 History of the United States. 
 
 one of them ; so much did they Hke his strength 
 and pluck, but he got free. When men heard of 
 his brave deeds, more came to help him. The most 
 of them were from Vir-gin-ia, and brought their 
 slaves with them. 
 
 The In-di-ans were in a rage at all this new 
 force, and made the best fight they could to drive 
 them from the soil ; so that whole land came to be 
 known as the " Dark Land of Blood." In time, 
 peace was made, and the land grew to a State by 
 the name of Ken-tuck-y. 
 
 Wash-ing-ton held his post for two terms, or 
 eight years, and he did not wish to serve more. So 
 John Ad-ams was the choice of all, for the next 
 chief of our land. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 NEW MEN AND NEW LAWS. 
 
 John Ad-ams was one of the men who gave his 
 help to write out the '' Dec-Ia-ra-tion of In-de-pend- 
 ence," of which you have been told. That was, as 
 you know, the first step to make us free. In it we 
 had made known that we would make our own 
 laws, and no one should rule us but those in our 
 own land. John Ad-ams had gone to France at 
 the end of the great war, and had been one to help 
 make the French our friends. In his time. Wash- 
 ing-ton was made the home of the Pres-i-dents. 
 
 This town took its name from our great chief, 
 and he was the one to pick out a place for the new 
 site. This home we call the White House. At 
 this time France did not seem to hold to the old 
 ties that had made us friends. When our men 
 were sent to her courts, she would not hear them, 
 and there were some sea fights with our ships. It 
 would seem that a new war must come out of this, 
 and Wash-ing-ton had a call from his home to take 
 the head of the troops. But there was no war, for 
 Na-po-le-on, a young man, who had shown great tact 
 
g6 History of the United States. 
 
 and strength, got things in his own hands in France, 
 and we made peace through him with the French. 
 
 There were some who did not hke John 
 Ad-ams, for the laws that he made. One of these 
 laws gave him the right to seize and send out of 
 our States those who came here from strange lands, 
 though none could prove they had done wrong. 
 So, though he was a great man, he did not get votes 
 for a new term. 
 
 And now the hour had come when Wash-ing- 
 ton must die. All felt how much they were in debt 
 to him, for the way he had led them in the war, and 
 his wise rule in time of peace. He had made all 
 men his friends in the end, and in the great hall at 
 Wash-ing-ton, it was then said — the words live to 
 this day, that he was '' First in war, first in peace, 
 and first in the hearts of all." He was sick a long 
 time ; and his last words were : '' I die hard, but I 
 do not fear to go ! " 
 
 No new States came in while Ad-ams had the 
 rule ; but the land grew in worth, and more homes 
 were made here. But there was a great stretch of 
 wild land still, where the bears and the wolves could 
 prowl in the woods at will, and no smoke from the 
 fire on a home hearth was seen in the air. 
 
 Jef-fer-son was the third man whom the land 
 chose to be their chief. He was well known as one 
 
New Men and New LawSs 97 
 
 of the first to frame the Dec-la-ra-tion. At this 
 time there was a war of France with Eng-land, and 
 we had hard work to keep clear of both. For 
 France had made a law that we should not help 
 her foe ; and Eng-land had done the same. And 
 both sides would take our ships at sea, if they 
 thought they made trade with the foe. So our 
 ships had hard times, and did not know what way 
 to steer, lest one should seize them and take all they 
 had on board. More than this, Eng-land said she 
 had a right to search our ships and see if we had 
 her men on board of them, and to take such if 
 found. And once or twice it came to pass, that 
 they took the whole crew of a ship, so that there 
 was not a man left in it to sail it. 
 
 One day a man-of-war went to search one of our 
 ships for men, they said, who had run from them. 
 They were in sight of one of our forts ; but when 
 our men would not let the search be made, a fire 
 was made on our ship, and they took four of the 
 men, and hung one of them. This was bad for our 
 trade, and made a great stir in our midst, and woke 
 up the old wrath at Eng-land. 
 
 So Con-gress, with a wish to give Eng-land tit 
 for tat, as you would say, made a law that we should 
 not trade with her, and our ships should not go out 
 of our own ports. But this, you know, hurt us more 
 
98 History of the United States. 
 
 than it hurt Eng-land ; and, for a time, Jef-fer-son 
 came in for a share of the hard thoughts, as though 
 it were all his fault. Those whose trade had been 
 hurt by the law felt as if he had been to blame, and 
 the cause of loss to them. There were, too, on the 
 sea a band of sea thieves, as we might call them. 
 They were men who came from a wild race, far off, 
 who would seize ships when they could, and take 
 all the crew and hold them for slaves, till their 
 friends would pay a good price for them. It was 
 no strange thing in those days to hear read out in 
 church the names of those who were slaves to such 
 men. Great sums of gold were sent to set our 
 men free. At last we made some terms with these 
 thieves of the sea, but they would not keep the 
 peace. 
 
 Then John Ad-ams sent out four ships to fight 
 these men. We did not own but six war ships in 
 those days. One of these had the bad luck to run 
 on the shore in that strange land, so the foe took it, 
 and the crew were made slaves. There was a 
 brave young man in one of our shijDS, who made a 
 plan to get back the lost boat, which had the same 
 name as the town of " Phil-a-del-phia." He thought 
 if we could not get her from the foe it would be best 
 to burn her, so that they could not use her for their 
 own ends. So he took a small boat which had 
 
lOO History of the United States. 
 
 been won from the foe in a fight, and put some of 
 our own men in her, and stole up to the side of the 
 " Phil-a-del-phia" by night. If he was seen — it was 
 thought to be a boat load of friends — but they soon 
 went to work, and when they got on board, the fight 
 was short and fierce. The "Phil-a-del-phia" was 
 theirs in no time ; but they found they could not 
 move her, so they set her on fire, and set sail once 
 more, and did not lose a man. All this won a 
 name and fame for the young man, whose name 
 was De-ca-tur, and in time there grew up such a 
 fear of him in those wild States that they were glad 
 to make peace and take no more slaves. 
 
 Jef-fer-son's mode of life was not like Wash-ing- 
 ton's had been. He did not care for fine things or 
 a state-coach, but was plain in all his ways. He 
 did not go to the House in a coach and six, but 
 rode on a horse which he would tie to a post while 
 he went in to read his speech. In time he did not 
 go at all, but sent the speech to be read by some 
 one, and so it is done in our day. He had no state 
 times for the folk to come and see him ; but on 
 New Year's day and the Fourth of July his doors 
 were flung wide, and all might call who had the 
 wish to do so. He did not let men know when 
 his birth day came, so that no feasts should be kept, 
 and odes made on it. He made the debt of the 
 
New Men and New Lazvs. 
 
 lOI 
 
 land less in his time. He thought that all men had 
 a right to vote, and at that time there were those 
 who did not hold such views. 
 
 There was one law that came to pass in Jef-fer- 
 son's time. This was to keep out the slave trade. 
 
 At the South the rich men did not like to live 
 in towns. A man of wealth bought land and was 
 fond of life on his 
 place as our friends *' 
 the Eng-lish are. 
 He would have a 
 large house and 
 lawn and fine old 
 trees, and he was 
 glad to give good 
 cheer to his friends 
 when they came to 
 see him. The man 
 of the South was 
 free with his good 
 things. He rode round his place once a day, to see 
 that all was kept well. His slaves were for the 
 most part well fed. They were as a class light of 
 heart and fond of dance and song. When work was 
 done they would meet at night and sing their wild 
 songs, for which they made up their own words. 
 They took small thought for the past or for what 
 
 SLAVES IN FIELD OF SUGAR CANE. 
 
I02 Histoj'y of the United States. 
 
 was to come. If they had their hoe cake and 
 their bit of fat pork to eat with it, they were all 
 right. But there were those who took thought for 
 them. 
 
 In the States there was no law to say that slaves 
 should not be bought and sold, and so this went on 
 till the last war. 
 
 One grand thing that came to be made in the 
 time of Jef-fer-son was the steam boat. There were 
 ships with sails, and boats that went by oars, but 
 none that went by steam. The first one that was 
 made would go four miles an hour; but it was not 
 on the same plan as those we have now. The first 
 made like those now in use, was built by Rob-ert 
 Ful-ton, in 1807. Men then had not much faith 
 in it, and would laugh at it as they do at most new 
 things. Ful-ton said no one spoke a kind word of 
 it ; but when they came to see the launch, and took 
 note of Its speed, those who came to mock were 
 glad to cheer. 
 
 The first steam boat made on his plan was the 
 *' Cler-mont," and went at the rate of five miles an 
 hour, spite of wind and tide. As it went on its 
 way, it sent such a great mass of sparks up in the 
 air, and the noise of its wheels was so loud that 
 when the crews of the ships that came in its way 
 saw it, they would drop on their knees in fright. 
 
New Men and New Laws. 
 
 lO' 
 
 and pray to be kept safe from this strange thing. 
 But, in time, more were made, and men saw that 
 there was naught to fear in these great steam boats, 
 
 FUL-TON S CLER-MONT STEAM-ER. 
 
 though they did seem to breathe out fire and smoke. 
 Still, at first, they did not dare to cross the sea in 
 them. 
 
 There was a great tract of land in the west, 
 which Jef-fer-son bought for the U-nit-ed States 
 from the French. Part of it is now known as the 
 State of Lou-i-si-ana, and took its name from the 
 French King. One of the great streams of the 
 world runs through it. Do you know its name ? 
 
 Jef-fer-son sent men to find out all they could of 
 
I04 History of the United States. 
 
 this land he had bought ; what kind of tribes of red 
 men were in it, what wild beasts were in the wood, 
 and what sort of plants grew there. These men 
 took with them food, fire arms, and gifts for the 
 chiefs of the red men. They were gone two or three 
 years ; and made their camps in the woods, when 
 the cold and storm were so great they could not go 
 on. They went up the great stream to the falls 
 where no white man had been, and then they went 
 on and found the source of the stream. They wrote 
 of all they saw, and men read it in their homes. 
 They read of new tribes of red men ; of herds of 
 wild beasts, so large that one herd would take up a 
 stream a mile wide. They said some of tribes were 
 poor, but some had good homes and fine steeds, 
 which they would sell for a few beads. They 
 found, too, they could make a great trade for furs 
 with these tribes. There was one man who made 
 a post for this trade. It is said he bought furs by 
 the weight, and would put his hand or foot in the 
 scale, and call it a pound. You may think how 
 much fur it would take to weigh them down. 
 
 The next chief of our land was James Mad-i- 
 son. When he came in, he found that men were 
 once more in a state of wrath with Eng-land. You 
 see they felt it hard that our ships should have to 
 let Eng-land stop them and search them as she 
 
New Men and New Laws. 105 
 
 chose. So at last it came to war, and at first we 
 did not win at all. The red men took part with 
 our foe ; and one chief, by name of Te-cum-seh, 
 made a plan to join all the tribes of In-di-ans in 
 war on the whites. He took part in all the fights, 
 and made a brave stand, but he fell at last. 
 
 Though we did not win much on land, we had 
 good luck on the sea. We took one of Eng-land's 
 ships ; but then they in turn took one of ours, and a 
 brave man, who fought with his crew at the head of 
 it, fell, shot with his death wound. '' Don't give up 
 the ship ! " was his cry with his last breath. 
 
 These words, '' Don't give up the ship," were 
 put on a flag, which was held in a great fight that 
 took place at that time. There were nine ships on 
 our side, and six on the side of the foe. 
 
 This flag was put on our flag ship, and a brave 
 man fought for it. His name was Per-ry. The 
 flag ship was lost ; but Per-ry flew to a small boat 
 with his flag, and got to the next ship. He fought 
 so well that he won the day, and the Brit-ish lost 
 all their six ships. Such a thing had not been 
 known till that time. When the Brit-ish gave up, 
 Per-ry wrote, '' We have met the foe, and they are 
 ours ! 
 
 There was war for three years ; and in the last 
 year the Brit-ish took some of our towns on the 
 
io6 
 
 History of the United States, 
 
 PLAN OF BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS, 
 
 coast south, and set fire to the State Hall and Pres> 
 i-dent's house at Wash-ing-ton. They made a raid 
 on New Or-leans, but we had a man there who 
 built up miles of bales for a sort of breast works, 
 
 and iought back of them 
 
 with our troops, so they 
 did not get that town ; and 
 this was the last fight of 
 the war. 
 
 Peace was made, and 
 both sides were glad to 
 sign it. From this time 
 the Eng-lish laid claim to no right of search in our 
 ships. This was known for a time as the " Late 
 War," but since then we have had more wars, so it 
 would not do to call it by that name now. But 
 from that day we have had peace with Eng-land, 
 and may it long last. 
 
 Now came a time of peace when the land grew, 
 and men went west and made homes, and built 
 flour mills, and cut down trees, so that in a short 
 time a wild place would change in to a town ; and 
 you would see a church spire point up to the sky, 
 and a school with its crowd of young ones at their 
 tasks. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 SOME GREAT MEN. 
 
 Mad-i-son had two terms of rule, and then 
 Mon-roe was the next choice of the land. He 
 had fought in the great war, and had a high place 
 in the States. He had shown that he was a brave 
 man, and was the one sent to France when our land 
 bought Lou-i-si-ana. 
 
 When he was made Pres-i-dent, he made a tour 
 of all the posts north and east, to see what strength 
 they would have in case of war. He wore a blue 
 coat that was home-spun, and was plain in all his 
 dress. He won the hearts of all by his frank ways. 
 Pie met all men as friends, and had no pride and 
 pomp to keep them far off; he was as one of them. 
 He thought more of the good of his land than his 
 own. One said of him, '' If we could turn his soul 
 in side out, not a spot could be found on it." When 
 he came to die, he was poor in purse but rich in a 
 good name. 
 
 The red men were not at peace in his time, and 
 there was one more cause of strife, and that was the 
 slaves. Since the first ship load of slaves had been 
 
io8 History of the United States. 
 
 brought in, the trade had grown more and more at 
 the South. The men at the North had grown to 
 hke this trade less and less. It had been thought 
 at first it would soon die out, but they saw this 
 would not be the case. At last there was a strife 
 each time that a State, that held slaves, would want 
 to come in. The free States would cry out that it 
 was wrong to have more slave States. 
 
 Those at the South said that when a free State 
 was brought in, there ought to be a slave State too, 
 or else the North would grow too strong, and have 
 things all their own way. And so there was a fight 
 when the time came for the State of Mis-sou-ri to 
 come in. I do not mean that they went to war with 
 shot and shell. This was a war of words. The 
 North said that it was wrong to buy and sell men, 
 and to break up homes ; that it was bad for the men 
 who held slaves, and for those in bonds, and that 
 the first men of the land had the wish to get rid of 
 it. The South said that if the great men of the 
 land had the wish to get rid of it, they still kept 
 their own slaves ; that it was the best state for the 
 black men ; that they could learn more than in their 
 own wild land ; that white men could not work out 
 of doors in the hot time, and so the crops could 
 not be grown if the black man was made free. 
 
 At last Con-gress let Mis-sou-ri come in as a 
 
Some G^'cat Men. 109 
 
 slave State, but made a law that a line should be 
 drawn in the land. North of this line there could 
 be no slaves. South of it men could keep slaves or 
 not, just as they chose ; men look on this now as a 
 weak move. At that time the slaves were few, and 
 the trade not great, so it might have been put down 
 with more ease. But with time it grew so strong 
 that it took long years and a great war to crush it 
 out. Five new States came in while Mon-roe was 
 at the head of the land. 
 
 John Ouin-cy Ad-ams came next. He was the 
 son of the Pres-i-dent of the same name, and had 
 been nine years old when he heard the Dec-la-ra- 
 tion read from the State House in Bos-ton. Since 
 then the land had grown to a vast size, and was at 
 peace. Much was done in his time to make our 
 land thrive and grow. The red men were made to 
 move west, and their lands were bought. 
 
 In his time, the first rail road was built. It was 
 but three miles long, and it was a horse that drew the 
 car and not steam. The first use of steam came in 
 more late from Eng-land. The first steam car did not 
 make much speed ; but it was thought to be a great 
 thing. Still there were those who said it would not 
 be worth much ; that it could not draw its own 
 weight, but that its wheels would spin round and 
 round on the rail. Some thought that if it were 
 
no 
 
 Histoiy of the United States. 
 
 made to go, it would be bad for the farms ; would 
 scare off the cows and sheep, and the smoke would 
 make the sheep's wool black. But their fears were 
 
 laid at rest in 
 time by the 
 sight of these 
 cars as they 
 ran on in peace, 
 and brought 
 none of these 
 ills to pass. 
 
 In the same 
 year the land 
 had to mourn 
 the death of 
 
 two great men. 
 
 Strange to say, 
 they went on the same day, and that was the Fourth 
 of July. Both these men had put their names on 
 the great Dec-la-ra-tion, and they had grown to be 
 strong friends. Jef-fer-son heard the fire of a gun, 
 just as he went. His last words were, ** Is this 
 the Fourth?" 
 
 Ad-ams, who lay near to death, saw the sun set 
 and heard the shouts from those who kept the day 
 in his town. He sent them word to hold fast the 
 rights that day had brought them ; and the old 
 
 FIRST STEAM EN-GINE. 
 
Some Great Men. 1 1 1 
 
 man could hear the cheer that they gave at his 
 words. 
 
 At this time there was a great talk of a sort of 
 tax to be put on all goods brought here from far 
 lands. This we call a tar-iff, and we hear a great 
 deal of it in this day. There are those who think a 
 high tax should be put on all goods made out of 
 our own land, so as to keep them out and give those 
 made here a chance. There are some who think 
 that all trade should be free ; and that ships should 
 sail here with what they choose and land it, with 
 no one to see what it is, and put a tax on it. 
 
 Ad-ams, in his time, was for a high tax, and 
 for this cause he did not have but one term as our 
 chief. Those who did not want the tax had the 
 most votes, and they chose An-drew Jack-son for 
 the next man. He had been well known in the 
 war, and had built up those breast works in New 
 Or-leans of which we have told you, from which 
 our men beat the Brit-ish. 
 
 While he was chief, there were some in the 
 South who felt that the North had more than its 
 share of the wealth of the land. You see there 
 were more great mills and more goods made in the 
 North, and the tax on strange goods was too much 
 help to those at home. At least this was so thought 
 by the South, and they had a plan to cut loose and 
 
112 History of the United States. 
 
 set up a new band of States. They had drills of 
 their young men, and got arms, and had made 
 choice of a man to lead them. His name was John 
 C. Cal-houn, and he was to be their first chief. 
 But Jack-son said that " if a State could go out of 
 the band of States when it chose, we would come 
 to naught ; " and he sent troops and ships of war to 
 the South, and put a stop to all the stir in a short 
 time. 
 
 Tribes of the red men had gone out to the far 
 West, but there were those who would not move. 
 There was a tribe in Flor-i-da who fought for a 
 long time in the swamps of that land. Some slaves 
 who had run away from their homes were with 
 them. One of the chiefs of the red men had a 
 slave for a wife, and when she went with him to 
 one of our forts, she was held and kept as a slave, 
 and the chief was put in chains. When he got 
 free, he made a vow to pay up the white man for 
 all he had borne, and for the loss of his wife. So 
 he led the red men in this war. His name was 
 Os-ce-o-la. He was caught at last, and kept in one 
 of our forts till he died. But the war went on for 
 years, at a great cost of life, till few of that tribe 
 were left in the land. And this war cost three times 
 as much as had been paid for the whole of the State 
 of Flor-i-da. 
 
Some Great Men. 1 1 3 
 
 In 1827 a new sect rose in the west part of New 
 York state. They took the name of Mor-mons and 
 grew fast. A man by the name of Jo-seph Smith 
 took the lead of them. He said he had found a 
 book which was the word of God. He took those 
 who held the same faith out West with him. The 
 folks where they went did not like them, and they 
 had to move from place to place, till at last they 
 made a stop at Nau-voo, in the State of Ill-i-nois. 
 There they built a grand house, where Smith and 
 those of the same faith were wont to preach their 
 creed. They thought it well for a man to have 
 more wives than one — in fact the more he had the 
 more help he would have to walk in the right path. 
 The folks near Nau-voo made up their minds to 
 drive this strange tribe out. They made a charge 
 that some crimes had been done by them. Smith 
 led a mob to break up a press with which the 
 charge had been put in print, so he was thrown in 
 jail. At last he lost his life at the hands of a mob. 
 The sect went West to a plain by Salt Lake, where 
 they live to this day. They built a town there 
 and gave it the name of Des-er-et, which means 
 the " Land of the Bee." It is now Salt Lake 
 City. 
 
 Jack-son was a great man. He had come from 
 poor folks, and as a boy he was more fond of sport 
 
114 History of the United States. 
 
 than of books. His life had its ups and downs. 
 Once he was in the hands of the foe, and told he 
 must clean some boots for them. It was too much 
 for a free born A-mer-i-can to clean Brit-ish boots. 
 It made his blood boil, and he said w^ith scorn that 
 he would not do such work. He was not mild or 
 meek, you know, but had a strong will of his own. 
 And he kept his word spite of blows, and was sent 
 to jail. There the poor boy had small-pox. He 
 knew not where to turn when he got out of jail, for 
 he was poor and had no one left to help him. He 
 had more than one fight in his time, and scars that 
 he did not gain in war. He was brave through 
 and through, and won fame where he went. He 
 was in his old home when he drew his last breath 
 in peace. 
 
 I Mar-tin Van Bur-en was made pres-i-dent 
 at a time when all things were at a low ebb. 
 In two months from the day he took the 
 oath all the banks of New York gave up pay 
 in coin, and the banks in all the States soon 
 did the same. Crowds of men were thrown out 
 of work, and stood in the streets with naught 
 to do. There was, too, a great crash in trade, 
 and hard times in the whole land. Van Bur-en 
 did not make the hard times. He did but reap 
 what those had sown ere he came. Still he 
 
So7fie Great Men. 115 
 
 had but one term for that cause. He said that 
 the cause of these hard times was that the folk had 
 lost the plain tastes of the old times and spent too 
 much. In New York there had been a great 
 change in all things since the days when the Dutch 
 had bought the isle of Man-hat-tan from the In- 
 di-ans and cut down the strong oaks and all kinds 
 of trees that were on it. The log house was gone 
 and the stone one stood in its place. A great town 
 had gone up where of old the wheat and corn were 
 grown and the fruit trees made the spring full of 
 bloom. The old feast days were no more kept with 
 such state, though the young ones still sought to 
 dye their eggs with bright hues for Eas-ter day, 
 and New Year's calls were still in vogue. But 
 with the growth of the town new wants sprang up. 
 Rich clothes, a fine house, and good things to eat 
 and drink were the mode. In the old times one 
 who came to man Fort James said of the troops 
 there: ''Not one man hath to this day since I 
 brought them out of Eng-land slept in a pair of 
 sheets, or on a bed save one made with sail cloth 
 and straw." So hard and plain and scant were all 
 things with those who came first. But as with 
 New York, so with all the rest of the land, new 
 wants had crept in and gold was spent with too free 
 a hand. 
 
ii6 History of the United States. 
 
 Men felt a hope that a new man might bring in 
 a new state of things. They chose Har-ri-son, 
 who had fought in a brave way in the wars with the 
 red men. 
 
 He came from the far West, where his home had 
 once been in a loof house. So he had the name of 
 the Log Cabin man, and the poor men in the land 
 all felt proud that one of their own kind was their 
 chief; one who had made his way out of the ranks. 
 There was a print of that log cabin on all sorts of 
 things, and toys were made in that form, and songs 
 were made on it, and sung when men met. 
 
 The new Pres-i-dent did not live but one month, 
 and so for the rest of the four years, John Ty-ler 
 took the rule ; but he did not please those who had 
 cast their votes for him. He would not let their 
 bills pass : one of which was to form a States Bank, 
 on which the Whigs had all set their hearts. The 
 State of Tex-as was brought in at this time. 
 
 You have all seen the wires which stretch from 
 pole to pole in the streets of our great towns, and 
 in lone roads by field and wood. You know what 
 they are for, and how by means of them you can 
 send word to a friend in time of need, or hear from 
 those you love in a flash. It may be a death that 
 is told, or some news of joy that they can not wait 
 to send by the slow way of the post. 
 
Some Great Men. 
 
 117 
 
 Well, when James K. Polk was thought of as a 
 good man to make chief of the land, the news was 
 the first that had been sent on these wires. The 
 first lines built were made here, 
 and went from Bal-ti-more to 
 Wash-ing-ton. Morse was the 
 name of the man who found out 
 how to send news on wires in 
 this way. 
 
 At this time there were two 
 great men of whom you should 
 hear, for their names are on the 
 list of fame, which has stood the 
 test of time. One was Hen-ry 
 Clay. He was born in the West, and was poor, but 
 he made his way from the small log school house, 
 where he went to learn his first task, to rank with 
 the great men of our land. He could win men to 
 be his friends, when they had made up their minds 
 to hate him. He had a strong will, and kept true 
 to his own aims. He spoke with such grace and 
 force that he could sway men's minds and thrill 
 their hearts. He has said, '' I owe all I have won in 
 life to one fact, that when I was a boy, and for some 
 years, as I grew up, I would learn and speak what 
 I read in books. More than one off hand speech 
 did I make in a corn field or in the woods, or in a 
 
 SAM-UEL F. B. r^IORSE. 
 
1 1 8 History of the United States. 
 
 barn, with but an ox or horse to hear me. It is to 
 this I owe much that has gone to shape and mould 
 my course in Hfe." 
 
 One man, who was not his friend, said at his 
 death, " If I were to write on the stone that marks 
 his place of rest, I would place there these words : 
 ' Here lies one who led men by his own force for 
 long years ; but did not swerve from the truth, or 
 call in lies to help him.'" 
 
 One more great man died on the same day as 
 Clay. His name was Web-ster. He was a great 
 states man. He went to school but a few weeks in 
 all his life. He was then so shy that he could not 
 pluck up heart to speak a piece in the school. He 
 did not think that in time to come his words would 
 stir the land. He says, " I was brave in my own 
 room, and would learn the piece and speak it there ; 
 but when the day came, and I would see all eyes 
 turn to me, and they would call out my name, I 
 could not rise from my seat." 
 
 In all things but this he stood well at school, 
 and he had a great wish to learn. But he knew 
 they were all poor at home, and he felt that he 
 must go to work and help them, fond as he was of 
 his books. When he heard that he was to go on ; 
 that he should have a chance to make his dream 
 true, he was full of joy. " I see yet," he said, ''the 
 
Some Great Mc7i. 119 
 
 great hill up which we went that day in the snow. 
 When I heard the news, I could not speak for 
 joy. There were such a crowd of young ones in 
 our home, I did not see how they could spare 
 the funds. A warm glow ran through me ; I had 
 to weep." 
 
 When he was through school, he at once rose to 
 a high place. He was at the head of all who spoke 
 in the House. He was grand and great, but he 
 had a sense of fun in him. Once some one came 
 to him with one of those books where the names of 
 friends or great men are kept, with the wish that he 
 would write his name by the side of John Ad-ams. 
 He wrote : 
 
 '' If by his name I write my own, 
 'Twill take me where I am not known ; 
 And the cold words will meet my ear. 
 Why, friend, and how did you come here?" 
 
 When his death was known, there was grief in 
 the length and breadth of the land. No death 
 since that of Wash-ing-ton was made such a theme 
 for speech. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 A NEW WAR. 
 
 In the time of James K. Polk, a war rose in 
 which our States were not of one mind. Our folk 
 in Tex-as laid claim to a large tract of land which 
 those in Mex-i-co said was theirs. The States at 
 the North did not wish to go in to this war; but 
 those at the South did. This was in 1846. Gen- 
 er-al Tay-lor went with his troops at once in to the 
 land of the foe, and built a fort on a stream there. 
 He gave it the name of Fort Brown. On his way 
 he met the troops of the foe drawn up in the road. 
 They had three to one of his small band ; but he 
 had the good luck to rout them, with loss of but 
 nine men on our side. 
 
 Then he took up his march on their great town, 
 which had the name of Mon-te-rey. This town had 
 high hills and deep gulfs round it, and strong forts. 
 Its streets were full of men with arms. Gen-er-al 
 Tay-lor made a grand move on the town. To get 
 out of the fire that would seem to pour on them 
 from the roofs, the troops went in and dug their 
 way through stone walls from house to house, or 
 
CAP 
 
 •TURE OF MON-TE-REY 
 
122 History of the United States. 
 
 they would pass from roof to roof. Ere they came 
 to the grand place of the town, It was In their hands, 
 the foe gave up the fight. 
 
 At this time San-ta An-na, who was chief of the 
 Mex-I-can troops, heard that most of our men had 
 been drawn off to help Gen-er-al Scott ; so he thought 
 It would be a good time to crush us. They laid 
 In wait with all their best troops, and the fight went 
 on from the rise of the sun till dark. It grew hard 
 to hold our ground, and the day would have been 
 lost but for the guns of Cap-tain Bragg, who came 
 to our help. He made a dash up to a few yards 
 from the foe, and let fire. Their ranks were seen 
 to shake. " Some more grape. Cap-tain Bragg," said 
 Gen-er-al Tay-lor. One more round, and then a 
 third came, and the Mex-I-cans broke and fled. In 
 the night San-ta An-na drew all his troops off. 
 
 Gen-er-al Scott, at the head of our troops, made 
 a march through the land of Mex-I-co, and took all 
 that came In his way. He drew siege lines round 
 the town of Ve-ra Cruz, and sent bombs In to It, and 
 In four days the town, with Its strong hold, gave up 
 the fight. A week from that time our troops took 
 up their march for the chief town. At one pass In 
 the hills, the foe had a strong hold. Gen-er-al Scott 
 had a road cut round the base of those hills and 
 through the woods ; and then he was In a place to 
 
A New War. 123 
 
 pour out fire on the rear of the foe, while more 
 troops took him in front. The foe fled in such 
 haste that San-ta An-na, who was lame, left his leg 
 of wood on the ground, and got off on his wheel 
 mule. 
 
 The town of Mex-i-co is in the midst of a grand 
 plain, with green fields and cloud capt mounts round 
 it. The foe had made a strong stand here, with 
 forts and men. Our men made a move in the 
 night. It was so dark they had to feel their way; 
 but they took their stand on a height from which 
 they could storm the strong points of the foe. At 
 last they took some of the guns, and the roads were 
 laid bare to the gates of the town. 
 
 There was some talk of a peace then, but Gen- 
 er-al Scott found that it was not in good faith. The 
 foe did it to gain time, to make things strong once 
 more. So the next day, he took up his march on 
 the great town of Mex-i-co. A strong fort, on a 
 high rock by the town, was made ours ; each out 
 work fell one by one, and at last our troops took the 
 great Ci-ty of Mex-i-co, and the next morn our flag 
 with its stripes and stars was seen to float in the 
 light from those grand old piles, which had been 
 the home of more than one prince of Mex-i-co. So 
 the war came to an end in just two years. 
 
 Till this time, Cal-i-for-nia had been known as a 
 
124 
 
 History of the United States. 
 
 far off land, to which men went by sea, round Cape 
 Horn, to buy hides and fur. But in 1848, came 
 news to the East-ern States that there were gold 
 mines in that place. It was said that a Swiss had 
 found, as he dug in the sand, a bright sort of dust, 
 and it was thought to be gold. All at once, on this 
 news, there was a great rush from all parts of the 
 land to the gold mines of Cal-i-for-nia, and there 
 was a great sum won the first year. In two years 
 
 
 
 SAN FRAN-CIS-CO IN lb49- 
 
 the town of San Fran-cis-co had grown to quite a 
 large place. The name of Cal-i-for-nia is said to 
 have been found in an old book in Spain, and 
 means an isle full of gold. 
 
 Three more States were brought in while Polk 
 
A New War. 125 
 
 was our chief, and two of them were free States. 
 It was shown that those who came to us from the 
 old world, chose the free States for their homes, and 
 those at the South felt sure that the North would 
 grow too fast if they did not gain more ground. 
 There was a great piece of land which both North 
 and South laid claim to, and there were high words 
 on both sides. At last a band of men by the name 
 of Free Soil men, took a stand that slaves should 
 be kept out of all new land which the U-nit-ed 
 States might gain in all time to come. 
 
 The next man who was the choice of the land 
 was Tay-lor, the one who led part of our troops in 
 the war with Mex-i-co. He was put in by the 
 Whigs. The Free Soil men did not vote for him. 
 He did not live but one year, and then Fill-more 
 took his place. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE WAR OF NORTH AND SOUTH. 
 
 Once more the talk on free States and slave 
 States was heard on all sides, and Hen-ry Clay had 
 made more than one great speech to try and keep 
 the peace. Cal-i-for-nia came in as a free State ; 
 but a bill went in force which made it a crime to 
 help or keep a slave who had run off from his home. 
 A man could go in to a free State and take back 
 his slave by force, and no court or Judge in the 
 land could stop him. In fact, they were bound to 
 help him. This was thought harsh and wrong by 
 most of the men at the North ; but it was made a 
 law. This law made more stir than aught else had 
 done till this time. Men would help the slaves, 
 spite of the law ; and in some States they made 
 laws of their own, that no one could claim a slave 
 if he did not bring the case in to court, that they 
 might see if he had a just claim. 
 
 When Pierce was made Pres-i-dent, the strife 
 still went on ; and this was made worse by a wish 
 on the part of those who held slaves to bring them 
 North of the line, in to a great tract of land — so 
 
The War of North and South. 127 
 
 large that two States could be made out of it — Kan- 
 sas and Ne-bras-ka. 
 
 The South said all they would ask, would be 
 that those who had their homes on the soil should 
 say how they would like things to be, and put it to 
 vote. Con-gress did at last pass a bill to give them 
 their own choice, to be free or slave States. But 
 this did not bring peace ; for they had fights when 
 they went to vote. At last they were all at war, 
 and would burn a town or sack a house, or steal the 
 cows and goods of those they thought foes. The 
 whole land was a scene of blood, but in the end 
 Kan-sas was brought in as a free State. 
 
 In the time of Pierce a great tract of land was 
 bought from Mexico. It is now known as New 
 Mex-i-co. In his time, too, trade with Japan was 
 first made free to our ships. 
 
 When Bu-chan-an came to take the place of 
 chief in our land, the talk on the slaves was by no 
 means at rest. In the great Court of our land, the 
 '' Dred Scott" case was brought up in the first year 
 of his rule, and it was said that those who held 
 slaves had the right to take them with them where 
 they chose, through all the free States. Then came 
 John Brown's raid, which was like a fire brand in 
 all the slave States. 
 
 John Brown was a man who had fought on the 
 
128 History of the United States. 
 
 side of the Free Soil men in Kan-sas, and now all 
 was at peace there. He had a plan to go in to the 
 slave States and free the slaves. He had been in 
 Vir-gin-ia when he was a boy, and knew there were 
 strong holds in the hills, where he thought the 
 slaves could make a stand and fight till they were 
 free. He got a small band of men and went to a 
 place by the name of Har-per's Fer-ry, and took 
 the town. Those who had their homes there fled 
 in fright ; so he took the great place where arms 
 were made for our troops. He thought he would 
 give these arms to the black men, whom he had 
 no doubt would flock to his side. He had a small 
 force, but fear made all think it was a great one. The 
 news of the raid went like a flash on the wires to all 
 parts of the States, and men were sent to fight him 
 and take him. His small force were brave, and did 
 not give up till death or wounds made them do so. 
 
 It is said by those who held him as their foe, 
 that John Brown was cool and firm in the face of 
 death. With one son dead by his side, and one 
 shot through, he felt the pulse of the son so near to 
 death with one hand, but held fast to his gun, and 
 spoke words of cheer to his men. He fell at last 
 with six wounds, but did not die of them. He was 
 brought in to Court, and they set to work to try 
 him. The head man of Vir-gin-ia, by the name of 
 
The War of North and South. 
 
 129 
 
 Wise, said, ''Those who think John Brown is a 
 mad man, do not know him. He is a man of clear 
 head and a brave heart. I would trust him to be a 
 man of truth." 
 
 But he was led out to be hung. On his way 
 there, his last act was to kiss a slave child. Six of 
 his friends were hung 
 on the same spot. 
 Some few of the band 
 got off to the free 
 States. All this made 
 the talk of North and 
 South on the slave 
 trade more and more 
 fierce; and when a 
 new man was to be 
 made Pres-i-dent, 
 those who went for 
 free soil, that is, no 
 slaves, chose their 
 own man, and he got 
 the most votes. These 
 Free Soil men had grown to be a large throng, and 
 they had a new name. The man they chose was 
 A-bra-ham Lin-coln. He was a man who would 
 have been glad to have kept the peace ; but the 
 South would not have it so. They were in a rage, 
 
 A-BRA-HAM LIN-COLN. 
 
I ^o 
 
 History of the United States. 
 
 BAN-NER OF SOUTH 
 CAR-O-LI-NA. 
 
 and said they would go out of the band of States. 
 
 They thought a State had the right to go out If it 
 chose to do so. This was '' States 
 Rights" to their mind. 
 
 ''States Rights" had long been 
 held as the creed of the South ; so 
 there were six States that put it to 
 vote, and said they would go out of 
 the U-nion. South Car-o-li-na was 
 the one to lead the way. They said 
 they would make a new band of 
 
 States, where it would be right to hold slaves ; and 
 
 they took one of 
 
 our forts. 
 
 Troops were 
 
 sent in a boat, by 
 
 name, "The Star 
 
 of the West," but 
 
 they were met by 
 
 a fire from the 
 
 fort. Then they 
 
 took their stand 
 
 on the shore by 
 
 Fort Sum-ter, 
 
 which was held 
 
 by a few men. For two days the fire went on, and 
 
 at last the brave man who held the fort had to give 
 
 FORT SUM-TER. 
 
The War of North and South. 131 
 
 it up. His men were worn out, the place was on 
 fire, and they had no more food for their guns. So 
 they went out with the beat of drums and their flags 
 flung out on the air. 
 
 The sound of the first gun at Fort Sum-ter was 
 a shock to all the land. Most of those at the 
 North, who had not felt the slave trade to be 
 wrong, now took sides with those who had been its 
 foes from the first. All the States at the South 
 took one side, but the slaves were for those who 
 had the wish to make them free. 
 
 In the first of this storm the end came of Bu- 
 chan-an's term. Three States came in at this time. 
 Or-e-gon, Min-ne-so-ta, and Kan-sas. The last two 
 bear the name the red men gave two streams that 
 flow through them. The name Or-e-gon is said to 
 mean **wild rice." 
 
 Up to the time of the first gun fired at Fort Sum- 
 ter, men had felt that the South could be brought 
 back. Few at the North thought there would be 
 war ; but at the South it had been thought of for 
 a long time. The young men had met for drill, 
 and arms had been hid where they could be found. 
 Lin-coln found but a small band of troops, but he 
 sent out a call for more. As these men were on 
 their march through the streets of Bal-ti-more, the 
 mob threw stones at them, and three of them fell 
 
132 History of the United States. 
 
 dead. Then the troops let fire on the mob, and 
 nine men fell. This made a great stir at the North, 
 for they thought it went to show the hate in the 
 hearts of the men at the South. 
 
 The next time the troops were sent, they did 
 not march through Bal-ti-more. They found the 
 rails torn up by the way, and had to mend them as 
 they went on. Once when they saw a car that was 
 a wreck by the way side, some one was heard to 
 ask if one could be found in the ranks who could 
 mend it. '' I can," said a man who stood by it, 
 "for I built it." 
 
 So you see the troops were made up of men 
 from all trades, who had left their work to fight for 
 their land. In the course of time, troops went in 
 peace through the streets of Bal-ti-more. 
 
 Men came in to the ranks on all sides when 
 they heard the call ; but they found that arms were 
 scarce, most had been sent South. So the North 
 had to buy or make these in as short a time as they 
 could. There had to be clothes made, too, for the 
 troops, and food found for stores, and carts to draw it, 
 and drugs for the sick. All must be done at once, 
 and all in such a way that there must be no waste or 
 want. Lin-coln at this time made a law that no 
 ships should go in or out of the ports of the South. 
 
 The war soon made a stand in both East and 
 
The Wm^ of North and South. 
 
 133 
 
 West Vir-gin-ia. In the west of this State there 
 were men who did not wish to fight on the side of 
 
 Ah ^\ 
 
 \ s -t 
 
 Ni 
 
 ^Vf .^ 
 
 
 1% '-' 
 Hi' 
 
 
 OFF TO THE WAR. 
 
 the South ; but they had to do so or leave the State. 
 There was a move made to march on Rich-mond ; 
 
134 
 
 History of the United States. 
 
 but the troops had to go back, and lost the day at 
 the fight of Bull Run. It was a sad rout for the 
 troops of the North, as they made haste back to 
 Wash-ing-ton, with a fear that the foe might come 
 and take that place. 
 
 At the end of this year Gen-er-al Scott gave up 
 his place at the head of all the troops to Gen-er-al 
 Mc-Clel-lan. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 LOSS AND GAIN. 
 
 WOU 
 
 One morn in Ju-ly all the camp was up in the 
 
 gray dawn, for they had made 
 up their minds to meet the 
 foe on that day. Soon you 
 might have seen four long, 
 dark lines all on the move 
 on their way to the South. 
 They all made for one point, 
 but did not go by the same 
 roads. They were all full 
 of hope, and felt sure they 
 A few of them had been in the war 
 
 GEN-ER-AL ROB-ERT E. LEE. 
 
 Id 
 
 Win. 
 
Loss and Gain. 
 
 135 
 
 for some time, but most were new and raw 
 
 men. They took no trunks with them, you 
 
 may be sure. Would you hke to know what a 
 
 man takes when he goes to a fight ? I will tell you 
 
 what Gen-er-al Mc-Dow-ell told his troops to take. 
 
 They were to take their guns, of course — all the 
 
 arms — and food for three days, the clothes for their 
 
 beds, and the things to drink out of. They took 
 
 their food in a bag. A man was sent on to spy 
 
 out the land. They found the foe had a strong 
 
 guard. They were in force on the west bank of the 
 
 stream known as ___ ._ -- - - 
 
 Bull Run for near 
 
 eight miles. The 
 
 stream was deep 
 
 and ran so swift 
 
 that it was hard 
 
 to cross save in 
 
 a few spots. At 
 
 these the foe had a 
 
 strong guard. At 
 
 one place where 
 
 they sought to 
 
 cross there was a 
 
 sharp fight. At 
 
 last the troops from the North thought they would 
 
 try and find a ford where they could ride or wade. 
 
 STONE BRIDGE. 
 
136 
 
 Histojy of the United States. 
 
 while a few should act as if they meant to cross 
 the stone bridge and thus take up the time of the 
 foe. They made out to do this and they found the 
 foe on the ground. At first the Southern troops 
 fled up a hill. But when they came to a broad 
 plain they made a stand once more. Their Gen-er-al 
 Jack-son held this place with a calm strength. 
 Some one who saw that his troops were worn out 
 
 said to them to cheer them : 
 '' Here stands Jack-son like a 
 stone wall." This name was 
 heard with cheers on all sides. 
 And from that day he was known 
 as Stone-wall Jack-son. He was 
 a man fit to lead, and one of the 
 best of men. 
 
 The troops from the North 
 now sought to drive out the foe 
 from this broad plain. But to do this they had 
 to take the guns that were set on the crown of 
 the hill. This was no light task, for to do it 
 men must ride in full fire right '' in to the jaws of 
 death." But the men rode on, and fell in hosts. 
 Now and then they would take a gun, and pay for 
 it in ranks of dead men. Both sides were so brave 
 that it did seem as if the fight would go on while a 
 man was left. The ground was red with blood. 
 
 \\\ 
 
 %^r>'«^ 
 
 ,>N^ 
 
 STONE-WALL JACK-SON. 
 
Loss and Gain. 137 
 
 Three times the troops from the North made that 
 cHmb of the hill in the face of the fire. With their 
 flags in their hands they got to the top for the third 
 time, when there came a fire so fierce they were 
 mown down like grain in front of a scythe. The 
 foe came on with cheers. Fresh men came in their 
 ranks and the fire went on. The troops of the 
 North lost hope and broke and ran. The field of 
 the fight was like a race course. Mules and steeds 
 with no one on their backs, men with arms fluno^ 
 from them ran m wild haste. Threats were in vain 
 and more than one brave man was shot as he 
 sought to stop the flight of his troops. .By twelve 
 at night they were all in full flight for Washington. 
 Those who fell by the way side, and they were not 
 a few, had to be left. If one could have seen them 
 in their wild rush through that dark night, with 
 blood stains and dust on them, it would have been 
 hard to think they were the same troops who had 
 set out with such brave hearts. None had seen the 
 flag of the U-nion trail in dust so low be-fore. Yet 
 our boys in blue were not less brave than those in 
 the gray. For long years men thought of that dark 
 day, and it was known as '' Black Mon-day." The 
 fight of Bull Run is said to have been one of the 
 best in its plan, but one of the worst fought of all 
 the war. The troops were raw, and the roar of the 
 
138 History of the United States. 
 
 guns, the shrieks and noise, were too much for 
 them. They did not know the rules of war, nor how 
 to mind what was said to them. If the foe had 
 known to the full how great the fright was, they 
 
 CAP-I TOL AT WASH-INGTON. 
 
 might have gone on to Wash-ing-ton. The troops 
 from the North made haste to that town with a 
 fear that the men of the South were in full chase 
 and might take that place. 
 
 Pres-i-dent Lin-coln sent out a call for more men 
 and more gold. In the South, too, more troops 
 came at once, but they had no funds. They had 
 notes, but they were of small worth. Still both 
 North and South were full of brave men, and they 
 
SOUTHERN FLAG. 
 
 Loss and Gain. i^o 
 
 each thought they were in the right, so they were 
 glad to do all and bear all for the cause. At the 
 North the red, white and blue was borne. At the 
 South the stars and bars were flung on the breeze. 
 Songs were sung of the war. 
 ''Dix-ie" was one well known song 
 at that time in the South. All the 
 thought was of the war. Those at 
 home did not fold their hands. If 
 they could not give their lives for 
 their land they could work. The 
 wives thought of their dear ones who were gone, and 
 they met in bands to sew on the blue shirts or to 
 scrape lint. The young girls held in their hearts the 
 last words of the brave youths who had not kept 
 back from the fight. The young ones left their play 
 to knit warm socks for the poor men to wear in the 
 long march. Good things to eat were sent to those 
 who had such hard fare. Each train bore some thing 
 to the troops, to show that they were kept in mind by 
 those at home. Gen-er-al Ly-on, in the West, found 
 the foe in force in the south-west part of Mis- 
 sou-ri, and one morn he saw two lines on the march 
 to him. He thought it would be more wise to go 
 out and meet them than to wait for them, so he set 
 forth. The land was so full of hills that he could 
 not see the strength of the foe. All at once the 
 
140 History of the United States. 
 
 Con-fed-e-rate horse men made a dash at them from 
 the woods and broke their Hne in two Hke a pipe 
 stem. But they had to fly in the end and leave the 
 field to the troops of the North. In the next fight, 
 near Spring-field, Gen-er-al Ly-on lost his life. 
 Where the shot fell fast he rode all day up and down 
 the lines to cheer his men. Twice he got wounds, 
 and once his horse fell with a shot, but still the 
 brave Gen-er-al did not flinch. Some of the troops 
 who had lost their chief said: "Who will lead us.^" 
 Gen-er-al Ly-on sprang on a fresh horse and said, 
 with a wave of his hat in the air: 'T will lead you 
 — come on, brave men!" He did not live but a 
 short time, for he was soon struck in the breast with 
 a ball, and he fell dead. The Con-fed-e-rates won 
 this fight, but did not give chase to the troops of 
 the North, though they were in full flight. 
 
 In Sep-tem-ber the Con-fed-e-rates drew up in 
 front of Lex-ing-ton, on the south bank of the Mis- 
 sou-ri. The man who was at the head of the troops 
 in this town had few guns and but small store of 
 what was food for them. Day by day went and 
 no help came to him and his men, so all they could 
 do was to dig the trench or throw up the earth works 
 to shield them. There were troops sent to the help 
 of this brave Col-o-nel Mul-li-gan, but they did not 
 reach him, for the foe was on the look out for them. 
 
Loss and Gain. 141 
 
 At the break of day, Sep-tem-ber 12th, Gen-er- 
 al Price sent out fire on the town from fours pots 
 at once. Col-o-nel Mul-h-gan met it as best he 
 could, and the fight was kept up till night. The 
 poor men in Lex-ing-ton were in a sad plight. 
 They had not much food, and all their stores were 
 low. The foe cut off the stream from them, so they 
 had naught to drink save what the men could catch 
 in cloths when the rain came. These they would 
 wring out and get a few drops in that way. Yet 
 for all this, when Gen-er-al Price sent word to them 
 that they must give up, Col-o-nel Mul-li-gan said: 'Tf 
 you want us, come and take us." But at last the 
 brave men had to give in, and they put up the 
 white flag, which is known as a flag of truce. When 
 Col-o-nel Mul-li-gan gave up his sword Gen-er-al 
 Price gave it back to him and said: 'T would grieve 
 to take the sword of so brave a man from him." 
 
 By this time the foe had heard of the path for 
 the troops that had been cut, and ere they were 
 half way to the fort they made up their minds to 
 give up the works, for there was no hope and they 
 did not want to lose their men for naught. And 
 so the fort and all that was in it fell in the hands of 
 the U-nion men. 
 
 It may be you have heard of ''Old Abe," the 
 bird who saw both these last fights. He was the 
 
142 
 
 History of the United States. 
 
 sort of bird that you see on Our flag, one of the 
 kind that knows no fear. He had been caught when 
 young and sold for some corn, but at last he fell 
 in the hands of the U-nion troops. The men who 
 had charge of him were met with cheers at all 
 times, and the bird got the name of "Old Abe" 
 from the Pres-i-dent. He would sit on his perch 
 and look at the fights with calm, cold eye. At 
 times he would flap his wings. He went with his 
 friends each time and saw most of the war. Once 
 those who had him might have got a whole farm if 
 they would have sold him, but gold could not buy 
 him. He did not get a wound through all the war, 
 and when at last 
 death took him 
 some one had to 
 stuff him, and he 
 was kept in a case, 
 and may be seen yet 
 in Wis-con-sin in a 
 house where rare 
 things are shown. 
 
 The fight at Shi- 
 loh was a fierce one. 
 At one time the 
 South won, then 
 the North. Both sides fought well, till at last the 
 
 PICK-ET DU-TY. 
 
Brave Boys i7i Blue and Gray. 143 
 
 Con-fed-e-rates fell back. The troops from the 
 North were too worn out to chase them. It was 
 a sad scene to see the loads of Con-fed-e-rates with 
 wounds he in ''piles like bags of grain" as they 
 were borne back to Cor-inth. When death came 
 from their sore wounds they had to be thrown out 
 to make room for those who still had the breath 
 of life in them. The loss was great on both sides, 
 but the men of the South had no gold nor the right 
 kind of clothes to keep them warm. Some who 
 were sent to Chi-ca-go were in a sad state. They 
 were in worn out clothes, and some of them had 
 girls' hats on their heads. One poor man had two 
 old hats made fast to his feet for shoes. It made 
 one's heart ache to see these worn-out men in their 
 rags. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 BRAVE BOYS IN BLUE AND GRAY. 
 
 By this time gold was scarce at the South, so 
 when the clothes of the troops were worn out there 
 was no means to buy mo e. Then the wives 
 
 and maids came to 
 the front. They 
 made cloth and gave 
 it a dye from nuts — 
 those who wore it 
 got the name of 
 *'But-ter-nuts." Some 
 of the men in the 
 ranks had no shoes, 
 but all bore their woes in a brave way. The dames 
 who had been born to wealth did not mind if they 
 had to soil their soft fair hands with coarse work 
 for the sake of the cause. They sold with joy their 
 rich gems, their clothes or their books — all that 
 would bring a price — to help the brave men who 
 were in the ranks. But they kept up brave hearts. 
 They thought their cause was just and right. 
 
 Things were in a bad state at this time. Some 
 one says it was like a sled run on bare ground down 
 
 AR-MY HUTS. 
 
Brave Boys in Blue and Gray. 145 
 
 South. The three months' men were in haste to 
 go home. The new troops were raw. The loss at 
 Bull Run had made some lose heart. The South 
 felt sure that they would win. Gen-er-al Mc-Clel- 
 lan did what he could to raise their hopes. He 
 would say to them: "My men, we have met the 
 last loss of the war; from this hour we will win. 
 You must stand by me, and I will stand by you." 
 He did not spare gold to get all in good trim. All 
 that could be got for the needs of the men was 
 bought. It was said that in all the world there had 
 been no troops so well off, and that a band of 
 French men could live on the waste. Some fault 
 was found that so much time and so much gold 
 was spent, but it takes time to drill raw troops and 
 to teach them the art of war. 
 
 There was a ship fight, in which the South for 
 a time did good work. She had a ship which she 
 had made strong with iron plates and hard wood, 
 and a bow of steel. This ship set sail in the bay 
 to fight the whole Un-ion fleet. The ships of 
 wood could make no stand. In vain did they 
 pour out fire and balls. It was said the balls 
 would strike and glance off, and did no more 
 harm than peas from a pop gun. At nine that 
 night two of our ships had gone down in fire and 
 smoke, and one was run on the orround. 
 
146 
 
 History of the United States. 
 
 All at once a small queer thing came in sight. 
 Some one said it was like a cheese box on a raft. 
 This was the Mon-i-tor. When dawn came it bore 
 down on the Mer-ri-mac and sent out a fire. The 
 ram gave the fire back. For two hours the fire 
 was kept up ; till at last the Mon-i-tor sent a shell 
 through the port hole of the foe. This fell right in 
 the midst of her crew. So those in the Mer-ri-mac 
 thought it would be wise to get out of the way of 
 
 MER-RI-MACK AND MON-1-TOR. 
 
 more such shells, and it left the coast clear. There 
 was great joy felt at the North when the news 
 came that they had won this fight ; for all had felt 
 that if this ship, with its hard sides and bow of 
 steel, had been left free to sail in to New York bay, 
 all the ships of wood in our port would have gone 
 down in her path. From the time of this fight, a 
 great change has been made in the way they have 
 built ships. 
 
Bi'ave Boys in Blue and Gray. 
 
 H7 
 
 The Con-fed-e-rates had two forts which Gen- 
 er-al Grant had long thought should not be left in 
 their hands. These were Fort Hen-ry and Fort 
 Don-el-son. As soon as Gen-er-al Grant had leave 
 he set out with a large force on boats and sev-en 
 gun boats to take the lead. They had to move 
 with great care, for they knew the stream was full 
 of a sort of thing that was meant to blow them up. 
 
 FORT HENRY. 
 
 They made out to fish up some of these things. 
 They were long tubes which would hold pounds of 
 stuff to blow up the boats if they should knock on 
 them. There was a match or a slow fuse on each 
 that could be set off if the ship should knock a rod 
 that went up from it. 
 
 There were two kinds of boats in use for this 
 fight. One was a ship cut down to the deck, with 
 a roof of plate which shed shot and shell as the rain 
 is shed from a duck's back. These eun-boats were 
 
148 Hist07y of the United States. 
 
 in charge of Commodore Foote. One kind was 
 known as a "ram," for like a cross old sheep it 
 would butt its strong prow in the side of a ship and 
 stave a hole in it. 
 
 The morn was bright, but there had been a 
 storm in the night, so that the roads were bad. 
 The gun boats made a fire ere the troops could 
 march up in the rear. The brave man who held 
 Fort Henry had sent most of his men to Fort Don- 
 el-son. With the few he had he held out as long 
 as he could. He did what he could — told his men 
 where to send out the shots, and he took his share 
 of the work at one of the guns. But there was no 
 chance for the most brave to hold the fort, and they 
 had to give up. 
 
 Six days from that time Gen-er-al Grant with his 
 troops set out for Fort Don-el-son. This fort was 
 on high ground and all had been done to make it 
 strong. The stream was on one side, and the plan 
 was to make the move both from the land and from 
 boats. 
 
 The first move on the works did not rain aus^ht. 
 Then came night with a storm of sleet and rain, and 
 last there was a great fall of snow. All the food 
 was gone, and none could reach them till Foote's 
 fleet should come. Those who had wounds had to 
 call in vain for drink. There was naught to give 
 
Brave Boys in Bine and Gi^ay. 
 
 149 
 
 them. There were deaths that night from cold in 
 the troops both of North and South. At last, on 
 the 14th of February the fleet came. Food was 
 brought for the men, and Com-mo-dore Foote at 
 once sent out a fire on the fort with no more loss of 
 time. For one hour the fire from the fort came 
 down on them till the gun boats had to draw back, 
 for they could do no more. The fleet had to be 
 sent back to Cai-ro to be put in good trim once more. 
 Gen-er-al Grant kept his place 
 and put the fort in a state of 
 siege. Gen-er-al Floyd, who 
 was chief of the Con-fed-e- 
 rates, thought he would try 
 and cut his way out. He 
 found he could not do this, 
 but he made out to slip off 
 with Gen-er-al Pil-low in the 
 dark of the night to Nash-ville. 
 
 The next dawn all the 
 
 U-LYS-SES S. GRANT. 
 
 camp was up in time to storm the works of the foe, 
 when the faint sound of a horn came to their ears. 
 Next they saw in the dim light a white flag wave 
 Irom the fort, and soon a man came with the flag 
 of truce in his hand. Buck-ner sent to ask Grant 
 on what terms he would let him give up the fort. 
 Grant said they must give up all. '' I mean at once 
 
150 Histoiy of the United States. 
 
 to move on your works." So It was soon done. 
 The troops took up their march into the fort. It 
 was a bright day, and the sun shone on the stripes 
 and stars that were soon set to wave on the fort. 
 The eun boats sent out shots to cheer them. The 
 stream was full of boats and there were crowds of 
 men on the banks who sent up shouts. 
 
 The fall of this fort broke the line of the forts 
 of the South. But the field of the fight was a scene 
 of blood. Hosts of men from both sides lay there 
 dead or in sad pain from their wounds. Help was 
 sent from all sides. More than one good dame 
 went to nurse the sick, and they found brave men 
 there, who did not seem to mind their wounds, but 
 felt glad they could fight for their land. The same 
 brave hearts were shown by the boys, both in the 
 blue and the gray. 
 
 One poor youth lay in his bed, with wounds in 
 both arms and both legs. His nurse said to him: 
 ''How long did you lie on the field?" ''Oh, for 
 two days," he said, "and then they had to chop me 
 out, for I was froze fast." 
 
 "Why were you left there so long?" 
 
 "Oh, you see they could not stop to look out for 
 me — they had to take the fort." 
 
 " But it was hard for your friends to leave you in 
 that way!" 
 
Brave Boys in Bine and Gray. 151 
 
 "Oh, no. How could they help it? They had 
 to take the fort ; and when they took it we thought 
 no more of our wounds, and cheers went up from 
 all parts of the field. Those who were near death 
 sent up a faint cry of joy, and men who had but one 
 arm left made out to raise that." 
 
 Each church in Nash-ville was full on that Sun- 
 day morn. Soon a man rode through the streets 
 with a shout : " Don-el-son is in the hands of the foe. 
 The Yan-kees will soon be here." In a flash all 
 was fear and fright. Sad tales had been told of the 
 Yan-kees. The young ones grew pale as they heard 
 the news. They gave up all for lost. It was true 
 that the troops of the North were on their way. 
 The folks were in a sort of craze. They gave large 
 sums for a horse or a cart, or aught that would take 
 them from the town. They burnt the grand bridge 
 that had been their pride, and all the stores that 
 they could get at were borne off. In a few days the 
 stripes and stars were seen to float from the top of 
 the State House at Nash-ville. 
 
 There was a small town at the curve of the 
 Mis-sis-sip-pi by the name of New Mad-rid. Fort 
 Thomp-son was there, and six gun boats to guard it. 
 It had the name of the ''key to the Mis-sis-sip-pi." 
 This place, then, was thought to be the spot for the 
 next work of the troops from the North. They 
 
J52 
 
 History of tJie Untied Stales. 
 
 went down the stream as far as they could, then they 
 
 had to march for miles through marsh and mire. 
 
 They had, it was said, to ''march through mud, to 
 
 eat it and to sleep in it." Gen-er-al Pope put his guns 
 
 in place on the bank, and then he had to wait for 
 
 help. For days the fire went on, arid the shot and 
 
 shell were sent into the fort. The shell they had 
 
 in use was the size of a foot ball and of great weight, 
 
 yet they did not 
 
 seem to do much 
 
 work. The fire 
 
 was kept up for 
 
 three weeks, yet 
 
 but one man was 
 
 lost to the foe. 
 
 They could not 
 
 reach the foe from 
 
 the rear, for there 
 
 was a marsh there 
 
 through which the 
 
 men could not 
 
 march. Gen-er-al Hamilton found out a way. 
 
 He cut a way for the stream to go through this 
 
 marsh. It was no light work, for a host of 
 
 great trees had to be cut down. When this 
 
 path for the stream was made it ran in, and they 
 
 could float boats on it. Five small boats made a 
 
 BUILUIISG THE CANAL. 
 
Brave Boys in Blue and Gray 
 
 153 
 
 start in the dark. It was a night of storm, and 
 there was not a gleam in the sky. All was kept 
 still, but as the first boat made a turn to the shore 
 there was a swift flash which told them that they 
 had been found out. It was quick work to take the 
 
 GL'X BOATS. 
 
 guard, and then they went on to spike the guns as 
 fast as they could. The rain fell fast, and the roar 
 of the storm was great. In a short time six guns 
 had their throats full of files, and the boys who did 
 it got off safe to their camp once more. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 LINES DRAWN IN. 
 
 Stone-wall Jack-son, one of the great men of the 
 South, lost his hfe in a fight which took place in a 
 spot known as Chan-cel-lors-ville. This place was 
 not a town but a large house, and it took the name 
 of the man who had built it. In this fight Jack-son 
 got a wound in the arm. He was borne to the rear 
 and the arm was cut off, but death came from the 
 wound in a few days. In his last hours he thought 
 he still had charge of the troops. He said : '' Tell 
 Hill to get things right for the fight pass the men 
 to the front — tell — " then it would seem that a scene 
 of peace came to him, for he said in a soft voice : 
 " Let us cross the stream and rest in the shade of 
 the trees." So the last rest came to him that must 
 have been sweet at the end of such toil. 
 
 Gen-er-al Jack-son was at the same time brave 
 in war and one who had the love of God in his 
 heart. All who knew him told good things of him. 
 '' None knew him but to love him," and if they 
 spoke his name it was with praise. His black boy 
 would say: " Gwine to be a fight, sure, 'cause marse 
 
Lines Drawn In. 155 
 
 done pray all night." It is said that each time he 
 told his men to fire a charge he would say, "And 
 may God take care of their souls." He would 
 share all the hard lot of the men, and felt for all 
 their woes. In his death the South lost their best 
 man. 
 
 The South took heart and came with their 
 troops in to a free State ; and a great fight took 
 place near a town by the name of Get-tys-burg. 
 There was great loss on both sides. But Lee had 
 to fly with his men, and this fight put an end to 
 the hopes of the South. 
 
 Grant had made a plan to take Vicks-burg, and 
 he felt it could not fail. Gen-er-al Sher-man was to 
 go down the stream to Mem-phis and wait for 
 Grant there. But one of the chiefs of the South 
 made a wild raid through the land and took Col- 
 o-nel Mur-phy and part of the troops and all the 
 stores. The men who led the raid burnt all — the 
 food, the drugs and the stores of clothes. These 
 were the stores which General Grant meant for 
 the use of his troops, and they were all lost in one 
 fell swoop. At the same time the horse-men of 
 For-rest made a dash through that part of the State 
 and cut all the lines of the rail road and the wires 
 by which they could send news home in a flash. 
 For two weeks Gen-er-al Grant had no food for his 
 
156 History of Ike United States. 
 
 men but what he could pick up. This was a great 
 check to him. 
 
 Vicks-burg stands on a sharp turn of the Mis- 
 sis-sip-pi. There is a hne of bkiffs on the east bank 
 of the stream for a long way. Grant sought to find 
 a way to reach Vicks-burg from the north but could 
 not. At last he thought he would try to push his 
 troops down the west shore and then run his gun 
 boats past the town and use them to cross the 
 stream. One still night in A-pril three gun boats 
 and quite a fleet made a move down the stream. 
 They had bales and hay in piles on them, to keep 
 them safe from the fire of the foe, so that they did 
 not look like boats at all. Vicks-burg was all dark, 
 but just as the fleet came in front of it the whole hill 
 side was one blaze of light. The gun that told the 
 foe was near had gone off, and they lit fires in the 
 streets, till one could see the time of day on the 
 clock on the Court House. But with all the smoke 
 and noise, for the roar was fit to make one deaf, 
 the fleet stole by. It was no boy's play to get 
 Vicks-burg. The band that went to storm the fort 
 fell so fast as to close up the way of those who were 
 to press on. It was one of the worst fights of 
 the whole war. Grant put all in trim to lay siege to 
 the town. The foe did what they could to hold out. 
 They cut down the food so that it might last, and 
 
Lilies Drawn In. 
 
 157 
 
 the share for 
 
 :li 
 
 iall. 
 
 you may De sure tne snare lor eacn was sm; 
 Then there were the wives and young ones who 
 had to hve in caves dug in the hill side, so as to 
 be out of the way of the shot and shell. Flour 
 was so high in price that none could buy it. Mule 
 meat brought a great sum a pound. The men had 
 to feed their beasts on corn tops. No food could 
 be brought in, for all chance for that was cut off. 
 The dogs 
 would moan 
 and whine in 
 the streets 
 w4ien a shell 
 went off. To 
 add to the 
 woes of the 
 time, Gen- 
 er-al Grant 
 
 dug mines through the hills 'neath the tow^n. 
 In these he put stuff that could be set on fire 
 by means of a fuse, and blow up the whole 
 town. Each day the shells fell on the place, 
 and each night the sky w^as red with the glow 
 of the fire. Yet spite of all, the brave men 
 held out for sev-en long weeks, in need of food, and 
 though most of them were ill. With a foe on all 
 sides that drew more near day by day, and a line of 
 
 CAVES AT VICKS-BURG. 
 
1^8 History of the United States. 
 
 fire a-round them, their chance was small. At last 
 Gen-er-al Grant made up his mind to make a 
 oTand charge. As Gen-er-al Pem-ber-ton saw what 
 was to come, he sent word that he would like to 
 speak to Gen-er-al Grant with a flag of truce. At 
 three one day the two met face to face and shook 
 hands. On both sides there was a crowd of men 
 on the works. Pem-ber-ton sought to know on what 
 terms he might give up. Grant said, ''Those I 
 wrote to you to-day." Pem-ber-ton said he could 
 not take such terms, and the war must go on. "As 
 you like," said Grant. Pem-ber-ton went back to 
 the fort, and the next day he had to yield. It was 
 a sad sieht to see the Ions: line of brave men in rao^s 
 as they were on the march out of the town. They 
 had to go in the face of the foes, stack their arms 
 and lay down their flags. Then they were held in 
 bonds. This was a large crowd of men for the 
 troops of the North to take, and all their arms, too, 
 fell in their hands. The U-nion troops now went in 
 to the town. They gave food to the poor men who 
 had so lonsf known what it was to starve. On that 
 day the stars and stripes were seen to wave from 
 the Court House at Vicks-burg. 
 
 Port Hud-son was a place on a stream by the 
 name of the Red, and was a strong place. Far-ra- 
 gut found that food was sent by that way to the 
 
Lilies D7'awn In. 159 
 
 Con-fed-e-rates, so he thought it best to block the 
 stream. He took a dark night and had no hghts 
 on his boats ; but his decks and o-uns shone with 
 white-wash, while the stands of shot and shell were 
 left black. This made things stand out clear, 
 though naught could be seen from the shore. At 
 the same time Gen-er-al Banks led up a land force 
 to fight the foe in the rear. That night at nine, at 
 a red light from the flag-ship, eight boats made a 
 start on their way through the dark. They were 
 found out at once and a fierce fire sent from the 
 Port. Like all the towns on the stream the Port is 
 built on a bend. But two boats o^ot safe through 
 the fire. One brave man, Lieu-ten-ant Cum-min^s, 
 stood on deck when a piece of shell took off his leg. 
 As he fell he said: "Tell my wife I fell at my post." 
 When they took him down to the room where lay 
 those who had wounds, he said, with a glance 
 round: 'Tf there is one here hurt worse than I, 
 tend to him first." Soon he heard a sound of 
 steam, and he said : ''Get her by safe and the foe 
 may have this leg, too." 
 
 The siege of this place went on in the same way 
 as the one at Vicks-burg. The town was torn to 
 bits. Rats and mules were the meat of the men, 
 and they went so far as to strip the leaves and bark 
 from the trees for food. When the chief in charge 
 
i6o History of the United States. 
 
 heard of the fall of Vicks-burg, he gave up the fort 
 and all the arms, but there were no stores of food 
 left. 
 
 On the 3d of Ju-ly Gen-er-al Gil-more made the 
 first move on Charles-ton. He sent a force to a 
 place by the name of Fol-ly Isl-and. There they 
 built earth works on which to mount their guns, so 
 as to bear on the guns on Mor-ris Isl-and. If you 
 look on the map you will see that Fol-ly Isl-and lies 
 to the south of Mor-ris Isl-and, and is quite near it. 
 When all was in good trim fire was sent out on the 
 foe. Then there was a move made on Forts Gregg 
 and Wao^-ner at the north end of this Isle. In 
 three hours the sfuns of the last sent out no more 
 fire, and the U-nion men thought they might march 
 in and take the fort. There were some black troops 
 with them, and Col-o-nel Shaw led them. But they 
 found the foe was still there and the black troops 
 were shot clown like sheep. Col-o-nel Shaw was 
 one of the first to fall. The fight went on for 
 twelve hours, and then the U-nion men had to give 
 up and fall back. Then they put the forts in a 
 state of siege and all day sent their shells in to 
 Wag-ner and Sum-ter. They had one gun that 
 would send out a ball all the way from Mor-ris Isl- 
 and to Charles-ton — that is to say, five miles. To 
 this gun they gave the name of the " Swamp Angel." 
 
Lines Drawn In. 
 
 i6i 
 
 For a week the shells fell on Fort Sum-ter ; then 
 they sent word that they must yield. On the 
 7th of Sep-tem-ber it was found that the foe 
 was gone from Forts Gregg and Wag-ner, and so 
 Mor-ris Isl-and was left to the U-nion troops. 
 Charles-ton felt the woes of the long fire. Now 
 and then a U-nion shot told on Fort Sum-ter. The 
 wharves and docks of the town were in reach of the 
 shells, so that their stores were not safe. Still for 
 two years no move was made to take the town. 
 
 IRON-CLAD AND SHIP. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 MOVES IN THE WEST. 
 
 There was a Con-fed-e-rate in Ten-nes-see by 
 the name of John Mor-gan who led the raids in the 
 West with a fire and dash that at times bore down 
 all in his way. One day a good dame rode in to 
 the Union camp and said she must see the Gen-er-al 
 at once — there was no time to lose. When the Gen- 
 er-al saw her she told him she had come from East 
 Ten-nes-see, from a long ways on rough roads, to 
 bring him news that Mor-gan had made out to cross 
 the Cum-ber-land, and was on his watch to fight 
 them. A scout who had got a wound had brought 
 word to her house. As the good dame had no sons 
 and was strong for the U-nion, and had no one to 
 send, there was naught for her to do but to mount a 
 horse and bring the news. Gen-er-al Car-ter went 
 out with a force to meet those who were on this 
 raid. But he found a large force, and in a fight 
 that took place he lost his life, and his troops had 
 to fall back. Mor-gan in the mean time went on 
 with his bold course, made a dash through In-di- 
 an-a and laid waste all in his way. You may be 
 
Moves In The West. 163 
 
 sure the men in the land did not sit still and see 
 him spoil their goods. They rose up in a mass to 
 stop him, and there was more than one fight. 
 Once they took Mor-gan and some of his men and 
 threw them in jail, but they dug their way out 
 and got back to the Con-fed-e-rate lines once more. 
 
 The U-nion men made a move that drew Bragg 
 out of Chat-ta-noo-ga, and then Gen-er-al Ro-se- 
 crans went in and took it. Chat-ta-noo-ga is in a 
 rough land and its name means ''hawk's nest." 
 It is in a gap by the "Look-out Mount-ain," on the 
 left bank of the Ten-nes-see. 
 
 Ro-se-crans thought the foe was in full flight, 
 so he left a small force in Chat-ta-noo-ga and went 
 to chase them. But he was not right in his thoughts, 
 for Bragg was on his way back, as he had heard of 
 a new force that would come to his aid. So the 
 foes met and there was such a fierce fight that one 
 said: "When the fire was at an end, one might 
 have had a long walk down that ditch of dead men, 
 and not once have stepped on the ground." The 
 next day the new force came to the help of the Con- 
 fed-er-ates, and the fight went on. But the line of 
 the U-nion men gave way in that fire, and at last 
 they knew they had lost the day. Gen-er-al Ro- 
 se-crans fell back to Chat-ta-noo-ga, and soon the 
 loss was told in a flash to those in Wash-ing-ton. 
 
164 History of the United States. 
 
 Gen-er-al Gar-field, who was his chief ot staff, rode 
 to Gen-eral Thom-as, who still kept up his fire. He 
 took a course like a ship in a storm, to keep out of 
 the way of the fire, for there were men who knew 
 well how to shoot in the rear of each fence or by 
 each tree. He had to ride up a slope in full sight 
 of the foe, but he went on. He got to the crest 
 and then he could see at last on that side, still at his 
 post in the shot and shell, the brave man he sought. 
 Gar-field told Thom-as that Long-street would be on 
 him soon, and as he spoke the foe came in sight. 
 Just then Gen-er-al Gor-don Gran-ger came forth 
 with his troops to the aid of the U-nion. They 
 drove the foe from the place, and it was said there 
 was a sad breast-work of the piles of blue coats and 
 the gray that was so great that the whole gap was 
 full. There was great loss on both sides. Ro- 
 se-crans still held Chat-ta-noo-ga, but he could not 
 leave it. Bragg drew the lines more close day by 
 day. There was but one road by which food could 
 be brought in, and the rains made that road of 
 small use. 
 
 At last Gen-er-al Sher-man set out to g^o to the 
 help of the men shut up in Chat-ta-noo-ga. They 
 had a hard, hard march, and the foe did all they 
 could to stop them, for they knew their aim. 
 They had to march through the fire that came 
 
Moves hi The West. 165 
 
 down from the heights. They went on in a mass, 
 and five or six men were shot in turn as they 
 bore the flag. In one hour in that fierce fire 
 Sher-i-dan lost more than one sixth of his men. 
 It is told of one of the brave men who had borne 
 the flag and was shot down, that when they bore 
 him to the rear a kind friend knelt down by him 
 to find where his wound might be. "Where did 
 they hit you, my man?" said the friend. 
 
 ''Most up the ridge, sir." 
 
 *' No, no. I mean where did the ball strike 
 you." 
 
 '' Near the top — most up." 
 
 The friend threw back the man's clothes and 
 found his arm torn by a shell. The man gave it 
 a glance and said: "Yes, that is what did it. You 
 see I had to hug the flag to my breast and make 
 for the top. I was near there when this shot came. 
 If they had let me be just for a bit I should have 
 had a chance to plant that flag on the top. I was 
 most up — most up — " and so the poor youth drew 
 his last breath with a thought of his flag and not of 
 his own sad fate. And in his dull ears that could 
 no more hear them, rang the shouts of his friends 
 who were at the top of the ridge. When there was 
 no more hope for Bragg he fled through the night 
 with his men, his arms and trains. Sher-i-dan 
 
1 66 Histoiy of the United States. 
 
 was at his heels, but Bragg was too fleet to be 
 caught. But the U-nion men had made a g^reat 
 gain. One youth who lay ill with a wound said : 
 "I hope I shall not die, but it is a good cause to 
 die in." Look-out Mount-ain and Chat-ta-noo-ra 
 were in the hands of the troops from the North. 
 The Pres-i-dent sent Gen-er-al Thom-as his thanks 
 for the brave way he had led the men in these 
 fights. 
 
 At sea the ships of the South at first won on all 
 sides. They drove our ships out, and got off with 
 no harm, till the time that the Al-a-ba-ma was sunk. 
 One more grand fight with ships took place in Mo- 
 bile Bay. This bay was a great place for boats to 
 run in with food and stores to the foe. Our ships 
 could not make their way there, for there were two 
 forts, a ram of great strength, and shells that would 
 blow them up set in the way. Far-ra-gut put false 
 bows on his ships, so that they might charge the 
 ram, and at last it was sunk. 
 
 Sherman's march to the sea won him much 
 fame. At one place, Mer-i-den, where there was a 
 great work-shop and store-house for Con-fed-e-rate 
 arms and food, he laid all waste. Two years from 
 that time some one said to a man of that place : 
 ''Did Sher-man hurt the town much?" ''Hurt 
 it!" said the man, "why, he took it with him." 
 
Moves In The West. 
 
 167 
 
 This seems a hard case, but it was the chance of 
 
 war. 
 
 In the mean time one of the Con-fed-e-rates, 
 Gen-er-al For-rest, led a raid and won the towns of 
 Jack-son and U-nion Cit-y. Then he fell on Pa-du- 
 cah, but they held out there and would not yield. 
 He then made a move on Fort Pil-low, which had 
 but a small force in it and half 
 were black men. 
 
 At noon For-rest sent a 
 flag of truce and said they 
 must give up the fort at once. 
 Ma-jor Brad-ford, who was 
 at the head, said he would 
 like to have an hour to talk 
 with his men. In this time 
 For-rest broke his faith, as he 
 made a move to a spot from 
 which he could make the best fire. Then he 
 sent word that if they did not yield up the post 
 in less than a half hour he would storm the works. 
 By the end of that time the Con-fed-e-rates had 
 crept near the works. Brad-ford said he w^ould not 
 yield. The foe heard this with yells. They made 
 a rush for the works with a cry that they would 
 spare none. The U-nion men, in a fright, threw 
 down their arms and fled. But they were all slain. 
 
 WIL-LIAM T. SHER-MAN. 
 
1 68 
 
 History of the United States. 
 
 For a long time it would seem that Gen-er-al 
 For-rest wore a charm so that his life was safe. 
 The U-nion men sent out troops to take him, but 
 he beat them. He made a dash in to Mem-phis 
 when it was in the hands of the U-nion troops and 
 took off some of the chief men ere the rest knew he 
 had been there. 
 
 In the summer of 1864 John Mor-gan rode once 
 
 more on his raids through Ken-tuck-y. But when 
 
 he got to East Ten-nes-see the U-nion men rose in 
 
 .^ - ^ force and found out 
 
 the house in which 
 he was and laid 
 siege to it. He ran 
 out and hid in a 
 vine-yard, but one 
 of the U-nion men 
 saw him and told 
 him to halt. Mor- 
 gan would have 
 shot the man, but 
 ere he could fire, a ball was sent through his heart, 
 and Mor-gan rode on his raids no more. 
 
 Col-o-nel Ul-ric Dahl-gren with some troops 
 made a move to strike Rich-mond, Feb-ru-a-ry 28th, 
 from the south. Gen-e-ral Kil-pat-rick was to join 
 him there, but when he got there he saw naught of 
 
 CAP-I-TOL AT RICH-MOND. 
 
Moves hi The West. 169 
 
 Dahl-o^ren. He was soon seen by the Con-fed- 
 e-rates and had to fly. Dahl-gren did not come, 
 and it was found that his black guide had led him 
 the wrong way. The foe fell on him, but he fought 
 his way out. Still he met with his death ere the 
 fight was done. He was young — ^just of age — and 
 so brave that he had sought the chance to lead his 
 men to Rich-mond. All felt sad at his fate 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 GRANT TAKES THE CHARGE. 
 
 As soon as Grant was in charge of the troops 
 he sent out word for them to make moves in all 
 parts. He made a march through the Wil-der-ness 
 to the" rear of Lee's troops. There was a hot fight. 
 The eround was strewn with the slain. The trees 
 were so dense that men could not ride, and it was a 
 hand to hand fight. The woods got on fire in more 
 than one place and the hot smoke made it hard 
 to breathe. Men were at times too near to fire 
 their guns, and took them as clubs to beat back 
 the foe. Long-street got a wound and then Lee 
 took the field. Han-cock had thrown up earth- 
 works so that his troops could get some rest back 
 of them. But the wind set the brush in a flame 
 and the fire drove them out. Then the Con-fed- 
 e-rates saw their chance and made a rush on him 
 with yells, and set their flag on his earth-works. 
 He drove them back, but he had a fierce fight. 
 The U-nion troops met with great loss. But the 
 next day they took up a march for Spott-syl-va- 
 nia Court-house. When they got there they found 
 
Grant Takes the Charge. 171 
 
 Lee had his men on the ridge, and they had to 
 form their hnes in the whiz of balls. 
 
 In the gray dawn of the 12th of May, ere a ray 
 of light came in to the sky, Gen-er-al Han-cock took 
 his troops near a weak point in the lines of the foe. 
 The fog was so thick that not a soul could be 
 seen, and the wet ground kept all sound ot the 
 men's tramp quite still. They did not fire a shot 
 till they got in to the Con-fed-e-rate camp. In spite 
 of all odds the Con-fed-e-rates fought well, but Han- 
 cock won and took a large part of their force. In 
 the fight Gen-er-al Rice got his death wound. They 
 took him to the rear, but the sounds of the fire still 
 came to his dull ear. His eyes wore the glaze of 
 death, but he spoke in a faint voice and said: 
 *'Turn me." 
 
 "Which way?" 
 
 ''Let me die with my face to the foe," said the 
 brave man with his last breath. 
 
 If you will look on your maps you will see 
 that the town of Pe-ters-burg is not far south of 
 Rich-mond. The U-nion troops had made more 
 than one move to get this place, but at last Grant 
 laid siege to it. There had been a fight of two 
 days and great loss of life on both sides. As long 
 as they had food the town could stand out, and they 
 did so for ten months. In this time there were two 
 
1 72 Histojy of the United States. 
 
 moves made to take the town. The first was to 
 dig a mine from a point in the U-nlon fine to the 
 fort of the foe. It was four feet wide and the same 
 in height. In this mine they were to place stuff 
 that could be blown up by means of a fuse. Then 
 they made a feint on the north side of the James, 
 and Lee drew off a part of his force, as he thought 
 Rich-mond w^as the aim. At this the sign was made 
 to light the fuse. An hour went by, but no sound 
 was heard. Then two brave men crept in to the 
 mine and found the fuse was broke. They made 
 all right and had just time to get out when the crash 
 came. There was a huge chasm, the earth was 
 rent in twain, and the fort was gone. The U-nion 
 guns gave out a fire, and the troops made a rush 
 in to the chasm. Then for some cause there was a 
 pause, and they did not act at once. This gave 
 the foe time to get once more in trim to fight. 
 They had but to turn their guns on the great 
 mass of U-nion men in the chasm and shoot them 
 dead in piles. And so the scheme of the mine 
 was brought to naught. On the 19th of Sep-tem- 
 ber Sher-i-dan made up his mind to take Win- 
 ches-ter, as he heard that the force of the foe was 
 weak in that place. The fight was a hard one, 
 but at last the U-nion men drove the foe out. 
 Sher-i-dan did not stop, but kept right on in the 
 
Grant Takes the Charge. 
 
 17: 
 
 chase. He kept up this, and made raids on the 
 foe till he had more than half of the troops of 
 Gen-er-al Ear-ly in his hands. It was at this 
 time that Grant thought it best to lay waste the 
 Shen-an-do-ah vale, a land full of fine farms and 
 barns, with hay, and grain, and mills, and farm 
 
 SHEN-AN-DOAH VAL-LEY. 
 
 tools, and cows, and sheep. It was a hard thing 
 to do, but it gave aid of all sorts to the foe, so 
 that by the rules of war he had a right to spoil it. 
 In the mean time the Con-fed-e-rate Gen-er-al 
 Ear-ly had made up his mind to steal a march 
 on the U-nion men. He led his troops on just 
 
1 74 History of the United States. 
 
 as the first streak of dawn was seen in the sky. 
 They made a charge with wild yells on front, 
 rear and flank all at once. In a short time part of 
 the troops were in full flight. Sher-i-dan, who had 
 slept in Win-ches-ter that night, heard the news. 
 He rode on as fast as his jet black horse could 
 take him, and met some of his own troops in full 
 flight. He swung his old hat with the cry, ''Turn 
 back, turn back, boys! We are all right! We will 
 whip them yet ! We will sleep in our old camp this 
 night!" One more charge and there was a turn in 
 the fight. Ear-ly had to fly. Each side had met 
 with great loss. 
 
 Gen-e-ral Sher-man made his way to At-lan-ta, 
 and in the month of Au-gust, 1864, laid siege to it. 
 The men made huts to keep off the blaze of the 
 sun, and they had food and drink, and wood for 
 their fires. They kept up the fire night and day. 
 In four days they had cut off all the food from the 
 town. Then Hood blew up his stores and set out 
 with his troops to Ma-con. Sher-man sent word 
 to Lin-coln, ''At-lan-ta is ours." This news was 
 heard with great joy by all. Bells were rung, and 
 each town sent out a fire from their guns. Hood 
 made a new move on the force at Al-la-too-na 
 Pass. Sher-man sent for Corse to make haste and 
 go there. Soon they read this on the flags that 
 
Grant Takes the Charge. 175 
 
 were in use to give the signs : ''C. R. S. E. H. E. 
 R." Sher-man made out the word. " If Corse is 
 there, it is all right. I know the man !" And he 
 was right, for Corse, though he had a wound in the 
 face, held out all day and beat Hood in the end. 
 The next day he sent word to Sher-man that he was 
 "short a cheek and an ear," but he could whip the 
 foe yet. 
 
 One of the great moves of the war was made on 
 New Or-leans by Far-ra-gut in ships, and Gen-er-al 
 But-ler with a land force. This town had two 
 strong forts, and there was a long chain with earth 
 works at each end. There were fire rafts full of 
 stuff that they could set on fire, and gun boats, and 
 one of the kind we know as a ram. 
 
 Far-ra-gut sent fire in to the forts in vain. His 
 boats took fire from the rafts, and he had to put out 
 each as it went by. At last he thought he would 
 try and run by the forts with his fleet, and he did 
 so. The forts, the steam boats, and the ram, kept 
 up a hot fire, but in the midst of shot and ball, he 
 made his way up the stream. The next day at 
 dawn, he was in New Or-leans, and in a day 
 more the fleets and forts were in his hands, and 
 Gen-er-al But-ler with a land force, came in to 
 the town. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 HOW THE END CAME. 
 
 Ere Sher-man left At-Ian-ta he burned the town 
 lest it should be made a strong-hold for the Con- 
 fed-e-rates as soon as he was gone. He burned 
 -. -. each bridge, cut the wires 
 
 that could take the news, 
 and tore up the rail-roads. 
 Then the men set out on 
 their march once more. 
 Each day's march was a 
 long one. They tore up 
 each rail-road on the way. 
 They went in two lines by 
 two routes. When they 
 to Sa-van-nah they found that it had a 
 force in it. But when they heard that part 
 of the U-nion troops had Fort Mc-Al-lis-ter in 
 their hands, they set all in trim to lay siege to Sa- 
 van-nah. Some of them crept near the works of 
 the Con-fed-e-rates, and all was so still they thought 
 the foe must be gone. They went on but not a 
 soul was to be seen. They went from earth-work 
 
 LAY-ING THE TELE-GRAPH WIRES. 
 
 came 
 large 
 
Holu the End Came. 177 
 
 to earth-work and at dawn went in to the town just 
 in time to see the grey coats cross the marsh in a 
 flight from them. Sher-man wrote to Lin-coln : " I 
 beg leave to give you the gift of the town of Sa-van- 
 nah, with all its guns and stores." 
 
 By this time things at the South were in a sad 
 state. The rail-roads that were left were not in 
 good case, and the cars were old. One by one the 
 ports of the South had been lost to them. Food 
 was hard to get, though they might give a great 
 price for it. Salt was so scarce that those who had 
 a smoke-house where meat had been kept in corn in 
 past years, dug up the hard floor and put it to boil 
 so as to o^et out the salt that time had left there. 
 The men drank stuff made out of dry peas or rye. 
 Tea, sweets, or cake, were not seen. There was a 
 band of the wives and maids of Rich-mond who met 
 once a week in a club. All they had for cheer was 
 a cool drink from the well. The brave girls no 
 more wore fine silk gowns, and hats in the last style, 
 but they did not seem to care. They wore their 
 poor stuff robes with grace, and found out how to 
 plait hats of rice straw, which they would trim and 
 deck with cocks' tails. They had to write their 
 notes on leaves of old books, but they kept up their 
 pluck through all. Still there was small hope left. 
 The U-nion troops now held all but three of the 
 
178 History of the United States. 
 
 sea-ports. Though the Hnes drew close round 
 Charles-ton, and Mo-bile bay was in the hands of 
 the North, the towns still held out. Wil-ming-ton, 
 too, was a great port for the South, and kept up a 
 brisk trade with them. Gen-er-al But-ler had a plan 
 by which he thought he could knock down the walls 
 of Fort Fish-er, and then there would be no help 
 for Wil-ming-ton. He thought if he set off a ship- 
 load of stuff to blow up the fort, all would be in 
 their hands. So a boat was sent out and made to 
 look like those that came for trade with the South. It 
 had tons and tons of stuff in kegs and bags to blow 
 up the fort. A fuse went through each, and there was 
 a clock-work thing made so that they would all light 
 at once. On the night of De-cem-ber 23d, 1864, 
 this boat drew near the fort. The crew got out of 
 the way, and when some time had gone there was 
 a loud boom. But the fort did not feel it at all. 
 
 On the 13th of Jan-u-a-ry a new move was made 
 with Gen-er-al Ter-ry at the head. He kept up a 
 fire on the fort for two days. There was a move 
 made from the land, and the stream at the same 
 time. The Con-fed-e-rates fought in a brave way, 
 but they lost ground step by step. At last their 
 chief fell with a wound, and they lost heart. In 
 the night they gave up the fort. The loss on 
 both sides was great. 
 
How the End Came. 
 
 179 
 
 Next Co-lum-bi-a was won by the U-nion troops. 
 Gen-er-al Wade H amp-ton, of the South, had 
 sent word that all the stores in Co-lum-bi-a where 
 the stuff was kept, out of which white goods are 
 made, should be burned. A strong wind blew 
 and the fire spread. When Sher-man went in to 
 Co-lum-bi-a he could not put out this fire. Some 
 have set it down to Sher-man's charge, but this 
 is not true. The U-nion men found the fire there 
 and did all they could to put it out. Sher-man 
 gave food to those who w^ere left with no homes. 
 
 He heard soon that Wil-ming-ton was in the 
 hands of the U-nion troops, and that Har-dee had 
 gone out of Charles-ton as soon as he knew Co- 
 lum-bi-a was lost. Ere Har-dee went he had a 
 force sent to fire, as in Co-lum-bi-a, each house where 
 there were stores of the stuff which makes the 
 wealth of the South. Of course a large part of 
 the town was burned. The U-nion troops had a 
 hard time to put out this fire and save the rest of 
 the town. The stars and stripes were soon set to 
 
i8o History of the United States. 
 
 float on Sum-ter and the rest of the forts in 
 the bay. On the 23d of March the march was 
 done. 
 
 Such a march had not been known in all the wars 
 of the past. Long will the fame of that March to 
 the Sea live in our land. He had found, as 
 he said, that all the men in the South had 
 been drawn out to aid the troops, and that 
 there were no more- left, and that the land was 
 a '* mere shell." 
 
 The next thought was how to take Rich-mond. 
 In Feb-ru-a-ry Sher-i-dan made a move on Lynch- 
 burg, but it was too strong to take, and he 
 was sent by Grant to take a rail-road near Pe-ters- 
 burg. 
 
 There had been a hard rain all that night and 
 the next day so that not much could be done. 
 Lee had his troops in good trim for a fight, for he 
 knew it was to come. Sher-i-dan made a push for 
 a place by the name of Five Forks. There was a 
 sharp fight there and he had to fall back. The 
 next day he made a fierce charge. He took the 
 flag in his own hands, made all the bands play and 
 with a wild shout the troops made a rush on the 
 works of the foe. They fled from the field and the 
 U-nion troops at their rear in hot haste took a large 
 force of them. Sher-i-dan had great force of will 
 
How the End Came, i8i 
 
 and led his men as he chose. It is said that 
 just as he led the charge he saw one of his men 
 struck by a ball and reel as if he would fall from 
 his horse. He knew that a horse with no man 
 to guide him might throw out the whole line, so 
 he said: ''All right, my man, keep right on." 
 And by the sheer force of the will of his chief 
 the man rode on to the breast-works and then fell 
 dead. 
 
 The next day there was a fight on the whole line 
 near Pe-ters-burg. Fort Gregg held out well, 
 though the U-nion force was ten times as great as 
 theirs. For an hour and a half they fought, but 
 there was no chance in the face of such odds. All 
 at once a great cheer went up. Fort Gregg was in 
 the hands of the U-nion men. Lee was at that 
 time in Pe-ters-burg where the sounds of the fight 
 came to him more and more near. ''The men are 
 in flight," he said, Gen-er-al Hill went out at once 
 and rode to the place from which the sounds of the 
 shots came. He came on some of the U-nion men 
 and in a cool way rode up to them and said they 
 must yield to him. One of them shot him and he 
 fell from his horse dead. Hill had been a great 
 chief and Lee's right hand man in all the fights of 
 the war. He had worn the badge of each grade, 
 and in a brave way won his right to the first rank. 
 
1 82 History of the United States. 
 
 Lee drew off the men that were left from Pe- 
 ters-burg, but as soon as Grant heard of this flight 
 he sent troops to chase them. Sher-i-dan took 
 some of Lee's trains and men, and wrote to Grant: 
 *'I wish you were here. If we could press things 
 I think Lee would give up." To which Grant 
 wrote: "Press things." That night most of the 
 U-nion troops of the Ar-my of the Po-to-mac met. 
 The troops of the South had no food and were in 
 a sad state. There was no hope for them, and 
 at last Lee sent word that he would see Grant 
 and talk of terms. They met in a room of a house 
 that was on a farm. Grant wrote out his terms, 
 and Lee was glad to take them. Lee did not 
 have to give up his sword. Grant let each man 
 keep his horse, for he said they would need them 
 all to plow the land when the spring came. Lee 
 felt that this was most kind, and said there was 
 
 no thinof that could have been done that would 
 
 
 
 be such a help to them. Then the two great 
 chiefs shook hands and Lee went out. Grant gave 
 food to the Con-fed-er-ate troops ere they gave up 
 their arms. As Lee rode through his own lines 
 the men came round him and strove to touch his 
 hand. With tears in his eyes he said: "My men, 
 we have fought through the war side by side. I 
 have done the best I could for you." On the 12th 
 
How the End Ca^ne. 183 
 
 of April, 1865, the troops of the South made a 
 march to the Court House and laid down their arms, 
 their flags, and all signs of rank. Then they broke 
 up and went to their own homes. Grant did not 
 fire a gun to tell of all that was won and that the 
 great war was at an end. 
 
 There was great joy, and all gave thanks at the 
 North when the news that the war had come to an 
 end was borne on the wires. Lin-coln had held 
 his course in a firm, brave way. He had said in a 
 speech in New York, when he was on his way to 
 take his place, "When the time comes for me to 
 speak, I shall then take the ground that I think is 
 right — right for the North, for the South, for the 
 East, for the West, for all our land." 
 
 And so he had done. The war was a grief to 
 him. He said, ''We did not think this war would 
 last so long. Both sides read the same Word of 
 God, and both pray to Him to aid in a war on 
 those who are bound to them by near ties. We 
 hope, we pray, that this scourge of war may soon 
 pass. But if God wills it should stay till each drop 
 of blood drawn by the lash shall be paid with one 
 drawn with the sword, it must be said, 'Shall not 
 the Judge of all the world do right?'" 
 
 Five days from the time that the news of joy 
 came in a flash on the wires, Lin-coln was dead. 
 
184 History of the United States. 
 
 He had been shot while he sat in his box, at the 
 play, by a man of the name of Wilkes Booth. This 
 man had by some means got in the box and made 
 the door fast. When he had shot Lin-coln, he 
 sprang from the box to the stage, but caught his 
 foot in one of our flags, and broke his leg. He had 
 a horse at the door, and got off; but was at last 
 found in a barn where he stood at bay. They set 
 the barn on fire to drive him out ; but he still stood 
 his ground, and fought till the last, w^hen he fell, 
 shot by one of our men. 
 
 Those who stood by the bed side of Lin-coln 
 saw that there was no hope. All the land was full 
 of gloom, when the sad news came. As his corpse 
 was borne in a train to his old home, the tow^ns 
 were hung with black on the whole route, and most 
 men wore the badge of grief. Those who had not 
 been warm friends of Lin-coln in his life, felt a 
 shock at his death, for they knew a brave, true man 
 had gone. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 PEACE ONCE MORE. 
 
 At the time of Lin-coln's death, there had been 
 a sort of plot to kill more of the head men of the 
 land. Sew-ard had been shot in his own house, 
 and there was a great fear in Wash-ing-ton ; for no 
 one knew how far this plot might reach. 
 
 When An-drew John-son took the place at the 
 head of the land, there was some fear that those 
 who had spent so long a time in the war would not 
 know how to live in time of peace. But they soon 
 made their way to their old homes, and were glad 
 to lay down their arms and take up the old trades 
 once more. There was a vast debt, and all sorts 
 of loans to be got. Then there were those who 
 thought that the States, which were the cause of 
 the war, should not have the right to come back on 
 their own terms ; and some thought they could come 
 back when they would, and in their own way. 
 
 But John-son brought out a Bill which gave 
 back all their rights to most of those who had made 
 the war. The States could come back if they would 
 say that they would have no more slaves, and that 
 
1 86 Peace Once More. 
 
 they would be true to the U-nit-ed States in all 
 time to come. John-son did not act in a way to 
 suit those who had cast their votes for him, and 
 Con-gress made a move that he should give up his 
 place. When they came to try him, they found 
 there was one vote short. That one vote kept him 
 in his place ; but he did not get a new term. 
 
 The next man who was the choice of the land 
 was U-lys-ses S. Grant, whose work in the war had 
 won him such fame. In his time all the States of 
 the South came back in to the U-nion. Great 
 tracts of land were made ours ; the debt was made 
 less ; and there was a law made which said that 
 men of all races and hues should have a right to 
 vote. In his last term a grand show took place in 
 Phil-a-del-phia. All the lands in the world sent 
 things to be shown there, and all the trades of the 
 world had place in those great halls. 
 
 When Hayes came in there was talk that there 
 had not been a fair vote for him ; but in time he 
 won his way. He was fair to both North and 
 South, and his rule was mild but firm. He drew 
 all troops out of the South, that those States might 
 put their own laws in force, with no help from Wash- 
 ing-ton ; so that if their own folks had wrongs, their 
 own courts must set the thing right. 
 
 Time has shown that this course was wise. The 
 
History of the U^iited States. 187 
 
 States at the South have grown in peace and good 
 will to us since that time, and the white men there 
 now seem quite glad to have the black men vote. 
 Rail ways have been built so fast that it is thought 
 in a few years there will be four or five of these 
 great lines through the whole length and breadth 
 of the land. Our debt has been paid off at such a 
 quick rate that if we go on it will be gone ere long, 
 and the tax on all things can be made less. We 
 have shown, too, that we have not stood still. 
 
 In old times each watch in use here came from 
 the old lands, but now a watch is made here that 
 might win the prize from those on that side of the 
 sea. So, too, in glass, tools, knives, soap, combs, 
 and all sorts of things, we have made a name. The 
 beef and grain we send out bring in vast wealth. 
 
 James A. Gar-field was our choice in 1 88 1. A 
 great shock was felt in the land, just two months 
 from the time he came to the White House, when 
 we heard he had been shot while on his way to take 
 a train for the North. A man by the name of Gui- 
 teau, who had some sort of strange craze, was the 
 one who did the black deed. 
 
 They bore Gar-field at once to his home in the 
 White House, and for a long time he- lay there in 
 great pain. Day by day the news would flash on 
 the wires that told his state, how his pulse beat, 
 
Peace Once More. 
 
 how he had slept, and what hope there was for his 
 hfe. All would seize the news and read it each day, 
 with the wish that he mieht 
 yet live. They took him to 
 Long Branch in the hope 
 that the sea breeze might 
 help him ; but though his 
 life held out for near the 
 space of three months, it 
 came to an end, and his last 
 breath was drawn in that 
 sweet home by the sea, Sep- 
 tem-ber 19, 1881. Great 
 grief was felt at his death, 
 and all lands strove to say a 
 kind word. The Court of 
 En-gland put on black for 
 him, and the Oueen sent a 
 wreath for his grave. Gui- 
 teau was hung for his crime. 
 Not long since France 
 gave a gift to the U-ni-ted 
 States. It is a Lib-er-ty in 
 bronze, and is of great size. 
 It is the work of a man by 
 the name of Bar-thol-di. It shows Lib-er-ty with a 
 crown on her head and a torch held up high in her 
 
 BAR-THOL-DI STAT-UE. 
 
History of the United States. 189 
 
 hand, as though to give Hght to all the world. She 
 will stand on one of the isles in our great New York 
 bay, as though to light the way to our free shores 
 to all who seek a home, where they may earn their 
 bread in peace, and have a free press, a free vote, 
 and all the rights of free men. 
 
 Ches-ter A. Ar-thur is now our Pres-i-dent. 
 We are at peace with all the world. The same 
 flag, with the old stars and stripes, floats now in 
 the South as in the North. Long may it wave, 
 ''O'er the land of the free and the home of the 
 brave." 
 
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